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Tom Nichols

@radiofreetom

Staff writer at The Atlantic. Cat guy, democracy defender. Actor for a day on Succession, Jeopardy champ. New Englander and curmudgeon.

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Latest posts by Tom Nichols @radiofreetom

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MIGA!
This is bonkers, of course

06.03.2026 16:26 πŸ‘ 98 πŸ” 10 πŸ’¬ 26 πŸ“Œ 3
Tom Nichols on the Iran War
Tom Nichols on the Iran War YouTube video by The Back Room with Andy Ostroy

Is this war legal? Was there an imminent threat? What's the mission? And how long can it go on? @radiofreetom.bsky.social is back in THE BACK ROOM addressing these questions and more... www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzla...

06.03.2026 13:13 πŸ‘ 11 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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People die in war, captain

06.03.2026 06:49 πŸ‘ 261 πŸ” 14 πŸ’¬ 18 πŸ“Œ 1
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One thing that’s always been wild to me is there inability to recognize who the bad guy is. Jessup, Patrick Bateman, Jordan Belfort. These guys consistently idolize the obvious villain.

05.03.2026 22:22 πŸ‘ 1581 πŸ” 206 πŸ’¬ 128 πŸ“Œ 60
Preview
Texas Representative Tony Gonzales Will Not Seek Re-election Several House members had called for Tony Gonzales to step down after texts emerged showing his pursuit of a staff member who later killed herself.

Rep. Tony Gonzales, a Texas Republican accused of coercing a staff member into a sexual relationship before she killed herself, said he would not seek re-election.

06.03.2026 04:45 πŸ‘ 547 πŸ” 87 πŸ’¬ 33 πŸ“Œ 22

Yeah, that's not it.

06.03.2026 04:16 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
Ali Velshi and Tom Nichols on "The Last Word" on MSNOW.

Ali Velshi and Tom Nichols on "The Last Word" on MSNOW.

"Trump has this thing where he kind of wishes things into being - 'Well, if I just do it, people will support it, Iran will surrender, and things will work out somehow' - but that's not how a war of this size goes." - @radiofreetom.bsky.social

06.03.2026 03:51 πŸ‘ 287 πŸ” 47 πŸ’¬ 9 πŸ“Œ 2

Sorry, Colin - you asked :D

06.03.2026 04:15 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Not to my knowledge.

06.03.2026 04:14 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

I don't even want to speculate. But he has asked why we have them if we can't use them.

06.03.2026 03:51 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

I doubt she will thrive, have lots of government funds, or be able to carry out an agenda. I suspect she's going to try to get elected to the senate from SD. That would suck, but it's long way off.

06.03.2026 03:26 πŸ‘ 5 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

TONIGHT: @radiofreetom.bsky.social talks to @velshi.com on The #LastWord at 10pm ET.

06.03.2026 01:23 πŸ‘ 267 πŸ” 56 πŸ’¬ 18 πŸ“Œ 1

Think of it this way. Trump came into office with a β€œno scalps rule”
Meaning that he wasn’t gonna fire anybody just because the libs and the media wanted them fired. That rule is now being pushed away.

06.03.2026 01:03 πŸ‘ 386 πŸ” 42 πŸ’¬ 27 πŸ“Œ 1

Meaningless.

06.03.2026 01:02 πŸ‘ 6 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

It's a "loathing sense of pleasure, or pleasurable sense of loathing" for something so bad you can't stop watching it. Like the Brady Bunch musical variety show. Or a Jerry Lewis telethon at 3am.

06.03.2026 00:10 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

Negatory, she and everyone I knew used powder, because who has the time

06.03.2026 00:08 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0
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06.03.2026 00:08 πŸ‘ 160 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 0

My pal @aheard.bsky.social calls this "Hathos"

05.03.2026 22:29 πŸ‘ 176 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 6 πŸ“Œ 0

Hegseth right now proving that trying to clean up after a stupid briefing by giving another briefing isn't really a good idea

05.03.2026 22:13 πŸ‘ 873 πŸ” 107 πŸ’¬ 54 πŸ“Œ 2

You can take action, @radiofreetom.bsky.social !

"Most airlines state that a passenger over the age of 5 can be removed from a flight for being barefoot. Had I known this, I would have started hitting the call button and complaining a long time ago."

www.bostonglobe.com/2026/03/05/l...

05.03.2026 20:21 πŸ‘ 131 πŸ” 12 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 0

God, yes. That show, lovely as it was, baked a lot of people's brains about how government works

05.03.2026 20:23 πŸ‘ 213 πŸ” 13 πŸ’¬ 28 πŸ“Œ 1
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Also, buy popcorn.

05.03.2026 20:23 πŸ‘ 1273 πŸ” 195 πŸ’¬ 50 πŸ“Œ 16

I understand your position.

05.03.2026 20:21 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Is it better if she survived another scandal and she and Corey stayed in?
"This good thing happened but not for the reasons I wish it did" doesn't make it not good.

05.03.2026 20:21 πŸ‘ 365 πŸ” 24 πŸ’¬ 32 πŸ“Œ 1

Without MN, and Corey, and the Love Plane, and a lot of other dumb stuff, she might have survived the PR goof.

05.03.2026 20:20 πŸ‘ 299 πŸ” 27 πŸ’¬ 20 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
The Humiliation of J. D. Vance Trump’s war with Iran shows that, within the administration, the vice president’s opinions matter less and less.

Also good signs:
"The VP was not in MAL w/Trump as he oversaw the attack. The admin released a photo of him running a secondary meeting at the WH, flanked by a can of Diet Mountain Dew and a sullen-looking Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence."

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...

05.03.2026 20:19 πŸ‘ 360 πŸ” 76 πŸ’¬ 23 πŸ“Œ 6

And she's out, not even an hour later.

Trump is presenting Mullin's appointment as automatic, but he still has to go through Senate confirmation hearings like everyone else. They're usually deferential to their colleagues, but I think this guy for this post in this election year might prompt issues

05.03.2026 19:47 πŸ‘ 1795 πŸ” 289 πŸ’¬ 115 πŸ“Œ 21

ASK ABOUT HER PLANS FOR THE AGENCY

ASK HER ABOUT HER FAVORITE PART OF THE JOB

05.03.2026 19:39 πŸ‘ 2178 πŸ” 179 πŸ’¬ 38 πŸ“Œ 4

*rubs temples*

Or maybe it's just as it seems: She's a clown who embarrassed the boss one too many times and had to go.

05.03.2026 20:15 πŸ‘ 264 πŸ” 13 πŸ’¬ 26 πŸ“Œ 2

I just find non-stop dooming exhausting, Windy. I'm not offended, I just genuinely am amazed that no news is ever good news.

05.03.2026 20:12 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0