🗃️ Although he died in 1972, the world today urgently needs the prophetic voice of Abraham Joshua Heschel. He saw politics in moral terms and, amid anguish and despair, taught that the human capacity for goodness and love can repair a broken world. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/10/abra...

My love of the Cardinals generally precludes me from praising other teams. Ask a passionate fan to look objectively at the opposition and you get disgruntled mumbling in return. So, it is with trepidation that I tip my hat to the Milwaukee Brewers. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/09/a-ti...

🗃️ I recently finished reading the Pulitzer Prize winning novel "Demon Copperhead" by Barbara Kingsolver. Although fiction, the book helped me connect to the common humanity all of us share and understand the challenges some in Appalachia must overcome. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/09/disc...

🗃️ The Great Society was a time of hope and optimism when the government sought to create a country where all could share in the abundance of America. If we truly believe in the promise of liberty and justice for all, we cannot let Trump destroy it. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-...

🗃️ Let's not forget that, only nine years ago, we had a president who was a genuine role model, one who elevated our national discourse on public affairs, was a thoughtful man of ideas with a good sense of humor, and inspired Americans to be better. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2016/12/the-...

🗃️ Trump’s war against science and universities is doing immense harm to the United States and the nation’s scientific-research capabilities. Indeed, this administration has put the future of the entire American research enterprise in jeopardy. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/08/is-g...

The American ideal of a nation that symbolizes freedom from tyranny and where the rule of law prevails has become a cruel lie under the Trump administration. We are no longer a welcoming nation when immigrants and refugees are treated as less than human. History will judge harshly those responsible.

This is what real leadership looks like. No One Is Defying Trump Like Brazil’s President www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/w...

🗃️ Benjamin Franklin credited increased reading among the colonists as one of the inspirations of the American Revolution. Bookstores are where ideas are hatched, democracy is born and nurtured, and the world is changed and transformed for the better. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/07/when...

This is an excellent analysis of the most likely reasons for the administration’s handling of the Epstein issue. Any way it comes out is bad for Trump and his protectors. And it shows why Bondi’s lack of independence is a problem of constitutional dimensions.

🗃️ Since our founding, immigrants have always enriched and strengthened American life. Demonizing immigrants devalues the very essence of what it is to be an American. Trump’s immigration policies represent the worst elements of our character. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/07/a-na...

Given the visual age in which we are living, I have begun to appreciate more deeply the magic of listening to a baseball game on the radio. This is a tribute to the many excellent sportscasters who have brought us the sounds of the game over the years. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-...

Hendersonville, NC Great turnout for “No Kings”!

🗃️Today is the 81st anniversary of D-Day, a rare moment in history when Americans were united behind a single cause. I wrote this essay 16 years ago in honor of my Uncle Ted, whose B-24 fell over Austria in 1945. Even good wars are tragic. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2009/12/on-s...

🗃️ Today in 1968 America lost a rare unifying voice in a divided nation. Few politicians have demonstrated a larger capacity for personal growth than RFK. “History changed him, and, had time permitted, he might have changed history.” (Schlesinger) ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2018/03/idea...

🗃️Good Night and Good Luck is as relevant and necessary today as any time in history. Although set during the McCarthy era, it is a compelling indictment on the abuse and misuse of government power and the importance of truthful and ethical journalism. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/05/good...

The Broadway production of "Good Night and Good Luck" reminds us how important ethical and truthful journalism is to a vibrant democracy, and of how easily our freedoms are betrayed by government officials with no concern for fairness and due process. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/05/good...

This is a well-documented story by Pro Publica that provides an analysis of the 238 men sent to the Salvadoran gulag. Calling them “terrorists” and “rapists” does not make it so. Most have no criminal record. It is a repeat of McCarthyism and a threat to our liberty and freedom that we must resist.

The cruelty and illegality of the administration’s actions are beyond comprehension. These are indeed very dark times in America.

“Indiscriminate suspensions and the punishment of student journalists—even temporarily—for doing their jobs will inevitably stifle free press and expression on campus. A University thrives when its students feel safe asking questions and investigating the world around them.”

Excellent Op-Ed by Michelle Goldberg, "The Trump Supporting Christians Accusing Jews of Antisemitism". Labeling as antisemitic or a "Hamas supporter" anyone (including liberal Jews) who criticize Israel's prosecution of the war in Gaza is but a smokescreen for MAGA suppression of free speech.

Thoughtful op-ed by Jay Michaelson. "Many morally certain pro-Palestine activists were and are wrong about Zionism, about Israel, and often about Jews. Many morally certain pro-Israel voices were and are wrong about Palestinians, about antisemitism, and...Jewish values." forward.com/opinion/7189...

Public support for the humanities is essential to a free society and vibrant democracy. A humanities education develops well-rounded human beings with an ethical core and a moral compass, something desperately lacking in our current crop of leaders. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/05/a-pl...

When Pete Buttigieg speaks this clearly about authoritarian behavior, it’s a reminder: this is not normal, and it’s not acceptable. Thanks to Jon Stewart and Pete for calling it out. Every American—left, right, and center—should be alarmed. Every American should protest.

