Balloon Juice - Open Threads Archives

Late Night Open Thread: JD Vance & the ‘Bucket of Warm Spit’

by Anne Laurie| August 17, 202511:18 pm| 44 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Republican Stupidity, Trump Crime Cartel, jd vance

genuinely brings me pleasure that no one respects this guy (least of all himself)

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— jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) August 14, 2025 at 7:27 PM

It was FDR’s vice president John ‘Cactus Jack’ Nance Garner who is supposed to have characterized the office as ‘not worth a pitcher of warm spit’ [or some other bodily fluid]. JDivan Vance is learning the hard way that it’s not the office, it’s the individual, per the Daily Beast:

… The vice president had reportedly attempted to dine at The Bull in Charlbury, Oxfordshire, an early 16th-century countryside pub with a Michelin Bib Gourmand, a prestigious award from the Michelin Guide that highlights restaurants offering excellent food at moderate prices.

However, the staff reportedly staged a mutiny, telling management that they wouldn’t show up to work if the venue accepted Vance’s dinner booking, according to a Popb—- newsletter from Thursday.

The rejection is all the more embarrassing considering that former vice president turned presidential hopeful, Kamala Harris, dined there just weeks before, as part of the pre-wedding dinner for Steve Jobs’ daughter, Eve…

Residents in Charlbury and the tiny hamlet of Dean, where the manor house is situated, quickly grew weary of Vance and his entourage of vehicles and Secret Service agents. Even the deputy mayor of Chipping Norton, not far from Dean, spoke out against his vacation.

“We’ve had a curtailment of our freedoms here, just by his mere presence, in terms of where we can walk and where we can be,” said Steve Akers. “And the American Secret Service knocking on people’s doors and asking about their Facebook profiles.”…

this has almost certainly literally happened

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— jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) August 14, 2025 at 8:41 PM

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MSNBC, “Vacationing JD Vance confronts baby-faced meme and protests in the United Kingdom”:

JD Vance’s track record of eventful travel is stretching on, as the vice president continues to get trolled at home and abroad. Vance and his family traveled last week to the Cotswolds in the United Kingdom — where a British activist group called Everybody Hates Elon rented a truck that displayed an unflattering meme of Vance as it followed him around the countryside.

The image, which shows a bald and wide-eyed Vance with plump cheeks, is the same one that a 21-year old Norwegian tourist said led to him being denied entry to the U.S. after customs officials discovered it on his phone. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection has said the Norwegian was denied entry for admitted drug use.)…

On a recent trip to his home state of Ohio for his 41st birthday, Vance’s security detail requested that the Army Corps of Engineers raise the water levels of the Little Miami River ahead of a family kayaking trip — a move that’s drawing scrutiny from congressional Democrats.

Vance also encountered protesters earlier this year during a ski vacation in Vermont.

Last month, Vance and his family visited Disneyland in Southern California, as federal agents conducted immigration raids nearby in Los Angeles…

“Hopefully, we can find some excuse as vice president of the United States to go to Hawaii,” Vance told Miller. “Kamala Harris went to Hawaii, so we should be able to find some excuse to go to Hawaii.”

The BBC, “Vance leaves Scotland after family holiday”:

… A motorcade took Vance and his family to Prestwick Airport on Sunday morning before he took off on Air Force Two just before 13:00…

Vance’s return to the US coincides with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and other world leaders, including Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, travelling to the White House for a meeting with Trump.

It follows talks between the US president and Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Alaska, which failed to reach a deal on ending the war in Ukraine…

I guess they only bring in Vance to yell at Zelensky but when Trump meets with Putin they send JD to hang out in the Cotswolds.

— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 7:10 PM

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Maybe the reason JD Vance spending so much time vacationing with his family isn't treated as a scandal is because no one thinks anything could possibly be made better by contributions from JD Vance, including JD Vance.

— Nicholas Grossman (@nicholasgrossman.bsky.social) August 15, 2025 at 9:35 AM

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JD Vance thinks the V in VP means vacation.

