Joshua Cherniss
@jcherniss.bsky.social
Political theorist. Worker in the "Realm of Concepts." Book accumulator. Ethical worrier. Teaching at Georgetown University since 2014.
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
In 1854, after watching the federal government deploy 2000 federal troops and spend $40,000 sending Anthony Burns back into slavery, Boston's Amos Adams Lawrence said “we went to bed one night old-fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union Whigs and waked up stark mad Abolitionists.”
Yesterday morning kids were sent running from their bus stop in panic because ICE showed up. This guy at today’s ICE Out of Lindenwold protest is a must watch 😭. @maddow.bsky.social
February 14, 2026 at 5:07 PM
In 1854, after watching the federal government deploy 2000 federal troops and spend $40,000 sending Anthony Burns back into slavery, Boston's Amos Adams Lawrence said “we went to bed one night old-fashioned, conservative, Compromise Union Whigs and waked up stark mad Abolitionists.”
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
Trumpists do not believe that people who disagree with them are entitled to a voice in government.
Kristi Noem: "When it gets to Election Day, we've been proactive to make sure we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders to lead this country."
February 14, 2026 at 4:50 PM
Trumpists do not believe that people who disagree with them are entitled to a voice in government.
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
The weaponization of mass detention is the point. With Prof. Linus Chan on the vaporization of due process and @andreapitzer.bsky.social on mass detention and warehousing Amazon-style. shows.acast.com/amicus-with-...
The Concentration Camp Next Door | Amicus With Dahlia Lithwick | Law, justice, and the courts
The Trump administration has weaponized immigration detention against America
shows.acast.com
February 14, 2026 at 2:50 PM
The weaponization of mass detention is the point. With Prof. Linus Chan on the vaporization of due process and @andreapitzer.bsky.social on mass detention and warehousing Amazon-style. shows.acast.com/amicus-with-...
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
There are ~90 million people alive today because of USAID. Russ Vought illegally shut it down and now is spending the money on himself. These are deeply evil people. www.reuters.com/world/us/whi...
Exclusive: White House uses USAID funds for budget director Vought's security, documents show
The White House budget office is using millions of dollars from the former U.S. foreign aid agency to pay for the security detail of Russell Vought, President Donald Trump's budget chief and an archit...
www.reuters.com
February 13, 2026 at 2:33 PM
There are ~90 million people alive today because of USAID. Russ Vought illegally shut it down and now is spending the money on himself. These are deeply evil people. www.reuters.com/world/us/whi...
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
In Trump’s first term, @scottlincicome.bsky.social and I detailed the many ways Section 232 was being used and abused. It hasn’t stopped.
With a new case pending, it’s another reminder that this law needs serious reform.
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
With a new case pending, it’s another reminder that this law needs serious reform.
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Opinion | Trump’s ‘national security’ tariffs are a big government mess
A new lawsuit reveals how businesses are forced to navigate an opaque and arbitrary system.
www.washingtonpost.com
February 12, 2026 at 2:35 PM
In Trump’s first term, @scottlincicome.bsky.social and I detailed the many ways Section 232 was being used and abused. It hasn’t stopped.
With a new case pending, it’s another reminder that this law needs serious reform.
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
With a new case pending, it’s another reminder that this law needs serious reform.
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
Please do sign/repost the petition to save the Wilbur J. Cohen building in DC. Thanks! c.org/27WcGRYfZ2
#arthistory #architecture #preservation #Academicsky #murals #NewDeal
#arthistory #architecture #preservation #Academicsky #murals #NewDeal
February 12, 2026 at 2:38 AM
Please do sign/repost the petition to save the Wilbur J. Cohen building in DC. Thanks! c.org/27WcGRYfZ2
#arthistory #architecture #preservation #Academicsky #murals #NewDeal
#arthistory #architecture #preservation #Academicsky #murals #NewDeal
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
DOJ trying to indict opposition lawmakers for accurately stating the law is an authoritarian weaponization of the justice system.
Grand jurors returning a no bill is patriotism in action.
Grand jurors returning a no bill is patriotism in action.
February 11, 2026 at 2:23 AM
DOJ trying to indict opposition lawmakers for accurately stating the law is an authoritarian weaponization of the justice system.
Grand jurors returning a no bill is patriotism in action.
Grand jurors returning a no bill is patriotism in action.
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
They told us their plans from the start.
