Rich Whiteley
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richwhiteley.bsky.social
Rich Whiteley
@richwhiteley.bsky.social
Musician, producer, songwriter, bandleader, guitars, vocals, etc. https://linktr.ee/richwhiteley
Reposted by Rich Whiteley
I’m pretty sure this is what voters want from their elected officials

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/u...
March 2, 2025 at 1:32 PM
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March 1, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Reposted by Rich Whiteley
Donald Trump is neither a savvy negotiator nor a brilliant dealmaker. He is a craven bully who telegraphs not only his final goal but his next move in achieving it. He is the kind of mark every poker player dreams of having at the table — rich, cocky and dumb. www.democracydocket.com/opinion/the-...
The Coming Attack on Free and Fair Elections
From Marc | If we are to preserve democracy, those of us on the left must prioritize free and fair elections.
www.democracydocket.com
March 2, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Reposted by Rich Whiteley
A major Norwegian fuel company is refusing to provide fuel to U.S. warships after the “shitshow” in the White House yesterday over Ukraine. This is the way. ukdefencejournal.org.uk/norwegian-fu...
Norwegian fuel supplier refuses U.S. warships over Ukraine
Haltbakk Bunkers will cease supplying fuel to U.S. forces in Norway and American ships docking in Norwegian ports, citing dissatisfaction with recent U.S. policy towards Ukraine.
ukdefencejournal.org.uk
March 1, 2025 at 9:36 PM
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March 2, 2025 at 5:29 AM
Reposted by Rich Whiteley
Meanwhile in Russia: TV pundits discussed the drastic change of America's foreign policy under Trump and how Moscow can use it to its advantage. They rejoiced that Trump's enemies are also Russia's enemies. Once again, Vladimir Solovyov threatened Germany.
youtu.be/EEY1wMEqXs0?...
State TV pundits can't believe Russia's luck
YouTube video by Russian Media Monitor
youtu.be
February 27, 2025 at 2:43 AM
Reposted by Rich Whiteley
Meanwhile in Russia: state TV host Vladimir Solovyov boasts that Trump's information comes straight from Putin after their 1 1/2 hour long phone call, as well as the preceding 3 1/2 hour long conversation between Putin and Trump's buddy Steve Witkoff.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyeY...
Vladimir Solovyov says Trump's info comes from Putin
YouTube video by Russian Media Monitor
www.youtube.com
February 20, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Reposted by Rich Whiteley
Israel is now fully backing Russia, they always have been but the masks are off now. Israel has been bombing Syria on behalf of Assad and Russia.
March 2, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Reposted by Rich Whiteley
18F, the federal government’s technology shop, was just demolished by Musk’s team. It was a cost-recoverable org, charging agencies for their expertise, using a consulting model. Its cost to government was negligible, its benefits huge. My team there once saved DoD $500 million.

A thread about 18F:
18F is *precisely* what Musk and team claim should exist within government. But when his team found it, they destroyed it, because it is evidence that government works well (can’t have that!), and because like Zelensky, 18F didn’t bend the knee.
March 1, 2025 at 3:32 PM
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For those who need a refresher course.
March 2, 2025 at 11:06 AM
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March 2, 2025 at 1:14 AM
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The GOP's tax cuts for their billionaire donors ballooned the deficit, so they're blaming the problem on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid — demanding cuts to programs that millions of Americans rely on. It's socialism for the rich, harsh capitalism for everyone else.
March 2, 2025 at 12:01 AM
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March 2, 2025 at 7:24 AM
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I'll never understand how ANY veteran could support him
March 2, 2025 at 11:39 AM
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"What can I do?"

That is the number 1 question I get asked. And at this time in our democracy -- or what remains of it when public servants put their loyalty to a person above their oaths of office— I am grateful that people are asking that question.

Below is a video with my answer:
"What Can I Do?"
Behind The Headlines With Andrew Weissmann, Vol 2.6.c
open.substack.com
March 2, 2025 at 12:06 PM
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March 1, 2025 at 8:12 PM
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I'm going to post this video every day so we never forget what Trump did.
March 2, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Reposted by Rich Whiteley
We already don’t really have fully competitive elections, bc the VRA’s been gutted, voter suppression/suffrage restriction is rampant, etc. After the last 4 weeks, if you don’t think the rules will be rigged further by the far right authoritarian party & the 9 Wizards in Robes b/w now & 2026/8, 🤷‍♂️
The problem with that is we've had such systematic voter suppression & inequality in access to suffrage for so long that we were only really a democracy from 1965-2013. So when you add in the abuses of power/loyalists/etc., we're deteriorating from an already not-fully-democratic baseline.
The harder part is convincing people that in the US their democracy has been mostly dead for its entire history (h/t: @cwolbrecht.bsky.social)
March 2, 2025 at 5:26 AM
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The Putinism of the GOP leadership stinks to high heaven.

Real patriots stand with freedom and democracy around the world. Real patriots defy and defeat oppression. The GOP has been lately working for the oppressors.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
'Who's that good for?': Maddow connects the dots on Donald Trump's behavior toward Russia
Podcast Episode · The Rachel Maddow Show · 03/01/2025 · 43m
podcasts.apple.com
March 1, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Reposted by Rich Whiteley
The US Doge Service's ostensible purpose, per the EO creating it, was "modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency & productivity." It's doing the opposite, per @donmoyn.bsky.social
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/skilled-te...
Skilled technologists are being forced out of government
18F and USDS are gutted by DOGE
donmoynihan.substack.com
March 2, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Reposted by Rich Whiteley
👀👇🏾
Of course Speaker Mike Johnson is living in the $3.7 million DC home of an election-denying, policy-driving “evangelical pastor who has attacked the separation of church and state as ‘a delusional lie’ and called multinational institutions ‘demonic’”…

www.propublica.org/article/mike...
Speaker Mike Johnson Is Living in a D.C. House That Is the Center of a Pastor’s Secretive Influence Campaign
The Capitol Hill townhouse is owned by a major Republican donor. It’s the headquarters of a little-known political influence project that has reached a number of powerful Republican politicians.
www.propublica.org
March 2, 2025 at 1:14 PM
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Garry Kasparov is right, I’m afraid: they are breaking everything so quickly even though it’s unpopular, because they never expect to face real elections again.

www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
March 1, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Reposted by Rich Whiteley
Part of how we're rushing toward the abyss - the lawbreaking is so widespread that they may be unwilling to relinquish power voluntarily for fear of (rightfully) facing prosecution
Garry Kasparov is right, I’m afraid: they are breaking everything so quickly even though it’s unpopular, because they never expect to face real elections again.

www.theatlantic.com/internationa...
March 2, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Reposted by Rich Whiteley
European press is doing a much better job covering the American shit show.

No coverage yet at our major newspaper outlets. A policy backtrack on vaccines seems incredibly newsworthy.

I hope we see stories in the national media today about this.
March 2, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Reposted by Rich Whiteley
This is from today's Drudge Report, which seems to be more honest right now than NYT/WaPo, at least with its headlines. Another sign of the End Times, I guess
March 1, 2025 at 1:22 PM