🇨🇼🇳🇱🇺🇲 | he/him | PhD | anthropologist @vassar.bsky.social | opinions mine | retweet & like≠endorsements |
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I don't think "both sides" are bad. There is one side who thinks extrajudicial assassinations are fine, and another that thinks they are wicked, illegal, and unconstitutional. If you want to make excuses for people because they have the correct letter next to their name, you have also chosen a side.
It would be so cool if Democrats remembered that they could do politics and run on legislation like expanding the House and preventing gerrymandering so that elections are fair and representatives actually represent their constituents instead of themselves
the democratic party's bias to normalcy is gonna kill us off. the gop is literally talking about a military junta and the democratic leader is operating like he can just cut a deal with republicans like its normal times.
The person in question may not care, but it's good for others to see this get exposed.
I think there’s a chance they murdered those poor Venezuelans precisely because of the Trump death rumors
40% of Republicans think the COVID vaccine killed more people than the COVID virus. One in four believe that QAnon is real. No matter how far they radicalize, we are told over and over again that the people being rude to them are the problem.
Folks spend way too much time lecturing trans people and Palestinians about what they gotta say and do to be treated like people with human rights
The idea that every representative in every district must align with the NATIONAL political consensus is, in the end, contrary to the current structure of the U.S. government!
Perhaps the reason Tlaib feels so free to say what she thinks is her constituency agrees with her and repeatedly reelects her, or in other words she's putting the idea of popularism into practice in relation to her local circumstances
I agree with you though that academic post-structuralist theories of truth did not offer many resources to respond to the trend effectively. OTOH: the legal scholars who did Critical Race Theory (not the propaganda version) predicted that facially neutral anti discrimination norms would be coopted
I think the latter is a good plan.
I see what you mean notice that the concepts of “threat,” “safety” and “harm” emanate from the discourse accompanying title 9, affirmative action, and so on.
Exactly. A series of incidents of police violence against unarmed Black faculty/students were precipitated by calls where people claimed they felt unsafe because a Black person (usually but not exclusively men) was on campus
Yep the retreat from naming specifics (sexism, antisemitism, etc) toward more abstract affects (“feeling safe, included”) was an ultimately botched attempt to be neutral or nonpartisan, but this retreat was a response to r-w attacks.
I mean as Black faculty we already tried to warn about how this “feeling unsafe” rhetoric could get coopted…
this euphemistic safetyist language was already a concession to the anti-woke right…and it only made things worse
On a certain level, it is amazing that, before this administration, it would not have been enough to say, "Professor A is doing anti-semitism, which Leo Frank trutherism definitely is" and have that be enough. A lot of problems seem to have started with "X is making Y environment less safe."
There is a professor at my college doing actual antisemitism (Leo Frank trutherism) in the name of "anti-Zionism," and I know if I tried to make it an issue, I would be feeding into the very worst right-wing voices who want to shut me and my mostly good institution down, too, so I have no recourse.
Oh no don't put a government facility employing a large number of highly educated workers in a red state where that could be electorally impactful!
Good: Pritzker calling BS, unambiguously and forcefully, on Trump’s planned invasion of Chicago, correctly identifying it as blatant rights violations based on a pretext. Bad: How much it stands out to see a leading politician do that, rather than go along with the BS, treating the pretext as real.
3 MILES IN HOW FUCKING LONG? what the fuck are they even doing? That's like, a couple days of small volunteer group work.
Reparations for documented systemic racism are considered such a ridiculous proposition that people assumed asking Bernie Sanders to consider it was some nefarious disqualifying stunt. Meanwhile, rioters who were looking to lynch lawmakers are getting after that paper.
This thinking was so wide-spread and hegemonic we saw people who knew better start to hedge their bets. Tuck their tails a little. Go along with the zeitgeist and complain about wokeness run amuck. Now they can’t find their tongues.
They know you, they know what makes you tick. They’ve cultivated this response through years of propaganda distributed among a variety of outlets. Your response is their achievement.
There’s someone reading this right now mumbling “if you people hadn’t been so woke and annoying,” and it’s you, yes you, who has been the perfect dupe this entire time.
