You don’t need me to tell you there’s an epic liar in the White House; the mountain of evidence has been building for years and years. But four events over the last week offer snapshots into how he works to degrade the truth, what the consequences can be and how we may soon celebrate a powerful majority of Americans expressing they’ve had enough.

Blaming Ukraine for record diesel prices

Yesterday Donald Trump addressed the rising price of diesel, which hit a record high of over $6 a gallon this week raising farmers’ expenses and the price of food, as well as making virtually all shipping more expensive. Diesel prices have skyrocketed 60 percent since Trump launched his unauthorized war of choice against Iran in February.

But when asked by a reporter whether he had spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump had this to say: “Mr. Zelensky has to do one thing. He has to stop knocking out diesel fuel in Russia…Don’t hit diesel fuel, because that’s hurting, that’s hurting the world.”

This followed Trump’s sycophantic treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, pursuing this same shameful distraction—and attacking a democratic nation fighting for its survival against the murderous Putin—ten days ago after meeting with Russia’s finance minister. “We are going through an energy shock right now due to both the war in Ukraine—because Ukraine has decided that they want to blow up Russian energy assets and refine products, so that is creating upward price pressure on a global basis,” Bessent said on Fox News, adding as an afterthought, “And then the conflict in Iran” which “will end.”

Get it? They want us to believe the real problem is Ukraine’s campaign against Russian oil refineries and other facilities, which fund and fuel Russia’s war. Yet as a report from the International Energy Agency published Friday noted as of August, diesel exports from Gulf countries were “just over a quarter” of their levels before Trump’s war against Iran.

The report added that Ukraine’s attacks have “compounded the losses,” but Trump and Bessent are mounting their campaign to shift responsibility from their war to Ukraine. They are counting on voters to believe that the damage they’ve caused is not their fault. We can expect this lie to grow louder and be repeated often.

The Smithsonian’s head resigns

On Tuesday last week, Lonnie G. Bunch, III, the 73-year-old secretary of the Smithsonian—the world’s largest museum, education and research complex— announced that he was retiring by the end of the year. This follows incessant false and partisan attacks by Trump against the Smithsonian and Bunch in an effort to take control and end its “divisive narratives” and “anti-American ideology.”

(You can read more about these attacks in my July essay, beginning with Trump’s executive order soon after he re-occupied the White House, ludicrously entitled, “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” That reached a hateful crescendo with a 162-page report in July condemning the Smithsonian’s “extreme political activism.”)

In his resignation letter to Smithsonian staff, Bunch began by describing “very mixed emotions and heartfelt gratitude” and ended by saying he was leaving “with pride and sadness, with gratitude and joy.”

While Bunch has said that he had been ready to retire for some time and had stayed to fight and defend the institution that he loves, have no doubt the constant pummeling took its toll. The pressure was ramped up earlier this month by a hostile letter sent by the Interior Department—and signed by its secretary Doug Burgum—complaining about the Smithsonian’s “divisive, ideological agenda” and threatening to cut off its funding.

Confirming his resignation, Bunch told ABC News last week, “I have fought for as long as I can. I love this country and I love the Smithsonian and I will always work to defend our more perfect Union.” Bunch is the first historian and the first African American to serve as the Smithsonian’s chief.

When asked in a July interview about the ongoing criticism, Bunch diplomatically said, “I’m always open to any criticism, any comments. We want to be in the best institutions we can be.” But, he added, “I feel very strongly that a nation has to understand the totality of its past, the complexity of its past, in order to understand greatness of a nation.”

Bunch has said that he’s accomplished what he’s set out to do and that he’s leaving on his own terms after serving eight years as secretary.

As Charles Blow reported for The Guardian this weekend after an interview with Bunch, he hopes the Smithsonian’s visitors will continue to say, “I’m not afraid of the truth, I’m not afraid of my past and I’m not afraid of ambiguity.”

It’s the kind of message that reminds us that the repetition of racist and baseless accusations can and do cause harm—including to good men like Lonnie Bunch—but the deeper truths can and will ultimately win out.

Erasing data doesn’t eliminate environmental damage

In a late breaking story last night, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency is expected to eliminate the limits on pollution produced by power plants burning coal and gas—pollution that helps caused rising carbon dioxide and warming of the planet. This is part of the regime’s ongoing rejection of climate policies supported by Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama to control greenhouse gas emissions, all for the supposed benefit of its friends in the fossil fuel industry.

But make no mistake: Trump can deny the truth of climate change by calling it a hoax and eliminating standards enacted to slow its growth. His sycophantic EPA administrator, Lee Zeldin, can keep looking for more ways to cut restrictions. But in the years ahead, Americans will increasingly recognize that extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense—and that these anti-human policies exacerbated the poisoning of our planet and people.

Finally, looking at a new poll

I’m reluctant to rely too heavily on polling to forecast what the midterms will yield, but a just-published CBS News/YouGov survey conducted between Sept. 8 and Sept. 11 found that Democrats hold a 54-46 percent advantage in a generic congressional ballot—and that Trump is a major motivating factor.

The poll also found that 80 percent of those who said they’re voting Democratic is to oppose Trump while just 61 percent of those intending to vote for Republicans said they are doing so to support Trump. The conservative estimate of this “Battleground Tracker” for the House: The Democrats will end up with 228 seats to 207 for the Republicans.

Let’s work to make this happen, even as an increasingly desperate Trump urges his supporters to cheat at the polls and lies that every American will get $5,000 if they succeed and Republicans hold the House and Senate.

That means learning from leaders like Bunch and Zelensky and others who are committed to democracy, an informed public and the capacity of humans to pursue a better future. In 49 days, Americans can prove that they’ve had enough with both the lies and the man who spews them.

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As we head to the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

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Happy Sunday!

In recent weeks, I’ve made an agreement to write a book to be published by St. Martin’s Press. The project emanates from our current dilemma, tracing key historical periods that help explain both how we got here and how we overcome it. The over-arching topic will not come as a surprise for regular readers of America, America: The need for accountability and the consequences of failing to hold treacherous leaders responsible for their attacks on our nation.

Entitled Justice Must Be Served, the book will be both a narrative history and a polemic about the need for change. As the following announcement from Publishers Marketplace notes, this is “a narrative exploration of how our failure to heed the warnings of George Washington’s farewell address and to hold bad political actors accountable has haunted America from the Revolutionary War to the January 6 insurrection and beyond.”

I wanted to share this with all of you to say thanks. Because without all of you being willing to show interest in this topic—a topic that I believe is crucial for our country’s present and future—I may have thought twice about pursuing this. You all have given me the space to test some of these thoughts and ideas, which has motivated me to now go much deeper. I can’t overstate how much I look forward over the next year to digging into the history and making the connections between America’s earlier chapters and our present predicament. I’m excited that the book is scheduled for 2028 when I hope these issues can be at the forefront of our national discourse.

One last note: Over the next year, there may be a few moments that I will ask for your understanding when the writing of the book requires me to publish a few less essays here. I hope you will forgive me—with the promise that the eventual book will make up for it. I can’t thank you enough for being a part of this community.

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As we head to the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

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In the last few days, I was struck by a contrast. There was Donald Trump at his Trump-apalooza in Dallas this week, pledging on Wednesday to bribe voters with $5,000 if the Republicans hold onto the House and Senate, then desperately pleading on Thursday for his voters to “cheat like hell” in order to ensure victory and save him.

Meanwhile, there was New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani at yesterday’s 9/11 commemoration near Ground Zero shaking hands with the Islamophobic former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who just days earlier had said he was “offended” by the fact that Mamdani would be attending the ceremonies. The honorable Mamdani was calm, cool and dignified, acting with restraint and grace. That had to be no easy thing to pull off, what with the abuse Giuliani had thrown his way.

These incidents happened several days after I saw a video from Minnesota governor and former vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. He was talking to school children while serving them lunch. In fact, he was focused on trying to convince these young Minnesotans to eat broccoli…without a great deal of success. But, with great humor and purpose, he kept trying.

“You want the broccoli? Any broccoli”? he asked. It wasn’t working. He tried harder. “Come on, man, do the broccoli.” One young lunch-goer refused to tell a lie: “I hate broccoli.” It made Walz laugh.

A thought experiment: Can you imagine Mamdani doing the same thing as Walz? Easy to do. Now imagine Trump trying to convince little kids to eat broccoli. That’s nearly impossible, except with him quickly becoming angry and abusive when they refused to do what he demanded. (Recall also Walz’s thought experiment during the campaign: Try to imagine Trump tossing a frisbee to a dog like a normal human. Impossible.)

If Walz’s power of persuasion did not extend to broccoli eating, he was really there to promote a school lunch program that he was duly proud of: “We have served over 450 million meals over the last three years.” And he explained that the key was making sure that no one would go hungry, even if they didn’t have enough money to pay for it, because a fed child is going to learn better than a hungry one.

I hope there are other examples you might share of actual humans using their positions of power to act with decency. Suffice to say, we always need more of this. That’s especially true while our world seems over-run by self-serving, cruel and corrupt leaders who don’t care if kids go hungry, never mind eat their broccoli.

Why aren’t more real humans elected to office? Why are so many of our fellow citizens drawn to sociopaths rather than good and decent people? I do hope you can share examples of genuine kindness, whether it’s from an elected official or someone else in a position of power.

As always, I look forward to reading your observations and the opportunity for the America, America community to hear from each other. Please do be respectful. Trolling will not be tolerated.

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As we head to the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

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This week, with the 25th anniversary of 9/11 approaching, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani released 170,000 pages of documents that exposed the toxic conditions that were poisoning first responders and others who spent time in and around Ground Zero in lower Manhattan. These pages include air quality reports, records of contamination and communication between city officials. The New York Times reported that these records have been “shielded from public view for more than two decades and, according to city officials, discovered only last year.”

The words of Mayor Rudy Giuliani in 2001 and then newly elected Mayor Mike Bloomberg months later suggest an active cover-up as they sought to assure a worried public, prioritize rebuilding the financial district and serving the interests of business, and shield the city from legal liability.

