annual conventions. In the business sessions, we debated resolutions which stated our positions on peace and justice issues. We also set policy for the coming year. Hosting these sessions helped me become quite comfortable in speaking in public settings.

VIII. A Thumbnail Sketch of Social Security Work

In my work at Social Security, I spent 15 months teaching the full panoply of Social Security law, rules and regulations. When I took the 13-week course to become a claims authorizer, I had, I believe, at least four instructors, who taught their specialties. The new administrator decided to have one instructor teach the  entire course. After my teaching assignment, I was promoted to technical assistant, in which position I spent most of the rest of my career checking the work of claims authorizers. 

One assignment I received came after I spent a week at our headquarters in Baltimore, a part of which was to prepare me to lead a task force devoted to finding who should be credited with Social Security earnings. Since Social Security numbers were being sold to [mostly Mexican immigrants], it was a draining  experience to find the proper recipients.

IX. University Park Activity

While living in University Park, Illinois for about a decade, I was president of the Little League baseball association, the youth football association, and an elementary school PTO where our children were educated. 

At another level of activity, I served as the chair of the committee in charge of maintaining all of our recreational facilities. As part of President Lyndon Johnson's model cities program, under the name of Park Forest South, we had a lake and a model farm with animals under our jurisdiction.

I played a role in bringing community TV to our village, but more importantly, I served on the village board's representative to a consortium of south suburban villages, which exchanged ideas on how best to use community TV. Later, I was elected as a village trustee.

X. An Addendum on Print Evidence

I realize that I failed to identify the two prints, print examiner Laffey claimed to have found on the Degnan note. He found on June 28, a print of the little finger with attached palm print on the front of the note, matching Heirens. On July 12, he found on the back of the note, a partial palm print that matched Heirens' palm.

It is ironic that Laffey couldn't even initially get prints due to the oil coating, yet he was later to get two prints; also, it took him about a week less than six months to get one print identification. He found the second Heirens' print on the same day, July 12th, that the CPD reversed itself, and said the Brown print actually did match that of Heirens. Latent print examiner Steven Schachte couldn't find any Heirens' prints on the front of the note, and he made no mention of palm prints. When State's Attorney Tuohy made his closing remarks in the sentencing hearing on September 5th., he said that all they had on Heirens was a single fingerprint.

XI. A Closing

In the sentencing hearing on September 5, 1946 -- Bill Heirens never had a criminal trial, but prosecutors were required to present the evidence they would revealed if there had been a criminal trial -- State's Attorney Touhy praised Heirens' defense team for "finding it possible to aid in a final and a just determination of this entire matter. Without the aid of the defense, there would be no answer for the death of Josephine Ross. Also, without defense aid there might be sincere public doubt about the guilt of Heirens in the killing of Degnan and Brown."

The defense started cooperating with the prosecution on July 7, 1946.

I realize I have given Marquis specialists a lot of material to deal with. I trust they can separate wheat from chaff. Before getting a response, I will start work on trimming down this material so that it can be used as a Personal Narrative for submission to media outlets.

 On May 9,1992, Elizabeth M. Biestek, of our committee and three other examiners concluded during a handwriting workshop that the "handwriting on the Suzanne Degnan ransom note and on the Frances Brown wall do not compare favorably with the handwriting sample attributed to William Heirens and were most probably written by someone other than William Heirens."

Another handwriting analyst, Mary Frances Means, told the 'Chicago Daily News that there was no possibility that the same person who wrote the ransom note did the wall writing."

When 'PrimeTime Live', the ABC television program, Hired David Grimes, a handwriting analyst with twelve years of experience with the FBI, he became the tenth analyst the program interviewed who found no similarity in the two writings.

George W. Schwartz Was hired by the prosecution to attempt to link the ransom note to Bill Hierens. Reviewing the note and various papers written by Heirens, Schwartz concluded that "individual characteristics in the two writings do not compare in any respect." Dissatisfied with that assessment, State's Attorney Tuohy then hired Herbert J. Walter. In July 25, 1946, Walter contradicted himself and contended that the two writings were done by the same person, when on January 8, 1946, he told the 'Herald American' that there were a "few similarities" and a "great many dissimilarities." 

