Note: Transcription of the President’s musings aloud, as recorded on Susan Wiles’s iPhone when Mr. Trump, drifting off with his eyes closed, was unaware another person was in the Oval Office. It was the day before Ms. Wiles’s unexpected departure
Politics
All Quiet on the Ilium Front
Why don’t leaders battle out their differences and claims between themselves instead of taking their entire nations to war? This question is raised in Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, (1929), which I re-read last week. It is
Then They Came For Me
Note: this is a two-part post. In the first, I depict a personal crisis from the Vietnam War protest era. In the second, I reflect on the source of moral courage. 1 In my Connecticut high school sophomore year, our English
Open Season
Mike Johnson appeared blasé over concerns that Donald Trump is using his presidential power to help line his pockets, arguing that, unlike Joe Biden, the president does ‘everything out in the open.’ —— The Independent, May 25, 2025 1 This
Donald Trump Is a Socialist
Last week, Donald Trump threatened Apple with a 25% tariff if it failed to move production of the iPhone to the United States. In so doing, he revealed himself as a socialist. Socialism is generally defined as “a populist economic and
Words That Make Us Feel Hopeless
Certain phrases and words in common use today contribute to widespread feelings of futility. It’s a despair we can’t afford. Here are three examples. 1. Chaos When I think of chaos, I picture a herd of cattle in a stampede or refugees fleeing a