Robert Rutledge

Associate Professor @McGillUPhysics. Astrophysicist. Founder, Publisher @astronomerstel. @rerutled.bsky.social @[email protected] he/him

[Robert Rutledge @rerutled]

Wars, corruption, inflation and tariffs.

That's what the Trump administration brings us.

[Jake Sherman @JakeSherman]

Just what Rs need. Trump’s ambassador to the UN saying the Iran war can last another year. https://t.co/H2mBbYijdw

[Robert Rutledge @rerutled]

PPV, please!

[The Associated Press @AP]

BREAKING: President Trump must sit for a deposition in his defamation lawsuit against the BBC by Dec. 11, a judge orders. https://t.co/wXLoRKJNse

[Aes🇺🇸 @AesPolitics1]

This ad is brutal.

[Kaitlan Collins @kaitlancollins]

Trump on Amy Acton: "If what the mother said about the daughter is half right, she has no right even running for the governor of Ohio..."

KC: What about what the daughter said about the mother?

TRUMP: "I don’t know what she said."

KC: "That the mother remained married to her stepfather who sexually abused her when she was 12 years old."

TRUMP: "When did she make that statement? Was it just recently?"

KC: "Years ago. He was charged with it."

[Robert Rutledge @rerutled]

Corruption, inflation, tariffs and war.

That’s what the Trump administration brings us.

[Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss]

The GRU hacked into Jared Kushner's iPhone. Dutch military intelligence (MIVD) then recruited a GRU spy who gave them access to the hacked phone. What MIVD discovered was that Kushner had access to two bank accounts --one Azerbaijani, the other Israeli --where Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Emirati ruler Mohammed bin Zayed deposited money. It sounds like a slightly far-fetched episode of "Slow Horses," but it's real. And it proves just how eye-poppingly corrupt this administration was and continues to be as its "special envoy" decides the fate of tens of millions in Europe in the Middle East. Simply incredible reporting by Matthew Cole, drawn from his new book on Kushner. https://t.co/8AyV60gg1X

[Michael Weiss @michaeldweiss]

The GRU hacked into Jared Kushner's iPhone. Dutch military intelligence (MIVD) then recruited a GRU spy who gave them access to the hacked phone. What MIVD discovered was that Kushner had access to two bank accounts --one Azerbaijani, the other Israeli --where Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Emirati ruler Mohammed bin Zayed deposited money. It sounds like a slightly far-fetched episode of "Slow Horses," but it's real. And it proves just how eye-poppingly corrupt this administration was and continues to be as its "special envoy" decides the fate of tens of millions in Europe in the Middle East. Simply incredible reporting by Matthew Cole, drawn from his new book on Kushner. https://t.co/8AyV60gg1X

[Robert Rutledge @rerutled]

Corruption, inflation, tariffs and war.

That's what the Trump administration brings us.
https://t.co/dMR1pF8jGo

[🦋the-michael-datson.bsky.social🦋 @fuller_sean]

@EricM_Katz @MollyJongFast @washingtonsun Rubio’s committed at least 5 federal crimes by my count at this point. He’s definitely a candidate for prison

[Robert Rutledge @rerutled]

@RobertLusetich @EricM_Katz @washingtonsun By violating it.

[Robert Rutledge @rerutled]

@neeratanden @ZacharyDonnini There's either 10% undecided, or 10% voting for others than the 2-parties.

If it's the former - in 2016, the undecideds famously broke strongly for Trump, and it was interpreted as shame to admit they were MAGA supporters.

Same could happen now; or it could go the other way.

[Robert Rutledge @rerutled]

@Acyn cc @aravosis

[Robert Rutledge @rerutled]

@PpollingNumbers Oh my god please don't do this @PpollingNumbers.

A wagered win probability is not the same thing at all as a political poll.

Please don't report on Polymarket win probabilities.

[Robert Rutledge @rerutled]

Oh my god please don't do this @PpollingNumbers.

A wagered win probability is not the same thing at all as a political poll.

Please don't report on Polymarket win probabilities.

[Political Polls @PpollingNumbers]

New - Georgia governor winner - Polymarket

🔵 Keisha Lance Bottoms 61% (+8.5)
🔴 Rick Jackson 39% (-9.5)

[Robert Rutledge @rerutled]

@michaelluongo This is not far from the queer-baiting during NYC Mayoral campaigns that was deployed against Ed Koch.

[Robert Rutledge @rerutled]

@michaelluongo There's a darker implication, too: Imagine being the guy who believes that focussing attention on the fact that your opponent was a child sex abuse victim, is a net win for your campaign.

That was his calculus. That people will abandon a child sex abuse victim. Using stigma.

[Larry Sabato @LarrySabato]

Time tunnel to 1930s Germany

[Robert Rutledge @rerutled]

Emily Dickinson can kick you in the ass, and the New York Times is on it!

https://t.co/HVwqP2JwwT

[Yaroslav Trofimov @yarotrof]

This is directly contradicting what Musk himself said about Starshield.

[Oleksandra Matviichuk @avalaina]

I have read dozens of outraged posts because the US special envoy Witkoff called Putin a "humanist." But no one is writing about the fact that the American negotiators are simply not doing their job. Let me explain.

Peace negotiations are important in their own right. Even if they do not lead to a lasting peace, the process itself is an opportunity to resolve urgent humanitarian issues. If, of course, the human dimension is a priority for the negotiators. But it is entirely obvious that neither Witkoff nor Kushner cares about people's fates in this war.

The Pope calls on Putin to save thousands of people from starvation in occupied Oleshky and the surrounding villages. The UN speaks about a humanitarian catastrophe and asks Russia to allow the evacuation of the civilian population. European Parliament Vice-President Pina Picierno goes on a hunger strike to draw attention to this tragedy unfolding before the eyes of the whole world.

And what are Witkoff and Kushner doing?

That's right, almost nothing.

Except for passing along greetings from Putin’s aide to the First Lady.

Thousands of people are already eating grass to survive and begging to save their lives. The Ukrainian side raises the issue of Oleshky at every meeting. And I can name dozens of such urgent humanitarian issues off the top of my head where American negotiators must be proactive.

Trump’s peace negotiations have already gone down in history as the deadliest years for Ukraine’s civilian population since the start of the full-scale invasion.

I don’t know if anyone will remember the names of Witkoff and Kushner.

But history will certainly record how American negotiators, who had the opportunity to save a huge number of people, refused to raise uncomfortable questions before "humanist Putin."

[Mitt Romney @MittRomney]

Churchill could have shortened WW2 by years if he had just “done a deal” with Hitler. George Washington could have done a deal to end the American Revolution. Zelenskyy is in good company.