Lera Toropin

This has been the golden rule for fascists and racists since time began:

Identify the parts of your nation that are crumbling (on your watch) and blame it on people who don’t look like you.

What is rare (and uniquely dangerous) is to find these people running the government.

Missteps, Confusion and ‘Viral Waste’: The 14 Days That Doomed U.S.A.I.D.

Great story from @nytimes.com on how the Musk Boys and company killed USAID. Whatever you think of the organization's work and waste, the way this shutdown was executed is insane. Gift link:

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/22/u...

This case presents an easy question: whether SB1’s ban on certain medications, applicable only if used in a manner “inconsistent with . . . sex,” contains a sex classification. Because sex determines access to the covered medications, it clearly does. Yet the majority refuses to call a spade a spade. Instead, it obfuscates a sex classification that is plain on the face of this statute, all to avoid the mere possibility that a different court could strike down SB1, or categorical healthcare bans like it. The Court’s willingness to do so here does irrevocable damage to the Equal Protection Clause and invites legislatures to engage in discrimination by hiding blatant sex classifications in plain sight. It also authorizes, without second thought, untold harm to transgender children and the parents and families who love them. Because there is no constitutional justification for that result, I dissent.

Sotomayor, dissenting, says the majority "does irrevocable damage" to the equal protection clause and "invites legislatures to engage in discrimination by hiding blatant sex classifications in plain sight." She fears the damage in Skrmetti will go well beyond gender-affirming care, and she's right.

Judge rules that anti-woke is just racism You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a rancid bigot.

We should all be screaming this from the rooftops: “anti-woke is just racism”

Federal judge “explicitly called out the Trump administration for its “palpably clear” discrimination against racial minorities and LGBTQ+ Americans”

Read @lizdye.bsky.social:

www.publicnotice.co/p/william-yo...

So, as you might know, I have been in the process of tracking the activities of DOGE staff across the federal government. And now I've built an auto-updating website to browse the data

It's not done (lots more content to write), but news is moving fast, so here it is dogetrack.info

Enjoy!

🧵 This is a perfect example of how disordered discourse reshapes democratic politics, not by policy failure, but by the performative targeting of identity. Let’s unpack what’s happening.

The Largest Upward Transfer of Wealth in American History House Republicans voted to advance a bill that would offer lavish tax cuts for the rich while slashing benefits for the poor.

"House Republicans worked through the night to advance a massive piece of legislation that might, if enacted, carry out the largest upward transfer of wealth in American history," writes Jonathan Chait:

"I don't want a Disney vacation of our history! I don't a whitewashed history, I don't want a homogenized history. Tell me the wretched truth about America, because that speaks to our greatness" -- 20 hours into his speech, Cory Booker is spitting absolute 🔥

So, if I’m reading this correctly, Congress appropriated a bunch of funds for specific purposes. Musk will be throwing that out the window and disregarding the law they enacted. But individual legislators can call a hotline and beg for their pet projects to be spared. That’s how we’re doing it now.

Stand With Trans Americans You don’t have to understand everything about the transgender experience to know that Trump’s acts of humiliation and dehumanization are unjust and dangerous.

Stand with trans Americans. You don’t have to understand everything about the transgender experience to know that Trump’s acts of humiliation and dehumanization are unjust and dangerous.

www.thebulwark.com/p/stand-with...

Opinion | Trump’s Revenge Tour Finds Its True Target (Gift Article) It is hard to describe the president’s first month and a half in office as something other than a retribution campaign against the American people.

tired of people treating trump like he is anything other than an ego-driven simpleton (i wrote this, this is a piece about why he is nothing more than an ego driven simpleton.)

Trump will likely continue attacking the federal workforce in tonight’s joint address to Congress Tonight, President Trump will deliver an address to a joint session of Congress where he will outline his political agenda for the next year. Among many other topics, the president is expected to high...

We pre-bunked the lies and attacks on federal workers that Trump will likely make while addressing Congress tonight.

Remember: Trump's attacks are an attempt to erode the public’s faith in the federal government and the services it provides.

Don't let it work!

www.epi.org/blog/trump-w...

Does U.S. Democracy Aid Have a Future? Whether any democracy support survives the Trump administration’s assault on U.S. foreign aid will be a telling indicator of how radically Trump is remaking America’s international role.

Under targeted attack from the Trump administration, U.S. democracy aid faces an existential crisis.

Democracy aid, writes Thomas Carothers, will be the “canary in the coal mine” for President Trump’s willingness to depart from foreign policy precedent: carnegieendowment.org/research/202...

What we’re witnessing in America is what happens when disordered discourse captures a political party, then the state itself. The Republican Party was the first to fall - abandoning truth for conspiracy, ideology for grievance, and policy for performative outrage.

Rubio terminated 5800 USAID contracts – more than 90% of its foreign aid programs – in defiance of the courts.

Here’s a list of just some of the lifesaving awards that were terminated. Nearly all were Congressionally mandated. They’ve saved millions of lives. 🧵

Who Is in DOGE? Tracking Its Staffers and Allies in the Federal Government The Times identified 45 people within the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, a group formed by Elon Musk that in a short few weeks has radically upended federal agencies.

