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Reposted by Michael Jaeger

Jonathan V. Last @jvl.bsky.social · 9h

This is capitulation. It is not the "Department of War." If CNN concedes on this point, they'll concede on any point.

Jon Passantino @passantino.bsky.social · 9h

CNN is now using the Trump preferred “Department of War” name in its official statements

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Michael Jaeger @jaegerbru.bsky.social · 1d

This is on the money and frightening.

Caleb Crain @calebcrain.bsky.social · 1d

Chilling insight by @barbarafwalter.com: "Once citizens view their own government’s security forces as an occupying army, violence becomes inevitable. Trump’s team knows this… They’re trying to trigger the very unrest that would justify further crackdowns."

via www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/o...

Screenshot from a NYT article by Thomas Edsall, quoting Barbara Walter of UC-San Diego: "The quickest way to piss people off is to send soldiers into their neighborhoods especially when there’s no reason for them to be there. It’s inherently provocative, and Trump and his team understand this. Research by the political scientist Robert Pape shows that the single most powerful predictor of suicide terrorism is the presence of foreign troops on local soil. People hate, hate, hate that. They hate the humiliation, the powerlessness, the feeling of being occupied.

"Once citizens begin to view their own government’s security forces as an occupying army, violence becomes inevitable. Trump’s team knows this. In fact, that’s the point. They are not trying to restore order; they’re trying to trigger the very unrest that would justify further crackdowns. In the end, violence serves their ultimate end: They want to create the illusion of disorder so they can tighten control and stay in power indefinitely."

Reposted by Michael Jaeger

Denise Wheeler @denisedwheeler.bsky.social · 1d

Reuters photographer Jonathan Ernst noticed that Bondi flipped open a file during the Senate hearing and he zoomed in.

Inside were her crib notes for attacking the senators.

The GOP now practicing Cliff's Notes Fascism

In other words, under oath Bondi was purely a performance.

Bondi senate hearing had a folder full of notes for attacking the senators

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Reposted by Michael Jaeger

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 1d

"Look, the President clearly has some kind of dementia" should be how Democrats begin every single comment to reporters these days.

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 1d

Ruben Gallego on whether Trump is talking to Democrats:

“Look, the President clearly has some kind of dementia, so I think there's a he's probably talking to himself, or think he's talking to a Democrat, but I sincerely doubt that that's actually he's actually physically talking to a Democrat.“

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Reposted by Michael Jaeger

Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 1d

If appropriations bills are not seen as enforceable contracts, why should any Member of Congress vote to fund any part of the federal government under Donald Trump? You're voting to provide money for lawlessness. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/there-is-n...

There is no budget "deal" to be made

President Trump has so broken the constitutional framework as to make joint normal, responsible government impossible.

www.doomsdayscenario.co

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Reposted by Michael Jaeger

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 1d

He’s propped up a new fiscal order entirely on the basis of conservatives, businesses, media, and even many Dems being scared to actually describe what he’s doing and willing to pretend he’s not doing it. Literally governed by an unmentionable new constitution that everyone is afraid to talk about

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Reposted by Michael Jaeger

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah what’s remarkable about Trump’s tariffs is that he’s both implementing them by executive fiat and then spending them by executive fiat, both of which are profoundly, extremely, couldn’t-be-more unconstitutional

Micah @rincewind.run · 1d

I am not a constitutional scholar but I am pretty sure “the president my personally levy taxes and choose what they fund” is not in fact what the founders intended

George Pearkes @peark.es · 1d

Well that's not how appropriations work at all

*WHITE HOUSE TO TRANSFER TARIFF REVENUE TO FUND WIC: LEAVITT

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Michael Jaeger @jaegerbru.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, essential. Any post-Trump - let’s call it reconstruction - can be undone with the flick of 6 pens if Ds don’t fix SCOTUS.

Brian Beutler @brianbeutler.bsky.social · 1d

Any Project 2029-style rebuilding project that tables confrontation with the Supreme Court will doom itself. www.offmessage.net/p/the-suprem...

The Supreme Court's Dastardly Plan Makes Court Reform Obligatory

If Democrats can't avoid the trap Republican justices are setting, we'll never recover from the Trump fiasco.

www.offmessage.net

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Michael Jaeger @jaegerbru.bsky.social · 1d

Ooooof

Michael Jaeger @jaegerbru.bsky.social · 1d

Btw I think of this post going into just about every game

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Michael Jaeger @jaegerbru.bsky.social · 1d

Hodge too I think

Michael Jaeger @jaegerbru.bsky.social · 1d

Strong strong agree on both of these points.

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Michael Jaeger @jaegerbru.bsky.social · 1d

GT feels out on an island on the right side.

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Michael Jaeger @jaegerbru.bsky.social · 2d

She looks great out there.

