mbrilick
@mbrilick.bsky.social
Reposted by mbrilick
The running theme between the Epstein story, banning trans healthcare for minors, religious homeschooling and the complaints about adult children estranging themselves is a fundamental American belief that children are property with no rights of their own
America is a culture of child abuse. Ask any survivor - we find one another, we form networks and communities.
The true scale of it would stagger and sicken you, and so it is buried, it is swept under the rug, it is denied and the survivors are silenced by whatever means are necessary.
The true scale of it would stagger and sicken you, and so it is buried, it is swept under the rug, it is denied and the survivors are silenced by whatever means are necessary.
Government of pedophiles. They're all tainted with this for the rest of their lives.
December 20, 2025 at 12:50 AM
The running theme between the Epstein story, banning trans healthcare for minors, religious homeschooling and the complaints about adult children estranging themselves is a fundamental American belief that children are property with no rights of their own
Reposted by mbrilick
nothing i can say about these people is crueler than their behavior toward each other
if this was me at a public event mourning my spouse who was violently murdered my kids would either have me committed or never speak to me again
December 21, 2025 at 10:32 PM
nothing i can say about these people is crueler than their behavior toward each other
Reposted by mbrilick
So Bari Weiss’s first real editorial intervention at CBS is to repress coverage of American concentration camps.
December 22, 2025 at 3:05 AM
So Bari Weiss’s first real editorial intervention at CBS is to repress coverage of American concentration camps.
Reposted by mbrilick
In the summer of 1950 most US newspapers ran an AP story about how race had become the main issue in the upcoming Georgia governor's race. Segregationist Herman Tallmadge, governor from '47 to '55 and then a Senator until 1981 made a name for himself by refusing to "apologize for being a white man."
December 21, 2025 at 10:57 PM
In the summer of 1950 most US newspapers ran an AP story about how race had become the main issue in the upcoming Georgia governor's race. Segregationist Herman Tallmadge, governor from '47 to '55 and then a Senator until 1981 made a name for himself by refusing to "apologize for being a white man."
Reposted by mbrilick
In a shocking twist, my hamfisted attempt at a coverup has only drawn attention to my crimes
December 20, 2025 at 8:22 PM
In a shocking twist, my hamfisted attempt at a coverup has only drawn attention to my crimes
Reposted by mbrilick
This is a surgical dismantling of yet another dumb Matt Yglesias argument by a former clean energy exec and current Representative. This is the sort of thing that should make people stop listening to people like Yglesias.
Read the whole thing.
Read the whole thing.
This Yglesias piece in the NYT is horrifically bad. Almost every "fact" it cites is provably false. At best it is cocktail party banter from a pundit who knows nothing of energy. At worst, it was cut/paste from oil industry talking points. So, a rebuttal: www.nytimes.com/2025/12/18/o...
Opinion | Obama Supported It. The Left in Canada and Norway Does. Why Don’t Democrats?
www.nytimes.com
December 20, 2025 at 6:14 PM
This is a surgical dismantling of yet another dumb Matt Yglesias argument by a former clean energy exec and current Representative. This is the sort of thing that should make people stop listening to people like Yglesias.
Read the whole thing.
Read the whole thing.
Reposted by mbrilick
Robert, I'd rather hold that opinion under the water until the bubbles stop.
December 20, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Robert, I'd rather hold that opinion under the water until the bubbles stop.
Reposted by mbrilick
Officials in Tennessee aren't just banning books, they're now demanding information on who checked out contested (largely LGBTQ+) books, including names, addresses, and "household composition."
A librarian who was given the directive has come forward asking for whistleblower protections.
A librarian who was given the directive has come forward asking for whistleblower protections.
Tennessee whistleblower says library board chair sought private data as part of state's book purge
A First Amendment expert told The Advocate that there are "huge" legal implications stemming from the situation.
www.advocate.com
December 17, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Officials in Tennessee aren't just banning books, they're now demanding information on who checked out contested (largely LGBTQ+) books, including names, addresses, and "household composition."
A librarian who was given the directive has come forward asking for whistleblower protections.
A librarian who was given the directive has come forward asking for whistleblower protections.
Reposted by mbrilick
I love that you put the key graf right up front: people who called it right have lifelong and specific values, while people who define themselves by a more vague political ‘positioning’ find it very hard to work a logical train of thought from evidence.
December 18, 2025 at 12:21 PM
I love that you put the key graf right up front: people who called it right have lifelong and specific values, while people who define themselves by a more vague political ‘positioning’ find it very hard to work a logical train of thought from evidence.
