Howard Eissenstat
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heissenstat.bsky.social
Howard Eissenstat
@heissenstat.bsky.social
9K followers 280 following 2.2K posts
Laurentian Associate Professor of History, St. Lawrence University.

Non-resident scholar, Stockholm University, Institute for Turkish Studies (SUITS)

Focused on Turkey and the Middle East.

Unlikely to argue on-line. Blocks dumb, annoying, or noisy.
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heissenstat.bsky.social
Howard Eissenstat @heissenstat.bsky.social · Nov 7
Lots of new follows this past few days. Welcome!

By way of introduction, I am a historian working on modern Turkey and, more generally, the Middle East.

I will also sometimes post on running, work dogs, and running with work dogs.

And the occasional snarky commments on US politics
Reposted by Howard Eissenstat
fankuan.bsky.social
I can officially confirm that the snow in NC is roughly one (1) corgi deep
A corgi's head barely surfacing atop deep snow, against a backdrop of an old wooden fence
January 31, 2026 at 9:46 PM
Reposted by Howard Eissenstat
bethfertig.bsky.social
Car Hits High School Student in Nebraska During an Anti-ICE Protest

The car had a “Trump 2024” flag mounted to its rear window. The driver then accelerated, hitting a girl who was holding a poster …

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/u...
Car Hits High School Student in Nebraska During an Anti-ICE Protest
www.nytimes.com
January 30, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Reposted by Howard Eissenstat
diplomatofnight.com
The emerging narrative from the people who worked for Biden seems to be "we debased ourselves repeatedly and violated our own laws for Israel and Israel won't even say thank you".
diplomatofnight.com Emissary Of Night | ليلى @diplomatofnight.com · 11h
Interesting admission by Biden administration official and Kamala Harris NSC advisor earlier today
Hard to overstate the damage to US-Israel relations done by the sense of entitlement and ingratitude reflected in comments like these and Netanyahu's own recent statements. Baseless misdirection to suggest that Israeli soldiers' deaths in Gaza we caused by some phantom US "embargo" (when in fact Biden resisted enormous pressure to condition aid, as required by U.S. law, even as Israel rebuffed calls to facilitate more humanitarian assistance and reduce civilian casualties), and insulting to suggest that U.S. concern for people of Gaza was driven by "Michigan," as if no other possible basis for concern comes to mind. If goal of Netanyahu and his partisans is to accelerate the sharp decline in U.S. public support for Israel, and to further undermine the bipartisan character of that support, this seems like good way to go about it.
January 31, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Reposted by Howard Eissenstat
heissenstat.bsky.social
I was grateful for this Atlantic piece on the value of liberal arts colleges. It wasn’t the path I took myself, but it’s very much the kind of education I hope my daughter will have.

www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
The Accidental Winners of the War on Higher Ed
Go to a small liberal-arts college if you can.
www.theatlantic.com
January 31, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Howard Eissenstat
olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social
imo of all the formal political institutions in US life, the judiciary has given the best account of itself by a pretty large margin (with the obvious exception of SCOTUS) and a younger me was way more dismissive of the courts than history would prove deserved
annabower.bsky.social Anna Bower @annabower.bsky.social · 7d
A magistrate judge found no probable cause to support arrest warrants for 5 people involved in the St. Paul church protest.

DOJ appealed to the 8th Cir.

That appeal led to this remarkable letter from the Chief Judge of the Minnesota district court…

storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Re: In Re: United States of America No. 26-1135 Dear Chief Judge Colloton, I apologize for addressing this letter to you, but, for reasons I will describe, I do not have any other option. I am working from home today, as the program that my mentally disabled adult son attends each day is closed because of the extreme cold At 11:34 am, I received an email regarding Case No. 26-1135, entitled "In re: United States of America." The order in its entirety read: The motion of the United States to seal is granted. The Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota is invited to file a response, at his discretion, to the petition for writ of mandamus. Any response is due by 2:00 p.m. Friday, January 23. This is the first that I have heard of any petition for a writ of mandamus. The United States did not have the courtesy to tell me that they would be filing such a petition, nor did the United States serve the petition on me. I am unable to access any documents in Case No. 26-1135 because, at the request of the United States, the case is sealed-apparently even from me. So I have been given about two-and-one-half hours to respond to a mandamus petition that I have not read and cannot read. Apparently I am supposed to guess what the petition is about and guess what the mandamus petition says and then respond. I will do so. The Honorable Steven M. Colloton January 23, 2026 Page 2 On the evening of Tuesday, January 20, the United States presented an application for eight arrest warrants to Magistrate Judge Douglas Micko in connection with the disruption of a religious service at Cities Church on Sunday, January 18. Judge Micko was the magistrate judge who was on duty at the time. Judge Micko found there was probable cause to issue warrants with respect to three of the suspects but not with respect to the other five. Minutes after Judge Micko signed three arrest warrants, the U.S. Attorney notified me that his office wanted a district judge to review Judge Micko's decision -either by hearing an appeal of that decision or by considering the application de novo. The first thing I did is ask our Clerk's Office to randomly assign a district judge to consider the government's request. I was the judge who was randomly assigned. It is important to emphasize that what the U.S. Attorney requested is unheard of in our district or, as best as I can tell, any other district in the Eighth Circuit. I have surveyed all of our judges — some of whom have been judges in our District for over 40 years —and no one can remember the government asking a district judge to review a magistrate judge's denial of an arrest warrant. I have also surveyed the chief judges of all of the districts in the Eighth Circuit. I have heard back from almost all of them, and all of those responding have said that, to their knowledge, no district judge has ever reviewed the decision of a magistrate judge to deny an arrest warrant. The reason why this never happens is likely that, if the government does not like the magistrate judge's decision, it can either improve the affidavit and present it again to the same magistrate judge or it can present its case to a grand jury and seek an indictment. On Wednesday, January 21, I informed the U.S. Attorney that because he was asking me to do something that was unprecedented, and because m…
January 24, 2026 at 6:43 PM
Reposted by Howard Eissenstat
heissenstat.bsky.social
"The woman, who did not want to be identified because she fears for her safety, is a U.S. citizen and a resident of St. Peter.... "
January 31, 2026 at 8:32 PM
heissenstat.bsky.social
I love when judges go all old testament on governmental abuse.
January 31, 2026 at 8:52 PM
Reposted by Howard Eissenstat
heissenstat.bsky.social
[She] was out in the community in her car, tracking the movements of federal agents, and recording them on a dash cam...Agents in three vehicles began chasing her and trying to force her to pull over. Eventually they box her in, three agents get out of the car in front of her, with their guns drawn
January 31, 2026 at 8:32 PM
Reposted by Howard Eissenstat
maxkagan.bsky.social
In sum: liberal arts colleges really do offer amazing teaching and opportunity. But the fact that these schools admit more students from the 10% of the income distribution than from the remaining 90% cannot be absent from the conversation.

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Explore How Income Influences Attendance at 139 Top Colleges (Published 2023)
Unlike many elite colleges, most flagship public colleges are “pretty fair in who gets in.”
www.nytimes.com
January 31, 2026 at 8:41 PM
heissenstat.bsky.social
"The woman, who did not want to be identified because she fears for her safety, is a U.S. citizen and a resident of St. Peter.... "
January 31, 2026 at 8:32 PM
heissenstat.bsky.social
I was grateful for this Atlantic piece on the value of liberal arts colleges. It wasn’t the path I took myself, but it’s very much the kind of education I hope my daughter will have.

www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
The Accidental Winners of the War on Higher Ed
Go to a small liberal-arts college if you can.
www.theatlantic.com
January 31, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Reposted by Howard Eissenstat
brendannyhan.bsky.social
Steve Levitsky, the co-author of How Democracies Die, on the dangerous place we have reached as Trump escalates:

