Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Zach Halper @zanath.bsky.social · 2h

"We took freedom of speech away" should be in every campaign ad moving forward.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2h

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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Jonathan V. Last @jvl.bsky.social · 4h

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 · 4h

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

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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 6h

Just openly cheering the destruction of any representation of gay people in public space. They think their power is totally unrestricted, and the entire country will support them rolling back society to the 1950s, or maybe the 1850s

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Anthony Michael Kreis @anthonymkreis.bsky.social · 8h

For one, the federal government cannot constitutionally commandeer state officials to do its bidding.

But more importantly, the president does not see his political opposition as legitimate but rather as a target for a carceral and militaristic state. It is deeply undemocratic and authoritarian.

Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 8h

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.

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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 21h

The uncensored version of this book revealed Jeffrey Epstein's long relationship with Melania, his introduction of Melania to Trump, and Trump (and then Epstein) having intercourse with Melania in the back of a limo. bsky.app/profile/ronf...

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 21h

The original version of the book said that Epstein was involved in introducing Melania to her beloved husband.

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Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 21h

This is so dark

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Ian Carrillo @iansociologo.bsky.social · 18h

Why Underachievers Dominate Secret Police Organizations: Evidence from Autocratic Argentina
Adam Scharpf and Christian Gläßel

Autocrats depend on a capable secret police. Anecdotal evidence, however, often characterizes agents as surprisingly mediocre in skill and intellect. To explain this puzzle, this article focuses on the career incentives underachieving individuals face in the regular security apparatus. Low-performing officials in hierarchical organizations have little chance of being promoted or filling lucrative positions. To salvage their careers, these officials are willing to undertake burdensome secret police work. Using data on all 4,287 officers who served in autocratic Argentina (1975-83), we study biographic differences between secret police agents and the entire recruitment pool. We find that low-achieving officers were stuck within the regime hierarchy, threatened with discharge, and thus more likely to join the secret police for future benefits. The study demonstrates how state bureaucracies breed mundane career concerns that produce willing enforcers and cement violent regimes. This has implications for the understanding of autocratic consolidation and democratic breakdown.

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Michael McDonald @electproject.bsky.social · 1d

The Wall Street Journal reports Trump reassigned federal law enforcement dedicated to stop child sex trafficking to spreading mulch in DC. I wonder why?

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

NOTABLE -- Pam Bondi refuses to answer direct questions about if the FBI has incriminating photos of Trump with half-naked young women, but instead deflects from them by attacking Sen. Whitehouse

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Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 1d

Someone saying "Let's do the fucking news" is the ultimate sign that person has never, ever worked in a real newsroom (the fantasyland of the NYT Opinion section doesn't count)

max tani @maxtani.bsky.social · 1d

Bari Weiss introduced herself to CBS News staff today on the network's 9AM call, saying she wants to "win," which requires restoring trust to CBS. She also said she was excited for staff to get to know the Free Press, and ended her remarks by saying: "Let's do the fucking news."

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 1d

crazy that one of the most storied institutions in american journalism is going to be run by two people with basically no experience to do it

Exclusive | CBS News taps Adam Rubenstein — once ostracized at NY Times for liking Chick-fil-A — as new deputy editor

Sources expect Rubenstein will effectively run the Free Press now that Weiss will be busy steering the editorial direction of shows like “60 Minutes,” “Face The Nation” and …

nypost.com

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Matt Zoller Seitz @mattzollerseitz.bsky.social · 1d

Mountainhead (2025, w/d by Jesse Armstrong)

Robert Mackey @robertmackey.bsky.social · 1d

The Oregon Republican Party tried to help Donald Trump make the case for military intervention in Portland with an image of a fiery protest — but since Portland is calm, they had to fabricate one by merging old photos of police in Ecuador and protesters in Brazil www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Republicans post fake image of Oregon protest – using photos of South America

A federal judge had blocked Trump’s request to deploy California national guard to Portland

www.theguardian.com

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Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 1d

Ellison's CBS brought on the two editors that got NYT to publish Tom Cotton's 2020 op-ed calling for soldiers to shoot protesters in the streets. Hard to find a clearer editorial throughline than "anyone protesting murder by the state should be killed for it."

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☠️deadward niedermurder☠️ @niedermeyer.online · 2d

what if I told you that taking accountability for your actions was traditionally considered a load-bearing feature of masculinity?

Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 2d

“I voted for none of this."

