Columns
From the New York Times, Time magazine, and the complete Chicago Tribune syndicated columns
From the New York Times, Time magazine, and the complete Chicago Tribune syndicated columns
Columnists should not write about politics. Take it from me, it’s a bad idea. You pick up your bright sword to harass the heathen Republican and your prose style goes limp, your verbs droop, and words such as “comprehensive” and “funding” creep in and you become thin-lipped and hissy, like Miss Whipple in study hall […]
Read MoreI went to the Mayo Clinic last week for the annual ceremonial physical, hoping my doctor would send me off to a hospital, one of those really nice ones with a sunny terrace where you sit in your bathrobe and beautiful brunettes bring you fresh orange juice. The diagnosis would be nervous exhaustion, I guess. […]
Read MoreA peacock walked past the window as I ate breakfast last Saturday at an old country inn in Albuquerque, his great fan of bejeweled feathers open wide, following a peahen who was pecking around the gravel as if he didn’t exist. The peacock appeared to be infatuated, shuffling around, waggling his rump, craning his bright […]
Read MoreSpring arrived in New York last week for previews, a sunny day with chill in the air, but you could smell mud, and with a little imagination you could sort of smell grass. I put on a gray jacket, instead of black, and went to the opera and saw Verdi’s “Luisa Miller,” a republican opera […]
Read MoreI flew up to Grand Forks, N.D., last week on one of those little regional jets that put you into an intimate relationship with your seatmate. Mine was a slim young man in black horn-rims who was studying a legal pad with math formulas on it. Halfway to the Forks, he asked the flight attendant […]
Read MoreThese are troubling times for all of us who love this country, as surely we all do, even the satirists. You may poke fun at your mother, but if she is belittled by others it burns your bacon. A blowhard French journalist writes a book about America that is full of arrogant stupidity, and you […]
Read MoreIt’s been four years since Richard Reid attempted to set fire to his explosive shoes on that Paris-Miami flight, and thanks to him we still do our little dance in stocking feet through airport security, a testimony to the power of the individual to gum up the works for millions of others. Eventually somebody will […]
Read MoreThat big low-fat-diet study that was front-page news a week ago has blown over now, and people are back to spreading butter on their bread and still feeling good about themselves. What the study said (in case you’ve forgotten) is that grandmas who eat fudge sundaes don’t face significantly greater risks than grandmas who eat […]
Read MoreThe headline of the AP story was BUSH URGES CONFIDENCE IN HIS LEADERSHIP – which is like AUTHOR SAYS MEMOIR IS TRUE or FEMA OFFERS CONTINGENCY PLAN – and I didn’t bother to read further. The Old Brush Cutter never got the knack of urging, and whenever he tries, he looks small and petulant, like […]
Read MoreIf the National Security Administration is monitoring my phone calls for quality assurance (and why shouldn’t they be?) they’re no doubt puzzled over conversations that go like this: ME: Hi. Just me. HER: Where are you? ME: On my way home. HER: You’re calling from the car? ME: Right. HER: You coming straight home? ME: […]
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