curated citations to news sources
James Eagle: Europe’s diplomatic counterstrike
European leaders did something remarkable this weekend. One after another, they announced they would stand beside Zelensky in Washington.
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If Trump could force Ukraine’s surrender in a closed-door meeting, he would establish a new rule. America decides. Europe obeys. The post-war order would be dead.
So Europe acted. Not with diplomatic protests. Not with angry statements. With action that Trump couldn’t refuse: they announced their attendance to Monday’s meeting in rapid succession. Trump faced an impossible choice. Accept them all or reject the entire European alliance.
The White House claims the European leaders were invited, but the sequence of events tells a different story. No formal invitations appear to have been issued. Instead, European capitals began announcing their attendance in rapid succession, creating a diplomatic fait accompli.
(James Eagle more…)
BBC: ‘The world is behaving irrationally’ – Putin’s warm welcome gets cold reaction in Ukraine
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Putin, the man responsible for the devastating war of aggression against Ukraine, had received the warmest welcome possible in Alaska. American soldiers knelt to literally roll out the red carpet for him. Trump applauded him as he approached and offered a friendly handshake. The two leaders rode together alone in Trump’s presidential limousine and Putin could be seen laughing as the car pulled away.
For the Russian president, who has been shunned internationally since his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the greeting marked the beginning of a remarkable return to the global diplomatic stage and set a tone that would continue throughout the day.
In Ukraine, it was not a welcome sight.
“Red carpets and this level of ceremony are normal at international events, but in this case – for an aggressor responsible for the deaths of millions – it should not have happened,” said Maria Drachova, 40, a lawyer in the capital Kyiv.
Drachova, who woke up and watched the footage over breakfast, said it appeared as though “the entire event was staged to please Putin”.
“The rational world is behaving irrationally by giving him this welcome,” she said.
(BBC more…)
Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – August 16, 2025
Yesterday, military personnel from the United States of America literally rolled out a red carpet for a dictator who invaded a sovereign country and is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes including the stealing of children. …
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That the president of the United States offered a meeting to Putin on U.S. soil, ground that once belonged to Russia and that Russian nationalists fantasize about taking back, was itself a win for Putin.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
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American Bar Association: Trump’s Executive Order Rolls Back Decades of Disability Rights
On July 24, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order titled “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets,” (“the Order”). Although civil commitment traditionally falls within the domain of state law, the Order seeks to reshape the legal landscape through a federal push to expand civil commitment laws—rolling back decades of progress in disability rights, due process protections, and community integration. Framed as a “new approach” to “restore public order” and protect public safety, the Order declares a federal policy of “encouraging civil commitment of individuals with mental illness who pose risks to themselves or the public or are living on the streets and cannot care for themselves in appropriate facilities for appropriate periods of time.” To facilitate that policy, the Order calls for “the reversal of Federal or State judicial precedents and the termination of consent decrees” that limit broad institutionalization of individuals with mental illness, including those who are homeless or perceived as unable to care for themselves. The Order also creates federal pressure to restore civil commitment by conditioning federal funds on the willingness of states and municipalities to adopt and enforce “maximally flexible” civil commitment standards.
(American Bar Association more…)
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Robert Reich: America without a president
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This is why it’s so urgent that We the People are rising up — making a ruckus at Republican town halls, phoning our senators and representatives so often we’re jamming congressional switchboards, joining our local Indivisible resistance groups, demonstrating, forming sanctuary communities, and boycotting corporations (such as Tesla and Target) that are caving to Trump.Another thing we can do is stop recognizing him as president.
(Robert Reich more…)
[PINO – president in name only]
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Bulwark: Warning: The Trump Presidency May Be Hazardous to Your Health
The story of a cancer patient, a researcher, and MAGA’s assault on science.
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But cancer is relentless: Even this new treatment is likely to stop working someday, because the tumor cells will “learn” to evade it. At that point, she’s going to need another miracle, which is why Jobst and his wife have been paying so much attention to the work of a researcher named David Shackelford.
…It was a chance meeting on a vacation that put Jobst and Shackelford together—another stroke of good fortune, Jobst felt. But now he worries that their luck is running out, and that his wife’s chances to benefit from those new studies are fading.
That’s because Shackelford is at UCLA. And Donald Trump just cut off the school’s federal funding.
(Bulwark more…)
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emptywheel: LaMonica McIver Prepares to Hoist Todd Blanche with His Own Petard
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She has filed four motions:- A motion to dismiss based on Congressional immunity
- A motion to compel discovery on the broader circumstances of her visit to Delaney Hall on May 9
- A motion to dismiss for selective and vindictive prosecution based on a comparison with January 6 defendants
- A motion to require DHS to withdraw false prejudicial claims about McIver
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Daily Beast: ‘Lie, Lie!’: GOP Rep Savaged at Local Town Hall
VOTER FURY
Locals outraged by Harriet Hageman’s attempts to spread climate denialism.
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Sarah Jones: Trump’s Masked Thugs Open Fire at Family’s Car in California
Trump’s federal agents are claiming they had to open fire on a family’s car in San Bernardino, California on Saturday, but the family’s cell phone footage tells a different story.
Maris Kabas: Federal agent during violent DC arrest: “Liberals already ruined” this country
(Maris Kabas more…)
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Thom Hartmann: Make Congress wear NASCAR patches
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
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