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Category: Politics

Political violence is impossible to predict but the factors that elevate the risks are already in clear view

Political violence is impossible to predict but the factors that elevate the risks are already in clear view

The Daily Beast reports: The wife of a man suspected of killing a Democratic lawmaker and her husband was detained in a traffic stop after police discovered a weapon, ammunition, cash, and passports in the trunk of her car. Jenny Boelter was stopped by officers in Onamia, Minnesota, around 10 a.m. on Saturday, local news KTSP reported, though it was not clear whether the check was a routine stop or a planned raid by law enforcement as part of efforts…

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Trump and the climate of violence

Trump and the climate of violence

Barbara McQuade writes: Political violence has existed in the United States since its founding. But in recent years, we have seen an increase in the incidence of threats and harassment against public officials. The Minnesota killings were reminiscent of the 2022 attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband in their home by a hammer-wielding intruder. Last year the U.S. Capitol Police documented a surge in threats against members of Congress, with more than 9,000 incidents. Threats against judges are also on the…

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Budget bill would make courts powerless to protect constitutional rights

Budget bill would make courts powerless to protect constitutional rights

Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick writes: Like a well-armed drone flying beneath the radar, the latest assault on the independent judiciary is dangerous and stealthy. A short and easily overlooked passage in Section 70302 of the behemoth budget reconciliation bill, it created hardly a ripple of attention as it passed in the House of Representatives and awaited action in the Senate. In the past few days, however, the Senate rewrote the provision in a way that arguably makes it…

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Racism hidden behind ‘crime’: Most ICE arrests are of immigrants with no criminal convictions

Racism hidden behind ‘crime’: Most ICE arrests are of immigrants with no criminal convictions

Reuters reports: The number of people booked into immigration detention who have been charged only with immigration violations has jumped eight-fold since President Donald Trump took office, government data shows, undercutting his anti-crime message. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention statistics show the number of detainees arrested by ICE with no other criminal charges or convictions rose from about 860 in January to 7,800 this month – a more than 800% increase. Those arrested and detained with criminal charges or…

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Saudi Arabia executes a journalist for committing the ‘crime’ of journalism

Saudi Arabia executes a journalist for committing the ‘crime’ of journalism

The Associated Press reports: A prominent Saudi journalist who was arrested in 2018 and convicted on terrorism and treason charges has been executed, the kingdom said. Activist groups maintain that the charges against him were trumped up. Turki Al-Jasser, who was in his late 40s, was put to death on Saturday, according to the official Saudi Press Agency, after the death penalty was upheld by the nation’s top court. Authorities had raided Al-Jasser’s home in 2018, arresting him and seizing…

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The ‘No Kings’ mass mobilization debunks Trump’s biggest myth

The ‘No Kings’ mass mobilization debunks Trump’s biggest myth

Ezra Levin, Martin Luther King, III, and Arndrea Waters King write: President Donald Trump wants to celebrate his birthday like a king: not with cake or candles, but with a $45 million military parade through the streets of Washington, D.C. Officially, the parade is only to mark the U.S. Army’s birthday, not the president’s the same day; in reality, the military’s celebration, though long planned, did not include a parade until his administration got involved. On the day the Army…

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Trump backtracks as broad immigration crackdown backfires

Trump backtracks as broad immigration crackdown backfires

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration has abruptly shifted the focus of its mass deportation campaign, telling Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to largely pause raids and arrests in the agricultural industry, hotels and restaurants, according to an internal email and three U.S. officials with knowledge of the guidance. The decision suggested that the scale of President Trump’s mass deportation campaign — an issue that is at the heart of his presidency — is hurting industries and constituencies…

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Tucker Carlson blasts Trump for being ‘complicit’ in Israel’s attack on Iran. ‘We knew everything,’ Trump confirms

Tucker Carlson blasts Trump for being ‘complicit’ in Israel’s attack on Iran. ‘We knew everything,’ Trump confirms

The Daily Beast reports: Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson made waves on Friday when he criticized not only President Donald Trump, whom he described as being “complicit” in Israel’s attack on Iran, but also former Fox News pals like Sean Hannity and Rupert Murdoch for acting as “warmongers.” In his Friday morning newsletter, Carlson wrote of Trump’s prior knowledge of the attack on Iran, “While the American military may not have physically perpetrated the assault, years of funding and sending weapons…

