Barry Freed
@barryfreed.bsky.social
Archivist/Librarian, erstwhile Arabist, cinephile, certified Voight-Kampff test administrator, Antipope of Antifa.
https://boxd.it/5QN63
Doha/NYC
https://boxd.it/5QN63
Doha/NYC
Pinned
Barry Freed
@barryfreed.bsky.social
· Nov 6
Death Note reboot where Light Yagami works his way down from the top of the Forbes 400 list.
Reposted by Barry Freed
trying to imagine what kind of democratic party messaging would have resonated with this person and my brain just BSODs
Incredible quote here from a Somali small business owner in Minneapolis who voted for Trump. minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/19/a...
January 20, 2026 at 9:10 PM
trying to imagine what kind of democratic party messaging would have resonated with this person and my brain just BSODs
Reposted by Barry Freed
The president encounters a binder clip for the first time, then talks about it for a while.
Remember when Joe Biden had a raspy voice and every major news organization created a 10-person Biden Is Old investigative team?
Remember when Joe Biden had a raspy voice and every major news organization created a 10-person Biden Is Old investigative team?
Trump: "Whoo. I'm glad my finger wasn't in that sucker. That could've dome some damage but you know what? I wouldn't have shown the pain. I would've gone back. Boy did you hear that? That was nasty. But I would not have shown the pain. I would've acted like nothing happens as my finger fell off."
January 20, 2026 at 8:05 PM
The president encounters a binder clip for the first time, then talks about it for a while.
Remember when Joe Biden had a raspy voice and every major news organization created a 10-person Biden Is Old investigative team?
Remember when Joe Biden had a raspy voice and every major news organization created a 10-person Biden Is Old investigative team?
Reposted by Barry Freed
ending 900 years of property rights to own the libs
Supreme Court seems likely to rule that Hawaii's "vampire rule" that restricts people bringing guns onto private property without permission infringes on the Second Amendment:
www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...
www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...
Supreme Court skeptical of Hawaii's 'vampire rule' for gun owners
Justices are weighing the state's requirement that people with firearms seek consent from owners before entering private property — much like Dracula.
www.nbcnews.com
January 20, 2026 at 6:16 PM
ending 900 years of property rights to own the libs
Reposted by Barry Freed
lol they seriously wrote an entire whole ass article on "the law clearly states the President can't do this.............but what if he does it anyway?"
I seem to remember this:
In 2023, Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) authored legislation requiring that any presidential decision to exit NATO must have either two-thirds Senate approval or be authorized through an act of Congress.
www.politico.com/news/2024/11...
In 2023, Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) authored legislation requiring that any presidential decision to exit NATO must have either two-thirds Senate approval or be authorized through an act of Congress.
www.politico.com/news/2024/11...
The law is ‘not airtight’: Trump may have a way out of NATO
The guardrail against the next president leaving the alliance is shakier than you think.
www.politico.com
January 20, 2026 at 8:41 PM
lol they seriously wrote an entire whole ass article on "the law clearly states the President can't do this.............but what if he does it anyway?"
Reposted by Barry Freed
The moment it was crystal clear we were in the worse case scenario, was exactly a year ago when Trump pardoned every single Jan 6 perpetrator, including the ones that beat the crap out of cops and were convicted of seditious conspiracy.
January 20, 2026 at 8:07 PM
The moment it was crystal clear we were in the worse case scenario, was exactly a year ago when Trump pardoned every single Jan 6 perpetrator, including the ones that beat the crap out of cops and were convicted of seditious conspiracy.
Reposted by Barry Freed
Carney speech is important for the specific people in that room because most of them are definitely still flirting with “we just have to knuckle this out until a normal president is in“ and he is trying to communicate that that is insufficient
January 20, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Carney speech is important for the specific people in that room because most of them are definitely still flirting with “we just have to knuckle this out until a normal president is in“ and he is trying to communicate that that is insufficient
Reposted by Barry Freed
i like how mamdani is doing red vienna shit while the rest of the world goes to hell
Mamdani on The View on new funding for universal childcare: "We actually have a mother in the audience -- Mallory -- who when the announcement was made, texted her husband to say, 'It might be time for a second kid.'"
Hosts: "Awwww"
Hosts: "Awwww"
January 20, 2026 at 4:37 PM
i like how mamdani is doing red vienna shit while the rest of the world goes to hell
Reposted by Barry Freed
Its very funny watching this drop right after a discourse started up on "Why do you not like it when Schumer talks about Affordability and do like it when Mamdani does"
Mamdani: "I am in support of abolishing ICE. What we see is an entity that has no interest in fulfilling its stated reason to exist. We're seeing a government agency that is supposed to be enforcing some kind of immigration law, but instead what it's doing is terrorizing people."
January 20, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Its very funny watching this drop right after a discourse started up on "Why do you not like it when Schumer talks about Affordability and do like it when Mamdani does"
Reposted by Barry Freed
Huge mistake by Mamdani to say clearly that a bad thing is bad. He should first triangulate the message and then remove every aspect that might offend Republicans. That's the savvy Dem consultant way.
