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Robert Richards

@rrichard09.bsky.social

2.8K followers 8.3K following 460 posts

I study how people talk about politics and law and participate in governing their communities. Opinions expressed here are mine alone, not those of my employers or institutions. https://rcrjr.wordpress.com

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Political science 19%

Environmental science 17%

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Julie Zebrak @juliezebrak.bsky.social · 5h

Their cruelty is only matched with their incompetence www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/h...

Trump Administration Is Bringing Back Scores of C.D.C. Experts Fired in Error

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Charles Ghoul-ba ✡️ @charlesgaba.com · 6h

20th time I’ve posted this Doonesbury since 2105.

I’m supposed to get a free set of (Trump) steak knives now.

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Reposted by Carl T. Bergstrom, Robert C. Richards, Timothy D. McBride

Helen Branswell 🇨🇦 @helenbranswell.bsky.social · 6h

100s of #CDC employees were notified Friday they were being fired — RIF'd. The firings cross multiple parts of the agency, endangering its core mission of keeping Americans safe.
Saturday, some were informed they were RIF'd in error.
Hard to imagine how this happens www.statnews.com/2025/10/11/c...

CDC battered by government shutdown firings, while some are rescinded

The White House’s mass firing of CDC staff on Friday has decimated offices related to injury prevention, respiratory disease surveillance, and chronic disease, according to four people familiar with t...

www.statnews.com

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Michael Li (李之樸) @mcpli.bsky.social · 7h

Helena Moreno projected to win the New Orleans mayoral race without a runoff, becoming the city’s first Latina mayor.

www.wwltv.com/article/news...

Helena Moreno projected to win New Orleans mayoral race, avoiding runoff

She's set to take office early next year.

www.wwltv.com

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Reposted by Nandita Sharma, Jonathan A. Eisen, Robbert Sanderman , and 10 more Nandita Sharma, Jonathan A. Eisen, Robbert Sanderman, Dirk Pilat, Jonathan Hopkin, Mirya R. Holman, Robert C. Richards, Alan Richardson, Michael Zimmer, Beatriz Gallardo Paúls, Rebecca Zorach, Manisha Sinha, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Lynn Becker @cmgiulini.bsky.social · 7h

After spending 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, evidence hidden by the prosecution reversed his conviction. Rather than finally enjoying freedom, ICE abducted him for deportation

Depraved.

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.

www.miamiherald.com

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Reposted by Will Jennings, Robert C. Richards

Clay Jackson @clayjak.substack.com · 8h

that lawyer was me.

open.substack.com/pub/radleyba...

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Reposted by American Library Association, Robert C. Richards

The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 8h

“ICE kidnapped a community member here,” reads one. “Never forget/no nos olvidamos,” says another.

The signs have appeared across some of D.C.’s heavily immigrant neighborhoods where federal immigration arrests have escalated.

Signs popping up around D.C. note: ‘ICE kidnapping happened here’

The signs range in style and mark numerous locations where people have been taken by federal agents.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Daniel Espinas @despinas.bsky.social · 9h

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Reposted by Nina Jankowicz, Rosemary A. Joyce, John Mullahy , and 6 more Nina Jankowicz, Rosemary A. Joyce, John Mullahy, Robert C. Richards, Silvia Secchi, Glenn H. Shepard, Michael D. McDonald, Hisham Zerriffi, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò

Apoorva Mandavilli @apoorvanyt.bsky.social · 9h

The Trump administration on Saturday scrambled to rescind layoffs of hundreds of CDC scientists who were mistakenly fired on Friday night in what appeared to be a substantial procedural lapse.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/11/h...

Trump Administration Is Bringing Back Scores of C.D.C. Experts Fired in Error

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards

amanda moore 🐢 @noturtlesoup17.bsky.social · 10h

Broadview.

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards, Dean Eckles

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 11h

"It should be an easy decision for college presidents not to stick their institution’s neck into this retroactive push-button guillotine."

Walter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 1d

New from me at Cato: I go through the numerous and massive First Amendment and academic-freedom violations of Trump's proffered "compact" with universities and then talk about the mechanism by which it would be enforced, by way of what I describe as a "retroactive push-button guillotine."

Universities Must Defend Their Independence by Rejecting Trump's "Compact"

The Trump administration has proffered a “compact” to universities that would require them to surrender their independence and academic freedom. How many First Amendment violations can we identify in ...

www.cato.org

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards, David R. Miller, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 11h

Ha ha ha they're like authoritarians www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Lora Kolodny @lorak.bsky.social · 11h

thanks & agreed it’s important to highlight the functional aspects / traits of the news product

a man in a suit and tie is smiling and looking at the camera .

