Sign in

billejzak.bsky.social

@billejzak.bsky.social
350 followers 126 following 1.1K posts

Husband, father to 3 adult sons, grandfather, lawyer, Chicagoan and Democrat. Like Michael Bloomberg, I know a con when I see one.

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
MAKS 26 👀🇺🇦 @maks23.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
VERY BIG TOP NEWS TODAY 🔝 🔥 Novoshakhtinsky oil terminal in Rostov on fire! ⚡️ Samara LVDS Hit Again Today ✈️ Overnight, drones and balloons detained over 300 flights in Moscow. 🚆 Governor of the Rostov region writes about the damaged railway bridge.
12686110
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Regime Change and Corruption – a conversation with @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu snyder.substack.com/p/regime-cha...
snyder.substack.com
Regime Change and Corruption with Anne Applebaum
A recording from Timothy Snyder's live video
7540182
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 12/10/2026
There is, writes @davidfrum.bsky.social, an "implicit quid pro quo in these lucrative deals offered to Trump’s family and friends: If you compel Ukraine to surrender, we will enrich you beyond reckoning" www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...
theatlantic.com
Trump Is an Easy Mark for Putin
The president’s diesel deal sells out Ukraine, and does nothing for Americans.
791684736
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 11/10/2026
LOL Ukraine hit a Russian data center and Russian bot activity immediately dropped to practically zero. Elon is mad hahahahahaha
586132833392
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 12/10/2026
"The amount of fuel Russia could export is too small, the impact on pricing too slight, the narrative too late to shape electoral outcomes: This looks, instead, like something very different: an abrupt, Hail Mary attempt to force Ukraine to surrender" www.theatlantic.com/idea/2026/10...
theatlantic.com
Trump’s Message to Ukraine Is Now Crystal Clear
The president’s actions over the past 72 hours look like an effort to force Kyiv to surrender.
1332220997
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Paul Waldman @paulwaldman.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Trump wanted to create an economy in which manly men would get manly jobs doing manly things. The exact opposite is happening. My latest as MS NOW: www.ms.now/opinion/trum...
ms.now
The unmanly truth about Trump’s jobs record
There is a yawning gap between what the president promised and what he has delivered — especially for young men who hoped he would improve their lives.
35312
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I really wouldn't mind if Pope Bob excommunicated all the fascist Catholics on SCOTUS.
271388198
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
WIRED: “Census Bureau Overrun With Staffers From a MAGA Think Tank — home to vast troves of sensitive data on nearly every person, used for drawing congressional districts + allocating federal funding…” Nothing to see here, folks! 😕🤷🏼
wired.com
The Census Bureau Is Overrun With Staffers From a MAGA Think Tank
The US Census is home to vast troves of sensitive data on nearly every person living in the country, which is used for apportioning and drawing congressional districts as well as allocating federal fu...
38946535
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Kat O’Brien @lavidagata.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
A clan of predators, supporting revolutionary allies from illiberal parties and nations, and getting rich in the process. A must-read @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu on this new, far worse United States.
administration's reckoning, he had two strikes against him: First, de Moraes's court was trying Bolsonaro; second, he had provoked the ire of Elon Musk, Trump's largest election donor. De Moraes "needs to leave," Musk said, comparing him to Voldemort, after de Moraes threatened to fine X and ordered it to block accounts accused of spreading disinformation.
The crisis was novel in other ways too. In normal times, the Brazilian government is reasonably well connected in Washington, regardless of who runs either country. The tenth-largest economy in the world, Brazil cooperates extensively with U.S. law enforcement and regional organizations. Yet at this crucial moment, with billions of dollars in the balance and Brazil's sovereign democracy under attack, Brazilian officials suddenly found that nobody in the Trump administration would speak to the formal representatives of their left-leaning president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Brazil's ambassador to Washington found herself isolated. The foreign minister, a diplomat who had known U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for decades, could not get through to anyone. A junior official told me that even his graduate-school classmate at the U.S. Treasury would not answer his calls.A truce was finally arranged, multiple people told me, with the help of Joesley Batista, a billionaire whose meatpacking company does business in both the U.S. and Brazil, and whose American subsidiary had donated $5 million to Trump's inauguration (more than the contributions of Amazon, Meta, and Google combined). Batista had no official government role, but his money may have given him the clout to influence Trump's meetings with Lula at the 2025 United Nations General Assembly, in New York City, and at a summit in Kuala Lumpur, where the two elderly populists, each with grievances against their respective establishments, hit it off. The tariffs were reduced.
