Ton Chrysoprase

@tonchrysoprase.bsky.social

16 followers 62 following 148 posts

Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 06, 2024 at 10:40 UTC

Well, all that sauntering off to his Texas ranch to clear brush left him tired.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 13:15 UTC

The fact that Harvard and the other ivies were modeled on the British system of inbreeding in ‘public’ schools and the varsity which never produced anything of merit outside the hard sciences. A true inclusive democracy threatens their privilege.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 13:12 UTC

I don’t get it. If Biden can do the job of President but his stutter still makes him shit at debates, how is that more of a case for the 25th than Reagan, W, and Trump who were all congenially worse at the job than Biden?

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 06:36 UTC

The star power of …. David Cameron and Theresa May.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 05, 2024 at 06:32 UTC

Hardest job in the world, frequently held by people who I wouldn’t trust to bag my groceries (Trump, W, Reagan). I love how you guys are entirely detached from observable reality to preserve some head canon about how your parents explained the world to you when you were 5 years old.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 04, 2024 at 20:07 UTC

Well, thanks that the Economist informs us that it thinks fascism is, in fact, a way to run a country. Not that those of us who were paying attention didn’t know (and I used to be a subscriber before they became the print version of a collection of blogs written by recent MBA grads).

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 14:48 UTC

Fair, but in public discourse it still risk signaling to people that it’s less radical than it really is.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 12:23 UTC

Calling this centrism gives them all too much credit and normalizes extremism. It’s apologia for fascism.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 08:51 UTC

I think that’s the point of the hypothetical.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 08:49 UTC

Of course, part of the issue is the absolutely braindead juxtaposition of conservative and liberal in the US which is the result of a right wing redefinition of the word liberal and invention of libertarianism as (oxy)moronic right wing caricature of liberalism.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 03, 2024 at 08:45 UTC

WTAF? Academia is super conservative by any meaningful definition of conservatism. It’s not reactionary or Conservative (TM) if by that you mean the science-denying brand of Republicanism, but that’s tautological. Most profs are very happy with the traditional order that benefits them.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 02, 2024 at 17:33 UTC

Murder democracy on 5th Avenue: legal and SCOTUS will grab themselves by the pussy or equivalent.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 02, 2024 at 13:34 UTC

If he says so, it was.

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Reposted by Ton Chrysoprase

Vince Mpls @vincempls.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 15:59 UTC

March 23 1933, the Enabling Act becomes law in Germany, giving the chief executive power enforce his own laws without checks and balances. The passing of the Act marked the formal transition from democratic republic to totalitarian dictatorship. 6 months later, it was a 1 party state.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 22:37 UTC

Just calling balls and who should ride in the back of the bus.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 21:25 UTC

Omg anybody with the slightest love for footie would pay a king’s ransom for a bottle of those tears.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 21:22 UTC

You mean you could, like, shoot a democracy on 5th avenue and wouldn’t lose a single SCOTUS vote?

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 20:28 UTC

I hope the kakistocracy will collapse under the weight of it’s incompetence sooner, but what’s a bit of poetic license among fellow sufferers of existential dread.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 19:41 UTC

But he has a stutter and is unable to reconcile the diametrically opposed opinions of his broad constituency. That’s certainly worth a decade in labor camp or two.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 19:38 UTC

Yeah, ima write to my various educational institutions to demand my money back. They taught that amending the constitution required meeting some ridiculous requirements. Turns out a good marketing department and a few million in bribes works just as well.

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Reposted by Ton Chrysoprase

Thomas Zimmer @thomaszimmer.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 18:04 UTC

America can accept this Supreme Court as legitimate and its rulings as the final word - or it can have true democracy and a functioning state. But not both.

Wrote this a year ago - and things have only gotten worse: The Rogue Court vs Modern Democracy

1/

thomaszimmer.substack.com/p/the-rogue-...

2 replies 82 reposts 289 likes

Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 15:44 UTC

Only one way to find out.

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Reposted by Ton Chrysoprase

Quinta Jurecic @qjurecic.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 12:40 UTC

goodpoliticsbadpolitics.substack.com/p/bidens-age...

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jul 01, 2024 at 12:37 UTC

Is it just me or does Gorsuch tryna erase his mom’s loss smack of W invading Iraq to settle a family score? Not sure which of those will prove more costly, but maybe we dial back the nepotism a bit?

