Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Matt Ortega @mattortega.com · 12h

Evergreen bullshit story.

Reposted by Matt Ortega

Dave Weigel @daveweigel.bsky.social · 13h

You can say amazing things if you know that the follow-up question will be "wow."

(Smith didn't plant anything at Mar-a-Lago because he was hired months after it was searched.)

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 14h

Eric Trump: "We found out that Jack Smith was actually planting classified folders in Mar-a-Lago"

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Reposted by Matt Ortega

Dave Itzkoff @ditzkoff.bsky.social · 22h

so what's in the news today

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Matt Ortega @mattortega.com · 14h

Your tax dollars k̶e̶e̶p̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶s̶a̶f̶e̶ bearing witness to things local police can handle without them.

Brad Heath @bradheath.bsky.social · 15h

National Guard soldiers are a frequent sight in D.C.

Police reports tell some of the story of what they're doing.

On Sunday, soldiers saw a man who had started a small fire threatening firefighters who tried to extinguish it. He also threw a can. The Guard did not stop this, but witnessed it.

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Matt Ortega @mattortega.com · 16h

His neck hangs like sleeve of wizard.

Eli Valley @elivalley.bsky.social · 1d

Honored to draw my first cover for TIME ❤️

TIME tweet:
The living Israeli hostages held in Gaza have been freed under the first phase of Donald Trump's peace plan, alongside a Palestinian prisoner release. The deal may become a signature achievement of Trump's second term, and it could mark a strategic turning point for the Middle East https://time.com/7325156/trump-gaza-ceasefire-deal/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_content=131025
With cover image of a worms-eye view of Trump
https://x.com/TIME/status/1977784098929385818

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Matt Ortega @mattortega.com · 16h

It just seems like some people want to avoid the obvious because it "sounds extreme" or its "doomerism" to analyze the preponderance of evidence through his words and actions.

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Matt Ortega @mattortega.com · 16h

They want to kill people. Trump's lawyers argued he could kill his political opponents without criminal prosecution. He praised Duterte's mass murder of "drug dealers." He's ordering extrajudicial killings of fishermen at sea.

Brian Finucane @bcfinucane.bsky.social · 16h

The administration is reframing migrants and gang members as “terrorists”, so DHS wannabe operators can do GWOT-style night raids here in the U.S. of A.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 18h

Remember when Stephen Miller claimed the Chicago apartment raid was on a building “filled with Tren de Aragua terrorists”?

Well, DHS has now dropped the number of alleged TdA members arrested in the building from 2 to 1.

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Matt Ortega @mattortega.com · 16h

Trump, his allies, all liars. Rarely a word of truth escapes their lips.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 18h

Remember when Stephen Miller claimed the Chicago apartment raid was on a building “filled with Tren de Aragua terrorists”?

Well, DHS has now dropped the number of alleged TdA members arrested in the building from 2 to 1.

Just one "verified" Tren de Aragua member and one U.S. citizen with an active warrant were among the 37, DHS said, without saying how it had verified that gang affiliation. Others taken that day, the agency said, were "illegal aliens."

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Reposted by Matt Ortega

Amanda Marcotte @amandamarcotte.bsky.social · 17h

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.

Politico @politico.com · 22h

EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of leaked messages show leaders of Young Republican groups joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape in a private Telegram chat.

Inside rising GOP leaders’ racist chats — obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months👇

‘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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Reposted by Matt Ortega

Jeff Yang @originalsp.in · 20h

Thousands of posts from a private Young Republican Telegram chat reveal a culture of casual racism/antisemitism, rape jokes and celebration of Hitler/Nazism.

Some of the ringleaders are below: We live in a world where 4chan types now occupy positions of real power.
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

Peter Giunta, chair of the New York State Young Republicans

Bobby Walker, vice chair of the New York State Young Republicans

William Hendrix, communications assistant for Kansas’ Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach

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Reposted by Matt Ortega

David Dayen @ddayen.bsky.social · 18h

The DSCC is raising money in conjunction with Mills. Who cares if they don't "officially endorse"?