The détente was temporary. When I visited São Paulo and Brasilia this past spring, the State Department had just appointed a new senior adviser on Brazil policy. Before working for the administration, Darren Beattie founded Revolver News, a website that promoted the "Fedsurrection" conspiracy-the belief that federal agents were behind the riots on January 6, an obsession that would naturally appeal to Brazil's election deniers and displease the elected president. When Beattie asked to visit Brazil for a minerals conference, the Brazilian government refused to grant him a visa, in part because it suspected that his true purpose was to visit Jair Bolsonaro,Slowly, the Brazilians were learning the same lesson as other American allies around the
world: The United States of America is no longer the entity they knew. And American power is no longer deployed solely by trained diplomats and reliable officials, working through state channels. Informal envoys, private companies, online grifters, and hardened ideologues both inside and outside the government matter more.
Unlike their predecessors, these people do not talk about spreading democracy, and don't want to build long-term relationships.
They don't care about America's reputation.
They are deploying the tools of American diplomacy and government for their own purposes, to promote their own business interests or their own ideological goals, because, suddenly, they can.
3276103
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 14/09/2026
Online grifters, private companies, and far-right ideologues have transformed traditional American diplomacy, @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu writes. She explores how they’re wielding their newfound power:
bit.ly
Donald Trump’s Empire of Grift
Far-right ideologues have transformed American foreign policy into a tool of private gain and antidemocratic reaction.
11554264
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Jacob Öberg @profjacob.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
🚨🚨 #MAGA is making the world safe for #corruption. Strong piece by @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu on how far-right ideologies have transformed #American #foreignpolicy into a tool of private gain and anti-democratic reaction. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...
theatlantic.com
MAGA Is Making the World Safe for Corruption
Far-right ideologues have transformed American foreign policy into a tool of private gain and antidemocratic reaction.
3289125
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Kim Lane Scheppele @kimlanelaw.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
How the midterms could be stolen - a warning. judgeluttig327269.substack.com/p/january-3-...
judgeluttig327269.substack.com
January 3, 2027 - The Final Battle for America’s Democracy
House Republicans are poised to claim that the midterm elections were stolen from them when they meet on January 3 to decide which Members-elect will be seated in the 120th Congress
02718
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 13/09/2026
This is a major escalation - Russian drone attacks on trains right at the Polish border
44974448
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Alan Richardson @alanrichardson.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Also incorrect—you pledge allegiance to the Constitution, the legal framework of the nation
2327
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Car deB 🇪🇺 🌻 @cartinedeb.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
A long, likely not complete, list of ties between Germany's AfD party and Russia, posted by @vatniksoup.bsky.social on that musk-rat site. It's highly worrying that someone like Dumb congratulated 'Alternatives' with their recent win. @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu @olgalautman.bsky.social
11313132
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 12/09/2026
On the Trump administration's "sweeping campaign to control speech in America" through lawsuits, regulation and threats: www.nytimes.com/2026/09/12/u...
nytimes.com
How Trump Is Wielding Power to Stifle Speech (Gift Article)
President Trump has harnessed agencies across the government to curtail press freedoms, a sweeping campaign that free speech advocates say will have lasting effects.
13536229
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
The other day I argued Iran was just bleeding out the US to benefit China and Russia. This lays this out: Inducing the US to blow through its interceptors Forcing the US to withdraw from the Middle East
40684277
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 07/09/2026
Not BREAKING NEWS because the Trump admin has been deleting and altering federal datasets for over a year. You can argue about policy. But when the government starts eliminating the data we use to determine whether those policies are actually working, that deserves a hell of a lot more attention.
15430911785
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
With all this white fear, it’s no wonder Musk decimated USAID, an agency that did much to keep non-white people overseas healthy and alive.
73596129
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
He’s definitely not a compassionate conservative.
33361134
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Bravo.
1014721
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Jen Rubin @jenrubin.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Legal update on USPS case: why it is so important substack.com/@jenrubincon...
substack.com
Jennifer Rubin (@jenrubincontrarian)
SPECIAL LEGAL UPDATE: District Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts issued a 49-page preliminary injunction (superseding her https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/federal-judge-wont-lift-tempo...
215646
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
ProPublica @propublica.org · 05/09/2026
Maricopa County, Arizona, often sends out more than 2 million ballots in its initial mailing. Under new regulations ordered by Trump, it’s possible that one ballot with a bad barcode or wrong voter information could delay the entire batch.
propublica.org
New Mail Voting Rules Moved Forward Despite USPS Officials’ Concerns About Mass Disenfranchisement
In internal meetings, officials worried the rules they were drafting could delay or block ballots from reaching large swaths of eligible voters for the upcoming midterms.
