Ed Schatz
Political Scientist, Central Asianist, University of Toronto
Posting about politics, authoritarianism, and Central Asia.
- Reposted by Ed Schatz👇👇👇👇
- “Plaintiffs have provided no metric by which to determine when lawful law enforcement becomes unlawful commandeering…” Oh come on. Not easily measured but plain as day.
- Orwell cannot be repeated often enough:
- To the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle: Blood on badges, lies on screens, Cages, tariffs, grift machines. Power sold and law undone, Cruelty played for laughs and fun. Strongmen kissed and wars adored, Truth despised, violence roared. Women mocked and racists fed Democracy quietly bled.
- The fish rots from the head. Turf Miller, Noem, Trump, and the entire gang of fascist thugs.
- Reposted by Ed SchatzBovino is just the patsy - a noxious and odious fall guy. Stephen Miller is the architect and prime mover of the whole thing. Everything they do is at his direction - often after his threats. As long as he runs policy in the WH, nothing will change no matter how many Bovinos come and go.
- Theater. Remove Homan, Noem, Miller, and Trump.
- "[T]he cornerstone of this 'new law' consisted of the command 'Thou shalt kill,' not thy enemy but innocent people who were not even potentially dangerous, and not for any reason of necessity but, on the contrary, even against all military and other utilitarian considerations." --Hannah Arendt, 1968
- today=(shovel+stretch+ibuprofen)x4
- @seva.bsky.social brilliantly captures our moment. hegemon.substack.com/p/the-age-of...
- "I had somehow taken it for granted that we all still believe with Socrates that it is better to suffer than to do wrong. This belief turned out to be a mistake." --Hannah Arendt, 1968
- Russian efforts in the global south.
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- In Russia, they call this adminresurs. In plain English, abuse of public office.
- Mischief Toy Store in St. Paul has until Wednesday to turn over employment records to the Department of Homeland Security as part of a surprise audit launched Friday, just hours after one of the shop's owners criticized ICE agents during a television interview. bit.ly/4r5AFol
- Happy new year is it over yet?
- Yesterday at Davos, Canadian PM Mark Carney gave a speech. Today at Davos, the US-ian nihilist kleptocrat-in-chief gave a speech. One was principled, thoughtful, grounded, serious, forward-looking, realistic, and inspired. The other was a verbal vomit of threats, insults & fabrications.
- Relax, people. SCOTUS will eventually rule on tariffs. Either before Trump blows up the transatlantic alliance, destroys NATO, invades a sovereign territory, and hands Putin everything he wants on a silver platter. Or after.
- I am no expert, but states have rights. Right, SCOTUS?
- This prez, in a nutshell.
- A quickly changing world. U. Toronto and Harvard are apparently the Zhejiang U. of North America.
- Good news I suppose, but a grotesque violation of international law is still a grotesque violation of international law--no matter how many or how few Americans want it. And maybe poll Greenlanders? www.cnn.com/2026/01/15/p...
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- "Land acquisition?" Is that what we're calling this now? Why are you buying DJT's framing of the issue, @nytimes.com ? It would be a conquest, the destruction of an alliance, another instance of gunboat diplomacy, another blow to the rules-based order. Not a real estate deal.
- Reposted by Ed SchatzSo when authorities say “she tried to run over an officer,” that is not a neutral description. It is a claim of intent that can be used to justify lethal force after the fact. When the state kills first and invents the threat afterward, it is not policing, it is death squad behavior. /end
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- Excited to teach a new course on Authoritarianism through Film, in which we explore what narrative films say about how authoritarianism is lived/experienced. Up first: Brazil (1985), which reminds us that an innocent-seeming typo can prove deadly in authoritarian bureaucracies.
- I've been busy teaching today and may have missed it. Has the USA invaded an allied country yet?
- The Donroe Doctrine is tailor-made for this administration: it is faintly reminiscent of something Trump once heard, it is empty of fixed meaning, and it's heavy with narcissitic self-regard.
- Ilya Yashin continues to call out the Putin regime and its war against Ukraine, providing a ray of hope for democracy in Russia. I had the privilege of hosting him at U of T. www.youtube.com/watch?v=afjY...
- For centuries, America was called out as hypocritical when it failed to live up to principles. No longer. Apparently there are no longer any principles to be evaluated against. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/05/u...
- Donnie got his very own special military operation. He must be so proud of himself.
- Academics of my generation: I can retire book-free if I donate one book daily for the next 73.5 years.
