“These times are so uncertain, there’s a yearning undefined and people filled with rage. We all need a little tenderness, how can love survive in such a graceless age?” Something very strange happened to me this morning. I got out of bed, read the news about Donald Trump testing positively for the Coronavirus and decided …
“Proud Boys, stand back and stand by. But I’ll tell you what, somebody’s got to do something about antifa and the left.” It could have been worse. He could have said there were “very fine people” in the right-wing group that calls itself the Proud Boys. Yes, it could have been worse. But not much. …
$750. That’s right, $750. By now, most people have either seen or heard about the story in the New York Times about Donald Trump’s taxes. They know that in both 2016 and 2017, Trump filed returns saying his total federal income tax liability was only $750. They know that in 10 of the 15 years …
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” One of the most famous quotes of all time has been attributed to the French philosopher Voltaire, but he never actually said it. Neither did Francois-Marie Arouet, although it’s possible Billy Voltaire said it as one of …
I wish I had remembered to write this yesterday. Yesterday was my first grandchild’s birthday. Madison Nicole Kastner was born on Sept. 19, 2008, in Beijing, China. Thanks to her dad, my former son-in-law, I was able to hear her crying over the phone just five minutes after she was born. Ten days later, on …
When you’re young, the last thing you expect of your friends is that they’ll die. It happens – auto accidents, childhood cancer, that sort of thing – but when it does, it’s nearly always a shock. When we lose friends as kids, it’s nearly always because they move away. I lost two best friends at …
Are you aware of the most profound thing you ever told someone else? I wasn’t. Until my son told me. When I married Virgile’s mother and became a dad to him and his sister Pauline, I had to acquire a new set of skills at age 42. They had a father, but he was 6,000 …
“Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives … You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours … You, the mothers who …
Our slide back into fear and loathing is about reading Read More »
When my family moved from southwestern Ohio to northern Virginia in January 1963, it was the oddest sort of culture shock. We were right in the middle of the Civil War centennial, which meant almost nothing in Ohio but was sort of a big deal in Virginia. In fact, the house my parents had purchased …
Let’s not go overboard changing historical names Read More »
During my 30 years or so as a professional journalist and more than 12 years since, there is one way I always judged whether someone’s writing was good. If I read it and was really impressed, one thought always crossed my mind: “I wish I had written that.” One of the first times I felt …
