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Reposted by Margaret Dumont 🇨🇦

Patrick Chovanec @prchovanec.bsky.social · 6h

I think people seriously underestimate what it means to say that the Supreme Court is “illegitimate”, and what the consequences of saying it (and meaning it) are.

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Reposted by Margaret Dumont 🇨🇦

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 16h

In a very real and practical sense, the elimination of USAID occurred because a) civil servants who followed the law were pushed out, b) unaccountable amoral people were given power, and c) SCOTUS let it all happen.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/the-death-...

In addition to mass firing of public servants, Musk's team executed a takeover of the Treasury payment system. David Lebryk, the civil servant who was acting Treasury Secretary, pushed back against the Musk official, Tom Krause, who demanded control over the payment system and specifically to pause USAID payments. Lebryk informed Krause that Treasury could not legally stop payments, and recommended to work through USAID instead. Krause then threatened Lebryk: “I would also recommend you consider an equal alternative liability.” By the next week Lebryk announced his retirement, and Musk announced he was shutting down the agency.

It was later revealed that the other DOGE official who had sought to take control of Treasury spending, Marko Elez, was a self-avowed racist with a record of making disparaging remarks about foreigners, including “I would not mind at all if Gaza and Israel were both wiped off the face of the Earth.” After he resigned, Musk led a successful campaign to bring Elez back into government, even as he pushed out those doing actual life-saving work.

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Reposted by Margaret Dumont 🇨🇦

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 17h

The elimination of USAID is a moral atrocity and all involved made a choice to enable, and then lie about, ending the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

MAE SOT, Thailand (AP) - Mohammed Taher clutched the lifeless body of his 2-year-old son and wept. Ever since his family's food rations stopped arriving at their internment camp in Myanmar in April, the father had watched helplessly as his once-vibrant baby boy weakened, suffering from diarrhea and begging for food.
On May 21, exactly two weeks after Taher's little boy died, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio sat before Congress and declared: "No one has died" because of his government's decision to gut its foreign aid program. Rubio also insisted: "No children are dying on my watch."
That, Taher says, "is a lie."

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Reposted by Margaret Dumont 🇨🇦

Jonathan V. Last @jvl.bsky.social · 12h

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 · 13h

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

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Houston Chronicle @houstonchronicle.com · 2d

Texas once feared a phantom federal occupation. Now Gov. Abbott’s troops are helping carry it out under Trump. And Houston may be next, writes the Houston Chronicle editorial board. bit.ly/48Q3D5C

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Reposted by Margaret Dumont 🇨🇦

Patrick Chovanec @prchovanec.bsky.social · 15h

The Speaker of the House has firm views that Bad Bunny is a terrible pick for singing at the Super Bowl, but hasn't had time to watch the President's speech to our military leadership or form an opinion whether furloughed federal workers should be paid or Illinois' governor should be thrown in jail.

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 7h

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

nyti.ms

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Hoodlum 🇺🇸 @nothoodlum.bsky.social · 10h

Let’s check in on the warzone in Portland.

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Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 5h

You’ve gotta be kidding me.

This WaPo editorial presents a misleading revisionist history of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s criminal cases against Trump.

Then it has the gall to compare that to Trump’s overt targeting of his perceived enemies.

Really embarrassing stuff.

But the mere fact that a legal tool might be available does not mean it should be used. The
current rage over Grassley's revelation shows why. Smith showed little restraint in his pursuit of a former president. He charged Trump for official acts he took as president. He sought a gag order to limit Trump's ability to criticize the prosecution. He tried to accelerate the case to try a leading presidential candidate before the 2024 election.

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Reposted by Margaret Dumont 🇨🇦

Hoodlum 🇺🇸 @nothoodlum.bsky.social · 6h

Remember this post? The Wall Street Journal just confirmed it was meant to be a DM to Pam Bondi.
www.yahoo.com/news/article...

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Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 7h

incredibly, bleakly funny that trump is going after christopher wray, who spent his entire tenure at the fbi with his head down desperately trying to avoid trump's attention and did nothing to protect the bureau from trump's attacks www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Other prosecutors are investigating former CIA director John Brennan, another prominent Trump critic, and former FBI director Christopher Wray, who was originally appointed by Trump but enraged conservatives who came to believe he had wielded the bureau’s powers against them. Former officials have received subpoenas in recent days in the Wray inquiry, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter.

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Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 7h

he's going to come after you either way, so you might as well act with integrity

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Reposted by Margaret Dumont 🇨🇦

Eric Reinhart @eric-reinhart.com · 5h

It seems most Americans still think that what’s happened before and elsewhere couldn’t possibly happen here now. But it can, and it is. Fascism is here. State terrorism against us is going to get more and more violent. And it is not likely to be stopped by waiting for a chance to vote against it.

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Reposted by Margaret Dumont 🇨🇦

Danny K @dannykpolitics.bsky.social · 3d

WATCH: ‘Portland Frog’ pepper balled by ICE agents

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

COONS: How did you conclude that these strikes on boats in the open ocean are legal?

BONDI: I'm not going to discuss any legal advice that my department may or may not have issued

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Reposted by Margaret Dumont 🇨🇦

Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social · 5h

I wrote legal editorials for the Post for a hot minute many years ago, and I was constantly anxious about making sure I got the details right. This editorial is just humiliating for everyone involved

Philip Bump @pbump.com · 6h

I spent more than a decade at The Post. It was good to me and I was proud to work there. I’ve largely refrained from being critical since I left. But this framing of the special counsel probe is embarrassing and flatly wrong. Stunning, but not. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Opinion | Jack Smith’s lawfare and James Comey’s arraignment on pathetically weak charges

Good people will be deterred from public service if they see a meaningful risk of winding up in jail afterward.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 6h

New — I was fortunate to speak in front of students and faculty at Grinnell College in Iowa tonight about the business of independent journalism, the current state of media under Trump 2.0, and billionaire control.

I published my full speech because I thought it might resonate beyond campus:

Truth, morality and independence in journalism under the second Trump regime

My full remarks to students and faculty at Grennell College.

www.thehandbasket.co

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Asha Rangappa @asharangappa.bsky.social · 6h

Kristi Noem was unaware that the suspension of habeas corpus was under Article I of the Constitution and even if the fate of the most basic liberty right were delegated one would hope that it would be to the President and not the Secretary of Homeland Security

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 10h

Q: Have you given any more thought to possibly suspending habeas corpus?

TRUMP: Suspending who?

Q: Habeas corpus

TRUMP: I don't know. I'd rather leave that to Kristi.

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Reposted by Margaret Dumont 🇨🇦

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 11h

My gosh. After the US bombed multiple boats in the middle of the ocean, murdering people on grounds that they were allegedly "carrying drugs," the US Attorney General says "Just like we did with cartels, we're going to take the same approach, President Trump, with Antifa."

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Dean Booth 🦆🐇 @deanbooth.bsky.social · 6h

Remember that WaPo endorsed Bondi as qualified and serious. Unfortunately, WaPo is neither.

ATTORNEY GENERAL
Pam Bondi [thumbs up]
Florida's former attorney general is qualified; lawyers who have worked with her report that she is serious.

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Reposted by Margaret Dumont 🇨🇦

realKyleKeegan @realkylekeegan.bsky.social · 6h

Turns out screwing vulnerable people out of health care actually *costs* us money.

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Reposted by Margaret Dumont 🇨🇦

Janet French @jantafrench.bsky.social · 1d

Elections Alberta has approved a citizen-initiated petition application to gather signatures in support of the proposal to end public funding to independent/private schools.

Calgary teacher Alicia Taylor says she brought it forward because it could help improve funding for public schools. #AbEd

Alberta teacher prompts petition on province's private school funding | CBC News

If high school chemistry teacher Alicia Taylor gets her wish, Albertans will vote in a referendum on whether to end public funding for independent schools.

www.cbc.ca

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Reposted by Margaret Dumont 🇨🇦

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 8h

What happened to all those constitutional conservatives in Congress?

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 11h

Trump: "We took the freedom of speech away because that's been through the courts and the courts said you have freedom of speech, but what has happened is when they burn a flag it agitates and irritates crowds."

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Reposted by Margaret Dumont 🇨🇦

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 7h

“.. On Sept. 20, Trump meant to send a private message to Attorney General Pam Bondi urging her to prosecute” Comey.

“.. Trump believed he had sent Bondi the message directly .. and was surprised to learn it was public, the officials said.” 🤡

@wsj.com
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

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Reposted by Margaret Dumont 🇨🇦

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 7h

McCormick spice company has a $140 million tariff problem www.thebanner.com/economy/mcco...

McCormick spice company has a $140 million tariff problem

McCormick & Company, a spice giant based in Hunt Valley, said in an earnings call Tuesday that it anticipates $140 million in annual costs associated with President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

www.thebanner.com

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