The entire speech delivered tonight by the President at the Memorial service for the victims of Saturday’s tragedy was exactly what our country needed. I was struck the most by his concluding remarks. Words that, in my opinion, need no introduction, no commentary, no analysis. Here they are: But at a time when our discourse has become so sharply polarized – at a time when we are far too eager to lay the blame for all that ails the world at the feet of those who think differently than we...

The massacre in Tucson has generated a major and intense debate across the country about whether the overheated political climate—the rhetoric, the “vitriol, “extremist speech”—has influenced or motivated the Tucson shooter to commit his dastardly crime. Just as reflected in the commentary on this site, the national opinion runs the gamut, from holding the shooter solely and 100 percent responsible, to holding personalities such as Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh solely and 100 percent...

I have often bemoaned the dearth of Medals of Honor awarded to our heroes of our most recent—and still ongoing— wars: Iraq and Afghanistan. However, I will not complain if the hands of Congress and of the U.S. Army reach back almost 150 years to recognize and honor military valor and heroism. That is exactly what is happening in Congress. The names of two Civil War heroes have been included in the annual defense authorization bill—“along with such futuristic initiatives as the...

The Austin American-Statesman reports: Judge Pat Priest sentenced Tom DeLay to three years in prison. The three-year sentence was on the charge of conspiring to launder corporate money into political donations during the 2002 elections. On the charge of money laundering, DeLay was sentenced to five years but that was probated for 10 years. UPDATED: Travis County prosecutors argued that Tom DeLay should go to prison today. “He needs to go to prison, your Honor, and he needs to go today,” said...

UPDATE II: Here is a touching, personal update on the youngest and most innocent victim of the Tucson massacre, 9-year old Christina-Taylor Green, “a baseball-loving Mini-Me of her granddad, Dallas Green,” a former Phillies pitcher and manager , former Yankees manager and Mets manager. UPDATE I: A few minutes ago, President Obama led millions of Americans in a moment of silence to honor the innocent victims of the senseless tragedy in Tucson, Arizona, including those still fighting for their...

This will be my last “update” on yesterday’s tragedy. But before posting the latest updates, just a couple of remarks. I concluded my update last night with the following words: In his news conference, Sheriff Clarence Dupnik lamented the political situation in Arizona and America in no uncertain terms. But that’s for another day. Well, for many that “other day” already came yesterday and continues today—and will probably continue for days and weeks, making this horrible day...

After spending 16 years in Mississippi jails for “their alleged role in a robbery in 1993 in which no one was hurt and $11 supposedly was taken,” the Scott sisters left prison yesterday. Their freedom, however, comes at a price: Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour agreed to the release of the sisters on the condition that Gladys Scott donate her kidney to her sister, Jamie, within one year. That condition has stirred significant controversy and raised many legal and medical ethics questions. For...

There has been a lot written and commented recently—including here at TMV—on Rep. Michele Bachmann. In his “Bachmann Gores Vidal,” Peter Orvetti was surprised to discover that Bachmann had once been a Democrat. So was I. Orvetti discusses how Bachmann suddenly converted from Democrat to Republican after reading a Gore Vidal novel aboard a train—some refer to this phenomenon as the “train epiphany.” It caught my interest, too, for two reasons. First, I would have not suspected...

[Note: The link to the Huffington Post for this article was "not working" last night. It can again be read here. Sorry for the problem.] On September 3, 1944, the last train carrying Dutch Jews to Nazi extermination camps left the transit camp Westerbork, the Netherlands, destination Auschwitz. Aboard the train, along with a thousand other Dutch Jews, was Louis de Wind, the father of a cousin of mine, Loekie de Wind. Recently, Loekie shared with me the letter her father wrote to her and her...

Remember how, during the past few years, Republicans repeatedly accused the Democrats of a lack of “openness and transparency” in the legislative process, of not allowing adequate time to either review proposed legislation or to debate it and—in particular in the case of the health care bill—of ramming it down the throat of the GOP and of the American people without going through the bipartisan process, without holding sufficient hearings or markups? In reality, House Democrats held...

