Jonathan Connelly
@jpconnelly94.bsky.social
A liberal in illiberal times. Fervent supporter of reform to Congress, the courts, and the imperial presidency to save our democracy.
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"LMAO" said Gandalf. "Well it has."
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"LMAO" said Gandalf. "Well it has."
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
Look, there's not a way to be polite about this, if you're willing to sign off on something like this or the "renaming" of the Kennedy center or the Ballroom or any of this other monarchist garbage and not resign, you're just not morally fit to help govern a free people. Sorry.
Another thing to rename in 2029
December 22, 2025 at 9:09 PM
Look, there's not a way to be polite about this, if you're willing to sign off on something like this or the "renaming" of the Kennedy center or the Ballroom or any of this other monarchist garbage and not resign, you're just not morally fit to help govern a free people. Sorry.
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
He doesn't but no one in DoD will say otherwise (much like the shutdown pay stunt there's a bunch of GS-13s and 14s who need to be facing ADA violation criminal penalties when this is over with)
The bigger question is where is the $ coming from
The bigger question is where is the $ coming from
How does the president have independent authority to mail out Christmas bonuses?
December 18, 2025 at 6:21 AM
He doesn't but no one in DoD will say otherwise (much like the shutdown pay stunt there's a bunch of GS-13s and 14s who need to be facing ADA violation criminal penalties when this is over with)
The bigger question is where is the $ coming from
The bigger question is where is the $ coming from
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
I do not think the right is remotely prepared for the scale of celebration that we’ll see When It Happens
December 15, 2025 at 5:44 PM
I do not think the right is remotely prepared for the scale of celebration that we’ll see When It Happens
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
i don't think i'd complain about there being too many benoit blanc mysteries until we hit the 25 or 30 mark
December 13, 2025 at 11:41 PM
i don't think i'd complain about there being too many benoit blanc mysteries until we hit the 25 or 30 mark
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
I am deadly serious when I say that any liberal Project 2028 people should be taking names of the civil servants who go way past their authority to do stuff like this.
That is very much not me saying that normal employees following bad orders should be fired. But there’s a line. This crosses it.
That is very much not me saying that normal employees following bad orders should be fired. But there’s a line. This crosses it.
That should be a career ending act of corruption
December 12, 2025 at 1:52 PM
I am deadly serious when I say that any liberal Project 2028 people should be taking names of the civil servants who go way past their authority to do stuff like this.
That is very much not me saying that normal employees following bad orders should be fired. But there’s a line. This crosses it.
That is very much not me saying that normal employees following bad orders should be fired. But there’s a line. This crosses it.
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
You can also check out @ethanformd.com who is a young progressive dem running against both Trone and Delaney.
December 11, 2025 at 10:31 PM
You can also check out @ethanformd.com who is a young progressive dem running against both Trone and Delaney.
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
If you want to tell me the plain language of the Constitution means something entirely different, you ought to have a heavy burden. But because we've allowed the public practices of folk constitutionalism to atrophy into lawyerly monopoly (see below), there's a brute appeal to authority available.
I gave the article a nice long 18th century-style title:
Folk Constitutionalism, or Why It Matters How Ordinary People Think about the Constitution
Here's the abstract, and a link to an ungated preprint: kevinjelliott.net/wp-content/u...
Folk Constitutionalism, or Why It Matters How Ordinary People Think about the Constitution
Here's the abstract, and a link to an ungated preprint: kevinjelliott.net/wp-content/u...
December 7, 2025 at 7:31 PM
If you want to tell me the plain language of the Constitution means something entirely different, you ought to have a heavy burden. But because we've allowed the public practices of folk constitutionalism to atrophy into lawyerly monopoly (see below), there's a brute appeal to authority available.
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
all a bit esoteric and it's not exactly a messaging winner, but: america is a religion, and a proselytizing one. that's what being a creedal nation means. come to america, endorse the principles of the declaration and the constitution: congrats, you are an american.
www.patreon.com/posts/109838...
www.patreon.com/posts/109838...
December 6, 2025 at 5:12 PM
all a bit esoteric and it's not exactly a messaging winner, but: america is a religion, and a proselytizing one. that's what being a creedal nation means. come to america, endorse the principles of the declaration and the constitution: congrats, you are an american.
www.patreon.com/posts/109838...
www.patreon.com/posts/109838...
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
The thing about truth is that it’s immutable. Trying to dissolve it is like trying to drain the ocean. Sure you can nibble around the edges but eventually some combination of politics (best case), economics (bad case), or physics (worst case) returns everyone to reality.
This is maybe the one area of my life where I am a genuine pessimist. I think the dissolution of truth is inevitable in a world where almost all information flows through the internet, but even so I am dismayed that conservatives are right now trying like hell to own and hasten that process.
December 4, 2025 at 6:18 PM
The thing about truth is that it’s immutable. Trying to dissolve it is like trying to drain the ocean. Sure you can nibble around the edges but eventually some combination of politics (best case), economics (bad case), or physics (worst case) returns everyone to reality.
