I remember exactly where I was when I saw President Richard Nixon on television giving his resignation speech. I was 14, in a military hospital at Torrejon Air Base in Spain, where my father was stationed, waiting to be taken into surgery. It was dawn in Madrid, so what I was watching had taken place earlier that morning, since Madrid is six hours ahead of Washington, DC.

That morning's circumstances led me to believe that God has a ribald sense of humor.

I’ve mentioned that I was born prematurely...