Stories by Leslie Savan
Leslie Savan is the author of Slam Dunks and No-Brainers: Language in Your Life, the Media, Business, Politics, and, Like, Whatever.
Posted on Oct 30, 2011, Source: The Nation
Conservatives can't make up their mind: is Halloween Satanic or an all-American tradition being sabotaged by immigrants?
Posted on Sep 12, 2011, Source: The Nation
Let's hope Obama's combative tone on the jobs bill does not dissipate and his principled policies melt into Republican-lite mush.
Posted on Jul 14, 2011, Source: The Nation
We know the shady dealings of Rupert Murdoch's UK papers, but what have the Fox News executives been up to on Murdoch's dime?
Posted on Apr 10, 2011, Source: The Nation
Glenn Beck's paranoid populism begins to look suspect when the angry populace is rising up against the GOP's corporate, union-busting agenda.
Posted on Jan 23, 2011, Source: The Nation
All of us would like for Sarah Palin to just go away. But if we just averted our eyes, we'd would not be dealing with political reality.
Posted on Jan 11, 2011, Source: The Nation
Giffords' Tea Party election opponent: "Get on Target for Victory in November. Help remove Gabrielle Giffords from office. Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly."
Posted on Dec 31, 2010, Source: TheNation.com
When it comes to rhetoric that evokes strong imagery, rouses emotion, and can roll over inconvenient facts and memories, the Red State words tend to outshout the Blue ones.
Posted on Oct 15, 2010, Source: The Nation
The cool kid bullied the uncool kids in the Stewart/Sanchez affair, while CNN, like a cowed principal, ran from the crossfire.
Posted on Sep 26, 2010, Source: The Nation
The Beltway flipped out over Stephen Colbert's appearance before Congress. No wonder -- he's not afraid to take on the establishment.
Posted on Sep 23, 2010, Source: The Nation
Why the media -- and probably more voters than we like to think -- find her bewitching.
Posted on Jul 27, 2010, Source: The Nation
The real creeps are those in the media who excuse the role played by Breitbart, Fox News, and the Tea Party blogosphere in smearing Sherrod as a racist.
Posted on Jun 6, 2010, Source: The Nation
The Fox message appears to have been ringing less true to the general public just as the Tea Party has begun to fail at the ballot box.
Posted on Apr 14, 2010, Source: TheNation.com
CNN beefs up with the angry white man punditry, this time with RedState.com's Erick Erickson.
Posted on Apr 4, 2010, Source: The Nation
Fox news realizes that the best way to defend right-wing victories is to keep American politics in a state of chaos, with tea parties and fresh social outrages at every turn.
Posted on Jan 14, 2010, Source: TheNation.com
Mix Palin's tendency to "go rogue" and burn bridges with her colleagues to her poor early performances on Fox, and the channel could have a disaster on its hands.
Posted on Aug 15, 2009, Source: The Nation
Has CNN's government-out-of-my-face bloviator actually had a change of heart when it comes to Obama's health plan?
Posted on Jun 22, 2009, Source: The Nation
The Iran protests have thrown Republican ideologues into such a tizzy of circular logic that they're stepping on their own propaganda.
Posted on May 23, 2009, Source: The Nation
While we're enthralled by Obama's elegance and reason, Cheney waits like a troll under a bridge, watching for the slightest misstep.
Posted on May 13, 2009, Source: TheNation.com
Mexicans have recently been the prime target of the most rancid typecasting in the media -- can more racist violence be far behind?
Posted on May 5, 2009, Source: TheNation.com
What sort of psychological bent would lead people to want to be part of a dead-end political party like the GOP has become?
Posted on Apr 3, 2009, Source: The Nation
In search of a scandal, the media blows hot air about President Obama's overseas etiquette instead of actually covering the G-20 summit.
Posted on Mar 21, 2009, Source: TheNation.com
The president handled his guest appearance on Leno with his usual charm. But we want to know more about why Geithner inspires his confidence.
Posted on Dec 22, 2008, Source: TheNation.com
Corporate media swerved faster from the meaning of the flying footwear than Bush did from the shoe itself.
Posted on Dec 13, 2008, Source: TheNation.com
From cowboy to cowed boy, W. crawls outta Crawford for yet another image re-do.
Posted on Jun 5, 2006, Source: Boston Globe
Why have Bush's verbal misgivings received so much adulatory press attention -- when he's just rehashing the same tired pop phrases from 17 months ago?
Posted on Nov 11, 2005, Source: AlterNet
Pop language is the difference between 'old hat' and 'so five minutes ago.'
Posted on May 26, 2000, Source: AlterNet
Enormous billboards -- sometimes covering whole sides of buildings and their windows -- are going up all over the nation. Finally a group of ad jammers is doing something quite clever to stop it.
