Brad Simpson
@bradleyrsimpson.bsky.social
US foreign policy, human rights, decolonization, Indonesia, UConn, DIPG dad. #DefeatDIPG
https://www.bradleyrsimpson.com
My new book from Oxford! https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-first-right-9780199944408?q=the%20first%20right&lang=en&cc=us
https://www.bradleyrsimpson.com
My new book from Oxford! https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-first-right-9780199944408?q=the%20first%20right&lang=en&cc=us
It would be a lovely irony if Elon Musk started pouring millions into endowing libraries or some shit just to show Joyce Carol Oates that he actually cares about books.
November 11, 2025 at 2:59 AM
It would be a lovely irony if Elon Musk started pouring millions into endowing libraries or some shit just to show Joyce Carol Oates that he actually cares about books.
Trump: “guys we are getting creamed here. Democrats ran the table last week, my approval ratings are in freefall. You must do something!”
Chuck Schumer: “what if Dems end the shutdown and screw millions by not extending ACA subsidies and allow you to declare victory?”
Trump: “um, ok!”
Chuck Schumer: “what if Dems end the shutdown and screw millions by not extending ACA subsidies and allow you to declare victory?”
Trump: “um, ok!”
November 10, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Trump: “guys we are getting creamed here. Democrats ran the table last week, my approval ratings are in freefall. You must do something!”
Chuck Schumer: “what if Dems end the shutdown and screw millions by not extending ACA subsidies and allow you to declare victory?”
Trump: “um, ok!”
Chuck Schumer: “what if Dems end the shutdown and screw millions by not extending ACA subsidies and allow you to declare victory?”
Trump: “um, ok!”
My sister told me yesterday she’s probably going to have to drop her health insurance because her premiums are about to quadruple without ACA subsidies. Said all of her friends are now facing the choice between paying their mortgage or their insurance premiums.
November 10, 2025 at 12:35 PM
My sister told me yesterday she’s probably going to have to drop her health insurance because her premiums are about to quadruple without ACA subsidies. Said all of her friends are now facing the choice between paying their mortgage or their insurance premiums.
Chuck Schumer, in the huddle: “Guys, this is what we’ve fought for all year! Five seconds left, fourth and goal, down by six, so here’s the play. I’m going to throw it to the other team.”
The team: wtf
The fans: wtaf
Schumer: “hear me out. After the game, we keep on fighting.”
Fans walk to exit.
The team: wtf
The fans: wtaf
Schumer: “hear me out. After the game, we keep on fighting.”
Fans walk to exit.
November 10, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Chuck Schumer, in the huddle: “Guys, this is what we’ve fought for all year! Five seconds left, fourth and goal, down by six, so here’s the play. I’m going to throw it to the other team.”
The team: wtf
The fans: wtaf
Schumer: “hear me out. After the game, we keep on fighting.”
Fans walk to exit.
The team: wtf
The fans: wtaf
Schumer: “hear me out. After the game, we keep on fighting.”
Fans walk to exit.
“Though I have pushed myself off a cliff and I’m falling to my inevitable doom, along with all of my colleagues whom I have conveniently roped myself to, we Democrats must fight, though I have guaranteed we will all die.”
Schumer: "However this vote turns out, this fight will and must continue. Democrats must fight."
November 10, 2025 at 2:07 AM
“Though I have pushed myself off a cliff and I’m falling to my inevitable doom, along with all of my colleagues whom I have conveniently roped myself to, we Democrats must fight, though I have guaranteed we will all die.”
If Chuck Schumer was ever in an action hero or spy movie, it would only last five minutes because in the first scene or two he would give the bad guy the code to the bomb and walk outside and proclaim victory to everyone right before the world blew up.
November 10, 2025 at 1:48 AM
If Chuck Schumer was ever in an action hero or spy movie, it would only last five minutes because in the first scene or two he would give the bad guy the code to the bomb and walk outside and proclaim victory to everyone right before the world blew up.
Dems basically ran the table and won every possible race on Tuesday. Were in a strong position to demand concessions and Schumer basically gave everything up for a guarantee of absofuckinglutely nothing. The worst Senate minority leader in modern history.
November 10, 2025 at 1:38 AM
Dems basically ran the table and won every possible race on Tuesday. Were in a strong position to demand concessions and Schumer basically gave everything up for a guarantee of absofuckinglutely nothing. The worst Senate minority leader in modern history.
1. Nuremberg style trials for everyone running ICE/CBP/DHS kidnapping ring
2. Primary Chuck Schumer
That’s the bare minimum for 2026.
2. Primary Chuck Schumer
That’s the bare minimum for 2026.
November 10, 2025 at 1:36 AM
1. Nuremberg style trials for everyone running ICE/CBP/DHS kidnapping ring
2. Primary Chuck Schumer
That’s the bare minimum for 2026.
2. Primary Chuck Schumer
That’s the bare minimum for 2026.
@vanhollen.senate.gov @alsobrooks.senate.gov as one of your constituents. I strongly urge you to not vote for a CR or end to the shutdown that doesn’t at the very, very least extend ACA subsidies and lock Trump into supporting them. Opening for nothing would be the highest betrayal.
