by Earl Merkel



September 27, 2009



Another good one bites the dust.



If you're not familiar with William Safire's ON LANGUAGE columns, you're simply not as good a writer as you could be. Period.



He was also a take-no-prisoners -type of columnist-- and one who backed up his opinions with carefully researched fact. No "nabob" he, Mr. Safire will be missed by those who savor both finely honed writing and the practice of column-writing as a… Continue

by Earl Merkel



September 13, 2009, 2:40 pm



As a recovering journalist, I still find my decades-old j-school training occasionally reminding me how lazy --even cowardly-- I often feel these days. It nags particularly loudly when I catch myself personally avoiding that most rare of today's journalistic attributes: an impartial fairness in dealing with an uncomfortable story.



I try to ease that guilt by telling myself that I'm no longer subject to either unyielding… Continue

by Earl Merkel



September 11, 2009, 6:09 am



Did he try to barter Obama's Senate seat? Well, he says, yes-- not, he insists, for money... but for love. The interview referenced below is in the second bloc of our show, but you guys might enjoy the rest of the program, too. Still, if you just want to hear Mr. Blagojevich choke-and-stutter, it's at about 12:50 min into the program. i>chuckle> Please note the opening and closing musical "bumpers" we used, in honor… Continue