Profile banner
Profile picture

Ora Tor

@splitrailfence.bsky.social

Civil War historian. Wide Awake Progressive. Retired from social studies, financial analysis, and small business. Traveled over 50k US miles for my research. Nature knows best and intends no ill will.

created January 15, 2025

1,600 followers 990 following 8,698 posts

view profile on Bluesky

Posts

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social) reply parent

Oooo, more threatening letters. Congress is the new "I want my two dollars" paper boy from Better Off Dead--a nuisance that thinks it's tough, but we all know it's not effective.

4/9/2025, 6:40:02 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Niall Harbison (@niallharbison.bsky.social) reposted

He has been in complete agony and he needed a blood transfusion during his operation but look at Spock now! He's back walking!

4/9/2025, 6:35:11 AM | 826 79 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social) reply parent

"Also: name a younger politician who has stood up to Trump to his face and in the same room with him as millions in fed subs are on the line." My exact words that you attempted to counter. Also, the names you gave are from TX, a state not in danger of losing fed funding like Maine is. GOP ❤️ TEXAS.

4/9/2025, 6:30:15 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social) reply parent

I can't find evidence to prove the people you named sat in the same room with Trump and stood up to him directly to his face. But JANET MILLS HAS, and I provided you with still photos from the footage of that day, which I watched live as it happened. Can you show evidence to defend your counter?

4/9/2025, 6:28:16 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social)

#ME #Maine #PineTreeState #NoKings @collinswatch.bsky.social

3/9/2025, 11:52:17 PM | 0 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social)

#CA #California #Prop50

3/9/2025, 11:48:18 PM | 1 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Brian Klaas (@brianklaas.bsky.social) reposted

Gun murders last year: US: 17,927 England & Wales: 22 Here's the data, per capita, in the chart below. It's the guns. I wrote about the evidence, with lots of data, along with a more personal response to the Annunciation Church shooting (where I was baptized): www.forkingpaths.co/p/guns-at-an...

image
3/9/2025, 7:30:55 AM | 316 126 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Coral City Camera (@coralcitycamera.bsky.social) reposted

Scrawled filefish blowing kisses 😘🔮🐟 #scrawledfilefish #filefish #fishkiss #kissyfish #elegantoddball #coral #coralhead #coralcitycamera #miami #portmiami #biscaynebay #coralcity

2/9/2025, 2:24:48 PM | 444 55 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Coral City Camera (@coralcitycamera.bsky.social) reposted

Flying carpet? Flying saucer? Flapping flap flap? #southernstingray #stingraysofcoralcity #flapflap #flyingcarpet #flyingsaucer #stingray #schoolmastersnapper #coral #coralhead #coralcitycamera #miami #portmiami #biscaynebay #coralcity

3/9/2025, 1:50:20 PM | 418 76 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Marc Elias (@marcelias.bsky.social) reposted

In a major setback to President Donald Trump’s attempt to purge independent agencies, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to block a lower court order reinstating Democratic commissioner Rebecca Slaughter to the Federal Trade Commission. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...

3/9/2025, 12:26:15 AM | 2602 607 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Colleen Curran (@ccurran.bsky.social) reposted

Well, BretPal is coming to a swift end as of 30 September. Between now and then, I'll be posting my favourite Breton manuscripts, starting with the iconic horse Mark from the Boulougne Gospels (Boulogne sur Mer, MS 8).

image
29/8/2025, 8:32:21 PM | 89 30 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Elizabeth Warren (@warren.senate.gov) reposted

Trump and Republicans got rid of the CFPB's $5 cap on overdraft fees, allowing big banks to keep raking in profits off of struggling Americans. So just how much money are banks taking from consumers with these predatory fees? @sanders.senate.gov, @blumenthal.senate.gov, and I are finding out.

image
3/9/2025, 1:57:18 PM | 684 169 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social)

#MO #Missouri Citizen turnout needed on 4 September🗽

3/9/2025, 11:25:29 PM | 0 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Randall Perkinson Photography (@rmperkinson.bsky.social) reposted

Globe Amaranth Palmyra, Missouri, USA #Photography #StreetPhotography #streetscapephotography #palmyra #missouri #flower #flowers #amaranth #globeAmaranth

