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Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 8h

👍 for finding and linking to the original poster.

These days, the clearer the chain of custody of video, the better. Well done.

Yikes!

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Reposted by Joey Fishkin

Renee DiResta @noupside.bsky.social · 16h

“Who was president in 2020?” is the question of our time

Senator Jim Banks V
@SenatorBanks
Follow g..
The 2020 Census was a fraud. The Biden admin used a shady "privacy" formula that scrambled the data and miscounted 14 states.
It included illegal immigrants and handed
Democrats extra seats. Americans deserve a fair count and l'm fighting to fix it.
Zinited Statcs SScnate
MASHNORON DEYNN
October 6, 2025
an. Thow arewutn
Socretary
U.S. Department of Commerce Washington, DXC 20230
Dear Secretary Lutaick:
I urge you to investigate and correct erroes from the 2020 Census that handed disproportionntd political power to Democrats and illogal alicns. The Census Burcau adoptod a now and opaque
voting districts. As preparod by the Biden administration, the 2020 Censas roports miscountod the population of fourteen states, ' wrongly allocating six congressional scats aod Electoral
xx conwuu tmora uy, toc taroro tu mot đoo tnn Cunu lc pung t imber of votine districts. And the reoorts de aniovety inchaded ilecnl nhens widhout track those aliens' citiz enship status, If left uncorrected, these erroes will coetinue diluting the political power of American citizens.
Consus data plays a crucial role in allocating political roprescntation and goverment funding
Under the Constitution, cach state gets Congressional represcotutives and Electoeal College votes- based on "the whole number of persons" within the state." The number of persoes is in
tum clabaabod by a consttubocalty-mandalcd dcccacaal ccavas. Pcual agcco nely on census data to allocate billions of dollars in federal funding, much of which hinges ee opulation. And states use consus data to deaw congrossicnal and voting districts, »hich the
The it eiy of tie soaren alie n tor dur at ce hor inc ae oam toy ee n
nght wilbout statsica ly signilicant ciroo.
Diffcrcntial privacy is opaque and liable to mistakcn count totals. Sure cnough, the 2020 Ccnsus ovarocunted the noculation in cicht states and undercounted it in six." Tihe most extrcmi andercount was Arkansas, at 5.04%, and the larg…

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Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 13h

Good conversation this morning with @politicsprof.bsky.social & @stephenricher.bsky.social about the proposed Trump "compact" on their Terms of Engagement podcast. Video at the link below.

My emphasis was: ignore the lofty goals and keep your eye on the enforcement mechanism—who has what power.

The Art of the Higher Education Deal?

YouTube video by Harvard Ash Center

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by Joey Fishkin

Mary Anne Franks @maryannefranks.bsky.social · 17h

"Academic freedom policies came from faculties, not the government. Governments are the enemies of academic freedom, not their protectors." Brilliant piece by @sivav.bsky.social about the Trump administrations' latest effort to censor universities newrepublic.com/article/2013...

Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down

How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education

newrepublic.com

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Reposted by Joey Fishkin

Blake Emerson @blakeprof.bsky.social · 19h

Courtesy of Prof Bagenstos, the statutory provision is 31 USC 1341(c)(2)

(2) Each employee of the United States Government or of a District of Columbia public employer furloughed as a result of a covered lapse in appropriations shall be paid for the period of the lapse in appropriations, and each excepted employee who is required to perform work during a covered lapse in appropriations shall be paid for such work, at the employee's standard rate of pay, at the earliest date possible after the lapse in appropriations ends, regardless of scheduled pay dates, and subject to the enactment of appropriations Acts ending the lapse.

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Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 19h

The more it recedes into history, the more important the Dominion lawsuit seems to me.

It was an extremely unusual moment where cynical, repeated public lying by authorities (in that case, by quasi-state media [Fox] & Rudy Giuliani) was actually punished in a way that imposed cost (>$700m).

