Americans hope that President Trump and his team can resolve the North Korean tension. Nobody wants any place in America to be struck by an atomic or hydrogen bomb. We are not totally clear on what North Korea can do with a missile but it is growing clearer their program has advanced and is growing stronger almost day by day. Although few people seem to believe North Korea has a hydrogen bomb.

We were blindsided by Japan December 7, 1941, when they attacked Pearl Harbor. The Japanese killed 2,335 servicemen. An additional 1,143 were wounded. They attacked us for 110 minutes from 7:55 a.m. until 9:45 a.m. Hundreds of Japanese planes sank or damaged 21 warships and destroyed more than 150 planes on nearby airfields. That was a horrendous day in our history that we never want to be repeated.

There is no way to be blindsided by North Korea. Kim Jong-un doesn't like the United States and has not made that a secret. North Korea appears to have the ability to hit major US cities, according to experts, with their increasingly developed missiles.

What has not been determined is how heavy a payload the missile was carrying in its most recent test. According to experts the heavier the payload the shorter the range. Experts have estimated that the recent test missile had the ability to hit Alaska.

The state-run Korean Central News Agency said the most recent missile test was a Hwasongt-14, the same missile tested earlier this month. The news agency also added that Washington should regard the launch as a "grave warning." Kim Jong-un has been quoted saying "the whole US mainland" is now within North Korea's reach. He called Pyongyang's weapons program "a precious asset" that cannot be reversed or replaced, according to the agency.

In light of North Korea's advancing missile program, what should President Trump and his current leadership do?

We must continue to work with China and Japan and all others to impose economic sanctions on North Korea. Diplomacy must always be the first effort. We aren't interested in hurting North Korea. We aren't their enemy. Unfortunately, they have not only threatened our nation verbally but they are [also] demonstrating an advancing ability to hurt us.

Eventually our president will have to do what no one in our country wants to happen and that is make an effort to destroy Yongbyron, which is North Korea's nuclear facility built in 1965. Some reports indicate there may be as many as twenty nuclear bombs at Yongbyron and that North Korea has enough highly enriched Uranium to make six to eight additional nuclear bombs a year.

The repercussions of us making an effort to destroy or greatly impair Yongbryon and their missile launching capabilities could greatly jeopardize South Korea's safety. Almost 30,000 American troops are in South Korea. North Korea could in probability launch some kind of attack against South Korea, which could be catastrophic.

We come back to the bottom line and that is the security of our homeland. We cannot wait for North Korea to have a successful attack against the United States. Unless severe economic sanctions are imposed and carried out successfully with international support, we will be placed into a stalemate scenario and have to react aggressively to protect our country.

Our own recent missile test from Vandenberg Air Force base in California was a chess move by the Pentagon to remind North Korea they are playing with fire and about to be burned. Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson assured North Korea, "We are not your enemy," but said that Pyongyang "is presenting an unacceptable threat to us and we have to respond."

When will President Trump bomb North Korea? If we do not receive some word from Pyongyang that they are going to back off and live in peace with the world, then look for us to strike them after their next missile test.

Glenn Mollette is an American syndicated columnist and author.

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: When will President Trump bomb North Korea?

Season one of "Survivor: Trump White House" has been nonstop fun. In the latest episode: Spicer out. Reince Priebus out. Anthony Scaramucci in, then out.   

Scaramucci was brought in to get rid of leaks and clean up the White House. Trump reasoned that a Scaramucci from New York should know how to protect a Don. But he didn’t last long. I am not one for long political honeymoons, but the job of a White House Communications Director should last longer than a carton of milk. 

In the wildest episode of "The Apprentice" yet, Trump goes after Reince Priebus, a man whose name sounds like a carwash for hybrids. Priebus is the establishment do nothing, "go along to get along" Republican that Trump is “draining the swamp” of. Just when I learned how to spell his name, Reince Priebus is ousted. Attorney General Jeff  Sessions is in the cross-hairs, too, which is unfortunate because Sessions and Priebus look like father/son dentists. 

