Five newspaper people were killed yesterday at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis. I can't imagine how brutal that must be for the families. I met one of the victims, Rob Hiaasen, a few times; he was the brother of my close friend Carl Hiaasen. From all accounts Rob was a fine journalist and a wonderful man. My heart aches for his family, for all the families.

My heart also aches, on this sad day, for the larger family of journalists, especially newspaper journalists. It's a family of which I still consider myself a member. I started in this business in 1971, as a rookie reporter at the Daily Local News in West Chester, Pa., for (if I recall correctly) $93 a week. Since then most of my friends have been newspaper people. No offense to any other profession, but these are, pound for pound, the smartest, funniest, most interested and most interesting people there are. They love what they do, and most of them do it for lousy pay, at a time when the economic situation of newspapers is precarious, and layoffs are common.

It's also a time when the news media are under attack — for being biased, for being elitist and out of touch with ordinary Americans, for not caring about the nation. And I'll grant that in some cases, some of these criticisms are valid. There are cable-TV "news" operations openly devoted to either propping up or tearing down Donald Trump. There are newspaper journalists who seem far more interested in getting on TV, and jacking up their Twitter numbers, than being fair or accurate. There are incompetent, dishonest people in this business, as in any business.

But these people are a minority — I think a tiny minority — of news people, especially of newspaper people. There are over 1,000 daily newspapers in the United States, most of them covering smaller markets, like Annapolis or West Chester. The people working for these newspapers aren't seeking fame, and they aren't pushing political agendas. They're covering the communities they live in — the city councils, the police and fire departments, the courts, the school boards, the high-school sports teams, the snake that some homeowner found in a toilet. These newspaper people work hard, in relative obscurity, for (it bears repeating) lousy pay. Sometimes, because of the stories they write, they face hostility; sometimes — this happens to many reporters; it happened to me — they are threatened.

While Democratic Party officials are at it, they should also question whether their wishy-washiness on things their people care about, such as universal health care, liveable wages, affordable higher education and reining in Wall Street greed, is limiting their ability to win elections. Maybe it even had something to with the fact that Democrats managed to lose an election that even the lying, misogynist, racist, populist bully who won didn’t think he had a shot at.

It’s a good time to take stock because if Democrats don’t ramp up their game now, they may well lose the most important midterm elections in modern history and doom the country to at least two more years of Republican-controlled chaos from which we may never recover.

They can start by dumping their insipid “Change that Matters” slogan, which is even more of a loser than Hillary Clinton’s “Stronger Together.” If Democrats want to rile up their voters to Trumpesque proportions, they should try something catchy, more assertive and more likely to be painted on a protest sign. May I suggest “Take America Back from the Billionaires” or simply “Throw the Lyin’ Bum Out.”

The Democratic Party can either start embracing the millennial progressives — and their issues — and harness that effervescent energy in the November elections, or they can get used to losing.

Will you join Tom Steyer on June 21st for a special Town Hall event in Omaha? Tom will discuss how the Need to Impeach campaign is standing up to Trump and his administration in 2018. Your voice is an important part of this movement, and we would love to hear from supporters like you.

The event is free, but we have a limited number of seats available. Tell your friends and family to plan ahead and save their spot. Each person must RSVP individually.

LOCATION: The Omar, 4383 Nicholas St, Omaha, NE 68131

DATE: Thursday, June 21st

TIME: A reception with light refreshments will begin at 6:15pm. The program will begin at 7:00 pm.

If you have any translation or accessibility needs or questions, please email volunteer@needtoimpeach.com and we will do our best to accommodate. Requests made at least 4 days ahead are more likely to be fulfilled.

Republicans made dramatic down-ballot gains over the past decade, a trend that may have been overlooked somewhat given Democratic control of the executive branch for most of this time. But as the party vies to recapture the House and Senate from the GOP in upcoming midterm elections, the roots of Democrats’ recent losses are being reexamined.

"Unless Democrats face up to this reality and devise a strategy to reverse this tidal wave of defeat, they might find themselves surprised one more time this November," said CNN’s Fareed Zakaria. "When you tally up their representation in Congress, state legislatures and governorships, the Democrats almost have their lowest representation in about 100 years."

Are you a fiscal hawk? Or a staunch environmentalist? Your own priorities will affect how you lower the debt, and “The Fiscal Ship” will teach you what will and won’t work.

The game was developed through a partnership between the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at Brookings. To kick off the informal event, Hutchins Center Director David Wessel made brief opening remarks about how the game was made, what choices went into its underlying policies, and what we learned from early testing. After Wessel’s remarks, participants were invited to play the game, enjoy complimentary refreshments, and network with other members of the policy community.

Rising federal debt isn’t a game. It’s a real problem—and many Americans know that. We hope you’ll play “The Fiscal Ship” and spread the word about the problem and actual solutions to the dangers of rising debt.