Stewart Prest
@stewartprest.ca
Recalcitrant Canadian. Political scientist at UBC in Vancouver. I research, teach and talk international relations, BCpoli, comparative democratic institutions, and contentious politics. stewartprest.ca | https://stewartprest.substack.com
Pinned
Stewart Prest
@stewartprest.ca
· Apr 12
All of this would be hilarious if it weren't so serious.
Reposted by Stewart Prest
People who aren't in Minnesota might not know that if you drive or walk past pretty much any school, there's going to be a group of people, parents and childless, standing guard to make sure the kids are safe from feds. It's pretty remarkable. And very disturbing. www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
Twin Cities students walk out, decry ICE as surge continues
Hundreds of Twin Cities high school students walked out of school Monday to protest federal immigration enforcement in Minnesota. Officials are increasingly concerned about high absenteeism in some sc...
www.mprnews.org
January 13, 2026 at 2:41 PM
People who aren't in Minnesota might not know that if you drive or walk past pretty much any school, there's going to be a group of people, parents and childless, standing guard to make sure the kids are safe from feds. It's pretty remarkable. And very disturbing. www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
Reposted by Stewart Prest
I did a whole series of stories for the Washington post late 2020/early 2021 about coup attempts, democratic backsliding and authoritarianism, and got a lot of grief from reactionary centrists about how that was "just the opinion of some elite academics"
Sure. But but it was way better for your career, and the esteem of many of your highly placed professional peers, to be wrong about this and so many people were. They’re doing great btw www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/o...
Opinion | The Resistance Libs Were Right
www.nytimes.com
January 13, 2026 at 1:22 PM
I did a whole series of stories for the Washington post late 2020/early 2021 about coup attempts, democratic backsliding and authoritarianism, and got a lot of grief from reactionary centrists about how that was "just the opinion of some elite academics"
Reposted by Stewart Prest
Plugging again for @minnesotareformer.com, which is free to read with no paywalls or ads. You don't even have to "make an account."
It's still a small team, but worth adding to your list of media.
It's still a small team, but worth adding to your list of media.
January 13, 2026 at 6:03 AM
Plugging again for @minnesotareformer.com, which is free to read with no paywalls or ads. You don't even have to "make an account."
It's still a small team, but worth adding to your list of media.
It's still a small team, but worth adding to your list of media.
The administration is not used to actively being opposed, but vigorous opposition can work!
I think the Powell move was somewhat political in that by making the first move and putting out a video he engineered a groundswell of support before the administration was ready to make its case, and now they look like they were caught red-handed before they even got the cookie out of the jar.
January 13, 2026 at 2:50 PM
The administration is not used to actively being opposed, but vigorous opposition can work!
Reposted by Stewart Prest
This woman is harder than goddamn steel dealing with these goddamn thugs. I want her to be my neighbor.
January 12, 2026 at 6:47 PM
This woman is harder than goddamn steel dealing with these goddamn thugs. I want her to be my neighbor.
Reposted by Stewart Prest
"Things here are very, very bad," a source in Tehran said on Sunday. "A lot of our friends have been killed. They were firing live rounds. It's like a war zone, the streets are full of blood. They're taking away bodies in trucks.”
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Iran warns it will retaliate if US attacks, as hundreds killed in protests
"It's like a war zone, the streets are full of blood," a source in the capital Tehran tells the BBC.
www.bbc.com
January 11, 2026 at 9:51 PM
"Things here are very, very bad," a source in Tehran said on Sunday. "A lot of our friends have been killed. They were firing live rounds. It's like a war zone, the streets are full of blood. They're taking away bodies in trucks.”
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
Reposted by Stewart Prest
The penalty for being disrespectful is now on-the-spot execution
Q: "Do you believe that deadly force was necessary?"
Trump: "It was highly disrespectful of law enforcement. The woman and her friend were highly disrespectful of law enforcement…Law enforcement should not be in a position where they have to put up with this stuff."
Trump: "It was highly disrespectful of law enforcement. The woman and her friend were highly disrespectful of law enforcement…Law enforcement should not be in a position where they have to put up with this stuff."
January 12, 2026 at 2:42 AM
The penalty for being disrespectful is now on-the-spot execution
Reposted by Stewart Prest
this really is quite something. This is a mayor of a major U.S. city saying that he cannot do what he is legally empowered to do because he doesn’t have enough guns to do it. The thing is arresting agents of the federal government who are breaking laws.
