Reposted by ShawnChanda Prescod-Weinstein 🌌 @chanda.blacksky.app · 3hI don’t want my entire intellectual world to be consumed by convincing people that their brains are worth using 😭 10739139
Reposted by ShawnElieNYC @elienyc.bsky.social · 21hI disagree, categorically, that adding additional justices, even in a "tit-for-tat" way, is a "race to the bottom." I think having a great many *more* judges is actually good for democracy, representation, ethics, and limiting the importance and power of any individual judge. Furthermore... 19972113
Reposted by Shawn🎃 Imani Gandy Corn 🎃 @angryblacklady.blacksky.app · 20hElie Mystal said it best: "One of the biggest strengths of our system—and one of its biggest weaknesses, its biggest fault lines—is the same thing: Give me five Supreme Court justices, and I can make the Constitution say whatever I want. 1/4 324060
Reposted by ShawnMax Dubler 🏳️🌈 @maxdubler.com · 19hThis article quotes a sociology professor, a lawyer, and an architect who reject the notion that housing prices are set by supply and demand and do not believe that building more homes reduces rents. It is the housing policy equivalent of platforming climate change deniers.sacbee.comWould building housing reduce poverty in California? Sacramento-area experts splitA recent study argued that building housing could lower state’s poverty rate, currently the second-highest in the U.S. behind Louisiana. 35820155
Reposted by Shawnthe abbot of unreason (an archaeologist) @merovingians.bsky.social · 15ha constitutional republic where control of the legislature and executive grants you the opportunity to reshape the judiciary, and this is an outcome that is known to voters, is a *vastly* preferable system to the one we've lived our whole lives with 643070
Reposted by ShawnMicah @rincewind.run · 22hSteve is a good faith operator, so - in good faith, some answers but fundamentally what it comes down to with me is that this conservative supermajority makes real progressive governance impossible, and it will hold its power forever (through strategic retirement) unless stripped of that power 511065154
Reposted by Shawnthe abbot of unreason (an archaeologist) @merovingians.bsky.social · 14hif the Roberts court thought they could get away with letting Trump cancel the election, they'd do it. any limits you think exist on their indulgence of Trump's fascism and petty madness is illusory. 512121
Reposted by Shawnthe abbot of unreason (an archaeologist) @merovingians.bsky.social · 13honce more, with feeling: We Are The Baddies 04810
Reposted by Shawnjamelle @jamellebouie.net · 15/10/2026will try to answer these in a piece next week but for now i will say that part of the *point* of court expansion, in my mind, is to create a disequilibrium — a potential race to the bottom — that will force a truce. 1783631522
Reposted by ShawnJames Austin @jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 15/10/2026It's always notable how some 'left' people view Russian anxiety around NATO etc as, at the least, legitimate. While the anxiety and desire for security by Baltic and Eastern European states - who have been literally oppressed by Russia within the last 30 years - are not. 1619027
Reposted by Shawnthe abbot of unreason (an archaeologist) @merovingians.bsky.social · 14/10/2026to be clear, it's vastly insufficient, but these are things Jeffries can deliver on, and more importantly I want him and his leadership team to *fail* ahead of 2028 and so should you. we're not doing reconstruction iii with hakeem jeffries in charge 2545
Reposted by ShawnMax Dubler 🏳️🌈 @maxdubler.com · 12/10/2026Yes, of course McDonald’s posting about National Coming Out Day is “performative.” Nobody thinks Ronald McDonald threw the first brick at Stonewall. Nonetheless, the biggest and most influential institutions in American life performing affirmation of LGBT social and civil equality is a good thing. 723261374
Reposted by Shawnthe abbot of unreason (an archaeologist) @merovingians.bsky.social · 10/10/2026the thing that characterizes nations that do public executions is authoritarianism, not skin color. 314215
Reposted by Shawnmallow's hyperrealistic blood @bajablastenjoyer.bsky.social · 09/10/2026i hate the "what are we a bunch of asians" meme so much i am in fact not thinking about their ethnicity at all when i make a comparison to the politics of North Korea, but it's good to know what your mind focuses on when you think about the subject! 2354664
Reposted by Shawnthe abbot of unreason (an archaeologist) @merovingians.bsky.social · 08/10/2026two white female dems with medical backgrounds spewing transphobia is genuinely dangerous shit 613818
Reposted by ShawnNathan Goldwag @goldwagnathan.bsky.social · 09/10/2026I will say, I am far from convinced that this is the automatic trick for winning that a lot of people do, but it is important that *somebody* say this stuff in public, because that's the only way we reestablish any kind of societal norms or push the boundaries of acceptability away from this filth. 2069493
