Virginian
@cafferata.bsky.social
Historian. Proud George Mason University PHD
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Here's a groundbreaking report that examines how countries around the world have successfully expanded abortion access and protected reproductive rights. The reports offer U.S.-based policymakers proven strategies to counter restrictions and treat abortion as essential health care.
New Reports Bring Global Solutions to Bolster U.S. Lawmakers in the Fight to Protect Reproductive Freedom - O'Neill
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the State Innovation Exchange (SiX) and the O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health, released Beyond Borders, a groundbreaking report series that examines how countr...
oneill.law.georgetown.edu
November 21, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Here's a groundbreaking report that examines how countries around the world have successfully expanded abortion access and protected reproductive rights. The reports offer U.S.-based policymakers proven strategies to counter restrictions and treat abortion as essential health care.
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The destruction of the East Wing is a reminder that America has violated the only check-and-balance that actually ends up mattering: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/the-only-c...
The only check-and-balance that actually matters
www.doomsdayscenario.co
October 22, 2025 at 2:51 PM
The destruction of the East Wing is a reminder that America has violated the only check-and-balance that actually ends up mattering: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/the-only-c...
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Found ten propaganda accounts for y’all to block.
October 17, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Found ten propaganda accounts for y’all to block.
...we should never underestimate authoritarians....this was a momentous occasion staged for four distinct audiences: foreign powers, the United States military, United States civilian authorities, and the American people. (Ruth Ben-Ghiat) bit.ly/42p2yxO
A Holistic Plan for an Authoritarian Military
Trump and Hegseth unveil a plan to make the military an authoritarian institution and adapt the notion of the battlefield and the enemy for domestic use.
open.substack.com
October 4, 2025 at 10:00 AM
...we should never underestimate authoritarians....this was a momentous occasion staged for four distinct audiences: foreign powers, the United States military, United States civilian authorities, and the American people. (Ruth Ben-Ghiat) bit.ly/42p2yxO
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Can we get some focus on the perfidy of Speaker Mike Johnson?
So much of Trump’s excesses are made possible because Johnson has disabled the House as a check on the President. He has handed Trump his gavel symbolically and in reality.
We need to focus on Trump’s enablers.
So much of Trump’s excesses are made possible because Johnson has disabled the House as a check on the President. He has handed Trump his gavel symbolically and in reality.
We need to focus on Trump’s enablers.
Grijalva: I was looking at the example of now-Representative Walkinshaw from Virginia, who was elected two weeks ago Tuesday. The following Wednesday—less than 24 hours later—he was sworn in, with unofficial results.
So for me, apparently the rules have now changed in just two weeks.
So for me, apparently the rules have now changed in just two weeks.
September 27, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Can we get some focus on the perfidy of Speaker Mike Johnson?
So much of Trump’s excesses are made possible because Johnson has disabled the House as a check on the President. He has handed Trump his gavel symbolically and in reality.
We need to focus on Trump’s enablers.
So much of Trump’s excesses are made possible because Johnson has disabled the House as a check on the President. He has handed Trump his gavel symbolically and in reality.
We need to focus on Trump’s enablers.
"...foreign affairs journalist Ishaan Tharoor...captured the larger story of Trump’s speech.
'A senior foreign diplomat posted at the U.N. texts me,” Tharoor wrote, “‘This man is stark, raving mad. Do Americans not see how embarrassing this is?’”
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-...
'A senior foreign diplomat posted at the U.N. texts me,” Tharoor wrote, “‘This man is stark, raving mad. Do Americans not see how embarrassing this is?’”
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-...
September 23, 2025
In New York City this morning, the United Nations opened its General Assembly, marking the 80th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations itself.
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com
September 24, 2025 at 12:04 PM
"...foreign affairs journalist Ishaan Tharoor...captured the larger story of Trump’s speech.
'A senior foreign diplomat posted at the U.N. texts me,” Tharoor wrote, “‘This man is stark, raving mad. Do Americans not see how embarrassing this is?’”
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-...
'A senior foreign diplomat posted at the U.N. texts me,” Tharoor wrote, “‘This man is stark, raving mad. Do Americans not see how embarrassing this is?’”
heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/september-...
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It’s happening. The takedown of Jimmy Kimmel is likely the start of a campaign to use the murder of Charlie Kirk as a pretext to use the power of the White House to wipe out Trump’s critics and his political opponents.
But we aren’t powerless. We can mobilize and organize. Now.
But we aren’t powerless. We can mobilize and organize. Now.
September 18, 2025 at 12:52 AM
It’s happening. The takedown of Jimmy Kimmel is likely the start of a campaign to use the murder of Charlie Kirk as a pretext to use the power of the White House to wipe out Trump’s critics and his political opponents.
But we aren’t powerless. We can mobilize and organize. Now.
But we aren’t powerless. We can mobilize and organize. Now.
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WGA Statement on ABC’s Decision to Pull Jimmy Kimmel Live!
September 18, 2025 at 2:41 AM
WGA Statement on ABC’s Decision to Pull Jimmy Kimmel Live!
I don't know which is crazier--the complaint itself or Trump's declaration that this "worst and most degenerate newspaper" is a "virtual 'mouthpiece' for the Radical Left Democrat party." Flunked another reading comprehension test, bud.
"If the CBS lawsuit was the functional equivalent of a gun inside a brown paper bag, this complaint is just the bag."
This lawsuit is just astonishing.
1/2
www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-laws...
This lawsuit is just astonishing.
1/2
www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-laws...
Trump tries to stick up The New York Times with a water gun
The lawsuit is beyond parody, even by Trump's standards.
www.publicnotice.co
September 17, 2025 at 8:17 PM
I don't know which is crazier--the complaint itself or Trump's declaration that this "worst and most degenerate newspaper" is a "virtual 'mouthpiece' for the Radical Left Democrat party." Flunked another reading comprehension test, bud.
