Top Items:
Greg Sargent / New Republic:
Pete Hegseth's Crazed, Angry Tirades on Iran Give Dems a Big Opening — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth knows that playing a decisive tough guy on television is the way to keep Donald Trump happy, so he did just that while addressing reporters Monday about the U.S. bombing of Iran.
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Paul Krugman:
War Is Expensive for the Little People — Operation Epic Fury will cost billions that could have been put to much better use — On Sunday, according to the U.S. military, Kuwaiti forces shot down three U.S. F-15s in a “friendly fire” incident. Fortunately, the crews were able to safely eject and survived.
Discussion:
Reason, No More Mister Nice Blog, Jacobin and Military Times
Axios:
Rubio's war remarks blow open MAGA's Israel divide — MAGA's ascendant “America First” wing erupted after Secretary of State Marco Rubio effectively blamed Israel for drawing the U.S. into war with Iran. … “We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action” against Iran, Rubio told reporters on Capitol Hill on Monday.
Discussion:
The Guardian, Washington Examiner, United States Department …, Politico, The Status Kuo, HuffPost, Washington Post, ABC News, The Forward, The Times of Israel, Poynter, The Intercept, Truthout, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, Military and Veteran …, Mondoweiss, France 24, The Wrap, Bloomberg, The American Conservative, DNYUZ, HotAir, Raw Story, The Hill, Blaze Media, The Federalist, The Bulwark, Responsible Statecraft, New Republic, NPR, Mediaite, Louder With Crowder, New York Post, Al Jazeera and MS NOW
Lisa Needham / Public Notice:
Trump's Iran War and the Article One crisis — PN is supported by paid subscribers. Become one ⬇️ — 🧠 Subscribe to PN 🧠 — The Trump administration has offered very little in the way of justification for attacking Iran. Instead, it was bomb first, offer a feeble explanation later.
Discussion:
Drezner's World, The Gateway Pundit and NPR
Isaac Arnsdorf / Washington Post:
How Trump assassination attempts played into his decision to attack Iran
How Trump assassination attempts played into his decision to attack Iran
Sophia Cai / Politico:
Trump to POLITICO: Iran is ‘running out of launchers’
Trump to POLITICO: Iran is ‘running out of launchers’
Discussion:
Fox News, Business Insider, NewsMax.com, Newsbusters, CBS News and NBC News
William Kristol / The Bulwark:
What Is the Point of This War? — A vignette from the end of the U.S.-led global order, per Reuters:
What Is the Point of This War? — A vignette from the end of the U.S.-led global order, per Reuters:
Discussion:
Politico, NBC News, The Forward, DNYUZ and Foreign Affairs
Marc A. Thiessen / Washington Post:
The Trump Doctrine is here. It ends forever wars.
The Trump Doctrine is here. It ends forever wars.
Discussion:
The White House
Sidney Blumenthal / The Guardian:
Trump has cornered himself with his war in Iran
Trump has cornered himself with his war in Iran
Discussion:
Washington Examiner and Silver Bulletin
Victor Davis Hanson / American Greatness:
Trump's Way of War … War is the use of arms to settle differences—tribal, political …
Trump's Way of War … War is the use of arms to settle differences—tribal, political …
Discussion:
Instapundit
New York Times:
Trump Administration, in Reversal, Tries to Continue Fight Against Law Firms — The administration told a court on Monday that it was abandoning its defense of executive orders targeting the firms. But on Tuesday, the Justice Department abruptly changed its position.
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James LaPorta / CBS News:
Military questioned use of makeshift office space in Kuwait where U.S. troops were killed — Add CBS News on Google — The first American service members to die in the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran were killed in an apparent Iranian drone attack on a makeshift office space in Kuwait …
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, The Hill, Stars & Stripes, New Republic, Blaze Media, Detroit Free Press, Breitbart and CNN
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NBC News:
Live updates: U.S. shuts embassies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait after drone attacks; Israeli troops stage incursion into Lebanon — President Donald Trump indicated the conflict could last weeks and said wars can be fought “forever” with America's stock of munitions.
