Two images of the protests taking place in Los Angeles Donald Trump’s words are rarely accidental. His instinct for rhetorical impact—whether blunt force or performative affection—has always served a purpose: to reward loyalty, punish defiance, and bend public will to his own. That contrast was on full display again this week. Amid protests erupting across Los Angeles following sweeping ICE...

Jimmy Carter didn’t just talk about values—he lived them. Long before entering the White House in 1977, and long after he left, Carter viewed leadership as a form of service. That idea of service shaped every part of his presidency. While it cost him politically, it never shook his commitment to doing what was right. He believed the office should...

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...

      Clarence Darrow spent his career standing next to people most of the country didn’t want to see. Darrow, the legendary Chicago defense lawyer behind the Scopes “Monkey” Trial and the Leopold and Loeb case, didn’t defend clients because they were popular; he defended them because he believed the measure of a nation is how it treats the...

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...