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Add one part satire to two parts sincerity. Sprinkle on a couple of rants. Stir liberally.
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I'm the newly-appointed Future editor at Business 2.0 and the former San Francisco correspondent for Time Magazine.
Wow, so does this mean everything you write reflects Time Inc's opinion? Or do you perhaps have some sort of standard disclaimer to the effect that it doesn't?
Naturally, the opinions contained in this blog are not those of my employers. In fact, some opinions may be the polar opposite of my employers. Some may be the same, for all I know. Hey, it's not like I ask my employers their opinions about everything in the news, okay? Let's just say that if this were a Venn diagram with one circle marked "my opinions" and the other one marked "my employers' opinions", there would doubtless be some overlap. But neither I nor my employers are able to pinpoint exactly where that overlap is.
What is this Daily Blah thing?
An experiment for a column I wrote about blogging back in December 2001. All these years later, I haven't been able to kick the habit.
If it's called Daily Blah, how come you don't ... hey, wait, you're writing every day!
See? Told you I'd try harder.
Mister, you talk funny. Are you one of them furrners?
Why yes I am, as it happens. I was born, raised and educated in Great Britain. I've been living in the U.S. since 1996 and identify as British.
I say, old chap, you forgot the "u" in "colour."
No I didn't. I may identify as British, but I am also an American journalist writing for an American audience about mostly American issues. These two different sides of me are a constant source of tension. Nevertheless, Daily Blah will adhere to American English grammar and spelling.
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Daily Blah for... Thursday, March 11, 2004
Learning to Love the L-words
Good on John Kerry for refusing to take back his characterization of Republicans as "crooked" and "lying." For far too long, mainstream Democrats have shied away from harsh words while their opponents get away with the most outrageous nonsense. What else is breaking practically all your campaign pledges but lying? What would you call the Texas gerrymandering or revealing Veronica Plame's name if they ain't crooked? Oh, and I understand there might be one or two doubts about the veracity of certain weapons intelligence attributed to a certain Middle-Eastern country we happened to invade recently.
 If Kerry can appropriate some of the Dean anger, all well and good. He's got to tell it like he sees it. Tradition has it that you shore up your base during the primaries and then rush to the center for the general election. But what is the center? Does it even exist? I remember sitting in the dining room of Wes and Joan Blades, founders of MoveOn.org, as Wes drew me a diagram of the American political spectrum according to MoveOn. It was shaped like an "M"; two big bell curves, the first basically progressive, the second basically conservative. You can try and stand in the middle and appeal to both sides, but it makes you look two-faced -- and the Republicans get to attack you, as they are already attacking Kerry, for "flip-flopping". No, the center cannot hold.
The current groundswell of outrage on the left has the potential to be as powerful as the "angry white male" earthquake of 1994. Kerry can ride that as long as he isn't afraid of using the L words: liberal for himself, liar for the incumbent. Liberal is a fine label with a noble tradition, and people respect you if you bear it proudly. And if the race boils down to the question of whether or not Bush has lied to America, Kerry has ample evidence. I don't think there's a court in the country that could convict him of slander.
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