“We all make mistakes,
but the thing is to learn
from them. And make dif-
ferent mistakes.”
Singer Debbie Harry, quoted
in The Guardian (U.K.)
“The weak can never
forgive. Forgiveness is the
attribute of the strong.”
Mahatma Gandhi, quoted in
BusinessInsider.com
“To know all is not to
forgive all. It is to despise
everybody.”
Writer Quentin Crisp, quoted
in Lapham’s Quarterly
“Only those who
will risk going too far can
possibly find out how
far one can go.”
Poet T.S. Eliot, quoted in
BookRiot.com
“Destiny is a name often
given in retrospect to
choices that had dramatic
consequences.”
Author J.K. Rowling, quoted
in Parade.com
“A hero is no braver than
an ordinary man, but he is
braver five minutes longer.”
Essayist and poet Ralph
Waldo Emerson, quoted in the
Associated Press
“Don’t make the mistake
of treating your dogs like
humans, or they’ll treat
you like dogs.”
Actress Martha Scott, quoted
in Forbes.comTalking points
Wit &
Wisdom
Ge
tty
NEWS 19
Poll watch
Q38% of Americans think
U.S. companies that do
business abroad should
not get involved with
political or cultural issues,
while 23% think compa-
nies should use their influ-
ence. 42% are in favor of
doing business with China,
while 36% are opposed.
Morning Consult
QJust 23% of Ameri-
cans think the economy
will improve in the next
year, the lowest level
of optimism in Trump’s
presidency. 50% disap-
prove of the way Trump
is handling the economy.
CNBCShepard Smith: Why he quit Fox
Now that Fox News host
Shepard Smith has resigned,
said Peter Wade in Rolling
Stone.com, it appears the
cable network’s transforma-
tion into President Trump’s
personal “propaganda
machine” is complete. Smith,
55, has been with Fox since
its 1996 launch, and was
among the few voices at the
network to apply “truthful
analysis and fact-checking”
to both Trump’s and his fellow hosts’ wild claims
and conspiracy theories. What he leaves behind
is mostly a collection of “Trump-loving opinion
shows” that bear little resemblance to actual jour-
nalism. Smith insists he left his $15 million–a-year
contract on his own volition and wasn’t pushed
out. But in a telling sign-off, Smith made it clear
why he was leaving. “Even in our currently polar-
ized nation,” he said, “it’s my hope that the facts
will win the day. That the truth will always mat-
ter. That journalism and journalists will thrive.”Smith’s “breaking point” came amid a long-
simmering tension with Fox’s opinion hosts, said
Brian Stelter in CNN.com. He long saw it as his
duty to use facts to counteract the propaganda
spouted by Sean Hannity and others. But once
Trump took office, the network’s pro-Republican
spin grew so pronounced that Smith seemed likea heretic when, for example,
he pointed out that the
Mueller report did not clear
Trump. Last month, Tucker
Carlson called Smith “a
partisan” for supporting the
idea that soliciting election
help from a foreign power is
a crime. When the network
didn’t back Smith up, he
decided “he had simply had
enough.” Perhaps Smith
grew weary of “providing
the network with plausible deniability,” said
Justin Peters in Slate.com. For years, Fox man-
agement pointed to the highly respected Smith
whenever the network was accused of being a
“conduit for fervid conservative agitprop.” But
that left Smith open to criticism that he was a
“useful stooge for his bosses.”Smith left a parting lesson for conservatives, said
Jennifer Rubin in The Washington Post. In the
Trump era, too many of them fear that they must
pretend the emperor has clothes, lest they lose
“jobs, prestige, access, power, and money.” Smith
has shown that “truth does matter.” Sooner or
later, Trump will be gone and his presidency
will be “revealed to be a scam.” History will
then judge his enablers and apologists harshly,
while lauding Smith and others “who refused to
knuckle under.”“Anyone wondering why religious people still
support Donald Trump, despite his flaws” should
have watched the Democrats’ LGBTQ town hall
held on CNN last week, said Miranda Devine
in the New York Post. When Elizabeth Warren
was asked what she would say to someone who
believes marriage should be between one man
and one woman, she had a zinger ready. “Well,
I’m going to assume it’s a guy who said that. And
I’m going to say, then just marry one woman,”
Warren said—and then snidely added, “assuming
you can find one.” The liberal audience guffawed
at this “cheap insult.” But the third of Americans
who believe in traditional marriage just heard
Warren mock Christian men as unmarriageable
incels. And that was nothing compared with
Beto O’Rourke’s promise to strip any church that
opposes same-sex marriage of their tax-exempt
status. “The illiberal Left is not even hiding its
desire to impose its will” on people of faith.Democrats will undoubtedly come to regret these
comments, said John Inazu in TheAtlantic .com.
O’Rourke’s in particular will be used by the GOP
to turn out white evangelicals in swing states
such as Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Such
extremism will also turn off members of blackchurches, who are often socially conservative.
While I personally believe that anti-LGBTQ teach-
ings are wrong and damaging, said Sarah Jones
in NYMag.com, it’s blatantly unconstitutional to
punish believers for exercising their First Amend-
ment rights. O’Rourke will never be president
and this proposal has no chance of becoming law.
“He’s simply handed the Christian right a talking
point it’ll use to bludgeon the Left for years to
come.” Thanks a lot, Beto.It doesn’t matter that Beto is “scraping the bottom
of the polls,” said Rod Dreher in TheAmerican
Conservative.com. Democrats are moving left so
quickly that “if this belief isn’t already held by all
the Democratic candidates now, it will be.” Soon,
people of faith will either have to affirm LGBTQ
ideology or face mockery and punishment. Actu-
ally, it’s LGBTQ rights that are under assault, said
Christina Cauterucci in Slate.com. The conserva-
tive Supreme Court is currently debating whether
it’s legal to fire someone for being gay or transgen-
der, while the Trump administration is busy ban-
ning transgender troops. At least the Democrats
believe we actually have rights. As one CNN
audience member asked, “When do you think the
Republican LGBTQ town hall will be?”LGBTQ issues: Are Democrats too extreme?
Smith: ‘The truth will always matter.’