Tom Friedman’s Two-Point Peace Plan for the Iran War www.nytimes.com/2026/03/31/o... “two points: Iran gives up its more than 950 pounds of nearly bomb-grade highly enriched uranium, and in return the United States gives up on regime change.” A spot-on critique of the Trump Iran action.

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv... “He recognizes no distinction between what is public and private, legal and illegal, formal and informal, national and personal. “He can’t tell the difference between his own personal interest and the national interest” “Patrimonialism” —plus his narcissism.

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/21/u... “Mr. Trump remained unforgiving of Mr. Mueller’s investigation even after Mr. Mueller’s death. On learning of it on Saturday, he posted on Truth Social: “Good, I’m glad he’s dead. He can no longer hurt innocent people!”” Trump at his most dishonorable

Inside the Supply Line www.nytimes.com/2026/03/17/w... “As the Trump administration pushes the Mexican government to do more against drug cartels, an unintended beneficiary has emerged from the U.S. pressure campaign: the weapons smugglers who supply guns to the Sinaloa Cartel”

‘Once and for All’ Means Never www.nytimes.com/2026/03/20/o... “If you are in a hurry, you started the wrong war.” Tom Friedman

“Wesley Clark, a retired four-star Army general, pointed to the practical challenges and lack of strategy and told me the war “is going off the rails.””

Trump Has No Idea How to End the War With Iran www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/o... Time to wait and see — if the regime implodes.

Is the Trial of Erdogan’s Top Rival More About Corruption or Politics? www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/w... Meanwhile, Turkey’s dictator, Erdogan, jails his top rival.

“Operational Excellence, Strategic Incompetence” The title sums up the Iran escapade.

www.wsj.com/opinion/ther... “You’ve got to hope it’s all going to succeed, that it will make America’s position an inch or two better in the world and not an inch or two worse, ….But it’s a gamble, a huge one, and we’ll find out if it was a reckless one.”

www.nytimes.com/interactive/... Last January, regime forces shot to kill thousands of Iranian protestors.

Another example of Trumpian instability and government-by-whim.

Trump Is a Wrecking Ball, and He’s Only Getting Started www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/o... “As we lose our alliances and instability spreads, America is headed for more, not fewer, international entanglements. That may be a surprise for those who thought Mr. Trump was going to be an isolationist.

Trump: Bored of Peace and recipient of No Bell Peace Prize.

www.washingtonpost.com/business/202... Apparently, for publishing the obvious: Trump’s tariffs are borne mainly by US companies and consumers - not by other countries.

Trump’s FCC pressured CBS into not airing Stephen Colbert’s interview of James Talarico. Here it is on YouTube. Worth watching. youtu.be/oiTJ7Pz_59A?...

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/o...

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/14/o... “When offered the opportunity to apologize to these women for the Department of Justice’s disastrous handling of the Epstein files, Ms. Bondi didn’t just decline; she sneered.”

“As a clinician who has treated people with severe mental illness for 40 years, I am continually frustrated by government policies that tie my hands in the name of giving the infirmed their rights and by the lack of available treatment facilities.” NYT Ltr to the Editor by Dr Jeffrey Lieberman

👀 👀

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www.nytimes.com/2026/02/12/u... “Judge Leon barred Mr. Hegseth and the Pentagon from taking any steps to reduce the senator’s retirement rank and pay, or using the findings against Mr. Kelly in a criminal proceeding.”

The House vote occurred one day after three House Republicans joined Democrats in blocking leadership’s effort to extend a ban on bringing any anti-tariff resolutions to the floor. Those three, Don Bacon-NE, Thomas Massie-KY and Kevin Kiley-CA, were among 6 GOPers voting to end tariffs on Canada.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/n... Family wealth is no guarantee when severe mental illness goes untreated and an Irish hospital has no available bed.

open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug... “In the backrooms of MAGA-land, passing around under-age girls is a lot like passing around insider crypto deals.”

Good for our republic! Grand Jury rebuffs DOJ attempt to indict 6 Democrats in Congress who posted a video this fall reminding active-duty members of the military and intelligence community that they were obligated to refuse illegal orders. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...

Trump’s Obama Derangement Syndrome www.nytimes.com/2026/02/07/o... Best opening Opinion line yet: “It seems etymologically, metaphysically, geologically and ethically impossible that President Trump could reach a new low. But he has.”

