Graham
@greysmithereens.bsky.social
Theoretical lawyer, practical wonk.
It’s part of politics to cry foul at the other side doing politics, but why is everyone so goddamn whiny all the time! It’s a primary and there’s going to be oppo dumps, go do some politics instead of trying to work the refs!
October 22, 2025 at 1:39 PM
It’s part of politics to cry foul at the other side doing politics, but why is everyone so goddamn whiny all the time! It’s a primary and there’s going to be oppo dumps, go do some politics instead of trying to work the refs!
A significant number of these functions should be replicated under Congress instead of in the executive branch. After this presidency there’s no way to trust it with this much authority again. Same for statistical agencies like BLS and the census.
there are good & worthwhile historical & legal arguments for why the unitary executive is nonsense but to my mind the most straightforward argument is that it makes no logical sense that the president has absolute removal power over the people whose job it is to keep the executive branch accountable
The Inspector General system is basically broken now. Most IGs have been fired, most positions remain vacant. Those who remain or would take the job pose no risk to holding the regime accountable.
Congress added more barriers to Trump firing IGs after his first term. He just ignored them.
Congress added more barriers to Trump firing IGs after his first term. He just ignored them.
October 21, 2025 at 11:33 PM
A significant number of these functions should be replicated under Congress instead of in the executive branch. After this presidency there’s no way to trust it with this much authority again. Same for statistical agencies like BLS and the census.
When dems get back the presidency they should do something totally left field in response. Demolish the whole building and put in a skyscraper, just go wild.
Scoop: Trump has started demolishing the White House's East Wing facade to build his ballroom. The president had claimed construction of the $250 million building wouldn’t ‘interfere’ with the existing White House structure. /W @ddiamond.bsky.social wapo.st/4hqBNiU
White House begins demolishing East Wing facade to build Trump’s ballroom
The president had claimed construction of the $250 million ballroom wouldn’t ‘interfere’ with the existing White House structure.
wapo.st
October 20, 2025 at 10:23 PM
When dems get back the presidency they should do something totally left field in response. Demolish the whole building and put in a skyscraper, just go wild.
People say it’s nuts to use AI to make important decisions but honestly letting a frontier model run DHS would be miles better than current management.
October 18, 2025 at 9:54 PM
People say it’s nuts to use AI to make important decisions but honestly letting a frontier model run DHS would be miles better than current management.
I still don’t know what the goal of blowing up Chinese-flagged shipping in particular is supposed to accomplish since it has no relationship to shipbuilding.
guys I don't think this is good for American manufacturing and/or farmers
www.maritime-executive.com/article/call...
www.maritime-executive.com/article/call...
Calling USTR Port Fees Protectionist, China Launches Reciprocal Port Fees
Days before the U.S. is scheduled to start collecting port fees for Chinese-owned, operated, or built ships, China’s Ministry of Transportation annou...
www.maritime-executive.com
October 10, 2025 at 10:11 PM
I still don’t know what the goal of blowing up Chinese-flagged shipping in particular is supposed to accomplish since it has no relationship to shipbuilding.
Decades of work wasted. I really do wonder how some of the older civil servants in natsec feel right now. At least I’m young enough to imagine getting to work on building something new one day.
Basically, the situation is that smart Americans rigged the entire world to prevent dumb Americans from tasting the fruits of their own incompetence, but didn’t count on the masses voting to eat the turd apple.
October 10, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Decades of work wasted. I really do wonder how some of the older civil servants in natsec feel right now. At least I’m young enough to imagine getting to work on building something new one day.
I think this is a fair read of the narrative the WH is selling, but I have no idea if this is actually playing or being taken up by the political class or public at large. At the very least the media outlets I look at don’t seem to be boosting it.
My basic read on the politics here.
1) The Kirk assassination kicked off a "Dems are violent terrorists" campaign.
2) The Jimmy Kimmel debacle hurt that campaign; didn't have public buy-in for the idea that comedians were inciting violence.
3) The Jay Jones texts rebooted this campaign.
1) The Kirk assassination kicked off a "Dems are violent terrorists" campaign.
2) The Jimmy Kimmel debacle hurt that campaign; didn't have public buy-in for the idea that comedians were inciting violence.
3) The Jay Jones texts rebooted this campaign.
Emmer: "This is about one thing and one thing alone -- to score political points with the terrorist wing of their party, which is set to hold a hate America rally in DC next week."
October 10, 2025 at 10:05 PM
I think this is a fair read of the narrative the WH is selling, but I have no idea if this is actually playing or being taken up by the political class or public at large. At the very least the media outlets I look at don’t seem to be boosting it.
I have been surprised by how disarrayed republicans have been in this shutdown, which I think has made it much easier for the Dems to hold firm.