— Tim Hannan (@timhannan.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 6:30 PM

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One BlueSky poster suggested “Vance doing one of those Day In The Life tiktoks but it’s all blocks of time set aside for crying and getting heckled”. Among the replies:

JD making the Arthur fist as he learns that The JD Vance listed on the sandwich shop menu is just anything that fell on the floor

— Tim Price (@timprice.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 4:14 PM

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“Do you want your sandwich ‘elegiac style’, sir?” (dunked in the grease trap)

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Instead of going to jail with Trump, JD Vance should be sentenced to have a tuba player follow him around at all times honking away

— Mr Handsome Boy (@kaiten9653.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 4:20 PM

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Playing the Curb your enthusiasm theme

— FullyLoadedNachos 💦🥩 (@laurask.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 4:32 PM

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it’s one of the most inspiring global phenomena I’ve ever seen. Virtually everyone, virtually everywhere, has agreed that this guy is functionally a self-loathing paperweight who neither merits nor requires any regard at all so long as one particular heart keeps beating, and acts accordingly

— Comerado (@dogsinautumn.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 6:33 PM

Late Night Open Thread: JD Vance & the ‘Bucket of Warm Spit’Post + Comments (44)

War for Ukraine Day 1,270: Some of You Have Questions, I (May) Have Answers

by Adam L Silverman| August 17, 20258:31 pm| 32 Comments

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

I’m going to keep tonight’s post as brief as possible and just run through the basics as it is far too likely that tomorrow is going to be a mess.

Last night way2blue asked:

Adam. I know I’ve asked this before. And I’m pretty sure you answered. But. The minerals ‘deal’ that Trump pressured Ukraine to agree to—in exchange for a steady flow of weapons support (?!). With the pitch that if Americans were harvesting Ukrainian mineral wealth in the east—Putin wouldn’t dare attack… Has that disappeared in a puff of smoke?

There really wasn’t a deal. Yes, there’s paper in English and in Ukrainian specifying that Ukraine will do or allow certain things in regard to both the US and US companies that would either mine, refine, and/or purchase rare earth elements and other minerals and subsurface resources in Ukraine. And that the US would have certainly requirements and responsibilities as a result. But that’s all it ever was: words on paper. It was meaningless the minute it was signed by Trump, let alone when it was ratified by the Verkhovna Rada. The reason is that almost all of this Ukrainian mineral wealth is underneath the parts of Ukraine that are either being occupied by Russia or where the Ukrainians are actively fighting to prevent Russia from occupying. The only way to get to it is for Ukraine to win. Because if Russia is allowed to continue occupying these areas there is no way that Putin is going to sell them to the US.

As I kept writing at the time, no matter what anyone tells you, no matter what is reported, there is no deal. There never was a deal. And there never will be a deal as long Trump is president.

In the last 1010 days, Russia occupied less than 1% of Ukrainian territory.

To pretend that Russia gracefully agreed not to occupy entire Ukraine as a concession is downright stupid.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 1:54 PM

Ukrainians didn’t surrender in 2014, when the world refused even to recognize russian aggression.

Ukrainians didn’t surrender in 2022, when the world expected us to fall in 72h.

Ukrainians won’t surrender in 2025, either.

For us, freedom and sovereignty are not empty words.

— Olena Halushka (@halushka.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 3:45 AM

The following European leaders are confirmed to visit the White House alongside the President of Ukraine:

🇺🇦 Volodymyr Zelenskyy — President of Ukraine
🇪🇺 Mark Rutte — NATO Secretary General
🇪🇺 Ursula von der Leyen — President of the European Commission
🇩🇪 Friedrich Merz — Federal Chancellor of Germany

— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 7:00 AM

/2. 🇮🇹 Giorgia Meloni — Prime Minister of Italy
🇫🇷 Emmanuel Macron — President of France
🇬🇧 Keir Starmer — Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
🇫🇮 Alexander Stubb — President of Finland

— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 7:00 AM

The reporting is that they will not be in the meeting with Trump and Zelenskyy, rather they’ll attend a working dinner.

BILD reports, citing government sources, that Trump will first meet only with the Ukrainian president. Later, senior EU officials accompanying Zelensky will join for a working dinner and several hours of extended talks.

www.bild.de/politik/merz…

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 11:12 AM

I guarantee Trump won’t meet them on the tarmac when they arrive and there won’t be a red carpet.

Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if the working dinner is cancelled.

President Zelenskyy met with the 2025 version of the Coalition of the Willing – leaders of the EU members, the UK, and the EU – today. He held a joint press availability with Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission. Video below, English transcript after the jump.

