Balloon Juice - Open Threads Archives

Burn It Down

by Betty Cracker| September 9, 20258:25 am| 275 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Domestic Politics, Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Assholes, General Stupidity

Yesterday, the House Oversight Committee released the infamous Epstein “birthday book.” A statement accompanying the release, authored by the sleazy Kentucky Republican who chairs the committee, James Comer, is exactly the spin you’d expect if you’re aware that Comer is desperate to cover up the fact that wealthy perverts control the executive branch and, indeed, way too much of the fucking world:

“It’s appalling Democrats on the Oversight Committee are cherry-picking documents and politicizing information received from the Epstein Estate today. Oversight Committee Republicans are focused on running a thorough investigation to bring transparency and accountability for survivors of Epstein’s heinous crimes and the American people. President Trump is not accused of any wrongdoing…”

Oh, stuff your fake outrage up your ass, Jim, you flounder-faced flunky to a kid-diddling conman.

Perhaps naively, I interpret Comer’s huffy tone as a panic response. Maybe even that nitwit dimly perceives how damning an indictment this grotesque relic of a deceased pedophile is, not only to Donald Trump personally but to the wealthy elites who control giant chunks of American capital generally.

I don’t believe this is an overly broad indictment of our financial titans. We know private equity billionaire Leon Black paid Epstein $170M and financed his pedophile island operation. When interviewed by the DOJ #2, Trump’s former personal attorney Todd Blanche, Ghislaine Maxwell hinted that multiple members of Trump’s billionaire-heavy cabinet had ties to Epstein. Blanche quickly changed the subject.

Consider the scope of the rot in the context of reporting from yesterday’s NYT (gift link) that explores Epstein’s ties to JPMorgan, the world’s largest bank. Its highly influential CEO, Jamie Dimon, had an heir apparent during Epstein’s heyday, a man named Jes Staley.

Staley ignored and excused multiple red flags that indicated Epstein was trafficking teenagers. He also apparently fucked a couple of kids himself at Epstein’s island and then sent smirking emails about the experience to Epstein. The kid-diddling pervert Staley was CEO of JP Morgan’s investment bank and later served as CEO of Barclays, thanks in part to Epstein. As Staley wrote to his pedophile pal, “I owe you much.”

Or consider this birthday book submission from longtime Mar-a-lago member Joel Pashcow, managing member of the real estate and securities investment firm Nassau Capital LLC and past chairman of Atlantic Realty Trust and RPT Realty:

Gross cartoon depicting a pervert grooming children.

Pashcow’s other contribution to the book will probably get more attention because it involves Trump. It depicts an oversized check representing the “sale” by Epstein of a “fully depreciated [woman]” to Donald Trump. But it’s worth pausing for a moment to consider this rich degenerate’s cartoon that explicitly depicts grooming and child molestation.

That repulsive cartoon isn’t out of place in the birthday book. There are 200+ pages of similar leering depravity, and the convicted child sex trafficker who solicited the submissions and the wealthy elites who wrote and/or drew grotesque anecdotes celebrating Epstein’s degeneracy felt perfectly comfortable putting this out there for people in their circle to see and snicker over.

They all knew. And a system controlled by people like that can’t be reformed. It needs to be burned to the fucking ground and the earth salted behind us.

Open thread.

PS — What she said:

Burn It DownPost + Comments (275)

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

by Anne Laurie| September 9, 20256:42 am| 66 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Popular Culture, Proud to Be A Democrat, Show Us on the Doll Where the Invisible Hand Touched You

“Star Trek” premieres 59 years ago today.
“It was an attempt to say that humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins not just to tolerate — but take a special delight in — differences in ideas ..”
– Gene Roddenberry #RIP
@georgetakei.bsky.social

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— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 1:22 PM

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Inevitably…

Not many franchises have fueled society’s timeless fascination with the boundless possibilities of a utopian future like “Star Trek.”

