Balloon Juice - Open Threads Archives

It’s Not Far-Fetched to Imagine Me Flying to the Moon Powered by My Own Farts

by @heymistermix.com| May 24, 202411:07 am| 64 Comments

It's Not Far-Fetched For Me to Fly To the Moon Powered by My Own Farts

The only thing that Fareed has ever gotten right is his take on the martini and he plagarized some of it. He did the same for seven other articles in Newsweek. Yet, years after actions that would have gotten regular old journalists fired, he persists, like a bad rash. I’m not going to read this drivel because if the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that Netanyahu supporting a two-state solution is the very definition of “far-fetched.”

(That screenshot is from the Post, where Fred Hiatt refused to do anything about him and still pays him for columns.)

It’s Not Far-Fetched to Imagine Me Flying to the Moon Powered by My Own FartsPost + Comments (64)

Foreign Affairs Open Thread: What Happens After Ebrahim Raisi?

by Anne Laurie| May 24, 20244:31 am| 44 Comments

This post is in: Excellent Links, Foreign Affairs, Open Threads

(John Deering via GoComics.com)

BREAKING: Iran's supreme leader presides over a funeral for the country's late President Ebrahim Raisi, foreign minister, and others killed in a helicopter crash https://t.co/6B0xGuzLSg

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 22, 2024

What killed President Ebrahim Raisi? Iranians have theories. https://t.co/gYH2z2SjQp

— Scott MacKay (@ScotMackRI) May 21, 2024

I particularly wanted to share this report from the Washington Post’s Jason Rezian, who knows Iran as do very few Western reporters — What killed President Ebrahim Raisi? Iranians have theories. [gift link]:

…Even though it appeared that the crash was a weather-related accident, few details were released to the public, naturally fueling wide speculation among observers. Iranian authorities’ track record of tampering with the crash sites of aviation disasters does little to instill confidence that they will be transparent in reporting their findings, which inevitably leads to more questions.

Let’s address the most basic one first: How can a vehicle transporting top officials of a large country — one credited with all manner of sinister powers — simply disappear within its borders and for so long? The likeliest answer is that Iranian authorities knew immediately what had happened but dragged their feet while they considered how to inform the nation and the world.

During those long hours when officials had little to say, conspiracy theories undermining the regime proliferated. All three point to weaknesses the regime would prefer to hide. In walking through them here, I’ll save the most probable explanation for last.

Inevitably, some pointed to Israel as a possible culprit. That country denied any involvement, but it has done that in previous instances when it killed key Iranian officials. Regardless of whether Israel played a role, ordinary Iranians will not dismiss the possibility that this was a message to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: that Israeli forces truly seem capable of doing whatever they like inside Iran. Even if this is not true, it does an authoritarian regime no good for its people to think it might be.

Another pesky theory that will be hard for the regime to shake was the notion that this was an inside job.

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Although Iran is a tightly controlled system that usually bends to Khamenei’s whims, that doesn’t mean political competition doesn’t exist. In fact, it’s rampant. Raisi was thought to have been handpicked by the supreme leader to be president. Though astute analysts doubted Raisi had the chops to rise to the top, it was widely assumed that he was in the running to succeed Khamenei…

But the most probable cause of this fatal helicopter crash is the least fanciful and most damning: It was an accident that most likely happened because much in the Islamic republic is in an advanced state of decay.

Iran is one of the most dangerous places in the world in which to drive or fly. The number of road deaths is staggering, averaging about 17,000 each year. The number of fatal plane crashes is also abnormally high. Flight fatalities can be attributed to the use of antiquated aircraft whose maintenance is hampered by the economic sanctions imposed on Iran. And yet Iranians of all stripes, including senior regime officials, make risky transportation decisions all the time. Politicians die or are injured in accidents more frequently than you might think…

Despite the calamity, many Iranians won’t miss Raisi, who was an architect of the horrific extermination of thousands of domestic dissidents in the 1980s. At the same time, they know his death won’t change things in any substantive way. The Iranian regime may be wobbly and sclerotic, but it’s also deeply entrenched. It will take more than the death of its president — whose power is marginal, at best — to unseat it.

Raisi: "Supreme Leader, please, let me retire so I can live out my last few years with my family"
Khamenei: "Get in the fucking helicopter Ebrahim" https://t.co/AF7TyIxiAy

— Houthi and the Blowfish #WormGang?? (@canderaid) May 20, 2024

raisi is sort of a beria figure: a bureaucratic actor who was willing to do terrible things for more prominent figures in his movement, and his willingness to do those things marginalized him to the point where it was always safe to promote him. https://t.co/zDKdJFW2xN

— caillou harkonnen (@revhowardarson) May 21, 2024

President Ebrahim Raisi's mixed legacy in Iran https://t.co/RyOfmI3ciB

— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) May 20, 2024

From London to Los Angeles, many Iranians overseas cheer, and fear, after president's death https://t.co/vvX9zS62mI

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 22, 2024

Per Bloomberg , “Iran’s Center of Power Shifts From ‘Clerical Slippers to Combat Boots’”:

… With Raisi gone, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — the most powerful arm of Iran’s military which over the past two decades has significantly increased its influence on the country’s politics and economy — is now well placed to become more powerful than any individual who might eventually replace Khamenei, who’s in his mid-80s.

“I don’t look at the issue of the Supreme Leader’s succession in terms of an individual, but rather an institution and I see that institution being the IRGC,” said Saeed Laylaz, previously an adviser to former president Mohammad Khatami. The gravitational center of power in Iran is likely to shift from “clerical slippers to combat boots,” after Khamenei’s death, Laylaz added.

Western officials and regime insiders said it’s unlikely Raisi’s death will change the Islamic Republic’s foreign and regional policy — a fact underscored by Khamenei himself when he told the public that there would be “no disruptions” to how the country is run.

