Bajaj, an intern with the Bridge Alliance, is a first-year student at the University of Southern California double majoring in international relations and psychology. The Bridge Alliance operates The Fulcrum.
"We are bound by ideals that teach us what it means to be citizens. Every child must be taught these ideals. Every citizen must uphold them. ... I ask you to be citizens. Citizens, not spectators. Citizens, not subjects. Responsible citizens building communities of service and a nation of character."
Said by George W. Bush in his 2001 inaugural address, this quote truly captures the urgency and importance to be a contributing citizen in today’s society. One may ask, what does it mean to be a good citizen? While the answers to that questions are endless, we believe proper citizens will always put community and nation before party, ideology and narrow interests. They realize that someone does not have to be shunned if they have a different opinion. Rather, they center on collaboration, seeking creative ways to reach others by speaking to their individual interests.
By a citizen simply placing themself in another citizen’s shoes, communities will ignite collective interest to prioritize working together, opening up the previous untapped energy and drive to make a change. That is what the 2022 Civic Collaborations Awards — the “Civvys” — will celebrate.
Presented by the Bridge Alliance, the Civvys are the first and only national award program celebrating best practices in civic collaboration and collective action. From the inception of the awards, we have emphasized the need to celebrate people and initiatives that leverage collaboration and creativity to strengthen communities, heal partisan divides, and invigorate American democracy. Our winners in previous years have exemplified what it means to embrace diverse perspectives and make a difference. That’s why we created the Civvys, and that’s why this year we will focus on work done in 2021 that speaks to the urgency of democracy.
We hope you will join us on this journey of honoring our democracy by nominating an individual or group that embodies what the Civvys advocates. Applications must be submitted by April 18, after which an esteemed panel of civic leaders will review the submissions to designate finalists and winners. The 2022 Civvy Awards will be announced during the Civic Season in Atlanta, Ga., on June 12.
Thank you for taking a step in caring for our democracy.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a“ Steel Across America” event ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11th attacks on the Ellipse near the White House on Sept. 8, 2026 in Washington, D.C. President Trump welcomed 9/ 11 first responders to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’ s“ Steel Across America” event featuring a 16,900- pound, 21- foot steel beam recovered.
For Trump, even 9/11 is an opportunity
There was a reason organizers of the 9/11 ceremony in Manhattan told President Trump he could not speak at this year’s memorial service.
A good one, it turns out.
Because in a speech he gave on Tuesday in Washington, he did exactly what they were presumably worried about — he made it about himself.
According to The New York Times, Trump had wanted a speaking role at the service, but the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, which oversees the site, said no, as they’ve maintained for the past decade-plus that the venue and event should be nonpartisan.
Trump has long used awful tragedies to either puff himself up, trash political opponents, or sell lies to the American people.
He blamed a deadly plane crash at Washington National Airport last year on diversity, equity and inclusion policies. He blamed Puerto Ricans for the devastation they endured after Hurricane Maria in 2017. He reportedly considered withholding disaster relief after the California wildfires based on the way affected regions voted. In an interview on Fox News meant to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy, he used the occasion to slam former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi…with graves of the dead behind him.
And now, as we approach the 25th anniversary of what many New Yorkers consider the darkest day in modern history, Trump has done it again.
He told a rambling, nonsensical story — one he’s told before — about going to Ground Zero just after terrorists flew two commercial jets into the twin towers. In the story, which no one has been able to verify, despite multiple attempts, he says firefighters had to carry him out of One Liberty Plaza, also known as the U.S. Steel Building, because they thought it was about to collapse.
As CNN fact checker Daniel Dale notes, there’s no evidence Trump went into this building, especially at a time when NYPD and NYFD had locked down the area. There’s no evidence that building was collapsing — in fact, it was deemed structurally sound and reopened within two months of the attacks. There’s no evidence he was carried out of it by firefighters.
But the lie isn’t even the worst part. Pretend it was all true — why would the leader of our country, and a New Yorker, decide to make that tragic day about himself?
Because that’s who Donald Trump is. He’s a malignant narcissist.
He’s also, incidentally, a terrible and ineffectual president, who’s made ill-fated decisions that he has to keep defending, and there’s nothing he won’t do to make himself look and feel better.
Within the first two minutes of his speech, he was cravenly using 9/11 to justify and promote his dumb war in Iran — two events separated by 25 years and 6,000 miles.
“And I will tell you, we’re right now fighting because we have a certain nation that wanted a nuclear weapon, they were very close to getting it, and now they have no chance at getting it. They will never have a nuclear weapon. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. And they’ve been punished greatly. As you know, we’ve really taken it to them.”
As a New Yorker who lived through 9/11, still one of the worst days of my life, I’m utterly sickened by Trump’s crass, political, and self-promotional framing of that awful day.
And I’m relieved he won’t be given a platform to do it again on Friday’s anniversary in lower Manhattan.
Because for Trump, everything is his for the taking, and absolutely nothing is sacred.
S.E. Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.