Robert Tait
@rstait.bsky.social
Guardian journalist in Washington DC. Used to be Tehran, Jerusalem, Istanbul, Prague and a few other places. Tired but not yet clapped out.
The perfectly timed social media post.
Theatrics are not in his nature, but thinking ahead certainly is. Hence a letter from the King, delivered at just the right moment.
Keir Starmer meets Donald Trump: assiduous planning results in deft diplomacy
Theatrics are not in his nature, but thinking ahead certainly is. Hence a letter from the King, delivered at just the right moment.
tcnv.link
February 28, 2025 at 7:59 PM
The perfectly timed social media post.
Reposted by Robert Tait
"Big Journalism’s leaders need to think hard — and fast — about whether they are just presenting facts or actually getting the nightmarish reality across." @sulliview.bsky.social
MUST READ. ⬇️
margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/four-essen...
MUST READ. ⬇️
margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/four-essen...
Four essentials for the press right now
If we have any hope of preventing a full slide into permanent autocracy, these must happen
margaretsullivan.substack.com
February 17, 2025 at 2:35 PM
"Big Journalism’s leaders need to think hard — and fast — about whether they are just presenting facts or actually getting the nightmarish reality across." @sulliview.bsky.social
MUST READ. ⬇️
margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/four-essen...
MUST READ. ⬇️
margaretsullivan.substack.com/p/four-essen...
snyder.substack.com/p/the-logic-... Tim Snyder on the need Stand Up Now.
The Logic of Destruction
And how to resist it
snyder.substack.com
February 4, 2025 at 8:30 PM
snyder.substack.com/p/the-logic-... Tim Snyder on the need Stand Up Now.
An argument against murdering your way to better health care.
Luigi Mangione’s Commonplace, Deplorable Politics
From his actions, and the glee that they have elicited, one learns not that the health-care system is broken but that many people are.
www.theatlantic.com
December 12, 2024 at 6:55 PM
An argument against murdering your way to better health care.
The new health order.
Scientists have already investigated this. The result? The doctor pushing this junk science had his license revoked for spreading deadly lies about vaccines.
December 8, 2024 at 10:12 PM
The new health order.
Reposted by Robert Tait
Damascus appear on the verge of falling to the rebels. Some Assad officials thought to be in discussions with rebel forces about defecting. Iranians and Russians have fled country. Absolutely stunning developments.
December 7, 2024 at 11:08 PM
Damascus appear on the verge of falling to the rebels. Some Assad officials thought to be in discussions with rebel forces about defecting. Iranians and Russians have fled country. Absolutely stunning developments.
Reposted by Robert Tait
Biden library reportedly under threat by Democrats enraged by Hunter pardon
Biden library reportedly under threat by Democrats enraged by Hunter pardon
Senior party figures consider withholding contributions to presidential library to express anger at pardon for son
Senior Democrats are reportedly considering withholding contributions to Joe Biden’s future presidential library amid a mounting backlash…
www.theguardian.com
December 5, 2024 at 4:20 PM
Biden library reportedly under threat by Democrats enraged by Hunter pardon
Begging Joe’s pardon. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Joe Biden should pardon Reality Winner for her actions as a whistleblower | Margaret Sullivan
The leaker went to jail for a patriotic, if illegal, act. She has a lot to offer the world if she’s allowed to move on
www.theguardian.com
December 5, 2024 at 3:15 PM
Begging Joe’s pardon. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Brilliant George Packer piece on the Trump Reaction and how fragile it is.
The End of Democratic Delusions
The Trump Reaction and what comes next
www.theatlantic.com
December 2, 2024 at 11:21 PM
Brilliant George Packer piece on the Trump Reaction and how fragile it is.
Reposted by Robert Tait
“The American people voted for cheaper eggs,” writes David Frum. “They’re going to get only noise, conflict, and chaos”:
A Constitutional Crisis Greater Than Watergate
Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel threatens to turn the FBI into an instrument of personal presidential power
www.theatlantic.com
December 1, 2024 at 3:42 PM
“The American people voted for cheaper eggs,” writes David Frum. “They’re going to get only noise, conflict, and chaos”:
Compelling piece by the ever-perceptive Tim Snyder on where we are now - and how to stop it getting worse.
Quite a few Americans like the idea of strongman rule. Essential to it is the idea that a strongman will be your strongman. He won't.
snyder.substack.com/p/the-strong...
snyder.substack.com/p/the-strong...
The Strongman Fantasy (updated 11/24)
And dictatorship in real life
snyder.substack.com
November 27, 2024 at 10:40 PM
Compelling piece by the ever-perceptive Tim Snyder on where we are now - and how to stop it getting worse.
Reposted by Robert Tait
Musk has now threatened the leaders of Canada,Brazil, Germany. X helped create a riot in the UK. Now it seems he doesn't want the UK to make its own legal decisions. Time to act?
"He asked why British far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson had been imprisoned at all. Musk also approvingly shared Robinson’s documentary to his more than 200 million followers"
Musk's interventions should be taken seriously. The ideological leanings of oligarchical media barons can affect us all.
Musk's interventions should be taken seriously. The ideological leanings of oligarchical media barons can affect us all.
Elon Musk brands UK a ‘tyrannical police state’
X owner shares a petition demanding a UK general election and boosts a far-right activist.
www.politico.eu
November 26, 2024 at 6:47 AM
Musk has now threatened the leaders of Canada,Brazil, Germany. X helped create a riot in the UK. Now it seems he doesn't want the UK to make its own legal decisions. Time to act?
Reposted by Robert Tait
It's pretty standard practice in places like Zimbabwe or Venezuela for the regime to send online mobs to harass enemies of the regime
www.wsj.com/tech/musk-un...
www.wsj.com/tech/musk-un...
Musk Unleashes Online Army on Federal Workers. ‘A Tough Way to Find Out She’s Losing Her Job.’
As Trump efficiency czar, the billionaire is targeting employees by name on X—sparking pushback.
www.wsj.com
November 23, 2024 at 1:46 PM
It's pretty standard practice in places like Zimbabwe or Venezuela for the regime to send online mobs to harass enemies of the regime
www.wsj.com/tech/musk-un...
www.wsj.com/tech/musk-un...
Reposted by Robert Tait
Still the greatest interview exchange in the history of rock and roll. Bob Dylan. Playboy Magazine. March 1966.
November 22, 2024 at 12:27 PM
Still the greatest interview exchange in the history of rock and roll. Bob Dylan. Playboy Magazine. March 1966.
Despite the panic, this checklist does not yet sum up the US. But Iran, one of my former billets, easily ticks every box. A challenge to the argument that Islamism and fascism are mutually exclusive.
November 21, 2024 at 9:53 PM
Despite the panic, this checklist does not yet sum up the US. But Iran, one of my former billets, easily ticks every box. A challenge to the argument that Islamism and fascism are mutually exclusive.