1. It’s Monday, July 24, 2017.

2. It’s the 214th birthday of Adolphe Adam, the French composer who wrote “O Holy Night” – although he obviously called it something French, “Cantique de Noël.”

Adam gets this mention because it’s unlikely he’ll come up around the time of the year when you actually hear “O Holy Night.”

3. It’s the 34th anniversary of Kansas City Royals’ third baseman George Brett hitting a ball into the right field seats of Yankee Stadium.

Normally, that’s a home run.

But not immediately on July 24, 1983.

Yankees’ manager Billy Martin complained to the umpire that Brett had too much pine tar on his bat. The umpire agreed and called Brett out, unleashing one of the great angry videos of the 20th century.

Eventually, Major League Baseball sided with Brett and gave him his 2-run homer, which put the Royals ahead by a run. The two teams played the final inning in New York a few weeks later – I went to that – and the Yankees lost.

4. Of course, there are far more important things going on this week than the anniversary of a home run and the birthday of a Christmas carol writer.

The biggest is that the Republican Party is this close to throwing the nation’s health care system into chaos.

How much chaos isn’t clear. Every time the Republican Senate is faced with a vote on a health care measure, it approaches it by not telling anybody what it’s going to do until the very last minute.

The last we heard, the Senate was going to consider a measure that would repeal the Affordable Care Act and not have it go into effect for two years. The Republicans believe they will get the panicky Democrats to negotiate a plan, preserving the tax cuts for the wealthy that seem to be the main reason to end Obamacare.

Every time you hear somebody say how unpopular the Republicans’ idea is, you need to check that thought with this one: They don’t care.

Here’s their bet: If they get this done, they have 15-1/2 months until the 2018 midterm election to make people forget it.

And they’re betting they can do that, with some razzle dazzle that includes more sops to their base and a smear campaign against prominent Democrats.

I’m calling this now: There will be at least one hearing on Capitol Hill in 2018 about Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama or both – about some fabricated “scandal.” Hell, if they’re not feeling creative, the Republicans can put everyone through the Benghazi wringer one more time.

Therefore, with so much at stake this week, here are some things I’d like to see happen before the next weekend comes around.

DEFEAT THE REPUBLICAN HEALTH CARE DEBACLE

I’m not optimistic. I believe the Republicans are so craven for power and placating their wealthy patrons that they’ll find a way to get this thing passed and trumpet it as some sort of freedom for America.

That’s crap, of course. Putting the health care of the people of this country in a prolonged state of uncertainty is guaranteed to scare the hell out of the elderly, the sick, the disabled and anyone else in need of a doctor’s care.

You’re going to get two years of that. And if you think the people who had seven years to come up with something supposedly better than Obamacare will conjure a solution by 2019, you’re as much of a fool as the Republicans think you are.

But the Republicans control Congress and the White House. So the only hope right now is to try to beat this back.

If you live in a state with a Republican senator, it is essential that you reach out and tell him or her this whole thing sucks. Jam their phone lines, clog their e-mail boxes, walk into their office. And tell them to vote “no” or go to hell.

Maybe we’ll get lucky. I would be thrilled to be proven wrong.

THE DEMOCRATS FINALLY REALIZE THEY’RE THE PATRIOTS

I like the idea that the party plans to unify behind some core economic principles.

They’ll probably get some flack from the hard-headed on the left and GOP-wannabes in right-center.

But coming up with an agenda is one way to say we have an idea about what we want to do. And it has to do with how we can best serve the people of this country.

I especially like the idea of focusing on prescription drug prices and reforming corporate mergers. Those are two of the greatest causes of anxiety in this country.

I would add something about doubling down on financial reform. Gutting it seems to be Trump’s agenda. But everyone is frustrated with the state of banking – the Wells Fargo debacle comes quickly to mind – and this is a society that seems more enamored with people who know how to make a dubious deal than people who provide health care, teach or protect their fellow citizens.

And let’s start thinking about a single-payer health care system.

ACT LIKE HILLARY WON

There are some who say Hillary Clinton should bow out of public life. That she’s suffered enough, and that she’s too polarizing a figure to be of much use.

She should go off to become president of some university, and become an elder stateswoman who occasionally plugs a bipartisan cause.

Baloney.

I think she should double down. She should start stumping to promote the new Democratic party agenda.

She should start by foreswearing any future political ambition. She should say that the Democratic Party should find some new blood, that the next presidential candidate should reflect the dynamic of a changing America. That would reduce the number of questions about her motives.

It might be a little tough to do, considering that 2,864,974 more people voted for her than voted for Trump.

But the issues were always her bread and butter. And if she appears to be doing this for the benefit of the country, she will be effective.

She shouldn’t stop saying or believing that she was given a raw deal. Putin was so afraid of her that he got into bed with Trump, knowing how badly that’s turned out for others.

And yet, Clinton could be an effective saleswoman for ideas ranging from income inequality, job security, financial reform, infrastructure, and the issues she’s been associated with her whole life: women’s rights and child welfare.

