Virginian
@cafferata.bsky.social
Historian. Proud George Mason University PHD
My deepest fear is not that we fail to survive this moment—it’s that we survive it only to return to the status quo that made it possible....The point is not to get back to normal. Normal is how we got here. Adam Bonica
data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-wall-l...
data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-wall-l...
The Wall Looks Permanent Until It Falls
On the optimism of preparation in a time of democratic decay.
data4democracy.substack.com
January 12, 2026 at 12:11 AM
My deepest fear is not that we fail to survive this moment—it’s that we survive it only to return to the status quo that made it possible....The point is not to get back to normal. Normal is how we got here. Adam Bonica
data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-wall-l...
data4democracy.substack.com/p/the-wall-l...
There is no cease fire. aje.io/fgxjtd
Israeli school assault wounds dozens of Palestinians in West Bank raid
Casualties taken to Istishari Arab Hospital in Ramallah following an Israeli army attack on Birzeit University.
aje.io
January 7, 2026 at 7:11 AM
There is no cease fire. aje.io/fgxjtd
This is courage. aje.io/2tretw
Gaza’s tech workers code from rubble as Israel’s war destroys digital life
Gaza's coders and technicians battle to keep enclave online amid Israeli infrastructure destruction.
aje.io
January 6, 2026 at 5:51 PM
This is courage. aje.io/2tretw
This is courage. aje.io/vf70ud
Economic survival in Gaza decimated by Israeli counts on small initiatives
Gaza's unemployment rate has reached 80 percent, among the highest in the world, according to the United Nations.
aje.io
January 6, 2026 at 5:50 PM
This is courage. aje.io/vf70ud
Reposted by Virginian
Reposted by Virginian
That one person can drag us into a war without consulting or even notifying Congress, or our allies, or fully explaining to the American people why this is necessary, is absolutely bonkers.
Reminder that Congress has the power to stop all of this. Where the hell are they?
Reminder that Congress has the power to stop all of this. Where the hell are they?
January 3, 2026 at 8:01 PM
That one person can drag us into a war without consulting or even notifying Congress, or our allies, or fully explaining to the American people why this is necessary, is absolutely bonkers.
Reminder that Congress has the power to stop all of this. Where the hell are they?
Reminder that Congress has the power to stop all of this. Where the hell are they?
Reposted by Virginian
Mamdani: For too long, those fluent in the good grammar of civility have deployed decorum to mask agendas of cruelty
January 1, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Mamdani: For too long, those fluent in the good grammar of civility have deployed decorum to mask agendas of cruelty
So many calls to invoke the 25th Amendment. Section 3 ain't happening. It calls for action from the President. Section 4 ain't happening. It calls for action from those whose self-interest, financial, and political power depend on Trump in office. constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay...
constitution.congress.gov
December 17, 2025 at 4:25 PM
So many calls to invoke the 25th Amendment. Section 3 ain't happening. It calls for action from the President. Section 4 ain't happening. It calls for action from those whose self-interest, financial, and political power depend on Trump in office. constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay...
Today’s most important read:
The Man Who Rules the Country Presides Over Nothing www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/o...
The Man Who Rules the Country Presides Over Nothing www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/o...
Opinion | The Man Who Rules the Country Presides Over Nothing
www.nytimes.com
December 17, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Today’s most important read:
The Man Who Rules the Country Presides Over Nothing www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/o...
The Man Who Rules the Country Presides Over Nothing www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/o...
Reposted by Virginian
Here's a groundbreaking report that examines how countries around the world have successfully expanded abortion access and protected reproductive rights. The reports offer U.S.-based policymakers proven strategies to counter restrictions and treat abortion as essential health care.
New Reports Bring Global Solutions to Bolster U.S. Lawmakers in the Fight to Protect Reproductive Freedom - O'Neill
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the State Innovation Exchange (SiX) and the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health, released Beyond Borders, a groundbreaking report series that examines how countr...
oneill.law.georgetown.edu
November 21, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Here's a groundbreaking report that examines how countries around the world have successfully expanded abortion access and protected reproductive rights. The reports offer U.S.-based policymakers proven strategies to counter restrictions and treat abortion as essential health care.
Reposted by Virginian
The destruction of the East Wing is a reminder that America has violated the only check-and-balance that actually ends up mattering: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/the-only-c...
The only check-and-balance that actually matters
www.doomsdayscenario.co
October 22, 2025 at 2:51 PM
The destruction of the East Wing is a reminder that America has violated the only check-and-balance that actually ends up mattering: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/the-only-c...
Reposted by Virginian
Found ten propaganda accounts for y’all to block.
October 17, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Found ten propaganda accounts for y’all to block.
...we should never underestimate authoritarians....this was a momentous occasion staged for four distinct audiences: foreign powers, the United States military, United States civilian authorities, and the American people. (Ruth Ben-Ghiat) bit.ly/42p2yxO
A Holistic Plan for an Authoritarian Military
Trump and Hegseth unveil a plan to make the military an authoritarian institution and adapt the notion of the battlefield and the enemy for domestic use.
open.substack.com
October 4, 2025 at 10:00 AM
...we should never underestimate authoritarians....this was a momentous occasion staged for four distinct audiences: foreign powers, the United States military, United States civilian authorities, and the American people. (Ruth Ben-Ghiat) bit.ly/42p2yxO
Reposted by Virginian
Can we get some focus on the perfidy of Speaker Mike Johnson?
