As I wrote earlier this week, I’m heartbroken for our country, and for the wounds that seem to deepen instead of heal. There are no easy words here. Just the need to face this moment together, clear-eyed, and not look away. Because what we pay attention to and what we refuse to ignore matter.
Here are five headlines you shouldn’t miss.
1. Brazil Holds the Line: Bolsonaro Sentenced to 27 Years for Coup Plot
Accountability is served, and it’s stronger than espresso. Brazil’s Supreme Court has sentenced former president Jair Bolsonaro to 27 years and three months in prison for plotting a military coup to stay in power after losing the 2022 election.
The verdict is historic: the first time a Brazilian head of state has been tried and convicted for attempting to overthrow the government. I wrote about this trial as it unfolded here. Brazil came through on accountability, something we could use a little more of on this side of the hemisphere.
I’ll take my covfefe Brazilian-style today: strong, bold, and long overdue.
⚖️ Coup Dreams Crushed: Bolsonaro Gets 27 Years: NPR
2. HBCUs Under Siege: Threats Force Lockdowns, Cancel Classes
This is the America we’re living in, where historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) have to cancel classes and send students home because of violent threats. Southern University in Louisiana, Alabama State, Clark Atlanta, Virginia State, Hampton, Bethune-Cookman, all forced into lockdowns. No injuries, but the fear is real. The FBI says the calls were “hoaxes,” but in a country drowning in mass shootings and political violence, how do you ever assume it’s just a prank?
🚨 Hoax Calls, Real Fear: AP News
3. Filibuster Fight: Why Removing It Could Hand Trump More Power
This one’s more food for thought than spit-out-your-coffee. Democrats are debating whether to force a government shutdown fight at the end of the month. The problem? That kind of brinkmanship could hand Trump exactly what he wants: an excuse for Senate Republicans to finally nuke the filibuster.
For years, progressives have hated the filibuster, which blocks bold agendas and props up dysfunction. Fair. But right now, it’s also one of the few remaining obstacles standing between Trump and unchecked legislative power. End it in a fit of righteous fury, and you may clear the path for his emergency laws, election takeovers, and whatever else Project 2025 has waiting in the wings.
Sometimes the fight you want isn’t the fight you should pick.
🛑 One Guardrail Left, The Filibuster: Vox
4. Kash Patel’s FBI Fumbles
When I called out Kash Patel in the lead-up to his confirmation, he threatened to sue me. But I knew then what Americans are seeing now: it’s a danger to national security to have an FBI director more obsessed with social media clicks than doing his job.
In the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, Patel prematurely claimed the shooter was in custody, only to retract it minutes later. Agents describe chaos, profanity-laced tirades, and critical leadership voids after Patel forced out some of the bureau’s most experienced investigators.
This isn’t just incompetence; it’s corrosive. At a moment of political violence, the FBI should be the adult in the room. Instead, we’ve got a director who posts before confirming facts, misleads the public, and undermines the very institution he leads.
⚔️ Missteps, Meltdowns, and “Valhalla”
5. Trump Blocks Palestinian Delegation from UN—Who’s Next?
This is deeply concerning. The U.S. has refused visas to President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 Palestinian officials, effectively shutting them out of the UN General Assembly session in New York. It’s an unprecedented blanket ban, something the U.S. has never done in the history of the United Nations.
When I was lead for the UN portfolio for then Vice President Mike Pence, I saw firsthand how critical UNGA is. It’s the one moment every year when the world’s leaders gather in the same room, often for delicate, high-stakes diplomacy. To bar an entire delegation undermines that tradition and the U.S.’s credibility.
The timing couldn’t be more precise: the meeting is set to focus on recognition of a Palestinian state. Now, there are calls to move the gathering to Geneva to bypass Trump’s blockade. And here’s the kicker: reports suggest delegations from Brazil, Iran, Sudan, and Zimbabwe could be next. Coming just as Brazil sentenced Bolsonaro to 27 years for his coup plot, you have to ask: Will Trump retaliate by barring Brazil’s president from even entering the room? He’s already punished them with tariffs.
European leaders, including France’s Emmanuel Macron, are pushing back hard, calling the move “unacceptable.” Meanwhile, momentum is building to move the high-stakes two-state meeting to Geneva if Trump doesn’t reverse course.
