The Venezuelan oil deal, the Panama Canal, and our American values

Man in suit overlooking tropical canal construction site

Almost 125 years ago, critics of President Teddy Roosevelt described another world-changing deal in Latin America as an un-American imperialist adventure despite having no solution of their own beyond the fantasy that countries will magically become modern democracies thanks to the power of words alone. In 1903, President Teddy Roosevelt secured a deal with the… Continue reading The Venezuelan oil deal, the Panama Canal, and our American values

This Labor Day, it isn’t the best of times or the worst of times, it’s simply the only times we have

Vintage clocks and gears layered with records and papers beside a glowing circuit board

Whatever you personally believe about the state of the world or our prospects for the future, humans simply don’t get to choose. You are here and will remain here until you aren’t whether you like it or not. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” Charles Dickens began his immortal A… Continue reading This Labor Day, it isn’t the best of times or the worst of times, it’s simply the only times we have

Teddy Roosevelt, The Odyssey, and the reality that Western civilization is stronger and more inclusive than defenders seem to believe

Soldier in early 20th century military uniform holding a rifle, standing on a rocky outcrop overlooking Athens with the Acropolis and Parthenon at sunset.

To some of the film’s detractors, casting a black woman as Helen of Troy, a transgender man as Sinon, and updating the story to reflect some aspects of modern values is an assault on the foundations of all they hold dear, but Teddy Roosevelt might disagree. Teddy Roosevelt spent much of his life advancing the… Continue reading Teddy Roosevelt, The Odyssey, and the reality that Western civilization is stronger and more inclusive than defenders seem to believe

America at 250, the heat was both literal and figurative

Crowd of protesters with signs 'Civil unrest', 'Freedom', and 'Enough!' in a burning cityscape with US landmarks and flags

After losing power for the entire weekend, we joked that we were doing it as the Founders did – no lights, no running water, no air conditioning – but who are we kidding? The Friday before the Fourth of July my lovely wife and I did something we almost never do:  Went out for dinner… Continue reading America at 250, the heat was both literal and figurative

Trump, Iran, and the art of the impossible deal

Peace symbol made of cracked stone with glowing fiery cracks

The ceasefire is shaky, but we know this: After what everyone said wouldn’t happen, magically happened, they still concluded that what happened was bad, all without missing a beat. It’s impossible to capture the insanity that President Donald Trump’s detractors attempted to pass off as wisdom over the past five weeks in a single post,… Continue reading Trump, Iran, and the art of the impossible deal

The Trump Armada

The sight, however symbolic, of the Arab Nations joining traditional European, North American, and Asian allies along with their long term adversary Israel in a joint mission would be something no one has ever seen before, perhaps as important as Teddy Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet was way back in 1907. Last week, the media was… Continue reading The Trump Armada

The Monroe Doctrine is more important than ever, disavowing it in 2013 was a tragic mistake

Our adversaries have only gotten more emboldened since Senator John Kerry declared the doctrine dead, making it difficult to see how announcing the United States would no longer oppose foreign meddling in Latin America didn’t encourage them to meddle even more. On December 2, 1823, President James Monroe, only the fifth person to occupy the… Continue reading The Monroe Doctrine is more important than ever, disavowing it in 2013 was a tragic mistake

Sydney Sweeney versus Zohran Mamdani 2040: The revolution will now be cosplayed

Somehow, an actress is slammed as a white supremacist archetype of conservatism for appearing in an advertisement as celebrities frequently do while two obvious phonies, children of privilege who claim to be socialist revolutionaries, are the new face of the Democrat Party, redefining politics for an entire generation.  Over the past six months, perhaps no… Continue reading Sydney Sweeney versus Zohran Mamdani 2040: The revolution will now be cosplayed

Reminder: The Constitution doesn’t actually mention tariffs and the Supreme Court ruled in 1928 that the power can be delegated to the President

Rather than looking at the Constitution, the history, the law, and the facts, many automatically assume President Trump will not prevail at the Supreme Court or anything else, but what else is new? Last week, Supreme Court pundits and watchers were convinced the Justices were set to overturn President Trump’s global tariff policy because several… Continue reading Reminder: The Constitution doesn’t actually mention tariffs and the Supreme Court ruled in 1928 that the power can be delegated to the President

The danger of rationalizing the irrational and the real danger of political rhetoric

If there’s a problem with political discourse, it’s not that speech turns rational people into irrational killers. It’s how so many people, especially young people have been taught to believe violence is justified, and how others think it acceptable to dishonor the dead for political reasons.  In mathematics, there are numbers that are deemed irrational… Continue reading The danger of rationalizing the irrational and the real danger of political rhetoric