Philip S Turner

#MorningMemo

SLIDESHOW: 10 Pictures Of Pete Hegseth From The ‘Unflattering’ Batch The Pentagon Reportedly Doesn’t Want You To See These may be the last press photos of U.S. Secretary of War...

Keg-seth is such a weak snowflake! These innocuous photos made him ban press photographers from the Pentagon? What a dweeb he is! talkingpointsmemo.com/gallery/slid...

The war makes it more urgent for journalists to call out Trump’s derangement | Press Watch The commander-in-chief is unfit for duty.

I've been struggling with how to express my dismay at the war coverage by our top newsrooms, and how it dances around the central fact that Trump is deranged and unfit to command. I finally wrote something. Please read it. presswatchers.org/2026/03/the-...

"For the next phase of my career, I look forward to some independence and finding new spaces to share my work in line with my personal goals."

Another CBS News journalist leaving and talking about independence. Bit of a not-so-subtle hint at what's happening over there.

Rothkopf eviscerates the normalcy bias that is stalling a proper reaction to Trump's insanity.

Adam-this is why I am scared of what may still be coming, an escalation-not a TACO-type claim by Dump that he’s won and things wind down, which is possible bc his rich friends are gonna be alarmed by crashing markets-but instead unleashing some sort of Kraken-like attack+sending US troops in.

And Dump has the nerve to deny what’s being widely proven, and claim that Iran bombed the girls’ schools w/170 killed in the strike. #NotTrue

From 2003: Leni Riefenstahl, Filmmaker and Nazi Propagandist, Dies at 101

This archived NYT obit by the late Alan Riding of Leni Riefenstahl is filled with/historical nuggets. “Riefenstahl was both propagandist and genius…she enthusiastically put her talent at the service of the Nazis.” www.nytimes.com/2026/03/06/w...

When DOGE Unleashed ChatGPT on the Humanities

I was a judge on the NEH’s American History panel in 2024, from which we recommended many excellent grant applicants. It’s infuriating to read how these Doge bros just trashed it all, using AI no less, and all w/out regard for the law that created the NEH. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/a...

Donald Trump’s Presidency Is in Free Fall Republicans typically lead on the economy, national security, and immigration. Trump is squandering the GOP’s traditional strength on all three.

Trump might end the war on a claim of victory, dial back paramilitary violence against Americans, and enjoy some kind of economic resurgence. Yet right now, George W. Bush’s fate is beckoning. trib.al/WvMvquy

The train window is one of the best cinema screens It forces us to stitch together narratives from the briefest glimpse. In a blurred moment whole stories race into us. We see a track and know it is older than the line we travel. We see a track and all of its treading ghosts wave to us. – #DAKilroy

The Most Chilling Detail in the U.S. Attack on an Iranian Naval Ship The Iranian warship was taking part in an international exercise with many other countries—including the United States.

“The sinking seems to be part of Hegseth’s new policy of ignoring ‘stupid rules of engagement’ and ‘punching them while they’re down.’ It raises questions of what the Trump administration would say if a country like Iran attacked an American ship it knew was unarmed. newrepublic.com/post/207429/...

Really worth watching this.

Coming up at 7:30 tonight, eastern time, Jim Harrison biographer Todd Goddard will be discussing his book Devouring Time, from the Ketchum (Idaho) Public Library.

I’ve spent years, decades, obsessing over the Bush Administration’s Iraq WMD lies, writing about them, debunking them.

I can think of no lie about Iraq WMDs told by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al that comes even close to the enormity and absurdity of this lie from Donald Trump.

What Mr. Chimpanzy says

John P. Hammond, Pioneer in 1960s Blues Renaissance, Dies at 83

It took the NY Times a few days to get an obit of John Paul Hammond up—I'd begun wondering if they were gonna skip him—but Clay Risen has made a good job of it, reporting on Hammond's fiercely authentic blues playing—a faithful inheritor of thetradition. #blues www.nytimes.com/2026/03/04/a...

#WTF !! This and the news yesterday that troops are being exposed to explicit Christian proselytizing since Tr*mp and Keg-seth went to war vs Iran!

Military officials question fortifications at site where U.S. troops were killed in Iranian strike The first American service members to die in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran were killed in an apparent Iranian drone attack on a makeshift office space in Kuwait, sources told CBS News.

On the 6 US troops who died at Shuaiba port in Kuwait: Troops asked for more drone defeat capabilities, none came. It was recommended that the makeshift tactical operations center not be used because it was hard to defend and concentrated too many troops in one place. www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-st...

👁👁➡️The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has already fielded 110 complaints from service members being instructed that they are fighting Armageddon.

The part at the end ("of really terra") is particularly disorienting -- I can't tell whether or not he knows he is not making sense.

U.S. Troops Were Told Iran War Is for “Armageddon,” Return of Jesus Advocacy group reports commanders giving similar messages at more than 30 installations in every branch of the military

EXCLUSIVE: At more than 30 installations, U.S. commanders told troops the war on Iran is a Christian war.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation has been “inundated” with more than 110 complaints.

One NCO said they were told the U.S. war is to bring about Armageddon and the return of Jesus…

Chris Murphy: "It's just so disgusting to listen to the president be waxing poetically about the drapes he's buying while there are six Americans who are dead. There are six families who are about to bury their children because of a war of choice that no one in this country wanted, an illegal war."

“That’s the way it is…”

Trump ripped up the Iran nuclear deal and created this mess. Now, he's putting servicemembers in harm's way with no clear plan and no Congressional approval. The American people deserve answers — and Congress needs to do its job.

Infuriatingly evergreen 👇

Thank you, Mayor.

...requested by the collector about the piece, and a pertinent essay by our son M. G. Turner, "Elegy to the Metro Theater." We invite you to view and read it all via the link provided here. #NYC #Art #Collage #Painting

“The Decline and Fall of the Metro Theater,” a Guest Post by Kyle Gallup with M. G. Turner – The Great Gray Bridge

Excited to share a guest post published on my blog by my wife Kyle Gallup about a collage painting of hers, "The Last Days of the Metro Theater," which she recently sold into a private collection. The post includes an image of the work, her artist's statement... philipsturner.com/the-decline-...