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Matt Sircely

@mattsircely.bsky.social
332 followers 795 following 43 posts

Songwriter, mandolin, guitar & other stringed instruments, music teacher, 30 yrs freelance writer/photographer. Originally from Pennsylvania, now based in Seattle area, Western Washington

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Matt Sircely
Khashoggi's Ghost @urocklive1.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Mockery is far more effective than outrage with Trump. His ego cannot handle it.
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Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
NEW: It's that time of year: time to launch my annual guide to November's elections! I guide you through over *650* interesting elections, & why they matter. Judges, AGs, govs, mayors, lawmakers, AGs, county & school boards—plus many (many) ballot measures. Oh, & Congress. Explore & bookmark!
boltsmag.org
Your Cheat Sheet to the 2026 General Elections - Bolts
Congressional races will take center stage on Nov. 3, but they’re just the tip of what to watch. Prosecutors and governors, attorneys general and sheriffs, school boards and mayors, utility... Read Mo...
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Josh Manning @joshmanning.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Here’s a gift link for this piece, which hits on so many themes I have been struggling with recently. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/29/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | I’m Exhausted. You’re Demoralized. We Weren’t Built for a World Like This. (Gift Article)
A greatly underappreciated virtue of other presidents was that you could forget about them for weeks at a time.
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Brent Toderian @brenttoderian.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
One of the big lies that the foreign disinformation campaign targeting the Alberta Separation movement spreads is the claim that a yes-vote doesnt really mean separation, it just provides a stronger negotiation position within Federation. Tell that to the people who regret voting for Brexit.
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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Trump, in a bid to shut up whining GOPers that he's not spending, announces big spend for his campaign manager, Whatley, but tells Elon to pay for Paxton's race. Which means the guy whose data centers are invading TX will join Paxton as poster boy for corruption there. www.ms.now/news/trump-m...
ms.now
Trump sits on $850 million as Republicans wait
Senate races in reliably Republican Texas, Alaska and Ohio are competitive while the president’s war chest stays parked.
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Meade Krosby @meadekrosby.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
For those who've asked, you can listen to KEXP's 7+ hours of Dolly today via their archive. The hits, the deep cuts, the covers and collaborations. It starts about half way through the 10am Midday Show and continues through the 4pm Drive Time show. Also: support local, listener-supported radio.
kexp.org
Streaming Archive | KEXP
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Kate Klonick @klonick.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
W.W.D.D.
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Ryan Goodman @rgoodlaw.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
"Even with tonight’s [Supreme Court] stay, section 3 [of the Executive Order on mail-in ballots] remains blocked; the USPS Final Rule remains frozen." Always grateful for the clear-eyed and lightening fast analysis by @stevevladeck.bsky.social. www.stevevladeck.com/p/246-making...
stevevladeck.com
246. Making Sense of the Mail-in Ballots Ruling
The Supreme Court’s grant of a stay in one of the mail-in ballot cases is deeply wrong, but it’s also not the main event over whether Trump’s patently unlawful executive order can take effect.
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Matt Sircely @mattsircely.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Subdued Stringband Jamboree kicks off outside Bellingham this weekend. Matt Will & Katie Jean will sing new songs on the Slanted Stage. On Saturday, we'll play in the square dance band and I'll teach a mandolin workshop in the morning.
