Jonathan V. Last
@jvl.bsky.social
96K followers 120 following 1.9K posts
Editor of The Bulwark https://www.thebulwark.com/ Host of a Secret Podcast. Also a super double-secret podcast you can't find.
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Jonathan V. Last
jackjenkins.me
Gonna be thinking about this lede for a minute.
(RNS) — Last month, the Rev. David Black stood in front of a Chicago-area U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility and spread his arms wide. Adorned in all black and wearing a clerical collar, the pastor looked up at a group of masked, heavily armed ICE agents on the roof and began to pray.

“I invited them to repentance,” Black, a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), said in an interview. “I basically offered an altar call. I invited them to come and receive that salvation, and be part of the kingdom that is coming.”

But when Black began to lower his arms a few seconds later, the agents responded to his spiritual plea by firing pepper balls, or chemical agents that cause eye irritation and respiratory distress, video footage shows. One struck Black in the head, exploding into a puff of white pepper smoke and forcing him to his knees. Fellow demonstrators rushed to his aid, and as the pastor rubbed his face in pain, the agents continued to fire.

“We could hear them laughing,” Black said.
jvl.bsky.social
As alarmed as people may be, they aren't alarmed enough. Trump just escalated this crisis from a fight between the federal government and a state, to a situation where one state is deploying armed forces to impose its will on another state. www.thebulwark.com/p/emergency-...
Emergency Triad: The Chicago Rubicon and What Comes Next
We aren’t at the worst-case scenario yet. But if you squint, you can see it looming out there, just over the horizon.
www.thebulwark.com
jvl.bsky.social
I’ll take the over.
radiofreetom.bsky.social
80/20
tdb011235.bsky.social
Given the trend, what do you guess are the odds of seeing military at polling places next year? At the moment I'm giving it 1:3 odds.
jvl.bsky.social
Bunch of tubbies with facial hair and zero muzzle discipline. Don’t tell the SecWAR.
Reposted by Jonathan V. Last
sonnybunch.bsky.social
Talked A FEW GOOD MEN on the Movie Club this week with @jvl.bsky.social and @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social, which remains one of the all-time "Oh yeah, he's in this" movies. Cruise/Nicholson/Moore, yes, but also Kevin Pollack, JT Walsh, Noah Wyle, Josh Malina, Cuba Gooding Jr, etc. Off the charts!
A Few Good Men: Why Today’s Leaders Sound Like Col. Jessup
YouTube video by The Bulwark
www.youtube.com
Reposted by Jonathan V. Last
govpritzker.illinois.gov
This morning, the Trump Administration’s Department of War gave me an ultimatum: call up your troops, or we will. It is absolutely outrageous and un-American to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will.
Reposted by Jonathan V. Last
billkristolbulwark.bsky.social
This is a must-read by @jvl.bsky.social.

You don’t have to agree with every particular — I’m not sure I do — to appreciate how helpful this is, how essential it is, to thinking seriously about the present moment.

BLUF. Memo to Democrats: It’s the power, stupid.

www.thebulwark.com/p/democrats-...
Here’s How Trump Loses the Shutdown
God help us but Gavin Newsom is the only Democrat who understands power.
www.thebulwark.com
Reposted by Jonathan V. Last
pbump.com
comic book authors: we invented the punisher as a cautionary tale about vigilante crime fighting
the director of the fbi: at long last, we are implementing the ethos from the classic comic book the punisher
samd.bsky.social
reddit occupied government
Ken Dilanian
@DilanianMSNBC
Follow
The challenge coins being handed out by @FBIDirectorKash. Seems someone put a lot of thought into this.
Reposted by Jonathan V. Last
tomjoscelyn.bsky.social
Bari Weiss, a mediocrity, built a lucrative career by riding the online right’s grievances, many of which are fictitious.

On the right, incessant whining and whataboutism pays.
jvl.bsky.social
You say that's not realistic? Fine. Ask for reductions of exec power. Eg: 5/
jvl.bsky.social
Here are some things D's should be willing to bail Trump and R's out in exchange for:

* DC statehood
* Release of ALL the Epstein files

Period. The end. 4/
jvl.bsky.social
Does anyone think that if D's succeed in getting Trump to restore Medicaid cuts *they* will get credit form voters? B/c that's delusional. 3/
jvl.bsky.social
Dems are willing to help Trump avoid an unpopular shutdown if he will stop doing the things that are going to make him unpopular? AYFKM?

