really only here for @damin.bsky.social content tbh

Glad to see everybody's handled things completely normally around here, like normal people would.

Trump’s CBS Settlement Win Is a Loss for America, Not Just the Media | National Review This lawsuit was designed only to be used as a bludgeon, not to be won.

Happy 4th of July, everyone. www.nationalreview.com/2025/07/trum...

Here on a wellness check; is everybody okay?

this sucks, I heard JD Vance had joined Bluesky and I was suddenly prepared to return to this platform for insights and conversation.

now this.

Seems like an awful lot of money and organizing manpower to waste just to announce "hey guys I guess we're all returning to Twitter after all" by the back door, but I guess people need outside help to craft clever spin.

funny how I only became a writer in February of 2023.

Yes, you.

The Progressive Ecosystem Is Breeding Killers | National Review Yes, it can happen here.

I have bad news for you all: www.nationalreview.com/2025/05/the-...

Trump Tests the True Limits of Presidential Power | National Review This is no accident; it is a strategy.

The rule of law is being tested. Soon it may be broken. What happens next?

I'm not here to persuade. I am here to warn. www.nationalreview.com/carnival-of-...

Where Do You Draw the Line? | National Review While I concede the legality of the administration’s move against Rumeysa Öztürk, I reject its morality and prudence.

Against the arrest and deportation of Rumeysa Ozturk, merely for free speech. A line in the sand.

The newest from National Review: www.nationalreview.com/2025/03/wher...

A lot of people on my side are dunking on this right now, but I don't have that reaction at all. Instead, I authentically respect the honesty of the admission. It absolutely sucks to admit you strongly believed in something you later realized was completely hollow.

Just ask me, former neocon.

I did?

I Can Only Look Back in Anger | National Review Five years later, the architects of the Covid Era’s lockdown insanity deserve only our contempt.

I'm glad I wrote this so that I never have to write about it again. Read it if you can. www.nationalreview.com/2025/03/i-ca...

Kevin Drum was forced out of Mother Jones by people who didn't know about a secret thing he did for them. RIP Kevin.

You really should read this piece by @bendreyfuss.bsky.social about his colleague at Mother Jones from back in the day, legendary liberal blogger Kevin Drum, who passed away on Friday. His co-workers - who treated him shabbily - have no idea how good they had it. www.calmdownben.com/p/kevin-drum...

RIP to a kind, decent, and very wise man.

My problem is this place has zero appetite for either zaniness or my particular kind of cynicism. It's just kinda joyless.

I often need to look for specific quotes, video clips, etc. Google has gotten TERRIBLE for this, because breaking news on a topic completely blots out older news on the same topic in their search now. Just a nightmare unless you use parameters carefully.

I agree. I don't get yelled at nearly as much, but many of the people I found interesting are gone. The "influencers" now reign.

I never have that problem, but I do get a ton of bot favs. And the DM spam is intolerable.

Twitter is down and I'll admit as a writer who uses it for a lot of research (it's getting better than Google in some ways) it feels like The Day The World Ended.

But also I feel a small twinge of joy.

How's this place doing? Still joke-free?

I hope you understand how bonkers you sound.

You left. He didn't boot you - you CHOSE TO LEAVE.

Might as well get this confession out of the way now: I, too, am a @jessesingal.com follower.

(to be clear: that's when TTSS came out, became de rigueur in the IC etc. the term ABSOLUTELY absorbed its way into canon and my dad who was there insists it's pure literary influence. I defer.)

my dad insists Le Caree invented it and it became chic but he'd never heard that shit once in his life until the mid 70s

I don't even like Trump and I want to find the dude wearing the NR hat and offer him a free yearly subscription, just for angering this man.

I think the biggest reason why it's hard to spend much time on this app is because it's impossible to have an actual CONVERSATION on this app. That was always possible on Twitter (and even remains so in an attenuated way) but is impossible here due to low volume and Panopticon Supervision.

A shame.

What’s in the Box? | National Review Donald Trump has the upper hand.

Hey y'all remember that hilarious gutbuster that put David Fincher on the map, right? I saw SE7EN in the theater with my mom, and it was worst car ride home ever!

Anyway, that's the setup for my take on what the next four years portends.

Fun, from @NRO: www.nationalreview.com/corner/whats...