“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” —George Orwell (1984)

No, it was a successful coup. None of the people who led it were punished, and are in fact back in power, rewarded for their efforts to break the system by running it. Donald Trump is currently the dictator he attempted to become 5 years ago, and it’s because nobody treated trying as a crime.

know there’s a lot going on but don’t want to lose sight of UVA trying to pass off as legitimate the president that an illegally constituted board appointed with unseemly haste in a farcical process that shut out the entire rest of the community & even in their propaganda they can’t include a POC

“What do we call it when a stronger person decides to rob a weaker person because he can? It is just gangsterism. We are the most dangerous gangsters in the world today. Not in the sense of being charming rogues or alluring antiheroes. We are the bad guys.”

Yes, contact your elected representatives ; then join your fellow community members this afternoon, organized by @cvilledsa.bsky.social . #HandsOffVenezuela.

Took my kids' admonitions to heart and severely limited my doom scrolling to start 2026. I see the world did not similarly limit their doom output, however.

Tom is right person for this moment - someone who cares deeply about his constituents and is willing to fight for them

This guy got a PhD to become a university president.He got a PhD in "Higher Ed Admin" & wrote a diss./book about "non traditional presidents" aka consultant class experts who believe that faculty and students have too much say. Fullest expression of the BOV contempt for UVA &especially faculty.

To my mind, the speed of this search is the definition of *malfeasance.* It was politics over the health and integrity of the university from beginning to end--from firing President Ryan to now. The appointees have consistently put the desires of Trump and Youngkin over UVA.

Spanberger should remove the whole board on day 1.

The Board ignored our staff, faculty, students, and alumni ….everyone whose day-to-day life makes the University what it is. They also ignored the Governor-Elect and the General Assembly.

The White House claims the vote to rename the Kennedy Center was “unanimous.” That is false. I was muted on the call and denied the opportunity to speak or register my opposition. That is not consensus. That is censorship.

The dean of the University of Virginia’s business school has emerged as the top candidate in the search for the flagship’s next president ahead of a board meeting Friday.

those who predicted authoritarianism were both dismissed, & deeply misunderstood, by the media my latest for @newrepublic.com newrepublic.com/article/2042...

This should be a crime

Based on the number of locals who seemed shocked that there was snow in the forecast today, I feel obligated to report that my 2 for 2 weather app is predicting more wintery stuff in Cville on Friday...

What is wrong with you!? By what mechanism do you intend to have the Republican House vote on this?? A "promise" 🙄🙄🙄

Primary all of them, man. Don't know what else to say.

It’s hard to believe but there was a cartoon about an immigrant mouse and it was seen as totally fine and not controversial and not woke because it was an aspirational and nice thing about America that people could come here and find a better life

CAN NOT leave Miyares in place

The UVA deal is linked below. I'll have more later, but it seems like this clause here (UVA agreeing to "internally" accept this really dubious DOJ guidance) as is the critical part. federalinfo.virginia.edu/sites/federa...

UVA says no to the compact

If you're in Charlottesville, there's a rally against the compact this Friday at noon at the Rotunda!

This is a breathtaking abuse of the law and power by the President of the United States. America is on the brink of martial law. Do not be silent.

Trump’s proposed “compact” with the selected institutions “demands a near-complete surrender of core academic freedoms of the university.” balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...

reminder that public comment signup for Thurday’s ACPS Board meeting opens at 8:30am tomorrow through a form on the Board’s website, if you would like to speak in support of Allison Spillman as she handles the disingenuous right wing campaign against her

for any UVA folks that follow me you should circulate this among your networks balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...

UVA Faculty Senate passed a resolution strongly opposing the Trump “Compact.” We, at least, remain committed to the historic values and mission of the university.

Purely from a pragmatic standpoint, letting people bleed out while you verify their citizenship is impractical

ACTION FOR ALBEMARLE CO residents: Do you think our teachers deserve a guaranteed lunch break? Or that when they retire, teachers s/b compensated for their *earned* unused sick days? Email the school board-say you support our school staff: [email protected] Info: tinyurl.com/AEABARGProp

Cost of Trump's D.C. Occupation: $1.1M per day. Cost to operate public housing for D.C.'s entire homeless population: $169,226 per day. It's not about what this country can or can’t afford. It’s about priorities.

Walz is a good speaker, but the approach he's taking in this clip, with a few tweaks here and there, is available to pretty much any Democrat. This isn't the language of the party's left wing. It's just the simple rhetoric of an opposition party in a time of domestic crisis.

If you don’t like how the city schools is bringing SRO’s back into the schools, take a minute to sign this petition! School division leadership has done an incredibly poor job with this process and policies. They need to hear pushback! www.change.org/p/police-in-...

The Institute of Education Sciences lost 90% of its staff. Combined with the contract terminations, the federal research infrastructure in education is on life support.

As someone who has lived my whole adult life in cities deemed “dangerous”—NYC, NOLA, and SF—I think a lot about how dense cities require patience, calm, and tolerance in the midst of social difference, which are of course exactly the civic virtues that the right resents being told to cultivate.

Remembering antiracist activist Heather Heyer on Heather Heyer Way in Charlottesville today

You can't teach U.S. history without "divisive" narratives. Slavery wasn't "unifying." The Japanese incarceration wasn't "unifying." The anti-immigrant Operation Wetback (real name) wasn't "unifying." It's history's job to tell the truth, not cover up past racism to pave the way for future racism.

A government-sanctioned "truth arbiter" will soon arrive at CBS. Their role will be to ensure that journalists do not criticize this Administration or express views that conflict with its agenda. This is a betrayal—not just of journalistic independence, but of the public trust. 🧵

Sending all our best wishes and solidarity to our colleagues at CDC. 💔 It is important at this moment to hold people accountable. The Supreme Court helped do this. The Court conservatives share responsibility for every shooting in America. They rewrote the Second Amendment in 2008, in Heller v DC.

The city schools isn’t taking basic security precautions, yet really excited about it’s very expensive SRO program that won’t improve safety, especially relative to other interventions

Here is a clip of Paul Mahoney, UVA's new acting president, at a Federalist Society panel. It's clear why no-one from the College was appointed to the presidential search committee -- Mahoney says outright that humanities professors are all a bunch of commies. www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpUq...

Once again, my fellow nerds, I am begging you to remember that giving into bullies only guarantees they'll be back. You've got to punch Biff Tannen in the face, McFly, or he'll rule over you forever.

I'm not giving any credit to the gangsters holding the well-being of children hostage, but I'm glad to have one less thing weighing on our schools.

i’m finding it requires more and more cognitive dissonance to enjoy indulgences as the fascism becomes increasingly omnipresent and suffocating

I don’t know how my UVA colleagues are faring this evening, but I’m trying to remind myself of this fundamental truth: the wealthy classes are neither invincible nor in full control.