02b U.S. Politics – Progressive

Tariffs, bullying behavior have Canadians rightfully trashing Trump chicago.suntimes.com
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EXCERPT:

This summer, America played host to one of the biggest international events on the planet, the World Cup, drawing millions of foreigners to our cities and towns, our stadiums and our national parks, where many of them had never been before.

The consensus was, America is awesome — visitors from Bolivia, Scotland, Uzbekistan and everywhere in between marveled at the sheer size of our great nation, the diversity of our topography, the deliciousness of our foodstuffs and, perhaps most importantly, the kindness of our people. (Not to mention, our eighth wonder of the world — Buc-ee’s.)

What a difference a month makes.

Despite our friends in far-flung places singing our praises, now, to hear our closest neighbors tell it, America is nothing but a “ bully” and a “ thug.”

After trade negotiations with Canada collapsed this week, and President Donald Trump announced a whopping 50% tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods — including Canadian whiskey and hockey sticks — it’s no surprise our friends to the north are less than pleased with their downstairs neighbors.

In our defense, not all of us are responsible for electing the bully and thug in question — and if polls are any indication, most Americans agree with Canada that Trump is doing a terrible job. But still, it’s hard to hear.

Ayanna Pressley: ‘The Confederacy Is Still Alive and Well — That’s All MAGA Is’ www.breitbart.com
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Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) compared President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement to the Confederacy.

Pressley made the remarks Monday at Roxbury Community College in Boston while campaigning for Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) in his primary race against Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA).

“It is bigger than Trump,” Pressley said. “Because whenever we do the work of ousting the occupant of the Oval Office, the Confederacy is still alive and well. That’s all MAGA is.”

“White supremacy is still alive and well,” she continued. “Anti-blackness will still be alive and well.”

Markey is seeking another term in the Senate but faces a Democrat primary challenge from Moulton. Pressley endorsed Markey in March after previously considering a Senate campaign of her own.

In announcing her endorsement, Pressley pointed to their work together on immigration, criminal justice, and other progressive priorities.

“I am proud to endorse his re-election so we can continue advancing the justice-driven solutions our communities need to not only survive, but thrive,” Pressley said.

 

Kelly: Hegseth’s Attitude That the Military Is About Killing People ‘Not Healthy’ www.breitbart.com
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EXCERPT:

On Wednesday’s broadcast of MS NOW’s “The Briefing,” Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) said Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s attitude that the U.S. military is all about killing people is “not healthy.”

Kelly said, “I think the secretary of defense has done the members of the military a big disservice by the way he’s been conducting himself in his job, getting on a stage, talking about killing people and lethality. And you know, that attitude from the top, it’s not healthy for members of the military to hear this. I mean, just the stuff he was saying today, so you could see why officers who have attended service academies—imagine if you went to West Point, and every day you’re walking by that plaque where it says when the law and orders are in conflict, you follow the law, and you think about that, you think about some of the things that the military is being asked to do. And you have a secretary of defense that’s talking about setting records, 10,000 targets struck in this period of time. And now we set a new record, 12,000. Now 14,000, by the way, on the heels of what seemed to be a horrific mistake, where a Tomahawk missile goes into a school and kills over 100 Iranian schoolgirls. But then, not to dismiss that and continue with this, with this attitude of we’re just about killing people.”

He added, “The U.S. military’s better than that. I mean, we’re supposed to be the good guys here who have a moral compass and have values, and could conduct ourselves with a certain amount of constraint and professionalism. And when I watch the secretary of defense, almost every single time he goes in front of a camera, I see the opposite of that.”

Canada is beating Trump at his own tariff game www.dailykos.com
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EXCERPT:

For all his self-created lore of being a consummate dealmaker, President Donald Trump actually sucks at deals, mostly using legal threats and actions to bully his way to his preferred outcomes.

And those outcomes aren’t even particularly good ones. There is that famous calculation that Trump would’ve made far more money had he simply put his inherited wealth into an index fund. And we’ve seen just how much he sucks at negotiating with his failed Iran and Gaza deals.

