Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Oblio

@williamwillyloman.bsky.social

740 followers 330 following 3.3K posts

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” George Orwell, 1984

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Oblio @williamwillyloman.bsky.social · Jul 25

Republicans have proven time and again they will stop at nothing!

As the 2nd term of the Trump regime comes to an end you will see the most heinous crimes yet!

Put a pin in it!!!

Reposted by Oblio

Kathleen Clark @kathleenclark.bsky.social · 7h

Noem’s video & the partisan messages on govt websites & emails are significant:

This is a full court press to
- openly violate the Hatch Act,
- defy the statute and regulations,
- demonstrate that the Trump administration is above the law — not bound by the law.

www.wfyi.org/news/article...

Since the government shut down, the Trump administration has placed political messaging on the websites of federal agencies and in some
automated email responses blaming Democrats for the impasse.
Other ethics experts and federal employees have raised alarms over this kind of communication, saying it also violates the Hatch Act.
Taken together with the TSA video, Clark said the Trump administration is "going on a full court press campaign to violate the Hatch Act, intentionally and openly, to defy the statute and regulations, to demonstrate that the Trump administration is above the law."

12 26

Reposted by Oblio

Jeff Yang @originalsp.in · 7h

Oriana Korol—arrested by ICE for playing GHOSTBUSTERS on a clarinet—is incredible, and the kind of ally we need in massive numbers if we’re going to halt this crushing authoritarianism:

“This has just increased my commitment to social justice and to fight back against mistreatment of minorities.”

A Dandelion @onedandelion.bsky.social · 8h

10/15/25 She's back home✨
🎥 @oregonian
youtube.com/shorts/GV0KX...

Band’s clarinet player speaks out after her federal arrest

YouTube video by The Oregonian

youtube.com

3 41 140

Oblio @williamwillyloman.bsky.social · 3h

Can’t wait for their next DARVO response!

Reposted by Oblio

Governor Gavin Newsom @governor.ca.gov · 7h

Donald Trump and JD Vance can find money to launch missiles over the I-5 during a government shutdown, but not a dime for Americans’ health care.

I-5 may be shut down due to concerns over live-fire military event at Camp Pendleton

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office is weighing whether to close parts of Interstate 5 beginning Friday amid concerns over what it says is a White House-directed plan to use live ordnance during a military ann...

www.latimes.com

100 590 1.6K

Reposted by Oblio

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 7h

Mockler: I have spent all my formative years watching the President talk about the opposition party like they should not exist. His claim to fame in politics was saying that Obama was not born in America.

90 690 2.6K

Oblio @williamwillyloman.bsky.social · 4h

The more important question may be: “What’s in it for Trump?”

Reposted by Oblio

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 9h

AOC: And they are able to radicalize a generation of young boys in particular, away from healthy masculinity and into an insecure masculinity that requires the domination of others who are poorer, browner, darker, or a different gender than them.

450 5.5K 20K

Reposted by Oblio

Joyce White Vance @joycewhitevance.bsky.social · 7h

You can't win when the facts of the case include: POTUS "has publicly stated that the layoffs will be ‘a lot’ & that they ‘will be Democrat oriented, because we figure, you know, they started this thing, so they should be Democrat-oriented.’” open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...

32 310 1K

Reposted by Oblio

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 7h

“Kids”

600 2.4K 5.4K

Reposted by Oblio

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 7h

Again, it is a full-blown federal felony crime for anyone in the White House or Executive Office of the President to order tax investigations into anyone.

And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.

26 U.S. Code § 7217 - Prohibition on executive branch influence over taxpayer audits and other investigations
U.S. Code
Notes
prev | next
(a)Prohibition
It shall be unlawful for any applicable person to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer.

(b)Reporting requirement
Any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service receiving any request prohibited by subsection (a) shall report the receipt of such request to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

(c)Exceptions
Subsection (a) shall not apply to any written request made—
(1)to an applicable person by or on behalf of the taxpayer and forwarded by such applicable person to the Internal Revenue Service;
(2)by an applicable person for disclosure of return or return information under section 6103 if such request is made in accordance with the requirements of such section; or
(3)by the Secretary of the Treasury as a consequence of the implementation of a change in tax policy.
(d)Penalty
Any person who willfully violates subsection (a) or fails to report under subsection (b) shall be punished upon conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.

(e)Applicable person
For purposes of this section, the term “applicable person” means—
(1)the President, the Vice President, any employee of the executive office of the President, and any employee of the executive office of the Vice President; and
(2)any individual (other than the Attorney General of the United States) serving in a position specified in section 5312 of title 5, United States Code.

93 2K 4.5K

Reposted by Oblio

Anna Merlan @annamerlan.bsky.social · 16h

Just as a reminder, this is what happened the last time I asked who's behind the Trump administration's new troll-heavy social media strategy: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

“The most transparent administration in history” refuses to say who’s behind their batshit social media

Government trolls spread cruel memes and "textbook propaganda” on behalf of Trump.

www.motherjones.com

4 33 160

Reposted by Oblio

@NewsJennifer (Jennifer Schulze) @newsjennifer.bsky.social · 6h

Too bad for folks in the US who want life saving cancer research funded, Trump’s sending that money to Argentina…

John Collins @logicallyjc.bsky.social · 16h

What the fuck are we doing?

