Vol. 13 No. 37 -- The Rules of the Road
December 15, 2019

Imagine a world in which there are no traffic laws. Get in the car and do as you please. Sounds great - until you realize that your safety and life rests in the assumption that others on the road will act rationally. That's why everyone agrees that rules of the road are not only advisable, but are essential. Now, let's take it to the next step. Let's say there are rules of the road, but those sworn to preserve, protect and defend those rules don't really care if they are enforced.  It may be that they want the rules enforced, but feel that there are special cases (i.e. special people) where they do not apply. This kind of selective enforcement may serve the faux enforcers' interests, but they eventually undermine the society they were sworn to preserve, protect and defend. With lawbreaking set as the example, how long will be it until no one follows the rules of the road? Can you imagine the carnage that will follow? Yet, here we are. And as you may have surmised, this post is not about safe driving.  It is about the Constitution, the separation of powers and the preservation of our free society.  Donald Trump cannot be allowed to violate the law, impede legal investigations into those violations and claim that the Constitution he has abused places him about the law. Nevertheless, congressional Republicans are about to allow him to do just that. While the GOP probably won't be able to avoid Donald Trump's impeachment, it has already determined the outcome of a Senate trial likely to begin early next month. In fact, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has openly admitted coordinating strategy for the Senate trial with the White House. If that happened in a legal proceeding outside of Congress, McConnell would go to prison.  It comes down to this: We can't ignore the character of Donald Trump, a man who blatantly placed the interests of himself and Vladimir Putin before those of the American people. Maddening as it is, 30 percent of those American people, lemmings willing to follow this fool to the brink of disaster, don't care. Oddly, these Forever Trumpers claim to be patriotic. They say they follow the word of God. However, evidence and common sense puts a lie to those claims. Americans cherish the Constitution.  They do not trash it. And the love of God means adhering to standards of fairness and decency - not ignoring them when convenient. This week, the U.S. House of Representatives will begin the process of enforcing our nation's rules of the road. One can only hope that Senate republicans can discover their moral compass and permanently park the car wreck that is Donald Trump. The failure to so so puts us all at risk. 

Vol. 13 No. 36 -- The Last Week
December 9, 2019

So it all comes down to this - the last week of classes for the Fall 2019 semester at the University of Kansas. That means it is the last week of classes before I retire from the faculty of the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Upon my official retirement on December 31, I will be known as Associate Professor Emeritus David Guth. That, of course, will make the lovely Maureen Mrs. Emeritus. There's not a lot of drama this week as my journalism history class is online. I actually wrote and recorded the final lecture weeks ago. With only one round of short essay questions to grade and final exam grades to record - the exams are being administered and graded online - my classwork is nearly done. My final faculty meeting is Friday. Chuck and Kris Marsh are hosting a retirement party for me on Sunday. There's also the Chancellor's holiday reception on the 19th. After that, the only official business remaining for me is to hand in my signed retirement papers sometime after noon on December 31. And with that, a 45-year professional career will come to an end. Or will it?  I am already planning to do some volunteer work with the American Red Cross. I plan to do some writing. And, under the right circumstances, I'd be willing to do more teaching. However, for the most part, I plan to be a professor emeritus and a husband, father and grandfather extraordinaire. There are big changes in the offing - but nothing that scares me. I think I am prepared for what comes next as anyone.  One thing I am not prepared to do at this time is to reflect on the past. There's plenty of time to do that. Right now, I am focused on the future.

Vol. 13 No. 35 -- Being Thankful
November 27, 2019

Let us be thankful. Too often, we forget to do so. Although I have tried to make this a thoughtful, enlightening and sometimes introspective blog, it has, of late, been a place to rail away at incompetency and evil. Donald Trump's reign of ruin has left a majority of Americans worrying about the future survival of the republic. However, today's post is not about him, his cronies or the legion of syncopates who blindly follow him. Despite the static and distraction present in our political lives, there is so much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. Right there, at the the top of my list, is family. I am blessed with a loving and resourceful wife, moral and forward-thinking children and the best grandchildren anyone could hope to have. I adore my siblings and in-laws. (How many can say they are an "out-law" in multiple families?) Let's not forget the doggies who adopted our family over the years.  Brooksie, Rusty, Boomer and Randi have added so much to the joy of living. Then, there are my friends.  I'd like to have more,  but the ones I have a golden. With my retirement now just a matter of weeks away, I can look back at a successful and satisfying career. Did I become the foreign correspondent I envisioned for myself a half-century ago? Or did I become the new Johnny Carson? No, I did better. I was a husband, father, grandfather, journalist, public relations practitioner, college professor and scholar who helped make a difference in people's lives. You can't ask for more than that. As I move into retirement, I am optimistic about the future.  I've laid out a path that will permit me to embrace -- not languish -- in the future.  Having lost more than 90 pounds from my peak weight of a couple of years ago, I believe I am healthier now than I have been in decades. I have a comfortable home in a fabulous town. Are there any regrets?  Sure.  But I can't change the past.  I can, however, learn from it. And yes, there are things in my life and in the life of our country that could be - and should be - better. But facing the challenges ahead are a part of the joy of living. After all, once you've achieved all of your goals, you have nowhere to go.  I am thrilled that I have a destination in sight.  I may not get there, but I will revel in its pursuit - for which I am thankful.  May you and yours be blessed with reasons to be thankful this Thanksgiving.

Vol. 13 No. 34 -- The GOP's Four Lying Points
November 12, 2019

With the impeachment open hearings starting tomorrow, I thought it might be useful to help you decipher the Republican party's four talking points designed to counter the tsunami of bad news about the crush the Trump administration.  We know what those talking points are because CNN obtained a copy of them. And if I do say so myself, they are a damn fine piece of fiction.  Let's start with Point 1: The July 25 call summary "shows no conditionality or evidence of pressure." They are absolutely correct - IF you don't know how to read English. Otherwise, there is no other interpretation than Trump was strong-arming the Ukrainians. Point 2: President Trump and the Ukrainian president have said there was no pressure. Again, anyone with a third-grade reading level of English can see otherwise. Besides, there's a ton of sworn testimony that the Ukrainians, themselves, were saying that they were under intense pressure. Point 3: The Ukrainians were not aware of the U.S. hold on military assistance at the time of Trump's July 25 telephone call. Testimony released yesterday by the House Judiciary Committee put that lie to rest: They knew and they were scared. And best of all, Point 4: The Ukrainians got the money, so what does it matter? Just as you can go to prison for trying to kill someone but failing, a quid pro quo is still a quid pro quo whether or not it is executed. All of this begs a question that EVERY American should ask himself or herself: Just how stupid do these Republicans think YOU are? Just like President Pinocchio, who has lied to the American people a DOCUMENTED 14,000+ times since taking office, the Republicans believe that telling the same lie over and over again with conviction will make it true.  Do you know who also held that philosophy? Adolf Hitler. However, and this is a big difference, Hitler's beliefs were philosophically based - albeit based on a demented, sadistic philosophy. Everything that Donald Trump does is designed to serve his own greedy and narcissistic interests. The sooner that Republicans and the Trumpeters who blindly follow this traitorous and racist leach learn this truth can we reclaim our nation and truly Make America Great Again.

Vol. 13 No. 33 -- One Year Out
November 6, 2019

And now it gets real. We are one year out from Election Day 2020, the most consequential election of my life. Assuming that the Republican U.S. Senate hasn't grown a backbone and removed the current cancer in the White House, then the fate of Donald Quid Pro Quo Trump will be in the hands of the American people.  Last night's results from the off-year elections suggest a continuation of 2018's blue tsunami. Kentucky elected a Democrat governor and Virginia elected a Democrat legislature largely on the basis of strong support in the suburbs. Since the Reagan years, the suburbs have more often than not been the tipping point leading to a Republican advantage. However, the suburbs were blue this year, just as they were in the 2018 midterm elections. A strong turnout of Democrat voters was also in the mix - just as it was last year.  Remember: The failure of Democrats to get out their voters, especially in the upper Midwest, is what allowed Trump to squeak out a victory in the Electoral College in 2016. At least one post-election analysis I heard has suggested that moderation played well in this year's elections.  I believe the sample size is too small to make such a sweeping statement. However, if true, it bodes well for Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar. The question is just how liberal is the Democratic base? I suspect it is not liberal enough to nominate Bernie Sanders. However, the articulate and intelligent Elizabeth Warren can't be counted out.  And how does impeachment play out during the next year? As of right now, I don't think it will have any effect beyond ginning up both conservative and liberal bases. I certainly don't think the Republican Senate has the moral fortitude to put the country and Constitution ahead of its own political interests. And the polls have consistently shown that there is one-third of the American electorate willing to march with Donald Trump through the gates of hell - which is exactly where we are currently headed. There is one wild card yet to be revealed: Trump's taxes. I believe some, but not all of the public will react negatively if it is shown that Trump's affinity for murderous dictators is directly linked to the failing finances of his badly mismanaged company. This election is the Democrats' to lose. That is something they have shown a knack for doing - reference 1988, 2000 and 2016.  However, the best thing the Democrats have going is Donald Trump, himself. He keeps shooting himself in the foot more often than Dick Cheney. He is, literally, self-impeaching. So buckle up, baby! It's going to be a bumpy ride.

