Naomi Schalit

Amateur hour in Congress: How political newcomers fuel gridlock and government shutdowns The public’s frustration with ‘politics as usual’ has led more political newcomers to win office. But amateurs are more likely to view bipartisanship as a concession, not a tool for advancing policy.

So 'Throw out the bastards!' doesn't make Congress work better. The very outsiders voters elect and hope will “fix” Congress "contribute to the partisan divisions that keep it from functioning," write @rachelporter.bsky.social & Jeff Harden @notredame.bsky.social theconversation.com/amateur-hour...

Voters lose when maps get redrawn before every election instead of once a decade − a trend started in Texas, moving to California and likely spreading across the country With a new, mid-cycle redistricting war raging in state after state, the media and politicians focus on which party is winning or losing seats. But are citizens winning or losing in this conflict?

David Soule & Kyle Redican say the scale of changes in mid-cycle redistricting is "staggering: 10.4 million Texas residents, @ 36% of state population, and 9.2 million California residents, @ 23% of state population, will be in unfamiliar congressional districts" theconversation.com/voters-lose-...

The shutdown – and the House’s inaction – helps pave Congress’ path to irrelevance With major shutdown impacts beginning to set in, a scholar of Congress says the House has all but abdicated its position as ‘The People’s Chamber.’

"Unwilling to assert itself as an equal branch of government," Congress has been "content to hand over many of its core constitutional powers to the executive branch...Yet Congress’ path to irrelevance...did not begin during the shutdown" writes @charlesrhunt.com theconversation.com/the-shutdown...

I’m glad the Red Sox aren’t in this series because I’d be a widow by now

Have I mentioned I think the intentional walk is chicken sh*t? Play baseball, guys

On rivers and in courtrooms, Alaska battles for land inside national parks and preserves For decades, Alaska land managers have been working to confirm the state's ownership of land beneath navigable rivers and lakes inside national parks and refuges.

Terrific story by my fave AK reporter, Nat Herz, who demonstrates that he is my son by not turning down an offer to be a reporter on a boat trip www.northernjournal.com/on-rivers-an...

Opinion | The Empty Promises of Trump’s Imperial Presidency

I don't normally bash headlines but the NYT does great injustice - it's not about Trump! - to this excellent @jamellebouie.net column, a much-needed civics & history lesson about how and why the US, "at this moment, does not have a functioning national legislature" www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...

Trump’s anti-Venezuela actions lack strategy, justifiable targets and legal authorization President Trump OK’d a naval buildup in the Caribbean, strikes on boats in international waters and covert operations in Venezuela. A military analyst can’t see a coherent strategy or objective.

Blowing up boats, building up the Navy's presence, announcing covert ops - surveying Trump's Venezuela moves, political-military analyst Jeffrey Fields @dornsife.usc.edu finds it "hard to discern a coherent strategy or objective" theconversation.com/trumps-anti-...

For the unauthorized, unsanitized, unpalatable and unpleasant truth about Henry Kissinger, Ken Hughes is your guy, whose essay allows you to see how Kissinger and Nixon "divided America to conquer it, sowing hatred while calling for unity behind themselves and their misbegotten policies."

Influencers could learn a thing or two from traditional journalism about disclosing who’s funding their political coverage Creators who conceal financial support while weighing in on matters of interest to their funders are falsely presenting themselves as independent voices.

Conflict-of-interest 101, from Berkeley J-School's Ed Wasserman: "Creators who conceal financial support while weighing in on matters of interest to their funders are...no less deceitful than the business journalist who covers a company they secretly invest in" theconversation.com/influencers-...

Trump’s National Guard deployments reignite 200-year-old legal debate over state vs. federal power The conflicts over President Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Illinois and Oregon hinge on a question as old as the Constitution itself: Where does federal power end and state authority ...

You're confused, right? Seems like federal courts issue daily & different opinions on whether Trump has the right to deploy National Guard troops to various cities. What's the law? @andreascoseriakatz.bsky.social says there’s no simple answer, not even from SCOTUS theconversation.com/trumps-natio...

10 effective things citizens can do to make change in addition to attending a protest Once a democracy starts to erode, it can be difficult to reverse the trend. What does it take for democracies to bounce back from periods of autocratic rule?

Now what? theconversation.com/10-effective...

When government websites become campaign tools: Blaming the shutdown on Democrats has legal and political risks When websites and email systems become partisan platforms, the line blurs between state and party, diluting public trust in the idea of impartial governance.

Partisan bashing on gov't websites: Federal agencies exist to administer laws impartially, on behalf of the people, says Sam Martin ‪@boisestate.bsky.social‬. Using infrastructure for partisan messaging erodes the neutrality on which democratic governance depends theconversation.com/when-governm...

In 1776, Thomas Paine made the best case for fighting kings − and for being skeptical ‘In America, the law is king!’ ‘No King! No Tyranny!’ For a skeptical Thomas Paine, every day was ‘No Kings Day.’

Every day was "No Kings Day" for Thomas Paine theconversation.com/in-1776-thom...

In 1776, Thomas Paine made the best case for fighting kings − and for being skeptical ‘In America, the law is king!’ ‘No King! No Tyranny!’ For a skeptical Thomas Paine, every day was ‘No Kings Day.’

Saying “no” – especially to those in power – is an underrated American pastime, and Thomas Paine was its Babe Ruth. If you plan on joining No Kings rallies and need a slogan, Paine’s got you covered: “In America, the law is king!” “No King! No Tyranny!” theconversation.com/in-1776-thom...

Where George Washington would disagree with Pete Hegseth about fitness for command and what makes a warrior Washington’s ‘warrior ethos’ was grounded in decency, temperance and the capacity to act with courage without surrendering to rage. That ideal built an army – and in time, a republic.

