Still Being Felt?

The reverberations from Yoko Ono’s breaking up the Beatles can be felt to this very minute. No doubt about it. REM was never quite up to the job; neither was U2. Personally, I am more upset about the demise of the Beatles than I am about the extinguishing of the flickering flame of freedom in the Athenian cradle of democracy. That’s because democracy can be rekindled, but the Beatles can’t. 

Recently, I read an enthusiastic review of Edward Luttwak’s new book The Grand Strategy of the Byzantine Empire in the Wall Street Journal. Sure enough, this otherwise brilliant book includes this line:

The epic struggle to defend the empire for century after century .  .  .  seems to resonate especially in our own times.

Say that one more time, Ed, and I’m going to smack you.

Joe Queenan is the author, most recently, of Closing Time: A Memoir.