By coincidence, I’m publishing my 65th Ezine at the same time we commemorate the 65th anniversary of D-Day in World War II. For those whose knowledge of history is weak, this is the day the Allies mounted an attack across the English Channel, established a beachhead on the beaches of Normandy in France, and begin the final chapter in the defeat of Nazi Germany. (That lack of knowledge is going to be my topic next week.)

If you were 20 years old then and still alive today, that means you’re some 85 years old. Those who were there and survived to come home are fewer and fewer among us. Those of us who are Boomers feel especially privileged to know or have known them. If you want a reminder of what went on, then I recommend the book or the movie The Longest Day, as well as Saving Private Ryan.

Those who were there and those who supported them achieved a victory that gave us a gift—the gift of freedom. We all need to do a better job of honoring them by the way we use that gift.

To all those who had a hand in giving us that gift—Thank you and may God bless you.

One aspect of politics either hooks you like a junkie or drives you away. That aspect is the unrelenting march of events continuing on day after day without any kind of a break or respite.

This is summertime, the time when people begin to think about taking so time off away from the demands of their employment and recharging. No such break for political junkies, though. Read through this list coming and continuing political and economic attractions like you would a list of blockbuster summer movies.

    The Bankruptcy of Chrysler Meets the Bankruptcy of GM.

    The Confirming of a Supreme Court Justice

    The Nukes that Came from the North (Koreans)

    The Seating of the Senator from Minnesota

    I Ran from the Nukes in the East (Iran—Get it?)

    Blow Hard III- The Internal Republican Smackdown Continues

    Savior or Scam?—Trading the Planet for a Cap

    Droning On: Summertime in Afghanistan

    Pretty Woman on Broadway

    Tea Party II: July 4, 2009

    Son of Sicko—Harry and Louise Return

Of course, just like the movies, these are the items with the big media hype. Who knows what event may capture the public’s (and thereby the politicians’) interest and eclipse all the things listed above?

Maybe the remorseless pace of so many complex issues is what causes so many to focus instead on the mindless—who will win American Idol or Dancing with the Stars or some other TV reality show.

Whatever the motivation, the focus on the day to day can keep us from addressing the long term. Stephen Covey describes it well in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey shows 4 quadrants built around the four qualities of important, not important and urgent, not urgent. Covey teaches most people live their lives in the frantic quadrant of important and urgent because . . .