Ten Commandments for Building an Authoritarian State (inspired by a true story) I. FREEDOM OF RELIGION, SPEECH, AND THE PRESS; RIGHTS OF ASSEMBLY AND PETITION Discredit the press until your populace accepts laws to outlaw criticism of the State. The people must accept information only from the Leader. … [more]
Born Country
7-February-2017 by 15 Comments
Nicholas and Johnny Fax weren’t the best miners who ever dug into a claim. Ambitious fortune hunters locked into the boom and bust of the Klondike Stampede, they’d spike rails for a season or two in the dry dust of Wasco County, Oregon, get grubstakes together and head north to the Yukon. The first time they … [more]
Blood Moon
10-December-2016 by 6 Comments
And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son? And what did you hear, my darling young one? I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin’ I heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world I heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin’ I heard ten thousand … [more]
American Literacy
11-September-2016 by 1 Comment
In the bookstore today, I dutifully reported to the display shelf adjacent to U.S. History, where I regularly check to see if our well-written, scrupulously edited, glowingly reviewed and woefully undersold anthology Operation Homecoming is still on offer. I did not find it there. The display of writing on our military experiences in Iraq and … [more]
Sorta Mad Sunday
21-August-2016 by 5 Comments
The story you are about to read is true. The names have been changed to protect the goofy. Once a year, I wheedle Pretty Wife into letting me ride the Isle of Vashon TT, a bumptious fundraiser for the VME (Vintage Motorcycle Enthusiasts, which you should join, Loyal Reader, if only to be annually apprised … [more]
Mad Dogs and Fear Biters
14-June-2016 by 4 Comments
I’m not sure how to say this, other than simply and clearly. An attack on gay Americans is an attack on all Americans. An attack on Muslim Americans is an attack on all Americans’ religious liberty. Attacking a Latinx dance party assaults every American’s right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of beats. Attacking gun culture … [more]
"Jack Lewis takes the overall literary crown with his new book...there’s a lot more to Lewis’s work than what it feels like to ride motorcycles.” — Ultimate Motorcycling
"Insightful and from the heart ... a driven and much recommended look into the mind and conflict of the next generation of war veterans. " — Midwest Book Review (Reviewer's Choice)