Jonathan Blanks

@blanksslate.bsky.social

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D.C.-based criminal justice writer and cultural critic who spends a lot of time at the library.

Hoosier by birth and college education.

Some would call me a libertarian. I would not.

https://theblanksslate.substack.com/

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Jonathan Blanks

Just a reminder: Trump inherited the lowest homicide rate of any president in 50 years. He was the first president in 30 years to leave office with a higher homicide rate than when he entered. And the rate has dropped every year since he left. www.foxnews.com/video/635815...

RNC day 2 to focus on crime and safety as victims' families speak out | Fox News Videowww.foxnews.com Erin Rachwal, who lost her son to fentanyl poisoning and Sheri and Aaron Sparks, who lost their son in the Waukesha parade attack, on the need to hold criminals accountable and stop the influx of illi...

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Jonathan Blanks

Reupping @unlawfulentries.bsky.social post, because scholars interested in discussing how Project 2025 goals match JD Vance’s will find many, many examples on social media right now, and right now, people will very much be looking for intelligent, expert pieces about this. Drive the narrative.

Junior Scholars: Project 2025 is now breaking through to public consciousness. The more people learn about it, the more they hate it. Now is a great time to search that website, go to the section of your expertise, and write an oped. Keep the drip of bad news for them coming, all the way to Nov.

Lot of y’all seem like nice people. If you like getting irritated by my opinions—which a lot strangers apparently do—feel free to subscribe to my newsletter. I’m going to go celebrate my friends’s nuptials now. Enjoy the deranged rage fantasies you seem to think will make the world better.

It goes without saying that assassination is not an acceptable alternative to the democratic process. Trump is a threat to the republic, but he should be soundly defeated at the ballot box, as democracy demands.

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Jonathan Blanks

While I appreciate this may be *a* reason I think the reason people hate tech right now is that basically every major platform has fallen into ruin in lockstep with the highest corporate profits in history, and when asked, companies like Meta say "yeah it'll get shittier too"

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Jonathan Blanks

Democrats in 2016: How could a party let collective action problems, institutional rules, and personal incentives prevent them from coordinating to protect American democracy? Democrats in 2024: Oh.

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Jonathan Blanks

Excellent from @aaronrosspowell.com www.reimaginingliberty.com/p/false-equi...

The False Equivalence Trapwww.reimaginingliberty.com Why "Both Sides" Thinking Fails in the Face of Authoritarianism

"What does Danny Ocean think about this election?" is the new "WHERE’S JA?!"

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Jonathan Blanks

A young Black man in my hometown was killed by police during a traffic stop. Activists were quick to blame police, but the tragedy is more complicated than that. My latest newsletter. theblanksslate.substack.com/p/a-hard-con...

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Jonathan Blanks

a political party loses elections to this

The governors of a dozen Republican-led states — AL, AK, FL, GA, IA, MS, OK, SC, SD, TX, UT, WY — opted out of a new federal food assistance program, leaving about 9.5 million students without the aid this summer

Republican-led states are blocking summer food benefits for hungry familieswww.usatoday.com Money for food is especially tight for families in a dozen states where Republican lawmakers declined to accept federal food assistance.

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Jonathan Blanks

It's hard to communicate how radical this is. For 200 years every politician in America wanted the federal government to pay for things so they could take credit for it. It's a fundamental defining feature of American politics. But now owning the libs is more important. 1/2

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Jonathan Blanks

I get that this is a bad piece and give 'em all their lumps for it. But I do think the strength of "convicted felon" as a talking point has been generally overestimated. The term you should use, that's more specific and packs more of a punch, is to call him a convicted fraud. That's the crime here.

News Analysis: When Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 felonies, the U.S. was confronted with a historical novelty: a felon who once held the highest office in the land. Will the label actually tarnish Trump, as it has so many people over the centuries?

A Mark of Shame for 900 Years. Until Now?www.nytimes.com “Felon” carries an ancient stigma — one that falls on millions of Americans today. Trump might well redefine it.

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Jonathan Blanks

Republicans are literally running a man at the heart of a criminal conspiracy to overthrow a free and fair election. We don’t need post-Monday hypotheticals. Happy birthday, America.

