“I call unconditional surrender in my head!”
06.03.2026 21:23
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“I call unconditional surrender in my head!”
….it makes achieving American foreign policy objectives harder.
Now, a President who does not care about objectives and a weak Secretary of State who only cares about keeping his President happy may not mind. But the country will be paying for their malfeasance for many years to come.
Thread. Before the United States started a war with Iran, before it attacked Venezuela or shipping in the Caribbean, the Trump administration decimated the State Department, says @profsaunders.bsky.social. Crippling American diplomacy may make the spectacle Trump craves easier to create. But….
Thread. The Secretary of Defense thought this was cool, despite — or maybe because of — the Iranian vessel not being a threat, and having participated in an Indian-sponsored international exercise. Possibly also because there are so few military targets left in Iran. By @ryanenos.bsky.social
Back in 2024, national security people looking for excuses to support Trump started arguing that US support for Ukraine was a distraction from the vital work needed to contain China.
By now, it is clear that there was nothing to this argument. Trump & his people merely wanted to abandon Ukraine.
If it weren’t for fantasy, there would be no Trump.
The horrifying tale reported by @lkrozen.bsky.social here is one of an underpowered and distracted American negotiating team engaging the Iranian government in bad faith. US forces gathered around Iran much as Nagumo’s fleet crossed the Pacific during negotiations in 1941.
This decision will not be made in Washington, or even in West Palm Beach. It will be made in Jerusalem.
When the Netanyahu government decides it has run out of targets in Iran, it will stop its air campaign. This will leave no reason for the United States to continue its own.
I could see it.
Thread. Noem or no Noem, ICE loves its shackles. And at least threatening torture. Another snapshot from the White America immigration policy. Photo from @ottergoose.net, via @gbrockell.bsky.social
Trump treats people badly. Kristi Noem is not exceptional in that way. But it was still gratifying to see her fired abruptly, even if not for the reasons she deserved to be.
Good speech. Most US press got bamboozled by Bill Barr's scheme. Trump's collusion with Russia was always real, continues to be. www.youtube.com/live/ylvTFvJ...
Representing the party of dictatorship, House Republicans block a resolution to debate stopping Trump’s War. Only two dissented, while four Democrats voted to refuse any role for Congress in choosing to go to war. bsky.app/profile/cnn....
The horrifying tale reported by @lkrozen.bsky.social here is one of an underpowered and distracted American negotiating team engaging the Iranian government in bad faith. US forces gathered around Iran much as Nagumo’s fleet crossed the Pacific during negotiations in 1941.
Latest in @theatlantic.com . In only a few days, there are small but worrying signs that the corruption and incompetence of the Trump administration is affecting US military and diplomatic power. A fish rots from the head down.
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
Ethnic cleansing in South Beirut: a side effect of Trump’s War. Via @ruthmichaelson.com
An Army officer once told me the Army has so many rules against doing things only an idiot would do because, at one time or another, some idiot has tried to do every one of them.
Highly respected, heh. The man’s name is Markwayne.
Notice also Trump’s casually taking his doormat Republican Senators for granted. He doesn’t say he will nominate Mullin, but rather that Mullin will be named Secretary.
What a strange thing it is at this time to see a Senator (Sanders) trying to act like a committee chairman.
Well, what do you know? I’m genuinely surprised. I thought Noem’s assiduous public flattery of Trump would buy her and her paramour more time to abuse people and break laws at DHS.
Noem is a typical Trumper in many ways. She deserves this. By @swin24.bsky.social & @andrewperez.bsky.social
Fully agree.
For the white, against the colored.
Less lurid than Miller’s language, but pithier and conveys his meaning more clearly.
Not a Montanan — been there a couple of times, and it looked like a nice place. But I have to ask: is physically attacking defenseless people typical of Republican politicians there? Or is that just Sheehy and Gianforte?
Credit where due, Cowan isn’t wrong about those stupid questionnaires.
Yeah, Trump might eventually ease Noem out, but it won’t be because of this.
Thread. For US media, the lesson here is probably “beware the man-bites-dog story”: if it’s quirky, offbeat, or unexpected, it’s probably wrong.
Perhaps more important: stop pretending there is not a constituency for dictatorship in this country. MAGA is it. (By @yair-rosenberg.bsky.social)
We've been tracking nearly 200 lawsuits against the Trump administration over its attempts to leverage federal funding to impose the president's agenda.
The most startling pattern: The administration seems entirely undeterred when it loses in court.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Good summary of the Kurdish gambit, via @sfcpoll.bsky.social. It effectively conveys the enormous risk Iranian Kurds would run by relying on promises from Trump, who will be bored with this entire subject in about six months.
Representing the party of dictatorship, Senate Republicans block a resolution to debate stopping Trump’s War. Only Rand Paul (R-KY) dissented. [gift link] wapo.st/4rckiWO
Daines may be the only Montana Republican in Congress who has never assaulted anyone.