Wait - what ?

"The simple step of the courageous individual is to not take part in the lie."

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Otto Greiner / 'Studie Ruderer' / circa 1900

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Often we think that we do not know enough to be able to teach others. We might even become hesitant to tell others what we know, out of fear that we won’t have anything left to say when we are asked for more. This mind-set makes us anxious, secretive, possessive, and self-conscious. But when we have the courage to share generously with others all that we know, whenever they ask for it, we soon discover that we know a lot more than we thought. It is only by giving generously from the well of our knowledge that we discover how deep that well is. -Henri Nouwen

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I should be at peace. I have understood. Don’t some say that peace comes when you understand? I have understood. I should be at peace. Who said that peace derives from the contemplation of order, order understood, enjoyed, realized without residuum, in joy and triumph, the end of effort? All is clear, limpid; the eye rests on the whole and on the parts and sees how the parts have conspired to make the whole; it perceives the center where the lymph flows, the breath, the root of the whys… ― Foucault’s Pendulum [Umberto Eco]

+ The real hero is always a hero by mistake; he dreams of being an honest coward like everybody else. How does a person feel when looking at the sky? He thinks that he doesn’t have enough tongues to describe what he sees. Nevertheless, people have never stopping describing the sky, simply listing what they see… We have a limit, a very discouraging, humiliating limit: death. That’s why we like all the things that we assume have no limits and, therefore, no end. It’s a way of escaping thoughts about death. We like lists because we don’t want to die. – interview with Der Spiegel in 2009 Umberto Eco

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“The metaphor of the king as the shepherd of his people goes back to ancient Egypt. Perhaps the use of this particular convention is due to the fact that, being stupid, affectionate, gregarious, and easily stampeded, the societies formed by sheep are most like human ones.” Northrop Frye

Thursday brought a disjointed news cycle, with a half-dozen important stories highlighting the need for Democrats to take control of Congress and restore the Article I branch of government to its oversight role. Although we will need a trifecta to pass legislation, Congress can begin investigations, block nominations, and refuse new appropriations to agencies that are ignoring the rule of law

We have reason to be hopeful about the 2026 midterms, but no reason to be complacent. Republicans have a built-in, unfair advantage in House elections due to decades of partisan and racial gerrymandering. Moreover, Trump continues to engage in voter suppression efforts, though he has been thwarted for the most part. But lawyers in the pro-democracy movement are waiting with bated breath to see if the Supreme Court will overturn lower court injunctions that halted Trump’s efforts to turn the Post Office into an instrument of voter suppression. A decision is expected any day on the Trump administration’s application for an emergency stay. The delay in ruling on the Trump administration’s application is beginning to worry some observers. See Rick Hasen, Election Law Blog, “This delay is highly unusual.”

Still, pro-democracy advocates can take any punch Trump and his allies on the Supreme Court can throw at us. Voter suppression is a blunt instrument and will affect voters in both parties. But Democrats are better positioned to respond to voter suppression because they have been the object of such efforts for decades. And Democrats have an enthusiasm advantage in 2026. They are highly motivated to help restore the rule of law, while many Republicans are disillusioned and bitter over Trump’s broken promises regarding foreign wars and lowering prices “on day one.” While Democrats should show up in record numbers, many Republicans will stay home

As always, remember that victory in the midterms is not self-executing. It will come only if we successfully motivate people to show up as never before. We can do that; we are doing that; we must continue doing so.

With that background, let’s take a look at the leading stories.

Distressing conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln.

I reported yesterday on the abysmal conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, which are due in large part to a record-breaking modern-day deployment. On Thursday, the story exploded in the press, on Capitol Hill, and among families of crew members of the USS Abraham Lincoln. Members of Congress, including Rep. Ro Khanna (on the House Armed Services Committee) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (on the Senate Armed Services Committee) have called for an investigation.

The shabby and disrespectful treatment of the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln is unforgivable. It impairs military readiness and operational performance. Those who volunteer to defend our country deserve to be supported and equipped so they can do their jobs safely and effectively.

The conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln should be above politics. But a political backlash is emerging—and it is starting with family members of the crew members. The Acting Secretary of the Navy met with families of the Abraham Lincoln crew last month in San Diego. The two meetings did not go well. See MSNow, In fiery meeting, military families confront acting Navy secretary over conditions on the USS Lincoln

Per MSNow:

In a combative face-to-face confrontation on Thursday night in San Diego, angry military families challenged the acting secretary of the Navy, Hung Cao, over difficult conditions aboard the USS Lincoln as its combat mission against Iran stretches onward with no clear date to return home, according to two people who attended the in-person meeting. Tensions boiled over again during a separate virtual meeting later that night between Navy leadership and family members of the 5,000 sailors and Marines aboard the Lincoln, according to audio and video recordings of the virtual meeting reviewed by MS NOW.

The Navy announced on Thursday that it would send the USS George Washington to replace the Lincoln in the Middle East, allowing the Lincoln to return to its home port in San Diego. Too little, too late, and the switch will compromise the US fleet in the Pacific, where Taiwan is at risk of a Chinese invasion.

This story will continue to develop—hopefully in a good way for the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln. But the damage is done to Trump, Hegseth, and other senior officials in the Department of Defense and the Navy. They have broken faith with the military families, who will not forget the Commander-in-Chief's betrayal

Senior adviser in Iran says that the war will continue until the end of Trump’s term

In a rare interview, a senior adviser to the leader of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said that the war against Iran will last until the end of Trump’s second term. See PBS NewsHour, Top adviser to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard leader sits down for rare interview.

The senior adviser said,

The longer this war lasts, the more experience we gain. We had never seen a real war to gain real experience to learn how to fight with America. In these five months, we have learned how. We have also seen how the American military is weaker than what we perceived. Look, we have to attain deterrence so that the enemy never dares to attack us, so we can live with security. One way is to prolong this war until we get to the next term of the presidency and cause attrition, so that if anyone else wants to attack Iran, they will know there is a cost.

In short, Iran wants to extend the war until the end of Trump’s term to send a message to other potential adversaries. That is bad news indeed. Trump rightly wants to end the war as soon as possible because of its cost and the damage to the US economy. But if Iran wants to extend the war for strategic reasons, all Americans will suffer from the direct and indirect effects of the war on the US economy. Trump didn’t have a strategy when he started the war and doesn’t have a plan for ending it.

Homeland Security spied on unions and protesters in Minnesota

In a revelation that is likely to reverberate through the 2026 midterms (at least), a court filing has revealed that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spied on unions and protesters in Minnesota. See The Guardian, US conducted ‘mass spying campaign’ against leftwing groups and anti-ICE protesters, records reveal

Per the Guardian,

The DHS investigative reports were disclosed by the government and submitted to the court by an attorney for one of the defendants. The records show that in January, DHS launched an inquiry called “Operation Puppet Master” to identify a “network of conspirators” organizing against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The operation came as community organizing against ICE was swelling in the region in response to the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

To be clear, people will go to prison as a result of the DHS spying. But it will not be the innocent Americans exercising their First Amendment rights. It will be the members of DHS, DOJ, and other agencies who abused their power to investigate Americans for political reasons. A day of truth and reconciliation is coming. Those who abused their power will be held accountable.

The Kennedy Center Board attempts to circumvent a judicial order.

Trump attempted to change the name oofthe Kennedy Center Memorial to the “John F. Kennedy and Donald Trump Center for the Performing Arts.” That change violated federal law and was blocked by a federal judge. In a humiliating defeat for Trump, he was forced to remove his name from the Kennedy Center, a defeat so embarrassing for Trump that he has kept a tarp over the Kennedy Center’s front facade ever since his name was removed.

On Thursday, the board of the Kennedy Center attempted to circumvent the court order that removed Trump’s name by voting to include a reference to Trump on the front of the memorial that it was “restored and renovated” by Trump. In addition, the plaza in front of the Kennedy Center will be renamed after Trump. See NYTimes, Kennedy Center Board Decides to Inscribe Trump’s Name on Building. (Gift link.)

