@thedanrather.bsky.social’s buoyancy is challenged.

James Comey’s indictment provokes @jenrubin.bsky.social of @contrariannews.org to ask:

"“What a sad life he lives,” @thedanrather.bsky.social posts "The public life of the president, it appears to be a life with little joy. ...We see few happy moments, real or contrived, as we have with every other president. You see no family, no grandchildren or pets running around the Oval Office"

"Don’t forget: We're the guardrails. . . . We're in this together." — @joycewhitevance.bsky.social

"By opening the exit ramp for stars like [Carol] Leonnig, Bezos and [CEO Will] Lewis have given people far fewer reasons to pay for whatever the Post is serving." -- This @columbiajournalism.bsky.social professor at @columjournreview.bsky.social today

"Trump used to tell people to just open an investigation and he'd take it from there. . . . "But now, Trump has the means to both open the investigation and indict his targets at hand. It's the ultimate in abuse of power." — @joycewhitevance.bsky.social | joycevance.substack.com/p/the-week-a...

"Comedians are the new defenders of democracy -- whether it’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the former comic who is now president of Ukraine, or American Jimmy Kimmel." -- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social joycevance.substack.com/p/developmen...

The gang that can't fire straight: "Those who accept must report for duty on Oct. 6 after what amounts to a seven-month paid vacation. ... 'The [General Services Administration] was left broken and understaffed,' said Chad Becker, a former GSA official. ... They didn't have the people they needed:

Adrift. Unmoored. Unanchored. "In his second term, he has escalated attacks on independent data." -- @nytimes.com today

@pkrugman.bsky.social senses a dangerous shift: "I've been writing columns for 25 years now and I get a lot of hate mail. Always have. But I've never actually felt personally afraid until now."

The Justice Department's descent dismays @joycewhitevance.bsky.social, whose 25 years there ended in 2017. It must feel far more distant now.

@joycewhitevance.bsky.social brings some sass.

@joycewhitevance.bsky.social waves a red flag, again, about politicization of the workplace she served for 25 years:

A blunt, timely question from @sulliview.bsky.social:

"With so many stories of dangerous actions by Donald Trump, there is a risk that the significance of each is becoming lost in the tsunami. . . . "Continued vigilance and staying informed are imperatives." -- @thedanrather.bsky.social | steady.substack.com/p/oh-the-sto...

New York's mayor apparently sees Rosh Hashanah as a Mardi Gras for Jews or akin to the Met Gala. Eric Adams visited an Orthodox (!) synagogue in Brooklyn this morning, as his staff documents on X. Brooklyn writer @luxalptraum.com quips: "He’s wearing some Jewish pimp coat!"

"Trump and his influencer puppets bit off more than they could chew with L'Affaire Kimmel. . . . "People get it when one night they turn on the TV and their favorite talk show host is off the air. That is a form of repression everyone can understand." -- @lktiv.bsky.social

"The administration wants to control what does and doesn't get reported on, violating the tradition of journalism in this country. . . . "It's the tightest control on information the country has experienced in peacetime in the modern era." -- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social

Trump was given 15 mins. to address the UN. He spoke for 56 minutes. The New York Times’ lede: "He accused environmentalists of wanting to 'kill all the cows.' He personally insulted the Muslim mayor of London. He bashed allies & foes across the globe.He questioned whether the UN should even exist"

"Maybe there are still teeny tiny thin guardrails at DOJ. But, unlike in his first term, Trump is not listening to the lawyers who say stop." -- @mimirocah1.bsky.social, former federal prosecutor (2001-17)

Robert Reich knows a thing or two because he’s seen a thing or two.

Instead of "Hail to the Chief," it'd be more apt to play "The Emperor's New Clothes" or a frothy operetta by Gilbert & Sullivan. 🤮 [Photo by Kevin Dietsch of @gettyimages.com]

So many coverups. Release the Epstein files. Release the Homan tapes. Release the Venezuelan fishing boats evidence.

