Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Astreia @redoubters.bsky.social · 43m

Man I worked there under Susan and Russ back in 08-10 and it is so fucking depressing to see what it became

2

Reposted by Astreia

Sarah Posner @sarahposner.bsky.social · 2h

Don't do this. Be shocked. Promote the story. I mean, come on, if you say it's old news, then people shrug.

Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 3h

Amanda Moore (@noturtlesoup17.bsky.social) has been on this "far right extremists taking over the Young Republicans" beat for quite a while now. The Politico story adds new facts to the story, but it's hardly a new revelation. www.thenation.com/article/poli...

The War Within the Young Republican Party

At the Young Republican National Convention, far-right figures made few inroads—but they did read my Nation investigation.

www.thenation.com

2 23 130

Astreia @redoubters.bsky.social · 44m

The outreach Harris offered moderate Rs was never policy-oriented, always just "I'll respect Democracy" and put someone like Kinzinger in her cabinet

But also the reason why campaigns focus on moderate/swing voters is obvious, flipping a vote is +2 net votes than +1 from getting a fringe/nonvoter

1

Astreia @redoubters.bsky.social · 45m

Literally every successive D presidential candidate from 1996-2020 was further left than the one before, the idea that Dems have "moved right" is ahistorical nonsense

There may be "millions", but leftists still are a huge minority. Only ~6% of the country thought Harris was too conservative

2

Astreia @redoubters.bsky.social · 47m

The Democratic Party is not "unbelievably incompetent" and is actually probably the most electorally successful left-of-center party in the developed world over the past 30 years?

1 2

Reposted by Astreia

Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com · 10h

one of the reasons they're so mad at "no kings" is that they thought they were going to get a different kind of protest. they *want* the black bloc to be out there fighting with the cops. those are the images they've been trying to generate from "go." instead--

newrepublic.com/article/2016...

MAGA Rage at “No Kings” Boils Over—and It Quickly Backfires on Trump

As Trump allies smear the coming protests, a good writer on MAGA skewers the absurdity of these attacks on large swaths of Americans—and explains why our best recourse will be to turn out in force.

newrepublic.com

69 720 2.9K

Reposted by Astreia

Reconstructionist @unavaleable.bsky.social · 1h

It's remarkable how many people have forgotten who their audience is

Khashoggi's Ghost @urocklive1.bsky.social · 1h

Dr. Phil went full MAGA and tried to reinvent himself as a MAGA media mogul and culture warrior. Now his world is unraveling, his media company is laying off thousands and had to file for bankruptcy, and he's being sued for fraud. The whole plan is collapsing.

www.rawstory.com/dr-phil-trump/

Dr Phil faces 'total collapse' after MAGA alignment backfires massively: report

Dr. Phil McGraw's attempt to transition from daytime television personality to a politically aligned media mogul during Donald Trump's second presidential term has been marked by spectacular failure a...

www.rawstory.com

10 11 150

Reposted by Astreia

Elizabeth Warren @warren.senate.gov · 2h

Donald Trump is giving $20 billion of taxpayer money to Argentina – to help his political ally stay in power and bail out Wall Street hedge funds – while Americans at home can't afford health care or groceries.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 3h

Trump on Milei: "If he loses, we will not be generous with Argentina."

68 550 1.7K

Astreia @redoubters.bsky.social · 1h

"Your Idol" was at the top of the Spotify charts for weeks (is it still maybe?)

which leads me to believe that yeah Gwi-Ma's plan would have totally worked

1

Reposted by Astreia

Nick (derogatory) ✨ @slothropsmap.bsky.social · 1h

the master race

10 6 59

Reposted by Astreia

Nom de Plume Brett @maverickbrett.bsky.social · 2h

1 10 82

Reposted by Astreia

Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 1h

Unless and until some kind of compelling legal and moral argument is presented as to why this is a legitimate use of deadly force, this is just…mass murder.

Amarnath Amarasingam @amaramarasingam.bsky.social · 2h

The military has now killed 27 people as if they were enemy soldiers in a war zone and not criminal suspects. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/u...

U.S. Military Kills Another 6 People in 5th Caribbean Strike, Trump Says

www.nytimes.com

210 1.4K 4.4K

Reposted by Astreia

The Fig Economy @figgityfigs.bsky.social · 2h

There is no appropriated money to make up any shortfall in troop pay compared to if there were no shutdown and if troops get paid anyway it is a pure and clear violation of the constitution. Simple as.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2h

Trump: "I had a very wealthy person who called -- a donor, a great gentleman -- and he said, 'if there's any money necessary, shortfall, for the paying of the troops, then I will pay it.' Meaning he will pay it. How about that?"