Vol. 13 No. 32 -- Free Speech and Facebook
October 31, 2019

Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook are under intense pressure to censor misleading and outright false political posts and ads. The pressure is understandable, in light of the foreign interference in the 2016 presidential election and the existence of president who dishes out truth as often as the sun circles the earth. Censorship is a path fraught with danger. Yet it is appealing to those on the political fringes. For one thing, ultra-conservatives have complained that Facebook and other Silicon Valley companies have shown a liberal bias by censoring their messaging. They, of course, ignore the fact that according to a Media Matters study, conservative news outlets outperform others on social media. On the left, ultra-liberals such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently blasted Zuckerberg and Facebook during a congressional hearing for not censoring political ads that make false claims. Twitter just announced that it will no longer take political ads on its platform. AOC and others want him to follow suit. Zuckerberg pushed back, saying he was uncomfortable with having private companies making decisions on whether political speech - even that which is false - is appropriate.  He's wrong - and he's right. Under the equal time provisions of the Federal Communications Act of 1934, only broadcast radio and television stations are required to run uncensored ads from legally qualified candidates. (And that only applies when other legally qualified candidates in the same contest have purchased ads.)  Other than that, private companies have the right to censor whomever and whenever they want. At the risk of oversimplifying an extremely complex issue, only when the government becomes involved is it a First Amendment issue. But here is the flip side - should these private companies do it?  Should Mark Zuckerberg and those of his ilk become self-appointed gatekeepers of truth?  And whose truth? While some things are clearly black and white, most public policy issues are shrouded in various shades of gray. Heck, even the weather forecaster can't tell you the difference between partly cloudy and partly sunny. A bigger question is: What role should the consumers of this information play? What is their responsibility? Caveat emptor: Let the buyer beware. If you are one of those people who make political judgments based solely on social media posts and ads, then do me a favor: Stay home on election day. Those people are intellectually lazy. They have no business making making decisions in a democracy.  But, of course, they can. And that's my final point. They have a right to judge the quality of information they receive - if they so choose. Isn't it useful for you to have the opportunity to make an independent judgment as to whether a politician has lied to you? And it is not as if Zuckerberg and others haven't been listening to the public. Facebook has already taken some positive steps to assure that its users know the source of information posted in its platform. And it has exercised the right to take down posts that pose a reckless disregard for public safety or are libelous and abusive. Just how far do you want social media to go in deciding what you do and do not read? Common sense tells me that when the limpid left and the radical right want to force Facebook and others to impose a Social Media Nanny State, then Zuckerberg - at least on this issue - should stay the course. Free speech rocks.

Vol. 13 No. 31 -- The White House of Horrors
October 19, 2019

With Halloween approaching, it is a time for scary stories. However, one would hope that those are limited to the movies, books and TV shows like the Twilight Zone. Lately, tails of horror have been showing up in our newspapers and the nightly news. They all emanate from the same address: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C. This past week has been the worst this country has known since the terror attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.  However, on that date, America stood strong against an unprovoked and dastardly attack. Perhaps a more appropriate comparison is April 30, 1975, the day the United States abandoned its embassy in Saigon and lost the Vietnam war.  That date marked the low point in American prestige during my lifetime - until President Trump's inexplicable and unconscionable decision to abandon the Syrian Kurds. In doing so, Trump played into the hands of a bloody Turkish dictator, a bloody Syrian dictator, and a bloody Russian dictator.  Trump's precipitous and impulsive withdrawal of American troops has undermined American credibility and will give new life to ISIS, placing our European allies and the United States in jeopardy.  If that were not enough, the arrogant and dimwitted acting White House chief of staff went on live national television to admit the President had committed two impeachable offenses - the subversion of American foreign policy in pursuit of dirt on a political opponent based on a discredited theory and a gross violation of the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution. Trump then sent his equally dimwitted Vice President and Secretary of State to Turkey to negotiate a cease-fire that (1) gave Turkey, Syrian dictator Assad and the Russians everything they wanted, (2) completely undercut our Kurd allies who have fought and died at our behest, and (3) isn't really a cease fire.  While some Republicans have spoken our against Trump's Syrian stupidity, all signs continue to point to their unwavering support of their fuehrer. May God help us. These are dark days in America.  Basic American values are being run over by immoral politics of expediency and approximately one-third of the country doesn't give a damn.  The time to impeach and remove this cancer from the American body politic is at hand or surely our democracy will die a slow and painful death.

Vol. 13 No. 30 -- Impeachment Insurance
October 10, 2019

Forty-six years ago today, I was watching the National League Championship Series game between the New York Mets and the Cincinnati Reds when NBC News broke in with the news: Vice President Spiro T. Agnew had resigned after pleading no contest to federal bribery charges. The news resounded like a clap of thunder.  The Agnew news came in the middle of the widening Watergate scandal and just days after the start of the Yom Kippur War. At least to me, the  news of the Vice President's resignation came as a surprise.  I knew that Agnew was under investigation. And I had no real sense of his guilt or innocence.  However, I had been struck at how much Agnew's response to the allegations had differed from Richard Nixon's during the previous summer's Senate Watergate Committee hearings. Agnew's initial response, in contrast to Nixon Administration stonewalling, had been a breath of fresh air. However, that didn't last. With his plea bargain, Agnew admitted that he had been lying. The ultimate effect of the drama in a Baltimore federal courtroom was to remove Nixon's impeachment insurance. Congress would have had second thoughts about removing Nixon if that meant that Agnew, who had served less than two years as governor of Maryland prior to his election, would be elevated to the presidency. Not many people thought that Agnew was up to the task. As it turned out, the Democrat-controlled Congress limited Nixon's choices for Agnew's replacement. Nixon had to settle for the more moderate and politically acceptable Gerald Ford. And the rest is history. That was then and this is now. We have another President facing likely impeachment - this time for far more serious crimes than Nixon's.  Donald Trump's impeachment insurance is not his Vice President. It's the Republican controlled U.S. Senate. The GOP has been a seemingly impenetrable firebreak protecting Trump from the constitutional crisis he ignited. However, just like Watergate, the political landscape keeps shifting with every new revelation. The Mueller Report may not have changed many minds, but the combination of the Ukrainian affair and Trump's decision to abandon the Kurds in Northern Syria appear to be game changers. For the first time, a Fox News poll has found that 51 percent of Americans favor Trump's impeachment and removal from office. And today we learned that two of Rudy Guiliani's associates were arrested trying to flee the country. They have been accused of campaign finance violations tied to Ukraine.  At some point - possibly in the near future - Senate Republicans are going to need to distance themselves from the White House.  To put it another way, the time is at hand for the rats to leave the sinking ship. And that's when Donald Trump's impeachment insurance will expire.

Vol. 13 No. 29 -- "Though"
September 26, 2019

Though is an interesting word. It is an adverb indicating that a factor qualifies or imposes restrictions on what was said previously. A simpler way to thinking of it is to substitute it with the word "however" because it has a similar effect. This six-letter word is at the heart of an impeachable offense, President Trump's July 25 telephone call with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy.  Immediately after Zelenskyy indicated that his country wanted some U.S. anti-tank missiles as part of an foreign aid package that had been approved by Congress but mysteriously delayed by the Trump administration, President Trump said, "I would like you to do us a favor though because our country has been through a lot and Ukraine knows a lot about it." Trump went on to ask Zelenskyy to hunt for Hillary Clinton's "missing emails" and to investigate his political rival, Joe Biden. (Keep in mind that there is ABSOLUTELY NO EVIDENCE that Biden or his son Hunter has done anything wrong in their relationships with Ukraine.)  He also asked the Ukrainian president to consult with Attorney General William Barr and private attorney Rudy Giuliani. (That, in and of itself, raises a slew of questions.) To translate this into its basics: The President of the United States threatened to withhold military aid from an ally unless that ally dug up dirt on Trump's political opponents.  Trump and his toadies have been saying there's no quid pro quo - that the President did not explicitly threaten anyone.  I may not be able to read Latin, but I damn sure can read English.  The juxtaposition of the word though with Zelenskyy's request for the missiles makes it quid pro quo. And, by the way, the quid pro quo issue is actually irrelevant. Asking the foreign leader to dig up dirt on the Trump's political opponents is an impeachable offense -- and illegal. (Something Barr and Giuliani should be considering.  Plea bargain, anyone?)  As bad as the transcript of this phone call is for Trump, the whistleblower complaint that triggered this controversy is even worse. It is clear that Donald J. Trump put his own interests ahead of the nation's security - and violated the Constitution and the law in doing so.  Trump's Republican defenders may think they know Latin, though they apparently need to brush up on their knowledge of plain old English.

