John McIntyre, whom James Wolcott called "the Dave Brubeck of the art and craft of copy editing," writes on language, editing, journalism, and random topics. Identifying his errors relieves him of the burden of omniscience. Write to jemcintyre@gmail.com, befriend at Facebook, or follow at Twitter: @johnemcintyre. His original "You Don't Say" blog at The Baltimore Sun ran from 2005 to 2021, and posts on it can sometimes be found at baltimoresun.com through Google searches.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Three things the Vatican could learn from Richard Nixon
1. Yes, some people dislike you and take glee in your misfortune. Do not give them ammunition; they will use it.
2. Not everyone, however, who reports on what you did – or failed to do – is an enemy, and, anyhow, facts are facts.
3. Cover-ups magnify and spread the initial crime.
I think Mike is slightly askew; I'm not Catholic, but I believe that only messages declared as ex cathedra are by definition infallible, and they have to be issued in the name of the Pope. And I still haven't figured out how to get past the anonymous post - Dave
I wish that the Pope might read this. And all the bishops. And all Catholics. We can't just leave this problem to Daddy.
jim: Do you know Kipling's Poem "Norman and Saxon"? It is the dying message of a Norman Baron to his son, A.D. 1100. He tells his son how to rule Saxons... and ends, "*never* you tell them a lie!"
I'm not sure the Vatican is accustomed to having to do serious PR work like this. Their pronouncements are more usually, as they say, ex cathedra. :-)
ReplyDeleteThree posts in one day - is this a record?
ReplyDeleteNever, never, NEVER, lie.
ReplyDeleteI think Mike is slightly askew; I'm not Catholic, but I believe that only messages declared as ex cathedra are by definition infallible, and they have to be issued in the name of the Pope.
ReplyDeleteAnd I still haven't figured out how to get past the anonymous post - Dave
I wish that the Pope might read this.
ReplyDeleteAnd all the bishops.
And all Catholics. We can't just leave this problem to Daddy.
jim: Do you know Kipling's Poem "Norman and Saxon"? It is the dying message of a Norman Baron to his son, A.D. 1100. He tells his son how to rule Saxons... and ends, "*never* you tell them a lie!"
4. Shaving once a day is insuficient.
ReplyDelete