1/ Anyway, this reminds me of a story I read about James Mattis in Trump's first term.
During a meeting in the Situation Room, Trump angrily ordered the military to assassinate the entire government of Syria.
@erinbartram.bsky.social
Historian of religion & gender in the 19th c US, drinker of tea in the 21st c US. Museum educator at MTH&M. Wrote some quit lit you may have read. Founder & editor at contingentmagazine.org. Former academic. Sings with Voices of Concinnity. She/her.
1/ Anyway, this reminds me of a story I read about James Mattis in Trump's first term.
During a meeting in the Situation Room, Trump angrily ordered the military to assassinate the entire government of Syria.
My sister and I watched this constantly as kids, probably one of our most quoted films. It's got a line for everything, especially "Turn the kitchen light off!"
07.03.2026 02:43 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0That was my thought but also this feels like a moment for an even older/scarier actor too.
07.03.2026 02:30 β π 6 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0This feels like a moment where an older actor needs to take him aside and have a conversation with him.
07.03.2026 02:29 β π 23 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0There are more important films from that year but this is still the best one.
07.03.2026 02:25 β π 15 π 2 π¬ 5 π 0Is Hailstones & Halibut Bones still in print? I don't remember if the poems rhyme but I loved the pictures.
07.03.2026 01:47 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Can someone make me a tall glass of sleep for 24 hours straight
07.03.2026 00:20 β π 17 π 2 π¬ 0 π 0You could pick anyone off the street in the US and ask them what might be a consequence at home of starting a war in that part of the world and I would wager 100% of them would get it right. How did we find the only people who donβt understand it and let them run everything?
06.03.2026 23:00 β π 6 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0I was wondering this today, and Faine puts it in a much more sophisticated way, but whatβs the term for the basic ability to imagine the consequences of actions? Like object permanence, but for blocks falling over.
06.03.2026 22:57 β π 18 π 5 π¬ 1 π 0IDK who wrote this ill advised POS article but they shouldn't get paid for it because WHAT THE ABSOLUTE EFF IS THIS !!!! I mean, EVANGELICALS ARE EVERYWHERE IN TRUMP WORLD
06.03.2026 22:51 β π 159 π 29 π¬ 9 π 2RAG was on mine too (not at the head, which is why it remained a manageable list of books)
06.03.2026 13:15 β π 0 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0We did teaching fields, not dissertation fields.
06.03.2026 04:13 β π 8 π 0 π¬ 2 π 0
(Learning a lot about how other programs felt about comps from these posts)
1. US History
2. Comparative British/French/US Imperialism
3. American Religion
"I saw a specimen of science and the natural world, of course, but I also saw a beautiful object constructed, created, by peopleβby paleontologists, museum curators, engineers, and welders."
06.03.2026 03:22 β π 24 π 8 π¬ 0 π 0I'm just looking for one good man with a Visa.
06.03.2026 02:18 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0βsome noted they had lost fans and donors. There are some people who like Irish music but think ICE is just here to enforce the law. But Natalie OβShea, executive director at Celtic Junction, told me, βTo believe in laws over belief in people is to be colonized.ββ
05.03.2026 23:28 β π 366 π 83 π¬ 4 π 3I mean, I guess Wyden told us what he thinks.
05.03.2026 22:03 β π 7 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0"Gracious God! a proposition to introduce six new slave States, bears no relation to the subject of slavery? What on earth does O'Sullivan mean?" CS to JMSI, 3/5/1844, LCS p 202
05.03.2026 15:00 β π 7 π 3 π¬ 0 π 0It's one of the little pleasures of this place to get in on the ground floor of a truly amazing post.
05.03.2026 19:33 β π 3 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0This is what Rumsfeld would call an Unnoem Unnoem
05.03.2026 19:28 β π 478 π 107 π¬ 10 π 8I just keep thinking of that line from M*A*S*H where Klinger says β if itβs a police action, why didnβt they send the cops?β
05.03.2026 17:45 β π 41 π 6 π¬ 0 π 0For no identifiable reason.
05.03.2026 17:16 β π 2 π 0 π¬ 2 π 0reading this, both the accounting of the harassment and the institutionβs response, reminds me of Kate Manneβs point of this current backlash: "remove women as sources of competition and judgement"
05.03.2026 14:07 β π 15 π 7 π¬ 1 π 0Oh, I just spent a lot of time on her Instagram as results of this.
05.03.2026 13:43 β π 4 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0This does feel very different from the beginnings of the Bush-era wars, but if you're going to be this bold, you could also mention that it's not good to kill a bunch of Iranian civilians either. There are many reasons a war can be unjust and I think we need to hear that one too.
05.03.2026 02:50 β π 16 π 3 π¬ 0 π 0It provides a luxurious writing experience.
05.03.2026 02:46 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Government by the kind of people who think "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short" is an inspirational list of goals for the office whiteboard.
05.03.2026 02:20 β π 17 π 3 π¬ 0 π 0I am a consistent fountain pen user but I somehow ended up with a #3 and it quickly became a pen I keep at home so it doesn't disappear.
05.03.2026 02:07 β π 6 π 0 π¬ 1 π 0Maybe he actually said "immanent." You know, like his worldview has some kind of . . . immanent frame.
05.03.2026 01:34 β π 1 π 0 π¬ 0 π 0Iran has been an imminent threat to the United States for 47 years. The president was right to act.
They have been JUST ABOUT TO BE A THREAT TO US for half a century!
04.03.2026 22:20 β π 3476 π 521 π¬ 462 π 70