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Michael A. Shea

@michaelashea.bsky.social
1.2K followers 882 following 3.4K posts

Arlington, VA. W&M '82. Filmmaker. Bicyclist. Medical Clinic Volunteer. UAW Local 1981. We call Virginia a Commonwealth. Let's make it an actual Commonwealth. (he/him)

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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 2h
The European 17th century is Sam Alito's jam and the legal world he wants America to be in. But wow. Alito says the impact of Roe was abstract. I don't think even the White men who ruled that 1600s legal world would have made that weak an argument or have been as opposed to women having rights.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 6h
Happy to announce my 2-for-1 Matching Grant Program to support Just Neighbors to provides legal services to immigrants. Any checks that randomly pop up in my bank account from Medicare or any government agency will be transferred to Just Neighbors at triple the amount. www.justneighbors.org/donate/
justneighbors.org
Donate – Just Neighbors
DONATIONS & OTHER WAYS TO GIVE Make a Donation to Just Neighbors GIVE NOW For almost 30 years Just Neighbors has been fortunate to have the support of the community making it possible to provide immig...
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 16h
Shout out and thanks to Volunteer Arlington, Lisa Fikes, and her team for another great "Causes & Cocktails" tonight. Wonderful to connect with local nonprofits like Avant Bard and Resonance Improv Alliance.
Several people gathered in a bar; one person with a mic is speaking to the crowd.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 16h
I will have to find a weekend to tour Tufte's sculpture farm, but in 2027. If you can make it to Connecticut in fall 2027, hope you can join me! (Admission price is per car, so come along for the ride.) I took the Tufte 1-day graphic design class back in the day. www.edwardtufte.com/hogpen-hill-...
edwardtufte.com
Landscape Sculpture Park in Woodbury CT | Hogpen Hill Farms
Hogpen Hill Farms is a 234-acre tree farm and landscape sculpture park featuring the artworks of Edward Tufte. Purchase tickets online.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
For the 40,000 active duty Marines based in San Diego, or the 4 million people in Los Angeles, Trump does not just owe them an apoligy. He owes them a resignation. His ship has sailed. Trump no longer even pretends to care about America.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
If the next Congress and next President don't pass amendments to substantially rewrite Articles II and III of the Constitution, we end up right back here. Substantial changes to our Constitution every 250 years is a VERY CONSERVATIVE speed.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
The facts about Trump are pretty well known. Historians will have little to debate. But we're left to wonder if his bizarre backside bulges are diapers or an exoskeleton. And a third camp of historians will argue they are both at the same time. I don't envy future historians of the presidency.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
We can hardly expect Trump to defend Los Angeles when he can't even defend an RAF base in the UK. Trump is running from Iranian drones even faster than Josh Hawley ran from the J6 lynch mob. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/05/u...
nytimes.com
Potential Iranian Drone Attack Led to Exit of U.S. Aircraft from British Air Base (Gift Article)
According to U.S. and British officials, 12 B-1 Air Force bombers from R.A.F. Fairford air base were withdrawn because of the risk of a drone attack ordered by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps...
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
In a few thousand years, historians will look back at the century where oil oligarchs strode the Earth. And while they will rightly document and condemn the harms wrought by oligarchs of all types, they will see that oil oligarchs were the most destructive of all, a special breed unto themselves.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
There is zero evidence Trump was joking when he said they could take out Los Angeles. The media still has a corrosive instinct to soften the inhumanity and abject cluelessness of Trump. Also that's a photo where he's not joking and it's not from the event today. www.alternet.org/los-angeles-...
alternet.org
Trump jokes about Iran destroying Los Angeles and San Diego
President Donald Trump joked about Iran attacking a pair of liberal California cities during a campaign rally in which he defended his decision to wage an unprovoked war against the Middle Eastern cou...
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Bombing labs doesn't prevent acquiring nuclear weapons. Iran didn't get non-weapon nuclear capability internally. It was a technology transfer from the US. Surest ways to have Iran get nuclear weapons is let the Saudis have them and entrench the Iranian hardliners. Trump is doing both those things.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Never thought the leader of America would ever say "let them take out" a city like Los Angeles in a war and it would be a small price to pay for us. It's not that Senator Thune or Squeaker Johnson will say "I did not see his speech" if asked whether they agree with Trump. No one will ever ask them.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I will not buy it, but certainly Susan Collins should publish her "Book of Concerns" to say all the votes she regrets. All the companies Collins corruptly steered contracts towards should buy up copies as a courtesy. Sales of the Susan Collins memoir of regrets should be brisk.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Michael Che on SNL Weekend Update: "...JD Vance said Republicans face an uphill climb in this year's elections, but, hey, they've done it before." Excellent zinger. The J6 rioters who assaulted the Capitol Police really do deserve to be remembered for a long time.
SNL co-anchor Michael Che looks at a photo of J6 rioters.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Thinking about Cathie a lot today, which does not set it apart from most days. But today was the Together in Teal walk in Annapolis where we gathered with many there to celebrate ovarian cancer survivors and to hold dear those in our memory.
