Steady

July 20, 1969, was a momentous day for our nation and the world. Fifty-seven years ago this week, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong accomplished the extraordinary; they landed on the moon. After spending 21 hours on the lunar surface, the Apollo 11 astronauts successfully returned home. I had the good fortune to be at the launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The prevailing feeling among the people there, and around the country, was one of hope and celebration, of accomplishment.

Caption: A rare photo of the war with Iran, showing the aftermath of an Iranian strike on a U.S. installation inside an air base in Jordan. Credit: MenchOsint on X Never have so many of your tax dollars been spent on a war we know so little about. Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News weekend anchor who’s now in charge of the Department of Defense, has decided no news is good news. Little information, few videos or photos, no pool reports, no reporters embedded with the troops.

There’s a reason Donald Trump is leading the movement to make it more difficult to vote. He knows anyone armed with facts will have a tough time greenlighting his circus. Knowledge is power, my Steady friends, and as informed readers, you are the best defense to reclaim our democracy. If you think the president has accelerated his bewildering, ethics-bending, falsehood-filled conduct as of late, you’re not alone.

This week, we are going pretty far off the Rather ranch for our reason to smile. We decided to delve into the world of classical music. And what better piece of music to summon a smile than Ludwig van Beethoven’s most triumphant and jubilant masterpiece, his Symphony No. 9. The Ninth, also known as “Ode to Joy,” was the first major symphony written with parts for singers — soloists and a chorus.

Witness the current state of the Republican Party: a lame duck president with dismal polling numbers who still forces his loyal acolytes to bend the knee to an abject failure of a presidency. It is embarrassing to witness this level of cowardice by those whose allegiance is so misplaced. The behavior was aptly demonstrated by a trio of Donald Trump nominees who have been on Capitol Hill this week for their confirmation hearings.

If Donald Trump was the head of a Fortune 500 company, he would have long been relieved of his duties — for a list of reasons as long as your arm — but most notably, he would be fired as the country’s CEO for his vacillating and chaotic handling of the war with Iran. Americans know and cannot be distracted from this hard truth: It is a sad and dangerous state of affairs that our country is being dragged behind a demagogue who seems clueless about how to get us out of a war he created.

Simple, heartfelt lyrics, a catchy melody, and great harmonies, Bill Withers’ — “Lean on Me” checks all of those boxes and is this week’s reason to smile. Fifty-four years ago this week, Withers’ song reached No. 1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and soul charts and has since become a classic. Withers grew up in the small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia. After serving in the U.S. Navy, he moved to Los Angeles in 1967 to pursue a career in music.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed by ICE agents. You might think that because horror stories about mass deportations have mostly faded from the headlines that Donald Trump has eased up on his draconian immigration policy. He has not. And what happened in Houston on Tuesday brought ICE and its immigration crackdown back into the spotlight.

American soccer star, Folarin Balogun, finds himself at the center of an international incident. Credit: Getty Images As is often the case, Donald Trump will attempt to direct the news in ways that benefit not the country, but him. The latest example involves the president interfering in the world’s biggest sporting event, soccer’s World Cup. Trump put his thumb on the scale for the reinstatement of an American soccer star who was disqualified from playing an upcoming match.

Patriotism can mean different things to different people. For me, patriotism is a deep love for one’s country, rooted in civic pride and duty, coupled with a commitment to uphold America’s foundational ideals, chief among them freedom and liberty. Patriotism doesn’t belong to a political party. It is not tied to where you live or whom you vote for. And it cannot be co-opted by a president.