David Pauling
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dcpauling.bsky.social
David Pauling
@dcpauling.bsky.social
110 followers 380 following 160 posts
Family, friends, meaningful work, live music, the 49ers. These are the good things.
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Reposted by David Pauling
billcorbett.bsky.social
People not in Minnesota: please read this excellent summary of what life is like in Minneapolis since the murderous scum ICE swarmed here. And more are on their way. By local reporter / writer / bike dude / legend @dbrauer.net .
Text: “A friend said those of us who live in Minneapolis should write about what's going on here for folks who live elsewhere. You need to know that whether you're a Republican, Independent or Democrat, the Constitution is being violated by our federal government. This is not about catching criminals, or even deporting people. It is about punishing an entire state, including citizens, for not supporting the president. Everyone in my part of Minneapolis is affected. On our streets, ICE is stopping people of color and demanding their papers. In America. US citizens do not have to prove citizenship to ICE. Yet people are being intimidated, some cases beaten up and detained, for requiring ICE to follow the law. ICE needs a judicial warrant to enter homes. Yet there are documented cases of them ignoring the law - violating a bedrock constitutional principle. Americans of color are staying home, afraid to go to work, school, to grocery shop, or fill their cars with gas. This isn't just "illegals" or immigrants with valid work permits, it is citizens who have had their cars rammed by ICE for merely looking Hispanic. Businesses are closing. Schools are 50 percent full. When they are open, fascists are calling in bomb threats because the president decided to make us a meme. After a daycare teacher with a valid work permit (through 2030) was snatched from her workplace, parents (and grandparents) have had to organize to watch their SCHOOLS, to make sure conditional rights are observed. This is being repeated throughout Minnesota. Imagine trying to do your job or live you life while also taking volunteer shifts to make sure the federal government doesn't act extrajudicially. Because of ICE's documented abuses, neighbors have organized to monitor federal actions. This observation is legal, as long as it doesn't interfere with a valid action. Yet since ICE killed Renee Good, they are increasingly stopping this observation, breaking car windows and …”
January 13, 2026 at 10:38 PM
Reposted by David Pauling
acyn.bsky.social
Shapiro: J.D. Vance is profoundly and pathetically a weak human being, and he does whatever he thinks his boss wants him to do.

What we need right now is not idiotic gaslighting from the sitting VP

He should be ashamed of himself—and he’s not. I think that speaks to the weakness of his character.
January 9, 2026 at 10:53 PM
Reposted by David Pauling
refrag.bsky.social
Today is the day to repost this meme about International Men's Day, one of the most unironically wholesome memes that has ever been made.

Shoutout to all my fellow champs, chiefs, and kings. ✊
Nerdy kid at keyboard: Hi guys, I've noticed that it is International Men's Day today, and I'm confused. Why do we need a day to talk about men? We're not a marginalised group like women, queer people, or people of colour. The media is already full of stories about men. Big buff shirtless dude at keyboard: I'm glad you asked, champ. Whatever your view on men's place in society, it's still true that we face a lot of issues - like social isolation, risk of suicide, health problems, and attitudes towards sex and child rearing. Having a day to talk about those doesn't take away from anyone else's problems. In fact, having a day to talk about them helps us be more mindful, and listen better at other times. Second shirtless buff dude on a couch at his laptop: The chief here is really on to something. I want to echo what he said, and also point out that the idea we should remain silent about our problems actually contributes to a lot of our issues. We are human beings, with human needs. Seeking mutual support and understanding isn't the same thing as placing a burden on others. Especially if we're providing it for each other. Third buff dude at his laptop: Right on, my fellow kings. We've inherited a social legacy of competition and division, and a lot of what makes a man in our era is under question. IMD is a chance for us to examine and rethink what we are together, and build the bonds of solidarity and support that will make a better way possible - like in this meme. Because in our hearts, we're all curious kids and buff guys on keyboards.
November 19, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Reposted by David Pauling
davidjroth.bsky.social
This is really well done. slate.com/business/202...
I Went to Watch the Tiny Operation That’s Making ICE Lose Its Mind. A Lot Can Happen in 24 Hours.
At the headquarters for Donald Trump’s darkest work, a few people are getting under the administration’s skin.
slate.com
October 28, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Reposted by David Pauling
rbreich.bsky.social
"Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all God's children." —MLK Jr.
October 13, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Reposted by David Pauling
adamserwer.bsky.social
www.vanityfair.com/news/story/c...
Charlie Kirk, Redeemed: A Political Class Finds Its Lost Cause
By ignoring the rhetoric and actions of the Turning Point USA founder, pundits and politicians are sanitizing his legacy.
www.vanityfair.com
September 16, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Reposted by David Pauling
protecttruth.bsky.social
Every word of this Korean editorial is true, and it could be easily be published in any American newspaper in the news sections.
sarahjeong.bsky.social sarah jeong @sarahjeong.bsky.social · Sep 14
idk if you've seen this south korean editorial that ran a few days ago. google translate version scorched my eyebrows www.hani.co.kr/arti/opinion...
Maga is fundamentally a populist white racism. The slogan "Make America Great Again" is more accurately described as "Make White America Greater." The fact that the tariff policy insisted on a 50% tariff only on steel and aluminum stems from the concentration of these groups in the Rust Belt. The massive crackdown on illegal immigrants at the Hyundai-LG Energy Solutions joint venture plant in Georgia must be understood in this context. The scenes of our workers being chained and escorted away were reminiscent of the dragging of African slaves in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Department of Homeland Security boasted of "the largest single-site raid in history," and Immigration and Customs Enforcement even brazenly released footage of the raid, which was highly violating human rights, as if to boast of their "achievement." Far-right whites may have secretly rejoiced. Even politicians like the Georgia governor and local lawmakers, who had been active in attracting factories, have shifted their stance and sympathized with their grievances. This is likely because it's difficult to ignore the anti-immigrant sentiment of native Americans. Like the McCarthyism that swept through American society in the 1950s, irrational madness dominates American society. The recent visa issue, which could have been resolved diplomatically with advance notice from an ally, is difficult to explain beyond political maneuvering. The fact that they mobilized helicopters and armored vehicles for show, as if they had been caught, is difficult to explain.
September 14, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Reposted by David Pauling
cooperlund.online
Yeah man they ain’t coming back. This is going to be one of the biggest foreign policy blunders of my lifetime, and it’s entirely possible that some guy at ICE ordered it not having any clue what he was doing. This is why we used to leave foreign affairs to sensitive nerds.
Their waists and hands were tied together, forcing them to bend down and lick water to drink. The unscreened bathrooms contained only a single sheet to cover their lower bodies. Sunlight barely penetrated through a fist-sized hole, and they were only allowed access to the small yard for two hours. Detained by US immigration authorities for eight days, the workers and their families expressed shock, describing human rights violations and absurdities they could not have imagined as ordinary Koreans living in 2025.
September 14, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Reposted by David Pauling
sharonk.bsky.social
korean reporting is nightmarish on the conditions Korean workers were contained in
Their waists and hands were tied together, forcing them to bend down and lick water to drink. The unscreened bathrooms contained only a single sheet to cover their lower bodies. Sunlight barely penetrated through a fist-sized hole, and they were only allowed access to the small yard for two hours. Detained by US immigration authorities for eight days, the workers and their families expressed shock, describing human rights violations and absurdities they could not have imagined as ordinary Koreans living in 2025.
September 14, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Reposted by David Pauling
panasonicdx4500.bsky.social
“The New York Times collaborated with a white nationalist eugenicist hacker and agreed to keep his identity a secret to publish a Zohran Mamdani hit piece” is a way bigger story than “18 year old Zohran Mamdani ticked ‘African American’ on his Columbia application because he was a citizen of Uganda”
July 4, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Reposted by David Pauling
tedleo.bsky.social
bleak fucking outlook for our stupid species
June 22, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Reposted by David Pauling
edzitron.com
Newsletter: We are in the era of the Business Idiot, where middle management has seized power, breeding out true meritocracy and value-creation in favor of symbolic growth and superficial intelligence. This piece ties together everything I've ever written.

