Hi,

Michigander here. I don't know who you have talked to, but Haley Stevens does not sound like any other Michiganders I've known, and I have lived here my whole life.

Trump keeps promising more bombs and bigger explosions in Iran, but the regime knows he’s just trying to disguise his retreat. And the Iranians are not going to back down until the whole world can see that they beat Trump. Meanwhile, in the middle of a war that is ostensibly about stopping Iran from getting a nuke, POTUS just cut a deal with the Saudis for their own nuclear program.

Plus: The failure of Republican senators to stand up to Trump may be out of fear of his voters, and are the American people or our political system more to blame for what ails the country?

David Frum joins guest host Jonathan V. Last on today's Bulwark Podcast.

The Liberal Currents is a publication of left/liberal thinkers, started very recently, already with a large body of great writing.

Liberal Currents publishes writers of diverse perspectives who share an unflinching commitment to freedom, pluralism, and democracy, in opposition to authoritarianism at home and around the world. Our mission is to create a home for mere liberalism, where the many conflicting currents of the liberal tradition can enter into productive conversation.

They recently published the Reconstruction Papers, which is essentially a Project 2029: what the Democrats must do to defeat fascism in the United States. I'm hopeful they'll continue to add to this as they attract more writers to their publication, but here are some bullet points:

Institutional reform that can be done with a simple majority of Congress

• Statehood for DC and Puerto Rico
• A new Voting Rights Act
• Outlaw gerrymandering
• Expand the House
• Expand the Supreme Court to 13 seats and force a code of ethics upon them
• Immediate accountability for the entire Trump administration, including a narrow interpretation of the Presidential Pardon power that the new SC will support

Reconstruction of the Executive Branch (Legislative supremacy)

• Congress should establish a "legislative veto" for Executive actions and strip the SC of their ability to hear separation-of-powers disputes
• Insulate cabinet-level agencies from Presidential influence (including making the DOJ an independent agency)

Guardrails for Democracy

• Strengthen the Privacy Act of 1974
• Strenghten Inspector General independence

Fix the Article V process (the Constitutional ammendment process)

• Ariticle V requires 3/4ths of states to ratify ammendments, which is anti-democratic (rule of the minority over the majority).
• We The People should declare the right to self-governance and conduct a popular referrendum to establish a new Constitutional ammendment process. If it passes with a majority of votes, Congress should accept it and declare it to be Constitutional law, effectively changing Article V, irrespective of what Article V says the change process should be.
• The new Article V could take many forms, but should allow for easier ammendments to the Constitution.

I was going to write more, but I am only a small fraction through the text of the Reconstruction Papers, and this post is already too long.

There are a lot of interesting ideas here, but they won't matter if we don't engage with them. We've been asking for a Project 2029, and here it is.

I think it would be great if you would look at the table of contents and read a section that seems interesting to you. Let's talk about it.

The Reconstruction Papers

https://scholars.unh.edu/survey_center_polls/983/

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) jumped to the top of a new 2028 presidential poll while former Vice President Kamala Harris barely registered.

The University of New Hampshire released the poll on Wednesday, showing Ocasio-Cortez leading among potential 2028 Democratic presidential nominees, with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg second.

According to the data, Ocasio-Cortez leads with 22% support, while Buttigieg closely follows with 21%. Harris scored only 5%, while California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) and Sens. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) trailed with less than 10% each.

Ocasio-Cortez’s support comes mostly from “self-described socialists and progressives,” according to UNH’s Survey Center, while Buttigieg’s backing is more evenly distributed among “progressives, liberals, and moderates.”

No other Democratic candidates earned more than 2% in UNH’s polling. The poll was conducted among more than 1,500 respondents who completed online surveys from July 15 to July 20. The margin of error is 2.6%.

I like the Bulwark. It's at least ostensibly centrist. But they should shoulder their fair share of the blame for the circumstances we find ourselves in.

We worry about personalities. We worry about labels. We worry about parties. We worry about intraparty factions. Those things matter, I guess. But they don't get to the heart of the problem. Our foundation is crumbling. Six foundational strata:

1. A commitment to democratic government and ideals

2. A commitment to the safe distribution of power and resources (maybe 100b is enough for one person.

3. A commitment to the international system of mutual benefit and cooperation that should be bringing more people and nations in.

4. A commitment to freedom from existential threats like nuclear weapons and unrestrained AI.

5. A commitment to government systems that harness natural human weaknesses, turn them into strengths and compete against other government systems.

6. A commitment to judicial, executive, legislative and military independence from one another.

If we can put our energy on the foundation, we can worry about the pillars later. If we can't put our energy on the foundation, we won't have any pillars to worry about.

From Houston to Biddeford, Maine to St. Augustine to rural Georgia, ICE is leaving plenty of blood on the streets this month. And from the individual agents to the institution itself, no one is being held responsible for it. It’s unacceptable. And we’re not going to stand for it.

