“Forcibly sending families to dire conditions is a legacy all leaders should seek to avoid. To that end, my brother bishops and I call upon Congress to act — to meet this moment with the moral fortitude that is so desperately needed." Congress: Extend TPS! www.ncronline.org/news/injusti...

IMHO, the Supreme Court is a *bigger* problem than Trump, and it should be the primary target for reform. Trump and Congress would both be very different under a law-abiding SCOTUS, which would have stopped government action clearly animated by racism and racially gerrymandered districts.

"Visitors could look at a smaller-scale model of Mr. Trump’s proposed 250-foot triumphal arch. Its vinyl covering — stapled over a wood frame and emblazoned with the words 'One Nation Under God' — had already started buckling..." www.nytimes.com/2026/06/27/u...

Coming from the most corrupt Administration in American history, this is an honor I'll treasure forever.

Here is a private-sector public affairs person who has gone back and changed “Secretary of Defense” to “Secretary of War” on her LinkedIn in retroactive reference to her work at the Pentagon *during the Obama administration.* (I guess to suck up to Hegseth’s “DOW” for her current PR clients?)

Negative polarization is mostly a bad thing. But it’s had one good effect for me: As a friend pointed out, my interest in the World Cup has been driven by negative polarization, i.e., my disgust at Trump’s hijacking of the 250th birthday. The World Cup is such a healthy contrast.

@ofthebraveusa.bsky.social, @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social and I discuss the Trump regime’s plotting against our elections - focusing on what’s happening in the intelligence community. We are alarmed! newsletter.ofthebrave.org/p/trumps-ele...

I assume this passage will be in Texas's Bible study: Leviticus 19:33–34: “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself.” open.substack.com/pub/charlies...

"I contemplate with reverence that act of the American people which declared their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State." -- Thomas Jefferson wapo.st/43YNcR4

Why making Bill Pulte acting Director of National Intelligence is a window into Trump's election subversion plans for 2026 and 2028.. He's put the key national security agencies under the control of Trump loyalists who have no intention of giving up power. open.substack.com/pub/ofthebra...

Harvey Mansfield: "Rational control puts itself up against prejudice, tradition, & superstition. Those are not good things necessarily. Tradition might be but the other two are a threat to human freedom & virtue. But you have to be aware of the limits of rational control." youtu.be/-nCCJKuSfjc?...

Unsurprising news item of the day. MAGA Fanatic Accused of Twisted Sex Acts at Trump’s ‘State Fair’. www.thedailybeast.com/maga-fanatic...

“Megyn Kelly thinks that “we” made America great with “our work ethic, culture, and values.” But it was our forebears who made America great. Many were immigrants and refugees, whom earlier generations of nativists treated with hostility, bigotry, and cruelty.” www.thebulwark.com/p/after-supr...

If the DNC had any imagination, it would make this video famous as exemplifying the party’s agenda and attitude. bsky.app/profile/ohro...

“The Confederate flag at the North Carolina booth is a fitting symbol of how this whole enterprise has been managed. A symbol that the state itself never chose, attached to its flag without permission, displayed at an event meant to celebrate American unity…” open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...

“White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told reporters: ‘This country doesn’t have a future if we don’t end birthright citizenship…. One way or another, this nation has to end birthright citizenship.’” That “one way or another” is ominous. open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

“What’s worth getting worked up about is those who revel in cruelty toward the less fortunate. There are lots of those people in America today. They include our president. They include many in his administration. They include many in the world of MAGA.” www.thebulwark.com/p/after-supr...

“Fleeing gang violence and what has become a civil war, thousands of Haitians have helped reverse decades of decline in Springfield.They filled factory jobs, opened businesses, started churches, and helped stabilize the city’s population after years of shrinkage.” www.thebulwark.com/p/after-supr...

“Bill Pulte has installed as his chief of staff a woman who worked on election-related issues for the Republican National Committee…Pulte’s decision is likely to further fuel concerns that he intends to focus on hunting for election fraud at the behest of Trump.” www.nytimes.com/2026/06/26/u...

“In Verdi’s Falstaff the fat knight says, ‘Mondo reo. Non c’è più virtù. Tutto declina.’ Wicked world. There is no longer virtue. Everything is in decline. Older people say, ‘The world is going to hell in a handbasket.’ In my defense there is no lack of evidence.” open.substack.com/pub/thenextm...

“The OMB has proposed a rule change to the Federal Register, 2 CFR §200.205. This rule change is an attempt to politicize all federal grants. This is a weapon designed to disappear disfavored people, groups, and ideas—and the blast radius on it will be enormous.” open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

A very interesting and stimulating—even thrilling—précis of the genesis and development of modern political philosophy, from Harvey Mansfield. And I’d also say, an invitation to serious thinking about the possibility of a revived liberalism. conversationswithbillkristol.org/conversation...

“America today has lots of hard-working immigrants, and plenty of native-born citizens who accept and respect them. But there are also plenty of Americans these days who were born on third base and think they hit a triple.” www.thebulwark.com/p/after-supr...

“It was our forebears who made America great. Many of them were immigrants and refugees, whom nativists treated with bigotry and cruelty. The rhetoric of yesterday’s Court ruling is not itself bigoted or cruel. But the policies it permits are bigoted and cruel.” www.thebulwark.com/publish/post...

