...(3) diplomacy in aftermath essential, yet State is gutted, regional ambassadors (who even are they?) not primed to deal with aftermath, will Kushner and Witkoff add this to their rebuilding portfolio? Just asking that question is nuts. 4/

Do you remember when Trump got very upset because of untrue Russian claims that Ukraine had tried to kill his beloved Putin?
He could not care less that Putin had tried to kill Zelensky many times.
Now Trump celebrates the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei...

Post See new posts Conversation Laura Rozen @lrozen · 2h From US admin official background briefing recording listening to, seriously question if US negotiators understood what Iranians were proposing. One official keeps saying acronym for “IAEA” wrong. They seem astonished Iran would not agree to the US supplying them nuclear fuel Laura Rozen @lrozen · 2h They took as suspicious proposals that Iran saw as concessionary. Laura Rozen @lrozen · 2h Explains why Oman FM tried to come to DC to explain what US negotiators may not have fully understood Laura Rozen @lrozen Am not saying what Iran proposed would have been enough, I dont know, but it seems US negotiators did not have the expert guidance to understand it correctly

On top of all the reporting that this war of aggression was planned well in advance, it seems that the reporting also indicates that the US political leadership are quite literally too stupid to understand basic diplomacy. I mean literally not smart enough.

Four simple lessons that so many in the West, above all Biden/Sullivan, have refused to learn.

The Epstein files document what many women researchers have long experienced but rarely seen laid bare so starkly: exclusion operating behind closed doors, shaping who gets funded, invited, mentored, and taken seriously. How many of these networks, norms, and gatekeepers remain in place?

We have been focusing on whom the Epstein files will implicate. I cannot believe AG Bondi would ever release clear evidence against Trump. But we should consider whether the damning evidence may come from someone making a deal overseas with prosecutors who actually care about child rape.

This is what FGA is all about. Predictable as clockwork.

Not much longevity as a commentator even as part of a heavily compromised entity.

When individuals commit unusually bad acts, elites punish them to avoid being associated with that conduct. That is happening in much of the world with Epstein associates. It's not happening here because these horrific acts are no longer unusual among our elites and their president. Too much power.

Dozens of U.S. Planes Are at Jordan Base, Satellite Images and Flight Data Show

Americans should understand that Trump has forward deployed a substantial fraction of US land-based aircraft out in the open within missile range of Iran. This is a war of choice that could wipe out combat power the US might wish it had husbanded for other scenarios. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/20/u...

What problem is Trump's new global 10% tariff meant to solve?

If it's about leverage, ask: How much leverage do you get from a tariff that disappears in 150 days?

If it's onshoring: Who builds new factories based on tariff that disappear before the factory is built?

It's a tax. That's all it is.

Wasn't it U.S. policy at one point that we did NOT want the Germans to be Nazis?

i'm watching spike lee's remarkable documentary FOUR LITTLE GIRLS and as much as i want to focus on the film i can't help but think about the people, with real power and influence, who want to take this country back to before birmingham

George III was an impatient guy, too.

My theory of the moment: The extraordinary courage of ordinary people in places like Minneapolis is reawakening us to our social and economic ties to immigrants. It's making "love thy neighbor" cool again. That's the ultimate antidote to MAGA hate.

Thoughts on this:

newrepublic.com/article/2059...

If the House majority is “tough on crime” then why do they keep arming it?

Last year: more silencers for mass shooters

This week: more weapons for domestic abusers and gun traffickers

Instead of aiding dangerous individuals,
extremists should be siding with our children and our communities.

Someone has sure already made this observation but the fact they can convert all those empty warehouses into prison camps means they could have converted them into housing, community centers, job training centers or, hell, libraries or schools all along. It’s always a matter of will not resources.

Overwhelming ignorance. A vivid demonstration of how racism and chauvinism are the real threat to civilization.

Someone should remind the troops that they don't have to follow unlawful orders. Oh, wait...

“The right people voting.” It all out in the open, isn’t it?

To take Russian "security concerns" seriously, one must 1) ignore its nuclear deterrent, 2) ignore numerous neo-imperialist statements of its leader, other senior leaders, and state TV, 3) ignore its repeated invasions of neighbors, & 4) elevate those concerns over other peoples' self-determination.

Russia whined about NATO expansion not because they felt their security was threatened--who would invade the country with the largest nuclear arsenal on earth--but because they desperately wanted to bring Poland and the Baltics back into their Imperium, and NATO expansion prevented that.

What Parkland is Still Teaching America Eight Years Later Eight years after the Parkland shooting, survivors and families reveal the long‑term cost of gun violence and what America still hasn’t learned.

For most people, February 14 is Valentine’s Day. In Parkland, it’s the day everything changed — a date marked by loss, resilience, and a community that refused to break. Eight years later, Parkland still has something to teach America about remembrance and responsibility. I wrote about it here:

And then there is "Thou shalt not kill"...

Opinion | Something Surprising Happens When Bus Rides Are Free

"Eliminating bus fares can clear junk cases out of our court system, lowering the crushing caseloads that prevent our judges, prosecutors and public defenders from focusing their attention where it’s most needed." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/o...

Pure evil. And the fact that no senior officials are rushing to make this right shows that they are pure evil, too. Worth remembering that with the huge ICE/CBP slushfund in last summer's megabill, cost is no obstacle to more humane detention. Conditions are horrific because officials are sadists.

Yes, but it can still damage us.
Let's say they attack and let's say we completely obliterate them.
But they still launch thousands drones at our cities that we cant intercept and kill some 5,000 Europeans. Your neighbors, relatives, friends - will it be worth it. Support Ukraine NOW!

Very powerful. Very much worth a listen. And important to remember the other meaning of February 14 each year and what it says about our society's inability to show true love for its children in the way that matters most: protecting them from violence and suffering.

Gavin Newsom has a very funny twitter persona but he's a classic blue state "tweener" politicians who underperforms with swing voters even as leftists also don't like him.

www.slowboring.com/p/gavin-news...