Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
May 15, 2026
May 14, 2026 #scotus #johnroberts #johncrow
'Ratf*cked' Author David Daley explains Chief Justice John Roberts' villain origin story. #scotus #johnroberts #johncrow #gerrymandering
Joy Reid: The 'John Crow' origin story
May 14, 2026 #scotus #johnroberts #johncrow
'Ratf*cked' Author David Daley explains Chief Justice John Roberts' villain origin story. #scotus #johnroberts #johncrow #gerrymandering
May 15, 2026
May 14, 2026
A reading of my May 6 column on the Supreme Court's decision in Louisiana v. Callais.
Jamelle Bouie: John Roberts Believes in an America That Doesn't Exist
May 14, 2026
A reading of my May 6 column on the Supreme Court's decision in Louisiana v. Callais.
May 15, 2026
May 15, 2026 Bulwark Takes
Tim Miller takes on reports that Kash Patel is snorkeling at Pearl Harbor, rigging the most wanted list, and jetting his girlfriend around Europe on your dime. Meanwhile Trump just created a $1.7 billion slush fund for his criminal allies—no Congress required.
The Bulwark: Kash is an Absolute Joke
May 15, 2026 Bulwark Takes
Tim Miller takes on reports that Kash Patel is snorkeling at Pearl Harbor, rigging the most wanted list, and jetting his girlfriend around Europe on your dime. Meanwhile Trump just created a $1.7 billion slush fund for his criminal allies—no Congress required.
May 15, 2026
Trump’s Iran war is pushing American farmers to the brink
Skyrocketing costs, unfair markets, and poor policy are pressuring farmers thanks to the ongoing conflict
By Garrett Owen
National Affairs Fellow
Published May 15, 2026 6:30AM (EDT)
(Salon) The rain in Windsor, North Carolina, is way behind schedule. Despite the seat of Bertie County being crisscrossed with rivers and creeks and lying on the estuary of the Albemarle Sound, local farmer Charles Harden reckons the area is suffering from a 12-inch rain shortfall in the first five months of 2026.
“It’s been terrible dry,” Harden told Salon. Windsor usually gets about 50 inches of rain a year. That’s bad news for his company, Clovergrass Produce, and its crop of soybeans, cucumbers, peanuts and corn plus his herd of beef cattle. “We’re starting off this year in a drought,” Harden said. “We ended last year in a drought.”
“Right now is harder than any time in the history of our country for agriculture,” Harden said. He should have some idea of hard times — Harden is a ninth-generation North Carolinian farmer, his family having been in Bertie County since 1771.
....(snip)....
Then, Trump joined Israel in war against Iran, causing trade through the Strait of Hormuz to come to a screeching halt. Prices of everything from plastics and helium to fertilizer products have skyrocketed. About half of the world’s agricultural nitrogen-based urea fertilizer supply passes through the strait, along with 30% of global ammonia exports.
The price of chemicals necessary to produce fertilizer — phosphorus, nitrogen and ammonia, among others — has risen sharply since the start of the war, putting even more pressure on the nation’s small and independent farmers and producers. When the Iran war began, fertilizer prices jumped from around $400 per ton in early February to nearly $600 per ton in early March. It’s only risen since then. .......................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2026/05/15/trumps-iran-war-is-pushing-american-farmers-to-the-brink/
Trump's Iran war is pushing American farmers to the brink
Trump’s Iran war is pushing American farmers to the brink
Skyrocketing costs, unfair markets, and poor policy are pressuring farmers thanks to the ongoing conflict
By Garrett Owen
National Affairs Fellow
Published May 15, 2026 6:30AM (EDT)
(Salon) The rain in Windsor, North Carolina, is way behind schedule. Despite the seat of Bertie County being crisscrossed with rivers and creeks and lying on the estuary of the Albemarle Sound, local farmer Charles Harden reckons the area is suffering from a 12-inch rain shortfall in the first five months of 2026.
