gelbach
@gelbach.bsky.social
Expert provider of lay opinions.
Day job: Herman F. Selvin Professor of Law at UC Berkeley Law. Opinions my own, not intended to represent UC's.
Day job: Herman F. Selvin Professor of Law at UC Berkeley Law. Opinions my own, not intended to represent UC's.
"more and more lawyers, especially at some of the big firms, [should] participate in protecting our liberty, protecting the rule of law"
Following dismissal of his criminal case, James Comey posts video statement via Substack: open.substack.com/pub/jamescom...
On the Case Dismissal
Former government person, author, teacher, father, grandfather. Tall and really quite funny.
open.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:20 PM
"more and more lawyers, especially at some of the big firms, [should] participate in protecting our liberty, protecting the rule of law"
Bernie Madoff also wasn’t Enron but, well you know…
In the memo, “Nvidia also responds to claims that the ‘current situation is analogous to historical accounting frauds (Enron, WorldCom, Lucent) that featured vendor financing and SPVs [special purpose vehicles.)’”
@barrons.com $NVDA
@firstadopter.bsky.social
www.barrons.com/articles/nvi...
@barrons.com $NVDA
@firstadopter.bsky.social
www.barrons.com/articles/nvi...
November 24, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Bernie Madoff also wasn’t Enron but, well you know…
Reposted by gelbach
This write-up of the #CABillionaireTax gets several key points wrong.
First, it complains that small businesses are hard to value, but the bill has a simple formula for that task that is already in use in Switzerland and Spain.
www.forbes.com/sites/robert...
1/4
First, it complains that small businesses are hard to value, but the bill has a simple formula for that task that is already in use in Switzerland and Spain.
www.forbes.com/sites/robert...
1/4
California 5% Wealth Tax On Billionaires Could Pass This Time
California's 13.3% income tax does not distinguish between ordinary income and capital gain, growing to 14.4% in some cases. And California's tax collector is tough.
www.forbes.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:58 PM
This write-up of the #CABillionaireTax gets several key points wrong.
First, it complains that small businesses are hard to value, but the bill has a simple formula for that task that is already in use in Switzerland and Spain.
www.forbes.com/sites/robert...
1/4
First, it complains that small businesses are hard to value, but the bill has a simple formula for that task that is already in use in Switzerland and Spain.
www.forbes.com/sites/robert...
1/4
Reposted by gelbach
Senator Mark Kelly says he first learned of the DOD investigation against him (which may lead to court martial proceedings) via social media.
November 24, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Senator Mark Kelly says he first learned of the DOD investigation against him (which may lead to court martial proceedings) via social media.
Reposted by gelbach
This cover oozes with contempt for the magazine’s history and its readership
Over many interviews, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Michael Scherer about how he plans to remake America’s public-health system. Can he lead the scientific establishment he’s spent much of his life crusading against?
Read more in our new cover story: theatln.tc/q9hXxlbM
Read more in our new cover story: theatln.tc/q9hXxlbM
November 24, 2025 at 5:56 PM
This cover oozes with contempt for the magazine’s history and its readership
Reposted by gelbach
im sorry, so they want to court martial someone for repeating the code of conduct? be fucking for real right now.
November 24, 2025 at 5:57 PM
im sorry, so they want to court martial someone for repeating the code of conduct? be fucking for real right now.
Reposted by gelbach
Every Democrat in Congress should put out a video saying troops have an obligation to refuse unlawful orders. Make them prosecute all of you. This isn't a close call.
I'd add Republicans too if I thought any of them had the courage to actually cross Trump on this.
I'd add Republicans too if I thought any of them had the courage to actually cross Trump on this.
Hegseth is now threatening to recall Sen. Mark Kelly to active duty in order to court martial him.
November 24, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Every Democrat in Congress should put out a video saying troops have an obligation to refuse unlawful orders. Make them prosecute all of you. This isn't a close call.
I'd add Republicans too if I thought any of them had the courage to actually cross Trump on this.
I'd add Republicans too if I thought any of them had the courage to actually cross Trump on this.
Halligan may have to go back to putting the moral hazard in insurance law
BREAKING: James Comey case dismissed without prejudice. Judge rules Halligan was invalidly appointed.
November 24, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Halligan may have to go back to putting the moral hazard in insurance law
Reposted by gelbach
Is it an illegal order if you order an investigation into someone who says that the military should not obey illegal orders?
