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Monsters 'R Us
Most of Planet Earth now knows cruelty is the point of Trump 2. But if anyone implausibly needs more evidence, meet Rev. Edward Nalwamba, a 79-year-old, pro-democracy Ugandan priest who spent over a year in ICE detention. When he went in, he was fit; at his long-delayed release last week, fellow detainees had to carry him to a car because officials wouldn't let him take his wheelchair that far. To ICE, he charged, "You are an animal...They forget they are dealing with human beings."
In the last 18 months, the Trump regime has deported nearly a million people, and killed at least 60, including two U.S citizens in cold blood and broad daylight. The family of one, Renee Good, has filed two federal civil lawsuits over her Jan. 7 murder, alleging wrongful death, "negligent infliction of emotional distress," conspiracy to conceal evidence, and coordinated campaigns of "aggression and abduction" against ethnic communities and "intimidation and violence" against their allies. And of course it has detained, terrorized, traumatized or shattered the lives of untold thousands, the vast majority with no criminal history.
One was the good Rev. Nalwamba, who arrived in the U.S. in 2002 for a religious conference. Having publicly condemned human rights abuses by the Ugandan government, and subsequently heard from colleagues that government agents were pursuing him, he decided to stay in Colorado and apply for asylum. In 2010, after his application was denied, he began living peaceably in Lakewood under a 15-year ICE supervision order, reporting to immigration officials as required, working as a health aide for people with developmental disabilities, and serving as a pastor at nearby Resurrection Anglican Fellowship until he retired two years ago.
In September 2025 he was arrested by ICE; they charged he was under a removal order dating back to 2010, and that he'd failed to "cooperate with efforts to obtain travel documents" before a deadline, aka to help with his own deportation in a timely manner. He was taken to the GEO Group's private ICE detention facility in Aurora, where for over a year DHS repeatedly vowed to deport him and then didn't. On Oct. 20, after his lawyers filed a second habeas corpus petition, Judge Cyrus Chung ruled feds had exceeded a “presumptively reasonable” six months of holding time with "no concrete plan” to return him to Uganda, and ordered his release.
When he was detained, Nalwamba was a fit 77-year-old who regularly walked, exercised and played ping pong. Inside, his health quickly deteriorated. He caught pneumonia which persisted for weeks, lost over 30 pounds and the ability to walk, developed a stubborn cough, chest pain, scratchy throat, headache and fatigue that were never treated - and besides, "You don’t want to go to the hospital - they shackle you like a bull.” "He walked in. He can't walk now," noted Colorado Sen. John Hickenlooper. "They want the misery of one person to be known by others. It's a low-rent form of terrorism to make people so scared they'll self-deport."
Along with the barbaric cruelty, observers also blasted the "staggering hypocrisy" of a regime that simultaneously charged Biden et al "targeted" Christians yet in their voter intimidation efforts sent ICE into churches, interrogated church staff, and detained and abused a church elder. Last week, because they hadn't alienated Christians enough by picking a fight with the Pope, they also turned a supposed prayer gathering of Catholic bishops into a sleazy photo op, prompting two angry Archbishops to apologize, charge they'd been "manipulated," and clarify this was "in no way an endorsement of the president, his policies, or his party."
In the final, petty degradation meted out to Rev. Nalwamba, detention officials told his attorneys they would ensure his safe passage on release with a wheelchair and escort, and then reneged on it all. The wheelchair couldn't go out to the gate, they insisted, nor could vehicles approach it. Hickenlooper: "There is no excuse for this cruelty. None.” In the end - no surprise here - it was two young mensches also being released who hooked their arms together - one lawyer: "It was heartbreaking and it was infuriating" - carried the reverend to his waiting car, and went on their way: "They didn't even give me a chance to say thank you.".
After his release, a buoyant Nalwamba said he’s “in another world." He talked to his children, he's well fed, he’s staying with a family who lent him an electric scooter to get around. The next day, he visited a health clinic to get a chest X-ray, blood work, TB testing. He looks forward to physical therapy and reconnecting with his church community: "I am a happy man." Except for the monsters, still here. DHS said they were "forced" by "an activist judge" to release "an illegal alien" who "chose to overstay his welcome in violation of our nation's laws." Most vitally, "He remains in the country illegally," under a removal order, without legal status.
So much, or not yet for Obama's Michigan citing of "a decency we should expect from our public officials." Attorneys plan to reopen Nalwamba's asylum case; conditions in Uganda have seriously deteriorated with widespread crime, unrest and targeting of political opponents and a U.S. "Do not travel" advisory in effect. At the same time, says attorney Joy Athanasiou, she has never seen "this inhumanity and cruelty" over 20 years of working with detained clients. Before, there were under 1,000 habeas corpus petitions a year; now there are about 90,000, a demand "100 times greater than what we can provide.”
Nalwamba says his thoughts remain with those innocents still inside a callous, corrosive environment worse than any maximum security prison. He loves the America he has lived in for almost 26 years, he says, and has always thought African and other countries should aspire to be like the U.S. But no more, he adds, not without drastic change. Those other countries, he argues, treat their livestock better than he was treated. "It's as if they've gotten used to treating people that way, like they're taking care of goats or cows,” he said. “I have never imagined human beings treated like I saw in this place."
The Rev. Edward Nalwamba Photo by Resurrection Anglican Fellowship
'We Must Pull Out All the Stops': UN Emissions Report Confirms 1.5°C Target Is Dead
Over a decade after world leaders adopted the Paris Agreement, United Nations experts warned Wednesday that the climate treaty's goal of limiting global temperature rise this century to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels is no longer achievable without an overshoot—though returning to that threshold remains possible with sweeping action to end the era of fossil fuels.
"The opportunity to bridge the 1.5°C emissions gap with 'no or limited' overshoot has been lost. Decades of insufficient mitigation action means that larger exceedance of 1.5°C above preindustrial levels based on multidecadal averages is now imminent and unavoidable," says "The Emissions Gap Report 2026: The Point of Return."
The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) released its report with that "sobering" message in the wake of its "Limiting Overshoot" publication from last month, during a global biodiversity summit in Armenia, and in the lead-up to next month's climate conference in Türkiye.
Scientists have long stressed that surpassing the Paris target could cause "irreversible impacts" to the planet and its inhabitants. The new report points out that "every additional fraction of a degree and additional year of warming above 1.5°C raises the risk of irreversible changes including in ice sheets, permafrost carbon, ocean circulation, and coral systems, along with devastating human impacts."
"The task now, therefore, is not only to ensure that global warming stays well below 2°C," the document says, referring to another Paris target, "but to minimize the duration and magnitude of overshoot and establish a credible return path to 1.5°C by the end of the century."
As Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP, put it: "We must pull out all the stops to minimize peak warming and return to 1.5°C by the end of the century. This is possible."
"We have a wealth of success stories showing that emissions can be cut quickly," she noted. "It is now up to nations to urgently put in place policies that spark fast, deep, and sustained emissions reductions, and put the world on track for a more stable climate and more stable economies and societies."
