Chris Edelson

8 months later, Donald Trump is still trying to disprove Richard Neustadt by shouting orders into the wind and expecting his counterpart to dutifully listen.

8 months later, it still looks weak and pathetic.

bsky.app/profile/davi...

Perhaps naively, I have been shocked at how ill-equipped most of the media is to deal with the current situation, often simply because of an apparent insistence on just going on doing what it has always done in the hope that normality can be conjured out of habit. It is neither clever nor mature.8/8

part of the problem is that when you accurately describe what trump says/does, it sounds mad. I have done this several times on TV and commentators are at times clearly uncomfortable and sometimes try to tamp down what I said--even when I simply quoted trump directly

indeed--and you investigate, impose consequences, hold people accountable as warranted

just went thru same thing as I read and re-read my book before publication. Felt like a good way to go crazy.

24 hours later -- not a peep out of any House Republican leaders or any Republicans in Congress or the Tennessee GOP at all about this.

I go no responses from anyone I reached out to.

Guess they're all fine with comments like this!

Mike Johnson declines to condemn Republicans’ anti-Muslim remarks The speaker suggested his members meant to decry “Sharia law,” not the Muslim faith.

Mike Johnson declines to condemn Republicans’ anti-Muslim remarks

China and North Korea’s cheer could be heard across the Pacific.

This administration, and this man specifically, has no idea how to exercise real power for real ends.

Nuclear experts undercut White House claims about Iran reactor at heart of case for war The Trump administration sent negotiators without nuclear expertise to lead talks on Iran’s enrichment program. Now, its public case for war centers on a facility that experts say cannot do what offic...

This is a technical story with stunning strategic implications. It is quite possible the US launched a massive war because Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff lacked the technical expertise to even understand what the Iranians were offering in negotiations. Absolute idiocy.
www.ms.now/news/trump-i...

only a monster or a fool would speak of war as an "excursion" as people, including family of US servicemembers, mourn their loved ones

Trump was asked why he took a complete flyer on a theory about the bombing of the Iranian school that no one else supports.
And amazingly, he said
“Because I just don’t know enough about it”

like watching an evil version of the boss from the tv show the Office. both incoherent and terrifying

"Iran has some Tomahawks" is a shit lie, even by Trump's standards.

Headline and subhead: U.S. Tomahawk Hit Naval Base Beside Iranian School, Video Shows The evidence contradicts President Trump’s claim that Iran was responsible for a strike at the school that killed 175 people, most of them children.

Good for the hed/dek writers at @nytimes.com just now:

Not "appears to contradict" or "is at odds with" or "may give rise to suspicions that."

Flat out: "Contradicts." "Video shows." About the US blowing up a school full of little girls.

And of course, terrible for the world.

trump either lied about the US strike killing schoolgirls and other civilians or (if one is being very charitable), got it wrong. Either way, accountability is essential. trump never apologizes, but he must be called on the carpet--by journalists, members of Congress. This can't be swept aside.

DOJ improperly withheld FBI reports of interviews with an alleged Epstein victim who also alleged that Trump assaulted her as a young teenager. There is reporting that DOJ found her credible (this does not mean that it is true). I know there is a lot going on, but this should be a much bigger story.

I am pushing for a paperback to be released that would be more affordable

I really don't mean to hijack this (!) bit speaking of liking reading and books, I have a new book on emergency presidential power that explains how donald trump is using contrived emergencies in an attempt to consolidate power without limits: www.rienner.com/title/Above_...

"Jews don't belong in American society."

Imagine a sitting member of Congress tweeting that. You can't. Thankfully, it'd never happen. And *if* it did, it'd be the end of their career and the biggest story in America.

But Ogles can say this about Muslims without any censure.

Just openly the party of racism now.
Will anyone in his party utter a peep of criticism? Don't count on it.

Dow is down, gas is way up (up 50 cents here from yesterday). Gulf allies are under attack. This was clearly foreseeable by any student in any Introduction to International Relations class but somehow a huge surprise to the people running this country.

It's a Big Herrenvolk, & you ain't in it. You & I are not in the Big Herrenvolk.

I remember when I was in *high school* I had a conversation with someone that was kind of based in this logic--more that the US could use its strength to extract concessions from other countries. Seems juvenile and embarrassing now--but also seems like how the admin approaches things

This is on my mind as well. My new book explains how trump is using contrived emergencies in an effort to consolidate power without limits--the war v. Iran is one example. A real emergency would of course also suit his purpose. www.rienner.com/title/Above_...

trump wants the same kind of power--absolute prerogative--claimed by 17th century British monarchs. It is essential to describe this with clarity while also recognizing that he may not succeed. 2/2 www.rienner.com/title/Above_...

These are concentration camps, not “large-scale holding centers.”

Good grief Bezos. In the transaction for your soul, could you not negotiate to keep just a shred of yours?

This is certainly a concern. As I discuss in my new book, trump has been using contrived emergencies as part of an effort to consolidate power without limits. Aspiring dictators can also use real emergencies for the same purpose. None of this is inevitable, but the danger is real 1/2

look on my works ye mortals, and tremble!

I’m briefly in India. This is a facile observation, but Americans have barely scratched the surface in understanding how the rest of the world is reacting to this war. It’s already an Iraq War-style disaster in the global imagination, underscored by the thuggishness and caprice of the Trump approach