Today, strategic studies scholar Phillips P. O’Brien gave a comprehensive review of the events and outcomes of Trump’s war on Iran. In his Phillips’s Newsletter, O’Brien noted that “the USA is now negotiating without much, if any, leverage. That really is extraordinary. The Trump administration has put itself in a position where it cannot go back to the use of military force, cannot put much if any real pressure on Iran, and therefore will have to concede most of the main points to the Iranians.”

Every once a while I encounter a quote that brings me up short and helps reframe how I see the world. Such was the case when I came across this quote by Theodor Adorno as I researched the rise of Nazi Germany and the origins of the Holocaust: “A wrong life cannot be lived rightly.”

Observers are noting that the reflecting pool fiasco, in which Trump created the idea there was an emergency, ignored experts, bypassed normal procedures to give a wildly inflated contract to a crony, bragged about his success, ignored the problems, claimed his enemies had sabotaged him, and finally stationed troops around the landmark he had turned into a swamp, represents the Trump administration perfectly.

In investigating the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Department of Justice is making plain whose agenda it’s interested in furthering.

President Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to file hundreds of cases this year to strip foreign-born Americans of their citizenship in a bid to surpass the number of cases filed in the past two decades combined.

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On April 24, a new super PAC called Lead Left quietly filed a Statement of Organization with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). According to the group’s website, “Lead Left PAC stands against MAGA extremists who will infect our country with Donald Trump’s agenda.”

On May 7, Lead Left began spending heavily in Democratic primaries. Since that time, the group has spent over $3 million in support of Democratic House candidates in key races across the country.

Public Citizen is taking legal action to stop the Trump regime from weaponizing the United States Postal Service and preventing eligible voters from voting.

Youssef Suleiman (right) grieves over the body of his eight-year-old son, Jad, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike as he was returning home from school wearing his backpack. June 8, 2026. Screenshot of video by Abdel Qader Sabbah.

U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth arrives on Capitol Hill for a secure briefing on November 5, 2025. Photo by Tom Brenner/Getty Images.

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria—On the evening of May 16, the village of Metele in Nigeria’s Borno state was hit by a series of airstrikes carried out in coordination between the U.S. and Nigerian militaries.

Intellectuals, the Critical Organic Discourse Model, and Higher Education

In the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera reports a Palestinian family of five was burned alive as they slept in their beds when Israel bombed their home in Gaza City overnight. They were among nine people killed in the attack. This is a Palestinian man who lost his daughter and his two grandchildren.

Rabah Lubbad: “The war did not end. It is a hoax. The war did not end. They are fooling people. Nothing ended. There are martyrs every day. There are martyrs in all places in Gaza every day. What war ended? The war ended from one side only.”

Agency proposal rescinds drinking water standards for four PFAS chemicals and delays compliance deadlines for two others 

Health advocates warn rollback will prolong exposure to toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” linked to cancer, immune system harm, and developmental risks

— In eight days, the People’s House becomes a pay-per-view fight venue, and the symbolism is doing overtime. On June 14 — Flag Day, and not coincidentally Trump’s 80th birthday — promoter Dana White will bolt a UFC cage onto the South Lawn for “Freedom 250,” a seven-fight card sponsored by Crypto.com and Ram and headlined by Ilia Topuria and Just

Yesterday, in a per curiam opinion with a vociferous dissent, a majority of the Supreme Court allowed Alabama to move forward with the election maps the Republican supermajority legislature drew up after the Supreme Court decided the Callais case.

The Medicaid cuts Republicans in Congress imposed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) forced strict work requirements on adults in need of medical coverage, forcing millions to lose their healthcare.

Voters cast ballots at the Northwest Community Center in Des Moines, Iowa, on Nov. 3, 2020. (Photo by Jim Obradovich for Iowa Capital Dispatch)

President Donald Trump has appointed Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William “Bill” Pulte as acting director of national intelligence, placing a close ally with no known background in intelligence, defense, national security, or military service at the head of the U.S. intelligence community.

New York City’s annual Israel Day Parade in New York City on May 31, 2026. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Mayor Zohran Mamdani made the right decision in skipping the city’s annual Israel Day Parade — because of the specific Israeli officials the parade honored.

An Israeli Iron Dome anti-rocket system (R), and an American Patriot missile defense system are shown during a joint US-Israel military exercise, Arizona, US, May 2025. (Photo via social media)

This morning, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), who just lost his primary after President Donald J. Trump endorsed Republican challenger Ken Paxton, posted:

“An old, but apt fable:

Yesterday the Department of Justice announced it is creating a $1.776 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” to compensate what it calls victims of the Department of Justice under former President Joe Biden. Acting attorney general Todd Blanche said the fund was “a lawful process for victims of lawfare and weaponization to be heard and seek redress.”

Image by heblo from Pixabay

Many of the thousands of letters between the two founders attest to their deep commitment to religious freedom. | AlexanderZam/iStock via Getty Images Plus

From defying Congress to rewarding loyalists and ignoring constitutional limits, America is confronting a dangerous new era where the rule of law no longer restrains those in power…

Back when I was a kid in Lansing, Michigan, my father used to tell me that the difference between America and the places his Army buddies had fought through in Europe and Asia wasn’t the size of our buildings or the strength of our army.

(As Stephen Colbert nears the end of his run as a host on late night television, it is becoming clearer than ever that the forces of repression seek to crush what Michael Denning called "the Cultural Front," including the comedians. That is in popular culture today the most penetrating critiques of the drift toward American fascism are found among the comedians. And reflecting on our past, the era of the Spanish American War, Jim Crow, McCarthyism and now Trumpism, it is the comedians who have popularized and legitimized critiques of  the rich and powerful.