Mark Brandriss
@markbrandriss.bsky.social
Geologist, bird enthusiast
Reposted by Mark Brandriss
It’s really atrocious how they threw the full force of the federal government at this one guy because he embarrassed them by being innocent of everything except trying to live his life.
Only one of many, unfortunately. But he got publicity so he had to be destroyed.
Only one of many, unfortunately. But he got publicity so he had to be destroyed.
Remarkable how brutal the ruling against Trump on Abrego Garcia truly is: It details flagrant and malicious abuses of power all throughout. Trump and Stephen Miller were testing their ability to spread lawless state terror. But the court held the line. 1/
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2043...
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2043...
Fiasco for Trump as Judge Issues Harsh Rebuke in Abrego Garcia Case
Judge Paula Xinis’s ruling temporarily freed Kilmar Abrego Garcia from custody. It also savagely indicted Trump’s lawless handling of this whole affair from start to finish.
newrepublic.com
December 13, 2025 at 12:29 AM
It’s really atrocious how they threw the full force of the federal government at this one guy because he embarrassed them by being innocent of everything except trying to live his life.
Only one of many, unfortunately. But he got publicity so he had to be destroyed.
Only one of many, unfortunately. But he got publicity so he had to be destroyed.
Reposted by Mark Brandriss
“Under the Republican plan, the big idea is essentially to hand people about $80 a month and wish them good luck.”
US Senate unable to prevent health premium surge as senators reject competing health bills | Arizona Mirror
Senate fails to advance Republican or Democratic health care bills, leaving no solution to rising insurance premiums
azmirror.com
December 11, 2025 at 6:38 PM
“Under the Republican plan, the big idea is essentially to hand people about $80 a month and wish them good luck.”
Reposted by Mark Brandriss
It’s often said that too many political writers cover politics as if it’s sports. Actually they cover politics as if they are bad at covering sports
lol wut. dropping from 42 percent approval to 36 percent approval seems pretty significant. apnews.com/article/trum...
December 11, 2025 at 7:45 PM
It’s often said that too many political writers cover politics as if it’s sports. Actually they cover politics as if they are bad at covering sports
Reposted by Mark Brandriss
I hope people understand that if Trump gets his way America will soon be part of the global axis of evil if we aren't already. You see it in the Caribbean, you see it in Ukraine, and you see it with Trump trying to buddy up to Xi. We are a malevolent force.
December 10, 2025 at 9:23 PM
I hope people understand that if Trump gets his way America will soon be part of the global axis of evil if we aren't already. You see it in the Caribbean, you see it in Ukraine, and you see it with Trump trying to buddy up to Xi. We are a malevolent force.
Reposted by Mark Brandriss
MINNEAPOLIS: “All I did was step outside as a Somali American citizen, and I got chased by a masked person, assaulted, kidnapped. It was inhumane. If this is what’s happening to a 🇺🇸 citizen on camera, imagine what could happen to your loved ones.”
December 11, 2025 at 4:00 AM
MINNEAPOLIS: “All I did was step outside as a Somali American citizen, and I got chased by a masked person, assaulted, kidnapped. It was inhumane. If this is what’s happening to a 🇺🇸 citizen on camera, imagine what could happen to your loved ones.”
"Monstrous" is the perfect word to describe ICE's treatment of ordinary people subjected to abusive detainment.
"Among these dangerous criminals the Trump administration is deporting were a mother arrested on her way to pick up her special-needs child, a mother separated from her two-month-old, the mother of a 5-year-old whose husband is a citizen, and hundreds of others." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
Trump’s Deportations Are Ripping Mothers from Their Babies
The president’s immigration policy is “beyond inhumane.”
open.substack.com
December 11, 2025 at 11:11 AM
"Monstrous" is the perfect word to describe ICE's treatment of ordinary people subjected to abusive detainment.
Wesleyan University and its president are putting it all out there in the fight against authoritarianism. They're not hiding from Trump while waiting for the storm to pass.
