curated news excerpts & citations
Bulwark: What If the Most Dangerous Man in the Administration Isn’t Donald Trump?
Yesterday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—the nonpartisan agency whose work has long been the global gold-standard for health science—made a change to the section of its website on the nonexistent link between autism and vaccines. The CDC went from stating that “vaccines do not cause autism” to saying that:
- The claim “vaccines do not cause autism” is not an evidence-based claim because studies have not ruled out the possibility that infant vaccines cause autism.
- Studies supporting a link have been ignored by health authorities.
…
But the even bigger story is that the U.S. government is no longer a reliable source of information. The consequences of this corruption will ripple through American society for years.
(Bulwark more…)
arsTECHNICA: RFK Jr.’s loathesome edits: CDC website now falsely links vaccines and autism
MedicalXpress: Whooping cough surges nationwide as vaccinations fall
Mary Geddry: Full Self-Drive Toward the Abyss
Tauna from Home of the Brave: Trump Cut Cancer Research That Could Save My Daughter’s Life
-
Jason Easley: Democratic Vets In Congress Humiliate Trump And Expose His Empty Threats
Donald Trump hates to be reminded that the Constitution comes before his wishes in the United States of America. After a half a dozen members of Congress who served in the military released a video urging the troops and the intelligence community not to follow illegal orders and place the Constitution first, Trump lost it.
The president posted on Truth Social:
Their words cannot be allowed to stand. SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS!!! LOCK THEM UP???
Trump later added:
SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!
Here is the video that Trump considers seditious:
The six members of Congress whom Trump threatened are Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania, Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire, and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania; and Sens. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.The members who, unlike Trump, have served this country and risked their lives were not intimidated.
In a joint statement, they replied to Trump by saying:
We are veterans and national security professionals who love this country and swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. That oath lasts a lifetime, and we intend to keep it. No threat, intimidation, or call for violence will deter us from that sacred obligation.
What’s most telling is that the President considers it punishable by death for us to restate the law. Our servicemembers should know that we have their backs as they fulfill their oath to the Constitution and obligation to follow only lawful orders. It is not only the right thing to do, but also our duty.
Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – November 20, 2025
…
And so an American president called for the arrest and execution of elected lawmakers.Restating the law is not sedition, and Fox News Channel legal analyst Andy McCarthy promptly wrote: “There is no insurrection or sedition without the use of force. Disobeying a lawful order is insubordination, not insurrection or sedition. Disobeying an unlawful order is required. That is all.”
Professor of the early American republic Joanne Freeman wrote that she was “[n]ot going to repost DJT’s howling threats against Democratic lawmakers. I’ll just say: 1. We still have free speech here. 2. People can still oppose the president. 3. No—George Washington wouldn’t have hanged the lawmakers because HE WAS VERY CAREFUL TO STAY STRICTLY WITHIN THE BOUNDS OF HIS OFFICE AS PRESIDENT. He didn’t want to be a king or dictator. Plus, he was in his right mind.”
By noon, the White House was doing cleanup. At 1:58, CBS News senior White House and political correspondent Ed O’Keefe reported from Reuters: “TRUMP DOES NOT WANT TO EXECUTE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, WHITE HOUSE SAYS,” an astonishing sentence to see coming from the government of the United States of America.
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)Ken Klippenstein: National Security Moms Are Here
Trump’s call for arresting Democrats targets new political bloc
Joyce Vance: Sorry, George Washington Would Not Have Hung Them.
…
It’s not at all clear what Trump’s point is in objecting to the video members of Congress put out today, unless it’s that service members must obey his orders—legal or not.But the point is this, even if these members of Congress had done something traitorous—which they absolutely didn’t—even if they’d clearly broken the law—which they didn’t—the president doesn’t get to impose punishment. That’s up to the courts. And he certainly doesn’t get to impose the death penalty. That happens in countries like North Korea, Iran, and … Saudi Arabia.
Washington Post: U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses as hate symbols
The military service, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, has drafted a new policy that classifies such items “potentially divisive.”
