That's how I feel about most of what's coming out of Congress, and yeah, a LOT of pundits.

The courts have had a much bigger impact, though, even with SCOTUS going full-on fascist. They can't fix the whole problem, but they've saved a lot of people from worse, and that feels tangible to me.

Well, that's something we agree on. It'll take years to even *understand* how much they've already destroyed, and it's still going to get worse before it gets better. A lot worse.

Well, the times sure did change.

You seem to think there's some linear, measurable progress scale, but complex systems don't work that way. They're not linear, and people are rarely measurable. It can look like nothing at all is happening... right up until it all changes overnight.

For those who don’t remember, this story from 2019 became a big scandal for the the first Trump admin. It came the summer after family separation and months after multiple kids died in Border Patrol custody.

The Border Patrol did a lot of damage control, including forcing out some officers.

They haven't had an effect *on you*.

They haven't (yet?) accomplished the big goal of removing the fascists from power, but it has helped a few people, created friction, slowed them down, shifted public opinion, etc. All of which is valuable and gets us a little closer.

So a contempt proceeding completely ceases to exist now unless it rights every wrong and accomplishes every ideal outcome, but I'm the one living in a fantasy.

lol

In the therapy world, we call this "all or nothing thinking," where you get locked into one absolute or the other without considering any of the space in between. It's one of the classic CBT cognitive distortions.

A contempt case will not remove Trump from power, but truth is still valuable.

That's the goal.

I'm in a masters program. New ideas is probably expecting too much, but we're not even expected to agree or disagree. No critical examination. No synthesis.

Grading is easy. Expectations are low. Anyone with time and money can get their paper without thinking too hard.

Yes! I'd add critical thinking, synthesis of ideas, and anticipating counterarguments.

Rigorous humanities programs do exist. I wish I was in one.

Instead, I get tons of reading but no requirement to articulate anything but basic, uncritical regurgitation of someone else's opinion. Talking to my peers, my experience seems common.

They're just filtering the racism through black box tech to avoid accountability.

Time to write a book?

I wonder if the antifa frog just didn't play as scary as they wanted and now they're confused.

This has been my brain's go-to today.

www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/im-...