Robin Simpson Smith

Mother, wife, daughter, lawyer, liberal Democrat AND Christian (the 2 are not mutually exclusive), rabid University of Kentucky fan.

[Robin Simpson Smith @Robin_Smith57]

@kevinholbrook67 Hope they aren’t opposite Steelers.

[Robin Simpson Smith @Robin_Smith57]

Western Michigan just got hosed. What a shame for those kids, who played their guts out.

[Daniel Dale @ddale8]

Trump post yesterday morning: “WE DON’T NEED CANADA, THEY NEED US!”

Trump in a tele-rally yesterday evening: “You know, selfishly, we need aluminum in this country. We don't have it. We get it all from Canada, for the most part, and we need it badly.”

H/t @josh_wingrove

[Gandalv @Microinteracti1]

Here is a thought experiment that several analysts keep returning to: if a president actually wanted to dismantle American superpower status, what would he be doing differently from what Trump is doing right now?

Consider the record. He has feuded with NATO and cast doubt on the alliance guarantee that anchored Western security for 70 years. He has slapped tariffs on the EU and individual European allies, and this week launched a 50 percent trade war against Canada, America's closest partner.

He has pressured South Korea and Japan over troop costs while courting their adversaries.

Gulf states, battered by the Iran war, now question the American security umbrella so openly that Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan just signed their own mutual defence pact.

Sanctions and Hormuz chaos are pushing oil trade toward the yuan, eroding the dollar's reserve role while national debt passes 40 trillion. And through it all, he speaks warmly of Putin and Kim Jong Un while insulting the billion people living under allied flags.

Superpower status rests on three pillars: alliances, the dollar, and credibility. All three are being sawed at simultaneously.

So what explains it?

Option A: sheer ignorance, a government that simply does not understand how the world works.

Option B: revenge, a man settling scores with an establishment he believes wronged him.

Option C: outside pressure, someone else's interests being served.

None of these options is comforting. And the pattern remains the same whichever one you pick.

[Robin Simpson Smith @Robin_Smith57]

@Burke_Franklin_ 😂 Good one!

[Tom Nichols @RadioFreeTom]

Scaling back the exercise is, of course, an insane decision. America and the rest of the world are now witnessing a public exhibition of narcissistic rage.

https://t.co/0J7ID1wLFM

[Derek Thompson @DKThomp]

Hard to know if the Iran war's been a success.

On the one hand, we've failed to achieve our main objectives, driven up the price of various commodities, and shown Iran that they can squeeze the Strait of Hormuz.

On the other hand, all it took was the virtual exhaustion of our entire long-range precision missile supplies.

[Dan Shapiro @DanielBShapiro]

Here's the fundamental Iran dilemma Trump faces as Netanyahu heads to Washington:

Trump must prioritize getting the Strait of Hormuz open. That was the stated purpose of the largely fruitless strikes over the last two weeks, during which crude hit $100/barrel and the Houthis flexed in the Red Sea. But maybe it opened a window for diplomacy, which the Omanis and Qataris are trying to seize. Perhaps it can lead to a modest Hormuz deal, although Iran intends to retain a measure of control over time, so occasional escalations are almost certain.

On the other hand, Trump says the war is all about preventing an Iranian nuclear weapon. He focuses on Pickaxe Mountain. Netanyahu will advocate for renewed strikes on nuclear targets with Israeli participation.

These goals are utterly incompatible. Any US/Israeli action on nuclear sites will lead Iran to close the Strait once again, with all the attendant global economic shocks and escalation risks, while our missile inventories reach critical levels. Just what Trump needs 100 days before the midterms.

Iran was relatively contained before February 28, with the nuclear sites hit in June 2025, all sanctions in place, and reasonable options for supporting the Iranian people. This dumb and unnecessary war handed Iran all the leverage in their ability to control the Strait. Nothing about additional escalations will change that dynamic. What a horrific strategic blunder.

[Kentucky High School Sports History @KYHSHistory]

The most iconic image in the history of Kentucky high school sports. Game tipped at 1:15 in Memorial Coliseum on a Saturday. March 17, 1956.

