Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Genghis

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 22h

Probably fine.

(From the invaluable @popular.info: popular.info/p/ice-boosts...)

9 73 220

Reposted by Genghis

🗽LOLGOP🗽 @thefarce.org · 3h

Everybody has to tighten their belts if the wannabe king is prioritizing his hedge fund buddies and his global fascist alliance

Jamie Dupree @jamiedupree.bsky.social · 3h

Farm state Republicans are appalled by President Trump's plan to import beef from Argentina, saying it will punish U.S. cattle ranchers. This is from Sen. Deb Fischer R-Nebraska.

13 75 420

Reposted by Genghis

Steve Kenson ❌👑 @stevekenson.com · 2h

The Republican Party has had fifteen years to "design a plan" beyond "repeal the ACA" and they're still just talking about maybe doing that.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3h

Ron Johnson: "Let's bring free market competition back into the healthcare industry. Let's bring back way more consumer choice. Rick Scott, an expert in healthcare, he's working with people like myself and the White House, let's design the Republican plan."

3 7

Reposted by Genghis

Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · 2h

WOW. A third of ICE recruits can’t pass a fitness test that I do multiple times a week, and I’m a 51 year old woke cat lady with a nose ring who loves a soy latte.

Adam Weinstein @adamweinstein.bsky.social · 17h

Lecturing active soldiers about being too fat while dropping standards so low for the ICE deportation force that a third of their recruits can't handle the easiest PT test I've ever heard of www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

More than a third have failed so far, four officials told me, impeding the agency’s plan to hire, train, and deploy 10,000 deportation officers by January. To pass, recruits must do 15 push-ups and 32 sit-ups, and run 1.5 miles in 14 minutes.
“It’s pathetic,” one career ICE official told me, adding that before now, a typical class of 40 recruits had only a couple of candidates fail, because the screening process was more rigorous.

200 620 2.5K

Reposted by Genghis

Amy Klobuchar @amyklobuchar.com · 16h

Congressional Republicans are out again this week—the 5th week in a row they haven’t shown up to work.

They’d rather hide than allow the Epstein files to be released or work with us to keep health care costs from increasing.

22 69 290

Reposted by Genghis

Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta @malcolmkenyatta.bsky.social · 16h

Republican math.

Can afford: Trump ballroom, $40 Billion Argentina bailout, massive tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires

Can’t afford: health care for Americans, SNAP for struggling Americans, tax relief for middle class families.

18 190 510

Reposted by Genghis

NightMar on Hicks Street, Part 4: The Rabbit’s Revenge @histoftech.bsky.social · 10h

the evolution of language is so neat

2 19 140

Reposted by Genghis

darth™️ @darthbluesky.bsky.social · 13h

why not
isn’t this something they are proud of

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 13h

The Treasury Department instructed employees not to share to share photos of the demolition of parts of the White House’s East Wing

Exclusive | Treasury Tells Employees Not to Share Photos of White House Ballroom Construction

Images of the demolition of parts of the East Wing went viral on Monday, and Treasury’s headquarters next door to the White House has a front-row seat.

www.wsj.com

69 840 4K

Reposted by Genghis

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 13h

I'm not a West Wing obsessed lib or anything but the more I see pictures of this the more fucked up I think it is. It's like he cut off one of the hands of the Lincoln memorial with an angle grinder so he could add a big gun to it.

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 13h

The Treasury Department instructed employees not to share to share photos of the demolition of parts of the White House’s East Wing

Exclusive | Treasury Tells Employees Not to Share Photos of White House Ballroom Construction

Images of the demolition of parts of the East Wing went viral on Monday, and Treasury’s headquarters next door to the White House has a front-row seat.

www.wsj.com

640 3K 13K

Reposted by Genghis

chelsea bridge 🏳️‍⚧️ @secretaboutbox.bsky.social · 13h

it's cool how we have a government that 4chans constantly on twitter and shows off videos of the president shitting on americans while also being like, "make sure nobody sees us destroying the white house"

this is super normal stuff for highly stable nations

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 13h

The Treasury Department instructed employees not to share to share photos of the demolition of parts of the White House’s East Wing

Exclusive | Treasury Tells Employees Not to Share Photos of White House Ballroom Construction

Images of the demolition of parts of the East Wing went viral on Monday, and Treasury’s headquarters next door to the White House has a front-row seat.

www.wsj.com

5 300 1.3K

Reposted by Genghis

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 13h

The Treasury Department instructed employees not to share to share photos of the demolition of parts of the White House’s East Wing

Exclusive | Treasury Tells Employees Not to Share Photos of White House Ballroom Construction

Images of the demolition of parts of the East Wing went viral on Monday, and Treasury’s headquarters next door to the White House has a front-row seat.

www.wsj.com

960 5.8K 12K

Reposted by Genghis

Alex Shephard @alexshephard.bsky.social · 20h

unfortunately the wanton destruction of government property is allowed without congressional approval if it “makes a really good metaphor”

