[Trump meeting with Tucker Carlson in Feb. 2025, a year before the US and Israel attacked Iran:]

“They want you to go to war with Iran,” Carlson said.

“We’re not doing that,” Trump answered.

“Good, because the only thing that can blow up your administration is if you get into a war with Iran,” Carlson said. “Your voters don’t want any more wars. You ran on that.”

[From Haberman and Swan’s “Regime Change,” page 74]

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 7, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 7, 2026 at 04:53AM
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Except there’s this: https://t.co/MgD95kjdId https://t.co/DWz2fA3Znn

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 7, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 7, 2026 at 02:03AM
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A salesman sells you a crappy refrigerator, you don’t say he’s blameless. He sold you a piece of crap.

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 7, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 6, 2026 at 09:52PM
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Bizarrely, @spencerpratt has become one of the best (ie interesting) columnists in the country. Much better (eg more heterodox) than his mayoral campaign (which was pretty good). The obvious question: Does he write it himself or does he have a Blake Neff? I’d believe he writes it. I’d believe he has help. (He’s blocked me too, so I don’t care if he doesn’t like the question.)

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 6, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 6, 2026 at 05:30PM
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The chart does not show tariffs “weighed much more heavily on voters’ minds.” It shows voters thought the tariffs were a bad thing. Does not measure the weight on their minds. [Kicker cut] https://t.co/dWIbw6ahaV

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 6, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 6, 2026 at 04:58PM
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Was waiting for this … https://t.co/5NDGJeK8eh

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 6, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 6, 2026 at 04:40PM
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Bibi pushed for the war for his own reasons. Trump bought Bibi’s faulty pitch for his own reasons. I don’t see how that gets Bibi off the hook. https://t.co/nxow3LoxY3

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 6, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 6, 2026 at 04:26PM
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1) Palisades wasn’t only neighborhood that burned down. Racially mixed Altadena did too, esp. the historically black area. Altadena isn’t in the city of LA, but Bass was the representative of the Establishment (including Newsom) that had disastrously failed to, eg, clear enough brush and prevent the calamity; 2) Her polls tanked after the fires 3) Raman seems to have campaigned on the fires; So did Spencer Pratt. 4) Homeless problem a huge negative but would that have been enough to sink her? 4) Hollywood hated Bass because the Dialog Cafe collapsed in a water main break? Versus the fire, general not-up-to-jobness it illustrated? Please. (And I like Dialog Cafe.)

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 6, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 6, 2026 at 01:58AM
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Spencer Pratt thinks the fires didn’t do Bass in. https://t.co/XEuAM9USfb What does he know? https://t.co/9TulAfgtrE

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 6, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 6, 2026 at 01:00AM
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Strict liability’s important re: fires and other hazards where you need to do lots of little things to defend against a low-probability threat. It’s not like you’ll get credit if the threat doesn’t materialize. That means it’s always tempting to slack off on those things (eg cleaning brush, repairing reservoirs). Unless pols know a fire could utterly destroy them

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 5, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 4, 2026 at 10:14PM
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At least we’ve established the principle that if you’re in charge when your inefficient misguided bureaucracy lets a large part of your city burn to the ground, you will lose. Strict liability. It doesn’t matter if you say you’ll do better than before. It doesn’t matter if you say you’re better than your opponent. It doesn’t matter if you ARE better than your opponent. You are through. And even @RickCarusoLA can’t save you.

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 5, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 4, 2026 at 10:09PM
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Rahm Emanuel is talking sense https://t.co/13ZwAcS0E8

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 5, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 4, 2026 at 09:45PM
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MAGA-friendly candidates swept to victory in the Beverly Hills school board race, as the liberal coalition collapsed.

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 4, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 4, 2026 at 04:16PM
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Truth is a defense https://t.co/CUCDwbpsba

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 4, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 4, 2026 at 03:05PM
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You could argue that it’s better strategy for Vance to establish his independence from Trump now rather than waiting loyally for Trump to turn on him later (meanwhile letting DeSantis be the blunt truthteller). But I don’t think there’s a strategic rationale. I think it was ballsy.

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 4, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 4, 2026 at 02:47PM
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“The reason we lost is the war.”– Vance. Ballsy thing to say. Good for him. https://t.co/mTTVHeCGnS

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 4, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 4, 2026 at 02:43PM
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Once in a generation you get an inspirational leader like California’s new governor, Xavier Becerra. His election immediately vaults him into the front row of 2028 presidential contenders.

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 4, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 4, 2026 at 02:37PM
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.@EllisItems points out it’s not true all that big money spending didn’t help the Republicans–it actually HURT them. Voters react against it. “Elon Musk’s $30 million donation to the Susan Collins campaign in Maine didn’t help her. It hurt her.” Something the fundraisers & consultants will never admit. https://t.co/wGdPR43ksT

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 4, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 4, 2026 at 02:24PM
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Even cautious @LATimes mentions in 7th paragraph that Bass is, well, toast. “The slight gap between the two candidates doesn’t bode well for Bass, since Raman is expected to secure a larger portion of the late-arriving ballots in the coming days.” https://t.co/baFNAOLUQO

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 4, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 4, 2026 at 04:29AM
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Jeremy Beck of @NumbersUSA : “How will this outgoing Congress use its final days to give American families an immigration system that prioritizes their interests?”

Interesting idea.

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 4, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 4, 2026 at 03:59AM
via IFTTT

At least we’ll establish the principle that if you’re in charge when your inefficient misguided bureaucracy lets a large part of your city burn to the ground, you will lose. Strict liability. And even @RickCarusoLA can’t save you. https://t.co/TQa23F9DTy

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 4, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 4, 2026 at 03:31AM
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The worst part of the next 2 years won’t be the gridlock and vetoes and blocked investigations. The worst part will probably be Trump’s attempts to improve his “place in history” with a) more military action b) compromises with Democrats, including an immigration amnesty.

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 4, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 4, 2026 at 02:12AM
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If the DSA beats the Dem Establishment with harvested ballots, maybe we’ll finally get some election reform to rein in this out-of-control practice. https://t.co/TQa23F9DTy

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 4, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 4, 2026 at 02:03AM
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Wow. If Bass is only ahead by 1.6 percent with half the vote counted, doesn’t that mean Raman’s going to win when her patented overtime surge of harvested ballots arrives? https://t.co/tNBXHoL0QJ

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 4, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 4, 2026 at 01:57AM
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Thank you, Bibi https://t.co/sdXnOkFY5G

— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Nov 4, 2026

from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey

November 4, 2026 at 01:19AM
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