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Torsten Kathke Profile picture
Torsten Kathke
@torstenkathke
Historian. 19th/20th century US & Germany. JGU Mainz. 70s/80s cultural criticism, pop science, futurology. Book: Wires That Bind. @torstenkathke on most things.
2 subscribers
Mar 11, 2021 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
What always gets me about the "bipartisanship is what's needed" argument in the U.S. is that both Republicans and Democrats are such broad coalitions that in other governing systems they'd be three to five parties each. "Bipartisan" usually means getting a few more centrist votes or not. When it doesn't happen that usually has little to do with the popular appeal of any specific legislation (like a *very* popular relief bill), and everything to do with the drawing of partisan battle lines.
Jan 18, 2021 • 24 tweets • 9 min read
Many others are already parsing the report of the 1776 Commission. This much here: It's a propagandist hack job.

What interested me were the people involved with it.

(They're pretty much who you would expect them to be.) Larry P. Arnn, Chair Carol Swain, Vice Chair Matthew Spaldi Larry P. Arnn, Chair: Ph.D. in Government. Not a historian.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_P._… In 2013, Arnn was criticized for his remarks about ethnic mi
Jan 17, 2021 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Wie @HeikoMaas das da formuliert ist es eine ganz schlechte Idee.

1: Grundrechte gelten für alle. Sie können aus triftigen Gründen entweder individuell oder allgemein eingeschränkt werden.

"Grundrechte zurück nach Bringschuld Impfung" ist höchst problematisch v.a. wenn: 2: erst einmal gar nicht alle geimpft werden können.

Wenn geimpft-Status plötzlich doppelt freieres Leben (keine Angst mehr um die Krankheit plus Restaurantbesuche etc.) für einige aber nicht alle bedeutet ist das eine perfide gesellschaftliche Zweiteilung.
Jan 7, 2021 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
It will matter greatly what the news media calls the events of January 6 going forward.

Do we have a coup? A putsch? An insurrection? The storming of the Capitol? Trumpist terrorism? Will there be a pithy shorthand, and if so, will it be reasonably accurate and descriptive? As a historian, what watching the attack unfold on television brought home to me is once again something basic but often forgotten in the mythologizations of public remembrance:

The people who did this are extremely normal. Despite their wild conspiracies.
Jan 6, 2021 • 28 tweets • 4 min read
McConnell playing the good democrat is whiplash-inducing. Ah there's the Democrat-blaming and bothsidesing. Was worried for a minute he might forget to go there.
Dec 26, 2020 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
Weird reason. Tweet from Prager U with in... And also at least questionable.
mentalfloss.com/article/526291…
Nov 30, 2020 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Tweet threads so far: history, historiography, and takedowns of Nazi ideology.

Source analysis of the National Socialist 25 point program and debunking of the claim that Nazis were socialists:
More context and debunking on the 25 point program:
Nov 8, 2020 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
This.

Normalize reading articles, not just headlines. From the NYT piece:

"I don’t think anybody who is not on the internet in a real way in the Year of our Lord 2020 and loses an election can blame anyone else when you’re not even really on the internet." The main point AOC is making in the New York Times is about *how* to run a campaign, not *what* the message should be.

She's not shy about pushing her progressive brand of politics, but if that's your main takeaway from the criticism, you're misreading the interview.
Nov 8, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Newt Gingrich claiming the election was stolen without evidence is major Newt Gingrich writing a dissertation about the Congo without ever going there energy. For reference: robertpaulwolff.blogspot.com/2011/11/newt-g…
Nov 7, 2020 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
People keep finding new angles in these concession speeches.

Here's one: when George H. Bush concedes, his supporters clap. When John McCain concedes, his supporters boo.

I'm not going to pretend that once there was a great era of civility and we have sadly left it. Evoking the need for civility is always also a strategy of power.

But I did find this contrast striking.

Nov 6, 2020 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
This is a dumb question, no doubt triggered by Fox's petty and partisan decision not to use that term.

Let's humor it for a minute. Why is it dumb?

