Deputy Editorial Page Editor for @dallasnews and The Dallas Morning News. Director of Journalism @uofdallas. Bama born and made.
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Articles by Rudolph Bush
Ukraine’s first lady comes to Dallas to remind us of the terror of war Original
Four years into a grinding war her nation never asked for, Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska has the bearing of a woman who has seen the worst the world can offer. But there is no resignation in her eyes, and during a nearly one-hour interview on a visit to Dallas last week, the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made clear that her mission on behalf of her country’s children is only just beginning.
Miguel Solis is a contributing columnist Original
We are pleased to announce that Miguel Solis, a longtime Dallas leader in education, will join our strong and growing group of contributing columnists at The Dallas Morning News. Anyone who has followed the remarkable turnaround in Dallas ISD should be familiar with Solis. His story is inseparable from the critical reforms that our largest school system embraced more than a decade ago, and his columns will explore questions of education, politics and culture in Dallas and beyond.
Joseph Popolo: Understanding Trump’s approach to Europe
Dallas businessman Joseph Popolo, the founder of Charles & Potomac Capital, was sworn in as U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands in October. He visited with the editorial board last week for a wide-ranging discussion on U.S. policy in Europe, migration and the war in Ukraine. Our conversation has been edited for space and clarity. Editorial Board: After last week’s Munich Security Conference, help us understand the U.S. relationship with Europe.
Opinion team tackles downtown revitalization
Beginning today, we are launching a series of editorials and columns devoted to the idea that Dallas deserves a great downtown and that we can have one with thoughtful planning and dedication to a unified vision. Weâre calling it, simply, Saving Downtown. The debate over whether to tear down Dallas City Hall deserves to be a public discussion, not a private decision made behind closed doors.
Assessing Trump’s first 100 days
The first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s second term have been quite a ride, from the DOGE chainsaw to a text thread turned national security incident. Dallas Morning News Contributing Columnist Abby McCloskey is sorting through the headlines to get beyond the talking points. Her new podcast is “Trump’s First 100 days — Beyond Talking Points: An American Middle Podcast”.
Think media bias is bad now? Just ask Jefferson and Hamilton
When asked by strangers what he did for a living, the poet W.H. Auden preferred to respond that he was a “medieval historian” because it “withers curiosity.” As a newspaper editor, and particularly a newspaper editor with some charge over opinions, I have on not a few occasions been tempted to resort to the poet’s response or, better yet, to suggest I might be looking for work in, say, insurance or that I’ve recently retired from the meter-reading game. Anything but the truth of the matter.
What did you say!?
Were you bothered when President Joe Biden recently used the word “illegal” to describe a person accused of a heinous crime? Or were you aggravated when he walked back that description, saying he regretted it? Did you gasp when former President Donald Trump used the word “bloodbath” in a speech about the violence that might happen to this country if he isn’t reelected? Or did you pound the table because the press translated a shopworn metaphor as an actual threat?
LISTEN: Juneteenth’s grandmother Opal Lee has 95 years of life lessons
By Rudolph Bush 6:00 AM on Apr 20, 2022 CDT Editor’s note: The Deep Side of Dallas is hosted by Editorial Page Editor Rudy Bush. The show explores the past, present and future of the city of Dallas, including its culture, politics, history and development. In this episode Opal Lee spent decades quietly working for the poor and to preserve the history of Fort Worth’s Black community.
LISTEN: From segregation to condemnation: the State Fair’s history with Fair Park and South Dallas
By Rudolph Bush 1:00 AM on Sep 30, 2021 CDT Editor’s note: The Deep Side of Dallas is hosted by deputy editorials editor Rudy Bush and the University of North Texas System’s Paul Corliss. The show explores the past, present and future of the city of Dallas, including its culture, politics, history and development. In this episode The State Fair of Texas is great fun, from corny dogs to the Midway, and Dallas has been proud to be its home since the 19th century.
LISTEN: Soaring Dallas home prices - bubble or real?
By Rudolph Bush 1:00 AM on Sep 16, 2021 CDT Editor’s note: ‘The Deep Side of Dallas’ is hosted by deputy editorials editor Rudy Bush and the University of North Texas System’s Paul Corliss. The show explores the past, present and future of the city of Dallas, including its culture, politics, history and development.
