Words, overused

There are words, or phrases, which come into currency, and which may sound interesting or pleasing, for a time--but then become widely, conspicuously overused. As such, they lose whatever appealing qualities they might originally have had.

A number of such words have roots, interestingly, in science, or math. 

One hears often today, for example, the use of the word "ecosystem"--but divorced from its biologic-related meaning, and used, rather, in political, entertainment, or social contexts. 

I hear the word used with regularity on news and discussion shows on television, and see it often in print reporting--concerning, say, the Washington, D.C. ecosystem, the political ecosystem at-large, etc.

A January 28, 2024 piece in The Atlantic, online, referred to actress Dakota Johnson's "keen sense of her own place in the celebrity ecosystem..."

The November 2023 issue of Philadelphia magazine, in its annual list of the most influential Philadelphians, wrote of two figures from the city's Lenfest Institute for Journalism who have "been making waves within the city's media ecosystem..."

A November 2023 piece in The New Yorker said that "independent publishers and nonprofits such as W.W. Norton and Graywolf Press seek to carve out their own niche in this [publishing] ecosystem by [focusing] on books with small but ardent audiences..."

A December, 2023 Atlantic piece had this sub-headline: "The veil lifted on the remarkable ecosystem that fuels Republican activism."

A February, 2024 Boston Globe piece concerned the shutting down of an area alcohol delivery service. "The surprise announcement," the Globe reporter wrote, "was a hit to the Boston startup ecosystem..."

Other terms--once generally associated with math or science--are used regularly, in print and in broadcast media, in a political context:  one hears, often, about the metrics of a political race; the optics of a candidate's event or speech; the ways a politician seeks to replicate that which occurred in a previous election; the political calculus made by someone seeking office, or seeking to remain in office.

There are additional terms which have in recent years been used to excess: the "unpacking" of the particulars of a story, a life, or an issue, or undertaking a "deep dive" into a certain subject.

One of the words which has been invoked endlessly--for many years--in broadcast news, interview, and panel programs, in newspapers and magazines, in TV advertisements, and in daily conversations, is a term from the nautical realm: navigating. 

Today, the use of navigating has become ubiquitous.

Everyone, it seems, is constantly navigating.

We're all, evidently, Magellan.

I'm not saying a great many people are not routinely navigating--but I wish the near-reflexive usage of the word would recede.

Here are a few examples, from print stories.

"No question the royal family is navigating rough waters." (USA Today, May 6, 2023)

"In his new book 'Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America,' [Steve Inskeep] recounts how the 16th president navigated deep political discord." (Boston Globe, Sept. 27, 2023)

A sub-headline, in a New York Times story (Jan. 8, 2024): "With little time to spare before a shutdown deadline, Speaker Mike Johnson will have to navigate the same political currents that did in his predecessor."

The headline of a New York Times story (April 7, 2024) concerned Princess Reema Bandar al-Saud, the Saudi ambassador to the United States (and daughter of the former Saudi ambassador, Prince Bandar bin Sultan): "Princess Reema, Bandar's Daughter, Navigates Rough Waters in Washington."

"The Philadelphia-based radio company [Audacy], which owns hundreds of stations nationwide, is grappling with $1.9 billion in debt while navigating an advertising slump." (Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan. 4, 2024)

There is also this:

For years, reporters and analysts/commentators, when writing about or discussing politics, would note that certain political figures were engaged in a form of performance--a version of performance art, perhaps, or political theatre, political theatrics--as opposed to engaging substantively with issues.

Today, such terms have been replaced, quite often, by one word:  performative--as in, a performative style of legislating, or, rather, the absence of legislating; the performative style predominating, in lieu of tangible accomplishment.

As far as I can tell, the usage of "performative" has been in particular vogue for the past couple of years.

It is actually a good word, and has, I must note, been used by many writers and commentators for whom I have admiration.  The word, indeed, has an appealing, concise flavor to it--yet I think it is being relied upon far too often.  

