Sam Petsonk
@squarejustice.bsky.social
Dad. Husband. Lawyer for worker health & safety, better pay, benefits, schools, & recovery. Wellstone Democrat. 🪕⚒✊ Micah 6:8.
"For too long, politics has become about a person as opposed to a platform." - @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
Mamdani Platform:
I'm gonna freeze the - rent!
Buses fast and - free!
Universal - childcare!
When your platform becomes a rallying cry, you're #Winning
Mamdani Platform:
I'm gonna freeze the - rent!
Buses fast and - free!
Universal - childcare!
When your platform becomes a rallying cry, you're #Winning
October 28, 2025 at 7:13 PM
"For too long, politics has become about a person as opposed to a platform." - @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social
Mamdani Platform:
I'm gonna freeze the - rent!
Buses fast and - free!
Universal - childcare!
When your platform becomes a rallying cry, you're #Winning
Mamdani Platform:
I'm gonna freeze the - rent!
Buses fast and - free!
Universal - childcare!
When your platform becomes a rallying cry, you're #Winning
Nearly 2/3 of West Virginians on #Medicaid are already working. Another 29% are caregivers, students or have disabilities.
This ain't "fraud, waste & abuse!"
"These are people doing their best, often under incredibly difficult circumstances." #WV
westvirginiawatch.com/2025/06/17/w...
This ain't "fraud, waste & abuse!"
"These are people doing their best, often under incredibly difficult circumstances." #WV
westvirginiawatch.com/2025/06/17/w...
June 18, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Nearly 2/3 of West Virginians on #Medicaid are already working. Another 29% are caregivers, students or have disabilities.
This ain't "fraud, waste & abuse!"
"These are people doing their best, often under incredibly difficult circumstances." #WV
westvirginiawatch.com/2025/06/17/w...
This ain't "fraud, waste & abuse!"
"These are people doing their best, often under incredibly difficult circumstances." #WV
westvirginiawatch.com/2025/06/17/w...
Reposted by Sam Petsonk
WV coal miners ask federal judge for injunction to keep NIOSH functioning to protect from black lung, reports @caitycoyne.bsky.social buff.ly/dYnGw35
WV coal miners ask federal judge for injunction to keep NIOSH functioning to protect from black lung • West Virginia Watch
WV coal miners ask federal judge for injunction to keep NIOSH functioning to protect from black lung
westvirginiawatch.com
May 7, 2025 at 10:27 PM
WV coal miners ask federal judge for injunction to keep NIOSH functioning to protect from black lung, reports @caitycoyne.bsky.social buff.ly/dYnGw35
Reposted by Sam Petsonk
MSJ is honored to have filed a lawsuit challenging RFK Jr.'s #NIOSH cuts - particularly those impacting WV coal miners' health and safety - alongside @squarejustice.bsky.social and AppalMad. @westvirginiawatch.com westvirginiawatch.com/2025/05/07/w...
WV coal miners ask federal judge for injunction to keep NIOSH functioning to protect from black lung • West Virginia Watch
WV coal miners ask federal judge for injunction to keep NIOSH functioning to protect from black lung
westvirginiawatch.com
May 8, 2025 at 4:04 PM
MSJ is honored to have filed a lawsuit challenging RFK Jr.'s #NIOSH cuts - particularly those impacting WV coal miners' health and safety - alongside @squarejustice.bsky.social and AppalMad. @westvirginiawatch.com westvirginiawatch.com/2025/05/07/w...
WV wouldn't have a single four-lane highway if it weren't for DEI! The Appalachian Regional Commission is one of the original diversity, equity, & inclusion programs. #dei #appalachia #wvpol #wv
April 28, 2025 at 12:54 PM
WV wouldn't have a single four-lane highway if it weren't for DEI! The Appalachian Regional Commission is one of the original diversity, equity, & inclusion programs. #dei #appalachia #wvpol #wv
We must Block the Billionaires who seek to control our society. Whenever they keep someone else down, they get richer & we all suffer.
February 22, 2025 at 6:36 PM
We must Block the Billionaires who seek to control our society. Whenever they keep someone else down, they get richer & we all suffer.
The beloved community is under attack...
www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/op_e...
www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/op_e...
February 10, 2025 at 9:45 PM
The beloved community is under attack...
www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/op_e...
www.wvgazettemail.com/opinion/op_e...
Closing the top agency (USAID) that combats child poverty is as hostile as you can get to religious values of grace, love, & mercy. 💔
To all Bible-believing Christians & all people of good faith, please reflect deeply at what is happening in our name as Americans.
To all Bible-believing Christians & all people of good faith, please reflect deeply at what is happening in our name as Americans.
