kolbyjack
kolbyjack.bsky.social
kolbyjack
@kolbyjack.bsky.social
Reposted by kolbyjack
Barely a blip in the news. 🦗from the New York Times editorial and opinion pages. Compare with days of Hunter Biden Hysteria about unprecedented abuse of the pardon power.
December 27, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
I just taught my lecture course on mid-20th c US history, which starts with Harding and concludes with Nixon.

For the first time, I had to pause and stress that those scandals were actually shocking at the time and, what’s more, that Americans actually demanded people be held accountable.
All of the money that changed hands in the Teapot Dome scandal totaled less than $10 million after adjusting for inflation, and it was considered so corrupt we still teach it in high school government classes a century later.
Corruption so pungent, it wafts right off the page:

Lobbyists who do pardon deals “say their going rate is $1 million. Pardon-seekers have offered some lobbyists close to the president success fees of as much as $6 million if they can close the deal.”

Gift link www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
December 27, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
All of the money that changed hands in the Teapot Dome scandal totaled less than $10 million after adjusting for inflation, and it was considered so corrupt we still teach it in high school government classes a century later.
Corruption so pungent, it wafts right off the page:

Lobbyists who do pardon deals “say their going rate is $1 million. Pardon-seekers have offered some lobbyists close to the president success fees of as much as $6 million if they can close the deal.”

Gift link www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Inside the New Fast Track to a Presidential Pardon
Even some of the president’s closest advisers have been surprised by a number of the recent series of pardons.
www.wsj.com
December 27, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
Extremely funny to call the pope “holier-than-thou”
December 25, 2025 at 4:05 AM
Reposted by kolbyjack
Hope everyone had a merry Christmas
ICE detain father shopping on Christmas Eve—then steal his family's groceries.

Then 3 agents divvy up his paid for food—taking what they want for themselves.

"Can I just get the wife's number to call and let her know?" woman asks.

"No, guess he should've complied," agent says.

Yakima, Washington
December 26, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
Been saying this shit forever. This is the one that always blew my mind. Not even J6. This is the one. We got the guy on a recording shaking down Georgia for votes. Not some aide.
Newly discovered recordings show how far Donald Trump went to attempt overturning the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.

Trump told the Speaker he could call the session “for transparency, and to uncover fraud,” adding, “Who’s gonna stop you for that?” trib.al/Yk7Lyb5
December 25, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
This is John Roberts' America.
The blatant selling of pardons is perhaps the clearest instance of criminal conduct authorized by SCOTUS. Pardons are a quintessential "official act." So, even when Trump takes a bribe to issue one, he is presumably above the criminal law.
The president’s own chief of staff was reportedly stunned by his pardon of a former Honduran president.
December 25, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
UPDATE: Bari Weiss hilariously tells CBS News(Max) staff she yanked the story (without even discussing it with the team) to “win back the trust” of Americans.

(P.S. She means of Trump)

variety.com/2025/tv/news...
December 25, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
The genocide will continue until morale improves.
"We’re monitoring what you do online. Disseminating, writing, or publishing inciting content online is considered a terrorist crime in every sense and may lead to arrest or imprisonment. We have warned you."

Israel warns Palestinians that posting about their suffering will be considered terrorism.
December 25, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
Another clip from that interview: she said that when she got the bad grade, two of the people she emailed included THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE and that Ryan Walters creep
December 23, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
That feeling when you remember the stupidest people in tje fucking world run your government
December 24, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
If you’re wondering why your friends in academia are a little on edge right now, it’s because an eighteen-year-old who hasn’t done the reading, doesn’t look at the assignment, and has does no critical thinking skills more complex than “because I think it’s in the Bible” can literally end your career
cnn.com CNN @cnn.com · 3d
The University of Oklahoma has removed an instructor who was accused by a student of religious discrimination over a failing grade on a psychology paper in which she cited the Bible and argued that promoting a “belief in multiple genders” was “demonic.” https://cnn.it/4b6g3rd
Oklahoma instructor removed from teaching for failing a Bible-based gender essay | CNN
The University of Oklahoma has removed an instructor who was accused by a student of religious discrimination over a failing grade on a psychology paper in which she cited the Bible and argued that promoting a “belief in multiple genders” was “demonic.”
cnn.it
December 24, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
My latest piece on Substack:

The Dumpster Fire that was DOGE

substack.com/@katiephang/...
December 24, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
I remember students complaining about hand cramps when I was proctoring finals as a TA thirty years ago.

And uh, you’re not supposed to “like” the final exam.
Does anyone else bristle at this framing? WSJ says blue books are “torturing” students with hand cramps, and “nobody likes them.”

Listen, students have been outsourcing everything to AI and cheating their way through college. Blue books should be celebrated as a return to authentic human learning.
They Were Every Student’s Worst Nightmare. Now Blue Books Are Back.
Cheating with ChatGPT has become a huge problem for colleges. The solution is painfully old-school.
www.wsj.com
December 24, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
The AG is *supposed* to be the people’s lawyer, not the president’s. This is outrageous.

It also indicates Trump feels that he needs protection from Epstein file disclosures.
Axios has learned the White House has begun managing the DOJ's account on X to respond to posts highlighting mentions of Trump in the Epstein files.

In typical administrations, there is a wall between the White House and what is supposed to be an independent Justice Department.
Scoop: Trump administration expects Epstein files release could last another week
The White House has begun managing the DOJ's account on X, an effort to finish out the year and the Epstein file disclosure requirements set by Congress.
www.axios.com
December 24, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
🤔
December 24, 2025 at 2:19 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
As many have been saying was the Bibi/Smotrich/Ben Gvir plan all along… www.wsj.com/world/middle...
December 24, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
Kash Patel made the FBI buy a custom fleet of armored BMW X5 for him to ride around in. trib.al/9pBbwTB

Patel’s FBI spokesperson claimed—without evidence—that this is actually saving the American taxpayer money. The standard version of the X5 costs about $70,000.
December 24, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
Imagine interviewing a victim of torture and independently confirming the details of his torture and then being told you can’t broadcast it because the people who ordered the torture wouldn’t give their side of the story.
The full spiked 60 Minutes CECOT package, clean & subtitled. 1/5
December 23, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
The DOJ is not even trying to hide that it functions as Trump's personal law firm
December 23, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
I know she's just kind of saying whatever, but it's on-brand for Bari Weiss to review a damning story about the US sending people to a concentration camp and respond "we can't air this, have you even asked Tom Homan if he feels bad about any of it yet?" Perfect readout of who she sees, and doesn't.
December 23, 2025 at 2:47 AM
Reposted by kolbyjack
Burgum claims "national security concerns" created by wind turbines are detailed in a "classified report" & pertain to "radar interference," adding that "if you wanted to attack a population center on the east coast our country, you would send a swarm of drones right through one of these wind farms"
December 23, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Reposted by kolbyjack
“If this evidence were real it would have been weaponized” yeah man people love to fabricate evidence to never show it to anyone for the purposes of incrimination
December 23, 2025 at 1:12 PM