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Reposted by Kevin Elliott

Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 2h

My version of this is that Vought, Yarvin etc represent a kind of braindead right-Gramscianism, which leaves out all the interesting subtleties and treats civil society _only_ as a realm of indoctrination, where one ideological master-narrative can readily be substituted for another.

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 3h

a key thing about vought — and all of these guys — is that they have a totally top down and hierarchical vision of the world. they believe that the cultural changes they hate can be turned off by destroying the federal government because they can’t imagine that they emerged bottom-up in society

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 3h

What he’s railing against is a profound shift in culture, status… He’s obsessed with the idea that America is controlled by a leftist “ruling elite” - but “elite” isn’t defined socio-economically or by political power, it means something like: Getting to define “real America” and who gets to belong.

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Roy Edroso @edroso.bsky.social · 1h

Yep. They heard "long march through the institutions" and thought: we're good at marching! Let's US march through the institutions!

Henry Farrell @himself.bsky.social · 2h

My version of this is that Vought, Yarvin etc represent a kind of braindead right-Gramscianism, which leaves out all the interesting subtleties and treats civil society _only_ as a realm of indoctrination, where one ideological master-narrative can readily be substituted for another.

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 3h

a key thing about vought — and all of these guys — is that they have a totally top down and hierarchical vision of the world. they believe that the cultural changes they hate can be turned off by destroying the federal government because they can’t imagine that they emerged bottom-up in society

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 1h

JFC

Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 5h

The deportation order derives from the crime of which he has now been exonerated.

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him

Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.

www.miamiherald.com

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 1h

YES

Kyle Griffin @kylegriffin1.bsky.social · 2h

Sens. Schumer, Merkley, Murray, and Peters are calling for the resignation of OMB Director Russell Vought.

"By impounding billions of dollars … and aggressively pursuing the illegal use of pocket rescissions, Vought has done everything in his power to gut the federal government piece by piece."

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 19h

vought's view is that the president is an elected dictator and lo and behold he is seizing outright the power of the purse

Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 20h

Unconstitutionally taking money that the law says must be spent on one purpose & using it for something else—when it's to establish personalist control over the FUCKING MILITARY—is about as dangerous a constitutional crisis/failure as you can imagine

Via: www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...

The Office of Management and Budget sent a notification to Congress about their intent to use research and development funds to pay members of the military, two sources with direct knowledge tell NBC News.

A spokesperson for the OMB confirmed to NBC News that it plans to use the research and development funds and that there are two years' worth of funds available within the Department of Defense.

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Eric Blair @protecttruth.bsky.social · 2h

“All but one rated Trump as a greater or much greater threat to the rule of law than [in] his first term. …. the president’s abuses of power as far worse than they imagined before his re-election.”

Chilling piece.
But even now NYT fails: they convey truth not directly but through a poll.

‘Bow to the Emperor’: We Asked 50 Legal Experts About the Trump Presidency

www.nytimes.com

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 2h

This is pure fascism, folks

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 3h

Vought’s ideology of “radical constitutionalism” captures the defining sensibility on the Trumpist Right: “The Left,” he believes, has command of America, there is nothing left to conserve, nothing short of a radical “counter-revolution” can now save the nation.

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Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 4h

But there is nothing noble or respectable about what Vought is doing, about his vision for the country. He is a fully competent, utterly committed radical ideologue. He lusts for counter-revolution and radical measures. There is no line he doesn’t feel justified to cross.

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Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 4h

The overriding goal of too many journalists is to provide “balanced” coverage from a “neutral” position in equidistance to both sides. That framework is much easier to justify if you pretend to be dealing with “normal” politicians – as opposed to committed ideologues pursuing an extreme project.

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 2h

The @nytimes.com The Daily

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social · 4h

Vought, we are told, is a pious man who never curses. Ok! Not a word about his Christian nationalism; instead, one of the most influential political platforms in the world chooses to perpetuate the number one fallacy about the modern Right: That this is all about “small government.”

