Category Archives: Uncategorized

The older I get, the more convinced I become that generosity has very little to do with money. Last night, I found myself watching an old episode of ER. Dr. Mark Greene was dying, and in one of his final conversations with his daughter, he offered her a simple piece of advice: “Always be generous.”Continue reading “Generosity”

One of the most fascinating political stories unfolding in New York isn’t simply Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s agenda. It’s the reaction—or perhaps more accurately, the lack of reaction—from many of the business leaders who will be expected to operate under it. A recent New York Post editorial argues that despite Mayor Mamdani’s increasingly confrontational approach towardContinue reading “When Business Stops Speaking, Politics Starts Winning”

One of the things I’ve learned over the years is that campaigning and governing are two very different things. Campaigns are built on promises. Leadership is measured by what happens after the election is over. Last week, Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony Parisi announced the creation of the Smart Prosecution, Strategic Intelligence and Violence EliminationContinue reading “Leadership Is About More Than Winning Elections”

I’ve been thinking a lot about freedom lately—not as a political ideal or an abstract concept, but as something that quietly evolves over the course of a life. A friend recently shared his story with me. It didn’t feel rehearsed. It felt like someone opening an old photo album, one memory leading naturally to theContinue reading “Freedom, Revisited in Three Acts”

Over the past several months, I’ve taken the time to read many of the motions filed by Luigi Mangione’s attorneys. Good defense lawyers are supposed to challenge the government’s evidence. They are supposed to protect their client’s constitutional rights. That’s their job. But these filings go much further. They attempt to transform an accused killerContinue reading “The Dangerous Fiction of Robin Hood Justice”

There is an old saying among trial lawyers: People rarely lie in perfect harmony with the documents. That is why congressional hearings matter. They are not television productions designed to generate headlines. They are fact-finding exercises. Witnesses testify under oath, and every answer becomes part of a permanent record that can later be measured againstContinue reading “Fauci’s Testimony Raised More Questions Than It Answered”

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus wrote, “Character is destiny.” Twenty-five centuries later, I cannot think of a better lens through which to view Anthony Fauci. For years, Dr. Fauci was one of the most trusted public health officials in America. Republicans and Democrats alike sought his counsel. Presidents from both parties relied upon him. The whiteContinue reading “Character Is Destiny”

In 1881, a 23-year-old Theodore Roosevelt arrived in Albany as one of the youngest members ever elected to the New York State Assembly. Idealistic, energetic, and convinced that public service was an honorable calling, he believed he could help make government better. What he found instead left him deeply disheartened. In his diaries and laterContinue reading “The More Things Change…”

The taxpayers of Dutchess County deserve an answer. Why was a special meeting of the Dutchess County Legislature called if the Democrat Majority had no intention of allowing a vote? Legislators were summoned to a special session to consider the agreement for the proposed 26 Oakley project. Members interrupted their schedules, staff prepared for theContinue reading “The Democrat Majority’s Costly Game of Delay”

Pizza. What is it about pizza? An invention created for the masses: breads baked with emmer wheat; polenta made from ground barley; cheese, fresh and aged, made from the milk of cows and sheep; pork sausages and cured meats; vegetables grown in the fertile soil along the Tiber. In these staples, more than the spice-rubbedContinue reading “Pizza and Memories”

There are policy disagreements. Then there are moments when elected officials reveal just how disconnected they have become from the realities faced by the people they represent. This week, more than 100 elected officials across New York—including 28 from the Hudson Valley—signed a letter urging congressional leaders to abolish and dismantle U.S. Immigration and CustomsContinue reading “If You Want to Abolish ICE, Tell the Voters Before They Elect You”

Modern medicine has made breathtaking advances: robotic surgeries, gene editing, precision diagnostics, even artificial intelligence promising to diagnose a tumor faster than a seasoned oncologist. Yet for the average American patient, the experience still starts the same way it did thirty years ago: a clipboard, a laminated insurance card, and a gnawing uncertainty about what’sContinue reading “The Waiting Room of Broken Promises: Medicine, Insurance, and the Last Line of Defense—Customer Service”