Lisa Varella
@lisavarella.bsky.social
Character matters. Nobody is above the law. Respect for the US Constitution is crucial, and violations of our civil rights will not be tolerated. We must stand together against tyranny and hold our leaders accountable.
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/o...
But for Donald Trump, the preservation of something close to the status quo makes sense, given that his goal is extortion, not political transformation. Rather than the moralistic imperialism of George W. Bush, Trump’s foreign policy is imperialistic gangsterism.
But for Donald Trump, the preservation of something close to the status quo makes sense, given that his goal is extortion, not political transformation. Rather than the moralistic imperialism of George W. Bush, Trump’s foreign policy is imperialistic gangsterism.
Opinion | Don’t Call It Regime Change. This Is Something Else Entirely.
www.nytimes.com
January 6, 2026 at 1:48 AM
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/o...
But for Donald Trump, the preservation of something close to the status quo makes sense, given that his goal is extortion, not political transformation. Rather than the moralistic imperialism of George W. Bush, Trump’s foreign policy is imperialistic gangsterism.
But for Donald Trump, the preservation of something close to the status quo makes sense, given that his goal is extortion, not political transformation. Rather than the moralistic imperialism of George W. Bush, Trump’s foreign policy is imperialistic gangsterism.
Reposted by Lisa Varella
Trump campaigned on an “America First” platform. Now he wants to "run" Venezuela?
60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Health care is collapsing. Housing is unaffordable.
Trump should address these major crises at home and end his illegal military adventurism abroad.
60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Health care is collapsing. Housing is unaffordable.
Trump should address these major crises at home and end his illegal military adventurism abroad.
January 3, 2026 at 10:43 PM
Trump campaigned on an “America First” platform. Now he wants to "run" Venezuela?
60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Health care is collapsing. Housing is unaffordable.
Trump should address these major crises at home and end his illegal military adventurism abroad.
60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck. Health care is collapsing. Housing is unaffordable.
Trump should address these major crises at home and end his illegal military adventurism abroad.
Reposted by Lisa Varella
Himes: "I was delighted to hear that Tom Cotton, chairmen of the Senate Intel Committee, has been in regular contact with the admin. I've had zero outreach and no D I'm aware of has. So apparently we're now in a world where the legal obligation to keep Congress informed only applies to your party."
January 4, 2026 at 4:45 PM
Himes: "I was delighted to hear that Tom Cotton, chairmen of the Senate Intel Committee, has been in regular contact with the admin. I've had zero outreach and no D I'm aware of has. So apparently we're now in a world where the legal obligation to keep Congress informed only applies to your party."
Reposted by Lisa Varella
Reposted by Lisa Varella
Reposted by Lisa Varella
U.S. military spending is set to hit a record $1 trillion.
Roughly half of defense spending goes to private contractors that routinely price-gouge the government.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has failed EIGHT straight audits.
This is the military industrial complex on steroids.
Roughly half of defense spending goes to private contractors that routinely price-gouge the government.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has failed EIGHT straight audits.
This is the military industrial complex on steroids.
January 3, 2026 at 10:01 PM
U.S. military spending is set to hit a record $1 trillion.
Roughly half of defense spending goes to private contractors that routinely price-gouge the government.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has failed EIGHT straight audits.
This is the military industrial complex on steroids.
Roughly half of defense spending goes to private contractors that routinely price-gouge the government.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon has failed EIGHT straight audits.
This is the military industrial complex on steroids.
Reposted by Lisa Varella
That one person can drag us into a war without consulting or even notifying Congress, or our allies, or fully explaining to the American people why this is necessary, is absolutely bonkers.
Reminder that Congress has the power to stop all of this. Where the hell are they?
Reminder that Congress has the power to stop all of this. Where the hell are they?
January 3, 2026 at 8:01 PM
That one person can drag us into a war without consulting or even notifying Congress, or our allies, or fully explaining to the American people why this is necessary, is absolutely bonkers.
Reminder that Congress has the power to stop all of this. Where the hell are they?
Reminder that Congress has the power to stop all of this. Where the hell are they?