November 24, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Is it an illegal order if you order an investigation into someone who says that the military should not obey illegal orders?
Reposted by gelbach
Halligonna need to find a new job
BREAKING: Comey case dismissed without prejudice. Halligan invalidly appointed, judge rules. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
November 24, 2025 at 5:48 PM
Halligonna need to find a new job
Reposted by gelbach
I talked to Aftyn Behn, who's making a race of a U.S. House seat in and around Nashville that Trump won by 22 points.
Her big proposed bill in the state legislature would have ended grocery taxes in Tennessee and paid for it by stopping corporate tax avoidance. Perfect for the political moment.
Her big proposed bill in the state legislature would have ended grocery taxes in Tennessee and paid for it by stopping corporate tax avoidance. Perfect for the political moment.
Aftyn Behn: Running for Congress in deep red Tennessee
Aftyn Behn is trying to flip a seat Donald Trump won by 22 points in a December special election. Grocery bills and corporate taxes dominate.
prospect.org
November 24, 2025 at 3:06 PM
I talked to Aftyn Behn, who's making a race of a U.S. House seat in and around Nashville that Trump won by 22 points.
Her big proposed bill in the state legislature would have ended grocery taxes in Tennessee and paid for it by stopping corporate tax avoidance. Perfect for the political moment.
Her big proposed bill in the state legislature would have ended grocery taxes in Tennessee and paid for it by stopping corporate tax avoidance. Perfect for the political moment.
Impeachment and removal of SecDef Hegseth just became a 2026 campaign issue I guess
Hegseth is now threatening to recall Sen. Mark Kelly to active duty in order to court martial him.
November 24, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Impeachment and removal of SecDef Hegseth just became a 2026 campaign issue I guess
Sporting of them to omit "15 times"
LOL this is a nasty burn from the plaintiffs' brief before SCOTUS in the TX redistricting case.
November 24, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Sporting of them to omit "15 times"
Reposted by gelbach
Wow, song is so raw/powerful ...
"I got picked on at school, I never felt that cool
There's a hole in my soul that just a-rages
All the ladies turned me down, and I felt like a clown
But will you look at me now, I'm puttin' folks in cages"
Join ICE by Jesse Welles
www.youtube.com/watch?v=61I4...
"I got picked on at school, I never felt that cool
There's a hole in my soul that just a-rages
All the ladies turned me down, and I felt like a clown
But will you look at me now, I'm puttin' folks in cages"
Join ICE by Jesse Welles
www.youtube.com/watch?v=61I4...
"Join ICE" - Jesse Welles (LIVE on The Late Show)
YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
www.youtube.com
November 24, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Wow, song is so raw/powerful ...
"I got picked on at school, I never felt that cool
There's a hole in my soul that just a-rages
All the ladies turned me down, and I felt like a clown
But will you look at me now, I'm puttin' folks in cages"
Join ICE by Jesse Welles
www.youtube.com/watch?v=61I4...
"I got picked on at school, I never felt that cool
There's a hole in my soul that just a-rages
All the ladies turned me down, and I felt like a clown
But will you look at me now, I'm puttin' folks in cages"
Join ICE by Jesse Welles
www.youtube.com/watch?v=61I4...
gee I wonder if there’s anything a “senior House Republican“ might have done to prevent— or even to respond to! — such a situation
The mind reels from the difficulty of the imaginative work
The mind reels from the difficulty of the imaginative work
🔥🔥🔥 A 3 alarm fire for House Republicans following Marjorie Taylor Greene’s announced resignation, courtesy of @punchbowlnews.bsky.social:
November 24, 2025 at 3:04 PM
gee I wonder if there’s anything a “senior House Republican“ might have done to prevent— or even to respond to! — such a situation
The mind reels from the difficulty of the imaginative work
The mind reels from the difficulty of the imaginative work
Reposted by gelbach
Turns out Originalism didn’t start as a reaction to the Warren Court or Brown but as a tool to argue the 15th Amendment was either invalid or didn’t apply to the states. Here’s the real birth story of the doctrine (discovered by a real historian): www.dorfonlaw.org/2025/11/orig...