3 21 130

Reposted by Astreia

ghost malone ergo propter malone @proptermalone.bsky.social · 2h

oh wow they are who we knew they were

Maggie Astor @maggieastor.bsky.social · 2h

"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 driving them to suicide and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery."

‘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

15 85 570

Reposted by Astreia

the abbot of unreason (an archaeologist) @merovingians.bsky.social · 5h

this is why the only option left is the raging hot Stove

The Fig Economy @figgityfigs.bsky.social · 6h

The thing is there are no guardrails that can withstand the full force of 45% of the electorate polarized into either accepting authoritarianism or not finding it a dealbreaker. Whatever system you design, if you don’t figure out how to push that number down, your guardrails can’t meet tolerances.

6 15 150

Reposted by Astreia

Bo Bolander @bbolander.bsky.social · 5h

dude was responsible for how so many of my memories of childhood afternoons spent staring idly at vhs covers look like. rip to a fucking legend

Mike Duquette @mikeduquette.bsky.social · 6h

Heartbroken that, per his social media accounts, Drew Struzan has left us. His poster and album art was quite simply shorthand for imagination for countless young people.

E.T. Adventure poster, 1990. I still have one of these hanging in my childhood bedroom.

Star Wars Special edition triptych, 1997. I remember seeing all of these in the paper as each film was re-released and just felt a burst of energy those mornings.

3 31 110

Reposted by Astreia

Judd Legum @juddlegum.bsky.social · 8h

1. Nations that have bestowed lavish gifts to President Trump — or enriched Trump and his family by striking business deals with Trump-connected companies — have later received extraordinary benefits from the Trump administration.

Quid Pro Presidency

Nations that have bestowed lavish gifts to President Trump — or enriched Trump and his family by striking business deals with Trump-connected companies — have later received extraordinary benefits…

popular.info

50 560 1.2K

Reposted by Astreia

Daniel Gilmore @gilmored85.bsky.social · 7h

Cant be emphasized enough how much the cynical wreckers need to be completely pushed out of all political spaces.

Humble Novice @humblenovice.bsky.social · 8h

Self-proclaimed left-wing extremist Madeline Pendleton is now telling people that Zohran Mamdani is normalizing genocide. What's worse is that this woman has a million followers on TikTok and does not have any qualms weaponizing them to sabotage others.

Madeline Pendleton: "12% of New Yorkers are Jewish and 30% of them do not support Israel. This means Zohran Mamdani is normalizing genocide to appeal to 8% of New Yorkers. This is statistically like introducing rhetoric to appeal to the percent of Americans who play golf every year or drive a Nissan."

6 19 64

Astreia @redoubters.bsky.social · 5h

Damn dude you got dogwalked and you're still being this smug?

2

Reposted by Astreia

Micah @rincewind.run · 5h

I unironically love this shit, the process is very funny to me

“after months of extensive work we have removed one (1) character from your logo. that will be eleven million dollars please.”

Culture Crave 🍿 @culturecrave.co · 1d

Apple TV+ has rebranded to Apple TV

It's their 'vibrant new identity'

41 71 820

Astreia @redoubters.bsky.social · 11h

"If there's grass on the field, play ball"

you don't hear widespread jokes like this *all the time* growing up without like, kind of a widespread assumption that people are attracted to barely pubescent kids

idk, I think 1/5th for "feels attraction toward" rather than "has raped" sounds right?

3 10

Astreia @redoubters.bsky.social · 11h

I think back to the "countdown to the Olson Twins being 18" which like

yes, technically, you had millions of men ~waiting~ to appropriately lust over them when they were of age, but the only reason they were doing that is because they were lusting over them before it, too

2 7

Astreia @redoubters.bsky.social · 14h

i expected one of those digits. not the other

1 3

Reposted by Astreia

Sky Marchini @sky.skymarchini.net · 21h

Tired: the cia is an agent of covert regime change abroad and that’s bad

Wired: the cia is an agent of covert regime change abroad and that’s not only good but essential to democracy

Dr. Samantha Hancox-Li @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com · 1d

we have to be willing to just fuck with foreign governments in order to promote pro-democracy forces and harm pro-authoritarian forces in those countries

*that's* our actual interest, not whatever faff natsec heads preach about "the rules based order"

14 33 240

Reposted by Astreia

Sky Marchini @sky.skymarchini.net · 20h

And, I’m sorry, but you don’t get to play the “American imperialism bad” card when $country is actively engaged in trying to destroy the American form of government.

The United States has not only the right but the obligation to defend itself and her people, kinetically, against hybrid warfare.

Sky Marchini @sky.skymarchini.net · Aug 5

POV: you are Nayib Bukele in Feb 2029

4 9 120