From the moment Lloyd Bentsen uttered it, none could disagree with his televised jab that Dan Quayle was “no Jack Kennedy.” Few remember, however, that in ascending to the presidency, Jack Kennedy had his own damning comparison. He was no Dwight Eisenhower. It took a disaster at the Bay of Pigs, and then resolve in…
Sixteen years on, I can’t forget the joint Will Foster showed me. You wouldn’t, either. That joint — the jumble of tissue at the midpoint of his index finger — was so bulbous and discolored as to be screaming to exit his skin. Foster has severe arthritis afflicting his extremities. But…
We walk upright. We have a foot up. At least that’s how it looks on paper. In practice, I’m alarmed to report that we act like a bunch of gambusia. And they breathe through gills. Also known as mosquito fish, gambusia have a lifespan of two years. A hiccup. No problem…
It was a bad year for the president, some would say his worst. The nation was divided to the breaking point. It seemed nothing went right for him in 1862. And yet, Abraham Lincoln, his proxies being pummeled on the battlefield, rose above it to bring about a fundamental change regarding a most…
What would you expect from this corner but a spirited defense of Megyn Kelly? Aside from being blonde, she is paid to convey truth per memo from Fox News management. So when declaring as “verifiable fact” the racial makeup of Santa (and Jesus!) to be white, like Fox News management., she is simply…
Discrimination is a thing of the past. It’s sooo 1964. Right? So why did a Colorado judge just make a ruling regarding discrimination and wedding cake? Because discrimination isn’t a thing of the past. It’s soooo 2013. The Masterpiece Cake Shop in Denver was more than willing to take Charlie Craig’s and…
War on Christmas alert: In this season as we gather for our most cherished tradition, who stands ready to serve as an agent of its besmirchment? Who but Pope Francis. And we thought he was on Christmas’s side. That most cherished holiday tradition? Spending money, lots of it, and making…
I saw the man with the tent pitched outside the electronics store, three days before Black Friday. For some reason it made me think of sweet potatoes. I wish that I didn’t have to think of sweet potatoes at all. Then again, I also wish the same about Grover Norquist. Such is the…
I hear the case made against teaching cursive writing, and it tells me this: My third-grade teacher, Miss Coleman, wasted my instructional time. And heretofore I thought her to be a wonderful lady. School reformers are saying cursive instruction is pointless because 21st century technology has made it irrelevant. Understand: School…
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is thinking about the Republican presidential nomination. Then again, considering a particular segment of the electorate whose embrace he’ll need to get it, he’d best think twice. I speak of the Thirders, a hard-right bloc from whom a bloke like Christie is — let’s be honest — irreconcilably…