Christine Villaverde
@villaverde4nc.bsky.social
Wife & Mom of 3 Boys; Proud Military Family; Former Police Officer. Pursuing Ph.D. in Public Policy and Chairwoman for Anchoring Democracy. Morals and Ethics Matter. Supporter and defender of the Constitution.
Pinned
Liberty consists not solely in the enjoyment of rights, but in the moral exercise of political citizenship. www.anchoringdemocracy.org
Trump's erosion of allied trust means fewer open bases, less shared intelligence, and allies unwilling to pay the costs for American operations. The damage being done by Trump to these relationships will reshape how every U.S. ally calculates the risk of standing with us for years to come.
BREAKING: The UK is blocking Trump from using its airbases to attack Iran.
Trump is irate.
The UK is having a good news day.
Trump is irate.
The UK is having a good news day.
February 20, 2026 at 2:34 PM
Trump's erosion of allied trust means fewer open bases, less shared intelligence, and allies unwilling to pay the costs for American operations. The damage being done by Trump to these relationships will reshape how every U.S. ally calculates the risk of standing with us for years to come.
Luttig's warning transcends partisanship — it is a constitutionalist's call from impeccable conservative credentials to defend the institutions that make self-governance possible, and that demands our attention.
February 20, 2026 at 1:24 AM
Luttig's warning transcends partisanship — it is a constitutionalist's call from impeccable conservative credentials to defend the institutions that make self-governance possible, and that demands our attention.
Section 702 without a warrant requirement is how a surveillance state builds itself — using "incidental collection" as legal cover to do domestically what the 4th Amdt. forbids them to do.
The real divide is not left vs right — it is those who trust govt with unchecked power vs. those who don't.
The real divide is not left vs right — it is those who trust govt with unchecked power vs. those who don't.
February 20, 2026 at 1:16 AM
Section 702 without a warrant requirement is how a surveillance state builds itself — using "incidental collection" as legal cover to do domestically what the 4th Amdt. forbids them to do.
The real divide is not left vs right — it is those who trust govt with unchecked power vs. those who don't.
The real divide is not left vs right — it is those who trust govt with unchecked power vs. those who don't.
This reflects the broader executive aggrandizement pattern: testing legal limits as a norm-erosion strategy, seeing what courts or Congress will actually stop.
February 20, 2026 at 12:53 AM
This reflects the broader executive aggrandizement pattern: testing legal limits as a norm-erosion strategy, seeing what courts or Congress will actually stop.
The Iraq analogy is apt rhetoric but bad reassurance — Iran is a far more capable and resilient adversary than Saddam's Iraq ever was, meaning the comparison may actually understate how badly this could go.
Like the Iraq War, the planned war with Iran is built on false premises.
Unlike the Iraq War, there hasn’t even been a real public debate.
Unlike the Iraq War, there hasn’t even been a real public debate.
The hawks are lying us into yet another Middle Eastern war
Like the Iraq War, the planned war with Iran is built on false premises. Unlike the Iraq War, there hasn’t even been a real public debate.
reason.com
February 19, 2026 at 11:00 PM
The Iraq analogy is apt rhetoric but bad reassurance — Iran is a far more capable and resilient adversary than Saddam's Iraq ever was, meaning the comparison may actually understate how badly this could go.
The Trump family's disputed $4 billion in revenues raises unresolved constitutional questions under both Emoluments Clauses, questions courts have never reached on the merits, and fits the Framers' original conception of impeachable conduct as abuse of public trust.
February 19, 2026 at 10:17 PM
The Trump family's disputed $4 billion in revenues raises unresolved constitutional questions under both Emoluments Clauses, questions courts have never reached on the merits, and fits the Framers' original conception of impeachable conduct as abuse of public trust.
The parallels to authoritarian imagery are hard to miss.
February 19, 2026 at 9:28 PM
The parallels to authoritarian imagery are hard to miss.
The replacement of policy, principle, and constitutional identity with personal loyalty to a single man is not normal American politics — it is a genuine democratic emergency that serious scholars across the spectrum recognize as a threat to republican self-governance.
