Author: Brian Lambert

  • Rybak to the Slaughter

    As mentioned here a couple days ago, Deborah Rybak, most recently media reporter at the Star Tribune, has consented to join forces with me here at Slaughter Central. To be very clear, this is not Ms. Rybak joining The Rake. (The mind boggles at the bloody, bruised-knuckle negotiating it would take to make that happen.)…

  • Dan Rather Brings it On.

    We interrupt the latest episode of L’affaire Par, (note the corrected, improved gender-appropriate French), for a comment on Dan Rather bringing a $70 million lawsuit against his old bosses at CBS over their shabby treatment of him in the wake of the infamous “60 Minutes II” National Guard story. The early consensus among marquee pundits…

  • The Par Injunction: It Ain't Over Yet

    Not really knowing anything more about legal issues than what I see on Law & Order, I confess to being among those who focused too tightly on the injunction handed down today against Par Ridder, tossing him out of the Star Tribune for one year. Obviously, the injunction was designed to remove Ridder from a…

  • Legal Shocker! SHOCKER!: Par Found Guilty

    With OJ Simpson all over the news again, reminding everyone how subtleties like evidence, logic and common sense occasionally have no bearing at all on the American legal system, I was prepared to hear that after reviewing the evidence in the matter of Par Ridder’s multiple, uh, indiscretions, Ramsey County Judge David Higgs had decided…

  • Don't Hold Your Breath for the Avista Foundation

    There was a brief flurry of activity yesterday as a rumor blew around town that Ramsey County Judge David Higgs was ready to announce his decision in what we here at Slaughter Central like to refer to as Le Affair Par. It proved a false alarm. But the mere thought of another round of Par…

  • A First … Video Letter to the Editor

    Charles Ferguson, director of, No End in Sight, currently playing at the Edina Theater, has produced what, for The New York Times at least, is the first video letter to the editor, responding to Iraq boss Paul Bremer’s recent assertion [in Times Select] that numerous military officials were aware of and agreed to his decision…