Let us dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago: to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world.  —Robert Kennedy Before a campaign appearance in Indianapolis, Indiana, Sen. Robert Kennedy had just learned of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.. The crowd he was planning to address had not yet...

“How can we love our country and not love our countrymen? And loving them, reach out a hand when they fall, heal them when they’re sick, and provide opportunities to make them self-sufficient so they will be equal in fact and not just in theory.” —Ronald Reagan Disinformation, disfunction, violence, a deadly virus, vaccination deniers, climate deniers, wildfires, hurricanes, floods....

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...

For 3 long days, the battle raged. The following night, in a heavy rain, General Lee withdrew his troops from the battlefield of Gettysburg. The union had won a costly but critical battle and turned the tide of the Civil War. Four months later, Lincoln, a Republican, standing in the midst of a crowd, summed the words that would be...

Every year, Buzzwords are added to the lexicon of our lives. Nowhere have they been more prevalent than in politics. Before he even rode down the escalator into infamy, Donald Trump would frequently use the word, “Fake,” or “Fake News Media.” In fact, he used the word so often – nearly 2,000 times, according to Britain’s Independent – that  the...

He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. – Psalms 104:5-6 And yet, it moves. – Galileo Galilei Headline, Florence Morning Sun (April 1616): “GALILEO FRAUD, CHURCH SAYS” While Nicolaus Copernicus determined that the earth revolved around the sun, he never published his findings until the last year of his death fearing dire consequences. When Italian...

With Saturday’s verdict by the Senate to acquit former President Donald Trump of inciting the attack on the Capitol, it’s more evident than ever that the Republican Party is on a ventilator and they are — for the foreseeable future — likely to willfully remain in a Trump coma. Any additional words I might use to describe a party that...

Among the books in my library is a series from TIME/LIFE entitled, The Decades. In words and images from 1910 to the 1990s, editors have distilled each decade’s most notable events. For example, the ’60s: Vietnam, racism, assassinations, Woodstock, the space program – each volume memorializes the triumphs and tragedies of the American landscape. If the series continues, editors are...

I was all set to post Monday’s commentary Sunday night when I realized that it was another piece reacting to the chaos, and rage surrounding Washington. It was about the country living with a cancer of hate and division that has not been seen in decades. It was about facing the greatest health crisis in 100 years and many individuals...

While Americans continue to struggle with a deadly virus and financial starvation, excellence in national leadership has been reduced to a group of toxic enablers that appeal to an insular “base” that promotes our worst impulses instead of our best. The ’60s suffered its own challenges. Civil rights. Vietnam. The assassination of three political leaders. But then something stunning happened....