I don’t want Hillary Clinton on the sidelines or in the shadows. I voted for her. I supported her in the primaries.

As hard as it might be for her, she should take on the challenge.

She should dare Trump – after what the moron tweeted this morning – and his Fox News sycophants to find something she did that’s prosecutable.

She has stood up to hearing scrutiny, FBI investigations and political debates. Her finances are public record.

Call Trump a coward and keep doing it. She has the track record for courage. He doesn’t.

Yes, as Chuck Schumer hinted yesterday, Hillary Clinton could have run a better campaign.

That shouldn’t be seen as a diss. It should be a challenge.

Go ahead, Hillary, rise to it.

1. It’s Tuesday, July 18, 2017.

2. It’s the 154th anniversary of the Second Battle of Fort Wagner. That’s the Civil War battle in which the 54th Massachusetts Infantry, the first all African-American regiment in the Union Army, led the ill-fated charge.

It’s depicted in the film “Glory,” an excellent example of how a good movie can change the way history is viewed. Before it, few people knew the regiment’s story. Now, lots of people do – although they probably believe the people involved looked like Denzel Washington and Matthew Broderick.

3. I wouldn’t put it past Mitch McConnell to get a straight repeal of the Affordable Care Act passed in the Senate. He’s just spiteful enough – after the collapse of his party’s version for a replacement – to do it.

But if that happens, it would be political suicide for the Republicans.

Not only would they not have come up with something better, they will have taken away the things that people really love about Obamacare – essential health provisions, no pre-existing conditions and insuring kids until they’re 26.

Oh, and premiums would spike.

That is a formula for a health care disaster. I can’t believe even Trump and McConnell are stupid enough to let that happen.

But who knows?

4. If the straight repeal fails, the last thing Democrats should do is a victory lap. In fact, now it’s time to go to work.

It’s in the interest of the party and the nation that there be some sort of push to improve Obamacare. To work out some of the bugs and to push expanded coverage so that even fewer people are insured.

Many people believe the solution is a single-payer option.

I am 20 months and 15 days away from the single-payer option. Mine will be called Medicare.

What some, led by Bernie Sanders, want is the idea of Medicare for all. You’ve been paying for it most of your life – see your pay stub for those Medicare deductions. At age 65, you collect on it.

The advantage is obvious. This is no longer something I have to think about. It’s something my wife no longer has to think about, since we get our health insurance through her job.

If the nation extended Medicare to everyone, the way to pay for it seems to be through higher taxes. But the efficiencies of scale created would end up making health care cost less overall.

That sounds easy. It’s not.

In one of the Democratic debates, I think it was in late 2015, I heard Sanders make the point that while people would pay more in taxes, they’d pay less overall.

If he had been the nominee, the first half of that would have been the Republican soundbite. No one would have ever heard the second half.

There are, in fact, people would rather pay more for health care overall than pay less for it if it includes higher taxes. The instilled antipathy toward the idea that government should do anything – even though Social Security and Medicare are revered by their recipients – would make single payer a tough slog.

So the challenge for those who support the idea is to figure out a way to get it in the least objectionable way. It needs to find the path that incurs the least resistance from insurers and one that, in all likelihood, doesn’t raise taxes.

I’m not smart enough to figure that out. I’m hoping there’s someone who is.

It’s still not a bad idea for Democrats to float the idea that they are open to improving the health care system. The Republicans have taken a hit – they had seven years to come up with something better than Obamacare and they failed. Miserably.

Now, Democrats have to show they’re serious about addressing the biggest problem most households face. They did a good job – a better one than even they were willing to take credit for – in Obamacare.

They have to keep going. It’s time to see if single-payer is the home run that many Democrats believe it is. Thinking about it seriously is a noble purpose.

1. It’s Monday, July 17, 2017.

2. It’s the 115th anniversary of air conditioning.

Willis Carrier was looking to keep paper and ink functioning in a hot Brooklyn printing facility. Presto! His ideas led to conditioning people to not living without them.

3. My friends and former colleagues, Katie Benner of The New York Times and Laurie Segall of CNN, have focused recently on sexual harassment in technology.

In separate stories, both talked to women with horrific tales of abuse. Women seeking the funding to get their ideas off the ground – in the same way that men with ideas do – but facing a gantlet of groping, exposure, innuendo and come-ons that men don’t.

I’m pleased to see that this reporting by Ms. Benner and Ms. Segall is leading to a widespread discussion of the problem.

Like them, I don’t think any of us can be totally satisfied until there’s no impediment to the ideas of women – both in technology and other fields of endeavor – that improve the quality and length of all lives.

I’m proud to have worked with both of these women, and I know they’ll keep working on real, important journalism.

4. As an aside, one of the projects I’m looking to get off the ground is a website dedicated to the work of people I’ve worked with.

