Brendan Boerner
@bboerner2332.bsky.social
Dad, Programmer, Rabbit Whisperer. Dog Dad. Working to turn TX blue. Harris-Walz stan. #RuleOfLaw #Democracy #AuDHD #NativeTexan
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
Some years ago, I was chatting with a Retropolis reader, a young history student, and I mentioned there were several dozen people enslaved in New Jersey up until the day the 13th Amendment kicked in in December 1865.
Y’all. He identified every one of them.
njs.libraries.rutgers.edu/index.php/nj...
Y’all. He identified every one of them.
njs.libraries.rutgers.edu/index.php/nj...
February 4, 2026 at 2:45 AM
Some years ago, I was chatting with a Retropolis reader, a young history student, and I mentioned there were several dozen people enslaved in New Jersey up until the day the 13th Amendment kicked in in December 1865.
Y’all. He identified every one of them.
njs.libraries.rutgers.edu/index.php/nj...
Y’all. He identified every one of them.
njs.libraries.rutgers.edu/index.php/nj...
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
For context: Leonard Leo is one of a half dozen individuals most responsible for our descent into fascism. *He* picked Roberts & Alito, and manipulated Trump into selecting Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and ACB. All of this in his bizarre quest to criminalize abortion, contraception, and homosexuality.
February 4, 2026 at 10:35 AM
For context: Leonard Leo is one of a half dozen individuals most responsible for our descent into fascism. *He* picked Roberts & Alito, and manipulated Trump into selecting Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and ACB. All of this in his bizarre quest to criminalize abortion, contraception, and homosexuality.
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
There's both the dumb Trump angle and the cynical strategy aspect to this. Former is he doesn't understand any of the details and so this tumbles out as his mangled version. The latter is it's deliberately overshooting what they might actually do, to make their actual attacks seem less extreme.
President Trump doubled down on his call for the Republican Party to “nationalize” voting in the U.S., even as the White House tried to walk it back and members of his own party criticized the idea.
Trump Repeats Call to ‘Nationalize’ Elections, as White House Walks It Back
President Trump’s extraordinary comments were the latest iteration of his unsubstantiated claims that U.S. elections are rigged as Republicans face potentially big losses next year.
nyti.ms
February 4, 2026 at 11:01 AM
There's both the dumb Trump angle and the cynical strategy aspect to this. Former is he doesn't understand any of the details and so this tumbles out as his mangled version. The latter is it's deliberately overshooting what they might actually do, to make their actual attacks seem less extreme.
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
you don't say? at some point we're going to acknowledge what every study ever on this subject has said, right? right? www.independent.co.uk/news/science...
Trans athletes may not have fitness advantage in women’s sport, landmark study finds
Findings suggest physical performance in trans women converges toward that of cis women over time
www.independent.co.uk
February 4, 2026 at 12:30 PM
you don't say? at some point we're going to acknowledge what every study ever on this subject has said, right? right? www.independent.co.uk/news/science...
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
not saying he's necessarily in the organization, but this skull face mask was popular among members of the Proud Boys a few years ago
February 4, 2026 at 3:23 AM
not saying he's necessarily in the organization, but this skull face mask was popular among members of the Proud Boys a few years ago
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
If my caucus was any sort of indication, national Dems really need to wake the fuck up about what voters want them to do about ICE.
February 4, 2026 at 4:15 AM
If my caucus was any sort of indication, national Dems really need to wake the fuck up about what voters want them to do about ICE.
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
we need every grain of sand in the gears. every single one.
A Minneapolis City Council committee delayed action Tuesday on renewing liquor licenses for two Minneapolis hotels that have housed federal immigration officers.
Minneapolis Council committee delays liquor licenses for 2 hotels over hosting federal agents
The City Council will hold a public hearing on the liquor licenses for the Canopy by Hilton in the Mill District and Depot Renaissance Hotel.
www.startribune.com
February 4, 2026 at 4:44 AM
we need every grain of sand in the gears. every single one.
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
though, one cool thing, if we ever get out of this, is that outside of the Seditious Six and a few diehard MAGA partisans, basically every other federal judge is quickly radicalizing onto team "hang 'em all".
February 4, 2026 at 6:03 AM
though, one cool thing, if we ever get out of this, is that outside of the Seditious Six and a few diehard MAGA partisans, basically every other federal judge is quickly radicalizing onto team "hang 'em all".
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
we should proceed with prosecutions with the presumption that the president cannot pardon crimes he ordered to occur while simultaneously advancing court-packing legislation.
