Zack Ford
@zackford.bsky.social
3.2K followers 410 following 2.3K posts
Press/Editorial: AFJustice Formerly: ThinkProgress (RIP). Queer/cis, atheist, SJW, pianist, gaymer, IC alumni, union member. https://linktr.ee/zackford Opinions my own. (He/Him) 🏳️‍🌈🖖
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zackford.bsky.social
If you see stories about trans people being targeted for discrimination and psychological torture and your response is to shrug because you still have "questions" about trans identities and aren't motivated to advocate for their lives because you think it's a political loser, well gosh, you suck.
Reposted by Zack Ford
joshuaeaton.bsky.social
This once again feels like one of those quotes that gets pride of place in a future civil complaint.
atrupar.com
After bragging about permanently cutting "Democrat programs," Trump says "we're not closing up Republican programs."
Reposted by Zack Ford
dansinker.com
old enough to remember when these same people made a WHOLE HUGE THING about government censoring social media
chicago.suntimes.com
At the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, a Facebook group used by nearly 80,000 people to report sightings of federal immigration agents in the Chicago area has been taken down by the social media giant Meta, Facebook’s parent company.
Facebook suspends popular Chicago ICE-sightings group at Trump administration’s request
The group, "ICE Sighting-Chicagoland," has been increasingly used in the last five weeks of President Donald Trump’s intense deportation campaign to warn neighbors that federal agents are nearby.
trib.al
zackford.bsky.social
"We're entitled to our opinions. Cancel culture is exactly why we don't feel like we can share them publicly. This just proves us right."

-- All of them, probably.
carlquintanilla.bsky.social
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...
Reposted by Zack Ford
mjsdc.bsky.social
Alito, joined by Thomas and Gorsuch, suggest that public schools violate the Constitution when they help a student transition (by acknowledging them as trans) without their parents' knowledge or consent.

Would force schools to out trans kids to their parents. www.supremecourt.gov/orders/court...
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
JONATHAN LEE, ET AL. v. POUDRE
SCHOOL DISTRICT R–1
ON PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED
STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE TENTH CIRCUIT
No. 25–89. Decided October 14, 2025
The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied.
Statement of JUSTICE ALITO, with whom JUSTICE
THOMAS and JUSTICE GORSUCH join, respecting the denial
of certiorari.
I concur in the denial of certiorari because petitioners do
not challenge the ground for the ruling below. But I remain
concerned that some federal courts are “tempt[ed]” to avoid
confronting a “particularly contentious constitutional questio[n]”: whether a school district violates parents’ fundamental rights “when, without parental knowledge or consent, it encourages a student to transition to a new gender
or assists in that process.” Parents Protecting Our Children, UA v. Eau Claire Area School Dist., 604 U. S. ___,
___–___ (2024) (ALITO, J., dissenting from denial of certiorari) (slip op., at 1–2) (citing Troxel v. Granville, 530 U. S.
57, 70 (2000) (plurality opinion)). Petitioners tell us that
nearly 6,000 public schools have policies—as respondent allegedly does—that purposefully interfere with parents’ access to critical information about their children’s genderidentity choices and school personnel’s involvement in and
influence on those choices. Pet. for Cert. 24. The troubling—and tragic—allegations in this case underscore the
“great and growing national importance” of the question
that these parent petitioners present. Parents Protecting
Our Children, 604 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 1).
zackford.bsky.social
We need to stop rehashing this bullshit. The simple measure is: If someone is facing a challenge to their mental health and well-being, what is the best solution to improve their lives? For trans people of all ages, it's almost always transition and affirmation. If you doubt it, you just don't care.
zackford.bsky.social
Likewise, it would entirely unethical to do a randomized controlled study on something when you already have AMPLE evidence that one approach is harmful and the other isn't. McArdle surely knows this, so she's simply setting up unattainable goal posts to indefinitely block childhood transition.
zackford.bsky.social
When someone argues anything is "an essential fact," they're announcing they will not heed any dissent. They're just insisting they're right and there's no argument to be had. It wouldn't matter what contrary evidence you show them, because if it doesn't conform to their view, they'll dismiss it.
zackford.bsky.social
Fuck Megan McArdle and Fuck WaPo for publishing her transphobic bullshit. When someone is arguing that "biological sex is an essential fact" or claiming transition needs to be studied with "randomized controlled studies," they're only making clear they will never accept trans people are real.
Reposted by Zack Ford
leedrutman.bsky.social
Voters still trust Republicans on the economy more than Democrats. I guess waging the same tired old fights on ACA are not changing anyone's mind. Who could have predicted it??? .
www.politico.com/news/2025/10...
Reposted by Zack Ford
dcattorneygeneral.bsky.social
Long before becoming the District of Columbia, these lands were home to indigenous peoples.

