@washingtonpost.com confirming yet again that so many of us made the right call when we canceled our subscriptions.
DMV 🦀. Geographer 🌎 Research US militias, Christian Right, Northern Ireland, & #DC metro. Write 4 Political Research Associates/Public Eye, Greater Greater Washington, and Streetsense DC. Love ocean creatures 🐳🦈🐙
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@washingtonpost.com confirming yet again that so many of us made the right call when we canceled our subscriptions.
This was a great explainer
I'd starve if I had to rely on my garden. But my salads are good!
You’ll notice none of the people burnishing Kirk’s record is a professor. His most profoundly toxic legacy is what he did to campus culture.
+ 1 endorsement. Loved it!
Good reminder that when justice comes, it's not just the big man who has to face the music. His lackeys do too.
Must read 🧵. TOPA isn't perfect, but it's an important tool in the affordabilty housing toolbox. Axing TOPA for landlords who promise to keep 51% of units affordable w no oversight is like hiring wolves to guard the chicken coop. DC landlords have shown time and again they have not earned that trust
look Charlie Kirk started, maintained, & promoted turning point usa’s professor watchlist I’ve been on it for over a decade and until this year I was the *only* UVM professor on it which means his life’s work = my death threats
"He reviled, belittled, and demeaned large numbers of my fellow Americans, but he was quite cordial to me" sets my teeth on edge.
In 2018 I interviewed 3 faculty attacked by TPUSA & aligned orgs. TPUSa's goal was to get them fired--not because they were bad teachers or abusive to students. No, it was because they didn't pass the purity test. This wasn't reasoned debate. It was terrifying harrassment involving death threats.
This is a jaw-dropping claim. TPUSA's professor watch list organizes harassment/trolling campaigns against professors whose political views differ from theirs. Trying to get profs fired for having the 'wrong' ideology most closely approximates Maoist purity tests. 1/2
When you publish a website that posts the names and photos of scholars who have written or said things you disagree with and encourage people to surveil and harass them, you are not, in fact, a “free speech” organization.
Since the Military is tracking how Americans view the deployment of the national guard in DC, let me add to the data set. The deployment is: 1. A political stunt. There is no crisis in DC 2. Disrespectful to Guardsmen. Trump forced them to leave their families to put mulch in parks? 3. Shameful
I agree. It sounded very much like a script. It also sounded like something out of Mao's cultural revolution 😳. You're not a real university if you fire someone for opposing dear leader.
Oh that made my day!
The audio clip of that student was like something out of Mao's cultural revolution.
I'm traveling today but so proud of all the students at my university (AU)! And those at GW, Georgetown, and Howard!
Good advice as I didn't even realize he was on here!
I still don't understand why anyone cares what Nate Silver thinks anymore. Like, his whole shtick was about accurate prediction, and when he ended up doing a middling job of that, I tuned him out. And as @emptywheel.bsky.social notes, the coddling of fascism tells me I made the right decision
America has a billionaire problem. The sleaze and sycophancy is gross.
The student in the embedded video confronting the teacher would have fit right in with Mao's cultural revolution. A right party apparatchik that one
It's going to be hard to hold this coalition together once the guy with the orange makeup exits stage right.
I'll be honest. I just wasn't prepared for the absurdity of this moment. When the sycophants have to please the mad, dumb 'king', they do inexplicably stupid and just plain weird stuff.
Militias were loyal to a fault so ICE doesn't have anything over them on that score, but ICE are hierarchically organized & have a leader who talks to trump. None of this is fool proof viz coup proofing, but is a step up from the militias (& also explains why militias have been on the sidelines) 4/
You could see the disorganization in real time. After congress fled to offices or other temporary safe places, many people in the mob were running around taking pictures, rummaging around empty offices, vandalizing things. The shock troops didn't seem to know what was next 3/
Militias were waiting for trump to call the insurrection act, & trump was waiting for them to take congress so republicans could reinstall him. The lack of coordination btw trump & his militias, btw the oathkeepers & proud boys, & btw trump & his lackeys in congress saved us (+ capitol police) 2/
I don't study authoritarian or coups, but I do study militias and other NSAGs. And this rings true. I've long thought that Jan. 6 could have been much worse if trump and his militia henchmen had developed a plan and communicated better on that day. Both were waiting for the other to do something 1/
Thank u!
Can the ICC issue a criminal warrant for Bukule and his generals?
The republican party has no honor.
This is unacceptable. Impeachable. And, also ridiculous. Like, why does trump look like a bobble head wearing a DIY pirate hat?
