Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 31m

Budget Director Russell "Vought is an extremist; a tool of creepy billionaires in the corporate takeover of the U.S. government."

"He seems to get unhealthy pleasure from depriving Americans of the services their tax dollars are supposed to fund."
— @whitehouse.senate.gov at @contrariannews.org

Russell Vought is the tool of a dangerous elite

He wields his budget hammer not in service to the people or the Constitution, but for the billionaire class.

contrarian.substack.com

Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 1h

"The American military is held hostage to the commander in chief's delusions.

"That is incredibly dangerous, especially when the president is so eager to use it against American citizens he labels the 'enemy from within.'"
— Austin Sarat, Amherst College political scientist, at @contrariannews.org

The danger of letting a delusional president send troops to American cities

The president is operating on outdated information, fantasies, and a lust for power.

substack.com

Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 2h

"They are going to call protests riots & they are going to call protesters terrorists & they are going to call activist groups terrorist organizations and they are going to call foundations & donors terrorist funders & they are going to try to scare all of the above."
-- @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social

We Are All Domestic Terrorists Now

Here comes the iron fist.

substack.com

Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 3h

"What started as a failed businessman's populist vaudeville routine — one which premiered improbably in the White House — has turned into something far more sinister. It's now a script for authoritarian rule."
-- @milestaylor.bsky.social, DHS chief of staff during Trump's first term

READ: Do you realize it yet, America? The joke’s on us.

When Trump says something outrageous, his aides call it a joke. But the punchline is always the same — he means it.

www.treason.io

Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 4h

"Trump decided to start a trade war, and now that it's happening, America will take a bigger hit than China, both to its economy and to its reputation.

"It's bad when the world sees you as a bully; it's worse when the world also sees you as weak."
-- @pkrugman.bsky.social

How Trump Is Making China Great

Why we’re going to lose the trade war, and much more besides

substack.com

Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 7h

By a former Republican congressman from Illinois (2011-23):

Adam Kinzinger @adamkinzinger.substack.com · 9h

The ICE raids, the Guard deployments, the fear — it’s all real.
But I can’t shake the feeling that Trump pushed too far too fast.
People are waking up. Judges are pushing back.
Maybe this isn’t the end of democracy — maybe it’s the moment it remembers to fight back.
open.substack.com/pub/adamkinz...

When Power Overreaches: The Gut Feeling That America Is Starting to Push Back

I admit I've made some bad predictions...but maybe not this time. Or maybe

open.substack.com

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 7h

"We identified a small group of service members who were not in compliance and have been replaced."
-- Texas Military Department, which oversees the state's National Guard

Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 6d

Greg Abbott sends the elite Meal Team 6 from the Texas National Guard into Illinois.

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 8h

"This was more than an inconvenience. . . . After more than a decade of having a green card, I had decided to become a citizen and vote.

"All of us now were stuck in limbo."
— Leyla Khodabakhshi, Iranian immigrant working for BBC News in Washington, D.C., since 2022

'Your appointment's rescheduled': Shutdown cancels US citizenship ceremonies

When I went this weekend to take the oath to become an American citizen, I enountered disorder, and disappointment.

www.bbc.com

Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 11h

Budget Director Russell "Vought belongs to the looters and polluters, and he is manipulating our government for their benefit, setting us up for ever worse corruption."
-- @whitehouse.senate.gov at @contrariannews.org

Russell Vought is the tool of a dangerous elite

He wields his budget hammer not in service to the people or the Constitution, but for the billionaire class.

contrarian.substack.com

Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 21h

"We should be encouraged that the public, courts and even some Republican governors have begun to reject Trump's authoritarian push to militarize our streets. . . .

"Voters, courts, and governors are effectively confirming that Trump is the menace."
— @jenrubin.bsky.social at @contrariannews.org

It Turns Out, Americans Don't Want a Police State

Voters, Courts, and GOP Governors slam Trump’s militarization of cities

substack.com

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 22h

"It's hard for SNL to parody the actions of our leaders when the actual behavior is often so brazen and shameful. And too dire to even make fun of."
-- Tom Jones, senior media writer

The Poynter Institute @poynterinstitute.bsky.social · 1d

From today’s Poynter Report:
-An uneven start for “Saturday Night Live”
-ProPublica responds to insults
-Remembering Poynter media business analyst Rick Edmonds

Read these stories and more in our Monday-Friday media industry newsletter:
buff.ly/9Awo3oG

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 23h

This 2019-23 New Jersey congressman, @tommalinowski.bsky.social, hears a risky signal in Pete Hegseth's tough talk:

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 1d

Oy vey — Jewish media execs in New York can be easy to mix up, Columbia Journalism Review realizes after it “incorrectly identified a . . . photo of [New York] Times CEO Meredith Levien as Bari Weiss,” as an article endnote says today.
Levien is at left and Weiss is on the right (yes, fittingly).

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 1d

@thedanrather.bsky.social, past CBS News anchor, on conservative writer Bari Weiss' new role as its editor-in-chief:

"The journalists of CBS News . . . now have to be concerned about how their pitches, their stories and their scripts will be received by someone with a clear political agenda."

MAGA Tested, Trump Approved News

A conservative opinion writer is now leading CBS News

steady.substack.com

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 1d

"New Yorkers [are] yelling at ICE because they do not like to see human beings abused. Because they dislike racist oppression. . . .

"People are angry that the government is doing something evil."
— @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social, Brookyln journalist and author

We Are All Domestic Terrorists Now

Here comes the iron fist.

substack.com

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 1d

"Trump is learning, to his obvious shock, that other nations can also play trade hardball.

"His reaction to China’s new export controls on rare earths, which are crucial to digital technology, would be comical if the stakes weren’t so high."
— @pkrugman.bsky.social

How Trump Is Making China Great

Why we’re going to lose the trade war, and much more besides

substack.com

Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 1d

"Like so many of those women in my mother's generation, [Diane] Keaton wore suits so I could wear sneakers."
-- @mollyjongfast.bsky.social, Manhattan journalist and author

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 1d

Conservative writer Bari Weiss' new role as CBS News editor-in-chief means its journalists "will be dogged by worry that anything they do, any question they ask, will be scrutinized to ensure that it suits the political powers," posts @thedanrather.bsky.social, evening anchor there from 1981-2005.

MAGA Tested, Trump Approved News

A conservative opinion writer is now leading CBS News

steady.substack.com

Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 1d

"Trump's unintentional genius and his shield is that he couches his most extreme instincts as humor. He says the quiet part loud & then his staff says the loud part was a joke.

"But authoritarianism hides in plain sight behind this."
-- @milestaylor.bsky.social, DHS chief of staff during Trump 1.0

READ: Do you realize it yet, America? The joke’s on us.

When Trump says something outrageous, his aides call it a joke. But the punchline is always the same — he means it.

www.treason.io

Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 1d

Beauty is all around us.

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 1d

Journalist-author @hamiltonnolan.bsky.social restates a call for U.S. military officers to quit in moral protest.

"The time when you can say that you did not understand what might happen is coming to an end. . . . The president made his intentions for the military clear."

Leave the Military Now

What does courage demand?

substack.com

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 1d

"They've worked so hard to have us forget about the Epstein files and what they contain. Let's make sure we don't do that."
-- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social | substack.com/home/post/p-...

Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 1d

@thedanrather.bsky.social, past anchor of CBS Evening News (1981-2005), fears what's ahead there under editor-in-chief Bari Weiss

"It is clear that CBS News has tipped over the precipice. Corporate overlords in concert with an autocratic president are demolishing support for independent journalism"

MAGA Tested, Trump Approved News

A conservative opinion writer is now leading CBS News

steady.substack.com

1

Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 1d

"If there is one thing Truth Social is good for these days, it is that it somewhat reliably tracks the 79-year old president's cognitive decline. . . .

"It is time for a serious discussion about the 25th amendment to the U.S. Constitution."
— @jimacosta.bsky.social | substack.com/home/post/p-...

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 1d

@milestaylor.bsky.social, DHS chief of staff during Trump’s first term, warns us not to “buy the line that the commander-in-chief doesn't mean what he says."

"The 'jokes' are increasingly becoming the reality. He makes controversial statements not to test a punchline but to test reactions."

READ: Do you realize it yet, America? The joke’s on us.

When Trump says something outrageous, his aides call it a joke. But the punchline is always the same — he means it.

substack.com