But the accident has turned attention to what Iran will look like after Khamenei. It comes at a time when the regime faces unprecedented levels of dissent at home, is trying to revive a sanctions-hit economy and is involved in a string of regional conflicts and crises, from Afghanistan to Gaza and Yemen…

The IRGC has been central to that strengthening process. Designated a terrorist organization by the US in 2019 it was set up by Khomeini to protect the Islamic Republic as a political regime. It has increased considerably in size and strength over the past 20 years. And it has been instrumental in fostering a network of proxies and militias across the Middle East designed to protect Iran’s interests, spread its influence and constantly challenge the US presence in the region…

Since 2018, when the US withdrew from the nuclear deal — an agreement between Tehran and world powers — and then later came close to conflict with the Islamic Republic after killing top IRGC General Qassem Soleimani, the Guards have taken a more prominent role in the running of the country…

Replacing Raisi as caretaker president, ahead of elections on June 28, is former IRGC officer Mohammad Mokhber, who has close links to Khamenei’s office. Ali Bagheri Kani, who has stepped in as foreign minister, is a member of the hardline political faction, the Front of Islamic Revolution Stability, known as Paydari, which had spent years grooming Raisi to succeed Khamenei…

While Raisi oversaw modest economic growth after his 2021 election, the country’s currency hit successive record lows during his leadership, losing almost 70% of its value against the dollar in the open, unregulated market. And as much as clerics and generals in Tehran can be pragmatic with geopolitics, they prefer to be unsparing and ruthless in how they deal with their widespread unpopularity in urban centers and among the young…

The past eight years have been some of the most volatile in the history of the Islamic Republic and each fresh chapter of domestic unrest has been met with a stronger response from the security forces. The most recent demonstration of this was the uprising triggered by the September 2022 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who’d been arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s strict Islamic dress codes.

Protests swept the country, gripping communities and explicitly challenging Khamenei and his rule in unprecedented ways, most visibly by women shunning mandatory headscarves or hijab — a defining feature of the Islamic Republic. The security forces crushed dissent, killing hundreds of protesters — most of whom were women and young people — and arresting thousands more, according to human rights groups. At least seven men were hanged for taking part in the demonstrations…

Mobile phone videos showing teams of uniformed officers and their female colleagues, cloaked in black from head-to-toe, beating and dragging young women in public and forcing them into police vehicles, have proliferated on social media platforms like X and Instagram.

“What keeps Khamenei up at night I don’t think is protesters in Iran,” Nasr said, “it’s his legacy. He’s concerned about his legacy and the continuity of the Islamic Republic along the lines that’s best for the system.”

Ray Takeyh (Council on Foreign Relations) and Suzanne Maloney (Brookings), for Politico — “What the Death of Iran’s President Really Means”:

Before he managed to best a weak field in a heavily orchestrated 2021 election, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s primary claim to fame — or infamy, as the case may be — was his role in sending 5,000 political prisoners to their deaths. That mass murder in 1988 was part of a larger campaign by Iran’s theocratic state to intimidate its increasingly frustrated citizenry in preparation for the end of the eight-year war with Iraq and the death of the revolution’s founder, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Raisi’s many victims might find satisfaction in his death, but the repressive regime he leaves behind will outlive him…

The ascension of Raisi to the regime’s second highest office was not a function of any discernible charisma or political skill, but rather an acknowledgment that he possessed the qualities most valuable for late-stage autocracy — mindless loyalty to the ruling system, a track record of unhesitating brutality and deep integration within the religious, familial and security networks that underpin the state. In this sense, he was a reliable functionary of the clerical state, a symptom not the cause of its domestic repression and regional aggression.

For that reason, his death is not likely to precipitate meaningful changes in Iranian policies. What may have changed is the considerable appetite for risk that Tehran has demonstrated over the past several years. From blindly enforcing religious strictures on their rebellious constituents to nearly going to war with Israel, the regime seems to disregard its own practical interests. Iran’s senior leadership necessarily will find itself more consumed by the task of ensuring a smooth transition to a new president amidst voter apathy and a recent history of internal unrest. However, Khamenei and the security services will be acutely aware of the risk inherent in any perception of vulnerability, both in terms of their external posture as well as internal politics. As a result, we should expect a skittish, reactive Iran that may be more dangerous if it perceives itself on the defensive…

The remaining issue that Khamenei has to settle before his own passing is the nuclear program. Iran’s scientists and technicians have done their job and there are probably no longer any remaining technological barriers to detonation. Khamenei has expanded the nuclear infrastructure in terms of size and sophistication but has been hesitant about crossing the final line and actually detonating the bomb. As he contemplates his last and most consequential decision, he will increasingly be surrounded by men who feel they have little to lose in the age of American decline in the Middle East.

Raisi was in many ways a transitional figure. He represented the last gasp of those who were present at the creation of the revolution. Under the watchful eye of Khamenei, a new generation is about to assume power. And they believe the world is going their way.

Jimmy Carter living long enough to see an Iranian President be destroyed by a helicopter crash in Iran. pic.twitter.com/QRcW6UWNu0

— zeddy (@Zeddary) May 20, 2024

And your final regret is: "If only I could get one more woman hanged for wearing the wrong dress…" https://t.co/F0QGDkM24X

— Slava Malamud ???????? (@SlavaMalamud) May 20, 2024

Foreign Affairs Open Thread: What Happens After Ebrahim Raisi?Post + Comments (44)

War for Ukraine Day 820: Russia’s Genocidal Intent Expose in Kharkiv Bombardment

by Adam L Silverman| May 23, 20249:44 pm| 33 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Military, Open Threads, Russia, Silverman on Security, War, War in Ukraine

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

A few quick housekeeping notes: First, everyone chill the hell out in the comments! And cut each other a lot more slack! I get it that all of what is going on in Ukraine, Gaza, Georgia, and everywhere else has everyone frazzled, but let’s all just dial it back a few notches. Thanks!

Second, Rosie is still doing well as she recovers from her fourth chemo treatment. It’s clearly had an effect on her system, but nowhere near the effect of the first two treatments. Thank all of you again for the thoughts, well wishes, prayers, and donations!

Third, I only got home a little while ago. It has been a very long day, so I’m just going to cover a few items tonight.

Fourth, simply to clarify, the F-16s that the Ukrainians will be getting are not coming from a boneyard in the US. They’re coming from our NATO allies. The first dozen or so from Holland. The issue here, like it is with so many US weapons systems, is that had the Biden administration began the process when the Ukrainians asked, rather than loudly announcing the Ukrainians didn’t need what they asked for and it wouldn’t be helpful, but just quietly started the training programs and setting up the logistics to provide them, then they’d have been available when the Biden administration eventually changed their mind and announced that we’re sending F-16s or several other weapons systems. Finally, and I’ve said this before, I’m unhappy with the President and his nat-sec team, I think they’re exceedingly risk averse when they shouldn’t be and not risk averse enough when they should be. But they’re still a million times better than the people lined up to replace them if Trump is elected in November. Everyone needs to vote as if this is the last actual meaningful election we’ll ever see. Because it may very well be.

