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Destructive riots turn public attention away from brutal acts of injustice that ignited them, and toward fear for one’s own safety, disgusted at violent disregard of property and possessions. That’s the way it always works. Two thoughts come to mind. The first, and most important: we cannot allow riots to displace issues of injustice that… Read more

The last three and a half years have seen hundreds of billions of dollars flow into the hands of the largest corporations and most wealthy persons at the cost of ballooning deficits and skyrocketing national debt. It’s been celebrated by those who’ve benefitted most, and sold to ordinary people as an economic piñata that will… Read more

It’s Memorial Day weekend and time for my annual Harlan Miller column, Mr. Miller, as he was called, was a local farm boy, very shy, extremely bright, mostly self educated, who enlisted at the onset of WWII. Seriously wounded in North Africa, it took years of hospitalization before he could enter what would become normal… Read more

Through several recent columns, I’ve struggled finding ways to use the language of conservative values to frame progressive ideas for restoration of the American Dream in a more just and sustainable way. While I believe that remains important, I’ve become more aware of how difficult it will be because we have different starting points. Progressives… Read more

Transitions between historical eras are denoted mostly by the wars that separated them. I suppose it makes sense. Wars are relatively easy to remember: they’re big, loud, violent, and feature colorful heroes and villains. It’s the way history is taught and written about, and least in American schools. The same is not true for marking… Read more

There are two psalms that speak to the politics of our day, as they have to the politics of ages past: Psalms 45 and 72. Maybe it’s just a coincidence that Trump is the 45th president, but it’s a coincidence worth pondering. Psalm 45 is a song of praise not to God, but to the… Read more