• A Call From New Jersey

    Couple of days ago I got a call from New Jersey. At least, the caller ID said “New Jersey”. This was the most exciting call I have received in some time. Usually my calls are from “Anonymous”, or “Unknown Caller”, or “Invalid Number”, or “Customer Service”, or “ID Blocked”, or even sometimes “1″. These callers… Continue reading

  • Boots in Democracy

    In the February 22 edition of online Washington Post, former Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird, who served under President Nixon, makes some fairly strong arguments for not bringing back a national military draft.  All the arguments Mr. Laird makes for not bringing back the military draft are valid. Our current military is heads above the… Continue reading

  • Grit Your Teeth And Take a Pill

    Restraint—severe, jaw-clenching restraint—in criticizing the  medical-industrial complex is probably justified based on  the effectiveness of public medicine in substantially extending average lifespans and in drastically reducing the desultory effects of communicable diseases.  Well, the logic chains imposing the restraint are turning to smoke.  First, we hear that this year’s flu shot is effective at a… Continue reading

  • The Collective Voice, Muffled But Heard

    Sometimes a Republican conservative says something that really resonates. We know there are Republican conservatives out there who are not following the destroy-the-government, anti-Obama political script. These contrarians are out there and sometimes their ideas trickle into the media. Even some Republicans tightly in the grip of current Republican orthodoxy have flashing moments of common… Continue reading

  • Recess is for Wimps – Or Senators

    In Washington Post 3 February article, Sally Katzen gave a legal opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruling that President Obama’s recess appointments are blatantly unconstitutional. Ms Katzen makes a very good and important point in this article but does not make it until the end of the… Continue reading

  • Republicans Offer the Perfect Future – Redux

    Frank Luntz , opinion writer in the WASHINGTON POST, wrote an article on January 11th in which he offered advice to the Republican Party. What I take away from Mr. Luntz’s article is that if the Republicans simply craft their message better, they will have a better chance of connecting with the American people. It’s… Continue reading

  • U.S. House Democrats Elected with More Votes than Republicans

    About a million more people voted for Democrats in the U. S. House of Representative than voted for Republicans.  So what? Why are we suddenly looking at the vote differences between congressional Democrats and Republicans?  It is amazing how a simple concept, democracy, can be turned on its head by ignorance. Well, maybe not so… Continue reading