Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

The words do not have to be perfect.

Petty moves from a petty man.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Lick the third rail, it tastes like chocolate!

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

We will not go back.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

At some point, the ability to learn is a factor of character, not IQ.

Books are my comfort food!

Trump’s cabinet: like a magic 8 ball that only gives wrong answers.

The only way through is to slog through the muck one step at at time.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Sunday Morning Open Thread: Slava Ukraini (Glory to Ukraine)

Sunday Morning Open Thread: Slava Ukraini (Glory to Ukraine)

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  3. 3.

    SiubhanDuinne

    For the first time in years, I watched SNL’s open last night (thanks to G&T’s heads-up, or it would never have occurred to me). By the end, I was in sobs. Thank you, Lorne Michaels, for doing absolutely the right thing.

  5. 5.

    Mike E

    Polish national futbol team declined to play in this month’s tourney in Russia, stating there’s more to life than futbol. West Ham United players wore warmup jerseys with Ukrainian players’ names.

  7. 7.

    mali muso

    So according to the Kyiv Independent’s Twitter feed, there are scheduled peace talks today to be located in Belarus.  And simultaneously, Putin orders Russian nuclear deterrent forces on alert.  Going to be an interesting day.

  8. 8.

    debbie

    The next time Putin bullshits about wanting to negotiate, Zelensky should tell him only if they meet in person in Ukraine.

  11. 11.

    SiubhanDuinne

    In that first Slava Malamud tweet, could someone who knows the language please translate the Ukrainian saying? Can’t paste it into Google Translate as usual, as it’s an image.

  17. 17.

    mali muso

    @SiubhanDuinne: Yes, that’s what I’d read yesterday, but as of about 20 minutes ago, this is what the Kyiv Independent posted.  I guess we shall see…

    During a phone call with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed that the Ukrainian delegation would meet with the Russian delegation without preconditions on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, near the Pripyat River.
    — The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) February 27, 2022

  18. 18.

    Anne Laurie

    @mali muso: So according to the Kyiv Independent’s Twitter feed, there are scheduled peace talks today to be located in Belarus.

    According to the (independent) Moscow Times tweet in my post, Zelensky quite sensibly did not agree.  Suggested ‘Warsaw, Budapest or Istanbul’ as alternatives — let’s see if Putin’s minions can talk him into agreeing.

    @SiubhanDuinne: I’m assuming it’s what Slava puts in his tweet:  Attention! The Tomb [of Lenin] desperately needs a fresh Vladimir!

  22. 22.

    Geminid

    @mali muso: The news of a meeting “without preconditions,” between Ukrainian and Russian officials is significant, but only promises a future result. I don’t think Putin is ready to throw in the towel, and the Ukrainians clearly are not. There will be more meetings over days, maybe weeks, before there is a ceasefire. But this meeting is a good sign.

  23. 23.

    mali muso

    @Geminid: One has to wonder if Putin is trying to forestall the economic bloodbath that is going to happen in Russia on Monday morning when the markets open.  Good luck with that.

  24. 24.

    debbie

    @Geminid:

    I see it as an opportunity for Putin to demand full capitulation, as if the resistance was nothing more than an annoying gnat buzzing near his head.

  25. 25.

    Gregory

    It seems obvious the Putin named Belarus as the negotiation site as a power play (or at least face saving concession), and so it’s interesting that Zelensky rejected those terms.  He’s signaling that he holds more leverage than Putin does, and I hope he’s right.  And at the very least, he’s declaring that crawling to the Russians to surrender is a non-starter.

  27. 27.

    eclare

    @debbie:   I don’t know what song that was, but to me it had a Wu-Tang Clan flavor.  Especially the way everyone was introduced.

  28. 28.

    zhena gogolia

    I know for some reason we’re not supposed to like Meidas Touch, but that video is spectacular!

  29. 29.

    Kay

    @rikyrah:

    Michael Tracey
    @mtracey
    Has anyone considered whether the rush by US/NATO to deploy huge new batches of additional weaponry will be viewed by Putin as an attempt to “hinder” or “intervene in” the Russian military operation, which Putin threatened would prompt a nuclear strike

    They went from confidently asserting Putin would never take an aggressive act to predicting he would start a nuclear war if there’s any pushback at all to his invasion, in a week.
    It’s comical. The arrogance and faith in their own “analysis”, despite the fact that they’re constantly wrong, is really something.
    Maybe wait a week before predicting what will happen next since last week’s predictions were so bad? Nah. Right to the hot takes machine! Churn out some more scolding lectures!

  30. 30.

    Another Scott

    The Commander of Ukrainian forces in Kharkiv has claimed that dozens of Russian troops have surrendered, and that the captured soldiers had complained of demoralization and not understanding the mission, as well as being short of fuel. (via @TimListerCNN)

    — Alli Hedges Maser (@AllisonLHedges) February 27, 2022

    (via nycsouthpaw)

    Napoleon supposedly said “an army travels on it’s stomach.” A sensible Russian leader planning foreign adventures would know that, given Russia’s history with Napoleon…

    The agreed talks at the border are a good start, but just the start.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  32. 32.

    zhena gogolia

    @Another Scott: But it says “Volodya” (nickname), not “Vladimir,” so doubly disrespectful.

    Nobody in Russia is called “Vlad.” If you want to call him by a disrespectful nickname, do “Volodya” or “Vova.” I prefer the latter because it’s more low-class.

  40. 40.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    He’s just asking questions. “Did anyone consider the ramifications of their actions?”

    No! Thank God you brought it up. I can’t get that kind of insight without a paid subscription to your newsletter.

    I love too how they preemptively take ANY response to Putin’s aggression off the table, other than “just hand him everything he wants”. This negotiating strategy is foolproof. He will definitely be happy with that offer! Whether the people who live in the countries he’s threatening will be happy with it doesn’t seem to be a concern. The only kind of “nationalism” they recognize is Russian nationalism. All other nations are invalid.

  42. 42.

    germy

    Trump wouldn't say what he'd have done if an invasion happened under his term. "Well, I tell you what, I would do things, but the last thing I want to do is say it right now, because if somebody asks me that is in a position where they can utilize whatever it is I give them."

    — Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 27, 2022

    Cash on the barrelhead if you want him to solve any world problems, you ungrateful libs.

  43. 43.

    Geminid

    @Geminid: Reports are that there will be sort of local ceasefire for this meeting.

    It’s probably a good thing the meeting will be held on the border. Neither side is ready to stop shooting and there’s no point in flying people to Budapest to tell each other that.

    Significantly, the meeting will be on the border between Ukraine and Belarus. Four days ago the Russians figured that they would be signing a ceasefire with a puppet government, in a captured Kyiv. They did not expect that they would meet with Ukrainian officials coming from Kyiv, who drove themselves to the border.

  51. 51.

    sdhays

    @Kay: The only kind of “nationalism” they recognize is Russian nationalism.

    I think they recognize white “nationalism” as well.

  52. 52.

    Another Scott

    @Another Scott: Vova is desperate for good news before the banks and markets open on Monday.

