Bill Kassel's Blog

Anything She Wants

February 13, 2019 By Bill Kassel 7 Comments

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ
BENEFITS FROM CUTENESS

In an episode of the comedy/detective TV series, “Monk,” Adrian Monk’s assistant, Natalie, suggests doing something to gain information that might help solve the week’s mystery. I can’t recall what mystery they were trying to solve or what Natalie suggested, but I do remember her idea was considered so outrageous that she couldn’t possibly get away with it. “I can do anything I want,” she replied serenely, “I’m cute.”

Indeed, Natalie expressed a great truth: Much is allowed — or forgiven — a girl who’s cute.

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Mysterious Ways

February 6, 2019 By Bill Kassel 4 Comments

STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
ANOTHER TRUMPIAN TRIUMPH

The Donald’s bravura performance in his State of the Union Address, and the overwhelming burst of public approval following it, remind us that individuals make history.

Unshaken by the scowling faces of those women in white — indeed, clearly amused by them — the President managed once again to put Democrats on the back foot in their resistance to his Great Wall of Trump. And pretty much everything else as well.

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The Beat Goes On

January 23, 2019 By Bill Kassel 8 Comments

JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS
ABOUT THOSE COVINGTON BOYS

My friend and former Hillsdale College colleague, Dan Bisher, has gained some prominence as a regional historian through his book, Faded Memories, which examines Michigan’s frontier period, as well as through presentations he gives at libraries and schools.

A special focus of his work is the Potawatomi Indian culture that flourished in south-central Michigan until the infamous “Trail of Tears” episode that saw removal of indigenous people to reservations in the American southwest.

Dan’s talks are well attended, and they generate plenty of questions, especially from children, who are always interested in native American life.

Indian lore is a fascination for kids, exposed as they are from a young age to storybooks, TV shows, movies, and school lessons about the earliest residents of the Western Hemisphere. When they learn about the displacement of native culture by European civilization, youngsters tend to feel a special empathy that blends romance, nostalgia and a sense of loss. I dare say no other people have quite the same hold on their hearts as American Indians do.

Which is why I was quite perplexed when I saw the first video images of those Covington, Kentucky, school boys confronted by a native drummer on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

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The Best an Ad Can Get?

January 18, 2019 By Bill Kassel 14 Comments

GILLETTE TRIES TO SELL BY
INSULTING ITS CUSTOMERS

Having worked in advertising, I often puzzle over how certain commercials get approved for production.

Granted, I started in direct marketing, where the effectiveness of any promotion is evaluated by strict, bottom-line measures like number-of-sales and cost-per-order.

But these days it doesn’t seem like an ad is expected to actually sell anything. After having viewed that Prevagen spot a hundred-or-so times, I still don’t get the connection between some ingredient that comes from jellyfish and improving my memory.

Progressive Insurance is probably the worst. They’ve run their “Flo” character into the ground, and their spots just get more abstract and obscure.

Liberty Mutual isn’t far behind. The clever campaign that began with that cute little girl and her car, “Brad,” has been creeping over into silliness lately.

Creative directors need to remind their copywriters that humor in advertising only works when the laugh grows out of the problem that’s solved by buying the product. If you’re just going for the laugh, you may succeed in amusing your viewers, but you won’t sell much.

Then there’s the current trend of social commentary in product ads. Have you noticed all the spots that feature mixed-race families? In a time when marriage and adoption across racial lines is increasingly common, what burning problem does Corporate America think it’s being bold in confronting?

And then there’s Gillette.

To Read, or Not to Read

January 12, 2019 By Bill Kassel 5 Comments

THE KINGDOM STIRS ANGER
AT FRANCISCAN UNIVERSITY

A fellow who heard that my novel, MY BROTHER’S KEEPER, focuses on James, the Lord’s brother, wrote me charging that the book must be some kind of Protestant screed.

Didn’t I know that Mary remained a virgin and never gave birth to any other children? If I wrote that Jesus had a brother, surely I must be dabbling in heresy.

I explained to him that the book draws on early Christian writings (the so-called “non-canonical gospels”) that describe Joseph as an older widowed man with children at the time he took Mary as his wife. It doesn’t conflict with either the Bible — which says nothing about Joseph’s age and family circumstances — or with Christian Tradition. In fact, it’s been certified by the Catholic Writers Guild as being consistent with Church teaching.”

