Saturday, August 29, 2026
Friday, August 28, 2026
Reading archive 2026-08-28
The Supreme Court Isn’t Interested in Facts: In decision after decision, the conservative justices are ignoring the evidentiary record that lower courts have worked hard to establish. - "The damage from the decision occurs at several levels. It includes the slow unraveling of constitutional structure when a rogue executive encroaches on territory assigned to others, in this case Congress and the states; the institutional signaling when the Court blesses that encroachment; the deepening tangle of the Court's election-law jurisprudence, incoherent as doctrine but reliable in outcome, with the Republican appointees' delivering on Republican interests; the diminishing of public trust in the Court; and the shunting of impositions and uncertainties onto the people who run elections and the people who vote in them."
The Wrath of MAGA: The ferocity of the response to Jon Ossoff reveals something deeper about the world of Trump supporters. - "So why did MAGA world respond as it did? One explanation is psychological. In 2016, Trump found a constituency already primed for grievance, and taught it to want more. His supporters have kept themselves in a state of frenzy ever since. They need to be perpetually outraged, aggrieved, and insulted. MAGA world has become addicted to the feeling. It delivers a jolt of adrenaline, it provides a feeling of social belonging, and it gives people a sharpened sense of purpose. They see themselves as warriors in a drama of their own construction. They view their opponents - Democrats, progressives, critics of Trump - as personifications of evil. Inflicting pain on their enemies feels good, really good, and it feels just.
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"But there's something else going on as well, at least with one subgroup of Trump supporters. I have in mind people who are not true believers but who, for a variety of reasons, long ago made their peace with Trump. These are people-many radio and television commentators, podcasters, and members of Congress among them-who were dedicated conservatives before Trump came along. They believed character was destiny and virtue mattered; they revered the rule of law, institutions, and norms; they championed free trade and free markets, fiscal responsibility, and a strong Western alliance; and they opposed patrimonialism, corruption, and lawlessness in the presidency.
"They have given up on all of those commitments, and so much more, as the cost of supporting Trump. The cost of speaking out against him, even when they knew better, was simply too high. They wanted to stay in the good graces of those in power. So they broke. And they know they broke.
"This has caused a painful degree of cognitive dissonance within many of them. They want to think better of themselves-and others to think better of them-than their actions warrant. What they see in Ossoff's comments is a chance to signal that they are still who they once were, or at least seemed to be. In this case, they are portraying themselves as enraged at Ossoff's 'misogynistic lies.' His comments are 'repulsive' and 'guttersnipe statements.' The senator from Georgia is a 'disgusting coward' and a 'disgusting pig.' We're told, 'You don't get lower than that.' They are offended that Ossoff is 'punching down' at 'defenseless' women."
Thursday, August 27, 2026
Reading archive 2026-08-27
The Real Reason Trump Wants Economic Sanctions in Iran: The quieter, longer-term strategy could help push the conflict out of the minds of voters ahead of the midterms. - "With few options remaining, the Trump administration has settled into a potentially lengthy campaign of economic pressure, pledging to squeeze Iran until its leaders have no choice but to seriously return to negotiations. But that tack could prove toothless if the U.S. doesn't also punish the nations that still do business with Iran and keep its economy afloat - and Trump has historically shown little willingness to stand up to the likes of China and Russia, or even North Korea, which has a strategic alliance with Tehran."
The Jason Arday Truthers: The concerted effort to airbrush the late fabulist’s life - "Without question, the media coverage of Arday was harsh and high-volume. But much of that volume came from competing outlets breaking fresh news, as more and more of Arday's extraordinary claims crumbled under scrutiny. Some commentators have argued that coverage ought to have stopped after his resignation. I feel differently; the reporting should (and I think would) have stopped if he admitted to the fabulism. But Arday died still maintaining that he had never lied, and his memoir is on sale, untroubled by corrections to anecdotes that now seem enormously implausible.
"Unfortunately, unlike Arday's fabrications, anti-Black racism in Britain is only too real. But you can believe in that without believing in Jason Arday."
Sen. Rand Paul’s Son William Hurled Antisemitic Insults at Rep. Mike Lawler: The younger Paul interrupted Lawler at a Capitol Hill bar to say “Jews” would be to blame if Rep. Thomas Massie loses his primary. - "'Do you think I’m Jewish?' Lawler asked. 'I’m not.'
"'Oh wow, I’m so sorry for calling you a Jew,' Paul said.
"He then continued on a tirade about how Jews were 'anti-American' and how Lawler and his 'Jewish supporters' served Israel more than America. Lawler repeatedly pushed back and engaged with Paul, defending his support of Israel, and told Paul he was being antisemitic."
Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Reading archive 2026-08-26
Canada should be ready to cut electricity, critical minerals, Ontario's premier says
The attack on Putin’s $20 billion pipeline can teach the U.S. about cards: Don’t underestimate countries like Ukraine. The Nord Stream sabotage shows why. - "Nord Stream, the world’s largest offshore pipeline system and Vladimir Putin’s flagship geopolitical project in Europe, took more than two decades to complete and cost nearly $20 billion. In September 2022, a handful of Ukrainians destroyed it with a rented yacht, commercially available diving equipment and four civilian divers armed with makeshift explosives."
