Jon Hendricks and Jimmy Heath will open the fall season of Jazz at Lincoln Center, which will also include Cassandra Wilson and Dianne Reeves.

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A Season of Many Singers in Jazz at Lincoln Center

Several weeks after Kwame R. Brown was elected D.C. Council chairman in November, city officials were asked to order for him a “fully loaded” Lincoln Navigator L with a DVD entertainment system, power moonroof and polished aluminum wheels.

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‘Fully loaded’ SUV puts D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown on the spot

It was the largest find in Civil War history in a generation: Hours before he was gunned down at Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln pardoned a Union soldier court-martialed for desertion and saved him from execution.

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Hinky date unravels Lincoln lore

Abraham Lincoln did pardon an Army private, but not on the date an amateur historian claimed he did.

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Stroke of Pen Altered Date, and a Tale of Lincoln, Too

Of course not, goes the traditional answer. Americans have always been reluctant warriors. “Of all the enemies to public liberty,” wrote James Madison in 1795, “war is, perhaps the most to be dreaded.” Our literary heritage is full of anti-war classics like Ernest Hemingway’s A Farwell to Arms . U.S. military campaigns have often been unpopular, sparking protest movements. Americans didn’t love fighting in Korea in the 1950s, or Vietnam in the 1960s — and neither do they enjoy battling insurgents today in Iraq and Afghanistan. Absolutely, Americans love war, responds Andrew Bacevich. As the author of the recent Washington Rules puts it, we’ve “fallen prey to militarism.” Enthralled by the sword, Americans have a “penchant for permanent war.” After all, the U.S. defense budget almost matches the rest of the world’s military spending put together. Many of America’s wars were popular — at least at first. In 2001, around 80 percent of Americans backed the overthrow of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Two years later, about seven in 10 Americans supported the invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein. But neither of these views is completely right. The truth is that we do love war — but only a certain kind of war. To understand what this kind is, sit on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., and look toward the Capitol. Behind us is a marble Abraham Lincoln, architect of the crusade to free the slaves and save the Union. Straight ahead lie the fifty-six pillars and the giant arches of the World War II Memorial, signifying America’s common purpose, when the greatest generation united to crush evil. Anchoring the military vista, at the far end of the Mall, is a statue of Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant. A triumphant tale unfolds before us, with World War II bookended by the Civil War titans, Lincoln and Grant. This is the type of war we love, where we fight for decisive victory, regime change, and the noblest of ideals — in short, a magnificent crusade. “Good” wars like the Civil War and World War II produce epic heroes like Grant, MacArthur, and Patton, and stirring anthems like “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” But if we broaden the view from the Lincoln Memorial, our peripheral vision reveals a less comfortable military narrative. Over on the right, 19 men, cast in stainless steel, slug their way uphill, shivering under ponchos, commemorating the 1950-1953 Korean War. The campaign started out so gloriously — like World War II all over again. U.S. troops liberated South Korea, and then marched into North Korea to overthrow the enemy regime. In the fall of 1950, Jimmie Osborne even released a celebratory record Thank God for Victory in Korea . But Osborne sang too soon. China suddenly intervened and sent U.S. forces hurtling back down the peninsula. President Harry Truman abandoned the goal of decisive victory, and fought instead for a draw. We don’t love this kind of war, where the objective is less than unconditional surrender. Why should Americans, as the saying went, “die for a tie”? The glue binding together public support for the Korean War came unstuck. Meanwhile, over to the left on the Mall, there is an even darker vision of warfare. A sunken black wall memorializes the campaign in South Vietnam from 1965 to 1973. Vietnam was a nation-building mission, where we stabilize foreign lands, oversee elections, or fight insurgents. We don’t love nation-building at all. Instead, we usually see it as a failed quagmire, whether in Vietnam, Somalia, Afghanistan, or Iraq. We even dislike nation-building when we succeed — like the recent stabilization of Bosnia and Kosovo. These missions rarely produce heroes. And instead of the “Battle Hymn,” we sing protest songs like Country Joe McDonald’s “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixing-to-Die Rag.” The trouble is that America’s military future may lie, not in our blinkered view of idealized war, but in our peripheral vision of uncomfortable conflict. Modern technology is so destructive that we can’t always battle for regime change. We might have to fight more wars like Korea, and fewer like World War II. And the challenges posed by rogue states, failed states, and terrorism, will likely lead the United States down the path of nation-building again. Tomorrow’s wars may be far from a love affair.

