Dr Tom Hill
@tomhjhill.bsky.social
Doctor of Wars. Former special assistant to Kofi Annan. Founder, the Center for Peace Diplomacy (CPD). Former prof at SIPA Columbia. Visiting Senior Research Fellow, Department of War Studies, KCL. www.peace-diplomacy.org
Reposted by Dr Tom Hill
Think about buying a car, a fun, stress-free negotiating process that everybody loves. Now imagine that if you don’t buy a car you die and if you buy the wrong car you also die
Trump: "I want the money to go into an account for people where they buy their own health insurance. It's so good. The insurance will be better. It'll cost less. Everybody is gonna be happy. They're gonna feel like entrepreneurs. They're actually able to go out & negotiate their own insurance"
November 11, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Think about buying a car, a fun, stress-free negotiating process that everybody loves. Now imagine that if you don’t buy a car you die and if you buy the wrong car you also die
What happens when a real estate conman takes over the global security order. Mon dieu.
November 11, 2025 at 4:48 PM
What happens when a real estate conman takes over the global security order. Mon dieu.
Reposted by Dr Tom Hill
NEW: President Trump's pardon of his alleged 2020 co-conspirators was less about shielding them from past crimes, his adversaries say, than about signaling to others that he has their back if he needs them again in 2026 or 2028.
w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
November 11, 2025 at 12:27 AM
NEW: President Trump's pardon of his alleged 2020 co-conspirators was less about shielding them from past crimes, his adversaries say, than about signaling to others that he has their back if he needs them again in 2026 or 2028.
w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
w/ @joshgerstein.bsky.social
www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Yet another “low IQ” claim about a black person.
Here’s to Mamdani following through *hard* on his stated goal of “dismantling the structures that allowed a man like Trump to accumulate power”
Here’s to Mamdani following through *hard* on his stated goal of “dismantling the structures that allowed a man like Trump to accumulate power”
Trump: "I look at Crockett -- this is a very low IQ person. And I look at somebody who comes from Somalia where they don't have anything. All they have is crime."
November 11, 2025 at 12:40 AM
Yet another “low IQ” claim about a black person.
Here’s to Mamdani following through *hard* on his stated goal of “dismantling the structures that allowed a man like Trump to accumulate power”
Here’s to Mamdani following through *hard* on his stated goal of “dismantling the structures that allowed a man like Trump to accumulate power”
Man of the people, the left behind
Trump on Newsom: "He did something even worse than that. He's now taking a big section of Palisades or some area and he's gonna build low income income where they used to have luxury housing."
November 11, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Man of the people, the left behind
Reposted by Dr Tom Hill
Jeffries: "I'm not gonna respond to any comments from randos like Dr Oz who is woefully unqualified to be in whatever position he holds in the administration. He's a joke."
November 10, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Jeffries: "I'm not gonna respond to any comments from randos like Dr Oz who is woefully unqualified to be in whatever position he holds in the administration. He's a joke."
One of the biggest structural obstacles to American authoritarianism and fascism is the country’s decentralization. One of the biggest vulnerabilities for decentralization, meanwhile, is stuff like this:
New:
On The Gateway Pundit's podcast yesterday, Stewart Rhodes announced he's relaunching the Oath Keepers
He also urged Trump to “call us up as a militia" & "order us all to come together in our counties under his command."
www.mediamatters.org/oath-keepers...
On The Gateway Pundit's podcast yesterday, Stewart Rhodes announced he's relaunching the Oath Keepers
He also urged Trump to “call us up as a militia" & "order us all to come together in our counties under his command."
www.mediamatters.org/oath-keepers...
![STEWART RHODES (FOUNDER, OATH KEEPERS): And one other thing I want to say is that President Trump, as commander in chief, always has absolute authority to call all of us up as the militia because every one of us — in federal statues defining the militia, it's every able-bodied male from age 17-45. And for us veterans, it goes up to age 64 because of our prior training and experience.
Right now, under federal statutes, President Trump can call us up as the militia if he sees it necessary, especially for three purposes: to repel invasions, to suppress insurrections, and to execute the laws of the union. And right now, we see all three of those in play.
...
