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Patrick Hruby

@patrickhruby.bsky.social

Deputy Editor, Washingtonian | Alum and bylines, many places | To pitch me: phruby@washingtonian.com | To reach me: www.patrickhruby.net

1,493 Followers  |  1,855 Following  |  1,381 Posts  |  Joined: 16.03.2025
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Posts by Patrick Hruby (@patrickhruby.bsky.social)

Just as the Framers intended

28.02.2026 20:10 β€” πŸ‘ 2576    πŸ” 404    πŸ’¬ 12    πŸ“Œ 12
Preview
A mad king's illegal war on Iran is a cry for regime change...in Washington | Will Bunch Democracy really did die in darkness as Donald Trump's unconstitutional war on Iran stamps America as a dictatorship.

No wonder Trump went to war with Iran in the dead of night, with the Capitol empty, most Americans soundly asleep

This war is illegal. Full stop. The worst abuse of presidential power in American history aims to cement a dictatorship on U.S. soil

My instant column www.inquirer.com/opinion/trum...

28.02.2026 18:32 β€” πŸ‘ 3378    πŸ” 1060    πŸ’¬ 73    πŸ“Œ 44
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This War Will Destabilize The Entire Mideast Region And Set Off A Global Shockwave Of Anti-Americanism vs. No It Won’t George W. Bush may think that a war against Iraq is the solution to our problems, but the reality is, it will only serve to create far more.

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

28.02.2026 15:54 β€” πŸ‘ 10118    πŸ” 2756    πŸ’¬ 90    πŸ“Œ 127
28.02.2026 15:04 β€” πŸ‘ 8724    πŸ” 1762    πŸ’¬ 127    πŸ“Œ 113
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Never forget who you’re fighting for.

28.02.2026 12:04 β€” πŸ‘ 11017    πŸ” 2817    πŸ’¬ 45    πŸ“Œ 60

Nope, we’ll just have another GOP regime doing more of the things GOP voters want and like, all while rich Democrats complain about annoying campus leftists and swing voters keep trying to kick Lucy’s football

28.02.2026 14:24 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Everyone needs an editor, including Judy Blume

28.02.2026 14:20 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
colin powell at the un

colin powell at the un

feels so quaint.

28.02.2026 14:08 β€” πŸ‘ 163    πŸ” 16    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 3
Post image 28.02.2026 12:47 β€” πŸ‘ 15548    πŸ” 4736    πŸ’¬ 376    πŸ“Œ 347
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In the past, sometimes presidents have said it’s just a military operation or limited airstrikes to skirt Congress. Trump has unilaterally launched major combat operations, declaring war with the goal of regime change. A major violation of the U.S. Constitution, also illegal under international law

28.02.2026 08:46 β€” πŸ‘ 6569    πŸ” 2213    πŸ’¬ 256    πŸ“Œ 166

I like to distract myself from the terrifying political news by reading the ridiculous political news.

28.02.2026 13:49 β€” πŸ‘ 2746    πŸ” 561    πŸ’¬ 96    πŸ“Œ 29

On oligarch media consolidation, TV networks matter, but don't sleep on:

TikTok USA (Ellison, Andreesen, others)
Ex-Twitter (Musk, Saudis)
Electronic Arts (Saudis, Kushner)

All Trump donors, allies, bribers, and/or family.

27.02.2026 16:11 β€” πŸ‘ 117    πŸ” 50    πŸ’¬ 7    πŸ“Œ 1

maybe the former weekend morning talk show host and the wrestlemania ceo and the podcasters running everything will be able to pull off regime change in one of the most politically complicated areas of the world

28.02.2026 14:12 β€” πŸ‘ 491    πŸ” 81    πŸ’¬ 12    πŸ“Œ 2
James Franco being executed by hanging. "First time?" he asks, as though he's been hanged before.

