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<rss version="2.0" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/"><channel><title>Common Dreams</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/</link><description>Common Dreams</description><atom:link href="https://www.commondreams.org/feeds/feed.rss" rel="self"></atom:link><language>en-us</language><lastBuildDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2025 20:22:29 -0000</lastBuildDate><image><url>https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8zMjEwMDM4OS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTgxMjIyMDI1N30.ErOfRE5hvYF7nWXKN4iUp2dOTKR2-o5weET2FxMgj9A/image.png?width=210</url><link>https://www.commondreams.org/</link><title>Common Dreams</title></image><item><title>Dismissing Criminal Prosecution of Boeing is Outrageous, Unconscionable</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/dismissing-criminal-prosecution-of-boeing-is-outrageous-unconscionable</link><description><![CDATA[
A federal judge in Texas today <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/11/06/boeing-criminal-case-737-max-crashes-doj.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">dismissed</a> a criminal conspiracy case against Boeing over two crashes of its 737 Max jetliner that killed 346 people. Robert Weissman, co-president of Public Citizen, released the following statement:“Unconscionable is inadequate to address the outrage of the Trump Justice Department’s decision to dismiss the criminal prosecution of Boeing. Not only did Boeing’s recklessness lead directly to the deaths of hundreds of people, but it violated the terms of the sweetheart deal it reached with the first Trump administration, again jeopardizing the lives of air passengers.“Judge O’Connor believed his hands were tied in permitting the DOJ to drop the case, but his sharply worded decision reveals that he agrees the department’s action is outrageous. ‘The Government has a confession from Boeing, signed by the CEO and Chief Legal Officer, admitting to all the elements of the conspiracy charge against it,’ he wrote.“For an Attorney General and DOJ leadership that has brought shame and disgrace to a previously magisterial agency, this marks a new low.”]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2025 20:22:29 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/dismissing-criminal-prosecution-of-boeing-is-outrageous-unconscionable</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>US: Millions Face Soaring Health Costs as Subsidies Expire</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/us-millions-face-soaring-health-costs-as-subsidies-expire</link><description><![CDATA[
The <a href="https://www.hrw.org/united-states" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">US</a> Congress’ failure to extend public subsidies for private health insurance threatens the right to health and financial security of millions of people, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam America said today. As <a href="https://www.healthcare.gov/quick-guide/dates-and-deadlines/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">open enrollment</a> for private health insurance purchased through the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) government-operated marketplaces began on November 1, 2025, millions of households will no longer be able to afford health insurance. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2021 <a href="https://www.kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/impact-of-key-provisions-of-the-american-rescue-plan-act-of-2021-covid-19-relief-on-marketplace-premiums/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">American Rescue Plan Act</a> dramatically reduced the cost of private health insurance for low- and middle-income earners by enhancing public subsidies for plans purchased through <a href="https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/maps-and-interactives/aca-state-marketplace-models-and-key-policy-decisions" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ACA marketplaces</a>. When the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/07/01/us-budget-would-benefit-wealthiest-at-expense-of-rights" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">became law</a> in July 2025, it expanded and made permanent numerous tax cuts that <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications/2025/jcx-37-25/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">disproportionately benefit</a> wealthy households and large corporations, while failing to extend these enhanced subsidies. Without new legislation, the subsidies will expire at the end of 2025. “Congress’ failure to extend these subsidies is driving the government shutdown and will harm millions of people already struggling with soaring prices and healthcare costs,” said <a href="https://www.hrw.org/about/people/matt-mcconnell" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Matt McConnell</a>, economic justice and rights researcher at Human Rights Watch. “These cuts are making ordinary people sacrifice their health to pay for tax breaks for the wealthy few.” The introduction of the ACA in 2010 made health care <a href="https://www.kff.org/affordable-care-act/health-policy-101-the-affordable-care-act/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">more accessible</a> for millions of people, including by reshaping federal regulation of the private health insurance industry, which in 2023 <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2024/demo/p60-284.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">provided health insurance coverage</a> for more than 90 percent of the population, or over 300 million people. Among other changes, the law created <a href="https://www.kff.org/understanding-health-insurance-marketplaces/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">government-operated marketplaces</a> through which people who do not receive health insurance from their employers or public programs could purchase coverage from a private company. The ACA also established <a href="https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/individuals-and-families/the-premium-tax-credit-the-basics" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">public subsidies</a> to reduce the cost of health insurance premiums for these private marketplace plans. But <a href="https://www.kff.org/quick-take/a-steep-subsidy-cliff-looms-for-older-middle-income-enrollees-if-aca-enhanced-tax-credits-expire/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">those earning</a> above 400 percent of the <a href="https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/federal-poverty-level-fpl/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">federal poverty level</a>—$62,600 for an individual in 2025—were ineligible. This so-called subsidy cliff was especially harmful to older people who were not or were not yet eligible for <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicare/health-policy-101-medicare/?entry=table-of-contents-who-is-covered-by-medicare" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Medicare coverage</a>, the public health insurance program for older people and people with disabilities, because health insurance companies <a href="https://www.kff.org/faqs/faqs-health-insurance-marketplace-and-the-aca/marketplace-health-plans-and-premiums/can-be-charged-more-because-of-my-age/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">were allowed</a>, within certain limits, to charge older people more for the same services. The 2021 <a href="https://www.kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/impact-of-key-provisions-of-the-american-rescue-plan-act-of-2021-covid-19-relief-on-marketplace-premiums/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">American Rescue Plan Act</a> temporarily addressed this subsidy cliff by expanding eligibility to those earning above this income limit and <a href="https://www.kff.org/quick-take/what-an-income-cap-could-mean-for-aca-enrollees-and-the-federal-budget/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">capping premium costs</a> for standard marketplace plans under the ACA at 8.5 percent of household income. These “<a href="https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/R48290" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">enhanced premium tax credits</a>,” originally set to expire at the end of 2022, were extended through 2025 by the <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/08/16/us-major-steps-address-health-care-climate-crisis" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Inflation Reduction Act</a>. Since coming into effect, these changes have <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/06/06/expiring-assistance-threatens-affordable-health-care-us" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">significantly reduced</a> healthcare costs for millions of people. The population covered by ACA marketplace plans has <a href="https://www.kff.org/affordable-care-act/state-indicator/marketplace-enrollment/?activeTab=graph¤tTimeframe=0&startTimeframe=5&selectedRows=%7B%22wrapups%22:%7B%22united-states%22:%7B%7D%7D%7D&sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">more than doubled</a>, rising from 11.4 million in 2020 to 24.3 million in 2025, <a href="https://www.kff.org/affordable-care-act/enrollment-growth-in-the-aca-marketplaces/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">helping drive</a> a decline in the country’s uninsured rate. “Instead of ensuring ordinary people can access adequate health care, the administration and Congress have chosen to prioritize large tax handouts for the wealthy and well-connected,” said <a href="https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/people/rebecca-riddell/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rebecca Riddell</a>, senior policy lead for economic justice at Oxfam America. “Not extending subsidies risks further inflaming economic inequality, which is already sky high and likely to increase following massively regressive cuts to social protection passed in July.” On July 4, 2025, the OBBBA <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/07/01/us-budget-would-benefit-wealthiest-at-expense-of-rights" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">became law</a>, expanding and making permanent many tax cuts <a href="https://taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-did-tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-change-personal-taxes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">originally implemented</a> during President Donald Trump’s first term that <a href="https://www.jct.gov/publications/2025/jcx-37-25/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">disproportionately benefit</a> large corporations and the country’s wealthiest households. The tax breaks for just the <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/1-trillion-in-medicaid-cuts-1-trillion-in-tax-giveaways-for-the-richest-1-percent-the-one-big-beautiful-bills-budget-math/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">richest 0.1 percent of households</a> alone cost <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61734" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">substantially more per year</a> than the enhanced premium tax credits; around $50 billion compared to $35 billion. To partly offset the reduction in revenue from these tax cuts, the act <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/07/01/us-budget-would-benefit-wealthiest-at-expense-of-rights" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">dramatically reduces</a> federal funding for public programs essential for human rights, <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/health/by-the-numbers-harmful-republican-megabill-will-take-health-coverage-away-from" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">including a projected</a> $1 trillion in cuts over the coming decade to Medicaid, the public health insurance program for people with low-incomes, which will disproportionately hurt Black people and other people of color. Unless Congress extends these enhanced subsidies, millions of people will soon be forced to choose between paying for extremely expensive health insurance or risking the potentially catastrophic harm of being uninsured, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam America said. Premium costs for the average subsidized ACA marketplace plan will more than double, rising from an average of $888 per year in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026, <a href="https://www.kff.org/affordable-care-act/aca-marketplace-premium-payments-would-more-than-double-on-average-next-year-if-enhanced-premium-tax-credits-expire/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">according to KFF</a>, a nonprofit health policy research organization. KFF <a href="https://www.kff.org/affordable-care-act/aca-marketplace-premium-payments-would-more-than-double-on-average-next-year-if-enhanced-premium-tax-credits-expire/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">estimated</a> that the annual cost for an average 60-year-old couple earning just above the ACA’s income eligibility limit—or $85,000 annual household income in 2026—will increase by more than $22,600 next year, rising from 8.5 percent of household income to about 25 percent. The Commonwealth Fund and Urban Institute, two US-based nonprofit organizations, have estimated that <a href="https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/4.8-Million-People-Will-Lose-Coverage-in-2026-If-Enhanced-Premium-Tax-Credits-Expire.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">about 4.8 million people</a> will become uninsured next year if these subsidies expire, increasing the US’ uninsured population by about 21 percent. People without health insurance are far more likely to <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2022/04/12/if-im-out-insulin-im-going-die/united-states-lack-regulation-fuels-crisis" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">forgo and ration</a> health care because of costs and are much <a href="https://d197nivf0nbma8.cloudfront.net/uploads/2025/06/LDI-Yale-Letter-Final.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">more likely to die</a> as a result. Cost-based access barriers are incompatible with health care as a human right for all, worsen inequalities, and can undermine people’s ability to bear costs associated with the enjoyment of other human rights such as the rights to housing, food, and education. Older people <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicare/health-policy-101-medicare/?entry=table-of-contents-who-is-covered-by-medicare" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">without Medicare coverage</a> because they are not yet old enough to qualify for coverage, or because of their immigration status or other restrictions, will be especially harmed. The country’s large and growing population of part-time and gig workers, also <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/12/15/racial-and-ethnic-differences-stand-out-in-the-u-s-gig-workforce/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">largely people of color</a>, who are <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/05/22/medicaid-waste-stems-boardrooms-not-basements" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">not legally required</a> to receive <a href="https://www.kff.org/health-costs/health-policy-101-employer-sponsored-health-insurance/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">employer-sponsored health insurance</a> under the ACA, will also be <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/blog/ask-an-expert-enhanced-premium-tax-credit-ptc-expiration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">disproportionately impacted</a>. Even those with health insurance <a href="https://familiesusa.org/resources/if-millions-lose-health-insurance-well-all-pay-for-it-in-our-premiums/#:~:text=Employers%20and%20insured%20Americans%20should%20worry%20about,be%20called%20a%20%E2%80%9Chidden%20health%20care%20tax.%E2%80%9D" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">are likely to see</a> their premium costs increase next year because of cost-shifting associated with this dramatic increase in the uninsured population. On October 1, the federal government <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/10/15/nx-s1-5575134/government-shutdown" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">shut down</a> as a result of Congress’ inability to pass a budget for the 2026 fiscal year. Democratic Party lawmakers, the minority party in both chambers of Congress, have said that their support for any bill to reopen the government is <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-shutdown-affordable-care-act-enhanced-premium-tax-credit/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">contingent on</a> the extension of these enhanced healthcare subsidies. Under international law, everyone has the human right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, which includes the right to access healthcare goods and services regardless of one’s ability to pay. Many countries have better realized this right by creating a public healthcare system that aims to be universally accessible for all, by providing universal health insurance coverage, or through some combination of these two. “Congress should fix the country’s healthcare system,” McConnell said. “But in the meantime, they shouldn’t make things far worse by cutting this lifeline for millions.” For more Human Rights Watch reporting on economic justice and rights, please visit: <a href="https://www.hrw.org/topic/economic-justice-and-rights" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.hrw.org/topic/economic-justice-and-rights</a> For more Oxfam America work on U.S. inequality, please visit: <a href="https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/issues/economic-justice/inequality-in-the-us/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.oxfamamerica.org/explore/issues/economic-justice/inequality-in-the-us/</a>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2025 20:20:33 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/us-millions-face-soaring-health-costs-as-subsidies-expire</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>Trump Administration Appears Worried About Losing War Powers Vote Today</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/trump-administration-appears-worried-about-losing-war-powers-vote-today</link><description><![CDATA[
CEPR’s Director of International Research <a href="https://cepr.net/people/jake-johnston/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Jake Johnston</a> made the following statement today: <blockquote>For at least two months administration sources have been telling the media that land strikes in Venezuela are under consideration and that the US military buildup in the region is aimed at pressing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to resign or convincing his allies in the military to turn on him. But over the last few days, administration officials have changed their tune: the US is not currently planning military strikes inside Venezuela, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/politics/trump-venezuela-legal-congress-land" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">they say</a>, and has no plans to pursue regime change. Why the sudden change? It sure looks like a damage control operation ahead of today’s Senate vote on a bipartisan War Powers Resolution, which now appears to have a real chance of passing. The message the administration is sending to Senate Republicans is that you don’t need to vote to block military action, because, surprise, it’s not happening! Lawmakers should be wary about falling for the bluff. Given the scale of the military resources being deployed, this could well be an effort to buy time until the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft group arrives in the southern Caribbean, and the administration can come up with a legal justification, however flimsy, to bypass congressional authorization for a regime change war that Marco Rubio, Peter Hegseth, and other hawkish officials have been clearly gunning for. </blockquote> More than 40 nongovernmental organizations, including the American Friends Service Committee, Church World Service, Demand Progress, Justice Democrats, Military Families Speak Out, Peace Action, the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, and Veterans For Peace, as well as CEPR, <a href="https://static.politico.com/df/2b/9e6173b748e48bbb12776d8986b8/final-110625-cso-letter-kaine-paul-wpr.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sent a letter</a> to US senators today urging them to support the War Powers Resolution.]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2025 20:11:06 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/trump-administration-appears-worried-about-losing-war-powers-vote-today</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>New Survey: Grassroots Democratic Base Sends Post-Election Warning to Party Leaders</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/new-survey-grassroots-democratic-base-sends-post-election-warning-to-party-leaders</link><description><![CDATA[
A new survey conducted by <a href="https://us.cisionone.cision.com/c/eJwsy0tuwyAQANDTmB3W8BkGL1j0JBGGoUUxpoXEvX6VKtsnvRy0Txac4KDIaYuk0ImvsJOPChQ6BLQ-Z437RiUl9DFrCyBqcBuk4gwiGp9uykYAb4Ag-8XCrJnv9Ue2WA8eU-6FcKeUvDyuO32vLxdH6M8x-OrH81H7uabeRONcoxx8cJwsaw7_cHvDYj4UbcaAGOHk37lYSL21fubBsc21j08xH4O5vWrRFHlTRRpDKG1RKDdyRiJrSCppA24XV9B_AQAA__9khk98" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Our Revolution,</a> the nation’s largest progressive political organizing group with more than 8 million members, finds that a majority of grassroots Democrats believe it’s time to replace status quo party leaders and embrace the bold economic populism that powered Zohran Mamdani’s historic victory for New York City Mayor.The post-election survey of more than 3,500 progressive voters shows overwhelming support for primarying Schumer and Jeffries, near-unanimous agreement that Democrats must run on an affordability agenda centered on lowering costs and challenging corporate power, and deep frustration with party leaders seen as out of touch with working people.“Mamdani’s victory was not an outlier. It was a rallying cry,” said Joseph Geevarghese, Executive Director of Our Revolution. “The grassroots are demanding change. They want a Democratic Party that fights for working families, taxes the rich, and takes on Trump and the oligarchs driving this affordability crisis. The old guard must step aside or risk losing the movement that delivered these wins.” <h3>Key Findings:</h3> <ul><li> 90% of respondents believe Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer should step aside, and 92% would support a primary challenger against him.</li><li> 70% say House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries should step aside, with 77% saying they would support a primary challenger.</li><li> Nearly all agree Democratic candidates in 2026 must adopt Mamdani’s affordability message, centering campaigns on lowering the cost of living and holding corporations accountable.</li><li> Two-thirds (67%) say current Democratic leaders do not understand the struggles of the working class, with confidence in party leadership remaining in the single digits.</li><li> Nearly 9 in 10 (87%) say Democratic candidates should reject corporate PAC and billionaire money, warning that the party risks alienating its most motivated voters if it fails to act.</li><li> Nearly 2 in 5 (38%) say they definitely will not support a Democratic candidate who accepts corporate PAC or billionaire money. Nearly half (46%) say they’re unlikely to do so, and just 3% said they would.</li></ul> <h3>Lessons from Mamdani’s Win: Bold Populism Wins Elections</h3> When asked what lessons Democrats should take from Mamdani’s landmark campaign: <ul><li> 89% said bold economic ideas that address affordability win elections.</li><li> 90% said standing up to Trump and the oligarchs builds trust and drives turnout.</li><li> 92% said taxing the rich and breaking up monopolies are both popular and practical ways to fund affordability solutions.</li><li> 86% said it’s time for a new generation of leadership in the Trump era.</li><li> 79% said the energy and enthusiasm are squarely with the grassroots and progressives, not the party establishment.</li></ul> <h3>A Clear Warning: Don’t Repeat the Mistakes of the Past</h3> Respondents also voiced concern that establishment Democrats might misread the moment: <ul><li> 69% fear party leaders will dismiss Mamdani’s win as an outlier, pointing to moderate victories in New Jersey and Virginia.</li><li> 65% believe leadership will cling to the status quo to appease big-money donors, rather than lean into the grassroots enthusiasm that drives turnout.</li><li> 53% worry Democrats will retreat from moral fights over identity, climate justice, and trans rights, instead of meeting right-wing extremism with conviction and courage. </li></ul> “This isn’t just about one city or one election,” Geevarghese added. “What happened in New York is a blueprint for how Democrats can win everywhere: take on Trump and the billionaire class, lead with moral clarity, and put working people first with clear populist economic policies. The base is demanding that national leaders step aside if they can’t meet this moment.”]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2025 20:07:09 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/new-survey-grassroots-democratic-base-sends-post-election-warning-to-party-leaders</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>Will AT&T Choose Profits Over People? New Petition Demands Corporation Cut Ties With ICE</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/will-att-choose-profits-over-people-new-petition-demands-corporation-cut-ties-with-ice</link><description><![CDATA[
<a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.Cxca7ZR4luLBgVe7ThjcKxW67aa8xL8q-2FXY1p9JYkkX5LkpZ4LpYXNrPwHAVxKw-2BRyEbH-2F7L6Shy1nnDzstNOQ-3D-3D-vfz_ciJuXYfraQrmEXzxHGEcWNeiZKy7tdzQawxB4GG8-2FLPZ7CvygO9jxiRAMn5pClU-2BeoeE2eqMCrdEjA-2BxC6zuNtn34do14PHvc-2FxaJVdh-2F6CsTRnDsSJZkvKb2hsl3T1lnXroJ0B5g01t1KsIT4Gjr-2F3XjSZx5qwQnFuGSc-2BFTGygS8f48eGs-2BFy0cJeQGKDEnueljHpaT3MesnyGAYMlRBoZ4842Dv7ed8RhTdbzHyhqpyuOACJj4GZd6nkaqCxYBdjsE0V-2F69PYW4PK49Yh5plQNM-2F1ugXIRf1Q0CB9N3ko90ebW6q30SLDGiCAqyzZksaJONYjN-2F7ziHJRNEbjK4EbBpFIK9pIQmQUcNhiYPWSzF6gEJwFt3MUeQ2c2ILP" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The People’s Lobby and People’s Action have introduced a petition calling on AT&T to end its contract with ICE</a>. With <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.Cxca7ZR4luLBgVe7ThjcK8Qtg2j-2Bv7a-2FvHu1oBQssCXnetVXjykIQgFW6PSun6juH8i4fHWlep4Y7H2o6eh1iHO5AUfciHXPomp9-2F-2BiTOtpktn1YMYgjbkoTZYp9lU3BFOPK4NQqV90k1yTlfd8O2Ep4r8OXGOYuDWMvAwB78jNZIcReNUuPgWZT7EpHpw7aVcnS_ciJuXYfraQrmEXzxHGEcWNeiZKy7tdzQawxB4GG8-2FLPZ7CvygO9jxiRAMn5pClU-2BeoeE2eqMCrdEjA-2BxC6zuNtn34do14PHvc-2FxaJVdh-2F6CsTRnDsSJZkvKb2hsl3T1lnXroJ0B5g01t1KsIT4Gjr-2F3XjSZx5qwQnFuGSc-2BFTGygS8f48eGs-2BFy0cJeQGKDEnueljHpaT3MesnyGAYMlRDPw-2FMFMKde-2Blmnz7PxWJ-2FzYGatAky9-2B4d6w49bMVbyeQqcce88z9mljBLte3l0GAyFAzQU6jEEHscsU-2FlDRY6MMmWdLo0MgIZjUPoFhoGbsTeoRlhDvk2eF2p6Bdjg04W9UYqM156MxZGSYJ4RqVwPf5AoYznctbzesdGCjz4gz" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">$30.7 billion</a> in revenue in the third quarter of 2025 alone, AT&T does not need its <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.Cxca7ZR4luLBgVe7ThjcK8Qtg2j-2Bv7a-2FvHu1oBQssCV-2BJrXEaz2vKy2oYe-2BA9WV-2Bg7TwPUl77Gv7bctiSLFrvnfK77LlpO4hxvrzQRsw8sM-3D47cg_ciJuXYfraQrmEXzxHGEcWNeiZKy7tdzQawxB4GG8-2FLPZ7CvygO9jxiRAMn5pClU-2BeoeE2eqMCrdEjA-2BxC6zuNtn34do14PHvc-2FxaJVdh-2F6CsTRnDsSJZkvKb2hsl3T1lnXroJ0B5g01t1KsIT4Gjr-2F3XjSZx5qwQnFuGSc-2BFTGygS8f48eGs-2BFy0cJeQGKDEnueljHpaT3MesnyGAYMlRFbWVjkO9fYHvYlX12GDe8Kgp0CFBTQCCX5i4wnAGYB3R3aCEH-2B2MtUbcH6BdL18BmfBLiu-2FWNSM45cVZ9UYishRfOGfFnMTvUAwvVQ-2Bdo4C6ZRMp2Xs3i5-2B3uTDbIknFFtss1DdP5q-2FQua1ZRQZJYLLfxnW7yw8O7P86-2F62sY1X" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">2024</a> or <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.Cxca7ZR4luLBgVe7ThjcKzwe-2BMpL8VmA9m3ntAeLoeroOjX0SieDnrBXnpUDBqsmmoJGpdK4nyeLw19w-2FddPr74u8jBxCBC4GjQFX1wS4gmPqbh258SYdehIi9kA-2FQXM4rmR_ciJuXYfraQrmEXzxHGEcWNeiZKy7tdzQawxB4GG8-2FLPZ7CvygO9jxiRAMn5pClU-2BeoeE2eqMCrdEjA-2BxC6zuNtn34do14PHvc-2FxaJVdh-2F6CsTRnDsSJZkvKb2hsl3T1lnXroJ0B5g01t1KsIT4Gjr-2F3XjSZx5qwQnFuGSc-2BFTGygS8f48eGs-2BFy0cJeQGKDEnueljHpaT3MesnyGAYMlRFmI81jGGDYt5s7Mbvc6Z4-2B0KT0VGt3uSvlloAJqAzFFcp7io4fcUfJx41nTErh3-2B-2F0nMlTU6rbyVYPTX1V9JGp08qHPJGBMcjXWO-2BmY9qXo1NIsDzy163yR-2BIidvD79bhPliECK1r3a-2FTYgTihBRnCdNJ3J52Qi3bMlbnXQyYK9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">2025</a> contracts with the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to remain profitable. Yet, the telecom giant is choosing to both collect money from customers who are in the crosshairs, and line its pockets with public dollars to help ICE agents – who are masked, unidentifiable, and operating without warrants – as they terrorize members of the public in communities like Chicago. “AT&T has a choice to make: Be a good business, or exploit people. You can’t have it both ways. You can’t put people from every ethnicity in your ads, take TV, internet and cell phone money from customers who live in communities that are being scapegoated, and then provide ICE with the surveillance and first responders communications infrastructure they used to<a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.Cxca7ZR4luLBgVe7ThjcK194QPP9PxXHnAP5FJJN9kZanQpwNTrMrgx67ghUsA0gYPdHcCl-2FdGyfiPax-2Bhiwww-3D-3DQ9Ko_ciJuXYfraQrmEXzxHGEcWNeiZKy7tdzQawxB4GG8-2FLPZ7CvygO9jxiRAMn5pClU-2BeoeE2eqMCrdEjA-2BxC6zuNtn34do14PHvc-2FxaJVdh-2F6CsTRnDsSJZkvKb2hsl3T1lnXroJ0B5g01t1KsIT4Gjr-2F3XjSZx5qwQnFuGSc-2BFTGygS8f48eGs-2BFy0cJeQGKDEnueljHpaT3MesnyGAYMlRBFuKjGTS4JgPdtWf0uJfr9ZTwKgMxu4PxprA4L55Q2IvbTppj1sISt-2FZVGBrb3L4Xae7woyVxePzBrC-2FzIKU-2F0is9KoKeRsVExofjC8SQb27bkNqsbtgMKCD3n7jTorleIgB7GSQQtsRiHq0WRIItIy804l9jpzM-2FWPRVyijiAu" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> turn people’s homes into war zones</a>. We don’t want Blackhawk helicopters and heavily armed infantrymen kicking down doors in the middle of the night to kidnap parents and zip tie children. Not in Chicago. Not anywhere,” said The People’s Lobby Executive Director Will Tanzman. In the wake of President Donald Trump, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune passing a 10-year budget that included the <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.Cxca7ZR4luLBgVe7ThjcKxUJEiNnW7DqIHzHPj2F9jIYkAIFma1XZDkjYROl-2FmKF9O6QgBHr3mlgpSYuliXmngoyWuFR1KzCN7gMgmNikOdKP5f0hI4jupCHLHfzCKk0L1G3b3QjW9lA9UzGazRJ-2FzRNn3L2m8HgWmye4ZGDY6P82YHQSGS9SfrdkCmAKQynB5Qez-2BIDvEbqiYGzxSTu8NGrJZBznha-2BCHE84yxnaisV7e-2B5QQU3VQduUhBLrCpj23cs_ciJuXYfraQrmEXzxHGEcWNeiZKy7tdzQawxB4GG8-2FLPZ7CvygO9jxiRAMn5pClU-2BeoeE2eqMCrdEjA-2BxC6zuNtn34do14PHvc-2FxaJVdh-2F6CsTRnDsSJZkvKb2hsl3T1lnXroJ0B5g01t1KsIT4Gjr-2F3XjSZx5qwQnFuGSc-2BFTGygS8f48eGs-2BFy0cJeQGKDEnueljHpaT3MesnyGAYMlRMMfvxcnRu3HIZO0qfHRGU3mrQZo0rlM1R62GtjF-2BllnQ63fnDpOm3O7wD8kc4XKIzYIwEMmj80zVlNmNb7Z7LS8tPiVQpvPArvNNfId3QJ-2F5Bzqzuolzrs8920j6BdZUa-2FzC715VNDSbaoIDrrt3jI8eOxG0CKJ4DXk-2BzHMIrvD" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">unprecedented expansion of ICE resources</a>, the <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.Cxca7ZR4luLBgVe7ThjcK8Dj9ne29SSkMjrX4BRd8hsv8eOgQo2-2BHEsStGnQENqjr-2FJPVjDyRl-2FevSUup-2FcvkPpOTSDQfIFx2d2n6IHdjbc-3DclrI_ciJuXYfraQrmEXzxHGEcWNeiZKy7tdzQawxB4GG8-2FLPZ7CvygO9jxiRAMn5pClU-2BeoeE2eqMCrdEjA-2BxC6zuNtn34do14PHvc-2FxaJVdh-2F6CsTRnDsSJZkvKb2hsl3T1lnXroJ0B5g01t1KsIT4Gjr-2F3XjSZx5qwQnFuGSc-2BFTGygS8f48eGs-2BFy0cJeQGKDEnueljHpaT3MesnyGAYMlRCrJbvQlZ7uUG-2B0YULxsOKY5vcQ9-2F6HMeWg1aUkMj0sKPDYMB51WgiVrF0r78U4o2NaNNL5PR0df85MlaovTmxwJkSX2cMsytpRjoBJ5vZMXdM51ICR9bb4xJFt2XYvhrUxMQm-2BkgkaEgkrrNa4JjIERe-2FErG9M3Gn1ml4saj6tg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">largest transfer of wealth to the rich in history</a>, and devastating cuts to vital programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, and SNAP, more and more Americans have begun to question why the billionaire and corporate beneficiaries of the tax cuts in the Big Ugly Bill are also <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.Cxca7ZR4luLBgVe7ThjcK1guhfwt4H6pzzkG-2FvJwNvYO9A98uiJcnNgwRN3GHYhzP8HBAxpGwHlYRo0MhIKQjoKRmQ-2FqJbD8mqsj-2BbUUlcbZoajNURIgu6C9hH4bn8hc7pVmylojmpHhdrUbWnWwxVvD-2BZWvD6SzufiqDEDcm3Y-3D8WEZ_ciJuXYfraQrmEXzxHGEcWNeiZKy7tdzQawxB4GG8-2FLPZ7CvygO9jxiRAMn5pClU-2BeoeE2eqMCrdEjA-2BxC6zuNtn34do14PHvc-2FxaJVdh-2F6CsTRnDsSJZkvKb2hsl3T1lnXroJ0B5g01t1KsIT4Gjr-2F3XjSZx5qwQnFuGSc-2BFTGygS8f48eGs-2BFy0cJeQGKDEnueljHpaT3MesnyGAYMlRIrEo81lceK8E9sd13RytzSLmSGTtP7f5onWNHAEhYExbiP88UlrMAq2gpm3f0B8TaPjqzyrDqeUhbT40NRZAujitmWYbnyreRXwecKb7UFURbzTNMnUg-2BXyZCDATfkygFIiPg1FVBV-2B0JTTNY9ixMi7q8D9XmL7TPL8jAzLZSMk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">on Trump donor lists and getting big government contracts</a> funded with public dollars. “There is more than enough for all of us to thrive if billionaires, CEOs, and corrupt politicians don’t hoard it. Corporations depend on our labor and earnings. Elected officials work for us. If they refuse to stop themselves from profiting off of our pain and threatening our rights and freedoms, then we have to organize to peacefully stop them. It’s time for AT&T to refuse to allow ICE to use their technology to separate families. It’s time for AT&T to take away access to communications systems meant to keep us and our neighbors safe from outside agents who seek to terrorize our communities. It’s time for AT&T to end their contract with ICE,” said People’s Action Executive Director Sulma Arias. <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.Cxca7ZR4luLBgVe7ThjcKxW67aa8xL8q-2FXY1p9JYkkX5LkpZ4LpYXNrPwHAVxKw-2BRyEbH-2F7L6Shy1nnDzstNOQ-3D-3DIgeO_ciJuXYfraQrmEXzxHGEcWNeiZKy7tdzQawxB4GG8-2FLPZ7CvygO9jxiRAMn5pClU-2BeoeE2eqMCrdEjA-2BxC6zuNtn34do14PHvc-2FxaJVdh-2F6CsTRnDsSJZkvKb2hsl3T1lnXroJ0B5g01t1KsIT4Gjr-2F3XjSZx5qwQnFuGSc-2BFTGygS8f48eGs-2BFy0cJeQGKDEnueljHpaT3MesnyGAYMlRIBkGaAao6YMUFE3LVIxtBCIuchgtxeyUW7BkaHlAzFNS59MqHeyQonLNa6wlpRUJI0Zjiv6a2FZNC0qlUwHQTImLgIhJQIDgnQ9yRlr4h-2FLVnDD8Z4BF2Bv2G-2FfVpykTysPjC73ca-2FV5u18IeGIiJmeb-2FMgI6F6ccdSe-2FCSpEkZ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The petition calling on AT&T to end its contract with ICE is part of a growing movement to hold accountable the corporations that put profits over people</a>. Other corporations named in grassroots campaigns launched recently include Home Depot, Amazon, and Target. Organizers expect that these campaigns will intensify in the coming weeks as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, SNAP benefits are curtailed, and the resolution of the federal government shutdown over the extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire in December remains uncertain.]