As We Raise Flags and Lay Wreaths, Let Us Also Raise Voices and Lay Down the Law
What Memorial Day means to me: Publisher's Roundup 68
As I wrote a year ago but feel with even greater urgency today, Memorial Day has particular resonance for me. I would not be alive if it were not for the U.S. military. It helped save my mother and my father during World War II, though in very different ways.
In spring 1945, my mom had been in Nazi captivity for a year — transferred from Auschwitz to a slave labor camp in Neuengamme, Germany, packing (and, when she could, sabotaging) ammunition. When she was flagging, a friendly jailer whispered to her to hang on — the allies were near. If not for the U.S. Armed Forces joining the fight, at a terrible cost to so many American soldiers and families, my mom would not have survived.
My father’s connection was more direct: He actually served in those forces. He fled Europe for the United States in 1940, arrived in the United States with no papers, and enlisted in the Army to become a citizen. Who knows what would have become of him if the Army had not welcomed him and his service in this country. Though my parents didn’t actually meet until years after the war (in Israel, of all places), the U.S. military was their godsend, and so mine.
That legacy, and your contribution to this fight, have helped inspire me throughout this past year, since our last Memorial Day. Whether it was seeking the release of opinions related to the administration’s legal authority for the use of military force in Iran, or those related to threats from Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age,” or joining esteemed colleagues to support Members of Congress who have faced retribution for reminding those in uniform of their duty to refuse unlawful orders, much of my legal work has stemmed from my gratitude for the honor of our servicemembers and as a solemn tribute to the extraordinary values these brave men and women represent.
The American idea, which those still serving and their absent comrades fought and died for, is being attacked from within this Memorial Day. And so I ask you the same questions I asked a full year ago: How do we honor those who died for freedom while liberty remains under attack? How do we salute the flag and that idea of America it stands for when its meaning is consistently assaulted by the very administration entrusted with its care?
Some might say we should simply remember our lost soldiers without tarnishing that tribute by addressing our political climate. But looking away squanders their sacrifice. It is our responsibility to be candid about the ongoing crises and to honor those who serve more urgently with each day that passes and with each new senseless war they are asked to wage on behalf of our great country.
We do that by recommitting ourselves, again and again, to defending our democracy. Memorializing our veterans’ sacrifices, to my mind, is to attend to the fragile, unfinished, exhausting, necessary work of fighting autocracy and rebuilding a country worthy of their service. We do that by holding tight to the idea of America, even when its practice falters. We do that by doing our part, as they did — not merely on distant battlefields, but on our streets, among our communities, and in our courthouses. This past year has shown me how profoundly committed this country is to engaging in those battles. Witnessing the masses who have gathered for the people and against oppression in Selma, Montgomery, Minneapolis, Washington, D.C., and nationwide fueled my resolve to continue opposing those in power who are uncommitted to upholding the dream of America. Today, I beseech you to keep up the fight, as a means of honoring those who have sacrificed their lives to secure our freedoms.
For me, that mission remains informed by a Jewish aphorism that my parents, both saved by American soldiering, would sometimes say to me:
לֹא עָלֶיך הַמְלָאכָה לִיגמוֹר, וְלֹא אַתָּה בֶן חֹרִין לְחִבָּטֵל מִמֶנָה
“Your job is not to finish the work — but neither are you, the child of free people, not to do your share.”
I think of it often when I’m doing my pro-democracy work in the court of public opinion at The Contrarian or in my parallel work in the court of law, which paid subscribers have generously made possible. The challenge is relentless, so it reassures me to know that I need not harbor illusions of finishing the job. By the same token, it motivates me to stay mindful that I must continue to do my share.
“The child of free people.” That’s me and my family — but it also applies to most of you. We owe our liberty to American soldiers who fought and died for it. Memorial Day is about people — ordinary people who exhibited extraordinary courage so that those they never knew, but also they and their children, could be free. As we raise flags and lay wreaths, let us also raise voices and lay down the law. And as we enter this summer, following a year of shocking corruption and injustice, let us be realistic: no one can finish the work. But let us each be prepared to do our share for democracy.
An exceptional number of people have done just that in these past weeks alone, and we covered it here at The Contrarian, made possible, of course, with your support.
DOJ Corruption
Jen Rubin wrote on why judges, juries, and attorneys nationwide no longer trust the Department of Justice as capable of living up to its name. “Let’s dispense with the notion that the weaponized, rogue department now run by Todd ‘I love you, sir’ Blanche is even trying to earn ‘the public trust.’”