“Orbán doesn’t arrest journalists,” he said. “And in Hungary if you walk the streets of Budapest or other Hungarian cities, you will not find heavily armed masked men abducting people."
January 31, 2026 at 6:52 PM
heissenstat.bsky.social
Dress like a Nazi, talk like a Nazi...
January 31, 2026 at 6:32 PM
Reposted by Howard Eissenstat
jenhattam.bsky.social
“Hundreds of women are recorded every year as having taken their lives by ‘throwing themselves from a high place’. Their grieving families say these figures conceal cases where women did not jump but were pushed.” Important report by @ruthmichaelson.com @berileski.bsky.social on femicides in Turkey
January 31, 2026 at 5:08 PM
heissenstat.bsky.social
Ill write a longer post on this later, but I largely agree. I teach at a small liberal arts college and I very much would like to see my daughter go to one if she can.
abuaardvark.bsky.social Abu Aardvark @abuaardvark.bsky.social · 12h
I love liberal arts colleges - taught at one for a decade and sent two kids to others. Great places for students and for faculty. I don’t think they will be spared the higher ed apocalypse though .. and they struggle with finances despite being very expensive.

www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...
The Accidental Winners of the War on Higher Ed
Go to a small liberal-arts college if you can.
www.theatlantic.com
January 31, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Reposted by Howard Eissenstat
jamellebouie.net
some of you are not beating the humorless allegations
January 31, 2026 at 5:40 PM
Reposted by Howard Eissenstat
reichlinmelnick.bsky.social
DHS doesn’t even bother trying to lie well. The man whose skull was shattered told the hospital he’d been struck by ICE officers, an ICE officer told hospital staff the guy “got his sh*t rocked,” then when it became clear how badly he was injured, they claimed he deliberately ran into a wall.
ICE's account of how he was hurt evolved during the time that federal officers were at his bedside. At least one ICE officer told caregivers that Castañeda Mondragón "got his (expletive) rocked" after his Jan. 8 arrest near a St. Paul shopping center, the court filings and a hospital staff member said. His arrest happened a day after the first of two fatal shootings in Minneapolis by immigration officers. The Department of Homeland Security, which includes ICE, did not respond to repeated requests for comment on his injuries. A deportation officer skirted the issue in the court documents, saying that during the intake process at an ICE detention center, it was determined he "had a head injury that required emergency medical treatment." But staff members at Hennepin County Medical Center determined that could not possibly account for the fractures and bleeding throughout the man's 31-year-old's brain, said three nurses familiar with the case. "It was laughable, if there was something to laugh about," said one of the nurses, who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss patient care. "There was no way this person ran headfirst into a wall." Castañeda Mondragón was alert and speaking, telling staff he was "dragged and mistreated by federal agents," though his condition quickly deteriorated, the documents said. The following week, a Jan. 16 court filing described his condition as minimally responsive and communicative, disoriented and heavily sedated.
January 31, 2026 at 4:59 PM
Reposted by Howard Eissenstat
nexusproject.bsky.social
Xenophobia and antisemitism are intimately interwoven.

Sometimes that's true in subtle ways and sometimes in obvious ones.

See here:
Bovino Is Said to Have Mocked Prosecutor’s Jewish Faith on Call With Lawyers
www.nytimes.com
January 31, 2026 at 5:11 PM
heissenstat.bsky.social
Read the whole thread.
kenwhite.bsky.social Leather Panel Popehat @kenwhite.bsky.social · 15h
/6 No, when society tells you to shun someone, be SKEPTICAL. Like Noam Chomsky. Noam Chomsky KNEW that it’s the dark forces of American imperialism that don’t want him to listen to a famous child rapist teach him about black people being inferior.
January 31, 2026 at 4:58 PM
Reposted by Howard Eissenstat
johnlyndon.bsky.social
I met Bogie twice, during and after 2014 Kerry process to revive two-state solution. He was scathingly opposed to it. And to Pal state.
If you’d told me he’d be quoting Leibowitz a decade later I’d have thought you were insane.
Much credit due for moving in opposite direction to rest of Likud…
rimaanabtawi.bsky.social Rima I Anabtawi @rimaanabtawi.bsky.social · 1d
A stunning statement by former head of the IDF, Bogie Ya'alon.

