The 2026 Doomsday Clock announcement, captured by photographer Jamie Christiani. IT IS 85 SECONDS TO MIDNIGHT. Watch the 2026 Doomsday Clock announcement: buff.ly/BGu0Zse

This is a very hard video to watch — but critically important to understand just how unnecessary the death of Alex Pretti actually was. None of the agents involved should ever work in law enforcement again — and at least two should face criminal charges. www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...

This may be jarring on your timeline at the moment but it’s important: I am deep into the show “Girls5Eva”. Maybe I missed it initially because I live in UK? In any case I am angry & physically sick that I was not on this show. It’s so funny I do not know what to do, other than evangelize.

The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.

For "One First," I wrote about DOJ's unprecedented attempt to secretly strong-arm a widely respected district judge in the Cities Church protest case—and why everyone, especially other federal judges, should read Chief Judge Schiltz's two letters in response: www.stevevladeck.com/p/205-chief-...

You have to read this. Firsthand affidavit from one of the women who was there and recording the video. She talks about how Alex Pretti was directing traffic when she arrived. She watched him be killed in front of her. She's afraid to go home, worried she'll be arrested.

A doctor who witnessed the shooting submits a sworn declaration in federal litigation to halt ICE surge in MN: "I did not see him attack the agents or brandish a weapon of any kind." and "The victim had at least three bullet wounds in his back." Read storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

BREAKING: Trump-appointed judge blocks FBI/DOJ/DHS from destroying or altering evidence related to shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis. Judge Eric Tostrud grants TRO & sets Monday hearing. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... Earlier: www.politico.com/news/2026/01...

"Kill and Slander." That's what @juliettekayyem.bsky.social is calling DHS approach on @cnn.com . I think that's dead on.

I’ve never seen anything quite like Chief Judge Schiltz’s letter to Chief Judge Colloton. (The Eighth Circuit has since denied DOJ’s application, but didn’t acknowledge any of its … ridiculous … behavior.)

We have a constitutional right to protest peacefully in the US. Minnesotans and 1000s across the country demonstrated that yesterday. Yet under trained Border Patrol agents attacked a protester, forced him to the ground and killed him. We cannot react in violence. That is what this admin wants.

I'm really looking forward to hearing from the same people who have spent decades yelling about the Second Amendment that this shooting was somehow justified because the observer (allegedly) had a gun. It turns out, it was never about *all* of our liberty.

As we bear witness to what is happening in Minneapolis, remember that those who are documenting it -- citizens and journalists alike -- are showing true bravery and moral courage. This documentation will matter one day, mark my words. asharangappa.substack.com/p/the-power-...

I am watching what is happening in Minneapolis on Ali Velshi and one of the ICE officers (off camera) literally says, “It’s like Call of Duty. Pretty cool huh?” as they shoot whatever it is they are shooting. Agents walking around, guns unholstered for no reason. This is insanity

Via @gettyimages.com

"A superpower is choosing to self-immolate and torch its remaining global trust and friendships, including and especially NATO...at the precise moment when it had been reinvigorated and renewed...in the wake of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022" - by @vermontgmg.bsky.social

The Guuardian's running fact-check of Trump's Davos remarks is essential viewing. He hardly utters a sentence that isn't an easily verifiable lie. www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

We are watching one of the wildest things a nation-state has ever done: A superpower is committing suicide because the GOP Congress is too cowardly to stand up to the Mad King. This is one of the wildest moments in all of geopolitics ever.

This is actually the really simple story of the collapse of American democracy. You can explain America’s constitutional collapse in a single coherent sentence:

Investigating elected officials for speech is not law enforcement but intimidation. If governors and mayors can be investigated for criticizing federal actions, neither elected officials nor anyone else is truly free to speak. #holdfast

BREAKING: Judge enters TRO blocking feds from interfering with or arresting peaceful protesters in Minnesota. Judge Kate Menendez, Biden appointee. Order: www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

New video analysis by @nytimes.com team breaks down the killing of Renee Good frame by frame from multiple angles and challenges official accounts of what happened. www.nytimes.com/video/us/100...

This is a transparent attempt to create a pretext for invoking the Insurrection Act. One provision applies when a group of people "opposes or obstructs the execution of the laws of the United States or impedes the course of justice under those laws." And when it's (allegedly) the state itself...

