Recent Citizenship Commentaries

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Now, It’s Beaufort
In 1925, Dayton, Tennessee, became ground zero for religious extremism. High school teacher John Scopes was charged with violating a state act making it illegal to teach Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution in any state-funded school. When noted criminal attorney Clarence Darrow appeared for the defense, the trial received national attention. But the prosecution employed its own legal titan—three-time presidential...
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March 6, 2024
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Trump Supporters Need to Read This Before They Vote
If you are a Trump supporter or are considering voting for the former president, you need to read and seriously consider the observations from the people who worked closely with him: “His understanding of global events . . . of US history was really limited. It’s really hard to have a conversation with someone who doesn’t even understand the concept...
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February 27, 2024
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Willing to Pay The Price in Blood
On the 6th anniversary of the Parkland school shooting, the country faced another mass shooting. This time, at a celebratory event for the Kansas City Chiefs football team in downtown Kansas City Once again, Washington leaders remain unwilling and unable to address an issue of such grave and growing importance. Once again, America’s rights trump the responsibilities we have to...
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February 15, 2024
When Will America Reclaim Its Soul?
Embed from Getty Images I will return Friday. “Individual faults and fragilities are no excuse to give in and no exemption from the common obligation to give of ourselves. Today, more than ever before, I believe that each of us as individuals must not only struggle to make a better world, but to make ourselves better, too….” – Senator Edward...
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February 9, 2024
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For Family and Country
Rain Delay. Hope to be back soon. (The original title of this piece was, It’s Citizenship, Stupid! But Sister Mary Aloysius would never allow me to suggest anyone was stupid.) In 2017, President Donald Trump was on his way from the White House to Texas when he told a reporters this: “I think the press makes me more uncivil than...
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January 29, 2024
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What Matters
Tomorrow, New Hampshire voters go to the polls for the first primary of the season where Republican voters appear poised to select front-runner and former president, Donald Trump, as the party’s candidate for a second term in the highest office in the federal government. This is a good time to take a clear, hard look at what matters. The New...
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January 22, 2024
Stop Sleepwalking and Start Fighting!
Embed from Getty Images Alarm bells go off on every page of former Congresswoman Liz Cheney’s book, “Oath and Honor,” . . . every page. At New Hampshire’s Dartmouth College last Friday, Cheney continued to press her message to primary voters. “Tell the world who we are with your vote. Tell them that we are a good and a great...
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January 9, 2024
Words Matter
Embed from Getty Images It begins like this: Bit by little bit, misleading words grow in shadows where they are picked up and spread. Bit by bit, false conspiracies are created and multiplied. Lies spread, becoming a wildfire of hate from those who feel isolated, threatened, fearful. According to a Washington Post/University of Maryland poll,  » Read more about: Words Matter...
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January 5, 2024
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Resolutions
Everybody’s got ’em, and everyone is sincere until they break ’em. Sunday’s New York Times had a fascinating story about how to write an opinion piece with one difference. They taught kids, seven to seventeen, how to write an opinion and then asked them to submit their opinions in 100 words or less. A few rules: “Choose a topic you...
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January 3, 2024
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What’s Happened to America’s Morality?
What a way to end the year. The erosion of America’s moral integrity is overwhelming. Entitlement has overtaken personal responsibility. Meanness has overwhelmed kindness. And hatred has crushed tolerance. Many of today’s “leaders” place self-interest above public interest. They role model viciousness and lies instead of kindness and facts. They believe that the best way to influence the public forum...
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December 29, 2023