Reposted by Cooper
"Even if discovered after seven generations of Americans have ordered their entire society around their understanding."
December 7, 2025 at 7:29 PM
"Even if discovered after seven generations of Americans have ordered their entire society around their understanding."
Reposted by Cooper
the president is not an elected sovereign. he does not speak for the people or embody their will, he merely represents them. if he wants to change the constitution, let him make his case.
December 7, 2025 at 7:18 PM
the president is not an elected sovereign. he does not speak for the people or embody their will, he merely represents them. if he wants to change the constitution, let him make his case.
Reposted by Cooper
the idea that a handful of conservative legal scholars have an understanding that should supersede a settlement affirmed my generations of american is astoundingly arrogant, and the idea that trump — or any president — can unilaterally overturn that settlement is just despotism
December 7, 2025 at 7:18 PM
the idea that a handful of conservative legal scholars have an understanding that should supersede a settlement affirmed my generations of american is astoundingly arrogant, and the idea that trump — or any president — can unilaterally overturn that settlement is just despotism
Reposted by Cooper
My thing about birthright citizenship and “originalism” is like… the jurists of Wong Kim Ark in 1898 WERE ADULTS DURING THE RATIFICATION OF THE 14TH AMENDMENT. SO THEY KNEW THE ORIGINAL PUBLIC MEANING AND TOLD YOU WHAT IT WAS IN WONG KIM ARK!!!
December 8, 2025 at 3:32 AM
My thing about birthright citizenship and “originalism” is like… the jurists of Wong Kim Ark in 1898 WERE ADULTS DURING THE RATIFICATION OF THE 14TH AMENDMENT. SO THEY KNEW THE ORIGINAL PUBLIC MEANING AND TOLD YOU WHAT IT WAS IN WONG KIM ARK!!!
Reposted by Cooper
What’s being described is what if a good man has his principles tested and fails and like,,,he’s not a good man? Next question
BRENNAN: Do you have confidence in Admiral Bradley?
HIMES: What it raises is what happens when an apparently good man like Admiral Bradley is placed in a context where he knows that if he countermands an order he's uncomfortable with it's very likely he'll be fired
HIMES: What it raises is what happens when an apparently good man like Admiral Bradley is placed in a context where he knows that if he countermands an order he's uncomfortable with it's very likely he'll be fired
December 8, 2025 at 12:40 AM
What’s being described is what if a good man has his principles tested and fails and like,,,he’s not a good man? Next question
Reposted by Cooper
Everyone seems to have forgotten but the AP actually went to Venezuela and found some of these men. They aren’t terminator-like cartel warriors, ready to give their life to ship kilos. They’re random dudes from small towns - bus drivers, fishermen - recruited for a payday. apnews.com/article/trum...
Trump has accused boat crews of being narco-terrorists. The truth, AP found, is more nuanced
One was a fisherman struggling to eke out a living on $100 a month. Another was a career criminal. A third was a former military cadet.
apnews.com
December 7, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Everyone seems to have forgotten but the AP actually went to Venezuela and found some of these men. They aren’t terminator-like cartel warriors, ready to give their life to ship kilos. They’re random dudes from small towns - bus drivers, fishermen - recruited for a payday. apnews.com/article/trum...
Reposted by Cooper
Le bisexualisme
December 8, 2025 at 1:55 AM
Le bisexualisme
Reposted by Cooper
As the Texas bathroom bill goes into effect, this is vital context on how we got here. Understanding the history of this attack on our rights will help us fight it in the future.
IRW — a Pulitzer-winning nonprofit newsroom at American — and @thebarbedwire.com traced the history of anti-trans legislation. Houston conservatives realized homophobia didn’t fly anymore, weaponized girls’ safety, and parroted segregationist language. It worked.
thebarbedwire.com/2025/12/04/a...
thebarbedwire.com/2025/12/04/a...
Where Did Anti-Trans Laws Start? How a Forgotten Houston Ordinance Turned Into a Massive, Nationwide Culture War
In fighting for bathroom bills in Houston, Texas conservatives provided a blueprint for the rest of the country.
thebarbedwire.com
December 5, 2025 at 5:31 PM
As the Texas bathroom bill goes into effect, this is vital context on how we got here. Understanding the history of this attack on our rights will help us fight it in the future.
Reposted by Cooper
CNN and much of the US press continue to report this stance from Hamas leadership as new or some kind of evolution, but the organization has consistently put forward that it is interested in a five to ten year truce and the "freeze" of heavy weaponry while negotiations for partition takes place.
Hamas willing to discuss ‘freezing or storing’ weapons, senior official says, amid concerns over ceasefire | CNN
Hamas is willing to discuss “freezing or storing” its weapons, a senior official said on Sunday, amid concerns that the nascent ceasefire deal between Israel and the militant group could collapse.
www.cnn.com
December 7, 2025 at 10:27 PM
CNN and much of the US press continue to report this stance from Hamas leadership as new or some kind of evolution, but the organization has consistently put forward that it is interested in a five to ten year truce and the "freeze" of heavy weaponry while negotiations for partition takes place.