www.wheresyoured.at/the-era-of-t...
The Era Of The Business Idiot
Fair warning: this is the longest thing I've written on this newsletter. I do apologize. Soundtrack: EL-P - $4 Vic Listen to my podcast Better Offline. We have merch. Last week, Bloomberg profiled ...
www.wheresyoured.at
May 21, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Reposted by David Pauling
opinionhaver.bsky.social
probably not the entire Neo-fascist moment, but large parts of it, could have been strangled in it's crib by taking the law seriously when it came to rich people and right wing politicians, rather than pearl-clutching about slippery slopes or the appearance of impropriety.
boxelderdust.bsky.social Vaquera Elisa @boxelderdust.bsky.social · Apr 4
At some point there's going to be a serious reckoning over the fact that a large part of the reason for the surge in lawlessness was the Respectable Mainstream Press extorting the authorities into non-enforcement of the law against very obviously guilty rightist criminals basically just For Teh Lulz
boxelderdust.bsky.social Vaquera Elisa @boxelderdust.bsky.social · Apr 4
Journalists

👎🏼
April 7, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Reposted by David Pauling
60minutes.bsky.social
60 Minutes could find no criminal records for 75% of the Venezuelans the U.S. sent to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador. https://cbsn.ws/4clubLP
Trump administration deports gay makeup artist to prison in El Salvador
A gay man with no known criminal record sought asylum in the U.S. He's since become one of 238 Venezuelan migrants deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador by the Trump administration.
cbsn.ws
April 7, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Reposted by David Pauling
kendraserra.bsky.social
Our official statement from Albert Sellars LLP on President Trump's recent executive order.
Statement from Albert Sellars LLP on Trump’s Executive Order "Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court" Fuck that fascist nonsense. Albert Sellars logo: the word Albert with an x where the upper right stroke is left as a dot, followed by the word Sellars in a san serif font.
March 23, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Reposted by David Pauling
annabower.bsky.social
Tonight, hours after the Paul Weiss news broke, an associate at Skadden Arps sent a firm-wide email:

"Please consider this email my two week notice, revocable if the firm comes up with a satisfactory response to the current moment...We do not have time. It is now or it is never..."
Jeremy and colleagues, Many deals I work on have concepts of conditional notice. This is mine. Please consider this email my two week notice, revocable if the firm comes up with a satisfactory response to the current moment, which should include at minimum (i) signing on to the firm amicus brief in support of Perkins Coie in its litigation fighting the Trump administration's executive order against it, ii) committing to broad future representation, regardless of whether powerful people view it as adverse to them, (iii) refusal to cooperate with the EEOC's request for personal information of our colleagues clearly targeted at intimidating non-white employees, (iv) public refusal to fire or otherwise force out employees at the Trump administration's directive or implied directive and (v) public commitment to maintenance of affinity groups and related initiatives. This is not what I saw for my career or for my evening, but Paul Weiss' decision to cave to the Trump administration on DEl, representation and staffing has forced my hand. We do not have time. It is now or it is never, and if it is never, I will not continue to work here.
March 21, 2025 at 6:20 AM
dcpauling.bsky.social
More particularly, firms who don't stand for the rule of law in these moments need to know that fecklessness will be remembered if we can get through the next four years. I'll never send a dime of business to Paul Weiss or Jones Day ever again
sifill.bsky.social Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · Mar 22
It’s going fast. Lawyers have to move in unity - law firms, civil rights, law schools, tax lawyers, prosecutors, criminal defense, family law, civil law, immigration.

Stand together. Fight for our integrity and our profession.
sifill.bsky.social Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · Mar 22
I don’t see how, unless our entire profession stands shoulder-to-shoulder in unity, we successfully push back against this effort to break our profession and our democracy.

