Michael Sarnoff

Interested in Human Capital, the Human Condition, Sports, Politics, Finance

[The Bulwark @BulwarkOnline]

.@Timodc: "Being separated from your young child for a night by the government because a cruel, insane person called the police and said you are a monster…is totally unacceptable…It's totally against how things work in a free country and I'm happy Pete spoke out."

[Greg Siskind @gsiskind]

In one day, the Supreme Court decimated our asylum and humanitarian protection programs. We began building these protections in collaboration with our allies as a direct response to our failure to offer protection to the millions of victims of Nazi persecution. One day in the future Americans will be asking the question again about why we failed to have a system to protect people from persecution and danger.

[Frank Luntz @FrankLuntz]

This molecular oncologist with 2,400 followers is debating a standup comedian with 720,000+ followers about whether sunscreen causes cancer.

Populism is not just a political phenomenon. It also influences which information gets disseminated widely, based on speaker popularity.

But, as we’ve seen in recent history, the most popular sources of information aren’t always the most knowledgable.

[Headquarters @HQNewsNow]

Unearthed audio: RFK Jr. pushes a third-party candidate to drop out in exchange for a taxpayer-funded position in the federal government:

“I can’t go into specifics because there’s legal prohibitions about that.”

[The Associated Press @AP]

BREAKING: New Mexico's governor calls for criminal probe after AP report that DEA let staggering number of fentanyl pills hit street. https://t.co/MzvtyCdUSj

[Andrea R. Flores @Arosaflores]

This decision could impact 1.3 million people on TPS, some who have been here since the early 90s. This is a devastating loss for millions of American families, and countless employers will soon be losing workers. This is the biggest de-legalization moment in modern history.

[FactPost @factpostnews]

The pastor giving the invocation at the Freedom 250 opening ceremony was sued for allegedly withholding $3.3 million in donations intended for Holocaust survivors.

[Chuck Todd @chucktodd]

One of the hardest stories to convey to the general public is the damage being done by this overt politicizing of the military by Hegseth. There are a lot of soldiers who are quietly trying to speak out but struggle with going outside the chain of command.

[Adam Federman @adamfederman]

Prairieland defendants receive unusually harsh sentences in trial that featured mountains of flimsy evidence, a judge who tipped the scales, and the apparent withholding of key information and evidence by law enforcement including the FBI.
https://t.co/InQr7fdSpK

[Fire Ant Movement Defense @fireantdefense]

Des has been sentenced to 30 years because he & his wife Mari stood up against the concentration camp in their city. He wasn't even at the protest. She got 70 years.

If you think you can stay safe from this by staying home, please take some time to study the history of fascism.

[Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan]

Protesters Accused of Antifa Ties Sentenced to Up to 100 Years in ICE Attack https://t.co/7eMN3ohmDM via @NYTimes

Insane sentences. Same people who protested at 5 or 10 yr sentences for Jan 6 rioters will say nothing about this. Oh, the hypocrisy. Authoritarian for thee, not me.

[Irishrygirl @irishrygirl]

Where have we heard “if you don’t test, you won’t have new cases” before?

[Mike Young @micyoung75]

WSJ tallied over four dozen people Trump has personally named as enemies of the state. Newsom is the latest. Comey, Letitia James, and E. Jean Carroll are on the list. Asked whether he would arrest Newsom, Trump answered on the record, "I would."

Newsom's response is worth studying. He filed a FOIA the day his investigation was announced, seeking every email, text, and Signal message between top DOJ officials referencing him or his wife since January 20, 2025. The point is not the documents. It is forcing a court to either hand them over or rule the investigation itself is legitimate. Exactly what Trump's lawyers do not want litigated.

Timothy Snyder noted this week that recent democratic restorations, Poland 2023 and Hungary 2026, succeeded partly because the opposition campaigned on a clear pledge to prosecute lawbreakers in the prior regime. The pledge was the deterrent.

Whether November is still a real election partly depends on whether the people running the targeting believe they will face accountability. Make sure they understand they will.

[David Frum @davidfrum]

In the old USSR, people could be arrested for photographing bridges, tunnels, etc. A repressive and paranoid regime assumed the photographers must be spies and saboteurs. Americans laughed at such petty tyranny. Nothing like that could happen in their free country! Until now.

[Jeff Barker @JeffBarkermedia]

I’ve resigned from The Baltimore Sun after 25 years of politics and sports reporting. I was proud to have been there during a long period when our reporting followed the facts wherever they happened to lead. I’m not saying anything readers can’t see for themselves, but The Sun has changed since its purchase by David Smith, executive chairman of the Sinclair Broadcast Group. I no longer fit there. I’m grateful to the sources whose trust enabled me to report responsibly, and to the readers who supported our work. I’m exploring new opportunities inside and outside journalism. My DMs are open.

[Kenneth P. Vogel @kenvogel]

SCOOP: A priest who is close to Trump lobbied him to grant clemency to David Gentile.

Gentile privately indicated Father Frank Mann was paid.

EDNY prosecutors opened an investigation into the commutation.

But it was closed by Trump political appointees. https://t.co/nKDryl6D3I

[Kareem Rifai 🌐 @KareemRifai]

This is an utterly insane story: 25,000 documents reviewed by WaPo indicate that throughout Tulsi's career, her political moves were controlled by her guru, cult leader Chris Butler.

This woman was leading the world's largest intelligence apparatus.
https://t.co/6Enu7JgMgR

[Molly Jong-Fast @MollyJongFast]

Authoritarianism but make it very stupid

[Ken Dilanian @KDilanianMSNOW]

“At least 75 career officials who once held roles related to election integrity and safety are gone. Two dozen appointees — including many who either worked to reverse the 2020 vote or are associates of such people — have been hired to replace them.“
https://t.co/YUNJn27fTR

[Chris Murphy 🟧 @ChrisMurphyCT]

The plan is for this plane to be in service for two years and then Trump will take if for himself. No President has ever stolen an Air Force for himself.

And you paid for it. The total cost could be $1 billion of your money for a new luxury jet for Trump and his family.