The fireworks have been for me all along, right? I celebrated another birthday on July 4th. Always loved sharing my birthday with America—the fireworks have always been for me—so I decided I’m going to pass into glory on…July 4th, many years from now. Hey, stranger things have happened. Like this…the Declaration of Independence was [...]

It continues! “C’mon, Mike,” you might be saying. “Don’t you have anything more relevant to write about?” Well…yeah. But the date of June 16, which landed eight days ago, got stuck in my brain last week for reasons other than Father’s Day. It so happens, on June 16, the year of our Lord 1884, [...]

Are we still a melting pot? “On the boats and on the planes, they’re coming to America. Never looking back again, they’re coming to America.” - Neil Diamond Words from a rousing anthem that induced pride in country a generation back. The melting pot. The idea was such that a schoolkid could understand it. [...]

Does it have a role in our republic? In 1835, Alexis de Tocqueville, a French political thinker and historian, wrote and published Volume 1 of his book, Democracy in America. The second volume followed in 1840. Together they represent a comprehensive analysis of American society, politics, and institutions during the early 19th Century. In [...]

To those who don’t agree, please set aside any animus you may harbor toward former President Trump…or the Make America Great Again movement...or any notions about conservatism that may cause you to point and say, “That’s the problem.” This is not a political post (culture and history are my topic areas). I’m not a [...]

Fire from the cliffs of hell. Thousands of American and Allied troops stepped from the tractable bow ramps of their landing crafts into waist-deep water as hellfire rained from the bluffs above the beaches at Normandy. Who can imagine the gut-wrenching experience of these young men, boys really, wading toward [...]