Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Rachel Larris

@rachellarris.bsky.social

1.6K followers 1.9K following 7.2K posts

I'm about studying & explaining all things Communications, Culture & Technology because that was my graduate degree. A media expert/disinformation type who will always rant about Aaron Sorkin’s impact on American politics. More Ohioan than JD. she/her.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Rachel Larris @rachellarris.bsky.social · Jan 8

If I accomplish nothing else in my career: this blog post is my legacy at least bitchkittie.blogspot.com/2006/02/long...

The long back story of Aaron Sorkin, West Wing, Televisionwithoutpity and the "U.S. Poet Laureate" episode

Note added 10/16/2010: I originally wrote this post back in 2006. It remains the most read post on this blog, often linked to when someone ...

bitchkittie.blogspot.com

5 8

Rachel Larris @rachellarris.bsky.social · 1m

Jake Tapper still believes in 2025 that Fox News was a news organization covering the Obama administration. That's naivity. www.theatlantic.com/culture/2009...

Jake Tapper Defends FOX News

In an animated exchange, an ABC reporter slams the White House for targeting FOX

www.theatlantic.com

Rachel Larris @rachellarris.bsky.social · 3m

I decided to go to bsky in case other people want to chime in about "what's wrong with Jake Tapper" that someone could know before you conduct an interview with him first.

Rachel Larris @rachellarris.bsky.social · 4m

This interview is bothering me. I can't decide if I want to tell the host in long form what's wrong with Jake Tapper. But he didn't know much about what's wrong with him before he did the interview first.

Matt Cameron @mattcameron.bsky.social · 1d

I honestly never understood why Jake Tapper took so much heat over the Biden book, especially after I actually read it, but even with all of our reservations about the state of the media rn we thought it was well worth having him on to talk it (and a lot of other things) out. I'm glad we did!

Opening Arguments Podcast @openargs.bsky.social · 1d

Good news, Bluesky: we had @jaketapper.bsky.social on to answer for his deeply divisive reporting on the mysterious drama and questions of competency which have surrounded a famous American family beset by tragedy. (We also have a few questions about that Biden book.)

youtu.be/SK27sVty29Q?...

Reposted by Rachel Larris

Kieran Healy @kjhealy.co · 4h

White House staff should just make and show him an AI-generated video where he wins, fly him to Duluth and tell him it’s Oslo, and dare the New York Times to say anything more than “Experts disagree about whether Mr Trump was awarded the Nobel Prize”.

47 500 2.4K

Reposted by Rachel Larris

Dave Itzkoff @ditzkoff.bsky.social · 3h

Donald trump can still win the Nobel Peace prize if Mike Pence has the courage

33 330 2K

Reposted by Rachel Larris

Olivia Messer @oliviamesser.bsky.social · 13h

whew

variety.com/2025/tv/news...

Human Rights Watch ‘Cannot Accept’ Donations From Aziz Ansari and Other Comedians Who Performed at Riyadh Comedy Festival

Human Rights Watch says it 'cannot accept' donations from Aziz Ansari and other comedians who performed at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia.

variety.com

23 180 1K

Rachel Larris @rachellarris.bsky.social · 14h

I wanted to know more about the flight cancellation. Not the death threats. That’s very common.

Reposted by Rachel Larris

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 16h

idk how many people there are who will throw down for jim comey, but there's a helluva lot of people who will throw down for tish james

24 130 1.4K

Reposted by Rachel Larris

max tani @maxtani.bsky.social · 15h

New: Bari Weiss booked Hillary Clinton, Mike Pompeo, and Antony Blinken for a roundtable on Gaza, her first major move at CBS.

Notably on a CBS call today in which the panel was floated, one producer also repeatedly emphasized the need to hear from Palestinians in Gaza (Weiss did not respond).

94 210 1.1K

Reposted by Rachel Larris

Jacob Shamsian @jayshams.bsky.social · 19h

I've been wondering why Dominion Voting Systems suddenly reached settlements with Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and One America News.

Turns out, it's been purchased by a Republican-owned election tech firm that insisted on it, per Axios.

www.axios.com/2025/10/09/d...

130 1.4K 2.6K

Rachel Larris @rachellarris.bsky.social · 15h

It’s not a competition for sadness, but the Letitia James indictment is much worse than Comey’s.

Rachel Larris @rachellarris.bsky.social · 15h

It really is the “mortgage fraud” charge, huh?

Reposted by Rachel Larris

Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 16h

Read the indictment returned against New York AG Letitia James, via @lawfaremedia.org:

www.documentcloud.org/documents/26...

55 190 490

Reposted by Rachel Larris

Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 15h

NOTABLE: Lindsey Halligan requested that a summons be issued for Letitia James to appear in court.

She did not request an arrest warrant.

Criminal cover sheet showing that summons, not arrest warrant, was requested for Tish James

61 300 1.2K

Reposted by Rachel Larris

Ariel Edwards-Levy @aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 15h

Currently leading CNN homepage:

DOJ indicts NY attorney general who defeated Trump in court

Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference in New York, on February 16, 2024, following a verdict against Donald Trump in his civil fraud trial.

She is the second Trump foe to be indicted in two weeks as the president continues to pursue charges against his opponents

Trump-loyalist brought charges after other attorneys voiced concerns

5 69 380

Reposted by Rachel Larris

dave wagner @davewagner.bsky.social · 15h

he won the nobel peace prize for keeping a cowcat away from his sister, try again next year everybody else

An orange and white cat looks proud, capable. He is laying on his little paws

27 68 930

Reposted by Rachel Larris

Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 1d

53 130 1.1K

Reposted by Rachel Larris

Maris Kreizman @maris.bsky.social · 1d

This is so damn scary. The book claimed that Jeffrey Epstein was the one who introduced Donald and Melania. Now the CEO of Harper UK is out.

Jay Rayner @jayrayner1.bsky.social · 1d

In other news Charlie Redmayne, the long serving CEO of HC in the UK, resigned yesterday.

55 830 2.1K

Reposted by Rachel Larris

Sarah Weinman @sarahweinman.com · 22h

I *really* want more reporting on this because the book was pretty heavily vetted by lawyers in advance of publication….

Maris Kreizman @maris.bsky.social · 1d

This is so damn scary. The book claimed that Jeffrey Epstein was the one who introduced Donald and Melania. Now the CEO of Harper UK is out.

Jay Rayner @jayrayner1.bsky.social · 1d

In other news Charlie Redmayne, the long serving CEO of HC in the UK, resigned yesterday.

15 400 1.6K

Reposted by Rachel Larris

Chris A Field, Otherverse Games @otherverseg.bsky.social · 19h

These assholes never pass up an opportunity to stick it to the Jews, do they?

Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 20h

Besides linking Tylenol in pregnant women to autism, RFK Jr. now says circumcision is part of the reason why kids are autistic.

"Children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism, and it's highly likely because they're given Tylenol. None of this is positive..."

1 1 5

Rachel Larris @rachellarris.bsky.social · 19h

Wut?

emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 19h

Sorry: The effort is to tie Tylenol to autism, relying on whack theories about circumcision.

Reposted by Rachel Larris

emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 20h

The crazy thing abt this hearing is that the Judge keeps saying, "What about this"
DOJ lawyer: Hypothetical.
Judge: Literally the Attorney General said that on TeeVee yesterday.

Jon Seidel @jonseidel.bsky.social · 20h

Perry is asking whether the law could be triggered by Illinois' sanctuary status.

Hamilton: "Well, so, it's a hypothetical. It's very different from the situation here."

Perry: "It's not. It's not a hypothetical."

She notes AG Pam Bondi has suggested just that.

5 98 350

Reposted by Rachel Larris

Karl (sad trombone noise enthusiast) @brainnotonyet.bsky.social · 20h

The fascist invasion of Americas blue cities is legal, resistance to that fascist war is illegal.