Cowering & compromising won’t work. He is attacking us for the success of our work.

www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
March 23, 2025 at 2:11 AM
Reposted by David Pauling
kenwhite.bsky.social
This is how law firms should do it.
kekerllp.bsky.social Keker, Van Nest & Peters @kekerllp.bsky.social · Mar 22
Our first post is a big one...Statement from Keker, Van Nest & Peters on Trump’s Latest Executive Order “Preventing Abuses of the Legal System and the Federal Court.”
“Trump’s new Executive Order underscores how far removed this President, Attorney General and Administration are from our nation’s Constitution and bedrock values. Our liberties depend on lawyers’ willingness to represent unpopular people and causes, including in matters adverse to the Federal Government. An attack on lawyers who perform this work is inexcusable and despicable. Our profession owes every client zealous legal representation without fear of retribution, regardless of their political affiliation or ability to pay. We encourage law firm leaders to sign on to an amicus effort in support of Perkins Coie’s challenge to the Administration’s executive order targeting the firm, and to resist the Administration’s erosion of the rule of law.” – John Keker, Robert Van Nest, Elliot Peters, Laurie Carr Mims, and the Keker, Van Nest & Peters Partnership
March 22, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Reposted by David Pauling
jasondashbailey.com
"They are looking to their leaders for courage and for conviction, and what they are finding instead is collaboration. That is unacceptable."

MORE OF THIS PLEASE
premthakker.bsky.social Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · Mar 12
Wow. Watch this from Zohran Mamdani. It looks like the exact "fight" and "conviction" people are hopelessly asking for from the people in charge of the Democratic party:
March 12, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Reposted by David Pauling
maxkennerly.bsky.social
Yes. If DHS can barge in, say your visa was revoked, be told you have a green card, say it's revoked too, and then disappear you so that neither your lawyer nor your family can find you, then all the guardrails are gone. There is no policy, practice, or law protecting anyone.
jamellebouie.net jamelle @jamellebouie.net · Mar 9
re the previous repost: if they can disappear permanent residents they can disappear citizens
March 9, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Reposted by David Pauling
chriswarcraft.bsky.social
These are brown shirts, and this is Nazi behavior.

We are not in a fight between right and left anymore. This is a fight between Americans and those who would bend the knee to a king. If you care about the soul of this country, we have to stand for each other.
resistokatt.bsky.social Sabo-Katt @resistokatt.bsky.social · Feb 23
There's going to be news about a woman illegally detained and being forcely removed from a Coeur d'Alene Idaho Town Hall meeting taking place at the high school by men that would not identify themselves wearing plain clothes because she opposed the republican viewpoints.
youtube.com/shorts/hhJdH...
KCRCC Town Hall in Coeur d'Alene Idaho woman illegally detained
YouTube video by Devin Prewett
youtube.com
February 23, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Reposted by David Pauling
golikehellmachine.com
there’s just no legitimate reason for journalists to remain there, your work will not be recognized, abandon it, it’s poisoning you and everyone else who stays because you are there.
jamiedupree.bsky.social Jamie Dupree @jamiedupree.bsky.social · Feb 21
Over on X, simple tweets by my colleague Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal Constitution have been blocked. They were nothing but video of a town hall held by Rep. Rich McCormick R-GA where he was asked questions about DOGE
February 21, 2025 at 4:02 AM
Reposted by David Pauling
jdcmedlock.bsky.social
I hope America is as lucky as the delta jet - everyone survives but the right wing explodes
Video obtained by CNN shows the rear landing gear of the jet buckling and the right wing shearing away in a fireball after the plane landed hard on the runway.
February 18, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Reposted by David Pauling
marisakabas.bsky.social
I wrote about Elon Musk and Gavin Kliger and acknowledging the reality of what they are: Nazis.
We’re dealing with actual Nazis
Musk and his young mercenary are anything but subtle.
www.thehandbasket.co
February 18, 2025 at 12:03 AM