@nonamesplease.bsky.social
Angry vet. (Col)lapsed academic. (Un)civil servant. I have fifteen friends. 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇺🇦
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generational discourse can be solved once and for all by distinguishing between "remembers no computers", "remembers no personal computers", and "remembers no cell phones". everything before that fought in wars. everything after that is, best case scenario, inventing the borg
December 11, 2025 at 2:35 AM
generational discourse can be solved once and for all by distinguishing between "remembers no computers", "remembers no personal computers", and "remembers no cell phones". everything before that fought in wars. everything after that is, best case scenario, inventing the borg
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Jesus Christ, public opinion is not some static thing that has to be “respected” by politicians.
Politicians should work to shape it, to make the case for their priorities and positions, to win over voters to *their* ideas not convince voters that they agree with them.
Politicians should work to shape it, to make the case for their priorities and positions, to win over voters to *their* ideas not convince voters that they agree with them.
This exchange drives me nuts. Neither the interviewer nor Bazelon acknowledges that 1) abortion rights are really popular! and 2) what ICE is doing is hugely unpopular!
December 10, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Jesus Christ, public opinion is not some static thing that has to be “respected” by politicians.
Politicians should work to shape it, to make the case for their priorities and positions, to win over voters to *their* ideas not convince voters that they agree with them.
Politicians should work to shape it, to make the case for their priorities and positions, to win over voters to *their* ideas not convince voters that they agree with them.
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I don't believe the moral arc is inevitable Whiggish progress or anything like that, everything is contingent on our choices. But I am firmly convinced these people will be damned on the wrong side of history, and that will arrive sooner and in greater force than our current elites can comprehend.
December 10, 2025 at 2:00 AM
I don't believe the moral arc is inevitable Whiggish progress or anything like that, everything is contingent on our choices. But I am firmly convinced these people will be damned on the wrong side of history, and that will arrive sooner and in greater force than our current elites can comprehend.
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This. I think the next Reconstruction will require a profound reassertion of the role of the legislative branch that SCOTUS will resist tooth and nail.
A kind of reverse "Marbury vs Madison." Article I gets to say what the law is because they write it.
A kind of reverse "Marbury vs Madison." Article I gets to say what the law is because they write it.
December 9, 2025 at 11:50 PM
This. I think the next Reconstruction will require a profound reassertion of the role of the legislative branch that SCOTUS will resist tooth and nail.
A kind of reverse "Marbury vs Madison." Article I gets to say what the law is because they write it.
A kind of reverse "Marbury vs Madison." Article I gets to say what the law is because they write it.
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This is absolutely correct. A constitution is every citizen's compact with the government, not some secret scroll that only members of a priest caste are allowed to access.
It's largely lost today because we've allowed constitutional law to become the exclusive preserve of lawyers, but the original idea of written constitutionalism was partly one of public education, publicity, & (proto-)democracy—people should be able to read & come to know the law which binds them
The evidence is the text. All you have to do is read the Constitution.
December 7, 2025 at 8:27 PM
This is absolutely correct. A constitution is every citizen's compact with the government, not some secret scroll that only members of a priest caste are allowed to access.
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That this SCOTUS used it to justify striking affirmative action bc it discriminated against WHITE people and now thinks their might be a colorable argument about the birthright part shows only that they are confused about whether the good team won the Civil War. (2/3)
December 5, 2025 at 10:57 PM
That this SCOTUS used it to justify striking affirmative action bc it discriminated against WHITE people and now thinks their might be a colorable argument about the birthright part shows only that they are confused about whether the good team won the Civil War. (2/3)
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democratic legitimacy is about the consent of the governed and we simply do not need to consent to this court's lawless jurisprudence.
court packing, jurisdiction stripping, congressional oversight, DOJ investigations into corruption ... we have levers to bring the court to heel
court packing, jurisdiction stripping, congressional oversight, DOJ investigations into corruption ... we have levers to bring the court to heel
December 6, 2025 at 8:30 PM
democratic legitimacy is about the consent of the governed and we simply do not need to consent to this court's lawless jurisprudence.
court packing, jurisdiction stripping, congressional oversight, DOJ investigations into corruption ... we have levers to bring the court to heel
court packing, jurisdiction stripping, congressional oversight, DOJ investigations into corruption ... we have levers to bring the court to heel
Good article about what's happened at State, seen through the lens of the Legal Advisor's office (L). What's described applies across State. 1/n
www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
Exodus From State Department Legal Office Could Heighten Risk Of Trump Admin Breaking The Law
The office tackles global issues such as the administration’s deadly strikes in the Caribbean, which lawmakers and experts say could involve war crimes. Dozens of officials have left this year.
www.huffpost.com
December 6, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Good article about what's happened at State, seen through the lens of the Legal Advisor's office (L). What's described applies across State. 1/n
www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-...
