Goodbye and Good Luck

Five years ago, I was a John Edwards supporter.I had one of his bumper stickers on my vehicle, and I believed he was the best hope for the country.The economic meltdown hadn't happened yet, and my assessment at that time, in the summer of 2007, was that the American public simply wasn't ready to elect a black president — or a female president.I was a Democrat at the time, and I did not think either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton was the answer for...

Read More

Open Up That Golden Gate

There are a handful of landmarks in the world that I can identify by sight, whether I have ever been near them or not.For example, I know the Eiffel Tower when I see it. I think I was there once. I was born overseas, and my parents and I returned to the United States when I was about a year old.I guess you could say we took the overland route back to the States. We traveled through Europe, and I think we were in Paris at one point. If we were, I'm...

Read More

Why We Can't Have a Serious Talk

Last night, I read an article in the Washington Post about the recent electoral embarrassments that have been handed to Barack Obama in Democratic primaries in West Virginia, Arkansas and Kentucky.Obama, of course, is the incumbent, and he has drawn no serious opposition for the Democrats' nomination. Consequently, some people apparently believe, the Democrats in the primaries that are being held late in the process should line up like good Democrats and vote for the incumbent.Even if they have objections.But the voters in West Virginia, Arkansas...

Read More

Joe Biden Is Not the Problem

I first heard the rumblings nearly two years ago.In August of 2010, I wrote about former Virginia Gov. Doug Wilder's suggestion that Barack Obama should replace Joe Biden with Hillary Clinton in 2012, but my tendency then was to dismiss it as idle talk by people who really didn't know what they were talking about.The topic reappeared last fall, and, when I heard it said that good ol' Joe Biden had to go, that he was a drag on Obama, I responded by...

Read More

The First Time

Eighty–five years ago, I suppose Charles Lindbergh may have been the most unlikely of the world's qualified pilots to complete the first nonstop transatlantic flight.Lindbergh was virtually unknown, even though his father had represented Minnesota in the U.S. House for 10 years.He flew for the first time — as a passenger — about five years before he flew from New York to Paris. Shortly thereafter he took his first flying lesson, but he would not...

Read More

Ronald Reagan vs. Robert Kennedy

In the 1980s, I had a Commodore 64 computer in my home, which I used primarily for two purposes — writing (using word processing software that probably can't be found anymore, even though, as I understand it, Commodore 64s and their accessories are still sold online) and playing the computer games of that time.One of the games that I enjoyed playing was a presidential election game. You could use preprogrammed historical figures from 1960 to 1984, which meant you could re–create actual election contests or match other candidates in a kind of what–if...

Read More

The Day George Wallace Was Shot

There were quite a few assassinations — and assassination attempts — when I was growing up.But I believe the one that occurred 40 years ago today — in which Alabama Gov. George Wallace was shot while campaigning in Laurel, Md., for the Democratic presidential nomination — was the first to show both the assassin and his would–be victim together in the same photos and film sequences.It was a Monday, and school was going to close for the summer in another...

Read More

The Romney Report

I grew up admiring the work of the Washington Post.The Post's investigation of the Watergate break–in and coverup inspired me to study journalism in college, work for newspapers and, ultimately, teach and advise journalism students.But I find little to admire in Jason Horowitz's lengthy article about Mitt Romney's alleged misbehavior in high school.To be sure, there is nothing to admire about the incident that is described in detail in Horowitz's piece. A young man was horribly — inexcusably — mistreated by a group of high school tormentors, a...

Read More

The Hindenburg Milestone

It is, perhaps, appropriate that a milestone anniversary for the Hindenburg disaster comes less than a month after a milestone anniversary for the Titanic disaster.In April, of course, we observed the centennial of the sinking of the Titanic. Twenty–five years later, on this day in 1937, the German airship Hindenburg met a fiery end as it tried to land in New Jersey.Everyone knows the story of how the Titanic was regarded as unsinkable before it...

Read More

The Randomness of Life

I took this picture of Mom's grave this morning. See thatdark marker in the center? That's where she is buried.A couple of days ago, Stan Musial's wife, Lil Musial, died at the age of 91.I think it is fair to say hers was a storybook life. The Musials were married for more than 70 years, and they raised four children, who gave them 11 grandchildren, who have given them 12 great–grandchildren so far. Stan is remembered as one of the great hitters...

Read More