His misassumption reflected the fact that he’d only heard about the book and hadn’t read it. But then, that’s key, isn’t it. Not only can’t you judge a book by its cover, you can’t fully know what ideas it espouses until you’ve read it.

This truth is relevant to a controversy swirling around Franciscan University of Steubenville.

Be Strong, Donald

January 9, 2019 By Bill Kassel 9 Comments

THIS IS A DECISIVE MOMENT
IN OUR NATION’S HISTORY

I had the feeling Tuesday night that we were watching a truly historic event. A decisive moment, as it were.

In his nationally televised message The Donald laid out his case for a southern border wall — or a barrier, or a high fence, or whatever you wish to call it.

We’ve heard his appeal before, of course. The media never tire of categorizing it as his “key campaign promise,” as if that somehow minimizes its importance.

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Fleeting Images

December 28, 2018 By Bill Kassel 2 Comments

A FEW CLEVER MEMES
TO KISS 2018 GOODBYE

As the momentous year of 2018 wraps up, and the conflicts and turmoil of the past 12 months take their place in the annals of history, here are a few online graphics to leave us chuckling…

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Season of Hope

December 21, 2018 By Bill Kassel Leave a Comment

GIVE OPTIMISM A
CHANCE TO BE BORN

Feeling gloomy about the state of the world — a mood into which I fall more frequently than I care to admit — I unburdened myself to a friendly priest. His response was, in essence…

“Lighten up. The world always has problems. And anyway, it’s Christmastime, the season of hope.”

That observation, while not especially fresh or insightful, is nonetheless true. And it does help to reestablish a certain sense of perspective when…

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Baby, It’s Cold Outside

December 9, 2018 By Bill Kassel 12 Comments

MORAL CONSCIENCE
VS. SPIRIT OF #METOO

Recent controversy over the classic winter pop song, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” reveals much about our present state of moral reasoning.

Written by Frank Loesser — best known as composer and lyricist for the Broadway musicals, “Guys and Dolls” and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” — the song is a clever exploration of the tug-of-war between conscience and hypocrisy to which sexual desire often subjects us.

The premise of the song is as simple as it is universal: A girl knows she should remove herself from a sexually charged situation while a guy attempts to distract her from the warning bells ringing inside her head.

The humor of the piece lies in the obvious fact that she isn’t listening too closely to those bells and her resistance to his entreaties is half-hearted at best.

A Token of Good Will

December 2, 2018 By Bill Kassel 3 Comments

THE GREETING “MERRY CHRISTMAS”
EXPRESSES GENEROSITY OF SPIRIT

While our annual debate over the holiday greeting “Merry Christmas” seems to have lost some sharpness, the issue is far from settled.

There are plenty of folks who still charge Christians with cultural imperialism. Likewise, the impulse to defend the traditional salutation asserts itself regularly.

While I surely see that some of the anti-“Merry Christmas” sentiment expresses rejection of Christianity (or even outright attacks on the Faith), there’s also a good deal of simple misunderstanding about what the greeting really conveys.

Back in December of 2013 I posted an essay that attempted to clarify what people mean when they wish someone “Merry Christmas” (or at least what I mean by it). I’ve reposted the piece in subsequent years.

As it remains relevant, here it is again…

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Becky

November 25, 2018 By Bill Kassel 3 Comments

WHITE, MIDDLE-CLASS WOMEN
NOW SCORNED BY THE LEFT

For onto half a century you white, middle-class girls were considered the future of the world.

Your tastes and preferences set the direction of style, driving the consumer economy.

You were the market segment most pursued, the voting bloc most courted.

Barriers were removed and glass ceilings shattered so that you might attain new heights of educational and career success, your leadership potential realized at last.

You were the backbone of the Church. Even a pope (John Paul) hailed your special “feminine genius.”

You were WOMAN, and we heard you roar.

Alas, how things do change.

After being less than enthusiastic about Hillary Clinton in 2016 and failing to thoroughly rebuke Donald Trump in the election just passed, you are being called out as a bunch of narrow-minded, selfish, husband-dominated, and — wait for it — RACIST harpies.

You are…Becky.

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