Brown University has a widget that tracks the cost of the Iran war to American consumers (as contrasted to whatever the Pentagon is spending). Per-household cost now exceeds $600. iranwarcost.watson.brown.edu
Stephen Walt
@stephenwalt.bsky.social
Harvard professor, realist, FP columnist. Tennis enthusiast, amateur musician, proud dad, & grateful husband. Troubled by the state of the world & looking for solutions. For speaking engagements contact John Bute at john@chartwellspeakers.com
That was the stated purpose behind the establishment of the branch of government in which you serve but go off king
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · yesterdayCornyn: "There's nothing we could do to rein in the president"
Susan Collins has confirmed at least 16 anti-abortion judges in Trump’s second term. Some Mainers may think their reproductive and civil rights are safe and still vote for her, but any of these freaks could tee up a SCOTUS case that takes the entire country backwards mainedems.org/susan-collin...
![screenshot, Maine Democratic Party:
Collins Confirms Two More Anti-Choice Judges
Susan Collins just voted to confirm Tony Mattivi and Anthony Powell to lifetime seats on the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas.
[then a list showing 14 more, split across two screenshots]
Collins has continued to “rubber stamp” Trump-appointed anti-choice judges who have advocated for and defended near-total abortion bans in states. In the past few months alone Collins confirmed:
Whitney Hermandorfer to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, who was lead counsel in a case defending Tennessee’s total abortion ban.
Maria Lanahan to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, who defended Missouri’s near-total abortion ban, and helped author and argue Missouri’s complaint seeking to restrict the use and access to mifepristone, a common medication abortion pill.
Jennifer Mascott to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, who urged the court to overturn Roe and return it to the “dustbin of history,” then praised the Dobbs ruling, testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee defending the Court’s decision to leave in place Texas’ extreme abortion ban.
William Mercer to the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana, who “has repeatedly supported anti-abortion bills.”
Chad Meredith to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, who is staunchly anti-abortion and has even defended abortion restrictions in Kentucky.
Jordan Pratt to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, who authored an amicus brief in support of Florida’s abortion ban where he called abortion “barbaric.”
Rebecca Taibleson to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, who testified that she believed the three-year-old Dobbs decision that gutted federal protections to abortion was “controlling precedent and settled law.” In addition to clerking for Brett Kavanaugh, Tabileson testified in front of the Senate to de…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:4fdfjfnhhyeo4hsmoxpeazsg/bafkreif4k66fmxo5z4qmtaydwrxgmeqmwghjjn72yzo3dsqzruyrk72dom)
Will Ferrell as George W. Bush: Strategery
ALT: Will Ferrell as George W. Bush: Strategery
static.klipy.com
Mark Jacob@markjacob.bsky.social · yesterdayIt sure looks like the U.S. has spent $100 billion and left 18 Americans dead and 600 injured in order to hand control of the Strait of Hormuz to Iran and do nothing about nuclear proliferation except encourage it.
His flagrant dishonesty and corruption are truly incredible ! open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...
August 2, 2026
Friday’s dismissal of the Department of Justice case against David Hearn for vandalism of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool came days after Hearn’s lawyers asked for transcripts of the grand jury p...
open.substack.com
Bringing the story up to date (and their book is terrific too): www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
The pro-Israel lobby has swayed US presidents since Truman. It must end with Trump | Ian Lustick and Eli Clifton
Our new book tracks the growth over nearly eight decades, of the most powerful foreign policy lobby in US history
theguardian.com
Heckuva job you’re doing Marco Rubio. www.reuters.com/world/africa...
US government map of Africa mislabels every country at global conference
A U.S. government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a State Department presentation at a global conference taking place in Brazil this week, causing a stir among attendees who took screen...
reuters.com
And, Trump 1.0. This time nobody tried, in any serious way, to stop him.
James Fallows@jfallows.bsky.social · 6d agoLet me tell you, having chronicled Pentagon-style war game on attacking Iran nearly 25 yr ago, every single "surprise," "darkening turn," "narrowing option," spreading warfare," "rising casualties," "no easy exit," etc that comes drip-by-drip is EXACTLY why GHWB WJC GWB OBAMA BiDEN did NOT do this
this sounds elitist but our recovery from the present moment will depend in part on being able to once again effectively malign, ostracize, and refuse a platform to cranks
[Christopher M. Federico]@chrispps.bsky.social · last wk.I don't stan Fauci in any mawkish resistlib way but I do not blame him for not wanting to play along on television with a gaggle of conspiracy-addled degenerates who are objectively beneath him in terms of intellect, culture, and values
Here is the @intsecurity.bsky.social article the interview is based on. @belfercenter.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social @reidpauly.bsky.social @pearson-edits.bsky.social direct.mit.edu/isec/article...
