"He’s threatening to attack civilian infrastructure if he doesn’t get his way. ... Refusal by senior officers to participate in war crimes may be the only thing that could stop this evil "Now is when we find out how completely our once honorable military has been corrupted" -- @pkrugman.bsky.social

"If things were going well, [Trump] wouldn't keep moving the deadline for his demanded reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a peace deal. "Initially, it was March 23. He has pushed it back six times since. It currently stands at Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST." -- @thedanrather.bsky.social

"You have to wonder if anyone is telling the president the truth. Because his version of what will happen if the war continues much longer differs wildly from that of experts in the region."  -- @thedanrather.bsky.social [1/2]

"What happened to us? This is not the country we were supposed to be." -- @pkrugman.bsky.social, using words that include "pessimistic," "insane," "astonishing" and "awful" | paulkrugman.substack.com/p/living-in-...

"As the war lengthens, the chance that it will be exploited for a coup attempt increases. . . . "Trump will seek to exploit the war (or the next one) to alter the elections." — @timothysnyder.bsky.social, authoritarianism scholar | substack.com/home/post/p-...

@thedanrather.bsky.social posts "a real concern" he's not alone in having:

A lament for our time,from @jenrubin.bsky.social at @contrariannews.org:

"We dissent. . . . We're in this together." -- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social | joycevance.substack.com/p/kristi-noe...

"If we had a functioning democracy, this would be 25th Amendment time. . . .He shouldn't have any authority on matters of state violence when this is the kind of mood he's in. . . . "Saying 'glory be to God' before you unleash violence -- that is not the American way." -- @pkrugman.bsky.social

"The Trump regime...has demonstrated its determination to concoct circumstances to entrap otherwise law-abiding, productive residents [for deportation] "The regime's heartless determination to expel as many non-whites as possible...should enrage & embarrass decent Americans" - @jenrubin.bsky.social

"The American people can see that this Iran war is a disaster, just as they did with Iraq. This time, the lesson must last." -- @elliotkirschner.bsky.social

"The legacy of the Iraq war lives on in every veteran. We cannot repeat its mistakes." — @gallego.senate.gov, D-Ariz., former Marine infantryman (2002-06) | substack.com/home/post/p-...

A free-fall descent to unprecedented depths drags us all down.

"There turns out to be at least a significant MAGA component inside the [military] officer corps. . . . "It's quite possible that there's a quorum of officers who will follow instructions to commit war crimes." -- @pkrugman.bsky.social, who uses "pessimistic," "insane," "astonishing" and "awful"

"I grew up here like any American. This is all I know. My husband and family are here." — Annie Ramos, 22, speaking to @nytimes.com from ICE detention She came as a toddler from Honduras, has no criminal record, married a U.S. Army sergeant last month and has nearly earned a biochemistry degree.

"A coup attempt is not at all unthinkable; Trump has done it before, and he makes it very clear that he is thinking about it now. ... "If we know the coup scripts in advance, we know when to take the stage — and where to take the rage." -- @timothysnyder.bsky.social | substack.com/home/post/p-...

"A group of bored, bloodthirsty, boisterous men who mistake firepower for strength and bluster for wisdom do not understand how force and diplomacy can work in tandem to serve our national interests." -- @elliotkirschner.bsky.social

Fanatical enforcement: "The detention came just days after Annie Ramos, 22, a college student with no criminal record, and Matthew Blank, 23, celebrated their marriage with family and friends." He's an Army staff sergeant. She's an an undocumented Honduran immigrant brought to the U.S. as a toddler

President Trump "is making up claims of [noncitizen voting] fraud now to try to stave off disaster in the midterm elections and beyond," posts @joycewhitevance.bsky.social. "Sometimes, you have to be willing to call the bald-faced lie a bald-faced lie."

"When you ask Trump's closest advisors why we're going to war, you get five different answers. It's clear that they don't even know what the actual goal is. . . . "Why? Because the Trump administration had no plan, and it still has no plan now." — @gallego.senate.gov, D-Ariz., ex-Marine infantryman

"I'm scared. I wonder very much what the next few days will bring because this is looking like basically a president who is losing it and unfortunately losing it in a way that can really make the world a much worse place very fast." -- @pkrugman.bsky.social

"Now that this new war is mostly nearing almost completion (maybe), Trump can get back to the war he really loves: the war on the Constitution."  -- @lyz.bsky.social on Patreon

"As the war lengthens, the chance that it will be exploited for a coup attempt increases. . . . "Trump will seek to exploit the war (or the next one) to alter the elections." — @timothysnyder.bsky.social, authoritarianism scholar and author of "On Tyranny"

"Recognizing Iran as a threat and supporting the Iranian people does not require bombing their country and putting our troops at risk without a clear strategy, defined objectives or an exit plan." — @gallego.senate.gov, D-Ariz., former Marine infantryman who served in Iraq [1/2]

"To the extent that he cares about his legacy, it's not going to be his wonderful ballroom. "It's going to be that he's the man who single-handedly led America to one of its greatest defeats ever." -- @pkrugman.bsky.social

"I could write an entire column that just consisted of 'you can't make this shit up' over and over and over again and still it wouldn't capture the ludicrous totality of where we are in this country at this moment in our history." — @lktiv.bsky.social

Happy 77th birthday to NATO, created on this day in 1949. Despite what some would have you believe, it’s still a critically important alliance. But why take my word for it when @hcrichardson.bsky.social can explain it so much better?