In office, his version of lawyerly threats when dealing with foreign countries is tariffs. The Supreme Court may have severely limited his ability to wield them indiscriminately as a way to bully other nations, but that doesn’t mean he’s stopped trying. His latest target is Canada, after yet another failed round of negotiations.

Cartoon by Tim CampbellTim Campbell/Tribune Content Agency

Canada has already retaliated, and its tariffs may have far more political bite than Trump’s.

Trump has already imposed 50% tariffs on Canadian goods. But his biggest new threat—a 50% tariff on Canadian vehicles, auto parts, and steel—isn’t supposed to hit until Jan. 1, 2027. And given his long history of backtracking on tariff decisions, there is little reason for Canada to assume those tariffs will ever be enacted as advertised. Heck, there’s a decent chance the courts get involved before they see the light of day.

But there’s an obvious political benefit to waiting until Jan. 1: the November midterm elections.

We know that Trump has finally figured out that tariffs increase prices, given his decision to import foreign beef while removing tariffs in order to try to give voters an affordability win before the elections. The last thing his party needs is further price increases on top of current inflation trends.

U.S. District Judge Jeanette Vargas struck down the Trump administration’s pause on issuing visas to 75 countries. The judge claimed Secretary of State Marco Rubio exceeded his legal authority. She asserts consular authority trumps Secretary of State authority. The judge is another Biden-appointed District Judge. The ruling has been appealed.

Federal judge rules against Trump’s 75-country visa ban thehill.com
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EXCERPT:

A federal judge ruled against the Trump administration’s pause on issuing visas to immigrants from 75 countries on Friday. In a 61-page decision, U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas found that this policy was “contrary to law” and was “in excess” of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s legal authority. The visa pause order was announced by…

NAACP denounces supreme court decision to allow Trump administration to restrict mail-in voting – live | Trump administration www.theguardian.com
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EXCERPT:

The president of the NAACP, which sued Donald Trump in April to block his order to restrict mail-in voting, denounced the supreme court decision that allows the order to be implemented, despite claims that it is illegal and unconstitutional.

The NAACP president, Derrick Johnson, said in a statement:

“Let this ruling be a reminder that democracy is never, ever, guaranteed. We have to fight for it, we have to fight to keep it, and we have to protect the rights we do have within it. Those in power know full well that they are unpopular and will lose in a free and fair election, and so they are trying to do everything they possibly can to make it difficult for you to vote.

Trump’s order has nothing to do with election integrity. It has everything to do with maintaining power at all costs.”

OH, CANADA: ABC Reports the US-Canada Tariffs Like It’s the CBC www.newsbusters.org
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EXCERPT:

As is now widely reported, the United States and Canada failed to reach a trade deal. As a result, there will be a fresh round of tariff exchanges. The most Trump-deranged of the three major network evening newscasts has taken a side, and as a result may need to consider a name change.

Watch as the American Broadcasting Company’s Senior Political Correspondent closes out her report on financial news on Iran and Canada- doing her darnedest to sound like the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation:

RACHEL SCOTT: And, David, back to Canada. They are not backing down. They say more retaliatory tariffs are on the way. President Trump says that Canada wants the benefits of being a state without actually being one. But tonight, Canada is making it clear they will not be pushed around. David?

DAVID MUIR: Rachel Scott live at The White House for us. Rachel, thank you.

Trump launches ‘Operation Economic Outcast’ on Iran as he tries to isolate regime with damaging new sanctions www.thesun.co.uk
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EXCERPT:

DONALD Trump has launched his crushing “Operation Economic Outcast” on Iran by threatening crippling sanctions on any country propping up the regime.

The US president last week vowed to unleash the “MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN” to strong-arm Tehran into accepting his peace terms.

Donald Trump has vowed to unleash an ‘economic D-Day’ on Iran Credit: Reuters
Severe sanctions and months of bombing have plunged the regime into an economic crisis Credit: AP

Washington has now upped the ante with a new plan to slap severe sanctions on any country maintaining economic ties with the regime.

