America’s 20th century rise; our victory in World War II; the post-war international order anchored on the dollar, democracy, and stabilizing institutions; increased standards of living— it’s all meaningless if all you wanted was to keep pre-1865 domination over a subset of people in your own state.

The Roberts Court, the Trump White House, and the national GOP are acting like this is their one big shot. Either they secure the lasting end of US Constitutional democracy, or they’re in very serious trouble from the backlash. And they’ve already gone so far that there’s no other possibility.

When federal agents indiscriminately tossed tear gas down a Chicago residential street last fall, we were seeing state violence performed for content – entertainment – like this admin's other spectacles. Most of us reach for "fascism" to name this. I did. But I no longer think that word fits. 🧵

whoever leaked that he’s panicking about leaks is the funniest person in the government

"openai.com" was once the personal homepage of a guy named glenn (2001), and "tiktok.com" was the quaint shared homepage of a couple as their relationship progressed from dating to married with a baby (2000). THREAD!!!

I keep saying this but the 90s were also the era in kid culture in which we watched diverse groups of kids from around the world could come together, learn things, and save the world from climate destruction, corporate greed, and intergalactic colonizer aliens.

What a colossal blunder. Donald Trump has often framed U.S. troops stationed in Germany as if they are there primarily to defend Germany’s interests. That misses the larger strategic reality. Those forces are not based in Germany simply as a favour to Germany. #NATO www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...

Star Trek: The Next Generation Psych New Girl The West Wing Andor Monk Stranger Things The Haunting of Hill House The Haunting of Bly Manor Star Trek: Strange New Worlds The Simpsons Knight Rider Quantum Leap Star Trek: Voyager Father Ted

Americans may be unhappy about gas prices and affordability more generally, but at least they can take solace in the President's forthcoming ballroom and new luxury jet.

San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose

It’s tragically telling that there are about fifty (or more!) things this could be referring to.

Assuming this gets implemented before Trump leaves office, I think it will be important in 2029 for the State Department to give people the opportunity to exchange these for a non-Trump passport free of charge. It will be necessary to intentionally eliminate Trump's personalist excesses.

Knight Institute Warns that #FCC Review of Disney Broadcast Licenses Raises First Amendment Concerns After Trump Calls for #Kimmel’s Firing. Our statement from @jameeljaffer.bsky.social below. knightcolumbia.org/content/knig...

Several white supremacists were convicted of crimes related to Charlottesville, including Heather Heyer's murderer. A dozen were held civilly liable. To call this a "hoax" because an anti-hate watchdog had eyes on the organizers is delusional racist propaganda from the White House.

This copy is so frustrating to read. It should be "an American born in Argentina" and "an American born in Nigeria."

Well, they've finally struck home. #ICE has detained my former #umich student, Yousif Azizi, a PhD student in public policy at Virginia Tech w/a valid visa. He was arrested while taking his children to school in Maryland. After multiple transfers, he is in a detention center in Arizona.

A small fraction of online actors exerts outsized influence over what the public sees, believes, and discusses. In a new paper, we trace how social media influencers turn fringe claims into viral narratives by exploiting a feedback loop between influencers, algorithms & crowds osf.io/preprints/ps...

This is straight up, Nazi "dual state" shit. If a naturalized citizen commits a crime, we have mechanisms in place to hold them accountable. It's called the legal system and it applies to all of us. This extra targeting of only *some* people accused of crimes is part of a broader, expulsive project.

And, also — how, exactly, am I a victim of being defrauded if I’m pleased that this important work is what my donations helped to fund?

The Justice Dept’s theory of the case— that the group that single-handedly disassembled the Ku Klux Klan defrauded its donors by concealing that it was using paid informant to do that work and more— has about as much merit as the now-dismissed charges against Jim Comey.

In February 1777, General George Washington ordered the first mass immunization campaign in American history by mandating that his troops be inoculated against smallpox. He protected the Continental Army from an epidemic that was deadlier than British forces. 249 years later, we have this idiot.

I'm no war expert - but I'm pretty solid on my history (my apologies for going full history-nerd here), and this relatively short article right now sure seems like an equivalent paradigm-shift to 1862's Battle of Hampton Roads.