“Like Prime, but with human beings.”
February 10, 2026 at 1:16 AM
They told us their plans from the start.
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
The far-right hates liberalism in part because liberalism empowered women socially, politically, and economically, and so made them less dependent on settling for a mediocre man to provide for them. So they want to destroy liberalism to return women to a state of powerlessness and dependence.
The Heritage Foundation has released a 250-year roadmap to “save America.”
The document is a how-to guide for subjugating girls & young women: a detailed plan to push them out of college, funnel them into early marriage and motherhood, and then trap them there.
jessica.substack.com/p/theyre-com...
The document is a how-to guide for subjugating girls & young women: a detailed plan to push them out of college, funnel them into early marriage and motherhood, and then trap them there.
jessica.substack.com/p/theyre-com...
They're Coming for Our Daughters
The conservative plan to shrink girls’ futures
jessica.substack.com
February 9, 2026 at 9:13 PM
The far-right hates liberalism in part because liberalism empowered women socially, politically, and economically, and so made them less dependent on settling for a mediocre man to provide for them. So they want to destroy liberalism to return women to a state of powerlessness and dependence.
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken.
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
February 9, 2026 at 12:25 PM
1/ ProPublica collected handwritten letters in mid-January from children held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the same facility where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos was taken.
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
Hundreds of kids are still detained.
We’ll let the children’s words speak for themselves. 🧵
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
When I worked for Reason magazine during Trump's rise to power in 2016, I was explicitly forbidden by the editor in chief from writing about Trump's racism, or the violence and racism at his rallies.
It was a "sideshow," I was told.
It was a "sideshow," I was told.
February 9, 2026 at 2:10 PM
When I worked for Reason magazine during Trump's rise to power in 2016, I was explicitly forbidden by the editor in chief from writing about Trump's racism, or the violence and racism at his rallies.
It was a "sideshow," I was told.
It was a "sideshow," I was told.
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
Ossoff: We were told that MAGA was for working-class Americans. But this is a government of, by, and for the ultra-rich. It’s the wealthiest Cabinet ever. This is the Epstein class. They are the elites they pretend to hate.
February 7, 2026 at 7:57 PM
Ossoff: We were told that MAGA was for working-class Americans. But this is a government of, by, and for the ultra-rich. It’s the wealthiest Cabinet ever. This is the Epstein class. They are the elites they pretend to hate.
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
SEN. OSSOFF: “.. why are roving gangs of masked men — who look like they couldn’t pass the Army physical exam — dressed up like pretend Delta Force operators, on our streets, demanding papers, dragging people from their cars, and shooting people to death?”
@acyn.bsky.social
@acyn.bsky.social
February 7, 2026 at 7:38 PM
SEN. OSSOFF: “.. why are roving gangs of masked men — who look like they couldn’t pass the Army physical exam — dressed up like pretend Delta Force operators, on our streets, demanding papers, dragging people from their cars, and shooting people to death?”
@acyn.bsky.social
@acyn.bsky.social
What WAS "Cold War liberalism," you ask? If you read German -- or have Google translate -- you can read my thoughts here:
www.kas.de/de/web/gesch...
(with references to @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social and @lkatfield.bsky.social, among others)
www.kas.de/de/web/gesch...
(with references to @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social and @lkatfield.bsky.social, among others)
Was war der Cold War Liberalism?
Zur historischen Eigenart, inneren Spannung und aktuellen Relevanz eines skeptischen Liberalismus
www.kas.de
February 7, 2026 at 7:34 PM
What WAS "Cold War liberalism," you ask? If you read German -- or have Google translate -- you can read my thoughts here:
www.kas.de/de/web/gesch...
(with references to @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social and @lkatfield.bsky.social, among others)
www.kas.de/de/web/gesch...
(with references to @jwmueller-pu.bsky.social and @lkatfield.bsky.social, among others)
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
Is anybody ever gonna take a step back and realize the "Russia Russia Russia" people — derided as lunatic wine moms — were actually underplaying the foreign influence stuff, and the loud people who kept insisting it was all fake are now saying Jeffrey Epstein was kind of a cool guy?