LISTEN: Is homelessness as bad as it’s ever been in Dallas?
By Rudolph Bush 1:00 AM on Sep 2, 2021 CDT Editor’s note: ‘The Deep Side of Dallas’ is hosted by deputy editorials editor Rudy Bush and the University of North Texas System’s Paul Corliss. The show explores the past, present and future of the city of Dallas, including its culture, politics, history and development.
LISTEN: Defying Greg Abbott. How DISD’s Michael Hinojosa decided to lead Texas’ school mask movement
By Rudolph Bush 1:00 AM on Aug 26, 2021 CDT Editor’s note: ‘The Deep Side of Dallas’ is hosted by deputy editorials editor Rudy Bush and the University of North Texas System’s Paul Corliss. The show explores the past, present and future of the city of Dallas, including its culture, politics, history and development. In This Episode Michael Hinojosa is in his second tour of duty as the superintendent of one of Texas’ largest school districts. When Gov.
LISTEN: Saving Red Bird Mall shouldn’t have to save southern Dallas too
By Rudolph Bush 1:00 AM on Aug 19, 2021 CDT In this Episode Red Bird Mall is the only enclosed shopping center in southern Dallas. From its opening in 1975 through the mid-90s, the mall was a central gathering place for people living south of Interstate 30. Then it faded. Developers Peter Brodsky and Terrence Maiden sat down to talk about bringing the mall back to life as a health and jobs center and the challenges and stereotypes of doing business south.
LISTEN: How college sports may never be the same
By Rudolph Bush 1:00 AM on Aug 5, 2021 CDT In this Episode For decades, the NCAA did not allow its student athletes to earn money, despite the millions of dollars it rakes in annually. That’s all changing following a ruling by the U.S Supreme Court in June that opened the door for student athletes to earn money on their name, image and likeness (NIL).
LISTEN: Bringing live music back to Dallas - and fighting COVID misinformation
By Rudolph Bush 1:00 AM on Jul 22, 2021 CDT In this Episode Live music all but died during the pandemic, retreating to social media or small gatherings. Dallas music promoter and Banjos to Beats co-founder Josh Smith joins The Deep Side to talk about bringing music back. And Smith tells us about his pandemic side project - a 27,000 member Facebook group called D-FW Corona Connection - aimed at bringing real information about the virus and real debate about the response to the area.
LISTEN: Is DISD still holding Dallas back?
By Rudolph Bush 1:00 AM on Jul 8, 2021 CDT Welcome to The Deep Side of Dallas, a show that explores the past, present and future of the city of Dallas. How to listen and never miss an episode Go to your favorite podcast app and search “The Dallas Morning News.” Select the podcast of the same name and hit the “Subscribe” or “Follow” button.
LISTEN: A Texas man’s fight for marriage equality
By Rudolph Bush 1:00 AM on Jun 24, 2021 CDT Welcome to The Deep Side of Dallas, a show that explores the past, present and future of the city of Dallas. How to listen and never miss an episode Go to your favorite podcast app and search “The Dallas Morning News.” Select the podcast of the same name and hit the “Subscribe” or “Follow” button.
LISTEN: Dale Hansen on his least and most favorite Dallas sports figures
By Rudolph Bush 1:00 AM on Jun 10, 2021 CDT Welcome to our podcast, The Deep Side of Dallas, hosted by deputy editorials editor Rudy Bush and the University of North Texas System’s Paul Corliss every other Thursday in The Dallas Morning News podcast feed. The show explores the past, present and future of the city of Dallas, including its culture, politics, history and development.
Frisco’s nasty politics. And why it’s got the most important election going
You might not believe it, but the most important election in North Texas right now is a City Council runoff in Frisco. Why? First, because the way Frisco grows, both physically and politically, is going to be critical to this region’s future. Second, this race tells us a lot about our politics in this country, and whether it can seriously address the problems we face or whether it will continue to devolve into labels and gestures that are empty except as signals of cultural identity.
LISTEN: Why the AT&T Byron Nelson failed in Southern Dallas and the PGA of America’s move to Frisco
By Rudolph Bush 1:30 AM on May 13, 2021 CDT Welcome to The Deep Side of Dallas, hosted by Dallas Morning News deputy editorials editor Rudy Bush and the University of North Texas System’s Paul Corliss. Every other Thursday in The Dallas Morning News podcast feed, this show will explore the past, present and future of the city of Dallas, including its culture, politics, history and development.