He references the words of Y. Leibowitz, who stated in 1967 that the end result of the occupation will be the fostering of 'judeo-nazis'. Settlers who believe in Jewish supremacy.

“Prof. Yeshayahu Leibowitz was right and I was wrong.
January 31, 2026 at 4:14 PM
Reposted by Howard Eissenstat
oliverdarcy.bsky.social
Harvard professor Steven Levitsky, who studies democracy backsliding, on Don Lemon's arrest:

“This is a new dimension. In democracies, journalists don't get arrested. In authoritarian regimes, journalists get arrested."

More in @status.news: www.status.news/p/don-lemon-...
January 31, 2026 at 3:58 PM
Reposted by Howard Eissenstat
ozkaterji.bsky.social
No water, no heating, no power, -15 degree weather outside.

It is not on the front pages of your newspapers, but Ukraine is living through a humanitarian disaster right now because of Russian bombardment and the world has barely noticed.
January 31, 2026 at 3:53 PM
Reposted by Howard Eissenstat
apnews.com
Israeli strikes kill at least 29 Palestinians on Saturday, one of the highest tolls since the October ceasefire aimed at stopping the fighting, hospitals in Gaza say.
Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 29 Palestinians, one of highest tolls since October ceasefire
Hospitals in Gaza say Israeli strikes killed at least 29 Palestinians Saturday, one of the highest tolls since the October ceasefire aimed at stopping the fighting.
bit.ly
January 31, 2026 at 12:05 PM
Reposted by Howard Eissenstat
emily.gorcen.ski
Cool thoughts from Noam Chomsky
From: Matthew Hiltzik < To: J <jeevacation@gmail.com> Subject: Re: Thoughts from Chomsky Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2019 23:34:06 +0000 I think that is wise Sent from my iPhone On Feb 23, 2019, at 4:19 PM, J < jeevacation@gmail.com> wrote: Ive watched the horrible way you are being treated in the press and public. It's painful to say, but I think the best way to proceed is to ignore it. I've had plenty of experience, though of course not on this scale. A google search will bring up tons of hysterical accusations of all sorts, even groups devoted to vilifying me. I pay no attention, unless I'm approached for a comment on a specific matter. It's a nuisance, but it's the best way. The same conclusions from experiences of others, in some cases close friends. What the vultures dearly want is a public response, which then provides a public opening for an onslaught of venomous attacks, many from just publicity seekers or cranks of all sorts -- which are impossible to answer (how do you prove that you are not a neo-Nazi who wants to kill the Jews, or a rapist, or whatever charge comes along?). That's particularly true now with the hysteria that has developed about abuse of women, which has reached the point that even questioning a charge is a crime worse than murder. For virtually everyone who sees any of this, the reaction will be "where there's smoke there's fire, maybe raging fire" (whatever the facts, which few will even think of investigating). In general, it's best I think not to react unless directly questioned, particularly in the current mood -- which, I presume, will fade away, even if not in time to prevent much torture and distress.
January 31, 2026 at 3:43 AM
Reposted by Howard Eissenstat
zachary-press.bsky.social
One of my favorite things about working at the Guardian is watching my friends make incredible stories
@ruthmichaelson.com @berileski.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/society/2026...
‘There’s no way my daughter would have jumped’: why are so many Turkish women falling to their deaths?
Every year in Turkey, hundreds of women are recorded as having taken their lives by ‘throwing themselves from a high place’. But many grieving families maintain that investigators are missing the full...
www.theguardian.com
January 31, 2026 at 2:24 PM