Convention
Richard Reeves, author of the widely praised A Ford Not a Lincoln, has produced a startling off-camera, behind-the-scenes account of the 1976 Democratic National Convention, the Convention that gave America its new president, Jimmy Carter.
A witty and marvellously constructed mosaic, Convention has a rare immediacy, presenting American society at its most raw yet most self-conscious. With the use of a team of reporters to cover the participants not only during but also for the months preceding the Convention, the scene is built up. A cast of politicians and statesmen, newsmen and money-men, cops and hookers, hangers-on and hustlers provide both drama and farce. Deals are made and unmade, threats are hurled and enacted and careers, even lives, are made and broken.
From the much publicised 'youngest delegate' to the manager of the telephone company or the school teacher turned hooker for the week, every character in Convention illuminates a facet of America, its society and its politics. A fascinating account of the erratic route to supreme power, orchestrated by one of America's most perceptive political writers.
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Obama So Far: Good Job!
LOS ANGELES — This is about what I think, expressed cleverly by another columnist, Froma Harrop of the Providence Journal:
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A Congressman Reaches Out -- And Ducks!
RESEDA, Calif. — Rep. Brad Sherman, a Democrat from the 27th District of California in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, is a congressman who is obviously not afraid of his constituents. Many are these days, but Sherman takes out advertisements in local newspapers urging people to come and reason with (or yell at) him at "Town Hall" meetings.
Naturalized On The Fourth Of July
LOS ANGELES — Among the charges leveled against King George III on July 4, 1776, in the Declaration of Independence was this one:
The Special Relationship Is Very Special
WASHINGTON — The 300th British soldier was killed in Afghanistan last week, which means that, proportionately, Great Britain is paying a higher price in manpower and money out there. That's 300 dead in a 10,000-troop commitment compared with the United States' 1,126 deaths with a commitment of more than 94,000 troops right now.
Let Us Now Praise Famous Conspiracy Theories
WASHINGTON — Last Saturday morning, Mike Allen's Politico Playbook, the early-morning blog Washington whisperers wake up to, began this way:
The California Winners: Corporate Power
LOS ANGELES — You can't fool all the people all the time, only about 48 percent. That, rather than the triumph of women billionaires, may be the abiding lesson of California's spring elections this year.
Where Does The Buck Stop?
LOS ANGELES — President Obama, in an impossible position, decided to take a page from the Harry Truman-John F. Kennedy playbook as oil fouled the Gulf of Mexico and the second year of his presidency.
The Republican Political Bubble
LOS ANGELES — In a rather charming video at randpaul2010.com, the Republican candidate for the United States Senate from Kentucky, Rand Paul himself, a libertarian by birthright, says that he was not named for Ayn Rand. The writer is acclaimed as a prophet by many libertarians, although she once said she would rather vote for the Marx Brothers than a libertarian.
Pentagon Papers II
NEW YORK — Henry Fairlie, the British-American contrarian who wrote for The New Republic and The Washington Post, among many others, derided the publication of the Pentagon Papers as nothing more than a summary of what Americans already knew about the war in Vietnam. To prove his point in those pre-Google days, Fairlie spent hour after hour plowing through newspaper, magazine and government archives, finding stories and public documents revealing the same information the Defense Department was classifying during the 1960s.
Events Are In The Saddle
NEW YORK — Let us now praise famous cliches.
California's Stimulus Package: Meg Whitman
LOS ANGELES — There is a sweet little proposition on this year's California ballot, 15 by number. Authored by state Sen. Loni Hancock, a Democrat from Berkeley, Proposition 15 would institute public financing for one state office, secretary of state.
Are We A Nation Of Crooks?
LOS ANGELES — In this country, you are innocent until proven guilty. OK, so Bernie Madoff is a criminal. But a lot of other people on Wall Street and beyond are only crooks — so far.
Obama In The Quagmire
WASHINGTON — Is Hamid Karzai really nuts? Or are we?
The Lady Of The House
SAN FRANCISCO — Nancy Pelosi was a Democratic Party activist practically from the moment she was born, the daughter of a Maryland congressman. But at 47, the mother of five children had never run for public office — and did not think she ever would. She had promised herself she would never even think about it until her youngest finished high school.
The Power Of Zero
DALLAS — Remember the good old days? Remember when a Republican senator, Olympia Snowe of Maine, said she heard history calling? Well, history did call and not a single Republican answered in Washington. Zero in the Senate. Zero in the House.
Obama's Secret Weapon: The Tea Partiers
LOS ANGELES — The Republican Party of California met in convention last weekend and listened to five candidates for governor and United States senator in the state's June 8 primary election. They fell all over themselves trying to sound like tea partiers.
Students Wake Up In California
LOS ANGELES — Thousands of California students, from graduate students to kindergarten kids, walked out of their classrooms last Thursday to peacefully (mostly) demonstrate against the decline of education in the Golden State. Could this be the start of something big? Something bigger than tea bags?