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2 weeks ago | 
pressherald.com | Gordon L. Weil
“Change is inevitable and you won’t like it.”That’s a saying I developed as I experienced the world changing at an accelerated rate, while I could not keep up. One change is occurring in the media. When I first became a freelance journalist almost 60 years ago, people mostly got their news from the print press and network television. Everything I wrote or scripted for broadcast passed under the eyes of an editor.
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3 weeks ago | 
pressherald.com | Gordon L. Weil
The Trump Doctrine now takes its place in American history. Trump joins presidents who adopted broad world policies that became identified with them. President James Monroe warned that Europe should stay out of the Americas, creating the Monroe Doctrine. President Harry Truman pledged U.S. support to governments opposing authoritarians, creating the Truman Doctrine (though probably repealed by Trump). Both Monroe and Truman based their doctrines on the growing American power.
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4 weeks ago | 
pressherald.com | Gordon L. Weil
President Trump has set out to kill DEI – diversity, equity and inclusion. His message is that the traditional system has been shunted aside by preferences given to members of groups that have suffered discrimination. Groups helped by DEI include women, Blacks, American Indians, and Asians. In his view, they have gained an advantage over white males. The key element of his policy is the assumption that merit has been sacrificed to political correctness. Competence is sacrificed.
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1 month ago | 
pressherald.com | Gordon L. Weil
Donald Trump likes to acclaim winners (often himself) and scorn losers. If you are a “loser,” he holds you in contempt. After last November’s elections, the Democrats were losers. They saw control of the federal government go to President Trump, the Trump Republican Party in Congress and a Supreme Court majority openly sympathetic to him. Joe Biden led them to being losers.
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1 month ago | 
pressherald.com | Gordon L. Weil
Donald Trump likes to acclaim winners (often himself) and scorn losers. If you are a “loser,” he holds you in contempt. After last November’s elections, the Democrats were losers. They saw control of the federal government go to President Trump, the Trump Republican Party in Congress and a Supreme Court majority openly sympathetic to him. Joe Biden led them to being losers.
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1 month ago | 
pressherald.com | Gordon L. Weil
The U.S. is like a nation at war. The federal government is on the attack, deploying the power of the American economy and military to force other nations, states, the media and even citizens to follow the orders of President Trump and his agents. This brutal campaign would reshape the economy and transform the world order. It might also replace the American democratic republic with an authoritarian regime.
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1 month ago | 
pressherald.com | Gordon L. Weil
President Donald Trump singled out Maine Gov. Janet Mills to ask if she would comply with his executive order on transgender athletes. “I will obey state and federal law,” she replied. “Well, I’m …We are the federal law,” he told her. “See you in court,” she replied. Trump concluded that he would win easily and taunted Mills, suggesting she has no future in politics.
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2 months ago | 
pressherald.com | Gordon L. Weil
Presidents set precedents. Or break them. At this time of year, we celebrate Presidents’ Day, but officially it is Washington’s Birthday in honor of George Washington. The abandonment of a patriotic memorial for a bland, commercial holiday leads me each year to write a column to recall the greatest president. As the first president, Washington understood that he would establish precedents and practices that could influence American history, perhaps for centuries.
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2 months ago | 
pressherald.com | Gordon L. Weil
“He violates international law.” “It’s unconstitutional.” “It’s against the law.”That has become the usual response of opponents of new Trump-Musk public policies. President Trump is accused of actions violating the laws he dislikes. Federal courts are already dealing with legal challenges to the Trump political whirlwind. What are his chances of prevailing? As for international law, it grows out of treaties and similar agreements among nations or their commonly observed customs.
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2 months ago | 
pressherald.com | Gordon L. Weil
President Trump is the new captain of what Longfellow called the Ship of State. He tries to turn the federal government around completely – and quickly. Capt. Trump’s moves to reverse course are both bold and dangerous, creating tests that the captain of any huge vessel might encounter by acting abruptly to completely change direction. The ship itself could be endangered. Here’s a few basics about turning a supertanker, the largest vessel afloat, though it is a lot smaller than the U.S. government.
