The Trump administration can be understood as a hostile army invading the United States. They are opening up new fronts almost every day — so much so that those of wishing to defend our democracy don’t know which way to turn.
Taking a page from his hero Putin’s playbook, Trump just keeps sending wave after wave of his troops (“executive orders”) at us, not really caring if they live or die, with the expectation that we will just become exhausted and stop resisting his grab for complete power.
Meanwhile, the creaky institutions of democracy — the lower courts, the Senate, the Supreme Court, even though they are thoroughly infected with Trumpism — are slowly starting to resist.
By nature these democratic processes move at a gradual pace, careful to preserve the rights, norms and conventions that have gotten us here to a point almost 250 years into the era of constitutional democracy.
I don’t know about you, but I’m thinking it is time they sped up their resistance while there still are enough resources to resist the invasion. Democracy has been dying before our eyes, drip by drip. It is bleeding out.
We can sit and watch or join forces by backing those leading the nascent resistance to save the patient, repel the invaders and begin the long, slow recovery.
Oh, but wait! I’m getting ahead of myself. First we have to get rid of the would-be king. To do that non-violently and democratically, we need to turn his minions in the GOP out of office in the midterms and those are next year, 2026.
One year before the country celebrates its 250th anniversary, democracy will be finally able to start its comeback. That, or there will be literally nothing to celebrate.
HEADLINES:
Trump administration bars Harvard from enrolling international students (CNN)
Harvard Sues Trump Administration Over Move to Bar International Students (NYT)
The plan to protect America by shooting down missiles mid-air (Economist)
US judge blocks Trump's plan to dismantle Education Department (Reuters)
Trump tax bill clears the House in a victory for Republicans, advances to the Senate (CNBC)
The Decline and Fall of Elon Musk (Atlantic)
Elon Musk Reacts to Article About His 'Decline and Fall' (Newsweek)
Supreme Court blocks creation of religious charter school in Oklahoma (NPR)
Trump and Republicans are targeting blue states’ climate policies (WP)
Venezuelan migrants lost legal status. Here’s what that means for the economy. (WP)
Deportees Went Where? (NYT)
Diseases are spreading. The CDC isn't warning the public like it was months ago (NPR)
The history behind Trump’s focus on White South African farmers (WP)
European Officials Say Trump Tells Their Leaders Putin Isn’t Ready to End War (WSJ)
What Israeli Officials Are Privately Saying About Starvation in Gaza (New Yorker)
Stop making cents: US Mint moves forward with plans to kill the penny (AP)
CBS News staffers see leader’s departure as a sign of Trump settlement (WP)
News publishers call Google’s AI Mode ‘theft’ (Verge)
DOGE Used Meta AI Model to Review Emails From Federal Workers (Wired)
OpenAI’s Ambitions Just Became Crystal Clear (Atlantic)
Will Writing Survive AI? (NYT)
Understaffed National Weather Service Still Weeks Away From Issuing Kentucky Tornado Warning (The Onion)
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