Rob Carson
@robcarson.bsky.social
Early modern literature, mostly Shakespeare; philosophy and theory; book history and digital humanities; contemporary performance and politics. Current projects: thinking in threes; the sociable syllable; Marlowe's material remains. (he/him)
Reposted by Rob Carson
Has Mike Johnson ever considered holding his daily presser an hour later to give him time to read a paper?
Q: What's your reaction to yesterday's purge of senior ICE officials? When is it time for Congress to do some oversight?
MIKE JOHNSON: I don't know any of the details of that yet. I just heard about that, literally I was walking in.
MIKE JOHNSON: I don't know any of the details of that yet. I just heard about that, literally I was walking in.
October 28, 2025 at 2:50 PM
Has Mike Johnson ever considered holding his daily presser an hour later to give him time to read a paper?
Reposted by Rob Carson
If only people saw racism as disqualifying for leadership.
This is my plea for “efficiency.”
www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/oc...
This is my plea for “efficiency.”
www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/oc...
Pentagon insiders say Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has lost trust of senior military commanders
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is facing significant criticism from senior military officers and Pentagon officials who describe his leadership as unprofessional and damaging to the armed forces.
www.washingtontimes.com
October 21, 2025 at 7:59 PM
If only people saw racism as disqualifying for leadership.
This is my plea for “efficiency.”
www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/oc...
This is my plea for “efficiency.”
www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/oc...
Reposted by Rob Carson
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
July 3, 2025 at 6:58 PM
I don’t think anyone is prepared for what they just did w/ ICE.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
This is not a simple budget increase. It is an explosion - making ICE bigger than the FBI, US Bureau of Prisons, DEA,& others combined.
It is setting up to make what’s happening now look like child’s play. And people are disappearing.
Reposted by Rob Carson
Are we clear now a private businessman shouldn’t be in a position to control the space program—that this richest man in the world fueled by drugs, ego & hate shouldn’t be partnering with a malignant sociopath in the WH immunized by the SCOTUS & bent on pocketing billions & flouting the Constitution?
June 6, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Are we clear now a private businessman shouldn’t be in a position to control the space program—that this richest man in the world fueled by drugs, ego & hate shouldn’t be partnering with a malignant sociopath in the WH immunized by the SCOTUS & bent on pocketing billions & flouting the Constitution?
Reposted by Rob Carson
I’m not sure what’s more painful to watch from team Trump, the dumb ones trying to act smart or the smart ones trying to act dumb.
May 25, 2025 at 4:11 AM
I’m not sure what’s more painful to watch from team Trump, the dumb ones trying to act smart or the smart ones trying to act dumb.
Reposted by Rob Carson
See, he doesn't hate migrants for racist reasons, he just thinks they're irredeemably different and so unassimilable that their mere presence is an existential threat to the nation.
But don't say he's motivated by grievance.
And again, this is not racist! He said so!
But don't say he's motivated by grievance.
And again, this is not racist! He said so!
“Social solidarity is destroyed when you have too much migration too quickly,” JD Vance tells our columnist Ross Douthat in this episode of “Interesting Times.” “That’s not because I hate the migrants or I’m motivated by grievance. That’s because I’m trying to preserve something in my own country.”
Opinion | JD Vance on His Faith and Trump’s Most Controversial Policies
The vice president joins Ross Douthat in Rome to discuss immigration, trade and the new pope.
www.nytimes.com
May 22, 2025 at 2:28 PM
See, he doesn't hate migrants for racist reasons, he just thinks they're irredeemably different and so unassimilable that their mere presence is an existential threat to the nation.
But don't say he's motivated by grievance.
And again, this is not racist! He said so!
But don't say he's motivated by grievance.
And again, this is not racist! He said so!
Reposted by Rob Carson
i think it should be a bigger story that the president held a meeting with a foreign head of state where he ranted about the most gutter white supremacist propaganda you can find on the internet
May 22, 2025 at 12:17 AM
i think it should be a bigger story that the president held a meeting with a foreign head of state where he ranted about the most gutter white supremacist propaganda you can find on the internet
Reposted by Rob Carson
Don't let up. Hold their feet to the fire. (DoJ: I do not mean to literally light feet on fire.)
Alex Lawson to Rep. Miller-Meeks: Last time you spoke with us you lied to our face and said you wouldn’t vote for Medicaid cuts, but you’ve voted for the largest cuts in the history of the country.
