After my Army career, I began a second one as a legislator. It was only after I was elected that I genuinely appreciated the vast differences between both vocations. Soldiers don’t conduct polls to accomplish what they do. And politicians don’t order people around on a battlefield. But there are some similarities and that Read more…
So, whoever invented this nonsense of supply and demand? I’m told when I pass a gasoline station and the price tops $5.00 (headed $6.00 by Independence Day), that I should curse the greedy oil CEOs. I don’t even know their names, so I’ll make one up. “Damn you Bruce! I’m sick and tired of Read more…
If you’ve ever rebuilt a pier at a river or lake home, you know it’s hard work. We had one that was reclaimed by the Potomac River some months ago and we were resolved to replace it. After all, it’s a great attraction for fishing, tossing in a crab pot for the Read more…
I love the summer season. Most people do. There’s much time spent outside, at the beach, lake, parks, you name it. For us, it’s time on the Potomac River or, as the Algonquian tribe named it, “Patawomke” meaning “River of Swans.” It is a favorite place for our family. We sit and enjoy its majestic Read more…
Earlier this week, an 18-year-old murderer took the lives of teachers and elementary school children. This morning, twenty-one families awoke again to the horror that their children, their precious ones, were taken from them in a deadly and cowardly act. There’s no reason to name the killer. He deserves just one appellation. Evil. The only Read more…
Why did an 18-year-old white supremacist man walk into a Buffalo supermarket and mow down innocent people in a racially-inspired mass murder? Why did a Chinese U.S. citizen in California a day later walk into a Christian church of Taiwanese Americans, killing one parishioner and wounding ten others even as Read more…
Where are the leaders? In the course of American history, leaders of vision have blessed our nation. That was certainly the case with our Founding Fathers. These men were highly educated. That alone is a lesson for us today. There is no substitute for leaders to be knowledgeable, to understand history, to have read and Read more…
Abortion is an intensely emotional issue. For people like me, it’s a matter of genuine religious conviction that we protect innocent life as understood in natural law. For others it’s a presumed Constitutional right. I say “presumed” because there has been much debate on whether or not abortion is a right per se secured under Read more…
Two years ago, I began writing these weekly missives in the hope that somehow, I could share a bit of wisdom that has accumulated over the years. The update this week marks number 100 in my effort to do so. I’m sure it comes as no surprise to most of my Read more…
When you take a long trip as Shelley and I are doing this week, crossing half of our great continent, you have time to think about things. In a moment of silence when I had muted the radio, I asked Shelley what was on her mind. She is a deep thinker. I wasn’t Read more…