866OurVote is a national non-partisan election protection coalition working year round to ensure that voters have an equal opportunity to vote and have that vote count. We provide Americans from coast to coast with comprehensive information and assistance at all stages of voting – from registration to absentee and early voting, to casting a vote at the polls, to overcoming obstacles to their participation. Our volunteers provide voter information, document problems they encounter when voting and work with partners and volunteers on the ground to identify and remove barriers to voting.
ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge’s mission is to foster civic culture and institutionalize democratic engagement activities and programs at colleges and universities, making them a defining feature of campus life. By recognizing colleges and universities for their commitment to increasing student voting rates, through its national awards program, ALL IN encourages higher education institutions to help students form the habits of active and informed citizenship, make democratic participation a core value on their campus, and cultivate generations of engaged citizens who are essential to a healthy democracy.
Anti-Defamation League is a leading anti-hate organization. Founded in 1913 in response to an escalating climate of anti-Semitism and bigotry, its timeless mission is to protect the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment for all. Today, ADL continues to fight all forms of hate with the same vigor and passion. ADL is a global leader in exposing extremism and delivering anti-bias education, and is a leading organization in training law enforcement. ADL is the first call when acts of anti-Semitism occur. ADL’s ultimate goal is a world in which no group or individual suffers from bias, discrimination or hate.
The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law is a nonpartisan law and policy institute that seeks to improve our systems of democracy and justice. We work to hold our political institutions and laws accountable to the twin American ideals of democracy and equal justice for all. The Center’s work ranges from voting rights to campaign finance reform, from ending mass incarceration to preserving Constitutional protection in the fight against terrorism.
The California Center for Civic Participation is a non-partisan, non-profit civic education organization, engaging high school students by sparking their interest with exposure to real excitement of the democratic process. We believe that youth hold so much untapped and unlimited power to change their communities and their world and we exist to expose and nurture that power.
Learn more about the California Center for Civic Participation and volunteer opportunities.
The Center’s mission is to promote an enlightened and responsible citizenry committed to democratic principles and actively engaged in the practice of democracy. The Center has reached more than 30 million students and their teachers since 1965.
The Center for Civic Education helps students develop (1) an increased understanding of the institutions of constitutional democracy and the fundamental principles and values upon which they are founded, (2) the skills necessary to participate as competent and responsible citizens, and (3) the willingness to use democratic procedures for making decisions and managing conflict.
The Center for Common Ground empowers under-represented voters through non-partisan voter registration and Get Out the Vote. It provide voter information through door knock canvassing, texting, phone-banking. It also provide free rides to the polls on Election Day.
Learn more about the Center for Common Ground and volunteer opportunities.
Center for Election Innovation & Research engages in cutting-edge work to build voter trust, increase voter participation, and improve the efficiency of election administration. Their work helps elections officials maintain accurate and complete voter lists and secure election technology infrastructure.
Common Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to ensure open, honest, and accountable government; to promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and to empower all people to make their voices heard as equals in the political process. Common cause works across four major issue areas: voting and elections; money and politics; ethics, transparency and government accountability; and media and democracy.
Learn more about Common Cause and the Common Cause Education Fund.
Democracy North Carolina is a nonpartisan organization that uses research, organizing, and advocacy to strengthen democratic structures, build power among disenfranchised communities, and inspire confidence in a transformed political process that works for all.
ElectionDay.Org engages businesses to provide resources and tools to promote voting within their organizations including information on how to register, voting methods, and relevant deadlines.
Equal Justice Works creates opportunities for lawyers to transform their passion for equal justice into a lifelong commitment to public service. Equal Justice Works is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization and is the nation’s largest facilitator of opportunities in public interest law. Equal Justice Works brings together an extensive network of law students, lawyers, legal services organizations, and supporters to promote a lifelong commitment to public service and equal justice. The organization believes that a community of lawyers committed to public service can fulfill our nation’s promise of equal justice for all. Following their Fellowships, more than 85% of Equal Justice Works Fellows remain in public service positions, continuing to pursue equal justice for underserved communities.
Learn more about Equal Justice Works and available volunteer opportunities.
The Election Official Legal Defense Network (EOLDN) is a project of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Center for Election Innovation & Research. EOLDN connects licensed, qualified, pro bono attorneys with election administrators who need advice or assistance. Election workers from all over the country, at the state and local level, can contact EOLDN via this website or by phone (1-877-313-5210) at any time, to request to be connected to a lawyer who can help them, at no cost. This service is available regardless of the election official’s political affiliation, or whether they work in a blue or red state or county.
Learn more about Election Official Legal Defense Network and available volunteer opportunities.
FairVote is a nonpartisan organization seeking better elections for all. They research and advance voting reforms that make democracy more functional and representative for every American. FairVote has a proven record since 1992 as a nonpartisan trailblazer that advances and wins electoral reforms at the local, state and national level through strategic research, communications and collaboration. Today, we are the driving force behind advancing ranked choice voting and fair representation in multi-winner legislative districts that will open up our elections to better choices, fairer representation and more civil campaigns.
HeadCount is a non-partisan organization that uses the power of music to register voters and promote participation in democracy. HeadCount uses a grassroots approach to reach young people and music fans at concerts and online to inform and empower. Like music and democracy? Come work (or volunteer) with us!
Learn about how to be involved at a concert or event near you.
Indivisible is committed to providing civic education, policy resources, strategic guidance, and targeted trainings for groups across the country. It educates and empowers civic leaders at the community level across the country.
Learn more about Indivisible and volunteer opportunities available in several states.
Leaders We Deserve is a grassroots organization dedicated to electing young progressives to Congress and State Legislatures across the country to help defeat the far-right agenda and advance a progressive vision for the future.
The League of Women Voters of the United States encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.
The Lincoln Project is a leading pro-democracy organization in the United States — dedicated to the preservation, protection, and defense of democracy. The Lincoln Project launched with two stated objectives. The first was to defeat Donald Trump at the ballot box. The second was to ensure Trumpism failed alongside him. As we have seen, our fight against Trumpism is only beginning. We must combat these forces everywhere and at all times. Our democracy depends on it.
Learn more about The Lincoln Project and available volunteer opportunities.
People For the American Way Foundation conducts research, legal, and education work on behalf of First Amendment freedoms and democratic values; monitors, exposes, and challenges the Religious Right movement and its political allies; identifies, trains, and supports the next generation of progressive leaders through its Young People For youth leadership programs and its Young Elected Officials Network; and carries out nonpartisan voter education, registration, civic participation, and election protection activities.
Project Vote is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded on the belief that an organized, diverse electorate is the key to a better America. Project Vote’s mission is to build an electorate that accurately represents the diversity of this nation’s citizenry, and to ensure that every eligible citizen can register, vote, and cast a ballot that counts.