    It doesn’t look like he’s going to get it at the moment:

    BREAKING — Turkey says what happens in Ukraine constitutes a war under Montreux Convention, says will act accordingly: Foreign Minister

    Meaning, Turkey can close the straits for Russian warships except the ones associated with the Black Sea fleet

    — Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) February 27, 2022

    (via CherylRofer)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  54. 54.

    Kay

    @Baud:

    I mean, they watch this agonizing process to reach agreement with all these other countries on sanctions- it’s the only real information they have- and they still insist this is some kind of “client state/US” operation. Are they all client states? They declared Ukraine wasn’t a “real” country. Is that also true of Germany and Poland and Norway and Finland? Our voodoo mind control made them believe Putin is a threat? To them? It’s insulting.

  56. 56.

    Bex

    Re the photo of Zelensky with his family and the face-painting:  “You don’t tread on Superman’s cape.” –Jim Croce.

  57. 57.

    zhena gogolia

    @debbie: Opening credits of Do the Right Thing was Fight the Power by Public Enemy, I thought? When Rosie Perez is boxing?

    ETA: I see this has been answered.

  59. 59.

    Eolirin

    @The Thin Black Duke: The reduction of funding from Russian sources will have difficult to predict effects too. There’s a good chance they won’t be able to make any serious social media plays, and depending on how many other people get wrapped up in those asset seizures… “enablers” being part of that list of targets is vague and potentially wide reaching.

    The entire environment leading into the mid terms may be very different than we’re used to.

  61. 61.

    New Deal democrat

    I suspect the Ukraine invasion is going to produce a lot of domestic blowback in Russia, *possibly* even leading to Putin’s being deposed.

    It’s clear that culturally, and maybe politically, Russia treats Ukraine like a “little brother.” Many people speak both languages, and have friends and even relatives across the border. Much, perhaps, like the US and Canada.

    The impression I have watching the videos of interactions between Ukrainians and the invading Russians is like friends, family members, or next door neighbors where one has stepped seriously out of line. The Russian soldiers appear almost apologetic, and generally don’t seem to want to do any harm to the Ukrainians with whom they come into contact. The Ukrainians, by contrast, react in ways somewhere between wry disapproval (offering to tow their tanks back to Moscow) and furious approbation (e.g., sunflower seeds woman). I was particularly struck by Ukrainians telling captured Russian soldiers to call home to their mothers and tell them what they have done.

    I am imagining a situation where where Trump had ordered a build-up of military forces on the US-Canada border, but nobody seriously believed he would actually order and invasion. And then he did. I think we would see a very similar dynamic. People on the US side (except for total RWNJ’s) would be totally aghast. Most of the troops would be mortified and apologetic. Canadians would shame captured American soldiers. The parents of those troops would be furious that this is what their sons had been ordered to do.

    The bottom line is that, although Putin is keeping a lid on protests for now, I have to think there is simmering anger among many, perhaps most, Russians, that this is how they are treating their Ukrainian brothers. Returning soldiers are going to tell stories to their parents, family, friends and neighbors. The situation in Russia itself could turn explosive.

  62. 62.

    Another Scott

    One of the Capitol fences is going back up for Biden’s State of the Union address to Congress. Unfortunate, but prudent.

    Statement from Chief Tom Manger ahead of the State of the Union Address: pic.twitter.com/J645LV9i7e

    — U.S. Capitol Police (@CapitolPolice) February 27, 2022

    (via nycsouthpaw)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  63. 63.

    Geminid

    @germy: I expect a lot of hard-fought campaigns all over the country. Both sides are highly motivated, and at at least right now the Democrats are more unified than the Republicans.

  65. 65.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @germy: Look at how J.D. Vance got steamrolled by his stupid remark about Ukraine. Look at how Tucker TV dinner Carlson is trying to pretend that’s he’s horrified by Putin’s actions. I think the GOP are going to have difficulties distancing themselves from their past pro-Russian propaganda this time.

  66. 66.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Eyeroller:

    @Another Scott:

    Okay, so Slava says “Attention! The Tomb urgently needs a fresh Vladimir!” and then the next guy (Michael Weiss?) says “Here’s another” and posts the Ukrainian sentence. I’m confused.

    Maybe I just need some coffee. That’s probably it.

  67. 67.

    Omnes Omnibus

    I hate to drop this here, but it is a Open Thread.  Valdivia’s father passed away Friday evening after a long illness.  He was in hospice care at home, so this was not unexpected.  I am sure she and her mom would appreciate any thought and prayers you can spare.  For those of you who are cat fans, you may appreciate that one of Valdivia’s two cats appointed himself nurse and stayed by her dad’s side throughout.

    ETA:  I’ll post this again later for the evening and afternoon people.

  69. 69.

    smith

    @New Deal democrat: I suspect the Ukraine invasion is going to produce a lot of domestic blowback in Russia, *possibly* even leading to Putin’s being deposed.

    I’m wondering if Putin’s recent growing paranoia and isolation indicate that he was already in trouble with the mobster-oligarchs and maybe losing his control over them. The invasion of Ukraine could be a wag the dog move on his part. If that’s true, the pain that sanctions bring down on the mobster-oligarchs could tip things over the edge.

    And here’s a thought: Could it be that American investigations — that Putin can no longer control via TFG – -into the webs of political chicanery and corruption here have set off mobster-oligarch dissatisfaction there? Maybe that’s too optimistic…

  72. 72.

    Ksmiami

    @Eolirin: play all of Trump and GOP support Russia messages on repeat. Including the 8 July 4th Senate visitors. Target rich environment… Be merciless and just tell the truth

  73. 73.

    zhena gogolia

    @SiubhanDuinne: Slava is retweeting the tweet by the other guy, who said, “Another:” So Slava’s message comes after the other guy’s message. Also note that in the original it’s “Volodya” (nickname) rather than “Vladimir,” so it’s doubly insulting.

  76. 76.

    Mike E

    @The Thin Black Duke: money all of a sudden gets dirty when it’s White Folk getting shelled on the news feeds 24-7 and our insolent news media can do their job after all, quite reluctantly, when pushed against the wall but I don’t give this trend much a chance to hold for very long. Yes, please, let’s keep that light shining brightly on these execrable characters and hope our fave Dems can find a hammer or three lying around.

  77. 77.

    New Deal democrat

    @Kay:

    Stopped clocks and all that, but in this case I think Tracey may be correct.

    Yesterday I posted a tweet from Robert Farley pointing out that NATO was openly shipping arms into Ukraine to kill Russian soldiers, and that it was surprising that Russia hadn’t responded.

    I would say that putting their nuclear forces on alert was the response.

    Btw, Turkey apparently closing the Bosporus to Russian naval ships only adds to the sense that Russia and NATO are at war in all senses except a direct military to military confrontation.

  78. 78.

    Kristine

    @Kay: if Putin fails, they have to admit that their dream president knuckled under to an even bigger loser. All those bare-chested He-Man portraits would go begging. They’d have to get real jobs.

  81. 81.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    I had this thought that one of the reasons why the Russian invasion is such a mess is COVID, sure, COVID didn’t effect the 19 year old conscripts that much, but it likely has torn threw the senior officer corp killing or crippling a lot of the officers who are 40 and above.  Could be they had to steal a lot officers from other units to staff up others and a lot of the less essential slots, like supply, are understaffed in the units that were activated.

