J. L. Bell
@boston1775.bsky.social
3K followers 690 following 890 posts
History, analysis & unabashed gossip about Revolutionary New England.
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boston1775.bsky.social
When I joined Twitter years ago, I created multiple accounts for my separate interests and activities. Each account followed different groups and attracted different followers.

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Reposted by J. L. Bell
donmoyn.bsky.social
Oh come on, this is horseshit since we know that Hegseth already includes The Atlantic in his signal chats
theatlanticpr.bsky.social
The Atlantic’s journalists will not sign the Pentagon’s press policy. Statement here from editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg:
Reposted by J. L. Bell
ljelkins.bsky.social
This is bizarre. What do folks think research is? Exploring a new idea, by reading ~100 articles in chronological order and discovering the holes in their reasoning, is actually really fun IF you like the subject and doing research. (And if you don't, that's ok, it's just not your career path.)
arrianna-planey.bsky.social
People who say "you can't possibly read everything you cite" are saying a lot about themselves, IMO.

It doesn't have to be a heavy lift. I spend about half an hour a day processing new-to-me papers by organizing them in my reference managers & adding topical tags so I can create bibliographies.
Reposted by J. L. Bell
karl-jacoby.bsky.social
History faculty at Columbia & Barnard decrying the harassment of @mark-bray.bsky.social: "This is the first case in recent memory of a historian who has fled the country after receiving death threats on account of the history that they teach."
Reposted by J. L. Bell
rpsagainsttrump.bsky.social
Chris Christie: “Thie is no longer, the Department of Justice, is no longer the premier prosecuting office in America. What it is now is a capo regime who goes out and executes hits when directed by the Don to do so. That’s what it is.”
Reposted by J. L. Bell
historydude1963.bsky.social
Bruni is correct. Bondi diverted attention last week from the real crimes committed on 1/6/21. At the urging of the then POTUS a rabble of racists, election deniers & malcontents sought to subvert the rule of law. Prosecute the real criminals not the investigators.

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/13/o...
Opinion | The Appalling Campaign to Erase Jan. 6 Never Ends
www.nytimes.com
Reposted by J. L. Bell
marisakabas.bsky.social
I asked ICE why they couldn’t comment on their own arrest. The agent said to direct questions to DHS. And it appears DHS is making accusations via X to justify the abduction of a child.
Reposted by J. L. Bell
gtconway.bsky.social
Robert De Niro: “Now we have a would-be king — King Donald the First. Fuck that. I’m Robert De Niro and I’m asking you to stand up and be counted in the nationwide No Kings protest on October 18th”

👉👉 nokings.org
Reposted by J. L. Bell
thetnholler.bsky.social
ICYMI — with electricity rates already skyrocketing, Trump just canceled the largest solar project in North America.

Utah’s Republican governor seems to understand this is probably not the best idea: “This is how we lose the AI/energy race with China” 👇🏽
Reposted by J. L. Bell
victorerikray.bsky.social
Between this, the resegregation of the military, and the retooling of the Department of Justice to focus on (fake) discrimination against white Christians, and eviscerating Civil Rights Act enforcement, they have nearly erased the structural legacy of the Civil Rights Movement.
audrelawdamercy.bsky.social
Wednesday is gonna be a rough day:

The Supreme Court will be hearing oral argument in a pair of cases that threaten what little remains of the federal government’s ability to protect voters from racial gerrymandering under the Voting Rights Act

ballsandstrikes.org/scotus/louis...
Louisiana v Callais: The Republicans Justices Are Getting Ready to Finish Off the Voting Rights Act
In Louisiana v Callais, John Roberts will have the chance to finish his decades-long war on. voting rights.
ballsandstrikes.org
Reposted by J. L. Bell
segalmr.bsky.social
Demonstrating once again that, by holding that partisan gerrymandering is a nonjusticiable “political question,” SCOTUS set up a situation in which voters and their representatives are essentially punished in Congress if they choose to run their own states fairly.
taniel.bsky.social
North Carolina Republicans announced today they’re going to pass a new congressional map to draw a Dem out of Congress; they already did last cycle, going from 7-7 to 10-4. Thus would be 11-3. t.co/XLJIhe8vZn
Reposted by J. L. Bell
davidsirota.com
🚨NEW: A case at the Supreme Court cites Trump reportedly promising oil donors favors as proof that pay-to-play influence is so pervasive that bribery laws must be narrowed so pay-to-play is no longer a prosecutable crime.

The case is represented by a Trump-connected law firm.
Reposted by J. L. Bell
wajali.bsky.social
What did Tom Homan do with the $50K he took in a CAVA bag from undercover FBI agents?

