Ron Schmidt
@rschmidt65.bsky.social
Maine professor, Machiavelli whisperer, Elle’s dad
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
ICE raided a James Beard award winning restaurant & because the chef/owner was prepared, left emptyhanded:
December 5, 2025 at 3:24 PM
ICE raided a James Beard award winning restaurant & because the chef/owner was prepared, left emptyhanded:
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
If this is what we know about the place, imagine what hasn’t even come out yet
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Torture Techniques from CIA Black Sites Were Used at Alligator Alcatraz
Amnesty International, interviewing migrant detainees, identifies use of the confinement box. There can be no denying it is a torture prison
www.forever-wars.com
December 9, 2025 at 2:40 PM
If this is what we know about the place, imagine what hasn’t even come out yet
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
I really can't emphasize enough that if you care about local politics, all you gotta do is show up. Just a regular schmegular person showing up. Literally just show up consistently in person and within a remarkably short amount of time, you will have a shocking amount of influence.
December 5, 2025 at 6:07 AM
I really can't emphasize enough that if you care about local politics, all you gotta do is show up. Just a regular schmegular person showing up. Literally just show up consistently in person and within a remarkably short amount of time, you will have a shocking amount of influence.
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
and judge pan gets at what i was gesturing towards earlier today: that this idea that the purpose of the executive branch is to effectuate the political agenda of the president is extra-constitutional. it has no basis in the text or the history for that matter!
December 5, 2025 at 5:12 PM
and judge pan gets at what i was gesturing towards earlier today: that this idea that the purpose of the executive branch is to effectuate the political agenda of the president is extra-constitutional. it has no basis in the text or the history for that matter!
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
Funny someone seems to have clipped the "Therefore I will...." portion of this tweet.
December 5, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Funny someone seems to have clipped the "Therefore I will...." portion of this tweet.
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
This raises my blood pressure: "I declined because A.C.I.P. seems to have shifted its mission away from science and evidence-based medicine.” ACIP's membership is chosen by a political appointee who answers to the president. ACIP didn't dismiss 17 experts and fill their slots with hacks. RFKjr did.
Panel Votes to End Recommendation for Hepatitis B Shots for All Newborns
www.nytimes.com
December 5, 2025 at 6:17 PM
This raises my blood pressure: "I declined because A.C.I.P. seems to have shifted its mission away from science and evidence-based medicine.” ACIP's membership is chosen by a political appointee who answers to the president. ACIP didn't dismiss 17 experts and fill their slots with hacks. RFKjr did.
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
oh wow did he also war crime those kids????
December 1, 2025 at 8:02 PM
oh wow did he also war crime those kids????
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
Department of Defense Law of War Manual, Sec. 18.3.2.1 states the "requirement" to refuse illegal orders.
What’s its key example? Wait for it . . . It’s "orders to fire upon the shipwrecked."
What’s its key example? Wait for it . . . It’s "orders to fire upon the shipwrecked."
December 1, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Department of Defense Law of War Manual, Sec. 18.3.2.1 states the "requirement" to refuse illegal orders.
What’s its key example? Wait for it . . . It’s "orders to fire upon the shipwrecked."
What’s its key example? Wait for it . . . It’s "orders to fire upon the shipwrecked."
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
I need everybody to read this and understand what’s going on. These are spouses of US citizens in the country legally. They have entry clearance and green cards, they’ve passed background checks and have no criminal records. ICE is taking them anyway.
Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Green Card Interviews End in Handcuffs for Spouses of U.S. Citizens
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:40 PM
I need everybody to read this and understand what’s going on. These are spouses of US citizens in the country legally. They have entry clearance and green cards, they’ve passed background checks and have no criminal records. ICE is taking them anyway.
Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Gift link:
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/26/u...
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
This is what we mean when we say there is no policy-making process, and that it's way dangerous.
In normal administrations, the White House Chief of Staff would try to do something about this.
In normal administrations, the White House Chief of Staff would try to do something about this.
The plan was leaked by the Russians and no one in America’s historically inept administration knew what anyone else was doing so people started getting behind it because they thought it was official policy.
Putin totally played the US, knowing full well he was up against incompetents and idiots.
Putin totally played the US, knowing full well he was up against incompetents and idiots.
November 23, 2025 at 6:50 AM
This is what we mean when we say there is no policy-making process, and that it's way dangerous.
In normal administrations, the White House Chief of Staff would try to do something about this.
In normal administrations, the White House Chief of Staff would try to do something about this.
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
My local public library, with stacks of KNOW YOUR RIGHTS fliers and laminated DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR cards, is more than prepared for Greg Bovino to parade his stormtroopers through lower Manhattan. Bring it on, cabrón.
