Category Archives: Politics and Civic Interest

Communion

Posted on June 29, 2026 by smellincoffee

When J.D. Vance’s formidable grandmother died, his connection to Christianity went with it. Although he’d been raised going to church with her on occasion,  the faith had never become internalized;  as he deployed to Iraq, he was moving further and … Continue reading →

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The Unfinished Odyssey of Robert F. Kennedy

Posted on June 25, 2026 by smellincoffee

David Halberstam was already a seasoned reporter when he began covering RFK’s fatal 1968 bid for the presidency. The bid itself was almost dead on arrival; RFK dragged his feet on deciding, and continually probed those around him as to … Continue reading →

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Bad Blood

Posted on June 24, 2026 by smellincoffee

When LBJ mentioned that Joe Kennedy’s son Robert would be excellent at leading something like NASA, RFK recorded this in his diary. The master of the Senate thought he had potential! Only a few years later, however, RFK and LBJ … Continue reading →

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1960: The Election that Forged Three Presidencies

Posted on June 22, 2026 by smellincoffee

As the Eisenhower administration began drawing to a close and a new decade loomed, America had a choice: stay the course, or shake things up? Although JFK would claim in his 1961 inaugural that the torch had been passed to … Continue reading →

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Kennedy and Nixon

Posted on June 18, 2026 by smellincoffee

President Richard Nixon was a sweetie-pie who wrote letters so tender to Jackie Kennedy she cried, and she wrote him gracious letters back. The idea of Nixon being sweet and caring does not sit easily with modern readers, but that … Continue reading →

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To Rescue the American Spirit

Posted on June 6, 2026 by smellincoffee

While I hadn’t planned to read Thedore Roosevelt until I’d finished off Garfield, etc,  the ladyfriend bought this for me and I  found it fairly absorbing – as in hey, why not spend two hours after work each day reading … Continue reading →

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A Radical Exercise in Liberty

Posted on June 5, 2026 by smellincoffee

The Declaration of Independence: A Radical Exercise in Liberty  is a unique work,  as it is a history of how the Declaration came to be – not only politically, but philosophically. It begins as formal history,  recounting the early 1770s … Continue reading →

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All the Best, George

Posted on May 29, 2026 by smellincoffee

. All the Best is a collection of Bush Sr’s letters, diary entries and emails, prefaced by him and read to varying degrees by his family — including “Bar” whose first particular entry is heartbreaking. As a 1990s kid, there … Continue reading →

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Hated by All the Right People

Posted on May 21, 2026 by smellincoffee

“What’s happened to Tucker?”, Rod Dreher may have asked himself in not so many words. Since Carlson aired an interview with a young troll whose name I’ll not give further mention, and failed to press the boy on his antisemitic … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Decision Points

Posted on May 14, 2026 by smellincoffee

I have a ….complicated relationship with George W. Bush. He was the president when I was in high school, and most importantly during 9/11: his “I can hear you!” response still makes me want to find a table, stand on … Continue reading →

Posted in General, history, Politics and Civic Interest | Tagged , , , , , , , | 22 Comments