Twitter and Facebook are not the federal government. They had long been biased in Trump’s favor, not against him, letting many previous TOS violations slide. And Trump was president at the time, not Biden. But it’s still the “look what you made me do” for this wave of state-driven censorship.

The Inflation Reduction Act affected an Individual Retirement Account held by the Irish Republican Army.

I wonder what the brilliant game-plan is for Bagram. We just jump in then…what? Hang out and take IDF all day long?

Instead of "a right-wing Comintern," I'm partial to the term "Fascist Internationale." But yes, this far-right, anti-democracy movement is transnational, and seeks regime change in Europe. In Brazil too, as Trump tariffs hurt the US economy to punish Bolsonaro's prosecution. Northeast Asia as well.

Pam Bondi is a loyalist hack, selected for her pro-bribery and pro-lying record, who has spent her tenure as Attorney General working to transform DOJ from a law enforcement org into a political allegiance and personal revenge org. If she can't find a pretext to manufacture charges, there isn't one.

When most reporting outside of sycophantic propagandists makes you look bad, it could be because: 1) The heads of The Media held a secret meeting to conspire to distort because, uh, reasons, and executed it smoothly, leaving behind no evidence. or 2) You're screwing up a lot. The facts look bad.

The last time Trump negotiated with the Taliban, he let fighters out of prison in exchange for nothing and cut out the Afghan govt, setting up its collapse. Why would anyone think Trump negotiating with the Taliban would yield gains, now that the Taliban’s position is stronger and America’s weaker?

there is a point here i want to amplify. the free speech defenders of the mainstream seem to have no awareness that actual free speech is often more fractious and destabilizing than civil and respectful. a society where speech is genuinely free isn’t the deferential space they want it to be.

3rd deadly US strike on a boat in the Caribbean. As with the others: -in area US military operates freely -where arrest has relatively low risk, and greater strategic value -no US legal rationale, or even attempt to offer one -blatant violation of international law -no evidence US knew who they hit

Authoritarian theocrats in prestigious positions whose entire politics is “the state should force my religion on everyone,” which they rightly know sounds bad, so they use euphemisms “common good” and “civic purpose,” which they wrongly think sound good. Harvard law prof Adrian Vermeule is another.

Even if you take the most lenient possible interpretation -- that SCOTUS has made it increasingly hard to prosecute bribery and corruption -- you still have to ask what kind of crooked-ass administration hires a guy who just took $50k cash.

In a normal government this guy would be fired instead of imprisoning people "It is still a crime for anyone to seek money to improperly influence federal contracts, the legal experts said, whether they are a public official or not, and whether they ever delivered on their promise or not."

I think people in line for top government positions taking bribes to funnel government money to the bribers is corrupt and bad, not good. When law enforcement catches one taking bribes, they should prosecute that official rather than protect them. Sorry to get so partisan, but that’s how I feel.

If I were a company that owns Star Wars and planned on capitulating to fascist threats, I wouldn't have provided Star Wars fans with two seasons of well-written anti-fascist inspiration right before doing so.

Disney is an unusual company in that a relatively small number of employees are worth a lot of money to them. Pedro Pascal really does have some leverage here. Losing the Mandalorian / Mr. Fantastic is not something they want, and if multiple core franchise pieces take a stand, they have a problem.

I can explain the term "the woke right." The logic: 1) I denounced "wokeness" for years, proclaiming it dire threat to free speech, a civilizational danger 2) This fascism I was downplaying while focused on wokeness seems actually bad 3) Since I am by definition never wrong, the fascism is wokeness

More than that. "The FBI ***recorded*** Tom Homan taking the money "after indicating he could help the agents — who were posing as business executives — win government contracts in a second Trump administration."

You know what didn’t happen? Pundits going on Gab, Parler, Gettr, or Truth Social to repeatedly say “no one cares about this site, you’re in a bubble, you forfeited your influence, things are awesome on the site you don’t use anymore, so awesome that I come here to tell you you’re dumb unlike me.”

Way more military downside than upside in re-invading Afghanistan to take and hold one airbase. An easy-to-see net negative for US global strategy. But it was a grievance the right made a big deal of—because “damn Biden for following through on Trump’s deal” sounds bad—and that drives US policy now.

“No one cares about your criticism of Charlie Kirk’s words and actions” (or however one phrases it) is some of the most X-brained punditry I’ve ever seen. Might as well write “my detached cynicism means I don’t care, and my X feed keeps telling me they don’t want to hear it, that’s all who matter.”

Disney was already harmed by Trump damaging tourism to America in various ways. Flights from Canada to Florida, for example, are way down. And Disney is vulnerable to an array of backlashes, from franchise-carrying creatives to Disney+ subscribers. Might as well do the right thing, no?

A lot of American elites in business, media, politics, etc. use their Twitter feeds to gauge what the public thinks. Yes, still. It's all-too plausible that execs at Disney and some other companies really did believe The People loved Charlie Kirk and demand censorship of anyone saying otherwise.

Imagine believing that late night comics are: 1) Making harsh jokes at a president's expense for the first time ever 2) This is because the Council of Wokeness, of which comedians are voting members, enacted Unfair Joking because they hate that his trade and immigration policies are so successful

Media always overdetermines election results, treating even close ones as national mandates. At least for some months. And they've always treated Trump voters as realer than other Americans (see: diner safaris). What stood out with 2024 was acing like it was a binding referendum on the culture.