Vol. 13 No. 28 -- Melinda
September 19, 2019

For her 40th birthday, I gave my sister Melinda a toy buzzard. (She re-gifted it to me for my 40th birthday.) For her 49th birthday, I gave her - and the rest of the family - a calendar that counted down the days to her 50th birthday.  For her 60th, I produced a video in which every time I made mention of her age, she progressively got older.  Tomorrow, September 20, is Melinda Cunningham's 70th birthday. My gift this year is this blog post. I grew up which five brothers and one sister.  And what a sister, indeed. She has contributed a lot of joy to my life. And other than the time I broke her collarbone with a swinging wooden door, we've had a great brother-sister relationship. She was the one who gave me my family nickname, Uncle Moo. (It's a long story.  We used to watch the TV western Rawhide. She'd play the part of trail master Gill Favor. I played the role of the cattle.) She may not remember this, but there was one moment, in particular, that she altered the course of my life. You see, the Guths were not the Waltons or the Huxtables. We were more like one of those families you might see on a soap opera.  I suffered - and probably still do to some extent - from low self-esteem. However, it was Melinda who told me when I was in high school or college that she thought I would be the most successful of the siblings.  It's hard to say that's the case because success can be measured in so many ways. And my siblings have all achieved some measure of success. However, Melinda's encouragement gave me the confidence to pursue my dreams.  It was also my sister and her husband Bob who drove all night halfway across the country when my wife Jan suddenly died in 2007.  I don't know how I would have gotten through the next 10 days without them. So, on this, her 70th birthday, there are no gag gifts or old-age jokes. Just love and admiration. And Happy Birthday!

Vol. 13 No. 27 -- Not a "Sharpie"
September 6, 2019

Let's start with the obvious pun: Donald Trump's pen may be a Sharpie, but no one will ever say the same about him. In terms of his intellectual and emotional abilities, President Pinocchio is a butter knife in the utensils drawer -- small, dull and unnecessary.  When a man is so oblivious to think no one will notice a hand-drawn amendment to a weather service hurricane map, you have to wonder just how stupid he is. And when he doubles-down and triples-down on an easily debunked falsehood - in this case, his false claim that Alabama was in the forecast path of Hurricane Dorian - you can't help but wonder about his sanity.  Who argues over a week-old weather map when the storm is, literally, upon us? The truth is, Donald Trump doesn't give a damn about Alabama. But he does care about the voters in Alabama. It's important he shows his base that he is with them in times of crisis, real or imagined. If he were smart - talk about false news - he would have won admiration if he had owned up to his misstatement and expressed real empathy with the people along the storm's path. But that didn't happen. And this isn't the first hurricane where Trump has stuck both his big feet and tiny hands into his considerable mouth. Remember Who's Boat is this Boat? After the debacle of November 8, 2016, we can take nothing for granted. But even Donald Trump knows that there's a storm a'comin'. Just look at the growing exodus of Republicans from the U.S. House of Representatives. It's like rats leaving a sinking ship. They know that the Ship of State has run aground under the command of Admiral Bonespur. And, once they decide who their presidential nominee is, the Democrats will come out and vote in November 2020 in record numbers. And so will farmers hurt by Trump's reckless trade war. And so will persons of color who reject the most openly racist President in the nation's history. And so will women who are tired of the sexual deviant in the White House. And so will young people - traditionally the population with the poorest turnout. They will vote next year because they want a future, not a train wreck.  Hurricanes are the perfect metaphor Trump: A big bag of wind that creates chaos, does a lot of damage, but will eventually blow itself out.

Vol. 13 No. 26 -- My Last First Day
August 26, 2019

Today is my last first day of school. The Fall 2019 semester will be my final semester at the University of Kansas before I retire officially on December 31. It is going to be unlike any other semester I have experienced. For one thing, I am teaching only one class, the History of Journalism and Mass Communications. And I am teaching it online, which means I do not have any classroom interaction with the students. I will miss that.  However, I plan to hold some office hours on campus should the students desire some "face time." (And yes, there is also the possibility of that other "Facetime.") The office hours are somewhat problematic - I do not have a campus office. My office for the last eight years, 110 Stauffer-Flint Hall, doesn't exist anymore.  The 120+ year-old building is undergoing a major renovation and the first floor where my office was has been gutted.  So I will schedule meetings at alternate locations - perhaps the library, the student union or, maybe even The Wheel, a popular "watering hole." (I'm not certain that last option would lend itself to the proper academic environment.) I am also engaged in what in university parlance is known as a service project. I am researching, writing and producing a three-part video history of journalism at KU. The videos will be used on interactive screens in the open areas of the new first floor.  I love video editing, so this "chore" is really a lot of fun.  What the class and the videos have in common is where they are performed, at my desk and on my computer in my home. I am somewhat concerned that I am anchored in my office chair too much. So, in addition to my early morning swims at the Lawrence Aquatics Center, I try to make it a point to move to other locations in the house and around town, such as the Lawrence Public Library.  Since I gave my last classroom lecture in May, I have been treating this time as semi-retirement. (For the morons in the legislature who may be concerned, I worked virtually all summer on school-related matters without pay.  You are getting your money's worth - and more.)  I have to admit that there is some natural trepidation heading into retirement. There's always a little fear of the unknown.  However, there are no second thoughts about retiring at this time. I knew the moment I made it official that it was the right thing to do and that there will be no looking back. Ironically, today is the 28th anniversary of my very first class at KU, Principles of Public Relations. That has since morphed in Strategic Communication II - Principles of Advertising and Public Relations, the course in which I delivered my last classroom lecture. I like that symmetry. Yes, I am somewhat nostalgic. That's natural. But I refuse to wallow in the past when there is so much I can still do in the emerging future.

Vol. 13 No. 25 -- Tip
August 20, 2019

Do you remember the first lines of the very first book you ever read? I do. It was in the fall of 1957 in a first grade classroom at St. Michaels Elementary in St. Michaels, Maryland. The book was Tip and it was about a small, brown and white Scottish Terrier named, appropriately, Tip. The first lines were, to me, like great poetry: "Tip!  Tip, Tip! Come here, Tip!" While I don't remember the specific plot line of Tip, my impression was that it was about of playful, somewhat mischievous and fun-loving puppy. He loved his family and his family loved him. (At least I don't remember the family swatting Tip with a newspaper for leaving a contribution on the living room rug.) The second book I ever read was a sequel, a cat-and-dog drama, Tip and Mitten. However, in this book, our dog-star Tip and his buddy Mitten, a small black kitten, got along famously. It may well have been that the author, whom I believe to be Tim McKee, was trying to make a statement about diversity and black (fur) and white (fur) creatures getting along.  However, these were the racially segregated Talbot County schools in 1957, so I seriously doubt that was the case. I don't remember the title of the third book I read.  However, it was not a continuation of the Tip series. And that's a shame, because that little puppy had so much potential. There could have been additional Tip books for older readers. Perhaps they would have been adapted into major motion pictures, such as the Civil war classic Gone with the Tip, or the Vietnam era thriller Apocalypse Tip, or, perhaps, the Star Trek classic, The Wrath of Tip. Such potential missed!  However, I owe a lot to that little dog. He opened up a world of reading and writing to me. That led to high school, college, graduate school and a career in journalism and mass communications.  Not bad for a little puppy. On the other hand, when you consider that all of that education and the experience of the last 62 years has led me to writing this ridiculous blog post, I'm not sure that Tip would be proud. Still, Tip - whom I presume is now in doggy heaven - was a good boy.

Vol. 13 No. 24 -- Give Them A Net
August 15, 2019

Everyone - or I'd like to think everyone - wants justice. We should give wholehearted support to the good and give no quarter to evil. Or at least that was how I was taught at an early age. Unfortunately, there is something unsettling at work in this country. We have lost perspective.  Ever wonder why Lady Justice, the woman carrying the scales, wears a blindfold? That is because justice should be rendered impartially. However, many Americans act as if that is a luxury reserved for themselves and not others. Look at what happened in Philadelphia last night. During an eight-hour standoff with a man who had shot six police officers during an attempt to serve an arrest warrant, several residents of that great American city chose to harass and hurl insults - among other things - at the very police officers trying to protect them from a deranged man. The assumption apparently was that the police were trying to put the hammer down on an innocent man. First, that's a judgment to be solely rendered by a jury of the defendant's peers, not by a bunch of vigilantes in the street. Second, that he had shot six officers and was engaged in a pitched gun battle made it impossible to take him into the custody the way the officers preferred, peacefully with no injuries. During the past three weeks we've seen police take down or arrest three mass shooters at extreme risk to their own lives. An officer in Los Angeles was murdered in cold blood for a "routine" traffic stop.  (As L.A. and Philadelphia have shown us, there is nothing "routine" in police work.) Also during this period, there have been almost a dozen suicides of New York City police officers. And there has been a dramatic spike of police suicides nationwide. It doesn't take a psychologist to know that this may stem, in part, from the increased scrutiny police have been under because of well-publicized brutality cases. That scrutiny is not only justified, it should be welcomed. Any good police officer will tell you that. For our system of justice to function, it has to be transparent. That includes an examination of police actions to determine whether they were performed within the limits of the law. And clearly, in some notable cases, they were not and sanctions were justified. However, this scrutiny has also generated a climate where law enforcement agencies around the country have been enveloped in cloud of mistrust and ridicule. This, despite the fact that in the vast majority of cases, they have acted lawfully, bravely and often without regard to their personal safety. It is time for the seemingly countless number of aggrieved individuals in a society that seems to bathe in its own victimization to give the police the same rights that the police grant to them: A presumption of innocence. Try walking a mile in a peace officer's shoes. Around every corner there is potential danger. Sometimes officers overreact to perceived danger and an innocent person is injured or killed.  But there are many more times officers have fallen in the line of duty for no other reason than they were just doing their jobs. Police officers are constantly walking a high wire without a net. And while I am the first to say that everyone, including police officers, should be held accountable for their actions, they should receive support and thanks for the jobs they do until the facts show otherwise. Give them a net. Don't be so quick to cut the wire.