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Statement by the President of Ukraine at the Joint Press Point with the President of the European Commission

17 August 2025 – 17:28

Dear Ursula, thank you for your support, thank you for this day – it’s very important, for all your support from the very beginning of this war. It’s very important that you’re with us, and that we speak to America, and we speak together. And it’s important that Washington is with us. And today, in several formats, we’re deciding what we’re going to discuss in Washington.

Dear journalists, it’s crucial that Europe is as united now as it was at the very beginning, as it was in 2022 when the full-scale war began. This unity really helps to reach real peace, and it must stay strong.

First. We have to stop the killings. Putin has many demands but we do not know all of them. If there are really as many as we heard, then it will take time to go through them all. It is impossible to do this under the pressure of weapons. So it’s necessary to cease fire and work quickly on a final deal. We’ll talk about it in Washington. Putin does not want to stop the killing. But he must do it.

Second. We need real negotiations, which means they can start where the front line is now. The contact line is the best line for talking. And Europeans support this, and we thank everyone. Russia is still unsuccessful in the Donetsk region, Putin has been unable to take it for 12 years. And the Constitution of Ukraine makes it impossible to give up territory or trade land. Since the territorial issue is so important, it should be discussed only by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia at the trilateral – Ukraine, United States, Russia. So far, Russia gives no sign the trilateral will happen, and if Russia refuses, then new sanctions must follow.

Third. It’s important that America agrees to work with Europe to provide security guarantees for Ukraine – and we are very thankful to the United States and to the President for such a signal – and therefore for everyone in Europe. This is a significant change. But there are no details how it will work – what America’s role will be, what Europe’s role will be, what the EU can do. And this is our main task. We need security to work in practice, like Article 5 of NATO.

And we consider EU accession to be part of security guarantees. And we have heard from President Trump that America and Putin see it the same way. So we talked about the EU accession negotiations. There can be no division between Ukraine and Moldova – that would simply be a very bad move, to my mind. If such a division takes place, it will automatically mean that Europe is divided on Ukraine, that Europe does not have a common and strong position on guarantees. Many in Europe see that division will only make things worse.

We talked about defense – and thank you very much, dear Ursula. We agreed to work more actively on programs such as SAFE. And I count on the support with drones, first of all – this is the priority.

Next. Thank you for the 18th package of sanctions. It is important. We need to prepare the 19th package so that Russia sees that we are serious. We understand Russia’s strategic direction – it is anti-European, and so we must continue to limit Russia’s potential.

Finally. We talked about the support for Ukrainian children in schools. We have a school meal program, and it is an important program that ensures that children from every family in wartime at least receive security, and receive a normal hot meal. The school year is coming soon. And I asked Ursula to help us improve this program. It’s our children, it’s our future – everything is for them.

Thank you!

Georgia:

For the 263rd day in a row, Rustaveli Avenue is blocked in Tbilisi. Protests continue in 8+ cities.

🇺🇦 flags are more prominent than usual.

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— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 1:24 PM

That’s a typo in the skeet above, today is day 264 of the Georgian protests.

Guess what Thea Tsulukiani said about the European delegation accompanying Zelenskyy to the DC:

“Oh wow, weren’t there any more people to bring?”

Note: this is a contextual translation from the Georgian idiom “there’s no more room for putting a hand on him.”

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 1:30 PM

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— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 4:57 PM

The US:

Witkoff says the concessions that Russia has agreed to make is not gobbling up the entirety of Ukraine

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) August 17, 2025 at 9:18 AM

That is not a concession!

RADDATZ: Can you name any concessions that Putin made during this meeting?

RUBIO: I wouldn’t name them on your program

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) August 17, 2025 at 11:28 AM

Because there weren’t any.

Witkoff claims on CNN that Trump and Putin agreed to “robust security guarantees,” such as “Article 5 protection from the United States.” 🤔

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) August 17, 2025 at 9:11 AM

First, there are no Article 5 guarantees of protection outside of NATO because Article 5 exists only within NATO as a treaty based security alliance. Second, robust security guarantees by whom? From the US to Ukraine? From Russia to Ukraine? From the US to Russia? This makes incoherence look coherent.

BREAM: Does the president support a Putin proposal for Ukraine to give over Donbas? Why do something that would seem like a reward?

WITKOFF: We were in the room as a mediator

BREAM: But does the president support that ask from Putin?

WITKOFF: The president supports a peace deal

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) August 17, 2025 at 9:42 AM

You can’t have been in the room as a mediator because Ukraine, which is both the other party to the and the aggrieved party/the victim, wasn’t invited to the meeting!

