Mike Masnick

@mmasnick.bsky.social

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Techdirt guy. Sometimes I write about protocols. Sometimes about social media, copyright, free speech, content moderation, civil liberties and stuff like that. Once wrote a paper that may have helped inspire this service: https://bit.ly/protocolnotplatform

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Mike Masnick

UPDATE: Jonathan Mitchell and Kyle Duncan get another go at the First Amendment, as the Fifth Circuit this evening announced — after business hours going into the holiday weekend — that they're taking the Llano County library books litigation en banc. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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Mike Masnick

Bracket Symbols xkcd.com/2954

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Mike Masnick

It should not be controversial to say that prison sexual violence and/or coercion is never a good thing or an appropriate thing to joke or threaten about, even when the target is someone terrible. It is a deeply fucked up, traumatic part of our carceral system.

This is, in fact, really fucked up

Steve Bannon prison video sparks fury: "Disgusting beyond words"www.newsweek.com The Lincoln Project's video mocks Bannon over the prospect of him being assaulted while serving his prison time.

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Mike Masnick

Happy 4th of July! 🇺🇸

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Mike Masnick

Decided just now to start rereading Hitchhikers Guide for the first time in many years and uh

Visited some thousands of years-old petroglyphs, and I'm not saying it was aliens... but...

Lol. Disney is now citing the SCOTUS Netchoice ruling in support of its motion to dismiss Gina Carano's "Disney firing me from the Mandalorian violates the First Amendment" case that Elon is financing. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

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Mike Masnick

Notice how everyone is somehow talking about Biden Too Old right now, and NOT about how the Supreme Court just legalized Trump being a dictator for life and gutted the administrative state, and how the Heritage Foundation is now issuing terrorist threats? Think that might not be an accident?

That part isn't the disinfo part. It's the chaos and rumormongering that is going to be used to get Mike fucking Johnson etc. into power once they push Kamala Harris out of the line of succession. It's also being used to distract everyone from mounting a coordinated response to the Supreme Court

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Mike Masnick

I know it is useless to argue with these people, which is why I block them immediately instead.

Blocking everyone who comes into my mentions to say that we should vote third party or not vote at all does wonders for my sanity

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Mike Masnick

The thing about the march to fascism is that aside from the terror and the consequences it’s also so goddamn embarrassing

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Mike Masnick

This is your annual advance reminder that you will never look at a photograph or video of fireworks again, nor will it be of any real interest to your social media contacts. Just look with your own gelatinous human eyes.

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Mike Masnick

Not that anyone is asking me, but I have no idea what the Democrats should do right now. All the options seem bad, and there isn’t one that seems less bad than the others. And as a professional opinion-haver, it’s disorienting to have no strong opinion about something so enormously consequential.

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Mike Masnick

as a politics knower I think the democrats should simply do the thing that makes it easiest to win, but also aligns with both all my prior posts and all my most panicked recent posts. this is very simple and obvious.

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Mike Masnick

I'm old enough to remember when everyone agreed it would be unprofessional and unethical to diagnose Trump as a sociopath

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Mike Masnick

joe biden must seek out a rare blue flower growing only on the eastern slopes of the mountains in bhutan and carry it to the top of the mountain

Breaking news: President Biden and his senior team said they accepted the grim ultimatum they’ve been hearing from almost all quarters of the Democratic Party — to demonstrate his fitness for office or face a significant effort to force him to step aside.

Biden and aides concede he needs to quickly demonstrate his fitness for officewww.washingtonpost.com Critics have been shaken by his relative inaction to directly address the panic ignited by his halting debate performance last Thursday.

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Mike Masnick

JFK: Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country. RFK: Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly. RFK Jr.:

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Mike Masnick

white guy next to me has a tattoo of the chinese character for white (白) on his arm do we think - he thinks it says something inspirational? - he thinks being white is inspirational? - he got trolled by his tattoo artist?

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Mike Masnick

That sounds suspiciously like something someone who would eat a human would say. (screenshot via @acyn.bsky.social on Twitter)

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Mike Masnick

occurs to me that bribing the president is now /always/ legal, since in every case the only way to distinguish gratuity from bribe is via evidence that could never be admissible

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Mike Masnick

I’ve been in shock since Monday AM. The fact the Supreme Court didn’t simply affirm the lower court’s ruling & dismiss Trump’s absurd claims of absolute immunity was appalling, given trial delays — but this is calamitous for democracy writ large. Like Dred Scott, “Trump vs U.S.” will be infamous.

Honestly still in shock that the most crooked American President in history said "I need immunity" and the GOP Supreme Court said "well, it's nowhere in the constitution, but sure, why not? Whats the worst that could happen?"

www.supremecourt.gov

What the absolute fuck?

Doormat that was recently pulled from sale by Marcket Shirts

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Mike Masnick

These guys are traitors to the republic just like their heroes Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee

Heritage Foundation president celebrates Supreme Court presidential immunity ruling: "We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be" www.mediamatters.org/project-2025...

Heritage Foundation president celebrates Supreme Court immunity decision: "We are in the process of the second American Revolution"www.mediamatters.org

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Mike Masnick

There's no longer any ceiling to how wackadoodle Republican lawsuits can go. As @elliemargolis.bsky.social has flagged, the sovereign state of Missouri, being unable to invade or embargo New York, has instead sued it before SCOTUS to try to aid Trump, because ... reasons. ago.mo.gov/wp-content/u...

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Mike Masnick

When you're worried there might be a pride flag at semiquincentennial parade

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"This is important: the nature of the First Amendment is that sometimes it protects the speech of people you dislike or distrust. Because if you don’t protect them, then those same authorities will suppress, stifle, and silence the speech of people you do support and do agree with."

Had some thoughts on Tim Wu's attack on the First Amendment. www.techdirt.com/2024/07/03/t...

Tim Wu Is Out Of Controlwww.techdirt.com I guess I should start this out by noting that I like Tim Wu quite a bit, and always felt like I learned something in the past when I spoke with him. He was even one of the people who reviewed and …

Had some thoughts on Tim Wu's attack on the First Amendment. www.techdirt.com/2024/07/03/t...

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Mike Masnick

I really thought I was cynical enough about the utter corruption of the right-wing bloc on SCOTUS, but it turns out I was still giving them too much respect.

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Mike Masnick

JD Vance is stealing my jokes

I'm worried it's the little treat they give everyone before the hammer drops the next day. 'All Presidents named Donald have immunity.'

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Mike Masnick

along similar lines, has anyone actually explained *why* the seal team six hypo is ruled out by the majority opinion? all I've seen is right-leaning law profs mocking everyone who raises the issue. but nobody has explained why a president wouldn't be immune for assassinating a rival

Checking on prominent originalists on the other site, I can't find one who has criticized yesterday's anti-textualist immunity opinion. All have tweeted on other topics. Here are the reactions: Mocks dissent: Barnett Silence: Baude, Green, McGinnis, Rappaport, Sachs, Whittington

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Mike Masnick

Right-wing legal talking heads are focusing on arguing that it is RIDICULOUS to say that a second-term Trump will be empowered by immunity to do horrific things, while carefully preparing to argue in seven months that it is RIGHT that Trump do horrific things which aren’t actually horrific anyway.