SYMPTOMS OF BANANA-REPUBLIC INFECTION (…are beginning to affect everyday America) Our country seems to be showing symptoms of banana-republic infection these days, and it’s beginning to affect everyday America. For one thing, voter anger and disgust at the political gridlock
America
STILL SEARCHING FOR ITS PLACE… (in this new world order of things) America’s transition from its global preeminence in the 20th century, into this 21st one, has not been easy. Even as we approach the quarter cdentury of it, America
TIPTOEING FORWARD… (…into some semblance of peaceful co-existence) Regardless of his twitter-feed style of personal invective and incivility, President Trump must be given credit for his performance at the recent historic summit meeting in Singapore with North Korea’s leader Kim
ETERNAL VIGILANCE IS THE PRICE OF LIBERTY… (…and it’s not just against external threats) A rather disturbing item showed up in our mailbox the other day. It was a particularly partisan political solicitation for support couched in very extreme terms.
RESETTING THE NORMS FOR INTERNATIONAL DEAL-MAKING… (…by threats of economic blunderbuss blasts and corrosive quick-lime invectives for emphasis) President Trump’s executive order to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal has reset the norms for international deal-making. Rather than applying conventional
BLESSED BE THE PEACE MAKERS… (if their guiding light is true…not false) Sixty-eight years ago I grew old, at twenty two, having been dumped helter-skelter as a three-striper with a bunch of 18-19 year old kids I had never seen
IT MIGHT JUST BE AN INVITATION TO ANOTHER DIPLOMATIC GAVOTTE.. (…and may not otherwise achieve any kind of meaningful outcome) Even when it occurs in its most byzantine and convoluted form, diplomacy generally is preferable to outright conflict, especially if
REFLECTIONS ON PRESIDENTS’ DAY (…and our abandonment of the ideals they tried to set for us) Old George and Honest Abe must be rolling in their graves about what we have become as a society and nation today, having apparently