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Chad Rector

@chadrector.bsky.social

Political Science, Marymount University. International organizations, Asia. Occasional hobbies: pro-housing activism in Silver Spring MD, playing the Pontian lyra, making Alsatian tarts. Johnny-come-lately Bluesky's 2.2 millionth user. www.chadrector.net

324 Followers  |  279 Following  |  155 Posts  |  Joined: 28.11.2023  |  2.3604

Latest posts by chadrector.bsky.social on Bluesky

It's dangerous to say, but since it is true, it's more dangerous to not say: The Supreme Court of the United States is not a legitimate body. It's been deliberately and systematically captured by ideologues on behalf of an anti-Constitutional project, and its extremist members have been bribed.

11.10.2025 12:00 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 508    ๐Ÿ” 144    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5    ๐Ÿ“Œ 6

I love that they have started competing with each other for space in the history books, swinging for the fences with the founding-father-invoking-barn-burners.

11.10.2025 01:21 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Picture how big the Hoover Dam is. An absolute unit. The Hoover Dam has a power capacity of 2 gigawatts (GW).

The solar farm that the Admin just cancelled could have produces 6.2 GW of power. That's more than 3 Hoover Dams.

10.10.2025 04:00 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4553    ๐Ÿ” 2323    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 125    ๐Ÿ“Œ 94
NYT headline: "Bow to the Emperor: We asked 50 Legal Experts About the Trump Presidency."

NYT headline: "Bow to the Emperor: We asked 50 Legal Experts About the Trump Presidency."

Pie chart showing over 50% of surveyed legal experts saying that Trump's second term has posed "much more threat" to the rule of law "than I expected."

Pie chart showing over 50% of surveyed legal experts saying that Trump's second term has posed "much more threat" to the rule of law "than I expected."

Everything that's wrong with legal journalism in one New York Times headline and pie chart.

If all these "legal experts" are so shocked by the threats to the rule of law, maybe they're not the experts we should be asking in the first place.

All of this was foreseeable. Many forecast it.

06.10.2025 16:22 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 157    ๐Ÿ” 31    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 11    ๐Ÿ“Œ 4

Rewatched "Yes, Minister" last summer and it holds up pretty well.

05.10.2025 21:47 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 10    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

This is such an essential phrase: โ€œThe only Constitutional rights upon which we can depend are those we extend to the weakest and most reviled among us.โ€

30.09.2025 18:57 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 817    ๐Ÿ” 244    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 4
Preview
National Defense Ministry Honors 11 Soldiers for Refusing Illegal Orders National Defense Ministry Honors 11 Soldiers for Refusing Illegal Orders Honored for rejecting illegal orders during martial law, Marine death probe

The South Korean Ministry of Defense has awarded medals of merit to 11 officers for disobeying direct orders of superiors during the martial law fiasco, orders that they deemed to be contrary to the constitution and endangerment to democracy.
www.chosun.com/english/nati...

27.09.2025 18:44 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 19685    ๐Ÿ” 6086    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 407    ๐Ÿ“Œ 836

We're experiencing the exact same things that Turkey and Hungary experienced before descending to authoritarianism, and if you think it will end differently here without each and every one of us fighting back, you are delusional.

17.09.2025 23:50 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 541    ๐Ÿ” 165    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 13    ๐Ÿ“Œ 7

We are witnessing a swift and sweeping consolidation of media (traditional and social) into the hands of a small number of billionaires who are actively aligned/aligning (both via free will and coercion) with Trump and his right wing political party. This is (Iโ€™ll say it) a fascist project.

17.09.2025 14:06 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2937    ๐Ÿ” 939    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 41    ๐Ÿ“Œ 48

If interrogators have a choice between (1) beating an "I am a trans leftist" confession out of him that they can then go public with, or (2) running a flawlessly-by-the-book investigation that will hold up in court, but they can't do both, I'm confident they'll probably maybe possibly pick #2.

15.09.2025 20:26 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
"Just the other day, I was in the audience at Lincoln Center when Justice Amy Coney Barrett said, while promoting a new book, that she doesn't think the United States is in a constitutional crisis," Farias told us. "Today, the Supreme Court, without offering a single line of reasoning, more or less declared that the Fourth Amendment, which protects everyone from unreasonable searches and seizures, nonetheless allows the Trump Administration to arrest and detain anyone who looks Latino, citizen or not, on account of the language that they speak or the kind of jobs they do. The ruling putatively covers the Los Angeles area, but the effect could be national," he continued.
"If that's not a constitutional crisis, then what is?"

