Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

French Kiss (1977). I was 20 years old when this album was released and have loved it ever since. This is one of my favorite songs on the album.

Fate seems almost to have conspired to conceal from Terry and Custer this ultimate strength of their foe. The latest and most direct evidence was Mitch Boyer's count of four hundred lodges, and this fit only too nicely with the estimate of winter roamers that Custer had picked up in Washington. Not until the day before the battle, after passing the sun dance camp, did the evidence abruptly change. And at that critical moment, Custer seems to have misinterpreted the signs to mean that the village was breaking up and fleeing.

A traditional misjudgement of the Indian nature undoubtedly fostered this fatal misinterpretation. Every experienced officer on the plains knew that it was hard to force Indians into a pitched battle. Cultural bias stereotyped this prudence as a coward's preference for running instead of fighting—an egregious error. The Indian placed little value on the exploitation of property and people that drives the white race to stubborn conquest and domination. Instead, the Indian sought the honors won by rash bravery in games of war; but such quests were properly postponable until tomorrow, when the signs, spiritual or physical, proved unfavorable today. Both races, however, placed equal value on the lives of their loved ones, and would fight with abandoned resolution for self-preservation.

What the command failed to appreciate was that the roving bands understood perfectly well that the white man, through the agency of the army, had marked them and their way of life for extinction. Under such circumstances they would not play at war games, but fight desperately for survival. And a profound religious experience, the sun dance, had marvelously inspired their hopes and resolution. Custer's Indian scouts could smell all this on the prairie breeze, but were powerless to communicate their perceptions to insensitive and sometimes contemptuous soldier-whites.

(John S. Gray, Centennial Campaign: The Sioux War of 1876, Volume No. 8 in the Source Custeriana Series [Ft. Collins, CO: The Old Army Press, 1976], 337-8)

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To the Editor:

Donald Trump’s policy statement on helping working mothers with child care was as detailed as anyone could want from a presidential candidate. I am sure that Hillary Clinton’s spin machine is threatened by this policy and is working overtime to protect its perceived ownership of “the women’s vote.”

Looking toward the debate, I expect Mr. Trump to defeat Mrs. Clinton easily based on his debate skills and her track record. I also expect her spin machine to have an attack ready after her defeat. It can always pull out the “misogynist” wild card whenever it runs out of legitimate criticism of Mr. Trump.

SHEP FARGOTSTEIN

Memphis

Note from KBJ: Donald Trump will be elected in a landslide. Eight years of White House thuggery is enough.

I don't understand the Never Trump mindset. The Never Trumper complains that on this or that issue, Donald Trump is not a conservative. My response is, "Is Hillary Clinton more to your liking on that issue?" If you're a Never Trumper, list 20 things that are important to you and, alongside your list, write Trump's position on those issues. If you stop there, you may be appalled and vow never to support him. But that's not the relevant comparison. You should also write Clinton's position on each issue alongside yours. Now compare the Trump column with the Clinton column. In some (perhaps many) cases, Trump will be on the same side of an issue as Clinton. But almost certainly, there will be issues on which you agree with Trump but disagree with Clinton. I am quite sure that there will be few (if any) issues on which you agree with Clinton but disagree with Trump.

Unless you're a fanatical purist (i.e., a Puritan), you have to look at the election this way. It's not Trump versus your perfectionist values; it's Trump versus Clinton! And there's no doubt that, from a conservative point of view, Trump is vastly superior to her. Are you listening, William Kristol? Are you listening, George Will? Are you listening, Stephen Hayes? Are you listening, Jonah Goldberg? Get off your high horses. There is too much at stake to remain aloof.

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Truth (1968). Jeff Beck's first solo album. Rod Stewart on vocals; Ron Wood on bass; Micky Waller on drums.