Project Vote Smart offers services and programs for political journalists to enhance their coverage of politics and elections. The Project partners with more than 300 national, state, and local news organizations, all endorsing Project programs. In addition to comprehensive databases on more than 40,000 candidates and incumbents, the Project provides journalists with special research services and publications. We devote considerable effort to researching information about all candidates for presidential, congressional, gubernatorial and state legislative office and elected officials. Voters thus have access to unbiased information on candidates as well as those serving in elected positions.
Learn more about Project Vote Smart and available volunteer opportunities.
The Public Citizen Foundation supports Public Citizen’s education, litigation, research, and public information activities. Public Citizen is a national consumer advocacy organization founded in 1971 to represent consumer interests in Congress, the executive branch and the courts. Public Citizen fights for openness and democratic accountability in government, for the right of consumers to seek redress in the courts; for clean, safe and sustainable energy sources; for social and economic justice in trade policies; for strong health, safety and environmental protections; and for safe, effective and affordable prescription drugs and health care.
Learn more about Public Citizen and available opportunities.
Rideshare2Vote was created to increase the voice and power of people by expanding their civic engagement and voting rights. We have created a voter touch outreach field program that includes our transportation service specifically for Democratic and progressive voters. Rideshare2Vote focuses our work in disenfranchised communities; voting for the first time; who are not voting in every election; that are disabled; living in poverty and who are elderly.
Learn more about Rideshare2Vote and available volunteer opportunities.
Fusing pop culture, politics, and technology, Rock the Vote works to mobilize the millennial voting bloc and the youth vote, protect voting rights, and advocate for an electoral process and voting system that works for the 21st century electorate. For almost 25 years, Rock the Vote has pioneered ways to make voting easier by simplifying and demystifying voter registration and elections for young adults.
Learn more about Rock the Vote and available volunteer opportunities.
The Andrew Goodman Foundation makes young voices and votes a powerful force in democracy. Our ability to spark their passion — today — will result in change, tomorrow. The Andrew Goodman Foundation supports youth leadership development, voting accessibility, and social justice initiatives on campuses across the country with mini-grants to select institutions of higher learning and other financial assistance to students.
Our vision is that young people will become active, engaged citizens who ensure a just democracy and sustainable future. Join us during this critical time for American democracy and help shape the next generation of civic leaders.
Learn more about The Andrew Goodman Foundation and available volunteer opportunities.
The Center for Public Integrity is dedicated to producing original, responsible investigative journalism on issues of public concern. The mission of the Center for Public Integrity is to protect democracy and inspire change using investigative reporting that exposes betrayals of the public trust by powerful interests. To pursue its mission, the Center generates high-quality, accessible investigative reports, databases, and contextual analysis on issues of public importance; disseminates work to journalists, policymakers, scholars, and citizens using a combination of digital, electronic, and print media; and educates, engages, and empowers citizens with the tools and skills they need to hold government and other private institutions accountable.
The Civics Center is dedicated to building the foundations of youth civic engagement and voter participation in high schools through education, organizing, and advocacy. We support student-led, peer-to-peer voter registration and pre-registration efforts in high school communities.
Learn more about The Civics Center and available volunteer opportunities.
TurnUp is non-profit organization and mobile app that comprises the largest youth-led voter registration and turnout initiative. TurnUp’s 2024 election engagement plans include four integrated programs that work together to increase youth voter registration and turnout: physical registration and turnout drives; relational registration and turnout drives; grassroots organizing; and digital campaigns. TurnUp has Volunteer and Internship positions for high school, college, and recent graduates.
VoteRiders is a non-partisan, non-profit organization with a mission to ensure that all citizens are able to exercise their freedom to vote. VoteRiders informs and helps citizens to secure their voter ID as well as inspires and supports organizations, local volunteers, and communities to sustain voter ID education and assistance efforts. VoteRiders offers a variety of volunteer options including virtual and on the ground positions.
When We All Vote is a leading national, nonpartisan initiative on a mission to change the culture around voting and to increase participation in each and every election by helping to close the race and age gap. Created by Michelle Obama, When We All Vote brings together individuals, institutions, brands, and organizations to register new voters across the country and advance civic education for the entire family and voters of every age to build an informed and engaged electorate for today and generations to come. We empower our supporters and volunteers to take action through voting, advocating for their rights, and holding their elected officials accountable.
Learn more about When We All Vote and available volunteer opportunities.
Resources
Defending our values through knowledge and action.
February 23, 2026
On Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at 5 PM Pacific, we welcome Max Boot who will be in conversation with Larry Diamond on the topic: “WHAT IS THE ENDGAME? U.S. POLICY AND THE FUTURE OF VENEZUELA AND BEYOND” (Register Here)
Max Boot is a Russian-American author, consultant, editorialist, lecturer and military historian. He worked as a writer and editor for Christian Science Monitor and then for The Wall Street Journal in the 1990s. He is now Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a contributor to The Washington Post. He has written for numerous publications such as The Weekly Standard, the Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times, and he has also authored books of military history. His book, “Reagan: His Life and Legend,” was released in 2024.
Larry Diamond is an American political sociologist and leading contemporary scholar in the field of democracy studies. Diamond is a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.
New York Times/Opinion
By David French
February 22, 2026
Is This the Most Important Supreme Court Case of the Century?
The Supreme Court may have just helped save the Republic.
On Friday, a 6-3 majority struck down President Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to implement sweeping global tariffs, including tariffs against Mexico, Canada and China.
Justices John Roberts, Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, Amy Coney Barrett and Neil Gorsuch voted together — though for different reasons — to block one of the central elements of Trump’s foreign and economic policy. As Roberts explained in his opinion, in terms of sheer economic impact the case dwarfed many of the most contentious cases of the last several terms, including, for example, Biden v. Nebraska, the case blocking President Joe Biden’s student loan debt forgiveness program.
In fact, it may prove to be the most important Supreme Court decision this century. And if you think I’m being hyperbolic, let me explain.
First, the court blocked a monumental presidential power grab — one so big and so bold that it threatened the foundation of our constitutional system.
The chief justice’s opinion hinged on a legal principle called the “major questions doctrine” — the same doctrine that was used repeatedly to block the Biden administration’s regulations and orders.
As Justice Gorsuch explained in his concurring opinion, the doctrine means, “When executive branch officials claim Congress has granted them an extraordinary power, they must identify clear statutory authority for it.”
(To continue reading click here)
Washington Post/Opinion
By Max Boot
February 16, 2026
Even far-right foreign leaders are getting sick of Trump’s meddling
Seldom, if ever, have U.S. presidents interceded as brazenly as Trump has done in foreign politics.