The Russians once again revealed their genocidal intent with their bombardment of Kharkiv today. And, of course, the tweet I want to embed won’t. Neither will this one! Let’s try a reply with the original tweet. Nope, that won’t work either! Not a single fucking tweet will embed! And I’m having this problem with both Safari and Brave and with the VPN on and the VPN off. I’ve already alerted Cole.

Let’s do this the hard way.

Russia blew up Ukraine’s largest printing house today. Seven workers were killed, only two identified because of the heat of the explosion. Kharkiv was attacked three times today during the day and again just as the 23rd gave way to the 24th in Ukraine.

The Kyiv Independent has the details:

Russian forces destroyed one of Ukraine’s largest printing presses amid a mass missile attack on the city of Kharkiv on the morning of May 23.

According to regional authorities, Russia used S-300 missiles, fired from inside Russian territory, to strike the factory belonging to Ukraine’s prominent Vivat publishing house.

Russian forces fired around 10 missiles in total at Kharkiv, as well as other settlements in the region including Liubotyn, Derhachi, and Zolochiv.

Seven people were killed in the attack, and over a dozen more injured. One of the civilians killed was placed on an ambulance stretcher, his body still intact. The others, discovered by the firefighters one at a time as they made their way through the smoking ruins, were burnt beyond recognition.

The attack is just the latest in a series of intensified attacks against civilian targets in Kharkiv Oblast amid an ongoing ground offensive in the region.

On May 19, another seven people were killed when Russian forces conducted a “double-tap” strike against a lakeside recreation center north of the city.

Kharkiv is a center of the Ukrainian publishing industry, with repeated attacks seemingly targeting publishing houses condemned as part of Russia’s war against Ukrainian culture.

Eight more communities in Sumy Oblast were attacked by Russia today as well. From The Kyiv Independent:

Russian forces attacked Sumy Oblast 108 times in 25 separate attacks throughout the day, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported on May 23.

The communities of Bilopillia, Yunakivka, Khotin, Krasnopillia, Velyka Pysarivka, Druzhbivka, Seredyna-Buda, and Esman, were targeted.

Throughout the day, Russia assailed the border communities with mortar, drone, rocket, and artillery attacks, while dropping explosives from drones onto three of the communities.

No casualties or injuries were reported.

The town of Velyka Pysarivka, located about 3 kilometers west of the Ukraine-Russia border, experienced the bulk of the attacks reported with 42 explosions recorded in the area.

Given the town’s proximity to Russia, Velyka Pysarivka has become a main target of attack for Russia over recent months. Much of the community’s infrastructure has been destroyed by Russian attacks.

Russian strikes against Sumy Oblast have become increasingly destructive in recent months. Amid intensified attacks, Ukrainian authorities ordered increased evacuations from the region.

Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said on May 14 he expects Russia to launch a new attack in Sumy Oblast once the situation in Kharkiv Oblast stabilized, the New York Times reported.

Shelling is a daily occurrence for the communities near Ukraine’s northeastern border with Russia, with residents in the region’s vulnerable border settlements experience multiple attacks per day.

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

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The Protection of Life Must Have All of the Necessary Tools to Truly Defeat Terrorists – Address by the President

23 May 2024 – 21:56

Dear Ukrainians!

Today, the elimination of the consequences of Russian terrorists’ attacks on the Kharkiv region continued throughout the day. Kharkiv, Lyubotyn and Derhachi were under attack by missiles, and then by guided aerial bombs. Today, among Russia’s targets was one of Ukraine’s largest printing facilities. A missile strike killed and wounded a number of people. Book storage and equipment were destroyed by fire. Many Ukrainian publishers had their books printed there. And this is a target for Russian terrorists. They want to burn and destroy all spheres of life. Today, there were many reactions both in Ukraine and in the world to this yet another act of Russian terror. But every time such attacks occur, destroying our cities and villages, ruining lives, burning books and everything that preserves humanity, we must openly say why this is still possible. It is only because Ukraine still has restrictions in its defense. This is a shortage of air defense systems that are actually available in the world. This is the lack of long-range capabilities for our warriors and the complete inability to destroy the very source of Russian terror near our borders, including the missile launchers that actually hit Ukraine and the lives of our people. The vast majority of the world perceives the threat of terror in the same way – people always want reliable protection from terrorists and fair punishment for their attacks against life. And every nation would perceive restrictions in the fight against terror as wrong and unfair. The protection of life must have all of the necessary tools to truly defeat terrorists. And I thank every leader who perceives this the same way as Ukrainians do, every state that genuinely supports our fight against terror. But we need more efforts, more determination – the determination of the world’s leaders – to make Russian terror finally lose.

The second important thing for today. I would like to especially thank the warriors of our 110th separate mechanized brigade who destroyed a Russian Su-25. The day before – also in the Donetsk region – the warriors of our 47th separate mechanized brigade also shot down a Su-25. Thank you for your accuracy, warriors! I thank every unit, every soldier, every commander who is doing everything to give Ukraine the necessary results at the front – no matter what.

I held a meeting of the Staff. The Commander-in-Chief reported on both the Kharkiv region and the battles in the Donetsk region. We are doing everything to deter Russian assaults. There was a report by the Minister of Defense on supplies for our warriors. The Head of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reported on the situation on our border – in Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv regions. There were reports from the intelligence agencies – the Defense Intelligence and the Foreign Intelligence Service – in particular, on Russian attempts to disrupt the Peace Summit and the participation of the world’s states. We are countering the Russian intention to continue and expand the war.

Today, I spoke with the President of North Macedonia and the Prime Ministers of Greece and Norway to invite them to the Peace Summit and express gratitude for confirming their attendance.

A few more things.

Our Ukrainian Marines are celebrating their Day today, and it is a day of our special respect for them. Today it was an honor for me to congratulate the warriors and recognize them with state awards.

