as noted yesterday, Trump has now come around to treating an Iranian toll system covering the Strait of Hormuz as a given. Hard to overstate the level of strategic failure. US started the war purely as a war of choice and ends up dramatically empowering Iran and given the Iranian govt big wins.

Bill Grueskin@bgrueskin.bsky.social · 14h ago

Reuters: Iran wants fees of 5%-7% of the price of cargo from ships using the strait; Oman wants 3%. "Making fees voluntary, at least nominally, could be a way out of the impasse, although an implied threat of Iranian attacks could mean shippers would be ​unlikely to risk transit without paying."

Newsmax: Does Mike Rogers have the advantage against Abdul El-Sayed? Me: Absolutely not — I think it'll be close, but Rogers underperformed Trump in 2024 and this election will be a lot harder for Republicans because of the economy.

Analysis | Whether Haley Stevens or Abdul El-Sayed prevails in the Michigan primary, it’s a disaster for Democrats.

Let's be clear, Trump is in Las Vegas to champion his billionaire friends he gave the biggest tax break in history to... not the working families who are struggling in the economy have wrecked. The average Nevada family now pays $2,900 more on necessities since Trump took office.

It was 60 years ago today! The Beatles released Revolver. www.youtube.com/watch?v=r95-...

Got To Get You Into My Life (Remastered 2009)

YouTube video by The Beatles - Topic

youtube.com

Mike Flood is another vote for tax cuts for billionaires and forever wars in the Middle East paid for by cutting health care and food assistance.

nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/08/05/n...

National Democrats put NE-01 in its ‘districts in play’ program • Nebraska Examiner

DCCC's program is a different tier from its “Red-to-Blue” program, which the Nebraska 2nd Congressional District is in.

nebraskaexaminer.com

This doddering nutball is going to absolutely destroy Republicans’ midterm chances. He’s feeding Democrats free ads every time he opens his mouth, and it is glorious.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · yesterday

Trump: "I think we should be given an A+ on the economy"

Abdul won, and everybody should be rallying around him. It’s important that we defeat Rogers and take back the Senate to effectively end Trump’s second term. Ignore anybody telling you otherwise. We can get back to fighting with each other after the general election.

Honestly - I haven’t spent too much time thinking about primary elections this year as I find all the back and forth debate/fighting usual and predictable narratives exhausting. That said - just remember kids: Vote blue no matter who. 🌊🤘🏼

I have little to add to the chat, but I will say this: Those of us who spend a lot of time talking about politics overestimate how much other people care about, or are even familiar with, the labels we use to describe, denigrate, or celebrate candidates. Sometimes we’re high on our own supply.

Happy 65th birthday to President Barack Obama!

Nebraska greats Dave Rimington & Dean Steinkuhler have been named to The The Sporting News 1980’s All-Decade All-America team.

Happy birthday to our 44th President Barack Obama! In 2006, he visited us for a #JFKForum to talk about his book, The Audacity of Hope, and was awarded the #ProfileInCourage Award in 2017 for his commitment to democratic ideals. www.jfklibrary.org/events-and-a...

4 August 1969: The Beatles overdub harmonies onto the Abbey Road song Because. George Martin: "The three boys sang together in harmony… then we overlaid another three voices, and another three voices, so we had nine-part harmony all the way through." www.beatlesbible.com/1969/08/04/r...

4 August 1969: Recording, mixing: Because, Something, Here Comes The Sun | The Beatles Bible

Three days after the backing track for Because was recorded, The Beatles added the song's distinctive vocal harmonies. George Martin: "Having done the backing track, John, Paul and George sang the har...

beatlesbible.com

What's revealing here is that Iran and Oman are negotiating what is essentially a shared hormuz toll ("service fee") agreement. So the US is moving pretty rapidly to treat a post-war toll system as a given. 'Come up with an agreement on tolls or we'll attack!!' In other words, a massive defeat.

Bloomberg News@bloomberg.com · 2d ago

US President Donald Trump is pushing Iran to reach a deal with Oman on the Strait of Hormuz as soon as Tuesday, or face devastating air strikes on the country.

A corollary to all this that is not discussed enough is how much damage the Trump-Miller administration's atrocities against immigrants has done to the country. From the deficit, to healthcare services, to college finances and anything driven by demographics, we are in worse shape and headed down

Greg Sargent@gregsargent.bsky.social · 2d ago

MAGA is raging at DHS Sec Markwayne Mullin for discussing immigration reform. But the real reason MAGA is so furious is he admitted immigration can be managed in a way that benefits our country. This is absolutely lethal to white nationalist ideology. New from me: newrepublic.com/article/2138...

Husker legends Rich Glover & Johnny Rodgers have been named to The Sporting News 1970's All-Decade All-America team.

medium.com/@dennispcraw...

The Complicated Politics of Health Care

The Democratic Party has stood for universal health care since the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. However, it has been very…

medium.com

“Only three things matter. Number One, who can you trust? Number Two, who can get peace? Number Three, who can hold this country together?” rayboomhower.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-...

"The Politics of Joy": John Bartlow Martin and Hubert Humphrey's 1968 Presidential Campaign

In late August 1968 John Bartlow Martin , a former Indiana newspaperman, freelance writer for national magazines, and speechwriter for a num...

rayboomhower.blogspot.com

I voted for Trump three times so far. But don’t you dare call me a Trump supporter

I worked for New York’s largest medical center at the start of the pandemic. There were morgue trucks on the streets. They set up emergency medical tents in Central Park. Healthcare worker colleagues died. It is horrific that RFK Jr is on national TV lying that ICUs were empty.

Children should not be going hungry in the richest nation on earth. It doesn’t have to be this way.

Trump, Musk and MAGA Republicans believe that rich people don't have enough money and that the poor and middle class have it too easy.

In the early hours of August 2, 1943, the boat commanded by Lt.(j.g.) John F. Kennedy, PT-109, was struck by a Japanese destroyer. The collision killed two of his crew and stranded the rest. What happened next: https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/jfk-in-history/john-f-kennedy-and-pt-109

Fox News and right wing AM radio discouraged their audience from getting vaccinated in 2021-22 and this disinformation caused 320,000 unnecessary covid deaths. After the vaccinations were rolled out, 8 out of the 10 states that had highest covid death rate were red states.

Fox News and right wing AM radio discouraged their audience from getting vaccinated in 2021-22 and this disinformation caused 320,000 unnecessary covid deaths. After the vaccinations were rolled out, 8 out of the 10 states that had highest covid death rate were red states.

Words to live by: "I want to be an honest man and a good writer." James A. Baldwin, born on this day in 1924

Congratulations to Roger Craig!

Republicans believe vaccines cause autism, Trump won the 2020 election, Michelle Obama is a man, and ivermectin can cure Covid. Democrats need to accept at least some of these or give up the charade of bipartisanship.