Three stories from the last two days illustrate the rotten reality of this Trump era. Each is a vivid reminder of the work ahead to defeat a party and a regime that rewrite history to distract from the real villains, brazenly flaunt their corruption and exploit their immoral resources to keep holding onto power.

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul has been determined for years to “get” the nation’s top infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, convinced that Fauci covered up what he knew about a lab leak in Wuhan, China that would explain the origins of the COVID-19 virus.

The now-retired 85-year-old public servant described Paul’s focus as an “unhinged obsession” with him, while Fauci’s lawyers said Paul was waging a “years-long crusade.” Their recent letter went further: “You are single-mindedly fixating on seeing Dr. Fauci prosecuted for imaginary crimes, and you are so invested in that outcome that you have created a personal brand around it,” they wrote, according to NPR.

This came into plain view Wednesday when Fauci appeared before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, which Paul chairs. Despite having received a preemptive and prescient pardon by President Joe Biden, Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment dozens of times, concerned that Paul, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and other Republicans would try their damnedest to put him in fresh jeopardy.

In his opening statement, Fauci said, “Although it pains me to do so, because of the respect I have for the legislative branch of government, and my decades-long record of cooperating with Congress, under the advice of my attorneys, I will invoke my right under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution to refrain from answering your questions.”

It was a sad spectacle, one in which the target of these Republican senators’ wrath was a genuine public hero and epidemiologist who worked tirelessly to confront the dreaded pandemic. As for Trump, meanwhile, his reckless, malignantly narcissistic response to the deadly virus was to lie about its severity, concoct crazy solutions like using bleach or horse dewormer and negligently contributing to the deaths of more than a million Americans.

Of course, the Republicans had nothing to say about Trump.

But after Wednesday’s hearing, Paul was talking about holding Fauci in contempt of Congress for invoking the Fifth, which is not only sad for Fauci, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 38 years. It’s also tragic because we need public health professionals who feel free to be open and honest.

Here’s how Georges Benjamin, head of the American Public Health Association, explained what this portends: “If you’re going to be threatened by members of Congress, you’re going to be a lot less willing to be frank and speak truth to power and give people the information that they desperately need to make decisions.”

The refusal of two Republican senators to advance Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general out of the judiciary committee for a full senate vote could be seen as good news. Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis—both leaving the Senate after the midterms and willing to buck Trump—demanded that Blanche make two changes in the Justice Department’s deal with Trump.

One involves codifying in writing that Trump will not move ahead with his $1.8 billion slush fund for Jan. 6 insurrectionists and any others he deems victims of wrongful prosecutions. The other concerns limiting the corrupt deal that would immunize Trump, his family and businesses from past tax claims. “This is about making sure that we maintain the integrity of our justice system and fairness for everybody involved,” Cornyn said.

Yet rather than risk his corrupt self-dealing, Trump has threatened to pull Blanche’s nomination and leave him in as acting AG until after the midterms when there would be new senators (who in fact may well be Democrats, not Trump puppets). In other words, it’s more important for Trump that he maintains his IRS immunity—and leave open his options to hand over millions to his felonious loyalists despite repeated protestations by Blanche that that fund is dead.

And then there’s the sociopathic Elon Musk, the world’s richest person who was briefly tagged a trillionaire before the valuation of his SpaceX holdings declined. The New York Times reported yesterday that—despite his claim last year that “in terms of political spending, I’m going to do a lot less in the future”—he’s now changed his mind.

Musk has reportedly authorized his super PAC to spend $100 million to $120 million in the midterms to help elect Republicans in at least eight states. This increases the Republicans’ overall funding advantage, and it underscores once again the failure of our system that allows the billionaire class to try and buy elections and determine the future of our democracy.

I remain optimistic that the fury in the country will not dissipate between now and the midterms, nor will these infusions of cash determine who’s motivated to vote and who wins. But Musk tossing out some pittance of his obscene fortune—largely achieved with the support of U.S. government contracts and other public subsidies—is a reminder of the need to change our broken political system’s reliance on the richest among us. It’s only 94 days until Nov. 3.

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“I do think the media has run out of ways to tell the story,” she said. But
”having conversations like this and making sure that it is top of mind, I think, is the only way to remind Americans this is a leading cause of death of children in this country. And we don't have to live this way. We sure as hell shouldn't die this way.”

Shannon traces how the gun lobby won legal immunity no other industry enjoys, why the NRA’s decline hasn’t ended the fight, the consequences of Republicans and Trump refusing to deal with the issue, how a plea to 75 Facebook friends became an 11-million-supporter movement that has passed more than 500 gun bills, and the continuing responsibility of activism on this and other issues facing our democracy.

This week’s six questions include:

1. Has the media become numb to the scale of gun violence?

2. How would you explain the failure by lawmakers to do more?

3. Why did the factual success of the assault weapons ban not stick and why have 2nd Amendment fanatics maintained so much power?

4. Is America’s history of violence and Wild West mythology hard to overcome?

5. How important is grass-roots activism to drive change?

6. What advice would you give everyday citizens?

This is a challenging topic that could not be more critical for America’s future. I hope you will tune in to our ultimately hopeful conversation.

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This is the story of a simple-minded, ill-read man who, handed the levers of power, thinks he knows best about American history and wants to control what every American understands about it. That would be troubling enough, but this obvious racist—whose agenda is fueled by his white supremacist views—also imagines he can dictate how we should love our country.

The malevolence of which I speak is Donald Trump, of course. On Friday, he expanded his attack on the Smithsonian Institution and particularly the Museum of American History with another executive order ridiculously described as “restoring trust.” His order demands that the much-trusted National Park Service install signs on the sidewalks and pathways leading to the museum; these should inform visitors that the museum’s exhibits “should be renovated” and visitors should go elsewhere to find “locations and resources for accurate information regarding America’s history.”

New Mexico Rep. Melanie Stansbury, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight subcommittee on government efficiency, offered this blunt assessment of Trump’s order: It is “one of the dumbest and most bizarre Executive Orders we have ever read.” She went on to call it “clear political overreach, driven by an ideological agenda.”

But neither she nor anyone who’s been paying attention should be surprised. Trump’s order follows a 162-page report released on the 4th of July by the White House Domestic Policy Council condemning the museum’s “ideological capture” that “erases our history.” In the museum’s failure to emphasize “gratitude” and instead pursue a “radical, activist ideology” that encourages citizens “to view their country through suspicion, resentment and division,” the report states, the museum rejects “the noble, honest story of the great country we know and love.”

Uh-huh. And what remedy to this supposed failure do the Trump enablers suggest?

“As it stands today,” the executive summary concludes, “it would benefit most Americans, especially parents bringing their children for a tour, if the Smithsonian’s flagship history museum had a label at every entrance that reads: ‘Warning: the exhibits in this museum were prepared by people who don’t want you to love your country.’”

Apparently, these authoritarians know better than the historians and curators who’ve dedicated their careers to telling our nation’s story. This report follows Trump whining last August about how “everything discussed” at the Smithsonian “is how horrible our Country is, how bad Slavery was.” Those remarks followed his gaslighting executive order from March 27 last year entitled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” that sought the removal of “divisive or partisan narratives” and the “fostering [of] unity and a deeper understanding of our shared past.”

And what is Trump’s vision for fostering unity? Well, we have seen that play out from the first day he took office: He’s ended federal support for diversity, equity and inclusion; demonized people of color; willfully misconstrued the goal of racial justice as the promulgation of “woke” ideology; pursued a lawless and discriminatory mass deportation campaign terrorizing immigrant communities; attempted to discredit and even drive out women and Black people serving at the highest levels of the military; and much more.

Trump’s Labor Department conveyed his warped idea of “love of country” in its social media campaign last fall. Notice what kind of person is included in his vision and the many that are not:

As the joke goes, I did Nazi that coming.

