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Dear Progressive Reader,
Speaking at the Minnesota State Fair on September 2, 1901, Vice President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt Jr. would utter ([link removed]) the famous line “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” Less than two weeks later, Roosevelt would ascend to the presidency. This past week, more than a century later, we are witnessing a new example of “big stick” diplomacy. In this case, however, Donald Trump’s style (and that of his Vice President J.D. Vance and key adviser Elon Musk) might better be termed “Speak brazenly and wave a large club.”
Vance, addressing European leaders at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday, threatened to decrease U.S. support unless their countries decreased restrictions on hate speech and moved away from what Vance terms “political correctness.” Vance told ([link removed]) the assembled presidents, parliamentarians, and defense officials, “In Washington, there is a new sheriff in town.” In a combination of scolding, veiled threats, and inaccurate analysis, Vance even compared concerns over the statements and actions of the unelected billionaire Musk to the entreaties of the young climate crusader Greta Thunberg, saying: “If American democracy can survive ten years of Greta Thunberg’s scolding, you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.” At least one commentator said some Europeans were a bit relieved that Vance chose this tack, saying they had feared he would use his speech to talk about abandoning support
for Ukraine. But, as The Guardian noted ([link removed]) , it was a clear resetting of longtime alliances. “It was not just a collection of cheap shots in a culture war, while a real, life-and-death military war was largely ignored. It was a call to arms for the populist right to be able to seize power in Europe, and a promise that the ‘new sheriff in town’ would help them to do so,” writes ([link removed]) Patrick Wintour. As Wintour notes, the speech was “full of laughable hypocrisy . . . and insensitivity to Europe’s trauma with fascism.”
Vance’s speech in Munich, combined with regular tweets by Musk on his personal platform known as X, make it clear that the Trump Administration is bent on redefining (or perhaps eliminating) the meaning of “truth.” As Lee Felsenstein, longtime free speech advocate and one of the early conceivers of “social media” writes in a new autobiographical history, Me and My Big Ideas: Counter Culture, Social Media, and the Future ([link removed]) , “From this it follows that control of the channels of communication is the mechanism of politics. If you can dictate who listens to whom, then you are in control.”
This week on our website Alec McGillis of ProPublica describes ([link removed]) the attempts to rewrite or erase the past by the Trump Administration; Mike Ervin raises alarms ([link removed]) about the threats of spending cuts to numerous programs that make a real difference in people’s lives; Miranda Jayne Boyd pens an oped ([link removed]) on the need to fight back against Trump’s attacks on transgender people; and Jonathan Mingle opines ([link removed]) : “By directing federal agencies to ignore the mounting threats posed by climate change, Trump’s ‘America First’ agenda is already putting Americans’ safety last. To protect our lives and livelihoods, we must
restore a reality-based approach to governing.” Plus Stephen Zunes looks at ([link removed]) the history behind Trump’s plans of a “Riviera” in Gaza; Iván Espinoza-Madrigal of Lawyers for Civil Rights reports on ([link removed]) the cynical plan to send detainees from the United States to El Salvador’s prisons; Lital Khaikin writes on ([link removed]) the additional crisis precipitated by the halt of U.S. foreign aid during the current crisis in Sudan; and Eleanor Bader brings to light ([link removed]) the crowdfunding campaigns being conducted by teachers to try and
meet the needs of their classrooms.
February is Black History Month ([link removed]) , first conceived ([link removed](ASALH).) in 1926 by Carter G. Woodson as “Negro History Week.” One of the important anniversaries contained during the month is the February 12, 1909, founding of the NAACP, the largest and best known civil rights organization in the United States. Established following the deadly anti-Black riot ([link removed]) in Springfield, Illinois, in August 1908, the NAACP has struggled against injustice through court cases, educational and direct action projects, and cultural celebrations for more than 100 years ([link removed]) . The longtime leader of the NAACP, Walter F. White, will be profiled in a new documentary ([link removed]) on PBS later
this month.
Please keep reading, and we will keep bringing you important articles on these and other issues of our time.
Sincerely,
Norman Stockwell
Publisher
P.S. - The new 2025 Hidden History of the United States calendar is now available. You can order one online and have it mailed to you. Don’t miss a minute of the “hidden history” of 2025. Just go to indiepublishers.shop ([link removed]) , and while you are there, checkout some of our other great offerings as well. There is still time to get your items delivered for the holidays.
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