“What a week” as “Washington Week” anchor Robert Costa would say. Last Saturday, we saw the worst of America, with neo-Nazis leading to the death of three people at a keep-the-Confederate-statues rally, so-called, in Charlottesville.

But since then the country has rallied around the counter-protest. Democrats and Republicans alike have denounced President Donald J. Trump’s there-was-bad-on-many-sides response to the Charlottesville tragedy. Business CEOs have exited his advisory council and one – James Murdoch, CEO of 21st Century Fox and son of archconservative Rupert – has pledged $1 million to the Anti-Defamation League and has urged his fellow 1-Percenters to do likewise. ...

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It’s kickoff time for my new novel “The Penalty for Holding” at Barnes & Noble’s concept store in Eastchester. Join me Sept. 7 for a reading from the work — about a gay, biracial quarterback’s search for identity in the NFL — along with nibbles, bubbly and a no-holds-barred discussion of sports, culture and sex. We’ll be dancing in the end zone from 5:30 to 7 p.m. RSVP to info@thegamesmenplay.com by Aug. 28. See you there!

President Donald J. Trump is a huge fan of the past, largely because he doesn’t understand it.

He fails to differentiate between the historical past – which is always with us to enlighten, inspire and, at times, to warn (those who do not remember the past are doomed, etc.) – and the social past of deathless grievances, like Trump’s feud with Rosie O’Donnell, which is deader than Jacob Marley.

We live with the past, not in it, and study its narrative, which is history itself. The study of history provides you with context and context drives perception. The greater, the wider the context, the deeper the perception. ...

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