Column | On a new banner, Trump evokes the shadow world of authoritarian icons A new Trump banner outside the Justice Department evokes authoritarian regimes and signals that it is now wholly loyal to the whims of the current president.

This outrage among so many others arouses near physical revulsion. Is there absolutely no one who will tell this man "No"? wapo.st/4tRQzF6

Trump’s EPA to roll back rule limiting hazardous mercury from coal plants Environmental groups warn that weakening air toxics and mercury standards will lead to higher health-related costs

As long as I live, I'll never understand how "it should be easier for wealthy corporations to poison the water my family drinks and the air my family breathes" became a popular political position with half the country.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Oil and distraction
Trump attacks Venezuela

anntelnaes.substack.com/p/oil-and-di...

Wow, this quote. Everything in a nutshell.

The White House on Wednesday sent letters to nine of the nation's top public and private universities, urging campus leaders to pledge support for President Trump's political agenda to help ensure access to federal research funds. The letters came attached to a 10-page "compact" that serves as a sort of priority statement for the administration's educational goals - the most comprehensive accounting to date of what Mr. Trump aims to achieve from an unparalleled, months long pressure campaign on academia. The compact would require colleges to freeze tuition for five years, cap the enrollment of international students and commit to strict definitions of gender. Among other steps, universities would also be required to change their governance structures to prohibit anything that would "punish, belittle and even spark violence against conservative ideas." Colleges that sign the agreement would receive "multiple positive benefits," according to a letter included with the compact signed by Education Secretary Linda McMahon; Vince Haley, the director of the White House Domestic Policy Council; and May Mailman, the White House's senior adviser for special projects. Colleges that agree would get priority access to federal funds and looser restraints on overhead costs. Signed compacts would also serve as assurance to the government that schools are complying with civil rights laws. Federal civil rights investigations have been used to halt much of the research funding that the administration has blocked so far this year.

I am astounded, disgusted, demoralized, & fed up

every single institution of our great nation is under siege by these grifters, scammers, liars, & idiots

they are sabotaging the greatest engine of progress, prosperity, and power that the world has ever known

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers. He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries. He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation: For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States: For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world: For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury: For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences: For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies: For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments: For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

Just gonna keep tapping the sign*

*𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦

The Government Wants to See Your Papers And the Supreme Court decides that the Fourth Amendment might not be for everyone.

I'm gifting this piece from @radiofreetom.bsky.social because everyone needs to read it. It's Tom at his best.

He's worth the subscription price all by himself, btw.

www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/...

Actual communications from our current government. Childish, embarrassing, and divisive, yes, but also a frightening sign of a failing nation.

This thread is internet perfection. These are my people.

I still can't get past the idea that people in America are now supposed to accept that this is a valid form of law enforcement and just assume it's fine when random dudes in groups with face-coverings, no ID, no warrant, & no uniform grab people off the street and force them into unmarked vehicles

"They require so much inventing of perverse principles to reach a cruel end that the pain of others begins to seem like the first priority rather than the inadvertent result."

Even through her illness she was such a strong voice.I'm very sorry for your loss.

Criminals deserve due process because due process is literally how we determine whether someone is, *in fact*, a criminal

I've saying we have an ODD problem in the US for years now. There is so much "nuh-uh, you can't make me" in our national culture now.

I'm very sorry. This is nutz. That is a necessary book! Extremely relevant for our times too!

If you haven't seen this, Jason Rhody is a former program officer for NEH and highly familiar with the entire process. Please look at his advice for next steps.

Arias: "Trump is behaving like a Roman emperor, arbitrarily inflicting punishment for valid activity and legal speech."

Trump: [Behaves like Roman emperor]

I've been wondering why previously normal-looking Republican women turn themselves into Bratz dolls.

Opinion | Trump is launching America’s version of the Cultural Revolution The way the White House has attacked research funding and free speech recalls China’s Cultural Revolution.

It's impossible to overstate the damage to the nation of this administration's vengeful actions against research and education.

turns out the art of the deal is to scream till youre red in the face in front of cameras and still not get what you want

Trump Cancels The SEC's Westlaw Subscription For Probably The Dumbest Possible Reason - Above the Law It will shock you not at all to learn that Trump and Musk do not understand what Westlaw is or why lawyers might need access to it.

For the umpteenth time, what is wrong with these people?

DOGE Mismanagement Principles Musk et al. don't know or care about the damage they are doing

I appreciate @donmoyn.bsky.social summing up the DOGE fiasco so succinctly.

"Don't fire the guys taking care of the nukes... don't fire the guys collecting the money... don't fire the guys keeping the planes in the sky."

donmoynihan.substack.com/p/doge-misma...

All circuses, no bread.

What’s seen as bloat or bureaucracy is the undocumented processes, workarounds and institutional memory that make government function. It exists in human brains. Once lost it can’t be replaced. You can get contractors and let consultancies and agencies collect rent. Won’t fix anything. Or AI. Sure.

America Is Now Counting on You, Pete Hegseth My advice for the incoming secretary of defense

I was dead-set against Hegseth's nomination. But here we are. My advice for the new SecDef:

www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

The New Rasputins Anti-science mysticism is enabling autocracy around the globe.

"When conspiracy theories and nonsense cures are widely accepted, the evidence-based concepts of guilt and criminality vanish quickly too."

www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...

Hundreds of workers, some in high viz vests, cover the floor of Notre Dame cathedral with a photo taken from above, looking down the length of the restored building.

An incredible photo posted today by French President Emmanuel Macron.

The floor of Notre Dame Cathedral is filled with the workers involved in the 5 year project to restore the building following the devastating fire in 2019.

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