James Franco being executed by hanging. "First time?" he asks, as though he's been hanged before.

hey gen z welcome to republican governance

28.02.2026 14:02 β€” πŸ‘ 5666    πŸ” 976    πŸ’¬ 47    πŸ“Œ 31

One way the Anthropic/DoD saga ends is that Palmer Luckey somehow rebrands an existing AI tool as like WarriorAI and gets a bajillion dollars for software that doesn't work

27.02.2026 20:59 β€” πŸ‘ 182    πŸ” 22    πŸ’¬ 9    πŸ“Œ 0

they really are the dark side but its the spaceballs version

27.02.2026 12:23 β€” πŸ‘ 169    πŸ” 26    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 1
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My Trade Secrets today. The Trump tariff refunds saga is blackly comic. About 20% of tariffs levied on Chinese exporters are paid directly by those exporters. So they get a refund windfall, having largely passed the tariff costs on to US co.s & consumers. I know, right?

as.ft.com/r/30dbb3e0-8...

26.02.2026 11:36 β€” πŸ‘ 401    πŸ” 157    πŸ’¬ 23    πŸ“Œ 22

my father-in-law is a β€œI know a guy” Guy. sadly all the old Guys are aging out of the Guy Economy. Guys are fundamentally incompatible with Hustle Culture because it’s not about β€œwinning” a deal, it’s about collecting favors and goodwill in a mutually-beneficial cycle. protect your local Guy Economy

30.08.2025 14:51 β€” πŸ‘ 17365    πŸ” 3556    πŸ’¬ 333    πŸ“Œ 427

finding out one of your least favorite NBA players of all time didn't even have his own bit is an invigorating hit of hateration

25.02.2026 16:04 β€” πŸ‘ 1133    πŸ” 154    πŸ’¬ 52    πŸ“Œ 11

that this gets called β€œthinking” is why this is where we’re at

26.02.2026 02:06 β€” πŸ‘ 208    πŸ” 43    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 2
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What a time to be alive

26.02.2026 02:32 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

What should be apparent, at this point, to all watching is that this is Government-as-Racketeering. It's their one, and only approach to education, to elections, to State's Rights, to tech, to media, to polls. It's all just extortion, all the way down. And it works because nobody who matters cares.

25.02.2026 23:45 β€” πŸ‘ 69    πŸ” 22    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

This feels like another instance of the ol' "maintenance isn't flashy and nobody cares about it until the bridge fails" problem you see basically everywhere. I wish we had a general solution for it

25.02.2026 17:54 β€” πŸ‘ 78    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

This guy gets it.
Seriously though, this feels like a moment of transition from the post-911 era into something darker, more Torrian, and more focused on policing American citizens

25.02.2026 14:02 β€” πŸ‘ 911    πŸ” 368    πŸ’¬ 29    πŸ“Œ 14

Really hard for me to read this without thinking about recent news that the Pentagon is struggling to spend (!) the extra $500 billion(!!) it was somehow just handed (!!!) in addition to its regular gargantuan budget

25.02.2026 14:04 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Once again, these are not problems that can be solved by new laws & more court orders. This president & his senior staff do not follow laws or court orders.

23.02.2026 23:05 β€” πŸ‘ 641    πŸ” 165    πŸ’¬ 8    πŸ“Œ 2

What a time to be alive and also Milo Minderbinder

22.02.2026 21:37 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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How a tiny, inexperienced firm landed a $1.3 billion detention deal To hold 5,000 human beings.

When the Trump administration awarded a $1.26 billion contract to operate a new detention center in Texas, it made headlines. Why?

Because the company that won the job was so small, it operated out of a single-family home in Richmond, Virginia.

22.02.2026 20:40 β€” πŸ‘ 426    πŸ” 253    πŸ’¬ 33    πŸ“Œ 23

"The sport should be called goalie."
- Jamie McLennan

22.02.2026 16:46 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

This was an interesting piece, with a midpoint swerve into This Is Also What The Nazis Did. However, I think it kind of buried the lede:

22.02.2026 17:09 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0