. . . .Donald Trump and his ideological allies are working feverishly to eliminate at least 100 years of American history. This goes far beyond his relentless efforts to eliminate all DEI policies and funds. It’s at the heart of his effort to expunge language from federal documents and web sites. It is at the center of his effort to censor school and university curricula, libraries and national museums. It is even, arguably, a plausible explanation of the administration’s spreading and largely subterranean assault on fully documented immigrants, many of them students at some of the country’s leading colleges and universities.

       So much else is going on, however, that the story has not gotten the sustained attention it deserves.

       Take late last week. That’s when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered 381 books expunged from the shelves of the U.S. Naval Academy library. Wrote Robert P. Jones, the author of No. 46 on the list, “White Too Long: A Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity” . . .

      Cory Booker on Tuesday provided us with a moral moment, a ray of light in the wreckage of warrantless arrests and heartless, destructive firings escalating by the week in Donald Trump’s America.

      The Democratic senator from New Jersey spoke — with force, coherence, dignity and humanity — for 25 hours and 4 minutes straight on the U.S. Senate floor, the longest one-man filibuster in the nation’s history. He never sat down. He never took a bathroom break. He spoke from 7 p.m. Monday until 8:04 p.m. Tuesday.

      “These are not normal times in our nation, and they should not be treated as such in the United States Senate,” said Booker. . . .

This piece first appeared on Jerry Lanson’s Substack—where he regularly takes on the various Trump/Musk attacks on democracy.

         Of all the chaos roiling this country over the last two months, nothing has troubled me more than the arrest and imprisonment, without warrants or charges, of a growing number of documented foreign students.

         Late last Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told NBC News that the Trump Administration had revoked 300 or more student visas. “We do it every day,” he said.

         His comment came a day after a 30-year-old Turkish-born doctoral candidate at Tufts University, Rumeysa Ozturk, was plucked off a Somerville, Mass., street in daylight by a half-dozen masked federal agents. They grabbed her phone, handcuffed her, pushed her into an unmarked car and drove away.  A neighbor filmed her abduction, footage that has ricocheted around the internet. Less well known is that she suffered an asthma attack as she was flown to a holding facility in Louisiana or that her lawyer had no idea where to find her for 24 hours. She is still being held. . . .

     I went to New York City this week for a few days vacation. By the time I got back, Donald Trump’s Defense Department had stripped articles about the Holocaust and 9/11 from its website. His acting head of Social Security was threatening to shut down the agency that provides me and some 73 million others with monthly checks. And Trump had moved to dismantle the Department of Education, the source of programs ranging from educational support for public-school students with disabilities to loans and grants for college students.

     There’s much more cutting and outright obliteration to come, of course. It seems to be the only certainty in American politics today.

     That’s why we all need to put aside the imprecise political definitions that too often serve to separate us from one another. Instead, we need to work together to restore the very foundations of our democracy. I’m not interested in whether you define yourself as a liberal, a conservative or a libertarian. . . .

This piece first appeared on Jerry Lanson’s Substack—where he regularly takes on the various Trump/Musk attacks on democracy.

      Recent news coverage has focused on the chaotic decisions of the Trump Administration. Tariffs imposed on Mexico and Canada, then paused for four weeks, then threatened again a day later. Federal workers fired in droves, given hours to clean out their desks, then asked in some cases to come back. Comedic portrayals of Elon Musk, wild-eyed, wielding a chain saw in preparation for obliterating yet another federal agency.

      Beneath the surface of this helter-skelter story line, however, lies a far darker, sustained and relentless rush by Donald Trump to exact revenge, purge opponents, silence critics, and impose authoritarian controls. He’s replaced multiple levels of the FBI hierarchy, the military and the Justice Department; deserted allies; threatened the news media; stripped $400 million in funding from a single university; silenced his own party, and divided Democrats.

      Nothing, however, is more sinister than the administration’s systematic and spreading efforts to whitewash words and phrases off websites, documents and other federal communication. . . .

This piece first appeared on Jerry Lanson’s Substack: “From the Grass Roots.”

