In the absence of any public release this year of Trump’s income tax payments (routine for all other presidents; verboten for Trump) I’m going to assume he cheated. That would help explain why his policies encourage everybody else to cheat, too.

Worth noting: newrepublic.com/article/2089... Thank you, bsky.app/profile/greg...

Great writing. But yes, please do. www.persuasion.community/p/swearing-b...

Lots of hope and fear in this: www.counteroffensive.news/p/ukraine-fi... Hope is that Ukraine may actually be able to win this thing despite Trump's surreptitious support of Russia. Fear is that he could easily use this tech against dissidents in our own country. Can't imagine what would stop him.

The stress of the moment yesterday did flush out at least one Republican with his morality and integrity intact. See @juddlegum.bsky.social at popular.info/p/just-follo.... Somehow we have to start working with people like Senator Ron Johnson. That starts with noticing when they behave responsibly.

This is closely related to the project that consumes most of my time in retirement. Thank you @landemore.bsky.social . www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/o...

Do smart conservatives still read Andrew Sullivan? I hope so. His latest: andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/a-strongma...

I'd like to read this article, but TheEconomist is just a little too expensive: www.economist.com/leaders/2026.... Does anyone have a gift-link to share?

Not sure if this is reassuring, given that we no longer have literacy on our side in diplomatic relations, but it could be worth remembering and cultivating if we survive the next couple of years. news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...

The key thing about mail ballots in the present era is that they don't allow ballot-box intimidation. Here in Oregon, our election officials need reassurance from both Republicans and Democrats that we will not tolerate this violation. roberthubbell.substack.com/p/trumps-ill...

I like Charlie Syke's general lack of focus on polling data, but have to agree with him about this one: damn! From @sykescharlie.bsky.social at charliesykes.substack.com/p/wwjd-not-t...

Sometimes the ugliness of it all is just too much to think about. Glad there are people like this good historian who somehow have the strength not to look away. heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/march-24-2...

Carlos Lozada's article in today's NYT is very much worth reading if you still doubt what most political scientists are now saying. Can you think of any super-smart person who disagrees? Send me a link if so. I'll read any published well-sourced attempt to refute it. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/24/o...

You can glimpse whether Republican friends still have some kind of moral compass based on their awareness of the shameful way Donald Trump reacted to Robert Mueller's passing. Some of mine do. And some conservative media outlets do, so there's hope. Read roberthubbell.substack.com/p/follow-his...

Offhand I can't remember hearing anything more astonishing, horrifying, and yet indisputable. Can you? www.youtube.com/live/ylvTFvJ...

So much of what I know about Iran comes from watching their great movies. The editorial in today's NYTimes (gift link below) reminded me of this one: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There_I.... To be at war with a country we resemble in so many shameful ways is mind-bending. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/o...

Another unusually insightful piece from @jamellebouie.net in the @nytimes.com this morning. Might be the kind of thing that you could convince a Republican friend to read, since it acknowledges at least the possibility that Trump understands all this. Gift link below: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/11/o...

@jvl.bsky.social makes an important point this morning. He's arguing that "If [Republican voters] remain committed to the course they’re on, America will eventually become a supersized version of Viktor Orbán’s Hungary." Read his third footnote if you doubt it. www.thebulwark.com/p/the-lesson...

@sykescharlie.bsky.social is in top form today: charliesykes.substack.com/p/yes-we-sho...

Seeing in my newsfeed this morning a piece from the brilliant Jamelle Bouie (@jamellebouie.net), I decided to skip all other commentary on last night's degrading spectacle and let his summary guide my reaction. Here's a gift-link that's very much worth sharing: www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/o...

This explanation of Trump's bluster over Iran (from @rbreich.bsky.social) was helpful to me. robertreich.substack.com/p/why-the-he...

Never thought I would stand up and cheer for George Will: youtu.be/gwdHz1Xnfm0?...

From @joycewhitevance.bsky.social this morning: joycevance.substack.com/p/context-ma...

All true -- thank you, @laurenegan7.bsky.social -- and on its face might say I'm wasting a lot of time, but I don't think so. Some kinds of GOTV work create better personal connections and stronger communities, which in turn will attract more voters to our side. open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

Wow. Thanks @danpfeiffer.bsky.social for recommending this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzQY...