Marco Rubio: “Life in America on a daily basis will be largely unaffected whether there’s peace in Ukraine or not. That’s just a fact. We have a lot of issues we’re focused on not just at home, but around the world.”

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) August 17, 2025 at 10:56 AM

You’re the Secretary of State, not the Home Secretary.

Rubio repeatedly won’t name a single specific concession that Russia will have to give up as part of a peace deal, then pivots to talking about land that Ukraine will have to give up

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) August 17, 2025 at 10:20 AM

BRENNAN: If Putin will be offered land he has not seized yet, doesn’t this set a bad precedent that the US now accepts it’s okay to seize land by force?

RUBIO: Putin has already seized land by force

B: Are you demanding withdrawal?

R: Territories will have to be discussed. That’s just a fact.

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) August 17, 2025 at 10:44 AM

This is what happens when you let a politician who exists solely because a car dealer in Miami wanted his own state representative in the Florida legislature become Secretary of State.

The Coalition of the Willing:

1/ Following the online meeting, Sikorski said pressure must be applied to the aggressor, not Ukraine.

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 12:51 PM

2/ European Council President António Costa stated that if there is no ceasefire deal, the EU and US should increase pressure on Russia, and Ukraine’s sovereign right to set its own peace terms must be respected, with Europe ready to contribute to security guarantees.

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 12:51 PM

3/ Finnish President Alexander Stubb noted a strong consensus among coalition countries to keep supporting Ukraine, adding that Europe and the US are strengthening their joint position and will continue tomorrow in Washington.

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 12:51 PM

4/ Czech PM Petr Fiala said the immediate priority is to stop the killing, and that clear security guarantees from the US and Europe are essential for further talks.

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 12:51 PM

5/ French President Macron said after the meeting that Putin does not want peace but wants Ukraine to capitulate, and any deal reducing Ukraine’s army would be doomed to fail. He stressed Russia has never kept its promises on peace, and if Europe is weak, it must prepare for future conflicts.

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 12:51 PM

6/ Macron added that no territorial talks on Ukraine can happen without Ukraine’s voice, and tomorrow’s talks with Trump aim to show a united front between Ukraine and its European allies. He called for a strong, free Europe that takes responsibility for its own decisions.

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 12:51 PM

Denial is not just a river in Egypt. I don’t know what reality Costa, Stubb, Fiala, and Macron have been living in since last Friday, but it isn’t the one that this world actually exists in. These folks aren’t going to even be in the meeting between Trump and Zelenskyy tomorrow, they’re flying over for dinner. And I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the working dinner gets cancelled.

The territorial talks already happened on Friday. Ukraine was NOT there. That doesn’t bind Ukraine or European states or the EU, but that’s the actual reality. How do I know, because on top of Witkoff and Rubio talking about this on their Sunday morning show hits, Trump reposted this this morning:

Meanwhile, Trump reposted a message on his social media in which the author claims Ukraine must be willing to give up some territory to Russia, or risk losing even more land as the war continues.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 11:16 AM

I’m not a betting man, but if I were, I’d put money on the visuals from tomorrow’s meeting looking similar to those from that NATO meeting during Trump’s first term where Trump made an oppositionally defiant expression at a seated Angela Merkel while Trump’s team looked on.

Back to Ukraine.

Ukrainian missile that for some incomprehensible reason is called Flamingo, and has a 3000 km range

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 4:22 PM

Odesa:

❗️Around 20 russian Shahed drones are encircling Odesa from all directions. The city is being surrounded — quite literally — by flying death machines.

— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 4:30 PM

❗️Odesa right now

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— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 5:35 PM

Russia struck Odesa with drones earlier tonight.

Smells like russian peace agreements in the air.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 7:49 PM

Kharkiv:

❗️Russia has just struck a residential building in Kharkiv with a ballistic missile! Earlier, explosions were also reported in Sumy.

Putin continues to shed the blood of civilians.

— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 4:02 PM

UPD. Fortunately, the russian missile that struck Kharkiv did not hit a residential building directly, but landed nearby, damaging 12 of them. As of now, eight people have been reported injured.

— Iryna Voichuk (@irynavoichuk.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 5:06 PM

Russia struck Kharkiv with a missile earlier today, thankfully missing the nearby apartment building and hitting the ground.