Originalism's Racist Birth and Subsequent Death
A few weeks ago at the Federalist Society National Convention, Judge Patrick Bumatay of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit decla...
www.dorfonlaw.org
November 24, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Turns out Originalism didn’t start as a reaction to the Warren Court or Brown but as a tool to argue the 15th Amendment was either invalid or didn’t apply to the states. Here’s the real birth story of the doctrine (discovered by a real historian): www.dorfonlaw.org/2025/11/orig...
Wow
Here are Musk's replies to the five different times Rogan lobs him softballs about how AI is likely to improve in the future:
"Yeah yeah."
"Yeah. Have you ... yeah."
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
"Yes. No, it's ... yeah."
"Yeah yeah."
"Yeah. Have you ... yeah."
"Yeah."
"Yeah."
"Yes. No, it's ... yeah."
November 24, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Wow
Reposted by gelbach
"While elite journos and businessmen kiss the ring of Trump, people in jammies and slippers confront ICE in the street. The courage of ordinary people has been stunning compared to the elite."
On the pod @amandamarcotte.bsky.social is good on Trump's downward spiral:
newrepublic.com/article/2035...
On the pod @amandamarcotte.bsky.social is good on Trump's downward spiral:
newrepublic.com/article/2035...
Trump Is a Weak, Failing President, and the Media Is Finally Saying So
As Trump’s downward spiral starts producing harsher media coverage, a writer who regularly dissects MAGA and political media explains why he’s entering a tailspin that will be very hard to reverse.
newrepublic.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:52 PM
"While elite journos and businessmen kiss the ring of Trump, people in jammies and slippers confront ICE in the street. The courage of ordinary people has been stunning compared to the elite."
On the pod @amandamarcotte.bsky.social is good on Trump's downward spiral:
newrepublic.com/article/2035...
On the pod @amandamarcotte.bsky.social is good on Trump's downward spiral:
newrepublic.com/article/2035...
Meanwhile DJT:NASDAQ is down ~75% since inauguration
November 24, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Meanwhile DJT:NASDAQ is down ~75% since inauguration
Reposted by gelbach
The good folks at @liberalcurrents.com are regularly producing and publishing stuff that will actually make you think - and leave you better equipped to understand the political, intellectual, and historical forces that are shaping this moment.
Very much worth your support.
Very much worth your support.
To fight fascism we need opposition media with a backbone. 𝘓𝘪𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 is that. Help us grow our voice. www.gofundme.com/f/the-libera...
Donate to The Liberal Currents Startup Fund, organized by Adam Gurri
To fight fascism we need opposition media with a backbone. Liberal Currents is that. Help… Adam Gurri needs your support for The Liberal Currents Startup Fund
www.gofundme.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:16 PM
The good folks at @liberalcurrents.com are regularly producing and publishing stuff that will actually make you think - and leave you better equipped to understand the political, intellectual, and historical forces that are shaping this moment.
Very much worth your support.
Very much worth your support.
Reposted by gelbach
"No matter how Shapiro spins it, exiting RGGI is a problematic climate concession. Pennsylvania, one of the country’s largest energy-producing states, obtains only 3 percent of its energy from clean or renewable sources." prospect.org/2025/11/24/j...
Josh Shapiro Ditched the Same Climate Pact That Abigail Spanberger Is Joining - The American Prospect
To seal a state budget deal, Pennsylvania is departing the RGGI emissions control program, but Virginia is jumping back in.
prospect.org
November 24, 2025 at 12:50 PM
"No matter how Shapiro spins it, exiting RGGI is a problematic climate concession. Pennsylvania, one of the country’s largest energy-producing states, obtains only 3 percent of its energy from clean or renewable sources." prospect.org/2025/11/24/j...
Reposted by gelbach
Earlier this year, the United States deported 252 Venezuelans to El Salvador and paid its government to imprison them. Now two human-rights organizations have found that all of those men were physically abused, Conor Friedersdorf writes:
What the Deported Venezuelans Went Through in El Salvador
Forty men sent to El Salvador by the Trump administration have shared disturbing accounts of abuse by a regime that America paid to imprison them.
bit.ly
November 24, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Earlier this year, the United States deported 252 Venezuelans to El Salvador and paid its government to imprison them. Now two human-rights organizations have found that all of those men were physically abused, Conor Friedersdorf writes:
Reposted by gelbach
💔
November 24, 2025 at 1:43 AM
💔