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Category: Politics

No, Bluesky isn’t celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk

No, Bluesky isn’t celebrating the assassination of Charlie Kirk

Alex Kirshner writes: Following the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk on Wednesday, some of his fellow right-wing media leaders called out a supposedly toxic hub in which liberals and leftists were gathering to celebrate the killing: Bluesky. “Actually, you should go see what they are saying on BlueSky right now,” podcaster Stephen L. Miller wrote on X. He urged liberal commentator Ezra Klein to repost a sympathetic message on Bluesky and “report back.” Sean Davis, CEO of the Federalist, wrote…

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Who was Charlie Kirk? The activist who turned campus politics into national influence

Who was Charlie Kirk? The activist who turned campus politics into national influence

Charlie Kirk addresses the 2024 Republican National Convention on July 15, 2024. Al Drago/Getty Images By Stephanie A. (Sam) Martin, Boise State University The fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk during a speaking engagement at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, 2025, has drawn widespread condemnation and renewed attention to the climate of political violence in the United States. To many, Kirk was not just another partisan commentator. He was one of the most visible leaders of the young…

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We are witnessing a scientific superpower destroy itself

We are witnessing a scientific superpower destroy itself

Stephen Greenblatt writes: The Trump administration’s assault on America’s universities by cutting billions of dollars of federal support for scientific and medical research has called up from somewhere deep in my memory the phrase “duck and cover.” These were words drilled into American schoolchildren in the 1950s. We heard them on television, where they accompanied a cartoon about a wise turtle named Bert who withdrew into his shell at any sign of danger. In class, when our teachers gave the…

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‘War is here’: The far-right reacts to Charlie Kirk shooting with calls for violence

‘War is here’: The far-right reacts to Charlie Kirk shooting with calls for violence

Wired reports: Minutes after right-wing activist Charlie Kirk was fatally shot while speaking at an event in Utah on Wednesday, far-right influencers and extremist communities lit up social media with calls for violence against the left. Kirk, the cofounder of conservative youth organizing group Turning Point USA, was shot and killed while taking questions at a TPUSA event held at Utah Valley University. Law enforcement officials said late afternoon Wednesday that a “person of interest” was in custody, but that…

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Russia tested NATO in Poland. NATO failed

Russia tested NATO in Poland. NATO failed

Phillips Payson O’Brien writes: The small incursion of Russian drones into Poland overnight was a test of NATO’s capabilities—a test that the Western military alliance should have easily passed. Polish authorities say 19 unmanned aircraft traveled through Ukrainian territory to enter their country’s territory. The scale of the attack was modest compared with the barrage of hundreds of drones, plus cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, that Vladimir Putin’s forces unleash against Ukraine nearly every night. For NATO air defenses with…

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Fired FBI agents allege retribution, incompetence at top security agency

Fired FBI agents allege retribution, incompetence at top security agency

NPR reports: The Trump administration launched a “campaign of retribution” against senior Federal Bureau of Investigation officials who refused to demonstrate loyalty to President Trump, firing them last month for improper political reasons before they could collect early retirement benefits, according to a new lawsuit from three senior FBI agents. The lawsuit describes leaders inside the FBI and Justice Department as both partisan and inept—struggling to please the White House and willing to dismiss anyone who crossed President Trump. At…

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Why journalists are reluctant to call Trump an authoritarian – and why that matters for democracy

Why journalists are reluctant to call Trump an authoritarian – and why that matters for democracy

A free election can still result in authoritarian rule. Photo illustration: Douglas Rissing, iStock/Getty Images Plus By Karrin Vasby Anderson, Colorado State University In an authoritarian state, the leader engages in unconstitutional or undemocratic practices for the purpose of consolidating power. Key components of authoritarianism include rejecting democratic rules; denying the legitimacy of opponents; tolerating or encouraging political violence; and curtailing the civil liberties of opponents. Since he took office for a second time, President Donald Trump has sent National…

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Anti-Islamic American biker gang members run security at deadly Gaza aid sites

Anti-Islamic American biker gang members run security at deadly Gaza aid sites

BBC News reports: The firm guarding sites where aid is distributed in Gaza has been using members of a US biker gang with a history of hostility to Islam to run its armed security, a BBC investigation has found. BBC News has confirmed the identities of 10 members of the Infidels Motorcycle Club working in Gaza for UG Solutions – a private contractor providing security at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites, where hundreds of civilians seeking food have been killed in…