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— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) September 9, 2025 at 12:30 AM

But, seriously, we could probably use more of this:

…The yearlong celebration will kick off on New Year’s Day, with a float in the Rose Parade in California. The float “will reflect values of hope, inclusivity, exploration and unity,” the franchise representatives wrote in a statement…

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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has appointed three Democratic members to sit on the GOP’s new panel investigating the January 6 riot at the US Capitol – casting the move as an effort to avoid allowing the committee to “whitewash” the violence from that day. https://cnn.it/3IfsAN1

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— CNN (@cnn.com) September 8, 2025 at 8:31 PM

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has appointed three Democratic members to sit on the GOP’s new panel investigating the January 6 riot at the US Capitol – casting the move as an effort to avoid allowing the committee to “whitewash” the violence from that day.

Rep. Eric Swalwell of California will serve as the top Democrat on the subcommittee, alongside Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas and Jared Moskowitz of Florida. Jeffries called Swalwell the “proud son of a cop, highly accomplished former prosecutor and skilled legislator” who will push back against the GOP’s efforts to “rewrite history.”

“Republicans will regret that they’ve decided to go down this road,” Jeffries said at a press conference announcing his picks, scorching Trump’s moves earlier this year to pardon convicted felons who beat police officers at the riot at the Capitol.

“Donald Trump and House Republicans are now determined to whitewash that day that will always live in infamy. House Democrats will not let it happen, not today, not tomorrow, not ever.”

Crockett added: “The only reason we’re talking about Jan. 6 is because the Republican are the ones bringing this, not us.” …

Swalwell has a history of battling House Republicans, and the GOP has consistently targeted him. That includes denying him a seat on the House Intelligence Committee in retaliation for Democrats having previously removed GOP lawmakers from their committees…

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$1,400 for a computer part from Germany.
$620 for an aluminum case from Sweden.
$1,041 for handbags from Spain.
U.S. shoppers are being hit with surprise charges from international shipping carriers as exemptions on import duties for items under $800 expires as a part of Trump’s tariff push.

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— NBC News (@nbcnews.com) September 8, 2025 at 5:00 PM

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Tuesday Morning Open ThreadPost + Comments (66)

GOP Venality Open Thread: Amy Comey Barrett, Gleefully Shilling for the Kakistocracy

by Anne Laurie| September 9, 20252:07 am| 53 Comments

This post is in: Activist Judges!, Open Threads, Republican Venality, Supreme Court Corruption

I think the fact that SCOTUS doesn’t think we’re in a constitutional crisis is a big part of the constitutional crisis.

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— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) September 5, 2025 at 6:52 AM

As an elderly white woman, am I allowed to use the phrase This heffa?

Because when I see clips of Amy Cunning-Bunny smirking her way through her new book tour, that’s my first thought: This heffa.

I have not been a fan since Comey Barrett emerged from her Federalist Society cocoon and smirked her way through her rigged confirmation hearing, holding up a blank sheet of paper to indicate just how she’d handle her new job: By deciding ‘the law’ was whatever her kakistocratic masters wanted. And she’s held firm to that standard, giving the rich business elites an occasional sop as she gleefully cuts apart the networks that hold our embattled nation together.

Her new book / book tour are an open reward for her fealty; I wish I could be sure it had been rushed out now because the market might not last through the midterms next year.

Here’s the NYTimes‘ characteristically mealy-mouthed review — “Amy Coney Barrett’s Memoir Is as Careful and Disciplined as Its Author” [gift link]:

… Barrett, who was co-author of a 2016 paper calling the 14th Amendment “possibly illegitimate,” maintained that the lower courts’ efforts to uphold a constitutional right were exercises in judicial overreach. She even directed a pointed swipe at her fellow justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, whose blistering dissent warned that the majority was creating a “zone of lawlessness” for the president to “take or leave the law” as he wishes.

“We will not dwell on Justice Jackson’s argument,” Barrett wrote, with icy disdain, “which is at odds with more than two centuries’ worth of precedent, not to mention the Constitution itself.”

I kept thinking about this spectacularly scornful line while reading Barrett’s new book, “Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution.” Barrett highlights the “collegiality” of the Supreme Court, whose traditions include weekly lunches and welcome dinners for new justices. When Jackson was confirmed in 2022, it was Barrett’s turn to host; she served Jackson’s favorite dishes and asked a Broadway performer to sing selections from “Hamilton.”

