Recent Personalities Commentaries

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We Are All Immigrants
In the run-up to the midterms on Tuesday, President Trump has been hitting the campaign trail, hitting Democrats, and anyone else in his way, about the dangers from a group of Central American migrants working their way up to the U.S. border. With Fox & Friends egging him on, Trump said, “Anybody throwing stones, rocks, like they did to the...
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November 5, 2018
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Last Man Standing
“Tomorrow the migrants… are more than two months away — if any of them actually come here, but tomorrow is one week before the midterm election, which is what all of this is about.” – Shepard Smith, FOX News anchor, Monday, Oct. 29, 2018 Shepard Smith, the informed, straightforward newsman at FOX News (Yes, you heard me correctly, FOX News),...
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November 2, 2018
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“We Can Be Better Than This”
Times of crisis call forth a leader among us who, through their compassion and wisdom, can help both comfort and unite. Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Myers is doing just that by not only tending to the needs of his own community but offering a broader message to us all. CNN’s Alisyn Camerota spoke to Rabbi Myers on Monday morning...
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November 1, 2018
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What Would Mister Rogers Say?
In less than seven days we have seen: what has now grown to 15 pipe bombs delivered to top Democrats, actor Robert DeNiro and cable news network CNN by vocal Trump supporter Cesar Sayoc; a school shooting near Charlotte, North Carolina; white racist Gregory Bush shot two black shoppers at a Kentucky grocery store; and earlier that same day –...
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October 30, 2018
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Credibility
“To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful. It is as simple as that.” ~ Edward R. Murrow, 20th century journalist in testimony before a Congressional Committee, May 1963 Let’s face it, credibility is not that simple anymore. It has less to do with facts and more...
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October 22, 2018
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A Country in Search of its Soul, Again
Historian Jon Meacham has become a reliable storyteller of past presidents. They come alive in his pages through the many stories that illustrate who they were and what they stood for. However, in The Soul of America – the Battle for Our Better Angels, Meacham is concerned with more than historical biography. Alarmed by the man who inhabits the White...
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October 17, 2018
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Who?
Taylor Swift is a most unlikely political firebrand, and yet the 28-year old pop singer is stirring up voters in her adopted home state of Tennessee like no one else. In an Instagram post to 112 million of her followers (yes, that’s right, one-third of the country!), Swift writes movingly about who she is voting for and why. “In the...
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October 15, 2018
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I Stand with This Man
Eighteenth century French philosopher Voltaire once observed, “Common sense is not so common.” In Washington, it’s virtually extinct. But if you travel Northwest to Columbus, Ohio, you will find one man who reflects the kind of practical intelligence we need right now. In case anyone forgot, among the hodgepodge of hopefuls trying to overtake The Trump Reality show in 2016,...
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October 10, 2018
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Epilogue
After two weeks of turmoil and rage, what more could possibly happen? We’ve given up the common ground for my ground. We’ve gone from dissent to disrespect; from disrespect to hatred. Before we face the next bitter Division Du Jour, perhaps it’s time for us to consider what we stand for? I believe Judge Brett Kavanaugh is, fundamentally, a good...
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October 8, 2018
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At Any Cost
With Two Updates — Last night, before the close of the Senate’s business, before reading the FBI report that is scheduled to be available to Senators as early as 8:00 am this morning, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “I am filing cloture (closure) on Judge Kavanaugh’s nomination this evening, so the process can move forward, as I indicated...
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October 4, 2018

Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
The Latest... And Often Greatest
When Political Identity Replaces Ethical Judgment
The political and cultural landscape has become a minefield of conflicting beliefs, many now rooted less in public policy than in personal identity. One of...
Principles Matter.
A few nights ago, I was watching The Way We Were, a film I’ve seen more times than I can count. This time, a single...
All the President’s Men 2.0
“Politics had infiltrated every corner of government—a strong-arm takeover of the agencies by the Nixon White House.” —Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, All the President’s...
The Threat to November Is Already Here
“Cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government.”—George Washington’s...
Jon Ossoff and the Conscience of Atticus Finch
I’ve written about Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff before, but after watching his questioning of Jay Clayton, President Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence (DNI),...
Hearts and Minds
There’s a moment in Cool Hand Luke when Luke, played by Paul Newman, is returned to a prison camp after escaping. Determined to break his...