Greetings from the Dirksen federal courthouse, where U.S. District Court Judge Sara Ellis has just taken the bench to rule on federal agents actions' during a series of increasingly aggressive raids across Chicago and the suburbs. Background, for @wttw.bsky.social from @bymattmasterson.bsky.social

ICYMI: @raders.bsky.social and @ansleyskipper.bsky.social covered Argentina's enduring Perónism-style of politics that Trumpism is slowly beginning to resemble & how the Trump WH's unprecedented corruption could actually reveal a path forward for the U.S. Full discussion: https://protdem.org/3X2qqUD

Come for @raders.bsky.social’s shirt, stay for Beau’s optimism. www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/courage-ma...

Read @ansleyskipper.bsky.social on the National Guard deployment you're probably not paying much attention to — and why you should be following more closely www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/domestic-d... @protectdemocracy.org

We rule that the mass executions may proceed while the larger Constitutional case works its way through the court system. by John Roberts, joined by Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, Barrett, and Kavanaugh (2026)

Joe Biden wrote the Violence Against Women Act. Donald Trump says domestic violence should not be considered a crime. Can the two parties find common ground?

Courts are really clearing their throats in the past five days.

American politicians are unfathomably, remarkably old. And the likely explanation is clear: it's our electoral system. Read this by @leedrutman.bsky.social. The gerontocracy is literally a policy choice. leedrutman.substack.com/p/why-americ...

New from me, on the well-trod path of state and local resistance to federal government overreach — something we need more of these days. www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/the-long-h...

There's nothing new about @govpritzker.illinois.gov and @governor.ca.gov standing up to federal incursions of liberty. In fact, they're tapping into a literally centuries-long tradition going back to the Fugitive Slave Act. @ansleyskipper.bsky.social explains: www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/the-long-h...

In today's Bulwark Podcast, @amandacarpenter.bsky.social talks Trump's Nvidia "deal" with @timmiller.bsky.social: "Authoritarian shakedown kind of stuff."

"There are many other steps you could take to solve these specific crime issues....he isn't doing them because that is not what this is about." @amandacarpenter.bsky.social joins @timmiller.bsky.social on today's Bulwark Podcast:

Oh, and the @nytimes.com is currently re-upping what is probably the best piece on PR ever written — this masterwork from Jesse Wegman and Lee Drutman www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

All essentially make the same point. Look around at the redistricting wars. They're only going to get worse. There's only one way out. Reform: protectdemocracy.org/work/proport...

- @protectdemocracy.org / Drew Penrose and @ansleyskipper.bsky.social www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/how-to-end... - @newamerica.org / @leedrutman.bsky.social leedrutman.substack.com/p/what-the-a...

- @prospect.org / @ddayen.bsky.social prospect.org/politics/202... - @rstreet.bsky.social / @jhmadison.bsky.social www.rstreet.org/commentary/p... -Arkansas Times: arktimes.com/arkansas-blo... -Ventura County Star: www.vcstar.com/story/opinio... Cont./

The times, they are a-changin'. Remarkable wave of op-eds on proportional representation this week *alone*: -WaPo / @ishaantharoor.bsky.social www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0... -Kansas Reflector / @rpund.bsky.social kansasreflector.com/2025/08/02/i... Cont./

Our country’s forever redistricting wars are heating up again. But there’s a way out of this doom loop — proportional representation — and it’s not as complicated or hard to achieve as one might think. Join us in spreading the word: www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/how-to-end...

A couple of exciting updates: First, read my latest piece, co-authored with electoral reform expert Drew Penrose, on why proportional representation is the only way out of the redistricting doom loop: www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/how-to-end....

"Proportional systems are much harder, if not impossible, to gerrymander... It’s easy to make the opposition a minority in any given district. It’s impossible to draw them out entirely." - @ansleyskipper.bsky.social & Drew Penrose www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/how-to-end...

"At the end of the day, for Conservatism Inc., the only non-negotiable tenet of conservatism is that however bad a Republican might be, the Democrats are always worse." From the archives, and it hasn't changed a bit:

still thinking about the Montana knife maker who said you don't have to worry about tariffs if you buy american. and then three months later, he realized he imports swedish steel and german equipment. and even MiUSA equipment costs $100k more now because of tariffs

When one of your favorite writers reads your book 😍☺️🤯 and of course nails the summary. @jvl.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

Trump is openly musing about building a mass detention system under his direct and sole authority — and the rapid expansion of ICE is the start. Ansley Skipper analyzes the risks of prolonged detention and the creation of a parallel carceral system altogether. www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/ice-may-be...

New from me for @protectdemocracy.org www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/ice-may-be...

Many scary things about the ICE expansion, but this graph is terrifying. Expanding enforcement without expanding adjudication almost certainly means unfathomable numbers of detainees. @ansleyskipper.bsky.social explains: www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/ice-may-be...

Thomas Jefferson would be horrified, writes @ansleyskipper.bsky.social www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/thomas-jef...

This is how you do it and huge credit to Selzer and @thefireorg.bsky.social for having more courage, patriotism, and legal skill than Paramount and its lawyers. The First Amendment is worth fighting for.

Read this from @protectdemocracy.org's Ansley Skipper on the outrage of Trump forcing out UVA's president. Really makes clear the lie that *any* of this is about free speech. @thefireorg.bsky.social @markwarner.bsky.social @kaine.senate.gov www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/thomas-jef...

On Friday, the Trump administration forced out UVA’s president, short-circuiting one of the most vibrant examples of campus free speech and self-government in the country. Ansley Skipper writes from Charlottesville: www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/thomas-jef...

"I spent the last four years at, as they say, Mr. Jefferson’s university. I am one of those supposedly “oppressed” campus conservatives...And I have not been brainwashed, silenced, or intimidated. I’ve seen a place that is animated by debate, and dissent." www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/thomas-jef...

"That’s what Thomas Jefferson wanted for his university, an 'institution…based on the illimitable freedom of the human mind. For here we are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.'” www.ifyoucankeepit.org/p/thomas-jef...

This is the spoils system in action. And they told us it was meritocracy.

What do voters think about Elon Musk and his rampage through the US Government? A banger episode of The Focus Group pod with @karaswisher.bsky.social ‬⁩ who blows my mind with a couple of insight about Elon’s endgame.

New on our lawsuit: “Steamrolling into sensitive government record systems threatens to upend how these critical systems are maintained and compromises the safety and security of personal identifying information for Americans... It also violates federal law.”

“In some ways that’s even more chilling than firing the four stars,” Rosa Brooks, a professor at Georgetown Law. “It’s what you do when you’re planning to break the law: you get rid of any lawyers who might try to slow you down.” By NYT Greg Jaffe www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/u...