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MAGA activists push for greater power grabs

MAGA activists push for greater power grabs

Axios reports: MAGA activists are urging President Trump to tear down the remaining guardrails on his authority, dreaming of bigger, faster power grabs than the sweeping changes already in motion. Why it matters: Trump has spent his first eight months smashing norms — and crossing legal lines — in his dizzying pursuit of mass deportations, crime crackdowns, government purges and more. But in MAGA’s maximalist mindset, it’s not enough: The base sees a shrinking window for its revolution, with Trump term-limited and potential midterm losses looming next year….

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ICE is destroying the soul of America

ICE is destroying the soul of America

Garrett Graff writes: If you’re brown, speak Spanish, and work in a blue-collar job, you officially belong to a different class of citizen and according to Chief Justice John Roberts, it’s okay to racially profile you. We have never in US history seen a federal law enforcement agency operate the way ICE has operated this summer — it marks the arrival of a new style of domestic policing, more in line with the infamous “brown shirts” of authoritarian regimes the world…

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Department of Homeland Security claims videotaping ICE raids is ‘violence’

Department of Homeland Security claims videotaping ICE raids is ‘violence’

The American Prospect reports: President Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims that making and posting videos of ICE agents as they disappear tens of thousands of immigrants from America’s streets, workplaces, and courtrooms without due process is an act of “violence” to be dealt with accordingly. DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) that “videotaping ICE law enforcement and posting photos and videos of them online is doxing our agents,”…

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Israel’s attack on Qatar should be a wake-up call for the Arab world

Israel’s attack on Qatar should be a wake-up call for the Arab world

Mohamad Elmasry writes: If any state should have felt safe from an Israeli attack, it would have been Qatar. It is a small country that poses no real threat to Israel. It is an ally of the United States and hosts the largest American military base in the Middle East. In May, Qatar pledged to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in the US economy. Qatar has also cultivated a reputation as a peacemaker, mediating in numerous conflicts. Just last…

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Top Democrats pressed to back Mamdani as new poll shows his commanding lead

Top Democrats pressed to back Mamdani as new poll shows his commanding lead

Politico reports: Zohran Mamdani’s allies have a message for top Empire State Democrats as President Donald Trump works to block the democratic socialist’s path to City Hall: Get off the sidelines. Now. Pressure is mounting on Gov. Kathy Hochul, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries to publicly endorse the 33-year-old candidate’s mayoral run after Trump’s team dangled jobs in front of the deeply unpopular incumbent Eric Adams to get him to drop out — in…

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The Supreme Court has greenlit racial profiling in immigration enforcement

The Supreme Court has greenlit racial profiling in immigration enforcement

Noah Feldman writes: In a ruling likely to go down in history as a shameful expression of anti-immigrant prejudice, the Supreme Court has allowed ICE agents to re-start “roving stops” of people suspected of being undocumented immigrants because of what they look like, how they speak, and where they are gathered to work or seek employment. The 6-3 ruling in the court’s emergency docket reversed a July order by federal district court judge in Los Angeles, which found ICE had…

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Project 2026: Trump’s plan to rig the midterms

Project 2026: Trump’s plan to rig the midterms

Mother Jones reports: On an April episode of the popular Politics War Room podcast, the veteran journalist Al Hunt posed an increasingly common question from listeners to Democratic strategist James Carville. “Is Trump looking to spark enough protest to justify declaring martial law in 2026, thus suspending the election?” Hunt asked. “You’re so correct to be concerned about this,” Carville responded. “It’s getting worse by the day. It is not going to stop getting worse. And I would be—we ought…

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Johnson claims that when he said Trump was an ‘FBI informant’ he didn’t mean FBI informant

Johnson claims that when he said Trump was an ‘FBI informant’ he didn’t mean FBI informant

The Hill reports: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) sought to clarify Monday his comments that spread widely last week about President Trump being an “FBI informant” against the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, suggesting he misspoke about the president’s efforts to assist law enforcement as it investigated the wealthy financier. “I don’t know if I used the right word,” Johnson told reporters Monday. “I said, ‘FBI informant’ but I’m not sure. I wasn’t there — this isn’t my lane.” “I’m…

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