🔴 The Trump Files 2024

 

🔴 Trump/Ukraine/Russia Files 2024

 
Permalink: https://wp.me/PDKwi-6Kc

 

🇺🇦 Press Here ⬅️ For 2024 Articles and Discussion

🇺🇦 Press Here For Index to all Trump/Ukraine/Russia Files

 

With Tweets, Retweets, links to articles and excerpts, I’ve tried to document this national soap opera/tragedy we’re living through. The resources at the beginning are a mixed bag of timelines and documents and I provide a clickable cast of characters (Russians, mostly).

What does this have to do with The Blacklist? A lot, actually. Russian mob figures, spies and apparatchiks. Semion Mogilevich, the Smart Don, reminds me of Red, though Red is a lot nicer and much better-looking.

Featured are drawings (she calls them “maps”) by @Jzikah, and “Mueller, She Wrote” is the best podcast I’ve ever come across. The three women who do it are comedians, though they’re all super smart and A.J. (the lead) has a PhD and is a Veteran.

Caution: You may enjoy this feature a bit more if you’re of the liberal persuasion. This is the single place on this blog where *there are politics* though I tend to stick with MSM, specialized sources (ex-Intel Community, altGov, and reputable sleuths) and other people I’ve learned to trust.

 
💽Recommended⋙ Mueller She Wrote Podcast ⋙ http://bit.ly/2PgTKWs  or Press   ⇊  ⇊
 
Other Podcasts:

All The President’s Lawyers (J Barro, R Lowry)
The Asset (Center for American Progress) 🌟
The Dworkin Report (Scott Dworkin)
Gaslit Nation (Sarah Kendzior, Andrea Chalupa)
The Lawfare Podcast (Benjamin Wittes, Brookings)
The Josh Marshall Podcast (TPM)
The Mother Jones Podcast (David Corn)
Mueller Time (Eric Leval, Chris Carey)
The Oath (Chuck Rosenberg, MSNBC)
The Report (Lawfare)
On Topic (Renato Mariotti)
Skullduggery (Michael Isikoff, Yahoo)
Trump Inc (q4- 8qProPublica)
Trumpcast (Slate)

🔊 PlayerFM: Best Trump Russia Investigation Podcasts (2019) http://bit.ly/2MKbtV8
 
Twitter List: INVESTIGATORS: https://twitter.com/Auriandra/lists/investigators
// Investigative reporters, Trump-Russia sleuths, Intelligence Community, Legislators, “alt-gov,” and Targets
 

Russian Intelligence Services:

Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) – The Foreign Intelligence Service reports directly to the President of Russia.
GRU – Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian Armed Forces.
Federal Security Service (FSB) – The Federal Security Service is responsible for counter-intelligence, state security and anti-terrorist operations

 

 
🔄 ECFR , Mark Galeotti [EU] (2016): Introduction: Putin’s hydra: Inside Russia’s intelligence services http://bit.ly/2NZWN1h
// 5/11/2016, Intro
⋙ 📒 ECFR, Mark Galeotti [EU] (2016): Report: Putin’s Hydra: Inside Russia’s Intelligence Services [pdf] http://bit.ly/2NYjG5b 20p
// May 2016, Full report

 

 
Key People: Alexander Abramov, Roman Abramovich, Aras Agalarov, Emin Agalarov, Rinat Akhmetov, Rinat Akhmetshin, Yulya Alferova, Yuri Andropov, Anatoly Antonov, Anne Applebaum, Andrii Artemenko, Arron Banks, Andrey Baronov, Alexander Bastrykin, Sergey Beseda, Vitaly Bespalov, Leonid “Len” Blavatnik, Anna Bogacheva, David Bogatin, Alexander Bortnikov, Victor Boyarkin, Wm Browder, Mariia Butina, Carole Cadwalladr, Michael Caputo, Yuri Chaika, Igor Chekunov, Sergey Chemezov, Anatoly Chubais, Michael Cohen, George Cottrell, Igor Danchenko, Oleg Deripaska, Andrii Derkach, Igor Divyekin, Kirill Dmitriev, Aleksandr Dugin, Arkady Dvorkovich, Paul Erickson, Oleg Erovinkin, Nigel Farage, Dmitri Firtash, John Fotiadis, Gene (Evgeny) Friedman, Igor Fruman, Daniel Gelbinovich, Valery Gerasimov, Rob Goldstone, Sergei Gorkov, Henry Greenberg, Fiona Hill, Andrew Intrater, Ivan the Terrible, Bidzina Ivanishvili, Ramzan Kadyrov, Brittany Kaiser, Mikhail Kalugin, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Saak Karapetyan, Eugene Kaspersky (Kaspersky Lab), Denis Katsyv, Irakly (“Ike”) Kaveladze, Michael Khodarkovsky, Nikita Khrushchev, Konstantin Kilimnik, Sergey Kislyak, Artem Klyushin, Ihor Kolomoyskyi, Konstantin Kosachev, Mikhail Kovalchuk, Yury Kovalchuk, Aleksandra Krylova, Elena Khusyaynova, Simon Kukes, Sergey Lavrov, Alexander Litvinenko, Howard Lorber, Alexander Lukashenko, Yuriy Lutsenko, Simona Mangiante, Alexander Mashkevich, Michael McFaul, Viktor Medvedchek, Josef Mifsud, Alexey Miller, Sergei Millian, Semion Mogilevich (Don Semyon), Konstantin Molofeev, George Nader, Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, Lyudmila Narusova, Sergei Naryshkin, Alexei Navalny, Eduard Nektalov, Konstantin Nikolaev, Vyacheslav Nikonov, Yevgeniy Nikulin, Alexander Nix, Isabel Oakeshoff, George Papadopoulos, Lev Parnas, Sam Patten, Nikolai Patrushev, Alexander Perepilichnyy, Dmitry Peskov, Peter the Great, Igor Pisarsky, Petro Poroshenko, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Sergei Prikhodko, Vladimir Putin, George Ramishvili, Dmitry Rogozin, Alexander Rovt, Giorgi Rtskhiladze, Dmitry Rybolovlev, Konstantin Rykov, Mikheil Saakashvili, Felix Sater, Igor Sechin, Leonid Shebarshin, Anastasia Shevchenko, Sergey Shoigu, Viktor Shokin, Oleg Solodukhin, Christopher Steele, Ruslan Stoyanov, Oleg Solodukhin, Peter Strzok, Sergei Surovikin, Taiwanchik (aka Alimzhan Tokhtakhunov), Bill Taylor, Andriy Telizhenko, Gennady Timchenko, Oleg Tinkov, Alimzhan Tokhtakhunov (aka Taiwanchik), Aleksandr Torshin, Vyacheslav Trubnikov, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Yulia Tymoshenko, Anastasia Vashukevich (aka Nastya Rybka), Viktor Vekselberg, Natalia Veselnitskaya, Alexander Vindman, Vyacheslav Volodin, Curt Weldon, Andy Wigmore, Alexander Yakovenko, Viktor Yanukovych, Boris Yeltsin, Ivan Yermakov, Marie Yovanovitch, Viktor Yushchenko, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, Maria Zakharova, Joel Zamel, Volodymyr Zelenskyy
 

 
Bios w links (Wikipedia unless otherwise noted): Alexander Abramov, Roman Abramovich, Aras Agalarov, Emin Agalarov, Rinat Akhmetov, Rinat Akhmetshin, Yulya Alferova (National Compass), Yuri Andropov, Anatoly Antonov, Anne Applebaum, Andrii Artemenko, Arron Banks, Andrey Baranov (Bloomberg), Alexander Bastrykin, Sergey Beseda, Vitaly Bespalov (NBC), Leonid “Len” Blavatnik, Anna Bogacheva (NYT), David Bogatin (NYT), Alexander Bortnikov, Victor Boyarkin (TrumpRussia), William Browder, Mariia Butina, Carole Cadwalladr, Michael Caputo, Yuri Chaika, Igor Chekunov, Sergey Chemezov, Anatoly Chubais, Michael Cohen, George Cottrell, Igor Danshenko, Oleg Deripaska, Andrii Derkach, Igor Divyekin, Kirill Dmitriev, Aleksandr Dugin, Arkady Dvorkovich, Paul Erickson, Oleg Erovinkin, Nigel Farage, Dmitri Firtash, John Fotiadis (Archinect), Gene (Evgeny) Friedman, Igor Fruman, Daniel Gelbinovich (Daily Beast), Valery Gerasimov, Rob Goldstone, Sergei Gorkov, Henry Greenberg (Miami Herald), Fiona Hill, Andrew Intrater, Ivan the Terrible, Bidzina Ivanishvili, Ramzan Kadyrov, Brittany Kaiser (Cambridge Analytica), Mikhail Kalugin, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Saak Karapetyan, Eugene Kaspersky (Kaspersky Lab), Denis Katsyv, Irakly Kaveladze, Michael Khodarkovsky, Elena Khusyaynova, Konstantin Kilimnik, Sergey Kislyak, Artem Klyushin (National Compass), Ihor Kolomoyskyi, Konstantin Kosachev, Mikhail Kovalchuk, Yury Kovalchuk, Nikita Khrushchev, Aleksandra Krylova (NYT), Simon Kukes, Sergey Lavrov, Alexander Litvinenko, Howard Lorber, Alexander Lukashenko, Yuriy Lutsenko, Konstantin Malofeev, Simona Mangiante (Papadopoulos), Alexander Mashkevich, Michael McFaul, Viktor Medvedchek, Josef Mifsud, Alexey Miller, Sergei Millian, Semion Mogilevich (Don Semyon) …

 

Cover: KyivPost (10/18/2019): Shady Cast of Characters: Engineers of Trump-Ukraine Scandal http://bit.ly/2MZCilW
 
Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, Lyudmila Narusova, Sergei Naryshkin, Alexei Navalny, Eduard Nektalov (NYMag), Konstantin Nikolaev, Yevgeniy Nikulin, Vyacheslav Nikonov, Alexander Nix, Isabel Oakeshoff, George Papadopoulos, Lev Parnas, Nikolai Patrushev, Sam Patten, Alexander Perepilichny, Dmitry Peskov, Peter the Great, Igor Pisarsky (RIM), Petro Poroshenko, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Sergei Prikhodko, Vladimir Putin, George Ramishvili (Bloomberg), Dmitry Rogozin, Alexander Rovt, Giorgi Rtskhiladze (CNBC), Nastya Rybka (aka Anastasia Vashukevich) (WaPo), Dmitry Rybolovlev, Konstantin Rykov, Mikheil Saakashvili, Felix Sater, Igor Sechin, Leonid Shebarshin, Anastasia Shevchenko (Amnesty Intl), Sergey Shoigu, Viktor Shokin, Oleg Solodukhin, Christopher Steele, Ruslan Stoyanov, Peter Strzok, Sergei Surovikin, Taiwanchik (aka Alimzhan Tokhtakhunov), Bill Taylor, Andriy Telizhenko (BuzzFeedNews), Gennady Timchenko, Oleg Tinkov, Alimzhan Tokhtakhunov (aka Taiwanchik), Aleksandr Torshin, Vyacheslav Trubnikov, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Yulia Tymoshenko, Anastasia Vashukevich (aka Nastya Rybka) (WaPo), Viktor Vekselberg, Natalia Veselnitskaya, Alexander Vindman, Vyacheslav Volodin, Curt Weldon, Andy Wigmore, Alexander Yakovenko, Viktor Yanukovych, Boris Yeltsin, Ivan Yermakov (Moscow Proj), Marie Yovanovitch, Viktor Yushchenko, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, Maria Zakharova, Joel Zamel, Volodymyr Zelenskyy
,
 

By @WendySiegelman
 

Key Documents

 
🔆 This❗️⋙ 💙💙🔄 LawfareBlog: Litigation Documents Related to the Mueller Investigation http://bit.ly/2OVch6n
// new November 2018, to be continually updated

🔆 This❗️⋙ 💙💙🔄 House.gov: Select Committee to Investigate the JANUARY 6TH Attack on the United States Capitol https://january6th.house.gov

🔆 This❗️⋙ 💙💙🔄 JustSecurity: Public Document Clearinghouse: UKRAINE Impeachment Inquiry http://bit.ly/2CEsQ2F ‼️ Links to ALL documents ‼️

🔆 This❗️⋙ 💙💙🔄 AmericanOversight: Trump-Ukraine Key Figures and Documents http://bit.ly/2C24bES
AmericanOversight: The Trump Administration’s Contacts with Ukraine http://bit.ly/2BYSY89 from FOIA requests

🔆 This❗️⋙ 💙💙🔄 JustSecurity, Andy Wright: Just Security Launches the Russia Investigation Congressional Clearinghouse http://bit.ly/2L21uHz
// 8/22/2019

🔆 This❗️⋙ 💙💙🔄 Lawfare: Full Text of the Mueller Report’s Executive Summaries http://bit.ly/2IFLewq
// 4/18/2019

🔆 This❗️⋙ 💙💙🔄 Lawfare: Document: The Mueller Report http://bit.ly/2vcgNpN
// 4/18/2019

🔆 This❗️⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ NYT: The Whistle-Blower Complaint: Read the Document [Interactive] http://nyti.ms/2nq4FAD
// 9/26/2019

🔆 This❗️⋙ 💙💙🔄 WaPo: Trump impeachment inquiry: Latest news and updates http://wapo.st/2P09WuE [Continually updated]

🔆 This❗️⋙ 💙💙🔄 WaPo, Kate Rabinowitz and Kevin Schaul: Who’s involved in the Trump impeachment inquiry http://wapo.st/2W673dg
// orig published 10/21/2019

 

By @jzikah has a new book! Cartoon President http://amzn.to/2QUeZhk @Jzikah
 
⋙ 💙💙🔄 📔 Court Filing (1/17/2019): Civil Action No. 1:18-cv-03501 [pdf] http://cnn.it/2CBddZy (111p) Democratic National Committee v.: Russian Federation, DJ Trump For President, Inc (and others)
// 1/17/2019

⋙ 💙💙🔄 TheAtlantic, Yoni Appelbaum: Impeach Donald Trump http://bit.ly/2FykFIP
//March 2019 cover story

⋙ 💙💙🔄 Politico Mag, Darren Samuelsohn: The Only Impeachment Guide You’ll Ever Need http://politi.co/2QHcJGi
// 1/11/2019, As talk of the I-word heats up, here’s POLITICO Magazine’s soup-to-nuts answers to all your questions about the politics—and the practical realities—of removing a president.

