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Melissa R. Michelson

@melissamichelson.bsky.social

Dean of Arts & Sciences at Menlo College. Political Scientist. She/Her

2,775 Followers  |  1,184 Following  |  385 Posts  |  Joined: 27.08.2023
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Posts by Melissa R. Michelson (@melissamichelson.bsky.social)

New on MS NOW:

The war with Iran is costing the U.S. an estimated $1 billion a day, according to two congressional sources with knowledge of the matter.

Based on that estimate, the U.S. has spent at least $5 billion on the war since it began on Feb. 28.

05.03.2026 15:50 β€” πŸ‘ 1231    πŸ” 616    πŸ’¬ 92    πŸ“Œ 85

β€œStrangely”?

That’s who he is.

02.03.2026 15:00 β€” πŸ‘ 184    πŸ” 27    πŸ’¬ 16    πŸ“Œ 1
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Pentagon tells Congress no sign that Iran was going to attack US first, sources say Trump administration officials acknowledged in closed-door briefings with congressional staff on Sunday that there was no intelligence suggesting Iran planned to attack U.S. forces first, two people f...

Trump administration officials acknowledged in closed-door briefings with congressional staff that there was no intelligence suggesting Iran planned to attack US forces first, two people familiar with the matter said reut.rs/46ybyTg

02.03.2026 05:05 β€” πŸ‘ 1729    πŸ” 828    πŸ’¬ 49    πŸ“Œ 124

#OperationEpicFail

02.03.2026 14:52 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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A Directionless War Meets a Constitutional Crisis Welcome to the new era of Trumpism.

Hegseth: β€œWe didn’t start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it.”

The truth: We did start this war two days ago. And now, apparently, we're not going to finish it in a way that will make it worth fighting. And we have a constitutional crisis.

open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

02.03.2026 14:45 β€” πŸ‘ 2325    πŸ” 692    πŸ’¬ 151    πŸ“Œ 37
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Every senator who voted to confirm RFK Jr owns this tragedy. Every single one.

27.02.2026 14:51 β€” πŸ‘ 16767    πŸ” 7027    πŸ’¬ 540    πŸ“Œ 375
A line graph showing NSF grant awards made through 2/27/26 for fiscal year 2026 compared with grant awards for fiscal years 2021-2025.

A line graph showing NSF grant awards made through 2/27/26 for fiscal year 2026 compared with grant awards for fiscal years 2021-2025.

NSF Update (Awards through 2/27/26)

Directorates to follow

1/10

01.03.2026 14:48 β€” πŸ‘ 667    πŸ” 445    πŸ’¬ 28    πŸ“Œ 118
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www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...

01.03.2026 14:59 β€” πŸ‘ 6164    πŸ” 2263    πŸ’¬ 332    πŸ“Œ 112
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They spent billions on regime change in Venezuela and left the Maduro's head of torture in charge.

They are now spending billions on regime change in Iran, knowing the most likely outcome will be harder line leadership.

We do not have serious people running our country.

01.03.2026 15:19 β€” πŸ‘ 6746    πŸ” 2128    πŸ’¬ 316    πŸ“Œ 93
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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‘ 1639    πŸ” 881    πŸ’¬ 68    πŸ“Œ 268

To paraphrase the late, great Carrie Fisher, things are getting worse faster than we can lower our standards.

28.02.2026 15:47 β€” πŸ‘ 52    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
This War Will Destabilize The Entire Mideast Region And Set Off A Global Shockwave Of Anti-Americanism vs. No It Won’t

This War Will Destabilize The Entire Mideast Region And Set Off A Global Shockwave Of Anti-Americanism vs. No It Won’t

I can't fucking believe we're doing this again.

28.02.2026 15:50 β€” πŸ‘ 13791    πŸ” 3341    πŸ’¬ 111    πŸ“Œ 70

Impeach

28.02.2026 15:41 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Netflix Backs Out of Bid for Warner Bros., Paving Way for an Ellison Takeover

The richest man owns X.

The second and third richest men control Google.

The fourth richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The fifth richest man owns The Washington Post.

And now the sixth richest could soon take over both Paramount and Warner Bros.

See the problem here?

