As a former resident of Monroe County, Mich., I have even more respect for Stephen Colbert.

In the newest post from the Democracy Renewal Group, Ambar Zobairi analyzes the attack on the Voting Rights Act and the problems with gerrymandering after the Callais decision, and she offers some alternatives to make our democracy more representative. democracyrenewal.substack.com/p/drawn-to-l...

The Ebola outbreak in East Africa is just the latest example of how the chaotic destruction of USAID is costing lives and making the world less safe. Crushing to consider how much ground we’ve lost in pandemic preparedness and outbreak response capacity. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/20/h...

The pain of Cleveland fandom continues.

“Well, the thing that we don’t like about gerrymandering is that it’s highly disproportional. … if you make Louisiana one six-member proportional district, there are no lines to draw. There’s no possibility for gerrymandering.” www.nytimes.com/2026/05/19/o...

“[W]ould-be authoritarians don’t need to staff their regimes with ideological true believers, offer extreme enticements or impose draconian punishments in order to make successful power grabs. They just ... target their ideal labor pool: the frustrated and mediocre.” www.nytimes.com/2026/05/18/w...

Maj. Hegseth is betraying our closest, most loyal allies, making our service members in Europe less secure, and doing the Kremlin’s bidding. #NAFO

“…an 18-hole course that stretches to nearly 7,700 yards — much more than any municipal golfer needs…Golf for the community — and that is what East Potomac should be — should include shorter courses on which kids can learn and octogenarians can still knock it around.” www.nytimes.com/athletic/727...

“If the Fazio plan were implemented, the facility would no longer be a bustling hub for players of all abilities. … If hosting a big tournament at East Potomac is unrealistic, you have to wonder why it’s necessary to build a 7,660-yard golf course.” www.thefriedegg.com/articles/was...

Take a parliamentary strengthening specialist on a Caribbean vacation, and guess where he will end up. #Curaçao

Zbigniew Ziobro was one of the authors of the attempt to transform Poland into an authoritarian regime. Ziobro is a wanted man with no passport. The Trump White House just went to a good deal of trouble to bring him to the US. snyder.substack.com/p/copycat-ty...

The DC area doesn’t need a championship-level course like Bethpage Black, where a sign famously warns, “The Black Course Is An Extremely Difficult Course Which We Recommend Only For Highly Skilled Golfers.” We need a course that is walkable and accessible for all. The original Walter Travis design.

Trump on Iran War: Reporter: What extent are Americans’ financial situation motivating you to make a deal? Trump: Not even a little bit. I don't think about Americans’ financial situation

NATO needs Ukraine more than Ukraine needs NATO. Ukraine will be a security contributor, not a security consumer. #NAFO

Mike Luckovich

For those concerned that this administration is only granting asylum to white Afrikaners, good news: this administration is also granting asylum to fugitive corrupt Polish politicians.

The U.S. is effectively checkmated in Iran—and this defeat will carry lasting consequences unlike any America has endured before, Robert Kagan argues.

USAID wasn’t dismantled to eliminate waste or to better align foreign aid. It was destroyed by uninformed, unqualified sycophants just to stoke the ego of a billionaire. I was on The Majority Report w Sam Seder this week to discuss my book, Into the Wood Chipper. www.youtube.com/live/PghFKYj...

NEW: Pope Leo XIV is the son of a Black Creole woman from Chicago’s South Side who earned a master's at thirty-seven, sang contralto in her parish choir, and ran the library at the Catholic high school where her son would later teach. On Mother’s Day, the woman who made an American pope.

“Into the Wood Chipper” recounts the reckless way in which DOGE officials dismantled USAID. By Nicholas Enrich, a former top health official … it chronicles the “callousness, dishonesty and ineptitude” of Trump aides who destroyed programs that they didn’t understand. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/09/o...

The Democracy Renewal Group has launched its Substack! Check out the introductory article and subscribe to weekly analysis of the democracy crisis in the United States through a global lens by USAID democracy and governance practitioners and consultants. democracyrenewal.substack.com/p/introducin...

Hockey fans prove that our countries cannot be divided by one man. Buffalo fans finish 'O Canada'... www.cbc.ca/sports/hocke...

We know the Trump administration is going to cheat in the midterm elections. It's good to see that the Democrats are preparing to fight back. talkingpointsmemo.com/news/house-d...

This is what Marco Rubio decided to do with his life: "AIDS Creeps Back in Parts of Zambia, a Year After U.S. Cuts to HIV Assistance: A once-robust HIV treatment and prevention system, credited with saving hundreds of thousands of lives, has begun to crumble..." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/25/h...

