Martin

Janet Jackson released 'Control' 40 years ago today. 💿

Is this where we are?

How the Supreme Court Secretly Made Itself Even More Secretive

i am very much of the view that undermining the court’s secrecy is a necessary part of remaking it into something like an actual court (and not some guardian council) www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u...

Every message about protecting children was a lie.

Catherine O’Hara has died at the age of 71, TMZ reports.

(www.tmz.com/2026/01/30/c...)

Live by the "Symbol of Protest..."

You did it better.

The Buckley court was right that threats to free speech and association, and the dangers of incumbency-protecting laws, mean that courts should closely scrutinize campaign money laws. But that should not doom all attempts to level the playing field or limit the risk of corruption from nine-figure campaign contributions, mostly to ostensibly independent groups. If Congress passed a law with generous contribution and spending limits, and strong disclosure rules, we could have ample breathing room for vigorous and competitive campaigns without the danger of the wealthy swamping our democracy. Because Buckley was a constitutional decision, there are only two paths to overturn it. One is to get a court majority to rethink the case’s fundamental mistakes. With the current makeup of the court, that seems unlikely. An even harder road is to amend the Constitution to allow for a better balance between the rights of free speech and the risks of corruption and oligarchy. We should not give up the struggle over our money-in-politics rules. But we must recognize that there will be fierce resistance from the moneyed interests who benefit from a system giving them outsize influence over who is elected and what politicians do once they are in office. A real democracy deserves better than Buckley.

My New One at @slate.com on the 50th Anniversary of the Buckley v. Valeo Decision: “One Supreme Court Case Is Most Responsible for Our Oligarchy. It’s Not the One You Think.” slate.com/news-and-pol...

Already have my desktop alerts set for a certain model/price/mileage.

So many pilots hired specifically for their CFIT talents (CBS, WaPo, etc.).

I'm beyond honored to have received the endorsement of our Governor!

Minnesota’s justice system will have the last word.

Jack Smith: "My fear is that we have seen the rule of law function in our country for so long that many of us have come to take it for granted. The rule of law is not self-executing. It depends on our collective commitment to apply it."

Brace yourselves and your retirement plans for impact.

Use case acquired @dancarney.bsky.social

think @sepinwall.bsky.social probably has thoughts

This is actually the really simple story of the collapse of American democracy. You can explain America’s constitutional collapse in a single coherent sentence:

“Like Shooting Fish in a Barrel.” Meet the Men Profiting Off the Medical Fears of Thousands of Women Starting in 2013 more than a hundred thousand women received calls about the urgent need to have surgically implanted pelvic mesh removed from their lower abdomens. These calls came not from doctor…

Thanks so much to @literaryhub.bsky.social & @atriabooks.bsky.social for making this piece free and accessible to everyone.

Please read and share it today. And if it unsettles you, THE PAIN BROKERS will take you deeper.

PUB DAY TOMORROW! Full link 👇
lithub.com/like-shootin...

I wonder how they've found out they've lost, before any decision has been published (stares in Dobbs).

I don't think Baghdad Bob smiled this much during his propaganda hits.

Take any (good) advice you can get when it comes to nonfiction—these sound helpful.

We are a rogue state, run by a dictator, and the international community should treat us as such including all appropriate economic and diplomatic sanctions

Combine it with immunity and add another W to John Roberts' column.

The President of the United States is a criminal.

Thank you for your service, Jack Smith.

my 2025 year in review

how about you?

Or Colbert!

Isn't he saying today's pop culture is overwriting the contemporary anxiety? I remember vividly the shows that nailed it in real time—like Good Times, All in the Family, etc—and even those where it sat just below the surface (Golden Girls, who had to share a home).

One simple law: nothing gets named for anyone until they’ve been dead ten years.