Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 12h

@davidfrenchjag.bsky.social
Earlier this month, a federal judge appointed by President Trump in 2019, did the worst thing you can do to Trump in a court of law: She took him seriously. She read his words, found them disconnected from reality and acted accordingly.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/12/o...

Opinion | How a Trump Judge Exposed the Trump Con

www.nytimes.com

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 13h

Former ICE Chief: The president’s team vowed to target gang members, murderers and rapists, but we’re not just rounding up violent offenders. We’re arresting working parents, students, asylum seekers and even U.S. citizens, to create made-for-TV crackdowns.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/o...

Opinion | This Isn’t Crisis Response, It’s Crisis Construction

www.nytimes.com

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 13h

Good. Journalists working at The Washington Post, New York Times, The Atlantic, CNN and the Guardian and other major news publications will not sign the Defense Department’s restrictive new press policy.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Prominent news outlets reject Pentagon rules before signing deadline

The Washington Post and other major news outlets have refused to sign the Defense Department’s restrictive new press policy, citing First Amendment concerns.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 13h

This professor experienced both Woke and MAGA censorship. MAGA was worse...
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Opinion | As a professor, I’ve seen woke and MAGA censorship. Which is worse?

Both attacks on free speech are devastating for academia, but in different ways.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 19h

@adamliptak.bsky.social @nytimes.com
SCOTUS will hear arguments whether President Trump can fire officials for any reason or no reason, despite laws meant to shield them from politics.
There is little question that the court will side with the president. But...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/u...

Originalist ‘Bombshell’ Complicates Case on Trump’s Power to Fire Officials

www.nytimes.com

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 19h

British philosopher Bertrand Russell, 1925.

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 1d

"Floodlit by DHS spotlights, the square outside the ICE facility shows how those events can be shaped and polished in video clips into furor, and ultimately policy, in an administration that has harnessed the power of social media to inspire and enrage."
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

A conservative influencer was arrested in Portland. Trump was watching.

After conservative influencer Nick Sortor was arrested outside an ICE facility in Portland, Donald Trump latched on to justify a federal crackdown.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 1d

British philosopher Bertrand Russell on how a nation becomes fascist. From Freedom and Government, 1940.

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 1d

Bondi, take two. SNL Cold Open....
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSfC...

Pam Bondi Hearing Cold Open - SNL

YouTube video by Saturday Night Live

www.youtube.com

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 1d

The Greek historian Thucydides spoke of two mindsets — the Athenian’s, eager to venture out into the world to acquire something new, and the Spartan’s, intent on staying home to guard what he already had. Broadly speaking, the Athenian spirit is associated with golden ages.

wapo.st/4nNMnCX

Opinion | Is it America’s fate to decline and fall? Here’s what history says.

The American experiment will soon turn 250. Is its time running out?

wapo.st

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 1d

@washingtonpost.com
"Republicans have tried more than 70 times over the past 15 years to weaken or kill Obamacare. But their campaign keeps backfiring."

wapo.st/472Yftv

Why Republicans’ attempts to kill Obamacare keep backfiring

The White House and some Republicans are growing nervous that Democrats’ demand to boost Obamacare as part of a government funding bill has salience with voters.

wapo.st

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 1d

@washingtonpost.com
"The ongoing government shutdown will collide with the U.S. economy this week, as missed paychecks and the absence of billions of dollars of government services reverberate beyond federal workers and sting the broader public."

wapo.st/3KNYyRq

The pain from the government shutdown is about to hit the public

Federal officials are bracing for the worst effects of the ongoing government shutdown to collide with the U.S. economy this week as missed paychecks and the absence billions of dollars of government ...

wapo.st

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 1d

@jefftiedrich.bsky.social
hardly anyone voted for this shit. apart from the brain-dead cultists, nobody voted for polio. nobody voted for planes falling out of the sky. for a preening fuckwit declaring war on his own people.for armed troops in the streets.
www.jefftiedrich.com/p/republican...

Republicans are losing, and they know it

they’ve MAGA’d themselves into a corner

www.jefftiedrich.com

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 1d

How it's done.

My mentor as a philosophy student, graduate student, and young faculty member was mentored by British philosopher Bertrand Russell. He mentored me in the style of Russell. I can hear his voice in Russell's declining to lunch with a prominent fascist of his day.

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 2d

British philosopher Bertrand Russell, from What is Democracy, 1953:
"But in many countries the policeman is viewed with terror, as a man who may, at any moment, bring grave trouble upon any person whom he happens to dislike or whom the police, as a whole, consider politically objectionable.“

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 2d

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 2d

So much for the chain of command and the independence of DOJ....

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 2d

Trump and MAGA call No Kings a "Hate America/Pro-Hamas" event. My book on dehumanizing and demonizing language that gives MAGA a permission structure to commit violence is again an Amazon best seller, 5yrs + after publication. It shows the playbook; how to push back.

www.amazon.com/Words-Fire-I...

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 2d

Nobel chair responds perfectly to a question about Trump's campaign to snag the Nobel:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfr7...

'Laureates Have Courage & Integrity…’, Nobel Committee Chair On Why Trump Didn’t Get Peace Prize

YouTube video by Mint

www.youtube.com

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 2d

Pope Leo XIV bluntly called out inequality and indifference to the plight of the poor in the first major teaching document of his pontificate.

"In a world where the poor are increasingly numerous we must not let our guard down when it comes to poverty."
www.ncronline.org/pope-leo-bla...

Pope Leo blasts elitism, indifference toward poor in first major document

"I am convinced that the preferential choice for the poor is a source of extraordinary renewal both for the church and for society," the pope wrote in Dilexi Te.

www.ncronline.org

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Reposted by Helio Fred Garcia

Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 2d

"A future president, even dumber than you, will allow Qatar, the country that harbored Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of the plane attacks in NY, PA, and DC today, and whose royal family will help him escape capture by the US, to build a military base on US soil to train Qataris to fly jets."

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 2d

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 2d

Since Trump and his top aides directed a cavalcade of government agencies and tens of billions of dollars toward their effort to deport immigrants en masse, the advocates defending them have become targets, too.
@theatlantic.com @caitlindickerson.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

‘It’s Never Been This Bad’

Immigrant advocates face escalating consequences and threats from the president.

www.theatlantic.com

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 2d

Cartoon by John Deering.

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Helio Fred Garcia @hfgarcia.bsky.social · 2d

Be sure to order your copy of @johnfugelsang.bsky.social's extraordinary guide to equipping all of us to take back the Bible from fundamentalists, fascists, and flock-fleecing frauds...!

Separation of Church and Hate!

John Fugelsang @johnfugelsang.bsky.social · 2d

# of times the Bible forbids/demands penalties for abortion- 0
# of times the Bible justifies keeping out immigrants-0
# of times Jesus condemns homosexuality-0
# of times the Bible addresses poverty, justice and compassion for the poor- over 2,000
www.simonandschuster.com/books/Separa...

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