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Joe McLean

@jwmclean.bsky.social
736 followers 108 following 5K posts

Recovering career political campaign hack, Harley-Davidson long rider. Trying desperately to be retired.

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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 01/11/2025
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
nytimes.com
Opinion | In Trump’s America, Are We Losing Our Democracy?
Donald Trump has wielded power as no previous president has.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
But our country could still lose.
economist.com
Donald Trump is trying to silence his critics. He will fail
But the country could still lose
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Most likely, Trump's own staff tripped a safety switch.
newsguardrealitycheck.com
Did The UN Sabotage Trump’s Escalator? Nope.
PLUS: A Simple Trick to Track Down a Video’s Origins
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
The mad king does what he wants— openly weaponizing the DOJ and more broadly turning his administration’s policies into a cash cow for his family and friends.
thedailybeast.com
Trump Is Hiding His Cankles. But Not His Corruption
The mad king does what he wants— openly weaponizing the DOJ and more broadly turning his administration’s policies into a cash cow for his family and friends.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
The Trump regime is now officially a dictatorship. And he's getting away with it.
meidasplus.com
Justice Collapses Under Trump’s Shadow
Comey’s fall isn’t about justice. It’s about Trump turning law into a weapon, a spectacle designed to punish enemies and terrify anyone daring to oppose him.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Either Trump is lying, or he really believes this BS about Tylenol. My question is, "Which is worse, lying or deliberate ignorance?"
politifact.com
Trump is wrong about Tylenol use in pregnancy
President Donald Trump said “there's no downside” to avoiding Tylenol use while pregnant. Tylenol is one of the only safe and studied options for treating pain and fever during pregnancy. Untreated f...
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
Yes, voters care about Freedom of Speech. And they're waking up to Trump's threats to our Democracy.
poll.qu.edu
Nearly 8 In 10 Voters Say The United States Is In A Political Crisis, Quinnipiac University National Poll Finds; Optimism Sinks For Freedom Of Speech Being Protected In The U.S. | Quinnipiac Univers...
"The Kirk assassination lays bare raw, bipartisan concerns about where the country is headed," said Quinnipiac University Polling Analyst Tim Malloy.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
We're officially living in a dictatorship. But Trump may have bitten off more than he can chew in going after Soros.
nytimes.com
Justice Dept. Official Pushes Prosecutors to Investigate George Soros’s Foundation
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
All Of The Most Dire Warnings About The Supreme Court's Immunity Decision Are Coming True
share.newsbreak.com
All Of The Most Dire Warnings About The Supreme Court's Immunity Decision Are Coming True - NewsBreak
Trump's pressure campaign to prosecute his political foes is exactly what conservative justices authorized in their infamous Trump v. U.S. decision.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Of America’s ten poorest states, seven are under complete Republican control, while eight of the ten wealthiest states have Democratic governors. Draw your own conclusions.
share.newsbreak.com
Republicans Run 8 of America’s 10 Poorest States. Maybe They Should Stop. - NewsBreak
The correlation between party control and state prosperity is hardly unsurprising for people paying attention. They paint a clear picture that Republicans
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Republicans tossed out House election results more than twice as often as Democrats, mostly during Reconstruction and the Jim Crow era. In 2026, it would only take a few election-denying Republicans in to gin up phony accusations of vote rigging and put control of Congress in a contested state.
thebulwark.com
The Dirty Move Republicans Could Pull to Keep the House
Election-denying Trump allies could use a rare procedural maneuver to overturn a Democratic midterm win in 2026.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
First, he ousted a U.S. attorney who failed to file charges against his enemies. Then he demanded — in public — that his attorney general go after his adversaries and replacing the career prosecutor who did not meet his demands with an inexperienced loyalist.
nytimes.com
Despite Trump’s Pressure on Justice Dept., Certain Safeguards Are Beyond His Reach
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Donald Trump, like the Bourbon dynasty, has “learned nothing and forgotten nothing.” His defining features—aside from narcissism—are his willful, cringeworthy ignorance and his unremitting hunger for vengeance. Both have been on humiliating display of late.
contrarian.substack.com
‘Learned Nothing and Forgotten Nothing’
Trump’s ignorance and hatreds continue to define his presidency
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Spoiler alert: Almost nothing true came out of his mouth.
politifact.com
Fact-checking Trump’s combative UN speech
In his speech at the United Nations, President Donald Trump offered misleading claims about ending 7 wars, renewable energy and his economic record.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Yes, this article is satire. But it's also so very true.
