Roughly 10 minutes into nearly every conversation I’ve had over the past 11 months—excluding my wife and kids, who have banned the topic—someone drops a political grenade, “Is this still America?” Without exception, no definitive answer is forthcoming. We look down, offer excuses, chuckle nervously, speak of embarrassment, and within another 10 minutes, move on to a less perplexing subject … leaving a small, lingering fret, dangling in the air: “Should we move to Switzerland?”

Of course, maybe I’m talking to the wrong people. There seem to be a fair amount of other opinions. Some talk about an upcoming Golden Age.

Undeniably, after almost a year of head-scratching, the implied question, What’s happening to our democracy?, seems to deserve a reasonable effort; definitely more than 10 minutes (probably 45, you’ll need some coffee). A thorough investigation of the subject felt pressing. I gave up resisting.

The following treatise considers a multitude of quotes, news articles, books, lectures, posts and postulations (it seems a good deal of people felt equally pressed). Not one to suppose I have answers, I am simply summing-up, condensing collective wisdom, and outlining a path forward …

Read the full article here.*

*Owing to the length of the above article and the formatting constraints of Substack, the full article is posted on our website.

This is Part II in our series entitled, What the Heck? We are looking at America’s current political crisis—fraught with fears, absurdities and paranoia—and wondering how we got here. To read the previous entry, please see this link.

It seems our discussion on politics has been waylaid by weather. Over the past month—amid hurricanes, flooding, mass destruction and relief efforts—I took a few moments each night to research and record some simple political convictions (a weird, sort-of cathartic relief effort for a national calamity).

With the election bearing down on us—like Hurricane Helene bore down on our western North Carolina community 5 weeks ago—I’d like to share our last political common-sense reminder (bad weather has ordained a condensed version of the original idea). At the least, I hope readers discover some reasonable explanation for the political hurricane into which we are about to descend. At best, may it offer a dose of discernment, gleaned from history and nurtured in the fields of a democratic republic.

Read the full article here.*

*Owing to the length of the above article and the formatting constraints of Substack, the full article is posted on our website.

This is Part I in our series entitled, What the Heck? We are looking at America’s current political crisis—fraught with fears, absurdities and paranoia—and wondering how we got here. Perhaps a few human tendencies, and a brief glance at history, will shed some light.

If you love crime shows, podcasts or documentaries (Dateline reigns supreme), you may have noticed a particularly troubling pattern: An entire herd of friends, neighbors, co-workers—even family members of the victim—offer adulation for the one who turns out to be, you guessed it, the ungodly murderer.

Common assertions of innocence may include:

• She’s such a nice person… she couldn’t have done it!

• She used to babysit my kids, I trust her completely.

• There’s no way she did it, she’s an angel.

• I went to high school with her… she was the Homecoming Queen.

• I will never believe she murdered her husband, she’s one of my best friends!

Of course, lucky for crime podcasts everywhere, this makes for great theater. The adoring housewife—who would have guessed?—is actually the perp.

This predictable narrative also makes for a nice segue, affording the opportunity to introduce Dateline’s favorite psychological term: Cognitive Dissonance (CD). You’re likely familiar with the phrase. It’s the concept of simultaneously holding two conflicting beliefs—beliefs that make you profoundly uneasy (the delightful, attractive wife is… a raging monster).

Read the full article here.*

*Owing to the length of the above article and the formatting constraints of Substack, the full article is posted on our website.