Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 1d

Someone looking at all this with a cold eye might say that Miller and Hegseth are seeking control over the power ministries before a Vance ally invokes the 25th Amendment.

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Reposted by Timothy Snyder

Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 2d

If you are in the National Guard or ICE and have any information or tips you’d like to share, text me on Signal premthakker.35

Your anonymity will be protected

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 1d

The people who are sincerely in favor of freedom of expression will speak out now for the reporters.

@NewsJennifer (Jennifer Schulze) @newsjennifer.bsky.social · 1d

🚨THIS IS A BIG DEAL. Chicago journalists are suing the Trump administration for using excessive force against reporters & protestors in violation of the 1A.
The press here is doing astounding work documenting how ICE is out of control. The violence they face in doing so is obscene.

The protests at the Broadview ICE facility and the federal government’s violent
attempts to silence the protesters became a story of great interest to the local Chicago media and
was also covered in the national press. Much of the coverage described the federal officers’
abusive tactics. Defendants sought and are seeking to quash this coverage by attacking and
intimidating members of the Press on the ground there.
85. Federal immigration officers at the Broadview ICE facility have repeatedly and
intentionally singled out persons whom they know to be members of the Press for violence,
assault, and intimidation. These assaults are not incidental or unintentional. They are undertaken
by design to intimidate journalists on scene and to frustrate and suppress coverage of the federal
officers’ actions toward protesters and immigration detainees

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Reposted by Timothy Snyder

Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 1d

Every crisis is an opportunity. This is the moment for Dems on Capitol Hill to call a news conference and make clear: Not one dime to fund the federal government until Trump withdraws his unlawful orders and agrees not to send troops to occupy Democratic-run cities

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

The brave men and women who serve in our national guards must not be used as political props. This is a moment where every American must speak up and help stop this madness.

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 1d

Protect Democracy doing great work as usual.
protectdemocracy.org/work/protect...

Protecting Protesters and the Press from Unconstitutional Federal Force in Illinois

Protect Democracy is suing the Trump administration for violating the First Amendment in Northern Illinois.

protectdemocracy.org

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Reposted by Timothy Snyder

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 2d

Yarvin convinced a bunch of credulous tech billionaires that they needed to back an extreme, dumb, & wildly unpopular politics to “save western civilization.” We’re now getting that politics on steroids, and now he’s all “oh no, these policies are unpopular, must flee the country to save ourselves.”

jeff computers @helldude.bsky.social · 2d

mencius moldbug is thinking of fleeing the country because he thinks the trump administration's chaotic half-assing of dismantling liberal democracy is going to bite them all in the ass

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 2d

The government does not have the power to declare “free speech zones.” And the violent arrest of the rabbi should set off some alarm bells.

unraveled @unraveledpress.com · 3d

Heard an officer say "let's do it" and then, in the dark, they tackle Rabbi Ben to the ground. He's being loaded into a CCSO wagon now. Broadview police also here screaming at people.

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 2d

This is what freedom of speech sounds like. Also, please consider subscribing to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
www.inquirer.com/opinion/trum...

Why we can’t allow Trump to ban that other f-word | Will Bunch

The column the Trump regime wants to ban: America has to call out surging fascism in order to defeat it.

www.inquirer.com

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 2d

Fascism occurs twice: first as the tragedy of a Second World War started by men who fought the First and knowingly chose slaughter, then as the farce of an ignorant draft dodger trying to provoke a war against his own people.

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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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 2d

bsky.app/profile/timo...

Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 9d

"Youth Protest in Serbia: And some thoughts for America."
Serbia is a country without the rule of law, and its young people have been taking risks for the better part of a year in the hopes of creating a future where they can live normally in their own country.
snyder.substack.com/p/youth-prot...

Youth Protest in Serbia

And some thoughts for America

snyder.substack.com

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 2d

And in Serbia
www.inquirer.com/opinion/gen-...

A Gen Z revolution is sweeping the globe. Is it coming to America? | Will Bunch

From Nepal to Morocco to Peru, very online 20-somethings are rising up against their governments. Can it happen here?

www.inquirer.com

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 2d

This should be a book
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/o...

Opinion | This Is What Autocrats Dread

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Timothy Snyder

Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 2d

One of the lessons I discuss in "On Tyranny":
Listen for dangerous words.

