Nearly everyone with a decent education has heard the story of the person who went up to Benjamin Franklin after the constitutional convention and asked him what kind of government they were giving us. Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.” I would love to see what Dr. Franklin would say about 21st …
REPUBLIC OR FASCISM, TEXAS HEADS DOWN WRONG ROAD Read More »
Long after Lyndon Johnson died, his biographers revealed that Johnson had known there was no way the U.S. could win in Vietnam. In fact, he reportedly knew there was nothing at all to be gained there. But during his five years and two months in the White House, he not only maintained our role in …
I have never believed in the death penalty. It’s not a kumbaya thing, or a naive belief in the goodness or humanity and the possibility of rehabilitation. I believe there is evil in the world and I strongly believe there are people who should never walk among us again. But executing people — whether we …
QUESTION OF SIRHAN GOING FREE IS A DIFFICULT CALL Read More »
Sometimes great days come out of nowhere, when we least expect them. I was expecting a delivery from Amazon. We’re listening to an audiobook version of James Michener’s “Centennial” in the evenings, and I was surprised to find I no longer had the actual book. I ordered it from Amazon and it was scheduled to …
… to dance beneath the diamond sky with one arm waving free.”— BOB DYLAN I was walking on a hiking trail in Lost Maples State Natural Area in South Texas some years back when I tweaked my knee and decided to sit down for a while. The atmosphere was incredible, and the sky was so …
“What a drag it is getting old …” When Mick Jagger sang “Mother’s Little Helper” in the summer of 1966, he was lamenting a young mother in her 30s who couldn’t make it through her day without the help of pills. I was 16 that summer, and there’s no way I can explain how or …
I rarely learn anything from Facebook. Oh, I have been exposed to lots of information about what a wonderful place Sarasota, Florida, is. My longtime friend Christine Miller works for the city’s PR department and she does an excellent job. I’ll definitely visit someday. Except for that, though, most of what people seem to be posting these …
IT’S RARELY THE LOUDEST VOICES THAT TEACH US THE MOST Read More »
I wonder if anyone not named Dylan wrote more and better songs evoking the zeitgeist than Paul Simon. As the ’60s unfolded, he gave us “Sounds of Silence.” “… and the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls …” And as they ended, with the horror of assassinations, a futile war and …
AFTER 48 YEARS, “AMERICAN TUNE” STILL SAYS SO MUCH Read More »
I can’t believe I used to take politics seriously. Now I don’t know if there’s anyone left in Washington I can take seriously at all except for my younger brother, and he’s too intelligent to be a politician. Ever since I saw Newt Gingrich shut down the government because he didn’t get to sit up …
I’m getting sick and tired of the way this country has changed in the last 20 years, and not the least of which is that we seem to revel in wallowing in the past. We are less than a month away from the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and of course there …
