Tag: George Mitrovich
Bob Filner: Up to Now
After last November’s election, Carl DeMaio, who lost to Bob Filner in the mayor’s race, held several press conferences to share with us what he thought needed to happen at City Hall and how he would monitor Mr. Filner’s tenure in office, even if that had yet to occur. I suggested on Facebook Mr. DeMaio’s […]
Bob Filner & The Politics of Change
There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Nicolo Machiavelli The Prince (1532) Since this column bears my name you may assume what you read in this space is indeed […]
The Dog Days of Summer
In last month’s column I wrote about “Barack Obama & The End Time” and some of you sent emails largely in agreement, for which I thank you. (Although one person wrote to say that most of the time my columns just annoy him but the Obama one he liked. Great.) It was a long essay, […]
Gloria Steinem & Women at Risk
In 1969 I slipped out of a Caucus Room hearing in the U.S. Senate Russell Office Building and into a telephone booth. I dialed a number in New York City for Gloria Steinem, whom I had never met but wanted to know. Ms. Steinem answered and I introduced myself, telling her I had worked for […]
Alan Bersin Departs & The New York Times Misses the Story
In 1963 The New York Times began a national edition. As an inveterate reader of newspapers having The Times available in California was exciting (I was then working for the San Francisco Chronicle and living in Marin County). When the initial national edition failed as a publishing venture, I was disappointed. In truth, however, it […]
Obama for America?
By George Mitrovich Barack Obama took the presidential oath of office January 20, 2009. The challenges he inherited on that historic occasion were as great as faced by any president – including Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt; any assessment of Mr. Obama’s presidency not accounting for those challenges would be dishonest. With that […]
Do You Know Simone Weil?
If you read what follows, know that it arises from a sense of personal duty. To what desired end, beyond my need to share, I’m unclear. But if you read this and are persuaded to learn about the woman of whom I write, then my time will not have been spent without just cause. Let […]
Play ball – or just read about it
For baseball fans, October means the playoffs and the World Series, and the timing is perfect for the release of new baseball movies and books. I’ve been hearing about The “Art of Fielding” by Chad Harbach, said to combine a love of baseball with a love of literature—that works for me! “Moneyball,” published in 2003, […]
On Being An Outsider in America
I consider myself an outsider who belongs everywhere andnowhere… Being a human being is what truly counts. That’s where you’ll find me. • Annie Lennox The U-T in its Sunday edition of September 18 ran a major front-page story on the 150th anniversary of Temple Beth Israel. The newspaper is to be congratulated for its placement and […]
Mark Hatfield: Citizen
By George Mitrovich A few weeks back Mark Hatfield, the former governor and United States senator from Oregon, passed away. He was a life long Republican, but of a kind and type rarely seen today, save for Senator Dick Lugar of Indiana and Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York (there may be more but none […]
