I want to tell you a story about covering Congress in 2002 that doesn’t feel that long ago but my 18-year-old students at Columba College in Chicago would assure me otherwise. I wasn’t too much older than that when I started working for The Washington Post after graduate school. I was young, ambitious, serious and rigidly “old school.” I was covering several financial … [Read more...] about News business is about death and imagination
News and Opinion
Remembering Vietnam and the ‘Five O’Clock Follies’
It was early 1972, and I had just been named information officer of the 3rd Brigade (Separate) of the First Cavalry Division in Bien Hoa, Vietnam. My predecessor had finished his tour and had returned to the U.S., so I found myself in charge of the information office as a first lieutenant, a job that in a full division should have been held by a lieutenant colonel, and in a … [Read more...] about Remembering Vietnam and the ‘Five O’Clock Follies’
Trump’s War on Truth – Year 3 Patriotism – his last refuge
President Donald Trump says the whistle-blower whose complaint triggered impeachment hearings is treasonous. So is Adam Schiff, chair of the committee investigating the complaint. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hates America because she is pushing ahead with impeachment. The president seems determined to prove Samuel Johnson’s adage that "patriotism is the last refuge of the … [Read more...] about Trump’s War on Truth – Year 3 Patriotism – his last refuge
New museum to highlight role of Midwestern states in founding of Stars and Stripes
“I do not believe that any one factor could have done more to sustain the morale of the (American Expeditionary Force) than the Stars and Stripes. – John J. Pershing, Commander, AEF, World War I “Free press and free speech. These are two great principles we are fighting to preserve. They are among the basic rights of mankind.” … [Read more...] about New museum to highlight role of Midwestern states in founding of Stars and Stripes
Gwen Ifill, best of journalism’s best, to be immortalized on a postage stamp
In September 2018 I received a call from Carol Stroud, who does research for the U.S. Postal Service. Stroud explained that a Gwen Ifill postage stamp was under consideration. Deservedly so, I thought. During a 39-year journalism career, Ifill began at the Boston Herald-American, moved on to the Baltimore Evening Sun, began covering presidential politics at the Washington Post, … [Read more...] about Gwen Ifill, best of journalism’s best, to be immortalized on a postage stamp
