STURBRIDGETIMES

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THE

FEBRUARY 2014

MAGAZINE

BOOKREVIEW
This Town:Two Parties and a FuneralPlus, Plenty of Valet Parking!in Americas Gilded Capitol

By Mark Leibovich Hardcover, 400 pp.. Blue Rider Press, 2013 List $27.95 Amazon: $18.58

Book with ridiculously long name unveils very uncomplicated truth about D.C.s bad influence
BY RICHARD MORCHOE
league, once wrote. At the same time, the city of Washington feels like a conspiracy were all in together, and nobody else in America quite understands, even though they pay for it. It should be a bit of surprise to some that this is such a good read. After all, its about the class of people who were student government nerds in high school. Leibovich writes well and enjoys the subject. Also, love or hate these people, they influence our lives out of all proportion to their intellects and abilities. There are many stories and tidbits about those who bless or infest (as you wish) the D.C. ether. For personal reasons, I enjoyed his quotes about Chris Matthews, that apply to a whole class as well, In his book about the medias conduct during the Monica saga, Bill Kovach, the founding chairman of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, anointed Matthews as part of a new class of chatterers who emerged in this scandala group of loosely credentialed, self interested performers whose primary job is remaining on TV. After leaving Tip ONeills office, for example, Chris Matthews got himself a column for the San Francisco Examiner. He was even named the Examiners Washington Bureau Chief, though he was the only one in Washington for the Examiner and it had no footprint beyond being the Bay Areas sleepy afternoon newspaper. But the affiliation and title helped Matthews get on TV. Matthews will stick like a barnacle and be on TV even after his memorial service. There are also profiles of relative unknowns. Chapter eight is given over to Kurt Bardella. Bardella is refreshing if only because he was not guilty of any Im here for the kids schmaltz that most people in politics give as the reason for their service. Kurt was a hard charging press aide to Representative Darrell Issa. So hard charging that he got into trouble for his zeal. His errors got him fired and would have been career ending Continued on page 8

his months cover of The Sturbridge Times Magazine, depicting the rear entrance to the Publick House is the work of Sturbridge artist, John Small. This original painting, in colored pencil, measures 14 x 17. John is nearing completion of a three-year Studio Arts Certificate at the Worcester Art Museum in Worcester. He is also working in the style of Realism through The Ani Art Academy Waichulis program, The Language of Drawing. Some of Johns original artwork is currently available for display and sale at the Montague Gallery in Concord, MA. More of Johns work can be found at his website, JohnSmallStudios.com. He is also a commissioned pet-portrait artist at www.RuffMeowRuff.com.

About our cover

This Town: Two Parties and a FuneralPlus, Plenty of Valet Parking!in America's Gilded Capital is a brutal look at the nomenklatura who rule us. The author, Mark Leibovich catches the denizens in the act of schmoozing, peddling influence, securing sinecures and book deals and getting on TV or mentioned in the press. All too often, it is done at the expense of the rest of us. Mr. Leibovich should know. Hes done time in D.C., first at the Washington Post and then for The New York Times. He is currently chief national correspondent for The New York Times Magazine. The author sets the tone on Page one: Tim Russert is dead, but the room was alive. It was the memorial service to celebrate the deceased, and, not coincidentally, a networking opportunity. You might remember Tim; he was the long-time moderator of Meet The Press. In 2008, he was on Time magazines 100 most influential list. He was big, and then he was gone. The author quoted a friend, Were all obituaries waiting to happen, Henry Allen, my former Post col-

THE STURBRIDGE TIMES MAGAZINE

THE CHRONICLE OF STURBRIDGE COUNTRY LIVING

Book review
Continued from page 6 in a real environment. Bardella worked the TV and publicity circuits and was back on staff with the Congressman. Its not easy to be a complete failure in D.C. Mr. Leibovich has a way with a euphemism and if you dont chortle often, you are probably in the care of an undertaker. On page 139 he calls David Gergen a politically versatile talking head. If you have at all followed politics from the Reagan administration on, you realize he essentially tabbed Gergen as a practitioner of the worlds oldest profession. On the BP spill debacle, Washington becomes a determinedly bipartisan team when there is money to be made.-sorry I mean a hopeful exemplar of Americans pulling together in a time of crisis. Are there any problems with the book? Almost none of us have any real experience with Washington, so it is near impossible to raise objections. Fortunately, on Page 35, Mr. Leibovich serves up a high hanging slow ball of a blunder that is easy to blast out of the park. In discussing the Mitchell-Greenspan power couple he wrote, Andrea was in the midst of a rough moment because a lot of people were blaming her husband, Alan Greenspan, for the financial collapse. His free-market, Ayn Rand-influenced policies while running the Federal Reserve were not looking good now. Anyone remotely familiar with Rands

writings knows she was a sound money gal and Greenspans pumping moolah out of the Fed would have been anathema to her. On page 38 he observes, Washingtonians love the So-and-so is spinning in his grave clich. Mark made Ayn revolve at warp speed. His snarky and continuing reference to Romney as Mittens, with the Greenspan comment might indicate his boat has a slight list to port. Still, he had

Village extends Donahue contract through 2017

he Old Sturbridge Village Board of Trustees recently voted unanimously to extend the contract of the museums president and chief executive officer, James E. Donahue, of Cranston, R.I., through June of 2017. Dick Schulze, Chairman of the Old Sturbridge Village Board of Trustees, lauded Donahues successful leadership of the organization during his tenure, which began in 2007. Jim Donahue has been the catalyst for significant performance improvements at the museum including stabilizing attendance, and increasing education field trips and fundraising during his time here. Jim took over at a challenging point in the Villages history, yet has led the organization to recent success and has positioned Old Sturbridge Village for an even brighter future,

no problem skewering Team Obama over their holier than thou attitude as all too many of them had no problem monetizing their service when they had the chance. Leibovichs work makes plain that Planet D.C. will always stand apart and be alien to the nation. As soon as the rep, senator or staffer arrives, they go native and are forever separate from what they nominally represent.

In the November 2012 issue of this magazine, your reviewer proposed the nations capital should be moved to the cold, desolate hills of Wyoming. This book has convinced me that that is not only correct, but also desperately urgent. A new beginning is called for. If not in a remote, inhospitable terrestrial region, another galaxy. Now more than ever.

said Schulze. Donahue led the reopening of the Old Sturbridge Inn and Reeder Family Lodges at the Village in 2013, expanding the Villages operation to include museum, dining, retail and lodging. The historic 10-room Old Sturbridge Inn, in the Oliver Wight House, is on the National Register of Historic Places and dates to 1789, while the 29-room Reeder Family Lodges offer a more contemporary choice for visitors. This major initiative will allow the growing museum to better serve its diverse range of guests, including leisure and business travelers, wedding parties, corporate retreats and meetings. Donahues leadership and achievements were recognized formally in October of 2013 at the 26th Annual Massachusetts Governors Conference

on Travel and Tourism. Donahue was one of the recipients of the Larry D. Meehan Award, presented by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick to individuals who have made major contributions to the expansion and vitality of the states tourism industry. Notable achievements during Donahues tenure include the creation of the Ken Burns Lifetime Achievement Award, record-breaking days for attendance on multiple occasions, and the launch of a Distinguished Speaker series. Donahue also rebuilt the Collections exhibit program, with a Collectors Forum at the beginning of each new exhibit the most recent being Delightfully Designed: The Furniture and Life of Nathan Lombard.

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