Dan Holt
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danielsholt.bsky.social
Dan Holt
@danielsholt.bsky.social
Historian of one half of the legislative branch. All opinions are mine alone, of course.
Reposted by Dan Holt
This is actually quite brilliant, up to and including the final sentence 🔥
December 1, 2025 at 11:09 AM
This has been a thought that I've had for years now. The underlying fact of anti-immigration views is a profound lack of confidence in the power of American culture and it's ideals.
The reactionary worldview is shot through with a deep-seated disdain for America.

In this post, for example, the underlying assumption is that there is nothing special about America's institutions and laws, its civil services, its patterns of life and social norms, its historical developments.
November 30, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen multiple times

Rush
Nada Surf
Titus Andronicus
Pearl Jam
Weezer
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen multiple times

Darkest Hour
RATM
Depeche Mode
Metallica
Morrissey
Introduce yourself with five concerts you've seen multiple times

Bruce Springsteen
Neil Young
Jackson Browne
Elvis Costello
Billy Bragg
November 28, 2025 at 4:06 AM
Love to buy a "fresh" turkey that turns out to be half frozen 😕
November 26, 2025 at 11:26 PM
You will be visited by three spirits
November 26, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Ugh, who kicked off the latest round of Star Wars Discourse?
November 24, 2025 at 10:10 PM
No one ever talks about this performance/group and I had come to think that I hallucinated it or something. Also, it was awesome.
Hated by gen x!!!!
👑 👑 👑
November 24, 2025 at 5:18 PM
Naming a movie after the main character is just the laziest thing in Hollywood. "Name of fictional character that I just made up" tells one nothing about the movie or its themes or what you hope one gets from it.
November 20, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Regretting opening this app tonight before bed even more than usual.
November 18, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Wild to me that Joseph Ellis is on e again on my TV as a talking head in documentary. #hatm
November 18, 2025 at 2:41 AM
Shadeur Sanders in his first game action has been brutal.
November 17, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Not pictured: Christie wearing a FanDuel sweatsuit with cash overflowing out his pockets.
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com

"It’s time we recognize that legal sports betting brings with it effective regulation that protects fans, teams, leagues and sports themselves — and work together to protect and build on that success," Chris Christie writes.
Opinion | Chris Christie: Legal Gambling Is Good for America
Chris Christie argues that regulated betting can strengthen the integrity of sports.
nyti.ms
November 15, 2025 at 1:43 AM
Reposted by Dan Holt
At First Branch Forecast, we're starting a new interview series with scholars and experts doing work we find extremely helpful and our readers should know about. First up, Ruth Bloch Rubin on factions and power in Congress
November 14, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Name That Tune but it's only prescription drug jingles.
November 11, 2025 at 1:54 AM
I feel like a major ingredient missing from the discussion about ACA tax subsidies is how the system is failing to provide affordable care such that all this extra tax credits are required. What is the state of the ACA generally?
November 11, 2025 at 12:26 AM
The best part of the Conkling and Kate Sprague affair was left out of Death by Lightning.
Rhode Island’s Sprague-Conkling Affair (or the 1879 Episode at Narragansett) - New England Historical Society
The Sprague-Conkling affair, one of the biggest scandals of the 19th century, exploded into public view when a former U.S. senator chased a sitting U.S. senator with a gun.
share.google
November 9, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Reposted by Dan Holt
Some historical background for those of you watching Netflix's new limited series about James Garfield and Charles Guiteau. I am really enjoying it. www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-...
The Real Story Behind Netflix's 'Death by Lightning' and the Shocking Assassination of President James A. Garfield
The new limited series dramatizes the brief tenure of the 20th commander in chief, who was fatally shot by Charles J. Guiteau, a lawyer who believed he'd secured Garfield's election
www.smithsonianmag.com
November 9, 2025 at 1:08 AM
The framers certainly talked about the Senate as a check on democratic impulses, but they understood the entire constitutional structure, not the Senate in particular, as a guard against overbearing majorities. The Senate as specially counter-majoritarian can be traced back to the 1890s /1
one thing i find crazy-making is the idea that getting rid of the filibuster would make congress a purely majoritarian institution. bicameralism itself is counter-majoritarian! equal state representation is counter-majoritarian! the fact that senate elections are staggered is counter-majoritarian!
November 9, 2025 at 1:22 AM
I dont usually go this route, but bluesky calling this oppression when it has always been basic duty for working in retail to engage customers has me shaking my head.
"Store employees are now required to smile if they are within 10 feet of a shopper.

They also must make eye contact with and wave to or greet the customer.

If they’re within four feet, the employee should ask how the customer’s day is going or if they need help."

🙄 Won't stop the boycott, y'all.
Target is now requiring its employees to smile more
As the holiday season fast approaches, Target is urging its employees to add a little more “jolly” to their work routine.
www.wilx.com
November 8, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Why is it "wick-ed" and not "wickt"?
November 8, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Oh, and hi, I'm a furloughed fed. Overall, not a fan.
Technically we aren't even allowed to check our email.
JUST IN: A federal judge has barred the Trump administration from using furloughed employees’ email accounts to broadcast partisan messages about the shutdown.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
November 7, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Technically we aren't even allowed to check our email.
JUST IN: A federal judge has barred the Trump administration from using furloughed employees’ email accounts to broadcast partisan messages about the shutdown.

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
November 7, 2025 at 10:22 PM
I miss baseball
November 7, 2025 at 10:19 PM
What in the actual f**k is this? "guardrails to guard against female vices"?!
I didn't know that my little college town counts as a "Capital of wokeness," but I want it on a T-shirt to compete with "Ithaca is Gorges"
November 6, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Proposing a new standard for what it means to catch in bounds: if you can't stand on two feet, but only tap your toes in, then it's not a catch.
November 3, 2025 at 2:03 AM