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It is our responsibility, in whatever capacity we can, to stand up against this despotic act of pure immorality. Write. Phone. Shout. March. Trump has moved beyond indecency into the realm of insanity.
I don’t know how better to put this than to say President Donald Trump’s threat this morning to “wipe out a whole civilization” of Iran puts America into a new immoral universe.
He is directly threatening a war crime. And every one of us is complicit in it, in the sense that this threat comes from the president of the United States, threatening to utilize our nation’s military power to exterminate an entire people.
Regardless of whether Trump follows through on this threat, it needs to be repudiated immediately. No civilized nation threatens to wipe out another civilization. No people, through their head of state, threatens to exterminate another people. No human being vested with official power by human beings threatens to wipe out another part of humanity.
Those of us who are silent right now—whether we call ourselves Democrats or Republicans, whether we are in the military or are civilians, whether or not we hold public office, whether we like Donald Trump or detest him—must not remain silent.
It’s our responsibility as human beings to demand that Trump repudiate this threat to other human beings.
It is our responsibility as citizens of this nation to say unambiguously that what Trump is now threatening is truly evil. It’s our responsibility as human beings to demand that Trump repudiate this threat to other human beings. It is our responsibility to call on all other Americans, in whatever capacity, to stand up against this despotic act of pure immorality.
Write. Phone. Shout. March. Trump has moved beyond indecency into the realm of insanity. This must be stopped.
Our Constitution cannot defend or protect itself. Not when Trump and his administration keep violating their oath to defend and protect it. It’s up to us to do that.
President Donald Trump’s illegal, unconstitutional war on Iran is not only a moral and humanitarian disaster, but also the latest assault on our way of life. Trump and his enablers count on us to endure their ever escalating egregious abuses of power that imperil our democracy, potentially fatally. We must prove them wrong. We can and must overcome these clear and present threats to our lives, liberty, and way of life.
Our Constitution cannot defend or protect itself. Not when Trump and his administration keep violating their oath to defend and protect it. It’s up to us to do that. We the People must not fail to meet this crisis. We must not let these abuses of power go unchecked. The Congress and the American people must hold Trump and all those complicit in the Trump administration accountable for their escalating attacks on the rule of law.
These intertwined crises require us to act! We must pressure all members of Congress, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents alike, to uphold their oath of office to defend and protect our Constitution. Contact your representative and both of your senators now. Call the US Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121, and ask the operator to connect you directly to the office of your senators and representative.
Ask to speak to the chief of staff or another staffer. Leave a message if they’re not available. Be firm but calm. Identify yourself as their constituent, and tell them:
Trump and his administration have repeatedly broken the law and arrogantly refuse to abide by the limits on the power clearly laid out in the Constitution. The Constitution offers one and only one remedy: impeachment, followed by removal from office. I demand that [official’s name] take immediate action to impeach and remove Trump and all complicit Administration officials.
We must do much more than that, however. Contacting Congress is necessary but not sufficient. While the House may vote to impeach Trump for a third time, the Constitution requires two-thirds of the Senate to vote to convict and remove Trump and complicit officials. This is highly unlikely, at least for now. We have to change the arithmetic through concerted, decisive action.
Several Republicans must put our republic above partisanship. For that to happen, we must relentlessly demand action. Every American who cares about our constitutional democratic republic must pressure their senators and representative by phone, email, social media, and in‑person visits.
We must demand that Congress impeach Trump again, but this time also vote to remove Trump and all complicit administration officials from power. We must do this, even though we have little confidence that enough Senate Republicans will act honorably. We must make them do so, or else replace them with people who will. That means getting active in the primary elections, already underway.
Support independent media like Common Dreams. Volunteer with Progressive Democrats of America to help lead on the effort to replace feckless politicians with strong leaders.
To increase pressure on the current Congress, organizations and individuals across the country must initiate and maintain ongoing nonviolent protests and civil disobedience.
Act now! Contact everyone who will listen. Work with decision-makers and members of any organization you know and persuade them to join the struggle.
