Kenna Simmons
@kennas315.bsky.social
Health writer/editor in Atlanta. Mostly lurking with occasional posting.
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
In competitive authoritarian regimes, the government deters and undermines opposition by using its powers to inflict costs on those who challenge it rather than recognizing their legitimacy as democratic opponents
The Pentagon will cut the military retirement pay of Sen. Mark Kelly for what Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the Arizona Democrat’s “seditious” statements on a video telling service members they have the right to refuse to execute illegal orders.
Read more: cnb.cx/495FHLo
Read more: cnb.cx/495FHLo
January 5, 2026 at 5:02 PM
In competitive authoritarian regimes, the government deters and undermines opposition by using its powers to inflict costs on those who challenge it rather than recognizing their legitimacy as democratic opponents
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
America crossed many Rubicons by attacking Venezuela on Jan. 3, 2026
We are now a rogue nation. Any rules-based global order is dead. Trump is a dictator, without Congress, public approval or legal restrain. And an axis of evil is carving up the globe
My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/trum...
We are now a rogue nation. Any rules-based global order is dead. Trump is a dictator, without Congress, public approval or legal restrain. And an axis of evil is carving up the globe
My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/trum...
America launches its 250th birthday year by becoming a rogue state | Will Bunch
Trump's illegal war on Venezuela cemented his claim to dictatorship and marked the U.S. as a global pariah.
www.inquirer.com
January 5, 2026 at 12:44 PM
America crossed many Rubicons by attacking Venezuela on Jan. 3, 2026
We are now a rogue nation. Any rules-based global order is dead. Trump is a dictator, without Congress, public approval or legal restrain. And an axis of evil is carving up the globe
My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/trum...
We are now a rogue nation. Any rules-based global order is dead. Trump is a dictator, without Congress, public approval or legal restrain. And an axis of evil is carving up the globe
My new column www.inquirer.com/opinion/trum...
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
Among the many reasons you don’t kidnap a foreign head of state at gunpoint even if you have the capability, is that it sparks consequences you can neither control nor anticipate.
January 3, 2026 at 10:27 AM
Among the many reasons you don’t kidnap a foreign head of state at gunpoint even if you have the capability, is that it sparks consequences you can neither control nor anticipate.
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
1/n
Powerful and gut-wrenching photo-essay presentation in @washingtonpost.com by Jonathan Edwards.
Investigative/explanatory journalism at a very high level.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...
If you haven't lived in DC, you may not appreciate how much this is a city of **trees**.
Powerful and gut-wrenching photo-essay presentation in @washingtonpost.com by Jonathan Edwards.
Investigative/explanatory journalism at a very high level.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...
If you haven't lived in DC, you may not appreciate how much this is a city of **trees**.
New images offer closer look at demolition for the White House ballroom
The project reflects Trump’s expansive view of presidential authority — even over the White House itself.
www.washingtonpost.com
December 31, 2025 at 4:51 PM
1/n
Powerful and gut-wrenching photo-essay presentation in @washingtonpost.com by Jonathan Edwards.
Investigative/explanatory journalism at a very high level.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...
If you haven't lived in DC, you may not appreciate how much this is a city of **trees**.
Powerful and gut-wrenching photo-essay presentation in @washingtonpost.com by Jonathan Edwards.
Investigative/explanatory journalism at a very high level.
www.washingtonpost.com/politics/int...
If you haven't lived in DC, you may not appreciate how much this is a city of **trees**.
This.
Lord, please never let me be hated by someone as skilled as that Vanity Fair photographer. Let all my haters be incompetent.
December 18, 2025 at 4:06 AM
This.
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
It's a slippery slope from "illegal aliens" to legal immigrants to naturalized citizens to people whose parents were born somewhere else to anybody who learns a forbidden concept or searches for the wrong phrase on the internet.
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
Trump’s Push to Redefine Who Counts as American
Threats of denaturalization are the latest attack on immigrants — but they won’t stand up in court.
www.brennancenter.org
December 17, 2025 at 12:33 PM
It's a slippery slope from "illegal aliens" to legal immigrants to naturalized citizens to people whose parents were born somewhere else to anybody who learns a forbidden concept or searches for the wrong phrase on the internet.
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
I’m sorry it’s necessary but this warms my ancient, ink-stained heart.
"There’s a freedom people are craving because they’re feeling so constrained, surveilled and, frankly, threatened in so many other spheres."
Zines have made a resurgence as communities seek to share information on everything from ICE raids to local elections.
Zines have made a resurgence as communities seek to share information on everything from ICE raids to local elections.
Gen-Zine: DIY publications find new life as form of resistance against Trump
www.theguardian.com
December 13, 2025 at 5:42 PM
I’m sorry it’s necessary but this warms my ancient, ink-stained heart.
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
In terms of US politics, Bush v. Gore is the defining event of the century. It set the template: a ruthless right that instinctively seeks power & doesn't give a shit about rule of law...and a bunch of hapless, feckless octogenarian Dems worried about the good opinion of centrist opinion columnists.
The 25th anniversary of Bush v Gore is today. The conspiracy mongering & corruption of the GOP has been brewing for a long time.
Roberts, Barrett and Kavanaugh were all on Bush's legal team, where they pushed unfounded legal theories. SC justices were already enmeshed in voter fraud myths.
Roberts, Barrett and Kavanaugh were all on Bush's legal team, where they pushed unfounded legal theories. SC justices were already enmeshed in voter fraud myths.
Here's Sandra Day O'Connor endorsing News Max levels of voter fraud conspiracies in the 2000 election.
December 12, 2025 at 6:53 PM
In terms of US politics, Bush v. Gore is the defining event of the century. It set the template: a ruthless right that instinctively seeks power & doesn't give a shit about rule of law...and a bunch of hapless, feckless octogenarian Dems worried about the good opinion of centrist opinion columnists.
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
Families too frightened to shop for groceries. In America.
While federal agents patrol the Twin Cities, a Mexican grocer in St. Paul is filling a gap for families too frightened to shop.
In the shadow of ICE, a St. Paul neighborhood store steps in to feed its community
While federal agents patrol the Twin Cities, a Mexican grocer in St. Paul is filling a gap for families too frightened to shop.
www.startribune.com
December 13, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Families too frightened to shop for groceries. In America.
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
I have logged hundreds of hours in the past quarter century mentally traveling to the multiverse fork where SCOTUS didn't steal the election for Bush.
It's a lovely place, you should visit sometime.
It's a lovely place, you should visit sometime.
25 years ago today, SCOTUS elected George W Bush president of the United States by blocking completion of a voting canvass in Florida. A subsequent canvass by the Associated Press showed that Bush's rival, Al Gore, had won the race in Florida—and thus the contest for the presidency—by 700 votes.
December 12, 2025 at 1:07 PM
I have logged hundreds of hours in the past quarter century mentally traveling to the multiverse fork where SCOTUS didn't steal the election for Bush.
It's a lovely place, you should visit sometime.
It's a lovely place, you should visit sometime.
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
One way to think of the Trump Admin is as having SHIFTED the $$ we used to spend on curing cancer (and providing care to Veterans and protecting nature and etc) to snatching brown people off the streets.
Amid NIH funding delays, reversals and uncertainty, a scientist at Harvard who studies breast cancer has lost one-third of her lab employees and wonders if she can continue her research experiments. n.pr/4a4N3zD
After NIH grant cuts, breast cancer research at Harvard slowed, and lab workers left
Amid NIH funding delays, reversals and uncertainty, a scientist at Harvard who studies breast cancer has lost one-third of her lab employees and wonders if she can continue her research experiments.
n.pr
December 9, 2025 at 10:10 AM
One way to think of the Trump Admin is as having SHIFTED the $$ we used to spend on curing cancer (and providing care to Veterans and protecting nature and etc) to snatching brown people off the streets.
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
Because this isn't about immigration. It is about race. Wake up and cover the racism.
The U.S. citizens getting caught in Trump’s immigration crackdown www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
The U.S. citizens getting caught in Trump’s immigration crackdown www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
The U.S. citizens getting caught in Trump’s immigration crackdown
Latinos describe being detained and assaulted by officers who want to know: “Where were you born?”
www.washingtonpost.com
December 7, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Because this isn't about immigration. It is about race. Wake up and cover the racism.
The U.S. citizens getting caught in Trump’s immigration crackdown www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
The U.S. citizens getting caught in Trump’s immigration crackdown www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
looking forward to either a 6-3 decision that trump as God Emperor of the United States can change the constitution by fiat or a 5-4 decision that 14th amendment means what it says with a dissent from thomas that actually the constitution recognizes donald j. trump as sovereign
*SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ROLLBACK
December 5, 2025 at 6:57 PM
looking forward to either a 6-3 decision that trump as God Emperor of the United States can change the constitution by fiat or a 5-4 decision that 14th amendment means what it says with a dissent from thomas that actually the constitution recognizes donald j. trump as sovereign
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
An entire room full of powerful old white people smiling and laughing as the president dehumanizes black immigrants and the first black president.
Just fucking pathetic.
Just fucking pathetic.
Trump, continued: "What the Somalian people have done to Minnesota is not even believable. It’s not even believable. And a lot of it starts with the governor. A lot of it starts with Barack HUSSEIN Obama, because that’s when people started coming in... They want to kiss our country good night."
December 3, 2025 at 9:59 PM
An entire room full of powerful old white people smiling and laughing as the president dehumanizes black immigrants and the first black president.
Just fucking pathetic.
Just fucking pathetic.
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
A Republican won a special election in a Trump +22 House district in Tennessee, offering fresh evidence that New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is a drag on the Democratic Party.
December 3, 2025 at 1:18 PM
A Republican won a special election in a Trump +22 House district in Tennessee, offering fresh evidence that New York mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani is a drag on the Democratic Party.