Reposted by ShawnGhostship Chronos says TRANS RIGHTS @airshipchronos.bsky.social · 06/10/2026People got understand that "cop" is still a very sympathetic figure to normies and the normie position is "get rid of the bad apples". They really do think it's just a few bad apples. 1171
Reposted by ShawnGhostship Chronos says TRANS RIGHTS @airshipchronos.bsky.social · 05/10/2026This is a very popular idea and can be true in various narrow ways, but never ends up being true when put into practice. Like one has to account for the failures of Hitler, Pinoche, the USSR, Mao in contrast to the constant success of the US. 231
Reposted by ShawnUrban Land Rent 🇸🇴🚰 @urbanlandrent.bsky.social · 06/10/2026And most people, even most liberals, will scream-cry at you if you suggest we don’t bend over backwards to subsidize the lifestyles of rural voters. 2516
Reposted by ShawnUrban Land Rent 🇸🇴🚰 @urbanlandrent.bsky.social · 04/10/2026How it feels once accept that many labor unions are just protectionist guilds and you owe them no solidarity (as they don’t extend it to anyone else anyway) 61017
Reposted by ShawnNathan Goldwag @goldwagnathan.bsky.social · 05/10/2026I think it's pretty clear by now that there is nowhere near a majority of voters, anywhere, who inherently see far-right authoritarianism as extrinsic to the success or survival of democratic systems. 1244158
Reposted by ShawnWilliam B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · 05/10/2026I do think this should put some of the hand-wringing over the uniquely sinful American electorate, uniquely feckless institutions, etc in perspective. The truth is that there is a large trans-national constituency of people who actively want this. They aren’t deceived. They want this. 542523376
Reposted by ShawnGhostship Chronos says TRANS RIGHTS @airshipchronos.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Once again world historical mistake to make AI a consumer product and the greatest propaganda coup the AI industry ever pulled was labeling their product AI. 032
Reposted by Shawnroterote @roterote.bsky.social · 03/10/2026The US Democrats need to look at their next Presidency as an endless sprint to obliterate MAGA, every day for years. Until the cancer is gone then there should be no time wasted on MAGA tears or conciliation. Only endless justice and rebuilding the democracy. Govern like every day is the last day. 151035256
Reposted by ShawnKevin @reginageorgebush.bsky.social · 03/10/2026"socialist fiscal hawk" is a very weird politics to have but it's basically where I'm at 1721913
Reposted by Shawnthe abbot of unreason (an archaeologist) @merovingians.bsky.social · 04/10/2026I'm a pro-union socialist and I think that bailing out the Teamster's pensions was a massive mistake by Biden. 1117018
Reposted by ShawnGhostship Chronos says TRANS RIGHTS @airshipchronos.bsky.social · 03/10/2026One of the things I've become kinda radicalized on, thanks in part to current events and also listening to @mikeduncan.bsky.social's REVOLUTIONS, is that while I maintain a moral opposition to violence, it's probably in the state's interest to shoot every coup leader that attempts it. 182
Reposted by ShawnMaterialist Gnostic @walmsley.bsky.social · 02/10/2026something most people seem to believe which I disagree with very strongly is that a system becomes more democratic if it includes more points at which people vote 231
Reposted by ShawnGhostship Chronos says TRANS RIGHTS @airshipchronos.bsky.social · 02/10/2026American direct democracy has largely been bad for well... everyone. Even the good things then get reduced by legislatures which just raises the question of why doing referendums in the first place? 181
Reposted by Shawnthe abbot of unreason (an archaeologist) @merovingians.bsky.social · 02/10/2026you think Jon 'Laken Reilly' Ossoff is going to match this? or a former prosecutor in Harris? there is one option, and I pray she runs. 810716
Reposted by ShawnWilliam B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · 29/09/2026there literally is no system that is abuse proof, so at a certain point you’re just against the abstract concept of authority or power in general. I think about this when it comes to ALPRs for traffic enforcement. Like if you want to have laws at all, you have to give someone power. 1552250
Reposted by Shawnthe abbot of unreason (an archaeologist) @merovingians.bsky.social · 29/09/2026most importantly, don't *only* do it in campaign ads in the fall of election years 1324
Reposted by Shawnthe abbot of unreason (an archaeologist) @merovingians.bsky.social · 28/09/2026no other Democrat can do this, not without planning. the emotional appeal and the core backing of the facts. she's the one. she speaks the language of the base. she gives them a voice. 310110
Reposted by ShawnDr. Samantha Hancox-Li @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com · 26/09/2026we saw a wave of "woke is overrrr!!!" pieces after the election, mostly typed one-handed. just now we're starting to see some very sotto-voce "we need to talk about woke 1" pieces, whether that's the lesbian bar piece or the nikole hannah-jones education piece.liberalcurrents.comWhat Is Woke 2?Woke 2 is Woke 1 with an honest relation to power. 430447
