Partaker in Discourse
@partaker.bsky.social
Could you be more specific
Reposted by Partaker in Discourse
one thing I find tremendously depressing is that - it's not just that liberals disdain or find the idea of proselytizing for a national ethos to be "cringe."
it's that they actually find it to be immoral. the concept of advocating for your nation's theory of a better way of life is Actually Bad
it's that they actually find it to be immoral. the concept of advocating for your nation's theory of a better way of life is Actually Bad
October 27, 2025 at 2:41 PM
one thing I find tremendously depressing is that - it's not just that liberals disdain or find the idea of proselytizing for a national ethos to be "cringe."
it's that they actually find it to be immoral. the concept of advocating for your nation's theory of a better way of life is Actually Bad
it's that they actually find it to be immoral. the concept of advocating for your nation's theory of a better way of life is Actually Bad
Small amount to test if the pathway works, but in principle if the president can fund government operations through extracongressional "donations" made by businesses who fear reprisals if they refuse, that would get us neatly into Charles I style Personal Rule territory.
New: The Pentagon confirms to CNN it will funnel $130M from an anonymous Trump “friend” toward military pay.
Asked about the donor’s identity and any foreign or domestic entanglements, the WH referred questions to DoD. DoD then referred questions back to the WH
www.cnn.com/2025/10/24/p...
Asked about the donor’s identity and any foreign or domestic entanglements, the WH referred questions to DoD. DoD then referred questions back to the WH
www.cnn.com/2025/10/24/p...
Pentagon to use $130 million donation from anonymous Trump ‘friend’ to pay military members | CNN Politics
The Trump administration plans to funnel a $130 million donation from an anonymous ally of President Donald Trump toward paying military service members during the government shutdown, the Defense Dep...
www.cnn.com
October 24, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Small amount to test if the pathway works, but in principle if the president can fund government operations through extracongressional "donations" made by businesses who fear reprisals if they refuse, that would get us neatly into Charles I style Personal Rule territory.
Reposted by Partaker in Discourse
Every emergent phenomenon will be blamed on a conspiracy.
Whenever people see a pattern that has no obvious agent or goal behind it, they will invent an agent and goal to satisfy their understanding of causality.
Whenever people see a pattern that has no obvious agent or goal behind it, they will invent an agent and goal to satisfy their understanding of causality.
October 22, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Every emergent phenomenon will be blamed on a conspiracy.
Whenever people see a pattern that has no obvious agent or goal behind it, they will invent an agent and goal to satisfy their understanding of causality.
Whenever people see a pattern that has no obvious agent or goal behind it, they will invent an agent and goal to satisfy their understanding of causality.
This is the best way to understand how Biden was able to become the nominee - party leadership was more afraid of awkwardness inside the beltway than they were of any possible disaster. The base having seen this philosophy in action for so long is driving a huge amount of democrats' malaise.
in some ways, the greatest challenge for Democratic base voters is to get their elected officials more afraid of their base than of the Beltway culture
October 20, 2025 at 5:05 PM
This is the best way to understand how Biden was able to become the nominee - party leadership was more afraid of awkwardness inside the beltway than they were of any possible disaster. The base having seen this philosophy in action for so long is driving a huge amount of democrats' malaise.
Reposted by Partaker in Discourse
Here's a gift link to the New York Times' coverage of the initial Tea Party rallies in April 2009 which inspired the media to treat it like a massive movement.
Check out how tiny the crowds were:
Philly: 200
DC: "several hundred"
Boston: 500
Austin: 1,000
Houston: 2,000
Check out how tiny the crowds were:
Philly: 200
DC: "several hundred"
Boston: 500
Austin: 1,000
Houston: 2,000
Tax Day Is Met With Tea Parties (Published 2009)
www.nytimes.com
October 20, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Here's a gift link to the New York Times' coverage of the initial Tea Party rallies in April 2009 which inspired the media to treat it like a massive movement.
Check out how tiny the crowds were:
Philly: 200
DC: "several hundred"
Boston: 500
Austin: 1,000
Houston: 2,000
Check out how tiny the crowds were:
Philly: 200
DC: "several hundred"
Boston: 500
Austin: 1,000
Houston: 2,000
“This is pure theater—a sensual experience rather than the rational application of ideas... Walter Benjamin interpreted the events that saw the rise of Hitler and Mussolini as the transformation of politics into aesthetics.”
