iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Tom Pepinsky @tompepinsky.com · 04/03/2026

The anti-Trump coalition is a negative coalition, defined by what it opposes. Durable political change requires a positive coalition, defined by what it believes and the principles that will defend. Here is my outline of those principles... and the stakes. www.liberalcurrents.com/the-republic...

From Principles to Politics. Freedom, equality, and fellowship are principles of the republican tradition, in the U.S. and globally. Echoes can be found in liberté, egalité, fraternité ou mort (liberty, equality, and fraternity or death) in revolutionary France, in the revolutionary leader Simon Bolivar’s Letter from Jamaica, and in countless constitutions across the world. These are universal values, and they are also quintessentially American.
The Trump administration’s perversion of these American values explains why his second administration is so unpopular. But its opponents must not repeat the errors of the Biden-Harris administration, which activated a negative coalition to win the presidency in 2020 but failed to secure a durable settlement thereafter. The Biden-Harris administration’s fundamental error was refusing to confront the enemy of freedom, equality, and fellowship as the enemy. Biden and Harris knew exactly the stakes; they warned Americans of what the Trump administration would do if returned to office in 2025. Yet they believed that normal politics was possible, and hoped to turn the other cheek, to bless those who cursed them. “The fever will break,” Biden had been predicting since Obama’s reelection in 2012.
The Nazi propagandist Carl Schmitt was right to identify liberal democracy’s weakness: reducing political conflict to disagreement over economic policy or cultural values. But when the procedures of liberal democracy have been distorted by antidemocratic forces, the liberal’s response to these distortions must be unequivocal. Every liberal—republican, conservative, socialist, Christian, or any other—must draw the line when confronted with lawlessness, corruption, and perfidy by those who abandon freedom, equality, and fellowship for their personal ends. There can be no compromise on these principles.

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Charles Martin-Shields @charlesmartinshields.com · 06/02/2026

In the case any of these flights took place against court orders, could flight crew and staff be charged as accessories to law breaking? If so, Democratic politicians need to be putting that out there loud and clear - everyone in the logistical chain needs to have that in the back of their heads.

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abbey steele @abbeyst.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Is it a civil war? No - and: "[...] when the power of the state is being used to kill and kidnap and deport without any due process, so very capriciously and so much by one ethnic group aimed at others, it is very, very serious indeed." saideman.blogspot.com/2026/01/is-i...

saideman.blogspot.com

Is It a Civil War? Not Yet

Things are truly awful in the US, so is this the time to get pedantic? Well, maybe. I posted on bluesky that I was more worried about e...

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Nathan Goldwag @goldwagnathan.bsky.social · 21/01/2026

I would argue that the case for dismantling ICE has, at this point, virtually nothing to do with larger questions of immigration enforcement and reform, it's just clearly incompatible with a free and democratic society to maintain a secret police force with sweeping and arbitrary authority.

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

NEW: We @immcouncil.org just published a big new report on the growth of ICE detention in Trump's first year back in office. Not only do we track the rising scale of the detention infrastructure, we explain how changing enforcement tactics have shifted the profile of who is locked up by ICE.

americanimmigrationcouncil.org

Immigration Detention Expansion in Trump’s Second Term - American Immigration Council

Executive Summary When President Trump took office in January 2025, there were roughly 40,000 people being held in immigration detention. By the start of December, that number had risen by almost 75 p...

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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

I see this take around from time to time and totally disagree. ICE just murdered a woman standing up to them. No Kings is among the largest protests in history. The complacency is coming from elites in media, business, universities, and the Democratic leadership

Nicholas Kristof
@NickKristof
X.com
I'm struck by the contrast between the passion for democracy shown by Iranians willing to die for it and the complacency with which many Americans have accepted an authoritarian slide.
Americans should cheer for Iran's democrats--and also learn from their determination.

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abbey steele @abbeyst.bsky.social · 07/01/2026

"A big reason to worry that this could be messy is that Maduro was able to govern, or co-govern, by sitting atop a byzantine network of patronage, corruption, criminal governance, and shared sovereignty that, for now, remains in place." adamisacson.com/possible-vio...

adamisacson.com

Possible Violent Actors in Post-Maduro Venezuela - Adam Isacson

Groups that can generate violence and insecurity in post-Maduro Venezuela include elements of the armed forces and intelligence services, colectivos and militias, and Colombian and Venezuelan armed an...

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Phil Tinline @philtinline.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

News from a robust democracy

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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

@brendannyhan.bsky.social is right: young people are reluctant to come to the defense of institutions that have excluded them, ignored them, and crushed their movements www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/o...

Consider the experiences of the last few years. The racial justice movement that peaked in 2020 ended in disappointment and backlash. The Gaza protests provoked intense conflict without delivering clear political or policy victories for their organizers. Maybe most important, Mr.
Trump himself is back in the White House, suggesting a futility to opposition and activism among young people who have only ever known him as the central figure in our politics. He first took the oath of office when today's first-year college students were in elementary school.
The electoral choices offered to young people are not much better. Given the realities of our dysfunctional two-party system, the only alternative to a Trump-dominated G.O.P. is the Democratic Party, which is dominated by a decadent gerontocracy whose elites were more likely to attend a wedding in the Hamptons than a No Kings protest on the same day.