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🗽LOLGOP🗽 @lolgop.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
Right up until Axios reported Elon Musk was reopening America PAC for midterms, we had a brief window of normal political gravity. An election not yet swallowed by one billionaire's bottomless needs, endless resources, & vast free time, despite having a pro baseball team's full roster of kids.
patreon.com
Democrats are pulling away in the generic ballot. So Elon’s trying to buy another election. | LOLGOP Studios
July 29, 2026 was the day reality rebooted. Right up until Axios reported that Elon Musk was reopening America PAC for the midterms, we were
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gwen howerton @kissphoria.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
hell yeah willie www.chron.com/culture/musi...
chron.com
Texas data center boom gets a new foe: Willie Nelson
"The last thing we need is a loud, water thieving, light polluting, data center near our town."
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Matt Sircely @mattsircely.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Grateful for this analysis. Might pass if they rename it to the STEAL Act - the 'Steal The Election, Abject Loser' Act
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Susan Williams @susan-williams.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Great, great conversation. Especially important is the stuff at the end about what we need to do right now to inoculate the country against plans to steal the election, and to be prepared to act
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Matt Sircely @mattsircely.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Grateful for this analysis. Might pass if they rename it to the STEAL Act - the 'Steal The Election, Abject Loser' Act
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Greg Sargent @gregsargent.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
It's no coincidence that Trump went nuclear on John Thune to pass SAVE Act just as GOP is detoriating in generic ballot. Latest polls are striking: Fox D+7 Pew D+6 Emerson D+11 On the pod, @ariberman.bsky.social is so good on Trump's coming effort to steal midterms: newrepublic.com/article/2134...
newrepublic.com
Angry Trump Openly Urges GOP to Rig Midterms as Brutal Fox Poll Hits
As a striking Fox News poll suggests the GOP midterm position is deteriorating, a voting rights expert walks us through what Trump is really gearing up to attempt this fall—and how to defeat it.
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Michael E. Mann @michaelemann.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
We actually did the math: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 21/07/2026
My main wish for politics is that people would spend less time fighting people who aren't the fascists literally destroying the country as we speak and more time fighting the fascists who are literally destroying the country as we speak.
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Pwnallthethings @pwnallthethings.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
It doesn't matter whether you pick DST or ST, and there isn't a "better one"; it's geographically dependent on where you are inside the timezone anyway. What matters is that you don't switch midyear.
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The Rude Pundit @rudepundit.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
“Hey, we invented something that eats all your electricity and drinks all your water so it can take your jobs. Give us all the money.”
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🗽LOLGOP🗽 @lolgop.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Yeah, I'm worried about this.
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Chuck Wendig @chuckwendig.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
I just had a 17-minute call with Lindsey Graham and we talked about the World Cup, the Strait of Hormuz, and also the shadowy figure with red eyes and bat wings that has been pursuing him for the last decade
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404 Media @404media.co · 11/07/2026
“It might feel like you’re ‘saving time and money,’ but you’re actually slowly turning your brand into something generic like all the other brands out there using AI tools.” www.404media.co/we-are-livin...
404media.co
We Are Living in a ‘ChatGPT Flyer Pandemic’