Native American artifacts have been found all over DC, including Rock Creek Park, Anacostia, the Arboretum, Van Ness, the Palisades, Capitol Hill, and even the White House.
Drawn map of indigenous sites in Washington, DC.
zackford.bsky.social
The conservative justices can't have it both ways. They can't be scolding lower court judges for not reading their minds but also admit those minds haven't been made.

This answer also does nothing to explain all the shadow docket decisions that ignore both precedent and the status quo.
atrupar.com
Amy Coney Barrett defends heavy use of the shadow docket: "If we wrote a long opinion, it might give the impression that we have finally resolved the issue, and in none of these cases have we finally resolved the issue."
Reposted by Zack Ford
kevinmkruse.bsky.social
Christ, I had completely forgotten about this clown.
michaelehayden.bsky.social
“They are highly organized … [they] have purchased their own animal costumes”
Andy ngo mad about muppets again — this time in Chicago
zackford.bsky.social
The questioning has to go further and harder. We know the Republican playbook by heart now. "I haven't seen the tweet." Don't let them get away with it.
atrupar.com
Jim Jordan after he's played clips from videos of ICE brutalizing people, including American citizens: "I don't know the specifics of those examples you gave. What I do know is these ICE agents are under tremendous pressure ... I think they're doing a good job."
zackford.bsky.social
The people who think this doesn't affect them have convinced themselves to hate empathy enough to think it doesn't affect anyone else either.
lutzfernandez.bsky.social
"And when masked men grab a parent from the school car line or the corner coffee shop, all students in that school or neighborhood are subject to trauma and made to understand: The state can make people disappear. It is to be feared."
The Assault on Children
MAGA's use of kids to consolidate authoritarianism
nobody-wants-this.ghost.io
Reposted by Zack Ford
nicholasgrossman.bsky.social
“Who was president in 2020?” remains one of the most pertinent questions in American politics—absurd, yes, but here we are—and that extends to “who was president January 1 - 19, 2021?”
joycewhitevance.bsky.social
That’s a nice trick, since Biden wasn’t the president on Jan 6.
Reposted by Zack Ford
kashana.blacksky.app
So thankful that dudes without game now have the option of driving all of our energy bills up to come up with devastating lines like it was nice to meet you
zackford.bsky.social
I care more about if they're catty enough around the house to not be insufferable.
zackford.bsky.social
I support this. Though I'm fine without the straight man part. I mean as long as they don't take up too much space!
zackford.bsky.social
Not me and my also-single bestie discussing some of these same themes this evening!
zackford.bsky.social
That's so many people whose jobs were to help protect us from disease.
crampell.bsky.social
Per CDC source: At internal leadership meeting this afternoon, it was shared that 1,257 people were RIF'd at CDC. Number may not be final. Apparently, chief of staff was unaware that RIFs were going to occur so not clear who is making decisions. (Short 🧵)
Reposted by Zack Ford
galvinalmanza.bsky.social
Seriously, Judges *do no do things like this*

They don't give their opinion to the media

They don't criticize how SCOTUS works

This is them breaking the emergency glass, folks
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/u...
Federal Judges, Warning of ‘Judicial Crisis,’ Fault Supreme Court’s Emergency Orders
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by Zack Ford
craigipedia.bsky.social
If this reminds you of an extremely famous book you might have read in high school… yes.
zackford.bsky.social
Seems bad. Also ironically sounds like exactly the thing Second Amendment advocates claim they need guns for.
kjephd.bsky.social
Unconstitutionally taking money that the law says must be spent on one purpose & using it for something else—when it's to establish personalist control over the FUCKING MILITARY—is about as dangerous a constitutional crisis/failure as you can imagine

Via: www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
The Office of Management and Budget sent a notification to Congress about their intent to use research and development funds to pay members of the military, two sources with direct knowledge tell NBC News.

A spokesperson for the OMB confirmed to NBC News that it plans to use the research and development funds and that there are two years' worth of funds available within the Department of Defense.
zackford.bsky.social
Where are all the conservatives who were so vocal about academic freedom and freedom of speech? It's almost like all they cared about was infiltrating campuses with conservative ideas that fail to hold up to academic scrutiny without being artificially propped up.
alandettlaff.com
Yesterday I was told that the class I’m scheduled to teach this month, Confronting Oppression & Injustice, is no longer part of our curriculum. This is a required class yet there was no discussion, no faculty vote, just an email saying the class no longer exists. This is what it’s like in Texas now.
Reposted by Zack Ford
katelynburns.com
I wrote a little about some of the little details you might have missed in this video and why it hit me so hard as a trans person this morning:

www.burnsnotice.com/you-have-to-...