Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jason Dempsey @jkdemp.bsky.social · 16h

"Now, on his worst nights in the detention center, he reminds himself of the promise America made to Afghans who supported its cause: “Nobody will be left behind.”

wapo.st/3W4mySQ

The U.S. saved him from the Taliban, but now it wants to send him back

He supported America’s war, escaped Afghanistan and started a family in the U.S. Then ICE arrested him. If he is deported, he expects the Taliban to kill him.

wapo.st

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Kara Swisher @karaswisher.bsky.social · 1d

Superb & eviscerating take on the situation at CBS by John Oliver and @lastweektonight.com. As I’ve noted, the new billionaire owners create a mirrortocracy, pretend it’s a meritocracy & hire a mediocrity to get there. But it is not about innovating & supporting journalism.
youtu.be/gieTx_P6INQ

Bari Weiss: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

YouTube video by LastWeekTonight

youtu.be

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Phil Klay @philklay.bsky.social · 5d

Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island told us in a statement that “every American should be alarmed that their President has decided he can wage secret wars against anyone he calls an enemy.”

www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

The Boat Strikes Are Just the Beginning

What the Trump administration is portraying as a drug mission may be about a lot more.

www.theatlantic.com

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Kori Schake @kschake.bsky.social · 8d

Important thread on precedents on National Guard use over state objections, from @lindsaypcohn.bsky.social, and nobody knows it better.

Lindsay P Cohn @lindsaypcohn.bsky.social · 8d

Gov will definitely appeal and will prbly rely on the 1827 SCOTUS ruling in Martin v Mott, that discretion to determine whether an insurrection or failure to enforce federal law is happening rests w the prez alone and is not reviewable.

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Jason Dempsey @jkdemp.bsky.social · 9d

Great quote, too.

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 10d

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has credited the military’s strong recruiting numbers this year to a rise in patriotism and a “Trump bump.” But the Army’s recruiting surge wouldn’t have been possible without a program that started three years ago at Fort Jackson. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/04/u...

Soldiers lined up in formation while wearing uniforms. A headline reads: "The Program That Rescued Army Recruiting." Photo by Kenny Holston/The New York Times

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Jason Dempsey @jkdemp.bsky.social · 11d

Worth a visit - the former student body president (featured in the news broadcasts of events) is still giving talks.

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David Simon @audacityofdespair.bsky.social · 12d

Seven years ago today, Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi was tortured, murdered and then dismembered. And any so-called comedian who can't stand up tonight in Riyadh and do ten minutes on that kind of hijinx and horseplay just isn't worth the Saudi blood money he's being paid.

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Jason Dempsey @jkdemp.bsky.social · 13d

Explain ‘we’ there, kemosabi.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 13d

Stephen Miller: "All that bullshit is done, over, it's finished. The gangbangers you deal with- they think they're ruthless? They have no idea how ruthless we are. They think they're tough? They have no idea how tough we are. They think they're hardcore? We are so much more hardcore than they are"

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 14d

like, the fact that they felt this spectacle was necessary is itself evidence that they don't have the military support that they want

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Jason Dempsey @jkdemp.bsky.social · 14d

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/u...

A Novice Defense Secretary Lectures the Brass on What It Takes to Win

www.nytimes.com

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Jason Dempsey @jkdemp.bsky.social · 15d

sigh ... an area of study used to exposing the margins of theory now being forced to re-explain fundamentals is exhausting.

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Jason Dempsey @jkdemp.bsky.social · 17d

Nice! On the Hyperion series as a mental break and finishing up this:

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 29d

i have said this before but when “getting rid of race in admissions” for the administration means “you can’t even try to reach out to underrepresented communities and encourage them to apply and if you do it is illegal discrimination against white people” then the actual goal here is segregation

Harvard Ends Undergraduate Minority Recruitment Program as Trump Targets Race in Admissions | News | The Harvard Crimson

By ending the minority recruitment program in May, Harvard shuttered a more than 50-year-old initiative to encourage minority high school students to apply.

www.thecrimson.com

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Keith Boykin @keithboykin.bsky.social · Sep 13

A Black police officer, David Rose, was shot and killed defending a federal government building last month, and he didn’t get a presidential medal or a congressional moment of silence.

A white civilian, Charlie Kirk, is shot and killed on a college campus, and he did.

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Jason Dempsey @jkdemp.bsky.social · Sep 13

The fundamental severing of the link between rights and responsibilities.

ex-Lethality Jane @lethalityjane.bsky.social · Sep 13

We live in a strange country, where we deem the right to hold the ability to conduct tremendous violence as sacrosanct but have agreed that the effects of said violence should be shielded from the public view.

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ex-Lethality Jane @lethalityjane.bsky.social · Sep 13

We live in a strange country, where we deem the right to hold the ability to conduct tremendous violence as sacrosanct but have agreed that the effects of said violence should be shielded from the public view.

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · Sep 11

I know Charlie Kirk valued debate and free speech because he blocked me for fact-checking his lies on Twitter and then put me on his organization's Professor Watchlist for writing a book he didn't like.

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Jason Dempsey @jkdemp.bsky.social · Sep 11

Thank you for your service

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Jason Dempsey @jkdemp.bsky.social · Sep 10

well, damn ... failing at that too. But it sounds big.

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Jason Dempsey @jkdemp.bsky.social · Sep 10

Is this lethality?*

*someone please make a meme for me.

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Kori Schake @kschake.bsky.social · Sep 10

“If they’re picking up trash, they’re not here for a security emergency. There’s no clearer metric than that.” @jkdemp.bsky.social

National Guard collects unfavorable public input on D.C. deployment

Internal documents reviewed by The Post reveal, with rare candor, how domestic missions rooted in politics risk damaging Americans’ trust in the military.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Jason Dempsey @jkdemp.bsky.social · Sep 8

This letter cancelling the award ceremony for Tom Hanks, with its nod to 'lethality' and no mention of Hanks himself, is a perfect example of quibbling. It should be used in classes on the West Point Honor Code as an example of using a bunch of words that aren't lies, but still avoiding the truth.

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Alan Jagolinzer @jagolinzer.bsky.social · Sep 7

From Princeton Professor of Politics and International Affairs, @jshapiro.bsky.social.

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Force Ghost™ @fieldmontgomery.bsky.social · Sep 5

Anyone in SOUTHCOM's JAG office wants to share the advice given and the ROEs issued to commanders operating around Venezuela?

I mean, you're probably going end up sharing them along with your Memoranda for the Record before Congress one of these days, but a sneak peek would be appreciated.

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