Buried 35 paragraphs in: "Violent crime in Chicago has dropped significantly in the first half of the year, according to official data released by the city. Shootings are down 37% and homicides have dropped by 32% compared to the first half of 2024, while total violent crime dropped by over 22%..."
maybe it was bad to allow the claremont institute to train sheriffs who will now receive bounties from the government for snatching people off the street.
In the coming days, we expect to see what's playing out in LA and DC happen in Chicago. These efforts are not about fighting crime or making communities safer. This is about Donald Trump testing his power and producing political drama to cover up his own corruption.
Illinois Gov. Pritzker ahead of Trump National Guard deployment: "To Chicagoans... Look out for your communities and your neighbours. Know your rights. Film things that you see happening... Authoritarians thrive on your silence. Be loud for America."
Pritzker: "I refuse to pretend that any of this is normal ... I refuse to fall into the pundit trap that demands we sacrifice vital constitutional rights if it's being done in the fake guise of fighting crime."
I think a lot about The Coward Merrick Garland wringing his hands for 18 months about whether to get Trump, while a jury of normal ass people convicted him of 34 felonies
I would like to make another pitch that you support @hammerandhope.bsky.social by donating and becoming a member. They provide ESSENTIAL analysis to help us better understand the moment we are in. I am a donor/member: hammerandhope.org/membership
I keep thinking about the fact that it was Trinidad and Tobago who actually spearheaded the creation of the International Criminal Court, and the United States—with the Hague Invasion Act—is among the countries who has shown that institution the most contempt
lots of references to the "Third World" in US politics today given the deterioration of our institutions. there was a time when "Third World" named an alliance of people trying to decide their fate on their own terms and we would have to improve considerably to earn that description of our politics
shout-out to everyone who had Stupider Gulf Of Tonkin for Venezuela on their bingo cards
Why expect to legislate with a party that's built a robust, increasingly successful project that seeks to create new realities through executive orders, shadow-docket rulings, mass firings, and every other conceivable means _but_ legislation?
It does not seem good that a sizable portion of the political and media elite would rather cook their brains on a white nationalist website than have to engage with criticism from the left.
As Trump was threatening to militarily invade and occupy the city I live in, the leader of the opposition party offered to find common ground with him. I fucking hate these people. They are worse than useless.
Rubio's framing this operation as GWOT in the Caribbean.
If you're curious, the entire premise behind this guest essay is that Mamdani is not a Democrat.
If I were an editor, my questions for this Contributing Opinion Writer Who Is a Senior Fellow At a Right Wing Think Tank would have included: 1. What party is Zohran Mamdani a member of 2. What party just nominated him to be its candidate for mayor of New York 3. What are you talking about
it's starting now www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8Dn...
not the first person to make this observation but its rules that the "i wont let my body temple be defiled by putting seed oils or processed food in it" people and the "let me go behind the gym to inject these steroids i bought from a guy i met here" people have merged into the same group.
Those who embrace a naive view of American Exceptionalism love to tout how special the United States is compared to every other nation in the history of the world. That is, until it comes to American slavery. In that case, the US is no better or worse than every other nation where slavery existed. 🗃️
And then afterward -- this is the part that makes me feel crazy -- all the retrospective analysis & discussion *shit on Democrats*. They've been on the defense ever since, criticized from all quarters for this or that decision. Much of that criticism is fact-free bullshit, but ...
From an excellent piece by @dziblatt.bsky.social. www.foreignaffairs.com/germany/hitl...
In one of the debates in New York mayor's race, Mamdani (and Lander) both praised Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. She has been one of the most passionate voices defending cities and urban life as Trump trashes them. And she's stayed popular in way Brandon Johnson has not. newrepublic.com/article/1997...
Zohran Mamdani is the happiest politician in America, his whole campaign is about how New York is awesome and can be even awesomer. Meanwhile, there has never been a politician in history who talked as much about what a shithole he thinks America is as Donald Trump does.
We just gave this guy this huge secret police force to terrorize cities not friendly to regime. It's Stalinesque.
Talking about grocery prices while tanks literally roll on cities is absurd and doesn’t connect and it’s what congressional democrats keep doing because they’re scared little shits
I feel like, while every new generation of earnest lefties discovers this anew, the dynamic itself has been true for many decades now. Remember, eg, Joe Klein? "I was a progressive until activists yelled at me" is an old, old game. Contemptible, yes! But old.
