Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 53m

Ha ha ha, my most senior adviser is a psychotic racist who isn't shy about it, isn't that a gas.

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 1h

Trump: I want to thank Stephen Miller I would love to have him come up and explain his true feelings. Maybe not his truest feelings. That might be going a little too far

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 1h

This is the worst episode of "Kids Say the Darndest Things" ever made.

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 2h

Vance on public outrage over the "I love Hitler" group chat: "Grow up! Focus on the real issues. Don't focus on what kids say in group chats... The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys — they tell edgy, offensive jokes. That's what kids do."

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 4h

Shoot, ELISE STEFANIK condemned the comments, and she's almost as much of a climber as Vance is.

Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 6h

Fascinating. Politico notes that when notified of the texts, many state-level Republicans fired or condemned these cretins. Now Vance emerges to excuse the racism, and calls the reaction to it "pearl clutching."

He seems determined to purge the party of its last enclaves of decency.

‘College Group Chat’: JD Vance Dismisses ‘Pearl Clutching’ Over Young Republicans Leak to Attack Jay Jones

Liberals hit back at Vance's blunt dismissal of racist, antisemitic and misogynistic messages leaked from a Young Republicans group chat.

www.mediaite.com

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 5h

Incredible stuff.

bsky.app/profile/atru...

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 6h

Lisa McClain: "We don't need to do political stunts and storm the Speaker's office -- we just have the facts on our side."

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 5h

OH COME ON.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 6h

Mike Johnson: "We've always stood with Capitol police and law enforcement. We've shown that in word and deed."

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 18h

"Ugh, you guys, you don't understand! He really loved me! He said he'd leave his wife!" Repeat for 300 pages.

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 18h

I keep wondering if he meant this mockingly ("Oooo, naked bike riders, I'm SO owned, libtards") because the only other explanation is that he is the biggest and most humorless dipshit alive, and ... you know what, never mind.

The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 21h

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson calls Sunday's naked bike ride in protest of the Portland ICE facility and and Trump troop deployment "the most threatening thing I’ve seen yet"

www.oregonlive.com/portland/202...

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 18h

The only people interested in this are people who want to give it a hate read.

Oliver Darcy @oliverdarcy.bsky.social · 19h

Scoop: Olivia Nuzzi has written a book during her year in exile, in which she is set to in part address her relationship with RFK Jr. Details in @status.news: www.status.news/p/olivia-nuz...

Have I Got Nuzzi For You

Olivia Nuzzi is set to address her relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in a forthcoming book, galleys of which are circulating among a select group of readers, Status has learned.

www.status.news

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 18h

Cool, how about we give D.W. Griffith one posthumously while we're at it.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 23h

Trump posthumously awards Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom

President granted the US’s highest civilian award to the far-right commentator who was assassinated in September Donald Trump posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States, to the assassinated far-right commentator Charlie Kirk at the White House on Tuesday. Kirk, who was shot at an event at Utah Valley University in September, was among the most significant rightwing activists in the modern political era, galvanizing a younger generation of conservatives to engage in politics and support Trump’s candidacy ahead of the 2024 election. Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 18h

John Bolton was using an AOL email account as a notetaking app? What a moron.

www.cnn.com/2025/10/14/p...

DOJ investigation of John Bolton focuses on diary-like notes in his AOL email account | CNN Politics

Part of the Justice Department’s investigation of John Bolton centers around notes he was making to himself in an AOL email account — at times writing summaries of his activities like diary entries — ...

www.cnn.com

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 22h

New footage from Trump speaking at this Charlie Kirk memorial.

a man in a cape is flying through the air

ALT: a man in a cape is flying through the air

media.tenor.com

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 22h

Oh, I'm so glad to hear they figured out that pesky "this is bad for mental health in people" issue, I'm sure we'll never hear anything about that ever again.

Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 1d

Sam Altman went from “AI will cure cancer" to "ChatGPT porn" in less than a month

ChatGPT boss predicts when AI could cure cancer

We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. We realize this made it less useful/enjoyable to many users who had no mental health problems, but given the seriousness of the issue we wanted to get this right.

Now that we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues and have new tools, we are going to be able to safely relax the restrictions in most cases.

In a few weeks, we plan to put out a new version of ChatGPT that allows people to have a personality that behaves more like what people liked about 4o (we hope it will be better!). If you want your ChatGPT to respond in a very human-like way, or use a ton of emoji, or act like a friend, ChatGPT should do it (but only if you want it, not because we are usage-maxxing).

In December, as we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our “treat adult users like adults” principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults.
12:02 PM · Oct 14, 2025
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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 22h

Well then, he needs to explain his ability to travel through time.

Mueller, She Wrote @muellershewrote.com · 1d

NEW: Jim Jordan wants to question Jack Smith about his search of Mar-a-Lago, but Merrick Garland executed that search months before Jack Smith was even appointed. One of several lies in this letter demanding Jack Smith's testimony. judiciary.house.gov/sites/evo-su...

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 1d

Also mildly funny to see certain Republicans who have denounced alleged wokism and DEI (hi, Elise Stefanik!) express shock and outrage that young Republicans would engage in such terrible behavior. You can almost see her winking.

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 1d

Every young white Republican in that piece looks exactly like you would expect.

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 1d

One mildly funny moment in here is seeing Richard Nixon's son-in-law denouncing these idiots.

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

‘I love Hitler’: Leaked messages expose Young Republicans’ racist chat

Thousands of private messages reveal young GOP leaders joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape.

www.politico.com

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 1d

The eternal victims.

Dave Weigel @daveweigel.bsky.social · 1d

I'm generalizing, but why do conservatives remember political irritations for so much longer than liberals?

It's been 17 years since Obama said some voters "cling to their guns, to their religion" and I heard a senator denounce that last month.

Obvious theory: Media ecosystem puts it on repeat

Dave Weigel @daveweigel.bsky.social · 1d

Imagine caring about Kaepernick in the year of our lord 2025

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 1d

Not unhinged at all.

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 1d

Mike Johnson has sounded particularly unhinged about a lot in recent days, more than usual. Gotta think the pressure is getting to him.

James Downie @jamescdownie.bsky.social · 2d

Mike Johnson: It's Obama's fault that we can't repeal Obamacare.

Jake Sherman: "JOHNSON this AM: 'Can we completely repeal and replace Obamacare? Many of us are skeptical about that now, because the roots are so deep, it was really sinister, the way it was created. I believe Obamacare was created to implode upon itself, to collapse upon itself.'”

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 1d

Second time in 24 hours I've gotten to use that reference with a Bari sycophant. I'm sensing a pattern.

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 1d

"I'm not owned! I'm not owned!"

Mike Masnick @mmasnick.bsky.social · 1d

Was waiting to see how Olivia Reingold (who Oliver's piece destroyed almost as much as Bari Weiss) would respond, and you can see the tweet below which also shows she either did not watch his piece, or just didn't understand it, since he actually addresses this point directly.

Olivia Reingold quote tweeting Variety.

The Variety tweet is about John Oliver's piece on Bari Weiss leading CBS News, saying:

John Oliver slams Bari Weiss' takeover of CBS News:

"I wouldn’t want anyone who led a pure opinion outlet, not even one that I happened to agree with, to suddenly be running CBS News. But it is especially alarming to have someone doing it who has spent years putting out work that, in my opinion, is at best irresponsible and at worst deeply misleading."

Reingold then quotes it saying:

Why does this sound like John Oliver commenting on……John Oliver

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 1d

On the plus side, it's a very unflattering picture.

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 2d

Just in case the dramatically low Leni Riefenstahl-style angle was too subtle, they used a word from her most famous movie

Time magazine cover featuring a photo of Trump from a dramatically low angle

HIS
TRIUMPH
by ERIC CORTELLESSA
THE LEADER ISRAEL NEEDED
by EHUD BARAK
HOW GAZA HEALS

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 2d

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 2d

LOL, off to a great start over there.

@NewsJennifer (Jennifer Schulze) @newsjennifer.bsky.social · 2d

CBS News would never put a thinly sourced 'story' by a rookie blogger like this on it's air. Until now. The Free Press isn't a journalism outlet, it's bloggers aren't reporters. This piece is more NYPost than Tiffany Network but I guess that's the goal.

www.cbsnews.com/video/some-n...

Some NYPD officers worry about Mandani becoming the NYC mayor, The Free Press reports

The Free Press spoke to several New York City Police Department officers who are worried about Zohran Mamdani becoming mayor. Olivia Reingold joins CBS News with more.

www.cbsnews.com

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Gary Legum @glegum.bsky.social · 2d

"The king will allow you to earn a living as long as you don't complain" is the sort of sentiment that gets regimes overthrown.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Bessent: "No Kings means no paychecks. No paychecks and no government."

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