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Author Archives: 34orion
Kitten Karma
My wife is a cat person. I am a dog guy. Somehow, three kittens, one airport encounter, and a little “kitten karma” turned that difference into a lesson in love, politics, and keeping your blood pressure under control. Continue reading
Posted in opinion, Politics and Society, Trump cuts, Trump Opposition
Tagged American politics, animals, brazil, cat, Cat Lovers, Cats, Dog Lovers, Donald Trump, humor, Kittens, marriage, personal essay, Pet Adoption, pets, political satire, politics, travel
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E Pluribus Unum
Twenty-five years after 9/11, a reflection on leadership, unity, and the people who gave everything at Ground Zero—and on the difference between honoring courage and borrowing it for yourself. Continue reading
What We Gave Away
Twenty-five years after 9/11, America’s reservoir of global goodwill has badly eroded. This is a look back at the solidarity we once inspired—and a warning about what we may discover the next time we need the world to stand with us. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 9/11, 9/11 Anniversary, America, American Allies, Canada, Diplomacy, Donald Trump, fitness, Global Goodwill, Ground Zero, half-marathon, International Relations, marathon, National Unity, NATO, New York City, Operation Yellow Ribbon, Patriotism, Pew Research, running, September 11, training, U.S. Foreign Policy, War on Terror
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9/11 Plus 25
Twenty-five years ago, I watched the second plane hit the World Trade Center from my office window.
What I remember most is not only the horror, but the strange quiet that followed—the empty streets, the smoke over the city, and the way people instinctively looked out for one another.
A quarter-century later, I find myself thinking less about what happened that day than about what we learned from it—and how much of that lesson we seem to have forgotten.
I wrote about that morning, the days that followed, and why September 11 still matters. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged 25 Years Later, 9/11, 9/11 Memorial, American history, American politics, culture, family, First Responders, grief, Ground Zero, life, love, MAGA, Memory, National Unity, New York City, Patriotism, Remembrance, September 11, September 11 Anniversary, Terrorism, travel, World Trade Center, writing
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Trump Canal
Donald Trump’s proposal to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” gets the history backward and the geography sideways. Ontario was named after the lake, while “America” comes from an Italian explorer who never saw the Great Lakes. If Trump is determined to rename something in upstate New York, though, Love Canal is waiting.
Welcome to Trump Canal. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged adventure, American politics, Amerigo Vespucci, Canada, Donald Trump, Geography, Great Lakes, hiking, history, Lake America, Lake Ontario, Love Canal, Political Humor, political satire, travel, Trump Administration, Trump Canal, Upstate New York, US-Canada Relations
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Dolly Would
A long layover, a Dolly Parton rabbit hole, Linda Ronstadt, Neil Young, and one uncomfortable question: how much of our happiness are we willing to hand over to politics?
Dolly had a pretty good answer Continue reading
Posted in Humor / satire, opinion, personal essay, Politics and Society, Trump Opposition
Tagged After the Gold Rush, Aging, American culture, brazil, country-music, democracy, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Happiness, life, Linda Ronstadt, music, Neil Young, personal essay, politics, travel, writing
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Willie and Joe
With Stars and Stripes once again becoming a political target, I went back to Mauldin and wondered what Joe and Willie might make of today’s Pentagon.
Turns out, eighty years later, the material is still embarrassingly fresh. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Donald Trump, fiction, history, news, pete-hegseth, political commentary, politics, trump
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The Powerball Presidency
I didn’t win the Powerball, but somewhere around the twentieth virtual floor of the Empire State Building, I realized America may be running a different lottery. The prizes increasingly flow upward, the ladders below keep disappearing, and the biggest jackpot may now come with an oath of office in Washington. Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged $TRUMP, Affordable Care Act, American Dream, American politics, billionaire class, crypto, Donald Trump, economic inequality, history, income inequality, life, political commentary, political satire, politics, Powerball, SNAP, student loans, tax cuts, Trump presidency, Wealth Gap, wealth inequality, World Liberty Financial, writing
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The Ted Lasso Way
Six years ago, when everything felt broken, a fictional football coach showed up with a yellow sign that said BELIEVE.
This week, watching Washington turn grievance into theater yet again, I found myself thinking about Ted Lasso, Anthony Fauci, optimism, and one line that feels especially useful right now:
“Don’t fight back. Fight forward.”
New piece: The Ted Lasso Way Continue reading
Posted in covid, Humor / satire, opinion, personal essay, Politics and Society, Trump cuts, Trump Opposition
Tagged American politics, Anthony Fauci, covid, democracy, Hope, life, Midterm Elections, politics, Rand Paul, Ted Lasso, writing
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Blame it on Rio 
Not America’s Mayor
Rudy Giuliani was once called “America’s Mayor.”
It was a fine title. Grand, flattering, patriotic—and, as it turned out, issued before anyone bothered to read the fine print.
On September 11, 2001, he was my mayor, and in that terrible moment he gave New Yorkers something we desperately needed: steadiness, visibility and hope.
Twenty-five years later, history has had time to clear the smoke.
My latest: Not America’s Mayor. Continue reading →