Volume 267 | No. 5

Mon, Nov 21

2016—The Guardian reports that D. Trump’s grandfather was refused re-entry to Germany in 1905 because he had dodged military service. 1974—The Freedom of Information Act passes over Gerry Ford’s veto. 1973—Chief of Staff Al Haig ascribes an 18½ minute gap on an audio tape to “sinister forces.” 1970—Fifty-six Green Berets raid the Son Tay POW camp 23 miles west of Hanoi, which had been evacuated three weeks earlier. 1967—Commies in the ’Nam are “unable to mount a major offensive,” says Westy, 71 days before Tet. “The end begins to come into view.” 1964—The FBI sends a blackmail letter to Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., urging …

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Sun, Nov 20

2020—“What is the downside for humoring him,” says an anonymous high GOP official to Washington Post reporters. “It’s not like he’s plotting how to prevent Joe Biden from taking power on January 20th.” 2008—Sarah Palin is interviewed on live TV while, in the background, turkeys are being slaughtered. 1980—In Louisiana, an oil rig drilling in the wrong spot hits a salt mine under Lake Peigneur. The rig, 11 barges, and a tugboat disappear. 1979—Fundamentalists seize Mecca’s Grand Mosque, full of hostages. The CIA blames guiltless Iran. 1975—The Senate’s Church Committee issues its report on U.S. efforts to assassinate foreign leaders; 349 pages make it past …

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A Note on Letters, Timing, and History

As we had anticipated—not having recently fallen off a turnip truck—the mid-term elections prompted a flood of correspondence on that vitally important topic. Unfortunately, mid-term elections are not timed to mesh well with our publishing schedule. We will write to Mr. Pappas soon, and ask if he can do something about this rude oversight. This unfortunate asynchrony left us with lots of letters urging voters not to make a terrible situation even more dire—none of which we would be able to publish until long after the matter was out of our readers’ hands. Such times test the mettle of an editor. Those of us born …

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War: What Is It Good For?

by Jean Stimmell In 2002, Vernon Klinkenborg, known for his odes to country living, wrote The Rural Life, assigning a chapter to each month of the year. In his November entry, he veers off subject, observing that World War I veterans “are impossibly old by now.” He appears to be making reference to what we now call Veterans Day, celebrated on November 11—but first observed in 1919 on the first anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I. Rather than dismissing these old-timers, Klinkenborg argues, we should bring them front and center to remind us of “the intractable knowledge that comes from a place …

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Covid Inaction Leaves U.S. Facing “Major Storm Without Even an Umbrella in Hand”

by Kenny Stancil Refuting President Joe Biden’s recent claim that “the pandemic is over,” a group of physicians, epidemiologists, and other experts warned in an open letter published last month that Covid-19 remains a deadly and disabling threat, including in the United States, which is ill-prepared for a possible winter surge “fueled by the emergence of new Omicron strains.” “We know from our clinical and research experience that the pandemic is far from over, and that national efforts to secure the health and well-being of the American public are far from complete,” the scholars wrote in the esteemed British Medical Journal. “We are deeply concerned …

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