President Donald Trump trashes so many norms that it’s easy to overlook how outlandish some of his actions are. Take his habit of formally endorsing candidates in other countries’ elections. Previous presidents occasionally made their preferences plain, often to their subsequent regret: Bill Clinton was supportive of Boris Yeltsin in Russia’s 1996 election and Barack Obama was critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel’s 2015 election. But seldom, if ever, have presidents interjected themselves as brazenly as Trump has done in foreign politics.
Earlier this month, Trump offered his “Complete and Total Endorsement” to both Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (“a strong, powerful, and wise Leader”) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, also “a truly strong and powerful Leader” (but perhaps not wise?). Conversely, he has demanded that Iraqi lawmakers not select Nouri al-Maliki, who is considered close to Iran, as prime minister.
Last year, Trump endorsed Nasry Asfura in Honduras’s presidential election and Javier Milei in Argentina’s election. In the latter case, Trump made clear that Argentina would receive a $20 billion bailout only if Milei won. Previous foreign leaders who have received Trump’s electoral blessing include Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Boris Johnson in Britain, Karol Nawrocki in Poland and Giuseppe Conte in Italy.
(To continue reading click here)
The Contrarian (on Substack)
Jennifer Rubin
February 16, 2026
How to Trump-proof the presidency
When we reflect on our great presidents (e.g., George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, the Roosevelts), the good ones (e.g., Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower), and even the poor ones (e.g., Herbert Hoover, James Buchanan), we can at least say they understood our basic constitutional framework. Even ones guilty of major legal, policy, or moral transgressions (e.g., Watergate, the Red Scare, Vietnam, the Iraq War) had some redeeming qualities and accomplishments. Until this one.
Without sarcasm, many Americans wonder if we can get back to a time when a “merely bad” president was the worst we could expect. In other words, we shudder at the possibility that the floor for presidents been permanently and completely eradicated so that future Donald Trumps are possible if not likely.
Plainly, we cannot rely on the discernment of the American people. They did elect the most despicable, corrupt, cruel, ignorant, and lawless president ever to hold office, knowing a great deal about what he intended to do.
As much as we admire Alexander Hamilton, his observation in Federalist No. 68 turns out to be laughably, tragically wrong:
The process of election affords a moral certainty, that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.
February 22, 2026
On Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at 5 PM Pacific, we welcome Max Boot who will be in conversation with Larry Diamond on the topic: “WHAT IS THE ENDGAME? U.S. POLICY AND THE FUTURE OF VENEZUELA AND BEYOND” (Register Here)
Max Boot is a Russian-American author, consultant, editorialist, lecturer and military historian. He worked as a writer and editor for Christian Science Monitor and then for The Wall Street Journal in the 1990s. He is now Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a contributor to The Washington Post. He has written for numerous publications such as The Weekly Standard, the Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times, and he has also authored books of military history. His book, “Reagan: His Life and Legend,” was released in 2024.
Larry Diamond is an American political sociologist and leading contemporary scholar in the field of democracy studies. Diamond is a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.
Washington Post/Opinion
By Max Boot
February 16, 2026
Even far-right foreign leaders are getting sick of Trump’s meddling
Seldom, if ever, have U.S. presidents interceded as brazenly as Trump has done in foreign politics.
President Donald Trump trashes so many norms that it’s easy to overlook how outlandish some of his actions are. Take his habit of formally endorsing candidates in other countries’ elections. Previous presidents occasionally made their preferences plain, often to their subsequent regret: Bill Clinton was supportive of Boris Yeltsin in Russia’s 1996 election and Barack Obama was critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel’s 2015 election. But seldom, if ever, have presidents interjected themselves as brazenly as Trump has done in foreign politics.
Earlier this month, Trump offered his “Complete and Total Endorsement” to both Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (“a strong, powerful, and wise Leader”) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, also “a truly strong and powerful Leader” (but perhaps not wise?). Conversely, he has demanded that Iraqi lawmakers not select Nouri al-Maliki, who is considered close to Iran, as prime minister.
Last year, Trump endorsed Nasry Asfura in Honduras’s presidential election and Javier Milei in Argentina’s election. In the latter case, Trump made clear that Argentina would receive a $20 billion bailout only if Milei won. Previous foreign leaders who have received Trump’s electoral blessing include Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Boris Johnson in Britain, Karol Nawrocki in Poland and Giuseppe Conte in Italy.
(To continue reading click here)
The Contrarian (on Substack)
Jennifer Rubin
February 16, 2026
How to Trump-proof the presidency
When we reflect on our great presidents (e.g., George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, the Roosevelts), the good ones (e.g., Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower), and even the poor ones (e.g., Herbert Hoover, James Buchanan), we can at least say they understood our basic constitutional framework. Even ones guilty of major legal, policy, or moral transgressions (e.g., Watergate, the Red Scare, Vietnam, the Iraq War) had some redeeming qualities and accomplishments. Until this one.
Without sarcasm, many Americans wonder if we can get back to a time when a “merely bad” president was the worst we could expect. In other words, we shudder at the possibility that the floor for presidents been permanently and completely eradicated so that future Donald Trumps are possible if not likely.
Plainly, we cannot rely on the discernment of the American people. They did elect the most despicable, corrupt, cruel, ignorant, and lawless president ever to hold office, knowing a great deal about what he intended to do.
As much as we admire Alexander Hamilton, his observation in Federalist No. 68 turns out to be laughably, tragically wrong:
The process of election affords a moral certainty, that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.
February 18, 2026
If you missed today’s program featuring Susan Glasser in conversation with Madeleine Brand, you can watch the program at THIS PAST EVENTS LINK. The program will post a few hours after it ends. Starting Thursday morning, you can listen AT THIS PODCAST LINK
On Wednesday, February 25, 2026, at 5 PM Pacific, we welcome Max Boot who will be in conversation with Larry Diamond on the topic: “WHAT IS THE ENDGAME? U.S. POLICY AND THE FUTURE OF VENEZUELA AND BEYOND” (Register Here)
Max Boot is a Russian-American author, consultant, editorialist, lecturer and military historian. He worked as a writer and editor for Christian Science Monitor and then for The Wall Street Journal in the 1990s. He is now Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow in National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a contributor to The Washington Post. He has written for numerous publications such as The Weekly Standard, the Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times, and he has also authored books of military history. His book, “Reagan: His Life and Legend,” was released in 2024.
Larry Diamond is an American political sociologist and leading contemporary scholar in the field of democracy studies. Diamond is a senior fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.
Washington Post/Opinion
By Max Boot
February 16, 2026
Even far-right foreign leaders are getting sick of Trump’s meddling
Seldom, if ever, have U.S. presidents interceded as brazenly as Trump has done in foreign politics.