Trump is nothing if not loyal. He takes care of his people. He is already in discussion to get Priebus and Scaramucci spots on "The Apprentice" or Dancing with the Stars," whichever one is filming now. Do not expect too much post-termination public “kiss and tell.” Priebus' post-firing interview looked like a Kim Jung Un video orchestration of a captured American. 

America wanted a businessman president, and this is what it looks like. Without a party behind him, he is on his own and is one of us. 

All this drama tramples the message of an otherwise good week for Trump. Foxconn, the Asian maker of Apple products, announced that it is opening a $10 billion plant in Wisconsin. The stock market reached new highs, with S&P 500 companies reporting two consecutive quarters of double digit earnings — the first time in six years. Yet the unnecessary palace intrigue will be the distraction the media use to divert public attention from all the good real news. 

And the tumult is over frustration with the non-fact-based Russian probe. If and when the Trumps are — or were ever — in negotiations with Russians, they could only be over a mail order bride. 

Like most of the Russian nonsense, Don Jr’s “small private meeting” with that Russian honey-pot has turned out to be another nothing. Nine people crowded into the (not-so) "secret" meeting. CNN is not giving up, and is now looking at getting them arrested for fire code violations. 

Since that didn’t work, the media will quickly pivot and discover in a “breaking story” that the now-defunct Soviet Union also had ties to Russia. 

Trump had a fledgling good relationship with Putin that the Democrats, for political reasons, have sabotaged. Now tensions escalate with Russia, and Putin has ordered 755 U.S. diplomatic personnel expelled from his country. Democrats are perfectly willing to risk World War III with Russia in order to hurt Trump and score political points. 

It all comes down to the media willing to decimate their integrity to "get" this president. A media which had in November already commissioned plans for the Hillary Clinton Presidential Library, and still have not gotten over their loss. They daily seek to destroy this president in what Ben Stein calls a “media coup,” like what they did to Nixon. I think Taylor Swift will get closure sooner than the media. 

This animus might backfire. If Jeff Sessions can take a hint, Hillary and the DNC under Debbie Wasserman Schultz could get indicted for real crimes. Trouble follows the Clintons; the day they were born the doctors slapped them with subpoenas. 

As a result, Republicans are quivering, even though they have the House, Senate and Oval Office. Now Repubs say if we give them the Knesset and the British Parliament in 2018, they will do something. 

Spineless Republicans could not get enough votes to even "skinny down" ObamaCare. Yes, these brave men and women like Senators Collins, Murkowski and McCain were fine about voting for repeal when they knew Obama would be there to veto it. 

But Obama is not there anymore. He is body surfing with Richard Branson in Bali. That's perfect for Obama; body surfing is a sport where you do not have to stand for anything. You just lie there and let other forces push you along — just like the insurance and healthcare lobbies pushed along ObamaCare.

Ron Hart is a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 'Survivor: Trump White House' — the national reality show

It’s time for me to take some heat off the [Crestview News] Bulletin’s new staff reporter — who, by the way, is just doing her job.

Granted, this publication’s newest staffer doesn’t need me to stand up for her; she’s a well-credentialed reporter hailing from [Emerson College] one of the most notable journalism schools in the country.

However, I have the overwhelming need to stand up for journalists everywhere at this point.

Having lived in this area for all but four years of my life, I have experienced the best and worst of what our special part of the Deep South has to offer.

I’ve also had the privilege of spending those other four years traveling all over the country and living in a diverse part of the Sunshine State; so feel free to take the following observations however you wish now that I’ve established my own credentials.

I love living in an area where holding doors open and saying “thank you” is the norm. I remember carrying a ton of boxes in Washington, D.C. and as I approached my exit door a lady came in the opposite direction [and] just walked by without a single acknowledgment of my presence.

