Columns

Like so many of you, I watched the presidential debate Monday night. I thought to myself that, surely, something would pop out at me during the debate that would warrant my sage insight, thus resulting in a column worth reading. Alas, dear friends, I was moved by both candidates in ways that would not be acceptable to relate in this newspaper, which holds to a moral standard far above modern politics -- a standard that is worth the effort to preserve...

The president is the commander in chief of our military, but the Congress holds the purse used to pay for military operations. If the president starts a military operation that is considered wrong by a majority in Congress, then Congress can cut off funds needed for it to continue. ...

Monday night's first presidential debate was a production of style over substance. Both disappointing and chaotic, the match-up between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton failed to live up to expectations in many ways. Trump failed time and time again to strike Clinton on her most vulnerable issues -- immigration, her private email server, Benghazi or the Clinton Foundation...

It doesn't take a million people to start a movement. In 1990, just 10 people started what has grown into millions. Consider that those 10 were students, not adults, and it becomes clearer: the actions of just a few are significant.

September has been a very busy event-filled month for Cape Girardeau.

I try to see everything racial in a vacuum. That may sound simplistic, but it's considerate, as every situation involves different people raised under different circumstances and philosophies. Recent shootings of armed and unarmed black men in the United States of America understandably have Americans upset, angry and agitated, but protesting violently is counterproductive. Violence begets violence and it isn't going to help others listen...

The new best-selling book "Clean House" by Tom Fitton ... (the President of Judicial Watch) will almost make you sick to read the cover-up on Benghazi...supported by emails and documents obtained by the court's freedom of information request (FOIA)...

It's difficult to imagine what parents tell their children these days about terrorism. Our sons are grown men and have solid rationales about life and the perils that abound. All I can say is that my childhood didn't include worrying about bombs in pressure cookers.

As I am writing this column I am ill and also angry as I wait for my medicines to arrive in the mail..

On the heels of a terrorism-filled weekend, the spotlight during this presidential campaign season has returned to the sticky question of immigration.

The country faces tremendous challenges, as the bombs that went off in both New Jersey and New York and the stabbings in Minnesota remind us.

Investor's Business Daily Poll: Household Unemployment The IBD Poll each month asks respondents whether one or more members of their household is looking for a job. For September, 17 percent said "yes." With roughly 118 million households in the U.S., that means there are actually 20 million people unemployed -- not the 7.8 million estimated by the Labor Department. ...

Cape Girardeau has so many good things going for it, and forecasts say there are more good things to come. Good. But I suppose there is no perfect place on earth, is there? Even with so many positives, our fair city still manages to throw a few baffling situations our way.

The U.S. Army had considered cavalry units to be the armored units that replaced the horse-drawn and mounted troops of the past.

Despite the emotions of a presidential campaign, no one should rejoice in the health issues facing Hillary Clinton.

On one hand, it is hard to believe that Sunday marked 15 years since 9/11 -- September 11, 2001; time really does fly. On the other hand, it seems like a lifetime ago; so many things have changed in our culture since.

It was hard to decipher the shaky handwritten note from Phyllis Schlafly, dated August 19, 2016, "Thank you Gary for your generous gift." I didn't know that she was dying of cancer and would pass away Labor Day, Sept. 5. I first met Phyllis over 55 years ago when I was a Missouri State Jaycee Vice President. I was publicly speaking about "Americanism and the Communist Threat."...

Ohmygod! Those are the exact words uttered by our fair city's founder, Louis Lorimier. The occasion was Lorimier's first hole-in-one more than 200 years ago on what is now affectionately known as the Old Course in downtown Cape Girardeau.

In 2008, the U.S. Navy received the first in a new class of ships. The Littoral Combat Ships were designed as fast-moving ships with a top speed of 40 knots and capable of working in less than 15 feet of water as in the shallow seas near coasts known as the littoral zone.

I'm uncertain if "conventional wisdom" applies to the upcoming presidential election but, if so, then conventional wisdom gives an edge to Hillary Clinton.

I am sick of elites complaining about America. Complaining that we're unjust. Complaining that we don't live up to our ideals. Complaining to the point that they cannot even bring themselves to stand for our national anthem. I'm sick of it. Yes, I'm talking about Colin Kaepernick.

Talk about a wave of nostalgia. That's what swept over me a few days ago when I read the Associated Press story about the closing of the next-to-last Howard Johnson restaurant in the United States. Howard Johnson is special to me because that's where I met my wife-to-be.

There have been improvements in care received through the VA. The VA system is not perfect, but veterans who have complaints about treatment received from the VA do have recourse. Every VA facility has at least one patient ombudsman to resolve problems.

Colin Kaepernick did the near-impossible this weekend. In one fell swoop, the struggling NFL quarterback knocked Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton from the headlines and, at the same time, alienated a huge segment of the American public.

The phrase "Black Lives Matter" has become part of our discourse recently.

