So it would appear Trump didn't trust his won counsel
It would appear that the aftermath of the Trump administration will be with us for a bit longer, lately in the form of unraveling what the former president may have done to go after political enemies.
So today's top item goes directly after that.
The Trump surveillance state
Have you noticed all of the concerning news coming out on the antics of the Trump administration? The secret subpoenas. The attack on “enemies”. No? It’s fine. Dennis Aftergut, a former federal prosecutor and chief assistant city attorney in San Francisco, noticed for all of us.
“Three years after the fact, we learn that in 2018, the Trump Justice Department issued secret subpoenas for communication records of Trump’s own White House counsel, Don McGahn.
That report followed earlier stories this month that prosecutors had issued similar subpoenas for Apple and Microsoft “metadata” on multiple news reporters and Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell.
In other words, the secret information gathering extended to perceived outside “enemies” or disloyal members of the administration, Democrat or Republican, like McGahn. And that is just what we now know about the perceived foes investigated in 2018. We have not learned what surveillance may have been done as Trump’s vilification of opponents accelerated in 2019 and 2020.”
Today’s editorial cartoon
- June editorial cartoon gallery: Cartoons on Biden, COVID-19, politics and more
Father's Day is Dad History day
Do you have a father figure who loves history? Good news, Father’s Day is almost upon us and we have a column on that very topic.
“It’s Father's Day, and that means it’s time to show dad how much he’s loved with a manly gift like a necktie, a drill, an iPad – or a book about the Civil War, the Founding Fathers or World War II.
You’d think historians would welcome a holiday that drives up sales of history books. But some of my colleagues are not happy. Books popular for Fathers’ Day are often called “Dad History” and Dad History, the idea goes, is not good history. That’s a problem, because Dad History is one of the best ways non-academics learn about the past.”
I grew up with refugees in my home
Marvel-Britney Njimbong writes about growing up in a home that was always filled with refugees in need of help. She writes about her initial feelings of resentment towards the people her parents were helping and how she eventually realized.
“I had understood for a long time that the strangers in our home had made arduous journeys and put themselves at great risk for ultimate safety, but I guess in some way their struggle hadn’t been real to me.
Nor had the extent of my parents’ generosity and empathy.”
How to not fear your fellow Americans
Fear closes our hearts. Love opens them. Fear despairs. Love hopes. Fear shouts. Love listens. Fear has to be right. Love is willing to be wrong. Fear thinks the other side must lose for our side to win. Love knows we win together.
Our country is being fractured by fear. We fear rapid and massive change we cannot control. We fear economic instability. We fear leaders, laws and systems that deny our full humanity. We fear a culture that demeans us and the values we hold dear. We fear the damage we are doing to the natural world. Increasingly, we fear each other.
This week, during the National Week of Conversation, we can begin the necessary and courageous work of pushing back against fear. A series of more than 100 events will bring together Americans for creative conversations and to begin building bridges of understanding and cooperation.
This newsletter was compiled by Louie Villalobos