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Lee Kovarsky

@kovarsky.bsky.social

13K followers 710 following 2.2K posts

Professor of Law, University of Texas. Habeas corpus, death penalty, some other law stuff, sentient space robots, kids who don't listen to me, and hot sauce. BIO: https://law.utexas.edu/faculty/lee-kovarsky/

law.utexas.edu

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 36m

not pestering me for that cute fucking bunny anymore i see

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 41m

Next time my kids mess with me imma be like “fuck this we are watching watership down”

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 58m

FWIW I made a post yesterday making fun of these folks, got called out by someone who was kind of a jerk about it - but decided that he was right on the merits after reflecting on it for a bit.

These aren't the brownshirts.

Ben Raderstorf @raders.bsky.social · 11h

Texas National Guard troops arriving in Chicago (via ABC News)

Remember: These are not MAGA stormtroopers. These are everyday teachers and accountants who signed up to serve their country with their spare time. They're being used as political pawns by venal, un-American, draft-dodging president

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 1h

FWIW I made fun of them, got called out for being a jerk, reflected on it, and deleted my post. I think it's more complicated than "show them some fucking respect" but I also agree that the left is making a mistake by alienating the NG.

Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 3h

i can't imagine having to make sense of all comments at the scale of y'all's follower counts.

i'm still like "you mean uninterested not disinterested"

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 3h

this isn't an excuse to call him dumb, although he is, so much as it is that i worry that we miss the optimal responses to his behavior if we treat him as a shrewd tactician as opposed to a sick child wielding a magnifying glass against ants

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 3h

greg do you sometimes think that we are over-crediting miller "strategy" personally, and that he is either (1) operating at a more hateful-instinctual level without a real theory of state, or (2) a stand-in for people who are a bit smarter and more calculating?

1/

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 14h

I honestly can't fucking believe it dave.

Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 14h

This really is Trumpism in a nutshell.

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 14h

This made me laugh so hard. Second screenshot is of the video posted by Benny Johnson of the event.

Benny Johnson « @bennyjohnson
X.com
BREAKING: DHS Secretary Kristi Noem stares down army of Antifa and a guy in a chicken suit from the rooftop of the ICE facility here in Portland.
Noem says:
"Hey; Guy in the chicken suit. You can do better.
Too bad they are uneducated and ill-informed."
Noem isn't chicken: [chicken emoji]

A view from the roof of the building. There are about 15-20 people visible in total, several of whom appear to be reporters. Most are holding signs. They aren’t even taking up the whole sidewalk. One guy is wearing a chicken suit.

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 15h

hell hath frozen

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 17h

literally the last person in America that both sides love.

Yashar Ali 🐘 @yasharali.bsky.social · 17h

Dolly Parton’s sister, Freida Parton, is asking for people to pray for her sister’s health.

Verified Facebook post by Freida Parton. The caption reads:

“Last night, I was up all night praying for my sister, Dolly. Many of you know she hasn’t been feeling her best lately. I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I have been lead to ask all of the world that loves her to be prayer warriors and pray with me. She’s strong, she’s loved, and with all the prayers being lifted for her, I know in my heart she’s going to be just fine. Godspeed, my sissy Dolly. We all love you! ❤️”

Below the caption is a photo of Dolly Parton standing outdoors in front of lush green ivy, hands clasped in prayer, wearing a shiny silver outfit with lace-trimmed sleeves, her signature blonde hair styled in soft curls, looking upward serenely.

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 17h

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 17h

Does it strike you as a silly rejection if we adjust our priors and can get our heads around that Ds might actually have the upper hand in the fight ATM? Or then still you are dubious?

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 17h

One tic of MAGA-II-era journalism is that these kinds of headlines are used to signal someone writing against interest - the "actually."

Now these disorienting headlines sit over content from regime allies, still glossed with an "actually" to suggest (wrongly) contrarianism or iconoclasm of note.

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 1d

the chris caldwell of 1948 would have been arguing against desegregation of the armed forces www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/o...

Opinion | That Hegseth Speech Was Actually Pretty Good

www.nytimes.com

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 20h

we are always moved when grown up super accomplished people tell stories about how their parents made them better by making them do hard things for themselves.

my kids will not tell that story.

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 1d

yeah it's like your favorite band is coldplay, fuckoff

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 1d

every day stupider than the one before

max tani @maxtani.bsky.social · 1d

Bari Weiss introduced herself to CBS News staff today on the network's 9AM call, saying she wants to "win," which requires restoring trust to CBS. She also said she was excited for staff to get to know the Free Press, and ended her remarks by saying: "Let's do the fucking news."

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 1d

And I watched him snark his way thru the birthright stuff w/o really knowing the source material myself, but then he veered into snark about injunctive class actions + ripeness that *are* areas of expertise and he really is prone to wild mistakes.

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 1d

Tho his argument about judges having admin role that sits outside of judicial power as some sort of unitarist gotcha makes even less sense to me.

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 1d

Maybe I am under-crediting him.

Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 1d

not worth it. that post reflects the fact that ilan clearly didn't even understand that gov wasn't even arguing commander in chief power. (and isn't - it's all the statute + take care)

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, reliance has to be reasonable - but I don't think you'd win by arguing that it wasn't reasonable for folks firing the missiles to rely on an OLC opinion. It's not a question of whether the OLC opinion was reasonable.

Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 1d

FWIW this will likely give those who committed the murders (that's what they are) an effective "public authority" defense, PROVIDED that it was written before they started incinerating fishing boats.

This defense is why there would be no prosecution for Obama for Anwar Al Awlaki.

Lawrence Hurley @lawrencehurley.bsky.social · 1d

Head of OLC is a former Alito clerk
www.cnn.com/2025/10/06/p...

Exclusive: Classified Justice Department opinion authorizes strikes on secret list of cartels, sources say | CNN Politics

The Trump administration has produced a classified legal opinion that justifies lethal strikes against a secret and expansive list of cartels and suspected drug traffickers, according to multiple peop...

www.cnn.com

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Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 1d

At an affected institution I can assure you that nobody is excited

Lee Kovarsky @kovarsky.bsky.social · 2d

Yeah it’s like euphemism for “aunt Ethel is kind of a dick”

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