Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Alexander Clarkson @aphclarkson.bsky.social · 9h

If this was happening in any other country you'd have journalists and analysts discussing risks of state failure

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Steven Beschloss @stevenbeschloss.bsky.social · 23h

More costumes! More seniors playing the ukulele! More group dance! It makes clear how insane Trump and his sycophants are.

The Daily Show @thedailyshow.com · 2d

The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.

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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 23h

The Gilded Age may have revealed the excesses of an unchecked oligarchy, but at least it left behind centers of learning, culture, and philanthropy. Today’s roster of plutocrats seems uninterested in that. www.thebulwark.com/p/why-our-te...

Why Our Tech Overlords Took a Hard Right Turn

A new book tells the story of how Elon Musk and other Silicon Valley entrepreneurs became angry admirers of authoritarianism.

www.thebulwark.com

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Democracy Docket @democracydocket.com · 23h

NEW: A panel of three federal judges will soon decide whether to block Texas from using its new congressional map in the 2026 election, after a contentious nine-day hearing concluded Friday.

www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

‘We Could Not Have Clearer Facts’: Minority Advocates Say Racial Motive Is Evident As Texas Redistricting Hearing Wraps Up

Read more here.

www.democracydocket.com

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Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 1d

No one is covering the GOP's scheme to rig congressional maps for 2026 as closely as Democracy Docket. It is providing gavel to gavel coverage of the ongoing hearing over whether the Texas gerrymander will be in place for the midterms.

Support its work by subscribing now. hubs.ly/Q03M8rql0

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 2d

"30-year-old conservative lawyer and activist who is Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel, which deals with federal employee whistleblower complaints and discrimination" cancelled his colleague's hotel room so she would be forced to stay with him.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

In late July, Paul Ingrassia, the White House liaison for the Department of Homeland Security, arrived at a Ritz-Carlton in Orlando with a lower-ranking female colleague and others from their department. When the group reached the front desk, the woman learned she didn’t have a hotel room.

Ingrassia then informed her that she would be staying with him, according to five administration officials familiar with the episode. Eventually the woman discovered that Ingrassia had arranged ahead of time to have her hotel room canceled so she would have to stay with him, three of those officials said.

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The Daily Beast @thedailybeast.bsky.social · 22h

Gavin Newsom had some choice words for Greg Abbott after Texas National Guard troops were spotted in another Democrat-run city.

Newsom Trolls MAGA Governor Over National Guard Hypocrisy

The California governor is one of several taking aim at Texas governor Greg Abbott.

trib.al

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 1d

“.. Inside the White House, top advisers joke that they are ruling Congress with an “iron fist,” according to people who have heard the comments. Steve Bannon, the influential Trump ally, likened Congress to the Duma, the Russian assembly that is largely ceremonial.”

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 23h

This was today, and these guys knew they were going to fire their own employees because, says Trump, they are "Democrat oriented." bsky.app/profile/atru...

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Q: How many layoffs have you authorized?

TRUMP: It'll be a lot. And it'll be Democrat-oriented.

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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 1d

“The defense secretary underwent a round of cosmetic injections last month.” One insider: “He’s always been full of himself, but lately his ego has been off the charts.”

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Heavy D @raidersyourface.bsky.social · 1d

“When justice department officials reviewed what attorney general Pam Bondi called a ‘truckload’ of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein earlier this year, they discovered that Donald Trump’s name appeared multiple times.”

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Donald Trump’s name reported to feature in DoJ files about Jeffrey Epstein

Wall Street Journal report says president’s name appears ‘multiples times’ as Congress subpoenas Ghislaine Maxwell

www.theguardian.com

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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 1d

Another day of House Republicans refusing to show up for work to avoid a vote on the Epstein files. 3 weeks paid vacation and counting.

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More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 1d

Corporate income taxes are $77 billion lower than last year, primarily due to the Republican tax cuts for the rich.

itep.org/trump-tax-la...

Well, That Was Fast: Trump Tax Law’s New Corporate Breaks are Already Worsening the Deficit

Corporate income taxes for the fiscal year that ended in September are $77 billion lower than in the previous year, a 15 percent drop.

itep.org

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Brian Tyler Cohen @briantylercohen.bsky.social · 1d

Trump in 2017: “Qatar has been a funder of terrorism at a very high level.”

Trump administration in 2025: We are building a Qatari Air Force facility in the United States.

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Leah Greenberg ❌👑 @leahgreenberg.bsky.social · 1d

JB Pritzker says NO KINGS, SHOW UP ON 10/18

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 1d

Finally, Pritzker says more Dems must sound the alarm, though he notes some exceptions (like Chris Murphy).

"I am surprised that more leaders have not stood up," he says.

He urges people to join No Kings protests to let the country know something's wrong. 5/5

newrepublic.com/article/2016...

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Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 1d

NEW: "In the American context, if we are in late-stage democracy, then it involves two changes: (1) A citizenry no longer primarily responsive to real-world inputs. (2) Constitutional mechanisms that no longer function as designed."

www.thebulwark.com/p/is-this-wh...

Is This What ‘Late-Stage Democracy’ Looks Like?

What if the Constitution *is* a suicide pact?

www.thebulwark.com

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Colin Jones @colinjones.bsky.social · 1d

Seriously, this is fucking insane

@timmiller.bsky.social talks to a veteran that ICE wrongfully detained and locked in a cell naked

DHS Lied About a Veteran They Wrongfully Arrested (w/ George Retes)

YouTube video by The Bulwark

www.youtube.com

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Sam Youngman @samyoungman.bsky.social · 1d

Let’s do this, California!

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Adam Parkhomenko @adamparkhomenko.bsky.social · 1d

There is a coordinated republican message today that they will respond to peaceful protests next weekend with violence.

We will not be silenced by their threats.

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

I knew Fox News was theater. I just didn't realize it was a repertory theater that recycles actors for different roles.

You'd think a company that had to pay $787,000,000 for deceiving its viewers would be a little more careful about blatantly continuing the practice.

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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 1d

Great point from @mjtoma.bsky.social: Millions of us absolutely do see what's happening to the USA.

"We are horrified, shocked, enraged, and ashamed. We are acting, in a thousand ways, to oppose it. This cannot, and will not, be how the United States ends."

newrepublic.com/post/201625/...

Memo to Future Historians: This Is Fascism, and Millions of Us See It

From Chicago to Portland, James Comey to Letitia James, and so much else—this is no longer America.

newrepublic.com

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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 1d

Vicious authoritarianism built on a pretext of shameless lies under the cover of scolding Christianity.

The Daily Show @thedailyshow.com · 2d

The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.

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Senator Sheldon Whitehouse @whitehouse.senate.gov · 1d

The Attorney General of the United States has set a new low for this committee.

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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 1d

"They put me on suicide watch and they put me in the cell, I'm naked, in like a hospital dress and just a concrete bed with like a mattress, like a thin mattress and, they leave the light on 24/7."

@timmiller.bsky.social talked to a veteran who ICE wrongly detained and brutalized

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Sen. Adam Schiff @schiff.senate.gov · 1d

More illegal firings will not save people from health care costs that are doubling, it will just compound the harms.

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