Popehat

Ken White, criminal defense attorney and First Amendment litigator. Co-host of Serious Trouble podcast and writer at The Popehat Report.

[bridged from kenwhite.bsky.social on Bluesky by Bridgy Fed]

Public Key

npub1qm9q53hf2edayzcehcr495dlffzdtp4p4rhds0cjwcw0errehmdqpysgha

NIP-05 Address

kenwhite.bsky.social_at_bsky.brid.gy@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsqdjs2gm54vk7jpvvmup6j6xl553x4s6s63mkc8uf8v88u33umakspz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qzxrhwden5te0wfjkccte9ehx7umhdpjhyefwvdhk66qj09j

Publishing to

relay.mostr.pub

relay.noswhere.com

Author Public Key

npub1qm9q53hf2edayzcehcr495dlffzdtp4p4rhds0cjwcw0errehmdqpysgha

Show more details

Last Notes

2024-09-16 20:49:43

Senior associate was wondering whether to send a junior associate to a particular unpleasant hearing and I answered by describing the STTNG episode where Troi realizes that to pass the bridge officer test she has to send Geordi to his death in the simulation.

2024-09-16 14:27:04

/2 There’s room for disagreement, as with so many things, about when it’s fair or reasonable or good citizenship to start taking someone’s politics personally and shunning them for those politics. No doubt your line is informed by your life and different than mine.

2024-09-16 14:25:23

“We should be able to disagree on politics but still be civil and respectful” is an aspirational norm but it’s not absolute. I think almost everyone accepts that there are limits — if my former friend becomes a literal neo-Nazi most people won’t judge me for shunning them. Most people. /1
https://lionsmane.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:s6j27rxb3ic2rxw73ixgqv2p&cid=bafkreihg4lvdleumjrgegquxxtrftyxwdjcyvi7mltufvpzpet3v6gywgu

2024-09-16 01:47:48

/2 …and you have to read far into the stories to learn that (1) the suspect was armed with a knife, not a gun (2) everyone shot was shot by cops, at a 3 - 1 bystander-to-suspect ratio.
This is a choice by the media.

2024-09-14 14:42:07

Me: Ah! A challenging hearing completed, a week of work well done, a relaxing evening with family: all the perfect lead-in to a good, solid night of sleep.
Brain: I have the most SUPER idea for a dream: what if a big snake fell right out of a light fixture onto you?

2024-09-14 13:48:18

Most of the media right now: “When Klansmen burn crosses on the lawns of black families, some people claim they can hear the echoes of past racism.”

2024-09-11 16:21:42

The “Haitians eat cats” thing is not just an appeal to racists. It’s an end-zone dance, a celebration of how far the American Right has successfully shoved the Overton Window back to where they can revel in being openly, overtly racist. It’s glee over the abandonment of pretense.

2024-09-10 23:24:14

I’d rather catheterize myself with a soiled didgeridoo
https://lionsmane.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:s6j27rxb3ic2rxw73ixgqv2p&cid=bafkreidm24r5lcla2octgv5dxnngqumqpw43tertvjdmenmlhdwqouymmu

2024-09-06 21:20:52

/6 Also: if you think this view is illiberal, close-minded, and intolerant of other views, my question is: do you apply the same critique to Claremont? Or are you, more likely, full of shit?
www.vox.com/policy-and-p...
The conservative movement is r...

2024-09-06 21:04:46

Well it’s not like there’s a FORMAL rapist union or domestic abuser brotherhood that could offer the endorsement
www.rawstory.com/fraternal-or...
'History made': Fraternal Orde...

2024-08-31 00:30:05

“Anything done to Musk is defensible” is tiresome unserious wankery just like “anything done to Trump is defensible.”

