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Radley Balko

@radleybalko.bsky.social

Journalist. Quattrone Center journalism fellow. Author: Rise of the Warrior Cop. Co-author: The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist. New podcast: Collateral Damage Substack: radleybalko.substack.com Signal: radleybalko.52

104,180 Followers  |  1,891 Following  |  5,011 Posts  |  Joined: 08.05.2023
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Posts by Radley Balko (@radleybalko.bsky.social)

These assholes are really gonna go with β€œwar is peace, actually.”

01.03.2026 03:10 β€” πŸ‘ 1676    πŸ” 322    πŸ’¬ 61    πŸ“Œ 7
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Peace is war. War is peace.

01.03.2026 03:00 β€” πŸ‘ 508    πŸ” 99    πŸ’¬ 36    πŸ“Œ 14
Two photos. The first shows Catturd tweeting: Name one US inspired regime change that hasn't ended in absolute disaster

The next tweet shows him posting an AI illustration of Khamenei turned into a pile of dust. It says "I'm eliminated."

Two photos. The first shows Catturd tweeting: Name one US inspired regime change that hasn't ended in absolute disaster The next tweet shows him posting an AI illustration of Khamenei turned into a pile of dust. It says "I'm eliminated."

Two tweets. The first shows Laura Loomer promoting her show, where she says "A message has been sent that we are not interested in going back to the way politics were prior to Donald Trump, prior to 2016. We don't want warhawks. We don't want any more Neocons. We want American First. Period. End of discussion."

The next tweet says: Today is a great day. 

Our military is amazing. 

@PeteHegseth
 is an absolute killer. 

Now you see why the Deep State worked so hard against him. 

It’s great having a Sec War who has Infidel literally tattooed on his body. 

He actually gets it. 

God bless him.

Two tweets. The first shows Laura Loomer promoting her show, where she says "A message has been sent that we are not interested in going back to the way politics were prior to Donald Trump, prior to 2016. We don't want warhawks. We don't want any more Neocons. We want American First. Period. End of discussion." The next tweet says: Today is a great day. Our military is amazing. @PeteHegseth is an absolute killer. Now you see why the Deep State worked so hard against him. It’s great having a Sec War who has Infidel literally tattooed on his body. He actually gets it. God bless him.

Two tweets. The first shows Will Chamberlain tweeting: The Republican Party is no longer the party of regime change and endless wars. If you want to be its standard-bearer that is a non-negotiable position.

The next tweet shows him posting "Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead." The tweet has a USA flag attached.

Two tweets. The first shows Will Chamberlain tweeting: The Republican Party is no longer the party of regime change and endless wars. If you want to be its standard-bearer that is a non-negotiable position. The next tweet shows him posting "Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead." The tweet has a USA flag attached.

Two tweets. The first shows Gunther Eagleman tweeting: "Warmonger Lindsey Graham just rushed to Fox to advocate for U.S. involvement as soon as he could.

He is also pushing for a US-backed regime change in Iran.

I would like to renominate Graham to get a one-way ticket to the frontlines of every war he wants America involved in." There's an attached video of Graham speaking. 

The next shows Eagleman tweeting: UST IN! President Trump is HARD AT WORK all weekend after the massive strikes on Iran!

He’s already on the phone with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte! 

Trump is a machine!" There's an attached video of a news segment about the war in Iran.

Two tweets. The first shows Gunther Eagleman tweeting: "Warmonger Lindsey Graham just rushed to Fox to advocate for U.S. involvement as soon as he could. He is also pushing for a US-backed regime change in Iran. I would like to renominate Graham to get a one-way ticket to the frontlines of every war he wants America involved in." There's an attached video of Graham speaking. The next shows Eagleman tweeting: UST IN! President Trump is HARD AT WORK all weekend after the massive strikes on Iran! He’s already on the phone with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte! Trump is a machine!" There's an attached video of a news segment about the war in Iran.

