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Thursday Odds & Ends

by Betty Cracker| September 11, 202510:29 am| 183 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Foreign Affairs, Open Threads, Politics

UK fires ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson over his links to Jeffrey Epstein

LONDON (AP) — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday fired the country’s ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, over his links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In a statement in the House of Commons on Thursday, Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty said the decision came in the wake of the publication this week of emails Mandelson sent to Epstein in the 2000s, in which he gave his support to the disgraced financier even when he was facing jail for sex offenses.

Doughty said the emails showed that the “depth and extent” of Mandelson’s relationship with Epstein was “materially different” from what was known when he was appointed ambassador to Washington last year in the wake of the Labour Party’s election victory.

Meanwhile, Epstein’s best friend still gets to be president.

***

The cops are still trying to find the person who shot Horst Wessel. (AP)

Authorities in Utah are working to identify the shooter, who jumped off a roof and fled after firing the fatal shot. A high-powered, bolt-action rifle was recovered from area where the suspected Kirk shooter fled, the FBI said. Kirk’s killer “appears to be of college age” and “blended in” with the college population on the Utah campus where Kirk had drawn a crowd of thousands, an official said.

Meanwhile, Trump recorded a four-minute Oval Office address yesterday. He called Kirk a “martyr,” condemned “radical leftists,” and decried other incidents of alleged political violence, including the wounding of GOP Rep Steve Scalise, the murder of a health insurance CEO in NYC and that time Trump’s own precious ear was winged in an assassination attempt in PA.

He didn’t say a word about the assassinations in Minnesota earlier this year, let alone the January 6th attack carried out by his own supporters. Those incidents aren’t helpful to him politically.

***

Prices are rising even as the job market softens: (AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation rose last month as the price of gas, groceries, and airfares jumped, while a measure of layoffs also increased, putting the Federal Reserve in a tough spot as it prepares to cut rates at its meeting next week despite persistent price pressures.

Consumer prices increased 2.9% in August from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Tuesday, up from 2.7% the previous month and the biggest increase since January. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 3.1%, the same as in July. Both figures are above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target…

Hiring has slowed sharply in recent months and was lower than previously estimated last year. The unemployment rate ticked up in August to a still-low 4.3%. And weekly unemployment claims rose sharply last week, the government also reported Thursday, a sign layoffs may be picking up.

Authoritarians who come to power via democratic means usually manage to deliver a tangible benefit to people so they can maintain a baseline of popular support before they choke out democracy. Our would-be authoritarian isn’t that competent.

What Steve said:

Radio Rwanda.

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— Steve M. (@stevemnomoremister.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 7:22 PM

This is all sucks, so here’s a puffin:

Atlantic Puffin with a full beak of sand eels heading on to Skomer Island ~ Pembrokeshire ~ West Wales back in June this year😍🦉 #birdingwales #ukbirding #birds #naturephotography #ukwildlife #photography #naturetherapy #birdphotography #seabirds @bbcspringwatch.bsky.social
@rspbcymru.bsky.social

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— Fraggs Photography 📸🦊🦉🦋🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 (@fraggenstein.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 8:26 AM

Open thread.

Thursday Odds & EndsPost + Comments (183)

Thursday Morning Open Thread

by Anne Laurie| September 11, 20255:47 am| 272 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat

Elizabeth Warren on people who say Dems needs to tone down their rhetoric: "Oh, please. Why don't you start with the president of the United States? And every ugly meme he's posted and every ugly word."

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) September 10, 2025 at 8:28 PM

===

It's worth mourning the end of a 40ish-year-long broad American consensus that political violence is a bad thing, one that leads to lots of innocent people getting hurt and killed. We've been watching that consensus erode consistently since 2016 at the latest and now it's fully gone.

— Patrick Wyman (@patrickwyman.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 6:26 PM

Most of American political life has quite heavily featured violence: riots, murder, extrajudicial assassinations, property destruction, and so on. It's a marker of how successful the past 40 years have been on that front that many Americans have chosen to forget our heritage.

— Patrick Wyman (@patrickwyman.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 6:28 PM

Political violence is bad because civil conflict is absolutely fucking terrible for everyone. It empowers the worst people within a society and feeds into endless cycles of escalating violence that get harder and harder to stop.

— Patrick Wyman (@patrickwyman.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 6:32 PM

******
Turning to more pleasant topics… there’s a new Democratic contender getting media attention…

Democrat James Talarico is a minister-in-training and fierce opponent of Christian nationalism.
He entered the Texas Senate race this week after helping lead his party’s opposition of Trump’s gerrymandering scheme.
Story: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol…

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— Rolling Stone (@rollingstone.com) September 10, 2025 at 9:12 AM

Tim Dickinson reports:

… James Talarico declared Tuesday that he’s seeking the Democratic nomination, vying to contest the Senate seat now held by Republican John Cornyn. Talarico will be an underdog. He’s up against Colin Allred, the former congressman who gave MAGA Republican Sen. Ted Cruz a scare in his race for reelection last year. Beto O’Rourke, who tangled with Cruz in 2018 and later made a moody bid for president, may also enter the mix.