President Donald Trump trashes so many norms that it’s easy to overlook how outlandish some of his actions are. Take his habit of formally endorsing candidates in other countries’ elections. Previous presidents occasionally made their preferences plain, often to their subsequent regret: Bill Clinton was supportive of Boris Yeltsin in Russia’s 1996 election and Barack Obama was critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel’s 2015 election. But seldom, if ever, have presidents interjected themselves as brazenly as Trump has done in foreign politics.
Earlier this month, Trump offered his “Complete and Total Endorsement” to both Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (“a strong, powerful, and wise Leader”) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, also “a truly strong and powerful Leader” (but perhaps not wise?). Conversely, he has demanded that Iraqi lawmakers not select Nouri al-Maliki, who is considered close to Iran, as prime minister.
Last year, Trump endorsed Nasry Asfura in Honduras’s presidential election and Javier Milei in Argentina’s election. In the latter case, Trump made clear that Argentina would receive a $20 billion bailout only if Milei won. Previous foreign leaders who have received Trump’s electoral blessing include Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil, Boris Johnson in Britain, Karol Nawrocki in Poland and Giuseppe Conte in Italy.
(To continue reading click here)
The Contrarian (on Substack)
Jennifer Rubin
February 16, 2026
How to Trump-proof the presidency
When we reflect on our great presidents (e.g., George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, the Roosevelts), the good ones (e.g., Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower), and even the poor ones (e.g., Herbert Hoover, James Buchanan), we can at least say they understood our basic constitutional framework. Even ones guilty of major legal, policy, or moral transgressions (e.g., Watergate, the Red Scare, Vietnam, the Iraq War) had some redeeming qualities and accomplishments. Until this one.
Without sarcasm, many Americans wonder if we can get back to a time when a “merely bad” president was the worst we could expect. In other words, we shudder at the possibility that the floor for presidents been permanently and completely eradicated so that future Donald Trumps are possible if not likely.
Plainly, we cannot rely on the discernment of the American people. They did elect the most despicable, corrupt, cruel, ignorant, and lawless president ever to hold office, knowing a great deal about what he intended to do.
As much as we admire Alexander Hamilton, his observation in Federalist No. 68 turns out to be laughably, tragically wrong:
The process of election affords a moral certainty, that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.
February 16, 2026
THIS Wednesday, February 18, 2026, at 5 PM Pacific, we welcome Susan Glasser who will be in conversation with Madeleine Brand on the topic: “COLLAPSING NORMS: CAN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY SURVIVE THIS STRESS TEST?” (Register Here)
Susan B. Glasser is an American journalist and news editor. She writes the on-line column “Letter from Biden’s Washington” in The New Yorker, where she is a staff writer. She has served as editor of Politico, was founding editor of Politico Magazine, and editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy magazine, which won three National Magazine Awards during her tenure.
Madeleine Brand is the host of the award-winning daily news and culture show, Press Play. On the show, she covers national, international and local stories through a Southern California lens. She is also the co-host of KCRW’s legal affairs podcast, The Legal Eagle Files.
Foreign Affairs
Michael Singh
February 11, 2026
Visions of Decline Are a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
Shortly after U.S. special forces raided Caracas and captured the Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in early January, Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, offered a blunt justification for the Trump administration’s actions. “You can talk all you want about international niceties,” he said, “but we live in a world, in the real world… that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power.” Miller’s comments painted the United States as a strong country, anxious about threats in a disordered world, acting aggressively and preemptively to ensure its own security.
This ethos increasingly appears to characterize President Donald Trump’s broader foreign policy, which threatens or even employs force wherever and whenever the president, unconstrained by norms or alliances, so chooses. Moved by the news of protesters being killed in Iran, Trump threatened military strikes in the country. Seized by a desire to possess the Danish territory of Greenland, he brandished the possibility of tariffs and military force again, but this time made NATO allies the targets of his threats. On the surface, the United States under Trump seems the very picture of a confident and capricious hegemon, tapping its unrivaled power to deter and coerce.
But the president’s second-term military adventures pose two questions whose answers belie that superficial image: Why these places, and why now? The U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear facilities in June was perhaps predictable, given Iran’s progress toward a nuclear weapon, and Trump’s hostility toward Tehran today is nothing new. But U.S. actions toward Venezuela and Greenland—and the administration’s inconsistent explanations for them—have left many around the world alarmed and bewildered. Rather than aim his coercion at great-power peers, Trump has targeted weak adversaries and even allies. His motive for doing so lies neither in an overweening confidence nor in canny strategy. It comes instead from fear: of a loss of status on the world stage and of the decline of American power relative to that possessed by other states.
There are reasons to worry that the United States is falling behind in key measures of power. But many of the concerning trends remain reversible. With policies that enlarge and transform the U.S. military, tap into alliances to amplify U.S. power, and address Washington’s budgetary woes, the United States can continue to be the world’s most powerful and influential state. By continuing to expend American power in peripheral or unnecessary conflicts, however, the Trump administration will only accelerate the country’s relative decline.
February 11, 2026
If you missed today’s program featuring Carol Leonnig in conversation with Warren Olney, you can watch the program at THIS PAST EVENTS LINK. The program will post a few hours after it ends. Starting Thursday morning, you can listen AT THIS PODCAST LINK
On Wednesday, February 18, 2026, at 5 PM Pacific, we welcome Susan Glasser who will be in conversation with Madeleine Brand on the topic: “COLLAPSING NORMS: CAN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY SURVIVE THIS STRESS TEST?” (Register Here)
Susan B. Glasser is an American journalist and news editor. She writes the on-line column “Letter from Biden’s Washington” in The New Yorker, where she is a staff writer. She has served as editor of Politico, was founding editor of Politico Magazine, and editor-in-chief of Foreign Policy magazine, which won three National Magazine Awards during her tenure.
Madeleine Brand is the host of the award-winning daily news and culture show, Press Play. On the show, she covers national, international and local stories through a Southern California lens. She is also the co-host of KCRW’s legal affairs podcast, The Legal Eagle Files.
Washington Post/Opinion
By Max Boot
February 9, 2026
Trump’s alleged fear of the ICC reflects the company he’s in
The president’s indifference to domestic legal constraints is reflected in his actions outside the U.S.
President Donald Trump’s contempt for the rule of law in America — and the judges who enforce it — is by now well-established. Whether seeking to deport migrants without hearings or refusing to spend appropriated funds or unilaterally tearing down the East Wing of the White House, Trump has shown scant regard for legal limits on his authority.
Given this domestic track record, it’s hardly surprising that Trump has shown similar indifference to international law and the institutions that try to enforce it. Admittedly, the United States has a long regard of ignoring international statutes when convenient; the U.S. has been accused of flouting the law in the past, from the invasion of Cambodia in 1970 to the invasion of Iraq in 2003. But since 1945, the U.S., while guilty of hypocrisy and inconsistency, has generally been on the side of a rules-based international order. Some of its proudest moments have come when it has helped the victims of aggression, including South Korea in 1950, Bosnia in 1995 and Ukraine in 2022.