⋙ 💙💙🔄 WaPo, Max Boot: Here are 18 reasons Trump could be a Russian asset http://wapo.st/2D7IJQ9
// 1/13/2019
 

By @Jzikah
 
⋙ 💙💙🔄 TheAtlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg (Editor): UNTHINKABLE: 50 Moments That Define an Improbable Presidency http://bit.ly/2RvDFOn
// Jan 2019; Donald Trump’s 50 Most Unthinkable Moments ~ 50 Articles

⋙ 💙💙🔄 Wikipedia: Timeline of investigations into Trump and Russia (2018) http://bit.ly/2Bh12jP

⋙ 💙💙🔄 Axios: Timeline: Every big move in the Mueller investigation http://bit.ly/2Euh3H9
// 12/12/2018
 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y
 
⋙ 💙💙🔄 Moyers&Co: Interactive Timeline: Everything We Know About Russia and President Trump http://bit.ly/2uVHc9j
// continually updated

⋙ 💙💙🔄📒 DocumentCloud: Steele Dossier [pdf] http://bit.ly/2y5ZhnF 35p

⋙ 💙💙🔄📒 FBIRecordsVault: Records Between FBI and Christopher Steele http://bit.ly/2KqLoF1

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ AP: Mueller Investigation documents http://bit.ly/2ihbK0l

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ CitJourno: Trump/Russian Mob Connections http://www.citjourno.org
 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y
 
⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ CNN, Marshall Cohen, Tal Yellen & Liz Stark: Tracking the Russia investigations (documents) http://cnn.it/2hVCpU5

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ NYT: Russian Hacking and Influence in the U.S. Election http://nyti.ms/2NqFXeY

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ BrennanCenter: Trump-Russia Investigations http://bit.ly/2yRKcu6

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ Politico: The people connected to the Russia probes [ Interactive ] http://politi.co/2FUDhz2 //➔ Democrats, Prosecutors, Law Enforcement/Lobbyists/Media,Team Trump, Foreign Nationals

⋙ 💙💙🔄 TheMoscowProject: Trump’s Russia Cover-Up By the Numbers http://bit.ly/2ycY959
// Center for American Progress; 80+ contacts with Russia-linked operatives https://themoscowproject.org/about/ http://bit.ly/2ycY959
 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y
 
⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ NBCNews: Russia timeline: Key players, meetings and investigation details http://nbcnews.to/2vtR3YW

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ DailyBeast: Democrats Release the Fusion GPS Testimony on Trump and Russia http://thebea.st/2qMmH1d w attachment [pdf] ⋙ via Dianne Feinstein http://bit.ly/2FjtlPP

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ NYT: Justice Department Gives Congress Comey’s Memos on Trump http://nyti.ms/2HdLe2Z
// 4/19/2018 ➔ DocumentCloud: http://bit.ly/2HOGC4z

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ DOJ: Indictment of Internet Research Agency LLC et al … [PDF] http://bit.ly/2CqdHzD 37p //➔ Mueller Investigation
// 2/16/2018
 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y
 
⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ Amy Siskind: The Weekly List ~ “This is How Democracy Ends” https://theweeklylist.org

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ NYT: Mueller Has List of Questions for Trump http://nyti.ms/2rfDuqK + http://nyti.ms/2HExEKi
// 4/30/2018, Majority Relate to if Trump Obstructed Inquiry on Russia

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ NYT: The Trump Lawyers’ Confidential Memo to Mueller, Explained [ Document ] http://nyti.ms/2kKPgq9
// 6/2/2018, NYT article about document: http://nyti.ms/2swIZSc

 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y
 
⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ TIME: The Arguments President Trump Has Made Against the Mueller Investigation http://ti.me/2MdeARX
// 6/8/2018

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ TIME: Wikipedia: Links between Trump associates and Russian officials http://bit.ly/2K42VDF

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ WaPo: Who has been charged in the Russia probe and why http://wapo.st/2toNwH2
// continually updated; WaPo Russia page

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ ForeignAffairs Anthology: A New Cold War? Russia and America, Then and Now 1947- http://fam.ag/2KEA4dF

 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y
 
⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ Justice.gov: Mueller Indictment of 12 Russians in the GRU for Election Hacking [pdf] http://bit.ly/2NbphV6 29p
// 7/13/2018

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ FactCheck.org: Timeline of Russia Investigation http://bit.ly/2KZ4qaQ
// posted 6/7/2018, updated 7/13/2018; Key moments in the FBI probe of Russia’s efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election; Readable

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ Legal Process Server: DNC Lawsuit vs Russia, Wikileaks, et al http://bit.ly/2KIOhBq

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ NYT, Linda Qiu: Truth-Testing Trump’s 250-Plus Attacks on the Russia Inquiry http://nyti.ms/2MY609E
// 8/18/2018

 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y
 
⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ Justice.gov: Manafort Plea Agreement [pdf] http://bit.ly/2CZiVb7 17p
// 9/14/2018

⋙ 💙💙🔄💽 NYT: Opinion | Operation Infektion: A three-part video series on Russian disinformation http://nyti.ms/2OHqSSV
// 11/12/2018

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ PasteMag, Jacob Weindling: A Year of Trump and Russia: The 75 Stories That Defined the Mueller Investigation in 2018 http://bit.ly/2QWN1SU
// 12/28/2018

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ LawFareBlog: Document: Indictment of Roger Stone [pdf] http://bit.ly/2UdQgmj 24p
// 1/25/2019

 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y
 
⋙ 💙💙🔄📋 NYT: Trump and His Associates Had More Than 100 Contacts With Russians Before the Inauguration [Interactive] http://nyti.ms/2MAZCps
// 1/26/2019

⋙ 💙💙🔄 BuzzFeedNews: These Secret Files Show How The Trump Moscow Talks Unfolded While Trump Heaped Praise On Putin http://bit.ly/2DWQ2ed
// 2/5/2019; ⏳TIMELINE ⌛️

⋙ 💙💙🔄 WaPo: What we learned about Trumpworld outreach to Russia since Mueller’s investigation began http://wapo.st/2twkXYE
// 2/19/2019, And what we still don’t know.

⋙ 💙💙🔄 ◕📋 NYT, Larry Buchanan and Karen Yourish: Trump Has Publicly Attacked the Russia Investigation More Than 1,100 Times http://nyti.ms/2T2HSsN
// 2/19/2019

 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y
  ;
⋙ 💙💙🔄 ◕📋 WaPo, Philip Bump: The 81 people and organizations just looped into the Trump probe — and why they were included http://wapo.st/2SJrw41
// 3/4/2019

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ NYT: Full Document: Trump’s Call With the Ukrainian President [Interactive] http://nyti.ms/2lfBkbC (Annotated)
// 9/25/2019″

⋙ 💙💙🔄≣ NYT: The Whistle-Blower Complaint: Read the Document [Interactive] http://nyti.ms/2nq4FAD
// 9/26/2019

 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y
 
⋙ 💙💙🔄 📔 This❗️⋙ HPSCI: Trump-Ukraine impeachment inquiry report http://bit.ly/2LlnJsX
// 12/3/2019; House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

⋙ 💙💙🔄 📔 This❗️⋙ Report: House Judiciary Committee report on their articles of impeachment against President Donald John Trump http://bit.ly/2Ek2rIa 658p
// 10/15/2019

⋙ 💙💙🔄 📔 This❗️⋙ Lawfare: House Releases Impeachment Trial Brief http://bit.ly/2ucCo3Y document 111p
// 1/18/2019
 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y

 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y

 
⋙ 💙💙🔄 📔 This❗️⋙ Trial Memorandum of the US House of Representatives in the Impeachment Trial of President Donald J Trump http://bit.ly/2uePNsc
// 1/18/2020

 
⋙ 💙💙🔄 📔 This❗️⋙ Trial Memorandum of President Donald J Trump http://bit.ly/2NGi2XK 171p
// 1/20/2020

 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y
 
⋙ 💙💙🔄 📔 This❗️⋙ Vox, Matthew Yglesias and Andrew Prokop: The ultimate guide to the Donald Trump impeachment saga http://bit.ly/2SoXpkm
// Updated: Feb 5, 2020, 8:06pm EST, Published: Nov 5, 2019, 8:06am EST

 
⋙ 💙💙🔄 📔 This❗️⋙ NYT: The Key Players in Trump’s Plot to Upend the Election, Mapped https://tinyurl.com/4w8uekjx
// 8/31/2023

 
⋙ 💙💙🔄 📔 This❗️⋙ 📀 Press Here For Impeachment Trial on Cspan
// 1/20/2020-2/5/2020

 
⋙ 💙💙🔄 📔 This❗️⋙ LawFare: Confronting the Capitol Insurrection [Index Page] http://bit.ly/3mfMDNc

 

⏳WaPo: The full Trump-Ukraine impeachment timeline http://wapo.st/35odsUl

 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y

 
⭕ Feb 2021 Second Trump #Impeachment Trial

Day One: Rules etc

Day TWO: C-SPAN: U.S. Senate Impeachment Trial Day 2, Impeachment Managers’ Constitutionality Arguments http://bit.ly/3aa1CCQ
// 2/9/2021;

Day 2 of the impeachment trial of former President Trump for incitement of insurrection began with senators voting 89-11 in favor of the trial organizing resolution. Lead Impeachment Manager Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) then made opening remarks followed by a 13-minute video showing footage of former President Trump’s January 6, 2021, speech and of the actions of those who stormed the U.S. Capitol that day. Afterward, impeachment managers Representatives Raskin, Joe Neguse (D-CO), and David Cicilline (D-RI) presented their arguments for the constitutionality of impeaching a former president. Representative Raskin in his arguments talked about bringing his daughter and son-in-law with him to the Capitol on January 6.

 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y
 
Day THREE: C-SPAN: Senate Impeachment Trial Day 3, Part 1 http://bit.ly/374q3zm
// 2/10/2021;

The first part of Day 3 of the impeachment trial of former President Trump for incitement of insurrection began with House impeachment manager Representative Jamie Raskin (D-MD) asserting that the former president had “surrendered his role as commander in chief” and become “the inciter in chief.” He played the January 6, 2021, video Mr. Trump posted on Twitter in which he told his supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol to “go home.” Representative Joe Neguse (D-CO) then outlined impeachment managers’ plan for arguing their case. In the final segment of part 1, Representatives Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA) described the former president’s actions leading up to and after the 2020 election

Day Three: C-SPAN: Senate Impeachment Trial Day 3, Part 2 http://bit.ly/3tYOS9Y
// The Senate impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump continued with House managers presenting video and tweets they say indicate that former President Trump incited the deadly January 6 riot.

Day Three: C-SPAN: Senate Impeachment Trial Day 3, Part 3 http://bit.ly/372bYSY
// Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) Entire remarked on the breach of the Capitol and attacks on police officers.

Day Three: C-SPAN: Senate Impeachment Trial Day 3, Part 4 http://bit.ly/3aZ82DV
// An effort by Sen. Mike Lee to remove remarks by the House impeachment managers from the official record sparked confusion on the Senate floor.

 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y
 
Day FOUR: C-SPAN: Senate Impeachment Trial Day 4, Part 1 http://bit.ly/3rXW1pf
// 2/12/2021

Former President Donald Trump’s defense lawyers made their case that Mr. Trump was innocent of charges of inciting an insurrection. They compared speeches by Democrats and others to the former president’s remarks in their defense, and stated that “the article of impeachment now before the Senate is an unjust and blatantly unconstitutional act of political vengeance.”

Day Four: C-SPAN: Senate Impeachment Trial Day 4, Part 2 http://bit.ly/3ddmmeG
// After a recess, Former President Donald Trump’s defense continued to make their case that Mr. Trump was innocent of charges of inciting an insurrection. In this portion of the impeachment trial, attorney Bruce Castor spoke.
Day Four: C-SPAN: Senate Impeachment Trial Day 4, Q&A http://bit.ly/3jLkwD0
// In this portion of the second impeachment trial of former President Trump, senators asked questions of both the House managers and Mr. Trump’s defense lawyers. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) then announced that Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman would be receiving the Congressional Gold Medal, due to his actions during the January 6 riots.

Day FIVE: C-SPAN: Senate Impeachment Trial Day 5 http://bit.ly/3b2haHL
// 2/13/2021

The Senate acquits former President Trump of inciting an insurrection, 57-43. Earlier, the House managers and the defense made closing arguments. Also, House Manager Raskin (D-MD) read a written statement from Rep. Herrera Beutler (R-WA).

● Majority Leader Schumer on Impeachment Acquittal of Former President Trump http://bit.ly/2OFAT8V
// Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) delivered remarks after the Senate voted to acquit former President Trump, 57-43. Seven Republicans joined all Democrats in voting to convict Mr. Trump.
● Minority Leader McConnell on Impeachment Acquittal of Former President Trump http://bit.ly/3djH5NM
// Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) delivered remarks after the Senate voted to acquit former President Trump, 57-43. Seven Republicans joined all Democrats in voting to convict Mr. Trump.

