[Masthead] Overcast ~ 65°F  
High: 81°F ~ Low: 53°F
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
On giving thanks (11/27/11)
The whole matter of expressing gratitude comes perilously close to cliché-ridden parody this Thanksgiving Day. Of course we admit and try to audit our debt to the Almighty. We were advised by Shakespeare who observed, accurately "what fools these mortals be!" (NOT to observe and acknowledge our great debt to our very Creator!)...
Out in force (10/06/11)
What they have in common is their stated desire to run for President of these United States. They have often looked and acted like "The Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight" instead. Such emergence has evoked a loud murmur of our discontent and even annoyance after listening to such outrageous declaration made by the Governor of Texas that Social Security is a "Ponzi Scheme." The black candidate senses a racial problem which may affect his own changes, despite the current occupant of the white House. ...
Paterfamilias (08/25/11)
ny translation of the title might range from "ruler of the roost" to "big Daddy" or even "godfather." The ancient Romans were traditionally strong -- even fervent -- about family and the emphasis they placed on the role of a strong father. This caused or resulted from the idea of exerting control over politics by a related group overseeing the Roman senate. ...
Overcoming obstacles (08/18/11)
When he was 15 years old, he tried to catch a ride on a heavily loaded truck. He was unable to pull himself onto the moving truck and fell beneath the wheels. His left leg was badly crushed and the surgeon decided to cut it off, but he begged them not to remove it...
A depression family (08/11/11)
March 4, 1933, was a banner day for this youngster, for that was Inauguration Day for "Mister Roosevelt," as my mother came to call him. This eager youngster sat at the family radio, listening to his magic words telling us that our only fear was fear itself. We didn't know what there was to be afraid of, and so I asked my mother if she could explain. "There's a Depression which is causing some of the people in this country of ours to be short of jobs and money and for many of them to be poor."...
Cliffhanger (08/04/11)
I have learned, after meeting countless deadlines, that no crystal ball or gift of foretelling the future have been afforded this columnist, either by inherited DNA or by gifts of the Almighty. I write on Sunday -- we publish Tuesday, so that I may not say anything has happened from Sunday to Tuesday that by twist of fate or change of mind and expect my credibility to last very long...
Heat wave (07/28/11)
I can pretty well handle matters when the outside temperature is 92 in the shade. That is certainly hot enough for anyone. So why does some smart weather man have to quote me the additional "heat index" so that I can realize how hot it feels after the factor of humidity is added? Add to that the additional misery of some yokel bellowing "Hot enough fer ye?" and that represents the historic weather patterns of the summer of 2011...
Undue hiatus (07/21/11)
One should have anticipated an interruption of one's normal habits and obligations when illness slowed down this patient octogenarian. But when the unexpected laid him low, one went with the flow and obeyed his family and physicians, with excellent outcome...
Home is where the heart is (05/12/11)
Most folks who call this planet their home have suffered to a degree we have never witnessed before -- "appalling" seems far too mild. Just where it all started seems indistinct, but a lethal combination of major earthquake, tsunami and damage to lay the nuclear facilities in a state of contagious ruin to the brave people of Japan...
Fifth out of six -- and a quart low (04/27/11)
One was feeling somewhat out of sorts, weak and weary after ordinary exertion, and somewhat dizzy on getting up from his big chair. Testing led to the discovery that anemia was the culprit -- likely due to blood loss from the bowel. So, this senior physician was admitted for replacement from the blood bank to take place at the same hospital where he had practiced for 40 years. ...
Holy Week (04/21/11)
The day started with Our Lord appearing before a shouting throng who passed palm branches to signify the adulation He received while he smiled, tolerant of their praise. The knots of people gathered to relate how He had restored the sight of a blind relative, or that of hearing when the older ones who tried to listen to His messages of eternal truth He had preached to them...
Play ball (04/14/11)
Right along with the April showers, the happy departure from winter and a gladdening of our collective spirits comes the stern command to play ball -- the true American sport of baseball. We go forth to find where on our TVs our favorite Major League is playing, complete with play-by-play comments form the announcers, many of whom were ex-players themselves. ...