A closeup of two purple Globe Amaranth flowers.
1/9/2025, 7:54:00 PM | 16 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Randall Perkinson Photography (@rmperkinson.bsky.social) reposted

Along Center Street Hannibal, Missouri, USA #Photography #StreetPhotography #streetscapephotography #hannibal #missouri #storefront

A long brick building painted white. The center portion is two-stories high. The top level has four multi-pane windows. The bottom level has a door in the center with a round of 4 continuous windows on each side. A blue awning spans the length of this section. To the left is a one story portion with a garage door and entrance door. To the right is another one story portion with two windows and an entrance door. A public trash can sits on the sidewalk in front of the building.
2/9/2025, 6:50:42 PM | 12 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture my mamas child (@2024fighter.bsky.social) reposted

YES!

3/9/2025, 10:54:03 PM | 1 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Laura Friedrich Merton 🇨🇦💪 (@worldlady.bsky.social) reposted

Performing only to the basest of the base.

3/9/2025, 10:29:05 AM | 1 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Jackie Sentenne Pettit (@sentenne.bsky.social) reposted

September 16-20 BLACKOUT

image
3/9/2025, 4:00:05 PM | 6 3 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Perry Bacon (@perrybaconjr.bsky.social) reposted

In one of the debates in New York mayor's race, Mamdani (and Lander) both praised Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. She has been one of the most passionate voices defending cities and urban life as Trump trashes them. And she's stayed popular in way Brandon Johnson has not. newrepublic.com/article/1997...

29/8/2025, 12:22:51 PM | 772 115 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social)

#chicago #chitown

3/9/2025, 10:51:48 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Jesse Johnson (@jljzen.bsky.social) reposted

At parade, China shows off powerful new weaponry to keep rivals at bay www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/09...

3/9/2025, 7:58:40 AM | 2 2 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture ☮Venenum_Photo☮ (@venenum.bsky.social) reposted

Moin 🍀☕☕🍀 #GoodMorningPhoto

Pferd im Nebel auf einer Wiese
3/9/2025, 4:07:46 AM | 62 12 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Rina (@rina2012.bsky.social) reposted

#DailyFlowers for you 🫶 Happy #RoseWednesday 🌱🌿 youtu.be/lF1FZTWOrAQ?... #ColorADay #thelittlethings #MacroMonday #photography #flowers #FlowerReport #naturelovers #PhotographersUnited #scape #onlybeautifulthings #photohour #Bloomscrolling #ArtYear #nature #EastCoastKin

Close-up of an open rose, the colors are pink and yellow. The background is blurred
3/9/2025, 6:00:15 AM | 339 71 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Oto (@oto2.bsky.social) reposted

📷️Nikon Zf 📸Schneider-Kreuznach Edixa-Xenar 50mm F2.8 #photography #fotografía #Nikon #Zf

image
3/9/2025, 1:27:28 PM | 64 14 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Professa Murray (@kalimurray.bsky.social) reposted

Again, actual contact with voters is proving to be toxic to the Administration. This really does explains the mild panic in the Republican Party over 2026.

3/9/2025, 4:56:18 PM | 8 2 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Maggie Blackhawk (@maggieblackhawk.bsky.social) reposted

"The United States is more than white men moving westward. It is more than conquest. The US is constituted by and is a product of its borderlands. In fact, it is more borderlands—and borderlands peoples—than center." harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/u... Turner, once again, meet Bolton.

3/9/2025, 1:05:14 PM | 21 3 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) reposted

Nigel Farage looks uncomfortable as Jamie Raskin uses his opening statement to absolutely demolish him

3/9/2025, 4:39:55 PM | 19057 6118 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Matthew Stadlen (@matthewstadlen.bsky.social) reposted

If Nigel Farage is correct that Britain has “become North Korea”, how come he has his own national TV show when he’s leader of an opposition party?

3/9/2025, 9:30:21 PM | 534 104 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Alejandra Caraballo (@esqueer.net) reposted

It seems like federal district courts are in full revolt against SCOTUS. I've never seen such direct scathing criticism of SCOTUS like this from the bench over their shadow docket rulings quietly overturning precedent without explanation. From the Harvard decision today.

