Tag: trump

Why Have You Started This War, Mr. President?

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From The New York Times:

That Mr. Trump declared the Iranian nuclear program “obliterated” by the strike in June — a claim belied by both U.S. intelligence and this new attack — underscores how little regard Mr. Trump has for his duty to tell the truth when committing American armed forces to battle. It also shows how little faith American citizens should place in his assurances about the goals and results of his growing list of military adventures.

Two things can be true at once: Iran’s leadership is genuinely awful, and it is not the United States’ legal or moral prerogative to remove them by force. Sovereignty isn’t a courtesy we extend to governments we like. It’s the foundational principle of international law, and unilaterally deciding to bomb a country into regime change violates it regardless of how “evil” that regime is.

The case for this attack has never cleared that bar. The stated justifications – to the extent they exist at all – range from strategically dubious to shifting like sand to justify the argument of the day. Whether the bombing campaign succeeds or fails, the cascading consequences – regional destabilization, retaliatory escalation, a power vacuum with no clear successor – are problems the U.S. has neither the plan nor the capacity to manage. This is a war of choice, launched without legal authority, against a country that did not attack us.

Opposing it doesn’t require sympathy for the Iranian regime. It requires recognizing that “they’re bad” has never been a sufficient justification for war.

Defense secretary Pete Hegseth designates Anthropic a supply chain risk

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From The Verge:

Nearly two hours after President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that he was banning Anthropic products from the federal government, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth took it one step further and announced that he was now designating the AI company as a “supply-chain risk”. The decision could immediately impact numerous major tech companies that use Claude in their line of work for the Pentagon, including Palantir and AWS. It is not immediately clear to what extent the Pentagon may blacklist companies that contract with Claude for other services outside of national security.

Good for Anthropic. It’s a shame that the other AI companies aren’t lining up behind them.

Makes me happy that I’m a subscriber to Claude, relatively speaking.

Speechless

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In many ways, I’m at a loss for words about what to say here.

Seeing how far we’ve come in just the past 12 months is, in one sense, not surprising given what we experienced during the first Trump term. In many other ways, my shorter-term fears are much greater, even though I still hold long-term hope that this government’s actions will eventually be rejected and reversed.

The recent killing of Renee Good & Alex Pretti by ICE officers is the latest and saddest example of where we have ended up after a year of an all-fronts assault by the Trump administration. If you haven’t watched the actual analysis of the position of the agent relative to the car and the events leading up, it’s worth a watch.

The details of what happen and the immediate reaction matter, because this is exactly how violence gets normalized: stripped of context, flattened into slogans, and waved away as inevitable. Almost immediately, both were labeled terrorists, and we were told the cases would not be investigated. That could change, but regardless of your politics, that should be terrifying.

I made the mistake of looking at Facebook once, and all of the people I expected were either joking about it or posting some version of “FAFO.” These “don’t tread on me,” Second Amendment absolutists sure have a narrow definition of tyranny. When ICE agents are repeatedly linked to January 6 and extremist movements, that selective outrage starts to make more sense. Slowly, state violence becomes acceptable, as long as the people on the receiving end are deemed to “deserve it” or are in the out group. Every single one of us, even those here illegally, deserve due process.

What’s wild to me is that the government could legally enforce our immigration laws and detain or deport people without random chaos, bloodshed, or inhumane treatment. This is not about immigration enforcement – this is about indiscriminate violence, impossible quotas, and the weaponization of a paramilitary force against those who oppose Trump. That is what people are protesting. Pew consistently finds support for border enforcement and due process and humane treatment at the same time.

In some ways, I can completely believe we are where we are now. This is the culmination of more than 20 years of asymmetric assaults on institutions, truth, and democratic norms, combined with a relentless push to elevate culture war fights while the country is quietly hollowed out. What truly separates us as Americans is not red versus blue, but the 99 percent versus the 1 percent. The ultra-wealthy understand that if they can keep us divided over cultural nonsense, they can loot the country and slip away before most people realize their future has been mortgaged.

If you strip the R or the D away from many of the real issues facing the country, there is broad consensus on what actually matters. Yet the wealthy and powerful work tirelessly to keep us divided, because division is how power is protected and expanded. Look at the data. The middle class is struggling, and by almost any metric, outcomes related to health, education, personal wealth, and the affordability of everyday life are moving in the wrong direction.

