Americans have a skewed image of what civil war entails, mainly because ours was somewhat exceptional, if not unique. Two vast geographical regions squared off and went at it in a large-scale conventional war featuring classical Napoleonic movement of great armies and titanic battles like Gettysburg, Antietam, Chickamauga and the sieges of Vicksburg and Petersburg. Victory or […]
About Jim Cornelius
Lies, Damn Lies And False Narratives
Two presidential candidates did a very bad thing last weekend: They are promulgating a false narrative — a narrative that was comprehensively debunked by the investigation and report of the Obama Justice Department in 2015. The report is readily available online. Brown’s killing may have been tragic — nobody wants to see a young man’s life snuffed out — but […]
L.A. Death Trip
During summer college breaks back in the mid-1980s, I did some work for my grandparents — the typical light home maintenance stuff on their place in La Cañada, California. My grandfather was on his last legs, his breath stolen by emphysema, which he earned with a heavy smoking habit in his younger days and by working with […]
A Giant Leap
“That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.” — Neil Armstrong, Commander, Apollo 11 July 20 marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most remarkable moments in human history. Astronaut Neil Armstrong opened the hatch of the lunar landing module Eagle and stepped out onto the surface of the Moon. […]
The Last Czars
Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. — Winston Churchill Regular readers of Running Iron Report know that we consider the Russian Revolution to be a fulcrum of modern history. Taken not as a discreet event but as a part of the great convulsion of the First World War and a precursor event of the Second World War, […]
The Sad Residue Of Watergate
“We’re up against an enemy, a conspiracy. They’re using any means. We are going to use any means. Is that clear?” — Richard Nixon to H.R. Haldeman and Henry Kissinger on July 1, 1971, transcript of Oval Office tapes. * “The sad residue of Watergate was so many people saw that their president had lied for […]
A Western Story
The band they played the anthem then The clowns fell down in jest All the people saw again The winning of the West…. — Ian Tyson, “Old Cheyenne” The 79th Sisters Rodeo is history, with the roar of the crowd, the pageantry of the Parade and Grand Entry, the drama of record-breaking rides fading into […]
Rolling Thunder And A Hard Rain
Times were weird. The President of the United States had been run out of office a year ago, in the face of near-certain impeachment and conviction for high crimes and misdemeanors. Two disturbed women — one a lunatic follower of Charles Manson — tried to shoot his successor. New York City was on the verge of implosion, […]
A Reckless Verisimilitude
James Ellroy’s latest novel, This Storm, drops at the end of the month. Just in time, too. I’m in the mood for one of Ellory’s dark, jagged, Benzedrine-fueled rides through the neon-lit landscape of the American Century. I consider Ellroy one of the great ones — put him on a par with Cormac McCarthy. His ambitions are […]
Indy Saves History
Used to be, I’d get up in the morning and turn on the cable TV news. Just to, you know, find out if the world had blown up overnight. Then I’d come home from work and catch up on the news of the day. Can’t do it anymore. For one thing, it’s not “news” — CNN’s […]
Truth Comes Out
The truth comes out as the fire burns low It comes to light as only embers glow The whiskey talks, the west wind moans in the night — Corb Lund, “Truth Comes Out” It’s been a grinder here these past few weeks. The newspaper gig has demanded full attention and constant labors. Mind you, I am not […]
Viva La Revolucion!
Poverty, injustice, over breeding, overpopulation, suffering, oppression, military rule, squalor, torture, terror, massacre: these ancient evils feed and breed on one another in synergistic symbiosis. To break the cycles of pain at least two new forces are required: social equity — and birth control. Population control. Our Hispanic neighbors are groping toward this discovery. If […]