  82. 82.

    smith

    @Geminid: I expect a lot of hard-fought campaigns all over the country. Both sides are highly motivated, and at at least right now the Democrats are more unified than the Republicans.

    Don’t know if this has been mentioned here before, but Act Blue reports that Dem fundraising so far in 2022 is double that for the last mid-term election at this point in 2018.

  91. 91.

    Yarrow

    @Suzanne:  He’s not going to do that.

    But if he did he’d be going home a loser. It’s unlikely the rest of the world will lift the sanctions and restrictions on oligarchs right away so he’ll be a loser that has created a disaster in his country for his people and who has made his ultra rich supporters pariahs in the rest of the world. He won’t last long in those conditions. He knows that at some level. He can’t just quit.

    He’s going to be a caged animal and that’s when he becomes even more dangerous.

  93. 93.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Mike E: the brain fog of war!

    No shit. Likely with the Russians the guys with long COVID are told to stop being a sissy, drink a bottle of vodka and get back in the game. Not like the general of planning a complex military operation needs think all that much.

  96. 96.

    Yarrow

    This is a big deal.

    Breaking News: In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany announced a significant increase in military spending, an astonishing reversal to decades of German foreign policy. https://t.co/N9tnhrgrsx— The New York Times (@nytimes) February 27, 2022

  97. 97.

    JPL

    When Putin falls, which he will, I hope that he releases the information he has on trump, Graham, Johnson and other republicans who supported him.

    I know it’s wishful thinking, but still wouldn’t that be great!

  98. 98.

    Kalakal

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    I think the GOP are going to have difficulties distancing themselves from their past pro-Russian propaganda this time.

    I certainly hope so. I also hope it cripples a lot of astro turf wingnut groups, without Russian money and troll farms, perhaps they’ll be revealed as the tiny groups of prats destroying American democracy  they really are rather than the mass popular movements our wonderful media presents them.

  104. 104.

    Another Scott

    @SiubhanDuinne: Twitter is horrible for clear discussion.  Part of the time responses are above the earlier comment, part of the time they follow.  Some stuff is “pinned” to put it at the top of the “feed”, sometimes other comments are seemingly randomly mixed in.  It’s just a terrible system for conversation. 

    But people insist on using it that way, and here we are.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  107. 107.

    Geminid

    @New Deal democrat: It sounds like Turkey may partially close the straits to Russian warships. A clause in the the treaty governing the straits allows a warring nation to return warships to their home ports. In this case Russian ships based on the Black Sea can return fom the Mediterranean Sea. It still is a significant move by Turkey.

    Reports are that Zelensky has asked Turkey’s Erdogan to help mediate an end to the conflict, emphasizing Turkey’s “good relations” with both Russia and Ukraine. Zelensky strikes me as flexible and pragmatic in his diplomatic outreach, and seems to be looking ahead to a time when this war might be ended by mutual agreement. The Ukrainian ambassador to Israel confirmed that Zelensky made a similar request Friday to Israeli Prime Minister Bennet, again citing the “good relations” Israel had with both Ukraine and Russia.

  108. 108.

    sab

    @The Thin Black Duke: They are not just in Cleveland proper. They ae in Parma and Strongsville and all of the Republican suburbs. Ohio has a huge number of Ukranians, mostly near Cleveland but also near Toledo and Youngstown and Cincinnati. We know a bunch in Akron.

    This will finish Vance, but I don’t know if it will finish the others.

  109. 109.

    Kalakal

    @Yarrow: Putin’s strategic genius triumphs again.

    His cunning plan to divide and weaken the west registers another victory.

    Many have tried and failed to get Germany to increase it’s defense capability.

    This idiot has achieved it

    He has more teeth than brain cells

  110. 110.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: I don’t think that stopped any of them from wearing “I’d rather be Russian than Democrat” T-shirts, or cheering as TFG did his Putin’s Lapdog act.

    It’s been depressing to see “we’ve always been at war with Eastasia” play out in real life on Fox. I’m sure there already trying out “we never approved of Putin” on their viewers. I’d like to see it not work, but I don’t have much confidence that there’s such a thing as too much cognitive dissonance for the Fox crowd.

  111. 111.

    The Thin Black Duke

    @sab: Considering how narrow our electoral victories have been in the past, every little bit helps. If a field goal wins the game, nobody is going to care that it wasn’t a touchdown.

  113. 113.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    Re Barr and Gingrich and all these other old men who screwed us, they need to take up gardening and play with their grandchildren. Why would the world ever need to hear from them again? Retire. Play mah jong.

  114. 114.

    Another Scott

    A decent running news summary at DW:

    DW analyst says Putin’s order on nuclear alert not clear

    DW’s Russia affairs analyst Konstantin Eggert told DW that as a former Russian military officer, he had “trouble discerning” what Putin meant when he said nuclear forces are on higher alert.

    “The expression he used to indicate some heightened state of alert does not exist in Russian military manuals,” Eggert said.

    There are four levels of alert in the Russian military, Eggert explained. Those four levels are: regular, heightened, threat of war and full or complete.

    Eggert noted, “Nuclear forces are pretty much always on heightened alert.”

    Hmm…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  117. 117.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: Others predicted and I agree that by this fall those very people will recall no President Trump, it was President Hillary 2016-2020 was sucking up to Putin.  Just like they did with GW Bush when it became undeniable Bush was total screw up.

  119. 119.

    Kay

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    I’m so, so sick of the books and the interviews. Whatever happened to “the work speaks for itself”?

    The Trump people all want credit for “moderating” or “mediating” Trump’s worst impulses. They shouldn’t get credit for that. It’s not a net plus. We’re still in negative territory. They bring the bad and then sand the rough edges off it and they want gratitude? No. They have to do better than that.

  120. 120.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @Another Scott: So, Putin is now Dark Helmet from Space Balls and ordered his forces to Plaid.  Maybe it’s Putin who has long COVID plus early dementia.

  121. 121.

    MagdaInBlack

    @WaterGirl: In his usual garbled way, he is saying he has some ideas, but he’s not sharing them because someone will then use those ideas and he won’t get the credit.

    It’s kind of scary I’ve listened to enough of him that I can translate.

  122. 122.

    sab

    @The Thin Black Duke: Yes. I hope it is more, and the ‘other party’ is making it easier. All these media pundits know no one in the military. Living in a working class neighborhood I know lots. After the relief about Afghanistan withdrawal ( yep, in my neighborhood with people repeatedly deployed there it was a huge fucking relief when we withdrew) Ukraine scares them, but at least this time they can understand why.

  123. 123.

    artem1s

    There is a huge Ukrainian population in NE OH – first, second, third generation. Goes back to early 1900s industrial boom in the rust belt. Lots of factory jobs and eastern Europeans fleeing various authoritarian regimes. There is a Ukrainian school that started in Cleveland and is still going strong in the suburbs.
    https://case.edu/ech/articles/r/ridna-shkola
    https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/nation-world/ukraine/local-ukrainian-school/95-66f227cb-e265-4c36-b693-500552c59f92
    Part of a consortium of such schools around the mid-west.
    The Balkans wars had a huge impact on local politics. Depending on whether you sided with Serbia or Kosovo – were Roman Catholic or Orthodox – a lot of factors effected voters views on the Clintons and Bushes. Even the Demjanjuk trial had an impact on local election outcomes.
    The politics of Eastern Europe has always affected the politics of the rust belt. I’m beginning to wonder if the economically stressed white guy whose cousins are still living in Ukraine might not be so happy with the GOP come mid-terms. Those kids parents in Parma might not ever vote for Harris, but they aren’t going to be running around screeching ‘Let’s go Brandon’ anytime soon.

