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tom-effing-paine.bsky.social
Professionally philosophical, highly historical, avidly antifascist, gleefully gaming, merrily movieviewing. ATX. Scalawag fighting the long Civil War.
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Posts 16 Comments 34

Congresscritters who think that *this* is like a violent coup attempt ought to be taught the difference on their own hides.

submitted 23 hours ago • 0 comments

Austin Justice Coalition held a press conference about Rep. Harris's HB2548, a disastrous academic censorship bill currently before the Texas House. I think that it would be fair to say that my rhetoric is... unique.

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

All y'all that said that Ayn Rand's villains were cartoonish have some catching up to do. Elon is... like, unrealistic.

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

There's a mindset that goes "Trump's authoritarianism is a distraction from his corruption which is a distraction which is a distraction from his policy agenda which is a distraction from egg prices which is a distraction from his authoritarianism." It's an excuse not to act. Attack all of it.

submitted 2 days ago • 11 comments

I am not kidding when I say Madison intended impeachment to be used on the first, next, and last President who referred to themselves as a king, and we ought to do him right

submitted 2 days ago • 73 comments

Mathematics Professor here is just brilliant!

submitted 4 days ago • 7 comments

From Turkey to Hungary to Venezuela to Benin, firing civil servants and dismantling government departments is how aspiring strongmen consolidate personal power. Scholars share lessons learned from around the globe: #CivilService #autocrats #DOGE

submitted 3 days ago • 12 comments

HT @emmcg.bsky.social for this tracker of all ongoing legal actions against Trump admin. It's a lot. I'm not optimistic the courts can stop most of it. Not to mention the ongoing damage while we wait for these processes to unfold. www.justsecurity.org/107087/track...

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

Laura Jedeed doing a fairly deep dive into some of the shit we're in.

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

It bears repeating that ignorance of even the most rudimentary basics of history is the foundational cement that holds modern American conservatism together

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

Imagine that you went into a room, thinking that this would benefit you, and it turns out that it's harmless to you but that your presence in the room causes tremendous suffering to other people — other people that you don't really care much about.

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

I look forward to hearing more about this. I don't quite understand how it would work, but gods know we need creative ideas at this point. (And let me add that the entrepreneurialism of it is America at our best!)

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

True story: a few years ago, I was being interviewed by a reporter for the New York Times. I mentioned the history of eviction statutes and how they tied into Jim Crow. The reporter asked "what's Jim Crow?" When I explained, the reporter didn't believe me and said the US wouldn't do that.

submitted 4 days ago • 817 comments

That old saw about how “good times make weak men” is true in the sense that stable times with material abundance create reactionaries who want to destroy the systems that protect them because they’re too sheltered and stupid to understand that things can get meaningfully worse.

submitted 14 days ago • 17 comments

A Missouri Representative has filed a bill to track pregnancies in the state. HB 807 will: "Maintain a central registry of each expectant mother who is at risk for seeking an abortion of her unborn child and make the same available to a prospective adoptive parent who has completed screenings."

submitted 4 days ago • 1092 comments

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments