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The Good Life: Casting Votes By Laundry And Pasta Sauce

For as long as we have had political parties, we have been doused with political hogwash. The latest fiction to light my fuse revolves around “party loyalty.” Someone, somewhere, decided to pretend that anyone who was a Republican (or Democrat) last year has an ethical obligation to continue to be that Republican or Democrat this year. If that is so, why is it legal to switch political parties? It is legal, and easy. I know. I have done it for about the past decade. This year, I did it again, via my computer. I looked at what was likely to be on the ballot in my neck of ...

Threatening High Court Justices Is Never OK

Congress must censure Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer for threatening two Supreme Court justices outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday. This should be wholly bipartisan and utterly uncontroversial. No American, no less a high-ranking member of Congress like Schumer, should be permitted to threaten government officials or judges. This type of thuggish behavior displayed by the senior U.S. senator has no place in a civilized society and must be condemned by all. Speaking to abortion-rights activists this week, the New York Democrat issued direct threats against ...

Canine Companion: Moving To A New Home Is Big Transition For Dogs

Hey, guys, I hope all of you are doing well and having a fantastic week. I have received a few incoming questions regarding how to best transition your dog to a new home. It’s finally getting warmer outside and this is about the time of year people begin to look. I am searching for a farm myself in Bemus Point School District, but I haven’t had an abundance of luck as of yet. My next house will hopefully be my forever home so I am choosing carefully. Personally, I am excited to be searching for a new home for my family, but I am not looking forward to the moving part of it. ...

A Not-So-Super Tuesday

Last week, I sat on a stage in front of more than 200 women in Columbus, Ohio, and tried to answer a simple question. I don’t remember exactly how interviewer Angela Pace asked it, but I heard it this way: What do you want your granddaughters to remember about you? To my embarrassment, my eyes teared up and my voice began to quiver. It’s been such a long three years. We have seven grandchildren: four boys and three girls. I love them equally, as I made clear that day from the stage. But we were talking less than a week before Super Tuesday, when most political punditry had ...

Knowing Rights Versus Wishes

Sen. Bernie Sanders said: “I believe that health care is a right of all people.” He’s not alone in that contention. That claim comes from Democrats and Republicans and liberals and conservatives. It is not just a health care right that people claim. There are “rights” to decent housing, decent food, a decent job and prescription drugs. In a free and moral society, do people have these rights? Let’s begin by asking ourselves: What is a right? In the standard usage of the term, a “right” is something that exists simultaneously among people. In the case of our U.S. ...

Recognizing The Voice Of Leadership

We’re traveling in a crowded subway car somewhere under Manhattan when, without warning, the car comes to an abrupt halt in a tunnel in between stations. The subway car is plunged into darkness, and our own growing anxiety, along with that of our fellow passengers, is almost palpable. After a while, a measured, authoritative voice comes over the public address system and calmly tells all us stranded, semiscared passengers a) what has happened; b) what is now being done to fix the problem; c) that we will be safe and on our way within a finite amount of time; and d) what we can do in ...