A short note to Pastor Jones (04/07/11)
Perhaps you became convinced that the Lord-God in Heaven Almighty and the very purveyor of tolerance and justice -- needed your help. Perhaps you had a messianic mission to preach your gospel of hate that would make the Muslim world repent of their sins right after you burned the Quran -- their holy book by which they live. ...
The contagion of violence (03/31/11)
What do Madison, Wisc., and Tripoli, Libya, have in common? And what do they together have in similarity with Syria, Yemen, Bharhain, Jordan, Egypt and certain of some of the other United States? A simple answer would include autocratic rulers of the people in all these places and a not unexpected reaction of their subject people ranging from peaceable assembly to civil war, with genocide ongoing and painful to see. ...
The Equinox Rocks (03/24/11)
Wasn't it a miserable winter, though? This poor country suffered day and night, enduring blizzards which set century-long records which wreaked havoc on budgets as well as one's general health. These were accompanied by fire and flood which afflicted all parts of the continent...
Apocalypse-Preview? (03/17/11)
The months thus far into the new and untried year of 2011 have little to show us anything except for stress -- pervading, frightening and universal. In turn, we have watched while the people of Africa and the Middle East somehow turned a mob of citizens seeking relief from tyranny and oppression into rivers of blood and unending war. (At this writing, the United States has managed to refrain from our tendency to commit troops to overthrow the remaining dictators -- we must wonder -- how long?)...
Metastatic mayhem (03/10/11)
It all started shortly after we all bade farewell to the ill-starred year of 2010, when mobs of people appeared on the streets of Tunisia's capital in north Africa -- a republic we had scarcely paid much attention to -- or noticed at all. People came out petitioning for freedom from a repressive central government. Days later, Egypt erupted, her people demanding removal or resignation of their president who had ruled for more than 30 years...
Faces in a crowd (03/03/11)
They were a hundred thousand in the town squares, shouting their messages of hate, rage and fear from mouths contorted with screaming emphasis. These were the voices of the people fed up to their teeth with outrage at those tyrants who had seized power and held it as if it were their inherited option lifelong...
On the shoulders of giants (02/24/11)
Growing up, we were repeatedly told and retold the fable first started by a Parson Weems. This man created the story about young George Washington, whose joy it was to receive the gift of a hatchet for his birthday from his doting father. The story goes on to relate how the youngster promptly used it to chop down one of his father's prize cherry trees. ...
History at our fingertips (02/17/11)
Seldom are we treated to a large outpouring of history such as we witnessed these past several weeks, day and night. The constant TV made some sense of the thrilling events which recorded the liberation of Egypt from its masters. This largest of all the Arab states had suffered from chronic deprivation of freedom imposed by corrupt men who had virtually run the country as their piggy bank...
Hearts on sleeve (02/11/11)
Right on schedule comes the feast of Saint Valentine, who was honored for his interest and hard work in promoting the idea of love worn like a charm directly from heart to sleeve. He was a lover of lovers, who promoted the honest invitation to select one's object which we called "be my Valentine!"...
Furry prognosticator (02/03/11)
For one reason or another, this legend of the groundhog's ability to forecast the weather has persisted, although in 2011 it's all in fun. We drag out the furry beast from his hibernation and report, straight away, that he has seen his shadow on Feb. ...
In Memoriam (01/27/11)
Me and my diadem (01/20/11)
We learned in Latin Class years ago about a great lady whose name was Cornelia. She made the history books when she declared that her beloved children were her jewels. Thus counted, I believe I would be among the wealthiest of all the ancient Romans when I consider how precious are my own treasures -- jewels indeed, to make a veritable diadem. These are my offspring, and I need to tell my share of the world how they have made an aging sire most proud...
Outrage in Tuscon (01/13/11)
This past weekend has left us with a feeling of revulsion at the shooting of 20 citizens gathered in peaceable assembly there in Arizona. The perpetrator was a young man who had a history of mental and social problems who was somehow permitted to buy a gun. ...
Some Lame Duck 1 (12/30/10)
The late and unlamented 111th Congress catapulted its members to a memorable adjournment. They will be replaced by the congress that was elected last November, whose members will not be sworn in until Jan. 5 in the New Year of 2011. As such, it was termed the "Lame Duck" congress...
