Charlie Angus: 'We see Kristi Noem doing this really disgusting video'

In January 2025, Kristi Noem was confirmed as Homeland Security Secretary.

And in March, here we are:

"This video, posted by Kristi Noem, provoked in me a visceral reaction. I hesitate to post this image because as a student of Holocaust studies, I know how even gazing on images like this can further the dehumanization of prisoners subjected to these conditions. But I also know that those who have the power to do something also have the obligation not to look away.

The juxtaposition of Noem, with her hair and makeup done in the latest Republican style, with earrings dangling and sporting a (reportedly) $60,000 Rolex, against the backdrop of men seized and detained without due process..." (Kristin Du Mez, Mar 27, 2025)

On March 28, Canadian lawmaker Charlie Angus said Canadians are paying attention as they are "watching our nearest neighbor slip into totalitarianism." He said, reported by HuffPost:

“When we see people being pulled off the streets, when we see people at universities being grabbed, detained, rendered and kidnapped, and when we see Kristi Noem doing this really disgusting video in front of half-naked men in an overcrowded El Salvadoran prison cell...We’re looking at a nation that we don’t understand anymore and we don’t want to be like that nation and we’re thinking, ‘If we go down the road with this regime, we’re talking about the disappearance of the rule of law.’”

She shot her dog

My poem: Cricket’s Still Alive: Out of the gravel pit, up into the light. Tucker Lieberman, May 7, 2024

And this happened:

The governor of South Dakota is forbidden from setting foot on 20% of South Dakota. I'm sorry, but that's just hysterical. Maybe if she had spent more time building trust and connections at home instead of slathering herself with Trumpish obsequience to the maga cult she wouldn't have this problem.

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— Kelly Barnhill (@kellybarnhill.bsky.social) May 15, 2024 at 11:32 AM

Georgia considering laws to deal with kids who make threats

Georgia is discussing this legislation now:

”After last year’s deadly shooting at Apalachee High School, lawmakers vowed to ensure students could learn safely and get mental health support as needed. The House passed House Bill 268, sponsored by Republican state Rep. Holt Persinger who represents Barrow County, 159-13. It would instruct schools to create a plan identifying the ability for threats to breach the buildings.

The Senate passed Senate Bill 17, which would require local school systems to implement a panic alert system to coordinate between first responders in the event of an emergency. Senators also passed Senate Bill 61, which addresses children who make “terroristic threats,” and Senate Bill 179, which would require schools to quickly communicate about disciplinary problems with transferring students.

House Bill 268 is more likely to move forward, and lawmakers have amended the language — namely removing a provision that would have required schools to develop a database with information about students who have made credible threats.

And two bills that deal with school zone cameras that automatically ticket drivers who are speeding have been resurrected for consideration. One would ban the cameras, while another would give motorists more warning before they reach them.”

— Trans Georgians, school safety bills await their fate as state legislative session draws to a close, Maya T. Prabhu and Michelle Baruchman, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 31, 2025

A memoir on this topic

Suspect by Gina Tron

Elon Musk is paying off Wisconsin voters

In a video posted by Elon Musk’s PAC, a $1M check recipient linked voting to receiving the money: “My name’s Ekaterina Deistler. …I did exactly what Elon Musk told everyone to do: sign the petition, refer friends and family, vote, and now I have a million dollars.”

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— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes.bsky.social) March 31, 2025 at 9:10 AM

Musk on Tuesday’s election in Wisconsin: l feel like it's is one of those things that may not seem like it will affect the entire destiny of humanity, but I think it will

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— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) March 30, 2025 at 7:59 PM

Just before Musk's event in Green Bay tonight, the WI Supreme Court unanimously declined to bar him from handing out $1 million payments to voters

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— The Downballot (@the-downballot.com) March 30, 2025 at 6:49 PM

WisPolitics has a copy of the court's brief order: www.wispolitics.com/wp-content/u...

