It was indeed a strange Independence Day this year. There you were, having a picnic, perhaps going to a parade or beach, and if you had the inclination, you might have thought about the momentousness of this day 250 years ago when a group of men in Philadelphia summoned the courage to take a perilous leap-- declaring to the king of England that we were no longer all in on his empire, that we were embarking on a bold new experiment called democracy, and we were breaking away. It was a...

Critical thinking is a learned skill. How do you separate the wheat from the chaff, truth from propaganda, the vitally important from the compelling but trivial? How do you know what voices are reliable? How do you embrace complexity without losing the essence? Our discussions must respect both nuance and each other as we engage. Critical thinking is thinking about our thinking. Right now, as the nation lapses into authoritarianism before our eyes, we must think about our thinking more. And...

Remarks- June 21, 2026: Happy Father’s Day. Thanks to you biological fathers, and father-figures for young people you have mentored, helped out, or set an example for. You know how important fatherhood is for not only getting the next generation to come home by midnight and take out the garbage, but also to develop character, to encourage generosity, honesty, and empathy, and make good choices. On the level of our body politic, this past Friday showed us a stunning contrast between two father...