"Hey if this is your flyer, I’m not going, I’m not donating, I’m not sharing. Don’t ask me."
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Rick Hasen @rickhasen.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
“Trump Targets Not Just Georgia’s Vote, but Also Trust in Elections” electionlawblog.org?p=157050
electionlawblog.org
"Trump Targets Not Just Georgia’s Vote, but Also Trust in Elections" #ELB
NYT: At first glance, the Trump administration’s deployment of more than 200 F.B.I. analysts to Georgia this week seems to be another stubborn assault on a fact that has refused to budge: Despite the ...
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Arabella @arabellaspireship.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
It would have been epic
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Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal @jayapal.house.gov · 11/06/2026
Trump plans to deport over two dozen individuals to the Central African Republic, including two Iranian women with no criminal record who sought refuge in the US. This is absurd – the US officially advises against any travel there. This flight must be stopped.
nytimes.com
Women Who Fled Iran Are to Be Deported to Central African Republic, Lawyers Say
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Patrick Chovanec @prchovanec.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Forget about Hegseth. This is the real D-Day celebration right here.
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Desi Doyen/Green News Report @greennewsreport.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
A sobering sign of how far down the road of fascism we are when pro-democracy organizations have to put out a lengthy guide helping elections officials prepare to protect the integrity of our elections from an authoritarian, anti-democratic federal government
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Matt Sircely @mattsircely.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
"The pattern is clear: What Selma birthed, the Court is putting to death." "... District lines have already been redrawn in FL, AL, TN, TX & NC, with SC and MS vying to be next. And in VA, where maps were voter-approved, the state’s high court nullified the results of a fair and open election."
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
🔥 Sekou Franklin: “UNPRECEDENTED. The largest attack in Tennessee’s modern history on the rights of Black voters.” He blasts SenJohnson @GovBillLee @MarshaBlackburn’s plan to carve up Memphis, rejects @janicebowlingtn’s ridiculous idea 3 (Republican) reps is actually good for the city🙃
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
WALTER BAILEY: “Dr. King took a bullet in the neck. They were shot. Killed. Murdered. Advancing voting rights… it’s an insult to their legacy. To their deaths.” @GovBillLee @MarshaBlackburn SenJohnson BrentTaylorTN #Memphis
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The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Rep. @rep.jesse.chism (D) : “Memphis is a predominantly African-American city, correct?” Rep. William Lamberth (R): “I’m not privy to those demographics. I don’t know.” 🤷🏼 *HUGE LAUGH FROM THE AUDIENCE* The Republican gaslighting as they carve up Memphis is so absurd you gotta laugh.
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Wajahat Ali @wajali.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
theatlantic.com
Voters Can Be Disenfranchised Now
Just say it’s because they’re Democrats.
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Victor Ray @victorerikray.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Opposing white supremacy is a crime in Trump’s America. This feels a lot like southern states persecuting the NAACP during Jim Crow.
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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 01/04/2026
In light of Richard Leon's (R-!!!) opinion ordering Trump to stop his ballroom construction, Trump is confessing it is a bunker after all, which I'm very excited about, not least bc I think this may backfire. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/04...
President Trump on Tuesday delivered a new justification for his White House ballroom, just hours after a federal judge ordered him to halt construction. The $400 million project, he argued, is a matter of presidential security.

