PHILADELPHIA-Wandering through a working-class neighborhood of Philadelphia as night fell on Tuesday, canvassing houses on Greendale Road to make sure Democrats had voted, I ran into two other Kerry volunteers coming the other way on the same street. Turned out they were from New York, of course. East 52nd. West 84th. Carrying the same campaign Read More
With two weeks to go, I volunteered for Kerry in Wisconsin, so with nine days left, I’m volunteering for Bush in Ohio. I show up on Sunday at a suburban headquarters out side Cincinnati, and they put me to work on the phone bank, confirming volunteers who’ve signed up for the final weekend.
Everyone seems Read More
It’s a union hall on the west side of Milwaukee, but the people pushing through the glass doors don’t look union. They wear old hiking boots and North Face jackets. The kid with the earring has come in from South Carolina; the tall austere Asian-American in designer glasses has come from Los Angeles. They’re what Read More
October is the ruthless month, October is when I go to Dan for comfort. He’s from Chicago, I’m from Baltimore. He’s a little older than I am and much more learned. “Did you watch?”
“Are you suffering today?” I said on Friday morning.
“I’m in a worse mood, yes. I’m sad.”
“Did you watch?”
“Not Read More
An empire requires an imperial city, and the Republicans turned New York into the backlot for Julius Caesar . They used the grand scale and took over the grand elegant spaces as backdrop. Their bridle-bit loafers passed softly over the worn marble and mosaic floors of high culture. Once everyone who lives here fled town, Read More
For a long time I’ve wondered what would happen if I lost my wallet in the city-would I get it back?-and I finally did it, five times, on Aug. 12. The Republicans gave me the excuse: What better time to test the response of New Yorkers to misfortune? More personally, I’ve had an ongoing argument Read More
A month or so back, Bob Kerrey loped in late from a meeting of
the 9/11 commission to the New School stage to have a discussion with the
author Richard Ben Cramer about his new book, How Israel Lost: The Four Questions . The throaty author offered his
keystone for negotiations in the Middle East-”Give Read More
Roger Straus’ funeral was a dirgelike gathering at Temple Emanu El with solemn talk from the rabbi about Guggenheims and the Torah and Roger’s Calling. The newspapers have kept up a Gregorian chant as well, about the world of small publishers that is no more. Next fall, there will be some packed memorial where the Read More
The condemnation of Lynndie England, the abuser of prisoners, in some ways echoes the exaltation a year ago of Jessica Lynch. Both young women come from small West Virginia towns. The privileged who offer such strong opinions about them are not their peers; they would never make the decision to enlist that these young women Read More
You have to climb the Strand’s Judaica bookshelves like a ladder to get at a copy of Elliott Abrams’ Faith or Fear: How Jews Can Survive in a Christian America , but the author-who is now the top White House adviser on Middle Eastern issues-may well hope that few readers will undertake the trip, as Read More
