Time to Think

  A Free Press Under Fire              #406 By Hank Silverberg   Commentary You have already heard the story. President Trump has kicked reporters from CNN, MSN and Politico out of the White House press room, calling them all "Fake News". "Media outlets shouldn't be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they are covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration or the United States of America," Trump posted on Truth Social.  To Trump, anything he thinks is negative about him is a lie or fake.  Last year Trump removed Reuters, the Associated Press and Bloomberg News from the permanent White House press pool and barred the AP from events where Trump speaks, all because they would not adopt his renaming of the Gulf of Mexico.   It's all petty, of course.Those news organizations do not lie, nor are they fake news. Mr. Trump is being vindictive because he doesn't like negative stories...

After 9/11 The World Changed                  #405 By Hank Silverberg   Commentary A Shift In World View Much has been written in the last week about 9/11, 2001. People across the country reflected on their memories of that day. What has not been talked about much is how The United States of America was changed by the event. Many individuals changed. But the country as a whole seems like a very different place.  My memories of that day are posted below in a column I wrote earlier in the week that I repeat here for context. But this entry is mostly about a changed America.  Some of the changes are obvious. There are barricades in front of most government buildings, and checkpoints inside most of them that were not there for most of our country's life.  Getting on an airplane has become an ordeal with several checks before you board the plane.  But I see other changes that are not so obvious.  When terrorists struc...

Money Makes The World Go 'Round      #404 By Hank Silverberg  Money Trap Labor Day has traditionally been the start of the fall election campaign season, though that tradition has pretty much slipped away over the last decade of election cycles.  Money continues to play a big role in who gets elected because it pays for campaign logistics, and more significantly, mass media advertisements.  Now a U.S. Supreme Court ruling has given the GOP a big advantage in what could be the most significant Congressional race in a generation, and the most expensive ever. According to the Federal Elections Commission, more than $670.1 million has been spent on the Senate campaigns so far in 2026 with two key months to go.     In an 8-1 decision on Friday that overruled a lower appeals court, the Justices said there can be no rule that prohibits political parties or fundraising committees from getting favorable television advertisement rates that have been t...

"Welcome to Trump D.C."                  #403 By Hank Silverberg Any day now I expect to see a proposal to change the name of Washington, D.C. to "Trump, D.C."  After all, the current occupant of the White House has changed the city's landscape substantially already.  He pretty much destroyed the reflecting pool on the National Mall by trying to "fix it". He tore down an entire wing of the White House to build a ballroom that really isn't needed  (with security features underneath), and he destroyed the Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts by trying to put his name next to Kennedy's by installing a Trump-friendly board, which is now pushing for either massive Trump-inspired renovations or has threatened to tear down the building if they don't happen.    Then there's D.C.'s public golf course in East Potomac Park, long a place to play without snooty memberships and expensive tee-up fees. Trump wants to replace the pu...

Terminology Gone Wild                                                                      #402 By Hank Silverberg  Commentary  The mid-term elections are in full swing. The traditional Labor Day start to such congressional elections is a thing of the past. And this year, the election has higher stakes than at any time in recent memory.  But the rules have changed dramatically. While congressional candidates still pound the pavement attending rallies and events to drum up votes, much of the campaigning is done on the internet, unfiltered and often out of control. We are all used to the lack of facts in internet posts by average people and fake news produced by third parties to deceive us, but this year even the candidates have started to misuse terms. With that in mind, I thought a quick review of wh...