I’ve been very fortunate to hang close to people whose talent and diligence are second to none. Starting from my days at Northwestern in the mid-1970s and running through my years at CNNMoney, it is the blessing of my life to have hung out with people I believe are superstars.

Some are not even working in journalism – their talents extend to art and entertainment.

I hope to work all this out by later this year. I’ll do anything I can to showcase these folks, because I believe in the quality of the work they do.

5. I love the work done by the folks at fivethirtyeight.com, but something I saw on the site last week depressed me politically.

Their political team began looking at the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. And while they said he wasn’t the favorite at this point, they believed that Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont was the front-runner for the nod.

First, the difference.

Unlike four years ago, when Hillary Clinton stood alone in the party, the Democrats don’t have a strong single candidate right now.

If it’s anyone, it’s Sanders, who finished second to Clinton and came a lot closer to thwarting her than any reasonable expert expected.

Because of that, Sanders is the best-known of those in the party who aren’t named Clinton, Or, for that matter, Obama – while he can’t run, she can.

So, if you’re a Democrat, and you’re focused on either how awful Trump is – or, better, fighting this idiotic effort to erase Obamacare – the 2020 election isn’t on your radar yet. And if it is, the first name that comes to mind is Sanders.

But here’s second, in my mind: The problem.

6. On Election Day 2020, Sanders will be 79.

If the Democrats are going to win the 2020 election, they need someone who is unscarred by the political wars of the past decade.

Someone to excite younger voters and bring a fresh perspective to the party. Someone who actually has more invested in the future than the past.

That’s not a near octogenarian. Nor is it Joe Biden, who’ll be nearly 78 on Nov. 3, 2020. Or Elizabeth Warren, who’ll be 71. Or Hillary Clinton, who’ll be 73.

He’s in no way my first choice. But I honest-to-God would prefer a Mark Zuckerberg, 36 in 2020, who would at least have a decent understanding of the modern world that he’s played a part in creating.

What I would most prefer is someone with an understanding of the issues confronting this country. Security. Economic uncertainty. The environment. Infrastructure. A changing demographic. A connected world that isn’t going away despite the efforts of Trump and his sycophants.

There are Democrats who fit this bill. Senators like Kamala Harris of California, Chris Murphy of Connecticut, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York. Governors like John Hickenlooper of Colorado and Jay Inslee of Washington. Mayor Mitch Landrieu of New Orleans.

It would really help the Democratic Party if those folks are the ones who emerge as party spokespeople in next 18 months. They can start to energize the party and establish its positions to take into the congressional and presidential campaigns.

The bonus would be making the party more than just an anti-Trump sounding board. As I said a gazillion times during the 2016 campaign, people vote for something as opposed to against something.

Hillary Clinton tried too hard to make the campaign about fighting Trump – she should have spent more time telling people in places like Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania what the party was going to do to make their lives better.

That’s what I want from the Democrats.

Bernie Sanders is a good guy, and he did a lot to get the party thinking about ways to reach the American people. If we ever enact a single-payer healthcare system, he’ll have been the guiding force.

But it’s time for new blood. It’s the best way to win going forward, and has the added bonus of throwing Trump off his game.

In 1902, there must have been tried-and-true ways to print in hot weather. Willis Carrier came up with air conditioning.

That’s how the Democrats should be thinking.

1. It’s Wednesday, July 13, 2017.

2. It’s the 40th anniversary of the blackout in New York City that was triggered by a lightning strike on a really hot summer night. The city was in crisis back then, and the lack of power resulted in a horrific night of looting.

When the power went out, I was sitting in a movie theater in the Flushing section of Queens, watching the last 10 minutes of “Nasty Habits,” a Watergate satire set in a Philadelphia convent.

Because it was 1977, I didn’t think about waiting to see the end when the movie was on cable or video cassette – I went back, paid the $3, and saw the so-so comedy all over again.

I somehow made it to work in Manhattan that night, using a combination of a bus and a shared taxi. I was actually late for the first time ever – showing up at 12:30 a.m. for an AP Broadcast sports writing shift that began at midnight.

I remember lots of things about that night:

Working with minimal light because the emergency generators were needed just to power the world’s largest news service.

The grace under pressure of my supervisor, a fellow named Michael Blake, who kept everybody calm with his wit and his ability to work with the stressed-out technicians.

The guy who thought it was OK to wear yellow shorts to the office.

And the relentlessness of the people who worked at the AP to get their jobs done. From writing the news to getting the baseball statistics and the weather forecasts out.

3. One other thing I remember about that night.

Because the AP was based in New York, a lot of the member stations believed there was too much emphasis on what went on in the city. The nation’s biggest, by the way, and one of the world’s most important.

Because of sensitivity to that criticism, there was an effort to downplay the blackout in the hourly newscasts that were the bread-and-butter of our operation. It rotated as the lead story with the downing of a U.S. military helicopter that had strayed over the North Korean border.

As it turns out, it’s much easier to find stories online about that night in New York than about that day near the 38th parallel.

