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Francesca Hong Gains Momentum in Wisconsin Democratic Governor’s Race

Francesca Hong Gains Momentum in Wisconsin Democratic Governor’s Race

Lawyering in a Good Cause Can Go Bad and Threaten the Rule of Law

Lawyering in a Good Cause Can Go Bad and Threaten the Rule of Law

As Cruelty Normalizes, America’s Authoritarian Drift Deepens

As Cruelty Normalizes, America’s Authoritarian Drift Deepens

Travis Scott, Benny Safdie, Elliot Page, Corey Hawkins, Tom Holland, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan, Matt Damon, Anne Hathaway, Lupita Nyong'o, Charlize Theron, John Leguizamo, Zendaya, Samantha Morton, Himesh Patel, Jon Bernthal, and Logan Marshall-Green attend the premiere of "The Odyssey" presented by Universal Pictures on July 14, 2026 in New York City.

The Odyssey Isn’t Real, But American Diversity Is

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Data Crisis Deepens as Agencies Face Cuts, Disruptions, and Declining Trust

Fifty years later, I'm still a dreamer

Fifty years later, I'm still a dreamer

The American tragedy of the Trump assassination attempt

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David L. Nevins
By David L. NevinsJul 17, 2024
David L. Nevins
David L. Nevins serves as publisher of The Fulcrum. Additionally, Nevins serves as co-founder and Board Chairman of the Bridge Alliance. Nevins brings business acumen, vision and a tireless this-must-and-can-be-done zeal to the burgeoning movement to bridge divides to transform the political process. As a business leader, Nevins excels at building bridges between people and organizations from the right, left and center for civilized conversation and then action. He co-founded the Bridge Alliance because, as he says, “No matter how well managed and how well funded anyone organization is, significant political reform will not happen without an alliance to further collaborative interactions. Together we can and will raise the collective impact of all.” He is a member of the Aspen Institute Society of Fellows, with a focus on the Aspen Rodel Fellowship in Public Leadership, he established and continues to work with The Nevins Democracy Leaders program at Penn State University. Nevins graduated with honors in economics from Penn State in 1969 and received an M.B.A. in finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1971.
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Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

When I was a young man, I thought our country was more divided than it had ever been and couldn’t possibly get worse.

I was a young teen when John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and a college student in 1968 when Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were senselessly assassinated. I witnessed the near-fatal shooting that almost ended the life of President Ronald Reagan just three months into his first term in 1981.

And now the attempt on former President Donald Trump's life in 2024.

Despite these futile and senseless acts of violence, I still have hope in a higher consciousness that will help us rise above it all.

My hope endures despite the conflict profiteers who thrive by sowing disinformation, outrage, and hate on social media, and the politicians who feed into our division with violent rhetoric.

Our divide is amplified because we live in silos, separated from each other based on what side of the political aisle we are on. Most of us watch the news station that fits the narrative we want to believe. We prefer to make accusations, innuendos, or spew misinformation instead of living into a higher standard of discourse and mutual understanding. Instead of being kind, we choose to feel superior in our tribe.

Yet despite it all, I have faith in America and that we can come together.

In troubled times in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s and today I often turn to music for the solace I need. It serves as the strongest form of soothing magic for me.

In 1970, the words for “ Bridge Over Troubled Wate r” by Simon and Garfunkel provided the solace I needed:

I'm sailing right behind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind
Like a bridge over troubled water
I will ease your mind

In the same year, “ Let it Be ” calmed my soul as John Lennon and Paul McCartney sang:

When I find myself in times of trouble
Mother Mary comes to me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
And in my hour of darkness
She is standing right in front of me
Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.
Let it be, let it be.

Whisper words of wisdom, let it be. And when the broken hearted people
Living in the world agree,
There will be an answer, let it be.
For though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see
There will be an answer, let it be
Let it be, let it be. Yeah
There will be an answer, let it be.