VI. Excelled as a School Teacher

The Personal Narrative I received said I "excelled" as a school teacher. That characterization without any context doesn't mean very much. I will allude first to the extra-curricular work I did when teaching at Lathrop High School in Fairbanks, Alaska. Fairbanks had a juvenile jury program, and since I taught  American Government, some of my junior and senior students were on the juvenile jury. I became a member of the management team in my first year there. In my second year, I became the director of the program.

We would meet in an used courtroom after school hours, with a judge present to monitor sentences  being handed out. The jury would debate and propose sentences to teenagers who had been convicted of misdemeanors. As an example of the kinds of sentences handed out, a high schooler who had illegally passed a stopped school bus, was sentenced to ride an early-morning bus for a month, and get out at every stop to ensure that safety conditions were being met.

Since Lathrop was to host the competition for high school wrestlers in Alaska, the sports director and varsity basketball coach, named "Joe," called me in and asked me: "Lauri, how would you like to run the high school wrestling competition?" I said I had some limited knowledge of high school wrestling. Joe said: "Lauri, you'll learn." I had interviewed with Joe to coach the junior varsity basketball team, and either he was impressed with me, or he didn't want to get stuck with the job.

Subsequently, I secured a TV time slot, and I took two Lathrop wrestlers with me to illustrate   wrestling holds and explain how points were scored. I also helped a local radio station with their coverage of the early bouts.

Just to illustrate that my experience at Lathrop wasn't an outlier, while teaching eight grade at Wallace, Michigan, 15 miles from the Wisconsin border, I ordered all of the school's sports equipment, coached the junior high basketball team, added some instruction in the arts and geography, which were not  subject areas required by the Wallace school board. On year I even wrote the Christmas play.

VII. Peace and Justice Additions

I followed the sequence of being secretary, co-chair and chair at a south suburban (Chicago) chapter of SANE/Freeze, which had chapters all over the nation proposing to stop building any more nuclear weapons. I followed the same sequence of offices after the name change to Peace Action in about 1997, after which I was elected to Illinois Peace Action. I served seven+ years as co-chair and chair. 

I was elected to the national Peace Action Board in March 1994, and continue to still be on it today. One of my functions as the chair of the Operations Committee was to enforce our attendance policy. Our committee also made recommendations on maintaining board diversity, and we did a major rewrite of our Bylaws while I was chair. However, how I lost my fear of public speaking was mostly because as chair of Operations I had to run the business portion of our annual conventions. In the business sessions, we debated resolutions which stated our positions on peace and justice issues. We also set policy for the coming year. I became quite comfortable in speaking in public settings.

VIII. A Thumbnail Sketch of Social Security Work

A Follow-up on the Personal Narrative Sent to Me

 Overview. I cannot sign this Personal Narrative sent to me because it contains some information that is inaccurate; there is no information on the deeply flawed finger and palm prints, which require much deeper examination; and William (Bill) Heirens' confessions are replete with denials, two versions of the same happening, and his hard-to believe made-up stories.

It is not sufficient to state I excelled as a teacher without giving some context to that assessment. The same can be said about, first, SANE/FREEZE, and then Peace Action. And I participated in a great number of activities in University Park, Illinois.

In the second paragraph of the Personal Narrative mailed me, I am identified as a committee member of the Illinois Parole Board (it is actually named the Prisoner Review Board). I was never a member of that board. When I read Dolores Kennedy's book entitled: "William Heirens: His Day in Court" -- Kennedy was Heirens biographer and friend -- I was stunned by reading Bill Heirens' confessions in the back of Kennedy's book. I contacted Dolores, and she told me that she was putting together a committee that would try to find out if Heirens committed any of the three murders to which he confessed. She told me that I would be named the confession analyst on the committee.

I. Second Paragraph of the Personal Narrative

I cannot confirm that Bill Heirens suffered "further punishment at the hands of police officers." He issued a statement reading: "I had been grilled incessantly by police and prosecuting officials in an effort to make me confess to murder; I was forced to undergo interrogation under sodium pentothal and under two lie detectors." Neither of the two lie detector  tests found Heirens to have a guilty conscience.

