There’s a lot of smart people in the world. One of them is Kevin D. Roberts, the president of The Heritage Foundation. He recently appeared in IMPRIMIS, the Hillsdale College publication with an essay “Populist Conservatism and Constitutional Order.” I read his essay twice, and was reminded of a blog I wrote in 2012 entitled, …
Should you listen to an academic or …? An article by John Fonte published in the June/July 2024 issue of IMPRIMIS, coming out of Hillsdale College, was called “National Conservatism, Freedom Conservatism, and Americanism.” Fonte is a smart guy – degrees in history and a writer for many publications. And while he parses the conservative …
I introduced myself to our Pastor via e-mail. I like to do this to establish a relationship. It was about his homily. I wrote: “Albert Camus once wrote, “One moment of weakness, and everything is lost, theory and practice.” This is one of the guiding principles of my life. Very difficult to be strong all …
Republicans haven’t figured out who or what they are fighting, and more important, how to fight who they are fighting. First, what is it that they are fighting? Vince Everett Ellison put it distinctly in Crime, Inc., “…foreign Communist/Marxist governments, through patience and cunning, systematically took over the Democratic Party, thereby infiltrating the federal government …
Secret shopping is an interesting concept. You hire people to go “undercover” and gather research. Sometimes it’s about pricing. Sometimes it’s how you are treated by a competitor. There was an entire TV series (Undercover Boss) that was spawned by the concept. I’ve never seen the series, but I have done my share of Secret …
I was stunned at the homily one weekend a few years ago going over Luke 17: 11-19, the story about the ten lepers and the one who came back to thank Jesus for cleansing them. The priest (whose cell phone inevitably goes off during any homily he gives) used the story to bring in a …
There is an overwhelming amount of evidence in history showing the power of persuasive speech and the effects it may have on a people. Only in the last century, individuals such as King, Kennedy, Churchill and others have moved, through a direct play on emotions, masses of people to do uncanny things (yes, even evil …
Years ago I would walk down to the client’s cafeteria to grab a bite to eat with the people I worked for. It was a good way to listen and connect beyond business. You hear a lot of things when you do this. And you meet many of the people you normally don’t come into …
Sun Tzu said that “In war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.” This is often interpreted as “Every battle is won before it is ever fought.” You can debate the meaning, but it really says …
I wrote this paper in 1975 during my final year as a graduate student majoring in English at DePaul University. It sparked a battle between me and the instructor, Dr. Ellin M. Kelly. The fallout was that I graduated with the M.A., but not with honors. I needed an A in the course to get …
