Hire Stephen King to write the back page column in Entertainment Weekly.
OK, so he’ll just be doing it once a month, and so the first column is a time-wasting intro.
But will he be better than Joel Klein?
Eight ball says: odds are favorable.
What’s the Joel Klein problem?
Joel Klein alert: He wrote the recent cover article for Time, regarding the growing popularity of meditation in the United States.
[url=“http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=194622&highlight=joel+klein”]This Joel Klein problem.
Wasn’t that Joel Stein?
And I actually liked his Meditation article. Very witty.
Uh-oh.
Let me see if I can clear the 2:
Joel Stein is the guy who used to write the backpage “Editorial/Op Ed” type article in Entertainment Weekly. He didn’t last more than a half dozen isues, however. As you can see from the above thread, his stay was controversial in a fluffy sort of way.
Joe Klein is a journalist who, among other works, turned out to be the “Anonymous” who penned “Primary Colors.”
Yes, it is Joel Stein. :smack:
Mods, can you fix the title so that people know what I’m talking about?
this setup (King’s column alternating w/ Stupid Questions) seems infinitely better than that awful Stein column.
And yes, the thread title was confusing - Exapno, I’d email the mods for a change. The only reason I entered the thread was that Joe Klein lives in my town and I was curious what you would be complaining about regarding him…
Expano has requested and I have changed the thread title to reflect Joel Stein.
It’s still gonna confuse the hell out of anyone reading it, but that’s probably not uncommon.
Glad that it wasn’t Joel Chandler Harris.
Joel Klein should change his name to “Anonymous” to end all the mix-ups with Joel Stein. 
OK, problem solved. Tonight Joel Klein sleeps with the fishes.
On previewing… oops!
Well, I’ve sketched out a battle plan against Joel Stein.
Maj. Gen. Golden shall lead the main forces up the hill. Whilst doing so, a party led by Lt. Col. Skurnick shall do a feign attack, from the rear. Meanwhile, Maj. Haven will land with the paratroopers directly onto the Stein mansion, while Col. Steinhart is sent around to make sure that all paths of retreat are closed. Lt. Col. Bodoni shall be left with the reserve at camp, in case there’s a sneak attack by the enemy.
Governor Quinn, C-in-C of the SDAF.
Well, is anyone with me? Anyone? Maj. Gen. Golden? Lt. Col. Skurnick? Maj. Haven? Col. Steinhart? Lt. Col. Bodoni?
hangs head I liked Joel Stein’s EW column.
I found it entertaining as a pathetic, self-serving, ego self-agradazing sort of column, of which there are very few
Why do I EVER think I’ll beat someone to the punch here at the SD? I was going to post about this very same subject as soon as I got my copy of EW this morning.
Heh.
The odds are most defintely in Stephen King’s favor. Just reading that first column I already prefer him to Joel Stein. How could I not? I think it’s a brilliant move on EW’s part.
And I think this comment by him in his first column:
was a not-so-subtle stab at Joel Stein, no?
Isn’t “the Joel Stein Problem” the fact that he’s employed at all? So he’s out over at EW, from what other have posted, he’s still writing at Time where I first learned to loathe him.
Haven’t read the Stephen King column, but why not get some other people to flesh out the other three weeks, “10 Stupid Questions” has always been decent occasional filler but I couldn’t see looking forward to it on a (mostly) weekly basis.
I’m still holding out for Eve to get a column, I’d resubscribe just for that in support.
That’s were my proposal of military action would help!
Get on the horn with Maj. Gen. Golden, Col. Steinhart. Lt. Cols. Skurnick and Bodoni, and Maj. Haven, and tell them that Gen. Fehr has decided that it’s time to solve this problem once and for all!
I chose to view it as parody, and as such it was occasionally moderately entertaining, but I’m not sad it’s gone. Also, I’m not actually sure it was written as parody.
–Cliffy