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Will Saletan @saletan.bsky.social · 57m

"Accusations like 'terrorist wing' 'pro-Hamas,' and 'Antifa' [unlock] a permission structure for the deployment of state violence," writes @eggerdc.bsky.social.

"Republicans are talking as if they’re prepared to unleash ... their increasingly politicized federal law enforcement" against No Kings 2.

Trump’s Guilt-By-Association Law Enforcement

The groundwork has been laid to go after innocent people, opposition groups, and even No Kings protesters.

www.thebulwark.com

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Reposted by Will Saletan

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 1h

"To bring a democracy under authoritarian control, you need more than a strongman. You need politicians who will assure the public, as we slide toward one-man rule, that nothing odd is happening." Wouldn't you know who one of them is!

New from @saletan.bsky.social www.thebulwark.com/p/speaker-mi...

The Speaker of the House Is Abetting Authoritarianism

Every Trump needs his Johnson: a flunky who will rationalize his crimes.

www.thebulwark.com

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Will Saletan @saletan.bsky.social · 2h

"To bring a democracy under authoritarian control, you need more than a strongman. You need politicians who will assure the public, as we slide toward one-man rule, that nothing odd is happening. That’s the role Johnson is playing in Trump’s takeover of America."

My report on Johnson's complicity.

The Speaker of the House Is Abetting Authoritarianism

Every Trump needs his Johnson: a flunky who will rationalize his crimes.

www.thebulwark.com

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Will Saletan @saletan.bsky.social · 18h

The first 7 minutes of this interview consists of a man who (a) spent a decade decrying weaponization of law enforcement and (b) now reaches for every conceivable excuse to justify the president directly ordering prosecutions.

If you have kids, please ask them not to torture invertebrates this way.

Latest News from CNN Politics | CNN Politics

On CNN’s State of the Union with Dana Bash, Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan downplays Trump’s public pressure on the Justice Department to go after his enemies.

www.cnn.com

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Will Saletan @saletan.bsky.social · 2d

Here's a neat trick they teach in authoritarianism school: If you purge the people who measure the effects of your policies (BLS, MMWR), you can just claim everything's great, and nobody can prove how much damage you're doing.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg @sherylnyt.bsky.social · 2d

BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

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Will Saletan @saletan.bsky.social · 2d

"Weiss’s triumph is owed ... to a president’s abuse of power to trample [liberal] values and strong-arm his critics," writes @cathyyoung63.bsky.social.

"Someone who holds true to core journalistic principles would have spoken out against those tactics. The Free Press has largely remained silent."

Bari Weiss, CBS News, and the Triumph of Faux Balance

The record of the Free Press shows her journey from independent to MAGA fellow traveler.

www.thebulwark.com

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Sean O’Kane @seanokane.bsky.social · 4d

WSJ is reporting that the Truth Social post where Trump told Pam Bondi to prosecute Comey *really was supposed to be a private message*

www.wsj.com/politics/pol...

Inside the Justice Department Where the President Calls the Shots

The president has executed a wholesale transformation of the Justice Department, taking control in ways he could have only dreamed of in his first term.

www.wsj.com

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Reposted by Will Saletan

Citizen Cohn / Jonathan Cohn @citizencohn.bsky.social · 4d

My latest newsletter takes up this claim

It does not appear to be true

I say "appear" because I'm honestly not sure why he'd think this was happening -- and his office did not respond to my request for clarification (1)

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d

Mike Johnson: "If you're a young, pregnant American citizen women who shows up in an ER and you get treated and they pay the hospital less for treating you than some illegal rabble rouser who came in from some South American country to do us harm, that is wrong."

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Citizen Cohn / Jonathan Cohn @citizencohn.bsky.social · 4d

This is @saletan.bsky.social on why Republicans are making this argument

I recommended it yesterday

Recommending again because it really captures what's going on (7) www.thebulwark.com/p/when-in-do...

When in Doubt, Blame the Immigrants

No. You’re not experiencing déjà vu. The current Republican government shutdown talking point is the same one they’ve trotted out before.

www.thebulwark.com

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Reposted by Will Saletan

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 4d

"Republicans in the Senate are trying to rewrite history to make Jack Smith the bad guy and Donald Trump the innocent victim. It's complete bullshit and the article explains why. So I hope you'll read it."

Read it from @saletan.bsky.social in today's Morning Shots www.thebulwark.com/p/bondi-host...

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Will Saletan @saletan.bsky.social · 5d

"Republicans are trying to do to [Jack] Smith’s investigations what they did to the Russia investigation: They’re trying to recast Trump as the victim."

In today's Morning Shots, we debunk the lies. "Trump is a criminal. He was convicted in one case and remains untried in three others."

Bondi to Congress: 🖕

The attorney general came to the Hill to deliver a message to Democrats: Your ‘oversight’ couldn't matter to us less.

www.thebulwark.com

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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 5d

Donald Trump wants an attorney general who embraces the joint roles of presidential personal lawyer and histrionic TV-ready pundit. And hoo boy has he got one.

