Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 7h

It’s the same in every authoritarian state. Willingness to harm and commit atrocities for the regime Is a basic requirement

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 1d

It says something that that John Fetterman had a stroke, part of his brain died, and that turned him into Joe Manchin

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 1d

I’ve called it Trump’s “Clown Armor” since 2016:

1) So buffoonish, it’s hard to take him seriously and self-important people embarrassed to engage;

2) Says things so stupid they’re hard to respond to, like a pro se sov citizen;

3) Known liar/showman, so easy to dismiss his antics as performance

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 1d

One of my blockmates was an editor at the Crimson. He was definitely skipping classes for more salutary reasons than me…

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 1d

The NYT is packed with Harvard graduates, ALL OF WHOM skipped at least some classes/reading.

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 1d

I don’t see how Elon Musk and DOGE aren’t personally liable for every wrongful death. Whatever abilities the next president has to waive indemnity or immunity to civil suits against DOGE members, they should

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 2d

I don’t think I’ve seen a single Trump 2 scandal that the press has treated with the urgency of Biden lawfully, correctly, and relatively smoothly exiting the US from Afghanistan.

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 2d

Dems, if they’re in power in 2029, should pass legislation allowing for SCOTUS to conduct a look-back review and reissue of decisions based on the appellate record, for the period 1/1/2017 to 1/1/2029, without an intervening case reaching the Court.

King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 2d

If/when Democrats take back power, they should pass legislation creating a “look back” period for SCOTUS to review decisions based on appellate record, beginning say in 1/1/2017, without a new case reaching the Court.

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 2d

2/2

It’s like Trump does a snuff film filled with kitsch and stupid memes and errors, so Serious People dismiss it, “Clearly he’s just trying to get a reaction from me, I’m too savvy for that.” But the girl in the film was still murdered!

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 2d

It’s Trump’s Clown Armor:

1) So buffoonish that “serious” people feel embarrassed looking at his actions directly

2) So stupid and ignorant that he says things so crazy it’s hard to quickly rebut them

3) So dishonest and performative that it’s easy for folks to dismiss his abuses as shtick

1/2

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 3d

CBS News putting Weiss in charge is basically like the Philadelphia Eagles handing GM role to a HS coach who wrote a blog about the “End Racism” signs

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 3d

You need to switch to Fantasy Football content if you want super-dense, data-driven sports commentary

King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 3d

Even the notion of there being “two sides” is morally bankrupt. The two major political parties don‘t have a duopoly on reality. Trump and Jeffries are often both wrong! A news outfit that sees “two sides” to everything is just outsourcing its job to political comm’s shops.

King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 3d

Anyone who cares about actual journalism would try to reach a provisional conclusion about the facts, and *then* see how the what the political parties are saying about it.

Ellison is promising that CBS News will *not* do journalism, but instead just be a conduit for political comms operations.

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 3d

The “both sides” shtick is so stupid because there aren’t “two sides” to any issue, there’s a THOUSAND sides. Policy experts, researches, professionals etc

Dipshits like Ellison see the 100-crayon box, toss everything besides red & blue, draw everything in shades of purple and brag about it.

1/2

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 3d

It’s insane the which the Very Smart Consensus continues to be that a party wins power by being polite, avoiding extreme positions, and providing detailed moderate policy positions, when the GOP has seized total control by doing the exact opposite of all of those things

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 7d

Dems should hire DOJ attorneys the way Trump is hiring ICE agents. Just thousands & thousands of attorneys tasked with public corruption cases

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 7d

It‘s a recurring pattern that ostensibly neutral figures give *extra* deference to the most bad faith people, because they think it further establishes their own honesty.

In practice it just rewards bad faith, and the ”neutral” figure ends up enlisting themself in perverting the system.

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 7d

Sports gambling should exist, just not on your phone. You should have to go to a specific place to do it. (And ideally that place should feel kinda grimy.)

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 7d

Democratic leaders have convinced themselves that stoically weathering criticism for their negligent weakness is its own form of strength.

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 8d

The way the right deploys “DEI” and ”Woke” make more sense if you read them as “not white supremacist.” Those tunnels aren’t white supremacist enough, because they go where black people are. A movie with a black protagonist is DEI and Woke because it’s not white supremacy.

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 10d

I would also suggest that murdering random fishermen, on the accusation that they’re engaging in a civilian criminal act, does not fall within the president‘s legal or commonly understood official powers

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 14d

There’s a real phenomenon where the mainstream media does not consider a policy “serious” unless it’s cruel to someone.

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King Blackwhale @kingblackwhale.bsky.social · 15d

Trump has two powers: (1) the first thing that pops into is head is the first thing that pops into lots of idiots heads, and people like being validated, (2) Trump is such a buffoonish clown that people feel silly taking his very real harms seriously.

guys like Vance get clocked immediately

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