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abbey steele @abbeyst.bsky.social · 22/10/2025

arme Ohio, gewoon minding its own business

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Adam Isacson @adamisacson.com · 19/10/2025

Wait till the president finds out that his administration _already cut_ something like 3/4 of US aid to "Columbia," along with most aid worldwide, earlier this year. Most of the aid that remains goes to Colombia's military and police—to support counter-drug operations.

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
President Gustavo Petro, of Columbia, is an illegal drug leader strongly encouraging the massive production of drugs, in big and small fields, all over Columbia. It has become the biggest business in Columbia, by far, and Petro does nothing to stop it, despite large scale payments and subsidies from the USA that are nothing more than a long term rip off of America. AS OF TODAY, THESE PAYMENTS, OR ANY OTHER FORM OF PAYMENT, OR SUBSIDIES, WILL NO LONGER BE MADE TO COLUMBIA. The purpose of this drug production is the sale of massive amounts of product into the United States, causing death, destruction, and havoc. Petro, a low rated and very unpopular leader, with a fresh mouth toward America, better close up these killing fields immediately, or the United States will close them up for him, and it won't be done nicely. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President Donald J. Trump

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Rana B. Khoury @rbkhoury.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

To celebrate the upcoming release of my book, and to support emerging scholars, I'd like to buy and mail copies to ten graduate students. If you’re a grad student who’d like a copy, reply or DM me! www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

cornellpress.cornell.edu

Civilizing Contention by Rana B. Khoury | Paperback | Cornell University Press

In Civilizing Contention, Rana B. Khoury asserts that to understand civilian and refugee activism in war, we must regard the international actors and organizations that enter the scene to help. When.....

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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

The National Guard troopers confirming what everyone suspected; they don't want to be there.

Six members of the Guard — including infantrymen, officers and two officials in leadership roles — spoke of low morale and deep concern that the deployment may hurt recruitment for the state-based military force for years to come. Those who were interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity, because military orders bar Guard personnel from publicly discussing the federal deployment and they feared retribution for talking to the media.

All but one of the six expressed reservations about the deployment. Several said they had raised objections themselves or knew someone who objected, either because they did not want to be involved in immigration crackdowns or felt the Trump administration had put them on the streets for what they described as a “fake mission.”

The New York Times reached out to a broad pool of soldiers seeking interviews about the deployment. While a small sample, the six soldiers’ comments aligned with other signs of poor morale.

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abbey steele @abbeyst.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Juan Masullo and I wrote a piece on the recent assassination attempt on Senator Uribe in Bogotá, its connections to the drug war, how it echoes the past, and why it is only the most visible form of how the drug war undermines democracy. 1/2

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abbey steele @abbeyst.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

"Powerful drug-trafficking organizations use violence to operate outside the rule of law, control who can and cannot run for local office, and eliminate community leaders who stand up to them. The attempt on Senator Uribe’s life underscores a grim fact: Democracy is among the drug war’s casualties."

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abbey steele @abbeyst.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

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The New Humanitarian @newhumanitarian.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

BCG helped set up a militarised aid scheme in Gaza, widely condemned by the humanitarian sector, and worked on cost models for relocating Palestinians out of the territory.

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Sanho Tree @sanho.bsky.social · 05/07/2025

Russia’s entire military budget is only $145 billion. Stephen Miller got even more than that to expel people who don’t pass his racial standards—including naturalized citizens. And when they’re done with that, they’ll come after critics. When they create a gulag economy that big, it doesn’t go away.

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abbey steele @abbeyst.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

it is also striking what the top 4 are! - they don't care about them either. (though the Dems haven't been much better lately.)

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abbey steele @abbeyst.bsky.social · 04/07/2025

It also makes ICE better funded than most national militaries -- by a wide margin. This is the expansion of a secret police force.

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EPSS @epssnet.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

🚨 Big News for European Political Science 🚨 We’re thrilled to announce the launch of the European Political Science Society (EPSS): a new, member-led, not-for-profit association built to support our scholarly community. 🔗 epssnet.org Here’s a thread with everything you need to know. 🧵

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James Martin, SJ @jamesmartinsj.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

Laughing in front of cages designed to hold migrants and refugees, many of whom came to this country fleeing extreme violence and poverty, and hoping to raise their children in a more compassionate country. And many of whom followed all the legal procedures to enter the country.

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abbey steele @abbeyst.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

"From what I can tell, ICE is a secret police when acting in a public space...The comparativist in me wants to think about other police forces in history which had such broad and ill-defined powers. But such comparisons are too frightening." adamprzeworski.substack.com/p/week-19

adamprzeworski.substack.com

WEEK 19

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abbey steele @abbeyst.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

"...the only ideas offered by Democrats come from its left wing. The rest of the party is just catatonic. Its leadership is patiently waiting for Trump to fail, generously granting them electoral victory while attending weddings of billionaries."