Day of Infamy (12/09/10)
Each generation of Americans has been called upon to offer its quota of men and women to serve the interests of our country in almost as many wars. This writer happens to be a member of the generation called "the greatest" who served during World War II and was on active duty during the Vietnam War...
Music as healer (12/02/10)
Each year, the churches in Christendom have traditionally adopted to set aside a time for penitence before celebrating the Nativity of our Lord. With vestments of purple, the clergy in the "high" church all this period "Advent." I believe it marks our recognition that our Redeemer was sent by the Almighty to atone for the sins of humankind, and that the liturgy should reflect or penitence in terms of Christmas music in its role as healer...
A very special THursday (11/29/10)
Thomas Jefferson did it best of all when he enumerated what he perceived as our God-given rights those of life, liberty, and our pursuit of happiness. Abraham Lincoln borrowed his theme when he gave to posterity his literacy gem at Gettysburg. We have come at Thanksgiving time to elaborate our spirit of gratitude in creating variations on the same theme...
'Tis the season (11/18/10)
Scarcely had the final "Trick or Treat" passed from thousands of juvenile throats when we heard the decree that yet another season celebrating the birth of our Lord was at hand, despite the calendar date. Recession or no, it was again time to spend, spend, spend! This time once more we will be treated with such items as the career of a red-nosed reindeer, the gift of a small boy's drum-playing, and someone's mama kissing a mythical Santa Claus. ...
I'm proud to be a veteran (11/11/10)
Like millions of my generation, I followed the call sent forth from President Roosevelt and the 76th Congress who declared war upon the Japanese Empire after its "day of infamy" in 1941. I was proud then and I have been proud every day of my life since I joined the Navy. ...
Month of Sundays (09/29/10)
From here until a merciful November disposes of it early on, we'll be seeing and reading little but election, election and election! For a month of October Sundays, we will be treated to such hackneyed phrases as "I approve of this 'message'," and with all of the synonyms for corruption and fraud. ...
Equinox (09/22/10)
Summer lingers onstage in our daily lives, bringing us far too little rain and continuing unwanted heat, seemingly ignoring her exit cue -- the equinox. Ready to occupy his role, autumn hints at cool mornings with a tinge of frost on the growth of grass, so soon to turn to hues of khaki and brown during the months of harvest...
A plea for tolerance (09/15/10)
The misguided "pastor" of a small church in Florida extracted his 15 minutes of fame this past week by declaring he was planning to burn copies of the Muslim Holy book, the Quaran, to avenge the 9/11 attack which took place nine years ago. A most submissive media created a circus Barnum would have loved. ...
All dressed up and no place to go (09/08/10)
Two men went to pay their last respects to a friend. As they approached the casket, one said to the other, "Would you look at him now!" "Wow," came the response. "What a shame. Pat didn't believe in heaven or hell. And now he's all dressed up and has no place to go."...
Do your job! (09/01/10)
The captain of a large ship and his chief engineer got into an argument as to which of them was more important in operating the vessel. Failing to come to an agreement, they decided to swap jobs. The Chief went to the bridge and the Captain went to the engine room...
Victory at last (08/24/10)
The ship's announcement system carried this electrifying moment from Captain to crew "NOW HEAR THIS: NOW HEAR THIS: THE WAR IS OVER!" Two hundred twenty men created a pandemonium of shouting and whooping when he added, "We have received orders to get underway: Destination Tokyo Bay."...
Notes to a Tea Party (08/17/10)
I can remember vividly an article I wrote and published via a local country weekly in the seminal year of 1968. I had been witness to the antics of that generation which was the direct offspring of my own --- which Tom Brokaw had dubbed "the greatest."...
Fourscore and seven -- life is a sermon (08/10/10)
After undergoing the meditation associated with one's celebration of an 87th anniversary of one's birth, the guiding principles come from Holy Writ. Not surprisingly, Abraham Lincoln often went to the Bible in his own writing, or the simple number in a biblical turn, as he did at Gettysburg. But what of the sermon?...
