I was talking with someone with whom I share very few political positions. We respect each other and I always enjoy our discussions, but we are political opposites. This was not an angry or contentious discussion by any means, but toward the end I realized, perhaps for the first time, that our views of the condition…
Category: Gary Kroeger
Who’s the greatest of them all?
I saw a poll among voters that concluded that President Obama has been the worst president in post-FDR history. They ranked President Reagan as the greatest. It isn’t hard to dismiss this sort of faux-information as meaningless, given the fact that The Kardashians and The Bachelor continue to get high ratings, but I must admit that a wave…
The History of Winners
Years ago I was struck by a line from Woody Allen’s “Crimes and Misdemeanors.” The film’s protagonist, Judah, imagines his family celebrating a Passover dinner as he contemplates (his real life) guilt after having his girlfriend killed. He asks the table about the ethical consequences and his imagined aunt responds, “And I say if he…
Reply to All
Sometimes something will circulate on the internet or pass around as a mass email that will catch my attention and I will feel the need to respond. When it is something that I believe to be dangerously false or propagating a destructive myth, I will send a “Reply to All” message back to address some of the…
Is Newer the Truer?
Much is being said about what it means to be a true Conservative. In the Republican presidential debates each candidate is jockeying to place themselves as the truest and most consistently conservative of the group. This has bothered me because I’m not sure what they mean by conservatism anymore. Is it the most historically accurate…
Vive la France!
I’m a little uncomfortable with something. While I believe everyone on either side of the aisle genuinely supports the French after this horrific event, there is an “elephant” in the room. Is this unified sympathy and resolve to fight back against the terrorism that is ripping at our civilized seams a shared belief in allied…
We the People
“I never believed there was one code of morality for a public and another for a private man.” – Thomas Jefferson Last week I officially announced my endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders for President of the United States. Conventional wisdom is that it is not politically expedient for a congressional candidate to make a primary…
Crazy on you!
I was reading an MSN article on why people voted the way they did last year. Most of the people who voted Republican were pretty consistent as to what two issues defined the races for them. The issues that concerned them the most were expanding government, and economic progress (or the perceived lack of). Other…
Press Two for a Zombie
Maybe it’s just me. Maybe everyone else uses technology flawlessly and all of the sources of new technologies work for everyone…except me. If it is just me then I’d like to vent my frustration and, perhaps, someone will come forward to help. I think it’s a sham. I think we have programmed ourselves into believing all…
The Shooting Paradigm
“Guns don’t kill, people do.” That is often repeated by the NRA, the pro-gun lobby and 2nd Amendment “purists” to defend the possession of firearms and to get guns off the hook after violent crimes. It’s such a seemingly logical turn of a phrase that it’s embraced in that community as Soundbite Gospel. But, it belies the real situation and betrays…