Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof
@evanbernick.bsky.social
Associate Prof at Northern Illinois University College of Law. Constitutional law, criminal law, abolition, philosophy, hoops, video games, puppies (esp. Argo the Floof). Probably nicer than you’ve heard. He/him.
Look everyone is going to have to be patient with reporters and pundits who were born after the cultural memory of the second gulf war faded. Don’t know what else to tell you
January 4, 2026 at 2:43 PM
Look everyone is going to have to be patient with reporters and pundits who were born after the cultural memory of the second gulf war faded. Don’t know what else to tell you
Reposted by Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof
Good morning from the great white north
January 4, 2026 at 2:26 PM
Good morning from the great white north
Disco Elysium, man. There are the lines you remember because they’re so good, and then there are the lines that you forgot about that turn out to be even better than the ones you remember.
January 4, 2026 at 2:17 PM
Disco Elysium, man. There are the lines you remember because they’re so good, and then there are the lines that you forgot about that turn out to be even better than the ones you remember.
Reposted by Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof
First Mamdani. Now Maduro. Can New York City handle this much communism in one city?
January 4, 2026 at 1:25 PM
First Mamdani. Now Maduro. Can New York City handle this much communism in one city?
Reposted by Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof
My piece for @goodauth.bsky.social on what Trump's actions in Venezuela means. For Venezuela, research shows regime change and occupation can be catastrophic. Trump's ad-libbed takeover may be worse.
For the world, Trumpian Overstretch leads to Trumpian Anarchy.
goodauthority.org/news/what-ha...
For the world, Trumpian Overstretch leads to Trumpian Anarchy.
goodauthority.org/news/what-ha...
What happens now in Venezuela – and the world?
What happens now in Venezuela – and the world? Trump’s no-guardrails foreign policy raises big questions about the global order, not just about who will run Venezuela.
goodauthority.org
January 4, 2026 at 1:44 PM
My piece for @goodauth.bsky.social on what Trump's actions in Venezuela means. For Venezuela, research shows regime change and occupation can be catastrophic. Trump's ad-libbed takeover may be worse.
For the world, Trumpian Overstretch leads to Trumpian Anarchy.
goodauthority.org/news/what-ha...
For the world, Trumpian Overstretch leads to Trumpian Anarchy.
goodauthority.org/news/what-ha...
Reposted by Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof
I swear the press is acting like we just wiped the Maduro regime out of existence like Dr Manhattan did Rorschach and we can just, you know, do our thing
January 4, 2026 at 3:55 AM
I swear the press is acting like we just wiped the Maduro regime out of existence like Dr Manhattan did Rorschach and we can just, you know, do our thing
Yes, hello, you need an elevator full of golden retrievers, one of which has an avocado in his mouth
I really love that swim team has a mascot now in the avocad and also that, despite being wholly unsuitable for the job, it swims with them 🥑
January 4, 2026 at 1:25 PM
Yes, hello, you need an elevator full of golden retrievers, one of which has an avocado in his mouth
Reposted by Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof
Know the interpretations so you can call the BS when the administration and its supporters use them.
Know the 1989 OLC memo. Loath the 1989 OLC memo.
Know the 1989 OLC memo. Loath the 1989 OLC memo.
This is very good, for reasons that may strike many as irritating but I think are important.
The admin is going to invoke a string of executive branch interpretations of law. It's useful to know what those are. This post describes w/out endorsing them or suggesting they make everything legal.
The admin is going to invoke a string of executive branch interpretations of law. It's useful to know what those are. This post describes w/out endorsing them or suggesting they make everything legal.
January 4, 2026 at 1:16 PM
Know the interpretations so you can call the BS when the administration and its supporters use them.
Know the 1989 OLC memo. Loath the 1989 OLC memo.
Know the 1989 OLC memo. Loath the 1989 OLC memo.
Playing the hits (Berner versus elkhound versus ball)
January 4, 2026 at 1:18 PM
Playing the hits (Berner versus elkhound versus ball)
Don’t get irritated at the headlines don’t get irritated at the headlines don’t—
*reads*
*reads*
January 4, 2026 at 1:15 PM
Don’t get irritated at the headlines don’t get irritated at the headlines don’t—
*reads*
*reads*
Reposted by Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof
This is very good, for reasons that may strike many as irritating but I think are important.
The admin is going to invoke a string of executive branch interpretations of law. It's useful to know what those are. This post describes w/out endorsing them or suggesting they make everything legal.
The admin is going to invoke a string of executive branch interpretations of law. It's useful to know what those are. This post describes w/out endorsing them or suggesting they make everything legal.
January 3, 2026 at 10:48 PM
This is very good, for reasons that may strike many as irritating but I think are important.
The admin is going to invoke a string of executive branch interpretations of law. It's useful to know what those are. This post describes w/out endorsing them or suggesting they make everything legal.
The admin is going to invoke a string of executive branch interpretations of law. It's useful to know what those are. This post describes w/out endorsing them or suggesting they make everything legal.
