More 'Strangelove' Than 'Patton'

Kristi creamed, U.S. war crime confirmed, Jesse Welles, Kimmel and Colbert and our usual cartoons.

Yes, it’s still free to subscribe to this nearly daily newsletter, and if you are already a subscriber, let’s hear from you, thanks! Greg Mitchell is the author of more than a dozen books, including award winners and the bestseller “The Tunnels,” and writer/director of four acclaimed films for PBS since 2021. He was senior editor at the legendary Crawdaddy for many years.

For starters, Jimmy and Stephen monologues last night:

Now our top stories. On crisp Kristi:

Heather Cox Richardson:

Apparently unaware she was fired, Noem proceeded to give a speech in which she recited a false quotation from George Orwell, the writer who devoted much of his work to the importance of manipulating language to facilitate authoritarianism, a fitting end to Noem’s career in the Trump administration.

Sen. Ron Wyden: “Turns out lawlessness is not a winning strategy. See you at Nuremberg 2.0.”

George Conway on Trump’s nomination of Sen. Markwayne Mullin as her successor: “The competition for the dumbest member of the United States Senate has just heated up with the elimination of one its strongest contestants!!”

Jobs news this morning: Employers cut 92,000 jobs in February, the Labor Department reported. The unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent.

Plus: America cannot withstand the economic shock that is coming from A.I., Gina Raimondo, a former commerce secretary, argues.

On Iran: NY Times probe indicates that yes, it was the U.S. that bombed that school, killing at least 175, mainly kids.

Presidents have long sidestepped Congress to launch limited military strikes. But Trump’s unilateral decision to start a war against Iran sets a new precedent for presidential power, Charlie Savage in the NY Times writes.

This from Edward Feser:

The trouble with Hegseth is that he thinks he’s George C. Scott in “Patton,“ but in reality comes across like George C. Scott in “Dr. Strangelove.”

New York magazine:

Music Pick

Jesse Welles, “Sometimes You Bomb Iran.”

From Tunes to Toons

Bunday:

Dering:

Rogers:

Davies:

Brodner:

Photo Finish

Continuing “Your Daily Calla.” Late afternoon, this week in California. “E.T, calla home?”