Michael Tomasky

The Supreme Court Has Abandoned All Pretense For the court’s conservatives, the only consistency is their inconsistency. Still, things rather conspicuously keep going the GOP’s way.

The court’s conservative members went out of their way to change their normal procedures in shadow-docket cases to benefit a Republican member of Congress as she tries to fend off a less favorable legislative map. trib.al/g80DPxm

The Republican Meltdown Over Iran Is Just Beginning Right-wing criticism of Trump’s war has mostly come from familiar MAGA cranks like Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson. But it could quickly spiral out of control.

"Facing sustained criticism from the MAGA faithful who rightly see the war as a “betrayal,” Trump could well spiral into unprecedented territory." trib.al/bEIaXiL

He’ll Need Some Luck, But James Talarico Can Win the Texas Senate Seat Talarico awaits the result of a May 26 Cornyn-Paxton runoff. The scandal-plagued Paxton would give Democrats a real chance at an upset.

"Democrats should hope that Paxton wins. He’s the ideal opponent for Talarico. Calling the attorney general scandal-plagued would be way understating his issues." trib.al/QArUjMl

“By Hegseth’s standard, any country having any advanced defensive weaponry of any kind can be labeled an imminent threat.”

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"Trump is clearly law breaking right now and being allowed to, which is really frightening. He’s operating like a king."

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Question for Pam Bondi: With the Dow down to 47,000, are we allowed to take the Epstein files seriously now?

The MAGA Plot to Take Down Canada A growing movement of MAGA-pilled Albertan separatists would happily break up the country to be closer to Trump.

Figures like Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon, who has explicitly compared Canada to Ukraine, see Canada as a bastion of decadent liberalism in the West that must be broken and subdued, one way or another. trib.al/m9FTkHb

The MAGA Plot to Take Down Canada A growing movement of MAGA-pilled Albertan separatists would happily break up the country to be closer to Trump.

Figures like Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon, who has explicitly compared Canada to Ukraine, see Canada as a bastion of decadent liberalism in the West that must be broken and subdued, one way or another. trib.al/JBH5xt1

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.

New Column: If I were Iranian, I'd be hopeful at this moment too. Of course. But so were Ukrainians in 1941, and Iraqis in 2003, and... newrepublic.com/article/2071... via @newrepublic.com

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

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.

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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 can—and because no one can stop them. trib.al/ihkdtOo

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

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

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.

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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."

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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

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 “major combat operations” to eliminate “imminent threats from the Iranian regime.”

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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 “enemies of freedom” will start soon, as soon as today.

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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

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

"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

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...

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

Donald Trump has said almost nothing to justify going to war against Iran. The real reason may be something he dare not speak of.

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“The idea that we’re going to be in a Middle Eastern war for years with no end in sight—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

"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."

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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."

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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

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"—mandating voter ID and banning mail-in ballots.

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