Matt Ford (@mford.bsky.social)

@mford.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 11:44 PM

Never in doubt!

@mford.bsky.social Oct 11, 2026, 7:55 PM

Greetings from America’s Game of the Week

@ericumansky.bsky.social Oct 10, 2026, 6:53 PMReposted by @mford.bsky.social

And the five-year-old boy who was in the car?

His mom says he's "traumatized" and hasn't spoken since the shooting.

www.nytimes.com/2026/10/09/n...

@adamserwer.bsky.social Oct 10, 2026, 2:19 PMReposted by @mford.bsky.social

The right wing crash out over asian students celebrating at a UT football game reveals that all along the true goal of reactionary colorblindness was never “meritocracy” but resegregation. (Gift link) www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/1...

Color-blind meritocracy was, for many years, a successful rhetorical strategy for undermining antidiscrimination law and excluding Black people from selective schools and prominent positions. That’s why so many former segregationists seemed to suddenly embrace the concept in the 1970s. For them, resegregation—not color-blindness—was always the goal. As long as the success of some immigrants could be used to paint Black students as undeserving, color-blind meritocracy was good. But now many on the right see a new problem: too many Asian Americans in elite spaces. Their success, therefore, must be portrayed as a sinister theft of real (white) Americans’ birthright.

The declining “social trust” that the administration warned against is, of course, not the fault of these students. The problem is bigots like Bo French who cannot accept into their community people who do not share their race and religion, and those who monetize or otherwise profit from that bigotry by spreading it through social media. Like the proverbial child who kills their parents and asks for mercy as an orphan, they are responsible for the problem they are decrying.

@zeddary.bsky.social Oct 9, 2026, 7:11 PMReposted by @mford.bsky.social

Weird coincidence he sanctions the ICC on the same day he gets a very, totally real trade deal with a dictator wanted by the ICC.

@mford.bsky.social Oct 10, 2026, 1:35 AM

It’s like the nation’s top rapists and abusers all unionized.

@whitehouse.senate.gov Oct 9, 2026, 9:44 PMReposted by @mford.bsky.social

Putin throws lifeline to try to save Trump in the midterms. In return, American dollars go to Russia and get put toward killing innocent Ukrainians. Trump/Russia right out in the open.
www.dailymail.com/news/article...

@jackjenkins.me Oct 9, 2026, 7:54 PMReposted by @mford.bsky.social

NEW from me: The National Association of Evangelicals (along with several other religious groups) are now joining the USCCB in condemning Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth’s plans to publicly execute Nidal Malik Hasan, also saying doing so promotes a “culture of death.”
religionnews.com/2026/10/09/h...

Walter Kim, president of the National
Association of Evangelicals, told RNS that while he affirms the "need for justice" regarding Hasan's crime, "at the same time, a live-streamed execution by firing squad risks turning one of the state's most solemn responsibilities into a public spectacle, promoting a culture of death, rather than a culture that upholds the dignity of every human being."

Jack Jenkins@jackjenkins.meOct 9, 2026, 1:32 PM

NEW: The head of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued a statement firmly condemning plans to livestream the execution of Nidal Malik Hasan. Archbishop Paul Coakley calls the decision “a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered.” www.usccb.org/news/2026/us...

United States
Conference of
Catholic Bishops
READINGS
WASHINGTON - Yesterday, the U.S.
Department of War announced that the firing squad execution of Nidal Hasan, the man convicted of killing 13 people and injuring 32 at Fort Hood, Texas in 2009, would be publicly livestreamed. Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued the following statement sharply condemning the decision of the U.S. government:
"It is with shock and great sorrow that I have learned of the Department of War's decision to publicly livestream the execution of Nidal Hassan. Our God is the God of life. In no way can Hassan's actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered. The word of God exhorts us: 'do not repay anyone evil for evil' (Romans 12:17). The public execution even of one who has done grave harm will only further undermine the moral fabric of our nation and be a blight on the conscience of its people.

United States
Conference of
Catholic Bishops
READINGS
"It is with shock and great sorrow that I have learned of the Department of War's decision to publicly livestream the execution of Nidal Hassan. Our God is the God of life. In no way can Hassan's actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered. The word of God exhorts us: 'do not repay anyone evil for evil' (Romans 12:17). The public execution even of one who has done grave harm will only further undermine the moral fabric of our nation and be a blight on the conscience of its people.
"I pray for the intercession of Our Lady of Good Counsel that we as a nation may always choose life even in the most trying times and circumstances."

@tiny.baby Oct 9, 2026, 6:58 PMReposted by @mford.bsky.social

just getting lazy now. "the ai is uh. going to do something bad soon"

@atrupar.com Oct 9, 2026, 3:47 PMReposted by @mford.bsky.social

Trump: "In 1900 we had really strong laws. Today you can do almost anything. Nothing happens."

@mford.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 10:09 PM

Yep. They find it intoxicating and look for opportunities to do it. Trump was always like this, but nobody else in his first term got a thrill out of it. Hegseth is perfectly suited for him.

@mford.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 10:02 PM

The lynching comparisons are salient, but my first thought was abusers. This is an administration that is weak and badly losing a war and wants to hurt someone to feel strong again, especially if they can’t fight back.

@mford.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 9:57 PM

Only 21st century example I can think of is the Islamic State’s beheadings.

@mford.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 9:47 PM

A push alert that took my breath away. 56 years old.

@jamellebouie.net Oct 8, 2026, 11:35 AMReposted by @mford.bsky.social

the funny thing about this of course is that "athenian democracy" was a cautionary tale to the framers, who saw it as unstable and prone to demagogues and tyrants like the one rubio works for

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.comOct 7, 2026, 3:47 PM

this Rubio speech feels a lot like a 2028 soft launch

@mford.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 12:33 AM

Did the Atlanta crowd just boo Acuña?

@mford.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 12:28 AM

Wait, second best. The Clase swing made it into a federal indictment.

@mford.bsky.social Oct 8, 2026, 12:25 AM

The best plate appearance of Andy Pages’s career so far.

@nytimes.com Oct 7, 2026, 11:30 PMReposted by @mford.bsky.social

Margaret Hamilton, who led the 100-person team that wrote the onboard software for the Apollo missions, has died.

nyti.msMargaret Hamilton, Whose Software Guided the Apollo Missions, Has DiedMargaret Hamilton, the first female programmer hired to work on the space project at M.I.T., was 90.

@mford.bsky.social Oct 7, 2026, 8:48 PM

Robert E. Lee after Chancellorsville: