You WILL Walk Again July 3, 2013March 28, 2017 It’s unfortunate that President Bush, by leaning against the promise of stem cell research for eight years, likely ceded this breakthrough to our friends in Hong Kong (thanks again, Ralph Nader, and all the rest of you uncompromising idealists*) . . . but if you or someone you love might someday be paralyzed from a spinal cord injury, you won’t care where the cure comes from. You will walk again! JFK ON SECRECY AND THE PRESS As President Obama calls for a national discussion on the balance between privacy and security, these words from President Kennedy resonate. Not that I think President Kennedy would likely have made choices much different from those President Obama has made. (And boy would he be dismayed by the dumbing down of the traditional news media.) But they help inform the discussion. COOKING LIKE A GUY™ Bob Redpath: “You wrote, ‘As soon as I can figure out a manly way to make a souffle.’ I think it’s called scrambled eggs — in a mug in the microwave.” ☞ Good point. READING THE TIMES TOMORROW If I know my New York Times, we will find a replica of the Declaration of Independence on tomorrow’s back page. What better way to start the day? And to reflect on the millions who sacrificed so much to give us our lives, liberty, and freedom to pursue happiness — to be ourselves. One such person is this former Navy Seal, who fought for her country and pursued her own happiness, as recounted in her just published Warrior Princess: A U.S. Navy SEAL’s Journey to Coming out Transgender. *I’m awful. I just won’t let it go. But for a reason! I think it is a message we liberals (and pragmatic idealists) must constantly refresh — “don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good” — because it applies in almost any political situation and always will. Strive for the perfect, for sure; but make the practical compromises required for progress. Otherwise, all you get is self-righteous victimhood — and, when the stakes are as high as they were in 2000, calamity.