Chris Rufo's disastrous takeover of New College in Florida shows what universities would become if they sign the Trump regime's extortionary "compact." New College was supposed to model the anti-woke conservative higher-ed Americans crave. Instead, it showed the opposite, and serves as a warning.

Hard to tell the real illegal militia from the fake illegal militia

Ending Black History Month & banning books by Ta-Nehisi Coates is a dark echo of the ways the military has been used in the past to advance racial rights in America. Frederick Douglass understood Black military service could help achieve citizenship. Truman saw integration as democratic necessity.

Tim Walz: "My god, we've got the White House threatening investigations and jail time because an escalator stopped? Walk up the damn stairs!"

Good @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social piece on the need to recognize that Trump's consolidation of authoritarian power is not limitless. He's facing serious resistance, he's losing on a number of fronts, and Trump doesn't want you to know any of that: www.arcdigital.media/p/kimmel-and...

One of the few things that gets a similar reaction from me, which I've returned to multiple times in recent years, is this from Hannah Arendt in 1951. If looking for a positive takeaway—because when writing like this resonates, things are not positive—it confirms the historical analogy is fitting.

*cough* www.techdirt.com/2025/07/08/w...

Mr C is JD Vance on the nose

/3 I assume people noticed the Tradwife.

/2 I draw your attention particularly to Mr. G, the pundit.

Every few months now I re-read this "Who Goes Nazi?" piece from 1941 and am blown away by how it captures the people we are dealing with 80 years later. harpers.org/archive/1941...

One of the best scenes in Succession is when Kendall Roy unleashes a string of profanity-filled threats, and his former business partner turned competitor Stewy laughs off the over-the-top desperation and of it.

CNBC: "Very disappointing. It's a weak number. This is private sector jobs for September. The total comes in -32,000. And that was a surprise because economists were looking for an increase of 51,000. Also, the revision was not good. August now showing -3,000 compared to the initial read of 54,000"

immediately leaks, ofc www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Obviously NYC isn't all of the US. The best candidate is one who fits their location and has positions that appeal to people there. But it's mind-boggling to hear Dem concern about the party's poor standing, see a charismatic candidate pop up, and hold him at arms length rather than ride the energy.

You don't have to like or care about Mamdani's policy stances to recognize that: -he solidly won the primary and now is the nominee -he's good at online communication and in-person campaigning -he generates enthusiasm among groups of voters Dems are trying to reach -Trump sees all that as a threat

Democratic leaders deciding not to embrace Mamdani after he won NYC's primary, or even to oppose him to some degree, really stands out considering how Dems' response to 2024 is fretting that they're losing ground with young voters and working class voters, and not attracting enough public attention.

Mamdani, @gregsargent.bsky.social writes, is campaigning on opposing Trump’s authoritarianism and on economic issues. Both. At the same time. It’s not either/or. The notion that working class Americans don’t care about rights violations, or can’t handle two things, is condescending and inaccurate.

Why would anyone who doesn’t want Trump to succeed in dismantling US Constitutional democracy want to “take down the temperature”? You can’t possibly counteract the White House’s incessant temperature raising. Do you really think the problem is not enough complacency? People are caring too much?

The Supreme Court majority rules that it's Constitutional to ignore the Constitution's checks-and-balances, and legal for the president to break the law and remove officials without cause, except if such a removal might undermine his anti-democracy project and make some Justices lose some money.

Federal workers are more likely to know what's actually going on than the average voter, especially ones who don't pay attention far from an election. The weird doublethink of "totally in charge, can fix anything easily" and "poor victim dominated by the minority" only works on partisans and rubes.

Democrats seem to be confusing "would it bother you if you lost healthcare?" with "would it bother you if people you don't know lost healthcare?" As matter of public opinion and politics, those aren't the same thing.

A whopping 38% of Russia’s refining capacity is now offline, according to The Economist. Gasoline output fell by 1 million tons in September which has created a 20% domestic shortfall. Repairs may take months because of sanctions limiting access to parts and tech.

There's a Senate rule that says you need 60 votes. And another Senate rule that says 51 votes can change that at any time. The US Senate is simple majority rule whenever the majority wants it to be. Why must we pretend that's not the case?