This piece first appeared on Jerry Lanson’s Substack: “From the Grass Roots.” We invite you to share this with Republican friends and family.

I’m a Democrat, and a liberal to boot.  But I bet we can agree on some things: That our country needs a stable economy. That it needs decent medical care and coverage.  That we need to treat our veterans with respect. And that we need at least enough of a government to keep us safe, warn us of approaching storms, and help care for our kids and aging parents.

There’s mounting evidence the Trump Administration is breaking down safeguards in all these areas – and fast. So I’m writing to ask for help in convincing your GOP representatives to tap the brakes even as they (and you) press forward with the perceived need to shake things up.

Let me ask some questions to make my point:

 1)    Do you believe tariffs are going to lower prices?

The Trump Administration this week imposed and then lifted 25 percent tariffs on most products arriving from our two strongest trading partners –Mexico and Canada. At least for four weeks.  These chaotic actions have caused a stock market rollercoaster ride that’s mostly pointed sharply downhill. . . .

      So read the headline in The Bulwark after the Trump administration eviscerated the US Agency for International Development. 

      Other massive cuts are on the horizon: Threats to eliminate two-thirds of EPA staffing, half of Social Security staffing, perhaps the entire Department of Education. Taken as a whole, it’s all starting to look like a bloodless coup, driven by one man who lied his way back into the White House and another elected by absolutely no one. Non-violent or not, the assault on our democracy is real, brutal and spreading rapidly.

      The crippling of USAID topped the cruelty index. The Supreme Court helped the administration carve out 2,000 more jobs late at night on a glide path that The New York Times reported ultimately will leave the agency with 290 jobs of an original 10,000. The administration froze 10,000 USAID and state department contracts and grants in their tracks, ranging from funds for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief to funds for urban rescue teams who rush to countries struck by devastating earthquakes.

      The numbers are big. But big numbers too often leave us with a shrug and a sigh, before we move on to something else. Data doesn’t punch us in the gut.  For that we need stories and powerful images that move us. . . .

(This is a story from Jerry Lanson’s Substack blog: “From the Grass Roots.” It’s free and has a single goal: To share stories from across the country about those who’ve been hurt by, or are pushing back against, the chaotic and often cruel policies of this administration. We encourage you to subscribe.)

      The moral and ethical crater that the Trump-administration bulldozer has dug through the heart of our democracy isn’t likely to concern his voters. They long ago bought into the propaganda that the "Deep State" stole the 2020 election. Many, and possibly most U.S. voters, also have swallowed the lie that immigrants = criminals.

      Yet the resistance to Trump – Democrats, Independents and Never Trumpers -- must find a way to erode his less fervent support nationwide quickly if they hope to so much as slow this country’s march into autocracy and possibly worse.  I believe there’s a path, but time is short.

     And it’s a path requiring planning not righteousness, and it must be targeted to Republicans and Independents not just those already convinced of his malevolence. . . .

      Trump’s foes won’t succeed by rallying in front of Washington, D.C., buildings. They won’t succeed by claiming the moral high ground. They won’t succeed by standing up for health, science or human rights. This is sad, but it is true.

      However, those trying to stop the real steal – of our democracy – might succeed if they focus on what likely will be the growing economic pain of Republican voters in Red States. . . .

      Whatever the outcome of this election – and I damn well hope Democrats win – Kamala Harris deserves America’s thanks.  She’s been called stupid, a whore and the C word, and asked if she’s really black.  She’s been dissed by some Democrats I know as a tepid candidate, not quite the lesser of two evils since the other guys is so evil but nonetheless maybe not quite up to the job of being our next president and maybe not the best candidate who might have led the Democratic ticket.

      I’d like to say something else: “Thank you, Kamala.” You were forced into a presidential race at breakneck speed by a president who had no business seeking a second term and by a White House staff that presumably helped hide that fact. You had to deal with racism and sexism that were inevitable for anyone nominated to be the first black woman to lead a major party in the race for the presidency. And you had to do all of this while running against a cult figure I can’t describe as anything other than a mob boss, who threatens people, and lies often and with impunity. And yet you, Kamala, are on the brink of history, the cusp of victory. . . .

