Since I'm a professional communicator, I think I instinctively cling to doing what I do best, even in times of crisis and turmoil.

A Democrat who had been JFK's Secretary of the Navy, Connally believed that as many as 20 million Democrats would cross over to vote for Nixon because George McGovern wasn't qualified to lead the nation, particularly because of his proposals for military cutbacks.

Let me get this straight: I can't defend the military because I didn't serve. So does that mean I can't support police officers or firefighters because I've never been one? How about teachers? Can I support them since I've never taught a class before?

The George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin affair is one of the most important and clarifying moments in American history.

It seems to many of us that if we are to avoid the eventual catastrophic world conflict, we must strengthen the United Nations as a first step toward a world government patterned after our own government with a legislature, executive and judiciary, and police to enforce its international laws and keep the peace.

Our 21st-century world is an incredibly dangerous one. Between brutal civil wars, violent extremism, spreading autocracy, rising inequality, territorial expansionism, election interference, and nuclear proliferation, our policymakers have their hands full.

There is not much less vexation in the government of a private family than in the managing of an entire state.

Making promises and then saddling yourself with a political system and a political union that means that you cannot deliver those promises, I fear, doesn't contribute to an atmosphere of trust and confidence in politics.