Paul Bea (paulbea.bsky.social)

Retired advisor on port/maritime policy matters in a time of great change. Believer in responsible, humanistic, church-free, functioning democratic government.

[Paul Bea (paulbea.bsky.social) @pbea]

Do influential Republicans in the business and scientific communities just standby as elements of American leadership in wide ranging research are weakened and eliminated? The answer is apparent. Few if any have been publicly objecting.

[POLITICO @politico]

A judge said the Trump administration can’t dismantle a weather research center. The damage may already be done. https://t.co/LiakIdTYBW

[Paul Bea (paulbea.bsky.social) @pbea]

@burgessev @mkraju Good, now make it happen, Mr. Minority Leader.
Returning the Senate to active oversight of the Executive Branch is the absolute priority. We can’t afford 2 more years of congressional subservience to a corrupt, incompetent President who is destroying the world view of America.

[Tara Blume @tcblume]

Science gasps for breath. They are removing all the ocean monitors to understand changes in currents and climate, and the excuse is a master class in obfuscation & double speak . (1/2) https://t.co/vs782YbcI3

[Paul Bea (paulbea.bsky.social) @pbea]

@MarcoFoster_ @ShawnRyan762 @ShawnRyanShow Seems? SEEMS???

[Paul Bea (paulbea.bsky.social) @pbea]

@DavidAFrench Unlike Fetterman, as example, Platner’s policy positions & rhetoric aren’t Republican adjacent. The 2026 election is most importantly about 1 thing: returning Congress to its Constitutional oversight function. Collins accommodates the immorality & illegality of Trump/MAGA’s reign

[Paul Bea (paulbea.bsky.social) @pbea]

I did not do well with Econ 101, but I do know there’s a difference between “spending more” and people doing more spending. Optimism = more spending. Inflation = spending more.

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

Hassett: "People are spending more on gas, but they're also spending more on everything else -- not just groceries, but restaurants and so on. I think that's a sign you see when people are optimistic about the future."

[Graham Platner for Senate @grahamformaine]

A message from my wife Amy:

[Paul Bea (paulbea.bsky.social) @pbea]

@magachrchpastr Amen and shine on, Rev!

[Paul Bea (paulbea.bsky.social) @pbea]

Finally, I found a megachurch pastor — indeed one with a very similar name — who I can follow. He has the integrity, character, morality and believability that would qualify him for any seat in the Trump Cabinet. He would fit right in. He could lead their idolatry meetings.

[Magachurch Pastor🙏🇺🇸 @magachrchpastr]

Quick reminder, my church is not a cult. It's just that people give me all their money and also have to do what I say. BTW, this is my Uncle Jim who started the church with my dad way back in the 70's. I miss him every day😢🙏🇺🇸

[Marc E. Elias @marceelias]

🚨BREAKING: The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) said in a yet-to-be-published proposed rule Friday that it’s drawing up plans to radically crack down on mail voting by sending ballots only to voters who are registered with the federal government. https://t.co/CtdWu9VyhI

[Paul Bea (paulbea.bsky.social) @pbea]

For anyone who doesn’t have a good sense of how Trump’s arch would fit in the landscape (yes, it’s that big) and why he wants it done, watch this. Retweet. #trumpsarch #arlington

[𝔗𝔯𝔲𝔱𝔥 𝔐𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 @politicsusa46]

Kasie Hunt from CNN tells you everything about who Trump is and why we find ourselves in these dreadful tyrannical times I’m afraid.

🎥 TikTok - https://t.co/lrDilImiuM

[𝔗𝔯𝔲𝔱𝔥 𝔐𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 @politicsusa46]

Kasie Hunt from CNN tells you everything about who Trump is and why we find ourselves in these dreadful tyrannical times I’m afraid.

🎥 TikTok - https://t.co/lrDilImiuM

[Paul Bea (paulbea.bsky.social) @pbea]

@umichvoter @brhodes The 1st time, years ago, I was aware of her in Congress, I watched on C-SPAN as she hyper-emotionally spoke - screamed even - about something that hardly seemed warranted that performance on the House floor. From there I found it hard to take her seriously. Michigan can do better

[Rahm Emanuel @RahmEmanuel]

There are three doors a child walks through that will determine their future: the front door of the home, the front door of the school, and the front door of the place of worship. If those three doors are not aligned, it impacts a child’s education and future.

Today, 50% of our kids cannot read at grade level. Republicans have abandoned public education, Democrats have abandoned standards and accountability, and our kids are the ones paying the ultimate price.

[Paul Bea (paulbea.bsky.social) @pbea]

Monday #Maritune: Modern English HANDS ACROSS THE SEA “Stretch your hands across the sea | Sitting in my room, nothing much to say | I heard you calling 1000 miles away | I did not mean to hurt you, you took me by surprise | There is still a chance..." https://t.co/S9mLWeefdW

[Paul Bea (paulbea.bsky.social) @pbea]

“I think of the Ukrainian comedian who has defied the Russian bear. I think of the vice president who found his voice when an angry mob came for his head. I think of a Canadian prime minister who stood up to a president. … And now I think of a Republican state senator…”

[David French @DavidAFrench]

"We don’t often think, however, that healthy political parties can make each other better. Yet this also makes sense. To defeat a viable opponent, a party has to rise to the challenge. It has to fix its failures. It has to innovate. Defeating a sclerotic rump of a party is no achievement. Instead, one-party rule enables corruption. It fosters stagnation."

Shane Massey gets it. Not many people do:

https://t.co/QDWlmWmoTs

[𝔗𝔯𝔲𝔱𝔥 𝔐𝔞𝔱𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔰 @politicsusa46]

Just sayin’

Thanks to Viral Finance Charts for the clip.

🎥 TikTok - https://t.co/7CkQGoq5X0

[Paul Bea (paulbea.bsky.social) @pbea]

Republicans lost no time in naming things after Ronald Reagan, except they waited for him to leave office. This reminds me of the renaming of National Airport over objections of the airport authority and putting his name on the DC “trade center” whose project Reagan had opposed.

[Mike Levin @MikeLevin]

Lost in the news this week: the real story behind Palm Beach International becoming Trump International is not the renaming.

It is the coercion that produced it and the extraordinary terms hidden inside the deal.

County staff told commissioners that refusing would put state transportation funding and grant assurances at risk.

DeSantis has already removed state attorneys and school board members who crossed him. That is the climate one Democratic commissioner cast her deciding vote in.

And the agreement itself is not a normal honorary naming.

The Trump family company retains the right to pick vendors, license the name to third parties, and sell branded merchandise off-site.

This is not an honor bestowed as much as it is a shakedown.
https://t.co/a3nrrv4s3F

[Paul Bea (paulbea.bsky.social) @pbea]

Been there. It’s big, beautiful and underutilized.

[scha·den·freu·de  @BlisterPearl]

The US government already has a ballroom just down the street. The Andrew Mellon Auditorium is less than a mile away from the White House is beautiful and accommodates more people than the new ballroom will and is owned by the U.S. Government.
via Shelia Earl

[Paul Bea (paulbea.bsky.social) @pbea]

A legacy look-alike.

Trumpflation, by @deAdder https://t.co/1mTjofjXg3