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— The Downballot (@the-downballot.com) March 30, 2025 at 7:13 PM

Musk has already committed the crime and the AG can get an arrest warrant any time he wants. This filing by the AG is intentionally wrong - he's pretending to do something, knowing that it does nothing. The AG is pulling a fast one on the public to avoid charging Musk with a crime.

— Mike Sims (@peltast1.bsky.social) March 30, 2025 at 7:37 PM

Musk is handing out checks right now with 50 cops watching him.

— Mike Sims (@peltast1.bsky.social) March 30, 2025 at 8:10 PM

Gee, it’s almost as if the AG seeking an injunction against the commission of a felony is procedurally incorrect. The warrant you need is for the ARREST of Elon Musk.

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— Sam Halpert (@samhalpert.bsky.social) March 30, 2025 at 8:52 AM

It’s not on the court. The AG is ducking his duties and set them up. bsky.app/profile/samh...

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— Sam Halpert (@samhalpert.bsky.social) March 30, 2025 at 7:16 PM

if you think this violates the law (and it very clearly does imo), you don't seek an injunction, you seek an indictment, given that the law makes it a class 1 felony. cowardice from the AG, cowardice from the courts, nobody wants the responsibility of actually enforcing the law. cowards all around

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— Michael (@fleerultra.bsky.social) March 30, 2025 at 6:52 PM

Truly lawyer and dem-consultant brained for people to think "showing the average person that rich and powerful are not above the law when they flagrantly commit crimes" is somehow bad for democracy or a political loser

— anerdylawyer.bsky.social (@anerdylawyer.bsky.social) March 30, 2025 at 7:01 PM

it is very clear, in light of the claims, that this was the "soft" approach.

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— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner.bsky.social) March 30, 2025 at 8:09 PM

for the people in good faith (or even less) responding to this: if the world's richest man comes into your state and tries to buy your elections, and you are the attorney general of that state, you do everything you can—you think creatively about it—to stop him. to do less is to fail your state.

— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner.bsky.social) March 30, 2025 at 8:57 PM

The organized anti-trans movement is propelled by extremists

If you're just noticing that organized transphobia is exterminationist and bad in other extremist ways, welcome.

"GOP operatives spent an astounding $222 million on anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ advertising in the 2024 cycle — more than on housing, immigration and the economy combined. Since Inauguration Day, the drumbeat of discriminatory actions and executive orders against trans Americans has made my heart race and kicked my anxiety into overdrive. The White House has refused to issue passports reflecting applicants’ gender identities, attacked providers of gender-affirming care, banned trans service members from the military, prevented schools from supporting students who transition, eliminated protections against spying on LGBTQ+ citizens, regulated bathroom use, benched trans kids from sports, transferred trans women into men’s prisons and targeted LGBTQ+ civil servants. It has also deleted references to trans and nonbinary people on government websites from the State Department and CDC to the Park Service’s page for the Stonewall National Monument."
— Ali Moss, "The Nazis Made A Horrifying Move In 1933. I'm Terrified Trump Is Now Doing The Exact Same Thing.: Until recently, the question remained theoretical. But it’s not an exaggeration to say that President Trump is running plays straight out of Hitler’s playbook." HuffPost, Mar 23, 2025

Zinnia Jones gave us some resources:

It's seeming like a lot of people have gotten into a moment of reconsideration, and when they're shown simple documentation of things like (genderanalysis.net/2024/01/stil...), they've started to be like "whoa" - they just hadn't engaged with how violent the exterminationism of transphobia really is

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— Zinnia Jones 🐍🔆 (@zinniajones.com) March 23, 2025 at 6:23 PM

They're in the process of being shown that people like this (trans.cx/2025/03/08/d...) are actually placed right at the heart of anti-trans policy groups and movements, and behind the 'reasonable concerns', they're calling us "petulant toddlers in castrated grown men's bodies", which is just hateful

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— Zinnia Jones 🐍🔆 (@zinniajones.com) March 23, 2025 at 6:26 PM

[cw: csa] They're now finding out that Stephen Levine, who contributed heavily to writing the mandatory HRT "consent" forms in Florida for trans adults that we now have to sign, dismissed "hysteria" over a Catholic priest molesting a minor and ejaculating onto him: transgender.agency/files/levine...

