Balloon Juice - Open Threads Archives

This will definitely make it go away…

by Betty Cracker| September 3, 202512:35 pm| 170 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Politics, Assholes, General Stupidity

I’m not a political communications professional, but this seems unwise…

Trump: So what they are trying to do with the Epstein hoax is get people to talk about that instead of speaking about the tremendous success like ending seven wars

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— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) September 3, 2025 at 11:56 AM

Narrator: Trump didn’t end seven wars.

I’ll spare you further clips of the mush-mouthed sleazebag, but here are some other whiny quotes from the same exchange:

This is a Democrat hoax. They’re trying to get people to talk about something that is totally irrelevant.

We are having the most successful eight months of any president ever. And that’s what I want to talk about. That’s what we should be talking about. Not the Epstein hoax.

I understand that we were subpoenaed to give files and I understand we have given thousands of pages of files. I think it’s enough because I think we should talk about the success that we are having.

Trump is deeply unpopular, and he’s trying to make a pedophilia scandal involving his close personal friend go away by calling it a “Democrat hoax” and whining about how he’s not getting enough credit for nonexistent accomplishments.

Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I don’t think this will have the intended effect.

Open thread.

This will definitely make it go away…Post + Comments (170)

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: No Longer A Serious Country

by Anne Laurie| September 3, 20256:38 am| 239 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

The US military will conduct a flyover of the White House and wider DC at 11am tomorrow (Wednesday).
Epstein’s victims will be holding a press conference on Capitol Hill around the same time.

— Mark Chadbourn (@chadbourn.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 1:31 PM

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Everyone should watch this and stop pretending this guy isn’t a grave threat to everyone’s health.

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— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 5:35 PM

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52 of 53 Republican senators voted to confirm him.

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— Bill Kristol (@billkristolbulwark.bsky.social) August 31, 2025 at 10:24 AM

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The White House declares that it would be a “hostile act” if House Republicans voted for a complete release of the Epstein files. Trump seems desperate to cover up any connection with his friend who raped children.

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— Mark Jacob (@markjacob.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 10:32 PM

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Perfect encapsulation of the Trump administration: The guy suing Harvard for alleged antisemitism is a straight-up Hitler-admiring Nazi.
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/09/02/m…

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— Jonathan Cohn (@jonathancohn.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 7:42 AM

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This is legitimately insane in the like “Tsar taking advice from Siberian mystic” sense

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— Vituperative Erb (@vituperativeerb.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 11:34 PM

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I made this point over and over again in 2024.

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— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 10:29 AM

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By the way, we didn’t emerge unscathed. Over a million Americans died and the economy saw a historic collapse. That’s not to say Trump caused this, per se, but he certainly presided over it.

— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 10:32 AM

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: No Longer A Serious CountryPost + Comments (239)

Late Night Open Thread: Chicago Throws Down

by Anne Laurie| September 2, 202511:22 pm| 45 Comments

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

A bold move given recent protests and the size/weight of a Portillo's Italian Beef

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— Robert Downen (@robertdownen.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 4:36 PM

Per Heather Cherone, at Chicago’s WTTW:

… “Unidentifiable agents in unmarked vehicles with masks are planning to raid Latino communities and say they’re targeting violent criminals, as we saw in Los Angeles,” Pritzker said, adding that the looming deployment was timed to coincide with celebrations of Mexican Independence Day on Sept. 16. “A very, very small percentage of the individuals they will target will be violent criminals.”

Pritzker said federal agents would target Chicagoans based on the color of their skin, and whether they appear to be Latino.

“It breaks my heart to report that we have been told ICE will try to disrupt community picnics and peaceful parades,” Pritzker said. “Let’s be clear — the terror and cruelty is the point, not the safety of anybody living here.”

The Trump administration plans to use Naval Station Great Lakes, nearly 35 miles outside Chicago, to house federal immigration agents or National Guard troops who could be deployed to Chicago, according to federal officials.

While Pritzker said his information came from “unauthorized, patriotic officials” as well as media reports, a source in Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office told WTTW News that they were “not sure where the governor got his information, but it is not accurate.”

Nearly 52,000 migrants arrived in Chicago starting in 2022, many on buses paid for by Abbott, a Republican, as part of a concerted effort to divide Democratic voters and boost Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

Shortly before Pritzker addressed the news media from his offices in downtown Chicago, Trump told reporters that he would send National Guard troops to Chicago despite a federal judge ruling that his administration violated a federal law known as the Posse Comitatus Act by using the military to fight crime in Los Angeles…

Pritzker promised to challenge any deployment in court.