So much of Trump’s excesses are made possible because Johnson has disabled the House as a check on the President. He has handed Trump his gavel symbolically and in reality.
We need to focus on Trump’s enablers.
So much of Trump’s excesses are made possible because Johnson has disabled the House as a check on the President. He has handed Trump his gavel symbolically and in reality.
We need to focus on Trump’s enablers.
Grijalva: I was looking at the example of now-Representative Walkinshaw from Virginia, who was elected two weeks ago Tuesday. The following Wednesday—less than 24 hours later—he was sworn in, with unofficial results.
So for me, apparently the rules have now changed in just two weeks.
So for me, apparently the rules have now changed in just two weeks.
September 27, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Can we get some focus on the perfidy of Speaker Mike Johnson?
So much of Trump’s excesses are made possible because Johnson has disabled the House as a check on the President. He has handed Trump his gavel symbolically and in reality.
We need to focus on Trump’s enablers.
So much of Trump’s excesses are made possible because Johnson has disabled the House as a check on the President. He has handed Trump his gavel symbolically and in reality.
We need to focus on Trump’s enablers.
"...foreign affairs journalist Ishaan Tharoor...captured the larger story of Trump’s speech.
'A senior foreign diplomat posted at the U.N. texts me,” Tharoor wrote, “‘This man is stark, raving mad. Do Americans not see how embarrassing this is?’”
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-...
'A senior foreign diplomat posted at the U.N. texts me,” Tharoor wrote, “‘This man is stark, raving mad. Do Americans not see how embarrassing this is?’”
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-...
September 23, 2025
In New York City this morning, the United Nations opened its General Assembly, marking the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations itself.
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com
September 24, 2025 at 12:04 PM
"...foreign affairs journalist Ishaan Tharoor...captured the larger story of Trump’s speech.
'A senior foreign diplomat posted at the U.N. texts me,” Tharoor wrote, “‘This man is stark, raving mad. Do Americans not see how embarrassing this is?’”
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-...
'A senior foreign diplomat posted at the U.N. texts me,” Tharoor wrote, “‘This man is stark, raving mad. Do Americans not see how embarrassing this is?’”
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-...
Reposted by Virginian
It’s happening. The takedown of Jimmy Kimmel is likely the start of a campaign to use the murder of Charlie Kirk as a pretext to use the power of the White House to wipe out Trump’s critics and his political opponents.
But we aren’t powerless. We can mobilize and organize. Now.
But we aren’t powerless. We can mobilize and organize. Now.
September 18, 2025 at 12:52 AM
It’s happening. The takedown of Jimmy Kimmel is likely the start of a campaign to use the murder of Charlie Kirk as a pretext to use the power of the White House to wipe out Trump’s critics and his political opponents.
But we aren’t powerless. We can mobilize and organize. Now.
But we aren’t powerless. We can mobilize and organize. Now.
Reposted by Virginian
WGA Statement on ABC’s Decision to Pull Jimmy Kimmel Live!
September 18, 2025 at 2:41 AM
WGA Statement on ABC’s Decision to Pull Jimmy Kimmel Live!
I don't know which is crazier--the complaint itself or Trump's declaration that this "worst and most degenerate newspaper" is a "virtual 'mouthpiece' for the Radical Left Democrat party." Flunked another reading comprehension test, bud.
"If the CBS lawsuit was the functional equivalent of a gun inside a brown paper bag, this complaint is just the bag."
This lawsuit is just astonishing.
1/2
www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-laws...
This lawsuit is just astonishing.
1/2
www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-laws...
Trump tries to stick up The New York Times with a water gun
The lawsuit is beyond parody, even by Trump's standards.
www.publicnotice.co
September 17, 2025 at 8:17 PM
I don't know which is crazier--the complaint itself or Trump's declaration that this "worst and most degenerate newspaper" is a "virtual 'mouthpiece' for the Radical Left Democrat party." Flunked another reading comprehension test, bud.
"Charlie Kirk represented the very worst American political discourse had to offer, and I wish he were still alive so I could say that to him, to his face, over and over again. I wish he lived long enough to see everything that he worked to achieve crumble all around him." ...Elie Mystal, The Nation
September 12, 2025 at 5:28 PM
"Charlie Kirk represented the very worst American political discourse had to offer, and I wish he were still alive so I could say that to him, to his face, over and over again. I wish he lived long enough to see everything that he worked to achieve crumble all around him." ...Elie Mystal, The Nation
Reposted by Virginian
some more fair and balanced reporting (not hard to do): www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Charlie Kirk in his own words: ‘prowling Blacks’ and ‘the great replacement strategy’
The far-right commentator didn’t pull his punches when discussing his reactionary views on current events
www.theguardian.com
September 11, 2025 at 8:45 PM
some more fair and balanced reporting (not hard to do): www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...