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Jonathan Blanks

if your instinct is "calm down, surely this is an exaggeration," allow me to assure you that it's really not

"Don't worry, if the president imprisons his political enemies, you can still get a writ of habeas corpus." "But to prove that's why you've been imprisoned requires proof of..." "Presidential motive!" "And under Trump v US, presidential motive is..." "Inadmissible!"

The National Guard buzzed my home with helicopters bc the Trump administration wanted to intimidate District residents and protestors. Trump would go full Tiananmen Square if he could, and now there’s no reason to think he won’t try if he’s reelected www.nytimes.com/2020/06/06/u...

Mark Esper says Trump suggested they "just shoot" protesters in 2020www.youtube.com “He says, ‘Can't you just shoot them? Just shoot them in the legs or something.’” That’s what former Sec. of Defense Mark Esper recalls Pres. Trump saying in...

Pentagon Ordered National Guard Helicopters’ Aggressive Response in D.C. (Published 2020)www.nytimes.com The high-profile episode, after days of protests in Washington, was a turning point in the military’s response to unrest in the city.

infinity lolcry emoji

In breaking news from the Supreme Court, they’ve upheld my book’s subtitle.

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Jonathan Blanks

Not one more minute of defensiveness from the Biden campaign, please. Not one more question answered about age or debates. All day, every day, a referendum on Trump's criminality and assault on the constitutional order, on what he would be like with blank check for his lawlessness.

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Jonathan Blanks

Absolutely wild that the court accuses the dissent of "fearmongering" with "extreme hypotheticals" when the actual basis for the indictment is a coup attempt that led to an attack on the capitol

::Ace Ventura spears in both thighs dot Gif::

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Jonathan Blanks

Again, the problem is: What’s the audience for a televised debate? Politically engaged people who are interested in policy details & fact checks made up their minds long, long ago. Debates are for folks who don’t follow politics and tune in at the end for a vibe check.

Trump's debate performance was awful because he lied constantly. Biden's debate performance was awful because he seemed tired and stumbled a lot. A problem Biden has is that a large portion of the public and media has showed they care more about presentation than facts.

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

After months of public outcry and pressure from the City Council, New York City’s libraries are poised to have their budgets fully restored so that branches may resume seven-day-a-week service, including Sundays. gothamist.com/news/nyc-lib...

NYC libraries to get budget funding back — and reopen on Sundaysgothamist.com In November, the mayor's budget cuts forced libraries to close on Sundays. The issue has been a thorn in his side ever since.

Oklahoma mandates book rife with sex, violence, mass murder, and incest in every classroom. Won’t somebody think of the children?!

Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters issued this memo today requiring teachers in all schools to keep a Bible in their classroom and teach from it as a historical document. (Via KOCO 5 News)

🧵

I don't plan to watch tonight's debate, bc I'm not THAT self-loathing, even tho I'm sure crime and punishment will come up. So figured it couldn't hurt to toss up a short thread to put whatever claims they are likely to make in context. tl;dr: neither did/does/will do much to cause OR stop crime.

If you see this post a Doc

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Jonathan Blanks

🧵If you agree that Congress should disinvite Netanyahu, please call your US Rep & Senators 202-224-3121 Sample script: "Hi, I'm [name] from [zip code]; I'm calling to let the [Rep/Senator] know that I agree with the Israelis who wrote a piece in the NYT calling on Congress to disinvite Netanyahu."

We Are Israelis Calling on Congress to Disinvite Netanyahu signed: Ehud Barak (frmr PM) Tamir Pardo (frmr dir, Mossad) Talia Sasson (frmr Israel State Atty's Office) David Harel (pres Israel Acad. of Sciences & Humanities) Aaron Ciechanover (Nobel Prize, Chemistry) David Grossman (author) gift link

Opinion | We Are Israelis Calling on Congress to Disinvite Netanyahuwww.nytimes.com We believe the prime minister is driving Israel downhill at an alarming speed, to the extent that we may eventually lose the country we love.

Encountered a pro-Israeli account called "Pax Romana," who appears not to be familiar with how that particular Pax worked out for the Jews at the time

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Jonathan Blanks

Annnnd that’s a lot of music reporting history and more down the tubes. (Always save your work.)

MTV News Website Goes Dark, Archives Pulled Offlinevariety.com The website of the already-defunct MTV News has been fully pulled offline.