“It’s been terrible dry,” Harden told Salon. Windsor usually gets about 50 inches of rain a year. That’s bad news for his company, Clovergrass Produce, and its crop of soybeans, cucumbers, peanuts and corn plus his herd of beef cattle. “We’re starting off this year in a drought,” Harden said. “We ended last year in a drought.”
“Right now is harder than any time in the history of our country for agriculture,” Harden said. He should have some idea of hard times — Harden is a ninth-generation North Carolinian farmer, his family having been in Bertie County since 1771.
....(snip)....
Then, Trump joined Israel in war against Iran, causing trade through the Strait of Hormuz to come to a screeching halt. Prices of everything from plastics and helium to fertilizer products have skyrocketed. About half of the world’s agricultural nitrogen-based urea fertilizer supply passes through the strait, along with 30% of global ammonia exports.
The price of chemicals necessary to produce fertilizer — phosphorus, nitrogen and ammonia, among others — has risen sharply since the start of the war, putting even more pressure on the nation’s small and independent farmers and producers. When the Iran war began, fertilizer prices jumped from around $400 per ton in early February to nearly $600 per ton in early March. It’s only risen since then. .......................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2026/05/15/trumps-iran-war-is-pushing-american-farmers-to-the-brink/
May 15, 2026
The Christian right hijacks America’s 250th
Trump's Rededicate 250 event erases the U.S.'s secular history
By Amanda Marcotte
Senior Writer
Published May 15, 2026 6:45AM (EDT)
(Salon) After Donald Trump blasphemed the Christian faith by posting what any fool could see was an artificial intelligence-generated illustration of himself as Jesus Christ, many members of the Beltway chattering class hoped the religious right would finally quit the president. The answer, of course, was a robust “heck no,” and this weekend, the White House is offering a reminder why.
Trump is devoted to a blasphemy that is far more important to them: rewriting history to push the false claim that the United States was founded as a Christian nation.
On Sunday, May 17, the White House will kick off the celebrations of the nation’s 250th anniversary with an alarming event: Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, an all-day prayer festival featuring administration officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as House Speaker Mike Johnson.
....(snip)....
The scary thing is that, on its surface, Sunday’s event will likely read as innocuous when compared to the myriad of other travesties committed daily by the Trump administration against our nation’s laws and traditions. Based on Rededicate 250’s marketing, most of the program looks likely to avoid overtly political rhetoric in favor of generic prayers calling on God to bless the country. The event’s organizers have even included a smattering of token Catholics and one rabbi as speakers. The whole thing feels designed to seem inoffensive — and to preemptively paint any progressives arguing that the Constitution clearly forbids government establishment of religion as hysterical. .....................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2026/05/15/the-christian-right-hijacks-americas-250th/
The Christian right hijacks America's 250th
The Christian right hijacks America’s 250th
Trump's Rededicate 250 event erases the U.S.'s secular history
By Amanda Marcotte
Senior Writer
Published May 15, 2026 6:45AM (EDT)
(Salon) After Donald Trump blasphemed the Christian faith by posting what any fool could see was an artificial intelligence-generated illustration of himself as Jesus Christ, many members of the Beltway chattering class hoped the religious right would finally quit the president. The answer, of course, was a robust “heck no,” and this weekend, the White House is offering a reminder why.
Trump is devoted to a blasphemy that is far more important to them: rewriting history to push the false claim that the United States was founded as a Christian nation.
On Sunday, May 17, the White House will kick off the celebrations of the nation’s 250th anniversary with an alarming event: Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, an all-day prayer festival featuring administration officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as well as House Speaker Mike Johnson.
....(snip)....