Before Trump took office, retail prices were trending downwards. His tariffs reversed that pattern. My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

Trump wants Penn Station, Dulles Airport named after him in funding deal over Hudson River Tunnel - abcnews.go.com/US/trump-pen... So why not just call it Trump Tunnel? Is there such a thing as Acute Malignant Narcissism Attack?

"According to sources...video and photo posts to the president’s Truth Social account go through layers of approval. Trump signs off on the content posted, but he often does not find...these clips himself...it takes a village...to create the federal government’s racist propaganda operation."

🚨 Rep. John Larson moves to BLOCK Trump’s $10B scheme to profit off taxpayers! 💥 The Prevent Presidential Profiteering Act would slap a 100% tax on any settlement Trump or his companies get from the U.S. government. No more taxpayer handouts for self-enrichment. larson.house.gov/media-center...

open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug... “the whole thing a delusion — BTC isn’t a medium of exchange, nor is it a reliable store of value….we seem to be having a Wile E. Coyote moment”

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/t... “The audience for fact checks is far outstripped by interest in false and misleading posts. Initiatives at social media platforms such as X and Facebook to limit or remove such content have been slashed or abandoned” Wanted: Reliable AI Detection

Trump Drops Demand for Cash From Harvard After Stiff Resistance www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/u... “On Tuesday, Dr. Garber, who became president of Harvard in 2024, was honored by Yale University as a “legend in leadership,” in large part because of his pushback on the White House.”

wapo.st/4qVplLR “an off-duty police officer had been “boxed … in” by vehicles driven by ICE agents….The officer attempted to begin filming the interaction and her phone was knocked out of her hand, Bruley said. When she identified herself as a police officer, the federal agents “immediately left,”

Hey, Republicans: Trump Is the President www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/o... “”Trump, in damage-control mode, will do or say anything to get through a crisis — and his words at such a moment have about as much long-term value as a diploma from Trump University.”” Frank Bruni quoting Susan Glasser

Takeaways From The Times’s Inside Look at the F.B.I. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/m...

Former SecDef Gates: “Trump unfit to be Commander-in-Chief”

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/29/w... “While the government says the companies were seized for national security reasons, they have been targeted seemingly at random…. Instead, the seizures were intended to enrich friends of the Kremlin”

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202... “For months, President Donald Trump’s administration has been trying to force Minnesota’s Democratic leaders to turn over detailed information about the state’s voters, including driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers.”

RAND PAUL: If a country bombed our air defense missiles, captured & removed our president, & blockaded our country, would that be considered an act of war? RUBIO: We just don't believe this operation comes anywhere close to the constitutional definition PAUL: Of course it would be an act of war!

Modern 3 Stooges about to be sidelined? • Pee Wee German • Numbskull Noem • Brown Shirt Bovino

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0... This article and Prof Galston’s book will be quoted in a lot of college term papers. “By mocking decency and saying the unsayable, they open the way for what William Galston has called the “dark passions” of fear, resentment, and especially domination”

Another poll. Another “faller”. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/22/u... “Some 42 percent of voters said he was on track to be one of the worst presidents in American history — and 19 percent said he was headed to be one of the best.”

www.theatlantic.com/politics/202... Aha. An attempt at taxonomy of Trump supporters: • MAGA Hardliners - 29% • Anti-woke Conservatives - 21% • Mainline Republicans - 30% • Reluctant Right - 20% Looking forward to more along these lines: Kingdom/Phylum/Class/Order/Family/Genus/Species

www.nytimes.com/interactive/... The Trump Web. Worth examining.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/21/u... “I profoundly disagree with the legal interpretation of the Constitution and laws related to administrative warrants in this memo and believe ICE is undermining our constitutional order in their zeal to meet a quota,” said Kerry Doyle, who was the top ICE lawyer”

www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state... “The foundations of American power are rooted in the rule of law at home and credible commitment abroad, the very things that Trump has attempted to dismantle…. In Trump’s zero-sum global order, it is the United States that will eventually pay the price.”

BREAKING: A judge rejects prosecutors' bid to charge journalist Don Lemon after a Minnesota church protest, AP source says.