The 2026 UNEP Emissions Gap Report is out: The Point of Return. 🌍🌡️🔥It's sobering but actionable. Decades of inadequate climate action have closed off opportunities to limit warming, but ambitious action today can still prevent much greater harm.A thread of some of the highlights 🧵
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— Joeri Rogelj (@joerirogelj.bsky.social) October 21, 2026 at 4:51 AM
According to the UNEP analysis, the "lowest possible" 1.5°C overshoot scenario would involve peak warming of 1.7-1.8°C around mid-century, with global mean temperatures returning to 1.5°C or lower. It says that "to get on such a pathway, global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must be reduced by 18% by 2030, 45% by 2035, and 69% by 2040, all relative to 2025 levels."
"By contrast, the full implementation of the new nationally determined contributions (NDCs) submitted by around two-thirds of all countries would reduce emissions by 5-8% by 2030 and 11-15% by 2035 relative to 2025 levels," the report warns, citing the climate plans produced by governments that are parties to the Paris Agreement.
Germany's Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, whose scientists were lead authors of two chapters of the new report, explained that "transitioning away from fossil fuels would require reducing the shares of coal, oil, and gas in global energy supply by at least 55%, 15%, and 5%, respectively, by 2035 relative to 2025. Electricity generation from coal would need to be effectively phased out globally by 2040, while methane emissions would need to fall by at least 25% by 2035 relative to 2025 levels."
In addition to highlighting the "devastating" consequences of failing to implement policies aligned with the 1.5°C limit—"Deadly floods. Brutal heatwaves. Raging wildfires. Lost lives. Crippled economies. Deepening inequalities."—outgoing UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized that "the emissions gap is now a leadership gap, and the world is running out of time and excuses to close it."
"Governments must go much further and faster," he declared. "Accelerate clean energy and electrification across every sector. Adopt credible roadmaps to transition away from fossil fuels—with clear timelines and protection for affected workers and communities. Invest in grids and storage. Improve energy efficiency. Cut methane emissions. Halt and reverse deforestation. And deliver on their climate commitments—then over-deliver."
While the UN chief also said that Group of 20 nations "must lead," one of the G20's key members—and the world's biggest historical climate polluter—the United States, has ditched the Paris Agreement, again, under Big Oil-backed President Donald Trump's second administration, as part of broader agendas supporting fossil fuels and attacking international cooperation.
The report itself highlights that "emissions growth slowed down in the G20," with the Trump-led US "being the major exception," and "currently, the six largest emitters in terms of total GHG emissions are China, the United States of America, India, the European Union, the Russian Federation, and Indonesia—noting that in per capita terms, India and Indonesia are much lower emitters."
Within the United States and beyond, climate scientists and campaigners used the report to renew pressure on governments to push strong policies to reduce planet-heating emissions. Among them was Fenton Lutunatabua, Pacific and Caribbean lead at the advocacy group 350.org, who said that "this report is clear: Fossil fuels are driving us beyond the 1.5°C limit."
"The fastest and fairest way back is not to bet on unproven technologies, but to cut emissions now, end the expansion of fossil fuels, and protect the forests, oceans, and ecosystems that already keep carbon out of the atmosphere," he said. "We know this works: Since the Paris Agreement, global renewable electricity capacity has grown three times faster than expected, and the report shows that bold climate policies cut emissions at scale."
"But what's on the table now is far from enough, putting us on track for around 2.6°C of warming. We need more, and we can do more," he added. "Every five years of CO2 emissions at current levels pushes peak warming up by around 0.1°C, and every tenth of a degree is measured in lives. The time for action is now."
Consumer Sentiment Data Another Sign Trump 'Affordability Crisis Is Getting Worse, Not Better'
With early voting underway for the midterm elections and Democrats campaigning on how prices have soared under a Republican-controlled Congress and President Donald Trump, data released Friday show US consumer sentiment nearing an all-time low.
The University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers announced that its Consumer Sentiment Index dropped to 48 this month, down from 48.1 in September and 53.6 last October. The record low was 44.8, this past May.
Surveys of Consumers director Joanne Hsu noted Friday that "increases in sentiment among Republicans and Democrats were balanced by declines among independents," and also highlighted some of the survey's other findings.
UMich consumer sentiment... 48.0... 2nd-worst in history
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— Mike Zaccardi, CFA, CMT (@mikezaccardi.bsky.social) October 23, 2026 at 10:02 AM
"While year-ahead business conditions improved about 14%, they stand 16% less than last October's read," she continued. "This month's decline in the Current Conditions subindex was driven entirely by buying conditions for durables, which plunged 18% on the basis of higher interest rates and rising concerns about the affordability of such purchases. Purchasing power continues to dominate consumer views of the economy. Sentiment is now 10% below a year ago and 15% less than February, just prior to the Iran conflict."
"Year-ahead inflation expectations ticked up from 4.6% last month to 4.7% this month," said Hsu, who also put out a related report on inflation. "The current reading substantially exceeds the 3.4% seen in February before the Iran conflict began, along with all 2024 readings. Long-run inflation expectations also stepped up from 3.4% in September to 3.5%, notably higher than their 2024 range of 2.8% to 3.2%. Inflation expectations over both time horizons increased for the second straight month to their highest readings since May."
Data released last week by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics show inflation grew faster than expected in September, partly due to Trump's illegal Iran War, and an online tracker published earlier this month by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, highlights how costs have jumped for childcare, electricity, gasoline, groceries, healthcare, and rent.
Tonantzin Carmona, a former Biden administration adviser who now directs economic policy at The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank, called the University of Michigan's new consumer sentiment numbers "another sign that the affordability crisis is getting worse, not better."
"High prices and borrowing costs are making it harder for people to afford everyday necessities, and inflation expectations are rising again," she said. "What's more, our research shows that debt payments are eating up more than half of every dollar of real income growth, with debt payments rising more than eight times as fast as take-home income since the end of 2022."
"As inflation outpaces wage gains," she added, "workers are being squeezed from every direction—and October's consumer sentiment numbers, which are the second-lowest on record, reflect just how little families have left after paying their bills."
In 1980, inflation was 14% and unemployment was 8%. Consumer sentiment: 52.In 2026: still 52.Turns out Americans aren't just worried about the economy https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com/p/its-not-the-economy-its-whos-running
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— Justin Wolfers (@justinwolfers.bsky.social) October 21, 2026 at 10:04 AM
In the lead-up to his colleagues updating consumer sentiment figures, University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers published a Wednesday blog post noting that "every couple of weeks, someone on cable TV sits me down, points a camera at me, and asks the exact same thing. Our economic statistics look pretty good, so why are Americans so gloomy?"
"My prime suspect: An overwhelming majority of Americans rate economic policy under Trump as poor—the worst it has ever been—and they worry what this means for their economic futures," Wolfers wrote. He took "the share of people who say the government is doing a poor job" and subtracted "the share who say it's doing a good job," with a higher figure signaling a "harsher verdict."
"In late 2024, the verdict stood at +14. That means 14 percentage points more Americans thought the government was doing a poor job than a good one," he explained. By last May, when the consumer sentiment was the worst on record, "it had hit +66."
Based on his examination of the survey results over the years, Wolfers decided that "the next time someone points a camera at me and asks why Americans are so gloomy when the numbers look fine, here's my answer. They're not misreading the economy. They're reading the people running it. And their verdict today is the harshest on record."
Trove of Documents Exposes Secret Palantir Role in Medicare's AI Pilot Program
The software firm Palantir has drawn scrutiny and recent public ire over its role in President Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign, the illegal US war in Iran, and Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza.
But a trove of documents obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) reveals that the notorious tech company's tentacles have reached into the American healthcare system—including a widely criticized Medicare pilot program that uses AI models to review requests for medical services.
