Gen. Field Marshall Model’s aide: Field Marshall, pardon me for interrupting, but… British paratroops have apparently landed … three kilometers from here! Gen. Model: Why should they do that? There is nothing valuable here. … Me! I am valuable. They have all come just to capture me. Get my driver and car. Evacuate my headquarters. …And don’t forget my cigars!...

There’s a moment in the film Patton where America’s World War II general has been sidelined from command and stationed in a French château after criticizing U.S. allies, slapping an enlisted soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress and calling him a coward. General Bedell Smith explains Eisenhower’s decision. “Frankly, George, you’re on probation. “Remember,” Smith cautions, “your worst enemy is your...

Look, let’s get serious here; the firing of FBI Director James Comey by President Trump while the director is in the midst of an investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia is not normal. Senator John McCain called Trump’s actions “unprecedented,” The Washington Post reports (May 10). “Probably the most respected individual in all of the American...

On Monday May 1, Baltimore outfielder Adam Jones said he was called the N-word and had a bag of peanuts thrown at him by some Boston Red Sox fans. Jones said it was one of the worst experiences he’s encountered in the 12-years he’s been a player, according to USA Today (May 1). “Very unfortunate.” Jones said. “I heard there...

This is what happens when poor information and irrational fear trumps verified medical science. “The young mother,” The Washington Post reports (May 5), “started getting advice early on from friends in the close-knit Somali immigrant community here. Don’t let your children get the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella — it causes autism, they said. “Suaado Salah listened. And this...

Since June 2015, when he first announced his candidacy, Donald Trump has proven himself to be the most dismissive, divisive, defensive, histrionic, ill-tempered, sexist, Islamaphobic, bigoted, blame-laying, responsibility-evading, transparency-avoiding, media-needy, media-hating (except for stories about him that he likes), contradictory, federal judge-denouncing, Fake News-claiming, science-denying, historically illiterate, constitutionally ignorant, conspiracy-promoting, demagogic, fear-mongering, ally-alienating, NATO-naïve, authoritarian-leaning, Putin-praising, murderous-dictators-admiring (Korea’s Kim Jung...

On one side you have Hamdi Ulukaya, Turkish immigrant and founder of Chobani yogurt, the top-selling Greek brand of yogurt which employs approximately 2,000 at its processing plant in Twin Falls, Idaho. On the other side, you have Alex Jones, the farrrrr-right (and I’m being kind) American radio show host and conspiracist-in-chief. Ulukaya filed a lawsuit against Jones “for posting...

“[The] wheels of justice grind slow but grind fine.” — Sun Tzu The board of directors of banking giant Wells Fargo announced “…that it would claw back an additional $75 million in compensation from the two executives on whom it pinned most of the blame for the company’s scandal over fraudulent accounts: the bank’s former chief executive, John G. Stumpf,...

A few months ago I learned about the dedication of a statue of John Gilbert Winant from Concord resident and college professor Stephen Ambra. “Who the heck is John Gilbert Winant?” I asked. “He’s one of this country’s great unsung heroes of World War II,” Ambra said. Ernest Bevin, a leading figure in Winston Churchill’s government, said “There is one...

At a small private cemetery located on the grounds of St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire there stands a striking granite headstone marking the grave-site of a man who not only attended and taught history at the exclusive prep-school, but served as the state’s governor and later as U.S. ambassador to England. Carved into the granite are words that...