Joseph Britt
@zathras5.bsky.social
Wisconsin and the world. Opinions my own. Once a Republican.
Pinned
Joseph Britt
@zathras5.bsky.social
· Mar 20
For the white, against the colored.
For the rich, against the rest.
For the dictator, against the democracy.
These are not the only principles of the Republican Party in the 2020s, but they are the main ones. They are the first fruits of decadence.
For the rich, against the rest.
For the dictator, against the democracy.
These are not the only principles of the Republican Party in the 2020s, but they are the main ones. They are the first fruits of decadence.
Nichols, a former Naval War College lecturer who helped design Cold War history courses taught at Harvard, knows better than most how absurd are the defense secretary’s attacks on Ivy League universities. He has the grace not to mention Hegseth’s haircut, which would give anyone social anxiety.
Hegseth, among others, is using the school as a punching bag to express the generic social anxiety and status-based resentment that drives much of the MAGA movement.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Pete Hegseth’s Attack on Harvard
The anger at the Ivy League is about status envy, not war-fighting.
www.theatlantic.com
February 10, 2026 at 5:13 PM
Nichols, a former Naval War College lecturer who helped design Cold War history courses taught at Harvard, knows better than most how absurd are the defense secretary’s attacks on Ivy League universities. He has the grace not to mention Hegseth’s haircut, which would give anyone social anxiety.
I thought so. Thanks.
February 10, 2026 at 4:50 PM
I thought so. Thanks.
Reposted by Joseph Britt
In Kenya, American funds had helped feed hundreds of thousands of refugees. When it was cut, children starved.
In South Sudan, U.S. aid had been helping to stave off a cholera epidemic. Then the disease came roaring back.
Tomorrow at 4 pm ET, join us for a discussion about the gutting of USAID:
In South Sudan, U.S. aid had been helping to stave off a cholera epidemic. Then the disease came roaring back.
Tomorrow at 4 pm ET, join us for a discussion about the gutting of USAID:
ProPublica Event: Inside the Destruction of the U.S. Agency for International Development
Join ProPublica journalists for a conversation about the dismantling of U.S. foreign aid worldwide.
events.propublica.org
February 10, 2026 at 4:47 PM
In Kenya, American funds had helped feed hundreds of thousands of refugees. When it was cut, children starved.
In South Sudan, U.S. aid had been helping to stave off a cholera epidemic. Then the disease came roaring back.
Tomorrow at 4 pm ET, join us for a discussion about the gutting of USAID:
In South Sudan, U.S. aid had been helping to stave off a cholera epidemic. Then the disease came roaring back.
Tomorrow at 4 pm ET, join us for a discussion about the gutting of USAID:
Haven’t these studies been around for a while? The citizenship question was a big project of Trump’s first-term Commerce Department as well.
February 10, 2026 at 4:30 PM
Haven’t these studies been around for a while? The citizenship question was a big project of Trump’s first-term Commerce Department as well.
There is a lot more scientific evidence supporting the 2009 endangerment finding than there was in 2009. Nevertheless, though climate change is real enough to already have done great damage it is a “hoax,” so declared by talk radio, evangelists, and the President. Via @michaelemann.bsky.social
"Trump set to gut U.S. climate change policy and environmental regulations" by Matthew Daly and @seungminkim1.bsky.social for the @apnews.com: apnews.com/article/trum...
Trump set to gut U.S. climate change policy and environmental regulations: White House official
The Trump administration is expected this week to revoke a scientific finding that long has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change accordi...
apnews.com
February 10, 2026 at 2:56 PM
There is a lot more scientific evidence supporting the 2009 endangerment finding than there was in 2009. Nevertheless, though climate change is real enough to already have done great damage it is a “hoax,” so declared by talk radio, evangelists, and the President. Via @michaelemann.bsky.social
Reposted by Joseph Britt
State of play in negotiations to fund the Department of Homeland Security, by Politico via @clarajeffery.bsky.social. If you require judicial warrants, your secret police won’t be secret anymore. Plus, the 4th Amendment is woke. Such is the Trump Republican position.