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We got Weird Al out here singing Killing In The Name, the time for moderation is over
December 6, 2025 at 2:45 PM
We got Weird Al out here singing Killing In The Name, the time for moderation is over
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I can tell you this. The Supreme Court will not "ultimately decide" this question. We, the people will ultimately decide it, just as the Court did not ultimately decide on the question of slavery in the Dred Scott case.
The Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether to uphold the longstanding principle that grants citizenship to the children of non-citizens born in the U.S., following a legal challenge by the Trump administration. n.pr/48E1oko
Supreme Court agrees to hear arguments in birthright citizenship challenge
The Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether to uphold the longstanding principle that grants citizenship to the children of non-citizens born in the U.S., following a legal challenge by the Trump administration.
n.pr
December 6, 2025 at 4:18 PM
I can tell you this. The Supreme Court will not "ultimately decide" this question. We, the people will ultimately decide it, just as the Court did not ultimately decide on the question of slavery in the Dred Scott case.
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Counterpoint:
The Supreme Court lacks the authority to change the text of the Constitution.
So either it affirms the text or (further, and more completely) nukes its authority as Constitutional arbiter.
There’s no third option. Art III (courts) can’t just usurp Art V (amendments).
The Supreme Court lacks the authority to change the text of the Constitution.
So either it affirms the text or (further, and more completely) nukes its authority as Constitutional arbiter.
There’s no third option. Art III (courts) can’t just usurp Art V (amendments).
The Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether to uphold the longstanding principle that grants citizenship to the children of non-citizens born in the U.S., following a legal challenge by the Trump administration. n.pr/48E1oko
Supreme Court agrees to hear arguments in birthright citizenship challenge
The Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether to uphold the longstanding principle that grants citizenship to the children of non-citizens born in the U.S., following a legal challenge by the Trump administration.
n.pr
December 5, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Counterpoint:
The Supreme Court lacks the authority to change the text of the Constitution.
So either it affirms the text or (further, and more completely) nukes its authority as Constitutional arbiter.
There’s no third option. Art III (courts) can’t just usurp Art V (amendments).
The Supreme Court lacks the authority to change the text of the Constitution.
So either it affirms the text or (further, and more completely) nukes its authority as Constitutional arbiter.
There’s no third option. Art III (courts) can’t just usurp Art V (amendments).
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I'm going to keep saying this in my effort to speak it into reality: Supreme Court should have at least 100 Justices with rotating panels (and maybe an en banc option). No single Justice should have so much power and they shouldn't be names everyone knows.
A court with a normal-ish conservative majority would have been tolerable. I'm not eager for court packing, impeaching justices, and other such options. But this court sticking around post-Trump is untenable. They've already torched their own legitimacy, the only question is what do we do about it.
Democrats need to lay the groundwork for reform by attacking the villains on the Supreme Court - loudly, angrily, personally, relentlessly. And they should start now.
paulwaldman.substack.com/p/democrats-...
paulwaldman.substack.com/p/democrats-...
December 5, 2025 at 10:41 PM
I'm going to keep saying this in my effort to speak it into reality: Supreme Court should have at least 100 Justices with rotating panels (and maybe an en banc option). No single Justice should have so much power and they shouldn't be names everyone knows.
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Find it hilarious how the NSS keeps talking about the free market - as if the Trump regime has any interest in that at all.
December 5, 2025 at 4:49 PM
Find it hilarious how the NSS keeps talking about the free market - as if the Trump regime has any interest in that at all.
I complained about Legal sending me ethics notifications about holiday parties and not taking gifts worth more than $20 when the president's son just got a 620 million dollar deal from the Pentagon. My friend said: you're poor so you're expected to have ethics.
December 5, 2025 at 3:05 PM
I complained about Legal sending me ethics notifications about holiday parties and not taking gifts worth more than $20 when the president's son just got a 620 million dollar deal from the Pentagon. My friend said: you're poor so you're expected to have ethics.
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The boat was split in half. 9 men were dead. 2 more clung to a floating piece of wreckage and tried desperately to flip it over for 41 minutes straight. There was no possible way they were going anywhere.
Then they were killed in cold blood by the U.S. military.
Then they were killed in cold blood by the U.S. military.
December 5, 2025 at 1:19 AM
The boat was split in half. 9 men were dead. 2 more clung to a floating piece of wreckage and tried desperately to flip it over for 41 minutes straight. There was no possible way they were going anywhere.
Then they were killed in cold blood by the U.S. military.
Then they were killed in cold blood by the U.S. military.
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Well, Alito could have just taken the map as it existed BEFORE the redraw. No need to solicit a new one.
December 5, 2025 at 3:30 AM
Well, Alito could have just taken the map as it existed BEFORE the redraw. No need to solicit a new one.