26.02.2026 23:40 β€” πŸ‘ 38949    πŸ” 16529    πŸ’¬ 1827    πŸ“Œ 1084

historical detail I can't help but bring up: by some accounts, the event that instigated the British soldiers to open fire on Crispus Attacks and the rest of the crowd in the Boston Massacre was a soldier being hit by a snowball

25.02.2026 20:48 β€” πŸ‘ 3249    πŸ” 804    πŸ’¬ 49    πŸ“Œ 16
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This is clearly blatantly intentional voter suppression and any claim otherwise is completely unserious

26.02.2026 02:35 β€” πŸ‘ 6586    πŸ” 3036    πŸ’¬ 208    πŸ“Œ 95

@wcps.bsky.social welcome to Bluesky! 🀩

25.02.2026 20:23 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I’m a proud member of the Onionati

25.02.2026 18:49 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

If the Trump administration needs help bringing them all back, I’ve got receipts. gillianbrockell.ghost.io/tracking-all...

25.02.2026 18:08 β€” πŸ‘ 930    πŸ” 356    πŸ’¬ 10    πŸ“Œ 4

I don’t want to hear the handwringing over what Trump or SCOTUS might do next. Take a moment to enjoy the win

20.02.2026 15:32 β€” πŸ‘ 7    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Omg SCOTUS struck down the tariffs!

20.02.2026 15:22 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
Screenshot of a YouTube video posted by NBC Sports titled, "Alysa Liu's FABULOUS gold medal-winning free skate, Winter Olympics 2026."

Screenshot of a YouTube video posted by NBC Sports titled, "Alysa Liu's FABULOUS gold medal-winning free skate, Winter Olympics 2026."

This is the Alysa Liu performance everyone is talking about, and yes, you should watch it! www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCrF...

20.02.2026 02:57 β€” πŸ‘ 2842    πŸ” 529    πŸ’¬ 51    πŸ“Œ 142

Getting shown up in the arena of elite impunity by *the British monarchy* is an incredible β€œAmerica at 250!” achievement

19.02.2026 12:20 β€” πŸ‘ 13444    πŸ” 3449    πŸ’¬ 128    πŸ“Œ 126

look at my country man, we’re getting out-No Kings’d by the fuckin’ british

19.02.2026 14:22 β€” πŸ‘ 24955    πŸ” 5171    πŸ’¬ 449    πŸ“Œ 147
Rep. James Talarico On Confronting Christian Nationalism, And Strange Days In The Texas Legislature
YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Rep. James Talarico On Confronting Christian Nationalism, And Strange Days In The Texas Legislature

I can see why they tried to suppress this #Colbert interview. #Talarico might just flip the Texas Senate seat youtu.be/oiTJ7Pz_59A?...

17.02.2026 18:50 β€” πŸ‘ 4    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

There’s no President Barack Obama without Jesse Jackson. It just doesn’t happen.

17.02.2026 12:18 β€” πŸ‘ 4247    πŸ” 455    πŸ’¬ 82    πŸ“Œ 30
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I don’t know who needs to hear Jesse Jackson leading the kids on Sesame Street in this beautiful call-and-response reminding them that every child is somebody, but here it is

17.02.2026 11:41 β€” πŸ‘ 21763    πŸ” 7745    πŸ’¬ 299    πŸ“Œ 637
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β€œCut ICE’s budget to restore federal health care funding” is an extremely popular message www.politico.com/f/?id=000001...

11.02.2026 13:48 β€” πŸ‘ 2713    πŸ” 825    πŸ’¬ 12    πŸ“Œ 36
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The end of DOE’s grid work in Puerto Rico The Trump administration has canceled all eight of the remaining awards devoted to distributed energy on the island.

Just a few weeks ago, the administration cancelled all remaining department of energy grid resilience projects in Puerto Rico. All of them. www.latitudemedia.com/news/the-end...

09.02.2026 02:00 β€” πŸ‘ 2096    πŸ” 1433    πŸ’¬ 34    πŸ“Œ 54

That halftime show is what people mean when they say "joy is an act of resistance."

09.02.2026 01:54 β€” πŸ‘ 5153    πŸ” 944    πŸ’¬ 22    πŸ“Œ 22