Talarico is a boyish 36 years old, with a mop of dark hair, cut to Playmobil perfection. The former school teacher is one of the rarest creatures in Democratic politics: a social media savant with more than 1.2 million followers on Instagram, where he posted his launch video.

Speaking before a crowd of supporters from the bed of a rusty pickup in front of a small, white church steeple, Talarico appears in the clip delivering a populist pitch to potential supporters: “The biggest divide in our country is not left versus right, it’s top versus bottom,” he says. “Billionaires want us looking left and right at each other, so that we’re not looking up at them.

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“They divide us by party, by race, by gender, by religion,” Talarico continues, “so that we don’t notice that they’re defunding our schools, gutting our health care, and cutting taxes for themselves and their rich friends.” Invoking the biblical story of Jesus expelling money changers from the temple, Talarico insists: “It’s time to start flipping tables!”

On paper, the young politician would look like a long shot for the nomination. But Talarico has leveraged his modest political perch as an Austin-area state representative, in combination with his uncanny talents as a communicator, to establish himself as one of the most prominent Democratic voices in Texas — and as a rising player on the national scene…

Elaine Godfrey, at the Atlantic, says “James Talarico is young, well spoken, and eager to talk with Republicans—exactly what some Democratic dreamers think they need to finally turn the state blue” [gift link]:

… You might recognize the 36-year-old state lawmaker from any number of viral social-media clips—calmly arguing with Fox News hosts, for example, or discussing his faith on Joe Rogan’s podcast in May. The four-term Democrat and Presbyterian seminarian this morning announced that he’s joining the primary race for the Senate seat held by the Republican John Cornyn. In so doing, Talarico has cemented himself as his party’s newest, shiniest 2026 contender.

Talarico stands out for his relative youth but also for his particular brand of long-winded eloquence. He can sound, in some ways, like a southern-style Barack Obama or a Texas Pete Buttigieg. Two years ago, a video made the rounds of Talarico arguing against legislation that would require public-school teachers to hang the Ten Commandments in their classroom. “This bill to me is not only unconstitutional; it’s not only un-American; I think it is also deeply un-Christian,” he told his Republican colleagues in a committee hearing. “And I say that because I believe this bill is idolatrous. I believe it is exclusionary. And I believe that it is arrogant—and those three things, in my reading of the Gospel, are diametrically opposed to the teachings of Jesus.”

Democrats hope his emphasis on faith will help Talarico reach across the aisle—something he seems eager to do. In an interview, Talarico told me that wooing voters is like navigating a school cafeteria. “You sit at the table where people want you to sit,” he said, and “it’s our job as elected leaders” to show voters that they’re wanted. This, Talarico says, is why he spent two hours talking with Rogan, who endorsed Donald Trump in 2024. “You need to run for president,” Rogan told him by the end of the show. “We need someone who’s actually a good person.”…

Former Representative Colin Allred is already in the primary race, and to beat him, Talarico would need to overcome Allred’s fundraising advantage and statewide name recognition. Even if he does that, he still has only a glimmer of a chance at being the first Democratic senator elected in Texas in 37 years. But a glimmer has always been enough to fuel the desperate dreams of Democrats. And some of them see Talarico not just as the best shot for winning Texas—but as a model for how the party can win back the voters it lost to Trump…

Ed Kilgore, at NYMag — “Talarico Senate Bid Gives New Hope to Texas Democrats”:

When Donald Trump ordered Texas Republicans to conduct a rare mid-decade gerrymander of U.S. House seats to help protect the GOP’s fragile trifecta in the 2026 midterms, there may have been some private grumbling about the possibility the gambit would backfire by exposing some incumbents to a bit more competition. But more than likely, Trump was pushing on an open door. Texas Republicans share the president’s willingness to perpetually push his luck. They’ve been on a serious ideological bender during the last few years, and after an unusually successful 2024 election cycle in which a Trump-led ticket cut deeply into the usually Democratic Hispanic vote, they probably feel bulletproof. But it’s possible the Texas GOP has finally overplayed its hand, and retribution could come in the form of a statewide Democratic candidacy that would not have happened without Trump’s power grab.

James Talarico began the summer as a youngish (36-year-old) four-term state legislator from the Austin area who was little known outside Central Texas. The redistricting push and the temporary quorum-defying Democratic exodus it spawned made the media-savvy Talarico a symbol of anti-Trump defiance. It helped that he did not come across as an old-school Democratic Party warhorse. He is a former public-school teacher who is currently attending a Presbyterian seminary. And while there is a fiery populist strain to much of his rhetoric, he’s renowned for his ability to utilize new media and for engaging Republicans and others outside the party fold (most famously, he appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast and made the manosphere icon something of a fan).

