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Stephen Walt @stephenwalt.bsky.social · 15h

FP editor-in-chief Ravi Agrawal and I had a chance last week to talk at length about how the world has changed since October 7, 2023. You can watch the conversation here: foreignpolicy.com/live/#past

FP Live

foreignpolicy.com

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 1d

Or as corporate media would ask:

"Why won't Democrats open the government up?"

Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 1d

Sounds like Republicans ought to get all the Republicans who form the Republican majorities in the Republican-led House and the Republican-led Senate together to pass the budget that Republicans wrote with the Republican White House and that Republicans now insist absolutely must be passed.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Sean Duffy says the safety of the air traffic control system will start being impacted next Sunday if the shutdown continues

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Mary Dudziak @marydudziak.bsky.social · 1d

Has Trump’s second term posed a greater or lesser threat to the rule of law than you expected? @nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/m...

Has Trump’s second term posed a greater or lesser threat to the rule of law than you expected?
Circular graph showing over half answered: much more than I expected, about a quarter: more than I expected, about an eighth: similar threat to what I expected, small sliver: much less threat than I expected.

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 2d

Trump oversaw the Afghanistan war for four years. I guess it was so unimportant to him that he forgot this.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

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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Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 2d

"For me as a veteran, this is more than just a personal injustice—it’s a constitutional affront." #KavanaughStop

Anil Kalhan @akalhan.bsky.social · 2d

"[A]gents engulfed my car in tear gas, smashed my driver-side window, and pepper-sprayed my face.... I spent three nights and three days in federal custody. No explanation. No charges. No apology. One day, I was just told, 'you’re free to go.'" #KavanaughStop

I’m a US citizen and a veteran. ICE arrested me for no reason.

Jailed for three days without an explanation or ability to notify anyone, George Retes argues the only path to healing starts with the government taking accountability for its actions.

newsletter.ofthebrave.org

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Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 2d

They’re using American tax dollars to fund infrastructure in Argentina because that’s where they’re all going to flee when we kick them out of office

Ryan Grim @ryangrim.bsky.social · 6d

After announcing a $20 billion bailout of Argentina, the White House now says it's pausing $18 billion in funding for NYC infrastructure projects

Russ Vought would love nothing more than to tear this country down to its studs

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Kim Lane Scheppele @kimlanelaw.bsky.social · 2d

A must-read for those who are concerned about the future of universities under Trump. Trump is replacing the rule of law with rule by deal, and guaranteeing nothing for universities except that they give up their constitutional freedoms to avoid political punishments.

Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 3d

I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.

It's especially for journalists covering this story!

Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.

Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal

A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics

balkin.blogspot.com

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Reposted by Stephen Walt

Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 3d

I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.

It's especially for journalists covering this story!

Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.

Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal

A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics

balkin.blogspot.com

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Reposted by Stephen Walt

Alon Pinkas @alonpinkas.bsky.social · 2d

I hear the same from many British, American and Canadian Jews

Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 3d

Here is a thing that I hear from *almost every British Jew I know* but have barely heard expressed in any of these programmes: No single person has done more to make Jewish people globally less safe than Benjamin Netanyahu.

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Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 2d

The regime keeps losing in court because what they’re doing is illegal

Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 3d

🚨BREAKING: A federal judge Saturday blocked President Donald Trump’s call-up of the National Guard for a deployment in Portland, saying Trump’s actions were based on false claims and undermined Oregon’s sovereignty. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

Federal Judge Blocks Trump’s Seizure of Oregon National Guard for Portland Deployment

Read more here.

www.democracydocket.com

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Heidi Kitrosser @heidikitrosser.bsky.social · 3d

In case you missed it: 🎁link to Erwin Chemerinsky's outstanding article on the Trump Administration's pernicious proposed "compact" with universities.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...

Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Stephen Walt

Benjamin Dreyer @bcdreyer.social · 3d

If you like yelling about misuse of the passive voice, THIS IS IT.

CNN @cnn.com · 4d

Adults and children alike were pulled from their Chicago apartments, crying and screaming, during a large overnight raid that has left tenants and neighbors shaken. https://cnn.it/4pPCXIt

37 people arrested and American kids separated from parents after ICE raid at Chicago apartments | CNN

Adults and children alike were pulled from their Chicago apartments, crying and screaming, during a large overnight raid that has left tenants and neighbors shaken.

www.cnn.com

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George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 @gtconway.bsky.social · 3d

Both could be true.

