“Sauce, Geese, Ganders** . . . & Democrats” Peggy Noonan’s singular rhetorical gift is projecting a sense of what I’ll call, “unassailable, high-minded even-handedness.” Here’s an example: “Republicans should understand that President Obama wants a deal . . . He needs to show he can roll with history’s punches. And there’s a sense he actually yearns for...Read More
Time for Presidential — and Presidential Candidate — Leadership If you’re old enough (I am), the words “lone gunman in Dallas” evoke a singular horror. For the time being, the only things to do are mourn, and process. But, once passions have died down, there will be more than enough time to ask questions, and...Read More
Obama Exits, Stage Right Left As the 2016 stock market rout deepens (the Dow is down over 400 pts. so far this am), shell-shocked investors are all wondering: when will the pain stop? Unfortunately, it’s not clear to me that it will be anytime soon. That’s because markets hate uncertainty, and the biggest uncertainty hovering...Read More
Do Not Pass “Go” (or, the White House Front Gate) You do have to make concessions when your subject is The Leader of the Free World. Like, the venue necessarily has to be somewhere in the vicinity of the White House kitchen — not, a trendy coffee shop down the street (a White House security...Read More
What Would Lincoln (or Teddy Roosevelt, or FDR) Do? Not What President Obama is Doing “This wouldn’t have happened if Reagan were still alive.” –bumper sticker around the time of the Iran-Contra hearings in the 1980’s. “Better to ask forgiveness than permission.” –old saying Wouldn’t it be great if the President was a Constitutional Law...Read More
The Advantage(s) of an Obstructionist Minority Personally, I’m ambivalent about whether the U.S. should intervene militarily in Syria in the wake of the Assad regime’s gassing its own people. But, I think it’s a big mistake to say you’ll intervene . . . and then not do it. Or leave it up to an obstructionist,...Read More