This summer the City of Jackson, the City of Cape Girardeau, and the Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cape Girardeau and Jackson Area contracted with Catalyst Commercial. Through this agreement Catalyst will provide each city with a specific merchandising plan to be used by Catalyst, the cities, and Chamber of Commerce to promote our area to retailers. The final goal is to recruit new retail business to the area...

One of the more pleasant surprises I've had in recent years was at the end of a 45-minute drive to Marble Hill to tour the Mayfield Cultural Center and the attached "Dinosaur Museum."

As far as I can tell, Jim Thompson is a smart and wonderful fellow. How do I know this? Because he took the time to comment on last week's column. That was the column where I described what happens when you move a cat's milk, dry food and water bowls...

On August 28, 1968, the Vietnam War came home to the United States. Tens of thousands of anti-war demonstrators descended on the Democratic National Convention.

If nothing else, the left is predictable.

August brings with it a certain dread as we near the change of seasons. We become painfully aware that we will soon shift from complaining about the heat and humidity to complaining about the cold and snow. It's what we do -- every year. But no one dreads this time of year more than students who are not excited about returning to the routine of curfews, homework and testing.

Every once in awhile, there appears an email message that penetrates my heart and soul, and is so insightful that I feel it is to your benefit to share it.

It has been a couple of rough weeks for Missy Kitty, the cat that rules whomever, whatever or whenever she wants. Or nothing at all. If Missy Kitty were the kind of cat to point a paw, she would lay the blame for this shaky patch squarely on the two humans who occupy the same house...

This column is dedicated to Mark Dragoni, Lissa Isenberg, Steve Ray, Frank Nickell and all those who keep our history alive and pass it on to our youth. Many believe that technology has lessened the importance of an education in history, but watching and listening to our politicians has shown what can happen when decisions are made without understanding the history of other nations as well as our own...

The somewhat less-than-Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton this week unveiled her latest campaign tactic which involves enlisting young illegal immigrants to mount a voter drive on her behalf. The Clinton campaign is seeking thousands of young volunteers -- the undocumented Dreamers courted by the current President -- to get out the vote even though they themselves are prohibited from voting...

While the world is watching the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, it's a good time to share a couple valuable observations these Games reveal. Sports have always had the ability to teach and inspire. That's one reason people raise Hades when cuts to school funding slash the athletics program. ...

I recently attended and participated in the 50 year anniversary celebration of the founding of my service club, Cape West Rotary. I have been a member of this club for 40 years. It was a great event as we reminisced the past, celebrated the present and spoke of the challenges and opportunities of the future...

Sometimes I can see the future. No, I'm not a clairvoyant. Or a fortune-teller. I don't have any tarot cards. I don't read tea leaves. However, I confess that I have, over the years, split open a few persimmon seeds after the first heavy frost of autumn to determine what kind of winter to expect...

On Aug. 6, 1945, warfare changed when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The city and nearby Japanese military installations were destroyed, and the U.S. warned the Japanese that if they did not surrender they could "expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth." When the Japanese did not surrender, a second bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki three days later. ...

As sad as it may sound, nothing will change following the pesidential election in November. Sure, we'll have new leadership and a major changing of the guard. But on the critical issues that divide this nation, nothing will change. At least not immediately...

What a week in politics. Following the Democratic National Convention, Hillary Clinton got the bump in poll numbers expected after a party's convention. But her numbers cause concern because her challenger, Donald Trump, had a week in which he made some missteps. ...

Although it's already the top-grossing documentary this year, "Hillary's America" is receiving little media attention ... but it should. Directed by Dinesh D'Souza with music arranged by Stephen Limbaugh III (another entertainer with Cape Girardeau ties), the movie is a must see for anyone wanting to be informed -- not only informed about Hillary Clinton, but also of early slavery, the Ku Klux Klan and political vote shifting...

Yes, we're all up to here in politics, trying to keep our heads above all the ... well, you know. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, in the last week, the following phrase: "lesser of two evils." Really, folks, is that what we want in the Oval Office? Can we really hope that having evil, even if it's not the worse of two evils, is right for our country? Surely not, on both counts...

I am writing this column on Monday afternoon, Aug. 1, 2016, and the news channels are devoting much time to the story of the speech given by Khizr Khan at the Democratic convention and the replies to it by Donald Trump. Khizr Khan is the father of U.S. ...

During the last couple of months, I have been very impressed by two young people of Jackson who have gone beyond their everyday lives to excel in their endeavors. Their stories have been written in the press and shown on TV, but I wanted to say a few additional words of how proud I am of these Jackson citizens...

Political junkies were on a high the last couple weeks during the Republican National Convention in Cleveland and the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. The Republicans were first, and after Melania Trump was accused of plagiarism, there seemed to be nowhere to go but up. Not so. Sen. Ted Cruz's controversy bypassed the Melania speech embarrassment...