The documents include an application from Zyter, a healthcare technology company that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) chose to participate in the Medicare pilot program, formally known as the Wasteful and Inappropriate Service Reduction (WISeR) Model. Zyter's application mentions that Palantir "provides mission critical software infrastructure for CMS" and other government agencies, as well as "multiple" insurance companies. Zyter uses Palantir's software infrastructure, EFF noted.
Another document states that Palantir provides "AI-driven decision-making solutions" for "federal government entities and major payer customers such as Humana, Cigna, and Blue Shield of California."
The Center for Health and Democracy Education Fund, a nonprofit group founded by former health insurance executive turned whistleblower Wendell Potter, released a report Tuesday analyzing the documents unveiled by EFF, homing in on the "previously undisclosed claims of integration of Palantir Technologies’ products by major health insurers."
"As health insurers utilize AI more frequently, they are partnering with some of the nation’s largest technology corporations. Yet many of these relationships, including the technologies being used and the purposes they serve, remain largely unknown to the public," the report observed. "Given that these partnerships already exist, health insurers should immediately release to the public all vendor agreements involving the use of patient data."
The WISeR pilot debuted this year and has so far been rolled out in New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, and Washington state. News reports and internal documents show that the program was hastily implemented and has resulted in confusion and care delays for seniors. Vendors chosen to participate in the experiment earn a percentage of the estimated value of a denied claim, which critics say creates a perverse incentive to reject insurance claims.
The Center for Health and Democracy Education Fund demanded in its new report that insurance companies "immediately release to the public all vendor agreement involving the use of patient data." Without such information, the group warned, the public will not know key information such as the extent of AI involvement in coverage decisions.
"Patients should not have to wonder whether an undisclosed algorithm influenced their coverage determination, whether their medical information was shared with an outside technology company, or whether an automated system was evaluated for accuracy before affecting their care," the report concluded. "As AI becomes increasingly integrated into health insurance, it should not be allowed to make care-altering decisions, especially when it was designed by a company driven by profit rather than patient health."
Potter, a former Cigna executive who is now a vocal critic of the private insurance industry and supporter of Medicare for All, wrote in a series of social media posts on Tuesday that "I know how much these companies prefer to keep behind closed doors."
"Now we're learning that Palantir has been operating behind those doors, too," Potter wrote. "Is Palantir's technology helping insurers decide what medical care gets approved or denied? And why are we only learning about these relationships now?"
Former Top GOP Strategist Says It's 'Unimaginable' That US Won't Have Medicare for All Within 20 Years
A prominent former Republican political strategist said Monday that he believes it's just a matter of time before the United States adopts a Medicare for All universal healthcare system, citing the popularity of the program for older Americans across the political spectrum.
"Close your eyes and think about what will America be like in 20 years," Stuart Stevens—a senior strategist for Mitt Romney's failed 2012 presidential campaign—said during an MS NOW panel discussion hosted by Katy Tur. "It is unimaginable we will not have a national health plan."
"We're already the only Western country that doesn't," Stevens noted. "And this is just a matter of how long are we going to delay this?"
" Medicare is wildly popular," he said. "So you can see what the appeal of Medicare for All is."
"Why shouldn't everybody have Medicare?" Stevens asked. "I mean, it's the wealthiest country in the history of the world."
Stevens noted that the prospect of universal healthcare is "getting a tremendous response," even "from people who aren't exactly on the far left."
"So I think this is an issue that's changing," he added.
Responding to Stevens comments, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) told Common Dreams that Medicare for All will ultimately happen in the United States "because it is not just a moral imperative but makes economic sense," as study after study has shown.
"It's what will truly reduce the cost of our system," Khanna said.
A KFF survey released earlier this month found that 66% of Americans favor Medicare for All, the highest level of support since the organization began tracking the proposal. Support included 84% of Democrats, 72% of independents, and 34% of Republicans—up from just 21% of Republicans in 2020.
A separate Axios-Ipsos poll, also published this month, found that 43% of Americans supported the proposal, compared with just 24% opposed, while 21% of Republicans backed it.
Multiple studies have shown that Medicare for All would save lives—and money. Most recently, researchers at Yale University estimated that implementing such a system would save over 114,000 lives annually while reducing healthcare expenditures by more than $1 billion per year.
Stevens' comments came as Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.)—a possible 2028 presidential candidate—said his party needs to pursue Medicare for All if it succeeds in winning control of the Senate next week.
Former Biden Official With AIPAC Ties Tapped for Trump's 'Corrupt, Anti-Palestinian' Board of Peace
As President Donald Trump's Board of Peace, the organization that is tasked with overseeing a peace plan in Gaza, looks to boost its bipartisan appeal ahead of the midterm elections, in which Democrats could take control of one if not both chambers of Congress, the board announced Monday that it had appointed a former Biden administration official to help smooth the effort.
Shelley Greenspan, who served in the State Department and then as the White House liaison to the Jewish community for two years under President Joe Biden, was selected to lead external affairs, including outreach to members of Congress and think tanks in Washington, DC.
Greenspan has previously worked for Amazon in global innovation policy, for the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign in 2016, and as a legislative manager for the powerful pro-Israel lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Her appointment comes just before the US elections, but also legislative elections in Israel, which have held up the peace process as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to take steps on the peace plan before the country goes to the polls Tuesday.
Recent polling has projected that a bloc of opposition parties could win more seats than Netanyahu's far-right nationalist alliance.
Greenspan has promoted Trump's 20-point peace plan as one that could bring "practical results" to Palestinians in Gaza.
In a statement to Axios on Monday, she said that in her last federal government role at the State Department, "I saw how the president's 20-Point Plan can tangibly deliver for the peoples of Gaza and Israel. I look forward to continuing that work with the Board."
But rights groups have warned the Board of Peace has failed to deliver safety to Palestinians. In May, five months after the board was established at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland—where Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, presented a vision for a "new Gaza" complete with data centers and luxury high-rises—Human Rights Watch found that 865 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli forces since the October 2025 ceasefire and humanitarian aid was still "far below required levels."
The Board of Peace was given a mandate by the United Nations Security Council to oversee the reconstruction of Gaza, with Trump serving as "chairman for life." Last month, it unveiled a $2.45 billion recovery plan, including 66 projects.
But as Eric Reidy wrote at The New Humanitarian last week, the board "has put forward grand visions for redevelopment that are entirely disconnected from Gaza’s past and present as well as preliminary plans for stabilization that lack any viable path for implementation."
Meanwhile, Israel has continued to wage deadly attacks on Palestinians and daily life in the exclave has been "suspended in an intolerable state of limbo," he wrote.
"Trump’s 20-point peace plan says that Israel 'will not occupy or annex Gaza,' but it makes no mention of the West Bank," Reidy added. "The question of Palestinian self-determination is kicked indefinitely down the line to some point in the future when 'the conditions may finally be in place.' There is no mention of Palestinian rights or of justice and restitution, let alone recognition of Israeli crimes. Can there really be a path forward in Gaza that would benefit its people without addressing, or even acknowledging, the underlying causes of their suffering, namely Israel’s colonization and subjugation of Palestinians?"
Meanwhile, allegations of corruption have emerged, with Trump pledging $10 billion in taxpayer funds to the Board of Peace.
Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy, urged Democrats in Congress to oppose to board despite its attempt to cast itself as a bipartisan operation by appointing Greenspan.
"There's no 'fixing' the Board of Peace, and it's doing exactly what the world expects of it: serving as a Trump slush fund while validating continued Israeli control of Gaza, at the expense of Palestinian lives and rights," said Duss. "That is its purpose. No one should pretend otherwise."
Greenspan's appointment, said Akbar Shahid Ahmed of The Washington Sun, "underscores continuity in Biden-Trump policy for ongoing Palestinian suffering," and the "reluctance to pressure Israel even for stated US goals" such as an end to Israeli attacks on Gaza.
The Board of Peace, said progressive organizer Melissa Byrne, "is war and subjugation by another name."
‘Their Plan Is Insane’: Senator Issues Grave Warning About Post-Election Assault on Iran
If carried out, says Sen. Chris Murphy, the attack Trump and Hegseth are plotting "will lead to devastating escalation and the likely destruction of our commitment to the rule of law."
US Sen. Chris Murphy disclosed Wednesday that he was among the members of Congress recently briefed behind closed doors on the Trump administration's discussions of a possible post-midterm assault on Iran, and he came away with a startling assessment: "Their plan is insane."
Murphy (D-Conn.), who recently traveled to Gulf countries to survey the extensive damage Iran has inflicted on American military installations in retaliation for US President Donald Trump's illegal war, said during an event hosted by the Middle East Institute that he and some of his colleagues got the chance during a classified briefing "to have a fairly detailed conversation about what the war plan would be if we restarted military operations."
Without disclosing specific details from the briefing, the senator said administration officials told lawmakers that a renewed assault would be a "short-duration plan"—a common narrative from an administration that pledged shortly after launching the war that it would be over in a matter of weeks.
"It will lead to devastating escalation and the likely destruction of our commitment to the rule of law," Murphy warned of the administration's post-election plan.
Asked to elaborate, he said that "there's been open reporting as to what we may be planning and the civilian infrastructure that we may be targeting."
"They've been asked by the president to develop a plan," Murphy continued. "The plan that they have developed will lead, in my view, to a prolongment and an escalation of this war that would be devastating for our security interests."
Watch:
Ryan Costello, policy director at the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), called Murphy's remarks "a chilling warning that underscores the need to end the Iran war immediately."
In recent days, major media outlets including The Associated Press, CNN, and The Wall Street Journal have reported that the Trump administration has notified Middle East allies of a potential new military assault on Iran following next week's elections in the US.
According to the Journal, the US "has told several Gulf Arab countries to be prepared for a short, intense military campaign" in Iran following the midterms.
Citing unnamed officials, CNN reported that "Trump has not made up his mind on what he will do after the midterms but that he appears to be leaning toward ordering major action." The outlet noted that "leaders in US Central Command and the Pentagon have been developing a wide-ranging target list, which includes Iranian energy infrastructure, military sites, and nuclear facilities."
Sina Toossi, a senior non-resident fellow at the Center for International Policy, said Thursday that he increasingly believes "some level of infrastructure warfare between the US/Israel and Iran, on a scale we haven't yet seen, is inevitable."
"With that said, I wouldn't expect such an infrastructure war to last long, or reach catastrophic levels, largely because I expect Iran would retaliate on a scale that would compel the US to stop quickly," Toossi continued. "Yet if that doesn't happen, the consequences could be disastrous for all sides. The destruction of critical regional energy infrastructure would greatly exacerbate the existing energy crisis, likely push many economies, including the US, into recession, and deal a devastating blow to the rest of Trump's presidency and his legacy."
"Whether that prospect has already deterred him, however, remains quite unclear," he added.
Trump himself has floated a possible attack on Iran while campaigning for Republicans in recent weeks. At a rally in Lubbock, Texas earlier this week, the president told a crowd of supporters: "You'll see Iran in a couple of weeks, if you don't mind."
"There is a way forward, but it can only materialize once the US administration genuinely accepts that it has no military options."
Meanwhile, US Vice President JD Vance—widely viewed as the leading choice to succeed Trump at the top of the Republican ticket in 2028—has reportedly reached out to a leading Iranian official in a bid to revive diplomatic talks.
The Journal reported on Wednesday that Vance, with Trump's approval, "sent a letter to Mohsen Rezaei, the secretary of Iran’s top security body, the Supreme National Security Council, and previously Iran’s longest-serving commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps."
"Vance is testing whether Tehran and Washington could find enough common ground to persuade Trump not to give a final order for a short, intense attack on Iran in the coming weeks," the Journal reported. (Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to "annihilate" Iran, publicly denied that he directed Vance to try to revive peace talks with Iran.)
Costello of NIAC said in a statement Thursday that "while the desire to pursue an off-ramp is positive, Trump needs to walk the walk."
"Thus far, there is little to indicate a new approach and a serious desire to end the war," said Costello. "There is no military solution to the conflict with Iran, yet Trump still seems to think there is and that he’ll get to decide when the next round of fighting pauses. These are wrong-headed and dangerous conclusions to hold."
On the Iranian side, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in a Financial Times op-ed last week that while Tehran is "firmly committed to seeking a dignified peaceful resolution to the conflict, we are also fully prepared to defend ourselves."
"President Donald Trump entered this war on the basis of fundamentally erroneous assumptions about Iran’s fortitude. It appears that he continues to be wrongly told that our armed forces are unprepared to defend the homeland, despite all evidence to the contrary," Araghchi wrote. "To state the obvious, we have no trust whatsoever in the sincerity of the US administration’s professed desire for peace with Iran."
"Given that the White House has shown no willingness to reach an understanding on the way forward, while also threatening more violence, there is little reason to expect progress now," he added. "In spite of all this, as a career diplomat, I am obliged to do my utmost to give diplomacy a chance, even when hope of success is scant... There is a way forward, but it can only materialize once the US administration genuinely accepts that it has no military options."
US Journalist and Activist Detained After Israeli Settler Attack in West Bank
Jasper Nathaniel and Andrey Khrzhanovskiy recently came to the aid of Washington Post reporter Heidi Levine after she was beaten by Israeli settlers, and spoke out about the attack.
An American journalist and an activist who reportedly suffered a concussion from being beaten by armed Israeli settlers remained in detention Wednesday night, hours after Israeli police arrested them following the attack.
Adele Shoko, a Russian activist, reported that settlers had attacked her, Israeli-Russian activist Andrey Khrzhanovskiy, and US journalist Jasper Nathaniel late Wednesday in the Palestinian village of Umm al-Khair, in the Masafer Yatta area of the occupied West Bank.
"They beat us, threatened to shoot us, stole Andrey's phone and my glasses, and pepper-sprayed Jasper," Shoko said on the social media platform X.
According to Shoko, Khrzhanovskiy was denied medical treatment after losing consciousness "several times in front of police." He and Nathaniel were taken to a police station, where they remained hours later.
Nathaniel was heard yelling, "I just got beat up!" while being led away by police.
"Andrey was severely beaten and lost consciousness several times in front of police," said Shoko. "Despite this, he was denied hospital treatment. He was put in an ambulance—but instead of being taken to hospital, he was taken to a police station. He is still there, arrested and being denied medical care."
One video appeared to show Khrzhanovskiy losing consciousness.
Drop Site News cited Shoko as she reported that Nathaniel and Khrzhanovskiy eventually were able to speak with a lawyer, but remained at a police station. They were reportedly "physically okay."
