Living On the Diagonal

Speaker Paul Ryan & Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Call For Unity During Time of Tragic Shooting  "On days like today, there are no Democrats or Republicans, only Americans" - Nancy Pelosi "For all the noise and fury, we are a family. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us." - Paul Ryan The tragic shootings in Alexandria, VA this morning gave Speaker Paul Ryan a moment to pause and address the entire House in leading a prayer for Rep. Steven Scalise and the other victims of the lone gunman's attack on a baseball field. His words were poignant and heartfelt. Similarly, Nancy Pelosi, House Democratic Minority Leader followed his lead. Pelosi used the metaphor of sports, in this case baseball to illustrate how the one-hundred year tradition of the two parties playing this annual charity event promoted good feelings, teamwork and competition. Speaker Ryan and Rep Pelosi actually agreed that this is a time to "take pause...

A COMMON THREAD OF HUMANITY IN THOSE WE LOST IN 2016 and will be sorely missed facing 2017 "The Greatest" December 31, 2016 In surveying a list of those celebrities we lost this past year, it struck me many of these were true icons in their respective careers or fields of expertise. What stood out, which may not be unlike  any prior year, is that a large number who emerged from humble beginnings and went on to lead exemplary lives. Their impact on culture was in large part in serving the greatest good for all of us. And it is our good fortune many lived into their 80’s and 90’s. One can say, well yes they were old, thus they eventually faced inevitable mortality. They are after all human. Certainly we have lost other greats in previous years, but what I found among them is something unique . There is a common thread in that many faced great adversity in pursuing their careers, their causes and over many years succeeded. These are the innovators, excl...

THE PROPHECY OF BOB DYLAN - "A HARD RAIN'S A-GONNA FALL"     Many believed one true genius before his time, composed music and lyrics true in 1962 and it holds the same truth today. Bob Dylan became the voice of a new generation, for the disenfranchised and those denied justice. The times subjugated a population to a system being born coming to fruition.    "The Free Wheel'n Bob Dylan"  became an American classic during its own tenure. However, Dylan became the lyrical prophet for a nation ridden with lies to the people. The promise of liberty and justice began to unravel. Our democratic way of life dissolved into the oligarchy in place today who took no prisoners. The arrogance is found in the percentage we all now know.   "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" is song that has often come to mind in recent years and dominates my images of the surreal, the obnoxious and the untruths of the current elec...