And today I also met with the team and ambassadors of our national charitable platform United24. This is the second anniversary of its activities, and it is one of the most successful international projects of Ukraine. In two years of fundraising for the needs of Ukraine – for our Defense and Security Forces, for the protection of life in Ukraine – a total of $650 million has been raised through United24. I thank everyone in the world who has joined and who is helping. I thank everyone who stands with Ukraine!

Glory to our warriors!

Glory to Ukraine!

https://x.com/DefenceU/status/1793679432550367234

Ukraine’s 110th Mechanized Brigade said it shot down a Russian Su-25 jet on May 23, making it the second reported downing of a Russian plane within the same day.

It is reportedly the sixth Russian Su-25 jet that Ukraine has shot down this month.

The 110th Mechanized Brigade said it was downed in Donbas but did not specify exactly where. Donbas is an industrial region in the east of Ukraine that comprises Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Russia currently controls most of both regions.

The Soviet-designed Su-25, nicknamed “Frogfoot” by NATO, is a heavily armored ground-attack aircraft that provides close air support for Russian ground troops.

Ukraine previously claimed that it destroyed Su-25s on May 4, May 11, May 13, and May 18.

Another Su-25 plane was shot down earlier in the day on May 23.

The General Staff said on May 23 that Russia has lost over 350 planes since the launch of the full-scale invasion.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify these figures.

Yesterday we covered Russia deleting their posted amendment of their maritime borders as a result of pushback from the Baltic states and Finland. I posited that just because they deleted it, didn’t mean they had abandoned the idea. From the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

Statement of the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the border incident on the Estonian-Russian border in the Narva River

On 23 May at 3 a.m., Russian Border Guard unilaterally removed the light buoys placed by Estonia to demarcate the border with Russia on the Narva River.
This action by Russia, carried out in the shadow of the night, fits well within the broader pattern of Russia’s provocative behaviour, including on its borders with neighbours, most recently vis-à-vis Lithuania and Finland.

Estonia’s response remains calm and clear-eyed. We treat this as a provocative border incident. We will communicate to the Russian Federation through our border representatives and diplomatic channels that such actions are unacceptable, demand an explanation about the removal of the buoys and their immediate return.

Estonia is in close contact with Allies and partners as we continue to counter Russia’s malign activities across Europe.

See, that didn’t take long!

Politico has some good news on the F-16 front:

NEW AID TO UKRAINE: The U.S. is expected to unveil a new $275 million military package for Ukraine on Friday as its troops struggle to keep Russian forces from advancing in the northeastern Kharkiv region, The Associated Press’ TARA COPP and MATTHEW LEE report.

The package will include high mobility artillery rocket systems; 155 mm and 105 mm artillery rounds that are in high demand; Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank systems; anti-tank mines, tactical vehicles, small arms and ammunition for those weapons.

FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — CONGRATS GRADS: The first batch of Ukrainian pilots have graduated from F-16 training at an Arizona military base, a crucial step toward putting modern, American-made fighter jets in Ukraine’s skies, Capt. ERIN HANNIGAN, a spokesperson with the Air National Guard, told our own LARA SELIGMAN.

The pilots had been training at the 162d National Guard Air Force Base in Tucson. Hannigan would not confirm how many have graduated or the exact date of graduation “out of abundance of caution for their safety.”

The pilots are now headed to Europe for additional training, according to a person with knowledge of their movements. Ukraine is slated to receive more than 60 F-16s from Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium.

From the same link, Politico is also reporting about Trump’s attempt to use Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gerschkovich, who is in pre-trial imprisonment in Russia on trumped up bogus charges, to shake down the US.

TRUMP’S PLAN TO FREE EVAN: Former President DONALD TRUMP claimed today that his relationship with Putin will help free jailed Wall Street Journal reporter EVAN GERSHKOVICH.

In a Truth Social post, the presumptive Republican nominee said Gershkovich would be released after the election, “definitely before I assume office.” Trump added: “Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, will do that for me, but not for anyone else, and WE WILL BE PAYING NOTHING!”

The Kremlin, however, is throwing cold water on those claims, according to Reuters’ GLEB STOLYAROV. “Here, Putin has naturally not had contacts with Donald Trump,” Kremlin spokesperson DMITRY PESKOV told reporters today. Peskov added that any contact about detainees would need to be discreet, saying “this is the only way they can be effective.”

Gershkovich has been detained by Russian authorities for more than a year on dubious espionage charges. Both the Journal and U.S. government reject the allegations. The State Department has designated the reporter “wrongfully detained.”

I’ll remind everyone that Trump did fuck all for US Marine Paul Whelan, who Putin is also imprisoning on trumped up bogus charges.

What a putz!

That’s going to be it for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

There is a new Patron tweet, but it won’t embed, so provided whatever isn’t working starts working again by tomorrow night, I’ll post it then. Until then here’s a new video from Patron’s official TikTok!

@patron__dsns

:) #песпатрон

♬ original sound – Gvelismchameli

Well at least something worked!

Open thread!

War for Ukraine Day 820: Russia’s Genocidal Intent Expose in Kharkiv BombardmentPost + Comments (33)

Thursday Afternoon Open Thread

by WaterGirl| May 23, 20245:37 pm| 118 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

I’ve been working most of the day today, except for stopping several times to read the Betty Cracker thread from earlier. So I haven’t seen a bit of news yet today. What’s going on in the world?

Open thread

Thursday Afternoon Open ThreadPost + Comments (118)

Late Night Open Thread: The Fanbearer & the Fluffers

by Anne Laurie| May 23, 20241:54 am| 102 Comments

This post is in: Excellent Links, Open Threads, Republican Venality, Trump’s NY Criminal Trial, Trumpery

I think this is the best caricature of ‘Leader’ Mike Johnson I’ve seen. Not, as he flatters himself, a Moses, just another untrustworthy servant to a a cartoonish pharaoh…

(Ann Telnaes via the Washington Post)

Dress for the job you want: https://t.co/SRkzcO665W

— Defector (@DefectorMedia) May 19, 2024

On Monday [May 13th], Sen. J.D. Vance, the Appalachian memoirist from the suburbs of Dayton, showed up at Donald Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan wearing a blue suit and plain red necktie, and proceeded to say the sorts of things that a gag order is supposed to be preventing the defendant from saying in public anymore. As the week went on, more synthetic Trumps kept showing up, a parade of major and minor Republican figures—some of them major and minor at the same time, like House Speaker-by-default Mike Johnson, or the media-penetrating failed presidential primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

The men were decked out like Vance, which is to say like costume-store versions of Trump, to varying degrees of fidelity. Johnson finessed it with a striped tie in equal proportions of red and navy, but with the red naturally catching the eye; centimillionaire Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who turned up last week, went with a red-dominated repp tie. But a Tuesday lineup of Ramaswamy, Florida Reps. Byron Donalds and Cory Mills, and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum stood shoulder to shoulder in nearly matching, fully blank red neckwear, like groomsmen, or backup singers looking for a band.

