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Reposted by Robert David Sullivan

The American Prospect @prospect.org · 5h

While Trump illegally seizes power, Congress seems content to do nothing. Democratic governors are stepping up to protect their states from Trump’s interventions. From @gurleygg.bsky.social: trib.al/LK3l3gO

Governors Plunged Into Constitutional Crisis

State power brokers step up as a paralyzed Congress bows out.

trib.al

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Reposted by Robert David Sullivan

Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 6h

Federal officers are firing so much tear gas at protesters outside an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois, that some nearby community members who aren’t even protesting are struggling to breathe when they leave their homes to run errands.

ICE is hounding Chicago area locals with excessive chemical munitions

Agents are firing tear gas and pepper balls on lawful protesters, lawsuits say, sickening even uninvolved residents.

www.motherjones.com

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Robert David Sullivan @robertdsullivan.bsky.social · 13h

This is not a story I'd expect to see in a newspaper that supposedly is trying to elect Cuomo. They didn't even wait for a new poll to justify the argument that "there is little evidence that Mr. Adams’s exit has been a game changer for Mr. Cuomo."

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/n...

Is Adams’s Exit a Game-Changer for Cuomo? Not So Far.

www.nytimes.com

Reposted by Robert David Sullivan

Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social · 13h

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

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Robert David Sullivan @robertdsullivan.bsky.social · 1d

Wasn’t this a scene in “War of the Worlds”? Except for the addition of the laughing?

Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 1d

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.

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Robert David Sullivan @robertdsullivan.bsky.social · 1d

Trump has a Senate partisan majority without needing a single vote from a state that voted against him (Collins of Maine is not needed). I don’t think Obama or Biden ever had that advantage.

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Robert David Sullivan @robertdsullivan.bsky.social · 1d

Yes.

But why are there so many kids in strollers getting in my way on the Upper West Side?

Berny Belvedere @bernybelvedere.bsky.social · 1d

fellas is it gay to live in a city

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Robert David Sullivan @robertdsullivan.bsky.social · 1d

America's Gloria Purvis: "When well-known church leaders praise Mr. Kirk as a model Christian despite his racist rhetoric, they provide religious cover for racist thought and behavior."

www.americamagazine.org/faith-and-re...

What are Black Catholics hearing when church leaders praise Charlie Kirk?

For many Black Catholics familiar with Charlie Kirk's full record, endorsements of his message by Catholic leaders can be devastating.

www.americamagazine.org

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Robert David Sullivan @robertdsullivan.bsky.social · 1d

What percentage of the country are "Heritage Americans"? As the illustration suggests, it's gotta be a pretty small minority. (I think I may be 1/16th heritage?)

www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

Are You a ‘Heritage American’?

Why some on the right want to know if your ancestors were here during the Civil War.

www.theatlantic.com

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Reposted by Robert David Sullivan

Karen James @kejames.bsky.social · 2d

I definitely did not have this on my bingo card when I started out in taxonomy and systematics. 😩

saul badman @saulelbein.bsky.social · 2d

Tapping the sign

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Robert David Sullivan @robertdsullivan.bsky.social · 2d

"Mr. Kirk’s comments are not mere policy disagreements about affirmative action. They are not heated political rhetoric. They are well-worn dismissals of Black people’s equal dignity. They are the building blocks of structural sin."

www.americamagazine.org/faith-and-re...

What are Black Catholics hearing when church leaders praise Charlie Kirk?

For many Black Catholics familiar with Charlie Kirk's full record, endorsements of his message by Catholic leaders can be devastating.

www.americamagazine.org

Reposted by Robert David Sullivan

Jonathan Berk 🏠 @berkie1.bsky.social · 3d

“A lot of times, we’re reluctant to change on really dumb things.”

Many of the rules shaping what we can and can’t build today were written 50–60 years ago. If we want to meet Massachusetts’ modern housing needs, everything should be on the table for reform.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/05/o...

