By Shaun A. Todd The Flag Is Not a License to Hate You don't have to worship America to love it and you sure as hell don't have to weaponize the flag to love it. Somewhere along the way, we let patriotism get hijacked. Not by people who love this country, but by people who treat it like a trophy they alone are entitled to hold.

Image: Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Credit: Gage Skidmore They’re Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud Last weekend, the Trump administration floated something almost unspeakable in a free republic: the suspension of habeas corpus.That’s not a policy dispute. That’s not “tough on immigration.” That’s authoritarianism—raw, unveiled, and shockingly open. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller confirmed they’re “actively looking at” suspending the writ.

By Shaun A. Todd The Question We're Afraid to Answer In Selma, they marched in their Sunday best across a bridge soaked in hate. In Iraq, they dipped their fingers in purple ink, knowing it might mark them for death. In Mississippi, they registered voters by flashlight in towns where a knock at the wrong door could be fatal. They didn't do it for attention, they did it so we could cast a ballot without fear.

By Shaun A. Todd "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States" This is not a tagline, this is not a tweet. This is the oath—the oath that is etched into our history, binding every person who dares to lead this republic.

By Shaun A. Todd For too long, the conversation around national security has been hijacked by loud voices who equate toughness with cruelty and patriotism with paranoia. They wrap fear in the flag and call it leadership, using bluster as a substitute for strategy, and division as a political weapon. Slogans don't stop missiles. Performances don't prevent attacks. And fear, no matter how loudly shouted, is not a policy.

In a stunning display of negligence, The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg has revealed that he was inadvertently included in a private group text chat—reportedly carried out over the Signal messaging app—featuring high-level officials discussing upcoming U.S. military strikes against the Houthi forces in Yemen. The text chain, according to Goldberg, is believed to have included Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and Vice President JD Vance along with other Trump administration officials.

PRESIDENT TRUMP ISN’T JUST ANGRY — HE’S ATTACKING THE RULE OF LAW President Donald Trump has once again crossed a red line—this time by calling for the impeachment of federal judges who have ruled against his administration’s immigration policies. Recent reporting confirms that certain House Republicans are weighing impeachment measures to further Trump’s stance on deportation orders and immigration. The danger here is twofold.