curated news excerpts & citations
AP: Top counterterrorism official Kent resigns over Trump’s Iran war, says Iran posed no imminent threat
Joe Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation on Tuesday, saying he “cannot in good conscience” back the Trump administration’s war in Iran.
Kent said on social media Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
Kent, a former political candidate with connections to right-wing extremists, was confirmed to his post last July on a 52-44 vote.
As head of the National Counterterrorism Center, Kent was in charge of an agency tasked with analyzing and detecting terrorist threats.
(AP more…)
NY Times: Joe Kent, a Top U.S. Counterterrorism Official, Resigns Over the Iran War
Ken Klippenstein: Joe Kent Isn’t the Hero. You Are
Judd Legum: Planning to fail
Paul Krugman: Slavery, Tariffs and the Dire Strait
Or, why America is on its own
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Rebecca Solnit: Today I Need to Say Something About (the Stupidity of) Antisemitism
Two stories erupted in the last twenty-four hours that have to do with antisemitism. One is deeply positive. It’s a letter signed by 132 Jewish faculty and staff at UCLA rejecting the Trump Administration’s definition of antisemitism while pointing out what’s dangerous about this right-wing definition of antisemitism: it’s an attack on free speech and legitimate opposition to the policies of the Israeli government. They might have added that it’s an attack by the same administration that has been making nice with actual Nazis and open antisemites, which is how we know that this pretense to defend Jews is in bad faith.
It’s trying to use Jews to advance a right-wing agenda. And in so doing it harms Jews by pretending that to oppose the Israeli government and/or its policies is antisemitic, which spreads the calumny that somehow all Jews are aligned with this government and its policies. Which is extremely not true. There are outspoken Jewish voices inside and outside Israel against the attacks on the Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, and more broadly against the Netanyahu regime. Prominent Jewish voices in the USA, including Judith Butler, Masha Gessen, former NYC comptroller and current congressional candidate Brad Landers, and Senator Bernie Sanders have spoken up about it.
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I mentioned two stories in the last twenty-four hours. The second is the resignation of far-right antisemite Joe Kent from his position as director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Discord in MAGA-world and resignations from this administration are indeed good. But Kent’s letter blames Israel in a she-made-him-do-it way: “It’s clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.” …
(Rebecca Solnit more…)
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Heather Cox Richardson: Letters from an American – March 17, 2026
Yesterday, President Donald J. Trump continued to demand that other countries help the U.S. reopen the Strait of Hormuz for tanker traffic, but one by one, they declined. …
Trump has never articulated a clear reason for the war, but Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli officials have opened another front in Lebanon, saying they intend to destroy the terror infrastructure there as they did in Gaza. …
Thomas Grove, Milàn Czerny, and Benoit Faucon of the Wall Street Journal reported today that Russia has expanded its efforts to keep Iran in the fight against the U.S. and Israel, offering more intelligence sharing and military cooperation. …
Meanwhile, Iran has been moving its own ships through the strait and appears to be willing to allow passage through for countries that are willing to negotiate with it. If that practice becomes widespread, prices on oil will ease, making it harder for Iran to keep up pressure on the U.S. and Israel.
…Judd Legum of Popular Information explained today that the administration decommissioned the last of its four minesweeper ships in September. Based in Bahrain, the vessels were equipped to find and destroy both moored and bottom mines. They were supposed to be replaced with new systems that use unmanned vehicles, but those have so far been unreliable, and the systems apparently have not been deployed. Legum points out that starting a military operation without anti-mining ships in the region to protect traffic through the Strait of Hormuz illustrates how poorly officials planned.
According to Aaron Rupar of Public Notice, Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA) observed that Trump “has more plans for the ballroom he’s trying to build at the East Wing than anything he’s gonna do next in the Middle East.”
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
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Joyce Vance: A Subtle Win for the First Amendment
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Lisa Needham: Making Russia strong again
Trump’s war is doing Putin’s bidding on multiple fronts.
The Putin regime may be sharing intelligence that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is using to target US troops, but President Trump is more mad at NATO. Sure, Trump’s adoration for Putin stopped being surprising a long time ago, but it’s notable that he’ll make excuses for the Russian strongman even if he has American blood on his hands.
(Lisa Needham more…)
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David Shuster: The FBI Believed Her
A civil jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse. The FBI interviewed Jane Doe #4 four times and found her credible. Thirty-seven pages are still hidden.
