Mike Fancher
mikefancher.bsky.social
Mike Fancher
@mikefancher.bsky.social
Retired newspaper editor (The Seattle Times), president of the Washington Coalition for Open Government. Comments are my own.
How dangerous is the Trump presidency? Watch this.
www.facebook.com/share/v/17sC...
Redirecting...
www.facebook.com
November 30, 2025 at 10:35 PM
“A Drug Enforcement Administration agent, who worked on the investigation into Mr. Hernández and spoke anonymously…, called the pardon ‘lunacy.’”

Trump Announces Pardon for Honduran Ex-President Convicted in Drug Case www.nytimes.com/2025/11/28/w...
Trump Announces Pardon for Honduran Ex-President Convicted in Drug Case
www.nytimes.com
November 29, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Reposted by Mike Fancher
September 26, 2025 at 12:05 AM
As we discuss whether the military should disobey illegal orders let’s remember that Hegseth fired the top military experts who might declare that a Trump order is illegal.
apnews.com/article/pent... says he fired the top military lawyers because they weren't well suited for the jobs
Hegseth says he fired the top military lawyers because they weren't well suited for the jobs
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says he is replacing the top lawyers for the military services because he doesn't think they are “well-suited” to provide recommendations when lawful orders are given.
apnews.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Reposted by Mike Fancher
Bone-sawed body parts don't just "happen."
Disgusting.
Trump suggests Khashoggi had it coming: "You're mentioning someone that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it. You don't have to embarrass our guest."
November 18, 2025 at 7:12 PM
This man is not well. Kudos to ABC reporter Mary Bruce for doing her job. How ironic that Trump aggressively attacks her for being hostile.
youtu.be/pdh1dYvvrsk
'You're a terrible person': Trump slams ABC News reporter after Epstein question 
YouTube video by NBC News
youtu.be
November 18, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Reposted by Mike Fancher
No health care, no deal.
November 10, 2025 at 1:33 AM
Reposted by Mike Fancher
2/2

You think Dem voters would have turned out in the numbers, and with the enthusiasm, they did JUST FIVE DAYS AGO if they thought the party was going cave like this? Jesus
November 10, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Reposted by Mike Fancher
-Oct 18, more than 7 million Americans stand up and stand together.

-Nov 4, millions of Dems turn out for landslide wins in VA, NJ, NY, CA, GA, many other places.

-Nov 9, eight "Dems" say "Oh, this nice Mike Johnson and Mr. Trump say they care about health. If they don't, well shame on them..."
November 10, 2025 at 2:55 AM
During this meeting Trump clearly fell asleep in his chair while Dr. Oz was speaking. Was he sleep when the person fainted and in a stupor when this photo was taken? Obviously a serious concern in any event.
Will This Photo Define the Trump Years? open.substack.com/pub/america/...
Will This Photo Define the Trump Years?
A Saturday Prompt
open.substack.com
November 8, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Reposted by Mike Fancher
Trump is unstable, unpredictable, and too emotionally fragile. He’s willing to jeopardize $3.6 billion in daily trade between the US and Canada over a television ad.

We must take away the remote and his authority to impose tariffs on a whim.
October 24, 2025 at 8:18 PM
In how many ways is Trump acting like a dictator? Let us count some of them.
October 23, 2025
open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
October 23, 2025
Julia Ainsley and Didi Martinez of NBC News reported today that Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s rush to get new recruits onto the street has meant they have pushed into their training program mo...
open.substack.com
October 24, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Can we just say Trump and his cronies are thieves.
Trump Said to Demand Justice Dept. Pay Him $230 Million for Past Cases www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/u...
Trump Said to Demand Justice Dept. Pay Him $230 Million for Past Cases
www.nytimes.com
October 21, 2025 at 6:49 PM
White House begins demolishing East Wing facade to build Trump’s ballroom.
How symbolic for Trump’s assault on our county, its values, institutions, laws, freedoms, etc.
Once they are gone they are gone for good.
Think about it and act before it’s too late.
October 20, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Repatriation seems kind of convenient for the Trump administration, doesn’t it.
wapo.st/4hiqKbn
U.S. to repatriate survivors of drug boat strike to Colombia, Ecuador
It is unclear if the two surviving alleged drug smugglers have any links to Venezuelan criminal organizations.
wapo.st
October 18, 2025 at 9:44 PM
Reposted by Mike Fancher
Justice Brett Kavanaugh: “If the officers learn that the individual they stopped is a U.S. citizen...they promptly let the individual go."

The reality: Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents.

A must read from the very talented @nicolefoy.bsky.social:
More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.
The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...
www.propublica.org
October 16, 2025 at 6:54 PM
Another Trump dagger to the heart of the rule of law.
Story says, “The move is the president’s latest effort to weaponize the Department of Justice to punish political rivals.”
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Letitia James criminally charged in Trump’s latest effort to punish rivals
Prosecutor who sought charges was installed amid Trump frustrations with pace of investigations against rivals
www.theguardian.com
October 9, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Filthy lucre.
Treasury Defends Lawfulness of Minting a $1 Trump Coin www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/u...
Treasury Defends Lawfulness of Minting a $1 Trump Coin
www.nytimes.com
October 7, 2025 at 2:09 AM
Reposted by Mike Fancher
Good and realistic piece by @clarajeffery.bsky.social

Our most populous, most productive, most powerful, and most federal-tax-paying state can do more to throw its weight around. And stop a bully.
Illinois just joined the legal fight to keep Trump from sending red states National Guards into blue states. www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...

Once you start looking for evidence that soft secession might happen you see it everywhere: www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
It’s time for soft secession
How blue states can use their economic clout to stand up to Trump’s agenda—starting with California.
www.motherjones.com
October 6, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Steve Schmidt: We, the American people, will not succumb to this rogue fascist administration.
Watch it.
Ex-GOP strategist Steve Schmidt says “There will be a moment where every email; where every detail; where every criminal act that has taken place during this rogue, fascist administration comes to be known– and is held to account…We live in a free country.”
www.msnbc.com/ali-velshi/w...
“We live in a free country”: Steve Schmidt condemns Trump’s war on Americans
All in one week, federal agents stormed a Chicago apartment complex, Donald Trump told 800 of the military’s top brass that America’s cities should be used as “training grounds” and that American citi...
www.msnbc.com
October 6, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Encouraging take on the government shutdown and political consequences. Worth watching.
October 5, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Reposted by Mike Fancher
I’m just going to keep repeating that undocumented immigrant workers actually _help subsidize federal programs for everybody else_.

In 2022 alone, they paid $25.7 billion into Social Security and $6.4 billion into Medicare—both programs they can’t access due to their legal status👇🏽
October 5, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Mike Fancher
Trump and the right wing bullshit machine working in high gear to motivate and justify a (potentially violent) federal response to unrest that is largely a figment of their imagination and (where it is real) a reaction to federal agitation. A vicious, intentional, and intensifying cycle.
Trump: Portland is burning to the ground—insurrectionists all over the place. The politicians are afraid for their lives. That’s the only reason they say there’s nothing happening.
October 5, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Devastating assessment.
But what motivates Roberts?How Chief Justice John Roberts Rewrote the Constitution and Helped Trump Return to Power
open.substack.com/pub/zeteo/p/...
How Chief Justice John Roberts Rewrote the Constitution and Helped Trump Return to Power
In an excerpt from her new book, Lisa Graves, one of the leading experts on this right-wing Supreme Court, outlines how Roberts and his fellow politicians in robes have helped undermine our democracy.
open.substack.com
October 5, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Don't look away. Don't be silent. Don't obey.
October 3, 2025 at 8:13 PM