John Lis 🇺🇦
@jjlis.bsky.social
USAID Democracy and Governance consultant. Former Hill staffer. Dad. Cleveland sports trauma survivor. Insights on democracy, foreign aid, Ukraine, Congress & the Curse of Rocky Colavito.
"Be not afraid.” - Saint John Paul II
"Be not afraid.” - Saint John Paul II
Pinned
John Lis 🇺🇦
@jjlis.bsky.social
· Feb 10
I have worked the past 20 years to help to strengthen democratic institutions around the world to make a safer, more stable world for us and our allies. This administration has spent the last 20 days trying to destroy that work. Now is the time, then, to strengthen our own democratic institutions.
Reposted by John Lis 🇺🇦
Rubio burned down USAID, then strutted through the ashes like a frat boy at a funeral. 🌪️ While the Caribbean drowns and the dead pile up, he calls it “reform.” 💀 It’s vanity, not vision. 🩸
State Department touts foreign assistance during Hurricane Melissa without USAID
Hurricane Melissa marked the first major test for the federal agency now tasked with responding to global disasters.
abcnews.go.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Rubio burned down USAID, then strutted through the ashes like a frat boy at a funeral. 🌪️ While the Caribbean drowns and the dead pile up, he calls it “reform.” 💀 It’s vanity, not vision. 🩸
A federal judge resigns in protest: "President Donald Trump is using the law for partisan purposes, targeting his adversaries while sparing his friends and donors from investigation, prosecution, and possible punishment. ... Silence, for me, is now intolerable." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Why I Am Resigning
A federal judge explains his reasoning for leaving the bench.
www.theatlantic.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:55 PM
A federal judge resigns in protest: "President Donald Trump is using the law for partisan purposes, targeting his adversaries while sparing his friends and donors from investigation, prosecution, and possible punishment. ... Silence, for me, is now intolerable." www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
“In May—just a few months after Elon Musk fed USAID into ‘the wood chipper’—an Oxfam analysis showed that the wealth of the 10 richest U.S. billionaires had increased by $365 billion in the previous 12 months”
November 8, 2025 at 9:55 PM
“In May—just a few months after Elon Musk fed USAID into ‘the wood chipper’—an Oxfam analysis showed that the wealth of the 10 richest U.S. billionaires had increased by $365 billion in the previous 12 months”
The last weekend of Indian Summer. Sigh.
November 8, 2025 at 9:17 PM
The last weekend of Indian Summer. Sigh.
Proud to gather this afternoon with a hundred USAID staff, implementers and consultants at the future USAID Memorial Circle (7th St S and S Oakland St) to remember the agency and honor the people who served their country and the world. Thanks to Arlington County Board Member JD Spain for his support
November 8, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Proud to gather this afternoon with a hundred USAID staff, implementers and consultants at the future USAID Memorial Circle (7th St S and S Oakland St) to remember the agency and honor the people who served their country and the world. Thanks to Arlington County Board Member JD Spain for his support
Is this what lawyers call "consciousness of guilt"?
Steve Bannon to Conservative Partnership Academy: “I’ll tell you right, as God as my witness, if we lose the midterms and we lose 2028, some in this room are going to prison.” www.commondreams.org/news/bannon-...
Steve Bannon to Conservative Partnership Academy: “I’ll tell you right, as God as my witness, if we lose the midterms and we lose 2028, some in this room are going to prison.” www.commondreams.org/news/bannon-...
Bannon Tells GOP: 'Seize the Institutions' of Government Now or We're 'Going to Prison' After 2028 | Common Dreams
"Steve Bannon motivating Democratic voters," said one historian in response to comments by the former Trump White House advisor.
www.commondreams.org
November 8, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Is this what lawyers call "consciousness of guilt"?
Steve Bannon to Conservative Partnership Academy: “I’ll tell you right, as God as my witness, if we lose the midterms and we lose 2028, some in this room are going to prison.” www.commondreams.org/news/bannon-...
Steve Bannon to Conservative Partnership Academy: “I’ll tell you right, as God as my witness, if we lose the midterms and we lose 2028, some in this room are going to prison.” www.commondreams.org/news/bannon-...
Reposted by John Lis 🇺🇦
I helped make a film, out this week, called “Rovina’s Choice,” about the deaths this man without conscience or accountability has caused — already 600,000, ⅔ of them children.
November 6, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I helped make a film, out this week, called “Rovina’s Choice,” about the deaths this man without conscience or accountability has caused — already 600,000, ⅔ of them children.
El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz: “ Certainly the time may well come for many [ICE agents] where they have to make that difficult moral choice to say in conscience, ‘I can no longer do this.’" www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
The Catholic Church and the Trump Administration Are Not Getting Along
The religion’s call to radical love can’t countenance this much cruelty.
www.theatlantic.com
November 6, 2025 at 11:04 PM
El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz: “ Certainly the time may well come for many [ICE agents] where they have to make that difficult moral choice to say in conscience, ‘I can no longer do this.’" www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
I'm proud to have worked in Kenya alongside USAID experts who supported its democratic parliament. Meanwhile, USAID health experts like Atul Gawande were helping build a public health system that saved thousands of lives. But no more. And children are dying. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
www.newyorker.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:34 PM
I'm proud to have worked in Kenya alongside USAID experts who supported its democratic parliament. Meanwhile, USAID health experts like Atul Gawande were helping build a public health system that saved thousands of lives. But no more. And children are dying. www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Five-goal lead: most dangerous lead in hockey.
November 6, 2025 at 2:42 AM
Five-goal lead: most dangerous lead in hockey.