No one remembers the Korean incident, even though three Americans died and one was captured, although he was released three days later.

The image of the looting amid the darkness stayed with New York for a very long time.

History is interesting that way.

4. America’s experiment in political dysfunction continues. And while there’s not much new after yesterday’s bombshell involving Trump Junior, it did get me thinking about why this has happened.

In 2016, the latest Harris Poll on the subject ranked doctor as the most prestigious occupation, with 90% of those surveyed saying it’s noble work.

Fifth from the bottom was politician. Only 40% of those surveyed believe it’s a job to be proud of. And 34% of those polled say it’s not at all prestigious; no profession, not even the last-place public relations consultant, arouses as much outright contempt.

Unfortunately, it’s part of America’s DNA to trash politicians.

I was at a plant nursery in Stonington, Conn., this weekend. And amid the hydrangeas and the succulents, the owners tacked up clever, witty sayings – many of them belittling those who practice the science of politics. How that sells flora escapes me, but it’s their business and you assume they know it.

The problem is that for politicians, politics is their business, and they know it.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, politics became more about elections and less about what those elections are supposed to lead to – government.

Now government is just about as dirty a word as politics. You can hear Ronald Reagan, in 1986, saying the nine most terrifying words in the English language are “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” That isn’t just Reagan talking – he reflected the attitude of many people.

There are even people who find STOP signs and traffic lights as symbols of oppression.

As a result, elections cough up these people who see an opportunity to get a little power – after all, there is still a government. And they get that power by badmouthing politicians.

“Unlike his opponent, he’s not a professional politician,” the sonorous voice in the TV ads will say as a selling point.

“I’m a businessman, not a politician,” Trump told people every chance he could in the 17 months of his campaign.

But here’s the thing:

5. Governing is important.

I’d argue it’s just as important as being a doctor. Our ability to be safe in our homes and on the streets, to get to our jobs, to count on the water to flow and the garbage to be picked up, that the hospitals and schools are open and running.

That’s true even when government farms some of those tasks to the private sector. Ultimately, somebody has to take responsibility.

We should be grateful for politicians who are willing on the task of making things run.

And, conversely, we should be skeptical of those who look on the jobs that politicians do and say they can do it better.

Anti-government and anti-politics have put us in this mess. The idea that someone with no experience or understanding of how this stuff works can make things work better is preposterous.

You wouldn’t trust someone who doesn’t have medical experience to operate on your heart. You shouldn’t trust anyone who doesn’t understand how government works to run the government.

So when Republicans defend Trump Junior by saying he didn’t know what to do because he wasn’t a pro politician, it’s an empty argument. If he’s going to be in politics, he should know what the hell he’s doing.

Although I still don’t think it takes a brain surgeon to figure out that getting information from a foreign government to hurt a rival political campaign is collusion at best and treason at worst.

1. It’s Tuesday, July 11, 2017.

2. It’s Amazon Prime Day. I’m learning that that’s a thing.

3. It’s the 250th birthday of John Quincy Adams. He was the 6th President of the United States and, of course, the son of the 2nd.

Of the 44 presidents, John Quincy and George W. Bush are the two who are sons of presidential fathers; Benjamin Harrison, President No. 23, was the grandson of No. 9, the short-tenured William Henry Harrison.

Thus, it’s a depressing commentary on generational progression when John Quincy Adams, not widely regarded as among our best POTUSes, is considered the best of the offspring presidents. The most memorable things about Harrison are that he jacked up tariffs and married his wife’s niece soon after his wife died.

W. has been rising from pretty far down in the rankings immediately after his presidency ended. Iraq and the financial crisis will ensure he doesn’t rise too high.

Of course, right now, Quincy, W. and Harrison all look like Lincoln next to the incumbent.

4. And they look like a combination of Nathan Hale and Albert Einstein next to the incumbent’s eldest son.

This is how fast this freakin’ story is moving:

While I was writing this, The New York Times announced that it got a copy of Trump Junior’s e-mail setting up the meeting with a Kremlin-connected lawyer.

Then Trump Junior decided it might be better to release the e-mails himself, as if doing that would show how transparent he’s being on this whole thing.

Forget that he and his father and everyone involved in their seizure of the American government have spent the last year denying that there was any contact with anyone Russian.

What these e-mails reveal, basically, is that Trump Junior believed the Russians had incriminating information about Hillary Clinton and he was eager to see it.

A patriot would tell the FBI. A traitor would hide it until he got his payoff.

Guess which one Trump Junior is?

5. And here’s something else to ponder.

What do you think was going through Trump Jr.’s mind when he arranged that meeting with the Russian lawyer a year ago? Other than the fact that it was likely the only thing there, as usual.

Do you think that maybe he was trying to impress Pops by taking this meeting with someone he believed to be a Russian government lawyer? “I can handle this! I’m smart, too,” you can hear him saying, a la Fredo Corleone.

And did he do it not thinking about the implication – that he was willing to be used as an agent of a foreign government to influence the U.S. election? A dupe.