I can translate "free speech after the Biden years" from grievance to English. The "Biden govt" attacks on their speech: -Social media content moderation during the 1st Trump presidency -A media figure did a report they didn't like -A relative, often a younger woman, criticized something they said

Disney seems pretty screwed here. They want to be a company that sells to everyone, but now they face a president and political movement that demands everyone care only about them, which includes hating who they hate, except they’re less than half the country, and even less of the global audience.

This was the absolute norm for any US politician until, well, Trump. Even Mike Pence said it when he was booed at a staging of Hamilton just after they won in 2016.

you have to admit "can you make a documentary about a contemporary subject that never directly quotes anything he ever said or did" is kind of an interesting challenge from an artistic perspective

Prosecution for made up crimes as revenge for law enforcement enforcing the law against real crimes in accordance with proper procedures of due process. Wildly illegitimate. But as @gregsargent.bsky.social argues, that’s the point. Erase the notion of objective, fair, rule of law legitimacy at all.

Do you realize how crazy it sounds to complain that comedians are making fun of the president more than they make fun of other people? Yes, the most powerful, most famous person is a more common target of mockery than some legislator in the opposition party. Why would you possibly find that odd?

“Eye for an eye” is a terrible approach to rights violations. Even worse when the first eye was never damaged, but is instead an absurd conspiracy theory pushed by people who want to feel like victims to give themselves an excuse to do awful things they already wanted to do.

Trump surrenders to Taliban. Biden carries out withdrawal, which had its problems, but it would’ve been bloody to reverse Trump’s giveaway. Unwilling to criticize Trump, MAGA put immense value on one Afghan air base, blamed Biden. Now Trump’s reportedly planning to order the military to take it.

Since comedy is now illegal in the United States, I will begin smuggling it in from abroad, taped across my body.

This appears to be the 3rd lethal US strike in the Caribbean. Once again, the specific "terrorist" entity targeted is not identified. No legal justification is offered for this premeditated killing. President Trump is asserting a license to kill outside of the law. 1/n

To be absolutely clear on what just happened here, Trump ousted this veteran career prosecutor *precisely because* he would *not* cook the facts to bring a corrupt prosecution against one of Trump's leading enemies. To Trump, refusing to prosecute his foes for fake crimes is a firing offense.

"More professors in the United States have been fired for controversial views in the past week than any other week in all of American history." www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

well this postponement will certainly make the report seem more trustworthy!

JD Vance is MAGA’s Mr. Grievance - always trying to justify the Trump regime’s assault on freedom with imaginary rightwing grievances. And oh, President Biden’s FCC didn’t try to intimidate rightwing media.

"This is not, in other words, a regime too powerful to be resisted; it’s only playing one on TV.... It can’t risk looking bogged down, looking constrained, or looking like it’s forced to plead a case." Very good piece on Trump, Kimmel, and corporate appeasement by @brianphillips.bsky.social

Do 2024 Trump voters and non-voters see what he’s wrought—what they’ve wrought—in the last 8 months? He still gets too much benefit of the doubt. What will it take? More inflation, job loss, disease and death? Maybe a government shutdown? It's all coming. My latest open.substack.com/pub/jilllawr...

The way out of this is a critical mass of the population turning against it. I don't know the necessary threshold, and yes, some people obviously have more public influence than others. But in general, that's the way out. Anyone who scoffs at declining Trump support as irrelevant is wrong.

Promising miracles then not just failing to deliver any, but making things tangibly worse, can't be totally papered over with propaganda and cult-of-personality. Huh.

Big media organization stands up for itself in response to Trump's frivolous intimidating lawsuit instead of capitulating. And because it's blatantly frivolous, a judge throws it out. It turns out that "no, see you in court" can get better results than "ok, whatever you want, please don't hurt me."

Can call it cowardice, and it is, but regardless of how they react to it, a Congress operating under and influenced by the coercive threat of violence, as they now have been for several years, is fundamentally lacking in democratic legitimacy, it is something less than a representative legislature.

Regular reminder that Russia losing everything means radioactive craters where Moscow and St. Petersburg currently sit, not merely failing in a foreign adventure, or losing some aircraft sent to intimidate Europe. When Russia threatens nukes over less, that is called "a bluff." They fear MAD too.

The bullying hides weakness. Showing western strength is the only answer. As I note here: tomorrowsaffairs.com/putins-lies-...

Fearful Americans Stockpiling Facts Before Federal Government Comes To Take Them Away https://theonion.com/fearful-americans-stockpiling-facts-before-federal-gove-1819579589/

Serious question: What is the specific fear about shooting down Russian aircraft that violate NATO airspace? There's danger of a spiral to nukes, though that's always unavoidably a factor. I'm not necessarily advocating it, still thinking through, but what, specifically, do people worry will happen?

Karen Attiah at WaPo championing Jamal Khashoggi, who was killed by the Saudi govt for writing critically about them, then getting fired from WaPo for writing critically about the US govt's veneration of Charlie Kirk is such an illustration of this moment, and how "free speech" has been manipulated.

"Right now, Beijing is offering cheap, clean power, employment, trade and a route to prosperity. Washington is offering tariffs, policy chaos, White nationalist memes and South Korean workers in shackles after a raid on an EV battery factory." www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...