The scary thing is that, on its surface, Sunday’s event will likely read as innocuous when compared to the myriad of other travesties committed daily by the Trump administration against our nation’s laws and traditions. Based on Rededicate 250’s marketing, most of the program looks likely to avoid overtly political rhetoric in favor of generic prayers calling on God to bless the country. The event’s organizers have even included a smattering of token Catholics and one rabbi as speakers. The whole thing feels designed to seem inoffensive — and to preemptively paint any progressives arguing that the Constitution clearly forbids government establishment of religion as hysterical. .....................(more)
https://www.salon.com/2026/05/15/the-christian-right-hijacks-americas-250th/
May 14, 2026
May 11, 2026
As America approaches its 250th anniversary, Michigan Central Station is once again becoming a symbol of Detroit's story and America's evolution.
A new chapter for Michigan Central Station
May 11, 2026
As America approaches its 250th anniversary, Michigan Central Station is once again becoming a symbol of Detroit's story and America's evolution.
May 14, 2026
May 13, 2026
We are now welcoming people who are architects of failed authoritarian transitions.
In this video, I lay out some thoughts on the import of authoritarians into the United States — and essential questions we must all ask.
Timothy Snyder: The import of failed authoritarian architects into the U.S.
May 13, 2026
We are now welcoming people who are architects of failed authoritarian transitions.
In this video, I lay out some thoughts on the import of authoritarians into the United States — and essential questions we must all ask.
May 14, 2026
May 13, 2026 Bulwark Takes
Sam Stein and Will Sommer give their takes on the explosive Senate hearing where Senator Chris Van Hollen pressed FBI Director Kash Patel over his reported heavy drinking, leak hunts, and polygraph tests inside the FBI. What started as a bizarre exchange about an alcohol “AUDIT test” quickly spiraled into accusations, evasions, and some very awkward denials. The two unpack Patel’s combative performance, the administration’s growing paranoia over leaks, and why Donald Trump may see Patel as too useful to lose, no matter how chaotic things get.
The Bulwark: Kash Patel is a Mess
May 13, 2026 Bulwark Takes
Sam Stein and Will Sommer give their takes on the explosive Senate hearing where Senator Chris Van Hollen pressed FBI Director Kash Patel over his reported heavy drinking, leak hunts, and polygraph tests inside the FBI. What started as a bizarre exchange about an alcohol “AUDIT test” quickly spiraled into accusations, evasions, and some very awkward denials. The two unpack Patel’s combative performance, the administration’s growing paranoia over leaks, and why Donald Trump may see Patel as too useful to lose, no matter how chaotic things get.
May 14, 2026
May 12, 2026 The Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller
Because Donald Trump has so thoroughly hijacked the Department of Justice, the public can no longer be confident that a criminal investigation or indictment is legitimate. The default assumption is that official DOJ actions are about servicing Trump's needs for validation, power, or retribution—like the latest seashell-related charges against Comey. Acting AG Todd Blanche acts like a mobster, wears his partisanship on his sleeve, and appears to be breaking the law himself. And at the FBI, Kash Patel presides over a smaller and demoralized and distracted staff, which leaves Comey worried for the safety of our country. Plus, the prospects for accountability post-Trump and the stepped-up investigations into journalists reporting news the administration does not like.
The Bulwark: Trump Keeps LOSING to Seashell Jim Comey
May 12, 2026 The Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller
Because Donald Trump has so thoroughly hijacked the Department of Justice, the public can no longer be confident that a criminal investigation or indictment is legitimate. The default assumption is that official DOJ actions are about servicing Trump's needs for validation, power, or retribution—like the latest seashell-related charges against Comey. Acting AG Todd Blanche acts like a mobster, wears his partisanship on his sleeve, and appears to be breaking the law himself. And at the FBI, Kash Patel presides over a smaller and demoralized and distracted staff, which leaves Comey worried for the safety of our country. Plus, the prospects for accountability post-Trump and the stepped-up investigations into journalists reporting news the administration does not like.
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit, MI
Member since: Fri Oct 29, 2004, 12:18 AM
Number of posts: 80,036