NSA detected phone call between foreign intelligence and a person close to Trump
Whistleblower says that Tulsi Gabbard blocked agency from sharing report and delivered it to White House chief of staff
www.theguardian.com
February 7, 2026 at 7:06 PM
Is anybody ever gonna take a step back and realize the "Russia Russia Russia" people — derided as lunatic wine moms — were actually underplaying the foreign influence stuff, and the loud people who kept insisting it was all fake are now saying Jeffrey Epstein was kind of a cool guy?
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
The racism on view in that video Trump posted (and has now taken down, having bent the knee to woke cancel culture) is relevant because it's the same racism that is animating the anti-Somali federal occupation of Minneapolis and will animate the surge of anti-Haitian feds into Springfield, OH.
February 6, 2026 at 6:55 PM
The racism on view in that video Trump posted (and has now taken down, having bent the knee to woke cancel culture) is relevant because it's the same racism that is animating the anti-Somali federal occupation of Minneapolis and will animate the surge of anti-Haitian feds into Springfield, OH.
It's been slightly bemusing to see my social media feeds prominently feature the "news" that Noam Chomsky is as morally blinkered as he is morally arrogant, and that Charles Murray may be a bit of a racist.
February 5, 2026 at 6:42 PM
It's been slightly bemusing to see my social media feeds prominently feature the "news" that Noam Chomsky is as morally blinkered as he is morally arrogant, and that Charles Murray may be a bit of a racist.
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
happening this morning in Minneapolis -- ICE agents drawing guns on observers. I reiterate again that it is only a matter of time before DHS kills more innocent people in Minnesota. Congress needs to shut this shit down right now.
February 3, 2026 at 4:19 PM
happening this morning in Minneapolis -- ICE agents drawing guns on observers. I reiterate again that it is only a matter of time before DHS kills more innocent people in Minnesota. Congress needs to shut this shit down right now.
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
Here is a collection of sworn testimonies from detainees being held in ICE custody. Until reading these testimonies, I wasn't fully aware of what is happening. Please read them yourself. We need to know this. We need to understand the consequences of ICE/CBP arrests. assets.aclu.org/live/uploads...
assets.aclu.org
February 2, 2026 at 5:59 AM
Here is a collection of sworn testimonies from detainees being held in ICE custody. Until reading these testimonies, I wasn't fully aware of what is happening. Please read them yourself. We need to know this. We need to understand the consequences of ICE/CBP arrests. assets.aclu.org/live/uploads...
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
“Children were in the crowd screaming.”
Just experienced the most intense tear gassing of my life by federal officers outside the ICE facility in Portland where marchers gathered. There was no fast exit as they indiscriminately threw loads of gas and flash bangs. Children were in the crowd screaming. @oregoncapitalchronicle.com
February 1, 2026 at 2:15 AM
“Children were in the crowd screaming.”
I knew there was a reason I liked this place ...
Damn, that's harsh.
Not entirely sure it's wrong though.
Not entirely sure it's wrong though.
NGL this description of Bsky in Vulture cracked me up
February 1, 2026 at 4:02 AM
I knew there was a reason I liked this place ...
A very good take. And one you'd expect to see coming from more or less Marxisant intellectuals, instead of "it's all about the jooz." And yet, here we are.
All the reporting of who’s showing up in the latest Epstein files release and how they interact with Epstein, even after his criminality was widely know, highlights how much elite class consciousness and solidarity are a thing, and how much they’re responsible for sorry state of the world right now.
January 31, 2026 at 7:57 PM
A very good take. And one you'd expect to see coming from more or less Marxisant intellectuals, instead of "it's all about the jooz." And yet, here we are.
Reposted by Joshua Cherniss
It’s entirely legal to record LE officers from your car. So they’re brazenly, illegally terrorizing this woman for exercising her constitutional rights.
Yet we know that none of these officers be held accountable. We know this administration encourages this behavior.
This is police state stuff.
Yet we know that none of these officers be held accountable. We know this administration encourages this behavior.
This is police state stuff.
This is just insane. It’s only a matter of time before DHS kills another innocent person here.
(clip via MPR and @davidjbier.bsky.social on X)
(clip via MPR and @davidjbier.bsky.social on X)
January 31, 2026 at 6:43 PM
It’s entirely legal to record LE officers from your car. So they’re brazenly, illegally terrorizing this woman for exercising her constitutional rights.
Yet we know that none of these officers be held accountable. We know this administration encourages this behavior.
This is police state stuff.
Yet we know that none of these officers be held accountable. We know this administration encourages this behavior.
This is police state stuff.