The Unfettered Curmudgeon

Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward: A Review      I just finished reading Fear, Trump in the White House , by Bob Woodward over a period of four days. It is very well written, cited with source notes, and indexed. Mr. Woodward writes his book not so much as an expository essay or dissertation, but rather he tells a story of the Trump campaign and the Trump White House through spring of this year, with abundant quotations and descriptions of what has transpired, with remarkable clarity and honesty. He rarely offers analyses or opinions because quite honestly, his report doesn’t need such: the reader is able to clearly see things for themselves. All too familiar names and incidents from the news appear constantly, which are bound to allow the reader to become the proverbial “fly on the wall.” Beyond that, I think that anyone reading this book will be able to vividly imagine what is currently going on within the Oval Office and the White Hou...

JULY 1, 1863... GETTYSBURG DAY ONE Wednesday morning, July 1, 1863, one hundred and fifty five years ago today, began with a gentle rain as the eastern sky began to lighten just slightly; yet, as the sun rose in the sky everyone knew that it would be a typical hot and humid summer day in southern Pennsylvania. General Henry Heth, as promised, rose early and headed towards Gettysburg from Cashtown, eight miles away just as the sun poked above the horizon. In spite of his certainty that only a small number of Pennsylvania militia lay ahead of him, the same militia that had turned General J. Johnston Pettigrew around the previous day, his corps commander, General Ambrose Powell (A.P.) Hill sent not just one brigade as he had done the previous day, but rather Henry Heth’s entire division plus most of his corps artillery plus another division commanded by Major General Dorsey Pender for support: a total of 14,000 men. That was two-thirds of his 3 rd Corps, sent on what was basicall...