What a long strange trip it’s been. Eight years of speeches that I mostly haven’t listened to; I read them instead. And I certainly didn’t listen to Obama’s farewell speech tonight. I relied on others to do it for me. … Continue reading →
The death of Fidel Castro has further exposed the long slow drift of the West towards leaders who lean so far left they are unable to tell the truth about a man who was—as Trump put it—“a brutal dictator who … Continue reading →
I find George Bush’s continuing dedication to painting to be quite fascinating. I like his paintings and think he’s improved since he began. Now he seems to be concentrating on portraiture; this is what an art critic has to say: … Continue reading →
And gets into trouble for it. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I gave some fashion advice to the new First Lady, Michelle Obama. I thought she’d look good in a dress on the order of … Continue reading →
You’ve probably noticed that a lot of people are writing what looks like post-mortems for the Trump campaign when there are still about three weeks left. Trump himself is even doing it, albeit in a sort of backwards way, in … Continue reading →
A lot of people consider that nearly any time a person brings up any sort of Hitler comparison, it invalidates the argument. Just as an example, we had a series of comments on this blog the other day that occurred … Continue reading →
More Tolstoy! Just can’t get enough of that Tolstoy!! Seriously, though, I came across something extraordinary yesterday. It’s a recording of Tolstoy himself reading an English translation of a book of quotations from other writers (The Thoughts of Wise Men, … Continue reading →
Leo Tolstoy lived from 1828 to 1910, and was probably just as famous for his political and religious/social beliefs as he was for his writing (maybe even more so). Tolstoy was a Titan of energy and creativity who later in … Continue reading →
The day after his address at the close of the RNC, Trump decided to tear into Ted Cruz and to repeat some of his most scurrilous and over-the-top accusations (some couched in the form of “questions”) against Cruz and his … Continue reading →
The topic of Juanita Broaddrick’s rape accusation against Bill Clinton has come up again this campaign season, a result of Donald Trump bringing it up in an interview with Sean Hannity. Although anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I … Continue reading →
I was raised by parents who were Democrats who venerated FDR, but the more I learn about FDR the more I don’t like many things he did. For years I’ve been reading the conservative point of view on the Great … Continue reading →
People on the left and the right keep talking about Cruz’s unpleasant face. I’ve heard such discussions, I’ve read them, and you’ve probably heard and read them too. Perhaps you even agree that Cruz has a remarkably unpleasant face. Oddly, … Continue reading →