The lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II wrote many beautiful songs for Broadway musicals. One that was not beautiful, but powerful for what it said about race relations in 1949 when the show opened was "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught." The song was about being taught to hate.

I’m standing at the precipice, looking down into a sparkling, new state-of-the-art, 3,500-seat amphitheater, wondering in part how it got here in the charming Southern Crescent town of Stockbridge. It occurs to me during the tour that follows that this is a town that has taken advantage of t…

Responding to Democrats in her party who are troubled by the massive $3.5 trillion spending bill that would forever transform America into a debtor nation, Speaker Nancy Pelosi asked a question: "Where would you cut?"

The 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 on the World Trade Center twin towers in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and in the skies over Pennsylvania, demands considered reflection.

Here’s another interesting COVID-enabled trend to ponder: More Americans are leaving big cities and the suburbs to live in rural communities, according to NextAvenue.com.

For 20 years since Sept. 11, 2001, U.S. presidents have been saying their anti-terrorism policies have worked, as evidenced by no new attacks on America. 

A moratorium on evictions or foreclosures is not a solution, it is simply a stall.

There once were summertimes when the living was easy, as the song from the Broadway musical "Porgy and Bess" melodically reminds us. But not this summer, not with COVID-19 still spreading dangerously across the land and uncertainty over what happens next after the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

I face a huge responsibility this Labor Day weekend: I’ve been tasked with making my mother’s sacred potato salad recipe.

The visit of newly installed Prime Minister Naftali Bennett of Israel to the United States could not be more timely. On Aug. 27, he met at the White House with President Joe Biden. The photo op handshake between the two is especially important right now.

I received my two doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in early March and April 2021. I experienced no side effects and felt no need for down time those days or the days after. On the advice of my primary care provider, I exercised almost immediately after each shot, which I was told would help work the vaccine immediately into my bloodstream and system. It worked.

Our botched withdrawal from Afghanistan is hard to witness, but hearing the reports of Taliban brutality is even worse.

In his address to Congress on Dec. 8, 1941, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt said: "... we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us. Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us God."

When I was in public school, a TV ad asked: "It's 10 o'clock Do you know where your children are?"

When the British Empire lost face and their own wars in Afghanistan, the first of those in the 1840s, known in the U.K. as "The Disaster in Afghanistan," the then world-dominating British empire fought a ragtag bunch of Afghani rebels, seeking to undo the British re-establishing an unpopular Emir to lead the then Emirate of Afghanistan.

What has happened in Afghanistan will not stay in Afghanistan but will have a ripple effect throughout the region and beyond.

You ignored Aug. 12th didn’t you?

That’s when the world celebrates National Middle Child Day every year, but you ignored it just as you have ignored us “middles” our entire lives!

After searing criticism from Democrats and Republicans about how he has mishandled the withdrawal of the remaining American forces, diplomats, their families and contractors from Afghanistan, President Biden interrupted his Camp David retreat to return to the White House for a speech in whic…

The largest number of forest fires occurs annually in Georgia, Florida and a handful of Southeastern states. Interestingly though, and with rare exceptions, thanks largely to smart forestry management practices and the good fortune of not recently experiencing extended periods of drought, th…

You have to give President Biden credit for consistency. Unfortunately, he has been consistently wrong. As Robert Gates, former defense secretary in the Obama administration once put it, Biden has “been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four…

My Lab puppy, Thurber, makes me laugh out loud every day.

If a crisis is a terrible thing to waste, how terrible would it be to waste two simultaneous crises?

They have been called many things: amoebas, spineless cowards, weaklings, and other names not suitable for print in a family newspaper.

It can often be difficult at a distance to understand the process of law-making in Washington.

August has long been the best month of the year to escape the daily grind and forget our worries.

As a kid, I would read my favorite newspaper columnists. I loved looking up the big words used by George Will. Lewis Grizzard’s humor was solid gold, every single time. I enjoyed the show business name-dropping of Earl Wilson. I even liked the gossipy “scoops” uncovered by government watchdog Jack Anderson.

Semantics are important for how we communicate and define issues. One who controls words controls the narrative.

Though pandemic conditions have been greatly improving on the ground across the nation, the Delta variant and others are surging in multiple locations.

When the credibility of the federal government declines like TV ratings for the Summer Olympics, we are in trouble.

Maybe croquet could improve the ratings for the 2021 Summer Olympics?

About 25 years ago, I was listening to the radio, and I heard an interview with a local business owner. He was asked, “How do you start your day?” He replied, “First, I check my e-mail.” Wow, I thought. That must be so cool. He is so important, he gets e-mail messages.

We have always had them among us: fortune tellers, diviners, readers of palms, tarot cards, tea leaves, stars, horoscopes, discerners of animal entrails, calling on gods of wood and stone, and all sorts of other "seers" who have attempted to convince the gullible that they have the power to predict the future.

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem likes to present herself as a "normal everyday" person "who enjoys life."

Fans of one of the most popular sitcoms of all time, "Friends," know well that each and every episode is titled, "The One with..." The program is a generational and pop culture icon.

People on the far left have become so predictable that their statements are no longer "breaking news." They would be hilarious if they weren't outrageous or if they didn't contribute to the undermining of human rights and freedom in other countries.

Car buyers are getting crushed by the rapid increase in the cost of new and used cars, but my dad’s old-school negotiating techniques might offer some relief.

Growing up in the early years of Major League Baseball in Atlanta, the sport was so easy to love. Teams had pitchers who could go the whole nine innings, hitters who could bunt and steal bases, and managers who could fire up an entire stadium by getting in the umpire’s face.

In the 1950s there was a quiz show called "To Tell the Truth." It has been reborn several times but retained its original format. A celebrity panel would try to discover which one of three contestants was telling the truth, as all claimed to be the same person with identical backgrounds.

It was the worst of times, it was the most dangerous of times. Violent crime is at or approaching 50-year highs in large population centers all across the United States. What is, however, making a difference is how each of those cities chooses to respond to the crime surge. 

It’s an old dream of mine and I just may do it: Buy a travel trailer and live on the American road for weeks at a time.

Each week the Associated Press publishes “Not Real News: A Look at What Didn’t Happen Last Week.” It is a collection of fake news, most of which has been shared online. The stories usually include quotes taken out of context, photoshopped images, and doctored audio.

By any standard, Zaila Avant-garde is a remarkable 14-year-old girl with a positive and compelling outlook on life.

Retirement plans warn of a "penalty for early withdrawal." Might that also apply to the withdrawal of American and NATO forces from Afghanistan?

You are easily forgiven due to the daily wall-to-wall critiques of Georgia's voting law if you missed the fiasco that was New York City's first crack at ranked choice voting during its recent wide-open mayoral election.

The Communist Party of China (CCP) turned 100 years old on July 1. A century is a major benchmark, clearly even for communists.