The IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Jokes and stories attributed to U.S. presidents–true or not–have to make some of them blush with embarrassment. File drawers of the late President Harry S. Truman must have bulged nigh unto disintegration. He was arguably the most plain-spoken president of the 20th century. (Admittedly, in the 21st century, he probably would have been a distant second to

The IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Blackie Sherrod—arguably the best sportswriter this side of the ancient Olympic Games begun in Greece seven centuries before the birth of Christ–had a name for us. He classified us as drones and worker bees, mostly “9-to-5’ers” with little hope of ever getting ahead. He called us “The Great Unwashed.” He described the masses as

The IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Preachers, bless ‘em, don’t have to look hard for reasons to laugh. Some are able to put laughter “on hold,” restraining guffaws until sermons end; others can only surrender to the humor of the moment. This day, I’ll address the “long and the short of it,” The former, Dr. Bruce McIver, was a student

IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Seminary professors, bless ‘em, are saddled with expectations that run the gamut, and they forge on, day after day, knowing that the likelihood of having “another Billy Graham” in their classes is beyond remote. Though their patience be tested, they give their best shots, even for struggling students who feel called to the ministry from

View Post IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Editor’s Note: Dr. Newbury is on vacation. The following is a reprint of an earlier column. Most hunters are so gung-ho, they’ll hunt anything that’ll run from ‘em. Similarly, TV news folks salivate at the prospect of all-out chases to pluck credible opinions on controversial topics. This was the case recently when a

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Stories of gasoline price wars were common in Texas around 1960, when regular gas sold sometimes for 10.9 cents per gallon. Competition for college biology teachers, however, wasn’t all that common. Dr. Jack Stanford, retired with his wife Gilda in Brown County, remembers how two colleges tried to hire him. Fresh with his master’s degree

THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Perhaps the most current evidence that August falls into the “dog days” category appeared in “neighborhood news” the other day. Most of us “slog” through these stifling days, and media folks scrounge around for news stories when little seems to be happening. For example, a woman in our neighborhood appealed for household scales that she

IDLE AMERICAN Commentary by Dr. Don Newbury ‘Tis not the first time an error of my own doing has diverted me from the tedious freeways of everyday life to side roads with uncharted curves adorned by snagging brambles that seemed to warn, “Go back.” I stumble forward, discovering yet another column topic, one that likely should remain at barrel’s bottom