Madden Mischief

I was taken aback by former secretary of labor Robert Reich recently posting an apology for his occasional “long windedness.”

Reich says this happens when writing on subjects he feels deeply about or wants to make satirically surgical incisions into some hyper-inflated conservative skulls.

That’s one of the things I like about Robert Bernard Reich, he speaks his mind no matter how the chips fall or explode into his face.  While his penchant for humor is ever present, much of the time he seems exasperated, however. 

He reminds me of the two characters in Samuel Beckett’s tragicomedy Waiting for Godot, both waiting for a savior to provide full meaning to life but never shows up.  

Reich is an American professor, author, lawyer, and a smart political commentator who worked in the administrations of presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter and served as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton.

I don’t agree with many of the chips off this eloquent liberal’s block about topics he espouses or how he ridicules geniuses like his comedic rants about President Trump, but I’ll give him credit for at least having the guts to apologize for their length.

I would have liked to have shown that apologetic-looking picture of himself, but I’m afraid he would sue me for not having authorized me to do so, especially in a piece in which I’m mocking the lead float in his self-pity parade, long-windedness.

In his apologetic retort he succinctly explains why some of his posts ramped on excessively such as his  “Enshittification of Everything” series, “The Moronic Bullshit of the Third Way,” and “An Open Letter to Scott Bessent.”

He said he was sorry that they caused a few of his followers to “gently complain” that they don’t have the time to pour through or follow along some of his comical character expeditions that sometimes can backfire by running interminably long. 

He writes: “others of you have nicely suggested that I post too often — every day, seven days a week, sometimes two times a day. ‘I can’t keep up!’ one of you wrote recently.  I apologize for my verbosity.”

He continued saying he tries to keep his posts as short as possible but occasionally feels the need to provide additional evidence, argument or context.  And he admits posting at least seven days a week, sometimes even more often.”

Reich explained that his occasional long windedness is because America is at a crossroads, a dangerous point in its history, so he wants to give his readers the facts, arguments, and analyses they need to take “an active role in the resistance, and then in the rebuilding to follow.”

Now here’s what I wrote to Reich suggesting what he should consider doing as

I have the same problem myself of sometimes overwriting nonstop, but “writing is therapeutic,” I told him.

“For us authors, it’s our medicine, sometimes our hospital where readers only want to visit us patients briefly, not stay too long beside our hospital beds.  So, we need to get well sooner. 

“Make readers happier by keeping the visiting hours of reading what we write shorter.  That’s my prescription to keep our followers happy.

“Now excuse me, my nurse is coming with my morning coffee and newspapers full of topics both Reich and I need to write about.”  

Well, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Tom Madden is an author who believes writing is a way to stay robust and healthy in a tumultuous society by getting disturbing things off your chest and into a blog, article or book ASAP.  Only then can you sit back with a cocktail.  When not sipping cocktails and relaxing, Madden together with his daughter Adrienne Mazzone are busy running their celebrated PR firm TransMedia Group serving clients worldwide for the past 45 years with an abundance of publicity cherries.