Mark Byrnes
@byrnesms.bsky.social
Professor of History at Wofford College.
Author, _Radio and the Great Debate over US Involvement in World War II_ (2022)
Author, _Radio and the Great Debate over US Involvement in World War II_ (2022)
Reposted by Mark Byrnes
I don't even know where to start with the illegal...The Executive does not have the constitutional power to raise revenue. The Executive does not have the constitutional power to make decisions about expenditures. The Executive does not have the power to privatize the functions of the US Treasury...
Marco Rubio: "The oil proceeds are being deposited into an account that ultimately will become a US Treasury blocked account here in the US. We will say 'this is what this money can be spent on.' They will submit to us a budget request -- 'we want to use the money on these things.'"
January 28, 2026 at 6:57 PM
I don't even know where to start with the illegal...The Executive does not have the constitutional power to raise revenue. The Executive does not have the constitutional power to make decisions about expenditures. The Executive does not have the power to privatize the functions of the US Treasury...
Reposted by Mark Byrnes
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio)
YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen
youtu.be
January 28, 2026 at 5:02 PM
I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.
Stay free
Stay free
Someone tell Brady he has now exceeded the maximum allowable uses of “twitchy” for one broadcast.
January 26, 2026 at 2:35 AM
Someone tell Brady he has now exceeded the maximum allowable uses of “twitchy” for one broadcast.
His fear of being booed is the most likely reason, but his stated reason may suggest that time zone travel is increasingly taxing for him physically. Or perhaps the timing isn’t good for whatever treatment he’s getting that causes those hand bruises.
President Donald Trump will not be attending Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, Calif., he said in an interview with the New York Post.
“It’s just too far away,” he said.
“It’s just too far away,” he said.
January 26, 2026 at 2:13 AM
His fear of being booed is the most likely reason, but his stated reason may suggest that time zone travel is increasingly taxing for him physically. Or perhaps the timing isn’t good for whatever treatment he’s getting that causes those hand bruises.
It is just like dating—when the woman you want to date is not even remotely interested, is happily married, and your “argument” for why she needs to be with you is that you have more guns than her husband and you’ll die without her. Just your standard feel-good rom-com.
These people are idiots.
These people are idiots.
Rep. Mike Turner: "If we're talking about Greenland, this is not art of the deal, this is more of a dating. game. We need to be more on how we would be a partner, not more how we could be compulsory."
January 18, 2026 at 5:42 PM
It is just like dating—when the woman you want to date is not even remotely interested, is happily married, and your “argument” for why she needs to be with you is that you have more guns than her husband and you’ll die without her. Just your standard feel-good rom-com.
These people are idiots.
These people are idiots.
Trump‘s pre-World War II foreign policy notions take for granted that the US is playing “Uncle Sucker“ if it spends a dime defending territory over which it is not sovereign. Small-minded, and ultimately self-defeating and stupid. But that’s Trump in a nutshell.
This map exposes the Greenland lie.
The US used to have a massive military footprint here.
Today, they operate just ONE base.
If Trump were actually worried about Russian vessels, he would simply open more bases, which Denmark allows
The US used to have a massive military footprint here.
Today, they operate just ONE base.
If Trump were actually worried about Russian vessels, he would simply open more bases, which Denmark allows
January 17, 2026 at 10:34 PM
Trump‘s pre-World War II foreign policy notions take for granted that the US is playing “Uncle Sucker“ if it spends a dime defending territory over which it is not sovereign. Small-minded, and ultimately self-defeating and stupid. But that’s Trump in a nutshell.
I had the pleasure of spending one semester as his colleague when he was the Lewis P. Jones visiting professor of History at Wofford College. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone more kind and gracious than he was.
January 12, 2026 at 7:55 PM
I had the pleasure of spending one semester as his colleague when he was the Lewis P. Jones visiting professor of History at Wofford College. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone more kind and gracious than he was.
The evidence is really piling up that Trump has made an explicit spheres of influence deal with Putin and Xi.
January 9, 2026 at 1:57 AM
The evidence is really piling up that Trump has made an explicit spheres of influence deal with Putin and Xi.
Trump is turning Venezuela into a US protectorate. This is Theodore Roosevelt foreign policy.
January 7, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Trump is turning Venezuela into a US protectorate. This is Theodore Roosevelt foreign policy.
A reminder that James K. Polk also offered to “buy” California from Mexico, and when Mexico refused to even meet his envoy, sent troops into disputed territory, provoked a war, took the territory, and then paid Mexico $15 million for the territory he stole so that he could say he bought it.
"Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers that recent administration threats against Greenland didn’t signal an imminent invasion and that the goal is to buy the island from Denmark, according to people familiar with the discussions."
Exclusive | Rubio Tells Lawmakers Trump Aims to Buy Greenland, Downplays Military Action
The secretary of state said the White House is using rhetoric to pressure Denmark into negotiations.
www.wsj.com
January 7, 2026 at 1:55 AM
A reminder that James K. Polk also offered to “buy” California from Mexico, and when Mexico refused to even meet his envoy, sent troops into disputed territory, provoked a war, took the territory, and then paid Mexico $15 million for the territory he stole so that he could say he bought it.
For Trump, apologizing is weakness. For these neo-Social Darwinists, any hint of weakness is fatal. Miller is effectively blaming every failure of US foreign policy for the last 80 years on this unnecessary weakness. Since he is advocating for innate US superiority, this is the only excuse.
January 6, 2026 at 1:40 AM
For Trump, apologizing is weakness. For these neo-Social Darwinists, any hint of weakness is fatal. Miller is effectively blaming every failure of US foreign policy for the last 80 years on this unnecessary weakness. Since he is advocating for innate US superiority, this is the only excuse.
