Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 59m

You can have a unitary executive without its powers necessarily being plenary, though not vice versa — which is yet another reason to oppose unitary executive theory

Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 1h

The biggest unknown in US politics is: what happens after DJT eventually exits? While all factions of MAGA are united in their desire to detonate the institutions of the old liberal order, their visions for a post-liberal society diverge radically. How will they unite absent Trump’s feral charisma?

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 2h

There are approximately 20 QUADRILLION ants on Earth. To put this into perspective:
• It is about 2.5 million ants for every living human.
• The total mass of all these ants is estimated to be about 12 megatons of dry carbon, exceeding the combined biomass of all wild birds and mammals on Earth.

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Reposted by Nils Gilman

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · Feb 5

just saying: it's possible that "I'm gonna dramatically constrict my state capacity while plotting dramatic imperial expansion, and expanding my set of internal enemies while alienating most of my foreign allies" is the beginning of a world-historical masterstroke. but also possible that it isn't

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 4h

Here is Miller making the claim about the President’s supposed plenary power in foreign affairs, back on March 17, 2025:

www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2025/0...

www.realclearpolitics.com

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 4h

This isn’t the first time Miller has used the term “plenary authority” with respect to the Presidency. He did so already in March, but that time he was referring to the president’s authority in foreign policy. What’s new here is now to say this absolute power also applies domestically.

Christopher Webb @cwebbonline.com · 8h

Stephen Miller said the quiet part out loud. Trump has “plenary authority,” then suddenly went silent. Their plan wasn’t to be public yet. Clearly, someone hit the panic button in his earpiece.

It gets weirder: CNN uploaded the interview with the “plenary authority” comment edited out.
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Meredith Whittaker @meredithmeredith.bsky.social · 2d

📣 Germany's close to reversing its opposition to mass surveillance & private message scanning, & backing the Chat Control bill. This could end private comms-& Signal-in the EU.

Time's short and they're counting on obscurity: please let German politicians know how horrifying their reversal would be.

Signal @signal.org · 4d

We are alarmed by reports that Germany is on the verge of a catastrophic about-face, reversing its longstanding and principled opposition to the EU’s Chat Control proposal which, if passed, could spell the end of the right to privacy in Europe. signal.org/blog/pdfs/ge...

signal.org

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 1d

Note that this has nothing to do with Charlie Kirk (or whatever pretext they are currently peddling).

Immediately after Trump retook office, I noted that bringing civil society to heel was MAGA’s explicitly stated plan: bsky.app/profile/nils...

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · Feb 1

A general assault on civil society is the explicit plan. If you want some examples of what that will look like, read this: www.cambridge.org/core/service...

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 1d

MAGA’s full-scale assault on civil society is about to begin, and here’s the vehicle: “the threat of the orders comes not necessarily in the form of imminent charges but in the lengthy, resource-draining investigations…” talkingpointsmemo.com/news/the-tru...

The Trump Admin’s Mostly Unnoticed Move to Crack Down on the Opposition

Last month, the White House issued two executive orders that direct federal...

talkingpointsmemo.com

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Reposted by Nils Gilman

Damian Carrington @dpcarrington.bsky.social · 1d

The Coming Ecological Cold War

"For [the US, Russia, Saudi Arabia], the IEA’s vision of a net-zero world, perhaps under Chinese-European leadership, represents political and economic warfare" writes @nilsgilman.bsky.social

foreignpolicy.com/2025/09/01/e...

The Coming Ecological Cold War

Decarbonization isn’t just about technology and markets—it’s a geopolitical revolution.

foreignpolicy.com

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Reposted by Nils Gilman

Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 1d

Contrary to Stephen Miller, the president is not "commander-in-chief" of law enforcement within the United States. The invocation of the title "commander-in-chief" to justify anything Trump wants to do anywhere is a sign of how far down the road the administration is to Caesarism.

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 2d

This French cabinet lasted less long and ended as stinkily as a Brie left out on a warm day

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 2d

It’s important to distinguish between tradition and traditionalISM. Tradition is good and necessary, even (and perhaps especially) for modern, individualistic societies. Traditionalism, by contrast, is a self-conscious, totalizing belief system — a dogmatic and fervent commitment to a sacred past.

