Hi all, just sent out free midweek update on USA-Iran. Normally bad superlatives are used about war--the worst, the most destructive, etc. These are rarely warranted. However in this case we have one superlative, we are witnessing the most corrupt war in US history. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...
Trump without makeup is pretty fucking scary looking. Did your servants have the weekend off you corpulent old gas-bag?
Donald Trump’s aides have kept him in the dark on important conversations—and “the ramifications for democratic accountability are serious,” @dgraham.bsky.social argues in The Atlantic Daily:
this is how Utah's Congressional map deals with Utah's largest city, cracking it through to the middle into 4 different districts in order to deny it Congressional representation to make sure Dems get 0 seats
Listen if Trump really wanted to destroy Iran he doesn't need nukes, he just needs to become their president and start a bunch of silly trade wars with all their allies
This is what caused Trump’s meltdown tonight.
Germany began automatically granting birthright citizenship to eligible immigrant children born after 1/1/00. Study finds that "immigrant youth who acquired citizenship at birth are substantially less likely to engage in criminal activity, with estimates indicating a 70% reduction in crime."
Trump starting a Gerrymandering war he couldn’t finish feels a whole lot Trump starting trade wars he couldn’t finish and this Iran war he can’t finish.
He’s not playing chess people.
Don’t underestimate the backlash to Trump publicly ordering up a mid-decade redraw in Texas because Republicans are “entitled to five more seats.” And then getting it. That moment killed the (then still robust) Democratic resistance to maximal warfare with their own gerrymanders.
"You have until November" means "it'll happen by the end of May"
Come, here is the map. Shall we divide our right
According to our threefold order ta’en?
NEW REPUBLIC: “Where Did Millions in Funding Go?”
$63 MILLION companies paid in *settlements* to Trump appears to have vanished (into his pocket) and @SenWarren wants answers.
newrepublic.com/article/2092...
One big political divide is between people who believe germs cause disease and people who believe Those People cause disease. It was pretty evident right away during the pandemic
He's literally going to fire all the women and not any of the drunk guys.
A lesson to all businessmen in the ear of Trump: You will now forever be known as the guy who kissed Trump's ass. That is your legacy. May your grandchildren be proud of you.
This maps shows how much Nitrogen fertilizer each country uses. The more it uses the more it is likely impacted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz through which a lot of fertilizer trade flows. Source: buff.ly/meDwZB2
“How should I put this? It’s disrespectful to travel to Moscow and not come to Kyiv.”
— President Zelenskyy on a potential visit by Trump’s associate Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Kushner to Ukraine
"If the strait is opened tomorrow, we're not really going back to the previous energy world, we just can't. This is sort of like one of those the toothpaste can't be put in the bottle kind of moments."
Bloomberg's @tracyalloway.bsky.social on the long-term energy impact of the Iran war.
The problem isn’t that he’s fired the women. The problem is that he hasn’t fired the men. lnk.thebulwark.com/4n1afn3
Lololololololololol
They fucking dump Bondi on a weekday before 5pm. Patel thinks he’s being canned when he weird nosies in the bathroom.
And Gabbard is allowed 6 months to steal all the intelligence she can and stuff it in a suitcase before she leaves the country for good?
Tulsi Gabbard succeeded in fully compromising and dismantling our various spy agencies so what else could she possibly accomplish? It's like the rapist leaving after the act. Whatever.
Did Kash Patel read his own lawsuit?
When asked why he was locked out of his computer — as The Atlantic reported and Patel *admitted* in his lawsuit — Patel denied it happened: "I was never locked out of my systems," he just claimed.
What his lawsuit says: buff.ly/JTRuZKf
a good 75% of the U.S. press operates either in blind fealty or timid normalization of him, yet he's such a narcissistic black hole it's just never enough
Thom Tillis still refuses to blame Trump for anything: "The problem I have is that some US attorney or assistant US attorney with a dream thought it would be cute to bring Chair Powell under an investigation ... the boss said he didn't know anything about it"
A really easy question to answer, a telling one to get technical on.
GALLEGO: Earlier today, you told Sec. Kennedy that Trump never demanded you to cut interest rates. Is that your sworn testimony?
WARSH: That is, senator.
GALLEGO: Okay. Well someone here is lying then. Because Trump confirmed he pressed you on interest rate cuts.
Warsh: ha-ha, students are vacuous snowflakes who run to authority to maintain their status
Also Warsh to any question where a factual answer might displease Trump: Sir, that is a great unknowable I could not possibly comment on.
This cult-like behavior among people being considered for important positions should be disqualifying. Mullin got confirmed in spite of giving a similar non answer.
ELIZABETH WARREN: Did Donald Trump lose the 2020 election?
KEVIN WARSH: Uhm, we try to keep politics if I'm confirmed out of the Federal Reserve
WARREN: I'm just asking a factual question
WARSH: I believe this body certified the election
WARREN: That's not the question I'm asking