This isn’t just about visas. It’s about whether the U.S. still honors its obligations to the UN, or whether Trump uses access to the world stage as another weapon for control.
🚪 Unprecedented UN Ban: The Guardian
🎸 One Thing for Your Soul
Last night I had the joy of seeing Maren Morris perform at Wolf Trap National Park in Virginia (pic below). I’ve been a longtime fan, and as two Texans, I like to think I get where her fire comes from.
Full circle moment: just over a year ago, she steadied me backstage at the Democratic National Convention. She had just sung Better Than We Found It, a song I leaned on throughout the 2024 election cycle as a reminder to keep going when the weight felt overwhelming.
I was fighting back tears. U.S. Senator Cory Booker caught my eye; he knew. He mouthed, “Thank you.” Moments later, Maren came off stage. My first thought: Holy sh!t, it’s Maren Morris. My second: You’re about to be on stage in minutes, and you cannot look like a mess. I told her how much the song meant to me. The stage manager called my name. I was next. I was visibly shaking. She smiled, held my hands, and said, “You’ve got this!!”
So off I went, before millions of people, holding on to their words and trying not to faint or trip on stage from the pressure, knowing that whatever backlash I’d already faced as a Republican speaking out against Trump, this was about to ratchet up to level 10. That moment meant even more knowing what she’s endured. For daring to speak out in country music—calling out racism—Maren has faced death threats, including vile ones targeting her little boy, Hayes. And yet, she still shows up. She still sings.
Fast forward to last night, this time, I was just a fan. (For the whole vibe, check my Instagram stories. That’s where concert Liv comes out.) I almost closed with her song People Still Show Up, because they do. But I also know that right now, there are a lot of people out there feeling very alone.
That’s why I’m leaving you with another from her new album, Dreamsicle: Carry Me Through. There’s soul in this song. It’s about struggle, resilience, and the choice to keep going even when it feels impossible. That’s what this moment asks of us. To carry through the noise. To carry through the backlash that tells you to sit down and stay quiet.
I choose to carry me through, and I hope you will too.
-Olivia
I really appreciate these items as they are concise, precise and always extremely on point! Thank you!
The point about the Senate filibuster is whole lot more important right now than another 200 posts in my feed with pretty much the same take on Charlie Kirk. I am just a civilian, but common sense tells me to shut it down anyway. Here is why. If we stay and vote under the filibuster rule, Republicans get to maintain the veneer of democracy, when it is really not democracy because they don't negotiate, they dictate. They don't keep their promises, they cave when Trump threatens them. What is it to say they won't still get all their votes to do all those bad things anyway?
When we shut down the government and take a stand against the brute force Republicans use, when we call out the fact they have no intentions of engaging in good-faith democratic processes, we start to arouse the population against them. As the first word of Texas' Democrats was when they emerged in Chicago after breaking quorum, "We will not be complicit".
The fact is Republicans have already destroyed regular order. Now, I say we make them own it. Start an organized campaign to take back Congress right now. Incrementalism doesn't work because Schumer is incapable of rallying the public for it. Congress has ceded far too much power to the other branches over the course of these last decades. Now it reaps the whirlwind because Republicans have turned Congress into Trump's quisling validators.
Of course, I'm not the one making these life-altering decisions. I am from Texas, so I am pretty bellicose. And, I am right sick of Texas Republicans not just taking away our liberties, just because they can and then demanding we thank them for it. I am furious that a little old lady like me is demonized merely for exercising my right to the political opinion of being a Democrat. But that is the Republican rallying cry right now - to eradicate Democrats from the face of the earth. So that's where I'm coming from. And I am pretty sure there is a real hunger out in the country for Congress to take a stand against tyranny the way Texas Democrats did.
Olivia, your thoughtful Saturday posts always give me hope someone w/a brain is paying attention! Kash Patel really showed us what an incompetent he is this week. Instead of the FBI heads of yore (corrupt J Edgar Hoover being the exception), we had a mouse of man speaking from a podium who had nothing to add. No gravitas. This moment in our great political divide calls for someone who can lead the FBI w/o partisanship. Truly sad he is singularly focused on revenge as are all the other Trump picks.