Today's #ListenFirst Friday video focuses on the importance of overcoming political divides and coming together to combat climate change.
Video: #ListenFirst Friday Ellis Watamanuk
#ListenFirst Friday Ellis Watamanuk
America is in the midst of a crisis of character with an assault on our shared values. Our nation’s leader is attacking our very Constitution as well as encouraging each of us to view each other as enemies.
America’s Founding Fathers recognized the trouble this could be for the success of our national experiment.
Going back to the beginning, in his first inaugural address, our first president, George Washington, understood the need for unity and that he served the people of this new nation. He described the “indissoluble union” between virtue and happiness, stating that a nation's prosperity depended on adhering to a set of principles.
In his first address to the nation, Washington shared: “In these honorable qualifications, I behold the surest pledges, that as on one side, no local prejudices, or attachments; no separate views, nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought to watch over this great Assemblage of communities and interests: so, on another, that the foundations of our national policy, will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of private morality; and the pre-eminence of free Government, be exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its Citizens, and command the respect of the world.”
There have been 45 different presidents since the office was established in 1789 with Washington; what we are now witnessing when it comes to “immutable principles of private morality” from Washington's 44th successor is horrendous.
President Donald Trump’s character has been in question since he entered public life, with plenty of examples to point to of his crassness or cruelty. We all saw him make fun of the New York Times reporter with a disability. We heard him bragging that he could grab women by their private parts, as well as disparaging our war heroes.
But what makes this period more dangerous is the fact that Trump is using the full force of the executive branch and the bully pulpit to seek retribution and enact an agenda based on cruelty.
Here are just a few examples, in no particular order, of Trump’s actions or rhetoric in just the last couple of months:
Trump told mourners at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service, “I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them.”
During a Fox News interview, following the assassination of Kirk, Trump said that he “couldn't care less” about unifying the country.
While speaking at an Oval Office press conference on autism, Trump blamed mothers for their child’s autism and told women that they need to “tough it out.”
At the United Nations General Assembly, Trump told world leaders that their “countries are going to hell” if they do not follow his policies.
During an address to the U. S’s top generals and admirals, Trump suggested troops use cities as military “training grounds” and that “That’s a war too. It’s a war from within.”
Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to sexually abuse minors, was moved to a minimum-security facility shortly after meeting with Deputy Attorney General and former personal attorney to Trump, Todd Blanche.
Detaining U.S. citizens without due process, as well as sending immigrants to foreign gulags or countries outside their country of origin.
Trump directed the Department of Justice to pursue his perceived political enemies, like former FBI Director James Comey, as well as others, via a Truth Social post to “Pam” (Attorney General Pam Bondi).
Just a short time after meeting in the White House to discuss the government shutdown, Trump shared an AI-generated video on social media, depicting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wearing a sombrero and a mustache.
Every American should be asking themselves, do Trump’s ideals and actions, like some of the ones mentioned above, align with the core of our founding and those fundamental mores that
Washington encouraged all of us, but especially the President, to uphold.
Since voters do not generally vote on character and instead on things that matter more to them, like the cost of eggs or safety in their communities, we are left to confront the issue of shared values at a societal level, while at the same time holding our political parties responsible for not acting as guardrails.
Please make no mistake, the blame for the unbelievable fall from grace lies with the President of the United States and the Republican members of Congress who have abdicated their power to provide a check or to legislate.
However, the Democrats are not without fault in this regard. The Democratic Party appears unable to step up to meet this moment, as evidenced by its failure to recognize the threat and put forward a strong 2024 presidential nominee.
What Americans are living through now is not about left versus right, Democrats versus Republicans, or even liberal versus conservative—it is rejecting what is in front of us and recommitting to the values that we, as Americans, believe in and have based this fragile experiment upon.
Lynn Schmidt is a columnist and Editorial Board member with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She holds a master's of science in political science as well as a bachelor's of science in nursing.
In September 2025, activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at a Utah campus event. His death was shocking — not only for its brutality, but because it showed that political violence is not just a relic of the past or a threat on the horizon. It is part of our national identity. Today’s surge in violence follows patterns we’ve seen before. Let’s take a look at that history.
When Pope Alexander VI issued the Doctrine of Discovery in 1493, he gave theological and legal cover for European conquest of lands already inhabited by indigenous people. These papal bulls declared non-Christian peoples “less than” and their lands open for seizure. This was more than a geopolitical maneuver — it embedded into the Western imagination a belief in the inherent supremacy of some over others.
