Recent Commentaries

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“My Life Must Stand for Something”
In a moving commentary in Monday’s (May 29), New York Times, Documentarians Ken Burns and Lynn Novick reflect on their ten-year research detailed in an upcoming documentary, The Vietnam War. “For more than a generation,” Burns and Novick write, “instead of forging a path to reconciliation, we have allowed the wounds the war inflicted on our nation, our politics and...
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May 31, 2017
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Reflecting on Kennedy
Today would have been the 100th birthday of John F. Kennedy. While he served less than three years as the nation’s 35th president, more books have been written about Kennedy – 62,000 – than any president in the last 152 years, (Lincoln comes in first with 111,000; Washington, second with 83,000). I have 31 books on Kennedy in my own...
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May 29, 2017
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Standards, What Standards?
Fox News executives should issue the following statement: “Fox News is calling for a total and complete shutdown of inaccurate and false stories coming from Sean Hannity until Fox representatives can figure out what the HELL is going on!” P.S. – They have, sort of. Conspiracy theories have bounced around popular culture and politics since the birth of the nation....
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May 26, 2017
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Alex Jones Recants? Not so Fast
“I’m choosing this as a battle. On this I will stand. I will win, or I will die, I’m not backing down. I’m never giving up. I love this.” – Alex Jones, InfoWars Well, for Jones, the battle not only didn’t last long, but he didn’t die, either. Earlier this month, Jones’s “war” with Chobani yogurt maker Hamdi Ulukaya, a...
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May 23, 2017
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The Witch Doctor of Truth
President Trump must’ve missed CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360  the other night when Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz recommended that the president get a personal lawyer and “zip it! …stop tweeting… stop talking…” On Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein – an oasis of rationality – announced the appointment of Robert Muller as special counsel to investigate the possibility of complicity...
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May 19, 2017
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A Bridge Too Far?
Gen. Field Marshall Model’s aide: Field Marshall, pardon me for interrupting, but… British paratroops have apparently landed … three kilometers from here! Gen. Model: Why should they do that? There is nothing valuable here. … Me! I am valuable. They have all come just to capture me. Get my driver and car. Evacuate my headquarters. …And don’t forget my cigars!...
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May 17, 2017
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His Own Big Mouth
There’s a moment in the film Patton where America’s World War II general has been sidelined from command and stationed in a French château after criticizing U.S. allies, slapping an enlisted soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress and calling him a coward. General Bedell Smith explains Eisenhower’s decision. “Frankly, George, you’re on probation. “Remember,” Smith cautions, “your worst enemy is your...
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May 15, 2017
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How Many More Shoes?
Look, let’s get serious here; the firing of FBI Director James Comey by President Trump while the director is in the midst of an investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia is not normal. Senator John McCain called Trump’s actions “unprecedented,” The Washington Post reports (May 10). “Probably the most respected individual in all of the American...
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May 12, 2017
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Two Baseball Stories
On Monday May 1, Baltimore outfielder Adam Jones said he was called the N-word and had a bag of peanuts thrown at him by some Boston Red Sox fans. Jones said it was one of the worst experiences he’s encountered in the 12-years he’s been a player, according to USA Today (May 1). “Very unfortunate.” Jones said. “I heard there...
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May 10, 2017
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It Didn’t Have to Happen
This is what happens when poor information and irrational fear trumps verified medical science. “The young mother,” The Washington Post reports (May 5), “started getting advice early on from friends in the close-knit Somali immigrant community here. Don’t let your children get the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella — it causes autism, they said. “Suaado Salah listened. And this...
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May 8, 2017

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