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** 1. The politics of despair ([link removed])
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By Kyle Sammin

There has always been loose talk of civil war in certain corners of the online media world. People who believe, for whatever reason, that America’s differences are too vast to bridge and that separation — even to the point of war — is the only solution.

After Donald Trump’s election in 2016, the tumult of Covid and the George Floyd riots, multiple attempts on Trump’s life in 2024, and now Charlie Kirk’s assassination, the would-be separatists are no longer laughing. And their numbers, on both sides, are growing.

We’ve counseled in these pages the need to step back from the brink of destruction ([link removed]) , noting Abraham Lincoln’s appeal to “the better angels of our nature.” He spoke those words to a nation on the razor’s edge. A month later, the rebels fired on Fort Sumter and a bloody civil war began. We, in 2025, are not so far gone as all that. But it bears repeating that the lines between Democrat and Republican, liberal and conservative, left and right, must never be allowed to harden into the battle lines between friend and enemy.

Why It Matters. Opponents of liberal democracy have been spreading the seeds of that lie wherever they could for years now. While it once grew on the left alone, now it has found purchase on the right, as well. It is not surprising that this kind of thought has increased since Kirk’s death, because it is fundamentally a politics of secular despair.

Lincoln, again, shows the way. “We are not enemies, but friends,” he said in that same inaugural address. “We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.”

Continue Reading ([link removed])


** 2. Millcreek Township School District violated First Amendment by suing citizen, court says ([link removed])
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By Beth Ann Rosica

School districts are prohibited from suing citizens for defamation because it is considered a violation of the First Amendment. However, that didn’t stop a suburban Erie school district from trying — at the taxpayer’s expense.

Millcreek Township School District (MTSD), according to a former elected school director, is engaged in a five-year plus legal battle because it objected to his requests for information and comments he made publicly. The school board and superintendent first denied legitimate requests for information from this duly elected school director, and then investigated and censured him, removed him from committee, and silenced him at meetings when he attempted to speak as an elected official.

Ultimately, the school district sued, alleging “defamation” against both itself and the superintendent, despite the fact that school districts are prohibited ([link removed]) from bringing forth such actions based on a 1964 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

Why It Matters. Millcreek used taxpayer dollars to fund both of these suits and alleged Aliota’s critical comments about the district and its superintendent were not protected under the First Amendment.
The district sued one of its own school board directors for engaging in free speech, protected under the First Amendment.

The school district’s response to these issues is hard to understand, and the legal advice from their attorneys is questionable.

The judge was unequivocal in his opinion that the board was wrong to bring forth the defamation suits.

Continue Reading ([link removed])


** 3. Lightning Round
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* Presler’s posthumous birthday present to Kirk: a Bucks early-vote drive ([link removed])
* Guy Ciarrocchi: Attack of the clones — Sherrill and Spanberger ([link removed])
* Christine Flowers: There’s no conflict in supporting capital punishment and being pro-life ([link removed])
* Paul Davis: My Q&A with Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner ([link removed])
* Ben Mannes: Dugan wins endorsements, Krasner sends out more grants ([link removed])
* Emily Kreps: Judicial restraint on the line — PA Supreme Court retention and the Constitution ([link removed])
* Ada Nestor: No Kings, just chaos ([link removed])
* Stew Bolno: No Kings Day, Trump, ‘fascism,’ and public protest ([link removed])


** 4. What we're reading
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The 2026 midterms are more than a year off, but some Pennsylvania Democrats are already making plans for 2028. Against Republicans? No, against one of their own. Holly Otterbein at Axios reported this week ([link removed]) that “top Democrats in Pennsylvania are maneuvering to run against Sen. John Fetterman in a 2028 primary contest, threatening to tear the party apart in the biggest battleground state in the nation.”

We at Broad + Liberty have certainly had our criticisms of Fetterman, but it smacks of bizarre hubris for Dems here to plot against a Senator with increasing cross-party appeal when they are losing voters statewide year after year. Well, good luck with all that.


** 5. More sports podcasts
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On Pattison — a part of the Fideri News Network — is expanding into the podcast scene, with new offerings from veteran broadcaster Mike Missanelli, journalist Anthony SanFilippo, and many more. Read about them all here ([link removed]) .
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— The Editors at Broad + Liberty
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