HAVE YOURSELF A NAZI LITTLE CHRISTMAS
Amid all the photographs of Nazi atrocities, I find these placid images uniquely appalling.
BOND, THE TEMERAIRE, AND TENNYSON
My latest, in The American Interest: About ten minutes into Skyfall, the new James Bond film, I was already in love. Not because of the long, opening chase scene, which among its obligatory demolishment of fruit carts and motor vehicles, did feature one brilliantly iconic moment when Bond smartly straightens his cuffs after the narrowest …
HAPPINESS IS. . .
. . . listening to Allison Moorer and Steve Earle, Jon Levanthal and Rosanne Cash, and Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams sing songs about love, longing and happiness, at the Rubin Museum of Art on December 8th. Highlights: Larry and Tersea singing “If I Had My Way,” Allison singing a song about Alabama, and the …
TO THE VICTORS GO THE SPOILS. . .
. . .and a big meal! Here I am enjoying a celebratory dinner at McCormick & Schmick’s last Wednesday with Hugh Cook, the editor of Illinois Alumni magazine. We’re bodyguarding the coveted Eddie Award for Editorial Excellence, presented by Folio, which the magazine won for a profile I wrote last summer of the sportswriter Will …
A NEW STATUS QUO?
Like a political Punxatawny Phil seeing his shadow, George Will has seen the president re-elected, Democrats returned to their majority in the Senate and Republicans to theirs in the House, and proclaimed four more years of winter, or at least gridlock. “A nation vocally disgusted with the status quo has reinforced it by ratifying existing …
A WIN, NOT NECESSARILY A VICTORY
Thank goodness this crap campaign is over. It turned out to be a bit of nail-biter, but it should never had been so close. Obama should have walloped Romney, who was a man with no rational to his candidacy other than that he wasn’t the incumbent. In some other era this might have been enough, …
VOTE # 225, BRIARCLIFF MANOR NY
What the hell happened to the levers?
WHAT’S AT STAKE
Nobody ever said it better than John F. Kennedy, speaking before a rally in Boston Garden on November 7, 1960, the day before the national elections: “This is an important campaign, because it involves a high and distinguished office, an office which is given great responsibilities and great powers by the Constitution, and also by …
LUCKY TO BE UNIMPRESSED
We hosted Sandy, the Storm of the Century here this past week, and frankly, we pretty much missed it. Oh, we had impressively high winds that we could see thrashing the trees across the street all day. And yes, we lost phone/cable/internet service for three whole days. But in terms of personal impact, we’ve had …