Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

The president’s threats of revenge are no longer bluster.

Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · 2d

Trump is worried about the 34 felony convictions fouling his obituary, but those will just be a footnote to the terrible crimes that history will lay at his feet. No, no chance for a Nobel Peace Prize.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Retribution Is Here

www.theatlantic.com

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Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · 2d

Trump plans to incite violence in U.S. cities so he can invoke the Insurrection Act and send military troops to confront his critics. His intent is to criminalize protest and restrict voting rights for 2026. But you can fight back, with video and social media posts. Show it!
youtu.be/31X8vrfgHqs?...

The Real Reason Trump Wants To Invade Chicago and Portland

YouTube video by Robert Reich

youtu.be

Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · 4d

"Every empire that forgets its inequality turns cruel before it dies. Rome had bread and circuses; we have Amazon Prime and football. The symptoms are identical: civic apathy, militarized policing, the worship of billionaires, the casual abandonment of the poor."
open.substack.com/pub/closerto...

Fascism and Wealth Inequality

How Billionaires Rebranded Authoritarianism for the Algorithm Age

America’s Fourth Amendment Is on Life Support — What Do You Do When Your Government Becomes the Criminal?

Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · 5d

Governors have the power to arrest federal agents who break the law in their states. Illegal search and seizure violates the U.S. Constitution.
open.substack.com/pub/thomhart...

Raids without warrants, kids in zip-ties, and officials who say “F** the children”: this is the moral collapse of the American state. It's time for state authorities to start making arrests...

Bari Weiss to be named top editor at CBS News

Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · 8d

I abandoned CBS News (except for 60 Minutes, so far) because of its Ellison drift toward Trump. Naming Bari Weiss to lead Walter Cronkite's old network is the final straw.
wapo.st/4mLBhg8

Paramount Skydance will acquire the journalist’s publication, the Free Press, which she started after quitting the New York Times in 2020.

Lucky 13: On Loving Forward Through Ambiguous Loss

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Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · 9d

Losing a beloved pet, like losing a beloved friend or relative, is heart-wrenching. But there is beauty in the passing, in the love that deepens with the pending loss and promise of renewal. Coach Miki provides a metta perspective on love and loss.
substack.com/@mikimettamu...

A reflection on my darling Purrsephone's birthday, the gift of presence, and finding hope in the space between

substack.com

“It’s a war from within.”

Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · 11d

President rallies military leaders to crush "evil" left-wingers, "sleazebag" journalists. Truly off his rocker. In full fascist fury.
open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

Trump prepares the generals for what comes next.

Opinion | Elon Musk’s latest power grab points in a clear direction

Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · 12d

Under the radar, Musk is setting himself up above governments, reaching right into your pocket.
wapo.st/3IlM56R

His SpaceX deal could fundamentally alter the relationship between a state and its citizens.

Federal Troops Arrive in Portland and Immediately Form Bands

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Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · 14d

Trump is making up more stuff about America's great cities, this time Portland, trying to create conflict (and distraction). But federal troops also might get distracted. Can music soothe the savage beast?
open.substack.com/pub/borowitz...

Military personnel were seen trading in automatic weapons for mandolins and zithers.

It’s Good to Be King: The Largest Transfer of Wealth and Power Since 1776, and It’s Going the Wrong Way

Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · 17d

I celebrated a little bit last night watching Jimmy Kimmel, even though I couldn't get the words and images of Trump's dual do-wacka-do UN and Tylenol autism appearances out of my head. Have we already gone over the line?
open.substack.com/pub/thomhart...

This is not law and order: it's monarchy enforced by fear and lawsuits…

The deeper story behind America's pending loss of free speech

Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · 19d

Why did Disney agree to return Jimmy Kimmel to his ABC late night show? It was YOU ... and YOU ... and YOU ... millions of YOUs. Yes, we have the power of the purse. Don't try to shut us up.
open.substack.com/pub/robertre...