Reposted by Shawnthe abbot of unreason (an archaeologist) @merovingians.bsky.social · 23/09/2026this is why I don't find the arguments it would be better for her, socialism, or the country that she run for Senate or try to create a path to Speaker. the times demand our best. 4686
Reposted by Shawnthe abbot of unreason (an archaeologist) @merovingians.bsky.social · 22/09/2026transphobic Dems will go the way of pro-life Dems ultimately. but they stuck around for a while. we should seek to hasten their exit 39015
Reposted by ShawnKatelyn Burns @katelynburns.com · 21/09/2026For my newsletter, I wrote about Democrats coming out against "trans surgery for kids" (which do not happen) and how the myth took over our politics. www.burnsnotice.com/the-trans-ki...burnsnotice.comThe "Trans Kid Surgery" MythThe big lie worked because it played on your protective instincts 111299488
Reposted by ShawnMatt @tiredgenerally.bsky.social · 21/09/2026the actual position that Kendra et al seem to hold is that professionals should stop migrating to the US’s most prominent cultural hub and wealthiest city, which is an embarassingly stupid thought to have 1243736
Reposted by ShawnNathan Goldwag @goldwagnathan.bsky.social · 22/09/2026"You should be allowed to kill your children" is a bedrock conservative principle. 942995
Reposted by ShawnGhostship Chronos says TRANS RIGHTS @airshipchronos.bsky.social · 21/09/2026I'm being legit serious that when you're going on about hating "transplants" you're supporting the repression of queer people and people of color. We're people. We have no special, mystical connection to the land. We do have a universal right to movement. 1172
Reposted by ShawnMax Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 20/09/2026"This election is about the threat of trans kids" is the worst possible messaging for Dems yet so many candidates are leaning into it. No voter will flip R->D over it. Low-info voters read this as "you're focused on bullshit that doesn't affect me" while the base reads this as "you're an asshole." 12357491512
Reposted by ShawnDr. Samantha Hancox-Li @sjshancoxli.liberalcurrents.com · 18/09/2026i think all historic preservation boards should be abolished 817316
Reposted by Shawnthe abbot of unreason (an archaeologist) @merovingians.bsky.social · 17/09/2026when more Democrats by the day are coming out with anti-trans rhetoric this is not as convincing as you want it to be. those Dems are doing coalitional arson. not trans people. 1111417
Reposted by ShawnTamar Haspel @tamarhaspel.bsky.social · 16/09/2026This is the nail in organic's coffin. Yes, it has benefits! I support it as a agricultural niche for those beneftis. But the yield penalty is generally 20-50%, which means you need 25-100% more land to produce the same amount of food. Organic cannot feed the world. 3192
Reposted by ShawnKatelyn Burns @katelynburns.com · 14/09/2026One of the more insidious phrasings I've seen with the Dems/trans rights discourse lately is the idea that trans people are being greedy and demanding a "maximalist" approach to trans rights. No, you cannot call the state of rights American trans people had as recently as 2023 "maximalist," sorry. 323976901
Reposted by Shawnjamelle @jamellebouie.net · 14/09/2026crypto, car dealerships and MLMs. ripe targets for political and policy reasons. 1035971950
Reposted by ShawnErin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 13/09/2026Seems like a good time to re-up this post. It is a list of 26 Dems at the statewide/national level that have made anti-trans statements or voted anti-trans policies. I do not advocate for abstaining from all of the ones on this list, but if the worst offenders who call us “biological men,” I do.erininthemorning.comThe Guide To Anti-Trans Democrats In The 2026 Elections, By StateThese are the Democrats that LGBTQ+ people may wish to avoid this election cycle. 721821606
Reposted by ShawnNiao Collective @niaocollective.bsky.social · 12/09/2026I feel like ‘Taiwan should make a deal’ falls under the same genre as ‘Ukraine should make a deal’ where the pundit is less interested in engaging with the actual geopolitics as they are in wishcasting for a world where the US doesn’t play a role 25812
Reposted by ShawnKatelyn Burns @katelynburns.com · 10/09/2026i don't care what the issue is, if your election opponent is running millions of dollars in ads about one single issue, you cannot, under any circumstances, say that your opponent is right about the issue. 132803563
Reposted by ShawnEmma the Sewer Socialist @mayorseidel.bsky.social · 10/09/2026What cis liberals need to understand about our political situation is that the Democrats turning on us is far, far worse than the Republicans winning, because if we lose the Democrats like we lost Labour in UK, we will have our rights stripped and no path to getting them back. 314739