Damned If They Do, Damned If They Don't: The Assurance Dilemma in International Coercion
Abstract. Why do some coercive demands succeed but others fail? A dominant paradigm explains coercive outcomes by pointing to the credibility and severity of threats. The concept of coercive assurance...
direct.mit.edu
Jacqueline L. Hazelton@drjlhazelton.bsky.social · last wk.Valuable piece from @reidpauly.bsky.social in @goodauth.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social @belfercenter.bsky.social Why the US struggles to coerce Iran.
So, the Department of War (as it now calls itself) has an "Open Government" page with links to its various strategic-level reports. But since they aren't interested in open government, every one of the links is broken. open.defense.gov/Transparency...
open.defense.gov
Imagine how much you must have loved war for this to be said at your funeral... Trump at Lindsey Graham's funeral: "He never saw a war that he didn't like..."
Lots of tech bros reportedly find Lord of the Rings inspiring. They all think they are Aragorn or Gandalf, so why do they act like Sauron, Saruman, or even Grima Wormtongue?
“.. The Cybertruck sold one-sixth of Musk's 250,000-unit annual projection and posted the steepest sales decline of any U.S. EV nameplate in 2025.” @yahoofinance.com $TSLA 247wallst.com/investing/20...
"The Trump administration’s deadly military strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats have not reduced the amount of cocaine entering the United States..." This is my shocked face. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...
67 boat strikes. 221 dead. The cocaine hasn’t slowed, officials report.
The president says Operation Southern Spear has virtually ended drug trafficking by sea. Pentagon and DEA analysts have concluded otherwise.
washingtonpost.com
Trapped? What about failure? That's the story. A president that launched a reckless war and completely and totally failed...with all of us paying the price. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/26/u...
Trump Seems Trapped by Iran War, Even as He Wields the World’s Biggest Hammer (Gift Article)
A president who thought there were no limits to his power has discovered several, leaving him more frustrated and erratic.
nytimes.com
As you read about, watch, or in the worst case, flee from all these wildfires, remember that Donald Trump “thinks” gutting renewable energy and burning more fossil fuels instead is a good idea.
God, every IOS update sets up a new irritation. E.g., how Apple designers refuse to acknowledge muscle memory: like shifting email's send symbol from far left to far right 🙄 And now subscribed emails coming into junk with "load content directly" on them and nothing in settings to fix it 🙄
These folks might want to read the IR literature on why autocratic states lose more wars 🤷♀️
Dan Diamond@ddiamond.bsky.social · last wk.Here’s that story —on how Trump, Hegseth and other deputies argue that West Point must now prize patriotic obedience to authority, reversing years of academic openness. A microcosm of Trump’s changes playing out across government. @hannahnatanson.bsky.social
Nothing says “respect our troops” more than fudging and concealing casualty figures so that their sacrifices are obscured.
Trump’s insistence on acting unilaterally — either without Congressional authorization or expressly contrary to Congress’s will (i.e., duly enacted statutes) — time & again demonstrates the wisdom of our founders in separating the federal government’s powers. e.g., Iran, tariffs
Glad to be wrong, but this war isn’t over by any means.
Stephen Walt@stephenwalt.bsky.social · 2w agoI fear we are about to see a pointless escalation in a pointless war.
I fear we are about to see a pointless escalation in a pointless war.
The vast vast majority of the people at the WHCD have no idea they are the problem.
4. His role as Trump's science advisor and head of OSTP aside, Kratsios has no scientific experience whatsoever. His degree is a BA in politics, and his main credentials are as a Thiel apparatchik. So when he compares himself to Vannevar Bush… Kratsios is not a Vannevar. He isn't even a George W.
Because when you make a huge mistake—as the strategic morons currently running US foreign policy have done repeatedly done—you don’t get out without paying a price.
Foreign Policy@foreignpolicy.com · 2w agoTrump’s reckless war has left the United States with no options other than different versions of catastrophic failure.
Nothing makes a supposedly smart person look really stupid than trying to justify Trump as a grand strategist.
Gerry Doyle@mgerrydoyle.bsky.social · 2w agobuddy, there is no grand strategy. or even petit strategy www.nytimes.com/2026/07/23/o...
Wow, this Trump post bears almost no relation to what just got signed.
Shipwreck@shipwreck75.bsky.social · 2w agoTrump on Saudi Nuke deal:
