Charles Xavier Van Damme
charlesxavier.bsky.social
Charles Xavier Van Damme
@charlesxavier.bsky.social
Nerd, Bostonian in exile, Catherine Wheel superfan.

“One half of my heart is Erin's, and the other half is America's. God bless America, and ever preserve her the asylum of all the oppressed of the earth, is the sincere prayer of my heart” - M. Corcoran
Pinned
I spent 20 minutes trying to force myself not to write a post that would have gotten me a visit from the FBI. So new plan, every time I feel the need to write one of these posts, I’m just putting an unpopular opinion in this thread. Ideally one of these will get me run off BlueSky so I stop posting.
Mr. Rodgers: Look for the helpers

ICE: So we can shoot them.
January 24, 2026 at 9:33 PM
Reposted by Charles Xavier Van Damme
It's time to abolish Trump’s ICE.
January 24, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Zach is right about this, but also - if you wanted to stop illegal immigration, it’s easier and more effective to prosecute employers. Make it prohibitively expensive to have employees without proof of employability, that’s it.

This has always about wanting boots on the ground terrifying people.
Once again, immigration is not even a problem. Immigrants are not more criminal, they don't cost jobs, they don't harm the economy. There is no reason for any of this. It is hurting ourselves to hurt them.
January 24, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Reposted by Charles Xavier Van Damme
To repeat: Abolish ICE.
January 24, 2026 at 4:09 PM
Reposted by Charles Xavier Van Damme
Conor Lamb apology form damn
Copies of these should be put up immediately on state/city property with this added: “The enslaved people memorialized here mean more to us than the president who tried to erase them. It is our patriotic duty to read every word on these signs.”
I took this photo in November because I was both surprised to see it still up and feared it would be taken down at any moment.
January 24, 2026 at 2:34 PM
During Charlottesville I had many of the “smart conservative” types I followed on Twitter lectured me that Trump was just upset that people were trying to destroy history. This was obviously nonsense at the time, but I feel the need to shout

FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING FUCKS

at the lot of them anyway.
More than 400 years of history and a decade of advocacy were torn down Thursday afternoon when National Park Service employees removed every single display at the President’s House.

🔗 What's next? We explain: www.inquirer.com/politics/nat...
January 24, 2026 at 2:58 PM
The next president is going to have to do an apology tour unlike any this world has seen before.
"Do you believe (X) is a threat to Canada?"

🇺🇸 USA:
🔴 Threat: 71%
🟢 Not A Threat: 16%
🟡 Neutral: 13%

🇷🇺 Russia:
🔴 Threat: 61%
🟡 Neutral: 24%
🟢 Not A Threat: 14%

🇨🇳 China:
🔴 Threat: 60%
🟢 Not A Threat: 21%
🟡 Neutral: 19%

Nanos / Nov 2, 2025 - (Released Today)
January 24, 2026 at 11:36 AM
Reposted by Charles Xavier Van Damme
Seeing a bunch of normal ass midwestern moms and dads marching in -20 degrees knowing they might be tear gassed or worse really drives home what a cowardly lot of people the pundit class is
January 23, 2026 at 10:08 PM
Also true for middle-aged men.
Adolescents would rather skeet than go to therapy
January 23, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by Charles Xavier Van Damme
no matter how hard Greg Bovino tries to exude rugged masculinity he always comes off like Don Knotts in a Portlandia sketch
January 23, 2026 at 2:41 AM
The combination of the guy in Chicago winning the about his fedposting and this tweet is definitely making me rethink my no fedposting policy.
"Sir, this is a Chi-Chi's"
January 23, 2026 at 1:52 AM
Let’s ignore, for a second, the environmental disaster of fossil fuels that will leave my hometown (Boston) underwater at some point during my life.

From a pure nationalist perspective, Trump 47 and 49 crippled American leadership in clean power, just giving multiple industries to China for nothing
The Trump administration today announced a new government-backed fossil fuel industry mascot.