      The black pickup cruised down Route 28 in Falmouth, MA, heading East, windows wide open, boom box blaring.

       “They’re eating the dogs. They’re eating the cats,” the pro-Trump rapper chanted as the car drifted by.

      It was all part of Saturday’s political carnival at one the town’s busiest intersections.

      Mind you, I live in a blue town in one of the country’s bluest states. But you'd never have known it Saturday at the intersection of Route 28 and Worcester Court. I joined other Democrats holding signs for Harris-Walz and statewide candidates from 10 a.m. to noon.

      But often we were outflanked, and sometimes outnumbered, by a group called Women for Trump, who arrived with MAGA flags, a bull horn and the encouragement of lots of horn-honking and yelling supporters, who drove by and sometimes doubled back to cheer them on again.

      Part of me saw this as ominous. It’s clear Trump supporters are angry, aggressive and motivated this year.  But I could see it as a positive, too. . . .

      Kamala Harris could still eke out a victory on her own. She has run a smart and robust campaign, though at times in my view one that’s too cautious.  She has had to walk a tightrope between standing with an unpopular president with whom she’s serving and showing herself to have new ideas, fresh energy, independence on international issues, and a commitment to the future.

      Harris has emphasized character—the chasm between her character and that of her opponent. Yet, too many Americans seem fixated on two issues: the economy and immigration—issues that Donald Trump has distorted to his advantage. Harris has countered with her own more reasonable economic proposals, and she has made clear that she supports a bipartisan and rather sweeping immigration bill. Yet, wrong or not, most believe Trump is more likely to fix these problems.  She also has strong and well-articulated positions on a range of other issues (women’s rights, health care, child care, and more), yet for many voters these seem secondary.

      Yes, Harris can still win. But the issue of character – and to me it is absolutely the only issue – has to stick. . . .

      If Kamala Harris loses this election, traditional news media will bear a substantial burden of the blame. 

      News outlets obsess on Donald Trump, assuring him the lion’s share of coverage. On Wednesday, Oct. 15, for example, the top four political stories on my iPhone for The New York Times contained the name Trump or Donald Trump. On politicalwire.com, a much-read political web hub, eight of the first 12 headlines at 7:15 a.m. contained Trump’s name. One named Harris’. 

      When not obsessively covering Trump, news outlets report and dissect polls, though data specialists themselves concede at this point that covering this horserace is largely meaningless. 

      And, worst of all, the news media regularly normalize Trump with “balanced” and largely specious policy pieces, though in truth Trump is a candidate so extreme, so unmoored to fact and increasingly so unhinged that the former chair of the military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, a man whom Trump appointed to this top position, told author and Watergate icon Bob Woodward that Trump is “now the most dangerous person in the country.” 

      I’ve had enough. …

      My worst job started at 9 p.m. in the windowless workshop of my boss. Nine sleepless hours later, he fired me. No question, he made the right call.

      This took place sometime in the fall of 1972, a month or so after Kathy and I moved from Stamford, Ct., to Denver, Colo., a move that at the time was the closest I’d managed to come to a career goal.

      I’d been an English major at Haverford College and met Kathy the summer of 1968 when I worked as a bellhop and desk clerk at Grand Lake Lodge on the western entrance of Rocky Mountain National Park. She was an ”older woman,” 10 months older than me to be precise. So, when I graduated in 1971 and we got married, we'd settled in a boxy, one-bedroom apartment near her fifth-grade teaching job in Greenwich, Ct.

      I hated living in the burbs of Connecticut and quickly burned through two jobs. ...

      My mood these days rises and falls as frequently as a sailboat flung between swells in gale-driven seas. The sharp twists and turns often leave me exhausted and metaphorically seasick by bedtime.  

      The true cause is neither wind nor water, but tracking polls and other analysis for the 2024 presidential election. I follow them obsessively as they fluctuate as wildly these days as the waves and wind in the eye of a major storm.