And the militia is all of us. So the National Guard is part of the militia, which is why it's completely lawful for him to use the National Guard as he has, and he should do more of that, I think, across the country.
...
He could just say given the circumstances of an invasion, insurrection, and resistance against federal law being being enforced, I'm calling up the militia, ordering all the men to come together [in] every county, put the veterans in charge of training and organizing all the other men and just have them stand too and await his orders. He can do that and I think he should do that. And so that's what I'll be advocating for from him. So from the bottom, from down the rank and file, we can let President Trump know that we're ready to serve, encourage him to do that, call us up as a militia, order us all to come together in our counties under his command, which gives you complete legal sanction to do what you're doing.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:af7tqcetuyt352aolf3znlxe/bafkreialm4skuozqobejpd6vx4m6kuwsgtidxmmxvj3ftcff6otiuyohiy@jpeg)
November 10, 2025 at 5:21 PM
One of the biggest structural obstacles to American authoritarianism and fascism is the country’s decentralization. One of the biggest vulnerabilities for decentralization, meanwhile, is stuff like this:
They’re behaving like invaders
Making fun of our neighborhoods and communities is disgusting.
Greg Bovino and his masked agents are not here to make Chicago safer. As children are tear gassed and U.S. citizens detained, they are posing for photo ops and producing reality TV moments. blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/10/b...
Greg Bovino and his masked agents are not here to make Chicago safer. As children are tear gassed and U.S. citizens detained, they are posing for photo ops and producing reality TV moments. blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/10/b...
Border Patrol Agents Pose At The Bean For Apparent Photo Op
The photo op came after agents tear-gassed a Little Village street and were spotted in the area numerous times. At the Bean, one agent shouted, "Everyone say, 'Little Village!'"
blockclubchicago.org
November 10, 2025 at 5:14 PM
They’re behaving like invaders
Reposted by Dr Tom Hill
Standing up to a tyrant - who is willing to impose pain as leverage to compel loyalty or acquiescence - is hard. You can convince yourself that yielding stops the pain and brings you back to "normal".
But there is no "normal". Submission emboldens the tyrant. The threat grows.
But there is no "normal". Submission emboldens the tyrant. The threat grows.
November 10, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Standing up to a tyrant - who is willing to impose pain as leverage to compel loyalty or acquiescence - is hard. You can convince yourself that yielding stops the pain and brings you back to "normal".
But there is no "normal". Submission emboldens the tyrant. The threat grows.
But there is no "normal". Submission emboldens the tyrant. The threat grows.
Reposted by Dr Tom Hill
I’m annoyed they caved but it’s worth remembering that people like Tim Kaine have thousands and thousands of federal workers in their state, as well as the federal workers’ union, and his office would have received a deluge of demands from his voters to get those people back on payroll asap.
November 10, 2025 at 5:11 PM
I’m annoyed they caved but it’s worth remembering that people like Tim Kaine have thousands and thousands of federal workers in their state, as well as the federal workers’ union, and his office would have received a deluge of demands from his voters to get those people back on payroll asap.
Democrats and progressives should run repeat ads in Bible Belt competitive constituencies on the GOP’s preference for starving the poor, in Gospel framing. Over and over from now to the mid terms.
November 10, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Democrats and progressives should run repeat ads in Bible Belt competitive constituencies on the GOP’s preference for starving the poor, in Gospel framing. Over and over from now to the mid terms.
Taking a breath, shutdowns are showmanship that rarely, if ever, get results. They hurt everybody as the price of sending a message of “this isn’t business as usual”.
November 10, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Taking a breath, shutdowns are showmanship that rarely, if ever, get results. They hurt everybody as the price of sending a message of “this isn’t business as usual”.
Reposted by Dr Tom Hill
It’s such a bad idea, when one of his crimes was calling forth an insurrection, that he’s actually forbidden from holding the office by a constitutional provision, which a unanimous Supreme Court invented a way to turn off.
To repeat: Maybe electing a life-long criminal to an office where he can pardon other criminals wasn't such a good idea.
November 10, 2025 at 1:18 PM
It’s such a bad idea, when one of his crimes was calling forth an insurrection, that he’s actually forbidden from holding the office by a constitutional provision, which a unanimous Supreme Court invented a way to turn off.
