Whether President Donald Trump is smart is debatable, but when it comes to tapping into fear and division he’s a genius. Trump recently issued an executive order instructing federal agencies to scrub certain words or phrases (there are 213…for now), from all government documents and communications. It’s part of a broader campaign to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts—programs the...

In a time when too many are willing to trade truth for tribalism and principle for power, it’s easy to lose sight of what we stand for—not politically, but personally. Long before politics, before the noise and division, there is character. And character is built on conscience. What follows is not a list of rules, but a set of beliefs...

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...

The Presidential Greatness Project, led by Professors Brandon Rottinghaus and Justin Vaughn, is a research effort that evaluates U.S. presidents through the lens of expert scholars in the field of presidential politics. Every few years, these scholars weigh in on which presidents exemplify greatness based on their leadership, historical significance, and legacy. In 2024, not surprisingly, Abraham Lincoln still holds...

Embed from Getty Images Saturday’s attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump is a stark sign that political hate speech has taken on an urgency we have not seen in decades and has reinforced the belief that the upcoming presidential election is a battle between “Us vs. Them.” Identity politics has reached a point where we see each, not as...

I’ve written about Artificial Intelligence (AI) before. Last February, I wrote about an obscure science fiction film from 1970 entitled, Colossus: The Forbin Project. The premise of the story goes like this: to prevent the mass destruction of civilization, a brilliant US scientist builds an immense computer that, once the key is turned, can stop all nuclear global conflicts. And...

Moderate House Republicans have been run over by their hard-right colleagues who continue their reckless abandonment of reason—all in fealty to a demagogue who, if he returns to the White House, will tear apart democratic principles in service to himself. The country has faced demagogues before. On February 9, 1950, Senator Joseph R. McCarthy stood before the County Women’s Republican...

UPDATE: We’re heading into the home stretch for the release of “Trust and Confidence” which is expected to become available no later than September 28  through most bookseller sites. In the meantime, this commentary goes back in time where decisions that required character and courage were formidable but faced the challenge, nonetheless. Arizona’s Republican House Speaker “Rusty” Bowers exemplifies that...

In the late 1400s, the city of Florence, Italy was not only a center of art and culture but was one of the wealthiest cities in Europe rigorously ruled by the Medici family. Building on an underlying discontent, Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican friar, led a religious crusade preaching that art and literature led to an increase in moral decay. After...

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it, is really cooperating with it. —Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. What should Republicans do to save themselves and the country? They should begin by listening to former vice-president Mike Pence. “President Trump asked...