Don Dechert

U.S. national security offices, weakened by firings, confront Mideast war The U.S. military operation in Iran is testing a depleted Justice Department and FBI. Firings of experienced agents and prosecutors have diminished expertise to counter threats.

Crazy to think that these people were doing actual jobs that might have been important

That should be one of many damning statements.

MAGA vs. The Declaration of Independence YouTube video by Takes™ by Jamelle Bouie

thoughts on stephen miller’s rant about “human rights” youtu.be/3RJ_TWtFcMk?...

This is particularly funny because it’s exactly what an an NPR reporter was doing yesterday when he said Claude “implicated itself” in something…

Great thread that really points to the major problems (mostly self-inflicted) with the US diplomatically.

More & more, there is the sense that the US GOP is in some sort of fantasy land and magical thinking that should cosign that party to uncredible ash instead of cosplaying masculinity.

But you need actual people in post who know the region. You cannot rely on real estate magnates who do not understand what the adversary is offering and who only care about making money after the war. You need people who know how to play hardball and whom to call to reassure behind the scenes. 11/

“MAGA’s fundamental shared quality is a total lack of theory of mind for other people” is a theory that keeps getting validated by reality - look at almost every decision they’ve made in the war with Iran, and how they seem constantly surprised by the unanticipated actions of other parties.

Fitting to have Trump cosplay MacArthur (although, with the corncob pipe, there's also a George Lincoln Rockwell comparison to be made).

2 young billionaires are behind the prediction market boom. They hate each other The 20-something billionaires who run Kalshi and Polymarket are battling it out to be the top prediction market company. Observers and former insiders say the feud is just heating up.

Read this story to discover that two tech bros can be equally repellent sociopaths, but each in their own special way.

www.npr.org/2026/03/06/n...

basically the two movies that explain the entire modern right are fight club and gladiator bsky.app/profile/drew...

Man, remember when "who shot Mr. Burns" was a thing, and a pair of episodes, and a give-away?

Maybe it's nostalgia, but promotions have gotten some much more stale since back in the day.

Screenshot from the article linked in the post reading as follows: The FBI’s search of the family home turned up nothing to substantiate those allegations. What they did find, however, was Hemani’s gun. Hemani also admitted to the agents he had roughly two ounces of weed in the house, and consumes marijuana “about every other day.” This is unremarkable: Millions of Americans own a gun, and millions of Americans use marijuana. But technically, the federal Gun Control Act of 1968 makes it illegal for any person “who is an unlawful user of or addicted to” certain controlled substances, including marijuana, to possess a gun. So in February 2023, federal prosecutors charged Hemani with a felony, and held him in pre-trial detention for seven months.

Much about the 'would the Framers be ok with gun rights for weed smokers' case is v funny but there is a serious part that hasn't gotten much attention

The govt targeted this Muslim family, hit dude w/ these goofy charges, & detained him for months before trial

ballsandstrikes.org/scotus/us-v-...

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

The aggressor is always peace-loving (as Bonaparte always claimed to be); he would prefer to take over our country unopposed.

Great alt text.

Alt text is important and nails it.

If you’re wondering why I keep posting about my nonfiction legal history book on the origins of American migration and citizenship that is out on March 24 (see bio for link)….

I'm very happy to announce my first feature, an independent drama to be shot in May in Virginia!

"At the Broken Places" explores acknowledging generational loss in a family of singers, not all of whom had the chance to share their talents

And I'm *beyond* thrilled to announce the amazing cast!

🧵

Breaking: Anthropic unmasked as the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.

It's not a mistake; books are awesome and your purchases are helping stimulate the bookshelf sector of the economy. I hope you had some great finds.

Unfortunately, “Yo brother, legal team confirmed we can’t work with minors rn” is an instant classic

One general trait across time is that powerful people have justified systems that maintain and extend their power over others. They have use religion or science for those justifications (see the progressive eugenicists at the start of the 20th century) but the logic is depressingly consistent.

Behold: the first-ever list of news outlets that have banned generative AI in their reporting. As of today, this is literally information that you cannot find on Google.

My goal is to fill the starter pack, so please send over suggestions with supporting evidence!

go.bsky.app/8cn1XfT

Sober and necessary analysis of a completely unnecessary, unfolding catastrophe.

Jedes AI-Slop ausm Weißen Haus ist eine Verletzung der Erhabenheit der Vereinigten Staaten. Einfach dumm.

"Everyone is 12" theory remains undefeated.

At this point, I think there might literally be a 7th grade boy running White House comms.

I can't remember who offered up "orders that are illegal to give but not to follow" point recently, but that's basically it as far as this whole stupid war goes

an illegal war "strategically" does not have direct bearing on whether a specific tactical action violated LOAC

Boo! Look at that face and those eyes and the hurt.

In conclusion, cats are awesome and deserve ice cream.

1954? Height of McCarthyism?

During the last few years events themselves had been irrational; politics in America could no longer be wholly sane. Here and there, like flickers of angry light before a thunderstorm, there had been bursts of violence, and although political debate continued, the nearness of violence-the reality of it, the mounting threat that it would monstrously grow and drown out all voices-made the debaters shout more loudly and appeal more directly to emotions that made reasonable debate impossible. Men put special meaning on words and phrases, so that what sounded good to one sounded evil to another, and certain slogans took on their own significance and became portentous, streaming in the heated air like banners against the sunset; and even the voices that called for moderation became immoderate.

Pop quiz: What year is being described?