First was Giuliani in October 2001, who acknowledged that “sometimes the odor is terrible” and “you feel there must be something wrong with it.” But, “what I’m told is that it is not dangerous to your health.”

Then came Bloomberg in February 2002, serving up a more definitive lie: “Every test that has been done says the air quality was in acceptable limits. I think some people are just never going to want to believe that.”

To date, more people have died from cancer and other illnesses related to the toxins than the nearly 3,000 who died in the horrific attacks that day. Over 4,000 lives have already been lost to illness while at least 49,000 first responders and survivors continue to struggle with cancers resulting from exposure to the toxic environment surrounding Ground Zero.

But it’s taken 25 years for New York to get a mayor committed to telling the truth about top city leaders’ complicity in this ongoing tragedy.

“On Friday, we will mark 25 years since the worst tragedy ever to befall our city, the darkest day New York City has ever known,” Mamdani said at a news conference on Tuesday. “And yet the devastating truth is that the suffering did not end once the smoke cleared and the dust settled.” He added, “People got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air.”

Disgracefully, the Islamophobic Giuliani has said he’s “offended” that New York’s first Muslim mayor is attending the 9/11 commemoration today. (Mamdani was nine years old in 2001.) I would argue that he’s the one who should be denied access, given his deadly role in misinforming the public.

This is a day to reflect on that seismic, world-altering attack on New York and the nation. It’s something that I’ve sought to do each anniversary since I began publishing America, America five years ago. These remembrances have included telling personal stories—to not forget the human scale of the tragedy—and analyzing the larger geopolitical and structural impact of 9/11.

Silence is not an option

But the failure to tell the truth 25 years ago—as revealed in this week’s release of documents—has gotten me thinking about the coming midterms and the responsibility that each of us has to say what we know about the deadly destruction of this poisonous Trump operation.

Of course, the scale and brazenness of the pathological lying and corruption and criminality makes it impossible to grasp and capture it all. The determination of a Republican-led Congress and the sycophants closest to him—that includes his cabinet of miscreants and the extremist Supreme Court—to enable his poisonous authoritarian agenda leads many among us to feel powerless or even to despair about our nation’s future.

That threat is at the core of my continued focus on the necessity of accountability—not out of vengeance or a hunger for retribution, but a yearning for justice that has been in such short supply in the face of unprecedented self-dealing and crime. I’ve been writing America, America since 2021—and since the beginning accountability has represented the responsibility to tell the truth, deal with the felons and create the necessary conditions for our country to genuinely move forward.

As Jan. 6 has taught us, anything less makes it possible for a violent insurrectionist and his enablers to retake the reins of power and expand their hateful schemes; meanwhile, the underlying moral rot and related miseries continue to fester and poison our body politic.

I wish I could say that we have made more progress. Bur re-reading my inaugural essay for America, America, entitled “Silence Is Not an Option,” reminded me that the issues now were very much alive then. This was February 25, 2021, just seven weeks after Jan. 6:

If I dreamed that the election of Joe Biden and the eviction of Trump from our house would make this publication unnecessary, that I could simply move on to other work as a new and better America arrived to replace four years of pathological lying, malignant narcissism and cruelty, sociopathy and criminality, the deadly insurrection on January 6 put an end to that.

We have seen how seditious extremists and millions of Americans, including a majority of elected Republicans, continue to stand with Trump and against our democracy. They are willing to toss aside the rule of law to keep Trump and his acolytes near the levers of power.

The nightmare potential has only grown darker, which is why our collective efforts have never been more urgent.

The fierce urgency of now

We have 52 days until Nov. 3, roughly seven weeks. It’s my goal to provide you concrete information about projects underway at the state and national levels to combat Trump’s voter suppression and election fraud.

In these pages, I will continue to spotlight what Trump and his henchmen are saying and doing—not to simply ring the alarm bell that I know everyone here already hears—but to help determine the most useful responses. That means connecting the insidious dots, but also highlighting the positive, pro-democracy work of advocacy groups and courageous, dedicated individuals.

And, at the risk of excessive repetition, our collective project must include doing everything we can to ensure maximum voter turnout and significant margins of victory, the most critical thing to over-riding the inevitable lies and denials. There’s work for each of us, whether it’s the bread-and-butter work of writing postcards, making phone calls and going door-to-door or the daily opportunity to talk to friends, neighbors, family members and even strangers that you meet in person or online.

In so doing, you will quickly learn whether you’re engaging with an intransigent cultist who cannot be reasoned with or the growing population of Americans who are ready to abandon Trump’s sinking ship. I hope you’ll share what you’re learning both in coming live chats and in the comments section.

The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech in August of 1963, warned, “It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment.” He had come to the National Mall “to remind America of the fierce urgency of now,” he said. “This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.” And more:

Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

These ideas resonated powerfully then. The need for audacity is obvious now. King’s urgent message continues to speak to our time as we recognize how shattered our nation will be if we fail to curtail the Trump regime’s continuing corruption and destruction.

Let’s not look at this enterprise darkly. This is our opportunity to fulfill the promise of democracy, a task that rests on the shoulders of every citizen who believes in the value of self-governance, the necessity of justice and the possibility of a progressive future.

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As we head to the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

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In this latest episode of Six Questions, Stuart underscored that the Democrats need to see themselves as a dissident movement rather than simply a governing party that would follow victory in the midterms with business as usual. That means dealing with the “large criminal enterprise” that is Donald Trump and the Republicans.

That means abolishing ICE, for example, which is “a death squad” operating like a secret police force, and publishing information about all those masked thugs. It also means holding the many criminals involved in the regime’s corruption accountable—at the state level by attorneys general, if needed. Call it a “truth and reconciliation” process, something that America has failed to do before.

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In reflecting on these coming two months leading up the November midterms, I revisited an essay I wrote two months after Donald Trump was inaugurated for a second term. It didn’t take a lot of imagination to grasp where things were heading: His sycophantic enablers were already busy dismantling our liberal government while preparing new ways to enrich Trump, his family and his billionaire cronies.

But in my essay from March 21, 2025, entitled “What Trump Can’t Do,” I sought a framework to help reject a feeling of powerlessness, avoid despair, and remember our capacity to survive and ultimately drive change. I know that can be challenging, especially as Trump continues to unravel and his ideas and actions become more unhinged. (Yesterday he insisted that America owns the moon.) But I think these nine ideas are worth revisiting, both as a reminder of what Trump has failed to take from us and what power we have to move beyond this terrible chapter.

In a coming essay, I intend to articulate in very concrete terms what’s at stake in the midterms and what an overwhelming Democratic victory—one that includes taking control of the House and the Senate—makes possible. At the top of my list: Accountability for the widespread corruption and criminality—that means investigations and prosecutions—as a necessary step to re-establishing ethics and the rule of law, rebuilding our democracy and reawakening our confidence in our shared future.

What Trump Can’t Do

Every day, Donald Trump and his fascist regime are subjecting our country to wanton destruction. It’s hard to believe this hostile, hateful trashing of America has only been underway for two months. But let’s not minimize the impact of the attempts to dismantle and demolish America’s democratic institutions, alliances, values, principles and credibility: They are exhausting, sickening, stunning in their depth and breadth. Inevitably, there are many among us who are feeling overwhelmed and beaten by this cruel and full-on assault as they struggle with fear and despair.

But facing an enemy within we cannot afford to check out. Every day I’m exploring what we can do to minimize the damage—to confront this un-American collection of miscreants. These are people who reject the rule of law, free speech and due process, the separation of powers, democracy and justice itself, in their knee-bending fealty to a delusional sociopath hell-bent on ending the American democratic project and consolidating power to do whatever he wants.

Making change requires rejecting a sense of powerlessness and recognizing our collective power and possibility. While we may be horrified by what’s happening—what the Republicans and Democrats and the weaknesses in our system are letting him get away with—we also need to remember what Trump can’t do. Here are nine illustrations of what I mean.

1. Trump can’t take away our anger. You can see it rising at town halls as livid Americans confront and shout down GOP elected officials trying to defend the violations. The more this regime tries to strip away our democratic freedoms, the angrier we’ll become. Every day you see more transgressions, remember that our anger is our fuel.

2. He can’t stop us from using our minds. Trump can cut $400 million in funding from Columbia University as a showcase of the regime’s depraved plan to destroy higher education and silence dissent. They can undermine academic research—and drive a brain drain—but they can’t end our ability to study and learn and get smarter. They may seek an utterly uneducated citizenry, but they can’t take away our intelligence or our ability to comprehend the truth of their hateful agenda.

3. He can’t stop us from reading or writing or consuming knowledge and beauty. He and his enablers can ban the books they don’t like, but we’ll still find our way to them. He could try and shut down every credible media organization in the country, but writers and journalists will continue to write and still find ways to share what they are learning. The regime could ban poetry, end the distribution of film and TV that doesn’t match their fake patriotism, promote Trump’s favorite music at a Trump-ruined Kennedy Center as the only music we should hear. But not only would that not stop us, it would heighten our anger and our determination to demand freedom of choice.

4. He can’t hide his fraudulence. Canada should be the 51st state? The Canadians are nasty people? Volodymyr Zelensky is a dictator? Russia didn’t invade Ukraine? Tariffs will make us richer? Elon Musk is making great sacrifices to make America better? The list of farce and fraud is endless. No matter how much chaos, conflict and violence he incites—no matter how much fear he induces—he will fail to convince the majority that up is down, bad is good and he’s not a lying conman.

5. He can’t make us hate a free and democratic America. Do the henchmen of this dictatorial regime really imagine the more they attack America and what it means to be a democracy—values and principles like equality and diversity, freedom of speech and self-governance—that most Americans will simply fall in line? They may think the adoration of their base, the obedience of spineless Republicans and craven billionaires, and the drumbeat of Fox propaganda ensures their ability to control what it means to be American, but they are sorely wrong.