Orban was funding the Reform support network.

Some MAGA acolytes can't imagine people of different creeds, backgrounds, and cultures living peacefully side-by-side. The project to create a cosmopolitan society must be a dark conspiracy. IMO, the central issue of our time is this regressive idea of ethnic absolutism.

No I don't think this is a small point. Normal Americans don't talk like that.

NEW—I got an exclusive excerpt from a USAID whistleblower's new book that made me gasp multiple times. It details Trump's dismantling of the humanitarian aid agency & his team/DOGE's shocking ignorance to public health. 'Into the Wood Chipper' by Nicholas Enrich is out tomorrow. Read excerpt here:

Thread of Truth

Genocide. He’s openly threatening genocide.

I spent years as a cop in San Francisco and later served as Deputy Chief of Staff at U.S. Customs and Border Protection. What we’re watching ICE build right now isn’t a normal staffing surge; it’s an ideological priming pipeline.

SCOOP — Body camera footage obtained as a result of my lawsuit against the DC Metropolitan PD confirms DOGE and the Trump administration openly admitted they were entering private property when they raided the building on March 17, 2025. That didn't stop MPD from breaking down the doors. My report:

11-year-old me playing Nintendo: “OH MAN I wish Mega Man was for real!” 43-year-old me realizing it’s becoming real, but between Musk and Altman all we’ve got are two competing Dr. Wilys:

This means that some folks are not human, and that classification will be adjudicated by Miller and the administration.

Means is another example of the trust trap.

When official assessments and prior claims can be discarded overnight, there is no stable factual baseline on which Congress, the press, or the public can evaluate policy or demand accountability. Authoritarians destroy the possibility of a shared reality and then rule by narrative. #holdfast

"Karen handcuffed, shackled and sleeping on the floor of a locked cell, before being driven for 12 hours through the night to an [ICE] detention centre. Karen was incarcerated for a total of six weeks – even though she had been travelling with a valid visa." A British tourist was detained by ICE.👇

Incredible opinion. It holds that the common ICE tactic of jumping out of an unidentified rental vehicle and seizing suspected noncitizens while masked violates the Fourth Amendment because the *manner* of the seizure is incompatible with a free society governed by the rule of law.

Roses are red Violets are blue If you’re born here You’re a citizen too

Some thoughts on what de-magafication of our institutions might look like when this nightmare is over (free post) open.substack.com/pub/asharang...

1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken. Hundreds of kids are still detained. We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵

Next Superbowl halftime should include a recreation of the confederate surrender at Appomattox while Jefferson Davis flees the scene dressed as an old lady.

I want to reiterate that this shit is nuts. A federal invasion of state-run elections, an intelligence community invasion of federal law enforcement, a White House invasion of a criminal investigation, and a president’s insane treasonable sore loser obsession all rolled up and muddled together.

happening this morning in Minneapolis -- ICE agents drawing guns on observers. I reiterate again that it is only a matter of time before DHS kills more innocent people in Minnesota. Congress needs to shut this shit down right now.

Unmarked car, no lights or police insignia. Masked armed men leap out. Victim not in the act of committing any crime. This is not how a serious federal law enforcement agency acts in a free society. How is this not supposed to be a “right wing paramilitary force loyal to the regime”?

Anyway, good morning from this evergreen quote from a guy we teach the kids is a great American hero

Please read this extremely thoughtful & careful post on Tim Walz, Anne Frank, & the US Holocaust Memorial Museum from Martin Shuster, philosopher, Isaac Swift Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies, former Holocaust Memorial Museum Fellow, & scholar of genocide, the Holocaust, & authoritarianism:

This... is not the role of ODNI. This is so fucked up in all sorts of ways that will have lasting implications. I recognize it's not going to happen, but this is something that Congress should freak the fuck out about.

Bovino is just the patsy - a noxious and odious fall guy. Stephen Miller is the architect and prime mover of the whole thing. Everything they do is at his direction - often after his threats. As long as he runs policy in the WH, nothing will change no matter how many Bovinos come and go.