Category Archives: Politics and Civic Interest

Ike and Dick

Posted on May 4, 2026 by smellincoffee

I increasingly find Richard Nixon a fascinating personality, and stumbled onto this while looking for Nixon books: I’ve been reading it along with Being Nixon the last week or so. Ike and Dick focuses on the relationship between these two … Continue reading →

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Author in Chief

Posted on April 24, 2026 by smellincoffee

“History will be kind to me, for I intend to write it,” said Winston Churchill, and write it he did – histories of the World Wars and the Anglo-American people. Across the pond, American executives were also doing their writing. … Continue reading →

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Inside Camp David

Posted on April 23, 2026 by smellincoffee

President Herbert Hoover found himself homesick during his term in office in D.C, and decided to buy some land with his own money to develop as a mountain retreat. While security concerns did add some infrastructure, like telephone lines, the … Continue reading →

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The Tragic Comedy of Suburban Sprawl (Revisited)

Posted on March 6, 2026 by smellincoffee

Almost twenty years ago I attended a guest lecture at my university and heard a talk that would prove to be exceptionally influential on my thinking.  The talk, by Jim Kunstler, was on how American urban design – the built … Continue reading →

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Provoked (not Justified)

Posted on February 2, 2026 by smellincoffee

Coming of age amid 9/11 and the terror war made me obsessed with DC’s foreign policy – understanding its actions in the world, and their consequences.  The government’s  line that “[terrorists]  hate us for our freedoms” fell apart pretty quickly … Continue reading →

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1858

Posted on December 17, 2025 by smellincoffee

1858 is a history of the second year of James Buchanan’s administration, a year notable less for what Buchanan did than for what he refused to do while the slavery debate burned white-hot. He maintained that slavery was no longer … Continue reading →

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The Last Jeffersonian

Posted on October 31, 2025 by smellincoffee

My political biography began during the War on Terror, when I developed strong feelings about foreign intervention and the military-police surveillance state.   While reading Howard Zinn in my college years, I was astonished and delighted to learn of a … Continue reading →

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The Fighting Little Judge

Posted on July 25, 2025 by smellincoffee

Back in 2016, I played with the idea of reading biographies of various populists, for obvious reasons. William Jennings Bryant, Huey Long, and George C. Wallace were the three figures who leapt most to mind. Although George C. Wallace is … Continue reading →

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Reckoning with the Public Library

Posted on July 16, 2025 by smellincoffee

Recently an article at The Free Press which attributed the decline of the public library to the fact that they’ve become homeless shelters has been causing some chatter in some online librarian communities. While looking into it, this book was … Continue reading →

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Teasin’ Tuesday and June 2025 in Review

Posted on July 1, 2025 by smellincoffee

Gloriosky, is it July already? June is gone, and with it, half of 2025. Today I’m going to combine my monthly wrap-up with Tuesday meming — first the tease, then the top ten! Teaser Tuesday The strongest version of a … Continue reading →

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