iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 3h

"Donald Trump's active vocabulary, his train of thought, his ability to filter are all in rapid decline. We're watching a leaky balloon as it deflates. . . . "Trump of 2026 is playing 'Twinkle Twinkle' with one finger. Haltingly." -- @jfallows.bsky.social

fallows.substack.com

Midterm Countdown, 33 Days to Go: Language from Our Leader.

It’s not just your imagination. Donald Trump’s active vocabulary, his train of thought, his ability to filter are all in rapid decline. We’re watching a leaky balloon as it deflates.

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 5h

@joycewhitevance.bsky.social is realistic about this year and who knows how many more?

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 9h

"Without a free press to keep us informed, Trump would be running roughshod. Sunlight is, in fact, the best disinfectant." -- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social | joycevance.substack.com/p/consequences

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 10h

"This A.I. threat is not a hoax (nor is the climate threat a hoax, as Trump would know if he ever looked at his own administration's NASA website. "The only hoax is that Trump . . . thinks he knows anything about A.I. or climate change." -- @thomaslfriedman.bsky.social at @nytopinion.bsky.social

nytimes.com

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 13h

Childhood touchstone, fondly recalled. They kindled a lifelong love of reading, as they have for millions.

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Novelist Jennifer Weiner recalls that when she entered Princeton in '87, "the idea of boys forcing themselves on girls, even girls who were passed out drunk, was still the stuff of punchlines in teen movies." In a guest essay today at @nytopinion.bsky.social, she writes: "Looking at the . . . [1/2]

nytimes.com

Opinion | I Thought Things Had Gotten Better. The Cornell Case Shows How Bad They Really Are. (Gift Article)

How could so little have changed?

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

"Why would anyone with a reputation to lose work for Donald Trump? . . . "Joining the Trump team won't just damage your reputation; it will utterly destroy it." -- @pkrugman.bsky.social | paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-beclow...

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"Emboldened by his success, Trump has continued to treat the courts like a game to be played, not like a Constitution and an oath of office to be upheld." -- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social, law professor and past U.S. attorney

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Opinion | Trump Is Going Viral in the Worst Ways (Gift Article)

"Trump and his party — and the AI tech bros who have effectively paid them to keep their hands off their industry — had better pray that the 'October surprise' in this coming midterm election is not a major, destructive AI event." -- @thomaslfriedman.bsky.social, columnist at @nytopinion.nytimes.com

nytimes.com

On the technological, diplomatic and biological fronts, Trump is creating a disaster.

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The Beclowning of Scott Bessent

Our economy won't strengthen "as long as Trump keeps believing that he can somehow convert his Iran debacle into a triumphant victory," @pkrugman.bsky.social posts. " And Trump will keep believing that as long as he is surrounded by sycophants who tell him what he wants to hear."

paulkrugman.substack.com

Another Trump enabler pays the price

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@joycewhitevance.bsky.social sums up “another day where we were flooded with drama, all of Donald Trump's making. . . . This is not a president who is committed to governing, to public service. "This is a smash and grab, and we are the victims."

Jack Smith kicked off his testimony on the Hill today like this: “I stand by my decisions as special counsel, including my decision to bring charges against President Trump.” He told senators that his...

Flooding the Zone

"Donald Trump doesn't respect the law; he simply sees it as an impediment to doing what he wants to do. "And when he learns he can get away with flouting it, he will not hesitate to do so again. And again. -- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social | joycevance.substack.com/p/consequences

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Analysis: Trump stirs new storm by posing as strongman in taxpayer-funded video | CNN Politics

"The [ad] furor is a classic example of provocative behavior Trump uses to draw establishment forces into showdowns that bolster his image as an insurgent, a move that was instrumental to his two presidential election triumphs." -- Stephen Collinson, @cnn.com senior reporter [1/2]

cnn.com

It’s Donald Trump as he wants America to see him.

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"It’s time—past time, really—for courts to hold this administration in contempt when it is. No bending over backward, no second chances. "If the president fails to comply with court orders, he needs to be held to account." -- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social | joycevance.substack.com/p/consequences

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Midterm Time Capsule, 35 Days to Go.

