Recent Commentaries

Featured image for “Lyin’ King”
Lyin’ King
One of the many reasons I prefer non-fiction is the simple fact that truth often is stranger than fiction. Our latest example is that great national embarrassment, Donald J. Trump. Time after time, Trump has shown a breathtaking ability to see, read, hear and deduce things that the rest of us mere mortals are either blind to or cannot comprehend....
Read More
July 29, 2016
Featured image for “A Closer Look at that E-Mail Leak”
A Closer Look at that E-Mail Leak
The day before the Democratic National Convention convened in Philadelphia, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, announced that she will resign after the release of thousands of internal e-mail exchanges among Democratic insiders that demonstrated a clear bias towards Clinton during the primaries. “Many of the most damaging e-mails,” The Washington Post writes (July 25), “suggest the committee...
Read More
July 27, 2016
Featured image for “My Lunch with Hillary”
My Lunch with Hillary
It’s three days before the Democratic National Convention, one day before Senator Tim Kaine was selected as Hillary Clinton’s VP, and I had been invited to have lunch with the presumptive nominee, herself! Bob, a Clinton surrogate, picks me up at my hotel. “You sure are lucky, Jim. A lot of people would kill for a chance like this.” “Yes,”...
Read More
July 25, 2016
Featured image for “The Ethical Take: Odds and Ends”
The Ethical Take: Odds and Ends
Before leaving on summer recess at the end of the month, here is an assortment to read and ponder. Ginsburg Guff – Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had the temerity to exercise her First Amendment right of free speech by calling out Donald Trump as a “Faker.” As The New York Times reported (July 10), “I can’t imagine what this place...
Read More
July 22, 2016
Featured image for “That was Then, This is Now”
That was Then, This is Now
It’s remarkable how many Republicans have come down from the mountaintop of conservative values and demonstrated a complete turn-around in their opinion of Donald Trump. One year ago this month, former Texas Governor Rick Perry had this to say of Trump: “…A toxic mix of demagoguery and mean-spiritedness and nonsense that will lead the Republican Party to perdition if pursued....
Read More
July 20, 2016
Featured image for “Guess Who’s <em>Not</em> Coming to Dinner… or the Republican Convention”
Guess Who’s Not Coming to Dinner… or the Republican Convention
“It’s an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day, here in Cleveland, RNC fans!” “As you can see from our exclusive channel FOX-8 feed, crowds are beginning to feel THAT special buzz… “What’s that? …I’ve just been told that those are security guys on camera… but they’re feeling the buzz, too here at Quicken Loans Arena, home of the 2016 NBA Championship Cleveland Cavaliers,...
Read More
July 18, 2016
Featured image for “About Last Week”
About Last Week
I began writing this while watching thousands gather for the interfaith memorial service held for the five Dallas police officers who were ambushed and gunned down by a lost and damaged army veteran. The shooter, Micah Johnson, said that he “…specifically set out to kill as many white officers as he could,” following the deaths of two black men by...
Read More
July 13, 2016
Featured image for “We Can Do Better”
We Can Do Better
Twenty-four hours after the police shooting death of Alton Sterling outside a Baton Rouge convenience store, Philando Castile was shot and killed in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. Both men were black. Both were killed by police under highly questionable circumstances. Castile had no prior criminal record, was driving a car occupied by his girl friend and her four-year-old daughter. Castile had...
Read More
July 8, 2016
Featured image for “7 Key Points from the F.B.I. Investigation into Clinton E-Mails”
7 Key Points from the F.B.I. Investigation into Clinton E-Mails
In a televised oral report on the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server, F.B.I. Director James B. Comey summed up his department’s findings this way: While the F.B.I. could find no “clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence...
Read More
July 6, 2016
Featured image for “July 4, 1776 was <em>Not</em> Independence Day”
July 4, 1776 was Not Independence Day
So, why do we celebrate on July 4th? It has a little something to do with the way the founders and writers work. According to ConstitutionFacts.com, “We think of July 4, 1776, as a day that represents the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States of America as an independent nation. “But July 4, 1776 wasn’t the...
Read More
July 4, 2016