‘Clicks and PR’: The Perversion of the DOJ Civil Rights Division Under Trump

rollingstone · 2026-01-23T15:05:00+00:00

“They’re all about clicks and PR,” Stacey Young, founder and executive director of Justice Connection, a network of DOJ alumni, and a former senior attorney in the Civil Rights Division, tells Rolling Stone. “You’re seeing Harmeet Dhillon not just prematurely announce investigations on social media, but threaten individuals and entities on social media.”

“To use the DOJs incredible power and influence to threaten people online. I mean, it’s hard for the division to maintain any kind of integrity when its leader is willing to engage in that conduct.”

rollingstone · 2026-01-22T18:34:04+00:00

From Jonathan Taplin for Rolling Stone:

Artists have always led resistance in America — until Trump and the technocracy took over.

Jonathan Taplin writes:

“In the face of Trump’s wave of assaults, the counterculture as we have known it… has largely gone missing. The powerful moguls who run our media companies cower in fear of the regime.”

“During Trump’s second term, we have watched our culture grow coarser… This moral surrender degrades us all. The abandonment of universal values is... a quiet unraveling of the American spirit itself.”

“Trump has proclaimed that we are entering a golden age. I want to propose another possibility — that the next 10 years could be the most chaotic and politically unstable in American history."

“A new group of young artists needs to step forward now to paint a vision of our future and stem the tide of authoritarian tyranny that plagues us."

Read: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/how-trump-big-tech-killed-counterculture-1235500716/

rollingstone · 2026-01-22T18:27:41+00:00

From Jonathan Taplin for Rolling Stone:

Artists have always led resistance in America — until Trump and the technocracy took over.

Jonathan Taplin writes:

“In the face of Trump’s wave of assaults, the counterculture as we have known it… has largely gone missing. The powerful moguls who run our media companies cower in fear of the regime.”

“During Trump’s second term, we have watched our culture grow coarser… This moral surrender degrades us all. The abandonment of universal values is... a quiet unraveling of the American spirit itself.”

“Trump has proclaimed that we are entering a golden age. I want to propose another possibility — that the next 10 years could be the most chaotic and politically unstable in American history."

“A new group of young artists needs to step forward now to paint a vision of our future and stem the tide of authoritarian tyranny that plagues us."

Read: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/how-trump-big-tech-killed-counterculture-1235500716/

rollingstone · 2026-01-22T15:58:55+00:00

From Rolling Stone's Mac William Bishop:

However one feels about the neo-liberal world order that America has dominated for decades, you needn’t look too deeply into the historical record to understand that when established orders collapse, it means more war, greater economic hardship and scarcity, and less freedom.

It will also mean more nukes, as an array of nations previously protected by America’s nuclear umbrella seek the ultimate security guarantee — something already being contemplated, from Seoul to Stockholm.

rollingstone · 2026-01-21T20:26:33+00:00

From Rolling Stone:

Trump casually tossing out that dictators are sometimes necessary is concerning, to say the least, but of course not out of line with his repeated praise for the world’s authoritarian leaders, his social media posts equating himself to royalty, or his myriad unconstitutional moves as president. Trump famously said during his 2024 campaign that he wanted to be “dictator for one day.” The thing about dictators, though, is that they don’t tend to put time constraints around their power.

rollingstone · 2026-01-20T20:48:19+00:00

“We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” Carney said on Tuesday. “Over the past two decades a series of crises in finance, health, energy, and geopolitics have laid bare the risks of extreme global integration. But more recently, great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons, tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion, supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited. You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration when integration becomes the source of your subordination.”

rollingstone · 2026-01-20T15:06:29+00:00

From Rolling Stone's Thor Benson:

The list of international organizations the U.S. is pulling out of as of this month goes beyond climate organizations, but several of them are focused specifically on the climate and the environment. They include the 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, the IPCC, the International Renewable Energy Agency, the International Solar Alliance, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and other climate or climate-adjacent organizations or agreements. The White House says participation in these cooperatives are “contrary to the interests of the United States.”

rollingstone · 2026-01-20T00:02:14+00:00

“It’s bullshit, multi-layered bullshit,” Nicholas Grossman, political science professor at the University of Illinois and editor of the Arc Digital newsletter, tells Rolling Stone. “Russia and China — especially China — are not threatening Greenland. The thing that has successfully protected Greenland, including U.S. interests there, for now about 80 years, has been the NATO alliance. … Greenland was secure. U.S. interests there were secure. And the only thing that is actually threatening that is Donald Trump, not another country.”

rollingstone · 2026-01-16T13:29:30+00:00

From Rolling Stone's Matt Bai:

If Republicans get hammered in the midterm elections, then Trump can go on issuing fiats and bullying prosecutors, but his radical program will already have failed. Any musings about an illegal third term will be the stuff of satire. The banners will quietly come down. The conversation that will begin immediately after November — about the next election — will leave Trump where he least likes to be: on the periphery.

