And now, for something a little different. Theodore Roosevelt is one of my favorite American presidents. I always respected his resilience and toughness—two qualities that were critical to his successful life. He needed both. When Roosevelt was young, he suffered from severe asthma, and as a result, he was weak, …
(I continue to receive requests that I repost my piece on Evelyn Waugh’s “Scoop,” the classic book that lampoons foreign correspondents. I first read Scoop in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in March 1975 as Communist Khmer Rouge guerillas surrounded the besieged city. Day after day, the Khmer Rouge bombarded the city …
[This is a follow-up to the story I posted last month on the 47th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon in 1975. ) After several dozen others and I were evacuated on April 29th, 1975 from the hulking Military Assistance Command-Vietnam building at Saigon’s Tan Son Nhut airbase I filed …
When I think of America’s failed financial policies, its weak political leadership in the White House and Congress, and its feeble foreign policy I am reminded of a thought-provoking Thai phrase I once heard. “Maa du kruang bin tok.” Translated it means “A dog watching an airplane crash.” The phrase …
Victor Davis Hanson is one of the most cogent observers of the American milieu so I am always happy to reprint his commentaries on my blog. He speaks with precision and clarity. But most of all the glaring unembellished truth is always evident in his arguments and observations. Hanson’s commentary …
I never covered the White House during my 27-year career with the Chicago Tribune, but I knew plenty of people who did. “It’s like covering the cops,” one of my colleagues who did cover the White House once told me. “You don’t expect to get any real news out of …
I have often posted on this topic. Here is commentary from Rachel L. Brand, former Associate Attorney General of the United States. She makes excellent points about the erosion of Free Speech and the First Amendment at universities—places where diverse opinions SHOULD be available to all students but are not. …
Let me say right off: I do not believe in the idea of hate speech. One person’s “hate speech” is another person’s “free speech.” In that regard, the American Civil Liberties Union and I are in 100 per cent agreement. More on the ACLU later. In a previous post, I …
All authors are emotionally engaged with their protagonists. I am no exception. I want readers to love my characters as much as I do. That means creating a flawed, three-dimensional protagonist who still has “things to work out.” The Finding Billy Battles series follows Billy from his roots in Kansas, through …
