It seems that former New York Congressman John Sweeney, a Republican who lost his re-election bid last fall, has been treated unfairly by the press. Earlier this week it was…
Question: Is it okay to eat Arnold Ziffel but morally wrong to eat Mr. Ed? Bo Derek, Willie Nelson, the Barbi twins, the American Welfare Institute, and the Humane Society…
Of all the Bush Administration’s many perversions of the justice system, there is something particularly distressing about the case of Maher Arar. A Canadian software engineer, he was changing planes…
Friends regularly ask me: is our nation on the road to becoming an authoritarian state? In a vibrant democracy that wants to keep its bearings, that’s a useful question to…
Faithful mother tongue, I have been serving you. Every night, I used to set before you little bowls of colors so you could have your birch, your cricket, your finch…
La politique dans une œuvre littéraire c’est un coup de pistolet au milieu d’un concert–quelque chose de grossier et auquel pourtant il n’est pas possible de refuser son attention. Politics…
Among the witnesses appearing for Michael Mukasey at his confirmation hearing was former New York U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White. She served both Presidents Clinton and Bush and is generally…
The role of the inspector general is to be an independent guard against corruption inside of the agency he serves. The inspector general should observe ethical standards higher than the…
We were not only innocent a half century ago with the innocency of irresponsibility; but we had a religious version of our national destiny which interpreted the meaning of our…
On September 16, a Blackwater USA security unit returning to base after having dropped off the person it was guarding opened fire at Nisour Square, near Baghdad’s Green Zone. When…
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Let every man in mankind’s frailty Consider his last day; and let none Presume on his good fortune until he find Life, at his death, a memory without pain. —Sophocles…
The Associated Press’s invaluable Pete Yost reports that a federal court has now issued a formal order requiring the White House to preserve a controversial group of emails. a federal…
Tracking the roll-out for the Iran war through the last week, we have seen some high profile developments. We learned that the pressure is on military intelligence officers and other…
Die Schicksalsfrage der Menschenart scheint mir zu sein, ob und in welchem Maße es ihrer Kulturentwicklung gelingen wird, der Störung des Zusammenlebens durch den menschlichen Aggressions- und Selbstvernichtungstrieb Herr zu…
Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf said that the country will hold parliamentary elections in January but refused to give a date for ending his emergency decree or stepping down as…
In America, virtually all holidays tend quickly to disintegrate into special sale opportunities for the shopping malls. And Veterans Day in particular seems to be on a drift away from…
The two presidents—George W. Bush and Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin—make a remarkable study, side-by-side, and so do the nations they embody. There is much similarity between them. Andrei Sakharov, back in…
Here’s some cogent advice for Michael Mukasey. If he wants to demonstrate that he’s determined to do something to rebuild the reputation of the Department of Justice, he should start…
The last sunbeam Lightly falls from the finish’d Sabbath, On the pavement here, and there beyond it is looking, Down a new-made double grave. Lo, the moon ascending, Up from…
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold…
My brother died in France—but I came back. We were just two colored boys, brown and black, Who joined up to fight for the U.S.A. When the Nation called us…
Alfonso X, el Sabio, Cantigas de Santa María (1256-84), Camerata Mediterranea and l’Orchestre Andalou de Fès, Erato CD #3984-25498-2 or Warner Classics as Apex CD 2564 61924-2 The harvest has…
Si hubiera estado presente en la Creación, habría dado algunas indicaciones útiles. Had I been present at the Creation, I would have given some useful hints for the better ordering…
Norman Mailer, lion of the American literary scene, dead today of kidney failure. Mailer was a frequent contributor to Harper’s. He marked a generation with writings that demonstrate wit and…
Iraq, Torture and the Crisis in American Leadership As the nomination of Michael Mukasey demonstrated, the issue of torture remains on Washington’s front burner. The Bush Administration continues to assert…
The Curious Case of the Missing Transcript As we have often noted, absolutely nothing about the Siegelman case is “normal.” Now we learn from the Associated Press notes that Governor…
Manche freilich müssen drunten sterben wo die schweren Ruder der Schiffe streifen, andere wohnen bei dem Steuer droben, kennen Vogelflug und die Länder der Sterne. Manche liegen mit immer schweren…
A handsome man guards his image a while; a good man will one day take on beauty. —Sappho (?????), The Exhortation to Learning (ca. 590 BCE)(W. Barnstone, transl.)…
I recently noted here the investigation involving Democratic Senator Bob Menendez and his former staffer (and, based on published accounts and recollections from informed sources, paramour) Kay LiCausi. The feds…