Balloon Juice - Open Threads Archives

Virginia On the Horizon

by WaterGirl| August 15, 20255:23 pm| 51 Comments

If we are going to meet our goal for Four Directions in Virginia, we need about $5,000 more in donations. That $5,000 will be externally matched, so that will give them $10,000 more to work with, as the ONLY entity contacting Native voters in Virginia.

Four Directions is the only entity working with the Native vote in Virginia.

The Native American voting-age population exceeds 160,000!

Friend of the blog Andrew has a $1,500 to match the donations you guys made earlier this week, and he is willing to make that a $5,000 check if we can get the thermometer to $24,250. (I’ll share the details of the math in the comments.)

Donate

If we reach our goal and earn all the matching funds, that will fund over 3,000 hours of direct contact reaching the 160,000 voting-age Native people in Virginia.

Let’s help Virginia kick some serious Republican ass in November.

Virginia On the HorizonPost + Comments (51)

Excellent Read: Why Trump Always Wants a Crisis

by Anne Laurie| August 15, 202512:29 pm| 115 Comments

This post is in: Excellent Links, Trumpery

my latest is on the president’s abuse of emergency powers and his psychological and practical interest in crisis government. gift link. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/o…

[image or embed]

— jamelle (@jamellebouie.net) August 13, 2025 at 5:50 AM

Following up on Betty’s post, while we await further news from Alaska… Gift link:

… “Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people,” said President Trump in a stark attack on the nation’s capital. The solution? Military force. “We’re going to put it in control very quickly, like we did in the southern border.” The president later described Washington as more violent and dangerous than some of “the worst places on earth.”

None of this is true. The Justice Department itself announced in January that crime in the capital is, according to data from its Metropolitan Police Department, “the lowest it has been in over 30 years.” The M.P.D. cites a 26 percent decrease in total violent crime so far this year compared with the same period a year earlier. And the areas around the White House, where the president has made a point of stationing National Guardsmen, are not known for crime or disorder (unless you count the Jan. 6 rioters, pardoned by Trump in one of the first acts of his second term). Despite several high-profile incidents — including an assault on a young member of the “Department of Government Efficiency” — there is no evidence to support the president’s hellish depiction of the District.

But his claims are less reason than pretext. Trump is simply enthralled by the image of a crackdown, especially on those he’s deemed deviant. Recall that he wanted to use the Insurrection Act during the protests of the summer of 2020, asking his secretary of defense, Mark Esper, if soldiers could shoot protesters “in the legs or something.” In addition, and perhaps more than anything, he wants to appear in charge, whether or not he’s accomplishing his goals.

The president’s action in the capital — the first time a president invoked the D.C. Home Rule Act of 1973 to take over the city’s police — is just the latest in a long list of so-called emergencies he has conjured up to claim unilateral authority over the American people.

In January, alleging an “invasion” of the country, Trump declared an emergency on the border as pretext for the use of federal troops for immigration enforcement. In March, he invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 with the claim that a Venezuelan gang, Tren de Aragua, was conducting “irregular warfare against the territory of the United States,” a definition of “warfare” that cuts against legal precedent and the plain meaning of the word. Trump used this emergency to unleash immigration authorities on anyone deemed a “gang member,” removing them to the brutal CECOT prison in El Salvador.

And in April, he announced a theretofore nonexistent national economic emergency, invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977 to “address the national emergency posed by the large and persistent trade deficit.” With this, Trump claimed the power to impose broad tariffs at his absolute discretion, beginning a trade war with much of the world.

In addition, Trump has invoked emergency powers to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court; to punish Brazil for its prosecution of its former president Jair Bolsonaro; and to threaten our northern neighbor, Canada, with import duties…

In a nation made supposedly of laws, we have gambled on the discretion of men to keep the use of crisis authority in check. With Trump, we played a bad hand. Rather than treat emergency powers as a dangerous tool to be wielded with care and caution, this president has used them with reckless abandon as a toy — a means through which he can live his fantasies of strength, domination and authoritarian control.

