The Cynical Historian on YouTube; PhD specializing in American violence during the frontier Southwest; fervent W.Wilson basher https://www.youtube.com/@CynicalHistorian
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That was obvious. Too bad that 1878 act meant to prevent another Reconstruction, as the Republicans retreated from civil rights. Now the parties have so severely flipped that Republicans violated the act to violate civil rights. Here's more: youtu.be/i-E14o6Do9Y
Onion article are no longer simply jokes, they are prophecies
WTF
Reading on the Nuremberg Trials and hilarious how defense's arguments (victors justice, tu quoque, ex post facto, superior orders) are easily countered by saying, "yeah, so what?" Gonna be 🤔 connecting to the ICC's indictment of 🇮🇱's ongoing genocide of 🇵🇸 (Nuremberg is the precedent)
Something to do with clocks and calendars, i guess
I'm 37 years old today
But… what if they… made clay tools instead of stone
phrasing
"Judeo-Christian values" or "western culture" are a dogwhistles for white supremacy. That's been the case since their coinage by Orwell and phrenology in the 1930s or 1830s. Stop being such a coward when using these deflections and admit that you are a racist
Ever wonder why Europe was able to become the world's hegemonic power instead of anywhere else? In my newest episode, I analyze one possible answer: slavery. It's very complicated, so check it out: youtu.be/8_1T1PXth8s
My new Chyka versus Crypto shirt is now available along with all my other merchandise. Check it out: cynical-historian-shop.fourthwall.com
My gigantic episode about redbaiting is up for preview on Patreon. It's currently 2hrs and will grow before release. Unfortunately that multiplies the idiotic Content-ID problems. Unwilling to retry b/c it took 22 failed renders. Here's the link: www.patreon.com/posts/redbai...
make sure it's anchored
Conservatives demanding reverence of historical figures instead of understanding is the difference between idolatry and learning
Read it. Seems pretty standard
But then people don't get to complain about schools brainwashing children. Parents would have to account for their own failings. Can't any cognizance. The """elites""" took that from you!
I get the same problems from reviewing movies. All the responses saying "it's not a documentary" fail to see my >half of reviews that are positive, literally angry that I popped their fantasy bubble. Popular media only inspires interest in falsehoods if left uncontested
Could find an answer, but I'm guessing it'll basically be this
I did talk about that in the culture war and attacks on education episodes. Dunno what would be worthwhile in rehashing that besides showing this is the same old BS
dumb idea for a banger episode: What is "WOKE" history? I'd look over Trump's attacks on the Smithsonian and other federal history sources, trying to find if there is anything consistent
Whelp, they demonetized the Reefer Madness episode. I've requested a review, but I'm sure they'll just keep it as is. Not like the episode did particularly well anyways, currently sitting at only 10k views
A prominent historian wrote this about my username, LOL
A hummingbird regularly comes to my window and buzzes it for awhile. My cat (King Richard I) is apoplectic about this, but the bird doesn't care, sticking around for a minute or two. It's hilarious
We are truly witnessing the death of free speech Cheered on by people who claim to believe in free speech. But only for their viewpoints While most of the rest of us are simply too tired and fearful to speak up
Couldn't have timed yesterday's livestream about executive power better. Here's the link to that: youtube.com/live/K15hR1n...
The Daily Worker (news organ of the Communist Party) was likely kept alive during the 2nd Red Scare thanks to governmental and watchdog subscriptions. It would've died due to disinterest, except redbaiting ironically buoyed it - incidentally funding communism in America 🤣
That's perfect, yeah. I could totally make an episode on that
Watch the vid
I've made preemptive videos that function as the reality section for a movie review before, specifically uploading simultaneously to the theatrical release. A few did well. I dunno any upcoming films worth doing that for though?
Join William C Fox and I in half an hour while we discuss whether presidential power always expands or if it can retract: youtube.com/live/K15hR1n... There's a lot of history to cover that is extremely pertinent to our current situation
Gifting Japan a couple portable stars was a "negotiation tactic"
Did you know that John Birch Society still exists and is politically active? They even have a pathetic YouTube channel that is currently promoting Mike Flynn and QAnon. Principled Americans reviled Birchers post-1964, but they've weaseled their way back through MAGA
Thanks! I'll check these out
Seems to be a recurring theme for my politically pertinent episodes that a strange niche of conspiracist losers become a dominant and hateful trend, from the Republic of Letters to QAnon. Is there a book about this sociological phenomenon of weirdo outsiders becoming mainstream?