It all makes for a pleasant (if surreal) scene. But if you really listen to what Barrett says in “Listening to the Law,” you’ll quickly realize that she isn’t on the Supreme Court because she wants to make friends. Barrett, a former law professor and circuit court judge, clearly knows that readers crave relatability, especially from women, so she deigns to offer a few breadcrumbs. But her book is inevitably a controlled performance, as careful and disciplined as its author. She’s not about to let her guard down, even for a reported $2 million advance…

This is from Justice Barrett’s new book. I’ll just observe that it‘s a very strange metaphor to use to describe the decision to move to Washington D.C. to become a Supreme Court Justice. www.cbsnews.com/news/book-ex…

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— Evan Bernick, a finite mode with a smol hooman and a lorg floof (@evanbernick.bsky.social) September 7, 2025 at 2:18 PM

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Turning down a life of comfort in South Bend for a life of more comfort and massive power in DC. Powerful decision.

— Courtney Milan (@courtneymilan.com) September 7, 2025 at 2:36 PM

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"honey should I take my dream job, from which nobody can fire me without two thirds of the senate agreeing, which will never happen even if I join my colleagues in soliciting and accepting bribes?"
"well, dear, first let us consider the words of Pericles …"
come on. none of this happened.

— Jamison Foser (@jamisonfoser.bsky.social) September 7, 2025 at 8:10 PM

Scott Lemiuex, at Lawyers Guns & Money, on “When you can afford to be made to look ridiculous”:

… If you’re wondering how he ended up with Bruen, a Supreme Court justice — in a book in which she was paid a $2 million advance, not off-the-cuff remarks — confusing Alexander the Great with Cortés is an illustration. But the idea about someone who has spent her professional life on the Federalist Society greasy pole was agonizing over whether to take the legal job with the highest ratio of power to effort in the world is an ever better exemplification of the nature of Republican “jurisprudence.” You know she’s lying, she knows you’re lying, she wants you to know she’s lying, because she has this power for life and wants to rub your nose in it. Balls, strikes, things of that nature.

Cf. also starting your promo tour like this:

Perhaps the most telling stop on Barrett’s tour is also the first: tonight’s Lincoln Center appearance with Bari Weiss of The Free Press, the preferred source of political commentary for investment bankers who decided to become Republicans because they can’t use the r-word at work anymore. The Free Press also got the honor of publishing the first official excerpt of Listening to the Law, and praised Barrett for understanding that the Court’s role is not to “promote justice,” as some would foolishly assume, but only to “judge what the law requires.” (The Free Press’s event page further describes the Court as “critical to the American project, as it remains largely as our Founding Fathers designed it: the final arbiter of what’s constitutional and what’s not”—an assertion which indicates that for all of Bari Weiss’s deficiencies as a thinker and writer, she might be an even worse amateur legal historian.)

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Arsonist says there is no problem with house burning down.

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— NY Times Pitchbot (@nytpitchbot.bsky.social) September 5, 2025 at 7:47 AM

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A reminder that Justice Barrett originally made the comment about the Justices not being partisan "hacks" at the McConnell Center in Kentucky after Sen. McConnell moved heaven and earth to get Barrett confirmed before Trump left office (even as he stalled Merrick Garland out of the Scalia seat)

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— Rick Hasen (@rickhasen.bsky.social) September 5, 2025 at 7:37 PM

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“The court should not be imposing its own values on the American people,” Barrett remarked "
This from Amy Coney Barrett when she did exactly that! She imposed her "morals" and "beliefs" to stop women from getting healthcare and the right to choose!
#Pinks
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025…

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— Kelly 🦋🦋86 47🦋🦋 (@kelofchgo.bsky.social) September 6, 2025 at 12:34 PM

Per USAToday, “Barrett says her job is to ‘listen to the law'”:

… One of the former Notre Dame Law School professor’s main goals in writing her book was to persuade Americans that the justices don’t make their decisions based on personal preference or politics – partisan or otherwise.

That might be a tough sell.

In a 2024 USA TODAY/Ipsos Poll, many more people thought the court decided cases based on ideology, not the law. The public’s opinion of the court remains close to a three-decade low, according to a Pew Research Center survey released Sept. 3.

