Bob Estes
@onscrn.bsky.social
Texas roots but more than half my life in Boston area. PhD in Physics, UC Berkeley; US-Italian Space Shuttle missions; 50-odd poems published: Louisville Review, Gargoyle, Cola Literary Review, The Moth, Masque & Spectacle, The Madrigal…
Reposted by Bob Estes
For the first time in history, the archbishop responsible for U.S. service members said officers may be morally obligated to disobey a sitting president’s orders.
Broglio said a Trump-ordered invasion of Greenland would violate Catholic teaching and that Catholic troops could refuse to comply.
Broglio said a Trump-ordered invasion of Greenland would violate Catholic teaching and that Catholic troops could refuse to comply.
Conservative Military Archbishop Says Catholic Troops Can Defy Trump Orders on Greenland
The archbishop responsible for pastoral care of U.S. service members says an unjust attack on a friendly nation justifies troops’ conscientious refusal under Catholic moral teaching.
open.substack.com
January 20, 2026 at 4:55 PM
For the first time in history, the archbishop responsible for U.S. service members said officers may be morally obligated to disobey a sitting president’s orders.
Broglio said a Trump-ordered invasion of Greenland would violate Catholic teaching and that Catholic troops could refuse to comply.
Broglio said a Trump-ordered invasion of Greenland would violate Catholic teaching and that Catholic troops could refuse to comply.
This is the longest nightmare I’ve ever had. Can we will a nightmare to turn into a better dream?
A year ago this article about Canada planning how it could fight a US invasion would have seemed insane. Now it doesn’t seem so far-fetched.
January 21, 2026 at 2:32 AM
This is the longest nightmare I’ve ever had. Can we will a nightmare to turn into a better dream?
Reposted by Bob Estes
Fabulous opportunity for creative 11-18 year olds!
Bow Seat's 2026 Ocean Awareness Contest – Your Story, Our Ocean – How does the ocean sustain, protect, and inspire you?
Bow Seat's 2026 Ocean Awareness Contest – Your Story, Our Ocean – How does the ocean sustain, protect, and inspire you?
January 19, 2026 at 8:03 PM
Fabulous opportunity for creative 11-18 year olds!
Bow Seat's 2026 Ocean Awareness Contest – Your Story, Our Ocean – How does the ocean sustain, protect, and inspire you?
Bow Seat's 2026 Ocean Awareness Contest – Your Story, Our Ocean – How does the ocean sustain, protect, and inspire you?
Me, for example.
“Plenty of people who are independent declare themselves as such because they find both parties ideologically unsatisfactory, not because they feel they fit somewhere in the middle,” Kristen Soltis Anderson writes.
Opinion | Why Independent Voters Are Not Necessarily Moderate
These days, the label “independent” does not necessarily signify moderation or centrism.
nyti.ms
January 20, 2026 at 1:08 AM
Me, for example.
Reposted by Bob Estes
In a historic rebuke, America’s three most senior cardinals are denouncing Donald Trump’s bid to annex Greenland.
Backed by Pope Leo XIV’s warning against a “zeal for war,” it’s the most direct intervention by U.S. bishops in a president’s foreign policy in decades.
Backed by Pope Leo XIV’s warning against a “zeal for war,” it’s the most direct intervention by U.S. bishops in a president’s foreign policy in decades.
Backed by Pope Leo, U.S. Cardinals Rebuke Trump’s Greenland Gambit
As Trump pushes to annex Greenland, three top American cardinals — Cupich of Chicago, McElroy of Washington, and Tobin of Newark — have issued a rare joint statement denouncing a “zeal for war.”
www.thelettersfromleo.com
January 19, 2026 at 7:28 PM
In a historic rebuke, America’s three most senior cardinals are denouncing Donald Trump’s bid to annex Greenland.
Backed by Pope Leo XIV’s warning against a “zeal for war,” it’s the most direct intervention by U.S. bishops in a president’s foreign policy in decades.
Backed by Pope Leo XIV’s warning against a “zeal for war,” it’s the most direct intervention by U.S. bishops in a president’s foreign policy in decades.
Obviously should have happened already. Having Congressional Dems push it would, initially anyway, lead to wagon-circling by the cabinet (all Trump’s creatures). Anything that helps make Trump’s insanity an inescapable consideration is a step in the right direction though, so I second the motion.
The 25th Amendment must be invoked by the cabinet. I’m all for pressuring them. Congressional Dems should lead the charge. Not on Bluesky or Threads. Let’s do it.
Invoke the 25th Amendment.