"Donald Trump declared that he had won the war in Iran and accomplished his mission. Which is actually inspiring, because when you don't declare your objectives, you can always achieve them." -- @lyz.bsky.social on Patreon

"I thought the politicians who sent us to Iraq learned something from that legacy. "But watching what is happening now with Iran and hearing the shifting explanations from the administration feels like déjà vu." — Sen. Ruben @gallego.senate.gov, D-Ariz., former Marine infantryman (2002-06)

"I'm scared" because “Donald Trump "isn't sounding like himself, and that's terrifying," @pkrugman.bsky.social posts. "It's clear that Trump, for all his pretense of 'I'm always winning,' is aware of how completely he screwed things up . . ." [1/2]

I've got sunshine on a cloudy day . . . Wordle 1,750 2/6 🟨🟨⬜🟨⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Pretty remarkable statement by the Joint Chiefs. TLDR: We have the highest respect for Gen. Randy George. About the man who fired him, Pete Hegseth, we say nothing.

Maureen Dowd at @nytopinion.nytimes.com suggests the next Cabinet chopping block candidate: "Now that he's boxed in on Iran, Trump may get the urge to fire more people. . . . Pete Hegseth is over at the Pentagon firing qualified officers when he’s the one who should go."

"It's difficult to understand why any credible lawyer would want to serve this president [as attorney general]. "All the priorities are on the table: prosecute enemies, give friends a pass, forget about justice and just do whatever the president wants." -- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social

Army vet @lktiv.bsky.social, father of an Army first lieutenant, is the son & grandson of career officers. He decries "a wholesale ideological purge that Hegseth has been obsessed with since he was confirmed as defense sec'y" "Let me tell you why this is so dangerous to the defense of this country"

Among major changes in the past 18 months . . .

"Now that Randy George, along with other senior officers Hegseth has fired or pushed to resign, are about to be civilians, maybe they can step forward and tell their fellow citizens what on earth is going on in Hegseth's Pentagon."

Just like that, Pam Bondi fell from Cabinet member to trash can.

"Trump & Hegseth have made it their mission to politicize the military of this country," posts this West Point grad, whose dad + 2 grandfathers were Army officers "This one is personal. The Army has been the family business for 4 generations, and our family goes back to the founding of this nation"

The Iran "excursion" isn't done, though this draft of history from @pkrugman.bsky.social could prove prescient: "The world's greatest military power took on a 4th-rate power. ... And we lost. For all practical purposes, we've left ourselves in a much weaker position and Iran in a stronger position"

"Bondi’s departure is, unfortunately, no cause for celebration. Donald Trump still gets to choose the next atty gen. "He'll likely look not for an experienced federal practitioner, but for someone who is compliant, loyal & willing to do what no good atty gen should." -- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social

“I was letting my outrage get the best of me,” @connieschultz.bsky.social posts in her first online essay since Christmas Eve. (She's also diverted by writing a novel & by her spouse's Senate campaign) "Many of you have reached out privately to see if I am OK," she tells subescribers today, adding:

"The last time an American president boldly announced the end of a war in the Middle East that we entered into under false pretenses, we ended up staying there 20 more years. "I know this could refer to two recent Middle East wars, and yeah, that's the point."  -- @lyz.bsky.social on Patreon

"The war has already kneecapped NATO, which Trump is threatening to leave. "Italy and Spain have denied the United States the use of their bases and airspace, a natural reaction to Trump’s bullying and insults and refusal to coordinate." -- @jenrubin.bsky.social at @contrariannews.org

this is the chaplain btw. wonder why he was fired.

"Trump and Hegseth have been on a clear mission to politicize the U.S. military, and to turn it into an armed extension of the MAGA movement."

War profiteers, plain 'n simple . . .

"The reality is that the world is looking and saying: 'My God, what is wrong with America?' . . . "It's not a country anybody can trust for anything. And that, even more than the price of oil, is going to be the legacy of this war." -- @pkrugman.bsky.social

Memories!! A full nine days ago.

"There is clearly no [war] strategy here. There's no endgame. There's nothing. "It's hard to tell, as always, whether Trump is delusional or just completely unable to admit something that he actually knows." -- @pkrugman.bsky.social