Burgess Everett @burgessev.bsky.social · 18h

New: DSCC Chair Gillibrand with warm words for Mills

“I think we have a formidable candidate in Janet Mills, she’s the sitting governor. I'm very excited about her candidacy. I look forward to supporting her race”

DSCC has no plans to officially endorse in the primary

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Reposted by Matt Ortega

Guy Trivago @convolutedname.bsky.social · 20h

Frying brains online

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Reposted by Matt Ortega

Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 1d

Important to note that this isn’t a problem for the billionaire buying media properties. If they make them into successful rightwing propaganda? Cool more money. If it fails? Cool they’ve destroyed one of the few outlets with the resources to investigate them. Either way they achieved their goal

karl rove knausgård @uhactually.bsky.social · 1d

Lmao WaPo has fewer than 100K circulation now. It turns out “alienate your liberal subscriber base” is not a good strategy when the Republicans also hate you. www.forbes.com/sites/andyme...

The Washington Post Is Running Out Of Readers Willing To Pay

Once a titan of American journalism, The Washington Post now struggles to reach even 100,000 print subscribers most days.

www.forbes.com

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Matt Ortega @mattortega.com · 18h

All of this is so dumb!

The Verge @theverge.com · 22h

Sam Altman says ChatGPT will soon sext with verified adults

ChatGPT is about to get flirty.

buff.ly

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Reposted by Matt Ortega

Patrick Finnegan @pfinns.bsky.social · 19h

Extremely important point. The bile spewing from Miller, Trump, and their supporters make their bloodthirstiness crystal clear. They are desperate to invoke the Insurrection Act and will manufacture a pretext to do so eventually.

What happens next is on them.

👇👇

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Reposted by Matt Ortega

Brian Beutler @brianbeutler.bsky.social · 1d

Trump and Miller will probably get the blood in the streets they want eventually. We don’t know when or how it will unfold, or how the public will come to perceive it. But we do know that no matter how it unfolds or is perceived, it is already their fault. All we can do is our best.

It'll Be Trump's Fault

Donald Trump created this unstable equilibrium; no matter how it breaks down, it will be his fault.

www.offmessage.net

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Matt Ortega @mattortega.com · 19h

If you don’t think this is laying the groundwork I don’t know what to tell you.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 19h

Trump: "They have the devil's ideology. They become violent on the left."

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Reposted by Matt Ortega

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 22h

every young Republican staffer is a Nazi, it's that simple 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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Matt Ortega @mattortega.com · 22h

The only thing more depressing is how this won’t hurt them but actually help.

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Reposted by Matt Ortega

Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 22h

Every word of this is worth reading. These people are not outliers in young MAGA leadership. The person you are when you think you can get away with saying anything is the real you.

Politico @politico.com · 22h

EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of leaked messages show leaders of Young Republican groups joking about gas chambers, slavery and rape in a private Telegram chat.

Inside rising GOP leaders’ racist chats — obtained by POLITICO and spanning more than 7 months👇

‘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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Matt Ortega @mattortega.com · 22h

If praising Hitler is less taboo, that also means the line for pushing the envelope for edgelord shitposting moves, too. What does that even look like? Well, the guy who wrote a book praising fascists for murdering opponents is a frequent White House guest.

Murshed Zaheed @murshedz.bsky.social · 22h

"Together, the messages reveal a culture where racist, antisemitic and violent rhetoric circulate freely — and where the Trump-era loosening of political norms has made such talk feel less taboo among those positioning themselves as the party’s next leaders."

Can't call them fascists?

‘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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Reposted by Matt Ortega

Coach Finstock @coachfinstock.bsky.social · 22h

Dem staffers tell the people you work for that if they use the words 'across the aisle' or 'bipartisan', we're all gonna remember this shit come election time

Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 22h

POLITICO: “.. They referred to Black people as monkeys and ‘the watermelon people’ and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies .. and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery.

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

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Reposted by Matt Ortega

Renee DiResta @noupside.bsky.social · 1d

I'm sorry, is the Trump Administration talking to a tech platform?

Is it...requesting content moderation?

Today following outreach from @thejusticedept, Facebook removed a large group page that was being used to dox and target @ICEgov agents in Chicago.
The wave of violence against ICE has been driven by online apps and social media campaigns designed to put ICE officers at risk just for doing their jobs. The Department of Justice will continue engaging tech companies to eliminate platforms where radicals can incite imminent violence against federal law enforcement.

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Matt Ortega @mattortega.com · 22h

What's the opposite of "smize"?

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Matt Ortega @mattortega.com · 22h

This will just up their stock to work in the Trump administration or propel them into stardom as right-wing media darlings.

ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 22h

every young Republican staffer is a Nazi, it's that simple 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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