Follow These People on Twitter to Help You Understand the Trump-Russia Connection
That’s a lot, right? It’s a lot. This is a stream of news. How should we live our lives, prepare food, straighten hunched necks? Even when I turn off my computer, it still blinks its little light bulb in the corner, ready to warn me of the horrors of the world like some throbbing mouth of hell.
But I don’t want to be ignorant! So here’s my solution, like when I can resist the hassle of tapping and clicking on the phone for new news, like the rosary when the rosary also has the ability to create an adrenaline rush in horror: on Twitter. But instead of wandering aimlessly down the endless media highway, soaking up the random thoughts of random people from my completely un-curated Twitter feed, and vaguely thinking, “This is interesting about how bored kids should be in the summer” or “Wow, in this headline there is a suffix “according to science” so it must be true “or” I don’t think this means treason . ” I have compiled a list on Twitter that limits me to legal and political media that seem to actually understand the Trump / Russia / national security issues that dominate the news. Aside from the accounts everyone is following – The New York Times , Washington Post , Maggie Haberman , Preet Bharara , etc. – I go through this shortlist several times a day to keep up with the latest developments .
Look! NB: This won’t necessarily cut down on the amount of time you spend online – these people are prolific tweeters, writers, lawyers, and podcasters, and even this small group can send you into some twisty Twitter rabbit holes.
Any other suggestions? Leave them in the comments and I will adjust my Twitter list.
1. Benjamin Vittes, @ benjaminwittes
Benjamin Vittes is Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Lawfare magazine, dedicated to discussing “tough national security options” (worth following: @ lawfareblog ). He was an editor for the Washington Post for nine years and is now a Senior Fellow in Management Research at the Brookings Institution. His channel itself serves as both information / entertainment and a great shunt for other legal tweeters.
2. Josh Chafetz, @ joshchafetz
Chafetz is a professor of law at Cornell University and author of the upcoming Constitution of Congress: Legislative Power and the Separation of Powers. According to Steve Vladek, editor-in-chief of Just Security (see below), he is particularly well versed in the mandate and role of Congress.
3. Seth Abramson, @SethAbramson
Abramson is an attorney and professor of English at UNH and appears to spend every minute of his waking hours explaining on Twitter. He has 118 thousand followers, so I guess many other people need these explanations too. I love his long conversations, where difficult questions are explained in short sentences, because hey, if I had any attention span, I wouldn’t be on Twitter at all. Here’s the start of an epic tweet about criminal and non-criminal investigations:
4. Just Security, @just_security
Site dedicated to law, rights and national security. Its co-editor, @ steve_vladeck , a law professor at UT, is also noteworthy, as are other Just Security folks like @ rgoodlaw’s Ryan Goodman. (Vladek calls Goodman good for “random criminal laws”). I love Just Security for commenting on international events, especially when my attention is so riveted on Washington.
5. Jack Goldsmith, @ jacklgoldsmith
Goldsmith is a Harvard University professor of law, a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, and a co-founder of Lawfare . His laconic comment isn’t particularly funny, but what ‘s so funny about national security these days? But his media annotations on current events warn me about which stories are not getting enough attention, as well as more detailed comments for perspective.
Finally, a shortgreeting to Matt Tate ( @ pwnallthethings ). Tate writes primarily about cybersecurity, but Benjamin Wittes notes that he also follows Tate on legal, political and security issues. With that, I leave you with this tweet: