Randy Carpenter
@prac0691.bsky.social
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
'This is already the Putin model: authoritarian rule that enables smash-and-grab oligarchy by those in the regime’s good favor. Trump is making it unusually explicit that in this sphere of influence, Trump-approved oligarchs will be enriched"
newrepublic.com/article/2049... via @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2049... via @newrepublic.com
Trump Blurts Out Dark Truth About Venezuela Plan—and About MAGA Voters
To some critics, it’s about plunder. To others, it’s about hemispheric hegemony. Actually, it’s about both.
newrepublic.com
January 7, 2026 at 2:19 PM
'This is already the Putin model: authoritarian rule that enables smash-and-grab oligarchy by those in the regime’s good favor. Trump is making it unusually explicit that in this sphere of influence, Trump-approved oligarchs will be enriched"
newrepublic.com/article/2049... via @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2049... via @newrepublic.com
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
Maybe Fox and Newsmax viewers will watch this shit. That appears to be the business model.
January 7, 2026 at 1:23 PM
Maybe Fox and Newsmax viewers will watch this shit. That appears to be the business model.
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
The United States should not be a “predator force.” We are not brute animals scrabbling in the dirt for sustenance, we are human beings who can stand side by side with friends and allies.
Ogles: "It's important that we have a stake in Greenland, that they are quite frankly a protectorate of the US. They've been in relationship with Denmark - that needs to end. We've spilled more blood protecting Greenland than the Danes... we are the dominant predator force in the Western Hemisphere"
January 7, 2026 at 1:53 PM
The United States should not be a “predator force.” We are not brute animals scrabbling in the dirt for sustenance, we are human beings who can stand side by side with friends and allies.
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
The Trump administration’s lawless attack on Senator Mark Kelly is part of a much broader project to turn the US military into a partisan militia and silence veterans who might speak out against that by threatening their pensions www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
January 7, 2026 at 2:06 PM
The Trump administration’s lawless attack on Senator Mark Kelly is part of a much broader project to turn the US military into a partisan militia and silence veterans who might speak out against that by threatening their pensions www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
Now that Trump says Venezuela will hand over 30-50 million barrels of oil, with proceeds of sales to be controlled by him, I want to reiterate: He's inviting our oligarchs to reap great riches by buying into his scheme of imperial hemispheric domination.
newrepublic.com/article/2049...
newrepublic.com/article/2049...
January 7, 2026 at 1:48 PM
Now that Trump says Venezuela will hand over 30-50 million barrels of oil, with proceeds of sales to be controlled by him, I want to reiterate: He's inviting our oligarchs to reap great riches by buying into his scheme of imperial hemispheric domination.
newrepublic.com/article/2049...
newrepublic.com/article/2049...
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
January 6 succeeded, because this administration is in power right now.
January 6th Was a Success
Trump managed to turn his presidency’s darkest day into a political springboard. And now, he’ll seek retribution.
lnk.thebulwark.com
January 7, 2026 at 4:30 AM
January 6 succeeded, because this administration is in power right now.
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
What a f-ing second - the President will use money extorted from a foreign government to fund spending without any congressional approval? Forget the impact on Venezuela, this is full-blown dictatorship in the USA.
January 7, 2026 at 12:07 AM
What a f-ing second - the President will use money extorted from a foreign government to fund spending without any congressional approval? Forget the impact on Venezuela, this is full-blown dictatorship in the USA.
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
Good point from @markjacob.bsky.social, worth thinking through now:
"The media’s general deference to the US military’s need for operational secrecy is likely to be tested in coming months and years. After all, Trump is perverting the mission of the military far beyond legitimate national security"
"The media’s general deference to the US military’s need for operational secrecy is likely to be tested in coming months and years. After all, Trump is perverting the mission of the military far beyond legitimate national security"
“The press has to ask itself: Is it still in the public interest for journalists to keep secrets about Trump’s anti-democratic use of the military?”
My free Stop the Presses newsletter.
My free Stop the Presses newsletter.
Will the press continue to keep Trump’s military secrets?
The goal is protecting the troops, but secrecy can also protect criminality
www.stopthepresses.news
January 6, 2026 at 10:59 PM
Good point from @markjacob.bsky.social, worth thinking through now:
"The media’s general deference to the US military’s need for operational secrecy is likely to be tested in coming months and years. After all, Trump is perverting the mission of the military far beyond legitimate national security"
"The media’s general deference to the US military’s need for operational secrecy is likely to be tested in coming months and years. After all, Trump is perverting the mission of the military far beyond legitimate national security"
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
This is the kind of thing that the Founders explicitly designed our constitution to prevent; a president who has seized wealth for his own benefit without any intervention from Congress, which in our system is supposed to be the holder of the power of the purse.
