Christopher Saunders

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It's meaningful that this is Santos. He has no friends. He has no power. He has no influence. This isn't the kind of corruption where Trump gets money or favors. This is a message: no matter how big an asshole you are or how much everyone hates you, the law does not bind you if you are a Republican.

“When he is out of custody, Mr. Santos will have served fewer than three months of an 87-month sentence.”

Why I Have Hope for America This weekend's "No Kings" rallies stand as an important corrective amid a dark moment

Three reasons I have hope for America, even after a very dark week: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/why-i-have...

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To understand that horrific Chicago apartment raid, go back in time—to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's political stunts kicked off a crisis that left immigrant families in a lurch.

Read this on the plane. Really strong work, drawing connections for people too overwhelmed to keep track of the many important narratives.

www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

Opinion | How a Quilter Commemorates Toni Morrison’s Legacy LaWanda Dickens writes about how J. Janice Coleman’s quilts share themes with the late author Toni Morrison’s books.

OPINION: "Not only did (Toni) Morrison write about the rural Black woman’s experience in communities much like J. Janice’s, but quilting was a popular theme in her writing," LaWanda Dickens writes.

And nobody questions this… alternate reality

‘College Group Chat’: JD Vance Dismisses ‘Pearl Clutching’ Over Young Republicans Leak to Attack Jay Jones Liberals hit back at Vance's blunt dismissal of racist, antisemitic and misogynistic messages leaked from a Young Republicans group chat.

Fascinating. Politico notes that when notified of the texts, many state-level Republicans fired or condemned these cretins. Now Vance emerges to excuse the racism, and calls the reaction to it "pearl clutching."

He seems determined to purge the party of its last enclaves of decency.

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The Two Section Twos The Protection Against Racial Gerrymandering in Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act is Constitutional. Just Read Section 2 of the 14th Amendment.

A huge and consequential argument in the SCOTUS tomorrow. Is SCOTUS hell-bent in gutting the Voting Rights Act?

The Two Section Twos
open.substack.com/pub/sherrily...

Purge, Merge, and Surge Trump is creating a omniforce of armed loyalists to establish his police state

"(Officers) refuse to recognize local or court authority. A judge says you can’t arrest journalists. Watch us. A judge says we have to wear badges. No. State law says we can’t drive around in unmarked vans? Too bad. Elected officials who want to see what is going on should prepare to be arrested."

History faculty at Columbia & Barnard decrying the harassment of @mark-bray.bsky.social: "This is the first case in recent memory of a historian who has fled the country after receiving death threats on account of the history that they teach."

The New York City Office Market Is Roaring Back, and It’s Pricier Than Ever Manhattan office space is leasing at a rate not seen since 2006, while office markets in other cities are plodding along.

The New York City office market is surging, with Manhattan leasing activity in 2025 topping its 2018-2019 levels.

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Donald Trump: 'What you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening' In a wide-ranging, free-flowing speech to a veterans association, the US president, Donald Trump, criticised the media for its reaction to his trade tariffs policy.

"Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses -because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened."

-- Dwight D. Eisenhower, born #OTD 1890

share.google/3iQPFkHaMpMd...

I know I tell this story all the time, BUT

Pete Hoekstra, Trump's current ambassador to Canada (& to Netherlands in Trump 1) told me when he was first being considered that he had no proof of naturalization. (He came to US when he was 12.)

He had been HPSCI chair for years before that. [corrected]

The Curious Market Timing of Trump’s Tariff Threats Donald Trump may know the art of dealmaking, but he certainly doesn’t know the art of stock-market timing.

Is Trump a paper tiger? The US markets are bearing the brunt as he quickly reverses his tariff threats (via Bloomberg Opinion)

* Over 20,000 Palestinians killed since January
* 100s starved to death, including kids
* Congress bypassed to send more & more bombs to Israel
* US citizens murdered in the West Bank

I hope this ceasefire holds & I am glad the hostages are free, but this is Trump’s *actual record* so far.

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Everett 13-year-old arrested by ICE and sent to Virginia detention facility - The Boston Globe The boy’s mother, Josiele Berto, was called to pick her son up from the Everett Police Department on Thursday, the day he was arrested.

He is 13. A 7th grader w/ a pending asylum case. Being held more than 500 miles from home & housed w/ adults. He called his mom crying, & reported that he’s sleeping on concrete w/ an aluminum blanket.

How is this anything other than sick & shameful? www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/12/m...

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Some of these people have now been fired and rehired TWICE since January. The current state of dysfunction is mind boggling.

So to summarize:

- There is a pattern where Vought makes the RIFs too wide, apparently to flood the zone with sh*t and see who will draw protests.
- They restore some people after outrage and work by us.
- But we are still left with many who remain fired at the end.

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GOP leaders steadfast in shutdown stance despite rising pressure inside party | CNN Politics Top Republicans in Congress will take a massive gamble on shutdown politics in the coming days: GOP leaders will not step in to prevent missed paychecks to the military.

Top Republicans in Congress will take a massive gamble on shutdown politics in the coming days: GOP leaders will not step in to prevent missed paychecks to the military.

Meanwhile, the administration continues firing outbreak response investigators and those with other key roles at CDC

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The American Troops Tasked With Helping Secure Gaza’s Future A stabilization force will run alongside efforts to form a governing apparatus for the enclave.

The deployment of U.S. troops to Israel this weekend is just the start of an extraordinarily complex effort to secure the fragile peace in Gaza.