Blaine Stum
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bstum.bsky.social
Blaine Stum
@bstum.bsky.social
320 followers 560 following 270 posts
DC Council Staffer 🏛️
Staunchly Pro-Democracy
Former CJ TA Provider/Researcher
Gay Cat Owner 🏳️‍🌈😸
Movie and Music Nerd 🎥🎶🤓
**All Opinions My Own**
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Blaine Stum
dcattorneygeneral.bsky.social
NEW: The Court has ruled that the National Guard deployment to DC is illegal and granted a preliminary injunction.

As we made clear from the beginning: the US military should not be policing American citizens on American soil.

This is a victory for DC, Home Rule, and American democracy.
November 20, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Reposted by Blaine Stum
chrisgeidner.bsky.social
BREAKING: Federal judge rules that Trump's DC troop deployment is likely illegal — both as to D.C. National Guard and and out-of-state National Guard units — granting DC's request to block the use of the troops in this way.

The preliminary injunction is stayed until Dec. 11.
The record in this case, including many of the amicus briefs filed, makes clear that there are strong views on both sides about whether these deployments represent good policy. But the Court is only tasked with deciding whether Defendants' actions are lawful. In this opinion, the Court addresses two of the District's statutory arguments under the APA and finds that it is likely to succeed on the merits of both. First, the DOD Defendants have exceeded the bounds of their authority under Title 49 of the D.C. Code, and thus acted contrary to law, in deploying the DCNG for non-military, crime-deterrence missions in the absence of a request from the city's civil authorities. Second, these Defendants lack statutory authority under 32 U.S.C. § 502 to support their request for assistance from out-of-state National Guards and their actions in calling those Guards to the District. The Court finds that the District's exercise of sovereign powers within its jurisdiction is irreparably harmed by Defendants' actions in deploying the Guards, and that the balance of equities and public interest weigh in the District's favor. As such, the Court will GRANT the District's motion for preliminary relief and partially DENY Defendants' motion to dismiss on those claims. The Court finds, however, that the public interest weighs in favor of an administrative stay in this case, and that a stay is needed to permit orderly proceedings on appeal. Accordingly, the Court will STAY its order for 21 days, until December 11, 2025?
November 20, 2025 at 8:09 PM
bstum.bsky.social
A great post from @gelliottmorris.com that affirms existing PoliSci research showing that most Americans are not ideological thinkers. It also reaffirms my belief that election surveys should do more open ended questions.
November 20, 2025 at 4:12 PM
bstum.bsky.social
I’ve never heard of something like this happening. Absolutely wild.
annabower.bsky.social Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 4d
NEWS: During a hearing in federal court in VA, prosecutors confirmed that the operative indictment in the case against James Comey was never shown to or voted on by the entire grand jury before it was presented in open court.

Defense counsel argued that’s a complete bar to further prosecution
November 19, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Reposted by Blaine Stum
dcattorneygeneral.bsky.social
We stand united against all 13 anti–DC Home Rule bills in Congress.

DC is home to more than 700,000 residents who pay taxes, run businesses, and serve in the military. Like all Americans, we deserve the right to set our own local laws.

Congress should reject this unprecedented federal overreach.
"We are united in our forceful opposition to the bills recently advanced by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. These bills are an affront to Home Rule and the principles of democracy and local self-governance on which this country was founded. The District is home to more than 700,000 residents who pay taxes and serve in the military. Like all Americans, they deserve the right to elect local leaders who have the authority to determine the local policies that govern them. We urge members of Congress to reject this unprecedented federal overreach and vote against these bills." Muriel Bowser, Mayor for the District of Columbia Brian Schwalb, Attorney General for the District of Columbia Phil Mendelson, Council Chairman for the District of Columbia
November 17, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Reposted by Blaine Stum
melissa-sanchez.bsky.social
You probably saw videos of a nighttime raid in Chicago. Agents rappelling from a helicopter, bursting down doors, questioning brown-skinned immigrants.

