A free speech demonstration staged by conservatives in San Francisco on Saturday was attacked by several hundred counterprotesters. An Associated Press photographer witnessed a Trump supporter being taken away in an ambulance.

When demonstrators threw glass bottles and plastic water bottles over police barricades at the group, the event was canceled. The event’s organizer posted photos of his bloody mouth with a front tooth missing and another hanging loosely. The San Francisco Police Department said three officers were assaulted with pepper spray and caustic chemicals; one was taken to a local hospital for treatment. 

In other news, Twitter and Facebook blocked users last week from sharing a New York Post article making damaging claims about Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden’s son. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said his company had been wrong to block the links, but Twitter still refuses to unlock the Post‘s account unless it deletes posts about its reporting on this issue. 

Freedom of speech and trust in the media are more threatened today than any time in my lifetime. Three issues are at work here, each of which is enormously significant for all Americans. 

One: Media bias 

An exhaustive new survey by Gallup and the Knight Foundation found “deepening pessimism and further partisan entrenchment about how the news media delivers on its democratic mandate for factual, trustworthy information.” They note that 86 percent of Americans see political bias in news coverage. According to 73 percent of us, this lack of objectivity is a “major problem” in our society. 

Here is where the survey…

John Dickerson of CBS News has written a fascinating and most timely book: The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency.

Dickerson, who has covered seven presidential campaigns and moderated two of the debates in 2016, thinks the presidency is in trouble. In his words, “It is overburdened, misunderstood, an almost impossible job to do.”

Dwight Eisenhower and Barack Obama said that they faced no easy decisions as president. If they were easy, someone else already would have reached a decision.

Leon Panetta, who served as White House chief of staff, secretary of defense, and director of the CIA, said, “The modern presidency has gotten out of control,” making it difficult for anyone to “get a handle” on the job.

In his conclusion, Dickerson lists eighteen key presidential attributes, likely more than any one person can possess. No wonder that Franklin Roosevelt, when he found out that he had been elected president, prayed that he would be strong enough to do the job.

Roosevelt, of course, had polio and could not walk. But anyone facing “the hardest job in the world” needs our prayers.

The Senate Judiciary Committee has completed its hearings on President Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. Yesterday, the senators made their final remarks and heard witnesses testify about her character and qualifications. The American Bar Association, which rates federal judges, noted that it has found Judge Barrett to be “well qualified,” its highest rating.

Since Republicans hold a twelve-to-ten majority, the committee is expected to approve her nomination when it votes on October 22. This would set up a vote on the Senate floor the week of October 26. Since Republicans hold the majority in the Senate, her confirmation is widely expected. 

How a blank notepad made headlines

Judge Amy Coney Barrett is Catholic and obviously a woman. Both facts make her nomination noteworthy: only 22 percent of Americans are Catholic; only five of the 119 Supreme Court justices in American history have been women. If confirmed by the Senate, she will become the youngest Supreme Court justice since 1991 and the first mother with school-age children to serve on our nation’s highest court. 

She did not achieve her remarkable success through family connections or wealth, but through hard work and a passion for excellence. This fact is worthy of reflection as evidence of our country’s founding creed that “all men are created equal.” 

In my lifetime, I have seen presidents who came from families of wealth (John F. Kennedy, George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump). But I have also seen presidents who came from humble beginnings (Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan). One rose to prominence through military service (Dwight Eisenhower). Two were raised by single…