“We have been and can again be a country that refuses to get used to authoritarianism. We can choose instead to work with our neighbors, co-workers and fellow citizens to build our more perfect union.” — Wesleyan University President @msroth.bsky.social in @latimes.com #HigherEd
Contributor: Americans still have a choice whether to let the nation turn authoritarian
Obsequiousness and collaboration spread like viruses to weaken our republic, but the choice to support one another and defend our institutions strengthens it.
www.latimes.com
December 9, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Wesleyan University and its president are putting it all out there in the fight against authoritarianism. They're not hiding from Trump while waiting for the storm to pass.
Reposted by Mark Brandriss
They are now targeting people who did everything by the book and were literally at the ceremony where they were going to become citizens...
"Immigrants lined up to become U.S. citizens in Boston on Dec. 4 were pulled from line by USCIS officials moments before the oath ceremony"
"Immigrants lined up to become U.S. citizens in Boston on Dec. 4 were pulled from line by USCIS officials moments before the oath ceremony"
Immigrants Approved for Citizenship ‘Plucked Out’ of Line Moments Before Pledging Allegiance: Report
Immigrants lined up to become U.S. citizens in Boston on Dec. 4 were pulled from line by USCIS officials moments before the ceremony. The incident comes after USCIS told employees to halt all immigrat...
people.com
December 8, 2025 at 2:45 AM
They are now targeting people who did everything by the book and were literally at the ceremony where they were going to become citizens...
"Immigrants lined up to become U.S. citizens in Boston on Dec. 4 were pulled from line by USCIS officials moments before the oath ceremony"
"Immigrants lined up to become U.S. citizens in Boston on Dec. 4 were pulled from line by USCIS officials moments before the oath ceremony"
Reposted by Mark Brandriss
I don’t think people outside of healthcare realize how much AAP is standing out as a moral backbone of medicine right now, especially in pediatrics. There is so much fear at institutions. Seeing an org directly and repeatedly targeted refuse to budge an inch is extraordinary.
AAP: ‘Stop wasting government resources to amplify false claims’ about vaccines, autism
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its website to include false claims linking vaccines and autism, prompting a swift rebuke from the AAP and other medical experts.
publications.aap.org
November 27, 2025 at 6:17 AM
I don’t think people outside of healthcare realize how much AAP is standing out as a moral backbone of medicine right now, especially in pediatrics. There is so much fear at institutions. Seeing an org directly and repeatedly targeted refuse to budge an inch is extraordinary.
Reposted by Mark Brandriss
Trump said last year that he would focus on deporting immigrants who were violent criminals. But a study of arrests in major operations in DC, LA, Illinois and Massachusetts shows that the vast majority of those swept up by ICE have no criminal record.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
ICE Arrest Data Shows Many Immigrants With No Criminal Record
In high-profile operations, more than half of those arrested had no criminal record, an analysis shows.
www.nytimes.com
December 6, 2025 at 4:02 PM
Trump said last year that he would focus on deporting immigrants who were violent criminals. But a study of arrests in major operations in DC, LA, Illinois and Massachusetts shows that the vast majority of those swept up by ICE have no criminal record.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Reposted by Mark Brandriss
Wow! The Supreme Court basically just said, if you want to do racial gerrymandering, have at it.
Let’s be clear, what Texas did was racial gerrymandering, plain and simple. SCOTUS just opened the floodgates.
Let’s be clear, what Texas did was racial gerrymandering, plain and simple. SCOTUS just opened the floodgates.
December 5, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Wow! The Supreme Court basically just said, if you want to do racial gerrymandering, have at it.
Let’s be clear, what Texas did was racial gerrymandering, plain and simple. SCOTUS just opened the floodgates.
Let’s be clear, what Texas did was racial gerrymandering, plain and simple. SCOTUS just opened the floodgates.
Reposted by Mark Brandriss
Reposted by Mark Brandriss
I hope people take two minutes to listen to this shocking display of bigotry. It brings clarity to what we are fighting against. We should all be sick to hear such un-American drivel from the President of the United States.
