Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

They don’t have outfits that big. nor codpieces that small.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

This fight is for everything.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

That meeting sounds like a shotgun wedding between a shitshow and a clusterfuck.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

“Facilitate” is an active verb, not a weasel word.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

We do not need to pander to people who do not like what we stand for.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

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Overnight Open Thread: The Dogs Were Good Again

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Hello night owls and early risers!

If you’re not following WeRateDogs on one of their many platforms, well, why the heck not?! They bring joy daily.

Here are this week’s top 10 dogs:

Equal time for our feline crew:

Cutie long hair tabby in her pretty blue harness sitting on the patio

Willow, giving me attitude as I interrupt her precious outside time. She’s adapted well to the harness, and it has done the job of keeping her in the yard. Her outdoor time is still strictly monitored. Much to her annoyance.

This is an open thread, have at it…

Overnight Open Thread: The Dogs Were Good AgainPost + Comments (53)

War for Ukraine Day 1,143: What Capitulation Looks Like

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This is not a good look!

Absolutely shameful: Witkoff breaks Russian dictator Putin’s diplomatic isolation from the Free World. His handshake with the murderous Kremlin tyrant is like a symbol of Washington’s abdication of its position as leader of the West.

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— Euan MacDonald (@euanmacdonald.bsky.social) April 12, 2025 at 4:45 AM

One of these people has at least thought about Ukraine for some time. The other doesn’t understand basic facts about his brief.

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— Shashank Joshi (@shashj.bsky.social) April 12, 2025 at 6:19 PM

The cost:

⚡️Pavlo Ivanov, a 26-year-old Ukrainian F-16 pilot, was killed during a combat mission on April 12, Ukraine’s Air Force reported.

President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his condolences, and Ivanov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.

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— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) April 12, 2025 at 12:17 PM

From The Kyiv Independent:

Pavlo Ivanov, a 26-year-old Ukrainian F-16 pilot, was killed during a combat mission on April 12, Ukraine’s Air Force reported.

The Air Force praised Ivanov’s dedication and bravery in a statement on Telegram.

“Ukrainian pilots are working to the fullest extent of their human and technical capabilities, risking their lives every time they carry out a combat mission. Pavlo was one of them!” the post said.

An interdepartmental commission has launched an investigation into the circumstances of the incident, according to the statement.

President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his condolences on X, and said that the response will be “strong and precise.”

Ivanov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine, according to the website of the president.

“For personal courage and heroism, demonstrated in the protection of the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and selfless service to the Ukrainian people, I decree to award the title of Hero of Ukraine with the award of the “Golden Star” order to Ivanov Pavlo Ivanovych,” the official statement from Zelensky said.

F-16s are used in both offensive and defensive operations. The aircraft have been used for intercepting Russian missiles and drones during aerial strikes against Ukraine. They can also be deployed to launch missiles and bombs at Russian positions along the front line.

Ivanov’s death marks the second F-16 pilot loss for Ukraine since receiving these jets, following Oleksii Mes’s death last August.

There is no daily address today from President Zelenskyy. I don’t know if it’s because he’s celebrating Passover or traveling.

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Good News?

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Today’s declaration answers only the first of Judge Xinis’s required three questions: it updates the court on Abrego Garcia’s location and status but omits any mentions of steps, past or future, to retrieve him.

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— Joshua J. Friedman (@joshuajfriedman.com) April 12, 2025 at 5:28 PM

Today’s declaration answers only the first of Judge Xinis’s required three questions: it updates the court on Abrego Garcia’s location and status but omits any mentions of steps, past or future, to retrieve him.

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— Joshua J. Friedman (@joshuajfriedman.com) April 12, 2025 at 5:28 PM

By using the phrase “pursuant to the sovereign, domestic authority of El Salvador,” the Trump administration continues to insist that it has no direct control over Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s captivity.

(But IMO it’s too early to conclude that the govt will never take any steps to return him.)

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— Joshua J. Friedman (@joshuajfriedman.com) April 12, 2025 at 5:34 PM

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The Fighting Oligarchy Tour (Open Thread)

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Too bad LA is so far away from me here in Illinois!   Any of our LA peeps attending?

Los Angeles, I’ll be joining the Fighting Oligarchy tour tomorrow! Speaking and then playing the drums. Join us!

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— Maxwell Frost (@maxwellfrost.bsky.social) April 11, 2025 at 5:53 PM

Glad to see that Neil Young is part of this; that seems just right!  Joan Baez, too.

Open thread.

The Fighting Oligarchy Tour (Open Thread)Post + Comments (248)

Friday Saturday Morning Open Thread: Waiting for the Next Doc Dump

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This Politico piece makes the fighting within the Trump administration sound like something from the Clinton or Reagan administrations, when instead it’s a bunch of incompetents, grifters, & lunatics doing their own thing w the senile president not controlling them www.politico.com/news/2025/04…

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— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) April 10, 2025 at 3:31 PM

We're told FDA Commissioner Marty makary has now greenlighted a plan to address at least some of agency's steep layoffs: hire contractors to replace laid-off federal employees
"It's a waste," one laid-off FDA official said
www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-rep…

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— Alexander Tin (@alexander-a-tin.bsky.social) April 11, 2025 at 9:36 PM

Something that may be worth saying is that with agencies floating contractors, Elon seeming less important, spending continuing to go up and the GOP senate plan..

The vought/elon "completely destroy state capacity" wing seems to be losing power quickly.

— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) April 11, 2025 at 10:26 PM

Florida's economy is so fucking screwed rn

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— Schnorkles O'Bork (@schnorkles.bsky.social) April 11, 2025 at 9:50 PM

The silly thing about all this is that there simply aren't that many "criminal illegal aliens." That's why these guys are upping the volume.

