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Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 8h

And then of course, in a more abstract sense, philosophers don’t even agree about which methods determine the correct answers to philosophical questions. So why should we expect that philosophy will reliably guide people to consistent moral conclusions?

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Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 8h

Everyone replying to this with “no Thiel just did humanities wrong” needs to contend with the Catholic integralist in my Phil program who wrote a thesis on how Carl Schmitt was super based, and how nothing in any program would really stop you from using your degree that way.

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Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 8h

Not sure they are separable, really

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The Alternate Historian @althistorian.bsky.social · 12h

This has become a load bearing tweet to me.

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Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 11h

Yeah lol they have absolutely no intention of letting a future Democratic president wield any of the special powers they're lending Trump

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 13h

Amy Coney Barrett defends heavy use of the shadow docket: "If we wrote a long opinion, it might give the impression that we have finally resolved the issue, and in none of these cases have we finally resolved the issue."

Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 12h

Anathem 🔥🔥🔥

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Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 13h

“Potato Girl: the Whore of Babylon”

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Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 14h

I’d really like to see Thiel try to puzzle out if Eren Yeager is a Christ or an anti-Christ

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Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 14h

Last conversation I had with a Republican involved him vigorously denying that non-criminals were being racially targeted and denied due process. If enough people saw what’s really going on, I really think you could drive Trump down to Bush numbers.

Amanda Marcotte @amandamarcotte.bsky.social · 18h

I truly believe the ICE raids upset most people. And for soft Trump voters, it creates an incentive to move left and pretend the never voted for Trump.

Fine if they need a "we didn't know" narrative. But hammering the fuck out of this issue, making it inescapable on social media, is the move.

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Amanda Marcotte @amandamarcotte.bsky.social · 18h

What's important here is that it's the ICE raids that are capturing their attention.

This is why the reliance on focus groups and polls and the inevitable claim that voters only care about "kitchen table" issues misses the mark.

paulwaldman.substack.com/p/why-trump-...

Why Trump Lost the Podcast Bros

It's cool to support the Rebellion. It's not cool to support the Empire.

paulwaldman.substack.com

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Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 16h

What you see here in the children’s father, Bandit, is the culmination of sin. A father whose very name evokes crime, the criminal of criminals. Bluey, the color of sorrow. Bingo, lust for games of chance. Mother Chilli, who works part time at an airport in which planes “soar into the heavens”, thi-

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 17h

thiel, man, what the fuck are you talking about

He describes the plot of Watchmen, a 1986 graphic novel involving superheroes grappling with moral questions about humanity against the backdrop of impending nuclear war:

The antihero Ozymandias, the antichrist-type figure, is sort of an early-modern person. He believes this will be a timeless and eternal solution – eternal world peace. Moore is sort of a late-modern. In early modernity, you have ideal solutions, ‘perfect’ solutions to calculus. In late modernity, things are sort of probabilistic. And at some point, he asks Dr Manhattan whether the world government is going to last. And he says that ‘nothing lasts forever.’ So you embrace the antichrist and it still doesn’t work.

Thiel later finds biblical meaning in the manga One Piece, discussing how he believes it represents a future where an antichrist-like one-world government has repressed science. He believes that the hero, Monkey D Luffy, represents a Christlike figure.

In One Piece, you are set in a fantasy world, again sort of an alternate earth, but it’s 800 years into the reign of this one-world state. Which, as the story unfolds, gradually gets darker and darker. You sort of realize, in my interpretation, who runs the world and it’s something like the antichrist. There’s Luffy, a pirate who wears a red straw hat, sort of like Christ’s crown of thorns. And then towards the end of the story, transforms into a figure who resembles Christ in Revelation.

Thiel, along with a researcher and writer at Thiel Capital, explored these ideas at greater length in an essay for the religious journal First Things earlier this month.

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Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 23h

The NYT have no greater aspiration than to act as the stenographers of evildoers. AG Sulzberger dares to imagine what it would look like if the Mouth of Sauron was a newspaper.

David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 1d

A classic case of irresponsible both-sidesism from the NYT. The story is that Trump and MAGA propagandists are lying about Portland to incite a conflict, not that there are different views of the matter.

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Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 23h

The American criminal justice system was set up for near-maximal retribution. The day is fast approaching where it will be the perfect tool to fill our need.

Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 23h

More good options. We can play this out as long as we have to. Steady drumbeat of ICE convictions for the next twenty years would also serve as a good reminder to the public of how bad this all was.

bsky.app/profile/star...