It's so cool how we just accept that federal accountability is dead and the president will just pardon any federal crimes as easily as he pardoned everyone for January 6, and we just live with this fact instead of tearing down the rest of the White House around him.
Philidelphia DA Larry Krasner warns ICE: If an agent commits crimes in Philly, I will charge you. You will be arrested. You will stand trial, and you will be convicted in state or federal court and you will do your time. Donald Trump can't pardon you for a state court conviction.
February 4, 2026 at 5:22 AM
we should proceed with prosecutions with the presumption that the president cannot pardon crimes he ordered to occur while simultaneously advancing court-packing legislation.
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
New fuck/marry/kill list just dropped
February 4, 2026 at 6:05 AM
New fuck/marry/kill list just dropped
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
The beauty of Epstein files is that it shows true colors of SO MANY people. I just hope people don't skip this opportunity to flush our systems.
February 3, 2026 at 12:35 PM
The beauty of Epstein files is that it shows true colors of SO MANY people. I just hope people don't skip this opportunity to flush our systems.
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
February 4, 2026 at 10:52 AM
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
Exactly, and given that the whole “customer obsession” thing was very much real with him and any business strategy ever written for him - it tells me that he no longer views the readers as customers. His behavior suggests his only “customers” are US government officials. It’s a PR shop for them.
February 4, 2026 at 12:27 PM
Exactly, and given that the whole “customer obsession” thing was very much real with him and any business strategy ever written for him - it tells me that he no longer views the readers as customers. His behavior suggests his only “customers” are US government officials. It’s a PR shop for them.
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
The underlying dynamic is that for Jeff Bezos and the other media oligarchs, their news business is a tiny fraction of their overall business holdings and they are willing to sacrifice it to appease Trump. They resisted in term one; this time, they capitulated. www.mediamatters.org/cbs/year-med...
The year the media oligarchs bowed to Trump
We warned last year that Donald Trump’s second term as president would turbo-charge the political right’s burgeoning media-intimidation complex. Republican officials and right-wing billionaires were a...
www.mediamatters.org
February 4, 2026 at 2:25 PM
The underlying dynamic is that for Jeff Bezos and the other media oligarchs, their news business is a tiny fraction of their overall business holdings and they are willing to sacrifice it to appease Trump. They resisted in term one; this time, they capitulated. www.mediamatters.org/cbs/year-med...
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
1. Build huge subscriber base by telling them their $ supports democracy.
2. Don’t establish other revenue sources.
3. Rug-pull subscribers by pushing opinion side to the right.
4. Subscribers leave, revenue falls.
5. Enact crippling newsroom cuts.
2. Don’t establish other revenue sources.
3. Rug-pull subscribers by pushing opinion side to the right.
4. Subscribers leave, revenue falls.
5. Enact crippling newsroom cuts.
February 4, 2026 at 11:52 AM
1. Build huge subscriber base by telling them their $ supports democracy.
2. Don’t establish other revenue sources.
3. Rug-pull subscribers by pushing opinion side to the right.
4. Subscribers leave, revenue falls.
5. Enact crippling newsroom cuts.
2. Don’t establish other revenue sources.
3. Rug-pull subscribers by pushing opinion side to the right.
4. Subscribers leave, revenue falls.
5. Enact crippling newsroom cuts.
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
Remarkable: Trump's planned migrant prison camps are hitting deep resistance in red areas. In Virginia's partly rural Hanover (+26 Trump) opposition is intense. GOP leaders in other states are opposed.
Voters are rejecting mass deportations big time. 1/
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2060...
Voters are rejecting mass deportations big time. 1/
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2060...
Trump’s New “Prison Camp” Threat Unleashes Fury Even in MAGA Country
The next phase of ICE’s big ramp-up: a nationwide network of vast detention facilities. But guess what? Even parts of Red America are saying no.
newrepublic.com
February 4, 2026 at 12:30 PM
Remarkable: Trump's planned migrant prison camps are hitting deep resistance in red areas. In Virginia's partly rural Hanover (+26 Trump) opposition is intense. GOP leaders in other states are opposed.
Voters are rejecting mass deportations big time. 1/
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2060...
Voters are rejecting mass deportations big time. 1/
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2060...
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
New in PN: Inside the resistance with @whstancil.bsky.social
"They seem to have thought they could come in here with big guns and intimidate everyone, then we would all just sort of run away. That didn’t happen. Ultimately, I don’t see a way out for them that isn’t some kind of defeat or retreat."
"They seem to have thought they could come in here with big guns and intimidate everyone, then we would all just sort of run away. That didn’t happen. Ultimately, I don’t see a way out for them that isn’t some kind of defeat or retreat."