 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y

 

Twitter Threads

⭕ 9 Feb 2021 Impeachment #2: Day 1
💙 🧵 RT @atrupar Rep. Raskin’s opening impeachment trial statement: “Their argument is that if you commit an impeachable offense in your last few weeks in office, you do it with constitutional impunity.” 📌 https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1359206921039974406?s=20
⋙ 🐣 RT @atrupar Here is the entire video timeline of the January 6 insurrection as presented by the House impeachment managers 💽 https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1359216739054190593?s=20/photo/1

⭕ 10 Feb 2021 Impeachment #2: Day 2
🔄 💙🐣🧵 RT @jentaub It’s on. Day 2 of the Trump Impeachment Trial 2.0. February 10, 2021. We will have a dinner break at 6 p.m. ¤ 1/ 📌 https://twitter.com/jentaub/status/1359548695038087169?s=20
🔄 💙🐣🧵 RT @atrupar Raskin: “This case is much worse than someone who falsely shouts fire in a crowded theater. It’s more like like a case where the town fire chief, who’s paid to put out fires, sends a mob not to yell fire in a crowded theater, but to actually set the theater on fire.”
🔄 💙 WaPo: See all the evidence presented in Trump’s impeachment trial http://wapo.st/3qeb1ii

 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y
 
⭕ 11 Feb 2021 Impeachment #2: Day 3
🔄 💙🧵 RT @jentaub 🇺🇸 It’s on. Day 3. The Trial of Donald Trump 2.0 continues at 12:04 p.m. on February 11, 2021 📌 https://twitter.com/jentaub/status/1359911216588685317?s=20
// Defense
🔄 💙🧵 RT @atrupar The Thursday installment of Trump’s #ImpeachmentTrial begins with a Baked Alaska clip 📌 https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1359914413709492232?s=20

⭕ 12 Feb 2021 Impeachment #2: Day 4
🔄 💙 🧵 RT @jentaub We have begun. It’s Day 4 of the Trump Impeachment Trial 2.0. The defense is putting on their case. The first lawyer is Van Der Veen. 📌 https://twitter.com/jentaub/status/1360274181510807556?s=20

 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y

🔄 💙 🧵 RT @atrupar “Lord, infuse them with the spirit of nonpartisan patriotism” — Senate Chaplain Barry Black’s prayer begins the Trump defense portion of the #ImpeachmentTrial 📌 https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1360275280775028740?s=20
⋙ 🔄 💙 🧵 RT @atrupar [Q&A] Lindsey Graham, Kevin Cramer, and Roger Marshall use an impeachment trial question to own the libs 📌 https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1360337066215804930?s=20

⭕ 13 Feb 2021 Impeachment #2: Day 5
🔄 💙 🧵 RT @jentaub Day 5 of the Donald Trump Impeachment Trial 2.0. February 13, 2021. Wonderful! They are going to debate whether to subpoena witnesses and documents ¤ 1/ 📌 https://twitter.com/jentaub/status/1360605971198967809?s=20
🔄 💙 🧵 RT @atrupar “Lord, touch and move them to believe that end does not justify the means” — Senate Chaplain Barry Black’s prayer begins the Saturday portion of the #ImpeachmentTrial 📌 https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1360607971055656962?s=20

 

@Jzikah’s Amazon page: http://amzn.to/3tUTM6Y

 

⚖️ House Committee Hearings on the Jan 6, 2021 Insurrection ⚖️

 
Day 1: June 9, 2022: Overview

 
💙 ⚖️ 🧵 Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol https://january6th.house.gov

 
💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @jentaub Here we go ¤ The first public hearing of the January 6th Committee. Chair Thompson begins with his personal history and says each committee member has one thing in common “we swore the same oath . . to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
📌 💽 https://twitter.com/jentaub/status/1535050380429516801?s=20/photo/1

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @atrupar Bennie Thompson begins January 6 hearing: “I’m from a part of the country where people justified the actions of slavery, the Ku Klux Klan, and lynching. I’m reminded of that dark history as I hear voices today try to justify the actions of the insurrectionists on January 6, 2021”
📌 https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1535050790720634891?s=20/photo/1

💙 ⚖️ 💽 CSPAN: First Open Testimony Before January 6 Committee http://bit.ly/3zynEvU
// After months of closed door investigations, the House January 6 Committee held its first hearing with public testimony about what transpired-and why-during the assault on the U.S. Capitol.

 
Day 2: June 13, 2022: “The Big Lie”

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @jentaub Here we go. Day 2 of the January 6th Committee Hearings gaveled in late at 10:46 am EDT. /1
📌 https://twitter.com/jentaub/status/1536359652514213888?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @atrupar The second January 6 hearing begins with Liz Cheney talking about how Trump listened to advice from “an apparently inebriated Rudy Giuliani”
📌 https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1536361664601374721?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 💽 CSPAN: Second Hearing on Investigation of Capitol Attack http://bit.ly/39jgMrH
// The “Big Lie”; The House committee looking into the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol held its second hearing with witness testimony to make public the committee’s findings after a year of investigations.

 
Day 3: June 16, 2022: “Mike Pence”

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @jentaub Here we go. Day 3 of the January 6 Committee hearing ¤ Focus today is on the pressure campaign on VP Pence to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. “We are fortunate for Mr. Pence’s courage” says Chair Bennie Thompson. ¤ “But the danger hasn’t receded.” ¤ 1/
📌 https://twitter.com/jentaub/status/1537481664821174278?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @atrupar The third January 6 hearing gets underway with a clip of Greg Jacob, former counsel to Pence, telling the committee that John Eastman admitted in front of Trump on January 4, 2021, that the pressure campaign against Pence violated the law
📌 https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1537483292886601729?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @MSNBC LIVE BLOG: The House Jan. 6 committee returns today for a third public hearing focused on VP Pence. Follow along as we break down key moments.
📌 https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1537449714676793345?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 💽 CSPAN: Third Hearing on Investigation of Capitol Attack http://bit.ly/3xx77WC President Trump’s Campaign to Influence Vice President Pence
// 6/16/2022; The January 6 Committee held its third public hearing focusing on former President Trump’s efforts to convince former Vice President Pence to not certify the 2020 election results.

 
Day 4: June 21, 2022: “Fake Electors”

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @atrupar Bennie Thompson begins the fourth January 6 hearing by saying: “The lie hasn’t gone away. It’s corrupting our democratic institutions. People who believe that lie are now seeking positions of public trust.”
📌 https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1539295123107991554?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @kyledcheney NEW: Trump’s plan to seize power on Jan. 6 depended on state legislatures adopting alternate electors. He leaned heavily on state and local officials to do that while his team of lawyers — Eastman et al — developed a fringe legal theory to back the push.
📌 https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1539201863702261760?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @jentaub Joining @MaryLTrump for today’s January 6 hearing, Live now
📌 https://twitter.com/jentaub/status/1539289189920948224?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @MSNBC LIVE BLOG: Day 4 of the House Jan. 6 Committee’s public hearings begins at 1pm ET. Follow along for live updates as we break down key moments.
📌 https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1539262716677918721?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 💽 CSPAN: Fourth Hearing on Investigation of Capitol Attack http://bit.ly/3OhikBF President Trump’s Campaign to Influence Vice President Pence
// 6/21/2022; The January 6 Committee held its fourth public hearing to outline findings after a year of investigating the Capitol attack in 2021.

 
Day 5: June 23, 2022: “Department of Justice”

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @atrupar Cheney begins the fifth January 6 committee hearing by saying a focus will be an unsigned draft letter Trump and Jeffrey Clark wanted the DOJ to send to Georgia officials citing known lies to urge them to convene a special session to approve a fake set of electors
📌 https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1540050703128862721?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @MSNBC LIVE BLOG: The fifth public hearing of the House Jan. 6 committee begins at 3pm ET. Follow along as we break down key moments.
📌 https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1540018644121427968?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 😆 RT @emptywheel Spouse, listening to his first bit of the Jan6 hearings, of Liz Cheney’s promise we’ll hear about what Trump did on 1/6: Is that called foreshadowing? ¤ Me, lit PhD: She’s making herself the omniscient narrator.
📌 https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1540049823365218306?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 💽 CSPAN: Fifth Hearing on Investigation of Capitol Attack http://bit.ly/3tX3gkK
// 6/23/2022; The January 6 Committee holds a fifth public hearing on the alleged pressure campaign by Trump administration officials on the Justice Department to help overturn the 2020 election results.

 
Day 6: June 28, 2022: “Cassidy Hutchinson”

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @atrupar we’re underway with the special June 28 hearing of the January 6 committee. Yes, Fox News is taking it live.
📌 https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1541829781385248771?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @MSNBC LIVE BLOG: The Jan. 6 committee holds a last-minute public hearing at 1pm ET today, which will include testimony from a former top aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Follow along as we break down key moments.
📌 https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1541789726960750593?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @jentaub Wow! On January 2 Rudy told Cassidy Hutchinson Trump and team were going to the Capitol on the 6th. Cassidy asked her boss about it and he said “There’s a lot going on Cass. Things might get real real bad.” ¤ She said today, “That was the first moment I remember feeling scared.”
📌 https://twitter.com/jentaub/status/1541834209265963012?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @emptywheel This woman is 26. She’s about to provide really damaging testimony about one of the most dangerous men in America.
📌 https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1541829534248566784?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @lrozen J6 hearing starting, featuring Cassidy Hutchinson, former special assistant to Trump and aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows
📌 https://twitter.com/lrozen/status/1541829799169122308?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 💽 CSPAN: Sixth Hearing on Investigation of Capitol Attack http://bit.ly/3bp657u
// 6/28/2022; Cassidy Hutchinson, former senior aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, testified that President Trump said, “You know, I don’t even care that they have weapons. They aren’t here to hurt me.” Her testimony came during the January 6 Committee hearing on the investigation of the attack on the U.S. Capitol. This is the sixth in a series of hearings – after months of closed-door investigations – detailing the committee findings on the January 6 attack. Ms. Hutchinson shared her experiences of the days leading up to and after the attack, including President Trump’s alleged altercation with Secret Service in the back of the presidential limo because the Secret Service refused the president’s demands to go to the Capitol after his rally speech.

 
Day 7: July 12, 2022: “Assembling the Mob”

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @atrupar Liz Cheney begins the July 12 hearing of the January 6 committee with this: “President Trump is a 76 year old man. He is not an impressionable child. Just like everyone else in our country, he is responsible for his own actions and his own choices.”
📌 https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1546906042927353857?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @MSNBC LIVE: Jan. 6 Committee holds seventh public hearing, focused on the role far-right extremist groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers played in Capitol attack. Get expert analysis in real-time on our live blog http://msnbc.com/jan6hearings
📌 https://twitter.com/MSNBC/status/1546903393297465344?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @emptywheel And we’re off! ¤ “We settle our differences at the ballot box.” ¤ [Note: I’m going to break off at 2 to cover some live hearings.]
📌 https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1546903190574071808?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @jentaub Pat Cipollone agreed that Donald Trump should have conceded the election at some point and time (at least, apparently on December 14 when Electoral College met).b
📌 https://twitter.com/jentaub/status/1546909222935445509?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @ECMcLaughlin Live tweet of today’s January 6th hearing is right here. ⬇️⬇️⬇️
📌 https://twitter.com/ECMcLaughlin/status/1546902951687467008?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 💽 CSPAN: Seventh Hearing on Investigation of Capitol Attack http://bit.ly/3P2quy5
// 7/12/2022; January 6 Committee Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) said that former President Trump “tried to call a witness in our investigation. A witness you have not yet seen in these hearings,” and that the matter has been reported to the Justice Department. The revelation came as Rep. Cheney delivered her closing statement during the January 6 Committee hearing on the investigation of the attack on the U.S. Capitol. This is the seventh in a series of hearings – after months of closed-door investigations – detailing the committee findings on the January 6 attack. Testifying before the committee was Jason Van Tatenhove, the former spokesperson for the extremist group the Oath Keepers, who said the group is a “violent militia” and “the best illustration for what the Oath Keepers are happened January 6th when we saw that stacked military formation going up the stairs of our Capitol.” Also testifying was Stephen Ayres, who pled guilty to breaching the U.S. Capitol.

 
Day 8: July 21, 2022: “Dereliction of Duty”

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @atrupar Liz Cheney begins the January 6 committee’s primetime July 21 hearing by announcing more hearings are coming in September
📌 https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1550272235709296640?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @ECMcLaughlin Livetweet of tonight’s 1/6 hearing will be right here.
⬇️⬇️⬇️
📌 https://twitter.com/ECMcLaughlin/status/1550260159783378944?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @MollyJongFast Letsssssssss gooooo
📌 https://twitter.com/MollyJongFast/status/1550270058752102400?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🔲 RT @MaryLTrump Join me and @JohnFugelsang @NormOrnstein @cmclymer @AdamParkhomenko @jentaub @georgehahn @BrianKarem @WajahatAli watching the hearings NOW
📌 https://twitter.com/MaryLTrump/status/1550272287772798976?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 💽 CSPAN: Eighth Hearing on Investigation of Capitol Attack https://tinyurl.com/36ea45sh
// 7/21/2022; “For the weeks between the November election and January 6, Donald Trump was a force to be reckoned with,” said January 6 Committee Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), later adding, “and then he stopped. For 187 minutes on January 6th, this man of unbridled destructive energy could not be moved.” His remarks came as he delivered his opening statement during the January 6 Committee hearing on the investigation of the attack on the U.S. Capitol. This is the eighth in a series of public hearings – after months of closed-door investigations – detailing the committee findings on the January 6 attack. The chair went on to say if there is no accountability for January 6th, “I fear that we will not overcome the ongoing threat to our democracy.” During her closing testimony, Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) touched on the former president’s supporters, saying, “he is preying on their patriotism. He is preying on their sense of justice. And on January 6th, Donald Trump turned their love of country … ”

 
Day 9: October 13, 2022: “Summary and Subpoena”

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @atrupar Follow this thread for video highlights from what is likely to be the final January 6 committee hearing
📌 https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1580603168404037635?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @emptywheel Spouse, as Liz Cheney says they may make criminal referrals: Thank you Liz Cheney, you read my mind. [He had just asked if they could do that.]
📌 https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1580606914505080834?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @TomDreisbach [NPR] Here we go: The latest @January6thCmte hearing has started. ¤ NPR’s livestream is available here:
📌 💽 https://twitter.com/TomDreisbach/status/1580605465796304901?s=20/photo/1

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @tomlobianco [YahooNews] “Good afternoon, and may god bless the United States of America,” House Jan 6 Chair Bennie Thompson says in opening statement of #January6thHearings
📌 https://twitter.com/tomlobianco/status/1580605071498174471?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @scottwongDC DAY 9 of the Jan. 6 hearings about to get underway. Follow along on our @NBCNews live blog here for all the updates: https://tinyurl.com/2wf2eyt3
📌 https://twitter.com/scottwongDC/status/1580603641878425602?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 🐣 RT @SethAbramson (📢) LIVE THREAD: This thread is a live-tweet of today’s House January 6 Committee hearing. I’m an attorney, journalist, and historian who has been contacted by the Committee and whose January 6–focused substack, PROOF, the Committee has cited. I hope you will RETWEET and follow.
📌 https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/1580574750581018626?s=20

 

By @AshaRangappa_

 
Day 9: July 21, 2022: “Summary and Resolution”

💙 ⚖️ 💽 CSPAN : Ninth Hearing on Investigation of Capitol Attack https://tinyurl.com/3cb42ubb
// 10/13/2022; January 6 Committee Vice Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) offered a resolution to issue a subpoena to hear from former President Trump regarding the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. She said, “We are obligated to seek answers directly from the man who set this all in motion, and every American is entitled to those answers so we can act now to protect our republic.” Her resolution came during the January 6 Committee hearing on the investigation of the attack on the U.S. Capitol after committee Chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS) said members wanted to hear from the former president because he “is required to answer for his actions.” The committee members recounted prior evidence in lockstep with newly-obtained evidence, such as the Secret Service’s knowledge of a planned attack on the U.S. Capitol prior to January 6. They also shared never-before-seen video of members of Congress seeking safety and asking for help during the attack. .

