Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 4h

yes

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 4h

sorry do we disagree about any of this

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 6h

The modal policy positions of FedSoc student chapters used to be “the VRA is unconstitutional and marriage should be defined by states.” Now it’s “Donald Trump won the 2020 election and Joe Biden must be tried and executed for treason.” All of those ideas are bad. They are bad in different ways.

4 9 77

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 6h

I’ll add that many of the arguments that conservative legal movement luminaries are making now would not have flown even in FedSoc circles a decade ago. It matters that they are comfortable saying this stuff in public, and that the conservative lawyers who reject these arguments are now irrelevant.

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 6h

"they've always been like this" is always a tempting savvy take but it is just not true that Republican staffers were 100 percent open Nazis back in 2004, or hell even 2014. they just weren't

Michael Caley @michaelcaley.bsky.social · 7h

there have been a lot of responses to this arguing that young Republicans were motivated by such feelings but didn't express them openly

and I think a crucial lesson of the Trump era is that there is great value in people not expressing these things openly! that's a big and decisive change!

2 23 180

Reposted by Jay Willis

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 6h

"they've always been like this" is always a tempting savvy take but it is just not true that Republican staffers were 100 percent open Nazis back in 2004, or hell even 2014. they just weren't

Michael Caley @michaelcaley.bsky.social · 7h

there have been a lot of responses to this arguing that young Republicans were motivated by such feelings but didn't express them openly

and I think a crucial lesson of the Trump era is that there is great value in people not expressing these things openly! that's a big and decisive change!

Amanda Marcotte @amandamarcotte.bsky.social · 1d

For those tempted to say Young Republicans have always been this way, they really have not. When I worked on campus and did bipartisan college events after, they were very much not like this.

That’s why groups like YCT and eventually TPUSA formed — because Young Republicans weren’t radical enough.

87 300 2.3K

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 7h

Okay fine I am blogging this

30

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 7h

As a baby lawyer in the Reagan White House, John Roberts was writing memos arguing that violations of the Voting Rights Act should not be "too easy to prove." This is not just any legal issue that happens to come before him. This is his life's work. He just wants to finish what he started.

Inside John Roberts’ Decades-Long Crusade Against the Voting Rights Act

Roberts remains at the center of an impassioned debate about voting rights in America.

www.politico.com

5 75 250

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 7h

Everything about John Roberts's approach to the Voting Rights Act makes sense when you remember that John Roberts has has always been hostile to the Voting Rights Act, never believed it was appropriate, and has spent most of his 45-year legal career working to hollow it out.

One of the Biggest Cases of the Supreme Court’s Term Is John Roberts’ Decadeslong Pet Project

If there’s one thing the Roberts court has been consistent on, it’s this.

slate.com

5 64 210

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 18h

Can I interest you in

Uga (mascot) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1 9

Reposted by Jay Willis

Balls & Strikes @ballsandstrikes.org · 1d

“Each time a court cites a case that has as its foundation such racist fallacies, it is incumbent on us to call out that racism, even if just in a footnote.”

A Washington State Supreme Court Justice Condemns Federal Indian Law as Racist and Awful

"Each time a court cites a case that has as its foundation such racist fallacies, it is incumbent on us to call out that racism, even if just in a footnote."

ballsandstrikes.org

2 13 52

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 1d

Trying to decide if the beloved editors we shared would have fired us on the spot for pitching this, or sincerely asked if we'd suffered a serious head injury

1 5

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 1d

GQ was my first full-time job in journalism, and I owe my career to their willingness to take a chance on me coming up on 10 years ago. So, can I just say: Man, what the FUCK is this

GQ @gqmagazine.bsky.social · 2d

Is hard-right streamer Nick Fuentes winning over women on the left? Writer Katherine Dee investigates www.gq.com/story/nick-f...

Is Nick Fuentes Winning Over Women on the Left?

There are the Tumblr “Nickstorians” and sincere fanfics. But are young, liberal, possibly irony-poisoned women fetishizing or even falling for the hard-right streamer with the “groyper” following? Wri...

www.gq.com

7 14 170

Reposted by Jay Willis

Michael @fleerultra.bsky.social · 1d

love a caption that's like "the actual country you live in against something that is an unequivocal good in the world"

5-4 Podcast @fivefourpod.bsky.social · 1d

This week’s episode is Department of State v. AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition, where the Court butchered a statute in order to let Trump keep blocking foreign aid.

Department of State v. AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition

Podcast Episode · 5-4 · 10/14/2025 · 39m

podcasts.apple.com

4 40 230

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 1d

Genuinely amazing that Drake lost the Kendrick Lamar beef so badly that he filed a harebrained lawsuit that ended with a federal judge calling the song that destroyed his career "catchy" and a "cultural sensation."

Federal Judge Declares Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” Too Awesome to Be Defamatory

Apparently, Drake decided that losing in the court of public opinion was not humiliating enough.

ballsandstrikes.substack.com

2 16 130

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 1d

This is fascinating, I learned a ton, the detail about the percentage of U.S. GDP charged *specifically to AmEx Delta cards* is going to be rattling around in my head for the rest of the day

Amanda Mull @amandamull.bsky.social · 1d

For Businessweek’s November issue, I have a feature about the high-fee premium credit card war being waged by American Express and Chase for the hearts, minds, and swipes of America’s affluent supershoppers. Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

Inside the Credit Card Battle to Win America’s Richest Shoppers

The fierce fight between Amex and Chase is playing out over higher fees, extravagant events and every perk imaginable.

www.bloomberg.com

1 11 58

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 1d

I learned so much reading this! Thank you!

1 5

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 2d

The Blue Jays center fielder who keeps crashing into the wall at full speed trying to catch balls 15 feet over is head is killing me

10 2 66

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 2d

Umpire is dogshit, ABS challenge system now (I reserve the right to change this opinion at any time, immediately, if it suits my purposes)

3 1 58

Reposted by Jay Willis

Balls & Strikes @ballsandstrikes.org · 2d

New year, new horrific anti-voting Supreme Court case ballsandstrikes.org/scotus/louis...

The Republicans Justices Are Getting Ready to Finish Off the Voting Rights Act

In Louisiana v Callais, John Roberts will have the chance to finish his decades-long war on. voting rights.

ballsandstrikes.org

3 40 89

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 2d

[as the fire consumes me] worth it i guess

39

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 2d

Me before Game 1: Mariners are probably exhausted and emotionally drained after Friday, can’t expect much here, let’s just get through it

Me now: I WANT YOU TO PUT THE WORD OUT THAT WE BACK UP

5 140

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 2d

Me before every sports season: Just gonna have fun watching this year, hope for some good games, enjoy myself, go team

Me shortly thereafter: It is not enough for the other team’s best player to die, I also wish for him to suffer

6 9 170

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 2d

why are you like this

1 20

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 2d

Get in here Holly, you’re gonna hate it

13

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 3d

Lauren can I do 5,000 words on this or would you prefer 10,000

1 19