like I don't even understand the figleaf justification
June 24, 2025 at 10:42 PM
like I don't even understand the figleaf justification
Community Notes was a figleaf to cover the conversion of X into a disinformation machine. Now even that figleaf will be removed.
Elon Musk says he's going to "fix" X's community notes system because he disagrees with a note on President Trump's claim that Zelensky has a 4% approval rating in Ukraine.
Musk also claims community notes are "being gamed by governments & legacy media", but provides no evidence for that claim.
Musk also claims community notes are "being gamed by governments & legacy media", but provides no evidence for that claim.
February 22, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Community Notes was a figleaf to cover the conversion of X into a disinformation machine. Now even that figleaf will be removed.
February 9, 2025 at 1:43 PM
April 20, 2026 at 9:51 AM
Stop using religious people as a figleaf for your bigotry, Terry.
Many religious people are extremely conservative. Is there room for them in the Democratic Party?
August 13, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Stop using religious people as a figleaf for your bigotry, Terry.
More Calvinball as a figleaf to delete minorities
September 16, 2026 at 10:56 PM
More Calvinball as a figleaf to delete minorities
it is possible that the legal aspect became a figleaf for a *social* squeeze put on the NYT somehow, which would honestly be much worse.
August 17, 2026 at 3:03 PM
it is possible that the legal aspect became a figleaf for a *social* squeeze put on the NYT somehow, which would honestly be much worse.
Sounds about right. This is a reminder that, yes, ICE can in fact bring people back that it has wrongfully deported. It is just choosing not to do that for Mr. Abrego Garcia, in violation of a court order. But in this case, it doesn't have the figleaf of CECOT to hide behind.
JUST IN: Trump administration says it is working to charter a flight back to the United States for O.C.G., who a judge ordered returned from Guatemala to receive due process. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
May 28, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Sounds about right. This is a reminder that, yes, ICE can in fact bring people back that it has wrongfully deported. It is just choosing not to do that for Mr. Abrego Garcia, in violation of a court order. But in this case, it doesn't have the figleaf of CECOT to hide behind.
do they believe it or is it just a convenient figleaf to be the people they've been all along? I get the feeling most of these people have zero actual beliefs that aren't "get mine"
September 6, 2026 at 2:50 PM
do they believe it or is it just a convenient figleaf to be the people they've been all along? I get the feeling most of these people have zero actual beliefs that aren't "get mine"
The one that has the figleaf is "ideological diversity on campus"
March 28, 2024 at 11:45 PM
The one that has the figleaf is "ideological diversity on campus"
March 15, 2025 at 4:44 PM
there’s just been no real effort to sell this that I’ve seen. some vague gestures towards American manufacturing but largely this is a pile of pain people are being asked to eat without even a figleaf of explanation
Sweeping tariffs are expected to raise the cost of cars, electronics, metals, lumber, pharmaceuticals and other products from overseas. But President Trump and his advisers are betting that it can sell an inflation-weary public on a provocative idea: Cheap stuff is not the American dream.
Trump’s Tariff Agenda Bets on Americans Giving Up Cheap Goods
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argues that the American dream is about more than cheap televisions, but inflation-weary consumers might disagree.
www.nytimes.com
April 1, 2025 at 12:15 AM
there’s just been no real effort to sell this that I’ve seen. some vague gestures towards American manufacturing but largely this is a pile of pain people are being asked to eat without even a figleaf of explanation
By contrast, a lot of astroTERF campaigns meet with more qualified success because they have a front of "reasonable" centrists with "some concerns" that they launder into major, respectable publications.
The figleaf is key. If there's a lesson from GG, it's that.
The figleaf is key. If there's a lesson from GG, it's that.
March 28, 2024 at 11:44 PM
By contrast, a lot of astroTERF campaigns meet with more qualified success because they have a front of "reasonable" centrists with "some concerns" that they launder into major, respectable publications.
The figleaf is key. If there's a lesson from GG, it's that.
The figleaf is key. If there's a lesson from GG, it's that.
But the damage was done; trust destroyed, careers disrupted, and a dry run for a fascist harassment campaign completed.