Or—in the most widespread interpretation—they looked as if they were auditioning for a part. Specifically, they were supposed to be auditioning for the role of Trump’s running mate. This seemed like a reasonable reading of the spectacle, but the details were hard to pin down….

The first, non-negotiable thing that Trump wants in a running mate is the guarantee that there won’t be another Mike Pence—that his new vice president would never turn against him, no matter what the law or constitutional duty might say. Already, under pressure from Trump, Republicans are refusing to say they’ll accept the results of this year’s balloting. He needs a crook he can trust.

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Does J.D. Vance believe that Donald Trump would believe he could be that person? Eight years ago, he was calling Trump “reprehensible” and “an idiot.” Trump loves when his former critics crawl for him, but every obsequious line out of Vance’s mouth now is just a demonstration that he will say or do anything to advance himself. The same impulse that made Vance show up at the courthouse in a red tie would make Vice President Vance reach for the 25th Amendment if he saw an opening, and Donald Trump wouldn’t be Donald Trump if he couldn’t smell that on him.

To game these scenarios out is to realize that the game itself makes no sense. As Lin Biao and Liu Shaoqi discovered, being the No. 2 in a one-man cult of personality is no job at all. Trump needs a running mate who is combative yet submissive, safely weak but not pathetic, entertaining at the rallies without craving the spotlight. He needs someone who is more than a parasite on his own success, but less than an independent personality. He needs a running mate who is a negative space in the precise shape of Donald Trump; he needs someone who could put on a costume, because it was a costume, and somehow make people believe it was clothes.

My question: Are they taking vacation days to go on their field trips to NY or am I paying for it?

— Tesoro (@Tesoro414241412) May 18, 2024

(Jack Ohman via GoComics.com)

Media coverage of Republicans stampeding to NYC to attack Trump's trial as illegitimate is marred by euphemism. This isn't just "currying favor" with Trump or "expressing loyalty" or auditioning to be his veep. It's placing Trump over the rule of law. 1/https://t.co/aWaE6XltrH pic.twitter.com/veCnRVzm2g

— Greg Sargent (@GregTSargent) May 18, 2024

We're on the verge of something truly horrible and a lot of people are sleepwalking into it. https://t.co/XLuEPJ2lla

— Jean-Michel Connard 좆됐어 (@torriangray) May 21, 2024

We're on year eight of gutter fash shit accidentally/incidentally/somehow winding up in Republican messaging and ads, even beyond Trump's. A takeaway from that should be that "they're too ignorant/stupid/lazy to be fascist" was and remains wrong. For one thing, how smart did you expect them to be?

— David_j_roth (@davidjroth.bsky.social) May 20, 2024 at 10:58 PM

(Mike Luckovich via GoComics.com)

Late Night Open Thread: The Fanbearer & the FluffersPost + Comments (102)

War for Ukraine Day 819: The Russian Punishment of Sumy and Kharkiv Oblasts Continues

by Adam L Silverman| May 22, 20247:34 pm| 67 Comments

This post is in: Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Military, Open Threads, Russia, Silverman on Security, War, War in Ukraine

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

Quick housekeeping note: Rosie is still doing well after her chemo on Monday. She’s still a bit wobbly, but she’s active, eating, drinking, wanting attention, and her temperature is still normal. She’ll have bloodwork done Saturday, but otherwise, she’s got a two week break before round 2 starts. Thank everyone again for their good thoughts, well wishes, prayers, and donations.

As I started tonight’s update – 6:40 PM EDT – air raid alerts were up over all of eastern Ukraine except for Sumy Oblast. In the past seven minutes they’ve also gone up in Mykolaiv and Odesa Oblasts. So they’re now up in all of eastern and southern Ukraine with the exception of Sumy Oblast.

Russia is still pounding the daylights out of Sumy and Kharkiv Oblasts. As well as other parts of Ukraine.

⚡️Russia attacks 10 communities in Sumy Oblast.

Russian forces attacked Sumy Oblast 30 times throughout the day, causing at least 139 explosions, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported on May 22.https://t.co/a3btaw45hL

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 22, 2024

From The Kyiv Independent:

Russian forces attacked ten border areas and settlements of Sumy Oblast on May 22, firing 30 times and causing at least 139 explosions, the Sumy Oblast Military Administration reported.

The communities of Mykolaivka, Bilopillia, Krasnopillia, Velyka Pysarivka, Esman, Shalyhyne, Putyvl, Znob-Novhorodske, Hlukhiv, Seredyna-Buda were targeted.

The Russian military struck the communities using artillery fire, drones, and mortar shelling, while also dropping mines.

No casualties were reported.

The town of Velyka Pysarivka experienced the most attacks, with 71 explosions recorded in the area.

Velyka Pysarivka, located directly on the Russia-Ukraine border, has become a main target of attack for Russia. Amid an up-tick in Russian attacks, authorities have been working to increase evacuation efforts in the town Velyka Pysarivka with nearly 300 residents being evacuated this week.

Shelling is a daily occurrence for the communities near Ukraine’s northeastern border with Russia, with residents in the region’s vulnerable border settlements experiencing multiple attacks per day.

Following a russian bomb strike on a residential neighborhood in Kharkiv, ten civilians were injured. Among them, one man is in serious condition, having lost both legs.

📹 Yevhen Khaustov/Espreso https://t.co/41sYV5yl0E pic.twitter.com/Ba7HEb1HO0

— Iryna Voichuk (@IrynaVoichuk) May 22, 2024

Drones are turning into the deadliest weapon of this war. Today, one killed a policeman during an evacuation mission in Vovchansk. They're everywhere in the sky, even reaching as far as the Kharkiv Ring Road. pic.twitter.com/KkkVLoRRsY

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) May 22, 2024

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

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The Peace Summit and the Participation of World Leaders Can Restore the Full Effectiveness of the UN Charter and Return Full Protection to Every Nation – Address by the President

22 May 2024 – 20:24

Dear Ukrainians!

