On hostages and deaths

Terry Anderson, a journalist in Beirut in 1995, was kidnapped by the Hezbollah. On Monday’s Deborah Norville Tonight, he told us that it made a huge difference to him knowing that people cared and were praying for him. 

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You‘ve got to wonder what kind of example is being set in Japan, where three former hostages, a photojournalist, a writer, and an aide worker have been practically treated as pariahs upon their safe return.  The Japanese government is billing them over $20,000 for the cost of their plane tickets back home. 

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThe debate over AI’s future rages on both coasts

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDecades-old march dispute reignites in Northern Ireland, threatening political crisis

On the other hand, here at home this weekend, an elementary school kid who had never heard of Pat Tillman before wrote an essay about what it means to give up something really special of their own for something even more special for their country.  I‘d never heard that from my little boy before.  And I bet Pat Tillman would have liked hearing it, too, and so probably would those soldiers who have died and won‘t get the publicity of the fallen NFL safety turned elite Army Ranger. 

It‘s a reminder that nothing good comes without effort, and nothing lasting comes without sacrifice.  And if the 24 million people of Iraq one day can get up and raise their children, and go to jobs in peace…  and if little boys in this country realize that sometimes the bigger picture is worth sacrificing for, then maybe the deaths of Pat Tillman and the more than 550 other Americans who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan won‘t be in vain.