Shaun Barnes
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scbesque.bsky.social
Shaun Barnes
@scbesque.bsky.social
240 followers 720 following 73 posts
Boston-based lawyer with a bad coffee habit and interests in politics, history, travel and aviation.
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scbesque.bsky.social
#NoKings Boston.
No Kings protest with a sign reading My Grandma fled Nazis, now Gestapo kidnap my neighbors. Photo of the Boston No Kings protest Protestor in an inflatable frog costume holding a No Kings sign. Frog balloon floating above the protest crowd.
October 18, 2025 at 6:16 PM
scbesque.bsky.social
#NoKings Boston.
October 18, 2025 at 6:13 PM
scbesque.bsky.social
#NoKings Boston kicking off in the Common. #bospoli #mapoli
October 18, 2025 at 4:10 PM
scbesque.bsky.social
Important piece from @brianbeutler.bsky.social One feature of conservatives’ refusal to provide any reasoning in emergency docket orders is it allows to see which way the political winds are blowing when they finally rule on the merits & adjust outcomes as needed

open.substack.com/pub/brianbeu...
October 7, 2025 at 1:23 PM
scbesque.bsky.social
Among all its other horrible provisions the House budget bill would also significantly limit fed courts’ ability to restrain Trump admin actions, something Trump has been angling for since March.

Context: www.commoncause.org/resources/ex...
A screenshot from the House Republican budget bill reading: “SEC. 70302. RESTRICTION OF FUNDS. No court of the United States may use appropriated funds to enforce a contempt citation for failure to comply with an injunction or temporary restraining order if no security was given when the injunction or order was issued pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 65(c), whether issued prior to, on, or subsequent to the date of enactment of this section.”
May 22, 2025 at 1:31 PM
scbesque.bsky.social
Josh Kraft’s answers to these questions are…sparse. It’s telling that the most well-developed response is the one trying to distance himself from Trump and it’s the same talking points we’ve heard with nothing about why he’s getting money from Jim Davis or NY-based Paul, Weiss partners.
Massachusetts Playbook chatted with Kraft about some of the policies he’s pitching, and his dad’s association with President Donald Trump that keeps dogging his campaign. Our conversation has been edited for length and clarity: On your housing plan, what do you say to advocates who warn that lowering the number of affordable units that developers are required to build would mean that more of the poorest people in the city aren't able to access housing? Availability equals affordability, and right now with the requirement that 20 percent of units be affordable, nothing is being built. I understand that argument, but big picture, the way out of a housing crisis is to build more housing. If Beacon Hill were to approve local-option rent control, would you support Boston opting in? No. I think government mandated rent control is not good. Boston is reliably ranked as having some of the worst traffic congestion in the nation. Do you have any plans right now, or plans in the works, beyond pausing the construction on bike lanes, to address that? No, I really haven't. I think we've been more focused on the bike lanes. Critics have tied your campaign to Trump, given your father's relationship with him. Why not do more to distance yourself from your dad during the campaign? I have never voted for Donald Trump, nor have I written him a check, as I have gone on the record and said many times. He is, in my opinion, unfit to be president with his ethics, his temperament, then his narcissism, frankly. I love my dad. We agree on many things, but we disagree on Donald Trump. In the end, my dad is not running for mayor. I'm running for mayor, and I need to be judged on my 35 years in the communities, doing real work with the people – many that Donald Trump seeks to remove from our country.
May 9, 2025 at 1:47 PM
scbesque.bsky.social
Big turnout for #Boston’s #HandsOff protest today. #bospoli #mapoli
Protestors on the Boston common fighting for democracy. Protestors on the Boston common fighting for democracy. Protestors on the streets of Boston fighting for democracy.
April 5, 2025 at 5:02 PM
scbesque.bsky.social
What utter contempt for his constituents Lynch has. Maybe someone should take his advice here. #mapoli #bospoli

www.masslive.com/politics/202...
February 22, 2025 at 3:03 PM
scbesque.bsky.social
50501 President’s Day Protest on the Boston Common. #mapoli #bospoli
February 17, 2025 at 4:43 PM
scbesque.bsky.social
Just finished this fascinating book by Justene Hill Edwards. A great lesson in how well-meaning people can go astray when they ignore the needs of communities they’re purporting to help and how quickly financial institutions can go off the rails absent robust governance and oversight.
November 24, 2024 at 10:53 PM