A couple of days after Defense Secretary Gates said in a speech that “Any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should ‘have his head examined,” Senator Jim Webb of Virginia, another leader I respect, has been backing …
It has to be one of the most stunning statements ever uttered in public by an American Defense Secretary: last week in a speech at West Point, Robert Gates, who served as Secretary of Defense to both President Bush and President Obama, and whose service has won him widespread respect, offered this view: “”In my …
I think from the moment I saw this album cover in 1965 or 1966, without ever consciously thinking it or being able to articulate it, I wanted to be that guy, on that street, with that girl.
The website HiLowbrow.com has begun running a series called “Kirb Your Enthusiasm”, in which writers take a panel of the artwork of the great Jack Kirby and delve into its mysteries, ponder its meanings, extol its magnificence, or just diddle around in awestruck wonder. The series will continue through March 7th. I’m curious to see …
Storm-free since the Super Bowl, snowfall Number Eight finally got around to arriving this morning, distributing a powdery six inches throughout Westchester.
I am sorry to see that a couple hundred dead-enders met in Montgomery, Alabama on Saturday to celebrate the sesquicentennial of the inauguration of Jefferson Davis. I am sorry not because I object to grown-ups playing dress-up or even to people admiring aspects of the bravura Confederate spirit, but I do hate to see bad …
The essential Robert Reich has nailed the current crisis brilliantly: “The Republican strategy is to split the vast middle and working class – pitting unionized workers against non-unionized, public-sector workers against non-public, older workers within sight of Medicare and Social Security against younger workers who don’t believe these programs will be there for them, and …
On Day Two I was immersed in Williamsburg, and I continued to have a great time. In the morning, we attended a performance by some of Williamsburg’s historic character interpreters, most of whom were playing slaves in the Colonial Era. The scenarios did an excellent job bringing to life the conflicts and pressures experienced by …
Somebody at Colonial Williamsburg, I’m flattered to say, likes me. Or perhaps to be more precise, like the Disunion Series, because I was extended an invitation to visit the the famous museum/educational center/resort and attend a conference entitled Storm on the Horizon: Slavery, Disunion, and the Roots of the Civil War. I had a terrific …
Thanks primarily to the efforts of Kurt Andersen, all of the back issues of SPY are becoming available on Google. About half are up now, and the rest will be rolled out soon. As Google says: Smart. Funny. Fearless.”It’s pretty safe to say that Spy was the most influential magazine of the 1980s. It might …