by Matthew Friedman | Aug 20, 2021 | Essays, News Analysis
The scenes from Kabul are uncanny; specters from the past which are simultaneously shocking and familiar. The enemy waiting just outside the city prepared to deliver the coup de grace, while what remains of the US mission packs up its barracks and offices, shreds...
by Matthew Friedman | Jul 25, 2021 | Essays
I remember feeling an overwhelming sense of elation on 24 September 1988 as I watched Ben Johnson cross the line at Seoul’s Olympic Stadium, pointing to the sky with his right hand. It was a moment of celebration across Canada. The CBC-TV announcers reminded us of the...
by Matthew Friedman | Jul 18, 2021 | Essays
The crowd demonstrating outside the Massachusetts Department of Education offices on Pleasant Street was energized. A speaker led the protesters in chants between squawks from his megaphone; they waved signs and placards denouncing tyrannical government overreach. One...
by Matthew Friedman | May 31, 2021 | Essays
He came down the stairs on the right: a man in his late-60s or early 70s, walking slowly, with a slight stoop. He passed the long stone slab bearing the names of the fallen from right to left, from West to East, from 1973 back in time, pausing briefly two or three...
by Matthew Friedman | May 11, 2021 | Essays
Flames rose from the area near the al-Aqsa Mosque on the plateau of Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, a place known to Muslims as Haram esh-Sharif, and to Jews as Har Ha-Bayit. Cheers rose from a crowd of Israelis gathered in the plaza in front of the Western Wall; many...
by Matthew Friedman | Dec 13, 2020 | Essays
The cashier smiled and wished me a “merry Christmas.” I scowled back. It was the week just after Thanksgiving, and the supermarket staff were clearing away the last of the orange-and-brown remnants of Turkey Day advertising décor and replacing it with red, green,...
