Let’s be very clear. What President Trump calls for, particularly with respect to our flag and standing during the National Anthem, is not “patriotism” but “nationalism.” Both are concerned with individual relationships towards nations, but nationalism is defined as our interest in the unification of a nation based on cultural and linguistic equanimity. Patriotism is…
Author: gary1164
I'm an advertising executive and former actor/producer
Pro Rights
There is a subject that holds the attention of our political divide where politicians swivel around its substantive reality: the Right to Choose versus Pro-Life. I will begin by being clear: NO one is pro-abortion. No “Right to Choose” advocate is saying that continuiing an unwanted pregnancy should never be an option. My personal opinion…
Though Love and Life make tearful intercession…
Theologian, A H Strong, defined the human will as “the soul’s power to choose between motives and to direct its subsequent activity according to the motive thus chosen.” No better description of service could be written. That reflection strengthens moral purpose; the convergence of ideas and motives reveal what kind of a servant we are.…
Finkenauer is what is right
It is time to get behind Abby Finkenauer who is defending her Congressional seat in Iowa’s 1st District. The race with her challenger, Ashley Hinson, is closer than it should be as a recent poll only separated them by one percentage point in favor of Finkenauer. I will go on record to say that Ashley…
There’s No Place Like Home
Few conditions are less understood than poverty and homelessness. That is not to say that there aren’t myriad organizations and programs designed to reverse poverty and to address the needs of the homeless, but inevitably the conditions persist because of oppositional forces that limit the funding and attention that is needed. This was witnessed in…
The Body Politic
I am a Democrat but I’m not anti-Republican. I am a Liberal but I am not anti-Conservative. What I believe is that liberalism is necessary to move our conservative nature in the direction of progress. Believe me, I have as many friends on the right side of the aisle as on the left and they…
Christians, Deists, and Atheists, Oh My!
200 years is a long time to keep anything going. Consider the world 200 years ago and you won’t find much that resembles the world today; not in the United States, anyway. 200 years ago the War of 1812 rocked our newly won sovereignty to its core as residual resentments between our Union and Britain…
A Casual Reply…
Boy, can I step into a fire, or what? I probably use Facebook too much and lose sight of my own dictum that social media does not contain nuance and tends to absolve false premises. But I enjoy the laughs it provides and posts that stimulate debate. Sometimes I will repost a meme that I…
Doggone it! People LIKE me!
It occurred to me….I’m not helping. I’m not calming anyone’s nerves, I’m not making fewer people angry, and I’m not convincing anyone who didn’t already agree with me to listen or, God forbid, change their mind. When I was door knocking as a candidate for the Iowa House, 4 years ago, I often joined a…
May Blessings Upon Thee Fall!
I have a dear friend, who sadly passed away a few years ago. He was a dashing, British actor named Peter Dennis who was delightfully full of himself, as only British folk can pull off with graceful aplomb. I think of him all the time, but the pearl of kindness that he always imparted upon…