Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 15h

Thank you, Trump voters.

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 15h

MOODY’S: Twenty-two states are either in a recession or on the precipice of a downturn. 👀

@axios.com 🇺🇸
www.axios.com/newsletters/...

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 16h

America First!

FinTwitter @fintwitter.bsky.social · 16h

Bessent Says Today They Directly Purchased Argentine Pesos Bessent Says They Have Finalized $20 Billion Currency Swap Framework With Argentina’s Central Bank

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 16h

This can't be real, right? Must've been created by A.I.

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 17h

Besides linking Tylenol in pregnant women to autism, RFK Jr. now says circumcision is part of the reason why kids are autistic.

"Children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism, and it's highly likely because they're given Tylenol. None of this is positive..."

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 16h

That got dark quickly.

Juno Rylee Schultz @junoryleejournalism.com · 1d

David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)

SHAPIRO: OK, so you've spent your career creating television without Al, and I could imagine today you thinking, boy, I wish I had had that tool to solve those thorny problems...
SIMON: What?
SHAPIRO: ...Or saying...
SIMON: You imagine that?
SHAPIRO: ...Boy, if that had existed, it would have screwed me over.
SIMON: I don't think Al can remotely challenge what writers do at a fundamentally creative level.
SHAPIRO: But if you're trying to transition from scene five to scene six, and you're stuck with that transition, you could imagine plugging that portion of the script into an Al and say, give me 10 ideas for how to transition this.
SIMON: I'd rather put a gun in my mouth.

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 18h

Vance is not much more than a troll with a fancy title.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 18h

JD Vance describes Chuck Schumer as "one of the most famous Palestinians in the world"

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 18h

Narrator: “Antifa is not out of control in Portland.”

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 18h

Trump: "Antifa is out of control in Portland and other places ... we're looking for the people that are funding them and those people are gonna be just as guilty as the people that smack people over the head with a baseball bat."

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 20h

Remember, Posobiec co-wrote a book that declared progressives were "unhumans" and that praised Franco and Pinochet for their murderous war on leftists. That is, the guy who promoted Pizzagate essentially endorsed political violence. I wrote about that here:

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

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Reposted by David Corn

George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 @gtconway.bsky.social · 1d

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 1d

I have a friend who owns a restaurant. He says tourism and travel to DC in recent months has devastated many restaurants in DC. So, yes, Trump is lying. Again.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump: "You can go and eat at the restaurants. The restaurants are booming. They were closing one after another and now they're booming, they're opening. Nobody has ever seen a transformation like they have in Washington DC. It's as hot as it can get."

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Reposted by David Corn

darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · 1d

"we are going to murder americans without due process"
~pam bondi, US attorney general

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 1d

My gosh. After the US bombed multiple boats in the middle of the ocean, murdering people on grounds that they were allegedly "carrying drugs," the US Attorney General says "Just like we did with cartels, we're going to take the same approach, President Trump, with Antifa."

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 1d

Deluded or lying?

Portland has plenty of stores. And boutiques. Lots of boutiques.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump: "I don't know what could be worse than Portland. You don't even have stores anymore. They don't even put glass up. They put plywood on their windows."

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 1d

What's worse than presidential gibberish?

Authoritarian presidential gibberish.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump: "We took the freedom of speech away because that's been through the courts and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag it agitates and irritates crowds."

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 2d

The Deep State did it.

CNN @cnn.com · 2d

The Trump administration has ordered FBI employees in Washington, DC, to immediately search their workstations and digital media for any records pertaining to the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, a law enforcement source told CNN.

FBI employees ordered to immediately search for records related to Amelia Earhart, source says | CNN Politics

The Trump administration has ordered FBI employees in Washington, DC, to immediately search their workstations and digital media for any records pertaining to the disappearance of Amelia Earhart, a la...

www.cnn.com

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 2d

Hard to believe this attorney general can pursue justice with impartiality when she is dripping with such partisan disdain.

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 2d

Schiff: This is supposed to be an oversight hearing when dozens of prosecutors have been fired simply because they worked on cases investigating the former president.

Bondi: What about the fires in California? Are the riots in LA serious?

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 2d

It might also prove that many Americans are not engaged and do not realize the stakes. That would mean that the Democrats and the media need to do more and to do better.

Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 2d

If the Republicans' shutdown gambit succeeds, "it will prove that Americans care more about choking off aid to undocumented immigrants—even where the aid is *already prohibited*—than we do about helping fellow Americans."