"The question that you're basically asking is, can our cops arrest them? From a legal perspective, yes. From a practical perspective...they have bigger guns than we do." That's where we're at.
Look out for @mayorjacobfrey.bsky.social on today's Bulwark Podcast with @timmiller.bsky.social!
Look out for @mayorjacobfrey.bsky.social on today's Bulwark Podcast with @timmiller.bsky.social!
January 10, 2026 at 7:29 PM
this really is quite something. This is a mayor of a major U.S. city saying that he cannot do what he is legally empowered to do because he doesn’t have enough guns to do it. The thing is arresting agents of the federal government who are breaking laws.
Reposted by Stewart Prest
Reposted by Stewart Prest
Some thoughts from me in Bloomberg.
January 10, 2026 at 7:22 PM
Some thoughts from me in Bloomberg.
Reposted by Stewart Prest
It’s increasingly difficult to argue that today’s DHS and ICE are anything other than a central part of the far right’s white nationalist project. The aesthetics of their outreach, the nature of their rhetoric, the places they hunt for new recruits…
“We’ll Have Our Home” again is a song that’s extremely popular with white nationalists. It’s all over Telegram. I think the first time I heard it was from a video of a secretive group called the Mannerbünd.
January 10, 2026 at 7:19 PM
It’s increasingly difficult to argue that today’s DHS and ICE are anything other than a central part of the far right’s white nationalist project. The aesthetics of their outreach, the nature of their rhetoric, the places they hunt for new recruits…
Reposted by Stewart Prest
Guns drawn at unarmed civilians.
Minneapolis - Border Patrol stops a protester following them, and tells the car it’s their “first and final warning” to quit.
January 10, 2026 at 7:13 PM
Guns drawn at unarmed civilians.
It's about power, folks.
He kidnapped the president of Venezuela for them
And oil companies are like
Meh
And oil companies are like
Meh
January 10, 2026 at 7:14 PM
It's about power, folks.
Reposted by Stewart Prest
@kamalaharris.com told us exactly what would happen.
Kamala Harris at her closing campaign rally:
"Donald Trump intends to use the United States Military against American citizens who simply disagree with him."
"Donald Trump intends to use the United States Military against American citizens who simply disagree with him."
January 10, 2026 at 3:29 PM
@kamalaharris.com told us exactly what would happen.
Reposted by Stewart Prest
I was just denied access to the ICE processing center at the Whipple Building.
Members of Congress have a legal right and constitutional responsibility to conduct oversight where people are being detained.
The public deserves to know what is taking place in ICE facilities.
Members of Congress have a legal right and constitutional responsibility to conduct oversight where people are being detained.
The public deserves to know what is taking place in ICE facilities.
JUST NOW: Huge mass of agents in a standoff, weapons drawn as Reps. Ilhan Omar, Angie Craig, and Kelly Morrison attempt to conduct congressional oversight at the Whipple Building, which has been HQ for thousands of ICE agents.
@zeteo.com
@zeteo.com
January 10, 2026 at 5:17 PM
I was just denied access to the ICE processing center at the Whipple Building.
Members of Congress have a legal right and constitutional responsibility to conduct oversight where people are being detained.
The public deserves to know what is taking place in ICE facilities.
Members of Congress have a legal right and constitutional responsibility to conduct oversight where people are being detained.
The public deserves to know what is taking place in ICE facilities.
The saddest part is this new world is how quickly people can learn to hate. www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/ar...
‘Didn’t like us Canadians’: Snowbirds say tensions between Canada, U.S. led to changes in travel itinerary
U.S. President Donald Trump’s talk of a 51st state has upset some Canadian snowbirds who are either choosing to migrate farther south or stay in Canada year-round instead.
share.google
January 10, 2026 at 5:57 PM
The saddest part is this new world is how quickly people can learn to hate. www.ctvnews.ca/lifestyle/ar...
Reposted by Stewart Prest
If you are an international legal scholar who would like to work @allard.ubc.ca, then please consider the Canada Impact+ Research Chair initiative and see whether your works fits under one of the strategic priority areas.
January 8, 2026 at 11:43 PM
If you are an international legal scholar who would like to work @allard.ubc.ca, then please consider the Canada Impact+ Research Chair initiative and see whether your works fits under one of the strategic priority areas.
