@jbf1755
Historian of early US politics & culture; howl re: democracy—a lot. Last book: The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress & the Road to Civil War. Owned by Newbie the History Bird & Rosie the Resistance Bird. https://www.youtube.com/@joannefreeman1755
JUST IN: Democrats flip a seat in the New Hampshire state House.
Dem Bobbi Boudman has won today’s special election, NHJournal reports.
(Boudman was the Dem nominee in 2024 & lost by 14%; Trump won here by 9%.)
This is Dems’ third legislative flip so far this year, after Texas and Arkansas.
Trump and the Coronavirus I wrote a lot about the coverage of Trump’s response to the pandemic, and here is what was clear all along: He had no real plan to restore the country to health other than to peddle false hope, predict a quick end, adopt fake deadlines and shift the blame to others. The most urgent need was to test, test, test, and either he didn’t get it or he didn’t want to know the results because they would “look bad”. The media blew its coverage by letting political reporters lead instead of health and science reporters. Political reporters paid way too much attention to whatever Trump said, such that whatever it was made headlines. They let Trump set the agenda instead of letting knowledgeable people do it. Political reporters also gave Trump way too much credit for trying. They covered up for his incoherence, ignorance, cluelessness, gaslighting, and yes, just plain stupidity. They failed to properly exploit their rare access to him by confronting him with facts and piercing his bubble. They remained complacent in the face of a massive death toll, instead of relentlessly demanding more forceful action.
History repeats itself. Remember how devastatingly incompetent Trump was during Covid? How he had no plan? And how news outlets didn’t call him on it? Let me refresh your memory: presswatchers.org/category/tru...
“In my 15 years in the Senate, I have never left a briefing this angry. We are heading down a path toward sending U.S. troops to Iran as ground forces,” — Sen. Richard Blumenthal
Holy shit - this would be very, very bad:
"The databases, called “Numident” and the “Master Death File,” include records for more than 500 million living and dead Americans, including Social Security numbers, places and dates of birth, citizenship, race and ethnicity, and parents’ names."
THREAD
On the total insane lack of planning for this “war.”
Chris Murphy: "I Just came from a two hour, closed door classified briefing on the war. It just confirmed to me it's totally incoherent. We are not gonna be able to achieve any of our stated objectives ... this is a disaster of epic proportions, a 10 day debacle"
One day the NYT's editors will read these stories again and be ashamed of themselves. Mamdani called the attack "heinous," "criminal," "reprehensible," "terrorism," and "the antithesis of who we are." The insinuation that he's conflicted about this is disgraceful. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/n...
Warren: "It is still the case that the Trump admin cannot explain the reasons we entered this war, the goals we're trying to accomplish. The only part that seems clear is that while there is no money for 15m Americans who lost their healthcare, there's a billion a day to spent on bombing Iran."
Today’s justification for the Iran war:
“get rid of some evil”
“Don’t ever be the first to stop applauding.”
-- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, writing about the unfortunate director of the local paper factory
mannerofspeaking.org/2010/05/12/s...
Cult
Who is demanding the imposition of sharia law in America?
I can't think of anyone calling for that, much less enough of a groundswell that it warrants an actual response from Congress.
Who's pushing this, Mike? Name names.
No American president has ever worn a baseball cap - especially his own $55 merchandise - at a dignified transfer. Like any good propaganda outlet designed to protect a supreme leader, Fox replaced the clip with one showing Trump in a better light.
A DOGE staffer assigned to the National Endowment for the Humanities to flag grants for "DEI" tries to explain what "DEI" is. This deposition is part of a lawsuit by the @acls1919.bsky.social, @historians.org and @modernlanguage.bsky.social.
Ted Lieu Tells Loser Rubio, The
Facts.......
The Pentagon calculated it was spending $1 billion a day on Trump and Netanyahu’s war. The truth? It was $3 billion…and that’s just for munitions.
Plus they’ve alarmed everyone by burning through scarce munitions in a matter of days.
Kristi Noem spent 220 million on her self-promotion ad and Hegseth said, "Hold my fruit basket."
newrepublic.com/post/207555/...
Haven’t heard about it.
“Killing is fun”
I just…
“We WANT to suppress voters.
That’s the only way we can win.”
The majority opposes them.
Never forget.
In free and fair elections, they lose.
🤣🦜
Come say hello!
Honestly I need historians to be the plaintiffs in every case I cover because if they make it to discovery you just KNOW those primary sources are going public.
Exhibit A: The American Historical Association uploading video depos of the DOGE bros to YouTube.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkCz...
Hey folks.
A reminder that this is tomorrow —free, first come first served for seating— (Tuesday) at 7:00 PM.
www.lincolncenter.org/series/linco...
This should end his career.
But it won’t—not in 2026.
Even so—call, complain, speak up, push back.
I wish that Anti-Muslim bigots didn’t belong here.
ICE just got caught in another lie.
ICE cut over 40% of its training program, slashed half of all firearms instruction, and eliminated ALL evaluation of agents’ grasp of skills specific to immigration enforcement and deportation operations.
I understand that there are a lot of folks on the left who instinctively recoil from religious language, and with good reason given its use by the right.
But please listen to this, and focus on how he's trying to realign "Christian values" so they align with and advance progressive policy goals.
No planning.
No purpose.
Didn’t even pause to consider how to get Americans out of Iran.
There are going to be Republicans running in many places who will go out of their way this October to point out to voters that they never asked for Trump’s endorsement. Susan Collins will top the list.
This.
If you don’t draw a line in the sand—regardless of a hearing’s or impeachment’s outcome—you’ve essentially declared an offense acceptable.
A handy precedent for more of the same.