The real reason Disney restored Kimmel's late-night show

Opinion | The real enemy of democracy sneaked up on me

Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · 24d

Social media clearly has not lived up to its promise. My thesis (MA Journalism, Indiana University, 1976) projected that global communications connectivity would be a boon for democracy. But social media has grown to a cacophony of disparate voices, sowing confusion more than facts.
wapo.st/41T7Tgz

I used to be a cautious optimist, but social media has changed our politics for the worse.

Jerry leaves Ben & Jerry’s, saying parent company ‘silenced’ activism

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Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · 24d

Hurray for Jerry! Boo Unilever! I'm rethinking my commitment to Cherry Garcia.
wapo.st/3K5faE0

Jerry Greenfield resigned after 47 years with the company, saying it was “always about more than just ice cream” in a statement co-founder Ben Cohen posted.

Robert Redford, Screen Idol Turned Director and Activist, Dies at 89

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Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · 25d

RIP Robert Redford, a true master of cinematic expression and citizen activism. He graced us with a rich portfolio of great films -- as actor, director and producer. Plus Sundance! Let the watch parties begin!
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/16/m...

www.nytimes.com

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Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · 25d

"Crypto has shown no redeeming social value and it poses huge dangers to our economy. Yet Trump is enabling it to worm into the economy because he’s taken huge crypto payoffs that have made him and his family billions of dollars."

Trump's Calamitous Crypto Corruption

Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · 25d

We are being shaken down by a corrupt and criminal global crypto enterprise. Meanwhile, the criminal Don is managing to distract attention from our fleecing with daily scare tactics.
open.substack.com/pub/robertre...

It's enriching him and his family but endangering you, me, and the entire economy

The Federal Reserve Is Out of Tricks

Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · 26d

The Federal Reserve meeting Wednesday is expected to lower interest rates by a half-point. Efforts by Trump to take over the Fed have failed, and now we'll see what the Fed can do to salvage the terrible Trump economy. It won't be easy.
prospect.org/blogs-and-ne...

Today on TAP: And so is Trump’s maneuver to take over the central bank. Even if he were to succeed, there is no good monetary cure for Trump’s economic carnage.

prospect.org

Column | I was a political columnist. Here’s why I’m now searching for hidden beauty.

Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · 29d

Anyone else think Dana Milbank, the former caustic political columnist for the Washington Post, is inviting us to look away? Hey, look at that butterfly ... or this common grass! Wow! Yes, he starts with grass. Awe, nuts. In a great American newspaper? Or is it? Don't waste our time.
wapo.st/4pm7wVU

The first installment of a new weekly column about reclaiming our humanity, restoring our connections and reviving our sense of awe.

Killer Democracy: How a Corrupt Supreme Court Turned Debate Into Death

Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · Sep 11

"We are literally the only country in the world that is experiencing this magnitude of gun crisis. Half of the guns in civilian hands in the entire world are here in the United States ..." open.substack.com/pub/thomhart...

Scalia’s Heller ruling — and the decisions that followed — didn’t just reshape gun laws; they transformed political disagreements into open-season assassinations…

From Silence to Spotlight: How a Democratic Shadow Cabinet Could Break Trump’s Spell

Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · Sep 3

Another lucid plea for Democrats to get smart, organize and take on Trump issue by issue. Where's the "War Room"? There's no time to wait. open.substack.com/pub/thomhart...

Voters don’t rally behind policy papers: they rally behind leaders they can see and believe in. Democrats must end the era of weak, divided messaging and rise with a chorus of commanding voices…

The Anti-Trump Strategy That’s Actually Working

Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · Sep 2

Slow but effective: A legal resistance led by a patchwork coalition of lawyers, public-interest groups, Democratic state attorneys general, and unions has frustrated Trump’s ambitions.
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Lawsuits, lawsuits, and more lawsuits.

www.theatlantic.com

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Michael Byrne @cmichaelbyrne.bsky.social · Sep 1

I may be old, but I'm stronger standing with my brothers and sisters in the labor movement. Happy Labor Day!
open.substack.com/pub/cmichael...

Labor Day Baby

Let's Fill the Streets with New Norma Raes