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Denis McLaughlin

@mcldenisj.bsky.social

3.9K followers 9.1K following 1.8K posts

Current: Politics for AFT | Past: Comms for Democrats, ACLU-FL, PA AFL-CIO | Recovered

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Denis McLaughlin @mcldenisj.bsky.social · Jul 27

Back on Xitter for the time being.

Seems like Bluesky is best for engaging activists, but suboptimal for broader education and outreach efforts. Feel free to follow me there, too.

Let’s try to bridge the gap between these two sites.

Denis McLaughlin (@mcldenisj) / X

x.com

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Denis McLaughlin @mcldenisj.bsky.social · 1d

The state’s job isn’t to moralize the market. It’s to govern and regulate it.

Anything less is wishful thinking dressed up as civic virtue.

/10

Denis McLaughlin @mcldenisj.bsky.social · 1d

Obama's framing isn’t just soft, it’s a symptom.

It treats corporate retreat as a moral failure, not a structural inevitability.

Until we fix THAT, we’ll keep mistaking market PR for principle.

9/

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Denis McLaughlin @mcldenisj.bsky.social · 1d

The fix isn’t better corporate virtue.

The fix is stronger public institutions. Build laws that make it impossible to betray the public good without consequence. Stop begging corporations to be moral and make government capable again.

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Denis McLaughlin @mcldenisj.bsky.social · 1d

Obama’s right that people have a capacity to stand up. But companies aren’t people—despite what SCOTUS would have you believe.

They’re machines built to convert capital into more capital. (^ this also goes to why Citizens United was wrongly decided)

They don’t “stand up.” They pivot.

7/

Denis McLaughlin @mcldenisj.bsky.social · 1d

A democracy that relies on CEOs for courage has already surrendered the plot.

Public purpose belongs in public hands—law, regulation, enforcement—not corporate press releases about “values.”

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Denis McLaughlin @mcldenisj.bsky.social · 1d

The deeper issue isn’t that these places folded. It’s that they were ever in a position to matter this much in the first place.

We’ve outsourced moral authority to entities whose only mandate is quarterly profit.

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Denis McLaughlin @mcldenisj.bsky.social · 1d

When companies roll back DEI policies or cozy up to a hostile administration, that’s not “cowardice.”

That’s the market doing what the market does: chasing favor, contracts, and survival.

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Denis McLaughlin @mcldenisj.bsky.social · 1d

This is the same neoliberal reflex that got us here: pretending private actors can fill the void left by a hollowed-out public sector.

Government retreats, corporations step in, and suddenly we act shocked when they act in their own interest.

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Denis McLaughlin @mcldenisj.bsky.social · 1d

Corporations aren’t moral actors. Their job isn’t justice, it’s profit. Their constituencies are shareholders and their respective communities, not the public.

Expecting them to “take a stand” on principle is like expecting a shark to go vegan.

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Denis McLaughlin @mcldenisj.bsky.social · 1d

The Guardian piece about Obama scolding corporations for “cutting deals” with Trump completely misses the point.

The problem isn’t that companies lacked courage. It’s that we EVER expected them to have any.

🧵1/10

(bear with me on the threads bc I'm delayed in an airport)

Obama takes aim at companies cutting deals with Trump: ‘We have capacity to take a stand’

Universities, law firms and businesses that have changed course should have stood by convictions, says ex-president

www.theguardian.com

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Denis McLaughlin @mcldenisj.bsky.social · 13d

Christofascists melting down over Pope Leo is 🌟divine🌟

Reposted by Denis McLaughlin

David Sirota @davidsirota.com · 27d

TIMELINE:

- Kimmel makes late-night joke

- FCC chair threatens companies running Kimmel

- Nexstar throws Kimmel off its stations as it begs FCC chair for merger approval

- Disney suspends Kimmel as it begs Trump DOJ to approve Fubo deal

FOLLOW THE MONEY👇

www.levernews.com/the-real-rea...