Reposted by Cooper
The 14th Amendment is as clearly and unambiguously written as any law on the books. Politically it was intended to suppress former Confederates and prevent the conditions that led to the Civil War. To attack it is to give comfort to their heirs and cut into the seams of our society.
December 7, 2025 at 9:11 PM
The 14th Amendment is as clearly and unambiguously written as any law on the books. Politically it was intended to suppress former Confederates and prevent the conditions that led to the Civil War. To attack it is to give comfort to their heirs and cut into the seams of our society.
Reposted by Cooper
The 14th, as it is understood, is so central to America as it currently exists, its elimination is tantamount to withdrawing the entire constitution.
December 7, 2025 at 10:35 PM
The 14th, as it is understood, is so central to America as it currently exists, its elimination is tantamount to withdrawing the entire constitution.
Reposted by Cooper
The NYT thinks "illegal immigration" and "immigration" are the same thing, and that's how they frame the debate.
Anger over illegal migration helped return Donald Trump to the presidency. A New York Times review of former President Joe Biden’s actions on immigration found that Biden and his advisers repeatedly rebuffed recommendations to stem that migration. Here are key takeaways.
4 Takeaways From The Times’s Reporting on Biden’s Immigration Record
A New York Times review of President Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s actions on immigration showed that they created an opening for a more aggressive Trump administration agenda.
nyti.ms
December 7, 2025 at 8:15 PM
The NYT thinks "illegal immigration" and "immigration" are the same thing, and that's how they frame the debate.
Reposted by Cooper
Had the real honor of being published by @liberalcurrents.com this year, who ran this essay I wrote trying to explore Zionism as part of broader nationalist movements, instead of as a sui generis phenomenon, either for good or for evil.
The Banality of Zionism
Zionism is just 19th century nationalism, and its conflicts are ordinary nationalist conflicts.
www.liberalcurrents.com
December 7, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Had the real honor of being published by @liberalcurrents.com this year, who ran this essay I wrote trying to explore Zionism as part of broader nationalist movements, instead of as a sui generis phenomenon, either for good or for evil.
Reposted by Cooper
I must have missed the snap elections when Reform won a majority.
It's quite clear that they've already won.
It's quite clear that they've already won.
December 7, 2025 at 1:40 PM
I must have missed the snap elections when Reform won a majority.
It's quite clear that they've already won.
It's quite clear that they've already won.
Reposted by Cooper
In the era of slavery, free black people had to carry their "free papers" with them so they could prove to the authorities that they were free, or else they would be thrown in jail and sold.
BASH: If ICE says it doesn't arrest US citizens, why do we keep seeing incidents of them aggressively pursuing citizens?
HOMAN: I can't tell you how many times an illegal alien claims to be a US citizen. It happens all the time.
HOMAN: I can't tell you how many times an illegal alien claims to be a US citizen. It happens all the time.
December 7, 2025 at 2:32 PM
In the era of slavery, free black people had to carry their "free papers" with them so they could prove to the authorities that they were free, or else they would be thrown in jail and sold.
Reposted by Cooper
i'm glad that stem colleagues now care that university administrators' claims of departmental "profitability" are all bullshit now that it's coming for them but a little solidarity while the humanities endured this for decades would've been cool
December 7, 2025 at 2:45 PM
i'm glad that stem colleagues now care that university administrators' claims of departmental "profitability" are all bullshit now that it's coming for them but a little solidarity while the humanities endured this for decades would've been cool
Reposted by Cooper
its honestly remarkable the extent to which Roberts is going hell for leather to match and exceed Taney as the word chief justice in american history
NEW: SCOTUS will hear arguments Monday on Trump’s attempt to fire the last Democratic FTC commissioner. A ruling for the president could dangerously expand his control over agencies regulating the economy, stock market, campaign finance and communications.
Supreme Court to Hear Arguments In Trump’s Bid for Total Control of Government
Read more here.
www.democracydocket.com
December 7, 2025 at 2:52 PM
its honestly remarkable the extent to which Roberts is going hell for leather to match and exceed Taney as the word chief justice in american history
Reposted by Cooper
Like @prisonculture.bsky.social, I've been worried about the ways popular myths of the civil rights movement make it hard to see how to struggle today. On the 70th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott, the things we get wrong & what a fuller history shows us: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
What we get wrong about the Montgomery bus boycott – and what we can learn from it | Jeanne Theoharis
The movement’s success was never a given. It took much longer and required tremendous sacrifice without certainty it would work
www.theguardian.com
December 7, 2025 at 1:51 PM
Like @prisonculture.bsky.social, I've been worried about the ways popular myths of the civil rights movement make it hard to see how to struggle today. On the 70th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott, the things we get wrong & what a fuller history shows us: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Reposted by Cooper
if this Supreme Court nullifies the 14th Amendment then i don't really have any problems with Democratic officials ignoring federal law for the foreseeable future
at that point we're just in a state of exception
at that point we're just in a state of exception
December 7, 2025 at 7:45 AM
if this Supreme Court nullifies the 14th Amendment then i don't really have any problems with Democratic officials ignoring federal law for the foreseeable future
at that point we're just in a state of exception
at that point we're just in a state of exception
Reposted by Cooper
starting point for future budgets for things that are good, "idk, how about triple it" bsky.app/profile/cost...