6. He can’t convince us that our allies are really our enemies. Nor, for that matter, can he convince us that our enemies are really our allies. It’s not just eight decades of democratic alliance-building since World War II and the obvious hostility of Russia and other pro-Putin authoritarians to Western democracy. We have and will continue to hear the clarion call of opposition from our friends in Canada, Europe and beyond who are as horrified by Trump’s America as we are. This history and this current chorus of support will not be spat down some memory hole and quickly forgotten.

7. He can’t make us stop loving. We will keep loving who we love. We will keep acting with compassion toward people in need and people in danger. In the short-run, they can raise the threat levels of doing the right thing and showing mercy, compassion and kindness, but that remains a sick mission certain to fail. Love is love and no king, no dictator, no madman or his depraved sycophants, can make us stop loving.

8. He can’t stop us from realizing our collective power. Consider the rising anger, the refusal to accept the decimation of America, the mounting evidence of crimes and overreach, the prioritizing of tax cuts for billionaires over securing Social Security and Medicare for the rest of us, the intolerable fact that the world’s richest man is hastening this destruction. It’s only a question of time before millions of Americans decide they’ve had enough. This is not a pipe dream; this is inevitable. We are Americans after all and we’re not about to be ruled by a malignant dictator. We will decide our own future.

9. Trump cannot last. This all may seem overwhelming now. It might seem like this nightmare—just two months old—will never end. But the fraud and weakness, the cruelty and hate will catch up with them. This is no thousand-year Reich, just like the Nazi madness was no thousand-year Reich. Let’s not minimize the horror and the obstacles to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but don’t doubt the end will come. Think how lovely that dancing in the street will be when we emerge.

Try as they might, Trump and his regime can never steal what makes us human. I’m counting on us proving it in 2026 and 2028—and years to come.

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As we head to the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.

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Eighteen American soldiers have died because of Donald Trump’s unauthorized war of choice with Iran. More than 750 American soldiers have been wounded as of Aug. 4. More than $113 billion of taxpayer funds have been spent by one overall assessment. At least 15 U.S. military bases and hundreds of structures in the Persian Gulf have been badly damaged or destroyed. Meanwhile, thousands of Iranians have been killed, more than 25,000 have been wounded and millions have been displaced.

But for Donald Trump, a sociopath who lacks the capacity to understand the pain and suffering he causes others, the war with Iran is “small potatoes.” Here’s the despicable thing he said from our Oval Office yesterday: “A lot of people don’t call it a war. I call it a military conflict because it’s small potatoes for us. It’s not a big thing.”

Small potatoes. Not a big thing.

We’re supposed to not take it so seriously because “a lot of people don’t call it a war.” He’s repeatedly minimized it as an “excursion” or even "a little detour,” as if he can put a name on something and change its factual reality. Or he can just simply lie through his teeth as he constantly does.

Bothered about the price of gas, triggered by the Iran war which led to the closing of the Strait of Hormuz? Nope. Not a problem. Because he told us that affordability issues are a hoax, gas prices are actually coming down now and Scott Bessent, his sycophantic treasury secretary, has conveniently and ludicrously blamed gas prices on Ukraine attacking Russian energy sources.

Of course, if you compare the losses to Vietnam or World War II, the Iran war may seem less significant. But is this the appropriate way to interpret this military conflict, especially since Trump has no idea, no strategy, for ending it? Have we forgotten that taking a nation to war and putting men and women in harm’s way should be the gravest decision a real president ever makes? Should not the death of even one American be a reason to grieve rather than minimize the loss as small potatoes?

Trump’s latest attack on reality will likely be quickly skimmed over or ignored entirely by the legacy media. But I think it’s important to pause and recognize the human cost of elevating a sociopath and pathological liar to the nation’s highest office. And that cost heads higher when a Republican Congress abdicates its duty to ensure that a president must not abuse his power and take the nation into war without proper consultation and authorization.

Do you think the war with Iran is “small potatoes”? How morally broken and dangerous is it for the world’s largest military to be led by a man who treats war so carelessly? Perhaps you’d like to describe the kinds of leaders a healthy electorate would choose. Or maybe you’d like to comment on what impact you think the continuing war with Iran will have on the November midterms.

As always, I look forward to reading your observations and the opportunity for the America, America community to learn from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.

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A patriotic U.S. Postal Service official blew the whistle on Tuesday over “grave concerns” on a “secretive, rushed,” “risky and haphazard” effort by the federal government to take over state-run elections and mail-in voting before the midterms. This led to a hearing yesterday in Boston in which Judge Indira Talwani—who previously put in place a temporary restraining order until Sept. 10—worried about the rising chaos and probability of “major disenfranchisement” of voters. She promised to rule quickly on the broader legality.

The federal judge wondered why a major voting rule change could not wait until it could be carried out with care. “I think that’s what’s so puzzling to me about this case,” Talwani said, glossing over the obvious intention of the Trump regime and its years-long lies of election fraud.

Then, as of yesterday evening, Trump’s Solicitor General, D. John Sauer, whipped up yet another emergency filing. He is seeking to jump over the lower courts and get the extremist Supreme Court to allow the regime to bulldoze a path—kind of like tearing down the East Wing—for the postal service to prohibit delivering ballots in states that refused to share voter data with the federal government. And more: Sauer wants mail-in ballots that do not comply with Trump’s made-up standards to be thrown out.

Sauer’s gaslighting argument: Freezing the plan would impose “serious irreparable harm on the federal government, the states themselves, and the voting public.”

Uh-huh. Never mind the U.S. Constitution that puts the states in charge of managing elections, not the federal government.

This follows Donald Trump’s March executive order for the Homeland Security department to create a “state citizenship list” to control mail voting, as well as the hurried creation of an error-riddled computer system that could invalidate tens of thousands of ballots. In this system, if even one ballot in a bulk-mailed batch is improperly scanned, the whole batch would be thrown out.

It is insidious, anti-democratic and wrong to deny the will of the people this way. As much as the specifics of this dirty operation are new to us, the desire of Trump to suppress Americans' right to free expression at the ballot box has been ongoing.

Indeed, this latest coup links straight back to Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump incited an insurrection and tried to stay in power rather than acknowledge the elections results and commit to a peaceful transfer of power.

In our ongoing effort to comprehend and confront the daily acts of destruction by the Trump regime during this second term, we sometimes miss the profundity of individual attacks on our system and people. But this latest effort strikes me as a sickeningly vivid illustration that America is being led by a traitor who despises our Constitution and betrays our most sacred rights as Americans.

It’s hard to overstate how mad it is that we have reached this point—how all the available evidence of Trump’s unfitness to serve and carry out the most basic duties of our highest office was not sufficient for voters to deny him. Now we must contend with a crook, a corrupt mob boss who’s exploiting his position to feed on the ruins of liberty. But as bad as all that is, what’s worse is he is putting at risk our most fundamental and valuable role as democratic citizens.

Are we really going to let him and his fellow haters end our 250-year-old American project? The answer has to be no.

We can take strength from the anonymous whistleblower’s heroism, filing a report through Whistleblower Aid, a nonprofit legal group. “Potentially millions of American voters may not receive their mail-in ballot this election cycle in a timely manner, or at all,” the postal official warned.

We can find reason for optimism in the quick response of Sen. Richard Blumenthal, the ranking member on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, to expose this effort that could cause “catastrophic failure” of the system and “derail the midterms.” Said the Connecticut senator before releasing the whistleblower’s findings, “This administration seems hell-bent on changing the framework on casting ballots in this country clearly for political reasons."

We can also take encouragement from Judge Talwani, who pledged to quickly rule on this process. “We are 70 days from the election and I have nothing from the USPS about how this will happen,” she told the Justice Department lawyer representing the postal service.

I don’t know whether this Supreme Court will once again ignore its responsibility to the Constitution in order to serve Trump and secure him maximum, authoritarian power. Its track record does not bode well.

But I remain hopeful that massive turnout by an enraged electorate can override efforts to silence the people’s voice, even if a percentage of votes are denied before or after the election when Trump will surely dispute the outcome. That’s because I believe that an overwhelming majority are finally grasping the grave danger of letting a corrupt enemy of the people and his accomplices decide our fate.

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To better understand what’s happening and sort through how to overcome it, I spoke to the talented Barb McQuade, a former federal prosecutor, MS Now legal analyst, University of Michigan law professor and author of an important new book, The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government.

I think you’ll find her insights valuable, especially as we look ahead to curtailing Trump’s power at the midterms and evaluating new leaders for 2028. We explore some of the most dangerous aspects of this systematic corruption for our democracy and society, the role of income and wealth inequality and broligarchs exacerbating the extreme disparity, the kind of leadership America needs and specific new measures that can change our future.

I hope you’ll give it a listen and share it.

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As the midterms approach, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy. I pledge to raise my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. While most of my posts are free, for just $50 a year or $5 a month paid subscribers get to join the community, too: full access to thoughtful comments sections, live forums, the whole archive and more.

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We are living in historic times. Decades from now, scholars and interested citizens will be studying this period to try and understand how and why so many Americans were willing to toss away the democratic experiment—the promise of 250 years contained within the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution—to serve a deranged, malignant and corrupt man.

Our time will be a case study for them to assess the nature of the human condition and how a broken American political system and society made such a rupture possible. They will be reading and watching with the same fascination that many of us explore the horrors of Nazi Germany and that nation’s willingness to follow another deeply deranged and malignant man.

How could the Germans have let it happen? Well, we know now how demagogues can appeal to people’s worst impulses and the rich and powerful will selfishly abandon their morals in order to curry favor, no matter how mad. I’m looking at you, Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, aa you have already changed the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America on your maps.

Really? Is your position that fragile? Will you next agree to call the Atlantic Ocean the Trump Ocean if he demands it?

Oh, there are so many examples of sycophancy, cowardice and desperation that I could list here. But what I’m struck by now is not the enormous well of fear and failure that has overtaken the worst of us, no matter how much it loads up our public discourse and drives doubt about our ability to escape this tragic chapter.