Iran has meanwhile vowed it will retaliate against any country participating in the US-led isolation campaign.

Trump’s Plans to Steal the Elections Are Underway www.truthdig.com
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EXCERPT:

You’d never know it by the title, “Dancing in the Dark,” but the Washington Spectator’s recent investigation is about the various steps (mostly illegal) President Donald Trump is taking, including the use of enforcement tools and violence, to prepare to reverse any overall Democratic victory in the November congressional races. The authors, Mark Medish and Joel McCleary, believe Trump needs such a coup to save himself from impeachment, congressional investigations and subpoenas seeking more proof of crimes throughout his lawless, corrupt, dictatorial regime.

Currently, Trump’s polls are so low that he is endangering enough Republican seats in the House and Senate to give the feeble, corporate money-indentured Democratic Party a chance to win control of Congress. This is precisely what Trump fears, even though he has control of the Executive Branch and the immunity given him by six Injustices of the Supreme Court. Take note, he knows that impeachment and removal from office in the Senate are final, not reviewable in the federal courts.

In 23 single-spaced pages, Medish and McCleary walk readers through the events, directives, ballot seizures and draft emergency orders Trump could use to assert federal control over a midterm election and use a domestic paramilitary force of unprecedented size and budget. Trump and his minions have already expanded their dictatorial control of our democratic institutions. (See the V-Dem Institute’s Democracy Report 2026.)

They then describe the “Devil’s Accordion File” meaning “the elements of a ramified, radical strategy to hold on to power at almost any cost as we approach the test of the 2026 elections.” Although they describe Trump as a brilliant mastermind concentrating extraordinary power in his hands, they remind us that he is also in “full command of his office, directing the Justice Department, the FBI, ICE (the largest new federal police force in American history), the IRS, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission, the intelligence community and the armed forces. [Under total acolyte Pete Hegseth.] He is using each agency in a coordinated attack on his political adversaries in ways that would have been dismissed as fantasy only a few years ago.”

MS NOW Blowhard Falls for Iranian Propaganda Ghostwritten in the U.S. www.newsbusters.org
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EXCERPT:

So committed is MS NOW to the parroting of Trump-deranged talking points that the network is now enthusiastically promoting Iranian propaganda. On some shows, they’ll even “analyze” Iranian propaganda.

Watch as resident MS NOW bloviator Lawrence O’Donnell fawns over the knowledge of American culture contained within a tweet published on the account of Iran’s Speaker Ghalibaf:

LAWRENCE O’DONNELL: The most striking response to Scott Bessent’s childish threat came from the Speaker of Iran’s parliament who taught Natalie Harp and Donald Trump a thing or two today about devastatingly effective social media posting, exhibiting a fluency in American culture that no one in the Trump White House has with Iranian culture.

The speaker of Iran’s parliament actually tweeted this: “Him: ‘Economic D-Day.’ Also him, five seconds later, LOL. ‘Why would I want to blow up the global financial system?’ Sir, this ain’t Normandy, this is improv night and you forgot your own script.”

Leading off our discussions tonight is Ben Rhodes, former Deputy National Security Advisor to President Obama and an MS NOW political and national security analyst. He is the author of All We Say, The Battle for American Identity: A History in 15 Speeches.Ben, please help me with this. Who are these people? Who in Iran could possibly have written that tweet? “Improv night, uh, LOL”, these, these, this is presumably someone who’s never been to the United States. I mean, most, most people in the Iranian regime in their lifetimes have never been to the United States. How do they get this kind of fluency in our culture?

Stelter Gushes Over Abdul el-Sayed Taking On Fox’s Outrage Machine www.newsbusters.org
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EXCERPT:

On August 24, controversial Democrat Senate candidate Abdul el-Sayed boldly accepted an invitation to the Fox News show Jesse Watters Primetime. It oozed confidence, but whether it was smart or strategic to play the Artful Dodger is a very different question.