And sometimes that criticism is coming from within the court.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, one of Barrett’s three liberal colleagues, recently wrote that the court seems to have a rule: “this Administration always wins.”

Barrett disagrees…

The numbers, however, might suggest Jackson has a point about Trump’s success. Among the two dozen emergency appeals the administration has made to the justices when lower courts blocked the president’s policies, nearly all have gone his way…

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During a lightning round at an event tonight, Bari Weiss asked Amy Coney Barrett to describe each of her colleagues with one word.
Answers:
Roberts: Chief
Thomas: Laugh
Alito: Grandfather
Sotomayor: Lively
Kagan: Analytical
Gorsuch: Out West
Kavanaugh: Sports
Jackson: (long pause) Actor … Broadway

— Cristian Farias (@cristianfarias.com) September 4, 2025 at 10:05 PM

Lady, Justice Brown Jackson will be in the history books long after you’re remembered — by a few specialists, if at all — as yet another disposable player in the GOP’s long con.

GOP Venality Open Thread: Amy Comey Barrett, Gleefully Shilling for the KakistocracyPost + Comments (53)

War for Ukraine Day 1,292: A Brief Monday Night Update

by Adam L Silverman| September 8, 20258:57 pm| 11 Comments

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

Turns out it wasn’t a shahed drone that hit the Cabinet of Ministers building in Kyiv, it was an Iskander missile.

EU Ambassador to Ukraine, Maternova, has shown the wreckage of an Iskander missile that hit the Cabinet of Ministers building.

Russian propaganda is ecstatic about this strike despite it having little impact because the building was empty.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 9:13 AM

The good news remains that it did not kill anyone.

Other’s in Kyiv were not so fortunate.

🕯️Rescuers have recovered the body of a man from beneath the rubble of a residential building in Kyiv, bringing the death toll from the russian drone strike to three. Among the victims: a two-month-old baby.

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— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 12:58 AM

LTG Budanov, Director of Ukraine’s Main Directorate of Intelligence (HUR), sat for an interview with ApostropheTV two days ago. Here’s the video with English subtitles turned on.

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

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The Russians Are Once Again Concentrating Strikes on Our Energy Facilities; Of Course, We Have Responses to This and Will Continue to Respond – Address by the President

8 September 2025 – 19:35

I wish you health, fellow Ukrainians!

Today, I held a Staff meeting – focused primarily on technological issues. The stock of air defense systems and missiles for them, the production schedule, the delivery schedule. The protection of Ukraine’s critical infrastructure – above all, the energy sector. The Russians are once again concentrating strikes on our energy facilities. Of course, we have responses to this and will continue to respond, but the main priority is the stability of the system. There were reports on our drone production – their quality and production volumes. I am grateful to all the manufacturers who are ramping up supplies, including long-range weapons.

There were also reports from the military today – on the frontline and the supply for our forces. The greatest attention is paid to the Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia regions. Constant Russian strikes continue against Kherson. Intense active combat also continues in the border areas of the Sumy region. I am grateful to each of our units for their resilience and for destroying the occupier. Based on the results of the week, it is worth especially recognizing the warriors of the 79th and 82nd Air Assault Brigades, the 92nd Separate Assault Brigade, the 5th Separate Assault Brigade, the 14th Operational Brigade, as well as the 1st, 33rd, 214th, 225th, and 425th Separate Assault Regiments. I am grateful to everyone – to every unit.

Earlier, I had a thorough discussion with Ukraine’s Minister of Defense Denys Shmyhal. A long meeting was held on the details of preparations for this fall and winter, as well as the budget for next year. In the coming days, the Minister will take part in the Ramstein meeting – we have defined the key objectives. Strengthening air defense is the number one goal for this Ramstein and for our contacts in Europe and the United States in general. Together with the Minister, we also set priorities for 2026 – both in terms of the essential assets needed by the Defense Forces and in terms of funding. There is a great deal of work ahead with our partners, and in this work we must all be equally effective – every state institution, everyone in contact with our friends around the world, everyone working for defense. The Ukrainian army must be – and will be – consistently strong.

