Over in California, With Swalwell gone, the field is suddenly looking astonishingly weak—and Tom Steyer simply buying his way to victory is actually a genuine possibility.
That and more in today's Morning Shots from @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social and @eggerdc.bsky.social:
since JD Vance is new to Catholicism, let me explain that when the head Bishop writes a public letter specifically calling out your theological errors and reminding you that the Pope is the Vicar of Christ, that's considered "bad"
Screenshot of an excerpt from a Bulwark newsletter, reading as follows: The Geopolitics of ‘Your Rules’ by Andrew Egger Your rules, your rules, your rules! For much of today’s online right, these two words are a slogan, a rallying cry, a way of life. They’re a core part of the permission structure of a politics built around nothing but owning the libs. The good guys, it is suggested, have actual moral standards and codes that their godless dishonorable enemies lack, but they need not actually hold to these codes in their dealings with those enemies. In such instances, “we’re only playing by your rules.” In theory, this is a condensed argument about double standards. In practice, it’s an all-purpose excuse for pretty much anything. That was obvious this week, when we saw the apotheosis of “your rules” thought from both the president and the vice president. It continues here: https://www.thebulwark.com/i/194180315/the-geopolitics-of-your-rules
Really smart insight here from @eggerdc.bsky.social about a rhetorical trope that we too often just let slide.
Read the whole thing:
www.thebulwark.com/i/194180315/...
"How can it be that Democrats have sleepwalked into yet another high-profile race for which they seem to have basically zero highly qualified and popular candidates? Am I the only one for whom this nonsense is starting to get old?"
www.thebulwark.com/p/california...
A hilarious thing about this is if this become actionable policy today, trump would likely corruptly intervene — to help Mamdani lol
If we didn't have a maniac as secretary of defense, a toady as secretary of state, and a nobody as chief of staff, they'd be spending today making sure the military checks in with them before obeying any orders from Trump, and quietly getting in touch with Congress to arrange for his impeachment.
Trump "Truth": The alleged Statement put out by CNN World News is a FRAUD, as CNN well knows. The false Statement was linked to a Fake News site (from Nigeria) and, of course, immediately picked up by CNN, and blared out as a “legitimate” headline. The Official Statement by Iran was just released, and posted on TRUTH, below. Authorities are looking to determine whether or not a crime was committed on the issuance of the Fake CNN World Statement, or was it a sick rogue player? CNN is being ordered to immediately withdraw this Statement with full apologies for their, as usual, terrible “reporting.” Results of the investigation will be announced in the near future. President DONALD J. TRUMP
White House Rapid Response account: "ATTENTION @cnni : As @POTUS just said, Iran’s official statement is linked in his TRUTH below AND posted by the Iranian foreign minister. This alleged statement by “Iran” is a FRAUD! Correct immediately!" [Photo of CNN story citing "a statement from Iran's Supreme National Security Council report by Iranian state media."
Brendan Carr tweet: More outrageous conduct from CNN. Fake news is bad enough for the country, but pushing out a hoax headline in such a sensitive national security moment as this requires accountability. Iran put out an official statement that simply cannot be squared with the one CNN's false headline attributes to them. Time for change at CNN.
Iran's PressTV Twitter account: Supreme national security council: Iran achieved historic victory by forcing criminal US to accept its 10-point plan.
The President, White House, and FCC's Brendan Carr are calling for action -- and implying a criminal investigation -- against CNN for... accurately reporting what Iran's state media shared as a statement from Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
This is exactly right—“distraction talk” presumes there is one thing Trump and cronies are doing we should be paying attention to; they are doing thousands of terrible things and should be attending to all of them.
No one out-pizzas the UAE
LIVE SOON: We're going live with the news that Trump has fired Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Tune in on:
YouTube: www.youtube.com/live/0agiueq...
Substack: open.substack.com/live-stream/...
"Here's where we'll put the plane. And also a Marine One and a fighter jet. But if TED Talks is what your event planning needs require, we have this lovely amphitheater. With a giant gold fist raised."
