A weird ritual starts my day. A few minutes after 5am I pour a cup of coffee and say a prayer of thanks for one more day. Coffee mug in hand, I head out the side door of our garage. I walk a short distance around the side of the house and into the driveway. This is the end of the preliminary part of the ritual. In the dark, I stoop down at the edge of the driveway, like a catcher in … [Read more...]
November 30, 2018 by
November 28, 2018 by
Nine Presidents. In all of the American past, nine US Presidents have attempted to win re- election and lost after having secured their party's nomination. Nine people in the White House who sought a second term but failed. Nine. Are you and I living in the midst of Number Ten? Let's use history in a creative way to find the answer. I invite you to join me in an energetic and … [Read more...]
November 28, 2018 by
Because of chaos around the White House, 2019 is going to be a difficult year. The political climate in the US will be awful, worse than 2018. If you're a leader—if you have followers—that climate will affect them. Let me help you help them. I invite you to participate in my upcoming Talkshop, "From The 1833-1834 To 2019: Jackson, Trump, And Quasi-Impeachment." I'll be guiding you through the true … [Read more...]
November 16, 2018 by
133. Keep that number in mind the next time someone shrieks that "we're on the verge of another Civil War!!" I thought of this today as I read an interesting column in the Wall Street Journal. It was about the Democrats in the House of Representatives and the potential selection of Nancy Pelosi as the next Speaker. The column, written by Karl Rove, highlighted all the Democratic representatives … [Read more...]
August 2, 2018 by
(The posting below is for the use of my participants in the Cowles-Fogg book club. However, if you're a random visitor to my website, I certainly invite you to read this post. For the book club members, though, I'd ask you to consider whether or not Lough's comments would have been persuasive if you'd been sitting in the audience back in 1907. Would you have gone out the next day and changed your … [Read more...]
July 30, 2018 by
A setback slammed into you on a Friday. It was unexpected. It was on a large scale. It was quickly told to other people. By Monday, if not sooner, you're trying to recover. We've just summarized the recent past of Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook. Over the course of a day, his company lost $123 billion, more than the gross domestic product of Kuwait and the largest single business loss ever. We … [Read more...]
July 26, 2018 by
The framed photo of General George S. Patton's grave marker had these words scribbled across a corner: "Dear Donald, let's remember our common history." And so, on July 25, 2018, one President handed a gift to another President. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker gave the present to American President Donald Trump. The written remarks were from … [Read more...]
June 22, 2018 by
Doing the right thing can mean doing the fair thing. I want to do the right and fair thing in pointing to today's column by conservative commentator, George Will. Earlier in 2018, I wrote a post criticizing Will. He had just penned an article about the death of Billy Graham, the famous Christian evangelist. The article was scathing. I expressed disagreement with the writing and disapppointment … [Read more...]
June 22, 2018 by
"The Trump Rule" was a creation of mine back in December 2016. Over a tasty lunchtime fare of chicken and salad, I shared with workshop participants three stories from the American past to help them understand the emerging Trump Presidency. After each story and as the cookie tray was passed around the table, I offered a takeaway. The Trump Rule was one of my takeaways. I told folks that the … [Read more...]
