iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Too many trips through the time machine in Primer.

Reposted by Chad Rector

ellie lockhart (she/they) @eleanor.lockhart.contact · 29/09/2026

I wish more people understood that the result of elections is that the winning party gets to do a lot of things that their party wants (regardless of what they claimed or didn't claim in the election) & that we're at the end of the Republicans' period of getting to do their thing bc they won

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

The "Trump Savings Accounts" are poorly implemented (and have a dumb name) but are a step in the right direction.

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

To stop the army of zombies emerging from Arlington National Cemetery before they tear down the ballroom.

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

When I explained to students that tariffs, deportations, and tax cuts would all be inflationary a lot of them were skeptical.

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

This clip is cut wildly out of context, and comes in the middle of her excoriating Trump over the war. transcripts.cnn.com/show/cg/date...

transcripts.cnn.com

CNN.com - Transcripts

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Reposted by Chad Rector

Stan Oklobdzija @stano.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Politically, our lifetimes will be defined by a global fascist-inspired movement that allies, at times, with authoritarian regimes to undermine liberal democracy in their home nations. These parties are the greatest threat to global peace and prosperity that has emerged since the fall of the USSR.

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

On the point that Nolan's hero must break rules, and then suffer for it, in order to save society from chaos, and the implication that this has some relevance for a post-Trump world: In Nolan's version, the first ally Odysseus betrays is played by a trans actor.

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I am surprised they aren't claiming New Hampshire as a tossup.

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Time is on Iran's side but it's not because of the midterms. The longer they hold out the more likely they end up negotiating with Vance instead of Trump.

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I was just hearing from a neighbor who was mad that the "artist lofts" in a POSH development in our neighborhood didn't have enough artists in them; she was seeing too many non-artists around.

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David Zipper @davidzipper.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Since everyone’s arguing about speed cameras, let’s keep a couple facts in mind: 1) Research show that camera enforcement is much more popular than the media implies – in suburbs as well as cities. Lesson: Don’t conflate a few angry car owners with “public opinion.” (cont'd)

bloomberg.com

Automated Traffic Enforcement Is More Popular Than You Think

Cameras that ticket drivers who run red lights and speed are effective and widely popular with city residents. So why are they banned in so many places?

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

So, Marco Rubio was given a choice between getting into a cramped catering truck with Donald Trump or getting shot down by Iran, and happily chose the latter?

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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Trump II has profound consequences that will last a century: -destruction of administrative state & civil service -extreme wealth concentration, tech oligarchy -climate rollbacks -end of rule of law w/o pushback incentivizes future backsliding -Iran Pundits hate this because it sounds shrill

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

*Probably* this is not related to how they just fired one of the top American generals in Europe? Probably?

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Great point about how Schumer would have been better off quietly helping centrist coordinate around McMorrow. It's weird that didn't happen! The party even gave her a prominent role at the 2024 convention.

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Every sport would be some veiled metaphor for how quickly you can get back to eating grass after escaping predators.

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Odyssey and Sheep Detectives, best movies this year: - Existential horror of sentient beings trapped in bodies of livestock - Mentor killed in violence - Hero learns about death - Inheriting the kingdom isn't so easy - Movies lightened up from grittier source text, dropping messy sex lives

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Still the best adaptation - the Australian sketch comedy bit I used to show Intro IR students in the warm-up before ancient Greece day. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xs3S...

youtube.com

Trojan Horse - The Chaser

YouTube video by James Edwards

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Reposted by Chad Rector

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 14/07/2026

An amazing quote from Lindsey Graham in this Atlantic story. It really captures an essential truth about politics that too few people ever really come to terms with. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Don't want to speak ill of the dead, so getting this Mitch McConnell take out now. He saw Trump with complete clarity, as a danger to America, but protected him anyway. Perhaps more than anyone, he had the power to end Trumpism, but chose party over country. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/jan-6-and-...

And yet…McConnell refused to vote to convict. Seven of his colleagues did, and with McConnell’s leadership, more would have done so, potentially enough to get to the supermajority needed. With conviction, the Senate could have also taken the vote to block Trump from running again. Doing so would have ended Trump as a political power. McConnell was clearly considering this option. In an oral history interview at the time the House was impeaching Trump, McConnell said

But apparently you can impeach somebody after they leave office, and if that happens, there’s a second vote in the Senate, which only has to pass by a simple majority, that prevents that person from seeking office again. So he could not only be impeached, but also eliminated from the possibility of a comeback for this office. So it is significant.

In the end, McConnell protected Trump from punishment. It was not just the refusal to vote to convict. After a swift House impeachment, he pushed to delay the Senate trial. He opposed the Senate joining in a Congressional investigation of Jan 6. He endorsed Trump in 2024, although this matters little except to further diminish McConnell’s dignity, as it was clear by this point that the Republican Party was Trump’s and McConnell’s time of influence was at an end.

