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man-in-the-arena.bsky.social

@man-in-the-arena.bsky.social
312 followers 93 following 947 posts

US Army Veteran Federal civil servant Pro-Democracy, Anti-Fascist Lefty

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by @man-in-the-arena.bsky.social
Nicole Tersigni @nicsigni.bsky.social · 30/08/2025
is this good
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L @banalplay.bsky.social · 30/08/2025
I am not kidding even a little about the necessity of starting with Reconstruction 2 if there is to be any hope of making this a country worthy of survival.
thedailybeast.com
Hegseth Puts Up Painting of Confederate General With a Chilling Detail at West Point
The move is part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to honor people who fought for the Confederacy.
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George Conway ⚖️🇺🇸 @gtconway.bsky.social · 30/08/2025
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Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 30/08/2025
I really hope this becomes the black eye it deserves to be www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
The firefighter, whose name has not been made public, has lived in the US for 19 years after arriving with his family at the age of four. He received a U-visa certification from the US attorney's office in Oregon in 2017 and submitted his U-visa application with US Citizenship and Immigration Services the following year.
The U-visa program was established by Congress to protect victims of serious crimes who assist federal investigators, and the man has been waiting since 2018 for the immigration agency to decide on his application, according to Stephen Manning, a lawyer with Innovation Law Lab, a Portland-based nonprofit representing the firefighter.
Another homeland security policy says agents cannot detain people who are receiving or have applied for victim-based immigration benefits, his lawyer said. Charging the man with an immigration violation was "an illegal after-the-fact justification" given his U-visa status.
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Eric Klinenberg @ericklinenberg.bsky.social · 30/08/2025
*Court rules that Trump's policies are illegal but allows them to stand anyway* is the best summary of America in 2025 I know.
washingtonpost.com
Appeals court strikes down Trump’s tariffs as illegal but leaves them in place
Trump’s cornerstone economic policy faced another challenge as a federal appeals court ruled he did not have the authority under an emergency powers act to impose them.
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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 30/08/2025
Some of the names have changed since I wrote this last November, but the central reality is, sadly, upon us. snyder.substack.com/p/decapitati...
snyder.substack.com
Decapitation Strike
Preserving America from Trump's Appointments
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Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 28/05/2025
weeks after Gretchen Whitmer took part in multiple photo ops with Trump, Trump says he's "looking at" pardoning men who were convicted of conspiring to kidnap her
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Jenny Cohn @jennycohn.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Claremont fellow Scott Yenor via Claremont’s The American Mind seeks to reassure conservative women w/ jobs (eg, Megyn Kelley) that “tradwives” can have “side-hustles.” 🙄 Yenor belongs to a secretive Christian men’s society started by Charles Haywood who explicitly advocates sex discrimination. 1/
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The New Republic @newrepublic.com · 18/05/2025
The rule of law lives or dies on our willingness to act—occasionally with grim resolve. It’s time for people who value justice to screw their courage to the sticking place.
newrepublic.com
Let’s Start Talking About Jail Time for Trump and His MAGA Enablers
Trump is the head of a criminal syndicate, and he should be treated accordingly.
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David_j_roth @davidjroth.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
This is a funny story because of how it establishes that all around the world, even the most nihilistic ultra-rich freaks are realizing this shit is stupid, wasteful, and unnecessary and Trump is like "the big plane has a couch in it, it's the highest premium leather," www.forbes.com/sites/jeremy...
forbes.com
Why The Qataris Are Happy To Dump Their 747 On Trump
The president may be thirsting for a new four-engine jumbo jet, but many governments and royal families are unloading their fuel-guzzling palaces in the sky.
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Stephen Wolf @stephenwolf.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
This ruling would effectively make the Voting Rights Act unenforceable in 7 states if not overturned. Trump's Justice Department could just refuse to sue to enforce it. Less than 10% of successful VRA §2 cases since the 1980s were brought solely by DOJ—even a future Dem DOJ would face severe limits
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Aric Toler @aric.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
This new Times piece on the last month of American bombing of Yemen has some insane details. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/12/u...
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PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 @patriottakes.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
Trump saluting Saudi officials at the Royal Court in Riyadh
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WIRED @wired.com · 12/05/2025
Sources told WIRED that Capitol Police prevented the men from entering the copyright office, but a spokesperson for the law enforcement agency denied that officers escorted anyone out or denied them entry.
wired.com
Two Men Claiming to Be Trump Appointees Blocked From Entering US Copyright Office
The men appeared at the US Copyright Office days after after the Trump administration fired its leader, who had just published a report about the use of copyrighted materials for AI training.
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 12/05/2025
The Qatari "gift" to Trump is actually only one in a long list of the administration's corrupt acts and conflicts of interest. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
theatlantic.com
Kleptocracy, Inc.
Under Trump, conflicts of interest are just part of the system.