Having written “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Smoke,” my eye quickly caught a Letter to the Editor in today’s Stars and Stripes, titled “‘‘Don’t ask,’ surf and turf.” While hopefully my piece was a little more serious and a little less irreverent, this letter in all its “cheeky,” sardonic glory certainly gets its message across—after a while. Enjoy, or endure, according to your predisposition ‘Don’t ask,’ surf and turf. I would like to thank those who...

Last week, I wrote on the suspension of the consecutive life sentences of Jamie Scott and Gladys Scott by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour. Part of the post was on how and why the Scott sisters received such severe sentences for “their alleged role in a robbery in 1993 in which no one was hurt and $11 supposedly was taken.” The remainder of the post focused on a New York Times column by Bob Herbert bemoaning Barbour’s pardons record and, in particular, Barbour making the donation of a kidney...

Recounting our travels through France last September, I mentioned how touched we were by the numerous monuments and memorials the French people have dedicated to the World War II Allied heroes who gave their lives to help liberate France and by “the many other monuments, memorials and public and private expressions of pride and honor towards their hundreds of thousands of fallen heroes and martyrs…” I also mentioned the less than patriotic roles played by “the puppet Vichy government, the...

There are numerous social, political and economic events and accomplishments that will make 2010 go down in history as a very remarkable year. When it comes to equal rights in the military, of course the repeal of “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” will rank as one of the most significant achievements in that area in decades. But we shouldn’t forget that 2010 also marked the year when the Navy decided to remove yet another gender barrier by allowing women to serve aboard submarines—Congress,...

For those who believe that young war veterans, leaders in combat, make good legislators, the new Congress is just “the ticket.” According to the Stars and Stripes, the new Congress to be seated later this month “will boast the largest number of Iraq War veterans ever.” Six new House members who have served in Iraq (two of them in Iraq and Afghanistan)—all Republicans—will join two other recent war veterans: Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who served with the Marines in both the...

Every New Year most of us make good faith resolutions—some of us keep them. Every New Year most of us have hopes for the coming year—some of us will realize some of those hopes. One of my hopes is that there will better justice in our nation, in our world. On this first day of the New Year, I have come across some indications—albeit “mixed” ones—that, at least in one case, we may be ending the old year and beginning the new one with good prospects. I am talking about...

Nicholas Kristof starts a very interesting column in today’s New York Times with the question: A quiz: If a person who speaks three languages is trilingual, and one who speaks four languages is quadrilingual, what is someone called who speaks no foreign languages at all? Before I give you the answer, an observation. I noticed that my spellchecker flagged “quadrilingual” in Kristof’s question and gave “No Spelling Suggestions,” so I tried “quintlingual,” “quintilingual” and “pentalingual”...

One of the most interesting and exciting assignments during my U.S. Air Force career was my tour of duty at the North American Aerospace Defense (NORAD) complex some 1,400 feet beneath granite Cheyenne Mountain, south of Colorado Springs, Colorado, at the height of the Cold War. I still remember walking or busing through the long tunnel, entering the “vault,” then waiting for the 25-ton steel blast door to close behind me and hoping that the other 25-ton blast door (the one leading to the underground...

From the number of comments I can tell that many of our readers are busy getting ready for the holidays, are already traveling to spend them with their loved ones or just skipping the politics and the debate during this joyous season. Before I lose them all, I just want to wish both my colleagues on The Moderate Voice and our readers and their loved ones a very Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays and love, health, peace and everything good in 2011. Please allow me to also include our brave troops away...

Several of our TMV contributors (yours truly included) have said our two-cents worth on the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.” Judging from some of the comments—“enough already”—we have probably said more than dos centavos worth. But, hey, inflation and all that… But what do the troops have to say? Those men and women on the front lines, in combat around the world. There is perhaps no better source to take the pulse than the venerable Stars and Stripes the “military”...