I was 5 when the Second World War ended, one of millions of youngsters branded by the American home-front experience. We were taught to esteem patriotic sacrifices. Among mine, a dear uncle in New Guinea and a dietician mother often assigned to the ...
When will this madness end? First we have the person in Las Vegas killing 58 human beings, next we have the one in Texas killing 26. And from all I have read/heard, neither of these killers knew all the people they killed. They just for some reason wanted to kill. But in both of these cases we ...
America is facing many complex and challenging problems. The well-being of our democracy depends upon our being able to address these issues in a thoughtful and constructive manner. Currently, there is a high level of polarization and distrust, making any progress difficult, if not impossible. ...
The Republican Party has planted the seeds, and now must reap the whirlwind. This road to hell was paved by decades of preparation from the right. No proposal was safe from attack by right wing media, even repurposed ideas were attacked when adopted by Democrats. Any outrageous charge was ...
I just finished Clive Skidmore's "Practical Ethics for a Roman Gentleman," a work analyzing the writings of Valerius Maximus, the 1st century A.D. moralist. Valerius's substantial compendium of examples of male and female virtue was designed to spread traditional moral standards throughout his ...
I know what it's like to be engulfed heart and soul in the American Civil War. It all began, age 6, with my first sword. And even when my life was tragically turned upside down by years of school and work, I persevered with independent reading and travel. Eyes closed, I could imagine countless ...
America! No other country with such ethnic diversity has done more to provide equal opportunity and justice for all. Even our national outlook has recently shifted – away from the sarcastic reception accorded Rodney King's anguished cry that preceded the 1992 Los Angeles riots: "Can't we ...
Do not call the "alt-right" conservative. First off, no matter what your politics are, the events that recently occurred in Charlottesville are beyond tragic. They strike at the heart of our Republic and our democracy. Namely, the right of every individual to gather to protest peacefully. Ever ...
The “First Amendment Defense Act” was surprisingly introduced in Congress last year. Odd, since an intrinsic freedom guaranteed from the Constitution’s opening phrases might be thought beyond threat. Driven perhaps by legitimate concerns – the role of political speech in religious ...
Often it appears that people equate the Constitution with the right to bear arms, the Second Amendment. There is a lot more to the Constitution than that. Some of the most important parts of the Constitution explain the separation of powers between the president, the Congress and the Supreme ...
Guys walk past my gun show tables wearing black T-shirts that provocatively proclaim, "All I need to know about Islam I learned on 9/11." The single word "Infidel" forms another shirt message, as if to say: 'Make my Day; just try and do something!' I dislike the evil-branding of ...
The Huffington Post, after having been embarrassed by failing to understand voter outrage in November 2016, has announced it will be doing a “bus listening tour” of what it calls “Middle America” to ask this important question: just what does it mean to be an American? The Huffington ...
America is under attack. You would not know that by the reactions of the commander in chief, or by the Republican majority in the government. At first the intrusion appeared as a flood of disinformation aimed at misleading voters. We were assured that there was no vote tampering. As the ...
A frequent topic of formal and informal discussion and deliberation in the county board room and staff offices is economic development – as it should be. But before you delve deep, it is important to consider the extent to which these discussions are forward thinking and fact-based. For ...
A new era of international trade is underway on the East Coast and The Port of Virginia is well-positioned to cement its position as the mid-Atlantic’s primary global gateway for world trade. In early May, the port welcomed the largest container ship to ever come to the East Coast. A few ...
As I watched the class of 2017 toss their caps into the sunset sky on what was a perfect June evening, I started thinking about everyone it took to get these kids across that stage and I couldn’t help but feel a tear well up at the thought of such sacrifice and pride. Our students certainly ...
Lately, in the GOP primary contest, there has been a major hoax that is being played on the voters of the Shenandoah Valley. The hoax is that Ed Gillespie supports removal of the Confederate monuments. Therefore that Gillespie must be a major shill of big government and political correctness. ...
Virginians are deeply mistrustful of the legislative branch of government, and it's not hard to understand why. Three-quarters of American voters -- nearly equal numbers in both parties -- are convinced that Congress is for sale. Given its record, the Virginia legislature can't make a credible ...
Recently people on the radical left, in their never-ending war on American culture and our historical relevance, have resorted to calling Confederate soldiers terrorists and anarchists to justify the removal of Confederate monuments. This is beyond insulting, it is also dangerous. Before we ...
We are witness to the collapse of a presidency. This reality TV show president has come to the end of his run. Clearly he no longer has a firm grasp of reality, and his attempt to manipulate reality to conform to his bidding has failed in its ill-starred journey to the summit. The ...