Vol. 13 No. 23 -- Not the Greatest
August 6, 2019

There is a famous YouTube clip from the HBO series Newsroom in which Jeff Daniels, acting as a television news anchor, tells an audience that America is not the greatest country in the world. It's a real eye-opener. I - and just about everyone I know - grew up believing that the United States of America is the best place to live, period. I have held true to that belief despite assassinations, corruption, meaningless wars and a decline in civility and moral values. I still would rather live here than any other place on the planet. I feel blessed to have been born and raised here. However, I no long buy the "American Exceptionalism" argument.  How can you say we are better than any other nation after the events of the past few days? After days, weeks and months of presidential race-baiting, a man with a weapon walked into Walmart close to the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso on a mission to stop "a Hispanic invasion."  At the time of this writing, there are 22 dead, dozens wounded and a city scared for life. Hours later, another gunman in Dayton killed nine people within 32 seconds before police gunned him down. Did you know that there have been more mass shootings in the United States this year than there have been days? Now, it is true that one can create a statistical analysis that shows that the United States is not the worst country in the world when it comes to gun violence.  Even so, we still rank near the top of each list no matter how you crunch those numbers. Is that a measure of greatness? What's more, we have president who has openly engaged in outrageous, hateful racist rhetoric - and about one-third of the country appears to be cheering him on. That group includes a large number of self-proclaimed God-fearing, Jesus-loving evangelicals.  This is the same block of voters who are willing to turn a blind eye to Russian interference in our elections, cold-blooded murder by our "ally" Saudi Arabia, presidential incompetence that has led to 63 nominees for high office having been withdrawn because of moral, legal or competence deficiencies, and a president who is an adulterer and a sexual offender. And yes, there is plenty of bipartisan blame to go around. When given the power, the feckless democrats do the same outrageous crap that they rail against republicans for doing. Elective office is supposed to be public service, not a career option.  In light of these facts, can you honestly look me in the eye and say America is a greatest country in the world? Times like these make me question whether we are all that great. Maybe we are. But we sure as hell ought to be trying harder to achieve that "more perfect union" we proclaim in the preamble to our Constitution. Believe it or not, I want to make America great again. That means standing up for American values - not sacrificing them to win elections. "Make America Great Again" is not a campaign slogan. It is a moral commitment that our elected leaders and perhaps a majority of our citizens have failed to keep. There's nothing great about that.

Vol. 13 No. 22 -- In Defense of Charm City
July 28, 2019

I was born in Baltimore in 1952.  Although I have never lived within the city limits, I have a great fondness for the city. Yesterday, the person - notice I don't call him a man - who claims to be the leader of the United States hurled racially-tinged insults at both the city and some of its elected officials. It is true that Baltimore needs to address some serious issues, not unlike a lot of major cities. And yes, it is also true that the Democratic leadership of the city has often let its residents down. But that is not the whole story. Many of the challenges Baltimore faces is the result of the racial animus and social apathy that the person-in-question loves to generate. He is not interested in being President of the United States. He just wants to be the president of the people who voted for him - which, by the way, was a decided minority. Yes, Baltimore faces serious challenges. But name me one community in America that doesn't. In case you haven't noticed, the United States of America is in a period of great social, political, cultural and economic realignment.  Trump has hitched his wagon to an ugly nativism that fears the growing diversity of the nation. (E pluribus unum - "out of many, one.") For the record, Baltimore is a great city. It is one of America's oldest and most historic cities. Anyone who has lived in the region around Chesapeake Bay loves the place. It is more than a slogan for a local beer when that region is called "The Land of Pleasant Living." And while big-city life isn't for me, that doesn't mean I don't love to visit and partake of all that those communities offer. Given a choice of which city to visit, Baltimore is at the top of my list. If I had to live in a city, my choice, again, would be Baltimore. Yes, I'll admit that all of this is written with a degree of bias. But if that bias wasn't warranted, I wouldn't have the passion to write this post. The fact is that I am personally insulted by the remarks of that shadow leader who, literally, tells lies for a living.  For one who intimately knows Baltimore and its people, you should consider the sewage that Trump spewed from his rat-infested mouth yesterday just another one of his falsehoods calculated to gin up his base. And if you happen to be a member of Trump's base and approve of the kind of language he used to describe Baltimore and its residents, then you have no concept of what it means to be an American. And you should be ashamed.

Vol. 13 No. 21 -- July 20, 1969
July 18, 2019

The first moon landing 50 years ago this Saturday was a special moment when a raucous world briefly paused to contemplate humanity's potential. To be certain, the space race was as much a geopolitical event as it was scientific exploration. But when the lunar module Eagle touched down in the Sea of Tranquility, it was a moment of pride for everyone on planet Earth. "For the people all over the world, I am sure they, too, join with Americans in recognizing what an immense feat this is," President Richard Nixon said in a telephone call to the astronauts. "Because of what you have done, the heavens have become a part of man's world." It was one of those moments when people who witnessed it on television remember exactly where they were. I was a rising senior at Easton High School in Easton, Maryland. On July 20, 1969, I was a staff member at Rodney Scout Reservation in Northeast, Maryland. Sunday afternoons were usually busy because it was check-in day for the troops planning a week's stay at the camp.  However, I was able to steal away long enough to go to the lounge in the camp headquarters cabin to watch the landing. Later that evening, was back in the lounge to watch the first moon walk.  I remember the feeling of euphoria surrounding the moment. It was a sense of "WE did it!" (I stress we because I had intensely watched every step in the long progress that led to Neil Armstrong's first step. It had become personal.) There was also a sense that we - humanity - perhaps could get our act together and achieve President Nixon's stated wish: "As you talk to us from the Sea of Tranquility, it inspires us to redouble our efforts to bring peace and tranquility to Earth." Unfortunately, the good feelings surrounding the moon landing quickly dissipated. Before long, there was six more years of war, Watergate, gas lines, hostages, Iran-Contra, Desert Storm, Monica, 9/11 and the nightmare we know as Donald Trump. However, for at least one moment, humanity realized its great potential in working as one toward a common goal.

Vol. 13 No. 20 -- Getting What Mick Jagger Can't
July 11, 2019

"I love the smell of chlorine in the morning," the silver-haired soon-to-be professor emeritus said. "It smells like physical fitness...sort of."  Two months of early - and I stress early - morning swims at the Lawrence Aquatics Center does not mean that I am ready to challenge Michael Phelps -- or his father, for that matter. However, in an effort adjust to what I am calling "semi-retirement" and to heed to the advice of my wife, daughter and a host of medical professionals, I am putting in an hour of water-walking and swimming weekday mornings. I haven't lost a lot of weight - and that's another issue altogether - but I do feel better. I feel as if I have increased my energy level. Surprisingly, not all of the benefit of my early-morning aquatics are physical. Frankly, I feel better about myself. There is also the benefit of an hour of repetitive exercise. Often, I "zone-out" and think of nothing but the task before me. However, I spend much of the time giving undivided mental attention to the issues I will face in the days and weeks ahead.  For example, I am working on a major video project for the School of Journalism.  While walking and swimming my laps, I have developed a methodology for collecting and organizing hundreds of photographs and videos.  I am also in the process of writing a book - I call it a "fact-based fiction." I've spent a lot of time in the pool developing plot lines and figuring out a research strategy. And, oh yes, I "wrote" some of this blog post in the pool this morning. Now, let's get something straight: I don't consider the fact that I am exercising in the morning particularly noteworthy. I should have done it a long time ago. And there a lot of people who have been doing it a long time - like decades. I certainly see an amazing number of people swimming, walking and running at oh-dark-thirty every day. So, receiving praise is not the point of this exercise. Personal satisfaction is. In the final analysis, there is only one person who knows whether you have done your best when it comes to taking care of yourself.  (If you haven't figured it out, that's you.) I know that I can do better. But because of my early morning dip in the pool, I have that confidence that I can.

