Note: This is an updated version of a Memorial Day blog I wrote about five years ago, both celebrating and mourning personages of the past who can only be reached by memories today. It’s funny how people in your life are there, flashing bright, briefly and with intensity, and then they are gone. This is especially true of military service in general and wartime duty in particular. You mourn the loss of guys you were close to— literally a [...] READ MORE
The perceptions of good and evil can be reversed if we can rationalize a cause as moral and righteous. We’ve had it pretty good in this country. We’ve never had a military coup or any usurping of executive functions by the legislature or the military. There was that unfortunate storming of the capitol in a misguided attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, but we can write that off a lesson learned. It’s just that we all [...] READ MORE
It’s time to stop pledging allegiance to the Grim Reaper of Russia! Trump and his allies insist that Russia would never have invaded Ukraine were he still president. And Russia did not make aggressive moves on his watch, something former aides and others credit to his erratic behavior and direct threats that left world leaders uncertain of how Trump would respond to a provocation. —Associated Press (March 29, 2022) The attempt of the Trump-inspired “America First” campaigns [...] READ MORE
Some chapters in American history may be difficult to process, but they should be there for us to learn. It was more than a year ago when one of my blogs posted on Facebook received an ominous “blacklisted” tag. It was only a couple of weeks after the insurgence at the Capitol. The word “fascism” was in the blog’s heading, and I thought maybe it was flagged for proliferating an unproven conspiracy or fueling anti-government sentiments. It [...] READ MORE
Contemplating the War on Terror and remembering our last brief display of national unity twenty years ago. I suppose I wrote my 9/11 commentary a year ago when I shared remembrances of my son’s escape from the soon-to-collapse South Tower on the morning of September 11, 2001. It was a happy ending for both Jeremy and us, but after 20 years he is still trying to come to terms with why fate put him there and, secondly, [...] READ MORE
Why can’t we remember the lessons of getting in and out of wars? We’ve had a tough time getting out of other countries’ wars, and we still haven’t figured out how to do it effectively. One option is not getting involved in these hostilities in the first place, either as advisors or combatants, but that’s not the American way. It’s become even worse as we sink deeper into the War on Terrorism, which is really the enemy [...] READ MORE
Uncle Sam’s call became more of a challenge during the Vietnam War. Frederick Richard “Rick” Ohler’s name is just one of about 58,000, mostly men and barely old enough to be treated as adults had they avoided military service. They are all dead. Rick, at 24, was one of the older soldiers in the 519th MI Battalion and, like many of us, he was an intelligence analyst. Our compound was in a rather rural place known as [...] READ MORE
Actually, every vote counts toward another vote— from the electors, who are members of the Senate, House of Representatives, and three from the District of Columbia. It was a compromise and it complicates the majority-rules premise. This is my last blog before election day, and more people have already voted than will vote, as my wife and I will, at their local polling places next Tuesday. Changing the minds of voters at this point is very unlikely [...] READ MORE
Words may be long, short, misleading, instructive, inspiring or denigrating. It’s time to take a break from current events for something that makes a little more sense. I will revisit a topic I’ve written more about over the years than anything else. I am referring, of course, to the fascinating English language. I don’t know where I’d be without it, even though I have abused, mistreated and even abandoned it on occasion. And yet I still love [...] READ MORE
Since we crowd together to spread it, we need to join forces to vanquish it. Like it or not, this strain of the coronavirus is going to drastically change the way we live our lives. It’s started already. We can’t avoid it, and the transformation is going to be drastic, even historic. It has the dual potential of tearing us apart and bringing us together. I’m rooting for the latter. At last count, as I am writing [...] READ MORE
