Back Talk

Alan says: I am in favor of limiting the governor to two consecutive terms. But blacklisting someone after eight years altogether, regardless of how good or bad they did their job, can needlessly force an effective public official out of public service. Many state governors throughout history have served well over eight years without their constituents regretting it. I would point out that such a system is wholly unworkable in twenty-first century America: we live in the era of the permanent campaign and the 24-hour news cycle. A governor facing re-election every other year would essentially do nothing but fundraise (which is close to what most do anyway even with four-year terms). (November 19th, 2009 at 11:09pm)

Peter Elkind

Features

At first, Hughes Tool used the count to plan its own future. Now an entire industry uses it to plan theirs. (April 1986)

As an heir to the Dallas Morning News, Robert Decherd has vindicated his father’s name, waged and won a newspaper war, and emerged as the new leader of the Dealey dynasty. (July 1985)

The three-to-eleven evening shift, Bexar County Hospital, San Antonio: nurse Genene Jones was on duty in the pediatric intensive care unit, and for months babies kept having mysterious—sometimes fatal—emergencies. Why? (August 1983)

Columns | Miscellany

A Dallas lawyer is urging his colleagues to put rhyme and reason back into legal writing—by using plain old English. (January 1992)

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