 
Day 10: Dec 19, 2022: “Indictment Referrals and Adjournment”

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @atrupar The final January 6 committee hearing is about to begin. Follow along for a video thread.
📌 https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1604899834191876096?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @axios The Jan. 6 select committee’s final public meeting is underway.
Follow this thread for updates. 👇
📌 https://twitter.com/axios/status/1604901456091484163?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 🧵 RT @MacFarlaneNews Standing by for our CBS News special report on the final public meeting of House Select Jan 6 Cmte. And votes on criminal referrals. Starts at 1pm eastern
📌 https://twitter.com/MacFarlaneNews/status/1604897048230187014?s=20

💙 ⚖️ 💽 CSPAN: Final Hearing on U.S. Capitol Attack https://tinyurl.com/2xt5j77b
// 12/19/2022; The January 6 Committee holds its final public hearing on the attack of the U.S. Capitol.

💙 ⚖️ 📔 This❗️⋙ 📔 Lawfare: Jan. 6 Select Committee Documents https://tinyurl.com/44fxvfjk
⋙ Lawfare: Jan. 6 Select Committee Document: Executive Summary [pdf] https://tinyurl.com/42p4bkx7 154p
⋙ Lawfare: Jan. 6 Committee Issues Final Report https://tinyurl.com/4867dtra 845p
⋙ Lawfare: Jan. 6 Committee Releases Witness Interview Transcripts https://tinyurl.com/43f5k7y6

 

༺ ✿⊰ ♤ ⊱✿༻

 

by @ErikAukan
 

 
💙 🔄 📔 MFA of Ukraine (Official): War in Ukraine: Russia Invaded Ukraine https://war.ukraine.ua
// Reports, statistics, articles

💙 🔄 RealContextNews, Brian Frydenborg: TRUMP-RUSSIA SAGA: Overview https://tinyurl.com/mr2783rc
// updated index; The biggest scandal in American history.

💙 Ukraine Twitter List: https://twitter.com/i/lists/157259218?s=20

💙 Ukraine War Twitter List: https://twitter.com/i/lists/1545071393397784576?s=20

💙 Key War Accounts: @bayraktar_1love @ChuckPfarrer @DefenseU @DefMon3 @NOELReports @TheStudyOfWar @WarintheFuture @warmonitor3 @wartranslated

💙 Tim White’s awesome log: Search @TWMCLtd ✛ “Day 999” or use dates: https://twitter.com/search-advanced
(The War started on 2/24/2022)
 

༺ ✿⊰ ♤ ⊱✿༻

 
⭕ 31 Dec 2024

🐣 RT @IAmSteveHarvey I don’t know who needs to hear this but don’t give up. Your healing is coming.

WSJ: Stocks Cap Best Two Years in a Quarter-Century https://tinyurl.com/3w9dv4p4 “Through Dec. 24, the Magnificent Seven—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla—accounted for more than 53% of the stock index’s total return, including dividends”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1874370604855681061/photo/1
// “… according to S&P Dow Jones Indices”
// Some investors caution against thinking that the rapid pace of gains can continue because interest rates may remain higher than anticipated

Through Dec. 24, the Magnificent Seven—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla—accounted for more than 53% of the stock index’s total return, including dividends, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices. Nvidia alone made up 21% of the return, as the maker of artificial-intelligence chips saw its market value leap past $3 trillion.

At the same time, stocks in many industries contributed to the rally. The financial sector climbed 28% for the year, while the utilities and industrials segments gained 20% and 16%, respectively. In the year to come, many investors expect the market will continue to broaden.…

Uncertainty abounds on the political front. Stocks rallied when Republicans swept the November elections, raising hopes that business will benefit from tax cuts and looser regulation. But President-elect Donald Trump has also proposed sweeping tariffs as well as mass deportations, policies that could add to inflation if enacted.

“What happens to all this excitement when we start to get all the details?” said Anna Rathbun, chief investment officer at CBIZ Investment Advisory Services. “We don’t know what the tariffs are going to look like. We don’t know what deregulation is going to look like.” ¤ At the very least, many investors expect, markets could be in for a bumpy ride in 2025

WSJ: What Happens When a Whole Generation Never Grows Up? https://tinyurl.com/ym9dptmj “As American 30-somethings increasingly bypass the traditional milestones of adulthood, economists are warning that what seemed like a lag may in fact be a permanent state”
// … “of arrested development”

🦋 RT @gtconway “The departures from The Post add to months of turmoil at the paper, starting in June when Will Lewis, the paper’s chief executive, pursued a reorganization that led to the exit of the paper’s top editor, Sally Buzbee, and that has rankled many in the newsroom.”
⋙ NYT: The Atlantic Beefs Up Politics Coverage Under Trump https://tinyurl.com/yuztmp2c “The magazine is recruiting from a crosstown rival, The Washington Post, to bolster its political staff.”

To bolster its Washington staff, The Atlantic has turned to a crosstown rival. Ashley Parker, a senior national political correspondent for The Washington Post, and Michael Scherer, a national political reporter for The Post, will join a formidable political team at The Atlantic that includes Elaina Plott Calabro, McKay Coppins and Mark Leibovich.

The magazine has been in discussions to hire additional Washington Post journalists, two people with knowledge of the talks said. “We believe in accountability journalism,” Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic’s editor in chief, said in an interview. “We want to cover the incoming administration rigorously. I want to build our team with the best political reporters and editors I can find.”

Still, The Post continues to hire in key areas. On Monday, the company announced that it had hired Warren Strobel, a veteran reporter for The Wall Street Journal, as an intelligence reporter for its national security team. The newspaper also recently hired Karen Pensiero, a long-serving editor at The Wall Street Journal, as its standards editor.

🐣 RT @Rim_Turkmani The best end of 2024 that I never imagined. In #Damascus after 14 years of being banned from entering my country. The first sentence I heard in #Syria today after handing in my expired Syrian passport to the borders officer, who then checked it on the system, was “You had three arrest warrants and one travel ban in your record”. It all has no value now, and I am grateful for every single person who made it possible for me and many other Syrians to be able to go back to our country. With the hope that no one will be panned again from entering #Syria because of her/his opinion. #HappyNewYear

🧵 RT @AndrejDrats You’re not in control of your choices. ¤ This Nobel Prize winner spent 44 years proving it. ¤ He discovered a psychological flaw in the human brain. ¤ Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.And you’ll question every decision you’ve ever made:
📌 https://x.com/AndrejDrats/status/1874093302045434235
// Daniel Kahneman Thinking Fast and Slow
⋙ 🐣 my son gave me “Thinking Fast and Slow” for Christmas! I’m enjoying it and became aware that I try to check all my facts, record them and try to incorporate quality content in my tweets. Decades of writing scientific papers for MDs & PhDs was good training, too

WaPo, Theodore Johnson: She’s big, she’s green, and she has a message for America https://tinyurl.com/52x3ejm9 “America has always been pulled in different directions on immigration. But a torch in New York harbor lights the way”

🐣 RT @panyiszabolcs 🇪🇺 Historic video: In April 2022, Ursula von der Leyen announced triggering the rule of law conditionality mechanism against Hungary, mostly over corruption. €19bn in EU money remains blocked, and by tomorrow, Orbán’s government loses €1bn for good. ¤ It’s a first in EU history.

WaPo: Putin says he saved Russia, but a year of challenges suggests Moscow’s position is precarious https://tinyurl.com/38fekwr9 “He’s waiting for Trump, … Trump is practically seen as the mascot for the end of the old world order and the demise of the liberal democratic ideology.”
// Marking 25 years in office, Vladimir Putin says he has remade Russia as a sovereign power and will prevail in Ukraine, but economic and strategic setbacks complicate the picture.

⭕ 30 Dec 2024

🐣 RT @denisedwheeler Putin wants the US to own Greenland, which is why Musk & Trump are fueling it ¤ Russia wants to control the 30+ billion barrels of oil reserves there, which have to be mined under gobs of ice, therefore tunnels. ¤ Who can to that? The Boring Company. ¤ Who owns Boring Company? Musk

TheAtlantic, Ali Breland: The MAGA Honeymoon Is Over https://tinyurl.com/4vzy6w32 “Silicon Valley and the nativist right worked together to elect Trump. Now the infighting has begun.”

WaPo: MAGA is fighting a ‘civil war’ over H-1B visas. Here’s what they are. https://tinyurl.com/3386kz2b “Right-wing figures are fighting over H-1B visas that allow highly qualified workers to join the American workforce. Here’s what the permits do.”

🐣 RT @InfoAgeStrategy Every Chinese schoolchild living in the PRC learns about how Tsarist Russia helped itself to large swaths of Chinese territory (including Vladivostok) during the waning days of the Qing dynasty. ¤ If you don’t think China’s leaders are absolutely salivating over the prospect of regaining those lost territories in their lifetime — THINK AGAIN.
⋙ 🐣 RT @AlexandruC4 This clip with millions of hits in China calls for China to take over Siberia, Lake Baikal, Sakhalin and other parts of Russia after it loses in Ukraine then falls apart.
💽 https://x.com/InfoAgeStrategy/status/1873477133097443683/photo/1

🐣 RT @McFaul This!

⋙ 🐣 RT @DarthPutinKGB
Russia violates:
¤ https://x.com/DarthPutinKGB/status/1873788938256867839
UN Charter
Nuclear NPT
Helsinki Accords
Belovezha Accords
Paris Charter
Budapest Memo
Black Sea Fleet Treaty
🇺🇦-🇷🇺 Friendship Treaty
Treaty on Azov Sea & Kerch Strait
Karkiv pact
Etc
But Russia says “we need reliable & binding agreements” to end the war.
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @mfa_russia • 18h
FM Sergey #Lavrov: What we need is reliable and legally binding agreements that would eliminate the root causes of the conflict and seal a mechanism precluding the possibility of theirviolation. t.me/MFARussia/23399

TheAtlantic, Tom Nichols (Nov 6): Democracy Is Not Over https://tinyurl.com/34d523mw “Americans who care about democracy have every right to feel appalled and frightened. But then they have work to do.” ⋙ worth re-reading
// 11/6/2024

🐣 RT @officejjsmart Russia’s Economic Collapse: The Looming End of Putin’s Regime
¤ https://x.com/officejjsmart/status/1873759894559391932

The Russian economy is imploding, threatening Vladimir Putin’s grip on power. His Keynesian strategy to counter Western sanctions—based on subsidized spending and artificially low interest rates—has backfired catastrophically, plunging the country into a boom-and-bust cycle now entering its most devastating phase.

The housing market, propped up by state-subsidized mortgages at rates as low as 7% (despite real inflation estimated at 27% by Dr. Steve Hanke), is collapsing. Mortgage debt has surged to over 40% of bank lending portfolios, while household debt is at a record 22% of GDP. Once dominating housing transactions, mortgages now make up only 20% of sales, with 80% being cash purchases. Sellers are slashing prices by up to 50%, and non-performing loans are soaring, threatening to sink regional banks, which hold 40% of the market. Developers, crippled by overbuilding during the boom, are defaulting on bonds, leading to widespread losses across the construction sector.

The ripple effects are devastating. The Russian stock market has seen all sectors decline sharply, with Gazprom down 16.7%, Ozon 23.7%, and RUSAL 23.8% in just one month. Inflation has spiraled out of control, forcing the cost of potatoes to rise by 80% this year alone, with car prices expected to jump 20% after New Year’s. The ruble has lost over 10% of its value three times in a single month, reflecting deep structural weaknesses. Russia’s national budget, calculated on oil prices of $72 per barrel, faces severe strain as global production rises and prices fall. Experts predict the ruble may require a devaluation of 22-35% to sustain government spending.

International support is absent. China, dealing with its own economic woes—including an 18% youth unemployment rate and a real estate debt crisis—has limited capacity to assist Russia. Furthermore, China conducts > 60% of its trade with the U.S. and Europe versus around 2% with Russia and is unlikely to risk sanctions for a marginal ally.

Public dissatisfaction is growing as the economy crumbles. Living costs are skyrocketing, wages are stagnant, and layoffs are widespread. In 2024, over 130,000 jobs were cut in 457 companies, including global tech giants like Tesla, Amazon, and Google. The regime’s promise of economic stability is collapsing, and so is Putin’s political contract with his people.

Historically, economic collapse has toppled autocrats, and Russia’s current trajectory mirrors these patterns. Putin’s inability to stabilize the economy or shield ordinary Russians from hardship is eroding his legitimacy among both the public and the elites. With rising discontent, fractured loyalty from oligarchs, and economic freefall, Russia is on the brink of political upheaval. The collapse of Putin’s regime may no longer be a distant prospect—it is rapidly becoming an imminent reality.

⭕ 29 Dec 2024

◕ NYT, Steve Rattner: These 10 Charts Will Help You Understand 2024 https://tinyurl.com/42ktwkf4

🐣 RT @JReinerMD This is a beautiful tribute from one president to another.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/JReinerMD/status/1873498289515192369/photo/1

Statement by President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden
on the Passing of Former President Jimmy Carter

Today, America and the world lost an extraordinary leader, statesman and humanitarian. Over six decades, we had the honor of calling Jimmy Carter a dear friend. But, what’s extraordinary about Jimmy Carter, though, is that millions of people throughout America and the world who never met him thought of him as a dear friend as well.

With his compassion and moral clarity, he worked to eradicate disease, forge peace, advance civil rights and human rights, promote free and fair elections, house the homeless, and always advocate for the least among us. He saved, lifted, and changed the lives of people all across the globe.