In his newsletter, CNN media analyst Brian Stelter gushed over el-Sayed generating “lots of buzz and clippable content” and how he “showed a keen understanding of Fox’s outrage machine.” This is always amusing, as if Stelter doesn’t think CNN can be characterized as operating an “outrage machine” against Trump.

Then Stelter mischaracterized the central mishap of the interview. El-Sayed was credited for “refusing to take the bait when Watters asked whether it’s okay ‘for a parent to slash his kid’s ding-a-ling off’ or whether trans athletes should compete in women’s sports. Each time, he redirected toward gas and grocery prices, the war in Iran, and health care.”

That’s not what happened. When Watters pressed him on genital amputations for children, he insisted this decision is between a doctor and a patient, and the government should not get involved – which is a bizarre position when you’re pushing for a “Medicare for All” scheme where the government controls the health care system.

A Disturbing New Poll — and Dennis Prager’s Warning for America – PJ Media pjmedia.com
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EXCERPT:

“Frightening” is perhaps a word used too often by people on both sides of the political aisle when reacting to polls that seem to capture a momentous societal change. But when Dennis Prager is the one giving the warning, I listen carefully.

In a discussion with PragerU Executive Director Allen Estrin, Prager broke down a new CBS News/YouGov poll showing that 58% of Democrats view socialism favorably, while only 32% favor capitalism. This is a subject about which Prager, whose field of study in graduate school was communism, is qualified to speak. But who cares about that credential when “socialism, much less democratic socialism, is not communism,” as CNN Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins has said, right?

Prager wasted little time dispelling that argument with a brief history lesson:

The record of socialism in terms of human suffering, human death, human enslavement is the worst record in recorded history. In one—I won’t even say a century—inside of about 50 years, 100 million, 100 million people were murdered by socialists, by socialist/communist regimes. China, USSR, Cambodia, Vietnam—basically everywhere that socialists took over. Remember, the name of the Soviet Union was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. That’s very important.

Canada Is Spending Billions to Help Its Workers Survive Our Tariffs – Mother Jones www.motherjones.com
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EXCERPT:

A utilities box in front of the ArcelorMittal Dofasco steel plant in Hamilton, Ontario, amid Canada’s trade war with the US, August 20, 2026.Nick Iwanyshyn/Canadian Press/AP

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

On Tuesday, Canadian officials announced funding to back businesses, workers, and industries, as they implement dollar-for-dollar counter-tariffs on the US in response to the Trump administration’s newly imposed 50 percent tariffs on roughly $20 billion worth of Canadian imports.

Senior members of Canada’s government announced a support package worth $7.5 billion Canadian dollars, or about $5.4 billion US, including $3 million in non-repayable loans for every small business and a further $2 million in interest-free loans—even for businesses only indirectly affected by tariffs.

Small and medium-sized businesses directly affected will be able to apply for a further $5 million through Canada’s business development bank, and the Canadian government has set aside $2 billion for medium-sized and large firms, more than half a billion dollars for retraining workers whose industries are affected by tariffs, and a one-year extension on temporary employment insurance benefits Canada already issued in response to the start of Trump’s trade war with Canada last year.

Iran, Oman Discuss Temporary Hormuz Corridor As Impasse With US Drags On www.ndtv.com
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EXCERPT:

 Iran said it had restarted talks with neighbor Oman to manage the Strait of Hormuz as it faces heightened economic pressure from US President Donald Trump in the wider conflict.

Iran and Oman have been in on-and-off talks for weeks about controlling traffic through the strategic waterway, which handled one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the war began in February.

Most shipping has been shut down since then.

The two countries said on Tuesday that they discussed “a joint temporary navigational corridor” through the strait and agreed to clear it of mines.

Trump said all mines in the strait had been cleared, repeating comments that he has previously made.

A Trump Judge Called Mail-In Ballots a Threat to Democracy – Mother Jones www.motherjones.com
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EXCERPT:

Bob Daemmrich/Zuma

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.