This is literally what CURRENT LAW requires. It’s in the Constitution! www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
February 10, 2026 at 4:10 AM
State of play in negotiations to fund the Department of Homeland Security, by Politico via @clarajeffery.bsky.social. If you require judicial warrants, your secret police won’t be secret anymore. Plus, the 4th Amendment is woke. Such is the Trump Republican position.
The media didn’t make American voters forget thousands of their friends and neighbors dying every day when Trump’s last term as President ended, or the economy collapsing as it had not since, well, George W. Bush was President.
I can boo the media as loudly as anyone, but voters can fail. And did.
I can boo the media as loudly as anyone, but voters can fail. And did.
February 10, 2026 at 4:38 AM
The media didn’t make American voters forget thousands of their friends and neighbors dying every day when Trump’s last term as President ended, or the economy collapsing as it had not since, well, George W. Bush was President.
I can boo the media as loudly as anyone, but voters can fail. And did.
I can boo the media as loudly as anyone, but voters can fail. And did.
None of my relatives are in Italy, but two of them have gotten COVID within the past week. It’s still around.
At parts of the Winter Olympics in Italy, COVID precautions remain, grounded in the reality that respiratory illness is still circulating. When your lungs are your livelihood, prevention is part of performance.
#COVID #COVID19 #PublicHealth #InfectionPrevention #Olympics #LongCOVID #MaskUp #N95
#COVID #COVID19 #PublicHealth #InfectionPrevention #Olympics #LongCOVID #MaskUp #N95
February 10, 2026 at 4:30 AM
None of my relatives are in Italy, but two of them have gotten COVID within the past week. It’s still around.
Like Megyn Kelly is a football fan. Bet you anything she doesn’t even watch film, and couldn’t tell 11 from 13 personnel if her life depended on it.
February 10, 2026 at 4:24 AM
Like Megyn Kelly is a football fan. Bet you anything she doesn’t even watch film, and couldn’t tell 11 from 13 personnel if her life depended on it.
State of play in negotiations to fund the Department of Homeland Security, by Politico via @clarajeffery.bsky.social. If you require judicial warrants, your secret police won’t be secret anymore. Plus, the 4th Amendment is woke. Such is the Trump Republican position.
This is literally what CURRENT LAW requires. It’s in the Constitution! www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
February 10, 2026 at 4:10 AM
State of play in negotiations to fund the Department of Homeland Security, by Politico via @clarajeffery.bsky.social. If you require judicial warrants, your secret police won’t be secret anymore. Plus, the 4th Amendment is woke. Such is the Trump Republican position.
Reposted by Joseph Britt
NEW: An immigration court has terminated removal proceedings against Tufts doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk, finding that DHS did not meet its burden of establishing that she was removable, her lawyers tell the Second Circuit. live-awp-vermont.pantheonsite.io/app/uploads/...
February 9, 2026 at 11:38 PM
NEW: An immigration court has terminated removal proceedings against Tufts doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk, finding that DHS did not meet its burden of establishing that she was removable, her lawyers tell the Second Circuit. live-awp-vermont.pantheonsite.io/app/uploads/...
Huh. Nothing about Bad Bunny. He’s slipping.
Does Trump even know the bridge will be named after Bad Bunny? The BBB. The Chinese will arrange for all the signage to be in Spanish, to confuse everyone. Well that’s what I heard.
Does Trump even know the bridge will be named after Bad Bunny? The BBB. The Chinese will arrange for all the signage to be in Spanish, to confuse everyone. Well that’s what I heard.
February 9, 2026 at 11:56 PM
Huh. Nothing about Bad Bunny. He’s slipping.
Does Trump even know the bridge will be named after Bad Bunny? The BBB. The Chinese will arrange for all the signage to be in Spanish, to confuse everyone. Well that’s what I heard.
Does Trump even know the bridge will be named after Bad Bunny? The BBB. The Chinese will arrange for all the signage to be in Spanish, to confuse everyone. Well that’s what I heard.