Musings on the week's concerns (08/03/10)
The late, great David Brinkley once reported that his son had published a paper entitled "You Are Entitled to My Opinion" --- he didn't say what grade he got for that work. Each columnist we know, including this scribe, however, sets forth his offering of poetry and/or prose each week with the same attitude...
A work in progress - The USA (07/27/10)
The past several weeks of media coverage of "breaking" and other news have been typical of the kind of fare that has historically marked the supremacy of TV over the newspapers, magazines and specialty publications that were the bare bones of all the news that was fit to print. ...
Harsh times for Britannia (07/06/10)
A state of high dudgeon was the norm for the haughty monarch we remember as George III, who went by another title given by his upstart American colonies --- that of TYRANT. This was writ large in the year 1776, in a hot Philadelphia July. Men who made up the First Continental Congress gathered to indict the sovereign for the many crimes and misdemeanors he and his Parliament had committed against the people who had rebelled against his having stripped his subjects of liberties and rights...
Full glorious summer (07/01/10)
An otherwise excellent article about the Gulf oil spill appeared in the latest New Yorker magazine, referring to this summer as being one of discontent. This your local scribe disagrees with totally, despite the eruption of human and natural disasters which has lingered now past the Solstice...
Sweet June is a "Hottie" (06/22/10)
She tripped lightly during her introduction of hot and humid days we cannot blame on March or May. Generally, we have been accustomed to a rather more dignified attitude as she gently registers each of her days at sunset. Instead, she has, of late, turned the sweet farewell of May into the intolerable temperatures approaching the "100" mark even before the Equinox. ...
Troubled waters (06/15/10)
This observer has learned more than he ever needed to know during the past nine weeks about oil and the troubled waters of the Gulf of Mexico. (Several weeks ago in a piece about disasters due to natural causes and effects on this pate, I had remarked that, thus far, no one had ever brought forth catastrophe from an oil rig. With superabundant news coverage and daily portions of doom-cake from the media, I can now add that to my list of events gone woefully astray.)...
Roll call (06/08/10)
We have been a benign and peaceful people down the scores of years since we were British subjects who helped the mother country fight the French-and-Indian wars on this continent. Despite our wishes and struggles to prosper as an independent nation, we have repeatedly engaged in wars, skirmishes and rumors of wars all the way down the course of our history, up to and including this Memorial Day. ...
How to start each day (06/01/10)
What is the first thing you do each morning? The author of Pilgrim's Progress said that "He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find Him the rest of the day." It is important that we go into the presence of God before we go into the presence of men...
In honored glory on Memorial Day (05/26/10)
They were a breed apart, America's fighting men. Whether they fought -- or fell -- as a unit or carrying out orders alone, each of them was greater than the sum of his parts. They have defied description and no one has ever successfully categorized them. But America's enemies who used to underestimate them should have been taught well the first time...
Miss Crim and the '98-ers (04/15/10)
The crescendo of time's passing had brought four wizened little old men to a special ward in the Naval Hospital at St. Albans, New York, back in the late 1950's, when and where this writer was serving as Medical Resident...
Simple pleasures (03/10/10)
A bright sun rises into a grey sky, dazzling the viewer with diadems of crystal brilliance emanating from a light covering of frost. Later, the grass, now bright green after a long winter of ice-covered beige, will warm one's feet. ...
A good case for optimism (02/24/10)
There's no room to gainsay the myriads of evidence out of doors --- anyone with a minimum of observation powers will bear me out. There's green in our cover crop on the small acreage adjacent to our lawn, which itself is unquestionably changing from beige to fresh green...
Competing headlines (02/17/10)
One forgets who made the original quotation about English valor having been derived from the playing fields of Eton. This is the only competition I could find this week. On one side of the earth we watched the winter Olympics at Vancouver. On the other, near Kabul in Afghanistan, where U.S. Marine Corps and NATA troops engaged in deadly combat...
Distaff note (02/10/10)
In olden times, women would sit at the spinning wheel, performing their work by using a notched wooden tool called a distaff. Early writers seeking another term to refer to the fairer sex thus adopted this word. (When this writer was a youngster, the term was used so often we were warned it had become a cliché. No longer, professor!)...
