Phillips O’Brien explains Ukraine’s “Seven Million Drones” and why they matter--a lot. youtube.com/shorts/kIv7M...

“Some naïve Trump defenders think—some faux-naïve Trump defenders pretend to think—that what Trump and his movement are about is getting rid of the woke excesses of the last decade or so. But it is the America of 1897 that Trump and his Republican party yearn for.” www.thebulwark.com/p/1-800-trum...

“The Soviets didn’t fold from the start. Jimmy Carter came into office wanting a different dynamic. By the time he left, he understood that the only language the Soviets understood was deterrence. I propose that this is true of all illiberal movements.” www.thebulwark.com/p/a-civil-co...

“Trump is no Klansman. He is the twice-elected President of the United States. And yet his defensive, xenophobic, and frankly reactionary vision of “Americanism” bears a striking resemblance to the vision put forward a century ago by the Klan…” open.substack.com/pub/defendin...

“For Trump there is no contradiction between White supremacy and the unabashed celebration of American patriotism. It seems he is trying to validate the most radical versions of ‘critical race theory,’ personifying a past, and present, of exultant White supremacy.” open.substack.com/pub/defendin...

Amid every other admittedly more important scandal, you might have missed Trump's "real American" mobile-phone bait and switch. That and more in today's Morning Shots from @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social and @eggerdc.bsky.social:

The term “interim docket” not only dramatically minimizes the very real (and often permanent) effects of #SCOTUS’s behavior, but it also whitewashes the disappearance of “irreparable harm” from the Court’s analysis—the very point that (supposedly) makes the request an “emergency” in the first place:

Trump Goes Insane Online As Inflation Spikes | Morning Shots Live www.youtube.com/live/01XGgj8...

"The inflation news will only intensify pressure on Trump to figure something out in the Strait—but so far this morning he’s been focused on other things, like posting about how 'Dumacrats Love Sewage' and how Barack Obama should be prosecuted for treason." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

U.S. inflation way up mostly due to the closing of the Strait. Trump: Opening the Strait isn't a priority.

I gotta say, I kind of lost it here discussing the extraordinary Trump Cabinet of unmitigated jackasses. Luckily Tim stayed calm, cool, and collected. youtu.be/XHO7uwbXE0Y?...

On Trump's defeat in Iran, a possible Ukrainian victory over his friend Putin, the disgrace of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and whole Trump Cabinet or jackasses, and--speaking of disgraces--racial gerrymandering in the South. Tim and I expound. youtu.be/XHO7uwbXE0Y?...

“We need to be prepared, given that it’s not hard to see more extreme members and Trump himself pushing something like this between November and January…We should be clear: It would be a coup d’état, an attempt to overthrow constitutional government altogether.” www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-vra-ru...

Understandable concern about not just the midterms but what comes next, seating the House on Jan 3. It's not as simple as Johnson could refuse members. But there is real potential for mischief or worse. Callais has appreciably increased the danger. So here's what they might try, and how to fight it:

“At one point, 13 out of 14 “truths” in a row dealt with the theme of Trump’s greatness. Not that he’s insecure or anything. Not that he doesn’t need constantly reassurance of his status as a Great Man. There’s a word for this. Or actually, two: mental illness.” open.substack.com/pub/mattlaba...

"Trump’s golden statue, triumphal arch, and 'magnificent' ballroom. They’re all about him. No Republican has said a word critical of any of his narcissistic projects. Democrats need to explain 'The Republican party is with him.' And then show, 'We’re with you.'” open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

On Trump's defeat in Iran, a possible Ukrainian victory over his friend Putin, the disgrace of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and whole Trump Cabinet or jackasses, and--speaking of disgraces--racial gerrymandering in the South. Tim and I expound. youtu.be/XHO7uwbXE0Y?...

It's a little like the reverse of a child taking care of their elder

"Flipping Hillary Clinton’s unfortunate campaign slogan against her was effective. She wanted you to stand with her. Trump promised that he would stand with you. Fast forward eight years." Today's Morning Shots, from @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social and Ben Parker:

"These voters aren’t capable of saying, Voting to impeach Trump is disqualifying because Trump is right about everything. Instead, they construct complicated rationales to justify their base desire." Today's Triad from @jvl.bsky.social: lnk.thebulwark.com/4cZYppK

“But the demagogue ages. The fear of death moves closer to the center of his psyche. Merely holding power and commanding public attention is no longer enough. Mere vanity gives way to a needy and almost insatiable narcissism. The narcissism escapes containment.” www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-for-...

"For Europe, Greenland was traumatic, and Europe was different after the Greenland crisis than before...I think Greenland was like, 'Oh, the United States actually is not only no longer not our friend. It could be a potential foe.'” youtu.be/8kwkymptOr4?...

"If there is one story from the past week that best represents the brave new world we are entering...it was that Turkey, on May 5, unveiled an intercontinental ballistic missile in Istanbul at the 2026 SAHA defense and aerospace exhibition." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

"May 9 offered glimpses of a different Russia—the one Putin has spent years trying to destroy. In St. Petersburg, 85-year-old Lyudmila Vasilieva, a survivor of the siege of Leningrad in 1941–44, held a sign, 'Don’t use the people’s victory to cover up your crimes.'” open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

Happy Mother's Day! @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social explains: How to spend the next six months crushing Trump; why the redistricting setbacks can be overcome; how to win the Senate and the House; why Democrats need to focus on discrediting Trump and winning power. youtu.be/bY0mEsXdlr4?...