The law was never going to save us from fascism it was always going to be fully retooled to maintain,grow and build fascists power. Not curtail it.

Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 20h

BREAKING: Federal judge issues a TRO in the Northern District of Illinois (including Chicago and the Broadview ICE facility), providing protections for protesters and journalists covering the protests.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Some of the key elements:

1. It is hereby ORDERED that Defendants,' their officers, agents, assigns, and all
persons acting in concert with them (hereafter referred to as "Federal Agents"), are temporarily ENJOINED in this judicial district from:
Dispersing, arresting, threatening to arrest, threatening or using physical
force against any person whom they know or reasonably should know is a Journalist, unless
Defendants have probable cause to believe that the individual has committed a crime.
Defendants may order a Journalist to change location to avoid disrupting law enforcement,
' President Trump, one of the named Defendants, is not included in this Order.
1
Case: 1:25-cv-12173 Document #: 42 Filed: 10/09/25 Page 2 of 6 PagelD #:836
as long as the Journalist has an objectively reasonable time to comply and an objectively
reasonable opportunity to report and observe;

b. Issuing a crowd dispersal order requiring any person to leave a public place
that they lawfully have a right to be, unless dispersal is justified by exigent circumstances as defined by Department of Homeland Security Use of Force Policy (updated Feb. 6,
2023), Sections III.F and XII.E;
С.
For purposes of this Order, a crowd dispersal order is a lawful command
given by a Federal Agent for all persons to leave a designated area when three or more persons are committing acts of disorderly conduct that are likely to cause substantial harm in the immediate vicinity;
d. Using riot control weapons including kinetic impact projectiles (KIPs), Compressed Air Launchers (e.g., PIS and FN303), Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) Spray, CS gas, CN gas, or other chemical irritants, 40 mm Munitions Launchers, less-lethal shotguns,
Less-Lethal Specialty Impact-Chemical Munitions (LLSI-CM), Controlled Noise and Light Distraction Devices (CNLDDs), Electronic Control Weapons (ECWs) - on members of the press, protesters, or religious practitioners who are not posing an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer or others;

To facilitate the Defendants' identification of Journalists protected under
this Order, the following are examples of indicia of being a Journalist: visual identification as a member of the press, such as by carrying a professional press pass, badge or credentials; wearing distinctive clothing or patches that identify the wearer as a member of the press; or carrying professional gear such as professional photographic or videography
equipment. Other indicia of being a Journalist under this Order include that the person is standing off to the side of a protest, not engaging in chanting, sign holding, shouting slogans, or otherwise protesting, and documenting protest activities, although these are not
requirements. These indicia are illustrative, and a person need not exhibit every indicium
to be considered a Journalist under this Order. Defendants shall not be liable for unintentional violations of this Order in the case of an individual who does not wear a press pass, badge, or other official press credential, professional gear, or distinctive clothing that identifies the person as a member of the press.

It is further ORDERED that all Federal Agents, excepting those who do not wear a
uniform or other distinguishing clothing or equipment in the regular performance of their official
4
Case: 1:25-cv-12173 Document #: 42 Filed: 10/09/25 Page 5 of 6 PagelD #:839
duties or are engaged in undercover operations in the regular performance of their official duties, must have visible identification (for which a unique recognizable alphanumeric identifier sequence
will suffice) affixed to their uniforms or helmets and prominently displayed, including when
wearing riot gear.

1 28 76

Reposted by Rachel Larris

Jennifer C @thejenniwren.teamlh.social · 23h

🧵Today, a 9th Circuit panel, including 2 Trump appointees, will hear arguments on whether Trump has unchecked power to deploy troops to U.S. cities. At issue: his attempt to send the National Guard to Portland, despite Judge Immergut (also Trump-appointed) ruling the move “untethered to the facts.”

10 140 230

Reposted by Rachel Larris

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 23h

CHICAGO — Outside an elementary school during dismissal… horrifying. What have we become?

2.8K 10K 17K