On Wednesday, the conservative Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a ruling blocking key measures of Texas’ sweeping voter suppression law, SB 1.

A lower court previously ruled that the law, which effectively made it harder for people to vote with assistance, violated disability civil rights laws. It also created more barriers to voting by mail.

“It has long been established that mail-in ballots are prone to fraud,” Judge Andrew Oldham wrote, according to Democracy Docket. “That is why voting by mail jeopardizes election integrity and democracy itself.”

There is no evidence that mail-in ballots are “prone to fraud.” An analysis from the Brookings Institution found an “average total mail voting fraud percentage across the 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022 general elections of only 0.000043 [percent].” Or, about 4 votes per 10 million votes. Mail-in voting can be very important for disabled and aging people, who otherwise may have to deal with accessibility challenges with getting to the polls and access issues when voting itself.

CNN Is Trying To Drum Up Another Race Hoax thefederalist.com
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EXCERPT:

“Police investigating after a Black woman was found hanging from a tree in Mississippi,” an X post from The Lead on CNN read, accompanied by a reporter hit that aired Wednesday from Omar Jimenez on the death of 29-year-old Tasia Fortune.

Fortune was found hanging from a tree behind an abandoned house earlier this month. Her death is undoubtedly tragic, and the circumstances are being investigated. But CNN appeared to be more interested in trying to insinuate her death is emblematic of racism in America by invoking the imagery of a racist lynching and by breezing past additional reported details surrounding Fortune’s death.

Jimenez stressed that little is known about the circumstances and that police have not said whether her death is considered suspicious, nor have they identified a suspect. But police have also similarly not suggested it was racially motivated either — so naturally, CNN decided to make the crime about race (or at least try).

“The raw imagery of a black person hanging from the tree in the American South evokes a very painful history,” Jimenez said.

GOP Senators Launch Modern Inquisition Against Dem Candidate crooksandliars.com
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EXCERPT:

Sen Ted Cruz and Sen. Roger Marshall called a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate a heretic. The candidate they attacked is a pastor in a United Methodist Church. Cruz and Marshall target Adam Hamilton, the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Kansas. Media outlet Kansas.com explains the reason for the aggressive attack.

“Marshall finds himself facing something he’s never seen before, an opponent with a decent chance of actually beating him, the Rev. Adam Hamilton.”

Less than a week after winning his primary, the GOP senators are already launching what some call a modern-day Spanish Inquisition. For those who may not be versed in the horrors of religious persecution, the Spanish Inquisition was a dark period in history known for extreme religious fanaticism, harsh intolerance of different beliefs, and strict demands for ideological purity.

Does that sound familiar? It should because it’s the type of religious extremism the GOP is trying to implement in America.

Kansas.com journalist Dion Lefler wrote:

“Marshall and Cruz have appointed themselves The Kansas Inquisition…attacking mainstream Christian beliefs for lacking the zealotry and bigotry they associate with Christ’s ministry and message on Earth.”

U.S. District Judge Jeanette Vargas struck down the Trump administration’s pause on issuing visas to 75 countries. The judge claimed Secretary of State Marco Rubio exceeded his legal authority. She asserts consular authority trumps Secretary of State authority. The judge is another Biden-appointed District Judge. The ruling has been appealed.

Federal judge rules against Trump’s 75-country visa ban thehill.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

A federal judge ruled against the Trump administration’s pause on issuing visas to immigrants from 75 countries on Friday. In a 61-page decision, U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas found that this policy was “contrary to law” and was “in excess” of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s legal authority. The visa pause order was announced by…

NAACP denounces supreme court decision to allow Trump administration to restrict mail-in voting – live | Trump administration www.theguardian.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

The president of the NAACP, which sued Donald Trump in April to block his order to restrict mail-in voting, denounced the supreme court decision that allows the order to be implemented, despite claims that it is illegal and unconstitutional.

