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Walker Bragman

@walkerbragman.bsky.social

31K followers 930 following 7.4K posts

He/Him. Dad. Journo tracking dark money and attacks on public health. JD, ADHD, occasional cartoonist. Co-founder of Accountability Journalism Institute. Accountabilityjournalism.org Signal: walkerbragman.44 Reporting: https://www.importantcontext.news

www.importantcontext.news

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · Jun 2

NEW: Important Context spoke with a dozen people working at NIH about Director Jay Bhattacharya.

The descriptions were universally unflattering, painting the health economist as ineffectual, dishonest, ideological, arrogant, and uncommitted to science.

www.importantcontext.news/p/out-of-his...

“Out Of His Depth,” “Sold His Soul,” “Clueless”: NIH Staffers Speak Out About Director Bhattacharya

Widespread dissatisfaction over the NIH’s “continuous free fall” has people speaking out.

www.importantcontext.news

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Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 2h

twice a year the entire U.S. press becomes a marketing extension of a single billionaire-owned retailer, and nobody in any position of editorial power thinks it's weird or gross

photo of Google News search results for Amazon Prime Day (the second this year)

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Meredith Shiner @meredithshiner.com · 4h

Bridging my current life in Chicago and my past life in D.C., I argue today at @newrepublic.com that Democrats should ~never~ vote to fund this government. Make John Thune blow up Senate rules and Republicans wholly own the U.S. extra-military military doing war crimes against us, funded by us.

The Case for the Forever Shutdown

Senate Democrats actually allowing the GOP to stop funding the government is only the first step. Now they have to make the case that Trump’s government is illegitimate.

newrepublic.com

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 6h

I should also note there are other 6 other candidates in the race, like former congressional aide Jordan Wood, who is in his 30s.

None have gone viral the way Platner has. But Wood, also a progressive, recently announced he’d raised $3 million.

Mills doesn’t need to join this race.

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 6h

To be clear, Mills hasn’t announced yet, but Axios reports that she’s “poised” to join the race.

Really ridiculous.

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 6h

The Democratic establishment’s fear of anyone with a backbone is so ridiculous.

If she were to win against Susan Collins—which would be a big question after a grueling primary—Mills would be 79 when sworn in. She’d be 85 at the end of her first term.

Just absurd.

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 7h

77-year-old Maine Gov. Janet Mills has apparently been coaxed into jumping into the Maine Senate race, challenging Graham Platner in a Democratic primary.

The 40-year-old Platner has become a favorite of progressives and Democrats wanting a more muscular response to Trump. He has raised millions.

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 7h

America at its best is a rich and vibrant tapestry of different cultures, traditions, and peoples. Our greatest strength is our aspiration to create a more perfect union.

Fascists only see diversity as a vulnerability because they cannot conceive of solidarity.

And that’s their weakness.

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 7h

I don’t want to sound preachy but we have the capacity to be so much better than this.

The folks showing up despite state violence to protest ICE are proof of it. Scientists speaking out despite facing personal threats—like @michaelemann.bsky.social and @peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social—are proof of it

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 7h

People being afraid to speak out against their government is the antithesis of what America is supposed to be.

The Trump regime trying to sow fear in its opposition, deploying soldiers and unaccountable federal agents with inadequate training and a mission of cruelty is fundamentally unAmerican.

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 11h

Everyone is saying it, but this is easily the best response Schumer has had to this administration.

Like, this is good comms.

Now, add a few more big asks to reopen the government.

Trump and the GOP are going to feel the fallout more than Dems.

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 12h

Monstrous.

"federal agents detained nearly every resident of the 130-unit building—including children and babies—placing them in zip ties and separating them by race into vans for more than two hours early Tuesday morning."

Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 15h

Good reporting on the South Shore raid from South Side weekly here.

Confirms one thing I was told but didn't put in my own piece because I didn't have a second source and it seemed too insane: border agents segregated arrested residents by race

southsideweekly.com/federal-agen...

Federal Agents Storm South Shore Building, Detaining Families and Children

Families were woken by flashbangs and helicopters as hundreds of federal agents raided their homes. Days later, neighbors are still searching for the missing.

southsideweekly.com

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 11h

The Mamdani effect. A baby step in the right direction to be sure.

Chuck Schumer @schumer.senate.gov · 16h

The government is shut down because Trump and the Republicans are hellbent on taking health care away from you.

And they won’t even come to the table to talk to us about it.

This is not about politics. It's about people.

Let’s break it down:

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Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 17h

ICE is a hostile occupying force that is a danger to everyone.

Alt text: A man in camouflage clothing and a face covering sits inside a gray Jeep, pointing a weapon out of the open driver-side window. The gun is aimed directly at the camera. The man wears gloves and a dark cap, and his eyes are visible above the mask. The vehicle’s door and side mirror are wet with raindrops.

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 16h

“I’ve been canceled 😩”

a cat is laying on a pile of money .

Alt: a cat is laying on a pile of money .

media.tenor.com

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 16h

I want to be “canceled” like Bari Weiss was.

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 17h

"Look, the President clearly has some kind of dementia" should be how Democrats begin every single comment to reporters these days.

Eric Michael Garcia @ericmgarcia.bsky.social · 22h

Ruben Gallego on whether Trump is talking to Democrats:

“Look, the President clearly has some kind of dementia, so I think there's a he's probably talking to himself, or think he's talking to a Democrat, but I sincerely doubt that that's actually he's actually physically talking to a Democrat.“

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Prem Thakker ツ @premthakker.bsky.social · 18h

I fear if things don’t change right now, this image is going to come back to haunt us

Laura Rodriguez, on Twitter:

A federal agent points a weapon at a woman who was recording them.

Jess, a U.S. citizen and member of a neighborhood patrol team that documents and shares ICE activity across the city, was filming when the incident occurred earlier today in the Berwyn area.

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Eli Valley @elivalley.bsky.social · 22h

As one of the countless people *actually* cancelled by Bari Weiss, via her vast favor-trading networks of fellow nepotistic gatekeepers in media and publishing, I think both of these asinine dipshits should go fuck themselves.

Matt Yglesias QT'ing Corey Walker

I didn’t rejoice at her cancellation and got cancelled myself at roughly the same time, but I am sincerely jealous that no regime-aligned billionaire has even fit to curry favor with the Trump administration by giving me a huge sum of money.
https://x.com/mattyglesias/status/1975375120123478491
Quote
Corey Walker
@CoreyWriting
·
16h
The vitriol against Bari Weiss is just thinly-veiled jealousy by people who rejoiced at "cancelling" her in 2020 and are furious she managed to get fabulously wealthy in an infamously brutal and low-paying industry.

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Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 22h

It's amazing how everyone supporting her seems to forget she wasn't cancelled at all. She quit. And almost immediately was able to launch this new publication. How the hell was she cancelled?

Some people criticized shitty takes. That's not being cancelled.

Eli Valley @elivalley.bsky.social · 22h

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southpaw @nycsouthpaw.bsky.social · 1d

I’m a career prosecutor who took a $25,000 check from an affiliated entity of Donald Trump’s while investigating Trump University and later left my lobbying firm to become Donald Trump’s personal impeachment lawyer, White House aide, and Attorney General. So don’t you DARE question my integrity.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Bondi to Blumenthal: "You lied. How dare you? I'm a career prosecutor. Don't you ever challenge my integrity. Do not question my ability to be fair and impartial."

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 1d

Blue states should focus on building out public services, including new housing, to help their populations weather what is coming.

And offer assistance to people in Red states looking to relocate.

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 1d

So yea, keep it shut down. Let Donald Trump explain why his trifecta has delivered misery and economic disaster.

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 1d

Because it’s built around grievance.

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 1d

Like, Democrats don’t actually have to save Republicans from the fallout from their own policies.

It’s better that they don’t. It’s high time Republicans feel what they voted for.

And when Dems come back into power—and they will—no saving Red states until governors like DeSantis bend the knee.

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 1d

Republicans as the country falls apart:

Suspect Guilty GIF

ALT: Suspect Guilty GIF

media.tenor.com

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