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abbey steele @abbeyst.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

Gisteren vroeg een collega mij nog of ik inmiddels een Nederlandse nationaliteit had, en was verbaasd toen ik zei dat dat niet mogelijk is (zonder afstand te doen van mijn Amerikaanse nationaliteit, wat nogal een gedoe is).

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Janina Dill @janinadill.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Four points I wish public and media commentary understood about #genocide in #Gaza, why legal experts are reluctant to diagnose gencoide and what that does NOT mean 🧵

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Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Rep. Andy Ogles, a Republican from Tennessee, has sent a letter to Pam Bondi calling for Zohran Mamdani to be stripped of his citizenship and deported.

Andy Ogles: Zohran "little muhammad" Mamdani is an antisemitic, socialist, communist who will destroy the great City of New York. He needs to be DEPORTED. Which is why I am calling for him to be subject to denaturalization proceedings.
Attached is my letter to @AGPamBondi.

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Erica Chenoweth @chenoweth.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

@adamprz.bsky.social on ICE's authorities & operating procedures: "The comparativist in me wants to think about other police forces in history which had such broad and ill-defined powers. But such comparisons are too frightening."

adamprzeworski.substack.com

WEEK 19

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abbey steele @abbeyst.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

an expert panel across Dutch universities has released a report that recommends cutting all institutional ties with Israeli universities - not on a case-by-case basis: academictiesisrael.nl @antigonesdream.bsky.social

academictiesisrael.nl

Academic Ties Israel

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Stone Cold Jane Austen @abbyhiggs.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

It’s a good thing Congress isn’t alive to see this

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Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof @evanbernick.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

This is more notice than they are prepared to give people before deporting them

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Saul Staniforth @saulstaniforth.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

"Israeli soldiers have opened fire on the crowds and killed Palestinians who've been queuing for food" Dan Johnson reports that this morning 23 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed at an aid distribution centre & at least 11 killed in an Israeli air strike #BBCBreakfast

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abbey steele @abbeyst.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

The bylaws of VA hospitals removed 'national origin', 'politics', and 'marital status' from the list of patient traits that medical staff could not discriminate on the basis of. shameful. www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

theguardian.com

‘Extremely disturbing and unethical’: new rules allow VA doctors to refuse to treat Democrats, unmarried veterans

Trump order allows VA staff to decline providing healthcare to patients based on political affiliation or marital status

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Phil Williams @philinvestigates.com · 12/06/2025

Stephen Miller and U.S. Homeland Security amplify an image from white Christian nationalist CJay Engel -- who has been the subject of my investigations since he and his allies began their move into Jackson County, TN. 1/x

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Erica Chenoweth @chenoweth.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

My team and I at the Crowd Counting Consortium (@djpressman@bsky.social, Soha Hammam, & Chris Shay) have a new piece out: wagingnonviolence.org/2025/06/amer.... In it, we show that through May 2025, the size and scale of anti-Trump protests have dwarfed those in 2017. 🧵

A line chart with a blue line showing a large growth of protest events from Jan 20 - May 31, 2025, and a green line showing the relatively modest growth of protest events during the same period in 2017.

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Simon Chauchard @simonchauchard.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

🚨🚨🚨🚨 EOI / talent attraction program in Madrid! The Dept. of Social Sciences @ UC3M is looking to sponsor candidates for the César Nombela Program. Successful candidates get a job with us & great work conditions for 5 y (more below). To express interest, complete form (by 06/24) 👉 n9.cl/qdjvz 1/n

n9.cl

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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

Maybe they really were ICE officers. Or maybe they were a band of vigilantes, arbitrarily snatching brown-looking people off the street. All eyes are now on LA, but secret police are descending upon smaller towns nationwide too. Masked and armed, they refuse to show IDs or warrants. wapo.st/4kIGFke

wapo.st

Opinion | The secret police descending on Small Town, U.S.A.

Masked immigration officials are storming towns and arresting people.

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Amee Vanderpool @girlsreallyrule.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

There are THOUSANDS of protests planned for June 14th all over the country to send a message to Donald Trump that no one wants his birthday military parade in DC that will cost taxpayers millions. #NoKingsProtest You can find a location here: www.nokings.org#map

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LSE Blogs @lseblogs.bsky.social · 10/06/2025

With unrest continuing in #LosAngeles and #Trump calling in more troops from the National Guard, where did this heavy response to anti-deportation #protests emerge from, and what is its aim? @stephrschwartz.bsky.social @lseir.bsky.social‬ and @abbeyst.bsky.social‬ for @lseusablog.bsky.social‬

blogs.lse.ac.uk

How the US immigration crackdown undermines democracy | USAPP

Trump's harsh immigration actions are part of the administration’s strategy for dismantling democracy by amassing coercive power.

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Tom Pepinsky @tompepinsky.com · 02/06/2025

I have a new essay out at Liberties, on teaching comparative politics in the U.S. in 2025, on American exceptionalism, and on what we require of our universities and of our political system in these times.

libertiesjournal.com

Teaching and Democracy in America

Every year, hundreds of thousands of college students enroll in a course whose title is something like “Principles of Comparative Politics” or “Introduction to Comparative Government.” These are bread...

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