Rich Sanfilippo
@richsanf.bsky.social
IT Professional of over 40 years who does not believe in binary arguments. Contrite idealist struggling to face the reality of today's culture.
Pinned
Rich Sanfilippo
@richsanf.bsky.social
· Nov 11
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster."
- Nietzsche
- Nietzsche
"Who can channel the disruptive political energies of a society in which the established institutions have lost the people’s trust into a (small-d) democratic direction?"
We must recognize the divisions in our country before we can attempt to unite the nation.
We must recognize the divisions in our country before we can attempt to unite the nation.
The Myth of a Rightward Realignment
Let’s discard some stubborn misconceptions about Trump’s support and what happened in the 2024 election. They are only obscuring our understanding of a profound de-alignment.
As the piece is partially behind a paywall, I’ll share some key thoughts:
🧵
Let’s discard some stubborn misconceptions about Trump’s support and what happened in the 2024 election. They are only obscuring our understanding of a profound de-alignment.
As the piece is partially behind a paywall, I’ll share some key thoughts:
🧵
The Myth of a Rightward Realignment
Let’s discard some stubborn misconceptions about Trump’s support and what happened in the 2024 election that are obscuring our understanding of a profound de-alignment
steady.page
November 27, 2025 at 3:02 PM
"Who can channel the disruptive political energies of a society in which the established institutions have lost the people’s trust into a (small-d) democratic direction?"
We must recognize the divisions in our country before we can attempt to unite the nation.
We must recognize the divisions in our country before we can attempt to unite the nation.
Reposted by Rich Sanfilippo
Nicole Wallace’s deeply affecting conversation with Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling (Ret.).
“On Thanksgiving, in all of our mess halls around the world, whether it’s in combat or in peacetime, the leaders serve the led.”
@markhertling.bsky.social
@nicollewallace.bsky.social
“On Thanksgiving, in all of our mess halls around the world, whether it’s in combat or in peacetime, the leaders serve the led.”
@markhertling.bsky.social
@nicollewallace.bsky.social
November 26, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Nicole Wallace’s deeply affecting conversation with Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling (Ret.).
“On Thanksgiving, in all of our mess halls around the world, whether it’s in combat or in peacetime, the leaders serve the led.”
@markhertling.bsky.social
@nicollewallace.bsky.social
“On Thanksgiving, in all of our mess halls around the world, whether it’s in combat or in peacetime, the leaders serve the led.”
@markhertling.bsky.social
@nicollewallace.bsky.social
Accountability in the DJT / Merrick Garland era.
BREAKING: Judge Scott McAfee grants motion to dismiss Georgia case against Trump, others.
The Fulton County case -- which resulted in guilty pleas by Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Scott Hall, and Kenneth Chesebro -- is officially done.
The Fulton County case -- which resulted in guilty pleas by Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, Scott Hall, and Kenneth Chesebro -- is officially done.
November 26, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Accountability in the DJT / Merrick Garland era.
Reposted by Rich Sanfilippo
My daughter and I visited the house we lived in when she was a baby, and she was shocked a 29-year-old Navy guy could afford a nice house in a safe neighborhood.
That wasn’t crazy in 1996 — but today, a nice house is out of reach for so many young people. That has to change.
That wasn’t crazy in 1996 — but today, a nice house is out of reach for so many young people. That has to change.
November 25, 2025 at 3:38 PM
My daughter and I visited the house we lived in when she was a baby, and she was shocked a 29-year-old Navy guy could afford a nice house in a safe neighborhood.
That wasn’t crazy in 1996 — but today, a nice house is out of reach for so many young people. That has to change.
That wasn’t crazy in 1996 — but today, a nice house is out of reach for so many young people. That has to change.
Reposted by Rich Sanfilippo
Witkoff advised the Russians on how to pitch their Ukraine plan to Trump www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
November 25, 2025 at 9:51 PM
Witkoff advised the Russians on how to pitch their Ukraine plan to Trump www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Reposted by Rich Sanfilippo
This article is from @markhertling.bsky.social - a retired three-star Army general - and everyone should read it.
November 24, 2025 at 2:40 AM
This article is from @markhertling.bsky.social - a retired three-star Army general - and everyone should read it.
Reposted by Rich Sanfilippo
CROW: We wanted to start a conversation about the dangerous rhetoric this president is using and threats he's made to use our military in an unlawful way
BRENNAN: Specifically what?
CROW: Send troops into Chicago, into polling stations, kill terrorists' families, shoot peaceful protesters ...
BRENNAN: Specifically what?
CROW: Send troops into Chicago, into polling stations, kill terrorists' families, shoot peaceful protesters ...
November 23, 2025 at 3:46 PM
CROW: We wanted to start a conversation about the dangerous rhetoric this president is using and threats he's made to use our military in an unlawful way
BRENNAN: Specifically what?
CROW: Send troops into Chicago, into polling stations, kill terrorists' families, shoot peaceful protesters ...
BRENNAN: Specifically what?
CROW: Send troops into Chicago, into polling stations, kill terrorists' families, shoot peaceful protesters ...
