Some years ago, in a moment of dark humor, I blamed Jerry Springer for the profusion of violent “reality” shows on television. I was convinced, among other things, that the increased use of coarse language could be traced back to him. Words like “asshole” and “pissed off” started occurring with some frequency on television dramas…

I haven’t written for a while because, like many of you I suspect, I’m feeling overwhelmed by events. Simply too much is going on to stay on top of it even if I attempted to write every day which would be an imposition on you (assuming you read what I write) and a burden for…