The pathetic attempt to assuage Trump’s bruised ego will serve only to further anger voters who see a president consumed with his legacy while ignoring the needs of working Americans struggling to pay for gas and groceries. The move to place his name on the Kennedy Center comes as a new round of criticism has hit the president over his staggering increase in personal wealth while in office. See The Guardian, Trump has amassed staggering wealth in ‘most openly corrupt’ presidency | Donald Trump.

Per the Guardian,

A CNN poll in late July buttressed criticism of Trump’s monetizing his second term: the poll revealed that 66% of 1,225 respondents said Trump doesn’t put the good of the country over his personal gain and only 34% said he does.

Trump is trying to “win” the fight over placing his name on the Kennedy Center. Win or lose, what he is really doing is alienating voters who cannot stand his narcissism and ego.

Concluding Thoughts.

When I appear before grassroots groups, a question I often get is, “What good does it do to take control of Congress in the midterms. Won’t Trump just veto any legislation we pass?”

While it is true that Trump will likely veto legislation passed by a Democratic Congress, each of the stories in today’s newsletter reminds us of the need for oversight: mismanagement of the military, the reckless war against Iran, Homeland Security’s spying on Americans, and Trump’s attempt to place his name on the Kennedy Center Memorial in violation of federal law.

Petr Belenok

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"I define Resistance as that self-created and self-perpetuated, invisible, impersonal, indefatigable force whose sole aim is to prevent us from doing our work, from becoming our best selves, and from rising to the next level of competence, integrity, and generosity. That force never goes away. In fact, it becomes more protean and more cunning as we advance through the levels of professionalism."

— Steven Pressfield

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

August 13, 2026

Heather Cox Richardson

Aug 14, 2026

Today Trump’s handpicked Kennedy Center board voted to put Trump’s name back on the Kennedy Center, this time in letters saying the building was “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” Trump is the chair of the Kennedy Center board; his loyalists elected him to that position.

Administration loyalists are not only cashing in as Trump’s power wanes, they are also grabbing ideological ground.

Although a YouGov poll released two days ago shows that only 40% of Americans approve of Trump’s handling of immigration, the administration has ramped up its attacks on immigrants. Hamed Aleaziz and Miriam Jordan reported in the New York Times at the end of July that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has teamed up with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to enable ICE officers to arrest individuals with expired visas, many of whom are waiting for visa extensions or green cards and have valid work permits.

In the past, those people were usually detained only if they had committed crimes. But the Trump administration considers all those who have overstayed a visa to be criminals. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) hopes to arrest 2,000 immigrants a day, sweeping in foreigners newly married to Americans, an engineer waiting for an extension of his work visa, and so on.

The administration is also moving cases through immigration courts as quickly as possible, leading to people missing court dates in historically high numbers. Having missed their court date, they are being ordered immediately deported. Valerie Gonzalez and Cybele Mayes-Osterman of the Associated Press reported on August 1 that overworked judges are often deciding hundreds of cases a day, often making decisions in less than five minutes.

The administration allowed a contract for legal representation for immigrant children to expire on July 31, then offered a $150 million no-bid contract to a small Texas law firm with no experience in the field but with close ties to Trump. When the story broke, outrage led the law firm to decline the contract.

Yesterday federal officials said a third immigrant detained at New Jersey’s Delaney Hall has died. They said Jose Chajon-Raxon experienced a medical emergency on July 19 and died in the hospital. As part of a new policy to stop reporting the deaths of detainees released from federal custody, DHS said Chajon-Raxon had been “released from ICE custody on July 22.”

On August 10, ICE published a notice that it would spend up to $20 million on shock gloves that deliver a painful charge of electricity to subdue individuals. Jeremy White of Wired reported today that the glove is supposed to subdue someone in three seconds or less and the manufacturer warns that the device should not be used for longer than 15 seconds; no more than one pair should be used at the same time on one person; that operators must touch only arms or legs, strictly avoiding head, face, throat, chest, and groin; that gloves must not be used on the elderly, children, pregnant women, or people with severe disabilities; and that the technology must not be used to stop people from talking back, as punishment, or to torture.

