Billionaires argue that raising their taxes will just spur them to move their money elsewhere, but evidence from WA, which has a trail-blazing new wealth tax, shows otherwise. "The arguments," one expert says, "are not so powerful, but powerful people like them." www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Trump isn't just lying about the ICE killings in Minnesota. He using lies as a projection of strength, seeking to convince us that reality itself no longer matters. And we don't have long to talk him down. open.substack.com/pub/andrewgu...

Donald Trump is doing something the fascists of the 1930s couldn't: using his power and our digital interconnectedness to compromise an institution outside his own borders. My take on his startling campaign to bring the once-mighty BBC to its knees. andrewgumbel.substack.com/p/its-our-as...

The Trump admin may not be articulating a Fascist-era master race ideology, but its policies targeting int'l aid, global health, the poor and the weak nevertheless evoke a bygone era of eugenics and racial supremacy. My latest Substack, with iconography courtesy of the Labor Dept. lnkd.in/gCMNYXpN

The Trump administration is taking a whole-of-government approach to undermining next year's midterm elections and eroding voting rights. My best attempt to make sense of this -- and Trump's chances of success on his terms -- today in the Guardian. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Gavin Newsom's Prop. 50 looks set to achieve its goal of kicking Donald Trump where it hurts, but it's a move born of weakness, not strength. For all the talk of "protecting democracy", it will do no such thing. If you haven't subscribed to my Substack yet, please do!

How the Trump administration has turned the legal system on its head in pursuit of its immigration deportation goals -- a blow-by-blow account of the summer that has taken a sledgehammer to the rule of law, for immigrants and everyone else. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

The president says tariffs will help American businesses. California’s wine growers and retailers beg to disagree. www.theguardian.com/food/2025/au...

The week the anti-Trump resistance found its voice and its purpose. My take in the Observer. observer.co.uk/news/interna...

It’s not just Angelenos who do not want the US military patrolling their streets. The National Guard and Marines are telling friends and family they don’t want to be there either. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

i am not being pollyannish when i insist that the people who sign up do not sign up to advance a president’s domestic political agenda www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Could Steve Hilton's low-key charm and British accent be the answer to the Republicans' long losing streak in California? www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

How Columbia University tore itself apart over the Middle East, making it ripe for the picking by Trump and the ideologues who want to destroy higher ed. observer.co.uk/news/interna...

It's Timothy McVeigh's world now. How, in 30 years , the unspeakable became mainstream. In the Observer. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...