He was a man of great character and courage, hope and optimism. We will always cherish seeing him and Rosalynn together. The love shared between Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter is
the definition of partnership and their humble leadership is the definition of patriotism.

We will miss them both dearly, but take solace knowing they are reunited once again and
will remain forever in our hearts.

To the entire Carter family, we send our gratitude for sharing them with America and the world. To their staff – from the earliest days to the final ones – we have no doubt that you
will continue to do the good works that carry on their legacy.

And to all of the young people in this nation and for anyone in search of what it means to live a life of purpose and meaning – the good life – study Jimmy Carter, a man of principle, faith, and humility. He showed that we are great nation because we are a good people – decent and honorable, courageous and compassionate, humble and strong.

To honor a great American, I will be ordering an official state funeral to be held in Washington D.C. for James Earl Carter, Jr., 39th President of the United States, 76th Governor of Georgia, Lieutenant of the United States Navy, graduate of the United States Naval Academy, and favorite son of Plains, Georgia, who gave his full life in service to God and country.

⭕ 28 Dec 2024

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski It was the first amendment for a reason. But after the Supreme Court ruled that money=speech, some people can control yours with their cash.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1873179230403756492/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @LauraLoomer I’m going to have a very hard time selling the GOP in 2026 if they can’t even fight for free speech. I mean really. What are we fighting for if we can’t even stand up to Big Tech for free speech? ¤ The elites don’t care about you or your voice. ¤ We are peasants I suppose.

🐣 RT @SamRamani2 Gazprom stands to lose $6.5 billion from the collapse of the Russia-Ukraine-Europe gas transit agreement ¤ Another hard currency blow to Russia’s war machine

🐣 RT @JSweetLI Forbes found that Trump’s businesses hired at least 1,670 temporary foreign workers since 2008. ¤ In 2023, Mar-a-Lago requested H-2B visas for: 53 waiters and waitresses, seven hotel desk clerks, 17 housekeeping cleaners, five first-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers, 24 cooks and five bartenders per the Department of Labor.
⋙ Forbes: Trump’s Business Hired More Foreign Workers Than Ever In 2024 https://tinyurl.com/3hn66bm8

🐣 RT @HelsinkiComm Russia has committed horrific war crimes against Ukrainians and Syrians. Now, these two peoples are united and working together. Russia has been defeated in Syria and will be defeated in Ukraine.
⋙ 🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa As promised, we are supporting the Syrian people in their time of need.
¤ https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1872564396792189306

– 500 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat flour are already on their way to Syria as part of our “Grain From Ukraine” humanitarian program in cooperation with the WFP.
– The wheat flour is planned to be distributed to 33,250 families or 167,000 people, in the coming weeks. Each package weighs 15 kilograms and can feed a family of five for one month.

We wish Syria and its people safety, stability, and recovery. We know the true value of these things.

WaPo, Dana Milbank: Out: Trump’s campaign promises. In: War with Panama and Denmark? https://tinyurl.com/36a4phmz ‘He said ‘I’m going to stop wars.’ Now he is repeatedly threatening to take Greenland from Denmark, seize the Panama Canal and annex Canada’
// Trump’s smokescreen of chaos seems designed to mask his backtracking.

[…][…] Media outlets have been covering Biden less as they (understandably) focus on Trump’s daily outrages. Then, based on the lack of coverage Biden is receiving, they conclude that he has disappeared. In fact, the missing-in-action Biden negotiated a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, visited the Amazon rainforest and Angola, hurried more funds out the door under the infrastructure bill and the Chips and Science Act (two of his administration’s signature achievements), and implemented a flurry of rules covering obesity drugs, wages for the disabled and more.

At the White House holiday party for the press on Dec. 20, the invisible president and the first lady stood for hours to shake hands and pose for photos with some 300 journalists and their guests. In what was either a technical error or a cheeky gesture, the White House then sent each of the 300 photographs to all of the attendees — irrefutable evidence of the president standing with representatives of the very news organizations that have reported him missing.

⋙ 🐣 To be trite, ‘it was like you were reading my mind.’ ¤ Thank you for writing this. Thank you for shouldering the pain. [link at WaPo::] https://tinyurl.com/ms8y848s

WaPo: Trump team says Canada, Greenland, Panama comments are part of a broader plan https://tinyurl.com/mryaz458 “U.S. foreign policy during Trump’s first term was marked by near-constant departures from diplomatic conventions and prior international commitments”

⭕ 27 Dec 2024

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski Holy shit.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1872864334529085756/photo/1

🐣 RT @elonmusk The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B.

Take a big step back and FUCK YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot possibly comprehend.

⋙ 🐣 the Great Replacement Theory, but with an unexpected twist 😆
⋙ 🐣 hard not to compare to the European settlers who came here to work their butts off farming 40 acres from a claim shanty in MN and the Dakotas through blizzards, tornadoes and grasshopper swarms ¤ ~ compared coming with the tons of💰Leon had or, like Vivek, with a plan for a scam

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski So Elon’s position is to deport migrants who do the jobs Americans don’t want to do while dramatically increasing the number of migrants to take the jobs that Americans really want?

🐣 RT @OccupyDemocrats BREAKING: New York’s Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul enrages MAGA by signing a law that will require fossil fuel companies to pay for climate damage repair.
¤ [TextLink:] https://x.com/OccupyDemocrats/status/1872663107207565373/photo/1

Bloomberg: AI Power Needs Threaten Billions in Damages for US Households https://tinyurl.com/3fvrpk57 “This map shows readings from about 770,000 home sensors, with red zones indicating areas with the most distorted power”
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1872747523267506379/photo/1

🐣 RT @ralakbar JUST NOW!!! United States is designating Bidzina Grigoris Dze Ivanishvili, founder and honorary chairman of Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, for undermining the democratic and Euro-Atlantic future of Georgia for the benefit of the Russian Federation. Blinken announces 1/2
⋙ 🐣 RT @ ralakbar Blinken on Sanctioning Georgian Dream Founder Bidzina Ivanishvili
¤ https://x.com/ralakbar/status/1872676517462888864

“Ivanishvili and Georgian Dream’s actions have eroded democratic institutions, enabled human rights abuses, and curbed the exercise of fundamental freedoms in Georgia. Furthermore, they have derailed Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic future, a future the Georgian people overwhelmingly desire and the Georgian constitution mandates. The result has left Georgia vulnerable to Russia, which continues to occupy more than 20 percent of Georgia’s territory.

We strongly condemn Georgian Dream’s actions under Ivanishvili’s leadership, including its ongoing and violent repression of Georgian citizens, protestors, members of the media, human rights activists, and opposition figures. The United States is committed to promoting accountability for those undermining democracy and human rights in Georgia.

Ivanishvili is being designated pursuant to section 1(a)(ii)(C) of Executive Order 14024 for being responsible for or complicit in, or having directly or indirectly engaged or attempted to engage in, actions or policies that undermine democratic processes or institutions in the United States or abroad, for or on behalf of, or for the benefit of, directly or indirectly, the Government of the Russian Federation”

🐣 RT @USAmbKyiv [Bridget Brink] Even while under daily attack from Russia, Ukraine continues to feed the world. Through @ZelenskyyUa’s “Grain from Ukraine” humanitarian initiative, 500 tons of Ukrainian wheat flour are on their way to 30,000 Syrian families

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en Russian ideologist Dugin:
💽 https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1872682724177186986/photo/1

“Without Ukraine Russia cannot become once more the empire. With Ukraine inside of Russian zone of control it will become the empire once more. That is a kind of law, nothing personal. This war or special military operation in in Ukraine is about that. It is about geopolitics.”

Dugin and anyone and anything affiliated with him should be under more sanctions by the EU, US and other counties. This warmonger bears a part of the responsibility for the “special military operation.”

Axios: Trump’s first day frenzy: Everything he promised to do on “day one” https://tinyurl.com/37su7rfd
📋 ◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1872671348469699069/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @WhiteHouse When President Biden took office, he was determined to not only deliver economic relief – but to invest in America and grow the economy from the middle out and bottom up, not the top down.
¤ https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1872661288905576626

Over the last four years, that’s exactly what he’s done. His economic agenda has attracted over $1 trillion in announced private sector investments in clean energy and manufacturing. These investments are ensuring the future is made in America by American workers, and they’re creating opportunities in communities too often left behind.

Today, businesses around the world are investing in America because of President Biden’s agenda – which is good news for American workers and American businesses. We’re positioned to win the economic competition for the 21st century.

WaPo: A MAGA ‘Civil War’ on X between Musk and the far right over H-1B visas https://tinyurl.com/y6ybeedk “The online rift over the H-1B skilled-worker visa program signifies a potential wedge between Trump’s core base and his new Silicon Valley supporters.”

⭕ 26 Dec 2024

NYT: Plane Crash Investigators Focus on Russian Air Defenses as Possible Cause https://tinyurl.com/2fphcpwf ‘Russian authorities said the Azerbaijan Airlines plane had hit a flock of birds. But some experts cast doubt, pointing to footage showing apparent holes in the fuselage.’
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1872346381899514363/photo/1

🐣 RT @saintjavelin Russia society is completely and irreparably broken.
¤ https://x.com/saintjavelin/status/1872280897300361517

Imagine how many people would have been involved in trying to cover this up as it was happening.

There are the people who fired the missile, the military and gov’t officials who would’ve ordered a makeshift coverup plan, the people at the airport who denied them the ability to land, and now the PR corps spinning 100 different versions of what happened so the average person doesn’t know what to believe.

They are all actively complicit. ¤ They tried to kill these innocent civilians not once, but twice.

These pilots are absolute heroes because we would have no idea what happened if they had crashed into the Caspian Sea.

⋙ 🐣 RT @yarotrof Kill and hide. Azerbaijani officials tell local media that Russia hit flight J2-8243 with an anti-aircraft missile and then jammed electronics and denied permission to land in three airports, steering the damaged plane into the Caspian Sea so that it would crash there and Russia’s role would never be discovered. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/57s2t6vd
[TextLink:] https://x.com/yarotrof/status/1872277323254268292/photo/1

[Text:] As is known, the Grozny airport refused to allow the aircraft to land. Moreover, the Azerbaijani aircraft was also denied landing permissions at the airports in Makhachkala and Mineralnye Vody. The disoriented crew, subjected to air defence fire and electronic warfare (EW) systems, was redirected to the Kazakh city of Aktau. It can be assumed that this recommendation was given with one goal: to have the aircraft crash into the Caspian Sea, where all witnesses would perish and the aircraft would sink. However, this is merely our assumption. Alternative versions circulating in Russian media are deliberate disinformation attempts to mislead public opinion. Video recordings from the aircraft cabin indicate that two passengers were injured by shrapnel. All eyewitness testimony, including reports of explosions heard outside the aircraft, points to the involvement of air defence systems.

🐣 RT @SkinnerPm Imagine a president saying this now; imagine a society listening to this now: we don’t have to be this way. So don’t be. ¤ “I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” [~ Lincoln]

⭕ 25 Dec 2024 🎅🏼 🌟

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow Not a very ‘merry’ Xmas greeting…
[TextLink:] https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1872057150748643362/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump Merry Christmas to all, including to the wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal (where we lost 38,000 people in its building 110 years ago), always making certain that the United States puts in Billions of Dollars in “repair” money, but will have absolutely nothing to say about “anything.” Also, to Governor Justin Trudeau of Canada, whose Citizens’ Taxes are far too high, but if Canada was to become our 51st State, their Taxes would be cut by more than 60%, their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other Country anywhere in the World. Likewise, to the people of Greenland, which is needed by the United States for National Security purposes and, who want the U.S. to be there, and we will!…

…Page 2: Merry Christmas to the Radical Left Lunatics, who are constantly trying to obstruct our Court System and our Elections, and are always going after the Great Citizens and Patriots of the United States but, in particular, their Political Opponent, ME. They know that their only chance of survival is getting pardons from a man ho has absolutely no idea what he is doing. Also, to the 37 most violent criminals, who killed, raped, and plundered like virtually no one before them, but were just given, incredibly, a pardon by Sleepy Joe Biden. I refuse to wish a Merry Christmas to those lucky “souls” but, instead, will say, GO TO HELL! We had the Greatest Election in the History of our Country, a bright light is now shining over the U.S.A. and, in 26 days, we will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

⋙ 🐣 “I go on this great republican principle,” James Madison said at the Virginia convention to ratify the Constitution in 1788, “that the people will have virtue and intelligence to select men of virtue and wisdom. Is there no virtue among us? If there be not, we are in a wretched situation. No theoretical checks – no form of government – can render us secure. To suppose that any form of government will secure liberty or happiness without any virtue in the people, is a chimerical idea.”

💙 🐣 RT @POTUS For the last time as your president, it’s my honor to wish all of America a very Merry Christmas. ¤ My hope for our nation, today and always, is that we continue to seek the light of liberty and love, kindness and compassion, dignity and decency. ¤ May God bless you all.

🐣 RT @wartranslated Igor Girkin, in a new message to his supporters from prison, declares the futility of the special military operation and the Kremlin’s inability to wage total war. He predicts either a soft capitulation by Moscow or the collapse of its military machine if the war continues in its current trajectory.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1871895698884513954/photo/1

Here’s my brief assessment of the situation:
— The enemy demonstrates readiness to wage a “total war to the bitter end.” This is underscored by openly terroristic raids (which have become daily occurrences) on both major and minor Russian cities (Rylsk, Kazan, Oryol, etc., one after another).

The enemy shows Moscow that no “Oreshniki” have frightened them “in the slightest,” as the strikes are directed “only” at industrial enterprises and infrastructure. Meanwhile, the majority of weapons, equipment, and various supplies for the Ukrainian Armed Forces are sourced from abroad. This means the Russian Armed Forces are incapable, even theoretically, of significantly disrupting the enemy’s supply lines. (As for the suffering of the Russian population in Ukraine, the authorities couldn’t care less-“it’ll just make them angrier” at the “Moskals,” naturally).

Moscow, on the other hand, is clearly not prepared to wage such a “total war”-it’s beyond the “modest capabilities” of certain high-ranking officials. Moreover, it would require them to take full responsibility for conducting the war (whereas the Ministry of Defense is solely responsible for the “Special Military Operation”-and even that is questionable).