When the United States was founded nearly three centuries later, the Founders carried this worldview with them. In the Constitution, they enshrined compromises that upheld racial hierarchy:
These legal structures weren’t neutral. They authorized violence: slave patrols, lynchings, Native removals enforced by militias, and the steady expansion of “whiteness” as the standard of belonging.
That seed has borne bitter fruit for centuries. In the United States, political violence has always been part of enforcing this hierarchy.
Across four centuries, violence has been used to enforce the same hierarchy: the supremacy of some over others.
We often think of white supremacy as something “out there,” belonging only to extremists. But if we are honest, we must ask: Where does it live inside us? In our unspoken fears, in the reflex to protect what is “ours,” in the subtle hierarchies we accept as normal. To live in peace, we must do the hard work of rooting it out of our own hearts and minds.
What we all yearn for is simple: a dignified life. A way to live securely, peacefully, and in community with one another. That dignity cannot be built on the subjugation of others — it can only grow in soil where all belong.
My heart yearns for a peaceful world where our society is based in convenient, life-affirming systems. Our current society has deep roots in a hierarchy of human value and we have yet to break free. Our liberation depends upon us doing so. Here are things everyone can do:
The arc of violence will not bend toward peace on its own. It requires all of us, together, to name the roots, pull them up, and choose a different inheritance.
The Roots of America’s Violence was first published on Debilyn Molineaux's substack platform and was republished with permission.
Debilyn Molineaux is a storyteller, collaborator & connector. For 20 years, she led cross-partisan organizations. She currently holds several roles, including catalyst for JEDIFutures.org and podcast host of Terrified Nation. She also works with the Center for Collaborative Democracy, which is home to the Grand Bargain Project as a way to unify Americans by getting unstuck on six big issues, all at the same time. She previously co-founded BridgeAlliance, Living Room Conversations, and the National Week of Conversation. You can learn more about her work on LinkedIn.
The noosphere is here—and it’s under siege. This essay explores how Musk, Trump, and Putin are shaping the global mind through Starlink, X, and cognitive warfare.
In the early 20th century, two thinkers—Russian geochemist Vladimir Vernadsky and French Jesuit philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin—imagined a moment when humanity’s collective consciousness would crystallize into a new planetary layer: the noosphere, from the Greek nous, meaning “mind.” A web of thought enveloping the globe, driven by shared knowledge, science, and a spiritual awakening.
Today, the noosphere is no longer speculation. It is orbiting above us, pulsing through the algorithms of our digital platforms. And it is being weaponized in real time. Its arrival has not ushered in global unity but cognitive warfare. Its architecture is not governed by democracies or international institutions but by a handful of unaccountable actors.
But rather than a universal awakening, we are witnessing fragmentation, manipulation, and control. The most literal manifestation of the noosphere today is Starlink, SpaceX’s low Earth orbit satellite constellation of 6,000+ satellites that changed the nature of war, enabling Ukrainian communications after Russia attacked its telecom infrastructure. Yet Starlink isn’t a neutral utility. It’s privately owned, and decisions about where and how it functions are made by Elon Musk, not by any government or international body. Starlink is creating a new kind of global infrastructure—the nervous system of the noosphere—outside the control of any elected government. And that nervous system is being contested, both overtly and subtly.
A 2023 RAND Corporation report issued a stark warning: authoritarian regimes—especially Russia and China—are exploiting digital systems to wage what RAND calls “cognitive warfare” (RAND, 2023), where narrative is the primary weapon. Fact-checking and transparency are insufficient defenses when memes, deepfakes, and coordinated influence campaigns spread faster than reason can respond.
This is what political scientists call sharp power—the ability to subvert and manipulate open societies through the same freedoms that make them vulnerable. The noosphere, with its interconnected thought streams and real-time communication, is the perfect terrain for its deployment.
Russia, in particular, has mastered this form of warfare. From interference in U.S. elections to disinformation, the Kremlin has weaponized narrative as a geopolitical tool. Enter Donald Trump, whose second term, aligned with Musk’s platform X (formerly Twitter) and sympathetic to Putin’s strongman model, threatens to fuse political, technological, and ideological forces into a single, disruptive cognitive front.
This is not a formal alliance—but it is ideological and tactical. All three challenge traditional democratic norms. All three use media (or control platforms) to shape perception and bypass institutional gatekeepers. And all three have shown a willingness to disrupt geopolitical order for personal or national gain.
