Joseph O'Sullivan
@olympiajoe.bsky.social
Journalist covering politics/gov’t/democracy/crisis. Ex-Cascade PBS, Seattle Times, Rapid City Journal. PNW/Jersey shore https://olympiajoe.substack.com/
Pinned
Joseph O'Sullivan
@olympiajoe.bsky.social
· May 20
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is on a quest to bring back the Blue Dogs
The Democratic congresswoman's strategy of appealing to working class rural moderates won her Washington's 3rd District. Will it work anywhere else?
www.cascadepbs.org
NEW: Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is on a quest to bring back the Blue Dogs-
The Democratic congresswoman's strategy of appealing to working class rural moderates won her Washington's 3rd District. Will it work anywhere else?
For @cascadepbsnewsroom.bsky.social
www.cascadepbs.org/politics/202...
The Democratic congresswoman's strategy of appealing to working class rural moderates won her Washington's 3rd District. Will it work anywhere else?
For @cascadepbsnewsroom.bsky.social
www.cascadepbs.org/politics/202...
'It’s a moment, a mood, an ethos and an enduring way of being, the hallmark characteristics of which — anticorporatism, anti-authoritarianism, ironic detachment, artistic independence, an existential horror of selling out and a live-and-let-live philosophy of life — feel like the antidote ...'
"An ability to see through zealotry and self-involvement, to reject the solipsism of self-actualization and the crassness of materialism, is a positive response, and often a generative one." —Amanda Fortini on Generation X for T Magazine
Is Gen X Actually the Greatest Generation?
How one era changed everything about the culture — and why we’re so nostalgic for its creations.
www.nytimes.com
December 8, 2025 at 5:46 PM
'It’s a moment, a mood, an ethos and an enduring way of being, the hallmark characteristics of which — anticorporatism, anti-authoritarianism, ironic detachment, artistic independence, an existential horror of selling out and a live-and-let-live philosophy of life — feel like the antidote ...'
Reposted by Joseph O'Sullivan
New from The Seattle Times and KUOW:
Antonio Mays Jr. was capturing on video, speaking about police reform to a crowd of protesters, just three days before he was shot and killed at CHOP in 2020.
This is a new data point in the 5-year-old question of who Mays was and what he was doing at CHOP.
Antonio Mays Jr. was capturing on video, speaking about police reform to a crowd of protesters, just three days before he was shot and killed at CHOP in 2020.
This is a new data point in the 5-year-old question of who Mays was and what he was doing at CHOP.
New footage of teen killed at Seattle CHOP discovered on eve of trial
The clip was in hundreds of hours of video livestreamed by Omari Salisbury, one of the first reporters on the scene after Antonio Mays Jr.’s unsolved shooting.
www.seattletimes.com
December 5, 2025 at 6:38 PM
New from The Seattle Times and KUOW:
Antonio Mays Jr. was capturing on video, speaking about police reform to a crowd of protesters, just three days before he was shot and killed at CHOP in 2020.
This is a new data point in the 5-year-old question of who Mays was and what he was doing at CHOP.
Antonio Mays Jr. was capturing on video, speaking about police reform to a crowd of protesters, just three days before he was shot and killed at CHOP in 2020.
This is a new data point in the 5-year-old question of who Mays was and what he was doing at CHOP.
'The skeleton key here is Nuzzi’s generic invocation of “access to the powerful”—the dynamic that governs what gets written about the most influential figures in our civic life, and how it continues to defile any intelligible notion of the public interest.'
The more damning, and likely more accurate, moral of the Nuzzi set piece is that this is the business model of Olivia Nuzzi’s public career—together with the bloated and corrupt enterprise of Beltway journalism writ large.
https://bit.ly/3KiCvCp
https://bit.ly/3KiCvCp
The Nuzzi Siege of Power
The journalist's rise and fall and rise again looks like a performance of tabloid drama. But really, it's Beltway access reporting taken to its natural extreme.
bit.ly
November 26, 2025 at 5:21 PM
'The skeleton key here is Nuzzi’s generic invocation of “access to the powerful”—the dynamic that governs what gets written about the most influential figures in our civic life, and how it continues to defile any intelligible notion of the public interest.'
Reposted by Joseph O'Sullivan
One recently released document showed federal officers apparently shot pepper balls at a Portland Police Bureau sergeant during a protest on Oct. 20.
Several officers then exited the ICE facility and confronted the sergeant in-person outside, reportedly telling him “help or get out of our way.”
Several officers then exited the ICE facility and confronted the sergeant in-person outside, reportedly telling him “help or get out of our way.”