borowitzreport.com
Hugo Chavez Loses Spot in Guinness Book for Most Batshit UN Speech
“We never saw this coming," a Guinness spokesperson admitted.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
To say the speech was insane, would distract from how packed with lies it was. How ignorant it was. How much damage it did to our standing in the world—it marked a low point in America’s relationship with the United Nations and the international order we helped create in the wake of World War II.
thedailybeast.com
Trump’s UN Address Was a Tragedy of Shakespearian Proportions
Of course, the president’s main messages today were ones of irrationality and instability, so who knows what the plot points and soliloquies will be tomorrow or next week.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
The states' authority to define and limit corporate powers has been hiding in plain sight, gathering dust for more than a century, simply because no one thought to look its way. Until now.
usatoday.com
Americans want dark money out of politics. We don't have to wait for Supreme Court. | Opinion
Corporations are not born; they are built. And the Supreme Court has always held that the power to build them belongs to states alone.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Trump delivered a screed of racist attacks, anti-science drivel, and cheap self-promotion. He ranted against immigration, warned Europeans they were “destroying their heritage,” and declared green energy was a “con job” invented by “stupid people.” He even used the moment to hawk his campaign hats.
meidasplus.com
Trump Shreds America’s Global Standing
At the United Nations, Trump replaced statesmanship with hate, turning America from trusted leader into global punchline; and leaving the world to move forward without us.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
The FCC now has one job: dress up Project 2025 partisan hackery as “communications regulation” and “decency.” In the Trump era, the FCC became one more weapon in the MAGA arsenal; a place to shake down networks, threaten licenses, and bully executives into compliance with the whims of Dear Leader.
therickwilson.substack.com
Mickey To MAGA: Drop Dead
Why Kimmel's return matters.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 24/09/2025
Trump is trying to force a government shutdown. But why?
cnn.com
Trump cancels meeting with Democratic leaders, deepening risk of government shutdown as funding deadline looms | CNN Politics
President Donald Trump scrapped a White House meeting with top congressional Democrats later this week, as the threat of a government shutdown looms over Washington.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
This means every news outlet except NBC will be a Trump regime mouthpiece. Picture all Fox, all the time.
nytimes.com
Opinion | The Billionaire Trump Supporter Who Will Soon Own the News
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Reposted by Joe McLean
Kaitlin Is Just Getting Started @gothamgirlblue.com · 23/09/2025
Just went from a post explaining how to punish Sinclair for keeping Kimmel off the air (calling companies that advertise on their affiliates) to a post about Tylenol defending itself on its website, and holy shit we are ruled by corporations
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
RFK's advisors.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Ellison believes humanity would greatly benefit from a surveillance society governed by an all-seeing system of artificial intelligence. "Citizens will be on their best behavior because we're constantly recording and reporting everything that is going on." - THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MINUTE.
open.substack.com
Billionaire surveillance enthusiast set to acquire TikTok's US operations
In the near future, Larry Ellison, an 81-year-old tech oligarch, could be in control of one of the world's most powerful media empires.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Trump and RFK: One part junk science, two parts incompetent government, and with a dash of blasphemy, for seasoning.
thebulwark.com
Autism, MAHA, and the Face of God
One part junk science, two parts incompetent government, and with a dash of blasphemy, for seasoning.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Absoutely right.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Lying in the face of actual video evidence.
thedailybeast.com
Leavitt Busted Telling Untruths About Homan’s $50K Sting
Administration officials have given conflicting accounts of whether Trump’s border czar accepted a $50,000 payment.
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Reposted by Joe McLean
Florida Chris @chrislongview.bsky.social · 22/09/2025
a big reason the Disney thing is important is that in the most visible fight the administration has picked, a fight they celebrated winning, ended up as a loss. it's embarrassing and demoralizing. it also shows non-political folks that the pendulum can swing back. that emboldens all of us to fight.
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Reposted by Joe McLean
Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Jimmy Kimmel isn't returning to the airwaves because of "thoughtful conversations" with Disney executives. He's back because consumers sent Disney a clear message: selling out our fundamental rights is not an acceptable cost of doing business.
youtube.com
Why Corporate Media is Bending the Knee
YouTube video by Robert Reich
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Reposted by Joe McLean
Just Jack @just-jack-1.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Look, it’s Heroin and Adderall ganging up on Tylenol.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
There is ABSOLUTELY NO SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE to support this.