November 9, 2025 at 11:37 PM
@vanhollen.senate.gov @alsobrooks.senate.gov as one of your constituents. I strongly urge you to not vote for a CR or end to the shutdown that doesn’t at the very, very least extend ACA subsidies and lock Trump into supporting them. Opening for nothing would be the highest betrayal.
UK folks - I'm giving some book talks in the UK next week:
Monday Nov. 17 Cambridge University
Tuesday Nov. 18 London School of Economics
Wed Nov. 19 Univ. of Exeter
Thurs Nov. 20 Univ. of Glasgow
DM me for more details or to grab a coffee/beer while I'm there.
bsky.app/profile/lseh...
Monday Nov. 17 Cambridge University
Tuesday Nov. 18 London School of Economics
Wed Nov. 19 Univ. of Exeter
Thurs Nov. 20 Univ. of Glasgow
DM me for more details or to grab a coffee/beer while I'm there.
bsky.app/profile/lseh...
November 9, 2025 at 10:38 PM
UK folks - I'm giving some book talks in the UK next week:
Monday Nov. 17 Cambridge University
Tuesday Nov. 18 London School of Economics
Wed Nov. 19 Univ. of Exeter
Thurs Nov. 20 Univ. of Glasgow
DM me for more details or to grab a coffee/beer while I'm there.
bsky.app/profile/lseh...
Monday Nov. 17 Cambridge University
Tuesday Nov. 18 London School of Economics
Wed Nov. 19 Univ. of Exeter
Thurs Nov. 20 Univ. of Glasgow
DM me for more details or to grab a coffee/beer while I'm there.
bsky.app/profile/lseh...
Reposted by Brad Simpson
And now, if you read the devastating piece about what Venezuelan deportees endured at the El Salvador torture prison, read what incarcerated U.S. citizens endure in Alabama prisons.
State prisons in the U.S. that are massive systems of human rights violations.
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...
State prisons in the U.S. that are massive systems of human rights violations.
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...
‘How is this possible?’: a new film looks inside the appalling abuses of the Alabama prison system
In the year’s most shocking documentary, The Alabama Solution, prisoners share astonishing footage in a plea for help
www.theguardian.com
November 9, 2025 at 4:38 PM
And now, if you read the devastating piece about what Venezuelan deportees endured at the El Salvador torture prison, read what incarcerated U.S. citizens endure in Alabama prisons.
State prisons in the U.S. that are massive systems of human rights violations.
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...
State prisons in the U.S. that are massive systems of human rights violations.
www.theguardian.com/film/2025/oc...
This, by @usempire.bsky.social, especially on Michael Anton of the Claremont Institute, is really a good description of the illiberal worldview at the heart of MAGA foreign policy thinking.
thewire.in/world/magas-... - two figures stand out as unlikely architects of a new Right Wing Order: Charlie Kirk and Michael Anton @martindbbrown.bsky.social @msenn.bsky.social @mjbayly.bsky.social @bradleyrsimpson.bsky.social @cmcknichols.bsky.social @charleskeener.bsky.social @thenation.com
MAGA’s Intellectuals: Kirk, Anton, and the Forging of Trump's America First Empire
Kirk and Anton's combined force has transformed the GOP: from Reagan's shining city on a hill to Trump's fortified bunker.
thewire.in
November 9, 2025 at 1:20 PM
This, by @usempire.bsky.social, especially on Michael Anton of the Claremont Institute, is really a good description of the illiberal worldview at the heart of MAGA foreign policy thinking.
Reposted by Brad Simpson
Reveal consistently one of the best investigative outlets uncovering systems of everyday brutality
In 2023, deputies tortured two Black men in Mississippi before shooting one of them in the mouth. And this wasn’t the first time they’d done something like this.
This week, we uncover the “Goon Squad” and its years-long reign of terror in Rankin County.
This week, we uncover the “Goon Squad” and its years-long reign of terror in Rankin County.
How a ‘Goon Squad’ of Mississippi deputies got away with years of brutality
A “Goon Squad” of Rankin County sheriff’s deputies spent years brutalizing people until their reign of terror was exposed.
revealnews.org
November 8, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Reveal consistently one of the best investigative outlets uncovering systems of everyday brutality
In related news, Sect State Marco Rubio announced US sanctions on the US for persecuting Christians and preventing them from exercising their faith.
“Federal authorities told demonstrators Friday that there would be ‘no more prayer’ in front of or inside the Broadview ICE facility, in a move that mystified local leaders and raised legal questions.” blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/07/f...
Feds Tell Faith Leaders 'No More Prayer' Outside Broadview Facility
In a possible violation of the First Amendment, federal officials instructed demonstrators to stop holding religious gatherings outside the immigration processing facility in suburban Broadview after ...
blockclubchicago.org
November 8, 2025 at 4:37 PM
In related news, Sect State Marco Rubio announced US sanctions on the US for persecuting Christians and preventing them from exercising their faith.
