Jason Demers
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jasondemers.bsky.social
Jason Demers
@jasondemers.bsky.social
89 followers 240 following 22 posts
Assoc. Prof English at University of Regina. Info politics, prison politics, social & political theory
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jasondemers.bsky.social
This is the public face and attempted scaling of a decades long strategy by corporate donors to exert influence on hiring decisions. See, for example, Charles Koch Foundation & Florida State University / George Mason University. Conservative strategists know that there is no united front here.
October 3, 2025 at 5:27 PM
jasondemers.bsky.social
In 2025, Wired = the magazine of record.
katie-drummond.bsky.social Katie Drummond @katie-drummond.bsky.social · Sep 25
Do you want to hang the new @wired.com cover, by the great Phil Galloway, in your office, at home, or in your doomsday bunker?

Good news, you can now purchase it:
October 1, 2025 at 1:56 AM
Reposted by Jason Demers
scottnover.bsky.social
NEW: The Pentagon told journalists it will require them to pledge they won’t gather any information — even unclassified — that hasn’t been expressly authorized for release, and will revoke the press credentials of those who do not obey. @washingtonpost.com
Pentagon demands journalists pledge to not obtain unauthorized material
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is imposing strict new rules that would severely limit the ability of journalists to report on the Pentagon.
www.washingtonpost.com
September 19, 2025 at 10:57 PM
jasondemers.bsky.social
Who loves oil and gas? Who gets fresh water? Who’s running around the globe looking for land, energy, and profit under the guise of various shells?
July 4, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Reposted by Jason Demers
david.noll.org
the takeaway from this is that, for all practical purposes, stephen miller is the acting president of the united states. trump is just play-acting as the boss, as he did on the Apprentice. (gift link)
www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Stephen Miller’s Fingerprints Are on Everything in Trump’s Second Term
The president ’s deputy chief of staff has played an outsize role in immigration—and amassed more power than almost anyone else at the White House.
www.wsj.com
June 21, 2025 at 4:09 PM
jasondemers.bsky.social
Distraction and division quantified.
katelynburns.com Katelyn Burns @katelynburns.com · Jun 17
this report from media matters is fucking wild. fox news has aired 424 segments about trans athletes since feb 5.

the week democrats vetoed the GOP trans sports ban bill, they aired 59 segments.

www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox...
Fox News aired more than 400 weekday segments mentioning trans athletes over just four months
www.mediamatters.org
June 18, 2025 at 5:38 AM
jasondemers.bsky.social
Some excellent analysis by Tom Nichols here, especially re: what Trump is trying to accomplish in LA
radiofreetom.bsky.social Tom Nichols @radiofreetom.bsky.social · Jun 13
I discuss LA, civil-military relations, Ft. Bragg, the parade... with Hanna Rosin at Radio Atlantic:

youtu.be/jeHIt2vPCDY?...
The Real Problem With Trump's Parade
YouTube video by The Atlantic
youtu.be
June 13, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Reposted by Jason Demers
cwarzel.bsky.social
i've been trying to see what the right wing platforms (even outside of X) are showing people regarding the protests in LA and i am not sure it can be overstated just how much the AI slop is being used to reinforce the idea that downtown is a post-apocalyptic war zone
June 11, 2025 at 3:38 PM
jasondemers.bsky.social
The quotes in this story are wild! What a bizarre, out of touch sect.
‘It's getting out of control’: GOP prays for peace in the Trump-Musk war — POLITICO
Republicans are seeking to deescalate the situation after a blowup fight between the president and his top adviser.
apple.news
June 7, 2025 at 4:02 AM
jasondemers.bsky.social
The demand for “viewpoint diversity” in universities = Fox filling the void to provide “fair and balanced” news coverage = a strategic site for the dissemination of GOP propaganda.
Why Trump is really going after Harvard — Guardian US
If the US’s oldest university bends the knee, the door to authoritarianism opens and democracy fades, experts warn
apple.news
June 2, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Reposted by Jason Demers
propublica.org
We obtained lists of alleged gang members used by Venezuelan law enforcement and Interpol.

