dan-occ-light.bsky.social
I write things and make pictures. Reformed 20th c. theorist splicing the 21st. Comp. Lit. / film history / translation. Pre-mill post-punk. Occasional Light (Fine Art Photo +): https://danielmfreed.photodeck.com
397 posts
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Getting Started
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How quickly they turn from a broadly populist platform, to an entirely exclusionary / unitary agenda. This ends well for nobody, but maybe they will face their own demolition in the process.
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Padilla also took a meeting with Noem after the assault. And Padilla said he had to remind Noem that she sat through her confirmation hearing with the Senators. Self-own squared.
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And the response date is scheduled for the 15th. Conveniently one day after … the 14th.
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That’s a zinger.
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Breyer's waiting for the full hearing today, rather than granting immediate injunction, may have resulted in a stronger case moving forward.
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Yes, that is well-established.
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Since they’ve eroded education and political literacy over the decades, it’s frightening to think how many may not know nor care about “blood and soil” nativism, or historical precedent.
One potential workaround is to flood these hotlines (if there are any) with creative reporting.
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And they seem to think laws prior to the 20th century, now overruled, somehow carry more weight. The 3/5th law tracks with their ahistorical bias.
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In the very worst case, if this Orwellian provision passes, and there is a Democratic admin come 2028 … who would enforce this? A Dem DoJ? Other fed agencies that would view this objectively? I don’t see why, as GOP selectively target areas as of destruction, why a Dem admin wouldn’t just ignore?
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Oh dear ... writing from NY here. I was hoping Liz's lettuce had already wilted, and you were immune to this noxious strain of madness.
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I am glad they brought this suit. It is legally and ethically correct.
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Stock market futures jumped on the news of the court decision striking down Trump's tariffs.
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Perhaps a new AI-generated department.
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Thanks. I suppose phrases keep one going in this toxic maelstrom. Yes, agree: the new evangelists and ethno-statists buy into (or are seduced online) easy thinking.
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Yes. This seems to be a trend with the new feudal overlords: post-thinking thought, spread gratuitously.
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I haven't read Slobodian's new book yet (have listened to him on it). Interesting that it's out on Zone, no? Yeah, the IQ /eugenics formula is an eye-opener. Also how even Hayek has now become too measured and nuanced with the current ideological bastard children.
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Thanks for remaining vigilant with these political arsonists. If sequestering mandates cutting Medicare also, I simply don't see how this can be signed into law. It must die along the way.
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This can also set a precedent for other agencies that were savaged by DOGE in future cases. Even if it is dragged out, it may be a net positive on the books.
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Quelle surprise. I take deep pleasure in this.
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I find toxic optimism is somewhat unique to American discourse, cultivated over generations. The tenor of debate and the public sphere, in Europe and the UK, tends toward sharp realism. Mehdi is in a great position to comment on this. There's also the important academic work, "Cruel Optimism."
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This image is fantastically on-point.
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Yes, I believe talented attorney Clement joined her team. This is preliminary.
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Thanks for this clarification. I think the trial will be very different. I read Clement joined her counsel.
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Assault is a many-splendored GOP thing.
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Whitehouse is very good, esp. on dark money and environmental legislation.
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I think they are starting to push back on immediate damage, but they are not clear how to recreate a resilient structure after Trump. Murphy. Raskin. Crockett. Tina Smith. Merkley. AOC. Sanders. Sometimes Schiff. There are strengths and weaknesses, but I think better not to demonize Dems now.
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There Will Be Lawsuits. But unlikely a comprehensive class action per above. Individual plaintiffs must have standing for claimed injuries. Without question, a vast, insulting clusterf*ck for artists. There are other issues at stake, like how one retroactively revokes protection. Idiotic move.
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There are some left. Jamelle Bouie, for example. But the top-down framing from current, corrupt ownership has transformed much above-the-fold articles into dissembling apologia and sanewashing.
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I honestly never knew the name of this GOP lackey. I just kept seeing his dead-eyed stare lurking behind iterations of GOP leadership, in countless photo ops.
Learning something new every day!
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How about the bloc of voters who voted Trump / AOC on their ballots? It only takes a sliver of political imagination to message and shift the narrative into a demographic advantage. The climate right now is ripe to transform the electorate.
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A great follow up from media in a stonewall like this is,
“Senator, do you believe you must follow the Constitution?” That’s a gateway / proxy question they must be clear on as an obligation.
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Yes, that’s been a throughline with these choices. Deliberate incompetence and chaos.
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Agree, for some time now. If there is any consistency at all in this administration, it is flagrant incompetence and contempt for the functions they are tasked to carry out. Maybe not the entire picture, but like they said about the spaghetti sauce, “it’s in there.”
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This is not a good look. It will backfire.
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Michael Shea was brilliant. Thanks for posting this.
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Fascinating map. Perhaps unsurprising. I wonder how rigorous Abitur is now compared to, say, U.S. or U.K.
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This kind of portable, nonsense defense is now deployed across cases and platforms. It’s a decidedly anti expertise, post truth strategy to effectively neuter accountability rather than offer good faith defiance that could be contested (like that old fashioned tool — deliberate lies).
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I'd never click through, but reading the source is sufficient. It's awkwardly helpful to know they are reporting it. Because what they track signals what concerns the regime. Obviously, this does.
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Thanks. If even Fox is on to it, somebody up there is taking notice.
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The closest to this I've read (if you haven't yet) is the notes from this week's hearing. Roger Parloff from Lawfare reported from inside the courtroom.
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Oh they did? I am glad to hear this.
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This is exactly the kind of horseplay Boasberg carefully prescribed out in his instructions this week at hearing. WTF? Why under seal if evidence supposed to convince it's not constructive custody, when Judge was leaning towards constructive custody?