Do you have any comment on the health care that 67,000 people in your district are going to lose?
Do you have any comment on the health care that 67,000 people in your district are going to lose?
May 20, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Don't let up. Hold their feet to the fire. (DoJ: I do not mean to literally light feet on fire.)
Reposted by Rob Carson
New macro-empirical research finds that every dollar invested in non-defense public R&D yields $1.40–$2.10 in economic output, and since World War II, government funding has driven roughly 20% of U.S. productivity.
Trump’s NIH And NSF Cuts Estimated To Cost The U.S. Economy $10 Billion Annually
Economists find public R&D drives U.S. productivity growth — and pays for itself
www.forbes.com
May 19, 2025 at 9:01 PM
New macro-empirical research finds that every dollar invested in non-defense public R&D yields $1.40–$2.10 in economic output, and since World War II, government funding has driven roughly 20% of U.S. productivity.
Reposted by Rob Carson
Please repeat over and over:
“Bending to the whims of a bully will not end his cruelty. It will only embolden him. The response to authoritarianism isn’t acquiescence. Bullies respond to one thing, and one thing only: a punch in the face.”
—Gov. JB Pritzker
“Bending to the whims of a bully will not end his cruelty. It will only embolden him. The response to authoritarianism isn’t acquiescence. Bullies respond to one thing, and one thing only: a punch in the face.”
—Gov. JB Pritzker
April 16, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Please repeat over and over:
“Bending to the whims of a bully will not end his cruelty. It will only embolden him. The response to authoritarianism isn’t acquiescence. Bullies respond to one thing, and one thing only: a punch in the face.”
—Gov. JB Pritzker
“Bending to the whims of a bully will not end his cruelty. It will only embolden him. The response to authoritarianism isn’t acquiescence. Bullies respond to one thing, and one thing only: a punch in the face.”
—Gov. JB Pritzker
Reposted by Rob Carson
Vance's Easter visit to Rome clogged its streets with a 40-vehicle entourage. He also demanded the Coliseum be closed so he and his family could tour it alone. Tourists who properly booked slots in advance got screwed.
He's apparently the first to make that demand. Then he didn't bother to show up.
He's apparently the first to make that demand. Then he didn't bother to show up.
JD Vance and his forty 4x4s visit the Vatican during trip to Rome
The US vice-president, a self-styled ‘baby Catholic’ who was baptised in 2019, and his family met senior officials from the Catholic Church
www.thetimes.com
April 26, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Vance's Easter visit to Rome clogged its streets with a 40-vehicle entourage. He also demanded the Coliseum be closed so he and his family could tour it alone. Tourists who properly booked slots in advance got screwed.
He's apparently the first to make that demand. Then he didn't bother to show up.
He's apparently the first to make that demand. Then he didn't bother to show up.
Reposted by Rob Carson
Pete Hegseth in 2016: "How damaging is it to your ability to recruit or build allies with others when they are worried that our leaders may be exposing them because of their gross negligence or their recklessness in handling information?"
March 24, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Pete Hegseth in 2016: "How damaging is it to your ability to recruit or build allies with others when they are worried that our leaders may be exposing them because of their gross negligence or their recklessness in handling information?"
Reposted by Rob Carson
Not sure who needs to hear this, but any govt official who violates someone's constitutional rights -- and is acting outside the scope of their lawful authority -- can be PERSONALLY liable in a civil suit.
ICE officers. Cabinet members. White House staffers. Even the president.
ICE officers. Cabinet members. White House staffers. Even the president.
April 18, 2025 at 6:33 PM
Not sure who needs to hear this, but any govt official who violates someone's constitutional rights -- and is acting outside the scope of their lawful authority -- can be PERSONALLY liable in a civil suit.
ICE officers. Cabinet members. White House staffers. Even the president.
ICE officers. Cabinet members. White House staffers. Even the president.
Reposted by Rob Carson
Let’s be clear. When the President defies the Supreme Court, it is the role of Congress to remove him from office. Full stop.
April 15, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Let’s be clear. When the President defies the Supreme Court, it is the role of Congress to remove him from office. Full stop.
Reposted by Rob Carson
"the president defied a Supreme Court ruling to return a man mistakenly sent to a gulag... and spoke of sending Americans to foreign concentration camps.