"Team Cathie"- seven people posing for the camera at a Together in Teal ovarian cancer walk in Annapolis.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Susan Collins could turn out to be one of the most corrupt Senators in US history and they've had some real humdingers.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Probably an effective way to NOT win a Nobel Prize. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/03/u...
nytimes.com
U.S.-Russia Talks on Ukraine Now Involve an Oil Deal Tied to Trump Allies (Gift Article)
President Vladimir V. Putin brought up a sale of Russian energy assets with President Trump’s envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, pushing a deal that raises new questions about conflicts of inter...
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
None of the barriers to voting pushed by Trump are justified or good. But a very general observation- if you make voting harder, the side that has more motivation to vote will benefit because they'll make that extra effort. The "still with Trump" voters are less likely to vote. wapo.st/4yu0brh
wapo.st
Record share of voters motivated to oppose Trump in midterms, poll finds
In a new NBC News survey, 43 percent of registered voters said they want their vote for Congress this fall to send “a signal of opposition” to the president.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Is it just a coincidence that economic slump, MAGA chump, pump and dump, and dry hump all rhyme with Trump? Real photo. Real weirdo. The only artificial element in the making of this photo is that "bronzer" Trump slathers on his face daily.
Trump hugs and kisses an American flag at CPAC in 2019.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The lack of any muscle in the biceps or triceps on my arm means I have to ID this body part for you. But don't let the lack of muscle fool you! You can see I was double-vaxxed today, and that is a superpower!
An upper arm, sleeve rolled up, with two band-aids on it.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
USA Today has laid off at least one of their reporters just after he was nominated for a Pulitzer for investigative reporting. There is no explanation for their decisions.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
After Renee Good was executed by an ICE agent, her family is suing Stephen Miller and others to hold them to account. This should be quickly resolved. Didn't Trump say he had $1.776 billion available to pay victims of government wrongdoing? Isn't being shot dead the most government harm possible?
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Sporting my new bumpersticker! Thank you to Dr. Wayne for the sticker and also his incredible amount of hard work to make Virginians healthier.
A blue bumpersticker with white text: Vaccines cause adults.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Great Power Lunch today! Best way to be optimistic: Be inspired by today's students (I substitute teach). 2nd best is engage w/ great School Board candidates like Natalie Bray, Dr. Betty Spencer, Christina Brady & Suzanne Berman in Virginia. Thx @fridaypowerlunch.bsky.social @shorteecee.bsky.social
A zoom screen with speakers and attendees; logos for the Power Lunch.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Abolish the death penalty. Also abolish whatever the hell policy they have in Tennessee.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Congress set aside $20 million for line-of-duty death memorials for law enforcement officers. Trump has stolen that money and is using it to pay for ads featuring himself and glorifying his presidency. If MAGA says they "back the blue" I say shut the front door. Your boy done stole from the blue.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I am opposed to Virginia opting into the "voucher" program. It prohibits enforcement of civil rights protections and prohibits requiring even minimal standards for teacher credentials. ALSO - experience reliably shows the biggest beneficiaries are families ALREADY sending kids to private school.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Shocked by this article in TIME. Had no idea TIME magazine still existed. And had no idea they ever fact checked. time.com/article/2026...
time.com
Fact-Checking What Donald Trump Said in His Latest Interview With TIME
U.S. President Donald Trump sat for an exclusive interview ahead of the midterm elections. Here’s a check of the claims he made.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Patrick Schlitz, a judge appointed by GWB, made the factual statement that ICE agents are disregarding court orders and offered an opinion it was due to bad training, not senior management direction. For that very mild statement, Todd Blanche wants this judge tossed. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/u...
nytimes.com
Justice Dept. Tries to Rebuke Federal Judges for Speaking to The Times (Gift Article)
Judge Patrick J. Schiltz had warned that the administration’s actions “created a grave threat to the rule of law.” The attorney general accused him of “obvious bias.”
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Tennessee, have you seen enough to stop electing morons like Trump and Bill Lee? Your governor is leading a system that tortures inmates by its incompetence. Abolish the death penalty. And abolish whatever the hell it is they are doing in Tennessee. wapo.st/4rIkgrB
wapo.st
Tennessee halts scheduled executions after inmate survives lethal injection
Christa Pike, who was convicted in a brutal 1995 killing, continued breathing after she was given two doses of lethal injection drugs, her lawyers said.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Kansas is just in the first part of its campaign to end human rights. They make trans women like Dakota West, whom EVERYONE in the community including her 1st grade teacher knows is female, carry around a drivers license falsely claiming they are male. Later, they arrest them for carrying a fake ID.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Kris Kobach is wrong on so many issues, including drivers licenses. Erasing the identity of people like Dakota West is both cruel and illegal, but the Kansas demand that she change her drivers license also makes it less effective for its primary purpose- confirming identity. wapo.st/4jsvXQU
wapo.st
Trans people, anguished by Kansas driver’s license law, go to court
Plaintiffs are expected to testify this week about the negative effects of carrying identification that doesn’t match how they look and feel.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Before Trump abducted the Kennedy Center, the Kennedy Center Foundation was a resilient nonprofit. Trump changed the name to Trump. NOW he is taking personal credit for giving its $17M from the foundation to the KC. His lawyers are making that claim in legal filings. There is truly no low here.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
We don't think Trump's children have had a hand in the looting of the Kennedy Center. The courts banned them from nonprofits for their past crimes and THIS is the one court order Trump is honoring. But they are definitely the role models for those who have wrecked the Kennedy Center. wapo.st/4z1FLG2
wapo.st
The Kennedy Center was solvent when Trump took over. Then its finances collapsed.
