Naomi Schalit
@democracyeditor.bsky.social
Senior Politics & Democracy Editor, @us.theconversation.com; co-founder w/hubby John Christie of The Maine Monitor. Family of journos & writers. We proofread menus.
Upset about the government shutdown at any of its various stages, including how it might end? Consider @roberttalisse.bsky.social's take: The fault, dear voter, lies in ourselves and not the politicians theconversation.com/blame-the-sh...
Blame the shutdown on citizens who prefer politicians to vanquish their opponents rather than to work for the common good
Politicians get blamed for government shutdowns. But does the fault lie also with citizens, who are more invested in punishing partisan rivals than in demanding competent government?
theconversation.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Upset about the government shutdown at any of its various stages, including how it might end? Consider @roberttalisse.bsky.social's take: The fault, dear voter, lies in ourselves and not the politicians theconversation.com/blame-the-sh...
The old days: "The framers viewed congressional oversight as a key component of legislative authority. They wanted presidents to take Congress seriously and structured the Constitution to ensure that the executive would be accountable to the legislature" 1/2 theconversation.com/a-brief-hist...
A brief history of congressional oversight, from Revolutionary War financing to Pam Bondi
Congress has played an important role in holding federal agencies accountable since the late 1700s, but oversight can also devolve into a political circus.
theconversation.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:48 PM
The old days: "The framers viewed congressional oversight as a key component of legislative authority. They wanted presidents to take Congress seriously and structured the Constitution to ensure that the executive would be accountable to the legislature" 1/2 theconversation.com/a-brief-hist...
If you're gonna write a story from the vast perspective of "half a decade" in Maine, please get the details right: It's the Common Ground FAIR, not "festival" and lose the "h" in "Sarah" Gideon - the big loser of that race was Sara Gideon www.thenation.com/article/poli...
Maine’s Case of Platner Fasciitis
The scandals engulfing the Democratic Senate hopeful expose a rift between the state's provincial and national identities
www.thenation.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:15 PM
If you're gonna write a story from the vast perspective of "half a decade" in Maine, please get the details right: It's the Common Ground FAIR, not "festival" and lose the "h" in "Sarah" Gideon - the big loser of that race was Sara Gideon www.thenation.com/article/poli...
Clearly something going on here: Abigail Spanberger was born in NJ and was just elected governor of Virginia; Mikie Sherrill was born in Virginia and was. just elected governor of NJ. These are the random thoughts of a tired politics editor
November 5, 2025 at 3:06 AM
Clearly something going on here: Abigail Spanberger was born in NJ and was just elected governor of Virginia; Mikie Sherrill was born in Virginia and was. just elected governor of NJ. These are the random thoughts of a tired politics editor
Dick Cheney's less-well-known effect on today's politics: "...a decades-long effort to enhance presidential power, to reinvigorate an office that he believed Congress had wrongly diminished" post-Watergate, writes Graham G. Dodds theconversation.com/dick-cheneys...
Dick Cheney’s expansive vision of presidential power lives on in Trump’s agenda
Recent rulings indicate that the high court is leaning toward expanding the type of presidential power that is more emblematic of dictatorship than democracy.
theconversation.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Dick Cheney's less-well-known effect on today's politics: "...a decades-long effort to enhance presidential power, to reinvigorate an office that he believed Congress had wrongly diminished" post-Watergate, writes Graham G. Dodds theconversation.com/dick-cheneys...
So 'Throw out the bastards!' doesn't make Congress work better. The very outsiders voters elect and hope will “fix” Congress "contribute to the partisan divisions that keep it from functioning," write @rachelporter.bsky.social & Jeff Harden @notredame.bsky.social theconversation.com/amateur-hour...
Amateur hour in Congress: How political newcomers fuel gridlock and government shutdowns
The public’s frustration with ‘politics as usual’ has led more political newcomers to win office. But amateurs are more likely to view bipartisanship as a concession, not a tool for advancing policy.
theconversation.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:07 PM
So 'Throw out the bastards!' doesn't make Congress work better. The very outsiders voters elect and hope will “fix” Congress "contribute to the partisan divisions that keep it from functioning," write @rachelporter.bsky.social & Jeff Harden @notredame.bsky.social theconversation.com/amateur-hour...
