Andrew Sabl
Political theorist (Univ. of Toronto). Toronto/NYC. Realism, liberalism, toleration, privilege and opportunity, Hume, political ethics—and politics, humo(u)r, puns. Also husband, dad, stepdad.
- Breaking out of my break to celebrate the move of my Department, @uoft-poli-sci.bsky.social , from Occupied Twitter to here.
- I know right now seems an impossible time to take a break from Bluesky… …which is why I’m doing just that; I know an addiction when I feel one. See you all soon. #skyjanuary
- Please read the comments before reposting. The claim that it was a fascist slogan appears to be mistaken. Noem, of course, *is* a fascist. But not on account of this.
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- At the No Kings-No War-No ICE protest in NYC
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- I suggested to my wife that when I bought six cookies I should get a half cookie for free. She told me that idea was half baked.
- Reposted by Andrew SablAn excellent point from Larry — this bill marks the first time in *a decade and a half* that we've seen Republicans vote "for" the ACA in any substantive sense
- Good explainer. Epic double meaning in the headline. www.theguardian.com/world/video/...
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- Reposted by Andrew Sabl“No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law" Article I, Section 9.
- Machado offering her Peace Prize to Trump reminds me of the time Whitey Bulger “won” the Massachusetts lottery. Wresting a prize from its real winner through extortion doesn’t make you a winner. It just makes you a gangster.
- 🌶️ kimchi spaced with sliced avocado on toast is delicious.
- Reposted by Andrew Sabl1/ Trump's War Powers Report to Congress on the #Venezuela strikes and seizure of #Maduro is in. I've read/coded every WPR report and used to work on them in the White House. (See this searchable database & graphics warpowers.lawandsecurity.org/%F0%9F%91%87) Here's what stands out about this one🧵:
- Reposted by Andrew Sabl🧵Day 3 and we have a new meaning for "running Venezuela," courtesy of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the nation's top diplomat, who is in charge of Venezuela as well as the National Archives. We're going to insist they do what's in the US national interest. Time for some principal-agent theory. 1/
- One example among many: breathless reporting on why María Machado isn’t now Venezuela’s leader. People: she was an opposition activist but not the presidential candidate (in the previous, stolen election). Under no possible theory of legitimacy should she be in office.
- Indeed, far too many are applying the *Death Race 2000* theory of political legitimacy. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_R...
- Indeed, far too many are applying the *Death Race 2000* theory of political legitimacy. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_R...
- Reposted by Andrew SablI have a new paper w Andrea Prat & Jake Spitz. We show that Republican appointed Supreme Court Justices vote in favor of the richer party by over 70% today, as compared to D’s at 30%. In the 1950s and both were at 50%. This strong trend may contribute to rising inequality. www.nber.org/papers/w34643
- Missed this at the time (a few weeks ago) but this by @adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com is exactly the kind of thinking we need.
- Hume got this right in the *History of England*. The Crusades were a war between civilization and barbarism—in which the Christian marauders were the barbarians.
- The Globe and Mail (Canada’s sober, establishment, slightly centre-right paper): Trump plans to treat Canada as Athens treated Melos—“the strong do what they please; the weak suffer what they must”—and Canada must regard itself as in a “national emergency.” www.theglobeandmail.com/gift/f9f7c04...
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- It’s distinctly possible that Trump is even more “personalist” in his approach to politics than anyone imagined. To him, Venezuela is just Maduro’s gang. And once you dispose of the previous boss, you’re the new boss. No sense of enduring political attachments (or even interest groups) at all.
- Reposted by Andrew SablCaine, in what happened when the military invaded Maduro’s compound: “On arrival into the target area, the helicopters came under fire, and they replied to that fire with overwhelming force in self-defense.” We’re going to be reading that sentence for years.
- Reposted by Andrew SablSome thoughts on what Trump has done in Venezuela and what it might mean for US national security. Caveat: not a Latin America scholar so this is focused on US policy. Clearly huge consequences for Venezuela that others can address. First, despite the buildup, I didn't think Trump would do it. 1/
- For all Trump’s rants about how Mexico is run by cartels, not its (female) president, it’s Trump who’s acting like a cartel boss, using the military as his personal kidnapping force so as to grab some loot.
- “The results showed that chaos and violence were likely to erupt within Venezuela, as military units, rival political factions and even jungle-based guerrilla groups jockeyed for control of the oil-rich country.”