The Smithsonian’s secretary, Lonnie Bunch, sent a letter to all the institution’s staff after the nasty July 4 report, insisting that it was “not a fair characterization of the work and totality of the National Museum of American History.” And more, “our work is driven by scholarship, accuracy, and an uncompromising commitment to tell the fullness of America’s story. As public servants and the keepers of this institution, we are charged with helping a nation find understanding, hope and clarity.”

His letter—intended to uplift employees feeling besieged by a hostile Trump regime—was backed up by an Economist/YouGov survey published last August. The national survey found that most Americans (60 percent) think the government should not control the exhibits in museums it funds.

Indeed, “A large majority (84 percent)) of Americans say it's very important for history and cultural museums to accurately represent American history. Majorities also say this about highlighting historical struggles and injustices (61 percent), highlighting American achievements (61 percent), and addressing sensitive topics such as slavery, racism and inequality (60 percent).” The survey also found that most Americans who actually visited the Smithsonian disagreed with Trump’s complaints.

Last week Democrats on the Committee on House Administration issued a 16-page rebuttal to the White House addressing its efforts to “seize control of the Smithsonian and rewrite American history.” They noted that the Smithsonian does not answer to Trump, but rather to its Board of Regents and to Congress.

“President Trump is abusing the power of the White House to pressure one of America’s most respected cultural institutions into political obedience,” New York Rep. Joe Morelle, the top Democrat on the committee, said in a statement. “The Smithsonian was established as an independent institution precisely so no president could dictate how our nation's story is told.”

It’s particularly worth hearing from Philip Kennicott, the art and architecture critic of The Washington Post, who reminded his readers yesterday that he’s visited the Smithsonian hundreds of times over the last 25 years. Responding to Trump’s order to install signs outside, he wrote, “Visitors who pass these signs on the way into the museum may find them concerning; when they pass them on the way out, they will probably find them laughably at odds with what they have just experienced…For a museum that is so relentlessly negative in Trump’s eyes, I’ve witnessed a surprising amount of joy among the crowds who flock there.”

Kennicott also offered a particularly sensitive reminder about how this latest planned attack by Trump will cause harm to the many public servants simply trying to do their job:

Lost in this new effort to rewrite American history scrubbed of its invigorating, infuriating, thrilling complexity, is the emotional toll it takes on people who serve the institution. I am sorry that the scholars, curators, volunteers, security guards and the rest of the loyal staff will have to pass signs that demean the integrity of their work. The contents of the museum, the history it explicates, will prepare them for this attack, which is yet another ugly facet of America’s long history of denialism.

But this is what Trump does: He demeans experts and demonizes institutions he wants to control. Forget “love of country.” Forget “fostering unity.” Instead, we can expect more politicizing of respected nonpartisan institutions like the Smithsonian and the National Park Service—all for the purpose of rejecting the beautiful, complex and diverse history of our beloved country.

This latest attack on our national memory is pitiful. It showcases Trump’s weakness. It reveals how a simple-minded authoritarian believes that he can deny us the truth and stunt our will. In 98 days, on Nov. 3, we can prove how wrong he is.

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For further reading on this topic, check out my essay “The Trump Regime’s Racist Agenda” from last August. It includes the wise words of Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative and is involved with two important Alabama museums that document the history of slavery and lynching in America. “We still live in a country where there is this problem of racial inequality, racial injustice,” he told me, “and the narrative that created that problem of racial difference continues to haunt us today.”

Save the date for the next Six Questions with Steven Beschloss for a vital conversation about the continuing epidemic of gun violence:

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The headline of The Washington Post’s story about the event encapsulates the continuing failure of too many in the legacy media to grasp their duty in this dangerous moment in our nation’s history: “Trump’s insult-laden speech to press dinner draws mostly stunned silence.” Really? Trump’s attacks stunned people in the room? Have they not been paying attention for the last decade as this hateful authoritarian has worked tirelessly to undermine our most sacred right of free speech and a free press? Did they really think this night—billed as a celebration of free speech and a chance to reward journalists—would honor the profession?

As the Society of Professional Journalists put it in its letter criticizing the event, “We believe it is hypocritical to celebrate the First Amendment in front of the man who relentlessly attacks it.” The group’s letter offered a long list of recent attacks by Trump and his operatives, including his myriad personal insults of female reporters, threats to pull broadcasting licenses from shows that question his regime, as well as restricting reporter access.

It honestly pains me to describe how high-profile members of the legacy media disgraced themselves by welcoming Trump into the room again. (The original dinner in April was cut short when a gunman opened fire outside the ballroom.) This is what cavorting with the enemy looks like. This communicates to many Americans that the media is in on the game—that it hasn’t merely failed to name and condemn Trump’s fascism but aids and abets it in order to maintain access to power. The Washington Post continues to run the tagline, “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” but its owner Jeff Bezos has proved the limits of this message by demonstrating obedience and support for democracy’s enemy. This fabled journalism institution is not alone in its failure to meet the moment.

Given this, independent journalists take on added responsibility. This publication is just one small part of the cadre of professionals who have recognized they can no longer participate within traditional media institutions—many of which have sacrificed their honor by either succumbing to the regime’s pressures or willfully embracing Trump’s anti-democratic pursuit of total power. And to be clear: My work here is only possible with the support of individuals who recognize the danger—the gravity of this chapter in our history—and are motivated to fight back.

So what do you think? Can legacy media ever remove the stain? Has this event permanently stamped the failure to adequately confront this dark period? In turn, do you think I have overstated the point? Does the good and valuable work of many legacy journalists override the failures of their owners and too many of their peers?

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

For further reading on this topic, here is my essay just before the April 25 event: “Will the Legacy Media Ever Learn?” And here is my essay just after the event’s shooting: “Is This Any Way to Live?”

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All of a sudden, there are rumblings about Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff as a presidential contender. An Emerson College poll, released yesterday, highlighted him as one of the frontrunners with 13 percent, outranked only by Pete Buttigieg (19 percent) and Gavin Newsom (17 percent) and tied with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. He was ahead of Kamala Harris (8 percent), Josh Shapiro (5 percent) and JB Pritzker (3 percent).

Of course, as we are months away from the midterms and more than two years from the 2028 presidential election, comments about “Ossoff 2028!” and comparisons with Barack Obama—however sincere—do not even begin to account for all the twists and turns between here and there. The last thing I want to spend your time on now is contemplating who will be serious presidential candidates in 2028.

But there’s a more meaningful lens in which to view Sen. Ossoff right now—and that concerns both his penetrating ability to question Trump operatives when they appear before the Senate and the obvious moral fervor with which he responds to the sickeningly corrupt officials determined to pull the wool over the public’s eyes. Ossoff is connecting because Americans are hungry to overcome this shameful chapter.

Let’s take a closer look at why Ossoff’s questioning has been so effective. On Tuesday, he faced off with so-called ‘War’ Secretary Pete Hegseth who came before the Senate appropriations committee with his hat in his hand: He was seeking $454 billion in additional military funding for 2027 and $67 billion in emergency funding. This is on top of a current trillion-dollar Pentagon budget and, according to Hegseth, an estimated $37.5 billion already spent on the Iran war. (Other accounts of Iran costs are much higher.)

Ossoff took his minutes to zero in on Hegseth’s arrogant bloviating about the war’s “historic” success in order to expose the fallaciousness of his assertions and the lack of credibility for any new demands. Allow me to provide a precise and extended account (you can also watch it here):

Ossoff: On day 14 of this conflict, Mr. Secretary, day 14, nearly five months ago, you stated that Iran’s military had been, quote, destroyed, and, quote, made combat-ineffective. That was on day 14 of the war. Was that an accurate statement?

Hegseth: They didn't have a Navy any longer. It was completely sunk. Their missiles were buried underneath a lot of their underground facilities, and their defense industrial base has been Almost completely destroyed. So as far as a military assessment of Iran's capabilities, it didn't mean by any stretch of the imagination absolute zero.