"Just the other day, I was in the audience at Lincoln Center when Justice Amy Coney Barrett said, while promoting a new book, that she doesn't think the United States is in a constitutional crisis," Farias told us. "Today, the Supreme Court, without offering a single line of reasoning, more or less declared that the Fourth Amendment, which protects everyone from unreasonable searches and seizures, nonetheless allows the Trump Administration to arrest and detain anyone who looks Latino, citizen or not, on account of the language that they speak or the kind of jobs they do. The ruling putatively covers the Los Angeles area, but the effect could be national," he continued. "If that's not a constitutional crisis, then what is?"

The New Yorker asked me โ€œhow badโ€ todayโ€™s Supreme Court ruling was. I boiled it down to one paragraph:

link.newyorker.com/view/5bda429...

08.09.2025 21:52 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 9081    ๐Ÿ” 3491    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 132    ๐Ÿ“Œ 120

Yes. Like "people here ILLEGALLY must be made to pay STEEP FINES and perform substantial COMMUNITY SERVICE as penance before getting a green card."

05.09.2025 20:25 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 99    ๐Ÿ” 2    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
The Presidentโ€™s Power to Call Out the National Guard Is Not a Blank Check Domestic deployment under the law has its limits, and for good reason.

If federalized National Guard troops can't generally enter another state without that state's permission, then they can't _transit through_ those states either.

The only way to get into DC is to go through VA or MD. If both those have Dem governors... ?

03.09.2025 19:01 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

๐Ÿงต Authoritarianism, Democratization, and Coalition Politics.

The consensus around here is, more or less, that the United States is currently a consolidating authoritarian regime controlled by a mix of reactionary populists and fascists.

30.08.2025 20:10 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1705    ๐Ÿ” 728    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 65    ๐Ÿ“Œ 237
Preview
America Tips Into Fascism Today is different than before.

The precise moment when and where in recent weeks America crossed that invisible line from democracy into authoritarianism can and will be debated by future historians, but itโ€™s clear that the line itself has been crossed. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/america-ti...

25.08.2025 15:32 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 9979    ๐Ÿ” 4106    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 458    ๐Ÿ“Œ 468

He doesn't like articles. Remember when he wanted people to call it "wall" instead of "the wall" because he thought it sounded better? (Coincidentally, more like Slavic grammar.)

22.08.2025 20:39 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
ICE Is Nothing Like the Brownshirts Because the Brownshirts Actually Identified Themselves Letโ€™s get this out of the way: Immigration and Customs Enforcement is nothing like the Sturmabteilung, aka Hitlerโ€™s Brownshirts. Your main clue is ...

"One was an open paramilitary wing of an openly fascist political party, the other is an unaccountable government force operating without clear uniforms, identification, or transparency... for an openly fascist political party."

18.08.2025 18:28 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 214    ๐Ÿ” 69    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 5

This is step one in how we lose free and fair elections. Itโ€™s not that Trump will โ€œcancelโ€ the midterms.

Itโ€™s just everyone has to vote in person, and urban downtowns will be filled with ICE checkpoints and intimidating National Guard troops to โ€œdouble checkโ€ that only citizens vote.

18.08.2025 12:22 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2926    ๐Ÿ” 1144    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 224    ๐Ÿ“Œ 103

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

11.08.2025 15:20 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 194    ๐Ÿ” 52    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 5    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3

Couldn't that be solved by substantially increasing the size of the House? That would be good on the merits anyway.

08.08.2025 13:38 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Of course the usual solution for an employer under pressure to staff up quickly but having trouble hiring people, where the employer is subject to pretty weak oversight, and the job doesn't require a college education but Spanish language skills are a plus, would be.... ironic.

06.08.2025 21:15 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Nebraska gerrymander had electoral college implications too.

06.08.2025 18:55 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

It is everyone's patriotic duty to click on the link here, and maybe also click on a few of the ads.

02.08.2025 12:23 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I wonder if there's a paradox where Trump's perceived poor health makes it easier for elites to rationalize caving, since they can tell themselves that this is only temporary.

01.08.2025 01:02 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I almost want to sign up for Paramount+ again, quickly while that South Park episode is still up, then cancel again as soon as they pull it down.

It's like training an ostrich - it probably won't work at all, but your only hope is to have a quick feedback loop.

24.07.2025 16:19 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
Preview
A D.O.J. Whistleblower Speaks Out

"A canary in the coal mine of the rule of law." This is an immensely important story about the DOJ being turned into an institution that is breaking the law at the behest of the President...the kind of story that would have tanked previous administrations. [Gift link] www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/p...

23.07.2025 20:42 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 968    ๐Ÿ” 409    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 27    ๐Ÿ“Œ 29

Would be fun finding all of his alts.

21.07.2025 18:24 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Yes, my go-to last year was to include a reference to a dinosaur eating fish tacos on the beach. Caught a bunch that way.

15.07.2025 22:57 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Good. Proud to be corny.

11.07.2025 15:34 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 3    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

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