The journalist Mark Leibovich--one of today's best, most interesting political reporters and analysts--wrote about Governor Ron DeSantis, not long after DeSantis's 2023 announcement of his presidential candidacy. Mr. Leibovich wrote that "DeSantis is the ultimate performative politician when it comes to demonstrating outrage and 'kneecapping' various woke abuses--but not so much when it comes to the actual in-person performance of politics." (The Atlantic,  June 3, 2023)

The prominent and talented columnist Maureen Dowd wrote of Donald Trump's 2023 arrival in Georgia, for his arraignment and booking, on charges that he and his co-defendants sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election: "Thursday night was performative for Trump: sweeping in with his private jet and giant motorcade that screamed two-tiered justice system, with law enforcement clearing the Atlanta streets, like centurions clearing the way for Caesar." (The New York Times, August 26, 2023)

The very fine columnist David Brooks wrote, of GOP presidential primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy: "His statements are brisk, in-your-face provocations intended to produce temporary populist dopamine highs. It's all performative show." (The New York Times, August 23, 2023) 

On Anderson Cooper's May 9, 2024 CNN broadcast, the conversation with his panel, that night, focused on the Trump criminal trial.  The discussion included analysis of the defense's harsh cross-examination of prosecution witness Stormy Daniels.

Mr. Cooper (whose on-air reporting/hosting/interviewing I enjoy) said the following:  " ...there was a lot of talk today that this was performative, perhaps for Donald Trump...or at least at the behest of Donald Trump."

On Laura Coates's May 21, 2024 evening broadcast, the CNN host (who is also the network's chief legal analyst; she is a former federal prosecutor, and former attorney in private practice) spoke with her panel of the upcoming closing arguments in the Trump trial. She said: "I mean, this is the time that a lot of lawyers become all the more performative, right? They are trying to shine..."

Though I hear the term used most often by journalists and commentators, at least two politicians I am aware of have made use of the word. "[Former Vice President Mike] Pence defined Republican populism as a trading away of time-honored principles for raw political power.  He said populists trafficked in 'personal grievances and performative outrage.' " (The New York Times, Sept. 6, 2023)  And The Washington Post, on May 31, 2024, reported this, regarding an appearance by Maryland Republican Senatorial candidate (and former Governor) Larry Hogan, at a Pikesville, Maryland retirement community:

"I don't come from the performative arts school of politics," Hogan told the crowd, reminding them of alliances he formed as governor with Democratic state lawmakers to reduce taxes.

"I come from the 'get to work, get things done' school, and I will work with anyone who wants to do the people's business."

Or this: when it was announced, early this year, that Jon Stewart was returning to Comedy Central, to host The Daily Show one night per week, Chris McCarthy, president and CEO of Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios, released this statement: "In our age of staggering hypocrisy and performative politics, Jon is the perfect person to puncture the empty rhetoric and provide much-needed clarity with his brilliant wit." (Philadelphia Inquirer, Jan. 24, 2024)

In short, I think that the use of "performative" (as with many of the previously discussed words, above) has, lately, come to feel a bit tiresome.  I think the term should be employed with greater restraint--or perhaps should be shelved altogether.

(The above post was slightly edited on June 12, 2024)

D-Day: the 80th anniversary

D-Day--one of the most consequential events in the history of America, and the world--took place June 6, 1944, eighty years ago today. 

The picture, above, shows the inside of a newspaper I have--the New York tabloid paper the Daily Mirror.  The paper--and other D-Day newspapers--were given to me, during my childhood, by (I believe) my maternal grandparents.

Memorial Day

On Memorial Day, yesterday, I watched--again--Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, from 1998. 

It was--as on previous viewings--harrowing, brutal, inspiring, brilliant.

Watching the film, and (to a non-veteran) its unforgettable depictions of warfare, and soldiering, felt like a meaningful way to spend part of the holiday.

Dolores Rosedale, a/k/a Roxanne

On May 19th, The New York Times published an obituary of Dolores Rosedale--whose name I was not familiar with. 

The story's headline read: "Dolores Rosedale, Who Found Fame as a Game-Show Sidekick, Dies at 95."  She died in Spring Park, Minnesota, not far from Minneapolis.

The story's secondary headline explained that Ms. Rosedale was the model and actress better known as Roxanne--a name I do know.  She was a widely-known figure in early television.

From 1950 until 1955, she was featured (with host Bud Collyer) on the CBS game show Beat the Clock--a show, the Times obituary noted, "in which contestants raced to finish stunts against time limits."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roxanne, on cover of Feb. 1951 "T-V Stars" magazine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As Times reporter Richard Sandomir wrote: "Roxanne's role didn't require her to say much at first.  She posed with the prizes and took pictures of contestants as they carried out their stunts.  She later introduced the contestants."

The obituary continued:

"But her poise and glamour--and perhaps, the polka-dot ballet costume she sometimes wore--helped her break out."

She was seen on the covers of Life, Look and TV Guide magazines, among others.

Roxanne, 1951, inside cover of "T-V Stars"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"She reached a pop culture pinnacle of sorts in 1952," Mr. Sandomir wrote, "with the appearance of the 18-inch Roxanne doll."

I've included two images of her, above, from the February, 1951 debut issue of a magazine I have, T-V Stars.  The cover photo describes her as "T-V's Most Photogenic Figure." The photo on the inside of the cover shows her holding a camera--presumably the one she used to photograph contestants, as referred to in the Times story.

Roxanne also appeared as an actress in a handful of TV shows and movies, including the 1955 Billy Wilder film The Seven Year Itch (with Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell), and in one Broadway play, A Hatful of Rain, in 1956.

In 1953, while starring on Beat the Clock, she gave an interview to newspaper columnist Earl Wilson, during which she told Mr. Wilson an amusing story about the incomparable Ms. Monroe, concerning a time when Ms. Monroe was modeling. Mr. Sandomir, of the Times, wrote the following about the interview:

Roxanne encountered Marilyn Monroe well before appearing with her in “The Seven Year Itch.”

“It was my first week in New York,” she told Earl Wilson, the syndicated gossip columnist...I’d gone to a wholesale house to model dresses. This girl walked in and started taking off her clothes. She was wearing just a dress, stockings and garter belt, and that’s ALL! I said, ‘Oh, this girl doesn’t know what underwear is.’ ”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/19/arts/television/dolores-rosedale-dead.html?unlocked_article_code=1.uk0.xQHx.HtaxlPw8N8Dv&smid=url-share

"Special"; "Really Special"; "Very Special"

In March of 2018, Anderson Cooper interviewed Stephanie Clifford--better known, because of her adult film career, as Stormy Daniels--on CBS's 60 Minutes.  Ms. Daniels spoke--quite convincingly--of what she alleged was a 2006 sexual encounter with Donald Trump.  

She told Mr. Cooper that at one point, during the evening in question--this was prior to the sexual encounter she said took place--Mr. Trump told her: "Wow, you--you are special."

A few days before the interview with Ms. Daniels aired, Mr. Cooper also interviewed former Playboy model Karen McDougal, on CNN.  She, too, spoke very convincingly of what she said was an approximately ten-month relationship with Mr. Trump in 2006 and 2007.

Ms. McDougal, during the interview, said this, about the first time she said she and Mr. Trump had sexual relations:  "After we had been intimate, he tried to pay me."  She told Mr. Cooper: "I looked at him and said, 'I'm not that type of girl.'"

She continued: "And he said, 'Oh," and he said, 'You're really special."  

Ms. McDougal added: "It hurt me that he saw me in that light."  Yet she continued to see him, she said, during the ensuing months.

On January 6, 2021, nearly three years after Mr. Cooper's interviews with Ms. Daniels and Ms. McDougal, rioters supporting Mr. Trump stormed the United States Capitol, as Congress was in session for the pro forma counting of the ballots of the Electoral College.  Some 140 law enforcement officers were assaulted and injured that day.

Shortly before 1 p.m., on January 6th, the District of Columbia police department declared that a riot was underway on the Capitol grounds.  Not long after 2 p.m., rioters broke through Capitol windows and began entering the building.