January 7, 2026 at 12:21 AM
This is the kind of thing that the Founders explicitly designed our constitution to prevent; a president who has seized wealth for his own benefit without any intervention from Congress, which in our system is supposed to be the holder of the power of the purse.
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
If Trump is really stealing spending power from Congress then it would be insanity for Democrats to vote to fund the government later this month. Shut it down until the president stops wiping his ass with the Constitution.
January 7, 2026 at 12:50 AM
If Trump is really stealing spending power from Congress then it would be insanity for Democrats to vote to fund the government later this month. Shut it down until the president stops wiping his ass with the Constitution.
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
This is blatantly illegal. A president can’t go into the oil business and then decide where to spend the money. We are completely untethered from our founding document with a lawless president and a Republican Congress which has abdicated all Constitutional authority.
January 7, 2026 at 12:44 AM
This is blatantly illegal. A president can’t go into the oil business and then decide where to spend the money. We are completely untethered from our founding document with a lawless president and a Republican Congress which has abdicated all Constitutional authority.
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
Just as the Nazis successfully rewrote the history of their failed putsch, so Trump is feverishly recrafting the history of Jan 6, using all the levers of power to do so. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
January 6, five years on: sustained effort by Trump to rewrite history
President and Republican allies have tried to make sure the deadly attack on the Capitol has been erased from memory
www.theguardian.com
January 6, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Just as the Nazis successfully rewrote the history of their failed putsch, so Trump is feverishly recrafting the history of Jan 6, using all the levers of power to do so. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
"How Trump Incited an Insurrection: A Jan. 6 Timeline"
Five years later, as the president attempts to rewrite what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, Zeteo has a detailed hour-by-hour guide to what Trump said and did that fateful and violent day.
Five years later, as the president attempts to rewrite what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, Zeteo has a detailed hour-by-hour guide to what Trump said and did that fateful and violent day.
How Trump Incited an Insurrection: A Jan. 6 Timeline
Five years later, as the president attempts to rewrite what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, Zeteo has a detailed hour-by-hour guide to what Trump said and did that fateful and violent day.
zeteo.com
January 6, 2026 at 3:07 PM
"How Trump Incited an Insurrection: A Jan. 6 Timeline"
Five years later, as the president attempts to rewrite what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, Zeteo has a detailed hour-by-hour guide to what Trump said and did that fateful and violent day.
Five years later, as the president attempts to rewrite what happened on Jan. 6, 2021, Zeteo has a detailed hour-by-hour guide to what Trump said and did that fateful and violent day.
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
NEW from Michael Fanone: "Today marks the five year anniversary since January 6. Five years since I was beaten and tased by a Trump-incited mob while defending the United States Capitol."
If You Aren’t Still Enraged About Jan. 6, You’re the Problem
How a J6 hero went from depression, to rage, to relentless action.
newsletter.ofthebrave.org
January 6, 2026 at 12:25 PM
NEW from Michael Fanone: "Today marks the five year anniversary since January 6. Five years since I was beaten and tased by a Trump-incited mob while defending the United States Capitol."
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
“The sky is blue, the Earth is round, and Jan. 6 was a historically violent day that will forever be a stain on this country’s history. Political convenience does not change the facts.”
www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
Five years after Jan. 6, Trump is rewriting the narrative around the Capitol siege
The president is expected to take more actions this year, including possible payments to compensate Jan. 6 defendants.
www.nbcnews.com
January 6, 2026 at 12:33 PM
“The sky is blue, the Earth is round, and Jan. 6 was a historically violent day that will forever be a stain on this country’s history. Political convenience does not change the facts.”
www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
the entire contradiction at the heart of the last 15 years of dem dysfunction has been simultaneously insisting the only mechanism for punishing republican malfeasance is the vote while also adopting a posture of bipartisan comity with those very politicians voters are supposed to be disciplining.
he should be saying their failures to act are grave violations of their oaths of office, a disgrace to the senate, blah blah blah. he should be making the case to the public to be mad, not dumping it on our laps and saying “you do something about it”
January 6, 2026 at 6:06 AM
the entire contradiction at the heart of the last 15 years of dem dysfunction has been simultaneously insisting the only mechanism for punishing republican malfeasance is the vote while also adopting a posture of bipartisan comity with those very politicians voters are supposed to be disciplining.
