The Golden Age

Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History Counselor: A Life at the Edge of History by Ted Sorensen


My review



rating: 4 of 5 stars
Ted Sorensen's inspiring if uneven memoir recounts in vivid detail the excitement of being John F. Kennedy's virtual alter ego from the time Kennedy was a young Senator from Massachusetts to the day he was brutally and unexpectedly gunned down in Dallas. Ever loyal to his fallen leader, Sorensen captures the Kennedys at their very best -- the idealism of the New Frontier, the founding of the Peace Corps, the management of the Cuban Missile Crisis (in which Sorensen played an instrumental part), and the introduction of the most far-reaching Civil Rights legislation in a century. Although not blind to the Kennedys' failings, from the Bay of Pigs to Judith Exnor to Chappaquiddick, Sorensen perhaps understandably prefers to dwell on their soaring aspirations, which Sorensen helped to cast in the most memorable American political rhetoric since Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address.

Not surprisingly, it is hard for the account of Sorensen's life as an international lawyer and political advisor at the law firm of Paul, Weiss to match the heady days of his being the principal advisor to the President of the United States. As Sorensen wryly points out, the only job he ever really wanted was Special Counsel to John F. Kennedy, a job that abruptly ceased to exist in 1963. Nevertheless, Sorensen gamely describes his advice to Robert Kennedy, his correspondence with Jackie Kennedy, his encounters with world leaders ranging from Anwar Sadat to Nelson Mandela, and his failed Senate race and disappointing nomination for head of the C.I.A. under Jimmy Carter.

The book concludes, however, with the intense and moving story of Sorensen's struggle to recover from his stroke and subsequent blindness. All in all, Sorensen comes across as a likable Nebraskan of firm convictions and high principles who, through a combination of luck and ability, was privileged to occupy a pivotal position on the world stage for a brief, shining moment.

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Big Brother Redux

The New York Times reports that not only do prosecutors have the power to issue criminal subpoenas to bloggers, but also the recipients of the subpoenas must not reveal the existence of the subpoenas upon pain of criminal penalties. Is this America?

What's War Got to Do with It?

Ania Egland releases a response to the Move On Baby Alex ad:

Over forty years ago, President John F. Kennedy, a staunch opponent of communism and a war-hero himself, promised this country that the United States would never start a war. President George W. Bush broke that promise with his ill-considered and unjustified invasion of Iraq. Defending this country and Europe from a large and hostile Communist regime is one thing; wasting blood and treasure on a policy blunder is quite another. Aren't our husbands and children — and Ms. Egland's — too valuable to have their lives cast way in the tradition of Balaclava, Gallipoli, and the Somme?

The Real Issues

Why do our aspiring leaders not seem to be more interested in discussing 1) how to address the energy crisis (other than through offshore drilling) and 2) our relationship with the one half of the world's population that lives in the emerging economic powerhouses of China and India?

Drowning Hitchens

To those who say that waterboarding is not torture, Christopher Hitchens says you haven't tried it. Hitchens says that the most annoying thing to him about people who talk about waterboarding without knowing what it is really like is that they say it "simulates" drowning. Hitchens response: it doesn't "simulate," it is drowning.

McCain "Swift Boats" Gen. Wesley Clark

In the face of a reasoned critique of John McCain's potential to lead the nation as Commander in Chief, in which Gen. Wesley Clark pointed out that McCain's personal heroism as a P.O.W. did not necessarily mean that he had the good judgment to be an effective president, John McCain and his hired guns from Swift Boat Veterans for Truth have called upon Barack Obama to repudiate Clark. Obama, after initially backing down in the face of McCain's bluster, has now rejected any call for Gen. Clark to apologize for his accurate summation and fair criticism of McCain's war record. Meanwhile, the McCain camp has the audacity to have its Swift Boaters disingenuously whine that the Democrats have turned the tables on them.


Among Michael Kinsley's pointed observations about public life was the comment that a gaffe is a truthful statement by a politician. In Kinsley's sense, Clark has certainly committed a gaffe, and every good Democrat should applaud him for it. Clark's gaffe was as follows:

Mr. Schieffer: Well, you went so far as to say that you thought John McCain was, quote, and these are your words, “untested and untried.” And I must say, I had to read that twice, because you’re talking about somebody who was a prisoner of war, he was a squadron commander of the largest squadron in the Navy, he’s been on the Senate Armed Services Committee for lo these many years. How can you say that John McCain is untested and untried, General?

