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Election 2020 - Time to Change the Rules?

Four years ago, the country was shocked at the outcome of the 2016 World Series of Politics when the darkest of dark horses triumphed over the establishment.   In that contest, the New York Elites came up short against the New York Six Packs.   The final score of the decisive game was Six Packs 7 and the Elites 6 – a clear victory. The Elites and their supporters were incensed and bitter. “This is not fair!” they proclaimed.   “We got more hits than they did,” explained their team captain. “Who cares?” replied Captain Six Pack.    “The rules only count the runs, not the number of hits.” Over the next 4 years, every time Elitists referred to the prior lost contest, they always added, “We got more hits than they did.”   In fact, many of them began murmuring that the unfair rules should be changed such that the number of hits should now determine the winner.  Fairness, they grumbled, demanded a rules change. Let the Games Begin Anew! It's four years later and we are all spel

Election Day 2020 - First Step Toward Healing?

Two days from now is Election Day, which heretofore had been a demonstration of the majesty of American democracy.  Her Majesty has been dethroned.   Millions are wailing for a change in presidential leadership and millions of others demand that the current administration be granted another term. We are an angry people who seem willing to fight over everything and anything.   No issue is too trivial to demand someone’s cancellation.   Has the current administration caused these seemingly irreparable angry divisions or simply revealed them?  What is the pathway back to civil life? Those who support Vice President Joe Biden do so in part because they believe that his decency and empathy can serve as a national healing elixir.   I pray that this is the case, but I have deep doubts in his capacity to turn a lumbering ocean liner around with only a set of oars.   The healing, if it is ever to occur, will have to come from within.   And we have to want to be healed.   If an angry person

Will a Coronavirus Vaccine Heal the Nation?

Presently, your humble scrivener is situated in Atlanta, Georgia, the destination of a long road trip from Cleveland, Ohio.   Tucked safely inside our car, we were insulated from the novel coronavirus as well as the storm surge of seething of the nation.   As of yet, there is no vaccine or truly effective therapeutic agent available for either of these afflictions.   My sense is that the virus will be sooner and more easily vanquished than will be the malignant divisions that are threatening our society.    Am I being serious here?   Do I actually argue that a scourge from an invisible warrior that has wounded millions will be more easily defeated than our vile and vindictive politics?   Is reaching across the aisle or across the street or across the table such in insurmountable task? Here’s why the virus, as wily and destructive as it is, will at some point be the first to be defeated. Our politics, in contrast, will be more like arthritis and diabetes, long term and progressive d

Portland Protesters Topple Statues of Lincoln and Roosevelt.

To note that our nation is seething with anger – although deeply disturbing – is certainly not Breaking News, except on CNN where Breaking News flashes even when they are breaking for a commercial.  It is not that the nation is angry over a handful of controversial issues; we are angry over every issue.  Indeed, part of my dismay and fascination is how even a trivial event or utterance can provoke rage.  A few decades ago, if a person provoked or insulted someone, an argument might ensue.  Today the same provocation can have a fatal outcome.  Let me offer a very bold pronouncement.   I do so under my own name and stand ready to accept a searing rebuke.    Ready?   Humans are not perfect. Yet, when we judge current political leaders, historical figures, athletes, law enforcement personnel, writers, musicians, educators and the rest of us, any flaw discovered may generate outrage.   The paradigm is not to consider any surrounding circumstances or the context of the time that might

Dr. Sean Conley - White House Physician - a National Mentor

 In one’s profession and in life, we strive to improve our performance.  There are so many pathways available to progress on this journey.  One of the best ways is to emulate others.  Athletes, artists, musicians, writers, parents, tradesmen, educators, clergy, law enforcement personnel and even physicians can better their performance by imitating others.  And while it might seem axiomatic that our best role model is one who is more proficient than we, this is not necessarily the case .  The team captain can learn much from a rookie.  The Jewish Talmud expresses the truth more eloquently.                                                 Who is wise?  One who learns from every man. Over my career, I have tried to improve my practice of medicine from watching other physicians and nurses in action.   As an example, I have heard medical professionals having difficult conversations with patients which taught me how to do this better. So, when President Trump’s doctor recently led several

Trump has COVID-19: Our Year of Disaster Marches Onward

The year 2020 has been an annus horribilis and it's not over yet.  Seemingly out of nowhere a virus, heretofore unknown, has seeped over the globe like hot molten lava leaving a wake of destruction and despair.  The fatalities here in the U.S. have been staggering and the death count continues to rise.  Millions here have been infected and have suffered greatly with severe illness, hospitalizations and intensive care unit treatment.  Those who have so far escaped infection are anxious that their fate might change at any moment.  All of us have been affected. And, we have had a catastrophic economic melt down from which we may never fully recover.   Furloughs, layoffs, bankruptcies and permanent closures have affected nearly every sector of our economy.   The airline industry – the nation’s circulatory system – now has a very weak pulse, as one of countless industry examples.   Job losses have crippled much of the nation which has caused consequences to real people and families f