@zpleat.bsky.social
Research at Media Matters for America, currently focusing on economic news coverage. All posts are my own views but are backed by the Commissariat. he/him. https://www.mediamatters.org/author/zachary-pleat
Reposted
As Justice Kagan begins her dissent by pointing out, what is even the point of trial, of fact-finding, of clear error, of standards of review, when the Supreme Court simply ignores every single part of that and decides everything purely on the papers without any real consideration of the facts?
December 4, 2025 at 11:08 PM
As Justice Kagan begins her dissent by pointing out, what is even the point of trial, of fact-finding, of clear error, of standards of review, when the Supreme Court simply ignores every single part of that and decides everything purely on the papers without any real consideration of the facts?
Reposted
What's changed is that the Court has become more transparent in its corruption. There's not even an argument here beyond the implicit one which is: how do you expect us to hold the House without those seats?
December 4, 2025 at 11:34 PM
What's changed is that the Court has become more transparent in its corruption. There's not even an argument here beyond the implicit one which is: how do you expect us to hold the House without those seats?
Reposted
“What’s your plan for the Court?” is the only question that matters for 2028 Democratic hopefuls, because if they don’t, the Republican Super Legislature is hatcheting their agenda before it can get off the ground.
December 4, 2025 at 11:44 PM
“What’s your plan for the Court?” is the only question that matters for 2028 Democratic hopefuls, because if they don’t, the Republican Super Legislature is hatcheting their agenda before it can get off the ground.
Reposted
It's good—very good, and very important—that district courts keep issuing these 100-page rulings upholding the law. It must be incredibly dispiriting to see them overturned in a two-page, lawless, unsigned order, but please, keep them coming. They expose SCOTUS' corruption like nothing else.
December 5, 2025 at 12:41 AM
It's good—very good, and very important—that district courts keep issuing these 100-page rulings upholding the law. It must be incredibly dispiriting to see them overturned in a two-page, lawless, unsigned order, but please, keep them coming. They expose SCOTUS' corruption like nothing else.
New from me: Fox falsely credits Trump tariffs for creating factory jobs first announced during the Biden administration www.mediamatters.org/tariffs-trad...
Fox falsely credits Trump tariffs for creating factory jobs first announced during the Biden administration
www.mediamatters.org
December 4, 2025 at 8:25 PM
New from me: Fox falsely credits Trump tariffs for creating factory jobs first announced during the Biden administration www.mediamatters.org/tariffs-trad...
Reposted
I think a lot of people still aren't used to the idea of a federal government that lies openly, nakedly and as a matter of course.
December 4, 2025 at 4:53 PM
I think a lot of people still aren't used to the idea of a federal government that lies openly, nakedly and as a matter of course.
Reposted
Reposted
I shall simply free the stuck wheel of bureaucracy by firing everybody who knows how to do things
Lesson one: Yes, you can do a lot of things if you break the law.
Lesson two: Doing something is not the same as doing a good thing - it is harder to build than it is to destroy.
Trump has built nothing like the TVA. His lawbreaking is not "freeing the stuck wheels of bureaucracy."
Lesson two: Doing something is not the same as doing a good thing - it is harder to build than it is to destroy.
Trump has built nothing like the TVA. His lawbreaking is not "freeing the stuck wheels of bureaucracy."
December 3, 2025 at 4:32 PM
I shall simply free the stuck wheel of bureaucracy by firing everybody who knows how to do things
Reposted
I do in fact stay awake at night sometimes thinking about how the MAGA ghouls are destroying actually-essential counterterrorism efforts in favor of directing resources towards brutalizing elderly taco truck workers
NEW: Oregon could lose nearly $18 million worth of terrorism prevention and emergency funding.
In the past, the money has paid for bomb detectors, law enforcement training and barriers that prevent cars from plowing into crowds.
In the past, the money has paid for bomb detectors, law enforcement training and barriers that prevent cars from plowing into crowds.
Oregon Struggles to Land Federal Counterterrorism Money as Trump Orders Troops to Stop “Terrorists” Hindering ICE
A quiet battle has played out in court over money that “sanctuary” states say is needed to fight true extremist threats from both ends of the political spectrum.
www.propublica.org
December 2, 2025 at 3:14 PM
I do in fact stay awake at night sometimes thinking about how the MAGA ghouls are destroying actually-essential counterterrorism efforts in favor of directing resources towards brutalizing elderly taco truck workers
Reposted
Just once I'd like to hear a TV news anchor say, "Sir, that's not true, and if you keep insisting it is, we're going to end this interview to protect our viewers from further disinformation. And we won't invite you back."