  125. 125.

    smith

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques: Just like they did with GW Bush when it became undeniable Bush was total screw up.

    Yeah, I remember hearing what a shame it was that Obama didn’t send help to New Orleans during Katrina. And it’s firmly implanted in every wingnut mind that Obama was president at the time of the 2008 financial crash. This is why I’m skeptical that R’s embrace of Putin will do much to dampen the enthusiasm of their supporters. Goober reality is infinitely malleable.

  126. 126.

    Geminid

    @smith: And a lot of the money Republicans raised is being spent trashing other Republicans in rancorous primary races. There are plenty of Democratic primary contests, but only a few that I would call bitter.

  127. 127.

    debbie

    @sab:

    I think the others are in more peril than they realize. Bad mouth Biden and the U.S. response, while irresistible, will alienate moderates. Esp. Mandel, whose ads are mostly about his military service. Have you seen them yet? “Pro Trump, pro guns, pro God.” Yeah, Josh, sure, but not the Christian god, ammirite?

  128. 128.

    Scout211

    @MagdaInBlack: In his usual garbled way, he is saying he has some ideas, but he’s not sharing them because someone will then use those ideas and he won’t get the credit.

     

    But as we all know, it really means that he doesn’t have a clue.  He has no real ideas because he doesn’t understand foreign policy so his advisers told him to stop talking about it because he was embarrassing himself.

  131. 131.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I’m so sorry to hear that. Please give Valdivia my love and let her know she and her mother are in my thoughts.

    What a lovely detail about the self-appointed nurse cat. Cats know.

  132. 132.

    eclare

    @MagdaInBlack:   I have a different interpretation: he has no ideas but he wants people to think of him as some great emperor who does.  Like all the times he says “people say,” or all the people that he claims come up to him with tears in their eyes, grown men even!  But he never names them.  Never.

    He is a one man Potemkin village, IMO.  Who knows who is right?  But our press better wise the fuck up and decide if he doesn’t name ideas or names, he doesn’t get coverage.  At all.

  134. 134.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Scout211: I’m quite sure he has “some ideas.”

    We have experience with his “ideas.”  Injecting bleach, for one. I’m sure these new ideas are equally brilliant.

  135. 135.

    sab

    @artem1s: Cleveland area is ‘only’ 45,000. But the Polish population is huge, and they are next door and in NATO. Ten years ago our banks default language wasn’t Spanish, it was Polish.

    “Yada yada yada Polska” when they inquired what language you chose to communicate in to them. Spanish wasn’t even an option.

  137. 137.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Scout211: That interview he had with Laura Ingraham? The one where he admonished her for disclosing (his imaginary) American amphibious landings in Ukraine? I could just hear his advisers telling him the same thing. He was echoing what he’d been told repeatedly

  138. 138.

    Kay

    As Russia’s war machine batters Ukraine in the largest invasion Europe has seen since World War II, one group of Europeans is feeling particularly uncomfortable: Vladimir Putin’s defenders and cheerleaders.
    From National Rally leader Marine Le Pen in France to Matteo Salvini from Italy’s right-wing League, these politicians have spent years touting their affinity for the Russian president, accepting Russian loans and corporate board memberships and acting as mouthpieces for Kremlin talking points.
    As Russia massed troops around Ukraine’s borders, some of these Putin pals downplayed the threat or accused the West of ramping up tensions. But as Putin declared war on Kyiv and ballistic missiles rained down on Ukrainian targets, that pose became harder to hold for this group, prompting many to backtrack from their crush on the Kremlin and rush out statements condemning the attack.

    It’s just gross how the Right is so drawn to authoritarians. All these tributes to Putin (that they’re all walking back, to the extent of scrubbing social media of photos) were based on his “strength”.

  142. 142.

    CaseyL

    @smith:

    Goober reality is infinitely malleable.

     

    They have no “persistence of memory,” and are happy to believe today, to the depths of their souls, the opposite of what they believed yesterday, to the depths of their souls.

  143. 143.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    I think the whole GOP field shoud be doing better in Ohio given the truly awful national numbers for Democrats, so it’s gotten interesting. Less assured than I would have thought. Part of it is they’re bad candidates. None of them is particularly appealing as a person and they really do have a lot of division in their Party. Ohio Republicans are miserable, and there’s no reason they should hate their Party as much as they do. The state Party completely capitulated to the most radical- they gave them everything they want, and still they’re not happy. Maybe Ryan will be a good candidate – and he is a good candidate- at the right time.

  145. 145.

    Geminid

    @Kay: The first round of France’s Presidential election will be April 10, just six weeks from now. The runoff is April 24. I wonder if Macron might win the first round outright and not need a runoff.

  146. 146.

    delk

    Who the fuck is asking trump his opinion? The only words I want to hear from him is the clip of him calling Putin a genius. Over and over and over.

  148. 148.

    Ancient Atheist

    After the collapse of the Soviet Union the “West” embraced Capitalism as a pathway to democracy. Great efforts and considerable funds were expended to convince Russians this was true. It’s not and the results are seen today.

  150. 150.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Re Barr and Gingrich and all these other old men who screwed us, they need to take up gardening and play with their grandchildren.

    Why do you hate flowers and vegetables and little kids, Dorothy?

  152. 152.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    Just reminding everyone – five days ago, Snowjob went silent. This was after a stack of whiny anti-Western security tweets.

    Does his photo need to go on a milk carton?

  156. 156.

    Tim C.

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:   Speaking of,  does anyone else remember the days of “Bill in Portland”  who kept linking RT articles?  I think that was back in ’15 or ’16.    The reason I mention it, was he was the first one I remember realizing might be more than just a whack-job,  but an actual, for-real, plant.  Didn’t understand why he thought we were worth propagandizing at though.

  157. 157.

    WaterGirl

    @sab: Your comment went into moderation because you have a stray “o” at the end of your email address, so you will want to correct that before you post another comment, or that one will go into moderation, too.

  159. 159.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    I’m looking forward to the reactions this week when their leaders have to appear before the Ohio Supreme Court and explain why they couldn’t come up with a fair map (even though they say they did, well after the stated deadline). Between these attorneys trying to look stupider than they are and the calls for Maureen O’Connors’ impeachment, it should be amusing.

    Maybe I’m a dope, but I think all this redistricting bullshit will hurt whoever the GOP candidates turn out to be.

  160. 160.

    Tim C.

    @WaterGirl: Huge and well-respected German news outfit.  State owned,  think of it as the German BBC.

    Edit…. did I miss snark?  I may have missed snark.   100 apologies if I came off as pedantic.