Happy Mother's Day! @sarahlongwell25.bsky.social explains: How to spend the next six months crushing Trump; why the redistricting setbacks can be overcome; how to win the Senate and the House; why Democrats need to focus on discrediting Trump and winning power. youtu.be/bY0mEsXdlr4?...

What follows from a U.S. defeat? "An every-nation-for-itself world where order and predictability have broken down...The adjustment to a post-American world is accelerating. America’s once-dominant position in the Gulf is the first of many casualties." www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

"Walking away could seem like the least bad option. As a political matter, Trump may well feel he has a better chance of riding out defeat than a much larger war. Defeat for the U.S. is thus not only possible but likely. Here is what defeat looks like." www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

Robert Kagan: "Defeat in the present confrontation can neither be repaired nor ignored...The roles of China and Russia are strengthened; the role of the U.S. diminished...That is going to set off a chain reaction as friends and foes adjust to America’s failure." www.theatlantic.com/internationa...

If we play our cards right, soon we’ll be able to send handguns through the postal service but not birth control or ballots

86 years ago today: Hitler launches his Blitzkrieg, Churchill becomes Prime Minister. "The contrast between the indomitable and magnanimous statesman and the insane tyrant – this spectacle in its clear simplicity was one of the greatest lessons which men can learn, at any time." -- Leo Strauss

NEW. Phillips O’Brien is I think excellent here—on where the Russia-Ukraine war stands, on what might happen next, on broader geopolitical implications, and on how drones are transforming warfare. conversationswithbillkristol.org/conversation...

NEW: Russia and China both provided Iran with satellite imagery during the war, which helped facilitate Iranian attacks against US forces and regional countries. There is evidence that at least Russia is helping Iran reconstitute some of its military capabilities during the ceasefire period. (1/6)

It’s been underreported in the U.S., but there are increasing signs that Russia is not doing well—either on the front lines or further back, where Moscow is now vulnerable.

Interesting from @hcrichardson.bsky.social on the origin of Mother’s Day. It seems that in the beginning, Mother’s Day was…woke. open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

“While the working class is standing at the pump doing financial triage, they are eating cake while building a billion-dollar ballroom and painting buildings that do not require painting and throwing seven-month television-ready family caravans on the public tab.” open.substack.com/pub/jojofrom...

The GOP has a big problem with answering one simple question

“I keep thinking about what Pope Leo XIV said. ‘But 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.’ That is what occurred at Doral.” open.substack.com/pub/lettersf...

The GOP’s New Solution to Fund Trump's Ballroom: Your Money Read the latest Press Pass from @cheetah.bsky.social only @thebulwark.com: www.thebulwark.com/p/the-gop-ne...

Trump lies. Gas prices don't. Voters are pissed. New @thebulwark.com Take from me featuring focus groups of Trump voters talking about gas prices. www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvWS...

"Don’t underrate the importance of Orban losing. [With the $90b from the EU now freed up], the Ukrainians are not worried about running out of money, which was Putin’s plan and Trump’s plan in many ways. They can now are take the initiative in the war." youtu.be/lQgfi2duuPE?...

A good day for Hungary. A good day for the friends of freedom. David Baer explained the significance of Maygar's victory to me last Sunday: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jOs...

“The deeper subtexts of the ballroom tale—the corruption, the megalomania, the careless Gatsby-esque destructiveness, the Trumpian imperium—are surely a key reason it has broken through.” newrepublic.com/article/2101...

The $72 billion reconciliation bill will allow Democrats to vote against—and more important, will force Republicans to vote for— 1) taxpayers paying for Trump’s kingly ballroom, 2) more money for an unreformed ICE and border patrol, 3) increased government deficit and debt.

NEW. Phillips O’Brien is I think excellent here—on where the Russia-Ukraine war stands, on what might happen next, on broader geopolitical implications, and on how drones are transforming warfare. conversationswithbillkristol.org/conversation...

"Donald Trump will be doing some unremarkable event surrounded with cheerful citizens, sometimes children. He makes small talk. Only the small talk often turns out to be insane MAGA gobbledygook, like an in-person reenactment of Trump’s latest Truth Social rant." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

A lovely remembrance here by Jay Nordlinger of Manuela Hoelterhoff, 1949-2026. open.substack.com/pub/jaynordl...

"I am not a socialist of any flavor but a free-marketeer. Yet I can say this: some of the greatest freedom champions we have had have been democratic socialists. Orwell, for one. If you’d like another name: Sidney Hook. (I recommend his memoirs: Out of Step.)" open.substack.com/pub/jaynordl...

Brilliant diplomatic play by #Zelenskyj: #Putin was tricked into breaking his proposed ceasefire, and demonstrated to the whole world that #Russia only wants war, by attacking a kindergarten. #Trump was tricked into showing everyone, that the #US no longer has any leverage in the war. #Ukraine

5/5 I will end with the words of the Norwegian poet Nordahl Grieg: “You must not tolerate so deeply the injustice that does not affect you yourself.” To those who are fighting: you are not alone. Just as Norway won its freedom, so will you. Gratulerer med dagen, Norge🎉 - Slava Ukraini💪