Jas Easterly
@jaseasterly.bsky.social
13th Gen Virginian. I bow and scrape for no one—neither should anyone else. Dietrich Bonhoeffer fan. Summum Nec Metuam Diem Nec Optem. Mon Mothma’s old man. JET's Pop. NYU MFA—still writing 1st novel. Afghan War Vet. Journeyman lawyer—no problem too small.
Pinned
Jas Easterly
@jaseasterly.bsky.social
· Nov 29
When someone keeps punching you in the mouth, you break their f . . .ing arms.
Reposted by Jas Easterly
Left: Trump Jan. 6 site claiming “no weapons”found on Ashli Babbitt, killed while storming—her word—Capitol. Right: evidence photo of knife found on Babbitt by Capitol Police. And if you say, “that’s just a little blade,” try taking one on an airplane—or into the Capitol—and see how far you get.
January 6, 2026 at 10:51 PM
Left: Trump Jan. 6 site claiming “no weapons”found on Ashli Babbitt, killed while storming—her word—Capitol. Right: evidence photo of knife found on Babbitt by Capitol Police. And if you say, “that’s just a little blade,” try taking one on an airplane—or into the Capitol—and see how far you get.
Reposted by Jas Easterly
Good point from @markjacob.bsky.social, worth thinking through now:
"The media’s general deference to the US military’s need for operational secrecy is likely to be tested in coming months and years. After all, Trump is perverting the mission of the military far beyond legitimate national security"
"The media’s general deference to the US military’s need for operational secrecy is likely to be tested in coming months and years. After all, Trump is perverting the mission of the military far beyond legitimate national security"
“The press has to ask itself: Is it still in the public interest for journalists to keep secrets about Trump’s anti-democratic use of the military?”
My free Stop the Presses newsletter.
My free Stop the Presses newsletter.
Will the press continue to keep Trump’s military secrets?
The goal is protecting the troops, but secrecy can also protect criminality
www.stopthepresses.news
January 6, 2026 at 10:59 PM
Good point from @markjacob.bsky.social, worth thinking through now:
"The media’s general deference to the US military’s need for operational secrecy is likely to be tested in coming months and years. After all, Trump is perverting the mission of the military far beyond legitimate national security"
"The media’s general deference to the US military’s need for operational secrecy is likely to be tested in coming months and years. After all, Trump is perverting the mission of the military far beyond legitimate national security"
Reposted by Jas Easterly
Thread
I've watched thousands of videos from the Jan. 6 riot as part of NPR's reporting and archive project on that day.
Here are some of the lesser known videos that have really stuck with me.
🧵
Here are some of the lesser known videos that have really stuck with me.
🧵
January 6, 2026 at 11:00 PM
Thread
Reposted by Jas Easterly
Reposted by Jas Easterly
Forcibly annexing Greenland would be a strategic catastrophe—for Europe, for Canada, and perhaps most especially for the United States itself.
My latest in @foreignpolicy.com on how we're all sleep-walking into a disaster: foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/06/g...
My latest in @foreignpolicy.com on how we're all sleep-walking into a disaster: foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/06/g...
Annexing Greenland Would Be a Strategic Catastrophe
Any attempt by the United States to claim the island would quickly spiral out of control.
foreignpolicy.com
January 6, 2026 at 10:44 PM
Forcibly annexing Greenland would be a strategic catastrophe—for Europe, for Canada, and perhaps most especially for the United States itself.
My latest in @foreignpolicy.com on how we're all sleep-walking into a disaster: foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/06/g...
My latest in @foreignpolicy.com on how we're all sleep-walking into a disaster: foreignpolicy.com/2026/01/06/g...
Reposted by Jas Easterly
WSJ from May 2025: The people of Greenland have very little interest in becoming American, losing their free healthcare, their language, their culture, and their ability to control their environment. There is full employment in Greenland.
Trump’s Threats Push Greenlanders Closer to Denmark
The prospect of American annexation has reinvigorated ties between the island and Copenhagen, though aspirations for independence persist.
www.wsj.com
January 6, 2026 at 9:44 PM
WSJ from May 2025: The people of Greenland have very little interest in becoming American, losing their free healthcare, their language, their culture, and their ability to control their environment. There is full employment in Greenland.
