Cole
@coleburkhardt.bsky.social
Reposted by Cole
It should be bigger news that masked agents were filmed hours ago removing potentially inculpatory evidence from the ICE shooter's house, clearly lacking evidence tags or chain of custody stickers.
Before we have word on whether he underwent a toxicology screen at the hospital following the killing
Before we have word on whether he underwent a toxicology screen at the hospital following the killing
January 9, 2026 at 9:17 PM
It should be bigger news that masked agents were filmed hours ago removing potentially inculpatory evidence from the ICE shooter's house, clearly lacking evidence tags or chain of custody stickers.
Before we have word on whether he underwent a toxicology screen at the hospital following the killing
Before we have word on whether he underwent a toxicology screen at the hospital following the killing
Reposted by Cole
they didn’t leak it to make the shooter look innocent, but to make the victim look guilty. not guilty of a crime. guilty of having a visibly queer wife. guilty of liberalism. guilty of opposing the regime. they don’t seek to exonerate themselves, only to demonstrate who deserves to die.
In the video that the shooter took, which I believe was leaked to be exculpatory, he appears to yell “fucking bitch” after he shoots Renee Good.
January 9, 2026 at 7:00 PM
they didn’t leak it to make the shooter look innocent, but to make the victim look guilty. not guilty of a crime. guilty of having a visibly queer wife. guilty of liberalism. guilty of opposing the regime. they don’t seek to exonerate themselves, only to demonstrate who deserves to die.
Reposted by Cole
Trump’s primetime diatribe against immigrants is straight up unvarnished Nazi stuff
December 18, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Trump’s primetime diatribe against immigrants is straight up unvarnished Nazi stuff
Reposted by Cole
I mean... yeah. Its an ethnic cleansing campaign, and should be labeled as such.
This is the scandal. Trump isn’t targeting dangerous people. He’s targeting peaceful immigrants. Almost exclusively.
November 26, 2025 at 7:08 PM
I mean... yeah. Its an ethnic cleansing campaign, and should be labeled as such.
Reposted by Cole
Generally speaking, one should not get into a standoff with the We Love Shooting Hostages Party under the belief that the sight of suffering hostages will result in the WLSHP capitulating.
November 10, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Generally speaking, one should not get into a standoff with the We Love Shooting Hostages Party under the belief that the sight of suffering hostages will result in the WLSHP capitulating.
Reposted by Cole
"Harvard can't use race as a factor in admissions, but ICE can use race as a factor in detentions" is a retrenchment essentially to a pre-Civil War understanding of the Constitution. It's vanishingly few steps removed from "Latinos have no rights which the white man is bound to respect."
September 9, 2025 at 4:44 PM
"Harvard can't use race as a factor in admissions, but ICE can use race as a factor in detentions" is a retrenchment essentially to a pre-Civil War understanding of the Constitution. It's vanishingly few steps removed from "Latinos have no rights which the white man is bound to respect."
Reposted by Cole
The leitmotif of pretty much everything I write these days is this:
The Old Republic is done. It's over. It's pointless to talk about preserving norms and institutions. It's a waste of time to talk about creating precedents for bad actors.
The Old Republic is done. It's over. It's pointless to talk about preserving norms and institutions. It's a waste of time to talk about creating precedents for bad actors.
We basically have three options, should people who care about living in a Constitutional Republic ever regain power:
1) Unpack the Supreme Court. We're talking expanding it on the morning of the first day, confirming a slate of new justices in the afternoon;
1) Unpack the Supreme Court. We're talking expanding it on the morning of the first day, confirming a slate of new justices in the afternoon;
A new House map proposed by the Texas GOP would take 5 seats away from Democrats.
Remind me, how is this not just cheating?
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/new-house-...
Remind me, how is this not just cheating?
www.gelliottmorris.com/p/new-house-...
July 30, 2025 at 7:17 PM
The leitmotif of pretty much everything I write these days is this:
The Old Republic is done. It's over. It's pointless to talk about preserving norms and institutions. It's a waste of time to talk about creating precedents for bad actors.
The Old Republic is done. It's over. It's pointless to talk about preserving norms and institutions. It's a waste of time to talk about creating precedents for bad actors.
Reposted by Cole
We can’t say we didn’t see the atrocities coming
July 1, 2025 at 5:08 PM
We can’t say we didn’t see the atrocities coming
Reposted by Cole
7/ As usual, the dissents lay out the actual case and what is going on here. Sotomayor says the quiet part that the dissenters were trying to bring out at oral argument:
We all know that the government is not going to appeal the merits any further, because they will lose.
