Columnist for MSNOW, Public Notice. Formerly: Washington Post, The Week, American Prospect. Subscribe to my newsletter! The Cross Section: paulwaldman.substack.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3mle67won622cWhen it comes to manipulating or violating rules, procedures, and norms to get what they want, Republicans are the party of "Yes we can!" Democrats are the party of "Maybe we shouldn't."08 May 2026 16:39 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mle67won622chttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3mle4s22ry22cThis is exactly right. One message of the GOP's rigging of the system is that the ordinary means of democratic participation - voting, organizing, protesting, lobbying - are pointless. Convince people of that, and some small portion of them will conclude that violence is all that's left. [contains quote post or other embedded content]08 May 2026 16:14 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mle4s22ry22chttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3mldwfbgrck2iThe Iran war can’t come to an end until Trump accepts that the side with more bombs doesn’t always win, and he’ll have to compromise. That could take a while. https://paulwaldman.substack.com/p/to-end-his-misbegotten-war-trump08 May 2026 14:19 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mldwfbgrck2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3mlcpuskuz22zI've had some crappy bosses, but can you imagine working for this jabroni [contains quote post or other embedded content]08 May 2026 02:50 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlcpuskuz22zhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3mlbhufdmzk2yEvery picture of Rubio looks like he just read a 14-point set of instructions titled "How to Stand" and he thinks he got it right but he's not completely sure [contains quote post or other embedded content]07 May 2026 14:54 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlbhufdmzk2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3mlbh3fpris2yWe act like the best politician to have is a Bernie-style, hold-the-same-three-unwavering-beliefs-for-50-years type, but there's also a lot of value in the finger-in-the-wind kind of politician who will change their views according to the prevailing politics of the moment. [contains quote post or other embedded content]07 May 2026 14:40 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlbh3fpris2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3mlbfeaavks2nHey, remember when we found out top Trump administration official Tom Homan took $50,000 in cash in a paper bag from an undercover FBI agent, the Trump people said, "Who cares, piss off," everyone decided to move on, and he's still there making policy? That was funny.07 May 2026 14:09 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlbfeaavks2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3mlbehhqkzk2nBetween Trump making the US an international pariah and FIFA jacking up prices into the 4 and even 5 figures, looks like most of the World Cup games will feature half-empty stadiums. What a disaster. [contains quote post or other embedded content]07 May 2026 13:53 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlbehhqkzk2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3mlbdgg44ks2nConservatives have always wanted to undo the 1960s. But now they're taking aim at the 1860s as well. My latest at Public Notice: https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-confederacy-rises-again07 May 2026 13:34 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlbdgg44ks2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3mlaag7iiwc2xSo I assume in the next season of Daredevil, Kingpin starts referring to the events of this season's finale as a "day of love" and gets elected again, right?07 May 2026 03:08 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mlaag7iiwc2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3mla7kfqmdk2xAll the analysis of the Indiana results says "With Trump's victory, now Republicans in the South are going to gerrymander away all the Black districts." But that assumes if the Indiana incumbents had won, the Southern Republicans wouldn't have gone ahead. I see zero reason to think that's true.07 May 2026 02:52 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mla7kfqmdk2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3ml7afvh5422jTrump succeeded in replacing some conservative Republicans in Indiana with some other conservative Republicans. But he didn't actually win anything. My latest at MSNOW: https://www.ms.now/opinion/indiana-primary-results-trump-republicans-cost06 May 2026 17:35 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml7afvh5422jhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3ml6uvjvxm32rFolks who don't get their newsletters may not know this but Axios is a publication of such shameless AI boosting it would make the OpenAI PR department blush. Every day is three stories about politics and four "If You Don't Fire All Your Employees And Replace Them With AI You'll Be Left Behind"06 May 2026 14:09 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml6uvjvxm32rhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3ml6sduf6lc2rThis is a profound misdiagnosis of the communication problem. It's not that Democratic candidates talk like they're in "a college seminar." Politicians aren't throwing academic jargon at voters. The problem is that they talk too much like POLITICIANS - cautious, careful, talking-point-ese. [cont] [contains quote post or other embedded content]06 May 2026 13:24 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml6sduf6lc2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3ml4smdkk422wLet’s not forget that when cults start out, they can seem to offer adherents something compelling. It’s only later you get forced to drink poison. https://paulwaldman.substack.com/p/when-the-cult-goes-south05 May 2026 18:23 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml4smdkk422whttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3ml4are3kpc2c"Project Freedom"? It's like they're not even trying anymore. Why not "Operation Thunder Thrust," or "Operation Relentless Pounding," or "Operation Pete Hegseth Is Not a Little Boy He's a Great Big Strong Man So Shut Up Dad You Can't Tell Me What To Do I'm Not Crying You're Crying"? [contains quote post or other embedded content]05 May 2026 13:04 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml4are3kpc2chttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3ml36yog6rk2kSaw a lady yesterday in a Pantera sweatshirt, and let me tell you she had done some hard livin'05 May 2026 02:59 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml36yog6rk2khttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3ml345xbpds2jSo weird that when when Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh, the most mediocre mediocrity who ever chug-a-lugged his way to the top, conservatives didn't demand to see his LSAT scores, I wonder why that was [contains quote post or other embedded content]05 May 2026 02:09 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml345xbpds2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3mkyqas2zok2xThinking again about how one day years from now I will leave my grandchildren in awe as I tell them the jaw-dropping tale of Four Seasons Total Landscaping04 May 2026 03:30 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkyqas2zok2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3mktmz5xty22jIf the He-Man movie turns out to be as bad as it looks, I fear it may lessen Hollywood's desire to at long last make a live action Thundarr the Barbarian movie, which would be too bad because Thundarr the Barbarian frigging rocked02 May 2026 02:49 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mktmz5xty22jhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3mkr6rjixac2aI say this as someone who went on cable news to bicker with conservatives more than a few times: What kind of sicko would you have to be to want to spend an hour of your life watching this? Even once, let alone every night? [contains quote post or other embedded content]01 May 2026 03:29 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkr6rjixac2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3mkqaerx7ys2xLooking forward to Kavanaugh's decision in which he writes "Plaintiffs allege that this violates the 'Purcell principle,' which I have never heard of and couldn't possibly have any relevance here" [contains quote post or other embedded content]30 Apr 2026 18:25 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkqaerx7ys2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3mkpw4awaas2nNo expense will be spared to protect the president’s tender feelings, and no idiocy will fail to be defended by the collection of spineless lickspittles with whom Trump has surrounded himself. The latest from my newsletter: https://paulwaldman.substack.com/p/the-sniveling-cowards-of-the-trump30 Apr 2026 15:21 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkpw4awaas2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3mkpqopkbxc2nIs there a new Amazon feature that allows me to watch a robot punch whoever came up with this idea right in the face [contains quote post or other embedded content]30 Apr 2026 13:44 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkpqopkbxc2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3mkppzbyzrc2vThe historians on the Supreme Court: "In a 1762 letter to his manservant, William Blackstone used the word 'small.' Ergo, child labor is consistent with our history and tradition." Also the historians on the Supreme Court: "Racism ended when Rosa Parks sat down on that train. Or bus? Whatever."30 Apr 2026 13:32 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkppzbyzrc2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/paulwaldman.bsky.social/post/3mkojhkakhs2mRacism is over says the Supreme Court, which you can tell because it took literally a matter of minutes after they gutted the Voting Rights Act for Republicans in the South to start moving to make sure Black people in their states get no representation in Congress [contains quote post or other embedded content]30 Apr 2026 02:02 +0000at://did:plc:qlnirjwff4ibiw3wchmleszo/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkojhkakhs2m