The glass shattered. Eleven people were injured, including a child.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 7:46 PM

Destroyed cemetery in the outskirts of Kharkiv. Russia attacked it with glide bombs earlier today, injuring 3 people.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 7:52 AM

Russia struck Mala Danylivka village on the outskirts of Kharkiv earlier today, injuring 3 people and destroying a cemetery.

These strikes have no military goal. it’s pure terror.

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— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 6:38 AM

The Kursk cross-border offensive:

❗️Russian general Abachev loses arm and leg after strike in Kursk region

Lieutenant General Esedulla Abachev, deputy commander of Russia’s “North” group of forces, has undergone emergency amputations of an arm and a leg in Moscow after being seriously wounded in a Ukrainian strike, HUR reported.

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— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 8:59 AM

/2. According to HUR, Ukrainian units hit a Russian column on the Rylsk–Khomutovka highway during the night of August 16–17.

Abachev was urgently airlifted by military transport aircraft to the Central Clinical Hospital named after Vishnevsky in Moscow, where surgeons carried out the amputations.

— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 9:00 AM

/3. The result of the Ukrainian strike on a Russian military column in the Kursk region. It is likely that this is where Russian Lieutenant General Abachev was seriously injured

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— 🦋Special Kherson Cat🐈🇺🇦 (@specialkhersoncat.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 9:23 AM

This video likely shows the aftermath of the strike on the convoy carrying the general.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 9:08 AM

Zaporizhzhia Oblast:

On the Zaporizhzhia front, Ukrainian fighters from Sons of Khors located and destroyed a Russian Barnaul-T radar. This is the first confirmed loss of this advanced system, which can coordinate with most enemy air defenses. Estimated unit cost is at least 3 to 6 million dollars.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 12:47 PM

Donetsk Oblast:

Ukrainian fighters report capturing another group of Russian troops in Donetsk Oblast.

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— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) August 17, 2025 at 11:21 AM

That’s enough for tonight.

Your daily Patron!

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

A special Caturday: Happy 10th birthday to Jinx Furdinand 🥳 Top photo from when he first came home from the rescue shelter 😻

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— Nate Mook (@natemook.bsky.social) August 16, 2025 at 1:04 PM

Open thread!

War for Ukraine Day 1,270: Some of You Have Questions, I (May) Have AnswersPost + Comments (32)

Democratic Open Thread: Sherrod Brown for Ohio

by Anne Laurie| August 17, 20254:39 pm| 82 Comments

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

contrarian.substack.com/p/undaunted-… Throughout his career, Brown has championed blue-collar workers, supported unions, expanded access to healthcare, and bolstered Social Security—all in support of what he calls “the dignity of work.”

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— Jen Rubin (@jenrubin.bsky.social) August 15, 2025 at 7:52 AM

Jen Rubin is smitten:

Opponents of authoritarianism will need to battle for every seat in 2026 to dislodge MAGA majorities. Fortunately, the cause of democracy got a boost this week when former Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown decided to launch a comeback bid after his narrow defeat in 2024. His victory over a MAGA incumbent would bring Democrats one step closer to eliminating the MAGA Senate majority.

Just as Roy Cooper was Democrats’ dream candidate for the North Carolina seat, “Brown was a top recruit for Senate Democratic leaders in their uphill battle to reclaim the majority in the upper chamber in 2026,” Politico reports. “He was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006 and survived two hard-fought reelection campaigns, even as Ohio’s status as a Republican state only crystallized. In 2018, he bested Republican Jim Renacci by a nearly 7-point margin, even though President Donald Trump won the state two years prior.”

He lost in a Republican wave in 2024 by a miniscule margin (MAGA Republican Bernie Moreno won 50 percent, Brown won 46.5) in a state Donald Trump won by over 11 points. Trump won’t be on the ballot in 2026, and many Republicans fear that his dismal approval ratings (below 40% in many polls) will drag down other Republicans, who are already burdened by having ditched their spines to defend Trump’s big, ugly bill.

Brown will start his race with near-national respect and name recognition against JD Vance’s sorry replacement, Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), who did not win the seat and has never run for federal office. Husted has been a devout rubber-stamp for Trump, hence will be compelled to continue defending the president’s hugely unpopular policies…

Certainly, Democrats such as Brown can advance a robust pro-worker agenda: Reverse SNAP and Medicaid cuts, expand the Child Tax Credit, return the collective bargaining rights that Trump stripped away from government workers, increase taxes on big corporations and the super-rich (adding a wealth tax and expanding the estate tax, which Republicans virtually eliminated), and fund green energy (thereby reviving and expanding jobs for workers without college degrees). This version of the “affordability” agenda can include maintaining subsidies for Affordable Care Act medical coverage and cancelling the consumer taxes (tariffs) that push up the cost of living.