We investigated -- and found little evidence to support the government’s claims about Tren de Aragua.

www.propublica.org/article/chic...
“I Lost Everything”: Venezuelans Were Rounded Up in a Dramatic Midnight Raid but Never Charged With a Crime
Authorities said Tren de Aragua “terrorists” had taken over the building. A ProPublica investigation found little evidence to back up the government’s claims. For the first time, the Venezuelans arres...
www.propublica.org
November 13, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Reposted by Blaine Stum
jasonkoebler.bsky.social
The most horrifying AI slop of ICE raids you can possibly imagine is wildly viral on Facebook, collectively totaling tens of millions of views from a single account. First spotted by @chadloder.bsky.social

www.404media.co/ai-generated...
AI-Generated Videos of ICE Raids Are Wildly Viral on Facebook
An account is spamming horrific, dehumanizing videos of immigration enforcement because the Facebook algorithm is rewarding them for it.
www.404media.co
November 12, 2025 at 5:51 PM
bstum.bsky.social
This is a terrible idea. If any Democrats are willing to support it, they should lose their seat.
bgrueskin.bsky.social Bill Grueskin @bgrueskin.bsky.social · 14d
"A development that appeared to break the logjam: Republicans proposed that healthcare funding be provided directly to households rather than used to pay for a 1-year extension of ACA subsidies. That involves sending federal money into FSAs instead of insurance companies" www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Republicans Pitch Alternative to ACA Extension to End Government Shutdown
A proposal by GOP senators to send money directly to consumers’ health accounts rather than to insurance companies showed signs of breaking a stalemate on negotiations.
www.wsj.com
November 9, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Reposted by Blaine Stum
radleybalko.bsky.social
40 men Trump sent to CECOT tell the NYT they were beaten, tortured, and sexually assaulted. The details are worse than you can imagine.

We can’t let them get away with this. Miller and the other architects of this sadism need to go to prison.

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/w...
‘You Are All Terrorists’: Four Months in a Salvadoran Prison
www.nytimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Reposted by Blaine Stum
atrupar.com
New in PN: @donmoyn.bsky.social on "Purge, Merge, and Surge"

“The visible presence of overwhelming numbers of troops in the streets has a psychological component. You display dominance & make examples of people who resist — except instead of surging in Iraq, it’s happening here in American cities.”
Don Moynihan on "Purge, Merge, and Surge"
"Instead of surging in Iraq, it’s happening here in American cities."
www.publicnotice.co
November 8, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Blaine Stum
ryanjreilly.com
BREAKING: JUSTICE DEPARTMENT EATS A LOSS IN 'SANDWICH GUY' CASE AS JURORS FIND DEFENDANT NOT GUILTY www.nbcnews.com/politics/jus...
Jury acquits D.C. 'sandwich guy' charged with chucking a sub at a federal agent
Sean Dunn faced single misdemeanor offense after federal grand jurors refused to indict him on the felony charge sought by prosecutors.
www.nbcnews.com
November 6, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Reposted by Blaine Stum
alexctaliadoros.bsky.social
checking in on the state of our nation
November 6, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Reposted by Blaine Stum
adamisacson.com
The photos in this Chicago Tribune piece… It's a quiet middle-class inner suburb, but these guys look like they're in Fallujah circa 2006.

The uniforms indicate Border Patrol and its BORTAC "special operations" unit.

www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/31/c...
Caption: Border Patrol agents detain painter Krzysztof Klim while verifying his identification on Oct. 31, 2025, next to Halloween decorations outside a house in Chicago’s Edison Park neighborhood. Klim, originally from Poland and now a U.S. citizen, was briefly detained and then released. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune) U.S. Border Patrol agents watch the street while others question and detain a man they found painting a house in Chicago’s Edison Park neighborhood on Oct. 31, 2025, during immigration enforcement operations. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)
November 3, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Reposted by Blaine Stum
atrupar.com
O'DONNELL: Americans have been watching videos of ICE tackling a young mother, tear gas being used in a Chicago residential neighborhood, and the smashing of car windows. Have some of these raids gone too far?

TRUMP: No. I think they haven't gone far enough.
November 3, 2025 at 12:49 AM
bstum.bsky.social
A great thread.

I’d dump a TERF in a heartbeat. If you’re Queer and you’re not in solidarity with Trans people, you can get bent.
thrasherxy.bsky.social Steven W. Thrasher is finishing The Overseer Class @thrasherxy.bsky.social · 21d
🚨 1/ SCOOP We all know Pamela Paul is not a good journalist. But in her (poorly argued) WSJ screed on the alleged "growing divide" in LGBTQ circles abt trans rights, she reports ESPECIALLY badly—including abt Jose Arango & his boyfriend who dumped him.

