Authoritarianism

Federal Court: Trump Administration Violated First Amendment By Deporting Foreign Citizens for Pro-Palestinian Advocacy

Middle East Studies Association | – NB: The MESA news release below has been expanded with extended quotes from the Knight First Amendment Institute and Judge William G. Young that were only given as hyperlinks in the original. In Landmark Ruling, Federal Court Says Trump Administration Violated First Amendment By Deporting Foreign Citizens for Pro-Palestinian […]

Authoritarianism

A Strategy for Controlling an Out-of-Control Government: Alliance, Defiance, Noncompliance

Tomdispatch

By Nan Levinson ( Tomdispatch.com ) – On July 17th, I joined a group of Vermonters for a Good Trouble Lives On action in a village near where we were staying that month. Over the past 161 straight days, a small but determined contingent of mostly White, mostly grey-haired, mostly too-polite-to-make-much-trouble residents had been gathering […]

Authoritarianism

Stephen Colbert: “We are all Jimmy Kimmel”

contributors

The Late Show: “We Are All Jimmy Kimmel | The Easy Way Or The Hard Way | Trump Urges NBC To Cancel Fallon And Mey…”

Authoritarianism

Unhoused and Policed in the Age of Trump

Tomdispatch

By Mattea Kramer and Sean Fogler ( Tomdispatch.com ) – The federal takeover of Washington, D.C., rightfully attracted extensive media coverage, but an executive order called “Ending Crime and Disorder on America’s Streets,” quietly issued on July 24th, received remarkably little attention. Perhaps it didn’t make a splash because it wasn’t specifically about policing (or, […]

Academic Freedom

Celebrating Court Ruling Striking down Trump’s $2 Billion Funding Freeze on Harvard

Middle East Studies Association

Middle East Studies Association of North America Court rules on Harvard College v. HHS Lawsuit in Favor of Harvard The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) welcomes a court decision striking down the Trump administration’s freezing of over $2 billion in federal grants to Harvard University. MESA filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Harvard […]

Authoritarianism

Thugs R Us: How MAGA Uses Violence to Consolidate Power

Andrea Mazzarino

( Tomdispatch.com ) – President Trump, his cabinet, and those who have profited from his rise seem to revel in public displays of cruelty. Take former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk, holding a chainsaw at a televised event to celebrate the firing of civil servants. Or Trump’s White House sharing a video […]

Authoritarianism

New data shows No Kings was One of the largest Days of Protest in US history

Waging Nonviolence

The historic number of No Kings Day protesters and their expansive geographic spread are signs of a growing and durable pro-democracy movement. Erica Chenoweth, Soha Hammam, Jeremy Pressman, and Christopher Wiley Shay ( Waging Nonviolence ) – No Kings Day on June 14 was one of the largest single days of protest in United States […]

Authoritarianism

Saudi Arabia: Executions Surge in bid to Crush Dissent (HRW)

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Saudi authorities have been carrying out an unprecedented surge in executions in 2025 without apparent due process, Human Rights Watch and the Middle East Democracy Center said today. The June 14 execution of Turki al-Jasser, a journalist known for exposing corruption within the Saudi royal family, raises concerns that the […]

Authoritarianism

An Ailing Old American Empire Lashes Out

William J. Astore

( Tomdispatch.com ) – As a retired U.S. Air Force officer, I firmly believe in civilian control of our military. This country should be a nation of laws — not of special interests, oligarchs, or kings. Before committing our forces to battle, Congress should always declare war in the name of the people. Our military […]