Eric Johnson might hold the title mayor but his power vanished Saturday
It’s one thing to lose in politics, as Mayor Eric Johnson did spectacularly Saturday. Serious politics requires risk, and if you’re going to be in it, you’ve got to roll the dice at some point. Johnson’s problem, though, is that he took a huge political risk this year with a low-to-nil probability of success.
Oh Rudy! Why Giuliani’s decline is my personal problem
Perhaps in the recent frozen disaster and genuine struggle for survival, you missed the latest news about Rudy Giuliani. I can assure you I did not. I am as acutely attuned to his vibrative interruptions on the American consciousness as a seismologist to earthquakes. When is the big one coming, I sit and wonder. The latest was a minor quake by Giuliani standards. He made a crude, sexist, juvenile remark about professional golfer Michelle Wie West.
They tore down Dwaine Caraway’s poker house, and South Dallas may never be the same again
Except for a cracked slab, the remnants of a front porch, and a sheet-metal gray mailbox that reads 3116, there isn’t much left of the old poker house behind the Forest Theater on South Harwood Street. The party is over now, but oh what a party it must have been. I can’t entirely say, never having been inside. No one extended me an invitation, and I knew better than to ask. But on a few late nights, when I was curious enough, I did wander over there.
What the first Christmas can teach us
By Rudolph Bush 8:25 AM on Dec 24, 2020 CST By now, the story is like a comfortable old friend we visit this time of year and pick right back up where we left off. The star high above watches over a little family in a manger. A young mother and father lean over a wooden crib filled with straw and gaze down at a swaddled child. Animals and shepherds keep a quiet watch. Sacred silence fills the air.
I’m really sorry, but I hate your Christmas inflatable
By Rudolph Bush 1:30 AM on Dec 12, 2020 CST By the looks of things, half of my neighbors aren’t going to like me by the time this column is over. Half the city, maybe. You too, probably. I can almost hear the singing now: You’re a mean one, Mr. Bush. That’s OK. These things happen in an intervention. Please, everyone, we need to talk about the Christmas inflatables. At first, it was OK. It made sense. There was a Frosty here and a Santa there. Traditional? No. Recognizable? Yes. It isn’t that way anymore.
What my four sisters taught me about being a man
When I was a boy, and in the foolishness of boyhood, I decided the universe had done me an injustice in the circumstance of my birth. I was the youngest of five children, but instead of the four older brothers who I imagined would fill the house with dirt bikes and shoulder pads and maybe the odd set of brass knuckles, I had four older sisters whose interest in those things was decidedly limited. It’s taken the fullness of time to recognize that I couldn’t have had it better.
COLUMN: Hate speech, fake news have ruled the internet
It seems almost preciously naive now to look back on the early days of social media and remember how good we thought it could be. First, it was fun connections with old friends. Then it was politically hopeful. Remember the promise of the Green Revolution in Iran in 2009 or the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt in 2011? kAm%96 DAC625 @7 D@4:2= >65:2 H@F=5 3C62< 5@H? E96 32CC:6CD @7 7C665@> :>A@D65 3J 2FE9@C:E2C:2?
Rudolph Bush: Hate speech and fake news rule the internet
It seems almost preciously naive now to look back on the early days of social media and remember how good we thought it could be. First it was fun connections with old friends. Then it was politically hopeful. Remember the promise of the Green Revolution in Iran in 2009 or the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt in 2011? The idea was that the spread of social media would break down the barriers of freedom imposed by authoritarian regimes and seed grassroots democracy around the world.
Hate speech and fake news have ruled the internet
It seems almost preciously naive now to look back on the early days of social media and remember how good we thought it could be. First it was fun connections with old friends. Then it was politically hopeful. Remember the promise of the Green Revolution in Iran in 2009 or the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt in 2011? The idea was that the spread of social media would break down the barriers of freedom imposed by authoritarian regimes and seed grassroots democracy around the world.
