"If we want better character in our leaders, there is only one solution: to promote better character in each other, especially young people."
Character Is Countercultural
On virtue, politics, and public service.
lnk.thebulwark.com
Rick Mazzoli
@rickmazzoli.bsky.social
West Point '75 (BS Engineering); Infantry officer (retired); Attorney, JD/MBA; Investor. Son of Italian immigrants. Dad to best kids. I got lucky. Duty, Honor, Country. Louisville
The 30-year Treasury yield, which moves with inflation expectations, jumped to 5.21 per cent, their highest level since mid-2007. Follow live updates: ft.trib.al/p9TMRwZ
Character matters. It's about Duty, Honor, Country.
The Bulwark@thebulwark.com · last wk."Character is rarely noticed while it is being formed. But it becomes unmistakable when it stands before us—and its presence is every bit as obvious as its absence."
Ike was courted to run for prez by both Dem & Rep. Conservatives expected/wanted Ike to repeal all the FDR "socialist" New Deal stuff. He did not. That drove conservatives bat shit crazy. And lead to Wm Buckley, Goldwater, ... christian coalition, Reagan, Tea Party, etc, and MAGA.
The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · last wk.Wild
They died serving our country. They should be honored, not erased. Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Hawaii Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Texas Sgt. Angel Rampersad, 28, of New York Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of North Carolina
Untitled (Abstraction Green Line and Three Red Circles), by Georgia O’Keeffe, 1970s, 📸 by Alex Pantling
About that Blue Angel Hornet low pass: 1. If you have no aviation experience, keep on walking 2. I’d have lost my wings at a minimum if I’d done that while I was in 3. The idea that Hegseth is going to wave his hand and make this go away is just another example of how unfit he is for the job
If you can't admit that Joe Biden won 2020 election, you have no business running U.S. intelligence. It's that simple.
Easy template for yall to use next time: Hello sir or madam, I'm following up about the presidential pardon I purchased from your corporation a few months ago. Could you politely send me the tracking number of the pardon so I may track it with FedEx? Kind regards.
well, now I understand why FIFA means "Fix It For Argentina"
It's hard to visualize what the Supreme Court's campaign finance decision actually means. Amy Walter explains—with the graphics you need to wrap your head around it.
The Supreme Court Scrambled Campaign Finance Rules. Here’s What It Really Means.
Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling allowing party committees to coordinate directly with campaigns upends how political parties can financially support their candidates. In the short term, it is a win for...
cookpolitical.com
7/ another tweet, if you argue that this isn't clear you should be removed from the court.
Tom Kean Jr. was healthy enough to authorize stock transactions up to $190,000 during his nearly 4-month absence from the House. There’s more to this story than he’s saying.
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · last mo.Rep. Tom Kean finally speaks after months away from Congress for a previously unexplained absence: "I was given the diagnosis of depression ... the doctors recommended I remain in the hospital to address my illness"
“He hasn’t told the real conversion story, which is the conversion to Trumpism.” Our correspondent wanted more from J.D. Vance’s new book. Listen to “Checks and Balance”
J.D. Vance’s Catholicism
Our weekly podcast on America. This week, the vice-president’s conversion and what it means for the American right
econ.st
MAJOR VICTORY for voters & sharp rejection of the RNC’s effort to throw out ballots postmarked by Election Day @democracydefendersfund.org is proud to have filed an amicus in this case on behalf of @lulacorg.bsky.social No voter should lose their voice because a party wants to change the rules
also of note is Frederick Douglass's "What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?" delivered on July 5, 1852, at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York, at a meeting organized by the Rochester Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society.
Le Monde in English@english.lemonde.fr · last mo.250 years of American independence: The retreat from multiracial democracy
The Iran War has already eclipsed the supposed savings from DOGE's ill-considered cuts to USAID. And that's just considering the direct costs of the war. Cutting government waste takes time and discipline, not reckless dismantling of life-saving global health programs.
Donald Trump has been in office for 2% of the last 250 years of presidents but has added 28% to the national debt.
Thoughts on Capitulation Day. This level of defeat in Iran is only possible at the hands of a super loser like Trump. To win a war means changing the politics of the enemy such that they must surrender. That is what Iran just did to the United States. Read more: snyder.substack.com/p/capitulati...
"To fuck it up this royally is really quite something.” @profgalloway.com and @karaswisher.bsky.social weigh in on the algae-filled White House reflecting pool.
While the current president is surrendering to his 112-day "conflict" in Iran, former President Obama is celebrating the opening how his Presidential Center in Chicago. @jilldlawrence.bsky.social latest looks at Trump's Obama envy especially with the backdrop of this failed war.
Trump Still Has a Bad Case of Obama Envy
The double spotlight on his failed Iran war and Obama’s Chicago celebration will make it worse.
lnk.thebulwark.com
These 15 soldiers died during Trump’s war in Iran: Cody A. Khork Noah L. Tietjens Nicole M. Amor Declan J. Coady Jeffrey R. O'Brien Robert M. Marzan Benjamin N. Pennington John A. Klinner Ariana G. Savino Ashley B. Pruitt Seth R. Koval Curtis J. Angst Tyler H. Simmons Kevin Melendez Sorffly Davius
Today is Juneteenth. A time to reflect on the most profound of injustices on our own citizens, slavery.
More, the JCPOA included IAEA inspectors in Iran with regular on-site inspections, continuous monitoring (e.g., cameras and sensors), and expanded access to site including potentially suspicious locations. Trump: The art of the Kneel.
Nicholas Grossman@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 2mo agoJCPOA got Iran to hand over nearly all its enriched uranium, take most centrifuges offline, pour concrete into its one plutonium-producing reactor, and verify this by accepting the world's most intrusive inspections regime, all without firing a shot. It was very good. Pro-Trump media bias. Again.