Today's Morning Shots, featuring @eggerdc.bsky.social and @saletan.bsky.social: www.thebulwark.com/p/bondi-host...

Bondi to Congress: 🖕

The attorney general came to the Hill to deliver a message to Democrats: Your ‘oversight’ couldn't matter to us less.

www.thebulwark.com

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Will Saletan @saletan.bsky.social · 5d

I don't understand why NBA players argue so many calls in the preseason.

Unless you're trying to establish a move (which usually isn't the context), logic says you should concede every preseason call. Then, when the season starts, you can use your enhanced credibility to argue the calls that count.

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Adam Keiper @adamkeiper.com · 5d

If the Republicans' shutdown gambit succeeds, "it will prove that Americans care more about choking off aid to undocumented immigrants—even where the aid is *already prohibited*—than we do about helping fellow Americans."

Read @saletan.bsky.social:

www.thebulwark.com/p/when-in-do...

When in Doubt, Blame the Immigrants

No. You’re not experiencing déjà vu. The current Republican government shutdown talking point is the same one they’ve trotted out before.

www.thebulwark.com

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Reposted by Will Saletan

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 5d

Republicans “are trying to convince ordinary working Americans to oppose programs that are good for us, on the grounds that a little tiny fraction of the money might somehow leak out to help some illegal immigrants.”

@saletan.bsky.social in today’s Morning Shots: www.thebulwark.com/p/when-in-do...

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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 6d

If the GOP wins, "it will prove that Americans care more about choking off aid to undocumented immigrants—even where the aid is already prohibited—than we do about helping fellow Americans."

Today's Morning Shots, featuring @saletan.bsky.social and @cathyyoung63.bsky.social:

When in Doubt, Blame the Immigrants

No. You’re not experiencing déjà vu. The current Republican government shutdown talking point is the same one they’ve trotted out before.

www.thebulwark.com

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Will Saletan @saletan.bsky.social · 6d

"Republicans are testing an insidious political strategy: Can they get a majority of voters to oppose programs that clearly benefit American citizens, on the grounds that a tiny fraction of the money might also end up ... helping illegal immigrants?"

Self-destructive nativism. We have to defeat it.

When in Doubt, Blame the Immigrants

No. You’re not experiencing déjà vu. The current Republican government shutdown talking point is the same one they’ve trotted out before.

www.thebulwark.com

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Will Saletan @saletan.bsky.social · 6d

In Trump's America, "military police are heroic patriots by virtue of being in *his* military police," writes @eggerdc.bsky.social. And the law's only job is "getting out of their way."

Conversely, "people who object to his will—whenever, wherever—are dangerous insurgents who must be rooted out."

The Rule of Law vs. The Rule of Trump

A crisis moment in the defining debate of our time.

www.thebulwark.com

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Will Saletan @saletan.bsky.social · 7d

“Is it the administration’s position that hospitals should not have to treat people who come to ERs who are not here legally?”

“No” said Leavitt.

As @citizencohn.bsky.social explains, this means she admitted "the Trump administration... supports taxpayer-funded health care for illegal immigrants."

Illegal Immigrants Are Already Getting Health Care Under Donald Trump

The program financing ER care for illegal immigrants has been around for four decades, and not even Trump wants to take it away.

www.thebulwark.com

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Will Saletan @saletan.bsky.social · 9d

Ah! You're right. Just a cross.

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Will Saletan @saletan.bsky.social · 9d

One of the most effective things you can do to damage Christianity is to stand before the world, with a crucifix around your neck, and lie.

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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 11d

Sorry JD Vance, saying "illegal aliens" eight times in two minutes doesn't actually make it true that Democrats are holding the government hostage over funding healthcare for illegal immigrants.

ICYMI, @timmiller.bsky.social and @saletan.bsky.social:

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Will Saletan @saletan.bsky.social · 12d

Tulsi Gabbard says Russia wasn't trying to help Trump in 2016. Its aim was "to sow discord and chaos" in the US.

But that's what Trump and Hegseth did in their speeches yesterday. They used race, gender and party to sow discord in the military and the country. It's straight out of Putin's playbook.

The Silence of the Generals

And the searing words of a veteran on the bench.

www.thebulwark.com

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Reposted by Will Saletan

The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 12d

"We've been telling you for some time that Donald Trump is an authoritarian, and now there's a new threat, which is we might not be allowed to tell you that anymore." - @saletan.bsky.social

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Will Saletan @saletan.bsky.social · 12d

In which @citizencohn.bsky.social demolishes the GOP's "big, brazen lie" that Democrats are shutting down the government to fund health care for "illegal aliens." www.thebulwark.com/p/republican...

The Republican Shutdown Argument is a Giant Lie

No, Democrats aren’t trying to fund health care for “illegal aliens.”

www.thebulwark.com

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