Ossoff: Mr. Secretary, you stated that on day 14 of this conflict, on the second week of the conflict, you stated that Iran’s military had been, ‘destroyed,’ and, ‘made combat-ineffective.’ Was that an accurate statement? Yes or no?

Hegseth: Iran’s ability to challenge the United States of America at the level at which we’re capable of—

Ossoff: That’s not what I asked you, Mr. Secretary. You said on day 14, Iran's military had been, quote, destroyed, and, quote, made combat ineffective. Yes or no? Was that an accurate statement?

Hegseth: What the American military has done to the Iranian military…

Ossoff: Will you answer the question?

Hegseth: …is a historic military defeat…

Ossoff: Will you answer the question under oath?

Hegseth: … and they’re ineffective in that context.

The Georgia senator was not done. He was determined, in his cool and calm manner to strip away the the phony bravado of Killer Pete who’s convinced that his “warrior ethos” frees him from operating in the world of facts and truth.

Ossoff: Three weeks later you declared victory. That was now nearly four months ago. Three weeks after you had already said Iran’s military was destroyed and combat-ineffective. You said, quote, Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory. You said Iran’s military had been rendered, quote, combat-ineffective for years to come. And you stated we had, quote, achieved every single objective. Were those accurate statements?

Hegseth: It certainly was, on behalf of the men and women in uniform, a historic military victory over Iran.

Ossoff: Had Iran's military been rendered, quote, combat ineffective for years to come? That was a statement that you made four months ago.

Hegseth: They had 160 naval vessels…

Ossoff: You need to answer the questions, Mr. Secretary.

Ossoff kept flaying Hegseth, including this tasty morsel: “You stated on March 8th, day 9 of the war, on 60 Minutes, you assured the American people of Iranians’ surrender. Does that remain your prediction?” Ossoff’s interrogation concluded like this:

Ossoff: So just to review You will not answer whether your statement made on the 14th day of the war that Iran’s military had been, quote, destroyed and made combat ineffective was a truthful statement to the American people as you sit here and ask for tens of billions more for the conflict.

Susan Collins: The senator’s time has expired.

Hegseth: But a historic and effective military campaign against the largest state sponsor of terrorism…

Ossoff: Won’t answer the question.

Then, in response to Michigan Sen. Gary Peters, the now-rattled Hegseth was in full meltdown mode: “I think your characterization of this incredible effort as a failure is reckless. And I think it's irresponsible.” Hegseth went on like this for awhile, his cool bravado long gone.

But Peters, in a solid follow-up to his Georgia colleague, served up his closing line. “Secretary Hegseth, you have over a trillion dollars. You're asking for one and a half trillion dollars,” he said. “It's not a question of money. It's a question of leadership and understanding what it takes to actually win.”

This was no one-off day for Ossoff. As I described last week when the cowardly Jay Clayton refused to say that Joe Biden won the 2020 election during his confirmation hearing for Director of National Intelligence:

Over and over he was asked by Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff who won the 2020 election and over and over Clayton refused to answer in obvious fear of crossing Trump and having his nomination pulled. As Ossoff summarized the problem at Wednesday’s confirmation hearing, ‘You refuse to answer a basic question about who won a presidential election. But you ask to lead America’s intelligence community. Isn’t it humiliating to be unable to answer this question—to have to indulge the president’s delusions?’

Jon Ossoff was born in 1987. Before pursuing politics, this 39-year-old senator—now polling 9 points ahead of his Trump-endorsed rival Mike Collins for his re-election—was leading a London-based production company that makes global documentaries focused on government corruption, organized crime and war crimes.

Clearly, he learned both how to tell a story about such matters and to not back down in the face of danger and attacks. In this time in our history, these are skills that can serve a morally minded leader well.

I leave you with one last thing. Before Trump’s lie-filled speech about China’s impact on the 2020 election, Ossoff summarized to reporters what he expected in a jam-packed single sentence: “The world’s most famous sore loser will deliver a primetime presidential sour-grapes address to pursue his six-year-old grievances about the 2020 election, while his war in the Middle East spirals out of control and the cost of living continues to rise for Americans across the country.”

Is it any surprise that the thin-skinned Trump tried to counter-punch, calling the young, cool and handsome senator a “communist” and that he looked like “Pinky” Herman. He meant Pee-wee Herman, Paul Reubens’ famous character, thereby exposing not only his own cognitive decline but also his shallow mind.

Ossoff has said that he won’t be running for higher office in 2028. We’ll see. But if he is re-elected, he will have plenty of opportunity in the next two years to show what happens when corruption meets competence and courage.

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Do we have any reason to doubt that he and his henchmen will try their damnedest to subvert the people’s will in November? And how much chaos can they create not just before Nov. 3 but in the weeks that follow?

I reached out to security expert Miles Taylor for this new episode of Six Questions with Steven Beschloss to help explain where we are, how this will likely play out before and after Nov. 3, and how both massive turnout and prepared state officials can counteract the danger of a regime that opposes our democratic system and the will of the people.

Miles was a chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security during Trump’s first term that included a focus on election security. His whistle-blowing opposition in a New York Times op-ed in 2018 and subsequent bestselling books warning Americans about the dangers led to Trump threatening him with espionage and treason last year. Rather than being intimidated, Miles launched Defiance.org to help defend democracy against the regime’s abuses of power. And while he is realistic about what lies ahead, he is also hopeful.

“I think it is as close to a guarantee as we've ever had in recent American political history that Donald Trump will contest the results if the MAGA side loses,” he told me. “Now his ability to muck up the public perception of who won and who lost is going to be dependent on how big that turnout is, how big those vote totals are. And I am hopeful that we're going to see that remarkable turnout. There is no one who's doing a better job at getting out the vote for the political opposition in this country than the president of the United States.”

Miles had much more to say in response to these six questions:

1. Will there be interference in the November midterms and will it effect the outcome?

2. What worries you the most about how he’s manipulated the election systems, disbanded groups responsible for monitoring elections, threatened to involve federal forces and worked constantly to sow doubt and undermine trust in the election process?

3. How secure are the election systems and why is it meaningful that the Constitution mandates the states rather than the federal government to control the election process?

4. Are Trump’s attacks on our elections an aberration and will we return to something more normal once he’s gone—or have they been permanently ruptured?

5. What is your advice for everyday citizens? What can they do to help?

6. How hopeful are you that there will be an overwhelming Democratic victory?

If you’ve been uncertain about America’s election security and how prepared we are to thwart the danger of an enemy within, this conversation will provide necessary information and insights. And it’s worth sticking around for the lightning round at the end when Miles offers a seriously unexpected answer for what historical figure he admires the most.

You can watch the live episodes every Wednesday night at 7PM ET. Tune in next week when I talk to activist and Moms Demand Action Shannon Watts when we dig in to the continuing tragedy of gun violence—in six questions.

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The funny thing is the Trump operatives probably imagine their authoritarian tricks are working. But refusing to investigate ICE murders and other violent confrontations involving federal agents doesn’t mean these encounters aren’t happening. Deleting data about climate change, pregnancy risks, dangerous chemicals in the environment and rising levels of hunger won’t make these problems go away. Nor will deleting facts collected on websites about the violent attacks on Jan. 6 change the terrible truth of that day’s horror.

Yet the Trump regime—determined to hide its failures and pretend that real problems can simply be erased—is expanding its assault on the truth nonetheless. While it may be one of the oldest tricks in the authoritarian playbook, Trump’s henchmen are running their pernicious operation over and over. As if we cannot see what they are doing and their efforts to reject positive change won’t ultimately be their undoing.

Denying the public its right to know enables corrupt and criminal actors to get away with their abuses and undermine democracy. That includes the continuing coverup of the Epstein files in order to protect the rich and powerful involved in child rape and other sex crimes.

