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​Performer Bad Bunny on stage.

Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl Halftime Show Sparks National Controversy As Trump Announces Boycott

Trump’s Plan to Gather Data on Every Voter Will Cripple Democracy

Trump’s Plan to Gather Data on Every Voter Will Cripple Democracy

The Insurrection Act, Revisited: Power That Waits in the Margins

The Insurrection Act, Revisited: Power That Waits in the Margins

Trump, Greenland, and the Alarming Silence in Congress

Trump, Greenland, and the Alarming Silence in Congress

Video: Reviving democracy

Video: Reviving democracyplay icon
The Fulcrum
By The FulcrumNov 03, 2022
The Fulcrum
The Fulcrum staff.
See More Writings by author

Americans are frustrated and deeply concerned about the condition of our democracy. Our divisions are so deep and complete that we don’t see how they can be overcome; we are not sure how our democracy can survive.

A poll released in June by Yahoo News/YouGov finds that a majority of Americans–55% of Democrats and 53% of Republicans –believe it is “likely” that the United States will “cease to be a democracy in the future.” A survey conducted just last month by the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program found that half (50.1%) of all Americans agreed that “in the next few years, there will be civil war in the United States.”

So what do we do about this?


Latest news

Alex Pretti’s Death Is a Code Blue for the U.S.
Governance & Legislation

Alex Pretti’s Death Is a Code Blue for the U.S.

The map of the U.S. broken into pieces.
Ethics & Leadership

Donald Trump’s “I Don’t Care” Philosophy Undermines Democracy

“Never Take Sides Against the Family”: Trump and the Mob Logic of the GOP
Ethics & Leadership

“Never Take Sides Against the Family”: Trump and the Mob Logic of the GOP

The Danger Isn’t History Repeating—It’s Us Ignoring the Echoes
Governance & Legislation

The Danger Isn’t History Repeating—It’s Us Ignoring the Echoes

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U.S. capitol.

The current continuing resolution, which keeps the government funded, ends this Friday, January 30.

Getty Images

Probably Another Shutdown

The current continuing resolution, which keeps the government funded, ends this Friday, January 30.

It passed in November and ended the last shutdown. In addition to passage of the continuing resolution, some regular appropriations were also passed at the same time. It included funding for the remainder of the fiscal year for the food assistance program SNAP, the Department of Agriculture, the FDA, military construction, Veterans Affairs, and Congress itself (that is, through Sept. 30, 2026).

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Facts about Alex Pretti’s death are undeniable. The White House is denying them anyway

A rosary adorns a framed photo Alex Pretti that was left at a makeshift memorial in the area where Pretti was shot dead a day earlier by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, on Jan. 25, 2026.

(Tribune Content Agency)

Facts about Alex Pretti’s death are undeniable. The White House is denying them anyway

The killing of Alex Pretti was unjust and unjustified. While protesting — aka “observing” or “interfering with” — deportation operations, the VA hospital ICU nurse came to the aid of two protesters, one of whom had been slammed to the ground by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent. With a phone in one hand, Pretti used the other hand, in vain, to protect his eyes while being pepper sprayed. Knocked to the ground, Pretti was repeatedly smashed in the face with the spray can, pummeled by multiple agents, disarmed of his holstered legal firearm and then shot nine or 10 times.

Note the sequence. He was disarmed and then he was shot.

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The Deadly Shooting in Minneapolis and How It Impacts the Rights of All Americans

A portrait of Renee Good is placed at a memorial near the site where she was killed a week ago, on January 14, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Good was fatally shot by an immigration enforcement agent during an incident in south Minneapolis on January 7.

(Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

The Deadly Shooting in Minneapolis and How It Impacts the Rights of All Americans

Thomas Paine famously wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls," when writing about the American Revolution. One could say that every week of Donald Trump's second administration has been such a time for much of the country.

One of the most important questions of the moment is: Was the ICE agent who shot Renee Good guilty of excessive use of force or murder, or was he acting in self-defense because Good was attempting to run him over, as claimed by the Trump administration? Local police and other Minneapolis authorities dispute the government's version of the events.

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Sheet music in front of an American flag

An exploration of American patriotic songs and how their ideals of liberty, dignity, and belonging clash with today’s ICE immigration policies.

merrymoonmary/Getty Images

Patriotic Songs Reveal the America ICE Is Betraying

For over two hundred years, Americans have used songs to express who we are and who we want to be. Before political parties became so divided and before social media made arguments public, our national identity grew from songs sung in schools, ballparks, churches, and public spaces.

Our patriotic songs are more than just music. They describe a country built on dignity, equality, and belonging. Today, as ICE enforces harsh and fearful policies, these songs remind us how far we have moved from the nation we say we are.

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