"As Trump's popularity has sunk to new lows, he has renewed his efforts to remake Washington into a monument to himself, almost as if he is trying to anticipate history by making future Americans think that he must have been great because of all the tributes to him there" — @hcrichardson.bsky.social

@pkrugman.bsky.social on "this idiot war:" "Iran is in this for a lot of reasons, and many of them are horrible and crazy, but it's not for ego. So they are probably willing to assuage Trump's ego as long as they get the substance of a deal that is overwhelmingly in their favor." [1/2]

Monday motivation from Heather Delaney Reese (@itsalovelylife.bsky.social):

"We're burning through whatever oil was in storage very fast. And as that happens, the situation gets grimmer. "[Iran] is suffering too, but time is on their side. It gives them every incentive to hang tough for something that looks like a victory to them." -- @pkrugman.bsky.social

Heather Delaney Reese (@itsalovelylife.bsky.social) on the Trump administration's short-term agenda: "There is no long game. There is no thinking about next year, or the next generation, or the world our children are going to inherit. There is only right now & what can be extracted from it today."

Former U.S. attorney @joycewhitevance.bsky.social is affronted, again, by the Department of Justice's free-fall into "political weaponization."

"Iran has the ability to block the strait. And they have every incentive to do that until they feel that they're not facing an existential threat. "So really, the strait does not get open until Trump accepts a deal that is sufficiently favorable to the Iranians." -- @pkrugman.bsky.social

"Pulling [5,000 U.S. troops from Germany] doesn't ... leaves us exposed. It shortens our reach into the Middle East and Africa. "It signals to every adversary watching, that American commitments are negotiable based on the president's mood." —  Heather Delaney Reese (@itsalovelylife.bsky.social)

Sunday smile in a merry month Wordle 1,779 3/6 🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜ 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Historian @hcrichardson.bsky.social sees a familiar, ominous pattern:

Trump "pulled us into this [Iran] mess in part because he has a completely wrongheaded notion of what war is about. He thinks if we have more bombs and we can kill more people, then of course we have the upper hand. "That has never been what war is about. . . ." -- @pkrugman.bsky.social [1/2]

@joycewhitevance.bsky.social can post this evergreen observation often, sadly.

@lktiv.bsky.social on this past week’s Voting Rights Act ruling:

"Numbness isn't a side effect of what’s happening. It's the point. . . . Make it so overwhelming that even the people paying the closest attention start to go numb. . . . "We can’t go numb. That's exactly what they're counting on." —  Heather Delaney Reese (@itsalovelylife.bsky.social)

@pkrugman.bsky.social on "this idiot war:" "If you ask who is going to have to cry uncle sooner, it's almost certainly us. . . . It’s very unlikely that the United States is prepared to deal with multiple months of this stuff."

@pkrugman.bsky.social connects the dots:

@joycewhitevance.bsky.social is a realist:

"Every attack on our rights is a test to measure how much we will tolerate before we stop pushing back. And if we stop pushing back, they'll have their answer. "So we keep exercising our right to free speech, and we resist in every other way." —  Heather Delaney Reese (@itsalovelylife.bsky.social)

"In 2024, Trump lost because the courts refused to support his demand that they declare him the winner. On Thursday, the Spreme Court [majority] gave its party a legal path to secure victory by picking its voters." -- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social

"By about a week into the war, it was obvious that basically America lost. But Trump cannot bring himself to acknowledge that. . . . "There is no good outcome for the United States here. All we can do is accept something that actually leaves Iran stronger than it was." — @pkrugman.bsky.social

"Those who founded the republic made a profound miscalculation when they designed the systems of government, believing that party politics would be subservient to other interests in dictating the actions of elected officials." -- @elliotkirschner.bsky.social

Heather Delaney Reese (@itsalovelylife.bsky.social) sees political relevance in the property law concept called "adverse possession." "If you stop actively using and defending what is yours, you can lose it, even without ever agreeing to give it up. . . . Our 1st Amendment works that way right now"

This Omaha oddity, a two-way street during non-commuting hours, befuddled @lyz.bsky.social during an author tour visit.

"The world, one leader at a time, [is] saying out loud what they have been quietly recognizing for months: "The United States cannot be relied on because it no longer has a coherent leader making decisions." -- Heather Delaney Reese (@itsalovelylife.bsky.social)

"A conflict sold as immediate and decisive is now being defended as unfinished and unresolved. . . . That is the risk emerging here." — @Brian O'Neill, professor of strategic intelligence and retired senior U.S. intelligence official, at @contrariannews.org

Gen-gap truth from @taramcgowan.bsky.social, 40, founder of @couriernewsroom.bsky.social: "It was hard to get folks in the pro-democracy movement, on the left, to actually understand how the media ecosystem has changed. A lot of the donors and philanthropists in this movement are older, to be frank"

Living in a nursing home shouldn’t mean giving up everyday freedoms. I just signed a bill allowing seniors living in nursing homes to consume alcohol - so that everyone can enjoy happy hour!

