@russzumwalt.bsky.social
Reposted
Let’s talk about abolishing ICE.
Very few people who say “abolish ICE” mean “abandon all immigration enforcement.” Rather, they mean “the structure of immigration enforcement is irretrievably broken and needs to be reorganized, just like we did 23 years ago when we created ICE.”
/1
Very few people who say “abolish ICE” mean “abandon all immigration enforcement.” Rather, they mean “the structure of immigration enforcement is irretrievably broken and needs to be reorganized, just like we did 23 years ago when we created ICE.”
/1
January 14, 2026 at 6:27 PM
Let’s talk about abolishing ICE.
Very few people who say “abolish ICE” mean “abandon all immigration enforcement.” Rather, they mean “the structure of immigration enforcement is irretrievably broken and needs to be reorganized, just like we did 23 years ago when we created ICE.”
/1
Very few people who say “abolish ICE” mean “abandon all immigration enforcement.” Rather, they mean “the structure of immigration enforcement is irretrievably broken and needs to be reorganized, just like we did 23 years ago when we created ICE.”
/1
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I was listening to @thebulwark.com's Next Level podcast today and they were thinking through the chance that Trump actually tries to seize Greenland and there was a @jvl.bsky.social sort of 'I kinda hope he does it to drop the mask entirely' and I just cannot scream loudly enough: No, You Do Not. 1/
January 7, 2026 at 4:15 AM
I was listening to @thebulwark.com's Next Level podcast today and they were thinking through the chance that Trump actually tries to seize Greenland and there was a @jvl.bsky.social sort of 'I kinda hope he does it to drop the mask entirely' and I just cannot scream loudly enough: No, You Do Not. 1/
Reposted
Before this year, the US govt hadn't taken a direct stake in a healthy commercial firm since at least the 1950s. Now, it's taken 14, with more coming.
My new Capitolism @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social laments 2025's worst policy development: "The Year America Went (Kinda) Socialist" t.co/GYs7bvDhO5
My new Capitolism @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social laments 2025's worst policy development: "The Year America Went (Kinda) Socialist" t.co/GYs7bvDhO5
December 17, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Before this year, the US govt hadn't taken a direct stake in a healthy commercial firm since at least the 1950s. Now, it's taken 14, with more coming.
My new Capitolism @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social laments 2025's worst policy development: "The Year America Went (Kinda) Socialist" t.co/GYs7bvDhO5
My new Capitolism @thedispatchmedia.bsky.social laments 2025's worst policy development: "The Year America Went (Kinda) Socialist" t.co/GYs7bvDhO5
Reposted
It’s insane to treat the filibuster as the most sacrosanct.
Article 1 power of the purse, oversight, and war? Nah.
Emoluments clauses? Bribery prohibition? Meh.
Criminal law? 14A? Doesn’t count.
But maybe the Senate changes a rule it has multiple times before? Gasp! Not that. Anything but that.
Article 1 power of the purse, oversight, and war? Nah.
Emoluments clauses? Bribery prohibition? Meh.
Criminal law? 14A? Doesn’t count.
But maybe the Senate changes a rule it has multiple times before? Gasp! Not that. Anything but that.
November 11, 2025 at 1:09 PM
It’s insane to treat the filibuster as the most sacrosanct.
Article 1 power of the purse, oversight, and war? Nah.
Emoluments clauses? Bribery prohibition? Meh.
Criminal law? 14A? Doesn’t count.
But maybe the Senate changes a rule it has multiple times before? Gasp! Not that. Anything but that.
Article 1 power of the purse, oversight, and war? Nah.
Emoluments clauses? Bribery prohibition? Meh.
Criminal law? 14A? Doesn’t count.
But maybe the Senate changes a rule it has multiple times before? Gasp! Not that. Anything but that.
Reposted
Trump’s voters have become like the members of the administration, delighting in the crassness and obscenity that pours out of the president and his circle whenever they are challenged. But policies suffer and the public is poorly served.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
A Confederacy of Toddlers
The Trump administration is a regime of troubled children.
www.theatlantic.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Trump’s voters have become like the members of the administration, delighting in the crassness and obscenity that pours out of the president and his circle whenever they are challenged. But policies suffer and the public is poorly served.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Reposted
I would like to see the 'liberal center' as it were be a bit more aware that there is a distinction between 'doing debate' and defending the concept of debating.
Liberalism isn't a call to intellectual neutrality, but an active commitment to specific principles of liberty, pluralism and rights.
Liberalism isn't a call to intellectual neutrality, but an active commitment to specific principles of liberty, pluralism and rights.
September 17, 2025 at 4:59 PM
I would like to see the 'liberal center' as it were be a bit more aware that there is a distinction between 'doing debate' and defending the concept of debating.
Liberalism isn't a call to intellectual neutrality, but an active commitment to specific principles of liberty, pluralism and rights.
Liberalism isn't a call to intellectual neutrality, but an active commitment to specific principles of liberty, pluralism and rights.
