If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
@ifnotspeakup.bsky.social
IfNotSpeakUp.org exists to provide tools and information and to encourage people to speak up on issues of common concern. We pose questions asking whether people support specific actions and policies of the U.S. government.
Should we wreck our weather forecasts? If Not, Speak Up! It is important for all of us to speak up to our friends, neighbors, and colleagues on issues of critical importance. For more on this issue, see ifnotspeakup.org/weather-fore...
April 27, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Should we wreck our weather forecasts? If Not, Speak Up! It is important for all of us to speak up to our friends, neighbors, and colleagues on issues of critical importance. For more on this issue, see ifnotspeakup.org/weather-fore...
Reposted by If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
Indiana University has served the young people of the state and the country and the world as a model public university. These measures, passed without review or discussion, destroy IU’s independence and will if allowed to stand undo its essential character. (1/3)
www.axios.com/local/indian...
www.axios.com/local/indian...
Last minute additions to the budget dismantle tenure, take aim at public universities
One Democrat said higher education institutions are "slowly being destroyed."
www.axios.com
April 26, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Indiana University has served the young people of the state and the country and the world as a model public university. These measures, passed without review or discussion, destroy IU’s independence and will if allowed to stand undo its essential character. (1/3)
www.axios.com/local/indian...
www.axios.com/local/indian...
Reposted by If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
I just wrote: "Switching from ICE to DoD Custody: An Alarming Violation of Court Order on Deportations to El Salvador"
Astonishing.
Read ICE official's affidavit. ICE had the detainees in their custody before turning them over to DOD for transfer to torture in El Salvador. AFTER court issued TRO.
Astonishing.
Read ICE official's affidavit. ICE had the detainees in their custody before turning them over to DOD for transfer to torture in El Salvador. AFTER court issued TRO.
Switching from ICE to DoD Custody: An Alarming Violation of Court Order on Deportations to El Salvador
Earlier today, I discussed one of the “sleeper” immigration cases that had largely flown below the radar: D.V.D.
open.substack.com
April 24, 2025 at 12:30 AM
I just wrote: "Switching from ICE to DoD Custody: An Alarming Violation of Court Order on Deportations to El Salvador"
Astonishing.
Read ICE official's affidavit. ICE had the detainees in their custody before turning them over to DOD for transfer to torture in El Salvador. AFTER court issued TRO.
Astonishing.
Read ICE official's affidavit. ICE had the detainees in their custody before turning them over to DOD for transfer to torture in El Salvador. AFTER court issued TRO.
Reposted by If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
To put a finer point on it. Trump’s contention isn’t just that he can deport people without them appearing before a judge, but that he can render them into a life sentence in a foreign dungeon with no process whatsoever.
President Trump asserted on Tuesday that undocumented immigrants should not be entitled to trials, insisting that his administration should be able to deport them without appearing before a judge.
Trump Says Undocumented Immigrants Shouldn’t Get Trials Before Deportation
The president claimed that countries were sending their prisoners to the United States and that he needed to bypass the constitutional demands of due process to expel them quickly.
www.nytimes.com
April 23, 2025 at 12:28 PM
To put a finer point on it. Trump’s contention isn’t just that he can deport people without them appearing before a judge, but that he can render them into a life sentence in a foreign dungeon with no process whatsoever.
Reposted by If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
The rule of law isn't just words. It’s the bedrock stability that protects our way of life. Attacks on it merit more than a shoulder shrug & then a look away. I wrote a little bit to help you understand more about what it is & how it impacts our daily lives. joycevance.substack.com/p/rule-of-law
Rule of Law?
“People value the Rule of Law because it takes some of the edge off the power that is necessarily exercised over them in a political community.
joycevance.substack.com
April 22, 2025 at 12:49 AM
The rule of law isn't just words. It’s the bedrock stability that protects our way of life. Attacks on it merit more than a shoulder shrug & then a look away. I wrote a little bit to help you understand more about what it is & how it impacts our daily lives. joycevance.substack.com/p/rule-of-law
Reposted by If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
Congress literally created an Alien Terrorist Removal Court for the expeditious removal of aliens who are designated as terrorists, under a preponderance of evidence standard.
I think problem isn’t the time it would take, but the fact that the government would have to produce actual evidence
I think problem isn’t the time it would take, but the fact that the government would have to produce actual evidence
"We cannot give everyone a trial," says the president of these United States.
April 22, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Congress literally created an Alien Terrorist Removal Court for the expeditious removal of aliens who are designated as terrorists, under a preponderance of evidence standard.
