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John McKenzie

@jwmckenzie.bsky.social
2K followers 419 following 2K posts

Father. Trial lawyer. Curious. Persistent. Posts are not legal advice. All views are mine alone.

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Reposted by John McKenzie
Steven T. Dennis @steventdennis.bsky.social · 14h
Nobody seems to want to take responsibility for ordering the code red on Starshield — controlled by the US — degrading Ukraine's air defenses without warning at a time when Russia was stepping up attacks on civilians and power stations. Bipartisan senators have asked DOD IG to investigate.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 22h
They wear masks for the same reason criminals wear masks: they do not want to be identified because it might lead to accountability.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
Zacharia’s appointment is downstream from many failures, both personal and systemic, but one of those failures is basic vetting.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 14/10/2026
The “othering” and fomenting of pitch forked mobs is once again set to 11.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 13/10/2026
The whole thread is insane.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
He never goes after a peer country or a powerful autocracy. He picks on allies like Canada and Denmark in endless domination plays. He wants to be crowned champion because he beat Kent State, Central Michigan, Ball State, etc.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
The press boycott had the purpose of increasing media competition by pressuring the administration to grant access to disfavored networks: which is the precise goal of the antitrust laws. Trump is invoking antitrust to argue you cannot coordinate to oppose Trump’s restraints on trade. Perverse! 3/3
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Trump restrains the trade of his enemies, both foreign and domestic, all the time. He uses trade to bully people into doing what he wants. That’s what he was doing here—doling out press credentials to favored networks and banning disfavored ones, thus restricting the trade of the disfavored. 2/
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
The boycott was organized to vindicate a constitutional right and is protected by the First Amendment. No antitrust action can lie. The “campaign was not intended to destroy legitimate competition.” But there is a huge irony: Trump is a living, breathing antitrust violation, though he is immune. 1/
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
Looking forward to the Miss Rachel-Coach Buchanan ticket in 2028.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 10/10/2026
She’s wearing a Primus t-shirt.
Grandmotherly protester wearing a Primus t-shirt escorted out of a Trump rally.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Eight years ago, during the Trump I midterm, Beto came within less than 3% of beating Ted Cruz. Cruz was a better candidate than Paxton is. Talarico is a better candidate for Texas than Beto was. Trump is less popular now than he was then. I honestly believe Talarico will win.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Asking a question that Markwayne doesn’t like = fake news. The question was totally fair, asks about his official decision-making, and touches upon a matter of public concern. But setting all that aside, asking a question is not “news,” much less “fake news.” His answers are the news.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
The beauty of all these debates is that finally incumbents are called to the public square to defend Trump and their association with him, and they cannot do it.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
I oppose the death penalty in all cases. But what she did was absolutely horrific. She also was later convicted of attempted murder for trying to kill another inmate. The only mitigating factors were her youth and her childhood trauma. But nothing completely mitigates what she did.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
This will have zero impact. People feel $6/gal diesel. Abstract, made-up investment figures are worse than useless. It makes people feel that someone else is getting rich while they barely scrape by.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
On what authority? As a constitutional matter, this Congress ends after 2 years, meaning Johnson’s power within that Congress also ends. He is the speaker of a nullity. It’s like a wedding planner of one wedding, but not the next wedding, at a venue refusing to seat the DJ for the second wedding.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Trump is finished, imo. So many in the GOP are breaking from him on immigration and trade. In the past he would punish dissent like this with mean tweets, but he is quiet as a mouse now—too scared of losing Congress. Cults of personality cannot survive open public dissent like this.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I am sorry. Your dad was a sociopath (and probably mentally ill). It must have been terrifying to grow up in the shadow of his rage and abuse—every day filled with anxiety about when he would ambush you with still more abuse. He even used email to abuse you from afar later in life.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Welcome to my grunge dojo*, where the musical lineup will make you feel like you are in the mosh pit of Lollapalooza 1992. *2019 Honda Odyssey minivan
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