David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 3d

Can Miller really believe this? If so, he is delusional. If not, then he’s a reprehensible demagogue.

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Dave Infante @dinfontay.com · 4d

“'The fact that we don't have money to pay journalists, but we have money to pay Bari Weiss between $100 and 200 million is indicative of what the Ellisons' true goal here is,' a network correspondent said. 'And it's not journalism.'"

CBS News staffers are ‘literally freaking out’ about Bari Weiss taking over newsroom

EXCLUSIVE: ‘People are using words like depressing and doomsday – feels like some sort of doomsday,’ one source told The Independent about the mood inside CBS News right now.

www.independent.co.uk

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Stephen Walt @stephenwalt.bsky.social · 4d

There will come a time in America when many ICE agents delete it from their resumes.

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · Aug 1

The central point is that when fascism came to America it wouldn't call itself that, nor would it be wearing a swastika. It would call itself "patriotic" and "100% American."

Can We Spot It?
(Question: How can we identify native American fascists at work? )
An American fascist seeking power would not proclaim that he is a fascist. Fascism always camouflages its plans and purposes. Hitler made demagogic appeals to all groups and swore: "Neither I nor anybody in the National Socialist Party advocates proceeding by anything but Constitutional methods." Any fascist attempt to gain power in America would not use the exact Hitler pattern. It would work under the guise of "super-patriotism" and "super-American-ism." Fascist leaders are neither stupid nor naive.
They know that they must hand out a line that "sells." Huey Long is said to have remarked that if fascism came to America, it would be on a program of "Ameri-canism."
Fascists in America may differ slightly from fascists in other countries, but there are a number of attitudes and practices that they have in common. Following are three. Every person who has one of them is not necessarily a fascist. But he is

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Jason "Red5" Lyall @jaylyall.bsky.social · 5d

"It is not hyperbole to say that the future of higher education in America requires that every university reject it. If any schools capitulate, the pressure will be enormous on all to fold. The only solution is solidarity & collective action against this effort at federal control over higher ed"

Opinion | Trump’s ‘Compact’ With Universities Is Just Extortion

www.nytimes.com

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Gypsy Guillén Kaiser @gypsyrights.bsky.social · 5d

Ideology over experience.

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Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 6d

Important to remember that Chris Rufo spearheaded this overhaul and serves on the colleges’s board of trustees.

Yet he is worshipped in various quarters as an educational innovator

Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 6d

www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...

"Both graduation and retention rates have fallen since the takeover in 2023.... even as New College spends more than 10 times per student what the other 11 members of the State University System... a head count under 900 and a $118.5 million budget"

Spending Soars, Rankings Fall at New College of Florida

Student outcomes and rankings are slipping at the liberal arts college while spending is up. Critics believe the college is at risk of implosion, and some are calling for privatization.

www.insidehighered.com

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Greg Jaffe @gregjaffe.bsky.social · 7d

Senior officers, entrusted to manage complex military operations, were summoned from around the world.
They got a lecture on fitness and grooming standards.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/u...

A Novice Defense Secretary Lectures the Brass on What It Takes to Win

www.nytimes.com

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Foreign Policy @foreignpolicy.com · 7d

Trump’s tariffs and pointless military displays are the opposite of foreign-policy restraint, argues columnist @stephenwalt.bsky.social.

Donald Trump Will Never Be a Restrainer

The final verdict is in.

foreignpolicy.com

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Stephen Walt @stephenwalt.bsky.social · 7d

Does Hegseth seriously believe all senior military officers should have resigned if they disagreed with any of Trump’s predecessors? Can’t think of a better way to have a crappy military.

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Risa Brooks @risabrooks12.bsky.social · 7d

It's easy to see this speech as just weirdly performative, but there's a lot more—and a lot worse—going on here.

The meeting & speeches are part of a larger project aimed at promoting the military leadership’s partisan alignment with the administration.

How? 1/

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 7d

Hegseth: "If the words I'm speaking today are making your heart sink, they you should do the honorable thing and resign."

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George Conway 👊🇺🇸🔥 @gtconway.bsky.social · 8d

"I am proud to shut down the government .... I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down."

—Donald Trump, Dec. 11, 2018

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Stephen Walt @stephenwalt.bsky.social · 8d

I keep thinking about something John Kenneth Galbraith once said about the flaws of Reaganomics: “It assumes the rich aren’t working hard enough because they don’t have enough money, and the poor aren’t working hard enough because they have too much.”

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