Eric Alterman

The interesting thing about this trade was not just that it cut gas prices for American drivers (which was helpful for individuals but bad for the climate) but also how it set an example of how government might guide all manner of markets. The global oil market, like most commodity markets, tends to be highly erratic—depending not just on thousands of production and distribution networks spread all over the globe, but also highly complex associated financial markets and the whims of oil-producing states like Russia and Saudi Arabia. That’s a recipe for major and unpredictable price swings. Biden’s big trade acted as a shock absorber for the entire oil system. By selling off such a huge amount, and credibly promising to keep doing it, he caused oil futures traders to assume the price was going to fall, which became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Conversely, by credibly committing to start buying again once oil reached a lower price—just a bit above where fracking pencils out, which was not a coincidence—Biden gave producers a strong incentive to invest and boost production, rather than holding back out of fear the price would soon collapse. That ensured that the price reduction created by selling off SPR oil would be sustained over the medium term—and in the process, it broke the stranglehold OPEC had on oil prices. This kind of “price guardrails” strategy could be done in all kinds of markets where a consistent supply at a reasonably stable price is important—food, lithium, steel, copper, rare earth minerals, semiconductors, computer memory, you name it.

recalling today how Biden's One Big Oil Trade was an example for how all kinds of markets could be stabilized prospect.org/2026/03/11/i...

The President of the United States, a week and a half into a world war that he rushed into without a plan, is blaming the father of his grandchildren while standing behind the Presidental Seal.

But the Penn inquiry has revived concerns about the aggressive steps the Trump administration is using to stamp out antisemitism.

What are you talking about? The Trump administration and the MAGA movement have stoked antisemitism, not attempted to "stamp it out."

Faithful leftist U.S. Jews fear 'Israel has replaced God' for religious Zionists The American Arm of the Smol Emuni Movement, Born Out of Israel's Judicial Overhaul Protests, Attracted Hundreds of Religious Jews to Its Second Annual Conference in New York. As the Iran War Rages, t...

www.haaretz.com/jewish/2026-...

Time is a flat circle.

how is "mayor chooses his words carefully" a NYT story but "president chooses his words like a haunted magic 8 ball on meth" not

Dr. Annie Andrews
@AnnieAndrewsMD
Forgive me for not sounding like a Senate candidate when I say this.
Lindsey, fuck all the way off.
,
A mom of three South Carolinian children and the person who is going to end your career

GRAHAM: “I’m asking South Carolina to send their sons and daughters.”

GOP congressman from Tennessee Andy Ogles posted on Ex-Twitter on March 9: “Muslims don't belong in American society. Pluralism is a lie.”

“Pluralism is a lie”
 
That really captures the essence of MAGA: A movement at war with the reality of American life and a large portion of the population.
 
And it also points to one of the regime’s key weaknesses: They have fully bought into their own white nationalist propaganda.

Live Nation Settlement Spurs Chaos in Court - The American Prospect The deal contains a fairly useless set of conditions. More than two dozen states vow to continue fighting.

"Ticket prices will continue to increase & independent promoters will become extinct... the Mafia couldn’t get a love tap on the wrist like this.” -Tommy Dorfman, who was muscled out of concert promotion by Live Nation & has a long-running lawsuit against the company.
prospect.org/2026/03/09/l...

Live Nation Settlement Spurs Chaos in Court - The American Prospect The deal contains a fairly useless set of conditions. More than two dozen states vow to continue fighting.

OK, here's our story on the wild situation in Manhattan today where the Justice Department settled a monopolization case against Live Nation without telling its own lawyers.
We got one week of testimony that was going really badly for the company. But corruption won out.
prospect.org/2026/03/09/l...

Imagine the reaction in the US if ~175 schoolgirls had been killed by a targeted Iranian missile. (Or anyone's missile.)

This is an atrocity.

not nearly so much as people who expect journalists to do theirexpensive, time-consuming and often dangerous work for free

Things look grim in the markets right now, but at least the U.S. economy wasn’t already being propped up by a massive speculative AI bubble that is highly sensitive to rising energy costs.

They must know some people. 🤡

@wsj.com
www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

Billionaires Are Swaying Elections in All Corners of America

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/09/u...

Documents Reveal a Web of Financial Ties Between Trump Officials and the Industries They Help Regulate ProPublica is releasing a trove of disclosure records that detail the finances of more than 1,500 Trump appointees, including former lobbyists, industry executives and at least a dozen officials who d...

www.propublica.org/article/trum...

Epstein Files Fallout: 40 Famous Names and High-Profile Exits A look at how Jeffrey Epstein’s network reached from Silicon Valley to the halls of Harvard and Buckingham Palace.

www.wsj.com/finance/epst...

Americans Are Now a Target in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown A WSJ investigation tracked the U.S. citizens caught in the crosshairs of an aggressive federal campaign to detain and demonize dissenters.

www.wsj.com/us-news/immi...

While all eyes are on Iran, Jewish terrorism is rising in the West Bank | Editorial Israel, by Means of the Jewish Marauders, Is Advancing the Gradual Expulsion of Palestinians From Their Lands, and in Doing So, It May Be Responsible for Committing War Crimes and Crimes Against Human...

www.haaretz.com/opinion/edit...

Elon Musk * x @elonmusk X.com True iamyesyouareno • @iamyesyouareno • 2d Tucker: "Every other group in the world has a right to its own homeland except White people? What? Explain how that makes sense." White people deserve a homeland. FATI rOCKeL: SHOW 12:43 AM • 3/7/26 • 21M Views

Seems bad that these two guys who have the ear of the US president are out here promoting Richard Butler-style white nationalism.

Opinion | The Danger of Being a Palestinian Citizen of Israel

The Danger of Being a Palestinian Citizen of Israel www.nytimes.com/2026/03/08/o...

Couldn't agree more.

The Grande Dame of the Epstein Files Peggy Siegal, once the most powerful publicist in New York, defends herself.

Peggy, I really (!) thought I knew ye...
nymag.com/intelligence...

Selma, OTD, 1965

If someone in your life talked like this, you would research involuntary commitment

Slurs Filled a Chat Created by a Republican Party Official in Florida

All by themselves. The slurs just "filled" the chat with no agency. Call it "magic" if you like, but don't go blaming Republican racists for these words, you Trump-Disordered liberal Democrats!
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/u...

Not Orwellian at all: Leavitt: "When he as commander in chief determines that Iran no longer poses a threat to the US and the goals of Operation Epic Fury have been fully realized, then Iran will essentially be in a place of unconditional surrender whether they say it themselves or not"

Slurs Filled a Chat Created by a Republican Party Official in Florida

All by themselves. The slurs just "filled" the chat with no agency. Call it "magic" if you like, but don't go blaming Republican racists for these words, you Trump-Disordered liberal Democrats!
www.nytimes.com/2026/03/05/u...

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.

This is a chilling crime. A shame on our country. The Iranian ship was unarmed. The US knew this. The sailors were murdered by our navy, and the survivors were left to die at sea.
newrepublic.com/post/207429/...

I continue to be gobsmacked at 1) how common this formulation is 2) how antisemitic and generally bigoted it is 3) and how for all the talk of anti-semitism this is never cited as an example even though it’s quite literally the original incarnation.