Magdi Jacobs

They’re scared. “Could be in the thousands” is an enormous walk back from Vought’s threats.

Look at what Neera Tanden was publishing in 2020, a few months before she was nominated by Biden for OMB. People tanked her nomination. People payed *much more attention* to her nomination than they ever did to Vought's. Time to ask "why?" & whether or not this behavior is bad.

Neera Tanden got in the news, stayed in the news, and drove social media discussion in a way Vought never has. If that doesn't show us the superficiality of some of our discussions, I don't know what else will. We like to debate what we have control over. What gives us "cred."

I feel like now is as good a time as ever to say that people on social media & in the news spent infinitely more time on Neera Tandem's nomination for OMB (2021) than they ever did for Russell Vought (2025). This difference, which is a pretty clear comparison, should tell us something.

They’re nervous. Recognize their anxiety. Work with that in mind. They don’t necessarily want this. Don’t give them more power than they have. If they seem nervous, take note. They seem nervous.

Republicans are nervous about this. Keep the pressure on them.

I don't think Republicans feel strong going into this shutdown. I think they actually feel weak. There are things that social media users can do to reinforce this weakness.

That's the nature of my comment: Republicans do not seem confident, including Vance. They seem a tad bit defensive. Watch and see if you observe the same. They don't feel great about this. Whatever you think Democrats should do, it is worth noting if Republicans are showing weakness.

I'm not going to comment on what Democrats should do. I have my opinion, but I always recognize that there are no good options. Here is what I will comment on. Republicans are often, in our view, "invulnerable." JD Vance did not appear invulnerable in his commentary today. He seemed nervous.

I want to point a very important detail of this:

Jeffries is holding a press conference trashing Trump.

And only CSPAN is carrying it.

And that is the problem with America right now. The only place Democrats get any press coverage are places where no one watches.

Hunter Biden was an imperfect victim, so we dropped the ball by not highlighting that he was being attacked by a Republican weaponized DOJ. We thought we were being high and mighty on a pedestal of purity, but we were actually allowing the DOJ to become even worse.

Trump is weaponizing every lever of power he possesses--in the Federal Gov't & beyond--to persecute his political opponents/percieved enemies, as well as individual immigrants, college students, etc. He is accelerating this process. We need to look at all of this as a unified agenda.

Yet this is where we are. On a road paved with imperfection, paved, perhaps, with men we loathe, or people who we believe did perhaps do something wrong. To attend to the specifics of each case is a mistake. We should look, instead, towards orienting each case in the broader constellation.

Whereas the Civil Rights Movement actively sought "perfect" victims to elucidate social problems, the Trump administration has typically sought "imperfect" victims to advance the opposite: authoritarianism. Few of Trump's primary opponents--liberals--have any appetite to boldly defend John Bolton.

Think of the "deportees"--the disappeared--as well. Those who have seemed "perfect" at first induced public outcry; then their imperfections--in some cases serious crimes--came to light. Kimmel's case was diff. "Why go after *that* guy?" There will be more Boltons & Comeys b4 there are more Kimmels.

Most of Trump's victims thus far have been "imperfect;" Regardless of how one feels about the campus protests, these are clearly cases that divide the opposition. Clearly cases where, however *you* feel, some on the antifascist side feel very differently. This fragments & mutes public outcry.

The Civil Rights movement was all too familiar with the concept of "perfect" vs. "imperfect" victims, w/ the well-known cases of Rosa Parks & Claudette Colvin as exemplars. A "perfect" victim carries no "baggage" that distracts from the cause, faciliating a purer elucidation of the problem at hand.

When we talk about crime, we often cite the fact that victims aren't "perfect." Going after Kimmel was a tactical error because he is about as "perfect" a victim as one could target for political retribution, insofar as he's not a terribly political person. Bolton is an imperfect victim, as is Comey

All within one week.

Truly insane to take a moment and compare how we react to the indictment of James Comey today vs. how we reacted to the firing of James Comey in 2017, a multi-week/month news story. There are both historical & psychological factors at play here, all of which should be noted.

I am so sorry for what you have been through. People really do not understand what we're up against. We will find ways to tell our stories.

Two-party recording consent is tough on DV survivors.

My ex contained his violence and threats to settings where in Illinois he had a lawful expectation to privacy. In other words, as a lawyer, he planned his abuses carefully enough to prevent the accumulation of certain types of damning evidence.

One other thing they say, while laughing, before they shut up, "What's she going to do about it? Post on the internet?"

That is one of many options, yes.

When the police lie about you & a judge arraigns you based on these lies, it can feel like the truth doesn't matter.

The truth always matters

I will say this: When I heard what they said about Kamala Harris signs, I gripped the bars of my temporary cell & yelled, "I heard that! You shouldn't have said that!" They became completely quiet. They might "get away with it," but I will make sure they remember it. bsky.app/profile/magd...

One can tell when a group of people are behaving in an entirely novel way or in a familiar way. These men had behaved like this before. They had made jokes like this before. They were easy & familiar w/ one another. This isn't just about me. bsky.app/profile/magd...

I will try to find a federal Civil Rights attorney who will take my case. If I am unable to do so, then I will retain a regular attorney who will protect me from liability if I choose to present my case to others outside the legal system. Where there is a will, there is a way. I will tell my story.

I have been to jail 2x in the past 10 months. I met many other women who were beaten/abused, most of whom were Black. I saw their bruises forming over the almost-24 hours we spent together. Part of my life's purpose is now to fight for these & other women.

I am absolutely haunted by this fact; as you should be too. All over this country, there are police who feel unaccountable. I am societally vulnerable as a 1) woman & 2) victim of IPV. I am not societally vulnerable due to race. Plz sit w/ the fact that many police simply feel accountable to no one.

Another thing the police officers said when they were drawing up the false charges was, "What's she going to do? Trump's coming." I will remind people that Trump has ceased many Civil Rights investigations into police. PA's AG office, like many other states, does not handle police misconduct.

The major fascist move was from Nexstar and Sinclair. Both of them have many affiliates of all broadcast networks. SInclair and Nexstar have been the ones putting pressure on ABC. All Sinclair and Nexstar stations should be boycotted, NOT JUST the stations that are ABC affiliates!