America first should mean having the ideals the world respects and to which it looks up. It should not be some selfish version of US me-ism.

Our time here is too short, and the world is too small for international arrogance.

(PHOTO) A wide world. Willard painting.

My friend and mentor, Harold Burson, PR Week's PR Man of the 20th Century, died five years ago today. I was proud in the 1990s to work for his company, Burson-Marsteller

(Photo--Introducing Harold to my The Willard Group team in Moscow in 2005 while cruising on the Moscow River.

With the coming MAMA crowd (Make America Miniscule Again), there is no longer that shining city on a hill. It is a fact that the world over no longer casts its lonely eyes on us.

I'm still going to try to be optimistic. I'm a novelist. I make up things to fit my mood.

I told my wife I would quit drinking booze cold turkey if she endorsed me for US Defense Secretary. She said no. So, all bets are off.

Yep, we're having Ukrainian borsch on Thanksgiving Day in tribute to our brethren in arms and in opposition to the bloody Russian turkeys in the Kremlin.

(Photo) Willard family on Kyiv's Maidan for the Revolution for Freedom and Dignity in 2014.

Thanksgiving week: When we thank the native Indians who taught undocumented pilgrims how to make popcorn, thereby ensuring this gastronomic treat would be with us for ages.

Sunday Willard painting: Channeling O'Keefe.