Read @saletan.bsky.social:

www.thebulwark.com/p/when-in-do...

When in Doubt, Blame the Immigrants

No. You’re not experiencing déjà vu. The current Republican government shutdown talking point is the same one they’ve trotted out before.

www.thebulwark.com

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 2d

Dream Team. Or Scheme Team?

Adam Klasfeld @klasfeldreports.com · 2d

Two lawyers just entered an appearance for the government in James Comey's case.

There's no evidence on the Pacer that either one prosecuted a case before in the Eastern District of Virginia.

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Reposted by David Corn

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 2d

California is the 4th largest economy in the world. It’s time it and other blue states used their economic clout to fight Trump’s agenda.

The latest from @clarajeffery:

It’s time for soft secession

How blue states can use their economic clout to stand up to Trump’s agenda—starting with California.

www.motherjones.com

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 2d

It was taxpayers’ money. Did Homan give it back? If he kept it, did he declare it on his taxes?

Mark Follman @markfollman.bsky.social · 2d

Tom Homan, head of ICE, accepted $50k from undercover FBI agents last year, reportedly a bribe in a sting operation. All cash, in a paper bag. Pam Bondi, reading from a script, insists Homan did nothing wrong—yet she refuses to answer any questions about what happened to that cash? Really?

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 2d

WATCH — @whitehouse.senate.gov : “What became of the $50,000 in cash in that Cava bag? Did the FBI get it back from Homan?”

AG PAM BONDI: *LASHES OUT aggressively, avoids answering entirely* 🤷🏼‍♀️

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 2d

NPR amplifying Trump's false premises.

NPR @npr.org · 2d

President Trump is bucking tradition and legal precedent in pushing to deploy the National Guard to Democratic-led cities like Portland, Oregon, and Chicago due to what he says is rampant crime and to support his crackdown on illegal immigration.

Trump's power to deploy National Guard, explained

President Trump is bucking tradition and legal precedent in pushing to deploy the National Guard to Democratic-led cities like Portland, Oregon, and Chicago due to what he says is rampant crime and to support his crackdown on illegal immigration.

n.pr

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 2d

The president of the United States is either a liar or out of touch with reality. Maybe both?

Dan Diamond @ddiamond.bsky.social · 2d

Trump tells Canada’s prime minister that DC was a “raging hellhole” but claims that his crackdown fixed it.

TRUMP: “There is no crime in DC… no one’s being shot.”

There’s evidence that Trump’s crackdown helped curb crime — but it’s not true that it’s gone.

Example: this headline today.

Local Crime & Public Safety
Three people found fatally shot in D.C. in three days
Three youths, one with a gun, took a moped in broad daylight on Capitol Hill.
Today at 2:01 a.m. ET

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 2d

Trump thinks America is so weak that antifa, trans athletes, and windmill fans can overthrow it. Even his demagoguery is bonkers.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Trump: "If we didn't win this election. If we had these people that were running that were ruining our country, destroying our country with their open borders and men playing in women's sports and transgender from everybody and windmills all over the place ... I'm not sure we'd even have a country."

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 2d

Some frogs are more equal than others.

Amy @lolennui.bsky.social · 2d

George Orwell’s Animal Crossing

Someone in a frog costume facing down a line of police in riot gear

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 2d

Smart piece. Too relevant.

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 2d

Under the Third Reich, most Germans generally lived in the law-bound normative state, while Jews and other disfavored people were victims of the arbitrary and violent prerogative state.

The dual state is characterized by the facade of normalcy obscuring the fact of an authoritarian state.

The “dual state” theory was invented to describe Nazis. The Supreme Court could take us there.

Authoritarianism—but make it look like the rule of law.

www.motherjones.com

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Reposted by David Corn

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 2d

With the US in democratic freefall, experts are concerned that other countries may dismantle themselves too.

As professor Stefanie Walter explains, pro-Trump echo chambers could mean that even policies that prove disastrous for ordinary people may spread further and faster than ever.

Is America contagious?

Scholars in political extremism are documenting the global spread of right-wing populism.

www.motherjones.com

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 2d

How about this: We don't pay members of Congress when they cannot keep the government functioning?

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Johnson: "It's true that in previous shutdowns, many or most furloughed employees have been paid for the time they were furloughed, but there is new legal analysis - I don't know the details, I just saw a headline - but there are some legal analysts saying that might not be appropriate or necessary"

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