Or do you think he did it at the behest of his dad?

Here, Trump was, just a step away from the White House. The only obstacle was Hillary Clinton. Maybe, the Russians could help brush her aside.

But Trump can’t risk this meeting. Everyone’s watching him. And it’s beneath his level – he’s in the Trump Tower suite dreaming of ways he could profit off a stint in the White House.

So he sends his namesake son, his son-in-law and campaign manager. It’s a prominent bunch, but doesn’t involve him yet.

As long as no one found out before the election, it was OK.

From here on out, the questions are going to get thornier for Trump, père et fils. We’re going to find out how really devoted they are to each other – especially if the son has to take a fall for his father.

Or the father throws the son under the bus.

One thing seems certain.

John Quincy Adams’ place as the best president among namesake sons isn’t likely threatened by Donald Trump Junior.

1. It’s Friday, July 7, 2017.

2. It’s only the 89th anniversary of sliced bread. You would have thought it’s been around since before 1928. But no. 

It’s also the 36th anniversary of President Ronald Reagan’s nomination of Sandra Day O’Connor to the U.S. Supreme Court, the first woman to serve as an associate justice. I’m not a Reagan fan by any means, but this is a laudable accomplishment.

3. By the time I finish writing this, the meeting between Trump and Putin will have taken place. I’m sure it will be pitched as a triumph for both of these pillbugs.

Does it matter? Hardly. Putin won this meeting last Nov. 8. The disarray the Russian interference has sown into American democracy and the disheartening of those who believe in American ideals are triumph enough.

4. I’m not falling for the idea that the Republican health care proposal – or, rather, the Republican anti-Obamacare proposal – can’t pass because it’s so unpopular that they’ll face voters’ wrath in next year’s congressional elections.

Yes, the polling numbers are fairly dismal. And when people hear what the Republicans want to do, they cringe.

But this is a Republican dream – the idea of stripping the nation of this plan. Republicans, again, are not into governing – they’re into ruling.

Obamacare requires governing – the government has to help this program succeed in order to help people get health care coverage. Ruling means you end that – everybody’s on their own, and no one – especially no one in a high income bracket – has to help pay for someone else’s care..

5. And don’t underestimate the ability of the money behind the Republicans to sell this garbage.

I can almost see it. Flags waving in the breeze, children playing, a veteran saluting, an obligatory person of color. And then a baritone announcer saying:

“It’s happened. After four years of anguish. You are now free. Free to choose how to keep you and your loved ones healthy. Free from penalties. Free to pick your doctor. Free to pay for what you need – and not pay for what you don’t.”

“The Obamacare nightmare is over. Americans have stood up. They’ve chosen how they get their health care.”

“America is free again.”

And there will be sunny skies and patriotic-sounding music and a farmer on his tractor plowing a field and so on.

They won’t need to go into detail. How for millions of people, the only choice will be no health care coverage at all. How for millions more, the fact that they still have a plan – albeit reduced in scope – will keep them tethered to jobs from which they’re ready to move on.

Don’t think that the Republicans are worried about how they’re going to sell this bill once they pass it. They know how to do that.

6. The only course of action is to stop it. To keep fighting it. To not rest until it is a burden to Republicans every time they even mention the idea. Realizing that this is something that needs to be done to individual members – one by one.

Because each circumstance is different.

In Kansas, rock-ribbed conservative Jerry Moran is making noises that he’s opposed to his party’s proposal. At the very least, unlike many of his colleagues, he had the guts to hold a town meeting to hear opposition to the bill.

That opposition worries about how many people will lose coverage and will health care become more expensive.

There are those who are skeptical that Moran’s objections are serious – that, in the end, he’ll cave to the national party and vote for the measure.

But very public displays like the one in Palco can only help the cause of preserving a health care system that, with some small problems, works. Obamacare is a success, and that fact registers with people who benefit.

Keeping up the pressure now is the only hope. Because once a bill passes, the selling of it will take everyone’s breath away – in some cases, literally.

1. It’s Wednesday, July 5, 2017.

2. It’s the 80th anniversary of the introduction of Spam. The luncheon meat, not the email.

3. It seems as though the purveyors of Trumpian hate are angry that one of their own got skewered by CNN last night.

So many people – including the cetriolo who occupies the Oval Office – were set agog earlier this week by a video posted on Reddit. It showed Trump in his pro wrestling promotion days tackling someone whose head was replaced by a CNN logo.

How amusing! He’s really taking it to those fakers! And Trump loved it so much that he just passed it on.

But, of course, here’s the thing:

The people at CNN have names that they put behind what they do. And, as the creator of the video learned, they have lives as well – some of them, in fact, have religions that they’re proud enough to proclaim. One of his memes pointed out the folks at CNN who are Jewish, as if that was another reason to hate them.

Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper can be attacked at will. But “HanAssholeSolo” thought he could hide behind the anonymity he and others believe they have when they post bullshit online.

Oops.