Paul didn't talk to the boyfriend.

I did.
WSJ headline, over a torn LGBTQ BLM pride flag - the growing divide in the rainbow coalitoln
November 2, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Reposted by Blaine Stum
latimes.com
US citizen shot from behind as he warned ICE agents children would be coming to get bus, lawyers say
U.S. citizen shot from behind as he warned ICE agents about children gathering at bus stop, lawyers say
Lawyers for Carlos Jimenez said he was in fear after an agent threatened him with chemical spray, then pointed a gun at him.
www.latimes.com
November 2, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Reposted by Blaine Stum
claudiastellar.bsky.social
ICE detained a Virginia mom while she was driving her 16yo daughter to school bc she couldn’t recall her SS#.

“The agent got flustered and lunged at her,” said her daughter.

ICE arrested her even after she showed proof of legal status.

“I want this video out there because I want my mother home.”
November 1, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Reposted by Blaine Stum
nickvalentino.bsky.social
ANES Data Release! electionstudies.org/data-center/...

The 3-wave ANES panel is now available. It merges data from 3 election studies (2016-2020-2024), the first time the ANES has collected interviews of the same respondents across 3 presidential elections.
2016-2020-2024-panel-merged-study - ANES | American National Election Studies
electionstudies.org
November 1, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Reposted by Blaine Stum
pamspaulding.bsky.social
No ID, no prob. So murder is okay now?

🧾 www.rawstory.com/pentagon-boa...
Pentagon admits it doesn't 'positively ID' people before boat strikes kill them: lawmaker
Officials from the Pentagon reportedly admitted that they were unable to verify who was on alleged drug boats before launching strikes killing everyone aboard the vessels. After carrying out strikes o...
www.rawstory.com
October 30, 2025 at 9:34 PM
Reposted by Blaine Stum
anniewaldman.bsky.social
Until now, Social Security disability benefits have been easier to qualify for as a person reaches 50+.

Trump's new rules would end that. Under the new plan, millions, many in red states, could find it more difficult to qualify.

Important story from Eli Hager:

www.propublica.org/article/soci...
October 31, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Reposted by Blaine Stum
jenvictor.bsky.social
The NYT has a clear assessment of the state of America’s shift toward autocracy (gift link), with receipts. The next 10 years (or less) are critical. How we respond now will determine if the US reverses course back to democracy or succumbs to permanent autocracy.
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 1:33 PM
Reposted by Blaine Stum
carlquintanilla.bsky.social
(Miami Herald) - The Trump Administration has made the decision to attack military installations inside Venezuela and the strikes could come at any moment, sources with knowledge of the situation told the Miami Herald ..

@miamiherald.com
www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
U.S. poised to strike military targets in Venezuela in escalation against Maduro regime
The Trump Administration has made the decision to attack military installations inside Venezuela and the strikes could come at any moment, sources with knowledge of the situation told the Miami Herald...
www.miamiherald.com
October 31, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by Blaine Stum
gelliottmorris.com
i think it's very weird that seemingly the entire elite media has decided that it's going to be a strategy consultant for the democratic party — AND that it's going to base its opinions about politics and the world on what is essentially a PR campaign from a single aggressively ideological super PAC
October 29, 2025 at 2:54 PM
bstum.bsky.social
Mike and his colleagues have been doing incredible investigatory work on sexual abuse in Assembly of God churches. As someone who was forced to go to an Assembly of God church for years in my youth, I can't say I'm surprised by what they have uncovered.
October 30, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Blaine Stum
josephcox.bsky.social
New incredible detail here: ICE says a match in its facial recognition app Mobile Fortify is a "definitive" determination of a person's status, and that this overrides birth certificates. This is an app ICE is using in the field to scan people

www.404media.co/ice-and-cbp-...
Ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee Bennie G. Thompson said in a statement “Mobile Fortify is a dangerous tool in the hands of ICE, and it puts American citizens at risk of detention and even deportation.” He also said “ICE officials have told us that an apparent biometric match by Mobile Fortify is a ‘definitive’ determination of a person’s status and that an ICE officer may ignore evidence of American citizenship—including a birth certificate—if the app says the person is an alien. ICE using a mobile biometrics app in ways its developers at CBP never intended or tested is a frightening, repugnant, and unconstitutional attack on Americans’ rights and freedoms.”
October 29, 2025 at 3:03 PM