@martinwwitte.bsky.social
Formerly did China human rights work, local journalism, and language teaching, now at UC Berkeley
Well, it had to be “internal bleeding” since there sure wasn’t any blood visible anywhere. He should have borrowed a fake blood vile that Trump used for his “assassination.”
January 16, 2026 at 1:43 AM
Well, it had to be “internal bleeding” since there sure wasn’t any blood visible anywhere. He should have borrowed a fake blood vile that Trump used for his “assassination.”
I suppose “most guys” at the Capitol figured they had “hall passes” when they beat police officers, destroyed barricades, scaled & vandalized the main federal legislative building, threatened government officials with violent death, took shits in the halls of Congress & broke into official offices.
January 14, 2026 at 3:53 AM
I suppose “most guys” at the Capitol figured they had “hall passes” when they beat police officers, destroyed barricades, scaled & vandalized the main federal legislative building, threatened government officials with violent death, took shits in the halls of Congress & broke into official offices.
Hate to ask, but how have anti-immigrant policies exacerbated already bad conditions for nurses?
January 12, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Hate to ask, but how have anti-immigrant policies exacerbated already bad conditions for nurses?
It’s true it can build opposition, but it can also bring about paralyzing fear, rendering most people unable to act since doing so can have deadly consequences. Also, opposition in a democracy is most useful in elections, and this regime’s actions are meant to severely disrupt the midterms.
January 12, 2026 at 5:27 AM
It’s true it can build opposition, but it can also bring about paralyzing fear, rendering most people unable to act since doing so can have deadly consequences. Also, opposition in a democracy is most useful in elections, and this regime’s actions are meant to severely disrupt the midterms.
A hallmark of authoritarian regimes is to accuse political opponents of being paid by shady money to engage in civil society activism. This allows the government to pursue wider, but vague, targets (ie financial sources), essentially making criminals of whoever they want to get rid of or weaken.
January 12, 2026 at 4:36 AM
A hallmark of authoritarian regimes is to accuse political opponents of being paid by shady money to engage in civil society activism. This allows the government to pursue wider, but vague, targets (ie financial sources), essentially making criminals of whoever they want to get rid of or weaken.
They want absolute power without any accountability, they pass every buck unless they can pocket it, they speak like they’re just regular individual citizens and not government officials, and look at effects of their policies like they have a dissociative disorder.
This is all very disturbing.
This is all very disturbing.
January 12, 2026 at 1:40 AM
They want absolute power without any accountability, they pass every buck unless they can pocket it, they speak like they’re just regular individual citizens and not government officials, and look at effects of their policies like they have a dissociative disorder.
This is all very disturbing.
This is all very disturbing.
Imagine how many in MAGA world will decide to stop watching a program featuring extremely intelligent people provide answers about facts. I hope Jeopardy can stay on the air!
January 11, 2026 at 6:00 AM
Imagine how many in MAGA world will decide to stop watching a program featuring extremely intelligent people provide answers about facts. I hope Jeopardy can stay on the air!
This is indeed the playbook of authoritarians. We see ICE employees (not “agents” or “officers”) harass & detain people, citing “disrupting traffic” as a pretext. This is a very common charges levied against protesters in China, used so that the deprivation of speech/assembly rights is less blatant.
January 10, 2026 at 3:15 PM
This is indeed the playbook of authoritarians. We see ICE employees (not “agents” or “officers”) harass & detain people, citing “disrupting traffic” as a pretext. This is a very common charges levied against protesters in China, used so that the deprivation of speech/assembly rights is less blatant.
But Trump isn’t looking to really be the prize winner by getting the medal. As bullies do when they coerce others to hand over something that’s not theirs, he just wants to display his dominance, revel in possessing the shiny object, and play “pretend greatness,” as he’s always done.
January 10, 2026 at 3:09 PM
But Trump isn’t looking to really be the prize winner by getting the medal. As bullies do when they coerce others to hand over something that’s not theirs, he just wants to display his dominance, revel in possessing the shiny object, and play “pretend greatness,” as he’s always done.
A guy who’s such a colossal asshole he was basically “cancelled” by MLB decades ago—so by a sports community far from liberal and in an era far from woke—now is harassing people with the same bigotry he displayed then, and he’s instantly a conservative hero. That’s why we say crap is normalized.
January 9, 2026 at 1:53 AM
A guy who’s such a colossal asshole he was basically “cancelled” by MLB decades ago—so by a sports community far from liberal and in an era far from woke—now is harassing people with the same bigotry he displayed then, and he’s instantly a conservative hero. That’s why we say crap is normalized.
The best evidence that anti-ICE protesters are decent, ethical, and peaceful—the opposite of violent domestic terrorists or threats to public safety the administration claims they are—is that not one ICE employee has been seriously hurt while they’ve terrorized, kidnapped, assaulted & shot people.
January 8, 2026 at 10:36 PM
The best evidence that anti-ICE protesters are decent, ethical, and peaceful—the opposite of violent domestic terrorists or threats to public safety the administration claims they are—is that not one ICE employee has been seriously hurt while they’ve terrorized, kidnapped, assaulted & shot people.