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Joé McKen @joemcken.net · 02/07/2026

There’s a certain type of international commenter who seems to think Americans aren’t actually angry unless they personally rush the White House with a pitchfork or something. Never mind that the US has had the three most massive protests in its entire history back to back in just the last year.

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

On the one hand that surprised me. On the other hand most of my kids' friends have at least one parent who grew up here, and I'm probably used to it so don't notice. (Does public opinion research use dialects as a proxy? I agree the survey is uncanny.)

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Had that same thought and did it on my kids when it came out like 5 years ago (so they were both under 13). They were both mixed - mostly Maryland/DC, but also some upper-Midwest (presumably from their parents and grandparents). We did it last fall and the Midwest was gone; just MD/DC now.

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Kelsey Atherton @atherton.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

a 6-3 ruling in defense of a plain-text constitutional right where one is a concurrence offering a roadmap for Congress to overturn the right isn't a victory it's a loaded gun pointed at the heart of multiracial democracy. Last democratic trifecta failed to unload the gun, maybe one more chance left

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 28/06/2026

New meaning to "weekend warrior."

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Don't underestimate the potential for a Harriet Miers style fiasco. Like if Trump literally nominates Aileen Cannon you can imagine Tillis and a few other lame ducks (McConnell?) holding out, plus Collins and Murkowski, creating an intra-party food fight by fall.

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Musicology Duck @musicologyduck.bsky.social · 21/06/2026

i don't know how to make it clearer that there are 5,000 soldiers + federal agents + the 30-odd police forces that are always here + like the oklahoma sheriff's department for some reason, in an area that is *68 square miles* and has lower crime than many of the places these folks come from

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

Will be genuinely head-spinning for the Israeli right when both R and D '28 pres nominees are explicitly running against Israel.

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Harry Truman: "The discovery of the means of releasing atomic energy... may some day prove to be more revolutionary in the development of human society than the invention of the wheel..."

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

I used to support ending the electoral college. But the end of the Voting Rights Act makes that dicey. NPV and subnational autocracy don't mix: blue states would scrupulously count votes for Republicans while red states suppress Democratic voters without consequence.

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Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

We've reached the point where one party has so obliterated the rule of law that everyone else continuing to abide by it will only hasten the end of our democracy. That's a recipe for chaos and violence. It's terrifying, and I don't know what we do about it.

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Nick Fleisher @nickfleisher.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Canvas, the Strait of Hormuz for American education

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Outside of financially-stable R1 schools in blue states, tenure doesn't always mean job security and academic freedom...

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Walker Bragman @walkerbragman.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

To be clear about what just happened: The Trump administration sent armed FBI agents to abduct a 78-year-old doctor and former federal public health worker from his home and stripped him because the brainwashed right-wing base, hopped up on a literal conspiracy theory, wants scalps.

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Benjamin Balthaser @blbalthaser.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

one small point- we actually need our older tenured faculty to stay bc they won’t be replaced - and the place will fall apart w/o them. Adjuncts can’t run programs

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Andy Craig @andycraig.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Starting a mid-decade redistricting war only to end up with -1 seats is the same fine strategic genius and subtle grasp of game theory that brough us the Strait of Hormuz.

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BeJohnSay 🖤🤎✡️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ @bejohnsay.bsky.social · 07/04/2026

In Korea, when the president declared martial law after midnight and erected barricades in Seoul, congressional reps from all parties ran into the streets, yanked ak47s from the army at the barricades, broke down the locked door to Congress, repealed the martial law order, and arrested the president

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Could they also be thinking Trumpism will lose, and future American leaders won't punish them later for humiliating Trump now?

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

Real MAGAism, you see, has never been tried...

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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

By 2028 you won’t be able to find a single mention of Donald Trump at CPAC anywhere. Mark it.

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Micah @rincewind.run · 28/03/2026

thoughts on today: 1) the protests are good, actually 2) you should go to one of you can 3) it will do you good to see how many other people also hate this guy 4) you might meet people who you can organize with 5) there are more of us than there are of them 6) we are going to win

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

"Stability" as in a line I vaguely remember (from the Simpsons?): "The patient's condition has stabilized; he's dead."

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

Also of course Bush in 2000 campaigned against foreign wars, criticizing nation-building and excoriating Gore in a debate because the U.S. had troops in East Timor.

debates.org

CPD: October 11, 2000 Debate Transcript

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

The paradox is if he doesn't actually TACO until it gets to 150 or whatever.

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Chad Rector @chadrector.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

Maybe that's why it's staying at 100 instead of going back down to 60. 100 is the TACO price.

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