More than 50 years have passed, and once again our nation is being tested. We, the citizens, are being called to be better. The next few months leading up to the election will be a trying time for us all and the call to come together rings loudly once again. Together, we cannot fail.

“ You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.” And today, I hope that “ you will join us.”

So heed the words. Let’s sing out loudly that “ We Are the World ” and must come together as one:

There comes a time
When we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
Oh, and it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all

We can't go on
Pretending day-by-day
That someone, somewhere soon make a change
We're all a part of God's great big family
And the truth, you know, love is all we need

We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day, just you and me

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For eight months, federal investigators examined allegations involving ballot secrecy, observer rights, election records and reporting procedures in a contested union election before allowing the result to stand.

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50501 Movement – Thomas Paine’s Political Philosophy in the 21st Century

circa 1770: The English-born American revolutionary philosopher Thomas Paine, (1737 - 1809), who wrote and published 'The Rights of Man', (1791 - 1792), in England. In it he expressed his support for the French Revolution and called for the overthrow of the British monarchy.

(Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

50501 Movement – Thomas Paine’s Political Philosophy in the 21st Century

The 50501 Movement can be viewed as a 21st-century manifestation of the anti-authoritarian, pro-egalitarian framework that Thomas Paine championed in Common Sense. Both movements share a core belief in challenging entrenched power and mobilizing the collective voice of everyday people to defend democracy. By utilizing decentralized, nationwide grassroots mobilization to challenge executive overreach and billionaire consolidation, the 50501 movement directly echoes Paine’s anti-authoritarianism, his belief in collective civic power, and his demand that power remains in the hands of the people.

The 50501 Movement mirrors the spirit of Paine’s Common Sense through three primary parallels:

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How class, identity, and political recognition shaped the Democratic Party's relationship with rural white working-class voters over two decades.

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The Thousand Injuries: The Not-Qwhite Voter and the Politics of Recognition

In the fall of 2003, Howard Dean said he wanted to be the candidate for guys with Confederate flags in the back windows of their pickup trucks. It was clumsy but not dishonest. He meant that his party had written off a whole category of American voter and wanted to change that. He was attacked at once, mostly by his own side, and walked it back within forty-eight hours. The lesson his party drew was not that the outreach had been badly phrased; It was that the outreach itself was impermissible, that to pursue the rural white working class voter was to be complicit with everything he was presumed to represent. Dean was the last major Democrat to try, and the consequences have accumulated in the shape of the electoral map.

Edgar Allan Poe understood something the party still does not. "The Cask of Amontillado" opens with a line that ought to hang in every campaign office: the thousand injuries of Fortunato the narrator had borne as best he could, but when Fortunato ventured upon insult, he vowed revenge. Injuries can be borne as long as the injured man believes his tormentors still regard his suffering as real. The insult is different. It reframes the injuries as deserved, telling the sufferer he is the kind of person who deserves to suffer. Poe's narrator does not recalculate his interests; he takes his revenge at great cost to himself. That is not irrational but human, and it is the most precise framework we have for what has happened to rural white working-class voters over the last twenty years.

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Painting by John Trumbull made in 1818 depicting the Committee of Five (Adams, Livingston, Sherman, Jefferson, and Franklin) presenting their draft of the Declaration of Independence.

Painting by John Trumbull made in 1818 depicting the Committee of Five (Adams, Livingston, Sherman, Jefferson, and Franklin) presenting their draft of the Declaration of Independence.

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Defending Democracy Through the Founders’ Principles

As we have been celebrating the 250th anniversary of our country's founding, America is faced with its biggest challenge probably ever, save the Civil War. While there is much to celebrate in the 250 years of our existence, this moment is fraught with danger—not just for our democracy but for our founding principles of equality and the people's right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Unfortunately, most people don't understand the critical role that our country's structure, democracy, and the rule of law play in their efforts to live their lives and pursue happiness. People think, "So what, these issues don’t impact my life."

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