Sign in

Mac William Bishop

@macwbishop.bsky.social
2K followers 256 following 447 posts

Just a poor wayfaring stranger, traveling through this world of woe. www.macwilliambishop.com

PostsRepliesMedia
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
"We have entered the Great Interregnum... the liminal space between the American Century and whatever comes next. We cannot say with certainty what guiding power or idea will order the world over the next century. But we can be certain that chaos will precede it."
35213
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
This is weird to say, but Tom Selleck played a shockingly convincing Ike back in 2004 for an HBO movie, and it’s hard for me to imagine others in the role now.
020
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
"In the wake of kidnapping Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the U.S. president believed he had learned how to slice through Gordian Knots. But Roy Cohn was no Aristotle, and Trump is no Alexander." My latest for @rollingstone.com on the impasse in Iran. www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
32711
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
"It is the same origin point — the same research, technology, and investment — that leads us to the moon or to dead schoolchildren, slain at our hands. The final decision about war or peace may be made by our leaders, but ultimately it is our responsibility..." My latest for @rollingstone.com
31810
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 03/03/2026
"This administration, which promised common sense and America First, vowed not to embark on namby-pamby woke crusades or get caught up in forever wars and nation-building. Instead, it is proving itself to have the most revisionist foreign policy in American history."
610246
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
The same post is also on the verified official Minnesota National Guard Instagram account, and its Facebook page. Unless you have better evidence to the contrary, it seems legit.
071
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Now the actual military has to dress like it’s not the military cuz federal law enforcement agencies dress too much like the military
464190145239
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Twain ends the essay writing, “And as for a flag for the Philippine Province, it is easily managed. We can have a special one — our States do it: we can have just our usual flag, with the white stripes painted black and the stars replaced by the skull and cross-bones.” 7/7
191
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
The Anti-Imperialists believed a just republic derives its legitimacy from consent of the governed, an ideal incompatible with the forcible acquisition of foreign lands. They cited the non-interventionism of George Washington’s Farewell Address as a key principle of the US. 6/7
191
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
In 1901, Twain wrote “To the Person Sitting in Darkness,” a satirical riposte to Kipling’s “Burden.” “There must be two Americas: one that sets the captive free, and one that takes a once-captive’s new freedom away from him... then kills him to get his land.” 5/7
1112
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
“We have gone there to conquer, not to redeem. . . It should, it seems to me, be our pleasure and duty to make those people free, and let them deal with their own domestic questions in their own way.” 4/7
1122
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Twain, however, was incensed by Spain's cession of the Philippines to the US for $20 million. He saw the war and subsequent occupation for what it was: a brutal effort to conquer an alien nation and create an American Empire. He joined the American Anti-Imperialist League. 3/7
1121
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
Many intellectuals in Europe regarded America’s foray into imperialism as a natural — even welcome — evolution. Rudyard Kipling famously penned the poem “White Man’s Burden” in 1899, celebrating that the US was taking up the “civilizing mission” alongside Old World empires. 2/7
1110
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
During the Spanish-American War of 1898, Mark Twain was incensed that a war for “liberation” quickly became a naked quest for territorial expansion. “And so I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land.” 1/7
1347
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
“Some of the messages I’ve been hearing from Iran is a sense of betrayal by President Trump... They thought they were going out there with him behind their backs.” My latest for @rollingstone.com on America's lack of good options in Iran. www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
54022
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 23/12/2025
Make Billy Mitchell Great Again
4826
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
That is extremely unfortunate. The original MBSM was for soldiers who stayed behind on guard duty while Pershing led a punitive expedition into Mexico against Pancho Villa in 1916-17, which failed to achieve its objective (capturing Villa), and ended in an ignominious withdrawal.
3141
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 15/12/2025
Invading Venezuela over non-existent WMDs will let the current president crush the dreams of the “no more pointless foreign wars” crowd in the funniest way imaginable
117223
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
