Moanin', Part 1

This is what you call, "Straight to Video, " as there are still a dozen or more old KV posts to move over. I just didn't want to the above take up space on my hard drive. Mona Charen lived in Knickerbocker Village in her very early years. Her brother Walter was a good friend until his family moved to New Jersey in the 4th grade. I believe he's a psychologist/psychiatrist in Connecticut. Here's some info on the video segment and Mona's bio:
Join host Dennis Wholey for the first of two roundtable discussions of “what it means to be an American”. Mona Charen, Syndicated ... all » Columnist; Reg Weaver, National Education Association President; Janet Murguia, President and CEO of The National Council of La Raza; John Podesta, President and CEO of The Center of American Progress and former chief of staff for President Bill Clinton; Kenji Yoshino, Professor and Dean at Yale Law School; and Associate Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, celebrating his twentieth year in the Supreme Court, share a lively conversation about what it means to be an American, what their own American experiences have been, and what our collective identities as Americans are.

Mona Charen is a nationally syndicated columnist, political analyst, and the best-selling author of two books, Useful Idiots: How Liberals Got it Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America First (2003) and Do-Gooders: How Liberals Harm Those They Claim to Help — and the Rest of Us (2005). She typically writes about foreign policy, terrorism, politics, and culture.

Charen earned an undergraduate degree from Barnard College, Columbia University (with honors) and a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School. She worked for National Review magazine as an editorial assistant and then in 1984 joined the staff of First Lady Nancy Reagan as a speech writer. Later in the White House’s “Office of Public Liaison” Charen advocated the Reagan Administration's Central America policies. In 1986, Charen backed Jack Kemp in his unsuccessful presidential bid, serving as his speech writer. In 1987, Charen launched her syndicated column, which appears in more than 70 papers.

Charen is perhaps best known as a regular weekly commentator on CNN's The Capital Gang, which appeared on Saturdays. When "Capital Gang Sunday" was launched, Charen switched to that panel, appearing until the program's cancellation. Her columns also appear online at National Review Online, TownHall.com and the e-zine Jewish World Review.

Charen is Jewish and married to Bob Parker who is a partner with Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. Together they have three sons: Jonathan, David and Benjamin. Charen grew up in Livingston, New Jersey.