It’s all about whether humanity is stuck in tribalistic human nature, or whether, through principles, rules and laws, and agreed-upon values, we can transcend our base instincts. (And, perhaps, become a global civilization, and reach for the stars, as science fiction has always imagined.)
LA Times, LZ Granderson, 21 Feb 2026: The slur ‘woke’ highlights what Trump fears most
Summarizing all that’s happening with Trump lately: Board of Peace, $10 billion, Epstein files.
Which is why the president encourages his supporters to ban books and reject journalism. He doesn’t want voters to pay attention. He doesn’t want voters to understand his actions.
Ten years ago this month — after his Nevada caucus victory speech — Trump said, “I love the poorly educated.” And his reliance on this base is why, over the past decade, he and other conservatives have purposely misconstrued the term “woke” as a catch-all slur toward progressive and far-left policies. It used to mean “aware” and “informed.” The term was not born out of modern politics but rather the need to understand the history of the social economic systems we all are living in. The alternative is to be blindly led by an unscrupulous leader most concerned with his own well being.
To those of us not in the cult, “woke” still means aware and informed. It means educated. It means considerate.
Being “woke” is why the Boston Tea Party happened in 1773; it is why Thomas Paine published “Common Sense” in 1776; it is why Republicans formed the Wide Awakes to help get Abraham Lincoln elected in 1860. When voters understand the context in which decisions are made, we are better equipped to address shortcomings at the ballot box and in our daily lives.
It’s not about policy.
Trump’s self-proclaimed love for the poorly educated has nothing to do with progressive policies or college degrees and everything to do with whom he can convince to believe him. And by making “woke” an insult, Trump and other conservatives have politicized the very tool necessary to help the country fulfill its promise: information.
This threat is the reason his administration attacks, and even arrests, journalists; the reason he refers to reports he doesn’t like as “fake news”; the reason he fired the labor statistics chief after an unflattering jobs report last year. He’s waging a war on information.
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For example. Trump cares more about perceived discrimination of whites in South Africa, and Jews on college campuses (pandering to his Christian conservative base), more than he cares about discrimination of anyone else, or about the universities themselves, and their pursuit and dissemination of knowledge and learning (and the advancement of the human race).
NY Times, 24 Feb 2026: Justice Department Sues University of California Over Antisemitism, subtitled “The Trump administration accused the university’s Los Angeles campus of not doing enough to curb antisemitism, months after the government tried to cut research money and demanded more than $1 billion.”
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Salon, Chauncey DeVega, 24 Feb 2026: Why Trump’s creepy emails work for MAGA faithful, subtitled “The president’s fundraising emails are part of a larger messaging campaign that has become increasingly menacing”
A weird mix of personal loyalty and the obsession of a former lover… as some of his MAGA voters are increasingly ignoring him.
But the president’s recent fundraising emails are part of a larger messaging campaign that has become increasingly menacing — even by Trump’s standards. Like an obsessed former lover, the president has been telling his MAGA voters that he loves them but is hurt because they appear to be ignoring him. He is wounded that they don’t answer his multiple emails or pick up the phone when he calls. Trump’s emails also ask his supporters if they are avoiding him or if they have blocked his number.
Then his guilt-laden message turns threatening: “Does ICE need to come and track you down?”
How did we get here?? What would the Founders think about our current situation??
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Salon, Sophia Tesfaye, 23 Feb 2026: Kash Patel hijacks Team USA’s Olympic hockey win, subtitled “FBI director faults media for criticism of his flight to Milan”
Flying to Milan on taxpayer dollars, chugging beer in the locker room.
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Items from JMG.
- MAGA “Journalist” Busted In Yet Another Stupid Lie
- He didn’t mention that the UPS store has the same address as an apartment complex above it.
- Another lie.
- Noem Lied About Having Deported Literal “Cannibal”
- And another.
- Whistleblower Testifies: DHS Lied About ICE Training
These items are not about demonizing MAGA or Republicans, exactly. They’re about trying to understand why some people have a grasp on reality, and others don’t, and think that whatever they claim to be true must be real. And again, about the potential of humanity, if it remains tribal and disconnected from reality.