I lampoon friends who complain about our age (I'm 36, typically responding "My PhD indicates that's how time works"), but I'm distressed about lack of kids playing outside. My old neighborhood was an obstacle course for cars and sports on the street. Now most don't know what this meant ⤵️
The last bastion of labor rights is about to fall. You are now a serf, beholden to some oligarch on behalf of der Führer. This is what it means to be "the new man" - a jackboot forever on your neck
couch-potato
MAGA communism FTW!?!?!?
We used to understand that the lost cause myth enabled segregation and redbaiting was merely a way to hide one's racism. Gee, I wonder what could've changed in 1980 to reinstitute such bigotry 😟 (pics from 1 issue of the Citizen's Councils of America)
The family was very friendly with McCarthy. He attended the boys' weddings, was a godfather to one, and RFK helped with his initial hearings (until the book burnings at least). So JFK abstaining makes perfect sense
"How dare American soldiers have freedom of speech!" says the foremost veterans organization in the United States. The American Legion advocated against labor solidarity, WWI bonuses, and Montgomery GI bill. They've always been bad for vets
While voting on the resolution to censure Joe McCarthy, it must have been immiserating for him to be a part of. No wonder the then 46-year-old died only a year and a half later, likely from his worsening drunkenness and morphine addiction. You kinda gotta feel bad for the man
There's been a pronounced downward trend for people posting on this app. Though far bigger Twitter users are also leaving in droves. So does that mean there's just a general amount of people quitting social media? Wonder if this applies to YouTube?
Congratulations?
In 1953, Joe McCarthy attacked Voice of America libraries for harboring "pinko books," resulting in many burnings. A horrified Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 in response. Hope there's a the new version now that Trump illegally cancelled the VOA this year, fulfilling his mentor's old mission
Imagine if Republicans stuck to their principles from 1952
What's the difference between a paleoconservative and fascist? As far as I can tell is merely that paleos were isolationist (many fascists were too) and a lack of serious conviction (most were waffling ideologues)
This Sunday at 1pm PST, join @williamcfox.bsky.social and I for a discussion about whether presidential power only expands, or can it retracts - live on Twitch and YouTube
I stand by this assessment. Also look what he had to say about lacking due process back in 1950 (United States v. Coplon, 185 F.2d 629 (2d Cir.)). Sound familiar?
POV: looking out the windows of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue while suffering from dementia
Go to a reenactment?
beliefs are totalitarian ultranationalism. Fulfilling their identity is all that matters to them. While they remain in power, fascists maintain absolute loyalty. The only way they become dissuaded is if they lose power. Until then, they are beyond
The utmost goal of fascists is to achieve absolute authority, regardless of means. They hope that will allow them to rebirth a nation through expulsion of anyone deemed impure and enforce some "authentic" homogeneous character. That's why they're so insincere. They're only concrete ... 2/3
People keep theorizing a point in which Trump supporters will find sanity and turn against him. If the Capitol Insurrection wasn't enough for them to realize the error in their ways, nothing is. MAGA has proven itself to be fascism. That history reveals some hard truths about the movement... 1/2
huh, I didn't notice. strange
These are the opposite of results I expected from doing thumbnail A/B testing 🤔 🤔 🤔 People seem to prefer (A) my symbol in the corner (B) more text (C) provocation
Got a couple hours to watch some history? Well here's a supercut of my California series: youtu.be/rmnM9ivjZF0
The Anti Popes and (ultra)Montan Limes have joined in two separate alliance to depose the Chicago Montan Superior, but the APA and MLA are inferior to CMS
*Remove "how little"
You need a hat
I cannot release this week's episode until that gets resolved
Reminder that Trump is trying to manipulate the way we tell history. We must fight his fascism. Americans have already run afoul of Santayana's saying about repeating the past. Let's prevent further degradation
I get this error 4/5 of the time now. Chronicling America and other digital assets of the Library of Congress are constantly unavailable now, proving how little this admin's opposition to history. Trump wants to control scholarship, prevent research, and denounce facts
How did this joke become prophecy so quickly?
I've finally passed the halfway mark. Gonna play some Assassin's Creed Odyssey at the top of the hour on twitch.tv/cynicalhisto...