I love being offered food at every event I work and having sweet tea readily available. I asked for sweet tea in Oregon and everyone looked at me like I was insane.

I love not being forced to wear a three-piece suit no matter where I happen to work — where a collared shirt, slacks and shoes are considered business attire. My friend had to order five suits for his first job out of college in, again, Washington, D.C.

However, behind the polite smiles and relaxed nature of Southern hospitality lies an explosive reaction triggered by the slightest hint of anything different from the norm.

Remember the man who put a package of pork in a Muslim family’s shopping cart [at Crestview’s Publix] because he said he could?

Remember the backlash of the mere suggestion of a change in the city’s alcohol ordinance; or the council’s reaction to suggestions of municipal change?

Now, a new reporter comes into town asking simple questions and suddenly she’s a member of the “fake news media” trying to bring a liberal agenda to the most conservative county in Florida.

In the era where every fact is now put under the microscope of keyboard warriors — who, by the look of their grammar, [likely] copied encyclopedia articles verbatim for their school reports — even the most neutral of questions are perceived as skewed to favor the opposition.

I can already see the barrage of comments calling me anywhere from an antichrist to a Yankee liberal — again, born and raised in the South, but someone will still think it, and I was trying to be alphabetical with my prediction — but every single hateful comment will prove the point this op-ed is trying to make: that there’s a “Jekyll and Hyde” complex in the wheelhouse of Southern Hospitality.

I can also see the comments saying, “If you don’t like living here, then leave!”

To that I say, “I love living here, I just see some systemic problems that I’d like to see fixed.”

Hopefully this op-ed will keep the trolls off our new staff reporter’s back long enough for her to find her niche and regain her faith in our supposedly hospitable little community.

Bring it on! 

Johnny C. Alexander is a Crestview resident and freelance writer, photographer and videographer.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Online, ‘southern hospitality’ doesn’t extend to News Bulletin’s reporter

For the kids out there, once upon a time Democrats and Republicans worked together for the betterment of the country. Yes, I know it sounds crazy. Back then, you could be a Republican and read a book by Trotsky, or watch the movie "Dr. Zhivago," and not have to lawyer up afterward.  

Probably less surprisingly, bourbon was the reason compromises such as getting Democrats on board with the Civil Rights Acts of the 1960s happened. There once lived a powerful Texas Congressman named Sam Rayburn, who rose to become Speaker of the House. After rancorous debates on the House floor on the divisive issues of the day, he would invite his embattled colleagues from both sides of the aisle back to his office for his favorite drink, bourbon and branch water. 

Plied with booze, they would open up, learn what each side really could compromise on, and get deals done for the voters. Back then we had a two-party system that would party. Today, the echo chamber of the left and right just hardens members' opinions on issues, making compromise elusive. Our current two-party system? MSNBC and Fox. 

Today, the only thing the Republicans and Democrats can agree on is how mad they are at Kathy Griffin for holding up that mock severed head of the president. Republicans are annoyed that she threatened a sitting president, and Democrats are upset because the head was not really Trump’s. 

So how can Trump, a man who does not drink (always a problem), reach out with branch water to the Dems and even RINO Republicans to get things done? 

Imagine if Trump did drink. Yikes! Drunk Tweeting would be even more interesting. The "Send" button gets much bigger late at night when you are drunk. 

Now everything is partisan and confusing. Democrats used to love Russians and their communist/socialistic ideologies. Now they hate Russia because Trump might be getting along with Putin. If Hillary got along with Putin, she’d have a Nobel Peace Prize by now. Now Dems love China, because they disingenuously said they will stay in the non-binding Paris Climate Change Accords. In fact, they have committed to using hybrid tanks to run over all future anti-government protestors in Tiananmen Square. 

The fact is, the Democrat party has no discernible agenda. Their “resist” mindset has become transparently petty. They have lost more than 1,000 governorships, state house seats and Congressional seats since [Barack] Obama/ [Nancy] Pelosi took over. 

