We've watched it hundreds of times: the verbal chess match between reporters and politicians. One trying to corner the other into admitting something the audience already knows. The purpose of these interviews is less about substance and more about gamesmanship. As long as the politician keeps arguing - no matter how disingenuous or irrational the … Continue reading “America is Not a Racist Country:” The politics of semantics →

Senator Diane Feinstein received a lot of criticism yesterday for calling the hypothetical retirement of Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer "a great loss." She is quoted as saying, "My general belief is if a person serving with integrity and working hard and producing for whatever the constituency is, that's what these jobs are all about." … Continue reading The Age of Ageism →

Take it from someone who worked on Capitol Hill: DC Statehood was always one of those causes every Democrat in congress would get behind knowing it had zero chance of passing. The question is if 2021 is any different. With the momentum of the Black Lives Matter movement and increasing engagement of Black voters, along … Continue reading Demonizing Joe Manchin →

de•es•ca•late [de-es-kuh-leyt] verb (with or without object), to decrease in intensity, magnitude, etc. As a Social Work Officer at Fort Bragg, my primary mission was the Family Advocacy Program, the Army's solution for addressing domestic violence. When recounting a domestic incident, I was struck by how Soldiers described what happened. They never said, "I was … Continue reading The Art of De-Escalation →

I'm the last person in the world who believes in conspiracy theories. So if anyone had told me what I read in Joshua Kendell's article, "Muzzled by Psychiatry in a Time of Crisis: The Man in the White Coat, The New York Times and The Stifling of the Public Debate about Donald Trump's Fitness to … Continue reading The New York Times Owes Americans an Apology: Shutting Down Mental Health Experts Amounts to Journalistic Malpractice →

Photo credit: SplinterNews.com Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all? - Brothers Grimm A boy comes running home crying, "Daddy, I fell off my bike!" His dad replies, "Well, you should be more careful next time." Not earth-shatteringly inappropriate, but consider the underlying message: the boy did something wrong and is … Continue reading Trump Dissected, a Series: Mirroring →

If I sound desperate, I am. I've tried everything I can think of - reason, confrontation, repetition, humor - to reach you. It's not in my nature to give up. In fact, just thinking about it, depresses me. So, this time, I'm writing to ask for help. But it's not the usual kind of help … Continue reading Dear America: an unusual plea for help →

Hear me out. Please.If there's one thing Americans can agree on it's how divided we are. Theories abound as to why, mostly in the form of finger-pointing. Solutions from government officials, media consultants and civic leaders are bantered about like intellectual sport. The anger is palpable. I'm no politician but, as a former Army Behavioral Health … Continue reading Magnificent Obsession: a plea to Mike Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg, Tulsi Gabbard, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer and Elizabeth Warren to support Joe Biden →

I started writing this article back in July, 2019, right after Donald Trump "approved military strikes on Iran, then pulled back..."  According to the New York Times (and other media outlets), "planes were in the air and ships were in position but no missiles had been fired..."¹ At the time, I wrote, "This breaking news, … Continue reading Impeachment: Right Idea, Wrong Remedy →