Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.
Emma Petty Addams is the executive director of Mormon Women for Ethical Government, whose mission is to inspire women of faith to be ambassadors of peace who transcend partisanship and courageously advocate for ethical government.
“One of the missions of [Mormon Women for Ethical Government] is to empower everyday women of our faith to proactively use our voices in the public sphere as we improve our communities,” Addams said. “We are grateful for this opportunity to join in prayer across a diversity of faiths to remember those who are suffering and to bless our nation at this time.”
MWEG’s follows a series of foundational principles and practices to ensure continuity of its mission and vision:
- The Six Principles of Peacemaking
- The Four Core Attributes (Faithful. Nonpartisan. Peaceful. Proactive).
- Faithful: MWEG will never oppose any stance taken by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints nor criticize the church or its leadership. “We also recognize God’s hand in the formation of MWEG and continue to seek God’s guidance in all we do,” the group writes. “We believe in, exercise faith in, and seek to reflect in our own lives the example of Jesus Christ.”
- Nonpartisan: MWEG is open to members of all political parties who agree to abide by the group’s principles and guidelines. MWEG does not endorse candidates or take partisan positions.
- Peaceful: In addition to following the Six Principles of Peacemaking, MWEG is committed to civil discourse, healing the partisan divide, and “genuine honor and respect for every other human being that emerges from an acknowledgement that we are all children of the same God and, hence, sisters and brothers.”
- Proactive: MWEG is a watchdog for ethical government and wil act “after appropriate and prayerful discussion, research, and strategizing.”
- Focusing on ethics, including the use of “for Ethical Government” in the group’s name.
- Closing in observance of the Sabbath.
- Commitment to a “cooperative, synergistic organizational model.”
- Being “a space for the schooling, growth, and development of God’s daughters” by having only women members.
I had the wonderful opportunity to interview Emma for the CityBiz “Meet the Change Leaders” series. Watch to learn the full extent of her remarkable work and perhaps you’ll become more civically engaged as well.
David L Nevins interviews Emma Addamswww.youtube.com
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.