“It looked like a group of unqualified people that came in to replace decades of expertise and tore down an agency.” www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Since congressional districts aren’t drawn fairly by either party, let’s get rid of disticts and move to statewide proportional representation in every state. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

"When the Trump administration dismantled [USAID] last year, it wiped out virtually an entire industry ... Nearly all of the agency’s 16,000 employees were laid off. An estimated 280,000 contractors, partners and local hires worldwide lost their jobs as well." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/21/u...

Pope Leo today: "Blessed are the peacemakers." "Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth."

Recent Catholic convert literally tries to be more Catholic than the Pope. From the New York Times: "'I think it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology,' Mr. Vance said." I'm sure the Pope will take JD Vance's theological critique under advisement.

Nicholas Enrich, former USAID acting assistant administrator for global health, explains in his new book how the breathtaking ignorance and callousness of Trump appointees resulted in the destruction of foreign aid and hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths. www.thehandbasket.co/p/trump-usai...

"Of the four nations Leo will visit in his 11-day tour of the African continent, Cameroon and Angola have been particularly impacted by the cuts to USAID operations which began at the start of President Donald Trump's second term." www.ncronline.org/vatican/vati...

I found the East Wing of the White House today.

“Orbán’s loss brings to an end the assumption of inevitability that has pervaded the MAGA movement, as well as the belief … that illiberal parties are somehow destined not just to win but to hold power forever … As it turns out, history doesn’t work like that.” www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

Trump statement today: “I’ve had a very good record of endorsing candidates, but I don’t know Viktor Orban. I don’t think I’ve ever met him. Some people say that he was a fan of MAGA, and perhaps he was, perhaps he wasn’t, I just don’t know. I think JD is a supporter of his. You’d have to ask him.”

"NATO’s essence is a defensive alliance. The alliance was designed to prevent wars, not to go to war." michaelmcfaul.substack.com/p/the-united...

How Trump plans to steal the 2026 elections: an “executive order that would declare a national emergency based on false claims of foreign interference in the 2020 election. That declaration would be used to unlock sweeping presidential powers over how Americans vote.” www.nytimes.com/2026/03/31/o...

Massive line for gasoline this morning in Dhaka, Bangladesh, stretching 1.5 km (almost a mile) from the Trust Filling Station near the Prime Minister’s office. Major ramifications worldwide of Trump’s war of choice on Iran.

“The US is no longer a democracy.… ‘What we’re seeing now is the most severe magnitude of democratic backsliding ever in the country.’ …The main factor is a ‘rapid and aggressive concentration of powers in the presidency.’ ” www.theguardian.com/world/commen...

NEW: In Pastoral Letter released today, El Paso’s Bishop Seitz denounces mass detention and mass deportation calling both a “grave moral evil;” Seitz goes to say that: “No one has to obey an immoral order.” www.hopeborder.org/_files/ugd/e...

Trump lets Russia earn more money to fund its intelligence services, which provide intel to Iran to help Iran kill Americans. Trump remains a master strategist. #NAFO www.nytimes.com/2026/03/12/u...

Donald Trump is a master strategist. After 9 days of war, 7 American service members killed, a billion dollars a day in costs, and the Middle East in flames, Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei has been killed and replaced by … wait for it … Supreme Leader Khamenei. Clausewitz wept. (h/t The Economist)

Treason. Giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

"US and Qatari officials are in talks with Ukraine to purchase Ukrainian interceptor drones to intercept Iranian Shahed drones." Today's reminder that we needs Ukraine as an ally not so we can defend Ukraine but so Ukraine can help defend us and our allies. #NAFO understandingwar.org/research/mid...

Charlotte Howard, executive editor of the Economist, on Maj. Pete Hegseth: “Rarely has a man with more confidence and less experience held such power … becoming the only public figure whose ‘Saturday Night Live’ caricature seems more sensible than the original.” 1/2

The Economist: “Russia’s Economy Has Entered the Death Zone.” Trump administration: “How can we snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?” #NAFO

Watching the Guardians spring training game today, and really liking Petey Halpin. If he can keep hitting like this, his speed and defense make him a great candidate to fill the gaping hole in center field. #GuardsBall

Very sad to wake up this morning to the news that the Capitals traded John Carlson, the greateast defenseman in franchise history. A Norris Trophy finalist in his prime, and at 36 still ranks 11th in scoring by NHL D-men. End of a 17-year era. #ALLCAPS russianmachineneverbreaks.com/2026/03/06/j...

You do not need to be a pacifist to question Trump's war against Iran. It has serious shortcomings when examined through the lens of just war theory, says Fr. Thomas Reese.