Joshua Libling
@jjl.bsky.social
Feminist. Father. Litigation Funder. Former big law. Totally incoherent brand.
Becoming worrying interested in collecting dice.
Becoming worrying interested in collecting dice.
This is important for men to say. I have interviewed candidates for clerkships and associate positions and in finance. I have written some letters - not many.
This is not how men behave. This is not what I have been asked. This is not what I have said.
This is not how men behave. This is not what I have been asked. This is not what I have said.
I have been writing letters of recommendation for just shy of thirty years— 17 students this year alone— in ratios that more or less track the majority-women population of liberal arts students.
Obviously I have never commented on a student's looks... and no recipient has ever called me to ask.
Obviously I have never commented on a student's looks... and no recipient has ever called me to ask.
February 5, 2026 at 9:36 PM
This is important for men to say. I have interviewed candidates for clerkships and associate positions and in finance. I have written some letters - not many.
This is not how men behave. This is not what I have been asked. This is not what I have said.
This is not how men behave. This is not what I have been asked. This is not what I have said.
Reposted by Joshua Libling
Absolutely fucking repulsive.
Yale prof David Gelernter defends his letter urging Epstein to hire "v small goodlooking blonde" student by saying that he was "keep[ing] the potential boss's habits in mind."
This creep shouldn't be allowed anywhere near students.
yaledailynews.com/articles/gel...
This creep shouldn't be allowed anywhere near students.
yaledailynews.com/articles/gel...
February 5, 2026 at 3:19 PM
Absolutely fucking repulsive.
We used to have nice things.
(This is about both the rat purse and twitter.)
(This is about both the rat purse and twitter.)
twitter must be dead dead cause someone posted a rat coin purse that would have 2019 twitter losing its collective mind and most of the top comments are bots saying random words or people not nearly amped enough about the rat coin purse
February 3, 2026 at 3:00 PM
We used to have nice things.
(This is about both the rat purse and twitter.)
(This is about both the rat purse and twitter.)
Reposted by Joshua Libling
This is a post about animal excrement and the English language.
bull$#!% = nonsense/lies
chicken$#!% = petty or cowardly
horse$#!% = nonsense/lies
dog$#!%= low quality
ape$#!% = wild
bat$#!%= crazy
Ordered above from oldest to newest: bull$#!% (1914), bat$#!% (1971).
bull$#!% = nonsense/lies
chicken$#!% = petty or cowardly
horse$#!% = nonsense/lies
dog$#!%= low quality
ape$#!% = wild
bat$#!%= crazy
Ordered above from oldest to newest: bull$#!% (1914), bat$#!% (1971).
February 2, 2026 at 3:23 PM
This is a post about animal excrement and the English language.
bull$#!% = nonsense/lies
chicken$#!% = petty or cowardly
horse$#!% = nonsense/lies
dog$#!%= low quality
ape$#!% = wild
bat$#!%= crazy
Ordered above from oldest to newest: bull$#!% (1914), bat$#!% (1971).
bull$#!% = nonsense/lies
chicken$#!% = petty or cowardly
horse$#!% = nonsense/lies
dog$#!%= low quality
ape$#!% = wild
bat$#!%= crazy
Ordered above from oldest to newest: bull$#!% (1914), bat$#!% (1971).
Reposted by Joshua Libling
1/ The Epstein file release distills a central problem: Hideous allegations against a GOP president are being handled by mainstream news orgs with care, as they should be. But if it were flipped and the allegations were against a Dem president, right-wing media would go wild - zero restraint.
January 31, 2026 at 2:29 AM
1/ The Epstein file release distills a central problem: Hideous allegations against a GOP president are being handled by mainstream news orgs with care, as they should be. But if it were flipped and the allegations were against a Dem president, right-wing media would go wild - zero restraint.
Reposted by Joshua Libling
MN State Senator ⬇️
Tighten rules on warrants? Body cameras? HOW ABOUT A SIGNED JUDICIAL WARRANT FOR EVERYTHING! HOW ABOUT THEY LEAVE MINNESOTA AND NEVER CARRY OUT ANYTHING AKIN TO MINNESOTA IN ANY OTHER STATE. I DON'T WANT BODY CAMERA FOOTAGE OF THE ATROCITIES I WANT THEM TO STOP. I AM SO FUCKING FURIOUS!!!!
January 28, 2026 at 9:56 PM
MN State Senator ⬇️
In law school, states-as-robust-and-independent-checks-on-federal-power was taught as an explicitly conservative philosophy.
Assume now there is a more nuanced discussion of corporate regulation vs criminal enforcement vs civil rights in thinking about the political coding of states' rights.
Assume now there is a more nuanced discussion of corporate regulation vs criminal enforcement vs civil rights in thinking about the political coding of states' rights.