Rather, allow me to dwell on the enormous waste of time and energy that could be spent on real problems to improve our world. Every day—if you look—you will see stories that reflect the consequences of not dealing with the climate crisis. Every day we will see the results of a nation that has failed to address the epidemic of gun violence, the absence of affordable healthcare for all, income and wealth inequality on a never-before-seen scale, the intensifying struggle for ordinary Americans to get by, deteriorating public education and the continuing stranglehold of racism. Perhaps you will have other issues to add to this list.

But of all the tragic consequences of reelecting a narcissistic criminal obsessed with wealth and power, one strikes me as the most corrosive: The nation’s inability to focus on the real and profound problems that beset our world.

It’s not new that Americans are seen by others as an unserious people. But the willingness to twice elect a man so buffoonish, depraved and hateful to the highest office in the land legitimately provokes the belief that Americans have not just lost the plot of their democratic project, they cannot be trusted any longer to do the right thing. It will be a long time, if ever again, that the rest of the world can view us seriously as a people to be trusted with the fate of the world.

Trump and Killer Pete Hegseth have exposed America’s true weakness. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, they believe “might makes right” and continue to break the U.S. military, warping it into a tool for their poisonous and backward fantasy of a sexist, white supremacist, hyper-masculine country. While that dangerously empowers adversaries devoted to America’s destruction, it also has forced long-time allies to accept that they have to strengthen their own defenses and deepen and expand partnerships in a world without America as a reliable ally.

American leaders who could enter a room with the expectation of being seated at the head of the table will in the coming decades have to earn back the necessary respect to even be seated at the table. We will long be viewed with skepticism, and rightly so. That may be sad for us, but I can tell you that it’s also sad for many leaders and ordinary citizens around the world that used to see us as a source of security and stability—and even a model of leadership.

As we approach the midterms in just 63 days, we will hear plenty of skepticism toward the positions of the most progressive candidates—from Republicans and moderate Democrats alike. But we should not doubt that the emergence of candidates identifying themselves as Democratic Socialists or who support many of their policies represents an angry electorate that recognizes the system is broken and is demanding real change.

“Working families are tired of status quo politics and the same old, same old establishment policies that have failed them for years,” Sen. Bernie Sanders wrote in a recent column for The Guardian. His explanation of why many voters are supporting progressive candidates is not a new message for him, but it particularly resonates now when the failure to deal with real issues has come at such a painfully high price. As he put it:

In the richest country in the history of the world, Americans do not want to have to struggle every single day just to pay the bills. Working-class people do not want to die years younger than they should because of illnesses caused by the never-ending stress they experience just to survive. And, like past generations, they do not want their kids to have a lower standard of living than they do.

Are progressives who call for getting money out of politics, expanding the Supreme Court, passing Medicare for All, taxing billionaires their fair share, confronting the climate crisis, regulating artificial intelligence, abolishing ICE and cutting defense spending really so far from today’s mainstream? Will the sloppy cries about the horrors of socialism and the ridiculous lies that progressive Democrats are communists really succeed at scaring voters to side with the Trump Republicans this time around? I don’t think so.

Our public square has rarely been noisier or more jammed with lies. Our White House has never been occupied with people more bent on destroying our democracy and ignoring the needs of people in its corrupt pursuit of self-enrichment. Our political system has never been more obviously broken nor has our Oval Office been more focused on denying constitutional rights.

Decades from now, students of history will be asking how was it possible that Americans could let this all happen. But those students will have the benefit of hindsight. Just maybe, they will look at the results of the 2026 midterms and conclude that Americans were not monolithic—that the depth of opposition represented a significant majority, that Americans grasped their ugly reality and embraced a more progressive future.

That outcome is in our collective power. Achieving it could begin to make clear that we are done with the corruption and crime, the narcissism and the sociopathy, and we demand leaders who are committed to making lives better and who are capable of pursuing real change, not more of the same. And it would allow us to tell future generations that we understood that Trump and his regime were wasting our time, that—as actor Peter Finch said in the film Network exactly 50 years ago—“I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.”

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The story of what Trump has done in Venezuela had largely fallen out of the news. You know, that country that Donald Trump sent our soldiers to illegally attack back in January, then kidnap its president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores.

Before the military strike, what Trump called “a spectacular assault,” Trump foreshadowed his plot. “We had a lot of oil there,” Trump told reporters. “They threw our companies out, and we want it back.”

Soon he was announcing that “we are going to run the country now,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio would be put in charge (and still is) and “we” will take over the oil business there. “We’ll be selling oil in large amounts to other countries,” Trump told a reporter, adding that this “would make a lot of money.”

A week later, pumped up with delusions of triumph, Trump was asked by a New York Times reporter if he is constrained by international law. “I don’t need international law,” he said. Asked if there were any limits on his global powers, he answered, “Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”

Fast forward eight months. We learned yesterday that Donald Trump made a deal with Venezuela—that is, if you believe when someone has a gun to their head and agrees to something they are “making a deal.”

The U.S. would be taking control of “65 billion barrels of proven Oil Reserves,” Trump posted, calling it “THE BIGGEST OIL DEAL IN WORLD HISTORY!” He credited Rubio and Killer Pete Hegseth, “working closely” with Venezuela’s installed president, Delcy Rodriguez, for sorting out the agreement that would involve an unnamed private business. This was Trump’s flailing attempt to convince people that this “will substantially lower Gas Prices for all Americans, long into the future.”

Doing her part, Rodriguez put out a statement detailing the arrangement, which involves developing 17 oil fields with the potential of producing 65 billion barrels and that attracting $100 billion in investment and result in more than $209 billion in taxes for Caracas. She stated this “will have a significant impact on our nation’s revival.”

According to reporting by the AP, the deal would grant a private company 100-year rights on the fields, give the U.S. 55 percent of the output of the new company, as well as an ownership stake and rights to buy oil at cost.

Let’s put aside the fact that major oil producers have previously called Venezuela “un-investable” and that the country’s crumbling oil infrastructure is far from ready to manage such production, belying Trump’s imaginary suggestion that this would be a quick fix for gas prices. Suffice to say, I am not applauding this “historic deal.”

What the hell is Marco Rubio doing running Venezuela? He is described by the Times as “the de facto viceroy of Venezuela” who “effectively controls Venezuela’s finances, the distribution of its natural resources and its government”? Why the hell is the so-called Secretary of War involved in negotiations to control a sovereign nation’s oil reserves? And do they and their boss think that anyone has forgotten that they used the U.S. military to lawlessly grab Venezuela’s president on drug charges and take him to an American prison where he has claimed his innocence? Remember when they pretended that what they really care about is stopping the illegal drug trade?

With all its moral imperfections and abuses, America could once consider itself the good guy, who helped win the war against fascism and the Nazis, then helped Europe and Japan rebuild. America could once describe itself to the world as a beacon of democracy and liberty that welcomed the “huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” Lady Liberty was a source of pride.

Now America is led by a convicted felon engaging in corruption on an unprecedented scale, a “plunderer-in-chief” who looks at foreign policy as an opportunity to flex military muscle and take stuff. Never mind international law or—dare I even say it—the appearance of morality. As countries and leaders turn away from Trump’s America (see the latest example, Canada), where their sovereignty and leadership is denied or abused, it’s hard to see how this poisonous stain can soon be removed.

So here’s today’s question: Can America ever regain its honor? Has Trump succeeded in permanently trashing our nation’s reputation? Do you think that a new president can succeed in turning the tide and rebuilding relationships with democratic allies and earning respect again as a partner? Or do you believe that the harm could take a generation or more to repair, if it ever can be?

As always, I look forward to reading your observations and the opportunity for the America, America community to learn from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.

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As the midterms approach, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy and the expansion of independent media. I pledge to raise my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. While most of my posts are free, paid subscribers get full access to our thoughtful comments sections, exclusive online chats, video recordings and more.

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These are times to take inspiration from people who refuse to be put down by the cruelty, vanity and stupidity that have endangered our nation. Their example does double duty by beating back Donald Trump and the people who emulate him, while also providing a model for the kind of behavior and thinking that makes our world a better place.

On my list this week: The legendary Dolly Parton, whose death has been both heartbreaking and a reason to reflect on her extraordinary contributions, as well as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who won’t be cowed by Trump’s bullying.

There have been many touching tributes to Dolly since her passing on Tuesday, including a cavalcade of clips to remind us of her beautiful buoyancy and her remarkable ability to spread joy, laughter, love and compassion. I can’t count how many times I’ve replayed “Jolene,” one of my all-time favorite songs that I never tire of hearing.

While Dolly’s rags-to-riches story from the Tennessee Smoky Mountains to a vast global stage is moving, that’s not the experience that made her life so meaningful; it was her commitment to use her talent and resources to spread happiness and improve lives. She didn’t put her early years behind her, but brought them with her to inform the choices she made as her life evolved.

That meant pursuing changes for limitations she saw. Dolly’s father never learned to read, for example. So she was motivated to launch the Imagination Library to distribute books to kids up to the age of five—more than 332 million over the last three decades. She saw friends and neighbors grow up with little education and without the social and economic mobility that it makes possible. So in recent years, she fully funded college tuition for employees at her Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, TN, as well as some 11,000 full-time and part-time employees who worked at any of the two dozen amusement parks and attractions under Dollywood’s parent company. And when scientists were rushing to develop a vaccine for COVID-19, Dolly contributed $1 million to Vanderbilt University to help advance early-stage research.

There are few people in our collective life, especially at this deeply divided time, who are so widely beloved as Dolly. And what makes that so heart-warming is that—beyond the powerful allure of her music—the love stemmed from her ability to make everyone feel included for who they are. That included supporting the LGBTQ+ communities queer and expressing her desire for every vulnerable population “to be treated good.”