Oregon AG, county prosecutors warn federal officers that excessive force will be investigated
Elected prosecutors from Oregon’s three largest counties along with Oregon’s attorney general say they’ll investigate federal law enforcement officers when their actions appear criminal.
www.opb.org
November 25, 2025 at 9:19 PM
One recently released document showed federal officers apparently shot pepper balls at a Portland Police Bureau sergeant during a protest on Oct. 20.
Several officers then exited the ICE facility and confronted the sergeant in-person outside, reportedly telling him “help or get out of our way.”
Several officers then exited the ICE facility and confronted the sergeant in-person outside, reportedly telling him “help or get out of our way.”
Reposted by Joseph O'Sullivan
Everyone reading that new Lizza post like Herzog listening to the bear attack recording
November 22, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Everyone reading that new Lizza post like Herzog listening to the bear attack recording
In Minnesota, leaders of an Old Apostolic Lutheran Church community enabled a child abuser by telling his victims that once the sins were “washed away,” they could never speak of them again.
Clint Massie’s abuse was an open secret among the congregation: Mothers warned their daughters to stay away from him, according to victims. Church leaders sent him to a therapist who specialized in sex offender treatment.
None of the preachers reported Massie’s crimes to police.
None of the preachers reported Massie’s crimes to police.
Young girls were sexually abused by a Duluth church member. They were told to forgive and forget.
In Minnesota, leaders of an Old Apostolic Lutheran Church community enabled a child abuser by telling his victims that once the sins were “washed away,” they could never speak of them again.
bit.ly
November 22, 2025 at 4:06 PM
In Minnesota, leaders of an Old Apostolic Lutheran Church community enabled a child abuser by telling his victims that once the sins were “washed away,” they could never speak of them again.
'Once limited to policing the nation’s boundaries, the Border Patrol has built a surveillance system stretching into the country’s interior that can monitor ordinary Americans’ daily actions and connections for anomalies instead of simply targeting wanted suspects.'
This shit is all kinds of unconstitutional.
apnews.com/article/immi...
Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with 'suspicious' travel patterns
apnews.com/article/immi...
Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with 'suspicious' travel patterns
Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with 'suspicious' travel patterns
The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious.
apnews.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:12 PM
'Once limited to policing the nation’s boundaries, the Border Patrol has built a surveillance system stretching into the country’s interior that can monitor ordinary Americans’ daily actions and connections for anomalies instead of simply targeting wanted suspects.'
Reposted by Joseph O'Sullivan
The ACLU and the EFF are suing San Jose over its Flock cameras. There are nearly 500 cameras in the city. It is essentially impossible to drive anywhere in the city without being tracked. Cameras outside of immigration law firms, abortion clinics, places of worship
www.404media.co/aclu-and-eff...
www.404media.co/aclu-and-eff...
ACLU and EFF Sue a City Blanketed With Flock Surveillance Cameras
“Most drivers are unaware that San Jose’s Police Department is tracking their locations and do not know all that their saved location data can reveal about their private lives and activities."
www.404media.co
November 18, 2025 at 8:15 PM
The ACLU and the EFF are suing San Jose over its Flock cameras. There are nearly 500 cameras in the city. It is essentially impossible to drive anywhere in the city without being tracked. Cameras outside of immigration law firms, abortion clinics, places of worship
www.404media.co/aclu-and-eff...
www.404media.co/aclu-and-eff...
Reposted by Joseph O'Sullivan
I will never forget having to edit Jamal’s final, posthumous piece for the Washington Post, after he was murdered.
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
Opinion | Jamal Khashoggi: What the Arab world needs most is free expression
The Arab world needs a modern version of the old transnational media so citizens can be informed about global events.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:48 PM
I will never forget having to edit Jamal’s final, posthumous piece for the Washington Post, after he was murdered.
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
He was calling for free expression in the Arab world. You can read it here :
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/glo...
Reposted by Joseph O'Sullivan
Here's who's in the Pentagon's new "press corps," covering world's most powerful military:
Out: New York Times, Washington Post.
In: Tim Pool's Timcast, Gateway Pundit, the MyPillow guy's LindellTV.
wapo.st/49iiXbn @scottnover.bsky.social
Out: New York Times, Washington Post.
In: Tim Pool's Timcast, Gateway Pundit, the MyPillow guy's LindellTV.
wapo.st/49iiXbn @scottnover.bsky.social
Pentagon announces a new right-wing press corps after mass walkout
A new crop of conservative media and influencers signed an agreement with the Pentagon, including the Gateway Pundit, the Post Millennial, Human Events and the National Pulse.
wapo.st
October 22, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Here's who's in the Pentagon's new "press corps," covering world's most powerful military:
Out: New York Times, Washington Post.
In: Tim Pool's Timcast, Gateway Pundit, the MyPillow guy's LindellTV.
wapo.st/49iiXbn @scottnover.bsky.social
Out: New York Times, Washington Post.
