iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

If this is Trump's “October surprise,” he's the one who’ll be surprised, as @thedanrather.bsky.social says. [@semafor.com screenshot]

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 9h

Virtually each day brings evidence reinforcing what @joycewhitevance.bsky.social posted:

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 10h

2/ ". . . how Ukrainians actually take advantage of Americans. . . . It is pure, unadulterated (and unfiltered) Russian messaging, being spoken with conviction by the president of the USA."

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 10h

Strategic studies scholar @phillipspobrien.bsky.social decries Trump's "pro-Russian narrative and mindset." "Trump reflexively repeats Moscow’s vision of the war. This includes how it was stupid of Ukraine to fight in the first place, how Russia will automatically win in the end, . . ." [1/2]

substack.com

Weekend Update #206: Trump Is Free To Be What He Has Always Been

Russian Strikes Against Civilians; Do Ukraine And Europe Understand What They Must Do?

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 10h

@thedanrather on "a deal that would put American cash in the pocket of a dictator who is expected to use it to bolster his war machine & continue slaughtering Ukrainian civilians:" "If this is Trump's 'October surprise,' meant to help turn the election in his party’s favor, he will be surprised."

substack.com

Blood Money

Trump’s most heartless betrayal of Ukraine starts with Putin

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 11h

"The first sign that something weird was afoot was that this major address by a sec'y of state on European soil did not mention Russia, Ukraine, China or pretty much any foreign policy issue that a person with his job would normally be concerned with." — Ex-Congressman Tom Malinowksi, D-NJ (2019-23)

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 12h

"The lying is over. Donald is free to be what he always wanted to be and to sing it loudly to the world. "He, and by extension the U.S. government, is Vladimir Putin’s friend and partner. He will help Putin, protect Putin and do what he can . . . for Vladimir Putin." -- @phillipspobrien.bsky.social

substack.com

Weekend Update #206: Trump Is Free To Be What He Has Always Been

Russian Strikes Against Civilians; Do Ukraine And Europe Understand What They Must Do?

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 14h

Journalism unleashed, British-style [news headline from @telegraph.co.uk | h/t @sykescharlie.bsky.social]

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 15h

“Rright now there are all sorts of games being played in this Pentagon to try and keep information from the American people and to keep the press from doing its jobs. But we’re still doing our jobs.” — Jennifer Griffin, longtime Pentagon reporter for Fox News, via @poynterinstitute.bsky.social

youtube.com

The Pentagon locked out the press. That’s ‘a big problem for the American people.’

YouTube video by The Poynter Institute

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 18h

"Donald Trump has been serially disloyal and unfaithful to every person in his life, except for Vladimir Putin. "He craves the affection and approval of the Russian dictator, loves talking with him, loves doing Putin’s bidding." — @phillipspobrien.bsky.social, strategic studies professor

substack.com

Weekend Update #206: Trump Is Free To Be What He Has Always Been

Russian Strikes Against Civilians; Do Ukraine And Europe Understand What They Must Do?

011

Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 19h

2/ ". . . — not wanting to answer questions from Congress, not wanting to answer questions from the press. "And I don't think the American people are buying it anymore. I think they realize that this is not what the Constitution wanted." [via @poynterinstitute.bsky.social]

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 19h

Jennifer Griffin, who worked with Pete Hegseth at Fox News and has been its Pentagon-based national security reporter for 19 years, gets it: "Every time there’s a story the Pentagon doesn't want, they call it fake news. That's a cop-out for not wanting to answer questions . . ." [1/2]

poynter.org

Jennifer Griffin has covered 8 defense secretaries. She’s never seen a Pentagon like this. - Poynter

On ‘The Poynter Report Podcast,’ the longtime Fox News correspondent reflects on nearly four decades of reporting, from war zones to Washington

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 22h

"Judgement day is coming for MAGA. When it arrives, the national danger will deepen. "Trump will become more unhinged and erratic in the days and weeks ahead. . . . The truth of the matter is the crisis is just beginning." -- Steve Schmidt, @lincolnproject.us co-founder

substack.com

Fascist. Full stop.

Trump is exactly what he appears to be. It's time to stop pretending otherwise.

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

2/ ". . . given the First Amendment implications of the White House's conduct. "Donald Trump has long been a fan of announcing investigations into his enemies—regardless of whether they ever come to fruition—as a bully tactic. . . . We're back there again."

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

@joycewhitevance.bsky.social decries a familiar tactic as DOJ opens an antitrust inquiry into 5 TV networks that withheld rotating presidential coverage. "The pool networks were responding to the president's treatment of journalists, a temporary protest. ...So it’s a real stretch to investigate..."

joycevance.substack.com

Can the Sherman Act Be Used To Silence the Press?

Apparently, Trump’s DOJ thinks so.

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

"How much more evidence is necessary to assess that Trump has undermined U.S. national security and is working for Russia? "And how much longer will Republicans in Congress continue to protect him as he does it?" — @hcrichardson.bsky.social

substack.com

October 10, 2026

So now, after more than a decade of pretending that he is not associated with Russia and that he would honor the U.S.