This is the ballgame.
We all know that the government is not going to appeal the merits any further, because they will lose.
This is the ballgame.
![The majority insists that the constitutionality of the Citizenship Order will come before this Court eventually and that, when it does, the
Government will obey this Court’s resulting opinion with respect to all
newborn children. Ante, at 25, n. 18. Why? The majority is sure that
the Government will honor its oral-argument promises to “‘seek cert’”
when it “‘lose[s] one of ’” its pending appeals and to “respect both the
judgments and opinions of this Court.” Ibid. (quoting Tr. of Oral Arg.
50). The majority’s certainty that the Government will keep its word is
nothing short of a leap of faith, given that the Government has adopted
a plainly unconstitutional policy in defiance of this Court’s precedent and
then gamed the system to stymie this Court’s consideration of the policy’s
merits. In any event, the Government’s promise is cold comfort to the
many children whose parents do not file a lawsuit and whose citizenship
status remains in flux pending this Court’s review.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4qmg6r3shnk3mfst5w3g6wy2/bafkreiaqsl6jgj3txqbox7ixwcsu5aplc7br5ov72oqbrh5cwk43qy3xni@jpeg)
June 27, 2025 at 3:06 PM
7/ As usual, the dissents lay out the actual case and what is going on here. Sotomayor says the quiet part that the dissenters were trying to bring out at oral argument:
We all know that the government is not going to appeal the merits any further, because they will lose.
This is the ballgame.
We all know that the government is not going to appeal the merits any further, because they will lose.
This is the ballgame.
Reposted by Cole
9/ Remember that the EO did not purport to amend the Constitution, but only to instruct the federal government not to honor it. A child born to undocumented parents in TX won't be able to get a US passport, but one born in MA will. Two different countries.
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
June 27, 2025 at 3:11 PM
9/ Remember that the EO did not purport to amend the Constitution, but only to instruct the federal government not to honor it. A child born to undocumented parents in TX won't be able to get a US passport, but one born in MA will. Two different countries.
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
Reposted by Cole
Alito's choice to retain scare quotes around "LGBTQ+-inclusive" throughout his opinion in Mahmoud v Taylor, even AFTER he defines the term, pretty clearly gives the game away: He thinks the books are sinister pro-gay agitprop designed to indoctrinate children www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
![MAHMOUD v. TAYLOR
Opinion of the Court
Language Arts] curriculum were not representative of
many students and families in Montgomery County be-
cause they did not include LGBTQ characters.” Id., at 603a.
The Board therefore decided to introduce into the curricu-
lum what it described as “‘LGBTQ+-inclusive texts.’”5 Id.,
at 174a. As one email sent by MCPS principals reflects, the
Board selected the books according to a “Critical Selection
Repertoire” that required selectors to review potential texts
and ask questions such as: “Is heteronormativity reinforced
or disrupted?”; “Is cisnormativity reinforced or disrupted?”;
and “Are power hierarchies that uphold the dominant cul-
ture reinforced or disrupted?” Id., at 622a.
In accordance with this “[r]epertoire” and other criteria,
the Board eventually selected 13 “LGBTQ+-inclusive” texts
for use in the English and Language Arts curriculum from
pre-K through 12th grade. Id., at 603a–604a, 622a. At is-
sue in this lawsuit are the five “LGBTQ+-inclusive” story-
books that are approved for students in Kindergarten
through fifth grade—in other words, for children who are
generally between 5 and 11 years old.6
A few short descriptions will serve to illustrate the gen-
eral tenor of the storybooks. Intersection Allies tells the
stories of several children from different backgrounds, in-
cluding Kate, who is apparently a transgender child. One](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:bpna2qi2e44fafbhhtqjak3x/bafkreiggfgip4g2aucvb7gd6xlqgoqrtbg4mfbdikilyf7wxpjajabvpwu@jpeg)
June 27, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Alito's choice to retain scare quotes around "LGBTQ+-inclusive" throughout his opinion in Mahmoud v Taylor, even AFTER he defines the term, pretty clearly gives the game away: He thinks the books are sinister pro-gay agitprop designed to indoctrinate children www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24p...
Reposted by Cole
this court says that allowing EPA to regulate carbon emissions is a "major question" that demands congressional debate. but allowing the president to, with a flick of the wrist, end a straightforward constitutional right is something that must be allowed to stand?
June 27, 2025 at 2:42 PM
this court says that allowing EPA to regulate carbon emissions is a "major question" that demands congressional debate. but allowing the president to, with a flick of the wrist, end a straightforward constitutional right is something that must be allowed to stand?
