H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 13hFrom time to time I've thought, and even said, unkind things about the kind of person who self-identifies as a leftist. But it never occurred to me to hint that Ro Khanna was one of them. I'll go only so far. 040
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 10/10/2026I love that. It's a neat approach to a question I like to think about: what does it mean to ask "did [some historical figure] exist?" It's not as trivial as it sounds. Because the definition of "King Arthur" or "Ragnar Lodbrok" or "Boudica" or "Jesus of Nazareth" isn't a simple thing. 010
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 09/10/2026If you want to spend the whole day watching salty Yankees fans on YouTube, and never listen to the same rant twice, it turns out you totally can. 000
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Just off hand, I imagine much stronger candidates for the nomination would be Rubio, Vance, and depending on how the next year or so shakes out, some GOP governor who has less than the median amount of Trump stink on him and is less loathsome than most of his peers. 100
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 09/10/2026I don't know what to tell you. If you see a Stalin when you look at Pete Hegseth, that's your judgment to make. I see a Yezhov--a monster if he's given the power, but very obviously not a man who could seize it himself. 100
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 09/10/2026I feel like we've maybe lost sight of the difference between "that guy is too goofy and weak and contemptible to rise to power as a dictator" and "that guy is too goofy and weak and contemptible to act like a monster if given great power by a dictator." 110
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 08/10/2026I feel like in order to be scary, a would-be dictator needs to be plausible. A contemptible little toad that almost nobody likes doesn't seem like a plausible dictator. 250
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 08/10/2026These people are gonna be pretty sad when they're forced to return their stolen loot. 020
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Much the same way that, say, nobody talks today about the allies liberating "France" because France today is governed by the fifth Republic, which didn't exist in 1944. 020
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Congrats on being the very first people on Earth to reveal themselves to be so clueless that Donald F Trump is equipped to teach them history. 020
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 08/10/2026It's a shame football is still a thing. This man might otherwise be out there curing cancer. 010
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Seems to me the bad guy here is the judge. If counsel asks permission to perpetrate a fraud on the court, a judge ought properly to deny them. 000
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 08/10/2026The hell was that judge thinking, viewing that as part of the proceeding? 011
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 08/10/2026...Jesus. Not as far as I can tell. Got briefly excited about "Snake Eyes" but then realized I was thinking of "Hard Eight." (Which I guess would look out of place on that list.) 000
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 08/10/2026And its okay to not like steak! You get to not like things. But it's more than a little bit sad to go to a lot of trouble to pretend that you like something you very obviously don't, just because you think it impresses people. 010
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Also? He does NOT like steak. He perceives steak as a high-status food, so he wants to be seen to like it. But he orders it well done. There's nothing wrong with thoroughly cooked beef. Get the brisket. Or the tri tip. Or the pot roast. But those aren't fancy enough for our little prince. 110
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 08/10/2026Wait I assumed that was a cruel and crude photoshop job. That's...a person? 220
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Booing Freeman is shameful. His departure was more Atlanta's doing than his. Just about as much class as we might reasonably expect from Braves fans, though. 010
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 07/10/2026I don't think I'd have predicted that California would finish ahead of Texas. But it kind of makes sense. While it's impossible for any state, it's even more impossible for the other 49. 290
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 07/10/2026I'd expect that engaging deeply with any text, whether the subject is math or just a story made up to amuse the reader, is pretty good mental exercise. 010
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 07/10/2026I was blown away when I heard it. The idea of Shatner covering popular music as spoken word seemed so cringe I could hardly stand to listen. And then I hear...that. Incredible. The arrangement slaps, and Jackson was an inspired choice. 020
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 07/10/2026So dumb. Whatever he was hoping to do, they would definitely let him be a real ICE goon and do it and far worse, and pay him besides. 000
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 07/10/2026Far as I can tell, no player has ever been named World Series MVP two years running. (I get that we aren't at the WS yet.) 010
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Hell, they could sell a piece of the debris to ME. 130