Dems seem to find more satisfaction in hurting their opponents with the politics of personal destruction than in governing. "SNL" and the media found pleasure in making a cartoon of White House Spokesman Sean Spicer, thus forcing his resignation. Dems will find that his replacement, Anthony Scaramucci, a smart former co-worker of mine and friend, will be a more formidable presence than Spicer. 

"SNL" also famously made fun of Sarah Palin, misquoting her as saying “And I can see Russia from my house.” But it’s so weird — now the left sees Russia from everywhere. 

The focus groups now tell Democrats they need an actual message. So they stole their new rebranding message from Papa John’s Pizza: “A Better Deal: Better Skills, Better Jobs, Better Wages.” Clearly, their new message is an attempt to make voters think of FDR’s New Deal, the glory days of using a crisis to grow the power of government and raise taxes.

Some would say it’s a bad idea to reintroduce "Mad Men"-style drinking to Washington. It would take us back to the days of misogynist men, drinking and cavorting, when they say it was a bad time to be a woman. Yet we have O.J. getting out of prison, Bill Clinton on the road giving speeches, the Bill Cosby mistrial, Anthony Weiner and Ole Miss ex-coach Hugh Freeze, all with a lot of time on their hands. 

I'm not sure now is a much better time to be a woman.

Ron Hart is a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: What happened to bourbon and branch water?

Since it began, I have said in this column that this Russian investigation was a media-contrived witch hunt. When you are a billionaire president and the most powerful person in the United States, and our government’s FBI, intelligence agencies and the Department of Justice can go after you with no evidence, what chance would you and I have if they wanted us? It should scare us all. 

But the Russian “scandal” pushed by CNN is over. 

Granted, some of the bumps have been of his own making, but the Trump presidency so far has been as bumpy as the right lane of an Atlanta street. But when the media spin a narrative that you are in the pocket of Russia with “unnamed sources” and relentless fervor, it is hard to focus. 

Just to remind you, the story the left-wing media have been advancing to undermine our president goes a little like this. Donald J. Trump, a man who has lived the American dream, decided to become a Russian agent in his early 70s. He somehow persuaded fellow septuagenarian Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III, a son of the South, sitting U.S. senator and former U.S. attorney, to join in this scheme. 

So Sessions and Trump are Russian agents, according to the narrative of the left that led us to a special prosecutor. The only Trump official who has not been accused of being a spy is SECDEF James "Mad Dog" Mattis. To sum up, the man nicknamed "Mad Dog" is the sanest and most reliable 70-year-old man in Trump’s inner circle. 

The media and Dems just cannot get over Trump. The most recent negative story they are repeating is that Canada plans to restore the brothel developed by President Trump’s granddad in 1896. Friedrich Trump managed prostitutes, and now Donald tries to manage the press and Washington insiders. Not much has changed in 120 years. 

The McCarthy-like fear that permeates from the left and in Hollywood stoked this fake Russia conspiracy. Given the left’s perpetual homage to the McCarthy hearings that damaged so many of their own, the hypocrisy is stark. 

Against the probable crimes of Hillary’s bleaching her 30,000 deleted emails of her "chats with Bill" and her "yoga lessons," Loretta Lynch meeting with Slick Willie on the tarmac and telling FBI Director James Comey to call the email investigation a “matter,” and Susan Rice using some trumped-up investigation to wiretap and unmask Trump officials, we had  Obama saying as late at October 2016 that there was no Russian meddling in the election.

Once Special Counsel Mueller finishes hiring Clinton Foundation cronies and Obama donor staff attorneys to investigate Trump, he might have to go look at the real crimes.

Ron Hart, a libertarian and award-winning author, is a frequent guest on CNN. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Russia, hookers and the Democrats' big swing and miss at Trump

Hate speech doesn't work for any person or group in America. The result is always hurt. The shooting of Majority Whip Steve Scalise at a baseball practice is further proof.