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— Zinnia Jones 🐍🔆 (@zinniajones.com) March 23, 2025 at 6:32 PM

And they're surprised and even astonished that transphobes' preferred mode of discourse over scientific hypotheses is the revenge porn: bsky.app/profile/zinn...

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— Zinnia Jones 🐍🔆 (@zinniajones.com) March 23, 2025 at 6:34 PM

I've specifically seen people be disturbed that two DeSantis appointees, still serving on Florida's Boards of Medicine, were selected following their letter about a trans teenager being psychiatrically institutionalized for forced conversion therapy for *two years* genderanalysis.net/2023/01/flor...

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— Zinnia Jones 🐍🔆 (@zinniajones.com) March 23, 2025 at 6:52 PM

And following on from that, they were often unsatisfied with one of those appointees, the second author of the forced consent forms Dr. Monica Mortensen, and her evasive answers about right and wrong when presented with my actual complaint to the boards during her deposition bsky.app/profile/zinn...

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— Zinnia Jones 🐍🔆 (@zinniajones.com) March 23, 2025 at 6:58 PM

Something has started tilting people into a somewhat more empathic-prone mode, and it's starting to be inclusive of abuses that have happened to trans people as potentially relatable to abuses that could happen to cis people, and that seems like a new connection that I'm seeing many cis people make

— Zinnia Jones 🐍🔆 (@zinniajones.com) March 23, 2025 at 7:16 PM

They don't always win, but this is what they try:

JUST IN: I was watching an Anchorage school board race tonight, because candidate Alexander Rosales had a history of transphobic statements like “Ban trans kids.” He is losing handily in the first waves of returns. www.adn.com/alaska-news/...

— Taniel (@taniel.bsky.social) April 2, 2025 at 12:15 AM

Read my essay too

Gay and Trans Freedom Is Everyone’s Freedom: Be who you are, choose your path, and let’s do it together. A big reason to support LGBTQ rights. Tucker Lieberman, Prism & Pen, Feb 22, 2024

March 2025 — climate news

“Why is nobody looking?”

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— Jaap Burger (@jaapburger.eu) March 24, 2025 at 7:10 AM

Even 'safe' #climate scenarios may overshoot 2°C warming: New PIK study shows feedback loops like #permafrost thaw could amplify global heating throughout this millennium. Paris agreement only possible with very low emissions + low climate sensitivity. www.pik-potsdam.de/en/news/late...

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— PIK_climate (@pik-potsdam.bsky.social) March 24, 2025 at 4:20 AM

Paris residents vote in favour of making 500 more streets pedestrian, Reuters, March 23, 2025

New unclassified Annual Threat Assessment from the Director of National Intelligence *does not* mention climate or environmental security -- the first not to do so in over a decade. During the first Trump term, climate was included regularly. www.dni.gov/files/ODNI/d...

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— Erin Sikorsky (@erinsikorsky.bsky.social) March 25, 2025 at 10:46 AM

It only took Trump 52 days to destroy years of climate action, says @markgongloff.bsky.social. Just take a look at the full timeline: bloom.bg/43njfLn

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— Bloomberg Opinion (@opinion.bloomberg.com) March 26, 2025 at 3:05 PM

"Ain't Nobody Got Time for That" was my first reaction to the upcoming heatwave. The first 90 day in Tampa used to arrive in late May (100 years ago) But more recently the average is the 3rd week of April... about 35 days sooner. This spring we are likely to see it in a few days!