Vol. 13 No. 19 -- The American Way
July 3, 2019

There appears to be some confusion at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington as to what it means to be an American.  Perhaps this can be somewhat understood - after all, Mr. Trump's mother was an immigrant. However, being an American isn't measured by how many tanks you can roll on the National Mall, nor by the number of fancy-dancy aircraft you can fly over the nation's capitol. Yes, Mr. Trump, being an American means being strong.  But he has confused military strength with real strength. I am talking about the moral strength that has - or at least had - differentiated this nation from every other country on the planet.  We are the nation that opened its arms to the hungry, oppressed and dreamers from around the world - including your mother. We are the nation that did not seek any territorial concessions in the Second World War.  Instead, we opened our treasury can gave billions of dollars to restore a shattered world. We are a country where the courts and the Congress are on equal footing with the Executive Branch. (Remember 1776? That's when we said, in so many words, "We don't need no stinkin' king!") We are also a nation where we respect freedom of speech, religion and the press -- something President Pinocchio doesn't seem to grasp. Speaking of President Bone Spur, Americans honor their military by giving our service men and women decent pay, healthcare, veterans services and a clearly defined mission.  We don't sabre-rattle ourselves into a war - which many fear is what the Current Occupant is doing. And we don't force our service men and women to parade around in the mid-summer's heat of Washington so that the erstwhile Commander-in-Chief can be the centerpiece of a pseudo-patriotic political rally.  (And let's not forget that this exercise in presidential ego is costing the American people $92 million.)  The fact is that the Cowardly Liar in the White House doesn't know a damn thing about what it means to be an American.  All he seems to know is that he turned his daddy's money into power that he repeatedly abuses without any thought to the consequences they will have on the future of our nation. I am proud to be an American. On this Fourth of July, I will celebrate American values. And I will recommit myself to the goal of removing Donald Trump from the presidency and seeing to it that he answers to his many crimes in a court of law. After all, THAT is the American way.

Vol. 13 No. 18 -- The Hamburglar of Baseball
June 22, 2019

Image for a moment that you are an executive with the McDonald's Corp. Your company has become the largest restaurant chain in the world because of its insistence on a certain level of quality and a standardized delivery of services at all of its restaurant. (For all of you anti-McDonald's snobs, you don't have to like the company's food to admire its business acumen.) Now image that one of your franchisees is ignoring the corporate philosophy and has allowed the quality and consistency to founder while continuing to feather his pockets. What would you do? If you are McDonald's, you'd take away the franchise and give it to someone committed to the corporate philosophy. Major League Baseball is faced with such a problem, yet appears to be unwilling to do anything about it. In this case, the Hamburglar is Peter Angelos, the owner of the Baltimore Orioles. For a generation, the Baltimore Orioles were the winningest franchise in baseball.  They were the model to which all others aspired. However, in his quarter-century reign of terror, Angelos's team has reached the American League Championship Series twice - only to see front office greed and incompetence quickly dissemble the team into a model of futility. On the day Dave Johnson was named American League Manager of the Year in 1997, Angelos fired him over a petty dispute. More recently, he fired 2014 Manager of the Year Buck Showalter after leaving him with virtually a bare cupboard of talent. After the Orioles won the American League East title in 2014, the front office sat pat for three - yes, three - off seasons and did not substantially improve the club. Instead, Angelos panicked and signed Chris Davis to a seven-year, $162 million dollar contract. Sure, Davis had gone on a historic home-run spree in the first half of this decade. But there were signs of Davis's decline when he signed the lucrative contract. And now the Orioles are saddled with someone who for the past three seasons has performed at a historically inept level. (Davis last year had the lowest batting average for a qualified player in the history of the game.) It is not only the worst contract in the history of MLB, but it has handcuffed the club's ability to attract or retain talent.  The current club is on a pace to lose 117 games this year - dangerously close to the record set by the "Amazin' Mets" of 1961. (At least that was an expansion team.) The basic problem in Baltimore is that the team is owned by a risk-averse attorney who made his money suing companies over asbestos exposure to their employees. To put it another way, he got rich off of other people's misery. And now, the son-of-a-bitch is doing it again. He continues to make money off of a sweet stadium deal, broadcast and cable revenues and other residuals. He probably sees himself as well-intentioned. So did Mussolini. Major League Baseball should step in and say "enough is enough." It should force Angelos to sell the team.  But it won't, because many of the front offices in MLB are populated with Hamburglar owners.  They fear if someone can take away Angelos's franchise, the same could happen to them. Too often, bad things happened to good people. The people of Baltimore deserve better. Unfortunately, bad things happening to bad people do not happen enough.

Vol. 13 No. 17 -- Your Right to the Light
June 14, 2019

If your family is like mine, it is best to steer away from politics when the relatives gather  These are stressful times with the most polarizing President in the nearly 243-year history of the United States.  Some in my family voted for the man. That was their right. Others voted for someone else or chose not to vote at all. That was their right, as well. I do not hold a grudge for anyone making a decision based on their values. It's not like we were presented with a great choice in 2016. However, it is important to remember that with the rights that come with American citizenship, there are also responsibilities. Voting decisions should be made based on one's considered understanding of the issues. And that requires seeking out the facts. There is no such thing as "Republican Facts" or "Democrat Facts." Facts are facts. I have to admit that I am growing increasingly irritated with those willing to bend, distort or outright lie about facts to make them fit a particular narrative. I am especially irritated when these same people are willing to undercut our most basic public institutions - law enforcement, the Justice Department, the FBI, the intelligence community, the free and independent press and the church - just because it makes it easier to justify an unjustifiable political stance. Make no mistake about it: THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FAKE NEWS. THERE ARE, HOWEVER, FAKE PATRIOTS WILLING TO SELL OUT BASIC AMERICAN VALUES TO STAY IN POLITICAL OFFICE. Knowledge is power. The restraint of knowledge maintains power. Everything this president and his camp-followers have done since he slithered down the escalator in Trump Tower in 2015 have been design to distort and obfuscate the truth.  His treatment of journalists - and I am proud to call myself one of them - has been immoral and blatantly un-American. But that's what you expect from a cowardly, corrupt, narcissistic congenital traitorous liar. I do not expect to hear it from family, personal friends and Facebook acquaintances. To dismiss American journalism as a partisan activity shows a shocking lack of understanding about the role of free press in a democratic society. There's a reason the First Amendment came first in the Bill Rights: Without it, you could not guarantee the others. The "Fake News Chorus" seems to confuse real reporting with "talking head" analysts who are paid to spin things in a certain direction. Reporters, to the best of their ability, tell things like they are. Yes, they sometimes get things wrong. But, most of the time, they are right.  If one bothers to read the Mueller Report, practically every thing the media reported and the White House denied proved to be true. That's not an opinion. It's a fact. It is a fact - not an opinion - that Kellyanne Conway has repeatedly violated the Hatch Act.  It is a fact - not an opinion - that the President's willingness to accept political insider information from foreign governments is a blatant violation of federal law. And it is a fact - not an opinion - that the Trump family has reaped huge financial rewards from individuals, companies and countries trying the cuddle up to power. And those are just three of the hundreds of cuts this President has inflicted on the fabric of American democracy.  Thanks to journalists, the evidence is there for all to see. And it is one's civic and moral responsibility to look. Pretending to be blind is an act of moral cowardice. American journalism sheds light into dark places. You have a right to the light.

Vol. 13 No. 16 -- Forty-Nine and Counting
June 4, 2019

On this date in 1970, I graduated from Easton High School in Easton, Maryland. Like many, I remember the day well. Just the day before, I had gone to Ocean City with a young lady and managed to get a severe sunburn behind my knees. (Apparently, I didn't place enough sun lotion there.) For that reason, I spent much of the day swabbing my scorched flesh with vinegar and water. (It really works!) The day was hot and muggy. No surprise; it was the Eastern Shore, after all.  Crabs aren't the only things we steam during the summer, if you know what I mean. In any event, the powers that be decided to move the graduation ceremonies from the football stadium inside to the gymnasium. The boys wore black gowns and caps. The girls wore white. The gowns and caps were made of paper and were disposable. (I had no inkling then that I would become the proud owner of my own real cap and gown for annual use at University of Kansas commencement ceremonies.). I was tipped off just a few seconds before the procession that I was going to win an award because of my interest in government and politics. When my name was called, I glanced over at my mother to see her genuine surprise.  Apparently, she wasn't the only one. As I walked toward the stage through the aisle past the rows of white-gowned graduates, I heard one girl remark to another, "Gee, I thought he was stupid."  How's that for an ego boost? After the ceremony was over, I went out with a couple of friends to celebrate. There may have been some beer consumed, but not very much. I didn't run with that kind of crowd. Truth be told, I have never run with much of a crowd.  I  know and like a lot of people. But I can name the non-family members whom I really trust and feel comfortable confiding with on one hand. That is an artifact of high school. For family considerations, I transferred from school in St. Michaels to Easton in 1966. That meant leaving behind a core of friends I had known for eight years. I was an outsider and still felt that way until the 11th grade. In hindsight, I think that experience shaped my mindset for the next 50 years. But, don't get me wrong. I am a proud alum of Easton High School and hoping things will turn out so I can return for a 50th annual reunion next year. Time dims memories. Yet some are lasting. June 4, 1970, was a landmark day in my life I will never forget.