74941507
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Mark Jacob @markjacob.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Congratulations to the New York Times' Euphemism Desk for coming up with a new one. Instead of stating that Maria Bartiromo was letting her guests lie, NYT says she was "permitting her guest commentators to free-associate." 1/2🧵
He had no such issues with Ms. Bartiromo, whose approach — at times permitting guest commentators to free-associate on live television — had not appeared to change much in the years since the Dominion settlement. Puck, a news website, earlier reported on Ms. Bartiromo’s conversations with Mr. Navarro.
531122325
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
loreleikelly @loreleikelly.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
re: Yosemite. The Trump regime is a protection racket, a mafia. The regime's depravity will end in November if we have a successful election. This is why they are going to disrupt the election when it comes time to seat the new members (in Jan 2027) They will contest seats by disputing the count.
1195
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Kim Lane Scheppele @kimlanelaw.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Here's the fake science: health.gov/hhs-releases...
health.gov
HHS Releases Study Finding Individuals Who Associate with Left-Wing Authoritarian Beliefs and Radical Gender Ideology Are More Likely to Justify Political Violence | Health.gov
WASHINGTON, D.C. — AUGUST 26, 2026 — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today released a commissioned study that found individuals who believed in radical gender ideology were more...
2214
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Kim Lane Scheppele @kimlanelaw.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Our military is flashing red signalling (even in the context of repression) that our current leadership is leading us into unsustainable territory and weakening national security. charlotteclymer.substack.com/p/our-genera...
charlotteclymer.substack.com
Our Generals Have No Confidence in Hegseth
It is abundantly clear.
37635
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Kim Lane Scheppele @kimlanelaw.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
The Trump administration is building the case for cracking down on the left by commissioning a study that contradicts everything else we know about political violence in the US, which comes overwhelmingly from the right. Here's the real science: www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/the...
journalofdemocracy.org
The Rise of Political Violence in the United States | Journal of Democracy
In a deeply polarized United States, ordinary people now consume and espouse once-radical ideas and are primed to commit violence.
211558
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Ghislaine Hull @ghizzybear.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
376152054781
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Marc Elias @marcelias.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
This is a real sentence from DOJ's legal filing this weekend: "although ballot mail does not present the same operational issues as cremated remains or replica explosives, it is sensitive mail that raises unique operational considerations."
27132051014
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Hoodlum 🇺🇸 @nothoodlum.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Peter Thiel is getting a very cold reception outside his new mansion in the exclusive Barrio Parque neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Argentinians are chanting: “Out, out, Peter out.”
1275246886333
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Walmart spent $43.4B on stock buybacks from 2019 to 2025, enough to give each of its 2.1M workers annual bonuses of $2,953. Last year, retiring CEO Doug McMillon pocketed $29.2M — his largest payday ever and 958x Walmart's median worker pay of $30,520. Textbook corporate greed.
334105143898
billejzak.bsky.social @billejzak.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Breaking: Trump signs Executive Order renaming himself, Sun King Trump, saying, I've been thinking for a while that "President" isn't good enough. And while I'm at it, I'm renaming the month of July, "Trumptober" since I'm easily greater than Julius Caesar.
000
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
JUST IN: Judge Engelmayer denies Ghislaine Maxwell's bid for release from prison, saying her claims of "new evidence" that undermines her guilt are frivolous/meritless. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
501669434
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Reuters: U.S. JUDGE REJECTS GHISLAINE MAXWELL'S RENEWED BID TO THROW OUT CONVICTION, 20-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE FOR AIDING JEFFREY EPSTEIN'S SEXUAL ABUSE
872609586
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
orangecatstargrep.bsky.social @orangecatstargrep.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
One hopes the judge who reviews this “dismissal with prejudice in the interest of justice” will actually demand a full accounting of all the BS that the AG allowed in the MN case. The article a a great read, and the actual deposition show just staggering corruption and brazen lying by HSI/CBP.
09132
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Mark Histed @markhisted.org · 23/08/2026
“I’ve sat on this bench now for 40 years, and I’ve never seen government racial discrimination like this.” - Reagan-appointed judge, in the NIH case on canceling academic grants related to diversity and inclusion. Did we miss the letter then about this impingement on academic freedom?
propublica.org
Federal Judge Deems Trump Administration’s Termination of NIH Grants Illegal
In a ruling issued Monday, the judge called the government’s directives “arbitrary and capricious” and ordered funding for some of the NIH grants, including many profiled by ProPublica in recent month...