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There’s also something especially crazy-making about SCOTUS’s “eagerness to playact a district court” (Kagan) in a *shadow docket* decision that doesn’t really engage with the facts at all. The gap between the professionalism of the district courts and SCOTUS’s arbitrariness couldn’t be more obvious
There are so many things wrong with this ruling, including the total disregard for the clear error standard. But what really gets me is the notion that legislatures can evade judicial review of their maps simply by passing them as close as possible to Election Day
December 4, 2025 at 11:42 PM
There’s also something especially crazy-making about SCOTUS’s “eagerness to playact a district court” (Kagan) in a *shadow docket* decision that doesn’t really engage with the facts at all. The gap between the professionalism of the district courts and SCOTUS’s arbitrariness couldn’t be more obvious
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Final Special IG report on Afghan War: From 2002 through mid-2021, Congress appropriated approximately $144.7 billion** for Afghanistan reconstruction—far more than it spent on the post World-War-II Marshall Plan in inflation adjusted terms. www.sigar.mil/Portals/147/...
www.sigar.mil
December 4, 2025 at 2:05 AM
Final Special IG report on Afghan War: From 2002 through mid-2021, Congress appropriated approximately $144.7 billion** for Afghanistan reconstruction—far more than it spent on the post World-War-II Marshall Plan in inflation adjusted terms. www.sigar.mil/Portals/147/...
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“If you believe the MAGA postliberal project is real, then liberalism must understand MAGA is not a reaction to economic consequences or “elite failures,” but an affirmative preference for illiberalism.
Liberalism must stop apologizing. Stop excusing. And fight.”
www.thebulwark.com/p/maga-and-l...
Liberalism must stop apologizing. Stop excusing. And fight.”
www.thebulwark.com/p/maga-and-l...
Liberals: Stop the Masochism
Why liberalism romanticizes the Forgotten Man and is reluctant to take its own side in the fight against authoritarianism.
www.thebulwark.com
December 3, 2025 at 7:17 PM
“If you believe the MAGA postliberal project is real, then liberalism must understand MAGA is not a reaction to economic consequences or “elite failures,” but an affirmative preference for illiberalism.
Liberalism must stop apologizing. Stop excusing. And fight.”
www.thebulwark.com/p/maga-and-l...
Liberalism must stop apologizing. Stop excusing. And fight.”
www.thebulwark.com/p/maga-and-l...
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I’m kind of new to the Democrats, but I thought we were FOR respecting the legal process, and also that we were AGAINST political corruption. And that it was especially important to hold to these principles at this time.
But I guess there’s some insider memo I didn’t get that would set me straight?
But I guess there’s some insider memo I didn’t get that would set me straight?
Jeffries claims the charges against Cueller were "very thin" and says Trump's pardon was "exactly the right outcome"
December 3, 2025 at 6:30 PM
I’m kind of new to the Democrats, but I thought we were FOR respecting the legal process, and also that we were AGAINST political corruption. And that it was especially important to hold to these principles at this time.
But I guess there’s some insider memo I didn’t get that would set me straight?
But I guess there’s some insider memo I didn’t get that would set me straight?
They just keep pouring shit down on what was an outstanding institution. So much will need to be fixed. So much to avenge.
SCOOP: Sources tell me Donald Trump's name was added to the exterior of the US Institute of Peace building ahead of Thursday's peace agreement signing between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which will be held inside the building. Confirming if it's been officially renamed.
December 3, 2025 at 7:53 PM
They just keep pouring shit down on what was an outstanding institution. So much will need to be fixed. So much to avenge.
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in pretty much every case, the cost of means testing >>>>> the savings from finding "cheaters."
The American Ethos (white right wing evangelical christianity) to care more about punishing theoretical people than actually saving money/doing good is fucking exausting
The American Ethos (white right wing evangelical christianity) to care more about punishing theoretical people than actually saving money/doing good is fucking exausting
This this this
Also: I don't give a crap if rich kids "take advantage" of free school cafeteria lunches
Also: I don't give a crap if rich kids "take advantage" of free school cafeteria lunches
To me, it's kind of like no-strings-attached Universal Basic Income. Yeah, some unscrupulous people will abuse it, but a considerably larger number of people will use it in good faith to help themselves.
You can't completely avoid abuse and fraud because there will always be assholes.
You can't completely avoid abuse and fraud because there will always be assholes.
December 3, 2025 at 7:22 PM
in pretty much every case, the cost of means testing >>>>> the savings from finding "cheaters."
The American Ethos (white right wing evangelical christianity) to care more about punishing theoretical people than actually saving money/doing good is fucking exausting
The American Ethos (white right wing evangelical christianity) to care more about punishing theoretical people than actually saving money/doing good is fucking exausting
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Because you're an adult you fucking muppet. You gotta pay the magic forward.
December 3, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Because you're an adult you fucking muppet. You gotta pay the magic forward.
Asserting the Mandate of Heaven…uh well no. Anyway, Trump is Di Xin not the Duke of Zhou.
Kristi Noem: "Sir, you made it through hurricane season without a hurricane. You kept the hurricanes away. We appreciate that."
December 2, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Asserting the Mandate of Heaven…uh well no. Anyway, Trump is Di Xin not the Duke of Zhou.