A milestone: the court order in Chicago today potentially checks America's slide to a secret police state. For the first time, ICE and CBP agents are ordered to wear clear identification: badge numbers or names. Either they comply or this becomes THE issue in which the battle for democracy.

Can someone please explain the rationale behind NYT pieces like this, which repulse most of its subscribers? Is it hoping the NYT can cater to multiple groups without losing revenue? Bargaining for access to gossip from the far right? Or is Sulzberger using the NYT to spread his personal beliefs? 1/

We've found DHS is giving local cops a new facial recognition app to find immigrants. Point camera at face, tells the cop to detain person or not. The app is available on Google's Play Store. Google took down apps that report ICE sightings but now hosts this app www.404media.co/cbp-quietly-...

Here it is, the Constitutional crisis people feared, Trump openly and flagrantly defying a court order. And it's over... denying Americans food. We are literally facing a Constitutional breakdown over SNAP funds. This administration is making mistake after mistake. They can be beaten.

They just gutted Teen Vogue which had top notch political journalism. The media is continuing to purge any sort of political dissent to Trump and the oligarchs. www.vogue.com/article/teen...

Can we all agree that when a president pardons a guy who was convicted for financing terrorists, and then says he didn't know the guy but "I was told" to pardon him, the follow question MUST be "Who told you to pardon him?" But CBS never asked: who is making decisions in the White House? 1/

You laugh, but this is how the exododus went extinct

People who want to help democracy, no worries if you can't go out and get tear-gassed (kids, job, disability). There's indoor work too! You can be the record-keeper of all that Mike Johnson says he doesn't know. (Today: Trump's pardon of a crypto billionaire). Even a Google sheet is a fine start. 1/

What do Trump, Netanyahu, and Putin have in common? When your political power is shaky, when you fear you are losing your grip, start a war. 1/

I know it’s too much to expect them to know their history, but if the American Revolution had a motto, it definitely would not have been “immigrants go home.” It would have been “get your fucking soldiers out of our cities.”

As Elon Musk programs his "Grokipedia" to say that Russia under Putin is an example of "civilizational renewal", am asking, again, why so many people associated with Peter Thiel spread Russian propaganda. It's not random and it's not just a fad. They are committed to Putin's talking points. 1/

This WaPo article contains many errors that must be corrected. The most important is that reporter Amy Wang botches the timeline. The Jan 6 Capitol attack did NOT start "several hours" after Trump's speech. The attack kicked off DURING Trump's speech, by Proud Boys and people who pre-positioned. 1/

Many "progressives" use "working class" to mean a job they romanticize and imagine doing: the True Volk. It would be better to say, a working class job is one the pundit would NOT want. Home health aide, server, roofer, fruit picker, Amazon warehouse stocker. People who need some actual progress. 1/

The statement - "we have both legalized and tolerated Trump's crimes, so they will only get bigger" - is exactly true and is why it was so important to prosecute Jan 6 all the way to the top. To seek the organizers and not just the useful idiots. What's happening this year was foreseen in 2021. 1/

More on Graham Platner as Actually Upper Class: he went to Hotchkiss. HOTCHKISS. Platner's as "working class" as George W Bush, who also went to a prep school, then the National Guard, then bought a 'ranch'. Platner could have been a fine candidate if he was truthful. But he is selling a fake. 1/

When I say the MAGA movement is post-truth, this is the sort of thing I mean. Push blatant lies in advance of an event, see overwhelming evidence that the lies were false, know that others saw it too, but plow ahead with the same lies, opposed to the notion that living in factual reality matters.

This article is great about the "antifa" myth, but it oversimplifies in calling the Proud Boys a "far-right gang". They're an influence op, started by a journalist (Gavin McInnes), then shaped by dirty trickster Roger Stone. Joe Biggs, who led the PBs march on Jan 6, was an InfoWars 'journalist'.

I called and left a polite message requesting that they consider quitting this job. I might have said "Please stop destroying our nation's heritage" or something to that effect.

Many people are outraged that Trump is demolishing part of the White House. But of course Trump can't do it without help. It's ACECO LLC of Silver Spring MD ("full-service demolition") that is tearing down the People's House. You can call them and let them know how you feel. 1/

Predictions before an experiment helps us assess results afterwards. What did the coordinated GOP messaging before No Kings mean? Now we see: there was no plan. They were unwilling or unable to take the next step to seize power. They couldn't do it - couldn't openly use violence on US citizens. 1/

Retired Army Sgt. Brian Wofford spoke to me this morning at the Oklahoma City #NoKings protest. Didn’t expect him to be carrying his DD214 so I asked some warmup questions like when he got out and whether his injury was service-related. He paused while describing the car bomb in Iraq to say this:

Reminder: Ed Martin, Trump's US Pardon attorney (R) and George Santos, whose sentence he just helped commute (L) were both speakers at the Stop the Steal rally the day before the Jan 6 Capitol attack. The next day, they both sat in the VIP section at Trump's Ellipse rally. 1/

Now 5 have joined. 4 remain.

This dark take - that politicians can now only be nakedly transactional, also crude - is not the case for the most charismatic Dems who are stepping up to lead. At the state level, JB Pritzker. At national level, Chris Murphy, AOC. They are speaking urgently and eloquently as their "best selves". 1/

As the GOP's demonizing of No Kings protestors gets more unhinged, we really need political scientists to make sober assessments: why? Yes, it's bad, we get it. Now we need to know: is this encouraging stochastic violence? Prepping for a false flag? Or just hoping to pre-set a narrative with bs? 1/

4 have joined. 5 remain.

