|
 |
When I'm out in the street, I walk the way I want to walk. When I'm out in the street, I talk the way I want to talk — Bruce Springsteen
Wait. Wait. Wait. I know. Time-adjusted for the pace of incoming, massive news stories in the Trump 2.0 era, Saturday was about four thousand years ago. But let's not move past the story of the No Kings protest just yet. It was a big deal. And it was a long time coming. During our last time going out to lunch before the pandemic, my dad (who lost his whole family in the Holocaust before crawling on his hands and knees through mud and snow into the Polish forest, where he would live and fight the Nazis for the next four years) and I were walking toward a restaurant, and he expressed his dismay that Americans weren’t taking the threat to our country seriously enough. It was one of many times he questioned: "Vhy aren't people marching in the streets?" I suggested that while most Americans were concerned, they didn’t see the Trump era as being that ominous because they assumed the kinds of things that happened in his life could never happen here. My dad stopped walking, looked at me, and asked, 'You think when I vas a kid any of us thought it could happen there?" It's not that my dad saw an impending Holocaust in America. He was the least hysterical person I've ever known. But having witnessed them firsthand, he recognized the signs of authoritarianism, he understood how history could turn on a dime, and knew that global trends that once seemed like distant news stories could land at your doorstep. So he would've been relieved to see millions and millions of Americans out in the streets over the weekend. Not because a few protests will solve every problem. But because it shows that we're awake to the challenge we face. And for those who witnessed the marches, the alienation of waking each morning to a deluge of bad news was replaced by a reminder that we are anything but alone.
+ Here are some photos from the protests from NPR, the NYT, AP, and The Atlantic.
+ Trump responded to the protests by ordering ICE to step up deportation efforts in Democrat-run cities. So no one should overstate the power of the protests to move White House policies. But neither should we underestimate the power of the protests to unify the opposition and to shape public opinion. Josh Marshall: "These are horrid, degenerate comments, a pledge of domestic war against America’s own great cities and their right to govern themselves. But Trump is also losing this fight in the one forum that matters, the battle over public opinion." (And like the marches over the weekend, that battle will be fought one step at a time.)
2
Israel and Iran: The Escalation
Even Israelis hardened by years of taking cover in underground bunkers at the sound incoming rocket attack sirens have to be surprised at how many Iranian missiles have landed in Tel Aviv and other cities. But one imagines that surprise pales in comparison to the shock Iranians must feel witnessing how quickly their hardline leaders, who have spent years issuing threats and funding terror in the region, have allowed Israel to achieve complete air dominance and eliminate many of the country's top military leaders and much of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s inner circle. How this plays out in the near term and what it means for the region and the world in the long term are still open questions. For now, there are reports that Tehran might be looking for a way to press for a ceasefire. Here's the latest from NBC, The Guardian, and Times of Israel.
+ "Israel had spent months smuggling in parts for hundreds of quadcopter drones rigged with explosives—in suitcases, trucks and shipping containers—as well as munitions that could be fired from unmanned platforms, people familiar with the operation said. Small teams armed with the equipment set up near Iran’s air-defense emplacements and missile launch sites, the people said. When Israel’s attack began, some of the teams took out air defenses, while others hit missile launchers as they rolled out of their shelters and set up to fire." WSJ (Gift Article): How Israel’s Mossad Smuggled Drone Parts to Attack Iran From Within.
+ Meanwhile, one the first leaders Trump spoke to about the ongoing conflict was our great ally and renown peace negotiator, Vladimir Putin (who wished the president a happy birthday! Yay!) The call and follow on comments led to this headline: Macron rejects Trump’s idea for Putin to mediate between Israel and Iran.
3
Lie Fast and Break Things
"Elon Musk stood before a giant American flag at a Wisconsin political rally in March and rolled out an eye-popping allegation of rampant fraud at the Social Security Administration. Scammers, he said, were making 40 percent of all calls to the agency’s customer service line. Social Security employees knew the billionaire’s claim had no basis in fact ... That’s when Leland Dudek — plucked from a midlevel job only six weeks earlier to run Social Security because of his willingness to cooperate with Mr. Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency — got an angry call from the White House, according to several people familiar with the exchange. 'The number is 40 percent,” insisted Katie Miller, a top administration aide who was working closely with Mr. Musk, according to one of the people familiar with the April 1 call. President Trump believed Mr. Musk, she said. “Do not contradict the president.'" This is good, if upsetting, article on the way the administration uses lies, strong arm tactics, and wildly unqualified loyalists to break core government programs. NYT (Gift Article): The Bureaucrat and the Billionaire: Inside DOGE’s Chaotic Takeover of Social Security.
4
Rake Me Out to the Ballgame
"The result isn’t just inconvenient. It’s lonely. As access shatters, rituals vanish, as do the moments that make sports communal — a bar full of strangers cheering for the same team, the generational ties passed down through the seasons. Those experiences fade under a system that dictates that the more you can pay, the more you can see — until the game disappears behind another paywall." Joon Lee on how one of our last, great communal activities is getting paywalled—whether you want to go to a game or just watch one on TV. NYT (Gift Article): $4,785. That’s How Much It Costs to Be a Sports Fan Now. (Unless you want a beer and a hot dog, too. Then it's more like six grand.)
5
Extra, Extra
Minnesota Arrest: "The man suspected of killing a Minnesota lawmaker and wounding another crawled to officers in surrender Sunday after they located him in the woods near his home, bringing an end to a massive, nearly two-day search that put the entire state on edge." He went to at least four lawmakers homes with the intent to kill. Here's the latest from the StarTribune. As Brian Klaas explains in The Atlantic (Gift Article): In Minnesota, America’s Luck Ran Out. "In a context such as the United States, three key factors stand out: easy access to deadly weapons, intense polarization that paints political opponents as treasonous enemies rather than disagreeing compatriots, and incitements to political violence from high-profile public figures. When you combine those three social toxins, the likelihood of political violence increases, even as it remains impossible to predict who will be targeted or when attacks might be carried out."
+ Leave Us Alone-a-Lisa: "It was an almost unthinkable sight: the home to works by Leonardo da Vinci and millennia of civilization’s greatest treasures — paralyzed by the very people tasked with welcoming the world to its galleries." The Louvre, the world’s most-visited museum, shuts down with staff sounding the alarm on mass tourism. This one big example of a much broader issue. Spaniards turn water pistols on visitors to protest mass tourism. (And Summer just started.)
+ Pick Six: "MI6 will be led by a woman for the first time in the foreign intelligence service's 116-year history." (The fact that she's a woman isn't the only way the situation differs from American government hiring trends. She's also qualified.)
+ Mobile Phony: The Trump Mobile T1 Phone looks both bad and impossible. A branded phone and a branded wireless service? Par for the course at this point. Home-goods companies prepare new Trump-linked products. "One of the companies, Instant Pot Brands, noted that 'a portion of the profits from' its forthcoming collection 'will be donated to the Trump Presidential Library.'" (I'm holding out for "the snow globe with a small version of President Donald Trump raising his fist.")
+ Let Them Eat: Give up the weight without giving up the fun! I'm in. Wired: A New Obesity Pill May Burn Fat Without Suppressing Appetite.
+ Polygraph Quest: "As part of the GOP campaign attacking the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office for the grim fiscal projections for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act of tax and spending cuts pending in the Senate, Tim Scott posted a one-minute video." It included nine claims. All of them were false.
+ Pedialyte at the End of the Tunnel: "She had a stomach bug and was vomiting all night long. I was just like, ‘OK, my wife was up at 3 a.m., a