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Moreover, pro-worker Democrats can no longer tolerate the gross corruption that permeates all branches of government. Workers will cheer politicians who vow to attack Trump’s grotesque self-enrichment, beef up white collar crime enforcement, go after tech company monopolies, eliminate lawmakers’ individual stock trading, and impose an ethics code on the Supreme Court. Congress must also impose disclosure and recusal rules and stop special interests with businesses that shower justices with extravagant gifts, including fancy vacations. Finally, Democrats must attack the entire dark money system whereby rich donors entice lawmakers to deregulate industry, pass tax cuts for billionaires, gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and hand out goodies to Big Oil and Big Pharma.

In addition to policies that promote ordinary Americans’ economic security and root out corruption, Brown has and would also lean into abortion rights. Even in a red state, Ohioans overwhelmingly voted in 2023 to support abortion rights. Defying voters’ will (as they do), MAGA nevertheless forced birth extremists in the state legislature to criminalize all abortions.)…

… Democrats should be thrilled that Brown—an undaunted, unafraid, and unapologetic fighter for working people—will be running in Ohio as a proven advocate against MAGA greed and corruption. They should celebrate his return and embrace his agenda as we prepare for the nearing battle.

*****
My personal journalistic guru, Charles P. Pierce, at Esquire, too — “Please God, Let Ohio Reelect Sherrod Brown Next Year” [unpaywalled link]:

… In their infinite dumbassery, in 2024, Ohio voters turned out Brown, one of the country’s most stalwart defenders of the country’s workers, in favor of a Trumpist sock puppet named Bernie Mareno.

Mareno’s most significant contribution in the Senate so far has been to file a bill that would call on the Senate to nominate the president for the Nobel Peace Prize. He also called for Los Angeles to lose the Olympics because of the protests against ICE in that city. And he livened up the campaign by some of the clumsiest dodging on reproductive freedom ever seen. From CBS News:

“You know, the left has a lot of single issue voters,” Moreno says in the video. “Sadly, by the way, there’s a lot of suburban women, a lot of suburban women that are like, ‘Listen, abortion is it. If I can’t have an abortion in this country whenever I want, I will vote for anybody else.’ OK. It’s a little crazy, by the way, but—especially for women that are like past 50, I’m thinking to myself, ‘I don’t think that’s an issue for you.’ ”

… Brown believed in a consensus that would benefit as many Americans as possible, and in a capitalism restrained against its worst instincts, and in economic policies that at least made some sort of freaking sense, instead of policies designed by throwing darts at a board in the president’s head.

It’s a long pull up a dirt road, and the dirt road is in Ohio, but it’s work worth doing.

*****

Cleveland.com, with the counter-argument — “Why Sherrod Brown’s Senate primary challenge may fizzle before the real battle of 2026”:

Ohio’s 2024 U.S. Senate race is heating up, with one of the most ideologically divided electoral contests in the state’s recent history, and the Today in Ohio podcast crew analyzed how it might break down Friday.

The race took an unexpected turn when 75-year-old entrepreneur Fred Ode announced his intention to challenge longtime Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown in the primary. Ode, who sold his accounting software company to a private equity firm in 2020, plans to self-fund his campaign.

“He says he’s doing it to save the country. And he says, ‘I truly believe I can win.’ And he says, ‘I can save our Constitution,’ ” explained Lisa Garvin, describing Ode’s ambitious but vague platform.

Despite Ode’s financial resources, Today in Ohio host Chris Quinn expressed strong skepticism about the challenge, highlighting Brown’s deep roots in the party.

“I just don’t see it,” Quinn said emphatically. “Yes, Sherrod lost in a statewide race when Trump was on the ballot, but statewide in the Democratic Party, this guy is kind of beloved. He’s been there for a long time. He has always stood for the same ideals, never a waffler.”

The podcast discussion quickly turned to what listeners can expect if Brown secures the nomination and faces Republican Jon Husted in the general election – a contest that would feature two career politicians with dramatically different worldviews…

The race parallels other statewide contests shaping up for 2024, with Johnston noting similarities to the brewing gubernatorial battle: “This is similar to the governor’s race that we’re going to see between Vivek Ramaswamy, whose entire platform is basically ‘Trump likes me,’ and Amy Acton, who’s trying to build a grassroots people-first campaign.”

