Quite a few bones to chew on today. Try these:
:: It continues to mystify me why people and institutions are so reluctant to admit wrongdoing when caught lying or cheating at the expense of their personal credibility or that of the organizations they represent.
We’ve got two such cases going on now, one local and one national.
The local case, of course, is UMKC and the scandal surrounding the Bloch business school’s falsification of data to get inflated academic rankings for the business school.
UMKC Chancellor Leo Morton’s first response was to take responsibility for problems in three very narrow areas but not for the whole megillah: Oh, no, we didn’t do all that!
As a result, Morton looked foolish in the face of The Kansas City Star’s expose, which first broke seven months ago and was recently confirmed by an accounting firm’s investigation.
Inevitably, though, Morton had to give more ground, and he chose to do it yesterday on KCUR’s “Up to Date” program, with Steve Kraske, who now teaches at UMKC.
“This is very serious to me because this is not what we are about, and I want everyone to know that we are addressing it in a very serious way,” he said.
…Well, I’m glad Morton is finally getting serious about this serious situation, but I think his institution has lost an awful lot of credibility, not only by cheating but also failing to accept full responsibility until well past the point that all the cards were face up on the table.
By extension, the fiasco hurts Kansas City, too. It’s our university, our state-supported, higher-learning institution. As a proud Kansas Citian, I don’t like it when cheaters get one of our institutions unwelcome headlines. And it bothers me even more when the people in charge refuse to stand up and take full responsibility for wrongdoing.
:: The second case, of course, is NBC’s Brian Williams, who today was suspended without pay for six months for creating and perpetuating a false story about being on a helicopter in Iraq that was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.
His first explanation was just as lame as Morton’s. He said he “conflated” the helicopter he was on with one that was really hit. That one was traveling an hour ahead of the helicopter Williams was in.
Before he was outed by troops who were on the helicopter that came under fire, Williams ranked as the 23rd most-trusted person in the country, according to Marketing Arm, a research firm that tracks celebrity perception through online polls of consumers.
On Monday, however, Williams plummeted to No. 835, which puts him on the same level as the main duck on “Duck Dynasty.”
…I’m glad to see that NBC executives acted relatively swiftly and brought the hammer down hard. I’m also not sure that Williams will be back in the anchor chair after his suspension. That’s a long time to be out of the public view. It’s also a long time for Lester Holt, acting anchor — or someone else — to make people forget Williams. That might be what NBC executives had in mind with this long-term suspension — marginalize Williams and see how things unfold, keeping their options open.
:: While I’m in a complaining mood, I want to drop this discussion down a few notches and tell you one of my personal peeves.
In obituaries, mostly, you’ll see this once in a while: “He (she) was a devout Catholic.”
That goofy term was in an obituary today for Michele Theresa Gould, a 54-year-old Leawood woman who died Sunday. Here’s the term in the context of a full sentence of the obit:
“Michele was a was a devout Catholic and was an active parishioner at Nativity Parish School and Church.”
Now, I’m not taking anything at all away from Mrs. Gould or the family member or members who wrote the obituary.
But just what the hell does it mean being a devout Catholic?
Is a devout Catholic a couple of tiers above someone who is just “a Catholic”?
Does being a devout Catholic mean you get a press pass to heaven without a stop in purgatory?
And where does that leave lowly Protestants?
Or somebody like me, who was a Catholic but flew the coop after becoming disillusioned with the “we-are-the-chosen, we’ve-got-all-the-answers” attitude that permeates some of the rank and file and much of the church hierarchy.
So, here’s how I want that part of my obituary to read. (Patty, are you paying attention? Patty? Patty?)
“…Jim was a member of Saint Andrew Christian Church, Olathe, and a devout member of the Disciples of Christ denomination. He didn’t rank up there with devout Catholics but, by God, he gave them a run for their money.”
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
“Run for the money?” Hell, Jim, I see you getting the express elevator to Heaven while many of us will have a few stops along the way.
I think my press pass is expired, Kaler.
Enjoyed your comments Now for some comments on your comments!
I wholeheartedly agree with you that once caught at a lie, it is much better to fess us and get it over with. Ask Bill Clinton…well, maybe a bad example!
Being interested in the “ranking” system used on Brian Williams, I dug into the Marketing Arm information system. Of course, I wanted to see who is #1, #2, etc. Unfortunately, the cost of that info is being sold for $20,000!!! Fitz, I’ll put up the first $20 if your “Blog Corporation” can absorb the remaining $19, 980. Deal?
I always enjoy reading your blog and finding that certain word you use that I have never heard. I have heard the word/term “megillah”, but had no idea what it meant or its roots. But, I took the time to look it up and will throw some sage advice back to you…”it works well to think Yidish and speak British.”
Finally, I chuckled at your comments on “devout Catholic.” Right on! I too have some pet peeve words/.expressions that make me shutter. The use of the phrase “old adage” by professional writers/columnists. Redundant! The other is a reference to “a bad case of diarrhea.” Ever heard of or experienced “a good case of diarrhea?”
