America’s Reichstag Moment

“No right was deemed by the fathers of the government more sacred than the right of speech. It was in their eyes, as in the eyes of all thoughtful men, the great moral renovator of society and government.”
Fredrick Douglas
The assassination of Charles Kirk was reprehensible … as was that of …

Another Not-So-Subtle Step Toward Authoritarianism 

“Sometimes the point isn’t to make people believe a lie; it’s to make people fear the liar.”
Anne Applebaum
Never before has any American president politicized public spaces and government buildings with banners featuring their face, a propaganda ploy more commonly associated with autocratic leaders in China, Russia, North Korea and other …

Unchecked Presidential Power

“Patriotism means to stand by the Country.  It does not mean to stand by the president.”
Theodore Roosevelt
Donald Trump increasingly makes clear, in spite of the Constitutional limitations imposed on the presidency, he intends to amass more unconstrained power for the Executive Branch and for himself, personally!
While not on the golf …

Free Speech Under Attack from the Right and Left

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
Attributed to Voltaire
 
For nearly fifty years Liberals have been justifiably accused of censoring speech with which they disagree.  It has taken the form of establishing so-called free speech zones on high school and …

An Open Letter to President Biden

October 6, 2024
 
President Joseph Biden
White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC  20500
 
Dear President Biden:
As a poll worker and someone who has written political and social commentary for nearly forty years, I was extremely disappointed, although not totally surprised at the results of this past Tuesday’s elections.
While the campaign messaging on women’s reproductive …

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