Attitudes, platitudes and little bits of ribbon

One of my other writing engagements is as a columnist for my hometown newspaper, the Winona Daily News. My columns generally appear bi-weekly, and occasionally I've shared content between posts I've written here and what winds up published in the paper. A little while back, Tim asked me to post a teaser and link to the columns as they come out, and this is the first occasion I've had to do so.

Without further ado:

Our yard signs and bumper stickers say things like “Hope,” “Change” and “Support the Troops” without describing how we should act in order to fulfill these empty slogans. We proudly display our ribbon and flag magnets and lapel pins as if they actually mean something. When Americans put their money where their mouth is by buying into these stagnant sayings, all they do is pay lip service to platitudes.

Read more here.