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Jenny Cohn @jennycohn.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
In a new Op-Ed, “Article 3 Project” Senior Counsel Josh Hammer—a Claremont alum, NatCon signatory, Federalist Society campus speaker, & Newsweek editor—asks “Did the Trump administration ‘politicize’ law enforcement by siccing ICE agents on WH critics & foes?” His answer? “I simply do not care.” 1/
newsweek.com
Mutually Assured Law Enforcement Destruction
Both sides of America's fraught political divide must come to accept a Cold War-era paradigm of mutually assured destruction.
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Karen K. Ho @karenho.bsky.social · 08/05/2025
I cannot emphasize enough how alarming it is the president does not understand how bad these supply chain shortages will hurt the overall US economy for the short and long-term as a result of his economic policies and his administration's approach to international trade.
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Alt18F @alt18f.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
"While Musk celebrated his first cuts, DOGE began going after entire offices and agencies it viewed as politically progressive or opposed to its goals. The GSA’s 18F office ... was one of the first targets."
theguardian.com
Move fast and destroy things: 100 chaotic days of Elon Musk in the White House
From mass firings to unprecedented influence, Musk has left little of the federal government untouched in Doge role
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Silence is Complicity 🇲🇽🏳️‍🌈 @mexigrl1964.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
#Libya #TrumpDeportations Just last year the State Department cited “harsh and life-threatening” conditions in Libya’s detention centers and found that migrants in those facilities, including children, had “no access to immigration courts or due process.”
nytimes.com
Trump Administration Plans to Send Migrants to Libya on a Military Flight
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jason @jasooooon.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
my latest for @wired.com takes a look at the rising movement among black “memory workers” who are fighting against trump’s war on history www.wired.com/story/trump-...
wired.com
Trump Wants to Erase Black History. These Digital Archivists Are Racing to Save It
Donald Trump’s executive orders are attacking everything from the Smithsonian to Black sports history, but grassroots organizers are launching a resistance.
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Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Trump and DOGE are making devastating cuts to agencies and programs that serve the public — all in the name of rooting out "fraud and waste." Meanwhile, the regime is reportedly planning a military parade for Trump's birthday that could cost an estimated $92 million.  Hello?
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Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
New from 404 Media: Mike Waltz has inadvertently revealed the obscure app the government is using to archive Signal messages. Made by a company called TeleMessage. Use of the Signal clone raises questions about how messages being secured, what classification of info www.404media.co/mike-waltz-a...
404media.co
Mike Waltz Accidentally Reveals Obscure App the Government Is Using to Archive Signal Messages
A photograph of Trump administration official Mike Waltz's phone shows him using an unofficial version of Signal designed to archive messages during a cabinet meeting.
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 02/05/2025
People still do not grasp that the constitutional right to due process is afforded anyone inside the U.S. REGARDLESS of status. Even if you’re just visiting here.
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Saganism @sagan.bsky.social · 02/05/2025
Dr. Anthony Fauci urges Americans not to accept "Normalization of Untruths".
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 01/05/2025
Trump is about to foreclose on the homes of 90,000 Veterans. www.rawstory.com/trump-vetera...
rawstory.com
Veterans facing foreclosures as Trump administration pulls plug on Biden program: report
At a time when veterans with VA loans are struggling to keep their homes out of foreclosure, the Veterans Administration (VA) under Donald Trump's stewardship has decided to pull the plug on a program...
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The Nation Magazine @thenation.com · 01/05/2025
"The millions who will die due to this administration’s policies have lives, names, friends and family who love them. Let them not just be figures in scientific papers—let their memorial be the whole earth." — @gregggonsalves.bsky.social
thenation.com
Trump's Legacy Will Be the Countless People Killed by His Policies
Millions across the world could die because of the choices Trump has made in his first 100 days.
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Alt18F @alt18f.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
The DOGE vision for government technology involves centralizing Americans’ private data. But this isn’t a new idea: it’s one that has been considered, reconsidered, and left alone many times over the years—for good reasons.
18f.org
Keeping your personal data safe
Why government agencies don’t just share everything they know about you with every other government agency.
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The Media and Democracy Project @mediaanddemocracy.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
Big Journalism (esp. @nytimes.com) failed to adequately & accurately cover the #handsoff pro-democracy demonstrations. Local outlets did *much* better. Newsroom leaders need to defend democracy from autocracy. Read our latest blog post. 1/n mediaanddemocracyproject.substack.com/p/local-news...
mediaanddemocracyproject.substack.com
Local news outlets show the New York Times how to cover the growing pro-democracy movement.
The NYTimes leadership is still indifferent to democracy. Just look at its front page.
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 30/04/2025
!!