January 20, 2026 at 12:37 AM
Obviously should have happened already. Having Congressional Dems push it would, initially anyway, lead to wagon-circling by the cabinet (all Trump’s creatures). Anything that helps make Trump’s insanity an inescapable consideration is a step in the right direction though, so I second the motion.
Reposted by Bob Estes
I've harped on congressional war powers for a long time and we do need to fix all that, but threatening to invade Greenland while ranting at Norway about the Nobel Peace Prize and imposing trade sanctions on NATO is more the kind of thing you can only fix by not having a literally insane president.
January 19, 2026 at 8:35 AM
I've harped on congressional war powers for a long time and we do need to fix all that, but threatening to invade Greenland while ranting at Norway about the Nobel Peace Prize and imposing trade sanctions on NATO is more the kind of thing you can only fix by not having a literally insane president.
I feel like we’re riding in a bus on a very slick icy road with a drunk driver who’s protected by body guards blocking the aisle, so we can’t intervene.
The message of Trump’s letter to the prime minister of Norway signals that the president “genuinely lives in a different reality, one in which neither grammar nor history nor the normal rules of human interaction now affect him,” @anneapplebaum.bsky.social argues.
Trump’s Letter to Norway Should Be the Last Straw
Will Republicans in Congress ever step in?
bit.ly
January 19, 2026 at 2:57 PM
I feel like we’re riding in a bus on a very slick icy road with a drunk driver who’s protected by body guards blocking the aisle, so we can’t intervene.
Terrifying, really.
Jesus, legit insane
mad king moment
from the PBS Newshour correspondent
from the PBS Newshour correspondent
January 19, 2026 at 5:50 AM
Terrifying, really.
Reposted by Bob Estes
I would feel slightly better about all of this (waves hands around the United States) if I had a feeling that the main opposition party was doing something in a concerted effort.
I feel there should be a full-court press, but all I see is a weak zone defense and occasional blocked shots.
I feel there should be a full-court press, but all I see is a weak zone defense and occasional blocked shots.
January 18, 2026 at 9:14 PM
I would feel slightly better about all of this (waves hands around the United States) if I had a feeling that the main opposition party was doing something in a concerted effort.
I feel there should be a full-court press, but all I see is a weak zone defense and occasional blocked shots.
I feel there should be a full-court press, but all I see is a weak zone defense and occasional blocked shots.
Very important mass action January 23 in Minnesota! www.iceoutnowmn.com
ICE OUT OF MN
www.iceoutnowmn.com
January 17, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Very important mass action January 23 in Minnesota! www.iceoutnowmn.com
Reposted by Bob Estes
Reposted by Bob Estes
This downright exciting!
every single successful general strike in US history has had union backing through the local AFL-CIO
this is the first time it’s been called for since the 1940s
this is the first time it’s been called for since the 1940s
January 17, 2026 at 2:12 AM
This downright exciting!
This is not an isolated incident.
This incident raises more questions about federal agents' use-of-force policies and training.
reason.pub/4qqn8aV
reason.pub/4qqn8aV
Video shows feds shooting ICE protester with nonlethal round at point-blank range, blinding him in one eye
The incident raises more questions around federal agent’s use-of-force policies and training.
reason.com
January 16, 2026 at 11:52 PM
This is not an isolated incident.
An ambitious politician I don’t trust, but if that’s our only way to get back to “normal” non-fascist government, I’ll be on board. Hope it’s not the only way.
As a Californian, this is why we don’t want Newsom ‘28.
“He may be a smile demon, but he’s OUR smile demon!” True, but when you make a deal with the Devil, you’re going to get burned.
I enjoy his Trump-hatred & Press Office as much as the next guy, but he’s just not actually committed to justice
“He may be a smile demon, but he’s OUR smile demon!” True, but when you make a deal with the Devil, you’re going to get burned.
I enjoy his Trump-hatred & Press Office as much as the next guy, but he’s just not actually committed to justice
January 16, 2026 at 11:49 PM
An ambitious politician I don’t trust, but if that’s our only way to get back to “normal” non-fascist government, I’ll be on board. Hope it’s not the only way.
Reposted by Bob Estes
“I don’t feel as though fate looks upon you often, and when it does, you better be ready to seize the opportunity,” said TJ Sabula, the UAW worker who heckled President Trump and who Trump flipped off and cursed at. “And today I think I did that.”