Senator Angus King (I-ME) released a statement saying: “At a time when the majority of Americans believe that Immigration and Customs Enforcement…has been irresponsible in its use of force, the new ICE announcement touting shock gloves begs a crucial question: is ICE genuinely focused on de-escalation or, what appears more likely, intimidation of anyone critical of their often unlawful conduct?

King urged “every single one of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to stand up, assert our constitutional authority, and demand immediate answers from ICE on their hiring practices, training, and tactics.”

He continued: “I never thought I would see the day when masked and armed men in unmarked cars would be roaming the streets and neighborhoods of America, acting in utter disregard of the legal constraints that are basic to our freedoms.

“It’s becoming more and more clear that the stated basis for this gross violation of our rights—that they are ridding our communities of ‘the worst of the worst’—is a lie, and the real purpose is to establish a national police force to do the bidding of a corrupt and lawless administration.”

“It is past time for Congress to do its duty and, for once,” he said, “put country ahead of party.”

The symbol of the administration’s immigration crackdown is the attack on Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, who came to the U.S. legally under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. During the 2024 presidential campaign, both Trump and his running mate J.D. Vance, then a senator from Ohio, claimed falsely that the Haitian immigrants who had come to Springfield to fill jobs in manufacturing and food packaging were eating the pets of their native-born neighbors. Although Republican governor Mike DeWine defended the immigrants, crediting them for the city’s economic renewal, Trump and Vance’s claims set off neo-Nazi marches and threats that forced schools to close.

Former DHS secretary Kristi Noem declined to renew TPS for Haitians and Syrians, and in June the U.S. Supreme Court upheld her determination, stripping about 350,000 Haitian immigrants of their legal status.

Stephen Starr of The Guardian reports that DHS has recently begun ordering Haitian immigrants in Springfield to come to a DHS facility, where they are fitted with ankle monitors. DHS did not answer Starr’s inquiries about why they were using the monitors, answering only: “Every day, DHS is conducting law enforcement activities across the country to keep Americans safe. DHS does not discuss ongoing or future operations.”

The administration claims to be building its border wall in Texas by bulldozing its way through Big Bend National Park, a remote area larger than the state of Rhode Island that receives only about 1% of the nation’s unauthorized border crossings. As Ed Lavandera, Ashley Killough, and Rachel Clarke of CNN reported today, in February, Noem waived federal laws related to wildlife protection, historic preservation, and the environment, saying there was “an acute and immediate need to construct additional physical barriers and roads” there.

Thaddeus Cleveland, a former U.S. Border Patrol officer and the Republican sheriff of Terrell County northeast of the park, told the CNN reporters that there had previously been little if any talk of a border barrier there. “We didn’t have to worry about any type of barrier. We had a God-made barrier,” he said. “But that’s definitely changed.”

The federal government has allotted $1.72 billion for the destruction, planning to add steel walls, hundreds of miles of new roads, and vehicle barriers. Retired park superintendent Bob Krumenaker called the whole project “insane.” “It’s just a tremendous erosion, if not violation, of the agreement that Texans and the American people made when they established that national park. The federal government that I worked for for 41 years is disrespecting its citizens in a huge way.”

Dan Rosenzweig-Ziff, Brad Heath, and Kristina Cooke of Reuters reported today that because of staffing shortages, funding cuts, and reassignment of agents to immigration enforcement as the administration attempts to purge the nation of Brown people, the Department of Justice’s investigations into sex trafficking have stalled, with charges falling to their lowest pace since 2010. The Justice Department has also dropped prosecutions of those involved in crimes like tax evasion and drug trafficking to focus on immigration.

Rebecca Beitsch of The Hill reported today that Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), who is the top-ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee, and Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) want to know more about the purchase of twelve new planes, including one that came “fully equipped with a bedroom and other luxury amenities like a shower, kitchen, bar, and flatscreen TVs”—although the bedroom has apparently been removed—to ferry Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director Kash Patel and Trump’s border advisor Tom Homan. The FBI already has a plane for the director.

