What about the tradition of listening to pompous, holier-than-thou blowhards spout nonsense on the radio?

Oh wait, that’s a “tradition” that’s only been around for 20 years or so. We can totally get rid of that…

Originally posted on Newsworks.org/WHYY

What is the definition of a flip-flopper?

It’s interesting to explore the origin of the term. Famed New York Times columnist William Safire wrote about a U.S. politician in the late 19th century who was refereed to as “the Florida flopper” by an opponent. Safire noted that the “fl” sound appearing twice is an indication of ridicule, which is why “flip-flop” rolls off politicians’ tongues so nicely.

Safire also noted that the doubling of the sound worked well in other two-word phrases used to disparage someone, including “wishy-washy” and “higgledy-piggledy”.

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I don’t know what to write here that a million other people haven’t already said about the death of Maurice Sendak, other than I wanted to do something other than a monster crying for my cartoon.

(And a quick note to my fellow cartoonists – Sendak was an atheist, so no pearly gate cartoons please.)

Since I can’t really articulate what I feel any better than I did with my cartoon, here’s a quote from Sendak from an interview with NRP’s “Fresh Air” host Terri Gross:

Terri Gross: Can you share some of your favorite comments from readers that you’ve gotten over the years?

Maurice Sendak: Oh, there’s so many. Can I give you just one that I really like? It was from a little boy. He sent me a charming card with a little drawing. I loved it. I answer all my children’s letters – sometimes very hastily – but this one I lingered over. I sent him a postcard and I drew a picture of a Wild Thing on it. I wrote, “Dear Jim, I loved your card.”

Then I got a letter back from his mother and she said, “Jim loved your card so much he ate it.”

That to me was one of the highest compliments I’ve ever received. He didn’t care that it was an original drawing or anything.

He saw it, he love it, he ate it.

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Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Placido Polanco – the Phillies seem snake-bitten with injuries so far in Spring Training. The injury-bug has even extended to ex-Phillie Ryan Madson, who is scheduled for Tommy John surgery that will end his season before it even began.

Even with three aces, the Phillies will have a tough time trying to win a division with Ty Wigginton and first and Freddy Galvis at second.

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Photo by Roosevelt Cassio / Reuters

Now I’ve seen it all. Brazilian police have hired a retired police officer to dress up as Batman to help them battle crime in the violent streets of Sao Paulo.

Local police captain Warley Takeo, one of those who decided to bring in 50-year-old Andre Luiz Pinheiro to become Batman to help in the fight against drug traffickers, said the measure would bring long-term benefits.

“Police act in favour of good and the state works in favour of good through the police, he said. “Since Batman is also a character who works in favour of good, we decided to join efforts to prevent children from becoming criminals.”

I can think of a lot of ways to help local police help fight crime, but hiring a middle-age guy with a poodle to dress up as Batman wouldn’t be at the top of my list. Still, an old Bruce Wayne was able to defeate the mutants and even beat up Superman in “The Dark Knight Returns,” so I guess anything is possible.

[OVale: Taubaté: Batman against crime]

According to Think Progress, 142 advertisers have pulled out of the Rush Limbaugh Show after El Rushbo referred to Georgetown Law student Sandra Fluke as a ”slut” and “prostitute”.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney has finally gotten around to condemning… Bill Maher. According to National Journal, while appearing on Sean Hannity’s radio show, Romney said:

“In an appearance on the Sean Hannity radio show, Romney said, “Frankly, what Bill Maher said, and I finally read the transcripts, I was offended, outraged that a person would say that on TV and would not have been called on the carpet before now and not apologized for it. To have the Obama campaign retain a million dollars from Bill Maher, it is simply outrageous. I don’t condone that kind of language and particularly in a public setting, a TV setting.… It’s just gone way beyond the pale.”

Meanwhile, all he’s said on record about Limbaugh’s attach that “it’s not the language I would have used.”

Mitt Romney – profile in courage.

In the beginning of February, national newspaper chain Gannett announced a plan to offer buyouts to 665 employees that met the criteria (at least 56 years old, with at least 20 years at the company, and in certain departments and job categories). According to Jim Hopkins, who runs the popular Web site Gannett Blog, these buyouts are “a dramatic change in GCI’s payroll cost-cutting strategy, which since 2008 has focused almost exclusively on increasingly draconian mass layoffs, pay freezes and unpaid furloughs.”

The deadline for buyouts is March 30. We’ll see what happens after that.

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At the core of Gov. Chris Christie’s new budget proposal is a plan to cut income taxes for everyone by 10 percent. It sounds great, but if you are a family making $50,000 a year, all you’ll end up seeing is a measly $80.

What will a millionaire receive? $7,300.

So while a millionaire will be able to pay for a nice vacation to the French Rivera, most New Jerseyans will only be able afford the taxi to the airport to wave goodbye.

If the blatant give-away to the rich wasn’t bad enough, Christie’s budget will cost $1.15 billion a year when it’s fully phased in. That billion, with a “b”, with about 40 percent of it going to wealthiest one percent.

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