Mark Tavern
@marktavern.bsky.social
Now: Assistant Professor of Practice, Music Industry, at the University of New Haven
Then: Artist Manager; A&R Administration at Universal/Island Def Jam Music Group; Sony/RCA Music Group; Glimmerglass Festival
Then: Artist Manager; A&R Administration at Universal/Island Def Jam Music Group; Sony/RCA Music Group; Glimmerglass Festival
Reposted by Mark Tavern
If we’re going to make post-Trump constitutional changes, I’d prefer something like this - drawing a bright line under certain executive limitations that were presumed to exist before Trump, separating the DOJ further from the president, limiting pardons, and killing unitary executive theory dead
I wrote my anti-Trump constitutional amendment. Honestly, a fun exercise
November 30, 2025 at 8:20 PM
If we’re going to make post-Trump constitutional changes, I’d prefer something like this - drawing a bright line under certain executive limitations that were presumed to exist before Trump, separating the DOJ further from the president, limiting pardons, and killing unitary executive theory dead
Reposted by Mark Tavern
So cynical how AI music corps are using accessibility in their marketing language, just as streaming platforms use democratization. These corporations are stripping music of value and musicians of our livelihood. Financialization is not punk rock
All AI music does is devalue the work done by human artists. It’s not accessibility, it’s exploitation. We need real protections for artists against AI!
BTW — even if you had access to this AI startup as a child, you still wouldn’t know how to make music.
BTW — even if you had access to this AI startup as a child, you still wouldn’t know how to make music.
November 26, 2025 at 12:52 PM
So cynical how AI music corps are using accessibility in their marketing language, just as streaming platforms use democratization. These corporations are stripping music of value and musicians of our livelihood. Financialization is not punk rock
Focus on the positive change.
To recap:
•Universal healthcare would save 68,000 lives & $450B annually
•Every $1 spent on SNAP results in $1.80 boost to local economies & small businesses
•The child tax credit decreased child poverty to a historic low of 5.2%, abolishing it increased it by 45%
1/2
•Universal healthcare would save 68,000 lives & $450B annually
•Every $1 spent on SNAP results in $1.80 boost to local economies & small businesses
•The child tax credit decreased child poverty to a historic low of 5.2%, abolishing it increased it by 45%
1/2
November 25, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Focus on the positive change.
And laying down will? C’mon, grow a backbone and fight for what is right.
November 10, 2025 at 8:36 PM
And laying down will? C’mon, grow a backbone and fight for what is right.
Reposted by Mark Tavern
“The masks are coming off.”
Got a nice ring to it.
Got a nice ring to it.
November 4, 2025 at 9:48 PM
“The masks are coming off.”
Got a nice ring to it.
Got a nice ring to it.
Reposted by Mark Tavern
Dick Cheney’s legacy is that he turned 9/11 from a national tragedy into a global disaster. He did so through a mixture of arrogance, stupidity and greed and blighted the last quarter century.
November 4, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Dick Cheney’s legacy is that he turned 9/11 from a national tragedy into a global disaster. He did so through a mixture of arrogance, stupidity and greed and blighted the last quarter century.
Reposted by Mark Tavern
Indispensable documentation of misconduct by Trump's secret police in Chicago. bsky.app/profile/kolt...
If you aren't paying attention to what is happening in Illinois/Chicago, you're missing out on Bovino and federal agents using tear gas, pepper balls, and force against the people.
Check out our investigation alongside @evidentmedia.org
Check out our investigation alongside @evidentmedia.org
October 31, 2025 at 8:20 PM
Indispensable documentation of misconduct by Trump's secret police in Chicago. bsky.app/profile/kolt...
Reposted by Mark Tavern
We all need to channel this Chicago man’s utter contempt
Here's a short video of an Edison Park man confronting border patrol. You can hear others in the background. #chicago
October 31, 2025 at 8:13 PM
We all need to channel this Chicago man’s utter contempt
Reposted by Mark Tavern
Not voting for anyone in 2028 who doesn't promise to tear down this arch, along with every other gilded chunk of Trump's garish gimcrackery.
Exclusive: The White House has fired all six members of the Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency that was expected to review some of President Trump’s construction projects, including his planned triumphal arch in Washington.
White House fires arts commission expected to review Trump construction projects
The moves comes as President Donald Trump pursues efforts to build a White House ballroom and a triumphal arch in Washington.
wapo.st
October 28, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Not voting for anyone in 2028 who doesn't promise to tear down this arch, along with every other gilded chunk of Trump's garish gimcrackery.
Reposted by Mark Tavern
I've talked before about power struggles within hardening authoritarianism. Usually, regime supporters fight over using rule-of-law in crackdowns (with massive abuses, of course) vs. completely embracing extrajudicial methods. Here, we see the latter dominating. Which is very bad news going forward.
🚨BIG changes happening -- ICE leadership is being purged tonight. The old guard, which prioritized targeted enforcement operations aimed at people with criminal records, is being replaced with Border Patrol and Gregory Bovino's "Midway Blitz" style.
Think things are bad now? It'll get worse.
Think things are bad now? It'll get worse.
October 28, 2025 at 12:51 AM
I've talked before about power struggles within hardening authoritarianism. Usually, regime supporters fight over using rule-of-law in crackdowns (with massive abuses, of course) vs. completely embracing extrajudicial methods. Here, we see the latter dominating. Which is very bad news going forward.
Unfit to serve.
Trump: "They have Jasmine Crockett -- a low IQ person. AOC is low IQ. Have her pass the exams I decided to take when I was at Walter Reed. They're cognitive tests. Let AOC go against Trump. Let Jasmine go against Trump. The first couple questions are easy -- a tiger, an elephant, a giraffe ... "
October 27, 2025 at 5:05 PM
Unfit to serve.
