Deadline Poet / December 12, 2023

The Death of Henry Kissinger

Calvin Trillin
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger make a statement in the State Department briefing room after receiving the Nobel Peace prize.
Secretary of State Henry Kissinger make a statement in the State Department briefing room after receiving the Nobel Peace prize. (Wally McNamee / Corbis / Getty Images)

When somebody dies it is said
One shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.
To that I have tried to stay true.
It’s rarely been harder to do.

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The chaos and cruelty of the Trump administration reaches new lows each week.

Trump’s catastrophic “Liberation Day” has wreaked havoc on the world economy and set up yet another constitutional crisis at home. Plainclothes officers continue to abduct university students off the streets. So-called “enemy aliens” are flown abroad to a mega prison against the orders of the courts. And Signalgate promises to be the first of many incompetence scandals that expose the brutal violence at the core of the American empire.

At a time when elite universities, powerful law firms, and influential media outlets are capitulating to Trump’s intimidation, The Nation is more determined than ever before to hold the powerful to account.

In just the last month, we’ve published reporting on how Trump outsources his mass deportation agenda to other countries, exposed the administration’s appeal to obscure laws to carry out its repressive agenda, and amplified the voices of brave student activists targeted by universities.

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In solidarity,

The Editors

The Nation

Calvin Trillin

Calvin Trillin is The Nation’s “deadline poet.”

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