😅😅😅
So does this mean trump is a snitch or part of the deep state?
Great mini-thread. If we ever get out of this mess, it will be in part because the GOP finally collapses in on itself. Too many internal contradictions, too much nihilistic rage, and so much grifting, usually delivered by kooks and sociopaths you'd never trust your kids with. It's just exhausting.
@mayorbowser.bsky.social's suggestion that Schwalb hold off on his lawsuit looks malevolant, not strategic. The regime has already indicated it wants to replace Schwalb (which would be illegal since he is an ELECTED official). Trump wants to destroy home rule, being nice to him won't change that.
There are many good videos from this hearing, but I appreciate this one bc Bernie didn't give him a chance to say much. Instead, he relentlessly lectured him. And by the time rfkjr got a chance to speak, he'd been backed into a corner and was largely speechless. Which is as it should be for quacks.
Nice to see @dcattorneygeneral.bsky.social playing a leadership role here. And just in time, given @mayorbowser.bsky.social 's decision yesterday to approve continued occupation.
@mayorbowser.bsky.social is in a bind, as so many people running state/local governments and major institutions are. But the Vichy approach (to accommodate as a means to preserve some power) usually backfires. Authoritarians, fascists, and the like see an inch given as a mile to take.
I was today years old when I learned what Calvinball is. And may I just say: mad props to this judge telling SCOTUS they can't just make sh*t up and expect district courts to go along.
The only thing missing was a milkshake!
I'm curious if anything this judge has done here (frivolous or baseless complaint, harassment, failure to know the law) is grounds for disbarment or impeachment in Florida.
Boards are the worst. Almost none of them know anything about education, but most assume they do because (checks notes) they went to college and are rich.
I agree. They're not the enemies here. ICE & the red state governors who yanked them away from their families, jobs, and lives are. But given the media thinks they're helping police (see Martha raddatz interview with Wes Moore saying this very thing), it's good to show what they're really doing.
The scourge of criminal weeds has been defeated.
That's even worse! 😅😢
Tracks. My university administrators were recently excited about getting rid of free parking on campus after 5.
Bkuesky is great, and who knew it could score free rent in Nate Silver's head?
Congratulations! That's a big deal!
Somehow I missed that back in May Josh Harris told the president "you are the ultimate commander." You dodged a bullet Wes Moore!
I don't like that we have people like this in Silver Spring.
Bonkers that Raddatz doesn't ask about the legality of having the guard on the streets. Or what it means for democracy. Just ask the people of Argentina, Burma, & Northern Ireland what its like when they stick around. And shame on @mayorbowser.bsky.social for pretending this mess is a good thing.
Even by their own standards (big muscles, tatts, weapons galore) these guys are failing the masculinity test. Attacking unarmed, working people going about their business isn't manly. It's LARPING at masculinity.
Even though they're all tatted up and roided out, these goons look so weak. Wearing masks and armed to the hilt to take down Hispanic kids on scooters. Nothing manly or honorable about what they're doing.
If there is a hell, these two goons will deservedly end up there
California lawmakers reach an agreement with Uber and Lyft that will open the door for app-based drivers to form unions. This is a victory for organized labor that could lay the groundwork for similar efforts in other states.
Also theoretical mathematics if WVU is any indicator. But they'll not say a word about the WVU president flying from Morgantown to Charleston or DC.
Smart move. You won't be doing complex investigations on narcotrafficking groups or disrupting their networks. You'll be arresting working class people (gardeners, firefighters) & breaking families apart. Dodge this bullet with pride.
Maybe rethink your life choices.
That stupid coat still makes my blood boil just thinking about it
I'm sure Huron offers packages for reviewing the efficiency of university systems. And I bet their default advice is "you need a new Vice President of University Systems and CRM management!" 🙄🤡☠️
I hope @govwesmoore.bsky.social can join next time!
I love that his lawyer (Doug Gansler) is the former AG of Maryland, and before that, the state's attorney for MoCo. DMV strong.
All I can say @vanityfair.com is this: it's NOT glamorous to profile the spouse of a president who deported innocent men to a torture chamber in El Salvador and kidnapped children from their parents 8 years ago at the border. It's more like "I need a shower this is so dirty."
My university adopted Workday and now filing expenses reports for reimbursement feels like a game of Jumanji
The self-loathing in that room must be off the charts.
😅
Maybe they could put them on rat patrol. *That* would be useful.
I cannot type the words I actually want to say, so for now I’ll just hope these people are haunted forever.
