With Trump’s economic plans coming into focus, Chester County must prepare for pain

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgann.bsky.social If incoming President Donald Trump enacts some of the policies he says he’s going to, we can expect economic pain here in Chester County. A lot. Rounding up millions of immigrants (in some cases without regard to their citizenship or residency status) will devastate multiple local small businesses — crops will go unpicked, building projects...

When life refocuses you on what really matters

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgann.bsky.social It’s at times like this when life slaps you in the forehead by surprise and refocuses you on what matters. As you read this, I’m at Paoli Hospital awaiting transfer Monday morning to Lankenau Hospital for quadruple coronary bypass on Wednesday. It is a bit scary (and amazingly all started with a back issue) and it tends to focus you on what...

The only way to end the culture of political violence: vote

We are a nation steeped in violence but Donald Trump has introduced a new form of political violence. In the wake of the assassination attempt on him, we can’t react by denying reality or letting wishful thinking get in the way of dealing with that reality. By Rich Heiland, Columnist, The Times VIOLENCE HAS NO place in the United States? Seriously? What world do all the political and public figures...

Why do some people want you to hate people who are just like your ancestors? 

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgannpa For nearly 200 years, Americans — okay, some Americans — have ranted, attacked and complained about immigrants. As immigration literally helped turn this country from an agrarian backwater to a superpower, it was always foolish. But the recent verbal assaults by the likes of Donald Trump (ironically, the son of an immigrant), aside from being reprehensible...

Are you still a Republican? Find out whether these quotes agree with your worldview

By Rich Heiland, Columnist, The Times Still a Republican? Still thinking about what a vote for Trump or any MAGA candidate gets you? Take a little test. See how many of these quotes really represent you. The Supreme Court has made it more and more likely Trump will go in November without an election, so it’s more important than ever to see just what the Republican Party has become. Is it for you? THE...

If SCOTUS follows the Constitution, Trump must be booted from the ballot

By Rich Heiland, Columnist, The TimesIf our current U.S. Supreme Court is a functioning court and not a corrupt political arm of whatever the Republican Party is today, there is only one possible ruling on the Colorado decision to keep Trump of 2024 ballots The language of both the Founders in granting states the authority over the managing of elections, and Congress and the states in 1868 when...

Are we letting a few jerks spoil everything?

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgannpa Unless you’ve drunk so much Kool-Aid that you’ve wet your pants, you know Donald J. Trump is a jerk. Based on polling, a few of you might even see that a plus, but most of us do not. He’s mean-spirited, cruel, self-obsessed and not particularly bright. And aside from the fact that this person was President and leads one of our two political parties,...

Can an imprisoned Trump still be president?

By Rich Heiland, Columnist, The Times CAN DONALD TRUMP be convicted, sentence to prison, actually go to jail and still serve as president of the United States. Well, yes, he can. The U.S. Constitution, the ultimate arbiter, is silent on the criminality of a president. A lot of people are assuming that if Trump is tried and convicted prior to the November 2024 general elections on all the charges he...

Op/Ed: We are one

By Viraj Joshi, Special to The Times Viraj Joshi Four years ago, I felt great pride and joy when I saw Donald Trump taking the oath of office on the United States Capitol steps. However, as the Trump presidency went on, my support and the joy I felt when he took the oath of office slowly dwindled as the days of his presidency went on. I soon realized that Donald Trump was not just destroying Republican...

Despite good motivations, county’s antibody test plan was an expensive screw up

By Mike McGann, Editor, The Times @mikemcgannpa There are times you hate to be right, and this is one of them. Way back in May, I questioned the decision by Chester County Health to use untested and likely inaccurate antibody testing (https://chescotimes.com/?p=31851) — and to use it only on a limited population, those with symptoms. I argued that broad diagnostic testing and contact tracing was...