- Reposted by Andrew SablGet ready for Phase Two: a raid on Oslo to seize the Peace Prize.
- Reposted by Andrew SablMarco Rubio is reportedly saying Maduro will stand trial in US courts. Which means it’s now the US administration’s position that US courts can hold foreign presidents, but not the US president, accountable for crimes.
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- Reposted by Andrew SablThis is a thread of major media outlets falsely anthropomorphising the "Grok" chatbot program and in doing so, actively and directly removing responsibility and accountability from individual people working at X who created a child pornography generator (Elon Musk, Nikita Bier etc) #1: Reuters
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- Reposted by Andrew SablI got asked if I had any Fantastic Four puns. I handed them a segment of Reed Richards. They said that was a bit of a stretch.
- Reposted by Andrew SablMagic Johnson was the grand marshal of the Rose Parade today, and as someone who remembers his November 1991 HIV announcement: if you had told anybody that day that he would be alive and healthy 34+ years later, I don't think they would have believed you. Medicine and research—they work.
- It’s always head-spinning when Left commentators cite Bill Clinton to illustrate “liberal” (meaning centrist or conservative-Democratic) perfidy. Clinton and his “New Democrat” supporters proudly proclaimed themselves *anti-liberals*—and self-styled liberals in the Democratic Party hated New Dems.
- Reposted by Andrew SablHappy New Year! We love sharing these pro-book posters from the Works Projects Administration Poster Collection in the Library's Prints and Photographs Division. Of the 2,000 WPA posters known to exist, the Library of Congress's collection of more than 900 is the largest.
- Reposted by Andrew SablMicroplastics are here to stay; that's why we need to eat them responsibly in the classroom
- Going to pop this. I figure it’s now or never.
- Reposted by Andrew Sablmodern society is so divorced from our food sources that most people who eat pop tarts have never actually killed one themselves
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- Fine by me. Fleece Navidad.
- Have to say that this post—about how ordinary voters really would care about the White House ballroom—aged well. Voters care about their material lives. But they don’t *only* care about their material lives.
- Great thread.
- Our Bella (the redder one) and her cousin Bowie in their matching Christmas “jammies”
- Reposted by Andrew SablEditorial cartoonist @dennisgoris.bsky.social is exceptional. Please follow and share (&credit his work).
- One reason I can’t stand Newsom (while enjoying his social media’s trolling): Ever since he was a UC trustee as Lieutenant Governor, he’s been palpably indifferent to state universities’ financial condition and has backed stupid, demagogic higher ed policies to promote himself.
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- Reposted by Andrew SablThe CBS investigation portrays a modern concentration camp, similar to the Soviet GULAG (like CECOT, an acronym): sadistic guards, 24 hour lighting, isolation cells. Americans once opposed this inhumane system. The Trump administration sent innocent people there to suffer.
- Indeed. The higher one rises in a hierarchy, the fewer consequences for getting things wrong… …which does a lot to explain why corporate (and government/university) crushing on LLMs is so top-heavy.
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- If you suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder and are reading this in the Northern Hemisphere, congratulations: you’ve made it through the shortest day of the year. From now on, things will get a little better every day. Hang in there. Yule make it.
- Reposted by Andrew SablWhen we say "no, everything hasn't been digitized," I need you to understand that we really mean is that virtually nothing has been digitized. This is because the realm of primary sources that historians use is incomprehensibly large.
- Reposted by Andrew SablImpressive student journalism by Harvard Crimson reporters about some of their absolutely vile classmates.
- People really need to watch the misplaced modifiers. I swear: the first time I read this, I thought, “why would Trump climb into a drawer and have someone take photos”?
- Reposted by Andrew Sabl20,000 words, 150 footnotes, 100+ timeline events = our attempt at documenting and synthesizing all the ways that the federal government has attempted to destroy access to gender-affirming care since January unbreaking.org/issues/trans...
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- International law experts, help me out here: isn’t one country’s planned, deliberate, unilateral seizure of goods from another country that the first has decided to “sanction” a straight-up, unambiguous act of war? Please correct me if I’m wrong.
- Reposted by Andrew SablTrump Announces 5,000% Increase In All Numbers
- Trump says Somalians in MN have “taken over the economy of the state” and stolen “billions and billions.” This is insane, but not in a harmless way. Nazi antisemitism made no more sense than this garbage.
