In the year 2012
The much assailed electorate
Decided that it wanted
A charlatan for president.

Grown weary and suspicious of
The man who dreamed and dared,
It threw its weight instead behind
A man of craven cares.

A man who studied...

Welcome to the second entry in my series of posts on the best books from 2011 (or 2010) from local(ish) authors, some of whom are friends of mine. Read the first entry here.

I Was the Jukebox
Poems by Sandra Beasley
2010 by Norton / 2011...

Shortly after I finished Leaving the Atocha Station, Ben Lerner's brilliant novel about the promise and the impossibility of salvation in the experience of art, and one of the best books I've read in years, the Sunday New York Times Book Review arrived, with its annual list of the Top...

Everyone, it seems, has a Christopher Hitchens story.

And why shouldn't they? The iconic journalist was outspoken, recognizable, and he traveled everywhere. He was the kind of person you remembered, like a literary character brought to life, refined but vaguely disheveled, perpetually slumped and tired. He often seemed slightly...

CNN Anchor Gloria Borger: And now we go live to Tahrir Square, where our correspondent Sean Carman is standing by. Sean, what's the mood down there?

Sean: Utter jubilation.

Gloria: It looks like quite a party down there.

Sean: Gloria, it's the biggest party I've ever seen. Fireworks. Dancing. Muslims...

Great. You have to give a speech. In public. Surely this is one of the most distasteful obligations of public service?

Still, you don't have any choice. There's apparently a crisis going on, and your vice president, the new one, who you installed last week (praise be to Allah,...

The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It is late January/early February 2011. President Obama is holding a briefing with his National Security Team.

The President: OK, what's the situation?

The Secretary of State: Well, the peaceful citizens of Egypt are gathered in Tahrir Square, singing songs and chanting slogans for...

They came from Baltimore, Chapel Hill, and San Francisco. From Seattle, Laramie, and Western Pennsylvania.

They traveled on the Bolt and Mega Bus from New York, which both cost $20 and have free wi-fi. But they also came on busses chartered by media tycoons. Those busses were free and, as...

This week, NPR fired Juan Williams for saying that airline passengers in "Muslim garb" make him nervous.

There has been a lot of talk about what NPR should have done in response to Williams' comments. I've been wondering what would have happened if, instead of firing Williams, NPR had invited...

I failed to attend Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" gathering at the Lincoln Memorial this weekend.

I thought about going. I mean, America's honor has been stolen. By "Them." That's pretty serious. Someone should do something.

Frankly, I can't believe They would do such a thing. Who do They think They...

Guard #1: Hey Joe.

Guard #2: Yeah?

Guard #1: Isn't this the box where we keep America's honor?

Guard #2: I think so.

Guard #1: Well it's gone.

Guard #2 (coming over): It's what?

Guard #1: It's not here.

Guard #2 (shining flashlight): Holy [expletive deleted].

Guard #1: First America's...

Well, Scott Brown has won the Senate election in Massachusetts, proving once again that, in America, anything is possible if you are extremely good looking and drive a pickup.

Brown's election boggles the mind. His centerfold picture, for example, reminds me of all those beauty queens who lost their...

8:00 a.m.

Beeeeeeeep --

"Hey Matt, it's Jeff. Listen, wanted to go over the changes for the Today show we talked about. I know you're not excited about switching to a reality format and moving to 7 in the evening, but Matt, reality is the future of television -- you...

I've just read Conan O'Brien's letter to the People of Earth about the Tonight Show mess, and I think he has a point. The implication of his letter is that there is only one Tonight Show, and NBC should just decide who will host it. That sounds right.

Tomorrow HarperCollins releases Going Rogue: An American Life, by Sarah Palin. Although the book clocks in at 432 pages, it's actually written in pencil on Big Chief tablet paper. Still, 432 pages is a long time to hear anyone go on and on about themselves. 432 pages of Sarah Palin?...

NEW YORK, September 14, 2009 -- Kanye West interrupted President Obama's speech to the New York City investment banking community today, grabbing the microphone just as the President was launching into prepared remarks about the need for regulatory reform of America's financial markets.

"I know we're all gathered here...

Something weird has been happening lately. I haven't mentioned it because, well, it's just so strange. But I've decided that announcing it might ease the awkwardness, the embarrassment and, yes, the fear that washes over me each time it occurs.

I don't know how to put it into words,...

The Republican Party announced today that it will honor the legacy of Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy by continuing its campaign to defeat any prospect of health care reform.

"Senator Kennedy was a great humanitarian," said Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican National Committee, "who worked tirelessly to improve the...

One of the fun things about being a columnist for the Huffington Post is that anonymous sources send me hot inside information, totally out of the blue.
ﾠ
This information comes in "over the transom," as they used to say. For those unfamiliar with the ink-smudged, glory-filled days...

I have news for America.

News for the irate mobs at town hall meetings, for the television journalists looking for the next three-ring circus at which to point their cameras, and for the former governor of Alaska, who lives in a world constructed by her own broken imagination, grows increasingly...