Category: Domestic Affairs

Today in History: September 17, U.S. Constitution signed

On Sept. 17, 1787, the Constitution of the United States was completed and signed by a majority of delegates attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia.

Do Americans still honor the document? Does the president honor his pledge?

The oath of office of the president of the United States is the oath or affirmation that the president of the United States takes upon assuming office. The wording of the oath is specified in Article II, Section One, Clause 8, of the United States Constitution, and a new president is required to take it before exercising or carrying out any official powers or duties.

This clause is one of three oath or affirmation clauses in the Constitution, but it is the only one that actually specifies the words that must be spoken. Article I, Section 3 requires Senators, when sitting to try impeachments, to be “on Oath or Affirmation.” Article VI, Clause 3, similarly requires the persons specified therein to “be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution.” The presidential oath requires much more than that general oath of allegiance and fidelity. This clause enjoins the new president to swear or affirm: “I will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”[1]

Where Charlie Kirk stood on guns, the LGBT+ community and the future of the United States

Is this the country you want?

Kirk was known to be a gun owner himself and regularly spoke out on the issue, including on behalf of the National Rifle Association in the aftermath of the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in February 2018.

At a Turning Point event in Salt Lake City in April 2023, he said, “It’s worth it to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment.”

Kirk adopted a traditional Christian conservative stance in his approach to many contemporary issues, telling an audience at a Trump election rally in Georgia last fall that Democrats “stand for everything God hates” and adding: “This is a Christian state. I’d like to see it stay that way.”

He also lashed out at the gay community, denouncing what he called the “LGBTQ agenda,” expressing opposition to same-sex marriage and suggesting that the Bible verse Leviticus 20:13, which endorses the execution of homosexuals, serves as “God’s perfect law when it comes to sexual matters.”

Generally Kirk was loyal to Trump, whom he saw as key to establishing the conservative Christian America he wanted to help realize, one in which abortion is heavily restricted to cases of medical emergency in which the mother’s life cannot be saved by any other means, women enter higher education to find husbands and “woke” ideologies play no part in public life.

Political analyst Matthew Dowd lost his contributor role at MSNBC because of comments he made about Charlie Kirk after the young right-wing activist was murdered Wednesday.

Shortly after Kirk was shot to death while speaking on stage at Utah Valley State University, Dowd told MSNBC anchor Katy Tur that “hateful thoughts lead to hateful words which then lead to hateful actions.”

The angry reaction on social media was immediate after Dowd’s comments suggested that Kirk’s history of incendiary remarks led to the shooting.

Fed is Likely to Lower Interest Rates

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has again handed President Donald Trump a bleak set of jobs numbers, just one month after he fired the agency’s commissioner over weak employment data.

On Friday morning, the BLS reported that nonfarm payroll employment rose by only 22,000 in August. Analysts had forecast that the economy would add 75,000 jobs during the month. According to the agency, gains made in health care were offset by losses in federal government employment, as well as mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction.

While July’s figures were revised up to 79,000 from 73,000, June’s numbers were revised down by 27,000, dropping from 14,000 to minus-13,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate edged up to 4.3 percent from 4.2 percent.

Lowering interest rates to stimulate the economy is known as expansionary monetary policy. This policy aims to reduce borrowing costs, encouraging households and businesses to increase spending and investment, which helps boost economic activity. 

Given that the employment rose by only 22,000 in August it is likely that the Fed will lower the interest rate as Donald Trump has been pushing.

No More Reading the Newspaper While Eating Breakfast

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has announced will stop printing newspapers on December 31. The changeup means the AJC will be a digital-only publication starting January 1, 2026. The AJC said the transition is intended to transform the paper into a “modern media company,” as well as free up money to invest in its journalism.

Is the Los Angeles Times going to end it print edition? The largest year-on-year change came at The Los Angeles Times, which saw its average daily print circulation drop 25% from nearly 106,000 in the six months to 30 September 2023 to 79,000 in the same period in 2024.

Last year, the publisher fired its editor in chief, Correction its editorials editor, Mariel Garza, resigned in October 2024 after the paper’s owner blocked the editorial board’s endorsement of Kamala Harris for president. The previous year, in January 2024, the paper’s executive editor, Kevin Merida, also stepped down. saw tens of thousands of subscribers cancel their subscriptions, and lost around $50 million, according to exclusive reporting from ADWEEK.

And this year, it has already undergone two rounds of layoffs and a sweep of buyouts, lost thousands of lucrative print subscriptions in the Pacific Palisades fires, and watched as Netflix pulled hundreds of thousands in ad spend, citing “changes at the paper” as its rationale.

I will be shopping for an iPad or other tablet to read while eating breakfast and lunch.