Scott Horton
@robertscotthorton.bsky.social
Contributing editor, Harper's Magazine; Lecturer, Columbia Law School; Attorney. Previously lived in Munich, New York, Moscow and London, now lives in Santa Fe, NM. Husband of Carol, groomer of Aisha.
The Minnesota GOP is all in for the military occupation of Minnesota and brutalization of its people, because this is what Dear Leader wants. They're indifferent to the fact that 80% of Minnesotans oppose this. bsky.app/profile/atru...
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 12m agoEvery single Republican candidate for governor of Minnesota (including Mike Lindell!) makes clear that if Trump tried another Operation Metro Surge in the Twin Cities, they would support his efforts to brutalize residents
Bessent says the new deal with Iran is coming before the COB today.
As Immanuel Kant wrote, the consequence that flows from assassinations as a war tactics is that it complicates or makes it impossible ever to form an enduring peace. But this, precisely, is why Netanyahu is to attached to assassinations as a tactic.
The direct consequence of Trump's decision to deny Ukraine replenished defensive missile batteries. www.thetimes.com/world/russia...
Kyiv unable to stop Russian strikes after missile defences run out
President Zelensky said at least 17 were killed and dozens wounded in attacks that Ukraine was unable to intercept amid a global shortage of Patriots
thetimes.com
Albert Speer would be so proud! The Times takes us on an exclusive video tour of Washington remade in the image of Donald Trump. It furnishes a perfect demonstration of the psychopathology of fascist architectural design. www.thetimes.com/us/american-...
Inside Trump’s multimillion-dollar DC makeover — a visual guide
The president has grand designs for Washington, including a White House ballroom, independence arch and Dulles airport redesign. How much does it cost?
thetimes.com
The proposed deal now under discussion would give Iran a 5-7% toll for traffic through Hormuz, making the war a massive victory for the Iranians and insuring them a long-term dominant position in the Gulf. It would reflect pretty much an unconditional surrender by Trump to Tehran.
Proposed Hormuz deal would give Iran control of inbound traffic, sources say
A proposed deal between Iran and Oman would give Tehran control over ships entering the Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz, a senior Iranian source and two regional officials told Reuters, in one of th...
reuters.com
Fifty years from now, historians will conclude that Trump's decision to go to war in Iran was likely driven principally by a desire for personal self-enrichment. The Trump and Kushner families likely executed billions in oil futures contracts and enhanced their wealth by untold sums by manipulating
Donald Trump trapped between escalation and an Iran deal on Tehran’s terms
US president faces few good options to exit a war he once said would end swiftly with the Islamic republic’s surrender
ft.com
A significant, graphically enhanced fact check of Musk's business and financial claims. Any other CEO would be fired for speaking the way Musk does. But for Musk, his wealth furnishes an impenetrable barrier to accountability
The audience needs to be reminded that Jared Isaacman is an Elon Musk protégé who was put in his position at NASA at Musk's insistence. His job is to transfer the budget of NASA to SpaceX to the extent he can possibly do so. bsky.app/profile/atru...
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3h agoNASA Administrator Jared Isaacman on rockets crashing into the moon: "It's not a big deal right now. The moon has clearly seen better days."
What we learned from this primary, which in many ways looks like a race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders Mini Mes, is first and foremost that the polling is not reliable www.ft.com/content/6563...
Progressive Democrat wins in Michigan in rebuke to party establishment
Victory for Abdul El-Sayed sets stage for fierce midterm battle in must-win Senate seat
ft.com
Key Reps in Congress are not happy with Hegseth's decision to substitute his personal judgment for that of the senior brass, mostly because they see that he is guided by his inferiority complex from having been RIFed as a major and his instinctively bad judgment. Hegseth's new Army COS appears
Exclusive | Hegseth’s Pick for Top Army Job Is Losing Republican Support
Some lawmakers and experts say Gen. Christopher LaNeve lacks experience at the four-star level.
wsj.com
It would be interesting to do a series of side-by-sides of Fetterman pre- and post-stroke. It looks like he was rewired by Benjamin Netanyahu. bsky.app/profile/atru...
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2h agoFetterman says America has a responsibility to Israel because Israel has "progressive values"
This entire press conference looks like a series of outtakes from Nosferatu, A Symphony of Horror. bsky.app/profile/atru...
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2h agothe vibes are rancid
The conclusions presented here are the precise opposite of what I keep hearing from business leaders in New York. I guess the folks that Rupert Murdoch thinks of as "business leaders" are not the same as those identified by either Mamdani or me. www.wsj.com/us-news/mamd...
Mamdani Is Shunning New York Business Leaders Who Are Used to Calling the Shots
The mayor fired corporate leaders from a city fund’s advisory board in the latest sign that he is changing the way such power brokers access City Hall.
wsj.com
A gracious concession: “I want to congratulate Abdul El-Sayed on winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. He is a doctor, a community health official, a Rhodes Scholar, and a dedicated Michigander. I am proud to offer my support as he takes on Mike Rogers in the general election…
The bigger question emerging from the reflecting pool case is what to do with the lawyers. Had they pursued the case, disbarment would be an appropriate case. Still they secured an indictment from the grand jury and that was almost certainly through deceit and misrepresentation which requires study.
Lawyers in Reflecting Pool case say Justice Department knew case was flawed
Lawyers for a former Olympian charged with damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool say that the Justice Department knew or should have known for weeks that its case was flawed.
apnews.com
An excellent reminder of who Mike Rogers is. bsky.app/profile/stev...
Steve Vladeck@stevevladeck.bsky.social · 2h agoWhen he was Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Mike Rogers (the Republican candidate for Senate in Michigan) publicly took the position that "you can't have your privacy violated if you don't know your privacy is violated." Colbert had some fun with that: crooksandliars.com/cltv/2013/10...
The News You Need, Wednesday, August 5th, 2026 • The Collapse of Paul Weiss, a pillar of the Liberal Establishment • DHS Builds the Surveillance State • In California, an ICE raid on a farm tests the limit of ICE violence • A Retired Army Captain Assaulted by the National Guard in Her Home in DC
The News You Need, Wednesday, August 5th, 2026
The Times chronicles the collapse of Paul Weiss, ICE tracks and targets social media critics, National Guardsmen assault retired US army captain on her own property
open.substack.com
"The Fed chair likes to praise financial markets, regardless of what they say; does not offer substantive economic explanations; is not overly concerned about logic and consistency" www.ft.com/content/cbc7...
The Federal Reserve goes Wacko
Warsh’s Awful Communications: Knowingly Opaque. Also in this newsletter, the BoE shows how it’s done
ft.com
