Johnathan Appel
@johnathanappel.bsky.social
4.3K followers 410 following 14 posts
Writer Last Week Tonight; words in New Yorker & Mcsweeneys; I talk about my cats like they're my children but when I do it, it's funny
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Reposted by Johnathan Appel
wgaeast.bsky.social
The following is a statement from the WGA on ABC’s decision to pull ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’
WGA Statement on ABC's Decision to Pull ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’
The right to speak our minds and to disagree with each other - to disturb, even - is at the very heart of what it means to be a free people. It is not to be denied. Not by violence, not by the abuse of governmental power, nor by acts of corporate cowardice.
As a Guild, we stand united in opposition to anyone who uses their power and influence to silence the voices of writers, or anyone who speaks in dissent. If free speech applied only to ideas we like, we needn't have bothered to write it into the Constitution. What we have signed on to - painful as it may be at times - is the freeing agreement to disagree.
Shame on those in government who forget this founding truth. As for our employers, our words have made you rich.
Silencing us impoverishes the whole world.
The WGA stands with Jimmy Kimmel and his writers.
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
marisakabas.bsky.social
Brad Lander at @jfrejnyc.bsky.social awards event: “I have not done enough to speak out against the ethnic cleansing and war crimes in Gaza.”

He is here being honored along with @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
petersterne.com
Bombshell report from The New York Times reveals that President Donald Trump spoke directly to Andrew Cuomo about how to stop Zohran Mamdani from becoming NYC mayor. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/n...
The president has been briefed by Mark Penn, a pollster who has worked for Bill and Hillary Clinton, and Andrew Stein, a former New York City Council president and decades-long friend of Mr. Trump, on a range of polling that showed Mr. Cuomo could still be competitive as an independent candidate. Both men have pushed Mr. Cuomo as the best candidate despite his loss in the Democratic primary, including in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed. One of Mr. Penn’s firms did extensive work for a pro-Cuomo super PAC in the primary.

And in a previously undisclosed call in recent weeks, Mr. Trump spoke about the race directly with Mr. Cuomo, an old associate and foil, according to three people briefed on the call, who were not authorized to discuss it.
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
nycsouthpaw.bsky.social
This weird column is emblematic of the sort of special pleading that dominates mainstream coverage of trump. There’s a ream of propensity evidence, extensive opportunities, and a growing sheaf of chummy statements from Trump evincing detailed knowledge and winking approval of Epstein’s crimes.
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
aoc.bsky.social
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.

This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.

It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
atherton.bsky.social
in the history of the 21st century, the Biden presidency will be remembered as a footnote during the long Trump era. Stephen Miller, architect of this hell, will have shaped America more, in no small part because Biden, like Obama before him, left in place the infrastructure facilitating deportation
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
bencollins.bsky.social
Imagine if the Democratic Party actually helped Zohran instead of trying to kneecap him at every step. A better party is immediately possible if they stop shoving money into the anti-trans combination Racism Dial/Money Toilet and instead get behind candidates people actually want.
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
ashtonpittman.bsky.social
New York City is reminding Americans that you don't have to vote for the accused sexual abuser just because he runs for office again.
New York Democratic Mayoral Primary >
Candidate
Zohran Mamdani 43.8%
Andrew M. Cuomo 35.7%
Brad Lander 11.7%
Adrienne Adams 4.1%
Other candidates 4.7%

81% of votes in
Sources: AP and N.Y.C. Board of Elections. Ranked-choice tallies expected
next Tuesday.
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
mtsw.bsky.social
Andrew Cuomo was the US Secretary of Housing and is now running for mayor, where one of the largest agencies they manage is NYC's Housing Authority.

And yet Cuomo literally had ChatGPT write his campaign housing policy.

This is who the media and establishment want you to think is "serious"
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
marisakabas.bsky.social
NYC 🚨

IF YOU HAVEN’T VOTED, GO NOW

FIND YOUR POLLING PLACE HERE: vote.nyc/page/find-yo...

RANK ZOHRAN 1, LANDER 2, MYRIE, ADAMS, BLAKE 3-5.

DO NOT RANK CUOMO UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

LET’S FUCKING GO.
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
jakemgrumbach.bsky.social
Cuomo's reemergence has already damaged the party by causing Democratic leaders do outright hypocrisy and cheapen #MeToo. The same people who ousted Al Franken for less than Cuomo's serial harassment, then ousted Cuomo himself, now endorse him.

A functional party would coordinate to say "stay out"
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
dceiver.bsky.social
really sums up the media’s coverage of the Trump presidency
Screen shot of CNN site with a Saturday breaking news alert explaining that Trump launched a strike against Iran atop a CNN story from the same day headlined “Always a peacemaker”: How Trump decided to hold off on striking Iran
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
kattenbarge.bsky.social
The smears against Zohran coming from the Democratic establishment are also a sign of fear—they’re more scared of the party becoming progressive than they are of the country already being fascist. If Zohran wins, it signals a reckoning. If Cuomo wins, they can keep the failing status quo intact.
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
bradlander.bsky.social
Tonight, I'll go home and sleep in my bed. I have a lawyer, I'll get due process.

But Edgardo, whose arm was ripped from mine by ICE agents, has none of those things.

That's why I'll keep coming back to court, week after week, to make sure that people's rights are protected.
Brad Lander: "I'll keep coming back to court, week after week"
YouTube video by Brad Lander for NYC
youtu.be
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
bradlander.bsky.social
Hi, this is Meg Barnette, Brad's wife.

While escorting a defendant out of immigration court at 26 Federal Plaza, Brad was taken by masked agents and detained by ICE.

This is still developing, and our team is monitoring the situation closely.
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
factpostnews.bsky.social
Sen. Padilla: If you thought what unfolded last week was just about one politician, you're missing the point. If that is what the administration is willing to do to a United States Senator for having the authority to ask a question, imagine what's happening in places where there are no cameras
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
kimkelly.bsky.social
Brad Lander physically put his body on the line to protect a person being targeted by ICE goons, and this was the result. He’s an elected city official and mayoral candidate, but he’s also a good person. If every elected Dem showed that kind of bravery, we’d be in a much different position.
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
aoc.bsky.social
ICE just arrested Brad Lander, the NYC Comptroller and one of the leading candidates for Mayor, without grounds.

He was conducting routine immigration court work, escorting individuals from hearings.

He asked ICE for their warrant - well within his legal rights.

This is political intimidation.
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
Whoa! NYC mayoral candidate and current city Comptroller Brad Lander seemingly arrested at the NYC immigration court while attending to escort someone attending their hearing.
gwynnefitz.bsky.social
Lander just got detained by federal agents as he tried to escort a man out of the courtroom. Lander was taken in an elevator with masked agents, along with one member of his NYPD security detail.
Reposted by Johnathan Appel
gelliottmorris.com
Based on crowd-sourced records of No Kings Day event turnout, and extrapolating for the cities where we don't have data yet, it looks like roughly 4-6 million people protested Trump across the U.S. yesterday. That's nearly 2% of the U.S. pop!

Mobilized anti-Trump resistance is exceeding 2017 levels
"No Kings Day" protests turn out millions
Our unofficial estimate is that around 4 million people attended a protest event yesterday. Anti-Trump resistance is outpacing 2017.
www.gelliottmorris.com