A few of our stories and columns are now in front of the paywall. We at The Chief remain committed to independent reporting on labor and civil service. It's been our mission since 1897. You can have a hand in ensuring that our reporting remains relevant in the decades to come. Consider supporting The Chief, which you can do for as little as $3.20 a month.
To the editor:
A few weeks back Donald Trump delivered his State of the Union address. Trump bloviated for an hour and forty-seven minutes with his usual mix of lies, finger-pointing, dog whistles and self-aggrandization.
What Trump’s SOTU failed to do was inform Congress and the American people on the actual state of the union. It is a mess.
Trump has done nothing to tame the rising cost of living, he stole $175 billion from U.S. consumers through illegal tariffs and has alienated our longtime allies. Trump inherited an economy creating, on average, 4.15 million jobs per year with 2.8 percent annual GDP growth and shrunk it to one that created fewer than 200,000 jobs in total over the past thirteen months while cutting GDP growth in half.
Trump’s incompetence is reflected by a lack of confidence. Nate Silver’s latest aggregation of polling data has Trump’s approval underwater in all categories, the economy (-19.6 percent), immigration (-12.6 percent), trade (–20 percent) and inflation (-27.3 percent ). Overall, 6-in-10 Americans disapprove of Trump’s job performance.
Then there is the Epstein matter. Nearly 7-in-10 poll respondents feel Trump has mishandled the Epstein files and half believe he participated in Epstein’s crimes.
Three FBI interview 302 forms were released this week, in addition to one already made public. In these four instances, one victim told investigators, under penalty of imprisonment and fine, that at the age of 13, she was sexually and physically assaulted by Donald Trump.
During her last interview, the victim said she wasn’t comfortable talking about two additional contacts with Trump and saw no point in continuing to speak with investigators as “nothing would be done about it."
Like most of Trump’s promises, his pledge to bring a “golden age” to America turns out to be pyrite – Fool’s Gold.
Joseph Cannisi
10 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
krell1349
Great analogy. I still don't know why his followers still follow him, since his policies are hurting them.
Friday, March 13 Report this
Valete
Joseph Cannisi is an unmitigated liar!
His fictional post is:
reenjoe
I'll let everyone in on a little secret. Last year the former editor of the Chief told Sica he had to stop posting insulting and disrespectful comments. Unable to tame his poisonous pen and behave like a civilized human being, Sica chose self-exile from the Chief on September 11, 2025, in a farewell poem.
I can only guess that upon hearing a change in editors, Sica decided to re-load his instrument with venom and start anew with his condescending, snarky retorts, twisting of others' words and behavior as a juvenile schoolyard bully.
Sica may fancy himself as "an accredited writer and poet", but he is just a run-of-the-mill internet troll getting off on pushing people's buttons. As for me, I consider the source - I wear Sica's insults like badges of honor.
This is the conversation between me and Richard Khavkine, the former editor.
Letter title: Misfiring
Posted Tuesday, September 9, 2025 10:58 am
Cannisi posted the wrong date between me and Mr. Khavkine.
( Cannisi lied about my conversation with Mr. Khavkine! )
( Mr. Khavkine and I were gracious to each other and had an amiable conversation. ).
Word Man
I am done writing letters to The Chief.
I am done with the world’s endless grief.
I am but a mere forlorn mortal being.
Why should I care if the world is weeping?
It is time for me to smell the world’s roses.
Pray in the evening and read divine composers.
I leave the world and its impassioned quest for might.
I will read and write poetry to my heart’s delight.
To The Chief newspaper I say farewell.
I wish you peace , and I hope all is well.
It’s been a blast to write transientl letters.
regarding current events free from fetters.
Peace be with you
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2025
wpeakes
Word Man (aka JDonne, 0000)
“ That's a great poem and if it's your last stream of consciousness to the Chief, I wish you well in your future endeavors. Be safe and take care of yourself."
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2025
Cannisi deliberately lied about my entire conversation with Mr. Khavkine, the former editor of The Chief.
"Cannisi has been given ample opportunity to make a fool of himself, and he has not disappointed me in the slightest."