Nominating Dennis Prager as the new Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda seems to be the likely choice
My first paper that i presented, I read word for word. Immediately after the panel, I had multiple colleagues tell me to be more extemporaneous. So maybe history is a bit different from other discipline in that regard
How did i miss the Civil War and War of 1812? The British burned the place before scattering before a big scary storm (hand of God in that one, lol). We literally built forts all around DC and basically had martial law for 4 years. Guess they're less of a reference to these circumstances
I wonder how much its resemblance to the ≠ symbol comes up
I don't understand
1857 Know Nothings (legit), 1835 Snow Riot (legit), 1835 Washington Navy Yard labor strike (meh). Crime has in fact dropped since the pandemic's high in every stat. This is a blatant power grab. At least, Mussolini took a year before making the Milizia Volontaria. /end/🧵
Some previous examples of previous: 2021 following the Capitol Insurrection (too late and not ordered by POTUS), 2020 against BLM (no riot occurred), 1968 race riot (legit), 1934 bonus march (illegit), 1919 race riot (legit), 1894 Coxey's Army (no riot)… 2/3
Every time a president sent DC National Guard as enforcement, including Trump 1.0, it has been in response to riots and insurrections, often unjustified, but responding to something at least. This fraudulent order is just a further example of our descent into fascism … 1/🧵
Since 2015, I've released episodes on Thursdays at 10:30am my time (originally PST, but now MST). I'm gonna try releasing this week's episode on Saturday afternoon, just to see if that will make a difference. Dunno which episode yet though
So nothing to do with cattle driving, which was the entire point of the Chisholm Trail
How did anyone ever take this goofball seriously?
strange name for a game. those two trails weren't connected and served different purposes (emmigration vs cattle drives)
We definitely chose the wrong candidate that year
I think the Terza Roma (Third Rome) is a more apt analogy
I have already depicted your school as overbearing and students famished while my schools are fun and plentiful. Checkmate papists!
Vodka is moonshine with extra steps
Is it just my internet or is Chronicling America and other Library of Congress digitally accessible stuff seem to be all kinds of broken recently?
Never Forget: interwar Germany was one of the safest places for trans people, with doctors actually taking their concerns and needs seriously, even writing several books on transgender subject matter. Some of the first books the Nazis burned were these transgender books. Transphobia is evil.
Anytime someone talks about eliminating "trans ideology" respond by saying we should eliminate "fascist ideology" first. We could fix both problems by eliminating those complaining about "trans ideology." Historical problems require historical solutions
40 minutes in and I'm finally discussing labor unions in an episode all about the history of US redbaiting. This episode is 2 hours long, ten minutes more than my "attacks on education" episode - my previous longest script
1860
Since my longer episodes seem to do better, now I'm working on one that's 2 hours. I've wanted to cover this topic for a decade, but was too complicated for brevity. Also, I'm returning to AC Odyssey in an hour at twitch.tv/cynicalhisto...
I did an interview with Tarpeia (a primary-source history project) mostly about my scholarly work. If you'd like to see me getting into immense detail about American violence in the Southwest during the frontier period, check it out: youtu.be/yS5a6xnOBww?...
That didn't end well last time
Odd misinterpretation of the title, "Holy Roman Emperor" 😆 Guessing that's referring to a random celeb that I'm completely apathetic about
Yet another episode went poorly. I've been experimenting with thumbnails and titles, just trying to get people to click, but sadly the video is a flop, compounded by several duds in a row 😨 In case you missed it: youtu.be/uH373MND1Ic
Instead of burning flags at a protest, what if you retired one instead? Learn to fold it properly and set it alight with some solemnity. When people complain, you can point to how they lack patriotism and should not be taken seriously
Guess what topic I'm putting together an episode on
To support #TeamWater I talk about how the 1922 Colorado River Compact needs to be renegotiated. Check out my newest episode: youtu.be/uH373MND1Ic
Nevadan not Nevada
This is the most political I can ever be, literally saying anyone disagreeing is an ignoramus. Yet the only complaints literally reinforce the lampshading I do, because the point i make is so superior to any counterarguments, 😈. Do better, youtu.be/uH373MND1Ic
I doubt any non-Nevada will do so
So long, mom, I'm off to drop the bomb, So don't wait up for me. … Remember, mommy, I'm off to get a commie, So send me a salami And try to smile somehow. I'll look for you when the war is over, An hour and a half from now!