  164. 164.

    germy

    Ed’s fans are worried:

    But he hasn't tweeted in a while, and it's worrisome. Do you have a way to check in on him? Has the government blocked his internet access? I've been concerned for several days.

    — LITR (@Missa1969) February 27, 2022

    He's fine.

    — Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 27, 2022

  165. 165.

    Geminid

     

    @Kay: In years past a successful state Republican party like Ohio’s would have more unity. Instead they have a strong primary challenge to an incumbent Governor, and their Senate contest is a freak show. Georgia’s party has similar divisions. Trump might not have been able to wreck the country, but he may yet wreck the Republican party.

  168. 168.

    debbie

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Google tells me the word entered the English language in the 17th century. My usage is still valid. Many words have negatives associated with them. Look at the word “Jew,” for instance.

    Thank you.

  170. 170.

    Kay

    @debbie:

    Just don’t expect real enforceable sanctions for contempt. They don’t really do those anymore. I don’t know why- I think it’s a huge mistake and has harmed the credibility of courts- but they’re not complying with that order because they are confident nothing will happen to them if they don’t. Courts can hammer people and they have no problem doing so if the person not complying is not powerful or politically connected, but there’s been a real lack of accountability in Ohio for the last several decades and it’s gotten worse every year.

    I don’t suggest YOU try anything like this bullshit they’re pulling- they’ll put you in jail. But them? Nah. They’ll get 15 more extensions and a pretty please.

  173. 173.

    WaterGirl

    @germy: Apparently the attorney general has no agency when he sees that the sitting president (that the attorney general is helping!) has lost his marbles.

    Fuck you, Bill Barr, you traitorous scumbag.

  179. 179.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @germy:

    Well, there’s a relief. Grifty Glenn said it, so it must be true.

    What’ll the actual explanation be? Fall off a balcony? Autoerotic asphyxiation? Suicide with a typewritten note blaming Hillary, Obama, Soros and Biden for sending him spinning into depression?

  181. 181.

    sab

    Watergirl., Thanks. Wonder how that got there? The usual cockroach typing or cat strolling, or me being inept.

  182. 182.

    Kay

    @Geminid:

    I don’t really believe they have a strong primary challenge to DeWine- I think it’s fringe- but the senate GOP primary race is a clusterfuck. Our best case is Mandel. It would have been Vance but he’s not going to be their nominee, sadly. Ryan has a good campaign. Just kind of dogged and solid, which is the best, IMO.

    The county D’s got a call from Nan Whaley (herself) for the D governors race last week, which was nice. Nice and also smart. It takes her 5 minutes to call herself (instead of having campaign staff do it) and they were really flattered. Ten people told me about it, immediately :)

    I’ll have the Whaley thing at my house if they want. I like to have people over and I’ve missed doing it with covid. I had a small group over Thursday night and I didn’t realize how much I had missed it.

  185. 185.

    NotMax

    Open Thread?

    Third (third!) replacement credit card this month arrived Saturday. A few hours ago once again plugged it into the relevant sites where it is used for recurring charges.

    Cross your fingers, toes and eyes,

    ;).

  195. 195.

    Lyrebird

    @debbie: ​
     

    One of the greatest movie openers ever!!!

    Do you know she later voiced Click the Camera for Go Diego Go? LOVE Rosie Perez. And excellent choice of Public Enemy by the video editor person.

  199. 199.

    Peale

    @Cameron: Russia is anti-woke, which is why they are winning with their manly army men and we need to end wokeness here to restore our own glory that’s been lost to people discussing pronouns..

    Ukraine is fighting on against the odds because they are anti-woke manly men which is why we need to end wokeness here to restore our own glory that’s been lost to people discussing pronouns.

    There really is a very narrow set of factors that matter to our right wing. Whatever the outcome…more anti-trans laws are the solution.

  200. 200.

    germy

    What is unfolding in Ukraine is one of the reasons the Founders wrote our Second Amendment. Every American should own a gun and know how to use it for self-defense.

    — Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) February 25, 2022

    “Always be closing”

  201. 201.

    WaterGirl

    @Tim C.: No, you totally didn’t miss anything.  I had never heard of them, so my question as sincere.

    I can probably add one or two more newspapers to the list of excellent sources of good news on Ukraine, but without knowing them I have no idea whether DW is fit to join Kyiv Independent, Financial Times, and the other one that Gin & Tonic suggested today.

  202. 202.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Peale: Whatever the outcome…more anti-trans laws are the solution.

    Don’t forget “cut taxes on rich people”.

  203. 203.

    schrodingers_cat

    @debbie:The longevity of a slur is not the reason to keep using it. I also know that you didn’t use it as a slur.  Obviously I can’t stop you from using a blatantly casteist put down. It was a request and I also gave you a reason why.

  204. 204.

    Kalakal

    Huge if true. From the Guardian. The 2nd point would a political disaster for Putin

    Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelinskiy has been talking about the prospect of talks with Russian officials planned to take place close to the border with Belarus, Reuters reports. It has the following lines so far:

    • Zelinskiy said talks with Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko were “very substantive”.

    • He said he doesn’t want troops to move from Belarus to Ukraine and Lukashenko assured him of this.

    • Zelinskiy said we all need to act pragmatically to achieve our goal and he said Ukraine’s goal was territorial integrity

  205. 205.

    Cameron

    @Baud: I was especially moved by Senator Cruz’s statement: “A real American President wouldn’t hide in the White House in such a moment of crisis.  A real American President would be on the front lines in Cancun..I mean Kyev….”

  207. 207.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    @germy: You mean as opposed to paying our fucking taxes so we have an air force that would simply shoot down any Russian airborne assault over the Pacific because that’s the only fucking way they could get here, Erickson, you dumb ass.

  209. 209.

    Kay

    @New Deal democrat:

    But these are people whose whole idenity is “I don’t trust the man” – they’re super savy and they they don’t believe anything “politicians” say. Except for Putin. His word is gold.

    I’m not accepting lectures from people who are supposedly professional thinkers who question all authority other than whatever bullshit comes out of this guy’s mouth, which they swallow whole.

    I submit they don’t actually know what motivates Putin. I submit he has fooled them before, last week, for one rather glaring example, so maybe, just maybe when he tells them he objects to “NATO” and seeks “peace” and only acts when provoked he is not being strictly on the level. If you question authority and intelligence – if that’s the contrarian Left position- that should also apply to Russia.

    Tulsi Gabbard doesn’t accept anything the US government says- she’s MUCH too savy for that- but she eagerly laps up and repeats whatever any Russian offocial says and repeats it as fact. That doesn’t make any sense. They have to be consistently anti-authoritarian and anti-government or no one should listen to them, because it’s an obvious agenda.

  212. 212.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    This is the person Doug Ducey was specifically asked about supporting the other day when he said she’s better than any Democrat

    Wendy Rogers @WendyRogersAZ 3h
    I stand with the Christians worldwide not the global bankers who are shoving godlessness and degeneracy in our face.

    Zelensky is a globalist puppet for Soros and the Clintons.

    The West is trying to deplatform and debank Russia. This is just as wrong as invading Ukraine.