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 13:29 UTC

What if smart people who for no other reason than their obvious brilliance got into the right universities that their parents and grandparents went to and then got into pundit jobs on the merit of their last name made meritocratic decisions…

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 12:48 UTC

Well, you live. The rest is hit or miss.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 02:28 UTC

Not sure how the debate had any particular bearing on that very pertinent question. SCOTUS, OTOH…

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 30, 2024 at 01:34 UTC

Because if Dems win we may have a pluralistic, meritocratic society and each and every person associated with the NYT would be on food stamps.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 29, 2024 at 18:25 UTC

I mean, yeah, to most Americans it’s a mystery, which is why the Ivies weren’t burned to the ground yet. They literally just try to replicate Victorian English nobility with a thin veneer of meritocratic minority admissions.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 29, 2024 at 18:23 UTC

His mother is a writer. His great-grandfather was the poet and Governor Charles Wilbert Snow of Connecticut.His father, Charles Douthat, is a partner in a New Haven law firm and a poet. Douthat attended a private high school in Hamden. Douthat graduated with a BA from Harvard University.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 29, 2024 at 15:07 UTC

Age is a meaningless pretext as proxy for fitness. Anybody observing the facts will notice that within the constraints of party and political system, Biden is competent. It’s like wearing thick clothes in summer bc the thermometer shows low temps while everybody outside is sweating.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 29, 2024 at 12:46 UTC

And even if there was, the moment they’d have to articulate policy positions or their track record was scrutinized, Dems would hate them just the same as they hate Biden, Clinton, etc. The Dem coalition is too broad to accommodate its constituents demand of never having to compromise.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 29, 2024 at 02:34 UTC

The greatest public service the NYT could perform is to shut down and I’m not holding my breath.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 28, 2024 at 23:13 UTC

The problem with unpopular Dem candidates is that they get blamed for representing a broad coalition where no policy outcome will make most people happy. Whoever would replace B/H would be as unpopular unless they were a generational talent with an uplifting story - and he already served 2 terms.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 28, 2024 at 20:31 UTC

It’s a campaign rally. Dems love to find fault with their own candidate. We know the media loves to make that a story, inflating minute differences to major dissent. In the face of an impending autocratic takeover, it might be in the interest of Dems to forego masturbatory criticism for once.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 28, 2024 at 15:25 UTC

Pretending they have no reason gives them way too much credIt.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 28, 2024 at 15:22 UTC

The bosses already decided they want to go with fascism, so political and regulatory risks don’t seem to be hing on their list.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 28, 2024 at 14:56 UTC

You had me until SCOTUS requiring a permit for anything gun related. Come on, aim for some realism. Paying a bribe, maybe?

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 28, 2024 at 12:12 UTC

Yeah… that’s the point.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 28, 2024 at 12:06 UTC

IDK. People like cats, but I don’t know many who’d die on the hill of them being fundamentally moral creatures.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 27, 2024 at 22:09 UTC

It’s like sex ed. The better informed people are, the less likely are they to practice the behavior in question or suffer from STDs/their mental equivalent when they do.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 27, 2024 at 00:42 UTC

Well, a few days ago he was siding with the president against the former president from the same party. None of it makes any sense.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 26, 2024 at 23:08 UTC

I mean, you could hop on a podcast with @thomaszimmer.bsky.social and talk about it for however long you’d like. I’d listen to every word of it.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 25, 2024 at 21:12 UTC

America is the most anti meritocratic society imaginable. You hacks discuss Biden’s perceived performance based on a bad proxy while observing his actual performance, which is excellent. You see SCOTUS’ abismal performance and pretend it’s great because they went to the same university as you guys..

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 25, 2024 at 13:46 UTC

Inadvertent is doing a lot of work here. Parsimony strongly suggests that wherever disenfranchisement exists, it’s a feature, not a bug.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 25, 2024 at 01:31 UTC

I think the reference to DC punditry is unhelpful. Ruth Marcus (Yale, Harvard, living a comfortable life being wrong in the WaPo) tends to be wrong in the WaPo for the direct benefit of the alumni of said institution, or, in this case, SCOTUS, their fully owned subsidiary.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 24, 2024 at 22:07 UTC

That’s… not what these words mean.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 24, 2024 at 11:11 UTC

Just glad the money sunk into ‘smell something, say something’ PSA campaigns paid off.

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 24, 2024 at 01:20 UTC

Did they at least get use out of their employee discount that day?

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Ton Chrysoprase @tonchrysoprase.bsky.social
[ View ] Jun 23, 2024 at 18:53 UTC

If you can’t rely on absent parents to dunk on you, you gotta suck it up and learn doing it yourself.

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