Reposted
The right sets the terms of our political discourse in so many ways, one of which is the idea that there isn't enough "debate" and "free speech" on campus.
We need to push back on this. The truth is (speaking for myself as a history prof), I don't really emphasize debate much in my classes/
We need to push back on this. The truth is (speaking for myself as a history prof), I don't really emphasize debate much in my classes/
September 13, 2025 at 2:38 PM
The right sets the terms of our political discourse in so many ways, one of which is the idea that there isn't enough "debate" and "free speech" on campus.
We need to push back on this. The truth is (speaking for myself as a history prof), I don't really emphasize debate much in my classes/
We need to push back on this. The truth is (speaking for myself as a history prof), I don't really emphasize debate much in my classes/
Reposted
wrote on charlie kirk for the newsletter this weekend
Opinion | Charlie Kirk Didn’t Shy Away From Who He Was. We Shouldn’t Either.
www.nytimes.com
September 13, 2025 at 3:35 PM
wrote on charlie kirk for the newsletter this weekend
Reposted
It just highlights so clearly the contrast between a generation that had the confidence that came from having walked through the greatest passages of arms in human history and came out the other end thinking, "maybe 'defense' is a better word" and these insecure manchildren afraid of seeming 'woke.'
September 6, 2025 at 2:10 AM
It just highlights so clearly the contrast between a generation that had the confidence that came from having walked through the greatest passages of arms in human history and came out the other end thinking, "maybe 'defense' is a better word" and these insecure manchildren afraid of seeming 'woke.'
Reposted
Once more for those in back: They were never going to be able to implement a mass deportation program without prioritizing people like this. Criminals and gang members are too hard to find and apprehend. Regular folks who show up to work, church, and their scheduled immigration appointments are not.
No matter what @MarshaBlackburn keeps saying, it’s not criminals they’re targeting.
www.cnn.com/2025/08/30/u...
www.cnn.com/2025/08/30/u...
August 31, 2025 at 10:51 PM
Once more for those in back: They were never going to be able to implement a mass deportation program without prioritizing people like this. Criminals and gang members are too hard to find and apprehend. Regular folks who show up to work, church, and their scheduled immigration appointments are not.
Reposted
There is the actual Democratic Party, which for better or worse is a mostly ordinary liberal political party and then there is the “Democratic Party,” a synecdoche for everything that annoys you online.
July 30, 2025 at 8:38 PM
There is the actual Democratic Party, which for better or worse is a mostly ordinary liberal political party and then there is the “Democratic Party,” a synecdoche for everything that annoys you online.
Reposted
I keep referring people back to this because it keeps coming up.
People ask me how long things this regime does will be allowed or tolerated and I keep asking “by whom”? Dad is not getting home later. The most charitable view of SCOTUS is that they have decided to be hands-off….
/1
People ask me how long things this regime does will be allowed or tolerated and I keep asking “by whom”? Dad is not getting home later. The most charitable view of SCOTUS is that they have decided to be hands-off….
/1
I think Americans, blessed with relatively stable government for a long time, assume there is someone, some adult, who will step in and make things right before the President does anything REALLY bad.
There’s not.
There’s not.
July 15, 2025 at 6:02 PM
I keep referring people back to this because it keeps coming up.
People ask me how long things this regime does will be allowed or tolerated and I keep asking “by whom”? Dad is not getting home later. The most charitable view of SCOTUS is that they have decided to be hands-off….
/1
People ask me how long things this regime does will be allowed or tolerated and I keep asking “by whom”? Dad is not getting home later. The most charitable view of SCOTUS is that they have decided to be hands-off….
/1
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inspired by @billdifilippo.bsky.social's video, I needed to add one with some Chris Berman commentary
June 28, 2025 at 3:01 PM
inspired by @billdifilippo.bsky.social's video, I needed to add one with some Chris Berman commentary
Reposted
/5….because the things we thought of as stable guardrails relied on the people running them adhering to a shared set of values. No values, no guardrails.
June 17, 2025 at 6:55 PM
/5….because the things we thought of as stable guardrails relied on the people running them adhering to a shared set of values. No values, no guardrails.
Reposted
what people seem to believe is that there is a large number of criminal, layabout immigrants who can be easily found and deported. they support doing so snd are dismayed by the deportation of otherwise law abiding people. the problem is that the criminal group is imaginary!
Wow. New CBS poll finds majority (55%) supports the *general goal* of deportations, but a bigger majority (56%) dislikes how Trump is carrying them out. And 63% want due process.
Again, we need a better discourse around public opinion on immigration, as I've argued:
newrepublic.com/article/1961...
Again, we need a better discourse around public opinion on immigration, as I've argued:
newrepublic.com/article/1961...
June 9, 2025 at 2:11 PM
what people seem to believe is that there is a large number of criminal, layabout immigrants who can be easily found and deported. they support doing so snd are dismayed by the deportation of otherwise law abiding people. the problem is that the criminal group is imaginary!
