Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 4h

“After the war, Southern reactionaries cried ‘states’ rights.’ But before the war, they eagerly used federal power for their own ends.” Today MAGA et al oppose “aspects of government they can’t wield against their political enemies [but] happily enlarge..federal authority” for authoritarian rule.

Opinion | The Second Trump Administration Is a Museum of America’s Worst Moments

www.nytimes.com

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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 19h

On the adoption in the proposed ‘Compact’ of identity politics for its own purposes and why universities cannot sign on to it AND maintain their mission which assumes minds are changed, thoughts are developed, and no intelligence is stagnant: by Amanda Anderson 👏🏼

Opinion | When Viewpoint Diversity Means Conformity

Trump’s compact isn’t just coercive. It’s incoherent.

www.chronicle.com

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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 23h

Maybe that’s a typo? F’ing tradition is closer to it

Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 1d

“…bucking tradition…”??

You guys.

No

NPR @npr.org · 1d

President Trump is bucking tradition and legal precedent in pushing to deploy the National Guard to Democratic-led cities like Portland, Oregon, and Chicago due to what he says is rampant crime and to support his crackdown on illegal immigration.

Reposted by Bonnie Honig

Chanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 1d

SUE. HIM.

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Reposted by Bonnie Honig

Gregory Laski @greglaski.bsky.social · 2d

"The fiery intellectual W.E.B. Du Bois and the young columnist Walter Lippmann were among the first to grasp a core feature of modern mass politics: Information and a crisis of trust in the news had deformed American political life..."

Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 2d

Every word heartening, even the sad ones: “the way through will be to craft new modes of renewal adequate to the landscape of the world in which we find ourselves — forms analogous to the industrial union of the 20s, perhaps fueled by the generative civil society engine of the..nonprofit world” GIFT

Opinion | How to Save the American Experiment

www.nytimes.com

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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 2d

“Many popular theories of digital media posit it can only ever serve the latter function; I will argue below that this is not straightforwardly the case. We can, and indeed must, use every type of media we can to produce a sense of solidarity among a sizable opposition.”

Forming an Opposition Media Bloc in the Network Era

Media is a crucial tool for building solidarity among opposition to authoritarian rule.

www.liberalcurrents.com

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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 2d

Every word heartening, even the sad ones: “the way through will be to craft new modes of renewal adequate to the landscape of the world in which we find ourselves — forms analogous to the industrial union of the 20s, perhaps fueled by the generative civil society engine of the..nonprofit world” GIFT

Opinion | How to Save the American Experiment

www.nytimes.com

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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 2d

Another signal chat another must-read from HCR. Looks like Miller is running operations against Illinois and LA (is it random that these two states’ governors seem to be likeliest contenders for Dem nomination next time?) while grandpa watches old movies (on FOX!) of 2020 uprisings to license it all

October 5, 2025

On Friday the Minnesota Star Tribune reported a conversation on the messaging app Signal between one of Stephen Miller’s top deputies, Anthony Salisbury, and a senior advisor to Secretary of Defense P...

open.substack.com

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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 2d

From Warren Bennis way back when

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Reposted by Bonnie Honig

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 2d

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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 2d

Mirror mirror on the wall; who’s the fairest of them all?

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Trump tries to goad the Navy into booing "Barack Hussein Obama" but is met mostly with silence

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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 2d

Company going back to its roots

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Reposted by Bonnie Honig

Robert Loerzel @robertloerzel.bsky.social · 2d

“I would like to know by what authority United States troops come in here and shoot our citizens without the slightest warning,” the mayor of Hammond, Indiana, said in 1894. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/06/22/i...

In 1894 Pullman strike, Illinois’ governor fought president’s decision to send in troops

During the Pullman Strike of 1894, the governor of Illinois decried President Grover Cleveland’s move to call in the federal troops.

www.chicagotribune.com

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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 2d

Wait. If the claim now is that Obama did it too, then that must mean we did not have an OPEN BORDER THAT JUST LET ANYBODY IN
IN A MIGRANT
FREE FOR
ALL

Jen McGowan @iamjenmcg.bsky.social · 2d

Not to say that that was correct either but this current situation is 100% unnecessary and for show of force & cruelty

Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 2d

💯

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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 3d

💯

Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 3d

💯 “This compact is a ‘reward’ in exactly the same sense that it is ‘rewarding’ to purchase protection from the Mafia. The compact is an open, explicit threat.” They tried “bespoke negotiated dealmaking with individual schools.” Now, they turn to schools deemed “likeliest” to accept their “overtures”

Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 3d

I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.

It's especially for journalists covering this story!

Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.

Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal

A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics

balkin.blogspot.com

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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 3d

The deportation delirium leaves its damaging marks of trauma, injury, worry, and fear. Details of one case of a human taken then returned to their neighbors — below

Josh Michtom @rsgat.bsky.social · 3d

Today, I drove an hour and a half with my wife and a couple friends to pick up a neighbor who was summarily, inexplicably arrested by ICE at a check-in ten days ago and then just as inexplicably released, 100 miles from home today. It was a happy occasion, all things considered, but...

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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 3d

Government as Home Shopping Network: only the first 9 callers will get access to this deal, so call NOW

Janet Spittler @janetspittler.bsky.social · 6d

Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/u...

Trump Administration Asks Colleges to Sign ‘Compact’ to Get Funding Preference

www.nytimes.com

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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 3d

Only someone certain these powers he justifies will NEVER be used on him, could speak like this. ‘I don’t accept the premise of your question’ is a rejection of Kantian morality in which some things are just wrong no matter what. For this guy, it’s Kant for me, Utilitarianism for thee & it is banal

Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 3d

Scott Jennings is either lying or wildly misinformed about what happened in Chicago. He keeps claiming 37 Tren de Aragua gang members were arrested. As if it excuses zip tying kids.

DHS says 37 were arrested, and only 2 were suspected gang members.

Van Lathan gets it. We can’t lose our humanity.

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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 3d

💕

Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 3d

Ah now I understand. You meant he quoted the line in DC too! Great show, no?

Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 3d

I wasn’t sure the man should be on tour in the case of Elvis. But really I think Byrne’s show design taught me that Elvis could have been great with a more re-imagined and collaborative approach. I’ll be eager to hear what you think.

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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 3d

Yes! Sorry I thought that was clear. But it may not have been. I posted that while at the show. (Were you there?)

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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 3d

Also his voice is … not quite what it was. But there were high points. And with a better sound system it might be awesome. Byrne on the other hand took a creative’s approach and it was fabulous — art, image, design, dance stages to perfection 💕

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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 3d

Maybe the sound will be better at yours… though when I saw him 30 years ago at Hammersmith, sound was also awful and I could not hear a thing. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Go. Enjoy. Report back!!

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