Tuesday’s Forum
Steven L. Taylor
·
Tuesday, May 26, 2026
·
29 comments
OTB relies on its readers to support it. Please consider helping by becoming a monthly contributor through Patreon or making a one-time contribution via PayPal. Thanks for your consideration.
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
Follow Steven on
Twitter and/or
BlueSky.
This is one source I normally read. There are others with different perspectives. Got to keep that in mind. The truth is out there. Somewhere.
Iran Updates from ISW
• The United States and Iran continue to hold fundamentally different positions on most major issues within the US-Iran “agreement.” Iran has not publicly committed to removing its highly enriched uranium (HEU) stockpiles or to halting uranium enrichment in Iran, reinforcing broader uncertainty around the negotiations. US President Donald Trump said on May 25 that any deal with Iran must be “great and meaningful,” and explicitly rejected “anything like the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).”
• Iran has continued to claim that it and Oman control the Strait of Hormuz as territorial waters. Iranian officials are attempting to reframe transit tolls as “protection fees” to give Iran’s protection racket the veneer of legality. The Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway under international law. Iran is claiming that the strait is territorial waters and under the administration of “coastal” states. It is notable in this context that Iran does not define the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a coastal state, even though the UAE borders the strait.
• US President Donald Trump urged on May 25 the leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Egypt, Turkey, and Jordan to join the Abraham Accords.
• Hezbollah drone operators have likely developed a rudimentary tactical approach to coordinate multiple small first-person view (FPV) drone strikes in a short period of time. The “swarm” attacks appear to employ three or more drones operating in a staggered but near-simultaneous manner. This system is extremely rudimentary and would either require a single commander to coordinate the attack or a preset, prioritized list of strikes that cannot be dynamically changed. Hezbollah will likely attempt to overcome the shortcomings of this tactical approach.
Interesting piece.
Coming to Terms With Our Strategic Inadequacies
Reminder that the UAE is a signatory of the Abraham Accords. Yet they are involved in some actions that are pretty heinous.
UAE accused of training Colombian mercenaries for Sudan’s war
With serious, “close to a deal” negotiations (allegedly) underway, Trump has the military attack Iran, thereby yanking the rug from beneath the U.S. negotiators’ feet and demonstrating his ongoing bad faith to Iran AND to Congress AND to all of us. Not sure if the (alleged) negotiations are still being conducted by the real estate/grifter firm of Witkoff & Kushner, but Trump is, perhaps inadvertently, making sure this “excursion” will last a long time.
@Charley in Cleveland: The new attack on Iran has been labeled “self defense”. How Orwellian but typical of this regime.
It is worse. Here’s an article in the Atlantic (I only see the first paragraph) that talks about the other side of the Kushner/Witkoff clown show: The Magician of the Kremlin
@Scott:
Here is, I hope, a gift link:
“Atlantic Gift”
Tell me if it works, I can’t tell.
@charontwo:
It works fine for me.
@charontwo: Worked for me also. Thanks!
@Scott:
I watch this every day, am watching it now. Today’s is a goodie, lots of info.
“Malcome Nance, daily videocast“
I just wanted to pop in here to say that Trump’s remark the other day about being one of the few people to know that dumb has a b in it—when I first saw the quote being sent around on social media, I literally thought it was satire. I couldn’t believe when I found out he actually said it.
https://youtu.be/ls5BFzuxGw4?si=UPWYQnc7M7kT_HMT
@Scott:
Does it really matter that Russia wants President Trump to sell out Ukraine, the answer is yes he would be happy to give Ukraine to Russia,
However, he is no longer in a position to be able to easily give Putin what he desires. Although I can picture Trump telling Putin what more do you want from me, I gave my blessings to Russia taking over Ukraine. The Country is yours and ripe for the pickings, all you have to do is stop them from killing your troops and destroying your oil infrastructure.
Other than Trump actually attacking Ukraine with our military to get them to stop attacking Russia the situation is what it is.
@inhumans99:
First, naturally, this would cause one senator Collins to experience a bad case of concern.
Second, suppose El Taco does just that, and Ukraine still manages to hang on.
Third, where would US forces be based to attack Ukraine? Europe? No way Germany, Poland, Italy, etc. allow bases on their territory to be used for this. It’d have to be carriers in the Black Sea. Or maybe Hesghthe’s Invincible Manly Air Force could fly from bases in Russia and Belarus, like the ones Ukraine’s been hitting. Suppose they damage a carrier, too?
I don’t know why I’m saying this in such a mocking, snarky tone. It could very well all happen.
@inhumans99:
Trump has hated Zelenskyy ever since Zelenskyy’s refusal to manufacture a fake scandal for him, the thing he first got impeached over.
On lighter stuff, has anyone seen the latest Star Wars movie? I’d planned to see it, but forgot all about it this weekend. I’ve seen every SW film in theaters in the opening weekend, except for this one.
I’ve a feeling it will be ok, as a two part “The Mandalorian” episode. Just maybe my subconscious doesn’t want to shell out money to watch TV at the movie theater.
Over the weekend I made potatoes au gratin using a cheese sauce recipe. It’s crazy high in dairy (cheese, milk, and butter), but not bad. I think it would benefit from a cheese with a stronger flavor than cheddar, maybe gruyere. I also added garlic and paprika to the sauce, which helps a lot.