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— Jeff Berardelli (@weatherprof.bsky.social) March 30, 2025 at 8:43 PM

SEC votes to stop defending climate disclosure rule, Rachel Frazin, The Hill, 03/28/25

New Trump EO Would Punish States for Combating Climate Change. The order directs the government to “expeditiously” take action to “stop the enforcement of State laws” designed to reduce “greenhouse gas” emissions. Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Mother Jones, April 9, 2025

"Indeed, when it comes to children, the true intent of Trump’s climate policies is clear. He’s not trying to prevent kids from becoming climate-anxious. He’s trying to prevent kids from becoming climate activists." Emily Atkin, "Climate science isn't giving your kid anxiety," HEATED, April 16, 2025

This story requires a great deal more attention. The Trump administration is doing everything it can to get Russian gas back into Europe. This is Washington and Moscow now in full strategic alignment via a shared vision of a fossil fuel future.

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— Dave Vetter (@davidrvetter.bsky.social) May 10, 2025 at 12:46 AM

Recommended read: An editorial in @the-breakdown.bsky.social , a new publication focusing on the “political economy of climate and ecological crisis”, dissects “this moment in climate politics”.

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— Carbon Brief (@carbonbrief.org) May 11, 2025 at 5:32 AM

Signalgate!

The job of Democrats is so clear right now: It's to do everything possible in the next 48 hours to keep the Atlantic story front-burner and make people understand the issues and the stakes. It couldn't be a simpler test of who gets it and who doesn't.

— Mark Harris (@markharris.bsky.social) March 24, 2025 at 10:59 PM

there are like three overlapping scandals with signalgate — illegal distribution of sensitive government materials by top members of the administration, illegal attempt to circumvent records laws and possible unlawful use of military force — and democrats should be screaming about them all

— jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) March 25, 2025 at 8:36 AM

"US airstrikes hit Yemen cancer hospital again as bombing campaign escalates" Liberals are more upset about the platform used to discuss war crimes than the actual war crimes themselves. The discourse has been disgusting, with very little regard to the violence Yemenis are facing.

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— RootsAction (@rootsaction.org) March 26, 2025 at 11:37 AM

massively depressing that the big scandal is that the shithead guy from the atlantic got texted accidentally and not the part where they're raining more death on yemen

— mattie lubchansky (@mattielubchansky.com) March 25, 2025 at 8:05 AM

The chat group, national security breach is not a Washington story. It is GLOBAL. Right now, UK Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard is in Parliament being grilled by MPs on what military & security operational details are shared with the United States. Trust in the US has been shredded.

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— News Eye (@newseye.bsky.social) March 25, 2025 at 7:06 AM

There's a lot that's alarming in the Trump Team Texts™ but the repeated suggestions that the president was out of the loop on basic facts and unclear about his orders -- and that his underlings were making the decisions for him -- really stands out. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

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— Kevin M. Kruse (@kevinmkruse.bsky.social) March 25, 2025 at 8:57 AM

yup and Politico runs the story as, "How secure is Signal.” My guess is they are sliding to say the app was legitimate. It’s freaking laughable.

— usaf1976.bsky.social (@usaf1976.bsky.social) March 25, 2025 at 8:42 AM

Also, insane as it is, the deeper problem is not *this specific incident*. It’s that the entire top tier of national security officials are routinely violating the most basic protocols for dealing with the most sensitive information in multiple ways.

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— Julian Sanchez (@normative.bsky.social) March 25, 2025 at 9:05 AM

A reporter got looped into a top secret discussion *by accident*. Do you seriously think sophisticated foreign intelligence services *who are actually trying* don’t have a way in when they’re this sloppy?

— Julian Sanchez (@normative.bsky.social) March 25, 2025 at 9:07 AM

We know Russia developed at least one successful exploit against Signal recently. You’ve got 17 extremely high value targets in a groupchat, probably on personal devices. Only one of those endpoints needs to be compromised. www.firstpost.com/world/russia...

