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Just the Facts: Canadian Tariffs

Just the Facts: Canadian Tariffs

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Just the Facts: Are FAA Staff Cuts Causing Current Airport Delays?

Redistricting

Redistricting

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Luke Combs, politics and healing our nation's divide

Donald Trump

Congress Bill Spotlight: Trump’s Birthday and Flag Day Holiday Establishment Act

A fictional, fanciful sign depicts the results of voter suppression through the unfair, partisan manipulation of district lines (gerrymandering).

The worst congressional gerrymanders of the 2020s

Claim: The 75-year-old Buffalo protester seriously injured by police is part of antifa. Fact check: False

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Buffalo video: Officers suspended after 75-year-old man pushed down, cracking head | ABC7

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Kelly Cannon, Medill School
By Kelly Cannon, Medill SchoolJun 09, 2020
Kelly Cannon, Medill School
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President Trump tweeted a baseless theory that 75-year-old Martin Gugino, seriously injured while peacefully protesting in Buffalo, N.Y., following the death of George Floyd, could be "an ANTIFA provocateur." Trump offered no evidence to support the claim — only referencing a report from One America News Network by Kristian Rouz, formerly of Russian state media Sputnik News. The OANN story cited an article on a blog called the "Conservative Treehouse" that had been written by an anonymous person who published the piece under a pseudonym.

Gugino's attorney denied Trump's claim in a strongly worded statement given to Law&Crime, writing Gugino had always been a peaceful protester and "[n]o one from law enforcement has even suggested anything otherwise." The tweet has received backlash from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, as well as former Vice President Joe Biden.

Gugino has been released from intensive care but remains hospitalized following the incident.

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The American Pope
Bridging & Common Ground

The American Pope

Are President Trump’s Economic Promises Falling Short?
Ethics & Leadership

Are President Trump’s Economic Promises Falling Short?

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Media & Technology

AI Is Here. Our Laws Are Stuck in the Past.

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Global Lessons, Local Tools: Democracy at Home and Abroad

Global Lessons, Local Tools: Democracy at Home and Abroad

Welcome to the latest edition of The Expand Democracy 5 from Rob Richie and Eveline Dowling. This week they delve into: (1) Deep Dive - Inviting 21st century political association; (2) Australian elections show how fairer voting matter; (3) International election assistance on the chopping block; (4) Checks and balances and the US presidency; and (5) The week’s timely links.

In keeping with The Fulcrum’s mission to share ideas that help to repair our democracy and make it live and work in our everyday lives, we intend to publish The Expand Democracy 5 in The Fulcrum each Friday.

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Project 2025: Impact on the State Department

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Project 2025: Impact on the State Department

Last spring and summer, The Fulcrum published a 30-part series on Project 2025. Now that Donald Trump’s second term has started, Part 2 of the series has commenced.

The Trump administration is already implementing and planning historic changes to the U.S. Department of State, many of which were influenced by Project 2025. Its chapter on the State Department, authored by Kiron K. Skinner, outlines a vision for restructuring the agency to better align with the president’s foreign policy agenda—assuming a Republican victory in the 2024 election. These proposed reforms are already shaping discussions on the future of U.S. diplomacy.

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Democracy Is Not a Given—It’s a Daily Fight

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Getty Images, LeoPatrizi

Democracy Is Not a Given—It’s a Daily Fight

Since the start of this semester, I’ve seen a disturbing rise in authoritarian behavior across the country. At the university where I teach, the signs have become impossible to ignore. The government has already cut a huge part of the Department of Education’s funding and power, pulling millions from important research.

This isn’t how most people imagine authoritarianism—it doesn’t usually show up with tanks in the street. It creeps in quietly: at school board meetings, through late-night signing of laws, and in political speeches that disguise repression as patriotism.

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Nurturing the Next Generation of Journalists
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Photo by Alejandro Escamilla on Unsplash

Nurturing the Next Generation of Journalists

“Student journalists are uniquely positioned to take on the challenges of complicating the narrative about how we see each other, putting forward new solutions to how we can work together and have dialogue across difference,” said Maxine Rich, the Program Manager with Common Ground USA. I had the chance to interview her earlier this year about Common Ground Journalism, a new initiative to support students reporting in contentious times.

A partnership with The Fulcrum and the Latino News Network (LNN), I joined Maxine and Nicole Donelan, Production Assistant with Common Ground USA, as co-instructor of the first Common Ground Journalism cohort, which ran for six weeks between January and March 2025.

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