While some observers thought Talarico might be a good 2026 gubernatorial prospect against the very powerful Republican incumbent Greg Abbott, he took a close look at the far more vulnerable U.S. Senate seat of John Cornyn, who is in a vicious primary battle with scandal-plagued Trump protégé and Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, and saw an opening. Talarico announced his Senate candidacy with a video that mixed religious and populist rhetoric in a way that has long been natural in the southern and western cultures that blend in Texas…

It’s important to note that Talarico’s reference to “billionaires” controlling his state is not some sort of abstract allusion to oligarchs. There are two very specific oil billionaires named Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks who have personally financed a hard-right-wing purge of anyone even vaguely representing moderation in the Texas GOP along with specific policy initiatives, most notably an aggressive school-voucher system backed by Abbott that threatens the very existence of public education, particularly in rural areas. Dunn and Wilks, who are often described as Christian nationalists or even “dominionists,” are very tight with Ken Paxton. These are men who act like liberals of any sort should be cast into a fiery pit, and their self-serving free-market views and their religious zealotry are very much part of a package…

Perhaps Talarico will flame out like his predecessors. But he does offer Democrats a fresh face who can personally testify to the incredible hubris of the GOP in Washington and in Texas and can do so in the language of righteous indignation that should appeal to an angry small-donor base without embracing the national party Establishment (which he regularly disdains as part of a “broken political system”). If Cornyn and Paxton tear each other limb from limb and Texas Hispanics bridle at Stephen Miller’s armed nativist crusade, Talarico could even win, giving his party a decent shot at flipping the Senate. If so, it would serve Trump right for messing with Texas.

Thursday Morning Open ThreadPost + Comments (272)

War for Ukraine Day 1,294: Provocations Abound

by Adam L Silverman| September 10, 202510:10 pm| 39 Comments

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

It has been another long terrible day and I’m going to keep tonight short as a result.

First, I heard back from my former Nepalese students. They’re all safe. This is what one of the retired 3 Stars sent me in reply:

The army has been deployed to restore order, and efforts are underway to initiate dialogue with the agitating groups.

This unrest was not unexpected. Years of corruption, rising unemployment, and the extravagant lifestyles of political elites have fueled deep frustration—especially among the younger generation. What we are witnessing is a powerful outcry for change.

Despite the turmoil, I remain optimistic. It’s clear that Nepal’s political landscape is on the cusp of a significant transformation. And with that, I believe there is light on the other side of the tunnel.

And the 2 Star:

This is an outcome of an accumulative frustration that the people and the youngsters of Nepal has been suffering since Nepal was changed into a multiparty democracy .

We hope the situation gets better soon.

Both of their takes confirm my own about what was going on.

Second, I think the most likely explanation is Russia is acting in a deliberate manner. This includes that Polish SIM cards were allegedly found in the drones that targeted Poland.

Russia has reportedly been preparing for a potential attack on Poland since July, when Polish SIM cards were first discovered in russian drones. One drone also contained a Lithuanian SIM card — possibly indicating similar preparations against Lithuania.
defence-ua.com/army_and_war…

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— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 7:11 AM

Specifically, these are provocations to see what NATO in general and Poland in specific will do. The new Polish president is exceedingly hard right and exceedingly dovish on Putin.

Approximate routes of tonight’s drone attacks in Ukraine and Poland (yellow) and cruise missile attacks in Ukraine (red), as published on Telegram channel “monitorwar”.

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— Tatarigami (@tatarigami.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 12:40 AM

During the attack, the enemy used approximately 380–450 UAVs, including “Gerbera” and “Geran.” In addition, up to 33 cruise missiles, Kh-101, Kh-59/69, and Kalibr, were reportedly launched, according to the Monitorwar channel.

— Tatarigami (@tatarigami.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 12:40 AM

From The Kyiv Independent:

Russia is expected to manufacture close to 2,500 high-precision missiles in 2025, spanning cruise, ballistic, and hypersonic classes, Vadym Skibitskyi, the deputy head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency, said in an interview with Ukrinform published on Sept. 7.

Skibitskyi said that Russia is ramping up both the development of new weapons and the modernization of its existing arsenal.

Russian drone production, including models such as the Geran (an adaptation of the Iranian-designed Shahed drone), the Garpiya, and various first-person view (FPV) drones, is also increasing significantly, he added.

Russia is concentrating its missile development efforts on three areas: extending range, improving accuracy, and enhancing warhead effectiveness, Skybitskyi said.

These efforts are not solely aimed at the ongoing war in Ukraine but are also part of longer-term preparations for a potential conflict with NATO by 2030.

“Striking targets in Ukraine requires one combat radius, but preparing for war with NATO by 2030 requires a much greater range,” Skibitskyi said. “This is exactly what Russia is building into its weapons programs.”