David Soule & Kyle Redican say the scale of changes in mid-cycle redistricting is "staggering: 10.4 million Texas residents, @ 36% of state population, and 9.2 million California residents, @ 23% of state population, will be in unfamiliar congressional districts" theconversation.com/voters-lose-...
Voters lose when maps get redrawn before every election instead of once a decade − a trend started in Texas, moving to California and likely spreading across the country
With a new, mid-cycle redistricting war raging in state after state, the media and politicians focus on which party is winning or losing seats. But are citizens winning or losing in this conflict?
theconversation.com
November 3, 2025 at 1:47 PM
David Soule & Kyle Redican say the scale of changes in mid-cycle redistricting is "staggering: 10.4 million Texas residents, @ 36% of state population, and 9.2 million California residents, @ 23% of state population, will be in unfamiliar congressional districts" theconversation.com/voters-lose-...
"Unwilling to assert itself as an equal branch of government," Congress has been "content to hand over many of its core constitutional powers to the executive branch...Yet Congress’ path to irrelevance...did not begin during the shutdown" writes @charlesrhunt.com theconversation.com/the-shutdown...
The shutdown – and the House’s inaction – helps pave Congress’ path to irrelevance
With major shutdown impacts beginning to set in, a scholar of Congress says the House has all but abdicated its position as ‘The People’s Chamber.’
theconversation.com
November 2, 2025 at 3:51 PM
"Unwilling to assert itself as an equal branch of government," Congress has been "content to hand over many of its core constitutional powers to the executive branch...Yet Congress’ path to irrelevance...did not begin during the shutdown" writes @charlesrhunt.com theconversation.com/the-shutdown...
I’m glad the Red Sox aren’t in this series because I’d be a widow by now
November 2, 2025 at 3:44 AM
I’m glad the Red Sox aren’t in this series because I’d be a widow by now
Have I mentioned I think the intentional walk is chicken sh*t? Play baseball, guys
November 1, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Have I mentioned I think the intentional walk is chicken sh*t? Play baseball, guys
Terrific story by my fave AK reporter, Nat Herz, who demonstrates that he is my son by not turning down an offer to be a reporter on a boat trip www.northernjournal.com/on-rivers-an...
On rivers and in courtrooms, Alaska battles for land inside national parks and preserves
For decades, Alaska land managers have been working to confirm the state's ownership of land beneath navigable rivers and lakes inside national parks and refuges.
www.northernjournal.com
October 29, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Terrific story by my fave AK reporter, Nat Herz, who demonstrates that he is my son by not turning down an offer to be a reporter on a boat trip www.northernjournal.com/on-rivers-an...
I don't normally bash headlines but the NYT does great injustice - it's not about Trump! - to this excellent @jamellebouie.net column, a much-needed civics & history lesson about how and why the US, "at this moment, does not have a functioning national legislature" www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...
Opinion | The Empty Promises of Trump’s Imperial Presidency
www.nytimes.com
October 29, 2025 at 2:44 PM
I don't normally bash headlines but the NYT does great injustice - it's not about Trump! - to this excellent @jamellebouie.net column, a much-needed civics & history lesson about how and why the US, "at this moment, does not have a functioning national legislature" www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/o...
Blowing up boats, building up the Navy's presence, announcing covert ops - surveying Trump's Venezuela moves, political-military analyst Jeffrey Fields @dornsife.usc.edu finds it "hard to discern a coherent strategy or objective" theconversation.com/trumps-anti-...
Trump’s anti-Venezuela actions lack strategy, justifiable targets and legal authorization
President Trump OK’d a naval buildup in the Caribbean, strikes on boats in international waters and covert operations in Venezuela. A military analyst can’t see a coherent strategy or objective.
theconversation.com
October 29, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Blowing up boats, building up the Navy's presence, announcing covert ops - surveying Trump's Venezuela moves, political-military analyst Jeffrey Fields @dornsife.usc.edu finds it "hard to discern a coherent strategy or objective" theconversation.com/trumps-anti-...
For the unauthorized, unsanitized, unpalatable and unpleasant truth about Henry Kissinger, Ken Hughes is your guy, whose essay allows you to see how Kissinger and Nixon "divided America to conquer it, sowing hatred while calling for unity behind themselves and their misbegotten policies."
