It would be amusing if it weren’t so serious. Last weekend’s expressions of supposed free speech were almost universally called demonstrations by the media and “mostly peaceful” by some. In contrast, the Jan. 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol was labeled an “insurrection” and “riot” by the media.
Imagine a meeting of your neighborhood watch where the neighbor down the street bursts in, yelling “Help, my house is burning!” You survey the room and another neighbor is sitting there decked out in fire-fighting gear from head to toe.
NHA TRANG, Vietnam - Rod Kjersten has returned to Vietnam for the first time since he was a nurse in the U.S. Air Force hospital in Cam Ranh Bay. Now 77, he recalls the precise date when he left - May 28, 1970. He served at the hospital for two years where he treated wounded American soldiers and saw many die. He says while he was initially "gung-ho" about the U.S. and South Vietnamese war efforts, he has since become "neutral." Asked why, he said it was after seeing the Ku Chi tunnels on this trip. These were some of the tunnels used by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong soldiers to hide and "pop up" to shoot at Americans.
In Idaho, our family traditions start outside.
The semi-annual Idaho Republican Party Central Committee will convene in Pocatello the weekend of June 20-21. Following a recent “trend,” the topic will not be “How to grow the Party.” Instead, it appears to be “How to whittle the Party down to only the purest compliers with Republican orthodoxy.”
This month, Republicans from throughout the Gem State will come together in beautiful Pocatello, Idaho, to enjoy fellowship and take care of important party business. The Idaho GOP State Central Committee is made up of delegates from every legislative district and county in the state. We gather every six months to hear reports from across Idaho and vote on proposed rules and resolutions.
America is a constitutional Republic. Or at least it usually is. Evidence is growing that, sometime between 2021 and 2025, nameless activists, never elected and completely unaccountable to “the People,” usurped the power of our nation’s chief executive.
While contemplating the horror of two young and soon-to-be-engaged Israeli Embassy employees who were gunned down by a man shouting "free Palestine" and "I did it for Gaza," outside the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., last week, I recalled the opening line to a song from the old off-Broadway musical "The Fantasticks" - "You wonder how these things begin." That song speaks to the love between a boy and a girl. Applied to the Washington shootings it makes you wonder how hate begins.
Right now, the United States Senate is debating President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.” Social media is weighing in as well, with opinions ranging from enthusiastic support to concerns about increased spending.
Life imitates art. Where we find heroes and villains in the popular fiction of our day suggests the landscape of heroes and villains in our everyday lives.