Trump, however, seems bent on destroying the very foundations of a rules-based order. He told the New York Times last month, “I don’t need international law.” The only limit on his authority abroad he recognizes is his “own morality.” (Given his long record of amorality, that’s scant comfort.) In a similar vein, one of Trump’s top aides, Stephen Miller, has dismissed talk of “international niceties,” insisting in a recent chilling CNN interview that “we live in a world … that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world.”
Miller’s cynical comments, reflecting a strongman’s view of the world, came while defending Trump’s interest in annexing Greenland. Even though Trump has since backtracked, his rhetoric already violated the U.N. Charter: It requires members to “refrain … from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.”
(To continue reading click here)
The Atlantic
By Gal Beckerman
February 8, 2026
Let Trump Keep Building Monuments to Himself
The president’s penchant for gilded statues and self-glorification might at least help clarify the nature of his leadership.
Donald Trump’s supporters really need to think bigger. A 15-foot-tall golden sculpture of the president—“Don Colossus” to friends—has recently been completed and will likely soon stand triumphantly, his fist in the air, atop a 7,000-pound pedestal that has already been installed at Trump’s Miami golf club. By the standards of leader worship, it might be too modest—Lilliputian when compared with the 40-foot-tall shining effigy that Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov built for himself in the late 1990s. That statue bestrode a 246-foot monument in the middle of Ashgabat and—get this—rotated 360 degrees daily so that it was always facing the sun.
At times, Trump’s desire to see his own outsize ego reflected in his physical surroundings, to wrap things in gold, supersize them, and then slap his name on them, seems to have no limit: the ballroom that ate the East Wing; the proposed “Arc de Trump”; the soon-to-be-gut-renovated Kennedy Center—sorry, Trump Kennedy Center. Now he wants to rename Dulles Airport and Penn Station after himself. Yet if he is hoping to match the grandiosity of world leaders of the past, he’s got a ways to go. Has Trump had an edition of The Art of the Deal copied out in his own blood (to rival Saddam Hussein’s very special Quran)? Does he walk around with a clique of female Fox News anchors carrying AK-47s (à la Muammar Qaddafi’s Amazonian guards)?
February 9, 2026
This Wednesday, February 11, 2026, at 5 PM Pacific, we welcome Carol Leonnig who will be in conversation with Warren Olney (see bios below) on the topic: “INJUSTICE: HOW POLITICS AND FEAR VANQUISHED AMERICA’S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT” (Register Here)
Carol Leonnig is a five-time Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, author, and contributor to MSNBC, known for her deep dives into presidential administrations, government corruption, and security agencies like the Secret Service. After a long career at The Washington Post (2000-2025), where she won multiple Pulitzers for exposing misconduct, she now focuses on writing best-selling books like Zero Fail and co-authoring A Very Stable Genius, analyzing power and accountability in Washington, and her newest book: Injustice: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America’s Justice Department.
Warren Olney was the host and executive producer of the nationally syndicated weekday afternoon program “To the Point,” which originated at KCRW. Olney and his programs have been honored with nearly 40 national, regional and local awards for broadcast excellence. He is the only two-time winner of the Los Angeles Society of Professional Journalists Distinguished Journalist award.
“Injustice” provides a compelling examination of how political dynamics and fear have shaped the Justice Department’s response to presidential misconduct. It serves as both a historical account and a warning about the fragility of democratic institutions in the face of political pressure. The book is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the current state of American politics and the challenges facing the rule of law.
The Atlantic
By Gal Beckerman
February 8, 2026
Let Trump Keep Building Monuments to Himself
The president’s penchant for gilded statues and self-glorification might at least help clarify the nature of his leadership.
Donald Trump’s supporters really need to think bigger. A 15-foot-tall golden sculpture of the president—“Don Colossus” to friends—has recently been completed and will likely soon stand triumphantly, his fist in the air, atop a 7,000-pound pedestal that has already been installed at Trump’s Miami golf club. By the standards of leader worship, it might be too modest—Lilliputian when compared with the 40-foot-tall shining effigy that Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov built for himself in the late 1990s. That statue bestrode a 246-foot monument in the middle of Ashgabat and—get this—rotated 360 degrees daily so that it was always facing the sun.
At times, Trump’s desire to see his own outsize ego reflected in his physical surroundings, to wrap things in gold, supersize them, and then slap his name on them, seems to have no limit: the ballroom that ate the East Wing; the proposed “Arc de Trump”; the soon-to-be-gut-renovated Kennedy Center—sorry, Trump Kennedy Center. Now he wants to rename Dulles Airport and Penn Station after himself. Yet if he is hoping to match the grandiosity of world leaders of the past, he’s got a ways to go. Has Trump had an edition of The Art of the Deal copied out in his own blood (to rival Saddam Hussein’s very special Quran)? Does he walk around with a clique of female Fox News anchors carrying AK-47s (à la Muammar Qaddafi’s Amazonian guards)?
No and no. Or, maybe, not yet.
But the news about the statue makes you wonder about what new frontiers of presidential self-regard lay ahead of us. The project was organized by a group of cryptocurrency investors who raised $300,000 for it and have been using it to hype a
(To continue reading click here)
Jewish Journal
Rabbi Yitz Greenberg
February 4, 2026
Stop the Blood Libel Before It Kills Again…and Again
The “genocide” libel is a declaration of open season on Jews and the Jewish state.
In Christianity’s second millennium, Christian polemicists labelled/libeled the Jewish people as killers of God and so cruel as to slaughter children to bake their blood into their ritual bread (matzah). The evil fabrication provided cover for an unending cycle of segregation, discrimination, killings, pogroms, torture and expulsions of Jews. The Jews never could stop the spread of the libel. Instead the Nazis exploited the aura of demonic cruelty which it conferred on Jews, to identify the Jews as the evil ones who must be exterminated in order to bring about the millennium for humankind. After the Holocaust, Western Christianity — especially the Catholic Church — recognized its role in setting up the Jews for genocide. It repented and sought to treat Judaism and Jews with respect and dignity. But the six million murdered Jews could not be called back.
In this decade, jihadi Islam, aided and abetted by a biased United Nations and ideologically warped human rights organizations (who have identified with the worst aspects of their clients’ behavior, e.g. terror and genocidal impulses) have pinned a label of committing genocide on Israel, for its war of self-defense against Hamas’ all-out terror attack. They falsely alleged that Israel was inflicting mass starvation on civilians. Zionism, the national liberation movement of the Jewish people, was demonized as a colonialist-settler project. In fact, the Jewish state is the only case of an indigenous people, exiled and displaced by conquerors, who came back and successfully regained and rebuilt their homeland. The “genocide” libel is a declaration of open season on Jews and the Jewish state. It has already served as cover for murdering Jews praying at synagogue in America, for massacring them at a holiday celebration in Australia, for killing them when going to a museum, and for Iran’s plans to inflict nuclear holocaust on the citizens of Israel.
