Two stories side by side in WashPost

Is there any conceivable congressional authorization for this?

“it’s a wonderful life” (1946) remains the best christmas film about the importance of mutual aid during the decline of capitalism.

When I was in grade school, I read (and re-read and re-read) a biography of Marie Curie. One of my favorite books at the time. Amazing woman.

It’s not “losing money” any more than air traffic controllers or public highways or street lights or fire departments are “losing money.” It is a government service. It’s not SUPPOSED to make money. It’s supposed to reliably deliver to anywhere in the US, even the unprofitable places.

"Like Amazon Prime, but with human beings."

Camps where tens of thousands of politically disfavored people will be concentrated. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

"ICE officials are also investigating the couple for other crimes. They were found with a substantial amount of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 'What are those luxury goods doing in their possession?' asked the ICE spokesman, taking a moment to adjust his mask."

Love this (and the movie).

Thank you @akalhan.bsky.social

Great thread

Justice Alito seems to have missed that the government's account of the Marimar Martinez shooting has been completely discredited.

Big ups to Marty Lederman @martylederman.bsky.social who flagged this argument that SCOTUS relied on (that regular forces refer to military forces, not federal law enforcement).

This is very good news. Also, apparently Kavanaugh wants to clarify (or retract?) his opinion in Noem v. Perdomo. See footnote 4 of his concurrence.

"[J]ust as Prigg left all Black people unprotected from slavecatchers, current immigration enforcement turns race or ethnicity into suspicion."

My SCOTUSblog post today - www.scotusblog.com/2025/12/the-...

This is critically important. Democrats need to pass it if they retake Congress. Trump will veto it. So pass it again. Campaign on it. Given current polling, corruption of the FBI, and the brutality of ICE and BP, there’s no better time to say, “Federal police are not above the law.”

I don’t mean to sound extreme, but I don’t think we should have torture camps for people with criminal records either.

Okay, so, in the interest of @faineg.bsky.social's ongoing talk about skeptics who use LLMs for professional reasons: I am effectively in the opposite situation as many, there's no pressure to use them, but I work with and for people who think LLMs can help them navigate the mental health system.

The right, along the Roberts Court, is trying to nullify the Reconstruction amendments guaranteeing equality under the law, in order to restore the Antebellum Constitution, which envisions “liberty” as an eternal aristocracy of race and class (gift link) www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

The problem with this piece, like all the other pieces, is that the missing hed, dek, & lede is that all of this was wildly illegal, unconstitutional, & criminal. This is how you normalize lawless authoritarianism - treat like just another story in our politics. “Transformation” is lazy euphemism.

Rick Vandendolder, 73: "My dad was with the Dutch resistance, and he helped hide Jews and others who were fleeing Nazi persecution," he said. "I met some of the people that he saved, and I never dreamt that I'd be seeing the same thing going on in this country."

The Kennedy Center name is established by federal statute, and therefore may be repealed only by federal statute. www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/...

President Trump says that checks for $1,776 each are going out to nearly 1.5 million servicemembers. I have questions. + When did Congress approve such a plan? + Where is the money coming from? + How is it non-taxable? Did Congress vote to do that? I'm sure there must be specific bill text.

This is my third time (re)posting this. I don't think it will be the last.

one of the best interviews of the year. this line really stands out. "If presenting what I saw, unfiltered, is an attack, then what would you call it had I chosen to edit it and hide things about it, and make them look better than they look?" www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/...

73% of ICE detainees have no criminal convictions, according to govt data. Don’t fall for Trump’s lies about targeting the “worst of the worst.” As ICE terrorizes cities to fill up detention centers, remember that some of Trump's major donors are private prison corporations.

Appalling.

Lol we've crashed the site. Got this when I tried to submit.

Vought says National Center for Atmospheric Research will be dismantled www.politico.com/news/2025/12...

I have so many follow-up questions.

The Vanity Fair photographer from the Susie Wiles story. Holy. Shit. www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/...

Pass it on: If you FILE A COMPLAINT about police activity, it flags the body-worn camera video so reporters can obtain it later via FOIA requests. City: www.chicagocopa.org/complaints/i... County: apps.cookcountyil.gov/oiig/ State: oeig.illinois.gov/complaints/o...

Despicable

Here's some legislation I'm almost surprised not to have heard any member of Congress propose yet: Citizen Kavanaugh Stop Compensation Act: For every hour or part thereof, beyond the first 30 mins, that a U.S. citizen is detained by ICE, that citizen is paid $500. Paid from the ICE budget.

Jewish children who had foreign parents, but were born in Great Britain? His Majesty's natural-born subjects.

19 - no waterbed

Awesome

It's fitting that the cover on AI mindlessly apes an earlier creation and also displaces workers while elevating Silicon Valley plutocrats.

Appreciate this letter from MN State Sen Jim Abler (R-Anoka) to POTUS

WTF?

Very good and direct quote on the fake Tina Peters pardon from my colleague

just going to reiterate this. if immigrants don't have due process, no one does. you can't tell citizens from immigrants without due process. www.everythingishorrible.net/p/if-immigra...

Ten years ago.

Interesting that SCOTUSblog goes with Justice Kavanaugh's preferred terminology for the shadow docket.

I'm sorry, on what authority??

Chief Justice John Roberts: Why don’t we make the most powerful criminal in the world invincible?

This is despicable.

history of unitary executive theory, in one tweet Step 1 - Formal logic requires you, a principled legal movement, to override centuries of tradition. Functionalism is irrelevant. Step 2 - Functionalism requires you, a sensible legal movement, to create exceptions to the formal logic of Step 1.

the unitarian notion of accountability is, in general, very strange as it holds that a single election — the president’s reelect — is more democratically accountable than the rolling process of democratic assent produced by legislative elections and congressional oversight.