Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Sam Wang

Jack Kessler @jackkessler.bsky.social · 52m

Last one. But it includes the (I think) invaluable advice to read the Belfast Agreement, just in case you ever bump into Lady Sylvia Hermon on the street.

The Northern Irelandification of British politics

After decades of viewing it with detachment and disdain, Britain is getting a taste of Northern Ireland’s complex politics

www.linestotake.com

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Classical Studies Memes for Hellenistic Teens @csmfht.bsky.social · 50m

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LOLGOP ❌👑❌ @thefarce.org · 47m

Halloween 2025 is going to become one of the most glorious protest events in American history (if there are enough frog costumes).

The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 5h

Things are happening at Portland's ICE facility tonight.

Read more of our protest coverage here: www.oregonlive.com/crime/2025/1...

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Pudd’nhead Watson @puddnheadwatson.bsky.social · 7h

Only if everyone finally catches up to @espinsegall.bsky.social

NY Times Pitchbot @nytpitchbot.bsky.social · 7h

Serious question: does there come a point where everyone admits that Constitutional originalism is just a made-up vibe-based philosophy that gives Republican judges a pretext for ruling however it is that Republicans want them to rule?

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Sam Wang @samwang.bsky.social · 6h

If I win the Nobel Peace Prize tomorrow, I promise to forgive all tariffs on goods I purchase from Norway

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Sam Wang @samwang.bsky.social · 6h

If I win the Nobel Peace Prize tomorrow, I promise to forgive all tariffs on goods I purchase from Norway

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Melissa Ryan @melissaryan.bsky.social · 6h

After Pritzker and Newsom threatened to leave the NGA, the Republican Chair breaks with Trump. Pressure works. Keep it up!

Alex Wayne @aawayne.bsky.social · 15h

“Oklahomans would lose their mind if Pritzker in Illinois sent troops down to Oklahoma during the Biden administration.”

The Republican chair of the National Governors Association breaks with Trump.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/u...

Oklahoma’s Republican Governor Criticizes National Guard Deployment in Chicago

www.nytimes.com

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Kevin Collins @kwcollins.bsky.social · 12h

The more interesting thing is than Platner doing just a little better on the informed ballot test than a generic Democrat against Collins on a previous ballot test is Mills doing much worse.

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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 18h

Good formulation from @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com on MAGA treating politics as war and Ds fundamentally not adapting. As I suggest in the piece/thread below JB Pritzker is operating from a similar reading of Miller and that's why he's breaking through.
www.liberalcurrents.com/democrats-mu...

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Anna O. Law @unlawfulentries.bsky.social · 23h

I teach in my undergrad class on the history of the US jury system that the institution's roots are in colonial juries serving as a counterweight to abuses of imperial power. The American jury has problems for sure but still can serve that roll. Don't blow off jury service.

Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 1d

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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David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 1d

Wait a second, Porter stayed and answered 20 more minutes of questions after the viral video snippet? Then outside of everyone who talks about politics online being frustrated theater critics, why are we having this conversation? www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/u...

Her campaign spokesman, Nathan Click, pointed out that Ms. Porter answered questions from Ms. Watts for another 20 minutes after the viral exchange. A CBS spokesperson said on Wednesday that Ms. Porter stayed for the full interview.

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 1d

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

nyti.ms

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The Jersey Vindicator @jerseyvindicator.bsky.social · 1d

Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli clashed for an hour over the cost of living, energy policy, transit, and President Donald Trump on Wednesday night in a fiery second New Jersey gubernatorial debate.

Sherrill and Ciattarelli clash on costs, energy, transit and Trump in New Jersey governor’s debate as exchanges turn personal

Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli debated the issues for an hour in a fiery second debate Wednesday.

jerseyvindicator.org

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Robert Black @hurricanexyz.bsky.social · 1d

If you are unable, as our political press is philosophically committed to being, to assess claims except on their form, you leave yourself endlessly open to being manipulated by frivolous claims

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Laura Jedeed @laurajedeed.bsky.social · 1d

More propaganda with painfully normal people zip-tied at the side of the road please, this will for sure convince the American people that you're the good guys

Homeland Security @DHSgov

We're having an All Night Revival

Still frame from a video: Painfully normal people zip tied on the side of the road, sitting on a guardrail in a row

14:30 07 Oct 25 2.1M Views

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DBdant @dbdant.bsky.social · 2d

Maybe ask Justice Sotomayor to swear her in?

DBdant @dbdant.bsky.social · 2d

If Republicans can casually ignore precedent, so can Democrats.