A brief summary of the day.

I held a special meeting of the National Security and Defense Council and the Staff, with the Secretary of the NSDC Lytvynenko, the Chief of the General Staff Barhylevych, the Deputy Prime Minister Fedorov, and the Minister for Strategic Industries Kamyshin. It was about our Ukrainian production of electronic warfare, drones, our missile program, and our countermeasures against Russia’s guided aerial bombs. This is a challenging topic, and while we see some good progress on electronic warfare, drones, and the missile program, there is still a lot of work to be done to counter Russian bombs. We discussed the details today. There is no alternative – Ukraine needs systems and tactics that will allow us to defend our positions, our cities and communities from these bombs. For now, they are the actual main tool of the Russian terror and the advance of the occupier.

Today I also spoke with General Syrskyi about the situation on the front. The report of the Commander-in-Chief was delivered in the morning, and there was another one just recently. The directions of the main battles have not changed. They include primarily Pokrovsk and other Donetsk directions. As well as the Kupyansk direction in the Kharkiv region. The main focus is on the entire border area, not only in the Kharkiv region but also in the Sumy region. The task of our units and the Defense Forces in general has not changed either. We must inflict as many losses on the occupier as possible, and I thank every warrior, every soldier and commander who is really accurate, who really ensures for all of us – for our entire state – the results we need.

In particular, I would like to mention the 57th separate motorized infantry brigade, which is defending the area of Vovchansk and our Kharkiv region in general, firmly holding its positions and destroying the occupier exactly as needed. Thank you, warriors! Also, the 82nd separate air assault brigade. Thank you, guys! As well as the Pokrovsk direction – the 47th separate mechanized brigade. Well done, warriors!

And now, I would like to personally thank Sweden and Mr. Prime Minister Kristersson for today’s new decision on long-term support for our country and our people for the next three years. The total amount is seven billion dollars. It is really tangible, and it will strengthen not only us, not only Ukraine, but the entire European perimeter from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Wherever the Russian madmen might try to revise the land or sea borders.

Today, I also continued our diplomatic marathon of preparations for the First Global Peace Summit, personally inviting four more states to the Summit. I spoke today with the leaders of Chile, Albania, Austria and Mozambique. There are four more states at the Summit – thank you. Of course, we also discussed our bilateral relations. Now every leader, every state is able to show their leadership so that this year will be a time of victory for international law and justice, a time when not just one aggressor loses, but the very idea of war – the idea of turning the lives of peoples into ruins – loses. The Russian aggression tried to turn the UN Charter into a museum piece. Our Peace Summit and the participation of world leaders can restore the full effectiveness of the UN Charter and return full protection to every nation.

I thank everyone who is already helping us with this! I thank every leader who is sending the necessary messages to the rest of the world – messages that the Summit will really bring a just end to this war closer.

Glory to Ukraine!

We did it again!
Ukrainian defenders shot down another russian Su-25 jet in the Donetsk region.
Nice job, warriors! pic.twitter.com/arDshyNhHS

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 22, 2024

I do believe this is the fifth Su-25 the Ukrainians have downed in the past month or so.

Sweden:

The Swedish government decided to allocate 75 billion SEK (€6,5 billion) for military support to Ukraine in 2024–2026.
Such long-term support will help strengthen our defense capabilities.
We are grateful to our Swedish partners.
Together, we are stronger!
🇺🇦🤝🇸🇪@ForsvarsdepSv… pic.twitter.com/btv5IKXjSS

— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 22, 2024

The Swedish government decided to allocate 75 billion SEK (€6,5 billion) for military support to Ukraine in 2024–2026.
Such long-term support will help strengthen our defense capabilities.
We are grateful to our Swedish partners.
Together, we are stronger!
🇺🇦🤝🇸🇪

@ForsvarsdepSv

@PlJonson

@SwedeninUA

Slava Ukraini! pic.twitter.com/IDYhPS6aWq

— Ulf Kristersson (@SwedishPM) May 22, 2024

Estonia:

⚡️Russia is waging a "shadow war" on the West, and there must be a coordinated response, the Associated Press wrote on May 22, citing comments from Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.https://t.co/cWcZnmZiVO

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 22, 2024

The Kyiv Independent has the details:

Russia is waging a “shadow war” on the West, and there must be a coordinated response, the Associated Press wrote on May 22, citing comments from Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.

Kallas said she was concerned that some other European leaders have not viewed the uptick in incidents of sabotage and arrest of suspected spies across the EU to be interconnected.

The West needs to have a “serious discussion of a coordinated approach” to counter the Russian threat, she said.

“How far do we let them go on our soil?”

There have been several episodes linked to Russian security services in 2024 in Estonia alone, such as Russia’s ongoing jamming of GPS signals on commercial flights across the Baltic region.

Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said in April that GPS jamming was “too dangerous to ignore.”

Kallas said that she had three requests to her European allies: “the recognition that these are not isolated events, second, that we share information about this amongst ourselves, (and) third, (to) make it as public as we can.”

As more of these incidents are uncovered, Russia has been shifting tactics, Kallas said, and is using spies who pose as diplomats “all the time.”

Russia’s aim is to “sow fear” in Europe and hinder support for Ukraine, she said.

Estonia has been one of the leading military donors to Ukraine in terms of share of GDP since the beginning of the all-out war in 2022. Kallas and other Estonian politicians have also been particularly outspoken about the threat that Russia poses to Europe.

Prime Minister Kallas is correct. But it’s not really a shadow war. Rather it is political warfare: politics with other means.

The Baltic Sea:

⚡️Russia deletes draft decree to change Baltic Sea maritime border.

A draft decree suggesting changing Russia's border in the Baltic Sea was deleted from the Russian government website on May 22 after swift condemnation from some NATO members.https://t.co/wNILDy2fXu

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) May 22, 2024

More from DC:

So far, no clarity from the DoD on whether Ukraine can use Western air defenses to strike targets in RUS airspace. I asked about the reasoning behind such restrictions. @PentagonPresSec: “The strategic intent here is enabling Ukraine to defend its sovereign territory." pic.twitter.com/QZiVwy5DTo

— Ostap Yarysh (@OstapYarysh) May 22, 2024

Yarysh is asking this at every press conference where he is called upon. I think this is the second time this week.

