Reader Comments: Trump Lies and Journalism Cowers (or was sued or de-funded); CBS Journalism is Infected; Christmas Under Trump; Memories of Cora Weiss and Victor Grossman; Watch 60 Minutes - What Donald Trump and Bari Weiss Didn't Want You to See;
Once the paragon of American broadcast journalism, CBS News has been canceled due to being infected by a putrid, vile, orange pus related to Pink Eye, called Orange Eye. Much like Pink Eye, this relatively new disease can also be caught by being too cozied up to the foul posterior of power. It can cause one (or new CBS News Editor in Chief Bari Weiss) to single-handedly destroy ones journalistic credibility in order to do the bidding of autocrats. Infection can be avoided by not literally kissing up to political power.
David HaywardHoly Refugees Digital CartoonNaked Pastor
[David Hayward is a pastor turned artist painting, drawing, and thinking about what it takes to be free to be you. If you’re interested in deconstruction, spiritual journeying, freedom of thought, or looking for your authentic self, you’re welcome to join me while I search too.
In case you’re wondering, I’m not actually naked. The idea behind my name, NakedPastor, is to seek to tell the naked truth - no matter how vulnerable it feels. I used to be a pastor but I’ve been creating art and working towards freedom with this community for over 10 years now.]
[David Rothman is founder of TeleRead.org, the oldest website devoted to ebook-related news and views. Cofounder of LibraryEndowment.org. Author of eight books, including The Solomon Scandals novel. Former poverty beat reporter.]
I knew Cora for a few months in 1954, when we put together the Dane County chapter of the Wisconsin Joe Must Go movement to gather signatures for the attempted recall of Senator Joseph McCarthy.
What an amazing man. Thank you for introducing us to him.
Renee Blake
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Here's another story:
An American Communist Like No Other
By Mario KesslerTranslation by Julia DamphouseDecember 22, 2025Jacobin
Victor Grossman died in Berlin, aged 97, last Wednesday. An American communist, his life was forever shaped by his defection to the Eastern Bloc at the height of the Cold War.
Victor Grossman's extraordinary life pivoted on a decisive choice he made in 1952: to defect to the Eastern Bloc rather than allow the US Army to jail him.(Facebook)
Fred Niles
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Thank you so much for your beautiful obituary on Victor Grossman.
The late Peter Zacher introduced us, regretfully after I had left Berlin, where I lived from 1983 to 1986, crossing over the Wall many times (so I'm sure there's a Stasi file on me somewhere!:>). Victor visited with me and my late parents in NY when he was here a little over a decade ago, and my wife Helene & I last dined with him (and Rebecca Schmidt, and David & Karen Ruoff Kramer) in Berlin in October, 2019.
He was a true friend, a man of immense integrity and insight, whose postings and emails will be sorely missed.
If you ever needed proof that Donald Trump governs like a man whose guiding legal philosophy is “it’s all about me,” look no further than the newly christened “Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.” Yes, it sounds like a drunk committee tried to merge a Broadway marquee with a MAGA yard sign. And yes, the law—actual written law—says the Kennedy Center’s name cannot be changed without Congress.
By Brian StelterUpdated December 23, 2025CNN Business
The “60 Minutes” report titled “Inside CECOT” was shelved at the last minute by CBS News chief Bari Weiss — but some were able to view it on a Canadian network’s streaming platform. (Screenshot by CNN/Muellershewrote)
CBS News editor in chief Bari Weiss decided to shelve a planned “60 Minutes” story titled “Inside CECOT,” creating an uproar inside CBS, but the report has reached a worldwide audience anyway.
On Monday, some Canadian viewers noticed that the pre-planned “60 Minutes” episode was published on a streaming platform owned by Global TV, the network that has the rights to “60 Minutes” in Canada.
The preplanned episode led with correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi’s story — the one that Weiss stopped from airing in the US because she said it was “not ready.”
Several Canadian viewers shared clips and summaries of the story on social media, and within hours, the videos went viral on platforms like Reddit and Bluesky.
