Joshua Henson
@the1henson.bsky.social
Proud husband. Critical thinker. Paranoid about China and tech. Man, I chose a bad time to start studying democracy.
Reposted by Joshua Henson
This THREAD.
Being among the first interrogated and ultimately fired by DOGE, I certainly felt we were facing the business end of a right-wing conspiracy theory 🧵
DOGE was not a money-saving effort. It was an effort to chase down and prove right-wing conspiracy theories. They went after USAID to prove conspiracy theories about foreign aid. Then they went after SSA to, again, pursue conspiracy theories about Dems paying "illegals" to vote. 1/2
November 26, 2025 at 10:03 PM
This THREAD.
So they shut down the government for over a month, disrupting the entire country, just to ask for very little and voluntarily obtain nothing at all.
November 10, 2025 at 1:51 AM
So they shut down the government for over a month, disrupting the entire country, just to ask for very little and voluntarily obtain nothing at all.
Reposted by Joshua Henson
The only explanation for this is that these people would disprove the administration’s narrative about the identity of the people we are murdering. I’m a little surprised they didn’t just straight-up murder these two in custody. That’s who the government is now.
Breaking News: The Trump administration has decided to repatriate two survivors of a deadly U.S. strike this week on suspected drug runners in the Caribbean Sea rather than prosecute them or hold them in military detention, people with knowledge of the matter said on Saturday.
U.S. to Repatriate Survivors of Its Strike on Suspected Drug Vessel
The U.S. military rescued the two men in the Caribbean Sea after Special Operations forces fired on a semi-submersible that was assessed to be smuggling drugs.
nyti.ms
October 18, 2025 at 6:09 PM
The only explanation for this is that these people would disprove the administration’s narrative about the identity of the people we are murdering. I’m a little surprised they didn’t just straight-up murder these two in custody. That’s who the government is now.
Reposted by Joshua Henson
Hell of a thing to put next to a statue of Joan of Arc. (h/t David Pilling)
October 6, 2025 at 1:19 AM
Hell of a thing to put next to a statue of Joan of Arc. (h/t David Pilling)
Reposted by Joshua Henson
See this is very sharp, but it's the kind of thing that should populate the budget bill. Any illegal impoundment should result in the immediate elimination of the presidential travel budget, for example.
September 18, 2025 at 3:10 PM
See this is very sharp, but it's the kind of thing that should populate the budget bill. Any illegal impoundment should result in the immediate elimination of the presidential travel budget, for example.
For my military folks, this is the State Department equivalent of putting a (weird) junior lieutenant in command of Naval Personnel Command.
August 1, 2025 at 5:16 PM
For my military folks, this is the State Department equivalent of putting a (weird) junior lieutenant in command of Naval Personnel Command.
Reposted by Joshua Henson
In my view, the window to *forestall* autocratization of the US political system is basically closed. We're now in the consolidation phase of a new authoritarian constitutional settlement. The question is how far it'll get (will it achieve its apparent goal of fascism?) & at what pace.
Here's why:
Here's why:
July 18, 2025 at 6:26 PM
In my view, the window to *forestall* autocratization of the US political system is basically closed. We're now in the consolidation phase of a new authoritarian constitutional settlement. The question is how far it'll get (will it achieve its apparent goal of fascism?) & at what pace.
Here's why:
Here's why:
CBS/Paramount need to learn now that Trump knows the leverage he holds over them, the lucrative merger they have planned will be indefinitely delayed to prolong that leverage. That merger ain’t happening. It’s a tool now. A dangling carrot for fools. A tool for the president to erode a free press.
July 19, 2025 at 2:54 AM
CBS/Paramount need to learn now that Trump knows the leverage he holds over them, the lucrative merger they have planned will be indefinitely delayed to prolong that leverage. That merger ain’t happening. It’s a tool now. A dangling carrot for fools. A tool for the president to erode a free press.
Reposted by Joshua Henson
“It is this court’s opinion that apparently everyone has their own ideas about how this court should operate and is not shy about sharing their views—even when no one asks,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote
theonion.com/supreme...
theonion.com/supreme...
Supreme Court Rules 6-3 That Everyone A Damn Critic
WASHINGTON—In a provocative 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled Monday that everyone’s a damn critic these days. “It is this court’s opinion that apparently everyone has their own ideas about how this court should operate and is not shy about sharing their views—even when no one asks,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his 10-page […]
theonion.com
June 30, 2025 at 11:30 PM
“It is this court’s opinion that apparently everyone has their own ideas about how this court should operate and is not shy about sharing their views—even when no one asks,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote
theonion.com/supreme...
theonion.com/supreme...
Reposted by Joshua Henson
So do we get why I was banned from speaking about Pinochet at the Naval Academy now?
June 8, 2025 at 3:07 AM
So do we get why I was banned from speaking about Pinochet at the Naval Academy now?
Reposted by Joshua Henson
The problem is not that there are too many Americans protesting in the streets. The problem is that there are not enough. Not by a long shot.
June 8, 2025 at 2:13 AM
The problem is not that there are too many Americans protesting in the streets. The problem is that there are not enough. Not by a long shot.
Reposted by Joshua Henson
Weird they're showing Swan Lake on Fox right now
June 5, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Weird they're showing Swan Lake on Fox right now
Reposted by Joshua Henson
The new pope is younger than 13 members of the Senate Democratic caucus
May 8, 2025 at 6:22 PM
The new pope is younger than 13 members of the Senate Democratic caucus
Reposted by Joshua Henson
There's a thousand physical, material, articulable reasons why this all has happened, but I absolutely believe the metaphysical truth is that America got rich and degenerate and almost no one believes that bad things can really, truly happen to us.
