A Promised Land

America as a Developing Country

Seeing the Light and Springsteen

Pushing 75, His Concerts Still Deliver Solace, Hope and Dreams...and Inspiration for 2024

 

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He had me at “Light of Day.”

It’s one of my five favorite Bruce Springsteen songs. He opened his March 31 San Francisco concert with it. I was lucky enough to be there.

The high-octane tune is about a trucker driving hard after a week on the road, determined to get down to good times in Galveston by Saturday night. But it’s more generally about pushing ahead with hope after getting “a little lost along the way” and about turning the corner to find the light of day.

Similarly, Bruce’s entire performance was about far more than just putting on a show, as I learned from both him and a fellow audience member over the course of the evening. More on that in a minute.

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Give ’em Hell, Joe

Biden Channels Truman

When Joe Biden entered the House of Representatives chamber on Thursday to deliver his State of the Union address, my first thought was, “Oh my, he looks old.” By the time he was finished, I switched to, “Oh yeah, he sounds strong.”

Biden did exactly what he needed to do: demonstrate strength.

With the union so intensely divided and our democracy under siege. Biden’s SOTU challenge was to show that he still has what it takes to beat Donald Trump again, save democracy, advance women’s rights and otherwise move the country forward – no small set of tasks.

He met that challenge.

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In the Name of Love: MLK Day Matters More Than Ever at Home and Abroad

Nonviolence over brutishness, inspiration over resignation, love over hate.

Monday marks Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Preaching nonviolence over brutishness, inspiration over resignation, love over hate, his message rings truer than ever as we tread into 2024. I’m marking it here by sharing videos featuring a remarkable rock song and an even more powerful speech.

One lesser known aspect of MLK’s work was its international dimension. Traveling to India in 1959, he wrote that “India’s [Mahatma] Gandhi was the guiding light of our technique of nonviolent social change.” He further linked “the Christian doctrine of love” to the Hindu leader’s words and actions.

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In One Key Way, January 6 Is Worse Than Pearl Harbor and 9/11

The Anniversary of Insurrection Day

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December 7.

September 11.

As we recall the third anniversary of the U.S. Capitol being seized by rioters, January 6 has joined the ranks of the most horrible days in American history. In the words FDR applied to Pearl Harbor, it is “a date which will live in infamy.”

Thankfully, the January 6, 2021 insurrection did not wreak nearly the massive deaths nor physical havoc of those other two days. But in one crucial respect, it’s proven even worse.

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Happy New Year! From Vaccines to Homicides to Poland to Brazil to America to Cats…Good News

Yes. Even in America. And even cats.

These are not the best of times, to put it mildly. But it’s important to see the rays of hope piercing the doom and gloom. They illuminate the fact that America and the world can recover, that we’re not trapped in an irreversible downward spiral. Instances of progress across the globe remind us that what once seemed lost can still be found.

For example, from increasing global vaccine availability to positive health developments in Mexico and Bangladesh to improved animal welfare practices to a record drop in U.S. murders to a host of other beacons, some significant changes made aspects of this world better in 2023.

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