One reason that Tom Homan person was able to announce ICE would be withdrawing 700 agents from Minneapolis last week. They are seizing migrants, or people who look like they could be migrants, across the border in Hudson, Baldwin and other communities in Wisconsin. By @henry-redman.bsky.social
Scoop from @henry-redman.bsky.social, who has been in Western Wisconsin & Minneapolis all week: Twin Cities ICE presence extends into Wisconsin
wisconsinexaminer.com/2026/02/06/t...
wisconsinexaminer.com/2026/02/06/t...
Twin Cities ICE presence extends into Wisconsin • Wisconsin Examiner
ICE agents involved in the agency's surge into Minnesota have regularly crossed the border into nearby western Wisconsin communities.
wisconsinexaminer.com
February 9, 2026 at 11:50 PM
One reason that Tom Homan person was able to announce ICE would be withdrawing 700 agents from Minneapolis last week. They are seizing migrants, or people who look like they could be migrants, across the border in Hudson, Baldwin and other communities in Wisconsin. By @henry-redman.bsky.social
Thread. Concentration camps in prospect: @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social on a Trump administration spending spree. It’s buying up commercial properties, taking them off local property tax rolls, with plans to have private companies warehouse tens of thousands of people caught up in immigrant hunts.
ICE has now spent over half a BILLION dollars just on purchasing warehouses around the country to convert into detention camps.
If these mega-camps are utilized to the full capacity ICE intends, they'll be the largest prisons in the country, with little real oversight. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
If these mega-camps are utilized to the full capacity ICE intends, they'll be the largest prisons in the country, with little real oversight. www.ajc.com/politics/202...
ICE to begin detaining immigrants inside Social Circle warehouse in April
Homeland Security plans to build warehouse detention facilities in other cities being met with opposition.
www.ajc.com
February 9, 2026 at 8:15 PM
Thread. Concentration camps in prospect: @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social on a Trump administration spending spree. It’s buying up commercial properties, taking them off local property tax rolls, with plans to have private companies warehouse tens of thousands of people caught up in immigrant hunts.
….with so-called popularists, but wonder whether the differences between them are more than merely tactical & doubt that tactical improvements will be enough — not to reduce the number of Trump Republicans in the House & Senate this year, but to construct something better and more durable afterward.
February 9, 2026 at 7:46 PM
….with so-called popularists, but wonder whether the differences between them are more than merely tactical & doubt that tactical improvements will be enough — not to reduce the number of Trump Republicans in the House & Senate this year, but to construct something better and more durable afterward.
If we are to move past Trump and the grave danger to democracy he and his personality cult represent, the culture must change.
Any strategy to overcome decadence must have a moral component, or the strategy will sputter to a halt. I acknowledge the faults Grumbach and Bonica find….
Any strategy to overcome decadence must have a moral component, or the strategy will sputter to a halt. I acknowledge the faults Grumbach and Bonica find….
February 9, 2026 at 7:46 PM
If we are to move past Trump and the grave danger to democracy he and his personality cult represent, the culture must change.
Any strategy to overcome decadence must have a moral component, or the strategy will sputter to a halt. I acknowledge the faults Grumbach and Bonica find….
Any strategy to overcome decadence must have a moral component, or the strategy will sputter to a halt. I acknowledge the faults Grumbach and Bonica find….
….toward trying to make corruption an electoral issue, though I’m not entirely clear why they think it should be or how they hope to succeed. Otherwise, though, they seem a little obtuse as to how completely Trump and Trump Republicans are products of our time and our culture.
February 9, 2026 at 7:46 PM
….toward trying to make corruption an electoral issue, though I’m not entirely clear why they think it should be or how they hope to succeed. Otherwise, though, they seem a little obtuse as to how completely Trump and Trump Republicans are products of our time and our culture.
None of these were disqualifying, for Republican voters or for Democrats. Indeed, most of them seemed to matter very little to anyone; Trump’s prolific posting on social media was probably more controversial.
