That’s just a cat in a marsupial suit

not my creation but goddamn if it didn't speak to me

my increasingly curmudgeonly take is that we all, in fact, have responsibilities. politics isn't an arena for self-actualization. it's an arena for public service. this is as true of voters as it is of politicians.

Thinking about Katyn nowadays

“This is very American” is just as false and vacuous as “this is un-American”. Nations have no inherent ideology or character; patriotism and anti-patriotism alike require a constructed nation. Defining America by historical oppression is no more accurate than defining it by aspirational ideals.

There is no salvation in abdication. I was born with the blood of the system on my hands. When it acts, it acts in my name. I'm one of the small percentage of this earth given the power to vote on who it kills. I was always culpable. The only question is can I be culpable in leaving it better.

the key to understanding today's moment in journalism is specifically a subset of elite journos at NYT/Free Press/WaPo who basically adopt the position of the main character of NIGHTCRAWLER (2014) when it comes to their role in the news

Making some wikipedia edits

God, this game is incredible

one thing i do not like about these days is that i am filled with hate for so many people

Yeah DHS has got to be repealed and replaced, which would actually be a great opportunity for some wider restructuring of American domestic security infra

A lot of our liberal thought leaders are people who have only ever lived in liberal places, known liberal, leftist, and heterodox conservative people. But among the rank and file liberals, we know conservatives and right-wing reactionaries. They are not mysterious to us. Klein is behind the curve.

Kirk was a racist who thought black people shouldn’t be pilots. He thought women should be subservient to men. He hated MLK and the Civil Rights Act. He didn’t care about political violence against Paul Pelosi and Democrats. All his own words. You can deplore the shooting without honoring the man.

florida is the BSL-4 laboratory of democracy

them: we dont want illegal immigrants me: ok but they're net good them: we want all those exact people in the country but legally me: ok so just legalize them them: no

I do think what 2020 and 2024 and this administration has really hammered into me is there is no final victory and there is no final defeat, particularly in a democracy

Y-you- you’re thinking about this all wrong, as if I had the Epstein files back in a safe. The Epstein files aren’t here — the Epstein files are in Joe’s house, and Mrs. Menklin’s house, and a hundred others

The idea of the world being "disenchanted" once science and "rationality" take hold has never sat well with me. You want to tell me that people who lived in a time when demons were considered a legit cause of disease somehow felt more mystical about life? I don't buy it.

He’s not playing chess, he’s eating the checkers

a not totally inaccurate way to conceive of Trump is that he’s a pagan god of conspicuous consumption for certain types of americans. someone who you can appease with power and blood sacrifices in exchange for earthly pleasures

I can’t believe this has to be said, but: You cannot tell the story of Jackie Robinson—as a ballplayer, serviceman, or human—without discussing our country’s history of racism. From Around the Horn:

to be a little more of a political scientist about this: the net winners of Biden economic policy were lower income workers, who didn't or couldn't connect their situation to politics, and the net losers were higher income workers and employers, who sure as hell did.

God, The Fugitive is fantastic.

Somebody should start a PAC to support primary challengers against every Democrat in Congress. I would donate at least $1k in a heartbeat.

For the past few years, I’ve been working on a game that’s basically this (but sci-fi and with crocodiles). Love the mesoamerican ballgame.

I will admit to finding the “all problems are caused by evil and we could fix every problem without any trade-offs” worldview pretty draining and immature.

Shame is the emotional lubricant that lets the gears of “having standards worth a damn”, “being a fallible human”, and “having an at all accurate view of your actions and conduct” grind on each other without breaking

With their focus the importance of civic duty, the functioning of diverse polities based on mutual toleration, and the ability to choose between different options where one is clearly superior, Bethesda first person RPGs are the ur-text of liberal democracy in our current moment.

Anything short of Elon Musk in jail, when all is said and done, will be a major failure of governance. If anyone tells me he has not broken dozens of laws over the last month I have a bridge to sell you

tired: liberalism operates through consensus wired: liberalism operates through implicit threats of violence (critique) inspired: liberalism operates through implicit threats of violence (praise)

Chatter (innocently): Do you have to go in order? NL (with zero hesitation): Are you ever embarrassed that your first impulse is to ask for a hint ... or a trick ... or for someone else to set it up for you so you can knock it down? You don't feel like no shame or nothing?

it is funny how basically the trump years have made me go full "socialist in econ, liberal in politics, conservative in virtue"

Realistically you can’t actually put every Republican in a re-education camp, but something that no-shit does need to be done is make the media environment way more hostile to the right wing bullshit machine, including, yes, in ways that could be described as coercive.

I'll take any excuse to post this again harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-13...

there are not concentration camps. promise yourself that there will not be.

I frankly can’t tell what questions are crazy anymore. “Is he hoping to break things so badly it provokes mass urban unrest as a pretext to deploy armed forces?” Once I’d have regarded the idea as unhinged; now… I don’t find myself dismissing the thought out of hand, at least.

In the past few years, my politics (and my morals) have become increasingly centered around doing your duty to help other people. I just don’t give a shit about people working in their own interests. Just do not respect it.

in my ideal world you would just need to say the equivalent of the American Shahada and you would instantaneously gain citizenship

Kalecki. cost-disease. gig economy. full-employment. burritos. AI.

Didn’t know a candle could explode like that

IT'S A WONDERFUL ESSAY: The last few days before Christmas is when people usually tend to rewatch 'It's a Wonderful Life.' Can I commend to you this really superb essay we published a few years ago? It could change the way you understand that movie. www.thebulwark.com/p/there-is-n...

the sports reference series of websites are some of the last good ones on the internet. they’ve never once changed their design to ruin it, have never hid critical functions behind a paywall, the stathead stuff they do put behind a paywall is incredible/worth charging for. i hope we never lose them

Is Babidi queercoded? I mean Frieza definitely is, and those are the best parts of his character. Just wondering if there’s a trend with my favorite DBZ characters…

SMU getting picked is probably good long term for college football (less rage against the CFP and no one will abandon conference championship games) ... but I still think it should've been Alabama.

Oh so when Yoon does it, it's wrong, but when white "Syrian rebels" do it, it's good. Your anti asian hate is noted 🙄

Once again, it seems like every critique of EA seems to be a concern about how it feels for the giver. Seems extremely selfish to avoid helping others as much as you can so that you can personally resist “optimization” in your own life.