News
The Left’s Second Thoughts On The Rosenbergs
In recent days interest in the case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, who were convicted on Federal espionage charges in the early 1950s and sent to the electric chair, has been revived after Morton Sobell, the last living defendant charged (and convicted) with them,...
Books Report
I only need a few fingers to count the mysteries and/or thrillers that have, for me, set an exciting and convincing pace from the very first pages that doesn't let up until an ending which ---perhaps most difficult of all to achieve in this genre---doesn't let down....
A Very Forgettable Vice Presidential Nominee
As this year’s campaign moves toward the final stretch, the frenetic media-driven discussion about whether or not Sarah Palin is prepared for the presidency continues. Apparently, few have noticed that she is not actually running for that office. But how does she...
Portrait Of A Nixon Speechwriter
Aram Bakshian, Jr. was a rhetorical strategist and essential member of President Nixon’s speechwriting team. He worked his way up through the ranks in the sixties and early seventies as a speechwriter for Bob Dole (then chair of the RNC) and a conservative commentary...
Library Diplomacy
At the Nixon Library on Tuesday, the United States and China arrived at major commercial agreements at the 19th annual JCCT (US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade) after extensive talks led by Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez along with Trade...
The Unthinking Man’s Nixon’s Four Second Moment
Forty years ago yesterday (sorry about that) — on 16 September 1968 — RN appeared on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. In those days the show was a big thing; and his appearance on it was a big deal. When Laugh-In premiered on NBC in January 1968, it was something the...
Hiss And The Rosenbergs In Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Bob Hoover, the book-review editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (and, thus, belonging to a breed now perhaps more rare than the ivory-billed woodpecker) has written an article for that paper concerning Sam Roberts' recent New York Times stories about the Rosenberg...
George Putnam, 1914-2008
They say that the deaths of prominent people come in threes, and remarkably, three of the notable Americans whose deaths were announced this weekend were California residents. These were the novelist David Foster Wallace, whose premature and tragic passing I note...
The Spy Who Almost Stayed In The Cold, and RIP DFW
The London Times has just published a lengthy interview, conducted by the paper's Rod Liddle, with renowned British spy novelist (and former MI6 agent) John Le Carre. He spends most of it reiterating his anger, often manifested in his recent statements and writings,...
Deep Throat And The Third Man
Over at his site Washington Decoded, DC journalist Max Holland has uncovered something truly startling: the identity of a man who seemingly was the very first person, after Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, to learn that W. Mark Felt, assistant FBI director at the time...