      Take Sept. 24. I probably checked my go-to political headline site, politicalwire.com, about 15 times, starting at about 7a.m. soon after I rolled out of bed. The news good, then pretty good, then worse, then good again, then pretty devastating.  

      At 7:47 came the news, from CNN, that “more than 400 economists and former high-ranking U.S. policymakers are endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris and her vision for the American economy.”  

      Chalk up one for the good guys. ...

From the new “breaking” event to the women’s broad jump, the exuberance of the Paris Olympics has inspired me. The competition undoubtedly has been fierce, but it’s also been joyous, filled with fist bumps, high fives and hugs for teammates and competitors alike.

Snoop Dogg, torch carrier, personality and super fan, summed it up in an interview with NBC’s Mike Tirico Thursday night: “It’s about bringing the whole world together.”

I’ve loved the Olympics, particularly in summer, since I was a kid. That’s when I learned, in 1960, that 100-meter and 200-meter gold medalist Wilma Rudolph was one of 22 children and had overcome polio as a kid to become the world’s fastest woman.  That story left an imprint.

Today, in 2024, as well, the subtext of the games remains resilience . . .

Our double-wide bedroom clothing rack and shelves came crashing down with a bang last week.

Too many clothes and boxes above them proved too much weight and ripped the studs holding up the clothing rod right out of the wall. On Cape Cod, that means waiting until Fall when one of the overworked local handymen comes up for air.

Faced with a bed piled high with shirts, pants, old shoes, useless ties, belts and more, we quickly filled three big garbage bags with clothes we hadn’t worn in years, threw some out and took the rest to a local second-hand store. It certainly wasn’t the first time our possessions had gotten the better of us. . . .

My wife Kathy says I'm married to my phone. This week I won't deny it:

It's the most exciting political week I've experienced since the Watergate hearings led me to journalism as a career 50 years ago. 

Last Sunday, I was nearing despair, figuring out where to move after Donald Trump crushed Joe Biden in the presidential election. I was losing faith Biden would see the wisdom—the absolutely necessity—of his dropping out of the race. Then, just as quickly, he dropped out and passed the torch to his vice-president.

What followed was stunning. She raised $100 million in less than two days, 62 percent from first-time donors to this campaign. Her campaign signed up 28,000 new volunteers in a day. . . .

Donald Trump supporters are turning their flags upside down this week to protest his conviction, CNN reports. I’m not impressed. My head has felt like it has been turned upside down for many months now.

In fact, at times it’s felt ready to explode as I try to understand how more than 40 percent of U.S. voters reportedly support, and in many cases revere, a man who is a non-stop liar, a bully, a narcissist, a wanna-be dictator, a racist and, now, a convicted felon. It pains me to even think about it; I can’t fathom why.

I do know this: if Joe Biden loses the presidency in 2024 it won’t be because of his age. It won’t be because he’s a mediocre speaker. . . .

On most days, I’m more likely to smile a lot than not. I’m pretty upbeat by nature. Even so, getting older has its downsides. And while grandparents’ quirks can be kind of funny to the younger generation, they’re not all that much fun for us.

Take my mom. When my kids were a teen and middle schooler, respectively, they’d bite their lip to keep from laughing when a discreet honk or two would emanate from their Grammy’s end of the dinner table. My mom, in her full dignity, acted as though absolutely nothing had happened. The girls thought it was hilarious.

Well, I’m now 75 and personally familiar with this….

(Photo, by Devon Lanson-Alleyne, shows a granite memorial stone for the author’s parents.)

As a professional couple, raising two daughters, my wife and I did little in the way of volunteer work. At the end of each year, we gave a few thousand dollars in charitable contributions to the needy and less fortunate, a way of lowering our taxes a little and making us feel a bit more generous.

One year in my 60s, I joined members of my chorus in singing with homeless women at a Boston lunch place for them. And a couple of times long ago we served the homeless on Thanksgiving with our younger daughter.

But that was about it. Volunteering was not a significant part of our lives.

Now, two of my favorite hours each week are spent at the Falmouth Service Center, a remarkable support program on Cape Cod for those in need.