It's all about aesthetics, but that can actually be helpful- 1/6
It's all about aesthetics, but that can actually be helpful- 1/6
The British Right are just in total freefall into savagery at this point
October 18, 2025 at 2:23 PM
“This is pure theater—a sensual experience rather than the rational application of ideas... Walter Benjamin interpreted the events that saw the rise of Hitler and Mussolini as the transformation of politics into aesthetics.”
It's all about aesthetics, but that can actually be helpful- 1/6
It's all about aesthetics, but that can actually be helpful- 1/6
Reposted by Partaker in Discourse
pilgrim guy finishes reading a big book, leans way back in his chair and loosens the belt on his hat
October 12, 2025 at 1:44 AM
pilgrim guy finishes reading a big book, leans way back in his chair and loosens the belt on his hat
Americans' confidence in their own legal system is so low that they are hitting on "it ought to be illegal to make false claims to a court" as a novel proposal for a serious reform that might improve the existing situation
eventually politicians need to start advocating for criminal and civil penalties for people involved in fabricating stories to get citizens incarcerated.
or, put another way: a society that would like to keep functioning has to discourage baldfaced lying, especially by authorities
or, put another way: a society that would like to keep functioning has to discourage baldfaced lying, especially by authorities
Body-camera video appears to contradict the government’s claim that Marimar Martinez, 30, drove toward officers before one of them opened fire at her late Saturday morning in Brighton Park, her attorney claimed.
trib.al/9Sxu9IN
trib.al/9Sxu9IN
October 7, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Americans' confidence in their own legal system is so low that they are hitting on "it ought to be illegal to make false claims to a court" as a novel proposal for a serious reform that might improve the existing situation
Reposted by Partaker in Discourse
I do wonder when media outlets will get interested in ballooning everyday costs. My family's grocery bill has exploded over the past six months and - unlike when a Democrat is president - this is a non-story.
October 1, 2025 at 11:54 AM
I do wonder when media outlets will get interested in ballooning everyday costs. My family's grocery bill has exploded over the past six months and - unlike when a Democrat is president - this is a non-story.
i keep saying this but what i hate most about the ezra kleins of the world is their insistence is that politics is about messaging and triangulating. its never about offering a compelling vision of the world, its about trying desperately to capitulate to whatever moment we are in
September 29, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Here's a background detail of modern warfare I don't think anyone anticipated
Fiber optic drones can’t be electronically disrupted—because they’re connected by a long, unspooling wire, there’s no signal to hack—but I wondered what all that activity was leaving behind.
The answer is so much cable strewn about near the front line it’s visible from the air.
The answer is so much cable strewn about near the front line it’s visible from the air.
Fields of fiber optic cable at the front line
September 23, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Here's a background detail of modern warfare I don't think anyone anticipated
Reposted by Partaker in Discourse
The elites of our nation are finding it harder and harder to remember how the Constitution works, and increasingly inclined to understand all US policy as flowing from presidential fiat. Sliding into the authoritarian phantasmagoria.
This @washingtonpost.com editorial doesn’t make it past the second paragraph without a glaring (and telling) factual error.
President Washington didn’t create the War Department in 1789; *Congress* did:
www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/...
President Washington didn’t create the War Department in 1789; *Congress* did:
www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/...
September 6, 2025 at 3:11 AM
The elites of our nation are finding it harder and harder to remember how the Constitution works, and increasingly inclined to understand all US policy as flowing from presidential fiat. Sliding into the authoritarian phantasmagoria.
This kind of response to book bans always fails because it fails to understand the psychology behind the ban. They dont care whether it actually stops anyone reading it. What they want is for Father Stalin, the God in the State, to acknowledge that they are Right and the Bad Men are Wrong.
September 3, 2025 at 12:35 AM
This kind of response to book bans always fails because it fails to understand the psychology behind the ban. They dont care whether it actually stops anyone reading it. What they want is for Father Stalin, the God in the State, to acknowledge that they are Right and the Bad Men are Wrong.
"The belief that the state should not favor any particular conception of what constitutes a good life for its citizens... this, to them, is what liberalism is for."
Perfect summary; we are ideological Hooverites, locked into a doomed policy by our hidebound conception of what the playing field is
Perfect summary; we are ideological Hooverites, locked into a doomed policy by our hidebound conception of what the playing field is
August 21, 2025 at 3:13 PM
"The belief that the state should not favor any particular conception of what constitutes a good life for its citizens... this, to them, is what liberalism is for."