The Poles also think Russia’s activity was deliberate:

⚡️Russia ‘deliberately targeted’ Poland’s airspace, Sikorski says.

“Poland’s airspace was breached 19 times by drones manufactured in Russia. The assessment of Polish & NATO air forces is that they…were deliberately targeted,” Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said.

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— The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) September 10, 2025 at 7:04 PM

Condemn Poland’s airspace violating my drone for 300km. Call on West to continue to express concern.

— Darth Putin (@darthputinkgb.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 5:30 AM

If nato’s interception ratio is 4 out of 19, can you imagine how they would handle an average night in Ukraine with 700 air targets in the span of 5 hours

— Mira of Kyiv 🇺🇦 (@reshetz.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 12:54 PM

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

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Ukraine Proposes to Defend Airspace in a Coordinated, Thoughtful and Joint Manner – Address by the President

10 September 2025 – 20:35

I wish you good health, fellow Ukrainians!

It has been a long day. I’ve been in constant contact with our military during the massive Russian strike last night and afterwards throughout the day. Over four hundred Russian drones were launched, mostly “shaheds,” and more than forty missiles of various types, including ballistic ones. Fortunately, Ukrainian forces shot down the majority of them. I thank each of our units. Yet, sadly, there were still hits, and infrastructure was damaged in different regions, including ordinary homes. Since 1 a.m., our military tracked the movement of Russian drones toward the Polish border. And this movement was not an accident or a mistake – it was deliberate. The Russians used both Ukrainian and Belarusian territory to enter Polish airspace. Almost two dozen drones entered Poland, and it seems that less than half of the total number came from the Ukrainian side. This was a calculated Russian activity. And we all saw the result – how difficult it was to counter. Ukraine offered Poland the necessary assistance in responding. No one can guarantee that there won’t be hundreds of drones if there are already dozens. Only united European forces can give real protection. We are ready to assist with technology, crew training, and the necessary intelligence. But so far, Russia has not yet faced a tough reaction from global leaders to what the Russians are doing – a reaction precisely with actions. There are more than enough statements, but there is still a shortage of actions. The Russians are testing the limits of what is possible. They are testing reactions. They are watching closely how NATO armed forces act: what they can do and what they cannot do yet. Joint Russian–Belarusian exercises have now begun on Belarusian territory. And this may well be part of their “training plan”, so to speak. We also see the Russian disinformation campaign targeting both Poland and Ukraine. We see how the Russians are trying to humiliate Poland. That’s why strong countermeasures are vital, done in the right way. Ukraine proposes to defend airspace in a coordinated, thoughtful and joint manner. We have presented to our partners how this can be achieved. The details are clear – how to prevent the war from expanding and how to stop Russia’s escalatory steps. There are absolutely enough joint forces for this. There is a lot of international work on this today among all leaders. I thank every leader who has supported Poland, who supports Ukraine, who understands the threat to countries on the eastern flank, and that it is drones that Russia now employs as its key weapon for killing and destabilizing. Still, the missile threat has not lessened. Russia continues to expand its military-industrial capacity. We discussed all this with European leaders, including Polish Prime Minister Tusk, UK Prime Minister Starmer, Italian Council of Ministers President Meloni, and NATO Secretary General Rutte. It is important to continue coordinating. We agreed that our military and representatives from the Ukrainian and Polish Ministries of Defense will meet soon. I instructed our military to present all the experience we have in countering drones.

I also spoke with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission. Today she presented the fundamental priorities of the European Commission, and it is important that Europe will be even stronger. Among many things is funding for defense, including 6 billion euro for drones for Ukraine. This is a significant support for us. We are counting on the SAFE instrument, a large EU defense program, in which Ukraine should be a full participant. I want to express particular gratitude to Ursula for her readiness to help us with very sensitive social issues, namely, funding for Ukrainian children – for school meals, free meals for all our children. Gradually, this year, we will do everything to fully fund this school program.

And one more thing.

I am expecting a detailed report from Ukraine’s Minister of Defense, Denys Shmyhal, regarding Ramstein. I have been in contact with him today. There are results regarding new air defense systems for Ukraine. There is readiness from partners to continue funding the PURL program – for the procurement of U.S. weapons. We are also discussing additional funds for the production of our Ukrainian weapons – including long-range drones – so that Russia feels what a response to the war looks like. We are also working on equipping our brigades.

I thank everyone who is helping us. I thank everyone who understands that Russia only listens to strength and takes only the strong into account. Ukraine, all of Europe, all our partners must be strong. And we are very much counting on a strong response from the United States.

Glory to Ukraine!

Georgia:

The #GeorgiaProtests and the regime are obviously speeding up the rhythm in September.

