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Steve Potts @otispott.bsky.social · 18h

For reference the "war ravaged" area of Chicago affected by these protests is circled on this map.

map of metro Chicago with a teeny one block portion of Broadview IL circled

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Steve Potts @otispott.bsky.social · 1d

The people doing the bidding for this administration lack a moral compass.

Steve Potts @otispott.bsky.social · 1d

wow.

So according to the DOJ federal agents can stir up violence in the community to such a magnitude as to justify bringing in the National Guard and that's fine.

There's no mistaking it. The Judge asked twice.

Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 1d

Perry asks again whether, if the inability to execute the law is b/c of the feds' "own provocation, does that matter under the law?"

Hamilton: "No, if that were true, the fact still remains that we are seeing sustained violence against federal personnel and property in Illinois."

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Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 1d

Perry has turned to 10 USC 12406, and she's asking how to define "rebellion."

Hamilton suggests Perry doesn't have to define the term.

Perry: "I think I do. … I really do think I should know what the words mean."

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Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 1d

NEW: A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order barring Chicago-area fed agents from several violent actions they’ve taken against journalists, activists and “religious practitioners” protesting ICE — including Rev. Black, a plaintiff in the case. www.courtlistener.com/docket/71559...

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Steve Potts @otispott.bsky.social · 1d

Incompetence and corruption are the price we pay for Trump's pathological need to surround himself with unqualified toadies but that's what narcissists do.

The narcissist tends to surround himself with his inferiors (in some respect - intellectually, financially, physically). He limits his interactions with them to the plane of his superiority. This is the safest and fastest way to sustain his grandiose fantasies of superiority, omnipotence and omniscience, brilliance, ideal traits, perfection and so on. Humans are interchangeable and the narcissist anyhow does not distinguish one individual from another. To him they are all inanimate parts of "his audience" whose job is to reflect his false self to him. This generates a perpetual and permanent cognitive dissonance:

The narcissist despises the very people who sustain his ego boundaries and functions. He cannot respect people so expressly and clearly inferior to him - yet he can never associate with people evidently on his level or superior to him, the risk of narcissistic injury in such associations being too great. Equipped with a fragile ego, precariously teetering on the brink of narcissistic injury - the narcissist prefers the safe route. But he feels contempt for himself and for others for having preferred it. (reprinted from: https://drirene.com/7_nar.php)

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Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 2d

Jury Refuses To Indict Chicago ICE Protesters In Latest Revolt Against Trump Overreach talkingpointsmemo.com/where-things...

Jury Refuses To Indict Chicago ICE Protesters In Latest Revolt Against Trump Overreach

A grand jury Tuesday night declined to indict two protesters in the...

talkingpointsmemo.com

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Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 2d

Complete nonsense from Secretary Rubio.

The Trump administration is engaged in lawless, premeditated killings without any congressional authorization.

Schiff-Kaine resolution moves to stop that lawless killing.

The resolution would not affect authority to defend against real armed attacks.

The Schiff-Kaine resolution is up for a vote in the Senate today.

This resolution aims to strip President Trump of his constitutional authority to protect Americans by authorizing military strikes against narco-terrorists, the Houthis, and other Iranian proxies. This is dangerous — it puts our children, citizens, soldiers, and allies at risk.

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ACLU @aclu.org · 2d

ICE has bought access to an “all-in-one” surveillance tool that gives it updated location data from hundreds of millions of phones, putting us all at risk of being tracked.

The government can’t be allowed to surveil us simply for having a cell phone.

ICE to Buy Tool that Tracks Locations of Hundreds of Millions of Phones Every Day

Documents show that ICE has gone back on its decision to not use location data remotely harvested from peoples' phones. The database is updated every day with billions of pieces of location data.

www.404media.co

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Steve Potts @otispott.bsky.social · 2d

"U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Cummings concluded that attorneys for the National Immigration Justice Center and the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois provided enough evidence to show that ICE arrested 22 people without a warrant in violation of the consent decree and federal law."

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Steve Potts @otispott.bsky.social · 2d

ICE Violated Consent Decree With Warrantless Arrests, Federal Judge In Chicago Says blockclubchicago.org/2025/10/07/i...

ICE Violated Consent Decree With Warrantless Arrests, Federal Judge In Chicago Says

Attorneys argued that the recent arrest of an Albany Park family at Millennium Park violated a consent decree that limits the conditions under which federal agents can make warrantless arrests.

blockclubchicago.org

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Steve Potts @otispott.bsky.social · 2d

we've had Russia election interference revisionism,
2020 election revisionism,
Jan 6 revisionism,
now it's time for classified documents revisionism.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Eric Trump: "Why did Jack Smith plant classified manilla folders and take photoshoots on the floor of my father's office? Why?"

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d

"This is supposed to be an oversight hearing" -- Schiff helpfully ticks through all of the incriminating questions -- and there are many of them -- that Bondi refused to answer during today's hearing

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Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 3d

So, uhm, what's the track record of countries where members of the governing regime start clamoring for a "cleansing" of the political opponent?

Always remember: No matter how much they escalate the rhetoric, it doesn't mean they'll be able to do it. But let's not pretend they aren't trying.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d

Schmitt: "Let's just call it out. We need a cleansing here. Let's just be truthful about what's happening. This left-wing political violence is not a both sides thing. It's not."

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Steve Potts @otispott.bsky.social · 3d

Bondi may as well have taken the Fifth. It serves the same purpose as the answers she gave.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d

DURBIN: You won't even say whether you talked to the WH about this?

