60 Minutes, the popular CBS news magazine show, recently did a story on the issue of frozen embryos, stem cell research, and the seeming discrepancy between President Bush’s ‘pro-life’ policy which prohibits federal dollars for embryonic stem cell research because it causes the destruction of the embryo and the fact that thousands of embryos are […]

Free speech…it is one of the hallmarks of the American way of life. The ability to freely express oneself without fear of government reprisal is so fundamental that it is enshrined in the first amendment to our national Constitution. Yet despite this protection, there have always been restrictions on how free our speech really is, […]

Some readers may remember this essay from it’s original posting on February 17, 2005. I apologize for the repeat, but this topic is one that doesn’t seem to go away and needs to be addressed with some regularity. The plight of homosexuals in this and other countries is one of the last great battles for […]

In the late 18th century, citizens of the American colonies rebelled against the autocratic rule of England’s King George III and established a country that was to be ruled by a representative government subject to the rule of law. In what became the first democratic experiment since the ancient Greeks and Romans, the United States […]

First there was the push for campaign finance reform. Senators McCain and Feingold patched together some legislation that would “clean up” the effects of corporate and special interest donors and eliminate their effect on politicians being bought into office. Not surprisingly, the spirit of the law was sidestepped by the proliferation of PAC’s and 527 […]

For those of you out there who still stand in support of your elected federal officials, I have only one question: Why? This is the America they have brought to reality today: Education is falling farther behind the rest of the world, including some third world countries. Science and math scores are at all time […]

(I originally posted this essay one year ago today. It was important then, but now, in an election year, it is even more relevant. I urge you to consider these thoughts as we begin a year filled with political scandal of epic proportions, an out of control Administration and a Congress unwilling to rein it […]

For over 60 years, U.S. Foreign policy has been predicated upon a doctrine known as “the lesser of two evils.” In essence, this policy was used as rationale for engaging in alliances with foreign dictators whose disdain for democracy held their own countrymen in virtual bondage to their whims. These dictatorships were free to act […]