Amanda B. Cronkhite
@abcronkhite.bsky.social
Former diplomat & professor. Quantitative social scientist focused on information manipulation. Blackhawks fan. If I can't bring my dog(s), I'm not coming.
Pinned
One of my favorite quotes from a TV show: "If you're dumb, surround yourself with smart people. If you're smart, surround yourself with smart people who disagree with you."
1999 me would never believe that saying "I'm against concentration camps" and "maybe AI shouldn't kill folks" and "cops should have to give their badge numbers to the public" would be apparently VERY controversial & purportedly extreme ideas according to a super feckin' weird subset of the populace
a cartoon character says " are you sure this is for real " in front of a poster of an orangutan
ALT: a cartoon character says " are you sure this is for real " in front of a poster of an orangutan
media.tenor.com
February 16, 2026 at 1:24 AM
1999 me would never believe that saying "I'm against concentration camps" and "maybe AI shouldn't kill folks" and "cops should have to give their badge numbers to the public" would be apparently VERY controversial & purportedly extreme ideas according to a super feckin' weird subset of the populace
Word(?) I didn't need to know existed: Incel-ebrity 🤦♀️
February 15, 2026 at 1:41 PM
Word(?) I didn't need to know existed: Incel-ebrity 🤦♀️
Been awhile since I looked at the literature. But as I remember going against clergy so openly is pretty advanced authoritarianism 😨
NEW via me and @alejacorazonhm.bsky.social: Cardinal Blase Cupich, who runs the Archdiocese of Chicago, says that DHS has stopped priests under his purview and demanded proof of citizenship “because of their color.” religionnews.com/2026/02/10/c...
Cardinal Cupich says feds stopped priests, demanded citizenship proof
(RNS) — ‘I’ve had some priests who are of a different color being targeted and arrested — stopped — because of their color and asking them to prove that they’re citizens. That’s not America,’ the Chic...
religionnews.com
February 11, 2026 at 1:25 AM
Been awhile since I looked at the literature. But as I remember going against clergy so openly is pretty advanced authoritarianism 😨
Reposted by Amanda B. Cronkhite
I cannot over-emphasize how important it will be for people to make a plan to vote early in-person this year.
February 6, 2026 at 7:10 PM
I cannot over-emphasize how important it will be for people to make a plan to vote early in-person this year.
"Nothing someone says before the word 'but' really counts." -- Ned Stark
February 4, 2026 at 9:03 AM
"Nothing someone says before the word 'but' really counts." -- Ned Stark
Cousin is really good at politics
(Yes really. Husband's cousin)
(Yes really. Husband's cousin)
Casar holds a 3 minute and 26 second moment of silence to represent the time in which DHS officers let Renee Good bleed out after she was shot
February 4, 2026 at 3:15 AM
Cousin is really good at politics
(Yes really. Husband's cousin)
(Yes really. Husband's cousin)
Wanted to write my dissertation about the many quiet and very subversive ways populations protest against autocracies #votoblanco #nisselue #greenmovement #quietprotest
A Minneapolis knitting shop has resurrected the design of a Norwegian cap worn to protest Nazi occupation. Its owner says the money raised from hat pattern sales will support the local immigrant community. n.pr/4thWiUr
A red hat, inspired by a symbol of resistance to Nazi occupation, gains traction in Minnesota
A Minneapolis knitting shop has resurrected the design of a Norwegian cap worn to protest Nazi occupation. Its owner says the money raised from hat pattern sales will support the local immigrant community.
n.pr
February 1, 2026 at 10:47 AM
Wanted to write my dissertation about the many quiet and very subversive ways populations protest against autocracies #votoblanco #nisselue #greenmovement #quietprotest
Reposted by Amanda B. Cronkhite
NEW: The @wired.com Security desk put together a comprehensive guide to filming ICE—with tips for reducing risk at the forefront. No paywall, but please consider subscribing to help find these kinds of resources. And stay safe out there. www.wired.com/story/how-to...
www.wired.com/v2/offers/wi...
www.wired.com/v2/offers/wi...
How to Film ICE
Filming federal agents in public is legal, but avoiding a dangerous—even deadly—confrontation isn’t guaranteed. Here’s how to record ICE and CBP agents as safely as possible and have an impact.
www.wired.com
January 31, 2026 at 10:55 AM
NEW: The @wired.com Security desk put together a comprehensive guide to filming ICE—with tips for reducing risk at the forefront. No paywall, but please consider subscribing to help find these kinds of resources. And stay safe out there. www.wired.com/story/how-to...
www.wired.com/v2/offers/wi...
www.wired.com/v2/offers/wi...
Reposted by Amanda B. Cronkhite
American paramilitary units are on the cover of international newsmagazines.
But please, come visit and invest.
We’re “open for business.”
@economist.com
www.economist.com/leaders/2026...
But please, come visit and invest.
We’re “open for business.”
@economist.com
www.economist.com/leaders/2026...
January 30, 2026 at 12:24 AM
American paramilitary units are on the cover of international newsmagazines.
But please, come visit and invest.
We’re “open for business.”
@economist.com
www.economist.com/leaders/2026...
But please, come visit and invest.
We’re “open for business.”
@economist.com
www.economist.com/leaders/2026...
The world is on fire. So here's a 14.5 yr old rescue dog enjoying the snow #adoptdontshop
January 21, 2026 at 9:48 PM
The world is on fire. So here's a 14.5 yr old rescue dog enjoying the snow #adoptdontshop
An idea I've only recently realized needed to be EXPLICITLY stated in talks about the dangers of information manipulation in politics: never get high on your own supply #disinformation #misinformation #propaganda
One of the most important things to keep in mind if you want to understand the American right today, especially the people leading the federal government and its allied media outlets, is they believe their own BS.
They really are in a bubble, and genuinely surprised when reality does not comport.
They really are in a bubble, and genuinely surprised when reality does not comport.
To those saying “nuh-uh, ICE picked Minneapolis because they WANTED the city to rise up as one against them” -
no, pretty sure they expected a scattering of blue-haired protesters they could easily crush for content + tacit support from other whites, not the organized total resistance they got.
no, pretty sure they expected a scattering of blue-haired protesters they could easily crush for content + tacit support from other whites, not the organized total resistance they got.
January 19, 2026 at 12:31 PM
An idea I've only recently realized needed to be EXPLICITLY stated in talks about the dangers of information manipulation in politics: never get high on your own supply #disinformation #misinformation #propaganda
New: meet ELITE, the Palantir app ICE is using to find neighborhoods to raid. Map interface; officers search for immigrants; click person to bring up individual dossier. This is clearest link between what Palantir is building and ICE's activities on the ground yet www.404media.co/elite-the-pa...
‘ELITE’: The Palantir App ICE Uses to Find Neighborhoods to Raid
Internal ICE material and testimony from an official obtained by 404 Media provides the clearest link yet between the technological infrastructure Palantir is building for ICE and the agency’s activit...
www.404media.co
January 15, 2026 at 10:25 PM
Add CJ Cregg to the list of smart women who tried to warn everyone
thecartographicinstitute.com/the-gall-pet...
thecartographicinstitute.com/the-gall-pet...
Trump is really going to try to invade Greenland and destroy NATO in the process all because he's too stupid to understand the Mercator projection, huh?
January 14, 2026 at 9:23 PM
Add CJ Cregg to the list of smart women who tried to warn everyone
thecartographicinstitute.com/the-gall-pet...
thecartographicinstitute.com/the-gall-pet...
