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Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 13h

This is out of hand. These agents are there to cause trouble and violence, not to keep people safe. These are the scenes that play out in war torn, destitute countries - not America.

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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 1d

No, what I have is enough historic context to know that fascism isn’t just the next stop down the road from conservativism. It is its own beast, fundamentally distinct from other forms of conservativism that have heretofore dominated US politics. Bush and Reagan weren’t fascists. Trump is

Civil Discourse Blob. Not Creeps, or Leaps or Slides. Very Nice. @brandonocles.bsky.social · 1d

"There is no historical context and nothing that came before affects the now, I'm a very smart politics knower"

Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 1d

There’s this weird social cachet in pretending Trump is just a natural extension of the Reagan or Bush presidencies - a kind of “I knew what was going to happen before it was cool” thing - but neither of them, in their wildest excesses, would have contemplated even a quarter of this

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Jeff May or May Not @jeffmay.bsky.social · 23h

The slide to fascism from bed rock conservatism has always been a slippery slope esp considering the overwhelming influence of the bitter racism of the American Experience. Left unchecked, the right was always going to come to this, to MAGA fascism

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Jen Rubin @jenrubin.bsky.social · 1d

We face an open open question as to whether the president, anywhere, anytime he pleases, can execute or round up people he says are terrorists—without due process. That we are even entertaining such a discussion tells you how far Trump has damaged democracy open.substack.com/pub/contrari...

Words & Phrases We Could Do Without

‘Armed Conflict’? Trump declares war on all of us

open.substack.com

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Rachel Maddow @maddow.msnbc.com · 1d

Reported Trump plan to cut more than 750,000 older Americans off disability:

www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

Despite campaign promises, White House eyes new changes to Social Security and Medicare

“I will never do anything that will jeopardize or hurt Social Security or Medicare,” Trump vowed in 2024. I have bad news for voters who believed him.

www.msnbc.com

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Richard Primus @richardprimus.bsky.social · 1d

Worth reading: Judge Immergut’s decision in Oregon v. Trump, granting a TRO enjoining DJT from federalizing the Oregon Nat’l Guard and deploying them to Portland. I link it at the next post in this thread, followed by some thoughts. (1/18)

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Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · 1d

BREAKING: Stephen Miller—both Trump Administration capo and de facto head of DHS, ICE, and DOJ, has just declared that peaceful protesters are "street terrorists." Under an executive order signed by Trump just days ago, that means he is saying that all protesters in America can be arrested on sight.

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 1d

The problem isn't that Kash Patel is failing at his attempts to be a serious and capable figure. The problem is that the FBI director isn't even trying.

Take his firing of a field agent who wouldn’t humiliate James Comey, for example. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

As his FBI tenure goes from bad to worse, Kash Patel abandons the pretense of seriousness

The problem isn’t that the FBI director is failing at his attempts to be a serious and capable figure. The problem is that he isn’t even trying.

www.msnbc.com

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Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 2d

HAPPENING NOW: Emergency hearing before Judge Karin Immergut on Trump's effort to circumvent her temporary restraining order re: Oregon national guard deployment.

I plan to listen in for @lawfaremedia.org.

Follow along (court remote access technology permitting...) ⬇️🧵

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Philip Bump @pbump.com · 2d

I saw “One Battle After Another” in an otherwise empty theater this morning and emerged into the sunlight with some thoughts. www.pbump.net/o/the-corros...

The corrosive rigidity of fascism

Is America something fixed or something fluid? Is it a country founded on a perfect set of ideas or a country that has struggled to become perfect? Is it a system that works or one that sputters, one ...

www.pbump.net

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Jeff May or May Not @jeffmay.bsky.social · 2d

They’re calling it poopgate. It’s great! Don’t even let em shit in peace

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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 2d

It was a blunt 31-page opinion issued by a judge Trump appointed to the bench in his first term in office declaring that Trump’s effort to federalize Oregon National Guard troops likely “exceeded his statutory authority” and likely violated the Tenth Amendment.

Law Dork on Saturday’s TRO:

Federal judge blocks Trump's National Guard mobilization in Oregon

"The President’s determination" that the Guard was needed "was simply untethered to the facts," Judge Karin Immergut, a Trump appointee, found. DOJ is appealing.

www.lawdork.com

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Jeff May or May Not @jeffmay.bsky.social · 3d

Just remember, they (Miller, Trump) started all this. American cities were doing fine and like a sleeping dog they went up and kicked it in the head. No reason whatsoever except to inflict chaos and damage

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Jeff May or May Not @jeffmay.bsky.social · 3d

Right because even tho they may not follow the law it’s important that we do and it’s incumbent for us to point out each violation and never let it become normal

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Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 4d

"‘F***ing Dumbass’: Trump Officials Want Howard Lutnick Sidelined After Epstein Comments"

Trump's commerce secretary called Epstein ‘the greatest blackmailer ever' & his colleagues are now super mad at him.