This isn’t about Republicans “overcoming GOP leadership” though (as in the headline). Trump IS GOP leadership & he told them to extend subsidies since that will help w/ the midterms, which might help the GOP keep power, which in turn will prevent Trump from being impeached, which he also told them.
January 8, 2026 at 2:38 AM
This isn’t about Republicans “overcoming GOP leadership” though (as in the headline). Trump IS GOP leadership & he told them to extend subsidies since that will help w/ the midterms, which might help the GOP keep power, which in turn will prevent Trump from being impeached, which he also told them.
To be fair and balanced, he only came to this decision after being told to do it, and after careful analysis of relevant facts, the main one being that those states didn’t vote for him.
January 6, 2026 at 7:43 PM
To be fair and balanced, he only came to this decision after being told to do it, and after careful analysis of relevant facts, the main one being that those states didn’t vote for him.
Of all things this administration “learns” from Denmark, it’s a policy Denmark (& other countries) have only since their system works by closely minding citizen well-being. Unfortunately, the US has a very poor record of caring for its citizens, which is why this change is dumb & will kill people.
January 5, 2026 at 10:58 PM
Of all things this administration “learns” from Denmark, it’s a policy Denmark (& other countries) have only since their system works by closely minding citizen well-being. Unfortunately, the US has a very poor record of caring for its citizens, which is why this change is dumb & will kill people.
Rubio looks at the ground so much when Trump speaks you’d think his shoe tops have mirrors and that he’s just about to go on stage at the Trump-Kennedy Center to sing the national anthem to the tune of YMCA.
January 3, 2026 at 10:25 PM
Rubio looks at the ground so much when Trump speaks you’d think his shoe tops have mirrors and that he’s just about to go on stage at the Trump-Kennedy Center to sing the national anthem to the tune of YMCA.
Elite artists today have what some companies, law firms & schools don’t—power & capacity to not share their toil. While the Trump administration has many arts organizations & creatives under its boot, famous artists know they stand on the shoulders of defunded victims & also will stand up for them.
December 31, 2025 at 3:56 AM
Elite artists today have what some companies, law firms & schools don’t—power & capacity to not share their toil. While the Trump administration has many arts organizations & creatives under its boot, famous artists know they stand on the shoulders of defunded victims & also will stand up for them.
The Kennedy Center joins a long list of places where Trump has entered unwanted and still refuses to pull out of.
December 30, 2025 at 9:21 PM
The Kennedy Center joins a long list of places where Trump has entered unwanted and still refuses to pull out of.
I can’t catch my breath that, considering the state of things, this administration would love to have the Gay Men’s Chorus perform at the Trump-Kennedy Center.
December 29, 2025 at 3:56 AM
I can’t catch my breath that, considering the state of things, this administration would love to have the Gay Men’s Chorus perform at the Trump-Kennedy Center.
Knowing an executive welcome wouldn’t happen, could Democratic officials had greeted him? It’s a more powerful message to show support to him—a gesture many conservatives can appreciate—than to show the vacancy of US government leadership and will towards Ukraine. Norms be damned: We need a new way.
December 28, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Knowing an executive welcome wouldn’t happen, could Democratic officials had greeted him? It’s a more powerful message to show support to him—a gesture many conservatives can appreciate—than to show the vacancy of US government leadership and will towards Ukraine. Norms be damned: We need a new way.
This is like Charles Manson penning an essay on how Americans turned to drugs, cultism, and violence to deal with their problems.
December 28, 2025 at 4:57 AM
This is like Charles Manson penning an essay on how Americans turned to drugs, cultism, and violence to deal with their problems.
The seeking-and-finding of pearl-clutching faux societal danger is a depressing example of how the political right constructs bogeymen from whole cloth—an extremely effective, ingenious strategy. There is no “woke mob” or “war on Christmas” or “trans issue” etc without rightwing architects.
December 26, 2025 at 11:42 PM
The seeking-and-finding of pearl-clutching faux societal danger is a depressing example of how the political right constructs bogeymen from whole cloth—an extremely effective, ingenious strategy. There is no “woke mob” or “war on Christmas” or “trans issue” etc without rightwing architects.
freed a cocaine-trafficking dictator & criminal grifters & 1700+ violent attackers of the Capitol & our democracy, oversaw murders of “who knows?” off the Venezuelan coast, lied lied and lied about every matter of policy & state of the country, & had raped children for decades, I’d apologize.
December 24, 2025 at 5:24 PM
freed a cocaine-trafficking dictator & criminal grifters & 1700+ violent attackers of the Capitol & our democracy, oversaw murders of “who knows?” off the Venezuelan coast, lied lied and lied about every matter of policy & state of the country, & had raped children for decades, I’d apologize.
enriched him & his family by billions of dollars, damaged a healthy economy w/ illegal tariffs supported by no experts, bullied the world’s best universities into a billion+ dollars in payoffs due to spite, weakened the world’s best research institutions, cut jobs in every essential federal agency,
December 24, 2025 at 5:24 PM
enriched him & his family by billions of dollars, damaged a healthy economy w/ illegal tariffs supported by no experts, bullied the world’s best universities into a billion+ dollars in payoffs due to spite, weakened the world’s best research institutions, cut jobs in every essential federal agency,