Was it a coincidence? The Walton family moved to Bentonville, Arkansas, and was taking over the American retail market at the same time wholesome John Boy Walton and his TV family took over our TV screens.

Most of us seem unconcerned about the chaos in Hong Kong. It’s not unexpected, but it’s still quite sad. Thousands of protesters are crowding city streets each week asking for the simple things we too often take for granted: the right to speak freely, to assemble peaceably, to vote for gover…

Recently, this column suggested that only those persons who could rent a car without restriction — that is, only those whose brains were fully developed — should be allowed to possess firearms.

We joked about The Washington Swamp. We knew it was corrupt. But until a few days ago, we did not know how corrupt. It was only then that we could connect the dots and understand how corrupt justice has become.

We treat it like a joke. The Congress and the media are obsessed. Is Donald Trump a “racist”? Is he the illegitimate half-brother of Vladimir Putin’s cousin?

Flags fly at half-staff. Children are scared to go to school. Mothers even panic when taking their children to Walmart. Meanwhile, Republican defenders of the Second Amendment are poised to lose the next election.

On Oct. 23, 2006, I wrote to The Pilot and asked the editor at the time to publish my haiku, a protest against the war in Iraq. Fortunately, for those who love the sophisticated poetic arts, it was not printed.

For those Democratic presidential hopefuls who want to be our new democratic rulers, climate change has become their chief reason for seeking power. They claim it to be their World War II moment and idiotically label it as an “existential threat” to the continuation of human life on Earth.

I haven’t thought about him since I wrote about my recollection in 2014, but the president’s recent “tweet” brought back the memory.

Sometimes I write what I know to be true. Sometimes I speculate. Here, I speculate that those Nike shoes were not recalled because of their symbolism. They were a supply chain mistake. Colin Kaepernick was used to cover up Nike’s mistake.

Both sides tell us that what’s happening on the southern border is frightening. President Trump and Republicans argue that illegal immigration consists of criminals and terrorists.

They started their drumbeat early, before Donald Trump was nominated. On June 3, 2016, The New York Times reported that “legal experts across the political spectrum” are in agreement. “Donald J. Trump shows contempt … for the rule of law.”

The battle between socialism and capitalism is playing out across the country.

Most of us are moderate. We do not want socialized medicine, but we do want reasonable prescription prices. We do not want abortion, but we do not want to force a rape victim to bring the rapist’s child to term. Of course, we want clean air and water too; but we don’t want gasoline and elect…

Former Special Counsel Robert Mueller spent a year-and-a-half investigating President Donald Trump, using a grand jury to further that investigation.

The Public Broadcasting System (PBS) gives us great insight into the philosophy of our times. Such was the case when I tuned to an online episode of “Odd Squad.”

It was a sad day. On April 30, 2019, Riley Howell, age 21, and Ellis R. Parlier, age 19, were gunned down in their UNC Charlotte anthropology class. They were apparently murdered by a former student who did not even know their names.

In the North Carolina Legislature, the battle lines have been drawn, but not between the political parties. A series of pro-growth legislative bills are attempting to weaken the authority of counties and municipalities to regulate construction.

Riddle me this. What do Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi and Yasser Arafat all have in common?

Last Monday the horror unfolded. Our Lady of Paris, The Notre Dame Cathedral, began burning. Centuries-old Western art and the work performed by generations of artisans instantly became carbon dust. Was God suggesting that there are things more important to the survival of Western civilizati…

Perception always supersedes reality. In my practice of law, I always told clients that cases did not have facts. They had an “aura.” It is the narrative that a judge or jury perceives regardless of the facts.

Sometime in the late 21st Century, the epitaph of the United States may be written. It will report that the nation died when it abandoned the rule of law. It will state that sometime in the early decades of this century the nation started its descent into anarchy.

Let me tell my story. It’s not anti-Semitic if you laugh. It doesn’t even mean that you harbor ill will toward the Irish. It means that you still have humor. And you maintain that humor even as humorless, outraged zombies write columns that entertain no one.

We all agree that North Carolina teachers are underpaid. Yet, the state budget is tight. So plans to raise teacher pay must be both innovative and smart.

Some say that the Republican Party died when Donald Trump was elected president. He was not particularly conservative, nor did he have a Republican ideology. He was a charismatic populist riding a wave of dissatisfaction so powerful that it transcended even his obnoxious personality.

The mantle of free speech has been abandoned by the left. Liberals label President Trump a racist to justify violently blocking discussions about his policies.

Donald Trump told us that he would build a wall from Texas to the Pacific and that “Mexico will pay for it.” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) prophesied that the world would end in 12 years unless we shut down Exxon and trains replaced airplanes.

