June 14, 2026
Descent
Yeah.
For folks who don't know, Ken White used to be a really reasonable guy, and an excellent lawblogger. I read Popehat Blog a lot back in the day, but his descent into...this...Has been genuinely scary. "Gradually, then suddenly..." to paraphrase Hemmingway.
Thing is, he's a really intelligent guy (he has to be, he passed the Bar Exam).
His writings can't be an inspiration anymore, but they can be a horrible, horrible warning that even the smartest of us can be swayed by the darker angels of our nature and will end up in the same place if we aren't alert.
Here's a hot take: as a general rule, calling for a political opponent's death, even obliquely, is not a best practice as long as elections still happen.
Here's a hotter take. It's easy to just point and laugh at Ken White because he is on BlueSky, a leftwing platform known for celebrating and advocating for the death of people like me. His arguments in this matter are silly and his desired outcome is evil. He is marinated in one rather wacked worldview on a platform that does not abide dissenting views and this has driven him clean out the Overton Window into the online equivalent of a Jacobin lynch mob.
BUT:
He is a guy who passed the bar exam.
Even smart folks can fall into the same murderous frenzies of chimpanzees on the warpath, because we are all fallen sinners and the great apes are not a peaceful lot.
I say this not to excuse White's abhorrent views, but to warn people that his path to perdition is only politics indicative and not politics exclusive.
I've seen, in the last few days, smart folks I admire, having been blackpilled by some recent events start to mutter things that are nearly as bad and taken to their logical conclusion would be far worse.
There is much stupid right now.
Don't yield to it.
Don't be online at all times.
Touch grass and talk to people.
And remember:
If one finds would-be despot from Eternia can have a humane and nuanced take on what's black-pilling one, then there is no need for one to embrace the darkness.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
04:54 PM
| Comments (1)
| Add Comment
Post contains 368 words, total size 141 kb.
1
You are giving way to much credit to "passed the bar exam." That's not intelligence. That's the ability to study, do the homework, and remember what you read. I've had several lawyers say that the single most important requirement to studying law and passing the exam is a good memory. The ability to reason from principles is not even third or fourth on the list, and empathy can be a detriment.
There is a reason why two of my favorite lawyer jokes (both told to me by lawyers, btw) have the following punchlines:
"I lost my eligibility before the bar last week." "Oh? Why?" "I learned who my father is."
and
"Of course you can get pregnant from an*l s*x. Where do you think lawyers come from?"
There is a reason why two of my favorite lawyer jokes (both told to me by lawyers, btw) have the following punchlines:
"I lost my eligibility before the bar last week." "Oh? Why?" "I learned who my father is."
and
"Of course you can get pregnant from an*l s*x. Where do you think lawyers come from?"
Posted by: David Eastman at Sun Jun 14 23:55:29 2026 (GJD0V)
172kb generated in CPU 0.078, elapsed 0.121 seconds.
71 queries taking 0.1048 seconds, 384 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
71 queries taking 0.1048 seconds, 384 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
