Paul Ketzle
@pketzle.bsky.social
Author, Teacher, Rabblerouser
(Views expressed are just my own, but help yourself to the starters.)
(Views expressed are just my own, but help yourself to the starters.)
And instead it has gotten so much louder.
(The Administration's craven toadies are pathetically incompetent.)
(The Administration's craven toadies are pathetically incompetent.)
“We are trading 50 years of ‘gold standard’ reputation for a single week of political quiet.” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/21/b...
‘60 Minutes’ Pulled a Segment. A Correspondent Calls It ‘Political.’
www.nytimes.com
December 22, 2025 at 9:47 PM
And instead it has gotten so much louder.
(The Administration's craven toadies are pathetically incompetent.)
(The Administration's craven toadies are pathetically incompetent.)
Someone once tried to prove to me the *insufferable* arrogance and vanity of Obama by counting the first person pronouns he used in a speech.
- @ryanbort.bsky.social @andrewperez.bsky.social and I reported in June that Trump had been asking confidants about putting a statue of himself in the Kennedy Center or naming *parts* of it after himself www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
They’re going even further apparently. Cartoonishly culty
They’re going even further apparently. Cartoonishly culty
December 18, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Someone once tried to prove to me the *insufferable* arrogance and vanity of Obama by counting the first person pronouns he used in a speech.
So, when are we gonna give the U.S. assets back to Britain?
(The Catholic Church would also like a word with the English Crown.)
(The Catholic Church would also like a word with the English Crown.)
So wait. We’re declaring a war of conquest to take oil company assets nationalized half a century ago?
-laughs nervously-
What the fuck?
What the fuck?
December 18, 2025 at 1:34 AM
So, when are we gonna give the U.S. assets back to Britain?
(The Catholic Church would also like a word with the English Crown.)
(The Catholic Church would also like a word with the English Crown.)
I really think this is the thing that has to be the central focus of attack on Trumpism and MAGA. Authoritarianism sells itself as "more efficient" in comparison to due process and the rule of law, and it is simply much, much worse. Once there's no "reason" to do it, it begins to lose support.
Once you take away the false claim that authoritarians offer “brutal efficiency” you are just left with the brutal part. Authoritarianism might seem like a hack to get things done, but is a system of govt that ultimately fails for the reason Trump is failing.
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/democrats-...
donmoynihan.substack.com/p/democrats-...
December 17, 2025 at 5:21 PM
I really think this is the thing that has to be the central focus of attack on Trumpism and MAGA. Authoritarianism sells itself as "more efficient" in comparison to due process and the rule of law, and it is simply much, much worse. Once there's no "reason" to do it, it begins to lose support.
Reposted by Paul Ketzle
As I said back then, torture doesn't bring you the intelligence you need; it brings you the intelligence you want. Trump/Miller wanted people to confess to crimes and Tren de Aragua membership, so they employed torture.
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Torture Techniques from CIA Black Sites Were Used at Alligator Alcatraz
Amnesty International, interviewing migrant detainees, identifies use of the confinement box. There can be no denying it is a torture prison
www.forever-wars.com
December 8, 2025 at 10:47 PM
As I said back then, torture doesn't bring you the intelligence you need; it brings you the intelligence you want. Trump/Miller wanted people to confess to crimes and Tren de Aragua membership, so they employed torture.
I was told that the attempt on his life would change him. And perhaps It has, except...
The president who watched Jan. 6 violence on TV and responded to Kevin McCarthy's desperate call from inside the Capitol with "well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you" doesn't think death threats against anyone even a little in his way is a bad thing?
Huh.
Huh.
Marjorie Taylor Greene claims she shared with Trump death threat she received that he incited, and his response was "extremely unkind"
December 8, 2025 at 2:01 AM
I was told that the attempt on his life would change him. And perhaps It has, except...
But what's funny, of course, is that if she is illegally appointed and remains in her position, nothing her office does will have any legal validity and will be thrown out. So...stay, I guess?
