Voltaire
@voltaire1694.bsky.social
Resolute editor & attorney. Based in Baltimore, best place to live on the East Coast.
"The only way to comprehend what mathematicians mean by Infinity is to contemplate the extent of human stupidity." —Voltaire
"The only way to comprehend what mathematicians mean by Infinity is to contemplate the extent of human stupidity." —Voltaire
Economist 1/9/26: "Over the past six months more than a dozen tankers, most of them under American sanctions, and some of them stateless, have switched their affiliation to Russia, presumably in order to deter a seizure, according to Windward, a company that analyses maritime data."
January 9, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Economist 1/9/26: "Over the past six months more than a dozen tankers, most of them under American sanctions, and some of them stateless, have switched their affiliation to Russia, presumably in order to deter a seizure, according to Windward, a company that analyses maritime data."
“One faculty member—philosophy professor Martin Peterson, who is supposed to teach Contemporary Moral Problems this spring—was asked by university leadership to remove several passages by Plato from his syllabus.” www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
Plato Censored as Texas A&M Carries Out Course Review
A&M officials have also instructed English faculty not to teach books in core classes that have major plotlines concerning gay, lesbian or transgender identities.
www.insidehighered.com
January 8, 2026 at 1:33 PM
“One faculty member—philosophy professor Martin Peterson, who is supposed to teach Contemporary Moral Problems this spring—was asked by university leadership to remove several passages by Plato from his syllabus.” www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
Clueless Elon Musk on X today: “That is their goal: a single-party state for all of America and the de facto destruction of democracy…”—he unwittingly describes what the Trump cabal is doing, but pretends to be talking about undocumenteds destroying the U.S.
January 7, 2026 at 2:34 PM
Clueless Elon Musk on X today: “That is their goal: a single-party state for all of America and the de facto destruction of democracy…”—he unwittingly describes what the Trump cabal is doing, but pretends to be talking about undocumenteds destroying the U.S.
Joyce Vance 1/6/26: "Read the full transcript of Trump’s speech to the crowd on January 6, 2021, here and make your own assessment. The full context is important, especially with the president installing a sanitized version on the White House website."
January 6, 2026 at 8:23 PM
Joyce Vance 1/6/26: "Read the full transcript of Trump’s speech to the crowd on January 6, 2021, here and make your own assessment. The full context is important, especially with the president installing a sanitized version on the White House website."
Robert Reich 1/6/26: “A direct line connects Trump’s attempted coup five years ago to his capture of Nicolas Maduro last weekend. Both were lawless. Both were premised on the hubris of omnipotence. That same line extends to Trump’s current threats against Cuba, Colombia, and Greenland.”
January 6, 2026 at 4:04 PM
Robert Reich 1/6/26: “A direct line connects Trump’s attempted coup five years ago to his capture of Nicolas Maduro last weekend. Both were lawless. Both were premised on the hubris of omnipotence. That same line extends to Trump’s current threats against Cuba, Colombia, and Greenland.”
On Oct. 31, 2020, Steve Bannon told a private audience that Trump would claim he’d won the 2020 election by calling it early & saying votes arriving later were illegitimate. After that, said Bannon, Trump would never have to go through another election. Source: HCRichardson 1/6/26
January 6, 2026 at 3:34 PM
On Oct. 31, 2020, Steve Bannon told a private audience that Trump would claim he’d won the 2020 election by calling it early & saying votes arriving later were illegitimate. After that, said Bannon, Trump would never have to go through another election. Source: HCRichardson 1/6/26
Rick Wilson 1/5/26: “…Merrick Garland…looked at an honest-to-God attack on American constitutional order [on Jan. 6, 2021] and decided to fight it like he was litigating a zoning dispute in Bethesda…He thought the world would reward him for being an institutionalist.”
January 6, 2026 at 3:21 PM
Rick Wilson 1/5/26: “…Merrick Garland…looked at an honest-to-God attack on American constitutional order [on Jan. 6, 2021] and decided to fight it like he was litigating a zoning dispute in Bethesda…He thought the world would reward him for being an institutionalist.”
…democratic constraints on executive military power work slowly, require sustained effort, and often fail when the public is indifferent or divided. Quick, dramatic actions by presidents often face little immediate consequence unless they produce sustained political costs.” (Source: Claude AI)
January 6, 2026 at 1:02 AM
…democratic constraints on executive military power work slowly, require sustained effort, and often fail when the public is indifferent or divided. Quick, dramatic actions by presidents often face little immediate consequence unless they produce sustained political costs.” (Source: Claude AI)
Trump’s style: The approach is to take unilateral action, then construct shifting legal justifications afterward, while betting that institutions won’t effectively push back.
January 6, 2026 at 12:55 AM
Trump’s style: The approach is to take unilateral action, then construct shifting legal justifications afterward, while betting that institutions won’t effectively push back.
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/04/i...
January 5, 2026 at 3:56 PM
Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/04/i...
REMINDER: Per Robert Reich 1/5–“The sole reason Donald Trump is not now behind bars is that Smith dropped the case after Trump was elected to a second term, because the Supreme Court’s ruling in Trump v. United States…prevented the prosecution of a sitting president.”
January 5, 2026 at 2:17 PM
REMINDER: Per Robert Reich 1/5–“The sole reason Donald Trump is not now behind bars is that Smith dropped the case after Trump was elected to a second term, because the Supreme Court’s ruling in Trump v. United States…prevented the prosecution of a sitting president.”
