Articles by Jeremy D Lucas

Both independent and partisan observers have long described the United States as an ox or a mule that refuses to turn or move on the inclinations of an unpredictable caretaker. Symbolically, of course, we the people are the unpredictable and often unstable caretakers of our own nation. Mules are not resistant to movement because they lack intelligence or because they cannot pick up their legs and walk. They simply hate being forced to move against their will, especially with a guide that seems ...

One of the most memorable scenes on television last year came from the pen of writer Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) and the lips of actor Jeff Daniels. In the opening minutes of a pilot episode for The Newsroom, three characters are paneled on a university stage, leading to a pivotal question from a bright-eyed college student. “What makes America the greatest country in the world?” After a few seconds of obnoxious pandering, news anchor Will McAvoy (Daniels) unleashes a tirade of frustrations a...

One-hundred and twelve legislative bodies have come and gone. We are now in the midst of our 113th Congress. And since our inception, only 27 of these assemblies have consisted of a sixty percent majority in both the House and the Senate; a partisan monopoly on government legislation that eventually became known as the filibuster proof majority. With a sixty percent lead in Congress, whichever party is in control would, theoretically, be impervious to roadblocks. But is an entire nation of peop...

Within the nest of an eagle, three or four eggs may be incubating at one time, but once the first chick hatches, the rest, if they manage to crack their shells, will often be at the mercy of their ruthless elder sibling. The instincts of a firstborn eagle are self-preservation, leading them to peck, bully, and push the other chicks to a point of parental neglect and eventual death. Experts describe this tragic pattern as Cainism, based on the biblical brothers, Cain and Abel. “Apparently all eg...

Nineteen strangers were all it took to pick up our welcome mats and lock our doors. Two buildings in New York City, a field in Pennsylvania, and the always invincible Pentagon quickly became the symbolic origins of political mistrust and cynical hostility toward non-Americans. Determined to guarantee ourselves that a nationwide tragedy would never again befall us from an outside enemy, immigrants lost our collective hospitality. The once destructive path of McCarthyism was revived in a society ...

For nearly twenty five years, December 21, 2012 has been the talk of soothsayers and oracles, all of whom forecast a worldwide event that will, in one way or another, change the face of the planet. This has led people of every religion to envision their own idea of what may or may not happen at this juncture in time. Christians, of course, presuppose that December 21 could be their long awaited rapture, perhaps ignoring a simultaneous view that the Lord said no one knows the day or the hour. S...

Two years, seven months, and nine days. That was the tenure of Charlie Crist’s official status as a self-proclaimed independent. On Friday evening, the former Republican Governor of Florida jumped on his Twitter account for the first time since Thanksgiving and declared himself an adoring new member of the Democratic Party: Proud and honored to join the Democratic Party in the home of President @barackobama! twitter.com/charliecristfl…December 8, 2012 This announcement should not come as a sho...

Credit: washingtonpost.com Last August, the Drudge Report pushed a story about CIA Director and four star general, David Petraeus, who was said to be on the short list of Governor Romney’s potential vice presidential nominees.1 Although he firmly denied any such aspirations, Petraeus had long been viewed as a strong option for president among both liberals and conservatives, with pundits surmising of the day when we all might refer to him as the leader of the free world.2 Despite every object...