"Israeli state terrorism knows no boundaries," said historian Zachary Foster of the footage of the attack.
The assault came less than two weeks after both Nathaniel and Khrzhanovskiy came to the aid of Heidi Levine, a Washington Post journalist, after she was brutally beaten and robbed by Israeli settlers while she was covering an attack by dozens of masked men on Palestinian olive groves in the West Bank.
State-backed settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank have ramped up significantly since October 2023, when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) also began a military campaign against Gaza in retaliation for a Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. More than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in what leading human rights groups have called a genocide, and a United Nations commission said this week that at least 1,080 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank in the last three years.
Top officials in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government have pushed to further annex the West Bank as the IDF has backed settler raids on villages and attacks on Palestinian communities as well as recent assaults on journalists, US lawmakers, and a group of European diplomats.
Nathaniel, who has spent years covering the Israeli occupation of the West Bank for outlets including Drop Site and Zeteo News, spoke recently to The New Yorker about the attack on Levine, emphasizing that Palestinians had thrown stones at her attackers to allow her colleagues to reach her.
"The IDF soldiers who have been there, who’ve been tear-gassing the Palestinians and providing cover for the settlers, stormed the village," Nathaniel said of the assault on Levine. "Rather than go after the settlers who have just nearly killed a woman, they stormed the village and started firing their weapons, and they shot a Palestinian man in the leg."
On Substack this week, Khrzhanovskiy wrote that "all the Palestinian villages in the West Bank are under siege," and that Netanyahu's government aimed to use a recent strike against Israeli soldiers "to start a war in the West Bank."
"The only way to stop this is pressure from all directions. We know it works," said Khrzhanovskiy. "Call your representative, hold a demonstration, organize direct action against the occupation’s assets abroad. Keep attention on the West Bank."
MAGA 'Ratfucker' James O'Keefe Charged After Trying to Prove Voter Fraud by Allegedly Committing It
"By going undercover to prove how easy it is to commit voter fraud," said one observer, O'Keefe "ends up proving how hard it is to commit voter fraud, and then catches charges for unlawful voting."
In a right-wing political stunt gone ironically awry, MAGA provocateur James O’Keefe and an associate were criminally charged Wednesday in Minneapolis with unlawful voting and identity theft after allegedly impersonating registered voters in a Minnesota election while attempting to demonstrate how "easy" it is to commit voter fraud.
The Hennepin County Attorney's Office (HCAO) announced that O'Keefe, 42, and Cam Higby, 26—both with the Citizen Justice League—are facing felony charges "for their conduct during the Minnesota primary election on August 11."
According to HCAO, O'Keefe and Higby "filmed themselves and posted the videos to social media to try to sow doubt about Minnesota’s secure voting systems."
The pair "visited multiple precincts in Hennepin County and misrepresented their identities by giving election judges names of registered voters in the precinct without those voters’ knowledge or permission," according to the prosecutor's statement.
Under Minnesota law, "no individual shall intentionally misrepresent the individual’s identity in applying for a ballot, depositing a ballot in a ballot box, or attempting to vote by means of a voting machine or electronic voting system."
Neither man is accused of actually casting a ballot—their alleged offense, according to prosecutors, was misrepresenting their identities while applying for ballots.
Announcing the charges in Minneapolis, Democratic Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said: "Elections are the bedrock of democracy and their protection is one of our highest priorities. Individuals engaging in unlawful conduct related to our elections will be held accountable."
Minnesota Public Radio reported:
Videos posted by O'Keefe’s operation show them wearing burkas outside precincts during the primary. Moriarty said the voter names they used included some residents who were dead and at least one who voted.
In the videos, O’Keefe, using an accent, asks workers at polling places if he can vouch for other voters. The election workers explain the law around vouching as one of his team members films, and then his team walks out.
“Polling places are the heart of our democracy and should be places of safety and peace," Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, also a Democrat, said on Wednesday. "Any attempt to disrupt or deceive our election workers will not be tolerated."
While the story practically writes its own punchline, plenty of observers weighed in with their own takes on the pair's predicament.
so priceless that prolific ratfucker James O'Keefe, by going undercover to prove how easy it is to commit voter fraud....ends up proving how hard it is to commit voter fraud, and then catches charges for unlawful votingchef's kiss, stellar work all around www.startribune.com/conservative...
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— Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias.bsky.social) October 28, 2026 at 10:27 AM
"James O'Keefe is a generational dumbass," Marisa Kabas, who publishes the progressive newsletter The Handbasket, said on Bluesky.
The irony is particularly rich given the years that conservative activists—with O'Keefe featuring prominently among them—have spent stridently claiming US elections are plagued by fraud, almost always without producing evidence to support their assertions.
Higby denied any wrongdoing and accused prosecutors of waging "lawfare" against him. O'Keefe had not yet commented on the charges as of Wednesday evening.
O'Keefe first rose to national prominence in 2009 with undercover videos targeting ACORN, a community organizing network serving low-income people. Posing as a pimp alongside collaborator Hannah Giles, who played a prostitute, O’Keefe published dubiously edited video footage of ACORN employees discussing what he claimed was illegal activity. O'Keefe later agreed to pay former ACORN employee Juan Carlos Vera $100,000 to settle a lawsuit over the recording.
Later, O'Keefe founded Project Veritas, which targeted Planned Parenthood, labor unions, journalists, Democrats, and other groups and people he opposed through hidden camera stings riddled with selective editing, deceptive tactics, and misleading narratives—all under the guise of investigative journalism.
Project Veritas was also involved in the "Stop the Steal" movement, which claimed Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election from President Donald Trump, while attempting to subvert the contest's results. Movement leaders, and Trump, were leading inciters of the deadly January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection.
'We Cannot Let History Repeat Itself': Progressive US Lawmakers Oppose AI Bailouts
"The House Progressive Caucus is ready for the collapse of the AI bubble. The rest of us should be also," said one economist.
As a progressive US senator warned Wednesday that Anthropic going public could leave "Americans holding the bag" if the artificial intelligence bubble bursts, The American Prospect revealed that key Democrats in the House of Representatives have crafted a resolution opposing federal bailouts for AI giants like the ones "too-big-to-fail banks" got nearly two decades ago.
The seven-page resolution obtained by Prospect executive editor David Dayen frames the 2008 global financial crisis as a result of "profit-driven financial risk-taking, fueled by Wall Street's speculative fervor and unleashed by years of zealous deregulation," as well as an example of what not to do when it comes to the booming AI sector.
"The economic harm of a multitrillion-dollar housing bubble caused by predatory lending, reckless financialization and securitization, and off-balance-sheet lending led to a massive surge in layoffs, with the unemployment rate hitting almost 10% at the trough of the Great Recession in 2009," the seven-page measure recalls. "The weak labor market persisted for nearly a decade."
Now, AI firms "hold trillions of dollars in debt, much of which is raised in opaque and unregulated private credit markets," the resolution continues. Financing terms of many "data centers as well as the costs and revenues of major artificial intelligence firms are not publicly available and... corporate borrowing to fund data center investments are multiples higher than projected revenues."
AI-related stock prices "have inflated even more than the tech giants of the 1990s," the measure notes, warning that "a collapse of an artificial intelligence bubble could have serious consequences for the economy, similar if not more significant than the end of the 1990s tech bubble or the 2008 global financial crisis."
