“Scoop,” the Classic Book that Lampoons Foreign Correspondents

(Occasionally, I like to 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 with 107mm Chinese-made …

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Will the 2024 Democrat National Convention be a Replay of 1968?

In 1968, Chicago was known as “the city that works,” meaning a powerful Democratic political machine commanded it. The master of that machine was a virtuoso politician and mayor named Richard J. Daley. A year before, “Boss” Daley had pitched Chicago as the site of the 1968 Democrat National Convention. As …

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Do Big Conservative Victories in Europe Foreshadow the U. S. Presidential Election?

It used to be said that when the United States coughed, Europe caught a cold. Times have changed. In recent European Parliament elections, millions of Europeans cast their ballots across 27 countries, and Europe’s conservatives won big. Very big. It was MEGA, as in “Make Europe Great Again,” big. This …

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When Does a Generation Gap Become a Generational Canyon? (Part 2)

Accomplished wordsmith William Safire once defined a generation gap as “a frustrating lack of communication between young and old, or a useful stretch of time that separates cultures within a society, allowing them to develop their own character.” That’s a pretty good definition. But it doesn’t tell the whole story. …

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