Thoughts for the Day, September 22, 2025: In case you missed it. We can never forget.

In case you missed it. We cannot forget.

Lost in the media frenzy of the Charlie Kirk assassination, this story was pushed to the background. We must never forget that our law enforcement officers put their lives on the line every day. Every day their families are not sure their loved ones will return home that day.

From the NY Times on Wednesday September 17, three police officers were fatally shot, and two others were seriously injured on Wednesday while trying to serve a warrant in a rural part of York County, Pa., state police officials said.

The two who were injured in the shooting were in critical but stable condition at an area hospital, the Pennsylvania State Police commissioner, Col. Christopher Paris, said at a news conference Wednesday evening.

Colonel Paris said that the shooter was fatally shot by the police.

The killings drew the attention of federal and state officials, and a visit by the governor. But it left its deepest mark on the residents of this county of farms in southeast Pennsylvania. Just seven months earlier, a 30-year-old police officer in York County was shot and killed after he responded to a hostage situation in the intensive care unit of a local hospital.

“For the second time in less than a year, York County is a community in mourning,” the county commissioners said in a statement. “We ask all York Countians to, once again, lift each other up and support each other as we grieve together as one united community.”

We must never forget.

******************************************************************************************************

The Tigers

Tiger fans around Michigan feel like they are living in a bad dream. After losing nine of their last 10 games, while the Guardians won ten in a row, a lead of 10 games is now down to a one game heading into the last six games of the season. After scoring 21 runs in two games against the Yankees two weeks ago, the Tigers have struggled to score runs while the relief pitching has not been providing relief. It was especially painful to watch the Tigers blow a two-run lead in the last two innings in Saturday’s game against the Braves. Since those games against the Yankees, the Tigers have lost 13 of 14.

Last year the Tigers came from nowhere to gain the final playoff spot. This year the Tigers are in jeopardy of setting the MLB record of blowing the largest lead (15 ½ games) in MLB history if they do not win the AL Central Division Championship. Fortunately, the Tigers control their own destiny. Three of their final six games are against the Guardians. The final three games are against the Red Sox, who like the Tigers are battling for their playoff life. The fun/nightmare begins on Tuesday.

******************************************************************************************************

Step by Step. Inch by Inch

Each week, as the Republican members of Congress, SCOTUS, the media, major corporations and universities succumb to Trump, the country gets closer to an authoritarian government. Each week free speech and many other liberties allegedly guaranteed by the Constitution continue to be threatened.

I want to stop writing about it. I wish it would go away. Unfortunately, it will not. As a result, I will not stop writing. I will continue to speak up. I feel obligated to share my thoughts, feelings, and concerns.

The U.S. Government is not Trump’s private firm to do as he wants. There are laws, rules, and regulations. There is a constitutional oath that must be honored. What works in business doesn’t necessarily work in a government bound by laws, regulations, and the Constitution. A CEO of a private company can fire any “at will” employee for any reason. However, in federal jobs, especially in our justice department, a federal prosecutor should not be fired or be forced to resign for refusing to bring charges against a president’s enemy when there is not sufficient evidence to obtain a conviction. Nixon tried but he did not succeed. Yet, President Trump on Friday forced the resignation of U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert because Siebert refused bring charges against Trump’s enemies. It is ironic that Siebert was nominated for the post by Trump.

Here are excerpts from former U.S. Attorney Harry Littman’s Talking Feds: I begin with the consummate betrayal of the ideals the Department of Justice has long stood for. As a DOJ alum, it is my principal lookout, and I have not yet written about Friday’s forced resignation of U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert.

Siebert, a well-respected career prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia, whom Trump himself had nominated for the top job, was forced out after concluding that there was insufficient evidence to indict New York Attorney General Letitia James on mortgage fraud.

Siebert’s conduct was not disloyal, imprudent, or questionable in any way. On the contrary, it was the very definition of prosecutorial integrity.

The Justice Manual (formerly the U.S. Attorneys’ Manual) opens with the charging principle that no prosecution should be initiated unless admissible evidence is sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction. That is not a suggestion; it is a constitutional and ethical command that embodies “justice without fear or favor.”