Thus, it argues, "Congress must refuse to provide any additional funds or exceptional regulatory support to companies or financial institutions facing insolvency or financial collapse due to exposures to acute stress within the artificial intelligence market and must provide support to all harmed Americans instead."
While politicians from both parties have been ripped for their ties to Big Tech and AI specifically, the resolution explicitly calls out related failures under Republican President Donald Trump, who recently gathered industry leaders at the White House to sign a "self-policing" accord that critics said was "as dangerous as it is absurd."
House progressives' measure points out that "federal regulators have avoided applying robust scrutiny and oversight regarding enormously complicated debt and equity schemes used by artificial intelligence firms or the circular financing mechanisms involved" in the AI data center build-out.
Additionally, "the White House's artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency czar was personally invested in at least 449
companies" tied to AI "while pushing to eliminate government obstacles," the resolution says, "reflecting the administration's broad deregulatory focus and conflicts of interest" when it comes to this industry.
The House Progressive Caucus is ready for the collapse of the AI bubble. The rest of us should be also. No bailouts for the AI billionaires prospect.org/2026/10/28/h...
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— Dean Baker (@deanbaker13.bsky.social) October 28, 2026 at 7:53 AM
Though the resolution has not yet been introduced, Dayen reported on it less than a week before the midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for the remainder of Trump's second term. It's spearheaded by Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar (D-Texas) and House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).
"Big Tech and Wall Street are taking enormous risks with billions in borrowed money to fuel the AI boom, despite growing warning signs of a dangerous bubble," Waters told him. "We cannot let history repeat itself. The American people should never again be forced to foot the bill for billionaires' reckless bets."
Casar, a 37-year-old former labor organizer, highlighted that "many of us, myself included, came into political life watching as many people who caused the crisis in 2008 or cheered it on weren't held accountable."
"We know that the American people were appalled at these Wall Street executives nearly two decades ago, and they're even more pissed off at these tech oligarchs today. We shouldn't be trying to make them whole," said the congressman, who also leads the Ban Artificial Superintelligence Act with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
Polling released this past summer by Data for Progress found that among the "bad actors" Americans blame for the country’s concerning conditions, billionaires rank No. 1, but AI companies and social media giants are in the top 10.
The progressives' proposal "is a nonbinding 'sense of the House' measure," Dayen explained. "But it sets a marker that no bailout funds should be made available to AI companies. Casar wants the measure to be voted on early in the next Congress if Democrats take power, if not sooner, to get everyone on the record about an AI bailout."
Welcoming the resolution on social media, economist Leslie Ehrlich called it "both correct and good politics," adding, "Let the Republicans vote against it and be pro-bailouts."
'Simply Disgusting': Netanyahu's Likud Baselessly Claims Arab Parties Stole Israeli Election
"If they don't want to let us vote, they should say so," said the mayor of one Bedouin town.
With Israel’s governing coalition projected to lose its majority in the Knesset following Tuesday’s vote, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party made the unsubstantiated claim Wednesday that Arab parties “stole” the election.
“The elections in the state of Israel were stolen by Arab parties that support terrorism and the elimination of the Jewish state through serious criminal offenses of bribery, threats, violence, forgeries, and the use of prohibited software to mobilize voters,” the party said in a statement that was shared by Netanyahu on social media.
Without going into detail, the party said it was handing “hundreds of testimonies and pieces of evidence regarding election theft in many Arab polling stations" to investigators, including what it claimed were “thousands of envelopes” containing cash and ballot slips for Ra’am, one of two Arab factions that saw surging support Tuesday.
Three Ra’am activists were arrested before polls opened Tuesday in connection with an alleged vote-buying scheme; around 24,000 shekels were recovered in envelopes containing ballot papers. Netanyahu has claimed without evidence that the men were “senior officials” in the party. It remains unclear whether investigators have found any evidence that votes were changed as a result.
Likud also said Wednesday that it had provided the police and Shin Bet with evidence of “threats and violence against polling station members” in predominantly Arab communities, as well as “multiple voting behind the curtain, voting with double identities, discrepancies between the number of envelopes and the number of voters, the use of prohibited mobilization software, and more.” The post did not include specific evidence of the claims.
"Law enforcement agencies must act with an iron fist and in an immediate manner," the party said.
Israel’s Central Elections Committee said Tuesday that it had seen no indications of systematic tampering with ballot papers and was addressing individual complaints as they arose.
Talal al-Krenawi, the mayor of the Bedouin town of Rahat, rejected Likud’s fraud allegations Wednesday, calling them “disgusting… lies and falsehoods” and accusing Netanyahu of “incitement against the Bedouins.”
"We voted properly, with the ballot papers and identity cards," he said. "I have never seen elections as clean as these. It is a disgrace and a shame."
Voters wait to cast their ballots at a polling station in the predominantly Arab city of Tayibe during Israel’s legislative election on October 27, 2026. (Photo by Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images)
Alongside the far-right Jewish Power party led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, Likud tried to ban the two main Arab factions from participating in the elections, but the Supreme Court ultimately reversed that move earlier this month.
"Now that we have exercised our democratic right, we have stolen the elections? If they don't want to let us vote, they should say so," al-Krenawi said. "What they are doing is ugly. They are portraying us as thieves and cheats. It is simply disgusting."
Before voting even began, Israeli outlets reported that Likud had planned to declare the result fraudulent if Netanyahu did not emerge victorious. Likud dispatched thousands of right-wing activists to monitor polling places and undertook a program to surveil Arab voters. Haaretz reported that the party "may use the footage as false evidence for a conspiracy theory that the election was rigged."
The Yashar party, led by Gadi Eisenkot, warned Tuesday that Netanyahu was “panicking and has begun making up stories and claiming that the election is being stolen.”
Arab voters turned out in unprecedented numbers Tuesday despite reports of delays and intimidation at polling sites. Ra’am Leader Mansour Abbas accused Netanyahu of “lying and inciting against” his voters, using strong Arab turnout as a “scare tactic” to mobilize his own anti-Arab voters.
The two Arab-majority factions, Ra’am and the Joint List, were projected to win 19 seats in the 120-seat Knesset on Tuesday, potentially giving them leverage in determining whether the Jewish anti-Netanyahu opposition can form a coalition government to oust him from power.
Netanyahu’s allegations bear an eerie resemblance to US President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election and to right-wing Brazilian candidate Flávio Bolsonaro’s attempt earlier this week to claim that the reelection of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was the result of fraud.
“What a disgusting terrorist and war criminal this close Trump family friend is,” remarked author and political analyst Seth Abramson, who has noted how other right-wing populists have copied the US president’s election denial strategy.
"You have to know nothing about complex government investigations to think... the Netanyahu regime—which hates all Arabs and wants them erased—was magically able to get credible evidence of a historic nationwide criminal conspiracy in hours," he wrote on social media.
"I hear those who say Netanyahu's replacements aren't much better," he said, "but at least—unlike Netanyahu—they're not facing years in prison on corruption charges... in most cases haven't (yet) ordered genocidal attacks, and aren't (yet) proven sociopaths."
Ahead of COP31, 146 Scientists Urge UN to Declare Climate Change a Global Health Emergency
"The health harms of climate change are growing faster than the world's response to them, and in many cases even accelerating."
