There will be a televised Republican “debate” this evening (9:00 Eastern Time) on Fox. It’ll be my first debate of the campaign season. It would be nice if Fred Thompson and Newt Gingrich were in attendance, but there’s plenty of time left before the first caucus or primary. I’m pretty sure Thompson will jump in. I’m not sure about Gingrich, who’s somewhat of a tease. By the way, Gingrich, a trained historian, has a new book: a “novel” about Pearl Harbor. I don’t get it. If you want to write a novel, write a novel. Make stuff up. If you want to write about Pearl Harbor, which is an important event in our nation’s history, hew to the facts. I frankly do not grasp the concept of an “historical novel.” A book can be historical or a novel, but not both.

Addendum: Please don’t say that James Michener’s Centennial (1974), which I love, is an historical novel. It’s a novel, plain and simple. The characters and events, as well as the town, are fictional. It just so happens that it’s set in the American West. If Gingrich wanted to do something similar to this, he would have created a fictional place, not used an actual place.

Addendum 2: I stole the title of this post from King Crimson. The guitarists in the clip are Tony Levin (bass), Robert Fripp (rhythm), and Adrian Belew (lead). All three, in my opinion, are musical geniuses.

Addendum 3: While surfing YouTube for video clips of King Crimson, I came across this classical rendition of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Edgar Cruz. It’s unbelievable. I’ve always thought that this song has a beautiful ending.

Addendum 4: One more link before I watch the debate. Pat Metheny’s “Are You Going with Me?” is one of my favorite songs of all time. Here it is. Stay with the song until the end, for it goes through several changes. The ending is fabulous. I think of the song as a summary of my life.

Addendum 5: This post rambled, didn’t it? It started out as a political bulletin, became a rant against “historical novels,” and settled into a celebration of music. Let me return to politics. I just watched the Republican debate (but none of the post-debate spin). Here is my ranking of the 10 candidates in terms of which of them I would like to have as my president:

1. Mitt Romney
2. Duncan Hunter
3. Tom Tancredo
4. John McCain
5. Rudy Giuliani
6. Mike Huckabee
7. Tommy Thompson
8. Jim Gilmore
9. Sam Brownback
10. Ron Paul

Feel free to make your own list.