Reposted by Stewart Prest
January 9, 2026 at 8:06 PM
This is an important point. Simply put, we're going to miss the hypocrisy. A world in which power is its own justification is a terrifying one in ways most of us are not ready for.
this @brianbeutler.bsky.social essay does a great job of fleshing out the idea I was getting at re: Venezuela and ties it to Renee Good's murder in worrying ways
www.offmessage.net/p/venezuela-...
www.offmessage.net/p/venezuela-...
January 9, 2026 at 7:43 PM
This is an important point. Simply put, we're going to miss the hypocrisy. A world in which power is its own justification is a terrifying one in ways most of us are not ready for.
Reposted by Stewart Prest
this @brianbeutler.bsky.social essay does a great job of fleshing out the idea I was getting at re: Venezuela and ties it to Renee Good's murder in worrying ways
www.offmessage.net/p/venezuela-...
www.offmessage.net/p/venezuela-...
January 9, 2026 at 7:20 PM
this @brianbeutler.bsky.social essay does a great job of fleshing out the idea I was getting at re: Venezuela and ties it to Renee Good's murder in worrying ways
www.offmessage.net/p/venezuela-...
www.offmessage.net/p/venezuela-...
Reposted by Stewart Prest
That's two polls in a row in the last 48 hours showing how much of a pipe dream Albertan independence is
Albertan Independence? Meet cold, harsh reality
New polling reinforces older polls showing little support for leaving Canada, though UCP voters are much more willing to support the idea.
Read it here: canadianpolling.substack.com/p/albertan-i...
New polling reinforces older polls showing little support for leaving Canada, though UCP voters are much more willing to support the idea.
Read it here: canadianpolling.substack.com/p/albertan-i...
Albertan Independence? Meet Reality
UCP voters are split, while NDP voters overwhelmingly oppose leaving Canada
canadianpolling.substack.com
January 9, 2026 at 6:45 PM
That's two polls in a row in the last 48 hours showing how much of a pipe dream Albertan independence is
States' rights and free speech for me, but not for thee.
Which is deeply ironic, in that "states' rights" has been a foundational rallying cry for principled conservatives in that country for generations.
January 9, 2026 at 5:43 PM
States' rights and free speech for me, but not for thee.
One of the final institutional guardrails of democracy in the US is the independence of states and their ability to govern their own democratic institutions. Basically, it makes it hard for power to be concentrated in many different locations at the same time. This is a direct assault on that.
More from the party of federalism: "the states are merely an agent for the federal government in counting and tabulating the votes. They must do what the federal government, as represented by the president of the United States, tells them, for the good of the country, to do."
January 9, 2026 at 5:23 PM
One of the final institutional guardrails of democracy in the US is the independence of states and their ability to govern their own democratic institutions. Basically, it makes it hard for power to be concentrated in many different locations at the same time. This is a direct assault on that.
Reposted by Stewart Prest
“Much as the Filipinos initially did in 1898, many Venezuelans have welcomed the removal of an oppressive leader,” writes Aroop Mukharji. “But welcoming change is not the same as welcoming the United States to take over.”
The New Imperial Age
Trump, Venezuela, and a century-old vision of American power.
www.foreignaffairs.com
January 9, 2026 at 5:07 PM
“Much as the Filipinos initially did in 1898, many Venezuelans have welcomed the removal of an oppressive leader,” writes Aroop Mukharji. “But welcoming change is not the same as welcoming the United States to take over.”
Reposted by Stewart Prest
The Alberta separatism movement is making serious efforts to align with Donald Trump’s administration
- They’ve sent 3 delegations to Washington, D.C.
- want a $500B loan from the US government
- seek connections with Wall Street + the US Treasury
www.politico.com/newsletters/...
- They’ve sent 3 delegations to Washington, D.C.
- want a $500B loan from the US government
- seek connections with Wall Street + the US Treasury
www.politico.com/newsletters/...
January 9, 2026 at 4:38 PM
The Alberta separatism movement is making serious efforts to align with Donald Trump’s administration
- They’ve sent 3 delegations to Washington, D.C.
- want a $500B loan from the US government
- seek connections with Wall Street + the US Treasury
www.politico.com/newsletters/...
- They’ve sent 3 delegations to Washington, D.C.
- want a $500B loan from the US government
- seek connections with Wall Street + the US Treasury
www.politico.com/newsletters/...