Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Laurent Pech 🇺🇦

Hillary Rodham Clinton @hillaryclinton.bsky.social · 1h

Children around the world have died because Trump and Musk needlessly destroyed USAID. These are some of their stories.

apnews.com/article/myan...

AP: Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

47 310 730

Reposted by Laurent Pech 🇺🇦

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 1h

It's almost as if a movement that began with lusty chants of "lock her up" in regard to the opposition party's candidate for President in 2016...combined with a refusal to honor the results of the election...has morphed into a cult of unaccountable, authoritarian power.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1h

Q: Do you agree that the mayor of Chicago and governor of Illinois should be in prison?

MIKE JOHNSON: Should they be in prison? I'm not the attorney general. I'm not following the day to day on that

15 170 780

Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 1h

& here is another instance of NYT sanewashing Trump’s authoritarianism and manifest unconstitutional/illegal motives/actions

stevelevitsky.bsky.social @stevelevitsky.bsky.social · 3h

They are not Trump's enemies. They are critics and opponents. He sees them as enemies, because that's how autocrats perceive their critics. NYT should not repeat and normalize authoritarian discourse.

How Trump Is Using the Justice Department to Target His Enemies www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

How Trump Is Using the Justice Department to Target His Enemies

President Trump has long spoken of seeking vengeance against his political enemies. Here’s a list of whom he is targeting.

www.nytimes.com

1 2 1

Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 1h

🇺🇸 going through a worsening rule of law breakdown with top-down lawlessness coupled with fascistic rhetoric a daily reality & yet we continue to get media headlines sanewashing what’s unfolding…

Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 3h

Welcome to the era of “Kavanaugh Raids.” www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/welcome-to...

1 2

Reposted by Laurent Pech 🇺🇦

Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 2h

Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune

21 47

Reposted by Laurent Pech 🇺🇦

Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 4h

JB Pritzker and Gavin Newsom are doing something new and important: They understand Stephen Miller's theory of fascist power politics, and they've developed a theory on how to combat it. More Dems need to reckon with Miller's understanding of the moment.

New from me:
newrepublic.com/article/2014...

Inside Stephen Miller’s Secret Plan to Normalize Trump’s Dictator Rule

He wants to supercharge searing civil tensions to get low-information voters to embrace their inner authoritarian. Exactly two Democrats appear to fully grasp this.

newrepublic.com

85 910 2.3K

Reposted by Laurent Pech 🇺🇦

Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan.bsky.social · 2h

‪
This line from Politico Playbook jumped out at me, in their coverage of the Comey arraignment.

"It’s a moment many believed would never come."

Erm, this is precisely the problem with our mainstream media. Journalists constantly downplayed the obvious threat from Trump in 2024. Some of us didn't

Subscribe to Zeteo

Zeteo is a new media organization that seeks to answer the questions that really matter, while always striving for the truth. Founded by Mehdi Hasan, Zeteo is a movement for media accountability, unfi...

zeteo.com

28 110 640

Reposted by Laurent Pech 🇺🇦

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 2h

I will not back down.

Trump is now calling for the arrest of elected representatives checking his power.

What else is left on the path to full-blown authoritarianism?

Donald Trump Truth Social Post: Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect Ice Officers! Governor Pritzker also.

580 4.2K 14K

Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 7h

I mean how can such a body be considered a court within the meaning of EU law...?

cc @kimlanelaw.bsky.social @rdanielkelemen.bsky.social @profkochenov.bsky.social @grabowskamoroz.bsky.social
@tjmcintyre.com

1 1 5

Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 8h

Important but arguably flawed ruling with rule of law implications as this is possibly the 1st time a non-EU body manifestly lacking characteristics of a court IMO - US Data Protection Review Court - is nonetheless recognised as a court within meaning of EU law...
www.politico.com/news/2024/01...

3 7 9

Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 8h

Any other outcome would have made a mockery of the European Parliament’s own finding that Orban’s Hungary is no longer a democracy but an electoral autocracy aka a situation where Orban can influence and interfere with judicial proceedings at will

www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pres...

5 8

Reposted by Laurent Pech 🇺🇦

John Pfaff @johnpfaff.bsky.social · 14h

They said on-line isn’t real life, and Bluesky is a niche social media site.

But here is @akalhan.bsky.social getting “Kavanaugh Stops” into the Boston Globe!

With a pic of Kav looking a little petulant too (but then when doesn’t he?).

Glad to see this is sticking to him.

Critics of Trump’s immigration crackdown are using the term ‘Kavanaugh stop.’ Here’s what it means. - The Boston Globe

The phrase, is "a window into where [the administration] can go next," some advocates say.

www.bostonglobe.com

16 200 780

Reposted by Laurent Pech 🇺🇦

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 12h

Monstrous.

"federal agents detained nearly every resident of the 130-unit building—including children and babies—placing them in zip ties and separating them by race into vans for more than two hours early Tuesday morning."

Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 15h

Good reporting on the South Shore raid from South Side weekly here.

Confirms one thing I was told but didn't put in my own piece because I didn't have a second source and it seemed too insane: border agents segregated arrested residents by race

southsideweekly.com/federal-agen...

Federal Agents Storm South Shore Building, Detaining Families and Children

Families were woken by flashbangs and helicopters as hundreds of federal agents raided their homes. Days later, neighbors are still searching for the missing.

southsideweekly.com

32 630 1.3K

Reposted by Laurent Pech 🇺🇦

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 1d

What's happening in Chicago is not normal.

The arrest of Alderperson Fuentes is just the latest example of how far Noem and Bovino are willing to go to ignore the rule of law. We must all speak up.

660 6.6K 19K

Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 1d

"For the administration to attempt to use federal funds to force colleges and universities to toe a conservative line is to create what our constitutional law calls unconstitutional conditions"

1 1

Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 1d

"It would require American colleges and universities to become instruments of official thought control. This is what happened in the United States during World War I ... We have spent a century repenting those mistakes, and now the Trump administration demands that we repeat them."

1 1 1

Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 1d

Exactly right. See also by Professors Robert Post and Tom Ginsburg: "Holding hostage federal loans and grants, the “compact” is essentially a unilateral executive decree that cannot be refused"

www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...

1 6 8

Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 1d

NPR in 2028: "President Trump is bucking tradition and legal precedent in cancelling the presidential election and establishing a dictatorship."

2

Reposted by Laurent Pech 🇺🇦

Jan-Werner Mueller @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social · 1d

Rarely has so much creativity been poured into the creation of euphemisms: "tradition-bucking, " "norm-breaking," etc. ...

NPR @npr.org · 1d

President Trump is bucking tradition and legal precedent in pushing to deploy the National Guard to Democratic-led cities like Portland, Oregon, and Chicago due to what he says is rampant crime and to support his crackdown on illegal immigration.

Trump's power to deploy National Guard, explained

President Trump is bucking tradition and legal precedent in pushing to deploy the National Guard to Democratic-led cities like Portland, Oregon, and Chicago due to what he says is rampant crime and to support his crackdown on illegal immigration.

n.pr

4 30 120

Reposted by Laurent Pech 🇺🇦

Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 1d

Making lists of the judiciary always a good sign for a political figure

Colin Murray @colinmurray.bsky.social · 1d

More in the breathless, breaking stop-the-presses, and not at all confected story, that judges, before they were judges, were involved in practising law. Take 5 seconds to appreciate just how hard into "swivel-eyed loon" Robert Jenrick is being allowed to lean:

www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/202...

6 23 99

Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 1d

Dual state framework does provide some insight into what’s unfolding in 🇺🇸 but as far as current SCOTUS is concerned, key aspect to understand is that it is no longer a court but a MAGA captured 🦘 “court”

verfassungsblog.de/trump-2-0-as...

1 1 3

Reposted by Laurent Pech 🇺🇦

Kim Lane Scheppele @kimlanelaw.bsky.social · 1d

Excellent analysis of what the US Supreme Court has done and might do. Are they providing the appearance of normal law in order to disguise the authoritarianism driving the executive branch? That's the logic of the dual state.

Pema Levy @pemalevy.bsky.social · 1d

“The reality is that the court is adjusting the law to make place for arbitrary power.”

To understand the Supreme Court's role in Trump's authoritarian project, I turned to the idea of a dual state: an authoritarian regime that keeps up a facade of normalcy

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

The “dual state” theory was invented to describe Nazis. The Supreme Court could take us there.

Authoritarianism—but make it look like the rule of law.

www.motherjones.com

1 21 41

Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 1d

“Trump may suspend elections and establish a dictatorship. Experts say it could violate the US Constitution”

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 1d

The U.S. Treasury shared a proposal to mint $1 Trump coins to mark America’s 250th anniversary.

But U.S. code says only deceased individuals may appear on U.S. currency, a tradition dating back to efforts to break from monarchical rule. https://wapo.st/4pWsyL3

5

Laurent Pech 🇺🇦 @profpech.bsky.social · 2d

Broader context re this fascistic development in the 🇺🇸
www.reuters.com/legal/govern...

7

Reposted by Laurent Pech 🇺🇦

Zselyke Csaky @zecsaky.bsky.social · 2d

Here is something on Czechia's elections and the implications for the EU from me:

Centre for European Reform @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social · 2d

#Czechia’s elections mark a populist shift, but Babiš now faces a hard path to form a government. The further he’s pulled to the right, the greater the risk of EU fragmentation.

Quick @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social reaction from @zecsaky.bsky.social

Read here:

CER quick reaction: The Czech elections

Czechia’s elections mark a populist shift, but Babiš faces a hard path to form a government. The further he’s pulled to the right, the greater the risk of EU fragmentation.

buff.ly

1 16 28