“The Nihilism is the Throughline”
This headline construction could apply to nearly anyone in the Trump 2.0 administration.
"The EPA Head Who Hates the Environment."
"The HHS Secretary Who Hates Science-Based Medicine."
"The Education Sec. Who Hates Education."
"The President Who Hates Democracy."
The nihilism is a throughline.
"The EPA Head Who Hates the Environment."
"The HHS Secretary Who Hates Science-Based Medicine."
"The Education Sec. Who Hates Education."
"The President Who Hates Democracy."
The nihilism is a throughline.
April 20, 2025 at 12:02 PM
“The Nihilism is the Throughline”
"Ethics for thee, not for me" is really a throughline with these folks
A federal judge has been found to have violated ethics rules … by criticizing Samuel Alito for MAGA flags flying at his houses. www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...
Judge Broke Rules by Criticizing Justice Alito During Flag Flap
An investigation concluded that it was an ethics violation to question the ethics of a Supreme Court justice.
www.wsj.com
December 17, 2024 at 8:31 PM
"Ethics for thee, not for me" is really a throughline with these folks
The throughline as always is Trump refuses to criticize Putin
April 25, 2025 at 11:08 PM
The throughline as always is Trump refuses to criticize Putin
the clear throughline behind every Trump voter is a refusal to believe that their behavior has consequences
October 4, 2026 at 4:31 PM
the clear throughline behind every Trump voter is a refusal to believe that their behavior has consequences
I would argue there is a throughline here with every Palestinian in Gaza being called a terrorist
Stephen Miller calls the deceased “a domestic terrorist.”
January 24, 2026 at 7:19 PM
I would argue there is a throughline here with every Palestinian in Gaza being called a terrorist
The toxic misogyny has been a reliable throughline of the Trump Era since 2015.
Trump ignores a question from a woman reporter but says, "I just like to watch her talk. Good job. Thank you darling."
October 14, 2025 at 7:04 PM
The toxic misogyny has been a reliable throughline of the Trump Era since 2015.
The endgame for all of this is constructing a military that will obey orders when ordered to fire on citizens. That's the throughline to half of what Trump is doing.
yeah, this is hegseth straightforwardly announcing that it is free play time for bigots in the ranks. and together with his comments on standards, he clearly wants to purge as many women, black and brown people as he can from the armed services. a white man's military.
Hegseth: "We are overhauling an inspector general process that has been weaponized, putting complainers and poor performers in the driver seat. We are doing the same with the equal opportunity policies. No more frivolous complaints, no more anonymous complains ... no more walking on eggshells."
September 30, 2025 at 1:10 PM
The endgame for all of this is constructing a military that will obey orders when ordered to fire on citizens. That's the throughline to half of what Trump is doing.
Glad the Times is focusing on this. This is the throughline with most of DOGE. Beyond firing tons of people, playing culture warrior, the throughline everywhere is getting access to data and building cross-govt systems to link it together. data is power.
The US government holds a tremendous amount of data about US citizens. Now,
The Trump administration is trying to access that data and link it together.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/u...
The Trump administration is trying to access that data and link it together.
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/u...
How Musk and Trump Are Working to Consolidate Government Data About You
Databases that Elon Musk’s team is trying to access include more than 300 personal details about members of the U.S. public.
www.nytimes.com
April 9, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Glad the Times is focusing on this. This is the throughline with most of DOGE. Beyond firing tons of people, playing culture warrior, the throughline everywhere is getting access to data and building cross-govt systems to link it together. data is power.
direct throughline from "south park makes that prius episode" to "elon musk doing nazi salute live on tv"
January 26, 2025 at 2:58 PM
direct throughline from "south park makes that prius episode" to "elon musk doing nazi salute live on tv"
the basic throughline from the Court’s first amendment cases today is that the presence of children essentially removes constitutional protection from what would otherwise be clearly protected free speech.
June 27, 2025 at 4:02 PM
the basic throughline from the Court’s first amendment cases today is that the presence of children essentially removes constitutional protection from what would otherwise be clearly protected free speech.
The "this is a rejection of Dem HR lady politics" with an emphasis on the gendered aspect of that really is the throughline here and this is a throughline that transcends factional/ideological barriers
Reject this at your own peril
Reject this at your own peril
A lot of people really want this to break down on a left/moderate or old/young axis but it really doesn't, it's ultimately a cosmopolitan/herrenvolk one because the people most aggressively defending him are doing so from the implied understanding that the "soul of America" emanates from white men
On Bluesky the normies and the lefties are fighting over who is to blame for Platner, when the truth is it's both. He has tons of establishment money and support and Pod Save jackoff cheerleading behind him, but he ALSO panders loudly to Bernie Bros.
Worst of all possible Democrats basically.
Worst of all possible Democrats basically.