Flanked by Mayor Brandon Johnson, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, Attorney General Kwame Raoul and Deputy Gov. Juliana Stratton, Pritzker said it would be illegal and unconstitutional for the president to deploy the National Guard to Chicago over his objections.

“He has no idea what’s he’s talking about,” Pritzker said. “There is no emergency that warrants deployment of troops. He is insulting the people of Chicago by calling our home a hellhole, and anyone that takes his word at face value is insulting Chicagoans too.” …

Pritzker: "Any rational person who has spent even the most minimal amount of time studying human history has to ask themselves one important question: once they get the citizens of this nation comfortable with the current atrocities committed under the color of law, what comes next?"

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) September 2, 2025 at 4:21 PM

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🚨BREAKING: President Donald Trump is preparing to deploy National Guard troops in the state over the governor’s repeated objections. Pritzker also warned Trump will soon launch large-scale immigration raids in Chicago. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/…

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— Marc Elias (@marcelias.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 5:16 PM

… If Trump sends Texas National Guard troops into Illinois, it will mark the first time he’s deployed one state’s guard personnel against a nonconsenting state, raising severe state sovereignty issues.

In Los Angeles, Trump deployed California National Guard troops after federalizing them using an archaic federal statute.

Pritzker said the head of the Illinois State Police over the weekend was informed by Gregory Bovino, a senior Customs and Border Protection official who led aggressive immigration raids in Los Angeles, that immigration raids in Chicago would soon begin.

The governor said the Trump administration began staging for the raids Monday by moving military vehicles onto federal properties in the state and relocating federal agents from Los Angeles to Chicago…

Pritzker added that the Trump administration may use any pushback to immigration operations as pretext to deploying National Guard troops.

“If someone flings a sandwich at an ICE agent, Trump will try and go on TV and declare an emergency,” he added, while urging Chicagoans to “not take the bait.”

“None of this is about fighting crime or making Chicago safer. None of it,” Pritzker said. “For Trump, it’s about testing his power and producing a political drama to cover up for his corruption.”…

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Texas loaded busses with desperate migrants and dropped them off in Chicago like trash in the middle of winter. We welcomed them into our communities. Now Texas is sending its National Guard to terrorize them on our streets. In our neighborhoods. What the fuck.

— Mike Innocenzi (@pantagrapher.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 4:24 PM

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The Illinois National Guard veterans this morning, condemned Trump’s use of troops in LA immigration protests after a judge ruled the federal deployment was illegal.
They are speaking out against Trump’s sending National Guard troops to Chicago, Illinois.
youtu.be/tvWYOzKUS7E?…

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— Liz (or Lizzie) Kim 김혜성 💫 (@liz.sheshed.rocks) September 2, 2025 at 12:46 PM

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When President Trump used 32 U.S.C. § 502(f)(2) in 2020, that was to have out-of-state National Guard troops sent to D.C.—which has no sovereignty of its own.
Sending the un-federalized TX National Guard into IL without the latter’s consent raises *serious* Article IV problems that 2020 … didn’t.

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— Steve Vladeck (@stevevladeck.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 6:43 PM

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I think Illinois can and should sue Texas in the Supreme Court’s original jurisdiction and seek a preliminary injunction against the use of any un-federalized Texas National Guard troops in Illinois.

— Steve Vladeck (@stevevladeck.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 6:55 PM

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i do think people — national security reporters in particular — should think a little bit about what it means that pritzker apparently already knows what the plan for the texas national guard in chicago is, regardless of whether it actually happens or not.

— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) September 2, 2025 at 7:53 PM

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Illinois has laws against sharing data for immigration enforcement. It’s one of only 2-3 states that have such robust rules preventing collaboration w ICE. I believe it’s one of the reasons that we’re in month 8 of the Trump administration continuing to talk about but not act on an ICE surge

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— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 9:44 PM

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FWIW: A spokesperson for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said that Texas “is not preparing to deploy troops to Illinois,” per the Austin American-Statesman.
www.statesman.com/politics/tex…

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— Anna Bower (@annabower.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 10:18 PM

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If you’re a Texan you need to protest _in Texas_. Your governor is using your people to commit a hostile act against the people of Illinois. Are you OK with that?
Are you?

