The New York Observer

William Hartung of the New America Foundation contended that a Rumsfeldian approach to restructuring the U.S. military base network at this point is "a case of way too little, way too late." And given the denigration of the American global reputation caused by its irresponsible actions in Iraq, he said, "One of the best ways to restore confidence in the U.S. globally would be to adopt a non-interventionist posture" that would include "substantial cutbacks in the U.S. overseas base structure."… more

When Barack Obama accepts the Democratic Party’s nomination for president, he will deliver his speech the way John F. Kennedy did in 1960: in a stadium.

The image of a stadium full of people waiting to hear a speech—a political speech, no less—underscores a somewhat overlooked aspect of the American scene: Speeches matter. In a day when comments muttered into an open microphone, or a distasteful joke captured on YouTube (macaca!) can alter the course of a campaign, it’s still the vision and policies outlined in speeches… more

For a people whom Tocqueville described as living eternally in the future, we Americans do quite a lot of remembering. Eight weeks ago, it was Martin Luther King Jr., who has been gone longer than he was alive. Now we enter the season of remembrance for a former New York senator, Robert F. Kennedy, a season made all the more poignant by the depressing news that the Liberal Lion, Ted Kennedy, is suddenly and unexpectedly a lion in winter.

R.F.K.'s busy… more

One question for the reviewers and readers who have professed disappointment in Hillary Clinton's new book: What did you expect? Or to put it another way: When was the last time you read a really good book by an American politician at mid-career? It probably wasn't John Ashcroft's Lessons from a Father to his Son, an inspirational tome that recounts his fairy-tale rise from Missouri state auditor to Missouri state attorney general. And I'd be surprised if it were George… more

To support our troops overseas, New Yorkers don't have to search for war bonds. They can simply nestle in between the Cezanne-inspired murals at the Josephina restaurant across from Lincoln Center and order the almond-crusted crab cakes. That's because every meal ordered at Josephina supports the restaurant's principal owner and chef, Louis Lanza, and his father, Frank