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Agree 100%. I just met this game a month ago or so, so it's fresh in my mind. I loved it, but I don't think I would have before 40. This is a game about shame and regret and missed opportunities and trying to find some dignity in the remains of the day. It'll be totally lost on a kid. 030
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Huh. I guess it never occurred to me that the work of either Nabokov or Verhoeven needed to be separated from the artist. Far as I'm aware, both were/are great artists who did great work and weren't notoriously objectionable people. 000
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Sure. Still, I like the look of weakness and defeat on him. It suits him. 040
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 05/10/2026These are people who think that the capital of Kansas is Kansas City. 000
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 05/10/2026The poor schmucks who took this test have heard of the guy. Most of them would struggle to name ten presidents if they didn't have a list in front of them. I'd be astonished if even one of them could name a JFK achievement other than (1) getting shot and (2l damn near blowing up the planet. 000
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Also? The Senate's tradition of comity, which gets a lot of well-deserved kicking in these parts, might restrain the N+1th Senate from cutting the throats of the N'th, most of whom will still be in the room after all. 000
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Still might be good enough. Even a brief period of secrecy might be long enough to strengthen the spine of a weak senator. Passions can sometimes cool pretty quickly. And an impeached president might not look as scary as one still clothed in the trappings of office. 120
Reposted by H R PickensWalter Olson @walterolson.bsky.social · 05/10/2026"South Korea has already run the experiment. Its law requires the National Assembly to vote on presidential impeachment by anonymous ballot, and that rule has now removed two presidents." [@andycraig.bsky.social]theunpopulist.netA Democratic Senate Should Adopt Secret Impeachment Ballots on a Priority BasisSuch a change, requiring no constitutional amendment, would free senators to vote their judgment instead of their fears 9498181
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Okay, to be fair, his grandfather earned it, by means that short-sighted people of his day might have called "theft, betrayal, and mass-murder" but which we today know to have been brave service to the future king. But I'm sure we can all agree that his descendants are entitled to own us. 000
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Some people say the Duke has too much power but they're just jealous. He earned the power to appoint judges and sheriffs and to hold most of the wealth of this part of the country and to dispense it at his whim to his various thugs and hangers-on. Anyway I can't imagine a better system. 100
Reposted by H R PickensDaniel Ostrowski @froakiebloke.bsky.social · 05/10/2026The all time classic 24257573
Reposted by H R PickensStandplaats Kraków could really use some cash! @standplaatskrk.pl · 05/10/2026 2412128
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 05/10/2026I don't think they ever have. rollcall.com/2007/05/25/p...rollcall.comPelosi Brings End to ‘Hastert Rule’While the leadership styles of Speakers Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) never have had much in common, the difference in their governing philosophies could not have been more stark... 000
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 05/10/2026And...you think they do that without sounding crazy? 100
Reposted by H R PickensJay Nordlinger @jaynordlinger.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Kevin D. Williamson believes that laws should apply equally to all. Kevin D. Williamson is weird. Good. thedispatch.com/newsletter/w...thedispatch.comHigh Crimes and MisdemeanorsThere are 1,001 reasons Donald Trump should be hauled off to jail. 081
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 05/10/2026It's only nice if people who aren't like me can't get in. 000
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Obviously Democrats suck and the first thing any reasonable person is going to feel on hearing that Hastert has passed is anger at Democrats. But...I'm not sure how much I'd expect them to talk about a guy who's been out of politics for 20 years. Can you even do that without sounding crazy? 710
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 05/10/2026I don't know anything about any sequels and I think I'll carry on like that. 160
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 05/10/2026British actors are going to have to start doing American accents to work as villains. 030
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 05/10/2026I should clarify that I mean Starship Troopers (the movie) and Lolita (the novel.) 0100
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Starship Troopers is like Lolita, in that it's perfectly respectable to love it. But if I don't know you well, I'll worry that you may not really understand it, and may love it for deeply problematic reasons. 111312
H R Pickens @hrpickens.bsky.social · 05/10/2026Vance/Rubio just sounds so weird. They're both scum, of course, but Rubio has so much more heft than Vance. That feels like an extremely bottom-heavy ticket. 150
Reposted by H R PickensKevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 04/10/2026My man looks like Ursula the Sea Witch addressing a shareholders' meeting 588922