ALT: a man in a suit and tie is smiling and looking at the camera .

media.tenor.com

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Jae Yeon Kim @jaeyeonkim.bsky.social · 11h

My first Substack post:
jaeyeonkim.substack.com/p/how-to-not...
How to Not Give Up

How to Not Give Up

Having spent the past few years working closely with state and local governments to reduce burdens in safety net programs, this year has been particularly challenging.

jaeyeonkim.substack.com

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Robert Richards @rrichard09.bsky.social · 11h

I agree; I didn't intend to denigrate professional journalism, which I value and pay for; just wanted to note that your emphasis on the functional aspects of the work is a key theme in journalism research

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Robert Richards @rrichard09.bsky.social · 11h

"acts of journalism" -- @jayrosen.bsky.social :
www.smcvt.edu/about-smc/ne...

Jay Rosen addresses journalism's changing landscape

Watch recording of Jay Rosen's full presentation at Saint Michael's College>> Jay Rosen, a prominent activist scholar and proponent of “public and

www.smcvt.edu

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Robert Richards @rrichard09.bsky.social · 11h

"is there something you're not telling us, matt?"

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Clodagh Tait @clodaghtait.bsky.social · 11h

Anyone know anything about Maria Magdalena Bernadina Dewit who in 1755, aged 17, was said to have 'sustained two Theses in Logic and defended herself in elegant Latin against all the Professors of that university'?

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 11h

TONIGHT: If you're in NYC, the venue for our live, in-person Bulwark event tells us that they have a few more tickets now. They'll sell them to people just walking up, or online here:
www.symphonyspace.org/events/vp-th...

This is at Symphony Space on the Upper West Side. Show starts at 8 p.m.

The Bulwark Live

The Bowery Presents:

www.symphonyspace.org

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Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan , and 11 more Ben H. Ansell, Will Jennings, Brendan Nyhan, Tom Clark, Juan Cole, Michael Kevane, Robert C. Richards, David R. Miller, Michael D. McDonald, Jason Lyall, David Rosnick, Aviel Roshwald, Stella M. Rouse, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 12h

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.

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 12h

I know we should celebrate Tony Fitzpatrick for his Chicago art, but I'll always love his portrait of NYC's Flaco

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Reposted by Elena Litchman, Robert C. Richards

Caitlin Rivers @cmyeaton.bsky.social · 12h

I can't get over how the CDC layoffs are coming less than two months after the attempted mass shooting. The agency is being taken apart brick by brick. The public servants there do not deserve this.

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Danielle Moodie @daniellemoodie.bsky.social · 12h

The fact that ICE is advertising during college football games offering $50K bonuses to torture people is insane and says a lot.

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Erica Ifill @wickdchiq.bsky.social · 12h

“The document also indicates that American workers are simply not interested in and do not have the skills to perform agricultural jobs”

I suspect it’s the same in Canada

prospect.org/politics/tru...

Trump Labor Department Says His Immigration Raids Are Causing a Food Crisis

In a filing in the Federal Register, the Labor Department argues there are “immediate dangers to the American food supply” due to a lack of migrant agricultural workers.

prospect.org

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards, Dunlap

Anna O. Law @unlawfulentries.bsky.social · 12h

Relatives showing me some books

Fre korematsu speaks up by Laura Atkins and Stan yogi, illustrated by yutaka Houlette

George Takei: They called us enemy. A graphic novel by disinter Scott Becker

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards, Claire L. Adida

Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 13h

“The Trump administration said that its immigration crackdown is hurting farmers and risking higher food prices for Americans by cutting off agriculture’s labor supply.”

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

Trump administration says immigration enforcement threatens higher food prices

U.S. farmers face labor shortages and potential food price hikes due to Trump’s immigration policy, the administration acknowledged in a Federal Registry document.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Sara Partridge, Ph.D. @sarapartridge.bsky.social · 13h

Reporting from @zachschermele.bsky.social at USA Today with more details ⬇️

www.usatoday.com/story/news/e...

Education Department wipes out special ed office in shutdown layoffs, union says

The Education Department laid off nearly everyone at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

www.usatoday.com

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Reposted by Scott L. Greer, Daniel W. Drezner, Daniel Aaron , and 8 more Scott L. Greer, Daniel W. Drezner, Daniel Aaron, Jussi T. Eronen, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Robert C. Richards, Erol Akçay, Simon Lester, Aviel Roshwald, Timothy D. McBride, David Darmofal

Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 14h

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 🧵)

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Reposted by Robert C. Richards

Lora Kolodny @lorak.bsky.social · 14h

it aint the platform you publish/broadcast on it’s the practice of how you gather & check info, convey it, then how you deal with quality & errors or audience response… you’re news if you do original, accurate, fact checked reporting & are accountable to known standards & audience.

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Reposted by Jan W. Mueller, Robert C. Richards

USA TODAY @usatoday.com · 14h

The Education Department laid off nearly everyone at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

Education Department wipes out special ed office in shutdown layoffs, union says

The Education Department laid off nearly everyone at the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services.

bit.ly

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