It isn’t always easy to keep up with what’s happening in the US. ‘Shorter America' is a series where Dr Emma Shortis loops you in on what’s going on in America and shares news and analysis that you can trust.
Fri 19 Dec 2025 01.00
Photo: AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts
I don’t think any of us want to think about the Trump administration this week. I certainly don’t.
As so many others have said, what we so desperately need now is love and care and honesty in response to hate and violence and lies.
That’s what I’ve sought out this week.
In Crikey, Daniel James:
“What will make us safer – and better – is how we speak to one another now. The way we frame this moment matters. Whether we choose openness over accusation, care over suspicion, and dialogue over dog whistles will shape the country that emerges from this grief.”
In Overland, Jordy Silverstein:
“Imagine though the possibility of a response which was not horrid. Which did not demand more violence be piled up. Which led us to other ways of being together, other horizons of possible futures. Imagine a way of interacting which flowed from our shared vulnerability and shared strength and shared need to be protected by each other. Maybe we need to learn how to brace ourselves for that, my loves.”
And this statement, from Senator Bernie Sanders, which reminds us that we cannot draw pretend borders between what happens at home and what happens in the world.
“As we mourn the tragic loss of life in Australia, we must continue to vigorously oppose antisemitism and all forms of racism and bigotry. At the same time, we must demand a world in which international law and human rights are respected by all governments, without exception.”
Without exception. “The dignity and worth of the human person,” to return to the UN Charter, is the foundational principle of international law and human rights.
It is our shared humanity that holds us together. Take care of yourselves. And of each other x
Australia’s allegiance to the US is being tested as the Trump administration faces accusations of illegal military action and escalating national security recklessness.
It does suggest that there’s something odd happening when the BBC’s fabled Goon Show provides the script for the AUSMIN talks just concluded in Washington.
It isn’t always easy to keep up with what’s happening in the US. 'Shorter America' is Dr Emma Shortis' weekly column looping you in on what’s going on in America with news and analysis that you can trust.
New research from the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work has revealed that Australia’s poaching of skilled health workers from Pacific Island nations is leaving their health systems on the brink of collapse.