January 13, 2026 at 3:34 PM
Honest to goodness, watched #Andor because Diego Luna is the top of my free five. Didn't expect the tyranny speech and the Senate speech to be playing over in my head basically daily at this point #WelcomeToTheRebellion
a man in a green suit is looking at himself in a mirror with the word kepler in the corner
ALT: a man in a green suit is looking at himself in a mirror with the word kepler in the corner
media.tenor.com
January 13, 2026 at 2:10 AM
Honest to goodness, watched #Andor because Diego Luna is the top of my free five. Didn't expect the tyranny speech and the Senate speech to be playing over in my head basically daily at this point #WelcomeToTheRebellion
@cnn.com if you're going to have a so-called expert on -- talking about Iran -- make sure they know what actual soft power and actual hard power are. Whoever was just talking (dude 737 am) understands kinetic but completely mischaracterized soft power
January 12, 2026 at 12:38 PM
@cnn.com if you're going to have a so-called expert on -- talking about Iran -- make sure they know what actual soft power and actual hard power are. Whoever was just talking (dude 737 am) understands kinetic but completely mischaracterized soft power
Reposted by Amanda B. Cronkhite
once again we are all tapping the sign
January 9, 2026 at 11:45 PM
once again we are all tapping the sign
Let's hope the Streisand Effect's track record remains undefeated
So a CBS Evening News reporter actually did a pretty solid breakdown of the ICE murder video, talking to a former agent who details all the ways Ross messed up. And yet: It didn’t air on the actual show tonight. CBS did post it to YouTube—and it has nearly 800k views already youtu.be/6ywLEESFDu0?...
Retired ICE agent breaks down deadly Minneapolis shooting
YouTube video by CBS Evening News
youtu.be
January 9, 2026 at 4:47 PM
Let's hope the Streisand Effect's track record remains undefeated
🦇💩 foreign policy
This is insane. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Withdrawing the United States from International Organizations, Conventions, and Treaties that Are Contrary to the Interests of the United States
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United
www.whitehouse.gov
January 8, 2026 at 12:19 PM
🦇💩 foreign policy
Reposted by Amanda B. Cronkhite
Literally a publication for eight-year olds 40 years ago
January 4, 2026 at 6:49 PM
Literally a publication for eight-year olds 40 years ago
Re-upping this for no particular reason 🤦🏻♀️
Well I USED TO teach Latin American politics to military officers at war colleges as the place where (1) we were the big bad and (2) MIL options were never on the table. Absent the latter, the former becomes even more true 😨
Republicans are taking us into another completely avoidable war. More blood for oil, this time in Venezuela.
January 3, 2026 at 12:41 PM
Re-upping this for no particular reason 🤦🏻♀️
So I'm infatuated... Or drunk? Um... Okay then ... www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/b...
January 1, 2026 at 6:02 PM
So I'm infatuated... Or drunk? Um... Okay then ... www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/b...
This is amazing reporting. A grim reminder of why the free press is essential.
A scorched boat washed ashore on a remote beach in Colombia. Then mangled bodies. And then empty packets, a few with marijuana traces. We matched the physical and digital evidence to a U.S. airstrike — and found a fishing community terrified to go to sea. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/29/w...
Grim Evidence of Trump’s Airstrikes Washes Ashore on a Colombian Peninsula
www.nytimes.com
December 31, 2025 at 12:21 PM
This is amazing reporting. A grim reminder of why the free press is essential.
How was this good boy not the #1 dog of the week @weratedogs.com ?
Heroic Dog Saves Family Of 5 From Herb-Roasted Chicken https://theonion.com/heroic-dog-saves-family-of-5-from-herb-roasted-chicken/
December 26, 2025 at 9:47 PM
How was this good boy not the #1 dog of the week @weratedogs.com ?
How is this not an official @theonion.com marketing ploy @bencollins.bsky.social ????
merry christmas, my gf got us a print sub to @theonion.com and gave it to me like this
December 25, 2025 at 7:36 PM
How is this not an official @theonion.com marketing ploy @bencollins.bsky.social ????