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Reposted by Michael Jaeger

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 2d

crazy that one of the most storied institutions in american journalism is going to be run by two people with basically no experience to do it

Exclusive | CBS News taps Adam Rubenstein — once ostracized at NY Times for liking Chick-fil-A — as new deputy editor

Sources expect Rubenstein will effectively run the Free Press now that Weiss will be busy steering the editorial direction of shows like “60 Minutes,” “Face The Nation” and …

nypost.com

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Reposted by Michael Jaeger

Will Pollock 🏳️‍🌈🌻🐶🫘 ➡️ turn 🔔 on @willpollock.com · 2d

what does it say about @nytimes.com that a *story commenter* dispenses more truth in a few sentences than NYT journalists do in an entire year?

excellent analysis from @sulliview.bsky.social

margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/partisan-b...

Margaret Sullivan's latest post on another set of failures from NYT

excerpt from Sullivan's post that shows a NYT commenter dragging the entire normalizing operation for filth

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Reposted by Michael Jaeger

Joe Sudbay @joesudbay.bsky.social · 2d

Republicans haul Susan Collins whenever they need a fake moderate to bamboozle reporters. Most of them fall for it tho shouldn't

Hopefully @democrats.senate.gov won't

She cannot be trusted - and anyone who thinks Vought or Miller will listen to her is delusional

Don't fucking pretend otherwise

Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · 2d

The Senator who enabled the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh is selling snake oil again. #MEPoltiics

Will some Democrats be stupid enough to buy?

Robert Costa screenshot from X:

"Robert Costa @costareports
Senator Collins says at the Capitol tonight that she’s circulating a bipartisan plan that will commit to moving to address health-care subsidies once the government is reopened… she showed reporters a folder that had a printout of what she said could be a way out of shutdown"

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Reposted by Michael Jaeger

Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · 2d

The Senator who enabled the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh is selling snake oil again. #MEPoltiics

Will some Democrats be stupid enough to buy?

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Michael Jaeger @jaegerbru.bsky.social · 2d

This is universal, I loved it and so did my 21-y.o. daughter

Reposted by Michael Jaeger

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 2d

Jake Tapper, who eviscerated Biden for the sin of growing older, has done everything but help install a chair lift in the White House to cover up Trump's deepening dementia and utter feebleness.

Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 2d

Jake Tapper did a whole interview with Trump by text message? Which means he can't actually confirm it was him. And now everyone's asking even more than before very reasonable questions about the wannabe dictator's health.

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/a...

The CNN anchor did not explain how he verified that it was the president — not any of his aides — who authored the written responses to his questions.

He also did not explain whether he’d made any effort to speak with the president by phone, something that has become commonplace for reporters covering the second Trump administration because Trump has maintained use of his personal mobile phone since returning to the presidency and frequently uses it to contact reporters directly.

The president’s purported text message exchange with Tapper was also unusual because Trump is not known to be a frequent user of his phone’s text message capacity.

He also famously eschews email and other written forms of communication and during his first term he openly complained when attorneys working for his administration took notes during meetings.

Trump’s unconventional use of text-based communications to purportedly respond to Tapper comes as questions continue to swirl about the state of his health

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Michael Jaeger @jaegerbru.bsky.social · 2d

The D govs should be screaming at Wash Ds to do this.

Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 2d

Every crisis is an opportunity. This is the moment for Dems on Capitol Hill to call a news conference and make clear: Not one dime to fund the federal government until Trump withdraws his unlawful orders and agrees not to send troops to occupy Democratic-run cities

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 3d

The brave men and women who serve in our national guards must not be used as political props. This is a moment where every American must speak up and help stop this madness.

Reposted by Michael Jaeger

Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 2d

"We are facing a clear and present authoritarian danger.

In these circumstances, can Democrats in Congress continue to take the position that their demand from the Trump administration is simply to restore health care funding?

I don’t think so."

www.thebulwark.com/p/the-rule-o...

The Rule of Law v. The Rule of Trump

A crisis moment in the defining debate of our time.

www.thebulwark.com

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Reposted by Michael Jaeger

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 3d

TLDR: Judge Immergut GRANTS a 2nd TRO blocking the Trump admin from sending ANY federalized troops from ANY state into Oregon/Portland. (Full hearing thread below)

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 3d

Judge: That's what I'll do. Prohibit federalization or deployment of any NG troops into Oregon. For all reasons in prior opinion. Deployment of federalized military is ultra vires and contrary to law, violating Title 10, section 12406. I also find it's likely that defendants violate 10th Amendment.

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Michael Jaeger @jaegerbru.bsky.social · 2d

😂😭

Popehat Agitates And Irritates @kenwhite.bsky.social · 3d

Fortunately once SCOTUS says courts can't stop Trump from sending Texans to kill Oregonians the Democratic leadership will have some strong points about kitchen table issues

Reposted by Michael Jaeger

Grudgie the Whale @grudgie.bsky.social · 3d

Look. Invading our own country is about as straightforward a case as you can have for impeachment. The GOP abandoning the Constitution is kind of the only story there is and it gets no coverage.

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 3d

Guys. I just had a crazy idea. What if the President DIDN’T deploy troops in American cities. Just a thought. Have we tried that before?

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