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Reposted by Andrew Rudalevige

Jack Jenkins @jackjenkins.me · 9h

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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Sam Bagenstos @sbagen.bsky.social · 18h

Feel free to attribute the following to a former OMB General Counsel: The supposed "new legal analysis" is, to use a technical legal term, horseshit. What the law actually says is that when Congress enacts a law ending a lapse, furloughed employees get paid at the earliest date possible. Period.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 18h

Johnson: "It's true that in previous shutdowns, many or most furloughed employees have been paid for the time they were furloughed, but there is new legal analysis - I don't know the details, I just saw a headline - but there are some legal analysts saying that might not be appropriate or necessary"

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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 21h

“.. On closer inspection, however, it turned out that the image was not a photograph of a real event in Portland, but instead a fabrication created by combining two photographs of scenes that unfolded in South America nearly a decade apart ..”

@theguardian.com
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

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Gregg Nunziata @greggnunziata.bsky.social · 18h

"We have to take care of this little gnat on our shoulder called the Democrats," says the American President to cheering servicemembers.

This is so incredibly repugnant and un-American, on so many levels, I don't even know where to begin.

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jeff computers @helldude.bsky.social · 2d

its truly remarkable, you have to really take the measure of it and it's almost hard to comprehend it, but the president of the united states is having texas invade illinois and oregon just to make twitter content

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Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 2d

Tomorrow (October 6th) at 6:00 pm EDT, please join the University of New England in welcoming William G. Howell for a conversation with @rudalev.bsky.social regarding his book with Terry M. Moe, Trajectory of Power. Learn more about this in-person event here: www.une.edu/events/2025/....

Trajectory of Power: The Rise of the Strongman Presidency by Terry M. Moe and William G. Howell

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Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 3d

Among other things, it remains extremely weird that the [checks notes] director of the FBI uses phrases like “ass clown factory” in public statements posted on his official account

FBI Director Kash Patel * ®
@FBIDirectorKash
X.com
BREAKING: MSNBC still an ass clown factory of disinformation. Same circus animals that slobbered all over perp walks of Stone, Navarro, Bannon...
MSNBC has no facts and no audience
In this @fbi, follow the chain of command or get relieved.
& Barb McQuade @ @BarbMcQuade • 15h
DOJ policy prohibits "perp walks," in which arrestees are paraded before the cameras.

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jael holzman @jael.bsky.social · 3d

correspondent for The Economist

Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 3d

I visited the apartment building ICE raided on Tuesday today. Story to come, but you can walk right in. Half of the apartments have no doors on them. Children's stuff abandoned in some flats. *Citizen* residents told me they were arrested and held for hours in zipties. This is America

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Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 3d

Two (2).

Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 3d

DHS says an operation last week in which agents raided a Chicago apartment building, rappelled in from helicopters, broke down doors and detained numerous residents, resulted in the arrest of two suspected gang members.
www.reuters.com/world/us/us-...

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Kendyl Hanks @kendylhanks.bsky.social · 4d

“The law says he can’t do it so it’s not clear whether he can” is such a 2025 headline

Eric Lipton NYT @ericlipton.nytimes.com · 4d

It is not clear that Mr. Trump’s image can be featured on a coin. An 1866 law enshrined a tradition that only deceased people could appear on U.S. currency to avoid the appearance that America was a monarchy. Trump admin is planning to do it anyway.
By Alan Rappeport

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/b...

Treasury Plans to Mint $1 Commemorative Trump Coin

www.nytimes.com

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Peter Sagal @petersagal.bsky.social · 4d

Logan Square is a melting pot neighborhood — multi generational immigrants, younger people owning their first homes, a fair bit of gentrification, with some of Chicago’s best restaurants, bars, retail. Think maybe Greenpoint or Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn or Silver Lake in LA. Now with tear gas.

Eileen Clancy 🧿 @clancyny.bsky.social · 4d

Logan Square neighborhood, Chicago. Man wearing a balaclava in a white, unmarked vehicle, pulls the pin on a tear gas canister and tosses it in the road.

"Just trying to grab some lunch and these fucking losers showed up. FUCK ICE!"
source: www.reddit.com/r/LoganSquar...

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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 4d

With a cross dangling around her neck, Leavitt makes the case that a migrant who comes into an emergency room with mortal injuries should be denied treatment because the cost can't be borne by US taxpayers. Quite something.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4d

Leavitt: "When an illegal alien goes to the emergency room, who's paying for it? The American taxpayer."

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David S. Bernstein @dbernstein.bsky.social · 4d

This is, per MSNBC, the “challenge coin” (front and back) FBI Director Kash Patel gives out. With a straight face tho?

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Klint Finley @klintron.com · 4d

It did happen here: @vermontgmg.bsky.social compares the Kavanaugh Raids to the Palmer Raids. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/welcome-to... en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palmer_...

