Dear White House Reporters: Again, WTF? Dinner with this president, really?

Looks like the Washington press corps is coming ahead with this outdated and outrageous @whca event. WTF?

open.substack.com/pub/convulsi...

Dear White House Reporters: Again, WTF? Dinner with this president, really?

Why celebrate journalism alongside a man whose concept of news travels the narrow range between “Trump is a great president” to “Trump is the greatest president ever"? Why celebrate journalism with a man who hates it?
convulsions.substack.com/p/dear-white...

3/ To torture his analogy, Roberts is umpire, pitcher, batter, and owner of the U.S. legislative process.

That may sit well with my conservative readers. But they need to ask themselves whether they want a shadow docket in the hands of the next liberal-leaning Supreme Court.

2/ The judge who famously vowed at his nomination hearing to “call balls and strikes and not to pitch or bat” from the bench decided instead to change the rules of the game — creating a shadow docket for his star chamber — and cast the court as a supreme legislative body.

John Roberts' Star Chamber How the Supreme Court secretly legislates from the bench.

In secret memos, Roberts expands the court’s powers specifically to block Obama’s Clean Power Plan, his signature climate change policy — not over arguments of law or science but over Robert’s believe that the law was too expense for corporate America. 1/
convulsions.substack.com/p/john-rober...

Good Cop, Crazy Cop How World War III might be Trump's end game.

Obliterating a civilization through nuclear strikes and igniting World War III remains an option.
convulsions.substack.com/p/good-cop-c...

What Trump is Fighting For It's not national security or even oil. As this story on Hungary proves, his main motive is power.

"Iran's nuclear program was never Trump’s key motivation for war. . . . The war on Iran is Trump's way of seizing and maintaining power.

"It's a con."
-- @ronfournier.bsky.social

"We are by no means out of the woods: Trump is still a clear and present danger.

"He commands thousands of U.S. ground troops in the Middle East and possesses singular control over the U.S. nuclear arsenal."

What Trump is Fighting For It's not national security or even oil. As this story on Hungary proves, his main motive is power.

On the most overlooked (vitally important) story of the news cycle.

open.substack.com/pub/convulsi...

What Trump is Fighting For It's not national security or even oil. As this story on Hungary proves, his main motive is power.

Trump's love affair with this Iran-aiding autocratic tells you all you need to know about his motive for war.

It's not national security or even oil. It's power.

convulsions.substack.com/p/what-trump...

Empty Ultimatums and Loaded Missiles Trump blinked again. But he's still a clear and present danger.

I’m mad we’re at war.

I’m glad he didn’t escalate.

I’m scared that such a feral-acting, feeble-thinking, manipulable, maniacal, miserable excuse for a leader is our commander in chief.

convulsions.substack.com/p/empty-ulti...

Mad Man, Madman, Or Both? Tonight's the night for Trump ... or not.

Tonight's the night President Trump bombs Iran “back to the Stone Ages.” Unless he pushes his deadline back for at least the fifth time, or Iran caves, or he caves, or ... whatever: The world is at the mercy of a mad man, if not a madman.
convulsions.substack.com/p/mad-man-ma...

All reporters and editors need to heed this advice. The words matter. Tell it like it is.

What's the Lede? How the media missed the boat on today's Trump outrage.

Read my former AP/National Journal colleague @ronfournier.bsky.social's hypothetical lede and pointed analysis, and wish as I do that he was still hip-deep in news coverage. convulsions.substack.com/p/whats-the-...

Thank you, Jill. You’re the best and I miss you. But I had my run …

What's the Lede? How the media missed the boat on today's Trump outrage.

How I Would Have Written the Story And Why:
open.substack.com/pub/convulsi...

Trump the Human Trafficker Exposing his Big Lie on immigration: 42 % of recent detainees have no criminal record.

Again, these are people who make America great. Yet he’s locking them up and shipping them out in one of the largest human trafficking operations in U.S. history.
convulsions.substack.com/p/trump-the-...

Clueless in Chief My notes on a speech that hit all the wrong notes.

My notes on Trump's address:

- My fellow Americans ...

- Our mission is to guarantee Iran does not obtain a nuclear weapon.

- But I can’t say when or how that will happen.

- Maybe weeks.

-Or more.

- Barack Obama’s middle name is Hussein.
convulsions.substack.com/p/clueless-i...

AP: “Actually, about three dozen countries, nearly all of them in the Americas, guarantee citizenship to children born on their territory.”

Washing Trump's Bloody Hands Tonight's presidential address: Whitewashing a Washout

Trump doesn’t seem to realize that Iran also gets to decide when his war ends.
convulsions.substack.com/p/washing-tr...

Washing Trump's Bloody Hands Tonight's presidential address: Whitewashing a Washout

Nobody, including Trump, knows what he will say tonight: He may declare a false victory and walk away from the fire he started. He may announce plans to double down with ground troops. He may just ramble and bluster and blame to leave the world more confused

convulsions.substack.com/p/washing-tr...

Michael Flynn confessed. Trump pardoned. Now Flynn will receive $1.2 million from the Trump administration. Trump’s DOJ calls it a settlement, but it’s not.

It’s a gift of grift. A political payoff ripped from the wallets of taxpayers. convulsions.substack.com/p/trump-inju...

Trump Injustice CONNECTING DOTS: A 7-figure payoff, judicial threats, and a financial motive set the stage for generational damage to American democracy.

convulsions.substack.com/p/trump-inju...

Winding Down in Iran? Don't count on it.

convulsions.substack.com/p/winding-do...

Mission Creep How and why Trump is losing control of his war

Trump's reactive approach to management, lack of intellectual depth on foreign affairs, and inability to see beyond the next move on a checkerboard make Trump uniquely susceptible to catalyzing a string of unintended catastrophes.

convulsions.substack.com/p/mission-cr...

And Yet ... Another edition exposing the wide distance between Trump's sensibilities and common sense.

HE SAID: “They hit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait. Nobody expected that. We were shocked. They fought back.”

AND YET: Everybody knew Iran would fight back. Trump’s admission of ignorance is a confession of incompetence.

convulsions.substack.com/p/and-yet

Toy Soldier Trump This photo captures the vanity and insanity of his wartime presidency.

convulsions.substack.com/p/toy-soldie...

thanks, my friend!

Windy, Whiny, Whipsawing Trump Address Also: Bill Gates lies about Epstein, and an independent gubernatorial candidate in Michigan channels the times.

convulsions.substack.com/p/windy-whin...

Anatomy of a Bribe How a President Gets Paid Off in Plain Sight.

@ronfournier.bsky.social tells "how a president gets paid off in plain sight . . . an impeachable offense in normal times:"

"In addition to leveraging a $1-million bribe, Trump's latter-day opposition to the Gordie Howe [Bridge] appears to be another way to needle Prime Minister Mark Carney."