Berin Szóka

No shit—literally

So Hegseth is attacking Scouting America for treating trans kids with respect, including respecting their chosen names... at the same time he demands you respect the made up name for his department, which he changed illegally without congressional approval.

Liberalism.org - Coming Soon An Online Magazine for Free & Open People. Coming soon.

Hello new followers! I’m so excited to be working on this new project from the Institute for Humane Studies at GMU. Liberalism.org will be a hub for revitalizing liberal theory and practice—and for showing how a better society is possible.

Cite to what, exactly?

Vaguely recall the GOP screaming about academic freedom and that universities were "banning" the teaching of certain topics.

Surely, they're speaking out about this. Right?

I am never going to get over the fact thar so many Americans died that corpses stacked up in nursing homes and hospital morgues, that refrigerator trucks had to be brought in for the overflow, and that the big takeaway from Important Pundits is there should have been *less* mitigation.

Incredible opinion. It holds that the common ICE tactic of jumping out of an unidentified rental vehicle and seizing suspected noncitizens while masked violates the Fourth Amendment because the *manner* of the seizure is incompatible with a free society governed by the rule of law.

This bizarre homophobic rant from WIRED is a perfect exhibit of how Woke 1's normalization of casting general aspersions on 'privileged' groups was easily, trivially turned into just indulging whatever gutter bigotry you feel like, but leftishly.

Misogyny, homophobia, antisemitism, you name it!

To Read This, Please Upload Photo ID A primer on digital age assurance methods and a survey of the laws—both enacted and proposed—requiring them.

Sharing this *excellent* explainer by @lawfaremedia.org 's Isabel Arroyo on the current stage of digital age assurance definitions and laws.

Bookmark it, it's a fabulous resource:
www.lawfaremedia.org/article/to-r...

We toppled Saddam quickly, many Iraqis cheered us as liberators and STILL we spent nearly 9 years fighting, 4,431 US troops died and 31,994 were wounded, and several hundred thousand Iraqis civilians died, with total costs over $3 trillion

So don't think regime change in Iran will be a "cake walk"

The DSA is like Greenland:
—A new frontier
—Under US pressure
—Lots of interesting things under the surface
—We may still hope Trump confuses the law with something else and fights a war with another territory island instead
—It's brought 🇪🇺 together

- Prof. Wolfgang Schulz, Leibniz Institut

I have thoughts on what you just said... 🙋‍♂️

Gail did just enough weaponization of antitrust law to reshape the media to keep her job. But of course, no remotely serious person could ever do enough... Her successor will undoubtedly be far less embarrassed about making 💩 legal claims and naked Orbany threats to circumvent the First Amendment

Czechoslovakia’s Lesson for America: Lawyers are Key to Peacefully Defeating Authoritarianism—Help Them Romania had to kill its tyrant and his supporters to make room for democracy because it had no legal route to oust him

Since the collapse of communism the Czech Republic has had an easier time than Romania of living up to high civic norms. One big reason, writes @irinamanta.bsky.social at @theunpopulist.net: Czechoslovakia even under communism managed to preserve some independence for its legal profession.

My debut with @theunpopulist.net - thanks to @shikhadalmia.bsky.social and @bernybelvedere.bsky.social, as well as @berinszoka.bsky.social!

Fascism cannot tolerate dissent
Approval polling quantities dissent
Ergo...

I’m teaching child safety cases to my class today, and it’s super hard to distill down key points in the deluge. But maybe I’ll just start by quoting @corbinkbarthold.bsky.social.

Antitrust law has become a weapon for Trump to cement control of the media

Can Instagram Ruin Your Life? The Jury Will Decide. The first in a wave of legal cases alleging that social media is dangerously addictive is now on trial.

“‘having lawyers get up and give speech contests in front of a jury’ is one of the worst ways he can imagine of settling the scientific disputes about social media and its effects on mental health.” — @corbinkbarthold.bsky.social
www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

Our podcast explores the most important issues in tech policy with legal depth and moral clarity. After ten years and 428 episodes, it really is THE Tech Policy Podcast. Give us a listen—and a review?

Yep. Many of us who weren't sufficiently Trump-curious had to find other places to work.

The libertarian movement had one job, and it failed, and now it wants credit for success.

Yes, some libertarians *did* try to warn you about Trump. But you canceled them for it.

Libertarianism has always had an audience/experts split.

In 2016, the Cato Institute informally polled its policy scholars. Trump placed a distant third, behind both Gary Johnson and Hillary Clinton. The most important lesson from it is how little it mattered; the audience did what it wanted.

How the Right Distorted Libertarianism - Aaron Ross Powell's Blog Once rooted in liberalism, libertarianism's detour through the conservative movement has blunted its radical edge and commitment to principle.

While everyone’s on the topic of libertarians who got in bed with MAGA authoritarianism, here’s what I wrote about it, including the history of how we got here, way back in 2022. The years since have, I believe, made my worries look, if anything, understated. www.aaronrosspowell.com/3m2fgwdmc7c2a

once my son woke me up to ask what a three dimensional hexagon was called. yes, please. ask me about the gay instead.

Either he posted it or he doesn't see the problem with depicting the Obamas as apes

The FCC talks a big game about easing broadband deployment, but that requires workers. Blair Levin asks the key Q at SOTN: The Trump admin has eased immigration enforcement so hotels can function. Has the FCC asked for such relief for broadband deployment?

FCC: no news on that front! Bye!

They. Will. Steal. The. 2026. AND. 2028. Elections.