Salon duc Tape: Careening Toward 1984 in 2026
What is National Security Presidential Memorandum–7 all about?
In September of 2025, the Trump Administration released National Security Presidential Memorandum–7 (NSPM-7), misleadingly called “Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence.” It directed federal agencies to prioritize investigations of a vast swath of identities and beliefs that it claims fall under “the umbrella of self-described ‘anti-fascism.’” Yes, the federal government is worried about people opposed to fascism. At the salon on October 9th, Rose Lew will explain how NSPM-7 and related directives are part of an architecture built to systematically undermine democracy and our foundational ability to hold valid and trusted elections, based on critiques developed by Former CO Senator Tim Wirth, former Speaker of the House Richard Gephardt, and others. She will relate this architecture to the City of Fort Collins’ efforts to develop a strategy on how to use and manage surveillance technology, and will urge us to support early voting.
Rose worked as an environmental scientist with the U.S. EPA in Washington D.C. and Denver. She became an activist after leaving the workforce to raise a family, focusing on health care, mobile home park justice, fracking, and climate policy. Rose’s life has been strongly influenced by knowledge of the experiences of older family members in fascist Europe. After the 2016 elections, she became increasingly concerned by the government’s authoritarian shift, and the escalating replacement of evidence-based public policy with ideology-based policy for the benefit of private and corporate wealth, which systematically attack democratic freedoms.
Salon duc Tape, a public forum sponsored by NCALF, usually meets on the 2nd and 4th Fridays of each month from 7:00 — 9:00 p.m. You will need to register in advance for this salon here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information – including a new link – about joining the salon.