A screenshot of page 28 of a legal document discussing the difficulty lower courts face when interpreting unclear or rapidly evolving guidance from the Supreme Court. The following phrases and sentences are highlighted in yellow: *
3/9/2025, 9:25:24 PM | 3512 938 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Olga Nesterova (@onestpress.onestnetwork.com) reposted

NYT: Harvard won a crucial legal victory in its clash with the Trump administration, when a federal judge said that the government had broken the law by freezing billions of dollars in research funds in the name of combating antisemitism.

3/9/2025, 10:13:45 PM | 311 63 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Max Kennerly (@maxkennerly.bsky.social) reposted

I've never seen such a disconnect between Dem elected/staff/consultants and actual Dem voters. The latter understand what's going on. The former are awash in right-wing brainrot, hence @schatz.bsky.social blaming COVID mitigation and BLM marches for the GOP's wanton destruction of public health.

 Brian Schatz @brianschatz · 21h This is worth reading. I agree it is impossible to justify the govt action then. In Hawaii during Covid, for a time, the bars were open and the schools were not. The smart response to this, however, isn’t to put someone in charge who will cause measles to make a comeback. Quote Sean T at RCP @SeanTrende · 22h The damage done by this is incalculable. This, and the closing of churches while liberal-coded institutions were opening was a radicalizing, red-pill moment for so many conservatives. x.com/esotericcd/sta… Sean T at RCP @SeanTrende · 21h To be clear, I 100% agree, and have never voted for Trump in a primary or a general. As a father of a kiddo with autism, the HHS developments are beyond horrifying. This is descriptive, not prescriptive or justifying. Brian Schatz @brianschatz · 21h I know what you meant and I’m glad this is a constructive exchange. I think what you are saying is important because I know people for whom Covid and the govt response seemed so kafakaesque as to reorient not just people’s partisan affiliations but everything else. @SeanTrende The damage done by this is incalculable. This, and the closing of churches while liberal-coded institutions were opening was a radicalizing, red-pill moment for so many conservatives. Quote Jeff Blehar is *BOX OFFICE POISON* @EsotericCD · 23h It was in this moment that many of us hanging on to a thin sliver of trust in our institutions irrevocably lost faith in them. One of the most poisonous blows to public trust in living memory - worse than the effect of the Iraq War in many ways. RFK Jr is a direct result of this. x.com/SteveGuest/sta… 12:22 PM · Aug 31, 2025 · 454.1K Views @EsotericCD It was in this moment that many of us hanging on to a thin sliver of trust in our institutions irrevocably lost faith in them. One of the most poisonous blows to public trust in living memory - worse than the effect of the Iraq War in many ways. RFK Jr is a direct result of this. Quote Steve Guest @SteveGuest · Aug 31 Politico 5 years ago: [screenshot of article falsely claiming public health officials lied about COVID measures then abandoned them for BLM protests] Views
1/9/2025, 3:04:17 PM | 3065 649 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Stephen Moran (@moranstephen1000.bsky.social) reposted

Beijing

image
3/9/2025, 2:03:06 PM | 121 36 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social) reply parent

Are these leaders connected with Musk-Tates and the Bryan Johnsons of the Thiels, Vances, and Millers?

3/9/2025, 3:58:34 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) reposted

“.. Quite a hot mic moment on CCTV in Beijing today as Putin and Xi, both 72 years old, are caught casually talking about living to 150 and maybe forever thanks to organ transplants. (As picked up by Bloomberg.)” (via @yarotrof.bsky.social)

3/9/2025, 1:34:28 PM | 3302 1222 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social)

Xi Muses on Living to 150 in Hot-Mic Moment With Putin, Kim Bloomberg www.bloomberg.com › news › articles › xi-muses... 1 hour ago — Putin responded through a translator, saying that with the development of biotechnology, human organs can be continuously transplanted ..." !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

3/9/2025, 3:53:28 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Anton Gerashchenko (@antongerashchenko.bsky.social) reposted

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas: Looking at President Xi standing alongside the leaders of Russia, Iran, and North Korea in Beijing today, these are not just anti-Western optics; this is a direct challenge to the international system built on rules.