Start or join boycotts targeting Trump-friendly corporations. Delay purchase of any non‑essential goods and services. Organize walk outs, sick outs, and other intentional non-participation. Urge everyone you know to do the same.
We need mass participation by individuals amplified by unions, as well as civic, religious, labor, social, and other organizations. We the People must stand up now in concerted, courageous, continuous opposition to oppression and tyranny. Nothing less will ensure the survival of our constitutional republic.
"All of us are on full notice that this White House feels no compunction about concocting obvious lies, concedes nothing when its lies are exposed, and should be presumptively disbelieved in all matters."
Continuing its bizarre and often legally questionable use of social media to publicize law enforcement operations, the official White House account published an artificially generated deepfake image of a protester arrested on Thursday by the FBI.
Earlier that day, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem had posted about Nekima Levy Armstrong, one of three people who were arrested for disrupting a service last week at the Cities Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer and field office leader, David Easterwood, reportedly serves as a pastor.
Noem described Levy Armstrong, who leads a local civil rights organization known as the Racial Justice Network, as someone "who played a key role in orchestrating the Church Riots in St. Paul, Minnesota."
There is notably no evidence that the protesters engaged in or threatened violence, as implied by her use of the word "riot." Video shows protesters disrupting the service by chanting slogans like "ICE out" and demanding justice for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer in Minneapolis earlier this month.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the protesters had been charged under the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act, which makes illegal any conspiracy to "injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate," people from exercising "any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States."
In her post, Noem shared a photo of Levy Armstrong being led away by an agent, whose face is pixelated to hide his identity. In the photo, Levy Armstrong appears stone-faced and unfazed by the arrest.
Hours later, the official White House account shared the exact same image—accompanied by text describing her as a “far-left agitator”—but with one notable difference. Levy Armstrong's face was digitally altered to make it appear as if she was sobbing profusely while being led out by the agent. Nowhere did the account make clear that the image had been doctored.
"Did the White House digitally alter this image of Nekima Levy to make her cry???" asked Peter Rothpletz, a reporter for Zeteo, who described it as "bizarre, dark stuff."
Sure enough, CNN senior reporter Daniel Dale later said the White House had "confirmed its official X account posted a fake image of a woman arrested in Minnesota after interrupting a service at a church where an ICE official appears to be a pastor," and that "the White House image altered the actual photo to wrongly make it seem like the defendant was sobbing."
Asked for comment, Dale said the White House directed him to a social media post by Kaelan Dorr, the White House deputy communications director, who wrote: "Enforcement of the law will continue. The memes will continue."
Posting artificially generated images of their targets sobbing has become a house style of sorts for the White House account.
In March 2025, the account posted an image, altered to appear in the style of a Studio Ghibli film, of Virginia Basora-Gonzalez, an alleged undocumented immigrant and convicted fentanyl trafficker, crying while handcuffed during her ICE arrest in Philadelphia.
In July, the White House posted an AI-altered photograph of Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) after he criticized an ICE raid in which agents arrested hundreds of farmworkers in Ventura County, California. They edited Gomez's congressional photo to make it appear as if he was crying, referring to him as "Cryin' Jimmy."
But the fake image of Levy Armstrong hardly appeared as a "meme." It was subtle enough that, without having seen the original, it was not immediately apparent that it had been altered, raising concerns about the White House's willingness to publish blatantly deceptive information pertaining to a criminal investigation.
Anna Bower, a senior editor at Lawfare, suggested that for the government to post a fake, degrading image of a criminal suspect could be considered a "prejudicial extrajudicial statement," which can undermine the case against Levy Armstrong.
The Trump administration has been caught in an untold number of lies, particularly about those arrested, brutalized, and killed by its law enforcement agencies. This includes Renee Good herself, whom members of the Trump administration tarred as a "domestic terrorist" within hours after her killing, without conducting an investigation and despite video evidence to the contrary.
Bulwark journalist Will Saletan said that with this deepfake post, "all of us are on full notice that this White House feels no compunction about concocting obvious lies, concedes nothing when its lies are exposed, and should be presumptively disbelieved in all matters. Nothing they say should be accepted without independent confirmation."