Lestat, the rapturous protagonist of Anne Rice’s “The Vampire Chronicles,” has the right attitude toward (unending) life.

Fear itself

March 17, 2019

Three friends, the same reaction: They’re all in a tizzy — bewitched, bothered and bewildered — by Trump world.

One is appalled at the Trump Administration’s restrictive treatment of pregnant undocumented immigrants. Another is angry about President Donald J. Trumpet’s policies and tone in general. And speaking of which, the third is severely stressed by his threats to the American resistance, which preceded the massacre of 50 Muslims — and the injury of just as many — at a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand by yet another young man with a disproportionate rage at life’s rejections, one who counted El Presidente as a white power inspiration.

'An otherwise blameless life'

March 10, 2019

So Paul Manafort was given four years for his “decade-long, multimillion-dollar fraud scheme,” which drew outrage from the legal community and beyond.

Oh, no, no, no. He's a Tariff Man

December 8, 2018

The day after President Donald J. Trump was elected, I, along with scores of others, hopped on a conference call with leaders of my brokerage firm to assess whither we were going in this brave new world. There were the usual attempts to reassure — the exhortations to stay the course, the discussion of the glories of diversification, the view that things might not be so bad after all. And though shocked global markets dropped, a lot, in the immediate aftermath, the worst never happened. At least, not immediately.

All the president's (hench)men

August 22, 2018

It’s hard to tell which movie we’re watching nowadays. Is it “All the President’s Men,” with some speaking of President Donald J. Trumpet as an “unindicted co-conspirator,” implicated by former personal lawyer Michael Cohen in payoffs to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal to influence the election? Is it “The Godfather,” with Donnie Two Scoops speaking of former campaign manager Paul “Paulie Smart Suits” Manafort as if he were a loyal capo (as opposed to that weasel Cohen)?

Republicare – DOA (not so fast)

July 21, 2017

With apologies to Mark Twain, reports of the Senate Health Care Bill’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.

It’s like one of those horror movies in which you think the evil guy is dead, but then a hand rises from the grave or you hear a chainsaw.

They’re ba-ack. Those rascally Republicans – told to mush by President Trumpet – are going to try again with a vote on repeal or replace or repeal and replace, something with an r. They have to do something, anything, because, let’s face it, they’ve done nothing. Apart from Neil Gorsuch and a partial travel ban, Trump’s come up short. ...