Beyond the psychological impulse, there is a practical reason that Trump has embraced emergency powers and crisis government through pretense: He can’t do anything else. Look past his boastful claims of deal-making prowess and you’ll see a president who struggles to hold his own in a negotiation of equals and is too acutely solipsistic to persuade a skeptic of his own view. Even his much-vaunted (by subordinates and admirers) trade deals and agreements with institutions of higher education are less exchanges than a form of extortion, in which he uses threats of pain, punishment and legal action to impose a settlement.

show full post on front page

Excellent Read: <em>Why Trump Always Wants a Crisis</em>Post + Comments (115)

Declarations (Open Thread)

by Betty Cracker| August 15, 202511:03 am| 83 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Open Threads, Politics, Republican Stupidity, Trumpery

The stage was set for our current national nightmare by many deliberate acts of cynicism, villainy, greed and treachery by a relative few and copious demonstrations of poor character and crappy judgment on the part of tens of millions. But much of this miserable political moment is down to plain old bad luck too.

An example of the latter is way down on the list of things that grieve me about Trump 2.0, which is that the orange butt boil and his entourage of vapid Fox News castoffs and plastic-faced skanks will preside over next year’s 250th anniversary of the country’s founding. Woof, the timing sucks!

Since Trump and his ilk represent everything terrible about the U.S., it follows that the 250th celebrations will showcase all that is greedy, tacky and stupid about America. But there are copious opportunities for counterprogramming.

He has kept among us in times of peace Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution & unacknowledged by our laws.

[image or embed]

— Andy Craig (@andycraig.bsky.social) August 15, 2025 at 1:04 AM

The waddling orange garbage bin liner is building a tacky palace on U.S. government property and yearns to be a king. If you review the founders’ grievances against King George III as listed in the Declaration of Independence, it’s amazing how many apply to Fake King Donald the Dim.

I say we treat the tangerine tyrant the way patriotic Americans should treat a would-be king, with defiance and ridicule. And what better time to declare independence from tyranny and reaffirm the principles of democracy than the 250th year of our republic? My guess is we’ll have plenty of opportunities to do so.

Open thread.

PS: Here’s a hummingbird from the feeder cam to look at.

Thirsty girl is back! #hummingbirds 🪶

[image or embed]

— Betty Cracker of Florida (@bettycrackerfl.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 8:12 PM

Declarations (Open Thread)Post + Comments (83)

Good News for Voting Rights in Louisiana

by WaterGirl| August 15, 20259:05 am| 61 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

Good news in Louisiana! No, make that GREAT news in Louisiana.

🚨BREAKING: The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling Thursday, striking down Louisiana’s state legislative maps for violating the Voting Rights Act. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/…

[image or embed]

— Marc Elias (@marcelias.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 3:42 PM

Glad to see the rule of law is still alive and well in the Fifth Circuit, today at least!

I think predicting that the corrupt SCOTUS will destroy what’s left of the Voting Rights Act only serves to lay the groundwork for it to even be conceivable that SCOTUS would do that, thereby giving them permission to do the unthinkable.

Update: This short video provides more detail on the maps, which affect both the House and Senate.

UPDATE from yet another source:

BATON ROUGE, La. (KALB) – On Thursday, August 14, at around 8:40 p.m., Attorney General Liz Murrill announced that the Fifth Circuit’s ruling on Nairne v. Landry was paused.

Earlier that day, a panel of three Fifth Circuit judges had affirmed a ruling by the Middle District of Louisiana’s Chief Justice Shelly Dick that the state’s legislative maps violated Section Two of the Voting Rights Act, among other issues.

It was previously believed that ruling had passed through the Fifth Circuit without issue.

However, AG Murrill said on Thursday evening that a different Fifth Circuit judge, —one who was not a member of the prior panel— held the judges’ mandate and paused the panel’s ruling.

This is a developing story, stay tuned for updates.

Can some of our attorneys here explain how a judge who was not part of the 3-person panel can pause the panel’s ruling?

What does this phrase mean? held the judges’ mandate Guessing that in this context, “held the judges’ mandate” is lawyer speak for putting the ruling on hold.

But why wouldn’t the other judge be identified. Can any single judge pause a ruling by the 3-person panel?

