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I begin this week paying my respects to the newsman, television host, and commentator Bill Moyers, who died from prostate cancer at the age of 91. 

Moyers started out as a young aide to Lyndon B. Johnson, parted with him over Vietnam, switched careers, and became one of the finest people in the entire public affairs/journalism space. He cared deeply about America, Americans, and the world. He was interested in a wide range of topics, and brought many fresh perspectives to light through his public television shows, documentaries, columns, and books. Moyers told us: 

There’s a reason journalism is the only occupation protected by the US Constitution. To govern ourselves, we the people need the truth, not what is politically expedient.

Early on, he was horrified by Donald Trump and everything Trump represented — and he repeatedly expressed his alarm about the direction of the country. It is sad indeed that he spent his final months watching as the light of democracy dimmed. 

Bill was always gracious, eloquent, and tasteful. He took time to listen to others and inquire about their work, and was supportive of many other journalists. His endorsement blurb for my last book, Family of Secrets, gave readers the confidence to trust boundary-busting scholarship and his backing of WhoWhatWhy, a risk-taking, small nonprofit newsroom, served as a powerful seal of approval for others. People trusted Bill — and with good reason. 

Prior to starting WhoWhatWhy, I had the chance to write for a quality, if short-lived, online publication, TomPaine.com, founded by Moyer’s son John. It was named after the patriot, publisher, and wordsmith Tom Paine, who was relatively unknown in his time but went on to acquire a sort of immortality when, in 1776,  he penned the line: 

These are the times that try men’s souls.

Those words have never been more resonant. Moyer’s voice served as a moral compass — grounding us in decency and reason. Without his voice, the path forward feels more uncertain and harder to navigate.

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That’s especially true now that the Supreme Court has definitively proven itself compromised by agenda-driven forces, most recently weakening the ability of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions. Over the past few months, more than a few Constitution-minded district courts halted, at least temporarily, some of the most deplorable of Trump’s measures. 

This Supreme Court ruling, the product of ideological judicial capture from a court stripped of constitutional integrity, signals that we’ve crossed the Rubicon into a new and dangerous chapter of American history — where law serves power, not justice.

The judicial takeover was preparation for a slow-moving coup, and now the abettors are in place, giving sanction to the worst among us. They’ve made it utterly clear: They’re ready to let Trump do pretty much whatever he wants.

This may mean that neither of the countervailing branches of government — Congress and the judiciary — can be counted on to save this country. 

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You’re probably beside yourself at the extent to which society is racing back to the time of the Scopes trial. The Supreme Court thinks parents should be able to withdraw their children from classes when something they don’t believe in is being taught. Like anything featuring gay themes in a favorable light. 

I can get why it bothers them, but on the other hand, do we really want narrow-minded or ignorant parents making decisions for their children that significantly harm their potential and ability to function in a complex world? 

Elsewhere, in red states, we have the wall between church and state being torn down.    

And the crazies are sowing chaos in every federal agency. The most recent move is DOGE’s stripping away of data-based efforts to control the epidemic of gun violence in America. 

Meantime, the possibility of largely eradicating HIV is going up in smoke as the administration cuts an ambitious and successful vaccine program in Africa. (Besides wreaking havoc with an already battered population, this means the disease will likely make its way back into the rest of the world, including the US.)

Speaking of abandoning useful vaccines, my favorite whipping boy, RFK Jr., is sending his own Make America Healthy Again cohort into fits by promoting the idea everyone should wear a Fitbit. Members of the Trump coalition validly worry about all that surveillance of the human body and the information being collected. 

Besides, although a Fitbit monitors your physical activity and many bodily functions, what it doesn’t do is monitor fast-food orders or donut ingestion. Although I’m sure entities like Palantir will soon be scarfing that info up from our smartphone GPS trackers and credit card statements.

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Given the expressions of shock and concern by oh-so-predictable Democratic establishment voices – and angry, alarmist warnings by the Trump forces over the surging New York City mayoral campaign of the young democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani – I have a few thoughts. 

First, the continuous reference to Mamdani’s religion has needlessly inflamed tensions as if he’s some kind of extremist. The fact is, the name of one’s religion — even if it is the most tentative association and one’s beliefs are essentially secular — becomes a weapon in today’s times.

The Trumpies and the right — as well as some extreme Jewish groups — have been raising the alarm. Some Trump officials are ridiculously talking about deporting Mamdani because he wasn’t born in this country (he came here as a child from Uganda and became a naturalized American citizen in 2018) and claiming that those not born here ought not be able to hold elective office. 

Of course, Mamdani is in fact a thoroughly modern guy for our times. His father, a Harvard PhD academic, is identified with credible anti-tyranny activism in Africa and with the early US civil rights movement. His mother, Mira Nair, is Indian, was raised in a Hindu family, and is a highly respected filmmaker with many hits to her name. (Go here to witness what a powerful, eloquent speaker Zohran Mamdani is, and why he would scare the bejesus out of all the soggy wimps and odious ogres in both parties.)

Despite outrageous hit pieces, mostly from his main opponent, Andrew Cuomo, Mamdani is the last person one would have to worry about being some kind of agent of ethnic/religious extremism. 

Yet GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina suggested that Mamdani was somehow tied to the 9/11 terrorist attacks — despite the fact he was, er, nine years old at the time. 

It’s worth wishing Mamdani well if only to piss off the most reprehensible among us. 