    Her twitter feed is some special crazy, but it’s also just a less-polished version of Tucker’s “Why should I hate Putin?” rant of a few days ago

  213. 213.

    artem1s

    Be prepared to see the MSM, GOP and Christian Right start trying to knock Volodymyr_Zelenskyy off the pedestal twitter is putting him on. He did start out as a comedian and likely has some stuff in his past that can be used, fairly or unfairly, to tarnish his image. The Talibangelists especially are going to be jumping on this…

    Zelenskyy supports the free distribution of medical cannabis, free abortion in Ukraine, and the legalisation of prostitution and gambling. He opposes the legalisation of weapons.

  214. 214.

    WaterGirl

    @sab: Sometimes when I’m typing email or on the blog the cursor jumps out of where I am into another place and the letters I am typing end up there.

    Pretty sure that’s how your O showed up.

  216. 216.

    Felanius Kootea

    I’m so impressed by Zelenskyy! He has risen to the occasion in a way that I deeply admire. And everyday Ukrainians as well, especially the schoolteacher volunteer, weeping but still holding on to her automatic rifle. I’m sure Putin is in shock that the invasion isn’t wrapped up yet.

    I’ve been following a group of African students trying to make it out of Ukraine – some stuck at the Polish border, others heading to Romania. They just wanted an education. They’ll have to start over again somewhere else.

    All this death and destruction for Putin’s ego.

  221. 221.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl:

    In this case, I think it’s the German news agency Deutsche Welle.

    I suppose it could refer to the Daily Worker, but that seems unlikely in this case  :-)

  224. 224.

    satby

    And as always, Chef Jose’s WCK is on the ground in Poland (and soon if not already Romania) to provide meals for Ukrainian refugees who are mostly elderly, women with children, etc.

    For those looking for another way to support Ukraine’s people.

  225. 225.

    zhena gogolia

    @Felanius Kootea: There is a huge amount of collateral damage — aside from the death and destruction, all the normal people just trying to live their lives and get an education.

  227. 227.

    CaseyL

    @eclare: The inability to retain information and reason from it marks a whole hell of a lot of their life choices.  It’s as if Fox became a magnet for the cognitively impaired, and funneled them all to the GOP. (Well.  Most of them.)

  228. 228.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Actually, they need to have their accounts frozen until we determine how much they were being paid by whom to do what they did. It’d be a shame if, after a decade of investigation and them living in penury, they turned out to be innocent of any crimes…

  229. 229.

    Kay

    @artem1s:

    Oh, God, the cuture warriors on the Right are really going to do it. They’re really going to come down on the side of the authoritarian kelptocrat invader because he shares their values.

    On some level we knew it. These are the same people who embraced the completely immoral scumbag Donald Trump because it meant they could put women in their place and screech about pronouns for a year. They are incredibly bad judges of character. They pick bad people. Always.

  231. 231.

    Geminid

    @Kay: Ohio has been reliably Republican the last few years, but conditions this year do seem favorable to Democrats. I hope they can get some traction from the issue of the power company scandal. If Republicans pass permitless concealed carry, Democrats might gain some votes on that issue. Polls show that substantial majorities don’t like these laws. Stacey Abrams attacked Georgia’s version in an interview,* called it “criminal carry” and backed up the assertion.

    * the interview was published about ten days ago in Atlanta.CapitalBnews.org.and was titled “Stacey Abrams and her vision of ‘One Georgia.’ ” It includes comments by Abrams on the problems of voter suppression and election subverion.

  232. 232.

    Peale

    @Kay: My guess is that if Russia burns down Kiev, they’ll go back to praising him for his decisiveness and shrewdness. He’s a tough man willing to make tough decisions and take off the gloves. Which is what they think makes him the right kind of guy. Unlike our leaders who are soft and thinking too much about the feelings of other people.

  235. 235.

    Calouste

    @germy: That’s fairly stupid even by E2 standards, because what Ukraine is actually showing is that the government can own the guns and hand them out to citizens when needed.

  236. 236.

    germy

    “The Russian head of delegation at a major UN climate conference apologised for his country’s invasion of Ukraine on Sunday, which he said lacked justification, according to several sources who heard him speak at the virtual meeting.” https://t.co/khh77tOqR1

    — Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@RVAwonk) February 27, 2022

  240. 240.

    Kay

    @Kalakal:

    Over and over and over. This huge glaring hole in the basic coherence of what is supposedly their whole world view and they don’t see it.

    Their whole thing last week was “we haven’t seen the intelligence!” They don’t see shit from Putin but for some reason they believe every word he says. They’re frauds. There could be an actual anti-authoritarian, “question authority” group of people but none of these people are THAT. That’s WHY people say they’re pro-Putin. They say it because they see this lack of coherence. It doesn’t hang together.

  243. 243.

    germy

    @Calouste:

    It is stupid, but everything E2 says is to convince more people to vote republican.  He has a limited toolbox and a smooth brain. One thing he knows is that folks get sentimental about their guns.

  246. 246.

    Alison Rose

    Regarding the purported peace talks, part of me wishes Zelensky would just walk into the room, go right up to Putin holding his hand out as though to shake, then suckerpunch him in the gut followed by a knee to the groin, tell him “Peace begins when we ship you off to Siberia, Volodya” in Ukrainian, drop a sunflower on him while he writhes on the floor, and stroll back out holding his phone up while playing “Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta”

    One can dream.

  253. 253.

    Peale

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah. Somehow, I’m not seeing a lot of Russians thinking “Oh those Ukrainians are Russians” is a good reason to invade a country. It would have been helpful for Putin to stage some Ukrainian nationalist terror bombings around the country for a few years.

  254. 254.

    Calouste

    @Alison Rose: Putin has a black belt in judo (not uncommon I would think for a KGB officer), so that probably wouldn’t work. Although in related news, the international judo federation stripped him off the honorary presidency they had given him.

  255. 255.

    artem1s

    @Kay:

    They’re really going to come down on the side of the authoritarian kelptocrat invader because he shares their values.

    Not so much that Putin shares their values as much as they admire and envy him for running the largest criminal empire and serfdom on the planet. They want what he has. They want the US serf classes and Untermenschen to return to their pre-COVID slave wage positions. They have no values. They have envy and greed. Those are deadly sins.

  256. 256.

    Miss Bianca

    @Eolirin: God, I hope so. I mean, I hate to think about in those terms, because it seems so self-serving, but “Democrats have always been in array about how big a threat Putin was, while the Republicans have been slurping his jizz for years now” is…not the worst message I can think of going into mid-terms.

  257. 257.

    Brit in Chicago

    @New Deal democrat:

    Your apt analogy provokes another thought: It is widely, and plausibly, said that Putin does not want a prosperous democratic Ukraine on his border, because the Russians would then want what the Ukrainians had. But here we are, with a neighbour over the border where levels of gun violence are far lower, where no one worries about paying for health care, and where the culture is in general less violent and divisive. Do we rise up and demand what our neighbors to the north have? It puzzles me, but we don’t. Perhaps Putin has less to worry about than one might think.

  259. 259.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Kay:

    They are incredibly bad judges of character. They pick bad people. Always.

    Because they are not bad judges of character.  They want a bad person.  They want assholes who care only about causing pain, especially on a 10 year old “Nuh uh, fuck you!” level.