"The world has learned to take Trump neither seriously nor literally. He can do a lot of damage on the way down, but everyone sees him deflating." -- @jfallows.bsky.social, journalist and author

fallows.substack.com

What we know, when we don’t know how things will turn out.

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"The idea that the spot is deliberately provocative is bolstered by the fact that Trump, with a war chest worth hundreds of millions of dollars, doesn't need to use taxpayer cash."

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"If Trump gets away with retaliating against the press, he’ll continue to do it, perhaps to others and in still more situations. "And we cannot afford that." -- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social | joycevance.substack.com/p/consequences

"Many . . . elected Republicans are trying to distance themselves from their increasingly toxic leader. . . . "These may appear to be small dents in Trump's armor, but for so long that armor was essentially impregnable." — @thedanrather.bsky.social | substack.com/home/post/p-...

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"No president should be able to raid the Treasury for his own political goals or glorification. "Ads that . . . are simply partisan messaging and propaganda, have no role in the governing of our country." — @normeisen.bsky.social and three other democracy defenders | substack.com/home/post/p-...

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"These videos are not 'public service announcements' as the White House claims. "They are clear attempts to boost Republicans' chances in the impending midterm elections given their sagging poll numbers." — @normeisen.bsky.social and three other democracy defenders at @contrariannews.org (1/2)

The administration’s propaganda hype-ads are an abuse of power.

Trump Goes Full-Orwell

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"Trump might want to spend a little time reading the 1st Amendment. And so should Americans, given that the Trump administration treats the document establishing our fundamental freedoms as an inconvenient piece of aging parchment." -- @jerryzremski.bsky.social, former Washington correspondent

Trump’s beef isn’t just with the media. It’s with the First Amendment.

In multiple ways, the president is making the land of the free less free

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"Noting that midterm election polls show the president and his party “deep in a hole," @thedanrather.bsky.social posts: "As my late friend Molly Ivins used to say, 'The first rule of holes is, when you’re in one, stop digging.' Trump has shovels in both hands.

Trump spent his day kowtowing

He Said, Xi Said

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"Trump's brain is deteriorating, causing all sorts of havoc, much of it as distressing to his fellow Republicans as to Democrats, but the Republicans are afraid to say something. "I don't think they’ll be so afraid after they all get creamed in the midterms." -- @timothynoah.bsky.social

Why Trump Won’t Finish His Term

I know my scenario seems improbable. But name me a plausible alternative.

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@thedanrather.bsky.social on bizarro pre-election moves by the president: "Rather than retrenching from unpopular policies, he is doubling, even tripling down."

Trump spent his day kowtowing

He Said, Xi Said

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Chris Lu, White House cabinet sec'y under Obama, tells @joycewhitevance.bsky.social: "Most White Houses spend their time trying to get more coverage, not less. ...If you've have a good story, you want as many reporters as possible covering what you're doing" joycevance.substack.com/p/its-a-nice...

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

"While we may be justified in celebrating if the election goes as predicted in November, don't take your battle gear off yet. "There is a long road ahead." -- @pkrugman.bsky.social

paulkrugman.substack.com

It’s “Underwear on the Outside” Time

Trump’s continuing downward spiral into sundowning

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

@timothynoah.bsky.social boldly goes with this forecast at @newrepublic.com: "Trump's approval number will fall so low [at some point], and make Trump such a liability to fellow Republican officeholders, that they'll move to get rid of him. ... I expect he'll reach it during the first half of 2027"

newrepublic.com

Why Trump May Not Serve Out His Presidency

He will only get crazier, and at some point Republicans will cut their losses.

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"In an election season, the last thing we need is horse-race coverage that only attempts to calculate whether the White House occupant is up or down and how he is or isn't affecting particular races. "Every action needs to be assessed in the context of his . . ." -- @stevenbeschloss.bsky.social 1/2

We Are Facing a Psychiatric Emergency

The media needs to step up. Donald Trump needs to be removed from office.

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"[Trump] is engaged in the most full-frontal assault on the free press of any president in modern history . . . "The man whose whole career has been built on leverage thinks he has all of it and that news outlets have none. That must change." — @milestaylor.bsky.social, national security specialist

Here are five ways the press can make Trump regret his media ban.