Five days ago, an ICE agent shoved a woman asking questions about the detention of her husband. Today they attacked two journalists. We cannot accept or normalize what has now become routine violence at 26 Federal Plaza. It has no place in our city.

He also said forget the climate change hoax. The US military has been warning about climate change for 50 years. They’ve watched it carefully.

A TV talk show chatterbox elevated to Secretary of Defense talking about standards is an undiluted lack of self-awareness.

Hegseth: "Any place where tried & true physical standards were altered, especially since 15 when combat arms standards were changed to ensure females could qualify, must be returned to their original standard. Other standards have been manipulated to hit racial quotas, which is just as unacceptable"

Co-signing everything in these three points from @brianbeutler.bsky.social: www.offmessage.net/p/20-thought...

His tariffs are unconstitutional. His using the military to play cop on our streets is unconstitutional. But we don’t have a Congress right now, and this Supreme Court can’t be trusted to follow the law & the Constitution. We’re in a very bad place.

when criticism of tech giants started to spike around 2010 there was a parade of furrow-browed people in tech and tech media who believed criticism went overboard now every single day you see evidence that these companies are actually WAY worse than the most hyperbolic criticism implied

Didn’t make them uncomfortable. The hats were weirdly brought out in the middle of the meeting about shutting down the govt for a photo. I think they thought it was a stupid & bizarre stunt that appeals only to old fools and Fox viewers, which are pretty much the same thing. bsky.app/profile/atru...

Providing free Wi-Fi to rural schools is leaving those communities behind. Ending free Wi-Fi for rural schools, now that's how you show those communities you care, they matter, and haven't been forgotten.

Much of the public, and apparently White House, doesn't know that many of the US military's general and flag officers are intellectuals. Study history and theory, get that war, politics, economics, and culture intertwine, etc. Or maybe the White House does, and that's what they're trying to change.

President Trump: We're under invasion. From within. No different than a foreign enemy. But more difficult. Generals who commended battalions in combat, mourned the dead, visited the wounded, and worked to build lasting security after:

Thank you, Speaker Johnson, for explaining how the thing you’re complaining about is what you always wanted and gives you vast new powers to do stuff you couldn’t otherwise do. So go ahead. Do it. Any time now. Why are you still here?

Government shutdown discourse consistently sucks. Political media, even more than usual, drops discussion of facts, goes all in on strategy, and treats both sides as equal, focused on who will win “the blame game,” as if (1) that’s the most important thing, and (2) political media has no role in it.

my latest is expanding on the observation that your view of the politics of opposition to the administration depend largely on your view of the election (gift link)

Yes, Russia threatens that if anyone acts to counter Russian aggression then Russia will get aggressive and it'll be your fault. Heard that before. At this point, how does anyone buy that Russia hasn't been really trying against Ukraine and Europe? That they could win but are holding back instead?

CBS is turning into Fox News to advance the new ownership's political agenda, but will it be profitable? We already have a Fox. Similar question as TikTok US tries to become X. We already have an X. And it isn't profitable. They'd eat financial losses to get the political manipulation, but still.

If nothing else, the government shutdown is revealing who has their eyes open, and who thinks it's 2013, so current events should be discussed using that frame.

"I'm not going to talk about the shark," said Amity Mayor Larry Vaughn. "Except to occasionally say it's the same as a sea bass. Now everyone enjoy the ocean." (If you think that's not being political, you're kidding yourself)

The Saudis didn’t pay big money for famous American comedians because they were super eager for comedy, they paid for PR like this.

We must pay billions to farmers Because we cut off their customers with tariffs And pay billions to Argentina Whose farmers are selling to the customers we forfeited Because that is America First

anyway if you would like to help me get even more petty satisfaction, please back the new book! www.kickstarter.com/projects/tom...

it is *exhausting* to constantly try to convince gatekeepers of your worth, which is a lot of what I've been doing for five years, and why this book has five years of cartoons, rather than two or three

I hate to be petty but man there are absolutely some editors and publishers in my past who I hope notice that my kickstarter funded in 3.5 hours.

The full report brightlinewatch.org/violence-red...