Has this story been reported in any right-wing news outlet? Any channel at all that's to the right of @nytimes.com ? If so, please send me a link. I'd like to see how it is being spun. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/u...

Do Republicans know this stuff? Do any of them care? www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Reading @sykescharlie.bsky.social this morning was a white-light conversion experience for me. I had been thinking Democrats couldn't afford another "defund the police" mistake. I now realize we face a completely different situation. Read and share: charliesykes.substack.com/p/why-ice-ca...

From @adriancarrasquillo.bsky.social this morning. Haven't seen anyone else point this out. It needs repeating: www.thebulwark.com/p/ice-was-te...

Here's what I want in my Bluesky feed: something that tells me each day what is top-of-mind for my low-information right-wing friends so I know what to expect when I chat with them at the store -- like the invaluable False Flag but bsky post-length. What do you think @willsommer.bsky.social?

If this doesn't scare you, wait until drones start following people based on what they post here on BlueSky. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/t...

I'm looking for a Republican who has ever - even once - disavowed a lie and apologized for having helped to spread it. Has MTG qualified? How about on our side? Were we lying about Biden's mental condition? If so, did any of our leaders apologize for that? snyder.substack.com/p/ethnic-cle...

As usual, @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social has his eye on the ball: "The purpose of the FBI’s action in Georgia was to establish a precedent for further federal intervention in state and local elections ... and to intimidate state and local officials ..." See: www.thebulwark.com/p/defang-ice...

Important reset for my attention from @andreweggers.bsky.social this morning in @thebulwark.com : "Donald Trump is the kind of guy who tries to steal elections. He’s now presiding over a Justice Department that seems primed to help him try." Original at www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-is-s...

Good question. www.facebook.com/reel/1296883...

This is important and little-mentioned. Thank you, @juliaangwin.com www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/o...

If you're a Christian who still supports Trump, please read this article. It's short, but do let me know how long it took you, and in exchange I will spend the same amount of time reading or listening to whatever you suggest that might change my mind. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Required reading this morning from @jvl.bsky.social : www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-davo...

Google's roll-out of RCS-chat support in Google Messages is just astonishingly poor -- billions of people must be baffled by it -- but maybe it will nudge more of us to stop relying so heavily on old-fashioned text messages and start using Signal. Text me there, please, using cole_brecheen.97.

The whole country needs to understand the outrageously flimsy and authoritarian basis of Trump's "criminal investigations" of Minnesota leaders. I didn't understand them until I read Robert Hubbell this morning: roberthubbell.substack.com/p/trump-retr...

Great article from @thejohnsonpost.bsky.social this morning: open.substack.com/pub/marccjoh... If there is one Republican in the whole country who has the courage or integrity to read it, I'd be astonished and would love to know who it is. Just one? That doesn't seem like too much to ask, does it?

Never having heard Joe Rogan's podcast, but knowing he influences lots of southern men, I've been wondering what he's been saying about the onslaught of horrors. This is heartening: newrepublic.com/article/2052...

My MAGA friends would say they want an America that is richer, more aggressive and dominant, more like it was for white men in the good-old-days. William Kristol boils all that down here (fairly) to "smaller, meaner, and whiter." Beware the company you keep: open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

Hmm. I want to argue with this -- like, how does a study like this account for age differences in the tendency to be posturing and filtered -- but real maturity might be an admission that it annoys me. If I can see the problem in others, it's probably also in me. news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...

I think @jenrubin.bsky.social is a bit more clear-eyed than the NYTimes today: contrarian.substack.com/p/headfirst-... Was hoping to find some Republican, any Republican, able to make a principled case for this invasion. Here's the closest thing I could find: www.nationalreview.com/corner/ten-q...

The stench of Putin's influence on this administration is overwhelming. See www.thebulwark.com/p/lauren-che.... Great reporting, as always, from @willsommer.bsky.social

Reading this joycevance.substack.com/p/unsealed-a... from @joycewhitevance.bsky.social today made my blood boil. Surely all of my law-school friends have by now resigned from the Republican party, but if not: shame on you. Lots of my friends just don't know any better, but you ex-lawyers sure do.