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— Julian Sanchez (@normative.bsky.social) March 25, 2025 at 9:13 AM

Jeffrey Goldberg thinking he was being pranked and then realizing he was actually just in the war plans group chat is such a good microcosm of how it feels to be alive right now, everything seems fake until you realize it’s actually real and incredibly stupid

— Yell In a War (@jelenawoehr.bsky.social) March 24, 2025 at 5:03 PM

I really do love the libs going 'actually Goldberg is a great reporter and The Atlantic is a noble rag we must support'. Gee guys do you think he got on the fascist group chat because he's friends with them and agrees with them, maybe?

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— Liz, like a lizard 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ (@queerthing.bsky.social) March 26, 2025 at 1:32 PM

I'm not saying anything novel here but it really is just truly despicable to watch them use THEIR OWN COLOSSAL SCREW UP to slander the reporter THEY INCLUDED ON THEIR CLASSIFIED GROUP CHAT

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— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes.bsky.social) March 25, 2025 at 6:11 PM

Goldberg could be prosecuted, says Asha Rangappa, because "the Espionage Act makes no mention of “classified” information. It’s national defense information (NDI) which could cause harm to the U.S. if disclosed. Which it clearly was in this case, regardless of classification." Of course, "3 of the highest-ranking national security officials publicly stated none of it was officially classified," as someone else pointed out in a reply, which makes it a hard case to win.

Dan Crenshaw dismisses Hegseth texting war plans to a Signal group that included a journalist: "We gotta move on. If Secretary Hegseth says there was no classified information, I'll take him at his word."

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 25, 2025 at 9:15 AM

‘Huge Screwup’: Republicans Give Group Chat Breach A Thumbs Down Emoji: "You got to know who you're sending your text to," one Republican advised after Pete Hegseth accidentally leaked classified information to a reporter. Igor Bobic, HuffPost, Mar 24, 2025

Atlantic Editor Names The 1 Thing He Struggled To Explain In Bombshell Group Chat Report: Jeffrey Goldberg reflected on the "most improbable" part of his reporting after he was inadvertently added to a group chat where Trump officials discussed war plans. Ben Blanchet, HuffPost, Mar 24, 2025

Dems Aghast After Trump Brass Accidentally Texted War Plans To Reporter: "Only one word for this: FUBAR," said Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.)., Ryan Grenoble, HuffPost, Mar 24, 2025

Warning over privacy of encrypted messages as Russia targets Signal Messenger: Russia is using phishing attacks to compromise encrypted Signal Messenger services used by targets in the Ukraine. Experts warn that other encrypted app users are at risk. Bill Goodwin, Computer Weekly, 19 Feb 2025

Hillary Clinton Responds To Trump's Admin Using Signal To Discuss War Plans: Trump's administration included a journalist on a group text that discussed national security matters. Paige Skinner, HuffPost, Mar 24, 2025

Key things to know about the Senate hearing where top intel officials were grilled on group chat fallout. From CNN's Michael Williams, Hannah Rabinowitz, Ted Barrett, Alison Main Lauren Fox, Morgan Rimmer and Antoinette Radford. March 25, 2025

Reporter’s inclusion in Signal group chat was "of course not" appropriate, CIA director says. From CNN's Morgan Rimmer and Michael Williams, March 25, 2025

Mike Johnson Downplays Group Chat Leaks As 'Officials Doing Their Job,' Gets Torched On X. The House speaker told reporters Monday that Trump officials were merely "executing on a plan with precision," despite their messages going public. Marco Margaritoff, HuffPost, Mar 25, 2025

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— Daniel Harder 🇺🇦 (@danielharder.bsky.social) March 25, 2025 at 7:33 PM

I haven't. Because I have anxiety. I check my emails like 14 times. GTFOH carrying water for these fools.

