Mark McKenna

Hochul: "This is what I call a legal insurrection ... they know they're going to lose next year. That's the only reason they're engaged in this. It also might be a nice distraction from people asking -- all of the sudden this happens when? When they refuse to release the Epstein files."

He really does like dictatorship in all areas of his life.

Why would anyone ever trust and work with the United States again?

Much of the settlement has nothing to do with antisemitism. As @mbkplus.bsky.social and I discussed on the pod, how can a university cede authority over admissions, hiring, and even locker rooms and still profess a commitment to "core values?"

livefromwatthall.transistor.fm/episodes/col...

Only the best people

An utterly insane career bio. Getting a White House appt with this in your record is something else.

Trump’s mental decline is undeniable — so what now? hemselves, that there is a problem, just as Biden’s supporters did for him.    Donald Trump is showing all the signs of suffering from dementia. If this were a neighbor, a parent, or a family frien…

"In older people, confabulation is one of the clearest early signs of dementia...Once you have seen that Donald Trump is confabulating, it cannot be unseen — and all sorts of other mildly disturbing incidents suddenly fall into place."
thehill.com/opinion/camp...

‘Clinton Plan’ Emails Were Likely Made by Russian Spies, Declassified Report Shows

The sad and fundamental truth is that neither the Obama administration nor the Clinton campaign took Russian electoral interference seriously, meaning that now, a decade on, Russia’s man keeps trying to prove that he’s not.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/31/u...

I watched the NewsHour for the first time in a long time. It was striking how deep and thoughtful and efficient their broadcast was. I came away much better informed in a non-political way than I do from watching any of the cable news networks. That’s why Trump wants to kill it.

I was just informed that our Country’s “Jobs Numbers” are being produced by a Biden Appointee, Dr. Erika McEntarfer, the Commissioner of Labor Statistics, who faked the Jobs Numbers before the Election to try and boost Kamala’s chances of Victory. This is the same Bureau of Labor Statistics that overstated the Jobs Growth in March 2024 by approximately 818,000 and, then again, right before the 2024 Presidential Election, in August and September, by 112,000. These were Records — No one can be that wrong? We need accurate Jobs Numbers. I have directed my Team to fire this Biden Political Appointee, IMMEDIATELY. She will be replaced with someone much more competent and qualified. Important numbers like this must be fair and accurate, they can’t be manipulated for political purposes. McEntarfer said there were only 73,000 Jobs added (a shock!) but, more importantly, that a major mistake was made by them, 258,000 Jobs downward, in the prior two months. Similar things happened in the first part of the year, always to the negative. The Economy is BOOMING under “TRUMP” despite a Fed that also plays games, this time with Interest Rates, where they lowered them twice, and substantially, just before the Presidential Election, I assume in the hopes of getting “Kamala” elected – How did that work out? Jerome “Too Late” Powell should also be put “out to pasture.” Thank you for your attention to this matter!

Unquestionably the most dangerous and corrupt attack on the independence of US economic data in American history. Trump is firing the head of the BLS, a longtime civil servant confirmed 86-8 by the Senate, simply because the job numbers came in below his expectations today

NEW: A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to unfreeze federal funds.

Then the harassment began.

Pizzas sent to his home in the name of Judge Esther Salas’s murdered son, Daniel.

Six credible threats to his life.

More than 400 “vile” calls to his chambers—including this voicemail:

'DOGE lied': Expert floored as blistering report finds Musk team blew billions The Department of Government Efficiency wasn't so efficient after all. In fact, was extraordinarily wasteful, according to a Thursday report by the U.S. Senate's investigations subcommittee.When Elon ...

Seems DOGE wasn't so efficient after all. In fact, was extraordinarily wasteful, according to a Thursday report by the US Senate's investigations subcommittee.

Musk is already known to have wildly exaggerated the amount that his initiative was saving the public.

www.rawstory.com/doge-2673797...

For those of us who understand the importance of studying history to inform the present, this erasing of history by an institution of this importance is particularly terrifying.

Restating Copyright: The ALI’s Landmark Project and What It Means for the Law In May 2025, the membership of the American Law Institute (ALI) completed a milestone in our understanding and interpretation of U.S. copyright law: the approval of its first-ever Restatement of the L...

Restating Copyright: The ALI’s Landmark Project and What It Means for the Law, by @danielgervais.bsky.social, Lydia Loren, R. Anthony Reese, @cjsprigman.bsky.social & @mollysvh.bsky.social on the Kluwer Copyright Blog

legalblogs.wolterskluwer.com/copyright-bl...

The whole idea of a "Heritage American" is revisionist BS, and I say that as someone who can trace my own "heritage" in this land back to the 1640s. This country has always been a mish-mosh of peoples coming together to make a better future.

"E Pluribus Unum"; out of many, one.

The attacks on law firms have had their desired effect.

"Government oversight of course evaluations" is a recipe for mischief and opens the door government oversight of teaching

So shameful.

@JDVance on X: The gerrymander in California is outrageous. Of their 52 congressional districts, 9 of them are Republican. That means 17 percent of their delegation is Republican when Republicans regularly win 40 percent of the vote in that state. How can this possibly be allowed?

JD Vance is suddenly opposed to gerrymandering. Someone tell Greg Abbott.

Between this and the news that Vought has stopped the NIH from issuing any more grants this year — (illegally) refusing to spend money that Congress has allocated — we're getting a glimpse of what could be a really ugly future for higher ed and science / technology in the US. And it's coming fast.

Senate Confirms Trump's Most Alarming Nominee To A Lifetime Federal Judgeship Bove faced credible allegations of telling DOJ attorneys to defy court orders. Republicans confirmed him to a seat on a U.S. appeals court anyway.

JUST IN: Senate Republicans have confirmed Emil Bove to a lifetime federal judgeship, choosing to ignore credible allegations that Bove had told Justice Department attorneys to defy court orders and say “fuck you” to judges who ruled against them. www.huffpost.com/entry/senate...

The US used to lead the world in research. That is over.

Republicans are going to confirm someone completely uncommitted to the rule of law. This is a new low.

Totally, completely predictable.

Justice Department files misconduct complaint against judge in key deportations case U.S. District Judge James Boasberg found cause to initiate contempt proceedings to determine whether the Trump administration violated court orders.

The attack by Trump's DOJ on Judge Boasberg is ominous, and merely the first step in what will be a four-year effort to intimidate and discredit any judges who displease the administration, laying the predicate for ignoring or evading their authority.

www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...

The world's most prestigious university fails the Lando test:

"University officials...concluded months ago that even if they prevailed in their court fight against the government, a deal could help Harvard to avoid more troubles over the course of Mr. Trump’s term." www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/u...

The Death of Democracy Promotion Despots and human-rights abusers can rest easy now that America has gotten out of their way.

"American democracy promotion is effectively dead," Brian Klaas writes. The world's authoritarians have taken note that they no longer need fear Washington's condemnation when they tighten their grip on power:

The First Amendment continues to take a beating under this administration.

We’ve lost all moral authority on freedom of speech and suppression of political opposition.