Peter Preston reviewed 20:21 Vision – The Lessons of the 20th Century for the 21st, by Bill Emmott (editor of The Economist), in yesterday’s Observer. Preston dismissed the work, calling it:
an occasionally irritating, sometimes obtuse rendition of trends identified (and sanctified) by a very clever journalist who relies, for much of his magazine’s reputation and profitability, on a US audience and is, therefore, a little tender when assessing the American way.
Also, “Reagan’s Son,” an article in yesterday’s NY Times Sunday Magazine, argues that Reagan and Bush “are alike in their outlooks and career paths, in their agendas of tax-cutting and confrontational deployment of American power, in the ideological mix of their advisers.” “More than that,” however, “there are important similarities of character and temperament. And both are simple men who have made a political virtue of being — in Bush’s word — ‘misunderestimated’ by the political elite.”
The article features a frightening photo montage showing Reagan’s face morphing into Bush’s and asserts that Bush has been in some ways even more successful than Reagan in implementing his conservative agenda.
Meanwhile, I heard about this last week and resisted the urge to post about it, but I’m getting more and more incensed about Jeb Bush’s plan to dismantle the State Library of Florida. Mark R. Lane has been keeping track of the story.
Apropos of nothing, someone I know once received a personal letter from Jeb Bush back in the 80’s. In the letter, Jeb Bush mispelled the word “subtle” (“Next time be more suttle,” he said.)