HASSETT: Gas prices dropped below $2 a gallon in a lot of places
CORDES: Gas prices on average are still at $3 a galloon
HASSETT: For a few states they got below $2
CORDES: Gas prices on average are still at $3 a galloon
HASSETT: For a few states they got below $2
November 30, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Just once I'd like to hear a TV news anchor say, "Sir, that's not true, and if you keep insisting it is, we're going to end this interview to protect our viewers from further disinformation. And we won't invite you back."
Reposted
The conservative cultural project right now is to use the coercive power of the state to do affirmative action for bigots.
OU has put the professor here on administrative leave:
November 30, 2025 at 8:50 PM
The conservative cultural project right now is to use the coercive power of the state to do affirmative action for bigots.
Reposted
They’re simultaneously arguing that soldiers have to follow all orders from the president, legal or not, but they get to ignore orders from a federal judge if they feel they’re not legal.
KARL: Did you know about the judge's order when you issued your order for the planes to continue?
KRISTI NOEM: This is an activist judge. We comply with all federal orders that are lawful and binding.
KRISTI NOEM: This is an activist judge. We comply with all federal orders that are lawful and binding.
November 30, 2025 at 5:43 PM
They’re simultaneously arguing that soldiers have to follow all orders from the president, legal or not, but they get to ignore orders from a federal judge if they feel they’re not legal.
Reposted
Former US military lawyers speak out:
"The Former JAGs Working Group unanimously considers both the giving and the execution of these orders, if true, to constitute war crimes, murder, or both."
Statement on Media Reports of Pentagon “No Quarter” Orders in Caribbean Boat Strikes
1/2
"The Former JAGs Working Group unanimously considers both the giving and the execution of these orders, if true, to constitute war crimes, murder, or both."
Statement on Media Reports of Pentagon “No Quarter” Orders in Caribbean Boat Strikes
1/2
November 29, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Former US military lawyers speak out:
"The Former JAGs Working Group unanimously considers both the giving and the execution of these orders, if true, to constitute war crimes, murder, or both."
Statement on Media Reports of Pentagon “No Quarter” Orders in Caribbean Boat Strikes
1/2
"The Former JAGs Working Group unanimously considers both the giving and the execution of these orders, if true, to constitute war crimes, murder, or both."
Statement on Media Reports of Pentagon “No Quarter” Orders in Caribbean Boat Strikes
1/2
Reposted
“why the fuck are we invading Venezuela” should really be on at least a couple of chyrons
November 29, 2025 at 2:36 PM
“why the fuck are we invading Venezuela” should really be on at least a couple of chyrons
Reposted
Donald Trump is explicitly ineligible to be president according to the black letter text of the 14th Amendment and BOTH emoluments clauses.
He is and always has been a fake president who was empowered by an illegitimate Supreme Court. This is the way.
He is and always has been a fake president who was empowered by an illegitimate Supreme Court. This is the way.
Mass pardons are coming. There will be no accountability without treating those as null and void. And that means a future administration taking an official position that Trump is not the legitimate president right now because he is disqualified by the 14th Amendment. The two things are inextricable.
November 28, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Donald Trump is explicitly ineligible to be president according to the black letter text of the 14th Amendment and BOTH emoluments clauses.
He is and always has been a fake president who was empowered by an illegitimate Supreme Court. This is the way.
He is and always has been a fake president who was empowered by an illegitimate Supreme Court. This is the way.
There's a reason Hegseth repeatedly defended war crimes when he worked at Fox: He wanted to do war crimes www.mediamatters.org/pete-hegseth... www.mediamatters.org/pete-hegseth...
November 28, 2025 at 6:15 PM
There's a reason Hegseth repeatedly defended war crimes when he worked at Fox: He wanted to do war crimes www.mediamatters.org/pete-hegseth... www.mediamatters.org/pete-hegseth...
Reposted
This is literally Nazi stuff, and Democrats need to fight back.
