Still Standing

New in PN: Steve Levitsky on the slide into “competitive authoritarianism” "Perhaps the biggest reason the upcoming midterm elections are so critical is because they represent a last chance for voters to stop the American system of government from sliding into full-blown authoritarianism."

"By November, it was clear that institutional Republicans had lost their nerve. Democrats lost the argument, and the feminist movement—my movement—lost the room. So what had changed? Not one thing but many." @ilyseh.bsky.social on the Access Hollywood tape:

This is a community note for the ages.

A tiny bit of gentle advice for the men: before you try to explain or pontificate anything about the Cornell 7 to a woman, please remember chances are she’s already an expert 🙏🏻

Jack Smith: "History teaches that the rule of law is rarely destroyed all at once. It's often weakened by attacks on the institutions and the public servants sworn to uphold it. Since January 2025, we have witnessed precisely such an effort."

Just a Reminder...

Not leaving.

Five corporations control 90% of the US media. Airlines have merged from 12 major carriers in 1980 to 4 today. A handful of companies control the pharmaceutical industry. Four giants control 80% of meat processing. The evidence of corporate concentration is everywhere.

Obama: “Imagine if I had pulled Fox News’ credentials from the White House press corps. You’re laughing, but this is what’s happening. It’s unimaginable that the same parties that are silent right now would have tolerated behavior like that from me.” Clip courtesy @meidastouch.com

I'm old enough to remember when professional athlete Pete Rose destroyed his career over Sports betting. And now they're using Sports figures to promote gambling?

I wasn’t first in line - but I was close! Shoutout to the many Minnesotans that braved the rain to make it out for the first day of early voting today. It is essential we elect real DFLers like Peggy Flanagan, Keith Ellison, Ilhan Omar, and myself - to represent us up and down the ballot!

Just a random reminder that it's a moral outrage we're the only industrialized country without paid family and medical leave.

NEW: Hackers ripped down a Flock camera above a roadway, made a near-complete copy of the data stored inside it, and shared the files with 404 Media and @wired.com, revealing in new detail how exactly Flock Safety’s cameras track the movements of both vehicles and people.

Kind of awkward when one of the owners on the first night of the NFL season was in the Epstein files and one of the owners in the second game of the NFL season was arrested in a prostitution sting. What the f-k with these guys? 

9/11 victim Michael Massaroli’s son: "You do my dad's legacy & the legacy of all victims no honor using this tragedy to spread hate. I've had to spend 25 years seeing people use it to hate on our Muslim brothers & sisters, people who don't look like them."

Okay everyone. Here’s the YouTube interview with @jimmykimmel.com and @jamestalarico.bsky.social You know what to do. Watch it. Share it. Donate. Bury them. youtu.be/WLDE9LrGpNk?...

🙏🕯️💙🌸🌹

BREAKING NEWS: Otter receives head scritches.

Why would we not want Europes help? Are we… protecting someone? www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...

Huge corporations like Amazon, Walmart, and Uber are among the top employers of SNAP and Medicaid recipients. Meanwhile, their CEOs are raking in multi-million dollar pay packages. How is this not a bigger scandal?

This is what people voted for. Then they complain endlessly . . . and vote for it again. Geez people, look at what is actually happening, not what you're being told, and recalibrate.

👸🏼 Charlotte B. torched Santa Clarita's city council and used them as a hood ornament for her 1957 Cadillac Eldorado #Flock #GiveHerAShow via @jesscraven101.bsky.social

In a country so deeply divided, isn't it nice to have something we can ALL agree on? #ReleaseTheFiles-BeginTheTrials ⚖️

Coach Richardson required his teen players to hug him after practice, former players said, sometimes pulling girls down onto his lap and telling them, “I love you.” He also kept a bed in a back room at the gym, purportedly for player recovery.

Call it the MITCH Act. If a U.S. Senator can disappear from the job for months and still collect a full paycheck, working Americans shouldn’t have to choose between getting well, caring for family, and paying the bills. Paid leave for ALL. 🇺🇸 #USDemocracy #RisingBlue

I can't come up with one positive reason for these data centers to even exist.

Today’s Civics Lesson Dr. Fauci honoring a congressional subpoena and then taking the Fifth Amendment: an example of someone respecting both Congress and the Constitution. Jim Jordan ignoring a congressional subpoena: an example of someone showing contempt for Congress. Lesson over.

Showing up and taking the 5th is not contemptuous, it’s a constitutional right. NOT showing up at all like Jim Jordan didn’t when he was subpoenaed? THAT is contempt.

I doubt the rapist felon Russian asset would respond very well to this.

The fact that the Democratic senators are agreeing to a continuing resolution until Dec 11th with NO compromises for them is absolute political malpractice and head scratching. Why not even try to ban like…. The arch? Anything!

The effective federal corporate income tax rate: 1950: 50% 1990: 25% 2020: 13% Stop asking "but how we will pay for it?" Restore the corporate tax rate. That is how we will pay for it.

Reminder: everyone on American soil, whether they were born here or not, has the right to due process. Here’s everything you need to know.

@govandybeshear.bsky.social Why don't you just go to the hospital and see McConnell yourself with your own eyes?

I LOVE YOU #booksky #books #Kindleunlimited #thriller #suspense #romance #novels #geopolitical #mythological #darkromance #women #contemporary #fiction #fantasy #crime #amazon #sifi #readingcommunity #writingcommunity #author #readers #indie

Financial disclosures show that Susan Collins was taking checks from some of the men named in Epstein Files.

NO 👇 LIES DETECTED.......

Every single lawmaker that’s calling for their constituents to “be responsible with electricity usage” during the extreme heat had better be supporting heavy restrictions on data centers.

CEO pay is up 1,094% since 1978, while typical worker pay is up just 26%. Why do we always hear "we can't afford to pay our workers more" but never "we can't afford to pay our CEO more"?

A FIFA referee has spent more time in federal custody for being Somali than anybody on epstein's list for raping kids.

@hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social can you ask Rep Pete Sessions why he's concerned about fraud related to HR8322 but not concerned about fraud in the executive branch or the Supreme Court or billionaires not paying taxes? 🤔

@tntsports.com.br.web.brid.gy more Sloane Stephens, Chris Eubanks, Sam Querry, less John Isner and Coco Vandeweg. Please and thank you.

The gun industry doesn’t just sell weapons. It buys the politicians who make sure nothing changes.

Now that Would be So Logical…. SO IF WE DON'T LET ATHLETES BET ON GAMES THEY HAVE THE ABILITY TO INFLUENCE.... WHY DO WE ALLOW CONGRESS TO INVEST IN COMPANIES THEY REGULATE?🤷🏻