Why five feet of building space can doom construction - The Boston Globe

1973 law on high-rise threshold is out of sync with national recommendations.

www.bostonglobe.com

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Robert David Sullivan @robertdsullivan.bsky.social · 2d

www.americamagazine.org/vatican-disp...

Pope Leo signs first exhortation, ‘Dilexi te,’ focused on love for the poor

The document, which will be issued Oct. 9, can be seen as a companion document to “Dilexit nos,” the fourth and final encyclical issued by Pope Francis.

www.americamagazine.org

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Robert David Sullivan @robertdsullivan.bsky.social · 2d

Well, he would hate Grant

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Robert David Sullivan @robertdsullivan.bsky.social · 2d

This is a valid hypothesis, but the adjective "mediocre" adds nothing but the thought that this might be professional jealousy. It's a social media tic best avoided.

Jared Yates Sexton @jysexton.bsky.social · 2d

Hopefully the whole Bari Weiss thing and Ezra Klein thing starts waking people up to the fact that corporate media is mostly populated with mediocre people who have made millions and gained unbelievable influence because they threaten nothing and tell wealthy people exactly what they want to hear.

Robert David Sullivan @robertdsullivan.bsky.social · 2d

"Blue states building parallel systems, withholding cooperation, and creating facts on the ground that render federal authority meaningless within their borders.”

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

It’s time for soft secession

How blue states can use their economic clout to stand up to Trump’s agenda—starting with California.

www.motherjones.com

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Robert David Sullivan @robertdsullivan.bsky.social · 2d

In terms of the most effective use of money, the best bet for the Democrats is to put someone on the ballot, give them no money, and then hope that person does better than expected so they can claim, "They could have won if they had enough money!"

Robert David Sullivan @robertdsullivan.bsky.social · 2d

Stunt drivers are fascism enablers

www.wcvb.com/article/rand...

Randolph PD investigating after large crowd sets off fireworks, swarms police cruisers

Police are investigating after a crowd of over 100 people targeted marked police cruisers during an incident in Randolph, the city's police department said.

www.wcvb.com

Robert David Sullivan @robertdsullivan.bsky.social · 2d

WBUR @wbur.org · 2d

The movie "Absolution," staring Liam Neeson, received $5.2 million in tax credits from the state for filming in Massachusetts.

'Absolution' and other films received millions in state aid last year

The movie "Absolution," staring Liam Neeson, received $5.2 million in tax credits from the state for filming in Massachusetts.

www.wbur.org

Robert David Sullivan @robertdsullivan.bsky.social · 2d

"The party’s progressives seem determined to reeducate the public rather than compromise for their votes. This is a seductive approach if the goal is ideological purity. It is a problem only if the party hopes to win elections."

www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Democrats Still Have No Idea What Went Wrong

The party’s progressives seem to think the problem is not with their platform but with voters.

www.theatlantic.com

Robert David Sullivan @robertdsullivan.bsky.social · 2d

She can only win in Kentucky if she promises to break with her party on a lot of issues, but if she does that she won’t raise enough money.

Lexington Herald-Leader @kentucky.com · 2d

“This is a different race, it’s a different year, it’s a midterm,” McGrath said, comparing 2026 to her 2020 run for U.S. Senate.

‘Battle-tested’ Amy McGrath launches second Kentucky U.S. Senate bid

“This is a different race, it’s a different year, it’s a midterm,” McGrath said, comparing 2026 to her 2020 run for U.S. Senate.

bit.ly

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Robert David Sullivan @robertdsullivan.bsky.social · 3d

"our current rating of 54 puts the U.S. below experts’ ratings of democracy in Mexico and Poland; the projected rating of 47 puts the U.S. on par with experts’ current rating of Israel and in the neighborhood of experts’ 2022 ratings of Brazil and the Philippines."

Robert P. Jones @robertpjones.bsky.social · 4d

I highlight findings from the latest Bright Line Watch Survey on democracy in my latest post. Under the Trump presidency, the US is no longer ranked as a liberal democracy such as the UK or Canada.
www.whitetoolong.net/p/all-the-br...