Someone much wiser than me once said that the most radical thing we ever do is to really connect with another person. At the end of the longest (political) week in my memory, you may be feeling a bit like I do — exhausted by the sheer volume of insults to the norms that make up the fabric of our democratic system.
At a time like this, what is to be done?
We can connect. We can talk with friends, neighbors, family members, strangers about what is going on in our country.
For those of us who long ago saw through Trump for what he is — a petty despot who aspires to be an autocrat — there is no joy in being right. We didn’t need to be right about something so wrong as the second Trump presidency.
He is bent on tearing apart the fabric of democracy thread by thread, and for now it may seem that we are powerless to prevent him from doing so. But the time will come for action against that and a broad resistance movement will form.
For now, just connect. We’ll be needing every voice soon enough.
***
You know, maybe I started this newsletter for times like this.
Thank you to those who have brought my series about the Betty Van Patter case to a much larger audience — Frances Dinkelspeil, Jacob Simas, Bill Berkowitz and the editors at Berkeleyside, The Oaklandside, Richmondside and the Daily Kos. Collectively you’ve vastly expanded the universe of people who know about the case and maybe some good will come from that.
Also I want to thank the Rev. Kenneth L. Schmidt for referencing yesterday’s column, One Scenario, at the noon mass at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Berkeley yesterday. As I told Kenneth, I believe this is the first time my words have ever been read from a pulpit and I am honored.
HEADLINES:
Trump Is Already Drowning Us in Outrages (New Yorker)
Trump Is Leading a Global Surge to the Right (NYT)
Vice President Vance casts tie-breaking Senate vote to narrowly confirm Pete Hegseth as defense secretary (CNN)
State Department issues immediate, widespread pause on foreign aid (Politico)
Touring disaster sites, Trump says he wants to get rid of FEMA (WP)
Trump And Gavin Newsom Exchange Friendly Greetings As POTUS Arrives At LAX For Visit To Tour Wildfire Devastation: “We’re Going To Get It Fixed” (Deadline)
Freed Jan. 6 Convicts Are Back on the Street and Ready to Help Trump (WSJ)
January 6ers Got Out of Prison—And Came to My Neighborhood (Atlantic)
Trump freed Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders. What's next here? (USA Today)
Oath Keepers founder Rhodes is barred from entering Washington or Capitol without court’s permission (AP)
Supreme Court to weigh whether states can allow religious public schools (WP)
Four female Israeli soldiers to be released as part of ceasefire deal, Hamas says (NBC)
Freed Israeli soldiers reunited with families as Israel releases 200 Palestinian prisoners (Guardian)
US active duty troops beginning to arrive in Texas and San Diego to support border security (AP)
Trump begins crackdown on ‘illegal immigrant criminals’; 538 arrested, hundreds deported (Hindustan Times)
Joint Statement from Thirteen State Attorneys General: State and Local Law Enforcement Cannot Be Commandeered for Federal Immigration Enforcement (California Attorney General)
Mississippi lawmaker wants bounty hunters to find undocumented immigrants (WP)
Trump ends Fauci's security detail and says he'd feel no responsibility if harm befell him (AP)
Trump mandates assassination records be released for the Kennedy brothers and MLK Jr. (NPR)
RFK Jr. skipped meeting where officials planned fight against a future pandemic (WP)
President Donald Trump's team at the Department of Health and Human Services has paused critical communications and meetings as public health officials are worried about bird flu. [HuffPost]
Trump moves to close Pentagon office focused on curbing civilian deaths (WP)
Remembering Garth Hudson, the Man Who Transformed The Band (New Yorker)
CNN Plots Major Overhaul as It Enters a New Trump Era (NYT)
CNN Surrenders to Trump (The Nation)
Hearst to buy downtown S.F. tower, relocate Chronicle offices amid effort to revive condo project (SFC)
In business news, the Bank of Japan raises interest rates to a 17-year high and there's a surprise twist in a complex Italian banking saga. (Reuters)
What if the Attention Crisis Is All a Distraction? (New Yorker)
The Rev. Mariann Budde did what she was supposed to do: Preached the Gospel (WP)
AI can now replicate itself — a milestone that has experts terrified (LiveScience)
Robots take giant leap from stiff to smooth (China Daily)
Google’s Gemini AI smart home controls are rolling out to everyone (Verge)
Why everyone in AI is freaking out about DeepSeek (Venture Beat)
OpenAI and other tech titans worked on Stargate deal months before Trump won (WP)
Surgeon General Recommends Adding Cancer Warning To All Nuclear Bombs (The Onion)
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Special Report: Who Killed Betty Van Patter?
(Photo courtesy of the Baltar family)
Betty Van Patter, the Black Panthers’ bookkeeper, was murdered 50 years ago. Who killed her? Investigative reporter David Weir and others have spent decades searching for answers. (Berkeleyside) (Richmondside) (The Oaklandside) (Daily Kos)
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