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Sam Bagenstos

@sbagen.bsky.social

Personal account. Personal views. Frank G. Millard Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School & Arlene Susan Kohn Professor of Social Policy, University of Michigan Ford School of Public Policy. Former General Counsel, HHS and OMB.

34,248 Followers  |  2,337 Following  |  3,396 Posts  |  Joined: 21.07.2023
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Posts by Sam Bagenstos (@sbagen.bsky.social)

The very existence of commercially available glasses with Internet-connected cameras sold by Meta, a company built entirely on hiding the costs of services in negative privacy externalities, is an indictment of U.S. tech law and policy. This is an unfixable product from a fundamentally bad company.

05.03.2026 17:18 β€” πŸ‘ 418    πŸ” 154    πŸ’¬ 8    πŸ“Œ 10

I hate it.

05.03.2026 00:31 β€” πŸ‘ 66    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0

I’m trying to imagine what would happen if a Democratic senator literally broke a military veteran’s forearm, which appears to be what happens here.

05.03.2026 00:31 β€” πŸ‘ 740    πŸ” 187    πŸ’¬ 23    πŸ“Œ 9

One was a farmer who didn't have the opportunity to go to college and who eventually opened a meat locker in his tiny Iowa town. The other was a doctor just outside NYC who wrote science fiction books and stories, as well as nonfiction books, in his spare time.

05.03.2026 00:30 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

This is a really good piece.

05.03.2026 00:27 β€” πŸ‘ 52    πŸ” 15    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Trump is leading an ongoing and relentless campaign to convert the federal spending power into a tool for coercion, retaliation, and political favoritism.

This is one the clearest themes to emerge from the first year of this administration.

04.03.2026 19:59 β€” πŸ‘ 39    πŸ” 25    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 1

And see: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...

04.03.2026 18:00 β€” πŸ‘ 37    πŸ” 15    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0

Really important.

04.03.2026 16:47 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
USPSTF Meeting Pushed Back for Third Time in a Row Meeting will be 'rescheduled in the coming months,' according to HHS

The meeting of the United States Preventative Services Task Force has been canceled againβ€”another attack on public health by RFK Jr.

This is an independent group that reviews scientific research for things like cancer screenings. Their recommendations must be covered by insurance.

MAHA!

04.03.2026 16:04 β€” πŸ‘ 204    πŸ” 106    πŸ’¬ 10    πŸ“Œ 8

Excellent thread.

04.03.2026 16:45 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

the kind of thing that gets played at a war crimes trial

04.03.2026 13:47 β€” πŸ‘ 5450    πŸ” 1099    πŸ’¬ 210    πŸ“Œ 42

Most telling part of this rant: That the war will go on until "we decide it is over," not until the aims of the war are achieved - because there are no stated aims; and Trump prefers having none, so any result will allow him to try to claim a "win."

04.03.2026 13:24 β€” πŸ‘ 1623    πŸ” 443    πŸ’¬ 86    πŸ“Œ 12

This cartoonishly childish Hegseth persona is an insult to the American military, the American people, the Iranian people, and just about everybody affected by this war. It is absolutely incredible, in the literal sense, that this man is at the hinge of the chain of command in this spiraling war.

04.03.2026 13:08 β€” πŸ‘ 1368    πŸ” 315    πŸ’¬ 43    πŸ“Œ 18

The Iranian ambassador was not, for the record, on American soil.

I’ve never seen an admin more full of juvenile man-children openly projecting their juvenile man-childness every time they open their mouths and try to come across as β€œtough.” (And yes, I know Waltz’s background: still juvenile.)

04.03.2026 13:23 β€” πŸ‘ 2814    πŸ” 583    πŸ’¬ 86    πŸ“Œ 16
Preview
Trump Has Been Sued 198 Times for Withholding Funding. It Hasn’t Stopped Him. (Gift Article) Immigration demands for highway dollars, D.E.I. rules for homeless grants: how Trump has tried to wield spending to get his way.

An important piece showing that losses in court haven’t stopped Trump from seizing Congress’s spending power and targeting dissenters and β€œblue states.”

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

04.03.2026 11:30 β€” πŸ‘ 219    πŸ” 127    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 7

I'm older than you!

04.03.2026 00:21 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Wow this is something.

04.03.2026 00:15 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Rubio not getting a sarcastic running joke by *George HW Bush* of all people and taking it completely straight is a nice demonstration of the decline in the Republican party in all that time.

04.03.2026 00:09 β€” πŸ‘ 249    πŸ” 50    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 1

At least he came by it honestly as a Cold War CIA Director and Ambassador to China. And he was being preppy-facetious.

04.03.2026 00:12 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

"Angelina Farella, a Texas-based pediatrician and self-described 'frontline viral doctor,' has baselessly claimed that mRNA vaccines can cause 'some kind of unusual hepatitis in children,' labeled the RSV vaccine an 'utter failure' and repeatedly made calls on social media to '#stoptheshots.'"

03.03.2026 23:39 β€” πŸ‘ 17    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
RFK Jr.’s New Vaccine Committee Appointee Has Called to β€˜#StopTheShots’ Angelina Farella, a Texas-based pediatrician, has also called the RSV vaccine an β€œutter failure.”

Trump's folks desperately want us to think they've moved away from their anti-vax policies, but they keep making appointments like this. www.notus.org/health-scien...

03.03.2026 23:39 β€” πŸ‘ 43    πŸ” 13    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 2

As predicted Trump's Medicaid cuts are already starting to have a terrible effect on disabled people and their families.

02.03.2026 14:31 β€” πŸ‘ 247    πŸ” 139    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 3
Preview
Trump campaign peace promises loom large over wartime presidency The "anti-war" candidate has bombed seven countries and launched a new regime-change war in Iran.

No president in the modern era has launched more military strikes against as many different countries as Trump, including more individual strikes in 2025 than Biden ordered in all four years. @zacharybasu www.axios.com/2026/03/02/t...

02.03.2026 14:28 β€” πŸ‘ 165    πŸ” 80    πŸ’¬ 17    πŸ“Œ 3

β€œA squirter”

Are you fucking kidding me

We are so far away from β€œfrom these honored dead we take increased devotion” etc etc

All I feel is derision from the top US defense official

02.03.2026 13:47 β€” πŸ‘ 389    πŸ” 69    πŸ’¬ 16    πŸ“Œ 2

honestly, this goes in the war crimes prosecution file, a pretty clear declaration that the mission is not guided by rules rooted in the law of armed conflict

02.03.2026 13:58 β€” πŸ‘ 2566    πŸ” 616    πŸ’¬ 51    πŸ“Œ 11

It's striking that they haven't even tried:

02.03.2026 13:49 β€” πŸ‘ 41    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1
Preview
Republicans Wage War As Politics ...and politics as war.

What @brianbeutler.bsky.social said.

open.substack.com/pub/brianbeu...

02.03.2026 14:00 β€” πŸ‘ 115    πŸ” 26    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 2

I don't believe you're misremembering anything.

02.03.2026 13:46 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

He's kind of the OG Chalabi.

01.03.2026 23:43 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Yes! I will go to my deathbed trying to get people to stop conflating nonjusticiable with legal.

01.03.2026 23:42 β€” πŸ‘ 111    πŸ” 22    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0