Randall S.
@randallito.bsky.social
Curious about why people do what we do
Reposted by Randall S.
If you're going to read one thing about unlawful orders and the boat strikes, this is it:
Unlawful Orders and Killing Shipwrecked Boat Strike Survivors
An Expert Backgrounder by @mikeschmitt.bsky.social, @rgoodlaw.bsky.social and @tessbridgeman.bsky.social
www.justsecurity.org/125948/illeg...
An Expert Backgrounder by @mikeschmitt.bsky.social, @rgoodlaw.bsky.social and @tessbridgeman.bsky.social
www.justsecurity.org/125948/illeg...
Unlawful Orders and Killing Shipwrecked Boat Strike Survivors: An Expert Backgrounder
An expert backgrounder on the reported Hegseth "no quarter" order to kill everyone aboard a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean on Sept. 2.
www.justsecurity.org
December 1, 2025 at 5:55 PM
If you're going to read one thing about unlawful orders and the boat strikes, this is it:
Reposted by Randall S.
what this makes me think is that unions should push for fusion voting wherever possible www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/how-to-win...
How to Win Red States With a Labor Party
We can take political power without asking Democrats for it.
www.hamiltonnolan.com
December 1, 2025 at 5:31 PM
what this makes me think is that unions should push for fusion voting wherever possible www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/how-to-win...
Reposted by Randall S.
I scream-laughed
Trump filling out his NYC DSA membership card to vote on primarying Jeffries right now
November 21, 2025 at 9:36 PM
I scream-laughed
Reposted by Randall S.
Important - in a global order in which international rules are losing importance, one part of the emerging replacement is this neo-royalist approach involving interlinked states and companies. Once again, put away the deglobalisation simplisms.
1/This week has seen a blitz of what looks like corruption sandals: Saudi development deals for US military tech, Pakistani payments to Trump insiders for tariff relief, Swiss gold bars for a trade deal. Far from a payoff, this is a reordering of internat'l system.
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mxthh...
www.dropbox.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Important - in a global order in which international rules are losing importance, one part of the emerging replacement is this neo-royalist approach involving interlinked states and companies. Once again, put away the deglobalisation simplisms.
Reposted by Randall S.
The Eric Schickler essay in Larry Bartel's symposium on "What Trump Has Taught Us About Political Science" is one of the most insightful pieces I've read in 2025.
US institutions turned out to be weak, and we have to rethink conventional wisdom.
open access: academic.oup.com/psq/advance-...
US institutions turned out to be weak, and we have to rethink conventional wisdom.
open access: academic.oup.com/psq/advance-...
November 19, 2025 at 8:08 PM
The Eric Schickler essay in Larry Bartel's symposium on "What Trump Has Taught Us About Political Science" is one of the most insightful pieces I've read in 2025.
US institutions turned out to be weak, and we have to rethink conventional wisdom.
open access: academic.oup.com/psq/advance-...
US institutions turned out to be weak, and we have to rethink conventional wisdom.
open access: academic.oup.com/psq/advance-...
Reposted by Randall S.
Curmudgeonly compaint to ignore: Even as I recognize its necessity, I don't like "we're going to win" rhetoric. I think it implies "norms" can be restored, that there'll come a day when this is "over"--vs. a long struggle in which there're victories but no final victory, because this isn't a movie.
November 19, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Curmudgeonly compaint to ignore: Even as I recognize its necessity, I don't like "we're going to win" rhetoric. I think it implies "norms" can be restored, that there'll come a day when this is "over"--vs. a long struggle in which there're victories but no final victory, because this isn't a movie.
Reposted by Randall S.
Reposted by Randall S.
NEW—US Park Police w/ DHS officers near DC are increasingly pulling over Black and brown men, leaving their work vans on the side of the parkway + immediately calling a local towing company to take them. Families who just lost their breadwinner are stuck with the bill.