Act of God? (02/03/10)
From the depths the subterranean plates slipped, and it was as if the wrath of God pointed the macabre finger of death in Haiti. The rest of the world stopped in anguished awe while the scenes of destruction took the lives of hundreds of thousands of souls who could not escape the fury of nature. ...
A loving family (01/27/10)
It had been too many years since the last time we could see, be with and interact as a solid family. Letters, e-mails, long conversations by phone --- both wired and cell --- had become a poor substitute for touching and watching one laugh in response...
Which way to the exit? (12/17/09)
Which way to the exit in Afghanistan? The President, having recently been awarded the Nobel Prize for peace, saw fit to follow the recommendations of General McChrystal and ordered 30,000 extra troops on the ground, with a stipulation that they be withdrawn in about 18 months. At that time they will have accomplished their mission and will be brought home. Yeah, right! (What mission?)...
Infamy redressed? (12/02/09)
The writer was an 18-year-old sophomore in college when the naval and air forces of Japan made their dastardly attack on Pearl Harbor without justification or warning. Living in Washington, D.C., in that year of 1941, I felt I was in the midst of matters spinning out of control, because of which my life would never again be the same...
Litany at Thanksgiving (11/26/09)
For summer shade, and a roaring hearth when blow the winter's winds, For gifts of gentle rain, a flaming leaf, a drift of virgin snow. The awesome majesty in thunderhead clouds, a bank of moss, For nights illumined by a single star, and high tide running full,...
Tears (11/18/09)
A sonnet by Maynard Lee Sisler They lurk, to nourish old and untold griefs, Erupting at memory's beck and call, Or yet the high and poignant wall of "TAPS," Thus we know catharsis, with our beliefs That somehow they will help us get through all...
Lost Poem (10/21/09)
Tucked there between the pages of an old and favored book I found a sonnet I sent you so many years ago. Reading it once more, I wondered what I had meant back then And I pondered if those who lingered in a second look...
"Extra, Extra" (10/14/09)
Picture the shivering little newspaper boy with a loud voice singing out "Extra! Extra!" on any metropolitan street corner. A large man extends a dime to the boy, content that he has fulfilled his need to know in its entirety. ...
Chain of command (10/08/09)
General Robert E. Lee's marching orders were lost on the eve of the great battle of Sharpsburg in 1862. Had this not supplied the enemy with all the information about troop location, the great and bloody contest at Antietam Creek might have resulted in a Confederate rout. ...
Failed harvest (09/24/09)
We go to press on the very day of autumnal equinox, when the earth glows with bright sun pouring its spectrum of all the colors of nature to paint the falling leaves. We are awakened by the dawn and watch the lingering sunset slowly diverge and the very time of day gets us confused when, a few weeks down the road we change our clocks back to Central Standard Time. ...
Legacy of a dead lion (09/02/09)
We Americans have witnessed the long-ago inception of a family dynasty that controlled the levers of power in this country since the nineteen-twenties. In Boston, the Irish had immigrated to the extent that folks of a different origin elected them to run that city. ...
Faces in a crowd (08/27/09)
It has been written that "old men will dream dreams, while young men will see visions." So it is that this superannuated writer can go back with the alacrity of an afternoon nap to recall the events of a lifetime ago. The waning days of August are made for such a review...
"Broke" -- but not broken (07/29/09)
The writer has been a living, working part of the healing profession from the use of penicillin and sulfonamides to the clinical use of stem cells. A practicing physician for more than fifty years, I have experienced both the joys of saving and healing lives, but also the sorrows when the patients did not respond, or got worse and died. ...
The nitty-gritty of "family values" (07/22/09)
My readers of this page may remember that my late wife of 32 years of happily married joys passed away just six months ago this week. One does not recover from such a blow to the entire soul that soon, if ever...
Land of Peace (07/15/09)
Two wars, with casualty lists coming in every day from Afghanistan and Iraq. The solutions for these conflicts seem far off and a little too complex for the average Joe to understand, this writer included. More troops? A surge here and enduring diplomatic efforts over yonder? Sure...
That Good Old Summertime (07/08/09)
This past Independence Day brought this ageing observer back a few years into a misty and pleasant past in America. The emotional trip started when a nice lady offered to have me help her pick fresh blackberries from a vine in my back yard. Remembering similar excursions with my late mother started my reminiscences...