November 20, 2025 at 10:24 PM
My local public library, with stacks of KNOW YOUR RIGHTS fliers and laminated DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR cards, is more than prepared for Greg Bovino to parade his stormtroopers through lower Manhattan. Bring it on, cabrón.
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
And I'll add as usual that if you are a political scientist doing public-facing writing, I want to link to you. I miss stuff all the time, so please let me know. Also, if you enjoy my weekly links posts, click on a few links; that's how I know that it's worth continuing to do them.
November 16, 2025 at 8:45 PM
And I'll add as usual that if you are a political scientist doing public-facing writing, I want to link to you. I miss stuff all the time, so please let me know. Also, if you enjoy my weekly links posts, click on a few links; that's how I know that it's worth continuing to do them.
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
Trump's illegal murders in the Caribbean just got worse. An internal DOJ memo on the bombings says the victims are waging war on the US, but per NYT, it extensively cites the WH's *own claims* to this effect as evidence!
It gets even darker than that. 1/
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2032...
It gets even darker than that. 1/
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2032...
Trump Boat Bombings Take Dark, Unnerving Turn with Leaked Memo Stunner
A new Trump administration memo argues that those carrying out the boat attacks can’t be prosecuted. Why? Because the administration says so!
newrepublic.com
November 15, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Trump's illegal murders in the Caribbean just got worse. An internal DOJ memo on the bombings says the victims are waging war on the US, but per NYT, it extensively cites the WH's *own claims* to this effect as evidence!
It gets even darker than that. 1/
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2032...
It gets even darker than that. 1/
(new piece)
newrepublic.com/article/2032...
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
Remember the recent middle-of-the-night apartment building raid where children were dragged outside naked & zip-tied in the street while black & Latino residents were _sorted by race_ and piled into separate vans while their apartments were ransacked & robbed? That raid? So it resulted in 0 arrests.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem should resign and be criminally charged, according to critics who seized on a report revealing that zero people who were arrested in a high-profile raid were charged with a crime.
'Noem should resign over this': Fury over alleged DHS 'child kidnapping and trafficking'
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem should resign and be criminally charged, according to critics who seized on a report revealing that zero people who were arrested in a high-profile raid were charged with a crime.ProPublica recently reported on the DHS raid on an apartment building that was al...
bit.ly
November 16, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Remember the recent middle-of-the-night apartment building raid where children were dragged outside naked & zip-tied in the street while black & Latino residents were _sorted by race_ and piled into separate vans while their apartments were ransacked & robbed? That raid? So it resulted in 0 arrests.
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
Those claiming Dems should retreat on racial justice aren't hard-headed realists, they're pushing against the electoral tide rather than leaning into it. The story of Gen Z isn't about racist backlash or red-pilled young men. It's the most racially progressive generation in American history. 🧵
November 14, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Those claiming Dems should retreat on racial justice aren't hard-headed realists, they're pushing against the electoral tide rather than leaning into it. The story of Gen Z isn't about racist backlash or red-pilled young men. It's the most racially progressive generation in American history. 🧵
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
Struck this morning by how the win wasn’t from the UC system itself pushing back—it was its worker power through *unions* and aligned groups like @aaup.org defending UC interests, even though admin itself wasn’t.
There’s some kind of lesson here
There’s some kind of lesson here
One reason why elite schools (Columbia, Brown, Cornell) caving to Trump’s illegal impoundment and extortion is so galling — a betrayal, really — is that they would have won had they fought. By giving up, they guaranteed every other school will have to fight harder.
Judge bars Trump from immediately cutting funding to the University of California | CNN Politics
The Trump administration cannot immediately cut federal funding to the University of California or issue fines against the school system over claims it allows antisemitism or other forms of discrimina...
www.cnn.com
November 15, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Struck this morning by how the win wasn’t from the UC system itself pushing back—it was its worker power through *unions* and aligned groups like @aaup.org defending UC interests, even though admin itself wasn’t.
There’s some kind of lesson here
There’s some kind of lesson here
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
"This represents saving higher education, saving public research and the standing up of faculty, staff and students,"
— Veena Dubal, AAUP General Counsel & law professor at the University of California, Irvine.
#DefendHigherEd
— Veena Dubal, AAUP General Counsel & law professor at the University of California, Irvine.
#DefendHigherEd
Judge Orders Trump Not to Threaten University of California’s Funding
www.nytimes.com
November 15, 2025 at 3:29 PM
"This represents saving higher education, saving public research and the standing up of faculty, staff and students,"
— Veena Dubal, AAUP General Counsel & law professor at the University of California, Irvine.
