Dumbstash
@dnlmsstch.bsky.social
Politically Star Trek religiously Star Wars.
Lawyer, pragmatist
Lawyer, pragmatist
Pinned
Dumbstash
@dnlmsstch.bsky.social
· May 13
After everything I am coming to the conclusion the really important discourse is the popular culture one because having good (not necessarily interesting or unique) popular culture takes is the best proxy for good political takes.
The full spectrum of possibilities of US foreign policy - the demented methhead edition
CENTCOM is cocked locked and ready to rock, yet it's just as plausible we wake up to news he wrote a love letter to the Ayatollah as it is we blasted a year's worth of production of JASSMs and TLAMs at random dirt outside Tehran as it is we're bankrolling Pahlavi's attempt at an unpopular front
and that’s not something you can assert wjth any certainty when there is little proof we know he’s issued any order
February 19, 2026 at 4:49 AM
The full spectrum of possibilities of US foreign policy - the demented methhead edition
Reposted by Dumbstash
What prompted the judge's warning about no AI facial recognition glasses in the social media addiction jury trial courtroom?
Someone told plaintiff's lawyer Mark Lanier's team they were concerned Mark Zuckerberg's bodyguards were wearing facial recognition glasses.
Someone told plaintiff's lawyer Mark Lanier's team they were concerned Mark Zuckerberg's bodyguards were wearing facial recognition glasses.
February 19, 2026 at 4:28 AM
What prompted the judge's warning about no AI facial recognition glasses in the social media addiction jury trial courtroom?
Someone told plaintiff's lawyer Mark Lanier's team they were concerned Mark Zuckerberg's bodyguards were wearing facial recognition glasses.
Someone told plaintiff's lawyer Mark Lanier's team they were concerned Mark Zuckerberg's bodyguards were wearing facial recognition glasses.
This is going to result in a weird Alien Tort Claims Act case
"An Associated Press reporter was beaten by the police and detained along with three other journalists on Tuesday in Cameroon while reporting on a secretive Trump administration program to deport migrants to the Central African country, according to two of the people detained." (gift link)
Journalists Arrested in Cameroon While Reporting on Trump’s Secretive Deportation Program
www.nytimes.com
February 19, 2026 at 12:57 AM
This is going to result in a weird Alien Tort Claims Act case
Evita
fun question: what’s the maddest you’ve ever been leaving a movie theater? not necessarily worst movie you’ve seen, but the one that just pissed you off the most. mine is Batman v Superman
February 18, 2026 at 11:46 PM
Evita
Oh Muppet Where Art Thou
Muppets vs. Predator
The Girl With the Muppet Tattoo
February 18, 2026 at 11:41 PM
Oh Muppet Where Art Thou
I think one of our real linguistic problems is that we collapsed political and partisan into one thing. It made people depoliticize when they shouldn't and reject politics because they think its partisanship.
Really damaged civic republican values which need citizens engaged with politics.
Really damaged civic republican values which need citizens engaged with politics.
The watchword is *partisan*, especially when the GOP is aligned against the rule of law, the Constitution, and the country’s international obligations.
Hegseth hasn’t made the military political, nor has the president.
The recent obscenity at Fort Bragg was them making the military *partisan*.
Hegseth hasn’t made the military political, nor has the president.
The recent obscenity at Fort Bragg was them making the military *partisan*.
February 18, 2026 at 11:27 PM
I think one of our real linguistic problems is that we collapsed political and partisan into one thing. It made people depoliticize when they shouldn't and reject politics because they think its partisanship.
Really damaged civic republican values which need citizens engaged with politics.
Really damaged civic republican values which need citizens engaged with politics.
FBI when rich and powerful people are accused of serious crimes
February 18, 2026 at 10:20 PM
FBI when rich and powerful people are accused of serious crimes
This is largely correct but the context for RotS:
TFA: boring memberberries with nothing new - everyone bored
TLJ: lest try to subvert the archetypes and make something interesting - everyone was upset
RotS: oh shit we screwed up and now everyone hates us lets wrap this up no one will care how.
TFA: boring memberberries with nothing new - everyone bored
TLJ: lest try to subvert the archetypes and make something interesting - everyone was upset
RotS: oh shit we screwed up and now everyone hates us lets wrap this up no one will care how.
okay you know what we're doing this
why rise of skywalker is the worst crime ever committed against cinema and the very concept of a coherent fictional universe: a thread
why rise of skywalker is the worst crime ever committed against cinema and the very concept of a coherent fictional universe: a thread
it is not interested in plot, it is not interested in worldbuilding, it is not interested in anything except throwing random disconnected snapshots of nostalgia at you
rise of skywalker kicks over the sandbox and leaves you uninterested in star wars in a way the prequels never did
rise of skywalker kicks over the sandbox and leaves you uninterested in star wars in a way the prequels never did
February 18, 2026 at 9:52 PM
This is largely correct but the context for RotS:
TFA: boring memberberries with nothing new - everyone bored
TLJ: lest try to subvert the archetypes and make something interesting - everyone was upset
RotS: oh shit we screwed up and now everyone hates us lets wrap this up no one will care how.
TFA: boring memberberries with nothing new - everyone bored
TLJ: lest try to subvert the archetypes and make something interesting - everyone was upset
RotS: oh shit we screwed up and now everyone hates us lets wrap this up no one will care how.
Making Bobert the only Colorado rep for the GOP will probably be more damaging to the state party than eliminating 3 GOP seats.
Also I am old enough to remember when Colorado was a purple state.
Also I am old enough to remember when Colorado was a purple state.
Colorado Dems’ proposed 7-1 congressional map looks quite effective.
The three targeted Republican seats flip from:
District 3: Trump+10 to Harris+5
District 5: Trump+9 to Harris+7
District 8: Trump+2 to Harris+9
All 4 Dem incumbents keep safe seats, while Boebert’s 4th District is packed dark red
The three targeted Republican seats flip from:
District 3: Trump+10 to Harris+5
District 5: Trump+9 to Harris+7
District 8: Trump+2 to Harris+9
All 4 Dem incumbents keep safe seats, while Boebert’s 4th District is packed dark red
February 18, 2026 at 7:13 PM
Making Bobert the only Colorado rep for the GOP will probably be more damaging to the state party than eliminating 3 GOP seats.
Also I am old enough to remember when Colorado was a purple state.
Also I am old enough to remember when Colorado was a purple state.
American cheering against Canada in hockey... might be as damaging to US Canadian relations than what Trump is doing.
February 18, 2026 at 6:16 PM
American cheering against Canada in hockey... might be as damaging to US Canadian relations than what Trump is doing.
[I look around the world]
For a civilization
For a civilization
At what point will being wildly unqualified and overconfident become toxic again? Asking for a country
Stephen A. Smith: "We wouldn’t have a border crisis under my watch."
"We ain’t defunding any police… There’s gonna be more."
It's with much regret I foresee the inevitable, he's running
"We ain’t defunding any police… There’s gonna be more."
It's with much regret I foresee the inevitable, he's running
February 18, 2026 at 5:43 AM
[I look around the world]
For a civilization
For a civilization
I think a smart communication strategy for a governor in this situation is to say something along the lines of "I am here to learn I have some opinions that are vague and aspirational but I am trying to learn more about this subject"
But I dont think thats what Whitmer was doing.
But I dont think thats what Whitmer was doing.
February 18, 2026 at 5:42 AM
I think a smart communication strategy for a governor in this situation is to say something along the lines of "I am here to learn I have some opinions that are vague and aspirational but I am trying to learn more about this subject"
But I dont think thats what Whitmer was doing.
But I dont think thats what Whitmer was doing.
It finally clicked to my why the new republic failed. They needed Anakin alive to accept responsibility and explain everything - to help de new order the republic... and the coward didn't even show up as a force ghost.
Anakin spends 20 years trying to get what he was promised by doing crimes and studying the force and in the end finally understands he was used and throws Palpatine into a pit and decides to die like a jedi ...to save everyone from the war crime trial.
February 18, 2026 at 5:29 AM
It finally clicked to my why the new republic failed. They needed Anakin alive to accept responsibility and explain everything - to help de new order the republic... and the coward didn't even show up as a force ghost.
The thing that drives me crazy is why? At least Germany in the 30s they had lost their empire and their country was in chaos - I can kinda understand Germans losing their minds ... but we are rich powerful and with nothing to complain - there is no logic to this radicalism.
Its a pure temper tantrum
Its a pure temper tantrum
i'm watching spike lee's remarkable documentary FOUR LITTLE GIRLS and as much as i want to focus on the film i can't help but think about the people, with real power and influence, who want to take this country back to before birmingham
February 18, 2026 at 5:20 AM
The thing that drives me crazy is why? At least Germany in the 30s they had lost their empire and their country was in chaos - I can kinda understand Germans losing their minds ... but we are rich powerful and with nothing to complain - there is no logic to this radicalism.
Its a pure temper tantrum
Its a pure temper tantrum
This is the sort of thing that makes me respect the Bulwark people way more than the Project Lincoln folks.