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

A writer shares thoughts from a 12-hr flight — an "experience unique to our era — collective but utterly isolated, a temporary community of aboveness and aloneness, all of us watching these strange flickering portals embedded in the back of a stranger's chair, all marking time until our destination"

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

@joycewhitevance.bsky.social on a new federal inquiry into five TV networks: "As with so much of Trump’s revenge docket, . . . the process is the punishment. Targets have to hire lawyers. It gets expensive & it’s stressful. . . . "Now, despite his losses in court, Trump is back on the offensive."

substack.com

Can the Sherman Act Be Used To Silence the Press?

Apparently, Trump’s DOJ thinks so.

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

"It's hard to look anywhere, from political corruption to corporate malfeasance to the barrage of everyday headlines, without feeling as if you've traveled into a fifth dimension, beyond that which is known to man." -- Alan @sepinwall.bsky.social, author of an upcoming book about Rod Serling

nytimes.com

Opinion | ‘The Twilight Zone’ Was a Warning America Ignored (Gift Article)

With “The Twilight Zone,” Rod Serling created a durable blueprint for understanding our surreal reality.

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

"Disgust, not fear, is the correct response to what this administration is trying to do "They're trying to interfere with our right to vote because they're afraid of us & the power of our votes to put them out of a job & create real oversight to hold them accountable" - @joycewhitevance.bsky.social

joycevance.substack.com

Random Stories. Or Are They?

Trump is calling in the election-denier faithful to meet with him in advance of the midterm elections.

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

@hcrichardson.bsky.social knows what's behind spinning the Iran War, calling for a public execution, attacking immigrants and a diesel deal with Russia.

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

Saying “new media” shows your age, posts Gen X communications exec @mattfrieds.bsky.social "Facebook memories have been popping up for as long as the time between Watergate & Gulf War I. . . . "Fox News turned 30 years old [this week] -- 11 years longer than Cronkite anchored the CBS Evening News."

tannerfriedman.com

Think About It: It's Not Really "New Media" Anymore - Tanner Friedman

If you think you’ve said something like “Now, with social media…,” as if it’s new, which is easy for those of us of a certain age to do, here’s something to think about: Facebook memories have been po...

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

If "Twilight Zone" creator Rod Sertling "could, like some of his characters, travel forward through time, he might be dismayed that so many of the problems he wrote about still aren't resolved decades later." -- Alan @sepinwall.bsky.social, TV critic and author of upcoming book about Rod Serling

nytimes.com

Opinion | ‘The Twilight Zone’ Was a Warning America Ignored (Gift Article)

With “The Twilight Zone,” Rod Serling created a durable blueprint for understanding our surreal reality.

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

"I'm happy to see those victories, because they are right. But I'm saddened at the same time, because the Department of Justice should do better." — James Pearce, former DOJ attorney, talking to @macfarlanenews.bsky.social about public interest work as a co-founder of the @washlitgroup.bsky.social

substack.com

The Comeback Kids: Jack Smith’s Legal Team Scores Series of Recent Victories

After years of being smeared and maligned, the former Jack Smith Special Counsel team is enjoying a big series of victories

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

2/ ". . . the dangers of humans being replaced by technology and the peril of conformity as a societal ideal in ways that still resonate. "Many episodes, when rewatched now, feel like they could have been written five minutes ago." -- @sepinwall.bsky.social at @nytopinion.nytimes.com

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

2/ ". . . the dangers of humans being replaced by technology and the peril of conformity as a societal ideal in ways that still resonate. "Many episodes, when rewatched now, feel like they could have been written five minutes ago." - @sepinwall.bsky.social at @nytopinion.nytimes.com ion.nytimes.com

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

"'The Twilight Zone' still seems so incredibly — and at times, depressingly — relevant. [Rod] Serling and his collaborators repeatedly and stealthily tackled such subjects as prejudice, creeping authoritarianism, . . ." -@sepinwall.bsky.social, TV critic & author of upcoming book about Serling [1/2]

nytimes.com

Opinion | ‘The Twilight Zone’ Was a Warning America Ignored (Gift Article)

With “The Twilight Zone,” Rod Serling created a durable blueprint for understanding our surreal reality.

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

"The president is out of control as the election looms. He will try to interfere with the votes we cast. He will try to discredit the press. . . . "It is all one story. It's the story we must pay attention to." -- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social

joycevance.substack.com

Random Stories. Or Are They?

Trump is calling in the election-denier faithful to meet with him in advance of the midterm elections.

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Reposted by Alan Stamm

Hillary Rodham Clinton @hillaryclinton.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

A barbaric idea, beneath our dignity as a country. Push back on this.

Trump admin wants to televise an execution

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

"Man, if the Justice Department still existed, you’d be in so much trouble." -- @michaelkosta.bsky.social, hosting @thedailyshow.com

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

"Trump [curses publicly] to thumb his nose at propriety. In this, he is like an 11-year-old, snapping towels at people in the locker room — and snapping them ever more to get a rise out of the people looking on." -- John McWhorter, Columbia University linguist, at @nytopinion.nytimes.com

nytimes.com

Opinion | What to Make of Trump’s Uptick in Profanity (Gift Article)

The president’s speech is getting filthier.