When you post stuff like that, you’re fair game. CNN’s KFILE team worked at finding out who made the video and the Jewish meme. And it succeeded.

So much so that when it confronted the guy who did this, he asked that his name not be revealed. It turns out he really didn’t mean what he said, and he fears for himself and his family if he’s discovered to be that guy.

He couldn’t put his real name on what he created. Unlike Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper and everyone else at CNN.

So CNN agreed not to tell who it was. On condition that he not do it again. Otherwise, forget it.

4. The CNN haters are calling this blackmail. There’s a whole Twitter hashtag around that theme this morning.

And the reason they’re doing that is they’re terrified.

Terrified that they’re being manipulated. By people craving their attention. By people looking to exploit them, for political gain or personal fulfillment.

Trump has tried to label everything reported by legitimate news organizations as fake news. But maybe what the story behind the video shows is that when reporters like those at CNN do their jobs, they expose what’s really fake.

It must crush the hearts of the haters that the masterpiece of anti-CNN sentiment turned out just to be a stunt to get their approval. All of them, including Trump. The guy wasn’t a true believer – he was merely an attention grabber.

Because when it came time to stand behind what he did, the guy refused. Apologized and asked to maintain his anonymity.

(And, by the way, if the guy really was 15, as some of the idiots posting indicate, don’t you think CNN would have reported that, too? )

I’ve seen the e-mails some of the reporters at CNNMoney receive when they do a controversial story – it’s depressing how vile and ad hominem people can get over stories about oil prices and health care.

And here’s the thing. Most people don’t have the nerve to say the crap they say in anonymous posts to someone’s face. They would feel like idiots if they did so.

That’s not just my view.

“To people who troll on the Internet for fun, consider your words and actions conveyed in your message and who it might upset or anger,” says the guy who posted the video, writing on Reddit. “Put yourself in their shoes before you post it.

So to those posting with the #CNNBlackmail hashtag, a couple of things.

One, find out how blackmail laws work. The guy who made the video asked to remain anonymous. CNN was under no obligation to oblige, and didn’t demand money or any other form of remuneration to provide that anonymity.

Frankly, I would have loved to have seen his name all over the place. That might be a good way to tone things down in this country – seeing someone face the consequences. But I guess CNN saw it differently, and that’s fine.

Secondly, what the critics of CNN can’t prove today is that CNN got this wrong. They can’t prove this isn’t the guy who created that meme.

Which goes back to what John Adams said: “Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”

That’s what CNN is about. You might ask if the guy you put your faith in to make America great feels the same way.

Because you people are getting played. Bigly.

1. It’s Friday, June 30, 2017.

2. Lena Horne was born 100 years ago today. Somehow, this video seems appropriate. 

3. This has been quite the week, this final week of the year’s first half.

It seems appropriate that we’re coming into what, for a lot of people, will be a long holiday weekend. The Fourth of July is Tuesday, and Monday will be one of those days when almost no one goes to work or, if you can, you work from home.

4. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency yesterday. Not because of a hurricane or tornado or flooding or even locusts.

He decided the New York subway system is falling apart so fast that it’s a dire situation for the people who ride it every day.

Sure, I think an infusion of money and some much-needed attention are important. Fix the tracks. Fix the trains. Fix the stations.

I can’t remember how many years it’s been since the first signs telling how long it is until the next 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 train arrives. I know it was at least 30 years after Washington did it. And that it would be nice if those signs finally made it to all of the lines.

But as I pointed out Wednesday, the subway system’s problem isn’t just that it’s old and falling apart.

Mass transit requires more than just giving some jobs to maintenance people.

It requires imagination. It requires the same level of innovation that has, in my lifetime, changed what people do in train cars from reading the newspaper to watching a news conference live on a handheld device.

That, Gov. Cuomo, should be on the agenda.

It’s the 21st century. Let’s ride like it.

5. I don’t want to belabor the points I made Tuesday about CNN.

Suffice to say, I still think it was wrong for the network to – and I’ll use CNN’s terminology – accept the resignations of three members of the investigative team over a less-than-thoroughly-vetted story about a Trump associate.

Trump and his sycophants have trumpeted what happened to these guys, one of whom is a friend and former boss.

And if you thought the Trumpistas had some sort of moral compass to acknowledge the sacrifice of these men and the network, fuggedaboutit. There are some who think it emboldened the cetriolo in the White House to tweet out his attack on MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough yesterday – particularly after Scarborough had the nerve to defend CNN’s people in a tweet the day before.

But there’s one other point I want to make.

When Trump screams about how CNN is fake news, is he referring to Arwa Damon? Who has risked her life in the Middle East so that Americans know what the hell is going on in the hell of places such as Cairo and Mosul?

When Trump’s White House touts supposed CNN-damaging video by a fraud such as James O’Keefe, does it realize O’Keefe would get spontaneous diarrhea if he were in anything like the situations Damon faces on a daily basis?

And Damon is just the latest in a long line of CNN journalists – on camera, running the camera or behind the scenes – who have put their lives at risk to show the world as it is.

When you walk through the doors of CNN – in New York, in Atlanta, in Washington, in London and everywhere else – you carry with you the knowledge that you’re on the same team as people with the guts of a Christiane Amanpour or a Nic Robertson.

You can certainly criticize CNN sometimes. In recent years, it seems a little too focused on the horse race of politics, and not enough on the issues. I go crazy when I see a lot of talking heads on the air, too.

But CNN has, since its inception in 1980, tried to be the network of record. And whether that record pertains to something easy, like a political speech, or something hard, like sending a reporter into an area where a nuclear power plant has failed, it has made an effort that other legitimate journalists admire.

Earlier this week, my daughter delivered on her Father’s Day gift, taking me to the Tony award-winning play “Oslo.”  It’s about the secret process in which Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization engaged that resulted in the 1994 peace agreement.

At one point, an Israeli official yells about how the world is watching CNN show the slaying of Palestinian children by security forces in Gaza. And how that makes Israel look like a demon in the eyes of the world.

That is CNN’s power. That is the pride of the people who work there.

To call it fake insults them all. Including me, and I’m not there anymore.

And it’s a key part of Trump’s strategy – discredit CNN, and people will believe what they want to believe. Which for Trump’s supporters means whatever he tells them.

But a phony from Queens won’t succeed at hurting CNN. Only CNN can do that to itself. Holding itself accountable is right. Cutting away the people who make it great as a matter of political expedience isn’t.

1. It’s Wednesday, June 28, 2017.

2. It’s the 20th anniversary of Mike Tyson biting off a piece of Evander Holyfield’s ear. It’s also the birthday of Richard Rodgers.

Being able to convey these facts through the magic of the Internet is one of my things.

3. I am really into “Twin Peaks: The Return.”

My understanding is that there aren’t a lot of us who are. The ratings are supposed to be dismal.

And I can understand why. It’s not a TV show for people who want resolutions. It’s more about looking at the world through someone else’s vision.

In that way, it’s more like watching video art. Some people are into Jackson Pollock. Some people are into Cassius Marcellus Coolidge. “Twin Peaks” is definitely more the former, but there are certainly elements of the latter.

I think I’m going to do what some of the critics suggest – stop trying to figure out the plot and go along for the ride. I can always figure out what David Lynch was trying to tell me when it’s all done in September.

4. New Yorkers brag about everything. That’s one way you know who we are (I’m including myself even though I’ve lived in the suburbs for 30 years).

Don’t get us started on pizza and bagels.

The subway system is one of our bragging points. Other cities have systems of comparable size and scope. I’ve been on trains in London, Paris and Seoul.

None of them – none – are as convenient and easy to use as New York. In Seoul, I felt as though there wasn’t a single station that it didn’t take me 5-10 minutes to either get to the street or make a connection.

That’s not New York.

One other important point. Unlike London and Seoul, you don’t have to hurry up at night. New York runs 24/7/365.

But here’s the thing: Construction on this system began around the turn of the century. The prior century, as in 1900.

Parts of it are more than 100 years old. And riding on some of these lines, you are very inclined to believe it.

Yes, there are new branches. I haven’t been on the new Second Avenue line, which consists of three whole stations. I have been to the new station near the Javits Center and the new Hudson Yards.

5. But this system is aging. Fast.

It’s been about three years since I rode the New York City subway system on a regular basis. I used to take a bus to the Port Authority Bus Terminal and then, like Billy Strayhorn, take the A train to my job in Columbus Circle.

But I’ve been on the trains three times in the past two weeks. And with a little distance, it’s easy to see how much the system has deteriorated. Not that it was so great in 2014.

There are the crowded trains and platforms. There are the service disruptions. There are the people who insist on dancing on a packed car as a way to make money.

And perhaps most important, there are the safety concerns.

Yesterday’s derailment at 125th Street was a scary but, fortunately, not fatal reminder about how things have declined. That doesn’t mean the next problem won’t be a catastrophe.

6. Waiting at Times Square last night for the shuttle to Grand Central got me thinking about the subway.

Did the people who designed those first lines in Lower Manhattan and the guys who dug up those tunnels under Eighth Avenue and Broadway and Lexington Avenue think about the future?

About me and my daughter and the young woman with the THERAPY SESSION t-shirt with the headphones and the guy speaking to the woman he was with in a language I thought was French and all the others?

That we’d be standing there on a June night in 2017 using the same damn tunnels they dug up when Teddy Roosevelt and Mark Twain and Thomas Edison were contemporaries.

They probably thought their creation would last. Maybe they even thought it would make it as long as the 21st century.

But I also believe they expected something else to come along. That our technology and our know-how would find a way to make some better way to transport people.

We found better ways to communicate. Just about everybody on that platform was holding a rectangular device telling them the Mets lost or what time they’re supposed to meet Billy at the bar or to leave the garage light on.

The shuttle cars were adorned with the same color scheme, a dark ad for a new TV series on a cable network – ideas that weren’t gleans in anyone’s eye when they drilled through the bedrock under 42nd Street.

But, for some strange reason, transportation is different. In cities, we’re still riding on early 20th century tracks. The newest thing is the cars on the street, and they’re not necessarily a blessing.

I’m not sure why we don’t ask the question – why are these things the way they are? Why do just try to rebuild something that’s far older than we are when we don’t do that for anything else?

Why is there no smarter, cleaner, faster, more efficient way to get people around a city, or even from place to place? Why do we rely on old stuff for this one thing?

We split atoms, put men on the moon and made it so I stand in New York and see my son live in Seoul on a 5-1/4”x 2-1/2” chunk of metal and plastic in my hand. Why can’t I get somewhere fast and safely without resorting to 19th and 20th century ideas?

As New York’s subway continues to decline, and the system gets older and more taxed, maybe it’s time for the visionaries to reimagine our transportation. Maybe it’s time to pull out the blank piece of paper and figure out how you move people without resorting to what already exists.

It’s often said you can’t reinvent the wheel. But the question should be, why not?

1. It’s Tuesday, June 27, 2017.

2. It’s the birthday of Bob Keeshan, aka Captain Kangaroo, and Vera Wang.

3. I left CNN nearly three years ago in a mass buyout of veteran employees – they made me a sweet financial offer that was pretty close to perfect. So I left on what was on my part – and I am confident on CNN’s – good terms.

The one person in our newsroom who had trouble believing that I was doing this purely in my personal interest was Lex Haris.

He was managing editor of CNNMoney, and he thought I was reacting to some argument we had over something that I don’t even remember.

Lex couldn’t believe that I – that anyone like him, me and most of the other people in the newsroom – would leave a job like ours on their own volition. For something as pedestrian as money. His thought was that we love it too much.

So when I saw the story last night that Lex and two others resigned because of a story that wasn’t up to CNN’s standards, I wasn’t especially convinced that this was – to use a term Lex would appreciate – according to Hoyle.

I don’t know what happened with the Scaramucci story. CNN doesn’t say it’s wrong – it’s just not up to its standards and wasn’t fully cleared by its legal team. Maybe what management says is what went down.

4. But I can’t believe – I’ll never believe – Lex messed up. This is a man whose standards as an editor were among the highest I’ve seen in 40 years as a professional journalist.

Of course, being Lex, he stood up the way a grownup does. He was the head of the investigative team that produced the story. It’s his team.

“I’ve been with CNN since 2001, and am sure about one thing: This is a news organization that prizes accuracy and fairness above all else,” he said in a statement released by CNN. “I am leaving, but will carry those principles wherever I go.”

So Lex took the hit, sullying his name and reputation because it was the right thing to do. It’s what any manager with a smidgen of integrity – much less the mass that Lex Haris possesses – would do.

Integrity like that is something completely lost on the trolls cheering his downfall, including the cetriolo in the Oval Office.

5. This is a terrible time. The effort to make people doubt institutions they’ve trusted and counted on is insidious and constant.

There’s an effort to sell the ideas that the poor are taking free stuff, young women thrill at the idea of having an abortion and the rich need tax breaks to boost economic growth.

CNN and other news organizations of integrity – no matter how their editorial line slants – can shed a light on whether those things are true or not. That’s a problem for selling a narrative that might not jive with reality.

Because that siege is so intense, CNN can’t misfire. Any mistake gives the assailants something to trumpet. Maybe that explains what happened in the case of this story.

I tell my news editing students that mistakes are awful, and they get an earful – or a page full of notes – when they miss the libelous stuff I plant in their midterms and finals.

But I also tell them that mistakes are part of the job. That if you do 1,999 things in a 10-hour day, it’s really hard to do all 1,999 right – especially the last 247 of them. Be thankful you’re not doing brain surgery.

Just own up to your mistakes. That’s been the most important thing to tell young journalists. There might be mistakes in the history of journalism that have been fatal to someone, but they’re very rare. If a mistake isn’t fatal, and you can make it right, do so.

In the case involving the Scaramucci story, making it right wasn’t enough. In fact, it’s not even clear that it was wrong in the first place, and that wasn’t enough.

For CNN, it gets to hear another round of “fake news” cries, orchestrated directly from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. It has to hear criticism from organizations that don’t have 0.00000001% of its credibility. Its people – and I’m biased because I love some of them as much as my own family – have to deal with slingshots from relative invertebrates.

That’s an awful message to send to my students. That you can’t ever, ever mess up without fearing the consequences to yourself or the people around you.

So I’ll change my lesson plan. If the best editor I know takes the rap for something like this, maybe any mistake really is like botching brain surgery.

The chill on this profession is becoming a freeze. My friend Lex Haris paid a high price for it.

I wish him well.

And to anyone looking for a good man to run a first-class newsroom, I can recommend someone really great.