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2025 14:49:02 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/will-att-choose-profits-over-people-new-petition-demands-corporation-cut-ties-with-ice</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>Democrats Have Finally Found Their Economic Voice, They Can’t Afford to Turn Back Now</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/democrats-have-finally-found-their-economic-voice-they-cant-afford-to-turn-back-now</link><description><![CDATA[
New <a href="https://groundworkcollaborative.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/FI15106a-Groundwork-NJ-Post-election.pdf" target="_blank">polling</a> from Groundwork Action and Hart Research Associates finds public backlash to President Trump’s policies, which are driving up costs and spiking health care prices, helped propel Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill to a decisive victory in New Jersey. The government shutdown fight over soaring health insurance premiums has given Democrats a major boost, as voters get increasingly clear on which party is fighting for their families. In New Jersey, voters supported Democrats’ approach to lowering health care costs by more than 20 points, and nationally, over half of voters back Democrats in Congress negotiating to reverse rising health care prices.Groundwork Action’s Executive Director Lindsay Owens reacted with the following statement:<blockquote>“Today’s polling shows voters are fed up with President Trump’s economic policies and want candidates who will fight to lower costs and rein in health care prices. With both the message and momentum on their side, now is not the time to back down. Democrats must continue their fight to deliver for working families and reverse Trump’s health care price hikes.”</blockquote>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 06 Nov 2025 13:29:25 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/democrats-have-finally-found-their-economic-voice-they-cant-afford-to-turn-back-now</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>To the Long Hopeful Query, Is He Dead Yet? Yes.</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/further/to-the-long-hopeful-query-is-he-dead-yet-yes</link><description><![CDATA[
<img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/cheney-during-a-2012-interview.jpg?id=62056366&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=411%2C0%2C411%2C0"/> Variously dubbed Darth Vader, the Prince of Darkness and "one of the most evil people to exist in modern history," Dick Cheney, the lying, blood-stained architect of America's calamitous War on Terror, brutal torture program and an Imperial Presidency that today still afflicts us has died "after a lifetime of people wishing he had died sooner" - and in a prison cell. The consensus on a war criminal who faced no punishment and expressed no remorse: "No hell is hot enough or eternal enough."The long-awaited death of Cheney, at 84, resists all but the most groveling and dissonant of the hagiographies that often greet the demise of contentious figures; in Cheney's case, much like Kissinger's, schadenfreude rules the day. After years of harsh mock headlines - "Cheney Is Still Undead" - and a website that daily asked, and answered, "Is Cheney Dead Yet?", the actual death of an American supervillain instrumental in creating an iniquitous, ineffective, indefensible, deeply sadistic torture and rendition regime that "destroyed any shred of humanity the U.S. could ever lay claim to" was met with caustic dispatches like, "<a href="https://www.wonkette.com/p/dick-cheney-no-longer-still-undead" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dick Cheney </a>No Longer Still Undead" and, from The Nation, "His Works Completed, Dick Cheney, <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/dick-cheney-war-on-terror-executive-power/" target="_blank">Mass Murderer </a>of Iraqis and American Democracy, Dies."They note today's MAGA, and alas the rest of us, "walk a path<a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/dick-ch..." target="_blank"> paved</a> by the most powerful vice president in US history," a reminder Cheney's crimes belong not in the past but in the hateful, largely untethered presidential here and now. In light of his "long, putrescent career," notes one account, "let us remember who Richard Bruce Cheney really was." Born in 1941, growing up in Wyoming, Cheney had an inauspicious youth - flunked out of Yale twice, racked up two drunk-driving arrests - so "who knew he'd one day turn his life around to grow up to be a war criminal?" Despite his zeal for enabling the killing of brown people around the world from an office in D.C., he got five deferments in the Vietnam War; he later vaguely <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/68f4df64-cdfd-4818-9ca8-be841db30efa?j=eyJ1IjoibDhod24ifQ.5jEjeLiJZS5OfHG4v_xEBlfZCsRwcX2P4Vv9vuux9BQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">said, </a>“I had other priorities in the ’60s than military service."Parlaying connections among the neo-cons, he was elected to the House in 1978; he served five terms, during which he voted against a Department of Education, a Martin Luther King holiday, Head Start, and freeing Nelson Mandela while supporting apartheid. After years of rising through the GOP ranks as "one of the most belligerent politicians of our lifetime," he became the insipid George Bush's right-hand man, savoring<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/dick-cheney-one-of-americas-most-powerful-and-polarizing-vice-presidents-dies-at-84" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> playing </a>the “evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole" while working to make Bush as legally untouchable as possible. Espousing the Unitary Executive Theory - an unencumbered presidency controlling all aspects of the executive branch - he helped shape the 2000-2008 Bush-Cheney administration, one of the worst in American history.Sept. 11 "happened on his watch," notes one account. "Everything that came afterward - Afghanistan, Iraq, torture, surveillance, toxic patriotism - was overcompensation for his own initial failure." It was also a chance to achieve his longtime goal of amassing in the White House the might of U.S. war-making - which he thought showcased American power, not "weakness, avarice, futility and manic resource <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/world/middleeast/19iraq.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">extraction</a>." Thus did he forge, with the help of Bush, Blair, Rumsfeld, oil-greedy corporate powers, a <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/iraq/2006-03-01/intelligence-policy-and-war-iraq" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">complicit </a>CIA, the invasion and occupation of Iraq - <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2003/09/29/iraq-911-still-linked-cheney/5b56d29d-d5ba-43ec-8c57-3cec1dc713e6/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">concocting </a>ties between Saddam and al-Qaeda, inventing weapons of mass destruction, attacking critics for their "pernicious falsehoods" - that ranks as "one of the worst strategic decisions in U.S. history."And, of course, one of the most brutal. Official estimates say the so-called War on Terror <a href="https://www.forever-wars.com/900-thousand-people-and-eight-trillion-dollars/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">killed </a>between 897,000 and 929,000 people, mostly civilians; those numbers are widely recognized as far too low, with totals likely reaching beyond a million. Among the victims were myriad thousands of "ghost detainees" disappeared to other countries in extra-judicial renderings - in handcuffs, blindfolds, diapers - to be tortured. They were beaten, cut, raped, waterboarded, set upon by dogs, burned, electrocuted, restrained in excruciating positions, put into <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30402111" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">coffins, </a>threatened with execution, power drills, "rectal rehydration," the killing of their families. Later, confronted in a Senate hearing with a 6,000-page report documenting the horrors, Cheney <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2014/12/dick-cheney..." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">dismissed</a> it as "a crock" and "hooey."All the shameless lies, the endless hubris, the crimes, screams, bodies, blood, the millions he made at Halliburton in exchange - for all that, Cheney never faced any legal or even political accountability. He never expressed even a sliver of doubt or regret. In a 2008 interview, <a href="https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2008/03/text/20080319-5.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">asked</a> about the fact that two-thirds of Americans said the war wasn't worth fighting, he responded, "So?" "So? You don't care American people think?" he's asked. "No," he said. "You cannot be blown off course by fluctuations in the public opinion polls.” At other times, he insisted, "I'd do it again in a minute," "I have no problem as long as we achieve our objective," and on a torture program that repeatedly proved to generate no documented, actionable information, "It worked. It absolutely did work."Cheney had five heart attacks and underwent at least 7 heart procedures before finally <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/us/politics/dick-cheney-dead.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">dying </a>of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, "killed by a coalition of the diseases willing to invade him." In 2012, he got a heart transplant, becoming "the <a href="https://jimearl.substack.com/p/dick-cheney-former-..." target="_blank">only human</a> capable of using another person's heart without caring who it previously belonged to." In an<a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/cheney-doesnt-know-hear..." target="_blank"> interview </a>about the gift, he <a href="http://www.salon.com/2013/11/14/dick_cheney_even_bigger_monster_than_you_thought/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">proved </a>"an even bigger monster" than previously thought by declaring, "It's my new heart, it's not someone else's old heart." He conceded many people "generically thank donors...but I don't spend time wondering who had it, what they’d done, what kind of person." When Cheney accidentally shot a 78-year-old lawyer friend in the face in a 2006 hunting accident, the victim felt obliged to <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/c6d9b904-8800-4b9e-8a08-cf66438e3b52?j=eyJ1IjoibDhod24ifQ.5jEjeLiJZS5OfHG4v_xEBlfZCsRwcX2P4Vv9vuux9BQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">apologize</a> for blocking his shot.In the end, ironies abound in his life and death. He reportedly voted in the last election for Kamala Harris, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/dick-cheney-dies-079591b529f048489650e7569bc675d2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">arguing, </a>"In our nation’s 246-year history, there has never been an individual who was a greater threat to our republic than Donald Trump," even though he was long deemed that threat and Trump committed the same crimes as Bush - lying to steal an election. He died on a day he helped facilitate that 25 years ago, and lived to see another president turn the same bloated executive powers against his own daughter. "Cheney never expected to be displaced by what he empowered," <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/dick-cheney-war-on-terror-executive-power/" target="_blank">notes </a>The Nation of the Bush/Cheney history of violence and deceit. "He surely did not expect to die on a day when New Yorkers are poised to elect a Muslim socialist mayor in a repudiation of his legacy."All in all, "History's <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/obituaries/article/2025/11/04/dick-cheney-former-us-vice-president-and-father-of-the-iraq-invasion-has-died_6747088_15.html#:~:text=With%20his%20sepulchral%20voice%20and,announced%20on%20Tuesday%2C%20November%204." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">verdict </a>has been merciless on the 'father' of the Iraq invasion and the excesses of the war on terror." The jokes are bitter. It's time for the The Onion's Cheney <a href="https://theonion.com/dick-cheney-vice-presidential..." target="_blank">Library i</a>n "a vast, dark, sulfurous cave" with its millions of legal documents justifying torture, noxious fumes, endless surveillance, Hall of Obfuscation, Pit of Yellowcake Uranium, Quagmire Wing, interactive waterboarding for kids, sprawling security state and exhibits representing "the huge part he played in destabilizing the Middle East for generations to come." Some report the Cheney family hasn't decided how to handle his remains, but may award Halliburton "a no-bid contract" for clean-up; his daughters, struggling with their loss, have taken to calling it "enhanced death."Others are outright celebrating. "I woke up today feeling kinda shitty, knowing I needed to go to the gym but not wanting to," wrote one. "Then I saw the headline that Dick Cheney was dead, and suddenly everything was great. All my aches and pains disappeared. I was so happy! I wanted to run up to strangers at the gym and see if they'd celebrate Cheney's death with me! I didn't know I had this much schadenfreude in me." One announced, "The man who if Kubrick had a time machine could have been the inspiration for Dr. Strangelove has harvested his last organ." One vowed, "AND NOW WE DANCE." But Islamic scholar Omar Suleiman, summoning all those lost and grieving and ravaged, spoke to the dark heart of the deceased: “May the 1 million murdered souls of Iraq haunt you for eternity.”]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 05 Nov 2025 07:25:31 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/further/to-the-long-hopeful-query-is-he-dead-yet-yes</guid><dc:creator>Abby Zimet</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/cheney-during-a-2012-interview.jpg?id=62056366&width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Corporate Donors to Trump’s White House Ballroom Beset by Conflicts, Received $279 Billion in Government Contracts in the Past Five Years</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/corporate-donors-to-trumps-white-house-ballroom-beset-by-conflicts-received-279-billion-in-government-contracts-in-the-past-five-years</link><description><![CDATA[
The corporate and billionaire donors to Donald Trump’s gaudy ballroom project are beset by conflicts of interest, according to a <a href="https://www.citizen.org/?post_type=article&p=116685&preview=true" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">new Public Citizen report.</a>Here are some quick facts from the report: <ul><li>Two-thirds of the 24 known corporate donors have recent government contracts for projects, totaling $279 billion over the last five years. Lockheed Martin is the largest of the government contractors, with $191 billion in federal contracts over the last five years. </li><li>Of the 24 corporate donors, 14 are facing federal enforcement actions and/or have had federal enforcement actions suspended by the Trump administration. These include major antitrust actions involving Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and T-Mobile; labor rights cases involving Amazon, Apple, Caterpillar, Google, Lockheed and Meta; and SEC matters involving Coinbase and Ripple. </li><li>The corporate and billionaire funders of the ballroom have spent $1.6 billion on lobbying and campaign contributions over the last five years. </li><li>The companies self-report a stunningly wide array of interests before the federal government, involving everything from taxation to trade policy, battlefield domain awareness to telephone poles, consumer privacy to product liability rules, appropriations to cybersecurity – and much more.</li></ul> Public Citizen Co-President Robert Weissman, an author of the report, said these corporations’ hunger for political gain seems thinly veiled:“These giant corporations aren’t funding the Trump ballroom debacle out of a sense of civic pride. They have massive interests before the federal government and they undoubtedly hope to curry favor with, and receive favorable treatment from, the Trump administration. Millions to fund Trump’s architectural whims are nothing compared to the billions at stake in procurement, regulatory and enforcement decisions. “But this is more than everyday corporate influence seeking. Paying tribute is a mark of authoritarianism and in making these payments, these corporations are aiding Trump’s authoritarian project. They should withdraw their contributions.”Read the full report <a href="https://www.citizen.org/?post_type=article&p=116685&preview=true" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here.</a>]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 03 Nov 2025 18:19:52 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/corporate-donors-to-trumps-white-house-ballroom-beset-by-conflicts-received-279-billion-in-government-contracts-in-the-past-five-years</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>Let Them Eat Marble and Big Beautiful Ballroom</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/further/let-them-eat-marble-and-big-beautiful-ballroom</link><description><![CDATA[
<img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/trump-and-maga-hangers-on-at-his-great-gatsby-party.jpg?id=62016750&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=397%2C0%2C398%2C0"/> Hours after exultantly posting 24 photos about his gaudy new marble bathroom and hours before he defiantly refused to fund food stamps and health care subsidies for 42 million Americans, King Donald held a glitzy Great-Gatsby-themed party for his robber baron cronies and their plastic molls, thus adding to his myriad crimes by defiling a luminous, pivotal book that assails the moral depredations of the rich. Tell us without telling us you don't know how it and its toxic Gilded Age ends. So much winning. As government employees work unpaid, soaring health care costs loom, DOGE cuts slow air traffic and social services, the U.S. <a href="https://fiscaldata.treasury.gov/datasets/debt-to-the-penny/debt-to-the-penny" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">debt </a>rockets to a record 38-plus trillion dollars, and health experts say the country wastes nearly $400 billion in food each year, MAGA Republicans are playing a vile real-live version of <a href="https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/the-hunger-games-402" target="_blank">The Hunger Games,</a> threatening to make over 40 million Americans, about half of them kids, go hungry in order to...umm... wait....stick it to the Marxist libs? Perversely, unwittingly highlight the damage wrought by their fucking Big Beautiful Bill that mindlessly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/30/food-banks-trump-snap-cuts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">cut </a>$187 billion from food stamps in the august name of making fat cats fatter? Drive home the righteous <a href="https://x.com/jasonkander/status/1983667420125655351?s=61&t=dlYuBcwzZXmET9Xd_RRdaQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">insistence </a>of these princes among men that if we don't let them take doctors away from sick people they're gonna take food away from poor people? Thus do we witness the threat of "the greatest hunger catastrophe in America since the Great Depression," despite earlier <a href="https://x.com/PressSec/status/1975642840416780535" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">promises, </a>existing <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/10/10/congress/usda-wic-tariff-revenue-nutrition-benefits-trump-00600666?template_id=OTJIR2CRKUD6&variant_id=OTV782K8AVBYO&is_login_link=true" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">laws, </a>historic <a href="https://x.com/senwhitehouse/status/1983932344437272696?s=61&t=dlYuBcwzZXmET9Xd_RRdaQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">precedents, </a>two judges' <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/31/politics/snap-benefits-november-judge-ruling" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">rulings </a>in Boston and Rhode Island of "irreparable harm" without action to 1 in 5 households, 90% of which are <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/food-assistance/the-supplemental-nutrition-assistance-program-snap" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">poorer, </a>older people with disabilities, fixed incomes, lousy jobs, a deployed spouse who need the paltry $187 a month to get by in Trump-<a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/1982201497422033051" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">inflated </a>times- and despite an available <a href="https://x.com/repdonbeyer/status/1983933748014916059?s=46&t=V7VfS2X8f7Tb8bB5srchIg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">contingency fund</a> of up to $23 billion outlined in a now-mysteriously-<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20251001024645/https:/www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fy2026-usda-lapse-plan.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">deleted, </a>55-page plan posted in September on the USDA website, all of which call and clamor for SNAP’s operations to <a href="https://x.com/senwhitehouse/status/1983932344437272696?s=61&t=dlYuBcwzZXmET9Xd_RRdaQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">continue.</a> The website does, though, now <a href="https://statuskuo.substack.com/p/the-hunger-games-402" target="_blank">boast </a>the twisted howler that Dems are keeping government closed “to hold out for healthcare for illegal aliens and gender mutilation procedures." Sigh.Slimy lying reptile MAGA Mike has offered abundant <a href="https://xcancel.com/atrupar/status/1983930237483098309" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reasons </a>why they have to leave kids hungry right now - sorry, not sorry - like they can't legally move funds or they're for natural disasters or there has to be "a pre-existing appropriation" for the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/snap-food-assistance-go..." target="_blank">funds</a> or oops now they "no longer exist" - see big beautiful bill - or "the <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/10/28/congress/mike-johnson-shutdown-snap-00625211" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">pain register</a>" isn't high enough yet or when Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/mike-johnson-panics-trump-official-150429689.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">told </a>America "your government is failing you" she def <a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/1984265893157671023" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">meant </a>Democrats. Also, he's had to keep the House <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/10/20/2349540/-House-GOP-will-stop-at-nothing-to-keep-Epstein-files-hidden" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">in recess</a> for over 40 days because they're "<a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/1982818879886807104" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">doing</a> some of the most meaningful work of their careers" and "I don't want to pull them away from that work." They still haven't created a single <a href="https://www.congress.gov/crs-appropriations-status-table" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">spending bill</a>, with stopgap funding about to <a href="https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/republicans-appropriations.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/bill-text-continuing-appropriations-and-extensions-act-2026.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">expire,</a> but listen it's really not his lane and he's been "very busy," really, "very busy," and besides he doesn't <a href="https://x.com/CoryBooker/status/1982099948041908256" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> know anything.</a> <blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1982099948041908256">
<div style="margin:1em 0"></div> — (@)
<a href="https://twitter.com/CoryBooker/status/1982099948041908256"></a>
</blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> Meanwhile, his vile cohorts are likewise "very busy" telling racist, vicious, scapegoating, fear-mongering lies about who may be about to go hungry in the richest country in the world and why. Essentially, 'cause fuck 'em. They argue that if 42 million people are struggling to survive in an oligarchic hellscape of inequity and abominable policy, they must all be cheats, frauds, losers or lazy gangsters of color who make bad life choices. White supremacist <a href="https://x.com/mrddmia/status/1982524632633864404?u..." target="_blank">Mike Davis</a>: "We should only help people who can't help themselves. Get off your fat, ghetto asses. Get a job. Stop reproducing. Change your shitty culture." Also, despite undocumented immigrants being ineligible and many immigrants with papers needing help 'cause they work (hard) at shitty low-paying jobs, "Stop giving food stamps to immigrants. We don’t want you here, if you won’t work."A GOP strategist <a href="https://www.rawstory.com/snap-2674253771/#" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">claimed</a> food isn't going to 16 million hungry "children" but "socialist beasts." Clay Higgins<a href="https://x.com/RepClayHiggins/status/19839926187415..." target="_blank"> figured </a>moochers getting about $4200 a year - $6.20 a person a day - should have a month of groceries stocked ahead and thus "should never again receive SNAP, because wow, stop smoking crack." Another cretin<a href="https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/newsmax-anchor-claims-americans-using-snap-benefits-to-get-their-weaves-done/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> charged,</a> "People are selling their benefits. People are using them to get their nails done, to get their weaves and their hair." What would Jesus do? A mathematical genius at Newsmax broke down the ethnicity of SNAP recipients to declare most of those "getting food stamps from the US Government and US Taxpayer are not even Americans." Breaking news: The majority of recipients are white, like the lawmakers yelling at people to make better choices who can't even manage to keep the government open.In contrast, Democrats, mostly normal human beings, have been trying to help, not berate or demean. Many are rallying support for food banks; over 200 reps urged the USDA to use the damn funds; 25 blue state governors and A.G.s<a href="https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/ag/press_releases/2025/mass-v-usda-et-al.pdf?rev=aabb954b3067467e8b4ee8dbaeaf0101&hash=0CC77EB0D069F1FDF346C95578271817" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> filed </a>an emergency lawsuit that led to one of the court <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/us/politics/food-stamps-shutdown.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">rulings</a>; Hakeem Jeffries said of a GOP that stripped $187 billion from SNAP, "People oughtta believe Republicans care about hunger? Get lost with that"; Amy Klobuchar voiced a bottom line obvious to everyone but MAGA and Israel: "Hunger isn’t a bargaining chip.” And Colorado Rep. Joe Neguse gave <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/abbij1961.bsky.social/pos..." target="_blank">a master class</a> to the media in how to stop <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/abbij1961.bsky.social/post/3m4iqhae2tk2v" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">gaslighting </a>and blaming Dems for problems created by a MIA regime: "We’re here in Washington. You’re here in Washington. House Republicans are gone...The Administration needs to follow the law."Also speaking up are ordinary, eloquent Americans who live in the world, have maybe been broke, and are tired of the self-serving bullshit from those in power seeking to hide their lies and greed and mindless cruelty. One online advocate had a<a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=7886259439480..." target="_blank"> newsflash f</a>or "Y'all out here cheering that SNAP’s delayed like it’s some kind of win that Makes America Great Again." On those who may suffer: "Not strangers. Not scammers. Real people. People you know, work with, respect and even love. That’s who you’re trying to starve." "Those EBT cards you love to hate are what keep your local economy alive," she wrote, with every $1 in SNAP spending sparking $1.50–$1.80 in local economic activity. "The economy doesn’t crumble from the top down; it collapses from the bottom up," she said. "They're not draining the swamp. They're drowning you."<table><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://substack.com/redirect/c11fe56d-9852-4624-b538-a2ab9bbad8fc?j=eyJ1IjoibDhod24ifQ.5jEjeLiJZS5OfHG4v_xEBlfZCsRwcX2P4Vv9vuux9BQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/%24s_!Ej_6!,w_1100,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd82bf326-7021-4465-b16a-38a1e6eeff18_720x405.jpeg"/></a></td><td> </td></tr></tbody></table>And in their free time, which is most of the time, they're golfing. This weekend, precisely when benefits were set to run out for millions of Americans reportedly feeling "terror" about how to feed their kids, the clueless narcissist who put it all in motion and whose Nazi daddy gave him millions starting out so he'd never, ever have to think about such unsavory things, embarked on his 13th, $3.4 million golf trip to Mar-A-Lago - his 76th golf outing so far at a total cost to taxpayers of $60.7 million. En route, on his private, planet-destroying Air Force One, he went online to <a href="https://zeteo.com/p/trump-white-house-ballroom-foo..." target="_blank">boast </a>about his "absolutely gorgeous" renovation of the White House's Lincoln Bathroom, which is now slathered in "highly polished, statuary marble" at a <a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/1984305213029695868" target="_blank">time</a> when, "Sure, you might not be able to eat or go to the doctor, but check out how nice Trump's new marble Lincoln shitter is."He was so excited about it he posted no less than 24 <a href="https://nbcmontana.com/news/nation-world/photos-pr..." target="_blank">photos</a> of its blinding, gleaming splendor: marble everywhere like someone puked it out, gold hooks, faucets, trash can, even soap dish with a presidential seal, all carefully chosen by the guy with the "famously bad interior design taste." He <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/31/politics/white-hous..." target="_blank">bragged </a>he'd replaced the art-deco green tiling, "totally inappropriate for the Lincoln era," speculating its garish glaring re-do "in fact could be the marble that was originally there!”; a skeptical expert <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/donmoyn.bsky.social/post/3m4iz6ojstc26" target="_blank">suggested</a> it more likely came from a bankrupt Trump casino. His giddy celebration of a glitzy marble bathroom at that particular fraught moment for so many of his alleged constituents, it was observed, was so wildly tone-deaf it could "make the history books" as a tawdry symbol of his administration. And it could have, if things didn't quickly get worse.He boasted about another kingly remodel - yet more Saddam-style white marble - of the Kennedy Center, where ticket sales have plummeted and left most shows facing half-empty seats. "It is really looking good!" he exclaimed of a stately landmark he said was "dead as a doornail. We are bringing (it) back to life!" Asked about the shutdown on its 31st day - he's refused to meet with Democrats and ordered lackeys to do the same - he retorted, "It's their fault. Everything is their fault." He also <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-falsely-..." target="_blank">claimed </a>SNAP recipients are mostly Dems, as in, why bother. Anyway, he was very busy too - in this case, getting ready for his lavish, black-tie, tone-deaf, Great-Gatsby-themed Halloween <a href="https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1984452289428685215" target="_blank">party </a>dubbed, "A little party never killed nobody,” theme <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZgjmE6xdaw" target="_blank">song</a> for a 2013 movie of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic1925 novel - yes, there's a book! - about the careless vapid rich. <img alt="Entertainers dressed as flappers at The Great Gatsby party" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2d3d317e4406040fe89a9b5ce4463049" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="f6147" loading="lazy" src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/entertainers-dressed-as-flappers-at-the-great-gatsby-party.jpg?id=62018307&width=980"> Dancers dressed as flappers at The Great Gatsby partyPhoto by press pool</img>In his dark, gorgeous, mournful novel, Fitzgerald skewered the hollow, amoral lives of the Jazz Age's hedonistic rich - their loveless marriages, flamboyant parties and deadly heedless laying waste to the lives around them. Skipping most of the downer parts, the Mar-A-Lago version <a href="https://x.com/dannyctkemp/status/1984414979676639712" target="_blank">went for </a>the garish, razzle-dazzle visuals - flighty flappers in feathers and glitter, giant champagne glasses for showgirls to curl in, silver and gold baubles, a lush <a href="https://x.com/patriottakes/status/1984675518789148844" target="_blank">dessert spread, </a>an army of servers, <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:7upoypvlxudsiv4pzbi5jtwf/post/3m4lvjlif3s2u?ref_src=embed&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fdigbysblog.net%252F" target="_blank">poolside</a> networking, live <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Fauxmoi/comments/1omlsyg/trumps_elaborate_gatsbythemed_halloween_party/" target="_blank">music </a>by several bands, many sexy dancers in scanty outfits and feather fans. Amidst the smoky, raucous <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0YfAPZA90s" target="_blank">scene</a> - old rich white men in vests and hats, younger plumped and tightened floozies by their side - sat Trump, grimly <a href="https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1984452289428685215" target="_blank">smirking, </a>his Oompa-Loompa <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-throws-great-gatsby-themed-033951731.html" target="_blank">make-up line </a>visible but who among his gaudy, grimacing subjects would acknowledge it?Video showed Trump, no costume but stuffed into black tie, lurching about in his ridiculous <a href="https://x.com/MilaLovesJoe/status/1984379112199504362" target="_blank">robot fist</a> dance to YMCA - clearly a Prohibition-era favorite - alongside a very high Elon Musk and very stiff Melania evidently singing an entirely different song, and who could blame her. Online, his supporters, with tags like "The Bespoke Life," were <a href="https://x.com/GuntherEagleman/status/1984415839437...:" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">jubilant</a>. The Oompa-Lumpa King was "the walking image of <a href="https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/1984426951491092972" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> success</a>," not a crude, incoherent sociopath. "He just brought home trillions from Asia," imagined one fan. Another marveled, "He's 79 years old, just back from a long Asia trip, now partying it up. Trump is a machine." Missing parts, but okay. Here, America's real-life <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@meidastouch/video/7567814311901433101" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hunger games</a> could not be any further away: His, "Some of you may die, but it’s a sacrifice I am willing to make” moment," precisely as food stamps were cancelled, was "the most Nero thing ever."<blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1984673380285464678">
<div style="margin:1em 0"></div> — (@)
<a href="https://twitter.com/patriottakes/status/1984673380285464678"></a>
</blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>The <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/timdickinson.bsky.social/..." target="_blank">optics,</a> the timing, the splashy freak show at that harsh moment in time for so many left online <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/EndlessBlueWaves/posts/2419361018482267/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">viewers </a>stunned, pissed, helpless with horror. They summoned an old Vincent Price movie, Mask of the Red Death, "that did not end well for the party-goers." They quoted the Beatles: "Everywhere there’s lots of piggies living piggy lives/ You can see them out for dinner with their piggy wives/ Clutching forks and knives/ To eat their bacon." They urged all those working in health care to, "Remember their faces and let them wipe their arses themselves." They <a href="https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1984452289428685215" target="_blank">raved </a>about ghouls, botox, Pedo-Lago, an American Horror Story, Trump's costume "as a human being," Marie Antoinette: "Let them eat statuary marble." Of several sleek dancing women of color who tomorrow could be picked up by ICE, they railed, "What in the fucking exploitation bullshit is this."Scarily, gruesomely, it was the Hunger Games brought to ruthless life: "May the odds be ever in your favor." It was the Gilded Age, always a metaphor for a thin layer of gold cunningly laid over cheap metal, often lead, a facade of wealth hiding something harsh and toxic. And it was The Great Gatsby, the sorrowful real one Fitzgerald dreamed with its boredom, its lies, the sheen of glamor and languid excess "wherever people were rich together." "They were careless people, Tom and Daisy," Nick famously muses. "They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made." The final irony: The illiterate MAGA mob understood nothing, above all how both the hero and his era end - dead in the water. <blockquote cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@meidastouch/video/7567814311901433101" class="tiktok-embed" data-video-id="7567814311901433101">
<section>
<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@meidastouch" target="_blank" title="@meidastouch">@meidastouch</a>
11/1/25
</section>
</blockquote>
<script async="" src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script>]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 03 Nov 2025 08:00:32 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/further/let-them-eat-marble-and-big-beautiful-ballroom</guid><dc:creator>Abby Zimet</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/trump-and-maga-hangers-on-at-his-great-gatsby-party.jpg?id=62016750&width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Confidence Falls, Prices Rise as Millions Confront a Trump-Imposed Health and Hunger Crisis</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/confidence-falls-prices-rise-as-millions-confront-a-trump-imposed-health-and-hunger-crisis</link><description><![CDATA[
It may be Halloween, but families have been feeling relentless price frights since Inauguration Day. Inflation remains stubbornly high, and President Trump’s tariffs continue to drive up the prices of everyday essentials even further. Even the candy aisle isn’t safe, as stocking up for trick-or-treaters will run consumers <a href="https://us.cisionone.cision.com/c/eJwsjstu5CAQRb8GdhXxah4LFtn4N6IylNuoDe4Ak_T8_cit2VWde690clQ-GWE5RemsDEoLJ_keAwp0wSVMadW0Okk2eSsxWHRByZWXaIMwadtETmLVX1ImTcJr4zUzYpRMj_INFctBfYC9GeNXb2yC73Z_jY8r4Efc53wOpj-ZWphaZto-zn5naklnm9Tm-6qV2sT-9yr0kh4DZiecA7BlmNjLtg3Yz1-Y_U99QhlQ8VHaHXY8jvOXqEE9OwG9ntRG-SGmFl4pF4ROB-EgKDm-wdd_wPSndDcnJO8RW-6EzIjL5Hw_dVyafMxOVK_xJp1O-WZAy9WB8aggZGdg9RSk0DrJpPhPVP8CAAD__1KNdcQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">nearly 11%</a> more this spooky season.While the cobwebs and jack-o’-lanterns will come down tomorrow morning, families will still be haunted by high prices. Health insurance premiums are set to spike as much as 600% tomorrow as open enrollment begins for millions of Americans who rely on the Affordable Care Act, while premiums for employer-based plans will face the steepest increase in 15 years. As if that isn’t scary enough, millions of families face a food emergency starting this weekend as the Trump administration refuses to release emergency funding for food assistance (SNAP) benefits. All while the President gallivants across the world and Republicans in Congress <a href="https://us.cisionone.cision.com/c/eJxUjkuyqyAQhlcjs07xUnDAIJNsI4V0q1RQDJDk3t2fMnUmZ9hf_y900gbNB0ZOmEGMUnEj2OqE1f0kZ46o5iAntFwjcSHtoDwnM7LohpHrMM8cA5_UXYigiFulreo0rxHpEZ-w-ZioVBh6re1k9RDguS__6uV8sOTW1o7aqWsnb528LSW_dvzk8gg5JT_l4lt80yWXpZO3nT71j6hC_tBeofr_FRJ5PJvqml8JYY7L2qBlOEpuFBqs5FNbIfhCsOcGWOKb4HXAUWKgM5hthNFDoUS-EkR0X3D_BZ26CtMbLlhxfsdCvtM85G3L32Or50xWWyHaTvMsjArYa1BiMqCtlzCi0TBZGgVXKogg2dvJnwAAAP__z8V91w" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">refuse to lift a finger</a> to bring down health care prices for millions of Americans. It's no surprise that consumer confidence continues to sink. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index <a href="https://us.cisionone.cision.com/c/eJwsjUGu4yAQRE8DOyKgMeAFi2x8jQh3txM0wSTgmczxvxz9Zb16paJkIzrtJScTvJkt6GDkIxFFCzHgRj5vPOkZNc-eKcYpZrAkS_KzdrhtmlCvcDMGgXUEF0E4PQrxn_JWNZcn96H85Fxco_Oo3vv9_7ichXymx3G8hoCrsIuwy-fzuWDbN-68I6u15U6X1u_CLkd7FRzCLtj28bdyV6dY6BSFXWRlKll1fnIerAqlL7j9AgFXE6agjewp79Q5C6ex1dq-oY7zRY6jM9dzvJkASJNTYNagXMxWzRScWiPPRgOgQSv_JfsTAAD__7EZY7U" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">fell again</a> in October to 94.6, marking its third straight monthly drop. <a href="https://us.cisionone.cision.com/c/eJwszM2y6iAQBOCngR0WPyOQBQs3eQ1rMkyUaxIUotc6T39K6yz76-rOyUYC7SUnE7wZrNPByGvyMbrsInr0mGGAmWfvicI8ew0ZWJbkBw00zzqTntzZGHKso4PoBOheMt_KQ61YFm5d-SNAnCJ4Uo_t8u6HTyGXdN33exfuJOwo7Hhp9bnl_7XdqC4LTrXhXl58qO0i7Hjn1usm7IgLv9U_pMeTf4Qd5cq5oGq8MHZWJacvnP9AuJMJx6CNbAm33BgFaKrrWr9h7Z972ffGvH7GswmO8hGUM1NQENGqIQdQU-TBaOfIkJWvZH8DAAD__1i8Yrc" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alex Jacquez</a>, Chief of Policy and Advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative, shared his reaction: “While inflation eats through paychecks and House Republicans hide in plain sight, working families are slammed by soaring health care premiums, frozen food assistance and rising bills. From the grocery aisles to the doctor’s office, Trump’s economic circus keeps jacking up costs and squeezing household budgets.”]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 31 Oct 2025 15:46:46 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/confidence-falls-prices-rise-as-millions-confront-a-trump-imposed-health-and-hunger-crisis</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>Sierra Club Statement on Senate Vote to Overturn Arctic Protections</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/sierra-club-statement-on-senate-vote-to-overturn-arctic-protections</link><description><![CDATA[
Today, the U.S. Senate <a href="https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/eenews/2025/10/29/biden-era-limits-on-alaska-drilling-up-for-senate-debate-00626751" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">voted to overturn</a> environmental protections in the Western Arctic, clearing the way for oil and gas companies to greatly increase drilling activities in the area’s public lands.In a 52-45 vote, the Senate invoked the Congressional Review Act to reverse a 2022 decision that protected millions of acres in the Western Arctic from oil and gas development. The Senate resolution was introduced by Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK). Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK) has introduced a companion resolution in the House.The Act allows Congress to overturn administrative rules enacted by executive agencies. After years of little use, the Act has become a key part of Donald Trump’s agenda to revoke protections for public lands and waters and enable extractive industries to drill, mine, and log fragile landscapes and ecosystems.This is the second time Trump has reversed previously established environmental protections for the Western Arctic, the single-largest contiguous area of public lands in the United States. In his first term, Trump approved a plan that would have allowed drilling in more than 80% of the area Western Arctic, removing Obama-era protections for about half of the area. Expanded drilling on these landscapes would threaten critical habitat for birds and other wildlife, and food security for Alaska Native communities. In response, Athan Manuel, Director of Sierra Club’s Lands Protection Program, released the following statement:“Donald Trump’s government shutdown has dragged on for nearly five weeks, and what is the top priority for Congressional Republicans? Opening up the western Arctic to oil and gas drilling, not funding services or making sure our military is paid? Donald Trump and his allies in Congress have gotten us into a crisis, and now they’re exploiting it to hand over our public lands and wild places to corporate polluters – it’s shameful.”]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 30 Oct 2025 18:34:53 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/sierra-club-statement-on-senate-vote-to-overturn-arctic-protections</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>Trump’s Social Security Commissioner Should Resign Immediately</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/trumps-social-security-commissioner-should-resign-immediately</link><description><![CDATA[
The following is a statement from Nancy Altman, President of <a href="https://socialsecurityworks.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Social Security Works</a>: “This week, Fiserv’s stock price <a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/c-suite/fiserv-erases-30-billion-in-market-value-after-new-ceo-pulls-guidance-63c8ba9f?st=i4qpGo&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">plunged</a> by over 40 percent. The current CEO said that the decline happened because of exaggerated projections made by the previous CEO, Frank Bisignano.That’s the same Frank Bisignano that Donald Trump put in charge of both Social Security and the IRS. Bisignano is now facing a <a href="https://www.paymentsdive.com/news/investors-vie-to-lead-fiserv-stock-lawsuit-shareholders-clover/802227/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">lawsuit</a> from investors, including a police pension fund that lost $1.67 million. He is being sued for ‘artificially inflating [Fiserv’s] growth numbers.’When Bisignano joined the Trump administration, he <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-29/frank-bisignano-ducks-300-million-fiserv-fi-loss-with-move-to-trump-role?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc2MTgzNTg3MCwiZXhwIjoxNzYyNDQwNjcwLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUNFdKT1RHT1QwSkswMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiI1NDgxMUFBRTI1Q0U0MkU1QUUyMzJERkEwOEM2QjBBQSJ9.-QSpsp5c3ma9BBQzFDnxqf2-QAb0B6dZlvKxXdV_0u0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sold</a> all of his Fiserv stock, getting a big tax break in the process. That sale saved him $300 million (and counting) in stock value. Did Bisignano know that Fiserv’s stock was about to tank, and ask his friend Donald Trump for a life raft? Bisignano is in charge of the American people’s hard-earned Social Security benefits, as well as the collection of our taxes — despite his total lack of expertise, or even basic knowledge, of either. He infamously <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/new-head-social-security-hired-wall-street-tells/story?id=122075152" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">admitted</a> that he had to google ‘Social Security’ when Trump offered him the job. If he engaged in wrongdoing, the people need to know. How can we trust any claims Bisignano makes about Social Security, such as his insistence that phone service is improving even as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2025/social-security-wait-hold-callback/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">media reports</a> show otherwise? The Justice Department should launch an immediate investigation. So should Congress. Unfortunately, neither body has shown any willingness to hold Donald Trump or his nominees accountable. Bisignano should resign or be fired. Unfortunately, that won’t happen either. The only recourse is for Democrats to win control of Congress and make investigating Bisignano a top priority.”]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 30 Oct 2025 16:14:26 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/trumps-social-security-commissioner-should-resign-immediately</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>Dazed and Confused and Bigly Kingly For A Day</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/further/dazed-and-confused-and-bigly-kingly-for-a-day</link><description><![CDATA[
<img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/south-korea-s-prime-minister-buys-off-trump-with-a-crown.jpg?id=61978349&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=504%2C0%2C504%2C0"/> As our decrepit despot traipsed across Asia, he was fêted by leaders anxious to dodge his peevish trade wars by assiduously plying him, as one would for any dangerous, demented child, with adoration and treats: burgers, golf clubs, trinkets, ketchup and, in South Korea, even a crown for the wounded boy who would be king. Still, he couldn't keep up. In Japan, he wandered off mid-glitzy-ceremony like a nursing-home gramps looking for pudding, to be steered back in place. Nothing to see here. The decline, of course, is ongoing. Monday, Trump told reporters he'd gone to Walter Reed Medical Center and <a href="https://newrepublic.com/post/202276/donald-trump-reveals-tests-mri-dementia" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">gotten </a>an MRI as part of a "routine yearly checkup,” except he'd just had one six months ago and an MRI is decisively not part of a routine test, but not to worry: He said it was "perfect," except that doesn't exist. For those inexplicably wondering about his cognitive state, he said he also aced a "very hard" sort of "aptitude test," except it's a very basic <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-confess..." target="_blank">dementia </a>screening that requires the patient to solve elementary-school level problems like remembering five words, identifying a giraffe or lion, and drawing a clock; he added that the test "took a while" and "was difficult,” two key factors doctors consider when assessing cognitive skillsThen, days before the <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/4919eeee-2439-49d0-8f84-e3e199f9b4a5?j=eyJ1IjoibDhod24ifQ.5jEjeLiJZS5OfHG4v_xEBlfZCsRwcX2P4Vv9vuux9BQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">expiration </a>of federal food benefits that could leave tens of millions of Americans facing hunger along with soaring health insurance costs, and as the House GOP remains MIA during what could be the longest shutdown in history, he left for a six-day, gold-plated tour of Asia, because fuck you all. In Malaysia, he cringe "<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:nb6uhiglzowsdcbgwv2itwa7/post/3m43bkqpnl22a?ref_src=embed" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">danced" </a>with "zero class"; in Japan, he got a red carpet, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/28/trump-gifts-world-leaders-golf/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">golf clubs, </a>and lost. On Wednesday, heading to fraught trade talks with both South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and then Chinese President Xi Jinping, he landed in South Korea to a hero's welcome: a brass band<a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQZPKO8juqW/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> playing YMCA </a>- gay hookups! - a red carpet adorned with multi-hued flags - "That was a very good red carpet" - and President Lee in a custom-made gold tie.Leaning into the theme of peace to honor Trump's famed, fictional role as a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/26/trump-malaysia-cambodia-thailand-deal/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">"global peacemaker</a>" - and clearly eager to get Trump's vengeful, randomly spiked 25% tariffs back down to a manageable 15% - Lee was just getting started on his campaign for Sycophant of the Week Award. An official lunch, bedecked with peace lilies, featured “mini beef patties with ketchup” and Thousand Island Dressing in a nod to Trump’s “success story in his hometown of New York." The menu also included a "Korean Platter of Sincerity" - U.S. beef and local rice - grilled fish with a glaze of ketchup and gochujang chili paste, and a "Peacemaker’s Dessert” of a brownie adorned with gold. After the ketchup and gold brownie came the shiny, kingly baubles Days after almost eight million furious Americans protested Trump's abuses under the mantra No Kings, in a lavish ceremony at Gyeongju National Museum, Lee <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/29..." target="_blank">presented </a>Trump with...a crown. Specifically, a replica of one of several 1,000-year-old crowns excavated from the ancient, golden Silla Kingdom that ruled much of the Korean Peninsula until the 10th century, and <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/e64aa3ef-4c8d-4162-8697-5a20a6d0965b?j=eyJ1IjoibDhod24ifQ.5jEjeLiJZS5OfHG4v_xEBlfZCsRwcX2P4Vv9vuux9BQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">fell </a> due to corruption and oppression. Hmm. The crown represents a time of peace and unity, an official said, as the first dynasty to unify the Peninsula's three kingdoms; it "symbolizes the divine connection between the authority of the heavens and the sovereignty on Earth," as well as the authority of a strong leader. Trump, wooed and dazzled, stared raptly, a kid at a humongous candy store.Lee also awarded him the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, their highest civil honor, a medal hung from a golden collar. Trump happily burbled over his swag; then they talked trade. Ultimately, they "pretty much <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/china/trump-heads-south-korea-face-trade-talks-north-korean-missiles-2025-10-28/" target="_blank">finalized</a>" a <a href="https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10603650" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">deal </a>for South Korea to pump $350 billion into the U.S.economy in exchange for returning tariffs to 15%, including on cars; Trump also said they'd cooperate on shipbuilding, with the Koreans allegedly <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/27/make-american-shipbuilding-great-again-korea-leans-into-shipbuilding-as-it-woos-trump-00623908" target="_blank">building </a>a nuclear sub at a former Philly shipyard experts say will be equipped to do it, like, never. But he got a crown! Other details on the deal's "structure" are unresolved - like the Gaza "truce?" - nor are tensions on security costs. Polls <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/06/11/confidence-in-trump/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">show </a>most South Koreans don't trust Trump, but feel they need the U.S. economically to <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/06/11/confidence-in-trump/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">fend </a>off China, a bigger threat, so good luck on that.Like everywhere else, the talks were met by <a href="https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/foreignaffairs/20251029/trump-out-anti-us-protesters-rally-in-gyeongju-as-trump-arrives-for-apec" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">protests </a>that echoed ours; signs read, “No Kings," "Trump Not Welcome," "This Is Robbery Not Negotiation." Said one protester, “It seems the U.S. (is) treating South Korea as its cash cow." Before leaving, Trump also <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/live-blog/live-updates-trump-xi-talks-south-korea-asia-tour-trade-third-term-rcna240430" target="_blank">met with </a>China's Xi Jinping in Busan. Trump later <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/oct/30/donald-trump-xi-jinping-meeting-live-updates" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">called </a>the meeting "amazing" and "12 out of 10," with agreements on "many important points," including soybeans, rare earths and much lower tariffs than the 100% Trump at some point wildly threatened in one of his hissy fits. He also said, “Ukraine came up very strongly," because he never learned to speak English. There have been no statements about the meeting from the Chinese, so God knows what actually, really happened there.As a befuddled, newly crowned king returns to his fractured country, he may be mulling where to put his new bling in a space <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/10/16/trophy-life-world-leaders-know-to-make-trump-feel-like-a-winner-00612499" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">packed </a>with Tim Apple's plaque, his Olympic medals, the World Cup he stole and other ill-begotten gains. Others are wondering what happened to the Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause that <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/08/09/trump-accepts-plaque-24k-gold-base-amid-surge-lavish-gifts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">bars</a> officeholders from accepting personal gifts "from any king, prince or foreign state" worth more than about <a href="https://www.gsa.gov/policy-regulations/policy/personal-property-policy-overview/special-programs/foreign-gifts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">$480</a>. Asked about the issue, a White House spokesperson asserted that Trump is "working night and day on behalf of the American people." He could be. Or maybe, amidst the fog and lies and phantasms he inhabits, he's trying to remember what just happened during his recent "Weekend at Donnie's territory."Whatever he may have accomplished by way of reversing the catastrophic effects of his own economic idiocy, for many the enduring image of his trip will be viewed through the twisted prism of his Tuesday misadventures in Japan, when, Monty Python-style, he <a href="https://newrepublic.com/post/202339/trump-79-wande..." target="_blank">lost the thread</a> during a welcoming ceremony in Tokyo. Now-viral videos show Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gently guiding Trump as they somberly walk through a palatial room filled with dignitaries; a stunned Trump abruptly <a href="https://x.com/acyn/status/1982972384597701048" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">halts,</a> stares at an Honor Guard, shuffles past US/Japanese flags where he should stop, aimlessly <a href="https://x.com/essenviews/status/1983124228447911994" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">lumbers </a>on, randomly salutes, lurches ahead and gapes at the band as, behind him, an aghast Takaichi bows as expected before rushing to drag him back to earth.The spectacle of a U.S.president with mush for brains stumbling around a palace like a toddler lost at the mall before marching up to shake hands with his own entourage was <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/CringeTikToks/comments/1o..." target="_blank">too much </a>for many. "Bro has no idea what is going on," said one. Also, "Is this real life? This guy has control of our nukes." It was noted, if it's any consolation, he probably has no idea how to launch them; it was also noted Stephen Miller would happily do it for him. It was suggested "this is that 'high energy' we always hear about," that "his handlers should put a shock-collar on him (so) when he wanders off they can just zap him back to coherence," that "it's great, totally cool knowing this guy gets to do whatever he wants these days." One thing to look forward to: "Can't wait for this guy to ask what happened to the East Wing." What a time to be alive, for now.<blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1982982181275480168">
