Category: Politics

  • Violence Is Violence—No Matter the Idea

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    I’ve seen what real violence looks like. I’ve walked through the streets of Baghdad after Saddam fell, where hatred exploded around every corner. Bodies in alleys. Trunks filled with the dead. Streets littered with people murdered for nothing more than who they were, what they believed, what sect they were born into. Sunni. Shia. Kurd.…

  • Tonight I am wondering about the direction of the country I grew up in and fought for.

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    What are you doing this evening? The Dangers of Political Violence and the Urgency of Cooler Heads The assassination of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University is a chilling reminder of how fragile our civic fabric has become. Political murder is a line no society can cross without unraveling. Today’s tragedy has drawn universal condemnation…

  • The Soviets showed us what not to do. We did it bigger.

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    What We Left Behind We recently pulled out of the country, and after all that time, it feels like we left things not much different from when I was there over 20 years ago. One of my biggest fears won’t come true now, at least — my son won’t fight the same war I fought.…

  • Canada’s Self-Defense Problem: The Freedom It Won’t Tolerate

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    The Canadian Image vs. Reality Canada often positions itself as the progressive antidote to American chaos. In the Trump era especially, it became fashionable for Canadians—and the media at large—to point across the border and say, “We’re not like them.” Open. Inclusive. Peaceful. But beneath the politeness and pride lies a deeply unsettling contradiction: Canada…

  • Tend the Trees, Save the Forest: Why Local Politics Matters More Than You Think

    Every four years, America holds its collective breath. Red and blue maps flood every screen. Cable news runs 24/7. Social media turns into a battlefield of memes and outrage. All eyes lock onto the national stage, and we act like the presidency alone will make or break our lives. But while we argue over the…