Their convergence has tangible implications for the noosphere. Trump undermines the credibility of democratic institutions and the press. Musk enables unmoderated information flows and has curtailed moderation and safety teams at X. Putin funds disinformation and cyberwarfare campaigns that infect the infosphere with confusion and chaos.
In short: they are converging to shape the noosphere in their image.
What we’re witnessing is the emergence of a digital empire without borders, governed by influence, infrastructure, and ideology. The tragedy of the current moment is not just that these actors hold power—but that democracies have failed to adapt. There is still no global framework for managing cognitive conflict. No institution meaningfully governs planetary-scale digital infrastructure. No coherent strategy exists to counter sharp power in the noosphere.
And so the noosphere—once imagined as the culmination of human progress—is becoming a contested zone, shaped not by collective wisdom but by whoever has the tools to dominate it.
Whose noosphere will prevail? Will it be the one envisioned by Vernadsky and Teilhard—open, cooperative, and transcendent? Or will it be a noosphere of surveillance, fragmentation, and control, shaped by the agendas of the powerful? As RAND warns, the decisive question is no longer “whose army wins?” but “whose story wins?”
What is needed is a deeper, institutionalized federation among democratic nations that can pool sovereignty in the digital domain, establish shared norms, and project a coherent, values-driven strategy against authoritarian encroachment. There is new urgency—not only to defend against external threats but to preserve the very conditions under which free thought, deliberation, and truth can survive in the 21st century.
Joe Trippi is the Chairman and Co-Founder of Sez.us a a reputation-based social media platform. Trippi was a renowned Democratic political strategist, best known for managing Howard Dean’s groundbreaking 2004 presidential campaign, which pioneered online grassroots organizing.
The Democracy Awards Ceremony hosted by the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) on Thursday, September 18, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) hosted its annual Democracy Awards Ceremony on Thursday, September 18, recognizing exceptional Members of Congress and staff who exemplify outstanding public service, operational excellence, and innovation in their work on Capitol Hill.
In the stately House Ways & Means Committee Hearing Room, the 8th annual Democracy Awards ceremony unfolded as a heartfelt tribute to the congressional offices honored earlier this summer. The event marked more than just a formal recognition—it was a celebration of integrity, dedication, and the enduring spirit of public service.
Throughout the ceremony, emotions ran high. Members of Congress and their staff—regardless of party affiliation—gathered not as political adversaries, but as stewards of democracy. The atmosphere served as a powerful reminder that, even in polarized times, collaboration and mutual respect remain possible within the halls of Congress.
“At a time when public trust in democratic institutions is strained, it’s easy to overlook the day-to-day work of congressional offices,” said Jen Daulby, CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation (CMF). “At CMF, we’re committed to spotlighting what’s working in Congress and honoring the offices that go above and beyond in service to the American people.”
This year’s Democracy Awards highlighted offices that exemplify the highest standards of constituent service, innovation, and responsiveness. The honorees demonstrated that party lines do not define excellence in governance, but rather a shared commitment to the communities they represent.
Rep. Blake Moore (R-UT-01)Credit: CMF
Best of Constituent Service
Representative Blake Moore reflected on the significance of the award: “More than anything, this recognition is special to me because since my first day in office, I told myself and my team that constituent service will be the heart of everything we do.” His remarks underscored a theme echoed throughout the evening—public service as a calling rooted in empathy and action.
Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA)Credit: CMF
Best of Constituent Correspondence & Outreach
Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock also shared a moment of pride and gratitude. “Last fall, I instructed my staff to use every tool at our disposal to communicate critical safety and support information to every affected Georgian,” he said. “This award recognizes my staff’s heroic service to Georgians across our state. In times of great hardship, Georgians can always count on me and my office to provide resources and support.”
Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK-05)Credit: CMF
Best of Innovation & Modernization
"This award is not mine alone," said Bice. "It is shared with amazing people who have supported me over the last two plus years." She said that her focus is on constituents and that "they're better served by a Congress that is equipped to work more efficiently."
The full list of the 2025 Democracy Awards winners can be found on the CMF website.
The 2025 Democracy Awards ceremony was more than a celebration—it was a reaffirmation of the values that sustain American democracy. In honoring those who serve with distinction, the event offered a glimpse of Congress at its best: principled, people-focused, and united in purpose.
The Bridge Alliance Education Fund, which funds the Fulcrum, is a co-founder of CMF’s Democracy Awards.