Inside the resistance with Will Stancil
"It's something I could do to keep them from stealing my neighbors."
www.publicnotice.co
February 4, 2026 at 12:42 PM
New in PN: Inside the resistance with @whstancil.bsky.social
"They seem to have thought they could come in here with big guns and intimidate everyone, then we would all just sort of run away. That didn’t happen. Ultimately, I don’t see a way out for them that isn’t some kind of defeat or retreat."
"They seem to have thought they could come in here with big guns and intimidate everyone, then we would all just sort of run away. That didn’t happen. Ultimately, I don’t see a way out for them that isn’t some kind of defeat or retreat."
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
I'm proposing a new unit of corruption: Watergates per second (Wg/s)
February 4, 2026 at 1:54 PM
I'm proposing a new unit of corruption: Watergates per second (Wg/s)
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
I talked to a woman who quit an AUSA job recently. She was asked by main DOJ to dismiss a Medicare fraud prosecution because the defendant was the daughter of a girlfriend of a MAGA figure.
February 3, 2026 at 2:59 PM
I talked to a woman who quit an AUSA job recently. She was asked by main DOJ to dismiss a Medicare fraud prosecution because the defendant was the daughter of a girlfriend of a MAGA figure.
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
9. Gonna bundle two here to keep this to ten - Make Science and Education Great Again, waves hand, let's go srnart people, and reset a lot of the shit Trump/DOGE/Project 2025 did. It'll be decades to fix that damage but start now.
10. Trials. A lot of fucking trials.
10. Trials. A lot of fucking trials.
February 1, 2026 at 11:34 PM
9. Gonna bundle two here to keep this to ten - Make Science and Education Great Again, waves hand, let's go srnart people, and reset a lot of the shit Trump/DOGE/Project 2025 did. It'll be decades to fix that damage but start now.
10. Trials. A lot of fucking trials.
10. Trials. A lot of fucking trials.
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
this is the energy of the future and we are losing out to the rest of the world on it. Did you all know Australia has put in so much solar power every citizen gets 3 free hours of electricity a day. The people who say we can't do great things are flat out liars.
7. Beef up unions and do something
7. Beef up unions and do something
February 1, 2026 at 11:34 PM
this is the energy of the future and we are losing out to the rest of the world on it. Did you all know Australia has put in so much solar power every citizen gets 3 free hours of electricity a day. The people who say we can't do great things are flat out liars.
7. Beef up unions and do something
7. Beef up unions and do something
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
What is inside Pam Bondi that she saw the horrific images of old perverts abusing children and felt she had to protect the perverts? We are not the same.
February 4, 2026 at 12:48 PM
What is inside Pam Bondi that she saw the horrific images of old perverts abusing children and felt she had to protect the perverts? We are not the same.
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
The fact they ignore how setting fires and breaking windows is how the white assholes fucked up the George Floyd protests that had had the general public positively responding 😡 And this is the same place so of course the people who actually live there know what that behavior can undermine.
February 4, 2026 at 12:54 PM
The fact they ignore how setting fires and breaking windows is how the white assholes fucked up the George Floyd protests that had had the general public positively responding 😡 And this is the same place so of course the people who actually live there know what that behavior can undermine.
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
In 1975, the market cap of WaPo-Newsweek was about 1/10th JP Getty's wealth. Today WaPo worth less than 1/1000 of Bezos.
February 4, 2026 at 12:35 PM
In 1975, the market cap of WaPo-Newsweek was about 1/10th JP Getty's wealth. Today WaPo worth less than 1/1000 of Bezos.
Reposted by Brendan Boerner
Also would be interesting to know if their home, business, car, proximity, etc have been set on fire.
Again, I highly doubt it.
The video game-ization of politics.
Everyone but you is an avatar.
Nobody ever really gets their house or neighborhood set ablaze.
It's just an image on a screen.
Again, I highly doubt it.
The video game-ization of politics.
Everyone but you is an avatar.
Nobody ever really gets their house or neighborhood set ablaze.
It's just an image on a screen.
February 4, 2026 at 12:53 AM
Also would be interesting to know if their home, business, car, proximity, etc have been set on fire.
Again, I highly doubt it.
The video game-ization of politics.
Everyone but you is an avatar.
Nobody ever really gets their house or neighborhood set ablaze.
It's just an image on a screen.
Again, I highly doubt it.
The video game-ization of politics.
Everyone but you is an avatar.
Nobody ever really gets their house or neighborhood set ablaze.
It's just an image on a screen.