Boing Boing: U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastika and noose as hate symbols
…
Previous guidance put in place in 2019 said Coast Guardcommanders could order swastikas, nooses or other symbols to be removed even if it was determined the display did not rise to the level of a hate incident. That policy was enacted monthsafter a Coast Guard officer, Lt. Christopher Hasson, was charged with plotting a large-scale attack on Democratic lawmakers, including then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. In securing his conviction, prosecutors cited evidence in his case showing Hasson to be an avowed white nationalist.
-
ProPublica: “Ticking Time Bomb”: A Pregnant Mother Kept Getting Sicker. She Died After She Couldn’t Get an Abortion in Texas.
ProPublica has found multiple cases of women with underlying health conditions who died when they couldn’t access abortions. Tierra Walker, a 37-year-old mother, was told by doctors there was no emergency before preeclampsia killed her.
(ProPublica more…)
-
ProPublica: Young Girls Were Sexually Abused by a Church Member. They Were Told to Forgive and Forget.
- Protecting an Abuser: Leaders of a Minnesota church didn’t report a parishioner to police though they knew he’d sexually abused girls for years and had been told reporting it was their duty.
- Forgive and Forget: Church leaders held meetings where children were told to forgive the man who sexually abused them and forget the abuse. If they spoke of it, the sin would be theirs.
- Missed Opportunities: Prosecutors had at least one opportunity to intervene but hoped educating church leaders about their duties would encourage them to cooperate with authorities.
-
NY Times: Hiring Increased in September, but So Did the Unemployment Rate
Employers added 119,000 jobs, but the unemployment rate edged up to 4.4 percent, a sign of weakness that could prompt the Federal Reserve to cut rates in December.
(NY Times more…)
-
Intercept: Pardoned Capitol Rioter Tried to Hush Child Sex Victim With Promise of Jan. 6 Reparation Money, Police Say
Andrew Johnson claimed to an alleged child molestation victim that Trump’s pardon entitled him to multimillion-dollar reparations.
(Intercept more…)
-
Jason Easley: Trump’s Epstein Problem Gets Worse As Democrats Are Following The Money
Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) said that Senate Democrats are now tracing the money that funded Epstein’s crimes, and that could be a new problem for Donald Trump.
(Jason Easley more…)
Forbes: Epstein’s Connections: These Are The Billionaires And Top Officials He’s Been Tied To
-
Fred Wellman: One project shows how far Congress has fallen
Last week we learned that a nearly $600 million investment in Missouri has been canceled. Along with it went 150 full time jobs, 400 construction jobs, and a major boost to our local economy.
The Labor Tribune has the story:
“Israeli manufacturer ICL Group has canceled the $570 million battery component plant it planned to build along the city’s industrial north riverfront after the Trump administration pulled a $200 million grant for the project.
The new plant had been expected to create about 150 new full-time jobs and some 400 union construction jobs.
“It was going to be built under one of our all-union Project Labor Agreements (PLA),” said John Stiffler, executive secretary-treasurer of the St. Louis Building & Construction Trades Council. “We negotiated for about six months to get that done all union, and now, because Mr. Trump canceled the grant, that’s not going to happen. It’s a shame.
“I always say elections have consequences,” Stiffler said. “Unfortunately for us, the wrong person is in the White House, and we lost the project.”
The company behind this, ICL Group, made the reason clear; the Trump administration pulled a $200 million grant, and Missouri got left behind. It was part of a mass canceling of multiple grants by the Trump Administration of “woke” programs.
(Fred Wellman more…)
-
Josh Barro: The Republican Health Care Trilemma
Republicans want three things about health insurance, but it’s only possible to have two, which is why they can’t come up with a health care policy.
-
NPR: Food banks, already strained, brace for prolonged demand
-
CBS: Trump administration moves to roll back some protections for endangered and threatened species
-
Veuer: Putin’s ‘Secure’ Airbase Devastated—$375M+ Helicopter Squadron Destroyed In US Missile Strike
GriftMatrix
Trump Action Tracker
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
Leave a Reply