Today in Politics, Bulletin 331. Everything you need to know about what happened today in politics. open.substack.com/pub/meidasto...

@jaywillis.net writeup of the Afroman saga is easily the most delightful I've read. The case shows "what can happen when cops, who as a general rule rarely face consequences for their actions, manage to cross a person with plenty of time, a sizable social media following, and a smooth baritone."

This feels important to save for the future

Scoop: The big CBS News layoffs are expected to come down on Friday. www.status.news/p/cbs-news-l...

Senate Republicans are tying up the floor with the biggest voter suppression vote in history It’s built on a BIG LIE of non-citizen voting @democracydefendersaction.org exposes them in our new report w/ @lulacorg.bsky.social 👇

Rogan mentions cannabis being legal in Canada. Poilievre replies, “been legal for 10 years, yeah.” Rogan applauds Canada for voting to legalize marijuana. He says it's about "personal freedom." Poilievre agrees it’s about personal choice. (Poilievre voted against cannabis legalization lol)

Rogan and Poilievre are talking shit about people who impose their will on others. Poilievre specifically emphasizes trusting people to build their own lives. Frankly rich, given conservatives across Canada are controlling the lives of trans kids and intervening between them and doctors.

Tulsi Gabbard's answer before Congress on whether Iran really posed an imminent threat is "how you know you're living in an authoritarian country." Read about it from @saletan.bsky.social today: www.thebulwark.com/p/tulsi-gabb...

"Secretary of War": Defending against a war of aggression is bad. Waging a war of aggression is good.

After you read this interview, please also read the attached PDF with testimony and concerns from medical professionals. We thank them for their bravery in stepping forward.

Jared Kushner is enriching himself from billion-dollar deals with a variety of countries in the middle east. @robertgarcia.house.gov and Oversight Democrats are opening an investigation and won't stop until we uncover the truth.

After JAG firings, concerns rise that legal checks are weakening as military use grows more questionable. substack.com/@thekenharba... Follow The Ken Harbaugh Show here: linktr.ee/thekenharbau...

JAGs guide commanders on law and discipline, but commanders decide on prosecution and accountability. substack.com/@thekenharba... Follow The Ken Harbaugh Show here: linktr.ee/thekenharbau...

it's that time again - come hang out! we're gonna talk No Kings, primaries, election sabotage and more

If doing an Abundance of Moderate Populism or any of the other takes from Ezra Douthglesias & everyone else was the problem, then let me present to you again the Actual 2024 Democratic Party Platform: www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/20...

Listen to Leah!

Faced with a conflict between Trump and the truth, Gabbard could have defended the intelligence. Or she could have resigned. Instead, to appease Trump, she revised her position. lnk.thebulwark.com/40FRDi0

The NBC News story about Corey Lewandowski is very important. The GEO Group-related claims are astounding, and later reporting in the story suggests that those allegations were not some one-time thing. www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

For more on this, check out Dan’s thread (and earlier reporting):

This week, Gabbard disclaimed all responsibility—not just for herself but by extension for the whole American intelligence community—for determining whether Iran posed an “imminent threat” to the United States. Not good.

He's talking about using nuclear weapons in Iran. I always figured his fear of nukes would keep him in check, but he's so disinhibited that it seems like anything is now possible. Removing him before he has a chance to order a nuclear release would be a good idea, but it's not going to happen.

Quite literally, this is what Kamala Harris & Democrats were selling in 2024. You can read the platform, rewatch the debates & convention or ~every interview with her. You can remember Tim Walz existed & spoke. Etc. Etc. Folks said no, but it wasn't that stability & predictability weren't on offer.

Israel and the U.S. may have different objectives? You don’t say.

Folks look at you like you’re crazy when you say we’re in the midst of the worst, most unprecedented Article I constitutional crisis in American history, & then it’s Thursday:

"Public health officials have postponed tens of thousands of surgeries, and cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy have seen their treatments disrupted by power outages and a lack of refrigerated medicine."

Iran’s attacks on gulf nations - Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait - continued overnight. Cathay Pacific has cancelled all flights to Dubai and Riyadh until the end of April. Oil is now up to $113 a barrel.

Heritage’s OWN data: noncitizen voting <0.0001% (over 40 years). Not enough to swing even close races. Trump tried to prove fraud: • 62 lawsuits • 61 lost/dropped • 1 meaningless procedural win Our elections ARE secure. Tell your Senators - vote NO on the SAVE Act!