The road to the Senate ends in November 2026, as Today in Ohio made clear, the journey has begun. Listen to the discussion here.

*****

Backstory (with unpleasantly up-to-date on-line infighting):

Sherrod Brown will run for Ohio’s Senate seat in 2026. In 2005, @chrislhayes.bsky.social wrote: "If a populist like Brown wins in a red state, it could upend the idea that 'class warfare' can’t win."
inthesetimes.com/article/who-…

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— In These Times (@inthesetimes.com) August 13, 2025 at 5:42 PM

*****

I never planned to run for office again. But I see what’s happening in Washington, and I can’t stand on the sidelines. It’s a government for the rich and powerful at the expense of everyday workers. I’m fighting to change that. Will you chip in now to support my Senate campaign?

— Sherrod Brown (@SherrodBrown) August 16, 2025

Democratic Open Thread: Sherrod Brown for OhioPost + Comments (82)

Some History That I Was Not Aware Of

by WaterGirl| August 17, 20251:54 pm| 99 Comments

This post is in: Black Lives Matter, Justice, Open Threads, Racial Justice

I just learned some history that I did not know.

Actually, I didn’t just learn it; I learned it on Friday, when someone posted a link to this video. If you have 5 minutes, I hope you’ll watch it, too.

My sister got the history gene; I did not. My favorite way to learn history as a child was through the “We Were There” books. We were there at the Alamo. We were there with Lewis & Clark, and so on.

Well, this video really touched me as I learned some things – a whole bunch of history, really – that I had not known.

If you enjoy watching Chatterton filleted out of Thomas Williams, you’ll love this from @michaelharriot.bsky.social

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— LOLGOP (@thefarce.org) August 15, 2025 at 12:04 PM

I hope you make 5 minutes to watch the video and then spare us some more time than that to talk about it.

Oh, and fuck TikTok. Every time I try to embed a TikTok, it plays some other video by the person, but not the one I selected. If there’s a secret that I don’t know, I hope someone will share it with me.

Open thread.

Some History That I Was Not Aware OfPost + Comments (99)

Guerilla Political Communication (Open Thread)

by Betty Cracker| August 17, 20258:41 am| 146 Comments

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

In the recent past, we’ve discussed ways to bypass our dysfunctional and/or actively pro-fascist political press to smuggle facts about our current political predicament to people who don’t pay much attention. I’ve taken action in a couple of small ways, including participating in protests.

I’ve also created flyers about Trump admin cuts to medical research and science (with citations that can be checked online) and posted them at a couple of places where I receive treatment — in elevators, stairwells, restroom stall doors, etc. I figure cutting cancer research is unpopular, maybe especially among people currently receiving care developed via NIH research and their loved ones.

It’s impossible to know what impact this sort of guerilla political communication has, but I think it’s not zero.

Here’s another idea along those lines from Marcy Wheeler. It targets members of the Ohio National Guard who’ve been called up to staff Trump’s dictatorial fantasy life.

Flyer informing National Guard members that their lives have been disrupted because a DOGE douchebag named "Big Balls" got beat up by unarmed teens.

This strikes me as effective messaging. National Guard personnel aren’t typically drawn from the elite strata that produces people like “Big Balls,” Musk and the Trumps. It’s entirely possible troops would resent having their lives turned upside down to avenge a beatdown of a pipsqueak aide to oligarchs. Here’s side two of Wheeler’s flyer:

Guerilla Political Communication (Open Thread)

Nice detail there about the D.C. crime rate relative to that in Ohio cities. It inspires me to come up with a (one-sided as I would print it) version for Florida National Guard troops who’ve been dragooned into staffing the DeSantis 2028 primary campaign and are now miserably guarding nannies and landscapers at the hellhole the governor created in the Everglades.

Not sure where I’d post it — maybe interstate rest areas? Bar restrooms closest to the internment camps? Ideas welcome!

Understandably, people who aren’t MAGA shitheads are scared and disgusted and overwhelmed. I know for me, the temptation to withdraw from the larger world, block out all this upsetting fascist bullshit and focus on home and family is ever present.

But while Trump is destroying government and civic institutions and wielding dictatorial power, he’s unpopular, and his regime is more brittle than it appears. In fact, I think all these power moves are designed in part to keep us from noticing that.

