Ed Koch died last Friday at the age of 88. In retirement, he became a beloved figure, a loud, opinionated uncle, unhip in his easy gracelessness, comfortable in his blotchy skin. But in his prime, he was a large figure, with a great intellect and enormous confidence, vain, nasty, ebullient, fun. One of his greatest …
As my friend James Rosen of Fox News has reported at Greta Van Susteren‘s blog, in the aftermath of the Newtown mass murder, NRA membership actually increased. “A source at the NRA tells Fox News, based on his access to an internal memo prepared by the organization’s membership division, that since the Newtown massacre, the …
Over the last twenty years or so, you could talk with people about great political books, like Game Change or what have you, and then somebody would remember that Richard Ben Cramer had written What It Takes, and that ended the conversation. None was better, and none would ever be better. Working on a big …
Nobody does it better, as Joe Biden shows when swearing in new members of the Senate.
Jack Kirby‘s drawing table.
Ma and Pa Kettle learn their new iPhones.
This year that is fast disappearing will not be remembered in these quarters with very much warmth. It was a fairly hideous, sickening year, the year that I felt I got old. But like all good things, the bad ones come to an end as well, and thanks to some much appreciated end of the …
Our annual get-together was held this year at the home of Paul and Marcia Buckhout. At Paul’s suggestion, this year’s entertainment was given over to story-telling. After a little bit of reluctance to talk about oneselves, many of us donned the green story-teller’s cap and plunged in. As usual, fun was held by all.
Amid all the photographs of Nazi atrocities, I find these placid images uniquely appalling.