And he’s also covering Congress:

Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs committee @RepMcCaul asks @SecBlinken whether the administration will lift the restrictions on how to use weapons provided to Ukraine. “They cannot achieve victory with the restrictions you placed on them.” pic.twitter.com/0QDuvmOTxu

— Ostap Yarysh (@OstapYarysh) May 22, 2024

⚡️Asked @SpeakerJohnson about using US weapons on the RU territory?
⁰SPEAKER: I think, they need to allow Ukraine to prosecute the war the way they see fits. They need to be able to fight back. And I think us trying to micromanage the effort there it’s not a good policy for us. pic.twitter.com/71iLMTa9p8

— Kateryna Lisunova (@KaterynaLis) May 22, 2024

I just want to make this very, very clear. The Biden administration’s risk aversion towards Russia and the resulting strategic confusion towards Ukraine has now allowed members of the GOP majority in the House, the caucus that held up a supplemental aid package for Ukraine for all of 2023 and the first four months of 2024, to politically outflank them regarding aiding Ukraine. Johnson personally held aid up for over five months. His predecessor as Speaker held it up for over 10 months in 2023.

Kharkiv:

For those of you missing Kharkiv or wondering what it's like in the city… Day 819 of the war. pic.twitter.com/Gw3dfsiSBD

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) May 22, 2024

Early this morning, russian forces struck the center of Chuhuiv in Kharkiv Oblast with missiles, destroying a kindergarten and damaging residential buildings and civilian infrastructure. Eight people were injured. pic.twitter.com/n64XpWNGKW

— Iryna Voichuk (@IrynaVoichuk) May 22, 2024

Read this firsthand account from @padochka, who has been volunteering in Kharkiv for two years. She helps people who fled their homes, returned and started to rebuild—only to be forced to flee again or stay in their beloved Kharkiv and risk death every day. https://t.co/lTAPZo66is

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) May 22, 2024

From The Guardian:

The Russian offensive on the Kharkiv region this month has, after 20 months of relative peace, again placed many of the villages where my charity works, repairing homes destroyed by bombs, at the forefront of the war.

I began volunteering in Kharkiv two years ago, having dropped out of my master’s degree in Russian literature and set up the charity to support Ukrainians. After the region’s liberation in September 2022, hundreds of thousands of people had started to return to Kharkiv city and the wider region from other parts of Ukraine, and countries that had taken them in as refugees. The villages where I work were reawakening, the craters that lined the streets had been filled, shops were reopening, electricity was back on. People’s return was mostly driven by a desire to be at home.

“Dim ye dim” is the catchphrase of those living in these villages. Home is home. For many, living in the villages that sit in the 30 miles between Kharkiv and the border with Russia, returning home is also a conscious act of defiance. One elderly woman, who had stayed in her village throughout the war, through occupation and shelling, told me that she would not leave because “so long as there is a Ukrainian on this soil, it will be Ukraine”.

When reports began circulating back in January that Russia may try to take Kharkiv again, local people generally ignored them. Everyone understands the risks they are taking by living so close to the border, but people cannot live in constant fear. Residents planted their vegetable gardens, confident they would be harvesting from them in a few months’ time. They continued to hope that the US military aid package would come through on time, and that the fortifications on the Ukrainian side of the border would hold the Russians back. Nonetheless, over the past month, friends of mine have begun to make contingency plans, posting their documents to family members in safer parts of Ukraine, or moving their children to relatives elsewhere.

On 10 May, the Russians finally recrossed the border and have captured over a dozen villages. Last week, at a petrol station in the eastern Saltivka district of Kharkiv, I stood next to the melted carcass of a lorry hit by a strike in 2022, and listened to the sound of artillery from the frontline, now once again just a few miles away. When I texted a resident of one village last week to ask how she was, she simply replied: “Prokhody is burning.”

Six weeks ago I was having lunch in that same village, which had recently regained electricity for the first time in two years and was discussing plans for local people to put on a cabaret at their small cultural centre over the summer. That cultural centre was badly damaged at the start of the war, but the local administration repaired it in the belief that music might help heal the residents’ trauma. It may well be destroyed now. The village is under too much fire for anyone to check.

On a walk with a local friend in Kharkiv last week, we noted how similar the tense atmosphere was to when we had first met in the city in the summer of 2022. There are some major differences, though. The use now of immensely powerful glide bombs, capable of creating craters as deep as nine-storey buildings, adds another layer of tension.

The lack of faith in the west’s support is another. In the early days of the war, despite all the unfurling horrors, people were confident that the west saw this fight as its fight too, and that Ukraine would receive the support it needed. The massive delays in US aid mean that this belief has been replaced by a feeling of betrayal. Ukrainians breathed a collective sigh of relief last month, when the US Congress finally passed the long-awaited bill providing $60.84bn of military aid to Ukraine. However, I don’t know a single person who has not lost a loved one fighting in the past six months, and no one here can shake the belief that those lives might have been saved had the US passed the bill sooner.

The Ukrainian army seems to have stalled the Russian advance on Kharkiv for now, but concrete action must be taken by Ukraine’s allies to ensure that Kharkiv and the villages around it do not become the next Mariupol. Kharkiv needs proper air defence: entering the city feels as though an umbrella has been taken off you during a storm –people are living with little protection from the attacks launched from across the border every day. Most vitally, Ukrainian troops must be able to strike in Russian territory: once they can do this, they will be able to destroy the systems from which these weapons are launched. So far, the UK and Latvia have said this should be allowed, and those countries must now step up the pressure on the US to allow Ukraine to do the same with American weapons.

Prior to moving to Kharkiv, I spent the first months of the war volunteering on the Polish-Ukrainian border, helping those fleeing. I thought at the time that there was nothing more heartbreaking than the look in the eyes of a person who has been forced to leave their home. Since this new offensive, I have realised that there is: the look in the eyes of a person who fled their home, returned thinking they were safe once more and started to rebuild their life, only to be forced to flee again. My friends and colleagues are once again being forced to make the impossible decision of whether to leave their homes and step back into the life of a refugee, or to stay in their beloved Kharkiv and risk death every day.

