Brighten Miller

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

@TrumpDailyPosts Hope they face RICO charges.

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

@DataRepublican We love and trust you. There is nothing to forgive.

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

@japan_nobunaga Great lesson, except there was no free one. Kid is dishonest.

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

@BasedMikeLee Sounds like procedures have the corruption baked in. Time for a complete overhaul of the procedures... including guardrails on recesses. There are WAY too many days off, WAY too little gets done (except for the occasional middle of the night shenanigans when they want to)

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

@Franklin_Graham @V_Sivadge This is great news... except I'm horrified that it happened in Texas. Texas has been infiltrated by too much woke nonsense.

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

Cynical Publius is my spirit animal!

[Cynical Publius @CynicalPublius]

RE: Me

One of the downsides of having a lot of X followers is that I get personally attacked a lot. That’s OK as I relish open, meaningful debate, unless the attacks are lies. Also, I hate getting attacked from both sides of an argument, where both sets of people doing the attacking get it wrong. Finally, I hate being attacked for things I never said.

So with that in mind, let me respond to a few of the attacks I hear frequently:

1. “Cynical Publius is a paid shill for [FILL IN THE BLANK].”

RESPONSE: The only time I ever get any money for what I do here is X creator revenue sharing, X subscriptions, and the occasional small author’s fee (like a couple of hundred bucks) for publishing in a popular periodical. I do what I do solely because I believe many of the things I say are important and I want my message to be heard. No other reason.

2. “Cynical Publius is stolen valor.”

RESPONSE: I served a full career as an Army logistics officer, retiring as a full colonel, having served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Much of my career was in the 82nd Airborne Division.

3. "Yeah, sure Cynical Publius is a retired Army colonel who then attended law school and became a corporate lawyer for an AMLAW 25 firm. SURRRREEEE (rolls eyes)."

RESPONSE: I did, in fact, do that.

4. “Cynical Publius is a Jew married to a n******.”

RESPONSE: I am a cradle Catholic who came back to the Roman Catholic Church after years in various evangelical, non-denominational ministries, and my wife of over 30 years is, in fact, black, and she is probably the smartest, most decent person I have ever known.

5. “Cynical Publius is a coward who hides behind a pseudonym.”

RESPONSE: There was a time this was partially true, because I never wished to inflict the controversy my views can create on my family, my friends, my partners and my clients. Death threats are no fun. Ask me how I know. However, since retiring from the law I no longer need worry about my views harming partners or clients, so I no longer actively hide my identity. My real name is exceedingly common, so I stick with Cynical Publius as a brand. Ask Google or Grok if you want to know who I am, at this point it’s common knowledge.

6. “Cynical Publius hates white people.”

RESPONSE: This false charge is frequently leveled because I am a “race mixer” according to wannabe Hitlers, and because I frequently attack racism against black people and other minorities. My constant attacks on DEI as being modern Jim Crow against white heterosexual males do nothing to mollify this crowd. I hate racism in all its forms, I think it is the most corrosive element of modern society.

7. “Cynical Publius hates black people.”

RESPONSE: This false charge is frequently leveled because I am a “race mixer” according to wannabe Malcolm Xs, and because I frequently attack racism against white people. My constant attacks on DEI as being modern Jim Crow against white heterosexual males are fuel for this crowd’s lies. I hate racism in all its forms, I think it is the most corrosive element of modern society.

8. “Cynical Publius is a shill for Trump and his team.”

RESPONSE: I generally favor Trump’s positions and am of the “let him cook” crowd, primarily because he saved the country twice (once from Hillary and once from Kamala) at great personal cost, so I am willing to look past certain of his decisions that I might otherwise question in favor of the big picture, and the big picture says Trump is the savior of American liberty. I also greatly respect Pete Hegseth as he has depoliticized America’s military away from the cancer of DEI. Finally, just yesterday I published a lengthy article criticizing J.D. Vance at a very deep, philosophical level.

9. “Cynical Publius is a shill for Israel.”

RESPONSE: Israel is the only nation in the Middle East that is a true liberal democracy, with a participatory form of government and sacrosanct personal liberty (including for Arab-Israeli citizens), and it is also our closest international ally. As such, I tend to support Israel in many things precisely because I believe it is in AMERICA’S BEST INTERESTS (and not “Israel’s best interests”) to do so. IMO, supporting Israel is “America First.”

