A Part of Their Rage Belongs to Us

The genteel interview of the former empress of Iran conducted by MSNBC Tuesday is a vital example of how American political sensibilities are dangerously lacking context.  We watch on the web and television as Iranians die in the street demanding proof of a democratic election and we are mostly amazed at their courage.  MSNBC, seeking [...]

The Talkin’ Torture Blues

The man at the airport bar was watching Dick Cheney on FOX News.  (No matter where I travel, FOX News is on the monitors, which explains much about our nation’s present predicament.)
“I gotta admit,” the man said.  “I agree with him.  I don’t like him much, but I agree with him on this torture thing.”
I [...]

Islands in the Dream

“Freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you.” – Jean Paul Sartre

The news that America’s policies toward Cuba are changing will further humanize our country while de-humanizing Castro’s government. We minimize our political gains with the people of Cuba when we further their hardship under Castro by not allowing any type of [...]

When the War Began (Part 4 – Final)

“One owes respect to the living; but to the dead one owes nothing but the truth.” – Voltaire

An eighteen vehicle convoy does not easily make a U-turn. After Captain Troy King had passed the word to all of his soldiers to “lock and load” their weapons, he ordered the string of vehicles to head [...]

When the War Began (Part 3)

“To save your world, you asked this man to die; would this man, could he see you now, ask why?” – W.H. Auden

In his comfortable home, set on a ridgeline above Tonopah, a surprise awaited Sheriff Wade Lieseke as he returned from his duties in Pahrump, Nevada. Three days of the week, Lieseke [...]

When the War Began (Part 2)

“The greatest blunders, like the thickest ropes, are often compounded of a multitude of strands. Take the rope apart, separate it into the small threads that compose it, and you can break them one by one. You think, ‘That is all there was!’ But twist them all together and you have something tremendous.”
Victor Hugo

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When the War Began (Part 1)

The war in Iraq began six years ago today (Mar. 20) as American forces began the invasion. In a few days, we began counting our first casualties. Within a few more weeks, I was on the road traveling the country to talk to families of people serving in the conflict. Some of [...]

A Second Act for Spitzer?

“Too many of us look upon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a cruel libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly by the Americans themselves.” – Albert Einstein
There is an attorney who can get to the bottom of our current financial crisis and lay the blame and guilt at the foot of the culprits. [...]

The Death of a Brand

There is an old saw in marketing and public relations that if you don’t quickly brand your company’s products and services the public will brand them for you. Whether that brand ends up being good or bad becomes secondary to the fact that you are not likely to ever get out from under the image [...]

The Amazingly Fantastic Freedom Institute and Technicolor Political Dream Machine

Even in retirement, George W. B**h and his retinue of sycophants cannot stop from being disruptive and culturally as well as ethically disconnected from reality. The Crawford Cowboys have picked a fight with Southern Methodist University in Dallas over a think tank that is to be a part of the B**h library. In [...]