Disgraceful attack on journalists

Donald Trump has been rightly called out for thoughtless and rude insults of America’s intelligence agents and the parents of a Muslim soldier killed defending his troops. His blanket insults of journalists, often ignored, cannot be allowed to stand. My friend and former colleague, Mary Coffman, made the case in a letter to the editor of The […]

“Our president is a pathological liar”

A Lie by Any Other Name By Charles M. Blow, Op-Ed Columnist, The New York Times, Jan. 26, 2017 This is not a presentation of “alternative facts,” whatever that may mean, as Kellyanne Conway, President Trump’s mistress of misdirection, posited over the weekend. These are lies; good old-fashioned lies, baldfaced and flat-out lies. Some have suggested that […]

Trump’s post-journalism America

  Donald Trump’s war on the media—a frantic drive to seize exclusive control of the news and declare the death of conventional journalism—is quickly gaining momentum. If you think I’m exaggerating, look at the evidence. Every day he discredits and insults respected reporters; he has called them “scum” and “the most dishonest people on earth.” […]

A dark day for the 1st Amendment

Trump’s unrelenting hostility to the press has created this environment in which reporters may be arrested on spurious charges. Trump supporters will cheer. If there’s no one to tell the tale, fascism will follow. The New York Times reports that “representatives of Mr. Trump did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Wednesday.” They […]

Unvarnished Trump

The institutional memory that Richard Cohen, the Washington Post columnist, brings to his work far surpasses that of most of the commentators I read. His column this morning is to me what the new Trump-era journalism must look like. It is, alas, more Soviet-like in some respects in that it responds to Trump’s primitive reaction […]

If it didn’t seem real, maybe it wasn’t

The cheering at Trump’s CIA meeting Saturday was not from CIA people, CBS reports, because Trump packed the house with his own supporters. The agency is embarrassed. Sources say Trump’s CIA visit made relations with intel community worse By JEFF PEGUES, CBS NEWS, January 23, 2017, 10:33 AM U.S. government sources tell CBS News that there is […]

Closing the border to Canadians

Trump campaigned on closing U.S. borders to Muslim extremists. He didn’t mention Canadian protesters. Anti-Trump Protesters Say U.S. Denied Them Entry At Canada Border “The first thing he asked us point-blank is, ‘Are you anti- or pro-Trump?’” one Canadian recalled. By Nina Golgowski Trends reporter, The Huffington Post Multiple people attempting to legally enter the […]

Trump’s first war

  It’s against the press. That was no surprise. But it was sudden and it was vicious, not a shot across the bow, but a declaration of war delivered to unsuspecting reporters called in for the administration’s first briefing. Instead of a briefing, the press secretary Sean Spicer delivered a sucker punch, rebuking one reporter […]

A Republican in Dissent

Republicans in Congress need to ask themselves the very hard question, answer it honestly, and act on their answer. Why I Cannot Fall in Line Behind Trump Peter Wehner Jan. 21, 2017 From The New York Times President Donald J. Trump at the inaugural parade near the White House on Friday.CreditSam Hodgson for The New York […]