In the news today: Book burning and celebrations of violence against political enemies, both brought into the news by a Republican Party that is ticking down the checklist of fascism’s defining markers without bothering to put up much of a smokescreen while doing it. In Virginia, conservative school board members call explicitly for “burning” books they intend to confiscate from school libraries. In Texas, Gov.

In a new excerpt from his upcoming book Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show, ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl notes that Donald Trump’s Spinal Tap-esque Tulsa rally marked “the worst day of his entire campaign.” Which is weird, because for me it was easily the best. In fact, its only serious competition was the fleeting moment during the first presidential debate when Joe Biden finally told Didgeridoo Donnie to STFU. That was pretty cool, too.

One of the hardest things to do in life is to admit you’ve made a mistake. Admitting mistakes strikes directly at our notions of identity and self-worth; it’s why people double down when faced with irrefutable evidence that they’re wrong, and it’s why telling people they’re wrong will render futile most efforts to change their minds about something.

It’s getting brisk out there.

Temperatures are dropping (don’t get it twisted, the earth is still warming at a terrifying rate), and autumn is in full swing.

And even though the Virginia elections are still on folks’ minds (… or maybe just mine), it’s important to remember that there’s still a lot of trash being perpetrated by GOP state lawmakers across the rest of the country.

by Lakshmi Gandhi

This story was originally published at Prism.

Urban planners and community advocates have long noted that the interstate highway system was designed to separate and isolate poor Black and brown communities from the economic hearts of their cities.

In the news today: Conservative book-burning fever spreads. Republicans are looking to elect yet another unapologetic white nationalist extremist who promises to arrest the party’s enemies, and yet again Arizona is the state they think will vote to do it. And new reports and documents yet again confirm that Trump’s Republican administration had few qualms about breaking whatever rules they wanted to break.

Meanwhile, the Kyle Rittenhouse trial continues with … ick.