After watching events unfold in Las Vegas last Sunday – now the largest mass shooting in U.S. history – I went to my archives to see how many commentaries I’d written about gun control. It’s an issue I have revisited several times, maybe eight or ten. I was surprised to discover twenty-three! (Twenty-four, counting this piece.) When I first heard...

Back before journalists began adding the suffix “gate” to any scandal after Watergate, one of the biggest crimes in sports exploded exactly 97 years ago last Friday. As The New York Times reported on September 29, 1920: EIGHT WHITE SOX PLAYERS ARE INDICTED ON CHARGE OF FIXING 1919 WORLD SERIES While the eight Black Sox players, as they became known,...

Two things happened last week that received little attention, but are vital to our progress toward a more perfect union. Last Thursday (Sept. 28), Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch spoke to The Fund for American Studies, a conservative, non-profit educational organization that teaches “the principles of limited government, free-market economics and honorable leadership.” “In his remarks,” The New York...

“The law’s totally on my side, the president can’t have a conflict of interest.” – President-Elect Trump,  New York Times interview, November, 2016 During the 2016 campaign, Trump spoke dozens of times on Twitter and at rallies that his opponent, Hillary Clinton, should be prosecuted for having used a private e-mail server as secretary of state. “…nothing Hillary has said...

“If the National Football League players want to take a knee, they should take a knee at night, every night, and thank God in heaven Donald J. Trump is president of the United States… He’s done such a tremendous job…” – Steve Bannon, former W.H. chief strategist, current Trump “wingman” Okay, let’s put this into context. Trump returns to the...

Steve Bannon wants you to know that he’s a “good Catholic.” Given his M.O. as an extremist flamethrower, I find that more than a little unsettling, and I’m sure Pope Francis is rolling his eyes about now. Bannon also describes himself as a “street fighter.” (What happened to turning the other cheek, Steve?) Bannon has honed his fighting skills running...

Four Red Sox fans were removed from Fenway Park in Boston last night after they unfurled a large banner over the Green Monster which read, “Racism is as American as Baseball.” In an anonymous e-mail statement, one of the protestors wrote: “We are a group of white anti-racist protesters. We want to remind everyone that just as baseball is fundamental...

During the month of August, comfortably ensconced in my “cone of silence,” I spent most of the time reading a variety of books. While all of them speak to various ethical values, many of the authors were simply good storytellers. After listening to an interview of former Navy SEAL Robert O’Neill, I became interested in reading his account of how...

“…I’ve gotta be very careful here because I am not a meteorologist… not the National Hurricane Center… not a climatologist or meteorologist. All I do is analyze the data that they publish. …when it comes to a hurricane bearing down on South Florida, I’m the go-to guy.” – Rush Limbaugh, Sept. 5, 2017 I’ve gotta be very careful here, because...

There’s a scene early in the film, Jerry Maguire, about a sports agent, that ultimately causes the central character to pivot from sales B.S. to honest concern. It happens when the fast-talking Maguire learns that his hockey-player client is sent to the hospital after yet another punishing concussion. The agent arrives in the room just as the doctor is checking...