washingtonpost.com
Trump administration set to tie Tylenol to autism risk, officials say
The Trump administration plans to tie Tylenol to autism risk while touting another drug, leucovorin, as a potential autism treatment.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
After cuts to food stamps, Trump administration ends government's annual report on hunger in America
share.newsbreak.com
After cuts to food stamps, Trump administration ends government's annual report on hunger in America - NewsBreak
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is ending the federal government’s annual report on hunger in America , stating that it had become “overly polit
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
A once-in-a-generation economic crisis in rural America means this year could be the last one for many farmers as Trump-Xi call offers no relief
share.newsbreak.com
A once-in-a-generation economic crisis in rural America means this year could be the last one for many farmers as Trump-Xi call offers no relief - NewsBreak
A survey from the National Corn Growers Association showed that 46% believe the U.S. is on the brink of a farm crisis, and another 33% said maybe.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
We cancelled Disney/ABC. So should you.
newsweek.com
Disney Plus subscribers quit in droves over Jimmy Kimmel axe
Kimmel's show was suspended after he made remarks about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
How ambiguities in the law gave Trump power he could seize—and what a future Congress can do about it.
thebulwark.com
Reining in Rogue Presidents
How ambiguities in the law gave Trump power he could seize—and what a future Congress can do about it.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
Trump's America is not popular with tourists.
economist.com
Have foreign tourists really avoided America this year?
Our analysis of whether the country is losing its international appeal among holidaymakers
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
Trump is trying to harness outrage over the rightwing activist’s killing to crush legitimate dissent.
theguardian.com
How Trump is seizing on Charlie Kirk’s killing for a campaign of vengeance
The Trump administration is trying to harness outrage over the rightwing activist’s killing to crush dissent, experts say
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Did you vote for this lunacy? Me neither.
politico.com
CDC vaccine advisers: Remove blanket recommendation for Covid-19 shot for older Americans
After a deadlock, the vaccine panel voted not to advise states to require a prescription for Covid shots.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Well, DUH! Of course he did. But nobody will hold him accountable. Even if Kimmel sues and wins, the MAGA "Supreme" Court will let Trump off.
nytimes.com
In Pressuring ABC Over Kimmel, Trump May Have Crossed a Constitutional Line
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
American elections are secure, despite MAGA voter suppression lies.
brennancenter.org
Advocates for Strict Voting Requirements Can’t Find Evidence of Noncitizen Voting
Not surprisingly, a state investigation found that it's American citizens who vote in Louisiana.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
51 percent of Republican voters say the country is heading in the wrong direction, up from 26 percent in March.
thedailybeast.com
Republicans Say Country Not Heading in the Right Direction
New polls indicate that Republican opinions have soured following the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 19/09/2025
Americans are paying attention. And we're not happy.
washingtonpost.com
Most Americans critical of Trump on crime, economy and other issues, poll finds
The Post-Ipsos survey paints a downbeat picture of Trump’s presidency, as Americans disapprove of his performance by double-digit margins on a broad range of issues.
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Reposted by Joe McLean
Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 18/09/2025
This is the playbook, folks. If you're not paying attention now and doing something about it, then you're going to have to sit down the rest of your life because democracy is being taken away. Do not be quiet in this moment.
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Reposted by Joe McLean
Jeff Yarbro @jeffyarbro.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Here’s the deal. Regardless of what Kimmel said, ABC made this decision only in response to an overt threat from the government. That’s not how America is supposed to work. The government isn’t supposed to control who gets to talk.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Do you think Trump even realized they were insulting him?
threads.com
Mille💫 (@mill.sni) on Threads
The British Guard welcomed U.S.President “Farty-7” with Darth Vader’s theme song. 😭😂 I’m sorry. But it’s just too funny not to laugh.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Well, it's how things work under the Trump regime.
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Stefan Zweig's The World of Yesterday warned of complacency in the face of creeping authoritarianism. But Trump's authoritarian takeover isn't creeping. It's galloping at breakneck speed, and we're all getting run over in the stampede.
spytalk.co
A 1940s German Novel that Speaks to Today
Stefan Zweig's The World of Yesterday warned of complacency in the face of creeping authoritarianism
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
“Republicans are spiking health insurance premiums by 75% for everyday Americans” if they don’t extend enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies.
politifact.com
If ACA enhanced subsidies end, would premiums rise 75%?
In the fight over preventing an Oct. 1 government shutdown, a key point of debate is whether a funding extension should include renewal of Affordable Care Act subsidies. Are Democrats correct that if ...
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Joe McLean @jwmclean.bsky.social · 17/09/2025
ederal agents have been taken off drug trafficking to stop immigration, and cocaine is flooding the American market.
thedailybeast.com
Trump’s Anti-Immigration Campaign Has Made Cocaine Cheaper
Federal agents have been taken off drug trafficking to stop immigration, and cocaine is flooding the American market.
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