Kevin McPartland

I don't know if I can say *favorite,* but teaching the 1705 VA code on servants and slaves is always rewarding. It usually comes in week 3 when students are settling in. For many students, I get to see the "Oh, that's what slavery actually was" look on their faces.

I wish the Supreme Court would use AI as much as my students do because at least then their decisions might have a better basis in actual law.

And they had to rewrite the surrender because the first one Sherman drafted was too lenient.

For sure

No, they stacked arms at surrender, with the exception of officers' personal sidearms. Infantry, cavalry, artillery, all left them on the field. There were just plenty of arms floating around after for them to start Klan violence.

This

My job may not be standard academia anymore, but I've spent the past week writing a tour for a local Black Jazz site, including some music theory, which is a very cool way to spend some time.

Supreme Court clears way for deportation to South Sudan of several immigrants with no ties there The Supreme Court is clearing the way for the deportation of several immigrants who were put on a flight in May bound for South Sudan, a war-ravaged country where they have no ties.

Worth saying out loud. For the pilots who fly these flights, for the officers making the "arrests," it's not just following orders. It's a choice. An active decision not just to be complicit, but to participate.

apnews.com/article/supr...

There is an urge among that crowd to treat the battles like a football game. They analyze it, replay key moments, but don't ask the important questions of why the men were there, nor do the grapple with the reality of the violence and death.

For those celebrating Gettysburg these three days, it's important to remember that just because an army fought well doesn't mean it fought for a good cause. Just because men did brave things in combat doesn't mean they were righteous. The South fought for slavery. They kidnapped black people in PA.

Cannot wait to read this

I want to call my senators, but given my choices are to call from Kansas or Missouri, what am I supposed to say? "Take off your brown shirt for a second and stop being a fascist?"

Keith Tkachuk is about to storm the ice and demand they stop the count.

One of my students is a Capitals fan. I made sure to wait for the middle of the final to come up and tell him "RIP Caps" to test his mental fortitude.

He earned his Catholic guilt from the Black Sox scandal

I taught my last US history honors section Civil War infantry tactics in a park on campus today. I don't know how much they'll remember from the whole class, but I bet they'll remember how to refuse a line.

"John Wilkes Booth violated a sacred norm, held since Washington's first term, of not assassinating the president. But that says more about middle America than it does about government."

By Maggie Haberman

I'm begging for journalists to stop saying "violated norms" when they mean "broke the law." Weaponizing the Justice Department isn't "violating norms." It's just breaking the law.

The same ones glorifying this type of violence against tyranny are the ones who most want the government to commit violence against their "enemies" too.

Filing those away in the archives next to McCarthy's list of communists in the State Department.

This feels a lot like the Embargo Act in 1807. Americans suffered plenty, but Britain went, "Oh, damn. Well, moving on," and kept trading with the bulk of the world. We thought we had a lot more economic power than we did back then too.

Is it time for some personal liberty laws and Boston Vigilance Committee activities to start up again? We have seen government kidnappings before. What's 1850 is new again.

Beyond the sheer human tragedy of the deportation themselves is the realization that there are plenty of officers who will simply follow orders, whatever they may be.

"Lol we are trying to buy a house," sums up my feelings about the epic self-destruction we are being forced to live through.

Reason 9186 for people to read and grapple with Gienapp's The Second Creation

Dig is top knotch

My phone was dying on my flight so I just played arm chair general for the guy playing his jewel-drop game in the row across from me. Terrible use of power ups the whole time. What a shame.

I picked quite the time to read For Whom the Bell Tolls for the first time but a quote hit pretty hard today:

"But are there not many fascists in your country?"

"There are many who do not know they are fascists but will find it out when the time comes."

Whitewashing American history The Trump Presidency as a project of erasure

A partial list of the current attempted erasure of diverse historical voices and stories from government websites and facilities. Senseless. Indefensible. Maddening.

donmoynihan.substack.com/p/whitewashi...

Modern Doughfaces