Peter Murmann

I am getting ready to write a few words on the Obama inauguration. I don’t want to waste more words on George Bush, Jr. So I am letting Maureen Dowd write the final words on him. The Long, Lame Goodbye As Barack Obama got to town, one of the first things he did was seek the counsel [Read More]

Just read John Lahr’s review of Liza Minelli’s new show “MORE ABOUT ME” in the New Yorker. I felt bad for Liza because the review is almost too penetrating. But it is a joy for the reading public. Liza Minnelli Under the cunning direction of Ron Lewis, and backed by a first-rate big band, Minnelli [Read More]

Kimberly Strassel: I ask the president what he’s learned from his time in office—not from a policy perspective, but as a person. His answer is unsurprising from a man who has always talked openly of his faith—though that, too, has earned him criticism. “I’ve learned that God is good. All the time.” PM: Hallelujah. We paid a [Read More]

I remember reading a reminiscence either by President Truman or Eisenhower about the remarkable change they felt the day after they handed over the presidency: While the day before everyone was most interested in them, no one wanted now wanted to see them. The office has the charisma, not they as individuals. Democracy is about [Read More]

Some conservative commentators had already swung to Obama before the election, but not so William Kristol. Unlike William Safire whose conservative columns I found rewarding to read, Kristol struck me as the mouthpiece of Dick Chenney. His transformation for this reason is all the more stunning. Pollster have long demonstrated that after an election suddenly [Read More]

The following text is President-elect Barack Obama

More than two decades ago, I arrived in Illinois as a young man eager to do my part in building a better America. On the South Side of Chicago, I worked with families who had lost jobs and lost hope when the local steel plant closed. It wasn