If we keep pushing back in whatever ways we can, the whole rotten edifice will collapse. I believe that.

Open thread.

Guerilla Political Communication (Open Thread)Post + Comments (146)

Late Night Open Thread: Those Kennedy Center ‘Honors’

by Anne Laurie| August 17, 202512:42 am| 45 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Popular Culture, Trumpery

This is mean and tacky. In other words, totally Trump.
Kennedy Center drops family that made Honors medallions for 47 years
The arts center has contacted the jeweler Tiffany & Company to redesign the award.
www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen…

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— Michael Markowitz (@markowitz.bsky.social) August 16, 2025 at 12:38 PM

Don TACO and his minions, putting the ‘pissy’ in ‘pismires’… Gift link:

… James Baturin, an 86-year-old retired marking device manufacturer, said he, his wife, Mila, and their two kids assembled more than 255 awards — mostly from the kitchen countertop of their home in Bethesda, Maryland — since the Kennedy Center Honors began in 1978.

That relationship abruptly ended earlier this month, just days before President Donald Trump announced the first class of Kennedy Center honorees under his leadership of the arts complex, which will go to glam metal band Kiss, Broadway and West End star Michael Crawford, country music legend George Strait, actor Sylvester Stallone and singer Gloria Gaynor.

In a letter reviewed by The Washington Post, the Kennedy Center thanked the Baturins for their partnership and craftsmanship and said that the center would move in a different direction. “As the Kennedy Center looks toward the future and embarks on a new chapter, we will be transitioning to a new partnership for the creation of the Honors medallions,” according to the letter, which was dated Aug. 6 and signed by Matthew Winer, then-senior director of Broadcast Media & Special Programs.

The letter did not elaborate on a new vision or vendor for the awards. As The Post reported Tuesday, the center has contacted the jeweler Tiffany & Company to redesign the medallion, which hasn’t changed since it was designed for the first honors by New York artist Ivan Chermayeff. It is unclear what changes the center hopes to make to the medallions; Tiffany & Company and the Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

In a statement to The Post, Winer — who has since left the Kennedy Center — acknowledged the contributions of the Baturins and said preserving the medallion design was essential to the legacy of the honors. “Jimmie and Mila’s artistry became a cherished part of that legacy, and I am deeply grateful for their care, dedication, and partnership,” Winer said. “Honorees value these medallions not only for their beauty, but because they are rare, one-of-a-kind symbols of a singular contribution to the arts. Changing that design would be disappointing, as it would diminish the history, tradition, and legacy these medallions have represented for generations of artists.”

The news didn’t come as a surprise, Baturin said. “We suspected something would happen as soon as the president decided he was going to take over the Kennedy Center…

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Late Night Open Thread: Those Kennedy Center ‘Honors’Post + Comments (45)

How Is This Possible Open Thread

by WaterGirl| August 16, 20259:00 pm| 108 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

How is it possible that the same screen on Weather Underground that predicts 0.02 inches of rain also has a link to a severe thunderstorm warning?

With 60 mph wind gusts and nickel size hail.
With damage to roofs, siding, and trees.
With torrential rainfall and flash flooding.

Does not compute.

Unfortunately, the sky has that creepy yellow tint to it that never means anything good.

What kinds of things seem impossible to you guys?

Totally open thread.

How Is This Possible Open ThreadPost + Comments (108)

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

People are weird.

Also, are you sure you want people to rate your comments?

T R E 4 5 O N

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

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

The National Guard is not Batman.

“When somebody takes the time to draw up a playbook, they’re gonna use it.”

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

“woke” is the new caravan.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

The words do not have to be perfect.

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Innocent people do not delay justice.

… gradually, and then suddenly.

With all due respect and assumptions of good faith, please fuck off into the sun.

Republicans do not pay their debts.

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

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

To the privileged, equality seems like oppression.

Late Night Open Thread: JD Vance & the ‘Bucket of Warm Spit’

War for Ukraine Day 1,270: Some of You Have Questions, I (May) Have Answers

Statement by the President of Ukraine at the Joint Press Point with the President of the European Commission

Democratic Open Thread: Sherrod Brown for Ohio

Some History That I Was Not Aware Of

Guerilla Political Communication (Open Thread)

Late Night Open Thread: Those Kennedy Center ‘Honors’

How Is This Possible Open Thread