At today’s Staff meeting, there were also reports on Ukraine’s communications infrastructure – mobile communication and network protection. It is essential that all our communities have proper access to communication, and the relevant agencies still have work to do in this regard.

And one more thing for today.

I held a meeting with Prime Minister of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko and Minister of Social Policy Denys Uliutin on fulfilling social obligations and preparing for next year within the framework of budgetary capabilities. It is important that the state fulfills its obligations, ensures all necessary payments, and will continue to do so in the future. This is also one of the proofs of Ukraine’s resilience and effectiveness – even in the time of full-scale war, Ukraine maintains its social system and continues making payments.

I thank everyone who helps the state in this work. I thank everyone who pays taxes, preserves jobs, and helps ensure both our defense and support for Ukrainians.

Glory to Ukraine!

Georgia:

Rustaveli Avenue on day 285 of daily, nationwide protests in Georgia. 🇬🇪✊

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 1:50 PM

A beaten journalist has been hospitalized.

Day 285 of #GeorgiaProtests

It’s escalating more and more.

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 2:01 PM

It seems Georgian police aren’t even pretending anymore to protect protesters from regime thugs (“titushki”). The situation in Tbilisi is tense.

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 1:08 PM

Despite footage of GD supporters attacking protesters near the party HQ, GD chair Shalva Papuashvili blamed the demonstrators. The Interior Ministry opened a probe into “group violence” but didn’t specify which side it targets.

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 3:51 PM

The illegitimate MIA issued a statement that an investigation has been launched regarding “group violence” that happened today on Melikishvili. They also praised the police for stepping in – for a coordinated police-thug operation.

Let me guess, it will be us whom they detain. #GeorgiaProtests

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 2:40 PM

⭕️Hungarian journalist László Róbert Mezes was injured on Melikishvili Avenue in #Tbilisi, as Georgian Dream supporters attacked protesters and journalists outside Kakha Kaladze’s election campaign HQ.

@laszlorobertmezes.bsky.social
#GeorgiaProtests #Georgia #RepressionInGeorgia

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— Batumelebi&Netgazeti (@netgazeti.org) September 8, 2025 at 1:24 PM

1/ Following a beating by Georgian Dream party activists, Hungarian journalist László Róbert Mézes was taken to a clinic. Mézes, who has lived in Georgia for several years, currently works for the online outlet EEBC, which he founded.

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 2:42 PM

2/ Georgian Dream activists attacked participants of a protest march, physically assaulting demonstrators and throwing bottles at them. Journalists were also targeted—several were beaten and had their phones seized, including reporters from Publika.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 2:42 PM

3/ According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, an investigation has been launched under the article of group violence.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 2:42 PM

This video shows violence against another Publika.ge journalist, Keto Mikadze. Kakha Kaladze and Georgian Dream supporters also took away the phone she was using to work on the spot.

#TerrorinGeorgia

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 1:57 PM

Remember this woman? GD thugs (‘titushki’) beat her up today, along with other activists and journalists, right in front of the police. Thugs appeared from both sides at a scheduled protest in front of GD offices.

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 1:56 PM

Oh, it’s apparently the leader of the Georgian Dream’s Youth Organization and one of their candidates in the sham local elections. His name is Aleksandre Mukataridze.

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 3:46 PM

One GD thug-thrown bottle hit two policemen and then a woman.

Ouch.

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 6:16 PM

THIS IS WHY THEY WANT TO GET RID OF FREE MEDIA!

“I am one of yours!” – a thug armed with a rubber baton who attacked just around 40 peaceful protesters tells a policeman! 1/2

📷 MOSE

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 6:54 PM

Before that, the policeman was telling him to give him the baton, and he’d store it in the car. The thug thought it was being confiscated, and said what he said.

#GeorgiaProtests

For the attack by this guy, see the video quote tweeted below. 2/2.

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 6:54 PM

🟥”We will fight everywhere before it’s too late” – A new platform, #MziaMovement, uniting the Georgian diaspora in twenty countries, has launched.
🎯Its goal: freeing political prisoners & pushing sanctions against GD officials involved in torture, unlawful detentions, & prosecutions ( #MziaList)

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— Batumelebi&Netgazeti (@netgazeti.org) September 8, 2025 at 5:11 AM

1/ Giorgi Kinoiani, who fought in Ukraine against Russia, was arrested in Armenia and placed in 40-day extradition detention.

