Last Friday, Colonel Ralph Puckett, Jr. was awarded the Medal of Honor in a White House ceremony. “I’m incredibly proud,” President Biden said, “to give Col. Ralph Puckett’s act of valor the full recognition that he always deserved. Colonel, I’m humbled to have you here today.” The White House statement reads, in part: “Then-First Lieutenant Ralph Puckett, Jr. distinguished himself...

In my 2004 book, What Do You Stand For? I asked a cross-section of more than 100 individuals to answer a questionnaire: What do you stand for, what principles have you lived by? Describe a “moment of principle” in which your convictions were tested or a story in which you were inspired by another. Last night, on the floor of...

This story ran last March, but it’s worth another look to show that there are police officers who, with patience and compassion, take a closer look before using any force. Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by police in her own apartment one year ago. George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officer Dreck Chauvin when the officer held his...

“In a democracy, every citizen, regardless of his interest in politics, ‘holds office’; every one of us is in a position of responsibility; and, in the final analysis, the kind of government we get depends upon how we fulfill those responsibilities. We, the people, are the boss, and we will get the kind of political leadership, be it good or...

I didn’t know much about Tyler Perry before Sunday’s Academy Award event. I sure know a lot more now. Last Sunday, Perry was the recipient of the Gene Hersholt Humanitarian Award. The honor is only periodically given to an “individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry.” And Perry more than qualified. His...

Sportscaster Bob Costas has arguably been the best in the business since Jim McKay. Combining a likable manner with a near-encyclopedic knowledge of football, Costas speaks to both fans and non-fans alike. And his range of sports coverage is unequaled by anyone of his generation: boxing, NASCAR, golf, baseball, basketball, hockey, thoroughbred horse racing, and from 1988 to 2016, the...

Breonna Taylor was shot and killed by police in her own apartment one year ago. George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officer Dreck Chauvin when the officer held his knee against Floyd’s neck for more than 8 minutes. According to Statista (Mar. 20), “the rate of fatal police shootings among Black Americans was much higher than for any other...

Embed from Getty Images In 1941, as President Roosevelt remained reluctant to enter the war in Europe, Prime Minister Winston Churchill was dining with U.S. Ambassador John Gilbert Winant discussing England’s fate. Listening to the BBC, the radio station announced that the Japanese had attacked American ships at Pearl Harbor. Within minutes, Churchill received a phone call from FDR confirming...

“It is written I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice.” – Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness The poison that is Donald Trump has so deeply infected followers that they forcefully speak out against any unfaithful Republican who dares speak against him much less hold him accountable for the attack on the Capitol. Embed from Getty Images Here’s...

“A nation which has forgotten the quality of courage which in the past has been brought to public life is not as likely to insist upon or reward that quality in its chosen leaders today…” – Senator John F. Kennedy, Profiles in Courage In the first chapter of Kennedy’s book he writes, “… a member of the [President’s] Cabinet had...