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

A timeless scene beyond politics. [via @semafor.com]

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Reposted by Alan Stamm

Alan Sepinwall @sepinwall.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

For The New York Times, I wrote about how Rod Serling create The Twilight Zone in part because it was the only way in the 1950 and 60s for him to comment on the subjects he cared about most, and how that's a good blueprint for contemporary media to deal with our surreal current moment:

nytimes.com

Opinion | ‘The Twilight Zone’ Created a Blueprint for Surviving Our Surreal Moment (Gift Article)

With “The Twilight Zone,” Rod Serling created a durable blueprint for understanding our surreal reality.

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

"On Oct. 7, 2016, in the run-up to the 2016 election, the Washington Post broke the story of the so-called 'Access Hollywood' tape, a video from 2005 in which Donald Trump told television host Billy Bush about his approach to women. . . . "Ten years we’ve been at this." — @hcrichardson.bsky.social

substack.com

October 7, 2026

On October 7, 2016, in the run-up to the 2016 election, the Washington Post broke the story of the so-called Access Hollywood tape, a video from 2005 in which Donald Trump told television host Billy B...

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

2/ ". . . — fight back, scream 'no,' get DNA under their fingernails, tell an outcry witness of their assault, rush first thing to the hospital without showering for a rape kit, even somehow capture the assault on camera — and the public at large would still find a way to blame her."

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

"The public's concerted focus on nitpicking the legality of the [Cornell] incident has eclipsed and deprioritized Jane Doe's humanity — which is not shocking in the least bit. . . . "A survivor could do everything 'right' . . . " - @cierastone.bsky.social at @contrariannews.org [1/2]

substack.com

We Are All Jane Doe

For young women, the alleged “Cornell Gang Rape” is not just a nightmare — it’s a danger that is always there.

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Hard to tell real news from the version at @theonion.com sometimes.

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

"We can recognize Trump and his minions' shrieking as the pathetic last yelps of a dying autocratic regime. . . . "It must be a turn-off for all those guys who thought they were getting a tough guy and instead received a feeble hysteric." — @jenrubin.bsky.social at @contrariannews.org

substack.com

Trump: the Whining, Weak Wimp

🚨 26 Days to the Midterms 🚨

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

"Trump and Hegseth began the war in Iran with rhetoric about our extreme military power. . . . Seven months on, we are still fighting. "Iran demonstrates that force is not a substitute for a clear political objective and an exit strategy." -- John F. Terzano, Vietnam veteran, at @contrariannews.org

contrariannews.org

‘Peace Through Strength?’ I Have Heard This Before

By John F. Terzano

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

This pre-election month, @joycewhitevance.bsky.social reinforces the tirle of her best-seller published last October: "Giving Up Is Unforgivable."

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

John Terzano, a Vietnam vet who recalls Peace w/ Honor, has "learned to be suspicious when political leaders attach reassuring slogans to war," he writes at @contrariannews.org. "I no longer judge our leaders by the slogans they use to sell a war. I judge them by whether they know how to end one."

contrariannews.org

‘Peace Through Strength?’ I Have Heard This Before

By John F. Terzano

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

"Hegseth can tell us how much we have destroyed. He can tell us how lethal our military has become. He can tell us how Iran's conventional forces have been battered "But he cannot answer the most important question: Why are we still at war?" -John F. Terzano, Vietnam veteran, at @contrariannews.org

contrariannews.org

‘Peace Through Strength?’ I Have Heard This Before

By John F. Terzano

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

“He is stone-cold nuts,” Jennifer Rubin posts at @contrariannews.org, adding:

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Ten years ago today, a month before Election Day, @nytopinion.nytimes.com ran a prescient warning: "We elect our presidents in the hope that they will do their best for us, including to try — whatever their flaws and ours — to represent the best in us. There is no such hope for Donald Trump."

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

"Responsible coverage would highlight his mental unfitness daily, provide ample extracts of rants, and play them back to Republicans' faces. "Conscientious journalists, at the very least, could stop calling unhinged rants ‘speeches' and vitriolic outbursts 'answers to interview questions.'"

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

2/ "When the president is the chief vulgarian in the country, it can be hard to apply any kind of standard. Trump uses, and seems to be normalizing, language that was not considered appropriate for a president or in politics, to say nothing of in the classroom."

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

"Vulgarity isn’t usually a reason to ban speech, but it can be different when you're at school. . . . "The Supreme Court has spoken, or rather, not spoken. At least in schools, if not in the Oval Office, vulgarity can be banned." -- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social [1/2]

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Alan Stamm @alanstamm.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

"The fact that he is openly using taxpayer money to buy votes in the election suggests just how worried Trump is about Democrats winning control of Congress in the upcoming midterms. "He has reason to be worried." -- @hcrichardson.bsky.social

substack.com

October 4, 2026

On Friday night, just before 11:00, Trump announced that his administration “will, immediately, begin sending ‘Checks’ of nearly $100 to over 20 MILLION wonderful Seniors to help pay for their Medicar...

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