My Facebook post on the night of Trump’s first election win. Prescient.

New report card from current and former agents trashes Patel ("in over his head") and Bongino ("something of a clown.") FBI is described in the 115-page report as a “rudderless ship” and “all f–ked up.” Rumors abound in DC that Patel may get the boot soon.

Three things about the Witkoff tapes: 1) It appears Western intelligence services have decided to let Witkoff (and Trump) know they have recordings of their traitorous conversations w/Russia. 2) This Ukraine "deal" was all Witkoff's idea. 3) Congressional leaders should demand he be fired.

American life and America itself are now being shaped—in terrible, even tragic ways—by people who really did mislead and outright lie to Congress under oath.

NEW: I did a very deep dive into one month's worth of Elon Musk's posts on X so I could understand the breadth and depth of what he is posting about these days. In a word: fringe. www.nbcnews.com/tech/elon-mu... 🧵

"Whatever lies behind Trump’s cupidity towards Putin, we should be long past caring why. The reality is settled fact. Putin has fewer cards in his hand than Trump supposes. One of those cards is Trump." My column. www.ft.com/content/7deb...

Trump summoned the top American military officers stationed around the world to VA to tell them that the enemy they should be primarily concerned with now is American citizens.

Amazing chyron as the Vice President of the United States jokes about the <checks notes> indiscriminate murder of civilians in international waters, in blatant violation of domestic law & multiple international treaties we have signed & ratified.

We must stand resolutely against political assassination and political violence of all kinds, and just as resolutely against everyone who exploits acts of violence as the pretext or excuse for political repression of political opponents.

They could have done something like this in the Trump immunity case and given a chance for the special counsel to take Trump's federal election subversion charges to trial. Expediting cases is a choice

This is a remarkable summary by @asharangappa.bsky.social of the anti-democratic and interconnected players behind the dismantling of American democracy and a frightening roadmap of where we already are and are ultimately heading…great essay. open.substack.com/pub/asharang...

The people in charge of this country are not solving problems. They are being evil. Purely, unadulterated evil.

Just in case it’s not already clear that ICE is a white supremacist thug army, Homeland Security is recruiting with a “defend your culture” slogan.

This is very, very bad.

More on Trump’s nominee to lead the office investigating Jack Smith: ➡️ He said that the descendants of slaves should pay reparations to the descendants of slave owners ➡️ He urged Congress to make J6 a national holiday ➡️ He called for Trump’s birthday to be made a national holiday (“MAGA Day”)

Republican Senators will get a partisan judge who supports their policy preferences for this seat whether it's Bove or someone else. Supporting Bove instead of demanding a different choice at this point is accepting/endorsing the most explicit attack possible on the republic and the rule of law.

The self harm that America is doing to itself must be studied and unpacked. As a former US ntl security official, this is frankly sheer torture to witness. A superpower killing itself. Willingly. I’ll add that friends of America in Europe r also watching this and wondering, why?

Seen in upstate NY

Exactly right.

The word of the day: “schadenfreude!” https://www.dictionary.com/browse/schadenfreude. Brought to you by Elmo!

Superb op-ed by my friend @kovarsky.bsky.social on Trump’s flagrant abuse of the pardon power. Ds should campaign on a constitutional amendment eliminating or severely circumscribing that power.

As a cancer survivor, it pains me to hear people imagine coverups about Biden’s cancer. Here’s something I wrote last year for @wbur.org @cogwbur.bsky.social about what it’s like to get a cancer diagnosis and how it’s insensitive of us to make assumptions about others. www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/...

"Trump has always been an ignoramus who masks his intellectual shortcomings with bombast and declarations of his own brilliance, but his rambling nonsensical responses in these latest interviews should set off alarms." — @playtyperguy.com

Strangely, the official who is exploiting legit concerns about antisemitism to revoke hundreds of students’ visas and undermine democracy has… no qualms about sitting down with an antisemite who thinks “Hitler actually had some decent points.” 🤔

"We cannot overstate what has just happened. It took just 71 days for Donald Trump to wreck the American economy, mortally wound NATO, and destroy the American-led world order" from @jvl.bsky.social www.thebulwark.com/p/the-americ...

Loomer is a hateful conspiracy nut who has been banned from Lyft and Uber b/c she is such a gigantic racist. This is the person who can walk into the White House and provide advice on national security staffing to the President. donmoynihan.substack.com/p/elon-musks...

Republicans are good at politics and terrible at governing, while Democrats are good at governing and terrible at politics.

So impressed with this guy! Thank you @booker.senate.gov! You are an inspiration!

Cory Booker for minority leader. then majority leader. then president

How *stupid* can these people be, part six thousand: I have zero public-office role, and from the start had all Venmo settings changed to "private." These people are the National Security Advisory (!!!) and the WH Chief of Staff (!!!!!) and did not know to do this. (See also: Signal.)

15 ways each of us can protect democracy, from The Contrarian

If you were to answer a proportionate responsibility question about the erosion of our democracy, how would you apportion blame: Rupert Murdoch __% Mitch McConnell __% Newt Gingrich __% John Roberts __% Donald Trump __% Elon Musk __% Rush Limbaugh __% Other __% =100%

Very good analysis here.

As a former Fulbright Scholar (in Chile), I personally understand how terrifying this is. U.S. citizens around the world & foreign nationals in the U.S. — all Fulbright Scholars — have now had their incomes eliminated & are stranded. DOGE is an illegal, criminal operation that must be shut down.

Donald Trump has disgraced the United States of America in countless ways since he first entered political life ten years ago. But he had never disgraced the nation as badly as he did today. He has brought shame on this country to an extent I had never thought possible. And he has only just begun.

The exchange between Trump, Vance and Zelenskyy in the Oval Office today in which our country attacked the victim in defense of a brutal aggressor has to be one of the most shameful moments in Modern American history.

Some have disappointed, some have bad policy, some made big mistakes. But I’ve never in my life been ashamed of American leaders. Until today.

Hamas plumbing the depths of evil.

This is utterly and completely grotesque. Will the anti-Putin branch of the GOP make a peep? Is there anyone left in that branch?

What Trump has done for US farmers so far: -frozen their foreign aid program (and left their food to rot) -encouraged EU to ban their products -frozen legally-owed reimbursements for their energy efficiency upgrades etc. -threatened to deport half their workforce -suppressed research on bird flu

Insane.

Does Congress have a say? You know, the branch with the power of the purse?

NEW: Inside the chaos around the firings at NNSA -- the agency overseeing the US nuclear stockpile. A source said over 300 employees were fired because “no one has taken anytime to understand what we do and the importance of our work to the nation’s national security.” www.cnn.com/2025/02/14/c...

We should all be very worried about what is happening at DOJ. Read this letter. Sassoon has impeccable conservative credentials, FWIW (Scalia clerk, Federalist Society, etc.).

Real life is going to put the Onion out of business.

Chaos everywhere

NEW: Kash Patel was paid $25,000 by a Kremlin-linked filmmaker to promote anti-western propaganda. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

Who could have seen this coming?