Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 8hWell, sorry Glen, but "talking about politics" kind of goes with the territory in running republics and democracies. It's eternally frustrating that people continue to talk about "politics" as something that happens apart from or separately from civic engagement. 020
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 9hWho exactly would Russia be using to invade Poland? (Or anyone else at this point.) Grandfathers? Toddlers? With spare T-34s? 030
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Awww, wittle AI guy had himself a BIG THOUGHT today! He gets a cookie! 🍪 000
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Frankly, religious leaders seem to be behind on literally every moral issue these days. 000
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Seems like every day there's a "this is the sort of thing that started the revolution" kind of thing. The east coast is filled with the sound of people rolling in their graves. 020
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 06/10/2026About 25 years ago my managing editor asked me to try to get Foote to do a review of a new biography of Stephen Crane. I called him up and asked if he would like to do a review. He said (in that voice) "I don't do book reviews, I find them to be a great waste of time." Seems about right. 020
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Every despot, dictator, and oligarch, tinpot or otherwise, has justified their rule in the name of speed, effectiveness, and efficiency. One might even call it a fairly straightforward theme of history. 010
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 05/10/2026"Democracies are inefficient" is literally ancient news (the Greeks figured this out, the Romans knew it, LITERALLY everyone in history has known this). Here's a news flash: THE INEFFICIENCY IS ON PURPOSE, and actually the whole point of having it. 2212
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 03/10/2026"Alternative health influencer"? I believe the correct term is "bullshitter." 1342
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Britain was, for whatever else you want to say about it, rather consistent in disliking continental despots. They fought Hitler, the Kaiser, Napoleon, and Louis XIV and XV. 010
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026"where once they had made generals and governors and statesmen with their votes, the Roman people were reduced to passively waiting, hoping anxiously for their needs to be met, in a world they no longer meaningfully controlled." 110
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026"And indeed, Juvenal’s panem et circenses is not a statement of how Rome fell, or how it was controlled, or how the republic died, but rather a statement – for us, a warning – of how sharply the loss of political liberty constrained the dreams of the Roman people:" 100
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026I invoked Rome only as an example (and definitely not the only one) of entertainment as a distraction to political engagement. Which, funny enough, the author of this piece concludes with something where I was going as well: 100
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026And? Was I speaking of Rome's fall (or the fall of anything?) Did both you (and I ) miss something? 110
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Rome had circuses and gladiators. We have many, many, many more distractions than they did, but the end result is identical: subservience. 100
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026It's great to see people actively, positively embrace our fellow [North, Central, South] Americans. They are all our brothers and sisters. 000
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026"We're going to problematize aspects of your life that weren't problems to begin with, so we can solve them for you." 060
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Seems like everything about this article (from the author to the content to the argument) encapsulates the problems of attribution on the internet that are about to get exponentially worse with AI. 020
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 01/10/2026This is the kind of action that helps precisely no one. It only makes BROS look like a bunch of performative gits. 010
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 30/09/2026This really shouldn't be a situation that is accommodated or tolerated. We don't need new ways of teaching "divisive concepts." We need to fight, and end, every one of these laws. Everywhere. Now. 000
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Oh I think he'll still be the first or second chapter (gotta leave some room for the good old Grant and Harding administrations) on future books on American corruption. We don't have our own times without Nixon. 020
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Sure. Laws were broken here. But in the large scheme of things, I'd say this was law enforcement labor that could have been directed toward other, more substantial theft.... 020
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 29/09/2026It generally explains the abysmal state of political knowledge and political conversation in this country. Very few people have the slightest idea what they're talking about, both literally and figuratively. 031
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 29/09/2026youtu.beUnderwear Must Be Worn On The OutsideYouTube video by John Hawkins 010
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 29/09/2026What happens when you scrape the bottom of the barrel and there is no barrel. 021
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 29/09/2026So what? We could sit here all day and talk about GOP policies that only affect their core supporters. 1211
Colin @colinbabb.bsky.social · 28/09/2026This picture leaves out what's on the wall behind this. To remind everyone there who's watching them. 031