Reposted
Slightly more seriously. It's crazy how the entire supposed constitutional theory of Trump 2.0 is that all power is vested in this single individual, down to every last tiny detail and whenever you ask him he's like "I have no idea; ask the lawyers"
May 7, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Slightly more seriously. It's crazy how the entire supposed constitutional theory of Trump 2.0 is that all power is vested in this single individual, down to every last tiny detail and whenever you ask him he's like "I have no idea; ask the lawyers"
Reposted
The Christian right is dead, but the religious right is stronger than it’s ever been. The religious right has divorced itself from historical Christian theology, but still holds its partisan beliefs with religious intensity. The religious fervor is there. Christian virtues are not.
Opinion | The Christian Right Is Dead. The Religious Right Killed It.
It’s all more Machiavellian than I ever wanted to believe.
www.nytimes.com
May 1, 2025 at 3:44 PM
The Christian right is dead, but the religious right is stronger than it’s ever been. The religious right has divorced itself from historical Christian theology, but still holds its partisan beliefs with religious intensity. The religious fervor is there. Christian virtues are not.
Reposted
It’s great that every good day on Wall Street is based on a hunch that Donald Trump might be talked out of something economically moronic.
April 24, 2025 at 7:37 PM
It’s great that every good day on Wall Street is based on a hunch that Donald Trump might be talked out of something economically moronic.
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If there was any doubt DOGE is a scam motivated purely by malice and cruelty, this report from WSJ should remove it. nymag.com/intelligence...
DOGE’s Methods May Be Chaotic, But They’re Also Ineffective
A new report shows that DOGE’s assault on federal employees and contracts isn’t reducing federal spending at all.
nymag.com
April 11, 2025 at 7:53 PM
If there was any doubt DOGE is a scam motivated purely by malice and cruelty, this report from WSJ should remove it. nymag.com/intelligence...
Reposted
As always, not a lawyer, but one thing that leaps out at me about how things are going down in the courts right now is that the US court system is not designed to be responsive to a crisis like this one. A crisis like this one is not what it's FOR.
March 19, 2025 at 8:49 PM
As always, not a lawyer, but one thing that leaps out at me about how things are going down in the courts right now is that the US court system is not designed to be responsive to a crisis like this one. A crisis like this one is not what it's FOR.
Reposted
Many Republicans seem to think that the Trump war on "DEI" is really only aimed at illegal race-based preference. Nope. Nope. Nope. Trump's also aiming at entirely legal and virtuous attempts to honor American civil rights heroes and to educate Americans about the Black experience in the U.S.
The Department of Defense deemed a story about baseball hero and civil rights leader Jackie Robinson's time in the Army as "DEI" and deleted it.
March 19, 2025 at 6:13 AM
Many Republicans seem to think that the Trump war on "DEI" is really only aimed at illegal race-based preference. Nope. Nope. Nope. Trump's also aiming at entirely legal and virtuous attempts to honor American civil rights heroes and to educate Americans about the Black experience in the U.S.
Reposted
Democrats Have to Stop Making Political Decisions with an Eye Towards 2026
www.emptywheel.net/2025/03/14/d...
www.emptywheel.net/2025/03/14/d...
Democrats Have to Stop Making Political Decisions with an Eye Towards 2026 - emptywheel
Democracy will be preserved or lost in the next three months. And democracy will be won or lost via a nonpartisan political fight over whether enough Americans want to preserve their way of life to fi...
www.emptywheel.net
March 14, 2025 at 10:50 AM
Democrats Have to Stop Making Political Decisions with an Eye Towards 2026
www.emptywheel.net/2025/03/14/d...
www.emptywheel.net/2025/03/14/d...
Reposted
good to watch. but there's one part in here that most will probably overlook. stability, the constitution and the rule of law are magnets for capital. an elemental observation that's at the root of basically every study of economics and capitalism.
A top economics reporter goes off script on national TV: “I am going to say this at risk of my job, but what President Trump is doing is insane.”
March 12, 2025 at 3:39 AM
good to watch. but there's one part in here that most will probably overlook. stability, the constitution and the rule of law are magnets for capital. an elemental observation that's at the root of basically every study of economics and capitalism.
Reposted
you’re fired. wait you’re rehired. email us a list of things you’ve done today wait forget it you’re fired again. come back your job was important. you’re fired. or hired. come in to the office. wait the office has no computers go home. we are the department of government efficiency.
March 5, 2025 at 10:34 PM
you’re fired. wait you’re rehired. email us a list of things you’ve done today wait forget it you’re fired again. come back your job was important. you’re fired. or hired. come in to the office. wait the office has no computers go home. we are the department of government efficiency.
Reposted
“Governor Trudeau” is part of the Trump administration’s ethos of pathological insecurity. A weak person is constantly compelled to insult and belittle others, even allies, to show “strength.” An actually strong person isn’t. Bullies are weak, as are their sycophants.
March 4, 2025 at 5:47 PM
“Governor Trudeau” is part of the Trump administration’s ethos of pathological insecurity. A weak person is constantly compelled to insult and belittle others, even allies, to show “strength.” An actually strong person isn’t. Bullies are weak, as are their sycophants.