"We’re the vast majority. ... Even if we can't count on our elected politicians to protect our First Amendment rights, we can rely on ourselves. "When our outrage translates into withholding consumer dollars, a big corporation like Disney is forced to listen — and respond." -- @rbreich.bsky.social

“The new U.S. policy [$100,000 fee for new H-1B visas] could be an opportunity for Germany and Europe to attract top talent. . . . British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is exploring proposals to abolish some visa fees." -- @reuters.com [1/2]

"Courts should treat any indictment of Trump’s enemies with grave skepticism. . . . Consideration should be given to dismissal for prosecutorial misconduct and/or selective prosecution." -- @jenrubin.bsky.social at @contrariannews.org

"Donald Trump is killing civilian non-combatants outside of the borders of this country without providing any justification for what he is doing beyond his powers as president. . . . "Trump believes he doesn't owe anyone any answers for his use of military force against alleged drug smugglers."

Legal commentator @joycewhitevance.bsky.social chronicles "the kind of malfeasance that would have subjected any other president, even Trump as 45, to impeachment." . . . "So, where’s the outcry on Capitol Hill?"

"The president has pushed out a career prosecutor for failing to manufacture evidence or charge without sufficient evidence and demanded that the attorney general of the United States find someone who will make that charge." -- @mimirocah1.bsky.social, former federal prosecutor (2001-17)

@thedanrather.bsky.social on Jimmy Kimmel’s return: "The battle to preserve independent journalism and free speech has only begun. More than three years remain in the Trump presidency." steady.substack.com/p/oh-the-sto...

"I am finished giving our system of laws and checks and balances the benefit of the doubt. Our democratic system is not working." -- @lktiv.bsky.social

"Increasingly, Trump's regime looks like Viktor Orbán's autocracy (albeit less organized), where threats & silencing of enemies provoked by personal whim have become commonplace. ... "A functional democracy with an independent Congress certainly would not accept any of this" — @jenrubin.bsky.social

"The system is failing us. At every level—executive, judicial, legislative, corporate, institutional, media—every single guardrail that is supposed to protect our democracy is buckling. "I thought those guardrails would be stronger. I was wrong." -- Kamala Harris book | substack.com/home/post/p-...

every corporate decision comes down to money and clearly the economics for abc/disney outweighed the threats from the fascist government

Among many other much more serious grievances, the writer in me is pissed off to have to replace the word "diverse" with "sociodemographically heterogeneous" in my grant proposals.

"Trump is escalating his campaign of retribution. And, as usual, there is nothing subtle, hidden or mysterious about it."

@joycewhitevance.bsky.social on "a moment as serious, if not more, as [we] faced during Watergate."

In "ostrich effect" news today . . .

From “107 Days,” at bookstores Tuesday:

Human rights advocate Allison Gill quotes former federal prosecutor Jack Smith at George Mason University last week: "As Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. But that arc doesn’t bend on its own. We need to make that happen."

"If the news about our military must first be approved by the government, then the public is no longer getting independent reporting. It is getting only what officials want them to see. "That should alarm every American." — Mike Balsamo, an @apnews.com editor and National Press Club president

Kris "Kristofferson said that more than a dozen women had at one time or another claimed to be the Barbara McKee. But there was only one, her identity an open secret in Nashville. . . . "But she had no desire to cash in on it, to seek attention. Like her fictional alter ego, she slipped away."

"It would be too depressing to watch [“All the President’s Men”] now because it would remind us of a time when things like that mattered; when facts, scoops, whistle-blowers and scandals could bring down a president. When newspapers fearlessly spoke truth to the corrupt." — @sykescharlie.bsky.social

Janis Joplin altered the lyrics to "Me and Bobby McGee" when she recorded in September 1970. "Now every time someone sings the song, they don’t get the words right,” [Kris] Kristofferson groused to a journalist years later. "But God knows, that was a great record."

Who peddles merch at a funeral or memorial, really⁉️ Only a cult.

"This is Donald Trump’s revenge presidency. ... "He wants to turn us into a banana republic where the ability to prosecute people becomes a political tool in the hands of the president. He wants to exercise the ultimate power to put down any opposition to his rule." -- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social

@thedanrather.bsky.social, still brazen after all these years: "Trump benefits politically from promoting violence. It is red meat for his base. He uses it to gain media attention and fundraising dollars."

Bluntness from @lyz.bsky.social: