Lynne Hartnett
@lahartnett.bsky.social
Historian of Russia, mom, believer in democracy
If we accept the premise-as I do-that Putin is driven to recreate a lost Russian-rather than lost Soviet empire, we need to consider the drones in Polish airspace a test of NATO’s resolve-not to fend off a potential attack on Poland but an incursion into the Baltics. NATO needs to respond firmly NOW
September 10, 2025 at 1:14 PM
If we accept the premise-as I do-that Putin is driven to recreate a lost Russian-rather than lost Soviet empire, we need to consider the drones in Polish airspace a test of NATO’s resolve-not to fend off a potential attack on Poland but an incursion into the Baltics. NATO needs to respond firmly NOW
Though this country is marching to dictatorship, the realization that we have been unable to convince OUR elected officials to enact sensible gun legislation reminds me that in some ways our democracy has been critically wounded for decades
August 28, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Though this country is marching to dictatorship, the realization that we have been unable to convince OUR elected officials to enact sensible gun legislation reminds me that in some ways our democracy has been critically wounded for decades
Authoritarian leaders are terrified of political protests. Putin may not have hoped for the protests in 2011 though he used them to move towards dictatorship. But the authoritarian-curious Trump seems to relish this chance to flex his militaristic muscle. A new test for democracy unfolds
President Trump’s order to send National Guard troops to Los Angeles is “both ahistoric and based on false pretenses,” writes the editorial board, “and is already creating the very chaos it was purportedly designed to prevent.”
Opinion | Trump Calling Troops Into Los Angeles Is the Real Emergency
The president’s use of the National Guard serves his own interests above the country’s.
www.nytimes.com
June 9, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Authoritarian leaders are terrified of political protests. Putin may not have hoped for the protests in 2011 though he used them to move towards dictatorship. But the authoritarian-curious Trump seems to relish this chance to flex his militaristic muscle. A new test for democracy unfolds
“Like Saturn, the Revolution devours its young” Jacques Mallet Du Pan , 1793
The back-and-forth between President Trump and Elon Musk — his megadonor, former “first buddy” and surrogate-turned-special-government-employee — marked a very public breakup of a former center of power for the second Trump administration.
Trump-Musk feud explodes as Trump floats cutting the billionaire’s government contracts | CNN Politics
One of the most powerful alliances in American politics appears to be over – for now.
cnn.it
June 5, 2025 at 8:01 PM
“Like Saturn, the Revolution devours its young” Jacques Mallet Du Pan , 1793
Time for Democrats to Pitch Their Own ‘Contract with America’
open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
Time for Democrats to Pitch Their Own ‘Contract with America’
Resistance is necessary, not futile. But we need more than that, starting now.
open.substack.com
April 7, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Time for Democrats to Pitch Their Own ‘Contract with America’
open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
open.substack.com/pub/thebulwa...
Wasn’t a big part of our country’s founding to prevent a mad king from tanking the American economy?
Breaking News: President Trump threatened China with additional tariffs of 50% starting Wednesday if it did not rescind its retaliatory tariffs. Here’s the latest.
Trump Tariffs Live Updates: Stocks and Global Markets Waver as Trade War Intensifies
The S&P 500 swung wildly after more losses in Asia and Europe. President Trump said he would not back off his trade war, reinforcing fears of a global economic downturn.
www.nytimes.com
April 7, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Wasn’t a big part of our country’s founding to prevent a mad king from tanking the American economy?
Who would have guessed that electing an elderly, repeatedly failed businessman who seems stuck in 1987 as President was a poor economic decision
April 4, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Who would have guessed that electing an elderly, repeatedly failed businessman who seems stuck in 1987 as President was a poor economic decision
Bravo
Exquisite response by Georgetown Dean to interim USA Ed Martin
On Martin's threat letter not to hire grads until Martin approves of law school curriculum:
"The constitutional violation behind this threat is clear, as is the attack on the University’s mission as a Jesuit and Catholic institution."
On Martin's threat letter not to hire grads until Martin approves of law school curriculum:
"The constitutional violation behind this threat is clear, as is the attack on the University’s mission as a Jesuit and Catholic institution."
March 7, 2025 at 4:07 AM
Bravo
Reposted by Lynne Hartnett
This feels like a sort of carnival-week funeral for the US republic. Beneath deep anger at Trump's orgy of vandalism and self-worship, I feel deep sadness. What a train wreck of a superpower.
March 5, 2025 at 3:04 AM
This feels like a sort of carnival-week funeral for the US republic. Beneath deep anger at Trump's orgy of vandalism and self-worship, I feel deep sadness. What a train wreck of a superpower.
Reposted by Lynne Hartnett
Donald Trump has disgraced the United States of America in countless ways since he first entered political life ten years ago.
But he had never disgraced the nation as badly as he did today.