With less than two weeks to go until the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP31, brings world leaders to Antalya, Türkiye to discuss the need to transition away from fossil fuels, nearly 150 international experts warned that climate change brought on by greenhouse gas emissions constitutes a "global health emergency" whose harms are accelerating.
The "2026 Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change," written by researchers at University College London and the World Health Organization (WHO) and published in The Lancet, tracks dozens of indicators that link climate change to public health, including drought, extreme hurricanes and flooding, and economic losses.
But one top indicator that planetary heating has caused a worsening public health crisis is the extreme heat that was blamed for more than 50,000 deaths across Europe this summer, and which could lead to 450,000 excess deaths in the coming months as the climate emergency is compounded by this year's "Super El Niño."
According to the report, annual average heat-related deaths have surged by nearly 36% since the Paris climate agreement was signed in 2015, securing pledges from governments to draw down fossil fuel emissions, compared to the decade preceding the deal.
More than 70% of the 710,000 heat-related deaths recorded in 2023 were found to be attributed to climate change, and between 2016-23, 68% of the world's 540,800 heat-related deaths were linked to the warming planet. The previous decade, 55% of deaths caused by extreme heat were blamed on the climate emergency.
"These numbers point to a clear emergency," said climate health researcher Marina Romanello, the executive director of the Lancet Countdown. "The risks become even more profound when you consider how different hazards interact and compound. At the same time, drought is spreading, and the world is swinging to water extremes, some drying out, while others are flooding."
"Progress has been too slow, too small, and isn't reaching those who need it most."
The report was published less than two months after a glacial collapse killed at least 1,000 people in Nepal and Tibet as it sent sudden extreme flooding down a mountain into a number of towns.
Türkiye, where COP31 is set to begin on November 9, was one place where massive wildfires spread rapidly this summer, while hundreds of thousands of people in Spain and France were also displaced by fast-moving blazes.
And in August, more than 5,000 square miles of forest burned in the Northwest Territories in Canada, sparking public health concerns when smoke drifted thousands of miles south to the continental United States.
"A decade after the Paris Agreement, our findings are unambiguous: The health harms of climate change are growing faster than the world's response to them, and in many cases even accelerating," said Romanello.
Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, head of the climate change and health unit at WHO, said the report "demonstrates that climate action is a health intervention. Cleaner energy, stronger health systems and early warning systems are saving lives today. As countries prepare for COP31, placing health at the center of climate policies can help protect communities, strengthen resilience, and deliver immediate benefits for people’s health and wellbeing."
The 146 scientists who authored the report noted that strides have been made in some countries in expanding clean energy infrastructure, passing health protection regulations, and preparing health systems for climate-related crises and conditions.
But in the US, the largest historic emitter of greenhouse gases, the Trump administration has blocked renewable energy projects and rolled back regulations meant to reduce people's exposure to harmful emissions.
"Progress has been too slow, too small, and isn't reaching those who need it most," said Romanello. "That is why we are calling for climate change to be formally recognized as a global health emergency, with health placed at the center of every climate decision."
The report was released a week after the UN Environment Program warned that achieving the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting planetary heating to 1.5°C above preindustrial temperatures is no longer possible, and that world leaders must now focus efforts on ensuring the overshoot is as short-lived as possible.
In the Lancet Countdown, the researchers called on the UN to declare that climate change is a public health emergency of international concern, which could require an international response.
"Priorities," said WHO, "include accelerating reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, increasing support for adaptation, and expanding investments that strengthen health system resilience."
Latest Ted Cruz Attack on Abdul El-Sayed Denounced as 'Straight-Up Incitement'
"This is the most nakedly bigoted American political campaign of this century," said one observer.
Sen. Ted Cruz claimed Wednesday that Americans could die if Abdul El-Sayed, the progressive Democratic nominee for US Senate in Michigan, wins next week's midterm election, prompting a fresh round of denunciation of Republicans' Islamophobic bigotry.
“If Abdul El-Sayed becomes the senator for Michigan, there is absolutely nothing to stop Chuck Schumer from placing Abdul El-Sayed on the Senate Intelligence Committee,” Cruz (R-Texas) said, envisioning a scenario in which Republicans lose control of the upper chamber of Congress and Schumer (D-NY), currently the top Democrat, becomes majority leader.
“And if I am correct that he is a passionate supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, there is a very real risk that Americans will die as a result," Cruz added.
Cruz wasn't done—he also called El-Sayed a "jihadist leprechaun," an apparent swipe at the doctor's physical stature.
The Texas senator, whose comments came while campaigning for Republican Michigan US Senate candidate Mike Rogers, was excoriated for his remarks, and not just by Democrats.
"There really is nothing Ted Cruz won't say if he thinks there is political benefit to be had," American Conservative senior editor Luke Nicastro said on social media.
Matt Duss, a former top aide to US Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and the current executive vice president at the Center for International Policy think tank, took aim at not only Cruz but also C-SPAN, which aired a clip of the comments.
"This is straight-up incitement, and it’s fucking disgusting that C-SPAN is clipping and promoting it," Duss wrote on X.
The increasingly ugly Michigan Senate campaign has seen President Donald Trump repeatedly target El-Sayed’s name, religion, and alleged political affiliations, as well as his wife. The president has called El-Sayed a “jihadist” and claimed without providing evidence that he belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood, while mocking his Arabic name.
Rogers has also questioned El-Sayed’s loyalties, asking whether he is “for America, or... for these terrorist groups overseas?”
US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also drew condemnation after making sweeping, demonstrably false claims about Arabs and Muslims during a Monday campaign event for Rogers in Grand Rapids.
"This," opined More Perfect Union's Paul Blest following Kennedy's remarks, "is the most nakedly bigoted American political campaign of this century."
Siding With DNC a Week Before Midterms, Judge Blocks Trump's Taxpayer-Funded 'Propaganda Campaign'
The administration had allocated $20 million in public funds to pay for ads celebrating Trump weeks before the midterms.
Less than a week before Election Day, another federal judge on Wednesday blocked the Trump administration from using taxpayer funds to run ads promoting the president.
US district judge Loren AliKhan froze the White House Office of Management and Budget’s $20 million allocation to run the ads, saying the administration likely “used public dollars to unlawfully finance a national media campaign in the final weeks before the November 2026 elections.”
The ruling follows a lawsuit filed earlier this month by the Democratic National Committee (DNC), which accused President Donald Trump of using funds to “finance a national propaganda campaign.”
The ads, which stated that they were “paid for by the US government,” attacked Trump’s enemies as “Marxists,” celebrated his military operations in Iran and Venezuela, and promoted his personal declaration that his presidency marked the beginning of a “golden age of America.” Another ad that was reportedly prepared but never aired declared that “God made Trump.”
Following public outcry over the ads, Trump promised that future ads would be paid for with money he raised for his super political action committee MAGA Inc.
“That promise went unfulfilled,” wrote AliKhan, an appointee of former President Joe Biden. “The ads continued to air with the ‘Paid for by the US government’ disclosure for at least another week.”
The US Department of Justice has also acknowledged that the ads continued to run hundreds of times after a court order issued on October 11 requiring them to be canceled.
Federal law prohibits using federal appropriations for “publicity or propaganda purposes within the United States not heretofore authorized by Congress.”
The DNC argued that the administration's use of public funds illegally “deprives the DNC of a fair electoral process by adding public funds to the resources available to support Republican candidates.”