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— Cheryl Lynn Eaton (@cheryllynneaton.bsky.social) March 25, 2025 at 7:29 PM

Sen. Mark Warner: "Putting aside for a moment that classified information should never be discussed over an unclassified system, it's also just mind boggling to me that all these senior folks were on this line, and nobody bothered even check." "Security hygiene 101: Who are all the names?"

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1.bsky.social) March 25, 2025 at 10:15 AM

They were intentionally using Signal to avoid accountability for the discussion. If by chance any of them thought they were on Signal for other reasons, and they realized the discussion was not appropriate for Signal, they should have bowed out.

I’m old enough to remember when Secretary Hegseth tried to publicly mock Judge Reyes—suggesting that she didn’t know what she was doing when it comes to protecting our national security. It was … two days ago.

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— Steve Vladeck (@stevevladeck.bsky.social) March 24, 2025 at 3:54 PM

JUST IN: American Oversight is suing Hegseth, Gabbard, Ratcliffe et al, saying their messaging via Signal is a violation of the Federal Records Act. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney.bsky.social) March 25, 2025 at 4:40 PM

Yesterday, Gabbard testified: “There was no classified material that was shared in that Signal chat.” So the Director of National Intelligence lied to the US Senate.

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— Katie Phang (@katiephang.bsky.social) March 26, 2025 at 2:12 PM

If this isn’t classified, it should be, and regardless, there is no way in hell it should have been discussed during a Signal chat. Trying to place the blame on Goldberg and the Atlantic and LIE about what was in the chat won’t change the facts.

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— HawaiiDelilah™ 🌊 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇺🇦🇬🇧 (@hawaiidelilah.bsky.social) March 26, 2025 at 2:16 PM

Hegseth should be done for. "The information ... Hegseth disclosed in the Signal chat of top Trump national security officials was HIGHLY CLASSIFIED at the time he wrote it ... according to a US defense official familiar with the operation and another source who was briefed on it afterward."

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— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw.bsky.social) March 26, 2025 at 2:07 PM

Why were senior Trump administration officials using Signal in foreign countries to communicate about sensitive national security matters? We need answers and accountability. Urgently.

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— Sen. Adam Schiff (@schiff.senate.gov) March 26, 2025 at 2:26 PM

The Trump administration claimed their actions deporting immigrants to El Salvador was a state secret Even though they posted videos of it to social media But their “Houthi small group” Signal chat, which includes-in advance-times, weapons and information about the target Somehow it WASN’T secret

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— Adam Cohen (@axidentaliberal.bsky.social) March 26, 2025 at 2:19 PM

Let’s make something clear: The Trump cabinet’s shocking leak of its plans to bomb Yemen raises myriad confidentiality and legal issues. The security of the encrypted messaging app Signal is not one of them.

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— WIRED (@wired.com) March 26, 2025 at 1:58 PM

Circling back to this. This is the Joe Kent who was on the Signal group chat. He’s a Gabbard confidant and Trump’s nominee to lead the NCTC. He thinks the FBI did January 6th.

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— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw.bsky.social) March 26, 2025 at 2:01 PM

SCOOP: A House Democrat's long-shot bill to criminalize the sharing of classified information through unsecured messaging systems like Signal will be called the "HOUTHI PC SMALL GROUP Act"

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— Axios (@axios.com) March 26, 2025 at 2:18 PM

NEW: Rubio asked if the information on the group chat was classified. RUBIO: “Well, the Pentagon says it was not.” Hegseth is the fall guy isn’t he? He’s career kryptonite to the rest. There’s a Signal group somewhere called “Pete Takes The Heat small group” Everyone’s on it. Except Pete.