emptywheel:
“Squirter:” The Catastrophic Stupidity that May [Have] Set Off a Larger Religious Conflict
Discussion:
The Guardian and Reuters
Associated Press:
Live updates: Strikes escalate across the Middle East as Iran attacks US embassy in Saudi Arabia
Live updates: Strikes escalate across the Middle East as Iran attacks US embassy in Saudi Arabia
Lara Seligman / Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Troops Killed in Kuwait Had No Warning of Deadly Drone Attack
U.S. Troops Killed in Kuwait Had No Warning of Deadly Drone Attack
Discussion:
Washington Times, DNYUZ, NewsMax.com and Lawyers, Guns & Money
Jonathan Larsen / Jonathan Larsen's Substack:
U.S. Troops Were Told Iran War Is for “Armageddon,” Return of Jesus — To support my reporting and keep it free for everyone, you can become a paid subscriber. Thank you. — A combat-unit commander told non-commissioned officers at a briefing Monday that the Iran war is part of God's plan …
Discussion:
Wonkette, Esquire, New Republic, Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money and Joe.My.God.
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Brandi Buchman / HuffPost:
Military Commander Tells Troops Bombing Iran Is 'Part Of God's Divine Plan' — One commander had a “big grin” on his face while saying Donald Trump “has been anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran,” a service member said. — For some U.S. military commanders …
Discussion:
Military Religious …
NOTUS:
Americans Stranded in the Middle East Aren't Getting Help from the State Department — The Trump administration has not been helping U.S. citizens make travel plans to evacuate the Middle East, despite urging Americans to “depart now” from 16 countries in the region as the war with Iran continues to escalate.
Discussion:
Associated Press, Axios, The Hill, Washington Post, One America News Network, DNYUZ, Bangor Daily News, Semafor, NewsMax.com and Bloomberg
Ari Berman / Mother Jones:
Justice Alito's Latest Opinion Is a Very, Very Bad Sign for Voting Rights — A decision upholding a New York GOP congressional district could be a prelude to killing the Voting Rights Act. — The Supreme Court on Monday evening overturned a New York state court ruling that found …
Discussion:
Associated Press, Talking Points Memo, ABC News, Election Law Blog and The Federalist
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Steve Vladeck / One First:
214. The Court's (Selective) Impatience is a Vice
214. The Court's (Selective) Impatience is a Vice
Discussion:
Reason and New York Daily News
Associated Press:
Live updates: Midterm primary voters head to the polls in Texas, North Carolina and Arkansas — The midterm elections officially begin on Tuesday with primaries in Texas, North Carolina and Arkansas. As war with Iran breaks out, Democrats and Republicans are figuring out who they want to lead …
Discussion:
Politico, HuffPost, Washington Examiner, ABC News, WWL-TV, WFAE 90.7, Newsweek, UPI, The Hill, NC Newsline, New Yorker, New York Sun, The Guardian, DNYUZ, NPR, 270toWin.com, Fox Carolina and CBS News
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Calen Razor / Politico:
Capitol agenda: Marco Rubio works to stave off a revolt on Iran
Discussion:
Punchbowl News, Raw Story, Axios, CNBC, Semafor, Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg
Christian Paz / Vox:
The Texas Democrat trying to reclaim Christianity from the right
The Texas Democrat trying to reclaim Christianity from the right
Discussion:
New York Times, Fox News, Slate, Newsweek and Mother Jones
Eric Bazail-Eimil / Politico:
Tillis threatens to hijack Senate business amid frustrations with Noem … The announcement from Tillis, who has called repeatedly for Noem to leave her post, would represent a rare escalation from any senator — in particular one from the president's party — in the face of frustrations with a member of the Cabinet.
Discussion:
The Hill, CNBC, Washington Examiner, United States Senate Committee …, NOTUS, Fox News, Axios, Democracy Docket, CBS News, USA Today, RedState, Mediaite, New Republic, Washington Times, Newsweek, DNYUZ, Forbes, The Guardian, MS NOW, FOX 26 Houston, The Gateway Pundit, Military and Veteran …, The Independent, LGBTQ Nation and Breitbart
Barak Ravid / Axios:
Israel bombs council choosing Iran's next supreme leader, official says — The Israeli Air Force on Tuesday struck the building housing Iran's Council of Experts in the holy city of Qom in an attempt to disrupt the process of appointing a new supreme leader, an Israeli defense official said.