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
If you ever wondered what GOP gerrymandering looks like in red states with blue cities, I present:
December 2, 2025 at 8:49 PM
If you ever wondered what GOP gerrymandering looks like in red states with blue cities, I present:
Nice to know my alma mater is as welcoming as it’s always been to rich white guys. 1956, indeed.
The University of Alabama is claiming two student publications violate federal law because one of them focuses on women students and the other on Black students, and it has shut them both down.
Alice Magazine is a fashion and wellness magazine that primarily covers women. Nineteen Fifty-Six covers Black student life and culture.
“Hood said that the University made the decision and had not been spurred by a complaint about the magazines.“
thecrimsonwhite.com/125358/news/...
“Hood said that the University made the decision and had not been spurred by a complaint about the magazines.“
thecrimsonwhite.com/125358/news/...
December 2, 2025 at 2:49 PM
Nice to know my alma mater is as welcoming as it’s always been to rich white guys. 1956, indeed.
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
Revealing piece from Bruce Bartlett explaining how even back in the 1980s, the Heritage Foundation understood how to play the news media in ways other think tanks didn't:
brucebartlett.substack.com/p/my-days-at...
brucebartlett.substack.com/p/my-days-at...
![Heritage also understood that time-pressed reporters were already adopting the horrid he-said/she-said style that plagues journalism today. If we got wind that some world-class Brookings scholar was due to release a book on, say, national health insurance that made an original contribution to knowledge in the field, someone at Heritage would quickly draft a short paper rehashing the same old talking points attacking national health insurance that had been around forever and release it the same day as the Brookings study. More often than not, we would get a story in the Washington Post the next day saying little more than this: “Today the Brookings Institution published a book, 3 tears in the making, advocating national health insurance, and the Heritage Foundation released a report on the same subject saying it would bankrupt the nation and lead to a deterioration in health quality.” Reporters never distinguished between the quality of one study and the shallowness of the other; they both got conflated and prevented the other side from getting traction on an issue.[vi] This method still works today.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/bafkreiabn6zsn47fjy7fdtsz56sqyl22sg6werwfjmgi3f7tbemrfyucna@jpeg)
November 21, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Revealing piece from Bruce Bartlett explaining how even back in the 1980s, the Heritage Foundation understood how to play the news media in ways other think tanks didn't:
brucebartlett.substack.com/p/my-days-at...
brucebartlett.substack.com/p/my-days-at...
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
Not a one. It’s disgraceful
I’ve been thinking and it’s kind of exceptional that not a single person said “Hey now” after the piggy comment.
November 19, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Not a one. It’s disgraceful
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
I spent October traveling to schools throughout the South talking to students about American history. What I found were young people who understand we can tell a story that includes both the positive and the negative. As one 8th grader in Memphis said, “Doesn’t seem that hard, just say both things.”
Tell Students the Truth About American History
We owe it to Americans of all ages to be honest about the country’s past, including its contradictions.
www.theatlantic.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:57 PM
I spent October traveling to schools throughout the South talking to students about American history. What I found were young people who understand we can tell a story that includes both the positive and the negative. As one 8th grader in Memphis said, “Doesn’t seem that hard, just say both things.”
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
November 14, 2025 at 12:50 PM
This.
Important to understand the Epstein stuff and the fascism and the corruption are, in a lot of ways, really all the same story from different angles: powerful men who can and do abuse vulnerable people around them because they can, and because systems of elite accountability catastrophically failed
November 12, 2025 at 10:03 PM
This.
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
This sounds reasonable but is 100% wrong. Whether you or agree or disagree with a study is completely immaterial. What matters is whether the study was conducted properly and generates valid results. And it's impolitic to say but it's true: you have to have some level of expertise to judge that.
JD Vance: "Science as practiced in its best form is that if you disagree with it, then you ought to criticize it and you ought to argue against it."
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
This sounds reasonable but is 100% wrong. Whether you or agree or disagree with a study is completely immaterial. What matters is whether the study was conducted properly and generates valid results. And it's impolitic to say but it's true: you have to have some level of expertise to judge that.
Reposted by Kenna Simmons
I will be surprised if one or more of the House Republicans who have signed on to the Epstein discharge petition aren't strong-armed by Trump into changing their votes after Grijalva is sworn in, thus leaving the signers short of 218
November 12, 2025 at 5:41 PM
I will be surprised if one or more of the House Republicans who have signed on to the Epstein discharge petition aren't strong-armed by Trump into changing their votes after Grijalva is sworn in, thus leaving the signers short of 218
No way to have seen this coming, says party to which this happens EVERY SINGLE TIME.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
Republicans demand tougher abortion restrictions to extend Obamacare funds
Democrats say that’s a nonstarter, arguing there are already limits on abortion access. The dispute could torpedo a deal, leading to higher health insurance premiums for millions.
www.nbcnews.com
November 11, 2025 at 11:59 PM
No way to have seen this coming, says party to which this happens EVERY SINGLE TIME.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...
www.nbcnews.com/politics/con...