@jvl.bsky.social, @samsteindc.bsky.social, and @eggerdc.bsky.social on Trump's non-library:
"Apparently the case he intends to make here is, 'look, don't blame me. Blame the UK. You know, if they'd come in—it's their oil. We were only there to kind of help out.' Notwithstanding the fact that we started the war!"
@eggerdc.bsky.social on Trump's plans for the Strait of Hormuz.
"Until the fallout from Liberation Day, Trump’s momentum had seemed unstoppable: You can just do things was the MAGA credo on which the country was suddenly running." And then TACO was born.
Today's Morning Shots featuring, @eggerdc.bsky.social: lnk.thebulwark.com/47DhPxv
Tomorrow will be one year since Liberation Day. As @eggerdc.bsky.social writes in Morning Shots @thebulwark.com: "We’ve been living in the time of TACO ever since…By introducing us to the TACO model, it sowed the seeds of our present catastrophe, too."
www.thebulwark.com/p/liberation...
Just got word that my friend Shane DiGiovanna passed away.
Shane was an OG Bulwark reader whom I got to know shortly after moving to Cincinnati. He was quite a person. 🧵
"Madman theory never really works. But we have a president who gives us all of the obvious drawbacks and none of the purported benefits—who shakes the global economy around like a rag doll yet whose economic bluffs remain easy for our adversaries to predict."
www.thebulwark.com/p/better-to-...
I think this is the primary reason why the Epstein files never stopped dogging Trump. There are too many maganites with too much incentive.
I like how @eggerdc.bsky.social puts it. Maga is the GOP establishment. Naturally, there's now a counter-establishment.
www.thebulwark.com/p/joe-kent-a...
“These middle-aged men, some of the most powerful in the world, are not allowed even to stand or walk normally. The shoes are not very expensive—about $145—but apparently even to order a replacement pair in the correct size wld risk an unacceptable breach of courtly etiquette. What if he noticed??"
"This guy writes for a publication I associate with neoconservatism. I am now ready to deliver my detailed psychological report."
Another way of writing this piece would be "the productivity gains from AI have been off the charts!"
“These middle-aged men, some of the most powerful in the world, are not allowed even to stand or walk normally. ... For them, servility to Donald Trump has gone beyond the merely mental; they feel it in their skin, their joints, their bones.”
Me on Marco's shoes:
www.thebulwark.com/i/190718221/...
today at the World Metaphors Classic the leader of the USA didn't bother to find out the details of the situation his team was in and blindly assumed they would win a matchup they ended up losing, jeopardizing their long-term standing for no good reason
The political party that can win the argument over AI is set up for a political windfall. But so far it seems like basically everybody is blowing it.
That and more in today's Morning Shots from @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social and @eggerdc.bsky.social: lnk.thebulwark.com/4sbZwba
“Don’t ever be the first to stop applauding.”
-- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, writing about the unfortunate director of the local paper factory
mannerofspeaking.org/2010/05/12/s...
@eggerdc.bsky.social with a reminder that ICE thugs are still thugs.
"Assaulting protesters and then gunning them down in the street is out; carelessly dropping a blind, helpless man in a coffee-shop parking lot to freeze to death is still very much in."
www.thebulwark.com/p/same-bruta...
Pete Hegseth is trying to bully Anthropic out of objecting to “lethal autonomous weapons systems” and mass surveillance. What could go wrong?
@eggerdc.bsky.social & @cathyyoung63.bsky.social in Morning Shots, only @thebulwark.com: www.thebulwark.com/p/ai-death-m...
A terrific event here in Minneapolis last night. Lively and fun. And moving, given what Minnesotans have endured for the last couple of months. And inspiring, as they've shown us that we can prevail.
@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social learning about “bone smashing” from @willsommer.bsky.social 😅😅😅
Will Stancil is becoming my favorite poster
From your lips to God's ears.
