So now Pete Hegseth has fired the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Staff of the Army, both in the middle of a war, both with no public or known explanation? Seems fine.

"So that’s what I’m trying to achieve, to let 1,000 Zohrans bloom.”

Hasan Piker to Prem Thakker for Prem's big Zeteo profile of Piker.
zeteo.com/p/hasan-pike...

Five Trump Scandals You’ve Probably Missed Swirling scandals—from the Pentagon to DHS to the IRS to the Labor Department—that represent basic betrayals of public office, trust, and confidence-in-leadership that should be the table stakes of go...

Washington can only pay attention to a scandal or two at a time, which means in the Trump age there are all sorts of should-be-big-deal scandals that don’t get the oxygen or media focus that they should.

I'll bet you've missed at least three of these: www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/five-trump...

“Because they’re crooks…and everybody knows it.”

How Much Has the War in Iran Depleted the U.S. Missile Supply? Defense officials inside the Trump Administration were already concerned that American stockpiles were insufficient for a potential standoff with China. A war of choice in the Middle East has only mad...

How does the US spend $800 billion a year on defense and yet after just six weeks of war with Iran, we're running out of missiles and munitions? For my latest @newyorker.com piece, I dove into the dysfunction of the US defense budget: www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

“It’s really that simple. The simplicity of virtue and joy are underrated in life — and especially undervalued in public life.”

🧵. Shocking. Saddening. Sobering. But in the end not really surprising.

Is Trump About To Nuke Iran? The fact we can't say "no" for sure should terrify us.

#MustRead from @vermontgmg.bsky.social

“This isn’t just “Madman Theory.” This is a madman. Trump’s “leadership” is indistinguishable from your crazy uncle yelling at the TV. He is clearly unwell. And increasingly desperate.“

I, personally, would like to be on the dark side of the Moon too.

This:

There is no excuse for downplaying or eliding the insanity of Trump’s morning post. It is the most unhinged public comment by a president in US history and should be reported and remarked upon as such.

I wish more of our media coverage was focused on how utterly lost Trump is. He has no plan, no strategy, and his “leadership” is indistinguishable from your crazy uncle yelling at the TV.

The internet is trash—we all know it.

What better way to PROVE it than by helping Long Shadow win a Webby Award?

Vote for LONG SHADOW: BREAKING THE INTERNET here: bit.ly/LSS4Webby

LONG SHADOW is hosted by @vermontgmg.bsky.social, produced by @longlead.com and distributed by @prx.org.

🗳️VOTE NOW!

(archive document) Memorandum of Disapproval I have today vetoed H.R. 11897, a bill which would name the United States Courthouse and Federal Office Building in Grand Rapids, Michigan, the "President Gerald R. Ford Federal Office Building." Although I appreciate the honor expressed by the Congress in enacting this legislation, I intend to continue the policy of past Administrations that the executive branch not endorse the naming of Federal office buildings. Generally, the executive branch has deferred to the desires of the Congress on such matters. Although several Federal office buildings have been named for incumbent members of the Congress, I know of none that have been named for a President while still in office. I consider it improper for me as an incumbent President to approve legislation which places my name on a Federal building. This is a precedent I do not wish to establish. In general, I feel this way: office buildings which house the functions of Government should not be used as monuments to Federal officials, but rather as workshops for the people's business. In particular, I would hope our Presidents will be remembered for their labors in building better Government rather than for their efforts in constructing public works projects to themselves.

Gerald Ford vetoed naming a post office after himself.

Remembering Robert Mueller The reporting subject I knew best

The best, most detailed of the many profiles I’ve read this weekend about the great man, whom nobody with any understanding or intelligence – so obviously not including Trump – did not revere. The epitome of dedication to country and virtuous public service.

www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/rememberin...

Remembering Robert Mueller The reporting subject I knew best

“If the United States is ever to succeed and thrive as a democracy again, we need to find, inspire, train, and elevate the next generation of Robert Muellers. As the longtime intelligence reporter Tim Weiner … wrote on BlueSky: “We will not see his like again.”

“I worry deeply that Tim is right.”

One Man a Hero. One Man a Monster. America has lost a very good man. It must find a way to control a very bad one.

James Fallows on Trump’s statement about the death of Robert Mueller:

“This is the most despicable public statement by an American public official in my lifetime.

“It needs to be recognized as such.”

Quite the role model 77 million American voters chose for US kids and young adults. I hope they're happy with their gas and egg prices.

Pan Am Flight 103: Robert Mueller’s 30-Year Search for Justice In 1988 a bomb downed a jet in Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 in the first major attack on Americans. Robert Mueller, then the head of the Justice Department’s criminal division, oversaw the case. F...

2) Bob Mueller’s deeply personal decades-long hunt for justice for the victims of Pan Am 103: www.wired.com/story/robert...

The Untold Story of Robert Mueller's Time in Combat Special Counsel Robert Mueller's job is to make sense of how Russia hacked the 2016 election. But to make sense of Mueller, you have to revisit Vietnam's bloodiest battles.

I wrote a lot about Bob Mueller across a lot of chapters of his career. I wanted to share two @wired.com pieces that I wrote about his defining life experiences—both a picture of an era of public service all but lost today:

1) His brave *voluntary* service in Vietnam: www.wired.com/story/robert...

Trump Surprised To Find He's At War in Iran Once his not-even-half-baked plan failed to materialize in Iran, it’s clear that there’s no Plan B.

“I wish the media would start to trumpet what seems clear to anyone actually reading the media’s own coverage: Every news story needs to start leading with the fact that Trump is lost at sea.”

This should be a front-page scandal.

American media’s sane-washing of Trump is one of its most monumental failures of the past decade.

Here’s Bernie in 1988 endorsing Jackson sounding very much like Bernie and Jackson. Jackson won Vermont’s presidential caucuses.

www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/sa...

ICE's Masks Are All a Lie Working for ICE is actually less dangerous than being an elementary school student in America.

“Which is to say: Being an elementary school student in the United States is more deadly than being an ICE officer.”

On the Media The Peabody Award-winning On the Media podcast is your guide to examining how the media sausage is made. Hosts Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger examine threats to free speech and government transparency, cast a skeptical eye on media coverage of the week’s big stories and unravel hidden political narratives in everything we read, watch and hear.

“ Someday we will tell our children about this month of January 2026 in world politics, and they will not be able to fathom what we chose to do as a country to ourselves.”

Garrett Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social on how Trump is damaging US global standing.
on-the-media.visitlink.me/IitPv8

We Are Witnessing the Self-Immolation of a Superpower With Donald Trump’s actions in Greenland, Minneapolis, and Venezuela, a foreign enemy could not invent a better chain of events to wreck the standing of the United States.

“This is the end of the world as we have known it for 80 years—all for reasons that will confound future political scientists and historians. There is no strategy behind this exercise in superpower suicide…”

By Garrett M Graff

Devastating new CNN poll on the anniversary of Trump’s first year in office: voters think he’s made everything worse — crime, free speech, health, global security. Literally every promise.

www.cnn.com/2026/01/16/p...

A friendly reminder that no ICE officer has ever been killed in the line of duty in a hostile incident.

Being an elementary schoolchild in America is far more deadly and dangerous than being an ICE officer.

The physical weight of Trumpism That heaviness you feel, that drag on your mental health, that drain on your emotional energy and lethargy in the face of world events, like yesterday, is real.

"That heaviness you feel, that drag on your mental health, that drain on your emotional energy and lethargy in the face of world events, like yesterday, is real. We are all carrying a lot of new weight..." —Garrett M. Graff @vermontgmg.bsky.social

www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/the-physic...