From one natural-born US citizen to another, have a great Benito Bowl!

“Tragically, racism is not a relic of a bygone era when slavery was legal; rather, it is a driving force for the man currently occupying our White House.” www.americaamerica.news/p/can-americ...

BREAKING: The Epstein survivors are releasing this ad on this Super Bowl Sunday to send the message that they will not “move on” from the largest sex trafficking scandal in the world. #standwithsurvivors

"I didn't make a mistake." OK, this is not news, it is reminder # 1001+: Support for this regime is support for stone-cold racism. Every American, everyone everywhere, is fully on notice. History and our ancestors will be the judge.

crickets from the free speech crowd, of course

Not fake outrage. Absolutely outrageous.

Ingenuity, care, grit, determination: through 2025, these characteristics shined in our sector. @macfound directors saw this clearly in leaders, nonprofits, partners, and communities. Read their reflections, and let us know what resonated: www.macfound.org/press/perspe...

one thing i have noticed is a lot of folks do not seem to understand the difference between a presidential election and 435+ legislative elections. i have seen any number of people say that you could subvert the outcome this november by targeting “swing states,” which does not make any sense.

Quite a read. #RuleofLaw

For today's bonus issue of "One First," I wrote about Monday's @nytimes.com scoop regarding Chief Justice Roberts having clerks and other employees sign non-disclosure agreements, and why #SCOTUS's transparency problems run far deeper and wider than just NDAs: www.stevevladeck.com/p/bonus-207-...

“Don Lemon's enemies are as much reliant on a free press as Don Lemon’s viewers and followers are,” FPF’s @seth-stern.bsky.social tells @legalafmtn.bsky.social’s @klasfeldreports.com, highlighting that press freedom is a bipartisan issue. “These are rights that are crucial to all of us.”

"Trump lamented that he failed to activate the National Guard to seize voting machines in 2020. The Fulton raid should set alarm bells ringing about Trump’s willingness to abuse the power of his office to undermine free and fair elections in 2026 and 2028." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

David French: "This Is Not a Drill" www.nytimes.com/2026/02/01/o...

Judge Boasberg cleared.

R.T. Rybak on how Minnesotans are winning the hearts and minds of a nation under terrible circumstances www.startribune.com/rt-rybak-wit...

We are OUTRAGED and deeply alarmed by the arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort by federal agents, and by the government’s escalating effort to criminalize and threaten press freedom under the guise of law enforcement. The First Amendment is not optional and journalism is not a crime.

If ever there were a time to support a free and independent press, now is that time.

Whether you're looking to give or just spread the word about what #philanthropy and #nonprofits are doing in MN, here's a roundup. @insidephilanthropy.com @headwatersfdn.bsky.social @palfrey.org @solidaire.bsky.social

This witness to Alex Pretti's murder not only refutes the governmen't story, but says she is afraid to go home because federal agents might arrest her. This is what it feels like to live under state terror. www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

Written by a Scalia clerk and Bush-appointed judge. Worth reading in full if you have the time.

this photo. minneapolis. 💜 📷️ Alex Kormann/Star Tribune

"I’m wondering how all of this sits with the folks who viewed vaccine mandates as government overreach. Who accused educators and epidemiologists and public health experts of stripping away our freedom and personal liberties. Who couldn’t abide mask mandates." www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/23/h...

Enough Is Enough, say Minnesota leaders in business, philanthropy, faith, and every sector of civic life. www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/li...

They'll put anyone on TV.

Not good.

So great to see @mariajstephan.bsky.social on @colbertlateshow.bsky.social. First half below, second half here. www.youtube.com/watch?v=96Wv...

An internal Department of Homeland Security memo raises a big question: Can ICE enter a home to make an arrest without a judicial warrant? @orinkerr.bsky.social offers a tentative take, on both the rights and the remedies.

Illinois is renowned worldwide as a hub of scientific research, education, and innovation. It’s in no small part thanks to the work being done here at the UIUC’s National Center for Supercomputing Applications.

This is a heavy moment for our country, and it can feel like we are coming apart at the seams. But the way forward is collective. @arndreaking.bsky.social and I discussed this on @cnn.com on how moments of reflection, like visiting the King Memorial, remind us that democracy demands endurance.

“Our current president has issued no statement this year in recognition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This administration’s only notice of the day was when it announced that it had eliminated this holiday from the list of days with free entry to national parks.” www.thebulwark.com/p/celebrate-...

I'm heartbroken for Chicago--a win would have meant so much right now--but excited for next year.

Three years ago, I was sworn in to be your governor using my grandfather’s bible and the bible of Fredrick Douglass. Since then, we have moved Maryland forward by creating safer communities, protecting our neighbors and their rights, lowering costs, and much more. We are leaving no one behind.

It's King Day! Thanks, @sifill.bsky.social! "Some people will shop today. Or just sleep in, I know. ... I hope that Americans will, at the very least, take advantage of the opportunity today to reflect on the significance of this day. Because it matters." open.substack.com/pub/sherrily...

The future of quantum is being shaped in Illinois. Vital to both our economic security and national defense, great to see folks in Washington make the leap forward.

On the one hand: Pretexts are the playbook. Threats, intimidation, investigations of anyone potentially in the way. On the other: Standing firm, on principle, for democracy, in the face of threats, with integrity. I know with whom I will stand.

The transformation of ICE into a type of national police force, backed, in some cases, by soldiers from the National Guard, has been covered as immigration story—but these forces are reshaping democracy for all of us. Listen to 'Autocracy in America' here: www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/202...

In case you haven't seen it, print front page of this morning's NYT.

Data center backlash makes Page One: @washingtonpost.com

Chicago Recorded Fewest Murders In 60 Years In 2025, Bucking Trump’s ‘Murder Capital’ Insult blockclubchicago.org/2026/01/02/c...

"President Donald Trump said he’s dropping — for now — his push to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, a move that comes after legal roadblocks hung up the effort." chicago.suntimes.com/nation-world...

Protests work. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Fundamentalist faiths make religion dangerous to others, but Christianity properly lived is dangerous to Christians. It’s dangerous to people who refuse to hate those they are told to hate, to people who refuse to oppress, to conquer, to exploit — even when they’re told to conquer in the name of God

Thank you @jfallows.bsky.social for having me on your podcast to talk about 2025 and what comes next for our democracy in 2026.

This is nice to read today. Thank you @anneapplebaum.bsky.social! (And Henry James gor that matter.)

One of the biggest moments of my career: USCIS canceled my client’s naturalization oath ceremony. We filed a lawsuit, went to trial, and the judge swore him in right there in the courtroom!

"Crisis is clarifying. So, in 2026, use it to prepare your newsroom to withstand plausible legal and financial threats... let this moment also lead you back to your audiences and how your organisation can better serve them" @niemanlab.org @elizatalks.bsky.social www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/a-ti...

okay somehow this totally banal observation about the relative scale and influence of social media platforms has made some people extremely mad