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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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So much for our presidential ambitions.
0 replies 0 reposts 1 likes
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Stephen West@stephenwest.bsky.social |
1278 followers 353 following 788 posts
Historian of Civil War & Reconstruction. Bicyclist, baker, 3d favorite human of Banjo the dog. Views=mine, RT≠endorsement
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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So much for our presidential ambitions.
0 replies 0 reposts 1 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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Sometimes, it's ok because I mumble, and they can't really tell what I'm saying.
0 replies 0 reposts 1 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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Time to fess up: I regularly call the dog by one of the kids' names, and vice versa
3 replies 0 reposts 5 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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"Calm Down: America Will Be Fine, Whichever Biden Is Really in Charge"
0 replies 0 reposts 7 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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Shorter Kathleen Parker: Jill Biden is the new Edith Wilson. "Jill Biden has appeared for a while to be running the show and, therefore, the country."
1 replies 1 reposts 0 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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Periodic reminder
1 replies 2 reposts 10 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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To be clear - I wasn't in any way faulting UT, or suggesting that his training there is to blame for what he is now. If anything, I'm more struck by the opposite: "professionally trained historian who wrote diss about resistance by enslaved Africans" doesn't sound like the bio of a right-wing hack.
3 replies 0 reposts 1 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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Kevin Roberts earned a PhD in History from the University of Texas. Has anyone connected his academic training and experience to his turn as a right-wing think tank-er? I have only skimmed the diss, but it's not exactly what you'd expect from a future Heritage Foundation president.
2 replies 3 reposts 4 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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There must be a parallel/inverse world where political journalists reflexively explain why bad news for Democrats is actually good news - right?
0 replies 2 reposts 8 likes
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Angry Staff Officer
@pptsapper.bsky.social
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Right about now, in 1863, came one of my favorite moments of the Battle of Gettysburg. Division commander Maj Gen Alex Hays, of Pittsburgh, seeing that his division had smashed the rebel attack, kissed his aide-de-camp, grabbed a reb flag, mounted his horse, and rode his line dragging it behind him
6 replies 43 reposts 234 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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I see the discourse has reached the "how likely is a presidential assassination, really?" stage. Happy almost birthday, America!
0 replies 1 reposts 9 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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If AppleTV+ can make Edwin Stanton fanfic, I say why not - as long as Tobias Menzies plays Hobart too.
0 replies 0 reposts 1 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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and/or a rom-com, a la Forgetting Sarah Marshall
0 replies 0 reposts 1 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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the alt text on that photo: "Picture of Joe Biden looking upset"!
0 replies 0 reposts 5 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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Francis Lieber, on non-combatants engaged in peaceful protest: "just shoot them in the legs, or something"
0 replies 0 reposts 1 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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Hahahaha
Hamlin to Lincoln: "We may I think reasonably hope to become intimately acquainted in the coming four years."
www.loc.gov/item/mal0337...
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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Forgetting Hannibal Hamlin: An American Tradition (Hamlin thought they had been introduced, but wasn't sure)
1 replies 0 reposts 0 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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In case you're wondering how the process of selecting a vice presidential candidate was different in the past
2 replies 1 reposts 4 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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One of my favorite Lincoln-Hamlin interactions (there are so many!):
*Two months* after the 1860 convention, Lincoln wrote Hamlin to introduce himself: "Hey, I guess we're running together?! I don't think we ever met, but drop me a line when you can!"
quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/li...
1 replies 2 reposts 5 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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Americans have short historical memories, and have completely forgotten the part where President Hannibal Hamlin won the Civil War.
1 replies 0 reposts 3 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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David Blight invokes the pre-war Lincoln. I don't find it very persuasive - but maybe it meets the challenge?
bsky.app/profile/step...
3 replies 0 reposts 0 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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Yeah, I was going to say, @joshchafetz.bsky.social makes the case well.
Whatever one thinks of the political wisdom of Biden stepping down, I just don't see where invoking Abe Lincoln makes it any wiser.
1 replies 0 reposts 3 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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I have tremendous respect for David Blight's scholarship, but I question the wisdom of his advice that Joe Biden step down now so Kamala Harris can assume the presidency. Invoking Lincoln doesn't make the advice any better - tho perhaps he thinks "be like Lincoln!" is more likely to sway Biden?
2 replies 2 reposts 3 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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Great, now my biking app is trolling me
0 replies 0 reposts 3 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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tfw someone refers to Abraham Lincoln as a "warlord" - and means it as a compliment 🗃️ (And that someone is - of course! - Steve Bannon)
1 replies 0 reposts 8 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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The weaselly wonders of "may" PS - this assumes there will be historians in the future
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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We've now reached the "anonymous leaks about the president's nap schedule" phase.
www.nytimes.com/2024/07/02/u...
