Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 8h

Does the American public prefer reality TV meets talk show or actual oversight?

Accountability to Congress shouldn’t be about who can be most insulting.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

"This is supposed to be an oversight hearing" -- Schiff helpfully ticks through all of the incriminating questions -- and there are many of them -- that Bondi refused to answer during today's hearing

Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 1d

A stunning development.

Equal Justice Initiative @eji.org · 1d

Days after Virginia seceded from the Union, Robert E. Lee left the U.S. Army to defend slavery. A traitor and enslaver, Lee believed his state would be better without Black people. The Trump Administration reinstated his name on a military base.

Fort Lee, Virginia

Robert E. Lee’s support for slavery was not theoretical, he was an enslaver.

eji.org

Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 1d

Americans love laws but sometimes common sense should accomplish the same.

Nobody can successfully run two major government departments IF they actually lead and manage them.

The Fig Economy @figgityfigs.bsky.social · 2d

Desperately need a law that says something like running a federal agency is a full time job and not something you can do in your spare time from another full time job.

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 2d

The Trump administration has found its seventh leader for the IRS since the start of President Donald Trump’s second term: Frank Bisignano, the head of the Social Security Administration.

Bisignano will run both agencies.

Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 2d

Do we remember how President Obama was called the anti-Christ? Here we have a direct continuation, but now from highest echelons of government.

These labels matter as they shape people’s perceptions, even if subconsciously.

Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 2d

Not too long ago, it would’ve been pretty dramatic for an incumbent American president to refer to his opponents as “the party of Hate, Evil, and Satan.”

But as people grow accustomed to madness, it’s now barely a one-day story.

Rachel Maddow @maddow.msnbc.com · 2d

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

Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 6d

We have lost our empathy — and all common sense.

Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 6d

DHS doing night raids to bring GWOT home.

Lynda Lopez @lyndab08.bsky.social · 6d

“It was heartbreaking to watch,” said Watson. “Even if you’re not a mother, seeing kids coming out buck naked and taken from their mothers, it was horrible.”

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Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 8d

Justice Jackson must have wasted his time serving as the US chief prosecutor in Nuremberg.

Corey Rayburn Yung @coreyryung.bsky.social · 8d

At the same event, Hegseth said "We also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt, and kill the enemies of our country."

NPR @npr.org · 8d

JUST IN: President Trump has told top U.S. commanders that the military would be used against "enemy within."

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Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 11d

Why renaming & labeling matters, “Secretary of “War”, “domestic terrorist”, and now “war ravaged”.
The latter applies to cities in Gaza, Sudan & Russian-occupied & -attacked cities in Ukraine, not to any US city.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 11d

Trump says he’s authorized Hegseth to use “Full Force” against Antifa in “War ravaged” Portland

At the request of Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, I am directing Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to provide all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland, and any of our ICE Facilities under siege from attack by Antifa, and other domestic terrorists. I am also authorizing Full Force, if necessary. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 11d

Oscar Wilde’s “Ideal Husband” highlights human imperfection & the dangers of declaring someone to be perfect. His lessons are valuable: recognitions of human failings (& resulting structural inequities) make for a richer, truer & more inclusive telling of the past than ideal (and false) renditions.

ED Wants Grants to Advance “Patriotic Education”

Professional historians say the department’s plan is part of the Trump administration’s broader attempt to create an Orwellian “truth ministry” and omit the more troubling aspects of the nation’s past...

www.insidehighered.com

Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 11d

Class scheduling requires resilience, diplomacy, and a good sense of the curriculum.
Student (including work schedules) and faculty preference often clash and can be hard to accommodate.

Robert Kelchen @robertkelchen.com · 12d

Scheduling is a common dilemma for department heads. Upper administration wants to spread out class times, but students prefer peak hours. The resulting choice is to either upset students (meaning the course won't run) or administrators (meaning you're out).

www.chronicle.com/article/the-...

Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 11d

Professional prosecutors help law enforcement to abide by the law. Professional law enforcement officers appreciate the guidance.

That’s how it’s done. It assumes professionalism.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 11d

OUTRAGEOUS behavior from the Department of Justice; a seasoned prosecutor was fired for reminding a Stephen Miller ally that he was required to obey the Constitution and the valid orders of a federal court.

Documents reviewed by The New York Times show that the July 15 firing of Ms. Beckwith occurred less than six hours after she told Mr. Bovino, the Border Patrol chief in charge of the Southern California raids, that a court order prevented him from arresting people without probable cause in a vast expanse that stretches from the Oregon border to Bakersfield. She was removed not only from her post as acting U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of California, but from the office altogether.

“It’s unjust,” she said of the firings across the federal government this year, in an interview. “We have to stand up and insist the laws be followed.”

Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 13d

Another form of gerrymandering.

Prison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 13d

🚨NEW: Everyone in Vermont is supposed to have an equal voice, but an outdated US Census Bureau policy counts incarcerated people in the wrong place, giving a few residents a megaphone – aka prison gerrymandering

The state can fix this. Here's how👇

www.prisonersofthecensus.org/news/2025/09...

Federal Census policy breaks Vermont’s democracy — state lawmakers can fix it

Vermont’s redistricting data was once again skewed after the 2020 Census; the state needs to take action to fix the issue for 2030

www.prisonersofthecensus.org

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Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 14d

Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Emperor’s New Clothes”

Who will shout out the truth that ends the farce?