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WIRED @wired.com · 29/04/2025
Do CBP officials have the authority to search your phone at the border? The short answer is yes. Here’s what you can do to protect your digital life while at the US border.
wired.com
How to Protect Yourself From Phone Searches at the US Border
Customs and Border Protection has broad authority to search travelers’ devices when they cross into the United States. Here’s what you can do to protect your digital life while at the US border.
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Heather Cox Richardson (TDPR) @hcrichardson.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Well, since he handed control over the Interior Department to a DOGE operative, I guess he has plenty of time to help.
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Inequality Media @inequalitymedia.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
The 19 richest U.S. households saw a $1 trillion wealth increase in 2024, a rise that exceeds the size of Switzerland’s economy. These 19 households now control $2.6 trillion in wealth — almost as much wealth as the bottom 50% of American households. If this isn't an oligarchy, what is?
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dell cameron @dell.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
giant cat knocks jet off carrier
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kamimagic @kamimagic.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
How many conflicts of interests does it take against Musk before action is done? Reading the complaints and where they fall in the federal government, no wonder he'll stay on for as long as he can: to gut them. Tesla *DOJ $1.82B *EEO $462MM *SEC $240MM #ProudBlue www.latimes.com/business/sto...
latimes.com
Elon Musk's conflicts of interest: $2.37 billion in potential federal penalties, report says
On the day Trump took office, Elon Musk, Tesla and his other companies faced at least $2.37 billion in potential penalties from federal agencies, according to a Democratic congressional report.
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Just Jack @just-jack-1.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Oof.
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Ian Bassin @ianbassin.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
This is just wild on how The Atlantic interviewed Trump. I mean, does anyone pick up unknown numbers anymore *other* than the President of the United States?
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Jon Cooper @joncooper-us.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
‘It’s a Heist’: Real Federal Auditors Are Horrified by DOGE WIRED talked to actual federal auditors about how government auditing works — and how DOGE is doing the opposite.
wired.com
‘It’s a Heist’: Real Federal Auditors Are Horrified by DOGE
WIRED talked to actual federal auditors about how government auditing works—and how DOGE is doing the opposite.
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WIRED @wired.com · 28/04/2025
A cache of more than two dozen police records recently reviewed by WIRED show US law enforcement agencies regularly trained on how to take advantage of “connected cars,” with subscription-based features drastically increasing the amount of data that can be accessed during investigations.
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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.wsocial.eu · 26/04/2025
Note how much of what Trump is trying to destroy, from Radio Free Europe to transatlantic trade, is precisely what the Russians most want him to destroy www.nytimes.com/2025/04/26/u...
nytimes.com
How Trump Plays Into Putin’s Hands, From Ukraine to Slashing U.S. Institutions (Gift Article)
Many of President Trump’s actions have been seen as benefiting Russia either directly or indirectly, so much so that Russian officials have celebrated some of his moves.
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Jen Bendery @jbendery.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
NEW: PublicSquare, a website that lets you search for businesses in your community that explicitly want you to know they endorse Trump/MAGA values, is backfiring as people use it to boycott those businesses. www.huffpost.com/entry/public...
huffpost.com
Website For MAGA-Friendly Businesses Backfires As People Use It For Boycotts
Social media posts about PublicSquare have gone viral as Trump critics use it to find companies not to support – the opposite of what the site was set up for.
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Truthout @truthout.org · 25/04/2025
The Trump administration is walking back visa record terminations for thousands of students across the U.S. after suffering numerous losses in court and admitting last week that officials do not have the authority to terminate students’ immigration statuses by revoking their records.
truthout.org
Facing 100 Lawsuits, Trump Admin Walks Back Student Visa Record Terminations
The administration says that it is restoring student visa records while it drafts a new policy to allow terminations.
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Joshua Erlich @joshuaerlich.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
my feed should have been buried today in statements from electeds, statements from advocacy groups, breaking news alerts, etc etc. it should have been aggressive and impossible to miss. that ... did not happen.
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Norm Eisen @normeisen.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
URGENT: This is not a crime A judge has the authority in her courthouse to excuse a defendant for God's sake Trump tried this in 1st term & he was thrown out of court 👉 www.courtlistener.com/docket/14997... PS the violation here was Patel's tweet & that's why he deleted. I'll be filing complaint
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Other98 @other98.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
America was founded by those who defied kings—not by those who bowed to them.
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Alt18F @alt18f.bsky.social · 25/04/2025
"18F worked just how Musk and his team pretend that they want government to work. But when his team found it, they destroyed it." — @waldo.net
reuters.com
100 days of DOGE: lots of chaos, not so much efficiency
At the Social Security Administration, lawyers, statisticians and other high-ranking agency officials are being sent from the Baltimore headquarters to regional offices to replace veteran claims processors who have been fired or taken buyouts from the Trump administration.
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
(AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had an internet connection that bypassed the Pentagon’s security protocols set up in his office to use the Signal messaging app on a personal computer, two people familiar with the line told The Associated Press. apnews.com/article/hegs...
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