By Andrew P. Napolitano
The president's men trash the Constitution to pursue antagonists
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Britons got a rare glimpse of Queen Elizabeth II's personal views Tuesday when a prominent BBC reporter told a live radio audience about a conversation he had with the queen in which she apparently described telling a minister of her concern about the continued liberty of radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri.
Mitt Romney, the businessman with an eye for what’s going wrong, can’t resist the temptation to critique what he sees. A cliche-monger would call him a “problem-solver.” Others would call him a pain in the neck.
The Titanic went down 100 years ago, on April 15, 1912. It took just two hours and 40 minutes for the sea to swallow the ship that "God Himself couldn't sink."
What on Earth has happened to the Nobel Peace Prize, which once was easily the world's most prestigious award? Consider that in 1953, Albert Schweitzer and Gen. George C. Marshall were honored on the same day (with Winston Churchill winning the prize for literature, incidentally).
Political leaders do love books that tell them what a very good job they're doing. George W Bush, for example, was often seen clutching a copy of Andrew Roberts' excellent "A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900" because it reassured him that his war on terrorism belonged to a fine historical tradition and was right and noble and good.
Andrew Roberts, author of "Masters and Commanders" and "A History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900," has produced what Gen. George Patton might call "a helluva book" - the first totally readable one-volume history of World War II, a literary and historical blitzkrieg, propelled by strong, positive prose, written with concision yet a wealth of detail, and supplied with an arsenal of sources.
It is summer and time to read books. I recall the late editor of the editorial page of The Washington Post, the sainted Meg Greenfield, making fun of the idea of summer books, but I have long filed her quip away as a quip that was quipless. She could read books almost anytime she wanted, but busy people read when they have a special opportunity, and during summer break, I would like to remind them of good books to read. This summer there is an abundance of them.
A state in western India banned Pulitzer Prize-winning author Joseph Lelyveld's new book about Mahatma Gandhi on Wednesday after reviews saying it hints that the father of India's independence had a homosexual relationship.
A state in western India banned Pulitzer-Prize winner Joseph Lelyveld's new book about Mahatma Gandhi on Wednesday after reviews saying it hints that the father of India's independence had a homosexual relationship. The author says his work is being misinterpreted.
My friend Andrew Roberts has inherited the title of Historian of the English-Speaking People from Winston Churchill. Churchill wrote his four-volume history up to 1900. Mr. Roberts took up the story from there and has written his stupendous "History of the English-Speaking Peoples Since 1900." I commend it to you.
He said most public figures respect the queen's expectation of confidentiality — particularly the prime ministers she has met with weekly since 1952.
"This is exactly what the monarch should be doing," he said. "As usual, she's got it bang-on right."