Just in the last hour, two girls were detained for wearing masks and the office of activist group “Ertoba” was raided by the Criminal Police. 1/

📷 Taty Tomasi

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 3:18 PM

Masks were outlawed in December, but as of now, they couldn’t enforce it because there was mass disobedience to begin with and they always shied away from approaching protesters to personally demand someone take the mask off. 2/

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 3:18 PM

Yet in another case from the evening alone, one guy was first detained and then freed because they made an error. 3/3.

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 3:18 PM

Day 287 of nonstop protests in Tbilisi. We’re marching again to GD’s offices—where ‘titushki’ brutally attacked a small early group of protesters in front of police two days ago. Yesterday we came in huge numbers and they stayed inside; today GD supposedly emptied the building.

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 12:48 PM

“Until the end!”

Day 287 of daily, nationwide protests in Georgia. Heading towards Rustaveli Avenue. 🇬🇪

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 1:05 PM

“Unjust court, fear the power of the people.”
One of the key chants at the #GeorgiaProtests. The judicial clan, led by Mikheil Chinchaladze, is vital to Ivanishvili’s grip on power. Targeted sanctions on clan members could be decisive.

Day 287 of uninterrupted protests. 🇬🇪

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 1:17 PM

Rustaveli Avenue is blocked for the 287th consecutive day. Protests continue in 8+ cities across Georgia. 🇬🇪

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 1:59 PM

“Leave!” – We made the police vans leave. We disobeyed them and their presence was counterproductive.

I loved this little act of disobedience.

We were marching on half of the road and walking in a normal pace.

Now we are all around and the traffic got disrupted for longer.

#GeorgiaProtests

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 1:38 PM

2/2.

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 1:30 PM

24-year-old Megi Diasamidze was arrested under the criminal code for writing the inscription Russian Dream” on the election banner of Kakha Kaladze, Georgian Dream’s mayoral candidate in Tbilisi. The inscription was deleted a few minutes after she made it.

#TerrorinGeorgia

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 4:18 PM

Another female activist detained in Georgia tonight, Natia Tokhadze.

Activist Magda Mamukashvili also shares that the criminal police are raiding the offices of the activist group Ertoba, arresting its members.

Looks like it’ll be a long night.

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 2:49 PM

A 23-year-old Georgian student has been arrested on criminal charges for writing “Russian Dream” on a GD election banner — text erased within hours. She faces up to 5 years for causing damage to property. Lawyer Saba Brachveli notes this only applies if damage exceeds 150 GEL.

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 2:19 PM

Experts, incl. ex–Public Defender Nino Lomjaria, say defacing a candidate’s poster during campaign season is punishable under the Election Code — not the Criminal Code — meaning it carries only a 1,000 GEL fine, not prison time.

— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 4:18 PM

Following this, one of the very few leaders who aren’t jailed, Elene Khoshtaria, vowed that these banners would get sacked one way or another.

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 2:34 PM

Sometimes, it’s very hard to understand the Georgian Dream’s strategies.

Today, they had to arrest two of their thugs from the September 8 violence. It’s logical to assume that they had to do so due to the combo of violence against women and sexually vulgar gestures. 1/

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 2:36 PM

This, btw, has visibly made them lose grounds in the “🇬🇪 traditionalism” narrative in the last 3 days.

Yet, they jail a female student activist over a GD campaign banner graffiti, and threaten her with 5 years, all while political imprisonment is wildly unpopular even among their supporters. 2/2.

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 2:36 PM

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 2:51 PM

The Georgian Dream got itself in yet another trap, and things could spiral down from here.

They cannot allow protesters to keep humiliating them just outside of the Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze’s campaign office, but at the same time, they cannot afford violence and confrontation. 1/

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 4:21 PM

For this reason, they have rapidly re-deployed intimidation tactics:

installing the Chinese security cameras that see everything, publishing addresses of activists, launching criminal investigations against them, even stopping people over face masks (detaining if they refuse to take them off). 2/

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 4:21 PM

It seems like they want to protect the honour of this Melikishvili campaign office a lot, because, well, their voters don’t want to see them as impotent, right? 3/

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 4:21 PM

It was preposterous to open this office on Melikishvili to begin with. I don’t know what they were thinking. It’s the most central Tbilisi, has the lowest support for GD, and daily protest marches from the Public Broadcaster to Rustaveli pass there every day. The hell.

#GeorgiaProtests 4/4.

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 4:21 PM

NATO and Poland:

Up to 20 drones. That’s not one random drone. Must be a planned action to test NATO. My bet is that NATO will not hit Russia back. Then Russia will escalate even more. Textbook case of what appeasement leads to.

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— Anders Östlund (@andersostlund.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 12:08 AM

Last night in Poland we saw the most serious European airspace violation by Russia since the war began, and indications suggest it was intentional, not accidental.

I am in contact with NATO Secretary General Rutte and Poland FM Sikorski.