Reposted by Jas Easterly
A lot of guys join up to fight.
Zero Americans have ever joined up hoping to fight Denmark.
Zero Americans have ever joined up hoping to fight Denmark.
There's a crowd on here that's gonna go "oh ho ho cope military mindlessly follows orders they're going to mow us all down blah blah blah" to this, but no, you actually will get a bunch of "I'm sorry what the fuck" to an order to strike/invade Danish territory
I think the natural restrictor plates to military action are way more permeable in cases of Iran and now this because it’s broadly aligned with what hawkish natsec/mil types have wanted to do for decades.
Greenland and Canada? Not so much
Greenland and Canada? Not so much
January 6, 2026 at 9:47 PM
A lot of guys join up to fight.
Zero Americans have ever joined up hoping to fight Denmark.
Zero Americans have ever joined up hoping to fight Denmark.
Reposted by Jas Easterly
Spring semester starting so need to know whether faculty are allowed to say in class that Greenland is ruled by Denmark.
January 6, 2026 at 9:27 PM
Spring semester starting so need to know whether faculty are allowed to say in class that Greenland is ruled by Denmark.
Reposted by Jas Easterly
Justice is a shared infrastructure. If we let it decay for others, it will collapse onto all of us.
youtu.be/DvFIIgLnmpM?...
youtu.be/DvFIIgLnmpM?...
I’ve Never Seen a Simpler/Better Explanation of This Moment in History
YouTube video by CLIFF'S EDGE
youtu.be
January 3, 2026 at 7:35 PM
Justice is a shared infrastructure. If we let it decay for others, it will collapse onto all of us.
youtu.be/DvFIIgLnmpM?...
youtu.be/DvFIIgLnmpM?...
Nothing Trump and his goon squad are saying makes any sense. It’s all crap with decorative gold trim.
January 6, 2026 at 3:49 PM
Nothing Trump and his goon squad are saying makes any sense. It’s all crap with decorative gold trim.
Reposted by Jas Easterly
Absolutely true, and somehow not-discussed point:
The US **ALREADY** has all the strategic advantages it could gain by "owning" Greenland. Through treaties and (until now) close NATO cooperation w Denmark
The US has a naval base & 'space force' base there. You see USAF planes at Grndlnd airports
The US **ALREADY** has all the strategic advantages it could gain by "owning" Greenland. Through treaties and (until now) close NATO cooperation w Denmark
The US has a naval base & 'space force' base there. You see USAF planes at Grndlnd airports
The thing that’s so dumb about this is that there’s nothing legitimate about the strategic importance of Greenland that the US doesn’t get through existing alliances. Denmark isn’t impeding US strategic interests. It’s about them wanting to increase US land area by 20%.
Joint European statement on Greenland. They moved quickly after Miller’s comments about annexation last night.
January 6, 2026 at 3:09 PM
Absolutely true, and somehow not-discussed point:
The US **ALREADY** has all the strategic advantages it could gain by "owning" Greenland. Through treaties and (until now) close NATO cooperation w Denmark
The US has a naval base & 'space force' base there. You see USAF planes at Grndlnd airports
The US **ALREADY** has all the strategic advantages it could gain by "owning" Greenland. Through treaties and (until now) close NATO cooperation w Denmark
The US has a naval base & 'space force' base there. You see USAF planes at Grndlnd airports
Reposted by Jas Easterly
A January 6th “peaceful protester” pardoned by Trump
January 6, 2026 at 3:19 PM
A January 6th “peaceful protester” pardoned by Trump
Reposted by Jas Easterly
FLASHBACK: Charlie Kirk on January 6th: “All the people that came into Congress today, that broke the law, should be held to the highest level of criminal prosecution.”
January 6, 2026 at 3:14 PM
FLASHBACK: Charlie Kirk on January 6th: “All the people that came into Congress today, that broke the law, should be held to the highest level of criminal prosecution.”
Reposted by Jas Easterly
The administration is doing its best to rewrite January 6. But the historical record of what really happened is not going away.