Via HCR 1/5: ‘Historian Kevin Kruse commented: “Yeah, people are fixating on a Cabinet Secretary being given a sovereign country to run because the president waged war without congressional approval and kidnapped the old leader. Weird that they’d get hung up on that.” ‘
January 5, 2026 at 2:07 PM
Via HCR 1/5: ‘Historian Kevin Kruse commented: “Yeah, people are fixating on a Cabinet Secretary being given a sovereign country to run because the president waged war without congressional approval and kidnapped the old leader. Weird that they’d get hung up on that.” ‘
Press Remembers Oldest Survivor of Tulsa Massacre—But Not Press's Role in Massacre - fair.org/home/press-r...
Press Remembers Oldest Survivor of Tulsa Massacre—But Not Press’s Role in Massacre
The white-owned press didn't just fuel the Tulsa Race Massacre, which killed 300 overwhelmingly Black people and destroyed a thriving community; it also helped cover it up.
fair.org
November 27, 2025 at 1:06 AM
Press Remembers Oldest Survivor of Tulsa Massacre—But Not Press's Role in Massacre - fair.org/home/press-r...
The Most Dangerous Corporation in America: ‘In Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, a “palantir” is a seeing stone that can be used to distort truth and present selective visions of reality….Palantir Technologies bears a striking similarity.’
open.substack.com/pub/robertre...
open.substack.com/pub/robertre...
The Most Dangerous Corporation in America
Friends,
open.substack.com
June 20, 2025 at 12:03 PM
The Most Dangerous Corporation in America: ‘In Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, a “palantir” is a seeing stone that can be used to distort truth and present selective visions of reality….Palantir Technologies bears a striking similarity.’
open.substack.com/pub/robertre...
open.substack.com/pub/robertre...
Reposted by Voltaire
"Trump doesn’t give a damn whether the troops are necessary....The show of military force is the point. It gives him the appearance of power." open.substack.com/pub/robertre...
The Coward Goes to War Against America
Trump wants Americans to turn violent. We will be steadfast.
open.substack.com
June 10, 2025 at 6:22 PM
"Trump doesn’t give a damn whether the troops are necessary....The show of military force is the point. It gives him the appearance of power." open.substack.com/pub/robertre...
Reposted by Voltaire
That would be awful. Don’t share this.
May 31, 2025 at 1:17 AM
That would be awful. Don’t share this.
So long, Elon: the cuts didn’t go to plan, but you completely shredded your reputation | Marina Hyde
May 31, 2025 at 3:20 PM
So long, Elon: the cuts didn’t go to plan, but you completely shredded your reputation | Marina Hyde
ROBERT REICH: What you need to share about the "one big beautiful" ugly horrible bill open.substack.com/pub/robertre...
What you need to share about the "one big beautiful" ugly horrible bill
(Resending so you can share over email without my inadvertent notes after the "share" button)
open.substack.com
May 22, 2025 at 10:51 PM
ROBERT REICH: What you need to share about the "one big beautiful" ugly horrible bill open.substack.com/pub/robertre...
"Why the hell are we wasting time and energy debating who knew what and when about Biden’s deteriorating condition anyway, when voters really need to hear about the deteriorating condition of democracy and the rule of law under Trump?" open.substack.com/pub/robertre...
Stop asking about a Biden “cover-up”
It’s an irrelevant, contemptible distraction from what’s threatening America
open.substack.com
May 20, 2025 at 10:15 PM
"Why the hell are we wasting time and energy debating who knew what and when about Biden’s deteriorating condition anyway, when voters really need to hear about the deteriorating condition of democracy and the rule of law under Trump?" open.substack.com/pub/robertre...
"...Republicans continue to insist Americans are overtaxed. In fact, the U.S. is far below the average of the 37 other nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development..." open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
May 18, 2025
Tonight, late on a Sunday night, the House Budget Committee passed what Republicans are calling their “Big, Beautiful Bill” to enact Trump’s agenda although it had failed on Friday when far-right Repu...
open.substack.com
May 19, 2025 at 11:52 PM
"...Republicans continue to insist Americans are overtaxed. In fact, the U.S. is far below the average of the 37 other nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development..." open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
Good background reference! www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Trump Engaged in Suspect Tax Schemes as He Reaped Riches From His Father (Published 2018)
The president has long sold himself as a self-made billionaire, but a Times investigation found that he received at least $413 million in today’s dollars from his father’s real estate empire, much of ...
www.nytimes.com
May 18, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Good background reference! www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
ROBERT REICH: "Some judges have warned that the Trump regime’s efforts to deny immigrants due process could easily expand to other groups, including American citizens." open.substack.com/pub/robertre...
The Process That’s Due
Four things you should know
open.substack.com
May 15, 2025 at 11:18 PM
ROBERT REICH: "Some judges have warned that the Trump regime’s efforts to deny immigrants due process could easily expand to other groups, including American citizens." open.substack.com/pub/robertre...
"Trump himself has given away much of the game by bringing Afrikaners...into the country while others fleeing persecution and war are being rejected. The racism is transparent." open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...
Does Trump Get To Decide Who Is An American?
The stakes are high, even though the Supreme Court won't be deciding, at least not yet, whether Trump's order to end birthright citizenship is constitutional.
open.substack.com
May 15, 2025 at 12:47 PM
"Trump himself has given away much of the game by bringing Afrikaners...into the country while others fleeing persecution and war are being rejected. The racism is transparent." open.substack.com/pub/joycevan...