The People Carrying Out Musk’s Plans at DOGE www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

So - I've actually led Ebola outbreak response at USAID.

This is bunk from Elon. They have laid off most of the experts, they're bankrupting most of the partner orgs, have withdrawn from WHO, and muzzled CDC.

What's left is a fig-leaf effort to cover their asses politically.

Statement on NED’s Funding Disruption and Program Suspensions - NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR DEMOCRACY NED is unable to access its Congressionally appropriated funds, which sustain nearly all of its grantmaking and operations.

“95% of NED’s funding is directly appropriated by Congress & is not considered foreign assistance. This funding therefore was not subject to the executive order freezing foreign assistance…However, despite being exempt, access to these funds has been inexplicably cut off”
www.ned.org/statement-on...

Excerpt from the linked story

Remember when the WH insisted that global HIV prevention & treatment was exempt from the freeze? When it seemed MAYBE they understood that cutting off medicine could put the entire planet at risk of drug resistant HIV strains?

Wrong. Elon Musk’s interns were simply shutting payments off manually.

Can Moldova – population 2.4m – show the world how to stand up to Putin? The tiny former Soviet republic’s determination not to be cowed by the Kremlin could provide a template for the west on how to hold back the tide of subversion and corruption

"The tiny former Soviet republic’s determination not to be cowed by the Kremlin could provide a template for the west on how to hold back the tide of subversion and corruption": www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...

Despite the hype, DOGE hasn't found a shred of fraud All they've really got is "spending that Elon Musk doesn't like."

DOGE claims to have "saved" tens of billions in fraudulent government spending, but don't be fooled — all they've really done is illegally cut a bunch of congressionally-appropriated funding that Elon Musk doesn't like.

“Last week, the Department of Homeland Security said it will now allow its agents to conduct surveillance based solely on a target’s gender identity or sexual orientation.”

Nazis Burned Trans Books To Usher In Fascism: Now Trump Does The Same Transgender people have often been a canary in the coalmines of Democracy.

1. Nearly a century ago, Nazis burned trans books to usher in fascism.

Now, Trump is doing the same, digitally burning all records of transgender people and striking the community from records.

This must be seen for what it is: a move towards atrocity.

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If you are experiencing rage and despair about what is happening in America and the world right now because of the Trump-Vance-Musk regime, you are hardly alone. But a groundswell of opposition is growing. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/ten-reasons-for-optimism

The WIRED Guide to Protecting Yourself From Government Surveillance Donald Trump has vowed to deport millions and jail his enemies. To carry out that agenda, his administration will exploit America’s digital surveillance machine. Here are some steps you can take to ev...

happy friday! just leaving this here...

Opinion | While Musk dismantles a pro-democracy group, America’s enemies cheer DOGE targets the National Endowment for Democracy, a longtime Republican-supported organization.

A Nicaraguan dissident told me: “NED has provided a lifeline to human rights defenders, journalists, and pro-democracy activists who are courageously standing up to oppression.”

Unfortunately, that lifeline is now in danger of being severed. wapo.st/40XP5LO

The Stonewall Inn and The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative are outraged and appalled by the recent removal of the word 'transgender' from the Stonewall National Monument page on the National Park Service website. This blatant act of erasure not only distorts the truth of our history, but it also dishonors the immense contributions of transgender individuals - especially transgender women of color - who were at the forefront of the Stonewall Riots and the broader fight for LGBTQ+ rights. SIGBI followed by a next arrow

The Stonewall Inn and The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative are outraged and appalled by the recent removal of the word 'transgender' from the Stonewall National Monument page on the National Park Service website. This blatant act of erasure not only distorts the truth of our history, but it also dishonors the immense contributions of transgender individuals - especially transgender women of color - who were at the forefront of the Stonewall Riots and the broader fight for LGBTQ+ rights. SIGBI followed by a next arrow

The Stonewall Inn and The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative are outraged and appalled by the recent removal of the word 'transgender' from the Stonewall National Monument page on the National Park Service website. This blatant act of erasure not only distorts the truth of our history, but it also dishonors the immense contributions of transgender individuals - especially transgender women of color - who were at the forefront of the Stonewall Riots and the broader fight for LGBTQ+ rights. SIGBI followed by a next arrow

The Stonewall Inn and The Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative are outraged and appalled by the recent removal of the word 'transgender' from the Stonewall National Monument page on the National Park Service website. This blatant act of erasure not only distorts the truth of our history, but it also dishonors the immense contributions of transgender individuals - especially transgender women of color - who were at the forefront of the Stonewall Riots and the broader fight for LGBTQ+ rights. SIGBI

The Stonewall Inn released a response to the National Parks Service removing the word transgender from the park outside of the Inn. A great reminder that we have to look after each other

There’s a Term for What Trump and Musk Are Doing How regime change happens in America

"Suddenly, and not accidentally, people who work for the American federal government are having the same experience as people who find themselves living under foreign occupation"
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

A brilliant piece of diplomatic theatre today.

After Russian drones again violated Moldova’s airspace & exploded close to populated areas, the Russian ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Ministry.

As he entered the meeting, he was confronted with parts of the exploded drones.

(🎥 IPN, Moldova)