Paul Slimin'
@legendsofthepaul.bsky.social
Law, politics, media, philosophy, hot takes, etc. | he/him | All lies and jest
Pinned
“Everything was discombobulated” is a decent summary of this country since he’s taken office.
In an exclusive interview with Tom Llamas, President Trump discussed the "discombobulator," the weapon used against Venezuela during the U.S. raid to capture Nicolás Maduro.
February 6, 2026 at 4:02 AM
“Everything was discombobulated” is a decent summary of this country since he’s taken office.
All times of conflict are also times of hope
February 6, 2026 at 3:41 AM
All times of conflict are also times of hope
Reposted by Paul Slimin'
uh worth noting though that ICE at ~20k employees is actually pretty trivial in scale compared to the american population (~340M); the nazi party was orders of magnitude more pervasive in the reich (8M out of 80M before the defeat, give or take)
February 5, 2026 at 11:51 PM
uh worth noting though that ICE at ~20k employees is actually pretty trivial in scale compared to the american population (~340M); the nazi party was orders of magnitude more pervasive in the reich (8M out of 80M before the defeat, give or take)
Reposted by Paul Slimin'
Even if you don't have time to read all 83 pages of Judge Reyes's opinion barring the Trump administration from rescinding Temporary Protected Status for 350,000+ Haitians, please at least check out the four-page introduction.
It's a tour de force:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
It's a tour de force:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
!["On December 2, 1783, then-Commander-in-Chief George Washington penned: “America is open to receive not only the Opulent & respected Stranger, but the oppressed & persecuted of all Nations & Religions.”1
More than two centuries later, Congress reaffirmed President Washington’s vision by establishing the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program. See 8 U.S.C. § 1254a (TPS statute). It provides humanitarian relief to foreign nationals in the United States who come from disaster-stricken countries. It also brings in substantial revenue, with TPS holders generating $5.2 billion in taxes annually. See Part VI.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem has a different take. [screenshot of tweet].](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv/bafkreicrroq5taft777rmau2ffjlsphbcatlxnwwigf2yekoke533yycim@jpeg)
![has terminated every TPS country designation to have reached her desk—twelve countries up,
twelve countries down. See Section IV.A.2. Her conclusion that Haiti (a majority nonwhite
country) faces merely “concerning” conditions cannot be squared with the “perfect storm of
suffering” and “staggering” “humanitarian toll” described in page-after-page of the Certified
Administrative Record (CAR). See Section IV.A.3.a. She ignored Congress’s requirement that
she “review the conditions” in Haiti only “after” consulting “with appropriate agencies.” 8
U.S.C. § 1254a(b)(3)(A); see Section IV.A.1. Indeed, she did not consult other agencies at all.
See id. Her “national interest” analysis focuses on Haitians outside the United States or here
illegally, ignoring that Haitian TPS holders already live here, and legally so. See Section
IV.A.3.b. And though she states that the analysis must include “economic considerations,” she
ignores altogether the billions Haitian TPS holders contribute to the economy. See id.
The Government’s primary response is that the TPS statute gives the Secretary
unbounded discretion to make whatever determination she wants, any way she wants. And, yes,
the statute does grant her some discretion. But not unbounded discretion. To the contrary,
Congress passed the TPS statute to standardize the then ad hoc temporary protection system—to
replace executive whim with statutory predictability. See Section I.A.
As to irreparable harm, the Government contends that, at most, the harms to Haitian TPS
holders are speculative. But the Department of State (State) warns [screenshot]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:nwnlnixtjh3qhkwpz2uy5uwv/bafkreid3cmawech25ummuj2tjvgxsrvufma2kmrijlfpglalwddd3qkikq@jpeg)
February 3, 2026 at 1:06 AM
Even if you don't have time to read all 83 pages of Judge Reyes's opinion barring the Trump administration from rescinding Temporary Protected Status for 350,000+ Haitians, please at least check out the four-page introduction.
It's a tour de force:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
It's a tour de force:
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
Reposted by Paul Slimin'
To "Yes, And" this, its p clear that Rs get to treat news media significantly more like shit than Ds do & they happily take it. A big part of what drives this is that Rs have their own media ecosystem that both pressues legacy news media & is a feeder for it. Ds need to build a parallel landscape.
yeah again, the media was very unfair to biden. sucks. now we've got trump. guess we should figure out how to manage them better in the future!
I think one of the lessons of the Biden era is that, while the media (and especially those at the top of it) are often contemptible, it's a beast you must carefully manage rather than try and shut out
January 30, 2026 at 4:57 PM
To "Yes, And" this, its p clear that Rs get to treat news media significantly more like shit than Ds do & they happily take it. A big part of what drives this is that Rs have their own media ecosystem that both pressues legacy news media & is a feeder for it. Ds need to build a parallel landscape.