Discussion:
Fox News, The Washington Free Beacon, Washington Examiner, HotAir, Blaze Media, RedState, NewsMax.com and New Republic
Stan Choe / Associated Press:
Dow drops 800 as stocks sell off around the world and oil prices leap even higher on war worries — A sell-off for stocks is slamming into Wall Street Tuesday after wrapping around the world, as oil prices leap even higher with worries that the widening war with Iran may do more sustained damage to the economy than feared.
Discussion:
Associated Press, The Hill, CNBC, Atlantic Council, France 24 and NewsMax.com
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Harriet Torry / Wall Street Journal:
What the Iran Strikes Could Mean for U.S. Inflation
What the Iran Strikes Could Mean for U.S. Inflation
Discussion:
Axios, New York Magazine, NewsMax.com, Associated Press, Blaze Media, Columbian, Forbes, DNYUZ, Metro.co.uk, Bloomberg, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Global News, New York Post, WWL-TV, CNBC and Washington Examiner
Joe Patrice / Above the Law:
Law School Tells Students, ‘You MUST Be Aligned Politically With President Trump,’ For Summer Job — In The Hunt for Red October, we learn that Soviet submarine carried a “political officer,” a Communist Party appointee whose job wasn't navigating or torpedoing things, but making sure everyone …
Mona Zhang / Politico:
Trump administration can't stop New York's congestion pricing, court rules … The Metropolitan Transportation Authority sued the DOT last February, arguing that attempts to halt congestion pricing by the Federal Highway Administration — which is under the DOT — were unlawful after it had gone through a lengthy approval process.
Discussion:
Associated Press
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Hannah Rabinowitz / CNN:
Kash Patel gutted FBI counterintelligence team tasked with tracking Iranian threats days before US strikes, sources say — Just days before the United States launched a major military operation in Iran, FBI Director Kash Patel fired a dozen agents and staff members from a counterintelligence unit tasked …
Discussion:
CBS News, MS NOW, New York Sun, The Independent, Joe.My.God., New Republic, DNYUZ and Mediaite
Graeme Wood / The Atlantic:
Pete Buttigieg in the Wilderness — In May 2001, at Harvard's Institute of Politics, a 19-year-old freshman named Peter Buttigieg asked David Gergen, a Harvard professor and horse whisperer to five presidents, a question that he might have reserved for himself, a couple of decades later.
Rebecca Davis O'Brien / New York Times:
Labor Secretary's Top Aides Forced Out — The two aides to Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer had been on leave during an investigation of misconduct at the department. — Two top aides to Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer were forced out Monday night amid an internal investigation …
Discussion:
New York Post, The Hill, Politico, DNYUZ, NewsMax.com and New Republic
G. Elliott Morris / Strength In Numbers:
How you word a poll question can have a large impact on results — Our new poll finds question wording can swing opinion by 20-60 points on immigration, the budget, and transgender rights. That's a problem for people who use polls to tell politicians what voters want — ∙ Paid
Rusty Hicks / California Democratic Party:
Open Letter to the Democratic Candidates for Governor: — California Democrats have no shortage of strong candidates to consider in the race for Governor - current and former Congressmembers, statewide elected officials, State Legislators, Mayors and leaders of Democratic causes.
Discussion:
New York Post, Politico, Pluribus News, NBC News, Los Angeles Times, Deseret News and DNYUZ
William Jackson / Straight Arrow News:
SCOTUS pauses California student gender-privacy protections, for now — The Supreme Court temporarily stopped a California law and related school policies that prohibit schools from automatically notifying parents when students change pronouns or gender expression.
Joseph Cox / 404 Media:
CBP Tapped Into the Online Advertising Ecosystem To Track Peoples' Movements — Customs and Border Protection (CBP) bought data from the online advertising ecosystem to track peoples' precise movements over time, in a process that often involves siphoning data from ordinary apps like video games …
Discussion:
The Contrarian, Wired and Crooks and Liars
Steve Rose / The Guardian:
'The Epstein files won't knock him out': what Anthony Scaramucci learned in Trump's inner circle — He lasted just 11 days as White House communications director, before being fired from the Trump administration. The financier and broadcaster discusses working for the president - and becoming his biggest critic
Discussion:
Raw Story
Mike Allen / Axios:
Scoop: Lutnick volunteers to testify on Epstein ties — Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, once a Manhattan neighbor of Jeffrey Epstein, voluntarily agreed to an interview with the House Oversight Committee over past ties to the convicted sex offender, Axios has learned.
Discussion:
UPI