☀️ Starshine @starshine.bsky.social · 1d

fun fact but you can extend the statute of limitations for crimes already committed if the statute hasn't ran out yet.

William B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · 1d

Yeah I think people here have unrealistic expectations for like jailing all ICE agents and that’s just almost certainly not going to happen even in extremely cool zone scenarios. But they should 100% have to lie for the rest of their lives about their employment history in conversation with everyone

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Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 1d

Especially considering you don’t need a trial for most cases. Many of these people will be trading testimony against superiors for lighter sentences. Lots of those caught on clear video will probably cut a deal. I’d be generous with plea bargains in the interest of getting as many as possible.

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Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 1d

I think this is premature atm. Obviously the situation changes if this spirals into a much larger civil conflict or a much bigger authoritarian apparatus is set up, but currently we’re talking about at most a few hundred goons with the ICE stuff. Prosecution seems possible.

William B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · 1d

The top end estimate for how many members of the SS faced eventual legal consequences is ~5%. Once atrocity is committed a sufficient scale justice becomes a political and logistical question as much as a moral one. There will be no grand denouement. But they can live in shame.

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Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 1d

In your Dril era

Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 1d

I guess this is just going to continue to be my opinion until we see a blue mayor or governor actually direct the police in a meaningful way.

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Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 1d

The depressing thing is that Pritzker is a very savvy guy, he knows how this plays, which makes me think he would put a stop to it if he knew how. The police are really our Reichswehr, using their apparently independent power to make space for Trump’s power grab.

Will Bunch @willbunch.bsky.social · 1d

I saw myself as maybe all in for J.B. Pritzker

But I am losing faith, rapidly.

Police state fascism in America is bigger than Trump. It's backed by Democrats just like Republicans. And it's not going anywhere

unraveled @unraveledpress.com · 1d

Note: it's not even curfew yet.

State police just started pushing people off the business park corner. Here in the road, a brave group of demonstrators are attempting to hold their line.

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Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 1d

This just further vindicates the shutdown. All evidence points to Trump one day declaring Congress an advisory body and asserting plenary control over the government. There’s no reason to give him more tools to work with to consolidate power in the meantime.

Matt Novak @paleofuture.bsky.social · 1d

Trump says he’s ordered Hegseth to pay the troops during the government shutdown.

“We have identified funds to do this, and Secretary Hegseth will use them to PAY OUR TROOPS.”

Trump: Chuck Schumer recently said, "Every day gets better" during their Radical Left Shutdown. I DISAGREE! If nothing is done, because of
"Leader" Chuck Schumer and the Democrats, our Brave Troops will miss the paychecks they are rightfully due on October 15th. That is why I am using my authority, as Commander in Chief, to direct our Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, to use all available funds to get our Troops PAID on October 15th. We have identified funds to do this, and Secretary Hegseth will use them to PAY OUR TROOPS. I will not allow the Democrats to hold our Military, and the entire Security of our Nation, HOSTAGE, with their dangerous Government Shutdown. The Radical Left Democrats should OPEN THE GOVERNMENT, and then we can work together to address Healthcare, and many other things that they want to destroy. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
DONALD J. TRUMP
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
751 ReTruths 2.75k Likes
10/11/25, 10:35 AM

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David Corn @davidcorn.bsky.social · 1d

A classic case of irresponsible both-sidesism from the NYT. The story is that Trump and MAGA propagandists are lying about Portland to incite a conflict, not that there are different views of the matter.

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Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 1d

Have you seen Now and Then, Here and There tho?

Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 1d

And then they close half the hospitals

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William B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · 2d

Yeah I’m going to keep hammering this drum: who the armed men in the employ of the state are loyal to is consequential, they are not an undifferentiated mass, and specifics matter a lot here. Blue state govs and big city mayors need to be quietly looking through FEC records and making staff changes

rev. howard arson @theophite.bsky.social · 2d

i think this fundamentally misstates the constraint: if he uses the police to directly obstruct ICE operations, he gets hit with the Insurrection Act. if he puts the cops in a position where they have to choose which orders to follow, they will currently not pick the governor.

starch mogul @posts-cards.bsky.social · 2d

this kind of wishcasting around pritzker ignores that he hasn't once wielded the power of the state in a creative way since DHS and ICE invaded us

the rhetoric's good and he plays a governor on TV very well, but there's no evidence of a capacity for clever use of power, unfortunately

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Paul Slimin' @legendsofthepaul.bsky.social · 2d

This is my liberal democracy. There are many like it, but this one is mine.