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 7:40 AM

2/ His friend, Salome Murjikneli, shared this information with Publika. According to Murjikneli, Giorgi was traveling to Armenia with family members and friends on September 3.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 7:40 AM

3/ “At around 13:00 we learned that he had been detained. He himself texted me saying, ‘They are arresting me’ while he still had his phone. After that, they kept him at the border. In the evening Giorgi called as an officially detained person and told me that he was under arrest,” Murjikneli said.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 7:40 AM

4/ On October 25, 2024, the so-called court of occupied Donetsk sentenced Giorgi Kinoiani to 7 years in prison.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 7:40 AM

5/ “Based on this decision, Russia is demanding Giorgi’s extradition. Armenia is required to notify Russia when a person like Giorgi, wanted by Russia, crosses its border”.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 7:40 AM

6/ “It is precisely at Russia’s request that the extradition has been initiated,” Murjikneli said, adding that the Yerevan court on September 6 ruled to place Giorgi Kinoiani in 40-day extradition detention.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 7:40 AM

6/ Publika contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding Giorgi Kinoiani’s case and will provide their response as soon as it is received.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 7:40 AM

The US:

The United States has notified European countries that it is withdrawing from a joint effort to combat disinformation by Russia, China and Iran, three European officials familiar with the matter told the Financial Times.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 2:52 PM

Kaliningrad:

On Monday, Alexey S., CEO of the potassium and magnesium salts mining company K-Potash Service, was found dead near Kaliningrad. The body was “found without a head, ru media report. 👀

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 11:37 AM

Alexey Sinitsyn, CEO of K-Potash Service has “committed suicide by decapitating himself”.

I remain a master strategist.

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— Darth Putin (@darthputinkgb.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 3:01 PM

Europe:

❗️The secret services of Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic have announced the liquidation of a Belarusian intelligence network deployed in Europe.

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— 🪖MilitaryNewsUA🇺🇦 (@militarynewsua.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 4:20 PM

2/According to reports, the network of agents in Europe was created by the State Security Committee of Belarus, which was trying to organize the collection of intelligence information.

— 🪖MilitaryNewsUA🇺🇦 (@militarynewsua.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 4:20 PM

Source: www.bis.cz/aktuality/ro…

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— 🪖MilitaryNewsUA🇺🇦 (@militarynewsua.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 4:21 PM

Back to Ukraine.

In August, Ukraine’s Defense Forces regained 58 km² and liberated several settlements, Syrskyi said. He added that the enemy holds a threefold advantage in manpower and equipment, and in key areas may outnumber Ukrainian troops by 4 to 6 times.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 4:32 AM

Destruction of two Russian bridges by FPV drones strikes on anti-tank mine storages under the bridges.

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— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 8:57 AM

Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast:

It was a hospital in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk Oblast.

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— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 4:50 AM

Russian occupied Donetsk Oblast:

Media report strikes in occupied Donetsk, targeting a metallurgical plant and other facilities.

Specifically, the strikes hit the former “Topaz” factory, which occupying forces had converted into a military base.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 1:47 PM

/1. Russian base in Donetsk was targeted by missiles this evening. Presumably the territory of Topaz plant was targeted.

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— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 1:38 PM

/2. Moment of the missile strike on Russian base in Donetsk

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— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 1:40 PM

/3. Clear look on one of the missiles which targeted Russian base in Donetsk.

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— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 1:41 PM

/4. /2. Debris of one of the missiles which targeted Donetsk

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— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 1:47 PM

Not so Russian occupied Donetsk Oblast:

The Defense Forces have liberated another village in the Donetsk region from Russian occupiers.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 3:10 AM

Kramatorsk:

Russian forces deliberately attacked rescue workers in Kramatorsk as they were extinguishing a fire in a residential building.
A fire truck was damaged by an enemy drone strike, but thankfully, no one was injured.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 8:39 AM

Russian occupied Mariupol:

russians celebrate the murder of tens of thousands of peaceful Mariupol residents with a mural reading “for the liberation of Mariupol.” Inhuman sickness — to “liberate” a city of its own people and then brag about it.

