Local Heroes 
The case often made for Presidential Libraries is that their localness, their dispersion out of Washington somehow furthers a deeper understanding of those who held the office. David McCullough says keep ’em down on the farm:
“…it is valuable for anyone trying to understand the life of a particular president should come to the place that produced that human being, where his memory is part of the story of that place.”
Or perhaps they just provide local opportunities to further embed ignorance. A recent visitor to the Nixon Library blogged about his experience, and he knows a whole lot of nuthin.
Berlin Wall chunks at Presidential Libraries celebrating administrations further and further from actual events in Germany are an enormous joke, and our lad’s not in on it.
“One of my favorite displays at the library was a section of the Berlin Wall – very fitting since Nixon played a pretty large role in its ultimate demise.”
Not on My Watch
And speaking of tear-downs, the visitor seems to have missed the whole removal/revision of the Watergate exhibit. 
The former exhibit space
“There were disappointments at the library, however. Most notably, there wasn’t a section about Watergate at all. As I think back, I wonder if we missed it, but I don’t think we did – we walked through the entire permanent exhibit and I didn’t see anything. Of course, it’s a museum that pays homage to Nixon, so I wasn’t expecting monumental space devoted to the end of his presidency, but to not address it seems very short sighted.”
Camelot Reloaded 
GunsAmerica is taking the bold step of evoking That Kennedy Mystique
in order to sell guns. For a mere $295,00.00 you may own the gun that lost the West.
“THE M16 THAT STARTED IT ALL
…Without a doubt the most famous and most documented Armalite/Colt M16 in existence, serial no 106 manufactured in 1959 (the 7th production gun) and of course the earliest known gun to exist. Yes, this is the gun that Gen Curtis LeMay shot the coconuts and melons with at the cocktail party and then turned to the Cooper-McDonald rep and said,”I want 10,000 of them and I want them yesterday!”. It is said this gun was also shot by Pres Kennedy (off the Presidential Yacht), Batista, MacNamarra, Diem, and a host of other important people. Traveling to Viet Nam twice, its history is part of America’s History, and I feel there is no other gun in existence as important as this firearm – at least as far as 20th century military firearms are concerned.”
From “It is said” to “I feel” they are giving themselves some wiggle room on the storied history they present. And they need it.
Kennedy is reported to have had two M16s, but Batista fled Havana on New Years Day 1959, and would be unlikely to need an M16 in exile.
Something about Guns ‘N Presidents shoots the facts all to hell. An auctioneer recently sold a pistol supposedly once owned by Richard Nixon, with a myth of origin thats false on it’s face.
From James D. Julia Auctioneers:
“Very rare cased engraved Colt 3rd Model London Dragoon, call 44, SN13 (cylinder replaced), originally belonging at one time to former President Richard Nixon. (Paul Sorrell Collection) Sold for $74,750… Paul had been told when he purchased the gun that it had originally come from a young lawyer by the name of Richard Nixon who later went on to become President of the United States. The details of which Julia discovered just before the sale. Sometime in the 1950’s, a Swedish gunsmith while in New York got a moving traffic violation. He went to the Nixon law firm to handle the matter, and in a later personal conversation with Nixon, Nixon discovered that he was a gun enthusiast; he took him back to his apartment and virtually gave him this rare gun as a gift.”
Except for the fact that in the 50s Nixon was a Senator then Vice President, not living in New York, and not practicing law, it all could be true. Or so I’m told.
Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here 
A new report on burial plans for Harry Truman daughter Margaret Truman Daniel raises a sub question to a larger question: if Presidents insist on pharaohic entombment in their Presidential Libraries, do we have to put up with their relatives as well? Margaret’s ashes are to be buried at the Truman Library along with her late husband’s.
Space is already set aside for Betty Ford 
and the Bush’s plans appear well advanced. 
Who gets the twins?
Shape Shifter 
The Philippines continues it’s development into a Bizarro World version of America.
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has gone from discussions of her “doing a Ford” and pardoning her predecessor [she did] to her current crisis, where she is urged to “Do A Nixon” 
and resign over corruption charges.
No word on if she’ll do a Mukasey and claim no crime can have been committed. 
Murky Record 
She was billed as a singer during the Truman Administration, but the late Margaret Truman achieved greater fame for cashing in with an interminable stream of Murder At The [insert known DC landmark here] novels carrying her name.
Perhaps the definitive excavation of the Margaret Truman books and who may have actually written them appeared in The Weekly Standard. Jon L. Breen toured the murky world of celebrity ghost written novels, with a hard stare at the Truman industry.
Breen fingers Donald Bain, whose works under his own name have a respectable following. Perhaps now we’ll learn the facts. Or maybe not. The long dead Eliot Roosevelt continues to pump out the paper.
And when imagination completely failed: 
