Blog Postings

In the 1982 movie “Diner,” the character played by a young Mickey Rourke is struggling with paying off money owed to a bookie on past lost bets. He decides to place a wager on a college basketball game he believes is a sure winner as a way to clear the debt. An adult friend of

Donald Trump has declared that the presidential election is likely to be rigged. Here is his chance to do something about it. As Washington turns inward to begin its all-important — some might say elitist — debate as to which media superstars get to referee the fall presidential debates, GOP nominee Trump has already voiced

In April, the media company Gannett announced it was spinning off its publishing business and would run its broadcasting and digital units under the new corporate name “Tegna.” Not to be outdone, in June the Tribune Publishing Company — which Gannett was trying to acquire — renamed itself “Tronc,” which it declared stood for “a

Since the media’s dream of a brokered Republican presidential convention has turned to fizz, the possibilities of additional arias in the presidential opera are dwindling as the curtain begins to close on the spring season. The Libertarian Party — in a contested presidential convention the media once projected for Republicans — took two ballots to

After Donald Trump decisively won the Indiana primary, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, along with others, started referring to the victor as the presumptive GOP presidential nominee. Some joined in the call to rally behind Trump. His last two standing rivals — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich — suspended their

Be careful what you ask for: both presidential nominating races are as muddled as the media have long fantasized they might be. Two states completely unreflective of the country at large -— Iowa and New Hampshire — took their swings at the presidential nominating process. It is still a delightful mess. The next two states

Pre-vote debates are over. Countdown to presidential clarity/semi-historic confusion begins with the rapidly approaching Iowa caucus carnival, followed by a trio of contests as different as the last four NFL teams that vied for the 2016 Super Bowl. We know the goal line: the White House. Thus the four quarters to be played: the Republican

The lights from the party boats on the Mon twinkled merrily off the water as the clocks ticked closer to the new year. It was merely cool at Point Park in Pittsburgh, far from the bone chilling of an 8:30 p.m. game at Heinz Field. In the other direction, in a luminary concert, were the

A few years after my arrival as a Washington reporter, it finally happened: the president of the United States called on me at a White House press conference in the East Room. Live on national television, the Great Communicator himself, Ronald Reagan, pointed at me and bade me to proceed. So I did. I asked

It was a fascinating campaign swing. There was “The Tonight Show” and Michael Bolton. There was a reception in a swank hotel where those attending stuffed food in their pockets and where two guys hired escorts to be their dates in order to appear classy. The next day, there was a museum event and a

The road doesn’t care if you are young or old, male or female, rich or poor. The road is there for you, to calm you and excite you, to take you back home and to familiar places to lead to new paths of adventure, discovery and joy. To let the explorer in you explore. When

As the plethora of presidential candidates continues to swell, sending debate planners into conniptions and launching heavy breathing over meaningless polls, the lineups of both parties feature what has become a political certainty: one-time presidential nomination hopefuls taking another shot to win it all. Or, as they are sometimes dubbed: bridesmaids. So let’s clear up