While newsrooms and editorial boards are often operated as separate departments or even entities within a newspaper, readers may not understand the distinction between an editorial and a news article. News articles state facts, answering the questions of who, what, when, where, why, and sometimes how. The purpose is to provide a clear, accurate account of an event as observed by the reporter or witnesses. Editorials (and editorial columns) express opinions and viewpoints—right or wrong—by the publication’s editorial board. The objective is to present a perspective or stance and persuade readers toward that stance. Commentaries have the same purpose but are written by individuals not employed by the paper. All that said, the editorial staff at The Sentinel agrees that the best candidate to lead the United States into the future would be one not leading a party that threatens the bodily autonomy of women, the freedom of the press, and economic recovery now in full effect. However, we won’t be endorsing either candidate because, as they say, we aren’t the marrying type.Donald Trump: "The reporter goes to jail, and when the reporter learns that he's going to be married in two days to a certain prisoner..." pic.twitter.com/wvK7Ilrhn9
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 8, 2022
Editorial |Which candidate do we endorse for president? We're not the marrying type
Commentary |Trump's second assassination attempt is shocking, but attempts on presidents' lives are not rare in US history
The University of Texas at Austin
Former President Donald Trump survived his second assassination attempt on Sept. 15, 2024, marking the latest chapter in a long history book. Presidential assassination attempts, whether successful or not, are fairly commonplace in American history.
There have been 45 men elected president since the country’s founding. And 40% of them have experienced known attempts on their lives. Four presidents – Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy – have been assassinated.

Thirteen others – Andrew Jackson, William Howard Taft, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden – have had known plots or failed attempts to end their lives.
Many were subject to multiple attempts, and it is likely the public was never informed of other attempts upon them or other presidents.
Presidents symbolize the ideals of ourselves as Americans. They often act as the physical embodiment of our country, their political party and its values. When individuals are unhappy with the United States or its policies, some choose to express their opinions in violent ways. Those who choose to assassinate a president inadvertently humanize the very presidents they want to kill.
Every presidential assassination or attempt has been made with a firearm. With the exception of Gerald Ford’s two attempted assassins, all the perpetrators have been male.
This includes Trump’s two assailants, men who were once enthralled by but seemingly grew disenchanted with aspects of modern politics.
The Secret Service thwarted an armed man hiding at a Trump golf course in Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15. The Secret Service fired at the person, who fled in a car before he was apprehended and arrested.
This came just two months after Trump was wounded at a Pennsylvania rally on July 13 by a young man who attempted to kill Trump with a gunshot to the head.
Many presidential assassination attempts seem incoherent to anyone except the perpetrator.
A man named Charles Guiteau killed Garfield in 1881 because he wanted to be awarded a patronage position in government.
John Wilkes Booth killed Lincoln as part of a larger plot attempting to create chaos to help reignite the “Southern cause” and support for slavery. On the same night Lincoln was killed in 1865, his secretary of state, William Seward, was attacked but survived.
At the same time, the plot was for then-Vice President Andrew Johnson to also be killed by another man, George Atzerodt, who instead got drunk and threw the knife in a gutter.
Booth and his co-conspirators hoped that these politicians’ almost simultaneous deaths would throw the Union into disarray, with an unclear path of succession. Their plan fell apart, and with Johnson alive, the nation’s clear path of presidential succession remained intact.
Half a century later, while former President Theodore Roosevelt was campaigning for a third presidential term in 1912, he was shot in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Though he was shot at almost point-blank range, Roosevelt was, in a way, saved by his poor eyesight and long-winded nature. Roosevelt had a 50-page speech folded in his pocket, as well as his steel eyeglass case. Both items slowed the bullet enough that it just entered his chest but not deeper than the muscle.
Roosevelt famously proceeded to give a 90-minute speech before leaving for the hospital.
One of the closest comparisons to Trump’s two recent assassination attempts is when two women tried to kill President Gerald Ford in September 1975.
Both Trump and Ford were the targets of well-publicized assassination attempts within a short period of time, and both were targeted by individuals with logically unclear motives.
Lynnette “Squeaky” Fromme, a one-time member of the Manson family, a well-known cult in the 1970s, attempted to kill Ford in order, she claimed, to save California redwood trees.
At the time, the Environmental Protection Agency was warning people about worsening smog’s effects on the environment, leading her to believe assassination was the only way to preserve the trees. Fromme dressed entirely in red, went to Sacramento where the president was visiting, aimed and fired at him within a 2-foot range.
Except the gun didn’t fire.
Bystanders heard a click, since she had not put a round in the chamber, likely because she did not know much about guns. After that first attempted shot, Secret Service intervened. Later, Fromme claimed she did not want to shoot the president.
Seventeen days later, on Sept. 22 in San Francisco, Sara Jane Moore shot at Ford from about 40 feet away and missed. Her second shot missed as well, this time because a bystander, Oliver Sipple, grabbed the gun, forcing the shot to go wide, injuring a taxi driver.
Finally, Reagan survived an assassination attempt by John Hinckley Jr. on March 30, 1981. Hinckley was obsessed with the popular film “Taxi Driver” and, in particular, the character played by actress Jodie Foster.
He believed that if he could impress Foster, she would date him. As Reagan left the Washington Hilton hotel, Hinckley fired six shots in two seconds. One shot deflected off the car and into the president’s left side, hitting his lung. One of the funnier lines Reagan would later repeat was born that day, when he looked at doctors prepping for surgery and said, “I just hope you’re Republicans.” One doctor replied, “Today, Mr. President, we’re all Republicans.”
Throughout history, American presidents and occasionally candidates have been targeted by gunmen and other potential attackers to express their unhappiness about the government. The rationales for these assassins’ actions vary from simply chaos to delusions anointing the assassin, or would-be assassin, a heroic main character.
Presidential assassinations reflect the best and the worst of people simultaneously. The violence itself shows the worst of society, but Americans often seem at their best in the aftermath. Like Reagan’s surgeons once recognized, politics should never supplant humanity or be more valued than a person’s health and safety.
Shannon Bow O'Brien is an Associate Professor of Instruction at The University of Texas at Austin.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Commentary |
Bye-bye Biden, Incumbent presidential candidate drops from race