If you’d rather not know the worst thing Henry Kissinger ever did to America, “American Experience: Kissinger” is the documentary for you. #AmericanExperience #Kissinger
My review was too long for publishers, so I'm giving it to you free.
www.scribd.com/document/939...
My review was too long for publishers, so I'm giving it to you free.
www.scribd.com/document/939...
October 28, 2025 at 2:59 PM
For the unauthorized, unsanitized, unpalatable and unpleasant truth about Henry Kissinger, Ken Hughes is your guy, whose essay allows you to see how Kissinger and Nixon "divided America to conquer it, sowing hatred while calling for unity behind themselves and their misbegotten policies."
Conflict-of-interest 101, from Berkeley J-School's Ed Wasserman: "Creators who conceal financial support while weighing in on matters of interest to their funders are...no less deceitful than the business journalist who covers a company they secretly invest in" theconversation.com/influencers-...
Influencers could learn a thing or two from traditional journalism about disclosing who’s funding their political coverage
Creators who conceal financial support while weighing in on matters of interest to their funders are falsely presenting themselves as independent voices.
theconversation.com
October 24, 2025 at 2:52 PM
Conflict-of-interest 101, from Berkeley J-School's Ed Wasserman: "Creators who conceal financial support while weighing in on matters of interest to their funders are...no less deceitful than the business journalist who covers a company they secretly invest in" theconversation.com/influencers-...
You're confused, right? Seems like federal courts issue daily & different opinions on whether Trump has the right to deploy National Guard troops to various cities. What's the law? @andreascoseriakatz.bsky.social says there’s no simple answer, not even from SCOTUS theconversation.com/trumps-natio...
Trump’s National Guard deployments reignite 200-year-old legal debate over state vs. federal power
The conflicts over President Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to Illinois and Oregon hinge on a question as old as the Constitution itself: Where does federal power end and state authority ...
theconversation.com
October 21, 2025 at 2:47 PM
You're confused, right? Seems like federal courts issue daily & different opinions on whether Trump has the right to deploy National Guard troops to various cities. What's the law? @andreascoseriakatz.bsky.social says there’s no simple answer, not even from SCOTUS theconversation.com/trumps-natio...
Now what? theconversation.com/10-effective...
10 effective things citizens can do to make change in addition to attending a protest
Once a democracy starts to erode, it can be difficult to reverse the trend. What does it take for democracies to bounce back from periods of autocratic rule?
theconversation.com
October 19, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Now what? theconversation.com/10-effective...
Partisan bashing on gov't websites: Federal agencies exist to administer laws impartially, on behalf of the people, says Sam Martin @boisestate.bsky.social. Using infrastructure for partisan messaging erodes the neutrality on which democratic governance depends theconversation.com/when-governm...
When government websites become campaign tools: Blaming the shutdown on Democrats has legal and political risks
When websites and email systems become partisan platforms, the line blurs between state and party, diluting public trust in the idea of impartial governance.
theconversation.com
October 16, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Partisan bashing on gov't websites: Federal agencies exist to administer laws impartially, on behalf of the people, says Sam Martin @boisestate.bsky.social. Using infrastructure for partisan messaging erodes the neutrality on which democratic governance depends theconversation.com/when-governm...
Every day was "No Kings Day" for Thomas Paine theconversation.com/in-1776-thom...
In 1776, Thomas Paine made the best case for fighting kings − and for being skeptical
‘In America, the law is king!’ ‘No King! No Tyranny!’ For a skeptical Thomas Paine, every day was ‘No Kings Day.’
theconversation.com
October 15, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Every day was "No Kings Day" for Thomas Paine theconversation.com/in-1776-thom...
Saying “no” – especially to those in power – is an underrated American pastime, and Thomas Paine was its Babe Ruth. If you plan on joining No Kings rallies and need a slogan, Paine’s got you covered: “In America, the law is king!” “No King! No Tyranny!” theconversation.com/in-1776-thom...
In 1776, Thomas Paine made the best case for fighting kings − and for being skeptical
‘In America, the law is king!’ ‘No King! No Tyranny!’ For a skeptical Thomas Paine, every day was ‘No Kings Day.’
theconversation.com
October 9, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Saying “no” – especially to those in power – is an underrated American pastime, and Thomas Paine was its Babe Ruth. If you plan on joining No Kings rallies and need a slogan, Paine’s got you covered: “In America, the law is king!” “No King! No Tyranny!” theconversation.com/in-1776-thom...