Every single Jan 6 assault case tried before a jury resulted in a conviction. Every one. 100% conviction rate. h/t @seditionscanner.bsky.social 1/

People should be very alarmed about Trump's move this week revoking 6 visas for posting about Charlie Kirk. These weren't random. They were all prominent people in the arts, with business visas. One is German filmmaker Mario Sixtus, whose new documentary criticizes AI and US tech firms. 1/

Trump says that sending federal agents and troops to terrorize US cities is "a passion for the people behind me." Not just for Stephen Miller. For "people" in his administration. Reporters should have asked who those people were.

A big caution here: we shouldn't just say it's "bizarre" that the GOP has coordinated talking points that No Kings will involve an act of terrorism. We have to ask seriously whether someone has planned such an act. It wouldn't be provoking people in frog costumes. It would be worse 1/

Trump's offer of Premier Access to a few select universities got no takers, so now he's just ..offering it to everyone. "Research funds for state control of curriculum - anyone?" Trump runs a club; he knows the trick is to sign up prestige members first. But now he's desperate to get anyone. 1/

Finally, the split is starting between two backers of Trump's self-coup in 2020: the techbro neo-fascists ("News") and the reactionary religious right ("Olds"). Peter Thiel tried to weld them together in NatCon but they have existential differences. Fracturing them is key to getting the US back. 1/

As Trump praises pro-Russia autocrat Viktor Orban, a reminder that they were brought to power by the same US political consultants: Arthur Finkelstein and his band of proteges, among them Roger Stone. They pioneered dark, hate-filled campaigning and gave the world Trump, Orban, Netanyahu. 1/

MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration. MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone." orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

The 'journalists' at Trump's White House "antifa summit" are so sketchy that two were in the Capitol mob on Jan 6. Here's Savanah Hernandez cheering after the W Plaza police line collapsed. She walked in with the Proud Boys and whispered with Ethan Nordean, convicted of seditious conspiracy. 1/

There's been debate about whether Jan 6 was stochastic terrorism - it wasn't. THIS is likely stochastic terrorism: a judge's house torched right after Stephen Miller ranted about "liberal judges" who blocked Trump's actions, said they "shielded terrorists". This is the result he wanted. 1/

So many people on Bsky have complained, rightly, that 'leaders' and 'elites' have not stepped up to face our crisis. But here's one who has - Michael Roth, Wesleyan president - and he has <1000 followers! You can help, now: amplify the voice of leaders who take risks to speak. Follow and re-post. 1/

My take on Compact for Collaboration: “Federal funding for universities should never depend on a loyalty oath...The health of our democracy depends on the freedom to work with the federal government without having to follow the ideological dictates of those in power.” www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...

Just unbelievable stuff coming from independent journalists these days. Jack Posobiec, Roger Stone protege, was one of the biggest spreaders of Russian disinfo in 2016. Then Pizzagate, Macron leaks, election-fraud narratives in 2020. And it took til now to show he was voting fraudulently himself? 1/

IF ANY CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY SIGNS THIS RADICAL AGREEMENT, THEY'LL LOSE BILLIONS IN STATE FUNDING — INCLUDING CAL GRANTS — INSTANTLY. CALIFORNIA WILL NOT BANKROLL SCHOOLS THAT SELL OUT THEIR STUDENTS, PROFESSORS, RESEARCHERS, AND SURRENDER ACADEMIC FREEDOM.

Your occasional reminder that Russ Vought, who is claiming the right to fire civil servants for whatever reason he sees it, once refused to quit a political appointment position even after Trump had lost.

Trump's push to take over universities ratchets up: having failed to bully Harvard, he's now trying to bribe turncoats, offering 9 schools exclusive "priority for federal grants" if they obey orders and teach right-wing views. It's compelled speech: a flagrant violation of the 1st Amendment. 1/

Please, everyone, stop amplifying Trump's lies. For months the Trump admin has been planting stories that Harvard is about to cave, to make them seem weak, to amplify fear in others. None have come true. Lesson: never spread an unverified story that benefits its source. Don't be Trump's PR agent. 1/

Everyone's talking about how Congress went home - the GOP ended any chance to keep the government funded. Let's talk about what civil servants are doing: working, steadily, til midnight. Like they're getting ready to abandon the ship of state: packing boxes, prepping lifeboats, fastening hatches. 1/

Aaron Rupar saysthat Trump is "really going for it", trying to become a dictator. Just pointing out why Jan 6 was the turning point: because it was a planned attempt to seize power, but institutions looked away. Of COURSE the planners realized: they're weak so next time we can "really go for it". 1/

Pete Hegseth has recalled America's top military leaders from around the world for a meeting that's livestreamed on Fox. It truly could have been a Zoom call.

People of Illinois, we need your help. Get your cell phones out – record what you see. Put it on social media. Peacefully ask for badge numbers and identification. Speak up for your neighbors. We need to let the world know this is happening – and that we won’t stand for it.

Someone is leaking key parts of the FBI's pipe bomb investigation, things that if authentic are big. Have long suspected the RNC bomb was placed or at least moved on Jan 6. It was in too prominent a place to be overlooked, then found at too convenient a time (or rather, just minutes too early). 1/

The GOP is truly the anti-merit, pro-DEI party. Here energy secretary Chris Wright vows to subsidize coal, which got 'canceled' by... the free market, after fracking produced cheap gas. Wright's move isn't against SF liberals but against gas. But who cares about facts when you have vibes? 1/

Please realize this sequence: * Trump signed an EO labeling protest as terrorism * the AG sent federal agents to Portland * the SecDef says he will send the military * all US generals & admirals are recalled to DC on Tues. * the federal govt. shuts down on Tues. It is a bad plan, but it IS a plan 1/