Free Republic

In February 2016, Donald Trump scandalized Republican Party elites at a CNN town hall event in Columbus, Ohio, when he dared to call George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq “a big fat mistake” and “the worst decision any one has made, any president has made, in the history of this country.” Trump’s assertion infuriated GOP insiders not because it was clearly mistaken or even easily disputable, but because it was all too true. A glance at the titles of major books on America in the Middle East written by authors across the political spectrum—Fiasco, Grand Delusion, Losing the Long Game,...

Since becoming Japan’s prime minister for a second time last December, Shinzo Abe has done a decent job of keeping his nationalistic instincts in check, choosing to focus instead on reviving the world’s third largest economy. But this week, with his administration buoyant in the polls amid positive signs for the economy, the “other” Shinzo Abe has stepped into the spotlight in dramatic style, angering Japan’s neighbors and possibly fomenting another round of regional tension. … (Abe) has made no secret of his desire to reinterpret Japan’s wartime past, distance himself from apologies issued by his predecessors, and, critically, rewrite...

Perhaps the most moving moment of Ken Burns' 11-hour documentary "The Civil War" is the reading of Sullivan Ballou's July 14, 1861 letter to "My very dear Sarah," written days before he was killed at the first Battle of Bull Run. Americans hearing his words 129 years later treasured them almost as much as the Union major's widow must have, reciting the letter at weddings and funerals. The Ballou letter epitomized the great achievement of Burns' film, which PBS is rebroadcasting over five nights beginning Sunday. Burns gave viewers "the impression of being present in the past," as historian Robert...