We reject the genocide accusation with contempt, but it is already out there and out of control. It serves as a shorthand shutdown of Jews trying to defend Zionism and Israel. It isolates Israel as beyond the pale, leaving it subject to violence and boycott with no right to defend itself. However, …
February 4, 2026
If you missed today’s program featuring Ronald Brownstein in conversation with Patt Morrison, you can watch the program at THIS PAST EVENTS LINK. The program will post a few hours after it ends. Starting Thursday morning, you can listen AT THIS PODCAST LINK
On Wednesday, February 11, 2026, at 5 PM Pacific, we welcome Carol Leonnig who will be in conversation with Warren Olney (see bios below) on the topic: “INJUSTICE: HOW POLITICS AND FEAR VANQUISHED AMERICA’S JUSTICE DEPARTMENT” (Register Here)
Carol Leonnig is a five-time Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, author, and contributor to MSNBC, known for her deep dives into presidential administrations, government corruption, and security agencies like the Secret Service. After a long career at The Washington Post (2000-2025), where she won multiple Pulitzers for exposing misconduct, she now focuses on writing best-selling books like Zero Fail and co-authoring A Very Stable Genius, analyzing power and accountability in Washington, and her newest book: Injustice: How Politics and Fear Vanquished America’s Justice Department.
Warren Olney was the host and executive producer of the nationally syndicated weekday afternoon program “To the Point,” which originated at KCRW. Olney and his programs have been honored with nearly 40 national, regional and local awards for broadcast excellence. He is the only two-time winner of the Los Angeles Society of Professional Journalists Distinguished Journalist award.
“Injustice” provides a compelling examination of how political dynamics and fear have shaped the Justice Department’s response to presidential misconduct. It serves as both a historical account and a warning about the fragility of democratic institutions in the face of political pressure. The book is essential reading for anyone interested in understanding the current state of American politics and the challenges facing the rule of law.
New York Times/Opinion
David French
February 1, 2026
It’s only February, and the November elections are already in peril.
When I think back to the days and weeks before Jan. 6, 2021, one thing that’s clear is that many of us suffered from a failure of imagination. We knew President Trump’s lies and conspiracymongering were dangerous, but it’s hard to think of a single person who predicted that a MAGA mob would storm the Capitol.
Very few people anticipated the sheer scale and scope of the effort to overturn the election or that an incredible 147 Republicans would vote not to certify Joe Biden’s clear and unambiguous presidential victory. We did not realize that they would go along with something that plainly corrupt and dangerous.
We must not make that mistake again.
And so I’m going to do something a little bit unusual. I’m going to ask you to imagine alongside me. But this is a different kind of imagination. It’s based on real events — things that are already occurring right in front of our eyes.
So here we go.
It’s Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, and the president’s approval rating is low, abysmally low. He hasn’t been able to reverse the gradual decline that began after his inauguration.
At the end of January his aggregate approval rating was 41.4 percent, and his disapproval rating was 55.7 percent. In June his approval dropped below 40 percent, and it hasn’t come back up.
Meanwhile, Democrats are leading the generic ballot by a wide margin, and Democratic voters are far more enthusiastic about going to the polls than Republicans. In a normal midterm election, this would mean that Democrats would easily take control of the House of Representatives. They could even win the Senate.
But this is not a normal election year.
(To continue reading click here)
The Contrarian on Substack
By Jennifer Rubin
February 4, 2026
The Killing of The Post
I want to say a word about the savage cuts to the Washington Post announced today. The Post, which achieved greatness during the Watergate era, was bludgeoned today with massive layoffs, shutting down its sports section, and eviscerating Metro and Foreign news sections.
Former executive editor Marty Baron mourned one of “the darkest days in the history of one of world’s greatest news organizations.” The Post Guild put out a statement that read:
“As we’ve seen in recent years, continuing to eliminate scores of workers who make this storied institution what it is only stands to weaken the newspaper, drive away readers and undercut The Post’s mission: to hold power to account without fear or favor and provide critical insight into communities across the region, country and world.”
“If Jeff Bezos no longer supports that mission, then The Post and its readers deserve a steward who does.”
The layoffs are solely the responsibility of inept, incompetent, and inattentive ownership and management. It inherited a great American paper and left it in the rubble, putting hundreds of talented journalists out on the street.
When I left the Post to found The Contrarian roughly 13 months ago, I expressed my dismay, disappointment, and disgust for Bezos’s refusal to treat the ownership of The Post as a sacred mission. I also raised instances of legacy media cowardice that were enabling Donald Trump.
Since then, Bezos’s betrayal of The Post’s legacy has only deepened, and the capitulation of the legacy media—highlighted by the installment of right-wing sycophant and unqualified Bari Weiss to run CBS News—has sadly borne out my concerns about corporate and billionaire-owned media failure. More than ever, we need a vibrant, free, and unafraid independent press that speaks the unvarnished truth about the rise of fascism and points the finger at Trump enablers in law firms, finance, media, and the Republican Party.
This Wednesday, February 4, 2026, at 5 PM Pacific, we welcome Ronald Brownstein who will be in conversation with Patt Morrison (see bios below) on the topic: “THE MIDTERMS RECKONING: WHAT’S LIKELY AND WHAT’S AT STAKE IN 2026” (Register Here)
Ronald Brownstein a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of presidential campaigns, is a senior political analyst at CNN, a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, and has served as senior editor at The Atlantic. He also served as the national political correspondent and national affairs columnist for the Los Angeles Times and covered the White House and national politics for the National Journal. He is the author of seven books.
Patt Morrison has a share of two Pulitzer Prizes as a longtime Los Angeles Times writer and columnist. As a public television and radio broadcaster, she has won six Emmys and a dozen Golden Mike awards. Her first book, “Rio LA,” about the Los Angeles River, was a bestseller. Her most recent book is “Don’t Stop the Presses! Truth, Justice, and the American Newspaper.”
New York Times/Opinion
By The Editorial Board
January 31, 2026
Trump Could Interfere with the Midterm Elections. You Can Help Defend Them.
Election integrity in the United States can be a fraught subject. Merely raising the prospect that a future election might be compromised makes many democracy experts uncomfortable. It can undermine faith in our reliable, well-run election system and amplify the false claims about fraud that often come from President Trump. Even people who respect the sanctity of elections sometimes malign them. Many Democrats, for example, have wrongly suggested that voter-identification laws undermine the system by causing large declines in turnout.
In truth, American elections have never been more reliable or accessible. For every election, thousands of principled election officials painstakingly update voter rolls, mail information to households, train poll workers, oversee voting and transport ballots with a documented chain of custody. Voter fraud is extremely rare, and voter turnout in the past two presidential elections reached higher levels than in any other over the previous century.
