Easy Chair

Shine, perishing Republicans

by Garret Keizer,

Achievetrons

by Lewis H. Lapham,

Few men are so disinterested as to prefer to live in discomfort under a government which they hold to be right, rather than in comfort under one which they hold to be…

A quibble

by Mark Slouka,

By the rivers of Babylon

by Lewis H. Lapham,

Of Mohawks and Mavericks

by Garret Keizer,

Creative destruction

by Roger D. Hodge,

Obama’s Jews

by Bernard Avishai,

Last May, as he claimed the Democratic nomination, Barack Obama was ahead among Jewish voters 2 to 1. Yet, according to cable-and-blog wisdom, that was a serious problem for him.…

Elegy for a Rubber Stamp

by Lewis H. Lapham,

Fulfilling your duties, where does that land you? Into jealousy, upsets, persecution. Is that the way to get on? Butter people up, good God, butter them up, watch the great,…

Requiem for the Private Word

by Garret Keizer,

Most people in America love playing with tape recorders. —Chairman Mao, incredulous at the fall of Richard Nixon Robert Gensburg has practiced law in my community since 1967. His wife,…

Company policy

by Lewis H. Lapham,

Democracy and Deference

by Mark Slouka,

I blame my parents, which is trite but traditional. Six years after stepping onto the troubled shore of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s America they had a son and promptly began to fill…

Estate sale

by Lewis H. Lapham,

Why I Pay My Taxes

by Ben Metcalf,

And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes. And when he was…