Reposted by Dr Tom Hill
Unfortunately still true bsky.app/profile/adam...
American politics makes a lot more sense when you realize that the GOP is afraid of pissing off the GOP base, and the Dems are afraid of pissing off the GOP base, but neither party is afraid of pissing off the Dem base.
November 10, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Unfortunately still true bsky.app/profile/adam...
There absolutely will not be appetite to do this again.
The centrist argument will probably be: this is a short term (Jan 30) extension and if we don't see real movement on the ACA subsidies by then we can shut it down again. We will keep the ACA subsidies as a key issue in a election year. But not sure there will be appetite to go through this again.
November 10, 2025 at 2:38 AM
There absolutely will not be appetite to do this again.
Exactly -hardly likely those votes were against his wishes
Schumer voting no is like Susan Collins voting no on a Trump nominee. It means there were enough yes votes without him.
November 10, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Exactly -hardly likely those votes were against his wishes
Reposted by Dr Tom Hill
Reposted by Dr Tom Hill
agreeing to make a terrible deal while your main opponent is quite literally being boo'd on live tv by an entire stadium of people is the kind of political instinct you'd normally only find in a 3 week old dead goldfish
November 10, 2025 at 12:36 AM
agreeing to make a terrible deal while your main opponent is quite literally being boo'd on live tv by an entire stadium of people is the kind of political instinct you'd normally only find in a 3 week old dead goldfish
Reposted by Dr Tom Hill
Not a wartime consigliere
November 10, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Not a wartime consigliere
Big tent cannot include tent collapsers
Goddamnit, you chickenshit, turncoat Democrats. The voters gave you a mandate and a spine on Tuesday and you're about to blow it. NO!. This is your one chance to protect healthcare. Stop!
November 10, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Big tent cannot include tent collapsers
Realizing too late that 2024’s slogan “when we fight we win” was a confession
November 10, 2025 at 2:06 AM
Realizing too late that 2024’s slogan “when we fight we win” was a confession
Sacrifice hurts, but it also creates meaning - and the potential for the betrayal of the costs already felt.
The government has been shut down for 40 days—the longest in history. All Democrats have fought hard for extending the Affordable Care Act tax credits that make health care affordable for millions. I’m voting against the bill given it doesn’t extend these valuable tax credits.
November 10, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Sacrifice hurts, but it also creates meaning - and the potential for the betrayal of the costs already felt.
Reposted by Dr Tom Hill
Democrats who care about the country should not just vote no on this terrible capitulation to Trump and MAGA. They should demand a change in Dem leadership in the Senate and support primarying these folks who so clearly are not up to the challenge our country faces at this moment.
November 10, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Democrats who care about the country should not just vote no on this terrible capitulation to Trump and MAGA. They should demand a change in Dem leadership in the Senate and support primarying these folks who so clearly are not up to the challenge our country faces at this moment.
Reposted by Dr Tom Hill
I will not support a deal that does nothing to make health care more affordable.
We are in a health care emergency. A simple one-year extension of these tax credits would cost less than Donald Trump’s $40 billion bailout for Argentina.
A vote for this bill is a mistake.
We are in a health care emergency. A simple one-year extension of these tax credits would cost less than Donald Trump’s $40 billion bailout for Argentina.
A vote for this bill is a mistake.
November 10, 2025 at 1:06 AM
I will not support a deal that does nothing to make health care more affordable.
We are in a health care emergency. A simple one-year extension of these tax credits would cost less than Donald Trump’s $40 billion bailout for Argentina.
A vote for this bill is a mistake.
We are in a health care emergency. A simple one-year extension of these tax credits would cost less than Donald Trump’s $40 billion bailout for Argentina.
A vote for this bill is a mistake.
Reposted by Dr Tom Hill
look I know being an engaged citizen IS the work of democracy but it is also the work of elected officials not to create situations where everyone has to be mobilized all the time to prevent them from allowing some kind of Dickensian horror on a Sunday night while you're in between loads of laundry
November 9, 2025 at 11:37 PM
look I know being an engaged citizen IS the work of democracy but it is also the work of elected officials not to create situations where everyone has to be mobilized all the time to prevent them from allowing some kind of Dickensian horror on a Sunday night while you're in between loads of laundry