Vol. 13 No. 15 -- Memorial Day
May 26, 2019

Tomorrow our nation will observe its most solemn holiday, Memorial Day. While many - perhaps most - will view it as a day off that marks the unofficial start of of summer, others will (and should) reflect on the true meaning of the day. It is set aside to honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nation.  It doesn't matter whether they died in a "popular war," such as World War II, an "unpopular war," such as Vietnam, or as a result of an accident during peacetime duty. The fact that these heroes died in service of our nation consecrates their memory. Memorial Day should also be a day to give us pause when it comes to the reckless use of American military might. History is replete with presidential advisors - such as Robert McNamara, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney - whose faith in the American military's ability to impose our national will on others blinded them to the fact that even the most powerful have limits. Time columnist David French wrote a column this week that should be required reading. The opening lines of his essay entitled "Blundering Toward War" succinctly spells out the danger our nation is facing. "It's time for the American people to become fully alert to a dreadful possibility," French wrote. "The U.S., led by a Chief Executive so erratic even his closest advisers feel the need to ignore his orders, may stumble into its worst war in more than a generation - without the congressional authorization required by the Constitution." His point is that President Trump is being goaded by his war-mongering National Security Adviser John Bolton into an armed confrontation with Iran. French's essay doesn't mention other hot spots, such as Venezuela and North Korea, where Trump's "bull in a China shop" approach to international diplomacy has generated a lot more heat than light. This, of all holidays, should remind us of our moral responsibility to exercise American power with prudence. There are times when we have no choice but to stand up and resist the forces of evil. And often that involves the sacrifice of precious lives. However, we do not honor those who serve and those or have died in reckless pursuit of some glorified vision of American exceptionalism. On this Memorial Day, let's not forget the men and women who gave what Lincoln called "the last full measure of devotion." Nor should we forget that America's greatness is not measured by its might, but by its moral authority.

Vol. 13 No. 14 -- Forgotten, But Not Gone
May 17, 2019

Today is the last day of Spring 2019 semester finals at the University of Kansas. It is also the start of commencement weekend and the end of my 28th year on the faculty of the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications. In many ways, it has been a difficult year. The fall wasn't too bad - one section of history and one writing class section. For the uninitiated, writing classes are labor-intensive. However, it was a fair workload. However, in the spring, the story changed. My preference would have been to teach Strategic Communication Campaigns, the class that had defined my career at KU. Instead, I was assigned to teach a class that one, I had opposed its creation in the first place, and two, I had never taught before and with my retirement in December will never teach again. As any teacher knows, that means an entirely new preparation - not exactly what I expected for my last semester in the classroom. On top of that, I was assigned two writing sections.  That is a killer schedule that forced me to abandon my research agenda - supposedly an important part of being a professor. When I was Associate Dean, I would never have assigned anyone that kind of schedule.  However, in fairness to the current administration, the school did not face the budgetary crisis when I was the course scheduler that it does now. While the Kansas legislature has been generous for tax breaks to the people who need and deserve them the least, it has been cutting funds for roads, important government services and education. Heck, the legislature won't even agree to the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act because it was the signature legislative achieve of a black president. You might say that lights are on and no one is home in Topeka. The state of Kansas contributes only 18 percent of the cost of operating the university. The rest has to come from tuition, fees, grants and donors. After the budget year had started, the school of journalism was told that it had to cut a quarter of a million dollars in budgeted costs because of the state's self-inflicted budget crisis.  I suspect that's why I was deprived of a summer school teaching slot that I had been previously promised. It's cheaper to have a part-time instructor teach a course than to pay the salary of a tenured professor. Of course, it could have been an act of administrative pettiness. Who knows? Ironically, communication hasn't been the strong suit of a school that includes communications in its name. But don't get me wrong, I am not bitter. In fact, my last year in the classroom may have been my best. I was determined to "play through to the buzzer." I fervently believe that "good enough" isn't good enough.  I embraced the challenge of teaching a new class and totally redesigned it so it was taught the way I felt best served the students. My observation is that they embraced my approach and I think they will be better prepared to tackle the challenges they will face later in the curriculum.  I confronted some unusual challenges in my writing classes and, if I may say so, handled them well.  As I mentioned in my last post, I also had to clear out my office in advance of a major renovation of Stauffer-Flint Hall.  That was not a painful experience.  I systematically began the process in November.  On that last day, all I had to do was carry out one box. Thus ended my physical presence on campus. I will spend some of this summer preparing to teach an online history course in the fall - a choice the Dean graciously granted me. I still have some service obligations to fulfill this summer and fall. And because most of work will be performed at home, as far as KU is concerned, I will be forgotten, but not gone. And I am OK with that.

Vol. 13 No. 13 -- Out With the Old...
May 11, 2019

It seems like the perfect convergence - the day that was my last as a lecturer in front of a classroom of college students was also the very last day anyone inhabited 110 Staufer-Flint Hall as a personal office. Thursday was the final day of the spring 2019 semester. My lecture in JOUR 420 Strategic Communication II: Principles of Advertising and Public Relations was my last classroom lecture before I retire after 28 and one-half years on the faculty in December. (I will be teaching a history class online in the fall semester.) At the conclusion of my class, I packed up my last box of personal items and moved them out of the room that had been my office for the past nine years. Early the next morning, people from KU's Facilities and Operations division removed the furniture and electronics. It is the first step in a $5.5 million renovation of 120-year-old Stauffer-Flint. The first floor of the aging edifice will be converted in a dazzling 21st century home for the Jayhawk Media Group, the umbrella organization for the various student media outlets run by the School of Journalism. I plan to spend a good portion of my remaining seven months at KU producing some of the video displays that will be installed as part of the renovation.  The renovation will put a fresh face on a venerable profession. (And lest anyone believe that journalism is dying, next year's admissions for the School of Journalism is up!) As I prepare to depart the stage, one can't help be be excited by the future of the school. Of course, I am sorry to see my old office disappear.  I was honored to briefly inhabit the office occupied by such teaching giants as John Bremner and Rick Musser. But as they gracefully departed the scene, so must all of us eventually. This is truly a transitional week for both me and the School of Journalism.  Out with the old, in with the new.

Vol. 13 No. 12 -- So Many Questions
May 1, 2019

As my semester and 28-year classroom teaching career wind down, there are still some things about life in university setting I still do not understand. For example, where are there so many deputy associate vice chancellors and their assistants and what have they done to earn exorbitant salaries and the best parking places? For that matter, why are there so many junior assistant special teams football coaches pulling in buckets of cash?  Why do they call it the spring semester when it starts in the dead of winter and the fall semester when classes begin in the heat of August?  Why do students pay top-dollar for holier-than-thou new blue jeans that look like sixth generation hand-me-downs? When is coming to class in pajamas fashionable? Don’t they teach English composition in high school anymore? Or math? Why do some professors believe they can perform the aspects of their job that they like – such as teaching - and ignore those they don’t like – such as research?  Why do I get more respect as a journalism professor than I do as a journalist – especially since both are the same guy?  Why are Wildcats purple (or blue, if you are from Kentucky)? Why do some students think they came to college so they could work part-time jobs? Isn’t it supposed to be the other way around? How is it that the athletic department is a private corporation when it makes its money off of public university students using the name and facilities of a public university? Who, in their right mind, pierces his or her tongue? And yes, there are times I can’t help but wondering what the heck were they thinking when they hired me?

Vol. 13 No. 11 -- The Mueller Report
April 19, 2019

At long last, the public knows some - but not all - of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential election.  One is tempted to say this 400-page report reads like a Tom Clancy novel starring the Three Stooges. However, it is not very funny. In fact, it is chilling. Just six paragraphs in, the Mueller Report states, "As set forth in detail in this report, the Special Counsel's investigation established that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election principally through two operations. First, a Russian entity carried out a social media campaign that favored presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and disparaged presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Second , a Russian intelligence service conducted computer-intrusion operations against entities, employees, and volunteers working on the Clinton Campaign and then released stolen documents. The investigation also identified numerous links between the Russian government and the Trump Campaign." There may not be enough evidence to prove criminal conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt, but there is more than enough to show that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russians - a "high crime and misdemeanor" in anybody's book. Contrary to what Trump toady Attorney General William Barr said in his ridiculous news conference yesterday, the report also spells out a compelling case for charging the President of the United States with obstruction of justice. The most surprising aspect of the report - so far, at least until the rest is unredacted - is that members of Trump's inner circle may have saved him from himself by refusing to follow through on clearly illegal orders that Trump commanded them to do. The report paints a picture of a petulant, unhinged and morally oblivious president willing to do anything to protect himself - not the image one wants of the man with the nuclear codes. Democrats are debating whether the Congress should proceed with impeachment proceedings against Trump or use the Mueller evidence as a means of defeating Trump in next year's election. To me, there should be no debate. The President of the United States has committed treason and has been engaged in a criminal cover-up. Even if there are enough spineless Lindsey Grahams in the U.S. Senate to block Trump's conviction and removal from office, Congress has a moral and constitutional responsibility to try. And lest we forget, between the redacted pages of the report, investigations in the Southern District of New York and the ongoing inquiries of the New York State Attorney General's Office, there's enough muck and mire about Trump that will soon bubble to the surface to cause President Pinocchio to say "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I'm f**cked." Oh, I forgot. He's already said that. 