Prominent influencers, including Theo Von, Joe Rogan, and Andrew Schulz, are starting to distance themselves from the president they helped propel to the White House.

Story: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

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Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 2d

What a mild way to say "this is against the law and has been anathema since the founding of this country."

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 2d

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

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Sam Workman @sam-workman.bsky.social · 2d

Because its about WV, it gets lost. But, Bob Dilger's work on the 1996 reforms in WV with WV WORKS is super informative for what to expect the second time around.
www.amazon.com/s?k=97809370...

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 2d

Work requirements are going to cost a ton to implement, at a time when states will have less administrative resources, and despite evidence that they don't work

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities @centeronbudget.bsky.social · 2d

Reports raise red flags: Georgia spent $54M on admin costs for its #Medicaid waiver, nearly twice the $26M spent on care, while enrolling under 3,500 people. CMS still extended the costly program that ties coverage to work requirements. www.cbpp.org/research/fed...

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The Questionable Authority @questauthority.bsky.social · 2d

And there is no reason to comply with Trump's anticonstututional renaming of the agency.

Adam Klasfeld @klasfeldreports.com · 2d

This footnote to Illinois and Chicago's lawsuit against Trump is an important reminder:

* There is no Department of War or Secretary of War, which are make-believe names for the actual agencies created by Congress.

Doc storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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Scott Crichlow @scrichlow.bsky.social · 2d

“The point here is that the Republican majority accepted legal arguments that they would have treated as utterly outrageous on their face, if the parties had simply been reversed.”

We should talk a lot more about Bush v. Gore when discussing how the US got to where we are today.

Robert Farley @drfarls.bsky.social · 2d

Bush v. Gore 25 years later and Trump’s trashing of the DOJ www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2025/10/bush...

Bush v. Gore 25 years later and Trump's trashing of the DOJ - Lawyers, Guns & Money

Emily Bazelon (gift link) surveyed 50 elite DC lawyers, including former federal judges, high DOJ officials, and the like, a year ago about their concerns regarding another Trump administration and th...

www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com

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Philip Eil @phileil.bsky.social · 2d

We really need to retire "contrarian" as a descriptor for Weiss immediately.

The reason she is getting this job right now is because of her *non-contrarian* sensibilities.

She espouses views that the US's current power structure likes.

NPR @npr.org · 2d

CBS' parent company will buy The Free Press and install Bari Weiss, its contrarian founder, as editor in chief of CBS News. n.pr/4o634cr

CBS' next top editor to be Bari Weiss of The Free Press

CBS' parent company will buy The Free Press and install Bari Weiss, its contrarian founder, as editor in chief of CBS News.

n.pr

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digby @digby56.bsky.social · 2d

Stephen Miller was on a tear against judges just yesterday. Trump did similarly today. But no biggie.

Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · 2d

Judge Diane Goodstein crossed the Trump administration last month. Yesterday, her home burned, her husband was injured and it's being investigated for arson.

www.postandcourier.com/news/crime/s...

Judge blocks South Carolina from giving DOJ millions of voters' data
Sep. 3, 2025

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Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · 3d

This is total rambling dementia nonsense. He talks about calling Pete Hegseth a year before 9/11, when Hegseth was an unknown 20-year-old college student.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d

Trump: "Please remember I wrote Osama bin Laden exactly one year ago, one year before he blew up the World Trade Center. And I said, 'You gotta watch Osama bin Laden!' ... I gotta take a little credit."

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Justin Baragona @justinbaragona.bsky.social · 3d

Just imagine the thermonuclear reaction -- not just from Fox News, but the legacy media sphere -- if any Democratic president said this about the GOP during a speech to a military branch.

Meanwhile, this won't even stay in the news cycle 24 hours, if at all.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d

Trump to the Navy: "We have to take care of this little gnat that's on our shoulder called the Democrats."

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James Fallows @jfallows.bsky.social · 3d

It's time to say:

What. An. Idiot.

I am being polite.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d

Trump: "The problem with Vietnam, we, you know, we stopped fighting to win. We would've won easy. We would've won Afghanistan easy. We would've won every war easy. But we got politically correct. 'Oh, let's take it easy.' We're not politically correct anymore, just so you understand."

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Joel Mendelson @jpmendelson.bsky.social · 3d

If any other president was 57 minutes late to an event addressing service members, there would be wall-to-wall coverage on all 3 major cable news networks addressing whether or not the president cares about the military.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3d

Trump is now 57 minutes late for his speech but at least we're getting an emo version of Hulk Hogan's theme song