    They have different values than us.  They are voting for what they want, and getting it.

    EDIT – @artem1s:

    They have no values. They have envy and greed. Those are deadly sins.

    I must wildly disagree.  The overwhelming majority of Republicans don’t give a shit about cheap labor other than “How dare anyone but me improve their lives.”  They have values and those values are the driving force of Republicanism.  Those values are hate.  Fortunately for the plutocrats, this meshes neatly with letting rich people grind the poor.

  261. 261.

    Peale

    @Alison Rose: I’m hoping he doesn’t attend these talks himself. They can be done by Zoom. Lavrov has stated that the condition of the meeting is that Ukraine be democratically stable first – meaning that Russia wants to install its puppet first and negotiate terms with that puppet.

  263. 263.

    Miss Bianca

    @Omnes Omnibus: Oh, please send her my condolences. I think she had stopped commenting here while I was still lurking, so she probably doesn’t know me, but hoping that random jackal regards will be appreciated.

    (This whole situation in Ukraine has made me miss my sister, who died in September, desperately. She was my go-to rock in the Trump years for “can you BELIEVE this shit” commiseration.)

  267. 267.

    Miss Bianca

    @germy: Oh, *now* that he’s got a book coming out, Bill Barr sees the light about Trump? Oh, you don’t say!

    Fuck that motherfucker. I hope he gets hauled in front of the January 6 committee and raked over the coals. And that his book completely tanks, because no one wants to read his self-serving bullshit, not even the Republicans who could have been counted on to buy it in bulk back in the day.

  269. 269.

    Lyrebird

    @zhena gogolia: Part of it is BUILDING MY MORALE. How can you put a price on that???

    Been thinking about Lincoln Project when I was reading commenters, probably younger commenters, in shock that Orban could go against Russia.  I’m still thrilled that he has done so as clearly as he has, but maybe less shocked.

    I don’t think Rick Wilson is as bad as Orban, but either way, actions taken by people who may still be racist or in Orban’s case totalitarians against the biggest tyrants are still actions that are against those tyrants.

    And lots of older Hungarians can remember who most recently invaded their country.

  272. 272.

    artem1s

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    They want the US serf classes and Untermenschen to return to their pre-COVID slave wage positions.

    I stated that the GOP doesn’t give a shit about working class people. Yes they are hate filled. Hate is a deadly sin too. THEY HAVE NO VALUES!  why let them frame the argument? their values bullshit is bullshit. They are proponents of the deadly sins.

  274. 274.

    Geminid

    @Peale: I think these talks will be between mid-level officials. The talks are more or less being held for the sake of holding them, which in itself is not a small thing. Later, if there is real business to be done, higher officials will attend. I doubt if we’ll ever see Zelensky and Putin in the same room, though.

  275. 275.

    Kathleen

    @Kay: I got a call from Jeff Crossman who is Dem running for Attorney General.  We actually talked about issues! He’s very upset that GQP officials let Rethugs skate on the big energy scandal. I gave him my email address but have not received any pleas for donations yet.

  277. 277.

    topclimber

    @Peale: Here’s hoping that many of the thousands of Belorussians demonstrating against the war will show up in force close enough to the border for the Russians to see.

    Putin the Putz has re-energized a widespread civilians resistance to Lukashenko (President of Belarus). Perhaps Luka will be swimming with the fishes before Vlad.

  278. 278.

    trollhattan

    @germy:

    By “self-defense” I assume he means rooting out Guatemalan “drug gangs” with my AR15?

    Hey Ewik, there’s a foreign legion being formed to defend Ukraine. Go show us how it’s done, boy!

  279. 279.

    germy

    +UPDATE+

    Senior Conservatives now openly lobbying to remove the co-chairman of the Conservative Party – Ben Elliot – as his links to oligarchs and associates of the Russian Mafia make his position “no longer tenable”.

    — Nick?????? (@nicktolhurst) February 27, 2022

    "…his links to …the Russian Mafia make his position [as co-Chairman of the Tory Party] "no longer tenable".

    NO LONGER tenable. No longer. FFS.

    Wake up folks, eh. https://t.co/TFxdQ31aqX

    — Tony McKelvie (@TonyMcKelvie) February 27, 2022

  280. 280.

    Cacti

    The US cross country convoy has pulled the plug just outside of Kansas City.

    Does anyone else think there’s zero coincidence this happened after President Biden shut off the Russian money spigots?

  283. 283.

    Kay

    People who spent two weeks lecturing us on how the Canadian government was a threat to liberty everywhere, lap up and swallow anything these leaders say:

    Julia Davis
    @JuliaDavisNews
    ·Russia’s Prosecutor General threatens citizens: “Assistance to a foreign state during the period of a special operation will be regarded as treason to the Motherland.”
    State TV host Olga Skabeeva spreads this threat.
    Putin’s well-oiled war machine includes propagandists.

    The rational assumption is people who are this ridiculously inconsistent about which authoritarian threats they worry about are pro-Putin. That’s reasonable. Because it doesn’t make any sense otherwise. They think Biden is not credible and Putin is credible. That’s a choice that has nothing to do with what they “know” or “don’t know” (no more than other random opinion holder- obviously- every one of their predictions has been wrong) but what they believe. They chose to extend credibility to Putin and withhold it from Biden. They think one is more credible and trustworthy than the other- their personal belief.

  284. 284.

    Geminid

    @Miss Bianca: I think that Barr always knew Trump for what he was. Barr’s real masters are wealthy conservatives like the ones behind the Federalist Society. He took the Attorney General job to serve them. They all  got their use out of Trump, and now he can be disposed of.

  285. 285.

    germy

    @trollhattan:

    What is unfolding in Ukraine is one of the reasons the Founders wrote our Second Amendment. Every American should own a gun and know how to use it for self-defense.
    — Erick Erickson (@EWErickson) February 25, 2022

    I would seriously consider buying this dim bulb’s plane ticket to Kyiv just so I could chain him to a tree and watch him try to stop a Russian tank column with an AR-15. https://t.co/UVjdF31CN6

    — labspokane Слава Україні (@labspokane) February 25, 2022

  288. 288.

    Kay

    @Cacti:

    I thought about it. I wondered if there would be less Right wing grifting when they can’t get paid.

    We’ll know soon enough.

  289. 289.

    Yarrow

    @Cacti:  Not a coincidence. Going to be very interesting to watch what “grassroots” (read: astroturfed) movements suddenly run out of steam and can’t be all grassroots-y anymore.

  290. 290.

    Cacti

    @Geminid: I don’t think Barr opposed a fascist coup in principle, so much as he just found Trump personally trashy.  If a Bush tried the same thing, he’d be fully onboard.

  292. 292.

    James E Powell

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    I think the GOP are going to have difficulties distancing themselves from their past pro-Russian propaganda this time.

    Sad to say, but I doubt that it will harm any right-winger’s reputation with their voters. More than anything else, they hate the rest of us. That’s all they really care about.

    As for the great mass of no-information voters who decide elections in swing states, they probably won’t remember any of this and if they do, they will remember it wrong.

  293. 293.

    Miss Bianca

    @artem1s:

    To me, all of this just elevates him on his pedestal. Shit. Maybe I ought to move to Ukraine. Right after I go to my neighbors’ and start brushing up on my shooting skills.

