- The voters who believe that Trump defends their values;
- The DHS head is happy to throw out the Constitution in order to fight the minuscule number of voter fraud cases;
- Trump’s UFC fight reveals his violent worldview;
- The problematic latest ‘deal’ with Iran;
- Trump’s list of “media offenders” includes David Pakman, whom I’ve been following, today with his reaction to yesterday’s White House event.
I have a hunch.
The Atlantic, Katy Osborn and Scott Warren, 13 Jun 2026: The Voters Who Believe That Trump Defends Their Values, subtitled “Why calls to ‘save democracy’ don’t work”
Our research involved conducting in-depth interviews with and observing the daily lives of dozens of people along with their friends, families, and neighbors to better understand how they think about American democracy right now. Our goal was not to persuade or judge, but to figure out why public trust in national institutions has plummeted to historic lows and what might be done to build it back up.
Anecdotes, of course. Aren’t these the kinds of stories you would expect in these states?
Across Wyoming, Michigan, and South Carolina, we heard stories like Sarah’s: Conventional institutions had failed participants, and faith and values-aligned organizations filled the gap. This is why calls to restore power to government institutions ring hollow, and why the Democratic Party’s faith in institutions can appear naive and godless. As Thomas, a rural South Carolinian who comes from a family with a long history of military service and civic engagement, told us: “Democrats see government as their god, while conservatives see their god as God, and government as sort of secondary.”
And back to Sarah:
Sarah told us, for example, that when Trump returned to office, her husband, a land surveyor in Wyoming, was nearly unemployed and the family was worried about making ends meet. But thanks to the president’s reversal of Biden-era restrictions on coal mining, her husband is now overwhelmed with work. Such moves have made Trump a hero in parts of the country where Americans have been unwilling or unable to pivot away from coal.
Her priorities are short-term priorities, without concern for long-term consequences. But what else should we expect her to do? This makes the ideals of our constitutional system easily jettisoned when they’re not convenient.
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Echoed here. Paranoia about voter fraud.
Salon, Alex Galbraith, yesterday: “Let’s throw out the Constitution”: Mullin shares DHS plans ahead of midterms, subtitled “The DHS head said he would go to extreme lengths to fight the voter fraud boogeyman”
Department of Homeland Security head Markwayne Mullin said he’s willing to go to extreme lengths to fight the nonexistent scourge of voter fraud in the upcoming midterm elections.
The Republican senator from Oklahoma told CNN‘s Dana Bash that he’s ready to “throw out the Constitution” to make sure “only citizens of the United States are voting.”
“What we want to make sure is that every vote actually counts, that we’re not having games like you might see in sanctuary cities. I’m not saying they are,” he said. “Democrats always want to throw out the Constitution all the time. Well, great, let’s throw out the Constitution.”
When Bash gave Mullin a questioning look, he immediately backpedaled.
“I mean, not throw it out. Throw it out as an argument,” he said. “I’m glad you had that look on your face.”
When Bash countered that Heritage Foundation, a right-wing think tank, only found 25 instances of non-citizens being prosecuted for voter fraud.
“Has this ever actually affected an American election?” she asked.
Mullin countered that any vote cast by a non-citizen is “one too many”…
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And this is consistent with the observations I’ve made here for years about the divide between left-wing and right-wing morality.
The Atlantic, Gal Beckerman, today: The Theory That Explains Trump’s UFC Fight, subtitled “By staging a ‘spectacle of excess’ on the White House lawn, the president expressed the violent essence of his worldview.”
With a description of the violence. Then,
All of this was pure, distilled Trump. No previous American leader could plausibly have presided over the scene of a tattooed Brazilian fighter in a black cowboy hat and Lycra shorts running out of the White House, saluted by honor guards, with the intent of pulverizing another human being. He had built an Octagon on the lawn in part, surely, to troll his opponents, as he so often does, but what I saw in the fighting itself—in fight after fight after fight, seven in all—was an affirmative expression of Trump’s favorite kind of storyline: dominance and submission. This was not just a political stunt, but the best way he could imagine spending his 80th birthday.
This is what America is about? Ending:
Not a single one of these seven fights was even won on points. They all resulted in one man’s rage and another man’s pain and humiliation. That was the whole story—the only one that mattered to the 80-year-old man taking it all in from the edge of the ring.
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The commentators I read aren’t impressed by the latest ‘deal’ Trump has made, conveniently on his birthday, with Iran. Here’s one.
The Atlantic, Tom Nichols, yesterday: Trump Celebrates While America Capitulates, subtitled “The peace deal with Tehran is an Iranian victory.” (Gift link via the writer’s site)
President Trump has announced that the United States and Iran have reached a deal to end their war. “Congratulations to all!” he said in a posting on his Truth Social site this evening. He then headed off to oversee the garish public spectacle he’d arranged for his birthday on the South Lawn of the White House. The United States, however, has little to celebrate: Trump and his team, in record time, just lost a war to a militarily mediocre—but nonetheless extremely dangerous—adversary.
The details of the agreement remain unconfirmed, but the president, of course, is eager to spin the outcome as a victory. (Trump was in a hurry to sign the deal on his birthday; the Iranians, who now seem to be in charge of this whole business, instead said they will send someone to a meeting in Switzerland on Friday.) But even before we have the details, it is clear that Trump has failed to achieve every one of the goals he put forward for this war of choice, and now he is determined to sign, seal, and deliver America’s capitulation as quickly as possible.
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A few days ago the White House posted a list of “media offenders,” meaning media sources that challenge any part of Trump’s misinformation and self-glorification campaign. The White House list is here, and seems to include everyone you can think of, even Fox News. Apparently the only reliable news source is the White House. But I can’t find the clean shortlist I saw a few days ago, which included some commentators I am aware of, like this guy, David Pakman, whom I’ve seen on Facebook. And I bought his book.
Here’s his YouTube channel, which now proudly displays his status as a White House media offender.
But I’m noting David Pakman for his reaction today about what happened yesterday…