The Real Reason They Pulled Jimmy Kimmel Off Late-Night

This censorship isn’t about jokes — it’s about serving corporate interests.

www.levernews.com

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Reposted by Denis McLaughlin

Malcolm Nance, Leading Resister @malcolmnance.bsky.social · 27d

TERRORISM EXPERT HERE:
He cannot designate an idea as a terrorist group.

There is no org called ANTIFA. There is no leadership or funding path or no membership. Also there is no terrorism law in America. Ask Luigi.

He wants to call anyone a terrorist. That’s Fascism.

#ReleaseTheEpsteinFiles

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Denis McLaughlin @mcldenisj.bsky.social · 27d

For anyone needing a timeline cleanse, yesterday I had the privilege of adopting my wife’s 5 y/o son to whom I’ve been a stepfather to since he was 11 months old.

Feeling on top of the world today!

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Denis McLaughlin @mcldenisj.bsky.social · Sep 3

More pro-death shit from the self proclaimed “pro-life party.”

Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · Sep 3

In win for infectious diseases, Florida to end all school vaccine requirements arstechnica.com/health/2025/...

In win for infectious diseases, Florida to end all school vaccine requirements

Exposing vulnerable people to vaccine-preventable disease is just part of life, Ladapo said.

arstechnica.com

Reposted by Denis McLaughlin

Santiago Mayer @santiagomayer.com · Aug 26

I have not gotten as many texts asking if I saw "the news" since Joe Biden dropped out

Pop Crave @popcrave.com · Aug 26

“Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married 🧨”

— Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce announcing their engagement

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Reposted by Denis McLaughlin

In These Times @inthesetimes.com · Aug 23

Last year, broken air conditioning systems in Orlando schools led to students being hospitalized with heat-related illness.

This year, teachers say: Never again.

They’re using their union power to demand safe, cool classrooms.

Teachers Try to Beat the Heat

As extreme heat rises in Orlando, Fla., teachers turn to collective bargaining to ensure comfortable, air-conditioned classrooms.

inthesetimes.com

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Reposted by Denis McLaughlin

Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · Aug 22

The only thing I can say about this paragraph is read it. Sit with it. Read it again. @michaelharriot.bsky.social

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Denis McLaughlin @mcldenisj.bsky.social · Aug 22

Sometimes really serious people follow me on here and I really wonder what led them to this abyss

Denis McLaughlin @mcldenisj.bsky.social · Aug 13

100% this. Dems lose policy debates because they’re always fighting from a defensive posture.

It validates the attack lines, and the attack lines are what sticks in the public’s minds.

Oliver Willis @owillis.bsky.social · Aug 13

If a Democrat says “actually I’m tough on crime,” you are immediately accepting and validating the GOP attack that Democrats aren’t tough on crime. This is the basic communications shit that establishment Democratic consultants are too dumb to understand.

Reposted by Denis McLaughlin

Larry Glickman @larryglickman.bsky.social · Aug 13

The media is far more likely to frame liberal-left politicians, like Mamdani, as extremist than they are the President, who has made no attempt to conceal his authoritarian inclinations.

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Denis McLaughlin @mcldenisj.bsky.social · Aug 13

Like most of the things this administration does, fwiw.

Denis McLaughlin @mcldenisj.bsky.social · Aug 13

It can be both a distraction and a dangerous moment for democracy

DrH @drhaup.bsky.social · Aug 13

To write this off as a “distraction” misses the danger of the moment; the potential for unbridled deployment of the military for domestic policing."
open.substack.com/pub/contrari...

What We Make of Trump's Fascist Takeover of D.C. Policing

...and why it matters far beyond the city limits.

open.substack.com

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Denis McLaughlin @mcldenisj.bsky.social · Aug 11

@washlegalclinic.bsky.social would be a good place to start!

Reposted by Denis McLaughlin

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · Aug 11

With Trump set to use crime as a fake justification to threaten DC today, media coverage should make one thing clear: At this point his pattern of manufacturing pretexts for militarizing domestic law enforcement has become undeniable. Some thoughts on that here:

newrepublic.com/article/1987...

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