Dictionary.com calls 'president-elect' "[a]n Americanism dating back to 1815–25". Google's Ngram Viewer bears this out. Ngram viewer showing usage ...
Nov 1, 2020 • 32 tweets • 6 min read
This kind of bad faith, lukewarm endorsement, shifting the actual debate in the most sophist manner, is exactly what gives "decent" people cover to vote for Trump and effectively destroy American democracy while clinging to plausible deniability.

Let's dive in: Upfront, the Post-Gazette editorial board acknowledges (because it must since it is so obvious) that Trump has been called "unpresidential," "crude and unkind" and "just not a good man."

What they do not acknowledge is Trump's overt racism and flirtations with the extreme right.
Jul 23, 2020 • 18 tweets • 3 min read
Counterpoint: it *is* Donald Trump's America.

It's a very scary place. Imagine seeing what's actually happening *right now* and making that into a scary hypothetical for what would happen if the other guy won.
Jul 16, 2020 • 40 tweets • 8 min read
Since my online teaching thread has gotten some traction, as promised here's one on the technical aspects of creating teaching content.

Note that this is from the point of view of someone with some technical knowledge regarding computers/cameras/audio/video, but not an expert. Apologies: this may get long…

I'll start with some general information regarding what I had to do and how I ended up doing it.

If this doesn't interest you and you're only looking for some tech tips, keep scrolling, they're towards the end.
Jul 5, 2020 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
My department sent an e-mail inquiring which classes would go online for the winter semester (which due to Covid now starts in November).

The reason: students who may not be able to travel to Germany from where they are at the moment, and need some semblance of security to plan. On the one hand, I fully support the department in doing this. It's smart to plan ahead, and especially to think of the logistical and financial burdens students have to bear. Everything that makes it easier for them to navigate this is a good thing.
May 17, 2020 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
The *one* time no one asked Wall Street about their opinion, and you had to go and do it.

"Since no one seems to be consulting Wall Street bankers and traders […] I convened an impromptu circle of Wall Streeters I know well to get their views." Let's play WW II bingo:

'He makes the analogy, too, to fighting World War II. “When Eisenhower and Churchill sat and talked about D-Day they said, You know, how many people did we lose? 150,000? 200,000? What? 50,000? 100,000?“'
Apr 13, 2020 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
I am currently putting together online seminars for our summer semester (April–July). So far this has taken at least two or three times as long as preparing "normal" classes, with learning outcomes unlikely to be similar at all. I'm not a fan.

But I dread universities reopening. I work at a campus university where students are near each other constantly.

Many of them commute. Many share apartments.

Many live in close quarters in campus housing.

Many still live at home, some with parents or other family members who may be high risk.
Mar 18, 2020 • 16 tweets • 2 min read
Merkel: "Since reunification, no, since World War II there has not been a comparable situation. […] I want to tell you what you can do." She says she’ll explain not just what is being done, but why it’s being done and what the rationale is, a necessity in an open society.
Dec 27, 2019 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
Hi new followers!

I'm glad you found what I tweet of value.

It's been a busy couple of days on Twitter at a time of year usually reserved for reflection and slowing down.

You've seen me talk about Nazism and historical interpretation. As a German and a historian, I'm happy to do this whenever it comes up.

But I like to emphasize the 'how' of doing history and why that leads historians to certain conclusions over simple fact-checking.
Dec 25, 2019 • 20 tweets • 4 min read
Details are indeed important here.

The 1920 Nazi program is vague on some things.

The NSDAP in 1928 felt it necessary to include an explanatory note on point 17. This note matters because it demonstrates how the party wanted its program interpreted closer to the time it actually became successful around 1928/29.

It took over power in Germany in 1933.
Dec 24, 2019 • 15 tweets • 4 min read
Yes, do read the Nazi 25 point program.

The @GHIWashington has both the German original (germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.c…) and an English translation (germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.c…). I've discussed the whole thing at length before. Here's that thread:

If you don't want to read the thread, the gist is attached as images here.