News
O. Stone’s Stone Cold W.
Here it is, uploaded less than 24 hours ago: the teaser-trailer for Oliver Stone's upcoming epic biopic W. It looks ---how can I put this delicately--- like a real stinker. But then it's only a trailer. It's a wonderful world, and a lot could happen between now and 17...
Get Well Soon
(UPDATE: Great minds continue to think alike, and I published this post unaware of my colleague Robert Nedelkoff's just-prior notice of this unhappy turn of events.) One reads today's typically insightful Bob Novak column with the knowledge that he was rushed to a...
Robert Novak’s Involuntary Hiatus
Robert Novak's new column concerning the campaign, linked to below among the featured articles, is a quite incisive analysis of Sen. Barack Obama's big dilemma of the moment - how to get his support in the polls above 50%, which means trying to find a way to move...
Conventions Past
The August issue of Smithsonian has a feature on "Four Political Conventions That Changed America," including articles on the 1912 Republican convention by Lewis Gould; the 1948 Democratic convention by Truman biographer Alonzo Hamby; the 1968 Democratic convention by...
The Giant — Awake And Supercharged
Today's International Herald Tribune runs some interesting statistics regarding Chinese national ambitions and directions. Over all...Chinese satisfaction with the country soared in recent years, according to a survey of Chinese adults after the onset of civil unrest...
Nixonland Nitpick 5
In 1964, according to Nixonland, "Nixon was the only Republican of national stature not to abandon the Goldwater ticket" (p. 64). That's almost true, but not quite. Dwight Eisenhower endorsed the ticket and made a TV spot with Goldwater. Ike's support fell short of...
Only The Latest Proof The End Of World Is At Hand
Here it is. No other interpretation seems possible. From the publisher's description it doesn't sound like a fun filled or instructional base is left uncovered. Who could be better qualified to write a book for the 4-8 year old set than Washington legend Helen Thomas,...
Some Concluding Reflections On Nixonland
This week I finished Rick Perlstein's book Nixonland. My conclusions are not very much changed from what I previously posted, and as I mentioned previously Oxford historian Dominic Sandbrook's review in the London Telegraph expresses an opinion of the book close to...
Wisdom from the Old Man
Michael Savage recently attacked kids with autism. One of those kids is my son, and I replied to Savage in National Review Online. I was able to keep my composure by remembering what Nixon once said: "One can only be angry with those he respects."
Moscow Rules
The International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. displays a list of what are called Moscow Rules – commonly accepted guidelines for the good guys during the Cold War. Basically, they are based on a through-the-looking-glass approach to reality, where nothing is as it...