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— Dana Houle (@danahoule.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 4:54 PM

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ETA: For future reference…

truly I need you guys to know that "North Chicago" is an extremely deceptive town name and that Great Lakes Naval Station is way way closer to WISCONSIN than Chicago. You can take a commuter train. But it's not even peak rush hour rn and it's a 90+ minute drive from Great Lakes to Michigan Avenue.

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— Meredith Shiner (@meredithshiner.com) September 2, 2025 at 4:50 PM

Late Night Open Thread: Chicago Throws DownPost + Comments (45)

War for Ukraine Day 1,286: The Small Hours Are, Once Again, the Deadliest Hours

by Adam L Silverman| September 2, 20259:41 pm| 9 Comments

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

(Image by NEIVANMADE)

At 3:30 AM local time in Ukraine/8:30 PM EDT, drone swarms are moving across Ukraine ahead of incoming Russian missiles launched from Russian strategic bombers – Tu-95MS and a Tu-160 – over western Russia.

Russian planes reportedly launched cruise missiles at Ukraine.

I fucking hate russia!

Please keep Ukraine in your thoughts tonight.

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 7:05 PM

People in Kyiv are heading to the Metro for the night – a large number of drone launches have been reported, and Russian strategic bombers are taking off. Another big attack expected. Drones seem to be bypassing Kyiv and heading west, however. Putin escalating his war on Ukraine.

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— Euan MacDonald (@euanmacdonald.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 4:20 PM

As putin and Xi meet in Shanghai, russian drones pound Kyiv nonstop all morning, forcing children on their second day of school into subway shelters. russia is trying to destroy Ukraine’s future on every level.
Photo don_spiridon twitter.

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— Olena Halushka (@halushka.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 4:24 AM

4;12 AM local time in Ukraine:

4:13 in Ukraine. Air raid alert. Russian missile terror begins again. Turn your sound on 🔊

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 9:16 PM

Missile alerts have gone up over all the eastern oblasts of Ukraine.

I want to clarify something in regard to last night’s post. It is not that the EU itself, as well as its member states, the US, non-EU NATO allies, non-EU European states, and other allies and partners are not on the front lines of Putin’s and Russia’s world war. Rather, as I’ve written before, including in this professional publication from 2018, the only mapped to geography front lines of this war are in Ukraine. Everywhere else the front lines are everywhere and nowhere. And they’re everywhere and nowhere because Russia is only using direct, state on state military power in Ukraine. Everywhere else the military power is either directed through one of the other elements of national power (diplomatic, information, economic, financial, intelligence, and/or legal/lawfare) or they’re using one or more of the other elements of national power instead of national power. And that means the front lines can be anywhere and almost anything: social media, websites, malware, tv or radio broadcasts, podcasts, actual news reporting, corporate espionage, legal corporate activities, cultural activities like sports or ballet or opera, as well as a host of illegal activities.

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

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In Fact, Swarms of Russian Drones in Our Skies Serve as an Accompaniment to Russia’s Statements From China – Address by the President

2 September 2025 – 20:13

I wish you good health, fellow Ukrainians!

A brief update on today.

The military: reports have been coming in since morning, in particular, from the Commander of the Air Force about the drone interception. The brazenness of the Russians keeps growing – they are attacking Ukraine more and more often in broad daylight with dozens of strike drones. Last night there were 150 drones; this morning over fifty more; in the evening dozens more, and most of them were “shaheds.” In fact, swarms of Russian drones in our skies serve as an accompaniment to Russia’s statements from China. An open disregard by Russia for everything the world is doing to stop this war. Yesterday, the Russians literally denied what President Trump said about the leaders’ meeting that is needed to end the war. These days in China, Putin keeps spinning his tales – as if he is not responsible for the war. As if someone always “forces” him to fight, to kill, to drive children into shelters, to send thousands of people to storm our positions. And now we see another buildup of Russian forces in some sectors of the front. The only thing he refuses to be “forced” into is peace. Russia continues to launch strikes. Of course, we will respond. We will respond, including asymmetrically as well, so that Russia truly feels the consequences of its audacity. And we continue working with our partners to put pressure on Russia – and that will happen. Russia hears nothing but strength, and it will keep lying until its losses are heavy enough. All our partners understand this. What matters now is the resolve to act. Additional sanctions that actually hit – they are needed. Tariffs that limit Russian trade and cut funding for Russia’s war machine – all these are much needed too. I am grateful to everyone who continues to support our defense, our resilience. And it’s important that now, in September, the resourcing of programs with our partners continues with no less intensity than at the start of the year. In particular, the PURL program. In August, thanks to European countries, we secured over two billion euros specifically for procuring American weapons, including missiles for Patriot and missiles for HIMARS systems. Going forward, this very PURL program must continue to receive at least one billion dollars per month. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and our ambassadors in partner countries must be highly effective.

