Triple-digit temperatures reinforce the reality of a four-letter word widely employed in Arizona at this time of year.

What do you have in common with a goldfish? Evidently, more than you could ever imagine.

After a few thousand miles this year spent driving Arizona’s interstates, I’ve come to a conclusion: There are two kinds of people left in this fine nation of ours.

It’s been a hell of a couple years. And it can be easy to get discouraged, to lose the faith, to think that people aren’t as good as they used to be.

Progressive Anarchy

When I moved west in 1995 to be a newspaper scribe, one of the challenges was getting acquainted with the Valley’s geography. The grid system was easy enough, as were major cross streets like Broadway, Southern, Indian School and Van Buren. But the finer distinctions eluded me. 

In 1964, President Johnson declared “War on Poverty.”

Midterm campaign season has kicked into high gear here in Arizona, a hotly contested state that political pundits often use as a barometer to determine which way the electoral winds are blowing.