“If there is one thing about politics that Americans can agree on, it’s this: There’s never been a U.S. president quite like Donald J. Trump. President Trump has already signed more executive orders than any president in the past 40 years issued in their first 100 days – in less than half the time. With the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency, he empowered Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, to reshape the federal workforce. Taken together, many of the president’s moves seem geared toward a fundamental shifting of the balance of power toward the executive branch, as the Monitor’s Henry Gass and Linda Feldmann explore in the cover story featured in the March 17 issue of the Monitor Weekly. So, what will this shake-up mean for the U.S. government long term? Some will tell you that it marks the start of a slide toward authoritarianism.” (03/17/25)
“Long before I was governor of Arkansas or White House press secretary, I came to Washington as a bright-eyed college graduate for my first real job at the Department of Education. I thought I was there to change the world and found myself spending more time changing coffee filters. But I walked away with one, crystal-clear lesson: it’s time to abolish the federal Department of Education. I’m a mom of three, so I know that no two kids – not even in the same family – learn the same way. It’s ridiculous, then, to assume that every kid in every community in America would have the same education needs or goals. But that’s exactly the way the Department of Education functions.” (03/17/25)
“For five months in 2023 my wife and I traveled through 28 states across the United States, in a hopeful, slightly crazy, deeply personal, and sometimes grueling search for Little Free Libraries. I had a book to deliver, a copy of my latest novel, What the Dead Can Say — and the journey revealed an astonishing range of cultural landscapes that we hadn’t expected to discover.” (03/17/25)
“St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated by millions of Americans every year. It’s a recognition of the shared heritage of two great countries. But the meaning of St. Patrick is something most Americans get exactly wrong. This misunderstanding reveals why these two nations (once so similar) are now worlds apart. Here’s what Americans need to know: [Sound of a bullet chambered, waves breaking in indifference.] Venice Beach, twilight. I’m minding my own business when — [Flash] A gun is pointed at my face. Random violence. Pointless. American. But this isn’t just about crime. It’s deeper. In America, violence isn’t a national crisis; it’s a block-by-block lottery. You’re safe until you’re suddenly not. I grew up in Ireland, and we simply don’t live this way. Why? Because violence isn’t just about guns: it’s about trust.” (03/17/25)
“Trump is, of course, a pure ignoramus, and Peter Navarro somehow managed to get a doctorate in economics from Harvard without knowing what GDP is, but J.D. Vance is not stupid — Cleetus the Gap-Toothed Twitter Troll is just a character he plays. Ted Cruz isn’t dumb — servile, yes, but not dumb, and neither is his fellow Princeton-to-Harvard chum Pete Hegseth. Somebody could probably explain this stuff to Trump, assuming the removal of two insurmountable barriers: 1. Nobody wants to tell Trump anything he doesn’t want to hear; 2. Trump doesn’t want to hear anything. He is the textbook case of the guy who doesn’t know what he doesn’t know — and likes it that way.” (03/17/25)
“Politics is one thing. Governing is very different. President Donald S. Trump has shown to be adept at the first, but inept at the second. Since he arrived on the political scene a decade ago, pundits have found it difficult to ascribe a clear political tag to him. He is not a fiscal conservative, a libertarian or a populist. Instead, he seems to be a little of each when it suits him. Trump is governing by whim and fiat where the facts don’t matter. We are experiencing government by chaos, by design.” (03/17/25)
“A White House fact sheet about the order claims that making English the official language ‘promotes unity, establishes efficiency in government operations, and creates a pathway for civic engagement.’ None of this is true. Instead, the order threatens the availability of multilingual resources that families depend on to live productively in the United States. Envision, for example, trying to understand healthcare forms and legal documents, let alone filing taxes, studying for citizenship, or voting without materials in a language you understand. Moreover, the United States has always been multilingual, and we have always been a nation of immigrants.” (03/17/25)
“The mainstream media has become so biased in recent years that President Donald Trump popularized the phrase ‘fake news’ and Elon Musk, the wealthiest man in the world, posts rants about them almost daily on his X platform. Both have sued the media for libel or defamation. But little has changed; outside of some pushback at a few publications like The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times due to their publishers, the mainstream media is doubling down with the slant and partisan bias …. the AP Stylebook Orwellianly dictates what words and phrases mainstream journalists must use, such as ‘election denier’ and ‘insurrection’ to refer to J6, so there is no way around that built-in bias. Mainstream journalists are required to follow that style, and even the few newspapers like The New York Times which have their own style guides mostly copy the AP Stylebook.” (03/17/25)
“If the world seems to you a little nastier and more confrontational than it was just a few years ago, you’re not alone. Many Americans say the world is a ruder place than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic and the public health responses that closed too many businesses and schools, effectively confined some to their homes, and isolated large numbers of people. Unfortunately, both current evidence and history suggest we may be stuck with a coarser world for years to come.” (03/17/25)
