Today’s New York Times reports the passing of Charles W. Colson.  I don’t usually think about Charles Colson, but I was just thinking of him yesterday. Among the primary sources I was considering for my U.S. intellectual history reading list was Mary McCarthy’s shrewd shredding of the smaller-than-life players in the Watergate scandal, The Mask of State: Watergate Portraits (1974).  However, McCarthy’s sharp, smart text ended up on the cutting-room floor.  I crossed it off just yesterday morning; I need that spot for something else.  I don’t plan on replacing McCarthy’s slim volume with Colson’s bloated Born Again.  Nevertheless, I Read more