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A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · 4h

During the night of the long knives Hitler participated in a panoply of power plays.

Jeff (Gutenberg Parenthesis) Jarvis @jeffjarvis.bsky.social · 6h

"Diorama of power dynamics." Beyond euphemism, that is glib glorification of dictatorship. The #BrokenTimes would rather show off its turn of phrase than call fascism what it is.
Oval Office Becomes a Diorama of Power Dynamics as Trump Goes After Rivals www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...

Oval Office Becomes a Diorama of Power Dynamics as Trump Goes After Rivals

www.nytimes.com

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 14h

Again, it is a full-blown federal felony crime for anyone in the White House or Executive Office of the President to order tax investigations into anyone.

And it's not just a crime to DO it, it's even a federal crime for an employee not to REPORT such an order to the Treasury Inspector General.

26 U.S. Code § 7217 - Prohibition on executive branch influence over taxpayer audits and other investigations
U.S. Code
Notes
prev | next
(a)Prohibition
It shall be unlawful for any applicable person to request, directly or indirectly, any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service to conduct or terminate an audit or other investigation of any particular taxpayer with respect to the tax liability of such taxpayer.

(b)Reporting requirement
Any officer or employee of the Internal Revenue Service receiving any request prohibited by subsection (a) shall report the receipt of such request to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

(c)Exceptions
Subsection (a) shall not apply to any written request made—
(1)to an applicable person by or on behalf of the taxpayer and forwarded by such applicable person to the Internal Revenue Service;
(2)by an applicable person for disclosure of return or return information under section 6103 if such request is made in accordance with the requirements of such section; or
(3)by the Secretary of the Treasury as a consequence of the implementation of a change in tax policy.
(d)Penalty
Any person who willfully violates subsection (a) or fails to report under subsection (b) shall be punished upon conviction by a fine in any amount not exceeding $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than 5 years, or both, together with the costs of prosecution.

(e)Applicable person
For purposes of this section, the term “applicable person” means—
(1)the President, the Vice President, any employee of the executive office of the President, and any employee of the executive office of the Vice President; and
(2)any individual (other than the Attorney General of the United States) serving in a position specified in section 5312 of title 5, United States Code.

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Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 4h

Focus on Mike Johnson. Just because he’s little and pious and speaks without opening his mouth doesn’t mean he’s not - at this moment - as dangerous as Trump.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

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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Matt @tiredgenerally.bsky.social · 2d

i cannot get over how quickly this is happening. the decline of the other two branches/ascent of the lawless executive is outpacing actual democratic decline, which is usually what precipitates executive consolidation. but in our case, the other two branches are collaborators

Nathan Goldwag @goldwagnathan.bsky.social · 2d

We are living through the most consequential shift in the constitutional government of the United States in over a hundred and fifty years and nobody seems to have even noticed yet.

Mike Black @mikeblack114.bsky.social · 2d

Congress no longer holds the power of the purse, the executive can just do whatever they want with federal monies

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Waldo Jaquith, but Spooky @waldo.net · 1d

Seems like it’d be good to have an an agency inspecting and regulating the contents of foods, but oh well

paris martineau @paris.nyc · 2d

my latest investigation for @consumerreports.org is based on months of reporting and 60+ lab tests of leading protein supplements

we found that most protein powders and shakes have more lead in one serving than our experts say is safe to have in a day (🧵)

www.consumerreports.org/lead/protein...

Protein Powders and Shakes Contain High Levels of Lead - Consumer Reports

CR tests of 23 popular protein powders and shakes found that most contain high levels of lead.

www.consumerreports.org

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d

Trump has a very simple worldview: the Presidency is not a public office, it is his property. He can use it to satisfy his personal or partisan whims, or to enrich himself.

So here, he threatens to reorganize an international competition, cohosted by Mexico and Canada, to settle a vendetta.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Trump on moving World Cup games from Boston: "We could take them away. Your mayor is not good."

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Steven Silverberg @stevesilverbergesq.bsky.social · 14h

“Work has been underway at five sites in New York State and New Jersey for the construction of a new tunnel connecting New Jersey and Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, the busiest rail corridor in the country.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/n...

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

www.nytimes.com

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Bryce Covert @brycecovert.bsky.social · 5h

You don't find out until the 12th paragraph of this story that what Trump is doing is illegal. Just from a newsworthiness standpoint, how do you not lead with that? www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Trump is opting some of the government out of the shutdown

The administration is finding ways to pay troops and for government work Trump favors while targeting “Democrat programs” for layoffs or closures.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Colette Delawalla @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 6h

YES!!! IT IS A FEATURE OF BOTH SCIENCE AND DEMOCRACY!!!!

Particularly a representative democracy…where we ELECT EXPERTS TO REPRESENT OUR BEST INTERESTS!!!

This man has to go.

#impeachthequack

Barbara Sobel @barbarasobel.bsky.social · 18h

RFK Jr: We need to stop trusting the experts... Trusting the experts is not a feature of science or democracy, it's a feature of religion and totalitarianism.

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LorennaCleary.bsky.social @lorennacleary.bsky.social · 16h

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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Noah Rosenblum @narosenblum.bsky.social · 17h

Demagogic president seizes money to pay standing army, arrogating to himself legislative power, while his cronies keep Congress out of session is honestly more or less exactly how the Founders thought this would end

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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 19h

if you're black and 14, you're a man. if you're white and 40, you're just a kid

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David Bier @davidjbier.bsky.social · 1d

Here's another Kavanaugh stop in action. Agent says: "Why are you running?" Admitting that he had no cause to stop and tackle this boy.

