Today
MORE THAN 500 AMERICAN CITIZENS WERE DETAINED BY THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT AND ROUGHLY A DOZEN WERE DEPORTED, A SENATOR WAS BLOCKED FROM ENTERING A MILITARY BASE IN THE MIDDLE EAST, THE MEDIA MERGER CLOSED AND THE NEW BILLIONAIRE CHIEF IS A MAJOR DONOR TO THE PRESIDENT — AND ANOTHER COUNTRY JUST PURGED 130 MILLION PEOPLE FROM ITS VOTER ROLLS

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A ProPublica investigation found that more than 500 American citizens have been detained by immigration agents since the president took office. More than 100 were held after agents questioned their citizenship. Nearly all were people of color.

At least 70 of those detained were children and teenagers. Some were handcuffed. Thirty-six Americans were held for at least a day without being able to contact a lawyer or their family. And roughly a dozen citizens were deported from their own country. Democracy Now reported the findings Wednesday.

These are not immigrants. These are Americans. The government detained them, held them without contact, and in some cases removed them from the country they are citizens of. The same government that approved a voter database with personal identification numbers and citizenship status is now detaining the citizens it claims to protect.

The same week, the Department of Justice moved to strip citizenship from 40 naturalized Americans who have committed crimes. The machine does not just detain immigrants. It detains citizens. It deports citizens. And it is building the legal tools to make more people into non-citizens.

Five hundred and six Americans. Seventy children. A dozen deported. The machine does not check the passport. It checks the person.

506 AMERICANS DETAINED. 70 CHILDREN. A DOZEN DEPORTED FROM THEIR OWN COUNTRY. NEARLY ALL WERE PEOPLE OF COLOR.

BREAKING

A Senator Said the Military Blocked Him from Entering a Base in the Middle East to Hide the True Cost of the Conflict

Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut said the military denied him access to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar during a visit to the Middle East. Democracy Now reported his statement Wednesday. He said the denial is part of what he called “a coordinated, deliberate campaign by the Department of Defense to try to hide the consequences and the true cost of this conflict.”

Murphy has visited the region a dozen times as a member of the Senate. He said he has never before been denied access to a military facility. The base he was blocked from entering is one of the largest American installations in the Middle East.

The same government that polygraphed 50 officers to find out who told the press the missiles are running low, that undercounted the troops who have been lost, and that banned three networks from the White House… is now blocking sitting senators from entering military bases.

The machine hides the count, bans the press, and now blocks the Senate from seeing the base. Every layer of oversight is being removed. One at a time.

EXPOSED

The Media Merger Closed — the New Chief Gets a $150 Million Payday and Both He and His Father Are Major Donors to the President

The $111 billion merger of Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery closed on Wednesday. The combined company is now called Skydance. It controls CNN, CBS News, HBO, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, and dozens of other media properties. Democracy Now reported the closing in its Wednesday headlines.

The new chief executive, David Ellison, received a $150 million payday upon completion of the deal. That payment made him a billionaire. His father, Larry Ellison, is the multibillionaire co-founder of Oracle and a major investor in the company. Democracy Now noted that both father and son are “major supporters” of the president.

The same president who banned three networks from the White House now watches a supporter take control of the company that owns CNN. The merger was cleared the same week the ban went into effect. Now the man who runs CNN’s parent company is a donor to the president CNN covers.

The machine banned the network. Then a supporter bought the company that owns it. The press is not being shut down. It is being acquired.

“I have never, ever been denied access to military facilities. This is part of a coordinated, deliberate campaign to try to hide the consequences and the true cost of this conflict.”

— Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, after being denied entry to a military base in Qatar

DEVELOPING

Another Country Just Purged 130 Million People from Its Voter Rolls — and the Streets Are on Fire

The Indian government purged 130 million names from voter rolls across the country. Protests erupted in cities from Mumbai to Delhi. Police detained several opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, the head of the main opposition party. Democracy Now reported the developments Wednesday.

A youth-led movement called the Cockroach movement organized demonstrations demanding the resignation of the chief election commissioner. Opposition leaders said the commissioner “has violated the Constitution in letter and spirit” and “has lied to the Supreme Court” and “lied to the country.”

The number is 130 million. That is more than a third of the total American population. One country purged them. Another country just approved a database with personal identification numbers and citizenship status. The tools are different. The direction is the same.

The machine does not look the same in every country. But it moves the same way. It builds the list. It removes the names. And when the streets catch fire, it detains the leaders who object.

 Connecting the Dots 

▸ The Bigger Picture

Four stories from one Wednesday. ProPublica found that more than 500 American citizens have been detained by their own government… 70 of them children, a dozen of them deported. A senator said the military blocked him from entering a base in the Middle East to hide the true cost of the conflict. The $111 billion media merger closed and the new chief… a major donor to the president… collected a $150 million payday. And India purged 130 million names from its voter rolls as police detained the opposition leaders who objected.

The press covers each on its own page. A “ProPublica investigation.” A “congressional dispute.” A “media deal.” An “international protest.” But the thread is the same in every one.

The machine detains, hides, acquires, and purges. It detains its own citizens and deports them from their own country. It blocks the senators who try to see what the conflict costs. It puts the press under the ownership of the people who fund the president. And it watches another country do the same thing to 130 million voters that it is building the tools to do here. Every story is about a system that removes the people and the institutions that could hold it accountable. The citizens are detained. The senator is blocked. The network is acquired. And the voters are erased. The machine does not stop at the border. It works the same way everywhere.

When the government detains its own citizens and blocks its own senators and puts the press under the ownership of its own donors… the machine is not protecting the country. It is rearranging who counts. That’s the Seventh Floor.

They rely on the shadows.
It’s time to turn on the lights.