Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 1h

We need to talk about Russell Vought – But Properly

Why certain mainstream outlets insist on sanitizing Vought as a devout “small government” conservative – and what actually animates his war against pluralistic democracy.

Some thoughts from my new piece:

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We need to talk about Russell Vought – But Properly

Why certain mainstream outlets insist on sanitizing Vought as a devout “small government” conservative – and what actually animates his war against pluralistic democracy

steady.page

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Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 17h

Who needs cameras in the courtroom when you’ve got this

Doodle of parties at the comet arraignment. Messy stick figure drawings

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 1h

A ceasefire deal is good and worth celebrating on its own terms. But unless it is paired with serious steps towards an independent and sovereign Palestine - something no substantial Jewish Israeli political faction supports - it is not going to change the underlying dynamics in US public opinion.

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Joel S. @joelhs.bsky.social · 1h

This is really what it comes down to - every instrument of state power available to them cannot force people to hold a political opinion on the state of Israel that a growing share of Americans no longer hold. And that limit to their power is driving a share of people insane.

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ae @aelkus.bsky.social · 1h

LKY was "what if an entire country was a British upper class boarding school"

Joey Politano🏳️‍🌈 @josephpolitano.bsky.social · 10h

two thing that annoys me about Lee Kuan Yew worship is that nobody who does it seems to care about *modern* singaporean politicians and American right-wingers who do it would never accept LKY's policies of, e.g., massive public housing projects in a country that makes posting racism illegal

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unraveled @unraveledpress.com · 1h

Chat is it a good sign that it took national reporters an entire month to finally pay attention to the third largest metro in the country being invaded

Second Great Bisexual Awakening @suesswassersee.bsky.social · 1d

I'm really glad more people are realizing how brutal ICE has been in Chicago but it's really weird to see people talking about Rev Black getting attacked like it happened yesterday and not 3 weeks ago. Like, I'm glad people are catching up! But it's very weird.

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Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 3h

It is simply accurate to call this regime segregationist.

Trump Fires Black Officials From an Overwhelmingly White Administration

www.nytimes.com

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Dannagal Goldthwaite Young @dannagal.bsky.social · 2h

In which Harvard’s Enos & Levitsky call on Harvard to lead the way, coordinating with other universities in fight for academic freedom. Our civil institutions will need to learn that power is harnessed through coordination. Protecting oneself will never be enough.
www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Harvard Must Take a Stand Against Trump’s Compact | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson

Harvard, rather than quietly pursuing its own appeasement strategy, should lead the way to preserve academic freedom and democracy.

www.thecrimson.com

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Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 14h

incredibly, bleakly funny that trump is going after christopher wray, who spent his entire tenure at the fbi with his head down desperately trying to avoid trump's attention and did nothing to protect the bureau from trump's attacks www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Other prosecutors are investigating former CIA director John Brennan, another prominent Trump critic, and former FBI director Christopher Wray, who was originally appointed by Trump but enraged conservatives who came to believe he had wielded the bureau’s powers against them. Former officials have received subpoenas in recent days in the Wray inquiry, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

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Chris 🎃 DevPods.gg gamedev community @chrisdeleon.bsky.social · 14h

Portland protestor frog costume: What are you trying to tell me? That I can dodge pepper balls?

Morpheus from Matrix movie: No, Frog. I'm trying to tell you that when you're ready, you won't have to.

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David @finagle-a-hegel.bsky.social · 11h

Man if this isn't the perfect quote re Weiss: “She plays to an audience of 200 people,” one Hollywood executive with ties to Weiss told Variety. “It just happens to be that audience is made up of people like Jeff Bezos and Bill Ackman. The superrich f------ love her"

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 12h

have said this before but i am very skeptical about weiss’s vaunted charisma

Raw Story @rawstory.com · 1d

Bari Weiss, the incoming editor in chief of CBS News, once auditioned for a role on the hit daytime television show "The View," but tested so poorly with audiences that she "wasn't invited back," according to a new report.

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Lindsay Beyerstein @beyerstein.bsky.social · 11h

Conspiracism is the universal solvent, it eats through any vessel used to contain it, including MAGA.

PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 @patriottakes.bsky.social · 11h

TPUSA is still struggling with the MAGA conspiracy ecosystem they helped fuel

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terra firma, terra eterna 🚱🌉 @kavi.bsky.social · 11h

Republicans oppose abortion for the same reason they oppose gay marriage or trans people existing publicly: because it contradicts the vision they have for how society should be rigidly organized around gender lines

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Marxist-Glonzoist @primaryschool.bsky.social · 12h

making getting assaulted by armed agents of the state into a funny meme is like unironically how we get critical masses of dumb white boys in the streets, Portland frog is a hero and a patriot

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Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 12h

You’ve gotta be kidding me.