Meet Coalie the lump of coal!
January 22, 2026 at 10:55 PM
Except our media has determined that white non-college educated Americans are the only "real" Americans, so we act like there's a 50% approval rate for Trump, and not one massively below water.
This is nice work by Elliott. Note too that the only demographic group in which Trump has majority support is white non-college-educated respondents, and there he is just barely holding on. There is no electoral downside to opposing authoritarianism.
January 22, 2026 at 9:27 PM
The Trump administration claims the mantle as “protector of Christendom” but in reality these people hate Christianity outside of a narrow window of evangelicism.
Worth noting that among those participating in ICE/DHS watch in Minneapolis today — who Emmer appears to frame as “chaos agents” here — are literally hundreds of clergy.
January 22, 2026 at 7:44 PM
The Minnesota accent is like the Boston accent, in the sense that it's immediately obvious to someone from the area if it's fake. So what kind of genius dialogue coach has trained all of these protestors to have note-perfect accents that fool everyone in the Twin Cities?
Emmer: "The people you're seeing in these videos, the vast majority of them I do not believe are from Minnesota. These are organized chaos agents, paid agitators. The vast majority of Minnesotans that are talking to me appreciate that law enforcement has arrived, and they are happy they're there."
January 22, 2026 at 5:18 PM
As a political force, the a Catholic Church is obviously not nearly as powerful as it was 400 years ago. But I still feel the election of Francis, and all the downstream implications of it, might be one of the most important events in Church history.
Pope Leo has appointed Archbishop Carlo Redaelli as Secretary at the Dicastery for Clergy; Redaelli is known for his pastoral outreach to same-sex couples, and has often been referred to as a “protege” of the late Cardinal Martini.
January 22, 2026 at 3:07 PM
Reposted by Charles Xavier Van Damme
There is absolutely no need to use their stupid slogan.
January 22, 2026 at 2:52 PM
Abolish ICE is the current moderate choice, but at this rate criminal charges for everyone that’s ever worked for ICE will be the moderate choice.
An observer arrested in Suth Minneapolis. Photo by Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune
January 21, 2026 at 10:15 PM
You say I’m a citizen, Canada, but I still can’t care about hockey.
Big news: Canada changed their citizenship rules and now if you've ever had a direct ancestor who was a citizen, you are now automatically a citizen too! www.canada.ca/en/immigrati...

I've been sharing this around, and I know a few people who've discovered they're now Canadian citizens!
Change to citizenship rules in 2025 - Canada.ca
Bill C-3 changes the first-generation limit for Canadian citizenship by descent. Find out who is affected and how the law impacts citizenship eligibility.
www.canada.ca
January 21, 2026 at 12:50 PM
Don’t worry, the armed racist thugs roaming our streets arresting and killing innocent immigrants and citizens at random are definitely not going to be antisemitic as well, you’ll be much safer here.
The Trump administration has discussed offering asylum to Britain’s Jewish population, a lawyer for the president has said.

Robert Garson, Trump’s personal lawyer, said that the UK was “no longer a safe place for Jews” ⬇️
Trump lawyer says US discussed offering asylum to British Jews
Trump lawyer says US discussed offering asylum to British Jews
www.thetimes.com
January 19, 2026 at 12:14 PM
Are Americans ready to listen to the national anthem to be booed during the Olympics? Because the national anthem is going to be booed next month at the Olympics.
January 19, 2026 at 2:19 AM
Reposted by Charles Xavier Van Damme
“NFL announcers go 20 minutes without talking about the owners” challenge.

Difficulty Level: Impossible
January 18, 2026 at 11:13 PM
What a catch!!!!
January 18, 2026 at 10:41 PM
1. Got to go sledding with my daughters today!
2. The song Got to Have Love by Pulp is incredible, 48 year old bands have no business being this good
3. I have 2 coffee shops where all the baristas know my name.
This site needs a break.
Post three good things, none of which are the cessation of a negative.
January 17, 2026 at 11:23 PM