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</blockquote><script async="" defer="" src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script>]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 30 Oct 2025 07:36:36 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/further/dazed-and-confused-and-bigly-kingly-for-a-day</guid><dc:creator>Abby Zimet</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/south-korea-s-prime-minister-buys-off-trump-with-a-crown.jpg?id=61978349&width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Report: AI Data Center Boom Threatens U.S. Climate Goals</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/report-ai-data-center-boom-threatens-u-s-climate-goals</link><description><![CDATA[
A fossil-fueled surge in U.S. data center growth to serve the artificial intelligence boom threatens to sabotage the country’s already faltering climate goals, according to <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/programs/climate_law_institute/pdfs/DataCrunch_report.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Data Crunch</a>, a report released today by the <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Center for Biological Diversity</a>.A massive expansion of data centers, set to be powered primarily by fracked gas, could account for 10% of the economy-wide emissions and 44% of the power sector emissions allowable to meet the U.S. 2035 climate target, known as the nationally determined contribution, or NDC. Data centers are projected to account for more than 12% of U.S. electricity consumption by 2030.To meet the NDC — set by President Biden and still in effect under Paris Agreement’s terms — all other electricity-consuming sectors would need to increase their carbon-emissions cuts by 60% to account for data centers’ massive fossil-fueled pollution.The report comes ahead of next month’s COP30 climate talks in Brazil as countries’ <a href="https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/cma2025_08.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">plans</a> to address climate change are falling far short of what’s needed. The Trump administration is <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/trump-moves-to-revoke-epa-endangerment-finding-threatening-core-basis-for-federal-climate-action-2025-03-12/?_gl=1*1cdetfj*_gcl_au*NDUxMzM5NDk1LjE3NTc3OTgzNjM." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">attacking</a> climate progress and pushing for a <a href="https://www.energy.gov/articles/secretary-wright-acts-unleash-american-industry-and-innovation-newly-proposed-rules" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">fast-tracked</a> AI data center <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Americas-AI-Action-Plan.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">boom</a> fed by <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/07/accelerating-federal-permitting-of-data-center-infrastructure/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">gas</a> and <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/04/reinvigorating-americas-beautiful-clean-coal-industry-and-amending-executive-order-14241/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">coal</a>.“Trump is determined to feed the voracious AI vortex with more dirty fossil fuels that harm the whole world,” said Jean Su, energy justice director at the Center and co-author of the report. “This report shows how the U.S. is about to set off an explosion of dirty data center emissions, entrenching more fossil fuels when we need their rapid phaseout. We need meaningful guardrails at every level to ward off this huge threat to our air, water and climate — and guard against energy price spikes for consumers.”The report spotlights the U.S. role as the biggest AI climate polluter, with the planet’s highest concentration of data centers.If the projected AI surge was instead powered fully by renewables, it would account for only 4% of the power sector emissions and a negligible amount of the economy-wide emissions allowable to meet the United States’ 2035 climate target.Powering data center development with gas and coal risks entrenching dirty energy and its attendant harms, from air pollution to heatwaves and superstorms. It retreats from the 2023 Dubai climate summit <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/first-ever-fossil-fuel-decision-at-cop28-climate-summit-falters-on-phaseout-2023-12-13/?_gl=1*1p3riwq*_gcl_au*NDUxMzM5NDk1LjE3NTc3OTgzNjM." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">agreement</a> to transition away from fossil fuels and is completely incompatible with the 2035 U.S. climate goal.“Feeding data centers with fossil fuels is taking the climate crisis we have now and blowing it up like the Incredible Hulk,” said John Fleming, Ph.D., a scientist at the Center’s Climate Law Institute and co-author of the report. “A gas-fed AI boom is going to hurdle us past any chance of keeping to our climate goal or maintaining a safe and healthy future for our planet. To the extent that data center buildout is needed at all, it should be powered only by clean, renewable energy.”The report finds that guardrails are needed at global and national levels to curb data centers’ immense climate emissions, including adoption of a public-interest framework on permitting decisions and requiring on-site and distributed renewable energy and storage for power generation on a U.S. domestic level.The United Nations recently launched <a href="https://www.weforum.org/stories/2025/10/un-new-ai-governance-bodies/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">two bodies</a> addressing AI’s global governance, but neither explicitly deal with the industry’s potential climate and environmental harms. The report urges the UNFCCC to incorporate AI’s climate emissions into NDC reporting and consider other mechanisms for zeroing out its climate impacts.]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 29 Oct 2025 17:21:00 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/report-ai-data-center-boom-threatens-u-s-climate-goals</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>New Data Shows Just Four Global North Countries Responsible for Derailing Oil and Gas Phase-out Progress since Paris Agreement</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/new-data-shows-just-four-global-north-countries-responsible-for-derailing-oil-and-gas-phase-out-progress-since-paris-agreement</link><description><![CDATA[
Just four Global North countries, the United States, Canada, Australia, and Norway, are overwhelmingly responsible for blocking global progress on phasing out oil and gas production, according to <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.xjiDCeCjueMNEchA45phXOPF6G7BG6SJDF8KAgac29sT-2BGfn545rKXhhzYTm2QUEa5b-2FpF43gQgb55eM4IFqiHrEkc1Y9mWQq5XxvhI8SLM-3DE65U_ciJuXYfraQrmEXzxHGEcWNeiZKy7tdzQawxB4GG8-2FLPZ7CvygO9jxiRAMn5pClU-2BuPjZ25JeAWi0m7ZkrlwVq418N66nzYdy1jeJPqgMDYHQSNMrvdDdNkaua-2FqDdSnuIzFYY5zu3j-2BSgFZgYTWzhraDwBG68PAawxXfaj9XEJtGQ5c0M499rDz3Alqu4A-2FLImtn8xGLikouOt8iAavitTbZ0g1TCj0WNkss5VNeOJFxzcV5NTmgABED-2BAQV7mPzam622VHU1-2Ba2mDJDkNK4uVBYe1jePX-2BCv-2FdFsOdsymcQXOefp2QZuCCDVXhdTOcryjj3Ccj5sagzr7z9ChjT2Pel-2B3zPKicF9nVIENmhczNN6IFkPrSuMEEkuAN8lkh4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">new analysis</a> from Oil Change International titled <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.xjiDCeCjueMNEchA45phXOPF6G7BG6SJDF8KAgac29sT-2BGfn545rKXhhzYTm2QUEa5b-2FpF43gQgb55eM4IFqiHrEkc1Y9mWQq5XxvhI8SLM-3Dzeyc_ciJuXYfraQrmEXzxHGEcWNeiZKy7tdzQawxB4GG8-2FLPZ7CvygO9jxiRAMn5pClU-2BuPjZ25JeAWi0m7ZkrlwVq418N66nzYdy1jeJPqgMDYHQSNMrvdDdNkaua-2FqDdSnuIzFYY5zu3j-2BSgFZgYTWzhraDwBG68PAawxXfaj9XEJtGQ5c0M499rDz3Alqu4A-2FLImtn8xGLikouOt8iAavitY2jTXE7uoVOM2Sug-2Bcvde-2B00bCfzPznkutqK49PUHLQrRkXTXYn4hViQK4Ve-2BCEkIFlsVpazs-2FouqTPIQpKzgoae5MrVJ7jXrH0w8Klk0T-2FWT6E7t8oowctOErAkn0Yfy23W-2BDGhLYSsVo-2F0ctdCtEKtkVSyASTjtzgUkfHCcJZ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Planet Wreckers: Global North Countries Fueling the Fire Since the Paris Agreement</a>. While the rest of the world reduced oil and gas production between 2015 and 2024, massive expansion in these “<a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.ibreQe1iIimkwHUK9y-2BRCPq-2BuKI5QEpPEr-2BV8d42Yx9MfkIDEm9U1A8qw6vUs3SuOO382Ijj3vXJXpiydDIjrnge2bhmfF2Tf1r7A82N3EVKkl6GoIeOh-2Byr9n7CyAhGP8Yqm6QLByP9Xk4VnKZUxQWgmxlF-2FLQsrHrGeBKg7M0Pdy677Vb43FPYHcCLCnC3-2Ffg8h82BK1LP0fbcjS3S0g-3D-3Dl_wO_ciJuXYfraQrmEXzxHGEcWNeiZKy7tdzQawxB4GG8-2FLPZ7CvygO9jxiRAMn5pClU-2BuPjZ25JeAWi0m7ZkrlwVq418N66nzYdy1jeJPqgMDYHQSNMrvdDdNkaua-2FqDdSnuIzFYY5zu3j-2BSgFZgYTWzhraDwBG68PAawxXfaj9XEJtGQ5c0M499rDz3Alqu4A-2FLImtn8xGLikouOt8iAavitRTfT71m9Iut1-2FxZVZOxqPFeuQRwtQp-2BmFPEykHAqWmRio6Fl71r7Zsv4oHm0IsArh7mZgyPeIvMv-2BLkW6pbM9U5NPYobkB4IFoYjvgiMS7itX1VYsKtl8DtxXKEFiJVG1d1k3Ka5eIFC6p9K82CKfZhyfZ7GHEnpRP33Ggu-2Bz1g" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Planet Wrecker</a>” countries caused total global output to rise since the Paris Agreement. On top of this, all Global North countries as a whole have failed to pay the climate finance they owe, slowing climate action in the rest of the world while protecting the profits of key drivers of the climate crisis: polluters and the super-rich.Between 2015 and 2024, the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Norway, collectively increased their oil and gas production by nearly 40 percent, adding over 14 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d). In the same period, extraction in the rest of the world fell by 2 percent, cumulatively.This contrast is striking and critically important as nations prepare to converge at COP30 to negotiate the next phase of the global climate agenda.The U.S. alone accounts for over 90 percent of the net global increase in extraction through 2024, driving up its production by nearly 11 million boe/d - more than five times as much as any other country. Time is running out. If fossil fuel-driven carbon pollution continues at today’s pace, the world will burn through its remaining carbon budget in just three years. The science is clear: keeping the 1.5°C limit in reach requires <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.ibreQe1iIimkwHUK9y-2BRCCwtjR6JlhD2r1IRgshs9EkVAmM2sOUXZX83mkL-2FQDlDtxEjageX-2FT5hlqLTbGaIJzVcMMe1kFUCnWNydEZnHFeh9Z4wT9noggmwdUGECs84vtfuE4ZlGGOqw3F4gzsgLQfOV-2FwrWPv8LWM2KDgV3M3QItHBuRTbw3cH7MgpMdkbvS7o_ciJuXYfraQrmEXzxHGEcWNeiZKy7tdzQawxB4GG8-2FLPZ7CvygO9jxiRAMn5pClU-2BuPjZ25JeAWi0m7ZkrlwVq418N66nzYdy1jeJPqgMDYHQSNMrvdDdNkaua-2FqDdSnuIzFYY5zu3j-2BSgFZgYTWzhraDwBG68PAawxXfaj9XEJtGQ5c0M499rDz3Alqu4A-2FLImtn8xGLikouOt8iAavitZzRwGILl82qN-2B79BrggKlOojwno8I1d8YUJk741TfxzyoOfrrCpW-2BVFELd575JZ2VKDrreZWo4XqmnjvtXYLNSvbjLsMQB-2FOCSxkMqipysmSgzy-2BF-2BurF5gHE3OUnynee64JgR7H-2BcEX-2FoTdFidzB8tXOvA7-2BL7qCXbQbsTxw6t" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ending fossil fuel expansion</a> and rapidly <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.ibreQe1iIimkwHUK9y-2BRCGFZXUUUBQ8NhOWuIV56ocSWAwHuuaFErQEZjzA2Jxpqyvez_ciJuXYfraQrmEXzxHGEcWNeiZKy7tdzQawxB4GG8-2FLPZ7CvygO9jxiRAMn5pClU-2BuPjZ25JeAWi0m7ZkrlwVq418N66nzYdy1jeJPqgMDYHQSNMrvdDdNkaua-2FqDdSnuIzFYY5zu3j-2BSgFZgYTWzhraDwBG68PAawxXfaj9XEJtGQ5c0M499rDz3Alqu4A-2FLImtn8xGLikouOt8iAavitV3UpZYKtqhCl5HajZ72RCWgVkui5jzzoPk5tN4zgHDv-2Byo4q3aD7xLaLzWLz8WWvEU4CDkusIf8mLb1zAQlLqZbjvlJdX4udoNOV8ygy0N7r6RkwmFM2Ed9eUguE0bYHQagSoYRUpuAw2x2f5W5gnfjRJI1QnTBuJQCb3JpVYk5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">phasing out</a> oil, gas, and coal production and use. The legal case for this has also been recently <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.ibreQe1iIimkwHUK9y-2BRCHyR8kyI8vHbXkmuo1Nllz-2BnueETZsrcVBxfPkbM-2FJ8dZso5Inr8Bsj0-2BeWGuKvSfvXgiFnKp-2BTO4V7vCewy65oq4V0UjTm3whOHUhushq25XG8i2YkWdsle3-2BrI1PLBvQ-3D-3DVr8t_ciJuXYfraQrmEXzxHGEcWNeiZKy7tdzQawxB4GG8-2FLPZ7CvygO9jxiRAMn5pClU-2BuPjZ25JeAWi0m7ZkrlwVq418N66nzYdy1jeJPqgMDYHQSNMrvdDdNkaua-2FqDdSnuIzFYY5zu3j-2BSgFZgYTWzhraDwBG68PAawxXfaj9XEJtGQ5c0M499rDz3Alqu4A-2FLImtn8xGLikouOt8iAavitQ-2BaV-2F5TC8MJT-2BIRzX0oC1HAoHkW4SxHux4RF0bO0XE8S0DV6cUbZctCAzFhEF4JRJSp2PKPLh8N4GaGI5PBKb-2FMdYZXdyjpsoEVVXLWkioqfMk89PCutp5Lw-2FC545dPKiIGCpaAyOCtl7ykXQsidssaFjMzn7no3j8kSyDRgYLN" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">bolstered</a> by international courts, including the International Court of Justice.Unsurprisingly, the four countries with an outsized responsibility for driving up oil and gas since the Paris Agreement are also collectively planning to expand the most over the next decade. Previous Oil Change International analysis also warns that these four Global North producers are the same <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.ibreQe1iIimkwHUK9y-2BRCPq-2BuKI5QEpPEr-2BV8d42Yx9MfkIDEm9U1A8qw6vUs3SuOO382Ijj3vXJXpiydDIjrnge2bhmfF2Tf1r7A82N3EVKkl6GoIeOh-2Byr9n7CyAhGP8Yqm6QLByP9Xk4VnKZUxQWgmxlF-2FLQsrHrGeBKg7M0Pdy677Vb43FPYHcCLCnC3-2Ffg8h82BK1LP0fbcjS3S0g-3D-3DthJl_ciJuXYfraQrmEXzxHGEcWNeiZKy7tdzQawxB4GG8-2FLPZ7CvygO9jxiRAMn5pClU-2BuPjZ25JeAWi0m7ZkrlwVq418N66nzYdy1jeJPqgMDYHQSNMrvdDdNkaua-2FqDdSnuIzFYY5zu3j-2BSgFZgYTWzhraDwBG68PAawxXfaj9XEJtGQ5c0M499rDz3Alqu4A-2FLImtn8xGLikouOt8iAavitRf7MsKHgNNOKpWr1FS3Esj29BaM2iReMoS3Y1efDzshiIWKuSCeeSRCIWoyDKq-2Btg8GigY9shshYGtXDNGoqPr6iHX8hyQV5fp-2BOXMocekQFsWp1v0Z9dtO8oDH94kF7Zf1pvbbboqU988hQ5wfewMs9JPoXFdO83wl2sfxW7Ym" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">“Planet Wrecker”</a> countries driving the majority of the world’s planned oil and gas expansion through to 2035, in terms of production dependent on new fields and fracking wells. Just as predictably, all Global North governments as a whole have shirked paying the finance they owe to enable climate action in the Global South, instead pursuing policy agendas that further entrench the power and profits of fossil fuel companies and the super-rich. Since the Paris Agreement, Global North governments have provided just $280 billion in climate finance on grant-equivalent terms, a fraction of the <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.ibreQe1iIimkwHUK9y-2BRCCwtjR6JlhD2r1IRgshs9EkjOGtF07jWNv8OXXWrUkPEjQ04iaxmaMUTv-2FZWvvfOmoGQcwjbjkDKeEyQQF9BRyE-3DY52f_ciJuXYfraQrmEXzxHGEcWNeiZKy7tdzQawxB4GG8-2FLPZ7CvygO9jxiRAMn5pClU-2BuPjZ25JeAWi0m7ZkrlwVq418N66nzYdy1jeJPqgMDYHQSNMrvdDdNkaua-2FqDdSnuIzFYY5zu3j-2BSgFZgYTWzhraDwBG68PAawxXfaj9XEJtGQ5c0M499rDz3Alqu4A-2FLImtn8xGLikouOt8iAavitatbNoE4o-2FR0TaNAhzpbnB47ISQp177RIH391fXj7j-2F6VaMcjGa0eqdtooELg4v6tp3LWRao02rFw5IrQqTy2u91CnbrvBJqaYje5NWQOTx1ozo4E4IXihC-2Fp5-2Fo6sJeZCF2mYd4VZh5r2rWentq2maADagNobLTci2q1-2FIkNW4i" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">$1 to $5 trillion annual need</a>. Meanwhile, they have enabled the oil and gas companies headquartered in their countries to make at least $1.3 trillion in profits – around 5 times as much as Global North countries paid in climate finance.Romain Ioualalen, Global Policy lead at Oil Change International, said: “Ten years ago in Paris, countries promised to limit warming to 1.5°C, which is impossible without putting an end to fossil fuel expansion and production. The rich countries most responsible for the climate crisis have not kept that promise. Instead, they’ve poured more fuel on the fire and withheld the funds needed to put it out. “The fact that a handful of rich Global North countries, led by the United States, have massively driven up their oil and gas production while people around the world suffer the consequences is a blatant mockery of justice and equity. These countries have a moral and legal obligation to move first to phase out fossil fuels, and deliver the trillions needed in climate finance on fair terms to the Global South. Anything less is a betrayal of science and abdication of responsibility.“But all is not lost. More and more countries are pushing to end the era of fossil fuels, as demonstrated by the first global conference on fossil fuel phase-out that the government of Colombia will convene in 2026. The first step will be for governments meeting at COP30 in Belém to deliver a collective roadmap for equitable, differentiated fossil fuel phase-out dates, and address the systemic barriers preventing Global South countries from transitioning to renewable energy, including finance.”]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 29 Oct 2025 13:36:46 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/new-data-shows-just-four-global-north-countries-responsible-for-derailing-oil-and-gas-phase-out-progress-since-paris-agreement</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>A person from the richest 0.1% produces more carbon pollution in a day than someone in the bottom 50% produces all year</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/a-person-from-the-richest-0-1-produces-more-carbon-pollution-in-a-day-than-someone-in-the-bottom-50-produces-all-year</link><description><![CDATA[
Ahead of the major international climate conference COP30 in Belem, Brazil, new Oxfam research finds that the high-carbon lifestyles of the super-rich are blowing through the world’s remaining carbon budget - the amount of CO2 that can be emitted while avoiding climate disaster. The research also details how billionaires are using their political and economic influence to keep humanity hooked on fossil fuels to maximize their private profit. The report, "<a href="https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/climate-plunder-how-a-powerful-few-are-locking-the-world-into-disaster-621741/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Climate Plunder: How a powerful few are locking the world into disaster"</a>, presents extensive new updated data and analysis which finds that a person from the richest 0.1% produces more carbon pollution in a day than the poorest 50% emit all year. If everyone emitted like the richest 0.1%, the carbon budget would be used up in less than 3 weeks. The super-rich are not just overconsuming carbon, but also actively investing in and profiting from the most polluting corporations. Oxfam’s research finds that the average billionaire produces 1.9 million tonnes of CO2e a year through their investments. These billionaires would have to circumnavigate the world almost 10,000 times in their private jets to emit this much. Almost 60% of billionaire investments are classified as being in high climate impact sectors such as oil or mining, meaning their investments emit two and a half times more than an average investment in the S&P Global 1,200. The emissions of the investment portfolios of just 308 billionaires total more than the combined emissions of 118 countries. “The climate crisis is an inequality crisis. The very richest individuals in the world are funding and profiting from climate destruction, leaving the global majority to bear the fatal consequences of their unchecked power,” said Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International. The power and wealth of super-rich individuals and corporations have also allowed them to wield unjust influence over policymaking and water down climate negotiations. At COP29, 1,773 coal, oil, and gas lobbyists were granted badges, more than the 10 most climate-vulnerable nations combined. Multiple rich and high-emitting countries including the US, UK, France and Germany have watered down climate laws after large donations from anti-climate lobbyists. “It is a travesty that power and wealth have been allowed to accumulate in the hands of a few, who are only using it to further entrench their influence and lock us all into a path to planetary destruction. The super-rich and the corporations they run have a deadly track record of bankrolling lobbyists, spreading climate disinformation, and suing NGOs and governments that try to stand in their way. We must break the chokehold of the super-rich over climate policy by taxing their extreme wealth, banning their lobbying and instead put those most affected by the climate crisis in the front seat of climate decision-making,” said Behar. The emissions of the richest 1% are enough to cause an estimated 1.3 million heat-related deaths by the end of the century, as well as $44 trillion of economic damage to low- and lower-middle-income countries by 2050. The impacts of these climate damages will disproportionately impact those who have done the least to cause the climate crisis, particularly people living in the Global South, women, girls and Indigenous groups. COP30 marks ten years since the Paris Agreement in 2015. During this period, the world’s richest 1% have burnt through more than twice as much of the carbon budget than the poorest half of humanity combined Ahead of COP30, Oxfam calls on governments to cut the emissions and dismantle the political and economic power of the super-rich through: <ul><li>Slashing the emissions of the super-rich and make the richest polluters pay, through taxation on extreme wealth, excess profits taxes on fossil fuel corporations, and supporting the UN Convention on International Tax Cooperation. A 60% tax on the total incomes of the richest 1% globally could cut carbon emissions equivalent to the total emissions of the UK and generate in the region of $6.4 trillion.</li><li>Curbing the economic and political influence of the richest by banning fossil fuel corporations from climate negotiations such as COP, implementing sustainability regulations for corporations and financial institutions, and rejecting trade and investment agreements like investor-state dispute settlements (ISDS) that put the interests of the super-wealthy above public good.</li><li>Strengthening the participation of civil society and Indigenous groups in climate negotiations and address the unequal impacts of climate change.</li><li>Adopting a fair-share approach to the remaining climate budget by committing to nationally determined contributions (NDCs) that reflect historical responsibility and capacity to act, and ensuring rich countries deliver ambitious climate finance.</li><li>Building an equal economic system that puts people and planet first by rejecting dominant neoliberal economics and moving towards an economy based on sustainability and equality. </li></ul> ]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 29 Oct 2025 13:31:36 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/a-person-from-the-richest-0-1-produces-more-carbon-pollution-in-a-day-than-someone-in-the-bottom-50-produces-all-year</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>Hurricane Melissa Is a Reminder That the Trump Administration Is Putting U.S. Residents at Risk of Catastrophic Harm</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/hurricane-melissa-is-a-reminder-that-the-trump-administration-is-putting-u-s-residents-at-risk-of-catastrophic-harm</link><description><![CDATA[
As Jamaicans endure Hurricane Melissa, Revolving Door Project Executive Director Jeff Hauser released the following statement:<blockquote>“Hurricane Melissa is poised to unleash unspeakable harm on Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean, a tragedy which will be deepened by Donald Trump and Russell Vought’s lawlessly unilateral <a href="https://us.cisionone.cision.com/c/eJwsyz2u3CAUxfHVQMeIb-yC4jXextMFLjNMDDjApMjqI0ev--t3dJKXW9TcUvTCWWGdNUbRl5cgo1MhB7OhVVbsOxgFgieXrQygaPF254LHDBEdT99CRBU3oay1O9F8loS_ym9WoZw4Jtt0iHt22WiW1zXr4x7o6V9rXZOoLyIPIo-51qtXmLN_RsRH7JXII_a2sC0iD8mlIfLg8u67MiYccLL8aam0J8sD8S-yz4UtTRZhlBAQGrtGf2Nck8iDVkwF2MATYSIryf-H7x8g6ks4pTdNh3_3RjSPvdbe0kCo89HHk841EOv9NMYkB9YxkXhiWjrDtsgNC7DpnLjmIQP94-W_AAAA__8Xx3AM" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">cessation</a> of USAID funding. Flooding risks are <a href="https://us.cisionone.cision.com/c/eJwsy82u2yAQxfGngd1EfOMsWNyNX-NqPIxrco1JgaSvX6Xq7uj_08nJLORUkJx0DDrE4L2VR4oua8cukrF-M5Y2iwHv6FDttFlNsqRwV1rRjsRR5W-tydKibQjhLpwaJfNP-Q0Vy8l9wOI2uu9x9w72-Rz19gF5pmPO5xD2S5hVmHXMebSKY7RXJ75Rq8Ks1K7J1xRmNcp4YVatPjsKs1Z8tA7Hq_dCeDFUPssYCLPBmL38MDywYiGE13gXePaPdCYub4bXNXjOkzP8YZwHd2FWWTkXhM4n42AoOf0L3_-DsF86Wrc42dOjXcIparW2K3fGOm6t_5Jjdub6eXrvc8QQQWeVwZnoYSHlYcPF7Vk5te0o38n8DQAA__85qXvV" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">projected</a> to be elevated in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, both U.S. territories. By further expanding planet-heating fossil fuel pollution, the Trump administration and its Republican allies in Congress are condemning people around the world to more frequent and severe extreme weather, including rapidly intensifying monster hurricanes. People in the continental United States are not immune from such lethal devastation. The U.S. mainland has so far lucked out this hurricane season, as storm after storm has turned away before making landfall. However, Melissa serves as a reminder that Americans will face huge—and largely avoidable—risks if and when the game of dice comes up against us. The Trump administration has spent the past nine months suppressing climate science, attacking NOAA’s world-class weather forecasting infrastructure, and undermining the capacity of FEMA and state emergency managers. This ongoing assault means that ensuing climate disasters hitting the United States will have the Trump administration’s bloody fingerprints on them.” </blockquote>For more, see our report, <a href="https://us.cisionone.cision.com/c/eJwszUtuwyAUheHVwIyIN3jAIJNsI8KXS0xqjAuOpe6-ctXp_-nopCA9aG4pBuGssM4ao-gSpPHaxWxxit5MPHIrMgivDHrwGmZagp244JAjoOPpKQQo8EJZayei-SgJv8o3q7Gs2AfzeoYpu2w0y8c-6u0CuoblOPZB1J3IB5GPY8GOZ1vPsr1Sa33v7Y1w3Fp_Xdo_dWdLqwVKiitbPr0XiBuyva0Ffoh80IqpRNZxxTiQlRT-wvM_EHUXTmmvaQ_vthHNodXattQx1nHd0HF0xHotjTHJReuYSDwxLZ1hHrhhc_Q6J675nCM9g_wNAAD__xeJZsc" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Trump’s Homicidal Hurricane Policy</a>, and our tracker on <a href="https://us.cisionone.cision.com/c/eJwszc1uAiEUxfGnGXYYvsEFCze-hmG4F0UHmV6oSd--mabb_y8nB6IK2QjHMErvpPPOWs0e0Rgj0WtwoIvw6HCVYg0ZgoJSrE6sRncWUuSSMnoBNymzzkFq59x5MWJUwFf94i3VDWnwYNZ8Lr5Yw8vcRzsdwLb4mHMfi74s6rqo63wg4advn_q-Q--0U39inqdO90Ppu-0c6khjIvG9bzX_8Ekpv5AWdWUNoSZOuGEayCvEv3D7D4u-SK9NMIzis78XI3Jvrb-BMLVxfLAxCbEdS2st-OQ8lyCAG-UtD1lYvqZgCggj1pLYJ6rfAAAA__9cf2Yp" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Trump’s Disastrous Disaster Policy</a>. The latter includes an <a href="https://us.cisionone.cision.com/c/eJwszUtuwyAUheHVmBkRb_CAQSbZRgSXS0JijAs0Undfuer0_3R0khcOFDMEPbeGG2u0luTpk4gZM1cMwXIF6BzkGCPjkqN1YiXFm5VxBjkAWpbunIMEx6UxZl0UGyXhu3zRGsqGfVCnIqzZZq1onseolxPI5p9zHmOR10XcFnGbT-z4adun7I_UWj96eyHMS-uPU_t3PWgqI4yJnR5tK_BDZw_wxk5nqbiVHRdxIxVTCbTjhmEgLcn_hft_WOSVW6mcIt2_2r4oBq3WtqeOoY7zjIzZEeu51FonG4ylPLFElbCaOmCaxuBUTkyxmAP5ePEbAAD__5VLadk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">interactive timeline on Trump’s attacks on disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery</a> as well as an <a href="https://us.cisionone.cision.com/c/eJwszc1uAiEUxfGnGXaYyzezYOHG1zAIF0UHmV6oSd--mabb_y8nJwfpkwbLMAhnhXXWGMUeYTWA6EAptM4VUCjWBFiE8EJIrQurwa4gIJWY0EG-CpFU8kJZa9dFw6gZX_WLt1g3pMG9vqW1uGI0L3Mf7XQA28Jjzn0s6rzIyyIv84GEn7596vuee6ed-hPTPHW6H0rfbee5jjgmEt_7VtMPnxTTC4m3uC_ywhrmGjnhhnEgrzn8het_WNRZOKW9ZhSe_b1oSL21_s6EsY3jh41JiO1YGmOyi9ZxkSFzLZ3hPoHht-h1yaDhViL7BPkbAAD__wavZqM" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">interactive map on Trump’s disaster aid delays and denials</a>.]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 28 Oct 2025 20:12:17 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/hurricane-melissa-is-a-reminder-that-the-trump-administration-is-putting-u-s-residents-at-risk-of-catastrophic-harm</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>Everyone Is 12 Now Except the King, Who Is 8</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/further/everyone-is-12-now-except-the-king-who-is-8</link><description><![CDATA[
