curated news excerpts & citations
David Brooks: America Needs a Mass Movement—Now
Other peoples have risen. Other peoples have risen up to defend their rights, their dignity, and their democracies. In the past 50 years, they’ve done it in Poland, South Africa, Lebanon, South Korea, Ukraine, East Timor, Serbia, Madagascar, Nepal, and elsewhere.
In the early 1970s, for instance, the democratically elected leader of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos, tried to centralize power in his own hands. Students rose up: A clash between them and police left six protesters dead. Transit workers went on strike, followed by joint student-worker demonstrations. Marcos countered by declaring martial law. Led by Cardinal Jaime Sin, the archbishop of Manila, Catholics arose to resist.
In 1983, Marcos’s key opponent, Benigno Aquino, was assassinated. Marcos banned TV coverage of Aquino’s funeral. But 2 million mourners showed up for what turned into an 11-hour rally against the regime. The middle and professional classes then joined the protesters. The Manila business community held weekly demonstrations. The following year, there was a general workers’ strike. After Marcos stole the next election, members of the armed forces began to mutiny. Millions of ordinary citizens marched to defend them. The Reagan administration threatened to cut off aid to the regime. By early 1986, Marcos and his family had no choice: They fled the country. It had taken more than a decade, but the people had defeated the autocrat.
Such uprisings are not rare. …
(David Brooks more…)
Sarah Jones: The Moral Awakening That Needs To Accompany No Kings Protest
Reverend Rodney Williams told our leaders they have failed not only as leaders, but at being decent, loving human beings and called for a moral awakening.
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – October 18, 2025
Today, millions of Americans and their allies turned out across the United States and around the globe to demonstrate their commitment to American democracy and their opposition to a president and an administration apparently bent on replacing that democracy with a dictatorship.
Administration loyalists tried to claim the No Kings protests would be “hate America” rallies of “the pro-Hamas wing and Antifa people.” Texas governor Greg Abbott deployed the Texas National Guard ahead of the No Kings Day protests, warning that “[v]iolence and destruction will never be tolerated in Texas.”
In fact, protesters turned out waving American flags and wearing frog and unicorn and banana costumes and carrying homemade signs that demanded the release of the Epstein files and defended Lady Liberty. They laughed and danced and took selfies and sang. City police departments, including those of New York City, San Diego, and Washington, D.C., said they had made no protest-related arrests.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)Politico: ‘No Kings’ protests against Trump bring a street party vibe to cities nationwide
Root: Black America Reacts to No Kings Day Protests Around the Country
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Fast Company: ‘No Kings’ is not just in cities like Chicago, Boston, and NYC: These small towns are the beating heart of today’s protests
… The list of locations includes grassroots efforts in surprising corners of the country.
(Fast Company more…)
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Atlantic: Photos: More ‘No Kings’ Protests Across the U.S.
(Atlantic more…)
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BBC: Israel launches air strikes in Gaza, accusing Hamas of ‘blatant violation of ceasefire’
(BBC more…)Al Jazeera: Israel launches ‘wave’ of air strikes on Gaza as truce teeters
- Israeli air strikes target southern Gaza after its forces blame Hamas for targeting its soldiers. Hamas says Israel’s claims are false and baseless.
- The civil defence agency says at least 11 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza including on a school sheltering war-displaced civilians.
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NewsNation: Ukrainian drones strike a major Russian gas plant
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Marty Coniglio: The Tweet That Cost a Media Career: Why I Did What I Did
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At a public event the Saturday after the 2016 election, a colleague asked me what I thought of the result of the presidential race. “Racism and sexism are alive and well in the United States of America,” I responded.After seeing our 45th president‘s rise to power fueled by the “birther” movement and his callous attitudes toward women self-described (one might say “confessed”) in the Access Hollywood tape, there is no other conclusion a reasonable person could reach.
(Marty Coniglio more…)
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Ruth Ann Crystal MD: COVID & Health News, 10/18/25
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Thom Hartmann: FA Hayek vs. the Birth of Democratic Socialism
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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