Mr. Clark: Because in the matters of national security policy making, it’s a matter of understanding risk, it’s a matter of gauging your opponents and it’s a matter of being held accountable.John McCain’s never done any of that in his official positions. I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands of millions of others in the armed forces as a prisoner of war. He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee and he has traveled all over the world.But he hasn’t held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded wasn’t a wartime squadron. He hasn’t been there and ordered the bombs to fall. He hasn’t seen what it’s like when diplomats come in and say, `I don’t know whether we’re going to be able to get this point through or not. Do you want to take the risk?What about your reputation? How do we handle it publicly?’… He hasn’t made those calls, Bob. So…

Mr. Schieffer: I have to say, Barack Obama has not had any of those experiences either, nor has he ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down. I mean…

Mr. Clark: Well, I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.

Mr. Schieffer: Really?

Mr. Clark: But Barack is not — he is not running on the fact that he has made these national security pronouncements, he’s running on his other strengths. He’s running on the strengths of character, on the strengths of his communication skills, on the strengths of his judgment, and those are qualities that we seek in our national leadership.

New York Times

And Your Question Is?

"Socially liberal knowledge workers naturally want to see people like themselves at the head of society, not people who used to run Halliburton and who are supported by a vast army of evangelicals." David Brooks, New York Times Op-Ed.

The Chicago Way: Put the GOP in the Morgue

Republican commentators are clucking because Barack Obama has decided not to relinquish a huge small-donor contribution advantage by accepting public funds. I guess they really do think he is a patsy who has learned nothing from Willie Horton and the Swift Boaters. The Right is once again priming its well-oiled attack machine, but do not think that the Democrats are planning to bring a knife to a gun fight this time.

Ten More Reasons to Vote for McBush


  1. Eight (years) is not enough!

  2. We cannot let gays destroy the institution of marriage between a man and a woman.

  3. The alternative is a Muslim-loving, Jew-baiting, tree-hugging, terrorist-sympathizing surrender monkey and hater of our red-blooded American way of life in the tradition of the givers-up of the Panama Canal.

  4. Oil companies need sustainable bottom lines.

  5. Drug addicted corporate thieves need a model for rehab.

  6. First wives need a model for keeping out of the way in return for medical care.

  7. Spending money you don't have beats raising taxes any day.

  8. Only people rich enough to deserve a house will be able to afford one.

  9. We need our children to learn more about Intelligent Design.

  10. If the war goes on for the next hundred years, the poor and the Arabs will kill each other off.

AP to Bloggers: Drop Dead!

In an ironic bid to curtail freedom of the press and fair use, the Associated Press has been threatening bloggers for quoting from AP stories. Fierce public reaction has given the media giant and its hired legal guns pause, at least for the moment.

Where is Carol?

Strange how Carol McCain has been airbrushed from John McCain's biography just as thoroughly as ex-Kremlin leaders were airbrushed from Soviet group portraits. But perhaps not so strange when one considers that McCain apparently belongs to the New Gingrich school of Republican family values.

It's the War, Stupid!

A sampling of the 851 comments on the New York Times' analysis of why Clinton lost suggests that the War is still very much on Democrats' minds.

Dulce et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori

Reflecting on the op-ed of the quintessential chicken-hawk William Kristol, who sat out the Vietnam War at Harvard, in which he criticizes Barack Obama for not listing the military as a form of national service, I am inclined to think that maybe we as a culture have gotten it wrong all these years. Being a soldier is a dirty, dangerous, and, yes, necessary job. For that, our troops deserve our respect and support. So do our garbagemen, sewer cleaners, cannery workers, meat packers, fishermen, and coal miners — but we do not make speeches and give out medals to them, even when they die horrible deaths in the line of duty. If, like the ancient Chinese, we exalted scholarship over warmaking; if we regarded gutting men as no more romantic than gutting fish, if we refused to allow the bright shining lie of the parade ground to obscure the truth of the trenches, then perhaps we would be taking a step away from war. When we truly come to view war as an ugly necessity rather than a glorious high-tech adventure, then perhaps we will be ready to shoulder the awesome responsibility of life and death that our military wields.