1 replies 2 reposts 6 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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🧵!
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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Many of the contributors so far have pushed backed on Graber's downplaying of Reconstruction's abolitionist/egalitarian goals--or as Zietlow puts it, that "maintaining power was more important to the Reconstruction Congress than promoting racial equality." Looking forward to Graber's response. /fin
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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How we account for the variety of motives among Reconstruction’s framers, and esp. how we understand the relationship/tensions/balance between, on the one hand, the imperative to “punish treason” and “reward loyalty,” and on the other, the pursuit of an abolitionist and egalitarian agenda? 🗃️
1 replies 0 reposts 0 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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Several more contributions are in, including from @traviscrum.bsky.social, Alexander Tsesis, Rebecca Zietlow, and @evanbernick.bsky.social.
You don't have to be a legal scholar to appreciate how the discussion of Mark Graber's book frames a central question about Reconstruction: namely ...
1 replies 0 reposts 2 likes
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Holly Brewer
@earlymodjustice.bsky.social
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My article for @newrepublic
“The Supreme Court has effectively ruled that 250 years of U.S. history under a republic is enough.”
newrepublic.com/article/1833...
10 replies 178 reposts 521 likes
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Rachel Shelden
@rachelshelden.bsky.social
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Whether you agree as to whether this is the most dangerous Court since Taney's (the case @kevinmkruse.bsky.social makes here) there's another key point about the comparison:
Taney's Court had only a fraction of the power and authority over American politics & society that Roberts' Court does 1/
4 replies 61 reposts 170 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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John Roberts: Hold my beer
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Rachel Shelden
@rachelshelden.bsky.social
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I say this to my history students every semester. Lawyers do not have a monopoly on law, courts, & especially the Constitution--despite how often they are told otherwise. It may be in the best interest of lawyers to claim that unique authority; it's in everyone else's best interest not to let them.
2 replies 12 reposts 53 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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"In Trump v. United States, Donald Trump’s defenders on the Supreme Court repeat one of the most basic principles of American constitutional government: 'The president is not above the law.' They then proceed to obliterate it." - @adamserwer.bsky.social
0 replies 2 reposts 6 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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"The Supreme Court did *what*?!"
0 replies 0 reposts 12 likes
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Nathan Kalmoe (he/him)
@nathankalmoe.bsky.social
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0 replies 2 reposts 1 likes
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Eric Rauchway
@rauchway.bsky.social
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For historians, the retrospective legitimation of essentially every criminal act Nixon committed while in office is quite mind-boggling. Ford’s pardon was utterly unnecessary.
10 replies 193 reposts 645 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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Bingo!
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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"It seems history matters to this Court only when it is convenient." From Sotomayor's dissent
5 replies 105 reposts 457 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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To send pundits/Lincoln buffs into a tizzy, Joe Biden should present his cabinet a sealed document at their next meeting and demand they sign it, sight unseen. 🗃️
blogs.loc.gov/loc/2014/08/...
2 replies 9 reposts 19 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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And endorse Mike Pence, with Joe Manchin as his running mate
1 replies 1 reposts 4 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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"Let's blame the people who gave him information and applied his makeup" is one way to go
www.nytimes.com/2024/06/30/u...
2 replies 1 reposts 3 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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Every time I hear his name I'm reminded that a white shoe law firm still bears it
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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"Newspaper editorial writers at the time praised Johnson's choice, which is definitely proof that it was the right one."
0 replies 0 reposts 23 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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To send pundits/Lincoln buffs into a tizzy, Joe Biden should present his cabinet a sealed document at their next meeting and demand they sign it, sight unseen. 🗃️
blogs.loc.gov/loc/2014/08/...
2 replies 9 reposts 19 likes
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Stephen West
@stephenwest.bsky.social
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I'm not sure "the Party" exists in the way Ezra Klein thinks it does.
But thinking that way probably does make replacing Biden seem easier.
(from Klein's NYer interview with Isaac Chotiner)
www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a...
0 replies 1 reposts 5 likes
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Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a floof
@evanbernick.bsky.social
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I wrote a review of Mark Graber’s essential new-ish book on the Fourteenth Amendment, “Punish Treason, Reward Loyalty.” If it’s 1/44738th as provocative as its subject, I’ll have succeeded. balkin.blogspot.com/2024/06/cons...
2 replies 4 reposts 7 likes