The entire R&D budget of the department of energy for renewable energy and energy efficiency is, or was, $3.5B. For the whole country! We should triple that number instead. bsky.app/profile/cost...
SpaceX gets a $5.9B contract.
All the renewable energy & energy efficiency R&D done by the Department of Energy is only $3.5B. Wind, solar, geothermal, electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, biofuels, weatherization, buildings, efficiency, state programs, manufacturing, everything. Total: $3.5B 🔌💡
All the renewable energy & energy efficiency R&D done by the Department of Energy is only $3.5B. Wind, solar, geothermal, electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles, biofuels, weatherization, buildings, efficiency, state programs, manufacturing, everything. Total: $3.5B 🔌💡
December 7, 2025 at 6:26 AM
starting point for future budgets for things that are good, "idk, how about triple it" bsky.app/profile/cost...
Reposted by Cooper
this article runs through the various ways lawmakers & military officials *might* interpret video evidence of survivors "waving," which is a familiar exercise to anyone tasked with interpreting ambiguous evidence, but unless you presume guilt, even a written description doesn't admit much ambiguity
Video of Boat Strike Shows Survivors Waving Before Fatal Follow-Up Attack
www.nytimes.com
December 5, 2025 at 8:18 PM
this article runs through the various ways lawmakers & military officials *might* interpret video evidence of survivors "waving," which is a familiar exercise to anyone tasked with interpreting ambiguous evidence, but unless you presume guilt, even a written description doesn't admit much ambiguity
Reposted by Cooper
By Cotton’s logic, any effort to survive is only interpretable as guilt. Flipping the boat over? You must be trying to save the cargo, not yourself. It’s a monstrous logic, both morally and strategically; Cotton has neither the intellect nor the soul to see why, but unfortunately he does have power.
WELKER: Lawmakers say the 2 men appeared to raise their arms potentially to surrender. Why did Admiral Bradley interpret these actions as anything other than them trying to survive?
TOM COTTON: They were sitting or standing on top of a capsized boat. They weren't floating helplessly in the water
TOM COTTON: They were sitting or standing on top of a capsized boat. They weren't floating helplessly in the water
December 7, 2025 at 3:35 PM
By Cotton’s logic, any effort to survive is only interpretable as guilt. Flipping the boat over? You must be trying to save the cargo, not yourself. It’s a monstrous logic, both morally and strategically; Cotton has neither the intellect nor the soul to see why, but unfortunately he does have power.
Reposted by Cooper
either you have to assume that the people on the boat *are* guilty for reasons that don't appear in the video, and behaving accordingly, or else you assume people who do not know why they might be the target of military strikes, or even that that's what happened, are trying to signal for rescue
December 5, 2025 at 8:20 PM
either you have to assume that the people on the boat *are* guilty for reasons that don't appear in the video, and behaving accordingly, or else you assume people who do not know why they might be the target of military strikes, or even that that's what happened, are trying to signal for rescue
Reposted by Cooper
I still want to write a long take on this: The 14th Amendment was meant to consign Calhounism, the ideology of the slave power, whatever you want to call it, to the grave. A big part of that ideology was the valorization of inequality in every facet of life, not just related to race.
the birthright clause was not just written to wipe dred scott off of the books, it was written to repudiate the *idea* behind dred scott, you might say the larger *ideological project* of dred scott. and the whole of section 1 of the 14th amendment is a constitutional statement of political equality
December 6, 2025 at 7:25 PM
I still want to write a long take on this: The 14th Amendment was meant to consign Calhounism, the ideology of the slave power, whatever you want to call it, to the grave. A big part of that ideology was the valorization of inequality in every facet of life, not just related to race.
Reposted by Cooper
I also think of Dred Scott as a crucial moment in constitutional history in which popular politics (and of course war) successfully repudiated an openly partisan reading of the Constitution by the Court.
There are lessons progressives can glean from that in the 21st century.
There are lessons progressives can glean from that in the 21st century.
i think to understand the meaning of the birthright citizenship clause to the framers of the 14th amendment, you have to understand significance of dred scott to the civil war republican party. dred scott wasn't just a bad ruling, it was understood as a rejection of the declaration itself.
December 6, 2025 at 7:50 PM
I also think of Dred Scott as a crucial moment in constitutional history in which popular politics (and of course war) successfully repudiated an openly partisan reading of the Constitution by the Court.
There are lessons progressives can glean from that in the 21st century.
There are lessons progressives can glean from that in the 21st century.