Good News for Voting Rights in LouisianaPost + Comments (61)

Friday Morning Open Thread: Waiting for Another Deluge of News-Shoes

by Anne Laurie| August 15, 20255:51 am| 107 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

#Alaska you make me teary eyed with how greatly I love you right now. Really well done.💞😘💞😎💞

[image or embed]

— tmccarthy (@teemccarthy.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 10:10 PM

===

taking awhile, but the stove’s really starting to heat up now

[image or embed]

— GOLIKEHELLMACHINE (@golikehellmachine.com) August 14, 2025 at 3:23 PM

===

All stick, carrots too expensive now

— NO DISASSEMBLE (@isthisrob.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 3:25 PM

===

"The further a society drifts from truth the more it will hate those who speak it." – attributed to George Orwell

[image or embed]

— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 2:50 PM

===

BREAKING: A federal judge strikes down two Trump administration actions aimed at ending diversity programs at schools and colleges.

[image or embed]

— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) August 14, 2025 at 5:24 PM

===

As National Guard troops deploy across Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser is responding with relative restraint as the unprecedented incursion takes place. The approach underscores the reality of the city's precarious position under the thumb of the federal government.

[image or embed]

— The Associated Press (@apnews.com) August 14, 2025 at 9:21 AM

===

Judge Orders Liquidation of Infowars to Pay Sandy Hook Families www.nytimes.com/2025/08/14/u…

[image or embed]

— Timothy McBride (@mcbridetd.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 5:50 PM

I’ll believe it when it happens, but good for this judge:

… A Texas judge on Wednesday ordered that all assets from the website, founded and operated by the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, be turned over to a court-ordered receiver. That person would then sell them to help pay 10 families who lost children in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn., in 2012.

The families were awarded over $1.4 billion in damages in 2022 after they sued Mr. Jones for defamation. He had claimed for years that the shooting, in which 20 first graders and six educators died, was a hoax, and that family members of the victims were actors in a plot to enact extreme gun control legislation.

The ruling instructs the receiver to take possession of Free Speech Systems, the parent company of Infowars, within a matter of days, and to seize the company’s physical equipment, like mixing boards and microphones, as well as its intellectual property…

“The receiver is now authorized to liquidate his business assets,” Mr. Mattei said. “We look forward to the corrupt media empire that Jones built finally being dismantled.”

===

Friday Morning Open Thread: Waiting for Another Deluge of News-ShoesPost + Comments (107)

Civil Disobedience Open Thread: Our Sandwich Hero

by Anne Laurie| August 14, 202511:33 pm| 62 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Shitty Cops, Trumpery, Activism

Pour vous.
[image or embed]

— LorennaCleary.bsky.social (@lorennacleary.bsky.social) August 13, 2025 at 8:07 PM

===

The DC sandwich guy has been charged with assault for shouting at a CBP officer, throwing a sub into his chest, and then running off.
“I did it. I threw the sandwich,” he said while he was being processed.
[image or embed]

— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona.bsky.social) August 13, 2025 at 4:25 PM

Unsurprisingly, the local Washington Post has the best information [gift link]:

… In court documents filed Wednesday, police allege that Sean Charles Dunn approached law enforcement officers, including Metro Transit Police and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers, and began yelling obscenities and calling them “fascists.”

At about 11:05 p.m., according to the federal court filing, Dunn, 37, approached an officer and threw a sandwich at him. He was charged with “assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers and employees of the United States.”…

“If you touch any law enforcement officer, we will come after you,” Bondi posted on X Thursday. “This is an example of the Deep State we have been up against for seven months as we work to refocus DOJ.”

Jeanine Pirro, U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, announced in a video posted on X on Wednesday afternoon that Dunn would be charged with a felony.

Dunn was an international affairs specialist in the criminal division of the Justice Department, according to a person who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss personnel matters. The D.C. resident made an initial appearance before a magistrate judge in federal court Thursday afternoon.

Prosecutors said he was being charged with forcibly assaulting, resisting or impeding a federal officer, which is punishable by up to eight years in prison. Dunn has no criminal history and would not be eligible for the maximum penalty at sentencing if convicted.

show full post on front page

Dunn gave only a few brief answers to the magistrate judge’s questions, but smiled as he conferred with his defense attorney, Sabrina Shroff, after the court agreed to release him on his own recognizance for now.

Shroff said that following his arrest on Sunday, Dunn was taken to D.C. Superior Court and then released without being charged. On Wednesday, a federal warrant was issued, charging him with a felony.

In court, Shroff said that she and Dunn worked to facilitate his voluntary surrender Wednesday but it was unclear which prosecutor at the U.S. attorney’s office was responsible for the case.

Shroff said the government sent “20 police officers to his home” to arrest Dunn Wednesday night and did not allow him to call her.

“He did absolutely the most responsible thing by trying to surrender,” said Shroff, who noted that Dunn is an Air Force veteran. The court scheduled a preliminary hearing in the case for Sept. 4…

Video of Dunn’s incident, which took place near the corner of 14th and U streets NW, a popular nightlife area in D.C., shows a man in a pink collared shirt, shorts, crew socks and New Balance running shoes yelling at several law enforcement officers while holding a sandwich. As he turned to walk away, he hurled his hoagie at the chest of one of the officers and then ran off with the officers in pursuit.

The video was posted on Instagram under the account @bigap4l and quickly went viral…

The WaPo‘s chatbot comment summary says “The comments reflect a mix of humor, sarcasm, and criticism regarding the Justice Department’s response to Sean Charles Dunn’s arrest for throwing a sandwich at an officer. Many commenters view the felony charge as an overreaction, especially when compared to the perceived leniency towards January 6th insurrectionists. Some express admiration for Dunn’s actions, seeing them as a form of protest against the current administration, while others criticize the inconsistency in law enforcement priorities. Overall, the comments suggest a general disapproval of the severity of the charges against Dunn.”

Oh my.
Sabrina Shroff, who is formidable, is representing that subway thrower guy.

[image or embed]

— emptywheel (@emptywheel.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 9:30 AM

===

The thing about charging him with assault for throwing a sandwich is that it exposes the historic lie of “assaulting an officer.”
[image or embed]

— Saeed Jones (@theferocity.bsky.social) August 13, 2025 at 8:43 PM

===

Hoagie assault guy, if convicted, will be punished more strongly than J6 folks who beat police officers with poles and other objects and are now walking free (and probably joining CBP)

— Asha Rangappa (@asharangappa.bsky.social) August 13, 2025 at 8:01 PM

===

[image or embed]

— Paula Marie Young, J.D., LL.M. (@paulamarieyoung.bsky.social) August 13, 2025 at 10:08 PM

===

probably the only sandwich I’d throw at a cop is a Subway one because it’s just the perfect match of disrespect in terms of medium and message

— Jason Linkins (@dceiver.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 11:57 AM

===

If you told me 10 years ago that I’d sympathize with a guy who hit a cop with a sandwich, I’d probably have hit you with a sandwich.

— Patrick Chovanec (@prchovanec.bsky.social) August 13, 2025 at 11:48 PM

===

Maybe @djinnandtonic.bsky.social can make a “A Ham and Cheese from Heaven” or something like that
[image or embed]

— Nick (@nickwidzowski.bsky.social) August 13, 2025 at 8:12 PM

===

Goodnight footlong sandwich, goodnight moon, goodnight Epstein Files in the White House panic room 🌙✨

— Deirdre Assenza (@deirdreassenza.bsky.social) August 11, 2025 at 11:33 PM

===

Justice for sandwich bro!

[image or embed]

— surfer slacker stoner spy (@briansantacruz.bsky.social) August 11, 2025 at 11:26 PM

Civil Disobedience Open Thread: Our Sandwich HeroPost + Comments (62)

War for Ukraine Day 1,267: Subversion

by Adam L Silverman| August 14, 20259:50 pm| 11 Comments

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

I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, I’ve had a long day, I’m fading fast, so I’m just going to run through the basics tonight as we wait for tomorrow’s train wreck to happen.

Vladimir Putin has hailed Donald Trump’s “energetic and sincere efforts” to end the war in Ukraine ahead of a high-stakes summit that has drawn criticism for excluding Kyiv.

[image or embed]

— Christopher Miller (@christopherjm.ft.com) August 14, 2025 at 4:02 PM

Ukrainian intelligence has learned that putin is preparing “historic materials” for his meeting with trump, maps intended to “prove” that ukraine is supposedly an “artificial state” and to justify russia’s invasion.