<img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/kids-run-amok-just-like-maga.jpg?id=61944743&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=343%2C0%2C344%2C0"/> We know the awful, the stupid, the cruel goes on, but we're heartened by the birth of "a new unified theory of American reality" to help explain the darkness. It's called, "Everyone is twelve now." Suddenly, we get it: the right's puerile idiocy, pointless vengeful assaults on law and decency, poop-bombing and racism, staggeringly simplistic solutions to issues like, "Let's arrest everyone" and "Why don't we just blow them up?" At 12, they learned to slap nasty names on anything they didn't like; now, they still do.What one grateful patriot calls "the most important political thread of our time" came from one Patrick Cosmos, a musician and frequent Bluesky user who goes by <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/veryimportant.lawyer" target="_blank">@veryimportant.lawyer.</a> All we know about him is that his moment of snarky political clarity swiftly spread across much of social media - an irony unto itself given that many attribute the current Infantilization of right-wing discourse, at least in part, to a scattershot Internet that gives an instant platform to the most vicious and pea-brained among us. Still, many argue the notion those in power never got past being 12-year-old, emotionally stunted losers deeply resonates in a grim cultural moment of conservative ascendance that feeds on ignorance, bullying, fear and lack of critical thinking. Opening the door to this moment of unashamed intellectual regression was, of course, the orange cretin who rode down his fake golden escalator and into our nightmares by proclaiming the way to solve the complex, longtime, political and moral issue of illegal immigration was to build a big wall across the southern border of an entire country - a dumb, mean, juvenile, sadistic "solution" on a par with last week's video abomination in which, ever more demented despite his glorious "person, woman, man, camera, TV" recitation, he acted out dropping a planeload of shit on millions of Americans who oppose him, because he's a sociopathic 8-year-old, not yet 12, whose only response to any challenge is to sneer, "Oh yeah? I want to. Watch this."In an America where "the only two speeds are gun and burger," his knee-jerk, self-serving response was appealing, especially to a frustrated, ill-educated base who'd long been told they had to grow up already. They could say, Cosmos noted, "I’m strong and I want to have like fifty kids and a farm." "Of course you do," he notes. "You're twelve." They could say, "Potatoes are the only vegetables I'll eat, I like guns and I'll cry if you take them away, I want a robot that can draw Star Wars pictures and do my homework, if there's crime we should just send the army, I don't like needles so I'm not getting shots, I want ice cream for dinner which RFK Jr. says is healthy, and I don't wanna watch a Super Bowl where in the middle a guy sings in a different language.For some, "Everyone is 12" is the explainer, the "cruelty is the point" for Trump 2.0. In our raunchy, Trumpy-world, they no longer had to ditch their <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/AskALiberal/comments/1ofcwz3/what_do_you_think_about_the_everyone_is_12_now/" target="_blank">worst instincts.</a> They were back in mean-mouthed middle school. They could say nigger or fag, put down women, make fun of disabled people, be consistently wrong but insist by dint of loudness or citing Jesus they were right. They could argue they deserve something and whine about it till they got it. They could trash a girl who doesn't want to go out with them and vow to destroy her life when one day they were powerful. They could remember when they were 12 they learned the word "fascist" or "lib-tard" or "woke" and mindlessly persist in applying the words to anything that threatened or confused them.Trump lit the flame, offering his base dumb, simple solutions - and visible scapegoats - for big, scary problems. Other factors kept it burning. The deterioration of public education has dumbed down voters, turning them into frightened, ignorant victims vulnerable to misinformation; the National Literacy Institute <a href="https://www.thenationalliteracyinstitute.com/2024-2025-literacy-statistics" target="_blank">reports </a>over half of US adults read at a below-sixth-grade level. The democratization of media feeds agitprop, the more sensational, the more fast-spreading, from Hitler's, Mussolini's, Eva Peron's radio broadcasts to Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck to Fox News in every airport and of course the deep dark corners of the Internet, where everyone gets to throw their tantrums and have their malignant say.Led, still, by the lying Showman-In-Chief. Now in Japan, faced with reality, he's still frantically <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115445084269284249" target="_blank">raving</a>. He won "THREE Elections, BY A LOT." He's "getting the best Polling Numbers...People see how strong the Economy is...Ending 8 wars in eight months, no men playing in women’s sports, no transgender for everyone, rapidly falling Energy prices." NOT. And the "Radical Left Losers are taking fake ads, not showing REAL Polls...saying I’m Polling at low levels...These ads...are FAKE!" The stupid and the lies keep coming, echoes of former V.P. <a href="https://www.its.caltech.edu/~squires/stupid.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dan Quayle</a>: "What a waste it is to lose one's mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is." Also, "I have made good judgements in the past. I have made good judgements in the future."The king's jesters, his band of faithful, petty 12-year-olds, do his grade-school dirty work to keep the fictions afloat. Crazed Kash Patel, the alleged head of the FBI, is <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/veryimportant.lawyer/post..." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">giving out </a>"challenge coins." Press Barbie, asked who made the bad choice of Budapest for a meeting, retorts, "Your mom did." Pam Bondi, refusing to answer questions about troops headed to Chicago, sneers they're going to protect you. RFK Jr. spews insane claims for autism - Tylenol! Circumcision! - and the gang members nod. A new White House timeline seeking support for the Epstein ballroom stuck in puerile crap - Bill Clinton's blowjob, Obama's turban. After Trump put up the image of an auto-pen in lieu of a Biden portrait, his clowns took and posted leering photos, praising his "sense of humor."But nobody follows the ditsy, malevolent pied piper as loyally as OG mean girl, dress-up ICE Barbie and her gang, who've been using agitprop, fear-mongering and <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hatewatch/dhs-..." target="_blank">white supremacist </a>imagery so relentlessly in recruitment efforts that the Dept. of Homeland Security website reads like "a white nationalist content mill, churning out bigoted, jingoistic schlock." According to extremism watchdog Hatewatch, the sources for their <a href="https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/homeland-..." target="_blank">mainstreaming </a>of white supremacy <a href="https://www.splcenter.org/resources/hatewatch/dhs-white-nationalist-anti-immigrant-social-media/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">include </a>the racist work of a white Christian <a href="https://x.com/PhilNvestigates/status/1932995586476917195" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">nationalist</a> published by neo-Nazis - "Report All Foreign Invaders" - and rabid <a href="https://x.com/rothschildmd/status/1955312055126216724" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">dog-whistles - </a>"INVASION,” “CULTURAL DECLINE,” “HOMELAND”- all imbued with a childish, nostalgic glow: Coke bottle on big red car with, the plea, "America is worth fighting for."Their latest kitschy <a href="https://www.facebook.com/homelandsecurity/posts/de..." target="_blank">mess </a>features knights - you know, American knights in medieval times - wielding swords at each other, urging "Defend your hearth and home" against "the enemies at the gate," like all those brown gardeners. Savage <a href="https://www.facebook.com/homelandsecurity/posts/defend-your-hearth-and-homejoinicegov/1297107732460402/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">responses </a>include, "The enemies are at the doors of the ballroom...My neighbors are not enemies....You mean the Gravy Seals?...Is the enemy in this room?...Did you run this by a focus group or kindergarten class?...Do Notsee any enemies here." Many reference Monty Python or Charlie Kirk circle jerks, note dudes' swords are aimed at each other, ask, "Is this satire or fascism?" and suggest, "Say we are turning into 1930’s Germany without saying we are turning into 1930’s Germany." Proving, finally, "Everyone is 12 theory remains undefeated."<blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1981071256569987176">
<div style="margin:1em 0"></div> — (@)
<a href="https://twitter.com/WillLikesHoops/status/1981071256569987176"></a>
</blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 28 Oct 2025 06:27:12 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/further/everyone-is-12-now-except-the-king-who-is-8</guid><dc:creator>Abby Zimet</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/kids-run-amok-just-like-maga.jpg?id=61944743&width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>“Lawless Federal Raids Demand Accountability”: Free Speech For People Calls on Illinois Officials to Investigate Trump Administration’s “Operation Midway Blitz”</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/lawless-federal-raids-demand-accountability-free-speech-for-people-calls-on-illinois-officials-to-investigate-trump-administrations-operation-midway-blitz</link><description><![CDATA[
Free Speech For People, a national nonpartisan legal advocacy organization, today filed a formal request urging Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke, and Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling to open criminal investigations into the unlawful actions of federal agents operating in Illinois under the Trump administration’s so-called “Operation Midway Blitz.”The filing details an escalating pattern of criminal activity by federal agents conducted across Cook County in September and October 2025, including unlawful detentions, violent assaults, destruction of property, kidnappings, and racially motivated targeting of communities of color. Free Speech For People’s letter alleges that these acts were part of a coordinated criminal conspiracy directed by President Donald Trump and senior administration officials, intended not to enforce federal law but to punish and terrorize immigrants and political opponents.“These are not law-enforcement operations; they are acts of political violence,” said Courtney Hostetler, Legal Director for Free Speech For People. “President Trump and his agents are using the power of the federal government to kidnap residents, terrorize communities, and attack people for exercising their First Amendment rights. State officials have both the power and the duty to act.”Announced by the Department of Homeland Security on September 8, 2025, “Operation Midway Blitz” was purportedly aimed at apprehending gang-affiliated noncitizens. Yet public evidence, including Trump’s own remarks, shows that the operation’s true intent was to “brutalize, terrorize, and intimidate” residents of Chicago and its surrounding communities.In the weeks following the operation’s launch, federal agents engaged in a series of violent and unlawful actions, including:<ul><li>Killing Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, an unarmed driver, without cause;</li><li>Raiding homes without warrants or probable cause;</li><li>Rappelling from helicopters and deploying military vehicles in residential neighborhoods;</li><li>Separating families and detaining children without due process;</li><li>Assaulting clergy and elected officials, including the shooting of Pastor David Black and the detention of Alderwoman Jessie Fuentes; and</li><li>Targeting and arresting protesters, journalists, and community leaders engaged in constitutionally protected activities.</li></ul>At the Broadview detention facility, originally intended for short-term immigration processing, federal agents have unlawfully detained individuals for days in inhumane conditions, denied them access to counsel, and responded to peaceful protests with escalating violence.The letter outlines numerous violations of Illinois criminal law, including murder, assault, aggravated battery, criminal trespass, burglary, and intimidation, as well as potential hate crimes and civil rights violations. It further contends that Supremacy Clause immunity does not protect federal agents who act outside lawful authority or engage in conduct they know to be unlawful.“Federal agents do not have a license to commit crimes,” said Ben Clements, Chairman and Senior Legal Advisor at Free Speech For People. “The Constitution does not give the president or his subordinates permission to terrorize citizens or weaponize law enforcement against political opponents. Illinois law applies equally to everyone, including the president.”Free Speech For People emphasizes that while federal prosecutors have been compromised by the administration’s own misconduct, state and local authorities retain independent jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute crimes committed within their borders.“When federal officials become the perpetrators of violence and illegality, it falls to the states to defend the rule of law,” said Ben Horton, Counsel at Free Speech For People. “Illinois must not wait for and, with this lawless administration, cannot rely on Washington to police itself.”To read Free Speech For People’s letter to the Illinois Attorney General, Cook County State’s Attorney, and Chicago Police Superintendent, click <a href="https://freespeechforpeople.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/fsfp-illinois-letter-102425-1-1.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.To read Free Speech For People’s cover letter to the Illinois Governor, click <a href="https://freespeechforpeople.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/fsfp-cover-letter-to-governor-pritzker-102425-1-2.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.To read Free Speech For People’s cover letter to the Chicago Mayor, click <a href="https://freespeechforpeople.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/fsfp-cover-letter-to-mayor-johnson-102425-1-1.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 27 Oct 2025 17:28:08 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/lawless-federal-raids-demand-accountability-free-speech-for-people-calls-on-illinois-officials-to-investigate-trump-administrations-operation-midway-blitz</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>Pity the Nation/ Whose Shepherds Mislead Them</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/further/pity-the-nation-whose-shepherds-mislead-them</link><description><![CDATA[
<img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/lawrence-ferlinghetti-protesting-ice-fascism-at-city-lights.jpg?id=61897460&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=438%2C0%2C439%2C0"/> Amidst plunging polls and righteous rage at his Epstein Memorial Ballroom, the inept manchild faces growing resistance, sublime to ridiculous, to his nascent kingship. Cue anti-ICE whistle kits - “Form a crowd, stay loud" - rainbow church steps, Newsom hawking knee pads, D.C. Jedi suing individual goons, and a successfully mobilized Bay Area, including his iconic bookstore's revival of Lawrence Ferlinghetti's howling edict that his people not "allow their rights to erode/and their freedoms to be washed away."Trump was already underwater with the lowest approval rating for any president, even him, at this point in his reign - see no jobs, high prices, cancelled SNAP <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/snap-benefits-wont-be-issued-for-november-due-to-government-shutdown/ar-AA1OTukr" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">benefits, </a>murdered innocents, rounded-up brown neighbors - before his abrupt, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/22/white-house-trump-new-ballroom-demolition" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">illegal </a>obliteration of the East Wing for a gilded obscenity to host his billionaire suck-ups. For many, the travesty is a bitter echo of what in part got us here: Obama's mocking, gaudy, then-hilarious 2011 <a href="https://www.c-span.org/program/white-house-event/2011-white-house-correspondents-dinner/250762" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">vision </a>of a lurid purple "Trump White House, Hotel, Casino, Golf Course" with glitzy tyrant chandeliers and half-naked women welcoming you. Now, of course, we are about to have the execrable real thing, a tacky "abomination," born of his "poisonous bravado," bearing the "bombast (of) a dictator-for-life megalomania vibe."Despite widespread horror at a now-$300-million, White-House-dwarfing <a href="https://substack.com/redirect/720f1153-e8c5-494e-8622-bd977793c41d?j=eyJ1IjoibDhod24ifQ.5jEjeLiJZS5OfHG4v_xEBlfZCsRwcX2P4Vv9vuux9BQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">atrocity </a>for fat cats, smirking, clueless Press Barbie touted the ballroom as "of course the main priority" of the "builder-in chief" with a lifetime of bankruptcies to his tawdry name. Still, the outcry was loud enough for some <a href="https://x.com/TrumpWarRoom/status/1981407334875222369" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">flunkies </a>to attempt an unhinged <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/t..." target="_blank">distraction: </a>a new, racist, trolling <a href="http://WhiteHouse.gov" target="_blank">Major Events Timeline </a>on the ballroom that lurches from fake history - for 150 years, everyone has "longed for" it - to George Washington, the Oval Office, the Rose Garden to Clinton/Monica, Obama in a turban hosting Muslim Brotherhood extremists, debauched Hunter in a bath tub with cocaine, Biden with topless transsexuals to, straightfaced, Trump's hellacious, gold-blinged redecorating.Reflecting the same crude regime run by a petty, vengeful bully - who <a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-presidential-port..." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hung </a>along his new "Presidential Walk of Fame" not a portrait of the man he can't admit defeated him but the image of an autopen and just <a href="https://x.com/kaitlancollins/status/19814800752927..." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">snarled,</a> "You know nothing about nothing" at a reporter questioning him - comes the <a href="https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/court..." target="_blank">story</a> from D.C. of Jedi knight Sam O’Hara, 35, who sometimes mocks the masked, armed, camoed thugs parading around his town by walking behind them, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NC0xXoMM27s" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">playing</a> Star Wars' "The Imperial March" that marks the arrival of Darth Vader, and posts his <a href="http://youtube.com/%E2%80%A6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">videos </a>online. Bemused millions have watched his personal protest, audible but not loud, against "a dystopian occupation," but last month he was accosted by one thin-skinned stormtrooper who was not amused. Going home after work, O’Hara was following four Ohio National Guardsmen when Sergeant Devon Beck turned back to threaten him with calling D.C. cops to "handle" him. The Empire quickly struck back: Police arrived, tightly handcuffed him, argued "this isn't a protest" when he explained himself, and held him for a while before letting him go without charges. Now O'Hara and the ACLU are suing four police and Guardsmen under a <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/1983" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">law</a> that renders individuals liable for punitive damages for infringing on a plaintiff's Constitutional rights. "The law might have tolerated government conduct of this sort a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away," argued O'Hara, citing the First and Fourth Amendment and a D.C. prohibition on false arrest, but not "in the here and now."In his complaint, in which he <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.286143/gov.uscourts.dcd.286143.1.0.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">demands</a> a jury trial, O'Hara calls the deployment of military police "a waste of tax dollars, a needless display of force, and a surreal danger" that shouldn't be normalized. Likewise citing a 200-year-old tradition of civilian law enforcement, ACLU senior attorney Michael Perloff defended O'Hara's right to play "The Imperial March" as a "quintessential exercise of free speech." "The government doesn't get to decide if your protest is funny, and can’t punish you for making them the punchline," he said. "That’s really the whole point of the First Amendment." Or, <a href="https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/482/451.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">paraphrasing </a>Justice William Brennan on a free nation vs. police state, If you act like an autocrat when you're called an autocrat, you probably are one.Many others are rising up and acting out in the belief that, argues Rev. Rachel Griffin-Allison, "Silence is not neutral. Silence in the face of harm always sides with the oppressor." The senior pastor of Oak Lawn United Methodist Church in Dallas, she and her congregation took to painting their church steps in rainbow colors after an inane <a href="https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/dallas-reviewing-gov-abbott-directive-targeting-rainbow-crosswalks/287-2ca2d2b9-0b5d-4aaf-a525-310b99f19fca" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">order</a> from Gov. Greg Abbott<a href="https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/texas/dallas-reviewing-gov-abbott-directive-targeting-rainbow-crosswalks/287-2ca2d2b9-0b5d-4aaf-a525-310b99f19fca" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> </a>banning "all political ideologies from our streets," including existing rainbow crosswalks or other "political" pavement designs; he said he wanted to "keep roads safe and free from distraction" - a claim, under threat of cut funding, many called "highly questionable" and, given his law requiring the Ten Commandments in schools, deeply hypocritical. The reverend <a href="https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/dallas-county/oak-lawn-united-methodist-church-dallas-painting-steps-rainbow-after-gov-abbott-order-crosswalks/287-887d969b-4d80-4705-a691-f32263fe5ae4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"></a><a href="https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/dallas-county/oak-lawn-united-methodist-church-dallas-painting-steps-rainbow-after-gov-abbott-order-crosswalks/287-887d969b-4d80-4705-a691-f32263fe5ae4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">called</a> it "political bullying.""A rainbow is not a political statement," she said. "It’s a universal symbol of inclusion, hope, and pride in diversity (representing) a safe space for a community that’s been marginalized. The rainbow is for everyone." Undercutting Abbott's brazen fear-mongering, she noted the multi-hued crosswalks were funded by private donations and approved by the city, and their re-painting action was "not one of defiance, but of faith, a visible witness to the gospel we preach...When the forces of power try to erase symbols of inclusion, the Church has a choice - to retreat into comfort or to step forward in courage. We choose courage. This is not a political act; it’s a pastoral one. It says, 'The love of God meets you exactly as you are.'" Many elsewhere are also fighting back with courage. In and around besieged Chicago, organizers have<a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/when-masked-agen..." target="_blank"> rallied </a>groups of hundreds of volunteers to create 30,000 anti-ICE kits packed with warning whistles for ICE sightings, handouts about how and when to use them, and bilingual flyers detailing migrants' rights: "Immigrants keep us moving forward." Last week, when masked agents <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/when-masked-agents-descended-on-a-chicago-suburb-residents-disrupted-the-operation-with-hollering-and-blaring-car-horns/ar-AA1P64NQ" target="_blank">descended </a>on a Chicago suburb - variously claiming they were looking for an escaped dog, gang member, sex offender - residents texted one another - “ICE IS HERE," "Fucking helicopters," "On our way" - before emerging to scream, film, tail and honk at them. "You don’t belong here,” one yelled. "Our neighbors, our community members, they do belong here.”In California's <a href="https://bayareaequityatlas.org/about#us" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">diverse, </a>liberal Bay Area, which just won a billionaire-bought reprieve from ICE invasion, officials and residents were organized and<a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/federa..." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> mobilized </a>after months of Trump threats and his announcement troops were finally going there to bring down its record-low <a href="https://www.oaklandca.gov/News-Releases/Police/OPD-Shares-Crime-Statistics-for-First-Half-of-2025" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">crime </a>rate and "make it great." Good luck on that With Marvin Gaye blaring, pre-dawn protesters at Alameda's Coast Guard base blocked the entrance, bore signs urging "Protect Our Neighbors/ Protegemos Nuestros Vecinos," and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/sfgate/reel/DQKPk-fiJcS/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">faced</a> off against about 100 agents already there who quickly<a href="https://www.ktvu.com/news/immigration-agents-bay-area-live-updates" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> fired </a>flash-bang grenades, injuring several. Are we great yet? "In the Bay we're involved, and our kids know what's happening," <a href="https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/10/trump-cance..." target="_blank">said </a>one father. "They’re going to see they’re not wanted here."Officials were just as adamant. If ICE was loosed on them, state and city attorneys would be "in court within hours, if not minutes." Newsom, slamming <a href="https://calmatters.org/tag/prop-50/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">voter </a>suppression and "a direct assault on the rule of law,” <a href="https://x.com/GavinNewsom/status/1981103617265586655" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">vowed </a>to sue "within nanoseconds"; he also <a href="https://x.com/GavinNewsom/status/1981167057959080225" target="_blank">added </a>to his satirical, union-supplied <a href="https://store.gavinnewsom.com/the-patriot-shop/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Patriot Shop</a> "KNEE PADS FOR ALL CEO’s, UNIVERSITIES, AND GOP BENDING THE KNEE TO DONALD TRUMP." Meanwhile, Steve Bannon's witless, flip-flopping "<a href="https://x.com/TheTNHoller/status/1981451899028328837" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">vehicle</a> of divine providence" <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/billionaires-stop-trump-troops-san-francisco" target="_blank">called off </a>his "surge" after some tech oligarchs <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/23/trump-san-francisco-troops-silicon-valley" target="_blank">told him </a>to - what, no Fox or Loomer or Goebbels? - and San Francisco's mayor "very nicely" asked him to. At immigration court the next day, Aztec dancers led a cleansing ritual and defiant protesters <a href="https://missionlocal.org/2025/10/aztec-dancers-peaceful-protestors-throng-s-f-immigration-court-day-after-trump-threats/" target="_blank">called for </a>a general strike.The crisis also sparked the<a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/entertainment/article/..." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> return</a> of a seminal voice as <a href="http://citylights.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">City Lights Books</a> unfurled <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DQF3QI4gaVX/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">banners</a> quoting co-founder, poet, veteran, pacifist and "philosophical anarchist" Lawrence Ferlinghetti's <a href="https://allenginsberg.org/2025/03/m-m-24-ferlinghetti/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">“Pity the Nation,” </a>a 2007, George W-era lament against tyranny. Beginning in 1953 and over seven decades - he died age 101 in 2021 - Ferlinghetti nursed the hub of free speech and Beat poets, thinkers and dissenters that was City Lights; he also fiercely defended Allen Ginsberg's 1955 <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/49303/howl" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Howl - </a>"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving, hysterical, naked" - in an obscenity trial that ended in a landmark victory for the First Amendment. Despite "the iron circumstances of the world," Ferlinghetti was always <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/29970.Lawrence_Ferlinghetti" target="_blank">seeking </a>"a renaissance of wonder," and he was not afraid. Be like him, and California, Chicago, D.C., all the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DQFfiapAcZ0/" target="_blank">rest.</a>Update: A federal judge in Portland, Oregon <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/24/portland-judge-rejects-trump-ice" target="_blank">rejected</a> Trump's request to lift her order blocking the deployment of goons there, at least for now. And a judge in D.C is still hearing arguments to remove over 2,000 troops from there. <img alt='From comedian Bill Jubran: "Fox News wants you to be afraid."' class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7340d18f615e8045776241af56b4cf70" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="42824" loading="lazy" src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/from-comedian-bill-jubran-fox-news-wants-you-to-be-afraid.jpg?id=61908306&width=980"/> 185K views · 5.8K reactions | This is how Fox News indoctrinated a whole generation. | Bill Jubran <a href="https://www.facebook.com/reel/1479654790027613" target="_blank">www.facebook.com</a> PITY THE NATIONPity the nation whose people are sheep And whose shepherds mislead themPity the nation whose leaders are liars Whose sages are silenced And whose bigots haunt the airwavesPity the nation that raises not its voice Except to praise conquerors And acclaim the bully as hero And aims to rule the world By force and by torturePity the nation that knows No other language but its own And no other culture but its ownPity the nation whose breath is money And sleeps the sleep of the too well fedPity the nation oh pity the people who allow their rights to erode and their freedoms to be washed awayMy country, tears of thee Sweet land of liberty!– Lawrence Ferlinghetti (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/CityLightsBooks/posts/pfbid02ktTzUjHh9dDJD5P3omwrJ6kcM1fyoarUE1E3366gvriyj3LA1fouB6ugfs7tSe7yl" target="_blank">after </a>Lebanese American poet Kahlil Gibran)]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 25 Oct 2025 02:26:37 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/further/pity-the-nation-whose-shepherds-mislead-them</guid><dc:creator>Abby Zimet</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/lawrence-ferlinghetti-protesting-ice-fascism-at-city-lights.jpg?id=61897460&width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Economic Experts React to CPI</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/economic-experts-react-to-cpi</link><description><![CDATA[
Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that headline CPI increased by 3.0% over the past year. Members of the <a href="http://econspeakers.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Economic Speakers Bureau</a> shared their reactions and are available for interviews on inflation and how the Fed might respond at its meeting next week:<a href="https://econspeakers.org/our-experts/alex-jacquez/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alex Jacquez</a>, Chief of Policy & Advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative and former Special Assistant to the President fo Economic Development and Industrial Strategy: “Prices continue to rise, and families can feel it every time they check out at the grocery store or fill up at the gas pump. Trump’s chaotic economic policies continue to drive up costs for everyday essentials as the job market weakens. Working families are being pummeled by higher prices and the Trump administration has no intention of fixing it.”<a href="https://econspeakers.org/our-experts/heather-boushey/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Heather Boushey</a>, Professor of Practice at Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, Senior Research Fellow at the Reimagining the Economy Project at the Harvard Kennedy School, and former Member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers: “While the government shutdown has left us blind to most regular data releases, today's release of new consumer price index data shows an economy where prices continue to rise faster than the Federal Reserve's preferred pace. This is an unnerving economic moment: between high tariffs and the ways that ICE is rounding up employees at workplaces across the country, there are ongoing forces pushing prices upwards, while the lack of a coherent economic agenda from the Trump administration threatens to push the economy into reverse.”<a href="https://econspeakers.org/our-experts/elizabeth-pancotti/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Liz Pancotti</a>, Managing Director of Policy & Advocacy at Groundwork Collaborative: “Grocery prices continue to rise for American families. Lunchbox staples like deli meat and peanut butter rose by 4.2% and 2.1%, respectively, in just the last month. This comes on the heels of the impending SNAP cliff as a result of the government shutdown that will leave 40 million low-income Americans without vital food assistance benefits unless the Trump administration acts.”<a href="https://econspeakers.org/our-experts/indivar-dutta-gupta/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Indivar Dutta-Gupta</a>, Advisor at Community Change: "Today's inflation report confirms the continued strain on American families under this administration's radical ‘survival of the elitist’ agenda, where the president's wealthy and well-connected friends thrive and the rest of us suffer. “Gasoline prices surged 4.1% in September, driving significant increases in energy costs that hurt working families the most, especially due to this administration's extremist pro-pollution agenda that undermines working families' wellbeing and freedom. Meanwhile, health care prices are climbing quickly — families now face annual health insurance premiums averaging nearly $27,000, with further sharp increases expected due to the administration's failure to extend health coverage subsidies. “Instead, this administration and the Congress it controls have prioritized showering their billionaire friends with massive tax cuts while making it harder for regular people to afford basic necessities. Even this week, the administration has said that it will effectively break the law by refusing to fund vital food assistance, which tens of millions of struggling families rely on to manage the increasing cost of living imposed by the Trump Administration. Instead of addressing these economic hardships, they advance policies that enrich the wealthy and make life harder for everyday Americans."]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 24 Oct 2025 15:29:56 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/economic-experts-react-to-cpi</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>Statement by Retiree Leader Richard Fiesta on the 2.8% COLA Increase for Social Security Beneficiaries</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/statement-by-retiree-leader-richard-fiesta-on-the-2-8-cola-increase-for-social-security-beneficiaries</link><description><![CDATA[
The following statement was issued by Richard Fiesta, Executive Director of the Alliance for Retired Americans, regarding the announcement that there will be a <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.XJFJ-2F9Q3flfodrBg47rZegBeYAuK8JzmVeYyHwj7ZRrcaUhByXNlXf7xl1632RZxC6KNODFq7CKnwfOBFrPEzRDTVqIVKf0JbPwM6xe4vdAd5p7M1arYZBdPthhw3K0mjqvfrfGdyIdt98WjKhIeWw-3D-3Dm3pS_s0lTyPdoyuzn-2FJTE9fjR8nSlryGpLl-2B7mxK4it06DfIN-2FfMDgHUrTLsHq1xjCi7DTlIq5OIdVpHE9qccg4wKAbQGfLgP6Ep-2BlhMYuHG2bHTn9ZYGrla-2FAOyofRwOe3nKaLwWG0GFviea6wftmeMahPWOziawybWEjHQkC4S7LPLQehqwHf-2FgJGARAEV-2B-2BSoPE-2Bkjeu2LNSIzkTc-2BivTwUoqMcrRmVkFC3PbysXW0sQ-2FJ8TyrcLSIRQ5tCbIdCGTNexQo94YQpdUMFHnNAraq3eLoVC0aIrlp0jXc4eON-2BChfKMgBwERHgSkDQXrHfajWKdUf4dndftYdTrNXSbq9c-2F19Rpdtg6h38O8tVJ2mYsxq1x6NxZu0itlvP8jB2BN-2F" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">2.8% cost-of-living (COLA) benefit increase</a> for millions of Social Security beneficiaries, disabled veterans and federal retirees next year:“The 74.5 million Americans who rely on Social Security welcome any increase in their monthly benefits. But let’s be clear, millions of older Americans will still struggle to afford housing, food, utilities, and prescription drugs.“The average retired worker will see about $52 more per month next year. Yet nearly half of that increase will be wiped out by the higher Medicare Part B premium, which is projected to rise to $206 a month in January. That’s $31 more than in 2025, and would be the first time the premium has exceeded $200.“Strengthening and expanding Social Security must be a national priority. If billionaires and the wealthiest 1 percent pay their fair share, we can boost benefits for everyone and guarantee the program’s solvency for future generations.“Instead of working to protect Social Security, too many members of Congress and Trump Administration officials are pushing to raise the retirement age, cut benefits, and even privatize the program. Older Americans have earned these benefits through a lifetime of work; they should not have to fight to keep them.”]]></description><pubDate>Fri, 24 Oct 2025 14:17:17 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/statement-by-retiree-leader-richard-fiesta-on-the-2-8-cola-increase-for-social-security-beneficiaries</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>California Nurses Association condemns Trump administration plans to deploy ICE, National Guard to invade Bay Area</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/california-nurses-association-condemns-trump-administration-plans-to-deploy-ice-national-guard-to-invade-bay-area</link><description><![CDATA[
California’s largest union of registered nurses, an affiliate of National Nurses United (NNU), the largest U.S. RN union, issued the following statement responding to recent announcements by the Trump administration that both ICE and the National Guard would be deployed to the San Francisco Bay Area:Registered nurses across California condemn and reject the Trump administration’s recently announced plans to deploy <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/sf-immigration-operation-21114328.php" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="Major federal immigration operation headed to San Francisco Bay Area, ">ICE, border patrol agents</a>, and <a href="https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-francisco-national-guard-trump/3967003/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the National Guard</a> to the San Francisco Bay Area. President Trump so far has sought to misuse the National Guard and active-duty soldiers to attack five major Democratic-led cities: Washington, D.C; Los Angeles; Chicago; Portland, Ore.; and Memphis, Tenn. As advocates for the health and safety of all patients, regardless of their immigration status, nurses warn that increased militarization of our neighborhoods actively endangers public health. Armed federal agents on our Bay Area streets and in our communities, not immigrant workers, are the biggest threat to all of our safety. Immigrants are our family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, are us, and we stand in solidarity with all immigrants as working people.Across the United States, we have been outraged to see violent raids, kidnappings, and indiscriminate racial profiling of Black and Brown people, resulting in physical harm and immense trauma to our patients — as well as disruption to critical community resources, including hospitals. Nurses know that when ICE attacks immigrants and other activists, it often takes patients they injure to our hospitals. These federal agents bring fear and panic to places that must remain safe spaces for healing. On Tuesday, Oct. 21, an ICE agent in Los Angeles <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/21/ice-la-shooting-marshal/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">shot</a> two people — something that never would have happened if they weren’t attacking immigrant workers who are just trying to make a better life for themselves. This resulted in ICE converging on California Hospital and the entire facility being locked down, with visitors and ambulances being turned away. Nurses reject any ICE presence at our health care facilities and will be holding our employers responsible for ensuring that we can continue to do our jobs saving the lives of all patients. Trump has also violated the due process and Constitutional rights of U.S. citizens, who have been detained, beaten, tased, and <a href="https://www.wbez.org/public-safety/2025/10/07/marimar-martinez-anthony-ian-santos-ruiz-border-patrol-shooting-brighton-park" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">shot</a> by immigration agents (at least 170 U.S. citizens, according to <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/immigration-dhs-american-citizens-arrested-detained-against-will" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pro Publica</a>) during these violent raids and military deployments. A <a href="https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/press/nnu-statement-on-release-of-los-angeles-rn-from-ice-custody" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">registered nurse</a> and former member of our union was among those detained in Los Angeles.California nurses demand an immediate stop to the violence the Trump administration has already inflicted on our state and on our nation, and we will be standing in solidarity to resist and say, “No!” to this outrageously unjust attack on the Bay Area. Our communities are not war zones, and we understand that when this administration comes after the most vulnerable, we all lose.]]></description><pubDate>Thu, 23 Oct 2025 17:50:53 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/california-nurses-association-condemns-trump-administration-plans-to-deploy-ice-national-guard-to-invade-bay-area</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>Utter Desecration: Walking Wrecking Balls, All Of 'Em</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/further/utter-desecration-walking-wrecking-balls-all-of-em</link><description><![CDATA[
<img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/trump-s-demolition-of-the-east-wing-of-the-white-house-has-begun.jpg?id=61781423&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=372%2C0%2C372%2C0"/> In a perfect, ghastly metaphor for the state of our "democracy," J.D. and Drunken Pete just oversaw an "artillery fiasco" at a Marine Corps celebration where a live shell detonated over a highway and hit their motorcade - Lesson #1: "Morons Are Governing America" - and Trump abruptly began a demolition of the East Wing of The People's House for "his fucking ballroom," though he claimed construction "wouldn't interfere" with it. Lesson #2: They "lie like they breathe," bulldoze history and wreak havoc as they go.On the same day as No Kings but definitely not to distract anyone even though the actual date they're marking isn't until November 10, repulsive bros J.D. Vance and <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@colbertlateshow/video/7556055723692657975?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc" target="_blank">manly </a>"We Are The War Department" Pete <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DNleddjh9bb" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hegseth </a>went to California for the 250th anniversary of the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton to watch a training exercise that included firing live 155mm M777 shells out of howitzers from the ocean over Interstate I-5, an action Gavin Newsom <a href="https://www.gov.ca.gov/2025/10/18/white-house-to-fire-explosive-artillery-over-major-roadway-in-southern-california-i-5-to-be-temporarily-shut-down-on-saturday-due-to-life-safety-risk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">decried </a>as "an absurd show of force" that <a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-i5-closed-artillery-marines-vance-newsom-327f869d9f951cabda8248c574d9a186" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">threatened </a>public safety. Just in case, being a grown-up, Newsom shut down 17 miles of the highway. Vance, in turn, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/us/artillery-interstate-5-marines.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ridiculed </a>his move as "consistent with a track record of failure," sneering the governor "wants people to think this exercise is dangerous" when of course it's "an established safe practice" and anyway he's a big boy who knows stuff.So. What happens "when the commander-in-chief is an idiot and the head of the Pentagon is a blackout drunk?" In Chap. 874 of Adventures of the Gang Who Couldn't Shoot Straight But Still Hit Enough, after Marines began<a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/10/21/2349652/-Trump-s-I-5-stunt-in-pictures?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web" target="_blank"> firing live rounds</a> over the highway, one shell prematurely <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:xjc7mkotpenvhh6ffewkdpyn/post/3m3lcoolty222?ref_src=embed" target="_blank">exploded </a>- some "saw the artillery round fail to clear the highway and explode near the southbound lane" - <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/us/politics/shell-interstate-5-marines-california.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">raining </a>burning shrapnel onto a Highway Patrol car and motorcycle in Vance's security detail in what officials called "an unusual and concerning situation" that surely nobody could have predicted. Except maybe Gavin Newsom, who I-told-you-so <a href="https://x.com/GavinNewsom/status/1980042039095173593" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">raged, "</a>Next time, the Vice President and the White House shouldn’t be so reckless (with) their vanity projects (and) put lives at risk to put on a show. If you want to honor our troops, open the government and pay them."Vance, who's evidently hated wherever he goes - his family's summer <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jd-vance-vacation-river-raised_n_6894e24fe4b0a4e36891b241" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">vacation</a> in the English countryside was met by residents holding a "Dance Against Vance Not Welcome" party complete with Go Away banner, insults, <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jd-vance-memes_l_67cf31bde4b0c23ef0b83510" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">memes, </a>and a staff mutiny at a <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/jd-vance-cotswolds-holiday-dean-manor-b2805421.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">pub </a>where he wanted to eat - told reporters he had "a great visit" with the Marines. His team declined to comment on his "artillery fiasco," but others had thoughts. They suggested he'd probably say "it was just kid pieces of shrapnel doing normal kid pieces of shrapnel stuff," or locker room shrapnel, or antifa, thus representing the most destruction seen on No Kings Day. Also, "Nothing says 'Warrior Ethos' like firing live ammunition across a busy Southern California freeway on a Saturday afternoon," "MAGA stands for Morons Are Governing America," and, "This is a whole new level of dipshitery."Then, on Monday, came Trump's backhoes and destruction crews suddenly, methodically ripping through the historic, stately, 1902 East Wing of the White House to build a garish $250 million, "beautiful, beautiful ballroom like I have at Mar-a-Lago" - "the remodel no one asked for" - despite his earlier adamant <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/10/20/white-house-begins-demolishing-east-wing-facade-build-trumps-ballroom/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNzYwOTMyODAwLCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNzYyMzE4Nzk5LCJpYXQiOjE3NjA5MzI4MDAsImp0aSI6ImQ3OTIwYjJmLWVhZWQtNDMyYS05ODE5LWE0YjZmZGRjMGVmNSIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9wb2xpdGljcy8yMDI1LzEwLzIwL3doaXRlLWhvdXNlLWJlZ2lucy1kZW1vbGlzaGluZy1lYXN0LXdpbmctZmFjYWRlLWJ1aWxkLXRydW1wcy1iYWxscm9vbS8ifQ.q30xAHfJxSe9Z9aMBNIVTXQJfGDzoqQdxlTLIHuvp68" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">claim </a>the project "wouldn’t interfere” with the former structure: "It’ll be near it but not touching it (and) pay total respect to the existing building, which I’m the biggest fan of...It’s my favorite place. I love it." Shockingly, he evidently lied. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/31/trump-white-house-ballroom" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Announcing </a>the boondoggle in July, he also said it would be 90,000 square feet and seat up to 650 people - now grown to 999 people - making it the largest room in the White House. And it will ostensibly be funded by "many generous patriots" who also happen to be billionaires seeking deregulation and access to his gilded power.Trump claims America's masses have long been yearning for a glitzy ballroom - it took so long because "there’s never been a president that was good at ballrooms" - and he is "honored to finally get this much-needed project underway," especially now during a government shutdown, when wealth and income inequality is at a record highs, SNAP benefits are being slashed, millions of people are struggling to buy groceries, health care and Medicaid are threatened, special ed and veterans' services are in jeopardy, farmers and small businesses are suffering, federal workers are either losing their jobs or not getting paid, he is sending billions to Argentina for no discernible reason and he is giddily spending millions on golf and new jets and fake gold slathered feckin' everywhere while demanding his let-them-eat-cake cult members keep tightening their gullible belts.Architects have noted the fortuitous timing: The White House is a public property<a href="https://www.threads.com/@artygoodman/post/DQC2w5ziUmQ?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email" target="_blank"> run</a> by the National Park Service, but this carnage is purportedly exempt from review by multiple planning and preservation bodies Trump has dismissed, rendered toothless or effectively disappeared in the shutdown. "This is by design," said one. “The object of power is power." Whose very public abuse, in this instance, prompted cries of WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS? Many Americans watched in horror as an iconic White House built by slaves - where Nancy Reagan's new china, Jimmy Carter's solar panels, Obama's dog once quaintly sparked outrage - was blithely razed and pillaged. Joe Walsh called it "an utter desecration of the Peoples’ House," adding he'd gladly invite patriots, some weekend, "to bring their own sledgehammers & crowbars to help tear that abomination down."The Bulwark's Mona Charen has<a href="https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-white-house-renovation-awful-fitting-architecture-ballroom" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> called </a>Trump "a walking wrecking ball of law, tradition, civility, manners, and morals." His tacky paved Rose Garden, fake-gold-drenched Oval Office, many crimes against good taste and now ballroom reflect "a low and shameful time" of transforming the graceful into the sordid (that) "will be both awful and fitting." Now, the <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:xjc7mkotpenvhh6ffewkdpyn/post/3m3niba54cc2d?ref_src=embed&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.democraticunderground.com%252F100220735401" target="_blank">metaphorical </a>has become literal in a defacement one historian calls "like slashing a Rembrandt painting.” "This is Trump's America," said one patriot of the dusty devastation. "And that was our history." Many felt sickened by the grisly manifestation "of the entire Trump administration": "It is not his fucking house," "Holy mother of God, this is horrifying," "Jesus fucking Christ, somebody stop him," "That was our democracy." "Breaking News: Antifa destroys the White House," said one. "Correction: It was Trump."Update: Aceco, the company doing the demolition, is being<a href="https://www.yelp.com/biz/aceco-silver-spring?utm_campaign=uno&utm_medium=inapp&utm_source=new_reaction_received" target="_blank"> savaged </a>on Yelp with a flood of one-star reviews for "taking one of the most sacrilegious dem jobs in American history." "We all make choices in this life," read one, "and this was a bad one." Others: "How dare you destroy part of OUR house for that pedo dictator?", "Oops. Bad move tearing down the People's House. And you probably won't get paid," and, "May karma prevail."Updated update for a surreal timeline: Wednesday night, the mad king <a href="https://x.com/joeygarrison/status/1981110296631800308?s=46&t=baBBhbs8HKxS8e5N8kXp1g" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">said,</a> Ok, fuck it, we'll just take down the whole thing: "We determined that, after really a tremendous amount of (non-existent) study with some of the best (imaginary) architects in the world, we determined that really knocking it down, trying to use a little section — you know, the East Wing, was not much.”]]></description><pubDate>Tue, 21 Oct 2025 06:08:15 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/further/utter-desecration-walking-wrecking-balls-all-of-em</guid><dc:creator>Abby Zimet</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/trump-s-demolition-of-the-east-wing-of-the-white-house-has-begun.jpg?id=61781423&width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Amazon Oil licence granted by Brazilian government threatens communities and climate commitments ahead of COP30</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/amazon-oil-licence-granted-by-brazilian-government-threatens-communities-and-climate-commitments-ahead-of-cop30</link><description><![CDATA[
Less than a month before COP30 in Belém, the Brazilian government, host of the UN climate negotiations, has just granted a license for exploratory oil drilling in the Amazon basin (block FZA-M-59, in Foz do Amazonas). The decision ignores scientific warnings, international commitments, and, above all, the voices of the peoples and communities who have lived in and protected the Amazon for centuries.Authorising oil drilling in the Amazon not only threatens critical ecosystems but also repeats the same logic that has brought us to the brink of climate collapse.“Authorising new oil licences in the Amazon is not just a historic mistake — it’s doubling down on a model that has already failed. The history of oil in Brazil shows this clearly: huge profits for a few, and inequality, destruction, and violence for local populations. Brazil must take real climate leadership and break the cycle of extraction that has led us to the current climate crisis. We urgently need a just energy transition plan, based on renewables, that respects Indigenous, quilombola, and riverside peoples and guarantees them a leading role in decisions about climate and energy - including at COP30,” says Ilan Zugman, Latin America and Caribbean Director at <a href="http://350.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">350.org</a>.<a href="http://350.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">350.org</a> calls on people, social movements, scientists, political leaders, and all sectors committed to climate justice to unite in reversing this decision and pressuring the Brazilian government - and governments worldwide. We must demand not only the cancellation of this and future oil exploration projects in the Amazon, but also the collective construction of an energy transition plan that: <ul><li> Respects Indigenous, quilombola, and riverside territories;</li><li> Ensures these communities play a leading role in energy and climate decision-making;</li><li> Prioritises clean, decentralised energy built for people’s well-being, not for the profit of a few.</li></ul> Brazil has the chance to choose a different path: a future of clean energy, decided with the people of the Amazon, not imposed upon them. The time to act is now. We must draw a clear line: for the planet, for the people, for the future. Brazil must choose life and climate justice - not profit and destruction.]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 17:47:52 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/amazon-oil-licence-granted-by-brazilian-government-threatens-communities-and-climate-commitments-ahead-of-cop30</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>Health Care Costs are a Priority — Trump and Republicans Aren’t Delivering</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/health-care-costs-are-a-priority-trump-and-republicans-arent-delivering</link><description><![CDATA[
Health care price woes remain a top concern for Americans as the federal government shutdown enters its fourth week. New <a href="https://us.cisionone.cision.com/c/eJwszUGOrCAQgOHTwA4DJQIuWPTGaxikqmzf09YBZrz-pDuz_ZI_P0YI2WonKRrv9OhBe5DPmAMPwXAAB24k1sGHbHSfB4Mhe7Zyiy6ws2jG4NJgZ2OyGfUwBrcIq-uG9H_7UkfadipVOUQXfEar3FDX1r1d7vHZ2lVF_xAwCZju--5426nyWa5yroVq7c6yCpgwtVSpVQETaBgETEa_ma95vfNcn98Nz_s1L3s6aG5pqd2FLA_CLalCO6VKasP4gfkPRP8wLmjtZYn_zpewOp_Hcb6wUDo-Z1lbITreZc_gyRKqMRMo63FRaeCsAjEvYeEFLcmfCL8BAAD__1AJavk" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">polling</a> from Groundwork Collaborative and Data for Progress finds nearly three-quarters of voters are concerned about health insurance premiums rising this year. For the third week in a row, a majority say Democrats in Congress should continue negotiations on government funding until rising health care costs are addressed.This heightened concern comes as millions of Americans are <a href="https://us.cisionone.cision.com/c/eJwszjGu3CAQgOHT4G5WeIwBFy7cWEkX5QJPmBl2yTOwAfxWuX20UdpP-qWfVrReST3wOhotF4PS4PBYDUp0Ex6zCcrNuLDS1pH1i5n8wd4McdU2aEXjYrWb1cc4-nGR82L1IZRskfgz_obk4sm1gSbS1nhSoOd277e3D-f66P3ZxLQJ3AXu91quTK9SP305T3eU6nr84lupd4H76wm-5M65C9yv51kcNYE7SpwF7qMUuH9jd_YHfM_tqi57hh-VU7xSg60ybGdlR3_gZ2wx3yGUClviGr3LDcbbk8KQmKKDyie7xhBp_Qcf_0FM26itlGao66-ShZK-pFQyVXapvTeH1itzepdTQMOKCRbPCMrQAW4OHiyHcNgjHKR4-FrxbwAAAP__qXR71g" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">opening their mailboxes to find a warning</a>: health insurance premiums for Affordable Care Act plans will double — and for some spike nearly 600%— if Republicans in Congress fail to extend critical Affordable Care Act tax credits by November 1.Working class families are sounding the alarm as they are hit with the brutal reality of paying hundreds more each month for health care, <a href="https://us.cisionone.cision.com/c/eJwszktu3iAUxfHVwOxGgHl5wCATbyPicflMYyAFnKi7r1x1-pPO0T85YaNkmqLjRrPdCGYEPZ3ONiidFVMJmZGcC843r4RQMmWpkRanbdYy8d1qr-QH55HvTO1WByLZLAk_y2-ovlw4JuiUtDUxSdBqvtbb4_Ry51pfk2zvRBxEHK_R75Z--viM_bp86MOv8o1vfbyIOBr-TCIOX3GU6BvE3uZdn_PZ7wG9wRp3_ZqAsbde_4CfcKK_1gnRD4TY55oQr1IDEQetmIqHgRf6iVCS-wcf_4Fs71xbxgwd7ldvRLLYa-0tDfR1PkV0roFYn-WWhUGJCfaIAqRJAbzKESzmHGzIIUmk3078DQAA__-RnnZd" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">on top of rising prices</a> for groceries and other essentials. <a href="https://us.cisionone.cision.com/c/eJwsy8Gu2yAQheGnwbuJMMGAFyzuxq9xBcyQ0BqTMiRu375y1d3Rd_SjVy5paSbyszVytUpaNT39skSZTVxjzhaNdMph1kktyWVS8b5OxRuXjcZ5dSYs-nue07zKZXUmCi25IP0sv6CGslNnMIjG2YQazMKPcbt82v1zjBeL-5dQm1DbeZ63FPmgk2-pVaG2T0FqQm2xU-ABKRyJOvC7f8qndeDwh6Ec_O7XAWfZd0iNB9TWCcYzHNcaj_AgKBn4HblgIQb6_SqdhNqmSlgCdNopMEFB_w--_4O4f83GSWmn7n-0Q2iZWq3twE6h8q31x8SjE9WrvGdlSRPCmkiBthghLDmBo5yjizmipunj1d8AAAD__-blea4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">WATCH</a> Lori Hunt, a breast cancer survivor living in Iowa City, explain how her insurance will cost more than her mortgage if the health care subsidies expire.]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 16:23:12 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/health-care-costs-are-a-priority-trump-and-republicans-arent-delivering</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>The Frog Abides: We The People Are Pissed</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/further/the-frog-abides-we-the-people-are-pissed</link><description><![CDATA[
