Letter: Congress is not supposed to rubber-stamp wars after the fact. It is supposed to decide whether a president should take the country into war in the first place. Why does Blake Moore need us to tell him that?

New: Ex Pentagon officials fear broken Trump national security process could lead to risky Iran ground escalation open.substack.com/pub/diplomat...

New: Trump conciliatory noises on Iran greeted with skepticism open.substack.com/pub/diplomat...

Sunset, KC

New: Lose/lose: Both sides can lose the war on Iran open.substack.com/pub/diplomat...

Trump faces growing prospect of no decisive win in Iran war: ‘We don’t want to go back every two years.’ open.substack.com/pub/diplomat...

Mucho sibling rivalry between cat and dog, but it is the dog at night who lets us know cat is ready to be let in after prowling around outside.

A couple of threads tonight have got me thinking about the military planning for Trump's war on Iran. How do they plan without clear objectives? Did they pick and choose among his words, as the media does in sanewashing? Did mil leaders construct something with Rubio and present it to Trump?

Embattled Rep. Tony Gonzales announces he's dropping out of the runoff resulting from his close second-place finish last Tuesday in his re-election primary. (Does anybody believe Mike Johnson would have asked Gonzales to drop out if Gonzales had decisively won his primary?)

Exclusive: US investigation points to likely US responsibility in Iran school strike, sources say www.reuters.com/world/middle...

US ICE arrested journalist in Nashville without arrest warrant, her lawyers say www.reuters.com/business/med...

14 cases, that are known. DHS refuses to respond to inquiries. “In response to the outbreak, the facility has been closed to visitors and legal advisers and isn’t expected to reopen until March 19”

She was not fired for her excesses. She was fired for his embarrassment.

Honestly, this headline quote is impeachable. people.com/trump-says-i...

get a load of Kristi Noem's facial expressions as Rep. Kamlager-Dove enters articles in the congressional record with headlines like, "Lewandowski taking out trash at Noem's DC home" and "ICE Barbie's mile high private chamber with alleged lover exposed"

And canis interruptus?

I will miss Kristi Noem's inimitable constitutional insights, as when, asked by Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H. at a Senate hearing to define "habeas corpus," she replied, "Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country."

"No stupid rules of engagement." — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, March 2, 2026 "The strike would rank among the worst cases of civilian casualties in decades of U.S. conflicts in the Middle East." — Reuters, March 5, 2026

What a surprise.

Mediaite and People are on it, while I can't find anything about this on the New York Times or Washington Post websites

Cool DC area restaurant to a teenager for their bday?

Was diplomacy with Iran really doomed to fail? open.substack.com/pub/diplomat...

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com “We Americans have begun another Middle Eastern war based on dubious intelligence claims, and as in 2003, I fear we haven’t thought through the substantial risks and uncertain gains,” our columnist @nickkristof.bsky.social writes.

Family and friends back home (Dubai) did not sleep a wink. Explosions are heard every 30min, and they’re no longer far off. Strikes seem random, too. Kids are having it worse. My niece woke up to the sounds and threw up. Thinking of kids back home. In Iran, Gaza and Sudan. All of them precious.

New: No imminent threat: Experts dispute Trump admin claims for attacking Iran open.substack.com/pub/diplomat...

Breaking news: Satellite images and videos provide the first window into where U.S. and Israeli strikes have landed across Iran, revealing various government buildings and civilian areas.

probably overestimating things but the Anthropic move feels like a major flashpoint. I think the administration is going to eat shit on this but if they don’t this will be a significant turning point towards a Bad Future.

Either the DOD is taking a softer stance with OpenAI (which seems hard to believe) or OpenAI is prepared to make more concessions here than it is acknowledging

This is the tiniest-dick energy I’ve ever fucking seen

anyone seen Secret Agent? Good?

New: US so far mum after Iran talks in Geneva open.substack.com/pub/diplomat...

If I hear another minute of US political news, am going to implode. the way Pentagon/House GOP leadership killed air safety ROTOR bill at eleventh hour extremely depressing.

New: Iran willing to make a deal as soon as possible, negotiator says, as Trump’s nebulous aims questioned open.substack.com/pub/diplomat...

On the eve of the 4th anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Volodymyr Zelenskyy told @financialtimes.com Russia and Ukraine are at the “beginning of the end” of Europe’s biggest war since WWII, but urged Trump to see through Putin’s negotiating “games”. Free link: as.ft.com/r/9b99f21a-e...

One of the most exhausting things is the sheer lack of any normal reasoning for Trump's enormities.

New: Vance says Iran talks went well, but Iran not agreed to all Trump red lines open.substack.com/pub/diplomat...

It's not a new observation at this point but that wild Noem/Lewandowski story in WSJ really brings home the extent to which all the Trump 2 cabinet-level goblins see their jobs as flying private, doing short-form video, and screaming at underlings. They all hate each other and none of them can read.

BREAKING: Judge Nancy Brasel, a Trump appointee, has issued a TRO in the Minnesota access-to-counsel case about treatment at Whipple. "It appears that in planning for Operation Metro Surge, the government failed to plan for the constitutional rights of its civil detainees."

New: Trump signals preference for Iran deal. Threat of imminent US military strikes recedes. open.substack.com/pub/diplomat...

About to become a Super Bowl widow and just finished book was reading (new Lily King novel, superb).

Think that is David Bowie coming out of 15yo’s room.

“Late Friday night, the Fifth Circuit adopted the extreme minority view—that the government can indefinitely detain without bond millions of non-citizens who have been here for generations; who have never committed a crime; and who pose neither a risk of flight nor any threat to public safety.”

Breaking MS NOW: The Department of Homeland Security *unsuccessfully* sought to expedite deportation proceedings against the family of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, according to a local school official. At an asylum hearing Friday, the family was granted a continuance. www.ms.now/news/dhs-rep...

It's not hypocisy. She just fucking lies.