This situation was avoidable. The civilians and soldiers who have died since the new offensive began can’t be brought back, but through adequate weapons and air defence provisions, and permission for Ukraine to strike Russian territory, the west can ensure that their friends and families won’t face the same fate – and that the residents of Kharkiv and the villages where I work can keep rebuilding their homes and their lives.

Siversk, Donetsk Oblast:

Another video showing the devastating weapon that has helped Russia gain the upper hand on the battlefield. Ukraine is unable to shoot down glide bombs. It needs long-range air defense and F-16s to potentially fire on the Russian planes that release the bombs. https://t.co/JwtHwz8brF

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) May 22, 2024

Mospyne, Donestk Oblast:

/2. ATACMS debris in Mospyne published by locals pic.twitter.com/trGLMTixhG

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) May 22, 2024

Here’s the full text of the first tweet above:

Russian media reports that there was an ATACMS strike in the area of Mospyne, 40km from the frontline. Based on available published videos, the explosion pattern is similar to an air defense missiles detonation. So maybe an air defence system was targeted. Footages of ATACMS submunitions are also published by Russian media.

The Kinburn Spit, Mykolaiv Oblast:

Here’s a video purportedly showing that SBU Sea Baby attack on Russian positions on the occupied Kinburn Spit: https://t.co/f3OEF0ljlh

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) May 22, 2024

Sea Baby!!!!!

Chasiv Yar:

Defenders of Chasiv Yar describe new attempted Russian attack on the town.

“On the night of May 22, the Russians attempted a breakthrough, using 3 units of armored vehicles

The tank was moving with a mine trawl to clear the way for the BMP. Tank took a firing position and… https://t.co/HWoNAJgBzg pic.twitter.com/IXLIrsLMDP

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) May 22, 2024

Defenders of Chasiv Yar describe new attempted Russian attack on the town.

“On the night of May 22, the Russians attempted a breakthrough, using 3 units of armored vehicles

The tank was moving with a mine trawl to clear the way for the BMP. Tank took a firing position and opened fire, covering the approach of 2 BMP with infantry.

Russians had no success. The defenders of Chasiv Yar destroyed the equipment and manpower of the assault group.”

“An interesting specimen of a Russian tanks did not reach Chasiv Yar. Russian T-90M after the night assault. Two night cameras are installed on top as well as an anti drone cage”

https://t.me/black_swan_ukraine/75

/3. Same T-90M https://t.co/FdkRs3kdkQ pic.twitter.com/uQcri9rllP

— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) May 22, 2024

Russian occupied Crimea:

Russia is adding barriers around the Crimean bridge to defend against Ukraine’s naval drones.

The bridge was last damaged by naval drones in July 2023. pic.twitter.com/l2IvZnwMYN

— Brady Africk (@bradyafr) May 22, 2024

Russia:

Russia has begun exercises with tactical nuclear weapons, using Iskander missile systems and Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. These exercises, allegedly intended as a response to "provocative statements" by the West, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, are aimed at practicing… pic.twitter.com/Hsc8VDxU9v

— Denis Danilov (@DenisDanilovL) May 22, 2024

Russia has begun exercises with tactical nuclear weapons, using Iskander missile systems and Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. These exercises, allegedly intended as a response to “provocative statements” by the West, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, are aimed at practicing scenarios for the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons.

At the same time, Russia is unilaterally revising its maritime borders with Lithuania and Finland, claiming that the current coordinates, established in Soviet times, do not correspond to the current geographical situation. This revision covers waters east of the Gulf of Finland and near the Kaliningrad region, allowing Russia to declare these waters its internal seas.

With the West cautious about providing military aid to Ukraine and prohibiting the use of Western weaponry on Russian territory, Putin sees this as a weakness and is upping the ante. The Kremlin has traditionally used nuclear exercises as an element of blackmail and a show of force. The revision of maritime borders is just the beginning; Russia’s future actions will depend on Western reactions. If Putin again fails to meet the appropriate resistance, next time not only the territorial waters of NATO countries will be threatened, but also their land borders.

It is time for the West to accept a harsh reality: either they will increase their support for Ukraine and strike Russia hard with Ukraine’s forces, or face an ongoing war of aggression and Moscow’s territorial seizures. The fate of European security hangs in the balance, demanding decisive and united action to destroy the Russian Empire.

#RussiansATerroristState #StandWithUkraine #UkraineRussiaWar

That’s enough for tonight.

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Open thread!

War for Ukraine Day 819: The Russian Punishment of Sumy and Kharkiv Oblasts ContinuesPost + Comments (67)

Let’s Check In with a Couple of the GOP Women

by @heymistermix.com| May 22, 20246:14 pm| 130 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

Let's Check In with a Couple of the GOP Women

First, in the least surprising news ever, jelly-spined Nikki Haley has announced that she’s going to vote for Trump. I don’t know if that’s an official endorsement, but really, who gives a shit.

Second, whenever I write about Kristi Noem, I note that she’s not as popular as you’d think in South Dakota. Well, now we have some post-Cricket and post-Kim Jong Un polling in the state and it sure doesn’t look good for her. First, her overall favorable/unfavorable/neutral rating is 39% favorable / 48% unfavorable / 14% neutral. Her job approval rating is still 52% approval, but that’s down from 59% in a poll taken last month.

By a 59% to 38% margin, respondents believe that the killing of poor Cricket was unjustified. By a 62% to 34% margin, folks think that her response to the book fallout has hurt her credibility. Remember, this is in a blood red state where she won 62% of the vote in her last race for Governor.

This is all from a good piece in the South Dakota News Watch site, and there are a lot more results at the link, including breakdowns by party affiliation.

Let’s Check In with a Couple of the GOP WomenPost + Comments (130)

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

Innocent people do not delay justice.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

The line between political reporting and fan fiction continues to blur.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

Be a wild strawberry.

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

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

Find someone who loves you the way trump and maga love traitors.

Optimism opens the door to great things.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Books are my comfort food!

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

The fundamental promise of conservatism all over the world is a return to an idealized past that never existed.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

We can’t confuse what’s necessary to win elections with the policies that we want to implement when we do.

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Thursday Afternoon Open Thread

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War for Ukraine Day 819: The Russian Punishment of Sumy and Kharkiv Oblasts Continues

The Peace Summit and the Participation of World Leaders Can Restore the Full Effectiveness of the UN Charter and Return Full Protection to Every Nation – Address by the President

Let’s Check In with a Couple of the GOP Women