Adam Kinzinger is a committed conservative. However, that commitment does not extend to supporting Donald Trump and his Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen and that Vice-President Mike Pence had the power to throw out votes when the electoral votes were being certified in the Capitol on January 6. Kinzinger calls the obsequiousness by Republicans to Trump, “capitulating...

In 1826, a month before the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to Washington publisher, and civic leader Robert C. Weightman declining an invitation to attend next month’s celebration due to his “sufferings and sickness.” While the first reading of American Independence took place on July 8, 1776 in Philadelphia, the first event honoring...

“If it’s naïve to want peace instead of war, let ‘em make sure they say, I’m naïve. Because I want peace instead of war.” — Benjamin Ferencz Right now, I can’t think of a more important time in the country and the world where we need heroes , ethical heroes, men and women of principle. Ben Ferencz is one of...

This is what irresponsibility looks like, where dishonesty thrives and “loyalty” trumps rationality. This isn’t a close call. This isn’t, well, you know, it might have been this, or maybe that. No. The January 6 attack on the Capitol building by fervent Trump supporters and armed extreme right insurrectionists is not opinion. It’s fact. Many of those who didn’t see...

That’s what a New York tabloid headline read in the romantic comedy, “It Could Happen to You.” The Bridget Fonda, Nicolas Cage movie is about a cop who, short of cash for a tip in a restaurant, makes a deal with the waitress. “I’ll come back tomorrow with double the tip, or we’ll split the lottery ticket I’m holding.” Of...

Entitlement is the new justification where people behave badly believing they can pretty much do whatever they want by claiming… “It’s my right to (fill in the blank).” They feel entitled to refuse to wear masks and social distance (even though federal guidelines are intended to protect themselves and others). They feel entitled to punch anyone in the face who...

“Man is free at the instant he wants to be.” – Voltaire Looking up at the nation’s Capitol, two small children, a boy and girl, were standing at the bottom of the steps looking up, awed by the size and brilliance of the white building. Each began climbing the 365 steps to reach the top. When one had trouble, the...

Embed from Getty Images In three days, June 10 to June 12, the country endured 6 mass shootings: Yonkers, New York; Detroit, Michigan; White Center, Washington; Savannah, Georgia; Austin, Texas; and Chicago, Illinois, accounting for 6 dead and 38 injured. Year to date, Chicago has had 16 mass shootings. The non-profit research group, Gun Violence Archive, defines a mass shooting...

With the rate of vaccinations continuing to rise and the number of COVID-19 cases declining, Americans are jumping back into life. Yesterday, California’s governor announced that the state was open for business with a few guidelines. “Californians who are two weeks removed from their last vaccine dose will be allowed to go mask-free in nearly all settings,” The L.A. Times...

TIME magazine raised a critical issue with implications that go beyond last year’s election. “To the victor goes a nation divided. A nation split over its place in the world, over its basic values, over its future direction. … the Uncivil War is likely to continue. After such a venomous campaign, will it be possible to… reunite the United States?”...