Silencing people through violence and coercion while destroying our social safety net and the global world order isn’t the type of “Freedom” most folks voted for. The specifics may differ for each person, but it is worth stepping back and thinking about our definition of the word outside the shallow comfort of flag-waving and slogans. To me, it means:

  • Freedom to choose who represents us, with confidence that our will is respected.
  • Privacy from government snooping and interference. We should not be tracked by systems like Flock or monitored by ICE simply for existing somewhere.
  • Economic freedom to live with moderately low taxes and real choice as consumers.
  • Security that makes those choices possible. A baseline welfare state, including healthcare, Social Security, and unemployment support, is what allows people to take risks and exercise real economic freedom.
  • Fair enforcement of laws so that people genuinely have equal opportunity, even if outcomes differ, because the playing field was made as level as possible.
  • Freedom to believe and worship, or not, any god you choose.
  • Freedom to live your life as you see fit, as long as it does not harm others.

On top of encroachments on our ability to live our lives in peace, we’re now seeing other breaches that bankrupt us and make us less safe:

  • Deregulation of key industries that further entrenches the largest and most powerful corporations. These entities are now so dominant that regulation without breaking them up is increasingly meaningless.
  • Personal profit from the presidency. By last count, Trump’s family has made roughly $4 billion this year by leveraging public office for private gain.
  • Conducting foreign policy as if the president were a king, sidestepping Congress at every turn. Whatever happened to small government?
  • Using ICE, now funded at levels comparable to the military budgets of entire nations, to sow fear and chaos at home.

You know what all of this rhymes with. Authoritarianism. The danger we face is not one man or one election. It is the normalization of authoritarian methods in the name of patriotism and security. Fascism does not arrive all at once. It arrives when violence, surveillance, and corruption are tolerated, even celebrated, as long as they are directed at the “right” people. That is where we are now.

One question I try to ask myself about every politician I have supported is simple: what would I think if this person had an R next to their name? For my conservative friends, think about the things Barack Obama did that outraged you. Now think about what Trump is doing, and ask yourself whether you would accept the same behavior from a Democratic president. One day, Trump will be gone. The norms he has shattered and redefined will remain, ready to be exploited by whoever comes next.

I honestly do not have much hope for people who have supported Trump since 2015 and still do. If you voted for him in 2016, I can understand the impulse to shake things up. If you voted for him after 2020, after January 6, and after everything that has followed, I am genuinely shocked. If you can witness all of this and still support him, it is worth looking in the mirror and asking what you truly value. Because it no longer aligns with any serious definition of conservatism, Christianity, or traditional Republican principles.

If you’ve supported Trump in the past and think what you’ve seen in the past year is too far, it’s not too late to turn your back on him. If you’ve long opposed this type of leadership, we’re going to have to work twice as hard in the coming years to save something we love from people hell bent on destroying much of it.

“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” – Sinclair Lewis

Turning the Battleship Around

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Last night’s election results brought something I haven’t felt much of lately: hope. Across the country, Democrats notched big wins at nearly every level. From moderate centrists in swing districts to left-wing candidates like Zohran Mamdani in New York, the results suggest a broad coalition that finally seems to understand what’s at stake and how to win again.

For me, the most heartening thing wasn’t any single race, but the overall story these results tell. It’s proof that a wide tent approach still works. When Democrats focus on the issues that actually affect people – housing, healthcare, reproductive rights, education – and stop letting purity tests dictate who’s “acceptable,” they can appeal to the full spectrum of voters who are tired of chaos and extremism. Even in Georgia, two Democratic commissioners were elected, something that would have seemed improbable a decade ago. And with Prop 50 passing, there’s now a real path for Democrats to take back the House next year. That’s not nothing.

It’s tempting, in moments like this, to get swept up in optimism. After years of bad headlines and creeping authoritarianism, any sign of progress feels like a lifeline. But the truth is that winning elections is only the beginning. Governing effectively, and undoing the damage of the Trump era, is going to take years of unglamorous, detail-oriented work. As Derek Thompson wrote, “turning the tide is different from cleaning up the mess.” And there’s a lot of mess to clean up.

