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...

Schools and community libraries have now become battlegrounds for political division. Fearing backlash from parents, school officials have quietly been removing books from libraries that discuss race, gender and LGBTQ identities. “A growing number of communities across America where conservatives have mounted challenges to books and other content related to race, sex, gender and other subjects they deem inappropriate,” The...

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...

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”— writer, philosopher George Santayana In simpler terms: People who don’t learn from their mistakes don’t grow up. People who shut out the truth about the past, the present or both remain trapped in their own fear. “In Oklahoma,” The New York Times reports, “a bill was introduced in the...

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...

In a national address to the country, Jimmy Carter described how he “invited to Camp David people from almost every segment of our society — business and labor, teachers and preachers, governors, mayors, and private citizens. And then I left Camp David to listen to other Americans, men and women like you. I got a lot of personal advice: “I...

Thank GOD, this monumental piece of legislation has passed an all-important hurdle. I don’t know about you, but getting unanimous consent for a bill like this restores my faith in the two-party system where both sides can set aside their grudges, come together and pass the most meaningful legislation in  . . .  I don’t know how long. Officially known...

How does this end? That’s the existential question for all of us as the world sits on the brink of a war too terrible to imagine. Under Russia’s relentless, unprovoked assault, Ukraine has suffered missile attacks, the bombing of a maternity hospital, women and children killed. As a result, more than 2.8 million refugees, and counting, have fled the country....