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dwmbarker.bsky.social
Derek Barker
@dwmbarker.bsky.social
1.7K followers 530 following 750 posts
Senior program officer for research initiatives, Kettering Foundation. Political theorist, editor of From Many, We blog. Studies democracy, virtue ethics, Aristotle. Orioles fan. Opinions expressed here are mine. https://kettering.org/newsletter-optin/
kettering.org
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dwmbarker.bsky.social
Derek Barker @dwmbarker.bsky.social · 23d
Check out latest by @andrew-whitehead.bsky.social in our blog series. Christian nationalism does not just mean Christian or conservative. Five distinguishing elements make it a key threat to democracy.
kettering.org
Kettering Foundation @kettering.org · 27d
Each threatens the promise of an inclusive democracy. Understanding them is the first step in resisting them. bit.ly/467FiFm
Five Elements of Christian Nationalism
Christian nationalism envisions a very particular nation: one that is ordered in such a way that only a certain group remains at the top and in charge while others have limited access to the levers of...
bit.ly
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sifill.bsky.social
Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 10h
Love this. “NATO for nonprofits.”

www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...
'NATO for nonprofits': Groups organize to band together if targeted by Trump
Nonprofit organizations took lessons away from law firms and universities that largely decided to act in isolation after finding themselves in the administration's crosshairs.
www.nbcnews.com
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joycewhitevance.bsky.social
Joyce White Vance @joycewhitevance.bsky.social · 10h
Some cases take on outsized importance, with issues that transcend the decision the parties ask the courts to make. This is one of those cases. The stakes are high: the integrity of the Justice Department and the ability of a president to corrupt the rule of law. open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...
The Slow Death Facing The Comey Prosecution
This morning at 10 a.m., former FBI Director Jim Comey was arraigned in federal court.
open.substack.com
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dwmbarker.bsky.social
Derek Barker @dwmbarker.bsky.social · 18h
Kettering fellows Steve Levitsky and J. Michael Luttig on SCOTUS pattern of appeasing Trump. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Why does the supreme court keep bending the knee to Trump? | Steven Greenhouse
As a new term begins, the justices have continually failed to provide a check on presidential power – with disastrous consequences
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Derek Barker
hahrie.bsky.social
Hahrie Han @hahrie.bsky.social · 19h
Totally, completely flabbergasted. #MacFellow

hub.jhu.edu/2025/10/08/h...
Johns Hopkins political scientist Hahrie Han receives MacArthur genius grant
Han, who studies political organizing and collective action and who has led the university's SNF Agora Institute since 2019, among 22 individuals to receive coveted MacArthur Foundation recognition
hub.jhu.edu
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dwmbarker.bsky.social
Derek Barker @dwmbarker.bsky.social · 1d
So far the pattern is that they have caved. The key question that needs to be emphasized is that settling has not stopped the administration from escalating the attacks, actually the opposite. If they have any sort of long term awareness the self interest argument fails.
jwmueller-pu.bsky.social
Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 1d
"Precisely because they have been losing court cases over free speech and visas for foreign students, Trumpists now seek to entrap universities in a deal that effectively removes the protections of federal law and gives the administration arbitrary power over them."
US universities must reject Trump’s ‘compact’. It is full of traps | Jan-Werner Müller
The administration is trying to make nine universities an offer they seemingly cannot refuse
www.theguardian.com
dwmbarker.bsky.social
Derek Barker @dwmbarker.bsky.social · 2d
I'm all for contrarian takes but sometimes the conventional wisdom is just right.
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devawo.bsky.social
Deva Woodly @devawo.bsky.social · 2d
Oooo! Federalism!
heartlandsignal.bsky.social
Heartland Signal @heartlandsignal.bsky.social · 2d
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson:

"Private establishments can partner with us to make it clear that private property is private property and ICE cannot enter establishments without a valid warrant ... If Congress will not check this administration, then Chicago will."
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dwmbarker.bsky.social
Derek Barker @dwmbarker.bsky.social · 2d
NYTimes highlights from Athens Democracy Forum, including comments by @kettering.org global democracy fellow Ivan Vejvoda. www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/w...
Democracy and Its Discontents
www.nytimes.com
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lindsaypcohn.bsky.social
Lindsay P Cohn @lindsaypcohn.bsky.social · 3d
Folks we are watching the adjudication of some of the most important constitutional issues of federalism, executive discretion, and judicial review since the 19th c

