The long holiday weekend honoring presidents is here. Growing up we used to have two president’s birthdays in February. Lincoln on February 12th and Washington February 22nd. Washington’s was a federal holiday because he was the first guy to hold the job, and many feel he was the greatest and most important. Lincoln never got a federal holiday, but many states honored him with a holiday. But in 1971, the Uniform Monday Holiday Act combined the holiday to the third Monday in February, and we are suppose to be honoring all presidents. The weekend also marks the one month anniversary of the Trump presidency. He says it’s been great. Most people who have a grip on reality are worried about how long we can go on like this. The only president with a worst first month was William Henry Harrison who caught pneumonia on inauguration day, and died after a month in office.

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It always seems easier and more convenient to fly out of smaller airports. Easier parking. Fewer people. Getting through security is much quicker, especially if you are lucky enough to get TSA pre-check. So this past week my wife and I flew out of Atlantic International Airport for a vacation in Florida. Since it was a 6am flight, we expected to quickly get through check-in and security. When security opened at 4:30am, we were among the first to go through. While TSA pre-check sounds good, the only thing you don’t have to do is take your shoes off. But as we were going through, I heard the two words you don’t want to hear at that time and place, “Bag Check”.

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It has taken a few days for the words to sink in. I have read many reactions and analysis of Donald Trump’s inaugural address. I’m still shocked by the breathtaking crudeness of its language and its delivery. I completely disagree with Trump on just about everything, and don’t think he’s qualified to be president, and have cringed at his speeches since he started running for president. But given the time and moment of this occasion, this stands by itself. Inaugural addresses are supposed to be about healing, unity, the brightness of the future, and the vision of the new president, and how he is going to rally those both for and against him for the good of all. There should be beauty and eloquence to the language. This speech was snarled at us. It was an apocalyptic vision of America.

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You start to notice the beauty even before you get there. As you head west from Las Vegas, you have to cross the Spring Mountains. The day my wife and I set out, it was clear and bright. But as we approached the mountains, we could see dark, brooding clouds overhead. We were concerned that rain would ruin the trip. But once we got over Spring Mountain summit, the sky cleared. We passed through the Red Rock Conservation Area and the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. We then came into one of the most uniquely named towns in America, Pahrump, Nevada. The vista on the horizon as you drive through Pahrump tells you nature is in charge here, and you should just try to take it all in. When State Line Road meets Route 190 at the Amargosa Opera House, you turn left to enter a place like no other, Death Valley. (more…)

This is the time of year when journalists and writers look back and tell us what they thought was the best and worst of everything. I’ve tried to make this space about the four things that I feel are important issues, and can be viewed as a common denominator for many of us. Journalism, politics, language, and life cover a lot of ground.  The idea behind these pieces starts with journalism, to which I devoted a career, and helps me express my thoughts and opinions on the practice of the profession and the three most important areas it teaches us about.

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It’s coming. In the middle of our preparation for Christmas and ringing in the new year, it starts to cast its long, dark shadow. Many of us are distracted by the colorful lights, wrapping gifts, going to see Santa, the aroma of Christmas cookies, hoping all the relatives get along that we don’t see it looming. But next week, at 5:44am on Wednesday, December 21st the longest three months of the year arrives on the shortest day. Winter. The sun will rise at 7:51am. You may even see it if it’s not cloudy, or raining, or sleeting, or our biggest fear, snowing. It only stays around for a little more than eight hours, and sets at 4:36pm. But the kids will be starting their Christmas vacation. They will be excited about the big day coming. Parents will be crazed shopping, decorating and trying to keep the kids under control. The following week many people take vacation, and it’s the run up to New Year’s eve and parties. College football playoffs, and New Year’s day bowl games. But we all have to wake up January 2nd.

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On “60 Minutes” this week Scott Pelley interviewed Speaker of the House Paul Ryan about his relationship with Donald Trump, and what he hopes to accomplished now that Republicans control the government. Ryan initially refused to endorse Trump during the campaign, and said he wouldn’t campaign with or for him. His most damning condemnation of Trump came over Trump’s comment about a federal judge who was presiding over a lawsuit brought against Trump. Trump said the judge couldn’t be fair because of his Mexican heritage. Remember, Trump wants to build that wall to keep the Mexican “rapists and murderers” out. Pelley asked Ryan, “You called Trump a racist”. Ryan responded by saying, “No, I didn’t, I said his comment was.” Pelley said, “I’m not sure there’s a lot of daylight between those definitions.” He then let Ryan say his disagreements with Trump are over. Ryan said, “Yeah, we’re fine. We’re not looking back.”…”Let bygones be bygones.” I was shocked that Pelley just let him off the hook. No follow up about all the other bigoted and racist comments. Pelley didn’t ask Ryan for his reaction to Trump’s appointment of Steve Bannon, Executive Chair of Breitbart News, as Special Counselor to the President. Breitbart is the extreme right wing, some would say racist, news website. Pelley also didn’t ask about Trump’s comments about sexually assaulting women. How about asking Ryan how he explains those things to his teenage daughter?

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It is not what you would expect to see in an upper middle class neighborhood of large homes with well manicured lawns. As I was driving home the other day, I saw a woman laying on the side of the road on top of a black bag, unconscious. She was on the edge of a large sloping grass field between two houses. It was a two lane road with nowhere to easily turn around, and the car behind me kept coming. After stopping at the next stop sign, I was able to turn around in a driveway. As I headed back toward the woman, I was expecting that someone would have stopped behind me to help. There was no one. I pulled over just beyond where she laying. As I approached her, I started to worry that maybe she just wasn’t unconscious, but dead. I bent down and said, “Hello?” She woke up a little startled.

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Twenty nine years ago this month the movie “Three Men and a Baby” starring Tom Selleck, Ted Danson, and Steve Guttenburg came out. It was the story of three bachelors forced to take care of a baby girl after one of their girlfriends left the child at their front door. One of them had become a father without knowing it. So, three totally unprepared men were faced with caring for a baby that changes their lives. It was a big hit, grossing over $167 million dollars. Flash forward to this week, and the plot seems to playing out for real. Republicans Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee John McCain woke up Wednesday morning to find Donald Trump on their doorstep. Ah! Oh! now what?

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Albert Einstein was the world’s genius. He discovered the theory of relativity, E=mc2. It changed the way we look at the universe. Its impact can’t be overstated. He was the Man of the Century.  He was an icon. Everyone recognized the wild gray hair and mustache. He came to the United States in 1933 as a refugee from Germany to escape the Nazis. He went to work at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University. So, the smartest man in the world was living, in of all places, New Jersey.

Monday, March 14, 1955 was Einstein’s 76th birthday. That drew reporters, film crews, and photographers to his house on Mercer Street in Princeton. They were hoping for an interview or, at least, a picture.

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