The 12-axis graph is the best I’ve seen for tracking our descent from democracy to autocracy www.nytimes.com/interactive/...htt

“Neither the Bivens Act nor the Universal Constitutional Remedies Act is a magic bullet that will save American democracy, but they would provide greater levels of deterrence and accountability” A Law That Might Just Save the Midterms www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/o...

“After a Springfield pogrom, JD Vance will have his first namesake policy. “JD Genocide,” or perhaps “Genocide Vance” -- if all this happens, the sobriquets will write themselves.” This prophecy must be prevented from becoming a reality. If it isn’t, God help us. snyder.substack.com/p/ethnic-cle...

In the U.S., “a mirror world has begun to form with the unleashing of multiple federal police forces that have already killed at least 3 citizens and many immigrants. They protect the bottom line of transnational corporations that surveil and jail us for profit.” www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/o...

People who begin by shooting animals they find unpleasant or not worthy of living often turn out to be serial killers. Remember that when you think about Kristi Noem.

Activists are calling for a “nationwide day of no school, no work and no shopping” across the U.S. on Friday, Jan. 30, to protest President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown following the fatal shootings of two people by federal agents in Minneapolis.

“I just checked—it turns out that Art. II, Sec. 1 of the Constitution of the United States does *not* say ‘The executive Power shall be vested in a bunch of sociopaths who think they can do whatever the f*ck they want and make sh*t up as they go along.’” — George Conway

“Over the course of a lifetime, we face only a few moments where the decisions we make and the actions we take will shape our history for years to come. This is one of them. If we give our freedoms away after 250 years, we might never get them back.” — President Bill Clinton, 1/25/26

“Under my leadership, we will restore fair, equal, and impartial justice under the constitutional rule of law.” — that was Donald Trump’s solemn commitment a year ago today, in his Inaugural Address. He has broken every part of that promise.

“Expanding candidate standing while continuing to restrict legislative standing appears to be yet another data point for the current Court’s inclination to limit legislative power especially when it’s being invoked in an attempt to rein in the executive branch.” open.substack.com/pub/stevevla...

“One year into his second term, America risks losing a central feature of our democracy: that we are a country ruled by laws, not by one man.” That endangers every one of us. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/17/o...

Renee Good’s last words were to ICE agent Jonathan Ross: “That’s fine, dude. I’m not mad at you.” Then Ross shot Renee three times in the face. As she was dying, his last words to her were: “Fucking bitch.” And JD Vance thought that exchange exonerated ICE. That says it all.

“Four days after President Trump said the United States would “run” Venezuela, the sprawling political, security and intelligence apparatus that propped up Mr. Maduro’s strongman rule is in still place, and day-to-day life for many Venezuelans has worsened.” — NYT, Jan. 8, 2026

From the fascist deputy chief of staff of the Trump White House Stephen Miller: “We live in a world, in the real world … that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.” 🤮😱🤬😨🤯😤😠😫🤪😵‍💫🫥🥵🥶

“The three most important days in American history since the Civil War have been: Dec 7, 1941. Sept. 11. And Jan. 6. We don’t use years for the last two. They aren’t dates on a calendar; they are scar tissue.” Spot on, Rep. Swalwell. Eric hits this one on the nose. www.ms.now/opinion/jan6...

Congress has ignored the federal law requiring hanging in the Capitol by 3/2023 the plaque promising never to forget the heroism of those who risked all to defend Congress’ members and the Constitution. This essay by the great Jamie Raskin makes good on that promise. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/06/o...

The Jan. 6 anniversary will always be a mournful one for America. The challenge now is to make the day an aberration. Americans must summon the collective will to ensure that the violence, lawlessness and injustice of Jan. 6 do not endure. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/o...

“The embrace of the unitary executive theory by both the president and the court has given us the worst of all worlds: an ultrapowerful presidency without an actual president at the helm.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/o...

If only Israel’s top court would be as bold in reining in Bibi’s war crimes and his other abuses of power! www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...

The Trump National Security Strategy paper might well be “the Rosetta Stone explaining what really animates this administration at home and abroad.” Tom Friedman explains: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/o...