Here are some of the comments and other rhetoric that Sean Hannity recently remarked about on an evening broadcast and his website.

Hollywood Actor Mark Ruffalo calls on NBC News to "cease hiring white conservatives."

"Knights for Socialism" group at a Florida University teaches students how to "fight the fascists."

Anti-Trump "resistance" leaders say they want to "Make America Ungovernable," call for "direct action" tactics against Republicans.

Kathy Griffin's photo shoot depicting President Trump's severed head.

Charlie Sheen wishes death on Donald Trump, tweeting, "Dear God; Trump next, please! Trump next, please!" following the death of actress Carrie Fisher.

President Trump murdered in musician Marilyn Manson's music video.

Katie Tur insinuates Donald Trump will begin killing journalists on MSNBC, saying "Donald Trump has made no secret about going after journalists"

Unhinged NYU professor calls on students to attack conservative speaker Gavin McInnes, calls his supporters "Nazis."

Rachel Maddow says Donald Trump wants to murder journalists.

Comedian Jim Carrey supports Kathy Griffin's photo shoot, says he dreams of killing President Trump.

Madonna says she wants to "blow up the White House" during a speech.

Black Lives Matter say they want to "fry cops like bacon" during a rally in Minnesota.

President Obama urges liberal activists to, "Get in their faces."

Actor Mickey Rourke goes on anti-Trump rant, says "F*** him, F*** the horse he rode in on; his wife's one of the biggest gold-diggers I know."

Rapper Big Sean raps about murdering Donald Trump with an icepick.

TV host Stephen Colbert goes on anti-Trump tirade, calls him "Vladimir Putin's c***-holster."

Comedian Bill Maher jokes about Trump family incest.

Rapper Snoop Dogg stages phony execution of 'clown' Donald Trump.

NBC and New York Times contributor Malcolm Nance calls on ISIS to suicide-bomb Trump-owned properties.

NYC Theater group stages performance of 'Julius Caesar,' showing the savage stabbing-death of 'Donald Trump.'

Protesters in Philadelphia chant "Kill Trump; Kill Pence" during May Day demonstrations.

Thanks To Sean Hannity and SeanHannity.com for providing this startling information.

We've heard many times that sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. Words are painful but often lead to very cruel actions. While some of these American personalities hopefully would never act out their speech, their speech influences America. Millions read social media, watch television and they follow America's celebrities. Speech is influential when it comes from so many people who are in the public eye.

President Trump is not a perfect man nor is Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton or Mike Pence.

We should help President Trump accomplish something. We should build the wall; take some of the tax burden off businesses and the average American taxpayer. We should stop wasting Americans' money that is paid into Social Security so that seniors will have something to count on in their senior years.

We need our roads, bridges and water systems in America fixed or replaced. We need to continue to build strong energy sources such as wind, solar, natural gas and clean coal.

We need to work together to help our kids receive good educations without costing the price of a new house.

We need to fix the high cost of medical care and prescription drugs.

Spewing hate filled venomous words at each other solves nothing. All political sides need to tone it down. Calling for hurt or even death to the president or any law abiding citizen is evil.

We need to all become human beings again, stop being stupid, go to work and resolve our problems.  

Glenn Mollette is an American syndicated columnist and author.

What's your view? Write a letter to the editor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Stop the hate speech — fix our problems

Independence Day, a great American tradition, is upon us. Set against the pent-up tension of having to be around all your relatives in scorching heat with dubious potato salad and booze, what could go wrong?

For me, Independence Day is the top holiday. It involves no church and I don’t have to buy gifts. Also, I get to combine two things I really like: beer and explosives.

In all the rituals and remembrances of the bravery of our Founders, the Fourth of July is also one of only 362 days a year when you can score “low, low prices” on a mattress.

If our Founders came back to life today, they would be shocked by how much a ticket to the Broadway play "Hamilton" costs, but mostly by how big the government has grown.

