David DeCosse, Catholic theologian, journalist, teacher

What a sell-out fool: War makes us great and a Pentagon led by the least qualified Defense Secretary ever is a shining example of meritocracy (which to be sure in facts exists in the US military but not in any way in the ideologues who were handed their jobs on the grounds of pure favoritism).

In interview, Cardinal McElroy says U.S. entry into war with Iran ‘not morally legitimate,’ citing Catholic just war teaching - Catholic Standard

Cardinal McElroy calls the war in Iran unjust: "Catholic teaching does not support preventative war...If preventative war were to be accepted morally, then all limits to the cause for going to war would be put in extreme jeopardy."
www.cathstan.org/us-world/in-...

Chris Murphy is spot on.

Chris Murphy: "I think it's likely the United States that carried out this attack on this school. I think it's unforgivable under any circumstances, but the fact this was one of our first targeting decisions speaks to the incompetence of our leadership at the Dept of Defense."

Thank you, Cardinal Cupich, for calling out the abject immorality of the White House war videos: "Our government is treating the suffering of the Iranian people as a backdrop for our own entertainment..."
www.archchicago.org/statement/-/...

So the fact that we bombed a girls elementary school, while likely using AI for targeting, is going to be a major headline story dominating American news coverage when exactly?

Inside a managing master class: Dave Roberts breaks down a Game 7 for the ages

A great article about the human touch LA Dodgers manager Dave Roberts brought to the epic Game 7 of last year's World Series: A window into what makes him - and anyone - a great leader. Hats off to him and the Dodgers...and it's painful to say 'cuz I'm a Giants fan!
www.nytimes.com/athletic/708...

Brady Tkachuk decries White House’s AI video of him insulting Canadians after US gold US ice hockey star Brady Tkachuk has said he does not appreciate an AI video released by the White House that shows him insulting Canadians

This story reflects exactly what the US men's gold-winning hockey team means to the president: Nothing more than that you are there to be used for his immoral ends. C'mon US men's team: you were fantastic in winning but time to wise up.
www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/f...

Statement from Dario Amodei on our discussions with the Department of War A statement from our CEO on national security uses of AI

Anthropic says no to coercion from Hegseth's Pentagon: "Regardless, these threats do not change our position: we cannot in good conscience accede to their request."
www.anthropic.com/news/stateme...

Contributor: Don't mistake military escalation in Iran for an actual strategy What is imagined as calibrated pressure in Washington could easily be perceived as an existential threat in Tehran.

Excellent post on the ethical and strategic problems with current US posturing for war with Iran: "Military force used to gain leverage in negotiations is different from self-defense. It is an effort to force another government to change its behavior."
www.latimes.com/opinion/stor...

Catholic outrage at Ostermann Notre Dame appointment an intellectual and pastoral failure "If papal teaching is invoked to defend the sanctity of life, it should also be invoked to model the intellectual seriousness Catholic moral reasoning demands," writes Karen E. Park.

An outstanding articulation of the meaning of the Catholic intellectual life...
www.ncronline.org/opinion/gues...

Here's one among many Californians who says, "good riddance."

Opinion | Pam Bondi’s ‘Cage Match’ and Trump’s Fraying Coalition

Watching Bondi was watching a human being corrupt herself: "[Trump] is putting in front of [her]: Hey, Pam, here is your job in one corner. And here in the other corner is reason, logic, morality,and decency. You have to give up all of those things. But if you do..."
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/14/o...

Thank you for this, Kevin. I find myself drawn more and more to the thought of Levinas these days. All the hyped-up, jacked-up, masked ICE militarism is one more totalizing effort to avoid the transcendence staring out from the face of a frightened migrant.

Trump is destroying America — he must be stopped At the ballot booth and in the streets, we must show that nonviolent collective action is still alive in America. What is at stake is the soul of our nation.

Jesuit Tom Reese has seen a lot and tells it like it is. On Trump ruining this country: "At the ballot booth and in the streets, we must show that nonviolent collective action is still alive in America. What is at stake is the soul of our nation."
www.ncronline.org/opinion/gues...

In the event the Save Act is passed (and I hope not but we are where are), the Democrats will still win in the midterms and the GOP will still refuse to accept the results.

So many things to say here but I find myself thinking about Zeldin: concerned about climate change for years and then, in Trump's cabinet, a total about-face. A gutless character and sign of these times.

Dear fellow Gen Z Catholic converts: Don't settle for fundamentalism Our desire for satisfying alternatives to modernity and a sense of meaning shouldn't turn us against all questioning. Questioning is what brought us to the faith in the first place.

Excellent piece by Jeromiah Taylor @ncronline.bsky.social on how conversion to Catholicism means an entry into a world in which everyone somehow belongs. "To confess such an idea, and if one can manage, to actually believe it, requires faith."
www.ncronline.org/opinion/ncr-...

My friend: I think Christian morality is far more complicated than your note allows for. As the article noted, there have been many disastrous instances of Christian complicity in terrible events. But, paradoxically, Christian morality also stood in judgment on that complicity.

Opinion | Donald Trump, Pagan King

Excellent piece on how the Trumpist appeal to Christian nationalism is in fact a return to a pagan world of values and a betrayal of Christian morality.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/o...

Hey progressives - let's not consume ourselves with purity tests divorced from public opinion: the tried and true way to blow the opportunity to develop a big coalition across a lot of difference that can sustain political change for years. In any case, Newsom has more fight than a lot of the left.

While the billionaires kowtow and look the other way, actual patriots recognize their responsibility to speak out and assert right from wrong.

Blanche has got to be the most unethical lawyer in the US...

Given events of the past week (which follow on many similar events), it is important to say it publicly and to own it: The president is a racist.

A great piece by @jeanguerre.bsky.social on salvation by salsa (and reggaeton, etc): If we can just get ourselves to the dance floor with Bad Bunny, we can discover that we have hips that move and that "before we are red or blue, citizen or immigrant, we are bodies that bleed and sweat and dance."

1. It was not an accident.
2. It was not a staffer.
3. While the president may have dementia his racism is not due to dementia.
4. He isn’t sorry. He means every racist thought he shares.
5. His base agrees with him.
6. He will do it again.
7. No one in power will hold him accountable.

Opinion | The Finance Industry Is a Grift. Let’s Start Treating It That Way.

Excellent piece by economist Oren Cass on how the financialization of our economy is destroying our economy.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/o...

Thanks for your great work on this, Greg. I think opposition to ICE tactics shows support for lasting immigration reform Trump/Miller know this and know the only way they can achieve their vision of America is through violence, not the political process. They use politics to destroy politics.