The EU stands in full solidarity with Poland. (1/2)

— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 2:47 AM

Russia’s war is escalating, not ending.

We must raise the cost on Moscow, strengthen support for Ukraine, and invest in Europe’s defence.

The EU plays a major role and we will support initiatives like the Eastern Border Shield defence line. (2/2)

— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas.bsky.social) September 10, 2025 at 2:48 AM

If Vladimir Putin’s intention was to use an early-morning drone foray into Poland to test Nato’s air defences, the Russian president would be most pleased with the result. And, experts warn, he will probably be encouraged to go further next time. on.ft.com/3JUnOFg

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— Financial Times (@financialtimes.com) September 10, 2025 at 11:48 AM

From The Financial Times:

If Vladimir Putin’s intention was to use an early-morning drone foray into Poland to test Nato’s air defences, the Russian president would be most pleased with the result. And, experts warn, he will probably be encouraged to go further next time.

The incursion into Polish airspace prompted Nato fighter jets to take to the skies and shoot down some of the projectiles — the first time the US-led military alliance has engaged directly with the Russian armed forces since Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It marks a dangerous new chapter in the more than three-and-a-half-year-long conflict.

But, officials, defence experts and analysts say, it also will have shown just how unprepared Europe is for the type of mass air assault that Russia inflicts on Ukraine almost every night, laying bare the scale of the investment needed to shore up Nato’s eastern flank.

“[Moscow] will have taken note that we have still not learned from what Ukraine has been dealing with for years,” said Ben Hodges, former commanding general of the US Army in Europe. “We are absolutely not prepared for that . . . and now they are at our door.”

Hodges stressed that Europe needed a multi-layered, integrated air defence system that could assess the scale of an inbound attack and divert the right resources, unlike Wednesday morning’s response, where high-value fighter jets such as Dutch F-35s were scrambled to shoot down cheap drones.

“This was not an accident, obviously, given the number of drones,” said Hodges. “This was a rehearsal. To probe, and find out how good are our early warning systems, what are our reaction times.”

Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto called the drone incursion “a deliberate attack” that “had two purposes: to provoke and to test”.

“Moscow is deliberately fuelling an escalation that no one wants,” Crosetto said. “It is evident that it has no interest in a truce or peace.” An Italian surveillance plane assisted the fighter jets that downed Russian drones on Wednesday.

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that of an estimated 19 drones that entered Polish airspace, only about four “that presented a direct threat” were shot down. According to the Polish military, most of the drones were decoys routinely used by Russia to distract and deplete Ukraine’s air defences before successive waves of missiles and armed drones.

Nato has acknowledged that its eastern air defences are one of its weak spots and in urgent need of investment. Nato secretary-general Mark Rutte commended “a very successful reaction by Nato” and vowed to defend “every inch of allied territory”.

“We need to invest more . . . so we have what we need to deter and defend,” Rutte added.

Wednesday Night Open Thread

by John Cole| September 10, 20257:37 pm| 135 Comments

This post is in: John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House", Open Threads

This is all I am going to say about the murder of Charlie Kirk. You don’t get to spend years cheering on a civil war, doing everything you can to make sure every idiot in the country owns a firearm, cheering on abortion clinic bombers or people murdering people on a subway or being thrilled when cops shoot black men, make jokes about Paul Pelosi getting almost murdered, pardon all the people who stormed the capitol and tried to and successfully beat a couple cops to death, cheer when the kidnapping/murder plot in Michigan is overturned, stay completely silent when a bunch of Minnesota politicians and their fucking dog are murdered, and then act all fucking shocked when some of it hits home.

Charlie Kirk shouldn’t have been murdered. But you all built this fucking system brick by brick. I’ll let someone who gives a shit about Charlie Kirk eulogize him, I have better shit to think about.

***

I have felt like shit for a couple days and spent a lot of time sleeping, which clearly pissed off Maxwell, who jumped onto my bed at the crack of dawn with a moist but very much alive chipmunk in his mouth and then dropped it on my chest. This got Steve, who was sleeping right next to my head lose his shit, and since both cats have bells, it sounded like a frantic kindergarten bell choir rendition of the Carol of the Bells while I found my glasses, gathered up both assholes, opened the window, and shut the bedrooom door for a couple hours so he could escape.

Maxwell is going to be the death of me. I really hope he soon realizes that is hopeless and he is never going to be able to teach me how to hunt. Steve gave up after about six years. Fucking predators.

***

Good for Chuck:

Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked Chuck Schumer’s attempt to compel the release of the Jeffrey Epstein case files, hours after the Democratic leader made a bold procedural move to force a vote on the issue.

The Senate voted 51-49 to block the measure, with GOP Sens. Josh Hawley and Rand Paul joining with Democrats in support of it.

Earlier in the day, Schumer put the contentious issue front-and-center in the chamber, moving on the Senate floor in order to trigger the vote.