Reposted by Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof
I really love that swim team has a mascot now in the avocad and also that, despite being wholly unsuitable for the job, it swims with them 🥑
January 4, 2026 at 12:18 PM
I really love that swim team has a mascot now in the avocad and also that, despite being wholly unsuitable for the job, it swims with them 🥑
same, maximus. Same.
January 4, 2026 at 12:16 PM
same, maximus. Same.
Reposted by Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof
Belgian PM’s cat Maximus is social media star with ‘subliminal political message’
Belgian PM’s cat Maximus is social media star with ‘subliminal political message’
Maximus Textoris Pulcher, an official resident at Rue de la Loi 16, shows a warmer side of Bart De Wever
For nearly 15 years, Britain’s Larry the Cat has charmed visitors to 10 Downing Street. Now another prime ministerial pet is proving a social media hit in Belgium.
Maximus Textoris Pulcher was announced in August as an official resident at the Belgian prime minister’s office, Rue de la Loi 16 in central Brussels. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
January 4, 2026 at 11:54 AM
Belgian PM’s cat Maximus is social media star with ‘subliminal political message’
Reposted by Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof
Ok this is all crazy I’m calling it a night. Good news is that there are still lorg floofs and smol hoomans that somehow coexist. how? Don’t ask smol hooman
January 4, 2026 at 4:09 AM
Ok this is all crazy I’m calling it a night. Good news is that there are still lorg floofs and smol hoomans that somehow coexist. how? Don’t ask smol hooman
Wow (extremely derogatory)
With Nicolás Maduro out of power, the Trump administration is racing to assemble an interim governing structure for Venezuela.
After Maduro Ouster, Trump Takes On the Risks of Governing Venezuela
The administration is racing to get an interim government in place, even as pushback from Maduro’s allies raise fears of instability.
on.wsj.com
January 4, 2026 at 3:42 AM
Wow (extremely derogatory)
Reposted by Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof
Finally getting around to Split Fiction, and—wow. Wow wow wow.
December 31, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Finally getting around to Split Fiction, and—wow. Wow wow wow.
Reposted by Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof
“The longer Americans indulge this preference for the language of the law over morality, the weaker their moral voice becomes. They lose the ability to say, forthrightly, that what the Trump administration has done is cold-blooded murder for which they and their partisans should be ashamed.”
The Moral Stupefaction of the American Public
Trump’s actions are illegal, yes. Worse than that, they are wrong—precisely what the legality debate is meant to obscure.
www.bostonreview.net
January 3, 2026 at 11:16 PM
“The longer Americans indulge this preference for the language of the law over morality, the weaker their moral voice becomes. They lose the ability to say, forthrightly, that what the Trump administration has done is cold-blooded murder for which they and their partisans should be ashamed.”
Reposted by Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof
Jack nevertheless asserts that DOJ "easily could have drafted an opinion" to justify the action. How can that be so?
It'd only be "easy" for a DOJ attorney to write such an opinion if he or she were willing to represent that "clearly" unlawful action (Jack's correct assessment) is lawful. [3]
It'd only be "easy" for a DOJ attorney to write such an opinion if he or she were willing to represent that "clearly" unlawful action (Jack's correct assessment) is lawful. [3]
January 4, 2026 at 12:02 AM
Jack nevertheless asserts that DOJ "easily could have drafted an opinion" to justify the action. How can that be so?
It'd only be "easy" for a DOJ attorney to write such an opinion if he or she were willing to represent that "clearly" unlawful action (Jack's correct assessment) is lawful. [3]
It'd only be "easy" for a DOJ attorney to write such an opinion if he or she were willing to represent that "clearly" unlawful action (Jack's correct assessment) is lawful. [3]
Reposted by Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof
Jack writes--correctly--that the military abduction and extraction of Maduro "pretty clearly isn’t" legal. It plainly violates Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which is the supreme law of the United States (per Art. VI of the Constitution) and, as I've explained elsewhere, ... [1]
January 4, 2026 at 12:02 AM
Jack writes--correctly--that the military abduction and extraction of Maduro "pretty clearly isn’t" legal. It plainly violates Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which is the supreme law of the United States (per Art. VI of the Constitution) and, as I've explained elsewhere, ... [1]
January 4, 2026 at 1:03 AM
Reposted by Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof
hi
January 3, 2026 at 5:27 PM
hi
i have started doing this with posts that get traction because otherwise I have to mute notifications which I am sure is even more irritating. anyway if you find you cannot communicate with me you should take that as a personal insult
limiting interactions by default on my posts, a thing I've now done for months, mostly works for making mentions pleasant, but it does mean once a week or so I get a screenshot with a direct mention mad about the post with quotes off. it's jarring how much worse that feels than a regular quote post
January 4, 2026 at 12:32 AM
i have started doing this with posts that get traction because otherwise I have to mute notifications which I am sure is even more irritating. anyway if you find you cannot communicate with me you should take that as a personal insult
yes hello you need this
January 4, 2026 at 12:11 AM
yes hello you need this