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— Cheryl Rofer (@cherylrofer.bsky.social) April 11, 2025 at 5:10 PM

It’s too late to keep out ideas from South Africa

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— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) April 10, 2025 at 1:43 PM

<del>Friday</del> Saturday Morning Open Thread: Waiting for the Next Doc DumpPost + Comments (320)

War for Ukraine Day 1,142: Never Going to Happen

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“Special” Envoy LTG (ret) Kellogg has had a stroke of genius. And by stroke of genius I mean absolutely stupid idea.

Many comments come to mind, but what stands out distinctively is how the British and French flags are placed far from the russian border. Bravery outsourced, as usual—locals suffering while others draw the maps.

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— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) April 11, 2025 at 5:00 PM

Never “divide” and “Ukraine” in the same sentence.

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— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) April 11, 2025 at 5:07 PM

From The Times:

President Trump’s envoy to Ukraine has said the country could be partitioned “almost like Berlin after World War Two” as part of a peace deal.

General Keith Kellogg, a leading figure in US efforts to end the three-year war, suggested that British and French troops could adopt zones of control in the west of the country as part of a “reassurance force”, with Russia’s army in the occupied east. Between them would be Ukrainian forces and a demilitarised zone.

Kellogg, 80, said the Anglo-French-led force west of the Dnipro river, which bisects Ukraine from north to south and runs through Kyiv, would “not be provocative at all” to Moscow. He said Ukraine was a big enough country to accommodate several armies seeking to enforce a ceasefire.

“You could almost make it look like what happened with Berlin after World War Two, when you had a Russian zone, a French zone, and a British zone, a US zone,” he said.

“You’re west of the [Dnipro], which is a major obstacle,” Kellogg said. He later clarified that America would not be providing any ground forces. He suggested that a demilitarised zone of 18 miles could be implemented along the existing lines of control in the east.

Implicit in the general’s plan of how to move from a ceasefire to an enduring peace settlement is US acknowledgment of Russia’s de facto control over the land they currently occupy.

More at the link.

Kellogg has already come out and walked this back.

Witkoff’s insanity: He told Trump that the fastest way to a deal is handing Russia full control over 4 Ukrainian regions—Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.

Trump ally Keith Kellogg pushed back, saying Ukraine will never agree to unilaterally surrender land

www.reuters.com/world/trump-…

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— NOELREPORTS (@noelreports.com) April 11, 2025 at 5:58 PM

From Reuters:

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON, April 11 (Reuters) – Less than 48 hours after dining with a negotiator sent by Russian President Vladimir Putin in Washington last week, Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy leading talks with Moscow, sat down with President Donald Trump in the White House and delivered a clear message.

The fastest way to broker a ceasefire in Ukraine, said Witkoff, was to support a strategy that would give Russia ownership of four eastern Ukrainian regions it attempted to annex illegally in 2022, two U.S. officials and five people familiar with the situation told Reuters.

It was a point Witkoff had made previously – and publicly in a podcast interview with conservative media personality Tucker Carlson last month – but one that Kyiv has repeatedly rejected and that some U.S. and European officials have dismissed as a maximalist Russian demand.

In the meeting with Trump, General Keith Kellogg, the president’s Ukraine envoy, pushed back against Witkoff, saying Ukraine, though willing to negotiate some terms related to disputed land, would never agree to unilaterally cede total ownership of the territories to Russia, said two of the sources.

The meeting ended without Trump making a decision to change the U.S. strategy. Witkoff traveled to Russia Friday to meet Putin.

Trump administration officials are increasingly at odds over how to break the deadlock between Ukraine and Russia, with Witkoff and Kellogg – who favors more direct support for Ukraine – disagreeing on the best course forward, according to the U.S. officials and people familiar with the matter and four Western diplomats who are in touch with administration officials.

Witkoff’s office, the National Security Council, the State Department, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry and the Russian Embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.

In a break with normal security procedures, Witkoff had invited Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian envoy who is under U.S. sanctions following Russia’s invasion, to his personal residence for dinner before the White House meeting.

That set off alarms inside the White House and the State Department, according to two people familiar with the situation. U.S. officials avoid hosting officials from Russia – which has sophisticated intelligence capabilities – to their homes.

The dinner was rescheduled and took place at the White House instead.

Witkoff, an old friend of Trump’s who has helped secure key diplomatic victories for the president, has garnered some support from the Republican Party’s Ukraine skeptics but his proposals have stoked outrage among other Republicans who believe the administration has turned too sharply toward Moscow.

Some Republicans on Capitol Hill were so concerned about Witkoff’s apparent pro-Russia stance in the Carlson interview that several called National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and Secretary of State Marco Rubio afterward to complain, according to a person familiar with the calls.

More at the link.

This is never going to happen. Neither President Zelenskyy, nor anyone who is a viable successor to him, would agree to this. It would be political suicide. It would also condemn hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to Russian tyranny and all the genocidal punishment that will come with it.

The quickest way to end the war is to surrender, sure. But Ukraine has never needed, nor will it ever need, Witkoff for that. If surrender were ever on the table, we’d handle it ourselves, but it is not, and it seems Trump’s special envoy refuses to acknowledge that.

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) April 11, 2025 at 2:40 PM

There’s another issue here. The US does not have anything close to a coherent policy, let alone strategy to achieve it.

An illustrated page from Alice in Wonderland. Alice is in the foreground left with her back to the reader. The Cheshire cat is on a tree branch above her and to the right. Below the Cheshire cat is the following text with Alice asking the Cheshire Cat "Would you tell me please, which way I should go from here?" The Cheshire Cat replies: "That depends a good deal on where you want to get to." To which Alice replies "I don't much care where --" The Cheshire cat then replies "Then it doesn't matter which way you go."

Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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