Putting the “Fun” in Fundamentalism
For those who insist on God as part of the original intent in America, allow me to disabuse you of the most commonly mistaken beliefs. To begin, there are no references to God in the Constitution.
Plain-Spoken Politics with a Long Island accent
Betting Long on the Island
In a world of shrinking newsrooms, Long Island has so far managed to remain a haven for journalism and educated opinion spanning a breadth of perspective.
Women’s Intuition
When you examine the litany of geniuses who wrought havoc in the markets in their profligate quest for unmitigated deregulation, you’re hard-pressed to find the fairer sex among them.
Fat Cat Manifest: Rev. Ike’s Thinkonomics
If you guaranteed most folks an income next year of one million bucks, but it came with a 70% tax rate, what percentage would sign on the bottom line? Do you suppose there would be a huge groundswell of tea baggers with five-figure incomes turning up their noses on principle over this outlandish top marginal tax rate (which still prevailed in Reagan’s first term)? I, for one, would sign up in a heartbeat then register Republican and rejoin the NRA, lest anyone try to get their mitts on my remaining $300,000.
Culture of Corruption
U.S founders maxed individual liberty, freeing Americans, “to give full vent to the good, bad and ugly behavior of which people are capable,” Walter McDougall observes. “Americans became past masters at hustling: both in the pejorative sense of scofflaws, speculators, imposters, tricksters, self-reinventors, and conmen, but also in the positive sense of hard workers, strivers, builders, doers, joiners, and team players.”
Besa. Albanian Honor Code
The spirit of besa and tolerance permeated every moment of the event, with the acknowledgment of interfaith understanding quietly underscoring the day.
9/11 Call and Response
After swimming in 9/11 coverage and exploring parts of my psyche previously left untouched, I am admittedly incapable of tendering something meaningful and new. So I submit to you, instead, excerpts of the many responses I received:
Founding Father’s DNA
One might ask how is it that the Greatest Generation begat a Generation of Whining Juveniles? Men who prevailed through the Great Depression and World War II, not to mention the 91% top income tax rate in the ‘50s without weeping in public sired kids who tuned-in, dropped out then either Oprified into support groups or Rushed into tea baggers, victims all.
The Season of Our Disconnect
The only thing predictable these days is the unpredictability of life on the planet. It’s one part Yogi Berra and two parts Alice in Wonderland as everyone tries to make sense of the world that is using lessons learned from the world that was.
Mayday Mayday May Day
The eclipse of John Paul’s beatification by the elimination of bin Laden, is a striking reminder, if one were needed, of conflicting forces of good and evil a rage in our world.
