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The federal project to undo history (plus an announcement)

Several different efforts of Trump II are trying to rewind the clock on legal and moral progress.

Author

Dan Holtmeyer
October 19, 2025

I’ve got a new article for you all, but unlike my usual pieces, this one was published last week on another website called Liberal Currents, a left-leaning outlet for news and commentary (you can see why it’d be a good fit). It’s called “The Pro-Massacre, Pro-Segregation, Pro-Eugenics Administration,” and it’s about a pattern that I’ve been thinking about all year, starting in January with the freezing of federal civil rights enforcement and continuing recently with a decision to continue honoring the perpetrators of the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee. As I wrote in the essay:

The decision is an indecent outrage all on its own. But it also illustrates a broader project that’s been building since day 1 of Trump's second term: not just to undo the work of Donald Trump’s predecessors, which he has certainly tried, but to rewind the clock on an entire century of legal — and moral — progress. 

Put another way, we’re no longer in the usual realm of Republicans whitewashing or downplaying the darkness in our history, e.g., the Supreme Court saying we don’t need voting protections because racism isn’t so bad anymore. This administration has upgraded the earlier model, showing through word and action that it believes the shameful sides of America’s past were, in fact, good — even examples to follow today.

Also last week, I made an announcement: I’m running for office, specifically for the Arkansas House 15th District here in Rogers. You won’t be shocked by the motivations, because they’re all over this newsletter. Everything that makes this community great — our innovation and freedom of thought, our diversity and immigrant communities, our economic stability and natural resources, our state and U.S. constitutions, and 250 years of social progress — is under attack. Our federal and state representatives do nothing and say nothing to help. So I’m running to stand up for the people, places and principles that I care about.

I won’t spam you subscribers about the campaign — this newsletter will continue to just be a place for my writing about the news and how it connects to Northwest Arkansas. I hope you keep following along, if you’re interested. And I thank you for reading.

Dan