curated citations to news sources
Atlantic: A Massive Vaccine Experiment
In just seven months, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has undone decades of vaccine synchrony.
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The consequences of the current fracturing may not be apparent right away. Immunity takes time to erode. “If we stop vaccinating today, we would not have outbreaks tomorrow,” Orenstein said. When the fallout lands, Kennedy could be long out of the government, and limiting the damage he’s done will be someone else’s problem.
(Atlantic more…)
AXIOS: Trump breaks from RFK on vaccines: “Pure and simple, they work”
Slate: RFK Jr. May Be Reaching the Limit of Trump’s Patience
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – September 6, 2025
Today the social media account of President Donald J. Trump posted an AI-generated image of Trump as if he were Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore from the 1979 film Apocalypse Now in front of the Chicago skyline with military helicopters and flames and the caption “Chipocalypse Now.” Kilgore loved the war in Vietnam in which he was engaged; his most famous line was “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.”
Over the image, Trump’s social media post read: “‘I love the smell of deportations in the morning…’ Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR.” The words were followed by three helicopter emojis, symbols the right wing uses to represent former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet’s goons’ disappearing political opponents by pushing them out of helicopters.
…Trump’s threats against American citizens are outrageous, but they also feel desperate. Trump’s popularity is tanking, the economy is faltering, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is facing a chorus of calls to resign or be fired, and the American people are taking to the streets. Thousands of people turned out today in Washington, D.C., for the “We Are All D.C.” march to protest the presence of troops in the city, and in Chicago for the “Chicago Says No Trump No Troops” protest. The protests are notable for the seas of signs the peaceful protesters carry.
And then, with Congress back in session, there is the resurgence of the issue of Trump’s appearance in the Epstein files. Last week, the White House warned Republicans that voting to release the Epstein files “would be viewed as a very hostile act to the administration.” Yesterday, Trump reiterated his claim that the agitation for the release of the files is a “Democrat HOAX…in order to deflect and distract from the great success of a Republican President.”
…Johnson’s claim that Trump was an FBI informant suggests Trump’s team is worried that as more and more people get access to the files, it will be increasingly difficult to hide what’s in them. Trump’s demand for Republicans’ loyalty suggests that at least some of them are starting to recalculate it. And that, in turn, might have something to do with why he is putting troops in the streets.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
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Mark O’Connor: Violinist in shackles taken to immigration prison
(Mark O’Connor more…)
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Charlotte Clymer: Trump Likely Just Ordered West Point to Cancel Ceremony Honoring Tom Hanks
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Timothy Snyder: Fascists
Notes from a frontline factory in eastern Ukraine
(Timothy Snyder more…)ABC: Zelenskyy says Trump’s Alaska summit ‘gave Putin what he wanted’
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The Ukrainian president added, “Putin doesn’t want to meet with me, but he wants very much to meet with the president of the United States, to show everybody video and images that he is there.”
…As the war in Ukraine drags on, Trump has continued to push — so far, unsuccessfully — for a meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy as he seeks to bring the yearslong conflict to a close. This week, a Trump-imposed two-week deadline for peace talks between Putin and Zelenskyy came and went.
(ABC more…)Lev Parnas: Ukraine’s Darkest Night Yet
Russia fires 805 Shaheds, families shelter underground, and Trump looks away.
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Fred Wellman: These aren’t Missouri values
Governor Mike Kehoe’s move for a mid-decade gerrymandering and crushing direct democracy has nothing to do with our values and everything to do with keeping power
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Harry Truman was a lion of a politician. He led the wartime investigation of contractors overcharging for war materials and construction during World War II against the wishes of his own party’s President. He literally took his personal car and drove all over the south to see with his own eyes the failed construction projects at badly needed military training sites.His investigations saved billions of dollars that were being stolen by unscrupulous millionaires and corporations as we sent our sons off to fight. Even though Roosevelt resisted the effort he would get credit for the work from the public and promote Truman to be his Vice President where he would take over as President before the end of the war.
It was Truman that decided to end the war with Japan with two nuclear bombs. A decision that weighed on him until his death. It was Truman that famously had a sign on his desk that said “The Buck Stops Here.”
Now instead of being led by lions, we,re led by mice. Small people who only care about power and greed. Desperate to cling to their positions and willing to do anything to keep it, including ignoring the will of their own citizens and trampling their much touted Christian values.
(Fred Wellman more…)
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Thom Hartmann: Introduction: The Plot To Save The World
Your weekly excerpt from one of my books. This week: “The Hidden History of Neoliberalism: How Reaganism Gutted America and How to Restore Its Greatness”
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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