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— Olena Halushka (@halushka.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 2:31 PM

The Pokrovsk direction:

In the Pokrovsk direction, the Phoenix combat unit of the Defense Forces halted another Russian mechanized assault.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 12:02 PM

Kremenchuk, Poltava Oblast:

In Kremenchuk, Poltava region, vehicular traffic across the bridge hit by a Russian drone was restored within a day. Repair crews arrived at the site almost immediately and began work practically in parallel with bomb disposal teams. Work is now underway to restore rail traffic.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 3:25 AM

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

There are no new Patron skeets or videos today. Here is some adjacent material.

Ukrainian Amputee Veteran Finds Solace In Caring For Dogs
www.rferl.org/a/ukrainian-…

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— LaCiuraRaffaele (@laciuraraffaele.bsky.social) September 7, 2025 at 3:47 AM

From Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL):

“She likes biting,” said Vasyl Velychko, using his remaining hand to fend off an excited German shepherd called Ira at a dog shelter in Lviv, western Ukraine.

Velychko is one of tens of thousands of Ukrainians who have had amputations as a result of injuries suffered during Russia’s war on their country.

Ira is just one of up to 60 dogs that Velychko feeds and walks every day at the Lviv Animal Shelter. The dogs have become his therapy.

“I saw an advertisement. I thought, I’ll come, I’ll try to work,” he told RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service.

Velychko served in the Ukrainian military from 2017-2020 but rejoined after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. A few months later, during a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, a shot from an anti-tank grenade launcher tore off his arm.

After rehabilitation, Velychko worked briefly as a courier before recently starting a job at the shelter.

“Some people lose spirit, but they need support and someone to set an example,” he said. “And for those who just stay home, I say: Find some work, be around people, communicate.”

Velychko wears a belt connected to the dog leash to free up his arm for other tasks while he’s walking the dogs.

“Since I have an upper-limb amputation, it’s uncomfortable sometimes, like when I need to hold the dog or clean up after it. With the belt, I can just let go, and I know the dog won’t run away, get hit by a car, or escape,” he said.

Kostyantyn Pavlenko, a dog specialist at the shelter, said Velychko’s disability did not hold him back.

“Physically, of course, it is difficult for someone without one arm,” he said.

“But he never asks for help. I even told him once on the training ground, ‘Wait, I’ll catch the dog.’ He said, ‘No, no, I’ll do it myself.’ He positions himself with his legs, clamps with his legs, clips the carabiner, and manages it all on his own.”

Velychko said he never takes a day off — and that he loves dogs more than people.

“I can’t imagine myself without the dogs. How could anyone betray them, abandon them? They trust you, they love you.”

Open thread!

War for Ukraine Day 1,292: A Brief Monday Night UpdatePost + Comments (11)

The World Is Not His Oyster

by WaterGirl| September 8, 20257:56 pm| 61 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics

Some helpful charts and truly great news from the most recent Hopium Chronicles:

Looking at this last chart, I find it really interesting and encouraging that the biggest drops approval are:

18-29 year olds
Hispanic / Latino
moderates

The youth vote hurt us in 2024, the Hispanic / Latino vote hurt us in 2024, and so-called moderates totally failed to meet the moment.

Some these ratings with those groups seems like good news to me.

The World Is Not His OysterPost + Comments (61)

GOP Stupidity Open Thread: Baghdad Bessent

by Anne Laurie| September 8, 20251:35 pm| 94 Comments

This post is in: C.R.E.A.M., Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Republican Venality, Trump Crime Cartel

“Weehawken. Dawn.”
@hamiltonmusical.bsky.social

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— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) September 8, 2025 at 12:52 PM

Following up on BettyC’s post, Andrew Egger at the Bulwark on “How Not to Spin the Economy”:

Being an economic surrogate for Donald Trump is getting harder all the time. You don’t just need to continue to swear, in the face of all evidence, that the tariff-era U.S. economy is banging on all cylinders. You also need to do it while refusing to contradict the president’s many economically illiterate beliefs, like the notion that foreign countries, rather than U.S. importers, pay Trump’s tariffs.

