Ungovernable Ed Walker

Ungovernable Ed Walker

@edwalker.bsky.social

I read a lot of books, Some of them are interesting enough to write about at emptywheel.net. Retired lawyer. Currently reading After Virtue by Alasdair MacIntyre. Avatar: detail from Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden by Masaccio.

826 followers697 following6.6K posts

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Ungovernable Ed Walker
@edwalker.bsky.social

There are three things you need to learn from your media engagements: 1. Am I or my family in danger? 2. How can I help people who are in danger? 3. Who is on my side? Once you've answered those questions, you can safely sign out in order to protect your blood pressure and your sanity.

Ungovernable Ed Walker reposted

Julie Hotard Ph.D., writer, effects of disinfo on social systems
@upine.bsky.social

Replying to @kevinmkruse.bsky.social

Bc he's the go to guy for "centrist" thinking. Which is conventional wisdom. Which is wrong. Which is what mainstream media repeat over & over til it has burned a groove into Democrats' brains. bsky.app/profile/upin... www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/clin...?

psychologytoday.comThe Brain as a Phonograph: How Imprinting Etches the MindFrom Edison to Taylor Swift, the brain is a living phonograph—recording and replaying the grooves of memory, culture, and identity.
Julie Hotard Ph.D., writer, effects of disinfo on social systems@upine.bsky.social

Here's how this works. Centrists pundits, like most ppl, assume that disinfo doesn't work & that T/GOP voters knew & voted for what T/GOP is doing. So they advise Dems not to make all those imaginary T lovers mad In reality voters voted for T bc RWng media said 1000X he'd lower grocery/gas prices

Ungovernable Ed Walker
@edwalker.bsky.social

Some good news. My own list of Obama failures is his decision not to prosecute Wall Street Banksters for the crimes that led to the Great Crash of 2008.

Jeet Heer@jeetheer.bsky.social

Obama delivers a stinging rebuke to Trump, and an implicit chiding of centrist Dems who fear the populist left. www.thenation.com/article/poli...

thenation.comObama Delivers a Scorching Rebuke to Trump—and Centrist DemsUnlike other establishment figures, the former president isn’t scared to associate with the party’s left flank.

Ungovernable Ed Walker reposted

Roy Edroso
@edroso.bsky.social

Fascism is an international movement. And so is the resistance.

Adam Schwarz@adamjschwarz.bsky.social

Hungarian PM Péter Magyar: "I have just spoken by phone with the leaders of the Students List, who won the elections in Serbia, to congratulate them... I assured them of Hungary’s support. I was delighted to hear how much strength our victory in April had given them during this difficult struggle."

Ungovernable Ed Walker
@edwalker.bsky.social

The inability of our system to hold Trump and his henchmen accountable makes this interference likely. John Roberts and his majority made this possible with their obscene decision in Trump v. US. Impeach the Roberts Majority.

MeidasTouch@meidastouch.com

🚨 BREAKING: Lula is projected to WIN reelection as president of Brazil, defeating Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former President Jair Bolsonaro and an ally of Donald Trump. The projection comes just ONE DAY after Reuters exposed a Trump administration effort to help return the Bolsonaro family to power.

Ungovernable Ed Walker reposted

Bradford Vivian
@bradvivian.bsky.social

Why authoritarians attack universities.

Adam Schwarz@adamjschwarz.bsky.social

Hungarian PM Péter Magyar: "I have just spoken by phone with the leaders of the Students List, who won the elections in Serbia, to congratulate them... I assured them of Hungary’s support. I was delighted to hear how much strength our victory in April had given them during this difficult struggle."