The shoulders of giants (07/01/09)
The men who settled down to work that hot summer in Philadelphia were citizens of substance, leaders from their respective states, and loyal subjects of the British crown. In recent years, the monarch in far-off England had signed legislation worked up by a parliament that cared little for the colonists' demand that they be represented in that law-making body that taxed them...
Sonnets by Maynard Lee Sisler (06/24/09)
Fathers
Fathers know where to locate a band-aid Whenever puppy-love may hit the skids. They also know how to handle their kids When their best efforts are not making the grade They know how to win -- and suffer their losses...
June's Moons and Gershwin Tunes (06/17/09)
June comes softly and gently, bringing a sense of style and grace, as if she would like to be your fair lady. She reigns over her domain from a high-sky sun at its zenith come solstice. Her short nights are brought to an abrupt end by raucous dawns welcoming the day sounds to us participants in the celebration of summer at last. Her rains are gentle...
Graduates -- been there, done that (06/11/09)
During the pleasant springtime of the last year of peace, 1939, this adolescent was graduated from Shepherdstown, W.Va., High School. (It was protocol for all boys under 16 to wear knickers, but since my own 16th was just a couple of months away, my father allowed me to wear long pants. ...
Don't overfill a full plate (06/03/09)
Dick Cheney has not emerged from government service as the most popular man in the world. He has filled many jobs, as congressman from Wyoming, Chief of Staff under Gerald Ford, then later he was Secretary of Defense under the first President Bush, and vice president under the most recent George Bush...
Call her blessed (05/07/09)
She lived her long and happy life as the prototypical southern lady. Her stance and carriage were proud and gentle --- she got along with everyone, whatever their calling or station in life. She inherited her father's easy way with people; reared in the tradition of the Old South, she believed with all her heart in The Lost Cause. ...
Flu scares and history (04/30/09)
Tradition has it that the British forces occupying early America purposely gave blankets taken from smallpox victims who had died to the Indian tribes which had been at war with them. The poor Indians were wiped out because they had no immunity to the virus...
Life and death (04/22/09)
I wrote two poems this week, dealing with the emotions associated with life and death. The first one displays the stages that describe the grief we all feel at the loss of a loved one. (The writer's beloved wife of 32 years died suddenly just under three months ago.) A major part of dealing with such a tremendous loss is recognizing these emotions to let one prevent the deterioration of unresolved grieving as a way of everyday living.. ...
Deadline (04/16/09)
It has been truly said the only certainties in this life are death and taxes. The big red date seems to project itself form the plane calendar surface and others have seen it as an on-off switch reminding us that we must file and pay up or run into a peck of problems...
Early morning visit (04/08/09)
Arimathea's tomb caught the dawning sun's early rays that morning as the two women hastened to visit the place where they had laid their Lord, who had been executed by crucifixion three days earlier. ...
Transition (03/25/09)
Ravaged trees wear their scarred and broken limbs as forlorn witnesses to the recent ice storm, while yet thrusting their proud trunks to the sky. On some of these injured, stalwarts are the first hints of blossoms and the rest of the springtime paraphernalia...
Irish eyes are smiling (03/18/09)
The Irish part of my soul positively soared on listening to the great tenor, the late Frank Patterson, at this time of St. Patrick's Day. From his heavenly voice came the sung legends directly from the Auld Sod, bringing the sweetest memories of a grandfather who could send one's emotions to the level of the very celestial address of the great patron saint of Ireland, Patrick himself...
Both sides now (03/11/09)
Judy Collins in the Sixties sang about her quest of finding out about clouds, love and life, concluding that, after having seen both sides now, it was only the illusion that made any lasting impression...
The Dark Ages (02/18/09)
This writer was privileged to serve as medical officer at the U.S. Naval Academy many years ago. Did those creatures ever teach me! They spoke with their own dialect, observed their strict code of truth and honesty, and most of them grew into the fine officer corps that makes our Navy the strongest anywhere...
Full plate and empty pockets (01/22/09)
The inaugural pageantry and the soaring rhetoric of the inaugural address are now history. We have emerged, along with our new president, from a smooth transition period marked by unusual wisdom in selecting a team...
