Do you know what I’m really tired of? Besides, shortfalls in education budgets, short-sighted environmental policy, political bickering, hyperbole, and demagoguery. I’m tired of acronyms. The intention of an acronym is to reduce space in writing. Once a long name, like the Association for the Proliferation of Acronyms, has been established in a document, the…
THIS is the right time!
The other day a friend asked me why I am running against two well-known Democrats. He said, “Kroeger, you’re not known in politics, maybe you should look at this as your trial run and prepare for another race in a couple of years.” I understood where he was coming from, I’ve heard that before and…
Social Acceptance
A recent poll said that 43% of the Democrats polled in Iowa identified themselves as “socialist.” I find that a bit suspect and alarming and it has stirred controversy among Democrats and Republicans, alike. Democrats who don’t want to identify with socialism and Republicans to fan the flame that Democrats want to take America toward…
A Capital Idea!
I’m a Capitalist. I want a boat, a bigger house (maybe with a moat!) and I want make enough money so that I never have to worry about the bills…along with a sports car and a little bling. And if my capitalist dream ever comes true….I won’t change one word of what I’m saying today about the market, regulations and…
The Sky is Falling!
I was talking with someone with whom I share very few political positions. We respect each other and I always enjoy our discussions, but we are political opposites. This was not an angry or contentious discussion by any means, but toward the end I realized, perhaps for the first time, that our views of the condition…
Who’s the greatest of them all?
I saw a poll among voters that concluded that President Obama has been the worst president in post-FDR history. They ranked President Reagan as the greatest. It isn’t hard to dismiss this sort of faux-information as meaningless, given the fact that The Kardashians and The Bachelor continue to get high ratings, but I must admit that a wave…
The History of Winners
Years ago I was struck by a line from Woody Allen’s “Crimes and Misdemeanors.” The film’s protagonist, Judah, imagines his family celebrating a Passover dinner as he contemplates (his real life) guilt after having his girlfriend killed. He asks the table about the ethical consequences and his imagined aunt responds, “And I say if he…
Reply to All
Sometimes something will circulate on the internet or pass around as a mass email that will catch my attention and I will feel the need to respond. When it is something that I believe to be dangerously false or propagating a destructive myth, I will send a “Reply to All” message back to address some of the…
Is Newer the Truer?
Much is being said about what it means to be a true Conservative. In the Republican presidential debates each candidate is jockeying to place themselves as the truest and most consistently conservative of the group. This has bothered me because I’m not sure what they mean by conservatism anymore. Is it the most historically accurate…
Vive la France!
I’m a little uncomfortable with something. While I believe everyone on either side of the aisle genuinely supports the French after this horrific event, there is an “elephant” in the room. Is this unified sympathy and resolve to fight back against the terrorism that is ripping at our civilized seams a shared belief in allied…