Dick,
    I think you may be confusing whether it's a comma splice with whether
it's acceptable (or should be). I have always understood a comma
splice as a comma (and no conjunction) between independent clauses.
That doesn't mean it's always wrong to do so. (The same is true of
sentence fragment. It can be rhetorically justified, but doesn't stop
being a fragment when it is.)
     The intonation, for me, would be fall rise, which does anticipate
continuation. But to me, that's pretty much what a semicolon
connotes. The clauses are syntactically independent, but meaningfully
thought of (rhetorically presented)as a single statement with two
equal parts. I would argue for the semicolon as the best choice.

Craig

 Bud,
>
> The direct link is http://topics.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/after-deadline/.
>
> I have long admired the *Times*'s careful attention to consistency in
> style
> and their efforts at self-correction. I agree with most of their choices,
> and most *are *choices, since all but a few deal with usage rather than
> grammar. For example, "*reason why* more people are opting for the bus" is
> perfectly grammatical, but the "why" adds nothing to meaning and
> eliminating
> it makes the sentence crisper.
>
> One I question is the judgment that "*WikiLeaks was more than just a
> source,
> it was a publisher"* has a comma splice and should have a semicolon, dash,
> or period. To me, a comma is fine and standard between two clauses of the
> "it's not this, it's that" variety which are read aloud with no
> sentence-final pause at the comma position.
>
> Thanks, Bud, for alerting me to this weekly column.
>
> Dick
>
>
>
> On Mon, Aug 23, 2010 at 12:53 AM, Joseph McKibban <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
>> Phillip Corbett has an interesting weekly post at www.nytimes.com If you
>> go there, click on Times Topics, then scroll down to After Deadline.  It
>>  is
>> new every Tuesday and is interesting/fun, at least to me. Have fun with
>> it.
>> I would be interested in your comments.  A newspaper,with its space
>> constraints as well as a desire to communicate to the masses, has a
>> slightly
>> different take on grammar and usage issues, don't you agree?
>> Bud
>>
>
> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface
> at:
>      http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
> and select "Join or leave the list"
>
> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/
>

To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/