Guest Commentary |
For better or worse

He is the author of 13 books including Uncommom Sense, the Spiritual Chocolate series, Grandpa's Store, Minister's Guidebook insights from a fellow minister. His column is published weekly in over 600 publications in all 50 states. The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily representative of any other group or organization. We welcome comments and views from our readers. Submit your letters to the editor or commentary on a current event 24/7 to editor@oursentinel.com.
Commentary |
Free tax filing: A crucial step toward unrigging our economy
Each year many Americans pay a steep cost when doing their taxes. It’s not just the money people shell out to use software to file taxes online, but also the time spent and the stress that comes with worrying an honest mistake will be held against them.
Luckily, change is in the air this spring. Eligible filers in a dozen states will finally have a true public option this tax season: a new free, online, mobile-friendly software from the IRS called Direct File.

Available in both English and Spanish, the new software pilot is starting small and will only be available to people with simple taxes who file with only limited types of incomes, credits, and deductions. While the Direct File tool won’t be available to everyone right away, it’s a crucial step toward unrigging our economy and protecting people’s pocketbooks.
Buoyed by funding the IRS received though the Inflation Reduction Act, the Direct File pilot is another example of the Biden administration’s commitment to tackle junk fees that chip away at people’s economic wellbeing and to foster a government that better serves the American people.
Direct File is also a recognition that struggling families shouldn’t have to pay money they can’t afford just to do their civic duty. The tool aims to make it easier for folks to get the refund they’re owed and to address the problem of one in five eligible recipients of the Earned Income Tax Credit not claiming it.
While there has technically been a Free File program at the IRS for decades, it has not lived up to its promise. Only a tiny percentage of eligible filers — about 2 percent — use it. And there was a high-profile data breach where corporate partners in the program shared sensitive tax information with Meta (formerly called Facebook) and Google.
Unsurprisingly, Intuit, the parent company of TurboTax, has not been taking this budding threat to its behemoth earnings laying down. It’s poured a record amount into its lobbying, almost a million dollars in just the past three months.
But it’s going to take more than lobbying and a Super Bowl ad to revive Intuit’s tarnished image.
Intuit entered into a $141 million settlement last year to resolve claims that it steered low-income customers to paid products when they were eligible to use free services. And the Federal Trade Commission ruled in January that the company’s advertising about free tax prep was deceptive.
The Direct File tool is expected to be live to the public in those 12 states in early to mid-March. That means that this St. Patrick’s Day, some lucky filers will find a pot of gold under the rainbow — around $150 or more on average back in their pockets that they didn’t have to give to a greedy corporation just to use software to help them file their taxes online.
Direct File is the first brick in the road to return-free filing that many of our international peers enjoy, where they simply approve their pre-calculated return prepared by the government.
Like a garden, though, Direct File will only flourish with care and attention. Let’s make sure it doesn’t die on the vine! Help spread the word, check your eligibility at directfile.irs.gov, and visit act.citizen.org/page/62332/petition/ to get reminded when it’s go time for Direct File in your state.
Editorial |Americans are losing the damn minds
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I worked hard my whole career and retired feeling secure. Then I lost every last dime in a scam. I was left with $1,300 a month in Social Security benefits to live on in an area where monthly expenses run about $3,700.
I’m a smart woman, but scams against older Americans are increasing in number and sophistication. Whether through scams, strained savings, or costs of living going up, half of older Americans — that’s 27 million households — can’t afford their basic needs.
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Death, taxes and body odor.
They’re things we can all expect in life, no matter how clean you are. But health care providers want you to know when body odor is a sign of a more serious health problem.
B.O. basics
Luis Garcia, MD, an OSF HealthCare pediatrician, says sweat and bacteria are the main culprits behind body odor. Warmth and moisture in parts of the body (like your armpits and feet), plus going through puberty and general poor hygiene, can make the smell worse.