“Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true.” – old idiom Like more than 60,981,000, I voted for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton not because she would have been the first woman President of the United States, but given two likely choices, she was, far and away, the most qualified grown-up in the room. While many have...

These are, without a doubt, the Holy Grail of cultural and political questions of the moment: How does Trump appeal to his supporters? Why do supporters continue to stand by him when he lies – even when confronted with the facts – more than any candidate in modern history? What is it about this man that continues to attract both...

I never intended to write about the first debate. However, several readers, in private emails or conversation, have made that request, so, here goes. Monday night’s event, (Yes, I went to the movie and recorded the debate), the first of three presidential debates, was, as expected, packed with drama: e-mails, taxes, climate change, race, defense, cyber terrorism, stamina, and the...

Well, boys and girls, here we are – the first of three presidential debates which may decide who goes to the White House: the Reality Star, or the Politically Calculated Czar; the extremely reckless, or “extremely careless.” I was previously invited to attend a screening of The Man with the Golden Arm, part of an Elmer Bernstein film series honoring...

The publication of Colin Powell’s private opinions of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump – obtained from hacked e-mails from the former secretary of state’s private e-mail account – is only the latest example of the thorny ethical issues that journalists and media organizations must navigate. In this new universe, everything that’s been hacked appears to be fair game after...

Before leaving on summer recess at the end of the month, here is an assortment to read and ponder. Ginsburg Guff – Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had the temerity to exercise her First Amendment right of free speech by calling out Donald Trump as a “Faker.” As The New York Times reported (July 10), “I can’t imagine what this place...

In a televised oral report on the investigation into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server, F.B.I. Director James B. Comey summed up his department’s findings this way: While the F.B.I. could find no “clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence...

I was overwhelmed and grateful to have received more than 20 comments on my three-part series, Trust and Confidence, about Secret Service Director Lewis Merletti’s 1998 principled battle with Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. I have discussed this story with a handful of friends who kept wondering when I was going to write-up an analysis of a story that I had...

In this first month of a new year, The Take examines a few stories from the sane… to the inane. Where’s Colin!? — Former Joint Chiefs Chairman and Secretary of State Colin Powell has been conspicuously absent from all the activities surrounding the GOP presidential candidates. I kept wondering, what’s his take on all this. Wonder no more. According to...

Yes, I questioned that notion too when I came across a link on a web search. However, I discovered something interesting. Steven Greydanus is a film critic for the National Catholic Register, a respected resource I’ve visited many times. Greydanus is also the creator and administrator of DecentFilms.com, “A site of film appreciation, information and criticism informed by Christian faith.”...