I think problem isn’t the time it would take, but the fact that the government would have to produce actual evidence
I think problem isn’t the time it would take, but the fact that the government would have to produce actual evidence
Reposted by If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
By distracting us with fake terrorism, this administration is inviting the real thing.
snyder.substack.com/p/the-next-t...
snyder.substack.com/p/the-next-t...
The Next Terrorist Attack
And What Comes After
snyder.substack.com
April 20, 2025 at 2:07 PM
By distracting us with fake terrorism, this administration is inviting the real thing.
snyder.substack.com/p/the-next-t...
snyder.substack.com/p/the-next-t...
Reposted by If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
April 18, 2025
April 18, 2025
Tonight I had the extraordinary privilege of speaking at the anniversary of the lighting of the lanterns in Boston’s Old North Church, which happened 250 years ago tonight.
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com
April 19, 2025 at 5:23 AM
April 18, 2025
Reposted by If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
Friendly reminder. In the United States, criminals are entitled to due process. Even if you pay hush money rig an election, steal top secret documents, or incite a mob to overthrow the government; no matter how egregious your crimes, you’re entitled to due process.
April 19, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Friendly reminder. In the United States, criminals are entitled to due process. Even if you pay hush money rig an election, steal top secret documents, or incite a mob to overthrow the government; no matter how egregious your crimes, you’re entitled to due process.
Reposted by If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
3/4. If we accept the idea that moving a person from one place to another undoes rights and disempowers the judiciary, we are endorsing the basic Nazism practice that enabled the killing of millions.
April 15, 2025 at 1:13 AM
3/4. If we accept the idea that moving a person from one place to another undoes rights and disempowers the judiciary, we are endorsing the basic Nazism practice that enabled the killing of millions.
Reposted by If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
2/4. The entire practice of the Holocaust of the Jews involved zones of statelessness. It is easier to move people away from law than it is to remove law from people. Almost all of the killing took place in artificially created stateless zones.
April 15, 2025 at 1:13 AM
2/4. The entire practice of the Holocaust of the Jews involved zones of statelessness. It is easier to move people away from law than it is to remove law from people. Almost all of the killing took place in artificially created stateless zones.
Reposted by If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
1/4. On the White House’s theory, if they abduct you, get you on a helicopter, get to international waters, shoot you in the head, and drop your corpse into the ocean, that is legal, because it is the conduct of foreign affairs.
April 15, 2025 at 1:13 AM
1/4. On the White House’s theory, if they abduct you, get you on a helicopter, get to international waters, shoot you in the head, and drop your corpse into the ocean, that is legal, because it is the conduct of foreign affairs.
Harvard explains the damage that will be done if their research funding is cancelled, and turns their home page into an explanation of what that research has accomplished.
www.harvard.edu/research-fun...
www.harvard.edu/research-fun...
Research Funding
The University will not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights. Neither Harvard nor any other private university can allow itself to be taken over by the federal government...
www.harvard.edu
April 14, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Harvard explains the damage that will be done if their research funding is cancelled, and turns their home page into an explanation of what that research has accomplished.
www.harvard.edu/research-fun...
www.harvard.edu/research-fun...
Reposted by If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
Trump to Bukele on Salvadoran concentration camps: “Home-growns are next. You’re going to have to build about five more places.”
April 14, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Trump to Bukele on Salvadoran concentration camps: “Home-growns are next. You’re going to have to build about five more places.”
Reposted by If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
Its true that America citizens can’t legally be deported. It’s equally clear that this administration doesn’t care about what the law says. www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...
Trump floats legally questionable proposal to deport U.S. citizens
Trump has suggested that "homegrown" criminals who have been convicted of certain crimes should be deported — a policy that legal experts say is "pretty obviously illegal."
www.nbcnews.com
April 14, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Its true that America citizens can’t legally be deported. It’s equally clear that this administration doesn’t care about what the law says. www.nbcnews.com/politics/don...
Harvard does the right thing. We can just hope that they will prevail, and that severe, lasting damage to our universities can be prevented.
www.harvard.edu/president/ne...
www.harvard.edu/president/ne...
The Promise of American Higher Education
No government—regardless of which party is in power—should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue
www.harvard.edu
April 14, 2025 at 9:39 PM
Harvard does the right thing. We can just hope that they will prevail, and that severe, lasting damage to our universities can be prevented.
www.harvard.edu/president/ne...
www.harvard.edu/president/ne...
So the government can now send anyone, even a US citizen, to prison in El Salvador and then claim that the US courts are helpless to do anything to get them back.
NEW: A second filing today from the DOJ tells Judge Xinis that in their view, since Mr. Abrego is in Bukele's custody, she can't order them to do anything further to bring him back since that's not what "facilitate" means.
They also say the deal with Bukele is classified and/or a state secret.
They also say the deal with Bukele is classified and/or a state secret.