What would they think of $55 million of out-of-state money being spent on a Georgia 6th District House race that pays the winner $175,000 a year?

That we have 800 military bases in other countries, and are $20 trillion in debt?

That our FBI director has a taxpayer-funded, $65 million Gulfstream 650 jet he flies across the country on an "employee recruitment trip”? 

Of then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch, in her own jet, having a secret meeting with Bill Clinton on the tarmac — in his private jet, too — to discuss an ongoing investigation into him and his wife?

And these are the same government officials with their private jets lecturing us citizens on global warming?

Independence Day is personal for me; I’m a descendant of John Hart, one of the signers. Reading about our Founding Fathers and knowing myself, I realize we are a country of ADD folks because of them.

Most Founders came from families that had great lives in Europe, but they risked everything to come here.

Ben Franklin was a printer, musician, scientist, diplomat and writer. Lore has it that he was flying a kite and did not notice lightning when he discovered electricity. Today, OSHA would shut him down.

Thomas Jefferson was an inventor, architect, writer, philosopher, statesman, lawyer and our third president.

Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr were real men; they handled their differences with a gunfight. This resulted in our country being run as it was intended, by the better marksmen. FBI Director Comey handled his disputes by secretly leaking CYA government documents to the NY Times to get back at Trump.

Trump personifies ADD. On the same day he Tweeted that his travel ban had been stalled, his Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, told reporters it was NOT a “travel ban.” This is the same president being investigated for colluding with the Russians? Hell, he can't even collude with his own Press Secretary.

The Founders would not spend money to investigate Trump over this Russia BS. There’s more evidence Trump shot Abe Lincoln than that he colluded with Russia.

Our Founders did not write “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness … unless it offends someone.” Their pursuit of happiness would not involve spending government resources to impede gay marriage or punish citizens for not buying government-mandated health insurance. Remember, these men donned satin pedal-pusher britches, wigs, fancy shoes and ruffled shirts. They’d be cool with gay marriage. They won our freedom.  

Freedom comes with responsibility, which entitlement-minded believers in big government begrudge. We need less government, not more. Yes, we have a lot of Attention Deficit Disorder, but I do not understand how the government and the “deep state” have grown so big, when our Founders intended government to be small.

It must be that we were not paying attention.

Ron Hart, a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author, is a frequent guest on CNN. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Amid big government, the Fourth of July has lost its meaning

Since my involvement with the Facebook group Crestview Citizens for Change, I have been viewing our city through a different lens.

My perspective was “I’m here because the housing market favors my preference,” and now my perspective is “Am I really getting value in my city services?”

I’ve since been enlightened on how to get things done in Crestview. The error in my ways was thinking the people tasked with these oversight jobs would be overseeing them.

I have learned that, to get anything done, I have to ask them to do it — to steal a quote, “In order to get things done, you have to make it more work for a civil servant to ignore you than to do the task you would like them to do.”

Let’s explore this for a moment.

A few weeks ago, I emailed [Crestview’s] director of public works, Wayne Steele, regarding some extensive vandalism and disrepair at the Countryview Park located at the end of Northview Drive.

My initial email was inquisitive because I wanted to learn what the city processes were in regard to addressing vandalism and repair needs for the playgrounds — after all, maybe my issue was with the process, not the employees.

I learned that the protocols in place were proactive enough that, if followed, any vandalism or repair needs should be identified within Monday through Thursday, and measures to correct the issues [would] be employed ASAP, and also involving the Crestview Police Department to have a report filed so we can get reimbursed for the costs of the city insurance.

Properly executed, this protocol would ensure swift fixing of any issues.

I let about a week go by — from learning from Wayne about the city processes to when I sent him pictures of the extensive problems I identified. (I visited the park a few times since then to give the process time to work on its own). I won’t share pictures, but items included: animal feces on the mulch in the playground area, written vulgarity and vandalism (writing on equipment, drawing obscene pictures, etc).