Trump: "It’s a hellhole right now. And those Somalians should be out of here. They've destroyed our country. And all they do is complain, complain, complain. You have her. She’s always talking about the Constitution provides me with – go back to your own country and figure out your constitution."
December 3, 2025 at 9:53 PM
I hope people take two minutes to listen to this shocking display of bigotry. It brings clarity to what we are fighting against. We should all be sick to hear such un-American drivel from the President of the United States.
Racism has always been the foundation of the Trump movement, and the press remains barely interested. They're far more inclined to ascribe everything to economic anxiety, concerns about crime, etc. Not willing to name the monster that's been standing right in front of them for the past 10 years.
Really appreciate the clarity of the president saying black people are ruining the country and this entire room of groveling empty suits saying nothing bsky.app/profile/just...
Trump, continued: "What the Somalian people have done to Minnesota is not even believable. It’s not even believable. And a lot of it starts with the governor. A lot of it starts with Barack HUSSEIN Obama, because that’s when people started coming in... They want to kiss our country good night."
December 3, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Racism has always been the foundation of the Trump movement, and the press remains barely interested. They're far more inclined to ascribe everything to economic anxiety, concerns about crime, etc. Not willing to name the monster that's been standing right in front of them for the past 10 years.
Trump's vile comments yesterday about Somalis and Ilhan Omar are the newest exhibits in the Donald Trump is a Despicable Racist Museum. It's totally insane that the press isn't much interested in this.
December 3, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Trump's vile comments yesterday about Somalis and Ilhan Omar are the newest exhibits in the Donald Trump is a Despicable Racist Museum. It's totally insane that the press isn't much interested in this.
When Trump raged that there were millions of fake votes in 2020, millions of people believed him because it was a lie about something they couldn't see. When he brags for the millionth time that the price of everything is going down fast, nobody believes him because everyone can see it's not true.
December 2, 2025 at 10:46 PM
When Trump raged that there were millions of fake votes in 2020, millions of people believed him because it was a lie about something they couldn't see. When he brags for the millionth time that the price of everything is going down fast, nobody believes him because everyone can see it's not true.
Reposted by Mark Brandriss
Dear Senator Cassidy,
“We” didn’t. WE didn’t pardon anyone. HE did. The President of the United States pardoned him. Come on Bill, say his name. Who’s our president? Say his name.
Best,
Your Former Congressional Colleague
“We” didn’t. WE didn’t pardon anyone. HE did. The President of the United States pardoned him. Come on Bill, say his name. Who’s our president? Say his name.
Best,
Your Former Congressional Colleague
December 1, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Dear Senator Cassidy,
“We” didn’t. WE didn’t pardon anyone. HE did. The President of the United States pardoned him. Come on Bill, say his name. Who’s our president? Say his name.
Best,
Your Former Congressional Colleague
“We” didn’t. WE didn’t pardon anyone. HE did. The President of the United States pardoned him. Come on Bill, say his name. Who’s our president? Say his name.
Best,
Your Former Congressional Colleague
This Guardian article documents how Appalachian communities are being crushed by Trump's cancellation of Biden programs that were designed specifically to help them. It also documents how MAGA residents in these communities have no idea whose fault this is.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
‘Deeply demoralizing’: how Trump derailed coal country’s clean-energy revival
Biden earmarked billions for former coal communities in Appalachia – and his successor came and took it away
www.theguardian.com
November 30, 2025 at 12:03 PM
This Guardian article documents how Appalachian communities are being crushed by Trump's cancellation of Biden programs that were designed specifically to help them. It also documents how MAGA residents in these communities have no idea whose fault this is.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Mark Brandriss
This is one advantage of having the historical memory of authoritarianism, as I have from Brazil: you know that, when the regime is gone, the people who collaborated and acquiesced look terrible in retrospect. It may look reasonable and justifiable now, but believe me, it will age like milk.
