The Value of Minor Candidates

They can spur discussion of important issues that major candidates avoid talking about for fear of alienating voters.

They can give voters who feel marginalized a reason to go to the polls and participate.

And they can bring much-needed class and levity to elections that are often known for negative campaigning.

Here is gubenatorial candidate Tim John with my favorite campaign commercial this year (h/t Zach W):

Sarah Palin Is Our Lewis Carroll

Sarah Palin has taken a lot of heat for coining the word "refudiate" recently.  She was also ridiculed for citing Shakespeare's coining of words.

I think it would be more appropriate to compare her to Lewis Carroll, whose word Jabberwocky gave us the verb "chortle" (a cross between a chuckle and a snort).

We already know that Palin is a poet at heart.  Her tweets have been called "Alaskan beat poetry" and recited by Emmy-award winning thespian (and former Shakespearean actor) William Shatner.



There are plenty of reasons to criticize Sarah Palin's statements.  Her inventive language, however, should not be the focus of criticism.

Illy-T is My Hero.

Notice the elegant use of written English in this post.

Sigh.  It's almost as good as reading a Jane Austen novel.

A Primer on the Use of Who and Whom

I'm clearly becoming a curmudgeon in my middle age.  I'm finding it increasingly annoying that no one seems to use the word "whom" anymore.  I'm not just talking about bloggers; I'm talking about print journalists and even novelists.

It's really not that difficult to understand when to use "whom" instead of "who." 

"Who" is the subject of a verb (the one doing the action).  "Whom" is the object (the one to whom the action is being done).

Here's a simple test.  Can you substitute "he" in place of "who" in your sentence and have it sound correct?  Do you need to substitute "him" instead?  "He" is to "who" as "him" is to "whom." 

I'll give a shout-out to any blogger whom I see use the word "whom" correctly.