Today, I held a quite detailed meeting with all the representatives involved in preparing security guarantees for Ukraine and coordinating steps with our partners in support of the Defense Forces. The teams from the Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the military – Commander-in-Chief and General Staff – the NSDC Secretary are all working actively so that this year, next year, and in the long term – despite any Russian insanity – Ukraine has sufficient protection. And it will definitely be so. Today, we agreed on the basis for further contacts with members of the Coalition of the Willing regarding the actual content of security guarantees for Ukraine. We are working – very actively – with the team from the United States. Soon, we will speak with the leaders of partner countries in Europe. Our formats – including Ukraine–Northern Europe, as well as the Washington Format – we are filling all of this with substance to the fullest. Work continues on sanctions as well – with the European Union, the United Kingdom, and other partners. Synchronizing sanctions – ours and our partners’ – is one of the main tasks for the fall.

And one more thing.

Law enforcement – the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Security Service of Ukraine, and the Prosecutor General – provides regular reports on the investigation into the murder of Andriy Parubiy. A preventive measure has been set for the suspect: detention without bail. Law enforcement is uncovering more and more details of the crime. Horrific details. It is important that the public receives all the established and verified information to the fullest extent possible under procedural rules. I thank the entire team working around the clock to establish the truth. Today in Lviv, a farewell ceremony was held for Andriy Parubiy. My condolences to his family and loved ones. Eternal memory!

Glory to Ukraine!

Georgia:

Hello from day 279 of our daily protests on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Today, activists are blocking the city in at least three locations. ~26 activists have been arrested today. Earlier in the day, eight people got unjustly sentenced to years in prison.

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 12:39 PM

🟥19:15, September 2, 2025 – #Tbilisi

#GeorgiaProtests day #279, Rustaveli Avenue is blocked.

💢20 Activists have been arrested since afternoon.
💢9 Prisoners of conscious have been sentenced to prison around noon.
#RepressionInGeorgia #Georgia

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— Batumelebi&Netgazeti (@netgazeti.org) September 2, 2025 at 11:34 AM

🗣️“Your duty is to defend the country, not to justify and protect its traitors. Today, 22 activists protesting the illegitimate Tsulukiani Commission’s report on Rustaveli were unlawfully detained and deprived of their freedom,” a protesters marching toward GD’s headquarters.

#RepressionInGeorgia

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— Batumelebi&Netgazeti (@netgazeti.org) September 2, 2025 at 1:18 PM

“F*ck the Georgian Dream! You won’t get away with this!” – spontaneously gathered people shout at the gates of the Parliament as the “Parliamentary Commission” proceeds to blame Georgia in the 2008 war with Russia. #GeorgiaProtests

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 7:56 AM

Detention cars all around.

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 7:56 AM

At least 21 demonstrators protesting Tea Tsulukiani’s statements were violently arrested on charges of disobeying police officers.

#TerrorinGeorgia

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 9:59 AM

Vicious manhunt at Rustaveli. It were few of us since the protest was spontaneous and on a workday. We went down to close the road, zigzagged in a chase. They got extremely irritated and began hunting us on pavements.

16 detained, including some from my party @DroaParty.

#GeorgiaProtests

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 9:18 AM

Look how they are almost strangling our @DroaParty member veteran activist Shushana Matsaberidze! She was just standing for herself on the pavement & even reproached me for being in front. The police just recognizes her and wants to get rid of her. #GeorgiaProtests

📷 @lukamishveladze.bsky.social

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 9:20 AM

The families of political prisoners and Georgian activists chant as they leave the courthouse. Nine more sentenced today on trumped-up charges. More verdicts expected tomorrow.