Ukraine will continue escalating its strikes (in both frequency and intensity),
“pushing” Moscow toward precisely this “overextension,” likely calculating (perhaps not without reason) that-given the growing fatigue of the Russian population from this senseless military operation-our authorities will either “softly capitulate” or finally “strain themselves” and soon “collapse.” Both outcomes are entirely acceptable to the forces behind Kyiv that are truly directing the process.

Unfortunately, as practice has shown, these forces are “out of Moscow’s league.” These are the same “red lines” that our leaders will “never cross, even in their worst nightmares.”

🐣📋 RT @ David_Charts 4.4 million Boomers turning 65 and retiring each year, so we need the immigrants. CBO says Biden’s immigration surge will make us $65,000 richer per household over a decade, while reducing the deficit $1 trillion. MAGA convinced immigrants only a cost.
⋙ 🐣 RT @David_Charts (Dec 14) Why was Biden’s economic policy so successful? A huge part of it was the immigration surge, timed perfectly with our giant increase in open jobs.
CBO estimates the surge will add nearly $65,000 per household in income over the next decade. 16/ https://cbo.gov/publication/60165
[TextLink:] https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1872038704996638749/photo/1

🐣 RT @David_Charts Under President Biden, workers have both the highest real (infl-adj) hourly wage and lowest unemployment rate among the last 11 presidents. We’ve never had a better place on the “prosperity matrix.”
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1872003967171100678/photo/1
// Fred

🐣 RT @David_Charts Under President Biden, workers have the highest real hourly wages on average among the last 11 presidents. Despite inflation, workers have never been better off because wages have grown so very much. Merry Christmas!
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1871999369165304148/photo/1
// St. Louis Fed

🐣 RT @ScienceMagazine By mapping the meanings of the words used to communicate emotions across more than one-third of the planet’s spoken languages, a study in Science found that there is significant variation in how emotions are expressed across cultures. #ScienceMagArchives https://scim.ag/4gGECui

⭕ 24 Dec 2024

A Holiday Wish for all my dear friends and followers. ¤ In this season of hope and light, let’s us stay true to the ways of kindness, truth and service. ¤ Merry Christmas from the North Country ❄️ ¤ ♡ ૂི•̮͡• ྀ ♡
⭕ 23 Dec 2024

🐣 RT @Chris_D_Steele HMG must move quickly to outlaw donations to UK political parties from foreign nationals, under whatever guise or loophole. And make transparent and strictly limit the amount any person/entity can gift. We mustn’t allow political oligarchy to take hold here, as it has in the US.

🐣 RT @ AdamKinzinger The new deputy defense something or the other for policy @ElbridgeColby believed that #NAFO was funded by the CIA. ¤ Lordy
[TextLink:] https://x.com/AdamKinzinger/status/1871024832848244932/photo/1
[Text:] ⋙ 🐣 RT @ElbridgeColby Adam, If you’re confident in your arguments, do you need to resort to such invective? I thought you were a spokesman for restoring norms of civil behavior? Are you saying there’s no basis to be concerned that NAFO has received some forms of USG and/or allied support?

🐣 📋 RT @4TaxFairness REPORT: 41 states tax high-income families at lower rates than everyone else.
42 states tax the top 1% at a lower rate than the bottom 20%.
46 states tax the top 1% less than the middle 60%.
35 states tax low-income families at higher rates than everyone else.
Unacceptable.
◕ https://x.com/4TaxFairness/status/1871240939177701760/photo/1
// Chart: Lowest-Tax Group Within Each State ¤ The income group for whom state and local taxes, as a share of family income, are lowest
// Seven lowest DC ME MN NJ NM NY VT

🐣 VoxPopuli: Lawrence W. Britt: 14 Characteristics of Fascism https://tinyurl.com/yf6pd3d3
He studied “the regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile)” to come up with these factors (more detail at link)
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1871194797295202448/photo/1

The 14 Defining Characteristics of Fascism
1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
2. Disdain for Human Rights
3. Identification of Enemies As A Unifying Cause
4. Supremacy of the Military
5. Rampant Sexism
6. Controlled Mass Media
7. Obsession With National Security
8. Religion and Government Intertwined
9. Corporate Power Protected
10. Labor Power Suppressed
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
12. Obsession With Crime and Punishment
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
14. Fraudulent Elections

⭕ 22 Dec 2024

⭕ 21 Dec 2024

💙 🐣 📋 RT @JohnArnoldFndtn It’s stunning how dominant the American economy has become. The US has just 4% of the world’s population but:
– 26% of the GDP
– 31% of the household wealth
– 46% of the VC investment
– 61% of the 100 most valuable companies
⋙ 🐣 RT @LSUtigerTrack Heard that the US also has 87% of the total market cap of Global Tech companies
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @JohnArnoldFndtn
◕ https://x.com/JohnArnoldFndtn/status/1870485109528244253/photo/1
// ‼️ “Public From-Scratch US and EU Companies Less than 50 Years Old with $10B+ Market Cap”
⋙⋙⋙ mattyglesias Except for manufacturing capacity where China dominates
◕ https://x.com/mattyglesias/status/1870480962607345791/photo/1
// “FIGURE 4. A CHANGING STRUCTURE OF GLOBAL INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION” [2000 vs 2030 proj]
// China 6% ➔ 45%; US 25% ➔ 11%
⋙ 🐣 RT @eankitjon I’m an American who lives in Europe.
¤ https://x.com/leankitjon/status/1870567316603416880

We are home for the holidays for a few weeks, currently in rural Kentucky.
I know this well intellectually. It’s not new information for me whatsoever, but the casual wealth on display most anywhere you go in the US is still jarring every time we return.
The quality of the cars is above anything you would see in Europe outside wealthy districts of capital cities.
There are 3-4 Kroger grocery stores within a 10-15 minute drive of my father-in-laws that are bigger than any grocery I have ever seen in Europe.
The produce section alone has a bigger footprint than a whole ‘hypermarket’ in Italy.
So too with Walmarts that contain a selection you’d have to drive for hours and visit 50+ stores to replicate.
And restaurants, sit down, fast casual, and fast food of extreme variety.
Basically shopping of any kind.
With constant construction underway and changes obvious every time we visit.
There’s simply no comparison.
Again, this is rural nowhere’s ville Kentucky.

TheAtlantic, John Hendrickson: A Nonreligious Holiday Ritual https://tinyurl.com/2d2verfr “The winter solstice is a pristine time for the simple act of noticing.”

🐣 RT @officejjsmart 💥💥💥 Russians are setting off fireworks inside of business offices & shopping centers, while others are setting fire to banks – all as the country’s economy heads into full meltdown.
💽 https://x.com/officejjsmart/status/1870597575058886896/photo/1

🦋 RT @tribelaw We now confront the unprecedented problem of an unelected South African half-trillionaire holding hostage an unstable and vengeful president with a thermonuclear arsenal and a barely Republican (221-214) Congress as the rough beast of tyranny slouches toward Bethlehem. What could possibly go wrong?

⭕ 20 Dec 2024

🐣 RT @KyivPost With a collapsing economy and a decimated military reliant on hand-outs from North Korea, the increasingly desperate Russian dictator dispenses with all the “nato expansion” and “nazis in Ukraine” memes to admit, that his invasion of Ukraine is simply genocidal delusion.

WaPo: Trump’s claims of a mandate run into reality of narrow majorities https://tinyurl.com/4dr8kd4f Donald Trump’s last-minute demands for a congressional funding package were rejected by Republicans, foreshadowing the challenges he could face next year.

NYT: GOP Spending Hawks Defy Trump on the Debt Limit, Previewing More Clashes https://tinyurl.com/mr8e79er ‘Trump is known for his tight grip on members of his party, but the rejection of his demand to suspend the debt limit reflected a disconnect that could plague his policy agenda’

🐣 RT @cspan U.S. Senate PASSES government funding bill, 85-11. ¤ Goes now to the president.

🐣 RT @burgessev Trump is NOT happy that the spending deal doesn’t include the debt ceiling, according to person who spoke with him this p.m. Not clear he’ll publicly try to stop the bill in the Senate but Trump’s not thrilled the bill doesn’t contain his main ask

🐣 RT @atrupar Jake Tapper to Rep. Mike Lawler: “We go through this every single time Republicans control the House … you can’t govern.”
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1870223848248836571/photo/1

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Good news: The Senate has passed the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act 2.0 by unanimous consent, restoring funding for pediatric cancer research stripped from the original CR.

🐣 RT @cspan @RepJeffries: “House Democrats have successfully funded the government at levels requested by President Biden in order to meet the needs of the American people…This is a victory for the American people.”
💽 https://x.com/cspan/status/1870254764681765272/photo/1

🐣 RT @cspan U.S. House PASSES government funding bill, 366-34. ¤ Goes now to the U.S. Senate.
// the 34 were Republicans

🐣 RT @TeahCartel
[TextLink:] https://x.com/TeahCartel/status/1869853981683659083/photo/1
📋 [Text:] “@DavidJollyFL For context, roughly 25% of our total national debt incurred over the last 230 years actually occurred during the 4 years of the Trump administration. That’s right. 25% of our entire national debt, all during the Trump years.”

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en Donald Trump’s team has told European officials that the incoming US president will demand NATO member states increase defence spending to 5% of GDP, but plans to continue supplying military aid to Ukraine, the Financial Times reports.
// Senior British security officials stated that while Trump still believes Ukraine should never be given membership of NATO, and wants an immediate end to the conflict, the president-elect believed that supplying weapons to Kyiv after a ceasefire would ensure a “peace through strength” outcome.
⋙ FT: Trump wants 5% Nato defence spending target, Europe told https://tinyurl.com/fx3p5ufx US president-elect’s closest foreign policy aides indicate he will continue arming Ukraine while pursuing end to war

🐣 RT @ChrisMurphyCT ¤ The AfD’s mission is to rehabilitate the image of the Nazi movement. ¤ One leader’s license plate is an open tribute to Hitler. ¤ A top AfD official said about migrants, “We can always shoot them later…or gas them.” ¤ Another described Judaism as the “inner enemy” in Germany.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1870123774332322055/photo/1
[Text:] “@elonmusk ¤ Only the AfD can save Germany”

🔄 💙 WaPo: Jeff Bezos agrees with Elon Musk on privatizing government and cutting government payrolls https://tinyurl.com/3ptc6jta
//➔ BLS: “As a share of nonfarm employment, the federal government is currently 1.9%, near its smallest size since at least 1939.”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1870179841557004305/photo/1

🐣 RT @ ChrisMurphyCT Trump and his billionaire advisors’ message today is simple: help us pass a tax cut for the super wealthy and corporations or we will shut down the government and stop paying our troops.
⋙ 🐣 the two reasons they want to raise the debt ceiling is
1) to allow for the extension of the first round of Trump tax cuts for the wealthy and
2) to make room for another $2Tr tax cut that Trump has promised to the donors who purchased the presidency for him

⭕ 19 Dec 2024

TheAtlantic, Charlie Sykes: The GOP Is Treating Musk Like He’s in Charge https://tinyurl.com/5fcnk6zy “This week, the world’s richest person solidified his influence over American politics.” //➔ not exactly, since the bill he wanted passed flopped: the bill needed 290 votes to pass, it got 174

WaPo: Government shutdown looms as House rejects GOP funding bill https://tinyurl.com/yr6kkzd5 “A day after a bipartisan proposal fell apart, lawmakers are racing to pass legislation to fund federal operations past the deadline of 12:01 a.m. Saturday.”

WaPo: Border crossings in November fell to lowest level of Biden’s term https://tinyurl.com/3e3e4kfe //➔ REMINDER: Dems and the GOP worked together for six months on a border bill that Trump ordered Congress to kill at the last minute; at that point, Biden issued exec orders
// The sharp drop in illegal crossings is due to stronger enforcement by both the United States and Mexico, U.S. officials and analysts say.

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Was Elon Musk an Illegal Immigrant? According to his brother Kimbal Musk, the answer is YES
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1869965723918798903/photo/1

🐣 RT @Brcremer The grand irony of our time: ¤ A bunch of wealthy elites ran a populist campaign promising to rid the government of being run by a bunch of wealthy elites only to win and install a bunch of their own wealthy elites to run the government to benefit a bunch of wealthy elites.

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson My expectations were low, but even I did not have the GOP becoming the pro-childhood cancer party.

🐣 RT @PoliticusSarah Leader Hakeem Jeffries on the House floor, “Now, what’s been interesting to me is that for decades. The Republican Party has lectured America. About fiscal responsibility. About the debt. And the deficit. It’s always been phony. This bill proves it.”
💽 https://x.com/PoliticusSarah/status/1869897441316659255/photo/1

🐣 RT @Acyn Republicans fail to pass a bill to keep the government open that they negotiated with themselves after detonating a bipartisan deal that they had negotiated with Democrats
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1869896096136475062/photo/1
// yea 174 nay 235 ~ 2/3 required

🐣 RT @cspan “The bill is not passed.” ¤ U.S. House BLOCKS new government funding bill, 174-235. ¤ House now in recess subject to the call of the chair.

🐣 RT @KyivIndependent ⚡️Ukraine won’t extend Russian gas transit, Zelensky confirms. ¤ “We will not engage in extending the transit of Russian gas. We will not give (Russia) the opportunity to earn additional billions on our blood,” Zelensky said.

🐣 RT @Acyn Meiselas: When history is all told, how do you want to be remembered? What do you want your legacy to be?
Biden: That I kept my word. When I said I was going to do something, I did it. And that my focus has always been about how to give ordinary people a shot.
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1869825916383441373/photo/1

🐣 RT @sahilkapur 👀 Democratic leadership aide tells me: “We will oppose it.” (It won’t pass without lots of Dem votes.)
⋙ 🐣 RT @sahilkapur TEXT of the revised short-term bill to 3/14 released by Republicans: https://tinyurl.com/eerfn7m3 p118
Keeps gov’t open through March 14, adds a debt limit extension to Jan. 2027 and removes various elements of the bipartisan deal they struck.
Released without Dem signoff on the changes.