There are few spectacles these days in America more predictable than the reflexive absolution that MAGA world and most conservatives grant to Donald Trump. Accuse Trump of anything—fraud, corruption, or the mistreatment of women—and his defenders respond with speed and certainty. They insist the facts are irrelevant, the accusers are presumed liars, and the matter is settled before a single document has been read.
Against this background of ignorance, Ellie Leonard’s recent Substack investigation into the Epstein files “Jane Doe #4” stands out — precisely because it does the unfashionable and meticulous work of examining records instead of slogans.
(David Shuster more…)
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Jess Piper: Signs of the Times
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As I travel these Missouri roads to speak to audiences across the state, I have noticed fewer Trump signs and flags. I have written an essay about a Trump flag and three hand-painted Trump signs erected in 2016 in a small Iowa town just north of me.
The signs and Trump flag were up for almost a decade, and they disappeared without a trace months ago. They have not returned. I look every time I drive through the town.
I still see Trump flags occasionally, but something is going on. I think it may be taboo to have a sign or fly the flag of the man who was mentioned over 3,500 times in the private papers of a pedophile. …
(Jess Piper more…)Michele Hornish: Seven Women Singing In a Converted Church
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Emily Atkin: Fossil fuel propaganda is evolving
A new analysis of nearly 2,000 fossil fuel ads finds Big Oil has moved from green promises to insisting oil and gas are inevitable. (They’re not).
A side effect of the war in Iran is that fossil fuels are falling out of favor. People are starting to realize that sunlight can’t get stuck in the Strait of Hormuz; that EVs can’t have their fuel supply held hostage on a tanker; and that there’s no such thing as a barrel of wind.
It’s probably no coincidence, then, that Big Oil is working overtime to polish its reputation as prices surge and black clouds of poison fill Tehran’s skies. …
(Emily Atkin more…)
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CBS: Afghan father, former U.S. military ally, dies in ICE custody in North Texas
An Afghan father who served with U.S. forces died in immigration custody less than a day after being arrested in North Texas.
Mohammad Nazeer Paktiawal‘s family said he was in the country legally after serving alongside the U.S. military in Afghanistan and evacuating to the U.S. in 2021. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the 41-year-old had a criminal history and his temporary legal status had expired.
(CBS more…)
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Paul Offit: The Return of Hib?
Two young children recently suffered severe Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) infections in Florida. Is this the tip of a bigger iceberg?
… Before the vaccine, Hib was the leading cause of bacterial meningitis in children less than five years old. Hib also caused pneumonia, sepsis, cellulitis, and arthritis. When Hib infected the epiglottis, it caused suffocation. About 20,000 children every year would suffer from severe Hib infections and 1,000 would die.
Your Local Epidemiologist: A win for your access to vaccines, federal accountability, and health
AAP vs. RFK vaccine lawsuit
Jay Kuo: Federal District Courts Hold The Line
Three stories and an SCOTUS epilogue that will make you cheer for the rule of law.
NY Times: Health Groups Hailed a Vaccine Ruling, but Their Relief May Be Short-Lived
Lawyers for both sides in the federal lawsuit, brought by six medical organizations, are trying to understand the ramifications of the judge’s decision.
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Borowitz: Zelenskyy Rejects Trump’s Plea for Military Aid in Testy White House Meeting
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Marisa Kabas: US Mint takes down video of meeting criticizing proposed Trump 24K gold coin
A coin advisory committee called the design for the America 250 coin something only produced by “kings or dictators.”
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Daily Kos: Trump continues crazed quest to ruin the nation’s capital
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Brian Klaas: How Exams Drive History
Why the Gaokao, China’s high-stakes exam, explains the emergence of modern China — and how educational testing may determine our future.
(Brian Klaas more…)
Al Jazeera Death toll and injuries live tracker
ICE Accountability Project
ICE deaths 2026 – They deserve remembrance and justice.
- March 14: Naseer Paktiawil
- February 25: Nurul Amin Shah Alam
- January 24: Alex Pretti
- January 14: Heber Sanchaz Dominguez
- January 14: Victor Manuel Diaz
- January 9: Parady La
- January 7: Renée Good
- January 6: Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz
- January 5: Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres
- January 3: Geraldo Lunas Campos
- December 31, 2025: Keith Porter
Suffering Under President Obama
NACDL Criminal Case Tracker
Texas Tribune: A Walk for Peace: photos of Fort Worth monks’ journey to Washington
Walk for Peace – Dhammacetiya – The Ancient Sacred Buddhist Scripture Stupas
Margaret Chase Smith: Declaration of Conscience
NPR: January 6, 2021: A visual archive
Accountability Initiative ICE List
GriftMatrix
Trump Action Tracker
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
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