Jacques Louis David’s “Leonidas at Thermopylae “(1814), oil on canvas. Musée du Louvre. Adolf Hitler compared the Germans at Stalingrad to the Spartans fighting the Persians at Thermopylae. Of course, the Nazis were more like the invading Persians. But Hitler’s point was that it would be in a clash of civilizations, a fight to the death.

Narcissists at the gate: The fateful siege of Stalingrad and Ukraine

April 24, 2022

I’ve been watching PBS’ “Rise of the Nazis,” which focuses on the Eastern front of World War II’s European Theater, and I’m just astounded at the parallels between that conflict and the one in Ukraine. Then as now, you have the irresistible force of a dictator — well, two in fact — determined to maintain chaos to stay in power and the immovable object of a people determined to go all in to save their homeland. The names have changed, but the issues behind the Nazi siege of Russia and the Russian siege of Ukraine remain depressingly familiar, particularly as brought home in the recent episode on Stalingrad, the turning point of World War II in Europe.

Guest blogging at JMS Books

July 13, 2020

It’s not often that I promote another blog on this one, but recently, my publisher, JMS Books, put out a call to any of its authors who wanted to guest blog on its website. Being an inveterate blogger, I jumped at the chance, and my post is running Tuesday, July 14, Bastille Day. (Vive la France.)

The post is not about France but about how I came to write “The Games Men Play” series, about power, dominance and rivalry, set mainly in the world of sports, although I’ve expanded the series to include earlier novels that have only recently been published. I won’t recount the post here, so you can discover it for yourself at jms-books.com as well as my books,, including my latest work, the short story “The Glass Door,” about love in the time of corona. (It’s a theme that’s haunting me and other writers of late.) It’s due out Aug. 10.

I will, however, discuss a subject here related to that post since many of my books are about gay or bisexual men and that is cultural appropriation.

The crucible of leadership in 'Hamilton' and 'The Two Popes'

December 31, 2019

I’ve been away in D.C. and then having a New York (post) Christmas, but the blog and my thoughts on leadership are never far from my mind. How can they be with angry impeachment tweets replacing holiday greetings? Plus, I saw two works that put the current political divide in perspective — Netflix’s “The Two Popes” and Broadway’s “Hamilton.”

The gang that couldn't shoot straight

December 30, 2018

In one of the interactive exhibits at Mount Vernon, George Washington’s home in Virginia, you’re asked to flip open the doors of his “cabinet,” each of which contains a portrait of its members — Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox and Attorney General Edmund Randolph. As I opened the drawers, I couldn’t help but think of how one 19th century journalist crystallized America as “a nation created by geniuses to be run by idiots.”

Trump’s crisis of leadership

March 17, 2018

The continuing Revolving Door Policy of the Trump Administration has thrown the systemic failure of Alexandrian leadership – leadership from the front – into sharp relief.

President Donald J. Trumpet has surrounded himself with Trumpettes – yes-men and, to a lesser extent, yes-women – and distanced himself from the No, No, Nanettes. Which is odd, considering his professed love of chaos. Wouldn’t you want some tension, some conflict? ...

Before the (Trump) parade passes by

February 8, 2018

The topsy-turvy financial and political events of the past two weeks have demonstrated the irrationality of our thinking at a time when clear thinking is what is most needed.

We rail against greedy Wall Street’s effect on Main Street as the DOW bounces around like a knuckleball without realizing that the two intersect. Yes, Main Street has traditionally supplied the workers for the companies traded on the Stock Exchanges – workers who’ve often been given the shaft by those companies, which are seeking greater profits and higher dividends for their shareholders. ...

A taxing time as Russkiegate heats up

December 2, 2017

So Mr. “Lock Her Up” has become Mr. “Don’t Lock Me Up.”

Former National Security Adviser – and loose cannon Lt. Gen. (retired) Michael Flynn – has pled guilty to a single count of lying to the FBI as special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s investigation and Russkiegate intensify.

Flynn – who had been influence-peddling around the globe when he hitched his wagon to Trump’s dim star – is, of course, guilty of more than lying to the FBI about speaking to the Russians while Barack Obama was still president. ...