When President Obama issued an upbeat Presidential proclamation about Loyalty Day last week, he left out the dark history behind the national observance. In 1958 Congress introduced Loyalty Day as a tool of anti-communist propaganda at the height of the Cold War, when countless leftists in the U.S. were persecuted for their political beliefs.

The Los Angeles Times notes:  “It's no coincidence that Loyalty Day falls on May 1 or ‘May Day,’ a celebration of workers around the industrialized world observed on the anniversary of the 1886 Haymarket Square incident in Chicago — when four people were executed on the strength of murky evidence that they killed eight people (seven of them police officers) during a labor rally for the eight-hour workday.”

President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry say that allowing family members of 9/11 victims to sue Saudi Arabia for its complicity in that crime would set a terrible precedent that would open the United States up to lawsuits from abroad.

Wonderful! Let the lawsuits rain down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream!

Ohio’s jobs “Driver” is getting pretty hot in the Democratic debate as of late, and will likely flare up the Republican stage before Cleveland. I’m following it closely, how can I help it? I can’t go more than two songs on Pandora or watch Prime Time without hearing, in surround sound, the virtues of Fracking.

A few years ago I became a volunteer researcher for the Columbus talk radio show, All Sides with Ann Fisher. Linda, the producer, was a former improv student of mine. I had taught and performed improv and legit theatre for over 20 years, and at 52, I was ready for change, something to sink my teeth into - that would help the world.

At All SidesI researched authors of fiction, non-fiction, history, local celebrities, artists, politicians, ornithologists, etc. And the day Linda gave me the assignment to research fracking, my world changed. And I haven’t looked back.