Reposted by Lisa Varella
Reposted by Lisa Varella
So the the FIFA Peace Prize truly was meaningless after all?
January 3, 2026 at 4:19 PM
So the the FIFA Peace Prize truly was meaningless after all?
Reposted by Lisa Varella
Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts.
Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
January 3, 2026 at 10:52 AM
Marco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts.
Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
Reposted by Lisa Varella
A right-wing "Christian" extremist with zero ethics is turning North Carolina's judiciary into a partisan, unbalanced train wreck. Republicans will stop at nothing to seize political power in all branches and at all levels of government. And this isn't just happening in one state. It's spreading.
“I’m sure you’re aware of our connections with the Trump Administration,” the North Carolina Republican Party's communications director wrote in an email response to us. “I would strongly suggest dropping this story.”
We didn't. #ICYMI, read the story that he wanted dropped:
We didn't. #ICYMI, read the story that he wanted dropped:
“Biblical Justice, Equal Justice, for All”: How North Carolina’s Chief Justice Transformed His State and America
Paul Newby, a born-again Christian, has turned his perch atop North Carolina’s Supreme Court into an instrument of political power. Over two decades, he’s driven changes that have reverberated well be...
www.propublica.org
January 2, 2026 at 5:13 AM
A right-wing "Christian" extremist with zero ethics is turning North Carolina's judiciary into a partisan, unbalanced train wreck. Republicans will stop at nothing to seize political power in all branches and at all levels of government. And this isn't just happening in one state. It's spreading.
Reposted by Lisa Varella
Trump Claims He Can’t Be Expected To Remember Every Birthday Card He Sends To Child Molesters https://theonion.com/trump-claims-he-cant-be-expected-to-remember-every-birthday-card-he-sends-to-child-molesters/
December 31, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Trump Claims He Can’t Be Expected To Remember Every Birthday Card He Sends To Child Molesters https://theonion.com/trump-claims-he-cant-be-expected-to-remember-every-birthday-card-he-sends-to-child-molesters/
Reposted by Lisa Varella
Kyiv was hit with 500 drones and 40 missiles. Civilians died.
Trump’s response? Understanding Putin’s inconvenience.
This isn’t diplomacy. It’s a bromance—paid for in Ukrainian lives.
open.substack.com/pub/adamkinz...
Trump’s response? Understanding Putin’s inconvenience.
This isn’t diplomacy. It’s a bromance—paid for in Ukrainian lives.
open.substack.com/pub/adamkinz...
The Missiles Fall. The Bromance Endures.
As Russian drones and missiles tore into Kyiv, Donald Trump found time not for outrage—but for understanding Vladimir Putin.
open.substack.com
December 31, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Kyiv was hit with 500 drones and 40 missiles. Civilians died.
Trump’s response? Understanding Putin’s inconvenience.
This isn’t diplomacy. It’s a bromance—paid for in Ukrainian lives.
open.substack.com/pub/adamkinz...
Trump’s response? Understanding Putin’s inconvenience.
This isn’t diplomacy. It’s a bromance—paid for in Ukrainian lives.
open.substack.com/pub/adamkinz...
I thought DOGE was supposed to eliminate fraud and waste. Catching the fraudsters is a complete waste of time when Trump pardons them anyway. That's $1.2 BILLION of our tax money.
December 31, 2025 at 5:18 PM
I thought DOGE was supposed to eliminate fraud and waste. Catching the fraudsters is a complete waste of time when Trump pardons them anyway. That's $1.2 BILLION of our tax money.
Reposted by Lisa Varella
unvarnished gutter racism and Nazism from the president. a disgrace to our country.
December 31, 2025 at 4:32 PM
unvarnished gutter racism and Nazism from the president. a disgrace to our country.
Reposted by Lisa Varella
1/ Tina Peters is in prison for criminally breaching election security, not for exposing fraud. No court, audit, or investigation found widespread voter fraud in Colorado. Mail-in voting in Colorado has existed for years, is used by voters across parties, and has been upheld by courts.