"The reality is that despite a variety of statements promising action at unspecified future dates, he has continued to treat Putin with deference. The Trump White House has taken no significant action against Russia to force a more equitable and lasting solution to the conflict."
23718
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
Happy 250th Birthday, Marines.
0171
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
EXCLUSIVE: Photo of the girlfriend of the founder of Antifa resisting arrest, shortly before being taken into custody
1255
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 08/10/2025
[Authoritarian police state arrives] Me: [simply outruns it in a quarter mile]
7386
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 01/10/2025
“…so Thulsa Doom is portrayed by James Earl Jones as an ancient wizard from Atlantis, with a snake cult in honor of Set. But in the original stories, Thulsa Doom is an undead necromancer with a skull for a head, and it’s actually Thoth-Amon who is a high priest of Set, and uses a giant snake to…”
4124
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
I mean I lived in China, and speak Mandarin. This doesn’t sound like any 成语 I ever learned. What idiom are you referring to?
120
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 10/07/2025
The trailer for Mstyslav Chernov’s new film “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” which will premiere at Film Forum NYC on July 25th, and elsewhere August 1st. Chernov is doing incredible work documenting the war in Ukraine. H/T Tetyana Denford, who worked on the translations.
01910
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
There is absolutely no reason for domestic U.S. law enforcement personnel to be dressed like military personnel. Period. (Screenshot from MacArthur Park in LA, original video here: x.com/cardon_brian...)
3027892
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 03/07/2025
“…so far.”
010
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 01/07/2025
My latest for @rollingstone.com, on how the U.S. strikes on Iran may not have had the intended effect regardless of what happened at Fordow. With analysis from @nicolegrajewski.bsky.social, @alivaez.bsky.social, @warmatters.bsky.social, and Farzan Sabet
2258
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
F/A-18F assigned to Lt Emily King & Lt Natasha Koenneker during Operation Inherent Resolve in 2017. The markings on their bird indicate they carried out 78 bombing runs against ISIS.
3193
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
“A number of countries are ready to directly supply Iran with their own nuclear warheads,” Dmitriy Medvedev says.
3172
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
030
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
The biggest difference between now and 2003 is that with Iraq, the U.S. went to great lengths to create elaborate lies about WMDs. But in the age of social media, everything is just vibes-based casus belli.
1173
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 22/06/2025
It’s not technically war if you say you want peace while bombing another country
1293
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 21/06/2025
In December 2017, I was in Jerusalem when the US announced it was recognizing the ancient city as the capital of Israel. Amid daily clashes and protests in response, a meme began to spread among Israelis, based on an iconic photograph from the 1967 Six-Day War.
342
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
“the engineers of the noble honda civic”
110
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Our organic aviation element must be painted like the MD500Ds from Magnum PI. Otherwise you have a free hand, Commander General
140
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
100
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
3274
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 08/06/2025
Them: The problem with the poets of the First World War is that they were soft, hypersensitive elites who just couldn’t hack the realities of combat Alan Seeger: I Have a Rendezvous With Death
060
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
Become ungovernable
0120
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 05/06/2025
Here it is:
050
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 04/06/2025
2171
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
A daring strike on Russian bombers far from the frontlines highlights the dominance of unmanned aerial vehicles, as the tech grows ever more deadly.
1123
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
040
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 26/05/2025
Even in his break-up letter with Putin, Trump manages to completely misunderstand the situation. Putin is not crazy, he is implacably fixated on his goal of destroying Ukrainian statehood and the NATO alliance.
8385
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
According to some accounts, again likely apocryphal, Vereshchagin continued to sketch the scene as the ship sank. (Vereshchagin:)
1100
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
Vereshchagin died as he lived. During the battle of Port Arthur in 1904, in the Russo-Japanese War, he was aboard the ironclad Petropavlovsk along with Admiral Stepan Makarov, when it struck two sea mines. (Makarov:)
190
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
With Vereshchagin's work:
1130
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
Compare Damon Winter's 2010 New York Times photo from Kunduz:
1130
Mac William Bishop @macwbishop.bsky.social · 24/05/2025
...with Vereshchagin’s “After the Attack” of 1877:
1140