Mamdani: "I am in support of abolishing ICE. What we see is an entity that has no interest in fulfilling its stated reason to exist. We're seeing a government agency that is supposed to be enforcing some kind of immigration law, but instead what it's doing is terrorizing people."
January 20, 2026 at 7:22 PM
Huge mistake by Mamdani to say clearly that a bad thing is bad. He should first triangulate the message and then remove every aspect that might offend Republicans. That's the savvy Dem consultant way.
Reposted by Barry Freed
The actions taken to try and ensure some level of "rules based international order" is still around in 2029 are not particularly distinguishable from deciding it's dead and counterbalancing against Trump right now.
I don't necessarily think the rules-based international order is dead but 2029 is a long time to wait to wake it up and anybody sane is considering their alternatives.
January 20, 2026 at 5:11 PM
The actions taken to try and ensure some level of "rules based international order" is still around in 2029 are not particularly distinguishable from deciding it's dead and counterbalancing against Trump right now.
Reposted by Barry Freed
Bizarre editorial choice by @nytimes.com to portray Trump's threats toward Europe as strong and fearsome rather than as a madman and unhinged tyrant spiraling out of control before our very eyes
January 20, 2026 at 6:27 PM
Bizarre editorial choice by @nytimes.com to portray Trump's threats toward Europe as strong and fearsome rather than as a madman and unhinged tyrant spiraling out of control before our very eyes
Reposted by Barry Freed
Once again, it was supposed to end immediately in 2017, when he started monetizing the presidency at his hotel around the corner from the White House. Long before Jan 6 or anything else, people who swore oaths had jobs to do, & they failed. The constitutional order is completely inert at this point.
The Founders (rightly) thought financial corruption was so concerning they banned it in the Constitution three separate times: the two emoluments clauses, and the only named impeachable offense besides treason.
Starting in 2017, America decided it just kinda didn't matter anymore, whatcha gonna do.
Starting in 2017, America decided it just kinda didn't matter anymore, whatcha gonna do.
UNREAL: Per NY Times amazing reporting today they found "Trump has used the office of the presidency to make at least $1.4 billion. We know this number to be an underestimate because some of his profits remain hidden from public view." We live in a 3rd world sh*thole! www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
January 20, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Once again, it was supposed to end immediately in 2017, when he started monetizing the presidency at his hotel around the corner from the White House. Long before Jan 6 or anything else, people who swore oaths had jobs to do, & they failed. The constitutional order is completely inert at this point.
Reposted by Barry Freed
i feel like the viral bus thread resonates because at every step of the way you're like "ok surely this will be resolved shortly, any second now," which seems like what all the passengers are also thinking. then the fact that the situation doesn't resolve and the bus just keeps going is an Allegory
January 20, 2026 at 5:02 PM
i feel like the viral bus thread resonates because at every step of the way you're like "ok surely this will be resolved shortly, any second now," which seems like what all the passengers are also thinking. then the fact that the situation doesn't resolve and the bus just keeps going is an Allegory
Reposted by Barry Freed
anyway, the most important task of the next dem president is to put all of these people in prison, forever, and commit to revenge so awful the republicans never even think of this again
then we can do the good stuff
then we can do the good stuff
January 20, 2026 at 7:11 PM
anyway, the most important task of the next dem president is to put all of these people in prison, forever, and commit to revenge so awful the republicans never even think of this again
then we can do the good stuff
then we can do the good stuff
Reposted by Barry Freed
trump getting his feelings hurt by european leaders is the culmination of this new type of guy that emerged in the last decade or so: guy who goes out of his way to be a huge asshole who then gets really offended when the people he's being an asshole to don't like him
January 20, 2026 at 7:54 PM
trump getting his feelings hurt by european leaders is the culmination of this new type of guy that emerged in the last decade or so: guy who goes out of his way to be a huge asshole who then gets really offended when the people he's being an asshole to don't like him
Reposted by Barry Freed
school being canceled because the president sent armed thugs to harass and imprison the populace for voting against him should be the biggest domestic scandal in american history
January 20, 2026 at 4:10 PM
school being canceled because the president sent armed thugs to harass and imprison the populace for voting against him should be the biggest domestic scandal in american history
Reposted by Barry Freed
It's so exhausting to to be constantly told by American leaders that the defining policy of the 80 odd years during which the US became the most wealthy and powerful country in the history of the world was a grossly unfair failure for them.
US trade secretary Howard Lutnick really not mincing his words here at Davos: "We are here to make a v clear point: globalisation has failed the West and the USA. It's a failed policy. It's what the WEF has stood for, which is, export, offshore, find the cheapest labour in the world."
January 20, 2026 at 3:47 PM
It's so exhausting to to be constantly told by American leaders that the defining policy of the 80 odd years during which the US became the most wealthy and powerful country in the history of the world was a grossly unfair failure for them.
