Stephanopulous asks “What will you restore to the office of the President of the United States?” None of the candidates, except for Ron Paul, really addresses the question: Tancredo: Islamic. Terrorism. Jihadism. No more political correctness. (Hey, that’s pretty bold!) Thompson: Islamic. Terrorism. Jihadism. No more political correctness. America is great. (Even bolder!) Brownback: All those children born out of wedlock—oh, it’s intolerable. (Chastity belts for everyone!) McCain: I am fully prepared to fight the transcendant struggle of this century. Islamic. Terrorism. Jihadism. Giuliani: I will do the same thing I did for New York City. Oh, and by the way: … 
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On the “fair tax”: Huckabee: Yes, it will end the underground economy. No more dope dealers, prostitutes, and Bad People in general. You’ve heard about the Great Society: this is the Vanilla Society…. Romney: No. Blither. Blather. Don’t I have a great hairdo? Giuliani: Intriguing, but he’s against it. We couldn’t make the transition. No IRS? Who will administer it? McCain: Alan Greenspan will simplify the tax code, if only we ask him. Tancredo: He’s for the fair tax—income tax manipulates behavior. Gives too much power to the federal govt. Brownback: He’s for a flat tax. Ron Paul: Stephanopoulos skips him…... … 
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Video question on the role of the Vice President. Should there be a constitutional amendment on the role of the VP? McCain: Jokes about the role of the VP being to ask, daily, about the health of the Prez. “There is only one President.” Tommy Thompson: Defends Cheney. Giuliani: Bush can use Cheney however he likes. Truman didn’t know about the Manhattan project —so we can’t have that anymore. Romney: George and Dick kept us safe. Let’s not forget that. Brownback: Cheney has a lot of experience, the President over-relied on that. You need someone coming in who has foreign policy … 
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More on the Iowa follies: On Barack Obama’s plan to bomb and/or invade Pakistan: Giuliani is in favor, of course. Is there any crazed foreign policy “option” he wouldn’t take? Romney doesn’t want to talk to “our enemies”—but he would “keep our options quiet” in Pakistan. So, he agrees with Obama, but wouldn’t say so. George Stephanopoulos—debate host—puts up the “export democracy” second inaugural speech up there, with the “money quote”: our goal, says the Prez, is to “end tyranny in our world.” But is it, asks George? Ron Paul: He keeps denouncing the neocons as having diverted our efforts away … 
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“I am going to be judged by History,” proclaims Mad John McCain at the Iowa debate, “not public opinion polls.” Translation: L’Etat, c’est moi. 
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“I overslept,” writes Kathyrn Jean Lopez in National Review‘s “The Corner. “Almost forgot about the Republican debate. Woke up to Iowans cheering Ron Paul. Hit snooze.” Yes, Kathryn, go back to bed: you’ve been sleeping since the war began. Why wake up now?  
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When it comes from FOX News, of course. On Tuesday, July 31, FOX News published a transcript of Neil Cavuto’s “Common Sense.”  According to the transcript, Cavuto—supposedly a financial journalist—tried to claim that Apple had overpromised and underdelivered on its opening weekend of iPhone sales: “Lo and behold, we’re told 146,000 iPhones were activated in the day and a half between the phone’s launch and the most recent quarter’s end.” AT&T had indeed reported the 146,000 activations on Monday, July 23.  Two days later, however, Apple had reported that 270,000 iPhones had been sold over the opening weekend.  Six days after … 
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For several years I’ve been arguing over the same point with my son and my colleague Wes McDonald. Both think that I’m too hard on Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh. They describe them as clever entertainers of the Right, whom I too would appreciate if I weren’t so damned “anti-Republican.” Because I’m soured on the GOP, I can’t perceive the wit and daring of these attack dogs, tearing relentlessly into W’s bashers among the Dems. This charge is at least partly correct. Because Coulter and Limbaugh are predictable partisans, who avoid scolding their own party when it sounds exactly like the … 
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I hate to spoil the romance of the grape, but most wine estates once run by monks or noble families are now in the hands of corporate vintners with publicly traded shares, human resource departments, and 401k plans. The closest connection to aristocracy or the Church most wines now keep is a coat of arms on the label. However, a few fine wines are made to this day by one of the most delightfully anachronistic institutions in the world—an order of military monks called the Knights of Malta. In Umbria, this order’s Castello di Magione vineyards produce over 100,000 bottles every … 
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This is for us oldies. Remember when the summers lasted longer back then, when all men seemed to wear hats, and all women acted like ladies?  My best summer ever was 1952, when I came to New York from Blair Academy and my father informed me we were leaving for the south of France via ocean liner. I was 15 and terribly eager to lose my virginity. What better place than the fabled land of F.Scott Fitzgerald and the Murphys? I read Tender is the Night while crossing on the Constitution, the latest in comfort, speed and elegance where liners were … 
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