Denmark has made clear that it will not voluntarily cede Greenland. Therefore, the only way the US takes possession of it is by the threat of military force. He may be right that there would not be a military response to such a US action. But it would destroy NATO, Putin‘s greatest strategic goal.
TAPPER: Can you rule out the US is going to take Greenland by force?
MILLER: Greenland should be part of the US. By what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? The US is the power of NATO
T: So force is on the table?
M: Nobody is gonna fight the US militarily over future of Greenland
MILLER: Greenland should be part of the US. By what right does Denmark assert control over Greenland? The US is the power of NATO
T: So force is on the table?
M: Nobody is gonna fight the US militarily over future of Greenland
January 6, 2026 at 1:32 AM
Denmark has made clear that it will not voluntarily cede Greenland. Therefore, the only way the US takes possession of it is by the threat of military force. He may be right that there would not be a military response to such a US action. But it would destroy NATO, Putin‘s greatest strategic goal.
Trump is affecting an American withdrawal from its post World War II position of leadership. It is not yet entirely clear the extent of it, but the fact of it is, at this point, undeniable.
January 6, 2026 at 1:26 AM
Trump is affecting an American withdrawal from its post World War II position of leadership. It is not yet entirely clear the extent of it, but the fact of it is, at this point, undeniable.
In 1940–41, that position, while historically rooted, was practically pro-Nazi, because it served Hitler’s interests. Trump’s position today is effectively pro-Putin, because it serves his interests.
January 6, 2026 at 1:26 AM
In 1940–41, that position, while historically rooted, was practically pro-Nazi, because it served Hitler’s interests. Trump’s position today is effectively pro-Putin, because it serves his interests.
The America First crowd in 1940-41 were talking about a “fortress America” position that focused on the western hemisphere. They wanted a return to a pre-World War I foreign policy centered on the Monroe Doctrine. That is what Trump is doing.
January 6, 2026 at 1:25 AM
The America First crowd in 1940-41 were talking about a “fortress America” position that focused on the western hemisphere. They wanted a return to a pre-World War I foreign policy centered on the Monroe Doctrine. That is what Trump is doing.
I think what Trump did in Venezuela was reckless and portends, an even more reckless larger foreign policy, but all of these people suggesting it is at odds with “America first” foreign policy simply don’t understand what “America first” has always meant.
January 6, 2026 at 1:24 AM
I think what Trump did in Venezuela was reckless and portends, an even more reckless larger foreign policy, but all of these people suggesting it is at odds with “America first” foreign policy simply don’t understand what “America first” has always meant.
The evidence for it has only grown since Saturday. This is exhibit A.
January 6, 2026 at 12:30 AM
The evidence for it has only grown since Saturday. This is exhibit A.
It’s stunning ignorance, rooted in the “we do everything and get nothing” mindset that goes back to the original America First in 1940-41.
January 6, 2026 at 12:28 AM
It’s stunning ignorance, rooted in the “we do everything and get nothing” mindset that goes back to the original America First in 1940-41.
US foreign policy is now an episode of The Apprentice.
January 5, 2026 at 9:12 PM
US foreign policy is now an episode of The Apprentice.
I think that’s right. This is at least as much about Putin envy and wanting to make a statement about hemispheric dominance.
"There is this persistent idea that the U.S. invades countries for oil. And I think it was really not the case in Iraq ....Oil, there's too much of it right now for global demand. ...It doesn't strike me that it's enough to drive this," says @profsaunders.bsky.social.
January 4, 2026 at 1:40 AM
I think that’s right. This is at least as much about Putin envy and wanting to make a statement about hemispheric dominance.
It probably is not at all imminent, but its eventuality seems to me more likely now that at any time since the end of the Cold War.
January 3, 2026 at 10:55 PM
It probably is not at all imminent, but its eventuality seems to me more likely now that at any time since the end of the Cold War.
What Trump did today is much bigger than Venezuela. It shows he has really turned to a pre-World War II, spheres of influence version of America First foreign policy. byrnesms.blogspot.com/2026/01/trum...
Trump and the end of the American Century
After World War II, the US faced an arguably unprecedented situation. With the world in chaos and only the US in a position to lead it, the ...
byrnesms.blogspot.com
January 3, 2026 at 10:21 PM
What Trump did today is much bigger than Venezuela. It shows he has really turned to a pre-World War II, spheres of influence version of America First foreign policy. byrnesms.blogspot.com/2026/01/trum...
Whenever I teach about US foreign policy in Latin America, I always note the US tendency to refer to the western hemisphere as “our backyard.“ Your backyard is your property. Treating a foreign leader like a criminal in your country is asserting American sovereignty over the entire hemisphere.
Tom Cotton: "Congress isn't notified when the FBI is going to arrest a drug trafficker or cyber criminal here in the US, nor should Congress be notified when the executive branch is executing arrests on indicted persons. And that's really what you can make the analogy to here."
January 3, 2026 at 4:14 PM
Whenever I teach about US foreign policy in Latin America, I always note the US tendency to refer to the western hemisphere as “our backyard.“ Your backyard is your property. Treating a foreign leader like a criminal in your country is asserting American sovereignty over the entire hemisphere.
Maybe he’ll bring all of the possible candidates to the cabinet room and see which one kisses his ass best.
FOX & FRIENDS: What do you think is next for the Venezuelan people now that you have removed Maduro so he can face American justice?
TRUMP: Well, we're making that decision now. We can't take a chance on letting somebody else run it, just take over where he left off. So we're making that decision
TRUMP: Well, we're making that decision now. We can't take a chance on letting somebody else run it, just take over where he left off. So we're making that decision
January 3, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Maybe he’ll bring all of the possible candidates to the cabinet room and see which one kisses his ass best.