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Meredith O'Brien

@meredithobrien.bsky.social
517 followers 331 following 1.4K posts

Boston area writer on news, politics, Red Sox, MS & my two dogs. Author of several books including LOUIE ON THE ROCKS (novel) & UNCOMFORTABLY NUMB 2 (collection of multiple sclerosis patient stories). mereditheobrien.com

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Meredith O'Brien @meredithobrien.bsky.social · 1h
When I participate in the Jimmy Fund walk for @danafarber.bsky.social this weekend, I'll be holding many people's names in my heart, chiefly my son's. If you're interested in supporting the walk but haven't got around to it yet, there's still time. danafarber.jimmyfund.org/site/TR?pg=p...
danafarber.jimmyfund.org
I am walking for Dana-Farber patients
Jimmy Fund Walk for Dana-Farber
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Covie @covie93.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Fox News hosts spend their day telling their audience that Democrats are communists and communists are evil people, then in the evening they all got dressed up to attend a state dinner honoring a communist.
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Meredith O'Brien @meredithobrien.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This photo ... www.wsj.com/politics/u-s...
wsj.com
U.S. Government Airs Pro-Trump, Anti-Communism Ad
The unusual ad, which said it was paid for by the U.S. government, aired on Fox News in major TV markets.
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Doug Lindner @douglindner.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
NEW POLL: 53% of Americans support expanding the Supreme Court, including majorities of both Democrats and independents. Two weeks ago, House Dems stood united to keep that option on the table. Happy Constitution Day! law.marquette.edu/poll/
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Adam Klasfeld @klasfeldreports.com · 17/09/2026
BREAKING Judge Cooper ORDERS the Trump-installed Kennedy Center Board to provide 30 days notice before "any changes," including the main building's "demolition." He declines to call an emergency hearing, but demands a sworn declaration from a Board rep.. Full order embedded here.
 MINUTE ORDER: Plaintiff's 84 Motion for an Emergency Hearing is hereby DENIED. By September 23, 2026, Defendants shall a file a detailed status report, supported by a sworn declaration from a knowledgeable representative of the Kennedy Center, on the "temporary closure" and emergency repairs described in Defendants' 86 Response and Mr. Floca's [86-1] supporting declaration. Further, the parties are reminded of Defendants' representation to the Court in the companion case D.C. Preservation League that they will "inform Plaintiffs and the Court if there is any change in the Board's plans that would constitute a reversal of the Center's position that the building will not be demolished and that no new structure will be constructed." Joint Meet & Confer Report (Aug. 28, 2026), Case No. 26-cv-981 (CRC), ECF No. 62 at 2. To avoid any confusion on that score given more recent events, the Court hereby ORDERS Defendants to provide such notice in writing to Plaintiffs in both cases more than 30 days before the implementation of any changes to the scope of the project plans presented to the Court in D.C. Preservation League, including but not limited to any "demolition" of the Center's main building. Finally, Plaintiff may seek discovery regarding the subject of their 85 Notice of Supplemental Authority to the extent permitted by the Federal Rules and the Court's scheduling order. SO ORDERED. Signed by Judge Christopher R. Cooper on 09/17/2026. (lccrc3)
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The Associated Press @apnews.com · 17/09/2026
A federal judge ordered the Kennedy Center to provide 30 days' notice before major physical changes to the building, including demolition.
bit.ly
Judge orders Kennedy Center to provide 30 days’ notice before making any major physical changes
A federal judge has ordered the Kennedy Center to provide 30 days’ notice before making any major physical changes to the building, including demolishing it as President Donald Trump has threatened.
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Norm Eisen @normeisen.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
BREAKING: We have updated the Court with the latest developments in Trump's apparent moves to demolish the Kennedy Center  The EXISTING INJUNCTION prevents demolition The Court has ordered the government to say what the hell it is doing by 10 AM @repbeatty.bsky.social, DDA & WLG will fight this!
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Heather Cox Richardson (TDPR) @hcrichardson.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com
250 to 250
As the nation gears up for the 2026 midterm elections, we are drawing a line beneath the first phase of the 250 to 250 project.