I layered potatoes, raw onions (cut in rings), turkey chorizo, more potatoes, with sauce on top of each layer. At the very top I added caramelized onions.
It might also help to parboil the potatoes rather than cooking them from raw in the oven. they cooked well, but take a long time. the sauce clearly suffered for this. It reduced too much.
@inhumans99:
Trump’s solution to the Ukraine war has from the beginning been “give Russia what it wants.”
His exact words.
I used to wonder why cheetahs were never domesticated.
They’re rather non-aggressive*, weakly territorial, and have been tamed throughout history for use in hunting. The downside is they’re hard to breed in captivity, they require a large range, they’re not cheap to feed (about 3 kilograms meat every day), they’re weakly social, and their genetic diversity is tiny.
Besides, who needs a large carnivore for domestic use? Even when used in hunting, this was by the very wealthy who hunted for sport, not by average people who hunted for food.
*When challenged over a kill by another predator, they tend to withdraw. There are no confirmed cases of a cheetah in the wild attacking a human.
@Scott: Selecting a banker instead of a diplomat for dealing with the Trumps makes sense, as the Trumps are obviously and shamelessly on the take. Diplomats lack experience in the area of large, complex pay-offs and bribes at the level of billion$.
I would bet the guy believes, like I suspect Putin wants to believe, that this war will eventually end and the decades-long process of slowly integrating the Russian economy with the Western economy will resume. Again, a banker is more qualified to set things up for that anticipated condition than a typical diplomat is.
Adam Kinzinger’s comment regarding reports that Vance is considering dropping out of the 2028 kerfuffle.
Apparently Vance is discovering the ugly truth that ETTD.
Who knew?
The DOD has given to Congress its report of aircraft combat losses in the Iran war. It can be found here.
It includes 4 F15-Es,1A-10, 1 KC135, 2 C-130s, 1 HH-60 Helo, 4 MQ-6 Drones, and 1 MQ-4 Navy drone. Damaged were 5 KC 135s,1F35A,and 1E-3. The amount of damage was not reported
Air New Zealand will soon roll out The Sky Nest, a set of six bunk beds available in economy for use in flight.
It’s a good idea on the abstract. Concretely, however, the prices is said to be about $495 for a four (4) hour block, on top of the fare paid.
I just don’t see it catching on. I mean, you charge me over $100 an hour for a bed, I expect queen size at a minimum, plus hookers and cocaine (In the abstract. I wouldn’t know what to do with the latter two, but I hear that’s the service expected on beds with hourly rates).
Air New Zealand already sells the Sky Couch, which transforms a row segment into a couch or a very short bed. Here’s a review of it. I’ve heard conflicting accounts on price, but it’s good for the whole flight. The Air New Zealand website says between $499 and $1,400 for one person, on top of the fare.
IMO, long haul in coach plain sucks, and there’s no easy or cheap way to improve the experience.
I wonder how many hours a sleeping pill is good for, and how much they cost. I don’t suppose 16 hours is realistic.
Trump says that everything checked out “perfectly” during his six-month check up at Walter Reed. A WH spokesperson told ABC News that “President Trump is the sharpest and most accessible president in American history.”
I don’t know how anyone could make that claim with a straight face.
@CSK:
I’m often surprised at the depths of mendacity that can be reached when the claimant lacks a working brain.
Meanwhile, at the dictator’s palace formerly known as the White House, the desecrations continue unabated.
I expect some time next year, building of a Taco mausoleum will begin.
The provinces aren’t safe, either. I trust New Yorkers retain a whimsical sense for graffiti and critical vandalism. They’re going to need it.
I don’t know what the next steps in the evolution of drones will be, but they are already deadly effective and relatively cheap. Right now, a large ruthless nation, Russia, is stymied by Ukraine which is much weaker on paper. While we worry about uranium, one can picture the USA being stalemated by a much smaller nation with drones. Another cause for concern are nonstate actors. Osama binLaden was very rich and recruited some suicidal henchmen. Will someone who is a lot less rich and not suicidal be able to launch an attack? Are there people in the Middle East or other places where the US has acted who would wish to visit destruction on us?
I don’t know what the next steps in the evolution of drones will be, but they are already deadly effective and relatively cheap. Right now, a large ruthless nation, Russia, is stymied by Ukraine which is much weaker on paper. While we worry about uranium, one can picture the USA being stalemated by a much smaller nation with drones. Another cause for concern are nonstate actors. Osama binLaden was very rich and recruited some suicidal henchmen. Will someone who is a lot less rich and not suicidal be able to launch an attack? Are there people in the Middle East or other places where the US has acted who would wish to visit destruction on us?
I don’t know what the next steps in the evolution of drones will be, but they are already deadly effective and relatively cheap. Right now, a large ruthless nation, Russia, is stymied by Ukraine which is much weaker on paper. While we worry about uranium, one can picture the USA being stalemated by a much smaller nation with drones. Another cause for concern are nonstate actors. Osama binLaden was very rich and recruited some suicidal henchmen. Will someone who is a lot less rich and not suicidal be able to launch an attack? Are there people in the Middle East or other places where the US has acted who would wish to visit destruction on us?
@Kathy:
I may puke.
Bejeebus. Cornyn didn’t just lose he got beat badly, by Ken Paxton–a walking scandal.
Ooof.
@Jen:
It looks like Paxton got nearly two-thirds of the vote of—if my math is correct—the 5 percent of Texas residents who participated in the primary runoff.