Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted

Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 9h

Shorter Mike Johnson:

Beating up a woman isn’t “really serious.”

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 20h

Q: This has been reported for a while. Cory Mills was accused of beating a girlfriend in his DC apt. Are you concerned about these allegations?

JOHNSON: You have to ask Rep. Mills about that. He's been a faithful colleague. I don't know the details. Let's talk about things that are really serious

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Joe Walsh @walshfreedom.bsky.social · 21h

Here’s the thing. We still have the power (probably) to say that this image must not be what America is. We still have the power to say “fuck no, we refuse to allow this to be what the streets of America look like.” Attend a “No Kings” rally this Saturday. And then vote in 2026.

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 11h

Feels quaint, almost cliché, to say this about a Trump action, but just for the record:

This is all illegal, the President can't simply disregard the laws passed and agencies created by Congress, and both Vought & Trump would be impeached if the Constitution or the rule of law mattered to the GOP.

Reuters @reuters.com · 17h

White House budget director Vought plans to shut down CFPB within months, says it's no longer protecting consumers reut.rs/4qjMIyT

White House budget director Vought plans to shut down CFPB within months, says it's no longer protecting consumers

White House budget director Russell Vought said he wants to close the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and expects to do so within the next two to three months.

reut.rs

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Kara Swisher @karaswisher.bsky.social · 9h

You must read this account because it will make you understand how evil Ghislene Maxwell & how heinous it is for Trump to even consider pardoning this monster. Kudos to the late Virginia Giuffre for her bravery and battle to redeem her young and vulnerable self www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

‘Prince Andrew believed having sex with me was his birthright’: Virginia Giuffre on her abuse at the hands of Epstein, Maxwell and the king’s brother

In an extract from her posthumous memoir, Virginia Roberts Giuffre remembers the day an ‘apex predator’ recruited her from Mar-a-Lago, aged just 16; how she was trafficked to a succession of wealthy a...

www.theguardian.com

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Chris Geidner @chrisgeidner.bsky.social · 9h

The Supreme Court's Republican appointees let Mississippi kill Charles Ray Crawford tonight, despite treatment at trial that was of the same type that SCOTUS later held in another case is unconstitutional.

All three Democratic appointees, in a lengthy dissent, would have kept him alive.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
No. 25-385 (25A378)
CHARLES RAY CRAWFORD v. MISSISSIPPI ON APPLICATION FOR STAY AND ON PETITION FOR A WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF MISSISSIPPI
[October 15, 2025]
The application for stay of execution of sentence of death presented to JUSTICE ALITO and by him referred to the Court is denied. The petition for a writ of certiorari is de-nied.
JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR, with whom JUSTICE KAGAN and
JUSTICE JACKSON join, dissenting from the denial of application for stay and denial of certiorari.
Charles Ray Crawford will be executed tonight for a crime that his own lawyers told the jury he committed, despite his express instructions not to do so. Had this case come to this Court on direct appeal, Crawford could have proved that his Sixth Amendment rights were violated under our decision in McCoy v. Louisiana, 584 U.S. 414
(2018), in which we held that lawyers may not override a defendant's explicit and unequivocal decision not to concede guilt at trial. He would also likely be entitled to a new trial, as a McCoy violation is a structural error that mandates reversal.

Charles Ray Crawford has identified an important constitutional issue that this Court has not addressed and has divided courts around the country. The Court refuses to
Cite as: 607 U.S.
(2025)
13
SOTOMAYOR, J., dissenting
resolve that question, even though a man's life is in the bal-ance. For these reasons, the Court should have granted Crawford's motion for a stay of execution and petition for writ of certiorari. I respectfully dissent.

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Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg @theradr.bsky.social · 10h

Jewish law & Bible scholarship don't think the word in the 10 Commandments for "steal" is about, like, shoplifting.

Look at eg Genesis 40:15, Exodus 21:16 , Deuteronomy 24:7--

the commandment is not to steal people. Don't kidnap.

Though you shouldn't need the Bible to teach you that. #AbolishICE

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Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 8h

Imagine thinking domestic violence isn’t “really serious”

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 20h

Q: This has been reported for a while. Cory Mills was accused of beating a girlfriend in his DC apt. Are you concerned about these allegations?

JOHNSON: You have to ask Rep. Mills about that. He's been a faithful colleague. I don't know the details. Let's talk about things that are really serious

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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 8h

Q: “Most hospitals + people who will lose insurance are in rural areas. If Trump & Republicans are so intent on sticking it to their own voters, why not let them?”

@aoc.bsky.social : “That’s the difference between us & Trump. I don’t care if you voted for me, I want you to have health care.”

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 8h

The Trump administration has targeted a federal office that oversees a $300 million family planning program for layoffs, raising fears that it is effectively ending an initiative that provides contraception for millions of low-income women, according to people with knowledge of the events.