1 20 58

Reposted by Oblio

Zeteo @zeteo.com · 11h

“I just can't not see the similarities between what is happening with the fascism here at home and the genocide abroad.”

@mehdirhasan.bsky.social on ICE’s abduction of an autistic teen in the US and the recent release of an autistic Palestinian teen held captive by Israel
zeteo.com/p/mehdi-conn...

3 43 170

Oblio @williamwillyloman.bsky.social · 4h

Let me break it to you: It doesn’t end with “illegals”.

Fight!

Reposted by Oblio

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @ocasio-cortez.house.gov · 6h

Unlike Trump, I don't care if someone likes me or not. That will never change the fact that I'm going to fight for them to have health care.

I want MAGA to have health care. I want MAGA to be paid a living wage.

40 360 1.8K

Reposted by Oblio

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 12h

“The Defense Department has confiscated the badges of the Pentagon reporters from virtually every major media organization in America,” the Pentagon Press Association said

Oct. 15, 2025
PENTAGON PRESS ASSOCIATION
STATEMENT
Today, the Defense Department confiscated the badges of the Pentagon reporters from virtually every major media organization in America. It did this because reporters would not sign onto a new media policy over its implicit threat of criminalizing national security reporting and exposing those who sign it to potential prosecution.
The Pentagon Press Association's members are still committed to reporting on the U.S. military. But make no mistake, today, Oct. 15, 2025 is a dark day for press freedom that raises concerns about a weakening U.S. commitment to transparency in governance, to public accountability at the Pentagon and to free speech for all.
PPA

380 2.9K 6.2K

Reposted by Oblio

Scott Shapiro @scottjshapiro.bsky.social · 6h

This

Ansley Erickson @ansleyerickson.bsky.social · 7h

Former Columbia Provost Jonathan Cole asks the university to bravely admit where it was wrong:

www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2025...

Columbia must now show courage and empathy

Dear Columbia leaders,

www.columbiaspectator.com

8 55

Reposted by Oblio

Zeteo @zeteo.com · 1d

The US is falling apart because Donald Trump won’t stop ‘yelling’ at his TV. From bombing Iran to sending troops to Portland, the president’s decisions are influenced by what he sees on Fox News — according to former Trump officials.

@swin24.bsky.social writes:
zeteo.com/p/trump-addi...

11 62 240

Oblio @williamwillyloman.bsky.social · 4h

Heritage Foundation is running America. In order to keep Trump out of their way while they’re busy dismantling America, they’re allowing him to siphon wealth from the nation and play with its bombs.

Reposted by Oblio

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 6h

‘My vote is my voice’: protesters fight for democracy as Trump casts shadow

Outside the supreme court, protesters invoked the legacy of civil rights giants with a key Voting Rights Act plank at stake

www.theguardian.com

3 36 130

Oblio @williamwillyloman.bsky.social · 4h

Yes. And, all too late!

Reposted by Oblio

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 6h

Gov. @gavinnewsom.bsky.social sounds the alarm about the Republican attack on the voting rights act

34 510 1.2K

Oblio @williamwillyloman.bsky.social · 4h

But, what about Chevron?

www.scotusblog.com/2024/06/supr...

Supreme Court strikes down Chevron, curtailing power of federal agencies

This article was updated on June 28 at 3:46 p.m. In a major ruling, the Supreme Court on Friday cut back sharply on the power of federal agencies to interpret […]

www.scotusblog.com

Reposted by Oblio

Bill Shea @billshea19.bsky.social · 7h

This is how authoritarianism cements itself in power and crushes opposition, all while the eggheads debate if it's fascism or something else.

Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · 10h

BREAKING via WSJ

The Trump administration is planning sweeping changes in criminal division at the IRS.

Full Story: on.wsj.com/3LbVFtK

The Trump administration is preparing sweeping changes at the Internal Revenue Service that would allow the agency to pursue criminal inquiries of left-leaning groups more easily, according to people familiar with the matter.
A senior IRS official involved in the effort has drawn up a list of potential targets that includes major Democratic donors, some of the people said.
The undertaking aims to install allies of President Trump at the IRS criminal-investigative division, or IRS-CI, to exert firmer control over the unit and weaken the involvement of IRS lawyers in criminal investigations, officials said. The proposed changes could open the door to politically motivated probes and are being driven by Gary Shapley, an adviser to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

19 310 1K

Reposted by Oblio

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 6h

"This is what you get after a decade of Trumpism’s ascendance: a young-activist base that has self-selected for the most amoral and psychotic political strivers, and has held them up as a professional ideal." www.thebulwark.com/p/its-gettin...

It’s Getting Worse.

The Trump administration’s assault on the rest of us is intensifying.

www.thebulwark.com

6 110 360