Having spent a season of my life in elected politics, I have become very aware that political fortunes swing like a pendulum in a clock. And if you have a grandfather clock, as we do in our house, the pendulum swings slowly and methodically until the clock winds down. So too does Read more…
Like many Americans, I listened to the State of the Union speech delivered on 28 April 2021. I was curious about what the President would say. Cynics were rather sure they would hear a speech that was both boring yet radical. They were correct. It was hardly a riveting speech, but should that be Read more…
The recent and tragic death of George Floyd, a black man, by a white police officer in Minnesota is the latest in a series of controversies concerning race and law enforcement in America. Floyd has now become a poignant symbol of what people say is “systemic racism” in America. So is racism Read more…
Language is a powerful thing, particularly when it’s used correctly to edify, not mislead. But in politics, the meaning of a word is a mere triviality if it limits the schemes of politicians to obtain a larger purpose. We’ve seen this in government for years. It’s not new. It’s how Read more…
Every decade, the Federal government conducts a count of how many of us there are in America. Article I, Section 2 of the U.S Constitution requires this. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Read more…
In case you’ve been overwhelmed by pandemics, political scandals, racialized politics, and the latest uproar about a comment some thoughtless person made on social media, then it may have passed you by that America’s national debt is approaching $30 trillion—that’s “trillion” with a “T”—with no sign of abating. Frankly, some people Read more…
Imagine for a moment an American President actually reporting to us each year on the true nature of our union. Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution requires the President to report to Congress from “time to time” with “information” on the nation and “recommend” to them “such measures as he Read more…
When our founders wove our Republic together 245 years ago and then perfected it further in 1787 with our Constitution, they incorporated some important ideas. One was the notion of a common American identity formed around a grand new concept of self-governance where the people were sovereign, and the leaders were Read more…
For some years now, I have been writing about foreign policy and national security. These are things that have always interested me since my days in high school. As a child my views were influenced by the stories I heard from World War II veterans. They seemed to understand that America’s role in Read more…
Over the past year, America has leaned much about how to respond and how not to respond to a pandemic. I must say some things we’ve witnessed caused me to think how I would have dealt with the situation had I been in charge. To be sure, some of what we have Read more…