Editorial

My friend Angel has four children, including one teenage boy who is about to get his driver’s license and another who is right behind him. Most parents think of their children getting their license and worry about speeding, texting while driving and other crashes. Angel has never expressed to me that she worries about her boys’ driving abilities. If anything, Angel teaches them to follow all rules perfectly in hopes they make it home alive.

So many of us are parked in front of our television sets these days, more out of necessity than desire.

This being the week we set aside to honor those who have fallen in defense of our nation has brought back memories of my time in the service, places I went, people I’ve met and friendships that have lasted for over 50 years.

The Trump-fueled pandemic has already claimed 94,000 American lives. And six months from now, the pandemic-fueled election may well wreak havoc with what’s left of American democracy.

It hasn’t been in the news much, but former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, now in a tight Republican primary to win back his old Alabama Senate seat, has been talking a lot about his time in the Justice Department and the issue that made him a persona non grata in Trumpworld: his March 2017 decision to recuse himself from supervising the Trump-Russia investigation.

We’ve known for a long time that former President Barack Obama lives rent-free inside Donald Trump’s brain. From trying to tear down the Affordable Care Act to his bizarre and baseless accusation that the prior administration didn’t leave him prepared for the current COVID-19 pandemic, there’s no problem too small that President “I Don’t Take Responsibility” hasn’t left at the feet of his predecessor.

I am thankful that all those who have prayed for me for the nearly 75 years I have been on this earth; I am thankful they didn’t wait until the all-clear was sounded to begin their prayers. I’m glad the men and women at Gettysburg, Williamsburg, Valley Forge, Bunker Hill, Normandy, Omaha Beach, Hamburger Hill, Khe Sahn and many other places where Americans have taken a stand for what is right, did not hesitate to step out to defend their beliefs and to gain and protect our freedoms.