This weekend, as we look around the country, we see that a significant portion of the population is displaced, evacuated from their own homes because of wildfires, floods, winds, tornadoes, mudslides, or even failures of critical infrastructure like bridges, roads, and dams. This is not a new phenomenon—it’s familiar from the last several years, as the planet heats up. Winters are similarly cast, often with warmer temperatures and little snowfall, leading to summer challenges. The weather situations are felt not just in this country, but overseas as well, as a good part of Europe swelters under 100+ degree temperatures and droughts.

I wrote the newsletter column reprinted below in October of 2020, in the heart of the pandemic. As we celebrate 250 years tomorrow, we remember the late great John Lewis and his lifelong focus on the right to vote. The tide is starting to turn for MAGA voters, opening doors for robust conversations about our country and the direction it has been headed in during both of President Trump’s terms. We are not a nation of grifters. And we do believe in liberty and justice for all.

It’s been another chaotic month for all three branches of American government, with further attempts by the Trump administration to impose outrageous acts on us as distractions from other behind-the-scenes grift or wrongdoing over matters like the Epstein files. The most egregious is the $1.8 billion dollar slush fund connected to a settlement of Trump’s income tax audits, while refusing to exclude convicted January 6 criminals from seeking recompense for the trauma of imprisonment.

Late last month, in the presence of most U.S. cabinet secretaries, senior White House officials, corporate and media VIPs, and a broad cross-section of the press, another attempt was made on President Trump’s life. I had tuned in to CNN’s live broadcast to watch the White House Correspondents Association Dinner to see what tone the president would strike in his remarks, having finally accepted the association’s invitation to this historic dinner, which paired the president and the press.