And now, for something a little different. Theodore Roosevelt is one of my favorite American presidents. I always respected his resilience and toughness—two qualities that were critical to his successful life. He needed both. When Roosevelt was young, he suffered from severe asthma, and as a result, he was weak, …
I saw a report recently that said a majority of Republicans and more than one-third of all registered voters believe Joe Biden should be impeached if the GOP takes back the house in the November midterm elections. Nobody should be surprised by this—not after what the Democrats did to former …
(I continue to receive requests that I repost my piece on Evelyn Waugh’s “Scoop,” the classic book that lampoons foreign correspondents. I first read Scoop in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in March 1975 as Communist Khmer Rouge guerillas surrounded the besieged city. Day after day, the Khmer Rouge bombarded the city …
[This is a follow-up to the story I posted last month on the 47th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon in 1975. ) After several dozen others and I were evacuated on April 29th, 1975 from the hulking Military Assistance Command-Vietnam building at Saigon’s Tan Son Nhut airbase I filed …
When I taught journalism at the University of Illinois, I created a Journalist’s Handbook that I required my students to purchase. I collected and revised the information contained in the Journalist’s Handbook for almost four decades. Some of it dates back to my time as a journalism student at the University …
When I taught journalism at the University of Illinois, I created a Journalist’s Handbook that I required my students to purchase. I collected and revised the information contained in the Journalist’s Handbook for almost four decades. Some of it dates back to my time as a journalism student at the …
When I think of America’s failed financial policies, its weak political leadership in the White House and Congress, and its feeble foreign policy I am reminded of a thought-provoking Thai phrase I once heard. “Maa du kruang bin tok.” Translated it means “A dog watching an airplane crash.” The phrase …
Victor Davis Hanson is one of the most cogent observers of the American milieu so I am always happy to reprint his commentaries on my blog. He speaks with precision and clarity. But most of all the glaring unembellished truth is always evident in his arguments and observations. Hanson’s commentary …
I never covered the White House during my 27-year career with the Chicago Tribune, but I knew plenty of people who did. “It’s like covering the cops,” one of my colleagues who did cover the White House once told me. “You don’t expect to get any real news out of …
