curated citations to news sources
RNS: First day of school in DC: Armed troops, terrified families, missing parents
What happens in the nation’s capital will have repercussions for the whole country and what comes next.
The first day of school often brings a mix of excitement and anxiety. Kids reconnect with friends and wonder what their classes will be like. Parents feel familiar pangs of pride and loss as they watch their children growing up. And teachers prepare to help new groups of students cooperate and learn together for another year. As the mom of two teenagers, now a freshman and a senior in high school, I’ve looked forward to the first day back to school every year with gratitude and joy.
But this year was tougher. This year, the first day of school in our home of Washington, D.C., included military troops in our streets and families so filled with fear they decided to keep their kids home. It included parent-led patrols on school routes and educator training on responding to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. It included difficult conversations with children, trying to explain the unexplainable. A few days before school started, a family whose kids have attended school with my sons since kindergarten was torn apart when the father was surrounded by agents and detained on his way to work. “So, where is he?” my son asked. I have no idea.
(RNS more…)
Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – August 27, 2025
The image of National Guard troops, some of them from as far away as Louisiana and Mississippi, in Washington, D.C., spreading mulch around the cherry trees at the Tidal Basin and picking up trash, illustrates that President Donald J. Trump’s insistence that he needed troops to crack down on violent crime in the nation’s capital was always a cover for an authoritarian takeover.
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Deploying National Guard soldiers away from their families and sending them to Washington, D.C., in the heat of August to respond to an “emergency” only to put them to work spreading mulch and picking up trash certainly seems to fit the idea of inflicting indignity to break the nobility of public service for the nation.
The firefighters at work combating a wildfire in the state of Washington likely also felt the indignity inflicted by the government today when ICE agents showed up and made them line up so the agents could check their IDs. …
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
Daily Beast: Trump’s Crackdown Spreads to Arresting Firefighters as They Tackle Wildfires
Reuters: Inside Trump’s DC crackdown: Swarms of agents and arrests for minor offenses
Boing Boing: FBI and Secret Service agents deployed to handle $25 weed buys in DC
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Robert Reich: How to respond to Trump’s lies about a “crime wave”
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Crime has also been a racial dog whistle. At least since Richard Nixon emphasized “law and order” and Ronald Reagan said he’d be “tough on crime,” Republicans have used fear of crime as code for white fear of Black people.So what should Democrats do? My suggestion: Don’t simply give statistics showing that the rate of dangerous crime has fallen. Say safety is critically important, but local police rather than federal troops are best at dealing with it.
Don’t stop there. Hammer Trump for pardoning the 1,500 criminals who violently attacked the United States capitol and caused the deaths of four police officers — and for then firing the federal prosecutors who held them accountable.
Attack him for opening the floodgates to white-collar crime — hobbling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, freezing enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, disbanding the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, and retreating from almost all federal lawsuits involving money laundering, crypto markets, and foreign corruption.
(Robert Reich more…)
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NY Times: New C.D.C. Director Is Fired, White House Says
Susan Monarez was said to have refused to adopt Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s stance on vaccination policy.
Your Local Epidemiologist: Covid-19 vaccine license change: 12 key questions answered
And an important note about the ousted CDC leaders
A few hours ago, RFK Jr. ousted the CDC Director for refusing to rubber-stamp unscientific and reckless directives. In its wake, three senior CDC officials also resigned. The United States lost remarkable leaders today—people who devoted decades, across many administrations, to protecting the health of families and communities. They weren’t just experts; they were steady hands and trusted voices, showing up in moments of crisis with clarity, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to the public good.
When leaders like this are pushed out, it’s not just the agency that suffers; it’s all of us. A weaker CDC means more vulnerable communities. Public health only works when the people leading it are strong, principled, and supported in their duty to protect and serve individuals and communities. Right now, that foundation is eroding at a speed I never thought possible. The nation’s health security is at risk.
Thank you for your service, Demetre, Dan, Deb, and Susan. I’m beyond heartbroken by what is happening at CDC and the public health field as a whole.
Simply put: This is not okay.
(Your Local Epidemiologist more…)
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Jennifer Rubin: Is the Trump Regime Trying to Kill Us?
The biggest threat to our health and safety is in the Oval Office
(Jennifer Rubin more…)
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Liz Dye: Trump’s flag burning executive order flames out
Nothing about this is real law.
(Liz Dye more…)
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Daily Beast: Intelligence Chief Gabbard Slammed for Identifying Undercover CIA Officer
COVER BLOWN
The covert official was included in a list of names shared by Gabbard online.
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Gizmodo: Bill Gates Meets With Trump at the White House
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Bulwark: MAGA’s Newest Meltdown With Trump
Move over, Epstein files—the president’s call for 600,000 Chinese student visas has his base irked.
(Bulwark more…)
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Borowitz: Greenland Tells Trump it Will Only Consider Joining US After it Sees Epstein Files
The Sharpie State is here
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
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