D's should *want* ACA subsidies to lapse and R Medicaid cuts to hit. Voters need to see what Trump is doing to them.
2/
jvl.bsky.social
If you can't win a shutdown fight when R's control the White House, Congress, & SCOTUS, the economy is slowing, unemployment is rising, inflation is persistent, and Trump is -11 fav, wtf are you even doing in politics? Just shut down the party. 1/ www.thebulwark.com/p/democrats-...
Here’s How Trump Loses the Shutdown
God help us but Gavin Newsom is the only Democrat who understands power.
www.thebulwark.com
Reposted by Jonathan V. Last
opinionhaver.bsky.social
Every blue state governor should be maxing out the size and resources of armed agencies that they have reason to believe they will be more loyal to them. Maybe they are (it’s not the kind of thing you publicize), but if they aren’t they need to be. State DOJ agents, IG office agents, etc etc
figgityfigs.bsky.social
This is an enormous problem that everyone more or less acknowledges until they pretend a Democratic governor could right now ride out into combat and order his state police to stand down and cease to assist ICE.
starshine.bsky.social
i mean the thing underlying this and has been for a theme years is whether any dem mayor or governor for that matter has actual authority over their armed forces
Reposted by Jonathan V. Last
premthakker.bsky.social
Paramount is about to pay $150 million for this
New article from The Free Press

My Favorite Actress Is Not Human

“Not everyone is happy about this gorgeous innovation,” writes Tyler Cowen.

Tilly Norwood doesn’t need a hairstylist, has no regrettable posts, and if you wish to see a virgin on-screen, this is one of your better chances. That’s because she’s AI.
By Tyler Cowen
10.02.25
Reposted by Jonathan V. Last
thebulwark.com
James O'Keefe's motives may be complex or questionable - more on that inside - but he is, in fact, putting pressure on the Trump administration over their Epstein stonewalling.

The latest edition of False Flag from @willsommer.bsky.social: www.thebulwark.com/p/james-okee...
James O’Keefe, Of All People, Won’t Let Trump Skate on Epstein
Plus: Candace Owens's speculations about the Kirk assassination grow farther fetched.
www.thebulwark.com
jvl.bsky.social
This is where credulous, "unbiased" reporting gets you.
Reposted by Jonathan V. Last
Reposted by Jonathan V. Last
klonick.bsky.social
Everytime I listen to Stephen Miller I think of this one angry nerdy bitter kid I went to high school with who used to have just one line in his AIM profile, the Radiohead lyric:

“When I am king, you will be first against the wall”
nullifie.bsky.social
The year is 2003.

17-year-old Stephen Miller is sitting in the back of a school bus talking about torture, as in “Torture is a celebration of human life and dignity."

Miller looks directly into the camera and describes the torturing Iraqis in gruesome detail, as his peers laugh uncomfortably.
Reposted by Jonathan V. Last
nameshiv.bsky.social
Fascinated by how the people who lost their minds over student loan forgiveness are currently running ads on my TV every 10 min promising that they'll forgive your student loans if you join ICE
Reposted by Jonathan V. Last
jillybobww.bsky.social
"What you fail to see Mr. Pope" is truly the most incredible assemblage of words I have seen coming out of X, the Everything App, in quite some time.
rfksbrainworm.bsky.social
really enjoying all the people trying to explain the bible to the pope today
Pope Leo XIV
Today, more than ever, we must return to the heart, the center of feeling and emotion, the locus of freedom. Though it includes reason, the heart transcends and transforms it. Only by returning to the heart can we undergo a true ecological conversion that transforms our personal

Austin
I reject this whole heartedly. What you fail to see Mr Pope, the Bible says
Reposted by Jonathan V. Last
bartenderhemry.bsky.social
Most morally offensive part of hegseth's speech was the idea that manliness and courage consists of bullying and abusing people weaker than you rather than standing up for justice against people more powerful than you. Real andrew tate shit