Tuesday, October 13, 2026

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JOHN BREASTED: The Great Barrington Selectboard’s credibility gap

Transparency does not require officials to reveal legal strategy. It does require them to tell voters when the town has been sued.

A quote attributed to Winston Churchill: ‘A lie is halfway round the world before the truth has got its boots.’

In order to better understand our geopolitical situation in 2026, we may have to look beyond the repetitive “orange man bad” political soundbite and review the actual events of 2025 that have led us here.

MITCH GURFIELD: AI and the writer’s burden—a response to Sonia Pilcer

While I can readily understand why Sonia finds AI so helpful, I believe her use of it is a most serious mistake, which writers, students. and the general public should not imitate.

Today’s protesters are engaging in civic self-defense

Vietnam-era protests challenged what the government was doing. Today’s protests challenge whether the president himself respects law, truth, or human dignity at all. That distinction matters.

In behavioral health, instability is not harmless

When funding becomes volatile, it undermines years of progress and makes it harder—not easier—to respond effectively to crisis.

I WITNESS: The pendulum never stops swinging—does it?

There are clear differences between Trump’s perspective and that of almost every other individual who has held his office in the past. What others have built, one man tears asunder

Lee’s First Giving Tree Drop-Off Event a big success

The event was a big success—collecting almost 50 Christmas trees and other holiday greens and multiple boxes of food donations and $1,700 for the Lee Food Pantry, which serves residents from several communities in the area.

SNAP cost shift day of action Jan. 15

States cannot and should not be expected to cover federal disinvestment in a national nutrition program.

BRIGHT SPOTS: Week of January 14, 2026

Standing up for domestic and international laws and for accountability. Speaking up against “might makes right” and for choosing law over force.

LEONARD QUART: Another take on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani

Mamdani does not look like a man who will throw up his hands and hide or flee from the difficulties that will inevitably confront him.

Trump’s influence depends on Republican permission

Political figures lose influence not when opponents object but when allies withdraw legitimacy.

Free America walkout on Jan. 20

I will keep peacefully protesting and working to take back control of our country from the MAGA movement because I don’t have a choice.

If you listen to Donald Trump long enough, the real reason for what he says and does comes out

The “Art of the Deal” guy has learned that when you have the power of the mightiest military force on the planet, there is no reason to negotiate—you can just go in and take whatever you want.

I WITNESS: The pornography of violence

Violence is Trump’s true pornography. All other pornography pales in comparison.

STEPHEN COHEN: Lessons we should have learned from Vietnam

Incredible as it may seem, our country is reversing its founding tenets as set forth in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution in order to benefit a failed real estate developer and his corrupt cronies.

SHEELA CLARY: The decent take is the right take

Credibility is in the eye of the beholder, and the beholders are mostly political partisans who seek out information curated to confirm their priors.

U.S. corporate media ignores history

Their coverage of deadly economic and political issues frequently distorts or entirely ignores essential historical and factual information, from detailed, well-documented sources, information directly relevant to those issues.