In 1994, while doing research on the creation of the Lone Ranger for my first book, I spent four days with Fran Striker, Jr., the son of the creator. It still surprises me how few people know that an unassuming, imaginative writer from Buffalo, New York created, developed, and wrote the Lone Ranger,Green Hornet, Sgt. Preston of the Yukon, and many others.  » Read more about:...

I say this with all due respect for his service above and beyondthe call of duty to this country: I am deeply disappointed in the senior United States Senator from Arizona, John McCain. For the John McCain who served his country with distinction in the Vietnam War, nearly lost his life in a fire aboard the U.S.S. Forrestal, was captured and...

On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated. Nearly every American who is old enough can remember where he was when he heard the news of Kennedy’s death. In my case, I was on a train platform in Japan when I was told of the assassination. A Japanese man came up to...

Monday morning I posted a commentary (They Shoot Mules, Don’t They?) about MSNBCs Keith Olbermann. I talked about how loud and offensive Olbermann can be, particularly when he engages in counterattacks against Fox News and Bill O’Reilly. Not long after I posted that piece on Huffington Post, (Sunday evening) I received an e-mail from an editor at the site which read,  » Read more about: Apologies  »...

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann is irritating, pompous and oafish. Whatever points he attempts to contribute to any political issue get lost in his snarky, Lord-High-Executioner act against anything that comes from Fox News. Sadly, this is what passes for political discourse today: two clearly partisan “commentary” shows having at each other in the cable equivalent of the Roman Coliseum. Hiring Olbermann,...

Our crack Ethics Stupid field reporter, Jon K, (he’s the one holding the “Impeach Nixon” sign on the far, far right) had his boots on the ground, as well as several sweaters and a big coat, at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington, D.C. last month and filed this report. “I got to the Rally at 5:20am and there were probably...

“Sparky”… now that’s a name that could only be tagged to a baseball player, except he didn’t play the game, he managed it. Anderson died last week at 76. “Sparky was, by far, the best manager I ever played for,” saidCincinnati Reds Pete Rose. “He understood people better than anyone I ever met. His players loved him, he loved his players,...

“I still believe that the mildest and most obscure of Americans can be rescued from oblivion by good luck, sudden changes in fortune, sudden encounters with heroes. I believe it because I lived it.” Those words come from Ted Sorensen, advisor, counselor and speechwriter for President John Kennedy.  Sorensen died Sunday at the age of 82. In 1961, I clearly...

Of course, Comedy Central’s Rally to Restore Sanity had plenty of comedy. That’s the cable channel’s stock-in-trade. But it offered something more, something that’s been missing from all the political posturing, bullying and noise. It offered an image of thousands coming together around a call for civility and reasonable debate. At the end of three hours of music and arch political humor...

The Juan Williams matter brings up a topic that’s important to explore – the role of an ombudsman. Alicia Shepard is NPR’s Ombudsman, and according to her bio, “Shepard was appointed… in October 2007. In 2000, NPR was the first U.S. broadcast news organization to create an Ombudsman position. “In this role,” NPR writes “Shepard serves as the public’s representative, and is responsible for bringing transparency...