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 3d

“Because they come from an in-between space, where borders are porous and identities uncertain, they can be pretty much anything they like.... There is a serious argument to be made that such people, from the margins of Europe, make the best Europeans.” www.nybooks.com/articles/202...

Romania’s Split Identity | Costică Brădăţan

Romania’s divided loyalties between East and West help explain how a nerdy Sorbonne-educated mathematician was elected president.

www.nybooks.com

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 3d

You may enjoy this: www.the-american-interest.com/2018/01/01/w...

Wanted: A Self-Draining Swamp - The American Interest

Perhaps the most insidious threat facing Western democracies has been the progressive decline of elite accountability and responsibility.

www.the-american-interest.com

Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 3d

Europe is a crucial contributor to innovation, implementation and diffusion of many of the most significant platform-scale open source software projects: Linux, Python, ARM, Blender, Raspberry Pi, KDE, Gnome, etc. Alas, it's less a stack and more like "a messy pile." www.noemamag.com/is-european-...

Is European AI A Lost Cause? Not Necessarily. | NOEMA

If Europe wants to build a new AI Stack it should stop listening to critics who claim to lead the way but only offer resistance.

www.noemamag.com

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 4d

They have an impressive capacity to continuously uncover new ways to combine creepy with cringe

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 4d

Trump’s theory appears to be that he can do whatever he wants with “his” tariff revenue, no Congressional approval necessary.

This is just laughably unconstitutional. Virtually all federal revenue prior to 1913 came from tariffs and Congress certainly controlled it. www.politico.com/news/2025/10...

Trump making plans to send billions in cash bailouts to farmers with taxpayer money

The president has also said he wants to use direct tariff revenue for the payments, but that could trigger a major fight in Congress.

www.politico.com

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 4d

Los Angeles’s imaginary is defined by endless tergiversation between utopian dreamscape & apocalyptic phantasmagoria.

This Eros/Thanatos dialectic animates Carey McWilliams, Joan Didion, Mike Davis, Kate Braverman & Octavia Butler, but is most memorably rendered in David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive.”

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 4d

I have a newfound respect for the Cato Institute. I mean, libertarianism is pernicious derp, but at least they’re consistent to their principles, not merely cynical worshipers of rightwing power in whatever form.

David Bier @davidjbier.bsky.social · 5d

Holy hell. DHS just openly stated that its agents use “reasonable suspicion” to make ARRESTS. This is blatantly unconstitutional. The Supreme Court is clear that you need probable cause to arrest someone, as opposed to stop them to ask them a question or two. This is huge b/c…

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Reposted by Nils Gilman

Reality Winner @reazlepuff.bsky.social · 4d

What the fuck do you mean I got a longer prison sentence than Diddy

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 4d

NEW YORK (AP) — Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs sentenced to 4 years and 2 months in prison in case involving sex workers, violence and ‘freak-offs’.

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 4d

In a nation of laws, political elites cannot do any lawless thing they want and face no consequences. Elite impunity is fundamentally at odds with the rule of law.

Reestablishing the rule of law will thus require that the current rulers be made to pay the steepest possible price for their crimes.

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 5d

Best documentary: Hearts and Minds

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 5d

I’ve watched both many times. I love them both.

The reason I give Full Metal Jacket the nod is because it is a direct commentary on the Vietnam War itself and the experience of the soldiers in it, whereas Apocalypse Now is a psychedelic, operatic masterpiece that uses the war as a backdrop.

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Nils Gilman @nilsgilman.bsky.social · 5d

Vietnam War movie Oscars:
- Best Picture: Full Metal Jacket
- Best Director: Stanley Kubrick
- Best Actor: Tom Cruise, Born on the Fourth of July
- Best Supporting Actor: Robert Duvall, Apocalypse Now
- Best Actress: Jane Fonda, Coming Home
- Best Supporting Actress: Meryl Streep, The Deer Hunter

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