GABBARD: The imminent nature of a threat is determined by the president CROW: The bottom line is there was no imminent threat, and you know that, and there's no product that shows that

Rep. Crow: "Did any of them [Iran threat assessments] show imminence?" Gabbard: "The imminent nature of a threat is determined by the president based on a totality of the intelligence and information provided to him." Rep. Crow: "There was no imminent threat, and you know that."

Years

Professor Wurman seems to relish in calling me a bad academic who doesn’t sufficiently extend good faith presumptions and scholarly charity. He also demands I produce evidence in real time. Fairs. So, Ilan Wurman, I’d like you to meet Ilan Wurman.

Again, I simply can't imagine choosing to dedicate my entire academic career to making bad faith, historically illiterate arguments that people born in America are not citizens.

Whether or not POTUS makes the final determination of an "imminent threat" to US, if the DNI is unable to factually substantiate such a determination it is incredibly damning. (Trump 1.0 justified the Soleimani strike by citing a supposed "imminent threat" before conceding it was a "red herring.")

Lewandowski wanted a cut on every awarded DHS contract... "wanted to be paid in exchange for protecting and growing GEO Group’s DHS contracts, according to a senior DHS official and three people familiar with their discussion." www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...

Greenland was no joke. Believe what he says.

Today is Bad Bracket Decisions Thursday Morning, where you look at the bracket you already filled out and enhance it with some bad decisions before tipoff. Let this post be your guide

Maria Bartiromo: "Joe Kent, the US counterterrorism official who resigned from his post earlier this week, reportedly now under investigation by the FBI"

🚀 NOTICE: Federal US website newly registered. https://250.gov Action taken by the nan (Executive Office of the President) at or around 2026-03-19 06:30:53.

There was a time when this guy was actually a reasonably serious commentator on economic policy. Like Nate Silver, he decided to take the mask off, & it's just incredibly ugly now.

I just left a sham briefing with Attorney General Pam Bondi.   Democrats repeatedly asked if she would comply with the House Oversight subpoena that was issued after a BIPARTISAN vote earlier this month & commit to testifying under oath about her role in covering up the Epstein files. She refused.🧵

"Wilson recently said on a podcast that the theocratic society he envisions would ban mosques from broadcasting calls to prayer and prohibit Catholic parades honoring the Virgin Mary." lnk.thebulwark.com/3NMZWpf

Your occasional reminder that immigration judges are not really judges, in that they are not independent of the executive branch, but are instead its employees. Over time they have been stripped of job protections. Trump fired 100 last year. This is the result:

I embedded with anti-drone crews across Ukraine - rooftops, trenches, the Black Sea coast. They rewrote modern warfare in real time. The Pentagon had a front-row seat, but learned nothing. Now, drones are killing Americans overseas. Drone Hunters of Kherson premieres TODAY. youtu.be/bAiFssbOJdE?...

I intended to watch the first couple minutes of this but ended up watching all 17 because it was so compelling I couldn’t stop. Really opens your eyes on what life is like in the Drone War being fought on Ukraine’s side of the border with limited resources & lots of heroism. bsky.app/profile/thek...

Obscene, outrageous and unsurprising. This comes right after Republicans just passed a record high military budget with a huge increase. Now Trump wants an insane amount more for his latest war. And this comes on a day our exploding national debt just passed $39 Trillion.

BREAKING: here we go in the Kennedy Center case New order puts us on a ROCKET DOCKET to litigate renaming & closure of this precious "living memorial" We will build on our TRO win allowing @repbeatty.bsky.social to confront Trump at the WH--& that gave her the docs to do it Fasten seatbelts!

Aside from the question of whether and to what degree Joe Kent is a hero or a villain, the more interesting point now is that he sees political promise in turning on Trump at all. Today's Morning Shots from @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social and @eggerdc.bsky.social: lnk.thebulwark.com/40Eodkc

🚨 Flipping the House blue is an ABSOLUTE MUST this year. Donate today. #Blue26 --"TBD" donations go to the eventual Dem nominee. --Nothing donated via this page goes to me. --You can opt out of sharing your phone/email w/the campaigns! secure.actblue.com/donate/house...