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Charlie Thomas

@cthomasjamh.bsky.social

6.5K followers 790 following 3.1K posts

Professor, African Military Historian, Co-Editor of the Journal of African Military History. Opinions expressed are solely mine. My book, Ujamaa’s Army, is available now!! https://www.ohioswallow.com/9780821425596/ujamaas-army

www.ohioswallow.com

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Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · Nov 12

For all my new followers, hello! I am a historian of African militaries and African military history- and I recently published a book on the Tanzania People's Defence Forces' fascinating history! Here's a thread about why you should read it! bsky.app/profile/ctho...

Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · Sep 28

"But Charlie!" you may say, "why should *I* care about the Tanzania People's Defence Force!?" Well let me tell you a few cool things about them!

1. Following independence most African states just inherited whatever colonial troops existed as their militaries. This often led to coups and mutinies.

Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · Sep 28

Whooooo! Although I know other folks have already gotten it, my author copies finally arrived. It's been a long road and it still feels unreal to actually have the physical copies in hand!

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Reposted by Charlie Thomas

Active BOOsures, LLC @activemeasures.bsky.social · 2h

USAA has a "Gov Shutdown Program" with 0% APR loans up to $6000.

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Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 2h

Right? It's bizarre to think about but if they just slowed down and pulled back a little then in 2-4 years this all would just be accepted as the new normal. The status of a skeletal USAID would be contested every 4 years, mass firings would be just another common occurrence, etc.

Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 2h

I mean honestly my real worry is that Alito and Thomas are self aware enough that they both retire on November 8th, 2026 and the Senate rams through two 30 year old hard right ideologues that even the Federalist Society is skittish about before January.

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Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 2h

will demand a "return to normalcy" like they did with the Biden Administration and at worst will scream about this being worse tyranny than the previous administration. I'd like to think that three more years will footstomp that this is existential to Dems and the press is not their friend but 🤷‍♂️

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Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 2h

complications are that a) any new senators from purple states are going to necessarily be more conservative and so we don't know what those votes will look like to them and b) there will be an insane full court press against this by the WaPo, CBS, CNN, not to mention Fox, etc. At best those outlets

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Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 2h

In 2020 there weren't enough votes to blow up the fillibuster to pursue court reform (and a myriad other things). I think the majority of Dem senators currently serving might have changed their tune or this or can be whipped to do so if just because it is now much politically safer. The two...

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Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 2h

That doesn't guarantee control but I'd say it is a better chance than if the Trump Admin had tried to sequence this stuff or even attempted to message what they were doing beyond "Only Soy Cucks care about the Department of Education or Tariffs!" Now the second question is the critical one...

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Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 2h

So yes the path is harder but there is a viable path, particularly as things get worse here. The big swinging mass of voters that really make a difference mostly act on their own present perceptions of their conditions and that perception is not getting better and likely will not improve by 2028.

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Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 2h

I am 200% certain that Alito spams that group chat with Yarvin at least 3 times a week. Thomas doesn't comment, he just adds a thumbs up emoji to every Alito post.

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Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 2h

And honestly I mean both in capacity (because this admin cannot build because that means acting strategically and having the capacity to follow through which they do not) and in popularity/legitimacy (because this is all so jumbled and hated that the backlash is going to have a lot of support).

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Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 2h

You would think that of all people that conservative jurists would understand that "Smash and Grab" approaches tend to lead to nasty crackdowns on the participants? Maybe they thought they were building something durable here but the wagon they have hitched themselves to is incapable of that.

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Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 2h

Right? It seems the trade on offer was "Give R President God Mode for Four Years" in exchange for "SCOTUS is fundamentally discredited and/or reformed" and I don't know if they thought that this administration would be able to accomplish more or what but this seems like a very bad bed they've made.

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The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 2h

More than eight months after President Trump cut U.S. foreign assistance to Africa, health officials are reporting a rise in deadly infections brought on by a shortage of medical supplies, including a new Ebola outbreak in the Congo that has already killed several dozen people.

U.S. aid cuts are being felt across Africa. Here’s where.

How the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. aid has affected disease preparedness and response in Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 2h

Like, this isn't subtle and anyone trying to argue it is is a fool or compromised themselves.

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Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 2h

You had a case brought with a bank shot of standing (MOHELA didn't want to sue but MO did) that went against the black letter of the law ("modify or waive") and SCOTUS still said the executive couldn't do that because it was a Major Question. Compared to "Well why can't he dismantle the DoE?"

Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 3h

It is pretty galling that the Supreme Court spent four years telling Biden "you can't do that without Congress" then allowed Trump to seize a once-unthinkable amount of power from Congress within nine months and concentrate law-making authority almost entirely in the executive branch.

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defenceWeb @defenceweb.co.za · 6h

Opinion: An army without a backbone cannot defend a democracy - Holomisa
defenceweb.co.za/sa-defence/s...

Opinion: An army without a backbone cannot defend a democracy - defenceWeb

Bantu Holomisa does not mince words. This much is clear to me when I sit down with the former general and now deputy minister of defence to discuss military

defenceweb.co.za

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Lucy Betteridge-Dyson @lmbd1418.bsky.social · 7h

Happy Publication day to me! 🥳
Jungle Commandos is out now! @ospreypublishing.bsky.social

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Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 15h

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Nk8... Having read this recently, I'll say again it is an achingly beautiful and occasionally harrowing story. This looks gorgeous and maybe even realizes a large part of the book, but my god why would you want to make this film?

Train Dreams | Official Trailer | Netflix

YouTube video by Netflix

www.youtube.com

Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 17h

Beyond admittedly the hilarious dance, the main question is why are they shooting at him? Why are they shooting at anyone that is peacefully demonstrating?!

Danny K @dannykpolitics.bsky.social · 3d

WATCH: ‘Portland Frog’ pepper balled by ICE agents

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Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 19h

You do not, in fact, “gotta hand it to the Tsar”

Reposted by Charlie Thomas

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 19h

repost this if an editor has ever saved you from yourself

violent alien @blipstress.bsky.social · 19h

An actual hot take: Too many authors are afraid of editors watering down their voice or whatever and not afraid enough of editors letting you put any old slop on the page.

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Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 19h

It was at Connections. Apparently one of the Czar’a cousins was put in charge of the navy and he was actually pretty competent. He ran a series of naval wargames that all showed Japan would whup them at a fleet battle. He tried to convince the Czar to not go to war but… well then Tsushima.

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Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 19h

Oh man did I tell you about the talk on the 1900 Russian Naval Wargames?

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Charlie Thomas @cthomasjamh.bsky.social · 20h

I am really hoping that after this we get to see the AI prompts and videos they’ve been sitting him in front of.

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utopia deferred @utopia-defer.red · 22h

ngl we can try to rationalize as much backsliding as we want but “game cancelled because black protagonist killing white terrorists during reconstruction deemed too political” is pretty bad as far as I consider things re: mainstream popular culture

Stephen Totilo @stephentotilo.bsky.social · 22h

SCOOP: Last year, Ubisoft cancelled an Assassin's Creed game set during Reconstruction. Was to feature a Black Assassin who, among other things, fought the rise of the Klan

Sources: Leadership nixed it over concerns re: U.S. political climate, backlash to Yasuke

www.gamefile.news/p/scoop-ubis...

Scoop: Ubisoft cancelled a post-Civil War Assassin’s Creed last year

Company leadership deemed the project too controversial for the moment, sources tell Game File

www.gamefile.news

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