Jay Childers
@jaychilders.bsky.social
Always already thinking about rhetoric, politics, & violence. Professor and author. Resister of the end times.
Y’all, let me get this straight. Renewable energy is too disruptive, so we need to stick with oil/gas. But AI is totes cool? It almost seems like well funded lobbyists are the key. 🤷
December 3, 2025 at 11:40 PM
Y’all, let me get this straight. Renewable energy is too disruptive, so we need to stick with oil/gas. But AI is totes cool? It almost seems like well funded lobbyists are the key. 🤷
Reading Trump's posts from this morning, it's important to remember the threat of violence is itself an act of violence.
Trump increasingly appears to be a deteriorating maniac, but he still knows his threats have consequences. That's why he makes them.
Trump increasingly appears to be a deteriorating maniac, but he still knows his threats have consequences. That's why he makes them.
November 20, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Reading Trump's posts from this morning, it's important to remember the threat of violence is itself an act of violence.
Trump increasingly appears to be a deteriorating maniac, but he still knows his threats have consequences. That's why he makes them.
Trump increasingly appears to be a deteriorating maniac, but he still knows his threats have consequences. That's why he makes them.
These ad hominem attacks (e.g., snowflakes, Trump Derangement Syndrome, pearl clutching) used to distract people from the reality that the Trump administration is destroying democracy and marching the nation into authoritarianism are next-level political gaslighting.
October 31, 2025 at 4:57 PM
These ad hominem attacks (e.g., snowflakes, Trump Derangement Syndrome, pearl clutching) used to distract people from the reality that the Trump administration is destroying democracy and marching the nation into authoritarianism are next-level political gaslighting.
Tech bro libertarianism may be the death of us all.
Opinion | How Crypto Corrupted America
www.nytimes.com
October 24, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Tech bro libertarianism may be the death of us all.
ICE has already spent over $70 million on new weapons this year. Last year, they spent less than $10 million during the same time period. During Trump’s first term, they spent an average of just $8.4 million annually. This seems more important than any ballroom.
October 22, 2025 at 5:10 PM
ICE has already spent over $70 million on new weapons this year. Last year, they spent less than $10 million during the same time period. During Trump’s first term, they spent an average of just $8.4 million annually. This seems more important than any ballroom.
I see Fox News is now calling Old, Osawatomie John Brown a “vigilante mass murderer.” Their racist defense of white nationalism grows bolder every day.
October 22, 2025 at 3:07 PM
I see Fox News is now calling Old, Osawatomie John Brown a “vigilante mass murderer.” Their racist defense of white nationalism grows bolder every day.
The weaker the Trump administration feels the more they will posture strength and grandiosity. The ballroom is nothing. Things are going to get much worse before they can possibly get better. I hope enough people are prepared for that so we can get back onto the path towards a better America.🇺🇸
October 22, 2025 at 2:27 PM
The weaker the Trump administration feels the more they will posture strength and grandiosity. The ballroom is nothing. Things are going to get much worse before they can possibly get better. I hope enough people are prepared for that so we can get back onto the path towards a better America.🇺🇸
Watching JD Vance act like a soulless partisan hack is disgusting. A month after wanting to ruin people’s lives for expressing schadenfreude at Charlie Kirk’s death, now he’s dismissing the “pearl clutching” response to Young Republicans celebrating rape and laughing about gas chambers. Pathetic.
October 16, 2025 at 1:11 PM
Watching JD Vance act like a soulless partisan hack is disgusting. A month after wanting to ruin people’s lives for expressing schadenfreude at Charlie Kirk’s death, now he’s dismissing the “pearl clutching” response to Young Republicans celebrating rape and laughing about gas chambers. Pathetic.
The partisan civil war has already begun. The goal is not ideological, it is unassailable power.
Opinion | Trump Is Not Afraid of Civil War. Neither Is Stephen Miller.
www.nytimes.com
October 7, 2025 at 3:36 PM
The partisan civil war has already begun. The goal is not ideological, it is unassailable power.
Friendly reminder that the “attention” in “Thank you for your attention to this matter” is the point. Trump wants to distract you. From the Epstein files. From the failing economy. From the authoritarian consolidation of power. From his declining health. Stay focused.
October 6, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Friendly reminder that the “attention” in “Thank you for your attention to this matter” is the point. Trump wants to distract you. From the Epstein files. From the failing economy. From the authoritarian consolidation of power. From his declining health. Stay focused.
Since the rightwing mediasphere is trying to turn John Brown Gun Clubs (JBGC) into the radical left boogeyman, here are a few things to know since I have written about the groups.
September 30, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Since the rightwing mediasphere is trying to turn John Brown Gun Clubs (JBGC) into the radical left boogeyman, here are a few things to know since I have written about the groups.
Reposted by Jay Childers
This weak, brazen attempt by Stephen Miller both to chill free speech and to set up a premise to criminalize it — and, to be clear, this is the very type of speech most central to First Amendment protections — would be laughably embarrassing if this man did not have the power that he has.
September 25, 2025 at 5:11 PM
This weak, brazen attempt by Stephen Miller both to chill free speech and to set up a premise to criminalize it — and, to be clear, this is the very type of speech most central to First Amendment protections — would be laughably embarrassing if this man did not have the power that he has.
