Day 18 Morning Edition | Tuesday, March 17, 2026
Overnight, Israeli strikes killed the man most analysts identified as the person Washington would need to negotiate with to end this war.
Tonight, 80 million Iranians decide what to do with their bonfires.
And the defensive shield protecting Israel from Iranian missiles is, by the account of US officials, critically low — with the $826 million emergency vote that happened the same night as the denial to prove it.
Six stories. Day 18 Morning Edition is live.
Really important information, thank you. Fwiw, I think your articles are being suppressed, or are not being promoted, at least. I'm not getting emails from you and this doesn't hit my Substack inbox even though I'm subscribed. 🤷♀️
As an other American abroad, readers in the States need to be sensitive to certain "red flag" terms that are used to hide the truth and fan the flames. One of those terms is "regime" and the related term "regime change". Regime implies that an oppressive government has seized power by violent or illicit means and the term is usually applied to governments of poorer countries who are willing to stand up to the US.
Some of these countries labeled as regimes are less democratic and may violate some human rights but many are governments selected or created in accounting with the countries' constitutions or laws. The Iranian government was chosen in accordance with its constitution.
If the Iranian government government is a regime, the the same applies to the United States, to Israel, to China, to Russia ,to Hungary to Estonia and more than half of the world's countries which are now autocracias according to the 2026 VDem report on democracy.
If countries are democracies, they should abide by international law and permit the citizens of other countries to choose their governments without outside interference. Regime change should be an anathema because it is stepping on the right of self governance of people in other countries.
Finally if we persist in using the term regime, perhaps it should be modified by adding the name of the autocrat who is responsible for the oppression, instead of the nation ...Trump regime?
I expect my readers have an intellect that affords them the ability to see a word like regime and take it at its face value definition; an oppressive or undemocratic government.
I am surprised at the number of lawyers and academics who use the word without really thinking about it because it is used so often that it is part of the wallpaper.
thank you
Really important information, thank you. Fwiw, I think your articles are being suppressed, or are not being promoted, at least. I'm not getting emails from you and this doesn't hit my Substack inbox even though I'm subscribed. 🤷♀️
Thank you for 1. subscribing, and 2. giving me the heads up about the emails. I’ll reach out to customer support tomorrow.
As an other American abroad, readers in the States need to be sensitive to certain "red flag" terms that are used to hide the truth and fan the flames. One of those terms is "regime" and the related term "regime change". Regime implies that an oppressive government has seized power by violent or illicit means and the term is usually applied to governments of poorer countries who are willing to stand up to the US.
Some of these countries labeled as regimes are less democratic and may violate some human rights but many are governments selected or created in accounting with the countries' constitutions or laws. The Iranian government was chosen in accordance with its constitution.
If the Iranian government government is a regime, the the same applies to the United States, to Israel, to China, to Russia ,to Hungary to Estonia and more than half of the world's countries which are now autocracias according to the 2026 VDem report on democracy.
If countries are democracies, they should abide by international law and permit the citizens of other countries to choose their governments without outside interference. Regime change should be an anathema because it is stepping on the right of self governance of people in other countries.
Finally if we persist in using the term regime, perhaps it should be modified by adding the name of the autocrat who is responsible for the oppression, instead of the nation ...Trump regime?
I expect my readers have an intellect that affords them the ability to see a word like regime and take it at its face value definition; an oppressive or undemocratic government.
I am surprised at the number of lawyers and academics who use the word without really thinking about it because it is used so often that it is part of the wallpaper.