The Qataris Gave Trump an Airplane. He Crippled Their Country in Return.: The tiny Gulf state is learning that the U.S. president doesn’t always keep his end of the deal. - "To understand this strange deal - so absurdly corrupt that there is nothing analogous in the history of the American executive branch - it's necessary to understand Qatar, the rare country with both the means and the disposition to even contemplate it. The Qataris don't have allies. They have investments. Their investments in American relationships are undoubtedly their most important, and they've provided billions of dollars of diplomatic and military-support services to the U.S. But at the same time they've been providing money to America's defense, they've also provided support to America's enemies.
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"The many U.S. intelligence officers, diplomats, and military veterans I spoke with consistently offered the same appraisal: It would be inaccurate to say that Qatar directly 'supports terrorism,' but the country's money and politics support an environment that helps terrorism and extremism flourish."
Tuesday, August 25, 2026
Monday, August 24, 2026
Reading archive 2026-08-24
To get the national debt under control, start with the retirement state
Why we should stop eating lettuce, cyclospora or not: Lettuce makes us sick, wastes resources and has minimal nutritional value. Why are we still consuming it? - "So, on one side of the ledger we have 1.7 million annual cases of food poisoning, $3.7 billion and 3 billion pounds of rotting lettuce. On the other we have, basically, an excuse to kid yourself into eating blue cheese dressing."
In candid interviews, National Guard members speak out about D.C. deployment - "An estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found that the D.C. deployment at its current level costs about $3 million per day. The Pentagon estimates extending the deployment until 2029 will cost an additional $1.4 billion. A total cost estimate by the nonpartisan watchdog Project on Government Oversight for the deployment is around $3.4 billion.
How one billionaire’s crusade against homelessness became Trump’s playbook: Long before Silicon Valley embraced Trump, Joe Lonsdale wanted to remake government and shift the nation’s approach to homelessness. Now, his friends in the White House are listening. - "He uses the term “boldness” so frequently that it might come off as a joke — or to critics, as a caricature of a tech billionaire drunk on his own Kool-Aid.
"But in Lonsdale’s growing influence, detractors see something more insidious: a powerful person interfering far beyond his purview.
"'These guys don’t have interesting ideas; they have little-boy fantasies,' said Paul Barrett, a New York University professor and a former deputy director of the Center for Business and Human Rights at NYU Stern School of Business. 'These tech guys are part of an illiberal tradition that is truly corrosive. … [Lonsdale] wants to create an environment where his mythological meritocratic heroes can thrive and everyone else can go f--- themselves.'"
Friday, August 21, 2026
Reading archive 20226-08-21
More D.C. kindergarteners have vaccine exemptions
Update: NATO’s Operations Continue as Russia Escalates in Romania - "On July 30, a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile crashed in Poland. Days later, an explosive drone carrying Semtex and PETN was discovered at Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport, which U.S. intelligence attributed to Russia. Romania has had repeated drone incursions, including three Russian drones shot down in July, another drone shot down by a Spanish F-18 on August 16, and two more incidents today, including the drone carrying an explosive near the Neptun Deep gas project. Three days ago, what is suspected to be a Russian Banderol missile entered Moldova and exploded in a field. And earlier today, Finland reported another suspected Russian aircraft violating its airspace."
CIA staff exodus leaves new retirees waiting months for benefits: The spy agency is swamped by what it calls an “unprecedented number” of retirements as the Trump administration aims to shrink its workforce. - "The CIA has a tradition of treating its retirees well, former officials said. Among the reasons: Angry ex-employees with heads full of secrets are a target for adversary intelligence services. 'We are creating a massive [counterintelligence] risk,' said the official who left last fall."
The ‘Resistance’ Won: The much-derided movement was right about Trump’s nature, and how to defeat him. - "What discredited resistance politics in liberal eyes is that it was closely associated with institutional procedures that were deemed to have ultimately failed to restrain Trump. Mueller's investigation ended anticlimactically. Neither impeachment drew enough Republican support to remove Trump from office. Somewhat similarly, conservatives have sometimes claimed that the Russia investigation and first impeachment helped Trump politically by drawing to his side Republicans who resented the overreach.
"One Republican who doesn't seem to believe either of these arguments is Trump. The president has worked hard to ensure that no such humiliations recur during his second term, by stacking the Justice Department with loyalists, firing inspectors general en masse, purging the armed forces of "woke" officers, and generally eliminating any potential source of independence within the federal government.
"Trump himself does not seem to think that the investigations that were avidly followed by resistance liberals did nothing to restrain his actions during his first term, or that they helped him shore up partisan support. And the absence of any such processes in his second term has not made Republicans in Congress feel freer to criticize the president. To the contrary, their fealty is more absolute than ever.
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"Like the Republican critics of resistance politics, progressive ones depicted it as substituting legal tactics for electoral victories. Yet the resistance was never limited to cheering on Mueller or hoping to persuade Republicans to convict the president of high crimes and misdemeanors. Resistance themes inspired the Democrats' political message during Trump's first term. And that message landed. Democrats retook the House in the 2018 midterms, despite a hot economy, and then defeated Trump's reelection effort. Joe Biden, a link to a bygone era of civility and bipartisanship, ran in 2020 on a message of restoring the soul of America. He won.
"Once in office, however, Biden ceded his domestic agenda to progressives who believed in Sanders's vision of transformational change. They believed that only overturning the neoliberal order, handing control of domestic policy to neo-Brandeisians and climate hawks, and giving unions almost every policy they demanded would allow Democrats to regain the trust of working-class voters. This theory, not the resistance, failed. Biden's support collapsed within his first year, and Kamala Harris's half-hearted efforts to distance herself from her unpopular boss were too little, too late."