3/9/2025, 3:01:19 PM | 2147 620 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Raider (@iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social) reposted

Black Chicagoans rallied downtown to reject Trump's threats to carry out a Los Angeles-style crackdown on the city. ICE as early as this week may begin using Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago as a staging ground for their assault on the country's third-biggest city.

3/9/2025, 12:36:27 PM | 381 143 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social) reply parent

I'd like to add that the reason the institution has failed is because of the people operating it: the voters and their representatives. Without that lifeblood, Congress is an idea--an actor in the network expressed by text. How We, the People move it from psychical to physical landscapes is on us.

3/9/2025, 12:33:53 PM | 6 2 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Sharon (@sharonk.bsky.social) reposted

i don't think it's great that there is no one in the GOP asking about congressional war powers

3/9/2025, 4:17:47 AM | 1734 268 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Robert Black (@hurricanexyz.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

Congress has constructively dissolved itself

3/9/2025, 4:18:32 AM | 874 103 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Pwnallthethings (@pwnallthethings.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

Disturbing but true

3/9/2025, 4:22:04 AM | 317 5 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Kaitlin Is Just Getting Started (@gothamgirlblue.com) reposted

If there’s one thing that I have learned from engaging with primary sources, it is that people in the past weren’t smarter or more principled than we are today they just weren’t drowned in omnipresent propaganda and/or prosperous enough to be detached from material conditions

3/9/2025, 5:21:59 AM | 203 24 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Kaitlin Is Just Getting Started (@gothamgirlblue.com) reposted reply parent

And honestly, where they were locked into propaganda (ie: the antebellum South), they demonstrated the same rationalization and lack of critical thinking that we see today.

3/9/2025, 5:24:13 AM | 63 9 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Zinn Education Project (@zinnedproject.bsky.social) reposted

"I shall neither fawn nor cringe before any party, nor stoop to beg them for my rights. You may expel us, gentlemen, but I firmly believe that you will some day repent it." --Henry M. Turner #tdih 1868 when Georgia legis. denied elected Black reps their seats 🧵⬇️ www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/he...

3/9/2025, 11:54:19 AM | 152 61 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis (@kendrawrites.com) reposted

Most African Americans have been in the US longer than most white Americans of european descent. And of course there were always Native Americans here and many of the founding texts were influenced by their presence. The US has never been a white country.

3/9/2025, 12:02:34 PM | 745 172 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Kendra "Gloom is My Beat" Pierre-Louis (@kendrawrites.com) reposted reply parent

The US has never been a white country is important to say over and over again. It's the country's greatest myth, and the erasure of both the genocide and the forced labor of enslaved people that they brought in almost immediately to do this labor.

3/9/2025, 12:06:12 PM | 281 75 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture David Ho (@davidho.bsky.social) reposted

Paul Offit, a RFK Jr. critic who co-invented a rotavirus vaccine that has saved hundreds of thousands of lives, was blocked from participating in the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee so that RFK Jr. can continue to kill millions of people.

3/9/2025, 12:19:54 PM | 214 84 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Jacob T. Levy (@jacobtlevy.bsky.social) reposted

www.theunpopulist.net/p/can-libera...

2/9/2025, 10:26:32 PM | 13 6 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social) reply parent

Why not? The 2000 dot com bust sure did. 😬 🕶️

3/9/2025, 12:26:07 PM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social) reply parent

I'm not PS anymore but nationwide online or in local lecture. I literally don't know how to teach the Constitution--do I say it is what used to be our guide but we're pausing now? How do I teach the document as the highest law in the land when it isn't? How do I answer questions honestly?

3/9/2025, 12:22:29 PM | 6 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social) reply parent

and the State of Israel. For decades, Israel has controlled the Gazan airspace so that Gazan residents must leave from or arrive to Israeli airports to travel; Israel controls communications in and out of Gaza. Gaza has been a police state of Israel. Here is Gaza now because of ISRAEL ⤵️

Gaza RN since Israel has been allowed to destroy it. image
3/9/2025, 12:20:01 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Talib Kweli (@talibkweli.bsky.social) reposted

Blaming "Gaza protesters" when a majority white country votes for a nazi pedophile is wack. Free Palestine.