Reposted by John Lis 🇺🇦
A coalition that ranges from democratic socialists to neoconservatives, including a lot of energized liberals in between, is large and formidable.
A big pro-democracy tent. A united front. Any internal disagreements can be hashed out once the authoritarian emergency is over.
This really can work.
A big pro-democracy tent. A united front. Any internal disagreements can be hashed out once the authoritarian emergency is over.
This really can work.
November 5, 2025 at 2:15 PM
A coalition that ranges from democratic socialists to neoconservatives, including a lot of energized liberals in between, is large and formidable.
A big pro-democracy tent. A united front. Any internal disagreements can be hashed out once the authoritarian emergency is over.
This really can work.
A big pro-democracy tent. A united front. Any internal disagreements can be hashed out once the authoritarian emergency is over.
This really can work.
I like my cocktails like my cities: neat, no ICE.
November 5, 2025 at 9:54 PM
I like my cocktails like my cities: neat, no ICE.
Indian Summer in Virginia today.
November 5, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Indian Summer in Virginia today.
This speech is 100 percent on the mark and cogently analyzes the threats to democracy from the Trump administration that experts are seeing. It is important that a U.S. Senator recognizes the authoritarian threat and is working with her colleagues to stop it.
I believe that Trump is ready to bring the full weight of the government against Americans he perceives as enemies. Why? Because he has one goal: making sure he and his ilk never have to give up power.
Watch my speech on President Trump's authoritarian playbook.
youtu.be/fnUO0Plcpbo
Watch my speech on President Trump's authoritarian playbook.
youtu.be/fnUO0Plcpbo
Senator Slotkin Delivers Speech on Trump's Authoritarian Playbook
YouTube video by Sen. Elissa Slotkin
youtu.be
November 3, 2025 at 4:44 PM
This speech is 100 percent on the mark and cogently analyzes the threats to democracy from the Trump administration that experts are seeing. It is important that a U.S. Senator recognizes the authoritarian threat and is working with her colleagues to stop it.
When USAID democracy experts turned our focus domestically, we found that divisive questions of national identity pose a dangerous threat to social and political cohesion. But Americans overwhelmingly prefer a vision of civic citizenship to blood-and-soil nationalism. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/o...
Opinion | There’s Still a Shared American Story, and JD Vance’s Blood-and-Soil Vision Isn’t It
www.nytimes.com
November 3, 2025 at 2:54 PM
When USAID democracy experts turned our focus domestically, we found that divisive questions of national identity pose a dangerous threat to social and political cohesion. But Americans overwhelmingly prefer a vision of civic citizenship to blood-and-soil nationalism. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/o...
Sixty-four years ago today, the United States Agency for International Development was created. As the administration seeks to destroy USAID, today is a good time to revisit ongoing legal efforts "to compel President Trump to honor Congress’s vision for foreign aid." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/u...
The Monthslong Legal Battle to Save Foreign Aid
www.nytimes.com
November 3, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Sixty-four years ago today, the United States Agency for International Development was created. As the administration seeks to destroy USAID, today is a good time to revisit ongoing legal efforts "to compel President Trump to honor Congress’s vision for foreign aid." www.nytimes.com/2025/11/03/u...
Toronto: Cleveland feels your pain.
November 2, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Toronto: Cleveland feels your pain.
When Ernie Clement was batting .200 for Cleveland, I did not peg him for tying the MLB record for hits in a postseason.
November 2, 2025 at 2:22 AM
When Ernie Clement was batting .200 for Cleveland, I did not peg him for tying the MLB record for hits in a postseason.
"The United States is not an autocracy today. It still has a mostly free press and independent judiciary ... But it has started down an anti-democratic path, and many Americans — including people in positions of power — remain far too complacent about the threat."
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Opinion | In Trump’s America, Are We Losing Our Democracy? (Gift Article)
Donald Trump has wielded power as no previous president has.
www.nytimes.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:50 PM
"The United States is not an autocracy today. It still has a mostly free press and independent judiciary ... But it has started down an anti-democratic path, and many Americans — including people in positions of power — remain far too complacent about the threat."
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
The speed of Trump’s assault on the Constitution has made forecasting difficult, but the 2026 contests ... will help determine whether democracy as we know it will survive until then. “If you are not frightened, you are not paying attention.” www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc... #democracy
Donald Trump’s Plan to Subvert the Midterms Is Already Under Way
Our election system is reaching a breaking point.
www.theatlantic.com
October 30, 2025 at 10:21 PM
The speed of Trump’s assault on the Constitution has made forecasting difficult, but the 2026 contests ... will help determine whether democracy as we know it will survive until then. “If you are not frightened, you are not paying attention.” www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc... #democracy
" ... without a real Justice Department, a president holding the reins of a corrupted institution can remain president permanently, free to manipulate election results, with no real threat of being dethroned." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/o...
Opinion | All It Took for Trump to Dismantle the Justice Dept.
www.nytimes.com
October 30, 2025 at 10:14 PM
" ... without a real Justice Department, a president holding the reins of a corrupted institution can remain president permanently, free to manipulate election results, with no real threat of being dethroned." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/o...
The Andrew Formerly Known as Prince. www.bbc.com/news/live/cn...
Prince Andrew stripped of 'prince' title and will move out of Royal Lodge
He will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor - Buckingham Palace says
www.bbc.com
October 30, 2025 at 10:11 PM
The Andrew Formerly Known as Prince. www.bbc.com/news/live/cn...
Baseball game is over? What am I supposed to do with the next four hours?
October 29, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Baseball game is over? What am I supposed to do with the next four hours?
Reposted by John Lis 🇺🇦