Bill Heirens told me that the  reason for confessing was the daily fear that while in custody that serious harm could come to him if he continued to deny charges.

The last sentence in the second paragraph should be deleted, as law enforcement in Illinois was pretty much united in opposition to Heirens getting out of prison, or getting a new trial. I don't think I moved the needle on this strong opposition. I can't even confirm that my book garnered "significant support in Mr. Heirens innocence."

II. The Story of the Migrating Print(s)

Before getting into the stories of the migrating print(s) in the Degnan case, and the "bloody" print in the Frances Brown case, I will give a thumbnail sketch of the three murders.

Suzanne Degnan was a six-year-old, who was taken from her north side Chicago bedroom on the early morning of January 7, 1946. She was strangled and then carried to an unlocked apartment  basement, where her body was cut up, and the parts distributed to either four or five sewer openings. A torn piece of paper demanding $20,000 was found on Suzanne's bedroom floor.

Frances Brown, a former member of the Women's Reserve of the United Naval Reserves (WAVE) was killed on December 10, 1945. Written with red lipstick on an apartment wall was a message reading: "For heaven's sake catch me Before I kill more. I cannot control myself."

Josephine  Ross was stabbed and beaten to death on June 5, 1945. There was no evidence tying Bill Heirens to the Ross killing, and the only evidence tying Heirens to the Brown killing was a 
'bloody" fingerprint on Brown's bathroom door jamb.

The story of the migrating print(s) on the Degnan ransom note started when Chicago police found an oily piece of paper demanding $20,000 as ransom. After the discovery of the Degnan note, Commissioner Prendergast of the Chicago Police Department informed the press that the top CPD fingerprint examiner, Sergeant Thomas Laffey, 'had been unable to get prints because the note was  covered with an oil solution.' The FBI informed the CPD that its experts found two "fairly large and classifiable fingerprints" on the note. Significantly important for future claims of print findings, the FBI did not annotate the presence of any palm print.

On June 26, 1946, Bill Heirens was arrested for the burglary of the north side apartment of Joanne Pera. Someone suggested that his fingerprints be compared to the prints on the ransom note, and the single print found in the Brown apartment. On June 28th, Laffey announced that Heiren's prints matched a partial fingerprint located on the front of the note. The CPD told the press that Heiren's prints did not match the Brown print and he was no longer a suspect in the Brown murder.

On July 12, 1946, the CPD reversed itself and said that Heiren's prints matched the Brown print. On July 13, the CPD announced that Laffey had found a second Heirens' print. The finding on the Heirens' print was probably done on July 12, the day that the CPD did its reversal on the Brown print. The long interval between the findings of the Heirens' prints raised a serious question that Laffey or someone else in the CPD had transposed a print taken after Heirens was arrested. 

The Friends of Bill Heirens retained Steven Schachte to perform an analysis of the fingerprint evidence used to convict Bill Heirens in 1946. Schachte had been a latent print examiner for the Indianapolis Police Department for 17 years, and attended two latent print schools conducted by the FRI. Following is his  examination: "I examined the police photographs of the Degnan ransom note for evidence of latent fingerprints Unlike the police reports of two of Bill Heiren's fingerprints on the front of the ransom note, the evidence is clear that the prints on the front of the note are unidentified and not Bill Heiren's. I did locate an identifiable print on the back of the note, but this print is unmentioned in police or court documents."

In this letter to the Prisoner Review Board sent on February 22, 1995, Schachte closes it by saying that: "Of course, a fingerprint may be transferred from one object to another object, making it appear that the second object was touched."

Transposing fingerprints is relatively simple. A cellophane strip is placed over a suspect's prints obtained by the police, and then pressed on an incriminating object.

The extent to which the CPD was willing to go to find incriminating prints of Bill Heirens is illustrated by the Estelle Carey case. A high official in the CPD assured the press that a palm print of a 13-year-old Bill Heirens had been found in the residence of the murdered prostitute, Estelle Carey. The CPD had to pull back its claim when it was discovered that Heirens was in an Indiana school for boys at the time. 

