Amber Concepcion

‘Blatantly unconstitutional’: Second Amendment groups slam floated gun ban for transgender Americans Reports of the DOJ weighing restricting transgender Americans’ access to guns drew strong pushback from GOP-aligned gun advocates.

They did make a statement a few days ago on this -

www.politico.com/news/2025/09...

🧵 Authoritarianism, Democratization, and Coalition Politics.

The consensus around here is, more or less, that the United States is currently a consolidating authoritarian regime controlled by a mix of reactionary populists and fascists.

ICE Goes After Church Leaders and Christians Fleeing Persecution - Christianity Today On Tuesday, Iranian asylum-seekers were detained in Los Angeles, adding to the count of church members taken despite lawful status.

“The detentions add to a growing number of church members and Christians seeking religious protection who get picked up by ICE. Often they have no apparent criminal history. In many instances, they were in the United States lawfully, complying with orders from immigration courts.”

No explanation.
None.
It’s obscene.
I keep remembering the 1679 habeas corpus act. It reacted to the king arresting people & without trial deporting them. It began: “for prevention of imprisonment beyond seas.”
Without explanation, our current SCOTUS majority is undoing centuries of justice.

The rise of end times fascism The governing ideology of the far right has become a monstrous, supremacist survivalism. Our task is to build a movement strong enough to stop them

THE RISE OF END TIMES FASCISM

My first major piece of the new Trump era, co-written with @astra.bsky.social.

The governing ideology of the far right has become a
monstrous, supremacist survivalism.

Our task is to build a movement strong enough to stop them. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

Those trying to understand the tariffs as economic policy are dangerously naive.

No, the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy. A means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief.

1/ A 🧵 to explain his plan and how we fight back.

Musk cuts the team finding Ukrainian children stolen by Russia Trump’s federal cost-cutting - led by Elon Musk's Doge – has now hit the unit helping rescue Ukrainian children taken by Russia

Russia has kidnapped tens of thousands of Ukrainian children. Putin was indicted for this crime. Yale has a unit searching for them. Musk eliminated the funding.
inews.co.uk/news/world/m...

Abolishing USAID Is Both Unconstitutional and Disastrous The State Department isn’t ready to handle vital disease-prevention efforts worldwide.

New on #USAID: First, in @foreignpolicy.com our piece on illegality of abolishing USAID. To be clear-eyed: This is neither good policy nor legal under the most basic elements of U.S. law and the Constitution.
w @abinader.bsky.social
Also see our memo 👇
foreignpolicy.com/2025/02/04/u...

As the parent of a kid with a life-threatening peanut allergy, I don’t find this funny at all. Some years ago, I had to fight to convince a libertarian parent (who worked for CATO institute) and had kids at his preschool that peanut allergies are real.

“Every minute of every day, you have opportunities to practice standing firm. Each small choice builds the moral muscle memory you'll need for bigger challenges ahead.”

U.S.A.I.D. Memos Detail Human Costs of Cuts to Foreign Aid (Gift Article) The world is likely to see millions more malaria infections and 200,000 cases of paralytic polio each year, according to an agency whistle-blower.

This is what Trump's cut to foreign assistance mean. Millions of additional malaria infections and hundreds of thousands of new cases of polio.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/02/h...

NEW: When the Trump Admin abruptly cancelled almost all USAID programs, it also refused to pay $2bln the U.S. govt owes **for work that’s been done.**

One of the cut-off programs in Syria couldn’t afford security and was robbed by masked men.

www.propublica.org/article/trum...

NOAA’s vast public weather data powers the local forecasts on your phone and TV – a private company alone couldn’t match it NOAA operates fleets of satellites, sensors on airplanes and ocean-going buoys, as well as radar, providing the data used by weather forecasters nationwide – and freely available to anyone.

"NOAA is taxpayer-funded, so it is a public good – its services provide safety and security for everyone, not just those who can pay for it." CIRES' @cwiedinm.bsky.social and Kari Bowen explain @noaa.gov's role in U.S. weather forecasts. @us.theconversation.com @colorado.edu

You don’t impeach judges because you disagree with their decisions; you appeal the decisions.

80 years ago today: Marines raise the flag on Iwo Jima.

We in the pro-democracy camp fight for the America that won World War II, and for the America that after the war worked to further advance the American idea. We know what side we would have been on 80 years ago, and what side we're on today.

Scientists warn of long-term damage as Trump’s orders slow research By blocking announcements in the Federal Register, the administration is keeping experts from meeting to evaluate funding proposals.

Deep and thoughtful reporting on the crises of the NIH funding and review blocks. Share locally, share widely. And make sure your reps know!

www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025...

Forget Bonhoeffer. This is the Niemöller Moment Change your mind. Get others to change their minds. Stand up. Speak out.

Forget Bonhoeffer. This is the Niemöller Moment.

Change your mind. Get others to change their minds. Stand up. Speak out.

open.substack.com/pub/dianabut...

The plot thickens?!

Stand with Ukrainians as Trump prepares to sell them out
(Location: Russian embassy, London, Feb ‘23)

The Path to American Authoritarianism What comes after democratic breakdown.

“Worn down by harassment and threats, many of Trump’s critics will be tempted to retreat to the sidelines. Such a retreat would be perilous. When fear, exhaustion, or resignation crowds out citizens’ commitment to democracy, emergent authoritarianism begins to take root.”

Rory Stewart was a Tory MP - not super liberal, but anti-Brexit, so apparently a target for Vance.

If you need a starter pack on Christian Nationalism, I've got you covered. Here are some of the people and groups tracking, studying, fighting, and educating about Christian Nationalism in the United States.

go.bsky.app/QHLh3qS
I know I'm missing folks, so hit me up with recs!