“21 Losing Its Buzz,” Ellis Henican Column, am/New York, July 24, 2009 Somewhere in America, there may be a college student who is dissuaded from drinking by Legal Age 21. It’s a big country, you know. But exactly 25 years after Washington turned 18-, 19- and 20-year-old drinkers into criminals, the evidence is piling up [...]
“Let’s Reinvent the Process,” Ellis Henican Sunday Column, Newsday, July 19, 2009 She spoke in tones as flat as a law book. She was as difficult to ruffle as the court’s wooden bench. In day after day of direct interrogation, the nation learned barely anything. So Sonya Sotomayor had a very successful week. Try as [...]
“Just Don’t Get Sick,” Ellis Henican Column, am/New York, July 17, 2009 There’s a perfect solution to America’s crisis in health care. It’s as apt for today’s insurance-choked system as it will be if Obama-care ever becomes law. Don’t get sick. I promise: If you never get sick, you’ll be all right. As for the [...]
“What’s News? Plenty!” Ellis Henican Sunday Column, Newsday, July 12, 2009 Palin’s quitting. Jackson’s gone. Espada’s partying again with Democrats. Who says the news has no surprises left? So much of what passes for news these days is purposely contrived – PR-created, pre-digested and focus-grouped to death. In some news cycles, it seems, the publicists [...]
All Calm in Albany — Right Now,” Ellis Henican Column, am/New York, July 10, 2009 For now. You always have to add that phrase to any discussion of politics in Albany. For now. Pedro Espada Jr., the volatile pol whose penchant for party flipping has made the state Senate look even more ridiculous than usual, [...]
“Where There’s a Will,” Ellis Henican Sunday Column, Newsday, July 5, 2009 The Michael Jackson story isn’t just a selfindulgent celeb-fest to goose the ratings. Emphasis on the “just.” As with many boldfaced tragedies — Mark Sanford’s infidelity crisis, Sarah Palin’s once-promising career — actual life lessons can be found inside the latest TMZ reports. [...]
“This Is America,” Ellis Henican Column, am/NewYork, July 3, 2009 California’s paying its employees with Mickey Mouse money. That’s America. Minnesota has a new senator, just in time for his re-election campaign. That’s America. Mississippi is still the fattest, but Alabama’s closing the flab gap fast. That’s America. Mark Sanford is suffering from a dual [...]
“In Death, Jacko’s Flaws ‘Beat It,’” Ellis Henican Sunday Column, Newsday, June 28, 2009, p. 2 Never speak ill of the freshly dead. So deeply embedded is that dictum, people attend funerals of relatives they hated and priests deliver eulogies for mobsters and hoods. Well, watch as the dictum is tested now. Michael Jackson was [...]
“The Curse of 2012,” Ellis Henican Column, am/New York, June 26, 2009 Mark Sanford got caught with an Argentine mistress. Bobby Jindal opened his mouth. John Ensign two-timed with a one-time staffer. By this point, Sarah Palin’s personal calamties are almost too numerous to name. It’s the Republican Curse of 2012. Who else dares to [...]
“Etiquette Enforcement,” Ellis Henican Blog, “The Huffington Post,” June 24, 2009 The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has officially decided we’re not polite enough. They should know, right? These are the people who have done so much to coarsen the local language with expressions like “The train will be moving shortly” (yeah, right!) and “I have no [...]
ELLIS HENICAN is a columnist at Newsday and a political analyst on the Fox News Channel. He also hosts a nationally syndicated weekend show on Talk Radio Network, is author of a New York Times Bestseller, and is the voice of “Stormy” on the hit Cartoon Network series “Sealab 2021.”
