jimb’s Techdirt Profile

On the post: DHS Declares Abrego ‘Will Never Walk America’s Streets’ Hours After Judges Order His Release

jimb ( profile ), 25 Jul, 2025 @ 10:03am

this sort of thing...

This sort of thing, the Trump administration's evident zeal and joy in ignoring, subverting, or evading court orders - 'thumbing their noses' at the rule of law, will continue until these judges start enforcing their court orders by finding officials in contempt, and placing them in jail until there is full compliance with the court's orders. Any one of us ordinary citizens would quickly find ourselves fined or in jail if we ignore a court order -- why do Trump's minions get away with this disrespect and lawbreaking?

On the post: Supreme Court To Lower Courts: Ignore Actual Binding Precedent, Follow Our Unexplained Shadow Docket Vibes Instead

jimb ( profile ), 24 Jul, 2025 @ 08:44pm

love the Seuss reference...

Not only is the Court eviscerating the Constitutional role of the Congress, but it is ignoring in it's rulings the strong probability that a truly authoritarian ruler doesn't need a high court capable of over-riding them, either. So the Court is actively aiding and abetting in the probable future irrelevance of it's own existence. Wonderful reasoning, Justices. These solons are so enraptured by Trump they discard precedents, reason, and their own future.

On the post: Assaults On ICE Officers Are Up 700%… Which Just Means There Have Been 69 More Assaults Than Last Year

jimb ( profile ), 02 Jul, 2025 @ 03:11pm

how can you have...

How can you have a 'masked goon squad' without masks? DHS and ICE goon squads wear masks and all the rest of the prop paraphernalia for the intimidation factor - it helps with the look, and scares the targets. You can be sure they don't call them 'people'... How can you be a tough, intimidating, "patriot" and beat up "illegals", if you don't wear a mask. Someone who knows you might see you, it would be embarrassing. Heres a clue - if you would be embarrassed if someone saw you doing your job, you need a different job. And if you wouldn't be embarrassed doing the things these ICE goons are doing, you need serious mental health therapy.

On the post: Fifth Circuit Blocks Louisiana Law Mandating Posting Of Ten Commandments In Schools

jimb ( profile ), 29 Jun, 2025 @ 10:42am

how much Louisiana taxpayers money...

How much Louisiana taxpayer's money was wasted on the legal defense of this plainly un-Constitutional law? The purpose is to push the "Christian" religion of the legislators, to indoctrinate the students with this. No facile claim that it is the 'basis of our laws' is valid -- are we to believe that "Christian" sharia law is somehow more legal than Isalmic sharia law? The First Amendment is clear on this 'establishment' of religion thing, no matter how much the "Christian" neo-fascists would like it to be otherwise.

On the post: The Shell Game Of Fascist Gaslighting

jimb ( profile ), 22 Jun, 2025 @ 11:29am

There is one more gaslighting going on...

There is one more gaslighting happening. That's the one where the people in my life tell themselves "It won't happen to me... I'm safe." because they are White, and not "liberals" like I am. They are sure they will be safe, so what happens to others around them doesn't concern them. They are gaslighting themselves along with trying to fool the rest of us into buying their propaganda lies.

On the post: “The Intern In Charge”: Meet The 22-Year-Old Trump’s Team Picked To Lead Terrorism Prevention

jimb ( profile ), 05 Jun, 2025 @ 06:49pm

he has all the right qualifications...

Junior is a skilled boot-licker with a real taste for Trump's... shoes. What more does he need?

On the post: Trump’s “Best Security People” Can’t Figure Out Basic Security

jimb ( profile ), 30 Mar, 2025 @ 12:26pm

What I liked the best...

What I liked the best was how Hegseth is so clueless that he's saying 'we are secure on OPSEC' on an insecure system right as he's giving out secret details. He's breaking "OPSEC" while bragging about how it's still good... and he's the one breaking it. Totally clueless - a perfect example of Dunning-Kruger in real life.

On the post: Yet Another Columnist Claims Bluesky Is A Liberal Echo Chamber Because Its Users Keeping Kicking Nazis Out Of The Bar

jimb ( profile ), 20 Mar, 2025 @ 04:53pm

You know how...

You know how, in Chinese language, the "xi" construction is pronounced "sh"? I think - I'm not a Chinese speaker, but the head guy in China, the guy Trump wishes he were, is "Chairman Xi", and they always say 'Chairman 'she', right? So, when I talk about Musk's Folly, I always write "X-itter". So go ahead, say it. Seems fully appropriate.

On the post: Justice Kagan Acknowledges Bluesky, And Other Notes From The TikTok Oral Argument

jimb ( profile ), 13 Jan, 2025 @ 12:34pm

It's a good thing...

It's a good thing the problem is that TikTok only enables alleged China spying, and not that it is biased against "conservatives"... TikTok wouldn't stand a chance in -that- case.

On the post: Kentucky Police Kill Innocent Man While Serving Warrant At Wrong Address

jimb ( profile ), 08 Jan, 2025 @ 07:58pm

Oops...

More cowboy non-professionalism from the bully cops whose first resort is firepower. I hope there is an estate that can sue the police, the town, and take some compensation for this complete egregious error. There's no excuse for this kind of ignorant force. The police union, of course, will blame this on the dead man. The police department has no agency for anything -- and we have only the shooter's word for it that a gun was 'produced and pointed' at the cops. Maybe the gun was produced after they guy was shot - and produced for justification for a scared, bullying cop's mistake. The cops certainly have reason to set up an excuse, and collude on a lie - they are all guilty of a murder.