Trump Administration Decimates Birth Control Office in Layoffs

The layoffs have raised fears that the administration could be effectively ending an initiative that provides contraception for millions of low-income women.

nyti.ms

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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 8h

Welch: Mike Johnson-If he's a big Christian, he should be fighting for the marginalized, fighting for the poor. But instead he weaponizes his faith to lure voters in and then dicks him over every chance he gets.

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Jay Rosen @jayrosen.bsky.social · 9h

This is a very good paragraph.

From "The Last Days of the Pentagon Press Corps" in The Atlantic. www.theatlantic.com/national-sec...

By Nancy A. Youssef

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David Burbach 🌹 @dburbach.bsky.social · 8h

LA Times now confirms, I5 through Pendleton might be shut down Fri Sat for some sort of live fire demo / "parade". 😧. www.latimes.com/california/s...

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LorennaCleary.bsky.social @lorennacleary.bsky.social · 10h

She gets all the flowers. I mean ALL of them. If we see her, we immediately have to give her flowers.

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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 9h

Collins: Marjorie Taylor Greene—is she someone that you could see yourself working with?

AOC: On what? If she actually wants to support legislation and expanding healthcare… I'm more than open to doing that. But it's not just about talking the talk. We got to walk the walk.

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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 9h

We don’t hate America.

We hate what Trump is doing to it.

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 21h

Trump is upfront in saying he will use the shutdown to punish Democrats, and here are the receipts. About $27.2 billion cut from Dem districts compared to about $0.7 billion in GOP districts.
We all complain about the media, but need this type of in-depth journalism.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Trump Halts Billions in Grants for Democratic Districts During Shutdown (Gift Article)

The Trump administration has frozen or canceled nearly $28 billion primarily located in Democratic-led districts, according to an analysis by The New York Times.

www.nytimes.com

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Julianne McShane @juliannemcshane.bsky.social · 12h

NEW @motherjones.com: Nobody in that GOP group chat praising Hitler or making racist comments was a “kid,” as JD Vance claimed today

I tracked down their ages. (Weirdly, it seems nobody else did.)

Eight of the 11 in the group chat range from 24 to 35. Ages of others are unclear.

But… no “kids”!

No one in the GOP Hitler chat was a "kid"

We checked. Sorry, JD Vance.

www.motherjones.com

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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 15h

Mamdani: "I just want to speak directly to the president. I will not be a mayor like Mayor Adams who will call you to stay out of jail. I won't be a disgraced governor like Andrew Cuomo who will call you to ask how to win this election. I can do those things on my own."

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Senate Judiciary Democrats 🇺🇸 @judiciarydems.senate.gov · 17h

Justice JACKSON standing up for voting rights. 🔥

Louisiana: Plaintiffs said 'we want another majority-black district.'

Jackson: No. They said 'we aren't receiving equal electoral opportunity because our votes are being diluted.'

Louisiana: Same thing.

Jackson: No, it’s not.

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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 10h

"We’ve been sending up well-tested people for decades, and the country is in worse straits than it’s ever been. It’s a mess right now, and it’s a mess that is, in my opinion, built specifically by the political class. And it’s time to do something different." - @grahamformaine.bsky.social

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Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 10h

Andrew, we're voting you off the island and back to the suburbs.

Our new ad just aired during Survivor.

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 10h

President Trump said on Wednesday that his administration had “terminated” a commuter rail tunnel under the Hudson River, one of the nation’s most critical infrastructure projects. It was not immediately clear what he meant and whether the project had already been stripped of federal funding.

Trump Says $16 Billion Hudson River Tunnel Project Is ‘Terminated’

It was not immediately clear what the president meant and whether the project, known as Gateway, had already been stripped of federal funding.

nyti.ms

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Zohran Kwame Mamdani @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social · 18h

We’re kicking the politics of the past aside and scoring a new generation of leadership — and we want you on our team.

Join us for The Cost of Living Classic, a free citywide soccer tournament in Coney Island this Sunday, co-hosted by NYC Footy.

Details + register at zohranfornyc.com/colclassic ⚽

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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 11h

President Trump on Wednesday signed a memorandum expanding his administration’s authority to repurpose unspent federal funds to pay members of the military during the government shutdown, escalating his challenge to the authority of Congress on spending matters.

Trump Signs Memo Expanding His Authority to Spend Federal Money

The president gave Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wide authority to repurpose funds to pay members of the military without approval from Congress, which has the sole constitutional authority to decide federal spending.

nyti.ms

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Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 11h

NEW: My rock star colleague @lauren-egan.bsky.social interviews Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner.
www.thebulwark.com/p/exclusive-...

Exclusive: Graham Platner Makes the Case for Doing ‘Something Different’

Watch now | Maine’s upstart Senate candidate tells The Bulwark he is a different breed of Democrat than Gov. Janet Mills—but not a progressive.

www.thebulwark.com

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