Mr. Steele was extremely helpful in educating me about the myriad of roles he plays and the extent of his job. Once he informed me that no reports of vandalism had been brought to his attention in the current month, I knew the problem was that the protocol was not being followed.

I sent him every picture I took, and that evening he assured me all items would be fixed by end of day the following day, and they were.

I trust he followed protocol and involved the Crestview Police Department by filing a report so the taxpayer money could get some relief from insurance, but I don’t know that for certain.

The problem isn’t isolated to public works, though — it’s everywhere. Our charter review committee met on June 13 and came to an agreement on frequency and duration of meetings, and the administrator in charge of getting that information available to the public didn’t do it until I asked her to — six days later. The administrator of the committee is our growth management director, Teresa Gaillard. She was fast about it, but I had to ask for it to be done.

Why?

I’d encourage every citizen — when you see a foul, call it how you see it. The only way you’ll get representation in our current setting is if you engage the people responsible for the problem you find.

I can say, for me personally, I have no faith that the system by itself will address concerns the way it should without me spurring it along.

This highlights a need for full-time oversight, in my eyes. 

Matt Gates, with the Facebook page Crestview Citizens for Change, is not to be confused with Matt Gaetz, the U.S. congressman. He lives in Crestview.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Speak up, Crestview

Every year, thousands of little babies are put up for adoption. Our oldest daughter and son-in-law adopted a beautiful little girl not quite a year ago. We can no longer imagine our family without her.

Her mother picked our daughter and her husband out of a number of families who were in the adoption line waiting for a child. They had prepared a lot of information about themselves; history, goals and aspirations, along with an entire book of pictures. The mother of the child selected them and met with them before the actual transfer of the child took place. While there were and still are many legal letters to dot and cross, their joy of the child has been great.

I can't imagine the biological mother of the child handing her baby over to another couple. The mother, in all honesty, stated she had two children and financially couldn't take care of another child. She didn't want to kill the baby but wanted the child to have a good home.

Let's please give the biological mother an A for doing the right thing.

I never dreamed that I would be a grandfather. My oldest son was 32 years old when he announced to me that my wife and I would be grandparents. The boy is almost 2 years old now. Since then our youngest daughter has had a child so suddenly we now have three grandbabies.

Grandbabies are easier than children. We love on them, spoil them and then give them back to their parents.

If we are fortunate, life passes by and we have the opportunity to look back. Old people have the opportunity to look back at the joys, pleasures and regrets of life and everybody has a little of all of them. You haven't lived much if you haven't had some joys and a regret or two.

The joy that my little sons brought me were more than I could ever write about. They were two sweet little boys who listened to my silly bedtime stories almost every night. They grew up to fill my house with loud guitar and drum music and kept me jumping during their teenage years.

I miss loading them up in the car and us heading off to see their grandparents in Ohio.

I miss our trips to Myrtle Beach to play in the sand, tossing a ball in the backyard. Of course, I could go on with things I miss all day long. Most of us dads could.

On the flip side, now my sons are 34 and 31. They are 14 and six-year military men and our conversations and lives are now very different.

I love them and still look forward to every minute I have to do something together or just hang out for a day. At this stage of life, there isn't enough of these times, as one lives on the east coast and the other lives on the west coast.

Fatherhood is a blessing to be enjoyed and there will always be a few moments to endure; that's part of life as well. You may not be a father and that's okay, too. Just enjoy whatever your status. There aren't any universal rules that say you have to be a father to have a fulfilling life. My nephew is 55, single and with no children and lives life with a good attitude and sense of wellbeing.

On this Father's Day, give thanks for the opportunity to be a father. Tell your children you love them and engage in their lives and activities. If you've made mistakes you have today to try to be a better father. It's never too late to do something right.