Those lists include some 1,400 names. None of the names of the 238 Venezuelan deportees matched those on the lists.

W/ @texastribune.org‬ @cazadoresdefakenews.info & Alianza Rebelde Investiga
Trump Administration Knew Vast Majority of Venezuelans Sent to Salvadoran Prison Had Not Been Convicted of U.S. Crimes
Homeland Security records reveal that officials knew that more than half of the 238 deportees were labeled as having no criminal record in the U.S. and had only violated immigration laws.
www.propublica.org
June 2, 2025 at 3:30 AM
Reposted by Jason Demers
sethcotlar.bsky.social
The wealthiest Americans who run some of the largest companies of our era are doing the cultural equivalent of dumping toxic chemicals directly into the drinking water with zero repercussions. bsky.app/profile/seth...
sethcotlar.bsky.social Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · May 24
Out of curiosity I reported this FB post for encouraging political violence. Within 1 minute I got a (probably automated) response saying “this is totally fine.” So when people look back and ask “why were so many Americans willing to condone political violence, this will offer a small clue.”
Oregon Republican League Dan Roberts • 10h • Russ Mascari 18h • 0 God - Family - Country...Semper Fi! Thank you Marie! THIS IMPEACHMENT ATTEMPT ISN'T ABOUT UNCOVERING TRUMP'S CRIMES... Our Founding Fathers would have hung them for Treason. LYNCH ABEDIN YATES OHR HIS ADMINISTRATION WAS NOT A PRESIDENCY IT WAS A CRIME SPREE JARRETT PAGE RICE SCHULTZ PRIESTAP HOLDER MCCABE ROSENSTEIN BRENNAN CLAPPER MILLS SIMPSON WEISSMANN STEELE OHR STRZOK COMEY MUELLER IT'S ABOUT KEEPING TRUMP'S ADMIN FROM UNCOVERING THE CRIMES OF THE MOST CORRUPT & TREASONOUS ADMIN IN U.S. HISTORY!
May 24, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Reposted by Jason Demers
ariberman.bsky.social
GOP court decision overturning Democratic victory in North Carolina Supreme Court race is 5 alarm fire for democracy. It’s January 6 without the insurrection. Make no mistake, if GOP succeeds in stealing election in NC, they’ll use that playbook everywhere www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Republicans are stealing a North Carolina judicial race. They won't stop there.
It's January 6 without the insurrection.
www.motherjones.com
April 8, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Reposted by Jason Demers
emilylowan.bsky.social
New piece: Elbows up? Here’s how some of the major projects we’re fast-tracking will help Trump’s inner circle.

The solution is not to copy Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” approach and backstop these U.S. billionaires, but to build a clean, resilient future. @shirip.bsky.social

tinyurl.com/5y3eb33m
Elbows up? Here’s how some of the major projects we’re fast-tracking will end up helping Trump’s inner circle
Canada’s oil and gas industry is, to a large extent, owned by American companies, including oil majors, asset managers, and other financial players.
www.thestar.com
April 4, 2025 at 1:31 PM
jasondemers.bsky.social
This experience should be generalized: the effect of overpolicing is criminalization of the innocent and behaviour-altering fear of encounters with law enforcement officials.
An Australian was denied US entry for bizarre reasons. He’s not alone
One Australian traveller says he’s now $15,000 out of pocket after being denied entry to the US after “enhanced vetting”. His crime? Choosing a cheap fare.
www.smh.com.au
April 4, 2025 at 8:35 PM
jasondemers.bsky.social
Elon Musk dropping pocket change for the executive and the judicial
March 31, 2025 at 3:28 AM
Reposted by Jason Demers
nikobowie.bsky.social
From 91 professors at Harvard Law School: a letter to our students.

