Politics
Topic archive / 627 posts
Links: March 2017
Obama Administration Rushed to Preserve Intelligence of Russian Election Hacking
While assessing the significance of Flynn’s and Sessions’s meetings with Kislyak, an ambassador, consider this:
The label ‘intelligence official’ is not always cleanly applied in Russia, where ex-spies, oligarchs and government officials often report back to the intelligence services and elsewhere in the Kremlin.
What Is Race?
A good crash course on race from Whit Taylor.
Pissed Jeans: Why Love Now
I’ll probably have this… See more →
Reminder: Planned Parenthood is mostly preventative care. Defunding will likely result in more abortions, not fewer. thenib.com/march-for-life
Hi. I share this song because I like it. It has no relevance to the current federal healthcare and budget proposals. youtu.be/sgpa7wEAz7I
please stop the ride i want to get off twitter.com/nytimes/status…
I liked the right better when they were Luddites. theguardian.com/politics/2017/…
A nice roundup of policy proposals to help the increasing share of the workforce being displaced by automation. nytimes.com/2017/03/07/ups…
None of the 10 fatal attacks by Islamist extremists in the US since 2001 would have been prevented by Trump’s ban. washingtonpost.com/news/post-nati…
Links: February 2017
Blown Away
If you’re suffering from an excess of self-respect, the Corey Haim/Feldman erotic thriller is now available on Hulu.
King Crimson: Starless
RIP John Wetton. Colon cancer. Here’s my favorite King Crimson song, which he co-wrote, sang, and played bass on.
What Can Ivanka Trump Possibly Do for Women Who Work?
Before the election, her main interest in women was getting them to buy her clothing, her handbags, and her shoes. Who can forget… See more →
Big week for our Cabinet Cards project: it received an @SND Award of Excellence, and @JessicaHuseman and I discussed it on the @RWD podcast. twitter.com/RWD/status/836…
“Gaming didn’t impact the election, but electing to secede from reality is political, too.” vulture.com/2017/02/video-…
“Because of the stigma, a lot of them were afraid to go to the ER, so they just bled out.” youtu.be/vlAR8IsvCfM
Not to brand Milo a victim, but would @ReaganBattalion look for dirt on a CPAC speaker with the same record minus the, y’know, gayness?
After all Milo’s unpunished antics, I didn’t think the pedophilia comment would make waves. What if Trump said it? mobile.nytimes.com/2017/02/20/us/…
They’re a problem, to be sure, and a uniquely difficult one. But I hesitate to conflate 4chan’s actual scope with its own self-serving myth.
For all the noise they’re able to make on Twitter and Reddit outside their self-selecting cesspools, it’s not like Pepe is a household name.
Are their numbers knowable? As a collective defined by nihilism, do they even vote? Is their influence graded on an internet curve?
But the inherent slipperiness of 4chan and similar communities makes it hard to say just how influential they are in this political moment.
4chan is worth trying to understand, and this essay, though muddy in places, is as good an analysis as I’ve seen. medium.com/@DaleBeran/4ch…
This survey has 25 questions, but one would have sufficed. action.donaldjtrump.com/mainstream-med…
The Trump administration is keeping me busy this week. propublica.org/article/the-ch…
Congrats if you managed to snag Mike Flynn’s rookie card in the brief time it was available. propublica.org/article/the-ch…
“Rather than working to close the digital divide, this action widens the gap.” nytimes.com/2017/02/05/tec…
“We have the equivalent of a dynamic neural network running our government.” bloomberg.com/view/articles/…
Links: January 2017
Rob Weychert’s Year in Review
My personal movie-watching stats for 2016, provided by the always delightful Letterboxd.
Why Classic Rock Isn’t What It Used To Be
But do radio stations rely at all on the institutional knowledge of their DJs to decide what to play?
Nope. The role of the song-picking DJ is dead. “I know there are some stations and some companies where if you change a song it’s a fireable offense,” Wellman said,… See more →
“Congress can protect the American system from an overbearing president. But will it?” theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
An excellent explainer on refugee screening. Fun fact: In 2015, only .4% of the world’s 20m refugees were resettled. embracerefugees.org/resettlement/
More detailed info on our existing refugee vetting process (via @sikthought). obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/11/2…
In all the opposition to Trump’s Islamophobia, I see little mention of how intensive our refugee vetting already is. thenib.com/why-the-refuge…
I’m on a bus on the Jersey Turnpike. Just passed the Statue of Liberty. There’s a plaque on the pedestal. I couldn’t make out what it said.
“Still, Mr. Trump, who does not read books, is able to end his evenings with plenty of television.” nytimes.com/2017/01/25/us/…
“Part of my discomfort here is the realization that a tactical approach to life may require privilege.” kottke.org/17/01/why-trum…
Every YouTube upload of Chaplin’s amazing monologue from The Great Dictator is retrofitted with corny-ass Hans Zimmer music. 😒
Women, am I right? They love going to the mall. twitter.com/OhMyGOFF/statu…
Historic day. A deluge of badly needed medicine for the soul. Thanks, y’all. 💗
Stay safe out there today, everyone. Much love. 💗
Eight years ago today. twitter.com/robweychert/st…
“[T]argeting waste like @NEAarts and @NEHgov would be a good first step…” 🖕🏻🖕🏻🖕🏻 thehill.com/policy/finance…
If Trump fails, America fails. If he succeeds, a lifetime of terrible behavior is vindicated. Lose/lose. politi.co/2iSv854
How the community Betsy DeVos comes from has shaped her troubling positions on education policy. motherjones.com/politics/2017/…
“Disruption in politics and dysfunction in government reinforce each other. Chaos becomes the new normal.” theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
Any way you slice it, a staggering number of people at Fox News have engaged in harassment and/or extortion. nytimes.com/2017/01/10/bus…
If you couldn’t sleep last night, maybe this will help you tonight. Maybe not. Any rest feels like privilege now. lawfareblog.com/about-explosiv…
Four years is a long time for kids. So many will become aware of the broader world as it’s led by a profoundly bad example of a human being.
“Take your broken heart, make it into art.” washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-…
Productivity in Terrible Times: Helpful tips for making a difference even when your work feels useless. superyesmore.com//productivity-…
Day 59. This is still a thing that is actually happening, and it is still not remotely okay.
“We’re the effigies that haunt America’s nights harder
the longer they spend burning us” seattlereviewofbooks.com/notes/2017/01/…
If you want to add to your collection, there are several new additions to our Trump administration trading cards. propublica.org/article/the-ch…