The radicals are ready to rock. From Elizabeth Warren to Cory Booker, almost every extreme-left Democrat seems to be running for vice president.

My father was always my philosopher-in-chief. Although he was a very liberal Democrat, he was never politically correct. Still, his insights helped guide me through my life as a conservative Republican.

I have always been an opponent of abortion. As a student at UNC-Chapel Hill, I shocked the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies when I equated abortion with murder. And that was quite an accomplishment; a group meeting regularly since 1795 was not easily shocked.

By the time this column is printed, the partial government shutdown may have ended … or not.

In every era there are political “buzz” phrases. They form the lingo of the hopelessly uninformed who use them to hide their lack of intelligence. When I was in college, the buzz word was “relevant.” My entire generation became disciples of Flip Wilson’s “Church of What’s Happening Now.”

On Dec. 17, 1862, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant issued Special Order 11. It required the expulsion of all Jews in his military sector of Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky. Grant was concerned that Jews would bolster the “black market” in Southern cotton.

In this, my first column for the New Year, it’s time to predict the events that will transform our lives in the year to come.

Most often, war is used as a simple solution to a misunderstood problem. Those who fight our wars are brave. But those politicians who send our troops to war are simpletons. Their decision to go to war is too often like a solution adopted by the proverbial pack of dogs who get annoyed with cars.

Those of us who listen to National Public Radio patiently await the annual holiday broadcast of “The Christmas Story.” No, it has nothing to do with Ralphie, a BB rifle or frozen tongues on flagpoles. This is a story about common human interest during the Great Depression. It was recorded by…

When the World War II allies discovered the brutality of the German holocaust, the planet bore witness to the result of intolerance. Jews, Roma (Gypsies), gays and political nonconformists were targeted for extermination. Some, particularly at the camp called Thekla (a sub-camp of Buchenwald…

Some of my favorite songs are parodies sung in the 1960’s and authored by the comedian Alan Sherman. He’s probably best known for his singing letter from summer camp, “Hello Mudda, Hello Faddah.”

It was about 30 years ago. An acquaintance I knew, a lay preacher, gave a talk to young men like me who were either just married or contemplating eternal monogamy.

It took hundreds of years. It cost thousands of lives. We all should be thankful that the war may be over. England may surrender to the Republic of Ireland. Prime Minister Theresa May could defeat her own nation.

This past Oct. 29, Rodney Berget, a 56-year-old murderer, was executed in a South Dakota death chamber. His victim’s widow, after witnessing the execution, observed that her husband, when beaten with a pipe, had experienced “cruel and unusual punishment.” It was disgustingly ironic, she obse…

The day this column is published, Nov. 11, 2018, is a special day. It commemorates 100 years since the end of the World War I. It is a time to look back and reflect on the bravery of our soldiers who, regardless of politics, answered their nation’s call, sacrificing all that was precious for…

Being a proud Tar Heel, it was my duty recently to bring my family to the North Carolina State Fair. My adult daughter screamed as a grungy ride operator strapped her into a seat and onto a contraption that swung her so hard, propelled her so high and dropped her so quickly that her stomach …

I watched last week’s made-for-TV spectacle broadcast from the Oval Office. It was an image of black artist Kanye West asking President Trump to listen to the black community, and, in turn, asking the black community to listen to President Trump. For many, it was too surreal to comprehend.

According to U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, the process that finally confirmed Judge Brett Kavanaugh as the 102nd associate justice of the United States Supreme Court was a low point in American history. He stated that the Democratic opposition to Justice Kavanaugh “was the most unethical sham si…

Last week the planet began to shake. It had nothing to do with the earthquake or tsunami in Indonesia. It had even less to do with Brett Kavanaugh’s high school drinking habits. So, very few of us took notice. Still, President Trump’s renegotiation of the trade compact formerly known as the …

If I could sum up “democracy” in one word, it would be “inconvenient.” That is why politicians have minimized its use. This was the case for over 150 years. And, it is true today.

Life was kind to my family and me during the recent hurricane. While Florence was destroying lives and property in New Bern and along the Cape Fear River, my family and I were fortunate to have learned some important lessons. We found that enduring a weather emergency is not as simple as sto…

I don’t regularly watch Bill Maher’s “Real Time” on HBO. But, I did see a portion of it this past week. Comic actor Jim Carrey, a dual Canadian-American citizen, suggested that voters should “Say yes to socialism.”

When it comes to respect, politicians are traditionally ranked lower than almost all other professions. It’s mostly a bad rap.