Barbara O'Brien

He's got unresolved Mommy issues, obviously.

Welcome to the Derp State The dumbest president, surrounded by the dumbest people, making the dumbest mistakes.

They can't be shut down fast enough. open.substack.com/pub/paulwald...

Opinion | Trump Will Destroy Washington if It’s the Last Thing He Does

Gift link:

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/o...

I hate to use the Iranian regime as a good demonstration of anything, but what they're doing is illustrative of a very important point about bullies: THEY NEVER BUILD A PLAN FOR SOMEONE FIGHTING BACK. Bullies rarely have a plan B beyond the threat and application of force.

Trump accuses Starmer of seeking to 'join wars after we've already won' The remarks come after a public back-and-forth between Trump and Sir Keir Starmer over UK involvement in the US's joint offensive with Israel against Iran.

Let's try to get this story straight. Yesterday Trump rejected what he called an offer by the UK to send an aircraft carrier to the Gulf. But according to the BBC, the UK made no such offer. www.bbc.com/news/article...

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.

By Greg Sargent. Worth reading. Donald Trump’s Presidency Is in Free Fall newrepublic.com/article/2074... via @newrepublic.com

Saint Augustine's Just War What is a "just war"?  Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE) is credited with formulating a just war theory that remains embedded in western philosophy.

I'm planning a series on just war theory as proposed by several thinkers and traditions. This is the first installment. www.patheos.com/blogs/therel...

So we're going to set up the Kurds and probably abandon them again? It's gotten to be a tradition.

The money behind the new Iran War In private calls over the last several weeks, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged President Trump to attack Iran.

This is from Judd Legum at Popular Information. Link in comments. Trump is being paid off by Mohammad bin Salman to use U.S. military resources to take care of a Saudi problem. popular.info/p/the-money-...

How Not to Defeat Authoritarianism Moderation used to help Democrats win, but its advantages now have been greatly exaggerated.

this is good www.bostonreview.net/forum/how-no...

MAGA's Assault On Religious Liberty The Religious History Nerd says MAGA's assault on religious liberty is being under-covered in news media, but it's real.

Trump's oppression of U.S. religious institutions has not gotten enough coverage in media. Whatever doesn't align with his agenda, including Christian charities, is attacked. .https://www.patheos.com/blogs/thereligioushistorynerd/2026/02/magas-assault-on-religious-liberty/

Don’t Be Fooled By the Corrupt Court’s Tariff Decision The depth of the Supreme Court’s corruption has forced us to find...

Josh Marshall has another perspective on today's tariff ruling. talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/dont-...

IEEPA! IEEPA! IEEPA! Why the tariff ruling really matters

Paul Krugman on today's tariff ruling. IEEPA! IEEPA! IEEPA! open.substack.com/pub/paulkrug...

Get Ready for Zombie Tariffs Even after losing at the Supreme Court, Trump has plenty of ways to reconstruct his trade regime.

What Trump is likely to do next. He may be able to reconstitute most of the tariffs that were struck down today, but his ability to enact entirely new tariffs is much curtailed. www.theatlantic.com/economy/2026...

Live Updates: Supreme Court Strikes Down Trump’s Sweeping Tariffs

Ka-BOOM! SCOTUS just took away little Donnie's tariff toy. www.nytimes.com/live/2026/02...

From what I have read that happens a lot. No one seems to be keeping track of this.

Is anyone trying to tabulate the percentage of people arrested by ICE who were in the process of becoming legal residents or citizens? I've been searching for this but not finding it.

Is Empathy A Weakness? Is empathy a weakness? Recently The Atlantic published an opinion piece by Hillary Clinton titled "MAGA's War on Empathy." The Trump Administration, she

MAGAts hate empathy. They think it's a weakness. They think it's manipulative. It's "too emotional" and gets in the way of reason. And now conservative Christians have decided empathy is sinful. WTF? www.patheos.com/blogs/therel...

‘Their first instinct was to loot’: how Trump’s acolytes are plundering the Kennedy Center Sheldon Whitehouse, an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, remains undeterred and determined to press on with his investigation

See also www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Two CBP Agents Identified in Alex Pretti Shooting The two federal immigration agents who fired on Minneapolis protester Alex Pretti are identified in government records as Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa and Customs and Border Protection officer Raym...

1/ BREAKING: Government documents reviewed by ProPublica identify Border Patrol agent Jesus Ochoa, 43, and Customs and Border Protection officer Raymundo Gutierrez, 35, as the two who fired their weapons during the deadly encounter with Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.

Democrat Taylor Rehmet wins a reliably Republican Texas state Senate seat, stunning GOP Democrat Taylor Rehmet won a special election for the Texas state Senate and flipped a reliably Republican district that President Donald Trump won by 17 points in 2024.

apnews.com/article/texa... 
The handwriting is on the wall. Republicans need to read it.

Opinion | Trump Could Interfere With the Midterm Elections. You Can Help Defend Them.

Nothing worries me more than what Trump might do to interfere with the midterm elections. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/31/o...

A Bad Heir Day at the Fed No, Kevin Warsh isn’t qualified

I wrote yesterday about Kevin Warsh, saying what everyone who really follows monetary debates knows: he's a bullshitter who uses big words to make incoherent arguments that always amount to stimulus for Republicans, austerity for Dems 1/

paulkrugman.substack.com/p/a-bad-heir...

Trump's Fed chair pick named in Epstein files just hours after his nomination Barely a few hours after President Donald Trump named him as the next nominee to chair the Federal Reserve, Kevin Warsh was revealed to be in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case files.According t...

Sometimes you can't catch a break. /sarcasm www.rawstory.com/kevin-warsh/

Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio) YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen

Check out Bruce Springsteen's new song! youtu.be/wWKSoxG1K7w?...

Videos Show Moments in Which Agents Killed a Man in Minneapolis

The New York Times reports that Alex Pretti was carrying a phone, not a firearm. thhttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/24/us/minneapolis-shooting-federal-agents-video.html?unlocked_article_code=1.HFA.Fnp7.e59Vko134xSf&smid=bs-share

Federal Agents Kill Another Person in Minneapolis talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/feder...

Opinion | How Trump Has Used the Presidency to Make at Least $1.4 Billion (Gift Article) The president took an oath to serve the American people. Instead, he’s focused his second term on enriching himself and his family.

Enjoy. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Video Analysis of ICE Shooting Sheds Light on Contested Moments

More video analysis of the murder of Renee Good, with several videos in sync to show several angles. A must watch. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/15/v...

I don’t think this stuff is recoverable. I think these are the crucial four years where we just cede all basically all green tech production to China.