manufacturing consent through lowly paid influencers

28.02.2026 20:20 β€” πŸ‘ 6283    πŸ” 1431    πŸ’¬ 86    πŸ“Œ 69

Senator Mullin that guy died in 1989

28.02.2026 21:03 β€” πŸ‘ 1682    πŸ” 281    πŸ’¬ 71    πŸ“Œ 10

If you were at work today and you got a phone call from your wife that France just blew up your kid's school, your lifelong opinion of France is probably not going to be anything other than "Death to France"

28.02.2026 16:47 β€” πŸ‘ 937    πŸ” 256    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 11
Post image 28.02.2026 15:31 β€” πŸ‘ 8006    πŸ” 2139    πŸ’¬ 438    πŸ“Œ 115

So, it was Iran? Not China? Not Venezuela? Not the radical left?

We are living inside the minute-by-minute delusions of a madman.

28.02.2026 17:02 β€” πŸ‘ 2375    πŸ” 742    πŸ’¬ 112    πŸ“Œ 25

(American bombing stops.)

Trump: I stopped NINE wars

28.02.2026 17:49 β€” πŸ‘ 209    πŸ” 27    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
Exclusive: Prior to Iran attacks, CIA assessed Khamenei would be replaced by hardline IRGC elements if killed, sources say In the run-up to the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Saturday, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency assessed that even if Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the operation, he would likely be replaced by hardline figures from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), two sources briefed on the intelligence said.

Exclusive: Prior to Iran attacks, CIA assessed Khamenei would be replaced by hardline IRGC elements if killed, sources say reut.rs/4l9SCAs

28.02.2026 16:05 β€” πŸ‘ 1570    πŸ” 831    πŸ’¬ 61    πŸ“Œ 252
Preview
Hennepin County Attorney’s Office blasts DOJ over closed civil rights investigation The Justice Department announced it had ended an investigation into Mary Moriarty’s office over a policy considering race in charging decisions. Her office called the investigation a β€œstunt.”

"This was a political attack from the beginning. Their lawyers committed to defending actual civil rights have left."

www.startribune.com/doj-civil-ri...

27.02.2026 15:30 β€” πŸ‘ 60    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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> @covie93.bsky.social

28.02.2026 16:11 β€” πŸ‘ 24346    πŸ” 5166    πŸ’¬ 236    πŸ“Œ 174

In a just world, every bad faith git with a platform who called Trump an anti-war president would be driving DoorDash for the next ten years. It was always such transparently false bullshit.

28.02.2026 17:38 β€” πŸ‘ 1222    πŸ” 218    πŸ’¬ 31    πŸ“Œ 16
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Washington Post layoffs include entire Ukraine, Middle East bureaus - National | Globalnews.ca The Post’s executive editor Matt Murray called the move painful but necessary to put the outlet on stronger footing and weather changes in technology and user habits.

I’m not the world’s fourth-richest man so I don’t mean to speak out of turn here, but I think that firing your full-time foreign correspondents right before a major war might not have been a particularly wise move in terms of, you know, getting or keeping subscribers

globalnews.ca/news/1165243...

28.02.2026 12:55 β€” πŸ‘ 633    πŸ” 151    πŸ’¬ 35    πŸ“Œ 10

Democrats should promise that every refugee, asylum seeker, and green card holder illegally deported, arrested, sent to CECOT, or sent to a third country can come back to the U.S. with a fast track to citizenship.

28.02.2026 17:28 β€” πŸ‘ 1072    πŸ” 252    πŸ’¬ 13    πŸ“Œ 2

WOW. 19 people, all who were imprisoned and mistreated in a foreign prison at the direct command of the United States, are brave enough to say β€œWe are innocent, and we will endure more time imprisoned to prove that.”

I can only admire the enormous courage such a move takes.

28.02.2026 16:57 β€” πŸ‘ 4513    πŸ” 1354    πŸ’¬ 32    πŸ“Œ 13
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Radiohead is demanding that the Trump administration take down a pro-ICE promotional video featuring a version of its song β€œLet Down” without permission.

