Recent Media Commentaries

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Why I Continue to Write about Trump
In her weekly column for The Wall Street Journal (Feb. 10), former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan shares some thoughts from Trump supporters and non-supporters, along with her own observations. One veteran remarked, “People who are for Trump always say, ‘look, he’s got an unfortunate character and temperament, but he’s good on regulation, good on the courts.’ “The problem, the veteran...
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February 12, 2018
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Michael Wolff and Me
If there’s anyone out there who hasn’t heard of Michael Wolff before last week, they’ve certainly heard of him now. Wolff is the author of the controversial new tell-all, Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. I’m not going to comment on the book. I haven’t read it and don’t intend to. I will tell you about my experience...
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January 8, 2018
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“Paris Has Been Liberated!”
Two months after the D-Day invasion by Allied forces, with the wind at their backs against German forces, CBS radio correspondent Charles Collingwood wrote an extraordinary story for radio broadcast: “The French Second Armored Division entered Paris today after the Parisians had risen as one man to beat down the German troops who had garrisoned the city. It was the...
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December 11, 2017
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That Uranium Deal: An Update
“Knowing what you know about Russia, was it really a good idea for the Obama administration and the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to approve a deal giving the Russians control of 20 percent of our uranium supply? . . . Why did Hillary’s office and the Obama administration sign off on giving the Russians a fifth of our uranium? . . . What...
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November 27, 2017
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“Reeling”
That’s how CBS This Morning host Gayle King described her reaction to the news that co-host, and PBS correspondent Charlie Rose is the latest to be called out and admit to sexual misconduct charges leveled at him. Sitting alone at their morning table, and looking into the camera with sober faces, Norah O’Donnell and Gayle King discussed their reactions to...
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November 22, 2017
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The Unbearable Alt-Rightness of His Being
Steve Bannon wants you to know that he’s a “good Catholic.” Given his M.O. as an extremist flamethrower, I find that more than a little unsettling, and I’m sure Pope Francis is rolling his eyes about now. Bannon also describes himself as a “street fighter.” (What happened to turning the other cheek, Steve?) Bannon has honed his fighting skills running...
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September 25, 2017
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Hurricane Irma v. Hurricane Blowhard
“…I’ve gotta be very careful here because I am not a meteorologist… not the National Hurricane Center… not a climatologist or meteorologist. All I do is analyze the data that they publish. …when it comes to a hurricane bearing down on South Florida, I’m the go-to guy.” – Rush Limbaugh, Sept. 5, 2017 I’ve gotta be very careful here, because...
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September 8, 2017
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Et Tu, Peggy, Et Tu?
There is no nice way to say it: I am tired of political leadership in Washington using words like “inappropriate,” “inconsistent,” a “distraction,” and “un-presidential” to describe what my parents, grandparents, teachers, religious leaders, and most anyone with common sense would otherwise call, WRONG! To state the obvious: we have a 71-year-old president whose Twitter rants demonstrate that he is...
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July 5, 2017
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Really, Sarah, Really?
Last Friday, CNN retracted a story that had appeared on its website incorrectly linking Trump confident and hedge-fund manager Anthony Scaramucci to a Russian investment fund supposedly under investigation by the Senate. On Tuesday, (June 27), White House Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders wasted no time in calling this to the attention of all media at the (sometimes) daily...
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June 30, 2017
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Keeping CNN Honest
CNN’s Anderson Cooper has a semi-regular segment on his evening show called, Keeping Them Honest, where he reports about absurd or just plain wrong information. Now, the cable news channel is on the hook for posting on its website (not broadcasting) an inaccurate story of their own. On Monday, three CNN reporters resigned after the network retracted a story about...
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June 28, 2017

Read Some of the Most Recent Articles
The Latest... And Often Greatest
When Democracy Comes Dressed as Patriotism
The current American political order is starting to feel like a collision between the films Seven Days in May and All the King’s Men. One...
Who Watches the Algorithm?
We are building machines that may soon judge, persuade, police, diagnose, hire, fire, and even help governments decide whom to trust. Yet we still have...
He Just Does His Job
I’ve been listening to and watching Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia for more than a year now: his speeches, his questions in Senate hearings,...
Why Donald Trump Has Pulled Me Back In—Again
Last August, I wrote that I was “stepping back from the chaos” of Donald Trump. I meant to write about his presidency only when his...
Scott Pelley Responds
During a contentious staff meeting at 60 Minutes, Scott Pelley spoke out sharply, criticizing the judgment and decision-making of CBS News editor in chief Bari...
The Clock is Still Ticking. But Now It’s Ticking for CBS
I began watching 60 Minutes when it premiered on September 24, 1968, when Harry Reasoner and Mike Wallace introduced a new kind of television journalism:...