Five Months in Jail—for a Miscarriage 5.20.25

A Texas woman had a miscarriage. She was jailed for five months. jessica.substack.com/p/texas-jail...

Just wrapped up another year at George Washington University. I’m impressed by the bravery and moral determination of our students. If only university administrators had the same courage and integrity.

@davekarpf.bsky.social still fits in his wedding suit!

Christian Nationalism as an Illiberal Interpretation of Religion | illiberalism.org Marlene Laruelle and Steven Livingston on the 2024 US elections and a potential illiberal turn in the growing embrace of Christian nationalism

Marlene Laruelle and @stevenlivingston.bsky.social open this issue by addressing the 2024 US elections and a potential #illiberal turn in the growing embrace of Christian nationalism.

www.illiberalism.org/christian-na...

Propaganda feedback loops as communication rituals: Hate speech on talk radio - Steven Livingston, Babak Bahador, 2025 The goal of this paper is to deepen the clarity of Benkler, Farris, and Robert’s “propaganda feedback loop” concept. It argues that a sizeable portion of the in...

Happy to see this new publication w/ my dear friend Babak Bahador. We fit Benkler et al's propaganda feedback loop concept into James Carey's communication ritual framework, arguing that the logic of the former is explained by the latter. shorturl.at/u0pOF

What explains such reckless behavior . . . Oh, right.

YouTube video by NowThis Impact The Irony Nobody Saw Coming for Pete Hegseth

Irony is so delicious. youtube.com/shorts/3vVIZ...

The "New" American Fascists They’re a lot like the old fascists, but with a little more polish—and a lot more money.

"While Money, Lies, and God is a copious recounting of relationships and rhetoric nurtured by right-wing money, at its core, the book is a cry of the heart to left-leaning donors and organizers to create institutions built to last, outside of...the party box." democracyjournal.org/magazine/76/...

Casey: There’s this whole mentality that MAGA has painted—like you’re either MAGA or you’re, you know, drinking soy lattes or whatever.

But there are a lot of people who are just like, “We’re just regular people—we don’t want a dictator, we don’t want to see people’s benefits ripped away..”

While the Russian Useful Idiot in the White House is busy claiming bullshit wartime authority to further his efforts destructing Democracy, just a reminder that everything he has said is a lie & everything that he says going forward will be a lie. As for his enablers, screw them.

Let me get this straight. The genius decided it was a good business move to get cozy up w/ right wingers who think climate change is a hoax while insulting the folks most likely to buy his stale line of EVs. I mean, what could go wrong?

I want to see this bastard go down in flames, just like his rockets.

My first mentor was a refugee who didn't speak English when he arrived in the US. John Shalivashvili spent 4 decades serving his country in the US Army, rising through the ranks from private to a 4-star general and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Bonespurs Trump is a fraud.

Katherine Stewart knows this landscape extraordinarily well. See her Lies, Money, and God

Lance Bennett and I have a new article out in Perspectives on Politics. We offer an alternative take on the role of social media and democratic backsliding. It is available here: shorturl.at/Yxayi

Waste and Fraud.

So you say you plan to buy a Tesla.

Elon Musk uses his X ownership to be a mouthpiece for Trump narratives and his White House position to push his priorities The emergence of X owner Elon Musk as the most influential figure around President Donald Trump has created an extraordinary dynamic — a White House adviser who's using one of the world's most powerfu...

My AP interview about Musk was picked up by PBS.

Swasticar sales are way down.

Federal Workers Grapple With Trump’s War on Bureaucracy One thing lost in the Trump administration’s war on the federal bureaucracy is the collective voice of the employees. But some have begun to speak out.

For Stunned Federal Workers, Sleeplessness, Anger and Tears www.nytimes.com/2025/02/09/u...

Remember when we were suppose to become alarmed by Hillary Clinton's emails?

German Protesters Condemn Chancellor Front-Runner Merz for Working with Neo-Nazi Party In Germany, 160,000 demonstrators rallied at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate Sunday to condemn conservative leader Friedrich Merz for collaborating with the extreme-right Alternative for Germany party to push an anti-immigrant measure. The bill ultimately failed after members of Merz’s own CDU party refused to support it. Merz has been favored to become Germany’s next chancellor in the upcoming elections.

German Protesters Condemn Chancellor Front-Runner Merz for Working with Neo-Nazi Party

I'm so looking forward to participating in this Disinformation Summer Institute UC San Diego in June.

shorturl.at/Ts1T3

According to Wired magazine, the Doge team is being led by a group of six “young and inexperienced” engineers aged 19 to 24, one of whom is still in college.

And I wonder how Tesla will sell in Canada