This week the United States and its people are soberly remembering the stunning terrorist attacks that weaponized jetliners to kill thousands of people in the American homeland on September 11, 2001. Their deaths constitute the most tragic effect of the episode, and they continue as open wounds for family and
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Posted August 20, 2026in Morain
As if your TV set were not inundated by enough political ads these days, you can expect a whole other set of them soon. The new load, probably coming your way after Labor Day, will try to persuade you to vote in November to allow a minority of Iowa legislators
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Posted July 16, 2026in Morain
Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader of Iran, vows revenge on the “criminals” who assassinated his father, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had led Iran for 36 years. It must be assumed that, although this statement didn’t specifically identify President Trump by name, that is who he meant, along with
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Posted June 11, 2026in Morain
At least four important public policy questions keep rolling around in my head. Two deal with foreign policy, the other two with federal taxes. I’d like to see them ascend the priority scale of the people who can act on them. They’re not all that complicated, and I’m pretty sure
Read More →This is a trivial column. I turned 85 last Monday. Family saluted me with a birthday dinner, thoughtful gifts, and lots of well wishes. Many friends congratulated me as well. It all warmed my cockles. I’ve always considered 85 to be the starting line for the “really elderly.” And now
Read More →Kathy and I were privileged to be on hand for a grandson’s high school commencement ceremony at Adel-De Soto-Minburn (ADM) High School in Adel last Sunday. The event was hugely attended, impressive, and full of joy for the graduates, their classmates, families, and friends. The end of a high school
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Posted May 21, 2026in Morain
Suppose your Republican legislature is trying to carve up your mostly black Democratic congressional district and distribute its parts into two or more mostly white Republican districts? If you don’t like that, how do you prove that the legislature’s motivation is racially based (which is illegal) instead of politically based
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Posted May 12, 2026in Morain
Barrels upon innumerable barrels of ink have graced the pages of court documents for many, many decades in the quest for American justice. Attorneys for both sides have marshaled their best arguments for their clients, hoping to convince a judge of the rightness of their position. In civil court it’s
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Posted May 07, 2026in Morain
“Thou shalt not steal.” – Eighth Commandment — God, as reported by Moses —————— Americans have rarely faced the facts about the role of national theft in the history of their nation. From the time of the first Europeans’ arrival in North America, the newcomers employed theft to secure their
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Posted April 30, 2026in Morain
I had a commentary on foreign policy on my mind for this week. I still do. But it can wait. The attempted attack at the White House Correspondents dinner in Washington last Saturday can’t. It’s sadly ironic that the terrifying disruption of the dinner, just as it was getting underway,
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