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Michael Tomasky

@mjtoma.bsky.social

Editor, The New Republic. Editor, Democracy: A Journal of Ideas. Scribbler. Serbo-Calabrian West Virginia Episcopalian.

36,147 Followers  |  47 Following  |  252 Posts  |  Joined: 22.06.2023
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Posts by Michael Tomasky (@mjtoma.bsky.social)

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What About Those Celebrating Iranians? We’ve Seen This Movie Before. MAGA-heads scoff at liberals: Isn’t it great to see those overjoyed Iranians? Um, yes, but history, alas, warns us sternly against premature celebrations.

Even cursory knowledge of this history ought to be enough to prevent any industrial-scale MAGA finger-wagging at those of us who aren’t popping champagne corks just yet. trib.al/ygonvN5

02.03.2026 12:54 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Here’s What TNR Readers Think About the Democratic Party The results are in from our recent readers’ poll. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gets high marks. Kamala Harris, not so much.

The results are in from our recent readers’ poll. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gets high marks. Kamala Harris, not so much.

trib.al/2kkkOBq

02.03.2026 04:47 β€” πŸ‘ 9    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0
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This administration wants to drop a shitload of bombs, to kill a foreign leader, to destabilize a foreign nation, if not an entire region simply because it canβ€”and because no one can stop them. trib.al/ihkdtOo

01.03.2026 21:07 β€” πŸ‘ 113    πŸ” 40    πŸ’¬ 9    πŸ“Œ 2
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Under Trump, the United States does whatever it wants, stops only when it wants to, and walks away from the carnage without looking back. trib.al/WBAIrWr

01.03.2026 21:08 β€” πŸ‘ 34    πŸ” 11    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1
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Um, wasn’t this the antiwar president? How many times did Trump say, from 2015 forward, that he was against all these wars? Back in 2016, that it was Hillary Clinton, not him, who was the warmonger. That he was smarter than that. trib.al/AmigBgS

01.03.2026 19:17 β€” πŸ‘ 36    πŸ” 24    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0
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Here’s What TNR Readers Think About the Democratic Party The results are in from our recent readers’ poll. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gets high marks. Kamala Harris, not so much.

The results are in from our recent readers’ poll. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gets high marks. Kamala Harris, not so much.

trib.al/9dhZSE7

01.03.2026 14:03 β€” πŸ‘ 78    πŸ” 10    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 3
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"Maybe, just maybe, Trump’s malignant nationalism is turning out to be bad politics in addition to being terrible in all sorts of other ways."

trib.al/HkgLCYq

01.03.2026 10:07 β€” πŸ‘ 21    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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The plan would mandate voter ID and ban mail-in balloting, and calls on Trump to issue an executive order announcing both measures. trib.al/Vyiabgz

28.02.2026 22:32 β€” πŸ‘ 34    πŸ” 23    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 3
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Iranians were going about their morning routine when they suddenly learned they were being bombed. President Trump, with no prior authorization from Congress, joined Israel in what he called β€œmajor combat operations” to eliminate β€œimminent threats from the Iranian regime.”

trib.al/nDVN4Bh

28.02.2026 20:38 β€” πŸ‘ 25    πŸ” 11    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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MAGA will forget all about those antiwar promises; this war will be embraced by phony patriots as righteous, as God’s command, as all illegitimate wars are; and the domestic attacks on β€œenemies of freedom” will start soon, as soon as today.

trib.al/iGV6lUC

28.02.2026 19:48 β€” πŸ‘ 30    πŸ” 9    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 0
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Iranian state media has reported, at least 63 girls were killed in a strike on an elementary school in the city of Minab.

This bombing campaign is the latest desperate act from a desperate man. trib.al/07sW9sm

28.02.2026 17:45 β€” πŸ‘ 22    πŸ” 11    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 1
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I Want Iran to Be Free More Than Anything. I Also Don’t Trust Trump. The president can talk about how he cares about the freedom of Iranians all he wants, but his actions make that hard to believe.

Very informative and moving piece here from @adriennemahsa.bsky.social for the @newrepublic.com. Read! newrepublic.com/article/2071... via @newrepublic.com

28.02.2026 17:43 β€” πŸ‘ 18    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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"In attempting to eliminate the alleged regional threat that Iran poses, Trump is inviting an even greater threat to the world. For there is simply no more dangerous world than one filled with nuclear weapons." trib.al/1uj7JSJ

28.02.2026 16:33 β€” πŸ‘ 37    πŸ” 12    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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US Strikes Iran: What This Means For the World | Right Now With Perry Bacon In the latest episode, Perry speaks with Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, Elizabeth Saunders, and Iranian-American scholar in global governance, Kian Tajbakhsh.

Here, the @newrepublic.com's @perrybaconjr.bsky.social interviews Iran expert Kian Tajbakhsh and presidential powers expert Elizabeth Saunders on these last 24 hours, and what lies ahead. newrepublic.substack.com/p/us-strikes...

28.02.2026 16:20 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 11    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Donald Trump’s Lawless Regime-Change War in Iran: No. Not in Our Name. Wait a minute. Wasn’t this the antiwar president? It’s now up to millions of us stand up and say no.

New Column: The "antiwar" president commences his seventh, and largest and riskiest, bombing campaing. newrepublic.com/article/2071... via @newrepublic.com

28.02.2026 15:46 β€” πŸ‘ 70    πŸ” 26    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 1
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Donald Trump has said almost nothing to justify going to war against Iran. The real reason may be something he dare not speak of.

trib.al/Nqx70Jy

28.02.2026 13:48 β€” πŸ‘ 597    πŸ” 206    πŸ’¬ 20    πŸ“Œ 15
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β€œThe idea that we’re going to be in a Middle Eastern war for years with no end in sightβ€”there is no chance that will happen,” Vance told The Washington Post.

That’s contrary to what top U.S. military officials and foreign policy experts have cautioned. trib.al/kwtTwOW

28.02.2026 14:55 β€” πŸ‘ 31    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0
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"If the United States makes the disastrous, self-destructive decision to launch an open-ended war with Iran, it will be because one MAGA faction pushed Trump over that line with help from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."

trib.al/IvN1u2o

28.02.2026 14:01 β€” πŸ‘ 229    πŸ” 60    πŸ’¬ 12    πŸ“Œ 8
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"Donald Trump has said almost nothing to justify going to war against Iran. The real reason may be something he dare not speak of."

trib.al/3urLd22

28.02.2026 13:38 β€” πŸ‘ 31    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 0
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This Is Not How Democracies Go to War. It’s How Dictators Do. Donald Trump has said almost nothing to justify going to war against Iran. The real reason may be something he dare not speak of.

From the excellent @joecirin.bsky.social in the @newrepublic.com posted Friday afternoon: newrepublic.com/article/2071... via @newrepublic.com

28.02.2026 12:14 β€” πŸ‘ 36    πŸ” 16    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 0
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The administration plans to claim that "China interfered in the 2020 election as a basis to declare a national emergency that would unlock extraordinary presidential power"β€”mandating voter ID and banning mail-in ballots.

The premise, it almost goes without saying, is a total lie. trib.al/ofsnVi2

27.02.2026 17:39 β€” πŸ‘ 144    πŸ” 105    πŸ’¬ 20    πŸ“Œ 10
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This Is Not How Democracies Go to War. It’s How Dictators Do. Donald Trump has said almost nothing to justify going to war against Iran. The real reason may be something he dare not speak of.

"With none of Trump’s public rationales making any sense, the most compelling reason to start a war seems to be to distract from the growing Epstein files scandal." trib.al/EC37NWn

27.02.2026 20:30 β€” πŸ‘ 25    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 1
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It Can Now Be Plainly Said: Trump Is Planning a November Coup d’État During the campaign, it was kind of hard to picture the specifics of how Trump might pull such a thing off. Alas, it’s getting less hypothetical by the week.

New Column: Chilling developments on the midterm elections front. Be very alarmed. newrepublic.com/post/207138/... via @newrepublic.com

27.02.2026 15:30 β€” πŸ‘ 84    πŸ” 46    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 5

Thank you so much, bless you!

24.02.2026 14:20 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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The Real State of the Union: Millions of Americans Are Just Disgusted Yes, we’re angry about what Donald Trump is doing to our country. But even more than that, we’re heartsick over the countless ways in which he is destroying this nation.

New Column: The SOTU address is Tuesday night, and the actual state of the union is anger, disgust, and sadness. newrepublic.com/article/2068... via @newrepublic.com

23.02.2026 13:35 β€” πŸ‘ 136    πŸ” 46    πŸ’¬ 14    πŸ“Œ 9

Thank you, David!

20.02.2026 21:17 β€” πŸ‘ 15    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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β€œWe” Haven’t Lost Our Sense of Shame. Only Republicans Have. Republicans once lectured the rest of about the absence of shame. In the Epstein era, they’re the shameless ones.

New Column: Remember when conservatives used to lecture the rest of us about the disappearance of shame? That's out the window. newrepublic.com/post/206850/... via @newrepublic.com

20.02.2026 15:57 β€” πŸ‘ 119    πŸ” 39    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1
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30 Years Later, It Looks Like Jesse Jackson Won the Economic Argument The civil rights icon’s progressive ideas were sidelined during the centrist Clinton years, but they’re ascendant in the Democratic Party today.

New Column: Remembering Jesse Jackson's profound economic legacy. newrepublic.com/article/2066... via @newrepublic.com

17.02.2026 17:31 β€” πŸ‘ 55    πŸ” 14    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
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Trump’s New Voter I.D. Threat Is His Gravest Attack on Democracy Yet The president says he’ll do it β€œwhether approved by Congress or not!” He can’t legally do thatβ€”but that hasn’t stopped him before.

New Column: Some say "don't be hysterical." I say "don't be naive." He is laying the groundwork for trying to cancel the election. newrepublic.com/article/2065... via @newrepublic.com

16.02.2026 14:05 β€” πŸ‘ 101    πŸ” 40    πŸ’¬ 8    πŸ“Œ 1
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The Sickening Image That Will Haunt Pam Bondi the Rest of Her Life The attorney general’s congressional hearing was so bad, Fox didn’t even cover it. And it may not even have been the worst thing she did this week!

New Column: The thing is, she and her aides probably think she hit a home run. Sickos. newrepublic.com/post/206565/... via @newrepublic.com

13.02.2026 16:00 β€” πŸ‘ 117    πŸ” 24    πŸ’¬ 5    πŸ“Œ 0