On the post: ‘Free Speech Absolutist’ Elon Musk Suspends Critics On ExTwitter, Asks People To Be Nicer

jimb ( profile ), 31 Dec, 2024 @ 06:06pm

poor Elon

Poor Elon, he's just so misunderstood. When he said he was a "free speech absolutist", he didn't mean your free speech. Just his. You can say anything you want... as long as you agree with him. Elon may or may not be a "free speech absolutist" - but he is absolutely a hypocrite.

On the post: Texas Legislators Think Drones Armed With Tasers And Pepper Spray Will Stop School Shootings

jimb ( profile ), 03 Dec, 2024 @ 11:34am

Are guns allowed...

Are guns allowed on the floor of the Texas legislature, and in the Texas capitol building? Because it would seem to me the height of hypocrisy to not allow then there, when in so many other places throughout Texas guns are freely allowed. Perhaps the better solution is to do something about the guns? Just asking the question...

On the post: Federal Court Blocks Louisiana Law Mandating Posting Of Ten Commandments In School Classrooms

jimb ( profile ), 25 Nov, 2024 @ 07:22pm

Why didn't the state...

Show some clever graphic examples of the Ten Commandments with the leading precepts of Islam, Hinduism, Bhuddism, and Judaism next to them...? Just curious. Oh, and some delicious recipes from the Flying Spaghetti Monster? These false "Christians" are so transparent in their unConstitutional attempts that it is just a pathetic waste of Louisiana taxpayer's money. And that's not the richest state to start with. Sad.

On the post: Hertz Continues To Be Hertz, Threatens Customer With Arrest For Using Too Many Of His ‘Unlimited’ Miles

jimb ( profile ), 21 Nov, 2024 @ 07:18pm

"unlimited miles" is grand

One year in my dissipated college career, making the annual Spring Break pilgrimage to sunny shores, my group of friends met up with some girls from the University. We had crammed five guys into a 1974 Ford Mavarick, and these girls showed up in a Lincoln Town Car... a rental with "unlimited miles". They drove from our Michigan university to the sunny shores of Florida, the same journey we made. At the time, and even now, I thought this hilarious. And that was only about 3500 miles in total. "Unlimited" means no limits - if there is nothing in the contract with a number, then any number, no matter how large, is allowed. Hertz needs to write their contract better, or educate their workers better. This guy should have worked the system better though... left and let them charge him, then counter-sued for a lot more, and settled for the $10K... or more.

On the post: What Free Speech? Trump Ramps Up Threats To Sue Publishers Over Their Speech

jimb ( profile ), 16 Nov, 2024 @ 06:59pm

There is so 'free speech' with Trump!

Feel free to say anything nice about Trump you want to say. Entirely free to praise Trump, congratulate Trump, bless Trump, envy Trump. You can say anything you want about Trump - as long as it's nice. That's real freedom - Trump style!

On the post: County Pays $300,000 To 11-Year-Old Whose Pet Goat Was Seized And Killed By Cops Because She Backed Out Of A 4-H Auction

jimb ( profile ), 13 Nov, 2024 @ 10:55am

worth noting..

It's worth noting that Shasta County is a stronghold of "conservative" politics in California, filled with the kind of self-righteous "conservatives" for which this kind of abusive use of government power makes perfect sense. As for the petty fair officials, I suspect a good guess of their ideological affiliation can be made also.

On the post: Fifth Circuit: You Have To Do A Ton Of Busywork To Show Texas’s Social Media Law Violates The First Amendment

jimb ( profile ), 08 Nov, 2024 @ 07:59pm

The biggest moderation fail is this one...

"Ken Paxton, in his official capacity as Attorney General of Texas," Corrupt, through and through. Paxton should not be the defendant in this case... he should be an inmate in a Texas prison.

On the post: Democracy Dies In Darkness… Helped Along By Billionaire Cowardice

jimb ( profile ), 26 Oct, 2024 @ 12:40pm

Bezos is trying...

Bezos is trying the same experiment Neville Chamberlain tried in 1938: appeasment. Appeasment of a bully at present, but there is plenty of potential for Trump to become an autocrat if he wins election - he's as much as promised that. And, just as Chamberlain discovered, 'appeasment' doesn't work.

On the post: MAGA World’s Belief In Their Made Up Claim That Biden Is ‘Censoring’ Conservatives On Social Media May Kill KOSA

jimb ( profile ), 21 Sep, 2024 @ 12:22pm

It is true...

It is true that "conservatives" are being censored online. It is. When "conservatives" try to post misinformation and disinformation online, to discredit the political opposition, the content moderators remove the misinformation and disinformation. When lies and distortion are your 'communication' strategy, content moderation that removes lies and distortions is obviously targeted against your cause. "Conservatives" can rightly argue that when the Biden administration asked social media companies to do a better job of moderating lies and distortion, the result is a targeting of "conservatives" because of the prevalence of lies and distortion in "conservative" postings. Which becomes the reason for "Truth Social" -- so the lies and distortions can be posted where they will flourish and be believed, among fellow "conservatives". See Rep. Scalise for an example...

On the post: Kroger, Albertsons Grocery Merger Again Highlights How The U.S. Business Press Is A Bunch Of Mindless Parrots When It Comes To Consolidation

jimb ( profile ), 22 Aug, 2024 @ 08:19am

Kroger should have..

Kroger should have pointed out just how well 'consolidation' has worked in the airline industry for consumers. Or the cellular phone service sector. Every time companies merge, it ends up costing consumers and workers more, while corporate profits and executive payoffs go up. Capitalism works - if the 'free market' is enforced to protect it from the tendency to oligarchy and monopoly.

jimb 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (157)