While she was reluctant to directly address politics, she made it clear in 2020, “I just do what my heart tells me to do…and God’s direction.” And she didn’t hesitate addressing Black Lives Matter—in her delightful way: “Of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter?” And it wasn’t just talk: She invested millions of her royalties earned from Whitney Houston’s soaring 1992 version of her song “I Will Always Love You” into a Black area of Nashville.

Maybe Stella Parton, Dolly’s 77-year-old younger sister, Stella Parton, best summed up Dolly’s impact when she described as “one of the most generous, thoughtful and kind people I’ve ever known,” adding:

What the world saw is exactly who she was, so much so, she told me recently that if there was no hope for her, she would still allow her medical team to try experimental drugs in the hope of helping others in the future.

My sister was always thinking of others and if you want to honor her legacy, show more kindness, lift others up and give more of your time and resources as she continued to do to the very end.

Show more kindness, lift others up and give more of your time and resources. Sounds to me like a valuable message not only for how to live a good life, but also how to pay tribute to a gifted storyteller and beautiful human who embraced humanity and demonstrated the power of love.

Canada will not “fall in line”

If love offers one necessary counterpoint to the Trump regime, the fierce refusal to submit to a bully offers another. Enter Canada’s Mark Carney, who clearly decided he had had enough of Donald Trump and his foolish, hostile plan to impose 50 percent tariffs on many goods and services of our northern neighbor, long-time ally and principal trading partner.

Rather than absorb Trump’s vengeful attacks, Carney pledged dollar-for-dollar retaliation worth about $20 billion that is certain to cause harm to American states—and particularly red states—that count on Canadian trade. While Trump’s dumb plan led to talks between the two countries’ trade delegations, they quickly collapsed after Trump insisted that Canada should “fall in line” or face “far WORSE” than the existing tariffs.

This bullying escalated the dispute beyond economics into a matter of independence and sovereignty. “An attitude at the negotiation table that Canada is a subsidiary of the United States” is “not something we’re going to accept,” Carney said, also noting that “the Americans want to destroy our major industries, including autos, steel and aluminum.” This from a man who—before becoming Canadian prime minster—was governor of the Bank of Canada (2008 to 2013) and governor of the Bank of England (2013 to 2020).

Trump, meanwhile, underscored his lack of seriousness after his failure to intimidate Canada. "Look, I don't know how you feel about Canada. They are one of the worst countries in the world to deal with,” he said, then followed up by idiotically signing an executive order Thursday demanding Lake Ontario be renamed Lake America.

While the childish despot threw a tantrum, Carney plotted Canada’s future without the United States—a reality that will surely exacerbate the economic troubles facing such states as Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

“This fall we will begin intense discussions with the European Union, the world’s second-largest economy, to build a much stronger and deeper economic and security partnership,” Carney said, explaining that the EU can count on Canada being “trustworthy and reliable.” This is in contrast to Canada’s southern neighbor, of course.

This moment harks back to Carney’s important speech in January in Davos, Switzerland, when he made clear that Trump had accelerated the need for change. “We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” he said, a phrase that tragically will endure. That meant making a break with the “the most powerful [who] pursue their interests using economic integration as a weapon of coercion.”

And Carney concluded with this: “We know the old order is not coming back. We shouldn’t mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy. But we believe that from the fracture, we can build something better, stronger, more just.”

Eight months later, Carney has demonstrated that he’s willing to back up these ideas with action. Maybe America’s angry toddler will backtrack and the two nations can find a middle road that will minimize the unnecessary damage.

But while I worry about the financial consequences for people and industries that depend on trade with Canada, I’m inspired by the defiant Mark Carney. In this moment, he’s one with all of us who say no to a foolish bully. May it serve as inspiration for other global leaders reluctant to cross this terrible man—just as Dolly’s full-hearted kindness and joy reminded us that we can be better and happier.

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Note: In the coming weeks before the midterms, I will periodically highlight specific pro-democracy advocates and local political races to better understand the shape and depth of the opposition to the Trump regime and its aggressive supporters. That includes this story from Florida.

There once was a time when school board elections were boring non-partisan events, not exactly the stuff that generated national attention or served as bellwethers of a changing America. But over the last four years, the Sarasota County schools in Florida have been a focal point for the right-wing culture wars, attracting attention for banning books, opposing mask mandates, rejecting LGBTQ+ inclusion and even voting to cooperate with ICE operations.

But in another sign of the rising blue wave and voters’ growing exhaustion with “anti-woke” partisan battles, last week’s election for the county’s school board was won handily by two Democrat-endorsed candidates, both of whom are former teachers, plus a third Democratic candidate who will participate in a run-off race in November. This brings to an end the board’s conservative majority, which was led by a a co-founder of the far-right Moms for Liberty, and possibly years of nasty partisan policies that pitted neighbors against neighbors.

“I really think at the end of the day, regardless of political affiliation, our community was just tired of the culture wars, the political theater and being the center of national attention for all the wrong reasons,” said Megan Tennimon, a former second-grade teacher and lifelong Sarasota resident who won in Sarasota’s District 4.

“What they’ve seen in the last four years, with basically the tabloid happenings on the school board and a lot of the policies and resolutions that were being made, our general community did not agree with,” said Beth Mayberry, a retired math teacher and winner in District 5, whose campaign focused on school funding, arts programming and mental health support. “I think that [voters] realized how destructive those divisive policies really were.”

The third candidate, Jimmy Glover, a 30-year employee of United Airlines and active community member, beat his two Republican rivals. Glover fell short of the necessary 50 percent vote threshold and now advances to a runoff in November. “If he wins, Glover will be the first person of color to serve on the five-member board, which will be fully led by liberals.”

“Like many parents, I grew concerned as I watched our School Board focus more on politics than on students,” Glover explained in his campaign literature. “I didn’t vote for book bans or culture wars, and I realized my family’s values weren’t being represented. I’m running to bring a student-centered approach back to the board.”

Yes, there were conservative wins last week in other parts of Florida, leading Tina Descovich, another Moms for Liberty co-founder and its chief executive, to insist, “Every couple of years someone in the media writes our obituary, and every couple of years parents show up and prove them wrong.”

But in just a few months their chief advocate for “anti-woke” extremism in Florida, term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis, will be out of office. And they may just find the governor’s mansion in Tallahassee occupied by David Jolly, who won the Democratic nomination last week and is polling neck-and-neck with Republican Byron Donalds. Jolly is a never-Trump former Republican congressman and television pundit, while congressman Donalds won his primary with Trump’s backing and more than $50 million.

It should be obvious that schools are for expanding knowledge, not creating unsafe and even hostile environments where too many students cannot learn. To that end, it’s critical to elect public servants committed to serving the people, not demonizing vulnerable populations. Here’s to finding optimism and strength in the commitment of Floridians and other Americans to fight back against a hateful Republican agenda.

There are only 70 days until the November midterms.

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Yesterday Chief Justice John Roberts singlehandedly gave Donald Trump the go-ahead to keep building his ballroom that was not authorized by Congress. Roberts’ one-sentence “emergency” order—pending some future time when the full court may rule—overrides a district court order that stopped the aboveground construction in April and a subsequent appeals court ruling. Federal judge Richard Leon had granted the request of the National Trust for Historic Preservation to stop the construction, stating that “no statute comes close to giving the President the authority he claims to have.” And more, Leon wrote, “The President of the United States is the steward of the White House for future generations of First Families. He is not, however, the owner!”

Once touted as a needed ballroom after Trump demolished the White House’s historic East Wing, it has since been justified as both a ballroom and a necessary “military complex” that is “vital for national security.” Once promised to be built with $400 million in private funds, the cost has risen to an estimated $600 million—with half of that total to be paid by you, me and every other taxpayer. Add this to the bottomless bucket of lies that we all are paying for.

When Judge Leon made his ruling this spring, he noted, “National security is not a blank check to proceed with otherwise unlawful activity.” When the three-judge appeals court ruled 2-1 two weeks ago, they noted that Congress had not “ceded unfettered authority to the executive branch to dramatically redesign, reshape and reconstruct the White House—the People’s House—to fit a particular president’s desires.”

But John Roberts in his infinite wisdom—on the day when the construction would have stopped without his temporary order—has now ensured that Donald Trump can keep erecting his vanity project that one day could serve as the bunker from which a new Democratic president will have to extract him. I wish I were being hyperbolic; everything is possible with this madman. The Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court has escalated the possibility of this scenario by green-lighting more building with the thin veneer that—“pending further order” of the full court at some future unnamed date—there could be a different outcome.

I believe these lawless and corrupt machinations illustrate the ugly truth of an unfettered criminal and dictatorial narcissist who is determined to build monuments for and to himself. This ballroom/military complex also showcases a broken system in which one man can pursue his whims and neither the presumed authority of Congress nor a functioning Supreme Court is available to stop him. Looking ahead to the day when a Democratic president occupies the White House again, perhaps his or her agenda will include tearing down this monument to lawlessness, despotism and corruption.

What do you think? Must the ballroom be torn down? Does this have to be on the Democratic agenda? Should the East Wing be rebuilt? And, while we’re talking, should the Rose Garden be re-created, ending the Mar-a-Lago-style concrete parking lot furnished with tables and umbrellas? Lastly, does this latest act of fealty by John Roberts underscore the need for real changes at the Supreme Court, including expanding the number of justices and limiting the length of their terms?

As always, I look forward to reading your observations and the opportunity for the America, America community to learn from each other. Please do be respectful in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.

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Earlier this week, CNN reporter Kristen Holmes asked Donald Trump whether his plan to scale back military exercises with South Korea came at the behest of North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un (whose government Trump called “unthreatening and respectful”). Trump didn’t answer Holmes’ reasonable question about his shameful betrayal of an American ally in service to the murderous dictator. Instead, he attacked her.

“You’re fake news. You’re loud. You’re a loud, boisterous person. You’re fake news,” he said. And he kept going as she tried to follow up.: “Be quiet. Be quiet! Be quiet. You’re a fake reporter and you report fake news.”

