@simonwdc.bsky.social
Democratic political strategist, analyst, commentator. Hopium purveyor. More than 30 years in the fight. My primary political home is on Substack. Join me there too - https://www.hopiumchronicles.com/
A week after FIU college republicans were exposed for celebrating Himmler's concept of a "Nazi heaven," UF college republicans are disbanded for doing Hitler salutes.
As well as the fact that Russia could see certain gains (surging oil prices!) with the war still highlighting Moscow's increasing geopolitical impotence.
Two things can be true at the same time!
The information domain in the upcoming elections is not going be anything like anyone has ever experienced before:
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Donald Trump letting you know how the authoritarian capture of the media is going, in case you missed it. Unlike other authoritarians in places like Hungary and Poland he has no worries about advertising his authoritarian take over of the media.
“Kushner shakes down gulf leaders “
This Trump tweet is a work of art and needs to be kept for posterity. It turns out that the US has destroyed 100% of Iran’s military capability. Yet, to combat a military with no capability he is left pleading with allies he has regularly insulted to save him in the Gulf.
Trump is a titanic f*ck up.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatens broadcast licenses over Iran War coverage
🧵
This very much reads like a guy who sold a felon a pardon from Trump tried to extort another $500K from the felon he felt he was owed.
🚨 A new frontier of coordinated disinformation.
Fossil fuel industry front groups are using AI platforms to flood clean air regulators with fake public comments—submitted under real residents' names, without their consent.
@robbonta.bsky.social
www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/arti...
Trump's war is illegal, ill-thought out, reckless, unpopular, and doing enormous damage to America and the world.
It's already one of the biggest and most consequential f*ck ups in American history. And now he's escalating 👇
www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/2500-marin...
✋ Former USG war crimes lawyer here.
Apropos of SecDef's remarks this morning:
Denial of quarter—even the declaration of no quarter—is a war crime.
And recognized as such by the US Government.
From DoD's Manual for Military Commissions.
From Hopium:
- New inflation report comes in hot (again) - Trump's economic plan has clearly failed the nation
- Foreign AI propaganda, cyberattacks, a GOP not bound by law - the 2026 electoral battlefield is not going to be like any other we've ever seen 👇
www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/inflation-...
Words come from his mouth every day. They seldom are true. Or make sense. But they keep coming - unending, Olympian levels of bullshit.
This is so powerful.
A corrupt, vainglorious madman is running America.
Amazing!
So, on top of to the awful human toll, the US will:
—Crash the global economy
—Put boots on the ground in Iran?
—Undercut what's left of alliance cred in Asia
—Burn through overstretched naval assets
—Incentivize global nuclear proliferation
—Enrich Russia/China
—???
www.wsj.com/world/middle...
I'm curious, where is this money even going? They've fired all the independent auditors. Do we know this is going to the treasury? Where does it go from there if it does?
Why do we even allow someone to just give the treasury money?
I wrote today about how we all need to prepare for a "new battlefield" this year - about how a struggling GOP and Russian allies were going to do "whatever it takes" to hold on to power this year. Well, here's another example:
www.cnn.com/2026/03/13/p...
Sweeping guilty verdicts in the federal Prairieland antifa cases. These cases were an effort by the Trump admin to prosecute anti-fascists as terrorists and further, prosecute dissent. This Texas trial was a test of his power. He won. This laid out the case and stakes: www.ms.now/news/antifa-...
Just so we're all clear, this is a war crime and would be punishable by life or death under U.S. law.
As Trump has descended into incoherence, and become nothing more than an assortment of adolescent (and frequently violent) urges, the government has been remade into a tool for the immediate satisfaction of his wants and desires no matter how absurd or nihilistic they may be, as I discuss in PN.
Trump’s tariffs will cost your family more this year.
Saw the best and most realistic solution on reddit:
1/2
This is crucially important point.
1) "No quarter" is indeed specifically war-crime term
2) Under Geneva Conventions, after sinking an enemy ship, the attackers must "take all positive measures" to find and rescue any survivors. Text in next post
No evidence US sub did so after attack, AFAIK
From Hopium:
- New inflation report comes in hot (again) - Trump's economic plan has clearly failed the nation
- Foreign AI propaganda, cyberattacks, a GOP not bound by law - the 2026 electoral battlefield is not going to be like any other we've ever seen 👇
www.hopiumchronicles.com/p/inflation-...
In the last two days, Iran struck:
- Oil tankers in Iraq, killing an Indian crew member
- A French base in Iraq, killing French soldiers
- An oil depot in Oman
- Fuel tanks in Bahrain
- Buildings in Dubai hit by missile debris
- A Thai cargo ship
- Various Israeli targets
The Iran War will end when we get favorable media coverage