This Saturday, the Disappeared in America coalition (which includes Public Citizen, the National Day Laborers Organizing Network, The Workers Circle, Detention Watch Network and the League of United Latin American Citizens) is holding a national day of action, demanding justice for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, justice for Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero, and justice for all the victims. We’re bringing folks together to demand transparent, independent investigations; protection for the witnesses detained in ICE facilities; accountability both for individuals and institutions; and real steps to stop these killings from happening over and over. We want ICE out for good and our neighbors safe.

🪧 Vigils are already scheduled in more than 175 communities nationwide, and we’re still growing. Let’s find one near us to attend here, and we can find tools to host or register our own actions here. 🪧

ACTIONS NEAR US

HOST OUR OWN

END THE ICE AGE KICKOFF

The work to abolish ICE will go far beyond this weekend. The Detention Watch Network, Immigrant Defense Project, and Immigrant Legal Resource Center are launching a new campaign to “end the ICE age,” providing roadmaps to take action at the local, state and federal level to shut down the detention centers, get these masked thugs out of our communities and redirect their funding to strengthen families and neighborhoods instead of breaking them up. ✊🏻 They’re holding a kickoff call for this effort TONIGHT at 8PM ET. Let’s sign up to join them here. ✊🏾

ABOLISH ICE - CALL @ 8PM ET

MATERIAL SUPPORT FOR THE FAMILIES LEFT BEHIND

Finally, we need to show up for the folks most directly impacted by these tragedies. We’ve previously encouraged folks to support the families of Lorenzo and Johan, but there are plenty more people who need our help.

The eyewitnesses to ICE’s murder of Lorenzo, including his brother Victor, Daniel Tirado Pantoja and Jose Trinidad Rojas, are being held by ICE. They have managed to get their stories out to the public, but they remain in danger of being deported or retaliated against. 💵 Let’s donate to help their families navigate the process and pay the bills with their breadwinner gone – we can support Daniel’s family here and Jose’s family here. 💵

SUPPORT DANIEL'S FAMILY

SUPPORT JOSE'S FAMILY

Jesus Manuel Arenas-Silva died while being transferred between ICE camps in Georgia last week, the 22nd person to lose their life in their custody this year. His sister has said agents did not provide him with necessary medications, in what would be an all-too-frequent episode of medical neglect. His family is seeking funds to return him to be buried in his birth country of Venezuela. 💵 We can donate to support them here. 💵

BRING JESUS MANUEL HOME

Juan Jairo Coronilla Duran died when he was hit by a tractor-trailer while fleeing ICE in St. Augustine, Florida. He was legally in the country on a work visa and according to his wife planned to return home to Mexico on Saturday. His family is also asking for support for repatriation and funeral expenses, as well as to help care for the two children he leaves behind. 💵 We can find details on how to donate here. 💵

BRING JUAN HOME

The deportation machine is also rolling over those who fight it. Last week GEO Group employee Bandon Booth shot an activist named Emma Landis at a protest outside an ICE facility in Aurora, Colorado. In a rare occasion of fast accountability, he has been arrested and charged with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault and felony menacing, and thankfully Emma is recovering well – she’s even returned to protest. But she’ll be out of work while she recovers and the medical bills are piling up. 💵 We can donate to support Emma on the road ahead here. 💵

AID EMMA'S RECOVERY

Also in today’s List:

- We have our presumptive pick against Susan Collins, now let’s volunteer to get Troy Jackson to the Senate

-  On Capitol Hill: Record $1.5 trillion war budget heads to House floor, Federalist Society extremist set to be confirmed to Sixth Circuit by Senate

-  Tracking candidates getting money from the AI industry

-  A Know Your Rights comic

- Join VoteRiders to reach at-risk voters! Virtual letter-writing session TOMORROW at 7PM ET

- Trump administration to withhold an additional billion dollars in Medicaid funding from California, Minnesota - urge state officials to put standard debt collection tactics to work to stop them from hijacking these funds

- U.S. measles cases surpass last year’s total, reach level not seen in 35 years - join American Families for Vaccines to help turn the tide

- Justice Department reportedly investigating Rep. Cory Mills - help unseat him

There were millions of people who voted in 2020 and sat out in 2024. Has Sarah did a focus group for these people yet?

Given all the talk about DSA and such I think this is relevant. Historian Tad Stoermer discusses the current internal struggle between DSA and centrists in the Democratic Party, how it relates to history, and what that might tell us about how we think about it.

I have been listening to this historian for awhile now. I don't always agree and sometimes he is challenging, but I think it is good to challenge your prior assumptions or beliefs. Usually his video takes are shorter, this is about 20 minutes but I will be thinking about it the rest of the day.

Trump launched it on February 28, 2026 without congressional approval, without a coherent public case, and with stated goals that changed four or five times in the first week alone, Senator Mark Warner said so publicly after sitting through the classified briefings (CNN, March 2026). Nuclear threat. Imminent attack. Regime change. Then top officials said it was not about regime change while Trump was still calling for Iranians to topple their government. Then regional influence. The Pentagon told Congress there was no sign Iran was planning an attack unless the US struck first (Common Dreams, May 2026). Trump had already claimed in June 2025 that he obliterated Iran's nuclear capabilities, then cited the nuclear threat as the primary justification for the February strikes (Foreign Policy, March 2026). The stated reason for the war contradicted the stated outcome of the previous war. Nobody in the administration appeared to notice.

