A newsletter about the history behind today's politics.
April 1, 2026
Trump attended the Supreme Court hearing of the case under which he hopes to end birthright citizenship, which is guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment, The Fourteenth Amendment overturned the Dred Scott decision and established that Black men were citizens, While discriminatory laws persisted until after WWI, the Supreme Court always upheld the citizenship of children born in the US, In the 1898 Wong Kim Ark decision, the court upheld birthright citizenship, Trump appeared at the Supreme Court presumably to intimidate the justices during the hearing, The ACLU’s Cecilia Wang, herself a Fourteenth Amendment citizen, argued the case for the plaintiffs.
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March 30, 2026
Trump shares images of new White House ballroom, Trump again suggests discussions to end war in Iran are underway but Iran insists it is not engaged in talks with the US, Trump threatens to commit war crimes in Iran, Price of oil rises to $116/barrel, Current crisis shows what a government imagined by Movement Conservatives and beholden to the whims of one man looks like, Congress is out of session until April 13 and Trump is moving to escalate the Iran war, Republicans are considering cuts to health care spending, Insiders are leaking information about administration insiders, Trump’s approval ratings hit new lows.
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March 28,2026
Trump is attempting to rewrite our nation’s history, Administration calls for putting Trump's ideology in place in federal historic sites, national parks, and museums, The Smithsonian Institution has been charged with aligning the work of all of its museums with Trump’s effort to rewrite the past, On the anniversary of January 6, the White House released a website blaming the Democrats for the attack on the Capitol, When the National Park Service took down displays about the enslavement of black Americans at the Philadelphia home of George Washington, the city sued, American people are pushing back against the erasure of American history. Citizen historians are preserving the country’s heritage, On March 28, millions gathered at No Kings demonstrations nationwide, remembering our complicated history and the true lessons of the past.
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March 27, 2026
The battle over funding TSA continues, Trump and MAGA Republican extremism is so unpopular that Republicans cannot govern, Americans have turned against Trump’s handling of immigration, Senate Democrats refuse to give a blank check to ICE and Border Patrol, Republicans vote down Democrats’ attempts to fund the rest of DHS including TSA, Trump demands SAVE America Act be attached to funding DHS, Trump calls for getting rid of the filibuster, Mike Johnson refuses to bring Senate’s measure to fund all of DHS except ICE and CBP to a vote, White House official suggests Trump is bored with Iran, The global economy is not moving on.
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March 26, 2026
In bald language, Singapore’s Prime Minister makes clear how Trump has instigated a profound change in the world order, In place of the foundation supported by the US, Trump aligns himself with international oligarchs, Trump initially launched strikes on Iran at the urging of Saudi Arabia’s MBS and Israel’s Netanyahu, US actions in Iran war and otherwise are benefitting Russia’s Vladimir Putin just as US considers diverting arms and funding for Ukraine, Trump acknowledges violating the Constitution, Republicans may be having misgivings, Spending on Iran War, which continues without Congressional support, alienates allies and makes Americans less safe.
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March 25, 2026
Trump allies express concern that he is not aware of what is actually happening in the Iran War, Story of administration corruption widens, DOJ has evidence that Trump misused classified documents, Rep Raskin asks DOJ to answer questions about classified documents and who had access to them, Stephen Miller urges Republicans to pass extremist legislation at the state level, Democrats are working at the state level to protect interests of ordinary Americans, Current actions at the state level recall New York State’s response after the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in 1911.
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March 24, 2026
People close to Trump may be committing treason by trading on national secrets - putting personal gain over the safety of Americans, Trump’s plans for Washington DC are smashing the design of the national capital, Administration is declaring war on renewable energy, Airport lines grow as shutdown continues, Trump sends ICE agents to airports signaling how he may involve them in the 2026 midterm election, Republicans block Democratic attempts to fund everything in DHS other than ICE and CBP, Trump pushes so-called SAVE America Act, Florida Democrat flips house seat in Mar-a-Lago's district, Pentagon has ordered military personnel to go to the Middle East.
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March 23, 2026
Trump tries to calm market fears about the continuing war in Iran, Trump threatens Middle East oil infrastructure, Trump then rescinds threat citing progress in negotiations with Iran, Iran denies Trump’s claims and social media suggests Trump's actions are meant to manipulate the market, Trump continues to claim that talks are underway with Iran though there is no apparent incentive for Iran to join such talks, Asked about the Strait of Hormuz, Trump claims it will be opened soon, but is unclear about how it will be controlled.
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March 22, 2026
Trump defends failure to inform allies and partners about US attack on Iran, Closure of Strait of Hormuz puts enormous pressure on the president, Administration lifts sanctions on Iranian oil giving Iran huge relief without any concessions, Pressure builds over DHS corruption involving Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski, Trump threatens to use ICE to hurt Democrats, Trump maligns Robert Mueller on the announcement of his death, Reporting on the Epstein scandal reveals that a vast amount of paperwork was shredded after Epstein was found dead in prison.Watch today's recording here:
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March 21, 2026
On March 21, 1861 Senator Alexander Stephens delivered his Cornerstone Speech, In the Cornerstone Speech he described a Confederate government based on racial enslavement, Stephens expected the new doctrine of the Confederacy to spread around the world, Abraham Lincoln rejected the Confederacy’s doctrine, and as president, declared enslaved Americans to be free, It would take the passing of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to enshrine the principles of the Declaration of Independence in the Constitution, Tearing apart old political systems permitted the rise of new ones built on a clearer view of the meaning of the United States.
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