February 8, 2025 at 2:11 AM
Closing the top agency (USAID) that combats child poverty is as hostile as you can get to religious values of grace, love, & mercy. 💔
To all Bible-believing Christians & all people of good faith, please reflect deeply at what is happening in our name as Americans.
To all Bible-believing Christians & all people of good faith, please reflect deeply at what is happening in our name as Americans.
"Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, you should expect a separation of power,” said long-time WV Legislative Auditor Aaron Allred as he attended a rally at the WV Capitol. “If Congress is not going to be a check on Musk and Trump, we’re going to have to have people peacefully protest..."
February 8, 2025 at 2:08 AM
"Whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican, you should expect a separation of power,” said long-time WV Legislative Auditor Aaron Allred as he attended a rally at the WV Capitol. “If Congress is not going to be a check on Musk and Trump, we’re going to have to have people peacefully protest..."
Reposted by Sam Petsonk
COMMENTARY: As a labor lawyer and community advocate in Southern West Virginia, I was inspired recently by visiting the coalfields in the south of Wales, writes @squarejustice.bsky.social.
Lessons and hope from the coalfields of South Wales
buff.ly
January 17, 2025 at 3:00 PM
COMMENTARY: As a labor lawyer and community advocate in Southern West Virginia, I was inspired recently by visiting the coalfields in the south of Wales, writes @squarejustice.bsky.social.
My argument for investing in childcare as an economic diversification/transition strategy, based lessons from the decline of the regional coal industry in South Wales---very analogous to our current challenges in West Virginia.
westvirginiawatch.com/2025/01/17/l...
westvirginiawatch.com/2025/01/17/l...
Lessons and hope from the coalfields of South Wales • West Virginia Watch
As a labor lawyer and community advocate in Southern West Virginia, I was inspired recently by visiting the coalfields in the south of Wales.
westvirginiawatch.com
January 17, 2025 at 11:39 AM
My argument for investing in childcare as an economic diversification/transition strategy, based lessons from the decline of the regional coal industry in South Wales---very analogous to our current challenges in West Virginia.
westvirginiawatch.com/2025/01/17/l...
westvirginiawatch.com/2025/01/17/l...
"Pride" -- the film about an historic alliance between the Welsh coal miners' union & the lesbian & gay community. Worth a watch for all of us in Appalachia & America who believe in a brighter future!
youtu.be/kZfFvsKDuUU?...
youtu.be/kZfFvsKDuUU?...
Pride Official Trailer #1 (2014) - Bill Nighy, Andrew Scott Historical Comedy HD
YouTube video by Rotten Tomatoes Trailers
youtu.be
January 14, 2025 at 1:29 PM
"Pride" -- the film about an historic alliance between the Welsh coal miners' union & the lesbian & gay community. Worth a watch for all of us in Appalachia & America who believe in a brighter future!
youtu.be/kZfFvsKDuUU?...
youtu.be/kZfFvsKDuUU?...
"If it is true ... that love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence, then any society which excludes, relatively, the development of love, must in the long run perish of its own contradiction with the basic necessities of human nature." - Erich Fromm
December 4, 2024 at 1:37 AM
"If it is true ... that love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence, then any society which excludes, relatively, the development of love, must in the long run perish of its own contradiction with the basic necessities of human nature." - Erich Fromm
It's #SmallBusinessSaturday! Don't fritter away all your money at big retailers owned by private equity firms that are killing American jobs, local enterprises, & communities.
The trinkets aren't worth those harms!
#ShopSmall
#HappyThanksgiving
#NoCreditChristmas
The trinkets aren't worth those harms!
#ShopSmall
#HappyThanksgiving
#NoCreditChristmas
November 30, 2024 at 4:43 PM
It's #SmallBusinessSaturday! Don't fritter away all your money at big retailers owned by private equity firms that are killing American jobs, local enterprises, & communities.
The trinkets aren't worth those harms!
#ShopSmall
#HappyThanksgiving
#NoCreditChristmas
The trinkets aren't worth those harms!
#ShopSmall
#HappyThanksgiving
#NoCreditChristmas
Reposted by Sam Petsonk
The struggle between the #WorkingClass and Big Business is the root of all political struggle. No matter your party. No matter your place. Which side are you on?
#1u
#1u
November 27, 2024 at 4:57 AM
The struggle between the #WorkingClass and Big Business is the root of all political struggle. No matter your party. No matter your place. Which side are you on?
#1u
#1u
The struggle between the #WorkingClass and Big Business is the root of all political struggle. No matter your party. No matter your place. Which side are you on?
#1u
#1u
November 27, 2024 at 4:57 AM
The struggle between the #WorkingClass and Big Business is the root of all political struggle. No matter your party. No matter your place. Which side are you on?
#1u
#1u
300 healthcare workers organized as members of @steelworkers.bsky.social at Logan Regional Medical Center #WV! m.usw.org/news/media-c...
