Owen Barcala
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obarcala.bsky.social
Owen Barcala
@obarcala.bsky.social
7.4K followers 1.4K following 3.8K posts
I would prefer not to.

NM civil litigator. Trials, appeals, plaintiff, defense, you name it. Opinions are my own, not my firm's #USMC
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obarcala.bsky.social
Four days ago Trump posted that he wishes Polis "only the worst" and hopes that he "rot[s] in hell," but still Polis is tripping over himself to give the man good press
colorado.gov Governor Jared Polis @colorado.gov · 1d
My recent statement regarding Venezuela.
January 4, 2026 at 4:22 PM
obarcala.bsky.social
It's not about democracy or elections, it's about compliance. Explicitly under the threat thay they'll just do it again.
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 4h
Marco Rubio: "It had to be done. And it's been done. And I assure you the people left behind in Venezuela now that are in charge of the police and everything else, I assure you they are gonna probably be a lot more compliant than Maduro was as a result of this."
January 4, 2026 at 3:35 PM
Reposted by Owen Barcala
carlquintanilla.bsky.social
(Semafor) - The New York Times and Washington Post learned of a secret US raid on Venezuela soon before it was scheduled to begin Friday night — but held off publishing what they knew to avoid endangering US troops ..

@semafor.com
www.semafor.com/article/01/0...
January 4, 2026 at 1:45 AM
Reposted by Owen Barcala
raders.bsky.social
All of which is to say, there's a good chance that the events of the last 16 hours basically change *nothing* about autocracy in Venezuela. There's a good chance Delcy simply inherits the consolidated dictatorship, just like Maduro did before her.
January 3, 2026 at 11:26 PM
obarcala.bsky.social
If every Republican joined hands today to stop this from going any further, that would not make what has already happened an ounce less worthy of impeachment
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 23h
Asked about the possibility of impeachment, Schumer says "we hope that we can have support from our Republican colleagues to put a brake on this long before it gets that far"
January 3, 2026 at 10:29 PM
obarcala.bsky.social
January 3, 2026 at 8:52 PM
obarcala.bsky.social
Dems have no neat trick to easily stop this, therefore they are justified in doing nothing
squorch.com herbie @squorch.com · 1d
I love you all and am holding your hand as I say this:

Dems wield zero hard power levers
sarahjeong.bsky.social sarah jeong @sarahjeong.bsky.social · 1d
it's kind of crazy that there's even any question that democrats are going to do anything about this
January 3, 2026 at 7:05 PM
Reposted by Owen Barcala
kevinmkruse.bsky.social
He's being pretty subtle about the real reasons for his war
nikkimcr.bsky.social Nikki McCann Ramírez @nikkimcr.bsky.social · 1d
Trump: We're going to have our very large United States oil companies, the biggest anywhere in the world, go in [...] And we are ready to stage a second and much larger attack if we need to do so.
January 3, 2026 at 4:55 PM
obarcala.bsky.social
Five paragraphs and he doesn't even say it was wrong
dbernstein.bsky.social David S. Bernstein @dbernstein.bsky.social · 1d
… Speaker Jeffries statement:
January 3, 2026 at 6:20 PM
obarcala.bsky.social
I have no doubt that there are regular people in Venezuela who are happy Maduro is no longer there, but if history has shown us anything it's that the violent overthrow of Maduro by outside forces will not help those people
January 3, 2026 at 6:18 PM
obarcala.bsky.social
How is this supposed to happen without US forces staying in Venezuela?
atrupar.com Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 1d
Trump on Venezuela: "We're going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper, and judicious transition"
January 3, 2026 at 4:48 PM
obarcala.bsky.social
The good news for Maduro is he can probably still bribe his way out of this
helenkennedy.bsky.social Helen Kennedy @helenkennedy.bsky.social · 1d
Exactly one month ago.
usatoday.com USA TODAY @usatoday.com · Dec 2
Breaking: President Trump pardons former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez serving 45-year sentence on drug charges.
January 3, 2026 at 4:38 PM
Reposted by Owen Barcala
cristianfarias.com
Best thing I’ve read this morning, from a human rights lawyer in Mexico. Translation is in the ALT-text.
Twitter thread in Spanish by José Mario de la Garza, a human rights lawyer in Mexico, translated using Google Translate: 1. Overthrowing a dictator sounds morally right. No one mourns a tyrant. But international law wasn't built to protect the good, but to restrain the powerful. That's why it prohibits force almost without exception: not because it ignores injustice, but because it knows that if each country decides whom to "liberate" by force, the world reverts to the law of the strongest. 2. The problem is not Maduro. The problem is the precedent. When military force is used to change governments without clear rules, sovereignty ceases to be a limit and becomes an obstacle. Today it is “overthrowing a dictator”; tomorrow it will be “correcting an election,” “protecting interests,” “restoring order.” The law does not absolve dictatorships, but neither does it legitimize unilateral crusades. Cont’d: 3. The uncomfortable question is not whether a tyrant deserves to fall, but who decides when and how. Because history teaches something brutal: removing a dictator is easy; building justice afterward is not. And when legality is broken in the name of good, what almost always follows is not freedom, but chaos, violence, and new victims. The law exists to remind us of this, even when it makes us uncomfortable. Maduro isn't the problem: he's the face of the problem. Removing him from power would be merely opening the door. Behind him is the machine: Rodríguez, Cabello, the military command, the operators of repression and plunder. If you only change the person at the top and leave the system intact, what follows isn't democracy: it's a reshuffling. And there's something even more difficult: Chavismo didn't just capture institutions, it captured daily life. Economy, media, bureaucracy, employment, fear, favors, blackmail. A country can't be "de-Chavistaized" by decree or by an electoral miracle. The real transition begins when that network is broken without setting the country ablaze. The challenge is enormous, and it's also a moral one: to unite without vengeance, but without impunity. Targeted justice for those most responsible, truth for the victims, guarantees that the rest will dismantle the system, and a plan for people to live again—not just survive. Because freedom doesn't come with a new president: it comes when the state ceases to be a threat.
January 3, 2026 at 2:16 PM
obarcala.bsky.social
Hearing rumors that the Democratic leadership will respond to this attack with a strong, unified denunciation of people for not focusing on kitchen table issues
January 3, 2026 at 3:44 PM
Reposted by Owen Barcala
smmarotta.bsky.social
Today in schadenfreude, former CA9 judge Alex Kozinki did not prevail in a copyright case he argued before his former colleagues.

cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
January 3, 2026 at 12:47 AM
obarcala.bsky.social
It's wild that the 9th Circuit is now sometimes further to the right on guns than SCOTUS

The open carry ban should be constitutional under Bruen because California allows concealed carry with a permit
January 2, 2026 at 10:27 PM
Reposted by Owen Barcala
angus.bsky.social
I was wondering what Mamdani's first executive order would be, and I'm not disappointed by this.

He has wiped off the books EVERY Eric Adams executive order issued on or after September 26, 2024, the day Adams was indicted on federal bribery charges.
Mamdani's Executive Order Number 1, as described in the post.
January 1, 2026 at 11:07 PM
obarcala.bsky.social
You are indentured into government service to avoid the calamitous fallout from affluent DC residents seeing Spamalot at a particular venue less often
December 30, 2025 at 10:17 PM
obarcala.bsky.social
Not only is this not true, but courts generally say a party's immigration status can't even be brought up at trial because it's irrelevant to the claims and would likely cause undue prejudice
mspdawg.bsky.social Thorpe Langton @mspdawg.bsky.social · 5d
Did I bang my head this morning, because this seems to be egregiously inaccurate:
December 30, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Reposted by Owen Barcala
gabrielmalor.bsky.social
9th Cir. has ordered the parties to confer about next steps in the Oregon and California National Guard deployment cases in light of SCOTUS' 6-3 decision holding that gov't likely does not have the authority to call up the NG in Illinois.

Deadline is Jan. 7.

cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op...
MURGUIA, Chief Judge: Nos. 25-6268, 25-7194 D.C. No. 3:25-cv-01756-IM District of Oregon, Portland ORDER DEC 29 2025 MOLLY C. DWYER, CLERK U.S. COURT OF APPEALS In light of the United States Supreme Court’s denial of the federal government’s application for a stay in Trump v. Illinois, No. 25A443 (U.S. Dec. 23, 2025), the parties are directed to confer about the procedural next steps for this appeal. By Wednesday, January 7, 2026, the parties shall file either: (a) a joint proposal if agreement is reached or (b) separate proposals if no agreement is reached.
December 30, 2025 at 7:39 PM
obarcala.bsky.social
Very weird how often these people step on a rake when they try to say they don't like immigrants. It's like they've never gone more than one thought deep into this concept.
originalsp.in Jeff Yang @originalsp.in · 9d
Dean Martin, born Dino Paul Crocetti, son of Italian immigrant Gaetano Crocetti

Frank Sinatra, son of Italian immigrants Antonino Sinatra and Natalina Garavanta

Merry Christmas to everyone except Stephen Miller and his enablers and handlers
Stephen Miller • @St... • 13m Ø Watched the Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra Family Christmas with my kids. Imagine watching that and thinking America needed infinity migrants from the third world.
December 26, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by Owen Barcala
bcfinucane.bsky.social
Merry Christmas!

The President of Peace just bombed Nigeria.
Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries! I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was. The Department of War executed numerous perfect strikes, as only the United States is capable of doing. Under my leadership, our Country will not allow Radical Islamic Terrorism to prosper. May God Bless our Military, and MERRY CHRISTMAS to all, including the dead Terrorists, of which there will be many more if their slaughter of Christians continues. DONALD J. TRUMP PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
December 25, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Reposted by Owen Barcala
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
As far as I can tell the Trump admin currently has a 0% success rate in lawsuits seeking to overturn immigrant-friendly policies.
December 25, 2025 at 1:50 AM
Reposted by Owen Barcala
steadystatevets.bsky.social
1/ A Trump-appointed federal judge, Gary R. Brown, ordered the immediate release on bail of a noncitizen and directed the government to show cause why it should not be held in contempt over ICE’s repeated failures to follow court orders.

www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/u...
www.courthousenews.com
December 25, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Reposted by Owen Barcala
gabrielmalor.bsky.social
Christmas Eve Drop:

Fed. judge quashes yet another attempt by Trump's DOJ to get the personal data of trans patients and former patients, and does so in sarcastic and angry fashion calling out the administration's ill-intent and lack of good faith.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Assuming the United States has any legitimate need for the information sought ‒ and that it likewise requires longitudinal data ‒ the solution is, and always has been, as plain as the nose on one’s face. Longitudinality may be preserved by anonymization of patients.
December 25, 2025 at 2:45 AM