#DefendHigherEd
— Veena Dubal, AAUP General Counsel & law professor at the University of California, Irvine.
#DefendHigherEd
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
As the top Democrat overseeing the National Endowment for the Humanities, I’ve spent the past few months digging into the Administration’s unprecedented dismantling of the agency.
What I found reveals a disturbing pattern of corruption.
What I found reveals a disturbing pattern of corruption.
Fired Scholars and Big Grants to Favored Projects: Inside Trump’s N.E.H.
www.nytimes.com
November 15, 2025 at 4:22 PM
As the top Democrat overseeing the National Endowment for the Humanities, I’ve spent the past few months digging into the Administration’s unprecedented dismantling of the agency.
What I found reveals a disturbing pattern of corruption.
What I found reveals a disturbing pattern of corruption.
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
Rape is the distillation of the far-right worldview that Trump embodies: a gleefully sadistic act of domination carried out as fulfillment of a supposedly natural hierarchy. It would be weird if Trump wasn’t a rapist, given his ideological commitments—which is before you get to all the accusations.
i mean c’mon. the president’s best friend was the most notorious pedo in the country’s history who ran a massive child trafficking ring. every bit of circumstantial evidence we have says that trump was a participant. if this were a criminal trial we’d have enough evidence to compel a plea deal.
November 12, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Rape is the distillation of the far-right worldview that Trump embodies: a gleefully sadistic act of domination carried out as fulfillment of a supposedly natural hierarchy. It would be weird if Trump wasn’t a rapist, given his ideological commitments—which is before you get to all the accusations.
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
💙
This Veterans Day, Americans may like to know a wide coalition of Dutch political parties in Limburg are fighting back against the removal of 2 panels commemorating black veterans at Margraten US WOII cemetery ↘️ www.dutchnews.nl/2025/11/call...
Calls for permanent memorial in Limburg to black US liberators - DutchNews.nl
Provincial councillors in Limburg have called for a permanent memorial to black American servicemen to be erected next to the US war cemetery in Margraten after it emerged that panels commemorating th...
www.dutchnews.nl
November 11, 2025 at 3:52 PM
💙
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
When Nancy Pelosi stepped down as Speaker I was asked to evaluate her time as leader, which was really exciting until the scope and scale of that task began to settle in. Put simply, she is among the greatest speakers in House history. www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
Speaker Nancy Pelosi: A Master of the House
This article analyzes the record of Nancy Pelosi’s four terms as Speaker of the House of Representatives. It evaluates her performance through three main lenses: as a party leader, institutional leade...
www.degruyterbrill.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:40 PM
When Nancy Pelosi stepped down as Speaker I was asked to evaluate her time as leader, which was really exciting until the scope and scale of that task began to settle in. Put simply, she is among the greatest speakers in House history. www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
So much to say about Nancy Pelosi, now retiring
Plausibly the most effective House leader of modern times
A telling episode, from early 2010 when Democrats were *this* close to giving up on what eventually became the ACA
us.macmillan.com/books/978125...
Plausibly the most effective House leader of modern times
A telling episode, from early 2010 when Democrats were *this* close to giving up on what eventually became the ACA
us.macmillan.com/books/978125...
November 6, 2025 at 2:51 PM
So much to say about Nancy Pelosi, now retiring
Plausibly the most effective House leader of modern times
A telling episode, from early 2010 when Democrats were *this* close to giving up on what eventually became the ACA
us.macmillan.com/books/978125...
Plausibly the most effective House leader of modern times
A telling episode, from early 2010 when Democrats were *this* close to giving up on what eventually became the ACA
us.macmillan.com/books/978125...
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
I see Dick Cheney's death has been pushed lower on the NYT page by a new top story about a GOP president deciding which half-assed plan to use for regime change in Venezuela and what a nice tribute to him really. Justifying it based on a drug that Venezuela doesn't traffic in is a great touch.
November 4, 2025 at 7:26 PM
I see Dick Cheney's death has been pushed lower on the NYT page by a new top story about a GOP president deciding which half-assed plan to use for regime change in Venezuela and what a nice tribute to him really. Justifying it based on a drug that Venezuela doesn't traffic in is a great touch.
Reposted by Ron Schmidt
the actual contrast is between spanberger/mamdani (focused message, vigorous campaigns) and sherrill (unfocused, half-hearted)
November 4, 2025 at 1:37 PM
the actual contrast is between spanberger/mamdani (focused message, vigorous campaigns) and sherrill (unfocused, half-hearted)