[David Axelrod @davidaxelrod]

Here it is in a nutshell:
The price for holding one of the most sensitive positions in our government--Director of National Intelligence-is dignifying an abject lie about the '20 election.
And confirming him is the price most Rs will pay to stay aligned with the lie's author.

[Mark Warner @MarkWarner]

Reports that the White House has dismissed the remaining members of the Election Assistance Commission — all of whom were unanimously confirmed by the Senate, including a commissioner appointed by President Trump himself — should concern every American, regardless of party, because the EAC was established by Congress as an independent, bipartisan body to help states administer secure and credible elections.

If these reports are accurate, removing every remaining commissioner just months before the 2026 midterm elections is an extraordinary step that demands an immediate explanation from the administration and raises profound concerns about political interference in the institutions that support our elections.

[Robin Simpson Smith @Robin_Smith57]

This pretty well sums it up.

[Men in Blazers @MenInBlazers]

"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face, and we got punched in the face 40 seconds in and never recovered"

[The Tennessee Holler @TheTNHoller]

What a picture from @orr_photo of @Reuters — a Black woman on a train surrounded by masked white supremacists, emboldened in Trump’s America. One for the history books.

[PoliticsGirl @IAmPoliticsGirl]

There are so many good stories coming out of the World Cup. This one caught my attention…

[J. R. VanHoose @JRVanHoose]

KENTUCKY FACT OF THE DAY:

Offutt Pinion, who was born and grew up in Floyd County, Kentucky, and a Navy veteran of World War II, won the Bronze Medal at the 1956 Olympic Games (Melbourne, Australia) in the 50 m pistol event.

[Robin Simpson Smith @Robin_Smith57]

If this Republican senator had grown a spine BEFORE he decided to retire, maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess.

[U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. @SenBillCassidy]

Reagan is rolling over in his grave. Iran’s nuclear ambitions were not curbed, and they have learned that threatening the Strait of Hormuz works and will undoubtedly leverage it in the future. Now, Iran gets to build brand-new infrastructure under this deal.

Before the war, the strait was open, Iran was being crushed by sanctions, and 13 service members were still alive. Now, 13 Americans are dead, families have paid billions at the pump, sanctions will be lifted, and the bombing has stopped. This is the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.

[Mike Levin @MikeLevin]

This is really stupid, and it’s not getting enough attention.

The Trump administration is pulling a working $368 million ocean monitoring system out of the water, equipment taxpayers already bought, built, and sank into the deep ocean.

And they are doing it right when the oceans are behaving in ways that alarm the scientists who study them.

Record-breaking temperatures.

A system of Atlantic currents that may be lurching toward collapse.

The response?

Yank out the instruments and walk away.

That is not budgeting. That is smashing the gauges while the engine is on fire and calling it efficiency.

For what? The Trump administration dressed it up as a “nimbler approach” and “smart lifecycle management,” which is fancy nonsense for “we shut it off and hoped nobody would ask why.” There is no return-on-investment analysis. They cannot show taxpayers save a dime, because the gear is already paid for and the science it produces protects real money and real lives.

The kicker: the same people killing the monitors want to mine the deep sea for minerals. So they are destroying the only tools that could measure what that mining does. That is not an accident.

That is the point. You cannot see the damage if you break the instruments first.
https://t.co/MzE4AW1QBv

[Gianl1974 @Gianl1974]

I really miss this kind of America.

Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford ran against each other in 1976.

When Ford passed away, Carter gave the eulogy at his funeral.

When Carter passed away, Ford’s son Steve spoke at Carter’s funeral.

Barack Obama and John McCain ran against each other in 2008.

When McCain passed away, Obama gave the eulogy at his funeral.

They disagreed. They debated. They fought hard for what they believed in.

But at the end of the day, they still saw each other as human beings. As Americans.

That is the part we have lost.

Somewhere along the way, disagreement turned into hatred. Politics turned into teams. And people forgot that respect does not mean you agree with someone on everything.

I still believe we can get back to this.

Not because it will be easy. Not because everyone will suddenly think the same.

But because America is supposed to be better than this.

Bipartisan respect used to be possible.

And someday, I pray we remember how to do it again. 🇺🇸💙