— SAINT JAVELIN (@saintjavelin.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 6:29 AM

This is a classic russian propaganda tactic that contradicts international law. Even if certain territories once belonged to other states, that does not grant the right to commit aggression or alter borders.

— SAINT JAVELIN (@saintjavelin.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 6:29 AM

According to information from Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation, Putin is preparing to justify his aggression to Trump by claiming that Ukraine is supposedly an “artificial state” formed from the territories of other countries.

[image or embed]

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 10:02 AM

What could possibly go wrong if a dangerous war criminal is offered economic benefits and international recognition instead of life sentence and confiscation of his assets? Right?

— Olena Halushka (@halushka.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 3:06 AM

President Zelenskyy traveled to London today to meet with Prime Minister Starmer. So there’s no daily address because he’s traveling.

First Lady Zelenska participated in a meeting of the Business Without Barriers community. Video followed by the write up after the jump.

show full post on front page

Olena Zelenska Took Part in “Business Without Barriers” Community Meeting to Discuss Implementation of New Projects

14 August 2025 – 18:29

First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska took part in a meeting of the “Business Without Barriers” community, which brings together companies united around the First Lady’s “Without Barriers” initiative.

The event was also attended by: Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine – Minister for Communities and Territories Development of Ukraine Oleksii Kuleba, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine Andriy Pyshnyy, Minister for Veterans Affairs Nataliia Kalmykova, community leaders, Minister of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine Denys Uliutin, international partners, and representatives of the non-governmental sector.

“When in June the state, together with UNICEF, launched a campaign for social change, it received a very apt name: ‘Barrier-Free Means When You Can.’ The title was chosen so that each person could feel it was about them and their needs. Because when a person understands how a problem directly affects them, they are more likely to become a co-creator of change,” Olena Zelenska said.

Participants of the meeting shared their experience in implementing barrier-free solutions. In particular, DTEK representatives spoke about adapting the surface areas of mines for the employment of people with disabilities and changing labor standards for workers; Ukrzaliznytsia representatives told about station renovations and the launch of an inclusive railcar; and the “Silpo” retail chain presented a project for introducing accessible self-checkout counters.

The event also addressed the preparation of the guide “Barrier-Free in Financial Services: A Practical Handbook,” being developed with the support of Oschadbank, PrivatBank, PUMB, and Visa, in cooperation with the NBU and the NGO “Barrier-Free.” The aim of the program is to establish regulations for providing services to people with special needs, including authentication procedures for individuals with facial injuries and reviewing documents for people with visual impairments. This guide will serve as a reference for all service providers in the banking sector and as the basis for an NBU resolution.

A separate panel discussion was devoted to the implementation of the Ministry for Communities and Territories Development’s program “Movement Without Barriers.” The initiative focuses on adapting public transport stops, schools, hospitals, cultural centers, bank branches, supermarkets, and cafés for people with special needs.

The First Lady emphasized that barrier-free development is not a sphere of competition and urged businesses to work together in this area.

Olena Zelenska noted that she had recently returned from Japan, which, after the atomic bombings and the destruction of its cities, invented tactile street navigation – yellow strips with special patterns on streets, sidewalks, and platforms – which have now become commonplace around the world.

“It turns out that even amid difficult reconstruction, there was time, capacity, and resources for barrier-free solutions. Or perhaps the opposite: it was precisely the attitude toward people as a value to be preserved that led to further success. I am convinced this connection exists – that in the long run, people-centered approaches prevail, both in defense and in business,” the First Lady concluded.

Georgia:

260th day of the #GeorgiaProtests

For the request of the detained Nino Datashvili, a protest made on Freedom Square in support with journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli, co-founder and director of Batumelebi and Netgazeti, who got sentenced to a two years jail time on August 6.

[image or embed]

— László Róbert Mézes (@laszlorobertmezes.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 8:06 PM

Protest doggos!