@melbuer.bsky.social reports:
@melbuer.bsky.social reports:
Families of DC-area immigrant drivers snatched by feds stuck with tow bill
Elected officials and activists note work vehicles removed lightning fast, resulting in hundreds in fees.
www.thehandbasket.co
November 17, 2025 at 6:38 PM
NEW—US Park Police w/ DHS officers near DC are increasingly pulling over Black and brown men, leaving their work vans on the side of the parkway + immediately calling a local towing company to take them. Families who just lost their breadwinner are stuck with the bill.
@melbuer.bsky.social reports:
@melbuer.bsky.social reports:
Reposted by Randall S.
People getting mad here about anyone saying it's good that MTG and Trump are fighting. I teach democratization every semester. The first slide says 'elite fracture.' That's always where it starts. It's good when people with bad politics are fighting one another.
I do not regret to inform you that we are going to win
BASH: We have seen these attacks from the president at other people. It's not new. And I haven't heard you speak out about it until it was directed at you.
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: I think that's fair criticism. And I would like to say, humbly, I'm sorry for taking part in the toxic politics.
MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE: I think that's fair criticism. And I would like to say, humbly, I'm sorry for taking part in the toxic politics.
November 16, 2025 at 3:29 PM
People getting mad here about anyone saying it's good that MTG and Trump are fighting. I teach democratization every semester. The first slide says 'elite fracture.' That's always where it starts. It's good when people with bad politics are fighting one another.
Reposted by Randall S.
It really is a skill that anyone can acquire and improve.
I attended a meeting yesterday and it reminded me that every single organizer needs to get training on how to facilitate meetings. Truly. You lose more people through terrible meeting facilitation than I can express.
November 13, 2025 at 4:47 PM
It really is a skill that anyone can acquire and improve.
Reposted by Randall S.
this is incredibly lucid and valuable research.
Please take a minute to scroll through this—and share it.
It's the story of our time.
The Authoritarian Stack: How Tech Billionaires Are Building a Post-Democratic American—And Why Europe Is Next.
www.authoritarian-stack.info
It's the story of our time.
The Authoritarian Stack: How Tech Billionaires Are Building a Post-Democratic American—And Why Europe Is Next.
www.authoritarian-stack.info
The Authoritarian Stack
How Tech Billionaires Are Building a Post-Democratic America — And Why Europe Is Next
www.authoritarian-stack.info
November 7, 2025 at 11:54 PM
this is incredibly lucid and valuable research.
Reposted by Randall S.
I cannot stress enough how bad this would be!
YIKES: NSO floats Pegasus spyware used in hypothetical "time of domestic crisis" in 🇺🇸America.
I believe they won't stop lobbying until they get Pegasus into USA.
To hack Americans. 1/
I believe they won't stop lobbying until they get Pegasus into USA.
To hack Americans. 1/
November 8, 2025 at 12:37 AM
I cannot stress enough how bad this would be!
Reposted by Randall S.
In 2008, a blogger named Curtis Yarvin called for a future president to kill foreign aid programs as part of a plan to replace democracy with dictatorship.
Now 600,000 people are dead—and 14 million will die by 2030, according to the Lancet. This is the running death toll of tech fascism.
Now 600,000 people are dead—and 14 million will die by 2030, according to the Lancet. This is the running death toll of tech fascism.
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 7, 2025 at 10:28 PM
In 2008, a blogger named Curtis Yarvin called for a future president to kill foreign aid programs as part of a plan to replace democracy with dictatorship.
Now 600,000 people are dead—and 14 million will die by 2030, according to the Lancet. This is the running death toll of tech fascism.
Now 600,000 people are dead—and 14 million will die by 2030, according to the Lancet. This is the running death toll of tech fascism.
Reposted by Randall S.
tough numbers for the golden child of the pro-moderation crowd
It’s no walk in the park to serve in Congress, and I don’t begrudge Golden for stepping away. But it seems likely that his polling numbers among his own constituents factored into the decision.