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Trump regime quietly sent hundreds of Hellfire missiles to Israel before Iran attack

Trump regime quietly sent hundreds of Hellfire missiles to Israel before Iran attack

Middle East Eye reports: The US quietly delivered hundreds of Hellfire missiles to Israel before its unprecedented attack on Iran on Friday, Middle East Eye can reveal. The US sent around 300 Hellfire missiles to Israel on Tuesday in a large-scale stock-up of supplies before its attack, and as the Trump administration was saying it was ready to continue engaging Iran in nuclear talks. The transfer of such a large quantity of Hellfires suggests that the Trump administration was well-informed…

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The planned expulsion of Gaza’s population is already underway

The planned expulsion of Gaza’s population is already underway

Gadi Algazi writes: Maybe you were waiting for the alarm bells to ring, or for the Israeli army spokesperson to issue an official announcement. But the mass expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza, long referred to in Israeli parlance as “transfer,” is already underway. Not in some distant future. Right now. It’s not exactly happening before Israeli eyes — it’s always possible to look away — but the echoes are reaching Israeli homes. The thundering blasts from Gaza heard across the…

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Trita Parsi on war between Israel and Iran

Trita Parsi on war between Israel and Iran

  We are at the risk of wider war in the Middle East and Persian Gulf. Israel has attacked Iran, both its facilities and its personnel. Iran has responded with ballistic missiles. We will talk to Trita Parsi. He is Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute. His books include Treacherous Alliance, the Secret Dealings of Israel, Iran, and the United States, and Losing an Enemy, Obama, Iran, and the triumph of Diplomacy. We’ll talk about many things including the…

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Vali Nasr talks about why Israel bombed Iran

Vali Nasr talks about why Israel bombed Iran

  Tensions in the Middle East are sky-high as Israel unleashed what it called “preemptive strikes” on Iran last night — in what experts warn could fuel a broader nuclear arms race. In a breaking news live Zeteo Town Hall, Iranian-American academic and policy adviser Vali Nasr speaks to Prem Thakker — and they break down everything you need to know about the conflict. With regards to the region and the Arab world, Nasr says: “If Israel crushes Iran, then…

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Damage to Iranian nuclear sites so far appears limited, experts say

Damage to Iranian nuclear sites so far appears limited, experts say

Reuters reports: U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters on Friday it was unclear whether Iran still has a nuclear program following Israeli strikes, but experts say the damage to the country’s nuclear facilities so far has appeared limited. Israel’s attacks succeeded in killing Iranian military leaders and nuclear scientists and striking military command and control facilities and air defenses, but satellite imagery did not yet show significant damage to nuclear infrastructure, several experts said. “The first day was aimed at…

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Israel strikes Iran with American acquiescence

Israel strikes Iran with American acquiescence

Barbara Slavin writes: As I write this early on a Friday morning, the bombs, missiles, and drones are continuing to fly between Israel and Iran. Diplomacy is at threat, and an already bloodied Middle East is on edge. It is far too soon to predict the outcome of Israel’s massive assault on a long-time enemy — as well as the spillover effects on Israel’s chief ally, the U.S. Already, Iran has lost its top military leadership and its main facility…

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Trump scrambles to claim credit for Israel’s attack on Iran after he publicly opposed strikes

Trump scrambles to claim credit for Israel’s attack on Iran after he publicly opposed strikes

Andrew Roth writes: Donald Trump is walking a tightrope as he claims that he was fully aware of Israel’s plans to launch massive airstrikes against Iran while continuing to distance the US from those strikes and deny Washington took any active role in the preparations. The White House’s messaging has shifted quickly from Marco Rubio’s arms-length description of the Israeli attack as a “unilateral action”, to Trump claiming on Friday morning that he was fully in the loop on the…

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Trump’s military crackdown is starting to dent his poll numbers

Trump’s military crackdown is starting to dent his poll numbers

Rolling Stone reports: As Donald Trump launched his militarized crackdown in Los Angeles, the president and many of his advisers were convinced that deploying troops to the streets of a major American city would be good politics for them. They maintain, three people familiar with the matter say, that immigration was one of Trump’s strongest issues, that it helped get him back in the White House, and that his mass deportation program has polled well since the 2024 campaign. No…

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