AliKhan agreed that there was "little doubt that defendants’ unlawful use of public funds makes it more difficult for the DNC to achieve its mission of ‘electing Democratic candidates in federal, state, and local elections across the country.’”
“The court just delivered a victory for the rule of law and for American taxpayers," DNC chair Ken Martin said following the ruling on Wednesday. "Trump and his administration can no longer misuse Americans’ hard-earned dollars to run political ads while working families can’t even afford to pay for their gas and groceries."
Martin added that “Trump’s illegal and desperate attempt to save his cratering approval ratings ahead of the midterm elections only underscores how out of touch he is with the American people, who will hold him and Republicans accountable for their destructive agenda at the ballot box next week.”
National Groups Endorse Impeachment Push as Hegseth Reportedly Eyes US Senate Seat in Tennessee
"In the case of Pete Hegseth, lawmakers now face a choice: Will they side with gross incompetence, rampant murder, and an illegal war, or will they finally side with the Constitution?"
A trio of national advocacy organizations and a constitutional scholar on Wednesday endorsed articles of impeachment that Republican US Rep. Thomas Massie filed last month against Pentagon Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is reportedly eyeing a soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat as a way to evade his possible removal from office if Democrats retake Congress in next week's midterms.
Free Speech for People, the Removal Coalition, FLARE USA, and Bruce Fein—a constitutional scholar and former associate deputy attorney general under President Ronald Reagan—announced their support for Massie's (R-Ky.) impeachment articles days after Puck reported that "there’s chatter" on Capitol Hill that Hegseth "has been angling for Sen. Marsha Blackburn to appoint him to her Senate seat, which she would vacate after winning her gubernatorial election."
According to Puck, some Republicans are privately hoping that Trump fires Hegseth before any impeachment effort gains real momentum. The Pentagon denied Puck's reporting, calling it "nothing more than beltway gossip."
Massie's articles accuse Hegseth of unconstitutionally waging war on Iran, "ignoring laws that minimize civilian casualties," "extrajudicial killings" in international waters, and the kidnapping former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro without legal authority, among other charges.
“Pete Hegseth has repeatedly demonstrated his contempt for the Constitution, the rule of law, and the fundamental rights of the American people,” John Bonifaz, president of Free Speech for People, said in a statement to Common Dreams. “No secretary of defense is above the law, and no president can authorize a Cabinet official to disregard the Constitution. Rep. Massie’s articles of impeachment present a clear opportunity for Congress to hold Hegseth accountable for his dangerous abuses of power.”
Jessica Denson, founder of the Removal Coalition, said that "it is past time for the corrupt and dangerous members of this lawless administration to face impeachment and removal."
"In the case of Pete Hegseth, lawmakers now face a choice," said Denson. "Will they side with gross incompetence, rampant murder, and an illegal war, or will they finally side with the Constitution?"
Hegseth's impeachment is backed by nearly two-thirds of Democratic voters and 20% of Republicans, according to polling released earlier this month.
"Free Speech for People is urging lawmakers to support Massie’s articles regardless of party," the group said Wednesday. "Hegseth has committed multiple abuses of power and must be impeached and removed from public office."
Massie introduced his impeachment articles months after Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), one of two Iranian Americans in Congress, separately unveiled articles that also cited the Iran war and US military atrocities as reasons Hegseth should be removed from office.
While just 16 House Democrats have cosponsored Ansari's impeachment resolution, Semafor reported earlier this month that "as the Iran war squeezes Republicans ahead of the midterms, Democrats are aligning to call for the defense secretary’s ouster or resignation."
“I 100% believe Pete Hegseth needs to be impeached and removed from office, because not only is he the worst secretary of defense in American history, he is a dangerous war criminal,” Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) told Semafor.
Dolores Huerta, United Farm Workers Co-Founder and 'Giant' of Labor Movement, Dies at 96
"Through courage and determination, she helped change what the world saw as possible, who the world saw as deserving of rights and dignity."
Labor advocates and Democratic lawmakers called on Americans to honor the legacy of the legendary union organizer Dolores Huerta, who died Wednesday at age 96, by "continuing to fight for her dream" of justice for all.
A spokesperson for Huerta's family said she died of cancer, and her family members said they would share plans "to recognize and celebrate her incredible life and legacy" at a later date.
"We know that many of you around the world share in our mourning," said her family, including her 13 children who survive her.
Huerta became a hero to workers across the world in the 1960s when she joined Cesar Chavez to establish the National Farm Workers Association, which became known as the United Farm Workers in 1972.
She helped lead a strike by Filipino workers in the grape-growing industry in Southern California, as well as boycotts of companies that paid migrant workers low wages, while exposing them to toxic chemicals and providing no job security.
Huerta faced violence by strikebreakers and police, 22 arrests for her nonviolent protests, and surveillance by the FBI, which suspected her and Chavez of Communist ties—but nevertheless organized one of the most successful produce boycotts in US history in 1968, garnering support from 17 million households and thousands of grocery stores that pledged not to purchase California table grapes due to growers' abuse of workers.
The strike led by Huerta and Chavez also gained the backing of the United Auto Workers and Democratic Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and the grape growers were forced to provide benefits to the workers the industry depended on.
"Through courage and determination, she helped change what the world saw as possible, who the world saw as deserving of rights and dignity. Every worker owes her a debt of gratitude," said Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants. "It’s a debt that we must pay forward by continuing to fight for her dream of a world where no human is exploited and no injustice is written off as someone else’s problem."
Along with Huerta's historic boots-on-the-ground victory for farmworkers, she pushed for the passage of one of the country's first major farm-labor laws, the Agricultural Labor Relations Act in California, which was passed in 1975. The law gave the state's farmworkers the right to organize unions and made them eligible for health insurance, pensions, and other benefits.
She also pushed lawmakers to pass immigration reform in the 1980s and backed campaigns for voting rights, environmental justice, and LGBTQ+ rights. Her last arrest was in 2019, when she was rallying for fair pay for home health aides.
"Dolores Huerta gave us all of the empathy, care, and encouragement of a mother for workers everywhere, with a fierce love for people that fueled her principled, relentless, strategic action for results that lifted millions of workers and our families," said Nelson. "She never gave up, she never gave in, and she fought for a better world to her last breath."
Chavez was often viewed as the leader of the movement they led together, with Huerta serving as vice president of the United Farm Workers for nearly forty years.
But earlier this year, Huerta and other women in the movement revealed to The New York Times in a bombshell report that Chavez had sexually abused women and children as young as 12 for years.
Huerta accused Chavez of raping her at least twice in encounters that led to pregnancies. She said she did not report the assaults to police because they were hostile to their labor organizing, and said she had not been aware of his alleged abuse of minors.
“Unfortunately, he used some of his great leadership to abuse women and children,” Huerta told the Times. “I never talked about it to anybody, and the reason I didn’t is because I just didn’t want to hurt the movement.”
Huerta remained with the United Farm Workers until 1999. Three years later she established the Dolores Huerta Foundation, which leads grassroots organizing efforts to promote education equity, LGBTQ+ equality, and other causes.
She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012 by President Barack Obama, who acknowledged at the ceremony that the rallying cry he adopted in 2008, "Sí se puede" ("Yes we can"), had originated with Huerta.
"¡Sí, se puede! is more than a chant," said Melat Kiros, a progressive Democratic US House candidate in Colorado. "It's a promise we must keep in her honor: that the people united can change the world."