Columnist Joe Klein said on The Chris Matthews Show: “This is the biggest problem that we’re facing going forward. We were a homogenous, middle class country, by and large, for the fifty years after World War II. “Now we’re no longer homogenous, and there’s a good aspect to that in that we have become a true multiracial country. But there’s … [Read more...]
Leaders Don’t Have to Be Shouters
August 5, 2013 by 1 Comment
A friend of mine threw in the towel recently. She’s grown weary of trying to dialogue with libertarians. She feels they’re rude, condescending, and unwilling to work with her on political issues. This is a common perception. Unfortunately, it also accurately describes virtually everyone who frames his or her political beliefs in strictly … [Read more...]
While America Sleeps by Oliver DeMille
August 2, 2013 by 1 Comment
In 1938 Winston Churchill wrote one of the most important books in history, While England Slept. He argued that between 1932 and 1938 the British government ignored the rising challenges posed by Hitler’s Germany. Why didn’t the government see what was obvious to Churchill and many others? Why didn’t it make hard choices early in order to … [Read more...]
Lessons in Leadership from George Washington by Oliver DeMille
July 31, 2013 by 3 Comments
When George Washington was put in charge of the army and tasked with beating the British, he had three major problems. The first one was that the British were considered invulnerable, having overwhelmingly proven their power in many nations and continents. The second problem was that the officers in the American army wanted the special … [Read more...]
Are We In for a “Second Great Depression”? by Oliver DeMille
July 30, 2013 by 1 Comment
In my recent class on current events, I documented the effectiveness of one scholarly media source in predicting future national policies, elections and other governmental events. The source is Foreign Affairs, a quarterly publication that seems to actually influence Washington more than simply provide forecasts. Of course, forecasts are always a … [Read more...]
Don’t Waste Your Failures
July 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I was in a bookstore one day browsing through the section on historical fiction. I am a sucker for a well-written novel set in a real historical time and involving characters from our past. Thumbing through the familiar names of Bernard Cornwell, Conn Iggulden, and Jeff Shaara, I was surprised to come across a couple of books in this genre by … [Read more...]
How to Change the World: Lessons from Thomas Paine
July 25, 2013 by 1 Comment
Thomas Paine’s book, Common Sense, altered the course of history. Without it (and the impact it had on the American Revolution), it is doubtful that America would have won. At the beginning of the war, John Adams suggested that about a third of Americans supported Independence, about a third supported Britain, and about a third were … [Read more...]
How the Obama Administration Will Divert Attention: A Prediction
July 23, 2013 by 1 Comment
History runs in cycles and patterns. People who think such cycles can help us precisely forecast every turn of events are always disappointed, but those who ignore the patterns as if they can teach us nothing are missing important information as well. My reading of the cycles makes me think that the Obama Administration may soon be at a … [Read more...]
Europe Calls Washington’s Spying Agenda “Orwellian”
July 22, 2013 by 1 Comment
Recently I wrote about how deeply concerned I am with the American public’s seeming apathy about the government spying on its own people. I received a lot of positive feedback, and I was excited that so many people still feel the importance of standing up for freedom. I got one email from a gentleman who seemed to feel that I had overstated the … [Read more...]
Do You Know When Your Chain is Being Yanked?
July 19, 2013 by 1 Comment
It’s astonishing that in midst of the Information Age, we are among the most poorly informed societies in history. This does not mean that most Americans are stupid, nor are they evil. For the most part, they simply do not know what they do not know and few are willing to question outside of the boundaries of approved opinion. Too much of what we … [Read more...]