I think that what’s going on re: funding discourse is that the people who recognize Democratic politicians are bad at messaging don’t trust them on legislative strategy, and the people who see the logic/soundness of Democratic legislative strategy then aren’t as bothered by the bad messaging.
January 30, 2026 at 12:14 AM
I think that what’s going on re: funding discourse is that the people who recognize Democratic politicians are bad at messaging don’t trust them on legislative strategy, and the people who see the logic/soundness of Democratic legislative strategy then aren’t as bothered by the bad messaging.
Unimpressed by this essay arguing against sanctions. Smaller issues aside, it needs to engage more with the demonstrated failure of economic rapprochement in order to make an effective point on this.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
Sanctions are the quieter sibling of warfare – with civilians as collateral damage | Kenneth Mohammed
In the Caribbean and Latin America, the lived reality of these measures – presented in the language of diplomacy – is stark
www.theguardian.com
January 28, 2026 at 12:44 PM
Unimpressed by this essay arguing against sanctions. Smaller issues aside, it needs to engage more with the demonstrated failure of economic rapprochement in order to make an effective point on this.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...
Reposted by Paul Slimin'
This is one of those things that in another administration couldve been a months long scandal if the media wanted it to be. call it AgentGate. What did Bondi know and when did she know it? Weeks of opinion pieces etc etc.
Breaking NYT:
The FBI agent who sought to investigate the federal immigration officer who fatally shot Renee Good has resigned from the bureau, according to two people familiar with the matter, after leadership pressured her to discontinue a civil rights inquiry into the officer.
The FBI agent who sought to investigate the federal immigration officer who fatally shot Renee Good has resigned from the bureau, according to two people familiar with the matter, after leadership pressured her to discontinue a civil rights inquiry into the officer.
F.B.I. Agent Who Tried to Investigate ICE Officer in Shooting Resigns
www.nytimes.com
January 24, 2026 at 5:39 AM
This is one of those things that in another administration couldve been a months long scandal if the media wanted it to be. call it AgentGate. What did Bondi know and when did she know it? Weeks of opinion pieces etc etc.
Reposted by Paul Slimin'
The share of Americans who disapprove of ICE tactics in polls: 60+ percent
New York Times: “it’s really too complicated to say whether Americans approve of ICE killing Renee Good or not”
New York Times: “it’s really too complicated to say whether Americans approve of ICE killing Renee Good or not”
January 24, 2026 at 12:22 PM
The share of Americans who disapprove of ICE tactics in polls: 60+ percent
New York Times: “it’s really too complicated to say whether Americans approve of ICE killing Renee Good or not”
New York Times: “it’s really too complicated to say whether Americans approve of ICE killing Renee Good or not”
Reposted by Paul Slimin'
He was later asked by a reporter why he said the military is "off the table" for Greenland and replied "we'll see what happens" before adding "The military is not on the table" because he doesn't "think it will be necessary."
January 21, 2026 at 4:47 PM
He was later asked by a reporter why he said the military is "off the table" for Greenland and replied "we'll see what happens" before adding "The military is not on the table" because he doesn't "think it will be necessary."
Reposted by Paul Slimin'
fwiw this is the kind of stuff that is going to get us through, not playing rambo
Minneapolis and Saint Paul have basically mobilized into a war economy of mutual aid and non-violent defense. I’ve never seen anything like it, even during Covid. People who barely vote are guarding their schools from ICE and doing the shopping for neighbors in hiding.
This is so smart. I’m so impressed with all the different ways you’re helping your neighbors.
January 20, 2026 at 1:34 AM
fwiw this is the kind of stuff that is going to get us through, not playing rambo
Bernie’s messaging under Trump II barely distinguishes itself from Chuck Schumer’s.
i feel like Americans don't get the level of eye-rolling this is getting from Europe
January 19, 2026 at 9:52 PM
Bernie’s messaging under Trump II barely distinguishes itself from Chuck Schumer’s.
I’m skeptical of this approach because it still grants the conservative premise that immigration is a problem the government must get tougher on, something that never works for left parties in other countries.
I think Democrats should claim that they're going to make immigration tougher, and then simply describe a better version of system when asked about it. Polling consistently shows that the public wants to get tougher, and also that their version of tougher is *weaker than the actual system now.*
January 19, 2026 at 3:30 PM
I’m skeptical of this approach because it still grants the conservative premise that immigration is a problem the government must get tougher on, something that never works for left parties in other countries.
Why did Randy Barnett even bother to warn against the horrors of common good constitutionalism if he was just going to allow the flimsiest of originalist pretexts to justify a sweeping fascist transformation anyway?
Three generations of law professors making history up is enough.
Scholars spend decades researching and writing history with nuance and care.
American law professors will take a couple of months to relearn all of science to explain why the world is, in fact, flat.
Scholars spend decades researching and writing history with nuance and care.
American law professors will take a couple of months to relearn all of science to explain why the world is, in fact, flat.