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 5:19 AM

Today in Georgia, activists are playing hide and seek with police. Around 26 arrests so far. We can’t block the street in front of Parliament, so we keep trying at other spots on Rustaveli.

Day 279 of daily nationwide protests.

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 11:20 AM

Georgian women are fighting on the front lines of these protests. Most of the ~26 activists arrested today are women.

This is Soviet history researcher Rusiko Kobakhidze—always contributing to the resistance, knowing better than anyone the threat we face.

Day 279 of protests.

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 11:36 AM

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 12:04 PM

Russian citizen Anton Chechin was sentenced to eight years and six months in prison by a Tbilisi court after being found guilty of purchasing and possessing a large quantity of the drug Alpha-PVP. He was arrested on Dec 3, 2024.

#TerrorinGeorgia

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— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 3:53 AM

2/ Chechin denies the charges, insisting his prosecution is politically motivated. He had been an active participant in pro-European demonstrations in Georgia and prior to moving there, supported Russian opposition leader Navalny’s party, twice serving as an election observer.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 3:53 AM

3/ He also took part in numerous protests in Russia. In Georgia, he volunteered to assist people displaced from Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 3:53 AM

4/ His lawyer says that Chechin was first detained on November 18, 2024, after a protest in Tbilisi, when police allegedly threatened him to stop his activism. The lawyer also claims that witness testimony and so-called “screenshots” presented in court support this account.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 3:53 AM

5/ He was arrested three weeks later, during one of the largest pro-European rallies in Georgia in recent decades.

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 3:53 AM

6/ Prosecutors say Chechin’s DNA was on the drug packaging. Prosecutor Shmagi Gobejishvili claimed no arrest video exists because Chechin resisted. The defense argues filming was “objectively possible.”

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 3:53 AM

An activist told Anton’s (Georgian) wife to not worry because Anton would be out soon (nobody believes that the regime will survive for years).

“Yes, but what if something happens to him in the meantime?” – she answered.

Anton has a brain tumor.

📷 @mariamnikuradze.bsky.social

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 5:02 AM

In his final words, Russian activist Anton Chechin—just sentenced to 8.5 years in a Georgian prison—said the words we long to hear from Russians:

“The system I was born into is a threat to the world. My duty was to defend not only my homeland, but every person in danger.”

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 3:51 AM

Man, I don’t know what happens exactly but it’s definitely getting ever more tense. To the point that it HAS TO reach culmination at some point. And with everyone being on edge, it cannot be delayed forever.

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 1:08 PM

The US according to Putin:

Putin rarely says anything grounded in reality, yet major news outlets dutifully publish his quotes, forgetting to mention that he never honors his own words.

The fact that this cycle never ends is one of the reasons russian propaganda is so successful.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 9:58 AM

NATO:

‼️ NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has said that the Alliance’s defenses need to be strengthened due to the direct threat from Russia, which is growing every day, – The Guardian.

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— MAKS 25 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 11:51 AM

Back to Ukraine.

Ukraine is gradually making for itself the kind of weapons it begged the West for at the beginning of fascist Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The military result will be the same – just tens of thousands of Ukrainian lives have been lost in the time wasted by Biden and the West.

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— Euan MacDonald (@euanmacdonald.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 12:37 PM

Luhansk Oblast:

Super long lines at gas stations in occupied Luhansk. 👀
Ukrainian sanctions work 💪

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 6:40 AM

Kyiv:

Second day of school. Kids in Kyiv are hiding underground from russian drones instead of attending classes.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 6:29 AM

Kherson Oblast:

Buh-bye…Ukrainian Armed Forces aircraft blows up a grain elevator in Kherson region, where russian soldiers had set up a drone control center.
#russianLosses
#UkraineWillWin
#russiaIsLosing

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— Baba Yaga Fèlla (@babayagafella.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 3:11 PM

Kharkiv Oblast:

An FPV drone strikes the Russian TOC-1A “Solntsepyok,” which was shelling Ukrainian positions on the Vovchansk front direction in the Kharkiv region. Footage from the Guard Assault Brigade “Forpost” – Kramatorsk Border Detachment of the State Border Guard Service of

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— Baba Yaga Fèlla (@babayagafella.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 3:46 PM

The Black Sea:

Russians have likely caused a new environmental disaster in the Black Sea: a massive oil slick is currently drifting toward Crimea following a Russian tanker accident and an oil spill near Novorossiysk. According to the latest data, the slick covers approximately 350 square kilometers.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 8:06 AM

Russian occupied Crimea:

🔥 Five explosions were heard in Alushta (Crimea), after which a fire broke out in the mountains above Lazurny, – Krymskyi Veter

❗️Russian military unit 85683-l is located there – a subdivision of the 3rd radiotechnical regiment, with a noticeable radar with a white dome.