Logan Regional Medical Center Workers Vote to Join USW
The newly unionized workers at the 132-bed acute care facility in Logan, W. Va., include registered nurses, nursing assistants, patient care technicians, phlebotomists, pharmacy technicians, patient t...
m.usw.org
November 26, 2024 at 8:57 PM
300 healthcare workers organized as members of @steelworkers.bsky.social at Logan Regional Medical Center #WV! m.usw.org/news/media-c...
“That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
#gettysburg #notinvain
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/23/u...
#gettysburg #notinvain
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/23/u...
On Blood-Soaked Ground, a ‘Prayer for the Future’ of a Divided Land
Two weeks after the election, a gathering in Gettysburg commemorated Lincoln’s address, 272 words that have come to epitomize what it means to be presidential.
www.nytimes.com
November 24, 2024 at 1:41 PM
“That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
#gettysburg #notinvain
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/23/u...
#gettysburg #notinvain
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/23/u...
"American Coup: Wilmington 1898" @pbs.org.web.brid.gy tells the story of a deadly racist massacre and carefully orchestrated insurrection against a multiracial governing coalition — the only successful coup d’état in the history of the US. Valuable historical insights.
American Coup: Wilmington 1898 | American Experience | PBS
The little-known story of a deadly 1898 race massacre and coup d’état in Wilmington, North Carolina, when white supremacists overthrew the multi-racial government of state’s largest city through a cam...
www.pbs.org
November 24, 2024 at 2:03 AM
"American Coup: Wilmington 1898" @pbs.org.web.brid.gy tells the story of a deadly racist massacre and carefully orchestrated insurrection against a multiracial governing coalition — the only successful coup d’état in the history of the US. Valuable historical insights.
Sitting at a fast food joint in #WV, the cook/cashier (a full-time worker!) says she is cooking her family's Thanksgiving stuffing at work since she doesn't have an oven at her house.
This is America, dammit. I am sick of watching our people suffer amidst such staggering wealth.
#RAISETHEWAGE
This is America, dammit. I am sick of watching our people suffer amidst such staggering wealth.
#RAISETHEWAGE
November 23, 2024 at 7:24 PM
Sitting at a fast food joint in #WV, the cook/cashier (a full-time worker!) says she is cooking her family's Thanksgiving stuffing at work since she doesn't have an oven at her house.
This is America, dammit. I am sick of watching our people suffer amidst such staggering wealth.
#RAISETHEWAGE
This is America, dammit. I am sick of watching our people suffer amidst such staggering wealth.
#RAISETHEWAGE
Check out this riveting new documentary of the successful drive by rank-and-file workers to organize a #union at Amazon! #1u
gathr.com/vod/15c99c8b...
gathr.com/vod/15c99c8b...
UNION - Video On Demand - Gathr
Up against one of the most powerful companies on the planet, a group of Amazon workers embark on an unprecedented campaign to unionize their warehouse in Staten Island, New York. ...
gathr.com
November 22, 2024 at 12:13 PM
Check out this riveting new documentary of the successful drive by rank-and-file workers to organize a #union at Amazon! #1u
gathr.com/vod/15c99c8b...
gathr.com/vod/15c99c8b...
Reposted by Sam Petsonk
The director of West Virginia Head Start, which offers education services to thousands of low-income children, is optimistic that the program will continue despite concerns it could be eliminated under President-elect Donald Trump, reports @amelianews.bsky.social.
West Virginia Head Start confident about its future under Trump administration • West Virginia Watch
The director of West Virginia Head Start, which offers education and wraparound services to thousands of low-income children, is optimistic that the program will continue despite concerns it could be…
buff.ly
November 21, 2024 at 5:08 PM
The director of West Virginia Head Start, which offers education services to thousands of low-income children, is optimistic that the program will continue despite concerns it could be eliminated under President-elect Donald Trump, reports @amelianews.bsky.social.
Reposted by Sam Petsonk
CHART: Red states (like ours 👋🏽) that want to shutter the Dept of Ed and “send the money back to the states” — are the states that get more out than they put in and depend on it most.
Again: We get ~40% of our state budget from the federal government. www.datawrapper.de/_/skaST/
Again: We get ~40% of our state budget from the federal government. www.datawrapper.de/_/skaST/
November 21, 2024 at 4:22 PM
CHART: Red states (like ours 👋🏽) that want to shutter the Dept of Ed and “send the money back to the states” — are the states that get more out than they put in and depend on it most.
Again: We get ~40% of our state budget from the federal government. www.datawrapper.de/_/skaST/
Again: We get ~40% of our state budget from the federal government. www.datawrapper.de/_/skaST/
Reposted by Sam Petsonk
🔥 AOC on Nancy Mace
November 21, 2024 at 1:06 PM
🔥 AOC on Nancy Mace