If you are fortunate to still have your father, then please brighten his day by calling him and having a long telephone conversation. If possible, go and spend time with him. Do what you can to express love and admiration if you can, and you won't regret it.

Finally, we have to be realistic. There are scenarios of deadbeat dads who were lousy fathers and unworthy of praise. On the flipside, there are children who did everything they could to drive dad crazy while growing up.

These are the harsh realities of life.

The reality of life is that love covers a multitude of sins and it's never too late to be and do the right thing. If you haven't been a good father, it's not too late to try today. If you never cared much for your dad, then why not make one more effort to reach out to dad today.

There is always a chance for disappointment but maybe you just might get a kind word and a warm reception—and maybe a miracle will happen that might be the beginning of a new and real relationship that never really existed.

You never know until you try, and this Father's Day is the day to try for a good Father's Day.  

Glenn Mollette is an American syndicated columnist and author.

What's your view? Write a letter to the editor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: This Father's Day, keep trying

We have doubled the nation’s debt from $10 trillion to $20 trillion in the last eight years, growing the police state.

ISIS is on the march.

North Korea and Iran have nukes.

We have a mucked-up health care system, a sluggish economy, and the highest corporate tax and imprisonment rates of any country in the world.

But now we are spending our money, time and attention on a “he said, he said” retrospective of former FBI Director James Comey’s firing.

It also diverted the nation’s attention from the Paris Accord, which I think is a deal where France’s army surrendered again.

It would be nice to be fired like Comey and then be able to go in front of Congress and the nation to vent your anger at your ex-boss.

This partisan carping in Washington makes the Salem Witch Trials look like a kinder, gentler and more reasoned time in America. The whole thing is a public conviction in search of facts. Putin is just smiling.

Democrats will stop at nothing to bring this president down. If Trump wiped out ISIS right now, Democrats would haul him before Congress and charge him with genocide.

Orchestrated by Democrats and some RINOs (Republicans In Name Only) to make Trump look bad, the Comey show trial failed. It was like following the Kathy Griffin beheading bit with a more boring attempt to get the president, but with similar intended results. Republicans were outraged at her for holding up the bloody severed head of a sitting U.S. president. Democrats were mad because it was not actually Trump.

And for the record, the company Squatty Potty fired Kathy Griffin before CNN did. That tells you all you need to know about how much the media are in the toilet today.

Politicians looked transparently petty in this non-fact-based witch-hunt before Congress. Conveniently, it plays into why the nation sent Trump to Washington in the first place.

Comey’s testimony revealed him to be a cowardly, self-preserving, government bureaucrat intent on keeping his job. Instead of reporting what he now implies was "obstruction of justice," he kept his notes in his desk in case he needed them later to save himself. After being fired, he leaked his notes through a surrogate (cowardly again) to The New York Times. Perhaps that was a crime too.

In fact, there are so many laws on the books, layered upon each other, enabling the government to go after whoever it wants. The Justice Department loves saying, “We go where the facts lead us,” but what they do not tell you is that they only follow the facts and the cases they want. It’s like the media: They say they report the news, but they only report news that fits their world view. The same is true of law enforcement when politics is involved; the Loretta Lynch effort to derail the Clinton investigation (a.k.a. “matter") comes to mind.

Comey’s narrative made him a "brave hero" when confronting the Trump Administration, but it revealed a compliant coward when told what to do by the Obama Administration. 

Comey seemed to want to insert himself in every situation he could, rather than taking the traditional, non-partisan, low profile, investigative role the FBI historically has played. He famously said he did not pursue Hillary Clinton’s emails charges because there was “no intent.” Apparently, knowingly setting up a private server and bleaching 30,000 emails was not intent.

Comey's anger came to a head when it was leaked that Trump told a Russian ambassador Comey was a “nut-job.” Comey was so mad and wanted to prove Trump wrong that he testified before Congress.

Ron Hart, a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author, is a frequent guest on CNN. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Getting queasy watching Washington