David O. Stewart

With the oh-so-welcome arrest of apparent terrorist bomber Dzokhar Tsarnaev, and the killing of his brother/accomplice, some Republican senators are perversely urging a policy that would award the terrorists their greatest possible victory.  They urge that Tsarnaev be declared an “enemy combatant” in order to allow the use of summary legal procedures against him, and to deny him a wide range of legal and constitutional rights.

Dzokhar Tsarnaev, in better times

Among the arguments against this unwise policy are:

Sometimes I admire a book of history but am pleased I didn’t have to write it.  Either it seems like a too-long project, or involves difficult research efforts, or requires spending psychic time with unattractive historical figures and situations.

All of those emotions arose as I recently read Timothy Snyder’s Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, a harrowing depiction of the slaughter in Eastern Europe in the 1930s and 1940s.  Ever since my older son and I undertook an ambitious bicycle journey from Warsaw to Odessa in 2008, I have been interested in learning about this long-benighted section of the world.

The Brookeville White House

Just off Route 97 in Brookeville, Maryland, stands an 18th Century home, lovingly restored by Sandy and Duane Heiler, that served as America’s capital for about 18 hours in late August 1814.

Invading Maryland from ships in the Chesapeake Bay, British troops routed the Maryland militia in the somewhat embarrassing Battle of Bladensburg, then put Washington, D.C. to the torch.  President James Madison, who rode to Bladensburg to watch the battle, narrowly escaped capture by fleeing across the Potomac.  He spent forty-eight hours on the lam, coming to rest nowhere.

“Your Colonel” — A. Burr

On Sunday, mi enamorata and I made a madcap day-trip to New York to view some one-act plays at the Founders’ Festival at the Metropolitan Playhouse on the Lower East Side.  The Festival features eight plays in repertory through this Sunday, all about some aspect of the nation’s Founding era.  Though we managed to see three shows in a seven-hour stretch, we were really drawn by the lure of Your Colonel, about the young Aaron Burr.

Fun day today — I received two copies of the Chinese translation of The Summer of 1787!  The one sobering thought is that, of course, I can hardly check on the quality of the translation.  The thought comes to mind because I have been told that the Arabic version of the book is one of the world’s worst translations.

Still a fun day.

Cracking the Asian market?