In 1963, two years after the Berlin Wall was constructed with Russian support to stop people from leaving communist East Germany, then-President John F. Kennedy delivered his stirring “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech signaling America’s solidarity with Germans. Twenty years later, in 1983, then-President Ronald W. Reagan called out Russians Read more
America and the world are witnessing a dramatic paradigm shift in how civilized nations address naked aggression. It’s not the first time. We saw this in both the First and Second World Wars. After WW I, world powers attempted to counter war through the League of Nations, a coalition for the Western Allies Read more
Pandemics are not new. They have been around as long as the human race has been and will be in the future. Before COVID arrived on our shores from China, the 1919 Flu Pandemic originated in the trenches of World War I and spread rapidly, picking up the name Spanish Read more
The language of politics is a remarkable exercise in disingenuity, distortion, and deceit. In other words, there’s a lot of lying in the political world. After all, there are some politicians who will do anything to secure and retain power. Sometimes they lie accidently. More frequently it’s by design. I hated all of it when Read more
In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a crime wave occurring in America. Some people want to assign the problem to gun control. It’s a convenient rally place for people who are more ready to blame an inanimate object than the person using it to wreak havoc on people. “There are too many guns Read more
If you spend enough time in politics, don’t be surprised when people ask you to endorse their political candidacy for this or that office. In a fashion, it is a compliment. After all they must think that people actually care what you think about their campaign. Honestly, I can’t imagine why. It Read more
I was a legislator in the Virginia General Assembly for 16 years following a 28-year career in the U.S. Army. The latter was not entirely helpful to the former. Sure, there were many leadership lessons I learned from the military that helped me as a legislator. But legislating is a “different breed of Read more
Having settled on my New Year resolutions (which I am happily observing with varying degrees of success,) I thought I would share a few resolutions that others may want to consider. Presumptuous? Yes. Most folks can figure out on their own how to improve their lives. Some even without the assistance of enumerated resolutions. That Read more
The other day, my dear wife asked me innocently “Do you have any resolutions for this new year?” I groused at the idea saying, “My only resolution this year is to get to next year.” It was a rude brush off. But the last two years have felt rude. In 2020, we saw COVID-19 Read more
Recently I lost something. I say lost because I’m not sure where it is. I’ve looked and retraced my steps several times and just cannot find it. It’s both valuable and sentimental. It’s distressing that I can’t find it. Yet I’m finding this loss is somewhat instructive as I occasionally disengage from a busy workday Read more