July 6, 2026 at 9:12 PM
The "this is a rejection of Dem HR lady politics" with an emphasis on the gendered aspect of that really is the throughline here and this is a throughline that transcends factional/ideological barriers
Reject this at your own peril
Reject this at your own peril
Perhaps I shouldn’t generalize, but there seems to be an obvious throughline there…
February 3, 2026 at 7:09 PM
Perhaps I shouldn’t generalize, but there seems to be an obvious throughline there…
Nancy MacLean of Duke details the throughline that runs all the way from the Confederacy to Trumpism
April 7, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Nancy MacLean of Duke details the throughline that runs all the way from the Confederacy to Trumpism
liberals love to complain when there’s protests under democratic presidents and then love to complain when there is not immediately larger protests under a republican president. the throughline is they don’t participate in either of them
February 5, 2025 at 6:35 PM
liberals love to complain when there’s protests under democratic presidents and then love to complain when there is not immediately larger protests under a republican president. the throughline is they don’t participate in either of them
Devastating reporting. Like RFK Jr., Kristi Noem, and Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth is reshaping his department to indiscriminately kill tons and tons of children.
A major throughline of the Trump administration.
A major throughline of the Trump administration.
Just out @propublica.org: How did the Pentagon make the horrible mistake that left more than 150 school children dead? Perhaps because it cancelled an effort to limit such harm in favor of Hegseth’s lust for “lethality.”
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
www.propublica.org/article/trum...
The U.S. Built a Blueprint to Avoid Civilian War Casualties. Trump Officials Scrapped It.
The Pentagon dismantled its civilian protection mission as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made “lethality” a top priority and the Trump administration reorganized national security around two principl...
www.propublica.org
March 11, 2026 at 1:40 AM
Devastating reporting. Like RFK Jr., Kristi Noem, and Marco Rubio, Pete Hegseth is reshaping his department to indiscriminately kill tons and tons of children.
A major throughline of the Trump administration.
A major throughline of the Trump administration.
Yeah this too. Odysseus could follow the throughline and we wouldn't even have to explain smartphones or anything bsky.app/profile/jack...
this line of thinking first jumped out at me when we ordered the navy to fire on shipwrecked men. profanities abound
February 1, 2026 at 6:07 PM
Yeah this too. Odysseus could follow the throughline and we wouldn't even have to explain smartphones or anything bsky.app/profile/jack...
November 17, 2024 at 3:01 AM
So snarking on an ineffectual media was a thing in Nazi Germany, too. Seeing a throughline.
September 13, 2025 at 3:47 PM
So snarking on an ineffectual media was a thing in Nazi Germany, too. Seeing a throughline.
hrm no i think i can trace the throughline in her politics pretty cleanly
March 12, 2026 at 9:09 PM
hrm no i think i can trace the throughline in her politics pretty cleanly
the throughline of the conservative culture war they're waging is simply this: women and children are property.
that's it. everything else is downstream of that
that's it. everything else is downstream of that
November 13, 2025 at 8:52 PM
the throughline of the conservative culture war they're waging is simply this: women and children are property.
that's it. everything else is downstream of that
that's it. everything else is downstream of that
The throughline of Chuck’s entire life is being incredibly confidently wrong
November 22, 2023 at 6:31 PM
The throughline of Chuck’s entire life is being incredibly confidently wrong
a very consistent throughline of Discworld is that Terry loved words and he also deeply respected their power
June 25, 2026 at 6:03 PM
a very consistent throughline of Discworld is that Terry loved words and he also deeply respected their power
“Rubes gonna be rubes” seems to be the throughline of so much news lately.
lol
“Owners of Meta's AI glasses have been told they must pay a monthly fee if they want full access to a feature that was previously free.”
“Owners of Meta's AI glasses have been told they must pay a monthly fee if they want full access to a feature that was previously free.”
Meta glasses wearers hit with paywall to use built-in feature
A feature in Meta's glasses which boosts the voice of people will be capped at three hours for free use.
www.bbc.com
July 7, 2026 at 3:23 PM
“Rubes gonna be rubes” seems to be the throughline of so much news lately.
Bernie’s been hit or miss but he’s always had one throughline and that’s basically it
BREAKING: Today Bernie Sanders is proposing new legislation to raise $4.4 trillion in taxes from America’s billionaires — a move that would virtually cut their massive fortunes in half.
A chunk of the money raised would go toward sending a $3K stimulus check to every person earning under $150K.
A chunk of the money raised would go toward sending a $3K stimulus check to every person earning under $150K.
March 2, 2026 at 3:15 PM
Bernie’s been hit or miss but he’s always had one throughline and that’s basically it
There is a direct throughline from this and the rise in global authoritarianism. Authoritarianism is actively hostile toward the arts and intellectualism, and thus imagination. When people say that AI is a “fascist project,” this is explicitly what they’re referring to.
Something we don’t address enough is how many people, especially adults, do not have a working imagination.
April 25, 2026 at 7:02 AM
There is a direct throughline from this and the rise in global authoritarianism. Authoritarianism is actively hostile toward the arts and intellectualism, and thus imagination. When people say that AI is a “fascist project,” this is explicitly what they’re referring to.