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Fred Kaplan

@fredmkaplan.bsky.social

2K followers 260 following 330 posts

Slate's War Stories columnist; author of The Bomb, Dark Territory, The Insurgents, 1959, Daydream Believers, The Wizards of Armageddon, and--most recently--A Capital Calamity (a novel); also jazz critic for Tracking Angle.

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Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 21h

How Trump engineered the ceasefire, and why he probably can't drive the peace train much farther. slate.com/news-and-pol...

The Real Reason Trump Forced Netanyahu’s Hand on a Gaza Ceasefire

Trump made Netanyahu phone the Qatari emir to apologize for attacking his country and promising never to do it again.

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 2d

Today Trump held a “roundtable” on antifa; said the mayor of Chicago and governor of Illinois should be jailed for resisting ICE; now (accdg to NBC) is mulling the Insurrection Act. Will any GOP lawmakers stand up and say No?

Reposted by Fred Kaplan

MidCenturyCinema @midcenturycinema.bsky.social · 3d

10/7/55: 1st reading of Allen Ginsberg’s Howl (“I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness")
In 1957 Lawrence Ferlinghetti of City Lights Bookstore arrested for publishing it
More:
@thehighsign.bsky.social: slate.com/culture/2010...
@fredmkaplan.bsky.social: slate.com/news-and-pol...

How "Howl" changed the world.

Howl may be the unlikeliest movie ever to come out of Sundance with national distribution: a translation of a poem—the substance, spirit, and cultural...

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 4d

More than that, see it on film - 70mm or VistaVision - not DCP.

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 4d

When Trump says Republicans believe in the rule of law, not mobs, does he think people don’t remember Jan 6 and his blanket pardoning of everyone arrested, including the violent? More alarming: could he be right—have a lot of people forgotten (or chosen to forget)?

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 4d

The unmistakable signs of Trump's emerging police state. slate.com/news-and-pol...

It’s Hard to Overstate How Disturbing This Trump Directive Is

It’s the clearest statement of the president’s intentions that we’ve seen so far.

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 10d

It’s time for men and women with stars on their shoulders and rows of ribbons on their chests, active-duty and retired, to start speaking out about the unlawful orders that await them and the lawless chaos that awaits us all.

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 10d

Trump's speech to 500 generals & admirals was unhinged, rambling, repellent--but it also laid out a clear, frightening new mission for the US military: to defeat the "enemy from within" in our cities. Will anyone in power resist him? slate.com/news-and-pol...

Trump Just Gave the Military an Extremely Sinister Mission

The U.S. president just told military officers that one of their main goals will be to defeat “the enemy from within.”

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 11d

This may be the most repellent speech ever given by a president.

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 11d

Trump is rambling on about tariffs, his polls, Hunter's pardon, Biden's terrible signature...who does he think he's talking to?

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 11d

Such a repellent speech.

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 11d

Re Trump’s talk of 100% tariff on foreign films: 1. He mulled this before, didn’t do it. 2. Tariffs can’t apply to culture or intellectual property, 3. The theory is whack: nobody’s going to see more Amer films because of the lack of foreign films. 4. Reciprocal tariffs will wreck H’wood.

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 11d

Trump's not-quite-peace plan (and his very evasive press conference). slate.com/news-and-pol...

Trump Made It Sound as if He’s Secured Peace in Gaza. Not So Fast.

Israel essentially just got the green light to extend the war.

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 14d

When it happens. (Right now, nobody knows what it’s about.)

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 15d

Has Trump changed his tune on Russia and Ukraine? Not likely. slate.com/news-and-pol...

Trump Seemed to Change His Tune on Russia and Ukraine This Week. What’s Really Going On?

Here’s what it probably means.

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 15d

The irony is that Comey may be the one person most responsible for Hillary Clinton's loss (=Trump's victory) in the 2016 election.

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 17d

Trump at the UN gives his most bonkers speech yet (and that clears a high bar). slate.com/news-and-pol...

This Might Be Trump’s Most Bonkers Speech Yet—and That’s Really Saying Something

And I say that knowing the bar is high here.

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 22d

All cabinet secretaries and GOP legislators should be asked if they agree with Trump that late-night TV hosts shouldn’t be allowed to criticize him—-and, if they agree, did they think so when Biden or Obama was president.

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 22d

How Trump/Vance/Hegseth's blithe boasts about the Caribbean "drug-boat" bombings signals America's devolution into a lawless state. slate.com/news-and-pol...

If We Are Descending Into Fascism, This Little-Noticed Moment Will Prove Pivotal

Vance’s comments were merely piling on.

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 23d

Oh? What’s a better movie about journalism?

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 24d

Why Trump doesn't talk much about Golden Dome anymore (and other troubles with our nuclear enterprise). slate.com/news-and-pol...

Trump’s Doomed “Golden Dome” Isn’t Even Our Worst Military Boondoggle Right Now

President Donald Trump hasn’t talked much lately about Golden Dome.

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · 29d

Putin's drone-swarm over Poland is a test of the West. Trump's response so far is not comforting. slate.com/news-and-pol...

Putin Is Testing the West. Trump’s Response Is Not Comforting.

Russia’s violation of Polish airspace constitutes a sign of Putin’s blatant disrespect, even contempt, for the American president.

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · Sep 9

The meaning of Israel's air strikes in Qatar. slate.com/news-and-pol...

Israel Just Took a Huge Step to Escalate the War. It Risks Alienating Trump.

And it may be up to Trump now to step up the pressure for a ceasefire.

Fred Kaplan @fredmkaplan.bsky.social · Sep 8

Here's my interview from this morning (Sept 8) on @BrianLehrer show @WNYC about Trump's "Dept of War" name-change and the illegal firing on a speedboat in the Caribbean. www.wnyc.org/story/presid...

President Trump Rebrands the Pentagon the 'Department of War' | The Brian Lehrer Show | WNYC

President Trump announced he will rename the Department of Defense the "Department of War." Fred Kaplan, Slate's War Stories columnist and the author of many nonfiction books and his ...