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Food Research & Action Center @fracposts.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Nearly 5.5 million people have lost access to SNAP since H.R. 1 was enacted. FRAC is urging Senators to reject a Farm Bill that fails to reverse these devastating cuts and leaves SNAP costs shifts to states in place. Read more: frac.org/news/farmbil...
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The Massachusetts Spy @themassspy.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Number of elected Republicans condemning the naked plunder of a sovereign nation’s wealth: 0.0.
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Alt National Park Service @altnps.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
We had thought the “safety issues” at the Kennedy Center were caused by the Trump administration. It appears that might be the case. In a sworn declaration filed today, a legal observer said she witnessed a forklift carrying fencing drive to the north
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Meredith O'Brien @meredithobrien.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
OpenAI identified six more incidents of rogue AI agents including one which left a "persona instruction" note saying it wasn't subserviant to anyone www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/t...
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Meredith O'Brien @meredithobrien.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The government is not his plaything. That money is NOT his money.
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Rachel Maddow @maddow.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
abcnews.com/Health/famil...
abcnews.com
Family of Texas pregnant woman who died sues Texas AG Ken Paxton, alleges denied abortion led to death
The family of a pregnant woman who died sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and others on Tuesday, claiming she was denied an abortion that could have saved her life.
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Steve Benen @stevebenen.com · 15/09/2026
Quite a recent pattern: - GOP candidate in Fla. marched alongside neo-Nazis - Husted fires aide over Nazi photo - Collins fires aide over swastika images - State Dept hires speechwriter whom DeSantis fired over video with Nazi imagery - Trump rewards Paul Ingrassia, who said he has a “Nazi streak”
ms.now
Republican state legislative candidate marched alongside neo-Nazis, adding to pattern
As a rule, state House candidates’ backgrounds tend not to generate national headlines, but once in a while, there are important exceptions.
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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Kash Patel defended his new policy before the Senate Judiciary Committee which allows the FBI to hire agents who have engaged in bestiality and it barely gets noticed because there are 50 other things happening from these clowns each day that are worse.
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Bryan 🌐 🇺🇦 Slava Ukraine personal opinions only @papootx.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Trump Told MAGA To Cheat “Raise your right hand” “I pledge to the greatest president in the history of the United States that loves us so much ... I will do it any way — I don’t care if I’m registered or not, I’m going to try and cheat like hell, like they do.” www.nytimes.com/live/2026/09...
nytimes.com
Vance Assails Democrats in Fiery Speech at G.O.P. Convention
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Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley @pressley.house.gov · 05/09/2026
Expand the Court. Impose term limits. Impeach corrupt justices. Enact a binding code of ethics.
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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
This “game” on the White House website, a version of Snake where you play as a white man in a suit and you run around picking up identifiably black, Asian, and Latino men and putting them in orange jumpsuits, might be the most openly white supremacist thing I’ve ever seen the US government produce
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The Bulwark @thebulwark.com · 04/09/2026
"When a bunch of Republican operatives were discovered to have exchanged texts calling black people 'monkeys' and 'watermelon people' and pronouncing 'I love Hitler!' Vance was forgiveness itself."
lnk.thebulwark.com
JD Vance Called Abdul El-Sayed ‘Evil.’ He’s One to Talk.
Where does the vice president go to give his apology?
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ProPublica @propublica.org · 04/09/2026
NEW: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appears to have violated federal ethics law in significant ways when filing his most recent disclosures of his assets and liabilities, ethics experts told ProPublica and @texastribune.org.
propublica.org
Ken Paxton’s Financial Disclosures Appear to Violate Federal Ethics Law, Experts Say
The Republican U.S. Senate nominee from Texas appears to have omitted rental income and multiple mortgages from his recent financial disclosures, making it difficult for voters to get the full picture...
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Page One in Fort Worth:
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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Florida has spent $1.4 billion earmarked for disaster preparedness on detaining and deporting immigrants. www.miamiherald.com/news/politic...
miamiherald.com
FL immigration contracts quietly surged to $1.4B in disaster dollars
Few of the contract amendments, worth hundreds of millions of dollars more after Alligator Alcatraz’s shutdown, were posted to the state’s transparency website.