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
On the 5th anniversary of a day that should live in infamy, Tom Joscelyn and I discuss our post-January 6 reality. We have a pro-Jan. 6 administration in the White House that doesn't bow to election results or constitutional limits. What does that suggest for 2028?
open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
January 6 Was a Dress Rehearsal For Trump, Not a Finale (w/ Tom Joscelyn)
Five years after January 6, Bill Kristol sits down with Tom Joscelyn, the lead writer of the House January 6 Committee report, to assess where the country stands today.
open.substack.com
January 6, 2026 at 12:12 PM
On the 5th anniversary of a day that should live in infamy, Tom Joscelyn and I discuss our post-January 6 reality. We have a pro-Jan. 6 administration in the White House that doesn't bow to election results or constitutional limits. What does that suggest for 2028?
open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
“That’s a question for later”?!?
THAT’S A QUESTION FOR BEFORE.
I’m an uncredentialed derpy suburban housemom, and even I know that!
THAT’S A QUESTION FOR BEFORE.
I’m an uncredentialed derpy suburban housemom, and even I know that!
HUNT: Do you support putting American boots on the ground in Venezuela for a long period of time?
JIM JORDAN: That's a question for later. I think most Americans trust the president to do what's in the best interests of the American people
JIM JORDAN: That's a question for later. I think most Americans trust the president to do what's in the best interests of the American people
January 5, 2026 at 11:34 PM
“That’s a question for later”?!?
THAT’S A QUESTION FOR BEFORE.
I’m an uncredentialed derpy suburban housemom, and even I know that!
THAT’S A QUESTION FOR BEFORE.
I’m an uncredentialed derpy suburban housemom, and even I know that!
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
yep. i can identify any number of structural issues but at the end of the day the basic problem is the republican party. this has been apparent for at least 20 years. it is also an incredibly unpopular observation to make among “serious” people.
Right.
If you want a good explanation of why the American system of government worked well enough for 200 years and then suddenly stopped, it's because Republicans in Congress suddenly started letting their partisan interests COMPLETELY override their institutional interests
If you want a good explanation of why the American system of government worked well enough for 200 years and then suddenly stopped, it's because Republicans in Congress suddenly started letting their partisan interests COMPLETELY override their institutional interests
a lot of problems wouldn't exist if we had a congress with even an ounce of self interest
January 4, 2026 at 11:52 PM
yep. i can identify any number of structural issues but at the end of the day the basic problem is the republican party. this has been apparent for at least 20 years. it is also an incredibly unpopular observation to make among “serious” people.
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
Right.
If you want a good explanation of why the American system of government worked well enough for 200 years and then suddenly stopped, it's because Republicans in Congress suddenly started letting their partisan interests COMPLETELY override their institutional interests
If you want a good explanation of why the American system of government worked well enough for 200 years and then suddenly stopped, it's because Republicans in Congress suddenly started letting their partisan interests COMPLETELY override their institutional interests
a lot of problems wouldn't exist if we had a congress with even an ounce of self interest
Honestly insane they didn't brief the gang of eight until it was underway
January 4, 2026 at 10:47 PM
Right.
If you want a good explanation of why the American system of government worked well enough for 200 years and then suddenly stopped, it's because Republicans in Congress suddenly started letting their partisan interests COMPLETELY override their institutional interests
If you want a good explanation of why the American system of government worked well enough for 200 years and then suddenly stopped, it's because Republicans in Congress suddenly started letting their partisan interests COMPLETELY override their institutional interests
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
What in the Gestapo is going on in Grand Rapids?
Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.
Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.
January 5, 2026 at 4:12 PM
What in the Gestapo is going on in Grand Rapids?
Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.
Watch this activist get arrested *mid-interview* for speaking out against U.S. action in Venezuela.
Reposted by Randy Carpenter
If this happened to a conservative organizer, Republicans would make her a hero, a household name and a congressional candidate.
Elected Democrats just pretend it isn't happening.
Elected Democrats just pretend it isn't happening.
January 5, 2026 at 4:29 PM
If this happened to a conservative organizer, Republicans would make her a hero, a household name and a congressional candidate.
Elected Democrats just pretend it isn't happening.
Elected Democrats just pretend it isn't happening.