Later, CNN execs stuck up for their journalist, noting that Holmes “did her job” by asking Trump “a tough, relevant, and newsworthy question on behalf of the American people.” They also noted that “personal attacks on journalists for asking questions are beneath the office and inconsistent with the principles of a free press.”

Trump’s repeated attacks against journalists—and particularly female reporters—are not new. Nor are his tedious lies about “fake news,” intended to degrade the public’s trust in the media and convince the public to rely on what he is saying.

But as his deadly lies multiply, his effort to silence dissent and deny the public the truth becomes both more intolerable and more necessary to reject. It also reveals his increasing inability to handle criticism—which helps explain his desperate hunger for dictatorial rule where no one dares question the Great Leader. Trump depends on a protective bubble in which he’s never wrong and never fails, a fantasy world where America is the “hottest” country in the world, respected by all and no longer a “laughingstock.”

Which is why tough questioning by reporters that penetrate his bubble of lies is so important. In response to another reporter’s question about the lack of food on board the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Middle East. Trump spun a fairy tale about a retired admiral telling him that the Lincoln is “beautifully maintained” and lied that many sailors have served “much longer” than the 250 consecutive days the Lincoln’s crew has been stuck on board without touching land.

Yet the combination of the military press that first broke the news of troubled sailors attempting to jump overboard and detailed reporting of family members describing food shortages and unsanitary and other deteriorating conditions on the aircraft carrier belied Trump’s fantasy. This attention has accelerated the return of the ship and some 5,000 sailors to their home port in San Diego.

Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff also demonstrated this week why tough and knowing criticism by elected officials can cut through the untethered Trump’s facade of lies and ongoing corruption and criminality. Here’s what Ossoff had to say at a campaign rally in Atlanta on Sunday:

While the sailors on the [USS Abraham] Lincoln fight his war, while he fruitlessly drains our munitions and oil reserves, the president sleeps through his meetings. He golfs and trades stocks. See, he doesn’t want to do the job. He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace gifted by the Emir of Qatar.

There’s a lot there, but it’s telling that the phrase that has triggered a White House and MAGA freakout is “travel with Natalie.” That’s Natalie Harp, of course, the 35-year-old aide who has been involved at all hours of the day and night in Trump’s venomous and unhinged posting—engaging with sensitive information despite lacking security clearance for a full year. Her own brother has described her as possessing an “unhealthy obsession” with Trump.

In a sign that Ossoff’s observation struck a nerve, Steven Cheung, Trump’s nasty communications operative, spewed this ugly response on X. “Jon Jackoff has to be the biggest cuck loser in politics. Instead of denigrating hard working people serving their country, Jon should look deep into his soul and ask himself why he’s a miserable person who hates this country.”

Cheung was not alone in dishing out insults that further degrade the office for which he serves. The anonymous White House “Rapid Response 47” account on X also dished out poison in response to CNN’s Kristen Holmes’ other question to Trump about Ossoff’s remarks. Calling her a “disgraceful, humiliating embarrassment to her alleged profession,” the account targeted her children and said, “They will be sickened and embarrassed to have a parent be so callous and vindictive.”

Gosh. All of a sudden, Trump’s White House cares about protecting women…or at least Ms. Harp. Some observers have suggested they may also be protecting another woman, Melania Trump, who likely does not like the spotlight on the sycophantic Natalie and the questions about her relationship with her husband.

I’m not here to speculate about the specifics of said relationship. I honestly don’t care. But what I do care about is how she’s succeeded in feeding her malignant boss all manner of material for hateful, untethered posting; this exacerbates the danger of a White House occupant disconnected from reliable information and triggering bad decision-making.

For his part, Sen. Ossoff was not backing down (even after long-time Democratic strategist David Axelrod weakly opined that the Harp comments “distracted and detracted from the power of the message”). Quite the contrary. Ossoff understood that his remarks had drawn blood.

“It’s been amazing to watch this White House melt down over this all week,” he said on Wednesday, telling MS NOW’s Lawrence O’Donnell that the Harp issue is not about personal innuendo. “These White House staffers are adults, public officials paid by the taxpayer, with immense power in positions of public trust.”

He made clear to O’Donnell that the issue goes well beyond this one aide: “Whether it's Natalie Harp printing out Donald Trump's daily dose of delusion and flattery, or [senior trade and manufacturing adviser] Peter Navarro steering taxpayer-funded loans to Trump family investments, or [Defense Secretary] Pete Hegseth deluding the president daily into deepening this quagmire in the Middle East, no one cares about their feelings."

I could not agree more. In fact, it’s never been more important to turn up the heat—to cut through, to draw blood and weaken the power of a regime that is counting on a passive people as it pursues its destructive agenda.

So as we head toward the midterms, the last thing we need is reluctant Democrats, legacy reporters fearful of crossing Trump and losing access—or voters intimidated by a regime that will surely try every trick to discourage them from expressing their views at the ballot box.

Be quiet? No, speak out. This is our constitutional right. A fundamental freedom that we can never relinquish if our republic is to survive.

Each of us must do everything we can to ensure that the size of the November turnout proves that real Americans will not be cowed by a degrading dictator hell bent on silencing our voices in order to hold onto power.

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This was originally published last year on July 25. This week I’ll be back in the thick of things, but wanted to pause one more time to share with you some insights derived from a country that has been rated “the world’s happiest country” for nine straight years. I would humbly suggest the Finns have something to teach us.

In a sane world, most Americans would not be clamoring for the release of the Epstein files—remarkably including some Trump cultists—if the electorate had not voted in an adjudicated rapist with a self-confessed history of sexual assault and a close relationship with a convicted child rapist and sex trafficker.

In a sane world, Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Alina Habba would never have been installed as the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey nor would her competent replacement have been fired by sycophantic Attorney General Pam Bondi who prioritizes loyalty to Trump over her duty to justice and the Constitution.

In a sane world, the Director of National Intelligence would not devote her time to the outrageous effort to find reasons to prosecute former President Barack Obama.

In a sane world, undocumented immigrants would not be violently and carelessly rounded up without due process, nor would a major political party pass legislation that hands over $75 billion to grotesquely expand that lawless enforcement and detention. These are funds not to make the country safer but to appease a vengeful demagogue who despises the rule of law, demonizes migrants and yearns for a white nationalist nation.

Most of all, in that sane world, a vast voting public would have grasped that they were gifted a unique country with an extraordinary opportunity to pursue self-governance and expand freedom—an exceptional experiment in the history of the world that should be embraced, improved and cherished rather than tossed away to the whims of a malignant sociopath.

All this has been on my mind since I came to Finland to see family and friends and breathe for some days. Given the fires blazing in America, it’s been difficult to be thousands of miles away.

But I have benefited from a brief change of venue not because I could free my mind from the realities in my home country, but because it has deepened my conviction that our 249-year-old democratic project cannot and must not be forsaken. This is true for the good of America, but also for every country and people who recognize the promise and possibilities derived from liberal government, seek the expansion of personal and collective freedom, and have long counted on America’s influential example.

It’s good to remember there are other worlds, places where it’s well understood that a country’s embrace of extremism, fascism, cruelty and lawlessness represent the failure to govern, a rejection of equality and a denial of basic human dignity. If such a country once was an uplifting model to the world, it has become instead a grave warning—that the pursuit of a healthy society can be overtaken by grievance, the dark impulse to seek vengeance and the silencing of dissent. In other words, a polarized and troubled democratic country really can lose its mind.

Arriving in Helsinki can almost feel like a recrimination. I mean, you go into the bathroom at the Helsinki airport and you hear a recording of birds singing to make the experience more pleasing. And it’s not just there: You’ll even hear the cheerful recordings of chirping birds in bathrooms at gas stations, along with photo murals of birch tree forests.

You may have heard that Finland has been ranked the happiest country in the world for the last eight years. [Author’s note: In March, Finland was selected again for the top spot.] That label is typically a source of amusement to Finns—the harsh winter weather conditions and the everyday demands of life can cause plenty of irritable moods and negative feelings, especially as the days grow darker and colder. But the friends I asked about this survey agree that the more accurate way to summarize Finland’s mindset is to talk about the unusual level of well-being.

The ranking employs a single survey question for a country’s self-evaluation:

Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?

In addition, the resulting happiness score draws on seven key indicators: GDP per capita, inequality, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and perceptions of corruption. Other factors such as trust, social connections, shared meals and communal kindness play into the resulting “World Happiness Report” produced by the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre in partnership with Gallup, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the group’s editorial board.

Interestingly, the top four countries in the rankings are Nordic: Finland is followed by Denmark, Iceland and Sweden. The United States is 24th—its lowest level since the report was first issued in 2012—and Afghanistan is at the bottom of the list of 147 countries.

So what’s going on here? It should come as no surprise that income inequality—or rather the relative lack of it—is a key determinant. So is a strong social safety net, a family-friendly society, an educated population and environmental consciousness.

Both people I know and surveys of Finns generally agree that the significant expenditure by the government for health care, pensions, unemployment and other social services help create that sense of security and well-being. Finland spends more than 20 percent of its gross domestic product on these services, which is among the highest within the European Union.

A 2022 survey found that 85 percent of Finns are satisfied with the (low cost) education system, 82 percent with the justice system, 70 percent with the country’s (low cost) health care system. In addition, Finns have a high level of trust in their public institutions, including the national government (61 percent) and the civil service (66 percent); that’s well above the average of other European countries.

Several years ago, I explored this topic with a plumber by trade and a father of three, who was quick to mention some of the societal factors that have made Finland a model country. “It’s safe here,” he said first. “Everything works. When you ask for help from an expert or authority, you can trust their advice…If you want to study, everyone has the possibility” because it’s so low cost. He went on to talk about gender equality, the lack of corruption, how “everyone has human rights in this country” and “immigrants are treated as equals.”

Later, my wife’s sister, who works as an early childhood specialist, added her thoughts, emphasizing education, unemployment benefits, health care and other social services. “Even if you are a poor single mother, the country will take care of you. You will be safe.”

