Newsom: The New Testament and Old Testament have one dominant thing in common—Matthew, Isaiah, Luke, Proverbs, go down the list—it’s about food, about serving those who are hungry. It’s not a suggestion; it’s core and essential to what it means to align with God’s will.

9th Circuit grants request to re-hear appeal of order blocking National Guard from Portland A three-judge panel overturned the order blocking Trump from sending the National Guard to Portland, but Oregon asked for the appeal to be reheard by a larger panel.

Some more good news for Portland. The question now remains how many more taxpayer dollars will Donald Trump waste on his failing lawsuits to try and fulfill his authoritarian fantasies. I'll keep working to defend the rights and values of every single Oregonian.

American parents, please ignore Trump’s recent reiteration of nonsense about Tylenol and vaccines, as well as anything the man ever says about the health of your children. Please talk with your medical professionals.

NEW: The Trump administration is racing to deport Kilmar Abrego Garcia as soon as Friday, conceding it does not intend to follow through on his criminal case despite earlier assurances.

w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social

www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

The Liberalism of Refuge | Journal of Democracy Liberal societies are those which offer refuge from the very people they empower—through individual choice, mobility, and the possibility of exit. This is the form of liberty that most clearly…

'“Liberal” as an adjective in political life must not be identified with a demand that the people being ruled compromise when it comes to matters of justice. Rather, it is the rulers who must accept limitations on their power.'

“Walmart was the top employer of SNAP recipients in five states and one of the top four employers in the remaining four states. McDonald’s was among the top five employers of Medicaid enrollees in five of six states and SNAP recipients in eight of nine states.”

www.cnbc.com/2020/11/19/w...

Whenever people complain about the number of folks relying on food stamps, it is worth reminding them that SNAP is, by too large of a degree, a subsidy for corporations that refuse to pay a living wage and their political allies who reject public policy prescriptions to reduce income inequality.

There is no such thing as other people’s children.
-HRC

Opinion | Something Is Stirring in Christian America, and It’s Making Me Nervous

True revival begins with the people proclaiming, by word and deed, “I have sinned.”

MAGA Christianity has a different message. It looks at American culture and declares, “You have sinned.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/o...

Opinion | What Happened in Gaza Might Be Even Worse Than We Think

What Happened in Gaza Might Be Even Worse Than We Think www.nytimes.com/2025/10/23/o...
Thank you @polgreen.bsky.social

Ed Luce watching democracy die in the United States of America

Trump Administration Live Updates: Pentagon Accepts $130 Million Donation to Help Pay Troops During Shutdown

The amount is meaningless — less than one day of salary. But the principle is important: once the armed services are paid by the oligarchs, they become a private militia, and we no longer have a country.
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...

Fear, Greed, Civic Virtue and the Fall of the Elites Members of America’s founding generation had an ambivalent and evolving understanding of...

Josh Marshall; gift link.

Civic virtue is incredibly important. People who study crime say: most people don’t commit crimes not because they’re scared of punishment, but because you just don’t do that. Imagine how awful it would be if that weren’t true; if we couldn’t rely on people’s decency.

Nah man

I should note: by my count, this makes at least four clergy members *that I know of* who have been shot with pepper balls or rubber bullets fired by ICE/DHS agents in recent weeks — two Presbyterians, two Methodists and a UCCer.

Lots of US companies have done lots of dreadful things to Americans. But the symbolism of paying to destroy the White House is hard to top.

Senator Merkley Warns of Authoritarianism Under Trump in Nearly 23-Hour Speech The Oregon Democrat achieved a goal of topping the previous longest speech by a senator from his state.

Senator Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon, concluded a marathon speech on the Senate floor Wednesday evening after 22 hours and 37 minutes, saying he was “ringing the alarm bells” on the arrival of authoritarianism under President Trump.

Why is Apple, Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, Blackstone, Google, OpenAI, Amazon and others financing the destruction of the WH and desecration of the grounds, something that is infuriating to huge chunk of the American population? Do you hate your customers that much?

In the wake of Saturday's massive "No Kings" protests, Ezra Levin tells Jen Psaki about the launch of the "No Kings Alliance" as a next step in focusing the power of the movement.

Is @merkley.senate.gov doing what @booker.senate.gov did and we’re only paying a small amount of attention?????

Also, Merkley has been training for something for the past three months and he said it was a race to save the Senate but now I’m wondering if it was for this

Merkley Holds Senate Floor to Protest Trump’s Threats to Democracy YouTube video by Senator Jeff Merkley

TUNE IN: I’m holding the Senate floor to protest Trump’s grave threats to democracy. We cannot pretend this is normal.
youtube.com/live/bE37g0m...

ICE is stockpiling arms, including chemical weapons, guided missile warheads and explosive components. The spending dwarfs anything we've ever seen in the agency - a 700% increase.

The President is building an army to attack his own country.

7 Things the No Kings Protests Accomplished The political emergency isn't over, of course, but who thought it would be. Here are seven things this weekend's protests accomplished.

What, if anything, did the No Kings protests accomplish?

I've seen that pop up in everything from genuine inquiry to sneering dismissal. For anyone asking or facing that question, here's an answer.

Everything isn't all fixed, of course. But the protests accomplished at least these seven things:

No Kings protesters in NJ & VA get to take all that energy to the polls now in very important elections in their states 2 weeks from now. Make your voices heard in the streets & at the ballot box. Vote against all Trump allies/enablers & send a message to the rest of them for us.

Millions across all 50 US states march in No Kings protests against Trump Crowds of Americans, many in costumes, aligned behind message that US is sliding into authoritarianism

Top story when you go to The Guardian this AM. Which it is not when you go to the Washington Post or the NY Times. Apt language here, whereas WaPo describes the day as an airing of grievances as though we are a bunch of whining George Costanzas, not a vast public fearful of losing everything.

I hear from informed sources that these #NoKings rallies are more than twice as big as last time, making them easily the largest protests in US history. Thanks to everyone and especially organizers.

Any American medium that fails to cover the largest protests in American history is failing in the basic mission of informing the public about the facts.
#NoKings

A stable, functioning democracy is often unassuming, boring even. Easy to take for granted.

But this - millions coming together in a shared public space to insist on their rights as democratic citizens - is a mighty reminder that a proper democracy is something quite incredible and inspiring.

Today’s No Kings protest could be the largest single-day protest in U.S. history.

People have power.