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 1d

eventually politicians need to start advocating for criminal and civil penalties for people involved in fabricating stories to get citizens incarcerated.

or, put another way: a society that would like to keep functioning has to discourage baldfaced lying, especially by authorities

Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 1d

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN

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Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 20h

@sivav.bsky.social has a really good piece up in TNR that, instead of my earnest and straightforward approach above, goes for belittling mockery of this mockery of higher education.

Which in turn provides an example of the "belittling" the compact demands schools take action against...

Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down

How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education

newrepublic.com

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Reposted by Joey Fishkin

David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 20h

Check out @durlauf.bsky.social's fantastic new interview with @fishkin.bsky.social on the Inequality Podcast, hosted by the @ucstonecenter.bsky.social at the University of Chicago.

Joseph Fishkin on ‘Bottlenecks’ and Democracy

Podcast Episode · The Inequality Podcast · 10/06/2025 · 49m

podcasts.apple.com

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Lydia Polgreen @polgreen.bsky.social · 20h

As a news nerd I'm always fascinated by org charts, and to me even more telling than who Bari reports to is who will report to her. Troops, territory and budgets are the actual stuff that shapes news coverage. Controlling them is how you control the narrative a news org shapes.

David Klion @davidklion.bsky.social · 21h

The notion that Bari will be "running CBS News" is slightly misleading. What the reporting suggests is that Tom Cibrowski, a guy with normal qualifications, will be doing that. Bari will be Emperor Ellison's Vader-esque enforcer, outside the chain of command, intervening at will.

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Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 1d

A younger and more naive version of me, in 2016, would have said the dangerous thing is not the lies, it's the gov't actions (such as deploying the Texas National Guard to Portland or Chicago).

That was wrong. The lies themselves are dangerous. We cannot have a democracy on a foundation of lies.

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Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 1d

SECOND, on a much larger scale, as Fred Kaplan explains here, the government is laying down a farrago of lies as the official predicate for military action against Americans.

Huge piles of claims in here are false—about America's "well-financed" domestic "terror network," etc.

It’s Hard to Overstate How Disturbing This Trump Directive Is

It’s the clearest statement of the president’s intentions that we’ve seen so far.

slate.com

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Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 1d

A dark juxtaposition today that leads me to return to this old thread, @mcopelov.bsky.social -style.

FIRST, government action based on falsehoods, at the most individual and deadly level: ICE shoots up an activist's car with her in it, based on a claim of threat contradicted by video...

Josh Marshall @joshtpm.bsky.social · 1d

this is a very very big story because of the apparently totally fake story ICE/DHS put out about what happened.

Chicago Sun-Times @chicago.suntimes.com · 1d

Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN

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Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 1d

This is the single most shocking part of federalism pivot.

It's one thing to switch from pro-states' rights to pro-federal power. That I sort of expect. But to embrace Jade Helm-style military operations against civilian targets in American states still retains the power to shock.

Houston Chronicle @houstonchronicle.com · 1d

Texas once feared a phantom federal occupation. Now Gov. Abbott’s troops are helping carry it out under Trump. And Houston may be next, writes the Houston Chronicle editorial board. bit.ly/48Q3D5C

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Reposted by Joey Fishkin

Gregg Gonsalves @gregggonsalves.bsky.social · 1d

An important statement from #MIT faculty on Trump’s compact. #JustSayNo @nancykanwisher.bsky.social

Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 1d

I am proud of MIT, where our branch of AAUP has voted unanimously to endorse this statement urging MIT leadership and the MIT Corporation to reject the Compact wholesale
docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Letter Regarding Compact

MIT Chapter of the American Association of University Professors October 6, 2025 Statement on the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” MIT has been invited by the federal governmen...

docs.google.com

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Reposted by Joey Fishkin

sarah jeong @sarahjeong.bsky.social · 1d

ok I didn't mention this in my piece on friday but one of the things the judge asked about was whether the guardsmen were going to get paid during the shutdown

the doj was like "idk"

the state of oregon was like "we looked into it and the answer is no"

Reyhan Harmanci @harmancipants.bsky.social · 1d

I keep forgetting the government is shut down bc Trump admin is so focused on sending troops to US cities

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Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 1d

Important post here.

