The Hound | Mar. 9

Hi there,

It’s Monday. In Iran, Mojtaba Khamenei was named successor to the late supreme leader who was his father. This newest Middle East war continued throughout the weekend with Iran and Bahrain striking desalination plants in each other’s territory and Human Rights Watch accusing Israel of using white phosphorus in a southern Lebanese town. Back in the United States, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said a ground invasion of Iran is on the table. Meanwhile, in the White House, Donald Trump is increasingly flailing around attempting to restrict voting rights amid crashing poll numbers and rising oil prices.

The Trump administration is facing a convergence of major crises: escalating tensions with Iran that risk dragging the United States toward another war, rising oil prices that are hitting American families, and renewed efforts by Republican officials to restrict voting access ahead of critical elections. These developments are not abstract political disputes—they are the direct result of policy choices made by the administration and its allies, with consequences that affect the economy, national security, and democratic participation. When the press fails to connect policy decisions to their consequences, the public is left with a fragmented and misleading picture of what is happening.

🖊️ Add your name to call on major news organizations to cover the Trump administration’s actions with clarity and accountability—connecting the administration’s foreign policy escalation, economic consequences like rising energy prices, and efforts to restrict voting rights into the broader story they represent.

The public deserves reporting that names who is responsible, explains the stakes, and treats these developments as the serious democratic and economic challenges they are.

Read about this, and more, with today’s stories:

Trump Press Sec Goes Full Cult in Odd Rants as Polls Take Brutal Turn (The New Republic)

Trump Looks Increasingly Desperate to Restrict Voting Rights (Mother Jones)

The next redistricting battle might be who is counted in state legislative districts (NPR)

Hegseth Tells 60 Minutes the Trump Admin Reserves The Right to Put Boots on the Ground in Iran: ‘We’re Willing to Go As Far As We Need’ (Mediaite)

Iran names Mojtaba Khamenei successor to the late supreme leader (PBS)

Trump’s Fed Regulators Rewrite the History of the Silicon Valley Bank Collapse (The American Prospect)

Columbia Flouted Its Own Policies and Let ICE Into University Buildings (The Intercept)

Explosive device thrown outside of Zohran Mamdani’s residence at anti-Islam protest (The Guardian)

Lebanese parliament extends term for 2 years due to war in Middle East (AP News)

The moms risking arrest to protect gender-affirming care for trans youth (The 19th News)

North Carolina Created Complaint Systems for its Industrialized Farms. They Don’t Work Very Well. (Inside Climate News)

The Troubling Personal Side of Public Surveillance (The Marshall Project)

ProPublica Wins Lawsuit Over Access to Court Records in U.S. Navy Cases (ProPublica)

Until next time,

Harry from The Hound

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