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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 51m

Those are big agencies - if Vought is laying off "people the Democrats want" it sounds like he's going after selected functions. What are they? Commerce includes NOAA and the National Weather Service. DHS includes FEMA, which the Trump admin has said they would end.

Trump wants to end FEMA, says governors can handle disasters

In remarks to reporters, the president said the administration plans to “wean” states off FEMA assistance after hurricane season ends.

www.washingtonpost.com

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 1h

We should applaud their dedication to fact-checking Trump's claims - may that practice spread more widely.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 4h

Because tbh the money on the right doesn't all flow through the RNCC. It bypasses party leaders entirely. It seems like the issue is more a passivity among Dem donors, who don't try to take charge and set the tone. Leonard Leo isn't waiting around for the RNCC to tell him what to do.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 4h

If there are enough individual donors, is the solution an alternative organizing and donation mechanism that bypasses the DNCC?

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 6h

It's a donor problem, right? The right-wing media ecosystem is funded from above by wealthy donors, not from below by subscriptions. Progressives have fewer wealthy benefactors. Isn't that as much of an issue, or more, as concern about direction-from-above?

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 9h

Notice the subtle shade being cast on Dartmouth here. Dartmouth put out a piously smarmy statement last week about their values, which implied they were rejecting the compact... but never actually said no. All media are now reporting correctly that MIT was first. They saw what Dartmouth did.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 9h

And, Roger Marshall would bounce up 2 places on that leaderboard if we counted his insurrection-supporting actions while still a US Representative, before he was sworn in as a Senator in 2020. Again - not likely an important figure around Jan 6, but an eager one. He wanted to help.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 9h

Roger Marshall was one of the few Senators who voted to steal the 2020 election. He's dropped a bit on the Congressional Insurrection Index since the recent reveal of phone records subpoenas. None for Marshall - but he's an eager insurrectionist, if not a major one.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 10h

In the US we don't say 'the music system is broken' because too many people are buying Bad Bunny albums. No one begs the government to intervene to put out more Lee Greenwood albums. Music is a business serving consumers. So is education. Marc Rowan just doesn't like what you chose to purchase.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 10h

Let's call out how bizarre it is that finance bros like Marc Rowan want to dictate what is taught in universities and overturn the free market. US students pick their schools -- MIT, or Oberlin, or Liberty -- and pay to attend. The right response to Rowan is, why do you want to reduce free choice?

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Reposted by capitolhunters

Josh Moody @byjoshmoody.bsky.social · 13h

MIT rejects "compact" proposed by the Trump administration.
MIT prez wrote: it "would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution" and "is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone."
orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...

Regarding the Compact | MIT Organization Chart

orgchart.mit.edu

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 19h

That's Alex doing CYA when the Capitol attack was failing - his planned triumphant show overlooking the Capitol turned into excuses and blaming 'antifa' instead.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 19h

No one's saying that a single academic project will stop authoritarianism. The point is that most people in academia are unable to do EVEN THAT. Sure, they aren't in the streets protesting. But they're not even studying the crisis in a normal academic way. They're looking away. Hiding.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 19h

@jaredlholt.bsky.social points out how Trump's "antifa" meeting is tied to TPUSA - but it's also InfoWars. And on Jan 6, Charlie Kirk's TPUSA paid for the rally, Alex Jones of InfoWars whipped up the crowd at the Capitol, then watched from his pre-rented rooftop. It's the same people, always. 5/

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 20h

What people miss about Jan 6 is that the Proud Boys who led the attack were not a militia but a branch of the alt-right influencers. Joe Biggs, who marched the PBs into battle, had been an InfoWars 'journalist' like Hernandez, a buddy of Posobiec's - here they are in 2016. They're the same crew. 4/

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 20h

Jack Posobiec hit the Capitol grounds along with Ashley St. Clair, now famous as Elon Musk's baby mama. They watched the mob climb the walls together. Poso's been at the heart of every major alt-right propaganda effort since 2016: Peter Thiel's MAGA3X, Pizzagate, Stop the Steal - he did them all. 3/

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 20h

Jack Posobiec, Roger Stone protege turned alt-right propagandist, watched the attack from the rooftop Alex Jones had rented. (He and Alex were both speakers at the rally the night before.) Poso posted this video at 2:15 PM, then went down to the Capitol himself. 2/

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 20h

The 'journalists' at Trump's White House "antifa summit" are so sketchy that two were in the Capitol mob on Jan 6. Here's Savanah Hernandez cheering after the W Plaza police line collapsed. She walked in with the Proud Boys and whispered with Ethan Nordean, convicted of seditious conspiracy. 1/

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 1d

Is this the first ruling requiring federal agents to show visible ID? That is a huge step if so.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 1d

Just adding FYI: the Jan 6 pipe bombs are odd only if people insist they were lone wolf and random. They were not. They were meant to pull police away from the planned attack on the Capitol. Multiple people knew they were there, and the same people also monitored other aspects of the Capitol attack.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 1d

Yes for sure. Always wondered whether someone recycled the name on purpose.

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 1d

Miller hasn't been successful even at disappearing the people he though would be invisible. ICE can snatch brown people but turns out they have names and families and people sharing video of their stories. He did not reckon on that. If he can't get through this first step, he can't take the next. 2/

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 1d

100% correct, they are copying older playbooks. So the question is, can that playbook work in the modern world. Social media helps spread propaganda but also spreads fact-checking video. And at some point they would have to do the Night of the Long Knives, to murder elites. They may flinch. 1/

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 1d

This is one such project, a valuable one - a tracker for canceled federal grants. So efforts do exist. But it is surprising how few there are.
grant-witness.us

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capitolhunters @capitolhunters.bsky.social · 1d

Not all, and yes admins don't listen, but still, many are quiet who have directly applicable knowledge. Like the subject is not so fun to address if it's too close to home.

What center or institution has a major project right now on authoritarian moves in the US? Who is collating information?

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