tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post4090206694261319544..comments2024-03-28T15:05:10.372-05:00Comments on Every goddamn day: 03/28/24: How Billy Graham got me firedNeil Steinberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-76742112598608408252019-02-14T08:50:56.205-06:002019-02-14T08:50:56.205-06:00Wheaton college, pfff, fanatics. Wheaton college, pfff, fanatics. Privatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10757585399827295128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-67099779487685382342019-02-14T08:48:09.181-06:002019-02-14T08:48:09.181-06:00yes, fanatics who think only the evangel. are love...yes, fanatics who think only the evangel. are lovedPrivatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10757585399827295128noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-10837055780563376012018-02-24T13:14:46.168-06:002018-02-24T13:14:46.168-06:00I watched some TV news about Graham from doctors w...I watched some TV news about Graham from doctors waiting rooms. The visuals of the evangelist were telling. The bible, always in his hand when he is actually reading from a script on the podium he stands behind. His book is opened to an early chapter, held in his left hand but away from the lectern. I wish the audio was of the speech, not the reporters voice over, then I could tell if he was preaching Exodus or the new testament. The bible raised high while he claims the only salvation is through Jesus Christ, guess that leaves you out, Neil. Of course your tribes' faith that has kept you strong through millennia, yet you have no need to tout its' superiority to the countless other faiths, current or extinct. Evangelism lacks humility which puts to question its' christian nature. JPnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-14812234110753430332018-02-22T22:02:35.742-06:002018-02-22T22:02:35.742-06:00What NS did might have rated a warning, a repriman...What NS did might have rated a warning, a reprimand, or a suspension. It was hardly a firing offense. Perhaps the employers were already looking for an excuse, valid or otherwise. They believed they'd found one, and in the end, that's all that mattered. Game over. My uncle had a sign in his office: "The boss may not always be right...but he's the boss." <br /><br />One of my most memorable bosses was a Captain Queeg, and it was suspected that she, too, was playing with a short deck. It was small comfort to me that hundreds of others also went down when the ship finally sank. In another week or so, it'll be forty years.<br /><br />Not long afterward, she died. Brain tumor at 43. Draw your own conclusions. I drew mine when I read her obit in the Sun-Times.Grizz 65noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-86635107839009731572018-02-22T18:18:00.857-06:002018-02-22T18:18:00.857-06:00Thanks for the clarification. You can tell I'm...Thanks for the clarification. You can tell I'm not a journalist.<br /><br />TomTomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09641357239788323783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-48370878842848646732018-02-22T17:51:03.393-06:002018-02-22T17:51:03.393-06:00Will was writing a column. An obituary is a unique...Will was writing a column. An obituary is a unique form. It isn't a place for polemic. Graham's central failing is clear, driven home by the Martin Marty quote. His anti-Semitic cheerleading is also clear. No need to underline it. The readers may draw their own conclusions. Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-58260406307415727722018-02-22T15:38:31.600-06:002018-02-22T15:38:31.600-06:00I understand why they fired you. And also agree th...I understand why they fired you. And also agree that white bread Wheaton was no place for you to spread your journalistic wings. I commented yesterday with a suggestion that you might have gone easy on the Rev Billy in your obit. I reread it in the paper this morning and agree that it was balanced. Not quite 'warts and all,' but appropriately respectful while sufficiently revealing of the man's faults. I continue to be amused at the irony of a politically liberal journalist such as yourself treading somewhat lightly while right wing ideologue George Will plays the iconoclast.<br /><br />Tom Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09641357239788323783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-71705515257814907402018-02-22T13:24:22.095-06:002018-02-22T13:24:22.095-06:00They did. I have a photo of Graham and myself -- m...They did. I have a photo of Graham and myself -- maybe I'll dig it out. As for your second question, I would guess: at least.Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-23245719918045011942018-02-22T13:23:47.421-06:002018-02-22T13:23:47.421-06:00Yes, the editorial page editor, where the column a...Yes, the editorial page editor, where the column appeared. My boss only read it in print. A reminder that newspapers were bare-boned operations BEFORE the internet. Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-71010405774960247712018-02-22T13:16:54.209-06:002018-02-22T13:16:54.209-06:00Granted I’m rather obtuse about these sorts of thi...Granted I’m rather obtuse about these sorts of things, but even still, I can’t belive they considered obvious satire a fire-able offense. <br /><br />To get more on topic; I’ve seen reports that based on tax filings, his son Franklin draws an $800,000 salary from his charity, is that true? Interested Observerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04686192811380975495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-42110816825284379232018-02-22T12:21:52.179-06:002018-02-22T12:21:52.179-06:00Meaning no one read your copy before it was printe...Meaning no one read your copy before it was printed?<br /><br />I've been in that situation several times in my own career. It never led to my getting fired, but it wasn't a comfortable feeling. Bitter Scribehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04645909858616987997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-69770249051357214112018-02-22T11:05:42.409-06:002018-02-22T11:05:42.409-06:00Good story. Funny, I was wondering about what the ...Good story. Funny, I was wondering about what the real Billy Graham was like when I accidentally came across your article. You answered a lot of questions I've had for the last two decades. Thanks.BobSoundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08549481927599055388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-23996822942498922552018-02-22T11:05:41.289-06:002018-02-22T11:05:41.289-06:00I didn't get the offensiveness either, althoug...I didn't get the offensiveness either, although I was very much around during that time, in Vietnam actually in 1965. But clueless as usual, I thought Col. Ky was an abbreviation for the Kentucky Colonel Sanders and that Hunt and Rebozo were named because they were Nixon's buddies. Ah, time flies and memories fade away.<br /><br />johntatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10088632798195131329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-11736746208304399382018-02-22T10:56:42.114-06:002018-02-22T10:56:42.114-06:00The flaw in that logic Bitter Scribe is this: I wa...The flaw in that logic Bitter Scribe is this: I was the editor. Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-86425830030126309472018-02-22T10:41:15.981-06:002018-02-22T10:41:15.981-06:00It's nice that being fired worked out for you,...It's nice that being fired worked out for you, but your employers could have saved themselves a lot of trouble, and retained a good employee, if they had just removed that line from the column before it ran instead of letting it run and then turning on you.Bitter Scribehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04645909858616987997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-10327266326770695572018-02-22T09:42:18.600-06:002018-02-22T09:42:18.600-06:00It put her in the realm of these shadowy 1960s fig...It put her in the realm of these shadowy 1960s figures. Colonel Ky was a disreputable South Vietnamese officer. The Hunt brothers had cornered the silver market. Bebe Rebozo was Nixon's bagman. Neil Steinberghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11468057838260476480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3972382144120426476.post-91723946301147917372018-02-22T08:32:23.846-06:002018-02-22T08:32:23.846-06:00You’ll have to dumb it down for me, what was offen...You’ll have to dumb it down for me, what was offensive about the joke? Interested Observerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04686192811380975495noreply@blogger.com