“We have a drone-proof roof,” Mr. Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, reading from prepared notes. He said the ballroom would also include bulletproof glass, “air-handling systems,” “biodefense all over,” “secure telecommunications and communications all over,” bomb shelters, a hospital and “major medical facilities.”

“We have all of these things,” Mr. Trump said. “So that’s called: I am allowed to continue building as necessary.”

A federal judge on Tuesday said that work on the ballroom had to stop until the project received a go-ahead from Congress, a ruling that the administration swiftly appealed. In the Oval Office, Mr. Trump made the unusual disclosure of the security features, including apparent references to the bunker being built beneath the ballroom.

While such security details are normally kept quiet, Mr. Trump has been talking about them more openly as his project faces legal challenges. On Sunday, speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Mr. Trump referred to underground facility as a “massive complex.” He said the ballroom “essentially becomes a shed for what’s being built under.”

Mr. Trump had previously spoken of the ballroom mostly as a matter of hospitality.

He has said that a new ballroom is needed to host large events for world leaders and other guests, so that the White House does not need to stand up a large tent on the South Lawn. “We don’t have a big room,” Mr. Trump said on Tuesday. “We have the East Room, which is very small.”
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Matt Sircely @mattsircely.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
Inspiring words from Bill McKibben at yesterday's rally in Middlebury, Vermont
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 23/03/2026
one maddening thing about all of this is the conservative idea that "election day" has always meant a single day until recently, which is nonsense. 19th century elections often took place over the course of an entire month, with results trickling out over time.
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Daniel Yeo @dkcy.com · 15/03/2026
Might turn out that Trump ends up being the biggest driver of the energy transition. Irony is dead.
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CREW @citizensforethics.org · 13/03/2026
The financial ties don’t stop at donations… 17 cabinet members visited Trump properties between the 2024 election and inauguration—helping establish Trump properties as centers of power and influence, which in turn helps Trump profit.
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CREW @citizensforethics.org · 13/03/2026
Lutnick and Loeffler also made donations to Trump’s $400 million White House ballroom project. The exact amounts of their donations are not publicly known, but this seemingly pay-to-play project has raised serious ethics concerns.
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404 Media @404media.co · 10/03/2026
A DOGE staffer assigned to the National Endowment for the Humanities to flag grants for "DEI" tries to explain what "DEI" is. This deposition is part of a lawsuit by the @acls1919.bsky.social, @historians.org and @modernlanguage.bsky.social.
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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Tim Walz: There are no Somalis in the Epstein files.
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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 04/03/2026
Maxwell Frost, after describing that he used to wear a WWJD bracelet to remind himself not to swear, asks Rev Tollgaard what would HAPPEN to Jesus, as a refugee, in this world.
Maxwell Frost
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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 01/03/2026
Key members of Congress are demanding a swift vote on a war powers resolution that would restrain President Donald Trump’s military attack on Iran unless the administration wins their approval for what they warn is a potentially illegal campaign.
bit.ly
War powers debate intensifies after Trump orders attack on Iran without approval by Congress
Key members of Congress are demanding a swift vote on a war powers resolution that would restrain President Donald Trump’s military attack on Iran.
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Kai Ryssdal @kairyssdal.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
So let’s think about this. A private company refused - on principle - to yield to the government’s demands. The government then cancelled its contracts with the company and has set about destroying it
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Katie Brennan @katiebrennan.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
We’re from Jersey baby 💪
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emptywheel @emptywheel.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
There's a lot going on. But it deserves FAR MORE ATTENTION that Whiskey Pete is going to seize the means of AI production so he can 1) engage in mass surveillance of Americans and 2) shoot without human intervention. Dystopias this bad would be deemed unrealistic. www.axios.com/2026/02/24/a...
The big picture: Hegseth told Amodei in a tense meeting on Tuesday that the Pentagon will either cut ties and declare Anthropic a "supply chain risk," or invoke the Defense Production Act to force the company to tailor its model to the military's needs.

Why it matters: The Pentagon wants to punish Anthropic as the feud over AI safeguards grows increasingly nasty, but officials are also worried about the consequences of losing access to its industry-leading model, Claude.

"The only reason we're still talking to these people is we need them and we need them now. The problem for these guys is they are that good," a Defense official told Axios ahead of the meeting.
Anthropic has said it is willing to adapt its usage policies for the Pentagon, but not to allow its model to be used for the mass surveillance of Americans or the development of weapons that fire without human involvement.
Anthropic's Claude is the only AI model currently used for the military's most sensitive work.
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Chris Kluwe @chriswarcraft.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
I think the fun thing about the latest John Oliver episode is that he’s mainstreaming what has been common discourse here for months, in that if you’re a government official/reporter/someone who considers themselves a non-Nazi then what the FUCK are you still doing on X?
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Sergio Perez @sergioperez.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
Abuse isn’t enough, they have to silence kids too: “They threw away all my drawings,” said 15-year-old Cariexis Quintero… . Her mother, displaying a pile of colorful paper scraps, detailed how the guards “stormed into her room looking for drawings and letters” & then “destroyed what they found”
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
BIG news from @bloomberg.com, which confirms that ICE has gone ahead and *purchased* multiple commercial warehouses with the aim of converting them into mass detention camps. This is likely to be the big detention story of 2026 — literal warehousing of people. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
bloomberg.com
ICE Begins Buying ‘Mega’ Warehouse Detention Centers Across US
Plans for such centers and jails in nearly two dozen communities have sparked protests over suitability, proximity to homes and schools.
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Sherrilyn Ifill @sifill.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
The arrests of journalists Don Lemon and Georgia Fort are a test for every MSM member with a platform. If you are not voicing your outrage at this blatant violation of the First Amendment, you are utterly discredited as a journalist.
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