Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 45m

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 · 42m

We don’t hate America.

We hate what Trump is doing to it.

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 11h

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 · 3h

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 · 6h

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 · 8h

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 · 1h

"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 · 1h

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 · 1h

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 · 9h

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 · 2h

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 · 2h

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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Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 2h

By a 6-3 vote, the Supreme Court refuses to stay Charles Ray Crawford’s execution, despite overwhelming evidence that his lawyers violated the Sixth Amendment by telling the jury he committed the murder.

In dissent, Sotomayor says the court “abandons its duty.”
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...

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 appli-
cation 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, de-
spite 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 un-
der 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.
Because Crawford’s convictions became final before
McCoy was decided, however, this case raises a threshold
issue that this Court has not squarely resolved: Whether
McCoy applies to cases on collateral review because it
merely applied existing law, or whether McCoy announced
a nonretroactive “new” rule of constitutional law. This
question has divided lower courts. It is also undoubtedly
important, and is even more so in this case because its

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Clara Jeffery @clarajeffery.bsky.social · 3h

These. Were. Men. In. Their. 30s.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

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

We checked. Sorry, JD Vance.

www.motherjones.com

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Scott Horton @robertscotthorton.bsky.social · 2h

Resign or be fired: Why Todd Gilbert quit as US attorney in Roanoke. Trump's handpicked US Attorney in western Virginia is given point blank orders from Trump to prosecute Trump enemies on fabricated charges and refuses. He is immediately fired.

Resign or be fired: Why Todd Gilbert quit as US attorney in Roanoke

Todd Gilbert spent less than two months as the top prosecutor for the Western District of Virginia.

roanoke.com

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 3h

would love to know where vought got the authority to shutdown a government agency established by statute

Reuters @reuters.com · 8h

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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Governor Gavin Newsom @governor.ca.gov · 5h

The Vice President of the United States will not unequivocally condemn Young Republicans for saying that their perceived political opponents should be sent to gas chambers.

A window into @jd-vance-1.bsky.social's disgraceful character.

The Daily Beast @thedailybeast.bsky.social · 21h

Vice President JD Vance downplayed the severity of racist texts leaked from a Young Republican group chat, dismissing the criticism as "pearl clutching" and attempting to draw attention to a Democrat texting scandal instead.

JD Vance Hits Out at ‘Pearl Clutching‘ Over Racist GOP Group Chat

The vice president defended the “college group chat” in a post made to X.

trib.al

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A.R. Moxon @juliusgoat.bsky.social · Aug 24

Today I wrote about a general tendency to accept atrocious premises, and the need to reject fascism's false choices in order to find expansive and imaginative paths forward.

Breaking the premise, embracing the obstacles, pursing everything.

www.the-reframe.com/there-is-no-...

There Is No Trolley Problem

We actually aren't constrained into atrocious premises by thought exercises. Obstacles are a reason to fight, not an excuse to quit. Our friends and neighbors aren't distractions..

www.the-reframe.com

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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 5h

He still had this up *after* the story about the Young Republicans group chat with the Hitler praise was released.

Santiago Mayer @santiagomayer.com · 7h

Holy shit. This is Angelo Elia, a legislative correspondent for Congressman Dave Taylor.

According to @rooster.info, during a Zoom meeting today, he had an American nazi flag displayed in the background.

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Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 6h

NBC News has reportedly eliminated its NBC BLK, NBC Asian America, NBC Latino and NBC OUT teams

NBC News’ 150 Layoffs Gut Black, Latino, Asian American and LGBTQ+ Diversity Teams

The cuts affected teams across the NBC News operation and came as the network no longer needed to support two different news operations. MSNBC has begun growing its own newsroom, hiring swaths of tale...

www.thewrap.com

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 4h

This guy was a clerk for Justice Gorsuch. Anyone want to argue this is not a racist (and damn stupid) taunt?

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Mike Luckovich @mluckovich.bsky.social · 1d

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Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 6h

Trump: I want to thank Stephen Miller I would love to have him come up and explain his true feelings. Maybe not his truest feelings. That might be going a little too far

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 6h

Vought has blocked CFPB staff from doing their work, and is also charging CFPB $5 million for his bodyguards. So technically, they are protecting one consumer.
www.govexec.com/management/2...

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Reposted

Seung Min Kim @seungminkim1.bsky.social · 7h

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Judge temporarily blocks the Trump administration from firing federal workers during the government shutdown.

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