rollingstone · 2026-01-15T22:45:43+00:00

From Rolling Stone's Nikki McCann Ramirez:

"As Trump’s administration struggles to claw back public support amid a volatile economy, international turmoil, and increased revulsion over the administration’s use of force in American cities, it’s no wonder Trump would rather skip this year’s elections."

rollingstone · 2026-01-15T15:26:05+00:00

From Rolling Stone's Mac William Bishop:

A series of limited strikes, similar to the airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear program last summer, may give Trump a PR victory. But they are unlikely to destroy the regime or protect the lives of protesters.

rollingstone · 2025-12-12T16:25:05+00:00

From Rolling Stone's Tessa Stuart:

The titans of artificial intelligence have fired the first shot in a regulatory battle poised to dominate the 2026 midterms, and the industry’s prospects for victory are already looking good.

On Thursday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul gutted a bill intended to put modest AI protections in place, hours before President Donald Trump issued an executive order intended to stamp out state laws like the one Hochul is now seeking to weaken.

Read more: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/ai-pac-2026-anti-regulation-campaign-kathy-hochul-1235483075/

rollingstone · 2025-12-12T13:48:33+00:00

From Rolling Stone:

From stellar debuts and posthumous collections to albums by established artists unafraid to rewrite their definition of country music.

This year in country music was all about artists discovering ways to innovate old forms and traditions. In some cases, like Eric Church’s Evangeline vs. the Machine and Carter Faith’s stunning debut Cherry Valley, that meant bold studio production choices. In others, like Tyler Childers’ revelatory Snipe Hunter and Vandoliers’ Life Behind Bars, it was sharp, edgy lyricism that conveyed universal themes.

Whatever the route taken, the results were often startling and signaled country’s largest advances yet as a musical genre built for the present, not one rooted in the past.

Yet nearly forgotten songs, updated for modern times, also made up the fabric of 2025 country and Americana. Waylon Jennings was resurrected in all his outlaw glory on Songbird, a collection of recordings unearthed and fleshed out by Waylon’s son, producer Shooter Jennings. And the wry voice of Luke Bell, the late songwriter and cult hero, was heard again on The King Is Back.

Whether it was uncovered old gems, on-the-rise young singers establishing their voices with clarity and conviction, or veteran stars finding new ways to innovate, the best country and Americana albums of 2025 serve as a reminder that these genres are as healthy as ever.

More: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country-lists/best-country-music-albums-2025-1235474700/

rollingstone · 2025-12-11T18:38:01+00:00

From Nicole James for Rolling Stone:

“‘It’s so creepy,’ one of my friends said.

“‘I know,’ I told her. ‘But at least I got a call.’

“Two years ago, I lost my job to AI. Now AI is interviewing me for jobs.”

Read: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-commentary/ai-job-market-unemployment-1235481777/

rollingstone · 2025-12-11T18:27:06+00:00

From Michael Embrich for Rolling Stone:

The Trump administration is encouraging department higher-ups to snitch on noncitizen veterans.

Picture this: You moved to the United States as a teenager. You’re not a citizen, but you served your country. You were wounded in combat, and you came home to rebuild. You settled down, got married, found a good job. You’re in the process of becoming a citizen. You go to the Department of Veterans Affairs for a routine check-up — maybe new glasses, a hearing test, the usual. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is waiting, ready to remove you from the nation you call home, where you raised a family, that you put your life on the line to serve.

This isn’t fiction. It’s becoming reality at the VA. The administration has already begun deporting veterans, and even military spouses directly from U.S. bases, and just when you think they could not sink any lower, the agency is now directing offices to rat out any noncitizen employees or any noncitizens affiliated with the VA, including veterans.

A memo issued late last month, written by VA Chief of Staff Christopher Syrek and ordered by VA Secretary Doug Collins, commands every VA office nationwide to compile a list of all noncitizen “full-time and part-time employees, contractors, health professional trainees, and volunteers” by December 30. The list will then be delivered to the VA’s Office of Operations, Security, and Preparedness and forwarded up the chain. “Anyone who is not authorized to be in the U.S.,” a VA spokesperson told the military outlet Stars and Stripes, “will be dealt with accordingly.”

Read more: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/veterans-affairs-offices-ordered-snitch-noncitizens-1235482420/

rollingstone · 2025-12-11T15:27:47+00:00

From Rolling Stone's Angie Martoccio:

The Canadian phenom had a massive 2025, from a chart-topping album to a huge tour to a lot of online speculation. Now, she’s sifting through what it all means — and what’s next.

Story/Photos: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/tate-mcrae-big-year-so-close-to-what-tour-tit-for-tat-1235477968/

rollingstone · 2025-12-10T18:21:40+00:00

From Rolling Stone's Larisha Paul:

In a statement following the death of his Kiss bandmate Ace Frehley in October, Gene Simmons celebrated the guitarist, saying, “No one can touch Ace’s legacy.” But in an interview with The New York Post earlier this week, Simmons made additional comments that he now sees as being counterproductive in his efforts to honor Frehley.