Perfect summary; we are ideological Hooverites, locked into a doomed policy by our hidebound conception of what the playing field is
Perfect summary; we are ideological Hooverites, locked into a doomed policy by our hidebound conception of what the playing field is
Reposted by Partaker in Discourse
Reposted by Partaker in Discourse
The claim isn’t that memes sway elections, but that human beings are propelled by the ideas in their heads, and the ideas get in their heads mostly through social mechanisms and communication, and very rarely by independently observing changes in their surroundings and drawing a conclusion.
The thing is Stancil Thought is so unbelievably bleak I can’t believe it, because I’d just give up. Truly, if elections are swayed only by memes and not by actually doing anything that helps people, what’s the point of.., anything really? So I just need to decide it’s bs
June 15, 2025 at 3:32 PM
The claim isn’t that memes sway elections, but that human beings are propelled by the ideas in their heads, and the ideas get in their heads mostly through social mechanisms and communication, and very rarely by independently observing changes in their surroundings and drawing a conclusion.
This actually very neatly sums up the manner in which democratic messaging fails - Republicans understand "show, don't tell."
Democrats quote accurate statistics about Arkansas, Republicans show individual videos from California. Which place does the public then think is more dangerous?
Democrats quote accurate statistics about Arkansas, Republicans show individual videos from California. Which place does the public then think is more dangerous?
June 12, 2025 at 2:29 PM
This actually very neatly sums up the manner in which democratic messaging fails - Republicans understand "show, don't tell."
Democrats quote accurate statistics about Arkansas, Republicans show individual videos from California. Which place does the public then think is more dangerous?
Democrats quote accurate statistics about Arkansas, Republicans show individual videos from California. Which place does the public then think is more dangerous?
Reposted by Partaker in Discourse
My favorite “cities are a war zone” thing is a tweet I remember where someone took a video of a dozen children playing soccer and captioned it “Minneapolis has fallen”. I kept replaying it thinking I had missed something but no, it was just that they weren’t white
June 9, 2025 at 3:50 PM
My favorite “cities are a war zone” thing is a tweet I remember where someone took a video of a dozen children playing soccer and captioned it “Minneapolis has fallen”. I kept replaying it thinking I had missed something but no, it was just that they weren’t white
Reposted by Partaker in Discourse
not everyone has agreed with me about this but my read is that schumer is essentially telling donald trump to frame mahmoud khalil for something, anything, so that he can openly support his expulsion. trump does not seem to respect schumer enough to do this.
one insane thing about schumer's statements about khalil is that trump has been perfectly clear that he has not suspected of a crime. schumer nonetheless provided trump with an opportunity to confabulate a crime both trump and rubio have denied occurred. just lying to defend the president.
March 20, 2025 at 4:54 AM
not everyone has agreed with me about this but my read is that schumer is essentially telling donald trump to frame mahmoud khalil for something, anything, so that he can openly support his expulsion. trump does not seem to respect schumer enough to do this.
Reposted by Partaker in Discourse
Something that's been clear to me for some time is that a lot of progressive advocacy and politics has overindexed on finding just the right combination of words to say while ignoring the fact that no media ecosystem exists where people might actually hear you say them. New from @mmfa.bsky.social
March 14, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Something that's been clear to me for some time is that a lot of progressive advocacy and politics has overindexed on finding just the right combination of words to say while ignoring the fact that no media ecosystem exists where people might actually hear you say them. New from @mmfa.bsky.social
If you need a poll to tell you what's in the air, you're not cut out for politics.
This is a very basic thing so many poll-sniffing Dems seem unable to grasp. Voters don’t have strong or settled views on most issues, even if they’ll give a pollster some answer when asked. If you make a good case or just clearly signal “this is what our faction thinks now” many of them shift.
February 7, 2025 at 2:08 AM
If you need a poll to tell you what's in the air, you're not cut out for politics.
Every subsequent session of congress ought to have a detatchment of these guys in the public galleries like lenin's boys above the constituent assembly
President Trump has pardoned 1,500 people who stormed the Capitol four years ago to block his successor from taking office, including 174 charged with using weapons or assaulting police and conspirators who plotted "to oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power."
January 21, 2025 at 2:38 PM
Every subsequent session of congress ought to have a detatchment of these guys in the public galleries like lenin's boys above the constituent assembly
Reposted by Partaker in Discourse
Might have misheard but I *think* I overheard a student talking about feeling like they were saving money for no better reason than just lack of anything they feel like doing. Never ever has Warhammer had a more ideal target audience than this one kid.
January 20, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Might have misheard but I *think* I overheard a student talking about feeling like they were saving money for no better reason than just lack of anything they feel like doing. Never ever has Warhammer had a more ideal target audience than this one kid.