Even more than most inaugural addresses, today’s speech by the new president will be greatly anticipated but, like most of these addresses, little remembered. Though who knows, Obama could join the ranks of JFK, FDR, and even Lincoln (especially the second time out), though that is doubtful. Part of the hope for something memorable lies…

Tomorrow’s inauguration will be historic for many reasons, the most obvious being the installation of the nation’s first African-American president. What will not change, however, is the Protestant monopoly of the event. The new president is a Protestant (though in search of a new church), and while he has the nation’s first Catholic VP, the…

Patrick McGoohan has died, the actor best known (well, to me) for his role in the 1960’s CBS serial, “Secret Agent,” which is today perhaps best remembered by others for the unforgettable Johnny Rivers theme, “Secret Agent Man.” McGoohan (and the Rivers’ riffs) epitomized that Sixties cool, when Miles Davis and James Bond both wore…

That phrase is from Ethan Bronner’s NYT analysis this morning of Israel’s strategy going into the Gaza campaign, which has now been suspended. It is meant to be a boast of sorts, not recognition of a mistake. It comes from a Hebrew phrase, “baal habayit hishtageya,” or “the boss has lost it,” and as Bronner…

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