Cincinnati Blues
So, I’m at the Cincinnati History Museum (a semi-cool converted train station), researching the Aaron Burr conpsiracy of 1805-07, only to discover: — It’s sleeting in Cincinnati, with the…
Read MoreBackbone
With the forced resignation of GM CEO Richard Wagoner, President Obama is channeling Ronald Reagan. I bet it will work. There’s a lot of nattering over the Wagoner putsch, Is…
Read MoreSupport Your NEW Used Bookstore
Authors aren’t supposed to be too enthusiastic about used bookstores, since no royalties accrue on the sale of used volumes, but I am delighted to offer a preview of the…
Read MoreBest Line of the Week
Often, the ultra-snarky columnist of the Washington Post, Dana Milbank, just gives me a cramp. On Wednesday, though, he nailed it. He was writing about a group interview of Rick…
Read MoreJersey Boys
Much of New Jersey’s history — real and mythic — revolves around violence. Yesterday I explored some of that tradition with the redoubtable Jim Clifford, attorney and history enthusiast extraordinaire. …
Read MoreWhat to do with the judges?
Just put a piece on Huffington Post on this question, which was prompted (for me), by having two potential impeachments against federal trial judges: Judge Thomas Porteous of New Orleans,…
Read MoreSpeed Kills
Nope, not talking about meth, but about writing — specifically, writing in the twenty-first century. Like everything else in life, writing is accelerating. We don’t have to sharpen the goose…
Read MoreMonster Mao
Mao: The Untold Story, by Jung Chang and Jon Holliday, has a spectacular first sentence: Mao Tse-tung, who for decades held absolute power over the lives of one quarter of…
Read MoreGovernor Scoundrels, Part II
One impeached-and-removed state governor stands out from the pack for sheer vitality and no-holds-barred assaults on his political adversaries. Governor John Walton of Oklahoma lasted only ten months in office…
Read MoreGovernor Scoundrels?
The impeachment of Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois sharpened my curiosity: How many other state chief executives have fallen afoul of the constitutional impeachment mechanism. Most news stories claimed that…
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