paean

Amid the invasion of Iraq, when self-righteous stupidity was en vogue, neoconservatives Richard Perle and David Frum wrote "An End to Evil: How to Win the War on Terror," a paean to redemptive violence as a cure for violence.

The retired Stanford professor’s recent memoir, “Compton in My Soul: A Life in Pursuit of Racial Equality,” is a paean to a frequently stereotyped place that changed dramatically again during his time away, from overwhelmingly Black to overwhelmingly Latino.

And Mike Gold, author of “Jews Without Money,” sings a paean to an empty, garbage-strewn lot in his neighborhood that doubled as his beloved playground.

The aging American president facing a re-election campaign came to the Normandy coast of France to pay tribute to the daring Army Rangers who scaled the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc, offer a paean to democracy for which they sacrificed and perhaps even wrap himself a little bit in their reflected glory.

He zigzags gracefully from the reggae love paean “Manifestación de Amor,” with boricua band Gomba Jahbari, to the bossa tinged “Besos de Invierno.”