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP @SarahLongwell25: “All we’re getting right now is a preview of the next four years…Governing is actually for grownups, and Republicans are children who have empowered the richest man in the world to basically tell them what to do via tweet and text.”
💽 [MSNBC link:] https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1869867763310739839/photo/1

🐣 RT @BradBeauregardJ Leader of the House Democrats, Hakeem Jeffries: “House Republicans will now own any harm that is visited upon the American people that results from a government shutdown or worse” ¤ I’ll add that President Musk and Vice President Trump share the blame with MAGA GOP in Congress.

🐣 RT @cspan @RepJeffries: “We reached a bipartisan agreement…That bipartisan agreement has now been detonated because House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government and hurt the very working class Americans that many of them pretend to want to help.

🐣 RT @ Maks_NAFO_FELLA ✅🇺🇦 For the first time since the start of a full-scale war, Ukraine is winning the economic war against Russia, — The Economist [link:] https://tinyurl.com/yc39w4v9 Thanks to government decisions and Western aid, the Ukrainian economy is ahead of Russia in several key indicators – the GDP growth forecast, the key rate at 13.5%, and the stability of hryvnia. ¤ But there are also problems: a shortage of electricity, money, and people. In 2025, almost the entire budget deficit will be covered by aid from Western partners.

🐣 RT @Rainmaker1973 «I believe that scientific knowledge has fractal properties, that no matter how much we learn, whatever is left, however small it may seem, is just as infinitely complex as the whole was to start with» — Isaac Asimov (I Asimov, 1995)
💽 https://x.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1869710699435545077/photo/1

⭕ 18 Dec 2024

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA ✅🇺🇦 “It will not be possible to end this war quickly at the expense of Ukraine. We will not simply give up our independence,” — Zelensky

🐣 RT @cspan @RepJeffries: “House Republicans have been ordered to shut down the government and hurt everyday Americans all across this country…An agreement is an agreement. It was bipartisan, and there is nothing more to say.”
💽 https://x.com/cspan/status/1869537831682490449/photo/1

🐣 RT @RBReich Trump’s second administration will be a government of, by, and for the billionaires. ¤ As Justice Louis Brandeis said, we can have great wealth in the hands of a few, or we can have democracy, but we can’t have both.

WaPo, Marc Theissen: Does Trump want Putin to get Ukraine’s $26Tr in gas & minerals? https://tinyurl.com/wff3caxy “Ukraine is not only the breadbasket of Europe; it is also a mineral superpower w some of the largest reserves of 117 of 120 of the most widely used minerals in the world”
// Kyiv controls vast gas and mineral deposits. Does Trump want those flowing west, or to Russia and China?
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1869406921469383059/photo/1
// 2 maps in one att: 1) natural gas 2) strategic minerals

NYT: A Rift in Trump World Over How to Make America Healthier https://tinyurl.com/2k3urm5v “Statements by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Elon Musk tap into a dispute over whether lifestyle changes or drugs are a better way to treat obesity.” //➔ ex-heroin addict Kennedy opposes obesity drugs

⭕ 17 Dec 2024

🐣 RT @ RpsAgainstTrump 🔥Lawrence O’Donnell on RFK Jr: “That uneducated buffoon did not take a single premed science course in college…And in the class I was in with him in college he could not keep his eyes open. I did not know then that he was a heroin addict every day he was in college. He said he was a heroin addict for fourteen years… ¤ It’s no surprise that the heroin addict, convicted criminal turned self describe medical expert does not have the votes yet to be confirmed by the US Senate”
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1869249286539731020/photo/1

Reuters: Here’s what we know about Trump’s planned executive orders so far https://tinyurl.com/43eupbw4 by category: Immigration, energy, tariffs, pardons

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump BREAKING: Liz Cheney fires back at House Republicans after they issued an ‘Interim Report’ recommending a criminal investigation into her for alleged witness tampering in relation to the January 6th Committee:
¤ https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1869171352067797473

“January 6th showed Donald Trump for who is really is – a cruel and vindictive man who allowed violent attacks to continue against our Capitol and law enforcement officers while he watched television and refused for hours to instruct his supporters to stand down and leave. The January 6rh Committee’s hearings and report featured scores of republican witnesses, including many of the most senior officials from Trump’s own White House, campaign and Administration. All of this testimony was painstakingly set out in thousands of pages of transcripts, made public along with a highly detailed and meticulously sourced 800 page report. The Department of Justice conducted its own independent investigation and reached the same fundamental conclusions.

“Now, Chairman Loudermilk’s ‘Interim Report’ intentionally disregards the truth and the Select Committee’s tremendous weight of evidence, and instead fabricates lies and defamatory allegations in an attempt to cover up what Donald Trump did. Their allegations do not reflect a review of the actual evidence, and are a malicious and cowardly assault on the truth. ¤ No reputable layer, legislator or judge would take this seriously.”

TheAtlantic, Tom Nichols: Trump to Russia’s Rescue https://tinyurl.com/yu22pryy “After a year of misfortune, Putin is about to have a friend in the White House.” ~ “Events in Syria have opened a historic opportunity, but sometimes the man and the moment do not meet”

🐣 RT @SergiyKyslytsya Or even better: Surrender! “… unlike previous conflicts, Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine is one of the most thoroughly documented in history. This extensive documentation will undoubtedly support the pursuit of justice and ensure that all perpetrators are held accountable. I therefore urge all alleged war criminals not to place false hope in evading responsibility, but to actively cooperate with investigations and provide their testimonies.” (Speaking at UNGA before the adoption of the draft resolution on human rights situation in temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, including Crimea) Full text 👇
◕ https://x.com/SergiyKyslytsya/status/1869093822765957312/photo/1
// UN vote total

HuffPo: Key Republican Calls For Criminal Probe Of Liz Cheney Over Jan. 6 Committee Work https://tinyurl.com/38277au4 “Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), leader of the GOP counter-probe into the Jan. 6 committee, claimed Cheney broke laws.”

🐣 RT @Kasparov63 Every day, Ukraine is teaching the world lessons on values, courage, technology. Not by choice, but for survival, always the most demanding classroom. The debt we owe them is staggering and they must be whole and free.

✅ 🐣 RT @NewsHour [PBS] A false statement spread by the incoming president and vice president about Haitian immigrants in a southwestern Ohio city was named @PolitiFact’s “Lie of the Year” for 2024.
¤ 💽 https://x.com/NewsHour/status/1869138402655768892

In early September, then-GOP vice-presidential nominee JD Vance amplified a false claim that had spread on social media about immigrants from Haiti living in Springfield, Ohio, stealing people’s pets and eating them.

During the presidential debate hosted by ABC News, then-Republican nominee Donald Trump repeated the claims. “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating, they’re eating the pets of the people that live there. And this is what’s happening in our country. And it’s a shame,” he said.

In the days and hours leading up to the debate, local officials said they had “not been able to verify any credible reports or specific claims of pets being harmed, injured, or abused by individuals within the immigrant community.”

When presented with this information during the debate, Trump disagreed, saying that “the people on television say, ‘My dog was taken and used for food.'”

In televised interviews after the debate, Vance said national media outlets were not paying attention to the immigration issue during the campaign until he and Trump “started talking about cat memes.”

“If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do,” Vance said.

DailyBeast, Julia Davis: Kremlin Insiders Spill Putin’s Secret Plan to Manipulate Trump https://tinyurl.com/tprat253 RT Head Margarita Simonvan believes that Putin has “an ‘irresistible sway’ over Trump & will extract the desired outcome—but only if they meet face-to-face”

NYT: Elon Musk and SpaceX Face Federal Reviews After Violations of Security Reporting Rules https://tinyurl.com/353w98x7 While he “has long blown past norms and conventions that do not suit him or his companies, the stakes are arguably higher when it comes to national security matters”
// Federal agencies have opened at least three reviews into whether the company and its leader complied with disclosure protocols intended to protect state secrets, people with knowledge of the matter said

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en China is pushing Russia out of Kazakhstan’s uranium sector — Russia is gradually losing its influence in Central Asia.
¤ https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1869074938948116595

A Chinese state company has bought Rosatom’s shares in a Kazakh uranium mining operation, and plans to acquire others. As the world’s largest uranium producer, Kazakhstan accounts for 43% of global supply. Traditionally, Russia controlled the transport routes for Kazakh uranium to Europe, but sanctions have pushed Astana to seek alternatives. China, the second-largest nuclear energy producer with the fastest-growing civilian reactor fleet, offers both demand and a sanctions-free transit route.

In the vast Kazakh steppes, the power struggle between Moscow and Beijing is far from new. But with Russia diminished, Kazakhstan is choosing China—and the shift looks irreversible.

Historically, as a former Soviet republic, Kazakhstan maintained close economic and security ties with Russia. Cooperation seemed stronger than ever when Russian-led CSTO troops intervened to suppress protests in Kazakhstan in January 2022. However, Russia’s war in Ukraine has drastically altered the balance.

● Sanctions have made Russia’s economy far less competitive, leaving China as the dominant economic partner. Last year, China overtook Russia as Kazakhstan’s largest trading partner, with two-way trade reaching $41 billion. Even Kazakhstan’s brief role as a hub for sanctions avoidance wasn’t enough to bridge the growing economic gap.

● Russia has lost its credibility as a regional security provider. The war exposed Moscow’s military vulnerabilities, and other neighbors have grown wary of aligning too closely with a regime that harbors colonial ambitions. This has made cooperation with China far more appealing.

● The optics reflect this shift. At the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Astana, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev personally welcomed Xi Jinping at the airport—an honor not extended to his long-time CSTO ally, Vladimir Putin. Tokayev, fluent in Chinese and a former diplomat to Beijing, clearly understands where Kazakhstan’s future lies.

● China and Kazakhstan are now expanding cooperation in critical sectors like logistics. Positioned as a key hub for China-Europe trade, Kazakhstan benefits from Beijing’s push to improve transit infrastructure across the region.

The uranium deal underscores the scale of change. Russia’s economic and geopolitical decline has forced it to cede ground to China, potentially in exchange for Beijing’s tacit support of its war effort. Either way, China emerges as the clear winner—strengthening its hold over Central Asia while extracting economic and strategic benefits from Russia’s weakening position.

WaPo: Kyiv behind killing of Russian general in Moscow, Ukrainian official says https://tinyurl.com/yc439a4r “An explosion killed Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, chief of Russia’s nuclear defense forces, and his assistant in Moscow, Russia’s Investigative Committee said”

🧵 RT @joni_askola 1/7 Unlimited failure: russia has suffered 700,000 casualties, lost control over Syria and Armenia, expanded NATO, and wrecked its economy, while reducing its occupation of Ukraine from about 30% in March 2022 to roughly 20% now. Look at the maps and witness the fiasco!
📌 🌎 https://x.com/joni_askola/status/1868982238291128778/photo/1 -n

🐣 RT @USAmbUN Nations that value the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity must stand with Ukraine for a just and lasting peace. ¤ And when Ukraine achieves that just and lasting peace, Russia will need to answer for its unlawful actions.

🐣 RT @SenatorRomney America is blessed because it is good. We’ve welcomed the poor and hungry and championed freedom for people here and around the world. It’s incumbent on all of us to maintain this tradition of goodness. If we do, America’s future will continue to be bright.
💽 [SOTU/CNN:] https://x.com/SenatorRomney/status/1869033311223373862/photo/1

🦋 RT @radiofreetom Russian general is killed in Moscow.
– Top Bluesky searches produce media sources (NYT, Guardian)
– Twitter algorithm results: Crazypants conspiracy tweets
Twitter’s advantage used to be breaking news. No longer.

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en An explosion in Moscow killed the chief of the radiation, chemical and biological defense troops of the Russian Armed Forces Igor Kirillov. ¤ Reportedly, Kirillov was the one who gave orders to use chemical weapons against Ukrainian Defense Forces.

“The official is responsible for the mass use of prohibited chemical weapons by the Russians against the Defense Forces on the eastern and southern fronts of Ukraine. On Kirillov’s orders, more than 4.800 cases of the enemy using chemical munitions have been recorded since the beginning of the full-scale war. In particular, we are talking about the K-1 combat grenades, which are equipped with toxic irritants – CS and CN. Their use is prohibited by the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction of 13.01.1993,” the Security Service of Ukraine noted.

As Kirillov walked out of his residential building, an explosive device attached to a scooter’s handle detonated. He and his assistant died on the spot.

⭕ 16 Dec 2024

TheAtlantic, Helen Lewis: The Push for Puberty Blockers Got Ahead of the Research https://tinyurl.com/bdhn6kua “Gender care for minors should be a question of evidence, not politics”

🦋 RT @timothysnyder We are asking Ukrainians to defeat the armies of Putin and Kim Jong Un. In their efforts to do so, Ukrainians helped bring down Assad. Ukrainian resistance is one of the most stunning military achievements in modern history.

🐣 RT @ReallyAmerican1 🚨BREAKING: Judge Juan Merchan has REJECTED Trump’s bid to have his criminal conviction thrown out, thus ensuring that when he reenters the Oval Office, he will be the first convicted felon to serve as President. ¤ Trump’s argument was leaning on the Supreme Court’s ruling that grants Presidents immunity for “official” acts, but the acts he was convicted for occurred before he became President. ¤ Normally, every loss for Trump is a win for America, but the reality of a convicted felon in our White House is a collective loss for America as a whole.

Forbes (Dec 3): Oreshnik Threat: ‘Rods From God’ Are Not As Dangerous As Putin Thinks https://tinyurl.com/5296uwrh “it loses half of its speed (and three quarters of its energy) from atmospheric drag on the way down” and it has a 6% chance of hitting it’s target

AP: Former FBI informant pleads guilty to lying about phony bribery scheme involving the Bidens https://tinyurl.com/3z2w79y3 “Prosecutors and the defense have agreed to recommend a sentence of between four and six years in prison when he’s sentenced next month”

🧵 RT @HelsinkiComm Our recent staff report mapped ~150 examples of Russian active measures on NATO soil since 🇷🇺 launched its full-scale invasion of 🇺🇦 in 4 categories: attacks on critical infrastructure, violence campaigns, weaponized migration, and election interference & disinformation. 1/7
📔 CSCE Report (12/12): https://tinyurl.com/yrecbfrj 10p
📌 ◕ https://x.com/HelsinkiComm/status/1868685686297289147/photo/1

🐣 RT @ Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🇺🇦 Ukraine already has a laser weapon “Trident”, – Commander of Unmanned Systems Forces of Sukharevskiy ¤ “Today, we can shoot down Russian planes with this laser at an altitude of over 2 km. A project is also being developed to use a “drone-mother” with two FPVs.”