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Patrick De Haan @gasbuddyguy.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
BREAKING: according to GasBuddy data, the live U.S. national average price of diesel has set a new record: $5.820/gal, surpassing the previous daily $5.819/gal all-time high that occurred June 17, 2022. (9/3/26 3:25pm ET)
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 03/09/2026
This is demonstrably, measurably improving the health of the people who live there. Most notably, it increases the respiratory *& cognitive* health of children. They literally do better in school. If this country really gave a shit about children, this would be at the top of the public-policy list.
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Meredith O'Brien @meredithobrien.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
These "games" are on the website for the president of the United States. A website paid for by American taxpayers.
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Meredith O'Brien @meredithobrien.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
How can we, the American people, put a stop to this vanity arch in the nation's capital, which belongs to all of us? I certainly don't think Congress will stop this, nor the courts (because he'll appeal to SCOTUS who'll give him what he wants). www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
washingtonpost.com
Trump officials say work will start on triumphal arch within two weeks
The planned 250-foot-tall structure near Arlington National Cemetery is one of the president’s top construction priorities.
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St. John Barned-Smith @stjbs.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
ICE hasn’t paid for detainee medical care since October. Advocates call it the ‘death policy’ — my latest, w/ @kolyncheang.bsky.social. Spend some time with it www.sfchronicle.com/politics/art...
sfchronicle.com
ICE hasn’t paid for detainee medical care since October. Advocates call it the ‘death policy’
ICE owes millions in unpaid bills to hospitals and, in some cases, detainees themselves have been directly billed for care, records show.
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Will Stancil @whstancil.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
It seems like “the criminal president is ignoring court orders to build an ad hoc federal system to reject mail ballots from states he doesn’t like” should be bigger news
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Angry @angrystaffer.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
That is an incidence rate of… 0.00547% The voter fraud allegations you’ve been sold are blatantly and provably false.
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Catherine Rampell @crampell.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I like that this design appears to show the birth date of liberty as 1776, and its death as 2026
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Senator Andy Kim @kim.senate.gov · 02/09/2026
Nationwide, it's clear ICE doesn't care about the health of the people they detain. The lack of accountability is unacceptable. At Delaney Hall and other facilities, people are suffering without proper medical care. They deserve so much better – that's what I'm fighting for.
sfchronicle.com
ICE hasn’t paid for detainee medical care since October. Advocates call it the ‘death policy’
ICE owes millions in unpaid bills to hospitals and, in some cases, detainees themselves have been directly billed for care, records show.
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Governor JB Pritzker @govpritzker.illinois.gov · 02/09/2026
Angel S. Rampersad Michael Swinton Tyler J. Feehan Isabella Gonzales Gabriel Edwards John Klinner Ariana Savino Ashley Pruitt Seth Koval Curtis Angst Tyler Simmons Benjamin Pennington Jeffrey O’Brien Robert Marzan Nicole Amor Declan Coady Cody Khork Noah Tietjens Stop lying.
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Headquarters @headquartersnews.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Fox News complains that underage teenage girls aren’t getting pregnant enough: “The problem is teens and young adults. From ages 15-19, the fertility rate is down 70% in the last 2 decades, which means we are telling people who are young not to have babies.”
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Rep. Jim McGovern @repmcgovern.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Everything is getting more expensive, and Trump isn’t doing shit about it. Instead he’s remodeling the White House and renaming bodies of water. It’s pathetic.
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The Contrarian @contrariannews.org · 31/08/2026
BREAKING: Supreme Court rules to allow Trump to move forward with ballroom construction for now. The decision was a 5-4 ruling with Roberts joining liberal justices in dissent. The decision may not be final and could return to the Supreme Court. Until then, construction can continue unimpeded.
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Kelsey Reichmann @kelseyreichmann.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Breaking: Supreme Court lets Trump continue construction on White House ballroom Roberts issued an admin stay allowing the project to continue while the full court considered the appeal. Now in apparent 5-4 ruling, the court again sided with Trump Roberts joins liberals in dissent
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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Death by intentional neglect is the characteristic method of murder in concentration camps
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CBS News @cbsnews.com · 28/08/2026
FIRST ON CBS NEWS: A history of hiring prostitutes or stealing from work may no longer be a barrier to employment at the FBI.
cbsn.ws
At the FBI, a history of hiring prostitutes or stealing from employer may no longer be a barrier to being hired
In June, the FBI quietly lowered some of the standards it uses when it conducts background checks on would-be federal agents and other personnel.