Congressional Dems say (or at least are posturing) that they’re willing to hold out for weeks: www.cnn.com/2025/10/09/p...
Democrats say even missed paychecks for US troops won’t be enough to end shutdown alone | CNN Politics
Congressional Democrats are privately preparing to hold their position in the shutdown standoff for several more weeks if Republicans do not agree to their health care demands – and not even a missed ...
www.cnn.com
October 9, 2025 at 12:17 PM
I have been surprised by how disarrayed republicans have been in this shutdown, which I think has made it much easier for the Dems to hold firm.
I favor a bright line rule on this: troops can be deployed domestically if congress authorizes the deployment. No discretion, no grant of statutory authorities to the president. Congress decides when troops are necessary and for what purpose.
The federal government does and should have the authority to deploy troops into our cities—even without local consent—*when the circumstances actually warrant it.*
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com, me on why the real issue in Portland, Chicago, and elsewhere is the missing / contrived factual predicate:
In @nytopinion.nytimes.com, me on why the real issue in Portland, Chicago, and elsewhere is the missing / contrived factual predicate:
Opinion | No, Trump Can’t Deploy Troops to Wherever He Wants
www.nytimes.com
October 7, 2025 at 12:39 PM
I favor a bright line rule on this: troops can be deployed domestically if congress authorizes the deployment. No discretion, no grant of statutory authorities to the president. Congress decides when troops are necessary and for what purpose.
Too many big fantasy creatives don’t seem to know anything but hero’s journey, post-9/11 paranoia, and their fandom, so a lot of works adopt the narrative conventions of spec-ops without any further grounding.
I think more broadly what we’re seeing in a lot of fantasy/sci-fi gaming is that the old guard had a grounding in history and historical wargaming the new guard kinda lacks in general.
Basically all the attempts at doing so now are totally halfassed and have a tendency to just end in "bloodplague/tyranids ate everyone" after nine months.
October 6, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Too many big fantasy creatives don’t seem to know anything but hero’s journey, post-9/11 paranoia, and their fandom, so a lot of works adopt the narrative conventions of spec-ops without any further grounding.
“I can’t build high-end systems therefore you should buy my low-end system” is the end result of so much drone hype.
Also they ran just incredibly awful commentary with incredibly shawty evidence (which I’m sure will become feature at CBS now). For example, the author of this piece claimed the Allies won WWII with inferior technology minus the atomic bomb lol
October 6, 2025 at 2:06 PM
“I can’t build high-end systems therefore you should buy my low-end system” is the end result of so much drone hype.
It’s crazy we’re rediscovering many of the concerns of the founders that haven’t felt relevant for at least 50 years.
Folks we are watching the adjudication of some of the most important constitutional issues of federalism, executive discretion, and judicial review since the 19th c
www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...
www.oregonlive.com/politics/202...
Judge issues new broader order barring any National Guard from relocating to Oregon
Judge asked federal government lawyer: 'Do you believe this is an appropriate way to deal with a judge’s order that you disagree with?'
www.oregonlive.com
October 6, 2025 at 1:33 PM
It’s crazy we’re rediscovering many of the concerns of the founders that haven’t felt relevant for at least 50 years.
Apparently, the new Federalist Society position is that judges don't have equitable powers?
The very first statute authorizing domestic use of the military during domestic emergencies, enacted in 1792 by a Congress full of the same folks who wrote and ratified the Constitution, expressly provided for judicial review in certain circumstances *before* the President could even send troops.
October 5, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Apparently, the new Federalist Society position is that judges don't have equitable powers?
Apparently political candidates still have such bad opsec that they're reposting Nazi porn on accounts with the same names as their public social media.
October 2, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Apparently political candidates still have such bad opsec that they're reposting Nazi porn on accounts with the same names as their public social media.
But I don’t want to get a heat pump, I want to write my special theory of how we should structure our relationship with Mother Nature!
my takeaway from climate week nyc is that "climate storytelling" is a little too much "we must reimagine our deepest souls in relationship to mother nature and the moral abyss of the polycrisis into which we must now stare" and not enough "ok but get a heat pump"
September 28, 2025 at 7:44 PM
But I don’t want to get a heat pump, I want to write my special theory of how we should structure our relationship with Mother Nature!
I feel Klein really just cannot handle the Schmittian moment we've found ourselves in and is desperately trying to find a way out that doesn't involve fighting.
What did she say after that, Ezra Klein? What was the next thing she said in this speech you say you have been obsessing about, that you are organizing your current theory of politics around?
![Screenshot of text:
If we want to talk about writing them off, let’s start here. I’ve been obsessing, for a piece I’ve been writing, about the Hillary Clinton “deplorables” comment. I want to play it.
