Dan Farbman

What's old is new again.

In September of 1850, black abolitionist leaders in Chicago gathered at Quinn Chapel to make a plan for protecting their community and resisting the federally supported slave catchers empowered by the Fugitive Slave Law.

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

So strange when judges applying clear and well-settled law seem to part of “the resistance.” It might be time to start calling resistance to the administration “conservative”…because that is what these kinds of opinions are in outlook and result.

Samesies. Might have one or two new things in the next week or two.

Massive immigration raid on Chicago apartment building leaves residents reeling: 'I feel defeated' The Department of Homeland Security said federal agents with Border Patrol, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested 37 people in the raid.

The fact that Kristi Noem was riding in an armored vehicle as part of this federal kidnapping mission is mindblowingly bad. It's like if Daniel Webster had been holding the gun to Anthony Burns' back, marching him to enslavement.

chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/...

"Is the U.S. experiencing a constitutional crisis?" - The Steamboat Institute Here’s what our audience had to say before and after the debate:

This week I went to VMI to participate in a conversation about whether we're in a constitutional crisis. Being at VMI was really fascinating. I met a lot of great folks and learned some stuff. "Debatemebro" makes us all dumber. I hope this wasn't that.

steamboatinstitute.org/recap/is-the...

White House Will Continue Construction on 90,000-Square-Foot Ballroom During Government Shutdown The $200 million construction of the White House ballroom will continue amid the government shutdown that began on Wednesday, Oct. 1, a White House official said.

MAKE EATING CAKE GREAT AGAIN!!!

people.com/white-house-...

It was just a few years ago that I wrote about judicial resistance and judicial solidarity. I was skeptical for lots of reasons…but man life comes at you fast.

papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

MAKE THE THIRD AMENDMENT GREAT AGAIN!!

This is a really fascinating development. It remains the case that local police vastly outnumber federal police. Where true resistance and obstruction come into play, the inertia and complexity of local government are going to make things very interesting.

One of the greatest living Americans.

I think this is because Coates has studied and is adjacent to a set of movement organizing ideas and practices, while Klein is much closer to the thinner ideas of organizing that dominate electoral politics.

Movement organizing is about building power, political organizing is about counting votes.

Two things about the Klein/Coates interview.
1) It's thoughtful and humane - which is good.
2) It reveals a real set of questions about role and strategy. Coates has a clear sense of what role he wants to play and what his strategy is within that role. Klein seems much more lost on both counts.

If you haven’t read Dee Brown’s “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” now might be a pretty good time to do that.

While you’re at it, check out Vine Deloria’s “Custer Died For Your Sins.”

@evapayne.bsky.social is the best and so is her book! Read it now.

MAKE CHECKS AND BALANCES GREAT AGAIN!!!

Boy, Holmes' bad man is really getting a workout these days.

Founders All Every End is a Beginning

Periodically reminding myself that things falling apart is the precondition of putting them back together.

open.substack.com/pub/postcard...

Also, you have northern Spanish/Portuguese shellfish (percebes, berberechos, etc.) along with North American lobster. I’m still team D. But There are arguments…

Kathleen is very gentle in chiding me about how long this is...but I'm super grateful for the kind words. It remains alarming how relevant the history of the 1850s and national cataclysm are to our present circumstances.

Founders All Every End is a Beginning

Highly recommend this brilliant piece by @danfarbman.bsky.social Drawing on his rich knowledge of history, he he lays it out: "We have used up our inherited freedom, and if we want to live in a better world, we must build it together." It's hefty, so put on comfy jams + curl up on the couch.

A Commons in the Master's House Thoughts on radical pragmatism and the institutions we inhabit

Today from me over at Postcards of the Hanging it's a callback to something I wrote a while ago that feels like it might have some utility amidst...everything we're experiencing right now. Radical pragmatism, etc.

open.substack.com/pub/postcard...

We lost Luna (the little spoon) today. 16 years was a good run. But it breaks your heart anyways.

MAKE NOT KNOWING ABOUT STUFF GREAT AGAIN!!!

Crime in the City "Public safety" in DC

As I warned you yesterday, @hashtagblevin.bsky.social and I will occasionally be writing about stuff in a shared space. Read Ben's first post on crime, DC, and who is being kept safe from whom here.

open.substack.com/pub/postcard...

Do you ever find yourself wondering what @danfarbman.bsky.social & I are thinking? If so, you're in luck. We have a new site. Check out the first post from Dan on crisis, pessimism, & possibility.

MAKE COLORBLIND CONSTITUTIONALISM GREAT AGAIN!!!

Reposting this link (apologies) only because I can't believe I didn't associate this image with the essay in the first instance.

open.substack.com/pub/postcard...

Founders All Every End is a Beginning

Ben Levin and I have set up a place where we can, at irregular intervals, inflict our thoughts on you. My first thing there is an essay on founding moments, the 1850s, Thoreau, and the mess we're in.

open.substack.com/pub/postcard...

Doctor I trust more than RFK Jr.

Using a former plantation converted into a brutal site of mass incarceration as an internment camp is basically a Yahtzee of the worst bits of American history, culture, and politics.