When centrists adopt far-right rhetoric, they don’t make themselves stronger. They make themselves look inauthentic, legitimise the far right, and shift the political debate onto terrain defined by their opponents. www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...
www.cambridge.org/core/books/m...
It’s a often elided fact that Third Worldist Caribbean diplomats and statesmen played pivotal roles in creating the ICC and in the ratification of human rights treaties.
All true, but we shouldn’t ignore how the same psyop gets run on the left. The people pushing it are opportunists who will take any opening they can get.
Hard agree! sootyempiric.blogspot.com/2025/07/comp...
Honestly, I think a lot of politicians on both sides of the Atlantic got psyoped into viewing salt of the earth bigots as more authentic and worthy than them and thinking therefore they must ritually cleanse their sin of education by rolling in the gutter.
Most Zionists are in fact Christian, not Jewish. There are more Christian Zionists in the US (at least 30 million) than Jews in the whole world (roughly 16 million). If your criticism of Zionism as an ideology cannot account for this fact, you might be motivated by antisemitism.
Should also not be forgotten that in Mamdani's case for example, he's actually primarily invoked liberal principles when discussing why he believes in a free Palestine and an end to the apartheid system. A socialist / Third Worldist invoking these principles better than self-identified liberals.
There are 1000x as many stories (and public conversations) demanding statements and opinions about Zohran’s view on something he’s never said than there are about Republicans — and the GOP-embracing dems in NYC — explicitly espousing white-supremacist views. Sliwa has never been asked about it once.
I'm a big Jeffries critic. But my entire extended family is way more mobilized by Jeffries's framing. I hear a lot from my fam about Trump ending Black History Month in the fed government. Constantly evident that there is not one (1) Black person in that network of Dem pollster consultants
Rahm Emanuel with some classic yellow peril.
I have never seen a single news article about whether or not Hakeem Jeffries, Chuck Schumer or Kristen Gillibrand need to assure Muslim New Yorkers that they're against Islamophobia and anti-Arab / anti-Asian bigotry
“Darcy Bryan-Wilson vented on the Houston Foodie Friends Facebook group Sunday evening about smelling Fabuloso at an unidentified Houston restaurant.” *stares directly at the country*
"Blueskyism" helped the Mississippi Free Press overcome algorithmic suppression on other platforms (Facebook, Threads) and ride out plummeting engagement on Twitter following Musk's X takeover. Thank God we took our eggs out of the X basket when we did.
Oh, you mean it isn't actually about fighting crime?
There's this fascinating asymmetry here I think: a certain kind of centrist bore really craves the respect of people to their left but it's absolutely not reciprocated. Thus the desire to make it illegal for students to tell them they're full of it while calling it "free speech".
A lot of US “liberals” act racist AF when it comes down to it and this is one of the reasons minorities go MAGA. There isn’t a persuasively anti-racist electoral option for them.
It's so funny that you would put me on blast like this when I'm describing a concrete justice system that has far lower homicide and incarceration rates than the US... anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirec...
People say this site doesn't have the juice, but I've got literally tens of people cursing at me while simultaneously expecting me to walk them-personally-through a 7,000 word article that begins with a brief abstract.
I am named after dead relatives, as is our tradition in the family. There are numerous Philips and Michaels
That Trump and Trumpism are fascist doesn’t explain the sheer vandalism of unleashing mass murdering mayhem via RFK to replace medical/scientific institutions of immense value and prestige with medieval peasant superstitions. That is a criminal madness facilitated by but above and beyond fascism.
This is why “is it fascism/authoritarianism” question should not be a main priority. We should worry about specifics like what RFK is doing and what else he will be able to do while in power. Answering whether Trump regime is fascist doesn’t help explain what to do about RFK jr
At some point you have to just admit that the reason this endless farrago of hatred and filth from the intelligentsia of the modern Right doesn't inspire rejection from the media, commentariat, or political elite writ large is that they don't consider it particularly bad.
If white women think they will stop with Black women, they are very wrong.
Paradoxically, this total conflation of Zionism and “the Jews” is where the view of antisemitic “anti-Zionists” and the ADL’s Jonathan Greenblatt converge.
