Read @rahmemanuel.bsky.social's essay on parenting. Seriously, it's good. Featured in my newsletter today (second item): convulsions.substack.com/p/the-harsh-...

I knew Elise Stefanik at Harvard's Institute of Politics, when she was a moderate Republican friendly with liberal classmates like @petebuttigieg.bsky.social. Unfortunately, we didn't teach her at Harvard to harness her ambition or deal with the likes of Donald Trump.

Eighty-four years ago, we learned that isolationism, nationalism, and protectionism can make good people blind to the hard realities of their times and catapult bad men toward unspeakable horrors.

The American First movement under Trump echoes the one that defended a rising Nazi Germany in the 1930s. convulsions.substack.com/p/the-trump-...

He: 1. Called an entire community of Americans “garbage” and said, “I don’t want them in our country.” 2. Dismissed the public’s concerns about inflation. 3. Lied again about the 2020 election, which he lost but says he won. 4. Threatened to attack Latin American countries by land.

The Crux of the Biscuit

@ronfournier.bsky.social, a former longtime White House correspondent, is part of a drumbeat growing louder and wider:

The situation: - Trump says he’s at war with drug kingpins - Trump pardons a drug kingpin - Executing Trump’s war on drug kingpins, Hegseth orders the execution of two unarmed men floating in the sea - Trump calls for the execution of six U.S. senators convulsions.substack.com/p/trumps-pho...

Hear me out. convulsions.substack.com/p/president-...

He is unfit, a clear and present danger. convulsions.substack.com/p/the-red-ho...

This father's plea: Damn you, RFK Jr. Stop Lying About Autism: convulsions.substack.com/p/damn-you-r...

A Kent State shooting survivor’s obit, linked to here by @ronfournier.bsky.social, tells how injured student John Cleary "became a quiet yet powerful voice in warning about the dangers of poisonous political discourse and the suppression of free speech" -- relatable dangers now too.

This is what happens when you politicize the National Guard, weaponizing it against Americans. convulsions.substack.com/p/weaponizin...

"THEY are not reporters. They are propagandists, journalistic scabs." Spot on, Ron!

“8 million for bullshit advice. Welcome to the Political Consultant Class.” - @ronfournier.bsky.social substack.com/@ronfournier...

“Say it again: Cruelty is a feature for Trump, not a bug.”

Media "leaders" who stay mum about Trump chain yanks or comply just invite escalation, this journalism vet below warned when @apnews.com got spanked last spring. Better to remember a rallying cry attributed to Ben Franklin: "We must hang separately or most assuredly we shall hang together."

I thought Trump loved coal miners, those soot-faces avatars for the white working-class voters he courted during three presidential campaigns. But now I see this reporting by The @apnews.com, which reads more like dereliction than devotion. convulsions.substack.com/p/american-l...

Don't tell me Democrats can’t win back Trump voters. That they’re too stupid, bullheaded or racist to be swayed. Tuesday's elections proved you wrong: convulsions.substack.com/p/how-dems-c...

A child is starving. You’ve got money in the bank to feed him. But you refuse, saying the bank is closed. Federal judges call bullshit — and tell you to use your ATM card. That’s a metaphor for Trump and SNAP. Read more at Convulsions: convulsions.substack.com/p/cowardly-c...

On Mike Donilon and Dems like him: "They are morally and strategically bankrupted hacks whose solipsistic service not only decimated the Democratic Party’s brand, but now jeopardizes our democratic system: They are the reason Trump is president again." convulsions.substack.com/p/bowing-to-...

A follow up to by "Dear White House reporters: WTF?" column convulsions.substack.com/p/dear-penta...

“The Autism Alliance of Michigan is now looking at layoffs and budget cuts. This makes so little sense — it’s so maddeningly short-sighted and cruel — that I don’t want to believe it was done on purpose. It must be a mistake.” - @ronfournier.bsky.social open.substack.com/pub/convulsi...

This one is personal.

ICE draws protests, which angers Trump, who uses protests as justification to deploy troops, which pits police against the public, which creates a powder keg of violence, which makes Chicago less safe, which validates Trump to his base

Consider this question: Had today’s internet existed in 1938 for Hitler and Stalin to exploit, would fascism have prevailed?

MAGA is building a Deep State of their own and giving it power to silence and steal people’s speech.

I strongly opposed the president’s budget priorities. But there are realties we must face. One of them is: In the casino of modern politics, the house almost always wins.

Thanks to @ronfournier.bsky.social for including it in his “Convulsions” on Substack (link below) www.poynter.org/reporting-ed...

“He really is an idiot.”

"Trump is creating a pretext for military deployment against U.S. citizens. The crisis he says exists is nonexistent. But he may well create one." -- @ronfournier.bsky.social on a presidential post Saturday about sending "all necessary Troops to protect War ravaged Portland"

News analysis by @ronfournier.bsky.social beyond where he could go as White House bureau chief for AP:

Also: What I'd like to see happen now that Kimmel is back. convulsions.substack.com/p/my-preside...