Patrick Schmidt
@pdwschmidt.bsky.social
Political scientist @MacalesterCollege: American law, comparative and historical constitutionalism, architecture, and...just curious about everything. Moot Court coach. Rarely refuses an opportunity for a dad joke.
This from reddit:
January 18, 2026 at 7:22 PM
This from reddit:
This is a great thread. Here are some critters from the Minnesota Zoo (admittedly, suburban Apple Valley) and lovely Macalester College in St. Paul.
January 18, 2026 at 5:45 AM
This is a great thread. Here are some critters from the Minnesota Zoo (admittedly, suburban Apple Valley) and lovely Macalester College in St. Paul.
I had to look up the news, and wow, People wasn't going to go with any feigned "respect for the deceased" stuff.
January 13, 2026 at 4:46 PM
I had to look up the news, and wow, People wasn't going to go with any feigned "respect for the deceased" stuff.
A look at one thing that can happen when conservative governments build bullshit arches.
(Photos I took in Skopje during the "Colorful Revolution" of 2016.)
(Photos I took in Skopje during the "Colorful Revolution" of 2016.)
December 31, 2025 at 5:13 PM
A look at one thing that can happen when conservative governments build bullshit arches.
(Photos I took in Skopje during the "Colorful Revolution" of 2016.)
(Photos I took in Skopje during the "Colorful Revolution" of 2016.)
How I'm walking out of 2025.
December 30, 2025 at 4:32 AM
How I'm walking out of 2025.
You mean, Vanity Fair, that famously reliable news organization, may have been mistaken?
December 19, 2025 at 2:53 AM
You mean, Vanity Fair, that famously reliable news organization, may have been mistaken?
The tree is ready.
December 14, 2025 at 11:24 PM
The tree is ready.
One way to research this CNN article would be to interview the half dozen people I saw, earlier this month, drinking beers at the Quaker Steak 'n Lube in Cleveland-Hopkins Airport at 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning.
November 25, 2025 at 5:04 PM
One way to research this CNN article would be to interview the half dozen people I saw, earlier this month, drinking beers at the Quaker Steak 'n Lube in Cleveland-Hopkins Airport at 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning.
I'm so amused by the shit that Google AI produces that I haven't turned it off.
Here, a search for "all-girl high schools in St. Paul" turns up as the "main" result...a school that closed in 1971. :-)
Here, a search for "all-girl high schools in St. Paul" turns up as the "main" result...a school that closed in 1971. :-)
November 21, 2025 at 3:37 PM
I'm so amused by the shit that Google AI produces that I haven't turned it off.
Here, a search for "all-girl high schools in St. Paul" turns up as the "main" result...a school that closed in 1971. :-)
Here, a search for "all-girl high schools in St. Paul" turns up as the "main" result...a school that closed in 1971. :-)
I think they released a new movie in the Halloween franchise? Something about a clown who terrorizes fishermen. At least, I saw this movie poster:
October 26, 2025 at 4:16 AM
I think they released a new movie in the Halloween franchise? Something about a clown who terrorizes fishermen. At least, I saw this movie poster:
Here's an example today in which @ktoropin.bsky.social decides to start with Hegseth's bad-faith explanation and go on to frame the rest of the article in terms of Tren de Aragua and a drug crackdown. This is the media-as-gullible-tool kind of stuff. Wake up.
October 24, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Here's an example today in which @ktoropin.bsky.social decides to start with Hegseth's bad-faith explanation and go on to frame the rest of the article in terms of Tren de Aragua and a drug crackdown. This is the media-as-gullible-tool kind of stuff. Wake up.
The image that he's holding immediately reminds me of the 1789 Estates General. Any similarity to Versailles must be purely coincidental.
October 22, 2025 at 9:41 PM
The image that he's holding immediately reminds me of the 1789 Estates General. Any similarity to Versailles must be purely coincidental.
"Hey, it's your friend, Jair. If I'm in prison, you should be, too. We can hang out together."
October 3, 2025 at 5:30 PM
"Hey, it's your friend, Jair. If I'm in prison, you should be, too. We can hang out together."
Medbeds? I want a bacta tank, thank you very much.
September 28, 2025 at 4:12 AM
Medbeds? I want a bacta tank, thank you very much.
The bluntness here will draw some attention, but to be fair, Antonin Scalia told us this about Clarence Thomas twenty years ago already.
September 26, 2025 at 3:10 AM
The bluntness here will draw some attention, but to be fair, Antonin Scalia told us this about Clarence Thomas twenty years ago already.
Smdh at the historically illiterate things that get published, such as this WaPo headline. As if a state legislative leader hadn't been killed just months before! Not to mention the deep, continuing history of American political violence. See the thread below for a corrective.
September 12, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Smdh at the historically illiterate things that get published, such as this WaPo headline. As if a state legislative leader hadn't been killed just months before! Not to mention the deep, continuing history of American political violence. See the thread below for a corrective.
Get this: The Supreme Court Historical Society writing competition for teens (13-19) on the theme of "The Rule of Law" has a trio of judges, including the 5th Circuit's James Ho.
Wouldn't it be wonderful for him to get to read very thought-provoking entries? Poetry allowed (50 to 1000 words)!
Wouldn't it be wonderful for him to get to read very thought-provoking entries? Poetry allowed (50 to 1000 words)!
September 11, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Get this: The Supreme Court Historical Society writing competition for teens (13-19) on the theme of "The Rule of Law" has a trio of judges, including the 5th Circuit's James Ho.
Wouldn't it be wonderful for him to get to read very thought-provoking entries? Poetry allowed (50 to 1000 words)!
Wouldn't it be wonderful for him to get to read very thought-provoking entries? Poetry allowed (50 to 1000 words)!
The NYT writer of this story about the tragic murder of a child in Texas apparently had a sheltered childhood, and knew only to give credit to TikTok for popularizing a game that was popular in my neighborhood in the 1970s.
And, for the record, it's "Ding Dong Door Ditch".
And, for the record, it's "Ding Dong Door Ditch".
September 2, 2025 at 9:12 PM
The NYT writer of this story about the tragic murder of a child in Texas apparently had a sheltered childhood, and knew only to give credit to TikTok for popularizing a game that was popular in my neighborhood in the 1970s.
And, for the record, it's "Ding Dong Door Ditch".
And, for the record, it's "Ding Dong Door Ditch".
"I see, soldier, that you fought valiantly in the great Chicago campaign."
August 24, 2025 at 3:28 AM
"I see, soldier, that you fought valiantly in the great Chicago campaign."
If the Right can't stop Cracker Barrel's wokeness, who knows how bad it could get?! Perhaps they'll even lose Colonel Sanders from the chicken bucket.
August 22, 2025 at 1:04 AM
If the Right can't stop Cracker Barrel's wokeness, who knows how bad it could get?! Perhaps they'll even lose Colonel Sanders from the chicken bucket.
Yes, it's bad text. But we're beyond a little tinkering now. Texts without norms produce nothing.
August 21, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Yes, it's bad text. But we're beyond a little tinkering now. Texts without norms produce nothing.