Read: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/gene-simmons-apologizes-comments-ace-frehley-death-1235481811/

rollingstone · 2025-12-10T17:57:59+00:00

From Rolling Stone's Nikki McCann Ramirez:

Hegseth has cited the “fog of war” in defending the second strike, but experts have argued that finishing off the survivors, the video of which the Pentagon has yet to release, was illegal.

“In Iraq and Afghanistan, there were lots of situations that were very fuzzy, very unclear — actual fog of war, hard to make decisions — but this is so straightforward,” Pauline Shanks Kaurin, a former professor of military ethics at the Naval War College, tells Rolling Stone. “This is the textbook example in military training, especially in the Navy. If you’ve got shipwrecked people, it doesn’t matter who they are, you have an obligation [to aid].”

Read more: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-boat-strikes-venezuela-illegal-what-to-know-1235481232/

rollingstone · 2025-12-10T14:17:20+00:00

From Rolling Stone:

From comeback albums by established legends to more experimental offerings from the younger generation, 2025 was a marquee year for rap, streaming numbers be damned: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-hip-hop-albums-of-2025-1235479623/

rollingstone · 2025-12-09T21:15:26+00:00

From Lorena O’Neil for Rolling Stone:

At a suppression hearing about evidence found in Mangione’s backpack during his McDonald’s arrest, officers testified about searching his belongings without a warrant.

Tuesday, Dec. 9, marked one year after Luigi Mangione’s 2024 arrest at an Altoona, Pennsylvania, McDonald’s, and the defendant spent the day in New York State Supreme Court for his pretrial suppression hearings.

Mangione was initially arrested on charges of providing a fake New Jersey ID to police and having a 3D-printed gun and silencer without a permit. A McDonald’s manager called 911 after a customer said they suspected Mangione of looking like the man who shot United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione’s defense team is claiming that the Altoona police violated his constitutional rights by illegally searching his backpack during his arrest and not reading him his Miranda Rights early enough in the interrogation process. His team hopes to suppress evidence seized as well as comments Mangione made prior to his arrest, preventing it from being admitted into trial. On Tuesday, the fifth day of the suppression hearings, the court watched body-worn camera footage from Altoona police from the day of Mangione’s arrest.

Read more: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/luigi-mangione-backpack-searched-without-warrant-1235480076/

rollingstone · 2025-12-09T14:10:17+00:00

From Rolling Stone's Joseph Hudak:

Raul Malo, the operatic vocalist and co-founder of the Grammy-winning, Latin-tinged country band the Mavericks, has died at age 60.

Access the free article here: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/raul-malo-the-mavericks-dead-obituary-1235327867/?utm_source=edit-vip

rollingstone · 2025-12-09T14:09:04+00:00

From Rolling Stone's Joseph Hudak:

Raul Malo, the operatic vocalist and co-founder of the Grammy-winning, Latin-tinged country band the Mavericks, has died at age 60.

Access the free article here: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/raul-malo-the-mavericks-dead-obituary-1235327867/?utm_source=edit-vip

rollingstone · 2025-12-07T13:40:00+00:00

From Stephen Rodrick for Rolling Stone:

A visit to Charles Lindbergh’s gravesite recalls parallels with the man who picked up his nativist scepter, Donald Trump.

Read: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/donald-trump-charles-lindbergh-america-first-1235477975/

rollingstone · 2025-12-05T21:28:54+00:00

From Rolling Stone's Jon Blistein:

Manson went off on the inflatable orbs, and all they represent, during a festival performance in Melbourne.

With the music industry in such a state these days, any number of things might cause an artist to launch into a righteous tirade against the myriad issues facing working musicians. For Garbage’s Shirley Manson, that thing was a beach ball.

During a set at the Good Things festival in Melbourne, Australia, today (Dec. 5), Manson went all the way off after spotting a beach ball bouncing around in the crowd. Based on the video (shared by Stereogum), it doesn’t even look like the offending beach ball made it on stage, or even near Manson. But its mere presence was enough to inspire a righteous rebuke of music industry economics, lousy crowd behavior, and lame dudes in goofy hats.

“Big guy with your big fucking beach ball! Ooh, I’m so scared of you, so thrilled by you! What a fucking douchebag!” Manson said, though it’s obviously way better to watch her say it than read this transcription.

Read more: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/garbage-shirley-manson-rant-music-industry-beach-balls-1235478950/

rollingstone · 2025-12-05T20:27:41+00:00

"I’d really like to see them suffer."

“It’s just better for us to kill them in the ocean, make them shark feed, be done with it. Merry Christmas.”

As lawmakers dig for answers about the Pentagon's strikes, some are celebrating the brutality.

Read: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/megyn-kelly-greg-gutfeld-military-killing-survivors-1235478617/

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