Public Enlightenment

publicenlightenment.com For Americans.

"Whatever your first issue of concern, media had better be your second." Sign the @mediaanddemocracy.bsky.social letter, and hear more: mobilize.us/s/iukgOl

Forget November 3. It’s January 3 when Donald Trump and his MAGA Republicans might bury our democracy once and for all. Here’s how. trib.al/RdCGyfD

The campaign against trans people was focus-grouped to ensure it would sway your vote, then it was deeply funded. Now, votes are being cast based on lies about underage surgeries. Check out publicenlightenment.com for the healthiest media diet in America.

A would-be mass shooter targeted a Hindu temple while a Democratic member of Congress was inside. At the last minute, police say, his gun jammed.

The Department of Justice’s alarming lawsuit to stop California from counting roughly 20,000 ballots from people suspected of being noncitizens could lay the groundwork for challenges to Election Day results, experts warned. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Election deniers are running for governor this year in some key states Trump carried in 2024 that the Democrats have to win – which states and who are the candidates? Harold Meyerson explains – on @thenation.com podcast bit.ly/4yLsMbN

Do you need a voter guide? What about all the local news coverage of elections in your area from credible, public interest outlets? Check out publicenlightenemt.com and use our voter guide tool! Then vote!

In a story on political violence (where they depict the targets as equally democratic and republican), the @nytimes.com gives a sympathetic ear to a member of Congress who was part of January 6.

Just a reminder that we moved our free newsletter from Substack because Substack monetizes Nazi content and health disinformation. Here's my latest: publicenlightenment.beehiiv.com/p/trump-remo...

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Will CNN still be banned from some or all WH access come Monday morning? If so, will the broadcast pool shutdown coverage or not? Status has a good update on where things stand tonight. Here’s hoping the networks stand firm together tomorrow & beyond. www.status.news/p/trump-cnn-...

Almost all of Meta's PR about Muse was about how careful they had been to set it up not to do things like this, how they delayed the launch by months to carefully design it so it could be trusted. And then...

His church says homosexuality is a “serious crime.” He preaches that rights for LGBTQ people will lead to the legalization of bestiality and pedophilia. And he spent $4.7 million to create the Daily Wire. Meet Farris Wilks.

Are people forgetting Josh Dawsey and Manuel Roig-Franzia’s work on puff pieces about Ronna McDaniel (after she lied about elections), Dana Loesch, and Dan Bongino during Marty Baron’s tenure? www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/ro...

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Peter Thiel has the wheel: “US Deputy Secty of Defense Stephen Feinberg has drafted a memo directing Defense Department subordinates to purchase up to $243.9 M in services from…[Thiel’s] Palantir…without a competitive bidding process…The memo’s subject line is called ‘Funding Palantir’.” 8/11/26…1/

Oakland! If you believe that it is wrong for a handful of billionaires to own the media then come out to this rally tomorrow (Sunday 9/20). We need Attorney General Rob Bonta to stand strong against a Paramount-WB merger. 5pm at 1515 Clay St, Oakland, CA 94612. www.mobilize.us/notabovethel...

We say no no no 1000x no to the Ellisons' pressure tactics. We support the AG's and unions pushing for real structural remedies not ephemeral behavioral ones 

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Every Hispanic looking citizen in line to vote this November has to be worrying just a little about whether or not they will have to show proof of citizenship to an armed federal agent who might not believe them, or worse.

This is pretty fucking wild. I had assumed in a worst case scenario he would target blue zip codes and toss ballots based on technicalities but this is even worse than I imagined.

NEW: My Udemy course 'Propaganda & Disinformation for Beginners' has helped students in 26 countries worldwide strengthen their armour against disinformation since it launched 2 years ago. Techniques Cambridge Analytica used to secretly profile millions have become a vastly profitable industry.. /1

The vice president gave a bizarre interview with an evangelist podcaster. trib.al/q7ZNNGN

Yale’s Office of Public Affairs banned reporters from Yale’s campus today. It’s corroborated by Francie Diep in her story for the @chronicle.com. This was an attempt to squelch press coverage today of the rally protesting Yale’s attacks on freedom of expression, their pending deal with Trump. 1/

corporate America has no guts. that much is clear. but the kowtowing by media companies, whether apple or google or anyone else, is especially galling because of their responsibility to accuracy and truth. it makes you wonder about all the non-public ways they are caving.

Is it good if the president increases the cost of products from one of America's biggest trading partners two months before the midterms? www.ctinsider.com/columnist/ar...

DHS boss sends shockwaves over 'specific threats' that could trigger election response

The chaos surrounding USPS and mail ballots is not an accident — it’s the whole point. Your right to vote is under threat. “That is what Donald Trump wants,” Marc Elias says. Don’t miss any updates on this fast-moving legal battle: https://demdock.com/3T3Owjg

Reminiscent of Woodrow Wilson and the civil service at this point

In his crusade to undermine American democracy, Donald Trump doesn’t have to win to win. He only needs to create a mess.

Two ex-DHS officials described the practice of repeatedly rebooking immigrants into two Florida jails as an attempt to evade detention standards. “What it shows is that they were very aware that they were breaking a rule,” a former DHS staffer said.

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Nothing to see here, folks. Just the president of the United States standing outside the White House and advertising for a private company after it gave him a campaign contribution.

Compelling evidence that the US military is now encouraging mercenary attacks on fishermen under the US flag. Absolutely despicable. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/12/w...

My explanation of how climate change is amplifying these wildfires ended up entirely on the @npr.org cutting room floor. Instead they included an extremely misleading of the supposed role of fire suppression and human alteration (expertly debunked here: www.theclimatebrink.com/p/canadas-bo... )

I wrote about Naomi Klein joining Substack and why writers of conscience shouldn't launch new media ventures on platforms that court white supremacy for clicks.

Well, well, well. In 2025, Brendan Carr’s wife “joined billionaire Peter Thiel’s data analytics firm, Palantir Technologies, as its head of global policy.” 4/28/25 … 1/ www.latimes.com/entertainmen...

It’s been several days since democratic socialists won primaries in multiple states. We haven’t had diner profiles of their voters the way we got profiles of tea party and maga supporters shoved down our throats for the last 15+ years. The mainstream media is in the tank.

The easiest thing in the world should be a for a US official to denounce Nazis. And yet….

this guy is the co-founder of Airbnb

He could strangle a teenager on camera and they would say he “defied a long-held tradition of presidents not doing that”

When the Republican National Committee (RNC) called for an army of 100,000 poll watchers in 2024 – in alignment with the Trump campaign’s prejudicial declarations of voter fraud – Norton was tapped to serve as its election integrity director. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

In case you didn't think Polymarket was sketchy enough. It paid influencers to use a fake site (poiymarket) to make fake bets that would then look like they won, and then to post viral videos to social media pretending they had won money. www.wsj.com/business/med...

1/ I have to correct some misinformation here. The stakes are too high. We aren’t going bankrupt. It's a totally unfounded and incendiary suggestion, especially for a news outlet to make. Also, they’re fundraising for themselves off of our bruises? Oof. Mercenary in the guise of being supportive.

Subscribe for the news you need, not the noise. Here's just some of what you missed last week: —-> Trump’s gutted the agency tasked with keeping illegal guns off the street —-> ICE raids shrank local economies, destroyed businesses Americans own and run, and cost American-born workers their jobs.