AMERICAN GEEZER

Prominent men have prominent corncobs.

I recently finished William Manchester's euripidean biography of Douglas MacArthur, American Caesar. At times Manchester seems to suffer from MacArthur's own predilection for over-purple prose (the description of the reclusive, musically-inclined Arthur MacArthur IV as a "fugitive from his father's relentless love" elicited some giggles from this reader),  but it's still a ripping good yarn for all that.

Manchester's succinct synopsis of the "Orwellian" Korean War is particularly fun:

A former ally of the United States, the Soviet Union, was championing a captive state, North Korea, in a conflict in which the South Korean foe was being supported by the United Nations, to which the Russians belonged, while the Soviets, meanwhile, were demanding the right to participate in treaty negotiations with a former enemy of the Americans and the Russians — Japan — which would bring peace between Japan, which was becoming the base for anti-Pyongyang forces, and the United States, now the Soviets' archenemy. To crown is all, the grand alliance fighting the puny North Koreans seemed to face imminent defeat.

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I'd also like to give my sincerest apologies to the cybervoid for my extended hiatus from the blog. I know you've missed me. Regular updates should come.