Editor’s Note: I hope things go well tomorrow. I have a commitment in town this evening- the ‘town’ being on the more pleasant side of the Potomac- and then will flee to the countryside where, with a little luck, nothing at all will happen. There being no alternative, I suppose we will just see how […]

Editor’s Note: So, this week the Big Surprise is apparently going to happen. Weather is not bad, all things considered, and the closures are going to start happening all over town. Some of them are by the Law Enforcement people, and others are rumored to be planned to disrupt the various events that will signal […]

Editor’s Note: So, the big deal in Your Nation’s Capital this week is avoiding what is going to start happening later this week. I plan to be safely at the farm, well away from the commotion downtown. Rumors are swirling about what may- or may not- be in store. The DC Anti-Fascist Coalition apparently intends […]

(Planning the Post-War World. Potsdam Leaders, July, 1945) The dining room of Tracy O’Grady’s Willow restaurant is a contrast to the bar area where I normally hang out. It is much lighter and airier than the dark wood area, though it shares a certain intimacy. It is all white table-cloths and spare elegant furnishings with […]

Mac was a little late getting to Willow- but there was a reason. He was getting suited up for a portrait. He drove over from The Madison and parked his champagne Jag in the garage under the restaurant, and arrived just about the same time as I did, shortly after five. John-with-an-H and Old Jim […]

(Chief Petty Officer Graham Jackson playing “Going Home” as FDR’s body leaves the Warm Springs Institute for the train station.) The Willow bar was bustling. There were some very attractive ladies at the bar, and some very self-important young men attempting to chat them up. Sara the lovely Lebanese waitress was smiling her perfect smile […]

Mac took a sip of his Virgin Mary and scowled. “I think there are only two olives in this one.” He peered into the dense red of the contents of the pint glass before him, rheumy blue eyes squinting behind his silver-framed glasses. The long bar was filling up nicely. Old Jim was in his […]