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 2h

I read most of LeGuin's oeuvre during the pandemic, so this is the second time round for me

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 2h

bsky.app/profile/kjep...

Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · Sep 3

If you can read Tehanu in the wider context of the prior Earthsea books and not be forever affected, even changed by it, do you even have a heart? Could you be human? Just writing the title and thinking of the little girl it names makes my chest tighten and eyes water

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 2h

Where does one place Dragula on this scale

Mx. Moz @mleelunsford.com · 17h

I've made this scale to help people out during this holiday season

a scale of Dracula to Not Dracula going from right to left: Dracula (Dracula), Count Orlok (Legally Distinct Dracula), Drake from Blade Trinity (Might Be Dracula), Vlad the Poker (Probably Not Dracula, and Morbius (Not Dracula)

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Avishay BSG (Ben-Sasson-Gordis) @avishaybsg.bsky.social · 3h

🧵 I'm excited to share that my article "Democratic Backsliding and the Limits of Civilian Control of the Military" has been accepted @thejop.bsky.social.

It answers the question "how ought militaries act when civilian leaders turn on democratic institutions?"

1/
#CivMilSky #PolTheory

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Ron Filipkowski @ronfilipkowski.bsky.social · 3h

The people who want violent protests to happen are Trump, Stephen Miller, Kristi Noem, Pete Hegseth, Tom Homan, and other senior appointees in his admin. They are doing everything they possibly can to provoke people to violence and it is obvious that is what they hope for daily.

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cocoon of normality 🦋 @tallesteden.bsky.social · 11h

I've now read the majority of the works shortlisted for the @ursulakleguin.com award and they are all excellent. For me, it's a toss up between @vajra.me's Rakesfall and @yarntheory.bsky.social's North Continent Ribbon (the latter of which I really hope more people would read)

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 3h

I haven't watched the Ghibli movie, but hear bad things

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 3h

Liking this new pope

Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 4h

Pope Leo quotes Hannah Arendt:

“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction and the distinction between true and false no longer exist."

www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news...

Pope Leo calls for news agencies to stand as bulwark against "post-truths," lies and manipulation

Pope Leo XIV has encouraged international news agencies to stand firm as a bulwark against the "ancient art of lying" and manipulation.

www.cbsnews.com

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 4h

I'm reading A Wizard of Earthsea with my 8 year old and she was just wondering, as we walked around the neighborhood, what Ged's going to do next, which is fantastic

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 4h

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand.

“the academic job market”

🫧 Spark Elation 🫧 @tyranny.sparklenoise.com · 11h

In honour of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand.

“a supply chain attack”

Queen Olivia III @queenoliviaiii.com · 12h

In honour of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand.

“The tapes wouldn’t start”

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 5h

Steve Skowronek's new book The Adaptability Paradox poses this exact question

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Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum.bsky.social · 6h

The Trump administration has promoted the anti-vax, anti-science movement which has now produced an epidemic www.nbcnews.com/health/healt...

Hundreds of U.S. students quarantined amid measles outbreaks

At least 270 unvaccinated kids are staying home from school as measles continues to spread nationwide. "Expect more," one expert said.

www.nbcnews.com

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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 12h

About a month ago, the Trump administration got rid of the de minimis exemption, whereby packages valued under $800 could slide in without import duties. Now there's a backlog as the government can't process all of this paperwork, leading to UPS just destroying packages

Business Insider headline reads: UPS is telling customers that their packages coming to the US are marked for destruction.

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 14h

Personified USA screaming hysterically & stabbing itself repeatedly.

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Kevin Elliott @kjephd.bsky.social · 14h

This might be the best single thing you could read on the state of the law in the US right now.

(@evanbernick.bsky.social makes an appearance or two)

Charles Johnson @charles.littlegreenfootballs.com · 16h

The “Dual State” Theory Was Invented to Describe Nazis. The Supreme Court Could Take Us There. – Mother Jones

The “dual state” theory was invented to describe Nazis. The Supreme Court could take us there.

Authoritarianism—but make it look like the rule of law.

www.motherjones.com

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