Ott Observations

A conservative friend who reads my columns recently asked me what I thought about transgenders, specifically about athletes.   He knows I have a stepdaughter who once played college volleyball.…

Recently I found myself thinking about a movie made back in 2006 called “Idiocracy.” The movie is a science fiction comedy, with a plot about a future dystopian society where…

Not quite two years ago, I began writing letters to the editor, which eventually led to this column. I had an objective. I was frustrated by the level of almost…

Recently, I was looking through my high school yearbook, trying to find inspiration to attend my 50th reunion (It didn’t work).   Reading all my classmates’ written comments, I was…

Most Republicans in Congress are self-congratulating themselves for passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.   Yes, it’s an effort to rein in mass shooting gun violence by expanding background…

So much has already been said or written about the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that I hesitated to write a column about it. For those that don’t closely follow…

When I attended the smash Broadway musical “Hamilton,” it stirred in me an interest in digging deeper into the origin of our country and the issues our founders faced. I’ve…

While dozens of states are raising identification standards for citizens to vote, I’ve been reading another book about our Founding Fathers.  I think most of us can agree that having…

During my years as a management consultant, there was a universal truth we would share with all our clients.  “When people do not receive information about something important to them,…

On my most pessimistic days, it can seem like our country is torn apart by irreconcilable differences.   If our government wants to make sure a drug is affordable to…

As I write this, we have once again witnessed the excruciating Senate confirmation process of a Supreme Court justice nominee. Instead of thoughtful discussions about how a nominee weighs and…