curated citations to news sources
Lamar Hankins: The death and life of Charlie Kirk
It should be axiomatic to any freedom-loving person that no one should be harmed for their beliefs, views, or opinions. Yet our country, the supposed citadel of freedom, has experienced assassinations, firings, and other negative actions toward those who express unpopular ideas. Upon learning of Kirk’s death, I thought of the period from 1963 to 1980, a seminal time of my life, and counted seventeen deaths, by guns, of people on the national stage who meant something to me. We are a tragically violent society.
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Before Charlie Kirk’s killing, he was barely known to me. In fact, if you had asked me whether Turning Point USA, Kirk’s organization, promoted views right, left, or center, I could not have given you an informed answer. Kirk was not on my radar. Since his death, I have learned why; he was a youth-influencer. He could not have cared less about those of us in our 80s. Maybe that was because some of us who lived through the civil rights struggles of the 1950s to 1970s could have educated him about why Martin Luther King, Jr., was not an “awful” person. King practiced non-violence, unlike the white people who killed four little girls with a bomb at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963, and the white killers of James Chaney, Michael Schwerner, and Andrew Goodman a year later. Did Kirk ever read King’s Letter From a Birmingham Jail? Had he done so, his views about race in this country might have been changed. Regardless, those of us with 80 years of living and learning could have explained to him that the term “awful” should be reserved for people who indiscriminately kill children because of their race, who murder peaceful civil rights workers trying to help black people register to vote, and those who kill people for what they believe or say.? Had he done so, his views about race in this country might have been changed. Regardless, those of us with 80 years of living and learning could have explained to him that the term “awful” should be reserved for people who indiscriminately kill children because of their race, who murder peaceful civil rights workers trying to help black people register to vote, and those who kill people for what they believe or say.
(Lamar Hankins more…)
Sarah Jones: The Great Divider: Trump Says He Hates His Opponents at Charlie Kirk Memorial
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Donald Trump claimed that Charlie Kirk did not hate his opponents but rather wished the “the best” for them, adding that this was the difference between them because Trump hates his opponents and doesn’t want the best for them.
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The truth is, Kirk was a hater and so is Donald Trump. But Kirk seemed to actually believe in the values he espoused, whereas Trump just uses conservative “values” (i.e., racism, misogyny, “small government”, etc) to manipulate his base.
(Sarah Jones more…)
Judd Legum: Sinclair “Special Report” depicts Kirk as prophet
Dean Blundell: How Trump Hijacked Charlie Kirk’s Memorial Turning It Into A Death Cult Rally That Made MILLIONS
National Memo: Charlie Kirk Is Sadly Departed, But The TPUSA Grift Goes On And On
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – September 21, 2025
On Friday the Bureau of Labor Statistics postponed the release of the annual report on consumer expenditures—a key report for understanding inflation—without explanation. …
This weekend, Dan Frosch, Patrick Thomas, and Andrea Peterson of the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Department of Agriculture is ending its annual report on household food security. …
Colleen Hefflin, an expert on food insecurity, nutrition, and welfare policy at Syracuse University, told the Wall Street Journal reporters: “Not having this measure for 2025 is particularly troubling given the current rise in inflation and deterioration of labor market conditions, two conditions known to increase food insecurity.” Whitney Curry Wimbish of The American Prospect reported last week that food banks across the country are seeing more visits even as immigrants are staying away from them out of concern that their information might be shared or that Immigration and Customs Enforcement might show up.
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This news got less attention last week than the administration’s apparent determination to silence its critics. Although, as Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times pointed out on Thursday, Trump promised in his second inaugural address to “immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America,” what he appeared to mean was that he intended to free up right-wing activists to spread disinformation about elections and Covid-19.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)Politico: Trump is breaking US diplomacy, State Department staffers say
More than 60 ambassadorships don’t even have a nominee, while diplomats are told they’re being evaluated on their “fidelity.”
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James Eagle: The quiet truth hiding in a tariff chart
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That is the striking lesson of the chart: tariffs have become universal, but they are not transformative. They tax consumers without uprooting trade. They irritate allies without truly isolating rivals. They create the appearance of toughness but deliver a mixed reality: higher costs, political friction, and only a slow, uneven re-shoring of traditional industry, which was happen[ing] anyway even before Trump entered the White House.
(James Eagle more…)
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Billy Oppenheimer: We Don’t Evaluate Things Objectively. We Evaluate Things Relatively.
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Robert Reich: The moral bankruptcy of America’s leadership class
In the face of the worst crisis American democracy has faced in living memory, they’re silent or complicit
(Robert Reich more…)Liz Dye: Trump Will Jail His Enemies If He Has To Burn Down The DOJ To Do IT
And he might.
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Steve Vladeck: Whither the Birthright Citizenship Cases?
Notwithstanding the Court’s June ruling, President Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order remains blocked—a broader lesson on the risks of paying attention to only one part of the news cycle.
(Steve Vladeck more…)
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Jennifer Rubin: The Constitutional Crisis is All Around us
What we can all do
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Mass, peaceful demonstration is more critical than ever. (No Kings Day 2 is on Oct. 18.) Everybody can participate. However, Americans selected for grand or trial juries can also, as they have done in D.C., refuse to enable groundless, vindictive prosecutions. Jury nullification has a long and noble tradition.Civil servants can serve their country as whistleblowers to reveal illegal and reckless conduct; if fired, they can share their experiences and/or litigate. All of us can support organizations that litigate and fight for democracy, volunteer and/or donate to campaigns, and persistently (but politely) birddog representations and candidates. Simple questions carry enormous power. (Do you support the 1st Amendment? Do you support vindictive prosecutions?)
(Jennifer Rubin more…)
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Jess Piper: How ‘Bout Them Apples
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My friend and colleague, Michele Hornish, took that photo at a Democratic dinner last weekend in Troy, Missouri. It’s a small town about an hour from St Louis.I was there to speak and Michele was there to do what she does — support the people running for office. To find funding for the Democratic candidates sticking their necks out for the rest of us.
To fertilize barren ground.
Last week, Michele sent over a demeaning Substack article written by a DC lawyer discussing my friends, my fellow red state Democrats. She wrote a rebuttal to the post, while I had to sit with his words for a little longer.
(Jess Piper more…)
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Miles Taylor: DEFIANCE Trump is coming after me. I have a one-word plan.
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404 Media: We’re Suing ICE for Its $2 Million Spyware Contract
404 Media has filed a lawsuit against ICE for access to its contract with Paragon, a company that sells powerful spyware for breaking into phones and accessing encrypted messaging apps.
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Your Local Epidemiologist: Autism report prep, Covid peaking, bad ACIP headlines, falls and loneliness climbing, and more
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Borowitz: ABC Hires Kash Patel to Host Late-Night Comedy Show
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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