The United States has now witnessed at least three political assassination attempts in recent memory. The first two came during the Jan. 6 coup, when rioters attempted to overthrow the election by threatening to kill the vice president and the speaker of the House.

The New York City of my youth was an inhospitable place. To a kid from the Jersey Shore who could see NYC in the distance, the city was a place that had pro hockey games and boxing fights. The 80s and 90s were about garbage strikes, government incompetence and bankruptcy. Fathers commuted there. It wasn’t a place where people actually lived.

In 1987, a Colorado senator named Gary Hart was the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination. Hart was smart, well-informed and attracted national attention by resisting predictable liberalism in favor of a more pragmatic approach.

I never thought I would host a radio show. But as of this past Monday, I am doing just that.