So how is it that Nate the Hoof Guy is all of a sudden dominating Facebook and has millions of social media followers? Maybe its the low-key vibe of someone just competently dealing with cow hoof problems in a world where it seems hard to solve the bigger problems.
November 8, 2025 at 1:18 PM
So how is it that Nate the Hoof Guy is all of a sudden dominating Facebook and has millions of social media followers? Maybe its the low-key vibe of someone just competently dealing with cow hoof problems in a world where it seems hard to solve the bigger problems.
Reposted by Brad Simpson
"'We’re seeing a velocity of killing that can only be compared to the Rwandan genocide,' Yale lab executive director Nathaniel Raymond told CNN this week, saying sources had told his lab that thousands of people were dead." www.smh.com.au/world/africa...
In fallen city stained by blood, latest images reveal grim development
New satellite images taken over El Fasher suggest the next step of a large-scale massacre is under way, as international pressure grows.
www.smh.com.au
November 7, 2025 at 12:37 AM
"'We’re seeing a velocity of killing that can only be compared to the Rwandan genocide,' Yale lab executive director Nathaniel Raymond told CNN this week, saying sources had told his lab that thousands of people were dead." www.smh.com.au/world/africa...
I am 100% convinced that sandwich guy chose his weapon keenly aware of the literary, punny, metaphorical joke possibilities that it would produce. And the people have responded.
a cartoon of a man with the words they will call us heroes above him
ALT: a cartoon of a man with the words they will call us heroes above him
media.tenor.com
November 6, 2025 at 8:42 PM
I am 100% convinced that sandwich guy chose his weapon keenly aware of the literary, punny, metaphorical joke possibilities that it would produce. And the people have responded.
Ross Douhat: did the 19th amendment ruin politics?
November 6, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Ross Douhat: did the 19th amendment ruin politics?
Mamdani is of course, not the first elected official to call for universal childcare. One of those absolute no-brainer policy stances that the Democratic Party should be promoting in every statewide race, and across the country. Child care is a public good. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
In U.S. first, New Mexico launches free child care for all
Under the program, families, regardless of income, can receive state vouchers to cover public and private child care fees.
www.nbcnews.com
November 5, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Mamdani is of course, not the first elected official to call for universal childcare. One of those absolute no-brainer policy stances that the Democratic Party should be promoting in every statewide race, and across the country. Child care is a public good. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Abolishing ice and prosecuting those ICE officials and employees who commit these crimes must be the baseline for the Democratic Party going forward. Anyone who does not adopt this basic stance is OK with you or your neighbors being kidnapped by masked men and must be driven from political life.
I don’t know how many times I’ve watched this video.
I don’t know how we’ve gotten to the point where men in full balaclavas can abduct daycare teachers while they’re watching children.
But I do know that this isn’t sustainable. Abolish ICE. There is no way to reform this.
I don’t know how we’ve gotten to the point where men in full balaclavas can abduct daycare teachers while they’re watching children.
But I do know that this isn’t sustainable. Abolish ICE. There is no way to reform this.
Federal agents pulling a woman out of Rayito Del Sol, a daycare by Lane Tech high school
November 5, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Abolishing ice and prosecuting those ICE officials and employees who commit these crimes must be the baseline for the Democratic Party going forward. Anyone who does not adopt this basic stance is OK with you or your neighbors being kidnapped by masked men and must be driven from political life.
Wondering what all the babies conceived in New York City last night are going to be called since Gen Z is already taken.
I hope that everybody celebratorily hooks up tonight
November 5, 2025 at 10:47 PM
Wondering what all the babies conceived in New York City last night are going to be called since Gen Z is already taken.
This case deserves an off Broadway play, a four or five episode mini series. The cross-examination scene alone would linger in the cinematic imagination for years.
November 5, 2025 at 10:17 PM
This case deserves an off Broadway play, a four or five episode mini series. The cross-examination scene alone would linger in the cinematic imagination for years.
Reposted by Brad Simpson
here is my story about how Zohran's focus on community amid the loneliness epidemic helped young people connect their politics to an organizing infrastructure, that interviewed ZM, and does not use the NYT's framing of "they don't know how to make friends" :-) and also ran 4 days before NYT's lol
Zohran Mamdani's Establishment-Fighting Campaign Built Community for Young People
“What Mamdani has done is not only inspire and mobilize young people, but he has exposed the establishment and some of their calcified views of participation and inclusion.”
www.teenvogue.com
November 5, 2025 at 2:14 PM
here is my story about how Zohran's focus on community amid the loneliness epidemic helped young people connect their politics to an organizing infrastructure, that interviewed ZM, and does not use the NYT's framing of "they don't know how to make friends" :-) and also ran 4 days before NYT's lol
If you want to know what a useless loser Van Jones is he was on CNN last night criticizing Mamdani for being an extremist and saying shit like this in his acceptance speech.
November 5, 2025 at 11:57 AM
If you want to know what a useless loser Van Jones is he was on CNN last night criticizing Mamdani for being an extremist and saying shit like this in his acceptance speech.