Although Bill Heirens never had a trial in which evidence against him could be tested, prosecutors are required to present the evidence they would have used if there was a criminal trial. When States Attorney William Tuohy made his closing remarks at the sentencing hearing on September 5, 1946, he said: "All the prosecutors had in the Degnan case was a partial fingerprint and that on the ransom note." Touhy made no mention of a palm print, which Sergeant Laffey had claimed to have found.

III. The "Bloody" Brown Print

CPD Chief of Detectives Storms was noted for describing the print on Frances Brown's bathroom door jamb as "bloody." Newspapers in Chicago used words such as "smeared," "obscured,' and "blurred." In the same letter in which Schachte commented on the Degnan ransom note, he headed his comments on the Brown print as II. Bloody Print. Schachte continued: "The print on the doorjamb that is identified as a latent print of Bill Heirens is problematic.

First, it does not appear to be bloody or set in blood. But more importantly, the print is unlike latent prints commonly found at crime scenes. Rather than being an impression on the jamb casually left by an exiting offender, this print appears to have been 'rolled on its side.' That is to say that I can observe a great many ridges on the left side that would not be normal in a plain impression."

On June 28 the CPD found that Bill Heirens' prints did not match the Brown print, and changed its mind about two weeks later.

IV. Serious Flaws in the Murder Confessions

I have previously mentioned the many denials/omissions, two versions of the same happening, and what were obvious "made-up" stories by Bill Heirens. It is difficult to be precise when dealing with several categories in which one tries to fit parts of the confession in.

In the category of Denials/Omissions, in the Suzanne Degnan case,  there were 23 times that Heirens said "no," "I don't know," or "I don't remember." In the Frances Brown case there were 17 such replies in this category. In the Josephine Ross case there were 10 such replies. Many of the Degnan Denials/Omissions came in regard to the cutting up and carrying to sewer openings, parts of Suzanne Degnan's body. Heirens denied everything about these activities.

Among the three murder confessions there were 12 instances in which two versions of a happening were given.

In Account Inaccurate claims being made, and denial was not an issue, there were 7 in the Degnan case, 10 in the Brown case, and 3 in the Ross case. 

In August after the Heirens' confession was published, Heirens had to physically re-enact his confessed crimes, there were 12 more questions asked about the murder of Frances Brown. These 12 questions added three key inconsistencies with the much longer initial interrogation.

V. The Handwriting Comparisons

Regarding the comparison of the red lipstick writing and the writing on the ransom note, Elizabeth Biesteh, the handwriting and documents examiner on our committee, went to a symposium in which she and three other examiners found no similarities in the two writings. Counting David Grimes, the examiner hired by the 'Primetime Live' TN program,  a total of ten examiners found no similarities in the two writings. The 11th examiner, Herbert J. Walter, paid $100 a day by the state, concluded in July 1946 that Bill Heirens may have written both messages. Walter was seriously compromised, however, as he had told the 'Herald American' that the two writings had a "few superficial similarities," and a "great many dissimilarities."

VI. Excelled as a School Teacher

The Professional Narrative I received said I "excelled" as a school teacher. That characterization without any context doesn't mean very much. I will allude first to the extra-curricular work I did when teaching at Lathrop High School in Fairbanks, Alaska. Fairbanks had a juvenile jury program, and since I taught American Government, some of my junior and senior students were on the juvenile jury. I became a member of the jury in my first year there. In the next year, I became the director of the program.

We would meet in an unused courtroom after school hours, with a  judge present to monitor sentences handed out. The students would debate and propose sentences to teenagers who had been convicted of misdemeanors. As an example of  the kinds of sentences handed out, a high schooler who had illegally passed a stopped school bus was sentenced to ride an early-morning bus for a month, and get out at every stop to ensue that safety conditions were being met.

Since Lathrop was to host the competition for high school wrestlers in Alaska, the sports director and varsity basketball coach, named "Joe," called me in and asked me: "Lauri, how would you like to run the high school wrestling competition?" I said I had some limited knowledge of high school wrestling. Joe said: "Lauri, you'll learn." I had interviewed with Joe to coach the junior varsity, and he either was impressed with me, or he didn't want to get stuck with the job.