www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...
Judge issues new broader order barring any National Guard from relocating to Oregon
Judge asked federal government lawyer: 'Do you believe this is an appropriate way to deal with a judge’s order that you disagree with?'
www.oregonlive.com
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nateschenkkan.bsky.social
Nate Schenkkan @nateschenkkan.bsky.social · 3d
I and most people I have worked with are in this post
irhottakes.bsky.social
Starfish Who Can’t Think Something Witty @irhottakes.bsky.social · 3d
I don't really polisci post much anymore because it's like "Hi, political scientist here. I'm a big brain expert who ran 5 trillion lines of code in R and read 900 books and I'm here to tell you it's bad when masked stormtroopers kidnap your baby. Don't forget to like and follow."
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dwmbarker.bsky.social
Derek Barker @dwmbarker.bsky.social · 3d
I am a political theorist! I can analyze hidden messages in Plato and quote from Aristotle's Politics, and I can tell you with certainty that dehumanizing vulnerable minorities and stoking political violence is a dangerous combination.
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faredalmahlool.bsky.social
Fared Al Mahlool | فريد المحلول @faredalmahlool.bsky.social · 4d
Long live free Georgia!
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dwmbarker.bsky.social
Derek Barker @dwmbarker.bsky.social · 4d
Gratitude is what inferiors do to suck up to their feudal masters
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cherylrofer.bsky.social
Cheryl Rofer @cherylrofer.bsky.social · 5d
Great post by @dhnexon.bsky.social containing many of the ideas he's been trial-running here.
The State of the Republic is Grim - Lawyers, Guns & Money
If you’re on Bluesky and follow me, you’ve probably seen that I’m writing threads that really should be the basis for posts at LGM. You’ve also likely gotten a bead on where I am these days. Here’s a ...
www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com
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dwmbarker.bsky.social
Derek Barker @dwmbarker.bsky.social · 5d
Defund NATO, join Qatar?
ebharrington.bsky.social
Brooke Harrington @ebharrington.bsky.social · 5d
That "free gift" Qatar made of a jumbo jet for Donald Trump turned out to be pretty expensive, huh? I wonder how many Americans lives it will cost.

www.bbc.com/news/article...
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erininthemorning.com
Erin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 5d
1. Abigail Spanberger is pulling ahead in the Virginia Governor Race, as her opponent, Earle-Sears blankets the state with anti-trans ads.

Now, a new poll shows why those ads are failing: Voters don't care about trans issues.

Those who do? They're Democrats.

Subscribe to support our journalism.
Anti-Trans Campaign Against Spanberger In Virginia Gov Race Is Failing. New Poll Shows Why: People Don't Care.
A new poll released in the Virginia governors race shows that the anti-trans attack ads led by Republican Earle-Sears is failing: Spanberger is up 10, and people don't care about trans issues.
www.erininthemorning.com
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kettering.org
Kettering Foundation @kettering.org · 6d
When institutions falter, movements rise.

We are living in a time when many of the institutions designed to keep our society functioning are struggling. They are not meeting people’s needs or responding effectively to the challenges of the moment.
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jaylyall.bsky.social
Jason "Red5" Lyall @jaylyall.bsky.social · 6d
"It is not hyperbole to say that the future of higher education in America requires that every university reject it. If any schools capitulate, the pressure will be enormous on all to fold. The only solution is solidarity & collective action against this effort at federal control over higher ed"
Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion
www.nytimes.com
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dwmbarker.bsky.social
Derek Barker @dwmbarker.bsky.social · 6d
No extremism penalty but is there an extremism bonus on either side?
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dwmbarker.bsky.social
Derek Barker @dwmbarker.bsky.social · 6d
We really need to protect are kids from cis gender ideology
hanayanagi.kim
willow 🐈‍⬛🔮🖤✨ @hanayanagi.kim · 6d
weird how it’s fine when it’s cis kids
weedle.bsky.social
Weedle @weedle.bsky.social · 7d
So a thing quietly happening in the background for awhile now is rich parents dosing their kids with growth hormone.

I think it's hilarious we're gonna have a generation of seven foot three ogres who claim a working class background and get mad when you ask how they paid for that trip to Europe.
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dwmbarker.bsky.social
Derek Barker @dwmbarker.bsky.social · 7d
Apparently impeachment power requires control of Congress by opposition party.
Reposted by Derek Barker
gregsargent.bsky.social
Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 8d
Mamdani’s innovation is showing how to emphasize cost-of-living *without* retreating from the defense of immigrants and *without* shirking the mission of centralizing Trump’s authoritarian lawlessness.

He attacks all forms of power, economic *and* authoritarian.

newrepublic.com/article/2011...
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dwmbarker.bsky.social
Derek Barker @dwmbarker.bsky.social · 8d
A growing body of modern scholarship that started three months ago.
Reposted by Derek Barker
jakemgrumbach.bsky.social
Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 8d
Since the Ezra & Ta-Nehisi discussion is still happening: the main point I think most are missing is that Klein is saying the role of the journalist-intellectual is to do strategic politics, whereas Coates says the role of the journalist-intellectual is to tell the truth
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dwmbarker.bsky.social
Derek Barker @dwmbarker.bsky.social · 8d
Yes, and it's not like the expert strategists are coming from a place of proven success.