Vol. 13 No. 10 -- Meanwhile
April 11, 2019

A heavy workload, combined with a computer malfunction (meltdown), has kept me away from this blog for awhile. I've missed a lot of stuff while this site has gone dark. Where to begin? Julian Assange was arrested this morning in London, having worn out his welcome with his Equadorian Embassy hosts who had given him exile for the past seven years. Now he faces serious charges relating to the release of classified information, as well as his complicity in helping the Russians elect Donald Trump in 2016. Then there's the aptly named Attorney General William Barr, whose appearance before Congress yesterday leads one to the inevitable conclusion that he sees his role as barring the public from learning the truth about Donald Trump. Fortunately, the system he is sworn to protect and defend will be strong enough to force this Trump-toady to spill the beans on his boss. From the theater of the absurd, there was Treasury Secretary's Steve Mnuchin's bizarre behavior during a meeting of the House Appropriations Committee yesterday. Apparently Secretary Mnuchin, another Trump-toady, has difficulty understanding and speaking plain English. There's the ongoing purge of the Department of Homeland Security. While no one is going to miss the snotty and self-righteous Kristjen Nielsen, there is real fear that her replacement as secretary - possibly Kris Kobach - would be infinitely worse. That brings us to presidential advisor and devil's  spawn Stephen Miller, whose vision of a great America mirrors that of Germany in the 1930s. Then there is the dumb ass Republican congressman from Kentucky who exposed his own mental deficiencies when trying to question former Secretary of State John Kerry on climate change. (That's a video worth watching.) And we just learned that Donald Trump had some choice words about our first president during a visit to Mount Vernon last year. Trump believes that George Washington could have better branded his property by naming his estate after himself. Yeah, George is underrated - said the man living in Washington. D.C. It's funny - the president who could not tell a lie is being criticized by the president who cannot tell the truth. Meanwhile, I am still waiting on a new computer. But I couldn't wait to jump back into the fray. You just can't make this stuff up.

Vol. 13 No. 9 -- Patriot or a Coward?
March 19, 2019

Dear Senator Lindsey Graham: As one who has worked in government service, I can appreciate the difficulty you must face in balancing the ideal vision of democracy with the harsh reality of governing. Too many people tell you that this is a black-and-white world with good guys, bad guys and no one in between. In this environment, you risk being labeled a "bad guy" if you disagree with any of a multitude of positions on a plethora of issues. The world doesn't work that way. You have to legitimately balance ideological goals with political realities. However, even in this environment, there are certain principles that are inviolable.  I mention this because you, as a recently retired colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve and as a U.S. Senator, have taken the federal oath of office on several occasions. In taking that oath, you said "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same." How do you square this oath with your actions regarding the President of United States? One day after the House of Representatives voted 420-0 to urge a public release of the final report of Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, you said you would not back such an effort unless lawmakers launch yet another investigation of the Justice Department's handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's emails. Sir, what does one have to do with the other? Can the Congress walk and chew gum at the same time? The President of the United States has been accused - and there is considerable public information to suggest - that Donald Trump engaged in treasonous activities before, during and after his election. There's also the question of fraudulent financial and campaign activities. And lest we forget, very serious people have publicly questioned whether Trump is in full possession of his mental faculties. (Do we want a maniac's finger on the button?) Doesn't that oath you took dictate - dare I say demand - that you aggressively pursue these matters in defense of our nation and its Constitution? And there's another thing that deeply bothers me. You wore the uniform of the United States Air Force. And from all accounts, you wore it honorably. So, how can you stand by and give milquetoast rebukes to our draft-dodging President when he defiles the memory of your late friend, John McCain, a true American hero? (By the way, have you ever noticed that Trump's bone spurs don't seem to bother him when you two are playing golf?) Senator Graham, in light of your behavior, the only question that you need to answer is this: Are you a patriot or a coward? The honorable path is laid out in front of you. Are you willing to take it? America awaits your answer.

Vol. 13 No. 8 -- The Noble Fight
March 10, 2019

It is getting harder and harder to write this blog.  This is the 13th year of the Snapping Turtle blog and the 575th post in the series. I have had a lot to say during the years and will probably continue to do so. However, I am facing the challenge of coming up with something fresh and meaningful - or at least to try to do so - on a regular basis. For example: I had a high of 72 blog posts in 2012.  We are almost two and one-half months into 2019, and this is only the eighth offering. There are several reasons for the decreasing frequency of these missives. For one thing, I am tired of writing about Donald Trump. It seems as if he is the author of a new atrocity every single day. After awhile, one begins to suffer from RIF - righteous indignation fatigue. That is especially true when it is apparent that there is a certain core of Americans - especially Republicans on Capitol Hill - who have taken the Joe Hardyesque stance of selling their souls to the devil to maintain power at the expense of diminishing the nation. Then there is the matter of the shocking intolerance of the American people. It is almost impossible to have a rational discussion on issues such as immigration, gun control, gay rights and abortion without it becoming a bitter firestorm of personal (and sometimes physical) assaults.  Take Israel, for example.  It used to be possible to support that nation's survival in a hostile world and criticize its leaders when they undermine its moral standing. Not anymore. If you challenge Israel's inhumane and unlawful actions against the Palestinians, you run the risk of being called Anti-Semitic. So, what's a commentator to do? You can write about personal stuff. However, most of my personal life is remarkably uninteresting. Those aspects that are interesting - my hopes, my dreams, my fears - are private and will remain that way. I'd be a fool to bear my soul - at least without a hefty book contract. However, that doesn't seem to be in the cards anytime soon. And frankly, I'm getting old and nearing retirement. I am reminded of the lyrics to Billy Joel's Angry Young Man: "I believe I've passed the age of consciousness and righteous rage. I found that just surviving was a noble fight." Yes, I can get enraged at the bad things that are happening in Washington, Topeka and at work, but what's the point? Am I announcing the end to this blog? Not yet. I still value making my voice heard - even if the number of people who actually read these communiques is minuscule. However, I plan to continue to follow what should be good advice for all: I will only speak when I have something to say.

Vol. 13 No. 7 -- Michael Cohen's Warning
March 2, 2019

It's the end of Donald Trump's worst week as president. Of course, it seems as if we can say that every week. But this one was especially bad. Trump visited Vietnam - 50 years late in most people's estimation - and came home empty-handed from an ill-conceived and contrived summit with the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un. Not only did Trump not get a deal to halt North Korea's nuclear weapons program, he suffered a self-inflicted wound when he suggested that Kim was not responsible for the torture and murder of an American student. Back in Washington while all of this was going on, Trump's former attorney and "fixer" Michael Cohen was testifying about Trump's high crimes and misdemeanors before three congressional committees. Cohen, the soon-to-be jailbird, sang like a song bird. He gave House Democrats a wide range of information and leads that will aid them in their battle against President Pinocchio. However, it was what Cohen said at the end of his public testimony on Wednesday that should give us all pause. He said that should Trump lose the 2020 presidential election, "I fear that there will not be a peaceful transfer of power." Some may see this is hyperbole from a convicted liar. I do not. This has been my fear all along. Donald Trump is a selfish, amoral, narcissistic and racist sexual predator - a dangerous combination. He will go to any length to protect himself. I suspect he would be willing to sacrifice members of his own family to save himself. He might ever start a war with Venezuela, Mexico or even The Duchy of Grand Fenwick to distract us from his evil criminality. Trump's assault on our Constitution and social/political norms has alienated our friends and given aid and comfort to our enemies. The real danger is that Trump may lose it and "push all of the buttons" if impeachment appears likely, members of his family are indicted, or someone forgets to put ketchup on his bedtime cheeseburger. Michael Cohen is not a hero. He is getting exactly what he deserves. But that doesn't mean that we should not listen to him.

Vol. 13 No. 6 -- When I Grow Up
February 19, 2019

I often wonder what I will be when I grow up. The very first career aspiration I remember having as a child was to be an engineer. Not the kind who designs and builds stuff, but the kind who runs trains - just like my television hero of the time, Casey Jones. Thanks to Alan Shepard, I next yearned to become an astronaut. By the mid-60s, I thought becoming President of the United States was my calling. After, I couldn't have done worse than LBJ. (Not to mention that jackass that currently infests the White House.) However, as I mentioned in my post of May 24, 2012, it was my admiration of Johnny Carson who set me on the path to a career in broadcasting. It was also Woodward and Bernstein's Watergate coverage that moved me in my career in broadcast journalism.  In that, I was moderately successful - but not as successful as I aspired to be. However, journalism eventually moved me into the worlds of public relations, politics and academia. With all that as a background, I have come to realize that there is another current that has steered me through my 45-year professional career. I have come to realize that I identify myself as much as historian than I do as a journalist. That eventually led me to publish an environmental history of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. That spark comes primarily from two people: my mother, who, in her own way, encouraged engagement in civil society, and Steve Fike, my history teacher at Easton (MD) High School. And a shout out to the late Robert Hall, my civics teacher at St. Michaels (MD) Junior High School. I would be remiss if I didn't mention my high school writing teacher, the late Dorothy Leonard. Now, as I am just a few months away from retiring from the faculty of the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas, I can't help but wonder what I am now going to do when I grow up? I suspect that the past is prologue. 

