“Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of York.” —Richard III, Act I, sc. 1 In March 1954, Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson spoke to a crowd of supporters about the poison that had infected much of the American public by a demagogic United States Senator. “We are witnessing the bitter harvest from the...

The leak of a US Supreme Court draft decision raised a lot of concerns about the state of confidentiality and trust of the high court. While I’m concerned about the long-term effects of overturning Roe v. Wade, a law that’s been on the books since 1973, I’m seriously concerned about the public’s trust in the Supreme Court. At a conference...

Last night’s news is prologue to what’s likely to come from Republicans. Based on a leaked document, Politico reports that the US Supreme Court is likely to strike down Roe v. Wade, a ruling that has been “settled law,” as Justice Brett Kavanaugh told Maine Senator Susan Collins, for 50 years. If this is indeed true, Republicans “march to the...

The John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award is distinguished by a ship’s lantern. “The lantern elicits immediate recognition and evokes the shared cultural symbols of light and truth,” designer Edwin Schlossberg says. “Light is the beacon of warning, of safety, of hope in the wilderness. A lantern symbolizes the search for an honest man. It lights a dark path,...

In 1877, Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar, a former distinguished Confederate officer, was the hugely popular Democratic Senator from Mississippi. So revered for his commitment to duty and integrity that a Washington reporter said of Lamar, “he would be a conspicuous personality anywhere, with a character and quality of his own.” Lamar was now faced with an impossible choice in the...

For decades, Florida’s Walt Disney World has been spreading joy and magic to billions who visit from around the world. And for decades, the Disney organization has pretty much remained politically neutral. Now, however, the “Most Magical Place on Earth,” has become yet another political battlefield. It all began when Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis, signed HB 1557 into law. As...

On one side, we have Liz Cheney, a thoughtful conservative who believes and practices the values of honesty, respect and accountability. Then there’s Madison Cawthorn, the 17-year-old, excuse me, 26-year-old who acts like he’s 17. Cawthorn, who, along with his far-right of far-right Republican colleagues—Lauren Boebert (R-CO), a devout QAnon believer, and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), who embraces the white...

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.” — John Maxwell, American clergyman Liz Cheney is smart, disciplined, honest and fearless. A rock-sold Republican from Wyoming, Cheney is one of only two House Republicans who sit on the House panel investigating the January 6 insurrection. Adam Kinzinger is the other. However, it is...

“We judge ourselves by our best intentions, our most noble acts, our most virtuous habits. But we are judged by out last worst act.” — Michael Josephson Actor Will Smith’s actions at last Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony was precedent setting inexcusable. Reacting to a joke by comedian Chris Rock about Smith’s wife, Smith stepped on stage and slapped the comedian....

When Julius Caesar learned that Publius Clodius—a rakish ladies’ man who held great affection for Caesar’s wife, Pompeia—snuck into Caesar’s house and allegedly canoodled with his wife, Caesar divorced Pompeia. According to the historian Suetonius, when asked about his decision, Caesar answered “My wife should be as much free from suspicion of a crime as she is from a crime...