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A Note from Abroad

A 🧵

Much of my early life was spent abroad.

So this note from a family friend living abroad truly hit home:

“[T]here has been a tectonic shift in how we Americans are regarded abroad...

1/ Having lived outside the US since finishing my MBA in '93, my expat life has spanned five presidents.

While I choose to not discuss my political views except with my very closest friends, expatriates (especially Americans) nevertheless…

2/

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As Speaker Johnson takes aim at Newsom’s effort to counter the Trump effort to steal the 2026 election, let me introduce the Speaker to somebody.

This gentleman came to power from what is arguably the least accountable statehouse in the nation…

1/ This gentleman reaped the benefits of that broken system when he wasn’t even an incumbent.

In early 2015, when the state representative where he lived ran for another office, this man ran for the vacancy.

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Election Interference Deja Vu

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JD Vance flies to Indiana.
In the wide open, he and other federal officials pressure state leaders to rig Indiana’s map to help seal House elections outcome 15 months in advance.

1/ Specifically, by giving themselves two extra seats in the House, and eliminating all Democratic seats in the Hoosier State.

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When’s the last time that the person with the highest job approval rating in Ohio was…..

the Democratic candidate for Governor?

A long damn time.

But it’s actually the case right now!

1/

https://twitter.com/amyactonoh/status/1953528331116130319

A brand new poll shows that, at + 10, @amyactonoh has the highest job approval rating in the state.

By a lot.

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A 🧵 on the need for actions to match words

Thank you to those Texas Democrats taking their courageous stand, and thank you to those supporting them in Texas and beyond. Standing up to the anti-democratic tactics of Trump and state leaders

1/ like Abbott is absolutely critical at the moment.

In fact, there is no choice.

As a matter of strategic action, and as a matter of message.

In fact, if our actions don’t match our words, we lose!

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Much bigger than employment data

Quick 🧵

While Trump fired the leader of the Bureau of Labor Statistics because he was angry about the accurate reporting of his poor job numbers, the BLS oversees far more than just monthly job growth and unemployment.

1/ That far broader array of economic data is critical to the country, to a wide variety of federal programs, and—as Trump no doubt is thinking—politics. And that makes the move that much more dangerous.

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Sweetheart Deal of the Century

A 🧵

@NOTUSreports clued me into a story the other day that bears amplifying.

It really is a stunning revelation: the sweetheart plea deal with Jeffrey Epstein,

1/ reached by then U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta, that Ghislaine Maxwell hopes will set her free (via her current Supreme Court petition), isn’t just of great interest to her.

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The Politicization of Higher Ed: A New Low

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Just when you think you’ve seen it all, something comes along that still stuns you. That happened to me when I read an update from my friends at this Substack:

1/ We’ve watched now for months as Republicans at both the federal and state level attack universities for being too woke, too political, too whatever. (And of late, by the way, we are seeing too many of those institutions cave to extortion and shakedowns.)

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A Pattern — Learn from It

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How often does a gerrymandered statehouse cry uncle?

How often do Republican US senators join Democrats to demand the Trump administration back down from something awful it’s doing?

1/ How often does the Administration actually back down?

And how often do voters (of a red state) decisively reject a key part of the right-wing agenda?

The answer is…lately…these things almost never happen.

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Roberts’ Handy Roadmap for Illegal Cover-Ups

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Yesterday and today, Trump’s former personal lawyer is meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell.

No doubt trying to win her over and keeping her from further incriminating Trump

1/ But much worse than the fact that his former personal lawyer is having this conversation….is the fact that this man is having this conversation AS a DOJ lawyer.

And part of the conversation is clearly that he is a dangling a formal pardon as leverage in that conversation.

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Vivek. You can’t be serious.

A 🧵

I’ve been around politics for a little bit.

Which gives me a good eye for people who are serious, and people who are not at all serious.

And people who are not at all serious stick out like a sore thumb.

1/ So I’m here to tell you, @VivekGRamaswamy is not a serious candidate for Ohio.

Now he may have a lot of money.

And in today’s GOP, he may even be the favorite to be their candidate.

