Anonymous policy lawyer

Yup. Specifically built on Madisonian “ambition checks ambition” checks and balances that just don’t work in an era of hyper partisanship either!

On one level, the American presidency is broken and can never be trusted again absent massive reforms.

On another, the only real solution is you just can’t elect people like this. No institution can be built that’s both useful and sufficiently restrained.

No Quarter And not one more inch.

We obviously need Trump to be removed from power. Short of that we need the world to know that the majority of American citizens, and their representatives in the opposition party, can see that this is madness and are trying to stop it. www.offmessage.net/p/no-quarter

A presidency of, by, and for twelve year old boys

Never was a story of more “whoaaaa,” than this of Juliet and her Romeo

Thomas Jefferson knew

Now close to ticking every box on the “Republican misrule” checklist with three more years to go bsky.app/profile/just...

A few weeks ago some tech CEO wrote an essay that began with a story about how his law firm partner friend said AI could do his job for him, and was better at it.

First — I just don’t believe that.

Second — how many law firm partners are going to relinquish their pens, metaphorical and literal?

My refusal to hand over an irreducibly human endeavor to technologies that were foisted on society and became ubiquitous in like five years is a categorical one. When the machines learn to simulate a better me than me, they will still not be me. They can't be. So I'll do the writing, thanks.

Seems to me that whether AI is "good" at writing is not the most important question, at least for scholars and creatives. The real question, I think, is what endeavors are people willing to hand over? Maybe the AI will be a better writer than I am. I don't care. I'm not willing to let go of the pen.

Congress has effectively prorogued itself, with its only nominal defiance being a refusal to ratify illegal spending cuts that it also won’t try to prevent

This is the fourth story I’m aware of where a young Republican chat turned viciously racist. For those who’ve lost track, the last one involved New York Young Republicans. Vance defended them.

What’s maddening to me is it didn’t have to be this way. You could build an exciting, marketable image for AI if you wanted to. Tech elites just don’t think they have to — they’d rather steamroll critics for a quicker payout.

Raising my probability of a MAGA antipope to 10%

Wow sounds like complete chaos. If only federal courts had the tools to pause things that are highly likely to be illegal and avoid this type of mess. Ah well!

And I’m pretty sure her and Arthur were NOT buddies????

Reading the Magic Treehouse series with our five year old and I’m very concerned with how flagrantly Jack and Annie violate the temporal prime directive

This is before anything goes wrong.

Luckily war is very predictable and it’s rare for things not to go according to plan.

Very early in the term for it though

“Byzantium & FRIENDS” ugh

He’s a surprisingly good podcaster. “Byzantium & Friebds.” Check it out! Recently had a friend over for Shabbat who turned out to be a Byzantinist and she said appearing on his podcast is like the holy grail in her field 😂

I wish some major media outlets would do broad reports on the impact of death threats on our politics, and on who's doing them (MAGA men mostly from what I can tell), and why law enforcement appears to be doing so little about them. They are such a big (submerged) part of our politics now.

Yes!!! This has been on my shelf for ages. I’ve been meaning to read it! Have you listened to Kaldellis’s podcast?

Lot of things went wrong in late republican Rome, but rich guys with egos hiring their own armies made things fall apart faster and in much bloodier fashion

Extreme wealth concentration threatens democracy and undermines the rule of law, a lesson that is both extremely clear from history and always forgotten until it’s too late

I’m confused as to how this even happens?? If they’d so much as scrolled to that page, ONCE, this error would’ve jumped off it!!

Even MS Word out here saying “This job sucks. Hold me in contempt so I sleep.”

This sh*t doesn’t happen in other rich countries that are actual democracies, where people just vote, all major parties refrain from lying about mass voter fraud & constant attempts at mass disenfranchisement, & everyone’s vote just gets cast & counted. We don’t have to live this way, either.

I feel like I’m becoming a bit fire and brimstone in my middle age but we truly live in a deeply immoral time

Jamelle Bouie is one of the most insightful and morally clear-eyed political analysts working today and pours those talents into building a better and more equitable world for all of us.

If you’re on the left and mad at him, I strongly advise you to touch grass.