Where is the outage from Congress? What happened to the people's support for Ukraine?
1) Start the worst European war since 1945 and commit every imaginable war crime
2) Decide how you want to be rewarded for your aggression
3) Leak the list of your desiderata to the US press
4) Wait for the US president to enforce your wish list on your victim.
Russian policy 2025
2) Decide how you want to be rewarded for your aggression
3) Leak the list of your desiderata to the US press
4) Wait for the US president to enforce your wish list on your victim.
Russian policy 2025
November 24, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Where is the outage from Congress? What happened to the people's support for Ukraine?
Reposted by Rich Sanfilippo
This piece is good but the photo and choice to use it is perfection
Greene's departure represents another political notch in Trump’s belt, the retreat of another would-be Republican rebel. But the defiant nature of her video announcement hinted at the fissures now dividing the president’s movement. Lisa Lerer @reidepstein.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2025/11/22/u...
Trump Shows His Power, and Greene Reveals His Weakness
www.nytimes.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:10 PM
This piece is good but the photo and choice to use it is perfection
"There’s no money in journalism anymore. No fame, no glamour, no prestige. But there’s lots and lots of money in media—in being a brand, an influencer, a personality. We stopped paying journalists and started rewarding performers."
Interesting piece that takes on the state of journalism today.
Interesting piece that takes on the state of journalism today.
"She’s not trying to rebuild her reputation as a journalist—she’s building a different kind of brand entirely, one where being interesting matters more than being ethical, where attention is the only currency that still spends."
The best thing I have read about her. www.mediaite.com/opinion/the-...
The best thing I have read about her. www.mediaite.com/opinion/the-...
The Olivia Nuzzi Comeback Is Everything Wrong With Modern Media
Olivia Nuzzi’s comeback isn’t a personal scandal story—it’s proof that today’s media rewards access, personality, and controversy more than ethics.
www.mediaite.com
November 21, 2025 at 9:39 PM
"There’s no money in journalism anymore. No fame, no glamour, no prestige. But there’s lots and lots of money in media—in being a brand, an influencer, a personality. We stopped paying journalists and started rewarding performers."
Interesting piece that takes on the state of journalism today.
Interesting piece that takes on the state of journalism today.
Reposted by Rich Sanfilippo
Statement from Epstein survivors on what they’re bracing for —
November 21, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Statement from Epstein survivors on what they’re bracing for —
Must people focus on the noise, ignorant of the health hazards.
Great new @bloomberg.com piece by Jessica Stolzberg on ongoing struggle against stupidest and most harmful part of current 'Conspicuous Consumption' yard hygiene.
The diff this has made in DC is ... incredible.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
The diff this has made in DC is ... incredible.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
What It Takes to Defeat the Leaf Blowers
To end the use of gas-powered blowers, advocates in one New Jersey town focused on public health and made their case directly to local elected leaders.
www.bloomberg.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Must people focus on the noise, ignorant of the health hazards.
Reposted by Rich Sanfilippo
PSA: The President of the United States is a dangerous stochastic terrorist.
🧵1/6
🧵1/6
November 20, 2025 at 11:44 PM
PSA: The President of the United States is a dangerous stochastic terrorist.
🧵1/6
🧵1/6
Reposted by Rich Sanfilippo
Donald Trump should keep his reckless mouth shut.
November 20, 2025 at 5:04 PM
Donald Trump should keep his reckless mouth shut.
Reposted by Rich Sanfilippo
Yesterday, Trump defended the Saudi Crown Prince in the Oval Office.
He said he had “nothing” to do with the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
But I reviewed a call while serving on Trump’s NSC that I believe would be of interest to the Khashoggi family and the American people.
Release the transcript.
He said he had “nothing” to do with the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
But I reviewed a call while serving on Trump’s NSC that I believe would be of interest to the Khashoggi family and the American people.
Release the transcript.
November 19, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Yesterday, Trump defended the Saudi Crown Prince in the Oval Office.
He said he had “nothing” to do with the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
But I reviewed a call while serving on Trump’s NSC that I believe would be of interest to the Khashoggi family and the American people.
Release the transcript.
He said he had “nothing” to do with the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
But I reviewed a call while serving on Trump’s NSC that I believe would be of interest to the Khashoggi family and the American people.
Release the transcript.
Reposted by Rich Sanfilippo
Please take the time to read this on healthcare, GOP lies and what might be done by my wise colleague and friend @normornstein.bsky.social. It's very smart and thoughtful. contrarian.substack.com/p/we-do-not-...
We do not want to go back to sham health insurance plans and denials
Obamacare isn’t perfect, but it’s better than what we had—and what the GOP proposes.
contrarian.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:44 PM
Please take the time to read this on healthcare, GOP lies and what might be done by my wise colleague and friend @normornstein.bsky.social. It's very smart and thoughtful. contrarian.substack.com/p/we-do-not-...
Hoping the dominoes are beginning to topple.
#BREAKING: Former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers will immediately leave his role as an instructor at Harvard while the University investigates his ties to child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Dhruv T. Patel and Cam N. Srivastava report.