Speaker Johnson has no right to stop duly elected representatives from taking office.

Call a press conference on the capitol steps, and swear in Democratic Representative-Elect Adelita Grijalva - NOW.

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Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 2d

If appropriations bills are not seen as enforceable contracts, why should any Member of Congress vote to fund any part of the federal government under Donald Trump? You're voting to provide money for lawlessness. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/there-is-n...

There is no budget "deal" to be made

President Trump has so broken the constitutional framework as to make joint normal, responsible government impossible.

www.doomsdayscenario.co

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Jason Kuznicki @jkuznicki.bsky.social · 2d

This is personalism. It's the Charles I scenario -- the king rules without the a legislature and simply taxes and spends in whatever way he feels like.

Impeach, remove, disqualify.

George Pearkes @peark.es · 2d

Well that's not how appropriations work at all

*WHITE HOUSE TO TRANSFER TARIFF REVENUE TO FUND WIC: LEAVITT

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Sam Wang @samwang.bsky.social · 2d

Essentials, but you really need to read it all:

1) Hundreds of academics & policy experts are willing to help w/regime transitions, rebuilding civil society...

2) The fat lady hasn’t sung. Trump is wildly unpopular. But even a D+12 environment won’t matter if they successfully f*** w/the election.

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Sam Wang @samwang.bsky.social · 2d

He's commenting on an essay by Dan Nexon, pointing out that the existing Constitutional order has failed - and the main question is what comes after.

www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2025/10/the-...

1) The Republic as we knew it is over. The fight now is whether the new one will be a fascistic, competitive authoritarian regime or a pluralist democracy that, we can hope, is better than what came before.
2) Even if you think restoration is possible, it’s a bad idea. The Constitution has failed. Or, more accurately, the Constitutional order built out of the New Deal, the Second Reconstruction, and the repudiation of the Nixon presidency has failed. This is not a prediction. It’s not a “if we continue on our current course.” The Constitution as designed by the founders, was supposed to prevent the current regime. Its original guardrails did not work. The ones added after the Civil War did not work. The de facto amendments created by the accretion of judicial decisions did not work. The post-Watergate reforms did not work.

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Sam Wang @samwang.bsky.social · 2d

From Stephen L. Taylor: The Constitution Has Failed. outsidethebeltway.com/has-the-cons...

It is difficult to summarize how bad this administration is (it’s part of why I have the In Front of Our Nose series, because it is just so much). I suspect that if, for some reason, you are reading this but think Trump is a normal president, nothing I can say will disuade you, and if you agree with me that he is a clear threat to the constitutional order, I don’t need to make a list.

I will just note the following. He is usurping congressional authority on spending and staffing, and therefore literally ignoring the law. He has empowered ICE to violate due process. He has ordered the military to commit murder in the Caribbean (and they have complied). He has publicly directed the Attorney General to go after his enemies because he, Trump, declares them to be guilty. He has pardoned/commuted the sentences of ~1500 people who tried to disrupt a constitutional process. All the while, he and his family have been enriching themselves because he is president.

Oh, and the Supreme Court has said he is immune from prosecution for anything linked to his “official duties.”

The fact that the above is my short version of the situation is more than a bit disturbing.

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Mike the Mad Biologist and Tsar of All the Antifas @mikethemadbiol.bsky.social · 2d

The inability to dissolve failing governments is a huge problem in the U.S. We should have something akin to a no-confidence vote.

Byron @grumpysociologist.bsky.social · 10d

What's fascinating about the impending government shutdown is that it doesn't result in an election. In Canada if the government can't pass a budget it's a vote of non-confidence and an election is called to replace the failed governing party - which is the democratic thing to do

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Beverly Mann @beverlymann19.bsky.social · 3d

Really glad about this. I can't stand Jared Golden.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

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Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 3d

I am proud of MIT, where our branch of AAUP has voted unanimously to endorse this statement urging MIT leadership and the MIT Corporation to reject the Compact wholesale
docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Letter Regarding Compact

MIT Chapter of the American Association of University Professors October 6, 2025 Statement on the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” MIT has been invited by the federal governmen...

docs.google.com

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Democracy Action Network @democracyactionnet.bsky.social · 3d

Before the election, we surveyed the legal establishment about what a second Trump term could mean for the rule of law. A year later, they’re very, very worried.

We Asked 50 Legal Experts About the Trump Presidency. They’re Very, Very Worried.

Before the election, we surveyed the legal establishment about what a second Trump term could mean for the rule of law. A year later, they’re very, very worried.

www.nytimes.com

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