Their observations impressed me then—and frankly make me rather jealous now. It’s not that their lives are easy, without struggle, but they worry less about the bottom falling out hastened by hostile government policies.

It’s not all rosy, of course. One of my long-time friends, a film director, talked about the declining support for NATO since its peak when Finland first became a member in April 2023 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The data bears him out.

While 66 percent of Finns still have a positive attitude towards Finland’s NATO membership, support has dropped by five points in the last six months. Now, 53 percent believe that NATO membership does not guarantee that other countries would ultimately assist Finland in a real crisis. That’s down 17 percentage points. And just 29 percent believe it would be in Finland’s interest “to engage in the deepest possible cooperation with the United States, regardless of the issue.”

The reason for this shift is fairly obvious: “Behind this change lies the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States,” writes Sami Matelinen, managing editor at EVA, the Finnish Business and Policy Forum.

While the rising doubt about Finns toward partnership with America is new—and reasonable—their historic skepticism toward its Russian neighbor is not. And while the independent-minded Finns successfully fended off the Soviets during the Winter War and the Continuation War during World War II, they have continued to build their defenses. They have underground bunkers (“civil defense shelters”) throughout the country for about 4.8 million people, including spaces in the Helsinki area exceeding the entire population. Many of these double for peaceful purposes such as swimming pools, playgrounds and hockey rinks, but they were built in recognition of their 830-mile border with an unreliable Eastern neighbor.

I can tell you that Finns have long admired America, maybe particularly American music, classic cars, movies and fashion. So too, they have respected American democracy and such values as equality and justice.

But in most every conversation I’ve had about our present moment, my Finnish friends have struggled to understand how America could have put itself in such danger by electing a man who rejects and is working to dismantle American values, traditions and institutions. Several have also expressed their doubt (and sadness) that they will be visiting the U.S. anytime soon.

When we succeed in overcoming the current madness in America, I’m expecting many of these same Finns to find their inspiration again. I’m counting on them marveling in our ability to beat back this hostile regime, rather than focusing on America as a place that’s lost its mind. Meanwhile, maybe it’s high time to recognize that we can and should learn from countries like Finland that—while relatively homogenous demographically—offer an embrace of the values we hold dear and a mission to keep building a healthy society.

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There was a time when the actions of Donald Trump were almost laughable. But as the sickening transgressions pile up we are exposed on a daily basis to his heinousness and capacity for evil, it has gotten harder (at least for me) to see him and what he’s doing through the funny lens. But that doesn’t mean we don’t need to laugh. In fact, we need it even more. This prompt was originally published on October 14, 2023.

The other night I was with my 22-year-old daughter and we started to laugh so hard—deep from the belly laughter—and I realized I hadn’t done that in far too long. I don’t remember exactly what we laughed about, just that it was full and contagious and warming. I was happy to do it with her.

These have been difficult days, what with the chaos of the Republicans, the ongoing derangements of their leading candidate, and the atrocities of Hamas in Israel and the escalating violent response that portends more bloody days to come. My mind keeps turning to the William Butler Yeats lines: Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold/Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world/The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere/The ceremony of innocence is drowned.

There will be more to say about all that. But not today. My mind is focused on laughter. How about the Chris Farley sketch in which he plays motivational speaker Matt Foley, hired by a dad to scare straight his pot-smoking children? Over and over—in tones over-wrought and bombastic, his movements exaggerated and extreme as he makes his case and struggles to keeps his pants from falling down—Farley delivers the classic line: “I live in a van down by the river.” It never fails to deliver for me.

So do most Will Farrell performances with their passionate ridiculousness. There are many laugh-out-loud examples, but I confess I’m always laughing when he and John C. Reilly play forty-something men thrust together as step brothers when their parents marry. As critic Nick Schager puts it, Adam McKay’s Step Brothers “is a preeminent work of man-child absurdity, a smorgasbord of nonsense involving grown men acting like adolescents who’ve been hit on the head a dozen times too many, and parents struggling to stomach their progeny’s willful inanity.”

Pomposity getting its comeuppance, bad hair choices, bad life choices and the desperate, often humiliating attempts to fix them—all this usually makes me laugh, maybe nowhere better than in The Office. Steve Carrell (the cringe-worthy boss Michael) and Rainn Wilson (the boot-licking deputy Dwight)—responsible for the important work of selling paper for Dunder Mifflin—always prove that what could go wrong will go wrong. One example among many: “The Injury,” when Michael badly burns his foot on a Foreman grill because he likes breakfast in bed and the smell of sizzling bacon.

What about you? What makes you laugh? Perhaps you want to mention particular movies or shows. Maybe you want to share favorite actors or comedians. Or maybe you have a specific life experience or joke that always makes you laugh. I suspect we can all use a little of this necessary elixir.

As always, I look forward to reading your comments and for us all to hear from each other. Please do be respectful in your responses.

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*Photo is Chris Farley as motivational speaker Matt Foley (with David Spade and Christina Applegate) in the classic Saturday Night Live sketch written by Bob Odenkirk of Better Call Saul fame.

My father, his brother and mother escaped from Nazi Germany in March 1939 on the USS Manhattan headed to New York from Hamburg. My grandfather—a physician, member of the Social Democrat Party and Jewish—had already gone underground in November 1938 and escaped to Havana, Cuba. My great-grandmother, the woman who largely raised my father (he was just 10 when they fled), stayed behind in Berlin, unwilling to leave her Germany and the life she knew.

We never knew exactly what happened to Marie after her family left, but I’ve been able to find records that she moved to a home for Jewish elderly. In an uncanny coincidence, that home in Berlin’s Prenzlauer Berg neighborhood was less than a mile from where my wife and I were staying in Mitte, little more than a 15-minute walk away.

While I don’t know what her life was like there, I do know what happened to her and the other elderly residents on August 17, 1942, almost exactly 84 years ago this month: They were all deported to Theresiendstadt near Prague in Czechoslovakia and subsequently murdered by the Nazis. Some died of starvation, others were sent to be gassed at the Auschwitz-Berkenau or Treblinka death camps.

That home in Prenzlauer Berg on Schönhauser Allee still stands. The purpose of the yellowish-brown building has changed multiple times since its residents were sent from there to their deaths. It was used to house Ukrainian forced laborers for the remainder of the war, then taken over by the East Berlin police until 2001. Now it has been transformed into residential apartments, which strikes me as particularly ghoulish not only because of the building’s murderous past, but also because an old Jewish cemetery with many broken stones is directly behind it.

But this is the history of Berlin, a city that does not stand still, even as it has documented its past and erected street plaques detailing its horrors and memorializing some of the many whose lives have been stolen. It’s worth noting one location that has been consciously ignored, so as to not turn it into a mecca: the site of Hitler’s bunker where he committed suicide. Now there’s a parking lot there with nothing to see besides a nearby snack shop.

What follows below is primarily excerpted from my visit to Berlin four years ago, but I should note one shift in the thinking of my friends here now. If just a few years ago I could savor a kind of positive progressivism—an antidote to the Trump-fueled hostility coursing through America—now there is a growing fear of the rise of the far-right Alternative for Germany party (the AfD). I heard this from a handful of friends, but the worries of one stands out.

Rolf-Axel Krause, a musician and educator who grew up in the 1960s on the same street where my father’s family lived (and heard stories about their plight from his mother), was blunt in his assessment. “Things have taken a bad turn in Germany. I’m really scared—and while I’m certainly not alone in that, it’s just no fun living here anymore,” he told me. “It is like a nightmare that I and many other Germans are currently living through.”

These feelings tie to the latest polls that show the AfD’s growing strength, surely buoyed by the falling fortunes of the unpopular Chancellor Friedrich Merz whose approval ratings have sunk below 20 percent. In a new national poll, 28 percent of Germans said they would vote for AfD if federal elections were held now. That’s a record high, making it the leading party, surpassing Merz’s Christian Democratic Union polling at 21 percent.

The poll also found that half of the respondents seek a fundamental change in German politics, as trust in the current system has declined. While a full 43 percent of everyone polled said they feel marginalized, that number jumps to 70 percent among those who support the extremist AfD.

It’s no wonder that, amid this mindset, the AfD’s anti-immigrant, antisemitic, anti-Muslim, anti-EU and anti-NATO hostility is resonating. Nor is it a surprise that this neo-Nazi party has found support from Trump and JD Vance, the latter of whom met with its leader Alice Weidel last year and despicably scolded Europeans for not being more open to such extremist groups who are finding voter support.

“Who can still claim not to know what is bearing down on us?” my friend Ralf-Axel worried, adding, “It is a disgrace to my country. I am ashamed...yet I want to be strong, like my grandfather, who protected Jewish women and children from the concentration camps. He was my role model!”

State elections next month in Eastern Germany may lead to the AfD winning an absolute majority of seats in several state parliaments, a first for a far-right party since World War II and offering additional credence to my friend’s portentous fears.

And yet: History proves over and over that humans—if they’re lucky enough and able to survive the darkest times—find new ways to adapt and change. That may help explain my fascination with Berlin, which I described in my 2022 visit, despite my personal emotional complexity being here. What follows is an excerpt from that report.

On my first full night in Berlin, my Austrian-born friend who’s had a home in the German capital for many years, succinctly summarized the city in a way that’s stuck with me. “Berlin,” he said over dinner, “is a city of many layers.”

This is not my first visit here; I came two years after the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, and again two decades later. But both of those trips were just for a couple of days and very focused, not giving me the time or latitude to confirm or deny my friend’s proposition.

I’m staying in Mitte, the central district of Berlin, which combines portions of the former East Berlin and West Berlin. Outside my window is the Berlin Television Tower, completed in 1969, serving as both a symbol of the “modern” former German Democratic Republic (GDR) and a geographic landmark at over 1,200 feet (one of the tallest structures in Europe). My wife tells me that her childhood friend from a neighbor family in Finland kept a plastic replica of the tower on their book shelves. It still amazes me that I can be staying in the East and so close to this, given how shut off communist East Berlin was.

Walk a minute up our street, Rosa Luxemburg Strasse, you find vivid reminders of 20th century Berlin history. The Karl Liebknicht House was named for the man who co-founded the Communist Party in Germany with Rosa Luxemburg (both were murdered in 1919 and became revolutionary symbols). Built as a factory in 1912, it became the headquarters of the Central Committee until the Nazis took it over, raised the swastika flag, renamed it the Horst Wessel House, and used it to detain and torture Jews and other political opponents. After the war, it became the Karl Liebknecht House again and the East German Institute for Marxism-Leninism resided there.

I was more fascinated to see Volksbühne (the People’s Theater)—and even more, the Babylon movie theater, which started showing silent films with an orchestra in 1929 and has continued to show films ever since, no matter who was in power. By chance, they were showing the silent film Metropolis, along with live music from their 18-member Babylon orchestra.

But it may be the nearby Soho House that best exemplifies the many layers—the terrible layers—that can define the city, only to be redefined and remade into something new. If you didn’t know, you might just think this beautiful structure is simply a stylish restaurant, spa, cafe, hotel and club for fashionistas and other members of the globe-trotting Berlin cool crowd.

But this was once a department store, until its Jewish owner Hermann Golluber was forced by the Nazis to flee and it became the headquarters for the leader of the Hitler Youth organization. Outside its doors were held Nazi parades and rallies. Across the street, in a now largely ignored cemetery, Hitler and Joseph Goebbels came to visit the grave of their fallen martyr and propaganda tool, Horst Wessel, a 22-year-old “assault leader” for the Nazi stormtroopers, who was shot in the head in 1930. His lyrics for a march became the official anthem of the Nazi Party and later the co-national anthem of Germany.

As a memorial outside the building notes, after the war when Berlin was divided, East Berlin’s Socialist Unity Party took over the building and it became the “centre of power” for the young GDR. Here the Stalinist party model was planned and imposed. Here purges were implemented and death sentences were decided for political opponents. Here, after 1959, the Central Party kept its archives until the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany in 1990.

I mentioned a bit of this history to a new friend, a talented German photographer and filmmaker in his thirties. A politically aware person who travels widely for his work throughout the world and a Berlin resident, he hadn’t heard of Horst Wessel or was particularly conscious of the building’s background.

That’s the thing: While plaques and other memorials detail the city’s history everywhere you go, providing clear reminders of the atrocities and other horrors committed, a bustling Berlin has refused to stay stuck in the tragedies of the past. That could sound like denial of this history, but my sense from the variety of progressive people I met is that it’s more a matter of acceptance and desire to be more inclusive, tolerant and positive than those that came before.

As journalist and Berlin resident Joshua Hammer writes, Berlin is “an astonishingly varied city, an urbanscape in a constant state of change,” one that “requires a constant reckoning with the past. And yet the German capital, as I long ago discovered, doesn’t allow you to linger too long over the dark side of its history.”

Some tragedies are hard, if not impossible, to overcome. But I have returned to this this city now two times in the last four years. Maybe it’s to reckon with my history, but also to sort through how it’s possible to take the worst of times, learn from them and emerge wiser and stronger.

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This essay was originally published on Nov. 7, 2025, several days after the Democratic blowout last year. It may seem like a long time ago, but I think you will find that the issues I addressed—and the growing anger—will continue to shape the November midterms. As I noted then, “Tuesday’s results provided a powerful reality check that more and more Americans have had enough with the Trump agenda and the feckless Republican Party that has abandoned the real needs of people.”

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker got real about what it would take to stop Donald Trump’s abuse earlier this year: “Bullies respond to one thing, and one thing only: a punch in the face.”

Well, across America on Tuesday, voters gave this bully a punch in the face by electing Democrats by wide margins. They told him loud and clear that they are tired of his utter indifference to their needs and his actual responsibilities to serve the people and protect the Constitution.

But, the thing is, not only does a bully often need more than one punch in the face to get the message, a deluded wannabe king and extreme narcissist is particularly adept at withstanding blows through self-delusion and by blaming others.

As much as I’d like to imagine Tuesday’s victories will change the political trajectory and convince the regime to slow the abuse, end the shutdown and begin pursuing actions that actually address affordability and the struggles of everyday Americans, we shouldn’t be naive.

The story of Trump is that the worse it gets for him, the more obvious it is that he’s losing, the more desperate and extreme he gets. That means we can’t sit back and relax, counting the days until the midterms and a beautiful blue wave. We need to maintain our sense of urgency—our awareness that America is facing a five-alarm fire. We have to speak out against both the Arsonist-in-Chief and his accomplices applauding and assisting the destruction.

The strong Democratic victories on Tuesday in Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Georgia, South Carolina and Mississippi—in races ranging from governor, mayor and state supreme court justice to utility regulators, city council members and other state legislators—tell us that the anger in America and the hunger for change is real.

They also tell us that the No Kings protests last month were not just an aberration or an unreliable sample. In addition to the seven million or so Americans that took to the street, many millions more would be motivated to express their feelings at the ballot box, even in an off-year election.

You will read and hear punditry insisting that we shouldn’t generalize from this election to the midterms or beyond. I agree that much can change in the next 12 months: The work needs to continue every day to build the citizen movement that can express itself in general street protests, economic boycotts, labor strikes, defending our friends and neighbors—and the traditional blocking and tackling to support candidates who will fight back.

We can’t turn away, but rather must speak out as the Trump regime escalates the abusive actions of its federal agents and pursues policies for the rich that make everyday Americans poorer, hungrier and unhealthier.

But I think we can take heart that the combination of Trump’s cognitive decline, extreme corruption and sadism, insulation from critics and criticism, delusions of economic success, indifference to the needs of real people and sick hunger to be an authoritarian king make him weaker and weaker.

Think about it:

• He couldn’t have been happier that he was gifted a fake gold crown by the South Koreans, indifferent to the symbolism.

• He thinks his demolition of the East Wing and planned erection of a massive Mar-a-Lago-style ballroom—funded by kowtowing billionaires and businesses seeking government support—makes him look all manly and powerful. Yet he fails to grasp that he looks like a pathetically out-of-touch Marie Antoinette telling the starving people that they can eat cake (and we all know how that ended up for her).

• He continues to ridiculously lie that the prices at grocery stores are going down, his tariffs are generating “trillions” and the economy is doing great—still convinced of his own omnipotence and ability to hypnotize people into believing him. But that act is wearing thin and will grow thinner—even for some of his cultists—as they struggle to hold onto their jobs and pay for food, healthcare and the basics of life.

• He also reveals his desperate need to be insulated from reality and treated like a dictator when he praises Chinese President Xi Jinping for being surrounded by frightened officials who refuse to speak. “I want my Cabinet to be like Xi’s,” he said, adding admiringly, “I’ve never seen men so scared in their lives.” Trump may have thought he sounded amusing—and his sycophantic Cabinet in attendance laughed—but his weakness couldn’t have been more obvious.

• Trump may be convinced that he will avoid the consequence of his activities with sex trafficker and sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein. But House Speaker Mike Johnson—who has delayed over six weeks swearing in Adelita Grijalva, Arizona’s newly elected congresswoman—will eventually have to fulfill his duty. She has already said she will be the 218th vote needed to force a vote on the release of the Epstein files.

There have been days that I worried most Americans are not paying attention, that they have either tuned out or normalized the reality of Trump’s cruelty, corruption and madness. But Tuesday’s results provided a powerful reality check that more and more Americans have had enough with the Trump agenda and the feckless Republican Party that has abandoned the real needs of people.

In a sane world, a growing number of Republicans would recognize that they were running out of time to repair the damage with their voters. Here’s how the say-anything Mike Johnson summarized the election on Wednesday: “What happened last night was blue states and blue cities voted blue. We all saw that coming, and no one should read too much into last night’s election results.”

Uh-huh. Let’s see how that works out for Johnson and his party in the year ahead as conditions worsen and Trump’s self-serving indifference to suffering continues. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and his supermajority may have given Trump near-total criminal immunity, but that doesn’t mean he’s immunized from the wrath of voters.

One White House insider admitted anonymously to Politico that “people don’t think he’s lived up to his promises,” that Trump “won on lowering costs, putting more money back into people’s pockets. And people don’t feel that right now.”

But don’t expect Trump to tell the truth about his failing economic policies. A Trump spokesman, speaking on the record, rejected the anonymous insider’s view and insisted “the Trump administration remains laser-focused on putting Joe Biden’s inflation crisis firmly behind us.”

Trump has succeeded by following Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels’ playbook: “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.” But I am increasingly hopeful that Trump’s circus act is wearing thinner and his lies are becoming more transparent as everyday struggles grow harder and life becomes more unbearable for many Americans.

It will be a long time before Trump cultists abandon their dear leader, if they ever do. But Governor-Elect Abigail Spanberger won independent voters in Virginia by 19 points and Governor-Elect Mikie Sherill won independents in New Jersey by 13 points. In both cases, Independents represented about a third of their state’s electorate, disproving the GOP dismissal that they won because they are blue states.

And more, while Trump had made progress with Latino voters in 2024, both candidates won Latinos by a 2-1 margin. In Passaic County in North Jersey, which is nearly half Latino and was won by Trump last year, Sherill won it by 15 points. In fact, according to exit polls, she flipped three counties with sizable Latino populations that Trump won last year.

People are paying attention.

And that includes younger voters, particularly in New York City, who were inspired by the promise of the 34-year-old mayoral candidate committed to ending the Cuomo dynasty, fiercely opposing Trump, taking on the oligarchy and ushering in a different kind of politics. According to exit polls, 70 percent of voters under age 45 voted for Mamdani, and two-thirds of them were voting for mayor for the first time.

Over the next year, the White House bully and wannabe king needs more punches in the face. And, as long as he continues to believe that he’s fighting-weight rather than a bloated weakling surrounded by yes men, the easier it will be to land punches.

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