This is not a sane use of US federal law enforcement resources.

It is, unfortunately, time to re-up my April 2025 post on the Insurrection Act and the broader history of domestic uses of the military for law enforcement purposes: www.stevevladeck.com/p/142-five-q...

Walz: "What's happening in MN defies belief. News reports simply don't do justice to the level of chaos & disruption & trauma the federal govt is raining down... This long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement. Instead, it's a campaign of organized brutality against the people of MN"

@vermontgmg.bsky.social captures exactly how I feel, more eloquently than I could say: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/the-physic...

309-14 against. That's the scorecard of federal judges ruling on the Trump administration's attempt to treat *any* non-citizen who was never lawfully admitted as having been stopped at the border for purposes of detention w/o bail. Here's my earlier explainer: www.stevevladeck.com/p/195-the-im...

"If we hadn’t already, we’ve unquestionably joined the league of ordinary nations—a league in which we’re acting as little more than a bully, and in circumstances in which no obvious principle of self-defense, human rights, or even humantarianism writ large justifies our bellicosity." Me on Maduro:

My quick take on the legality of the Venezuela invasion. open.substack.com/pub/executiv...

Russia and China already know that the president of the United States is helping to clear the way for their adventures—and they should keep their faux-outrage to themselves. www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

I’ve argued since August we need a serious conversation about Trump’s health. One thing lacking so far: The excuse to turn this “news story” into a “news event.” This WSJ story — and Trump’s opening — should be the chance to do just that. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/it-s-time-...

“I can’t recall any other example of a federal policy that provoked quite so much litigation in such a short period of time—or in which so many judges from across the geographical and ideological spectrum so overwhelmingly rejected the executive branch’s new interpretation of the relevant statutes.”

A Dishonorable Strike Indulging all assumptions in favor of the administration’s boat strikes, killing helpless men is murder www.execfunctions.org/p/a-dishonor...

The military has released 21 video clips of U.S. attacks on vessels it says are trafficking drugs. But they tell only part of the story.

After years of delays, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art announced its 2026 opening date. Take a first look inside the $1 billion, 300,000-square-foot museum.

If you’re trying to catch up on what went down with #SNAP late last night at #SCOTUS, here’s my attempt to read the breadcrumbs on the “administrative stay” issued by Justice Jackson—and why a justice so critical of the Court’s grants of emergency relief to Trump still granted temporary relief here:

photos of Trump sleeping through yesterday's Oval Office event via Andrew Harnik of Getty

I just want to remind everyone that this is a statewide mandate, unencumbered by maps.

2,500 pantries supported across the state $80M in state funds fast-tracked for distribution 390 @calvolunteers.bsky.social — with hundreds more waiting in the wings And National Guard men and women deployed, proud to be the good guys We will not just let Californians in need go hungry.

a live look this morning at the demolished East Wing of the White House

No Kings Larchmont, Los Angeles! So many drivers honking! #turnrevolutionintolove @gtconway.bsky.social www.redbubble.com/i/t-shirt/rE...

#SCOTUS all-but overruled a unanimous, 90-year-old precedent through an unexplained "administrative" stay this morning, and that's only the second-most-problematic thing it did before lunchtime.

There is, as of right now, no coverage of this protest on the WaPo website or in their @washingtonpost.com feed. So, if you (you reading this) want people to SEE this protest, you must share it.

This is what democracy looks like! A people united will never be defeated. We want federal forces out of DC NOW! #WeAreAllDC #FreeDC

1/ I worked at DoD. I literally cannot imagine lawyers coming up with a legal basis for lethal strike of suspected Venezuelan drug boat. Hard to see how this would not be "murder" or war crime under international law that DoD considers applicable. Read expert analysis by @bcfinucane.bsky.social⤵️

Via "One First," my quick stab at the legal authority President Trump will likely claim allows him to deploy un-federalized Texas National Guard troops to Illinois; why such a deployment without Illinois's consent *ought* to be unlawful; and the options Illinois will have for litigating that issue:

Activists, Democratic leaders and voters gathered in crowds large and small around the U.S. on Monday to protest the Trump administration and voice support for workers on the Labor Day holiday.

It's crazy that we've spent more time this year talking about the *former* president's health than the current one's, given the numerous warning signs and unanswered questions that are accumulating.

D.C. TODAY…