Another scoop from Zeteo's newest reporter @swin24.bsky.social:

Howard Lutnick Enrages Trump Officials With Jeffrey Epstein ‘Blackmail’ Remarks

The Trump administration claims Jeffrey Epstein didn’t blackmail anyone. His commerce secretary just called Epstein ‘the greatest blackmailer ever.’

zeteo.com

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Jeff May or May Not @jeffmay.bsky.social · 4d

Ummm brain surgeons would like a word

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Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · 4d

Good to see resolve/resilience from rank and file and House Democrats. Good on @rephuffman.bsky.social daring the republicans to abolish the filibuster ▶️ "[L]et them proceed with GOP votes and let the country see with perfect clarity who owns all the damage and destruction they're fomenting." (1/2)

"🩺 Zoom in: Some Democrats openly acknowledge that, while health care is extremely important to them, it's not the only thing at stake.

🛑 "People want this to be a sort of reckoning, where people finally said, 'No,'" Rep. Greg Landsman (D-Ohio) told us.
"We're going to start with these ACA subsidies because it's the most urgent," Landsman told us.
"But ... you're creating a really important moment where sh*t didn't fly."
The bottom line: "I marvel at the naivete of any Democrat who thinks we should give them Dem votes so they can just turn around and ignore us, crash the health care system, and dismantle what's left of our democracy," Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) told us.

"The filibuster is toast anyway," he added, effectively daring Republicans to ignore the Senate's requirement for 60 votes and pass a party-line funding bill.
"So let them proceed with GOP votes and let the country see with perfect clarity who owns all the damage and destruction they're fomenting.""

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Doug Saunders @dougsaunders.bsky.social · 4d

Fired from your FBI trainee job BY THE HEAD OF THE FBI for having hung a Pride flag in your cubicle IN YOUR PREVIOUS JOB

Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · 4d

Fired for displaying a pride flag, followed by a citation of the Constitution.

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Jeff May or May Not @jeffmay.bsky.social · 4d

And dem leaders who don’t want to be “alarmists” are utterly failing the moment. To sound the alarm, if not now then when? The time is nigh! Otherwise bid her farewell, the America we are losing

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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 5d

Everyone should listen to Chris Murphy's extraordinary warning about Trump on our pod. First, he says the logic must be that the more lawless he gets, the stiffer the resistance.

"If I give in and consent to these kinds of tactics then it just normalizes it all." 1/

newrepublic.com/article/2013...

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Jeff May or May Not @jeffmay.bsky.social · 4d

Dem leadership is missing the forest and looking at trees. ACA protections are important but secondary to saving democracy. At a minimum this shutdown should be about the abject lawlessness of this administration esp rescissions and impoundments. Those are tangible goals that are achievable

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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 5d

The story of 2024 is this: Trump had a plan to destroy American government called Project 2025, which had, literally, not a typo, a 4% approval rating. He lied constantly and said he wouldn't do it.

Then he entered office and immediately implemented AN EVEN MORE EXTREME VERSION OF IT.

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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 5d

White House officials had several days to come up with a reason why Trump promoted a bonkers "medbed" video.

Evidently, they couldn't think of much. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

White House tries to defend Trump amplifying bizarre ‘medbed’ pseudoscience

Karoline Leavitt had several days to come up with a reason why the president promoted a video about magic beds. She apparently couldn’t think of much.

www.msnbc.com

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George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 @gtconway.bsky.social · 6d

They pretend not to see it. They change the subject when they are confronted with it.

And that's why they are responsible for the fact that we have a deeply mentally ill president, surrounded by other deeply unwell people.

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George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 @gtconway.bsky.social · 6d

He knows it. They know it. They've always known it. Amongst themselves, they joke about it. They tell stories about it. They swap advice on how to deal with it.

But most importantly, to everyone else, they lie about it.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 6d

MADELEINE DEAN: The president is unhinged. He's unwell

JOHNSON: A lot of folks on your side are too

D: Oh my god, please. That performance in front of the generals?

J: I didn't see it

D: It's so dangerous! Our allies are looking elsewhere. Our enemies are laughing. You have a POTUS who's unwell.

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