they don't have the capacity to compel obedience by the process of law. they don't have the capacity to compel obedience by violence. the only lever by which they can obtain obedience is fear. do not offer it to them.

By the way, any organization can be directly democratic. Your union, your workplace, your bookclub, your government. City, state, and federal.

The shape of politics in the US right now is increasingly that the media, political and economic elites are allied with the Trump regime against the actual people of the country who hate it

No notes

GO OFF LORD GRANTHAM

En librairie depuis le 20 août chez Albin Michel. Un grand livre sur la résignation combative, celle d'une génération qui laisse à ses enfants un monde en déréliction. Chronique d'Un monde nouveau de @jessrow.bsky.social sur Playlist Society www.playlistsociety.fr/2025/09/un-m...

I didn't read nearly as much as I wanted to this summer, but I'm a new fan of CHAEREAS AND CALLIRHOE and think you should read it too: "It’s violent, sordid, funny, surreal, and thoroughly human, sort of like Pirates of the Caribbean written by the Coen Brothers." Link in comments.

I have a new collection of short stories coming out next summer! I'll be posting about the stories all year on my Substack, if you'd like to subscribe. Link in comments.

DHS is recruiting using a not-so-subtle reference to a 1978 book from white nationalist William Gayley Simpson, Which Way Western Man? Simpson's book was released under an imprint associated with the National Alliance, founded by Turner Diaries author William Luther Pierce.

i have been stuck on JD Vance's claremont speech for almost two weeks now because it is structurally identical to roger taney's opinion for the court in dred scott

The Ear Scene is one of the most disturbing moments in the whole history of American film. Madsen was a terrific actor, undervalued and not given as many roles as he should have been. Ars longa vita brevis.

This @propublica.org video is incredible. It shows how billionaires live on loans. Their repayment interest rate is a fraction of what you'd pay in income tax if you actually *worked*. Time for everyone to complain loudly enough to blast a hole in the inbox & phone of every elected representative.

establishment dems don't want to win. they want to keep getting wooed by corporate interests and driven around and enjoying their lifestyles and to never retire or die and they resent that the natural human life cycle means that they will inevitably have to make way for another generation

Damn, Joyce Maynard runs a hotel in Guatemala? What a life.

Flanagan is the GOAT and everyone else is just a pale imitation

Kafkaesque and indicative of a system where skin color determines guilt, and institutional connections determine narrative

This guy just became my fav American politician bar none

We feed you. They hunt us.

Remembering Obama crafting what was just about a perfect compromise between Republican & Democrat positions at the time including a dramatic, I think maybe unprecedented, increase in enforcement & deportation.

A classic NYC mayor tweet

My three-year-old was watching CNN when she turned to me gravely and asked “Daddy, why did the nice crypto man abduct and torture the tourist?” And when I told her “Because job creators are entitled to break the rules sometimes,” she started crying.

fucking cowards

Ralph Fiennes and Yorgos Lanthimos were among over 350 artists to sign an open letter denouncing the industry’s silence in response to Cannes film subject, Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona.

Un-American for thine, graduation for mine.

“I could explain Hasan Piker’s politics to you, but that’s entirely irrelevant. The bold, all caps, underlined point is that a high profile, US-born American citizen was detained on Sunday by ICE for, it would seem, the crime of speech.”

There’s so much happening right now, I thought I’d put together a running thread on the dismantling of #climate and research and knowledge infrastructure in the United States 🧵

“Barnard and Columbia issued interim suspensions Thursday afternoon to four student journalists who covered a Wednesday pro-Palestinian protest in Butler Library, citing “information received” from Public Safety indicating the reporters’ alleged involvement in the protest”

This is the right approach — speak to them as you would an especially stupid child, spell out their crimes and your contempt clearly.

I reported this in March and posted it again yesterday bsky.app/profile/jswe...

I did share this – it’s one of my favorite action sequences I’ve ever seen on TV. Elegant and understated and bad ass as hell.

The Pittsburgh DSA at one point considered and in the end declined to endorse Fetterman on the basis of seeing early on that merely going with "oppositional vibes" was not, in fact, what we should do when deciding what politicians to support. Obvs now vindicated. Good praxis, be like those comrades.

Don't take my writing advice. Take hers. Link in comments.

just saying: it's possible that "I'm gonna dramatically constrict my state capacity while plotting dramatic imperial expansion, and expanding my set of internal enemies while alienating most of my foreign allies" is the beginning of a world-historical masterstroke. but also possible that it isn't

but also, he's a nazi. his family moved to south africa in support of apartheid. he's literally named after a character in a wernher von braun novel. he openly advocates for eugenics. he's complained that poor black and brown countries are 'outbreeding' us. he's a trans eliminationist. he's a nazi.

Swear to all that's holy that my exposure to Free to Be You and Me as an impressionable youth has had a significant positive effect on my happiness. Internalizing that men and women are equal and gay people aren't scary was very positive! engagededucation.substack.com/p/free-to-be...

Happy Giant Phallus Shaped Iceberg Floating In Conception Bay of Dildo, Canada Day to all who celebrate.

Thoughts? It's a little late for thoughts.

too little legal reporting is mentioning that Mahdawi was released on bail by a judge who determined he wasn’t a flight risk, hadn’t been charged, and also had substantial first amendment claims. His deportation case is still proceeding. Here’s a good overview www.everettpost.com/national/jud...

Look at this video: a *huge* crowd of Vermonters swaying alongside Mohsen right after he was freed, singing "We Shall Overcome" Signs reading "Hands off our students" & "free speech" are peppered in between large Palestine flags

How does Avelo Airlines justify operating deportation flights for ICE? CEO Andrew Levy called the contract “too valuable not to pursue.” In other words, profiting off others’ misery. #BoycottAvelo #NoDeportations #DueProcess www.propublica.org/article/avel...

Coogler made $90 million on the screenplay alone. You'd think he could bring some of that back to Clarksdale, maybe?

"We're winning on this issue. So we need to stop talking about it." Classic

I love adding this one data point to economic charts. It works every time.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker: "Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now. These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace. They must understand that we will fight their cruelty with every megaphone and microphone that we have."

"They are adult babies who think that the world is out to get them because 40 people asked them to stop constantly being racist. They are nincompoops who think that money is the same thing as intelligence. And, above all, they are losers." — @jackmirkinson.bsky.social @discourseblog.com

Take a minute from your day and read this chilling story about how quickly we've gotten to where we are.