The latest assault on truth, reported yesterday by The New York Times, involves stopping FBI investigations of violent incidents involving immigration agents. This would “sharply limit law enforcement scrutiny of immigration agents, as the Trump administration draws mounting criticism over killings at the hands of federal officers,” note reporters Devlin Barrett and Hamed Aleaziz. This follows two murders by ICE agents in Texas and Maine over the last two weeks.

This shift was reportedly delivered in a written notice to FBI managers around the country. Such investigations, the Times noted, “can provide a crucial means of gathering evidence implicating the agents themselves.”

While both the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) denied the change, this policy would leave it up to DHS to essentially investigate itself, thereby making it harder to hold its agents accountable for any criminal activity, be it murder or otherwise.

This comes as the Trump White House is pressuring prosecutors to expand charges against protestors, in fact insisting that anyone making physical contact with a federal agent should be charged with felony assault, a crime that carries a sentence of up to eight years. A Times investigation published Saturday found that of 400 resolved cases involving these assault charges, “nearly half have unraveled: Juries acquitted defendants, judges threw out charges, or prosecutors withdrew them.”

If true, this latest effort continues the regime’s pattern of amassing power and control by degrading the public’s capacity to know what’s true and what’s not—and making it harder to hold it accountable. Consider these examples from this second Trump term:

• Last July legally mandated national climate change assessments were removed from government websites—data relied on by decision-makers and those working to mitigate climate risks.

• Earlier this month, the Department of Energy removed more than 1,600 webpages that provided guidance for people to cope with heatwaves by saving energy and keeping electricity costs down.

• Until last year, according to a Guardian report, people could find out if they live near one of some 12,000 structures storing hazardous, cancer-causing chemicals used to manufacture pesticides or medical devices. But the tool providing such information about the toxic chemicals, which is disproportionately likely to affect poor and minority communities, was taken down.

• The same Guardian report found that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped tracking dangers to pregnant women that caused an increase in maternal and infant deaths. The lack of survey data, gathered in the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS), also disproportionately harms women and babies in poorer states with high infant mortality rates and other poor health outcomes.

• The Trump regime also ended a comprehensive annual survey that tracked food insecurity and hunger in America, a review that has been completed every year since 1995. This was ended as Trump’s Big Ugly Bill last year made the largest cuts in history to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) that 42 million Americans rely upon.

• In May, the Justice Department mass-deleted news releases documenting guilty pleas, jury verdicts and prison sentences involving Jan. 6 defendants, just another effort to rewrite the facts of that heinous day. The department, led by Todd Blanche, proudly stated that it was removing “partisan propaganda” and “reversing the DOJ’s weaponization under the Biden Administration.”

This is not the first time I’ve written about the authoritarian attacks on truth which put all of us at risk, but particularly our most vulnerable communities. In “The Intensified Assault on Factual Reality” published last August, I summarized what was knowable then:

This dangerous degradation—this war on legitimate measurement—follows an ongoing pattern of attacking researchers, agencies and watchdogs that produce disagreeable findings: Firing analysts who deliver intelligence reports he dislikes; rejecting the findings of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office when it makes projections that don’t support his inflated boasts about the Big Beautiful Bill; firing Department of Education staff that collect data about student performance; cutting public health teams that report on substance abuse, mental health and maternal mortality; ending grants and firing scientists throughout the government; and stopping the collection of greenhouse gas emissions statistics as a precursor to cutting the regulations intended to slow the impact of climate change.

A functioning democratic society depends on evidence-based assessments to both make appropriate policy choices and hold officials who fail to serve the public’s interest accountable. The disappearance of data is part and parcel of the Trump regime’s efforts to erase Black history, reject people and policies that don’t align with its anti-woke, white supremacist push, and weaken the public’s ability to fight back.

Donald Trump and his pathetic sycophants may be convinced that they’ve got the upper hand. But don’t believe it. Their need to bury facts highlights their fear of the truth and what an informed electorate can do to bring an end to their hateful agenda and the lies they tell.

As I wrote last August:

The best way through this is straight ahead. That requires expanding media literacy, supporting independent journalism that relies on facts, backing endangered public media, and holding accountable government officials who are participating in this desecration of our systems and databases. We cannot give in to this regime’s goal of convincing us that we are powerless to fight back. We must not allow ourselves to ignore what our eyes, ears and brains are telling us.

This is a daily battle. But we can strengthen our capacity to investigate and prosecute these thugs on Nov. 3, just 105 days from today. Stay strong!

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There’s plenty to be alarmed about. Donald Trump’s bottomless corruption and self-enrichment. His expanding war with Iran has no end in sight. His lies about the 2020 election and his pathetic attempts to claim China caused his loss. His lies that state-governed election systems are so broken and vulnerable that the federal government must “fix” them before the midterms. His utter indifference to affordability issues facing everyday Americans. Lawless ICE goons killing people in our streets. The continuing coverup of the Epstein files. His hostility to our laws and democracy itself.

This list could go on and on.

If you’re feeling alarmed, there’s an unending bounty of destruction, corruption and lies to explain your legitimate worry. Smoke-filled skies from more than 800 Canadian wildfires affecting more than 100 million Americans—while the Trump regime lies that there is no climate crisis—only makes it worse. So does the ticking clock that reminds us we still have 107 days until the November midterms—more than enough time for Trump and his thugs to create more havoc and fear.

But here’s the thing. So many of these threats and transgressions are untethered from reality. Trump, a singular liar in American history, thinks truth bends to his will. His operatives, trying their worst to make his lies seem real, are struggling to keep up.

I mean, how foolish did Jay Clayton, Trump’s nominee for director of national intelligence, when he refused to say that Joe Biden won the 2020 election under repeated questioning? Does Markwayne Mullin, Trump’s Homeland Security secretary, really think his empty threats to jail state-level election officials who won’t hand over voter rolls or do his election-related bidding will stand up in court? Is it any wonder Republicans are, according to one former Trump official, “scared shitless” when Trump blathers on about rigged elections while doing nothing to strengthen the economy and bring down prices?

On this Saturday and in the weeks ahead, I think it’s worth reflecting on whether the truth will win out. In other words, will Trump’s blatant corruption, his daily lies, his fatal blunder into war with Iran, his gross indifference to the financial struggles of most Americans, his regime’s murderous lawlessness, his Justice Department’s continuing coverup of the incriminating contents of the Epstein files, his accelerating cognitive decline fail to register with a large majority of American voters? Or will these and other realities that take so little effort to recognize be exposed in November and beyond?

So what do you think? Will the truth win out? Has the mounting acceleration of violations and degradations reached a point that cannot be ignored in November and beyond? Is the plethora of lies and threats reaching a crescendo that will eventually collapse under its own weight (or following investigations and prosecutions)—making it stunningly obvious how dim, desperate and insubstantial is the foundation upon which the whole regime’s justification sits? Put more bluntly, have most Americans tired of the constant crap? And, as we look ahead to the midterms, does this give you hope?

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 in your remarks. Trolling will not be tolerated.

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There’s a reason you don’t want crackpots, sociopaths, malignant narcissists, misogynists, sadists, pathological liars and desperate sycophants in positions of power. A well-functioning government—a well-functioning society—depends on rational policies, fact-based decision-making and sensible people that filter out the worst impulses and behaviors of the aforementioned crowd.

But our daily life is now inundated with an unending stream of idiots and cowards eager to please an unfit White House occupant who prefers lickspittles over professionals. The result? The degradation of our institutions and a country subject to both ridicule and real threats from bad actors. Here are three examples from the last few days, including Trump’s fear-mongering from the East Room last night.