The Post examined 15 years of the institution’s financial records to see why it went south after the president took over.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
...the sentencing court erred by ignoring the facts of Pike's being repeatedly raped as a child when it condemned her. The issue before SCOTUS this week was narrow- was Christa Pike entitled to routine appellate review by the 6th Circuit Court, like everyone else? The SCOTUS majority ruled NO.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Issue before SCOTUS this week was NOT whether Christa Pike should die for a brutal crime when she was 18 yo. NOT whether, of the 8 defendants sentenced to death for crimes at 18 since 1976 the 7 males who were spared should leave Pike, the only female, as the only execution. NOT whether the court...
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Eric Schmitt has a losing track record before the Supreme Court, ignores warnings that his evidence is weak, makes lame attempts at distraction, and doubles down when called out for his mistakes. How is it Trump has not made Eric Schmitt his Attorney General by now? Schmitt is a MAGA wet dream IRL!
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I bike/Metro’ed to the data center open house in the Douglass Center gym. Kudos to Loudoun County for putting this on.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I think I can explain Eric Schmitt's look of confusion when his ambush moment backfired against Jack Smith at the Senate hearing. He's probably never heard of Caitlin Clark or even realized that women play basketball at an elite level.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Something to remember about the majority justices on SCOTUS: They ruled this week that if Trump deported the Supreme Court justices appointed by Democrats to be put in the prison in Eswatini, SCOTUS would be powerless to halt the deportation while litigation over it proceeded.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
We’re at the point where every political ad should start with Morpheus saying “Welcome to the real world.” Trump and his minions live in a very non-real world. Third country deportations ae human trafficking. Boat strikes are war crimes. The “adjudicated settlement” was because of a rape. Get real.
Morpheus, from the movie The Matrix, saying welcome to the real world.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Got this scam text today. There are so many tells that this is a scam. Among them- the idea that a “repair store” still exists is laughable. They just sell you a new phone. Scam artists these days are a disappointment. No respect for the craft.
A text: “‘Hi Dad when you aren’t busy please message me on my new number (571)546-2301. I’ve dropped my phone in the toilet and it’s completely broken. I’m texting from the repair stores phone so message my new number!”
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Congrats to the Commanders on the win yesterday over Seattle. This is starting to have a Jets vibe to it- winning games they probably shouldn't and losing games they should win. Buckle up, could be a wild season.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
There are probably a hundred thousand reasons why Beth Macy and JD Vance are very different. Policy choices, attitude, values, agenda, personality, authenticity, and more. But suppose you want to keep it simple and need one visual cue: Beth Macy isn't the one spending all that money on eye liner.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Bipartisan immigration reform was scuttled in 2013 because Boehner invoked the Hastert Rule and tanked it. Hastert is the GOP politician who was jailed for paying hush money to cover up his sexual abuses. Why does sexual assault keep coming up when we talk about what Republicans have done lately?
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
The real question is when you hear the word "Oklahoma" does it echo in your head "OOOOOOOOOKKKKKLLLLAAAHOMA... where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain..." and you literally know no other lyrics from that Rodgers and Hammerstein song?
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Worth remembering that Trump is spending a billion dollars of our money on White House construction so he can get the same level of quality as the Reflecting Pool work. wapo.st/4z4m8xe
wapo.st
Trump administration set to spend at least $900 million on White House construction
The price tag is much larger than what has been previously reported, according to a Post review of confidential contracts, and taxpayers would cover most of it.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
NONE of the executions at sea of small boats by Trump have been justified. Everyone involved needs to be held accountable. wapo.st/4dDoFpG
wapo.st
Covert CIA program said to be behind mysterious attacks on Galápagos boats
A surveillance plane flew from El Salvador toward the fishing boats before drones attacked, flight data shows.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Kudos to the Washington Post for what is now a rare act of excellent journalism for them. This says a lot more about the excellence of Lisa Rein and Craig Whitlock than it does about the Post. wapo.st/4xNSTh4
wapo.st
Senators call for investigation into GI Bill trade schools, citing Post series
A bipartisan team of lawmakers is urging Veterans Affairs and the Justice Department to crack down on fraud in veterans education.
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Michael A. Shea @michaelashea.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Rooting for Bobby Pulido to win a seat in Congress from Texas. How did the Washington Post manage to publish an article on the chances of a singer winning a seat in Congress without a single reference to Sonny Bono?
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