3/9/2025, 12:05:48 PM | 13 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social)

'Bout 'magine it's time for a right stave-ah against Trump. All tricks and no treats for the GOP! C'mon, Maine! DIRIGO! 18 October 25

3/9/2025, 12:16:05 PM | 1 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social) reply parent

Me too. And I kind of don't want to be a teacher anymore. It's bumpy.

3/9/2025, 11:32:14 AM | 12 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social) reply parent

This is true but not complete. The wealthy are slowing their spending in areas, too, and this is significant because in reality all income groups are slowing. Earlier this year LVMH--Vuitton and Moet--reported sales declines; on 19 Aug: "Dior, Gucci and other luxury brands in crisis as sales slide"

3/9/2025, 11:31:41 AM | 0 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Raider (@iwillnotbesilenced.bsky.social) reposted

McDonald's CEO says the quiet part loud! Says, we are living in a two tier economy where the rich are getting richer and doing very well. While the middle and lower class are getting poorer and having to skip meals.

2/9/2025, 11:53:32 PM | 1480 666 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

We bombed an open motorboat and the people on it had no due process. We pulled a Germany sub in WWI type thing. How do I explain to my classes THAT we just pulled a WWI belligerent move as I teach the Lusitania and Sussex?

3/9/2025, 11:26:59 AM | 34 5 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social) reply parent

We bombed an open motorboat and the people on it had no due process. We pulled a Germany sub in WWI type thing. How do I explain to my classes THAT we just pulled a WWI belligerent move as I teach the Lusitania and Sussex?

3/9/2025, 11:26:59 AM | 34 5 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Tom Scocca (@tomscocca.bsky.social) reposted

Don't feel like doing a repost that puts the murder video on the timeline yet again but do feel like repeating the point that the president just straight-up assassinated 11 people for supposedly doing something that wouldn't be a death-penalty crime if they were caught and convicted

3/9/2025, 2:55:56 AM | 12385 3647 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Merchants of Misery (@merchantsofmisery.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

For all the people who think the army would disobey an unlawful order by Trump, look no further than the countless veterans gleefully talking about how they're so happy Trump did what they wish they could have done when they served.

3/9/2025, 3:34:55 AM | 31 5 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture I may be invisible, but you're transparent. (@invisiblelad7.bsky.social) reposted

The party of "family values".

3/9/2025, 11:11:09 AM | 4 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social) reply parent

@rokhanna.bsky.social You're defending someone who said this? “If a trans-identified male is in a female-only space, he is committing a violent, abusive act. Make a scene, call the cops and if all else fails, punch him in the balls.” "Punch him in the balls" is advocating for assault.

3/9/2025, 11:21:09 AM | 4 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Sharon🇺🇦Johnston (@sharonjohnston.bsky.social) reposted

image
3/9/2025, 11:11:24 AM | 3 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social) reply parent

She's a total peahen who thinks she's got flair. In my crude southern kin circle, they'd not call her a peahen who thinks she's a peacock, they'd say "she thinks she's hot shit but she's really cold phart."

3/9/2025, 11:17:42 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social) reply parent

And male Christian religious leaders And athletes And singers like Morgen Wallen who must throw chairs at passersby after a great show

3/9/2025, 11:14:37 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social) reply parent

You left out "that time of the month" as a top American complaint about women doing what men are permitted, even encouraged, to do.

3/9/2025, 11:13:29 AM | 2 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture faewings (@faewings.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

Imagine if we treated men as badly as they've treated women! They'd be angry, fighting, name calling, and beating women! Oh yeah, that is what too many men do now. 🙄 Guess it wouldn't make much of a difference, would it. www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-...

3/9/2025, 7:02:48 AM | 31 11 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Jones Murphy (@jonesmurphy.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

Nearly 40 million women, including about 6 million rape survivors, voted for a court-ruled rapist over a lady prosecutor who jails rapists. Most of these racist women have never voted for anyone who is not a white man and never will.

3/9/2025, 5:27:58 AM | 41 2 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture w2u0b2b5.bsky.social (@w2u0b2b5.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

These pathetic facts are hard to argue and MUST BE ADDRESSED!These woman are voting for Republicans that want to disenfranchise them and anyone other than white straight males!! If these women take their husband's name the GOP(Gang Of Pedos)are attempting to say they can't vote cuz doesn't match bc!

3/9/2025, 7:26:00 AM | 6 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Jones Murphy (@jonesmurphy.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

Yet this is a taboo topic among almost all Democratic voters and leaders, as well as journalists. It's a very big deal. People should be talking about this more than almost anything else. It's ending democracy.

3/9/2025, 7:29:01 AM | 13 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Mueller, She Wrote (@muellershewrote.com) reposted

Sing it.

3/9/2025, 5:06:54 AM | 6805 1959 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Peter Morley ♿️ (@petermorley.bsky.social) reposted

Daily Reminder: Social Security is OUR money!

2/9/2025, 8:22:44 AM | 697 172 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Politico (@politico.com) reposted

GOP Rep. Thomas Massie has filed a discharge petition to force the disclosure of Justice Department investigative files related to the late sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

2/9/2025, 6:41:45 PM | 12581 3240 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Timothy McBride (@mcbridetd.bsky.social) reposted

Trump accuses Xi of conspiring against the U.S. with Putin and Kim But I thought they were his friends? www.nbcnews.com/world/china/...

3/9/2025, 9:56:28 AM | 6 1 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof (@evanbernick.bsky.social) reposted

Yes henlo. We haz questions about the scope of Section 502(f) authority and possibly a lurking Article IV question.

A huge Bernese mountain dog and a tiny baby stare at me
3/9/2025, 12:00:42 AM | 44 4 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof (@evanbernick.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

These problems are even bigger. As a constitutional matter, the deployment of unfederalized Guard personnel into a nonconsenting state can never happen. Never.

2/9/2025, 8:59:10 PM | 1183 245 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof (@evanbernick.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

Good overview here www.lawfaremedia.org/article/sect...

2/9/2025, 9:02:05 PM | 341 62 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture rwabhm.bsky.social (@rwabhm.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

So, if I am reading that right, this action is even more illegal than what he did in California?

2/9/2025, 9:05:19 PM | 239 9 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof (@evanbernick.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

I’m not even sure what he’s doing at this point, but one state cannot invade another and that is what this would be if he’s using 502(f). That would be Texas invading Illinois.

2/9/2025, 9:07:15 PM | 614 105 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof (@evanbernick.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

Whereas in California the state’s own national guard was federalized under a law which allows that. The problem there was that they went beyond the very limited things they can do without violating other laws.

2/9/2025, 9:09:21 PM | 289 29 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Quinta Jurecic (@qjurecic.bsky.social) reposted

this is almost certainly under Title 32 authorities (meaning the TX guard will be nominally under TX state control but on a federal mission), meaning the posse comitatus issues that came up in California will not apply. that said, it raises a whole lot of other legal problems

2/9/2025, 8:49:14 PM | 1939 550 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Quinta Jurecic (@qjurecic.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

to be clear, the reason I think it’s title 32 is that if it were title 10, trump wouldn’t need the tx guard, he could just federalize the Illinois guard like he did in California. but we shall see

2/9/2025, 9:09:59 PM | 352 31 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Mike (@mcgwh.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

Man, doesn’t the deployment of ARNG soldiers on title 32 from TX into IL open a pandora’s box of state sovereignty issues? Can the Governor of TX deploy soldiers, essentially on state active duty (title 32) to IL against the wishes of the Governor of Illinois who is also CDR in Chief of the ILARNG?

2/9/2025, 9:20:02 PM | 251 18 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Mike (@mcgwh.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

This given the recent verdict in CA calmatters.org/justice/2025...

2/9/2025, 9:21:26 PM | 82 7 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Arditi d Popolo (@arditidpopolo.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

This isn’t a posse comitatus issue though. It’s still bad, but a different flavor of egregious

2/9/2025, 9:51:31 PM | 42 2 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Arditi d Popolo (@arditidpopolo.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

The CA verdict is. This isn’t. The current situation raises other legal issues.