Warrior ethos? Not for General George Washington, contra Pete Hegseth’s vision of the tough guy who kills for a living. Maurizio Valsania writes Washington "saw soldiering as the highest exercise of discipline, patience and composure...more statesman than warrior" theconversation.com/where-george...

Facing a shutdown, budget negotiations are much harder because Congress has given Trump power to cut spending through ‘rescission’ There’s a new element at play that’s heightening the stakes of budget negotiations in Congress. And it could lead to a shutdown.

It's that time of year again, with reporters jostling each other in basement hallways of the Capitol, trying to get tidbits from lawmakers about whether the fed'l gov't will shut down. @charlesrhunt.com breaks down the big problem that's kind of new this year theconversation.com/facing-a-shu...

Critic’s Notebook: Jimmy Kimmel Met the Moment With His Powerful, Tightrope-Walking Monologue In his first show back following his suspension by ABC, the host addressed free-speech issues and Charlie Kirk's killing in between statements of gratitude, displays of emotion and jokes both silly an...

One of the best ledes I've read in a long time, in this Hollywood Reporter review of Kimmel's monologue last night: "At some point in the past few days, Jimmy Kimmel ceased to (just) be Jimmy Kimmel." www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-review...

As the president and members of the Trump administration escalate their rhetoric about pursuing political adversaries, Medsger asks: Will Kash Patel and Trump, like Hoover, “criminalize dissent?” 5/end

"Antiwar activists were given oranges injected with...laxatives. Agents hired prostitutes known to have venereal disease to infect campus antiwar leaders. Hoover’s 'savage hatred' of Black people led to the FBI’s worst operation, which resulted in the killing of Black Panther Fred Hampton." 4/

"The files they stole and made public confirmed the FBI was suppressing dissent. But they revealed much more: Hoover’s secret FBI and the startling crimes he had committed...The COINTELPRO operations ranged from crude to cruel to murderous." 3/

"J. Edgar Hoover operated a secret FBI within the FBI that he used to destroy people and organizations whose political opinions he opposed. in 1971, a group of people, the Citizens Commission to Investigate the FBI, broke into an FBI office and removed files," aiming to expose Hoover's campaign. 2/

Trump’s use of FBI to target ‘enemies’ echoes FBI’s dark history of mass surveillance, dirty tricks and perversion of justice under J. Edgar Hoover Donald Trump has a partisan ally running the FBI. He’s urged retribution against his perceived enemies. Will today’s FBI repeat the vast, unconstitutional persecutions of the J. Edgar Hoover era?

Kash Patel's been enacting Trump's vengeance agenda since he got to the FBI. As Betty Medsger writes today, "This isn’t the first time an FBI director has been driven by a desire to suppress the rights of people perceived to be political enemies." theconversation.com/trumps-use-o... 1/

The case that saved the press – and why Trump wants it gone A landmark 1964 Supreme Court ruling protects the press in lawsuits by public officials angry about how they’ve been covered. It’s being targeted by President Donald Trump.

Here's a good explainer of the case and its significance theconversation.com/the-case-tha...

Why Jimmy Kimmel’s First Amendment rights weren’t violated – but ABC’s would be protected if it stood up to the FCC and Trump Think you know what the First Amendment means and protects? You − and a lot of Jimmy Kimmel’s defenders − may well be wrong.

The suspension of Jimmy Kimmel is a serious threat to free expression – but not because the comedians’ rights were violated.

Just last year a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that the government can’t legally pressure a corporation to suppress speech.

buff.ly/BI13STP

Why Jimmy Kimmel’s First Amendment rights weren’t violated – but ABC’s would be protected if it stood up to the FCC and Trump Think you know what the First Amendment means and protects? You − and a lot of Jimmy Kimmel’s defenders − may well be wrong.

Jimmy Kimmel's defenders called his suspension an attack on the First Amendment; one said it was the most "straightforward attack on free speech from state actors I’ve ever seen." Is it? @profunger.bsky.social explains what the 1st Amendment does/doesn't protect theconversation.com/why-jimmy-ki...

The president as partisan warrior: Trump’s rejection of traditional presidential statesmanship Presidents are typically expected to be focused on national security, economic management and other key issues handled at the national level. Donald Trump has turned those assumptions upside down.

Not silenced yet. I wrote about Trump and how pettiness and authoritarianism are connected.
theconversation.com/the-presiden...

Right-wing extremist violence is more frequent and more deadly than left-wing violence − what the data shows Donald Trump and top administration officials confidently assert that left-wing political violence is a huge problem in the US. They’re wrong, say researchers who study extremism.

Wrong: Assertions by Trump (& Stephen Miller) that the "radical left" causes "tremendous violence” and that “they seem to do it in a bigger way” than the radical right. Right-wing extremist violence is more frequent & more lethal theconversation.com/right-wing-e...

Harvard, like all Americans, can’t be punished by the government for speaking freely – and a federal court decision upholds decades of precedents saying so The First Amendment is not just about the right to speak without fear of jail. It’s also about ensuring that government cannot punish speech indirectly by threatening livelihoods and institutions.

Harvard, like all Americans, can’t be punished by the government for speaking freely – and a federal court decision upholds decades of precedents saying so

Harvard, like all Americans, can’t be punished by the government for speaking freely – and a federal court decision upholds decades of precedents saying so The First Amendment is not just about the right to speak without fear of jail. It’s also about ensuring that government cannot punish speech indirectly by threatening livelihoods and institutions.

I could spend all my time as a politics editor commissioning stories about attacks on the First Amendment. Here's the latest on how the First Amendment is not just about the right to speak without fear of jail, by Sam Martin ‪@boisestate.bsky.social‬ theconversation.com/harvard-like...