Larry Drake

Enjoying the retired life in Portsmouth, NH. Active in Democratic politics. Co-host of Seacoast Currents on Portsmouth Community Radio.

[Larry Drake @LarryDrake2]

School photo taken some time during my adolescence in the 1960's, probably in junior high.

[Brett Erickson @BrettErickson28]

As Trump and Rubio continue to make overt threats towards Cuba, understanding what is taking place behind the scenes is critical to understanding the U.S. approach… and why it is so sick and twisted.

In recent weeks, President Trump authorized Executive Order 14404, which extensively expanded sanctions on the island nation.

U.S. Treasury and OFAC have followed this up aggressively with sanctions on all sorts of different entities and individuals, including the Cuban President just today.

The most concerning part that I see taking place is a blatant disregard for the Cuban citizens.

Under EO 14404, the language is so broad, so non-specific, that it effectively bars any investment, transactions, or operations in Cuba. But not just the “regime”, but it effectively makes it extremely risky to so much as support the ordinary Cuban.

Cuba is also facing an extreme energy crisis, with blackouts exceeding 20 hours per day in some parts of the country. In March, the Russian-flagged oil tanker, Anatoly Kolodkin, delivered 730,000 barrels of oil to the island.

That ran out weeks ago now.

What we are seeing is “Operation Economic Fury 2”, which is modeled after the same failed strategy in Iran.

The goal from the administration and the “strategists” pushing this?

Impose maximum pain on the average Cuban. Make life so miserable, so unbearable, that they have no choice but to topple the regime and suffer.

Cuba doesn’t NEED an economic warfare campaign. The country has been a mess since the capture of Maduro in Venezuela in February.

All the United States is doing is implementing a sick and twisted strategy of hurting the average Cuban citizens that want nothing more than to be able to live a normal life.

[Acyn @Acyn]

Schumer I met with Graham Platner today. We’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate.

[Daniel Davis Deep Dive @DanielLDavis1]

This is not 2016. It’s not even 2025. President Trump is clearly declining, physically, emotionally, and psychologically. It doesn’t matter if you love President Trump, or hate him, for the good of the nation, it is time to give serious consideration to encouraging President Trump to resign on his own, leaving on anything close to terms he gets to set.

If not, the damage to our country could be so profound that we may never recover, and that spans everything from the disintegration of NATO, to possible actions with a new war in Cuba, the fallout of the Venezuelan operation, and of course, the disasters in both Iran and Ukraine.

Trump is failing in everything he set out to do in this second term, and America is reeling under the consequences of his failures.

It doesn’t matter, democrat or Republican, or anything else. It is time for the good of the nation, for President Trump to resign.

[NH Democratic Party @NHDems]

WATCH: Don Bolduc says Donald Trump’s war with Iran has been “unsuccessful” at accomplishing its objectives, yet John Sununu continues to support Trump’s war.

Sununu is selling NH out to Trump even as gas prices skyrocket for Granite Staters. #NHPolitics #NHSen

[Barack Obama @BarackObama]

Barney Frank was one of a kind. For more than three decades in Congress, he fought tirelessly for the people of Massachusetts, helped make housing more affordable, stood up for the rights of LGBTQ+ Americans, and helped pass one of the most sweeping financial reforms in history designed to protect consumers and prevent another financial crisis. Barney’s passion and wit were second to none, and our thoughts are with his family today.

[Anders Åslund @anders_aslund]

Devastating article by Robert Kagan:
"Checkmate in Iran
Washington can’t reverse or control the consequences of losing this war."
"Defeat in the present confrontation with Iran will be of an entirely different character. It can neither be repaired nor ignored. There will be no return to the status quo ante, no ultimate American triumph that will undo or overcome the harm done."
https://t.co/aAUqTTr0KF

[Molly Jong-Fast @MollyJongFast]

This is the wayyyyyyyy

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

Trump is mired in an illegal war that's destabilizing the world while spiking inflation and immiserating Americans, a key part of the government remains unfunded, and the Republicans who control both chambers of Congress are fixated on ... spending money for a vanity ballroom that Trump vowed would be privately funded.

A complete clown show.

[Raymond Buckley 🇺🇸🏳️‍🌈 @ChairmanBuckley]

Another great sold out Rockingham County Democrats @rcdcnh annual clambake! Congrats to Larry Drake & Joan Jacobs on receiving the Renny Cushing award! Congratulations to Chair Lisa DeMio, Alice Passer, Shana Potvin and the committee. On to victory in November! #NHPolitics

[NCAA March Madness @MarchMadnessMBB]

One week ago, Michigan capped off an incredible season with its first National Championship since 1989 🤩

[Swanky Wolverine @swankywolverine]

Relive the Michigan Basketball season in 3 minutes with my season highlights - One Michigan Moment 🎥

[Sen. Maggie Hassan @SenatorHassan]

It's a relief that President Trump agreed to a ceasefire rather than follow through on his unhinged threats, but let's be clear: Granite Staters and Americans want a permanent end to this illegal, dangerous, and costly war

[Joe Walsh @WalshFreedom]

So before Trump’s war, Iran did NOT control the Strait of Hormuz. And now because of Trump’s war, Iran DOES control the Strait. And will continue to.

