Nicole Bedera

A lot of blaming voters, not enough blaming voter suppression

This is a good response.

As someone who has survived multiple jaw bone infections and needed several endodontic treatments for tooth infections, let me tell you that this man died in one of the most painful ways possible

They tortured him. An untreated tooth infection is torture.

losing a primary by FIFTY points because you backed ICE should tell everyone where the zeitgeist is right now

It is next to impossible for girls to make it to adulthood without feeling shame over being good at something.

I know this post is about body image. But that’s definitely a lurking element too. I’m glad she has you, especially in these tough, vulnerable moments.

And, again, it’s a losing playbook.

We gained nothing, but lost hope of a true opposition party.

And the role that shift has played in the Democratic Party becoming so unbelievably ineffective against Trump.

They are governing the way Bush-era Republicans would tell Democrats to govern.

I know some people are reading this and thinking, “We know, we know.”

But my brother is one of those people. He used to poll for Republicans and now he polls for Democrats. I genuinely think hardly anyone realizes how much of the machinery of the Democratic Party became fundamentally conservative.

We really don’t talk enough about how the Democrats’ eager embrace of the “Never Trump” Republicans hugely changed the Democratic Party—especially the consultant class that shapes their platforms and messaging.

And that those Republicans are the ones who lost to Trump first.

Thank you. I’m glad to do what I can to help.

We’re having a nice (and infuriating) conversation on how the Trump administration weaponized the concept of retaliation on this thread.

This is a playbook he tried out on Title IX, but Trump uses it a lot more broadly. We saw similar rhetoric in the justification of ICE’s violence in Minneapolis.

It absolutely is.

I literally had a conversation with a Title IX investigator once who insisted that sexual assault was protected under freedom of speech.

In the same conversation, he said that telling someone you had been sexually assaulted was punishable.

Yes. The ideology of victim blame is so deeply held that people really believe any violence reflects the failure of the victim. The perpetrator remains entirely blameless.

I’m glad you found it useful!

Title IX operates exactly opposite of how the average person would expect. It’s so helpful to have people spreading the word about that.

just thinking about how USAID was dismantled under the rationale of cost savings but there's an unlimited budget for war

There's been a lot of debate within the Democratic establishment about what rhetoric to use via ICE.

Well, an incumbent doesn't lose by 48 percentage points very often—and her vote on collaborating with ICE was the defining issue here.

Exactly this. There are very, very few scenarios in which schools are required to act by federal regulation.

A lot of state laws are more protective, but Title IX employees tend to ignore them entirely.

On the Wrong Side: How Universities Protect Perpetrators and Betray Survivors of Sexual Violence How Universities Protect Perpetrators and Betray Survivors of Sexual Violence

If you’re interested in this, I wrote about the weaponization of anti-retaliation policies (and other good faith efforts like no contact orders) in On the Wrong Side.

One of the primary vehicles through which victims are disciplined is through assertions that they “retaliated” against their perpetrators by things like seeking help, sharing their experiences on social media, or warning friends going into the perpetrator’s orbit.

Technically, there is already legal precedent to protect whistleblowers from retaliation. It’s just been contorted by Title IX administrators into protection for the accused.

To be clear, Trump’s Title IX regulation is sloppy and ambiguous. Schools have a huge amount of discretion to do better than this.

But Trump gave them permission to discriminate and many—if not most—schools are taking advantage.

Trump’s Title IX regulation was explicitly designed to offer perpetrators impunity and punish victims who came forward.

It isn’t a coincidence that we’re seeing an uptick in these cases.

I spoke to @kattenbarge.bsky.social for this story. For about a year or so, I’ve been hearing a lot more stories about victims of sexual violence being expelled or suspended after interacting with Title IX.

I’m glad that one of their stories is making it into the light.

Yeah, that’s the underlying dynamic.

Republicans are ceding authority to Trump (Plan B). And that means Congress won’t act as a unified check on executive power (because Plan B stands in the way of Plan C).

Listen. The idea that Congress still sees themselves as Plan C is a problem.

I have absolutely no idea what Trump is trying to accomplish in Iran, or how he plans to accomplish it, and the fun thing is that neither does he!

That's why the constitution does not give the President the authority to launch wars without Congressional approval.

Fascinating. Horrifying.

The Propagandists’ Playbook by Francesca Bolla Tripodi is the book to read if you want to understand a big part of why certain words trigger such different responses.

Many Americans hold contradictory opinions on the same policies Our new poll finds question wording can swing opinion by 20+ points on immigration, the budget, and transgender rights. That's a problem for people who use polls to tell politicians what voters want.

New post!
Many Americans hold contradictory opinions on the same policies. Question wording effects can swing opinions by 20+ points on immigration, the budget, and transgender rights.
That's a problem for people who interpret polls for a living.

www.gelliottmorris.com/p/many-ameri...

N.Y. Attorney General Orders Hospital to Resume Youth Transgender Care

GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE IS HEALTH CARE.

Thank you to the NY Attorney General’s Office for affirming our community.