November 29, 2025 at 3:34 PM
This is one advantage of having the historical memory of authoritarianism, as I have from Brazil: you know that, when the regime is gone, the people who collaborated and acquiesced look terrible in retrospect. It may look reasonable and justifiable now, but believe me, it will age like milk.
Reposted by Mark Brandriss
Pete Hegseth claims that killing two men-clutching the debris of a boat the US had destroyed-was a lawful act
No indictment. No arrest. No trial. No conviction. Not even any proof they were drug runners
Just straight to execution of two people who were-at that point-absolutely no threat to the US
No indictment. No arrest. No trial. No conviction. Not even any proof they were drug runners
Just straight to execution of two people who were-at that point-absolutely no threat to the US
November 29, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Pete Hegseth claims that killing two men-clutching the debris of a boat the US had destroyed-was a lawful act
No indictment. No arrest. No trial. No conviction. Not even any proof they were drug runners
Just straight to execution of two people who were-at that point-absolutely no threat to the US
No indictment. No arrest. No trial. No conviction. Not even any proof they were drug runners
Just straight to execution of two people who were-at that point-absolutely no threat to the US
Reposted by Mark Brandriss
When a politician says: we’ll deregulate health insurance and send you a “freedom account” check, ask: freedom to buy what? If insurers don’t offer real policies or can cherry-pick only healthy people, that money is a coupon for a store that’s not open.
November 28, 2025 at 12:52 PM
When a politician says: we’ll deregulate health insurance and send you a “freedom account” check, ask: freedom to buy what? If insurers don’t offer real policies or can cherry-pick only healthy people, that money is a coupon for a store that’s not open.
Reposted by Mark Brandriss
Elon Musk and the Trump administration gleefully shutting down USAID “has already caused the deaths of six hundred thousand people, two-thirds of them children.”
People throw around terms like genocide quite freely online but it’s hard to find other words to describe this level of man-made death.
People throw around terms like genocide quite freely online but it’s hard to find other words to describe this level of man-made death.
USAID shutdown has led to hundreds of thousands of deaths | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
The Trump administration’s decision to shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths from infectious diseases and malnutrition, accord...
hsph.harvard.edu
November 28, 2025 at 11:24 AM
Elon Musk and the Trump administration gleefully shutting down USAID “has already caused the deaths of six hundred thousand people, two-thirds of them children.”
People throw around terms like genocide quite freely online but it’s hard to find other words to describe this level of man-made death.
People throw around terms like genocide quite freely online but it’s hard to find other words to describe this level of man-made death.
Reposted by Mark Brandriss
In a way, this simply seems an elite, legacy-media microcosm of my catchall explanation for 2024:
“People were decadent and so bored by a dull, facilely annoying status quo that they decided ‘fuck it, let’s burn it all to the ground”, gambling they wouldn’t get scorched.
“In retrospect, oops.”
😕
“People were decadent and so bored by a dull, facilely annoying status quo that they decided ‘fuck it, let’s burn it all to the ground”, gambling they wouldn’t get scorched.
“In retrospect, oops.”
😕
November 22, 2025 at 7:21 PM
In a way, this simply seems an elite, legacy-media microcosm of my catchall explanation for 2024:
“People were decadent and so bored by a dull, facilely annoying status quo that they decided ‘fuck it, let’s burn it all to the ground”, gambling they wouldn’t get scorched.
“In retrospect, oops.”
😕
“People were decadent and so bored by a dull, facilely annoying status quo that they decided ‘fuck it, let’s burn it all to the ground”, gambling they wouldn’t get scorched.
“In retrospect, oops.”
😕
Reposted by Mark Brandriss
NYT jokesters: "The president also can press Congress to extend tax credits for Obamacare health insurance plans. He can work with Congress to expand legal immigration. He can nominate Fed officials who will resist political pressure to deliver short-term growth at the expense of inflation."
November 21, 2025 at 11:46 AM
NYT jokesters: "The president also can press Congress to extend tax credits for Obamacare health insurance plans. He can work with Congress to expand legal immigration. He can nominate Fed officials who will resist political pressure to deliver short-term growth at the expense of inflation."