tinyurl.com/letter-to-ou...
A LETTER TO HARVARD LAW SCHOOL STUDENTS March 29, 2025 To our students: We are privileged to teach and learn the law with you. We write to you today—in our individual capacities-because we believe that American legal precepts and the institutions designed to uphold them are being severely tested, and many of you have expressed to us your concerns and fears about the present moment. Each of us brings different, sometimes irreconcilable, perspectives to what the law is and should be. Diverse viewpoints are a credit to our school. But we share, and take seriously, a commitment to the rule of law: for people to be equal before it, and for its administration to be impartial. That commitment is foundational to the whole legal profession, and to the special role that lawyers play in our society. As the Model Rules of Professional Conduct provide: "A lawyer is ... an officer of the legal system and a public citizen having special responsibility for the quality of justice." The rule of law is imperiled when government leaders: • single out lawyers and law firms for retribution based on their lawful and ethical representation of clients disfavored by the government, undermining the Sixth Amendment; • threaten law firms and legal clinics for their lawyers' pro bono work or prior government service; • relent on those arbitrary threats based on public acts of submission and outlays of funds for favored causes; and • punish people for lawfully speaking out on matters of public concern. While reasonable people can disagree about the characterization of particular incidents, we are all acutely concerned that severe challenges to the rule of law are taking place, and we strongly condemn any effort to undermine the basic norms we have described. On our own campus and at many other universities, international students have reported fear of imprisonment or deportation for lawful speech and political activism. Whatever we might each think about particular conduct under particular facts,…
March 30, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Reposted by Jason Demers
bisexualbookshelf.bsky.social
"Right-wing nationalism is bourgeois nationalism, and in our struggles against capitalist austerity we must emphasize that our enemy arrives in a limousine and not on a boat."

- @harshawalia.bsky.social in her book Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism
February 24, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Reposted by Jason Demers
adambonica.bsky.social
How many federal workers would DOGE need to fire to make up for Musk not paying his fair share of taxes?

Answer: 677,000. That's 44% of the entire non-DoD federal workforce.

Again, this power grab is not about the budget. It’s about politics.
Title: What Costs More: Billionaire Tax Avoidance or Federal Workers? Subtitle: Musk’s tax avoidance could fund 677K federal jobs • Current Tax Rate: 3.27% • Top Federal Tax Rate: 37% Cost Comparison (Bar Chart): • Cost of Musk’s Tax Avoidance (smallest bar, purple) • Cost of Top 100 Billionaires’ Tax Avoidance (largest bar, red) • Total Federal Workforce Salaries (mid-sized bar, green) X-axis ranges from $0B to $380B, showing that billionaire tax avoidance covers a significant portion of federal workforce salaries. Impact on Federal Workforce: • Average Federal Salary: $106,000 • Jobs Musk’s Avoidance Could Fund: 677,782 (29.5% of all federal employees) Federal Workforce Breakdown (Pie Chart): • A segment representing 29.5% of the workforce highlights the share Musk’s avoided taxes could fund, labeled “Share Equal to Musk’s Avoided Taxes: 29.5%”. Sources: • Musk’s Tax Rate: ProPublica • Billionaire Gains: Bloomberg Billionaires Index (Dec. 31, 2024) • Federal Employee Data: USAFacts
February 21, 2025 at 1:12 AM
jasondemers.bsky.social
Government efficiency/effectiveness will be determined by executive declaration, not data. Eliminating evaluation systems will make executive declarations great again.
February 20, 2025 at 3:16 AM
Reposted by Jason Demers
rebeccasolnit.bsky.social
We know who the villains are in this coup. But so many heroes are showing up to oppose them, and many of them are federal employees, including judges. I give you supreme boss-hero champion Judge Ana Reyes, telling Team Trump they don't know shit and schooling them in the facts about gender and sex.
February 19, 2025 at 5:12 PM
jasondemers.bsky.social
Hegseth invoking Eisenhower for a new Cold War: “Strong man negotiator” as “leader of the free world” forcing allies to put “America first.” Tariffs on raw materials for government coffers. Contracts for the arms industry through pressure to increase percent of GDP spending on defense. Sides tbd.
February 14, 2025 at 3:44 AM