In: Tim Pool's Timcast, Gateway Pundit, the MyPillow guy's LindellTV.
wapo.st/49iiXbn @scottnover.bsky.social
Reposted by Joseph O'Sullivan
Good evening. We estimate that between 4.2 and 7.6 million people turned out for the No Kings Day demonstrations held around the country on Saturday. This makes Oct 18 very likely the biggest single-day U.S. protest event since 1970. www.gelliottmorris.com/p/second-no-...
Second "No Kings Day" protests likely the largest single-day political demonstration since 1970, with 4.2-7.6 million participants
Here are the initial results from our crowdsourced crowd-counting estimates
www.gelliottmorris.com
October 19, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Good evening. We estimate that between 4.2 and 7.6 million people turned out for the No Kings Day demonstrations held around the country on Saturday. This makes Oct 18 very likely the biggest single-day U.S. protest event since 1970. www.gelliottmorris.com/p/second-no-...
‘Current and former national security officials … describe the legions of masked immigration officers operating in near-total anonymity on the orders of the president as the crossing of a line that had long set the United States apart from the world’s most repressive regimes.‘
It is not a coincidence that ICE/DHS are the only part of state capacity that Trump is expanding, and also that they are engaged in brazenly unconstitutional acts.
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
How Trump is Building a Violent, Shadowy Federal Police Force
Trump’s DHS appointees have dismantled civil rights guardrails, protected agents’ anonymity and encouraged them to wear masks, threatened groups that stood in their way, and overwhelmed legal challeng...
www.propublica.org
October 19, 2025 at 12:53 PM
‘Current and former national security officials … describe the legions of masked immigration officers operating in near-total anonymity on the orders of the president as the crossing of a line that had long set the United States apart from the world’s most repressive regimes.‘
Reposted by Joseph O'Sullivan
Good morning! Our database is now LIVE. Please flag us any social media posts, news reports, or official reports of crowd counts.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
October 18, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Good morning! Our database is now LIVE. Please flag us any social media posts, news reports, or official reports of crowd counts.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Reposted by Joseph O'Sullivan
Across all the major outlets — NYT, WSJ, WaPo, LAT, CNN, ABC, CBS, Fox News, NBC, CNBC, NPR, Bloomberg — the only outlet without a No Kings story on its home page is CBS News.
For every other outlet, it's near the top. Even Fox News is running with "Nationwide unrest looms as thousands mobilize"
For every other outlet, it's near the top. Even Fox News is running with "Nationwide unrest looms as thousands mobilize"
October 18, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Across all the major outlets — NYT, WSJ, WaPo, LAT, CNN, ABC, CBS, Fox News, NBC, CNBC, NPR, Bloomberg — the only outlet without a No Kings story on its home page is CBS News.
For every other outlet, it's near the top. Even Fox News is running with "Nationwide unrest looms as thousands mobilize"
For every other outlet, it's near the top. Even Fox News is running with "Nationwide unrest looms as thousands mobilize"
Big No Kings turnout in tiny & conservative Ship Bottom NJ
October 18, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Big No Kings turnout in tiny & conservative Ship Bottom NJ
Reposted by Joseph O'Sullivan
These are examples of how ICE is operating in Oregon.
ICE in Oregon: Pointing rifles at family, stopping teens at gunpoint, pinning man during arrest
These are examples of how ICE is operating in Oregon.
www.oregonlive.com
October 18, 2025 at 12:01 PM
These are examples of how ICE is operating in Oregon.
Reposted by Joseph O'Sullivan
Extraordinary NEW story: We Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days. @nicolefoy.bsky.social w/ photos by @sbmaneyphoto.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 4:04 PM
Extraordinary NEW story: We Found That More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days. @nicolefoy.bsky.social w/ photos by @sbmaneyphoto.bsky.social
Notes on a Nor'easter, Saturday's No Kings rallies, and my upcoming open mic reading in Somers Point NJ.
olympiajoe.substack.com/p/flood-it-a...
olympiajoe.substack.com/p/flood-it-a...
Flood it again
I love a good Nor'easter. Plus, a note on the No Kings demonstrations Oct. 18, and my upcoming reading in Somers Point, NJ.
olympiajoe.substack.com
October 15, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Notes on a Nor'easter, Saturday's No Kings rallies, and my upcoming open mic reading in Somers Point NJ.
olympiajoe.substack.com/p/flood-it-a...
olympiajoe.substack.com/p/flood-it-a...
Reposted by Joseph O'Sullivan
Rupert Murdoch is awful, but he was an actual newspaper person who understood that alienating your core audience is not good business. For Bezos, the Post was a vanity project, and is now a loss leader to protect his other interests.