Yet it would be naïve to assume that the status quo is guaranteed to continue. The sanctity of the 2026 elections is indeed under threat. And the reason is Mr. Trump.
He has repeatedly demonstrated his willingness to interfere with elections to benefit himself and his party. He has broken the law to do so and broken longstanding bipartisan traditions. Since he entered politics a decade ago, he has suggested that election outcomes are fair only if his side wins. In 2020, after he lost the presidential election, he attempted to direct a sprawling conspiracy to overturn the result. As it was failing (thanks to the honesty of election administrators from both parties), he encouraged protesters to march to Congress when it was meeting to certify his defeat — and later celebrated their violent attack.
(To continue reading click here)
Wall Street Journal/Opinion
By
Kenneth L. Marcus
January 28, 2026
Does Qatar Fund Antisemitism at American Campuses?
A court order in a case against Carnegie Mellon illustrates the danger of foreign influence.
The Education Department’s recent launch of a portal for universities’ foreign-funding disclosures was even timelier than officials likely realized. Newly disclosed evidence, unsealed earlier this month in federal court, demonstrates that foreign funders may be exerting the kind of outsize, hidden and nefarious influence on university programs that critics have long feared. The details demand congressional action to protect Americans’ rights.
On Jan. 6, a federal district court in Pennsylvania unsealed a court order in Yael Canaan’s suit against Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University. Ms. Canaan alleges that the university harbors a culture of antisemitism and discrimination—in part due to the influence of more than $1 billion from Qatar and its affiliates. Carnegie Mellon denies Ms. Canaan’s allegations, including that it is influenced by Qatar, which hosts its Doha campus. But based on eye-opening university documents, the court on Dec. 5 rejected the school’s argument and ordered CMU to produce many of the documents Ms. Canaan requested. …
To continue reading click here … (you might have to sign up for a free account to read the column)
If you missed today’s program featuring Dennis Ross in conversation with Warren Olney, you can watch the program at THIS PAST EVENTS LINK. The program will post a few hours after it ends. Starting Friday morning, you can listen AT THIS PODCAST LINK
On Wednesday, February 4, 2026, at 5 PM Pacific, we welcome Ronald Brownstein who will be in conversation with Patt Morrison (see bios below) on the topic: “THE MIDTERMS RECKONING: WHAT’S LIKELY AND WHAT’S AT STAKE IN 2026” (Register Here)
Ronald Brownstein a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of presidential campaigns, is a senior political analyst at CNN, a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion, and has served as senior editor at The Atlantic. He also served as the national political correspondent and national affairs columnist for the Los Angeles Times and covered the White House and national politics for the National Journal. He is the author of seven books, most recently, “Rock me on the Water,” about the confluence of music, movies, television and politics, and “The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America.”
Patt Morrison has a share of two Pulitzer Prizes as a longtime Los Angeles Times writer and columnist. As a public television and radio broadcaster, she has won six Emmys and a dozen Golden Mike awards. Her first book, “Rio LA,” about the Los Angeles River, was a bestseller. Her most recent book is “Don’t Stop the Presses! Truth, Justice, and the American Newspaper.”
Washington Post/Opinion
By George F. Will
January 27, 2026
Americans should not trust ICE.
Kristi Noem isn’t the only reason.
Assume this loutocracy’s statements on its deportation mania are lies until proven otherwise.
When Kristi Noem was — what? informed? reminded? — that her meeting with North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un, which she reported in a prepublication manuscript of her memoir, never happened, this did not ruffle her sang-froid. She placidly said that the “anecdote” about the meeting would be “adjusted” before the book was published.
Today, Noem, a former member of Congress and former governor of South Dakota, is secretary of homeland security, under whose supervision Immigration and Customs Enforcement operates. There are, however, many reasons, beyond Noem’s nature, that multiplying millions of Americans do not and should not trust ICE.
Much has been said about the social ripples from what began with the introduction of the smartphone. Some consequences, such as instant access to torrents of information, are excellent. Others, such as addictive access to oceans of rubbish, are awful. But an insufficiently appreciated benefit of this device is that most Americans most of the time are carrying video cameras.
Governments around the world are using myriad technologies, some of them sinister, to surveil their populations. U.S. governments — national, state local — are not impervious to the temptation to overdo this. But today, a salutary effect of the ubiquity of smartphones is the surveillance of the government by citizens. Including those exercising their constitutional right to petition government for redress of grievances, and people watching other people do this.
(To continue reading click here)
Wall Street Journal/Opinion
By
Kenneth L. Marcus
January 28, 2026
Does Qatar Fund Antisemitism at American Campuses?
A court order in a case against Carnegie Mellon illustrates the danger of foreign influence.
The Education Department’s recent launch of a portal for universities’ foreign-funding disclosures was even timelier than officials likely realized. Newly disclosed evidence, unsealed earlier this month in federal court, demonstrates that foreign funders may be exerting the kind of outsize, hidden and nefarious influence on university programs that critics have long feared. The details demand congressional action to protect Americans’ rights.
On Jan. 6, a federal district court in Pennsylvania unsealed a court order in Yael Canaan’s suit against Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University. Ms. Canaan alleges that the university harbors a culture of antisemitism and discrimination—in part due to the influence of more than $1 billion from Qatar and its affiliates. Carnegie Mellon denies Ms. Canaan’s allegations, including that it is influenced by Qatar, which hosts its Doha campus. But based on eye-opening university documents, the court on Dec. 5 rejected the school’s argument and ordered CMU to produce many of the documents Ms. Canaan requested.
Graphic journalism can change the world. It did so in May 1963, when Theophilus Eugene “Bull” Connor, commissioner of public safety in Birmingham, Alabama, used body-slamming fire hoses and snarling dogs against young Black civil rights demonstrators. The nation was appalled and, as important, embarrassed by photos and videos of what was being done in its streets by government.
Minneapolis is today’s Birmingham… To continue reading click here … (you might have to sign up for a free account to read the column)
Tomorrow, THURSDAY, January 29, 2026, at 5 PM Pacific, we welcome Ambassador Dennis Ross who will be in conversation with Warren Olney (see bios below) on the topic: “ISRAEL, GAZA AND THE MIDDLE EAST: WHAT LIES AHEAD?” (Register Here)
Ambassador Dennis Ross is counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Ambassador Ross has played a leading role in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process and dealing directly with the parties in negotiations. A highly skilled diplomat, Ambassador Ross was U.S. point man on the peace process in both the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations. Dennis Ross has published seven books relating to diplomacy.
Warren Olney was the host and executive producer of the nationally syndicated weekday afternoon program “To the Point,” which originated at NPR-affiliate, KCRW. Olney and his programs have been honored with nearly 40 national, regional and local awards for broadcast excellence.
