This keeps getting worse.

We’re pretty cooked. No one I know seems to think there’s much to worry about and those who do are at a loss about how to convince everyone else otherwise without coming across as totally paranoid. We need leaders speaking plainly. We need organization. I hope #NoKings ramps things up.

What's happening in Chicago is not normal.

The arrest of Alderperson Fuentes is just the latest example of how far Noem and Bovino are willing to go to ignore the rule of law. We must all speak up.

In light of recent vague, but precedent-busting opinions, I’m skeptical they’ll actually explain what they’re doing. At least in any way that doesn’t require years of conflict among lower courts.

Important warning

Chicago priest Father Michael Pfleger: "The state of emergency is in AMERICA, not Chicago. It's birthed from this president and his admin's reign of terror."

( ht: @mikenellis.bsky.social )

Completely agree-I expect this will be promptly enjoined.

They’re ultimately Christian Nationalists. The outgroup will be anyone who disagrees with that worldview. The hierarchies of those systems will decide who does menial labor. But as with all budding autocracies, I’d expect them to designate and attack enemies serially rather than collectively.

Yes. Current restraints on Cal Guard relate to their improper use, not their federalization. The ORNG court order prevents activation of ORNG, but doesn’t prevent deployment of Cal Guard to Portland. And as consolidating authoritarians do, Trump/Miller find the technicalities and slip through.

Exactly. 🤬

But it didn’t rule Cal Guard couldn’t be deployed elsewhere, so there’s a technical gap in restrictions on using other states’ guards in OR, which is what Trump/Miller are taking advantage of (in classic competitive authoritarian fashion). That said, I’d expect a court to enjoin this pretty quickly.

I’m curious if they floated that idea through the Pentagon and heard back that ORNG would not comply with unlawful orders.

I hope journalists and academic administrators read this excellent walkthrough of the Trump admin’s latest attempt to seize control of higher ed. I’m relieved Balkin thinks this effort is so poorly managed that it’s likely to fail miserably. But the demands are striking.

The “just a flesh wound” stop. A subspecies of the #KavanaughStop

@aoc.bsky.social is hands-down the best communicator in Dem politics right now. Her wonky confidence in government’s ability to improve people’s lives makes her appeal genuine even as she effectively moderates her message for different audiences. Wish centrists could get over their hangups w/her.

Unfortunately they have plenty of cases where Trump may not be trying to fuck us, but the conservative majority on the court sure as hell is.

That was not a lawful order.

Credit where due, thank god for the judiciary. Let’s hope this survives SCOTUS.

I won’t claim any prescience and I agree the crisis is emergent, but Tom Delay and the Texas redistricting of 2003 was a shot across the bow of democracy. The GOP has been consolidating power at the state level and in the judiciary long before they went after federal norms and laws.

I choose (c) all of the above.

I had the same a) reaction and I completely agree with your b) doubts.

And I’ve never let good science get in the way of a bad joke!

Cue resurrection of the “self-hating Jew” moniker. Just thinking about that label infuriates me.

From NYT: “This Program Rescued Army Recruiting Greg Jaffe Several others said they joined to protect their undocumented parents from deportation via a program called "Parole in Place," which lets the parents of active-duty troops avoid deportation.”

TIL about the “Parole in Place” program and I am that much sadder about the state of our country for it. Compelling military service to prevent a parent’s deportation? Generational servitude is not a good thing. Just let them stay.

Yeah, it took way more effort than it should have to figure out what “everyone” was so pissed off about for it to have been a critical mass of sentiment. I understand the anger, but it hasn’t quite crawled out of its niche yet.

“Nothing a lifetime in an iron lung can’t fix!” said no one ever.

I find it incredible how Palestinian rights can activate so many people. How can we get people to care this much about other causes? I mean, Italy elected a far-right nationalist government. It’s vicious to MENA refugees fleeing the conditions that resulted from European racism and colonialism.

I hear you, but you can either decide that the law doesn’t matter or you can demand justice under the law. It doesn’t work both ways.

It takes as long as authoritarians want it to. But it’s not just garnishment. It’s tax liens, criminal indictment, loss of access to credit as a result. And about half the households in these states either (1) don’t care about politics or (2) support MAGA. How do you get them to buy-in?

We are literally arguing about what the law is or isn’t. We wouldn’t be arguing otherwise because I agree with you on the moral stakes! Morally, the US should hand over Bibi and Putin for trial if it has the opportunity. According to US law, it should not.