Vol. 13 No. 5 -- It's About Winning
February 6, 2019
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The 2020 chatter is increasing in volume. Busloads of Democrats are lining up to challenge the reelection of the most treasonous, corrupt and inept president in American history.  Assuming that President Pinocchio is still around in November 2020 - and that's not a certainty - the Democrats have a chance to restore sanity to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. However, the problem facing the Democrats is that, well, they are Democrats. As Democrats, they can't seem to help themselves from self-destructing. History has shown us that Democrats are very good at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. In 2000, the Democrats win the White House if either (a) Al Gore wins his home state of Tennessee, (b) Bill Clinton wins his home state of Arkansas or (c) if President Clinton keeps his zipper zipped. Heck, Gore may have won if he just let Clinton campaign for him. In 2016, Hillary Clinton squandered a historic opportunity because she ignored the upper Midwest  - losing critical states she should have - and could have - otherwise won.  It didn't help that Bernie Sanders, a left-wing curmudgeon with little chance of winning the presidency, undermined Clinton's chances by alienating many of her potential voters in the months leading up to the general election. (Note to Bernie: Do us all a favor and sit out 2020.) And now we have a slew of fresh-faced Democratic challengers -- most of whom have laughably little or no meaningful experience that qualifies them to be president. (If you don't think that's important, let me remind you of the mental midget with no government experience currently occupying the Oval Office.) And yes, there is Elizabeth Warren, who appears to have a penchant for self-inflicted wounds. (Let's give her credit: She does offer well-crafted apologies.) Right now, the only Democrat I see who has a serious chance of beating Trump is former Vice President Joe Biden. Joey from Scranton is good guy with an occasional bout of foot-in-mouth disease. But, let's be real: Biden would be 78-years-old at the time of his inauguration. That's as old as Ronald Reagan was when he left office. Bottom line: Trump's defeat is not a slam dunk. If the Democrats want to spare this country from four more years of Czar Donald the Terrible, they need to remember that this coming presidential campaign is not about making debating points.  It is about winning. Just ask Hillary.

Vol. 13 No. 4 -- The Unforgiving Month
January 31, 2019
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It is the end of a cold and difficult month. A "polar vortex" has held much of the nation in its grips with obscenely cold temperatures. The government is finally functioning - barely. And that may be only temporary. Czar-wannabe Donald Trump continues to give aid and comfort to our enemies while chiding our nation's intelligence officials for "there" lack of knowledge. Two undeserving teams are in the Super Bowl because of officials' calls or non-calls. For me, personally, January has been the start of a new term - the last full teaching load semester I face before my retirement.  Saddled with two writing classes and their accompanying heavy grading load, along a new class requiring an entirely new course preparation, I am swamped. On top of this, I am in the midst of a long, tedious and sometimes painful process of clearing out my office. While I am not leaving the university until the end of December, I have to be out of my office in May. Stauffer-Flint Hall is about to undergo major renovations. My office - once the domain of teaching giant John Bremner - will become a space for student media. Since November, I have begun sifting through more than 40 years of stuff accumulated during my professional life. Some of it predates my arrival at KU in 1991. Yesterday, I found a 25th anniversary booklet I prepared for North Carolina Wesleyan College in 1981. Then there was the binder filled with my notes as press coordinator for North Carolina Governor-elect Jim Martin's January 1985 inauguration. I also found articles and papers I labored over in the 1990s in my eventually successful quest to obtain promotion and tenure. Sentimentality is the enemy when trying to decide what one needs to keep and what should be discarded.  Things produced in the Digital Age are easy to discard when one has an electronic copy. However, the analog materials require much greater consideration. Each artifact represents a personal commitment of blood, sweat and tears. Each evokes a strong memory. Some things can be sent to the KU Archives where they will have a permanent home. But others are destined for recycling. Yes, January has been an unforgiving month. And I see things only getting tougher as I box-up or discard the remnants of a career.

Vol. 13 No. 3 -- Just the Facts, Please
January 21, 2019
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It should not be a surprise when I tell you that a large percentage of the University of Kansas faculty do not like our current man-child president. It has been common knowledge for years that the Current Occupant (to borrow a phrase from Garrison Keillor) is not well-liked among college-educated adults. However, I am surprised when some of those same people engage in Trumpian rhetoric and tactics while embroiled in a current college controversy. KU is looking for a new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, a unit in which half of the university's 29,000 or so students are enrolled. The administration wants to retain the current interim dean who has received an offer from another university. To do so, administrators want to circumvent the traditional nationwide search process and directly appoint him permanent dean on a shortened three-year appointment. Rightfully, some within the university community are concerned. Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is an extremely important decision, one that shouldn't be made hastily or in a panic. This is also a national Research I university that shouldn't limit its horizons when it comes to hiring. However, by all accounts, the interim dean is doing a good job and his promotion would instill a sense of stability at a time of budget cutbacks, layoffs and faculty buyouts. I see both sides of this argument. However, I am concerned about the rhetoric employed in both camps. The opponents have compared KU to a "feudalist plantation" with a faculty of "voiceless chattel." That characterization is an unuseful and hyperbolic pile of horse dung. However, those who support the retention of the interim dean are not without their own reckless language. They accused the local newspaper of providing only the administration's side of the story -- which is not true. The paper would not have given this issue as much coverage as if has if there weren't more than one side to this story. If that were the case, it wouldn't be news. Every story I have read has been balanced. What the proponents appear to object to is that people with differing views have been allowed to publish their concerns within the paper's opinion pages. In other words, they wish to censor the opposition. And whose vision of America is that? At a time when academics decry the vitriolic language of government and politics, we need to practice what we preach. Stick to the facts.

Vol. 13 No. 2 -- Oval Office Kabuki
January 8, 2019
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Donald Trump tried very hard tonight to look presidential. For the first time since he took office, he delivered a nationwide address from the Oval Office of the White House. He had obviously been well-coached to moderate his inflection and curtail his often-wild gestures. He may have looked "presidenty," but no amount of play acting and window dressing will make this shadow of a man look presidential. First and foremost, the entire nine and one-half minute charade was based on a lie. He proclaimed a "national security" crisis on the southern border.  There is no crisis.  He said that thousands of terrorists have crossed the border. However, his own Homeland Security department-issued statistics do not support his claim. He said that Democrats have opposed border security when, in fact, Democrats and Republicans reached a pre-Christmas compromise that would have addressed many of the border security issues. The deal would have bought time for more serious debate on Trump's dubious "Mexico is going to pay for it" border wall without threatening the livelihood of 800,000 federal employees. Trump actually supported that deal.  But when Sean Hannity and his band of Fox News radical wingnuts got bent out of shape at the thought of a compromise, Trump folded like a cheap lawn chair. At the end of his speech, Trump reminded America that he took an oath of office to protect the nation - strange coming from a man who has cozied-up to Russia and North Korea, begun a potentially disastrous trade war with China and has dismissed and insulted all of this nation's traditional allies. Actually, the only true thing "Presidenty" Trump said tonight was that there is a humanitarian crisis on our southern border. However, that's a crisis of his own making.  Did he offer any new solutions to end the nearly three-week old government shutdown? No. Did he offer even the slightest suggestion that he is willing to compromise? No, of course he didn't. What he did do was send fund-raising emails to thousands of supporters before and after the speech.  He even lied to them: The emails said donations would go to a "Build the Wall" committee when, it fact, they go to the Trump-Pence reelection campaign. This wasn't a policy speech about a national crisis. It was the kickoff of his reelection campaign. You see, the only real "crisis" is that the Trump White House of Cards is about to collapse. The truth is that there is a growing likelihood Trump will not be around for the 2020 election. He may not be around for the Fourth of July. No matter how much Oval Office kabuki theater Donald Trump manufactures, he will never be presidential. And I doubt that he will be a model inmate, either.

Vol. 13 No. 1 -- The Year of Living Dangerously
January 1, 2019
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The Year of Living Dangerously is a 1982 Australian movie adapted from Christopher Koch's 1978 novel of the same name. It is a story about a love affair set in Indonesia during the overthrow of that country's president. We may see a real-life American sequel to that film in the new year that commences today. The many controversies swirling about the President of the United States are nearing critical mass. With Democrats taking charge of the U.S. House of Representatives, there will finally be legitimate oversight of the most politically, legally and morally corrupt presidential administration in American history. It won't be long before the truth about Donald Trump's business deals, financial practices, tax dodges, personal perversions, Russian collusion and obstruction of justice emerges. When that happens and people begin to see that the self-proclaimed conservative disruptor is about nothing but aggrandizing himself, the collective cognitive dissonance that has enveloped Trump's supporters will begin to dissolve. More important is the electoral map. The 2020 elections for U.S. Senate will be the opposite of 2018 - there will be a disproportionate number of Republican seats up for reelection. Each Republican senator will face three choices: Continue to be a passenger on the Trump Titanic, grab a life boat and row as far away from the ship as they can before it hits the iceberg or decline to board the ship, retire and "get while the getting is good." However, there is great danger in all of this. As president, Trump is cloaked in tremendous power that few doubt that he will be willing to abuse if allowed to do so. The tipping point may soon be upon us when members of his family and the Trump Organization are indicted. And all of this is happening in a world where the Russians, the Chinese, Iran, the North Koreans and ISIS have been emboldened by the vacuum of leadership emanating from Washington. This is a year of living dangerously in which one prays that our elected leadership, public servants and military remember that they took oaths to preserve, protect and defend the United States Constitution - not to defend an amoral self-serving shadow of a man who current infests the White House. Nothing less than the future of our republic depends upon it.