Hail and farewell (01/15/09)
Off into the mists of history will shortly pass the administration and its memorable figures. To them we bid a most hearty farewell, glad they will no longer bring chaos to a country which has been sorely used by them and their shenanigans. ...
A two-faced New Year (01/07/09)
Last week we were filling the quiet, holy night with songs of rejoicing at the birthday of the Prince of Peace. Just at the turn of New Year, gruesome, hateful war brought its grisly images of dying and wounded men, women and children, the usual casualties. ...
Bodacious Hope (12/31/08)
We were sure, back in the summer of 2004, that we had witnessed something America had been missing for so many long years. We made a rash prediction to our skeptical spouse that we would be seeing a lot of this young man and we wouldn't be surprised if he became president some day soon. ...
Christmas Sonnets for 2008 (12/24/08)
Bethlehem Sky By Maynard Lee Sisler The miracle of virgin birth that day Has given humankind the hope we need For life lived well, with joy along the way And purpose found so well in word and deed. The newborn babe saw the Bethlehem sky...
The Bush Legacy (12/11/08)
As much as he can do so during his time as lame duck, the president seems to be making the most of his attenuated term to justify the events of all the years he served. In so doing, he has demonstrated a tendency to revise the actual events he brought into play. ...
The way to peace (12/04/08)
True penitence cannot exist with pride, and humility is the hallmark of the person at peace. In the wisdom of the early Christian church, the celebration of the Nativity of our Lord was a feast day of the greatest importance. ...
The Dow and the Pilgrims (11/27/08)
"Got no checkbooks, got no banks. Still, I'd like to express my thanks -- I've got the sun in the morning and the moon at night. And with the sun in the morning and the moon in the evening, I'm All right!"...
Awkward interval (11/20/08)
President-elect Obama has absolutely no constitutional power until his inauguration eight weeks hence. The lame-duck president occupies a similarly awkward position in that, although he can execute presidential authority right up to Jan. ...
New Broom (11/12/08)
It is over, at last, and we have a new Chief Executive getting settled into his formidable job. We are trusting that he will select an administration attuned to the realities of the country and the world which will help us get well again as Americans...
Hail to the Chief (11/06/08)
Going to press on Election Day relieves the columnist of the temptation to prognosticate. The race has been unduly long, with many twists, turns, gobbledygook and just plain bull-feathers as stock daily fare from stumps that have circled the entire fifty states. ...
Down to the wire (10/30/08)
As we go to press, we'll have less than a week before we can select our leaders in government for the next years. (Doesn't it seem an eternity since the long, long campaign trail started in the mists of early last year?) We met some stellar candidates, and there have been others who would not fit any bill we could imagine, including dog-catcher. ...
Finish line dead ahead (10/23/08)
In politics, especially at election time, a fortnight can be an eternity -- or a blink of the eye -- depending upon how far up or down the polls are going. We have certainly become somewhat less than enchanted when we hear again and again from the four major players in this one. ...
No bottom? (10/15/08)
Before the invention of the fathometer, when a ship's captain or pilot needed to find out how deep the channel was for safe navigation, he would call for sounding, using a weighted line marked with the divisions of a fathom - six feet in landlubber terms...
A time for cheerleading (10/08/08)
Sarah Palin is a smart woman and a "quick study." She responded to the questions posed to her and Senator Joe Biden with far too many worn-out phrases used by John McCain in his campaign-trail canned goods. ...
The debate (10/01/08)
The weeks leading up to the presidential debate in Oxford, Miss., were certainly filled with drama and suspense. Right up to curtain time, we wondered if Senator McCain would even show up, after what appeared to be an act of political chicanery of postponing or canceling of the event by McCain "for the country's sake." Apparently, the candidate had overvalued his own influence in solving the financial crisis which had beset us as a nation of worried people. ...
The Love of Money (09/24/08)
Lines from an old song seem appropriate: "Had we thought a bit Of the end of it When we started painting the town, We'd have been aware That our love affair Was too hot not to cool down." We have been hit in the solar plexus by the greatest crisis to afflict our basic economy in decades. ...
Dr. Maynard Sisler
As I See It