Subsequently, I secured a TV time slot, and I took two wrestlers with me to illustrate wrestling moves, and explain how points were scored. I also helped a local radio station with their coverage of the early bouts.

While teaching eight grade at Wallace, Michigan, 15 miles from the Wisconsin border, I ordered all of the school's sports equipment, coached the junior high basketball team, added some instruction in the arts and geography, which were not required subject areas by the Wallace school board. 

Informed Comments on Abolishing Wasteful Space Force

 Washington, D.C. - On September 22, 2021, Representative Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) introduced the 'No Militarization of Space Act,' to abolish the costly and unnecessary Space Force.

"The long-standing neutrality of space has fostered a competitive, non-militarized age of exploration every nation and generation has valued since the first days of space travel. But since its creation under the former Trump administration, the Space Force has threatened longstanding peace and flagrantly wasted billions of taxpayer dollars," said Rep. Huffman. "It's time we turn our attention back to where it belongs: addressing urgent domestic and international priorities like battling COVID-19, climate change, and growing economic inequality. Our mission must be to support the American people, not spend billions on the militarization of space."

"The Space Force has quickly become a taxpayer boondoggle that adds layers of bureaucracy and waste to an already-bloated defense budget. Representative Huffman's legislation would eliminate the Space Force before it's too late to do so, possibly saving billions of dollars in the process. NTU applauds Representative Huffman for introducing this bill," said Andrew Lautz, Director of Federal Policy at National Taxpayers Union.

"Outer space must be de-militarized and kept as a realm for peaceful exploration," stated Kevin Martin, President of Peace Action. "The Space Force is an absurd, duplicative waste of taxpayer dollars, and richly deserves the ridicule it has garnered. Peace Action, the largest grassroots peace and disarmament organization in the US, commends and endorses Rep. Huffman's 'No Militarization of Space Act' to abolish the Space Force."

"Militarization space is an unconscionable waste of tax dollars, and it risks extending the worst mistakes of history to the final frontier by inviting conflict  and escalation. Americans don't want more wasteful military spending, which means Congress should pass the No Militarization of Space Act before the Space Force budget inevitably skyrockets," said Sean Vitka, senior policy counsel for Demand Progress.

This legislation would put an end to the ill-considered rush into establishing a new military service, the Space Force, and save taxpayers billions of dollars in unnecessary spending. Eliminating Space Force in a year and transferring all authorities and functions back to the appropriate commands of the armed  Forces is the most fiscally responsible thing to do. To be clear, the U.S. must be a leader in space, but creating a whole new service wasn't going to accomplish that; it was just going to create a costly new bureaucracy," said Steve Ellis, President, Taxpayers for Common Sense.

Background

"The U.S. Space Force was established on December 20, 2019 with the enactment of the Fiscal Year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act -- despite the country's commitment under the Outer Space Treaty of 1967,which restricts the placement of weapons of mass destruction in space and banned military maneuvers on celestial bodies..."

The Militarism of Sports and the Redefinition of Patriotism

 The following is a reprint of a piece written by William J. Astore, a retired lieutenant colonel (USAF), who is a  TomDispatch regular. It was also published in a Michigan Peace Action newsletter.

Since 9/11, sports and the military have become increasingly fused in this country.

Even when taxpayers aren't footing the bill for displays of massive American flags or camouflage-printed uniforms, the melding of sports and the military should be seen as inappropriate, if not insidious...

Nowadays, it seems as if professional sports simply couldn't occur without some notice of and celebration of the U.S. military, each game being transformed in some way into yet another Memorial Day or Veterans Day lite...

When I watched this year's version of the game, however, I didn't relive my youth; I relived my military career. As a start, the previous night featured a televised home-run derby. Before it even began, about 50 airmen paraded out in camouflage uniforms, setting the stage for everything that would follow. (As they weren't on duty, I couldn't help wondering why they found it appropriate to don such outfits.) Part of T-Mobile's "#HatsOff-4 Heroes" campaign, this mini-parade was justified in the name of raising money to support veterans, but T-Mobile could have simply given the money to charity without any of the militarized hoopla that this involved.

