Mike O'Connell

Today marks the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Hawaiian military base that brought our nation into World War II. President Roosevelt called December 7, 1941, “a date which will live in infamy,” and over the last three-quarters of a century few dates have been more infamous.

The nation of men and women who lived through and served in World War II has been, of course, disappearing over the past generation or more. I mean this literally and figuratively. Tom Brokaw called them “the Greatest Generation,” and I have no reason to disagree. It was my honor to know some of these men and women in my younger days, though in 2016 it is becoming more and more difficult to meet them.

We’ll set politics and football aside for a moment today to thank the World War II generation for their contributions not only to this nation but to the world at large, which was faced with tyranny and unspeakable ugliness in 1941. That brave generation of Americans 75 years ago rolled back that ugliness in the most costly of ways. They were a people dedicated to domestic peace and human dignity, and carried those ideals with them across the globe. All gave some, some gave all, and for that we are truly blessed today.

Somehow Donald Trump is already making “deals” out there with private companies, spreading around some holiday cheer a few weeks before Christmas.

I mean Inauguration Day.

Regular readers of this blog or its forerunners on TV or in print know how I feel about politicians who make “deals” with private businesses. My reaction is to reach for my wallet.

I try to be nothing if not consistent, so yes, even though I’m a fan of Donald Trump and can’t wait for him to be President, this is one I can do without. Using taxpayer dollars to prop up certain businesses and play some against others? An old phrase of mine comes to mind. With Republicans like these…

Good to see the mainstream media and other Trump haters out there giving our President-elect the business (pardon the expression) on this jobs “deal” with Carrier. Funny how changing the party registration of the person brokering the deal (read: getting credit for it) changes the tune of those nattering nabobs. Suddenly we all become concerned with the free market when Republicans try to bribe companies with “incentives” or threaten sanctions against those who refuse to play ball.

Well, if this is what it takes to get the media to promote capitalism…

Deal me in.

No doubt you remember this year’s great trivia question (see “Royal birthday,” April 20, 2016):

 Name four celebrities, all born in 1926 and all still going strong, that have been at their current jobs (more or less) waaaay longer than anyone ever thought they would ever be.

Well, now it’s three.

Few deaths are cause for celebration, but some such celebrations are less obtuse than others. See Castro, Fidel… a man despised by so many yet somehow still an idol to a bizarre minority that includes much of our American media.

Kudos, though, to our local paper. (That would be The Washington Post.) Yes, its front-page articles on Mr. Castro at times sing his praises like tweets from second-rate pop stars, but its lead editorial weaves a vitriol usually reserved for our President-elect. (That would be a certain Mr. Trump.)

Credit where credit is due.

Speaking now of the folks in my adopted homeland…

It’s amazing to me that the same people can be so confident and trusting of the players on our local football team, yet show absolutely zero faith in our duly elected President-to-be.

Liberals are nothing if not hypocritical.

Damn you, NFL, for keeping me up late with your Thursday night games again. Even the seemingly uninteresting ones that are for most of the game one sided end up hooking me until the last play.

Come on! I’ve got work tomorrow.

Well, no…

thanks again.