With all this talk of what is and is not violence (looking at you DHS), seems like a good reminder is in order. And if you didn't know, the World Health Organization has a really solid definition that covers a lot of ground--and does not include video recording law enforcement...
September 25, 2025 at 7:29 PM
With all this talk of what is and is not violence (looking at you DHS), seems like a good reminder is in order. And if you didn't know, the World Health Organization has a really solid definition that covers a lot of ground--and does not include video recording law enforcement...
I worry people aren’t taking the Charlie Kirk martyr language seriously. It’s clear many MAGA folks really believe they are fighting a deeply religious battle. This martyr talk will lead to “higher law” arguments that completely dismiss the Constitution.
September 24, 2025 at 2:31 PM
I worry people aren’t taking the Charlie Kirk martyr language seriously. It’s clear many MAGA folks really believe they are fighting a deeply religious battle. This martyr talk will lead to “higher law” arguments that completely dismiss the Constitution.
Watching Trump go after Kimmel and others is a stark reminder of how disgusting it is when a bully pretends to be the victim. Truly pathetic.
September 19, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Watching Trump go after Kimmel and others is a stark reminder of how disgusting it is when a bully pretends to be the victim. Truly pathetic.
Reposted by Jay Childers
This is the playbook, folks.
If you're not paying attention now and doing something about it, then you're going to have to sit down the rest of your life because democracy is being taken away.
Do not be quiet in this moment.
If you're not paying attention now and doing something about it, then you're going to have to sit down the rest of your life because democracy is being taken away.
Do not be quiet in this moment.
September 18, 2025 at 4:12 PM
This is the playbook, folks.
If you're not paying attention now and doing something about it, then you're going to have to sit down the rest of your life because democracy is being taken away.
Do not be quiet in this moment.
If you're not paying attention now and doing something about it, then you're going to have to sit down the rest of your life because democracy is being taken away.
Do not be quiet in this moment.
Reading the comments made by the FCC Chair about Jimmy Kimmel, it really seems this administration does not like free speech or free markets. One worries they may just not like freedom at all.
September 17, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Reading the comments made by the FCC Chair about Jimmy Kimmel, it really seems this administration does not like free speech or free markets. One worries they may just not like freedom at all.
A performative politics that treats ideological opponents as enemies to be destroyed instead of adversaries you are competing with will always tend toward violence. And so much of what passes for politics these days is performative.
September 17, 2025 at 2:38 PM
A performative politics that treats ideological opponents as enemies to be destroyed instead of adversaries you are competing with will always tend toward violence. And so much of what passes for politics these days is performative.
Doing research on abolition rhetoric and political violence in the U.S., I spend a lot of time each day reading newspapers and speeches from the late 1850s. I really, really wish that didn’t feel so relevant for what is happening today.
September 15, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Doing research on abolition rhetoric and political violence in the U.S., I spend a lot of time each day reading newspapers and speeches from the late 1850s. I really, really wish that didn’t feel so relevant for what is happening today.
If we make it a week without some MAGA nut shooting up a “radical left” college campus, I will be relieved. Trump pouring fuel on the fire and pretty much declaring war on a large swath of the American people seems very not good.
September 11, 2025 at 12:51 PM
If we make it a week without some MAGA nut shooting up a “radical left” college campus, I will be relieved. Trump pouring fuel on the fire and pretty much declaring war on a large swath of the American people seems very not good.
Thinking this afternoon of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and the response to her political assassination in June.
September 10, 2025 at 8:32 PM
Thinking this afternoon of Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and the response to her political assassination in June.
The last time I stayed awake for more than 24 hours I was incoherent and grumpy and seeing little blurry black spots that weren't real. I was not speaking coherently to millions and millions of people. Respect.
April 1, 2025 at 11:09 PM
The last time I stayed awake for more than 24 hours I was incoherent and grumpy and seeing little blurry black spots that weren't real. I was not speaking coherently to millions and millions of people. Respect.
Musk seems hellbent on creating an AI driven technocracy, which is not the least bit surprising given his grandfather, Joshua Haldeman, dreamed of such a thing back in the 1930s. To be clear, real democracy cannot exist under technocratic rule.
Everyone needs to understand what Elon and DOGE are building, an AI driven panopticon that will know everything about you and will be used to ensure compliance with their fascist agenda. They are creating a unified database of everything the federal government has on every single American.
🧵1/
🧵1/
March 31, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Musk seems hellbent on creating an AI driven technocracy, which is not the least bit surprising given his grandfather, Joshua Haldeman, dreamed of such a thing back in the 1930s. To be clear, real democracy cannot exist under technocratic rule.
The speed by which far right bros went from “gas is king” to “we must protect Tesla with our lives” is mind-boggling.
March 30, 2025 at 12:45 PM
The speed by which far right bros went from “gas is king” to “we must protect Tesla with our lives” is mind-boggling.
Instead of reporting that the Trump admin is “asking students to self-deport,” maybe folks could be more accurate: the Trump admin is harassing and threatening legal immigrants who have done absolutely nothing wrong. It's dangerous and pathetic. Words matter.
March 29, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Instead of reporting that the Trump admin is “asking students to self-deport,” maybe folks could be more accurate: the Trump admin is harassing and threatening legal immigrants who have done absolutely nothing wrong. It's dangerous and pathetic. Words matter.