Reposted by mbrilick
those who predicted authoritarianism were both dismissed, & deeply misunderstood, by the media
my latest for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
my latest for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
The Americans Who Saw All This Coming—but Were Ignored and Maligned
Call them the Cassandras: the people—mostly not white and male—who smelled the fascism all over Trump from jump street. Why were they “alarmists,” and how did “anti-alarmism” become cool?
newrepublic.com
December 18, 2025 at 11:26 AM
those who predicted authoritarianism were both dismissed, & deeply misunderstood, by the media
my latest for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
my latest for @newrepublic.com
newrepublic.com/article/2042...
Reposted by mbrilick
yes! i am a bit of a broken record on this but among elite male commentators there is such obvious gender anxiety
i was especially struck by these paragraphs, which rang very true to me. libs who grew up around conservatives aren't embarrassed to be liberals--or confused about what conservatives want. there's a certain kind of elite media man, on the other hand--
December 18, 2025 at 1:37 PM
yes! i am a bit of a broken record on this but among elite male commentators there is such obvious gender anxiety
Reposted by mbrilick
I keep saying this but no one is connecting the dots. The war is to satisfy legal preconditions for mass removal *domestically* of Latinos (i.e., suddenly a lot of people are going to be “Venezuelan” for purposes of removal). This is 100% Stephen Miller…oil claim is to make grandpa go along
There is no national security logic that would impel the US to want to do regime change in Venezuela. It's simply not that important. I'm not even sure wag the dog is the right metaphor for what's happening here. Seems like an insane misallocation of US national security assets and attention.
Trump: "Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled ... It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the USA all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us."
December 17, 2025 at 12:47 AM
I keep saying this but no one is connecting the dots. The war is to satisfy legal preconditions for mass removal *domestically* of Latinos (i.e., suddenly a lot of people are going to be “Venezuelan” for purposes of removal). This is 100% Stephen Miller…oil claim is to make grandpa go along
Reposted by mbrilick
Reposted by mbrilick
“it’s reasonable to ask questions about trans girls in sports” was always intended to mainstream transphobia.
It’s absurd that people fell for it. Democrats are constantly letting oppressors set the terms of debate instead of just saying “no, fuck you.”
It’s absurd that people fell for it. Democrats are constantly letting oppressors set the terms of debate instead of just saying “no, fuck you.”
December 18, 2025 at 2:12 PM
“it’s reasonable to ask questions about trans girls in sports” was always intended to mainstream transphobia.
It’s absurd that people fell for it. Democrats are constantly letting oppressors set the terms of debate instead of just saying “no, fuck you.”
It’s absurd that people fell for it. Democrats are constantly letting oppressors set the terms of debate instead of just saying “no, fuck you.”
Reposted by mbrilick
I will NEVER vote for a politician who votes for anti-trans legislation. Never. I don't care who it is, it's a dead issue. Move on. If my vote is so important to the future of democracy they should have thought of that before they voted to exterminate my child.
December 16, 2025 at 5:55 PM
I will NEVER vote for a politician who votes for anti-trans legislation. Never. I don't care who it is, it's a dead issue. Move on. If my vote is so important to the future of democracy they should have thought of that before they voted to exterminate my child.
Reposted by mbrilick
I had to watch Alabama's ban on gender affirming care for minors go into effect. It impacted multiple people in my life. It is cruel beyond words.
Pick up the phone. Call all of your reps. Don't tell me it won't matter--I call Tommy Tuberville. EVERY FUCKIN' TIME. I won't gift them silence on this.
Pick up the phone. Call all of your reps. Don't tell me it won't matter--I call Tommy Tuberville. EVERY FUCKIN' TIME. I won't gift them silence on this.
This is possibly the most significant attack on trans rights in this country yet, and I can count the number of posts on my timeline about this on my hands.
If you're trying to dismiss this thinking "It'll die in the senate," DON'T! Sound the alarms now!
If you're trying to dismiss this thinking "It'll die in the senate," DON'T! Sound the alarms now!
Bluesky tonight is neatly divided between trans people and family members appropriately angry and freaking out and everyone else who has barely noticed.
December 18, 2025 at 4:52 AM
I had to watch Alabama's ban on gender affirming care for minors go into effect. It impacted multiple people in my life. It is cruel beyond words.
Pick up the phone. Call all of your reps. Don't tell me it won't matter--I call Tommy Tuberville. EVERY FUCKIN' TIME. I won't gift them silence on this.
