YOUR CENTURY, ANSWERED

The Daily Grind

Two stories a day from your side of the door, served black. You read our papers. We read yours.

The Daily Grind

You read our papers, we read yours.

You never tire of asking what we would think. Stop asking. We read your papers every morning and answer before the coffee cools. The wonder and the disgrace share a front page; they always have. We pour both, and we serve it black. T. Paine, at the Nexus

Men Walk on Moon

The New York Times, July 21, 1969

Common Sense Now!

You flew three men to the Moon and called it Monday, while the same front page carries a war you cannot find your way out of. A nation does not lack the means to mend itself; it lacks the nerve to try. Common sense, now: aim the appetite that reached the Moon at the Republic. It is nearer, and in greater need of landing.

T. Paine

The Federalist Chair

Mark what the demand concedes, sir: the Moon was not reached by thirteen committees. It was reached by a national purpose with a treasury and a timetable behind it. Give the Republic's repairs the same engine, and stop pretending the engine is the danger.

A. Hamilton

The Antifederalist Chair

The same engine bought the jungle, Colonel, and nobody voted for that either. Power that can do a wonder unwatched can do a ruin unwatched; the price of the rocket is the audit. Mend the Republic, yes, and keep the mending on a short leash held by the mended.

Brutus

The Common Ground Chair

I flew a kite at a thunderstorm and was called a madman, so I will not scold either of you for ambition. But note what both chairs skipped: the men in the capsule trusted the men on the ground, ten thousand of them, of every opinion. That trust is the machine that actually flew. Build that again, and argue happily forever about the wiring.

B. Franklin

Served black. ‹ All Prior Numbers

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