The NAACP president, Derrick Johnson, said in a statement:

“Let this ruling be a reminder that democracy is never, ever, guaranteed. We have to fight for it, we have to fight to keep it, and we have to protect the rights we do have within it. Those in power know full well that they are unpopular and will lose in a free and fair election, and so they are trying to do everything they possibly can to make it difficult for you to vote.

Trump’s order has nothing to do with election integrity. It has everything to do with maintaining power at all costs.”

OH, CANADA: ABC Reports the US-Canada Tariffs Like It’s the CBC www.newsbusters.org
News Source
EXCERPT:

As is now widely reported, the United States and Canada failed to reach a trade deal. As a result, there will be a fresh round of tariff exchanges. The most Trump-deranged of the three major network evening newscasts has taken a side, and as a result may need to consider a name change.

Watch as the American Broadcasting Company’s Senior Political Correspondent closes out her report on financial news on Iran and Canada- doing her darnedest to sound like the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation:

RACHEL SCOTT: And, David, back to Canada. They are not backing down. They say more retaliatory tariffs are on the way. President Trump says that Canada wants the benefits of being a state without actually being one. But tonight, Canada is making it clear they will not be pushed around. David?

DAVID MUIR: Rachel Scott live at The White House for us. Rachel, thank you.

Trump launches ‘Operation Economic Outcast’ on Iran as he tries to isolate regime with damaging new sanctions www.thesun.co.uk
News Source
EXCERPT:

DONALD Trump has launched his crushing “Operation Economic Outcast” on Iran by threatening crippling sanctions on any country propping up the regime.

The US president last week vowed to unleash the “MOST CRUSHING ECONOMIC OPERATION EVER TAKEN” to strong-arm Tehran into accepting his peace terms.

Donald Trump has vowed to unleash an ‘economic D-Day’ on Iran Credit: Reuters
Severe sanctions and months of bombing have plunged the regime into an economic crisis Credit: AP

Washington has now upped the ante with a new plan to slap severe sanctions on any country maintaining economic ties with the regime.

Iran has meanwhile vowed it will retaliate against any country participating in the US-led isolation campaign.

Trump’s Plans to Steal the Elections Are Underway www.truthdig.com
News Source
EXCERPT:

You’d never know it by the title, “Dancing in the Dark,” but the Washington Spectator’s recent investigation is about the various steps (mostly illegal) President Donald Trump is taking, including the use of enforcement tools and violence, to prepare to reverse any overall Democratic victory in the November congressional races. The authors, Mark Medish and Joel McCleary, believe Trump needs such a coup to save himself from impeachment, congressional investigations and subpoenas seeking more proof of crimes throughout his lawless, corrupt, dictatorial regime.

Currently, Trump’s polls are so low that he is endangering enough Republican seats in the House and Senate to give the feeble, corporate money-indentured Democratic Party a chance to win control of Congress. This is precisely what Trump fears, even though he has control of the Executive Branch and the immunity given him by six Injustices of the Supreme Court. Take note, he knows that impeachment and removal from office in the Senate are final, not reviewable in the federal courts.

In 23 single-spaced pages, Medish and McCleary walk readers through the events, directives, ballot seizures and draft emergency orders Trump could use to assert federal control over a midterm election and use a domestic paramilitary force of unprecedented size and budget. Trump and his minions have already expanded their dictatorial control of our democratic institutions. (See the V-Dem Institute’s Democracy Report 2026.)

They then describe the “Devil’s Accordion File” meaning “the elements of a ramified, radical strategy to hold on to power at almost any cost as we approach the test of the 2026 elections.” Although they describe Trump as a brilliant mastermind concentrating extraordinary power in his hands, they remind us that he is also in “full command of his office, directing the Justice Department, the FBI, ICE (the largest new federal police force in American history), the IRS, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission, the intelligence community and the armed forces. [Under total acolyte Pete Hegseth.] He is using each agency in a coordinated attack on his political adversaries in ways that would have been dismissed as fantasy only a few years ago.”