There was the latest issue of Avenue magazine on the desk in my Palm Beach hotel room last November. I have a soft spot for Avenue, ever since it published a short story of mine, back in 1983, entitled “Night of the Mariachis”, inspired by some all-night hijinks in Mexico City with a prep school pal who grew up there. I … [Read More]

There was enough brass in the room to forge a cannon. The generals were all there, the joint chiefs and the commanders from the front lines. They came along to tell the senators why America could not quit now. “General,” Senator Bullfrog Epidurus interjected in the midst of General Manassas T. Deeyemzee’s testimony, “haven’t we heard all this before? Every year … [Read More]

The Democrats were pretty cautious in their handling of General Petraeus during the Senate hearing on the “surge” in Iraq: they are easily intimidated by a man in uniform. The Republicans, however, weren’t quite so shy. ‘‘In my judgment, some type of success in Iraq is possible, but as policymakers, we should acknowledge that we are facing extraordinarily narrow margins for … [Read More]

You make up your mind, you choose the chance you take.You ride to where the highway ends and the desert breaks.Out on to an open road, you ride until the dayYou learn to sleep at night with the price you pay . . . Oh, the price you pay, oh, the price you payNow, you can’t walk away from the price … [Read More]

A Russian man stripped down to the waist last month for the cameras, and his muscled torso made headlines around the world.  Mind you, it was the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, but few could have predicted the explosion of gossip and speculation that followed the publication of the pictures, taken while Vlad holidayed with Prince Albert of Monaco in the … [Read More]

With all due respect, Paul Gottfried just doesn’t get it—we are way past salvaging what is left of our “honor” when it comes to the invasion and conquest of Iraq. And, really—Kemal Ataturk! While Gottfried does acknowledge that the example is just a bit too “catastrophic,” I’m afraid that’s very much an understatement: Ataturk was just another despot who invoked the … [Read More]

The Republican presidential primary debate held last week did not really change my mind about who gets my vote (Ron Paul); nonetheless, it did raise for me certain questions about the candidates’ differing assessments of the war in Iraq. For the record, I think Congressman Paul was too peremptory when he stated that the “neonconservatives and not the American people” … [Read More]

I’ve just finished two books written by promising young scholars, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution by Kevin A. C. Gutzman and 33 Questions about American History You’re Not Supposed to Ask by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.  Neither of the authors seems interested in sounding like the staff of the Republican National Committee or getting invited to address plenary gatherings … [Read More]

“All things have their season, and in their times all things pass under heaven.A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.A time to kill, and a time to heal. A time to destroy, and a time to build.A time to weep, and a time to … [Read More]

Tuesday, September 11 was a warm, bright day. I stopped at the post office to send some express mail, and reported to work as usual on the thirteenth floor of 101 Barclay Street, the technology headquarters built for the Irving Trust. From the sixteenth floor cafeteria there was an unobstructed view of the Twin Towers. Behind them stood little St. Nicholas’ … [Read More]