    ETA: Which I am planning to do, actually. The shooting practice, that is, if not the move to Ukraine.

  294. 294.

    Kay

    @Cacti:

    Although they might be volunteers. I used to listen to CSPAN and it never ceased to amaze me how ordinary people would call in to give an impassioned defense of like, Wal Mart’s scheduling policies. I would think “get paid for that! They have a whole army of lobbyists who do! Sucker!”

  295. 295.

    germy

    @Kathleen:

    It is not yet clear how many companies with ties to Russia the review may uncover, the person said, describing the initiative as a “top-to-bottom” effort to “identify the universe of licensees that have Russian ownership that should be on our radar.”

    Wow.  Some people must be getting nervous about this news.

  296. 296.

    Cacti

    @Kay: Driving a big rig all the way from California to Washington, DC ain’t cheap.  Somebody was paying for it.  And they just happened to quit right when a particular somebody got ex-communicated from the US financial system.

  297. 297.

    New Deal democrat

    @Kay: if Tracey says “the sky is blue,” does that mean they sky is not in fact blue?

    When I read that Putin had put Russia’s nuclear forces on high alert, the first thought that crossed my mind was “there’s your response to NATO shipping more arms into Ukraine.”

    I’m not the only one who had that thought. It also just so happens that the proverbial stopped clock had that thought too.

  301. 301.

    James E Powell

    @delk:

    Who the fuck is asking trump his opinion?

    Don’t know who asked, but Haberman reliably tweets & publishes whatever Trump wants tweeted & published.

  302. 302.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    Hopefully, I will always know better than to try that!

    Renaccci added to his clown credentials this week with his mailing piece highlighting his endorsement by Trump. Turned out that was from 2018 when he was running for the Senate. Oops!

  305. 305.

    James E Powell

    @Kay:

    I’ll have the Whaley thing at my house if they want. I like to have people over and I’ve missed doing it with covid. I had a small group over Thursday night and I didn’t realize how much I had missed it.

    Appetizers? Crudités? Pizza? Chips & pretzels?

  307. 307.

    trollhattan

    @Cacti:

    Got curious at the costs involved lolling around in a tractor trailer and besides the obvious fuel cost, what about wear and tear? Ten tires (taars in the lingo) and I randomly picked Bridgestone R284 to learn what they cost. $765 for one. Installation extra.

    Joyriding in a tractor-trailer is a rich man’s hobby, at best.

  309. 309.

    WaterGirl

    @Kathleen:  Is there any way to know if what we donate right now will definitely go to Ukraine?  i clicked the link and it sounds like it might just go into a big fund with Ukraine bing ONE of the countries that would be helped.

    I know the Red Cross solicits donations whenever there is a crisis, but the donations they get from “text $10 to x” don’t necessarily go to X.

    Not suggesting in any way that your group is disreputable – I will personally never give to the Red cross – but I would like to know.  If donations would definitely go to Ukraine I will add it to the list.

  310. 310.

    James E Powell

    @Cacti:

    The US cross country convoy has pulled the plug just outside of Kansas City.

    First time I read this, I thought, how do you ski through Kansas?

     

  313. 313.

    Cacti

    @trollhattan: Diesel fuel right now is just over $4.00 per gallon on average.  For a long haul truck with two 150 gallon tanks, that’s $1,200.00 for every fill up.  That type of truck has a range of about 600 miles between fuel stops.

    Los Angeles to Washington, DC is about 2,300 miles.  So, about $4,800 in fuel costs each way.

  314. 314.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @rikyrah: For shits and giggles just went to my FreeAssange friends’ FB page to see if he has posted anything about Ukraine/Russia and unsurprisingly the only post is a share from 1/26 demanding Biden stop this war and something about NATO Expansion!!1!

    Not a peep about Putin’s aggression, innocent Ukrainian casualties etc.

  315. 315.

    Kent

    @trollhattan:

    Got curious at the costs involved lolling around in a tractor trailer and besides the obvious fuel cost, what about wear and tear? Ten tires (taars in the lingo) and I randomly picked Bridgestone R284 to learn what they cost. $765 for one. Installation extra.

    Joyriding in a tractor-trailer is a rich man’s hobby, at best.

    Figure 5 mpg for the average big rig, less than that for older models.  At $4-$5 per gallon that is roughly $80-100 per every 100 miles.  Add in tolls and other expenses and a round-trip convoy to DC and back is going to cost some real cash.

    Plus, those are earning days they can never get back.  A truck isn’t like another business that keeps earning when you are absent.  There are only so many hours you can legally drive per week and per month.  You can’t get those back.

  316. 316.

    Miss Bianca

    @Cacti: Have you got a link for this? Not that I doubt you, I just want to enjoy a nice laugh with the rest of my morning coffee.

  318. 318.

    James E Powell

    @Miss Bianca:

    I found this link because I am the type of person who likes to laugh at people I despise

    In a post on their Facebook page at 1:53 a.m., organizers of “Freedom Convoy USA 2022” said there weren’t enough participants to continue.

    But if there were no war, every cable show would be covering them as if they represented the majority of Americans.

  321. 321.

    Kay

    @James E Powell:

    I offered wine and beer at the Thursday thing and decaf coffee and tea and ginger cake. Almost no one drank the wine but they’re midwesterners- they’re required to take cake :)

    I like what my daughter calls “the herb sodas” (making fun of me) – root beer and the ginger ales. There are so many now! So I was technically ahead of that.

    A lot of people don’t drink anymore. I don’t know if this is because I’m old or because they all have a drinking problem so abstain (probably! knowing them!) but it seems like fewer and fewer people drink.

  322. 322.

    Ruckus

    @Enhanced Voting Techniques:

    That is a video! The absolute destruction of invading Russian equipment. I saw at one point what I believe was melted metal on the ground. His walk down the street is – I’m speechless at the destruction of the invading force.

    Ukraine ain’t messing around.

  323. 323.

    Ksmiami

    @Kay: they pick bad people because they are bad people. If you are a Trump supporter, I don’t have an issue with your tax opinions- I have a problem with your moral center and your entire core.

  325. 325.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @New Deal democrat: my general response to Mr. Rudbek when he tries to quote me anything from Fox News is “If Fox News said that the sun rose in the east, I would go check with NASA to see when the Earth started rotating backwards on its axis.”

  328. 328.

    satby

    @zhena gogolia: pocket the contributions to what? They’re an oppo media company, they’re using contributions to produce videos and pay staff, is everyone only pure and trustworthy if they’re starving and work for free?

    We’re (liberals) often our own worst enemies.

  330. 330.

    schrodingers_cat

    @debbie: I have never called EW Pocahontas. She did claim native American heritage for which she later  apologized . I disagree with her populist stances. If that offends you so be it.

    It was a mistake on my part to reason with you. It will never happen again. After all you did wish for my death in that particular thread.

  331. 331.

    debbie

    @schrodingers_cat:

    Well, now you’re either making shit up or you’re delusional. I have never wished for anyone’s death at any time in my life. You have in fact been asked to lay off the Pochahantas-ing in the past. Seek help.

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