David Rothkopf @djrothkopf.bsky.social · 14d

Trump's UN speech was such an extraordinary combination of lies, delusions, narcissism, hatefulness, ignorance and lunacy that it could have been given by no other person than Trump.
www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-un-ad...

Trump’s UN Address Was a Tragedy of Shakespearian Proportions

Of course, the president’s main messages today were ones of irrationality and instability, so who knows what the plot points and soliloquies will be tomorrow or next week.

www.thedailybeast.com

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Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 15d

Isn‘t that how Henry VIII had all these wives? 😉

Karen Benjamin Guzzo @karenguzzo.bsky.social · 15d

Unrelated but related: Population growth in the 1970s was blamed on women having too many kids. Population decline now is being blamed on women having too few kids.

Blaming women is just the fallback for every problem.

David M. Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social · 15d

“The “refrigerator mother” myth was used as a justification for taking children away from their parents and subjecting the kids to ever-harsher treatments…now the Trump administration is poised to start a new cycle in which moms are once again blamed for their kids’ autism.”

My latest.

Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 15d

Let‘s not underestimate the guilt & shame mothers experience because of these unfounded claims.

Kara Karlson @karakarlson.bsky.social · 15d

Have we ever had real medical groups come out immediately after a presentation by HHS and correct misinformation?

No. But I'm glad they did.

ACOG @acog.org · 16d

ACOG reaffirms that acetaminophen is safe for managing pain and fever during pregnancy. No reputable studies support suggestions like those in HHS’s recent announcement linking acetaminophen use in pregnancy to autism; in fact, high-quality studies show no such risk. https://bit.ly/47Wxc59

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Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 15d

Language capture.
One of our major challenges is that certain words have been captured by one side of the political spectrum and that side will fill it with meaning.
While both sides may hypothetically be for civics, their meanings & content differ dramatically.

Inside Higher Ed @insidehighered.com · 15d

Opinion | What’s So Conservative About Civics, Anyway?

Eric Hartman asks how colleges can move civics education beyond this hyperpartisan moment. https://bit.ly/46kdq2r

#AcademicSky #EDUSky #HigherEd

A photo of an American flag waving in front of the U.S. Capitol.

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Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 20d

Adding grand juries that refuse to indict to that list.

Blake Emerson @blakeprof.bsky.social · 20d

Jury trial/district courts are one of the few functioning safeguards we have now.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 20d

Gregory Bovino, leader of Trump’s LA and Chicago raids, personally testified that he saw a protestor strike a Border Patrol agent. The jury did not believe him and the protestor was acquitted.

The Trump admin is losing these cases left and right. Their credibility with jurors is virtually nil.

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Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 20d

The most recent tendency to label anything & everything „terrorism“ has led us to such a call 👇
The definition has never been particularly precise but there are rules around the term, as the NY judge in the Mangione case just showed us.

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 20d

Vague, open-ended designations of "terrorism" are a signature of authoritarian regimes. Antifa isn't a group but the label can be attached to whomever the regime disfavors.

Alex Halpern @halpernalex.bsky.social · 20d

This is the one, folks.

Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 21d

This is the step back into an ineffective & overly punitive criminal justice system we don‘t need.
There are evidence-based ways that help reduce crime, treating 14-year-olds as adults isn‘t among them.
Any educator—and parent—knows 14-yr-olds don’t reason or react the same way as adults.

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 21d

House lawmakers voted to allow 14-year-olds to be tried as adults and to treat young people more harshly in the D.C. justice system — fulfilling a top request from the Trump administration despite universal opposition among top D.C. elected officials.

House votes to charge D.C. 14-year-olds as adults

The House also voted to restrict judges from giving lighter sentences to young adults, among 14 D.C. crime-related policy proposals from the GOP.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 21d

👇
An indictment of public & constant cursing. It pulls us all down & bathes us all in negativity.

These days even congressional testimony is filled with swear words. How quaint to continue the movie warnings.

Opinion | Why Does Everybody Swear All The Time Now?

www.nytimes.com

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Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 21d

Elegant & poignant. Bertrand Russell rejects the notion that civil discourse is possible or valuable with those leaders whose moral compass & values are repugnant to their own. Of course, this can cut both ways but his letter raises important questions about the limits of discourse.

John Pettus @johngpettus.bsky.social · 21d

Bertrand Russell, at 89 years old, to Sir Oswald Mosley, a man most famous for founding, in 1932, the British Union of Fascists.

I'm all for civil discourse. But everyone can and should draw a line at who they will talk to.

Notice that Russell did not demean himself with incivility, either.

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Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 24d

Yes. 👇
Any host prefers certainty. “No” is a courtesy — and perhaps a relief to both sides 🤷‍♀️

The Conversation U.S. @us.theconversation.com · 24d

Just say “no" if you don't want to go.

A definitive answer is often preferred to leaving the inviter in limbo with "maybe"

buff.ly/fV55XUJ

When you’re caught between ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ here’s why ‘maybe’ isn’t the way to go

Indecision reflects self-interest more than sensitivity – and leaves friends, family and acquaintances feeling disrespected.

buff.ly

Nora Demleitner @norademleitner.bsky.social · 29d

It is not just workers but also institutions that suffer in an age of immense wealth disparity.

Other Higher ed leaders have long envied Harvard endowment. But it is a fraction — less than a quarter — of Musk’s (and other billionaire’s) net worth.

Truthout @truthout.org · 29d

Bernie Sanders blasted Elon Musk’s proposed $1T Tesla payout as “grossly immoral,” warning no society can survive when one man amasses such wealth while workers struggle to get by.