Blog

The gang that couldn't shoot straight

December 30, 2018

In one of the interactive exhibits at Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home in Virginia, you’re asked to flip open the doors of his “cabinet,” each of which contains a portrait of its members — Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox and Attorney General Edmund Randolph. As I opened the drawers, I couldn’t help but think of how one 19th century journalist crystallized America as “a nation created by geniuses to be run by idiots.”

For one brief shining moment: President John F. and Jacqueline B. Kennedy admiring the White House Christmas tree on Dec. 12, 1962. Photograph by Robert Knudsen. Courtesy the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.

A not so Merry Christmas?

December 24, 2018

’Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was happy, not even a mouse. Where to begin to recount all the reasons for the winter of our discontent. Start with the stock market collapse. As of 2:52 p.m. EST on Christmas Eve, the Dow was down 653.17, or almost 3 percent., for the worst Christmas Eve plunge in its history. But that may turn out merely to be the tip of the Titanic-slaying iceberg. I know, frightening, isn’t it?

Home Secretary Theresa May with Prime Minister David Cameron in 2010. It’s her show now. Courtesy UK Home Office.

Saving face while losing themselves?

December 18, 2018

It was no minor metaphor when British Prime Minister Theresa May’s car door stuck as she strove to exit recently to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who waited with characteristic stoicism on the red carpet for yet another go-round in May’s futile attempt to negotiate a better Brexit deal. Brexit has been the ultimate stuck car door for May and the British people, a frustrating rigmarole with no satisfactory conclusion in sight.

Michael Ramirez’s spot-on take on Tariff Man as seen on Vox.

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.

President George H.W. Bush lies in state at the Capitol. Photograph by Dana Barciniak.

The quiet man

December 5, 2018

The passing of President George H.W. Bush – whom the nation mourned officially Wednesday – was a reminder of all that we have lost and that still remains.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman greets Secretary of Defense James Mattis earlier this year in Washington D.C. The Senate seems to have had it up to its bipartisan ears with the Trump Administration’s defense of MbS, whom the CIA has implicate… — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman greets Secretary of Defense James Mattis earlier this year in Washington D.C. The Senate seems to have had it up to its bipartisan ears with the Trump Administration’s defense of MbS, whom the CIA has implicated in the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Photograph by Navy Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Kathryn E. Holm.

Business as usual for Trump?

November 28, 2018

For someone who’s supposed to be such a brilliant businessman, President Donald J. Trump seems to have no understanding about how business really works.