This is the beginning of an American policy of state terror, and it has to be identified as such to be stopped"
snyder.substack.com/p/state-terror
This is the beginning of an American policy of state terror, and it has to be identified as such to be stopped"
snyder.substack.com/p/state-terror
State Terror
A brief guide for Americans
snyder.substack.com
April 15, 2025 at 3:02 PM
"the president defied a Supreme Court ruling to return a man mistakenly sent to a gulag... and spoke of sending Americans to foreign concentration camps.
This is the beginning of an American policy of state terror, and it has to be identified as such to be stopped"
snyder.substack.com/p/state-terror
This is the beginning of an American policy of state terror, and it has to be identified as such to be stopped"
snyder.substack.com/p/state-terror
Reposted by Rob Carson
I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it a thousand times more: If you love freedom but don’t care if it applies to everyone, what you actually love is privilege.
April 13, 2025 at 6:24 PM
I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it a thousand times more: If you love freedom but don’t care if it applies to everyone, what you actually love is privilege.
Reposted by Rob Carson
I'm seeing grown-ass adults marvel at how high stocks jumped today - they must think their mom actually vanished when she played "peek-a-boo."
April 9, 2025 at 8:10 PM
I'm seeing grown-ass adults marvel at how high stocks jumped today - they must think their mom actually vanished when she played "peek-a-boo."
Reposted by Rob Carson
As a 20 year communications professional I’d like to offer Democrats my most sophisticated advice: While Trump is punching himself in the nuts, you could choose to 1. Also punch him in the nuts; or 2. Punch yourself in the nuts. I strongly advise number 1.
April 9, 2025 at 3:59 PM
As a 20 year communications professional I’d like to offer Democrats my most sophisticated advice: While Trump is punching himself in the nuts, you could choose to 1. Also punch him in the nuts; or 2. Punch yourself in the nuts. I strongly advise number 1.
Reposted by Rob Carson
1/4. If the US were engaged in an attempt to bring peace to Ukraine, it would place more tariffs on Russia, rather than exempt Russia entirely.
April 7, 2025 at 6:39 PM
1/4. If the US were engaged in an attempt to bring peace to Ukraine, it would place more tariffs on Russia, rather than exempt Russia entirely.
Reposted by Rob Carson
Here's a related thing I wrote yesterday in part about the NYT focusing on a whole bunch of stuff that isn't *how Trump's tax hikes will affect people*
www.findinggravity.net/p/how-the-ne...
www.findinggravity.net/p/how-the-ne...
How the New York Times helped sell Donald Trump's tax hike
Because of course they did
www.findinggravity.net
April 4, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Here's a related thing I wrote yesterday in part about the NYT focusing on a whole bunch of stuff that isn't *how Trump's tax hikes will affect people*
www.findinggravity.net/p/how-the-ne...
www.findinggravity.net/p/how-the-ne...
Reposted by Rob Carson
Hope the Trump era makes more people realise that whether people respect institutions and the rule of law is so much more important than standard ideological differences between left and right.
April 7, 2025 at 5:44 AM
Hope the Trump era makes more people realise that whether people respect institutions and the rule of law is so much more important than standard ideological differences between left and right.
Reposted by Rob Carson
Mark Kelly: "This is not surprising. Here's a guy who told Americans to inject bleach into their bodies, who sent a mob to Capitol Hill. And now I think it's fair to say he stands out as singlehandedly destroying more wealth with his bad decisions than anybody else who has ever lived on this planet"
April 5, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Mark Kelly: "This is not surprising. Here's a guy who told Americans to inject bleach into their bodies, who sent a mob to Capitol Hill. And now I think it's fair to say he stands out as singlehandedly destroying more wealth with his bad decisions than anybody else who has ever lived on this planet"
Reposted by Rob Carson
Show some gratitude to the financial geniuses in the White House, America!
April 3, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Show some gratitude to the financial geniuses in the White House, America!
Reposted by Rob Carson
Dystopia but make it stupid
April 4, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Dystopia but make it stupid
Reposted by Rob Carson
Good day to remember that a US President has no inherent power over tariffs whatsoever. It’s not like war powers or pardons. It’s entirely delegated by Congress to deal with emergencies. GOP Congress cld modify that law tonight and bring this to a screeching halt.
April 2, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Good day to remember that a US President has no inherent power over tariffs whatsoever. It’s not like war powers or pardons. It’s entirely delegated by Congress to deal with emergencies. GOP Congress cld modify that law tonight and bring this to a screeching halt.