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— MAKS 25 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 4:27 PM

Bryansk Oblast, Russia:

Satellite imagery has emerged showing the aftermath of attacks on the Unecha oil pumping station.

Images show that a significant number of the pumping installations have been damaged or destroyed.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 11:13 AM

The Unecha station, located in the Bryansk region of russia, is a crucial hub for the Druzhba oil pipeline. 👀

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 11:13 AM

Perm Krai, Russia:

👀👌 In Anapa on Lysaya Gora, a radar unit and its radar were previously attacked. The consequences are being clarified.

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— MAKS 25 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 5:31 PM

💥 Anapa, preliminary strike on S-300 division!

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— MAKS 25 👀🇺🇦 (@maks23.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 4:50 PM

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

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

Jessy’s heartbreaking story touched thousands. She was found in the ruins of a home in Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, waiting for her owner, who had been killed in a Russian missile strike on August 28. 💔

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 2:58 PM

After being rescued by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, Jessy was reunited with her true family: her late owner’s son, Roman, and his granddaughter.
She has a home again, full of love and familiar faces.

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 2:58 PM

Jessy’s story is one of pain, but also of hope, love, and the unbreakable bond that gives us faith in the light.

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 2:58 PM

Open thread!

War for Ukraine Day 1,286: The Small Hours Are, Once Again, the Deadliest HoursPost + Comments (9)

Anniversary Coming Up!

by WaterGirl| September 2, 20256:50 pm| 38 Comments

This post is in: Balloon Juice, Open Threads

As I was poking through the Media Library looking for our first photos for September, I came across this photo of Rose. This is the one we use for her author page.

Since we are coming up on the one-year anniversary, I just want to say how glad I am that Rose is one of the authors here.

What a great addition!

That is all.

Open thread.

Anniversary Coming Up!Post + Comments (38)

Open Thread: Lest We Forget… EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN

by Anne Laurie| September 2, 20254:34 pm| 77 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Republicans in Disarray!, Trump Crime Cartel, Lock Him Up...Lock Them All Up

Here we go. Massie discharge petition with help from Ro Khanna, filed.

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— Jay Kuo (@nycjayjay.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 2:45 PM

If the Oval Office Occupant hasn’t stroked out yet, let’s see who wants to help him do so…

?? The silence is over. Tomorrow at 10:30 AM, survivors of Epstein’s abuse will speak on Capitol Hill.
Reps. Ro Khanna & Thomas Massie will stand with them.
Listen to the victims. Believe them.
RELEASE THE FILES ??

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— Andrea Devon (@andreadevon.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 1:00 PM

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TONIGHT: @chrislhayes.bsky.social sits down with Representatives Thomas Massie and @rokhanna.bsky.social who are holding a press conference tomorrow for Epstein survivors to share their stories.
Watch @allinwithchris.bsky.social tonight at 8pm ET on @msnbc.com

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— MSNBC (@msnbc.com) September 2, 2025 at 2:03 PM

Open Thread: Lest We Forget… EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEINPost + Comments (77)

Open Thread: It’s time to have a serious conversation about Trump’s health

by Anne Laurie| September 2, 20253:15 pm| 116 Comments

This post is in: Excellent Links, Open Threads, Trumpery, Our Failed Media Experiment

White House: ok all these death rumors are annoying. Let's use the next excuse to get him in front of the cameras. Hell, Space Command relocating is fine, schedule it.
Trump: 20 minutes late to his own proof of life video and counting

— Kururun! (@kururun.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 2:23 PM

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Well, he’s back to haggard, instead of bloated, and he’s wearing a tie (not one of his usual eye-drawing red ones), so I guess the IV diuretics over the long weekend did the job. Still can’t keep him on script, of course…

Trump on moving Space Command to Alabama from Colorado: They went to all mail-in voting. So they have automatically crooked elections. When a state is for mail-in voting, that means they want dishonest elections. That played a big factor also

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— Acyn (@acyn.bsky.social) September 2, 2025 at 2:55 PM

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What's really going on is that the press corpse got their preferred candidate.