BONDI: I'm not going to discuss any internal conversations with you

D: They're going to transfer TX Guard troops to the state of Illinois. What's the rationale?

B: I wish you loved Chicago as much as you hate President Trump

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Bucks County Beacon @buckscountybeacon.com · 4d

How ‘Woke’ Went From an Expression in Black Culture to a Conservative Insult | “Wokeness” originated decades ago as African American cultural slang for having awareness and enlightenment around racism, injustice, privilege or threats of white supremacist violence, reports @apnews.com.

How 'Woke' Went From an Expression in Black Culture to a Conservative Insult - Bucks County Beacon

“Wokeness” originated decades ago as African American cultural slang for having awareness and enlightenment around racism, injustice, privilege or threats of white supremacist violence.

buckscountybeacon.com

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Steve Potts @otispott.bsky.social · 4d

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b----' before shooting chicago.suntimes.com/news/2025/10...

Attorney for woman shot by Border Patrol claims officer said 'Do something b----' before shooting

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government's claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorn...

chicago.suntimes.com

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Steve Potts @otispott.bsky.social · 4d

Trump/MAGA desperately needs antifa to be a thing, an organization, so they have an enemy with a sticky label to fight against, to rally supporters and grift from. Much like they need non-existent voter fraud to be a thing to justify voter suppression. Forever fighting phantoms for power and profit.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d

Leavitt: "The financial backing of these groups, particularly Antifa, is certainly something the administration is looking into aggressively ... we're kinda kickstarting that into gear. The FBI is working on it alongside the White House's homeland security task force."

Steve Potts @otispott.bsky.social · 4d

the tail is wagging the dog

Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 4d

1. 4 months ago, The Supreme Court gave families a right to opt out of LGBTQ+ education in schools.

Now, in Montgomery County, Maryland, where the case originated, the results are in.

Only 43 families out of 160,000 students have exercised that new right.

Subscribe to support our journalism.

Only 0.03% Opt Out Of LGBTQ+ Education In Maryland After SCOTUS Gives Them A Right To

After SCOTUS gave families a right to opt out of LGBTQ+ education, Montgomery County, Maryland is reporting only 43 families took them up on it.

www.erininthemorning.com

Reposted by Steve Potts

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 4d

From vicious immigration raids to the withholding of federal aid after wildfires, Trump's direct assaults on blue states are escalating every day.

But waiting until the midterms to repel Trump's siege on democracy, @clarajeffery.bsky.social warns, is too late. It's time to break glass.

It’s time for soft secession

How blue states can use their economic clout to stand up to Trump’s agenda—starting with California.

www.motherjones.com

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Steve Potts @otispott.bsky.social · 4d

My takeaway is if you want to have skin in the game and for your contribution to have meaning and real effect you have to be willing to put your body on the line.

Steve Potts @otispott.bsky.social · 4d

full reprint at: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://randolphcountydems.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/On-Tyranny-Twenty-Lessons-from-the-Twentieth-Century-by-Timothy-Snyder-z-lib.org_.pdf

For resistance to succeed, two boundaries must be crossed. First, ideas about
change must engage people of various backgrounds who do not agree about
everything. Second, people must find themselves in places that are not their
homes, and among groups who were not previously their friends. Protest can be
organized through social media, but nothing is real that does not end on the streets.
If tyrants feel no consequences for their actions in the three-dimensional world,
nothing will change.
The one example of successful resistance to communism was the Solidarity
labor movement in Poland in 1980–81: a coalition of workers and professionals,
elements of the Roman Catholic Church, and secular groups. Its leaders had
learned hard lessons under communism. In 1968, the regime mobilized workers
against students who protested. In 1970, when a strike in Gdańsk on the Baltic
coast was bloodily suppressed, it was the workers’ turn to feel isolated. In 1976,
however, intellectuals and professionals formed a group to assist workers who had
been abused by the government. These were people from both the Right and the
Left, believers and atheists, who created trust among workers—people whom they
would not otherwise have met.
When Polish workers on the Baltic coast went on strike again in 1980, they
were joined by lawyers, scholars, and others who helped them make their case.
The result was the creation of a free labor union, as well as government guarantees
to observe human rights. During the sixteen months that Solidarity was legal, ten
million people joined, and countless new friendships were created amid strikes,
marches, and demonstrations. The Polish communist regime put down the
movement with martial law in 1981. Yet eight years later, in 1989, when they
needed negoti…

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Steve Potts @otispott.bsky.social · 4d

I keep coming back to and re-reading this lesson about practicing corporeal politics from Prof Timothy Snyder's On Tyranny. It's meant for our time. It's meant for us.

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Practice corporeal politics.
Power wants your body softening in your chair and your emotions
dissipating on the screen. Get outside. Put your body in unfamiliar
places with unfamiliar people. Make new friends and march with
them.

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Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 4d

DEVELOPING: Illinois sues Trump over National Guard deployment

chicago.suntimes.com/donald-trump...

Illinois sues Trump over National Guard deployment

The lawsuit comes hours after a federal judge in Oregon barred Trump from deploying federalized members of the any National Guard troops under Trump's command to Oregon.

chicago.suntimes.com

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Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 5d

Here’s the longer version of this thread:

www.stevevladeck.com/p/181-courts...

181. Courts and Domestic Use of the Military

In response to adverse judicial rulings, the President's advisers and supporters are claiming courts lack the power to halt domestic use of the military. A critical early precedent is to the contrary.

www.stevevladeck.com

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