a tremendous resource now broken on purpose - no fixing it per se

“Largely ceremonial” does feel like the most honest way to talk about the U.S. Congress in 2025

after millions of views and shares of my Portland Frog art. (thank you all🙏🏾) I got requests to highlight priests, and chickens, and Chicagoans, and T-Rexes, and more… all of us who refuse to bend the knee. so this is for US. 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚕. 𝚆𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚆𝚒𝚗.

"The district court impermissibly second-guessed the Commander in Chief's military judgments — something district courts lack the authority and competence to do."

President Miller, whom nobody elected.

The Virginia Senate just told UVA it’s not getting state funding if it accepts the compact since UVA exists to serve Virginia, its residents, & their interests—not be a tool of the federal govt. Scoop from our student newspaper, who’ve been doing vital reporting www.cavalierdaily.com/article/2025...

Well, I mean.. www.salesforce.com/news/press-r...

The tech ideology on display.

What a crock of shit from Marc Benioff — who appears willfully ignorant of news and facts and so thirsty for approval and attention from the Trump tech bros (who in the past mocked him relentlessly) that he is soiling himself in public www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...

aaand we are officially in the hide-your-neighbors stage

This image needs to come with a trigger warning for litigation associates and paralegals

meanwhile:

One fed employee told me the internal conversations feel very different from previous shutdowns. www.gravityisgone.com/federal-empl...

the portland chicken explains

Well done, MIT! www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/u...

Gift link for those who want it: www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/10/w...

George was just trying to get to work. ICE pepper-sprayed him, dragged him from his car, locked him in a detention center, and placed him on suicide watch. He even missed his young daughter’s birthday in the process. This man is a veteran and American citizen. Don't look away.

This arrest appears to be in direct violation of a temporary restraining order prohibiting DHS officers from arresting journalists. The officers here may well be subject to contempt of court. protectdemocracy.org/wp-content/u...

A restraining order was issued YESTERDAY by a federal judge barring detention of journalists in this district unless they refuse to reposition themselves and are given adequate time to do so, or there’s probable cause they’ve committed a crime.

They’re now publicly threatening a military crackdown of the No Kings protest.

But that’s no excuse for not showing up. Show up to a protest on the 18th. It’s a way to stand up and be counted for the proposition that what these people are doing to your country is not right, not acceptable.

On the 18th we need to be vigilant for increased violence and provocation by both law enforcement and counter-protestors, both of which will be used to try to justify more violence and authoritarianism.

I'm at the scene where ICE abducted multiple people from Lincoln and Foster this morning. A WGN producer was among the people taken, allegedly because she was among a group of bystanders who tried to intervene. ICE agents hit this car while making their getaway.

Techbrahs are not normal.

A master class from MIT in responding to authoritarian overreach: Your “premise … is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone. … America’s leadership in science & innovation depends on independent thinking & open competition for excellence.

From Harvard & UConn researchers on the June 14th No Kings Day protests. (report came out in August) THIS is why MAGA is so spooked by the upcoming (Oct 18th) peaceful protests. New data shows No Kings was one of the largest days of protest in US history wagingnonviolence.org/2025/08/new-...

Portland is doing well making clear the ridiculousness of the military takeover.

So revealing that they can never conceive of people taking political action without getting paid for it.

The correct response to Republicans widely depicting the coming protests as terrorism is to go out and protest. Each person should get 10 more people to do so. If Republicans are going to hint at violent state responses to legitimate protest, the only answer is bigger numbers.

This is why making the shutdown about healthcare was always risky.

If ICE agents are willing to shoot a US citizen in broad daylight, as they did with Marimar Martinez in Chicago, imagine what they’re doing to undocumented immigrants. They shot her in front of witnesses & with body cams turned on The horrors facing those disappeared to camps are sure to be worse

The means of election.

We are getting at least a partial TRO in Illinois v. Trump, the military deployment challenge. @jonseidel.bsky.social is covering the ongoing ruling from the federal bench in Chicago.

BREAKING: Federal judge issues TRO following a second day of hearings, blocking the Trump administration from “ordering the federalization and deployment of the National Guard of the United States within Illinois” from now through Oct. 23. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

An actual opposition party would run this on a loop in every conceivable space.

As @propublica.org reported, "at least three of Trump’s Cabinet members call multiple homes their primary residences on mortgages." No indictments for them, because this is how a fascist regime works. "For my friends, everything; for my enemies, the law." www.propublica.org/article/trum...

"THEY WERE EVENTUALLY LET GO AFTER SHOWING THIER DOCUMENTS". In other words, they were pulled out of their cars for looking "Mexican".

Perry: "Are you aware that a federal judge found that ICE violated the First and Fourth Amendments rights of peaceful protestors at Broadview?" She says that will inform her conclusion about the need for National Guard troops. Hamilton: You must defer to the president

When I was a 1L in 2011, my civpro prof, the great Arthur Miller, quipped that the 9th Circuit was “America’s answer to anarchy.” In the last 5-8 years I thought the 5th Circuit had taken that mantel. But here is the 9th, wresting it back in spectacular fashion.

AI companies are spending billions on deals with each other, which boost their value. This has helped twenty billionaires tied to AI add $450B to their fortunes in 2025. Meanwhile, an MIT study found that 95% of companies using AI haven't seen returns on investment. Be warned.

Meanwhile, hope in Illinois

This is not encouraging and seems like there is at least one vote in this panel in Trump’s favor re NG federalization in Oregon.

Perry said she was going to give Hamilton time to answer that courthouse question. Which suggests she's unlikely to rule from the bench here. We'll see.

Judge Nelson: do you disagree with any of the factual findings? Chaffin: the facts as found by the district court judge were that the protests were small and mostly peaceful. Nelson: that's clearly erroneous! (whoa)

President Miller

Hamilton insists the president's decision is "unreviewable."

Good morning. U.S. District Judge April Perry just took the bench for oral arguments in Illinois v. Trump, over the deployment of the National Guard.

Judge Nelson with a troubling soft-ball: were there laws that require the mail to be delivered when Nixon federalized the National Guard to ensure that the mail was delivered?

Oregon v. Trump, 9th Circuit oral arguments, live

This is the lesson of 2025