INTRODUCTION This is the 12th episode of “James Thurber, A Reader’s Guide,” a rambling consideration of Thurber’s works, examining his life and work in some detail. Generally, these appear every Friday. The links to the first part and the most recent part are given below. Part 12 continues discussion of Thurber’s The Middle-Aged Man on…
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Mr. Will writes the Constitution. Again.
When I was in college, I had an idea that was so profound that, even now, I find it hard to believe that I actually had it, but I did. The situation was this: back in the day, Oberlin College had a graduate school of theology, with a wonderful old library, of some 50,000 volumes….
Donald Rumsfeld: “Yes, I am an untrained ape, smearing myself with my own feces. Why do you ask?”
I’m only sorry I can’t make that headline a little tougher. Big Don bemoans the fact that President Obama failed to obtain a “status of forces” agreement with Afghanistan. “We have status of forces agreements probably with 100, 125 countries in the world. This administration, the White House and the State Department, have failed to…
Obamamotto: Hate the torture, love the torturer. A lot.
“The creatures outside looked from CIA to Obama, and from Obama to CIA, and from CIA to Obama again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” George Orwell remains unfortunately on-point 30 years after, thanks to the absolute determination of our “most open administration in history” president to ensure that there shall…
The Usual Suspects
Daniel Larison gives them each a good spanking over at the American Conservative—William “Bill the Shill” Kristol, Peggy “Peggy the Shrill” Noonan, and George “George the Pill” Will, all hawkin’ and squawkin’ about the failure of President Obama to 1) make all the world’s problems go away with a wave of his hand (in the…
What Robert Gates said that no one said he said
Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War, former Secretary of State Robert Gates’ memoirs of his years as SecDef, have been excerpted and/or discussed by the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. If you follow this sort of thing, you know that Bob loved Hillary, definitely a feather in her…
Obama Bubble? Nuh-uh
What’s Obama’s problem? The Wash Post’s Dana Milbank “explains”: In one account of what even administration officials acknowledge is a debacle, the Wall Street Journal reported that Obama’s policy advisers were aware long ago that the president’s promise that “if you like your insurance plan, you will keep it” wouldn’t hold up. “White House policy…
The Bossa Boys: “Bright Mississippi”
Definitely amateur video still brings us jazz on a summer’s day as the Bossa Boys have a good time with Thelonious Monk’s reworking of “Sweet George Brown.” Posted by burkowitz
Mitty Novus
I have been laboring through an increasingly extensive survey of the works of James Thurber. A few “spin-offs” have already appeared, here and here. Today’s shtick is a bit longer. From my researches, I’ve learned that Thurber originally intended to include in his most famous story, “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” an episode that…
John Fedchock: “Epistrophy”
“A little checking informs me that I’ve run John Fedchock and the New York Big Band doing “Ruby, My Dear” twice. But I’ve never run them doing “Epistrophy.” So here it is. Posted by bonegasm New Trier Jazz Festival, New Trier High School, Winnetka, Il. SOLOISTS: Scott Wendholt – trumpet, Rich Perry – tenor sax,…