emptywheel

@emptywheel.bsky.social

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Coverage of American authoritarianism with a focus on legal cases. An American-Irish in Limerick, Ireland. Legendary potty mouth!

Top posts

emptywheel·Sep 12

Over on Xitter, the troll account of UT's senior senator has launched a campaign to encourage Charlie Kirk's estate to sue Stephen King for ... describing something Charlie Kirk actually said.

A "Based Mike Lee" Tweet:

Please share if you agree that the estate of Charlie Kirk should sue Stephen King for defamation over this heinously false accusation

He’s crossed a line

It will prove costly

RTing a Stephen King post saying, "He advocating stoning gays to death, just sayin'

Which RTed a Jesse Watters post with a picture saying, "Charlie Kirk was not a 'controversial' or 'polarizing' man. Charlie was a PATRIOT."

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emptywheel·Sep 16

Cory Booker got Kash to admit he talks to Stephen Miller about how to run FBI, but he then dropped that line of questioning.

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emptywheel·Sep 13

It's really amazing how much of the effort to retaliate is focused on people who're like, "Here are the things he said." As if Charlie Kirk's legacy cannot stand real scrutiny.

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Latest posts

emptywheel·2h

This is why I find it interesting that, in the week after this person (the 7th US service member killed in Trump's illegal war), DOD never managed to evacuate them to Ramstein to treat injuries suffered on March 1.

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emptywheel·3h

This confirmation that Energy Sec Chris Wright was boasting that IRAN was able to get a tanker thru the Strait raises an interesting possibility: That China resume shipping oil, but no one else can. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/08/b...

He also said that a “large tanker” went through the Strait of Hormuz “about 24 hours ago.” He did not identify the tanker, and a spokesman for the Department of Energy did not respond to requests for more details on the ship.

A small tanker apparently carrying fuel oil went through the strait in the last 24 hours, said Dimitris Ampatzidis, a senior risk and compliance analyst at Kpler, a global ship tracking firm. Its transponder, a device that transmits a ship’s location, was on, which is why it could be tracked. Vessels sometimes turn off their transponders to avoid being spotted in the strait.

Mr. Ampatzidis said the vessel, the Parimal, appeared to have connections to Iran.

“I don’t believe this vessel can be used as an indication that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is returning to normal,” he said.

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emptywheel·11h

Still waiting to see if there's a time when the views Murdoch airs in WSJ affect the coverage he oversees on Fox. Bc Murdoch could change public opinion pretty quickly...

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emptywheel·12h

Bomb first, deploy spooks for 6 month deployments later. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...

U.S. Central Command, meanwhile, is asking the Pentagon to send more military intelligence officers to its headquarters in Tampa, Florida, to support operations against Iran for at least 100 days but likely through September, according to a notification obtained by POLITICO.

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emptywheel·12h

Trump is going to really piss of his bonesaw buddy at the rate he's going.

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emptywheel·12h

The first line of this: "She may have voted against an Iran war powers resolution this week." Punchbowl drank too much Punchbowl.

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emptywheel·12h

This weird story, which doesn't seem to know whether it wants to be a 2028 story or a real record of reluctance from JD, Marco, and Susie, suggests that like JD, Marco was also hesitant abt Operation Epstein Fury. edition.cnn.com/2026/03/08/p...