curated news excerpts & citations
Adam Kinzinger: Trump’s Words Are Fueling Violence: Why Leaders Must Step Up
America needs calming leadership—not reckless blame and division.
Donald Trump’s words are not harmless bluster. They shape the national mood and, too often, the behavior of those listening. The danger of that rhetoric became starkly clear again with the last two politically charged shootings, including the attack on an ICE facility in Dallas yesterday. Instead of urging patience or unity, prominent voices on the right quickly blamed “the left,” painting millions of Americans as complicit. This is more than cynical politics—it is reckless and destructive.
A president’s job is not to pour gasoline on a fire. From Washington to Lincoln, from FDR to Reagan, presidents have generally recognized their unique power to calm the country when passions run hot. Even when they were deeply partisan, they understood the office carries an unwritten duty to keep violence from escalating. Trump is the first modern president who openly rejects that responsibility. He thrives on the spectacle of grievance, fueling division with each rally chant and social media post.
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If Donald Trump will not meet this basic standard of leadership, others must.
(Adam Kinzinger more…)
Mary Geddry: From Stone Age Warnings to Jet Age Salesmanship
While the world tuned in to the United Nations General Assembly this week, the split-screen was almost too on the nose. On one side, Colombian President Gustavo Petro warned that “a kind of stone age has descended on all of humankind,” with missiles raining on unarmed youth in the Caribbean, Gaza in ruins, Ukraine locked in attrition, and humanity sliding backward under the weight of violence. …
And then there was Donald Trump, flexing for Erdoğan like a salesman on commission.
Thom Hartmann: Putin and Trump: When Cowards Play with Matches
Noah Berlatsky: What Counts as Political Violence?
State violence is political violence, too.
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – September 25, 2025
Today, with the popularity of President Donald J. Trump and his administration dropping, Trump’s disastrous performance at the United Nations, the return of comedian Jimmy Kimmel to the airwaves, and the Tuesday’s election in Arizona of Democratic representative Adelita Grijalva, who will provide the final signature on a discharge petition to demand a floor vote in the House over releasing all the government files on convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the administration appears to be making a dramatic push to seize complete control of the government.
…[Timothy] Snyder noted that Congress can pass laws to rule such behavior illegal, courts can find actions illegal and protect victims, commentators can describe reality, and citizens can say they “don’t want to be subject to an imagined emergency based on a big lie that does away with the essence of American liberty and law.” He concluded: “This has been done before. It can be stopped.”
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)Jennifer Rubin: Resistance to Donald Trump ultimately comes down to the American people.
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Todd Beeton: The Myth Of The MAGA Majority
Trump’s latest ‘landslide’ claim masks what a minority movement MAGA really is
Notably absent from Trump’s “landslide!” boasts was any mention of his actual vote margin of victory over Harris, and for good reason. First, Trump didn’t even win a majority of votes cast last year. While he did win the popular vote outright, Trump came in just shy of 50%, which means more people voted against him than for him.
(Todd Beeton more…)
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Root: These Civil Rights Legends From Jim Crow Are Still With Us …So Remember Their Names!
(Root more…)
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NY Times: Grand Jury Indicts Longtime Trump Target, Former F.B.I. Director James Comey
The move came after the president intensified his pressure campaign on the Justice Department in recent days, publicly demanding that top officials prosecute Mr. Comey.
Miles Taylor: With the Comey indictment, Trump commits an impeachable offense
The criminal conduct is worse than his previous impeachments.
LAWdork: Trump the tyrant is on full display — but his acting out highlights how weak he is
Trump got his Comey indictment Thursday and issued a memo directing “domestic terrorism” investigations. And yet, both provided more evidence that Trump is losing.
…Trump the tyrant will lash out. And harm could and likely will come from it.
But, his overstepping fails. Because, as Kimmel said plainly, it is un-American.
Americans value our constitutional rights. We will push back. And we will win.
(LAWdork more…)
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Gil Duran: She Warned About Silicon Valley 25 Years Ago. We Ignored Her.
Journalist Paulina Borsook warned that tech libertarians wanted an anti-human world that worked more like a computer
(Gil Duran more…)Gil Duran: Peter Thiel Antichrist Fiasco Sparks International Concern
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NY Times: Kennedy Says U.S. Rejects Global Health Goals
The nation’s top federal health official criticized the U.N.’s road map for addressing chronic disease, falsely claiming it promotes abortion and “radical gender ideology.”
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The text of the declaration does not mention reproductive rights or gender ideology. The word “gender” appears several times in the document, but only in the context of the specific health challenges that women face around the world.Despite opposition from the United States, the declaration, a list of health targets, is expected to win approval from a majority of the body’s 193 member states.
(NY Times more…)
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Texas Tribune: Angelo State University bans classroom discussions of transgender topics, stirring criticism and confusion
Austin American-Statesman: Texas Tech System bans mention of transgender, nonbinary topics in classrooms
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NPR: Trump is accusing the U.N. of ‘sabotage.’ The U.N. says Trump’s team is to blame
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Bulwark: As Our Generals and Admirals Fly Home, Our Adversaries Watch and Wait
Couldn’t Hegseth’s in-person meeting of all flag officers have been a secure conference call?
Timothy Snyder: Hegseth puts us all at risk
Why put all the American commanders in one room?
Jack Hopkins: How to Read Hegseth’s Mass Recall of Generals: A Warning Shot at the Republic
This isn’t planning. It’s pressure…and the Republic is on the line.
Lev Parnas: A Loyalty Test at Quantico — Generals Summoned to Choose Sides
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arsTECHNICA: Senate staff probes DOGE, finds locked doors and windows covered with trash bags
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Sarah Jones: Trump Personally Tried To Kill An Epstein Story
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Keep in mind that there is still no evidence that Trump committed a crime while weighing this latest bit of reporting from The Wall Street Journal:Traveling back to Washington aboard Air Force One, Trump told his communications aides that such a letter didn’t exist, that he would never write such a letter, and that he would try to kill the story himself.
From the plane, he called Rupert Murdoch, chair emeritus of News Corp, the parent company of the Journal’s publisher, and told him the story wasn’t true and that he should handle it, according to a person familiar with the brief call. After the article’s publication, Trump sued Journal publisher Dow Jones, parent company News Corp and several individuals including Murdoch for defamation, calling the letter “nonexistent.” (This week the defendants moved to dismiss Trump’s lawsuit.) A spokesman for News Corp declined to comment.
Trump is still attempting to sue Murdoch, The Wall Street Journal, and others over the story, but The Wall Street Journal’s reporting was entirely accurate. The world now knows that the letter existed because it was released as part of documents obtained by the House Oversight Committee from the Epstein estate.
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Borowitz: Nobel Peace Prize Committee Asks Trump to Clarify Remarks About Hating His Enemies
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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