Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA / Bloomberg via Getty Images |
Courts typically give a lot of deference to the president on national security measures. But when Trump tried to block MS NOW, CNN and Politico from the White House, U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly wrote that he was “skeptical” that the administration’s assertion of a national security interest was “the actual motivation” for the decision. That’s a straightforward observation from the Trump-appointed jurist, but it’s still remarkable, argues Jordan Rubin. Even if the administration appealed to the Supreme Court, the justices would have a hard time overturning the decision. Read more.
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As Trump fights to rename the Kennedy Center after himself, administration officials circulated a list of government sites that could have his name affixed somehow, according to people familiar with the effort. One landmark in particular raised eyebrows, write Brian Bennett, Laura Barrón-López and Jake Traylor: Ford’s Theatre, the site of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. A name change would require legislation, though that did not stop the administration from putting Trump’s name on the Institute of Peace or the Kennedy Center, both of which sparked litigation. The White House denied the accounts. Read more.
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Powerful political and business leaders have showered Trump with gifts in his second term, many of which came with his favorite design flourish: gold. Among other items, Trump has received a gold boxing championship belt, a gold-framed copy of his grandfather’s birth certificate, a golden samurai helmet, a gold-plated Rolex clock, a personally engraved gold bar and a gold-plated crown, write David Rohde and Lily Becker. Democrats in Congress are investigating the gift-giving, with Sen. Ron Wyden saying it creates an “apparent conflict of interest.” Read more.
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A government task force led by Vice President JD Vance announced that it would remove 760,000 allegedly improper enrollments from the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. But the announcement blurred the line between fraud and simply poor administration, argues Miranda Yaver, a professor of health policy. In both cases, an enrollee’s information may be missing a Social Security number, but that could be because the private broker who signed them up neglected to include it. But it was the first Trump administration that pushed for brokers to enroll more people directly. Read more.
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On the show “To Catch a Predator,” host Chris Hansen used a hidden camera to expose and shame men who chatted online with what they thought were adolescents for the purpose of meeting for sex. A new movie, “Primetime,” based on a 2006 magazine article about a sting that went tragically awry, has some interesting things to say but doesn’t quite deserve the praise it has received, argues critic Brian Lowry. Robert Pattinson nails Hansen’s look, voice and mannerisms, but Hansen comes across as a caricature of an amoral striver who will do anything for ratings. Read more.
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Anna Lefkowitz / MS NOW; Getty Images |
When a friend he’d known since kindergarten died by suicide, Anthony L. Fisher struggled to understand. “When the dust had settled and shock had worn off, what I was left with was anger. I had no sympathy, empathy or understanding for my friend. Just rage against someone I believed had selfishly quit,” he wrote in a deeply personal column. A decade later, facing his own depression, Fisher found himself also staring into the abyss, but decided to ask for help, eventually finding a way to live a full life while also letting go of the anger he held all those years. Still, there are “bad-faith actors” peddling the lie that anti-depressants are worse than depression, or that admitting to depression is unmasculine. Read the column here.
September is Suicide Prevention Month. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support.
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