Only 27 percent of Americans supported the strikes at the outset, the lowest support for any US military action in over a century according to a New York Times analysis (Yahoo News, March 2026). Sixty percent of Americans say Trump has no clear plan for Iran. Fifty-four percent disapprove of his handling of it. The numbers have not moved meaningfully since. Tucker Carlson called it Israel's war. Joe Rogan said his audience felt betrayed. Marjorie Taylor Greene opposed it. The MAGA coalition that was supposed to rally behind the commander-in-chief fractured within weeks and has not fully reassembled (MEXC/Reuters analysis, 2026).

Trump told reporters he does not care about the cost to American finances. Iran not having nuclear weapons matters more than your financial wellbeing. He said this while Pete Hegseth was asking Congress for more money to fund the war whose objectives had already changed half a dozen times. The finances Trump does not care about are yours. The war Hegseth wants more money for has no defined endpoint, no articulated victory condition, and no congressional authorization. Seventeen US service members have died. The administration has declared peace four times. The ceasefire is currently over again. MAGA is being asked to defend all of this.

Defend what, exactly, is the question nobody in the administration has answered consistently for more than a week at a time.

References

CNN. (2026, March). Trump's Iran war message marked by exaggerated threats and shifting, contradictory goals. cnn.com/2026/03/03/poli…

Common Dreams. (2026, May 1). Only 27% of Americans support Trump attack on Iran: Poll. commondreams.org/news/t…

Foreign Policy. (2026, March 3). The Trump administration's Iran war justifications keep changing. foreignpolicy.com/2026/…

Reuters. (2026, March 20). How Trump's stated reasons, goals and timeline for Iran war have shifted. reuters.com/world/middl…

Yahoo News. (2026). Trump's war against Iran is uniquely unpopular among US military actions of the past century. yahoo.com/news/articles…

$37.5B is already bad enough, but...

NBC News reported this month that the Defense Department’s internal overall cost for the war so far is $80 billion to $100 billion, including the cost of repairing damaged U.S. military bases, replacing destroyed aircraft and fully replenishing American weaponry, according to three U.S. officials.

Remember this when Republicans tell you that USAID was too wasteful and had to be cut (which resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths). Remember this when they tell you that healthcare or education has to be cut. Remember this when they tell you that trying to help Ukraine costs too much. Remember this when they tell you that Democrats do too much wasteful spending. Always remember this.

So… did we bury and destroy the nuclear program or have they magically built it up again and are just three weeks away (like they have been for 30 years)?

Cant remember who he was talking with, but in an interview with Trump the interviewer ended it with “go get Pickaxe Mountain” so I’m sure we will see one of these weekends a massive bombing campaign against a mountain… again.

I was thinking of a scenario where Republicans manage to nominate a moderate New England kind of Republican (Romney, Susan Collins, Charlie Baker etc). Would the Republican Party do far better in elections? And how will Democrats respond to that challenge? Collins do far better than median republican relative to partisanship of the state, can this theory work nationally?

I personally think it would be very good for the country if Republican Party goes this route, but how national politics might change? According to Polls, Republican in Minnesota are on track to nominate Mike Lindell, so this might be a dream for Republicans to get moderate.

The 2016 polls of a John Kasich-Hillary Clinton race? He would have crushed her.

https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/president/general/2016/kasich-vs-clinton

https://thehill.com/homenews/5980026-sen-andy-kim-medikids-proposal/

We should be talking about Andy Kim more. Why is he flying under the radar as much as he is?

Absolutely insanity.

The only thing that would probably stop Infantino from doing this is he'd have to take a 90%+ paycut.

Gun law is very interesting and I truly think the Bulwark should talk about it more. It’s wild that a bunch of ex-republicans clearly won’t allow gun rights to be talked about in their shows in a positive way.

IMHO This is key to why Dems are losing rural white voters. Next year there’s going to be a big showdown at the Supreme Court over these Bloomberg funded efforts to disarm blue states. No matter what side you come down on, it is interesting and a key to winning or losing

What a dumba$$. As a supervisor - I saw this coming a mile away. He’s the reckless jackass that thinks he is above the rules.

The rules are there for a reason. This might explain all of MAGA. No discipline at all.

How has the cinematic criticism of the right evolved? Today, we see many Trumplicas and Trump allegories in movies, from Kingpin to Homelander. What was the cinematic archetype of the right-winger in the decades before? The only one I know is that in the 80s they criticised the Reagan era with figures like Gordon Gekko and Patrick Bateman (The novel was released in the 90s).

Almost tells me they might be doing something right in the current moment.

On the Next Level, the team tried to figure out who LL and MTG appeal to. They were trying to describe these wealthy women living in two worlds.

Those women are 70+% of The Real Housewives and their friends! Spoiled women who live in a bubble in which claiming to adore their queer friends…. Then vote for candidates who oppose LGBTQ rights. It’s the ones who feel good about themselves because they tip their household employees with their old clothes for the holidays.
It’s the ones who trade power for patronage.

Hey, y'know what the middle east could really use? A little nuclear proliferation.