Recent Personalities Commentaries

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Foreshadowing What’s to Come
After learning that one of Donald Trump’s first actions as president pardoned nearly all of the 1,600 January 6, defendants, police officer, Michael Fanone–who was almost beaten to death by Trump supporters said this: “I have been betrayed by my country and I have been betrayed by those who supported Donald Trump. Whether you voted for him because he promised...
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January 20, 2025
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Hard Truths
“[President Trump] then engaged in an unprecedented criminal effort to overturn the legitimate results of the election in order to stay in power.”—Final Report on the Special Counsel Investigation into Efforts to Interfere with The Lawful Transfer of Power Held on January 6, 2020 Despite the release of special counsel Jack Smith’s report, one thing is clear: amid the relentless...
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January 15, 2025
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History Will Remember
Today, Congress is set to certify the 2024 election results, officially confirming Donald Trump as president for another four-year term. Vice President Kamala Harris will preside over the certification, a process that former Vice President Mike Pence previously carried out on January 6, 2021. However, History will record that Pence’s role was interrupted when a violent mob of Trump supporters...
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January 6, 2025
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America’s Christmas Carol
“Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they the shadows of things that May be, only?,” Scrooge asked. Still the Ghost pointed downward to the grave by which it stood. “Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead,” said Scrooge. “But if the courses be departed from, the ends...
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December 20, 2024
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A Public Trust
Last week, ABC News announced a $15 million settlement to resolve a defamation lawsuit involving the network and news anchor George Stephanopoulos. The lawsuit stemmed from Stephanopoulos’s inaccurate report that president-elect Donald Trump had been found “liable for rape” of writer E. Jean Carroll. In reality, Trump was liable for “sexually abusing” Ms. Carroll, not for rape, as defined under...
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December 17, 2024
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I Met a Traveler in An Antique Land
I time-tunneled back to 410 BC to have a conversation with Socrates, the renowned Greek sage, about the greatest challenges we face today. With the help of his A.I. assistant, here is that conversation, (edited for length). Socrates: Greetings, fellow traveler. What’s on your mind? Jim: How can we climb out of the pit of despair and relentless conflict where...
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December 2, 2024
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Thanksgiving: A Harvest of Hope
In a Thanksgiving address given in 1944 at London’s Royal Albert Hall, and in the presence of  Winston Churchill, United States Ambassador John Gilbert Winant concluded his speech with these words: “We are grateful that you have joined us on this day of Thanksgiving because, through common sacrifice and a sustaining Providence, we have been able together to preserve our...
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November 27, 2024
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The Power of Kindness
CBS News journalist Steve Hartman has built a career on finding the extraordinary within the ordinary. At a time when headlines are dominated by division and despair, Hartman’s stories remind us that hope and kindness are far from absent, they’re simply waiting to be discovered. In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to close and children to learn from...
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November 25, 2024
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Harmony of Hope
Running errands, stuck in traffic, cut off in traffic, crawling through traffic, frustrated and angry while enduring a relentless stream of bad news droning on cable radio, I clicked to another channel and was instantly transported to an oasis of calm. When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me Speaking words of wisdom, let it...
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November 21, 2024
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Good Night, and Good Luck
“You tried to destroy Trump; you tried to imprison Trump; you tried to break Trump. He’s not breakable. You couldn’t destroy him, and now he has turned on you.” That’s Trump’s favorite loyal lieutenant, Steve Bannon, from the former president’s first administration. This time around, he’s playing Lady Macbeth who’s role is fluffer to Donald Trump, making sure he feeds...
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November 18, 2024