Pick up the phone. Call all of your reps. Don't tell me it won't matter--I call Tommy Tuberville. EVERY FUCKIN' TIME. I won't gift them silence on this.
Reposted by mbrilick
Whether it’s trans rights, or genocide funding, or all sorts of corrupt corporate laws, there’s only so many times you can fuck over your voters before you make yourselves our enemy. It’s madness to think you deserve unconditional support just for sometimes being a bit better than actual Nazis.
December 16, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Whether it’s trans rights, or genocide funding, or all sorts of corrupt corporate laws, there’s only so many times you can fuck over your voters before you make yourselves our enemy. It’s madness to think you deserve unconditional support just for sometimes being a bit better than actual Nazis.
Reposted by mbrilick
The truly wild thing is this isn’t even true, a shit-ton of their oil reserves on paper are heavy tar sands and every US oil company will take one look at that at $80/bbl and walk away because it isn’t close to economically viable.
Rep. Salazar on Venezuela: "We're about to go in ... we need to go in ... Venezuela for the American oil companies will be a field day"
November 24, 2025 at 9:26 PM
The truly wild thing is this isn’t even true, a shit-ton of their oil reserves on paper are heavy tar sands and every US oil company will take one look at that at $80/bbl and walk away because it isn’t close to economically viable.
Reposted by mbrilick
I still can't believe they're trying to make a war happen out of thin air. Not just their abrogation of Congress's role in formally declaring a war -- that's been a slippery slope for decades -- but their total unwillingness even to go through the motions of drumming up public support.
December 17, 2025 at 9:23 PM
I still can't believe they're trying to make a war happen out of thin air. Not just their abrogation of Congress's role in formally declaring a war -- that's been a slippery slope for decades -- but their total unwillingness even to go through the motions of drumming up public support.
Reposted by mbrilick
What the Democrats can learn from the UK Labour Party's complete implosion after moving right on immigration
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/the-cost-o...
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/the-cost-o...
December 17, 2025 at 1:01 PM
What the Democrats can learn from the UK Labour Party's complete implosion after moving right on immigration
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/the-cost-o...
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/the-cost-o...
Reposted by mbrilick
I don't hate robots I hate corporate control
when the public garbage collection truck pulled up and the operator used the robo-arm to pick up and shake the trashcan into the compactor? I let out a nearly involuntary, "Heh! yeah 👍"
when the public garbage collection truck pulled up and the operator used the robo-arm to pick up and shake the trashcan into the compactor? I let out a nearly involuntary, "Heh! yeah 👍"
December 16, 2025 at 5:52 PM
I don't hate robots I hate corporate control
when the public garbage collection truck pulled up and the operator used the robo-arm to pick up and shake the trashcan into the compactor? I let out a nearly involuntary, "Heh! yeah 👍"
when the public garbage collection truck pulled up and the operator used the robo-arm to pick up and shake the trashcan into the compactor? I let out a nearly involuntary, "Heh! yeah 👍"
Reposted by mbrilick
I was interested and intrigued to learn that we have surrounded them with our fleet, in spite of Venezuela having land borders with three other countries.
Also fascinated to learn that they're in the "eastern Pacific" drug trade without a Pacific shore.
Also fascinated to learn that they're in the "eastern Pacific" drug trade without a Pacific shore.
December 17, 2025 at 1:54 AM
I was interested and intrigued to learn that we have surrounded them with our fleet, in spite of Venezuela having land borders with three other countries.
Also fascinated to learn that they're in the "eastern Pacific" drug trade without a Pacific shore.
Also fascinated to learn that they're in the "eastern Pacific" drug trade without a Pacific shore.
Reposted by mbrilick
Virginia Heffernan wrote this shortly after the 2016 election and it still holds true
December 16, 2025 at 4:21 AM
Virginia Heffernan wrote this shortly after the 2016 election and it still holds true
Reposted by mbrilick
Me, looking at this card:
Wife, sees card from across the room:
'She lob on my knob til I weaver'
I love her.
Wife, sees card from across the room:
'She lob on my knob til I weaver'
I love her.
December 16, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Me, looking at this card:
Wife, sees card from across the room:
'She lob on my knob til I weaver'
I love her.
Wife, sees card from across the room:
'She lob on my knob til I weaver'
I love her.
Reposted by mbrilick
It would be really cool if we had a congress
December 17, 2025 at 12:31 AM
It would be really cool if we had a congress