While the U.S. is in the midst of an expanding war with Iran, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth thinks the best use of his time is to produce a video authorizing mandatory testing of testosterone levels. Because, of course, the only thing America needs to conduct complex operations is more brute force. Because, in a military focused around a “warrior ethos,” Killer Pete wants to underline who’s masculine enough to get the job done. Because this is a next step in his efforts to deny promotions and even get rid of whoever he finds weak, especially women. Watch his two-minute tough guy video—entitled “The High-T Department of War”—and you can see that the “you” he talks about surely doesn’t involve the hundreds of thousands of women currently on active duty.

You might have thought it would be terrible if the obsequious Bill Pulte—the current acting director of national intelligence whose main credential is his willingness to assist vindictive prosecutions or anything Donald Trump asks—stayed in his job. You might have thought that Jay Clayton, the former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission during Trump’s first term and a U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, promised to be a far more upstanding individual to lead national intelligence. But it turns out that—as the hunger for power lured him closer to Trump—he has proven his readiness to degrade and be-clown himself to ensure he lands the position.

Over and over he was asked by Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff who won the 2020 election and over and over Clayton refused to answer in obvious fear of crossing Trump and having his nomination pulled. As Ossoff summarized the problem at Wednesday’s confirmation hearing, “You refuse to answer a basic question about who won a presidential election. But you ask to lead America’s intelligence community. Isn’t it humiliating to be unable to answer this question—to have to indulge the president’s delusions?”

Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly underscored what’s at stake when Clayton refuses to tell the truth: “You’re going to be in a room with him many times, and at times you should have a difference of opinion,” he said. “And if you can’t disagree with him when he’s not in the room, are you going to be able to disagree with him when you’re sitting across from him in the Oval Office or Situation Room?”

Last night Trump abused the power of his office to conduct a “presidential” address from the East Room. Was this to seek public support for a new phase of his unauthorized war with Iran? Was it to share a set of new policy initiatives to combat the economic struggles facing Americans? How about to describe his change of heart over the deadly, illegal practices of his federal goon squad deployed to rid America of immigrants?

Nope. Not this guy.

Trump—the nation’s most aggrieved victim and the sorest of sore losers—wanted to drag America through more debunked claims about the outcome of the 2020 election, sow more doubt about the coming midterm elections and push for his voter suppression bill, the so-called Save America Act. The main source of the problem, he insisted without new evidence in this faux urgent address: foreign interference from China and “shockingly vulnerable” and “broken” election systems. He repeatedly lied about “how vulnerable our elections continue to be.” He even argued that ABC and NBC, which chose not to air his propaganda live, “are part of the plot.”

This snarling speech can be seen as a starting point for a new chapter in his effort to take over our elections, which are constitutionally mandated to be run by the states. “If you look at voting today, it’s in such bad shape in so many states and we are committing to fix it,” he said, adding that it’s necessary to “fix the vulnerabilities before the midterms.”

We need not detail all his lies about election security and the alleged threat of China to see what he’s doing here. Just take a look at the March 10, 2021 report from the Directorate of National Intelligence entitled “Foreign Threats to the 2020 US Federal Elections.” The declassified document could not have been plainer in its judgement. “We have no indications that any foreign actor attempted to alter any technical aspect of the voting process in the 2020 US elections, including voter registration, casting ballots, vote tabulation, or reporting results.”

As for China specifically? “We assess that China did not deploy interference efforts and considered but did not deploy influence efforts intended to change the outcome of the US Presidential election,” the report stated. “We have high confidence in this judgment. China sought stability in its relationship with the United States, did not view either election outcome as being advantageous enough for China to risk getting caught meddling.”

But let’s not doubt that Trump—panicking over his plunging approval ratings and a potentially devastating Republican defeat in the midterms—will be deploying his confederacy of dunces and sycophants to spread more lies, more conspiracy theories and more threats to justify his regime’s efforts to deny the people’s will. This is where we are—and it’s important to be clear about the coming threats in order to successfully combat them.

Among the many discouraging aspects of my three examples here is how they waste our time when America and the globe face many real and complex problems. Yet they should remind us that an overwhelming turnout in November is a critical next step in ensuring that the future will not be led by crackpots and narcissists, liars and sycophants.

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When Joan Sebastian Guerrero was murdered in his white Kia Rio yesterday by federal ICE agents, his three-year-old daughter was in the backseat. She was wearing her Bluey pajamas with a pink bag beside her.

As horrific—as unforgivable—as this killing is, it’s another terrible reminder that the impact of these deadly crimes committed by the Trump regime always extends beyond the specific victim. They create trauma that courses through the family, any witnesses and the community itself. Not only was this little girl’s father stolen from her, this violence risks destroying her life as well.

It does not make it any less intolerable that Guerrero, a 26-year old from Colombia, was reportedly authorized to work in the U.S. and had been issued a Social Security number. It does not make it any less senseless or disturbing that Homeland Security boss Markwayne Mullins said that Guerrero was not his agents’ target.

As we’ve heard before, ICE officials offered up a description of the killing intended to justify what happened. “ICE law enforcement attempted to conduct a vehicle stop,” a spokesperson said. “The vehicle attempted to flee the scene and fearing for public safety an officer discharged his weapon.”

Yet witnesses at the scene in Biddeford, Maine, saw an SUV ram Guerrero’s Kia, heard as many as seven gunshots and saw agents pull Guerrero’s limp body out of the vehicle, its windshield riddled with four bullet holes. One witness, Daniel Boucher, who lives right near the intersection where the murder happened, said, “He was bleeding profusely from the head. He was talking. He said, ‘I tried to stop.'”

A reporter from the Portland Press Herald described the witness’ experience like this: “Boucher watched in disbelief as the man’s legs stopped moving as he lay on the ground. He believes he watched him die.” He was getting ready for work when the killing happened.

Guerrero reportedly was shackled and left on the ground for some five hours, his blood on the street. One witness saw a woman yell at the agents, referencing Guerrero’s little daughter, “You took her dad, you took her dad!”

Later in the day, hundreds of Maine residents took to the streets in protest. Mufalo Chitam, executive director of the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, said, “We are grieving, we are furious, and we will not allow his death to be treated as routine or inevitable. How much more harm must our communities endure before those with the power to act acknowledge that this has gone too far?”

One of the witnesses summarized her shock at Guerrero’s death: “This is Biddeford. Things like this never happen here.”

But “things like this” are now happening—in Biddeford, in Houston, in Minneapolis and elsewhere. To date, not one federal agent has been held accountable for their actions.

And as the tally of killings rises, with the help of our tax dollars, we can expect that the resulting trauma will continue to spread as these unforgivable crimes touch individuals, families and communities.

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Lindsey Graham died Saturday night after “a brief and sudden illness.” I wish I could tell you the story of a life well led. I cannot. Lindsey Graham made the terrible decision to serve Donald Trump even though he knew better, thereby aiding and abetting a corrupt and hateful operation to destroy our beloved country.

We are all the poorer for the dishonorable choices Graham made. His death at 71 is a reminder that life is but temporary; and each of us can choose whether we want to add something enduring that genuinely makes our world better—or grasp for some short-term advantage that will cheapen the promise that life affords.

I know in these moments that the typical thing is to search for reasons to praise the dead. But Lindsey Graham was a public figure with the power that accrues to a U.S. Senator who served for over 23 years. There are many who knew him closely and worked with him who see this moment as an opportunity to remember, for example, his friendship, his humor and his commitment to building global alliances.

But Graham, like so many of his Republican peers, knew that Donald Trump was a danger to our country. And, despite this, he chose to closely ally himself, to revel in his proximity to maximum power, indeed to stay relevant.

He did so despite his famous comment in 2016, “If we nominate Trump, we will get destroyed... and we will deserve it.” He did so despite his accurate observation in 2015, that Trump is a"race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot” who is “unfit for office” and that he should be rejected or “we’ve lost the moral authority, in my view, to govern the country.” He did so even after the violent insurrection at our nation’s capitol on Jan. 6, which he condemned at first and later backtracked as Trump’s power persisted.

I will leave it to others to judge the full range of interests that likely motivated Graham. The list would surely include his desire to influence Trump on foreign policy, such as his staunch support for Israel, for the war with Iran and regime change, and for Ukraine in its battle against Russian aggression. He was a frequent global traveler and a war hawk who was a close friend of another war hawk, Sen. John McCain. One might argue that Lindsey needed another powerful man to latch onto after McCain’s passing in 2018. Others might question—and many have—whether Trump possessed some compromising material about Lindsey that ensured his complicity, possibly concerning his sexual preferences that the never-married senator never publicly addressed.

Whatever his reasons, Lindsey Graham made the choice to boost Trump, despite everything that was not just knowable but that he himself had previously recognized. A lawyer by training and a member of the judiciary committee, he surely had read the U.S. Constitution…and he surely could grasp the reckless lawlessness of the man that he extolled. Rather than remain faithful to the Constitution and the rule of law, he assisted Trump and his regime’s march into autocracy.

This ultimately exposed his lack of principle, the emptiness at his core, the craven desperation to matter even if it meant making a pact with the devil. This is and always will be unforgivable, ensuring his legacy in history as a man who was willing to end the American democratic project by bowing down to Donald Trump.

Tragically, he is one of many.

Lindsey Graham’s unexpected death came the day that he returned from Ukraine after meeting with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. After this visit, he reportedly told Trump in a phone call that he was “tired.” He later reportedly suffered cardiac arrest before being taken to a hospital.

Graham would have been gratified to know that Trump called him “a true American patriot,” “like a member of the family” and “one of the greatest people and Senators I have ever known.” But then, Trump also called the violent and convicted Jan. 6 insurrectionists “great patriots.”

Lindsey Graham may now find peace in death, but many millions of Americans will continue to struggle to overcome the horrors that he helped create.

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One more thing: Trump is continuing his campaign to try and kill free speech in America and particularly to stem the responsibilities and rights of a free press. On Friday, Trump’s Justice Department issued subpoenas to four New York Times journalists for their reporting on security problems with the new Air Force One gifted to Trump by Qatari royals. The Times reported that some of these subpoenas were delivered by federal agents to reporters at their homes.

“The appearance of federal law enforcement agents on the doorstep of news reporters should shock the conscience of any American who believes in the Constitution and the press freedom it protects,” said Times lawyer David McCraw in a statement. “This brazen act should be seen as nothing more than an attempt to prevent the public from knowing what is happening in their country by intimidating journalists from doing their jobs.”

A statement from the National Press club added that federal prosecutors’ “decision to subpoena journalists at The New York Times should alarm every American because it threatens the public’s constitutional right to an independent press…a free and independent press serves the people, not the government.”

The November midterms arrive in 112 days. The work of all of us who value free speech, free press and a commitment to democratic governance continues.

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Our conversation had a technical glitch at the end, but I think you’ll find it worth your time. Speaking of leadership, I will share my thoughts on the unexpected passing of Lindsey Graham tomorrow.

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Todd Blanche interviewed Jeffrey Epstein’s convicted co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell for two days, then arranged her transfer to a cushy minimum-security prison. He has participated in the continuing cover-up by refusing to release millions of Epstein files, including those that could incriminate Donald J. Trump.

Blanche has assisted vindictive prosecutions of Trump’s perceived political enemies, advanced the plan for a $1.8 billion slush fund for Jan. 6 insurrectionists and others who have been “wrongfully treated,” overseen the deletion of evidence related to the Jan. 6 attack, vacated the seditious conspiracy convictions of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders, and supported Trump’s ongoing lawlessness, including the rejection of myriad judges’ orders.

As the letter this week from more than 1,200 former Department of Justice employees who served in 14 Republican and Democratic administrations states, Blanche has led the “degradation of DOJ’s apolitical career workforce,” including the departure of some 16,000 employees, and installed a “culture of fear.” This effort has included, they note:

…the firings of hundreds of these employees—usually without notice, and for improper, unlawful reasons. Some were terminated for having worked on cases the President didn’t like; for being relatives of the President’s foes; for adjudicating immigration cases in accordance with due process; for declining to initiate vindictive prosecutions; or for refusing to lie in court. These terminations violate the very civil service statutes designed to prevent corruption and political purges.

Rather than serving as the nation’s chief law enforcement official as the Acting U.S. Attorney General, Todd Blanche has continued his role as Donald Trump’s criminal defense attorney and personal lawyer. Rather than recognize the responsibility to ensure judicial independence—a critical hallmark of the DOJ’s role in serving justice and the people—one of Blanche’s top aides told the leaders of 93 U.S. Attorney’s offices in February that Trump is their “chief client.”

This coming week the Senate Judiciary Committee will conduct two days of confirmation hearings for Blanche. It’s hard to overstate how much more damage Todd Blanche can cause to the DOJ and justice itself if he were to be confirmed as the nation’s attorney general.

I would like to think these hearings will serve as a deposition to help expose the lawlessness of Blanche and the Trump regime. But Blanche has previously shown his skills of evasion and obfuscation under intense questioning. These hearings will also serve to reveal whether there is growing opposition to Trump among Republicans or—more likely—once again kowtow to his hostile degradation of our system of justice and the rule of law.

What do you think? Can justice survive Todd Blanche? While Blanche can continue to do enormous damage as Trump’s acting AG, is his promotion to AG another nail in the coffin of justice in America? Finally, once this regime has been driven from power, what kind of leader does the Department of Justice need to reset its course and regain the public’s trust in our system of justice?

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

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If you only pay attention to the corrupt and unhinged behavior of Donald Trump each day, it would be easy to lose all hope.

Consider these examples of his lawlessness and cognitive decline just from the last few days: Calling Iran “the Islamic Republic of Japan” and the Iranians “scum,” refusing to pay E. Jean Carroll the $5 million-plus he owes her for adjudicated rape and defamation, trying to push the Supreme Court to reconsider its birthright citizenship ruling, threatening to withhold federal counterterrorism funds from blue states if they don’t agree to exclusively use paper ballots and verify citizenship at the ballot box.

But it’s not just Trump that makes it dispiriting. It’s also the reckless refusal by the Republicans to admit what we can see with our own eyes: his falling asleep mid-meeting at the NATO summit this week in Turkey and, while awake, humiliating our nation with his increasing inability to get names and other information correct.

How many times will Trump call President Volodymyr Zelensky—who was sitting right next to him—President Putin before the Republicans acknowledge the need to do something?

It’s a trick question: The answer is he could humiliate our once-admired nation endlessly and his sycophants still would display their utter cowardice, their desperation to hold onto power and their abandonment of principle, the Constitution and the truth.

At the risk of excessive repetition, I remind you that both impeachment and the 25th amendment are available mechanisms to deal with a president who is acting criminally and/or unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. But as long as this bunch of anti-American cowards holds onto power, they prove that Trump could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and they would either applaud him or pretend that they knew nothing about it.

But I haven’t sent this missive to your inbox simply to heighten your outrage and increase your blood pressure. Rather, I’d like to spotlight several examples of virtuous men and women who have grasped the urgency of this moment and have lifted their voices and taken action to confront and condemn the horrors they see—refusing to sit idly by while the worst among us try their damnedest to destroy our beloved country. I draw these encouraging examples from the world of justice and the law.

This week a letter was sent to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that will be conducting the confirmation hearing of Todd Blanche for U.S. Attorney General. The letter was signed by more than 1,200 former Department of Justice employees who served in 14 Republican and Democratic administrations and collectively possess thousands of years of DOJ experience.

As their letter begins, “Regardless of how we joined the department, every one of us took an oath to support and defend the Constitution, not the occupant of the White House.” That oath, they explain, “compels us to speak out against the nomination of Todd Blanche for Attorney General.”