Just legal Calvinball. Obviously lawless.
December 6, 2025 at 3:43 PM
But what's funny, of course, is that if she is illegally appointed and remains in her position, nothing her office does will have any legal validity and will be thrown out. So...stay, I guess?
Reposted by Paul Ketzle
Starting //// going
December 1, 2025 at 2:58 AM
Starting //// going
Well, you know the old adage: the most effective way to forestall authoritarianism is to comply in advance.
as in the US, it isn't really a fight, is it
This is the most alarming story I’ve read today. Giving up the fight before it’s started
November 30, 2025 at 2:35 PM
Well, you know the old adage: the most effective way to forestall authoritarianism is to comply in advance.
My #1 pet peeve in "journalism." This is about access, not critical information. They print the lies so they will have access going forward. It's the corrosive rot of stenography masquerading as reporting.
Why grant anonymity to someone who is lying to you with the company line? This adds nothing but misinformation to the story and the person quoted isn't going to get in trouble for saying it.
November 23, 2025 at 12:06 AM
My #1 pet peeve in "journalism." This is about access, not critical information. They print the lies so they will have access going forward. It's the corrosive rot of stenography masquerading as reporting.
Hey, now, hold on a sec. Someone might be armed with a sandwich.
How is walking around Home Depot brave or “officers risking their lives to enforce our nation’s laws”
The rhetoric justifying this is laughable
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/u...
The rhetoric justifying this is laughable
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/15/u...
U.S. Border Patrol Launches Operation in Charlotte
www.nytimes.com
November 16, 2025 at 4:49 AM
Hey, now, hold on a sec. Someone might be armed with a sandwich.
I'll bet they're up to the challenge!
Just going to be an incredible decision if SCOTUS says they needed to make an emergency intervention because of the risk that poor people might get food they are legally entitled to
November 8, 2025 at 12:20 AM
I'll bet they're up to the challenge!
Reposted by Paul Ketzle
and the red onion's glare
the subs bursting in air
gave proof through the night
that the mustard's still there
the subs bursting in air
gave proof through the night
that the mustard's still there
November 4, 2025 at 4:20 PM
and the red onion's glare
the subs bursting in air
gave proof through the night
that the mustard's still there
the subs bursting in air
gave proof through the night
that the mustard's still there
Everyone knows you gotta keep those heart-to-hearts on the DL.
The people on the right getting mad at Tucker Carlson for hosting Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes on his podcast don’t seem to have gotten mad at all at Donald Trump for hosting Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes at his home for dinner. Funny that.
November 2, 2025 at 3:06 AM
Everyone knows you gotta keep those heart-to-hearts on the DL.
Ate at one of these on a recent road trip and have never been happier to give a non-local franchise my $$.
Also, f@%# this Administration and its cruelty.
Also, f@%# this Administration and its cruelty.
It’s okay to be glad that restaurants are doing stuff like this AND absolutely furious about the utter failure of the United States government.
November 1, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Ate at one of these on a recent road trip and have never been happier to give a non-local franchise my $$.
Also, f@%# this Administration and its cruelty.
Also, f@%# this Administration and its cruelty.
It seems apparent to me that this is just prelude to hiring *other* women in the Fox mode--probably blonde and white, but most of all more committed to defending MAGA than reporting news.
Apparently the new trumpy CBS News is on board with the national firing of all women.
What the hell?
November 1, 2025 at 3:50 PM
It seems apparent to me that this is just prelude to hiring *other* women in the Fox mode--probably blonde and white, but most of all more committed to defending MAGA than reporting news.
It is all quite literally in their hands.
Mike Johnson on SNAP benefits ending Saturday: "The White House has all the pain dials turned back to just a 0 or a 1 as best they can, but when you're out or resources they go all the way up. And it's out of their hands, it's out of our hands."
October 28, 2025 at 3:20 PM
It is all quite literally in their hands.
Reposted by Paul Ketzle
When Trump hears what Ronald Reagan said about immigrants he’s going to have DOJ arrest him for mortgage fraud.