It took more than two hours, from that time, for Mr. Trump to ask the insurrectionists, via a video posted on Twitter, to leave the Capitol.  

He said, in the video: "So go home.  We love you.  You're very special." 

An envelope, and letter, from 1952

In the late 1970s, when I began researching and writing about early television, I asked my mother if I could take a lot of what she had stored away, from her New York television career: scripts, recordings, newspaper and magazine clippings, photographs, letters. She didn't mind at all.

The envelope below--one of the items I took, at the time--contains a fan letter she received in January of 1952, while she was singing on the Hit Parade television show, on NBC.  The letter was from a woman in Dallas, Texas.

She wrote, to my mother:

I have been watching you on T.V. ever since we got our set.  At the time you were on Kay Kyser's program.  I have watched you on every program you've been on since.

The writer told her how much she enjoyed her Hit Parade performances, and said she wished she would sing more duets with fellow Hit Parade singer Russell Arms. At the end of the letter, she asked if my mother would send her a photograph. 

The letter is an enjoyable artifact from early television, yet it is the front of the envelope that I find especially interesting.  It had on it my mother's name (her surname appearing to be misspelled, by the way--using only one "t"--as was the case in the salutation of the letter itself), and was sent care of "Your Hit Parade T.V." in New York. The television show's network, and its address, were not included on the envelope.

The letter, as noted, is from 1952, when television was still in its relative infancy.  No doubt a great many such letters, at the time, were sent to television performers, or to network programs in general--and I am guessing that, due to the newness of the medium, it was perhaps not unusual that the addressing of the envelopes did not (as above) always contain complete information.

I wonder if, during this time, the Postal Service--particularly in New York City, where so much of early TV was based--had a system in place for sorting television-oriented mailings, to insure their proper delivery. (At this time, network radio--referred to today as Old-Time Radio--had begun its decline as a medium; maybe Postal Service procedures had existed for years, for similar radio mailings.)

President Biden's comments, on the college protests

This morning, at The White House, President Biden made the following remarks (appropriate, and sound):

Before I head to North Carolina, I wanted to speak a few moments about what’s going on on our college campuses here. 

We’ve all seen the images.  And they put to the test two fundamental American principles.

The first is the right to free speech and for people to peacefully assemble and make their voices heard.  The second is the rule of law.  Both must be upheld. 
 
We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent.  The American people are heard.  In fact, peaceful protest is in the best tradition of how Americans respond to consequential issues. 
 
But — but, neither are we a lawless country.  We are a civil society, and order must prevail. 
 
Throughout our history, we’ve often faced moments like this because we are a big, diverse, free-thinking, and freedom-loving nation. 
 
In moments like this, there are always those who rush in to score political points.  But this isn’t a moment for politics.  It’s a moment for clarity. 
 
So, let me be clear.  Peaceful protest in America — violent protest is not protected; peaceful protest is.  It’s against the law when violence occurs. 
 
Destroying property is not a peaceful protest.  It’s against the law.
 
Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations — none of this is a peaceful protest. 
 
Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest.  It’s against the law.
 
Dissent is essential to democracy.  But dissent must never lead to disorder or to denying the rights of others, so students can finish the semester and their college education.
 
Look, it’s basically a matter of fairness.  It’s a matter of what’s right.  There’s the right to protest but not the right to cause chaos.
 
People have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across the campus safely without fear of being attacked.
 
But let’s be clear about this as well.  There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for antisemitism or threats of violence against Jewish students.  There is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind, whether it’s antisemitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans.
 
It’s simply wrong.  There is no place for racism in America.  It’s all wrong.  It’s un-American. 
 
I understand people have strong feelings and deep convictions.  In America, we respect the right and protect the right for them to express that.  But it doesn’t mean anything goes.  It needs to be done without violence, without destruction, without hate, and within the law.
 
You know, make no mistake: As President, I will always defend free speech.  And I will always be just as strong in standing up for the rule of law.
 
That’s my responsibility to you, the American people, and my obligation to the Constitution.