A man leaves flowers at a makeshift memorial for George Floyd on May 27, 2020, two days after he was murdered by then Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Photograph by Lori Shaull.

The George Floyd verdict and the choices we make

April 24, 2021

“A man has a choice. That’s what makes him different from an animal,” Raymond Massey’s Adam tells James Dean’s Cain-like Cal in the 1954 film of John Steinbeck’s “East of Eden.”

But some men choose to act like animals. Derek Chauvin made a choice to murder George Floyd in cold blood. He did it, because he could do it. Power: The English historian Lord Acton said, “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” But he had it backwards. Power doesn’t corrupt people. People corrupt power by the choices they make for selfishness and against responsibility and service.

Floral tributes to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who was laid to rest Saturday, April 17, at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, line Buckingham Palace in London.

A funeral fit for a prince

April 19, 2021

Having logged more than 22,000 solo engagements for the British monarchy, Prince Philip – who was laid to rest at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle Saturday, April 17 -- knew a thing or two about attending funerals. And so it’s no surprise that his own, which he planned himself, was lovely – simple, straightforward and moving as befitted a no-fuss naval man and our Covid times – with hymns, selections from the “Book of Common Prayer” and 30 masked, socially distanced mourners – led by his widow, Queen Elizabeth II – who could not help but shed the occasional tear.

The Huskies, the University of Connecticut’s winning women’s basketball team with President Barack Obama in 2013. Courtesy whitehouse.gov.

Women athletes as the main event

March 26, 2021

Self-professed feminist that I am, I must confess that I do not follow women’s sports.

I don’t know why. I support Title IX, which equalized sports opportunities in schools, the fruits of which have included higher medal counts for the United States at the Olympics, thanks to golden performances by our female athletes. I’m all for any civil rights initiative and am absolutely sick with worry about the Georgia Legislature’s most recent effort to restrict voting rights, especially for Black voters.

Still, I prefer to watch men….

Then Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attend church at Sandringham on Christmas Day, 2017. Photograph by Mark Jones.

A bridge too far? The Harry-Meghan interview

March 7, 2021

Just how damaging was the interview Oprah Winfrey did with Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, on Sunday, March 7 on CBS? Put Prince Charles’ revelations about him never loving Diana, Princess of Wales, together with Diana’s “there were three in this marriage”, multiply it a gazillion times and you have an idea of the damage quotient not only for the royal family but for the Sussexes as well.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, greeting well-wishers in Belfast in March 2018. It’s a striking photograph that shows the bridge that the duchess could’ve been within the royal family. Courtesy Northern Ireland Office. — Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, greeting well-wishers in Belfast in March 2018. It’s a striking photograph that shows the bridge that the duchess could’ve been within the royal family. **Courtesy** Northern Ireland Office.

Lost horizon: Harry, Meghan and the monarchy

March 5, 2021

It’s the interview many will be talking about whether you’re a royal watcher or not – Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s sit-down with Oprah Winfrey, which airs on CBS Sunday, March 7, from 8 to 10 p.m.

Already snippets of the interview have provoked a strong reaction, with monarchy loyalists decrying the Sussexes’ whining about being relieved of their royal duties and patronages and Sussex supporters lambasting the crown for shutting the pair out amid an atmosphere of stultifying tradition and corrosive racism. Not since the War of the Roses – or at the very least, the “War of the Waleses” between Prince Harry’s parents, Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales – has an English dynasty been so divided, you might say. But actually a better analogy is what one poster described as a Wimbledon final played not on grass but across the Atlantic.

American Vice President Joe Biden with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United States Embassy, then in Tel Aviv, in March 2016. In congratulating Biden on being elected president, Netanyahu reminded him of their warm relationship. Ne… — American Vice President Joe Biden with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the United States Embassy, then in Tel Aviv, in March 2016. In congratulating Biden on being elected president, Netanyahu reminded him of their warm relationship. Netanyahu had been one of President Donald J. Trump’s biggest boosters, but in the words of French President Emmanuel Macron when he first met Trump: “Nobody is forever.”

Trumpian 'Sunset' as democracy's star rises

November 8, 2020

“This is one of the happiest days of my life,” a business manager told me yesterday. I couldn’t but concur. I , too, was happy, proud and content to be an American — something I haven’t been for four long, dark years.

In their victory speeches, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris struct the right notes about unity and hope. President Donald J. Trump’s “American carnage’ may have been fine for some when they were making oodles of money. But when everyone’s actually in American carnage, as we are with the coronavirus, systemic racism, a crashed economy and climate change denial, people want change. They want a leader who can create a vision for going forward together, communicate that vision and execute it. And that’s what Biden laid out Saturday night, while Harris in suffragist white gave women of color in particular a symbol of belief fulfilled.

He, she, they: the politics of gender and a place in the sun

October 11, 2020

Recently, I had an experience that redefined the right and the left for me. I interviewed two individuals who began by presenting me with their pronouns, as if they were ambassadors presenting a head of state with their credentials. One of the inidividuals’ pronouns was “she” and “her.” So if I were quoting her, I might say “she” on second reference. But the other person’s pronouns were “they” and “them.” (For the purpose of this post, I’ll call them S and T.)

When I explained that from a journalistic perspective, I worked for a company that used the Associated Stylebook — which allows for “they” in single usage when clarity is not at stake — and standard English, in which the masculine is still the default singular pronoun, as in the sentence “Everyone deserves his place in the sun,” well, things got a bit tense.