Mike Pilewski writes about life, politics and culture in the United States
John F. Kennedy was America’s first Catholic president. But in order to become that, he had to reassure people that the White House wouldn’t be taking orders from the Vatican. Rick Santorum hopes to become the second Catholic president. Although he’s far more Catholic than Kennedy pretended to be, he won’t have to reassure anyone. In recent years, Catholics have … >>
What if John F. Kennedy had never gone to Berlin? What if he hadn’t given that speech at the Rathaus Schöneberg in 1963 in which he proclaimed, in his horrible Massachusetts accent, “Ich been ein Bee-leena”? What if he had chosen to side with the Soviets instead? In the most recent world war, the Soviets had been America’s ally. They … >>
It’s been said that the American media don’t often cover politics in other countries. That’s not much of an exaggeration. Medium-sized newspapers often have only one page of international stories, on page 4 or page 6 at best. TV news focuses on those countries with an immediate and obvious relation to the US — NATO partners, China, Afghanistan, and so … >>
Going to the movies this weekend will take us back 40 years, and ahead 240 years, in the new, “reimagined” Star Trek film. In 1969, poor ratings caused the demise of the original television series. But the Star Trek franchise gained so much momentum over the years that it’s now unstoppable. Why is it so popular? One word: optimism. Unlike … >>