Gift link: wapo.st/4sG38CD
Gift link: wapo.st/4sG38CD
Trump makes obscene gesture, mouths expletive at Detroit factory heckler
A cellphone video captured Trump twice mouthing “f--- you” and raising his middle finger toward a line worker shouting at him inside the Ford factory.
wapo.st
January 14, 2026 at 1:40 AM
“I don’t feel as though fate looks upon you often, and when it does, you better be ready to seize the opportunity,” said TJ Sabula, the UAW worker who heckled President Trump and who Trump flipped off and cursed at. “And today I think I did that.”
Gift link: wapo.st/4sG38CD
Gift link: wapo.st/4sG38CD
Reposted by Bob Estes
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday found a staggering 4 percent of Americans favor the idea of seizing Greenland with military force. Is this the least popular idea in American political history?
Seizing Greenland might be the least popular idea in American political history
This foolish, bellicose idea is running up against the "Lizardman's Constant."
reason.com
January 16, 2026 at 2:04 AM
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Wednesday found a staggering 4 percent of Americans favor the idea of seizing Greenland with military force. Is this the least popular idea in American political history?
Reposted by Bob Estes
A farcical disgrace and a disgraceful farce in every conceivable respect.
María Corina Machado on her meeting with Trump: “I presented the president of the United States with the Nobel Peace Prize”
January 15, 2026 at 9:53 PM
A farcical disgrace and a disgraceful farce in every conceivable respect.
Reposted by Bob Estes
Change is coming whether party moderates want it or not.
"Among the 18-to-34 set, 70 percent disapprove of ICE enforcement, 65 percent say the shooting was unjustified, and 83 percent have seen video of the killing."
"Among the 18-to-34 set, 70 percent disapprove of ICE enforcement, 65 percent say the shooting was unjustified, and 83 percent have seen video of the killing."
Quinnipiac gave me unpublished data from new poll and it finds huge, huge, huge percentages of young and working class voters have seen video of Minneapolis shooting.
Majorities of both disapprove of ICE. Pundits are getting the working class/immigration wrong:
newrepublic.com/article/2052...
Majorities of both disapprove of ICE. Pundits are getting the working class/immigration wrong:
newrepublic.com/article/2052...
January 14, 2026 at 9:49 PM
Change is coming whether party moderates want it or not.
"Among the 18-to-34 set, 70 percent disapprove of ICE enforcement, 65 percent say the shooting was unjustified, and 83 percent have seen video of the killing."
"Among the 18-to-34 set, 70 percent disapprove of ICE enforcement, 65 percent say the shooting was unjustified, and 83 percent have seen video of the killing."
A taste for bullying is a plus.
"The arduous nature of secret police work offers underachievers the opportunity to signal their value to the regime and get ahead of competitors for higher positions."
Perennial reminder of this excellent paper about how secret police forces are swamped with underachievers
“We don’t want clever people. We want mediocrities.”
(Ungated summary here ajps.org/2019/10/08/w...)
“We don’t want clever people. We want mediocrities.”
(Ungated summary here ajps.org/2019/10/08/w...)
January 14, 2026 at 9:09 PM
A taste for bullying is a plus.
Reposted by Bob Estes
Any admission of wrongdoing by the government is progress, I think. Have to keep pushing.
In a potentially dramatic development in the case of a Babson College freshman who was abruptly deported over Thanksgiving, federal authorities acknowledged they were wrong to expel her in violation of a court order.
Federal authorities say deporting Babson College freshman was a ‘tragic case of bureaucracy gone wrong’ - The Boston Globe
Any Lucia Lopez Belloza, 19, was arrested by ICE agents at Logan International Airport on Thanksgiving morning.
trib.al
January 14, 2026 at 5:51 PM
Any admission of wrongdoing by the government is progress, I think. Have to keep pushing.
Reposted by Bob Estes
This needs to pass ASAP. abc6onyourside.com/news/nation-...
Alaska Republican, New Hampshire Democrat try to stop Greenland takeover
Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski and New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen filed legislation to block the U.S. from taking Greenland by force.
abc6onyourside.com
January 14, 2026 at 5:17 PM
This needs to pass ASAP. abc6onyourside.com/news/nation-...
“the Trump administration's bold immigration sweeps” WTF, PBS? I thought NYT was bad.
Federal officers dropped tear gas and sprayed eye irritant at activists in Minneapolis on Tuesday as students walked out of a suburban school in protest at the Trump administration's bold immigration sweeps. https://to.pbs.org/3LxVsla
Protesters and federal agents repeatedly square off in Minnesota
It's common for people to boo, taunt and blow orange whistles when they spot heavily armed agents passing through in unmarked vehicles or walking the streets.
to.pbs.org
January 14, 2026 at 12:19 AM
“the Trump administration's bold immigration sweeps” WTF, PBS? I thought NYT was bad.