American not only becoming a cult of personality but becoming the dumbest cult of personality in the history of the human species is a lot to process
February 19, 2026 at 8:44 PM
The replacement of policy, principle, and constitutional identity with personal loyalty to a single man is not normal American politics — it is a genuine democratic emergency that serious scholars across the spectrum recognize as a threat to republican self-governance.
With the attention of Congress and the public otherwise occupied, there is little public debate about what could be the most consequential U.S. decision in years.
February 19, 2026 at 7:46 PM
With the attention of Congress and the public otherwise occupied, there is little public debate about what could be the most consequential U.S. decision in years.
Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 is categorical: "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law." Designating an entity as an international organization doesn't create an appropriation. The President cannot fund an organization without Congress.
Remember back in the day when Congress used to be in charge of appropriations?
February 19, 2026 at 6:54 PM
Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 is categorical: "No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law." Designating an entity as an international organization doesn't create an appropriation. The President cannot fund an organization without Congress.
America may have abdicated its role as the world's champion of truth and justice, but the arc of justice still bends — and today it bent hard. No one is above the law. Not even royalty.
February 19, 2026 at 6:18 PM
America may have abdicated its role as the world's champion of truth and justice, but the arc of justice still bends — and today it bent hard. No one is above the law. Not even royalty.
The Appropriations Clause is among the most absolute constraints in the Constitution — it doesn't bend for foreign policy or national security necessity. Reeside v. Walker (1850) and Train v. City of New York (1975) both affirm that the executive cannot spend or obligate funds without Congress.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Trump says the US is pledging $10 billion for his Board of Peace but doesn't specify what the money will be used for.
@apnews.com
@apnews.com
February 19, 2026 at 5:26 PM
The Appropriations Clause is among the most absolute constraints in the Constitution — it doesn't bend for foreign policy or national security necessity. Reeside v. Walker (1850) and Train v. City of New York (1975) both affirm that the executive cannot spend or obligate funds without Congress.
The Fed and CEA both operate with rigorous methodological standards — this is not advocacy research; it is the kind of careful empirical work that the administration's own economic apparatus is supposed to produce and rely on. Calling it punishable is self-defeating on its face.
White House economic adviser says Fed researchers should be punished for telling the truth about tariffs: wapo.st/4bXQSHX
White House economic adviser says Fed researchers should be punished
One of President Donald Trump’s top economic advisers assailed Fed research into the administration’s tariffs policies, saying the authors deserved to be punished.
wapo.st
February 19, 2026 at 4:11 PM
The Fed and CEA both operate with rigorous methodological standards — this is not advocacy research; it is the kind of careful empirical work that the administration's own economic apparatus is supposed to produce and rely on. Calling it punishable is self-defeating on its face.
Economics has increasingly disguised political choices as technical. All markets are designed and market structures reflect prior political decisions about property rights, enforcement, contract law, and currency. Pretending those choices are neutral is itself a political act.
February 19, 2026 at 3:56 PM
Economics has increasingly disguised political choices as technical. All markets are designed and market structures reflect prior political decisions about property rights, enforcement, contract law, and currency. Pretending those choices are neutral is itself a political act.
Not "our honest assessment as we see it" but "our construction of reality after we cherry pick the evidence and
Trump decides what we should all think."
Trump decides what we should all think."
Dr. Oz: One nice thing about this administration is you might not like us, but you're gonna get our version of the truth
February 19, 2026 at 2:16 PM
Not "our honest assessment as we see it" but "our construction of reality after we cherry pick the evidence and
Trump decides what we should all think."
Trump decides what we should all think."
Trump is on the edge of ordering a war on Iran without making a case to the American people for why.
Before you commit American lives, you must be able to answer one question — what are we trying to achieve? — because just war theory, constitutional accountability, and strategic sanity demand it.
Before you commit American lives, you must be able to answer one question — what are we trying to achieve? — because just war theory, constitutional accountability, and strategic sanity demand it.
February 19, 2026 at 2:05 PM
Trump is on the edge of ordering a war on Iran without making a case to the American people for why.