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— News Eye (@newseye.bsky.social) March 26, 2025 at 2:00 PM

"Obviously someone made a mistake, someone made a big mistake." Secretary of State Marco Rubio addresses the Signal group chat leak of military plans. www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

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— MSNBC (@msnbc.com) March 26, 2025 at 2:11 PM

Government officials often work in the ‘high side’ — a classified system, and the ‘low side’ — an unclassified government system. The entire Signal conversation took place in neither the ‘high side’ nor the ‘low side,’ but in a publicly available messaging app. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

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— Stephanie Kennedy (@wordswithsteph.bsky.social) March 26, 2025 at 1:47 PM

WELKER: Do you believe that Ratcliffe and Gabbard were truthful when they testified before your committee? BENNET: No. I think they lied repeatedly to our committee and to the House committee.

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 30, 2025 at 9:34 AM

Every single Democratic lawmaker should be calling for Hegseth's immediate resignation right now. Not just some. Not just a few dozen. Every single one, starting at the top with Mr. Schumer and Mr. Jeffries. And the fact that it hasn't happened yet is nearly as shocking as Hegseth's conduct.

— Charlotte Clymer (@charlotteclymer.bsky.social) March 24, 2025 at 10:14 PM

I mean very obviously Hegseth should resign, and if it were a Democratic administration this would be quickly be a consensus position.

— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes.bsky.social) March 24, 2025 at 3:51 PM

Collins: Do you think someone should be fired over this? Buttigieg: Absolutely… if there’s not accountability for a screw up like this, especially from a president who used to fire people on television for sport, what are we even doing here..

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— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) March 24, 2025 at 8:46 PM

That’s not a concern, now that we’ve spurned all our allies.

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— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) March 24, 2025 at 8:36 PM

Goldberg said the level of detail in the targeting package that he received via Signal was down to the *names of individuals* to be killed. That’s the good stuff that includes all kinds of sources and methods and never should have been outside a SCIF. I’d be in prison if I fucked up that bad.

— Angry (@angrystaffer.bsky.social) March 24, 2025 at 8:37 PM

the scandal is not that goldberg was added to the chat. that's just a dumbfuck being a dumbfuck, and sure, fire Waltz. the scandal is that a national security conversation is on a cellphone groupchat. and since no one commented on it, presumably it's a regular occurrence.

— David M. Perry (@lollardfish.bsky.social) March 24, 2025 at 9:45 PM

Seems extremely obvious that the "none of it was classified" line is 100 percent about covering their asses and 0 percent about the actual dissemination of attack plans on a third-party app with an unverified distribution list. The 2025 variant of "it's not illegal if we say it wasn't illegal."

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— Philip Bump (@pbump.com) March 25, 2025 at 10:14 AM

KELLY: The deliberation as to whether we should launch a strike on another country. Would you consider that classified information? GABBARD: The information was not classified RATCLIFFE: Pre-decisional strike deliberations should be conducted through classified channels

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) March 25, 2025 at 10:52 AM

The latest crazy just proves what we all know. They are discussing everything on Signal to avoid any discovery or FOIA or archival laws. So illegal but here we are.

— Joe Beda (@h.olysh.it) March 24, 2025 at 1:56 PM

Trump Throws Absolute Fit Over 1 Simple Question: ‘Don’t Bring That Up Again’ The president’s critics urged reporters to ignore the demand and keep bringing it up. Ed Mazza, HuffPost, Apr 4, 2025

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had the consumer messaging app Signal set up on a computer in his office at the Pentagon so that he could send and receive instant messages in a space where personal cellphones are not permitted, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

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— The New York Times (@nytimes.com) April 24, 2025 at 7:25 AM

"Were any of the Houthi Signal group members compromised at the time they discussed the Yemen attack plans? Frankly, it would be shocking if they were not." My latest in @foreignaffairs.com on "The Real Lessons of SignalGate" www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...

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— Ron Deibert (@rondeibert.bsky.social) April 24, 2025 at 6:52 AM

Hegseth Had Unsecured Internet Line Set Up In His Office To Connect To Signal, AP Reports: The defense secretary had an internet connection that bypassed the Pentagon’s security protocols set up in his office, allowing him to use Signal on a personal computer. Tara Copp, AP, Apr 24, 2025

Under MAGA, there is no middle ground

With whom, on what point, would we negotiate? What (or whom) would we sacrifice, and what would we (those of us who remain) receive in return? Would we receive even a bit more time?