Michelle Goldberg has written a compelling op-ed on why it is so important for Democrats to aggressively fight Trump on the unconstitutional, cruel, and inhumane treatment of immigrants, including highly vulnerable people like Hernandez Romero. Morality needs to override politics on this issue.

"In a political environment where almost everyone is avoiding clarity, Abbas just offered some. Israel — and the international community — must stop treating the PA like the ghost of peace processes past, and start treating it as a building block of the future." forward.com/opinion/7147...

We need more public intellectuals like Carl Sagan, who was always willing to speak hard truths with eloquence and honesty.

I am saddened today by the loss of Pope Francis. After he visited DC in 2015, I wrote this tribute. He spoke with moral clarity and led by example, living simply and acting compassionately. An inspirational leader for the secular and religious alike. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2015/09/fran...

Each year MLB celebrates the life and legacy of Jackie Robinson. With the backlash against DEI in American life, I thought it important to personally reflect on how intentional efforts to promote diversity have enhanced America, baseball, and my life. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/04/amer...

Keep scrolling if you’ve already watched a tortoise and a dachshund playing with a soccer ball today ⚽ 📽️RudyJanssens

"Given the ongoing work of fiction coming out of the White House, why do news outlets’ top journalists hang on every word? Why not send an intern to record the hijinks while experienced journalists find the truth elsewhere?" Or simply record the press briefing, and then fact check it to death.

"The Trump administration has said it can’t do anything to secure Abrego García’s release." Trump was sitting with Bukele in the Oval Office the other day and could have simply requested the man's return to "facilitate" a court order. Time to jail administration officials for contempt.

El Salvador’s government rebuffed a request Wednesday from Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) to free Kilmar Abrego García, whose case has become a flash point in the battle over President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign since the administration mistakenly deported him last month.

“Academic freedom today is under attack in ways the country has not seen since the cold war. Yet at the very moment it is most needed, universities seem reluctant to defend it.” — @davidcole-gtown.bsky.social

The Right’s shared disdain for government dates to the McCarthy era but has "metastasized with the rise of Trump," who is "more interested in destroying, rather than conserving, the institutions, traditions, and mutual obligations of civil society." 🗃️ ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/03/from...

From attacking higher education to criminalizing political speech in an effort to fight antisemitism, Trump's policies endanger the "institutions that have actually made this country great" and are "a cover for a wide range of agendas that have nothing to do with the welfare of Jewish people."

As Michelle Goldberg explains, Wall Street professionals (e.g., Bill Ackman) "refused to see Trump clearly, mistaking his skill as a demagogue for wisdom as a policymaker." And because there are no longer adults in the room, we are experiencing the "wholesale degradation of American governance."

Trump and Vance "were so busy flexing their muscles in Greenland, firing our top generals for not being sufficiently slavish to our Dear Leader and insulting our European allies for being too woke that they...squandered the leverage we needed to deal effectively with this formidable Chinese engine."

In this essay, I reflect upon how America's involvement in the Vietnam War caused me at a young age to think more critically about American virtue and our role in the world. The war complicated America's view of itself as somehow exceptional. 🗃️ ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/04/less...

My latest essay reflects upon how America's involvement in the Vietnam War caused me at a young age to think more critically about American virtue and our role in the world. The war complicated America's view of itself as somehow exceptional. ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2025/04/less...

Can we please remember that John Adams literally represented the Redcoats who did the Boston Massacre. Like, if you’re going to wave the goddamn flag and say that lawyers ought not to represent clients you disagree with or who are allegedly guilty, then you’re just confused about American lawyers.

A refreshingly balanced perspective. "The only way out of this hell is a just political solution, but neither side is interested. . . . Without justice for Palestinians and security for Israel, there will be no peace." religionnews.com/2025/03/24/w...

I wrote this essay five years ago, but it remains fully relevant today. "The lessons he imparted were simple and direct; he appealed to the essence of our humanity [and] showed us that human kindness enhances our lives and makes the world better." ehlersoneverything.blogspot.com/2020/01/what...

Layoffs at NOAA, which warns us about severe weather Attacking NIH, which finds cures for illnesses Dismantling SSA, which administers Social Security payments Terminating food inspectors and food safety committees at the USDA... The "specifics" of DOGE put us all at risk.

In 1862, a Union soldier found cigars wrapped in a piece of paper in a field of clover. The paper was a copy of Confederate Gen. Lee's invasion orders. The Southern sloppiness helped the Union stop Lee at Antietam. It's unknown who lost the orders in the field, or if he was related to Pete Hegseth.

The President’s attacks on the legal profession, judges, and the rule of law is inconsistent with our nation’s values. Members of the legal community are invited to join us in signing this letter to ask AG Bondi to oppose attacks on the legal profession ➡️ democracyforward.org/action/open-letter-ag/

Not to mention major breaches to our cyber security, the evisceration of long-standing programs that aid the poor and spread American goodwill (i.e., USIAD), suppressing First Amendment freedoms, and threatening to do permanent damage to our government and democratic way of life.

Since Trump & Co. insisted there was no discussion of war plans and instead attacked Goldberg, The Atlantic published the text chain. Good for them.

This is truly alarming. By not fighting back, these firms are allowing Trump to suppress all dissent by punishing lawyers from taking the administration to court and holding the government accountable. We are officially an autocracy. The rule of law is dead. www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...