April 14, 2025 at 1:56 AM
So the government can now send anyone, even a US citizen, to prison in El Salvador and then claim that the US courts are helpless to do anything to get them back.
Reposted by If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
Marco Rubio just announced 10 more people were sent to be imprisoned in CECOT. They were flown there from Gitmo to be imprisoned potentially for life based not on any crime for which they were convicted, but on unproven allegations of gang membership with no due process.
This is not lawful.
This is not lawful.
April 13, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Marco Rubio just announced 10 more people were sent to be imprisoned in CECOT. They were flown there from Gitmo to be imprisoned potentially for life based not on any crime for which they were convicted, but on unproven allegations of gang membership with no due process.
This is not lawful.
This is not lawful.
Here's an excellent article on Trump's attack on the professional managerial class. It draws clear parallels to Mao's Cultural Revolution. We may not see the same violence, but the work to destroy the media, universities, law firms, and research institutions will do tremendous damage. bit.ly/4cwvU12
Trump Has Found His Class Enemy
The president unleashes a Marxist theory of power—but against knowledge workers, not billionaires.
bit.ly
April 13, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Here's an excellent article on Trump's attack on the professional managerial class. It draws clear parallels to Mao's Cultural Revolution. We may not see the same violence, but the work to destroy the media, universities, law firms, and research institutions will do tremendous damage. bit.ly/4cwvU12
Trump and Musk killed funding for the PEPFAR program, originally established by George Bush, which has saved millions from AIDS for decades. They have also slashed much of the CDC’s HIV workforce, risking many more US deaths from HIV. ifnotspeakup.org/hiv/
April 12, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Trump and Musk killed funding for the PEPFAR program, originally established by George Bush, which has saved millions from AIDS for decades. They have also slashed much of the CDC’s HIV workforce, risking many more US deaths from HIV. ifnotspeakup.org/hiv/
Reposted by If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
"On Tyranny" is a #1 NYT bestseller again. I wish the moment were different. But I’m glad the book is useful. And grateful for all the kind words about putting the 20 lessons to work.
snyder.substack.com/p/twenty-les...
snyder.substack.com/p/twenty-les...
Twenty Lessons, read by John Lithgow
Key selections from On Tyranny, for viewing and sharing
snyder.substack.com
April 12, 2025 at 5:33 PM
"On Tyranny" is a #1 NYT bestseller again. I wish the moment were different. But I’m glad the book is useful. And grateful for all the kind words about putting the 20 lessons to work.
snyder.substack.com/p/twenty-les...
snyder.substack.com/p/twenty-les...
Reposted by If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
"This is what arbitrary, absolute power looks like. And this is why the men who wrote the Constitution never wanted anyone to have it"
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Trump Is Showing Why Dictatorships Fail
The authors of the Constitution separated powers for a reason.
www.theatlantic.com
April 10, 2025 at 3:24 PM
"This is what arbitrary, absolute power looks like. And this is why the men who wrote the Constitution never wanted anyone to have it"
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Reposted by If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
“A recently created Department of Homeland Security task force is using data analytic tools to scour the social media histories of the estimated 1.5 million foreign students studying in the United States for potential grounds to revoke their visas.”
www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...
www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...
Inside the DHS task force scouring foreign students' social media
A critic called the review a return to “McCarthyism,” a reference to tactics used to identify alleged communists during the Cold War.
www.nbcnews.com
April 10, 2025 at 5:39 PM
“A recently created Department of Homeland Security task force is using data analytic tools to scour the social media histories of the estimated 1.5 million foreign students studying in the United States for potential grounds to revoke their visas.”
www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...
www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...
Reposted by If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
"No one, apparently, is willing to prevent a single man from destroying the world economy, wrecking financial markets, forcing this country and other countries into recession if that’s what he feels like doing when he gets up tomorrow morning"
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
This Is Why Dictatorships Fail
The authors of the Constitution separated powers for a reason.
www.theatlantic.com
April 10, 2025 at 7:01 PM
"No one, apparently, is willing to prevent a single man from destroying the world economy, wrecking financial markets, forcing this country and other countries into recession if that’s what he feels like doing when he gets up tomorrow morning"
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...
Reposted by If Not, Speak Up! (IfNotSpeakUp.org)
If the administration can exert federal oversight over Columbia, then any university is at risk. A collective response is needed.
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
Exclusive | Trump Administration Wants to Install Federal Oversight of Columbia University
In an unusual move, the government is aiming to legally bind the school to changes as they negotiate over federal funding.
www.wsj.com
April 10, 2025 at 7:48 PM
If the administration can exert federal oversight over Columbia, then any university is at risk. A collective response is needed.
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...