Secondary Things
Responding to Megan Basham
At American Values Coalition, we are committed to honoring our core principles and living by the values we preach. In an online age of clickbait and inflammatory (/mindless) arguments, we seek to be truth tellers and peacemakers, even when given the temptation to “fight” like the rest. In fact, it’s right there in our mission statement: “Growing a community of Americans empowered to lead with truth, reject extremism and misinformation, and defend democracy.” Big picture: We aim to be quick to listen, slow to anger, and slow to speak.
A couple months ago, several conflict entrepreneurs launched a smear campaign against us with the goal of discrediting one of our projects—the J29 Coalition. For those who’ve followed and supported us closely, you may already be familiar with this work. If not, you can learn more here. We initially reached out to the ringleader (Meghan Basham, author and writer for The Daily Wire), offering her the chance to speak with us privately, but she asked us to wait until August, citing personal health issues. We honored her request and wished her the best. Two days later, she published an article in First Things full of falsehoods and misleading information about our mission and funders. Her smear campaign has continued over the last two months, as she has continued to repeat these slanderous talking points through several media outlets. She even brought in right-wing influencers like Allie Beth Stuckey and Charlie Kirk to amplify these untruths.
So, we’ve taken some time to reflect and are now ready to respond in a manner that honors our mission with truth and integrity. The time to speak is now.
First off, if you have the time and want to hear more about the specific falsehoods quoted in the First Things piece, our Executive Director Napp Nazworth issued a response in this video. He also responded to the initial attacks here.
Secondly, we wanted to take a moment to explain how this situation is exactly why we founded American Values Coalition in the first place. In today’s media ecosystem, we are flooded with information—both truth and lies. For most Americans with jobs, families, and communities, it can be overwhelming and unfruitful to find time worth spending on sifting through the mounds of content for one thread of actual truth. We see you. And we agree that the profit incentive to be as outrageous and divisive as possible is perverse. Basham’s attacks are a clear example of this. So, in launching AVC, we wanted to put to use our backgrounds in media and politics to help simplify the process for you.
This is deeply personal to us because when so many bad actors hold the microphones and flood the zone, the health of our country and our shared social contract suffers. We have witnessed the way politics has divided families and friends over the past decade and believe the only way out is through fighting extremism and lies.
Finally, we’d like to take this moment to thank our supporters, readers, and followers over the years for entrusting us to provide sound, measured content and commentary on the state of politics and culture in America. Finding fellow “remnants” (as Jonah Goldberg calls us) of Americans still dedicated to decency and the hope of a more united, prosperous America is a gift to us. We can heal from this tense moment, but only if we refuse to allow bad faith actors to divide us from the inside. Our team will continue to speak the truth with dignity and respect, and we hope you stick around for the ride! As fellow Americans, we have far more in common than not.
What Else We’re Reading
The Bulwark: “Toward Darkness or Dawn”
Make no mistake: In the race between those working to damage our republic and those trying to resist, the damagers are in the lead. But the resisters are rallying a bit. Not yet enough, to be sure. But perhaps they’re on a trajectory that will ultimately vindicate Thomas Fuller—and that would make John McCain proud.
The Dispatch: “Truth and Consequences”
Intimidation is his, and MAGA’s, one neat political trick. When all you have is a hammer, every 'disloyal' bureaucrat’s job looks like a nail...Authoritarians are gonna authoritarian.
The Next Move: “A Saddam-Style Response to a Bad Jobs Report”
One of democracy’s key advantages over dictatorship is that the professionals are able to do their jobs without fear of retaliation. Elected officials, chosen by the people, have the final say on policy, not appointed bureaucrats. But the statisticians and intelligence analysts and military officers can’t be summarily dismissed for sharing forecasts that politicians don’t like.
New York Times: “Inside Trump’s New Tactic to Separate Immigrant Families”
Officials have begun separating children from their families in small numbers across the country, in what appears to be a more targeted version of one of the most explosive policies of President Trump’s first term.
The New York Times has uncovered at least nine cases in which parents have been separated from their children after they refused to comply with deportation orders, according to internal government documents, case files and interviews.
CBN: “ICE Arrests Lead to Huge Chilling Effect on Latino Churches, Iranian Christian Asylum-Seekers”
Salguero released the following statement about Fuentes Espinal's arrest:
"The detention of an evangelical pastor who is working hard and helping his neighbors is not the way forward on immigration. Pastor Espinal is an example of how someone who has for years tried to navigate the broken system and get legal status, and the bureaucracy has failed him. This is exactly the kind of indiscriminate immigration enforcement that is not in keeping with a vow the Administration and its allies made to target violent criminals. Rather, together with the overturning of TPS, the allowing of immigration enforcement in sensitive locations like churches, and the attacks on birthright citizenship, we are seeing a broader pattern that includes moms, dads, workers, and even clergy."
NPR: “Christian refugees caught in the crosshairs of U.S. immigration policy”
Religious persecution is one of the many reasons individuals can claim asylum or apply to be a refugee. But the Trump administration's overhaul of the U.S. asylum and refugee systems has taken a toll on people fleeing religious persecution — many of whom saw the U.S. as a symbol of religious freedom.
CNN: “A Korean university student and daughter of a priest was detained by ICE. Faith leaders rallied to secure her release”
A South Korean student at Purdue University and the daughter of a beloved Episcopal priest was released from federal immigration detention late Monday, days after her arrest drew outcry and an outpouring of support from faith leaders.
Yeonsoo Go, known as “Soo” to friends and family, spent five days in custody after agents with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested her as she left what lawyers described as a routine visa hearing in Manhattan on Thursday.
Religious News Service: “'This is domestic terror': Shaken by ICE raids, pastors rethink ministries”
RNS has identified at least 10 instances of apparent immigration enforcement activity conducted by ICE or other federal agents on or immediately near church grounds since Trump’s inauguration. DHS officials have repeatedly declined to confirm whether many such incidents — enacted by uniformed men in masks who sometimes do not identify which agency they work for — were government-sanctioned operations. The episodes are spread across five states and Puerto Rico and, so far, have impacted Christian communities — namely, Catholic, evangelical, Cooperative Baptist and mainline Christian churches.
What We Are Watching
The Maga Grift: Trump’s presidency became a money-making machine
The Guardian (LINK)