Suzanne Cope

Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman remembered as funny, savvy and 'a true leader' Friends and colleagues remembered her as grounded, kind and compassionate.

This is a Melissa Hortman appreciation account for the next 24 hours.

2/2
Hibiscus, rose, fig.
When we get to school you turn your still-freckled face upward to mine like a flower toward the sun and give me a hug.
I love you mama
I love you too sweet darling.
And off you go, penguin stuffy clutched tight, and you don’t look back.
🩵

Thoughts after school drop off:

On this gorgeous late summer day, despite the ugliness in the world and the work- so much work- there is to do, I will choose to remember:
Walking to school hand in hand, pointing out the colorful fire hydrant, naming the trees and plants we walk by… 1/2

Hey, as a librarian I need to tell you:

Our funding depends on usage.

So go ahead and check out that book even if you don't think you'll finish it. No one will know. Check out that DVD even though you might not like it. Get ambitious in your quest for knowledge.

Opinion | Our Food Stamps Program Proves Trickle-Up Economics Works And that’s why the GOP keeps cutting its funding.

www.huffpost.com/entry/opinio...

Food Stamp Cuts Could Deal a Blow to Small Grocers

Food Stamps ADDS to the economy - cutting this program hurts everyone. See comment where I wrote about this during first term cuts

Food Stamp Cuts Could Deal a Blow to Small Grocers www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/u...

Thanks so much! 🩵

A book cover titled: Women of War - The Italian Assassins, Spies, and Couriers Who Fought The Nazis Suzanne Cope Author of Power Hungry There is a photo of two women dark clothing resembling uniforms. One has a weapon on her lap and the other has a weapon slung over her shoulder with a cigarette in her left hand.

If you need to read an inspirational story about four women (and others) who resisted
fascism in Italy, I recommend Women of War by @suzannecope.bsky.social

I am grieving the barbarism that is going to unfurl from all this. People are going to die. Livelihoods gone. All to feed a corrupt kleptocracy.

I see every day up close how different it is from the first time around. There are no guardrails. A disaster. I’m sorry we have to live through this.

On the left: Malliotakis giddily high fiving after voting to steal healthcare & food from her constituents while megasizing ICE.

On the right: how she “listens” to her constituents.

We cannot wait to vote this shameful ghoul out of office.

@indivisible.org @1199seiu.org

The economy got half a percentage point smaller last quarter

Room for One More on Mount Rushmore? (The President Wants to Know.) (Gift Article) Let’s review how we got here, and closely examine what the rock would allow.

Horrifying, but NYT fails to mention the sculptor's ties to the KKK and also the desecration this monument represents to the Lakota Sioux at what had been a sacred site. These facts should be part of the conversation whenever we talk about this monument. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Hope and solidarity won tonight, and will win again in November.

Congratulations, @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social

Primary everyone

Shut the Senate down. Stop unanimously consenting. NOW.

@klerner.bsky.social thought this might be of interest! I appreciate your work on related topics!

I had a good chat recently with a friend who works in AI who also reminded me that AI results will get dumber over time, as more AI results are used to create more AI results.

It’s not just our brains being destroyed.

Amazing DIY political education bibliography here. Read, reflect, educate yourself and others (see original post for 🧵) Thank you @profsaunders.bsky.social

Censure now

I’m already hearing the #NoKings rallies across the country have surpassed expectations. The largest protest in American history. Incredible!

@npr.org interviewing DHS official: “let’s ground this in evidence”

Thanks to @suzannecope.bsky.social and Lizzie Wade for an enlightening week of podcasting.

Upcoming episodes:

6/3: John Kenney
6/10: @jesswalter.bsky.social
FMC 6/13: @jmjournalist.bsky.social
6/17: Ivy Pochoda

Subscribe and tune in: apple.co/3XMnpcc

The Secret Newspapers That Helped Defeat Fascism The women behind Italy’s underground press during World War II offer important lessons for democracies today.

Italy’s underground press was responsible for not only informing but galvanizing an ad hoc army and its supporters after more than 20 years under fascist oppression, @suzannecope.bsky.social‬ writes.

The Secret Newspapers That Helped Defeat Fascism The women behind Italy’s underground press during World War II offer important lessons for democracies today.

In an article for Foreign Policy mag, adapted from my book Women of War, I wrote about the power of the independent press - & mentioned you all Bluesky-ers! Read here shorturl.at/pxY8j

Thanks for having me! ❤️

Thanks so much for the conversation!

It's not just work requirements-much of the bill adds pointless burdens. As we argue in the NYT, "Republicans are opting for opaque cuts, which will shed millions of eligible beneficiaries by overwhelming them with pointless paperwork and other needlessly complicated administrative requirements."

I appreciate that Erwin gets near the end to the blatant Byrd Rule problem with the provision. I think it's extremely likely to drop out of the bill in the Senate on Byrd grounds.

Thanks to Steve Oney and @tmcallister.bsky.social for a helluva week.

Upcoming episodes:

5/20: @andrewporter01.bsky.social
5/27: @suzannecope.bsky.social
6/3: John Kenney

Subscribe and tune in: apple.co/3XMnpcc

It was so great to chat @writersbone.com 🩵