While F.D.R. once told Americans that we have nothing to fear but fear itself, Mr. Ashcroft is delighted to play the part of Fear Itself, an assignment in which he lets his imagination run riot.
Frank RichWhat are Americans still buying? Big Macs,Campbell's soup,Hershey's chocolate and Spam--the four food groups of the apocalypse.
Frank RichThereโs nothing entertaining about watching goons hurl venomous slurs at congressmen like the civil rights hero John Lewis and the openly gay Barney Frank. How curious that a mob fond of likening President Obama to Hitler knows so little about history that it doesnโt recognize its own small-scale mimicry of Kristallnacht.
Frank RichOne of the most persistent cultural tics of the early 21st century is Americans' reluctance to absorb, let alone prepare for, bad news.
Frank Rich