Hate speech and fake news have ruled the internet for too long | Opinion
By Rudolph Bush Special to the Sun Sentinel | Nov 03, 2020 at 4:02 PM CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg appears on a monitor as he testifies remotely during the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing 'Does Section 230's Sweeping Immunity Enable Big Tech Bad Behavior?', on Capitol Hill, October 28, 2020 in Washington, DC.
The Trump compromise is a cost we can’t repay
By Rudolph Bush 1:30 AM on Nov 1, 2020 CDT The great struggle with compromise is that we have to give up something important to get something in return. It’s not so hard if we are trading things. But it’s much harder, or it should be, if we are trading some part of ourselves. Which brings us to the moral bargain of President Donald Trump that millions of good people have made.
Hate speech and fake news have ruled the internet
By Rudolph Bush 1:30 AM on Oct 28, 2020 CDT It seems almost preciously naïve now to look back on the early days of social media and remember how good we thought it could be. First it was fun connections with old friends. Then it was politically hopeful. Remember the promise of the Green Revolution in Iran in 2009 or the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt in 2011?
QAnon is deeper in Texas politics than you think
By Rudolph Bush 1:30 AM on Oct 2, 2020 CDT The hope is fading now that we could just ignore the whole QAnon phenomenon while it fermented and evaporated away in the social media swill mill. If anything, here in Texas, it’s becoming ever more apparent that it isn’t going away, and that Q-friendly folks are popping up all over the state in surprisingly public ways. Sussing this out will be important but difficult.
Commentary: Conservatives will defeat themselves if they don't wake up to social media reform
Commentary: Conservatives will defeat themselves if they don't wake up to social media reform Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks about Facebook's News feature at the Paley Center For Media on October 25, 2019, in New York. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images/TNS) Drew Angerer/Getty Images North America/TNS In a move that interested few and mattered less, Texas state Rep. Jonathan Stickland announced to Twitter on July 2 that enough was enough.
Rudolph Bush: Social media has to be reined in
Rudolph Bush: Social media has to be reined in Return to homepage × You have run out of free articles. You can support our newsroom by joining at our lowest rate! Already a subscriber? Log in or Activate your account. Loading&hellp; × Sign Up Today and Support Local Journalism Enjoy more articles from Central Illinois' Most Trusted Information Source. Subscribers can log in for unlimited digital access In a move that interested few and mattered less, Texas state Rep.
Commentary: Conservatives will defeat themselves if they don't wake up to social media reform
In a move that interested few and mattered less, Texas state Rep. Jonathan Stickland announced to Twitter on July 2 that enough was enough.
Dallas County had to seize coronavirus testing from feds to ensure equality and public health
By Dallas Morning News Editorial 2:00 AM on Jul 15, 2020 CDT Dallas County’s decision this week to seize control of COVID-19 testing from the federal government simply had to happen. As Commissioner John Wiley Price correctly pointed out, it was untenable to have separate and unequal test result returns between a county-contracted testing site in Irving and a federally- controlled site at Ellis Davis Field in southern Dallas. We know that coronavirus is disparately impacting communities of color.
Conservatives will defeat themselves if they don’t wake up to social media reform
In a move that interested few and mattered less, state Rep. Jonathan Stickland announced to Twitter on July 2 that enough was enough. He was leaving the platform for a place where he felt he could express himself full bore without the “liberal idiots with mob mentality that have taken over here.” The Bedford Republican promised to check his account “infrequently,” a pledge that turned out to be too good to be true since his Twitter thumb has remained pretty active in the days that followed.
Trump’s five major failures on coronavirus
For more than three years, Donald Trump lived in a presidential dream world, enjoying the political benefits of the economic expansion he inherited and nurtured and avoiding serious crises despite frequent flaps stemming from his unconventional style. But most presidents ultimately face a reckoning — an unexpected 9-11 attack or international crisis that provides a definitive test of their leadership.
Fallen statues and national myths: Where do we go from here?
More than a half century ago now, but not long after the national tragedy that became our city’s enduring story, Bob Dylan released Ballad of a Thin Man, a jangling piano tune that mocks the established and thoroughly confused Mr. Jones who, poor guy, can’t get a handle on exactly why the world he knows is falling apart all around him. After all, Mr. Jones is well read. He gives to charity. He talks to regular folks.
What do protesters want?