A Grand Jury Again Declines to Re-Indict Letitia James www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/u...

A Third Grand Jury Declines to Re-Indict Letitia James. Will the Vengeful Crazies Go for Four? www.nytimes.com/2025/12/11/u...

Harry Litman’s essay is the best thing out there about what SCOTUS will do in Trump v. Slaughter, argued Dec 8. Sure to be shredded is the FDR-era decision in Humphrey’s Executor v. U.S. But Litman goes much deeper and lays out the broad range of implications: open.substack.com/pub/harrylit...

435 isn’t a magic constitutional number. Congress can and should enlarge the size of the House. But it won’t. www.bostonglobe.com/2025/12/10/o...

Bonkers to the nth power

What @normeisen.bsky.social said!

At long last the frozen Russian assets might be used the way many of us have long advocated www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

In a memo John Roberts wrote just 4 yrs out of law school, he said the “time may be ripe to reconsider the existence” of independent agencies & bring them back into the executive branch. Now he’s poised to end what he has long called “a constitutional anomaly.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/u...

“A Congress even modestly attentive to the rule of law would surely want to know the circumstances surrounding these and other grants of clemency as well as their aftermath.” But thanks to SCOTUS’s Trump v. U.S., all this will remain a mystery. Jeff Toobin explains: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/07/o...

“European officials may end up offering Ukraine a financial Band-Aid when they had hoped for a financial bazooka.” Tragic loss of nerve. The $244 billion must be used to help Ukraine survive Russia’s illegal onslaught. Belgium is being cowardly. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/03/w...

Department of Defense Law of War Manual, Sec. 18.3.2.1 states the "requirement" to refuse illegal orders. What’s its key example? Wait for it . . . It’s "orders to fire upon the shipwrecked."

The “kill them all” order by SecDef Hegseth would be a textbook war crime even if the original attack had been legal.

20-year-old West Virginia National Guard member, Sarah Beckstrom, died a day after volunteering to serve in DC so that others could enjoy Thanksgiving with their families. She deserves our gratitude, not political exploitation by a shameless president who scapegoats immigrants to swell his power.

Although these findings from JWST are yet to be confirmed, they mark the closest astronomers have come to locating the universe’s most ancient stars www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-...

“As we constantly move the targets for AGI, the intelligence that arrives may be one we hardly recognize.” www.scientificamerican.com/article/ever...

The bill last numbered H.R. 9495 would empower the Treasury Secretary to designate any nonprofit the Secretary wishes to kill a “terrorist supporting organization” and revoke the tax-exempt status on which it depends for survival. Unconstitutional but lethal in the harm it would do while in force.

“The average eighth grader’s math skills are now a full school year behind where they were in 2013. The premise that foundational ideas don’t need to be learned anymore is a recipe for idiocracy.” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

On September 4, 1866, President Andrew Johnson set the precedent for Trump’s latest outrage: In Cleveland, Ohio, Johnson called those who opposed his plan for reversing the Union’s Civil War victory (by reinstating and nationalizing the Confederacy) “traitors” and called for them to be hanged.

“Under the guise of getting the federal government out of education and parental rights, Trump’s plan . . . creates needless opportunities for the further enrichment of the wealthy, and drastically cuts support for public education.” www.thebulwark.com/p/the-republ...

“The legality of using [Russia’s] immobilized assets has been [hotly] contested. European capitals for over two years resisted the unprecedented step of handing a country’s assets over to its opponent.” My RDI study of the issue should overcome [Belgium’s] hesitation. www.wsj.com/world/europe...

Has anyone asked lip-reading experts to decipher what Trump was whispering to his BFF Epstein as the pair was ogling those underaged babes to the loud disco music?

“The current record for the largest prime is 2 to the power 136,279,841 minus 1, a number with 41,024,320 digits. Simply reading this number aloud would take approximately 240 days.“ www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-...

This Veterans Day, we commemorate with solemn gratitude American service members and their commitment to our democracy.

Ridiculous. Cruel. Lawless.