2024-08-31 00:15:14

Reporter: Donald Trump just said you’re a nasty skank ho and that your “cooter is smelly.” How do you respond?
Harris: I’m not going to dignify that garbage with a response.
Politico: HARRIS EVADES QUESTIONS ABOUT ETHICS, HEALTH

2024-08-18 17:25:25

A Democratic National Convention in Chicago during an angry dispute with the left flank over a controversial war, thank God we can rely on the political acumen of Democrats and professionalism of Chicago PD for everything to go smoothly and not turn into a shitshow

2024-08-17 02:08:24

Got drawn into a Facebook neighborhood discussion about how stores don’t chase shoplifters and it’s because of liberals and Kamala Harris and a law that made it illegal to arrest someone for stealing less than $950.
I am not a smart man.

2024-08-15 21:52:22

That’s . . . That’s not how Yale works
https://lionsmane.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:s6j27rxb3ic2rxw73ixgqv2p&cid=bafkreidb4lnohtl3rbdbcdvhbwxqzwbrv2bedslhayxez3ju2gzkqk6ela

2024-08-15 15:40:23

#OtherHiddenDisneyTerms If you ever watched The Mandalorian, Disney is legally entitled to shoot one or both of your parents for dramatic or narrative purposes

2024-08-13 03:20:02

In considering whether to mock Trump for a lisp, consider that on the one hand it’s shitty to mock speech impediments, but on the other hand Trump and the worthless shitbirds who follow him would absolutely make fun of an opponent with a lisp.

2024-08-13 00:27:42

If someone really did launch a DDOS attack on X I hope they had the class to just spam the word “cis” at it a few trillion times

2024-08-10 03:40:04

Subscribers should be able to take a vote of no confidence in a media outlet’s leadership.

2024-08-09 15:42:34

This, in the LA Times, is the way it looks when journalists don’t feel obligated to sanitize, rehabilitate, and decontextualize Trump’s bizarre rants.
https://lionsmane.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:s6j27rxb3ic2rxw73ixgqv2p&cid=bafkreifwrojdah2m6debsih57hdfuldwoy45uwi2o64rn6dgdnt6xd733i

2024-08-09 13:55:48

www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/x-s...

2024-08-08 18:48:20

Gov. Walz said on MSNBC that there’s no guarantee to free speech for hate speech or misinformation. That’s wrong or at least misleading. Not pleased but not upset because it’s a fairly common incorrect generalization and he might have said it because it’s impolite to be right about law on MSNBC.

2024-08-08 18:36:46

I turned on the speech and he's relitigating January 6 and saying that there's a conspiracy to suppress pictures of how big his crowd was that day, because it was bigger than MLK's crowd.
I learned my lesson.

2024-08-07 23:26:00

The White Stuff
https://lionsmane.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:s6j27rxb3ic2rxw73ixgqv2p&cid=bafkreiezvriy6t73nlyubkzg2cy7lqbx667rfpeapsa6jzmymygvbpnsce

2024-08-03 03:12:23

Social media allows an amazing chance to encounter people you would otherwise never meet, read one of their posts, say “you know, I think I would enjoy never getting to know this person,” and blocking them.

2024-08-01 00:53:59

Politics has always been elbow-throwing rough-and-tumble. But the last few elections, particularly this one, are very internet-poisoned. A lot of what the Right does now is basically shitposting and trolling. Never treat a troll as a good-faith interlocutor. Treat them like a troll — with scorn.

2024-08-01 00:17:04

I am glad Trump keeps bringing up Hannibal Lecter because honestly I would vote for Hannibal Lecter over Trump. Hannibal Lecter reads. Hannibal Lecter knows things. Hannibal Lecter speaks coherently. Hannibal Lecter is never out of control; he eats precisely those he means to.

2024-07-31 21:39:21

Trump’s performance was both so predictable and so horrific that either his campaign is unusually incompetent or this was intended as red meat to his base, viz “watch me shit on these black people.”

2024-07-30 18:58:50

Just a reminder that Simone Biles stepped away from many events in the Tokyo Olympics, and then from gymnastics for a while, to practice self-care, because she knew what was best for herself. Abuse, ridicule, and judgment by shitty people followed.
/1
www.cnn.com/2023/08/04/s...
Simone Biles stepped away from...

2024-07-30 18:58:50

2024-07-25 17:16:20

/14. By the way: @nytimes.com, I have a pitch for you. “Does Kamala Have What It Takes? Here’s What Twelve People In A Secure Psychiatric Facility Said While Watching CNN.”