It’s a tricky dance, but there are those who do it well. Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave us a masterclass in an interview on NBC’s Meet the Press, where—in his smarmy, smartest-guy-in-the-room way—he repeatedly asked the audience: Who are you going to believe, me or these lying economic statistics?…

What’s the administration’s message to companies hurt by tariffs, Kristen Welker asked Bessent. She brought up John Deere, the U.S. farm-equipment company that, as the New York Times reported last week, has been pummeled under Trump. Welker quoted the Times article to Bessent: “Last month John Deere said net income in its most recent quarter was down 29 percent from a year earlier. Higher tariffs have cost the company $300 million so far with nearly another $300 million expected by the end of the year. This summer the company laid off 238 employees across factories in Illinois and Iowa.”

All those are stats straight from John Deere, but Bessent treated them like they were some liberal scheme to lie about the economy. “First of all, Kristen, if you’re quoting the New York Times, that’s not a fair observer,” he scoffed. “For every John Deere we have companies who are telling us, ‘The tariffs have helped our business.’”

But of course it isn’t just John Deere. Every company that imports products or raw materials has been slammed by the tariffs. Welker rattled off a few more: Nike, which estimates tariffs will cost it $1 billion this year, Black+Decker, and America’s Big Three automakers.

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So Bessent took a new tack: What, you expect companies to tell the truth about their financial straits? “You know, you’re taking these from earnings calls,” he said. “And on earnings calls they have to give the draconian scenario. There are companies coming out and saying, ‘Oh, because of the tariffs we’re doing this.’”

This brought Welker and Bessent to the now-standard climax of any Trump-surrogate economic interview these days: the ritual denial of who actually pays import tariffs. Welker brought up an August research report from Goldman Sachs, which estimated that American businesses and consumers had paid 86 percent of tariff revenues so far. (Goldman also estimated that the share of that burden paid by consumers specifically will continue to grow throughout the rest of the year as businesses run out of creative ways to eat the early costs of the tariffs.) The release of that report last month prompted a furious response from Trump, who said on social media that Sachs and its CEO David Solomon “refuse to give credit where credit is due.”…

The point of these interviews, of course, isn’t just to convince the American people to ignore the gloomy economic data piling up before them. As ever with the Trump administration, the point of this self-abasement is also to please the audience of one—to maintain good favor in the president’s books relative to your peers and rivals in the administration. (Bessent has these rivalries front of mind right now: Politico reports this morning that he got into a shouting match with housing finance czar Bill Pulte at a MAGA club last week, accusing Pulte of badmouthing him to Trump. Bessent reportedly went so far as to threaten to punch Pulte in his “fucking face”—which both Goldman Sachs and the New York Times would no doubt agree is a sensible thing to do.)

You have to wonder, though, whether Trump’s hermetically sealed praise machine will wind up working too well. The president already is inclined to trust his own wildly erroneous trade instincts over all outside inputs about the state of the economy, and he’s surrounded himself with a chorus of yes-men willing to tongue-bathe his every move. The warning signs are flashing, but Trump is keeping the tariff pedal pressed to the floor.

GOP Stupidity Open Thread: Baghdad BessentPost + Comments (94)

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Relentless negativity is not a sign that you are more realistic.

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

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

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

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

“A king is only a king if we bow down.” – Rev. William Barber

In after Baud. Damn.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Reality always gets a vote in the end.

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

America is going up in flames. The NYTimes fawns over MAGA celebrities. No longer a real newspaper.

There is no compromise when it comes to body autonomy. You either have it or you do not.

I would gladly pay you tuesday for a hamburger today.

We will not go back.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

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

Hell hath no fury like a farmer bankrupted.

Burn It Down

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

GOP Venality Open Thread: Amy Comey Barrett, Gleefully Shilling for the Kakistocracy

War for Ukraine Day 1,292: A Brief Monday Night Update

The Russians Are Once Again Concentrating Strikes on Our Energy Facilities; Of Course, We Have Responses to This and Will Continue to Respond – Address by the President

The World Is Not His Oyster

Looking at this last chart, I find it really interesting and encouraging that the biggest drops approval are:

GOP Stupidity Open Thread: Baghdad Bessent