Tom Alderman
2 min readJun 9, 2023

WHICH WITCH AND OTHER FANCY FRIPPERIES

FROM DOPE TO DIGNITY — Pres. Franklin Roosevelt’s family wealth came from his grandfather, Warren Delano, who made his megabucks in the Chinese opium trade. — The China Mirage, by James Bradley

RULES OF THE ROAD — When New York drivers cut you off — it’s intentional. When Los Angeles drivers do it — they’re oblivious.

SOUND FAMILIAR? — “The abuses of the press has generated a scatological political culture never before seen by any country.” — Thomas Jefferson,1800

THE FOX FORMULA — “We’re here to give the public what they want” says Rupert Murdoch. Well, yes, if you’re a retail store, the internet, restaurant or television. But who is the ‘public’ in our fractured nation of 334,233,854 individuals — with an emphasis on ‘individuals.’

JUST WHICH WITCH IS HUNTING HIM — Don’t you think our un-glued, ex-overlord is overdoing the ‘witch hunt’ bit? Which Witch is he ranting about? The Wicked Witch of Oz was actually the victim of a house falling on her. And Trump says he built that house. Let’s be frank, that nasty Oz witch was all in black with a hooked nose which does suggest racism, Donny.

Remember that Glinda the Good Witch was a lovely blond lady who sends Dorothy and her three meshugana friends on a joyous trip down a peppy yellow road to see the Wizard of Oz, who, like Trump, turns out to be a flat out phony. If the Trumpster dares going after Glinda the Good Witch, be assured the Winged Monkeys will fart him into oblivion.

DON’T SAY GAY — OR WHAT — Under would-be president Ron DeSantis’s new law, Floridians could be punished for simply using the word gay. Does this mean they are banned from singing, “Don we now our gay apparel” at Christmas? The question then becomes what word would DeSantis prefer: homo, fairy. Not good. Here’s a suggestion Governor: do what the pharmaceutical industry does. When they have popular drugs such as Risankizumab-rzaa, Semaglutide, or Dapaglifozin, they gather a few clearly stoned PR folks together who simply change these words to Skyrizi, Ozempic and Farxiga whilst spending a boodle of bucks on TV ads repeating the new and improved made-up words. So Governor. Instead of the dreaded ‘gay’ word, why not make up a new word, something more flexible and meaningless like ‘woke.’ Since no one knows what ‘woke’ actually means, make it mean ‘gay’ as in “Woke Pride” month.” That work for you, Governor?

LISTEN UP — “One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears — by listening to them.” — Dean Rusk, former U.S. Secretary of State

Tom Alderman
Tom Alderman

Written by Tom Alderman

Tom Alderman is a thirty year veteran media analyst, trainer and founder of MediaPrep.