March 13, 2025 at 3:55 PM
There's a thousand physical, material, articulable reasons why this all has happened, but I absolutely believe the metaphysical truth is that America got rich and degenerate and almost no one believes that bad things can really, truly happen to us.
Reposted by Joshua Henson
Real talk. I’ve lost all belief in American exceptionalism. There is no secret Liberty Sauce that makes us inherently better. We’re just human beings (derogatory). But it also means we’re human beings (laudatory), so I refuse to believe Republicans won politics forever and can rule as god kings.
March 13, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Real talk. I’ve lost all belief in American exceptionalism. There is no secret Liberty Sauce that makes us inherently better. We’re just human beings (derogatory). But it also means we’re human beings (laudatory), so I refuse to believe Republicans won politics forever and can rule as god kings.
Reposted by Joshua Henson
A pro-Russia content aggregation network is churning out at least 3 MILLION pieces of propaganda per year, all on sites that are virtually unusable by humans.
So what's the goal? We explore the idea that it might be to flood LLMs with pro-Russia content:
static1.squarespace.com/static/6612c... 1/
So what's the goal? We explore the idea that it might be to flood LLMs with pro-Russia content:
static1.squarespace.com/static/6612c... 1/
February 27, 2025 at 1:49 PM
A pro-Russia content aggregation network is churning out at least 3 MILLION pieces of propaganda per year, all on sites that are virtually unusable by humans.
So what's the goal? We explore the idea that it might be to flood LLMs with pro-Russia content:
static1.squarespace.com/static/6612c... 1/
So what's the goal? We explore the idea that it might be to flood LLMs with pro-Russia content:
static1.squarespace.com/static/6612c... 1/
Reposted by Joshua Henson
When you realize it is almost impossible to overcook chicken thighs
February 18, 2025 at 1:22 AM
When you realize it is almost impossible to overcook chicken thighs
Reposted by Joshua Henson
The Dark Age of American Intelligence: Allies Will Likely Stop Intel Sharing
open.substack.com/pub/alexande...
open.substack.com/pub/alexande...
The Dark Age of American Intelligence
Tulsi Gabbard and the End of Intelligence Sharing
open.substack.com
February 17, 2025 at 12:04 PM
The Dark Age of American Intelligence: Allies Will Likely Stop Intel Sharing
open.substack.com/pub/alexande...
open.substack.com/pub/alexande...
Reposted by Joshua Henson
One of the greatest tricks that Donald Trump and Elon Musk ever pulled is to convince millions of people that DOGE is about government efficiency. It's about narcissistic, resentful destruction: The Death of Government Expertise.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The Death of Government Expertise
Why Trump and Musk are on a firing spree
www.theatlantic.com
February 17, 2025 at 4:40 PM
One of the greatest tricks that Donald Trump and Elon Musk ever pulled is to convince millions of people that DOGE is about government efficiency. It's about narcissistic, resentful destruction: The Death of Government Expertise.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The United States is currently experiencing our version of Mao’s cultural revolution.
February 17, 2025 at 3:09 PM
The United States is currently experiencing our version of Mao’s cultural revolution.
If the president has the power to change how the government spends money in ways congress hasn’t authorized, then he also has the power to raise your taxes without congress.
Is that really what you want?
Is that really what you want?
February 17, 2025 at 12:11 AM
If the president has the power to change how the government spends money in ways congress hasn’t authorized, then he also has the power to raise your taxes without congress.
Is that really what you want?
Is that really what you want?
I do not entirely understand the point. But I have seen a pattern.
They’re quickly dismantling every single functional unit of the government that helps people. It doesn’t matter if the people helped are here at home or overseas. If you help people, your job will be deemed wasteful.
They’re quickly dismantling every single functional unit of the government that helps people. It doesn’t matter if the people helped are here at home or overseas. If you help people, your job will be deemed wasteful.
February 16, 2025 at 2:47 PM
I do not entirely understand the point. But I have seen a pattern.
They’re quickly dismantling every single functional unit of the government that helps people. It doesn’t matter if the people helped are here at home or overseas. If you help people, your job will be deemed wasteful.
They’re quickly dismantling every single functional unit of the government that helps people. It doesn’t matter if the people helped are here at home or overseas. If you help people, your job will be deemed wasteful.
This administration is like a bunch of monkeys gleefully pulling apart a boat that’s keeping them alive in the Atlantic.
February 15, 2025 at 11:02 PM
This administration is like a bunch of monkeys gleefully pulling apart a boat that’s keeping them alive in the Atlantic.
Reposted by Joshua Henson
Incompetence in Washington puts every American at risk, no matter how you voted. No one should be happy that the DOGE team - the same folks who randomly published classified U.S. security information online today - wants access to your bank account & Social Security numbers.
February 15, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Incompetence in Washington puts every American at risk, no matter how you voted. No one should be happy that the DOGE team - the same folks who randomly published classified U.S. security information online today - wants access to your bank account & Social Security numbers.
Reposted by Joshua Henson
This comment on r/fednews really stood out to me. Trump and Musk want people to think they're firing do-nothing "bureaucrats," but they're really getting rid of people dedicated to serving this country and keeping it operational. I hope these stories get told.
February 14, 2025 at 1:52 PM
This comment on r/fednews really stood out to me. Trump and Musk want people to think they're firing do-nothing "bureaucrats," but they're really getting rid of people dedicated to serving this country and keeping it operational. I hope these stories get told.