Archived clip of Hillary Clinton: You know, to just be grossly generalistic, you can put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables, right? [Audience laughs and applauds.] The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic — you name it. And unfortunately, there are people like that, and he has lifted them up. He has given voice to — their websites that used to only have 11,000 people, now have 11 million. He tweets and retweets their offensive, hateful, meanspirited rhetoric. Now, some of those folks, they are irredeemable, but thankfully, they are not America ——](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:lyspo2bgxpznqtug5ir2q33g/bafkreidbu4bjywmf37fhhjqdlsa46jcbayeck45m7wjrczvilfcstk45xa@jpeg)
September 28, 2025 at 1:35 PM
I feel Klein really just cannot handle the Schmittian moment we've found ourselves in and is desperately trying to find a way out that doesn't involve fighting.
Does this effectively legalize pocket recissions?
September 26, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Does this effectively legalize pocket recissions?
Lmao what if he makes them take pt tests?
I'm sure this is going to garner a lot of good will
September 26, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Lmao what if he makes them take pt tests?
The repeating use of “we need a national debate” is fascinating for what it says about how politics, and politicians, now feel totally estranged from the media systems which are the lifeblood of democratic politics.
A gimmick that we need a national debate on. I, the leader of the opposition, think that is someone else’s job.
This really sums up everything wrong with Kemi Badenoch, just a politician incapable of not responding with partisan caterwauling, and of doing her job properly. “This needs a national debate”, imagine for a moment that it will involve a legislative process and parliamentary debates. Do your job!
September 25, 2025 at 6:05 PM
The repeating use of “we need a national debate” is fascinating for what it says about how politics, and politicians, now feel totally estranged from the media systems which are the lifeblood of democratic politics.
You should be betting on both.
When I say the US has bet its post-pandemic economy on AI while China has bet its on green energy, this is what I mean: Here, AI related companies account for 75% of S&P 500 returns since ChatGPT's launch. In China, green tech accounts for one quarter of GDP growth.
September 25, 2025 at 3:21 PM
You should be betting on both.
Pedro Gonzalez’s tweets came across my feed and he seems totally changed? I remember him as one of the most aggressive claremonters but he seems much calmer. What happened there?
September 25, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Pedro Gonzalez’s tweets came across my feed and he seems totally changed? I remember him as one of the most aggressive claremonters but he seems much calmer. What happened there?
It's a real problem for Democrats that they're behind on immigration, foreign conflicts, the economy, and political extremism (!) as compared to Republicans. Some of this may be disaffected Dems voting "not sure," but it's still wild to see this.
Trump approach to immigration isn’t very popular but it’s still a huge source of strength for him vs the competition.
September 24, 2025 at 2:03 AM
It's a real problem for Democrats that they're behind on immigration, foreign conflicts, the economy, and political extremism (!) as compared to Republicans. Some of this may be disaffected Dems voting "not sure," but it's still wild to see this.
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say SCOTUS is preparing to repeal the entire 20th century in the coming term, from the Civil Rights Era to the New Deal, they’re going to annihilate it all.
Certiorari "before judgment" is how #SCOTUS takes up a full appeal *before* the intermediate federal courts have heard it.
It used to be exceedingly rare. For instance, there wasn't a *single* grant of such expedited review b/w August 2004 & February 2019.
This is the *23rd* such grant since then.
It used to be exceedingly rare. For instance, there wasn't a *single* grant of such expedited review b/w August 2004 & February 2019.
This is the *23rd* such grant since then.
#BREAKING: Over dissents from Justices Sotomayor, Kagan & Jackson, #SCOTUS grants a stay in the Slaughter case (allowing President Trump to remove the last Dem member of the FTC), *and* grants certiorari "before judgment" to decide whether to formally overrule its 1935 ruling in Humphrey's Executor.
September 23, 2025 at 4:08 AM
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say SCOTUS is preparing to repeal the entire 20th century in the coming term, from the Civil Rights Era to the New Deal, they’re going to annihilate it all.
Well I think the left-of-center critics do care about both but many of the right-if-center critics definitely seemed to be operating in bad faith and won’t criticize the Trump administration for fear of losing influence.
so "everything bagel liberalism" amounted to "liberal values are bad because projects are too slow"
but now that racist values actually Halt, and not just prolong, these projects, nobody cares....
but now that racist values actually Halt, and not just prolong, these projects, nobody cares....
September 22, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Well I think the left-of-center critics do care about both but many of the right-if-center critics definitely seemed to be operating in bad faith and won’t criticize the Trump administration for fear of losing influence.
Imagine being the other guy lol.
Tolkien asked her to wait for him and then had no contact with her for five years; on his 21st birthday he wrote to her asking her to marry him and she immediately broke off her engagement with someone else and agreed.
September 22, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Imagine being the other guy lol.