Favorability:
16% favorable | 41% unfavorable
Deserves to be Re-elected?:
26% does | 57% doesn’t
Favorability:
16% favorable | 41% unfavorable
Deserves to be Re-elected?:
26% does | 57% doesn’t
November 8, 2025 at 1:34 AM
tough numbers for the golden child of the pro-moderation crowd
Reposted by Randall S.
Strength training is political. We have a right-wing which has taken over physical fitness spaces, and hijacked “warrior culture”.
We need a muscular progressivist visions. We need to be strong to build the world we want.
Building my guns for the revolution. 💪🏾✊🏾 #Swoletariat #ResistanceTraining”
We need a muscular progressivist visions. We need to be strong to build the world we want.
Building my guns for the revolution. 💪🏾✊🏾 #Swoletariat #ResistanceTraining”
November 7, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Strength training is political. We have a right-wing which has taken over physical fitness spaces, and hijacked “warrior culture”.
We need a muscular progressivist visions. We need to be strong to build the world we want.
Building my guns for the revolution. 💪🏾✊🏾 #Swoletariat #ResistanceTraining”
We need a muscular progressivist visions. We need to be strong to build the world we want.
Building my guns for the revolution. 💪🏾✊🏾 #Swoletariat #ResistanceTraining”
Reposted by Randall S.
Donald Trump‘s true magic is that I’m never sure if he’s being clever or a complete moron. Does he say these horrifying things as part of a plan to normalize authoritarian dictatorships over time with his cult, or does he just have zero impulse control and can’t help showing his cartoonish evil?
Trump: "I stick up for Viktor Orban. Not a lot of people do because in many cases they're jealous. They wish they did what he did. They would have no problems if they did what he did."
November 7, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Donald Trump‘s true magic is that I’m never sure if he’s being clever or a complete moron. Does he say these horrifying things as part of a plan to normalize authoritarian dictatorships over time with his cult, or does he just have zero impulse control and can’t help showing his cartoonish evil?
Reposted by Randall S.
As always: read Lee
I jump into the moderation debate. I agree with @adambonica.bsky.social and @gelliottmorris.com on the methodology, but I want to draw attention to a bigger issue. The collapse of candidate effects generally.
leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-modera...
leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-modera...
October 30, 2025 at 5:36 AM
As always: read Lee
Reposted by Randall S.
Winning narrow margins is small thinking. It doesn’t break us out of our gridlock moment. And it definitely does not break us out of the more destructive two-party doom loop cycle I keep banging on about.
The problem is the parties, and the party system.
leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-modera...
The problem is the parties, and the party system.
leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-modera...
The moderation debate fiddles with 2% while Democracy’s dimensionality collapses
Presidential vote now determines 98% of House outcomes. One-dimensional partisan conflict is authoritarian-friendly territory. Could fusion voting restore competitive dimensions?
leedrutman.substack.com
October 30, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Winning narrow margins is small thinking. It doesn’t break us out of our gridlock moment. And it definitely does not break us out of the more destructive two-party doom loop cycle I keep banging on about.
The problem is the parties, and the party system.
leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-modera...
The problem is the parties, and the party system.
leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-modera...
Reposted by Randall S.
This is the sound of candidates losing the struggle against the crushing weight of partisan gravity.
This is nationalization and polarization and presidentialization swallowing everything else.
This is the dangerous collapse of dimensionality, in one chart
leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-modera...
This is nationalization and polarization and presidentialization swallowing everything else.
This is the dangerous collapse of dimensionality, in one chart
leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-modera...
October 30, 2025 at 12:34 PM
This is the sound of candidates losing the struggle against the crushing weight of partisan gravity.
This is nationalization and polarization and presidentialization swallowing everything else.
This is the dangerous collapse of dimensionality, in one chart
leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-modera...
This is nationalization and polarization and presidentialization swallowing everything else.
This is the dangerous collapse of dimensionality, in one chart
leedrutman.substack.com/p/the-modera...
Reposted by Randall S.
