In case you're still using TikTok, here's a reminder that it's a dishonest company with even more dishonest backers. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/info...

One of the frustrations of being an editor/organizer is that I don't get to do my own thinking and work. One of the joys is that I get to platform absolutely first rate conversations by brilliant minds such as this one at LibCon2025. Moderator @jonrauch.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/theunpop...

Important new concept from @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social: "vice signaling." From her 2/11/2016 interview with Sam Harris... www.samharris.org/podcasts/mak...

Detailed analysis by Rob Shapiro finds MAGA is the same type of authoritarian, violence-prone mass movement that brought dictators to power in other countries. www.sonecon.com/hannah-arend...

Whatever else you do today, do not miss this column by Russell Moore about the real meaning of the Epstein debacle. www.christianitytoday.com/newsletter/a...

Sam Harris and I dissect the Trump phenomenon and sadly conclude...yes, it's fascism. www.samharris.org/podcasts/mak...

Want to know why Trump is granting asylum to supposedly persecuted white South Africans? Read this insightful essay by Eve Fairbanks about the false (and racist) claim that whites were better off under apartheid. www.thedial.world/articles/new...

This is, quite frankly, complete bullshit. I’ve received more criticism, harassment, and — at one point — calls for my death in the past six months of criticizing this administration than I did in an entire FBI career of investigations, operations, and arrests. And I never wore a goddamn mask.

How about those fiscally conservative Republicans? "OMB estimates that the lawmakers in 2025 added $2.6 trillion to the deficit through 2030 and $4.4 trillion through 2035." www.crfb.org/press-releas...

"Recent events have brought Trump’s governing style into sharper focus," Jonathan Rauch argues. "'Fascist' best describes it, and reluctance to use the term has now become perverse." theatln.tc/wVq7MFaa

Wake up, Europe! open.substack.com/pub/billemmo...

Must-read from Larry Diamond: "We are left with the worst of all possible worlds. Maduro is gone but his predatory dictatorship lives on. There is no sign of a plan to induce this awful regime to negotiate a transfer of power to the democratic coalition." www.theunpopulist.net/p/trumps-bet...

Why what's been achieved in Gaza is a ceasefire, not a peace deal. There is only one genocidal party to the conflict, and it's Hamas. www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/202...

Frank Fukuyama's incisive analysis of Venezuela. Explains why legality is a side issue (and a dead end for Dems) open.substack.com/pub/persuasi...

Here's a brilliant and also moving analysis of the U.S. shift toward authoritarianism...and the importance of individual acts of resistance. www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FeO...

"Next year Europe will have to change its approach and start copying China. It needs to punch back to deter an increasingly hostile America." open.substack.com/pub/billemmo...

"As for Trump, the only things that can be predicted with confidence is that he will continue to call for peace and continue to collude with Putin." open.substack.com/pub/billemmo...

Trump's gift to Putin. 73 percent of Germans say relations with the US are "bad." www.pewresearch.org/global/2025/...

Bill Emmott: "Europe offends Trump in much the same way as Democratic Ukraine offends Putin." billemmott.substack.com/p/trumps-hat...

At RDI's conference in DC, I just heard a retired federal judge, Mark Wolf, say Trump might declare martial law to impede the 2026 elections. He's not predicting, but no one thinks he's crazy to raise it. rdi.org/2025-frontli...

Tim Mak has it about right. www.counteroffensive.news/p/trumps-str...

This is a stunning indictment...not of Letitia James but of DOJ and the Trump administration. Serious prosecutors and lawyers would be hanging their heads in shame. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Rob Shapiro: Trump has made the affordability crisis worse, and opened the door wide for Democrats to mount a populist campaign from the left. washingtonmonthly.com/2025/12/02/a...

Tom Nichols states the obvious...but let's please not forget that the first boat strike, which targeted civilians posing no imminent threat or hostility to the US, was probably as illegal as the second. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...

"Conspiracy theories define what it means to be a conservative in America today. It used to be the Reaganite agenda of low taxes, deregulation, individual freedom. But it really is whether you believe in these weird theories that partake of a different reality." www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GDA...

DOGE unleashed chaos in federal agencies. Many are rehiring after firing; key talent is gone. www.brookings.edu/articles/how...

"The serious way in which to understand this American “peace plan” is that it shows that Trump is the weakest president to occupy the White House for 100 years." open.substack.com/pub/billemmo...

I warmly recommend Josh Szeps's detailed analysis of why Tucker Carlson is the most talented and dangerous rhetorician on the right. youtube.com/watch?v=CURq...

This is what it looks like to be laughed out of court. Humiliating for DOJ lawyers--the creme de la creme--to be treated this way. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Worth your time. www.execfunctions.org/p/what-are-w...

Would someone like to tell me why the Algorithm God is showing me ads for butt-enhancing pants? Better yet...don't.

A social issue I never thought about...but should have. Land hoarding! open.substack.com/pub/kenilgun...

It's ironic that gays are called upon to make the case against polygamy, a standard heterosexual concept. Matt Vines does it brilliantly. youtu.be/ZzDh4XfFVN4?...

New poll from Buckley Institute finds the plurality of students support Cuban and Russian style socialism.

Good question. "How about asking Trump to stop spreading antisemitism via his associations and appointments?" www.thebulwark.com/p/right-wing...

This is sick, if accurate (The Counteroffensive is a reputable outlet). Russians are using drones to "safari hunt" civilians in Ukraine. www.counteroffensive.news/p/russias-di...

"The president and vice president should explain to backers and all citizens that the Republican Party has no place for bigots, purveyors of vile conspiracy theories, and sycophants of blood-stained anti-American dictators." Yes, they should. Any minute now. www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/202...

Here are some of the people being summarily executed at sea by the Trump Admin. They're mostly ordinary folks running drugs (to Europe, not the US) as a side gig. Their deaths will have zero effect on drug availability. apnews.com/article/trum...

Congress loses another good member. It's disgraceful that the problem of threats to MCs and judges isn't taken more seriously. leedrutman.substack.com/p/politics-k...

Gov. Pritzker to Trump and DOJ: "Come and get me." www.theunpopulist.net/p/jb-pritzke...

What are Trump and MAGA doing to our government? A rollicking discussion with two top political scientists. Short answer: it's patrimonialism, stupid. www.wbur.org/onpoint/2025...

An urgent plea. The hour is late. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

This is welcome news. Hopefully breaks US curse of one-off nuclear projects that fail to sustain expertise and supply chains. Cost comes down only thru repeatability, and S.K. and China are already building in bulk. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/b...

Let's not lose sight of how abnormal it is for a federal judge to feel that she has to behave this way with a US official. Just amazing. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/u...

The case for viewpoint diversity in academia is stronger than ever...despite claims that it's a "MAGA plot." www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...

"This week Trump announced new sanctions that were supposedly aimed at hurting the oil exports that are financing Russia’s war effort, yet they were actually much less potent than Trump claimed." open.substack.com/pub/billemmo...

"Abuses of science, enlightenment, and academic authority discredit the abuser, not the thing abused." www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/202...

Here's a thoughtful and well reported article on what comes after radical gender ideology and medical interventions as first-line treatment for gender dysphoria. www.thenewatlantis.com/publications...

It's not too late to fix this dangerous law...the closest thing in the US to martial law. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/18/o...