Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

charliesurfs.bsky.social @charliesurfs.bsky.social · 1h

“Mainstream news outlets appear uncomfortable wrestling with the degree to which pro-Trump media figures practice propaganda undertaken in bad faith toward expressly instrumental ends. We need them to get past that.”

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 2h

This week, MAGA figures claimed Kristi Noem "stared down" violent antifa protesters in Portland. Turns out they were talking mostly about a guy in a chicken suit.

This episode opens a window into how MAGA propaganda works and MSM failure to handle it. 1/

(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2016...

MAGA Implodes over Kristi Noem’s “Stare Down” with Man in Chicken Suit

A good New York Times piece on Portland nevertheless demonstrates how the conventions of objective reporting fail to accurately capture the bad faith driving pro-Trump propaganda.

newrepublic.com

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Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 9h

Military families on day 9 of the shutdown lining up at the food bank

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charliesurfs.bsky.social @charliesurfs.bsky.social · 9h

Haha, brilliant!

Nora Reed (they/them ze/hir) @nora.zone · 13h

cry havoc and let slip the frogs of war

charliesurfs.bsky.social @charliesurfs.bsky.social · 9h

Will never effin happen. At his core, Trump is a coward and he’ll never do anything to actually hurt his daddy Vlad.

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Nikkolas Smith @4nikkolas.bsky.social · 16h

after millions of views and shares of my Portland Frog art. (thank you all🙏🏾) I got requests to highlight priests, and chickens, and Chicagoans, and T-Rexes, and more… all of us who refuse to bend the knee. so this is for US.
𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚃𝚊𝚕𝚕.
𝚆𝚎 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚆𝚒𝚗.

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Darin Self @darinself.com · 10h

Im starting to think we should adopt the German way of yelling NEIN! at behavior that is not socially acceptable

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God @thegodpodcast.com · 21h

Imagine being mad you didn’t win the Nobel Peace Prize while you’re busy stirring up Civil War in your own country.

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Pat Bagley @bagleycartoons.bsky.social · 9h

Trump Toadies

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John Sipher @johnsipher.bsky.social · 10h

Give that man a mirror.

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 13h

Kid Rock: Do you know what is stupid… these chicks running around on campuses with blue hair, five nose rings.

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Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 12h

The Trump administration has been spreading anti-vaccine propaganda for months. Tonight, Trump's physician announced he just received a flu shot and a COVID booster.

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Steven Beschloss @stevenbeschloss.bsky.social · 10h

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 · 1d

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

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charliesurfs.bsky.social @charliesurfs.bsky.social · 10h

“Silverman focuses on a cohort of men—and they are, to be sure, all men—who have receded so far into their own bubbles, surrounding themselves with ever more yes-men and hangers-on, that they have lost all sense of proportion and become disconnected from reality.” Just like their MAGA daddy, Trump.

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 10h

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

charliesurfs.bsky.social @charliesurfs.bsky.social · 10h

This passage argues that true tyrants don’t begin their rule by enraging the public — that would be self-defeating. Instead, claims that leaders immediately act in hateful or irrational ways are more likely wild fears than sober analysis.

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Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 12h

"If we were even to suppose the national rulers actuated by the most ungovernable ambition, it is impossible to believe that they would employ such preposterous means to accomplish their designs."

Oh Alexander, honey.

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 15h

Quoted by Judge Perry today in her opinion in Illinois v Trump

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charliesurfs.bsky.social @charliesurfs.bsky.social · 10h

The law is merely an inconvenience to be avoided for this administration.

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Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 11h

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

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charliesurfs.bsky.social @charliesurfs.bsky.social · 13h

loudwire.com/kid-rock-san...

That Time Kid Rock Sang 'I Like 'Em Underage' in a Song on a Kids Movie Soundtrack

But Anheuser-Busch is horrific.

loudwire.com

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Bradley P. Moss @bradmossesq.bsky.social · 14h

Someone gonna get fired …. @kenwhite.bsky.social @annabower.bsky.social

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charliesurfs.bsky.social @charliesurfs.bsky.social · 13h

Absolutely chaos and carnage at the Portland ICE facility. www.youtube.com/live/BsllYgE...

Live look outside the Portland ICE facility as a small group of protesters gather Friday afternoon

YouTube video by KATU News

www.youtube.com

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StrictlyChristo 🦋🇺🇦🌻❌👑 @strictlychristo.bsky.social · 14h

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/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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warrior cop @wyattprivilege.bsky.social · 15h

Trump to China: obey my command or I will destroy the United States

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charliesurfs.bsky.social @charliesurfs.bsky.social · 13h

Livestream of the carnage at the ICE facility. www.youtube.com/live/BsllYgE...

Live look outside the Portland ICE facility as a small group of protesters gather Friday afternoon

YouTube video by KATU News

www.youtube.com

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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 13h

Trump didn’t just instruct his cronies to look into Letitia James to see what they could rustle up. Instead, he twisted the entire federal government into a shape designed to produce the criminal indictment he demanded. www.thebulwark.com/p/insidious-...

The Insidious Effort To Rationalize Trump’s Lawfare

This is not a president justified in going after those who went after him. It’s a person making a mockery of our justice system.

www.thebulwark.com

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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 13h

What he not saying is that his friends and cronies invested a fortune in Argentina since their guy Milei won, they stand to lose a big chunk of those fortunes the way things are going, and Argentina’s elections are in two weeks and we are tampering in them to bail Milei out.

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 17h

Amazing what happens when you give the guy a plane

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