Highlighting the other pre-game ceremonies the next night was a celebration of Medal of Honor recipients. I have deep respect for such heroes, but what were they doing on a baseball diamond? The ceremony would have been appropriate on, say, Veterans Day in November. Those same pre-game festivities included a militarist montage narrated by Bradley Cooper (star of "American Sniper"), featuring war scenes and war monuments while highlighting the popular catchphrase "freedom isn't free." Martial music accompanied the montage along with a bevy of flag-waving images. It felt like watching a twisted version of the film "Field of Dreams," reshot so that soldiers, not baseball players, emerged early on from those rows of Iowa corn stalks and stepped onto the playing field. 

What President Biden Needs to Do

 Following is a beginning checklist that President Biden needs to do on nuclear weapons-related issues:

1. Extend the New START Treaty with Russia to limit the deployed nuclear weapons and delivery systems to 1,550 and 700 respectively. President Biden and Russian President Putin reached an agreement to unconditionally extend the treaty for the full five years. Now the presidents can negotiate reductions. 

2. Re-enter the Iran Nuclear Deal. It was working before Trump abandoned it.

3. Scrap plans for a new generation of nuclear weapons at an unaffordable cost of $1.7 trillion.

4. Renounce the option of using nuclear weapons first. Congress should pass "No First Use" (NFU) legislation. Senator Debbie Stabenow should continue her co-sponsorship of NFU.

5. President Biden should declare that he does not have the authority to launch nuclear weapons, because only Congress can declare war.

6. Take U.S. nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert to avoid human mistakes and political miscalculations.

7. Embrace the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) that made nuclear bombs illegal on January 22, 2021.

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force on January 22, as 52 countries have signed it. Now, nuclear weapons are illegal under international law, and nations who have them, develop them, use them, or even threaten to use them, are breaking the law. Sadly, none of the nine nuclear powers are on board with the TPNW.

The TPNW can eventually lead to the elimination of all nuclear weapons. There is no greater, immediate threat to our very existence than nuclear weapons. And now they are banned. The Treaty puts nuclear weapons in the same category as land mines, chemical weapons, and poison gas. 

The Pentagon's investments in fighting and foolishly trying to win a nuclear war should be halted. The U.S. should actively negotiate with the other nuclear-armed states for a verifiable, enforceable agreement to dismantle the almost 14,000 nuclear warheads that still remain.

These are not new ideas. In 1970, all of the five nuclear powers agreed to eliminate their nuclear arms in exchange for other nations forgoing the development of such weapons. But the nuclear powers refused to give up their enormous power, and bowed to their military-industrial- political powers. The "good faith" negotiations have never occurred.

Although there are nine nuclear-armed powers today, the rest of the world has said, "Enough! Enough of this terror!"

Learning the Lessons of Afghanistan

Massachusetts Peace Action is not a newcomer to the issues raised by the Afghanistan war. We helped organize our first of many protests against the Afghanistan war on September 1, 2001, before it started. 

U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan, though "covert", started in 1978. The progressive, secular government we helped to destroy was modernizing the country and advancing the rights of women. Its overthrow was considered a U.S. victory in the Cold War.

In Syria, our government and its allies financed and armed groups with an ideology even more backward and violent than the Taliban. Together with Turkey, we continue to this day to protect their enclave, effectively controlled by al Qaeda, in northwestern Syria.

Now, after $1 trillion and countless lives wasted on the 2002-2021 Afghanistan war, and 42 years of American interference in that country, we must help America learn the lessons of this disaster.

The U.S. must stop making war on Afghanistan. No drone strikes, bombings, special forces, or aid to rebel groups.

Engage with the Taliban and establish normal relations with the new government. Pay reparations to the Afghan people for the harm we have caused. Accept all Afghan refugees.

Support regional diplomacy by convening Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Iran and others to guarantee  neutrality, and support the stability and development of Afghanistan.