Also, I am so tired of these made-up titles to enable the people really running our government to avoid even a brief day of questioning in the Senate.

If Congress wants to create a "CEO" of the IRS, it is certainly free to do so. I expect that would be a Senate-confirmed role.

Kathleen Romig @kathleenromig.bsky.social · 1d

Alarming news this morning that Social Security head Frank Bisignano has been named “CEO” of IRS, a move that raises 3 major concerns:

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Bessent Picks Social Security Chief Frank Bisignano as IRS CEO

The Social Security head will do double duty at the tax agency while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent retains his formal title as acting IRS commissioner.

www.wsj.com

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Reposted by Joey Fishkin

Kathleen Romig @kathleenromig.bsky.social · 1d

Alarming news this morning that Social Security head Frank Bisignano has been named “CEO” of IRS, a move that raises 3 major concerns:

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Bessent Picks Social Security Chief Frank Bisignano as IRS CEO

The Social Security head will do double duty at the tax agency while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent retains his formal title as acting IRS commissioner.

www.wsj.com

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Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 1d

It is hard to understand why Allen is proposing this given the clear lack of good faith from the administration, which renders negotiation both unhelpful and dangerous.

I genuinely hope she has something in mind that I don't yet understand.

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Julie Novkov @jnovkov.bsky.social · 1d

As you read this puff piece about how brave and steadfast Amy Coney Barrett is, keep in mind that the house of South Carolina circuit court judge Diane Goodstein exploded over the weekend and some of her family members barely escaped with their lives. She had recently ruled against the admin.

As justices confront harassment, death threats and an assassination attempt, Barrett declares "I'm not afraid"

In an interview with CBS News, Justice Amy Coney Barrett said of the Supreme Court's emergency orders in the Trump cases, "This isn't the final decision."

www.cbsnews.com

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Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 1d

"thee" was a typo but I guess I'll leave it in the usual Bluesky way. Thee universities, you know what to do.

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Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 1d

I understand the impulse to highlight the acceptable things that can be found in the "compact" and imagine how those could be built on.

But those elements are a disguise. The gov't doesn't care about them. The *purpose* of the compact is unconstitutional federal control over higher education.

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Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 1d

The collective action that thee nine universities need to take is to unequivocally reject the compact.

Danielle Allen, who is a wonderful and thoughtful person, seems to be imagining possibilities for good faith negotiations here that plainly do not exist. The government does not share her goal.

Mary Lewis @profmarylewis.bsky.social · 2d

Danielle Allen has proposed many good things for Harvard, so I’m puzzled by her reading of the word “compact” here, as if this would be an agreement freely entered into. She rightly says that, as written, this shouldn’t be agreed to. Maybe leave it there? therenovator.substack.com/p/why-im-exc...

Why I’m Excited About the White House’s Proposal for a Higher Ed Compact

Now we have a chance for collective action

therenovator.substack.com

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Reposted by Joey Fishkin

Mary Lewis @profmarylewis.bsky.social · 2d

Danielle Allen has proposed many good things for Harvard, so I’m puzzled by her reading of the word “compact” here, as if this would be an agreement freely entered into. She rightly says that, as written, this shouldn’t be agreed to. Maybe leave it there? therenovator.substack.com/p/why-im-exc...

Why I’m Excited About the White House’s Proposal for a Higher Ed Compact

Now we have a chance for collective action

therenovator.substack.com

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Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 1d

@talkingpointsmemo.com picked up my blog post about the Trump administration's "compact" with higher ed.

This is a post I'm highly motivated to get out to more readers because everyone connected with any university—as an alum, faculty, student, staff, etc—can help persuade their school not to sign.

The Trump Administration’s New Protection Racket for Higher Ed

This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news...

talkingpointsmemo.com

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Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 1d

There’s no actual *new* source of funds here.

The “carrot” is very much “we won’t take your lunch money if you agree to do what we say.”

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