What should be done about men who do not directly and blatantly sell the favors of their offices for money and so place themselves within the penalties of the law? How do we deal with those who, under the guise of friendship, accept favors which offend the spirit of the law but do not violate its letter? – Senator J....

Last night, 60 Minutes offered a powerful story by Aly Raisman about how the U.S. Olympic gymnast was sexually abused years ago by former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar. One question that continually comes up during stories like this is, why now? Why didn’t you report this earlier? Raisman’s answer, “Why are we looking at why didn’t the girls speak...

Last month Arizona Senator Jeff Flake delivered a declaration on the floor of the Senate worthy of Daniel Webster, about  how, lately, “…our democracy is more defined by our discord and our dysfunction than by our own values and principles.” He offered a passionate plea that “We must never regard as normal the regular and casual undermining of our democratic...

On a quiet Sunday morning at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas – a town with a population less than 700 – Devin Kelly, a former Air Force logistics worker, walked into the back of the church armed with a semi-automatic military-style weapon and killed 26 people. “Department of Public Safety Spokesman Freeman Martin said Kelley moved around...

While Republicans struggle to find unity among themselves, Democrats have nothing to cheer about. In a new political memoir from Donna Brazile, the former head of the Democratic National Committee writes scathingly about the battles that took place within the party during the 2016 election. “Ms. Brazile,” The New York Times writes (Nov. 3), “took over as the interim chairwoman...

On Tuesday, (Oct. 24), two House committees – oversight and intelligence –announced plans to “launch a joint investigation” into the Uranium One deal during the Obama administration. The genesis of this story goes back to the 2016 presidential campaign when then-candidate Trump stated a number of times: “Remember that Hillary Clinton gave Russia 20 percent of American uranium and, you...

“Mr. President, I would like to speak briefly and simply about a serious national condition. It is a national feeling of fear and frustration that could result in national suicide, and the end of everything that we Americans hold dear. It is a condition that comes from the lack of effective leadership in either the legislative branch or the executive...

The Take has been MIA for a while. So, let’s get to it. Spin Out – Yesterday, the junior senator from Arizona, Jeff Flake, announced he would not be running for re-election. In a surprise announcement from the floor of the Senate, most of Flake’s comments were pointed at the current occupant of the White House whose behavior grows more...

One day – (hopefully), many, many millennia in the future – some grad student will be green-lighted for a doctoral dissertation on President Trump’s tweets to examine, and perhaps shed light on the current “dark age” of American politics, starting here: “Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest — and you all know it! Please...

In his latest book, The American Spirit, historian David McCullough had the rare privilege of addressing a joint session of Congress in 1989. McCullough has observed much in his 84 years, and written much more about the past in books, and the present in speeches, and what he observes, he relates in stories that make the past come alive. On...