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Do Americans Love War?

Audiences will surely find something wonderful in each of the five performances at the center of Jon Robin Baitz’s new play, “Other Desert Cities,” at Lincoln Center.

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Theater Review | ‘Other Desert Cities’: Drowning in Domestic Denial in the Sands of Palm Springs

When we talk about the mysticism of the Civil War, I think this photo really captures it. The descriptions of slaves reaching out to touch Lincoln as he’s driven through Richmond, or Sherman as comes through countryside, put me in the mind of Sam Cooke’s “Touch The Hem Of His Garment.” Oh There was a woman in the Bible days  She had been sick Sick so very long  But she heard about Jesus was passing by  So she joined the gathering throng A And while she was pushing her way through  Someone asked her what are you trying to do  She said if I could just touch the hem of His garment  I know I’ll be made whole I mentioned in comments that I have virtually no direct relationship with religion. When I was a kid, many of the Conscious folks who’d rejected the Christianity of their youth embraced something else–Islam, Vodun, Santeria etc. We really didn’t have anything–we didn’t even do Kwanzaa.  Still, I think this desire to be transformed, to have the hurt of your life healed, and to–as Sam says–to be made whole again is deeply human, and has incredible resonance among those of us who are down. As Cynic hints at, in my house, the person who granted that transformation was Malcolm X. He took away that sense that the curl of your hair, or the tint of your skin, branded you less than. Malcolm looked clean and straight to us, and the sense that he had himself been cleaned, gave us the feeling that by touching him, we could be cleaned. In the doc, Make It Plain , Sonia Sanchez talks about reaching to touch him after hearing him speak. When you look at this boy, what you see is someone who has been healed–the rags he wears are like wounds–someone who has been ”made whole again.” Circling back to Lincoln, you see that, to the enslaved, much of this debate about what Lincoln thought and when he thought it is academic. Lincoln is a work of art to them, and they are interpreting him, giving him meaning, in the moment.

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To Be Made Whole Again

A lawyer conducts business from the back of his Lincoln town car while representing a high-profile client in Beverly Hills. Movie Details

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The Lincoln Lawyer

Historian Eric Foner has just published The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery (W.W. Norton),in which he explores Lincoln’s role in the ending of slavery in the United States. The book is not just a recapitulation of the massive record of Lincoln and slavery but, in characteristic Foner style, recasts the scope for assessing this vital part of history. In early September I met with Professor Foner in his office at Columbia University to discuss the book. read more

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Historian Eric Foner on the Perennial Relevance of Abraham Lincoln

Live coverage and analysis of the Giants’ game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

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The Fifth Down: Live Analysis, Giants-Eagles

The Bishop of Lincoln will bless Lincolnshire’s gritters in the hope of reducing the number of fatal road crashes this winter.

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Bishop to bless county’s gritters to reduce crashes

Washington – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calmly assessing the political cyclone that routed her Democratic majority and will, at least temporarily, force her to vacate one of the best offices in the city, with its inspirational view of the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. read more

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E.J. Dionne, Jr. | Pelosi: Why She Wants to Stay

The Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra participated in a residency in Cuba, spreading the word of American jazz to a young audience.

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In Havana, Jam Sessions With a Master Trumpeter

Representative Lincoln Davis, a Democrat, is determined to hold on to his seat in an abidingly conservative district.

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Anti-Incumbent Fervor Eludes a Tennessee District

Tens of thousands rallied at the Lincoln Memorial, seeking to carry on the message of jobs and justice the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. trumpeted at a rally held at the same site 47 years ago.

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Liberal Activists Rally for Jobs in Washington