Lizzy Shackelford

Elizabeth Shackelford: The Pentagon’s fight with Anthropic is about unchecked power Since AI is largely unregulated, we are left with only the protection that the conscience of a private business, like Anthropic, bestows.

The Anthropic dispute is happening against the backdrop of an administration whose actions in the world are increasingly aggressive, interventionist and independent, with existing checks and balances failing to restrain it. My latest in @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2026/03/06/c...

“Damas is the 10th detainee to die in ICE custody so far in 2026.” This is unconscionable.

I guess it’s not Americans First….

“Proactively in a defensive way” does not meet the legal standard for military action in absence of congressional authorization. It is also nonsense gobbledygook.

This is a lie. And it should be considered a constitutional crisis that Rubio is claiming the right to ignore the law.

I emphasize this provision of the War Powers Resolution because it stands as an authoritative statement by the legislature of its views of presidential war powers—a position that is much more restrictive than the executive branch's own extremely permissive doctrine.

Elizabeth Shackelford: Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner’s self-interested diplomacy in Geneva What the U.S. diplomacy duo have in common is huge investment from many of the countries that they have been dealing with on behalf of the U.S.

This week, the US hosted two sets of peace talks in Geneva. Neither achieved much, unsurprising since the men leading both have more experience in real estate deals than conflict resolution. My latest in @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/20/c...

Read the entire thing please. As she says, if you don’t have a problem with this, that’s not a political opinion but a moral failing.

Elizabeth Shackelford: What history tells us about fighting the repression we are seeing here Past movements against repressive regimes were met with violence and repression, but gradually concessions were secured.

History shows us how citizens can effectively fight government repression. The good news is, that's exactly what the people of Chicago and Minneapolis are doing already. My latest in @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2026/02/06/c...

Just experienced the most intense tear gassing of my life by federal officers outside the ICE facility in Portland where marchers gathered. There was no fast exit as they indiscriminately threw loads of gas and flash bangs. Children were in the crowd screaming. @oregoncapitalchronicle.com

Trump’s Profiteering Hits $4 Billion In August, I reported that the President and his family had made $3.4 billion by leveraging his position. After his first year back in office, the number has ballooned.

President Trump has made $4 billion by illegally trading access to the White House to get rich. He controls the Dept of Justice and the Congress so he won't be held accountable - until he doesn't control the Dept of Justice and Congress.

Yes thank you. This is how to cover these developments appropriately.

And consequences and accountability and prosecution.

It’s time for other governments to update their travel warnings to further discourage their citizens from coming to the U.S. It is not safe here for anyone.

Monstrous acts and crimes are being committed right now, in our names, with our tax dollars:
-Renee Good - murdered by an armed agent of the state for protesting
-Alex Pretti - murdered by an armed agent of the state for protesting
-Liam Ramos (5) - used as bait to lure his father out of the house

CANVAS Core Curriculum: A Guide to Effective Nonviolent Struggle | ICNC You may also be interested in: A Guide to Nonviolent Activism (Ekta Parishad)Ekta Parishad is a mass-based peoples’ movement for land rights with an active membership of 250,000 landless poor and is r...

We are not the first people, or the first country, to suffer under a tyrannical government that does not respect our lives, or our rights.

There is a method for how to effectively resist, and eventually topple, such a regime. We can learn from others who came before us.

This is my favorite guide.

Reminder: All it would take to end the murder of American citizens by an untrained government goon squad is 16 Republicans in Congress voting with Dems to defund ICE (or 23 to impeach and remove Trump — 3 in House & 20 in Senate). That’s it. 23 Americans can vote for the public and end all of this.

I wish Democrats would start just speaking the truth:

“ICE is killing American citizens in public for exercising their freedom of speech because Donald Trump wants to be a king.

This isn’t about immigration—Trump wants to make it illegal to oppose him, and to stay in power until he dies.”

Offering concessions is a fool’s errand that will only embolden a president who continues relentlessly to storm past the limits of laws and reason precisely because people keep letting him do so. Europeans, more than anyone, should understand that this is no time for Chamberlains. My latest…

This sounds crazy & partisan & extreme, & then when you think about it for 30 seconds more, you realize it’s the baseline moderate position now if you care even minimally about the rule of law, civil liberties, & the Constitution.

Hiking tariffs on our allies because Denmark won’t hand over territory to the mad king is a new level insanity. Trump is either trying to destroy US power and security in the world or he simply can’t help himself but do so.

Elizabeth Shackelford: The United States is better off as a global power than a global bully The Trump administration has consistently denounced this international order. We are not going to like what replaces it.

The United States has abandoned respect for state sovereignty. The Trump admin wants to return to a more dangerous era. If we want to live in a more thuggish global community, this is the way to invite it. My latest in @chicagotribune.com

www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/09/c...

In Sudan, thousands held hostage for ransom — and killed if they can’t pay RSF fighters in El Fashir have rounded up civilians en masse, survivors told The Post, subjecting them to torture and extorting their families for cash.

Thousands of civilians are being held for ransom after the RSF captured El Fashir, with kidnappers staging torture and executions on camera if families cannot pay. One man could only pay for his wife and children; he was killed in front of them www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/1...

Elizabeth Shackelford: Normalizing Russia normalizes the mass abduction of Ukrainian children Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have been kidnapped and taken to Russia.

If we help rehabilitate Putin on the world stage, we are legitimizing Russia’s mass child kidnapping and abuse. Is that really the role we want our country to play in the world? My latest in the @chicagotribune.com

www.chicagotribune.com/2025/12/12/c...

The term "Orwellian" is as abused as "peace," but this use of "peace" is as fully Orwellian as anything outside 20th century fascism or Stalinism.

Elizabeth Shackelford: Donald Trump’s Black Friday approach to foreign policy In Ukraine and around the world, the U.S. has succumbed to a short-term, selfish view of foreign policy that won’t serve us well.

The world order established in the wake of World War II reflects a Giving Tuesday take on foreign policy. Another kind is the Black Friday kind: selfish, transactional and short-term. Trump is choosing the latter. My latest in the @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/28/c...

Elizabeth Shackelford: Donald Trump’s Black Friday approach to foreign policy In Ukraine and around the world, the U.S. has succumbed to a short-term, selfish view of foreign policy that won’t serve us well.

The world order established in the wake of World War II reflects a Giving Tuesday take on foreign policy, but Donald Trump‘s is the Black Friday kind: selfish and transactional, writes @lizzyshack.bsky.social on @chicagotribune.com

www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/28/c...

This is all John Roberts’ fault Trump owes his corrupt and abusive reign to one man.

Trump owes his corrupt and abusive reign to one man.

Elizabeth Shackelford: Horrifying violence returns to Sudan, exposing the deadly legacy of impunity In Darfur, history just seems to be repeating itself since the offenders include many of the exact same people as before.

“22 yrs ago, the devils came on horseback. Now they come on pickup trucks mounted with machine guns. Now the devils fight against SAF rather than for it, with more efficient tools. But if you’re a civilian in Darfur, the outcome is the same: genocide.” www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/14/c...

Elizabeth Shackelford: The intoxication of power and its consequences on democracy around the world Elderly leaders in Africa and around the world are holding on to power. Democratic states should be wary about the impact of entrenched rule.

World leaders are getting old! And not just in autocracies. It’s human nature to cling to power, but history has shown us that political leaders who stay too long don’t deliver, even after promising early days in office. My latest in @chicagotribune.com www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/31/c...