December 31, 2025 at 4:56 PM
1/ Tina Peters is in prison for criminally breaching election security, not for exposing fraud. No court, audit, or investigation found widespread voter fraud in Colorado. Mail-in voting in Colorado has existed for years, is used by voters across parties, and has been upheld by courts.
Good grief. Why do Republican politicians all think they know more than the experts and scientists about everything? If enough Republican voters believe their nonsense, Darwinism might ultimately save us from this Idiocracy.
The unfounded idea that chlorine dioxide can be a miracle cure began to spread about 20 years ago when a gold prospector wrote a book claiming his team in Guyana fell ill with malaria and recovered after drinking safe amounts of chlorine dioxide.
Senator Endorses Discredited Doctor’s Book on a Chemical He Claims Treats Everything From Autism to Cancer
Wisconsin's Ron Johnson has a history of spreading vaccine misinformation. Now he's giving credence to assertions about the therapeutic powers of chlorine dioxide, a disinfectant and deodorizer. “It i...
www.propublica.org
December 31, 2025 at 4:33 AM
Good grief. Why do Republican politicians all think they know more than the experts and scientists about everything? If enough Republican voters believe their nonsense, Darwinism might ultimately save us from this Idiocracy.
Great article. It's a shame that Senator Ed Markey's bill won't go anywhere, thanks to Republicans who believe in unrestricted capitalism. So, thousands of people are dying because of their greed. It's more important that investors are making a killing. You just can't have too many yachts!
Looking to turn a quick profit, private equity firms buy medical facilities and then unload them just a few years later, often leaving devastation in their wake.
trib.al/I7p7Y22
trib.al/I7p7Y22
The Private Equity Firms That Gobble Up Hospitals and Spit Them Out
Looking to turn a quick profit, the firms buy medical facilities and then unload them just a few years later, often leaving devastation in their wake.
trib.al
December 30, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Great article. It's a shame that Senator Ed Markey's bill won't go anywhere, thanks to Republicans who believe in unrestricted capitalism. So, thousands of people are dying because of their greed. It's more important that investors are making a killing. You just can't have too many yachts!
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/b... The government targeted public funding to punish specific editorial decisions it disagreed with,” she said in a recent interview with The New York Times. “That’s not a funding dispute dressed up as a constitutional case; that’s textbook First Amendment retaliation.”
NPR’s C.E.O. Was a Right-Wing Target. Then the Real Trouble Started.
www.nytimes.com
December 30, 2025 at 6:24 PM
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/30/b... The government targeted public funding to punish specific editorial decisions it disagreed with,” she said in a recent interview with The New York Times. “That’s not a funding dispute dressed up as a constitutional case; that’s textbook First Amendment retaliation.”
Why wouldn't Trump aid in the spread of Russian propaganda? He's Putin's puppet! MAGA morons will never face that reality.
The idea that the Trump administration would assist the foreign founders of an illegally funded media outlet aimed at reaching American audiences with Russian propaganda might seem outlandish.
Truth is stranger than fiction. lnk.thebulwark.com/4pj2vMz
Truth is stranger than fiction. lnk.thebulwark.com/4pj2vMz
December 30, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Why wouldn't Trump aid in the spread of Russian propaganda? He's Putin's puppet! MAGA morons will never face that reality.
Starvation, thanks to the kind generosity of the pro-life Christian Republican party.
Expectant mothers were left so hungry after the U.S. cut foreign food aid that one woman ate clay and charcoal.
Her baby struggled to gain weight after being born prematurely.
By @annamaria.bsky.social, photos by @storitellah.com & illustrations by Phoebe Ouma
Her baby struggled to gain weight after being born prematurely.
By @annamaria.bsky.social, photos by @storitellah.com & illustrations by Phoebe Ouma
What I Saw at a Maternity Ward in Kenya After the U.S. Cut Off Food and Foreign Aid
Photographs tell a story of two mothers determined to help their babies gain enough weight to leave the hospital — only to face little to no food again.
www.propublica.org
December 30, 2025 at 4:54 AM
Starvation, thanks to the kind generosity of the pro-life Christian Republican party.