What is it about Christmas that stirs hope in the hearts of even the most cynical? We catch glimpses of forgiveness, acceptance and redemption, things we humans need most, while watching old Christmas classics like Scrooge, Miracle on 34th Street, and It’s a Wonderful Life –probably because we can easily relate to what is the […]

Biography is one way — often the most vivid way — in which people understand history. The beautifully written biographies of Franklin Roosevelt that rolled off the presses and rose in the bestseller lists in the 1950s and 1960s created a template in which the New Deal was central to American history. It was the […]

I don’t typically endorse candidates, but as 2015 draws to a close, I feel I must make an exception. I think it’s a safe bet that for most of us, the year-that-was was not the year we wanted it to be. Oh, sure, there’s got to be the stray story about how this was a […]

This incessant clamoring by voters and punditry for better “leaders” and more “leadership” is one of the most unsavory, dangerous and un-American tendencies in political discourse. When Donald Trump was asked last week by Joe Scarborough what he made of an endorsement from Vladimir Putin — a thug who’s probably murdered journalists and political opponents […]

About 15 years ago, on Christmas Eve, our family departed from the traditional American Jewish observance of the holiday (ordering Chinese takeout) and elected to find an open restaurant. We drove to the local city center (or what passes for it in suburbia) and were stunned to find that not only were all of the […]

We’re in a season when experts and pundits like to make predictions about what will happen next year. But an interesting column found at Marketwatch.com casts doubt on the value of those predictions. “Stocks that were recommended most highly at the start of 2015 by the highly trained, highly educated, highly paid experts on Wall […]

I’m sure most of us remember the heart-wrenching saga of Terri Schiavo in Florida. In March of 2005, Terri, after doctors pronounced her to be in a permanent vegetative state, despite the fact that she required no life support in the form of breathing tubes or such, her estranged and total bag of crap husband […]

The Roman philosopher and statesman Cicero insisted that gratitude was “the parent of all the other virtues.” Cicero did not define gratitude as Mafia-like loyalty or mutual back-scratching. He was not referring to a pop socialism where all supposedly owe their successes to the government. Instead, gratitude is proof of humility and offers perspective. It […]

1) Polls show that, by a large margin, Americans feel we’re on the wrong track, both economically and as to foreign policy. Yet none of you offers any criticism of President Barack Obama, who has been in charge for the last seven years. Why, then, should Americans believe that four more years, under your leadership, would […]

In honor of the release of the new “Star Wars” movie, Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., subtitled this year’s “Wastebook” as “The Farce Awakens.” The latest edition of this annual report details 100 spending programs, totaling $108.5 million, that are a complete waste of your money. On the list, we find $1 million that went to […]

Not for a long time has the world seemed so removed from the angelic proclamation of 2,000 years ago: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). Millions have died in countless wars over the last 100 years. People continue to die today as the result of […]

It cased you missed it, and it was easy to do, Lindsey Graham has pulled out of the race to become our next president. I’m sure it was a difficult decision, being that he was beginning to pick up momentum. He was after all, gaining in the polls – at last I checked, he had […]