“This administration has lit taxpayer dollars on fire by acquiring new and unnecessary planes to jet Trump officials around in extreme luxury that the vast majority of Americans will never experience,” Murray and Murphy wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is also grabbing ideological ground. Although he gained Senate confirmation by assuring Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), a medical doctor, that he would not change the nation’s vaccine schedule, he began reworking it almost as soon as he was confirmed.

States have the authority to determine which vaccines will be required for attendance at public school, but in January the administration cut the number of vaccines the government recommended for children, ceasing to recommend vaccines against influenza, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis or RSV.

On Monday, even as measles outbreaks are growing in the U.S., Trump issued an executive order to force states to revise their recommendations on childhood vaccinations. The order calls for recommending that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine be separated into three single-disease shots to be administered at separate appointments, although such separate vaccinations aren’t even available in the U.S.

While Trump falsely claimed that “there could be a possibility that” the vaccines are “quite lethal” in an MMR shot—utter nonsense—he said that separating the vaccines means they will be “very effective.” In fact, years of evidence have proved that the MMR vaccine is safe and effective.

But what separating the vaccines would do is to guarantee that fewer children would be fully vaccinated. Separate vaccines mean more visits to the doctor, often spaced at specific intervals. Studies show that separating the vaccines makes children from poor families less likely to get the full schedule of vaccines, leaving them and their communities more vulnerable to disease than wealthier Americans.

The executive order will not change the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or, probably, insurance coverage. What it will do is sow confusion over vaccines, as Kennedy has done for years. Trump called the announcement a “major victory for parents rights, religious and constitutional rights, and for the gold standard science.”

When asked if he regretted his vote to confirm the anti-vaccination activist Kennedy to head the nation’s health department, Cassidy told CNBC’s Squawk Box: “If you’re going to tell me I was, somebody didn’t tell me the truth, and I should’ve, like, you know, seen in the future they were not gonna tell the truth, you can say, ‘Oh, Bill you should’ve seen into the future,’ in which case I’d be on your show talking about the futures of stocks as opposed to vaccine policy.”

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

Galactic Stoneworks :: @GalacticStones :: In the dark...

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''When you feel you are empty and have no understanding, continue calmly, do not try to attain something. Feel this emptiness, taste it, and finally you will discover that it is alive. In this emptiness reside the most real, but also the most subtle, aspects of your being - mind, real feeling, and conscious intelligence.''

Paul Simon: 2026 Ravinia Festival :: Hunter Pavilion, Highland Park, IL / July 17, 2026

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Further To Fly

There may come a time When you’ll be tired As tired as a dream that wants to die Further to fly Further to fly Further to fly Further to fly

Maybe you will find a love That you discover accidentally Who falls against you gently as A pickpocket brushes your thigh Further to fly

Effortless music from the Cameroons The spinning darkness of her hair A conversation in a crowded room going nowhere The open palm of desire Wants everything It wants everything It wants everything

Sometimes I’ll be walking down The street and I’ll be thinking Am I crazy Or is this some morbid little lie? Further to fly Further to fly Further to fly

A recent loss of memory A shadow in the family The baby waves bye-bye I’m trying I’m flying

There may come a time When I will lose you Lose you as I lose my sight Days falling backward into velvet night The open palm of desire Wants everything It wants everything It wants soil as soft as summer And the strength to push like spring

A broken laugh, a broken fever Take it up with the great deceiver Who looks you in the eye Says, Baby, don’t cry Further to fly

There may come a time When I will lose you Lose you as I lose my sight Days falling backward into velvet night The open palm of desire The Rose of Jericho Soil as soft as summer The strength to let you go

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“The idea of an afterlife is simply there to give existence a meaning - to give sixty years of banality a sense of purpose. I mean, the idea of an afterlife is just as valid as the idea of a hot dinner - it all depends if you’re hungry.” Robert Smith (via elige)