Jonathan Edwards @jonathanreports.bsky.social · 21h

Scoop: Trump has started demolishing the White House's East Wing facade to build his ballroom. The president had claimed construction of the $250 million building wouldn’t ‘interfere’ with the existing White House structure. /W @ddiamond.bsky.social wapo.st/4hqBNiU

White House begins demolishing East Wing facade to build Trump’s ballroom

The president had claimed construction of the $250 million ballroom wouldn’t ‘interfere’ with the existing White House structure.

wapo.st

14 150 870

Reposted by Genghis

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 19h

TRUMP IS LITERALLY DEMOLISHING THE WHITE HOUSE TO BUILD HIMSELF A PALACE

Brian Klaas @brianklaas.bsky.social · 20h

It's this photo if you missed it, savaging the East Wing to make a vanity ballroom.

21 98 410

Genghis @genghis.bsky.social · 23h

I understand why, if you only think in terms of the former, the latter feels like it failed. "You had 7 million people and you didn't [whatever metaphor for tear down a wall]?!"

They are just literally different actions that happen to have the same name. 4/4

Genghis @genghis.bsky.social · 23h

Like, literally normal-ize it, so that people who are not "we're weirdos and proud" like many of us still feel part of it.

3/4

1

Genghis @genghis.bsky.social · 23h

Direct action protests want to change something, right now, and are directed at those in power

Protests like No Kings are solidarity protests. They may send a message to those in power, but their actual goal is to normalize resistance.

2/4

1 2

Genghis @genghis.bsky.social · 23h

My stance is that I actually feel for (but disagree with) leftists who are unhappy that No Kings is being called a success.

It's a matter of using the same word, protest, to mean events with two wildly different aims.

1/4

1

Reposted by Genghis

🏳️‍⚧️ Josephine Riesman (Horrifying) @josie.zone · 1d

Blocked someone for skeeting that the No Kings protests "didn't accomplish anything"

Oh, I'm so sorry that 7,000,000+ Americans taking to the streets to be in community and send a very clear message of regime change two days ago hasn't fixed everything just yet

I'm sure your plan is better

31 190 1.4K

Reposted by Genghis

Jake Lahut @jakelahut.writes.news · 1d

Well hey, look who's back!

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

in a sane word it would be considered wildly inappropriate for the Deputy FBI Director to go on Fox & Friends and cut WWE-style promos on sitting governors

26 61 450

Reposted by Genghis

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 1d

Here's a gift link to the New York Times' coverage of the initial Tea Party rallies in April 2009 which inspired the media to treat it like a massive movement.

Check out how tiny the crowds were:

Philly: 200
DC: "several hundred"
Boston: 500
Austin: 1,000
Houston: 2,000

Tax Day Is Met With Tea Parties (Published 2009)

www.nytimes.com

320 3.2K 9.1K

Reposted by Genghis

Roger Sollenberger @sollenbergerrc.bsky.social · 1d

Vance spokesperson: “Gavin Newsom wants people to think this exercise is dangerous.”

<shrapnel hits Vance’s motorcade>

Vance spokesperson: No comment.

83 1K 3.6K

Reposted by Genghis

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 1d

Elaborating b/c there's a lot of misunderstanding on this.

Insurrection Act does nothing except you can then use soldiers as cops. They can enforce laws, but they're the same old laws. It doesn't suspend the Constitution. No martial law, no closing courts, no removing state officials, none of that.

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 1d

Even if he did, which I'd bet is likelier than not, none of this is true. The Insurrection Act is not a declaration of martial law. It doesn't close the courts. It doesn't suspend habeas corpus. It means you can use the military to enforce federal laws, but the laws themselves remain the same.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump: "I'm allowed as you know as president, like 50% of the presidents have used the Insurrection Act. Everybody agrees you're allowed to use that and there is no more court cases, there is no more anything. We're trying to do it in a nicer manner, but we can always use the Insurrection Act."

58 690 2.6K

Reposted by Genghis

David Waldman @kagrox.bsky.social · 1d

Fifteen presidents have invoked the Insurrection Act.

Trump claims one president used it 28 times in the course of a single presidency.

The Insurrection Act has been used a total of 30 times over the course of its 217-year history.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump: "I'm allowed as you know as president, like 50% of the presidents have used the Insurrection Act. Everybody agrees you're allowed to use that and there is no more court cases, there is no more anything. We're trying to do it in a nicer manner, but we can always use the Insurrection Act."

97 370 1.5K

Reposted by Genghis

Comfortably Numb @numb.comfortab.ly · Feb 27

The Onion is within a hair's breadth of reporting real news apnews.com/video/robert...

51 980 3.5K

Reposted by Genghis

Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 1d

"I'm not mad. Please don't put it on the TV that I'm mad"

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump on No Kings: "It's a joke. I looked at the people. They are not representative of this country. And I looked at all the brand new signs I guess paid for by Soros and other radical left lunatics. We're checking it out. The demonstrations were very small. And the people were whacked out."

58 220 1.7K