I commend @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social & @adambonica.bsky.social for at least gesturing….
I commend @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social & @adambonica.bsky.social for at least gesturing….
February 9, 2026 at 7:46 PM
None of these were disqualifying, for Republican voters or for Democrats. Indeed, most of them seemed to matter very little to anyone; Trump’s prolific posting on social media was probably more controversial.
I commend @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social & @adambonica.bsky.social for at least gesturing….
I commend @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social & @adambonica.bsky.social for at least gesturing….
He owned beauty pageants. He had a long record as a notably dishonest businessman. He publicly asked for, and received, Russian help to get elected. His first term as President featured unprecedented corruption, the more jarring because both Obama and Biden ran historically clean administrations.
February 9, 2026 at 7:46 PM
He owned beauty pageants. He had a long record as a notably dishonest businessman. He publicly asked for, and received, Russian help to get elected. His first term as President featured unprecedented corruption, the more jarring because both Obama and Biden ran historically clean administrations.
Consider a few things about Trump that were true of no earlier President — because no earlier electorate would have made such a person President.
Trump has been married three times (we are setting the Epstein business to one side for now). He has a history in the gaming business.
Trump has been married three times (we are setting the Epstein business to one side for now). He has a history in the gaming business.
February 9, 2026 at 7:46 PM
Consider a few things about Trump that were true of no earlier President — because no earlier electorate would have made such a person President.
Trump has been married three times (we are setting the Epstein business to one side for now). He has a history in the gaming business.
Trump has been married three times (we are setting the Epstein business to one side for now). He has a history in the gaming business.
I find myself wondering if the “broader debate” here is quite broad enough. Accepting for the sake of discussion that some things that haven’t mattered to voters can be made to matter, how confident are we that what is important to us can or should become important to voters?
February 9, 2026 at 7:46 PM
I find myself wondering if the “broader debate” here is quite broad enough. Accepting for the sake of discussion that some things that haven’t mattered to voters can be made to matter, how confident are we that what is important to us can or should become important to voters?
Now, one response to this is what enabled Democrats to win recent elections is, first of all, familiarity — in the jargon, name ID. People vote more readily for candidates whose names they recognize. This is a powerful advantage for Sen. Schumer; it is unavailable to most non-incumbent Democrats.
February 9, 2026 at 6:37 PM
Now, one response to this is what enabled Democrats to win recent elections is, first of all, familiarity — in the jargon, name ID. People vote more readily for candidates whose names they recognize. This is a powerful advantage for Sen. Schumer; it is unavailable to most non-incumbent Democrats.
Is it? Schumer and Jeffries, as well as every Democrat now in office, won their last elections. Most Democrats holding elective office have won many elections. It seems natural they should turn first to trying what has enabled them to win in places Democrats have not won recently.
February 9, 2026 at 6:37 PM
Is it? Schumer and Jeffries, as well as every Democrat now in office, won their last elections. Most Democrats holding elective office have won many elections. It seems natural they should turn first to trying what has enabled them to win in places Democrats have not won recently.
….a personality cult like Trump’s is clearly toxic to Constitutional democracy and its institutions. People associated with it cannot be allowed the degree of power they now have if democracy is to survive. That includes essentially all Republicans now holding federal office.
February 9, 2026 at 5:40 PM
….a personality cult like Trump’s is clearly toxic to Constitutional democracy and its institutions. People associated with it cannot be allowed the degree of power they now have if democracy is to survive. That includes essentially all Republicans now holding federal office.
I think it is worth monitoring whether certain events — like Border Patrol agents gunning down white American citizens in cold blood, on camera and in broad daylight — fractures Trump’s personality cult at all. It might bear on what will happen to cult members after Trump dies. With that said….
February 9, 2026 at 5:40 PM
I think it is worth monitoring whether certain events — like Border Patrol agents gunning down white American citizens in cold blood, on camera and in broad daylight — fractures Trump’s personality cult at all. It might bear on what will happen to cult members after Trump dies. With that said….