"Strongly worded" statements won't reopen the White House gates to the reporters he banned. But actual solidarity might.

Trump’s Ban Is Backfiring

"Facts are not this president’s friend. "He can lash out, but by every indication a majority of the American people have long since caught on to his act, mostly because of rigorous journalism." -- @thedanrather.bsky.social

steady.substack.com

As the media unites against him

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Why Trump May Not Serve Out His Presidency

"This scenario [successful 2027 impeachment] may strike you as implausible. "But before you dismiss it as fantasy, show me a more plausible scenario in which an increasingly gaga Trump remains president until January 2029." -- @timothynoah.bsky.social, staff writer at @newrepublic.com

newrepublic.com

He will only get crazier, and at some point Republicans will cut their losses.

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luciantruscott.substack.com

"It was just luck, being born into the family I am a part of," posts @lktiv.bsky.social, who welcomes "the release by the Smithsonian of evidence that proves, through the comparison of DNA taken from Thomas Jefferson's hair and DNA provided by descendants of Jefferson, that he fathered . . ." [1/2]

When human beings owned other human beings in America: Smithsonian releases new Jefferson-Hemings DNA study

Here we go again.

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@timothynoah.bsky.social foresees a forced exit: "Already Trump's children are frantically stuffing their pockets with cash as if this bonanza could end tomorrow. If the midterms are as catastrophic for Republicans as political pros expect, Trump's sway over his party will weaken dramatically."

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"It is horrifying to watch the daily psychiatric emergency that is Donald Trump. . . . There are so many examples of his deteriorating state on a nearly daily basis. . . . "Many of America’s allies can see the unpredictability, the unstable behavior that is..." -- @stevenbeschloss.bsky.social [1/2]

We Are Facing a Psychiatric Emergency

The media needs to step up. Donald Trump needs to be removed from office.

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"Trump’s [media] 'ban' is a tactic to silence voices that report the news as it happens. No American president should ban 'disfavored outlets' from access that's essential to covering our government." - @joycewhitevance.bsky.social, with a classic headline | joycevance.substack.com/p/its-a-nice...

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Trump’s Ban Is Backfiring

"He banned the media without telling his closest advisers. . . . No one could tell him it was a bad idea, unconstitutional or that perhaps he hadn't thought it all the way through. "Not thinking things through is a signature Trump weakness." -- @thedanrather.bsky.social

steady.substack.com

As the media unites against him

"We don't have a responsible cabinet or Congress that will . . . invoke the 25th Amendment or impeach this man. "Tragically—like being a backseat passenger with a drunk man at the wheel and no one riding shotgun to save us—we are currently stuck riding this out." -- @stevenbeschloss.bsky.social

We Are Facing a Psychiatric Emergency

The media needs to step up. Donald Trump needs to be removed from office.

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It’s a Nice First Amendment You’ve Got There…

"This [media ban] reads as a stunt, perhaps something Trump did off the cuff to distract from other matters like his disastrous war in Iran, the affordability crisis, the Kennedy Center & his dangerous effort to seize power & end the American experiment in democracy." -- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social

joycevance.substack.com

Mea culpa for the long post on a Saturday night, but read on and see if you don’t agree that it’s essential.

Trump’s Ban Is Backfiring

Trump's media ban "is not going the way the president apparently thought it would," posts @thedanrather.bsky.social. "The fact that Fox, such a longtime Trump ally, has joined the effort to protest his anti-press action may be an indicator that even they are sensing that he has gone too far."

steady.substack.com

As the media unites against him

Michelle @michelleroy78.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Reposted by Alan Stamm

You never realize how little self-control you have until you’re eating chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant.

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Reposted by Alan Stamm

Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

This warning from David Letterman to the media from just a year ago feels sadly too relevant today. He is right: You can't appease a tyrant.

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"These are moments of reckoning for America, with bans and mergers and threats reminding us of how precious press and free speech freedoms are. "The pre-midterm election timing is no accident. We must push back against the silencing." — @ruthbenghiat.bsky.social