Text card: Listen for dangerous words.
Be alert to the use of the words extremism and terrorism. Be alive to the fatal notions of emergency and exception. Be angry about the treacherous use of patriotic vocabulary.
#OnTyranny

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Reposted by Timothy Snyder

Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 2d

"State Terror: A brief guide for Americans"
Revisiting a piece I wrote in April 2025
"In the history of state terror, the escape from law into coercion takes three forms... the leader principle; the state of exception; and the zone of statelessness."
snyder.substack.com/p/state-terror

State Terror

A brief guide for Americans

snyder.substack.com

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 2d

That’s the spirit of it
www.theverge.com/policy/79051...

Everything is terrorism in Trump’s America

But don’t call that fascism. That would be bad.

www.theverge.com

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 2d

1/2 Torturers also say this.
2/2 Different point. By this logic Vance himself should stop complaining all the time. Everything has been handed to him, and yet he’s a grievance machine.

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 3d

Weaponized gratitude is a key tool in the abuser's toolkit. The goal is to convince the victim that they owe the abuser so much, they should feel guilty for wanting to complain.

Tweet from the VP:
Joy Reid has had such a good life in this country. It's been
overwhelmingly kind and gracious to her. She is far wealthier than most.
Yet she oozes with contempt.
My honest, non-trolling advice to Joy Reid is that you'd be a much
happier person if you showed a little gratitude

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 2d

This Trump administration policy of generating an artificial civil war on the basis of big lies is of course meant to be frightening but it is also anti-American, unlawful, stupid and pursued by wildly unpopular people.

Brandon Friedman @brandonfriedman.bsky.social · 3d

Everyone is trying to have a normal Saturday night and the president's top advisor is on X announcing that civil war is necessary

@StephenM on X: Legal insurrection. The President is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, not an Oregon judge. Portland and Oregon law enforcement, at the direction of local leaders, have refused to aid ICE officers facing relentless terrorist assault and threats to life. (There are more local law enforcement officers in Oregon than there are guns and badges in the FBI nationwide). This is an organized terrorist attack on the federal government and its officers, and the deployment of troops is an absolute necessity to defend our personnel, our laws, our government, public order and the Republic itself.

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 2d

One of the lessons I discuss in "On Tyranny":
Listen for dangerous words.

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 2d

"State Terror: A brief guide for Americans"
Revisiting a piece I wrote in April 2025
"In the history of state terror, the escape from law into coercion takes three forms... the leader principle; the state of exception; and the zone of statelessness."
snyder.substack.com/p/state-terror

State Terror

A brief guide for Americans

snyder.substack.com

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 3d

Two people very much worth listening to, in an important conversation.
newrepublic.com/article/2013...

Transcript: Chris Murphy’s Dark and Unnerving New Warning about Trump

The Democratic senator has taken the lead in drawing attention to Trump’s authoritarianism. In an interview, he offers a stark new warning that should galvanize his fellow Democrats before it’s too la...

newrepublic.com

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Reposted by Timothy Snyder

Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 5d

Washington Post dismantled the platform Jamal wrote on. Discarded the fellowship they created in his memory.

They fired me unjustly for speaking the truth.

But I’ll never stop talking about my friend, writer, and amazing human, Jamal Khashoggi.

RIP, Jamal.

open.substack.com/pub/karenatt...

Jamal Khashoggi, the Washington Post, and the Cost of Speaking Out

As Saudi Arabia hosts comedians and courts gamers, the silenced voice of Jamal Khashoggi still echoes.

open.substack.com

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Reposted by Timothy Snyder

Mark Hamill @markhamillofficial.bsky.social · 5d

From her lifetime of pioneering work with chimpanzees to her
tireless advocacy for the environment...

Jane Goodall was a one-of-a-kind treasure to the world!

I was lucky enough to be able to thank her personally when our paths crossed not long ago.

Thanks again, Ms. Goodall. You will be missed. ♥️

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 3d

Breaks the law and reeks of dictatorship
defector.com/treasury-dep...

Treasury Department Has Plans To Mint Dollar Coin Featuring Donald Trump's Likeness | Defector

The United States Department of the Treasury has developed, to the brink of production, a dollar coin that features the face and likeness of President Donald Trump, according to a source within the Tr...

defector.com

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 3d

Mr Rowan is quite right that we could lose our global edge in higher education — by yielding to the eccentric and in this case authoritarian ideas of bullying, oligarchic alumni. His compact would put US universities on roughly the same footing as Russia’s.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/u...

The Billionaire Behind Trump’s Deal for Universities

www.nytimes.com

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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 4d

If Texans want to be the cowards who pull higher education over the brink, here’s their big chance.
www.statesman.com/news/educati...

New Trump plan offers UT funding benefits with conditions on academics

The Trump administration named the University of Texas as one of nine schools that can access funding benefits in exchange for demands outlined in a compact.

www.statesman.com

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