The upshot of the breathtaking speed of our descent is there's no illusion that if we concede a little now, we save anything down the road. The second we caved on trans care and immigration, we caved on abortion, gay marriage, social security, and vaccines. No caving thus far has slowed us one bit.

— Jessica Kant (@jessdkant.bsky.social) March 22, 2025 at 2:50 PM

No middle ground:

"'There is no middle ground anymore,' an elderly woman said to what appeared to be her husband near the back of the crowd (Monday's gathering skewed older and female, with young men nowhere to be found unsurprisingly).

It was comments like these that differentiated this action with the rallies in the first months of the first Trump term. There was a (misplaced, deeply naive) sense that Trump was such an outlier, so out of touch with the electorate, that Democrats and even some elected Republicans would stymie his entire agenda. This Sorinkesque belief in the inevitability to bipartisanship was just enough to make folks believe there was a middle ground, a compromised path out of Trumpism. We tried that with Joe Biden and it failed spectacularly. There is, as the lady said, no middle ground. The only way out is through; what that looks like is up to your imagination and the doom that resides within you."

— Denny Carter, "Long Way From A Fire," Bad Faith Times, 18 Feb 2025

That "doom" story says:

"We are not “cooked,” nor are we “so fucking cooked," as so many BlueSky posters are wont to say. There is no point in declaring we're "cooked" beyond protecting oneself with layer after slimy, toxic layer of irony. I’ve done just that for too long. No one is better than me at shielding themselves with irony. I realize this sounds Trumpian but it's true. If irony-shielding were a profession, I would be the GOAT and no one would be close. I’m done with all that because there is no future with such an approach, and it’s exactly what the bad guys want us to do. Enough."

— Denny Carter, "Caring, Not Dooming, In 2025," Bad Faith Times, 24 Dec 2024

Trumpists call the anti-Tesla protests "terrorist" to take away donation platforms

Martina Fern, Senior Director of Development for American Atheists, writes in an email that the organization sent today:

"Elon Musk, who spent over a quarter of a billion dollars to help elect President Trump, expressed his support for federal investigations into fundraising platform ActBlue, claiming it’s part of a “left-wing NGO cabal” organizing protests of Tesla. He even called the protests “terrorist activity.”

Speaker Mike Johnson and several Republican lawmakers have been pushing for a congressional investigation into ActBlue since last December. More recently, the Treasury Secretary has been urged to look into the fundraising platform for “allegations of the provision of… payment processing for terror-linked organizations and nonprofits.” Senator Ted Cruz has also suggested ActBlue might be held criminally liable and has threatened another private tech company that provides services to nonprofits, Bonterra, with investigations."

Fern adds that the ActBlue and Bonterra platforms, both of which American Atheists uses, "are being threatened precisely because they provide the infrastructure necessary for nonprofit organizations like ours to operate." If Trump's orbit can say that one left-leaning cause is a "terrorist" cause, then they have a pretext to take down the large donation platforms that fund a broad spectrum of left-leaning causes.

One core political function of calling someone a terrorist is that, in the United States as well as other places, you can seek to have the government shut them down on the basis of you having called them that. I wrote: Why Was Palestinian Student Leader Mahmoud Khalil Detained?: The meaning of ‘shalom’ I know is ‘peace.’ A political arrest isn’t peaceful. Tucker Lieberman, Mar 12, 2025

the meaning of "terrorism" isnt being changed or watered down, it never really meant anything other than "enemy of the state" when used in dissent to begin with and who it can and cant be applied to has always shifted

— maia arson crimew 🏴 (@crimew.gay) March 22, 2025 at 6:32 PM

Photo: Smug January 6er. So much winning.

Three trans songs (2 on Instagram, 1 on YouTube) — enjoy!

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