I received this timely article this morning from a friend in Canada. I found it to be most interesting and a good summary of patriotism in American history. From The Globe & Mail (Ottawa/Quebec Edition), July 3, 2021. David Shribman is an American who teaches at McGill University in Montreal. I hope you find it…

It has become de rigueur for politicians to wear American flag lapel pins to show their patriotism. For too many, their behavior and actions belie patriotism in favor of partisanship or personal gain. Patriotism is not wrapping oneself in the American flag. It is not showing off with patriotic paraphernalia and clothing. It is not…

It used to be that after much wrangling and posturing political leaders would come together and cooperate for the good of the country. Issues or problems concerning the safety or well being of the nation took precedent over politics and personal gain. Not so any more. I’m reminded of Senator Arthur Vandenberg’s declaration that “politics…

As time has passed since the 2020 presidential election, I’ve often wondered what is happening with us and our politics. I really thought that after the previous four years and the departure of the former president that our civility and sanity would be restored. Whoa; was I wrong! It almost seems as if many of…

Yesterday, I drove my granddaughter to Jacksonville to catch her flight back home to Colorado. Betty and I had picked her up a week earlier in Orlando where she and her volleyball team from Denver had taken part in a national tournament. She spent the week with us here on St. Simons, and we had…

The United States presently spends nearly five times more per person on health care than does Canada. The U.S. administrative costs came out to $812 billion in 2017 or $2,497 per person compared with $551 per person in Canada. In the World Health Organization’s ranking of healthcare system performance among 191 member nations published in…

This past Monday I posted “Straight Talk About Health Care.” I thought it also might be helpful to learn more about systems in other countries, especially those with public or nationalized healthcare. This post is submitted by George Shafer,* a Canadian friend, who lives in Almonte, Ontario, near Ottawa. “Canada’s healthcare system is run by…

My post on the Supreme Court’s recent decision upholding Obamacare provoked a response which I feel compelled to share with you. It was submitted by Bill Potter, an attorney who spent twenty years as a member of a not for profit health care insurance company and a large multi-specialty physicians group. The system has about…

The lopsided 7-2 decision yesterday favoring the Affordable Care Act was a welcome relief and a signal that Obama’s healthcare program will be around for the foreseeable future. This is the third time that Obamacare has been upheld by the high court. It also has survived 63 challenges from Republicans in congress.The court specifically rejected…

If our gridlock politics were not enough, we have Joe Manchin playing the good guy and Mitch McConnell, as usual, playing the “grim reaper.” Both present insights into the state of Washington politics. If you take Senator Manchin at his word, he is trying to be the grown-up in the room seeking compromise and fair…