Tom Joscelyn and I wrote on the outrageous hearing the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee held this week on the SPLC. Titled “The Southern Poverty Law Center: Manufacturing Hate,” it was nothing but an opportunity to amplify the Trump regime’s smear of a legendary civil rights organization.
Mimi Rocah wrote on the nearly $1.8 billion dollar slush fund the DOJ is creating for Trump, purportedly in exchange for his withdrawal of a (bogus) claim against his own IRS. “We cannot lose sight of the fact that this is a fictional narrative created for political purposes.”
The Global Picture
Civilian Deaths Still Shadow Precision Warfare
Brian O’Neill wrote on the troubling opacity — and suspiciously low figures — of the administration’s civilian death reports. “Democracies do not maintain credibility because they avoid mistakes in war. They maintain credibility because they confront mistakes honestly.”
China Laughs as America Stumbles
Tom Malinowski joined Jen to dissect Trump’s diplomatic failures in Beijing and how the summit signals a shift in U.S.-China relations. “It’s like Trump has this hierarchy in his mind of power in which America is not number one. We’re in the middle … and China’s on top.”
What Happens When Every Nation Has Its Own AI?
Reuben Steiger wrote on the rise of sovereign AI, by which countries are choosing to balkanize the technology in hopes of a strategic advantage — and, in doing so, entrenching inequity and censorship. “If AI hype so far has been centered around technological miracles, sovereignty is about politics.”
Identity Attacks
When They Target Black Votes, They Attack Freedom for All Americans
Nadine Smith wrote on the inextricable ties between the advancement of civil rights and democracy writ large. “If you are not Black, the question is whether you understand yet that attacks on Black freedom have always been the core test of what this country is. They are the frontline indicators of whether democracy itself is surviving.”
Widening Our American Identity
Jenan Mohajir wrote on the Trump administration’s efforts to say “the quiet part aloud” and advance the narrative of America as a fundamentally “Christian nation” — something that, she writes, is counter to the far older truth of religious diversity as core to American identity.
Democracy Demands Women’s Health Stay Front and Center
Jennifer Weiss-Wolff on the latest in Republican threats to women’s health: “It is critically important to keep reproductive health and the chaos at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) front and center in the headlines. Why? Two words: midterm elections.”
Fighting Back
The Tea ft. Gov. Gavin Newsom & Aaron Parnas
April Ryan was joined by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and journalist Aaron Parnas for fantastic conversations about legacy v. new media, holding a mirror up to Trump, and the urgency of new ideas for resistance. “It’s not about party. It’s about you. We the people.”
Here’s How Dems Win the 2026 Midterms
Swing Left Executive Director Yasmin Radjy joined Tim Dickinson to break down the 2026 midterms in depth — and to look ahead to 2028. “Every single fight to dismantle authoritarian power has required strong grassroots power and infrastructure.”
The Contrarian Covers the Democracy Movement
This week, we shared more coverage of last weekend’s actions in Alabama, as well as protests in Missouri, Texas, New Hampshire, and elsewhere. Get help organizing from Indivisible, find protests in your area at mobilize.us, and send us your protest photos at submit@contrariannews.org.
Fight Trump’s Corruption and Irritate JD Vance
Plus more ways to stand up for democracy with our Contrarian Calls to Action.
Cartoons, culture, & fun stuff
This week, our cartoonists took on the payoffs of the Iran war (The Summit, Jack-in-the-Box, Michael de Adder; Water Hazard, Nick Anderson), the payoffs for J6ers (A Path to Justice, Nick Anderson); and the payoffs of Chief Justice John Roberts’ long game (Tom the Dancing Bug, Ruben Bolling).
How Stephen Colbert Brought God into Late Night TV
Meredith Blake wrote on Stephen Colbert’s remarkably open embrace of his Catholic faith — always alongside his progressive politics — and how The Late Show’s end will leave “a loss for anyone who values thoughtful conversations about faith, spirituality, and belief.”
Meredith Blake shared her goldfish, Buttercup, picked up as a county-fair prize almost a year ago. And Jamie Schler encouraged Contrarians to get fancy and make an indulgent vanilla rum panna cotta with rum-roasted cherries.
Norm, thank you for sharing your story. It explains your passion beautifully but is also an inspiration in its own right.
Sir, thank you for sharing your inner most feelings about your family and the debt you so deeply feel you owe to support democracy. Your essay is encouraging in these dark days. I agree with Mr. Carmichael: you have shown us your passion, and in doing so, have inspired us. God bless you and keep you.