In Printz v. United States, #SCOTUS held that the Constitution bars the federal government from forcing or otherwise compelling local or state governments to enforce federal law.
The liberal squish who wrote the majority opinion in that case? Justice Antonin Scalia:
tile.loc.gov/storage-serv...
The liberal squish who wrote the majority opinion in that case? Justice Antonin Scalia:
tile.loc.gov/storage-serv...
January 28, 2026 at 3:02 PM
In law school, states-as-robust-and-independent-checks-on-federal-power was taught as an explicitly conservative philosophy.
Assume now there is a more nuanced discussion of corporate regulation vs criminal enforcement vs civil rights in thinking about the political coding of states' rights.
Assume now there is a more nuanced discussion of corporate regulation vs criminal enforcement vs civil rights in thinking about the political coding of states' rights.
Reposted by Joshua Libling
Ian Austin, an Army veteran, was arrested for protesting ICE in Minneapolis. But he’s continued protesting. Senior reporter @julialurie.bsky.social spoke to him.
“When they say, ‘Why would you be out here?’ How the fuck could I not be out here?” he says. “My nation is under attack."
“When they say, ‘Why would you be out here?’ How the fuck could I not be out here?” he says. “My nation is under attack."
January 27, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Ian Austin, an Army veteran, was arrested for protesting ICE in Minneapolis. But he’s continued protesting. Senior reporter @julialurie.bsky.social spoke to him.
“When they say, ‘Why would you be out here?’ How the fuck could I not be out here?” he says. “My nation is under attack."
“When they say, ‘Why would you be out here?’ How the fuck could I not be out here?” he says. “My nation is under attack."
Signs of spine growth have been detected among Dem leaders!
Donald Trump must fire Kristi Noem immediately.
Or Democrats will initiate impeachment proceedings against her in the House.
We can do this the easy way or the hard way.
Or Democrats will initiate impeachment proceedings against her in the House.
We can do this the easy way or the hard way.
January 27, 2026 at 7:15 PM
Signs of spine growth have been detected among Dem leaders!
Cynddaredd is my part of the world tree barbarian and I love this depiction of her. Karina was awesome to work with.
January 26, 2026 at 2:56 PM
Cynddaredd is my part of the world tree barbarian and I love this depiction of her. Karina was awesome to work with.
One of the great educations of my adult life was that unspoken understandings of "human neutral" - who is normal and who is different - are extremely powerful and need to be challenged.
And yet, we're going backwards, making human neutral conditions explicit and reinforcing them.
And yet, we're going backwards, making human neutral conditions explicit and reinforcing them.
“In Ron DeSantis’s Florida…parents at one Miami school received a notice that their first graders would need a signed permission slip to “participate and listen to a book written by an African American.”
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/b...
www.nytimes.com/2026/01/10/b...
Can American Children Point to America on a Map?
www.nytimes.com
January 26, 2026 at 2:51 PM
One of the great educations of my adult life was that unspoken understandings of "human neutral" - who is normal and who is different - are extremely powerful and need to be challenged.
And yet, we're going backwards, making human neutral conditions explicit and reinforcing them.
And yet, we're going backwards, making human neutral conditions explicit and reinforcing them.
Characteristically thoughtful 🧵
i think they are bad consolidating authoritarianism choices because effective consolidation involves carrots as well as (secret) sticks. this administration is doing the opposite. no carrots whatsoever and ostentatious public violence against members of the dominant racial/ethnic/religious group
Definitely. What my paranoia forces me to ask, "Are these bad political choices but good consolidating authoritarian choices?"
Because the media, as it has been lubricated for fascists' pleasure, is in the business of rewarding authoritarianism.
Because the media, as it has been lubricated for fascists' pleasure, is in the business of rewarding authoritarianism.
January 25, 2026 at 3:44 PM
Characteristically thoughtful 🧵
There is not a lawyer in America who would have told you this was a plausible series of events even 6 months ago.
The killing happened about 15 hours ago. Since then:
- MN Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (FBI equivalent) got a warrant for the evidence on the scene
- Tried to execute it
- Were forcibly turned away by feds
- Filed for a temporary restraining order
- TRO granted by the federal district court
- MN Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (FBI equivalent) got a warrant for the evidence on the scene
- Tried to execute it
- Were forcibly turned away by feds
- Filed for a temporary restraining order
- TRO granted by the federal district court
January 25, 2026 at 5:50 AM
There is not a lawyer in America who would have told you this was a plausible series of events even 6 months ago.