Before you commit American lives, you must be able to answer one question — what are we trying to achieve? — because just war theory, constitutional accountability, and strategic sanity demand it.
Before you commit American lives, you must be able to answer one question — what are we trying to achieve? — because just war theory, constitutional accountability, and strategic sanity demand it.
Voting is an enumerated constitutional right. Purchasing alcohol and borrowing library books are not. The legal standard for burdening a fundamental right is substantially higher than regulating a commercial transaction.
Leavitt: "You need an ID to go and purchase alcohol. You need an ID to go to the library and check out a book. So the president thinks you should have an ID to vote in our nation's elections."
February 19, 2026 at 1:06 AM
Voting is an enumerated constitutional right. Purchasing alcohol and borrowing library books are not. The legal standard for burdening a fundamental right is substantially higher than regulating a commercial transaction.
When researchers self-censor to survive politically, the entire empirical foundation that policymakers depend on for sound decisions becomes irreparably corrupted.
February 19, 2026 at 12:24 AM
When researchers self-censor to survive politically, the entire empirical foundation that policymakers depend on for sound decisions becomes irreparably corrupted.
The statement confuses a statistical pattern of "most" interactions with a constitutional guarantee, and in doing so treats rights as privileges earned through compliance rather than as pre-political constraints on government authority protected by the Constitution.
February 18, 2026 at 11:10 PM
The statement confuses a statistical pattern of "most" interactions with a constitutional guarantee, and in doing so treats rights as privileges earned through compliance rather than as pre-political constraints on government authority protected by the Constitution.
The use of elastic national security classifications to encompass protected speech and association has a documented historical record of chilling legitimate dissent. The Constitution is meant to constrain government expanding its security authority over protected political dissent.
The president’s redefining of domestic terrorism threatens Americans’ free speech rights, from joining a protest march to posting on social media. It also aims to impose draconian punishments for actions that are far removed from actual terrorism. Brennan Center www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...
Trump’s Version of “Domestic Terrorism” vs. the First Amendment
The administration has given itself permission to prosecute people and organizations for their political views.
www.brennancenter.org
February 18, 2026 at 9:40 PM
The use of elastic national security classifications to encompass protected speech and association has a documented historical record of chilling legitimate dissent. The Constitution is meant to constrain government expanding its security authority over protected political dissent.
Forcing states to hand voter data to a federal executive agency with no oversight, no limits on how it gets used, and no judicial check isn't just bad policy — it is a textbook anti-commandeering violation, and the Supreme Court already ruled that game out in Printz.
February 18, 2026 at 8:05 PM
Forcing states to hand voter data to a federal executive agency with no oversight, no limits on how it gets used, and no judicial check isn't just bad policy — it is a textbook anti-commandeering violation, and the Supreme Court already ruled that game out in Printz.
"We can't get a warrant every time" is not a legal argument. It's a confession. Carter's argument essentially boils down to: The Constitution is inconvenient, so we'd like to opt out.
February 18, 2026 at 7:50 PM
"We can't get a warrant every time" is not a legal argument. It's a confession. Carter's argument essentially boils down to: The Constitution is inconvenient, so we'd like to opt out.
Uninvited federal law enforcement at state-administered polling places violates federalism while simultaneously creating a chilling effect on eligible voters whose credible fear of enforcement produces constitutional harm. This is indistinguishable from direct disenfranchisement.
February 18, 2026 at 5:38 PM
Uninvited federal law enforcement at state-administered polling places violates federalism while simultaneously creating a chilling effect on eligible voters whose credible fear of enforcement produces constitutional harm. This is indistinguishable from direct disenfranchisement.
When regulatory power becomes diffuse enough that media companies can't identify specific threats but act defensively anyway, you get speech-chilling effects without any actionable government conduct. This is actually harder to remedy than overt censorship.
February 18, 2026 at 5:17 PM
When regulatory power becomes diffuse enough that media companies can't identify specific threats but act defensively anyway, you get speech-chilling effects without any actionable government conduct. This is actually harder to remedy than overt censorship.