I could easily share every damning word in their letter—and please do give the two pages a read if you can—but let me present a handful of key excerpts. They begin by noting “the corruption and abuses that have defined the Justice Department” under Blanche, a list that includes “the vindictive prosecutions and investigations of the President’s foes; the deals designed to reward lawbreakers with taxpayer dollars; the erasure of accountability for January 6; the mishandling of the Epstein files; and the denigration of judges and repeated violations of their orders.”

But they focus particularly on Blanche’s “degradation of DOJ’s apolitical career workforce,” from which some 16,000 employees (out of a workforce of over 100,000) have exited, including FBI agents and analysts and more than a quarter of the department’s attorneys. Of these career civil servants, they write:

They’re the ones who keep us safe by prosecuting violent crime, investigating drug trafficking, and countering terrorism and espionage. They keep us prosperous by enforcing antitrust laws and holding financial fraudsters accountable. They protect our fundamental freedoms by upholding civil rights laws, and they keep our elected officials honest by pursuing public corruption.

And why are they gone?

Blanche has fired or overseen the firings of hundreds of these employees—usually without notice, and for improper, unlawful reasons. Some were terminated for having worked on cases the President didn’t like; for being relatives of the President’s foes; for adjudicating immigration cases in accordance with due process; for declining to initiate vindictive prosecutions; or for refusing to lie in court. These terminations violate the very civil service statutes designed to prevent corruption and political purges.

Many more career employees have left on their own…For some, their offices were left rudderless after their managers were pushed out. Others resigned rather than follow illegal or unethical orders, or they left because they feared those orders would come. Many left because leadership abandoned or drastically scaled back their work enforcing civil rights, environmental, or public corruption laws—while offices that enforced tax laws, ensured access to justice, prosecuted drug trafficking, and reduced community violence were eliminated entirely.

These 1,200-plus signatories, including dozens of U.S. attorneys and other senior leaders, describe the consequences of Blanche’s attacks—that “much of the department’s vital work isn’t being done, or isn’t being done as well, leaving communities less safe, Americans’ rights less protected, and our national security more vulnerable.” And they insist that “the culture of fear Blanche has instilled” must be stopped and “respect for career professionals must be returned.”

Their conclusion: “For the sake of the institution where we once proudly served, we urge you to reject Todd Blanche’s nomination.”

We will learn this coming week whether the Senate Judiciary Committee hears their voices and those of all of us who condemn the hateful, unjust agenda of Trump and Blanche, more properly known as Trump’s new Roy Cohn.

This week a collection of 25-30 retired and sitting judges got on a bus to meet everyday citizens in streets, town squares, community centers, donut shops and even a Cracker Barrel. Their purpose: to advocate for the rule of law and its centrality to our democracy.

Patterned after a similar intervention by judges in Poland in 2020, these judges have traveled from Pennsylvania to Ohio and Michigan, ending up in Detroit. Worried about the independence of the courts and the dangers of an increasingly lawless regime made worse by an ill-informed citizenry, they have taken their case to the people, including schoolchildren. Dressed in their flowing black robes, the judges have made quite an impression on unsuspecting passersby.

The week-long tour—organized by Democracy Rising Collaborative and Keep Our Republic—is a reminder that there’s no silver bullet for how we save our democracy. It takes committed people at every level who recognize the necessity of raising awareness and underscoring the foundational values and principles needed to sustain a free society.

They cite these three values in their mission statement: “Fairness matters. Rules must not bend for the powerful. No one is above the law.” Easy enough that even the school kids they meet should get it.

Here’s a clip from Columbus, Ohio (courtesy of the Democracy Rising Collaborative):

I leave you with the ruling of Judge Lewis Kaplan, who has refused to take seriously Trump’s deadbeat effort to avoid paying writer E. Jean Carroll, even after the Supreme Court rejected his appeal to hear the case. Kaplan is an exemplar of the growing list of federal judges who recognize their duty to the Constitution and the rule of law—and are not willing to be kowtowed by this lawless White House occupant. Kaplan’s six-page order filed Wednesday concludes with this:

In the last analysis, defendant has been stalling this case for years. A jury unanimously concluded that he sexually abused and defamed plaintiff and awarded her damages accordingly. The judgment on that verdict has been upheld on appeal. En banc rehearing has been denied. The Supreme Court has denied certiorari without dissent. It is time for him to do equity’ and pay the judgment.

Unsurprisingly, in order to further drag this out, Trump’s lawyers intend to appeal the judge’s order. But as Kaplan noted, “disbursement of funds would not cause defendant irreparable harm.” And “in the highly unlikely event” that the Supreme Court were to reverse itself and grant Trump’s petition for another hearing, he could file a suit to recover any funds “erroneously disbursed.” (The total funds now amount to $5.8 million, which is a combination of the $5 million jury award plus accumulated interest.)

Ultimately, we can assume that, no matter how cognitively impaired and reckless the convicted felon becomes, he will never become less cruel, cheap or hostile to justice and the rule of law. It will take dedicated judges and every one of us to push back and overcome the tragedy of a man like this (and his enablers) holding our country hostage.

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I worried about the Nazi tattoo. The rumors of abusive behavior were alarming. I leaned on the judgement of Maine voters and their willingness to accept the failures of Graham Platner—dealing with combat-related PTSD—and the possibility of redemption. They voted overwhelmingly to advance him as Maine’s Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate.

But the latest reports of rape from a woman who had an on-and-off relationship with Platner are credible and deeply troubling. In addition to multiple interviews with Politico, the Maine resident also shared with the publication emails with her therapist and messages with an acquaintance about the non-consensual event.

This crosses a line. No one can legitimately argue that the adjudicated rape and all the other alleged sexual abuse by Donald Trump are unacceptable while looking the other way with Platner.

Platner has denied the accusations, but they cannot be dismissed as politically motivated, as were other allegations. “One of the reasons I didn’t come forward sooner was the huge moral conflict that I had between supporting his politics, but not supporting him as a person,” a courageous Jenny Racicot told Politico.

We are living in complicated times. The necessity of curtailing the power of the Republicans and their authoritarian takeover is critical. That requires the Democrats taking back the majority in the House and the Senate. That likely includes defeating Maine’s GOP incumbent Sen. Susan Collins. As a progressive candidate with a compelling biography and impressive campaign skills, Platner seemed like the guy who could flip Maine.

Like so many others, I was prepared to overlook some of Platner’s red flags in hopes that he could help achieve the larger national purpose in this time of grave moral and political danger. But the accusations of Racicot cannot be glossed over. It’s why so many progressives who backed him have rescinded their endorsements. I agree with their judgement.

Platner must go.

And if he does so by July 13, then Maine Democrats will have two weeks to choose another candidate to take on Collins in November. The country’s fate depends on defeating the current Republican majority obedient to Donald Trump. But the pursuit of a better future cannot be built with men as clearly unfit to hold public office as these latest accusations expose.

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We live in a complex, multi-racial, multi-ethnic society of more 340 million people. Over the next two decades, the white population in the United States will no longer be the majority. These are demographic facts—facts that a white supremacist president cannot alter, no matter how much he despises the reality of our country.

An intelligent president who loves America and its democratic values would use a singular moment like the 250th anniversary to bring the country together. To focus on what binds us not what divides us. To express how diversity is our strength.

But in this perverse period of our lives, we are stuck with a broken buffoon, a desperate braggart, a shallow con artist, a corrupt authoritarian who only cares about money and power.

He was handed a speech that required him to mouth words that reminded us what a real president would say. But there’s no getting around how sad and tattered those words sound when uttered by a man who believes none of them.

Mother Nature tried her best to stop it with lightning and thunder. But her fury could not keep this man from forging ahead and defiling the night.

“Here on our National Mall, we’re celebrating freedom’s triumph over tyranny, liberty’s conquest over oppression and the enduring victory of the American spirit,” he said.

“Our founding fathers summoned the courage of giants and the wisdom of centuries to boldly proclaim these timeless truths. They declared that all men are created equal,” he said.

