Marshall Auerback

“Language imposes structures on our thinking and forces us to project a tangled network of thoughts into a linear, logical string of words and ideas.” Itai Yanai and Martin Lercher

Cuba's national electric grid collapses, leaving millions without power reuters.com/business/energ… Someone needs to make sure to let Donald know that Iran is neither Venezuela, nor Cuba

Benjamin Netanyahu’s rivals compete to outdo him over Iran ft.com/content/60f004… via @ft This will be the next shoe to drop: Israel doesn't just have a "Bibi" problem. Take a look at what the opposition is saying about the Iran war.

Belgium’s prime minister calls for EU to normalise ties with Russia ft.com/content/4ce019… via @ft

Yes, you are correct. Trump should have stuck to his lane. Instead,Trump is increasingly following a George Bush type policy: launching wars of choice, crushing unions and dismantling the NLRB to shift the balance of power in wage negotiations from workers to employers, supporting the H1B visa and doubleingthe number of H-2 visas for low-wage workers for 2026. Other than tariffs, he's a dream for the Chamber of Commerce.

Absolutely right. But it really just depends on who is willing to stand up for American jobs. If Trump followed through on that and didn't start new wars, he'd have the Rust Belt still. He didn't, so he lost it. As for Ohio, same point. GOP is running Vivek, a conman who wants mass legal immigration from India. That doesn't play well in Ohio.

Michael Lind: The Bush GOP never went away - The ‘realignment’ was a mirage unherd.com/2026/03/the-bu…

Trump kind of sounds like the Wizard of Oz (before he was unmasked behind the curtain)

Donald Trump warns Nato faces ‘very bad future’ if allies fail to help US in Iran ft.com/content/1ca6d1… via @ft Very much worth listening to @EdwardGLuce's oral take on the discussion. Trump sounds quite worried/disappointed in the direction of the war.

Trump Starts the Fire, Then Demands NATO Bring the Hose, by @magixarc open.substack.com/pub/marygeddry… "Essentially defeated" is the new "Mission Accomplished"

🚨 Clown alarm on steroids! Spot on, @Microinteracti1 — the guy who threatened to steal Greenland, ghosted Ukraine, and French-kissed Putin is now on his knees sobbing “We’re always there for NATO” for a “very small endeavor”? Two carriers just sprinted 1,000 km away like they saw a ghost. This is what happens when you start a FULL PROXY WAR against Iran on Netanyahu’s orders, thinking the world would cheer. Allies? They took one look at your circus, remembered every insult, and said “lol, fix your own mess.” Zero support. Zero ships. Zero dignity. The countdown to sanity is LOUDER than ever. Adults will be back soon. 🤡🇺🇸 #TrumpMadness #ProxyWarFail #NATOghosted

Clown alarm 🚨: The man who threatened to seize Greenland, a NATO ally’s territory, is now on his knees asking NATO for help. The man who abandoned Ukraine, withheld weapons, and called the war someone else’s problem is now offended that allies might do the same to him. “We’re always there for NATO.” This from the president who treats Putin as his boyfriend. “A very small endeavor.” Two aircraft carriers just retreated 1,000 kilometers from the engagement zone. Small. The world is not weighing Trump’s request. The world is watching the clock. Counting down the days until this clown leaves the White House and the adults can start picking up the pieces. He broke the alliance. He abandoned the partner. He threatened the ally. Now he wants a favor. Gandalv / @Microinteracti1

Unreal... The man literally breaks the global energy supply, directly affecting the lives of billions of people and then is like "wait, should we even be there? It's not our problem after all." The level of thoughtlessness and hubris is genuinely off the charts.

@allenanalysis @JohnCleese Denigrate your traditional allies, declare economic warfare against them, threaten to seize territory ftom a NATO ally...surprise, surprise! They don't tend to respond with alacrity when Trump needs help.

🚨MAJOR BREAKING: Trump is now threatening NATO with a “very bad future” if allies don’t help with the Iran war. The same war that: — Had no congressional authorization — Was launched on “a feeling” — No NATO ally was consulted on — No NATO ally voted for — A classified briefing called “totally incoherent” France officially rejected sending warships. Germany said no. Norway said no. Canada said never. Switzerland closed its airspace. 10 countries. Zero warships. Now Trump is threatening the alliance that has defended Western democracy for 75 years because they won’t join a war he started alone, can’t explain, can’t end, and has cost $21 billion in two weeks. Article 5 of NATO — the collective defense clause — was invoked once in history. After September 11th. Every NATO ally showed up. Trump started a war without asking anyone. Now he’s threatening them for not following. That’s not how alliances work. That’s how they end. Never stop connecting the dots.

@RudyHavenstein @MarkGBblog

Oh boy...

@Peston He already has. He's not going to make the same mistake that Tony Blair made.

“We will not be drawn into the wider war” says the PM. So presumably he will turn down Trump’s request that the UK’s Royal Navy help police the Straits of Hormuz

@RobJohnsto37860 @shashj Ironically, Carter did recognise that risk, but didn't have the guts to override his advisors when they all told him to admit the Shah into the US for medical treatment. See the new account of this period in Scott Anderson's excellent book, "King of Kings"

@shashj Which I could make a case for the Embassy take over was preventable … another American Pres would thought he knew better!

Quite a legal rationale here. "the U.S. has been in an armed conflict for decades, dating from the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran..."

@sciencegirl I suspect this is not a Vegan household

First thoughts when you see this fridge

Iran does not need to destroy regional economies. Nor does it need to confront NATO. It only needs to make the current alignment look more economically dangerous than political neutrality. Look at the non-existent response to Trump's pleas to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

open.substack.com/pub/escalation… The US might be winning the conventional military war, but it is losing the economic war. The latter is the war that Iran is pursuing. As Professor Robert Pape argues, Iran has not closed the Strait of Hormuz with mines or blockades. Instead it has pursued a subtler strategy: making the passage feel dangerous. Cheap drones, sporadic missile attacks, and even rumors of naval mines are enough to force tanker crews, insurers, and shipping companies to reconsider the risk. Iran does not need to shut the strait. It only needs to make the route feel unsafe to succeed in its objectives

@joshfontanilla @aaron_renn But the rust belt looks like it is coming back to the Democrats, which would also highlight the end of the realignment narrative. Look at the latest polls in the Ohio gubernatorial race that show the Dems 10 points up. Dems also doing well in Michigan & Pennsylvania

@aaron_renn There's some good stuff here. Definitely parallels. There's some exaggeration in the political bases of both groups, as can be seen by the author conveniently leaving out the Rust Belt as part of what got Trump elected. Doesn't fit his narrative. But most of this is good.

"Trumpism is simply Bushism gilded by a tacky coat of paint"