Only the most militant Trumpster can glorify in America’s latest foreign assault on Iran under Donald Trump. Perhaps this time we will truly “obliterate” Iran’s nuclear bomb-making capacity. The “peace” monger has started another war without congressional approval, even as he continues to appease Putin’s takeover of parts of Ukraine more than a year after he said he could end that conflict in one day.
Not content with foreign excursions, Trump has unleashed thugs across our land to corral, shoot and kill Americans he labels domestic terrorists.
Congress? Fuhgeddaboutdit. Trump has neutered it. He is considering a plan for a federal takeover of next November’s congressional elections under a pretext of national security linked, in his Machiavellian mind, to alleged Chinese involvement in Joe Biden’s victory in 2020 (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/us/politics/trump-elections-midterms.html?smid=url-share).
Once an editor, always an editor: I do not mean to minimize the agony Ukrainians are going through this winter but I feel reporting from the embattled country must be accurate and appropriate to its audience.
Last Tuesday night Holly Williams reported on “CBS Evening News with Tony Dokoupil” that Ukrainians were living through bombardments in 0 degrees temperature. Harsh conditions, to be sure.
But Williams’ report and review by her editors failed to inform viewers that the 0 degrees she noted was on the Celsius scale, equivalent to 32 degrees Fahrenheit most Americans are familiar with.
Yes, 32 degrees is cold and difficult to live in day in, day out, all the more so in a war zone. But using 0 degrees is an unfortunate misrepresentation to viewers.
Williams grew up in Australia after the country switched to Celsius in 1972. It is understandable she might revert to her formative years of education when reporting on climate conditions.
Her audience, these days however, is predominantly Americans who think of temperatures in a Farenheitan way.
I Instagrammed a similar critique to Dokoupil that night but have yet to hear back from him.
I haven’t seen Williams do any reporting since last Tuesday.
Related CBS news: CBS has more to worry about than an errant temperature report. With Netflix dropping out of the quest to absorb Warner Bros. Discovery to the delight of CBS’ parent, Paramount Skydance, I was depressed to see the following on Facebook:
“Trump’s billionaire allies will now own CNN, Fox News, CBS, WaPo, WSJ and NY Post — plus 185+ local TV stations and news in 100 markets.
“They also control X, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, WhatsApp, TikTok, Truth and Twitch.
“They control the AI you’re integrating into your lives, the algorithms feeding your content, and your personal data you’ve given up for access.
“This is all by design to manipulate and surveil us, and we’re not talking enough about it.
“Pay attention.”
As a lifelong CBS News watcher I have always been impressed by the quality of its journalism. Its anchors, correspondents, reporters, producers and editors have been top notch, never shrinking from calling out politicians and other notables and entities.
The Tiffany Network has much to lose if it abandons its sense of balance and objectivity. We are living during times of stress on our institutions and political system.
Growing Up: One of my best friends as a youngster growing up in the 1950s-early 1960s was Richie Posner. Richie lived three doors down from my home, in the corner house on Avenue W and East 18th Street in Brooklyn.
Though we didn’t talk a lot about it, Richie’s cousin was singer-songwriter Neil Sedaka. It was the heyday of Sedaka’s career. Sedaka grew up a few miles from our homes. Sedaka was 10 years older than us. I never met him. He died Friday (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/27/arts/music/neil-sedaka-dead.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share).
I lost touch with Richie after we graduated from Brooklyn College.