Here’s a quote from Mamdani that must have horrified them: 

A life of dignity should not be reserved for a fortunate few. It should be one that city government guarantees for each and every New Yorker. 

With him as mayor, NYC could truly become one of the main outposts of resistance against the march to fascism. 

Moneyed interests, panicked about Mamdani, are claiming he will wreck the city. As if! For all the complaints by the rich that they’re taxed too much in New York City, and that efforts to actually help the majority in their struggles are“radical,” the one-percenters sure do get to enjoy a fabulous life in the city and environs. 

One of those upset about Mamdani’s victory in NYC’s mayoral primary was billionaire Bill Ackman, who posted, “If we allow 9.1 percent of registered voters [to] determine the future of New York City, then we deserve the city that we are going to get.” Apparently he prefers the .00091 percent!

Speaking of which, I’d like to direct your attention to the work done by Alan S. Davis on taxing the extremely wealthy and the failings of big-ticket philanthropy. Davis, himself wealthy and a supporter of our work, believes that many rich people have a kind of sickness and Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Ackman et al. certainly exemplify this. (You’ve undoubtedly seen all the hoopla and debate about Jeff Bezos’s outrageously lavish and expensive wedding in Venice, an event about as tone-deaf as could be in this time of desperation.)

At WhoWhatWhy, we’re fortunate to have the financial support of some affluent individuals and I count them and others of considerable means as good friends. They seem to balance a comfortable life with spreading their good fortune. But the “sickness of wealth” urgently needs front-and-center attention. 

Exhibit A of the lunacy on the part of many rich folks: doing little or nothing with their wealth and influence to stop the destruction of our country and world. Imagine if a majority of them took action. 

I was thinking about this while attending the 50th anniversary conference of a great group to which I’ve long belonged, Investigative Reporters and Editors. I attended a panel presentation with the title “The Lasting Effects of Extreme Weather,” and the examples of their reporting were all excellent (like on flooding and insurance problems), but what struck me was — they barely mentioned climate change.

I asked the panelists why they didn’t mention it as a political issue, either on their panel or in their print and TV reports. They explained that they’re working in red areas of the country, and that while people are upset about their fates, they steadfastly refuse to acknowledge climate change. 

There’s a limit to how much the media can do; harping on climate change is unlikely to wake up these ossified minds. And this says a lot about the impasse we face in trying to get our fellow citizens to embrace reality. 

On a national level, media organizations have less of an excuse for their failures — except maybe all the oil and gas advertising. 

As noted by the Covering Climate Now news consortium, of which WhoWhatWhy is a longtime member:

In the summer of 2024, for example, when record high temperatures brutalized outdoor workers, withered crops, and worsened hurricanes, only 12 percent of US national TV news segments mentioned climate change, though its role in driving such extreme heat has long been scientifically indisputable.

That’s why it is meaningful that CBS has recently been stepping up on the issue — seemingly in tandem with a general boldness from the network in the wake of Trump attacks and litigation. 

Then there are the admirable folks working at The Washington Post. Faced with owner Jeff Bezos’s managerial capitulation to Trumpism, the staff published this:

If you think “Trump is forever,” it’s worth noting that things could change mightily next year if Democrats flip a mere three House seats. Even more seats are highly competitive, and some very impressive candidates, including doctors and scientists, have been recruited by groups like the 314 Action Fund. 

Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to modify its reign of terror and error. In the post-Elon era, it is finding almost daily additional things that were tossed out actually serve a purpose. For example, as the Post discovered, DOGE’s mothballing the government grants website was a bad move, and it’s now back. The site allows those seeking funding to submit requests all in one place. (Musk’s newbies had shut it down in favor of an email box they monitored — and largely ignored.) 

Among the funding that languished, unsurprisingly, were trivial things like:

[A] planned $8 million grant focused on resources to support Holocaust survivors; a planned $6 million grant focused on supporting health workers who care for patients with Alzheimer’s disease; a planned $1.6 million grant to support dementia care for Native Americans; and three grants, encompassing about $7 million in funding, to support fall prevention in older adults.

Even the most egregious MAGAites are — mostly privately — seeking to undo the damage from their side, particularly when it affects them or their most influential constituents, backers, and district job creators. 

By the way, the aforementioned Rep. Nancy Mace, who thinks Zohran Mamdani is a terrorist and was a 24/7 savage critic of the Biden administration, privately asked the Trump administration to release funding for a Mercedes-Benz electric vehicle plant in South Carolina. It was part of Biden’s 2022 climate legislation. 

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For insight into Trump’s friend and role model Vladimir Putin, and what a huge mistake he made in Ukraine, definitely read this: “Putin Has Lost Something Worse Than a War.” 

And for a sense of how a country with a leader promising to “drain the swamp” got a dictator, see this story on how the president of Belarus “has spent about three decades destroying [the] country’s fragile democratic institutions.” 

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Did you know that, just a few months ago, Tulsi Gabbard said Iran wasn’t building a bomb at all? 

Lost amid the Iran nuclear crisis is the fact that the average Iranian citizen is… surprisingly relatable! And US-friendly! Watch this video, full of spontaneous activity, including candid street interviews, conducted a few months ago. 

These are indeed times that try men’s souls — and the good people need to get tougher, not on people elsewhere, but on our own miscreants running amok. We all would like to hide from the current reality, but this is no time for head-in-the-sand complacency. 

Now is the time to find inspiration — and to act — in a million different ways, large and small.  And to make the right people mad!  That is what Bill Moyers believed.  How about you? If not, what is the alternative?