Dhruv T. Patel and Cam N. Srivastava report.
Summers Will Not Finish Semester of Teaching as Harvard Investigates Epstein Ties | News | The Harvard Crimson
Former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers will immediately leave his role as an instructor at Harvard while the University investigates his ties to child sex trafficker Jeffrey E. Epstein.
www.thecrimson.com
November 20, 2025 at 1:03 AM
Hoping the dominoes are beginning to topple.
"...it is important to remember that neither the Congress nor the Supreme Court owns the Constitution. Nor, for that matter, does the president. As much as it may often seem otherwise, we are still the authors of our own fates."
wrote about the president’s flagrant and destructive corruption in a column that references street fighter, the simpsons, machiavelli, and a host of revolutionary-era americans (gift link)
Opinion | The White House Gold Rush Is On
www.nytimes.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:35 AM
"...it is important to remember that neither the Congress nor the Supreme Court owns the Constitution. Nor, for that matter, does the president. As much as it may often seem otherwise, we are still the authors of our own fates."
"... it is important to remember that neither the Congress nor the Supreme Court owns the Constitution. Nor, for that matter, does the president. As much as it may often seem otherwise, we are still the authors of our own fates."
wrote about the president’s flagrant and destructive corruption in a column that references street fighter, the simpsons, machiavelli, and a host of revolutionary-era americans (gift link)
Opinion | The White House Gold Rush Is On
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2025 at 9:17 PM
"... it is important to remember that neither the Congress nor the Supreme Court owns the Constitution. Nor, for that matter, does the president. As much as it may often seem otherwise, we are still the authors of our own fates."
Reposted by Rich Sanfilippo
Reposted by Rich Sanfilippo
We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship.
November 18, 2025 at 1:31 PM
We want to speak directly to members of the Military and the Intelligence Community.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship.
The American people need you to stand up for our laws and our Constitution.
Don’t give up the ship.
Very thoughtful and informative thread on the impact of AI in Google's search processes.
Where is it leading? What's the incentive?
Where is it leading? What's the incentive?
So this ad revenue metric is indicative of such a fascinating and weird set of business decisions by Google to inexplicably kill of SEO-- and I honestly don't get how they think this is going to pay off for them in the long run.
🧵
1/
🧵
1/
Stereogum says Google's switch to AI Overviews reduced its ad revenue by *70 percent* www.theverge.com/entertainmen...
November 18, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Very thoughtful and informative thread on the impact of AI in Google's search processes.
Where is it leading? What's the incentive?
Where is it leading? What's the incentive?
"It really perplexed me that there's not a shared level of bipartisan concern about what's happening inside the Justice Department." - Liz Oyer, pardon attorney
"One case involved the sole African American attorney working for the Mississippi State Senate, who was paid less than half of what her white colleagues made. As clear-cut a case of disparate racial treatment you could find.
Trump appointees ordered us to drop it."
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Trump appointees ordered us to drop it."
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
60 Attorneys on the Year of Chaos Inside Trump’s Justice Department
Sixty former staffers describe an environment of suspicion and intimidation within the nation’s most powerful law enforcement agency.
www.nytimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 6:53 PM
"It really perplexed me that there's not a shared level of bipartisan concern about what's happening inside the Justice Department." - Liz Oyer, pardon attorney
Reposted by Rich Sanfilippo
When former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers was pursuing a romantic relationship with a woman he described as a mentee, he turned to a longtime associate for guidance: Jeffrey E. Epstein.
Dhruv T. Patel and Cam N. Srivastava report.
Dhruv T. Patel and Cam N. Srivastava report.
As Summers Sought Clandestine Relationship With Woman He Called a Mentee, Epstein Was His ‘Wing Man’ | News | The Harvard Crimson
When former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers was pursuing a romantic relationship with a woman he described as a mentee, he turned to a longtime associate for guidance: convicted sex offender…
www.thecrimson.com
November 17, 2025 at 1:45 AM
When former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers was pursuing a romantic relationship with a woman he described as a mentee, he turned to a longtime associate for guidance: Jeffrey E. Epstein.
Dhruv T. Patel and Cam N. Srivastava report.
Dhruv T. Patel and Cam N. Srivastava report.
Reposted by Rich Sanfilippo
Remember: The concentration of wealth in the hands of a few isn't just bad for our economy. It's corrosive to our democracy.
When the wealthy and well-connected control our political system, regular people don't have a voice.
The result? The demagoguery and corruption we're seeing now.
When the wealthy and well-connected control our political system, regular people don't have a voice.
The result? The demagoguery and corruption we're seeing now.
November 17, 2025 at 12:31 AM
Remember: The concentration of wealth in the hands of a few isn't just bad for our economy. It's corrosive to our democracy.
When the wealthy and well-connected control our political system, regular people don't have a voice.
The result? The demagoguery and corruption we're seeing now.
When the wealthy and well-connected control our political system, regular people don't have a voice.
The result? The demagoguery and corruption we're seeing now.