Trump: “I will permanently pause migration from all Third World Countries … denaturalize migrants who undermine domestic tranquility, and deport any Foreign National who is a public charge, security risk, or non-compatible with Western Civilization.“
November 28, 2025 at 5:03 AM
This is literally Nazi stuff, and Democrats need to fight back.
Reposted
As @gregsargent.bsky.social points out, Trump *has* given illegal orders.
But he’s also so allergic to democratic ideals that the very idea of a military (or any other institution) that serves the people rather than the ruler is totally illegible and incomprehensible to him.
But he’s also so allergic to democratic ideals that the very idea of a military (or any other institution) that serves the people rather than the ruler is totally illegible and incomprehensible to him.
November 26, 2025 at 4:53 PM
As @gregsargent.bsky.social points out, Trump *has* given illegal orders.
But he’s also so allergic to democratic ideals that the very idea of a military (or any other institution) that serves the people rather than the ruler is totally illegible and incomprehensible to him.
But he’s also so allergic to democratic ideals that the very idea of a military (or any other institution) that serves the people rather than the ruler is totally illegible and incomprehensible to him.
Reposted
This is the scandal. Trump isn’t targeting dangerous people. He’s targeting peaceful immigrants. Almost exclusively.
November 26, 2025 at 2:10 PM
This is the scandal. Trump isn’t targeting dangerous people. He’s targeting peaceful immigrants. Almost exclusively.
Reposted
What Pam Bondi and Lindsey Halligan did was not incompetence--It was intentional misconduct. They both must be disbarred. My new article: deanobeidallah.substack.com/p/what-pam-b...
What Pam Bondi and Lindsey Halligan did was not incompetence--It was intentional misconduct. They both must be disbarred.
Only way to deter other lawyers.
deanobeidallah.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:18 PM
What Pam Bondi and Lindsey Halligan did was not incompetence--It was intentional misconduct. They both must be disbarred. My new article: deanobeidallah.substack.com/p/what-pam-b...
Reposted
🎯🎯🎯🎯
The Gaza protests not only “provoked intense political conflict.” Liberal and Dem leaders are still calling them antisemites for caring about liberal principles like human rights and international law…and they expect these same kids to come defend liberal democracy!
November 25, 2025 at 4:27 AM
🎯🎯🎯🎯
Reposted
This is something @ndrew.bsky.social has been saying for years… are we really going to subject our children to targeted harassment and physical inspections by agents of the state just because of a hypothetical scenario that would seem to be more like obvious cheating than sincere inclusiveness.
people get wrongfooted by terfs going “what if a man can just say he’s a woman and win the Olympics” but they will be a lot less sympathetic when that cashes out with “and that’s why the drunkest MAGA grandpas at the track meet are accusing your tomboy daughter of being a secret male”
November 24, 2025 at 11:04 PM
This is something @ndrew.bsky.social has been saying for years… are we really going to subject our children to targeted harassment and physical inspections by agents of the state just because of a hypothetical scenario that would seem to be more like obvious cheating than sincere inclusiveness.
Reposted
Really looks like the United States is about to launch a regime change war against Venezuela with:
-No casus belli
-No authorization from Congress
-No allies or international support
-No plan for a post-Maduro Venezuela
-No preparation for any sort of stabilization or containment of the fallout
-No casus belli
-No authorization from Congress
-No allies or international support
-No plan for a post-Maduro Venezuela
-No preparation for any sort of stabilization or containment of the fallout
November 24, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Really looks like the United States is about to launch a regime change war against Venezuela with:
-No casus belli
-No authorization from Congress
-No allies or international support
-No plan for a post-Maduro Venezuela
-No preparation for any sort of stabilization or containment of the fallout
-No casus belli
-No authorization from Congress
-No allies or international support
-No plan for a post-Maduro Venezuela
-No preparation for any sort of stabilization or containment of the fallout
Reposted
We really do have two different kinds of law now: District Court law (aka the law), and Supreme Court "law" (aka the U.S. House of Lords upholding Trump's personalist regime)
I don’t know what the Supreme Court will do, but I am confident that at the District Court level it is still the case that the Pentagon cannot recall a sitting US Senator to active duty in order to court martial him for something he said. Article 1, Section 6, among other constitutional provisions.
November 24, 2025 at 6:04 PM
We really do have two different kinds of law now: District Court law (aka the law), and Supreme Court "law" (aka the U.S. House of Lords upholding Trump's personalist regime)