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— soonergrunt (@soonergrunt.bsky.social) September 1, 2025 at 10:43 AM

Garrett Graff, at his SubStack, Doomsday Scenario:

If you haven’t been paying attention, Washington and social media have spent Labor Day weekend in a frenzy over Donald Trump’s health. The president, who seems like he can’t stomach staying out of the public eye and spotlight for even a few hours, had no public appearances on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday — nor any over the long weekend. That’s an unusually long period of time out of public view. Searches for “Is Trump dead?” soared on Google Saturday and became one of the most-searched terms of the holiday weekend, and #whereistrump trended on other social media sites. …

The speculation wasn’t helped by a series of strange answers J.D. Vance gave in a USA Today interview last week, where he said he was ready to be president if needed: “I’ve gotten a lot of good on-the-job training over the last 200 days.” Maybe that’s just Vance being awkward and strange — it’s hard to think of any subject where Vance giving an interview has helped — but Trump himself (or someone on his social media accounts) also engaged with the speculation by posting a “NEVER FELT BETTER IN MY LIFE” post on Truth Social, which might rank second only this weekend to Rudy Giuliani’s bizarre car accident for raising more questions than it answered…

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To me, there are six clear reasons we should be talking about this more than we are and why the press corps should be digging more deeply and more seriously around this topic:

1) The bruised hands. The puzzle of Trump’s badly bruised and heavily make-up-ed hands has been one of the summer’s odder presidential story lines. The White House has maintained that the bruises come from how much Trump loves shaking hands. “President Trump is a man of the people and he meets more Americans and shakes their hands on a daily basis than any other President in history. His commitment is unwavering and he proves that every single day,” Karoline Leavitt said…

2) The pattern changes. Donald Trump is basically the most habit-bound and routine-bound man we know in American politics. And yet we’ve seen some major departures of his routine in recent weeks — including, not least of all, that he stuck in Washington all this weekend. Trump takes off for one of his golf resorts the first chance he can nearly every weekend of the year, and yet he’s just choosing to spend an extra-long holiday weekend hanging out at the White House? Why? Is his medical team wanting to keep him closer to top secure medical facilities?…

3) The years of lies. Normally, the health of the president is very much the nation’s business. This is a person who at any hour of any day might be called upon to make enormous decisions — including, of course, the ultimate unilateral decision about whether to launch military action or even go to nuclear war. And yet from the start of his presidential campaign, bald-faced lies and exaggerations of Donald Trump’s personal vitality have been the norm. According to his personal doctor, he even personally dictated the 2015 campaign letter from his physician that declared, “Mr. Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”

We know less real information about Donald Trump’s health than any president in modern times — arguably since JFK’s doctors covered up the extent of his pain in the presidency. Much of what passes for health information from Trump is laughably exaggerated, so bare bones as to be equally dubious, or — like this summer’s trickle — only released under pressure…

We’ve had presidents be incapacitated before — a spectrum that has ranged from Dwight Eisenhower’s heart attack to Woodrow Wilson’s stroke to James Garfield lingering for 80 days before succumbing to infections that stemming from his shooting in 1881 to, well, Donald Trump getting Covid in 2020.

We’ve never had a president face serious medical problems in an age as volatile as now. Should we be worried about Donald Trump’s health? We have no idea. And that should lead to more questions around the White House than it is….

Open Thread: <em>It’s time to have a serious conversation about Trump’s health</em>Post + Comments (116)

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

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

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

The revolution will be supervised.

Nothing worth doing is easy.

If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

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

Not all heroes wear capes.

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

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

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Fucking consultants! (of the political variety)

The National Guard is not Batman.

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

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

To the privileged, equality seems like oppression.

They were going to turn on one another at some point. It was inevitable.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

This will definitely make it go away…

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: No Longer A Serious Country

Late Night Open Thread: Chicago Throws Down

War for Ukraine Day 1,286: The Small Hours Are, Once Again, the Deadliest Hours

In Fact, Swarms of Russian Drones in Our Skies Serve as an Accompaniment to Russia’s Statements From China – Address by the President

Anniversary Coming Up!

Open Thread: Lest We Forget… EPSTEIN EPSTEIN EPSTEIN

Open Thread: It’s time to have a serious conversation about Trump’s health