We’re still living in a country where basic democratic norms are under attack, where media outlets thrive on outrage instead of facts, and where trust in institutions is at an all-time low. Even if last night signals a shift in momentum, we’re nowhere near out of the woods. It’s going to take more than one good election cycle to rebuild faith in democracy and create lasting progress. But for now, it’s okay to feel good. It’s okay to take a night to appreciate that people showed up – in red states and blue states alike – and said “enough.” Enough with the cruelty, the lies, the obsession with culture wars over actual governance. Enough with pretending that politics is a sport instead of a system meant to improve lives.

The energy from last night feels different because it was broad, not narrow. The party didn’t just win in deep-blue enclaves; it won across ideological lines. This Jacobin piece on Mamdani’s victory made a point that stuck with me: his win wasn’t in spite of his progressive message, but because he connected that message to material issues people care about. Affordable housing. Tenant rights. Public transit. In other words, things that make people’s lives better. That’s it. That’s the roadmap. Democrats don’t need to reinvent themselves; they just need to remember who they’re supposed to serve.

The Numlock News newsletter summed it up well: this was a night where pragmatism beat panic. Candidates who focused on governing and protecting freedoms, not on scoring ideological points, were rewarded. If that lesson sticks, maybe this is the beginning of a real shift. Of course, there’s still a mountain ahead. Winning elections doesn’t guarantee progress, and the forces that brought us to this moment (media polarization, political apathy, structural inequality, social media and more) aren’t going away overnight. For all we know, the damage is too deep to fully repair.

But it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a political story that made me feel something other than dread. Let’s be honest – things are still on life support. But last night, watching the results roll in, seeing communities stand up and say they’ve had enough of MAGA extremism, it was a small reminder that this country isn’t beyond saving. We just have to keep showing up, keep doing the work, and keep choosing leaders who understand that politics isn’t about ego or purity. It’s about people.

For now, I’ll take the win. It’s nice to see good news for a change.

Texas and Florida Have Become National Models for Using the Police State To Wage Culture War Battles

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From C.J. Ciaramella at Reason Magazine:

This phenomenon started in the states, and none have pursued it with more intensity than Florida and Texas, where governors and legislatures have competed to show that they're fighting the hardest against what they call "woke" excess and leftist hegemony. Now this style of governance—using criminal law, mass surveillance, tip lines, and the threat of police violence to wage the culture war—is going national. This doesn't just implicate the freedom of trans people or high schoolers who want to read Toni Morrison; it's a danger to every American who wants to live, work, and travel without being monitored and menaced by the state.

You probably don’t need me to tell you how scary this stuff is if you play it out. For most of my adult life, conservative-leaning folks have told me how important “freedom” is, and slowly but surely we’ve seen what they actually mean by that. Freedom for them to live how they want, and for the rest of us to fall in line.

We’re watching the slow legislation of morality, where lawmakers use “values” as a cover for control. None of it is about protecting anyone – it’s about enforcing a single worldview. What’s worse is that most of these laws don’t even need to hold up in court to do damage. The vagueness is the point. People self-censor, schools and libraries overreact, and the chilling effect spreads quietly and efficiently.

This is not what freedom looks like. And it’s not an accident. We’ve allowed a warped definition of freedom to take hold, one that means “my comfort matters more than your rights.” Whether by design or by ignorance, it’s become the rallying cry of people who have been convinced that equality is an attack on their way of life.

I can’t help but think about how much of this has been fueled by media that profits off fear and outrage.Looking back over the past 25 years, it’s clear that FOX News & social media algorithms will be blamed for whatever state we end up in. They’ve trained people to see enemies around every corner. It’s poisoning our politics and our relationships, and it’s only getting worse because division keeps the clicks coming.

We have to start pushing back. Not in abstract ways or clever tweets, but through the simple blocking and tackling of democracy. Call your representatives – seriously, it’s easy and only takes a few minutes. Vote in local elections. Speak up when you see injustice or when government steps into places it doesn’t belong. Staying quiet because it feels hopeless is exactly what they’re counting on.

If we don’t draw the line now, we may wake up one day in a country that still calls itself free but no longer remembers what that word ever meant.

New tariff rules bring ‘maximum chaos’ as surprise charges hit consumers

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From NBC News:

Some U.S. shoppers say they are being hit with surprise charges from international shipping carriers as the exemption on import duties for items under $800 expires as a part of President Donald Trump’s tariff push.