January 17, 2026 at 4:46 AM
Why did Randy Barnett even bother to warn against the horrors of common good constitutionalism if he was just going to allow the flimsiest of originalist pretexts to justify a sweeping fascist transformation anyway?
Reposted by Paul Slimin'
There is a vast elite conspiracy to infiltrate and manipulate mainstream news organizations and the reason Nuzzi kept failing upwards into better and better gigs is because she was part of it
it is true that Lizza is not an entirely good faith actor himself; it is also true that this is a massive journalistic scandal of the kind that gets no attention because it implicates the entire decision making process of the powerful. www.telos.news/p/part-9-cov...
Part 9: Cover-up
Combat Journalism
www.telos.news
January 17, 2026 at 3:51 AM
There is a vast elite conspiracy to infiltrate and manipulate mainstream news organizations and the reason Nuzzi kept failing upwards into better and better gigs is because she was part of it
It’s actually remarkable that Newsom is worse at pretending to have beliefs than even many Republicans. He’s been doing this for years, you’d think he would have learned a thing or two.
very cool!
January 16, 2026 at 4:45 AM
It’s actually remarkable that Newsom is worse at pretending to have beliefs than even many Republicans. He’s been doing this for years, you’d think he would have learned a thing or two.
Reposted by Paul Slimin'
Witnesses in Iran comparing (in private coms to diaspora analysts) the violence now against past protest suppression. Said in past used batons, even armed units fired cautiously. This time sustained and constant fire at full volume against crowds, including with machine guns.
January 16, 2026 at 1:09 AM
Witnesses in Iran comparing (in private coms to diaspora analysts) the violence now against past protest suppression. Said in past used batons, even armed units fired cautiously. This time sustained and constant fire at full volume against crowds, including with machine guns.
Reposted by Paul Slimin'
hesitant to step in on this but I think people pushing for armed resistance really need to think about the goals of armed resistance and the mechanisms by which it could possibly achieve those goals.
January 15, 2026 at 6:02 PM
hesitant to step in on this but I think people pushing for armed resistance really need to think about the goals of armed resistance and the mechanisms by which it could possibly achieve those goals.
Reposted by Paul Slimin'
“The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise - with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.”
- Abraham Lincoln, 1862
- Abraham Lincoln, 1862
January 14, 2026 at 7:19 PM
“The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise - with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.”
- Abraham Lincoln, 1862
- Abraham Lincoln, 1862
Reposted by Paul Slimin'
We're gonna need to indict and imprison any gulf aristos involved in this shit. And yes, if that means using force or the threat of it on Qatar, that means that. This is a plot to destroy the most essential authority of the United States Congress--the power of the purse.
Seizure ... by whom? If we're asserting that the money is safer in Qatar than the US, that suggests that it is being protected because Qatar has something the US lacks — presumably a lack of accountability to American courts and Congress. www.semafor.com/article/01/1...
January 14, 2026 at 7:40 PM
We're gonna need to indict and imprison any gulf aristos involved in this shit. And yes, if that means using force or the threat of it on Qatar, that means that. This is a plot to destroy the most essential authority of the United States Congress--the power of the purse.
Reposted by Paul Slimin'
What's happening in Iran is eclipsing the Tiananmen Square crackdown in casualties already.
January 14, 2026 at 10:40 AM
What's happening in Iran is eclipsing the Tiananmen Square crackdown in casualties already.
Reposted by Paul Slimin'
coming around to this "primary everyone" perspective
Goldman: Until DHS reins in this rogue and authoritarian ICE secret police force, there should be no more funding provided to DHS.
January 13, 2026 at 9:52 PM
coming around to this "primary everyone" perspective
Reposted by Paul Slimin'
Third Way staking out a position which will very shortly be to the right of the nation's official Dumbest Guy You Know podcaster is so funny. A continental plate drifting a few mm a year could outmaneuver these losers
ICE may be shooting people in the face, sending people to concentration camps, and illegally occupying our cities but, apparently, the Democrats think saying, "abolish ICE" is "emotional" and politically "lethal."
January 13, 2026 at 10:24 PM
Third Way staking out a position which will very shortly be to the right of the nation's official Dumbest Guy You Know podcaster is so funny. A continental plate drifting a few mm a year could outmaneuver these losers
Follow this link to quickly send your electeds a letter urging them to action against the regime in Iran.
January 13, 2026 at 9:54 PM
Follow this link to quickly send your electeds a letter urging them to action against the regime in Iran.
Reposted by Paul Slimin'
Reading estimates of 2000-12000 dead in Iran as govt cracks down. Insane
FREE IRAN. Down with the regime
FREE IRAN. Down with the regime
January 13, 2026 at 6:36 PM
Reading estimates of 2000-12000 dead in Iran as govt cracks down. Insane
FREE IRAN. Down with the regime
FREE IRAN. Down with the regime