Welcome to the Era of "Kavanaugh Raids"

ICE crosses another big, important line.

www.doomsdayscenario.co

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Andrew Rudalevige @rudalev.bsky.social · 5d

We all know 49.7 percent is required to achieve a mandate, indeed that is a vote total monumental enough to set aside Article I of the Constitution

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Andrew Rudalevige @rudalev.bsky.social · 5d

I'm more than a little curious about what ideas the White House wants to impose and promote are actually "conservative."

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 5d

Ryan Enos @ryanenos.bsky.social · 5d

Somebody actually sat down and wrote these two sentences, one after another. www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/u...

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Professa Murray @kalimurray.bsky.social · 5d

The Administrative Procedure Act defines an agency as “each authority of the United States government.” There literally is no such thing as a Democratic or Republican agency. And you know who is tasked with getting rid of agencies: Congress.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d

Trump: "I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut ... I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity."

I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent. I can’t believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity. They are not stupid people, so maybe this is their way of wanting to, quietly and quickly, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! President DJT

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Andrew Rudalevige @rudalev.bsky.social · 5d

In Michael Nelson, ed., The Elections of 2016:
www.amazon.com/Elections-20...

The Elections of 2016

The Elections of 2016 [Nelson, Michael] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Elections of 2016

www.amazon.com

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Andrew Rudalevige @rudalev.bsky.social · 5d

Back in 2016 I wrote a chapter called "The President as Minority Leader" in a volume on the just-concluded election (link in next post). Feeling pretty good about that early conclusion...

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 5d

all presidential administrations are partisan, but trump and the people in his white house are partisans bordering on sectarians, and one result is that they see nothing of actions that strain and weaken the union itself

Trump targets states that voted for Harris in shutdown fight

The Office of Management and Budget is withholding billions in energy and infrastructure money in more than a dozen states that voted against Trump.

www.politico.com

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Andrew Rudalevige @rudalev.bsky.social · 5d

I'm sure Acting Archivist Marco Rubio will be shocked and angry to learn that his executives are trying to get NARA officials to break the law. (Serious question: has Rubio spent one minute at a NARA facility since being named to the post?)

Tony Clark @anthonyclark.bsky.social · 6d

BREAKING: sources say NARA has forced out Dr. Todd Arrington, the federal director of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, after he declined to allow the Trump administration to remove a sword from the library for a gift to King Charles

lastcampaign.substack.com/p/exclusive-...

EXCLUSIVE: NARA Ousts Eisenhower Library Director Over Proposed Trump Gift to King Charles

The director, a historian and Army veteran, declined to allow the Trump administration to remove a priceless artifact from the library's permanent collection

lastcampaign.substack.com

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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 5d

Trump during the campaign: I never even heard of Project 2025, don’t know anything about it, don’t know who is involved.

Trump today:

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Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 6d

“The Govt sometimes makes brief, investigative stops to the check the immigration status of those who gather in locations where ppl are hired for day jobs; who work or appear to work in jobs such as landscaping, construction, agriculture, or car washes…” -Justice Kavanaugh

Soren Spicknall @sorenspicknall.bsky.social · 6d

"Rodrick Johnson, 67, is one of many residents who were detained by federal agents during the South Shore raid. A U.S. citizen, he said agents broke through his door and dragged him out in zip ties."

Massive immigration raid on Chicago apartment building leaves residents reeling: 'I feel defeated'

The Department of Homeland Security said federal agents with Border Patrol, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested 37 people in the raid.

chicago.suntimes.com

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Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 6d

“ABC7 spoke to Pertissue Fisher, a woman who lives in the building. She said ICE agents took everyone in the building, including her, and asked questions later….’They was bringing the kids down, too, had them zip tied to each other.’”

It can’t happen here, you say. But it is happening.

ICE agents raid South Shore apartments; Trump says Chicago could become military training ground

ICE agents raided a South Shore apartment building overnight as the city braces for a possible military deployment.

abc7chicago.com

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Jonathan Bernstein @jonathanbernstein.bsky.social · 6d

Hatch Act aside...

Trump and Trumpists never consider the very real *advantages* for the president of neutral expertise. Including having gov agencies that almost everyone default trusts.

southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 6d

Using the DOJ website for hatch act violating propaganda

Democrats have shut down the government. Department of Justice websites are not currently regularly updated. Please refer to the Department of Justice's contingency plan for more information.
An official website of the United States government

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Lilly J. Goren @gorenlj.bsky.social · 7d

#polisci #presidents&executivepolitics

Tony Clark @anthonyclark.bsky.social · 7d

If you've done in-person research at any of the following presidential libraries in the last 8 months, can you please follow me/contact me—soon—for a story I'm working on (can be off the record)?

Hoover
FDR
Truman
Eisenhower
JFK
LBJ
Ford
Carter

And either way, can you please share this request? 🙏

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