I think we too often go soft in trying to spare people the agony of confronting reality.
GENE WEINGARTENI think we too often go soft in trying to spare people the agony of confronting reality.
GENE WEINGARTENBeing “Jewish” is way stronger culturally than it is religiously.
GENE WEINGARTENMany put him in the second tier, below the big three and surrounded by Truman and Eisenhower. Kennedy moved our soul. Changed our thinking about service and governance. And won big in the greatest nuclear crisis of the Cold War.
GENE WEINGARTENIt is not a coincidence that Donald Trump has attracted white supremacists.
GENE WEINGARTENDonald Trump’s humor is hostile to a fault.
GENE WEINGARTENI don’t think there is prejudice against atheists the same way there is prejudice against fat people. I don’t think people hate or contemn atheists; I think people feel sorry for atheists.
GENE WEINGARTENReporters are not merely recording devices that take down what people say and repeat it in print; we are expected to use our knowledge and experience both for triage – deciding what’s important to cover and what isn’t – and for contextualizing, analyzing and such.
GENE WEINGARTENFrom the inside, creativity seems like an arduous task, often involving plebeian, imperfect choices, driven less by inspiration than by deadline.
GENE WEINGARTENThe one thing an aspiring writer must understand is that it’s hard. If you think it’s not hard, you’re not doing it right.
GENE WEINGARTENThe odd thing is that Trump’s hand movements don’t seem to coordinate with the topic at hand. Most pols manage to make their hand movements correspond with the message, so a slash will accompany emphasis, etc.
GENE WEINGARTENOne of my favorite footnotes in the hypochondria book [The Hypochondriac’s Guide to Life. And Death.] was about the death of one of the King Charleses. He was essentially bled and vomited to death by his doctors. They also drilled holes in his head.
GENE WEINGARTENYou know, I am not a particular Kennedy apologist or an awed fan – I was 12 when he was murdered – but I have discussed Kennedy with historians. For his incredibly short tenure, he was a very important president.
GENE WEINGARTENDonald Trump is a boor, and cannot stop being a boor.
GENE WEINGARTENMy preference would have been a school that was totally diverse – half and half, or close. I wouldn’t have hesitated at all if they would have been in the racial minority. But to be the only white kids: I don’t think that would have been fair to them.
GENE WEINGARTENI think politics is everything.
GENE WEINGARTENI believe the publisher is a member of the editorial board, and I think his vote would matter.
GENE WEINGARTEN