This WaPo editorial presents a misleading revisionist history of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s criminal cases against Trump.

Then it has the gall to compare that to Trump’s overt targeting of his perceived enemies.

Really embarrassing stuff.

But the mere fact that a legal tool might be available does not mean it should be used. The
current rage over Grassley's revelation shows why. Smith showed little restraint in his pursuit of a former president. He charged Trump for official acts he took as president. He sought a gag order to limit Trump's ability to criticize the prosecution. He tried to accelerate the case to try a leading presidential candidate before the 2024 election.

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🎃scarecrowcialism👻 @swolecialism.bsky.social · 15h

He had an "annual physical" like five months ago, BTW

Department of Shoe @shoe.bsky.social · 16h

Time for an oil change

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Regime Accountant, CPA ☠️🎢 @regimecpa.bsky.social · 12h

A taco truck on every street corner, funded by the Woke Projects Administration

Mary Grace🕷️🕸️🎃👻 @emgeekay.bsky.social · 21h

“…”tolerant attitudes” were “largely explained by increased positive contact with individuals from different cultures” and the positive associations created by the sensory experience of eating good food.”

www.theguardian.com/food/2025/oc...

Enjoying international cuisines makes people more tolerant, UK study finds

Frequent and varied eating found to reduce likelihood of perceiving immigrants as ‘cultural or economic threats’

www.theguardian.com

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Matt @tiredgenerally.bsky.social · 13h

yeah, ezra basically believes that left-liberalism is doomed and we have to dislodge the current ruling party at whatever cost with whatever coalition we can piece together. its extrapolating way too much from 2024 which was more about the overarching landscape than the policy or messaging

Sam @samd.bsky.social · 10d

just my two cents on Ezra Klein: he is generally good on policy and his work on things like housing is helpful

the problem is that his punditry is misguided for two reasons:

1) he is not skeptical enough of right wing bad faith

2) he is acting like the U.S. is Hungary, where the right is popular

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rev. howard arson @theophite.bsky.social · 13h

has anyone else spoken to david shor, the democrats' premier pollster and noted race science afficionado, on this topic, because this sounds like a particular rationalist Wormtongue

Matt @tiredgenerally.bsky.social · 13h

yeah, ezra basically believes that left-liberalism is doomed and we have to dislodge the current ruling party at whatever cost with whatever coalition we can piece together. its extrapolating way too much from 2024 which was more about the overarching landscape than the policy or messaging

Sam @samd.bsky.social · 10d

just my two cents on Ezra Klein: he is generally good on policy and his work on things like housing is helpful

the problem is that his punditry is misguided for two reasons:

1) he is not skeptical enough of right wing bad faith

2) he is acting like the U.S. is Hungary, where the right is popular

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Jacob Soboroff @jacobsoboroff.bsky.social · 14h

Michigan Avenue right now.

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GHOULLIKEHELLMACHINE @golikehellmachine.com · 13h

so, like, i know it’s trite and cliche to point out, but the NYT printed hundreds of stories about clinton’s email security and she wasn’t even president

GHOULLIKEHELLMACHINE @golikehellmachine.com · 14h

isn’t truth social just a defederated mastadon instance?

James @gravitysra1nbow.bsky.social · 14h

Underrated part of this story is that official USG business is done by Truth Social DM. It almost makes you miss the good old days of the PC small group Signal Chat.

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William B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · 16h

anyway, having accidentally provoked an attempted one today, I will reiterate my previous take that the dreaded BLUESKY PILE ON that many mainstream pundits evidently live in fear of and prefer to stay X to avoid is roughly as frightening as being menaced by toothless Chihuahua. it's fine.

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Damned Frightening Robot @supremerobo.bsky.social · 17h

Being a right-wing grifter is a condition that requires a relatively stable political equilibrium to exist. If you try to impose a Dictatorship through invocation of the insurrection act and attempted cancellation of the 2026 election, you will not be able to keep your no-show job

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Alex Burness @burness.bsky.social · 1d

Dispatch from Pennsylvania on a highly unusual state Supreme Court election—one of the few most consequential matters on the ballot anywhere in the country next month. New from me in @boltsmag.org: boltsmag.org/pennsylvania...

Inside the Clunky Elections to Control Pennsylvania's Supreme Court - Bolts

The GOP is making an expensive push to end Democrats’ majority on a court at the center of election lawsuits, sparking a fledging campaign season with little precedent or template.

boltsmag.org

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David @finagle-a-hegel.bsky.social · 17h

Rather than litigate the (often important, sometimes not) things about the admin we have to right now as part of our survival, I am very much looking forward to having the time and energy to litigate when each of us thinks the beginning of the end was. I'm thinking Epstein relaunch currently

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