Ungovernable Ed Walker reposted

Allison Gill
@muellershewrote.com

Gaslighting 101: The AG is literally calling us crazy for thinking Trump will use the levers of government power to overturn the results of an election, when he has a documented history of doing just that. That’s tyranny.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

BASH: The worry is that we end up in a situation where President Trump tries to overturn the election and the result of that could be like what we saw after January 6-- BLANCHE: Stop it! You gotta stop it with that! That's crazy BASH: This is a president who has a history

Ungovernable Ed Walker reposted

flyingrodent
@flyingrodent.bsky.social

Again, it’s important to understand that the transgender terror did not arise organically from the public. It was imposed from above, by the world’s most hateful and poisonous media class.

Leicester Gazette@leicestergazette.leicester.news

Two University of Leicester students speak out over ‘absurd’ and ‘Orwellian’ decision by the BBC and ITV Studios to edit out pride pins worn on University Challenge

leicester.newsBBC edits out pride pins on University Challenge in ‘Orwellian’ move* * * This story was published by **The Leicester Gazette** : a local, independent newspaper about Leicestershire. 1,000 people have already joined our community. Just use those buttons below to download our app and **sign up for free**. * * * Astrophysics student Samuel Carlier and History student Emmeline Hague-Wright were shocked to find that their LGBTQ+ pride pins had been edited out of their University Challenge appearance earlier this year. The episode, initially scheduled for BBC Two on 24 August, was delayed twice before airing on 7 September 2026. The pins showed the progressive LGBTQ+ pride flag, the bisexual pride flag and a rainbow feather. Speaking to the Leicester Gazette, Sam said: “Living in a liberal democracy and having the state broadcaster tell you ‘we’re editing how you look’, seems very Orwellian.” Sam described the choice to remove the pins before broadcast as “weird” and “absurd”. He said: “[Censoring] that seemed weird. If I had worn a rainbow shirt, would they have censored that? If the idea is to keep things impartial, where is that line in the sand?” A side by-side image of Sam wearing the pin and with it having been digitally removed. Photograph: supplied Sam contacted the BBC to try to understand why his pins had been edited out. He told the Gazette: “The BBC people said they’d ring me, and I chased them, they just said go to the complaints website and file a complaint there, that’s what I did.” Since then, Sam hasn’t had a response from the BBC as to why his pins were removed. After the episode had aired, Sam noted that his shirt ‘melted’ into itself occasionally, as a result of the editing. Photograph: supplied ## Students believe the decision was made following online transphobia Emmeline was also shocked when she found out that the feather pin she wore was due to be removed from the episode she was in. It was understood by Emmeline that there was online transphobia in response to previous episode of University Challenge, and she had been contacted by the BBC, anticipating support from the broadcaster. When the BBC contacted her, instead of an offer of support, she was told her pin was going to be removed. “At first it was mostly confusion,” she said. “I heard that they had received a lot of nastiness online from people and I thought they were going to call me to say ‘we have support services if needed,’ and that wasn't what I got at all.” Instead, Emmeline was notified that the episodes were going to be delayed. “It was out of left field, I was confused for a while,” she said. “This entire delay has been because of a feather and two badges on a teammate that were basically impossible [for viewers] to see.” Emmeline had expressed her frustrations with the repeated delays from the BBC, spanning from mid-July to early-September. She said: “We were announced on the website and then delayed again, and then announced on the website a second time, and delayed even further. Speaking about the removal, she said: “It takes a lot of time” she said. “Making it [the edit] look good would be even more expensive and time-consuming. It seems like drastically a lot of effort.” ## Join the conversation Our app is more than just a way to keep up – it's a gateway to award-winning journalism and the local community. __Want to support our work?__ Click here for membership__.__ ## Wider criticism on LGBTQ+ support The pins Sam wore during the episode. Photograph: supplied According to leading LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall UK, two in five LGBTQ+ students will hide their identities at university for fear of discrimination. Stonewall has reported that more than 36 per cent of trans students have received hostile conduct from university staff due to their gender identity. Reflecting on the digital removal of the pins, Sam spoke about how disheartening the choice was. He said: “There was maybe like a span of eight years where someone could be uncontroversially out in the open queer – now that’s gone again.” he said. The BBC has also been widely criticised for ‘an attack on the LGBTQ+ community’ by pulling its involvement with the popular show, RuPaul's Drag Race. The broadcaster pulled its involvement in September following “significant financial pressures” as the reason for axing their involvement. The criticism follows another recent controversial edit by the BBC. On its hit show, Strictly Come Dancing, a decision was made to edit out ‘Protect the Dolls’ from contestant Bethany Antonia’s T-shirt. It’s a slogan which has become widely used to support the rights of trans women. The BBC defended their decision, saying the changes were made to meet editorial guidelines. It comes as the LGBTQ+ community has faced challenges amid an increasingly less tolerant political climate. ## What the BBC had to say When we asked them about editing out the pins worn by Leicester’s University Challenge team, a BBC spokesperson said: “In line with our editorial guidelines, we advise that no badges, flags, and emblems or symbols are worn or visible during filming, along with clothing with obvious branding or slogans. If such items are not removed for any reason then a decision is made between the programme makers and the BBC regarding any edits to the programme.” The BBC said the delays to the episode were unrelated to the decision to edit out the pins. A spokesperson for ITV Studios said: “University Challenge is an entertainment quiz show and is made in accordance with the BBC Editorial Guidelines requirements for impartiality.” The University of Leicester refused to comment on the matter. * * * **Before you go…** We’ve recently surpassed 1,000 subscribers, which is amazing considering we’re a small team on a shoestring budget. Now, we’re ready for the next stage of the Leicester Gazette. **Download our new app and get all of our journalism anytime, anywhere.** The app connects with **Bluesky** , **Mastodon** and **Threads** , giving you access to a network of around 60 million people. It’s a safer, more meaningful alternative to mainstream social media – owned by the community. * * *

Ungovernable Ed Walker reposted

elia ayoub
@ayoub.bsky.social

We need to be way angrier than we are. I'm all for adopting the framing from the End Times Fascism book, namely that these people - the techbros - are traitors to the human race.

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Ungovernable Ed Walker
@edwalker.bsky.social

I know about charges the State's Attorney Eileen O'Neill Burke, hasn't brought: The people who shot Marina Martinez. The people who shot and killed Silverio Villegas González. Any of the ICE/CBP goons who brutalized protestors in Operation Midway Blitz. ETC.

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Ungovernable Ed Walker
@edwalker.bsky.social

Your regular reminder that Wall Street banksters made Musk rich enough to do this; and then stuffed his shit stocks into your retirement.

Team Talarico@teamtalaricohq.bsky.social

NEW AD: Have you seen these anti-Talarico attack ads? Elon Musk paid for nearly all of them. The world's first trillionaire knows if he drags the most corrupt politician in Texas across the finish line, Ken Paxton will owe him everything. Elon Musk: Texas is not for sale.

Ungovernable Ed Walker reposted

Kevin M. Kruse
@kevinmkruse.bsky.social

It's bleak that Serious News Outlets will tie themselves into knots writing headlines that obscure the horrors of a story while @people.com just waltzes in and calls it like it is.

people.comAmy Acton’s Stepfather Was Charged with Raping Her When She Was a Child. Now Her Ohio Election Opponent Is Using That Against HerAmy Acton, the Democratic candidate for governor in Ohio, has previously publicly discussed being sexually abused by her stepfather between the ages of 9 and 12. Her opponent Vivek Ramaswamy recently ...

Ungovernable Ed Walker reposted

Cheryl Rofer
@cherylrofer.bsky.social

I know it's gotten almost boring, it happens so frequently. But consider it when you're voting. Do you want to vote for people who support rape, domestic violence, and pedophilia? Do you want them in charge of things? Ask your relatives.

Cheryl Rofer@cherylrofer.bsky.social

The Republican Party supports men who abuse women. Rape, domestic violence, pedophilia. All of it. Their candidates are in the news for it. And, of course, there's the head of the party, who has spoken proudly of assaulting women and has been adjudicated a rapist.

