I proudly but humbly submit this excerpt of my novel, part 2 in honor of Veterans Day:   Well into the month of June of 1945, the battle of Okinawa still raging, Sally, having deposited the war collection at the coalyard this Saturday, swung open one of the garage doors and pushed in the garden cart, then latched the door. She stepped into the back entry and jumped the steps into the kitchen and immediately checked through the mail her mother always left in the napkin holder on the ta...

 Undeniably illegal immigration presents a problem, not simply that it violates law but more so that the influx is unaccounted for, consequently making it impossible for the system to evaluate true employment needs and protection now and in the future. Obviously some undocumented workers do displace native-born workers in various industries — particularly in meat-packing and agriculture where skills are not required, but not overwhelmingly. More importantly is the placement and recruiting o...

To this day I am astonished there are still those who believe that the Vietnam War was the right course if only we had committed more troops — let alone another ten to twenty thousand dead — and won. Deja vu. The thinking runs the same course with respect to Iraq — stay the course but this time victory, regardless that as each week goes by we can count another seven or so of our brave added to the death count. After all, the rate of dying in battle is minuscule in contrast to other wars, a...

 If we “unilaterally” invaded a country, why can we not unilaterally cut and run? Why does even, Dean say that we cannot do the latter? — and by so doing joins the ilk of liberal hawks, such as Hillary and Kerry? Is it inspired begrudgingly by the adage that “you made your bed...”? But do we have to sleep in it other sleepless nights as well? For one thing, “unilateral” was in the decision ; the execution was not, for Bush was smart enough to drag along a “coalition”; despite its being w...

The current rehashed brouhaha caused by the Libby indictment is, of course, bogus. The real issue is not even about Wilson and Plame. It is rather the climate and manner in which the Bush administration cunningly manipulated Congress, the media and the populace to agree to a ground war. What Bush and his cohorts simply but cleverly did was to exploit the voluminous backlog of media and congressional warnings about the mad dictator, “still” omnipotent to do harm to our defense, despite his humil...

Chief Justice Roberts — unquestionably he will be — though a conservative and if true to his word that law is dispassionate should not cause a revolution or worse devolution of the Court. He did, however, express a cunning candor that revealed deceptively evasive responses and for that reason will not overwhelmingly be confirmed by the Senate. When a nominee displays brilliance and in a deferential way, there is no cause for the opposing party to filibuster and chance looking like spoil sports...

  Yes, it was Mother Nature’s wrath that Katrina waged war against humanity, especially the poor, mostly black. To make matters worse, the right added a surname — vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation . It was a cruel manner in which to wake up America from its indifference, rather than pin the blame to nature’s indifference. In the beginning the godly wrath was in Goldwater and those who followed and took off in the Reagan years and orgiastically raped by George W. The prevailing message th...

After decades of being somewhat gung ho in believing we could save the world, I’ve finally come to the conclusion that it is far better to defend ourselves against violations of our borders, routing pedophiles, satanic serial killers, terrorist cells from within, unscrupulous captains of industry-labor, and drug lords. It is time to get serious about energy independence, global warming, and an egalitarian thrust for the nation’s health. Moreover, we should be vigilant in rolling back the wa...

Let’s all of us rein in analysis and perceive the London event as simply emblematic of ruthless, unrelenting terrorism by crazed jihadists. “Analysts” are already trying to link Bush and Blair as “I told you so” to strengthen support of the war in Iraq even more so while the other spectrum is attempting to poke holes in the theory “taking the war to the terrorists.” Both views are irrelevant; fanatics will do their thing regardless.   Copyright © 2005 Richard R. Kennedy All rights r...

So-called neoliberalism is little more than neoconservatism with heart. Essentially, however, the neoliberal is much like the so-called moderate Republican who tolerates the ranting of a true-blooded conservative who threatens to gather up his marbles unless his irrelevant whims are accommodated but with a meager semblance of compromise. Since the Reagan revolution — more accurately, reactionism — the pride of a nation once guided by pragmatic wisdom had been gradually slipping away and is now ...

A young husband loses his wife to cancer and feels God has let him down: in his grief he burns the Bible. However others may perceive this as offensive, he has the right to this function or dysfunction, provided it is his bible and has done so on his own property. If he melodramatically wishes to make a point and burns it in the public square or on church grounds, it is a criminal act and not his right to free speech. No one has the right to burn a flag draped on the coffin of a fallen so...

The Democratic Party is not dying — far from it, as it is the party for daily living. It is the bastion for social security as a basic floor in avoiding poverty in old age, in widowhood, and the disabled. For decades it has encouraged personal accounts by generous tax shelters in IRAs and 401ks. The party led the battle to reassess payroll tax in the 80s which meant solvency into the 2040s. It is calmly aware of the need for modification such as supplementary revenue from the general tax. ...

Prison abuse goes with the territory — emotions run high no matter the time or particular place. Who among us would be willing to embark on a grim career of prison guard? — needless to say, very few of us. Except for the most arrant, sadistic abuse most violations go unreported precisely because no one really cares, except for the inmates. That said, over time, many prison wardens have enacted remarkable reforms to safeguard within reason the dignity of inmates. However, when non-violent pris...

It strikes me as hypocrisy that the Republican Senate now stresses simple up or down vote by simple majority as representative of the will of the people. Of course, they fail to point out that the fifty-five Republicans represent 30 million fewer constituents than do the forty-five Democrats. Moreover, it is ironic that lifetime appointments of a radical nature should not require a super majority when the Republicans perceive the courts as “legislators” indifferent to preferences of the “mains...

In face of the stupidity of the Army in even allowing Abu Ghraib to become and issue and the hundreds of leaks from alleged terrorists’ complaints of abuse at Guantanamo, it is obvious that Newsweek’s report is accurate. However, the point is that irrational exuberance of journalism when it adds to stirring up the enemy is not simply bad editorial judgment but undermines the war effort. Without condoning the treatment of war prisoners, journalists should realize that our troops who guard them...