John Holbo
@jholbo.bsky.social
Professor of Philosophy, Illustrator of Philosophers
https://www.onbeyondzarathustra.com
https://www.onbeyondzarathustra.com
Always think for one more minute about how to make the joke tighter: 'raise and support a family of empirical claims without data' would be marginally funnier. Possibly.
November 16, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Always think for one more minute about how to make the joke tighter: 'raise and support a family of empirical claims without data' would be marginally funnier. Possibly.
If you are wondering whether you can chuckle at MBD's fecklessness in good conscience - maybe Hanania is doing that thing where he feigns a philosopher's thought-experiment is a weak empirical claim? - rest assured: in this case, not.
November 16, 2025 at 1:25 AM
If you are wondering whether you can chuckle at MBD's fecklessness in good conscience - maybe Hanania is doing that thing where he feigns a philosopher's thought-experiment is a weak empirical claim? - rest assured: in this case, not.
Here the thing to do - the only shrewd, defensive play - is 'exception that proves the rule' vaguery so there can't be counter-examples. Assert a 'tendency'. Moral confabulation confabulated! Instead, she re-invents the Red Scare as a high-trust social milieu. Revisionist re-visionary-ness achieved!
!["And without wanting to get too deep into the “Joe McCarthy did nothing wrong” rabbit hole ——
Douthat: No, no, that ——
Andrews: That is not the point that I’m making today. Let me make instead a different point, which is that I think that McCarthyism was actually, in many ways, quite masculine.
Think about loyalty oaths. The whole reason why university systems and schools and other institutions wanted to have loyalty oaths, which are sort of the banner phenomenon of McCarthyism, is because they said: We simply cannot have an ongoing atmosphere of suspicion and rumor and sort of witch hunting. We need to have some clarity. So we will have a loyalty oath, and everybody who takes it will be fine. And everybody who doesn’t take it, well, that’ll be a problem.
Douthat: [Chuckles.] They won’t be fine.
Andrews: They won’t be fine."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:b7nwyonilwymqnwhomv6yfvy/bafkreig2wyteif26tcyzcopr46sg6zycdhpdyug42hzdbe2hpihcr7ncci@jpeg)
November 15, 2025 at 10:49 AM
The exonerative tense, but for pictures not headlines.
November 14, 2025 at 11:49 PM
The exonerative tense, but for pictures not headlines.
"Thank you, Mr. President. SDNY U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton is one of the most capable and trusted prosecutors in the country, and I’ve asked him to take the lead. As with all matters, the Department will pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people."
November 14, 2025 at 11:39 PM
"Thank you, Mr. President. SDNY U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton is one of the most capable and trusted prosecutors in the country, and I’ve asked him to take the lead. As with all matters, the Department will pursue this with urgency and integrity to deliver answers to the American people."
Bondi's official line is she is launching an investigation predicated on a hoax. I don't like Derrida but there is a term for this. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettle_...
November 14, 2025 at 11:38 PM
Bondi's official line is she is launching an investigation predicated on a hoax. I don't like Derrida but there is a term for this. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kettle_...
There's a 10th Supreme Court Justice who just sits behind the others smoking cigarettes.
November 14, 2025 at 11:09 PM
There's a 10th Supreme Court Justice who just sits behind the others smoking cigarettes.
But seriously: West Wing for the Supreme Court is a terrible idea. "Casino" for the Supreme Court works.
November 14, 2025 at 11:06 PM
But seriously: West Wing for the Supreme Court is a terrible idea. "Casino" for the Supreme Court works.
This is great! bsky.app/profile/did:...
bsky.app
November 14, 2025 at 10:31 PM
This is great! bsky.app/profile/did:...
What are you rebelling against?
YouTube video by Knight2QueensBishop
m.youtube.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:27 PM