Ten years from now, when some of the “best people” are still serving time from their association with our 45th president, a popular pastime for historians will be explaining how America tumbled down a black hole. What forces led the world’s oldest democracy to roll the dice on a serial ...
On Jan. 20, here in Shenandoah County, a goodly number of us who worry about what President Trump is doing to our nation held a march and a rally in Woodstock. Our rally was not, of course, one of the larger such gatherings. In cities around the United States and, indeed, the world, hundreds ...
I regret that our president – if true – described countries in Africa, Central America and the Caribbean as "s---holes." (In Foreign Service days, we did our best to keep bilateral relations on an even keel) Several who were there at the DACA meeting – Senators Cotton and Perdue among ...
I wonder how the people of Wall Street and the infamous swamp felt in 2016 when they heard Trump rail against lobbyists, hedge fund managers and CEO's all taking advantage of the forgotten people. They are surely relieved by the Christmas present bestowed upon them now. Disguised and ...
The hidden side of historical figures is often illumined by examining both the symbols that surrounded them and the earlier historical figures who inspired them. Francis I chose for his emblem the mythologically indestructible salamander -- not inappropriate for a king who, deep in the ...
Lately there has been a lot of bad news coming out of my adopted home town, Strasburg. From allegations of sexual assault on a school bus two years ago, to having volunteer first responders allegedly being involved in having sex with a minor. Quite a few of my neighbors are rather ...
Some powerful men are falling from their high places. Politicians, celebrities and academics have all succumbed to charges that they imposed themselves on women. The current scandal could have started at any time, but the dethroning of Harvey Weinstein gave birth to the ...
Editor: As we go about our everyday lives, it is comforting to see that nothing has changed, despite what you may see or read in the main stream media or your social media of choice. The streets and towns and people and shops and routines appear as they always have. Take comfort in that ...
I remember a long-ago NPR discussion on how the surging popularity of the internet and its biased websites threatened to swamp the objective and incorruptible reporting of the newsprint media.Indeed, I also remember when objective front page reporting was a newspaper's pride, when ...
If you listen carefully, you can probably hear the other shoes dropping across the mountains from us, in Washington, D.C. The ever-shifting kaleidoscopic mess that is the Donald Trump reality show is rapidly coming apart, destroyed by its own actions. How could such a ...
I have a story to tell. It is a story of great human kindness and of an unnecessary hardship faced by many of our elderly citizens. A week before the Nov. 7 election, I met Ingrid Middleton, a 95-year old woman who lives in New Market. Ingrid is a registered voter and wanted to vote in the ...
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 ...