The Bulwark people generally acknowledge that the pre Trump GOP created MAGA - project Lincoln guys treat it as an infection on their GOP
The Bulwark people generally acknowledge that the pre Trump GOP created MAGA - project Lincoln guys treat it as an infection on their GOP
"The character of the occupant is everything because of how the office is conceived. If we existed under a parliamentary system, we would not be so hostage to character. But here we are." A former president should maybe understand that. lnk.thebulwark.com/4rhzQcx
February 18, 2026 at 2:47 AM
This is the sort of thing that makes me respect the Bulwark people way more than the Project Lincoln folks.
The Bulwark people generally acknowledge that the pre Trump GOP created MAGA - project Lincoln guys treat it as an infection on their GOP
The Bulwark people generally acknowledge that the pre Trump GOP created MAGA - project Lincoln guys treat it as an infection on their GOP
I knew a guy in high school who grew up there (his dad was DOD) and he described that place as super nice ... maybe we can make a base in the Aleutian Islands for those people
Woke 2.0 means assigning anyone at DoD who says "Warfighter" - and not under active duress while doing so - to be a gate guard at Kwajalein.
February 18, 2026 at 1:02 AM
I knew a guy in high school who grew up there (his dad was DOD) and he described that place as super nice ... maybe we can make a base in the Aleutian Islands for those people
As far as I am aware the only place that managed to pull this of was SF with Chesa Boudin and that was because tech pumped a lot of money against him and city hall sided with the cops
I really hope someone in dem policy circles is coming up with a plan for ICE and CBP doing what police departments have done when there’s a DA they don’t like: quiet quit and half ass the actually legit parts of the job and loudly tell friendly media that they can’t do their jobs, Because of Woke
One thing that's important to realize now is that, even in a scenario where Dems sweep to a crushing trifecta in 2028, Republicans will use their control of the courts to attempt to continue, as much as they can, to run executive agencies in exile, with DHS/ICE under Biden as the model
February 17, 2026 at 8:08 PM
As far as I am aware the only place that managed to pull this of was SF with Chesa Boudin and that was because tech pumped a lot of money against him and city hall sided with the cops
Genus Capsicum: joke is on you now I am cultivated everywhere and escaped my habitat
Genus Capsicum: I'm going to be painful for mammals to eat because they grind their food, this way only birds will eat my fruit and pass the seeds unharmed!
Mother Nature: I'm going to make an ape who enjoys pain. Don't worry, they'll cultivate you as you grow anywhere unlike most spices.
Mother Nature: I'm going to make an ape who enjoys pain. Don't worry, they'll cultivate you as you grow anywhere unlike most spices.
February 17, 2026 at 6:05 AM
Genus Capsicum: joke is on you now I am cultivated everywhere and escaped my habitat
These fascist fucks are anti-american and we have the responsibility to protect the republic and denounce all of them a traitors. That's what they are.
February 15, 2026 at 3:51 AM
These fascist fucks are anti-american and we have the responsibility to protect the republic and denounce all of them a traitors. That's what they are.
Reposted by Dumbstash
I think this is the smart way to attack AIPAC (and the Israeli government) as a dem
February 13, 2026 at 10:22 PM
I think this is the smart way to attack AIPAC (and the Israeli government) as a dem
Those who read Lopez and those who never heard of Lopez
Every talking head: The Don Lemon case is a First Amendment case.
Me (*screaming at the TV*):
It’s a COMMERCE CLAUSE case!
The Don Lemon case is a Commerce Clause case.
THE DON LEMON CASE IS A COMMERCE CLAUSE CASE!!!!
Me (*screaming at the TV*):
It’s a COMMERCE CLAUSE case!
The Don Lemon case is a Commerce Clause case.
THE DON LEMON CASE IS A COMMERCE CLAUSE CASE!!!!
TODAY: Journalist Don Lemon is set to be arraigned on federal criminal charges in connection with a protest at a Minnesota church.
The case is far from the slam dunk some Justice Department officials have portrayed it to be.
We explain ⬇️⬇️
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/minn...
The case is far from the slam dunk some Justice Department officials have portrayed it to be.
We explain ⬇️⬇️
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/minn...
February 13, 2026 at 8:32 PM
Those who read Lopez and those who never heard of Lopez
Reposted by Dumbstash
AOC: "I think we have to recognize that we are in a new day and in a new time. But that does not mean that the majority of Americans are ready to walk away from a rules-based order, and that we're ready to walk away from our commitment to democracy."
February 13, 2026 at 5:09 PM
AOC: "I think we have to recognize that we are in a new day and in a new time. But that does not mean that the majority of Americans are ready to walk away from a rules-based order, and that we're ready to walk away from our commitment to democracy."