willfriedman.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

He’s right, it’s past time to do things that make Trump react to Dem initiative.

submitted 3 hours ago • 0 comments

GOP voter backlash = opportunity for advocates of both small-d democracy and the Democratic Party. How best to use it? www.nytimes.com/2025/02/23/u...

submitted 3 hours ago • 0 comments

“Again and again, the fantasies that fueled Trump’s candidacy are colliding with the reality of his presidency, and the result is already dispelling the illusions of many who advocated for him.” The Trump Backers Who Have Buyer’s Remorse - The Atlantic

submitted 4 hours ago • 0 comments

Dear Dems. This is a reminder that Donald Trump rescinded the ethics rules preventing gifts to executive branch employees. Now would be a good time to propose legislation formalizing the prevention into a law Time to do things that make him react to you. apnews.com/article/trum...

submitted 5 hours ago • 1513 comments

From then-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley: in America “[w]e don’t take an oath to a king…or to a tyrant or dictator [or] a wannabe dictator…We take an oath to the Constitution, and…to the idea that is America, and we’re willing to die to protect it.”

submitted 4 hours ago • 0 comments

February 22, 2025

submitted 13 hours ago • 63 comments

It's not just one instance of a billion being only a million: "DOGE's only public ledger is riddled with mistakes," a team of New York Times reporters found. The figures are "full of accounting errors, outdated data and other miscalculations." www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/u...

submitted 22 hours ago • 40 comments

Even some of Trump’s supporters are alarmed by his anti-Ukraine turn: Rupert Murdoch’s NYPost ran a cover photo of Putin with the headline “President Trump: THIS IS A DICTATOR.” Inside, an article warned of the dangers of “appeasement” & a deal that “bows down in the face of evil.” wapo.st/4ibDxvj

submitted 6 hours ago • 4 comments

Good thread on how extreme concentrated power corrodes democracy

submitted 5 hours ago • 0 comments

very effective slogan and also a reminder to the forces arrayed against Trump that they have the whole American civic tradition at their disposal since Trumpism, especially with Elon and in the second incarnation has genuinely abandoned all of it.

submitted 5 hours ago • 14 comments

Not content with purchasing the presidency, Elon Musk now wants to buy the Wisconsin Supreme Court as well. His PAC just pumped $1M into supporting anti-choice right-wing extremist Brad Schimel. Wisconsin — don't become Musk's latest acquisition! Vote @crawfordforwi.bsky.social.

submitted 21 hours ago • 175 comments

The top 0.1% of Americans control $22 trillion in wealth. The bottom 50% control $3.8 trillion in wealth. Read that back. Folks, this is what oligarchy looks like.

submitted 5 hours ago • 191 comments

Something is shifting. They are still breaking things and stealing things. And they will keep trying to break and to steal. But the propaganda magic around the oligarchical coup is fading. (1/2)

submitted 1 day ago • 1514 comments

Gift link. A small unelected, secretive crew now has free access to sensitive private data of everyone. And Musk is already publicly targeting family members of judges who rule against the administration. If this isn’t ringing alarm bells, I don’t know what would. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/o...

submitted 2 days ago • 32 comments

"Big changes at the top happen when the ground shifts at the bottom."

submitted 18 hours ago • 0 comments

Over 1,000 people showed up in Framingham to make clear that we’re fired up and ready to fight back against every terrible policy Donald Trump and Elon Musk throw at us. 📸 John Walker

submitted 20 hours ago • 172 comments

This is in one of the most conservative districts in Wisconsin ⤵️

submitted 1 day ago • 46 comments

Good to see Pete clearly laying this at the feet of all Republicans, instead of using the “extreme MAGA Republican” messaging of Jeffries, Schumer and company.

submitted 1 day ago • 4 comments

say it with me: voters hate this

submitted 1 day ago • 21 comments

“it is impossible for them to carry out their program without isolating more of their base and become more of a minority.” Yes, and this creates opportunity to persuade, organize, and build power for democracy. It won’t be automatic, it will take work, but there are rolling opportunities.

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

Yeah, this is on target.

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

A defining policy battle is about to come to a head in this country. The Republican budget will force everyone - especially Congress and the White House - to make plain whether they are prepared to harm the rest of us in order to fund tax cuts for the wealthiest.

submitted 1 day ago • 758 comments

A [fired] constituent confronted Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK) [who replied] he was only in Congress and couldn’t do anything...Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA) got grilled about the massive firings at CDC and responded that “a lot of the work they do is duplicitous with AI,” [leading] to a new round of boos.

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

It's happening INFLECTION: The Backlash Begins As Elon Goes Wild talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/infle...

submitted 2 days ago • 82 comments

"We have a long and glorious history of renewing the American idea." Yes, and we need much more focus on what democratic renewal means today. We can't defeat Trumpism by defending the status quo, we need something more just and exciting to fight for.

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

Standing up to the authoritarian wave requires more than cheerleading for democracy; it demands making democratic societies more participatory, responsive, and adaptable at all levels, from local to national, in response to the societal shifts driven by the Internet over the past 15 years.

submitted 2 days ago • 35 comments

Predictably self-serving without regard for societal risk. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/21/t...

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

BREAKING: The Trump administration has announced that it will kill Medicare coverage of most telehealth services on April 1st.

submitted 2 days ago • 167 comments

Agree. I've been trying to rescue "populism" as a concept by distinguishing "authoritarian" from "democratic" versions. We live in a populist moment & SOME kind of populism will be a major factor driving transformative change. The question is what kind of populism and change will it be?

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

well said:

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Yes. We can’t defend democracy without renewing democracy.

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Worth a try, I think.

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Alert from EducationCounsel legal analysis of the Dept. of Ed DEI letter. No, maintaining diversity is not illegal. Must read for anyone in education. educationcounsel.com/our_work/pub...

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

If you read between the lines, look for the subtle signals and tease out the subtext, it appears we have a power mad numnut on our hands. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/19/u...

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

DOGE recommended firing workers at: -FDA, which oversees Neuralink -FAA, which oversees SpaceX -USAID, which probed Starlink -CFPB, which oversees Tesla's financing arm and a potential payment platform on X. "Conflict of interest" is a severe understatement.

submitted 3 days ago • 1218 comments

Incredible stuff in here: They ID'ed him, in part, by going to court hearings and watching him post

submitted 3 days ago • 129 comments

Many legal experts say we're on the CUSP of a constitutional crisis, & cautious (or cowed) media outlets rely on that frame. But many historians, political scientists & regular citizens know we're already hip-deep in one and had better start acting like it. The time for silence is well past.

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

We have brand-new-vacuum-wrapped-for-freshness "longstanding norms" now!

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

I understand why these stories exist but it’s important to be clear that he’s not “saving” 16 billion, he’s choosing, personally, without oversight, to wipe out 16 billion dollars of government services to veterans and the disabled and food safety etc etc

submitted 4 days ago • 521 comments

Donald Trump and Elon Musk are messing with your Medicare benefits. Democrats passed a law to finally let Medicare negotiate with Big Pharma for lower prices. Now Trump and Musk laid off the negotiators. That means higher drug costs for you. Nothing efficient about that.

submitted 4 days ago • 271 comments

I'm skeptical about studies of economic benefits/costs of immigration, but it is good to see at least one article on the (economic) benefits.

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

Yet more talk about how the law can’t touch him, no matter what. I don’t know, seems like a bad sign…

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

“Re-establishes the longstanding norm that only the president or the Attorney General can speak for the United States when stating what the law is.” That was NEVER a longstanding norm. EVER. Don’t let them rewrite history and civics like that.

submitted 4 days ago • 13 comments