Based on newly discovered emails, FBI Director James Comey is re-opening the investigation into Secretary Clinton’s email server. In a letter to Congress, Director Comey could not spell out exactly what is contained in the new documents without further investigation. However, in a statement to FBI employees, the director explained his reasoning in releasing news to the public via Congress....

These are, without a doubt, the Holy Grail of cultural and political questions of the moment: How does Trump appeal to his supporters? Why do supporters continue to stand by him when he lies – even when confronted with the facts – more than any candidate in modern history? What is it about this man that continues to attract both...

Citizen Kane follows the life and political campaign of an arrogant, populist millionaire who runs for governor on promises to help the “the working man,” only to be defeated by a sex scandal. Is art reflecting reality or is reality affecting art? Director Orson Wells took his inspiration from real-life newspaper publisher and “yellow journalist” William Randolph Hearst. Like his...

The latest Trump revelation, coming last Friday (Oct. 7), confirms that the Republican nominee is not only a loutish, repulsive man, but has been – by his own chirpy admission – a sexual predator. Coming from an 11-year-old conversation between Trump and Access Hollywood host Billy Bush where the reality star is preparing to do a cameo for the soap...

Well, boys and girls, here we are – the first of three presidential debates which may decide who goes to the White House: the Reality Star, or the Politically Calculated Czar; the extremely reckless, or “extremely careless.” I was previously invited to attend a screening of The Man with the Golden Arm, part of an Elmer Bernstein film series honoring...

After five long years (Remember, Trump was the first to announce his own investigation into Obama’s citizenship status in 2011: “I have people that have been studying it and they cannot believe what they’re finding.” ), Donald J. Trump finally announced, (Sept. 16): “President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period.” It doesn’t matter to Trump (or sadly, many...

The publication of Colin Powell’s private opinions of both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump – obtained from hacked e-mails from the former secretary of state’s private e-mail account – is only the latest example of the thorny ethical issues that journalists and media organizations must navigate. In this new universe, everything that’s been hacked appears to be fair game after...

Ahhhhhh… the cool mountain air, a calm… ripple… of water peacefully moving over the lake. Oh… it’s you! While on summer break, I thought I’d offer a few links to commentaries that garnered the most attention by readers over the past seven months. First place, with the most views thus far, was my three-part series from April, Trust and Confidence,...

Before leaving on summer recess at the end of the month, here is an assortment to read and ponder. Ginsburg Guff – Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had the temerity to exercise her First Amendment right of free speech by calling out Donald Trump as a “Faker.” As The New York Times reported (July 10), “I can’t imagine what this place...

It’s remarkable how many Republicans have come down from the mountaintop of conservative values and demonstrated a complete turn-around in their opinion of Donald Trump. One year ago this month, former Texas Governor Rick Perry had this to say of Trump: “…A toxic mix of demagoguery and mean-spiritedness and nonsense that will lead the Republican Party to perdition if pursued....