Haaretz/Opinion
By Ethan Nechin
January 26, 2026
In a Menacing U.S. Moment, History Shows How Dehumanizing Refugees Endangers Jews Too
In June 1940, 10 days after France fell to the Nazis, U.S. State Department Assistant Secretary Breckinridge Long wrote a memo to his colleagues outlining how the United States could halt all immigration from Europe.
The stories about concentration camps and mass displacement reached America’s shores. Yet Long suggested that consular officers “put every obstacle in the way and require additional evidence and to resort to various administrative advice which would postpone and postpone and postpone the granting of visas.”
Long’s position reflected widespread American hostility to immigration. Then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt warned that enemy agents could infiltrate the country and suggested many Jewish refugees might be among them. Meanwhile, populist figures like far-right radio host Father Charles Coughlin justified the widespread Kristallnacht pogrom of November 1938 as Christian retaliation against Jews. Days later, his supporters yelled at a rally: “Send Jews back where they came from in leaky boats!”
Despite Jews not facing the same circumstances, it is hard not to see the same patterns emerging today. Back then, America’s nativist turn and its desire to remain “neutral” – even as it built internment camps for Japanese, Italian and German immigrants and turned away ships of refugees – sealed the fate of millions. Today, U.S. President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda has threatened millions again.
(To continue reading click here)
New York Times/Opinion
By Ezra Klein
January 25, 2026
Trump Just Proved Carney’s Point
“Dear Prime Minister Carney,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday. “Please let this Letter serve to represent that the Board of Peace is withdrawing its invitation to you regarding Canada’s joining, what will be, the most prestigious Board of Leaders ever assembled, at any time. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
Everything Trump has done over the last week has made him look tawdry, addled and small. He began his latest play for Greenland by complaining about being passed over for the Nobel Peace Prize and ended it by disinviting Mark Carney from his “Board of Peace.” For Trump, nothing — not even peace — transcends his brutish transactionalism.
Coolly assessing that transactionalism is what landed Carney in Trump’s sights. Two things stood out to me about the speech that Carney gave at Davos last week. First, Carney’s speech used the word “hegemon” four times. He said the word “America” only once, and then only to specify “American hegemony.” This is who we are now to our northern neighbors: Not the America they once knew, or thought they knew, but “the hegemon.”
Voting Rights and Empowerment
Immigration and Asylum
Equality - Fighting Hate and Discrimination
Freedom of the Press
Voting Rights and Empowerment
CENTER FOR COMMON GROUND’S RECLAIM OUR VOTE CAMPAIGN
Ongoing voter suppression and voter list purging have been disenfranchising millions of eligible voters — especially voters of color. Reclaim Our Vote works in those voter suppression states. Our volunteers inform and mobilize voters of color to make sure they are registered and they know how to get a ballot and vote. It is a nonpartisan campaign of the nonprofit 501(c)3 Center for Common Ground.
LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS
The League of Women Voters of the United States encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.
POSTCARDS TO VOTERS
Postcards to Voters are friendly, handwritten reminders from volunteers to targeted voters giving Democrats a winning edge in close, key races coast to coast.
ROCK THE VOTE
In 1990, music executives founded Rock the Vote in response to the censorship of hip-hop and rap artists. Our first partnership, with MTV, promoted the message that “Censorship is Un-American” and activated millions of young people across the country to exercise their rights and represent their interests. For thirty years, we have continuously adapted to the changing landscapes of media, technology and culture to breakthrough and empower each new generation.
VOTE.ORG
Vote.org uses technology to simplify political engagement, increase voter turnout, and strengthen American democracy.
WHEN WE ALL VOTE
When We All Vote is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization that is on a mission to increase participation in every election and close the race and age voting gap by changing the culture around voting, harnessing grassroots energy, and through strategic partnerships to reach every American.
Immigration and Asylum
ACLU
For nearly one hundred years, ACLU lawyers have been at the center of one history-making court case after another, participating in more Supreme Court cases than any other private organization. With attorneys nationwide, we handle thousands of cases each year on behalf of clients whose rights have been violated.
Bet Tzedek
Bet Tzedek attorneys and advocates help people of all communities and generations secure life’s necessities. Wherever people are in crisis, Bet Tzedek’s core services and rapid response programs provide stability and hope.
Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights
CHIRLA is a California leader with the national impact made of diverse immigrant families and individuals who act as agents of social change to achieve a world with freedom of mobility, full human rights, and true participatory democracy. CHIRLA’s mission is to achieve a just society fully inclusive of immigrants.
HIAS
HIAS works around the world to protect refugees who have been forced to flee their homelands because of who they are, including ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities. For more than 130 years, HIAS has been helping refugees rebuild their lives in safety and dignity.
Public Counsel
Public Counsel is the largest pro bono law firm in the nation. We work with major law firms and corporations to change people’s futures. A staff of 71 attorneys and 50 support staff – including five social workers – along with over 5,000 volunteer lawyers, law students and legal professionals assists over 30,000 children, youth, families, and community organizations every year.
Equality - Fighting Hate and Discrimination
ANTI DEFAMATION LEAGUE
ADL is a leading anti-hate organization. Founded in 1913 in response to an escalating climate of anti-Semitism and bigotry, its timeless mission is to protect the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment for all. Today, ADL continues to fight all forms of hate with the same vigor and passion. ADL is a global leader in exposing extremism and delivering anti-bias education, and is a leading organization in training law enforcement. ADL is the first call when acts of anti-Semitism occur. ADL’s ultimate goal is a world in which no group or individual suffers from bias, discrimination or hate.
BEND THE ARC
Bend the Arc is a movement of tens of thousands of progressive Jews all across the country. For years, we’ve worked to build a more just society. Now we’re rising up in solidarity with everyone threatened by the Trump agenda to fight for the soul of our nation.
EQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE
The Equal Justice Initiative is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.
INTEGRITY FIRST FOR AMERICA
Integrity First for America (IFA) is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to holding those accountable who threaten longstanding principles of our democracy—including our country’s commitment to civil rights and equal justice.
NAACP
Founded in 1909 in response to the ongoing violence against Black people around the country, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) is the largest and most pre-eminent civil rights organization in the nation. We have over 2,200 units and branches across the nation, along with well over 2M activists. Our mission is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.
Freedom of the Press
ACLU
For nearly one hundred years, ACLU lawyers have been at the center of one history-making court case after another, participating in more Supreme Court cases than any other private organization. With attorneys nationwide, we handle thousands of cases each year on behalf of clients whose rights have been violated.
REPORTERS COMMITTEE FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press provides pro bono legal representation, amicus curiae support, and other legal resources to protect First Amendment freedoms and the newsgathering rights of journalists.