Reposted by Mark Tavern
So you should really watch this. Just 2 minutes. But a window into the truly radical nature of the people Trump is nominating.
When pressed today, the nominee to be Ambassador to South Africa refuses to oppose reinstituting laws to prevent black people from voting in America.
When pressed today, the nominee to be Ambassador to South Africa refuses to oppose reinstituting laws to prevent black people from voting in America.
October 24, 2025 at 6:05 PM
So you should really watch this. Just 2 minutes. But a window into the truly radical nature of the people Trump is nominating.
When pressed today, the nominee to be Ambassador to South Africa refuses to oppose reinstituting laws to prevent black people from voting in America.
When pressed today, the nominee to be Ambassador to South Africa refuses to oppose reinstituting laws to prevent black people from voting in America.
Reposted by Mark Tavern
Chris Murphy: "There's a lot of history that has taken place in the East Wing & it was just destroyed without any conversation in the public, without any consent of Congress. It's absolutely illegal. That visual is powerful b/c you're watching destruction of the rule of law as those walls come down"
October 22, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Chris Murphy: "There's a lot of history that has taken place in the East Wing & it was just destroyed without any conversation in the public, without any consent of Congress. It's absolutely illegal. That visual is powerful b/c you're watching destruction of the rule of law as those walls come down"
Is extortion a “high crime and misdemeanor”? Asking for a nation.
Breaking News: President Trump wants $230 million from the Justice Department for investigating him, people familiar with the matter say. Any settlement might ultimately be approved by senior department officials who defended him or those in his orbit. nyti.ms/4hmIi5X
October 21, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Is extortion a “high crime and misdemeanor”? Asking for a nation.
Unbelievable despite its 100% truth.
EXCLUSIVE: One Saturday afternoon in October, my phone lit up with a notification.
I glanced down at the message.
“Anna, Lindsey Halligan here,” it began.
So began my text exchange with the woman who is prosecuting the president's perceived political enemies.
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/anna...
I glanced down at the message.
“Anna, Lindsey Halligan here,” it began.
So began my text exchange with the woman who is prosecuting the president's perceived political enemies.
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/anna...
October 21, 2025 at 12:58 AM
Unbelievable despite its 100% truth.
Like them all, unfit to serve.
NEW: Paul Ingrassia, Trump's nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel, told a group of Republicans in a text chain the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be "tossed into the seventh circle of hell" and said he has "a Nazi streak," according to a text chat viewed by POLITICO.
Trump nominee says MLK Jr. holiday belongs in ‘hell’ and that he has ‘Nazi streak,’ according to texts
Paul Ingrassia’s bid to lead a whistleblower agency is set for a Senate confirmation hearing Thursday.
www.politico.com
October 21, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Like them all, unfit to serve.
On brand.
Scoop: Trump has started demolishing the White House's East Wing facade to build his ballroom. The president had claimed construction of the $250 million building wouldn’t ‘interfere’ with the existing White House structure. /W @ddiamond.bsky.social wapo.st/4hqBNiU
White House begins demolishing East Wing facade to build Trump’s ballroom
The president had claimed construction of the $250 million ballroom wouldn’t ‘interfere’ with the existing White House structure.
wapo.st
October 20, 2025 at 8:37 PM
On brand.
Reposted by Mark Tavern
Some folks were worried that they'd sic thugs on the protestors or declare martial law. Instead they posted AI videos and complained.
These people have no juice. Their supporters are cowards. They are are all bark and no bite. They collapse when we push back. Remember that.
These people have no juice. Their supporters are cowards. They are are all bark and no bite. They collapse when we push back. Remember that.
October 19, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Some folks were worried that they'd sic thugs on the protestors or declare martial law. Instead they posted AI videos and complained.
These people have no juice. Their supporters are cowards. They are are all bark and no bite. They collapse when we push back. Remember that.
These people have no juice. Their supporters are cowards. They are are all bark and no bite. They collapse when we push back. Remember that.
Reposted by Mark Tavern
“the enormous power of the federal government is being deployed [for]establishing loyalty to the leader in Washington. The assault on higher ed is part of a broader campaign against institutions in civil society whose legitimacy has not depended on the White House” www.thebulwark.com/p/colleges-u...
What’s a College President to Do in the Trump Era?
Not going on bended knee to Washington would be a good start.
www.thebulwark.com
October 15, 2025 at 7:54 PM
“the enormous power of the federal government is being deployed [for]establishing loyalty to the leader in Washington. The assault on higher ed is part of a broader campaign against institutions in civil society whose legitimacy has not depended on the White House” www.thebulwark.com/p/colleges-u...
Reposted by Mark Tavern
This is what the 25th Amendment is for.
Trump posts AI video showing him literally dumping shit on America
October 19, 2025 at 5:42 AM
This is what the 25th Amendment is for.
Reposted by Mark Tavern
MIT's response to the Trump admin's proposed "compact" is excellent and should be a model for other universities. orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...
October 10, 2025 at 2:14 PM
MIT's response to the Trump admin's proposed "compact" is excellent and should be a model for other universities. orgchart.mit.edu/letters/rega...
Reposted by Mark Tavern
Donald Trump is breaching the Constitution and breaking the law.
A show of force so he can militarize our cities because of the 2026 elections.
We need to stand up together and speak up.
A show of force so he can militarize our cities because of the 2026 elections.
We need to stand up together and speak up.
October 8, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Donald Trump is breaching the Constitution and breaking the law.
A show of force so he can militarize our cities because of the 2026 elections.
We need to stand up together and speak up.
A show of force so he can militarize our cities because of the 2026 elections.
We need to stand up together and speak up.