Ryan Enos

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Of Tyranny 199. As usurpation is the exercise of power which another hath a right to, so tyranny is the exercise of power beyond right, which nobody can have a right to. And this is making use of the power anyone has in his hands, not for the good of those who are under it, but for his own private, separate advantage. When the governor, however entitled, makes not the law but his will the rule, and his commands and actions are not directed to the preservation of the properties of his people, but the satisfaction of his own ambition, revenge, covetousness, or any other irregular passion

Locke, Second Treatise of Government:

So far today we have news that private money is being used to pay the military and that the military may be used in an unauthorized war against a non-hostile nation. A madman driving us toward despotism and the death of innocent people.

Can't let this become normal. Only Congress can appropriate money. Nothing could be more clear.
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...

Class of 2029 yield tops 83%, with international students at 90% — Harvard Gazette Nearly half will pay no tuition.

Interesting notes about Harvard undergraduate admissions (that perhaps cut against certain narratives): applications were up 10%, international student yield was 90% (higher than the domestic yield of 83%), and first-generation students are 20% of the class. news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...

Definitely. And we need to continue calling out those who fail to have it.

These dynamics are definitely in play. BUT this wannabe dictator is also extremely unpopular and those of us with the courage to stand up have the American people on our side. It'll take courage and focus, but democracy can win.

Is that a knife in his belt?

Is that a fan?

Harvard’s Ryan Enos on East Wing Scandal and Democratic Erosion in America | Right Now With Perry Bacon ➔ TNR Live Chats on Substack

Harvard’s Ryan Enos on East Wing Scandal and Democratic Erosion in America | Right Now With Perry Bacon
open.substack.com/pub/newrepub...

"this conflict will have killed 7.5 percent of the prewar population of Gaza in just two years. It already is, in proportional terms, deadlier than the wars in Yemen, Syria, Sudan and Ukraine. "

Not the first time a senator has done that, believe it or not.

Cuomo is an example of a political class desperately clinging to power. Its disruption can take us in either a very negative (Trump) or potentially very positive (Mamdani) direction.

People that are anti-anti-Platner should ask themselves what in particular they found appealing other than his identity as a white guy that is coded working class. There are lots of other working class white guys who don't use homophobic slurs and don't have Nazi tattoos.

It flies under the radar because it is overwhelmed by the sheer repulsiveness of the physical destruction of the east wing, but there is no way that a president should be allowed to use private money to change public property. It circumvents the power of the purse.

or signed a name so you knew who to ask...

The left knows how to have huge protests. The right knows how to win elections. - The Boston Globe Democrats seem to have forgotten a crucial aspect of what sustains political movements.

Worth reading this to understand what we must do (in addition to protest). www.bostonglobe.com/2025/10/22/o...

Would want to also see it with wording that matches the issues at hand, such as "killing suspected drug smugglers without trial" or "carrying out military strikes without congressional approval".

This is one of these tough questions because it is sorta asking people "do you approve of using force to stop something bad" and most people are going to say yes.

This is a very meta question...but is is sustainable to have an economy in which one person controls the money supply by appointee the central bank, controls trade by unilaterally imposing tariffs, and can just choose to pay himself unchecked sums from the public treasury?

Rejecting the Compact Is an Opportunity (opinion) The only action needed now is no action at all, Joseph Fishkin writes.

I have an opinion piece in @insidehighered.com arguing:

“No university leader or trustee can truthfully say that it fulfills their fiduciary responsibility to sign their school up for this.”

Whereas rejecting the compact—even simply by doing nothing—is an opportunity for all of higher ed.

You all have it wrong. The correct metaphor would be Mike Johnson demolishing the Speaker's Balcony.

Rodden's "Why Cities Lose" can be helpful if you're thinking about the value of moderation because it reminds you that the value may depend on what electoral outcome you are trying to optimize.

Perhaps we shouldn't overinterpret short-term swings in party ID as evidence of structural problems with the party brand.

bsky.app/profile/jake...

My take on NYT editorial today on moderation

Points to role of national party perceptions set by presidential nominee ✅

Calls recent moderate presidential nominees bad candidates ✅

Estimates of moderation advantage ~1/2 size of Split-Ticket's ✅

Says we don't use good measures of ideology ❌

See:

Also, don't do unsigned data analysis. If I have a question or concern about this, who do I contact?

Look, I don't have a dog in this fight, but the argument that "this is complicated" and the "results don't fit my intuition" so it must not be true, doesn't pass muster. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/20/o...

I became a Dodger fan because my dad was a Dodger fan. But my earliest memories were 1988, which solidified it forever. So, psychologically, it doesn't matter to me if the Dodgers become the evil empire, they will always be the scrappy overachievers.

That makes besting him more interesting but still not too interesting.