Hear me out … it’s almost like this administration is incompetent and doesn’t have our best interests in mind. In a world where one wanted to roll out tariffs to achieve their goals but also manage in a way that doesn’t choke out economic activity, they would likely do so in a staggered way that allowed businesses and consumers to plan both purchasing decisions as well as investment strategy around factory relocations, etc.

I personally have been hit by a number of these types of fees recently and I have zero clue what the real cost will be until a few days before delivery. The things I’m working with are minor consumer purchases. I can only imagine if I were trying to run a business.

America Tips Into Fascism

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From Garrett Graff at Doomsday Scenario:

I think many Americans wrongly believe there would be one clear unambiguous moment where we go from “democracy” to “authoritarianism.” Instead, this is exactly how it happens — a blurring here, a norm destroyed there, a presidential diktat unchallenged. Then you wake up one morning and our country is different.

It’s easy to imagine fascism as some big, dramatic moment: a coup, a speech, a breaking point. What Garrett Graff argues in this piece is more unsettling. We don’t wake up one morning to a dictatorship. We slide into it bit by bit. Norms get bent, then broken. Power gets consolidated. Institutions get bullied into silence. And by the time you look around, the country doesn’t quite work the way you thought it did.

What makes this feel different now is how normal the abnormal has become. Governors sending troops into opposition-run cities, armored vehicles rolling down D.C. streets, federal agencies harassing critics. It is all happening in plain sight. And many are celebrating the cruelty! Graff’s warning isn’t that fascism is coming someday, it is that it is already here in pieces. And that should alarm everyone, regardless of where they fall on the political spectrum. The scary part is how easy it is to stop noticing when each step just feels like the new baseline.

Musk, Tesla, and Virtue Signaling

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If you’ve been paying attention to the news, we’re witnessing an Elon Musk-led psuedo-coup. I’m not exaggerating here, the new administration and Elon Musk are creating a number of constitutional crises and it’s very, very serious. Every single time I drive, I think about Musk and what he’s doing. Every time I read about Musk and what he’s doing, I think about selling my car to rid myself of my “swasticar” as I’ve heard it called.

So here’s the thing: I’ve been thinking about selling my car for a while for a few reasons. First, I want something with a bit more cargo space. Second, the paper cuts of Tesla ownership (cheap quality, no CarPlay) have worn on me over the last 3 years and I just am not super happy with it overall. Finally, Elon Musk appears to be a fascist. As you’d imagine, I don’t want to support that or be associated with him at all.

But, it’s complicated! My car is paid off & I do 95% of my charging at home. Trading a 3 year old car in for another used vehicle is a headache, and I’d only be doing it to “stick it” to Musk. My plan when I bought the car was to drive it for about 5 years and then upgrade to something newer, as EV tech is still moving quite fast. Selling it sooner means I absorbed the largest part of the valuation drop without amortizing it across a few additional years. It also complicates the environmental story – buying a new car that has a high environmental cost means I’ve undone some of the good of buying an EV and my old car will still be out there.

Musk already has my money and nothing can change that.

However, the counter argument is that a sizable chunk of folks who are looking at EVs will no longer consider Tesla, and a lot of people who were already thinking about getting rid of their car now will do so. Ditto for folks whose leases are running out. That glut of cars will depress the resale value of my car when I decide to get something new, and it makes me worry that it’ll tank faster than cars typically do in the 5 or so year range.

As it currently stands, I’m weighing 3 options:

  • Hang on to my car for a few years. Maybe I’ll get one of those bumper stickers to do my virtue signaling
  • Sell my car for whatever I can get for it, lease a car that checks a lot of boxes for me like the 2024 Honda Prologue and figure out what to do in a few years.
  • Sell my car for whatever I can get for it, and buy a similarly priced ~3 year old EV like an IONIQ 5 or ID.4 that has the space I’d like and without the Musk I don’t.

Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion!

Inside the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot: An Exclusive Video Investigation

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From The New York Times:

What we have come up with is a 40-minute panoramic take on Jan. 6, the most complete visual depiction of the Capitol riot to date. In putting it together, we gained critical insights into the character and motivation of rioters by experiencing the events of the day often through their own words and video recordings. We found evidence of members of extremist groups inciting others to riot and assault police officers. And we learned how Donald J. Trump’s own words resonated with the mob in real time as they staged the attack.