Monday, March 16 Report this
Valete
President Trump’s State of the Union address, as per your letter, neglected crucial issues like the economy, tariffs, and immigration.
President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, delivered on February 24, 2026, portrayed his first year back in office as a “turnaround for the ages.” Mr. Trump proclaimed that the nation was embarking on a “Golden Age,” an idyllic and idealized era.
Economy and Affordability: Trump touted a "roaring economy," citing record stock market highs, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—which included tax cuts on tips, overtime, and "Social Security."
Immigration: He declared the border the "strongest and most secure in American history," claiming zero illegal admissions in the past nine months. He also called for ending sanctuary cities and passing the SAVE America Act to require voter ID and proof of citizenship.
Housing & Corporations: A major policy proposal included calling on Congress to ban institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes, asserting that "homes are for people, not corporations.”
Tariffs: Following a recent Supreme Court ruling that some of his tariffs were illegal, Trump signaled plans to use alternative legal means to maintain a 15% global tariff, which will eventually replace income taxes.
Republicans in the chamber erupted in applause, shouting “three more years!”
Sour-faced Democrats, slumped over, epitomized deep dejection.
Discombobulated Democrats ran to the nearest exits!
Monday, March 16 Report this
Valete
Fool’s Gold
Fool’s gold is from the mineral pyrite.
It shines and glitters but is hard as a rock.
The Democrat Party, once shining-bright,
has become a communist/socialist flock.
To the dismay of many moderate Democrats,
The Democratic Party has no agenda, ad hoc.
Spouting the old tiresome "isms and stats,"
the Democratic Party has violently run amok.
Democrats had cast aside the working masses.
Wake up before it’s too late to regain the flock.
The opposition party is engaging the subclasses.
Regain credibility, embrace the forgotten man,
whom you have tossed into the garbage can.
Monday, March 16 Report this
fcannisi
Hey Word-y anyone who says twice that he's done with writing letters and posting comments to the Chief and returns like the proverbial bad penny is in no position to question anyone's veracity.
And, to call a verbatim post that YOU wrote and can be found online, fictional because it was a private conversation between you and Richard Khavkine only serves to confirm that you are fundamentally dishonest.
Michael Gorman had your number when he posted that, like Trump, you would be back.
Tuesday, March 17 Report this
Valete
Reen’roe, you took the bait, hook, line, and sinker. You are a liar and a fraud. I proved it beyond a shadow of a doubt; hang your head in shame.
Tuesday, March 17 Report this
namrogm
Yes, reenjoe, Word Man is back, and he will never leave. it's like an old Alfred Hitchcock or Rod Serling TV show where the scary man, thought gone, misteriously reappears with more menace and vitriol.
Tuesday, March 17 Report this
fcannisi
Word Man, as usual I have no idea what you are gloating about. Is it $4 gas? $20 hamburgers? Or the fact that none of our allies are willing to lift a finger to save Trump from his self-inflicted wounds? A reckoning is coming this November and every fool who believed in Trump's "pyrite age" knows it.
Tuesday, March 17 Report this
Valete
Regarding you and Gorman, your statements are meaningless.
I brush them off my right shoulder and watch gleefully
as they fall to Mother Earth, and the rains of time immortal
wash them down the eternal-sewer, where the Queen Mother of the West purifies them and discards them into the River Styx.
Reen’roe, again, you are a liar, liar, and you live in a house of fire!
As to Gorman, (AKA namrogm), he’s pathetic; he’s no Mormon!
Wednesday, March 18 Report this
fcannisi
The reason Sica spews vitriol is because he struggles to defend the indefensible.
He talks about his Christian faith but calls DEI extremism. What form of Christianity denounces diversity, equity and inclusion?
Sica defends the murder of protesters and suspected drug traffickers. I thought killing was a mortal sin, period.
Sica supports mass deportation of all undocumented immigrants. Christianity teaches that we should open our homes to those in need. Sica believes Trump deserves a peace prize despite starting a completely unnecessary war.
Wednesday, March 18 Report this