January 6 Still Happened
The Trump administration can pardon the insurrectionists and delete pages of evidence. But it cannot hide what took place on that day.
www.theatlantic.com
January 6, 2026 at 3:14 PM
The administration is doing its best to rewrite January 6. But the historical record of what really happened is not going away.
Reposted by Jas Easterly
Note that some of the fraud in MN was discovered by HHS IG, and HHS and SBA IGs were fired at a time when GOP was celebrating the latter predicting he'd find $200B more COVID related fraud.
www.emptywheel.net/2025/02/12/t...
www.emptywheel.net/2025/02/12/t...
January 6, 2026 at 3:16 PM
Note that some of the fraud in MN was discovered by HHS IG, and HHS and SBA IGs were fired at a time when GOP was celebrating the latter predicting he'd find $200B more COVID related fraud.
www.emptywheel.net/2025/02/12/t...
www.emptywheel.net/2025/02/12/t...
Play the movie or tv clip that best describes your current assessment of the situation.
a black and white photo of two men with the caption abby who
ALT: a black and white photo of two men with the caption abby who
media.tenor.com
January 6, 2026 at 2:52 AM
Play the movie or tv clip that best describes your current assessment of the situation.
As Professor Goldsmith states up front, “in practice the only normative legal framework for presidential war powers that matters derives from executive branch precedents and legal opinions.”
But it’s his conclusion that grabs me. 1/2
But it’s his conclusion that grabs me. 1/2
January 6, 2026 at 1:49 AM
As Professor Goldsmith states up front, “in practice the only normative legal framework for presidential war powers that matters derives from executive branch precedents and legal opinions.”
But it’s his conclusion that grabs me. 1/2
But it’s his conclusion that grabs me. 1/2
🧵
White House has filed its War Powers report for the attack on Venezuela.
I used to help draft these reports and this is an unusual specimen.
It promotes a number of political narratives, including about the attack being a "law enforcement operation" and framing Maduro as a "narco-terrorist." 1/n
I used to help draft these reports and this is an unusual specimen.
It promotes a number of political narratives, including about the attack being a "law enforcement operation" and framing Maduro as a "narco-terrorist." 1/n
January 6, 2026 at 1:31 AM
🧵
Reposted by Jas Easterly
With Trump, we see American imperialism with no clothes. Naked and vain. American imperialism is not just morally wrong. It is strategically disastrous.
I wrote this essay in March 2025 when Vance visited Greenland, and it is unfortunately still too relevant.
snyder.substack.com/p/vance-in-g...
I wrote this essay in March 2025 when Vance visited Greenland, and it is unfortunately still too relevant.
snyder.substack.com/p/vance-in-g...
The Imperialism Has no Clothes
JD Vance in Greenland
snyder.substack.com
January 6, 2026 at 1:06 AM
With Trump, we see American imperialism with no clothes. Naked and vain. American imperialism is not just morally wrong. It is strategically disastrous.
I wrote this essay in March 2025 when Vance visited Greenland, and it is unfortunately still too relevant.
snyder.substack.com/p/vance-in-g...
I wrote this essay in March 2025 when Vance visited Greenland, and it is unfortunately still too relevant.
snyder.substack.com/p/vance-in-g...
Reposted by Jas Easterly
According to this reporting, the US broke the international system in the service of one faction of the Maduro regime.
www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
Exclusive: Venezuelan leaders offered U.S. a path to stay in power without Maduro
Delcy and Jorge Rodríguez used Doha backchannels to offer Washington a 'Cartel Light' plan for a managed Venezuela transition that keeps chavismo in power.
www.miamiherald.com
January 6, 2026 at 12:46 AM
According to this reporting, the US broke the international system in the service of one faction of the Maduro regime.
www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-...
The events of 80-85 years ago could not be more relevant now. The lesson encapsulated in this clip has been forgotten.
January 6, 2026 at 1:17 AM
The events of 80-85 years ago could not be more relevant now. The lesson encapsulated in this clip has been forgotten.
Reposted by Jas Easterly
Reposted by Jas Easterly
Losing the vocabulary to capture the grotesquerie we're witnessing.
January 6, 2026 at 12:40 AM
Losing the vocabulary to capture the grotesquerie we're witnessing.