As a student in elementary school, I learned about our system of government. I learned about our three branches of government. I was taught about an idea of “checks and balances” among the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of our system.

Now I think about what my grandchildren–bright, eager learners–will be taught when they’re soon in elementary school. Will they be taught about a concept that became obsolete during their lives? Will they be taught about an idea that their generation will continue to fight for? Will they watch their country fight (and vote) for the re-institution of our ideals from the 18th century?

What is it that our 3-branched system of government is designed for?
Why is the concept we learned about in grade school–checks and balances–embedded i...

When, oh when, will those who hold the public trust show themselves to be trustworthy?

From Heather Cox Richardson:

“This is the most deeply immoral piece of legislation I have ever voted on in my entire time in Congress,” said Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT).

“[W]e’re debating a bill that’s going to cut healthcare for 16 million people. It’s going to give a tax break to…massively wealthy people who don’t need any more money. There are going to be kids who go hungry because of this bill. This is the biggest reduction in…nutrition benefits for kids in the history of the country.” Murphy continued: “We’re obviously gonna continue to offer these amendments to try to make it better...

Robert Reich, this morning’s Substack, “Solidarity Now”:

Friends,

We are relearning the meaning of “solidarity.”

This week, across America, people have been coming together. 

We may disagree on immigration policy, but we don’t want a president deploying federal troops in our cities when governors and mayors say they’re not needed. 

We may disagree on how laws should be enforced, but we don’t want federal agents to arbitrarily abduct people off our streets or at places of business or in courthouses and detain them without any process to determine if such detention is justified. 

Or target hardworking members of our community. Or arrest judges. Or ship people off to brutal prisons in foreign lands. 

We may disagree on freedom of speech, but we don’t think peop...

From Robert Reich’s Substack post this morning:

What is our moral responsibility as citizens of the United States when the President of the United States moves to deploy thousands of American soldiers against us? 

Trump signed a memo late yesterday ordering 2,000 members of the National Guard to be deployed in Los Angeles County after federal immigration agents in riot gear squared off with hundreds of protesters for a second consecutive day.

Trump’s action is extreme although technically legal. Title 10 of the United States Code allows a president to federalize the National Guard units of states to suppress “any insurrection, domestic violence, unlawful combination, or conspiracy.” In a presidential memo, Trump said, “To the extent that protests or acts of violence directl...

Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters from an American:

“I would like to speak briefly and simply about a serious national condition,” Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine told her colleagues on June 1, 1950. “It is a national feeling of fear and frustration that could result in national suicide and the end of everything that we Americans hold dear…. I speak as a Republican, I speak as a woman. I speak as a United States senator. I speak as an American.”

“Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism,” she pointed out. Americans have the right to criticize, to hold unpopular beliefs, to protest, and to think for themselves...

A summary of the current idiocracy and, of course, the most recent outbursts from the idiot-in-chief. God help us.

From Heather Cox Richardson’s May 26 Letters from an American:

President Donald J. Trump’s erratic behavior was on display this weekend in two public speeches: one to this year’s graduates at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and the other at Arlington National Cemetery. While both speeches are traditionally nonpartisan, Trump indicated he would make them partisan when he wore a red MAGA hat at West Point.

The president began both speeches by sticking to a script but then veered off course. At West Point on Saturday, his speech went on for over an hour. He attacked diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and said: “The job of the U.S...

I couldn’t agree more with this, from Robert Reich’s substack this morning:

“I thought I couldn’t be more shocked and sickened than I already was, but what’s happened this week is truly horrifying. 

In the Oval Office, before cameras and journalists, Trump openly lied to the president of South Africa about alleged violence against white South Africans. The Trump regime has also granted refuge to white South Africans while continuing to bar or deport people of color who desperately need refuge. 

The regime told Harvard it can no longer enroll foreign students and that its existing foreign students must transfer to another university or lose their legal status in the United States.

Trump auctioned off a personal dinner to foreigners who poured money into his own crypto busi...

Graft, corruption, and lining their own pockets. It just doesn’t stop, and Republicans just don’t seem to care.

From May 13, 2025 Letters from an American, Heather Cox Richardson:

While President Donald Trump’s billionaire sidekick Elon Musk has said he is pulling back from his work with the “Department of Government Efficiency,” he is with Trump today in Saudi Arabia, along with representatives from leaders from some of the biggest companies in the United States. The business executives are looking for Saudi investments.

Jason Karaian of the New York Times notes that the Saudis are looking to diversify their oil-dependent economy and are now the world’s largest investors in artificial intelligence, or AI...

From Heather Cox Richardson’s May 12 Letter from an American:

The biggest news over the weekend was silence: the silence of Republicans. They refused to disavow White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller’s statement that the administration is looking at suspending the writ of habeas corpus, that is, essentially declaring martial law. They have also stayed quiet after the administration announced it was planning to accept a gift of a $400 million luxury Boeing 747-8 plane from the Qatari royal family. President Donald J. Trump would use the plane as Air Force One during the rest of his presidency and take it with him when he leaves office.

This is in keeping with the refusal of 53 Republican senators to answer questions from Rolling Stone’s Ryan Bort after NBC’s Kristen Welke...