Recent Character Commentaries

Featured image for “This is Why I Have Lost All Faith in the Ability of Republicans to Govern”
This is Why I Have Lost All Faith in the Ability of Republicans to Govern
This is Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia addressing his Senate colleagues regarding the proposed Senate Border Security Bill.  » Read more about: This is Why I Have Lost All Faith in the Ability of Republicans to Govern  »...
Read More
September 8, 2024
Featured image for “NY Times: More than 200 Bush, McCain and Romney Staffers Endorse Harris”
NY Times: More than 200 Bush, McCain and Romney Staffers Endorse Harris
Bush, McCain, and Romney Alumni for Harris Statement “Four years ago, President George W. Bush, the late Sen. John McCain, and then-Gov. Mitt Romney alumni came together to warn fellow Republicans that re-electing President Trump would be a disaster for our nation. In those declarations we stated the plain truth, each predicting that another four years of a Trump presidency...
Read More
August 27, 2024
What Would Lincoln Say?
In the midst of relentless hyper-partisanship and division, I wondered what Abraham Lincoln’s take would be. Here’s what he might have said. “America can be likened to a magnificent tapestry,” he said, “with each individual thread contributing to the overall fabric of our nation. No single thread holds more power than another. If our citizens come together with unwavering faith...
Read More
July 23, 2024
Featured image for “The Ghost and The Darkness”
The Ghost and The Darkness
Last week left us gasping after the first presidential debate and apprehensive about what to expect from the Supreme Court this morning about Trump’s total immunity case. (Now we know the answer to the second issue.) Let’s begin with the obvious. Joe Biden did not have a good debate night. He had a disastrous debate night. Despite the rah, rah...
Read More
July 1, 2024
Featured image for “Nobility”
Nobility
In the 1942 classic Casablanca, Rick Blane is a man who unapologetically schemes, lies, cheats and does whatever it takes to survive in Nazi-controlled French Morocco. Moments before he persuades Ilsa—the lost love of his life—to fly off with Nazi resistance fighter Victor Lazlo, he gives one of the most well-known lines in movie history. “Ilsa, I’m no good at...
Read More
June 18, 2024
Featured image for “The Great Crusade”
The Great Crusade
After the unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, Franklin Roosevelt declared, “No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.” Eighty years ago, hours before the D-Day invasion, Allied General Dwight D. Eisenhower issued his Order of the Day. “Soldiers, Sailors,...
Read More
June 6, 2024
Featured image for “For the Preservation of The Union”
For the Preservation of The Union
She’s called the Statue of Freedom, not to be confused with the Statue of Liberty which rests on Liberty Island in New York’s Bay. She stands 19 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs 15,000 pounds. She wears a helmet composed of an eagle’s head and feathers. Her right-hand rests on a sheathed sword as she holds a shield and laurel...
Read More
May 20, 2024
Featured image for “I Wish I Could Think More Like David Brooks”
I Wish I Could Think More Like David Brooks
Why do I like New York Times columnist David Brooks? Simple. Much of the time, I write about the tree. Brooks writes about the landscape. I tend to look at the brush fire that’s threatening the tree. He focuses on how America’s inherent strength can overcome the fires of our discord. One thing about commentaries in The Times is that...
Read More
May 14, 2024
Featured image for “Principle Before Party”
Principle Before Party
“Duty is ours. Results are God’s.”—John Quincy Adams In 1806, after a series of attacks by Britain on American ships carrying goods, Massachusetts Senator John Quincy Adams and his colleagues were outraged. American sailors were being captured and “impressed” into the King’s navy. When the American frigate Chesapeake was fired upon by a British ship, Adams was so incensed he...
Read More
April 23, 2024
Featured image for “We Need the Strength of Heroes”
We Need the Strength of Heroes
The Date: September 28, 1955 The Place: Yankee Stadium The Event: Dodgers/Yankees, Game 1 of the 1955 World Series Every baseball fan has seen the video. Every baseball fan knows the outcome . . . or do they? I’ll come back to this. For my book, What Do You Stand For?, documentary filmmaker Ken Burns spoke to me about the...
Read More
April 19, 2024

Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
The Latest... And Often Greatest