George McGovern
Presidential politics can get very ugly, but in the current contest I don't think we've heard any slogans as vicious as the one leveled in 1972 against George McGovern, who died this past weekend at age 90. The South Dakota senator was, his opponents sneered, the candidate of "Acid, Amnesty, and Abortion." READ MORE >>
Ah, Watergate!
"I AM AWARE," H. R. Haldeman writes, "that I there is a cult of people in this country who collect every scrap of information about Watergate because of its many fascinating mysteries." He's more than aware: his memoir. The Ends of Power, is a seething nest of almost every conceivable scrap of Watergate conspiracy theory developed to date. The Democratic Trap Theory, the CIA Trap Theory, the Blackmail Demand Theory: you name it, H. R. Bob buys it. READ MORE >>
Majority Rules
The start of a presidential primary season occasions a lot of sanctimonious blather about the glories of our democratic system, but one aspect of the nominating process is actually underappreciated. In an era when two pillars of government are visibly thwarting democracy—defined literally as rule by majority or plurality—the manner in which political parties choose nominees is, refreshingly, becoming visibly more democratic. READ MORE >>
Obama Is Finally Doing the Right Thing on Israel—For Now, At Least
Jesus and Jefferson
God’s Own Party: The Making of the Christian Right By Daniel K. Williams (Oxford University Press, 372 pp., $29.95) From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain-Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Rise of Evangelical Conservatism By Darren Dochuk (W.W. Norton, 520 pp., $35) READ MORE >>