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
We should execute him at the first opportunity. Not even kidding. Peleus precedent
December 5, 2025 at 12:15 AM
We should execute him at the first opportunity. Not even kidding. Peleus precedent
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
This is all true but
1) under no definition are we currently at war with Venezuela under domestic US law
2) since we aren’t, the initial strike was just as much a murder as the follow up
The failure to understand this by a huge range of actors is really driving me up the wall.
1) under no definition are we currently at war with Venezuela under domestic US law
2) since we aren’t, the initial strike was just as much a murder as the follow up
The failure to understand this by a huge range of actors is really driving me up the wall.
If the Venezuelan sailors were enemy combatants, then the 2nd strike is a war crime.
If the Venezuelan sailors weren’t enemy combatants, then both strikes are criminal murder.
It’s that simple.
If the Venezuelan sailors weren’t enemy combatants, then both strikes are criminal murder.
It’s that simple.
November 30, 2025 at 11:07 PM
This is all true but
1) under no definition are we currently at war with Venezuela under domestic US law
2) since we aren’t, the initial strike was just as much a murder as the follow up
The failure to understand this by a huge range of actors is really driving me up the wall.
1) under no definition are we currently at war with Venezuela under domestic US law
2) since we aren’t, the initial strike was just as much a murder as the follow up
The failure to understand this by a huge range of actors is really driving me up the wall.
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
this is just rank cowardice, the student very obviously disregarded the instructions and the assignment to antagonize her peers and instructors and provoke this exact reaction, society simply can’t function when the people in charge scurry like kicked dogs every time some troll bully says boo
November 30, 2025 at 8:55 PM
this is just rank cowardice, the student very obviously disregarded the instructions and the assignment to antagonize her peers and instructors and provoke this exact reaction, society simply can’t function when the people in charge scurry like kicked dogs every time some troll bully says boo
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
to SCOTUS: "we can prosecute the people he pardoned, or a future Democratic president can have them shot and then pardon the shooters. do you want that loop to start?"
November 28, 2025 at 11:11 PM
to SCOTUS: "we can prosecute the people he pardoned, or a future Democratic president can have them shot and then pardon the shooters. do you want that loop to start?"
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
Given the justification was in part because they might communicate with someone, pete could ask Heinz-Wilhelm Eck and his XO what the law of armed conflict says about that, except oops, the allies shot them dead in 1945 after a trial
WaPo with reporting that Pete gave an explicit order to JSOC during the first strike post impact to immediately follow up in order to, and I quote, "kill them all"
November 28, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Given the justification was in part because they might communicate with someone, pete could ask Heinz-Wilhelm Eck and his XO what the law of armed conflict says about that, except oops, the allies shot them dead in 1945 after a trial
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
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 11:10 AM
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...
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
Major announcement in just-posted board documents: DC's Metro is moving fast toward automation.
Over 15 years, Metro plans full automation & platform screen doors, which the agency says will improve safety, reliability, & travel times—at reduced costs.
www.wmata.com/about/board/...
Over 15 years, Metro plans full automation & platform screen doors, which the agency says will improve safety, reliability, & travel times—at reduced costs.
www.wmata.com/about/board/...
November 17, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Major announcement in just-posted board documents: DC's Metro is moving fast toward automation.
Over 15 years, Metro plans full automation & platform screen doors, which the agency says will improve safety, reliability, & travel times—at reduced costs.
www.wmata.com/about/board/...
Over 15 years, Metro plans full automation & platform screen doors, which the agency says will improve safety, reliability, & travel times—at reduced costs.
www.wmata.com/about/board/...
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
something I've been thinking about if/when we retake power is we're really going to need to shock & awe the elites with accountability. hit em hard and fast. gotta break the entire system and don't give it time to regroup.
Important to understand the Epstein stuff and the fascism and the corruption are, in a lot of ways, really all the same story from different angles: powerful men who can and do abuse vulnerable people around them because they can, and because systems of elite accountability catastrophically failed
November 13, 2025 at 4:39 AM
something I've been thinking about if/when we retake power is we're really going to need to shock & awe the elites with accountability. hit em hard and fast. gotta break the entire system and don't give it time to regroup.
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
"We’re done waiting for Dems to find their spine. We can’t afford a weak & cowardly Democratic Party while the authoritarians invade our cities, terrorize our communities, & threaten our democracy. We get the party we demand, & we intend to demand a Democratic Party that fights.” — @indivisible.org
Indivisible Launches its Largest Primary Program in Response to Senate Democrats Surrendering on the Shutdown Vote
indivisible.org
November 10, 2025 at 11:08 PM
"We’re done waiting for Dems to find their spine. We can’t afford a weak & cowardly Democratic Party while the authoritarians invade our cities, terrorize our communities, & threaten our democracy. We get the party we demand, & we intend to demand a Democratic Party that fights.” — @indivisible.org
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
ASAP!
