Brooks D. Simpson
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Brooks D. Simpson
@bds77.bsky.social

Historian. Islanders/Yankees fan. Opinions are my own. Has it ever been otherwise?

Brooks Donohue Simpson is an American historian and an ASU Foundation Professor of History at Arizona State University, specializing in American political and military history, especially the American Civil War and Reconstruction eras and the American presidency. .. more

Political science 51%
Business 21%

Their followers believe what they say. The question is how many voters who supported Trump are open to empirical evidence and experience.

So much lying.
Every time I listen to Trump, Bessent or Lutnick talk about economic conditions, it is always completely obvious how utterly disconnected they are from the everyday struggles the average American working family is dealing with right now. They simply can’t relate to normal people.

Reposted by Brooks D. Simpson

Every time I listen to Trump, Bessent or Lutnick talk about economic conditions, it is always completely obvious how utterly disconnected they are from the everyday struggles the average American working family is dealing with right now. They simply can’t relate to normal people.

Could you be a little more specific? Best about what? 😉

If you think that the military history of the Civil War is simply a story of generals and battles, you haven't kept up with the literature.

For decades.

At best, it's ignorance. At worst, it's insulting.

It's also sooooo yesterday.

Slob.
There’s no way this is real

It smacks of a self-congratulatory assessment resting on the construction of strawmen. Just doesn't come across well.

But clearly it has our attention.

Should it?

The other thing that strikes me as odd about this exchange is that it sounds like an academic conference. I've given this lecture ... as a lecture, alone ... and I thought the idea was to bring some historical insight to a broader audience. Gatekeeping? Really? Whatever. Who cares about infighting?

I guess I don't follow this line of discussion. There's a lot of stereotyping hiding behind a refusal to name names. This sort of thing tells me more about the people making the arguments and how they view things than it does about whatever is being described.

Jim Downs's assertion in this regard is ... interesting.

What I notice is how non-military historians of the ACW sometimes flaunt their ignorance of military issues, often to their detriment.

Maybe Jim needs to read more.

Reposted by Brooks D. Simpson

There’s no way this is real

Fight like it's 1846.
What the hell: The US accidentally invaded Mexico on Monday, storming a beach and planting DoD “restricted area” signs claiming the land for “the commander,” and triggered a standoff with armed Mexican security forces, all because Trump’s government can’t even identify a border on a map. 🧵 1/
What the hell: The US accidentally invaded Mexico on Monday, storming a beach and planting DoD “restricted area” signs claiming the land for “the commander,” and triggered a standoff with armed Mexican security forces, all because Trump’s government can’t even identify a border on a map. 🧵 1/

Clay Higgins apparently craves attention.

Who had MTG doing the right thing on their bingo card?

It's Sunday. Having helped someone prepare to take the US citizenship test several months ago ... I know how cringe worthy it is.

PS: They passed with a perfect score. I still got it.

So Harry Truman and George C. Marshall were woke?
Trump: "We won the first world war, second world war -- I always say, everything before and everything in between -- and then we got woke and we said, 'Well, let's call it Defense.'"
Trump: "We won the first world war, second world war -- I always say, everything before and everything in between -- and then we got woke and we said, 'Well, let's call it Defense.'"

Appomattox Court House.

The coup continues.

In its way, it's entirely fitting to destroy the American republic and the rule of law as we prepare to celebrate a revolution meant to secure those things.

Especially if you like neat numbers.

The threat was always from within. We have met the enemy, and it is us.

One would hope that one's work makes the reader engage with the past with empathy and insight. It's left to them to decide what to feel about what the historian has said. Intent is not impact.

What makes one person feel good (or understood) may not hold for someone else.

Sheridan was a year away from becoming a thing of the past when he said this.

Grant made that trip via Panama in 1852. Harrowing experience. As president he advocated building a canal.

Quite the obsessed fan.

Fugitive Slave Law vibes.
This video of Chicagoans intervening to save a man from being abducted off the streets by ICE is making the rounds on Instagram.

Community action works.

Source: www.instagram.com/reel/DPZL2AL...
This video of Chicagoans intervening to save a man from being abducted off the streets by ICE is making the rounds on Instagram.

Community action works.

Source: www.instagram.com/reel/DPZL2AL...

But Democrats get in their own way.

Note: Donald Trump preferred a coin featuring himself to a coin bearing the likeness of Charlie Kirk.

How soon they forget.

Someone get JD Vance a couch.

Escalators are not the problem.

Fire the person responsible for hiring this person.