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Reposted by Joseph Britt

Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 11h

Practically the first thing Trump did upon taking office last January was unleash Elon Musk on US foreign aid programs. Many warned people would die as a result; the medical journal @thelancet.com projected some 14 million. Kristen Gelineau tells some of their stories. apnews.com/article/myan...

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

apnews.com

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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 1h

I’m sure Johnson and other Republicans are just covering up for Trump. Other pedophiles they don’t care that much about.

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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 1h

Only in America could a child of Cuban immigrants rise to a position that would be cut out of all important negotiations but responsible for whispering in Donald Trump’s ear about a social media post.

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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 1h

John Fetterman, D-Keeping It Real

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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 4h

Could have been worse. Trump could have said habeas corpus was a bad guy, sick and vicious, and that he belonged in prison. Noem would naturally have agreed with him, saying that it took a bold leader like Trump to say what has been true for a long time.

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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 6h

Longtime observers of the Catholic Church will remember how the last years of the Cold War in Europe were influenced by a Polish Pope.

That the new Pope is both American & spent many years among the very kind of people being persecuted by Trump’s migrant hunters may influence our politics as well.

Politico @politico.com · 7h

Pope Leo XIV says he will "stand with" Catholic leaders in protecting immigrants facing mass deportations in the U.S., according to advocates who recently met with the Pope.

Pope Leo will ‘stand with’ Catholic leaders in protecting immigrants’ rights, advocates say

The comments from the pope mark the most recent push from the Vatican against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

www.politico.com

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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 7h

Thread. Federal fiscal situation, from CBO via @bbkogan.bsky.social.

We were warned that all of Elon Musk’s attacks on foreign aid, public broadcasting and so forth wouldn’t amount to much in the federal budget. The warnings were right; the government spends much more money on other things.

Bobby Kogan @bbkogan.bsky.social · 8h

CBO fy2025 projections for deficit/spending/etc are out

Some issues make simple comparisons apples-to-oranges, so I'll do apples-to-apples & explain in the thread

Relative to pre-Trump projections:
-Primary deficits ⬆️ $34 bn
-program spending ⬆️ $97 bn
-revenues ⬆️ $63 bn
www.cbo.gov/publication/...

2025 (January estimate, adjusted to fix issues) 2025 CBO estimate (remove student loan one-time revaluation) 2025 (adjusted for student loans) vs. 2025 projection (adjusted to fix issues)
Spending 7061 7166 105
Program spending 6108 6205 97
Interest 953 961 9
Revenue 5163 5226 63
Primary deficit 945 979 34
Total deficit 1898 1940 42

Reposted by Joseph Britt

Jim Manley @jamespmanley.bsky.social · 1d

Agreed

Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 1d

Again, Senators need to be Senators. They cannot just do what @whitehouse.senate.gov does here: ask a question, let the witness burn time with an insulting speech not germane to the subject, and hope this makes the witness look bad.

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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 9h

Not a word from the Bush family. As one would expect.

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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 9h

Technically not even then, since states not consenting to Union Army operations on their territory were those in rebellion.

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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 9h

What a shame Sec. Hegseth missed his opportunity to lecture assembled general officers on the need for secrecy and loyalty to the President at all times during his speech about pull-ups and facial hair a couple of weeks ago.

Reposted by Joseph Britt

Jamie Dupree @jamiedupree.bsky.social · 10h

The effort by the Pentagon to crack down on reporters should scare every American. The civilian leadership obviously wants stenographers covering the U.S. military - and not reporters.

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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 11h

Practically the first thing Trump did upon taking office last January was unleash Elon Musk on US foreign aid programs. Many warned people would die as a result; the medical journal @thelancet.com projected some 14 million. Kristen Gelineau tells some of their stories. apnews.com/article/myan...

Starving children screaming for food as US aid cuts unleash devastation and death across Myanmar

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said “no one has died" because of his government’s decision to gut its foreign aid program.

apnews.com

1 2

Reposted by Joseph Britt

Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 1d

Thread. @andycraig.bsky.social makes an essential point. The federal government has never ordered National Guard troops from one state to police a second state against the second state’s will, not even during desegregation. But that order has been given now, to Guard units seen as loyal to Trump.

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 1d

Never before in American history has one state's military force been deployed in another state over its objection.

I say never because the Civil War involved states whose governments legally ceased to exist, their offices vacated by constructive resignation, with no legitimate governors to object.

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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 1d

Made me think of the opening of The Bob Newhart Show.

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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 1d

Further on this subject: @radiofreetom.bsky.social sees Trump as likely to keep pressing the active duty military to align itself with him. One morning of silence by senior officers at Quantico two weeks ago was a mere momentary setback. Link via @hansschattle.bsky.social bsky.app/profile/hans...

Hans Schattle @hansschattle.bsky.social · 1d

"Trump wants to use military power to exert more control over the American people, and soon top U.S. military commanders may have to decide whether they will refuse such orders from the commander in chief. The greatest crisis of American civil-military relations in modern history is now under way."

The Civil-Military Crisis Is Here

The leaders of the U.S. military may soon face a terrible decision.

www.theatlantic.com

Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 1d

Thread. @andycraig.bsky.social makes an essential point. The federal government has never ordered National Guard troops from one state to police a second state against the second state’s will, not even during desegregation. But that order has been given now, to Guard units seen as loyal to Trump.

Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 1d

Never before in American history has one state's military force been deployed in another state over its objection.

I say never because the Civil War involved states whose governments legally ceased to exist, their offices vacated by constructive resignation, with no legitimate governors to object.

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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 1d

Local reporting on federal agencies’ assault on a Chicago apartment building, via @dlknowles.bsky.social. All this is before the invasion by Texas National Guard troops. It’s pretty grim — an assertion of dominance and impunity for their own sake.

Daniel Knowles @dlknowles.bsky.social · 1d

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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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 1d

If a Texas Guardsman breaks the law while deployed in Illinois, who prosecutes him? Local authorities; the Illinois Guard; the Texas Guard; the Justice Department; or no one?

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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 1d

Replies on social media later will compare in the exposure and influence to the opposition response to a State of the Union address.

The confrontation needs to happen in real time for it to get any attention from people who do not already agree with Senators. This is ugly, but no less reality.

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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 1d

It would have been better done in the hearing.

Whitehouse and his colleagues need to understand Trump administration witnesses will play to the specialized audience of right-wing media. Non sequitur talking points and personal attacks will appear as wins for the witnesses there.

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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 1d

Bondi used that line earlier (with Illinois instead of California) when dodging a question from Sen. Durbin about Texas National Guard troops being sent to his state.

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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 1d

Truthful or not, forthcoming or not….the level of disrespect from this witness should never be tolerated by any Senate committee. Bondi repeated her behavior replying to multiple Senators: giving speeches about non-germane subjects, repeating slogans, even attacking Senators personally.

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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 1d

It sounds like Paoletta is behind this, which means Vought is.

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Joseph Britt @zathras5.bsky.social · 1d

Bondi used that same line replying to Sen. Durbin earlier.

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