Traditionally, only the majority party takes the procedural step of “filing cloture” to set up a floor vote on a measure. In filing cloture himself and tying it to the must-pass annual defense policy package as an amendment, Schumer has guaranteed a full Senate vote.

A Republican source warned that this move will be seen as a hostile act, which could jeopardize bipartisan negotiations on the defense package. Another Republican source said that it is not viewed as a serious attempt to release the Epstein files, as even GOP senators who want to see the documents released object to how Schumer has handled this.

The headline writer called it a “brazen breach of Senate protocol.” These fucking stenographers.

***

My anxiety with everything going on is at an all time high. I just want this fucking wedding to be over without me ruining for Joelle. And the violence today is bad. Really bad. A lot of marginalized people will be abused in retribution for today.

Be kind to those in need and vulnerable. Look out for them.

Wednesday Night Open ThreadPost + Comments (135)

Charlie Kirk Shot – This Is What Fueling All the Hate and Anger Brings – Kirk Apparently Did Not Make It

by WaterGirl| September 10, 20253:15 pm| 293 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics

Live updates: Charlie Kirk shot at event in Utah (NBC News)

Kirk, the right-wing activist and founder of Turning Point USA, was giving a presentation at Utah Valley University.

Updated Sept. 10, 2025, 2:05 PM CDT

What we know

Shots were fired at an event for right-wing activist Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, according to a statement from the school.
Kirk was removed from the premises by his security team, the school said.
Videos circulating online appear to show Kirk recoiling after a shot was heard, with blood pouring from his neck.
A suspect is in custody, according to an alert the university sent to students.
Police are investing the shooting, Utah Valley University told students in an alert this afternoon.
Videos online show Kirk recoiling after shot heard
Videos circulating across social media show the moment a shot is heard in the crowd.

Violence is not the answer.

Please take a beat, and then another one, if you want to write something condoning or celebrating this violence.

Charlie Kirk is married and has children. I hope for the best for him.

Update: this should be the model for our response.

Update 2: If this is your first comment on Balloon Juice, and your first comment is condoning this or celebrating it, that comment will not be approved.

Charlie Kirk Shot – This Is What Fueling All the Hate and Anger Brings – Kirk Apparently Did Not Make ItPost + Comments (293)

Open Thread: No Kings II

by Anne Laurie| September 10, 20252:26 pm| 60 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Organizing & Resistance

Over five million people protested against Trump’s regime on No Kings Day — and the sequel is going to be even bigger.
Join a local event on October 18: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i…

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— Indivisible ❌👑 (@indivisible.org) September 9, 2025 at 8:03 AM

===

“No Kings” unveils a big new Trump protest on October 18 to respond to Trump’s authoritarian escalations.
“You don't occupy cities just because it's fun. This is all ratcheting up.”
Story: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol…

[image or embed]

— Rolling Stone (@rollingstone.com) September 8, 2025 at 10:30 AM

Rolling Stone, helpfully updating all us aging hippies. I don’t agree with everything Levin says in this interview, but the No Kings movement is obviously bigger than any one spokesman — “No Kings Unveils a Big New Trump Protest, and the Stakes Couldn’t Be Higher”:

… Popular resistance in Trump’s second term has snowballed, in an organic fashion, from a large President’s Day protest in February, through mass demonstrations in April, to the first No Kings protest on Trump’s birthday in June — which drew millions to counter the president’s tin-pot military birthday parade.

After a series of smaller summer protests, the movement will be back in the streets and squares and center cities of America, en masse, in October for No Kings 2 — a sequel organizers are expecting to outshine the original, amid revulsion to Trump’s brutal campaign of mass deportation led by masked agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and an increasingly lawless president who claims “a lot” of Americans would “like a dictator.”

No Kings 2 is being organized by a big tent of grassroots and advocacy organizations. One of the most prominent players is Indivisible, the activist group that sprang to life in the early days of the first Trump administration, and which now counts 2,500 distributed, local chapters nationwide.

show full post on front page

Rolling Stone spoke to Indivisible co-founder Ezra Levin last week, in advance of No Kings 2 unveiling today. The protest is planned for Oct. 18 — in the aftermath of an unpredictable showdown over government funding that could lead to a partial government shutdown by the end of the month…

What’s the organizing principle of No Kings 2?

The only known solution to creeping authoritarianism is broad-based, peaceful, geographically dispersed mass engagement by everyday Americans. That’s it. That’s what works. We’ve been building the movement to bring in more people, to build a sense that in America, we don’t do kings.

This movement has turned out giant protests, as well as some smaller outcroppings, most recently on Labor Day. What’s your hope for No Kings 2?

I expect No Kings 2 to be the largest protest of the year. We had 5 to 6 million people across 2,169 communities turn out for No Kings 1. It was wildly successful. People who might have been on the sidelines for No Kings 1 probably had some FOMO. And the good news is: We’re doing it again. We’re going to pull out even more people.