10. “Cynical Publius is a neo-con sell-out because he opposes that patriot, Thomas Massie (or fill in your preferred “patriot’s” name).”

RESPONSE: I actually agree with Massie and his ilk on many issues. However, what I will not tolerate is narcissists who will seek to destroy an imperfect political movement simply because they did not get 100% of what they want. The perfect is the enemy of the good, and toxic narcissists like Massie will hand over America to literal Communists because they did not get EVERYTHING they wanted. The perfect is the enemy of the good, and I will not tolerate such destructiveness.

11. “Cynical Publius is a neocon sell-out because he supports the war with Iran, something he pledged he would never do.”

RESPONSE: I pledged to never support useless, endless wars. The war with Iran is neither useless nor endless. The greatest threat to the human race in 2026 is the development of nuclear weapons by an 8th Century death cult that actively seek to precipitate Armageddon so the Hidden Imam will miraculously arise from a well in Qom and transform all the world’s few survivors into Muslims. Destroying the conventional military capabilities of such a regime is almost—but not quite—equally desirable. Trump and his team are doing a stellar job in both instances via a deliberate sort of regime strangulation that displays to the world exactly who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. I wholly support this minimalist approach to an entirely necessary war.

12. “Cynical Publius falsely claims to have the “inside scoop” on everything.”

RESPONSE: I just did an X advanced search. I have never used the term “inside scoop” other than to rebut people who claim I claim to have the "inside scoop." There are very few issues where I possess special knowledge that gives me an “inside scoop,” and if I ever were to claim such privileged knowledge, I would explain why I am an “insider” as part of my argument. In reality, I am simply someone who offers opinions and ideas based on my life experiences and independent research.

13. “Cynical Publius hates expertise.”

RESPONSE: No, I hate people who confuse credentialism with expertise.

14. “Cynical Publius thinks he is never wrong.”

RESPONSE: There is nothing in the life of the mind that I value more than being proven wrong on something I believed. NOTHING. If you can prove me wrong on something that is fact-based, you can be my friend. You taught me something, you increased my knowledge, and for that I am eternally grateful.

15. “Cynical Publius is too arrogant.”

RESPONSE: I am only arrogant against abject stupidity, as I think we all should be.

**********************

That’s me.

Questions?

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

@japan_nobunaga Your stories are awesome!

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

@FoxNews Good luck @CocaCola start digging... maybe you should double down and see how that works out. I hope you FO.

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

@DeclareNews Utter garbage. Don't trust anything RStreet publishes if they put their name to this.

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

@CletaMitchell @BasedMikeLee @JonHusted Yes, but also this is exactly what the real filibuster is for. They can stall for a long time but eventually if the simple majority also put in the effort they eventually run out of time and cloture happens without the 60 votes. But the senate as a whole is too lazy to do it.

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

@MattWalshBlog Gotta say I disagree. Treat the dogs like machine guns or high explosives. Hold the owners absolutely accountable.... with the caveate that if there are reasonable precautions that a "victim" circumvents they FAFO.

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

@SenRandPaul We could tell they were lying because their lies were moving.

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

@TonySeruga Holy crap Scott is a workhorse. Imagine what could have been accomplished over the last decade if the RNC had competent people working for it.

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

@NickJFreitas Any fix that requires the electorate to actively learn something is unlikely to succeed. Sad but true.

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

@mrddmia My only guess is there are ways more RINOs than we know and they are blackmailing Thune because they don't want to get outed.

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

@SenMikeLee Why only 20? We the people don't understand how the senate can be so complacent.

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

@EricLDaugh How does a motion get presented? Is it not as simple as asking for one?

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

@CarlaDigru38122 @elonmusk @GadSaad Evil is allowed to flourish when good men do nothing (i.e. rely on someone else to stop it.)

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

@LeaderJohnThune @SenatorCollins A clean and BALANCED budget should be the FIRST (set of) bills passed in every new congressional session. Confirmation hearing should have Secondary priority. Additional bills with OVERWHELMING popular support should bypass other congressional pet projects.

[Brighten Miller @BrightenRMiller]

@tedcruz After they are exhausted. Even if it fails, try again with each of the other three versions that the house passed. If successful do the rest of the MAGA bills/appointments that have been stalled for the last year. Clear the dockets by forcing them fail to filibuster them all