(This article first appeared on the site of The Washington Monthly on May 26, 2013.) I liked what President Obama said in his national security speech the other day. I thought it was amazingly courageous for him to talk in terms of ending the war on terror, if for no other reason than that it …
(This article first appeared on the site of The Washington Monthly on May 26, 2013.) Last week David Brooks had an interesting column about a couple of studies that surveyed key words in a body of writings. (No, we’re not talking about tax examiners looking for Tea Party among applications.) He describes the “two elements” …
(This article first appeared on the site of The Washington Monthly on May 26, 2013.) As it happens, I have an article today in the Times’ review section wondering why we continue to have US Army bases named after Confederate generals. There are at least ten: Forts Lee, Pickett and Hill in Virginia; Fort Bragg …
This article was original published in The New York Times on May 26, 2013. IN the complex and not entirely complete process of reconciliation after the Civil War, honoring the dead with markers, tributes and ceremonies has played a crucial role. Some of these gestures, like Memorial Day, have been very successful. The practice of …
This was first published on The Washington Monthly’s site on May 25, 2013. I have three laws of politics. I don’t know if they explain everything, but they often explain something, and that’s enough for me. Malanowski’s First Law of Politics is that the rich and powerful will always act in their own self interest. …
Here is my new article in Success magazine, about chef Ryan Umane, and the pop up restaurant phenomenon: The intersection of 79th and Third is close to the bull’s-eye center of Manhattan’s Upper East Side, whose residents are as rich, glamorous and well-fed as those of any piece of terra firma. Standing there on a …
With a lovely party at the handsome Greenwich Village apartment of Times editor rish Hall, editors George Kalogerakis and Clay Risen of the Opinionator section, a number of their colleagues, and a bunch of us who contributed to the paper’s Disunion series, celebrated the publication of Disunion, a collection of articles from the series, published …
The more I learn about the so-called IRS tax scandal, the more I pity the IRS. When this story broke, the story was billed as President Obama was using the IRS against his political enemies. Well, that’s a bad thing! It was so reminiscent of Richard ordering the IRS to go after his political enemies, …
Not really. More like Jumpy disturbs the geese. Officially named Vegas, Jumpy Jump Jump is what my granddog is called when Cara visits us from Kentucky. Rousting the geese in Ryder Park is one of her favorite activities. That, and jumping.
In the Times a couple of weeks ago, Thomas L. Friedman wrote one of the most interesting, alarming, and possibly prophetic pieces I have read this century. Let me quote it at length: “It’s hard to have a conversation today with any worker, teacher, student or boss who doesn’t tell you some version of this: …