On August 14, day 260 of non-stop #GeorgiaProtests, demonstrators formed a human circle in Tbilisi’s Liberty Square to express solidarity with imprisoned journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli.
📷 Nino Saghiridze/Civil.ge

[image or embed]

— Civil.ge (@civil.ge) August 14, 2025 at 3:02 PM

Serious world-level mafia clan clashes in Georgia.

Thank you, the Georgian Dream, for letting mafia thrive in Georgia again, and for rapidly making Georgia a Christian Chechnya.

oc-media.org/georgia-arre…

[image or embed]

— Marika Mikiashvili 🇬🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 (@marikamikiashvili.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 7:05 AM

Georgian lawyers say it’s become common for 🇬🇪 citizens returning from abroad to be stopped at the border over unpaid ₾5,000 “road blocking” fines from protests.

The law used to deny entry is unclear — admin fines aren’t legal grounds to bar citizens from their own country.

— Rusudan Djakeli (@rusudandjakeli.bsky.social) August 13, 2025 at 3:25 PM

Poet Zviad Ratiani was detained on June 23 at a protest near Parliament. Charged with assaulting a police officer (4–7 yrs prison). He admits striking the officer, calling it a “minimally painful” act of symbolic protest.

#TerrorinGeorgia

1️⃣

[image or embed]

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 8:33 AM

2️⃣

[image or embed]

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 8:33 AM

3️⃣

[image or embed]

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 8:33 AM

4️⃣

[image or embed]

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 8:33 AM

5️⃣

[image or embed]

— Publika.ge (@publikage.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 8:33 AM

The US:

“I think if I weren’t president, Putin would’ve taken all of Ukraine.”- Trump

I think you need a reality check. Ukraine stands, first and foremost, thanks to its defenders.

[image or embed]

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 2:26 PM

Back to Ukraine.

❗️Video of the day from today’s prisoner exchange is published by the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of 🇺🇦Ukraine Budanov

Among those released are a man who spent 4,013 days in a Russian prison, a primary school teacher who was imprisoned in 2019,

[image or embed]

— 🪖MilitaryNewsUA🇺🇦 (@militarynewsua.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 9:20 AM

2/and a young boy who was enslaved by the Russians in 2016 at the age of eighteen.

Also returning from captivity are soldiers from the Mariupol garrison, Navy soldiers, and border guards.

— 🪖MilitaryNewsUA🇺🇦 (@militarynewsua.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 9:20 AM

After 9yrs of russian captivity, Bohdan Kovalchuk, civilian hostage, was released, Hromadske reports citing his grandma. He called her saying “Granny, I’m coming home”

The occupiers detained 17yo Bohdan in 2016 when he tried to cross the checkpoint, making up sham charges & throwing him to prison.

[image or embed]

— Olena Halushka (@halushka.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 12:03 PM

russian occupation is not peace.
It is jailing children.

hromadske.ua/suspilstvo/2…

[image or embed]

— Olena Halushka (@halushka.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 12:04 PM

Our people are home ‼️❤️‍🩹🇺🇦

Ukraine returns 84 defenders and civilians from russian captivity!

[image or embed]

— Kate from Kharkiv (@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 7:55 AM

“We still haven’t fully grasped that we’re home. The realization hasn’t sunk in yet.” – the State Border Guard Service shared the first emotions of those freed from Russian captivity.

[image or embed]

— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 12:15 PM

Commented to the Financial Time on pressure to cede territories:

“The constitution limits his power: he has no legal right to alter Ukraine’s territorial integrity. Even more constraining is pressure from society and, crucially, the military, which opposes giving up unoccupied territory”

[image or embed]

— Tatarigami (@tatarigami.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 7:57 AM

“President Zelenskyy is caught between a rock and a hard place,” the article concludes with my comment.

Given the opportunity, I also want to add that if peace is to be negotiated, we cannot start with non-starter demands, which our President won’t be able to accept

— Tatarigami (@tatarigami.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 7:57 AM

Diplomacy is an art of compromise and constructive solutions. Ukraine has been constructive, avoiding maximalist demands, but if Moscow imposes such demands, the Trump administration should recognize that Ukraine is not the party which obstructs his vision and peace. Link:
www.ft.com/content/6f40…

[image or embed]

— Tatarigami (@tatarigami.bsky.social) August 14, 2025 at 7:57 AM

From The Financial Times: (emphasis mine)

Volodymyr Zelenskyy was still reeling from the most serious domestic political crisis of his presidency — a fierce backlash over a bungled attempt to muzzle Ukraine’s anti-corruption agencies — when his phone rang last week. It was Donald Trump.