I really wish they'd gone with the more concise headline: "Old codger found making sh*t up again"
Thank you!
Despite this, WAPO never mentions race or white supremacy (NOT ONCE) in an article about the factions in trump world. I don't know if this decision is intentional sanewashing or the result of a blind spot as big as Jupiter. But it's half-baked. Like making a pumpkin pie & forgetting the pumpkin 6/6
All to say white supremacist logic pervades trump world. You could treat race as the glue that holds these factions together or lump the white supremacists into a separate faction. You could even denote factions by dominant ideology (e.g. antisemitic deep staters or great replacement folks) 5/6
And let's not forget that Trump has appointed extremists in key govt. positions. Joe Kent, the Director of the US National Counterterrorism Center has a tattoo of the word panzer (a Nazi tank in WWII) on his arm and believes in the racist great replacement 'theory'. There are many, many others. 4/6
White supremacy in maga world shows up in direct & latent forms, & its targets are many: Muslims, Black people, Hispanics, Jews, Asians, etc. Racism isn't a bug, its a feature. Remember MTG's Jewish space lasers or trump's 'good people on both sides' at the Charlottesville unite the right rally? 3/6
There are many ways you could delineate factions in this sphere. My guess: WAPO assumes the populist group covers race/racism (this is where they put Loomer), but the closest they get to the racism or white supremacy is anti-immigration & that category doesn't cover it by a long country mile 2/6
I'm not sure how you write an analysis of the key factions in trumpworld without once mentioning racism or white supremacy. But somehow, @washingtonpost.com managed to do just this. 1/6
Hold it. The NYTimes is aware we community colleges exist? *faints*
We're looking at a criminal regime at this point.
Teen Vogue is the best thing to happen to mainstream American journalism since deep throat www.teenvogue.com/story/ice-wa...
13-15 MPD AND HSI AGENTS ACTIVE AND PULLING PEOPLE OFF BUSES. STAY CLEAR.
It's horrible. Yanking people off the streets and putting them in unmarked vehicles is way to close to Anne Frank.
It's bonkers his legal team had to use private security to protects him from the government.
This is what the creation of no-go zones looks like early days. Federales can still go into an area, but all 👀 are on them. They can't do effective surveillance or manuever. The guy in the Boston shirt was doing his damndest to cover his face. Pulling his hat down/looking away. Name shame & blame
I have so many thoughts on this, but I'll start with Jesse Waters. I can see why his mother disinvted him to Thanksgiving. I'm surprised she hasn't disowned him.
I think we all knew there was something other than crackers in that barrel!
And whoever that someone is, they are a national treasure!
All to say organizing on the ground won't sway everyone (racists and antisemites are gonna do their thing) but institutional left wasn't doing much of anything. The Dem governor was busy restricting black lung benefits
My interpretation then was they didn't have discourses necessary to articulate what was wrong abt globalization nor the discourses to reject racism/sntisemitism as responses. The left in KY was a mess then & right-wing discourses we're flourishing. And there were lots of crackpot. Toxic combo
I think it was there, but was always in concert w/ other stuff (racism, antisemitism) that undermined it (thus the thinness). When I was researching militias in KY in late 1990s, they saw global trade rules as tyranny against them. They weren't wrong but articulated it through a conspiratorial lens.
America's so-called militias have jumped the anti-government shark. They're trying on the jack boots & vying to join the federal tyranny they once opposed. After Malheur, militias decided opposing the federales was a losing strategy. Their anti-govt ideology was always pretty thin and it's gone now.
He sounds like the kid on debate team who isn't very good so his tactic is to filibuster with word salad.
Life skills: stretch, gather yourself, take it to the mat 💛
My worry is these goons will take and keep passports if you show it without a lawyer present.
Folks we support often want to give back directly to us, but we generally don’t have a specific need & instead ask them to take care of their neighbors. We want to create an ecosystem of support, a world in which we help folks when they need, not a tit for tat exchange of services for one another.
Juno is an AMAZING mission. The camera onboard was never supposed to last this long (the radiation around Big J should've zapped it a while back) but it just keeps on ticking. Killing this mission while it's still working and producing great science is a crime.
Right! I mean, I thought old white people were their base!
Hippies are baby boomers. Anyone who is 90 today was born in the mid 1930s and is a member of the silent generation.
ICE and HSI learning how NoGo areas get established in cities whose citizens don't trust law enforcement. You can come in, but all eyes are on you, and your maneuverability is zero.
Getting booed out of a neighborhood by schoolkids in backpacks and mom with a stroller.