Recent Politics Commentaries

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Et Tu, Peggy, Et Tu?
There is no nice way to say it: I am tired of political leadership in Washington using words like “inappropriate,” “inconsistent,” a “distraction,” and “un-presidential” to describe what my parents, grandparents, teachers, religious leaders, and most anyone with common sense would otherwise call, WRONG! To state the obvious: we have a 71-year-old president whose Twitter rants demonstrate that he is...
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July 5, 2017
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Really, Sarah, Really?
Last Friday, CNN retracted a story that had appeared on its website incorrectly linking Trump confident and hedge-fund manager Anthony Scaramucci to a Russian investment fund supposedly under investigation by the Senate. On Tuesday, (June 27), White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders wasted no time in calling this to the attention of all media at the (sometimes) daily...
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June 30, 2017
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Ethics 101
Earlier this month, Eric Trump, the president’s son, was interviewed on Fox News by Sean Hannity. “Morality’s just gone,” Trump said, “morals have flown out the window and we deserve so much better than this as a country.” Trump was specifically referring to Democrats criticisms of his father the president, even going so far as to say, “To me, they’re...
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June 23, 2017
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Comey v. Trump – Conclusion
While the legal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election as well as a new investigation to determine if President Trump obstructed justice by firing former FBI Director James Comey will likely not be decided for months, the president continues to characterize both investigations as “phony” and a “WITCH HUNT.” Based on a recent tweet, the president even attacked...
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June 19, 2017
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Comey v. Trump – Part 2
On May 9, President Trump fired FBI Director James Comey. “…it’s a story,” National Public Radio (NPR) reports (May 15), “that has now continued past his termination, with a winding narrative that has seen the president make veiled threats and contradict his own staff as well as the vice president.” On May 18, President Trump tweeted: “This is the single...
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June 16, 2017
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What’s Your Tribe?
With all the fractiousness in the country – Right, Left, Alt-Right, Democrat, Republican, North, South, East, West, up, down – the nation is clearly living through challenging times. How do we relate to one another with such diverse beliefs, cultures and goals? How can we learn to listen more and bark less? John Zogby’s 2016 book, We Are Many, We...
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June 5, 2017
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Make America Covfefe Again!
Whenever Press Secretary Sean Spicer is asked to explain one of President Trump’s tweets, he responds, “The president’s tweet speaks for itself.” When Spicer was asked what the president meant by “covfefe,” Spicer replied, “The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant.” It now seems perfectly clear that Spicer, and that very “small group” were...
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June 2, 2017
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Reflecting on Kennedy
Today would have been the 100th birthday of John F. Kennedy. While he served less than three years as the nation’s 35th president, more books have been written about Kennedy – 62,000 – than any president in the last 152 years, (Lincoln comes in first with 111,000; Washington, second with 83,000). I have 31 books on Kennedy in my own...
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May 29, 2017
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Standards, What Standards?
Fox News executives should issue the following statement: “Fox News is calling for a total and complete shutdown of inaccurate and false stories coming from Sean Hannity until Fox representatives can figure out what the HELL is going on!” P.S. – They have, sort of. Conspiracy theories have bounced around popular culture and politics since the birth of the nation....
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May 26, 2017
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The Witch Doctor of Truth
President Trump must’ve missed CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360  the other night when Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz recommended that the president get a personal lawyer and “zip it! …stop tweeting… stop talking…” On Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein – an oasis of rationality – announced the appointment of Robert Muller as special counsel to investigate the possibility of complicity...
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May 19, 2017