Full statement from the band:

27.02.2026 19:23 β€” πŸ‘ 6251    πŸ” 1561    πŸ’¬ 72    πŸ“Œ 141

Related point, if you are in misinformation research and have been launching study after study to see what Uncle Fred thinks after seeing misinformation PLEASE listen to what @katestarbird.bsky.social and I have been saying for years: effects on elite and official action is what matters most.

28.02.2026 16:36 β€” πŸ‘ 262    πŸ” 78    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 4

In case you’re just waking up, the U.S. has teamed up with Israel overnight to start an illegal war of regime change, apparently on a presidential whim with no involvement of Congress, and they are already committing horrific atrocities.

28.02.2026 12:14 β€” πŸ‘ 6466    πŸ” 2748    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 74
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You can just say things.

28.02.2026 08:21 β€” πŸ‘ 4465    πŸ” 1272    πŸ’¬ 89    πŸ“Œ 95
28.02.2026 12:23 β€” πŸ‘ 1885    πŸ” 663    πŸ’¬ 93    πŸ“Œ 23
THE SENIOR

THE SENIOR

I still refuse to believe this is a real movie

28.02.2026 03:59 β€” πŸ‘ 1334    πŸ” 48    πŸ’¬ 168    πŸ“Œ 20

Yes, it really was triple posted. Everything is fine.

28.02.2026 04:00 β€” πŸ‘ 299    πŸ” 64    πŸ’¬ 8    πŸ“Œ 0

So let’s think about this.

A private company refused - on principle - to yield to the government’s demands.

The government then cancelled its contracts with the company and has set about destroying it

27.02.2026 23:55 β€” πŸ‘ 4904    πŸ” 1565    πŸ’¬ 235    πŸ“Œ 89

Once again, in actual democracies, people do not need to engage in permanent litigation & political mobilization to retain the basic right to vote, because none of the major political parties make restricting suffrage the central pillar of their policy platform. We also don't have to live like this.

28.02.2026 01:46 β€” πŸ‘ 3231    πŸ” 1022    πŸ’¬ 39    πŸ“Œ 12
Preview
Confused Trump Says the Civil War and Reconstruction Were the Same Thing: β€˜A Fancy Way of Saying the Civil War’ President Donald Trump botched 19th-century U.S. history on Friday, telling a crowd of supporters that the Civil War and Reconstruction were the same thing.

I don’t know how much less surprised I could be that Trump isn’t familiar with Reconstruction.

28.02.2026 01:35 β€” πŸ‘ 1441    πŸ” 282    πŸ’¬ 69    πŸ“Œ 24

I could see him taking it to boost his podcast

28.02.2026 01:36 β€” πŸ‘ 188    πŸ” 12    πŸ’¬ 20    πŸ“Œ 2

Interesting update: This bill will get a first vote in the D.C. Council next Tuesday.

27.02.2026 21:30 β€” πŸ‘ 96    πŸ” 29    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Trump desperately tryna find another appellate body to run to like I know we said the Supreme Court is the highest but is it the _most_ high?

or is there a Crunchwrap Supreme Court I could speak with, maybe?

27.02.2026 21:54 β€” πŸ‘ 872    πŸ” 143    πŸ’¬ 65    πŸ“Œ 12

This draft Trump EO on voting is even nuttier than you imagined. Zeroing out all voter rolls and making everyone re-register in person. Mandatory annual online re-registration. Requiring anyone casting an absentee ballot to find a notary. No dropboxes. All post-election disputes federalized. 😟

27.02.2026 21:49 β€” πŸ‘ 972    πŸ” 569    πŸ’¬ 73    πŸ“Œ 86

Secretary Hegseth announced this afternoon that DOD will cease ALL graduate study by military personnel at universities including MIT, all the Ivies, Stanford, etc because such schools teach "the enemy's wicked ideology" to officers.

thehill.com/policy/defen...

27.02.2026 21:48 β€” πŸ‘ 2474    πŸ” 1032    πŸ’¬ 430    πŸ“Œ 772