Memo: This is getting trite

ADKbrown · **Posted:** Wed Apr 30, 2003 10:10 am

Start of Friedman column:Memo to: President Bush, the White House
From: Saddam Hussein, in a Baghdad basement
Well, you sure ruined my birthday. . . . O.K., you won, and your prize is Iraq. Are you ready for it? I don't think so. Truth is, I hope you fail. But because my people have suffered enough, I'll give you a few tips on how to run this place, before you make a total mess:*I think he has used this "memo" device at least a half-dozen times in the past year.*

Phillip Blanchard · **Posted:** Wed Apr 30, 2003 1:14 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by ADKbrown:
*I think he has used this "memo" device at least a half-dozen times in the past year.*<hr></blockquote>***To know that, you would have had to look at Friedman's column regularly.***

ADKbrown · **Posted:** Wed Apr 30, 2003 5:10 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by blanp:
***To know that, you would have had to look at Friedman's column regularly.***<hr></blockquote>I confess.Did a google search. This has been going on longer than I thought. No doubt a Nexus search could find more examples:By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Memo from: President Bill Clinton
To: Yasir ArafatBy THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Memo From: Osama bin Laden
To: all field operativesBy THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Memo to: Bashar al-Assad, president of Syria
From: Bill ClintonBy THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Memo to: President Bush
From: A pro-American Arab leader

Bakelite · **Posted:** Thu May 01, 2003 9:26 am

By DEAN BETZ
Memo to: Thomas L. Friedman
From: A frequent readerYou've used the tired "Memo to" technique 14 times since August 1996, based on a not-very-careful search on nytimes.com. I think it's safe to say that it is time to give it a rest.

ToddJBehme · **Posted:** Thu May 01, 2003 10:45 am

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Dean Betz:
By DEAN BETZ
Memo to: Thomas L. Friedman
From: A frequent readerYou've used the tired "Memo to" technique 14 times since August 1996, based on a not-very-careful search on nytimes.com. I think it's safe to say that it is time to give it a rest.<hr></blockquote>If that figure is right or in the ballpark, that's barely more than twice a year. I'm sure Royko used his Slats Grobnik device more often than that, and I don't recall anyone criticizing him for it. (Admittedly his column appeared more frequently than Friedman's.)[ May 01, 2003: Message edited by: Todd J. Behme ]

Bakelite · **Posted:** Thu May 01, 2003 10:57 am

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Todd J. Behme:

Royko used his Slats Grobnik device more often than that
[ May 01, 2003: Message edited by: Todd J. Behme ]<hr></blockquote>Royko was a joke for much of his career. Friedman is supposed to be a serious columnist.

Earl · **Posted:** Thu May 01, 2003 11:01 am

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Todd J. Behme:
If that figure is right or in the ballpark, that's barely more than twice a year. I'm sure Royko used his Slats Grobnik device more often than that, and I don't recall anyone criticizing him for it. (Admittedly his column appeared more frequently than Friedman's.)[ May 01, 2003: Message edited by: Todd J. Behme ]<hr></blockquote>Not for nothing, but I am fairly sure that Mike Royko hasn't written a single word in the past 6 years or so.

ToddJBehme · **Posted:** Thu May 01, 2003 11:02 am

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Dean Betz:
Royko was a joke for much of his career. Friedman is supposed to be a serious columnist.<hr></blockquote>Royko was a joke? How can you defend that assertion?

Bakelite · **Posted:** Thu May 01, 2003 11:05 am

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Todd J. Behme:
Royko was a joke? How can you defend that assertion?<hr></blockquote>We're not called "testy" for nothin'.

jmcg · **Posted:** Thu May 01, 2003 6:14 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Dean Betz:
Royko was a joke for much of his career. Friedman is supposed to be a serious columnist.<hr></blockquote>Even in Royko's better days, which would include the period after "Boss," his 1971 book about the original Richard Daley and extend through Daley's death in 1976, into the Jane Byrne era of the early 1980s, his "Slats" columns were humorous in their intent. I don't recall Royko making serious points in Slats' voice.As for Friedman, I'd argue that the "memo" approach nevr works when the sender and recipient would never communicate that way -- e.g. Bush and Hussein. A more innovative use of a still stale trick might be:Memo to Rich Santorum
From Trent LottSo, you wanna end up like me, eh?

Bakelite · **Posted:** Fri May 02, 2003 7:37 am

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by jmcg, who passes along well-informed views on Mike Royko:
... Royko's better days ... into the Jane Byrne era of the early 1980s ...<hr></blockquote>Which would have been a very good time for Mike and Slats to retire together to Arizona, rather than continuing to write on and on until he shamed his earlier fine work.Friedman should retire the memo crutch and move on. Rain failed to dampen? Like Rodney Dangerfield?[ May 02, 2003: Message edited by: Dean Betz ]

ToddJBehme · **Posted:** Fri May 02, 2003 10:08 am

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Dean Betz:
Which would have been a very good time for Mike and Slats to retire together to Arizona, rather than continuing to write on and on until he shamed his earlier fine work.Friedman should retire the memo crutch and move on. Rain failed to dampen? Like Rodney Dangerfield?[ May 02, 2003: Message edited by: Dean Betz ]<hr></blockquote>I guess we can only hope that a three-time Pulitzer winner checks TCE for advice.[ May 02, 2003: Message edited by: Todd J. Behme ][ May 02, 2003: Message edited by: Todd J. Behme ][ May 02, 2003: Message edited by: Todd J. Behme ]

Bakelite · **Posted:** Fri May 02, 2003 12:15 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Todd J. Behme:
I guess we can only hope that a three-time Pulitzer winner checks TCE for advice.[ May 02, 2003: Message edited by: Todd J. Behme ]
[ May 02, 2003: Message edited by: Todd J. Behme ]
[ May 02, 2003: Message edited by: Todd J. Behme ]<hr></blockquote>A boy can dream, can't he?Which of the "memo" columns won a Pulitzer?[ May 02, 2003: Message edited by: Dean Betz ]

ToddJBehme · **Posted:** Fri May 02, 2003 4:31 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Dean Betz:
A boy can dream, can't he?Which of the "memo" columns won a Pulitzer?[ May 02, 2003: Message edited by: Dean Betz ]<hr></blockquote>Friedman won the Pulitzer for commentary in 2002. At the Pulitzer site I found what must be the group of columns for which he won. One begins:Memo from: President Bush
To: Sheik Saleh al-Sheikh, Saudi Arabia's minister of Islamic affairs

Phillip Blanchard · **Posted:** Fri May 02, 2003 4:55 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by Todd J. Behme:
Friedman won the Pulitzer for commentary in 2002. At the Pulitzer site I found what must be the group of columns for which he won. One begins:Memo from: President Bush
To: Sheik Saleh al-Sheikh, Saudi Arabia's minister of Islamic affairs<hr></blockquote>... which just goes to show you that the Pulitzers aren't what they used to be. Wait. They never were.

Guest · **Posted:** Sun May 04, 2003 3:01 pm

<blockquote>quote:<hr>Originally posted by blanp:
... which just goes to show you that the Pulitzers aren't what they used to be. Wait. They never were.<hr></blockquote>Royko won the Pulitzer for commentary in 1972.
That award, though, is said to have been payback of sorts for his not getting it in 1969, for his columns on the '68 Chicago convention, and as an acknowledgment of his book. That's what wrong, or among what's wrong, with the Pulitzers, the politics and the horse trading.When he did win, Royko had this to say:"Newspaper awards are meaningless now and they will be as long as only stars are recognized.
An award will have meaning to me when it seeks
out the sparkle that most people never see, the rewrite men, the copy editors and the reporters who rarely get bylines. Those are the guys who make a daily newspaper work."The message board here could overflow, of course,
with speculation on how much of this Royko truly meant. I'd like to think it wasn't entirely insincere.Anyway, Dean Betz is right about Royko retiring
long before he pissed away so much of his credibility. Problem is, he wouldn't have retired
with Slats, or not with Slats alone. Jack and Jim

Testy Copy Editors

Memo: This is getting trite

Who is online

What They're Saying

Useful Links