TAKING ON KGB AIRWAYS: PART SIX (OF EIGHT)
For your complaint to be addressed, it must first be put in writing–whether in a letter and/or an email. Most likely, several letters and/or emails. If you cringe at writing it yourself, you can ask...
View ArticleTAKING ON KGB AIRWAYS: PART SEVEN (OF EIGHT)
There’s a good chance you won’t be able to resolve your problem with the airline. In its September 3, 2009 issue, Time magazine warned that calling the airlines’ customer complaint lines would likely...
View ArticleTAKING ON KGB AIRWAYS: PART EIGHT (END)
Even if you feel you have an airtight case against an airline and want to sue, remember this: The vast majority of cases–civil and criminal–are settled outside of court. In civil cases especially,...
View ArticleMACHIAVELLI WAS RIGHT: DISTRUST THE RICH
As President Donald Trump prepares to drastically cut taxes on the wealthy (including himself) it’s well to remember the man whose name defines modern politics. In 1513, Niccolo Machiavelli, the...
View ArticleMACHIAVELLI VS. TRUMP ON THREATS AND INSULTS
Hear that sound? It’s the sound of Niccolo Machiavelli laughing at President Donald J. Trump. Machiavelli (1469 – 1527) was an Italian Renaissance historian, diplomat and writer. Two of his books...
View ArticleTWEETING AWAY HIS DIGNITY
If Donald Trump ever read The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli, the Florentine statesman, he’s decided he doesn’t need it. And his ever-falling popularity among Americans clearly proves his mistake....
View ArticleWORDS FOR TYRANTS–AND LIBERATORS: PART ONE (OF TWO)
Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks appear every Friday on the PBS Newshour to review the week’s major political events. On May 27, 2016, Shields—a liberal, and...
View ArticleWORDS FOR TYRANTS–AND LIBERATORS: PART TWO (END)
On the May 27, 2016 edition of the PBS Newshour, syndicated columnist Mark Shields noted the ability of Elizabeth Warren to rattle Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump: “Elizabeth Warren gets...
View ArticleCOUNTERING INSULTS WITH BETTER INSULTS: PART ONE (OF TWO)
Syndicated columnist Mark Shields and New York Times columnist David Brooks appear every Friday on the PBS Newshour to review the week’s major political events. On May 27, 2016, Shields—a liberal, and...
View ArticleCOUNTERING INSULTS WITH BETTER INSULTS: PART TWO (END)
Tyrants are conspicuously vulnerable to ridicule. Yet Democrats have proven unable or unwilling to make use of this powerful weapon. Donald Trump—as political candidate and President—has repeatedly...
View ArticleTHE LIMITS OF LOVE AND FEAR: PART ONE (OF THREE)
It’s probably the most-quoted passage of Niccolo Machiavelli’s infamous book, The Prince: “From this arises the question whether it is better to be loved than feared, or feared more than loved. The...
View ArticleTHE LIMITS OF LOVE AND FEAR: PART TWO (OF THREE)
Is it better to be loved or feared? That was the question Florentine statesman Niccolo Machiavelli raised more than 500 years ago. Presidents have struggled to answer this question—and have come to...
View ArticleTHE LIMITS OF LOVE AND FEAR: PART THREE (END)
American Presidents—like politicians everywhere–strive to be loved. There are two primary reasons for this. First, even the vilest dictators want to believe they are good people—and that their goodness...
View ArticleTHE PERILS OF TWITTERING
If Donald Trump ever read The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli, the Florentine statesman, he’s decided he doesn’t need it. And his ever-falling popularity among Americans clearly proves his mistake....
View ArticleMACHIAVELLI WARNED AMERICA ABOUT TRUMP
On July 30, 2016, Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump attacked the integrity of the parents of an Army captain who died heroically in Iraq in 2004. For this, he took heavy fire from...
View ArticleWHY FASCISTS WIN AND LIBERALS LOSE
It was September 26, 1960. The date of the first—and now legendary—Presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. Robert F. Kennedy, who was managing his brother’s campaign, offered...
View ArticleBULLIES AND COWARDS: PART ONE (OF TWO)
A major reason for Donald Trump’s appeal during the 2016 Presidential campaign was: “He’s not like other politicians.” And he wasn’t. The vast majority of politicians adhere to an unwritten rule: Even...
View ArticleBULLIES AND COWARDS: PART TWO (END)
As a whole, Democrats have shown themselves indifferent to or ignorant of the power of effective language. Many of them—such as former President Barack Obama—believe: “I’m not going to get into the...
View ArticleTWEET AT YOUR OWN RISK
If Donald Trump ever read The Prince, by Niccolo Machiavelli, the Florentine statesman, he’s decided he doesn’t need it. And his ever-falling popularity among Americans clearly proves his mistake....
View ArticleWARNING: ANGER THE PC AYATOLLAHS AT YOUR OWN RISK
On June 8, 2010, newspapers around the world headlined the latest triumph of Politically Correct language. The Israeli government had apologized for circulating a video parodying the lyrics of Michael...
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