27835
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 14/08/2026
The Trump administration gives a green light to crooks. Casey Michel explains: www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
A Green Light for Crooks
The Treasury has made the American economy a safe space for corruption.
27587277
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Alan Jagolinzer @jagolinzer.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
I talked about “mafia states” in European Parliament last year. My sense is their power is proliferating and they are coordinating across boundaries, as described well in @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu’s book “Autocracy, Inc.” youtu.be/y3QKtwFis-o?...
youtu.be
Prof Jagolinzer discusses the concept of Mafia States. Audio from testimony to EU Parliament
YouTube video by Cambridge Disinformation Summit
521379
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Joe Roberts 🔥💙🔥🐸 @robbyjoe.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
He didn’t change. They did.
7831991812855
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
This idiotic tweet reminds me of when a friend and I visited Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta. Founded in 1850, it reveals a fascinating history. We noticed how many gravestones were for infants. And for many young sibling dying in the same week. We realized that it was before vaccines and antibiotics.
1229125502988
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Rep. Mike Levin @levin.house.gov · 07/08/2026
$4 BILLION. That’s how much the Trump Administration has now spent paying companies to cancel offshore wind projects that would have lowered your electric bill. Yes, you heard that right: they are PAYING to keep more energy off the grid and your bills higher.
nytimes.com
Trump Administration to Pay RWE to Cancel Wind Leases
It was the fifth such deal struck by the administration to get companies to drop offshore wind projects.
27743892315
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Dan Diamond @ddiamond.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
BREAKING - federal appeals panel orders halt to Trump's ballroom construction “Each President is a temporary tenant, not the owner, of the White House and its Executive Residence,” Judges Millett and Garcia wrote in majority opinion Order is paused for 2 weeks so Trump can appeal to SCOTUS
washingtonpost.com
Trump must halt ballroom construction, appeals court says
The order will take effect in two weeks, allowing the White House to appeal to the Supreme Court
21497152
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Adam Klasfeld @klasfeldreports.com · 04/08/2026
"Reluctantly," a federal judge dismisses the Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy cases. Trump DOJ "excuses criminal acts that caused a centuries-long pillar of our democracy—the peaceful transfer of presidential power—to buckle." "The court cannot write a different ending," he adds. buff.ly/NvVKnaW
This is the last of the prosecutions seeking to hold accountable those responsible for the events of January 6. That book is now closed. Today’s epilogue diminishes the gravity of that day, denigrates the work of the prosecutors and law enforcement officers who secured these convictions, and excuses criminal acts that caused a centuries-long pillar of our democracy—the peaceful transfer of presidential power—to buckle. The court cannot write a different ending.
22609244
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
House Judiciary Dems @democrats-judiciary.house.gov · 03/08/2026
NEW: Blanche’s empty promises do nothing to kill Trump's slush fund, stop the flow of money to convicted J6 felons and MAGA allies, or end the Trump family Super Pardon. Read RM @raskin.house.gov's full statement here: democrats-judiciary.house.gov/media-center...
democrats-judiciary.house.gov
Ranking Member Raskin’s Statement: Blanche’s Empty Promises Do Nothing to Kill Slush Fund, Stop the Flow of Money to Convicted J6 Felons and MAGA Allies, or End Trump Family Super Pardon
Washington, D.C. (August 3, 2026)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Committee on the Judiciary, issued the following statement after Senators John Cornyn and Thom Tillis received a...
411059
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Niko Bowie @nikobowie.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
This state supreme court opinion pulls no punches: “This court does not anchor Hawaiʻi’s due process rights to the federal floor. Especially one that keeps sinking. . . . State constitutionalism makes it easy to consider Roberts Court jurisprudence ‘white noise.’”
171765445
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 17/07/2026
Rep. Himes: "The president was setting the basis for him to turn around on election night and say, 'I warned you that the Chinese were doing x, y, and z. It happened tonight. I'm deploying federal officers from DHS to 7 states. They will be seizing ballot boxes.'"
466103234013
Reposted by @billejzak.bsky.social
Oliver Willis @owillis.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
"The language used by the Trump administration echoes language long used by white supremacist movements both in the United States and abroad." www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...
dailykos.com
Trump’s plans for racist renovations to the Smithsonian are unbelievable
The Trump administration’s campaign to whitewash American history and advance white supremacy took another step forward with the release of its report attacking the Smithsonian National Museum of…
18836