Forcing a prosecutor to stand in court and allege charges he or she knows cannot be proven is the gravest assault on justice imaginable, not to mention the Kafkaesque nightmare it imposes on the defendant.

Take this as me shouting from the rooftops: there is no greater abuse—none—than forcing a prosecutor to bring charges against the president’s political enemies without adequate evidence.

To fire a U.S. Attorney for following the evidence is not merely a personnel decision. It is a rock-bottom repudiation of what it means to be a prosecutor. It tells every AUSA in the country: indict the president’s enemies or risk your career. The damage is not confined to one office. It strikes at the justice system itself, which depends on prosecutors’ independence from political winds.

After Siebert’s resignation, Trump made it clear to A.G. Bondi that she is expected to carryout the prosecution of Trump’s enemies, regardless of the evidence.

Here is what Trump had to say Saturday morning night.

On Saturday morning, Trump posted on social media: “He didn’t quit, I fired him!” In the evening, he posted on social media a missive that appeared to be intended as a direct message (DM) to Attorney General Pam Bondi. It read: “Pam: I have reviewed over 30 statements and posts saying that, essentially ‘same old story as last time, all talk, no action. Nothing is being done. What about Comey, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, Leticia??? They’re all guilty as hell, but nothing is going to be done.’... We can’t delay any longer, it’s killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice, and indicted me (5 times!), OVER NOTHING. JUSTICE MUST BE SERVED, NOW!!! President DJT.”

*******************************************************************************************************

Free Press: Not any more

From Heather Cox Richardson: (the) attempt to control information is showing clearly at the Pentagon. In February, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth threw out long-standing media outlets who had been covering the Pentagon, including NPR, the New York Times, and NBC News, and brought in right-wing outlets including Newsmax and Breitbart. On Friday the Pentagon said it would revoke press credentials for any journalists who gather information, even unclassified information, that the Pentagon has not expressly authorized for release. Hegseth has been on a crusade to figure out who is leaking negative stories about him and defense issues under his direction, and he seems to have decided to try to stop their publication rather than the leaks themselves.

Although Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell called the changes “basic, common-sense guidelines to protect sensitive information as well as the protection of national security and the safety of all who work at the Pentagon,” Washington Post reporter Scott Nover noted that this position is a “sharp departure” from decades of practice. Until this year, the Pentagon held two televised question and answer sessions a week (and, in my observation, the journalists who covered the Pentagon were excellent).

The National Press Club also weighed in on Friday’s changes. “If the news about our military must first be approved by the government, then the public is no longer getting independent reporting,” said club president Mike Balsamo. “It is getting only what officials want them to see. That should alarm every American.”

On Friday the Pentagon referred to the White House questions about a strike on a third Venezuelan boat that Trump announced on social media. “On my orders, the Secretary of War ordered a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel affiliated with a Designated Terrorist Organization conducting narcotrafficking in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility,” Trump posted. Trump said three men, whom he called “narcoterrorists,” were killed. He said the military showed him proof that the men in the boats were smuggling drugs, but he has not shared that evidence with lawmakers or the public.

As Lara Seligman reported in the Wall Street Journal on September 17, military lawyers and officials from the Defense Department are concerned that decision makers in the Pentagon are ignoring their warnings that the administration’s strikes on the vessels …are illegal.

Once again Trump plays judge, juror, and executioner while the Republican Congress members remain silent and his MAGA supporters root him on.

******************************************************************************************************

Orchid of the Day: ABC will reinstate Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show effective Tuesday. Finally, some cajónes from the media.

Quote of the Day: "We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday,” an ABC statement.

Question of the Day: Are the Tigers dead as it relates to making the playoffs this year?

Lyrics of the Day: Mama, let me be. Don’t come a-hangin’ around my door. I don’t wanna see your face no more. I got more important things to do than spending time growin’ old with you.

Lyrics of the Day for September 17, Grease by Franki Vali

Video of the Day: The Naughty Nineties | Who’s on First? — Abbott and Costello

Feel free to share my blog with others. To receive the blog in your email, please use the subscribe button or send an email to me at thomasdbiggs@gmail.com and I will start the process for you.