Now there’s a comment you can sink your teeth into!! And from one of my old buddies back at St. Xavier High School, Louisville, Ky., Class of ’64.
First, congratulations on researching the Marketing Arm list. Very frequently, when I read about something, or someone, getting a specific ranking, I also want to know “Who’s No. 1; who’s last?”
The ninth Beatitude, the one that was lost in the shuffle, is: Blessed Be the Curious.
Second, I didn’t know about the Yiddish (note, two “d’s) roots of magillah (sometimes magilla).
All I know is the term stuck in my head ever since I heard it – can’t remember when – in the 1963 Frank Sinatra song Come Blow Your Horn, written by Jimmy Van Heusen and the incomparable Sammy Cahn.
Here’s how the line goes:
“The taller the tree is — the sweeter the peach / I’ll give you the whole magilla — in a one word speech — reach!”
And here’s another line from the song:
“There’ll be no lovin’ bloom come doomsday morn/I tell you chum it’s time to come blow your horn.”
Finally (and thank you again, John) here’s a link to Frank’s recording.
Rather ill-advised, Jim, to cite Ms. Gould in questioning the phrase “devout Catholic.” The family probably is suffering enough withough being needled about the fine points of English usage.
Could well be, Les…I’m banking on odds that no one connected with Mrs. Gould happens upon JimmyCsays…But I’m also hoping that whatever Catholics — and everyone else, for that matter — who read the post get my point. Intentionally or unintentionally, the term tends to inflate (“conflate”?) spiritual status…Isn’t it good enough to be a Catholic?
So now comes Hillary Clinton, who wants to be the next president, and carry the atomic briefcase. She claims to have been under direct sniper fire during a visit to Kosovo. The facts are that the nearest hostile firing was about sixty miles from the secure diplomatic compound where she landed.
Under closer questioning about this giant fib, she tried to obfuscate the lie by saying she was sleep-deprived when she spun the big tale.
As near as can be understood, her loyal followers have completely discounted this blatant untruth and manufactured story, and are more than ready to cast their votes for her.
Is she better or worse than the news anchor? Can we just charge this off to “sleep depravation” and run to the polls in 2016 to elect a world-class liar? Maybe so.
All I can say is that if the “Main Duck” is listed in the 800’s, the Marketing Arm ranking system is flawed.
Here’s another big fat lie you might have heard somewhere…”If you like your current health care plan, you can keep it!”
Too bad that our great president said that. Oh, well, everybody slips up now and then…As I’ve told you, Jason, the Affordable Care Act enabled our 26-year-old daughter with a “pre-existing condition” to get affordable medical insurance. For that, we are deeply grateful.
It’s costing me an extra $200 a month…your welcome.
Here’s another one…
“This is not and will not be America’s fight alone. One of the things we’ve learned over this last decade is America can make a decisive difference. But I want to be clear: the American forces that have been deployed to Iraq do not and will not have a combat mission,” Mr. Obama said during a short address to troops at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, where he was touring the Joint Operations Center at U.S. Central Command.
-CBS News, Sept. 17, 2014
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/obama-says-it-again-no-ground-troops-in-iraq/
I guess it all depends on what the lie is about.
It is spelled at least four ways — megillah, megilla, magilla, magillah. In the Joys of Yiddish, the spelling is megillah. The definition takes up a page-plus in the Joys of Yiddish, by Leo Rosten. See pages 230 and 231.
Briefly, I hope, according to Rosten, megillah describes the book of Esther. Jews read Esther in the synagogue during the Purim holiday. Rosten says there actually are FIVE megillahs.
Where most people come across meghillah is its popular connotation: anything very long, even a rigmarole. Popular interpretations: complicated, boring, over-extended, fouled up. There are lots of show biz (a la Sinatra) references to megillah.
The book of Esther, Rosten writes, “wanders through a crushing concatenation of detail, and the devout sit through the long, long reading after a day of fasting.”
So, not only have I used your favorite word, devout, I have introduced you to concatenation. Look that one up yourself.
I know all this not because I am Jewish, because I am not — I am Episcopalian. My wife, however, is Jewish and grabbed the Joys of Yiddish from our bookshelves just now.
And now, as the late Paul Harvey used to say, you know the rest of the story. Or maybe just part of it.
Excellent explication, Fred…You left out just one thing: Is Rosanne a devout Jew or just in the regular ranks?
I think what you mean is, “Is Rosanne a devout Judaist…?”. Since we are talking religion, I think that is what you meant. Or were you asking if she was devoted to Jews?
I think also, that your problem with labeling one as a devout Catholic, is that it is like saying the person was dedicated to the church, rather than the service to God.
My earlier points were that you get lied to every day. I guess some BS tastes better than other BS.
As for (y)our president being great…you have your opinion, and I have mine.
I still like you, even though I might be a red-neck cowboy, hehe!
…and stop reading the damned obits, it make you cranky and depressed!
Not everyone will get in –
Yes, some will be locked out;
Better be more than faithful, then –
By God, you’d better be devout!
The poet laureate of the blogosphere has spoken.
Makes me chuckle as much as Don Munday does.