“This country has been the greatest force for peace and justice on earth in the last century. We defeated tyrants, demolished evil, and saved freedom again and again and again,” he said.

These things are true. But these things ring hollow and cheap when spoken by a man who obviously does not believe them.

It was not enough to express such thoughts out loud, confident in their intrinsic value. It was necessary for him to put others down over and over, to remind the audience (waiting for fireworks) that we are the best.

“For 250 years, the United States of America has been the hope, the promise, the light and the glory among all of the nations of the world,” he said. “All over the world. They try and be like us. Nobody can be like us. And with God’s help, we will always be this or even better.”

“We will always be on top,” he said. “We will never let our country fall. We will always be the best.”

“Americans won the West and built the modern world,” he said. “Because America is a nation of winners. And today our country is winning again. And we’re winning like never before.”

This man who spits on our Constitution and its values nearly every day even mouthed the words praising the document America’s founders produced—although this “victim” couldn’t avoid ad-libbing a typical grievance.

“It’s because of their genius that we remain the finest people on the planet,” he said. “After 250 years, unlike so many others in the world, in this country we have freedom of speech, freedom of religion, equal justice under the law, although I wasn’t treated that well. But we won’t get into that.”

He didn’t linger on how justice hasn’t served his bottomless needs, but he repeatedly targeted his new villain to incite his cult to hatred. “We don’t want communists in our country,” he said. And, America will never be a communist country. Won’t happen. Communism is a loser, and it always will be.”

He also used the speech to plug his Save America Act and oppose mail-in ballots, as well as trot out his tired “golden age of America” line, as if it reflected reality rather than his untethered fantasy world.

But it was one of his closing lines that particularly displayed how disconnected this speech was from the nasty world he’s worked so aggressively to turn our beloved country into.

“Over 250 years, the mighty nations and terrible tyrants—they came and they went,” he said. “After us they came and they went. But after two and a half centuries, this American republic still stands tall and strong. And we love each other.”

And we love each other.

We will get through this corrupt, cruel and absurd time in our nation’s life, in part because the avatar of corruption, cruelty and absurdity could utter lines like this and imagine that there’s anyone in the audience who thinks that he actually believes or cares about it.

He may read the speechwriters’ lines that appear on his TelePrompter. But the gap between what he says and what he has wrought continues to widen, and there’s no chance in hell that he will ever bridge that gap.

That would take an intelligent man, one who actually believes in the values of America, respects America for the diverse country that it is and cares about the well-being of Americans more than feeding his own ego and stuffing his own pockets.

One day we’ll have a president like that again.

Meanwhile, a day earlier, New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani gave a 250th anniversary address to newly naturalized citizens in City Hall. His words about America—both about this moment in our history and those focused on tearing us apart—offer an antidote to Donald Trump’s false talk. Here is one of two excerpts:

You each hold a special power. The power to determine what America means. The powerful have always known their answer. America, in their view, is an arena of supremacy, where only a select few are allowed freedom, where not all are created equal. America, if you ask them, becomes less the more people it welcomes. America, they will tell you, belongs only to those with the right accent or the right shade of skin. The rest of us, they insist, should be grateful for merely being allowed to visit.

And Mamdani, a long-time New Yorker born in Uganda, ended by sharing his hopeful vision of America and its possibility, a vision that does not depend on division or demonization—and one that requires a dedicated people:

Those ideals upon which our nation was built—they are strong enough to endure any authoritarian regime, but only if we reach for them. Ours is a nation working each day towards the perfection in which it was conceived. A nation striving each day to better itself. Therein lies the work of America—the striving, the bettering, the reaching towards perfection.

What a privilege each of us has, to live in a nation that every one of its inhabitants can shape. What a responsibility each of us possesses, to prove ourselves worthy of all those who came before. What power each of us holds, to bring America ever-closer to the greatness so many have seen when they looked upon these shores — the greatness that, for 250 years, has been America.

In contrast to the man determined to destroy America’s heritage of immigration and the yearning for progress, this was a genuinely American vision.

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Last Saturday I asked, “What Will This July 4th Mean to You?” I wanted to take your pulse in the week leading up to the 250th year since our nation’s founding. Many of you talked about your plans to spend time today with family and friends, but there was not much of a feeling for celebrating. The weight of Donald Trump and the condition of our democracy hangs heavy.

One subscriber, Jack, summarized the dark thoughts plainly. “A celebration?” he asked. “More like a funeral.”

Another subscriber, Cindy, underscored Jack’s outlook. “I just can't see celebrating the worst thing to happen to our country in generations,” she said. “I'd like to go hide somewhere.”

One other subscriber, Mary, joined this chorus. She described her “feeling of forbidding not hope.” Her plan for the day? “Our family will celebrate subdued and uncertain. Waiting for the other shoe to fall.”

I get it. It’s hard to strike up the band when the last thing you want to do is have a party. Nonetheless, I do hope that many of us will enjoy this day one way or another and not let the White House malignancy succeed in blotting out the sun. (While Trump has taken the day hostage by planning a long speech on the National Mall, the 100 degree-plus temperatures could cut that nightmare short.)

I also hope this day might still be a chance to rewind 250 years and remember that the revolutionaries seeking independence were confronting an oppressive, tyrannical monarchy. And that same fighting spirit can be a source of energy and optimism now. As I put it last weekend:

Perhaps this complicated 4th of July will be the inspiration that an overwhelming majority of Americans need to take a stand this November and defend democracy, justice and the rule of law. That presumes enough Americans recognize that we cannot allow a corrupt and despotic regime—indifferent to the needs of the people—to continue to wreak havoc in its quest for maximum wealth and unfettered power.

That brings me to the idea that, in this semiquincentennial year, we can honor our nation’s founding on November 3 (and in the days leading up to it) with an overwhelming turnout for a midterm vote that makes crystal clear Americans have had enough. That means saying with a definitive voice that we will not be silenced, that we demand change and that Donald Trump’s authoritarian regime must be soundly defeated and held accountable for its corruption and crime.

That sounds to me like the real Independence Day 250.

Imagine how sweet that November celebration will be. Quite a good reason for fireworks. A glass of champagne. Dancing in the streets.

Spread the word.

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On our nation’s anniversary, an uneducated and broken buffoon is holding the country hostage, determined to make this 250th year all about him. To assess what this moment is really about, I’m sharing an excerpt of my essay from a year ago. I think it provides a useful reminder of the bravery and clarity of vision required to vigorously reject an oppressive tyrant and pursue independence.

Chances are, when you think about the Declaration of Independence adopted in 1776, it’s this sentence that comes to mind: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Indeed, this is foundational in both articulating the radical aspirations of our nation and providing standards and values against which we can measure our progress.

But I thought it worthwhile to go back through the whole document to think freshly about its meaning and relevance to our time. And, honestly, it was stunning to realize how closely many of the grievances our founders asserted toward King George III mirror the issues we are facing with the tyrannical despot currently occupying our White House.

So I’d like to cite some of our founders’ reasons for rejecting Great Britain’s ruler and declaring independence. They began by noting that the monarch produced “a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States.”

And then their list of charges included these 11:

• He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither…

• He has obstructed the Administration of Justice…

• He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices…

• He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

• He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

• For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world.

• For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent.

• For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury…

• For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences.

• For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments.

• He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us…

From undermining trade to denying justice, from deporting the defenseless to inciting insurrections—all under false pretext—King George sounds a lot like our country’s current hostile ruler. The declaration’s signatories sought redress from a mad king who demanded their submission to the dark cloud of tyranny, rather than allowing them to live as a free people.

On this July 4th, 249 years after our founders were compelled to put in writing the necessity of achieving independence, let’s take strength from their commitment to overcoming the yoke of oppression. And let’s not doubt our capacity now to overcome the despotic demands of a deranged dictator….and remember that we are a people dedicated to freedom.

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