October 24, 2025 at 1:02 PM
When Trump hears what Ronald Reagan said about immigrants he’s going to have DOJ arrest him for mortgage fraud.
He's not wrong, but that says quite a bit more about the Bible than he intends.
Christian nationalist podcaster Joshua Haymes says Christians must be willing to defend the institution of slavery because the Bible makes it clear that "it is not inherently evil to own another human being." www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwat...
October 18, 2025 at 1:35 AM
He's not wrong, but that says quite a bit more about the Bible than he intends.
Is it just me or this utter and complete nonsense as an answer?
Nobody wants to work anymore
Amy Coney Barrett defends heavy use of the shadow docket: "If we wrote a long opinion, it might give the impression that we have finally resolved the issue, and in none of these cases have we finally resolved the issue."
October 13, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Is it just me or this utter and complete nonsense as an answer?
Reposted by Paul Ketzle
In this timeline, I feel like people assume saying anything they deem to be controversial is bravery. Stupidity is still stupidity. Bigotry is bigotry. Greed and selfishness are still greed and selfishness. They keep trying to rebrand these things as noble and brave.
October 13, 2025 at 12:23 AM
In this timeline, I feel like people assume saying anything they deem to be controversial is bravery. Stupidity is still stupidity. Bigotry is bigotry. Greed and selfishness are still greed and selfishness. They keep trying to rebrand these things as noble and brave.
Nay, a duty even. To democracy.
A law professor is probably writing an article right now explaining how Trump has the authority to fire the Nobel Committee.
October 10, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Nay, a duty even. To democracy.
In case the government was interested in indicting someone who actually did intentionally commit fraud...
Kristi Noem, while governor of South Dakota, supplemented her roughly $130,000 salary by secretly accepting $80,000 donated to a political nonprofit she was affiliated with, records show.
She never disclosed this income on federal ethics forms.
(Published June)
She never disclosed this income on federal ethics forms.
(Published June)
Kristi Noem Secretly Took a Cut of Political Donations
A dark money group paid $80,000 to Noem’s personal company when she was governor of South Dakota. She did not include this income on her federal disclosure forms, a likely violation of ethics requirem...
www.propublica.org
October 10, 2025 at 3:34 AM
In case the government was interested in indicting someone who actually did intentionally commit fraud...
Time to make him forever infamous, so I propose a new term:
"Rufo" -- to destroy everything good about a school or business and run it into the ground.
"Rufo" -- to destroy everything good about a school or business and run it into the ground.
Yes, New College is incredibly inefficient but it also dropped 60(!) spots on the US News & World Report rankings. Not easy!
Everytime Chris Rufo is introduced as an impt voice in higher ed, remember that the one time he had a hand in running an institution has been a disaster.
Competence matters.
Everytime Chris Rufo is introduced as an impt voice in higher ed, remember that the one time he had a hand in running an institution has been a disaster.
Competence matters.
You'll be shocked to learn New College of Florida is on the brink of implosion just a couple of years after DeSantis engineered an extreme right-wing takeover
Fun fact: NCF's new overlords spend $134K per student (!!...the average at other FL publics is $10K) www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...
Fun fact: NCF's new overlords spend $134K per student (!!...the average at other FL publics is $10K) www.insidehighered.com/news/governa...
October 2, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Time to make him forever infamous, so I propose a new term:
"Rufo" -- to destroy everything good about a school or business and run it into the ground.
"Rufo" -- to destroy everything good about a school or business and run it into the ground.
This is pure lunacy. It's Louisiana's own National Guard, you stooge.
Republicans jumping over each other to say "Invade me, Daddy" to Trump.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry: "Tonight, we're sending the Department of War a request to send the National Guard, asking them to deploy the National Guard here in Louisiana into our cities like New Orleans and Baton Rogue and others."
September 30, 2025 at 2:37 AM
This is pure lunacy. It's Louisiana's own National Guard, you stooge.