Okay I’m reading it now and, no surprise, it suuuucks in exactly the ways you would expect.
Should I have a couple drinks and rip apart the new centrist dem manifesto tonight?
Y/N
Y/N
October 28, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Okay I’m reading it now and, no surprise, it suuuucks in exactly the ways you would expect.
Reposted by Randall S.
This report convinces me that right-wing propaganda works, most notably on Dem operatives who are supposed to be shaping public opinion, not merely reacting to it.
Li'l scoop at Semafor: A new report endorsed by Biden's former campaign manager, former DCCC chair Cheri Bustos, and other centrist Dems blames the party's broken brand on post-2012 left-wing language and ideas - not just "the groups" but adopted by whole party www.semafor.com/article/10/2...
Left-wing ideas have wrecked Democrats’ brand, new report warns
The center-left group Welcome relied on polling of hundreds of thousands of voters over six months for its findings, shared first with Semafor.
www.semafor.com
October 27, 2025 at 8:28 PM
This report convinces me that right-wing propaganda works, most notably on Dem operatives who are supposed to be shaping public opinion, not merely reacting to it.
Reposted by Randall S.
Do you have, or know of, an interesting dataset related to the far-right that you wish was easier to navigate? Let us know and we'll do our best to help! Making data more accessible to journalists, researchers, and the general public is an important part of Decoherence Media's mission.
As part of our investigation into the Rope Culture web server, we created a search interface for Nazi forum scrapes and leaked databases called FashyLeaks. Currently it includes the Iron March and Rope Culture datasets, with many more to come.
We found the exposed web server of Rope Culture, a neo-Nazi online magazine from the same Nazis behind the notorious Iron March forum. It contains hundreds of email addresses of the site’s commenters, emails sent to & from their mail server & the IP address of every visit to the site.
October 27, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Do you have, or know of, an interesting dataset related to the far-right that you wish was easier to navigate? Let us know and we'll do our best to help! Making data more accessible to journalists, researchers, and the general public is an important part of Decoherence Media's mission.
Reposted by Randall S.
I'm excited but a bit sad to announce that I've left Bellingcat to start a nonprofit investigative outlet focused on the far-right. We're called Decoherence Media, and we're launching today.
Welcome to Decoherence Media, an independent nonprofit founded by @jennefer.bsky.social and @tristanl.ee that investigates authoritarian and anti-democratic movements using open-source and data-driven methods.
Welcome to Decoherence Media!
We're an independent, journalist-founded nonprofit investigating authoritarian and anti-democratic movements using open-source and data-driven methods.
decoherence.media
October 27, 2025 at 11:15 AM
I'm excited but a bit sad to announce that I've left Bellingcat to start a nonprofit investigative outlet focused on the far-right. We're called Decoherence Media, and we're launching today.
Reposted by Randall S.
We have to sit with the reality that some images are more legible to some people than others. I think that Raymond Williams's concept of the "structure of feeling" is instructive for the moment we are in.
October 23, 2025 at 11:57 PM
We have to sit with the reality that some images are more legible to some people than others. I think that Raymond Williams's concept of the "structure of feeling" is instructive for the moment we are in.
Reposted by Randall S.
"Black organizers had noticed gaps in the campaign’s strategy for reaching Black voters. To address them, they led canvasses in working-class Black neighborhoods...By early October, Mamdani had taken a commanding lead over Cuomo among Black voters"
hammerandhope.org/article/zohr...
hammerandhope.org/article/zohr...
Will Zohran Mamdani Win Over Black New Yorkers?
Five people talk about their experience of the Mamdani campaign — from the inside and the outside.
hammerandhope.org
October 23, 2025 at 3:07 PM
"Black organizers had noticed gaps in the campaign’s strategy for reaching Black voters. To address them, they led canvasses in working-class Black neighborhoods...By early October, Mamdani had taken a commanding lead over Cuomo among Black voters"
hammerandhope.org/article/zohr...
hammerandhope.org/article/zohr...