Consider the clarinet. What an oddball musical instrument! It is not the mighty piano, whose range is from the most sublime romanticism — “Für Elise” — to the most shrewd and brilliant jazz riff, as in Dave Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo…
Say what you want about nation-building; its results pale next to the can-do of American fighting men. In a lightning raid preceded by aerial bombardments themselves preceded by months of intelligence gathering and surveillance, American soldiers located a leading Arab…
As reports come in on the Turkish attack on Kurdish positions in northern Syria, the armchair debate in Washington — mind, not the country, be grateful for that — proceeds apace: our war or not our war? Or even if…
A solution to the deplorable situation in Washington may be found by recourse to a misunderstood national treasure: democracy. It is by now obvious even to tennis writers that something is rotten in our nation’s capital. Headlines evoke a “constitutional…
Politically speaking, President Donald Trump may be right about a troop withdrawal from Syria. After years of failure in the Middle East, he wants to cut our losses, and many of his voters would tend to agree that keeping even…
John Bolton, the mustachioed “hard-liner” who replaced H. R. McMaster as President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor last year, was thanked for his service Monday and told to haul ass. His response was to send word via Twitter — a…
Rafael Nadal gestures to show the tall, slim Russian at the other end of center court in Arthur Ashe Stadium that he is holding new tennis balls. The man opposite, standing so far behind the baseline he is almost next…
There have been no allegations of Russian machinations and American gullibility or complicity in the annual drama called the U.S. Open. There will be an American in the ladies’ singles draw, Serena Williams, going for her 24th Grand Slam trophy,…
It had to happen, since finally it did: the mighty Swiss Guard of Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, owners of 23 singles Grand Slams between them, fell before the ruthless Slav steamroller personified by Daniil Medvedev and Grigor Dimitrov. Arthur…