Fighting the Man
Coming home from work tonight, I decided to “occupy” one of the elevators in my building. I got in, pushed all the buttons at once and then wouldn’t get out ...
Why Do I Get the Feeling . . .
Why do I have a sinking feeling that expecting the Libyan rebels to overthrow Qaddafi is like expecting the Coyote to catch the Road Runner . . . and that ...
The Rock and Roll Hall of Lame
The news that Neil Diamond has been elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame came as a shock. Not that I thought him undeserving. His influence on American ...
Who’s on First?
Just wondering who’s going to be the first New York Times columnist or MSNBC commentator to blame the chaos in Egypt on Sarah Palin.
Where Are the Conservative Novelists?
Toward the end of the question-and-answer period at a recent talk of mine at the local Barnes & Noble, an audience member stood up and asked, “Are readers of your ...
Roth’s Humble Pie
Philip Roth has written one famous novel about masturbation and more than a few masturbatory novels about fame. With The Humbling, his 30th book, he’s added to the latter column, ...
Durbin’s Whopper
During yesterday’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing, Senator majority whip Dick Durbin provided an inadvertent illustration of the intellectual rigor of Democratic Judiciary Committee members.
Quoting a remark made by the late ...
Against Judicial Empathy
Back in 2006, when liberal commentators were assuring us that Iraq was in the throes of an epic civil war, that American military forces were helplessly and hopelessly mired in ...
Yeah, Yeah, Yes
Forty-five years ago this week–February 9, 1964–the Beatles made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. I was six years old and don’t remember much about it, but my ...
The Upside of Obama
If the election of Barack Obama — a 47-year-old black man with a political resume as ephemeral as a Mets pennant drive and a governing philosophy as dubious as Paris ...