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American living and working in Bangkok, covering Thai pro-democracy protests on the ground and commenting on American politics. Dunning-Kreuger Effekt expert.

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@SenSchumer Then do it.

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@VaushV It makes a great gif

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@ettingermentum People frothed about it too much, but.... The only world I can imagine that wouldn't froth too much is one in which media has absolutely no financial incentives. I'm sorry, it was unavoidable.

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@ettingermentum I think of it was unavoidable. Trump and the misfits that surrounded him genuinely were very corrupt (yes, more than most), and some of that corruption did seem to relate to Russian. It made sense to investigate. And then how can the media NOT cover that investigation?

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@VaushV Okay, I don't think Musk meant to sieg heil, but...it didn't look like his first time. He nailed it. Musk is better at sieg heiling than he is at video games.

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@dbessner Okay, hear me out: you should be eating a big plate of spaghetti the whole time. Not joking.

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@ettingermentum Why is no one saluting the brave employee who definitely grabbed that off the shelf and gave it to him for free, forcing him to accept it.

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@hasanthehun Means tested punishment.

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Trump, Elon, and RFK teaming up.

It's sweeps week in America, and we're bringing back all the whackiest characters.

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You know what I think we should do next time? Run an uncharismatic candidate with no positive vision for the future who offers nothing in the way of policy and tacks further and further right all the way up to election day.

It can't lose.

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MSNBC like, "Why would Chappell Roan do this to us?"

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@UltraT0ughScene @ettingermentum YOU ASSURED ME YOU COULD PREDICT THE FUTURE

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@dbessner "Why would the radical left do this to us?"

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@Fred16603 @Usual_Samuel @KumaSteve91 @KarlMaxxed @hasanthehun I say it's not clear what Crimeans want, not b/c of the referendum held after the Russ invasion, which I agree is probably unreliable (Tatars boycotted), but b/c of the Pew poll that followed and the fact that it was a heavily debated topic in Crimea, prior to invasion.

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@Fred16603 @Usual_Samuel @KumaSteve91 @KarlMaxxed @hasanthehun It's not b&w, because Crimea is a uniquely valuable piece of geography that has changed hands many times & experienced ethnic upheaval many times. It's not inherently part of Russia or Ukraine. It's not even totally clear what Crimeans want. However, Russia's invasion was illegal

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@Fred16603 @Usual_Samuel @KumaSteve91 @KarlMaxxed @hasanthehun Between '91 and '95 Crimea sought to establish itself as an autonomous region, independent of Ukraine with their own constitution and democratic elections for separatist leaders. In '95 Ukraine abolished these institutions. In '98 Crimea was granted some special autonomous status

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@HiigaranExodus @Fred16603 @Usual_Samuel @KumaSteve91 @KarlMaxxed @hasanthehun That said, I think what you mean is that parts of countries "shouldn't be allowed to secede". That can be your opinion. However, I support Taiwan's secession from China, as a matter of self determination. You have to ask urself when self determination for a pop. trumps local law.

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@HiigaranExodus @Fred16603 @Usual_Samuel @KumaSteve91 @KarlMaxxed @hasanthehun States don't have rights, people do. I don't mean that as a deflection; it's just literally the case. It would be illegal in the US for Texas to secede but not illegal for the UN. Other countries might decide not to recognize TX. The US might try to end the succession.

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@empathyx100 @Fred16603 @Usual_Samuel @KumaSteve91 @KarlMaxxed @hasanthehun I think for Hasan self determination is the paramount value. Personally, I don't think being claimed by Russia counts as self determination. Pew found that most Crimeans probably liked it at the time. Again, not enough for me. But I don't think Hasan's take is crazy or pro-Putin.

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@Fred16603 @Usual_Samuel @KumaSteve91 @KarlMaxxed @hasanthehun A Pew research survey in 2014 showed that 54% of Crimeans preferred to be under Russia. I don't think that's a strong majority. But what is more notable is how different Crimean responses are in the survey than the rest of Ukraine on every subject. Again, this was Pew, not RT.