The full segment aired on the GlobalTV app in Canada. Someone sent me a link to a recorded version. Let's see if we can figure out whether Bari Weiss' decision to spike it was editorial or political.
The segment apparently aired on Canada’s Global TV app and was shared by this Bluesky user jasonparis.bsky.social. You can watch the entire segment below! Please share widely!
Bari Weiss at CBS claims this segment was spiked for editorial reasons and not political reasons, however, there are portions of this video that would indicate otherwise.
In an email to her colleagues, Sharyn Alfonsi said “Our story was screened five times and cleared by both CBS attorneys and Standards and Practices. It is factually correct. In my view, pulling it now-after every rigorous internal check has been met is not an editorial decision, it is a political one.”
Jewish Currents invites you to a celebration of our new issue—in Los Angeles!
Join us on January 8th at Honey’s at Star Love for a West Coast issue launch. The party starts at 7 pm, and we’ll have drinks, music, copies of the new issue, and of course, as many California JC readers as we can fit in one room. Entry is free for subscribers and members. Non-members can purchase a ticket for $18, which includes a copy of the new issue. Not yet a subscriber, but want to change that? You can subscribe here and save 30% when you enter code LALAUNCH at checkout.
Honey’s at Star Love is located at 1532 North Western Avenue, Los Angeles. The venue is accessible by wheelchair. Please email [email protected]g for accommodation requests or with any questions related to accessibility.
Before the discussion session on Zoom, registrants will be directed to watch both an expert introductory video and the film Behold a Pale Horse, itselfALBA will direct participants to services that have the film. Any fees associated with accessing the film must be borne by the registrant.Tickets are limited. Register now to ensure your participation. Attendance is free but registration is required.
Moderated by ALBA Board Member Sebastiaan Faber
Behold a Pale Horse directed by Fred Zinneman and released in 1964, tells the dramatic story of an aging Spanish guerrilla fighter, Manuel Artíguez (Gregory Peck), who lives exiled in Southern France, and who in the late 1950s decides to return to Franco's Spain, where he confronts a captain of the Civil Guard by the name of Viñolas (Anthony Quinn). A third central character, a young priest, is played by Omar Sharif.
Shot in black and white with a score by Maurice Jarre, the film allowed Zinneman--who'd arrived in Hollywood in the late 1930s as a Jewish refugee from Austria--to return to Europe and revisit the struggle against fascism a quarter century after the end of the Spanish war.
Behold a Pale Horse is among the lesser-known, but also more intriguing, films of Zinneman, who, in the course of his long career, won four Academy Awards and directed movies such as The Search, High Noon, and A Man for All Seasons.
Discussion Leader Linda Ehrlich
Dr. Linda C. Ehrlich has published extensively about world cinema. Her most recent book is The Films of Kore-eda Hirokazu: An Elemental Cinema. Her taped commentary on The Spirit of the Beehive (El espíritu de la colmena) appears on the Criterion DVD. She has also recorded two full-length DVD commentaries of films by Japanese director Kore-eda Hirokazu, for Milestone Film and Video and for Criterion.
Dr. Ehrlich’s Cinematic Reveries explores the intersection of prose poetry and cinema. She has also co-edited Cinematic Landscapes, and The Cinema of Víctor Erice: An Open Window.
She has edited Good Films, Cheap Wine, Few Friends: A Memoir, by Juan Luis Buñuel, and she recorded a WCLV radio interview about the memoir with Dee Perry and ALBA’s Sebastiaan Faber.
Dr. Ehrlich has taught at Duke University, Case Western Reserve University, the University of Tennessee/Knoxville, Miami University of Ohio, and on two Semester-at-Sea voyages. She has been a Fulbright Specialist to Granada, Spain, and will be a Specialist in Valencia, Spain in 2026.
She has introduced films at the Japan Society and Guggenheim Museum. Pacific Film Archives/Berkeley, MFA/Boston, Pickford Film Center, and in England and Spain.