He has brought shame on this country to an extent I had never thought possible. And he has only just begun.
But he had never disgraced the nation as badly as he did today.
He has brought shame on this country to an extent I had never thought possible. And he has only just begun.
February 28, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Donald Trump has disgraced the United States of America in countless ways since he first entered political life ten years ago.
But he had never disgraced the nation as badly as he did today.
He has brought shame on this country to an extent I had never thought possible. And he has only just begun.
But he had never disgraced the nation as badly as he did today.
He has brought shame on this country to an extent I had never thought possible. And he has only just begun.
Reposted by Lynne Hartnett
"History will remember this day— when an American President and Vice President abandoned all we stand for."
February 28, 2025 at 9:25 PM
"History will remember this day— when an American President and Vice President abandoned all we stand for."
Reposted by Lynne Hartnett
No, the meeting did not go badly for Ukraine. It exposed in the most undeniable, unequivocal way possible the pro-Putin commitments of the president and vice president. That was information Americans and allies needed to have clear before them.
February 28, 2025 at 5:57 PM
No, the meeting did not go badly for Ukraine. It exposed in the most undeniable, unequivocal way possible the pro-Putin commitments of the president and vice president. That was information Americans and allies needed to have clear before them.
Another shameful day in Trump’s America
Breaking News: Ukraine agreed to turn over the revenue from some of its minerals to the U.S., a Ukrainian official said, after an intense pressure campaign from President Trump that included insults and threats.
U.S. and Ukraine Agree to Minerals Deal, Officials Say
President Trump, who had insisted he wanted “payback” for past military aid to Kyiv, suggested President Volodymyr Zelensky would visit Washington this week to sign a deal, which he called a “very big...
www.nytimes.com
February 25, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Another shameful day in Trump’s America
Exactly. Pay attention folks
The DEI caused the plane crash narrative is a distraction. The tariffs are a distraction. Whatever insane nonsense Trump spews that the media will chase like cats chasing a laser light is a distraction. The only story that counts right now is the wholesale hijacking of control of the US government.
February 3, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Exactly. Pay attention folks
Would have been nice if they had started searching before Nov 5, 2024
February 3, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Would have been nice if they had started searching before Nov 5, 2024
How many Trump voters realized they were voting to give Elon Musk absolute control?
1/ Musk seeking control over nerve systems of the federal government. As someone who spent a decade studying how centralized information systems are used for coercion this is a five alarm fire. We need to name it, identify risks, and seek to mitigate their impacts.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/01/u...
Elon Musk’s Team Now Has Access to Treasury’s Payments System
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Mr. Musk’s representatives at the so-called Department of Government Efficiency a powerful tool to monitor and potentially limit government spending.
www.nytimes.com
February 2, 2025 at 4:25 PM
How many Trump voters realized they were voting to give Elon Musk absolute control?
It is easier to prevent would be dictators from seizing total control than to wrest it from them once they do. Senate and House Democrats need to learn what it means to be an opposition party while the GOP should reconsider their Faustian bargain
February 2, 2025 at 4:21 PM
It is easier to prevent would be dictators from seizing total control than to wrest it from them once they do. Senate and House Democrats need to learn what it means to be an opposition party while the GOP should reconsider their Faustian bargain
Anyone else who is watching Trump and his cronies and their antics getting early Putin vibes? I just need to hear a bit more Russian being spoken in the market to feel like I am back in Moscow in the early part of this century
February 1, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Anyone else who is watching Trump and his cronies and their antics getting early Putin vibes? I just need to hear a bit more Russian being spoken in the market to feel like I am back in Moscow in the early part of this century
Democrats in elected office need to rise to the moment. Learn from opposition movements & parties that have stood firm against authoritarians & demagogues. History shows that the longer you dither & equivocate, the more entrenched the authoritarian becomes. Act like the opposition party that you are
January 27, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Democrats in elected office need to rise to the moment. Learn from opposition movements & parties that have stood firm against authoritarians & demagogues. History shows that the longer you dither & equivocate, the more entrenched the authoritarian becomes. Act like the opposition party that you are
The US military used to matter to Republicans. But now, for 50 Republican Senators, it is clear that national security and the armed forces can be sacrificed for the whims of a cult leader.
January 25, 2025 at 3:20 AM
The US military used to matter to Republicans. But now, for 50 Republican Senators, it is clear that national security and the armed forces can be sacrificed for the whims of a cult leader.
Trying to avoid the travesty in DC by preparing a lecture on Eastern Europe from 1945-1948. Some disturbing parallels not bringing me solace
January 20, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Trying to avoid the travesty in DC by preparing a lecture on Eastern Europe from 1945-1948. Some disturbing parallels not bringing me solace
Sums it up
John Roberts just swore in the dictator he created
January 20, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Sums it up