“Domination of the political system is not enough; they want the people who disgust them to disappear. If “democracy” produces anything they dislike, then they are ready to be done with democracy.” open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

"The Trump administration is all-in on tilting the playing field so as not to lose this November. Trump claims it’s an emergency. But the true emergency is that his authoritarian project is in his full swing. Can the defenders of democracy rise to the occasion?" open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

"Democrats are very likely to do well in free and fair elections this fall. But Trump knows that. And he knows how damaging a loss in November would be. Yesterday we had reminders of the lengths to which the administration may go to try to prevent such a defeat." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

9:01 pm : World Cup > Trump speech.

"Let’s keep on reminding Americans about all the empty boasts and outright lies the administration told...Let’s keep on exposing Trump’s defeat, and the bad deal his administration is now defending. Keep on wrapping Trump’s Iran fiasco around Republicans’ necks." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

“Advice to Democrats: Make Republicans—from the Trump administration to members of Congress to House and Senate candidates—talk about Iran. Make them defend their misbegotten and failed war. This shouldn’t be hard.” www.thebulwark.com/p/the-presid...

“A Trump rally is a space apart from space and a time apart from time where achievements remain unsurpassed. ‘A short time ago, we were a dead country, now we’re the hottest country in the world.’ The problem is it’s growing clearer that all this is an illusion.” www.thebulwark.com/p/the-presid...

"Pulte has begun to follow in the footsteps of what Hegseth has been doing at the Pentagon, Blanche at Justice, and Patel at the FBI. Looking at their purges along with the mass hirings at ICE, one sees that we’re entering a period of maximum authoritarian threat." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

"Donald Trump is 80 years old. He’s lost a step. So you try to reassure yourself....But he does have young men with a lean and hungry look in positions of authority and power in the executive branch, committed to making his dream of power without limits a reality." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

🚨🚨🚨 Pulte begins a political purge of the intelligence community. Add it to what Hegseth is doing with the military, Blanche with Justice, Patel with FBI, and the hirings at ICE, and we’re entering a very dangerous period, one that makes Watergate look like child’s play. www.cnn.com/2026/06/22/p...

Tim Miller explains that EVERYTHING about JD Vance is fake. I praise the World Cup for producing a kind of enlightened and liberal patriotism truer to America than Trump's nativism. And we agree we are very much enjoying Trump's Reflecting Pool fiasco. youtu.be/QtOZQn8nK0Y?...

Tim Miller explains that EVERYTHING about JD Vance is fake. I praise the World Cup for producing a kind of enlightened and liberal patriotism truer to America than Trump's nativism. And we agree we are very much enjoying Trump's Reflecting Pool fiasco. youtu.be/QtOZQn8nK0Y?...

"The World Cup has been a godsend as a counterpoint to Trump. The high spirits of the tournament, the enjoyment at hosting this globalist event, the examples of good-natured and liberal national pride, have all been reminders of a better kind of patriotism." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

"I was worried Trump would succeed in hijacking our 250th. I now think we can say his efforts have fallen flat. Will people pay attention to Trump’s speech Wednesday on the Mall? If they take a look, it will be because they’re curious about the Reflecting Pool." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

"All this is pretty funny. But it’s only America’s remaining free institutions that allow it to remain so...Trump would absolutely give a few bystanders 'years of jail' to pass the blame if he actually had the sweeping authoritarian powers he claims and craves." open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...

"Will the tyrannical emotional state that brought us the war now be applied inside the United States?...The attack on Iran began with a longing -- a subjective sense that violence is pleasurable and can bring a utopia in which desires become reality." open.substack.com/pub/snyder/p...

"Trump and Hegseth have subordinated national security to their personal prejudice, egoism and corruption. And from their point of view the loss of professionalism, meritocracy and honor, along with the loss of America’s reputation, is acceptable collateral damage." open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

From today's CBS/YouGov poll: www.cbsnews.com/news/opinion...

“And when a judge forced his name off a murdered president’s memorial, he left the building draped in white tarps, obscuring Kennedy’s name so that nobody can see it either, because if the public can’t see Donald Trump’s name, then by God they won’t see anyone’s…” open.substack.com/pub/jojofrom...

It might be amusing to go back and find all the culture warriors who rallied to defend Vance’s comment—which he now acknowledges was dumb—when he made it. www.nbcnews.com/politics/jd-...

If DOD needs $80b to replenish stocks and pay for Trump’s unauthorized, unwise, and unsuccessful war, every cent should come out of the bloated appropriation for ICE and border patrol for Trump’s awful mass deportation project.

Trump is trying to whitewash and hijack America’s 250th birthday. Kevin Levin and I discuss—and conclude that he’s not really succeeding, and that we certainly shouldn’t let him succeed. www.youtube.com/live/mrKrS8a...

Live at noon ET (and recorded for your viewing and listening pleasure afterwards): I'm joined by Kevin Levin to discuss Trump's attemptd hijacking of America’s 250th birthday. www.youtube.com/live/mrKrS8a...

"Trump says US might "take over" strait if deal not reached, threatens Iranian delegation." Trump is like the Wizard of Oz when he doesn't yet realize everyone can see behind the curtain. www.cnn.com/2026/06/21/w...

Things are hopping over at Home of the Brave! Bob Kagan and Tom Joscelyn back to back! Sarah Matthews talks Trump and Iran with Bob, I discuss Todd Blanche and Epstein with Tom. www.youtube.com/channel/UCDj...

“While Trump and Hegseth can order the military to block the promotions of women and Black officers, he is able to do so because the senior leadership has acceded to Trump’s agenda. So with the Park Service, which has become a public relations hit squad for Trump…” open.substack.com/pub/roberthu...