What a fucking disaster this illegal war has been. What a fucking idiot Trump is.

[College Basketball Report @CBKReport]

THE MICHIGAN WOLVERINES ARE YOUR 2026 MEN’S BASKETBALL NATIONAL CHAMPIONS 〽️🏆

[Michigan Men's Basketball @umichbball]

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!

[Michigan Men's Basketball @umichbball]

The Kings of College Basketball 〽️

[Joe Walsh @WalshFreedom]

Good Morning, the President of the United States is a madman, a senile sociopath, utterly unfit for office. He’s an immediate danger to America & the world. Darn near everyone knows all this privately, but is afraid to say it publicly. Darn near everyone wishes he was gone. What a bad, horrible, frightening situation to be in.

[The Husky @Mr_Husky1]

We are called "the elderly." But that quiet label hides something most people rarely stop to consider. We are the last living witnesses of a world that no longer exists.

Look at us and you might see gray hair, slower steps, and the patience that time teaches.

But listen to our story — really listen — and you'll realize something extraordinary.

We are the only generation in human history to have lived a fully analog childhood and a fully digital adulthood.

That's not a small thing. That's one of the most breathtaking journeys a human being has ever been asked to make.

We were born in the 1940s, 50s, and early 60s, into a world still rebuilding from the rubble of World War II.

Our toys were marbles and hopscotch and card games at kitchen tables. When the streetlights flickered on, that was it — childhood adventures were over, and it was time to go home. No smartphones. No streaming. No endless scroll.

We built our memories in the real world. With scraped knees and laughter echoing down streets and friendships formed face to face.

In 1969, we sat in living rooms staring at black-and-white televisions as Neil Armstrong took humanity's first steps on the Moon. Hundreds of thousands of us stood in muddy fields at Woodstock believing — really believing — that music and community could reshape the future.

We fell in love to vinyl records spinning on turntables. We waited days, sometimes weeks, for handwritten letters to arrive. We learned patience because information didn't come instantly. Mistakes were fixed with erasers — not a delete button.

Then the world transformed.

Machines that once filled entire rooms shrank to devices lighter than a paperback. We went from rotary phones and party lines to seeing the face of someone we love on the other side of the ocean — instantly, on something that fits in a pocket.

We watched the birth of the personal computer. The arrival of the internet. The smartphone. Artificial intelligence.

And through every single shift — we adapted.

Not because it was easy. Because that's what our generation does.

We also carry the weight of history in our bodies.

We grew up afraid of polio and tuberculosis. We watched science defeat them. We witnessed the discovery of the structure of DNA, the decoding of the human genome, the transformation of medicine itself. We survived pandemics across decades — and kept going.

Few generations have been asked to absorb so much change in a single lifetime.

And through all of it, certain things never changed.

We still know the joy of a cold glass of lemonade on a hot afternoon. The taste of vegetables picked straight from a garden. The value of a long conversation that unfolds slowly, without a screen interrupting it.

We have celebrated births and mourned losses. Carried the stories of friends who are gone. Watched the world become something our younger selves couldn't have imagined — and found ways to belong in it anyway.

We are not relics.

We are living bridges between two entirely different worlds.

Our memory carries something the modern world needs — proof that progress doesn't have to erase wisdom. That speed doesn't have to replace patience, kindness, or reflection.

So when someone calls us elderly, we can smile.

Because behind that word is something remarkable.

We crossed two centuries. Witnessed eight decades of transformation. Walked from handwritten letters to artificial intelligence — and never lost our sense of what actually matters.

[David Stockman @DA_Stockman]

No, I do remember 1979 and was there in the US Congress. The Iranian people were really pissed off after 26 years of the Shah's larceny and tyranny, joined the Revolution and forced the Shah to flee. All good. Then the idiots in Washington gave asylum to the Shah in the US when the crowds wanted him home to face the justice he deserved. So 400 enraged students took the US embassy hostage and asked for three reasonable things: 1) send the Shah back to Iran; 2) Return something like $20 billion that was hidden off-shore; 3) apologize for the 1953 CIA coup that ended their democracy. The warmongers on the Potomac said hell no, sent in the rescue helicopters in the middle of night which turned into the Desert One Disaster----and the rest is history. Very simply---the fools on the Potomac ultimately saddled the Iranian people with the theocracy that has made their lives miserable.

[MeidasTouch @MeidasTouch]

🔵 Democrats flip another seat in the New Hampshire State House.

Democrat Bobbi Boudman wins a special election in a Trump+9 district, after losing the same seat by 14 points in 2024. A 13-point Democratic overperformance.