The US president was telephoning to brief the Ukrainian leader, and European counterparts who joined the group call, on a meeting that had just wrapped up in Moscow.

Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff had met with the man who had launched against Ukraine the bloodiest war on European soil in generations — Vladimir Putin — with a view to arranging the summit between the Russian and American leaders now set to take place in Alaska on Friday.

Officials present and briefed on the call said that the tone was constructive. The message, however, was confusing. The Ukrainian leader was left wondering what exactly Witkoff and Putin had discussed — and he worried about what might have been promised by Witkoff to Russia’s leader in exchange for ending his invasion of Ukraine.

According to those officials, Trump said that Putin had told Witkoff he would agree to a ceasefire if Ukraine agreed to withdraw all troops from its eastern Donetsk region. There was more confusion around what was said regarding the regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, which Russian forces partly occupy in southern Ukraine and are now enshrined in Russia’s constitution as part of the country.

Trump said there would be “land swaps” involved. But Ukraine does not occupy more than a sliver of Russian territory since its forces were pushed out of the Kursk region this spring, and so has little to exchange. And the idea of ceding land to Moscow — especially that which its invading army does not currently occupy — is a firm Ukrainian red line.

Moscow, for its part, has since said it would not give up any of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. “The territorial integrity of Russia is bound in our country’s constitution,” a foreign ministry spokesperson said.

Kyiv and its European allies have launched a high-stakes effort to shape talks from which they will be conspicuously excluded. Their goal is to avoid a nightmarish scenario for Ukraine: being forced into what it sees as an unfair and possibly unsustainable deal or being blamed and punished by the US for resisting an agreement.

For Zelenskyy, it is the biggest diplomatic challenge of his six years in office. He will be stuck outside the Alaskan room where decisions on Ukraine’s fate could be made by the man who invaded his country and the man once impeached over dealings with it.

He will have to face it at a time when his domestic standing has been seriously damaged and as Ukraine’s thinly stretched defensive lines are struggling to prevent a breach by Russian forces from expanding into a disastrous breakthrough.

“This is a moment of maximum pressure,” says Balázs Jarábik, a former EU diplomat who was based in Kyiv and is now an analyst with R.Politik. “My assumption is the Americans are aware this is a moment of weakness for Zelenskyy and they’re using it when they most need it.”

“The situation on the front line is developing poorly ahead of the meeting and could be used by Putin to paint Ukraine as being in an overly desperate position in talks with Trump, as he has done in the past,” says Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Zelenskyy’s most difficult challenge will be winning over Trump with a counter-narrative.

This week’s hastily organised summit in Alaska between the US and Russian presidents blindsided Kyiv and underscored the shakiness of American support.

Relations between Trump and Zelenskyy remain strained since the Oval Office bust-up between the pair. During a press conference in Washington on Monday, Trump said he “very severely disagree[s]” with Zelenskyy’s position on the war.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Fuck these fucking interesting times.

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

Fear and negativity are contagious, but so is courage!

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

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

The Giant Orange Man Baby is having a bad day.

All hail the time of the bunny!

Disagreements are healthy; personal attacks are not.

Decision time: keep arguing about the last election, or try to win the next one?

Good lord, these people are nuts.

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

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

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

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

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Washington Post Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

Virginia On the Horizon

If we reach our goal and earn all the matching funds, that will fund over 3,000 hours of direct contact reaching the 160,000 voting-age Native people in Virginia.

Let’s help Virginia kick some serious Republican ass in November.

Excellent Read: Why Trump Always Wants a Crisis

Declarations (Open Thread)

Good News for Voting Rights in Louisiana

Friday Morning Open Thread: Waiting for Another Deluge of News-Shoes

Civil Disobedience Open Thread: Our Sandwich Hero

War for Ukraine Day 1,267: Subversion

Olena Zelenska Took Part in “Business Without Barriers” Community Meeting to Discuss Implementation of New Projects