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Transmission

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  So he who strongly feels,
behaves.

       —Marianne Moore

You find in an alley
the mouthpiece of a flute.
Gossip alone makes music

and suddenly
from the pines the birds
all fly away.

You are devoted to giving
clear meaning to one movement.
The water in the fountain.

Down the fountain. Over it.
The prayer chapel
but its brick bench. Magnolias

in almost bloom. The failure
to believe in mathematics
is a failure of emotion—

you have spent
all of your free time.
Choral directors describe

the torso in terms of the muscles
of sound. Your wife paints
your two-year-old’s fingernails

and the two-year-old says,
toes too! Sitting next to an anthill
feels like this. They work so hard.

And for so little. For salvation.
This is the mystery.
This is forgiveness.

Support independent journalism that does not fall in line

Even before February 28, the reasons for Donald Trump’s imploding approval rating were abundantly clear: untrammeled corruption and personal enrichment to the tune of billions of dollars during an affordability crisis, a foreign policy guided only by his own derelict sense of morality, and the deployment of a murderous campaign of occupation, detention, and deportation on American streets. 

Now an undeclared, unauthorized, unpopular, and unconstitutional war of aggression against Iran has spread like wildfire through the region and into Europe. A new “forever war”—with an ever-increasing likelihood of American troops on the ground—may very well be upon us.  

As we’ve seen over and over, this administration uses lies, misdirection, and attempts to flood the zone to justify its abuses of power at home and abroad. Just as Trump, Marco Rubio, and Pete Hegseth offer erratic and contradictory rationales for the attacks on Iran, the administration is also spreading the lie that the upcoming midterm elections are under threat from noncitizens on voter rolls. When these lies go unchecked, they become the basis for further authoritarian encroachment and war. 

In these dark times, independent journalism is uniquely able to uncover the falsehoods that threaten our republic—and civilians around the world—and shine a bright light on the truth. 

The Nation’s experienced team of writers, editors, and fact-checkers understands the scale of what we’re up against and the urgency with which we have to act. That’s why we’re publishing critical reporting and analysis of the war on Iran, ICE violence at home, new forms of voter suppression emerging in the courts, and much more. 

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