Reposted by Barry Freed
“ICE isn’t the Gestapo. The Gestapo was…” (proceeds to describe qualities that apply to what ICE is currently doing)
January 20, 2026 at 5:45 PM
“ICE isn’t the Gestapo. The Gestapo was…” (proceeds to describe qualities that apply to what ICE is currently doing)
Reposted by Barry Freed
i'm going to spend the rest of my life figuring out how a small band of elites decided that acting as the global currency and primary military hegemon was gay and feminine coded
BREAKING: Europe may begin selling U.S. assets in response to a new conflict with the US, a move that could trigger a dollar collapse, per Bloomberg.
January 20, 2026 at 6:18 PM
i'm going to spend the rest of my life figuring out how a small band of elites decided that acting as the global currency and primary military hegemon was gay and feminine coded
Reposted by Barry Freed
Years of elite impunity, now we have a wildly corrupt president selling pardons, policies, and more, plus two SCOTUS Justices who take bribes.
Trump's corruption was in everyone's face in term 1. And not just his. Payoffs to Ivanka and Jared changed US foreign policy. Then Americans voted for more.
Trump's corruption was in everyone's face in term 1. And not just his. Payoffs to Ivanka and Jared changed US foreign policy. Then Americans voted for more.
January 20, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Years of elite impunity, now we have a wildly corrupt president selling pardons, policies, and more, plus two SCOTUS Justices who take bribes.
Trump's corruption was in everyone's face in term 1. And not just his. Payoffs to Ivanka and Jared changed US foreign policy. Then Americans voted for more.
Trump's corruption was in everyone's face in term 1. And not just his. Payoffs to Ivanka and Jared changed US foreign policy. Then Americans voted for more.
Reposted by Barry Freed
The Founders (rightly) thought financial corruption was so concerning they banned it in the Constitution three separate times: the two emoluments clauses, and the only named impeachable offense besides treason.
Starting in 2017, America decided it just kinda didn't matter anymore, whatcha gonna do.
Starting in 2017, America decided it just kinda didn't matter anymore, whatcha gonna do.
UNREAL: Per NY Times amazing reporting today they found "Trump has used the office of the presidency to make at least $1.4 billion. We know this number to be an underestimate because some of his profits remain hidden from public view." We live in a 3rd world sh*thole! www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Opinion | How Trump Has Used the Presidency to Make at Least $1.4 Billion
The president took an oath to serve the American people. Instead, he’s focused his second term on enriching himself and his family.
www.nytimes.com
January 20, 2026 at 6:20 PM
The Founders (rightly) thought financial corruption was so concerning they banned it in the Constitution three separate times: the two emoluments clauses, and the only named impeachable offense besides treason.
Starting in 2017, America decided it just kinda didn't matter anymore, whatcha gonna do.
Starting in 2017, America decided it just kinda didn't matter anymore, whatcha gonna do.
Reposted by Barry Freed
Awful day yesterday. So first, all these assholes get on the wrong bus
January 20, 2026 at 2:44 PM
Awful day yesterday. So first, all these assholes get on the wrong bus
Reposted by Barry Freed
It's inevitable, you simply must adapt to it and use it, you have no choice, but also please use it more or it's going to die
AI boom could falter without wider adoption, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella warns
AI boom could falter without wider adoption, Microsoft chief Satya Nadella warns
Big tech boss tells delegates at Davos that broader global use is essential if technology is to deliver lasting growth
www.irishtimes.com
January 20, 2026 at 4:22 PM
It's inevitable, you simply must adapt to it and use it, you have no choice, but also please use it more or it's going to die
Reposted by Barry Freed
I think the moment I fully lost it with American elite culture was when there was a no-shit bipartisan panic attack over Colorado throwing Trump off the 2024 ballot because of this stipulation
every time I read this, I get apocalyptically apoplectic about how clear it is. it is instant. it does not require explicit congressional action to invoke, it instead only requires that to remove.
donald trump is not the current president right now, according to the constitution.
donald trump is not the current president right now, according to the constitution.
January 20, 2026 at 7:10 PM
I think the moment I fully lost it with American elite culture was when there was a no-shit bipartisan panic attack over Colorado throwing Trump off the 2024 ballot because of this stipulation
Reposted by Barry Freed
Trump is ranting and hallucinating now, before a world audience, on live TV. While our decades-long allies talk about how to protect themselves.
Anyone who sounded the way he does, RIGHT NOW, would be moved from "main" part of assisted living facility to the memory unit.
Hey GOP: just listen.
Anyone who sounded the way he does, RIGHT NOW, would be moved from "main" part of assisted living facility to the memory unit.
Hey GOP: just listen.
January 20, 2026 at 7:36 PM
Trump is ranting and hallucinating now, before a world audience, on live TV. While our decades-long allies talk about how to protect themselves.
Anyone who sounded the way he does, RIGHT NOW, would be moved from "main" part of assisted living facility to the memory unit.
Hey GOP: just listen.
Anyone who sounded the way he does, RIGHT NOW, would be moved from "main" part of assisted living facility to the memory unit.
Hey GOP: just listen.