<img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/a-kid-in-the-america-we-ve-left-to-him-her-them-for-now.jpg?id=61778444&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=338%2C0%2C339%2C0"/> Just like smarmy tiny MAGA Mike warned, up to eight million Marxists, terrorists, Hamas fighters and other patriots - along with hordes of radical inflatable frogs, chickens, unicorns, bananas - stormed America's streets to march, sing, dance, feel "joyful and connected," not get arrested, and flaunt brutal hilarious signs slamming the evil idiots now unimaginably in power; in response, their idiot leader posted a grotesque AI video of himself in a crown and fighter jet dropping shit on his own citizens. What a day.Despite a suddenly silent GOP after their incendiary drivel about a "hate America" rally - which organizers said saw RSVPs more than double - the mood of No Kings' over 2,700 rallies was jubilant. Many said it felt like a giant block party, and it was<a href="https://www.threads.com/@stewarteestis/post/DP83fIRiFOj?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.threads.com/@stewarteestis/post/DP83fIRiFOj?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email">giant:</a> Protests in <a href="https://www.michaelmoore.com/p/your-pics-from-no-k..." target="_blank">small towns</a> and big cities in all 50 states - yes <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@two.huskies.and.a.dove/video/7516032289265011999" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alaska</a>! - drew two million <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/17/us/no-kings-protests-trump" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">more </a>people than the first No Kings, and 14 times more than both Trump's inauguration crowds combined. (What a loser.) Among Dem pols was Chicago Mayor Johnson: "We will not bend, we will not bow, we will not cower." Global rallies included London, Berlin, Vancouver, Mexico, a sole <a href="https://www.threads.com/@stewarteestis/post/DP83fIRiFOj?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email" target="_blank">patriot </a>in Estonia: "One person, one pebble is all it takes to start a landslide. Sir, thank you for your service." The message, organizers said, was clear: "America will not be ruled by fear, force, or one man’s power grab." In New York City, over 300,000 people packed Times Square. In D.C., over 200,000 streamed through the National Mall, with one contingent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6im4Yr9xA0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">carrying </a>a massive Constitution. Chicago saw "an astonishingly <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:udnac33pmf2iwcblpeai5a5p/post/3m3ipm7s52c2h?ref_src=embed&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.democraticunderground.com%252F100220731381" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">large crowd," </a>San Francisco <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Mi8XXePPg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">formed</a> a giant human banner, crowds overflowed the Boston Common, the other Portland was <a href="https://x.com/MikeNellis/status/1979601785636659406" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">flooded </a>with protesters - aptly, with many <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_XQYdcEakU" target="_blank">frogs</a> visible after organizers began giving out free <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DP9tXQ8j1bN/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> costumes</a>. Many Dem members of Congress turned up. Startlingly, among over seven million terrorists gathering in thousands of locations, there were reportedly “zero protest-related arrests." There were also zero sightings of ICE, because they only appear where they can grab people with zero oversight or opposition. One observer: "They know. We know. It's all illegal. Fourth Amendment. They are cowards is what they are."The signs, as always, were fabulous: History Has Its Eyes On Us. Trump Is the Enemy Within. This Sucks. Fuck Nazis. Nice Oligarchy You Got There: Would Be A Shame If Anything Happened To It. Fascists Are Losers. Impeach Trump Again. Stop Pretending Your Racism Is Patriotism. Know Your Parasites: Dog Tick, Deer Tick, Lunatick. Uncle Scam: Dissent Is Patriotic. So Many Things, So Little Sign. We Thought This Was Going To Be Bad But Holy Shit. Unicorns Against Fascism. Fight Truth Decay. Elect A Rapist, Expect To Be Fucked. This Is My Resisting Bitch Face. Not A Terrorist, Just A Former Republican. Attention, Clean Up On Aisle USA: Orange Stain. I Pray Big Beautiful Bill Will Be the Name of Trump's Cellmate. (Stephen Miller with horns): Fuck You Pee Wee German. Trump We All Hate You. The Frog Abides.Republicans, of course, graciously acknowledged their fear-mongering was unjustified bullshit. Just kidding. Hysterical, face-palm-shameless Fox News chyron: "CHAOS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. No Kings Protests Brought Mayhem to Many Cities." Nancy Mace: "Democrats hit the streets today protesting law and order. Nothing says 'We care about democracy' like showing up to a rally sponsored by Communists." (Jesus, what planet/timeline do these cretins come from?) Trump, ever-astute: "I hear very few people (are) going to be there." No Kings participants, in contrast, were notably, succinctly eloquent on why they were there. History teacher Ariel Fernandez: "What I tell my students all the time is democracy is a verb. You do it. So I’m here to do it." An unnamed Black guy in Oakland: "This is the point of America right here."Still, the mindless atrocities go on. Customs and Border officials just <a href="https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/2025-07/clp_bulletin_executive_order_on_m-f_gender_20250707.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">implemented </a>a new rule requiring airlines to reject "X" sex markers on passports, available since 2022, and impose an "M" or "F" just to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/18/ai..." target="_blank">make the lives</a> of trans or non-binary people more difficult and/or prevent them from flying internationally; said one, "The more they can keep us confused and freaked out, the more they can do whatever they want." Unions are filing dozens of lawsuits - with some <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/15/federal-worker-firings-blocked-judge-government-shutdown" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">success - </a>to fight efforts to cut hundreds of thousands of government jobs, strip collective bargaining rights and gut federal agencies. Each suit demonstrates the same thing, said one attorney: "A government willing to break the law just to see if anyone will stop it. It’s governance by impulse..like handing the keys to the country to a group of 12-year-olds. They’ll keep testing the limits until an adult stops them.”Alas, the adult is definitively, lamentably not their evil idiot leader, who somehow keeps plunging to "a new low, until the next new low." On Sunday, he <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/19/trump-colombia-gustavo-petro" target="_blank">said </a>Colombia's president Gustavo Petro was an "illegal drug dealer,” also "a low-rated and very unpopular leader (pot/kettle) with a fresh mouth toward America" after Petro rightly charged Trump with murder in his latest extra-judicial killing - "It was my great honor to destroy a very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE" - of a Colombian fisherman Petro said "had no ties to the drug trade," the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/2025/10/19/trump-petro-colombia-drugs-us-aid/c7090fe0-aceb-11f0-ab72-a5fffa9bf3eb_story.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">29th</a> U.S. execution of likely innocent poor brown people. Trump brazenly threatened to cut U.S. funds to Colombia and close their "killing fields" or he would, not "nicely.” (With a horse's head in his bed?) Petro: "I respect (the) culture and people of the USA...The problem is with Trump, not the USA." Join the large, sorrowful crowd.On No Kings Day, Trump<a href="https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/trump/202..." target="_blank"> hid </a>at Mar-A-Lago, where he hosted a <a href="https://static.politico.com/27/49/8bf359314de6aab0ca5898b319f3/10-17-palm-beach-invite.jpg?nname=playbook-pm&nid=0000015a-dd3e-d536-a37b-dd7fd8af0000&nrid=62505476-66f6-4704-819c-f2f394774f8a" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">$1 million-per-plate</a> fundraiser in his gold-drenched <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-hous..." target="_blank">ballroom</a> for MAGA super Pac <a href="https://democrats.org/news/trump-keeps-the-governm..." target="_blank">billionaires</a> during a government shutdown. Then he went online and <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115398251623299921" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">shared</a> several AI videos, each more puerile and bizarre. In one, he and J.D. <a href="https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1979729073497936319" target="_blank">wear </a><a href="https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1979729073497936319">crowns</a> as Dem leaders wear sombreros (again). Then he has a crown and sword as Dems <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115398257963308786" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">bow down </a>to him. Finally, piloting a "King Trump" fighter jet, he <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115398251623299921" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">drops </a>a massive load of shit on protesters below. Ha! Good one! Talk about presidential leadership! Let the American people and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/billybraggofficial/posts/..." target="_blank">Billy Bragg -</a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/billybraggofficial/posts/...">-</a> who were all bigly<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:honeoslflg3tlhfme4uzngcb/post/3m3jhucppws25?ref_src=embed&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fdigbysblog.net%252F" target="_blank"> not amused</a><a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:honeoslflg3tlhfme4uzngcb/post/3m3jhucppws25?ref_src=embed&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fdigbysblog.net%252F"></a> - eat shit! CNN host Manu Raju: "I don't really know what to say (except) this is the President of the United States." Maybe say this: "History will be kind to the first Republicans who meaningfully say 'enough.'" Or t<a href="https://substack.com/redirect/6e8ddc48-3ee1-4abf-95b1-8dc78485400c?j=eyJ1IjoibDhod24ifQ.5jEjeLiJZS5OfHG4v_xEBlfZCsRwcX2P4Vv9vuux9BQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">his</a>: "Fuck you, you fucking fuck." Or this: "Every day is No Kings Day.""Every single rally (including in the small towns) was bigger than the surrounding police force available. That (is) VERY IMPORTANT if (you’re) demonstrating social coherence AGAINST a fascist government and its makeshift gestapo.” - <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/drlisacorrigan.bsky.socia..." target="_blank">historian </a>Lisa Corrigan<blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1979705913692008820">
<div style="margin:1em 0"></div> — (@)
<a href="https://twitter.com/TrumpDailyPosts/status/1979705913692008820"></a>
</blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 20 Oct 2025 04:23:59 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/further/the-frog-abides-we-the-people-are-pissed</guid><dc:creator>Abby Zimet</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/a-kid-in-the-america-we-ve-left-to-him-her-them-for-now.jpg?id=61778444&width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>King Donald the First: Fuck That</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/further/king-donald-the-first-fuck-that</link><description><![CDATA[
<img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/frogs-and-the-rest-of-us-face-off-against-fascists.jpg?id=61774751&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=252%2C0%2C252%2C0"/> The run-up to No Kings Day has seen a crazed wave of hysteria from a right wing shrieking about Hamas, Marxists, Huns, Orcs, Barbarians at the Gate with the sinister portent, "You'll see the hate for America all over this thing." What the. We think we'll see millions of people - also frogs, chickens and a detained giraffe - who support health care, free speech, our neighbors, and the right to oppose becoming an authoritarian hellhole. DeNiro: "We're all in this together, with liberty and justice for all." Organizers <a href="https://www.nokings.org/" target="_blank">vowing,</a> "No Thrones, No Crowns, No Kings" are predicting the largest, one-day demonstration in U.S. history, with people in 2,500 towns and cities across the country celebrating the First Amendment's guarantee to "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." The original No Kings protest took place 250 years ago, Robert DeNiro <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DPmDYiIkfHh/?utm_sourc..." target="_blank">noted</a> in a sober ad for Indivisible , when Americans decided they didn’t want to live under the rule of King George III; they declared their independence and fought a bloody war for democracy, which since then has proved "often challenging, sometimes messy and always essential." As to today's would-be king, he said, "Fuck that." Indeed.The messaging around the new No Kings from <a href="https://www.nokings.org/partners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hundreds of groups</a> organizing it has been strikingly consistent, calling on people to “engage in the work of democracy." The Human Rights Campaign blasts "an authoritarian regime that’s forgotten who it serves," charging us to "stand together in the belief that America belongs to its people." Authoritarians, they note, require division to carry out their agenda: "They need people to stop trusting each other, to stop talking to each other, to make us forget who we are, we, the people, demanding a country that makes good on its promise of freedom. And there is nothing more American than that." Despite the abuses and intimidation, the task is "to remind those in power who they answer to. This is our country."Over time, the right's frantic bloviating and fear-mongering have escalated along with the reasons to protest - health care, shut down, masked thugs, broccoli prices. But its basic tenets have stayed the same: Only GOP speech is protected, not yours. If you oppose them, you're a terrorist, probably <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3m2tvpocdyo2k" target="_blank">paid.</a> The only legit American is one who thinks and looks like them. And they can viciously lie, provoke, insult, harass, <a href="https://x.com/CattardSlim/status/1978556033632292930" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> dissemble </a>or demonize you as communists, fascists, pedophiles, vermin all they like, but Democrats are the ones "inciting violence." Thus on Saturday, will they recoil from what smug, obsequious, despicable fraud MAGA Mike calls "the hate America rally," and no wonder. Damn, little Christo-fascist dude, what would Jesus say? "I have had it with these people," Mike sputtered a few weeks ago on "the pro-Hamas wing and, you know, antifa people" planning to gather and "playing games with real people's lives...I can’t believe they’re actually doing this." (The next thing you know, they could be cutting health care..) This week, it was an “<a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/no-kings-republicans-hate-america-terrorists_n_68e93f7ae4b0a0b11bf2a30a" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">outrageous gathering for outrageous purposes,</a>“ again with "pro-Hamas supporters," "antifa types," "Marxists in full display (who) don’t want to stand and defend the foundational truths of this republic,” which of course include the foundational truth that we have free speech and no kings. The hypocrisy went even more over the top when Thug-In-Chief Tom Homan inveighed about "hateful rhetoric," darkly warning "there will be bloodshed." Scott Bessent,vowed he'd <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/scott-bessent-wants-to-wage-a-post-911-style-war-on-the-american-left_n_68efe509e4b017d85b737225?utm_source=buzzfeed&utm_medium=iframely" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">investigate </a>the event's "networks of terrorist organizations" as “the farthest left, hardest core, most unhinged in the Democratic Party.” Pundit Scott Jennings <a href="https://x.com/ScottJenningsKY/status/1978993051545..." target="_blank">charged</a> Dems "care more about criminals than victims...more about illegal aliens than American citizens. And if you speak up or push back? We saw what happened to Charlie." (OK, but we're still gonna need to see those <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3m2toaim..." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Epstein files.) </a>The most insane bullshit spewed from Press Barbie, who after seeing an interview with Zohran Mamdani sneeringly <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/10/16/2348907/-Trump-s-propaganda-princess-spreads-unhinged-hatred-about-Americans" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">told</a> Fox News it shows Democratics' main constituency is “made up of Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens and violent criminals." Whereas Repubs are "standing up for law-abiding Americans." Just fuck off, Barbie."The White House says outrageous things to make you hate your neighbor," <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/tim-walz/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">responded </a>Tim Walz. "Your neighbor isn’t the problem. The White House is." Hakeem Jeffries <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZfpLQ_AcIw&t=3s" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">slammed </a>Leavitt as "sick" and "out of control," linking her claptrap to a surge in hate speech evidenced by recently <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/10/15/2348617/-Young-Republicans-leaked-chats-reflect-Trump-s-racist-influence" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="">leaked</a>, racist, sexist, Hitler-loving sewer talk from Young Republicans. "They are ripping the sheets off in plain view," he said. "This is what the American people are getting from the Trump administration." Bernie Sanders on their "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1HBV2v8Lq0" target="_blank">Hate America</a>" drivel: "Really? Because people are defending the Constitution (and) are not going to let (you) turn this country into an authoritarian society? The right to protest is what America is about. You are not going to stop us."Their choice of slurs are "classic authoritarianism," says anti-fascism expert Stanislav Vysotsky, "playing to a base that is rabid for violent retribution against their enemies." The name-calling instills us-vs.-them fear of dissent, dehumanizes opponents as an existential threat, helps justify a violent crackdown, and in this case is carefully calibrated to fit into Trump's demented decree outlawing "Antifa," which is still not a thing, as "a domestic terrorist organization," which is also not a thing. "I don't think it's that complicated," said Indivisible's Ezra Levin. "The one thing an unpopular authoritarian regime is scared of is mass, organized, peaceful people-power." "When people rise, kings fall," <a href="https://www.michaelmoore.com/p/no-kings-day-oct18?..." target="_blank">notes</a> Michael Moore. "There are more of us than there are of them."There've been glitches. As part of a look-over-here-what-Epstein-files-campaign, they're having a 250th anniversary celebration for the Marines, including a "live-fire Amphibious Capabilities Demonstration" at Camp Pendleton just as No Kings is underway, along with a "beach bash" and “vanity parade” Gavin Newsom calls "an absurd show of force"; he did convince them to cancel a planned<a href="https://www.ktvu.com/news/i-5-highway-trumps-missi..." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> shutdown </a>of a major highway that would've caused chaos. And L.A. Mayor Karen Bass urged protesters, as The Onion <a href="https://theonion.com/protesters-urged-not-to-give-..." target="_blank">noted, </a>"not to engage in violence and give (the regime) an excuse to inflict all the damage th<a href="https://www.salon.com/2025/10/16/portlands-protest..." target="_blank">https://www.salon.com/2025/10/16/portlands-protest...</a>ey have been inflicting (since) day one of Trump’s term" because "you wouldn’t want them abducting people in broad daylight and deporting them."Up to Friday night, the right's<a href="https://digbysblog.net/2025/10/17/if-these-are-all..." target="_blank"> feverish smears </a>kept coming: There would be "<a href="https://x.com/Acyn/status/1979193041094349311" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mobs</a> of radicals," the "anarchists and pro-Hamas wing," "terrorists" to be treated "just (like) Al-Qaeda or ISIS." Unexpectedly, some of the most powerful rebuttals to their ridiculous bunkum has come from Portland's now-iconic, blow-up, often-dancing animal creatures: Its Portland Frog, new comrades from the Oregon Frog Brigade - "The Few. The Proud. The Web-Footed" - the longtime Portland Chicken, and various dolphins, roosters, sharks, T-rex and other anti-fascist critters relying on their inherent absurdity and their town's legacy of staunch anti-authoritarianism to make fools of the masked, armed, awkward, camo-swathed thugs accosting them "in this uniquely chaotic moment." The creatures are <a href="https://www.salon.com/2025/10/16/portlands-protest..." target="_blank">serious</a> about their absurdism. Seth Todd, 25, the somber OG Frog, <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2025/10/10/in-portland-activists-use-humor-to-counter-donald-trump-s-apocalyptic-portrayal-of-the-city_6746281_4.html" target="_blank">sees </a>it as "a strategy" to dismantle the narrative of violent protesters and ICE's strongman cosplay: Guns pointed at black-clad, scary- looking activists play differently drawn on a boogeying, oversized, silent frog: "Nice body armor, but (you'll) look stupid trying to take down an inflatable frog." Jack Dickinson, 26, the "chicken" Noem bravely <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPhuJrTEu2Q/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPhuJrTEu2Q/">stared down, </a>has a graduate degree in economics with a focus on game theory, read most of Project 2025, and likes <a href="https://lucid.substack.com/p/the-portland-chicken-..." target="_blank">using</a> "whimsy" to combat bullies: "What they <a href="https://www.wweek.com/culture/2025/10/09/an-interv..." target="_blank">rely on </a>is fear." "At some point, I just I tied my own fate to that of the movement," he says. "The place this is going (is) such a departure from the world I thought (of) as a kid, I would much rather do anything I can to prevent that world from happening."Other heroes have stepped up. The giraffe-suited <a href="https://linktr.ee/robbyroadsteamer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">comedian</a> Robby Roadsteamer was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHTuJ7P8YiM" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">singing </a>Rod Stewart songs of peace and love outside ICE when three camoed jerks, rifles at the ready, detained him; a GoFundMe has<a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-robby-roadsteamers-eye-surgery-recovery?attribution_id=sl:9f059cd9-51b7-47ef-98cc-bcd23595bc57&lang=en_US&ts=1754363238&utm_campaign=man_sharesheet_dash&utm_content=amp13_c&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> raised </a>over $115,000. Kermit, the timeless leader of The Frog Resistance, has <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/trending/2025/10/why-ar..." target="_blank">re-surfaced </a>with a new take on his classic Rainbow Connection: "Why are there so many/ Trump thugs in ski masks/ and why do they have to hide?” And a little-known Irving Berlin song from 1941 has <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSlGYQBPaN0" target="_blank">re-emerged;</a> it was sung by Al Bowlly, killed in London by a German bomb sent by the subject of the song just weeks after it was released: "When that man is dead and gone/We'll go dancing down the street..." Speak up, stay safe, hold onto hope. <iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bw5zxdSObso?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe> - YouTube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw5zxdSObso" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a> ]]></description><pubDate>Sat, 18 Oct 2025 04:52:20 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/further/king-donald-the-first-fuck-that</guid><dc:creator>Abby Zimet</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/frogs-and-the-rest-of-us-face-off-against-fascists.jpg?id=61774751&width=980"></media:content></item><item><title>Advocacy Orgs Launch Ad Campaign to Defend Healthcare in Face of Shutdown</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/advocacy-orgs-launch-ad-campaign-to-defend-healthcare-in-face-of-shutdown</link><description><![CDATA[
This week, a coalition of public interest organizations: Public Citizen, Indivisible, MoveOn, Fair Share America, People for the American Way, American Federation of Teachers, SEIU, National Education Association, and Working Families Power launched a new ad campaign in Axios’s Hill Leaders newsletter urging Congress to stand firm in defense of health care even as the Trump administration launches cruel and wholly unnecessary firings above and beyond traditional shutdown furloughs. The ads will appear in every issue of the newsletter this week. The new ad campaign highlights the threat that the budget proposal being pushed by Trump and Congressional Republicans pose to health care access and affordability, stating: “Republicans have shut down the government because they have no interest in keeping healthcare affordable for millions of Americans. Doubling insurance premiums is not what Americans need. Enough is enough! We must fight to save healthcare.” The first of the ads comes nearly two weeks into the government shutdown. The groups behind the ads say any deal to fund the government must include protections for Americans’ health care and Congress’s power of the purse, which the Trump administration has repeatedly flouted. Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, stated: “Across the country, Americans are urging their representatives to push back against Trump’s destructive agenda and fight for a budget that protects access to health care and safeguards Congress’s authority over federal spending. Members who are fighting for these principles should know that the American people stand with them.” Katie Bethell, executive director of MoveOn, said: “Healthcare is worth fighting for. It’s time for Republicans to join Democrats and end the healthcare price hikes that are coming for millions of working Americans. MoveOn members won’t stop fighting for affordable healthcare.” Kristen Crowell, executive director of Fair Share America, said: “Working people in this country pay our taxes, and have watched this Republican Trifecta in Congress and the White House take trillions of our tax dollars and hand them away to the billionaires while creating a crisis that will increase our health care costs exponentially. Now they've shut down the government rather than protect our healthcare. We are fighting to take back the funding that they stole from us, re-fund the programs our communities need and create a government that works for everyone – not just the billionaires.” Maurice Mitchell, national director of Working Families Power, said: “Trump and Republicans don’t care that our health insurance premiums are going to spike, or that tens of millions of families will lose care under their plan. They only care about satisfying their billionaire donors. It's important that voters know that Republicans would rather shut down the government than lower health care costs for our families." Svante Myrick, president of People For the American Way, added: “Republicans slashed healthcare funding, now they’re holding the American people hostage as their reckless cuts are poised to hurt millions of Americans. Democrats are fighting for affordable healthcare for all, and we fully support that fight. Restore affordable healthcare now.” The ad launch is part of a broader initiative by the sponsoring organizations and others to demand Congress agree on a budget plan that protects health care from Trump administration cuts and prevents Trump from simply refusing to spend duly appropriated funds.]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 15 Oct 2025 13:54:21 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/advocacy-orgs-launch-ad-campaign-to-defend-healthcare-in-face-of-shutdown</guid><dc:creator>Newswire Editor</dc:creator></item><item><title>Hezbollah and MS-13 'R Us, Naked On Bikes In Frog Ears</title><link>https://www.commondreams.org/further/hezbollah-and-ms-13-r-us-naked-on-bikes-in-frog-ears</link><description><![CDATA[
