Social Commentary
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Bite of Seattle Site Of America’s Shame With Mass Shootings: Three Lives Lost In Gunfire, Toddler Injured
The Bite of Seattle became yet another horrific crime scene in a nation that treats gun massacres like the latest weather report. Apparently unavoidable. Three people dead. At least four others were wounded. Including a toddler — a toddler — caught in the blast radius of our national cowardice. We have already heard the tired… Continue reading
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Berlin’s Night of Terror Shows Stark Line Between Celebration And Barbarism
Berlin, a city forever balancing on the fault line between its haunted past and its defiant present, felt that history rumbled again. Its latest chapter is the violent attack at its PRIDE event. One person has died, and at least 16 others have been injured after a vehicle was driven into a crowd in the… Continue reading
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Madison Police Chief John Patterson Needs City Support After Police Shooting On Williamson Street
Madison Police Chief John Patterson walked into the worst kind of afternoon on Wednesday. A single moment on Williamson Street where a man is killed by police gunfire leaves a neighborhood shaken (a few blocks from where I live), and the chief left holding the weight of emotions of a city that demands answers faster… Continue reading
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All Were Talking About The Powerful Political Play Of The Week In Wisconsin
Can we all agree on one thing? Didn’t it feel wonderful this weekend, regardless of what political party is our home, or what policy views we hold, or political philosophy we ascribe to, that it was fun to talk about the Wisconsin governor’s race with friends in the neighborhood or even with strangers at the… Continue reading
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Another Year Around The Sun
As today approached, I realized my life had wandered far from where it began. Not so much in miles, I guess, but certainly in perspective and outcome. I was born in Hancock, Wisconsin, a small rural Wisconsin town in Waushara County. Growing up in such a place means learning early how to live with a… Continue reading
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The Age Issue Looms Large In Trump White House
My best friend reminded me this week of a note he wrote to Democratic members of Congress, urging them to encourage President Joe Biden to step aside concerning the 2024 election. I should note that it was done even before the deeply wounding debate that left the nation shaken. With that reminder, I am curious… Continue reading
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Karma Won: The Lesson Of The Red Card
America didn’t just lose a soccer game this week; I would argue it has lost its sense of proportion. How Donald Trump came to feel that he must be involved in a referee call in a World Cup soccer match is breathtaking. He felt so empowered that he called FIFA president Gianni Infantino to review… Continue reading
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“Happiness” And The Declaration Of Independence
Every year as July 4th approaches, I find myself reading a new (or new to me) book that was set aside for the national holiday period. For many years, Joseph Ellis was the author I sought to set the mood for the birthday and dive into a period of history I find really fascinating. This… Continue reading
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Decency, In Politics And Government, Is Really Not Complicated
This weekend, two recent news stories bounced about in my mind. Both were examples that underscore the rot in our current political climate and governing institutions. I do not wish to be puritanical in my delivery in this column, but can we agree that there was a time when certain lines were not crossed, but… Continue reading
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Science Upends Pete Hegseth On Mandate For Flu Shots
The Defense Department’s decision to reinstate the flu‑shot requirement for service members is less a policy tweak than a return to institutional sanity. For a force that depends on readiness, which includes the simple ability to keep its people healthy enough to deploy, the idea that mandatory influenza vaccination was ever scrapped still lands with… Continue reading