Ungovernable Ed Walker
@edwalker.bsky.social

The authors, one from the American Enterprise Institute, are mad so many men aren't working. They bitch about welfare, weed, and video games. Maybe they should spend a few paragraphs explaining what's so great about work.

The Atlantic@theatlantic.com

Millions of American men have dropped out of the workforce—and it’s not because of the job market, Keith Humphreys and Brent Orrell write. theatln.tc/IV1eo6Nn

Ungovernable Ed Walker
@edwalker.bsky.social

Your regular reminder that everything Trump does to wreck our nation is only possible because of John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Sam Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, and their desstructive decision in Trump v. US. heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/october-20...

heathercoxrichardson.substack.comOctober 20, 2026A blockbuster story in the Wall Street Journal tonight by Alexander Ward, Natalie Andrews, and Josh Dawsey says that it was billionaire Elon Musk who ordered Space X to slow down its service in Ukrain...

Ungovernable Ed Walker reposted

emptywheel
@emptywheel.bsky.social

Over on Xitter, btw, the same DOJ that searched Ilhan Omar's house 21 days before an election is WAILING that @propublica.org published a story about a Black Democrat and a dead guy 14 days before an election.

Jesse Eisinger@jeisinger.bsky.social

NEW: Lindsay Graham and Jim Clyburn were under FBI investigation for bribery. Then Trump dismantled the DOJ & FBI public corruption units. The investigation died. We unearthed it: www.propublica.org/article/nava...

Ungovernable Ed Walker reposted

janeg-b.bsky.social
@janeg-b.bsky.social

Replying to @edroso.bsky.social

Something I found out from reading further - when the court removed Amy and her brother from her mom, they had been living in a tent pitched in a campground in the Youngstown, Ohio area. In winter. A woman who went from that to becoming a doctor has to be one strong woman.

Ungovernable Ed Walker
@edwalker.bsky.social

So it wasn't just Susan Collins Trump protected from criminal investigation.. Trump terminated an FBI investigation of Lindsay Graham and James Clyburn. www.propublica.org/article/nava...

propublica.orgHow Trump’s FBI Purge Saved Lindsey Graham and James Clyburn From a Bribery InvestigationAn FBI anti-corruption team launched an investigation into whether South Carolina’s most powerful members of Congress were involved in a bribery scheme, ProPublica found. After Trump gutted the FBI an...

Ungovernable Ed Walker reposted

Sherrilyn Ifill
@sifill.bsky.social

SCOTUS has repeatedly refused to hear cases reviewing the mess that has been made of qualified immunity which insulates police ofcrs from accountability for brutality,but has decided to prioritize the all-important rights of moonshiners on its docket this year. www.courthousenews.com/scotus-takes...

courthousenews.comSCOTUS takes on 158-year-old backyard liquor banConflicting appeals court rulings leave the lawfulness of home liquor distilling to mean two different things in Texas and Ohio, setting up a high court showdown over a century-old law.

Ungovernable Ed Walker reposted

Eric Segall
@espinsegall.bsky.social

To be clear, the same judges who thought the Court should not interfere with state regulation of women’s reproductive rights choices are now imposing color-blindness, super strong gun rights, and religious supremacy on all 50 states whether they want those rules or not.

Ungovernable Ed Walker
@edwalker.bsky.social

Love to hear their take on what it looks like when all that capital is used to replace 50% of workers with AI bots.

Cato Institute@cato.org

Most billionaire wealth isn't in yachts or jewelry — that's just a few percent of it. Most is productive business capital: companies that employ people, build things, and fund research. Tax that wealth and you're taxing the businesses that employ us all. Cato's Adam Michel explains.

Ungovernable Ed Walker reposted

mtsw
@mtsw.bsky.social

Yes. The conservative scheme for education is a three-way split: high-priced academies for the children of the wealthy, religious instruction to brainwash the middle class, and a rump of prison-like public schools to discipline the lower class into obedience.

jamelle@jamellebouie.net

the other thing is that conservatives resolutely do not see the purpose of education as providing social mobility but as reifying and deepening existing inequalities of status. they are as hostile to low income students getting admission to elite institutions as they are black ones.

Ungovernable Ed Walker
@edwalker.bsky.social

Thinking about switching to Starlimk, the Musk internet stuff? See how easily he switches it off to suit his purposes, political and otherwise? I can see him shouting Death to You as easily as Death to Ukraine. Why trust him?

Ungovernable Ed Walker reposted

emptywheel
@emptywheel.bsky.social

Replying to @emptywheel.bsky.social

This post includes links to the dockets for five lawsuits against xAI for Grok's nonconsensual porn, of which four involve pictures of minors -- including the school photographer in Arkansas who used those photos to make child sexual abuse material. emptywheel.net/2026/10/13/g...

emptywheel.netGOP Accepts $276M Bribe to Protect African Immigrant CSAM Purveyor - emptywheelAt least 7 people have accused Elon Musk -- the African immigrant who donated a quarter of a billion dollars to keep Republicans in power -- of letting Grok disseminate child sexual abuse material of ...
Ungovernable Ed Walker
@edwalker.bsky.social

Your regular reminder that Musk can only do this with the connivance of Wall Street bankers who are stuffing your retirement with his shitty stock and lending him gobs of money. www.wired.com/story/elon-m...

wired.comElon Musk Is Almost Single-Handedly Funding the Republican Midterms PushElon Musk has assembled a presidential-level field operation this midterm cycle, underscoring the extent to which he has taken over the get-out-the-vote effort for the Republican party.
Ungovernable Ed Walker
@edwalker.bsky.social

All Republicans: We used to like the spunky Ukrainians, but now Trump is mad at them so we changed our mind. Ukraine must surrender to the Russians or face death by starvation and bombs. Congress: Our laws don't count. Only Trump rules. The Roberts Majority: Very true and constitutional.

Ungovernable Ed Walker reposted

CZM
@czmor.bsky.social

Replying to @atrupar.com

Y’all it’s getting ridiculous in Texas. Look what showed up in my mailbox. The people in my town believe this crap!

Ungovernable Ed Walker
@edwalker.bsky.social

I think the problem is the absurd idea that SCOTUS gets to decide everything to the exclusion of the people we elect to represent us. That's Congress, not the President. We elect the Presicent to carry out the laws Congress makes. That needs fixing. Court-packing won't fix it.

Courtney Milan@courtneymilan.com

I'm gonna be honest: if we don't want the Court to expand, two conservative justices need to get off the Court while Dems hold it, and I have preferences for who those are, but I won't be picky.

Ungovernable Ed Walker
@edwalker.bsky.social

This by @stevevladeck.bsky.social is important. 1. Court expansion deals with the problem of terrible outcomes. 2. I think the problem is that the Roberts Majority lawlessly abuse judicial review, with no respect for precedent and disregard of consequences. open.substack.com/pub/stevevla...

open.substack.comBonus 257: Hard Questions About Court ExpansionThose who argue that Court reform *must* include expansion need to answer hard questions about the precedent it would set and the effects it would produce.
Ungovernable Ed Walker
@edwalker.bsky.social

Vladeck has a number of suggestions for solving problem 2. But he doesn't solve problem 1. I think the only solution to problem 1 is impeachment. Whether or not they are convicted and removed, impeachment hearings focus attention on both problems, making change possible. 2/3

Ungovernable Ed Walker
@edwalker.bsky.social

Grounds for impeachment include corruption and misleading answers/lying in confirmation hearings, I think their utter disregard for our history and established norms as in Trump v. US, and attacks on Congress, esp. overruling the Voting Rights Act and Citizens United, are also grounds. 3/3