Lmao WaPo has fewer than 100K circulation now. It turns out “alienate your liberal subscriber base” is not a good strategy when the Republicans also hate you. www.forbes.com/sites/andyme...
The Washington Post Is Running Out Of Readers Willing To Pay
Once a titan of American journalism, The Washington Post now struggles to reach even 100,000 print subscribers most days.
www.forbes.com
October 14, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Rupert Murdoch is awful, but he was an actual newspaper person who understood that alienating your core audience is not good business. For Bezos, the Post was a vanity project, and is now a loss leader to protect his other interests.
Reposted by Joseph O'Sullivan
Lately, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) has been siding with Democrats to call for extensions to health care subsidies and supporting an effort both Speaker Johnson and President Trump oppose to force a vote on releasing Epstein files.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, tearing into her own party, says GOP men in Congress are ‘weak’
“There’s a lot of weak Republican men and they’re more afraid of strong Republican women,” Greene said.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 14, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Lately, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia) has been siding with Democrats to call for extensions to health care subsidies and supporting an effort both Speaker Johnson and President Trump oppose to force a vote on releasing Epstein files.
'They posited that the recent influx of German and Irish immigrants was responsible for a decline in U.S. moral standards and were part of a Catholic conspiracy to seize power.'
Lots of my own people forget our ancestors were targets of nativists-
wapo.st/3W7AfjQ
Lots of my own people forget our ancestors were targets of nativists-
wapo.st/3W7AfjQ
Anti-immigrant riots shook American cities. In D.C., Marines were sent into the streets.
This was 1857, and violence had been fanned by the American Party, which posited that the influx of German and Irish immigrants was responsible for declining moral standards.
wapo.st
October 14, 2025 at 12:51 PM
'They posited that the recent influx of German and Irish immigrants was responsible for a decline in U.S. moral standards and were part of a Catholic conspiracy to seize power.'
Lots of my own people forget our ancestors were targets of nativists-
wapo.st/3W7AfjQ
Lots of my own people forget our ancestors were targets of nativists-
wapo.st/3W7AfjQ
Reposted by Joseph O'Sullivan
A WGN-TV video editor and producer was roughly detained by two Border Patrol agents on Friday morning during a highly visible rush hour enforcement action in Lincoln Square.
WGN-TV producer detained during ICE enforcement action in Lincoln Square
A WGN-TV video editor and producer was roughly detained by two Border Patrol agents on Friday morning during a highly visible rush hour enforcement action in Lincoln Square.
trib.al
October 10, 2025 at 6:32 PM
A WGN-TV video editor and producer was roughly detained by two Border Patrol agents on Friday morning during a highly visible rush hour enforcement action in Lincoln Square.
Reposted by Joseph O'Sullivan
A professor who drew the ire of some South Dakota politicians for a 700-word social media post on conservative activist Charlie Kirk says calls to punish educators for their private views will take the U.S. down a "dangerous path."
Read more: buff.ly/YdvjkaZ
Read more: buff.ly/YdvjkaZ
southdakotasearchlight.com
October 11, 2025 at 7:01 PM
A professor who drew the ire of some South Dakota politicians for a 700-word social media post on conservative activist Charlie Kirk says calls to punish educators for their private views will take the U.S. down a "dangerous path."
Read more: buff.ly/YdvjkaZ
Read more: buff.ly/YdvjkaZ
Reposted by Joseph O'Sullivan
“The Sun-Times has documented four unmarked cars carrying federal officers without required plates, offering another way to shield their identities. Federal officials say they’re meeting regulations.”
Federal immigration officers wear masks, no name tags — now some drive cars without license plates
The Sun-Times has documented four unmarked cars carrying federal officers without required plates, offering another way to shield their identities. Federal officials say they’re meeting regulations.
chicago.suntimes.com
October 12, 2025 at 12:49 AM
“The Sun-Times has documented four unmarked cars carrying federal officers without required plates, offering another way to shield their identities. Federal officials say they’re meeting regulations.”
Reposted by Joseph O'Sullivan
And absolutely nothing comes close to replacing it…
“All of Washington is short on the dogged reporting needed to maintain a healthy society."
My elegy for Crosscut/Cascade PBS inside our obit roundup:
www.cascadepbs.org/inside-casca...
My elegy for Crosscut/Cascade PBS inside our obit roundup:
www.cascadepbs.org/inside-casca...
Remembering Crosscut: 18 years of independent journalism in WA
As Cascade PBS sunsets its digital newsroom, formerly Crosscut, current and former staff members reflect on some of the outlet’s impactful reporting.
www.cascadepbs.org
October 13, 2025 at 12:31 PM
And absolutely nothing comes close to replacing it…