<img src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/survivor-of-war-ravaged-bike-riding-hell-hole-of-portland.jpg?id=61747451&width=1245&height=700&coordinates=275%2C0%2C275%2C0"/> Despite court losses, public antipathy, ridicule, a shutdown they ignore, the nascent police state lurches on with its daft apocalyptic narrative of an America in flames. Their victims include brown parents torn from kids, a minister shot, an 87-year-old veteran tackled, a beloved Black school official. Each time, their allies plead for "radical empathy." Each time, ICE declines, stonily citing "public safety." Joseph Goebbels: "It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition (that) a square is in fact a circle."In another up-is-down, whitewashing moment, on Monday the regime marked "Columbus Day," thus <a href="https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114411157925493893" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reclaiming </a>from "the ashes of left wing arsonists" the explorer's noble, white Christian nationalist legacy of "faith, courage, perseverance and virtue" - not <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/10/11/1044823626/indigenous-peoples-day-native-americans-columbus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Indigenous Peoples Day's </a>theft, exploitation and genocide of almost 100 million Native people - to celebrate "the triumph of Western civilization, such as it is. In its name, Trump continues waging his war on<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-fea..." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> free speech</a>, political opposition, constitutionally protected rights, brown people and anyone who disagrees with him in ongoing efforts to become the man-child king of an authoritarian <a href="https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/197173274870561..." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">hell-hole </a>most Americans <a href="https://contrarian.substack.com/p/it-turns-out-americans-dont-want?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=3719374&post_id=175984309&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=l8hwn&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> don't want.</a>While Trump has declared eight national emergencies to justify his draconian powers, courts are largely holding the line, or at least a standoff, against the insanity. In Oregon, a three-judge panel <a href="https://www.opb.org/article/2025/10/04/portland-national-guard-deployment-judge-decision/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ruled </a>200 National Guard troops called up can remain federalized but can't yet be deployed in Portland. In Chicago, a judge temporarily <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/09/trump-national-guard-troops-chicago-ruling" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">blocked </a>deployment of 500 National Guard from Texas already in nearby Elwood; a judge also banned ICE agents from using "riot control weapons" against protesters there. On Tuesday, a Rhode Island judge <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.rid.59597/gov.uscourts.rid.59597.75.0.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">slammed </a>the government for defying an order banning them from withholding FEMA funds from states that won't cooperate with ICE crackdowns, calling them out for "a ham-handed attempt to bully."How far the regime will go to defy court orders may depend on vengeful Nazi <a href="https://newrepublic.com/post/201387/stephen-miller..." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mastermind</a> Goebbels/Miller, who calls every court decision they lose "legal insurrection"; his heartbroken relatives, in turn, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/alisa.kasmer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">call</a> him "the face of evil." The ever-seething Miller <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/trump-honcho-s..." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">describes </a>protests as "domestic terrorist sedition" and the use of troops against them as "an absolute necessity to defend (our) government, public order and the Republic itself." Last week, saying the quiet part out loud, Miller lied the president has "plenary” or absolute power under Title 10 of the US Code; then he blinked and <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Military/comments/1o0x5ib/miller_glitches_while_falsely_claiming_title_10/" target="_blank">glitched out</a>, reflecting what experts call "cognitive overload" in the "reptilian" brain, often when mistakenly saying something damning. When not freezing, he furiously <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1971762700410..." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sputter</a>s out attacks on a "campaign of terrorism (that) will be brought down" by his righteous mission "to dismantle terrorism and terror networks." At Charlie Kirk's memorial/rally, Miller thundered, "We are the storm" in a demonic, Nazi-esque <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPcp67tidDY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">speech</a> that posited "them" - "You are nothing. You have nothing. You are wickedness, you are jealousy, you are envy, you are hatred...Our enemies cannot comprehend our strength, our determination, our resolve'" - against "us": "Our lineage and our legacy hails back to Athens, to Philadelphia...Our ancestors built the cities...built the industry. We stand for what is good, what is virtuous, what is noble.”Last week, trying to maintain momentum in the face of enduring resistance, Trump called an "Antifa Roundtable" - in fact a rectangle - to follow his declaration of Antifa as a "domestic terrorist organization" 'cause he still doesn't get it's <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/22/trump-executive-order-antifa-terrorist-organization" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">neither</a> terrorist nor an organization, but simply anyone anti-fascist. Gathering flunkies and far-right influencers to help, per one <a href="https://www.wonkette.com/p/trump-held-antifa-round..." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> headline</a>, "Protect Americans From Dancing Unicorns," they repeated like an incantation the notion of "terrorism" and "insurrection" to make it so. In rhetoric echoing Press Barbie's vow Trump will "end the Radical Left’s reign of terror in Portland once and for all," a press release referenced an imaginary "Antifa-led hellfire" and "a wasteland of firebombs, beatings, and brazen attacks."<blockquote class="rm-embed twitter-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1976382769686098305">
<div style="margin:1em 0"></div> — (@)
<a href="https://twitter.com/TheDailyShow/status/1976382769686098305"></a>
</blockquote>
<script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>Trump opened the meeting declaring, "The epidemic of Antifa-inspired terror has been escalating for nearly a decade." He claimed “paid anarchists” want to "destroy our country," and "many people" have died in leftist violence; the correct <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/new-eyewitness-accounts-feds-didnt-identify-themselves-before-opening-fire-on-portland-antifa-suspect" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">number </a>is one, in 2020, followed by three deaths on the left. He <a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/1976776133887549815" target="_blank">raved </a>about "flag-burning mobs," "degenerates" and, without irony, "people that want to overthrow government" before occasionally <a href="https://x.com/GovPressOffice/status/1976033049654726994" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">nodding off, </a> Everyone agreed with him about everything. "This is not activism, it's anarchy," intoned Pam Bondi before vowing to take "the same approach" to Antifa as to drug cartels: "We're going to take them apart," and then presumably, summarily <a href="https://x.com/svdate/status/1976049416369995951" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">kill</a> them from above? A suitably icy ICE Barbi<a href="https://www.mediaite.com/politics/kristi-noem-says..." target="_blank">e vowed</a> to "eliminate Antifa from existence." "They are just as sophisticated as MS-13, as TDA (Tren de Aragua]), as Isis, as Hezbollah, as Hamas, all of them," she said. They are just as dangerous. They have an agenda to destroy us." Despite that peril, she later bravely <a href="https://www.aol.com/news/kristi-noem-praised-stari..." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ventured </a>to war-torn Portland, where protests <a href="https://x.com/NancyRomm/status/1976974181431705764" target="_blank">cover </a>about a block of its 135 square miles. There, MAGA podcaster Benny Johnson <a href="https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1975662466874175498" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">gushed, </a>she survived mean signs - "Molotovs Melt Ice" - and, from a rooftop, "<a href="https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1975662466874175498" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">stared down</a> an Antifa army," aka a few protesters<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/ronfilipkowski.bsky.social/post/3m2nbexipfc2z" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">/enemy combatants </a>and a guy in a chicken costume. Also in her entourage was a (pardoned) Jan. 6 <a href="https://x.com/davidmedinapdx" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">rioter </a>who'd just <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/media/1338881/dl?inline" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">texted</a> a friend, “We need a war, bro."At a Cabinet meeting later that week, Noem <a href="https://x.com/Acyn/status/1976326164315783210" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">claimed</a> city, state and police officials - "all lying, disingenuous, dishonest people!" - were "absolutely <a href="https://x.com/RonWyden/status/1976679424117612841" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">covering up</a> the terrorism hitting their streets" because otherwise why was the city so quiet? Sen Ron Wyden: "Thoughts and prayers to Cosplay Cop Kristi who had to endure the dogs, farmers' markets, capybaras (at Debbie Dolittle's Petting Zoo") and marathon runners of Portland." Wrote Portland City Council member Angelita Morillo: "I never thought renowned puppy-killer Kristi Noem would be so afraid of protesters wearing frog costumes, but here we are...There is no terrorism happening here. I think that they are just a very scared people."To the press later, Trump praised Noem and promised to punish people who create mean signs. In one hilarious, terrifying moment, he was asked if, given all the terrorism, he'd given more thought to suspending habeas corpus, the constitutional protection from <a href="https://theconversation.com/habeas-corpus-a-thousand-year-old-legal-principle-for-defending-rights-thats-getting-a-workout-under-the-trump-administration-254525" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">unlawful detention</a>. "Uh, suspending who?" he asked. "Habeas corpus." "I dunno," he said. "I’d rather leave that to Kristi - what do you think?” Kristi: "Umm..." George Conway: "President Non Compos Mentis has no idea what the writ of habeas corpus is.” Still, Trump <a href="https://x.com/atrupar/status/1976776133887549815" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">yammered</a>, Portland is "a burning hellhole...You don’t even have stores anymore. They don’t put glass up. They put plywood. Every time I look at that place it’s burning down. There are fires all over the place.” <img alt="Federal agents face off against an inflatable frog in Portland." class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="fe83feedee2fb4c757d3d9ec8ebb153c" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="f6dda" loading="lazy" src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/federal-agents-face-off-against-an-inflatable-frog-in-portland.jpg?id=61752471&width=980"/> Federal agents face off against an inflatable frog in Portland.Photo by Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/AFP via Getty ImagesSomehow, despite their noise and power, Americans still aren't buying it. Last week, the White House <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1976668787467514316" target="_blank">bragged</a> a video of Noem blaming the shutdown on Dems was “currently playing at every public airport in America." Not: Multiple airports are <a href="https://newrepublic.com/post/201697/airports-pushi..." target="_blank">refusing</a> to play it, citing the Hatch Act and opposing "using public assets for political propaganda. Immigration lawyer Aaron Reichlin-Melnick: "Can you think of a single movie in which there's a government video denouncing its political opponents playing on a loop in public spaces (and) that government was the good guy?” In Chicago store fronts have started <a href="https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220711194" target="_blank">displaying </a>signs that read, "ICE do not have consent to enter this business unless they have a valid judicial warrant."And mockery rejecting the right's ludicrous narrative is rife. "This is JB Pritzker reporting from war-torn Chicago," began one video from the governor. "It’s quite disturbing. The Milwaukee Brewers have come in to attack our Chicago Cubs. I've seen people being forced to eat hot dogs with ketchup. Our deep dish pizza has gone shallow....It’s a challenge to survive here, but there’s no hellscape I’d rather be in." Late-night's Jimmy Kimmel, citing "demonstrators in animal costumes dancing to Farruko’s Pepas," asked viewers in Chicago, Portland, Memphis etc to prove how crimey their cities are by sending in <a href="https://www.koin.com/news/portland/jimmy-kimmel-wants-to-see-portlands-hellhole-amid-trumps-claims-against-city/amp/" target="_blank">videos</a>:of their own war-ravaged communities under the hashtag <a href="https://x.com/hashtag/ShowMeYourHellhole?src=hashtag_click" target="_blank">#ShowMeYourHellhole.</a><a href="https://x.com/TrumpCuntry/status/1976118265228493098" target="_blank">Memes</a> abound, especially in Portland, where proudly weird residents have embraced the goofy. "Breaking: Antifa founders identified!" (Churchill and FDR). "<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/ronfilipkowski.bsky.social/post/3m2krnaxwxs25" target="_blank">Boomerfita </a>from the war zone" (boomers/his Land Is Your Land). "The <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:t6ubj2wlhc34awzcymh3qpur?ref_src=embed&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.democraticunderground.com%252F100220708739" target="_blank">Battle</a> of Voo Doo donuts rages on!" (ICE/donuts). Deadly <a href="https://x.com/pdxfrontline/status/1975758838881263811" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">dance parties </a>(large blow-up animals). Gavin Newsom: "WE <a href="https://x.com/GovPressOffice/status/1975793415049941186" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FOUND </a>THE PORTLAND WAR ZONE PETE !!" (Ditto.) Tales of brutal brunch lines, soup groups disrupted, an eight-year-old's soccer team clobbered by a gang of bandits. The OG Frog has been <a href="https://x.com/MAGACult2/status/1977185756365066478" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">joined </a>by a shark, chicken, dolphin, polar bear, <a href="https://www.registerguard.com/picture-gallery/news/politics/2025/10/12/see-photos-of-the-emergency-world-naked-bike-ride-in-portland/86662348007/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">alligator</a>, maybe rooster, more frogs - "He's a friend from another pond" - and chants: "Frog, frog, frog." Sunday also <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2025/10/naked-..." target="_blank">saw </a>an<a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2025/10/naked-..."></a> emergency run of Portland's World Naked Bike Ride, a “quintessentially Portland way to protest” that draws up to 10,000 riders each summer. This one, in pouring rain with a die-in mid-ride, drew about 1,000, many in more-than-usual clothes or with clear ponchos over messages on chests and backs - "We're Cold But Not As Cold As ice, No Faux King Way, End Occupation" - and one brave soul playing bagpipes on a unicycle. The mood was jubilant. “Joy is a form of protest,"" said one. Also, "The people are willing to be vulnerable and stand up for something they believe in," and from a tearful 70-year-old, "Damn, this is a good place to live. This city has a beating heart of love and compassion.”Not so a GOP <a href="https://x.com/nicksortor/status/1977547494469873795" target="_blank">horrified</a> by the joyful spectacle. Asked where's the limit on "acceptable conduct" by federal agents facing protesters, sanctimonious prig and liar MAGA Mike cited their "abuse by radical leftist activists" before <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2025/10/us-hou..." target="_blank">adding</a> "the most threatening thing I've seen" was those giddy bicyclers: "I mean, it's getting really ugly." Go fuck yourself, Mike. He also charged they'd attacked cops (not), with many arrests. About 30 protesters have been arrested since June, with about half accused of "<a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/10/portland-man-accused-of-spitting-in-face-of-federal-officer-outside-ice-building.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" title="https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/10/portland-man-accused-of-spitting-in-face-of-federal-officer-outside-ice-building.html">assaults"</a> like spitting, shoving, throwing a water bottle, kicking back a tear gas cannister. Police made no arrests Sunday; ICE agents detained one person - a clarinetist with a protest band - for an unknown "crime."For things getting "ugly," check out an evil plot, informally dubbed "Freaky Friday," wherein the feds will offer $2,500 <a href="https://theintercept.com/2025/10/03/ice-children-d..." target="_blank">bribes</a> to previously <a href="https://archive.ph/Mu7X5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">tracked, </a>unaccompanied migrant minors over 14 in exchange for them agreeing to be deported to the countries they fled. Advocates denounce the "cruel" notion of coercing vulnerable kids whose <a href="https://latino.ucla.edu/unaccompanied-children-are-under-attack-again/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">funding </a>for legal support has been cut to waive their rights for a cash incentive, or "resettlement support stipend" - especially when they're told that, if they say no, they'll be picked up when they turn 18 by an abusive force of masked, armed federal agents <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/trump-ice-smashed-..." target="_blank">repeatedly found </a>to be the out-of-control aggressors - from smashing windows to people's faces - during arrests. <img alt="A so-called federal law enforcement official responds to being filmed." class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="132e90a2ad01182e87c03c2eab3b871f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="29c55" loading="lazy" src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/a-so-called-federal-law-enforcement-official-responds-to-being-filmed.jpg?id=61752528&width=980"/> A so-called federal law enforcement official responds to being filmed.Photo from BlueSky In response, ICE argues they use "objectively reasonable force." Tell it to Rafie Ollah Shouhed, a longtime, 79-year-old car wash owner in California who <a href="https://ktla.com/news/79-year-old-american-citizen..." target="_blank">filed</a> a federal civil rights suit seeking $50 million after ICE thugs stormed his business and body slammed him to the ground so hard he suffered multiple broken bones and a traumatic brain injury when he tried to tell agents grabbing his workers they had papers. He also told them he'd just had heart surgery, but three guys jumped on his back anyway, with one pressing a knee into his neck and telling him, "You don’t fuck with ICE." He was handcuffed, detained, held 12 hours with no care, calls, food or water. Five of his <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/79-year-us-citizen-claim..." target="_blank"> workers </a>were also detained. There was also the ICE t<a href="https://x.com/ZohranKMamdani/status/1971291604322582673" target="_blank">hug</a> at a New York courthouse who brutally<a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/ice-throws-woman..." target="_blank"> threw down </a>Ecuadorian Monica Moreta-Galarza when she tried to stop agents from dragging her husband away from her and her two kids. The guy choked and <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:f7utvjkqbgwfjonqtpfcf5fu/post/3m2kctlml522z?ref_src=embed&ref_url=https%253A%252F%252Fdigbysblog.net%252F" target="_blank">body-slammed </a>when he didn't step back fast enough from a curb as ordered. The goons <a href="https://digbysblog.net/2025/10/13/what-does-cbp-te..." target="_blank">roughing up </a>bystanders filming, smashing car windows to drag a guy from his one-month-old, <a href="https://www.kcrg.com/2025/09/26/advocates-iowa-cit..." target="_blank">abducting </a>a 27-year-old Colombian during his <a href="https://www.kcrg.com/2025/09/25/escucha-mi-voz-claims-ice-takes-one-its-members/" target="_blank" title="https://www.kcrg.com/2025/09/25/escucha-mi-voz-claims-ice-takes-one-its-members/">shift </a>at an Iowa City market though he was mid-asylum-process, he wore an ankle monitor for tracking, and he, his wife, their infant son lived at a Catholic Worker House. The 8 goons who <a href="https://x.com/JoshEakle/status/1977076066666922409" target="_blank">yanked</a> a girl from her car as she screamed, "I'm 15." There were also the 30 storm-troopers in riot gear who<a href="https://www.wweek.com/news/2025/10/12/documents-al..." target="_blank"> blocked</a> a Portland ambulance from leaving with an injured protester as they argued about one riding with them in the ambulance, which isn't allowed; when the driver put the ambulance in park and it moved a few inches, one goon got in his face and screamed, "DON’T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN, I WILL SHOOT YOU." And there was the sad, strange story of Dr. Ian Roberts, the Black, beloved, charismatic Des Moines school superintendent, "tremendous advocate," "trusted partner (who) showed up in ways big and small for students" and former Olympic runner from Guyana <a href="https://www.iowapublicradio.org/ipr-news/2025-09-2..." target="_blank">arrested </a>by ICE for being just another "criminal illegal alien.” At first, the community <a href="https://www.iowapublicradio.org/news-from-npr/2024..." target="_blank">rallied</a><a href="https://www.kcci.com/article/ian-roberts-des-moines-schools-superintendent-detained-by-ice/68080086" target="_blank"></a> around him, praising his "leadership, empathy and responsiveness," fondly remembering his running against kids, usually in a dapper, three-piece suit, so they could<a href="https://www.iowapublicradio.org/news-from-npr/2024..." target="_blank"> boast</a>, "I raced an Olympian." "His contributions are immeasurable," they said, "and we stand with him." But soon a <a href="https://cis.org/Arthur/Latest-Updates-Case-Dr-Ian-..." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">labrythian history</a> emerged of weapons charges, dubious <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/26/us/ian-roberts-des-..." rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">claims </a>of prestigious degrees, visas granted and denied. Officials faced questions about hiring practices, teachers and parents <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2025/09/27/iowa-republican-lawmakers-probe-des-moines-public-schools-after-superintendents-arrest-by-ice/86392069007/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> struggled</a> to explain his absence to kids, especially Black ones, and many wrestled with "a dark and unsettling time in our country." For ICE, his arrest was a simple "wake-up call for communities to the great work our officers are doing (to) remove public safety threats.” <img alt="Former Olympic runner and school superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts races some of his kids. " class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f03338b531b672901ea9ee7b86efc538" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="ef5e7" loading="lazy" src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/former-olympic-runner-and-school-superintendent-dr-ian-roberts-races-some-of-his-kids.jpg?id=61750076&width=980"/> Former Olympic runner and school superintendent Dr. Ian Roberts races some of his kids. Photo from Des Moines school systemICE's "great work" was also evident last month as Rev. David Black of Chicago's First Presbyterian Church stood in front of the Broadview detention facility, praying in his clerical collar, when heavily armed ICE agents on the roof <a href="https://religionnews.com/2025/10/07/in-chicago-cle..." target="_blank">fired </a><a href="https://religionnews.com/2025/10/07/in-chicago-cle..."></a>pepper balls that<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/mskellymhayes.bsky.social..." target="_blank"> struck</a> him in the head; as he hit the ground, he could hear them laughing. At another Broadview protest, Black along with many others was also <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DPhBNLZDbYA/?utm_sourc..." target="_blank">tased i</a>n the face, shoved to the ground and <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/unraveledpress.com/post/3m2fui3tmp226" target="_blank">detained. </a>He is one of dozens of faith leaders who've been shot multiple times with pepper bullets from ICE - "They are unhinged," says one Methodist - and have <a href="https://religionnews.com/2025/07/28/fourth-group-of-religious-organizations-sues-trump-administration-over-ice-raids-at-churches/" target="_blank">filed lawsuits</a> challenging ICE policies and their <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/watch-ice-sued..." target="_blank">treatment</a> under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.Faith leaders and activists, while denouncing ICE actions as "domestic terror," remain a visible presence at protests, often bearing signs that read, “Who would Jesus deport?" and "Love your neighbor, love your God, save your soul and quit your job." Black, too, keeps returning to "shout down these gates of hell"; above all, he praises "the unbelievably heroic people standing with me...proclaiming liberation in the face of evil itself." By rote, even facing off against clergy, that evil is steadfast: DHS goon Tricia McLaughlin calls the protesters “rioters” who assault agents, throw tear gas or rocks, and "endanger the safety of brave law enforcement officers and illegal aliens inside the facility.” God save her soul. <img alt="David Black gets repeatedly tased in the face at Broadview detention facility." class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="02b50221529f0d0a9f6b7aafda1c514e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="bcb12" loading="lazy" src="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/david-black-gets-repeatedly-tased-in-the-face-at-broadview-detention-facility.jpg?id=61752643&width=980"/> David Black gets repeatedly tased in the face at Broadview detention facility.Photo by Ashlee Rezin of the Chicago Sun-Times.The police state shows no more mercy to veterans, another group often turning up to<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/13/us..." target="_blank"> protest </a>the state of the country they risked their lives to defend, arguing "the basic freedoms we once swore to protect are under attack." They range from the famed Subway sandwich hurler in D.C. to a disabled 87-year-old arrested after he and his walker traveled from an assisted living facility in Florida to protest Trump's military parade in D.C. Veteran critics - most citizens, many brown - say they see "a pattern of state-sanctioned abuse" by ICE, along with ill-trained, reckless, "trigger-happy" agents who would be removed from a front line and court-martialed for their violence. So much for the highest male standard.Their victims include a 70-year-old Air Force veteran <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/five-individuals-charged-federal-court-chicago-assaulting-or-resisting-federal-agents" target="_blank">charged</a> with assault after he "made physical contact" with an agent's arm at Broadview; a 35-year-old Marine vet and infantryman in Afghanistan shot with rubber bullets, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPEpsthDYC8/?igsh=MTF1YmN6NGgxOHd6MQ%3D%3D" target="_blank">tackled</a> by thugs and arrested at Broadview; a Marine veteran who served in Afghanistan, protested in Portland, got his face <a href="https://www.koin.com/news/oregon/video-shows-marine-veteran-tackled-at-portland-ice-protest/" target="_blank">slammed</a> to the ground by <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social/post/3lwh667beac2p" target="_blank">goons </a>snarling, “You’re not talking shit anymore, are you?" and is suing for $150,000 after being hospitalized. ICE said he "used fake blood to falsify injuries" and "perpetuated and encouraged violence.” ICE should know. No wonder a new American hero on an e-bike was born after he <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/hey-m-not-u-ci..." target="_blank">taunted </a>ICE with, "Hey! I'm not a U.S. citizen!" before taking off. "Q: How many out-of-shape, masked ICE agents does it take to <a href="https://x.com/busblog/status/1972477771994808700" target="_blank">kidnap</a> a delivery driver on a bike in downtown Chicago? A: More than these." <iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4AnLAxVtXKk?rel=0&start=28" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe> - YouTube <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AnLAxVtXKk&t=28s" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a> ]]></description><pubDate>Wed, 15 Oct 2025 07:02:49 +0000</pubDate><guid>https://www.commondreams.org/further/hezbollah-and-ms-13-r-us-naked-on-bikes-in-frog-ears</guid><dc:creator>Abby Zimet</dc:creator><media:content medium="image" type="image/jpeg" url="https://www.commondreams.org/media-library/survivor-of-war-ravaged-bike-riding-hell-hole-of-portland.jpg?id=61747451&width=980"></media:content></item></channel></rss>

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