From a tactical standpoint, the "figleaf" is the important part--appearing at least vaguely credible to gullible centrists and nuance-mongers.
From a tactical standpoint, the "figleaf" is the important part--appearing at least vaguely credible to gullible centrists and nuance-mongers.
March 28, 2024 at 11:42 PM
But the damage was done; trust destroyed, careers disrupted, and a dry run for a fascist harassment campaign completed.
From a tactical standpoint, the "figleaf" is the important part--appearing at least vaguely credible to gullible centrists and nuance-mongers.
From a tactical standpoint, the "figleaf" is the important part--appearing at least vaguely credible to gullible centrists and nuance-mongers.
its the most john roberts decision ever, letting a republican government do a horrible abuse of power trampling on centuries of legal and democratic tradition with the barest lawyerbrain figleaf for coverage
April 7, 2025 at 11:23 PM
its the most john roberts decision ever, letting a republican government do a horrible abuse of power trampling on centuries of legal and democratic tradition with the barest lawyerbrain figleaf for coverage
Going full Protocols of the Elders of Zion conspiratorial thinking doesn't magically stop being Protocols conspiratorial bullshit just because you use AIPAC as a figleaf.
August 6, 2026 at 5:56 AM
Going full Protocols of the Elders of Zion conspiratorial thinking doesn't magically stop being Protocols conspiratorial bullshit just because you use AIPAC as a figleaf.
oddly enough that same conrunner thought I would be a figleaf, too. they exercised poor judgment on so many levels.
February 19, 2024 at 1:56 PM
oddly enough that same conrunner thought I would be a figleaf, too. they exercised poor judgment on so many levels.
It’s shocking and disgusting that any university employed him at all, and it’s obscene that people are using the figleaf of academic freedom to defend his ignorant and prejudiced ranting.
August 23, 2026 at 10:01 AM
It’s shocking and disgusting that any university employed him at all, and it’s obscene that people are using the figleaf of academic freedom to defend his ignorant and prejudiced ranting.
Instead, the masculinity discourse is consumed with domination and control, with the lame figleaf that this is all in the name of 'protecting' women and children from something, but of course that value set produces the very men women and children need to be protected from.
August 9, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Instead, the masculinity discourse is consumed with domination and control, with the lame figleaf that this is all in the name of 'protecting' women and children from something, but of course that value set produces the very men women and children need to be protected from.
What made it momentarily successful was that it used the *figleaf* of "ethics in games journalism" to convince a lot of chinstroking beardos in the industry to take them halfway seriously. Which led to the EICs of several publications humiliating their own writers. Polygon was egregious here.
March 28, 2024 at 11:35 PM
What made it momentarily successful was that it used the *figleaf* of "ethics in games journalism" to convince a lot of chinstroking beardos in the industry to take them halfway seriously. Which led to the EICs of several publications humiliating their own writers. Polygon was egregious here.
April 30, 2026 at 11:47 AM
There is a bipartisan desire to create a legal figleaf to deport anyone for any reason
There is no amount of increasing border enforcement or deporting people that will ever make the American right wing believe the border is being properly handled by a democratic president. Any compromise on this is just a signal that they can demand more & keep the issue live. Immoral, bad politics.
February 5, 2024 at 5:12 PM
There is a bipartisan desire to create a legal figleaf to deport anyone for any reason
How it all started #figleaf #gingerpube
November 20, 2024 at 10:30 PM
How it all started #figleaf #gingerpube
Also, the ability to levy tariffs is expressly granted to CONGRESS by the Constitution! The only reason Trump has even a figleaf of legal authority to impose tariffs in the first place is that his lawyers are claiming a law passed by CONGRESS gives him that authority.
Trump's tirade mocks the very idea that Congress should have authority over the levying of tariffs. But Congress put limits on Trump's tariff authority. This is exactly why the court found the tariffs illegal! He's saying those limits shouldn't exist at all.
newrepublic.com/article/1959...
newrepublic.com/article/1959...
May 30, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Also, the ability to levy tariffs is expressly granted to CONGRESS by the Constitution! The only reason Trump has even a figleaf of legal authority to impose tariffs in the first place is that his lawyers are claiming a law passed by CONGRESS gives him that authority.