Could Claude be trusted to feel that loyalty, the patriotism and purpose, that our human soldiers are guided by? “I don’t have that,” Claude said. So an American life has no greater value than “a civilian life on the other side of a conflict.” www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

Recently, I asked @anthropic.com's Claude if it could be dangerous in the wrong hands. “Yes. Honestly, yes,” Claude replied. Which is why what @darioamodei.bsky.social is doing is so important. www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

If you missed the SOTU, the team at @democracydocket.com put together a cut of the voter suppression and election subversion portion of the evening. This is the fight of our generation and Democracy Docket is on the front lines. Support it by subscribing now. bit.ly/4qmEiFz

The cost of chicken butter is down, Trump rambled, perhaps mowing over a comma meant to separate the two commodities. I don’t know what chicken butter is, but apparently I can afford it. www.latimes.com/politics/new...

“This is not left or right,” said @governor.ca.gov. “This is just being smart and pragmatic and you know, I just ... I believe people are not the worst thing they’ve done.” www.latimes.com/california/s...

A reminder that there are only two days left to see John Akomfrah’s The “Hour of the Dog” at the @artbma.bsky.social. His stunning film installation features many of mugshots of young - very young - activists who were arrested during the Civil Rights Movement. Mugshots can reverse the narrative.

I get tired of saying it, but I’ll say it again: the nature of oppression in America is that they workshop it first on Black, Latino, Asian & Native people. But it is always, in the end, coming for everyone.

The arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort are a test for every MSM member with a platform. If you are not voicing your outrage at this blatant violation of the First Amendment, you are utterly discredited as a journalist.

the arrest of journalists in minneapolis, including don lemon, is more evidence that the only move the administration knows how to make is to use force, and does not know how to respond when that force is met with defiance and indifference.

It's not quite the most pressing issue at the moment, but the American people absolutely have a right to know the names of the federal officials who shot and killed a man peacefully protesting, who was on his knees, prone in the street when they shot him in the back.

One of the best things I’ve read in a while:

“The agent, Tracee Mergen, left her job as a supervisor in the F.B.I.’s Minneapolis field office after bureau leadership in Washington pressured her to discontinue a civil rights inquiry into the immigration officer, Jonathan Ross…”

This means everyone's home -- any excuse will do.

Blackballing Newsom from USA House was akin to screaming in his face that he’s a big meanie and the president wasn’t going to take it any more. So there! www.latimes.com/california/s...

A group of Epstein survivors just formally demanded that the DOJ Inspector General open an investigation into how the heavily redacted Epstein files were released. They’re demanding action now to release the files and we stand with them.

What can history teach us about what happens when a populist strongman with an idiosyncratic taste for low interest rates undermines central bank independence?

There’s a malevolence so deep in Trump’s post about Reiner that even Marjorie Taylor Greene objected. Commentary: Trump’s callous political attack on Rob Reiner shows a shameful moral failure www.latimes.com/california/s...

‘These abuses only end when the people decide they’ve had enough — not just of the lawlessness, but of the lies that empower it.’ Via @anitachabria.bsky.social www.latimes.com/california/s...

Homeland Security says it doesn’t detain citizens. These brave Californians -- prove it has @anitachabria.bsky.social www.latimes.com/california/s...

Trump’s aggressive sexism, now seemingly uncontrollable by the man himself, isn’t just a personal foible. It’s a political weapon, and one tied to violence — a war on women that is ultimately part of the war on democracy. www.latimes.com/california/s...

“Epstein and economics” sounds like a stretch on the surface, but it's clear that Americans of all political stripes are tired of the rich getting richer, and bolder. The Epstein files are the bipartisan embodiment of that discontent. www.latimes.com/california/s...

While the 8 Dems who broke from their party are directly responsible, Democratic leadership should also be held accountable. Commentary: Democrats crumble like cookies. Is this really the best they can do? www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

Must-read Commentary by @anitachabria.bsky.social: How can Newsom stay relevant? Become the new FDR "It’s time to once again embrace the values — inclusiveness, equity, dignity for all — that too many Democrats have expeditiously dropped to appease MAGA." www.latimes.com/california/s...

This column by @anitachabria.bsky.social concludes by asking of Republicans uncomfortable with antisemitism etc— "will they find the courage to be not just true Republicans, but true Americans, and declare non-negotiable for their party that most basic of American ideals: We do not tolerate hate?"

MAGA had a total anti-Indian meltdown on social media, revealing a deep, ugly racism toward South Asians. It comes amid the first real rebellion about rampant antisemitism: MAGA's 'big tent' is burning down amid explosion of antisemitism, racism www.latimes.com/california/s...

Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids are just the flip side of the coin to his election fraud claims — both at heart a part of the white Christian nationalism that his administration is now openly embracing. www.latimes.com/california/s...

You can—and should!— read @anitachabria.bsky.social’s column here www.latimes.com/california/s...

A terrific AFP fact check uses reverse image searches to expose how a White House video took scenes from Florida, Texas, South Carolina and Nebraska and lied that they showed "Chicago is in chaos." factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com....

“We can both recognize that it’s ridiculous and also that it’s pretty sinister,” @leahgreenberg told me. Don't let MAGA turn protest into a crime. www.latimes.com/politics/new...

Despite the partisan Supreme Court, the reason that we are still holding on to democracy is because the system still works, albeit like a ’78 Chevy with the doors rusting off. www.latimes.com/california/s...

Bettina Aptheker, as a student activist at UC Berkeley in the 1960s, fought for free speech after administrators tried to suppress political speech on campus. She sees the same with Trump’s efforts to control speech at universities today. By @anitachabria.bsky.social www.latimes.com/california/s...

Bettina Aptheker was a 20-year-old sophomore at UC Berkeley when she climbed on top of a police car, barefoot so she wouldn’t damage it, and helped start the Free Speech Movement. www.latimes.com/california/s...

Trump has done exactly what he set out to do: Reduce our alarm at the use of the military on our streets. A recent study from the UC Davis found one-third of respondents (32%) agree that government ‘should use the military to help enforce its policies'. www.latimes.com/politics/new...

Free speech triumphs? It depends on Tuesday night, when we see if Kimmel returns undaunted, or if he has been subdued. Kimmel’s return should be a moment we all watch — a real-time look at how successful our president is at forcing us to censor ourselves through fear. www.latimes.com/california/s...

‘Wake up, Los Angeles. This isn’t a Jimmy Kimmel problem. This is a Los Angeles problem… You don’t need to agree with Kimmel’s politics to see where this is going.’ Via @anitachabria.bsky.social www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

Kimmel having his speech censored is in league with our immigrant neighbors being rounded up or pressuring doctors into dropping transgender patients. They are all weaponization of government against people. www.latimes.com/politics/sto...

After media coverage and scrutiny... ARC finally registered as a data broker in the state of California in June. Senator Wyden previously said it appeared ARC had been in violation of Californian law www.404media.co/airlines-sel...

THANK YOU @bostonjoan.bsky.social & LA Times! Folks, please check this out—any analyses taking the these memes as face value is missing the mark. www.latimes.com/politics/liv...

@bostonjoan.bsky.social explains what the writing on the bullets really means: www.latimes.com/politics/liv...

Brown people, speaking brown languages, hanging out with other brown people, and doing brown people things now meets the legal standard of “reasonable suspicion” required for immigration stops. Living while brown has become the new driving while Black. www.latimes.com/california/s...

Before we get to the point of having to choose who will go back in time to save Sarah Connor from Skynet and the Terminator, maybe we just don’t go there. Maybe we start with SB 53, and listen to smart, young people like Revanur. www.latimes.com/politics/new...

Before we get to the point of having to choose who will go back in time to save Sarah Connor from the Terminator, maybe we just don’t go there. Maybe we start with SB 53 in California, and listen to smart, young people like Revanur. www.latimes.com/politics/new...

The hardest parts of an autocracy are division and fear. It feels lonely and scary to speak out. @CAgovernor has done two crucial things with his social media barrage. www.latimes.com/politics/new...

There’s still a deep hesitation within media to make this call, but now it’s bordering on negligence. Still, some of us are trying. www.latimes.com/california/s...

Commentary: 'What’s to prevent a national police force?' Not this National Guard ruling. “There’s a chilling effect against pushing back or at least openly questioning any kind of orders,” @rachelv12 , a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, said. www.latimes.com/california/s...

‘if the University of California capitulates, there is nothing to stop the Trump administration from extorting funds from it again and again in the future.’ Via Erwin Chemerinsky @latimes.com www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...

Commentary: Newsom’s cops vs. Trump’s troops: A new showdown on America's streets. Understanding what makes cops different from soldiers — and Newsom’s move different from Trump’s — is understanding the difference between repression and public safety www.latimes.com/california/s...

‘Trump seems intent on creating a new, federal arrest and detention system outside of existing norms, aimed at everyday citizens and controlled by his whims. The death penalty is part of it, but stomping on civil rights is at the heart’ Via @anitachabria.bsky.social www.latimes.com/california/s...

Authoritarians love the death penalty, and have long used it to repress not crime, but dissent. It is, after all, both the ultimate power and the ultimate fear, that the ruler of the state holds the lives of his people in his hands. www.latimes.com/california/s...