Clean house in Washington. Conduct a thorough investigation of the lies, fraud and mismanagement. Remove all the lying and incompetent generals and national security officials who managed the war for the past 20 years.

End other U.S. interventions in the Middle East by withdrawing troops from Syria and Iraq, ending arms sales and military assistance to Saudi Arabia,  UAE, and Israel, ending sanctions on Syria and Iran, and rejoining the Iran nuclear deal.

Repeal the 2001 and 20002 authorizations for use of military force. Pass the National Security Powers Act (S.2391) to ensure that any future military interventions, arms sales, and sanctions are approved by Congress and have limited terms.

Deeply cut the military budget and use the funds made available to resettle refugees, launch a global COVID-19 vaccination drive, greatly reduce inequality in our country, and address the climate catastrophe.

The debacle of four American presidents' policies in Afghanistan is a wake-up call. We must learn the lessons, change course, rebuild our wounded society, and re-engage with the word on the  basis of respect and equality, rather than arrogance.

I have presented the full Massachusetts Peace Action statement, except for minor corrections to ensure grammatical clarity; however, I would not endorse the second paragraph ,due to a lack of knowledge of its accuracy. In the paragraph beginning with "Engage with the Taliban," I would remove the word "normal", because very little the Talban does is normal. In that same paragraph, I would substitute for the word "all", "vetted and approved." Overall, the peace group presents a very useful road map for needed policy changes.

Media Commentary on Trump and His Enablers in Early 2021

 The Trump Watch: Media commentary on Trump and his enablers, quoted either in the January 22, or February 15-22 issues of TIME magazine, or quoted separately.

# From Trump's January 6 speech: "If you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country       anymore."

# "Trump's congressional enablers are complicit in the deadly violence," said the 'St. Louis Post Dispatch.' "Senators Josh Howley, Ted Cruz, and other 'two-faced lying populist politicians' failed to 'stand-up' and condemn Trump's dangerous rhetoric. Now they deserve to be cast into political purgatory." 

# "These same Republicans are suddenly calling for 'unity' and 'healing,' said The Washington Post.com.' "There is a minimum price of entry for reconciliation: Issue an 'unequivocal acknowledgment' that there was no vote rigging and that Joe Biden won 'fair and square.' " 

# Paul Waldman wrote in 'The Washington Post. com': "Their rage will only increase. We may be facing an era in which 'right-wing domestic terrorism' is a regular feature in our politics."

# "The blame game runs far deeper than Trump," says Zack Beauchamp in 'Vox.com.' "The Capitol Hill mob was the culmination of years of mainstream Republican politics, For years, the GOP has vilified Democrats as extremists who represent an extensional threat to Americans, and whose election victories are inherently fraudulent."

# Theunis Bates, the managing editor of 'Elite's Letter,' wrote: "Yet the people who stormed Congress weren't some alien other, but everyday Americans who -- fed a diet of conspiracy theories -- believed they were doing the patriotic thing."

# Kali Holloway, "The Failed Coup," The Nation, December 14-21, 2020. "Bill Barr poked his partisan nose where no outgoing attorney general had during an election, with a memo urging federal lawyers to look into Trump's groundless accusations of vote tabulation irregularities." Trump is still tweeting that mail-in voting is a 'sick joke,' and falsely insisting 'I WON THE ELECTION!' "  

"From the sidelines, he is cheering on street violence by MAGA thugs, and branding political opponents as unAmerican." "After this year's presidential contest, 70 percent of Republican voters surveyed said it was not 'free and fair,' up from 35 percent before the election." "Now, Republicans are casting Black and Brown citizens as illegitimate voters to invalidate the Biden presidency." "Trump will keep denigrating democracy to elevate himself. Yet again, this president's selfish gains will be America's loss."

# Luke Mogelson, "The Storm," The New Yorker, January 25, 2021. - "It was a peculiar mixture of emotion that had become familiar at pro-Trump rallies since he lost the election: 'half mutinous rage, half gleefulls (?) of excitement' at being licensed to act on it. The profanity signaled a final jettisoning of whatever residual deference to political norms had survived the past four years."