Reposted by Joshua Libling
“Get it all on record now — get the films — get the witnesses — because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower, after visiting liberated concentration camps in April 1945
Dwight D. Eisenhower, after visiting liberated concentration camps in April 1945
January 24, 2026 at 9:24 PM
“Get it all on record now — get the films — get the witnesses — because somewhere down the road of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower, after visiting liberated concentration camps in April 1945
Dwight D. Eisenhower, after visiting liberated concentration camps in April 1945
Poetry train. Repost with a poem in solidarity with MN.
Emma Lazarus, 1883
Emma Lazarus, 1883
January 25, 2026 at 5:07 AM
Poetry train. Repost with a poem in solidarity with MN.
Emma Lazarus, 1883
Emma Lazarus, 1883
Reposted by Joshua Libling
Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
— W.H. Auden, Sept. 1, 1939
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
— W.H. Auden, Sept. 1, 1939
January 25, 2026 at 3:49 AM
Defenceless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
— W.H. Auden, Sept. 1, 1939
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.
— W.H. Auden, Sept. 1, 1939
Reposted by Joshua Libling
YouGov is out with a new poll after ICE killed another person in Minnesota today. Abolishing ICE is now +5 among all adults, and **+12 among independents**
substack.com/@gelliottmor...
substack.com/@gelliottmor...
January 25, 2026 at 2:10 AM
YouGov is out with a new poll after ICE killed another person in Minnesota today. Abolishing ICE is now +5 among all adults, and **+12 among independents**
substack.com/@gelliottmor...
substack.com/@gelliottmor...
Reposted by Joshua Libling
You have to read this. Firsthand affidavit from one of the women who was there and recording the video. She talks about how Alex Pretti was directing traffic when she arrived. She watched him be killed in front of her. She's afraid to go home, worried she'll be arrested.
January 25, 2026 at 1:15 AM
You have to read this. Firsthand affidavit from one of the women who was there and recording the video. She talks about how Alex Pretti was directing traffic when she arrived. She watched him be killed in front of her. She's afraid to go home, worried she'll be arrested.
Reposted by Joshua Libling
you don't become a martyr because you were a saint, you become a saint because you were martyred
I agree that we can’t make Alex Pretti a Benedictine monk because that’s a trap, but we can talk about the good things we did because people will see and hear them and think “I do those things too”
January 24, 2026 at 11:31 PM
you don't become a martyr because you were a saint, you become a saint because you were martyred
Reposted by Joshua Libling
Videos verified by The New York Times show Alex Jeffrey Pretti, the man federal agents shot and killed in Minneapolis on Saturday, was holding a phone, not a gun, when the agents took him to the ground and shot him. In total, at least 10 shots appear to have been fired within five seconds.
Videos Show Moments in Which Agents Killed a Man in Minneapolis
Federal authorities said the slain man, Alex Pretti, had approached agents with a gun. But videos show Mr. Pretti was holding his phone, not a weapon, when they pulled him to the ground.
nyti.ms
January 25, 2026 at 12:05 AM
Videos verified by The New York Times show Alex Jeffrey Pretti, the man federal agents shot and killed in Minneapolis on Saturday, was holding a phone, not a gun, when the agents took him to the ground and shot him. In total, at least 10 shots appear to have been fired within five seconds.
I insult Schumer a lot, so credit where it is due. This is good.
Schumer saying Senate Dems won’t vote to proceed with the appropriations bill if it includes DHS funding:
January 25, 2026 at 12:00 AM
I insult Schumer a lot, so credit where it is due. This is good.
Reposted by Joshua Libling
Nuremberg trials for ICE is the moderate position
January 24, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Nuremberg trials for ICE is the moderate position
Reposted by Joshua Libling
Abolishing ICE is not nearly sufficient. State and local officials need to start arresting and prosecuting these kidnappers and murderers.
I just spoke with the White House after another horrific shooting by federal agents this morning. Minnesota has had it. This is sickening.
The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.
The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.
January 24, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Abolishing ICE is not nearly sufficient. State and local officials need to start arresting and prosecuting these kidnappers and murderers.
Reposted by Joshua Libling
Need unambiguous statements of support by everyone — from Walz and Klobuchar and Smith to Schumer and Jeffries— for state and city law enforcement standing up to lawless DHS.
January 24, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Need unambiguous statements of support by everyone — from Walz and Klobuchar and Smith to Schumer and Jeffries— for state and city law enforcement standing up to lawless DHS.
Reposted by Joshua Libling
Recommend doing this right now
to turn off autoplaying video on the bluesky mobile app
select the icon in the top left corner
go to settings
go to content and media
make sure "autoplay videos and gifs" is toggled off
select the icon in the top left corner
go to settings
go to content and media
make sure "autoplay videos and gifs" is toggled off
January 24, 2026 at 3:53 PM
Recommend doing this right now