Trying to understand the protests gripping our country right now by flipping through your phone is like trying to see the world through someone else’s glasses. The inescapable distortions of the social media filter cut away the complexity, leaving behind a blur of biases that will only make it harder to comprehend. The clarifying truth of seeing it all for yourself is that, on the streets, through all of the tension and fear and possibility of violence, there is something that has to be heard.
Let Ellen’s day with George W. and Brandt Jean’s hug be the good moments they were
When Brandt Jean put his arms around his brother Botham’s killer -- fired police officer Amber Guyger -- we take him at his word that this moment of grace was about Jean’s own journey to peace and happiness -- the unburdening promise that forgiveness holds. It wasn’t about America’s racist past or the scars of slavery or the troubled relationship between black communities and white police officers. It was a moment between two people who must share, for the rest of their lives, a terrible history.
Impeachment talk is usually cheap politics. Right now, we need to pay attention
American politics has become so unserious a business that it’s hard to know when to take it seriously anymore. Because of the line of work I’m in, my inbox fills daily with screaming emails from hacks of both the left and right persuasion about that latest outrage of the other side. These screeds are so predictable they are hardly worth reading.
COLUMN: We're getting it wrong about mass shootings
There is a special kind of stupidity that approaches terrible and repeating problems with an obstinate assurance of what the answer will or won't be. Or maybe it's cynicism - just digging in against any sort of movement that might be politically dangerous, even if it promises to break the paralysis of doing nothing repeatedly. kAmqJ ?@H[ H:E9 >@C6 E92? a__ >2DD D9@@E:?8D D:?46 r@=F>3:?6 2?5 2=C625J bb E9:D J62C[ H6 92G6 E@ 24<?@H=6586 H6 2C6 2 566A=J F?H6== ?2E:@?] ~C 2E =62DE H6 2C6 2 ?2E:@?
Bush: What we keep getting wrong about mass shootings
RUDOLPH BUSH RUDOLPH BUSH IS DEPUTY EDITORIAL PAGE EDITOR FOR THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS. September 5, 2019, 12:03AM The "Follow This Story" feature will notify you when any articles related to this story are posted. When you follow a story, the next time a related article is published — it could be days, weeks or months — you'll receive an email informing you of the update. If you no longer want to follow a story, click the "Unfollow" link on that story.
What we keep getting wrong about mass shootings
There is a special kind of stupidity that approaches terrible and repeating problems with an obstinate assurance of what the answer will or won’t be. Or maybe it’s cynicism -- just digging in against any sort of movement that might be politically dangerous, even if it promises to break the paralysis of doing nothing repeatedly. By now, with more than 200 mass shootings since Columbine and already 33 this year, we have to acknowledge that we are a deeply unwell nation.
Commentary: What we keep getting wrong about mass shootings
There is a special kind of stupidity that approaches terrible and repeating problems with an obstinate assurance of what the answer will or won't be. Or maybe it's cynicism - just digging in against any sort of movement that might be politically dangerous, even if it promises to break the paralysis of doing nothing repeatedly. By now, with more than 200 mass shootings since Columbine and already 33 this year, we have to acknowledge that we are a deeply unwell nation.
Misunderstanding Lolita: Why we can never forget what Jeffrey Epstein was
Jeffrey Epstein’s death in a federal jail in New York promises to be only the beginning of our speculation and wonder at the pestilent life he led — a serial pedophile who gathered victims and victimizers around him in cycles of degradation and destruction that stagger belief.
What a survivor of genocide can tell us about finding peace through prayer and love
In 1994, Immaculee Ilibagiza was a college student in her home country of Rwanda and a member of the minority Tutsi tribe when the nation fell into genocide. As violence and rage engulfed the country, majority Hutus slaughtered Tutsis in the streets, in their homes and in places of business, usually with crude weapons like machetes and clubs.
With Dallas mayor and City Council races set, our roundtable weighs in on what to watch
The Dallas mayor and City Council races are officially set after Friday's deadline to drop out. All 14 council seats are contested this year. Four of the seats are open. Former Mayor Laura Miller is running against Jennifer Staubach Gates. And the race to succeed term-limited Mayor Mike Rawlings attracted nine candidates — including several big names in Dallas business, politics and civic organizations.
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