One peril of being ensconced among like-minded decision-makers is that you grow accustomed to winning arguments without successfully rebutting your adversary. Without practice, the capacity to rebut diminishes as well.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I’m not sure the fact-checking was terribly rigorous.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I am less than convinced by this distinction. The actual test articulated in Dobbs was an unenumerated right could stand if it is “deeply rooted in this Nation's history and tradition.” Obergefell obviously fails that test. Which shows Dobbs was just an anti-abortion decision, pure and simple.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Court expansion is a lawful way that Congress can restrain the Court, as the founders intended. Every branch must answer to the others. That type of “intimidation” was baked into the system by design.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I beg your pardon?
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Can you imagine going on stage in front of thousands of people and saying you have among the highest IQs anywhere in the world? It’s crazy to think this about yourself. And it is crazy squared to declare it on stage at a rally.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Maybe he thought Cotton wanted to follow the iconic example of Mike Jones, who can be reached at 281-330-8004.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Much of my careers consists of navigating disagreements over the interpretation of language agreed to 5-10 years predispute. There is no shared, unimpeachable consensus among drafters even at the time language is drafted. Pretending such a consensus exists is naive at best.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
This stance has me questioning whether he has the lateral quickness to compete in the NFL.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Sometimes, a collab has the internet going nuts. But, with only modest effort, the internet has managed to maintain its sanity over the collab pictured below.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Pro tip: if you pretend things happened that didn’t actually happen, you can “solve” many problems.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
If there is a branding lane for “the cheese loving lawyer,” I am prepared to fill it.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Two questions that immediately set all passengers at ease.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
What I find inspiring is the deep, genuine affection that they have for each other—a bond that politics cannot break.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
She does pair well with the occasion of passing the bar. It’s Pinot Noir and salmon. They just go well together.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Yasssssss!
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
I am in the 2nd category (I know nothing more than his name). Will I lift a finger to learn more about him? Lol, no. Why on earth would I try to understand why right wing trolls have decided to make someone an antagonist? It will be 100% bad faith, and they will soon shift to a new antagonist.
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Reposted by John McKenzie
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This is the 59th death in ICE detention since Trump took office.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
One problem with the Hasan Piker line of attacks is that maybe 98% of humanity is unaware he exists, and of those who have heard of his existence, approximately 90% know nothing more than his name.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
He deserves impeachment if his approval were 80%. But now it is imperative as a moral, legal, AND political matter if Dems regain the House.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I suspect, but don’t know, that a stance like this would raise eyebrows at the NFL Scouting Combine.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This is an incredibly stupid cross examination question. The witness is never going to give you a clean yes or no on this. They will provide context and make the question and questioner look stupid.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
As you can see, the economy would have to get a 500% return on the $10 money returned to taxpayers for the government to break even on tax revenue. That’s not possible, especially where the government spends every cent it takes in (and then some) while wealthy taxpayers do not. 2/
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Tax cuts cannot pay for themselves. It’s called “math” and basic economics. Suppose $100 profit/income and 30% tax rate. That means $30 in taxes. Now suppose we lower taxes to 20%. We get $10 less in taxes. How much growth is needed to make up that $10? You need $50 in growth: $150 x 20% = $30 1/
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Just asking questions, folks. “Hawks” and “Hawkeyes” may seem like different team names, but we don’t have to accept whatever “Big Dictionary” tries to spoon feed us.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
That’s my move. That’s how I signal: “do you really want to step to this?”
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I struggle to accept that someone who has served as a Senator for decades is this naive. Which causes me to suspect that she is misstating or understating her actual beliefs. It’s reminiscent of her adamant defense of Kavanaugh on Roe, which also reflected an implausible degree of naïveté.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
This is the part of the story that never made it into that Whitney Houston cover of “I Will Always Love You.”
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The exotic legal theory that consumer protection laws can form the basis of liability for running or publishing inaccurate polls has met its inevitable demise. Maybe Seltzer will file a malicious prosecution claim. But the more likely outcome is that she moves on with her life.
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John McKenzie @jwmckenzie.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
The federal tort claims act exists for claims like this. It’s not anywhere close to full justice, but there needs to be accountability.
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