"Charlie Kirk represented the very worst American political discourse had to offer, and I wish he were still alive so I could say that to him, to his face, over and over again. I wish he lived long enough to see everything that he worked to achieve crumble all around him." ...Elie Mystal, The Nation
September 12, 2025 at 5:28 PM
"Charlie Kirk represented the very worst American political discourse had to offer, and I wish he were still alive so I could say that to him, to his face, over and over again. I wish he lived long enough to see everything that he worked to achieve crumble all around him." ...Elie Mystal, The Nation
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some more fair and balanced reporting (not hard to do): www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Charlie Kirk in his own words: ‘prowling Blacks’ and ‘the great replacement strategy’
The far-right commentator didn’t pull his punches when discussing his reactionary views on current events
www.theguardian.com
September 11, 2025 at 8:45 PM
some more fair and balanced reporting (not hard to do): www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
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We are watching an unprecedented public rejection of federal law enforcement (and, increasingly, by extension, the National Guard as well). It is not hard to see why the public is reacting so strongly to ICE’s abrupt takeover of daily life in America. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/ice-is-eat...
ICE is Eating the Soul of America
Four things that show ICE increasingly considers itself outside the law
www.doomsdayscenario.co
September 9, 2025 at 3:25 PM
We are watching an unprecedented public rejection of federal law enforcement (and, increasingly, by extension, the National Guard as well). It is not hard to see why the public is reacting so strongly to ICE’s abrupt takeover of daily life in America. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/ice-is-eat...
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History rhymes, and we can learn from the cadence.
September 8, 2025 at 5:40 PM
History rhymes, and we can learn from the cadence.
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I consume a good amount of normie, center-left political content (New Yorker, NYTimes, Atlantic, Bulwark, Hayes, Maddow, etc.) produced mostly by people who've been in the US politics biz for over 2 decades...and in the past month there's been a noticeable shift in tone and urgency.
September 7, 2025 at 2:55 PM
I consume a good amount of normie, center-left political content (New Yorker, NYTimes, Atlantic, Bulwark, Hayes, Maddow, etc.) produced mostly by people who've been in the US politics biz for over 2 decades...and in the past month there's been a noticeable shift in tone and urgency.
At George Mason University, Trump Has Found an Unbending Adversary www.nytimes.com/2025/09/06/u...
At George Mason University, Trump Has Found an Unbending Adversary
www.nytimes.com
September 6, 2025 at 8:16 PM
At George Mason University, Trump Has Found an Unbending Adversary www.nytimes.com/2025/09/06/u...
Let's see. Danish Ørsted company's 80%-completed offshore windfarm project shut down. US conducts covert intelligence actions in Greenland where Trump has his sights on another power grab. Correlation? It doesn't take a...checks rocket science credentials...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/w...
Denmark Summons U.S. Envoy Over Espionage Allegations
www.nytimes.com
August 27, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Let's see. Danish Ørsted company's 80%-completed offshore windfarm project shut down. US conducts covert intelligence actions in Greenland where Trump has his sights on another power grab. Correlation? It doesn't take a...checks rocket science credentials...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/w...
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/w...
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The precise moment when and where in recent weeks America crossed that invisible line from democracy into authoritarianism can and will be debated by future historians, but it’s clear that the line itself has been crossed. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/america-ti...
America Tips Into Fascism
Today is different than before.
www.doomsdayscenario.co
August 25, 2025 at 3:32 PM
The precise moment when and where in recent weeks America crossed that invisible line from democracy into authoritarianism can and will be debated by future historians, but it’s clear that the line itself has been crossed. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/america-ti...
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“Coercing a university president to issue a scripted public apology isn’t enforcement—it’s extortion. It’s the same tactic organized crime always uses: Demand submission, humiliate and make an example of one victim to scare others. That has no place in a democracy, much less in higher education.”
George Mason Must Not Comply With the Government’s Demands (opinion)
If the institution accepts the Office for Civil Rights’ findings, it will not just damage the college’s reputation, it will make all of higher education more vulnerable, says James Finkelstein.
www.insidehighered.com
August 25, 2025 at 1:07 PM
“Coercing a university president to issue a scripted public apology isn’t enforcement—it’s extortion. It’s the same tactic organized crime always uses: Demand submission, humiliate and make an example of one victim to scare others. That has no place in a democracy, much less in higher education.”
DOE formally accused George Mason University of discriminatory DEI policies, demanded a public apology from President Washington, and ordered specific changes in university operations. GMU's AAUP issued a strong two-page response: drive.google.com/file/d/1Joog...
August 23, 2025 at 3:33 PM
DOE formally accused George Mason University of discriminatory DEI policies, demanded a public apology from President Washington, and ordered specific changes in university operations. GMU's AAUP issued a strong two-page response: drive.google.com/file/d/1Joog...
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Virginia Senate alumni stand with GMU President Gregory Washington. We reject the political attacks on his leadership and call on the U.S. Department of Education to end its sham investigation. Our students deserve better.
July 14, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Virginia Senate alumni stand with GMU President Gregory Washington. We reject the political attacks on his leadership and call on the U.S. Department of Education to end its sham investigation. Our students deserve better.
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For years now, many of us have been complaining that this is a stagnating culture and that's why everything is a remake, from fashion to TV to music. I had no idea that even the fascism would be like that, a shoddy unintentionally-caricaturized imitation. Knockoff fascism.
July 15, 2025 at 4:32 AM
For years now, many of us have been complaining that this is a stagnating culture and that's why everything is a remake, from fashion to TV to music. I had no idea that even the fascism would be like that, a shoddy unintentionally-caricaturized imitation. Knockoff fascism.