Why are mass protests important to blocking Trump’s strongman ambitions?

Experts in authoritarianism tell us, based on research, that you need 3.5 percent of the population engaged, in a sustained way, to successfully push back against an authoritarian regime. In the American context, that’s about 11 or 12 million people. For No Kings 1, we got about halfway there. And we have funneled a lot of those people into our trainings around strategic non-cooperation. But we need to come together again…

this is extremely real and I don't think people totally grasp the scope of it yet. June's No Kings had literally 3x as many protests around the country as the single biggest day of protest in Trump 1.0, and penetration into rural and red areas that we never reached back then

[image or embed]

— Leah Greenberg ❌👑 (@leahgreenberg.bsky.social) September 9, 2025 at 12:20 PM

In June, you made No Kings Day one of the biggest protests in US history.
October 18 is going to be even bigger. Join us: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i…

[image or embed]

— Indivisible ❌👑 (@indivisible.org) September 6, 2025 at 9:26 AM

Open Thread: No Kings IIPost + Comments (60)

The Long Shot (Open Thread)

by Betty Cracker| September 10, 20251:13 pm| 58 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics

The Senate map is tough for Democrats next year, but I believe a strong backlash is building, even as “Dems in Disarray” themes persist. Trump is deeply unpopular, and Congressional Republicans sold out their constituents to pad billionaires’ pockets.

I fully understand why virtually no one is paying attention to the U.S. Senate seat up next year in Florida that is currently occupied by DeSantis appointee Ashley Moody. The state is a MAGA wasteland — I get why national donors abandoned it. But here’s someone who hasn’t given up:

I’ve been a Jennifer Jenkins fan ever since she ran an upstart campaign that bounced a Moms for Liberty kook off the Brevard County schoolboard in 2020. When VP Harris visited Florida in 2023 to talk about how DeSantis was whitewashing history with a dumb CRT purge, Jenkins was asked at the last minute to introduce the VP, and she did, even though she reported being “terrified” when tapped for that honor.

I like the message Jenkins is leaning into in this announcement video too. Things are bad all over the country and will get much worse as Trump drives the economy off a cliff. But the affordability crisis is particularly acute in Florida, thanks in part to higher than average inflation and a homeowners insurance mess that Republicans have ignored for decades. (Orlando Sentinel)

DeSantis in 2022 and Trump in 2020 and 2024 performed well in Florida, but Jenkins said she thinks she can do well as a candidate by linking Moody to them. Asked if there’s anything she’d give Moody credit for, Jenkins said, “I think she’s done a really good job at rubber stamping anything that Donald Trump wants her to do.”

Jenkins said Moody and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., “continuously sell out Floridians. They work for insurance companies, they work for special interests, and they listen to the extremist leaders of their party. And it’s no wonder that the special interests keep winning and Floridians just keep getting screwed.”

What she said!

It will be an uphill climb. That would be true for any Democrat in the state. But I do believe Moody is vulnerable because whatever the opposite of charisma is, Moody has it, displaying all the joie de vivre of a soggy saltine floating in a puddle of piss.

Of course, that’s true of Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis too, and it didn’t stop them from winning elections — an R after their names was enough. But sometimes hard work and having the right message at the right time pay off, and maybe they will for Jennifer Jenkins.

Wouldn’t that be a kick in the sack for a certain famous snowbird and pedophile pal?

Open thread!

The Long Shot (Open Thread)Post + Comments (58)

satby on Monday Morning Open Thread: Don’t Panic, Yet (Nov 10, 2025 @ 5:44am)

hells littlest angel on Monday Morning Open Thread: Don’t Panic, Yet (Nov 10, 2025 @ 5:43am)

Ramona on Sunday Night Open Thread (Nov 10, 2025 @ 5:31am)

Ramona on Sunday Night Open Thread (Nov 10, 2025 @ 5:30am)

bjacques on Sunday Night Open Thread (Nov 10, 2025 @ 5:16am)

Consistently wrong since 2002

Come on, man.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

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

Not rolling over. fuck you, make me.

Fear or fury? The choice is ours.

Hey Washington Post, “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was supposed to be a warning, not a mission statement.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop

Sometimes the world just tells you your cat is here.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

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

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Whoever he was, that guy was nuts.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

They want us to be overwhelmed and exhausted. Focus. Resist. Oppose.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

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

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

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

Thursday Odds & Ends

Thursday Morning Open Thread

War for Ukraine Day 1,294: Provocations Abound

Ukraine Proposes to Defend Airspace in a Coordinated, Thoughtful and Joint Manner – Address by the President

Wednesday Night Open Thread

Charlie Kirk Shot – This Is What Fueling All the Hate and Anger Brings – Kirk Apparently Did Not Make It

Open Thread: No Kings II

The Long Shot (Open Thread)