(Jacob Epstein Bust of Churchill- 1946)   “Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy.” – Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill   You don’t have to forgive me, and I wouldn’t ask for it anyway, but I confess I am slipping my moorings. There are whispers in […]

  (How is it in Saigon?)   The 2008 edition of the Arlington Historical Magazine hit my box yesterday. The society issues it once a year, and it is a formal-looking journal on pale ivory stock. Dignified. That is what distinguishes us here in blue Arlington, with our 1930s houses and prim liberal attitude. We […]

(Cake) The new Administration is only two days old this morning, and has trouble sleeping through the night. I don’t mind, it is part of the process. A draft executive order was circulated that might, or might not, affect one of my business lines, and it was enough to get me up a little before […]

(The Former President, Departing- AP Photo) I was going to do the right thing, or at least the thing with the least risk. I was going to curl up like a hedgehog, like the Washington Cave-Dwellers of old, and pretend that two million people were not streaming into the city on bus and bicycle, on […]

(Mr. Bartley’s Burger Cottage)   It is inauguration day in Washington, and the place is locked-down, and jammed to the gills. Route 50 is eerily empty. At this hour it is normally a solid wave of steel and plastic headed into the capital. It is not, this morning.   You can feel something in the […]

 (America’s Promise- AP Photo) Loudoun- I could feel the rising tide as I crossed delicately into Loudoun County. The plane from New Orleans was due shortly after four. Based on the number of cars, sleek black Livery Limos and stretch monstrosities, there were a lot of them coming into Dulles this slate gray afternoon.   […]

(Old Hickory, 1829 Inauguration)   This is a solid morning, solid in the way that the sky has a certain density of cloud the color of steel, and the chill has brought all the molecules together in the most compact package. The antithesis of the expanding effervescence of the springtime: there is a palpable texture to this atmosphere that […]

(Wingwalkers) Leaving Cleveland one time I was seated in the rear of a commercial jet. It was a DC-9, a nice comfy single-aisle aircraft designed for multiple quick turn-around flights. Its reputation for reliability and efficiency drove strong sales, and it was one of the most successful commercial jets of the era.   Many found […]

(Ernie at rest)   It is colder here than it has been in years. Bitter, biting cold that blows right through and chills the very blood. This cold front is the great divide between the long slide into winter and the slow climb back out of it. It is a simple trick. We just have […]

(The construction site) My mouth felt like an Iranian road crew had been working on a project overnight, and some of the concrete had not set up properly.   I took a couple Motrin first thing to see if I could kill the dull ache that radiated from the jaw upward toward my temple. I […]