Reposted by Cole
Of course they would. But if you can force a court to burn down a load bearing pillar of its own institution in order to reach its desired result, you have to do it. In other words, make it actually hurt.
June 27, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Of course they would. But if you can force a court to burn down a load bearing pillar of its own institution in order to reach its desired result, you have to do it. In other words, make it actually hurt.
Reposted by Cole
If I were a federal district judge I would simply certify a class of all persons born to undocumented parents in the United States under Rule 23 and grant that class injunctive relief, and dare SCOTUS to overturn that too. 🤷
June 27, 2025 at 3:11 PM
If I were a federal district judge I would simply certify a class of all persons born to undocumented parents in the United States under Rule 23 and grant that class injunctive relief, and dare SCOTUS to overturn that too. 🤷
Reposted by Cole
The holding in Mahmoud that strict scrutiny applies even if the no-opt-out policy is neutral and generally applicable is a nuclear bomb.
June 27, 2025 at 3:12 PM
The holding in Mahmoud that strict scrutiny applies even if the no-opt-out policy is neutral and generally applicable is a nuclear bomb.
Reposted by Cole
The Supreme Court is about to go on an extended summer vacation, after having blown up the docket of every single lower court judge who has been working like a dog to deal with the firehose of illegal orders coming out of this administration.
If the Supreme Court thinks universal injunctions are unconstitutional, to wait until *now* to say that, in this of all cases, with this of all presidents, is a devastating indictment of both its impartiality and its prudence.
June 27, 2025 at 2:33 PM
The Supreme Court is about to go on an extended summer vacation, after having blown up the docket of every single lower court judge who has been working like a dog to deal with the firehose of illegal orders coming out of this administration.
Reposted by Cole
MQ-9 Reaper drone orbiting slowly over Los Angeles tonight.
June 19, 2025 at 5:59 AM
MQ-9 Reaper drone orbiting slowly over Los Angeles tonight.
Reposted by Cole
70-200 2.8 1/60 ISO 3200
@paintingsurfer.bsky.social
@paintingsurfer.bsky.social
June 19, 2025 at 4:58 AM
70-200 2.8 1/60 ISO 3200
@paintingsurfer.bsky.social
@paintingsurfer.bsky.social
Reposted by Cole
I think it should be a bigger story that the Senate is preparing to confirm five Trump judicial nominees whose answers to questions about the 2020 election are exactly what you would say if you were a “Trump only lost because of voter fraud” conspiracy theorist
Senate Democrats Are Letting Trump’s Judicial Nominees Off the Hook
Trump's nominees gave some eye-popping answers in their written questionnaires. Why didn't Senate Democrats ask these questions in person?
ballsandstrikes.org
June 20, 2025 at 1:31 AM
I think it should be a bigger story that the Senate is preparing to confirm five Trump judicial nominees whose answers to questions about the 2020 election are exactly what you would say if you were a “Trump only lost because of voter fraud” conspiracy theorist
Reposted by Cole
I just have to say, as a historian of the Reconstruction-era Klan, that masked paramilitaries are very bad and masked vigilantes are even worse and there are causal links between the two and none of this is good for democracy.
Just some creepy armed Mad Max guys trying to gain entry to Dodgers Stadium.
ICE says it wasn’t them. DHS says they were Border Patrol. But honestly who the hell knows? They’ve given permission for any psycho to put on a ski mask, point a gun, grab people & throw them into an unmarked vehicle.
ICE says it wasn’t them. DHS says they were Border Patrol. But honestly who the hell knows? They’ve given permission for any psycho to put on a ski mask, point a gun, grab people & throw them into an unmarked vehicle.
June 19, 2025 at 10:11 PM
I just have to say, as a historian of the Reconstruction-era Klan, that masked paramilitaries are very bad and masked vigilantes are even worse and there are causal links between the two and none of this is good for democracy.
By this logic the US needs regime change too
June 17, 2025 at 8:55 PM
By this logic the US needs regime change too
Reposted by Cole
Anti-ICE protest in DTLA 6/6/25. For @calmatters.org
June 9, 2025 at 8:26 PM
Anti-ICE protest in DTLA 6/6/25. For @calmatters.org
Reposted by Cole
Here are some texts I got from an immigration lawyer friend of mine. Shared with permission. Some of the bleakest shit I’ve ever heard.
June 7, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Here are some texts I got from an immigration lawyer friend of mine. Shared with permission. Some of the bleakest shit I’ve ever heard.