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David Bier @davidjbier.bsky.social · 1d

You have to understand that there is NO accountability for ICE even in theory. You can't sue an ICE agent. They won't be criminally prosecuted for violating your rights. They won't be fired. THE ONLY WAY TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM ICE IS TO RUN FROM ICE.

David Bier @davidjbier.bsky.social · 1d

Here's another Kavanaugh stop in action. Agent says: "Why are you running?" Admitting that he had no cause to stop and tackle this boy.

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Douglas Cheape @douglascheape.bsky.social · 6h

Thursday Picture.
Girls in the Windows, 1960, by Ormond Gigli. Hearing the brownstones opposite his East 58th Street studio were to be demolished, he swung into action to secure permissions, models and even the Rolls Royce. The photograph was taken during a lunch break the day before demolition.

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Anna O. Law @unlawfulentries.bsky.social · 6h

Current US legal definition of "refugee" derives from United Nations 1951 Convention + 1967 protocols. It is a person who can't or unwilling to return home b/c of a well-founded fear of persecution due to "race, membership in a social group, political opinion, religion, or national origin."

Hamed Aleaziz @haleaziz.bsky.social · 21h

NEW: The Trump administration is considering a radical overhaul of the U.S. refugee system that would slash the program to its bare bones while giving preference to English speakers, white South Africans and Europeans who oppose migration, according to documents.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...

Trump Considers Overhaul of Refugee System That Would Favor White People

www.nytimes.com

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Dr. Lucky Tran @luckytran.com · 12h

15 US states and territories have formed a new Public Health Alliance, which will counter the absence of federal leadership by tracking outbreaks, issuing guidance, buying vaccines and more.

Members of the new alliance include CA, CO, CT, DE, GU, HI, IL, MD, MA, NJ, NY, NC, OR, RI, WA.

Map: Governors Public Health Alliance
* Guam is also a member of the alliance
Updated October 15, 2025
Map: @luckytran • Created with Datawrapper

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Sexy CHOAM Nomsky costume @samthielman.com · 5h

Saw some folks saying they didn’t believe Greta Thunberg had been tortured by the Israelis so here is her account. Itamar Ben-Gvir personally oversaw it.

Greta Thunberg: “They kicked me every time the flag touched my face”

– Greta Thunberg on her days in Israeli captivity Beating, kicking, and threats of being gassed in cages. Greta Thunberg and several others from the flotilla ar

www.aftonbladet.se

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Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis @kendrawrites.com · 5h

I've recently been reminded that at least some of the immigrants that Abbot sent the Texas national guard to kidnap, are the same immigrants Abbott flew to Chicago in the dead of winter in flip flops and a t shirt to overwhelm the city. Instead Chicago residents clothed, fed and resettled them

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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 17h

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 · 23h

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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Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 5h

Roberts has always felt that the suggestion that white people might discriminate on the basis of race is a profound moral injustice, much greater than black people being denied the right to vote bsky.app/profile/jayw...

Jay Willis @jaywillis.net · 1d

Everything about John Roberts's approach to the Voting Rights Act makes sense when you remember that John Roberts has has always been hostile to the Voting Rights Act, never believed it was appropriate, and has spent most of his 45-year legal career working to hollow it out.

One of the Biggest Cases of the Supreme Court’s Term Is John Roberts’ Decadeslong Pet Project

If there’s one thing the Roberts court has been consistent on, it’s this.

slate.com

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Stephen Wolf @stephenwolf.bsky.social · 18h

This is a reason why we should ditch the Electoral College & Senate & adopt proportional representation for the House so every voter counts equally no matter where they live.

Our system insulates the governing party from electoral blowback in uncompetitive states & districts if it screws them over

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 1d

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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Ed Burmila @edburmila.bsky.social · 18h

I underestimated the threat, it's actually your bank account number.

Ed Burmila @edburmila.bsky.social · Mar 26

Delete your accounts before he inevitably takes DMs hostage - “pay to subscribe or all your DMs become public.” All of these people are, at their core, larping mob bosses they remember from movies.

Comfortably Numb @numb.comfortab.ly · Mar 25

Musk is doubling down on disabling blocking on Twitter. He is really going to do this.

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Nicholas Slayton @nslayton.bsky.social · 1d

Every new strike means new deaths. That's the gravest consequence. The second gravest consequence is that it sets continued precedent (without evidence, trial, military authorization, etc) that the U.S. (and not just Trump, future leaders) can do this without any real pushback, legal challenge, etc.

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 1d

"The United States struck another small boat accused of carrying drugs in the waters off Venezuela, killing six people...It’s the fifth deadly strike in the Caribbean"

again, merely political consequences for wanton murder aren't enough.

apnews.com/article/trum...

US kills 6 people in strike on boat accused of carrying drugs near Venezuela, Trump says

President Donald Trump says the U.S. has struck another boat accused of carrying drugs in the waters off Venezuela.

apnews.com

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Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 1d

Almost like we founded the entire country on opposing this exact sentence.

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d

Bessent: "No kings equals no paychecks"

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