2024-07-25 16:48:50

/11 Be open to trying new things. I’ve been dealing with this for a quarter-century and I’m still finding new techniques and new meds and new therapies that help. It’s very common to have to change meds, therapy styles, and strategies to find the one that works for you.

2024-07-25 16:41:57

Hi. I was away for a week. Hope everyone is doing well.
There are people who believe the reasons for my absence are shameful and disqualifying for full participation on public life.
Those people can snort my taint.
If you need help, get help. Don’t wait to be in crisis. You can feel better.
/1

2024-07-25 00:58:14

NYT in 1938: “Jews bring out the worst in Herr Hitler”
https://lionsmane.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:s6j27rxb3ic2rxw73ixgqv2p&cid=bafkreifjkmpi3anv4e3p5cvz54cmifvjqvifuu5g4snajjth76mocjjhxu

2024-07-14 00:01:55

Just a reminder: it’s good to oppose assassinations. But you are under absolutely no obligation to treat Trumpists and Trump-apologists as people who are honest, or acting in good faith, when they purport to condemn political violence or violent rhetoric. They’re not sincere.

2024-07-13 21:36:06

/6 These are features, not bugs. The violence will escalate and self-justify — any resistance or protest cited as reason for the violence. The “private” violence will broaden outside the immigration arena. The worst people in America will see their chance.

2024-07-13 21:33:48

/5 …will be a green light for the worst people in the country to settle grudges, harass disliked neighbors, sexually assault women, and harass anyone who doesn’t look like Eric Trump. Some non-white Trump supporters are gonna get killed, harassed, beaten, raped, and wrongly deported.

2024-07-08 23:22:17

Regular old murderer expresses disgust for serial killer
https://lionsmane.us-east.host.bsky.network/xrpc/com.atproto.sync.getBlob?did=did:plc:s6j27rxb3ic2rxw73ixgqv2p&cid=bafkreicjbh3fxxd2wegf46vqfpqlyjtpcmacnwcidor2jndpkcbwnr2k6a

2024-07-06 03:08:48

New York Times, July 5, 2025: “Biden’s Stumbles And Gaffes During His Criticism of President Trump’s Internment Camps Vindicate Age Concerns”

2024-07-02 18:33:22

Right-wing legal talking heads are focusing on arguing that it is RIDICULOUS to say that a second-term Trump will be empowered by immunity to do horrific things, while carefully preparing to argue in seven months that it is RIGHT that Trump do horrific things which aren’t actually horrific anyway.

2024-07-01 21:37:12

/8 At any rate, congratulations to the Federalist Society for an achievement beyond the reach of the British, outside the grasp of bloody civil war, impossible to Nazis and Soviets and terrorists: defeating the American idea.

2024-07-01 21:25:00

There are two elements to the immunity decision that are particularly extreme in a way that many will miss: (1) motive is irrelevant and (2) immune acts are not just excluded from prosecution, they’re excluded from evidence.
/1

2024-06-29 01:12:04

The NYT call for Biden to step down would seem momentous if not for the fact the NYT has been absolutely beclowning itself on Biden v. Trump for several years now.

2024-06-28 15:21:23

Jailing people for being homeless is a classic American policy: stupid, brutal, and very expensive.

2024-06-28 02:59:23

When I saw Biden at a fundraiser early this month, he sounded tired and a bit feeble, particularly contrasted with Obama talking right next to him.
But the choice between enfeebled and a narcissistic sociopath surrounded by younger narcissistic sociopaths is not even a little difficult.

2024-06-25 02:56:35

I assume Julian Assange doesn’t want to come anywhere near CONUS and that’s why he negotiated taking a plea in the Northern Mariana Islands.
I mean, if I were someone the CIA wanted dead, I wouldn’t go anywhere near an airstrip on a remote tropic island is all I am saying.

2024-06-23 01:36:54

I don’t know why AI needs gigantic amounts of energy to come up with really shitty takes when most of y’all seem to do it just with burritos and tequila