But this guy is not at all serious.

About actually being Governor.

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Question:

You may have heard that Republicans plan to gerrymander both Ohio and Texas in order to gain more seats in the House for the 2026 election.

But have you heard that the only reason they can even do this in Ohio is because the Ohio GOP…

1/ 1) violated the Ohio Constitution seven times

2) defied Ohio Supreme Court orders seven times

3) held consecutive elections on maps that, at the time of those elections, violated the Ohio Constitution per the most recent opinion of the highest court in the state

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The LA ICE Nightmare

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It’s easy to see stories and headlines and lose sight of just what’s happening.

So here’s some detail from the ACLU complaint that shows just how bad the LA ICE raids are:

1/ “One of the clearest patterns that have emerged in the raids in Southern California over the past few weeks has been stops and interrogations based on nothing but broad profiles, including on the basis of apparent race and ethnicity”

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As if the recent obsession with “Alligator Alcatraz”—and the images and memes popping up all over social media in celebration of it—isn’t grotesque enough as it is.

A 🧵

Just look at the images our own government is putting out:

1/
But this isn’t the first time in American history that images and themes of alligators have been conjured up by elements of our political culture.

And it’s this history that instructs us as to the danger of what’s playing out.

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As much as I loathe all the damage Musk has inflicted on our government and our country, Trump’s latest response in their battle is as dark as it gets.

Let me tell you why:

1/
When I worked in Russia, and as it was growing in corruption in front of our eyes, one of the most clearcut tell-tales of its slide into lawless authoritarianism was that as most people began to behave corruptly—

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LAUNCH DAY: “Saving Democracy, Second Edition”

“David Pepper has the experience and the skills to help us make a better American future. Read, learn — and act."

- @TimothyDSnyder

1/ “In Saving Democracy, David Pepper explains the tactics of authoritarians in America and offers strategies to fight back. For anyone who wants to know what to do and how to make a difference, this book provides a practical and badly needed road map.”

- @anneapplebaum

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If Project 2025 had had a chapter outlining the role the federal judiciary could play in putting all its dark promises into place—and allowing authoritarianism to advance quickly and broadly—here are what the key elements would be:

1/ 1) create immunity for federal officials engaging in official acts

2) make it as difficult as possible for courts and those aggrieved by illegal acts to stop them—even after they have been found to be illegal or when they are blatantly illegal

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Ohio: an analysis finds that the following rural hospitals are most at risk of closing due to Medicaid cuts:

1) Bucyrus (Crawford County): Bucyrus Community Hospital

2) Cadiz (Harrison County): Harrison Community Hospital

1/ 3) Coshocton (Coshocton County): Coshocton Regional Medical Center

4) Dennison (Tuscarawas County): Twin City Hospital

5) East Liverpool (Columbiana County): East Liverpool City Hospital

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A huge ruling in Ohio yesterday: universal vouchers struck down as unconstitutional

A 🧵 on some of the damning facts:

1/ 1) Columbus City Schools receive only $2,800 per student (45,000 students) from the state, while the 7,500 voucher-funded private school students within its district are funded at more than $5,400 per student

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Husted, We Have a Problem

A 🧵 on the Golden Opportunity to Flip Ohio’s Senate Seat Blue in 2026

Last week, Chuck Schumer flew to Ohio in a not so subtle effort to recruit @SherrodBrown to run for the US Senate in 2026.

The dinner meeting was caught on camera…

1/ …leading to a national story, and a whole lot of people from beyond Ohio asking who the @rooster_ohio is

But these same people should also be asking, more and more intensely, who the sitting Senator is.

His name is Jon Husted, he is a deeply tainted and untested candidate,

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A Tale of Two “Public Servants”

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Yesterday, I drove to a food pantry in rural Ohio where I was told they were running out of food.

Here’s what I learned.

1/ The food pantry itself (in a town called Manchester) is doing heroic work to help those in need.

The dedicated staff and volunteers—aided by donations from local churches, Kroger, and some grant funding—are doing what they can.

Here’s what they told me:

2/