Warrior ethos? Not for General George Washington, contra Pete Hegseth’s vision of the tough guy who kills for a living. Maurizio Valsania writes Washington "saw soldiering as the highest exercise of discipline, patience and composure...more statesman than warrior" theconversation.com/where-george...
Where George Washington would disagree with Pete Hegseth about fitness for command and what makes a warrior
Washington’s ‘warrior ethos’ was grounded in decency, temperance and the capacity to act with courage without surrendering to rage. That ideal built an army – and in time, a republic.
theconversation.com
October 2, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Warrior ethos? Not for General George Washington, contra Pete Hegseth’s vision of the tough guy who kills for a living. Maurizio Valsania writes Washington "saw soldiering as the highest exercise of discipline, patience and composure...more statesman than warrior" theconversation.com/where-george...
It's that time of year again, with reporters jostling each other in basement hallways of the Capitol, trying to get tidbits from lawmakers about whether the fed'l gov't will shut down. @charlesrhunt.com breaks down the big problem that's kind of new this year theconversation.com/facing-a-shu...
Facing a shutdown, budget negotiations are much harder because Congress has given Trump power to cut spending through ‘rescission’
There’s a new element at play that’s heightening the stakes of budget negotiations in Congress. And it could lead to a shutdown.
theconversation.com
September 24, 2025 at 5:17 PM
It's that time of year again, with reporters jostling each other in basement hallways of the Capitol, trying to get tidbits from lawmakers about whether the fed'l gov't will shut down. @charlesrhunt.com breaks down the big problem that's kind of new this year theconversation.com/facing-a-shu...
One of the best ledes I've read in a long time, in this Hollywood Reporter review of Kimmel's monologue last night: "At some point in the past few days, Jimmy Kimmel ceased to (just) be Jimmy Kimmel." www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-review...
Critic’s Notebook: Jimmy Kimmel Met the Moment With His Powerful, Tightrope-Walking Monologue
In his first show back following his suspension by ABC, the host addressed free-speech issues and Charlie Kirk's killing in between statements of gratitude, displays of emotion and jokes both silly an...
www.hollywoodreporter.com
September 24, 2025 at 4:54 PM
One of the best ledes I've read in a long time, in this Hollywood Reporter review of Kimmel's monologue last night: "At some point in the past few days, Jimmy Kimmel ceased to (just) be Jimmy Kimmel." www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-review...
Kash Patel's been enacting Trump's vengeance agenda since he got to the FBI. As Betty Medsger writes today, "This isn’t the first time an FBI director has been driven by a desire to suppress the rights of people perceived to be political enemies." theconversation.com/trumps-use-o... 1/
Trump’s use of FBI to target ‘enemies’ echoes FBI’s dark history of mass surveillance, dirty tricks and perversion of justice under J. Edgar Hoover
Donald Trump has a partisan ally running the FBI. He’s urged retribution against his perceived enemies. Will today’s FBI repeat the vast, unconstitutional persecutions of the J. Edgar Hoover era?
theconversation.com
September 23, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Kash Patel's been enacting Trump's vengeance agenda since he got to the FBI. As Betty Medsger writes today, "This isn’t the first time an FBI director has been driven by a desire to suppress the rights of people perceived to be political enemies." theconversation.com/trumps-use-o... 1/
Reposted by Naomi Schalit
The suspension of Jimmy Kimmel is a serious threat to free expression – but not because the comedians’ rights were violated.
Just last year a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that the government can’t legally pressure a corporation to suppress speech.
buff.ly/BI13STP
Just last year a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that the government can’t legally pressure a corporation to suppress speech.
buff.ly/BI13STP
Why Jimmy Kimmel’s First Amendment rights weren’t violated – but ABC’s would be protected if it stood up to the FCC and Trump
Think you know what the First Amendment means and protects? You − and a lot of Jimmy Kimmel’s defenders − may well be wrong.
theconversation.com
September 19, 2025 at 9:04 PM
The suspension of Jimmy Kimmel is a serious threat to free expression – but not because the comedians’ rights were violated.
Just last year a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that the government can’t legally pressure a corporation to suppress speech.
buff.ly/BI13STP
Just last year a unanimous Supreme Court ruled that the government can’t legally pressure a corporation to suppress speech.
buff.ly/BI13STP