We have a decades of scholarship on how pro-democracy forces win in competitive authoritarian systems: they form a united opposition that brings together people with otherwise profound political disagreements.
Just saw a video of Bill Maher calling Mamdani a “straight up communist” and I continue to be struck by the depiction of policies associated with the New Deal Order as far-left extremism, which goes along with a refusal to depict Trump’s unprecedented authoritarian actions as far-right extremism.
What would it take for bill maher to just… not anymore, ever again? Is it more money? Is it a private island? Is it his father finally telling him he's proud of him? What is it, and how do we, collectively, make it happen so that this man just fully shuts his griftpipe and goes away?
A significant part of both the pro and anti Israel contingents have forgotten basic principles of political economy and international relations and seem to be under the delusion that Israel is the hegemon and the US is the vassal, that Israel produces its weapons and the US buys them, etc.
Anti-cosmopolitanism has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken people to the evils of rootSS
yes, that’s a thing:
garlic, oil, chili flakes. done
Weird, he isn't calling for the National Guard to be called out in his district. I guess he likes murders in Louisiana.
El Salvador’s Bukele riding on “law and order” promises to eliminate MS13 when he is in bed with MS13 is a case in point
"It isn't that there is no crime or drug trafficking in authoritarian regimes, just that the authorities are more likely to be involved. The Faustian bargain of surrendering democracy in exchange for security is a false pretense, an excuse to concentrate power" theimmigrationlab.org/blog/f/faust...
The DNC’s continued support of arms shipments to Israel is idiotic: both morally and strategically. The majority of the party opposes Israel’s war on Gaza, and DNC leaders threaten to alienate their base by continuing an unjust war. From Harold Meyerson: trib.al/oD4IlSf
I’m so tired of folks talking around white supremacy. I don’t know how people think any of this gets fixed but I promise that’s not a side quest to deal with.
A Silicon Valley billionaire just declared Burning Man “demonic.” This is a heavy concept to drop on people who are currently tripping balls at the annual festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. Get ready for “Satanic Panic,” Silicon Valley style. www.thenerdreich.com/demonic-sili...
every day i see hundreds of comments of people spinning elaborate scenarios to explain how trump can control everything and all opposition is futile. a) i think a lot of you need to log off and stop following professional doomsayers. b) i think a lot of you are cowards
NEW: A week or so ago, one federal agent kept popping up in videos from Trump's violent DC crackdown—so @jsweetli.bsky.social and I investigated. Turns out he's a 26-year-old US Parks Police officer, a lesser known law enforcement unit currently championed by Interior Sec. Doug Burnum. Our report:
would be interested in what percentage of right wingers think disowning your child for being, e.g., trans is totally fine
one of the great conservative moves over the past decade has been to make themselves so unpleasant that their own family members are forced to cut them off, and then use that fact to argue that *liberals* are too uncivil
It is important to start considering diagonalism as its own autonomous political formation, one that draws issues and talking points from both the left and the right as traditionally conceived but is not reducible to either
See also cynical uses of class politics in the service of anti-Blackness, “feminism” in the service of transphobia. Using “Jewish safety” in the service of both antisemitism and islamophobia. This triangulation of bigotries is a key tactic of diagonalist politics.
A failure to speak with moral clarity on so many issues from trans rights to disability to the war in Gaza has made diagonalist entryism much easier. I’ve been beating this drum since 2016, noticing that some of the “class-first” leftist are really just anti-Black herrenvolk economic nationalists.
I saw some of the discourse happening today on this app and one observation I have is that the sooner we start to understand that much of what gets called “online left” are actually diagonalists and Nazbols/Red-brown the better off we will all be
open.spotify.com/episode/7A74... When rightwing Holocaust scholars legitmize race science publications and support/defend present-day genocide... Truly bleak times.
Anyhow, baasskap/bossism is an absolute trip — and that it found its most florid expressions, up to now, in the American South and South Africa should tell us something.
“[Emeritus history professor Robert Korstad said] ‘capital was always going to put down the union … but there was a specific cruelty in putting down this union because … at the end of the day, white men resented having to negotiate with Black women.’”