Ding-dong, the _itch is gone . . . now the work can go on

"The Army used to have Rita Hayworth out there boosting morale, and now the best they can do is an aging man from Detroit who still calls himself a child and sings about banging children? "Kid Rock is so pathetic he makes Macklemore look like Biggie Smalls. — @lyz.bsky.social [1/2]

this line from alito’s opinion, that the question before the court was “whether compliance with the Voting Rights Act should be added to our very short list of compelling interests that can justify racial discrimination,” is truly orwellian

"Why are conservatives so afraid of democracy? Why are they afraid to let the voters decide elections?"

Late night hosts on the Voting Rights Act ruling: 📺 "The Supreme Court saw that Louisiana had two whole Black congressmen and they were like, 'Whoa, what is this, Showtime at the Apollo? Let's dial this back.'" — @joshjohnsoncomedy.bsky.social, @thedailyshow.com [1/2]

"Democracy isn’t a continuously turning waterwheel that continues to deliver no matter what we do. It requires care and fine-tuning. And most of all, it requires people who know it and people who love it. . . . "We have to transform civics education in this country." -- @joycewhitevance.bsky.social

Erwin Chemerinsky, law dean at the @uofcalifornia.bsky.social, blasts "partisan politics on the Supreme Court at its worst" "The court declaring victory over racism can't eliminate the reality of continuing pervasive discrimination in voting. The practical effect of the ruling will be enormous" 1/2

"Lest anyone forget about Trump's 'greatness,' just ahead of the professional golf tournament being played at his course in Miami this week, Trump erected a larger-than-life gold statue of himself. "That statue is emblematic of all the things he is building . . ." - @thedanrather.bsky.social [1/2]

“It is no surprise that during the horrific White House Correspondents Dinner shooting, younger attendees reacted the quickest,” @cierastone.bsky.social posts at @contrariannews.org. "At age 16, I experienced my first lockdown. ...Active shooter protocols are now instilled from a young age." [1/2]

Bret Stephens is amusing & correct in writing that James Comey's indictment "gives a whole new meaning to the word 'shellshocked.'" The @nytimes.com columnist adds: "The idea that Comey should be indicted over this [Instagram photo] is preposterous, dangerous and nakedly unconstitutional. ..." 1/2

A Supreme Court so fundamentally hostile to the rights of minority voters places the Court at odds with democracy itself. This is the legacy of Chief Justice John Roberts. I opposed his nomination back in 2005, and I stand by that.

In @nytopinion.nytimes.com “In the name of disentangling race from politics, the Supreme Court has given white voters more power at the expense of racial minorities,” the editorial board writes.

@elliotkirschner.bsky.social on gerrymandering and voting rights: "The whole point of a democracy is that voters get to choose their politicians, not the other way around. Which scares the hell out of the people crying to their buddies on the Supreme Court to protect their tenuous hold."

"Given that this phrase can easily be found on merchandise, & is common enough that it has been used by plenty of other people who have not been prosecuted, singling out [James] Comey alone with charges is the quintessential definition of selective prosecution." - @barbmcquade.bsky.social at @ms.now

@elliotkirschner.bsky.social on today's Voting Rights Act decision from six Supreme Court justices in the majority who "know full well what the effects will be." "Republican states will draw districts to maximize their power by packing them with their voters, who happen to be mostly white."

We’re here because too many people stayed in the sidelines. In case that isn’t crystal clear, we can no longer afford to do that. Not any of us.

"Today’s Supreme Court decision effectively guts a key pillar of the Voting Rights Act, freeing state legislatures to gerrymander legislative districts to systematically dilute and weaken the voting power of racial minorities . . ." [1/2] -- @barackobama.bsky.social

"Sounds like she's one of us. . . . "Honestly, everyone should delete their old tweets. Or, better yet, never tweet." -- @leedevito.bsky.social, editor in chief

"Trump's penchant forsaying utterly false things to make himself or his followers feel better or to manipulate the markets does not change reality. . . . "It is best to assume that virtually everything that comes out of Trump's mouth is untrue." - @jenrubin.bsky.social at @contrariannews.org

"Our current administration jumped at the opportunity to use [the dinner gunman] to their advantage and turn a potentially tragic event into a tool for them. . . . "We are entering the most dangerous period of Trump's presidency so far." -- Heather Delaney Resse (@itsalovelylife.bsky.social) 1/2

The opposite of traveling to learn, explore, immerse. "I saw this gorgeous photo on social media, and I was like, ‘How can I get myself here as fast as possible?' If you don't get that photo, it's like, what’s the point of the trip?" -- Julia Morrow, 26, of Ohio, at @nytimes.com

"The only true threat here is to the legitimacy of the Department of Justice," posts this law professor and former U.S. attorney.

"King Charles delivered a speech today before a joint session of Congress. His goal in this trip is to try to calm trans-Atlantic tensions. Trump heard this and said: 'The Atlantic is trans now, too?'" — @jimmykimmellive.bsky.social