Van Hollen Senate Minority Leader vote when
November 10, 2025 at 3:44 AM
ASAP!
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
“The failure isn’t presumptively just on Schumer and the seven-plus rank-and-file senators who voted to cave. Assuming there are no consequences for the leadership failure, it’s also on the rest of the caucus.”
16 Thoughts On The Dem Shutdown Cave
Another disgrace, and a new path forward.
www.offmessage.net
November 10, 2025 at 3:24 AM
“The failure isn’t presumptively just on Schumer and the seven-plus rank-and-file senators who voted to cave. Assuming there are no consequences for the leadership failure, it’s also on the rest of the caucus.”
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
The coordinated nature of this—none are facing voters in 2026—means that either Schumer approved it or failed in his job as Senate Majority Leader to stop it.
Dems voting "no" get zero credit until they demand a change in leadership. Schumer out as Leader, Durbin out as Whip.
Dems voting "no" get zero credit until they demand a change in leadership. Schumer out as Leader, Durbin out as Whip.
so currently defectors are:
Kaine (2030)
Shaheen (Retiring)
Hasan (2028)
Fetterman (2028)
Durbin (Retiring)
CCM (2028)
Rosen (2030)
King (2030)
Kaine (2030)
Shaheen (Retiring)
Hasan (2028)
Fetterman (2028)
Durbin (Retiring)
CCM (2028)
Rosen (2030)
King (2030)
November 10, 2025 at 2:43 AM
The coordinated nature of this—none are facing voters in 2026—means that either Schumer approved it or failed in his job as Senate Majority Leader to stop it.
Dems voting "no" get zero credit until they demand a change in leadership. Schumer out as Leader, Durbin out as Whip.
Dems voting "no" get zero credit until they demand a change in leadership. Schumer out as Leader, Durbin out as Whip.
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
I would respect House Democrats a lot more if they started planning primaries against the Senate Surrender Caucus tbh. like Joe Neguse would wax Hickenlooper 60-40
November 9, 2025 at 9:21 PM
I would respect House Democrats a lot more if they started planning primaries against the Senate Surrender Caucus tbh. like Joe Neguse would wax Hickenlooper 60-40
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
Absolutely sadistic.
A Dem Congress should pass a law banning anyone who is currently serving with ICE or CBP from future Fed employment.
The Feds should condition all future Fed grants to police depts on blanket refusals to hire ppl who were in ICE/CBP right now.
A Dem Congress should pass a law banning anyone who is currently serving with ICE or CBP from future Fed employment.
The Feds should condition all future Fed grants to police depts on blanket refusals to hire ppl who were in ICE/CBP right now.
Or Rodney Taylor, a disabled double amputee who’s been in America since he was two years old.
He was days away from receiving new prosthetic legs when ICE grabbed him
His health is declining, they won’t let him get his legs and they’ve placed him in solitary
www.disabledginger.com/p/help-rodne...
He was days away from receiving new prosthetic legs when ICE grabbed him
His health is declining, they won’t let him get his legs and they’ve placed him in solitary
www.disabledginger.com/p/help-rodne...
Help Rodney Taylor, a Disabled Double Amputee Being Held by ICE
Rodney has been in the country more than 40 years. He's in solitary confinement in Georgia, being denied disability accommodations and having his medical needs ignored. He must be released.
www.disabledginger.com
November 8, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Absolutely sadistic.
A Dem Congress should pass a law banning anyone who is currently serving with ICE or CBP from future Fed employment.
The Feds should condition all future Fed grants to police depts on blanket refusals to hire ppl who were in ICE/CBP right now.
A Dem Congress should pass a law banning anyone who is currently serving with ICE or CBP from future Fed employment.
The Feds should condition all future Fed grants to police depts on blanket refusals to hire ppl who were in ICE/CBP right now.
Reposted by Jonathan Connelly
ryan is right. people HATE hearing this. but it is just a matter of simple incentives. if you want a more representative legislature — and if you want a legislature more resistant to corruption — then you need to jack up the salaries. serving as mayor of NYC should net you a cool 500K *at least*
people hate hearing this but it's 100% true, creating a huge pay gap between political leaders, their staffs, and other elites is a recipe for corruption. of course the flip side of that is taxes on the rich should be jacked way the hell up
The Mayor of New York only makes $260k. I bet there are police that make more than that in NY with overtime.
We need to pay elected leaders more money and stop pretending it's some sort of calling. They're managing hundreds of billions of dollars in investments and millions of people's lives.
We need to pay elected leaders more money and stop pretending it's some sort of calling. They're managing hundreds of billions of dollars in investments and millions of people's lives.
November 7, 2025 at 3:42 PM
ryan is right. people HATE hearing this. but it is just a matter of simple incentives. if you want a more representative legislature — and if you want a legislature more resistant to corruption — then you need to jack up the salaries. serving as mayor of NYC should net you a cool 500K *at least*