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Meredith O'Brien @meredithobrien.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
After the @danafarber.bsky.social Cancer Institute helped drive my son's cancer into remission this past year, I owe them a debt of gratitude. So I signed up to participate in the Jimmy Fund Walk for Dana-Farber. danafarber.jimmyfund.org/site/TR?fr_i...
danafarber.jimmyfund.org
I am walking for Dana-Farber patients
Jimmy Fund Walk for Dana-Farber
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Democracy Docket @democracydocket.com · 28/08/2026
BREAKING: A federal judge has once again blocked Trump’s anti-mail voting executive order — just a week before the first mail ballots go out for the midterms. U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani issued a 14-day hold on the directive, which could end up back in the Supreme Court.
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Project Salt Box @projectsaltbox.com · 27/08/2026
ATTN TEXANS: check your voter registration ASAP, even if you don’t think you were impacted. 1.2 million is a lot of people! www.votetexas.gov/register-to-...
sacurrent.com
More than 1.2 million Texans' voter registrations are suspended
Some voters dropped from Texas voting rolls may not be aware until they show up to cast a ballot. More than 1.2 million Texans are on the state's Voter
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Hillary Rodham Clinton @hillaryclinton.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Liam and children like him deserve better, and we’ve got to keep fighting for them to get it.
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Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News @froomkin.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Good morning. Your government has committed two more murders on the high seas. www.cnn.com/2026/08/24/p...
cnn.com
US launches deadly strike on alleged drug boat, believed to be the first in two months | CNN Politics
The US military said early Monday it struck an alleged drug trafficking boat in the eastern Pacific, marking the first known strike in more than two months.
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The Washington Sun @washingtonsun.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
A U.S. Navy sailor returning from a deployment aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln says that his father was taken into custody by federal immigration authorities. www.notus.org/immigration/sailor-us…
notus.org
Sailor on Nightmare USS Lincoln Deployment Says Immigration Agents Arrested His Father
Joshua Aviles described the situation as “heartbreaking.”
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Meredith O'Brien @meredithobrien.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
"What's the probability?" This is what the angry man in the baseball cap shouted at my husband and me the parking lot of a Wellfleet beach on the Atlantic Ocean.
Seal head poking out of the water just off the shore of a beach
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ᴋɪɴɢᴘɪɴ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ɪɴᴋᴘᴇɴ @killlthehype.blacksky.app · 23/08/2026
16 months ago: Never forget how it started.
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Lee West @whodat35.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Please take a moment and read Lara Korte’s last story that she filed for Stars and Stripes published 3 hours ago. Thank you Lara for your professional dedication and journalistic values. www.stripes.com/branches/nav...
Lara Korte O @lara_korte
X.com

Today, I was informed that the Department of Defense is firing me for insubordination after I told a CBS reporter that I work for Stars and Stripes - not the Pentagon, not any administration, and not any policy maker.
3:29 PM • 8/21/26 • 155K Views

Lara Korte 
@lara_korte • 1h
I consider it a great privilege to live alongside members of the military and share their stories. It's a shame for the institution and service members, who swore to defend the Constitution and deserve right to a free and independent press.
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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
The vandalism and desecration of the White House isn't just vanity and it's not trivial. It's caesarism, as in literally what Julius Caesar did to the symbolic architecture of civic republicanism. Our national iconography matters and allowing the disfiguring of it to persist is a substantive harm.
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D. Earl Stephens @dearlstephens.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
🗞️As a former Managing Editor of Stars and Stripes I can tell you it is the most important newspaper in the world because it exists to inform and protect our troops from people like the despicable Pete Hegseth and Donald Trump who do not believe they — or anybody for that matter — are owed the truth.
apnews.com
Stars and Stripes editor says he has been fired for insubordination after doing interview
The editor-in-chief of Stars and Stripes says the Pentagon has fired him as well as its publisher and a reporter.
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