2/9/2025, 9:55:43 PM | 31 2 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Arditi d Popolo (@arditidpopolo.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

Assuming TX NG are under state authority and not direct federal control, under Title 32 are not subject to the PCA. I assume this was an attempt to avoid the problems demonstrated in the CA lawsuit.

2/9/2025, 9:59:07 PM | 39 4 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Jeff Sabin (@texanokie07.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

It's not the same problems. It's worse. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/sect...

2/9/2025, 10:04:07 PM | 61 9 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Brian Cook (@2ndadminstate.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

Exactly. If it involves more than protecting federal people and property, the only legitimate legal authority is the Insurrection Act of 1792. And there is no demonstrably insurrection.

2/9/2025, 10:10:06 PM | 57 9 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Quinta Jurecic (@qjurecic.bsky.social) reposted

this now brings us up to six (!) grand jury refusals to charge (that we know about), plus two cases filed as part of the dc surge dismissed on the us attorney's office's request

2/9/2025, 4:54:27 PM | 3920 885 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Joe Harrington 🇵🇸 (@harringtonphotos.bsky.social) reposted

sunbleached 📷 Olympus OM4Ti w/ 85mm f2. 🎞️Kodak Ektar 100, one stop overexposed 🧪C41 home dev 📍 Somewhere off Utah State Route 24 #film #35mm #believeinfilm

a color film photograph of an old-looking wooden corral or cattle pen. Blue skies and white clouds rise in the horizon, while a sparsely vegetated desert stretches into the distance.
2/9/2025, 7:57:10 PM | 25 3 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ian Scott (@polpo.org) reposted

Yesterday we visited Green Mountain Falls, CO to visit the kinetic sculpture Off the Beaten Path by Patrick Shearn. I wasn’t ready for just how dynamic it was even in the slightest breeze. Reminds me of a murmuration of starlings. Incredible artwork. It’ll only be up through October 19th.

2/9/2025, 7:47:56 PM | 12428 2171 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Andy Craig (@andycraig.bsky.social) reposted

That Pritzker press conference was... surreal, and I think marks a significant moment of escalation in the constitutional omni-crisis. This was the governor of a state saying plainly the Union itself is being torn apart and his state is being militarily invaded by an authoritarian regime.

2/9/2025, 9:53:21 PM | 25465 6601 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Ora Tor (@splitrailfence.bsky.social) reply parent

image
2/9/2025, 11:13:49 PM | 1 0 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture George Pearkes (@peark.es) reposted

Venezuelan government bonds (which are in default and trade for about a quarter of their face value, *with* a coupon near 10%) traded to session highs on the news that the US may* have started a war with them. *IANAL and we don't have all the facts here, don't yell at me pls

Intraday price chart of VENZ 9 1/4 9/15/27 USD bond
2/9/2025, 7:33:59 PM | 150 21 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Mark Chadbourn (@chadbourn.bsky.social) reposted

This is a good read. How the stupid are going to kill America.

2/9/2025, 1:10:33 PM | 480 163 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Marc Elias (@marcelias.bsky.social) reposted

As we begin September, Democracy Docket is tracking 139 voting and election cases is 40 states. 13 in Georgia 13 in North Carolina 10 in Texas 9 in Arizona 8 in Pennsylvania 8 in Wisconsin Democracy is on the docket! www.democracydocket.com

2/9/2025, 12:53:44 PM | 7041 2090 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Steve Vladeck (@stevevladeck.bsky.social) reposted

When President Trump used 32 U.S.C. § 502(f)(2) in 2020, that was to have out-of-state National Guard troops sent to D.C.—which has no sovereignty of its own. Sending the un-federalized TX National Guard into IL without the latter’s consent raises *serious* Article IV problems that 2020 … didn’t.

A picture of Article IV, Section 4 of the Constitution, which provides that “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.”
2/9/2025, 10:42:59 PM | 1563 514 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture Steve Vladeck (@stevevladeck.bsky.social) reposted reply parent

More background here: www.lawfaremedia.org/article/why-...

2/9/2025, 10:43:25 PM | 264 60 | View on Bluesky | view

Profile picture post malone ergo propter malone (@proptermalone.bsky.social) reposted

this is just insanely illegal

2/9/2025, 8:28:17 PM | 792 127 | View on Bluesky | view