At the end of year three and on the verge of impeachment, Donald J. Trump is destroying Enlightenment principles that undergird American Democracy and the First Amendment – the faith that science, reason, facts and empiricism can triumph over ignorance, superstition, lies and darkness. Our model democracy, our free press, our professional government, our world-class…
Eliot F. Porter Jr. was a one-of-a kind. He was a brilliant thinker and writer. He was crusty, cantankerous, infuriating and funny. Sometimes at the same time. I first met Porter in 1971 when writing about his work as technical secretary to Lewis Green, the head of the Missouri Air Conservation Commission. Green and Porter…
Today’s college journalists are caught in the vortex of an important national debate that threatens the vibrancy of free speech and free press on campus. Limiting the vigor of speech and the press damages society’s capacity to hear the voices of protesters and undermines the university’s role as a forum for open thought. Here are…
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…
James Comey acted ethically, morally, legally and rightly when he disclosed to The New York Times in 2017 that President Trump had told him to “let…go” of the criminal investigation of National Security Adviser Michael Flynn. After all, by the time the former FBI director released the information, Trump already had taken two of multiple…