Just keep asking this everyday. Its a big scandal they can't escape because Pam Bondi and her DOJ killed the investigation. They're cornered on this and the Epstein Files.
Reposted by J. L. Bell
heylookitsruth.bsky.social
A mom in Houston reported her 15-year-old son with autism missing. She spent 6 days terrified, searching for him. The whole time, Houston police knew exactly where he was since they helped ICE place him in a refugee facility.

This is beyond cruel.
www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...
Missing teen with autism transferred to refugee facility by HPD
He is currently being held at an Office for Refugee Resettlement facility.
www.houstonchronicle.com
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vanhollen.senate.gov
These are the same kind of weasels who would’ve called George Washington & America’s revolutionaries “terrorists.” They spend their days sucking up to King Trump & demonizing peaceful protest just as some in America sought to appease King George III. 

Looking forward to No Kings Day.
Johnson describes planned No Kings rally as ‘hate America,’ ‘pro-Hamas’ gathering
Organizers largely blew off the rhetoric, but some Democrats online criticized the tone.
www.politico.com
Reposted by J. L. Bell
jonathanbogart.net
Comic fiction in English of the late 19th and early 20th century was a cohering genre as formalized, diverse, and inventive as the contemporary mystery, sci-fi, horror, western and romance that were then consolidating into discrete genres, but it petered out post-WWII for a variety of reasons.
rachelfeder.bsky.social
Tell me your most unhinged literary opinion, as a little treat
Reposted by J. L. Bell
jonathanbogart.net
The third reason is that big names like P.G. Wodehouse, because they outlived their own genre, came to be thought of as sui generis rather than as members of a cohort, and so diverted all the attention that might have gone to more minor lights to themselves.
Reposted by J. L. Bell
jonathanbogart.net
Another reason is that certain fans of every other genre (including the so-called literary) have always deprecated a sense of humor, and so the existing corpus has been under a benign neglect, with exceptions for big names like P.G. Wodehouse, for nearly a century.
Reposted by J. L. Bell
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
I am deeply skeptical, of course. But speaking objectively here, she has provided accurate information in the past about the operation of the agency she represents.

Of course, she has also provided false information multiple times, which is why I don't suggest taking her posts as the gospel truth.
emericanjezebel.bsky.social
I’m gonna need yall to stop accepting anything these people say as even “possibly true”
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
I posted about this on X, and Tricia McLaughlin, the DHS spokesperson, QTed me to say the kid was actually a hardened criminal arrested with a knife and a gun.

So far she has provided no evidence of this. I share this to give DHS's response, and for the possibility she is telling the truth.
Reposted by J. L. Bell
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
I posted about this on X, and Tricia McLaughlin, the DHS spokesperson, QTed me to say the kid was actually a hardened criminal arrested with a knife and a gun.

So far she has provided no evidence of this. I share this to give DHS's response, and for the possibility she is telling the truth.
My original post on X: "This makes NO SENSE. A 13-year-old was arrested by local police for unknown reasons, and then turned over to ICE, which is detaining him far away from his mother — who is going through immigration court, has an asylum application on file, and is legally authorized to work." Underneath that I posted a link to the opening paragraphs of the article and the headline.


In response, DHS Spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, @TriciaOhio, wrote: "Here are the facts: he posed a public safety threat with an extensive rap sheet including violent assault with a dangerous weapon, battery, breaking and entering, destruction of property. He was in possession of a firearm and 5-7 inch knife when arrested."
Reposted by J. L. Bell
kevinmkruse.bsky.social
This press release from a North Carolina GOP figure portrays the current redistricting wars as something *Democrats* started in Calif., ignoring the fact that this all began with the Trump White House and first unfolded in red Texas.

According to them, Republicans are once again The Real Victims™
House Redistricting Chairmen Brenden Jones (R-Columbus) and Hugh Blackwell (R-Burke) said, “We’re stepping into this redistricting battle because California and the radical left are attempting to rig the system to handpick who runs Congress. This ploy is nothing new, and North Carolina will not stand by while they attempt to stack the deck. President Trump has called on us to fight back, and North Carolina stands ready to level the playing field.”
Reposted by J. L. Bell
bobcesca.bsky.social
I'm old enough to remember when it was considered political suicide to criticize the United States while on foreign soil. The number of times Donald has crossed that Rubicon are too many to count.
atrupar.com
Trump on Egypt: "They have very little crime. Because they don't play games. That's why. Like we do in the United States with governors that have no idea what they're doing."
Reposted by J. L. Bell
nicholasgrossman.bsky.social
Police officers who publicly declare that they’ll quit if a mayoral candidate they dislike wins the election are (1) usually bluffing—sure buddy, toss away that paycheck and pension—and (2) exactly the sort of cops cities would be better off without, ones who don’t see themselves as public servants.