2012: A Year of Highs & Lows, Fear & Hope

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I don’t know about you, but that was a close one! All these weeks and months we have heard about “The Cliff”, but to get that close to it — on New Year’s Eve no less — only to find out that, heck, we can put off this whole “going over The Cliff” stuff for another 2 months. Wow, what a way to ruin a New Year.

And that’s the point. As 2012 wound its way into history, 315 million Americans found themselves standing on the precipice of a new year realizing that in many ways the so-called fiscal cliff was the least of our nation’s problems.

Think about the big triumphs and tragedies of 2012.  The London Summer Olympic Games were a great boost to America’s… Continue reading

Are We There Yet, GOP?

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I am certain at some point during the past 18 months you found yourself feeling like that kid riding in the backseat of the family car on what is supposed to be the “great adventure” to “someplace special.” But the only thing you can muster after about 15 minutes is, “Are we there yet?”… Continue reading

What’s So Bad About Super PAC-Men?

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News that deep-pocketed Las Vegas casino owner Sheldon Adelson gave a whopping $10 million to a pro-Mitt Romney political action committee makes it the largest advertising buy since the Republican candidate became the putative challenger to President Barack Obama. Certainly, such generosity contributed to the Romney campaign-Republican National Committee-Victory Fund troika’s massive $106 million haul last month… Continue reading

A Supreme Mess?

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Hold on to your seat because it’s about to get a bit bumpy! The Supreme Court dropped its decision in Arizona v. United States; and while this was not the decision everyone’s been waiting for, it cut through the political ether with the precision of a fine surgical instrument.

In what can only be described as a “split decision”, the high court overturned three parts of Arizona’s anti-illegal immigration law, while sustaining the controversial “show me your papers” provision. To be certain, most of the political junkies in town had a field day analyzing, deciphering and outright proselytizing about who won, who lost and the full impact of what the Supreme Court had wrought.

Keep in mind this political drama was being shaped long before the… Continue reading

Everything Is Just ‘Fine,’ President Obama?

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Have you ever had one of those moments when, the second you finish answering a question, you realize, “Oh, crap, I’m going to pay for that one”? I have. The tough part, particularly in a hypercharged political environment, is cleaning it up (or, as we like to say in Washington, “walking back your remarks”) before your words take on a life of their own… Continue reading

Lessons from My Father

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To the dads and soon to be dads: Let’s admit it—Father’s Day is one of those “holidays” that even dads are laid back about. In fact, as a young man, I never thought much about actually being a father; well at least to the extent that I was planning to become a priest.  So, as my step-dad moved from moment to moment in my life, it did not occur to me that he was planting little seeds of information, inspiration and wisdom that I would one day come to rely on in raising my two sons.

What I have discovered for many dads is those moments we have with our children seem to come and go faster and faster leaving little time or room to fully appreciate that our… Continue reading