Columnist.
The ancient Greeks referred to the dramatic moment in some of their plays as "deus ex machina," the god from the machine.
"Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer." — W.C. Fields
I do not make it a practice to comment on the work of fellow columnists, though occasionally some care to comment on mine, which is fine. I'm happy to help them make a living.
"Try a Little Tenderness" is a song written by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Harry M. Woods. According to Wikipedia, it was first recorded on Dec. 8, 1932, by the Ray Noble Orchestra (with vocals by Val Rosing). Probably these names are as unfamiliar to us today as the demonstration of tenderness is in our modern political culture.
The UK Daily Mail has again published a story about a subject that has become a recurring theme this time of year.
Hillary Clinton was supposed to break the glass ceiling, which she said has kept a woman from becoming president, but the Heritage Foundation, a conservative public policy think tank based in Washington, D.C., has actually done it.
Unless you are spending this time of year at a spiritual retreat cut off from TV, newspapers or Internet service you cannot escape the blaring music and the marketers attempting to sell you something they promise will bring you happiness and peace.
So, a Republican majority Congress has "reformed" the tax code for the first time in 31 years, allowing us to keep a little more of the money we earn. Woohoo!
Side issues — some of them created by the president himself — have obscured the accomplishments of the Donald Trump administration during his first year in office.
In September 1862, a group of Chicago ministers sent a "memorial" (or long letter) to President Abraham Lincoln in which they made a theological argument for the elimination of slavery.
President Trump's son-in-law and designated Middle East peace envoy, Jared Kushner, told the Brookings Institution's Saban Forum last weekend that a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians is key to solving larger goals, such as stopping Iranian aggression and Islamic extremism.
One way to kill a predatory animal is to deny it sustenance. The tax-cut bill passed by the Senate, if it clears a conference with the House and President Trump signs it, may be the first step toward starving the big government beast.
Rarely has the idiom "virtue is its own reward" looked better than it does in light of the sex scandals sweeping the nation.
The English poet of the Middle Ages, Geoffrey Chaucer, is generally credited with coining the phrase that has been updated in modern English to read, "better late than never." It means to do something or to arrive later than expected may not be good, but it is better than not at all.
Any other Republican president but Donald Trump might expect to get at least some credit for the mostly positive direction in which the country is headed. Unfortunately, the Trump-haters prefer to focus on his, shall I say, unusual personality, rather than results.
The Museum of the Bible opened not a moment too soon for a city (and nation) plagued by scandal.
Evidence that when Democrats rule taxes are never high enough can be found at any gas station in this once politically competitive state. Last month, the California gas tax was raised 12 cents a gallon.
For too many modern Protestants, politics has become a cult and their "Artemis." They are forgetting their first love.
How do they do it? I am not the first to compare the Clintons to Harry Houdini, the great magician and escape artist, but Bill and Hillary make him look like a rank amateur.
If you're tired of the dysfunction in Washington — the backbiting, the questioning of motives, the failure to agree on much of anything, the one-upmanship, the allegations about a "stolen" presidential election, Russian "collusion," the posturing and boorish behavior, how about focusing on something that is working and benefits a growing number of people?