ForeignAffairs, Mitch McConnell: The Price of American Retreat https://tinyurl.com/ye27t7dz “The United States’ security and prosperity are rooted in military primacy. Preserving that decisive superiority is costly, but neglecting it comes with far steeper costs.”
// Why Washington Must Reject Isolationism and Embrace Primacy

More than two-thirds of NATO members now meet or exceed the alliance’s target of spending at least two percent of GDP on defense. This progress is not without exception. One of the West’s most glaring vulnerabilities to the influence of Russia—and China and Iran—is Hungary’s self-abnegating obeisance to those countries.

NATO allies are also buying American, and since January 2022 have ordered more than $185 billion of modern U.S. weapons systems. But Trump will be right to encourage allies to do more. At the next NATO summit, allies should set a higher defense-spending target of three percent of GDP and commit to increasing their base budgets accordingly.

… European allies recognize the growing links between China and Russia and increasingly see China as a “systemic rival.” During a visit to the Philippines in 2023, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen noted that “security in Europe and security in the Indo-Pacific is indivisible.” U.S. allies in Asia understand the same thing. As Hsiao Bi-khim put it in 2023, when she was Taiwan’s representative in Washington, “Ukraine’s survival is Taiwan’s survival.” …

China has for years sought to drive a wedge between the United States and its partners. It is tragic that the “Asia first” crowd would so obviously play into Beijing’s hands, just as previous administrations that had turned their back on allies in the Middle East opened the door to Chinese influence in that critical region.

The United States’ security and prosperity are rooted in military primacy. Preserving that decisive superiority is costly, but neglecting it comes with far steeper costs.

Past levels of U.S. defense spending put today’s needs into perspective. During World War II, U.S. defense spending hit 37 percent of GDP. During the Korean War, it reached 13.8 percent. At the height of the Vietnam War, in 1968, it stood at 9.1 percent. The defense buildup under President Ronald Reagan, which followed a low of 4.5 percent of GDP during the Carter administration, peaked at only 6 percent. In 2023, the United States spent 3 percent of GDP on defense.

During this American holiday from hard power, China and Russia have invested in asymmetric capabilities to offset the U.S. military edge. Today, their munitions in many categories can outrange U.S. versions, and their production can outpace the United States’. This is to say nothing of their numerical advantage in key platforms, from missiles to surface vessels. Quantity has a quality of its own. What’s more, the wars of the future may well last longer and require far more munitions than policymakers have assumed, as both Israeli and Ukrainian munitions-expenditure rates suggest. U.S. stockpiles are insufficient to meet such a demand. For years, the military services have shortchanged munitions in favor of new weapons systems and platforms. This is not to downplay the need to modernize major weapons systems but to highlight the harmful tradeoffs imposed by inadequate defense budgets.

… To pay for increased defense budgets, it should take an axe to extravagant nondefense discretionary spending and tackle the unsustainable level of mandatory spending on entitlements that is driving the deficit. …

The arsenal of democracy will not endure if the United States’ own inefficiencies—or the opposition of vocal minorities in Congress—dissuade vulnerable allies from buying American.

There is plenty of evidence that the globalist optimism of the 1990s was unfounded. Welcoming China and Russia into the World Trade Organization has not transformed their governments or economies, at least not in ways beneficial to the free world. Rather, both countries have exploited and undermined this and other international economic institutions. I am not naive about the downsides of international trade, but there is no question that free markets and free trade have been responsible for much of the United States’ prosperity. That’s why the United States and like-minded free-market economies must work together to reform the international trading system to protect U.S. interests from predatory trade practices—not abandon the system entirely. Without U.S. leadership in this area, there is little question that Beijing will be able to rewrite the rules of trade on its own terms.

It is past time to integrate foreign assistance more deliberately into great-power competition—for example, by working with allies to present credible alternatives to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Today, in fact, in the face of linked threats even more potent than the Axis powers, a failure to uphold U.S. primacy would be even more catastrophically absurd than was the refusal to assume that responsibility 85 years ago. The last time around, the naive abdication of the requirements of national defense made reviving the arsenal of democracy on a short timeline unnecessarily difficult. As Admiral Harold Stark, then the chief of naval operations, observed in 1940, “Dollars cannot buy yesterday.”¤ The United States urgently needs to reach bipartisan consensus on the centrality of hard power to U.S. foreign policy. This fact must override both left-wing faith in hollow internationalism and right-wing flirtation with isolation and decline. The time to restore American hard power is now.

⭕ 15 Dec 2024

🐣 RT @Mylovanov Vatican News:“Russia and Ukraine are brothers. ¤ Let them come to understanding ¤ Peace to the whole world”
Pope Francis, before the recitation of the Angelus Prayer today
I don’t know, but why do I find this “brothers” insulting? 1/

⋙ 🐣 🇺🇦 was not dominated by the Mongols as long as 🇷🇺
Western 🇺🇦 adopted Catholicism & was influenced by the West; it experienced the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Enlightenment
(only St Pete 🇷🇺 copied Renaissance forms, but they were wiped out)
🇺🇦 is Western
🇷🇺 is Asian
⋙⋙ 🐣 that’s a simplification, of course
it excludes, for instance, the history of the Cossacks
Western 🇺🇦 was significantly Westernized during the centuries it spent as part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonweath
it also developed a Western orientation under the Austro-Hungarian Empire

WSJ: Brush With Russia in Baltic Points to New Flashpoint in NATO-Moscow Shadow War https://tinyurl.com/2wtx25r9 “Sabotage, warning shots, disruption of air traffic and dangerous military maneuvering are all part of intensifying clandestine campaign in Europe, officials say”
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1868521816706503098/photo/1

[…] The German F223 frigate involved in the incident with Russia’s Merkuriy corvette was deployed to patrol the area, together with other German, Danish and Swedish warships, after a Chinese-owned bulk carrier called Yi Peng 3 was detained on Nov. 19 on suspicion that it deliberately severed two data cables— one linking Finland and Lithuania and the second linking Germany and Sweden – by dragging its anchor for many hours. The ship has since been anchored in the Kattegat Strait between Denmark and Sweden, surrounded by police vessels and NATO warships. [✛map]

Investigators say they believe that its Chinese captain was induced by Russian intelligence to cut the cables with the ship’s anchor. China is cooperating with the investigation, according to Chinese and European officials, and has ordered the ship to drop anchor. But Beijing hasn’t yet allowed investigators to board the ship and question its crew.

On Nov. 21, the Merkuriy, which mainly operates in the Mediterranean and often escorts Russian sanction-busting cargo ships, arrived in the Kattegat and engaged in electronic surveillance of the Yi Peng 3 and the area around it as it accompanied the General Skobelev toward the Baltic, according to officials. They said the Russian corvette relayed encrypted information to a Russian headquarters in Kaliningrad, Russia’s Baltic exclave.

NATO has so far struggled to respond to these assaults and in some cases authorities have decided not to attribute them to Russia in order to not spread panic among their populations, according to multiple officials. […]

🐣 R @DemocraticWins BREAKING: CNN’s Geopolitical expert, Fareed Zakaria, just perfectly explained how President Biden’s global strategy has severely weakened Russia and our adversaries. This is huge.
💽 [5mins] https://x.com/DemocraticWins/status/1868381293702254840/photo/1

🧵 RT @McFaul Before he leaves office, “President Biden must transfer all assets of the Russian Central Bank currently held in American banks to the government of Ukraine or an international foundation committed to Ukrainian reconstruction.” 1/ THREAD [link:] https://tinyurl.com/4r9bye76
📌 [TextLink:] https://x.com/McFaul/status/1868460889613201878
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/3x6ptuje

“These funds amount to some $300 billion, of which the most significant share has been seized by the Europeans. These funds should be transferred as soon as possible to help finance the Ukrainian government and reconstruction.” 2/

“Considering that Russia’s unprovoked war has inflicted hundreds of billions of dollars of damage on the Ukrainian economy, it’s only just that the international community should impose some of these costs on the Russian state itself. How could any president or prime minister ever give these funds back to Putin?” 3/

“Seizing assets of the Russian state after Putin invaded and annexed Ukraine also sets a positive, deterrent precedent to other world leaders thinking about using military force to annex territory. And we should not want criminals to do their banking in the democratic world.” 4/

“While the sum (estimates range from $8 billion to $39 billion) confiscated by the United States is just a fraction of the total currently frozen by the West, A Biden decision now will make it easier for Europeans to follow suit.” 5/
From this piece: https://tinyurl.com/4r9bye76 6/END

🐣 RT @David_Charts Biden’s policy highlights as a one-pager, by the numbers. An incredibly impressive list of achievements, and that’s not even getting into the many economic records.
Link is to an older thread with further details on the legislation:
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1868421426447016333/photo/1
🔄💙 ⋙ 🧵 RT @David_Charts Greatest hits collection of slides from the Biden Admin and experts explaining the specific impacts of his economic agenda & laws. ¤ First, the $1,400 checks in the Rescue Act for parents and some dependents meant up to $6,000 for a family of four. 1/
📌 ◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1744593902479294964/photo/1 -n
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1744593902479294964.html

TheAtlantic, Conor Friedersdorf: How Democrats Can Move on From the Worst of Identity Politics https://tinyurl.com/2s3k3zrc “America will benefit if either of its major parties rejects politics that treat race, sex, and other identities as the most important things about a person.”
// Where should Democrats go from here?

… “Identity politics needs to go the way of the dodo,” Elissa Slotkin, who just won a Senate race in Michigan, said in a meeting of fellow Democrats. “Identity politics did not work electorally, and it failed miserably strategically,” Rahm Emanuel told Politico. “Some Democrats are finally waking up,” the New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd wrote, “and realizing that woke is broke.” …

… It is necessary to get the Democratic Party back in sync with everyday voters. And America will benefit if either of its major parties rejects politics that treat race, sex, and other identities as the most important things about a person.

… Democrats pay a price when prominent individuals and institutions associated with its coalition heap scorn on a large group of voters. And regardless of the electoral prospects of the Democratic Party, trafficking in sweeping negative stereotypes about any identity group is wrong and contagious. …

… In 2019, Pew Research Center asked if employers should consider an applicant’s race and ethnicity in hiring and promotions, or consider their qualifications exclusively, even if it results in less diversity. Seventy-four percent of respondents favored considering qualifications alone. Majorities of white, Black, Hispanic, and Democratic Party respondents all agreed on that conclusion. ¤ … If Democrats renounce identitarian stereotyping and discrimination, their coalition will benefit, and America will too.

🐣 RT @EuromaidanPress Russia is waging an open war against NATO countries, targeting critical infrastructure, said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte ¤ Since the start of the war in Ukraine in 2022, Russia has launched around 150 attacks on NATO countries

⭕ 14 Dec 2024

🧵 RT @United24media The 1986 Chornobyl disaster was not just a nuclear accident, but a failure of truth. The Soviet regime’s secrecy cost thousands of lives and scarred humanity. @HBO’s series ensures we remember this tragedy and the deadly price of lies. (1/16)
📌 https://x.com/United24media/status/1868029475717341530/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 This is the best documentary-style series I have ever watched ~ it’s on Amazon Prime ¤ However it’s English title is Chernobyl ¤ It’s a 5-part series. I highly recommend it.

🐣 RT @Bricktop_NAFO Zelensky has a pair of aces up his sleeve.
⋙ 🐣 Map of Ukraine’s mineral resources
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1868284241269895443/photo/1

President Zelensky has postponed signing a deal with the United States on cooperation in the extraction and processing of minerals until Trump’s inauguration, — NYT.

Kyiv is focusing on deposits of 20 key minerals, including lithium, the value of whose reserves is estimated at $11.5 trillion, which may interest Trump’s business allies, such as Elon Musk.

Senator Lindsey Graham said that Trump plans to conclude a deal to return US money and increase his profits from minerals, calling it also beneficial for Ukraine.

🐣 RT @🐣 RT @NATO 🗣️ Speaking at an event hosted by @Carnegie_Europe in 🇧🇪 Brussels, @SecGenNATO Mark Rutte called on Allies to shift to a wartime mindset and turbo charge defence production and defence spending
💽 https://x.com/NATO/status/1867948158971777055/photo/1

🧵 RT @YevYevhenii 1/6 During the Soviet Union’s collapse, Russia warned the West that independence for its colonies would lead to violent ethnic clashes.
📌 https://x.com/YevYevhenii/status/1867718210403152287/photo/1 -2
// Zelensky and Ukrainian woman wearing “make russia small again” t-shirts
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1867718210403152287.html

Western leaders echoed this. Bush’s Chicken Kiev speech called against “suicidal nationalism based upon ethnic hatred” and Thatcher mocked the idea of an embassy in Kyiv.

But here’s what actually happened—out of 15 former Soviet republics, only TWO conflicts didn’t involve Russia directly:
• Armenia vs. Azerbaijan (Nagorno-Karabakh)
• Kyrgyzstan vs. Tajikistan (border clashes)

But both were caused by Soviet-imposed borders designed to divide.

Meanwhile, Russia caused:
• Invasions of Georgia (2008) and Ukraine (2014, 2022)
• Occupation of Moldova’s Transnistria
• Two brutal wars in Chechnya
• Suppression and genocide of Indigenous nations within “its” borders

Some Russians, even Putin’s critics like Navalnaya, claim the breakup of their empire would bring chaos. Why should we believe that? History says otherwise. Russia itself creates instability. Its imperialism has caused far more violence than its collapse ever would.

Russia is an outdated colonial empire. The world doesn’t need another imperial power justifying its dominance in the name of “peacekeeping.”

make russia small again

🐣 RT @FrankFigliuzzi1 It was a lie: FBI informant pleads guilty to lying about $10M Biden bribery payments to Joe, Hunter [NYPost link:] https://tinyurl.com/mfj3bsvj

🐣 RT @SamRamani2 Russia’s crushing defeat in Syria is prompting an internal reassessment of its military capabilities ¤ The notion of Russia as a global power is being publicly challenged by experts close to the Kremlin in ways that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago

NYT: Syria Shudders as Assad’s Prison Atrocities Come Into the Light https://tinyurl.com/4s6tbsx3 “At the country’s most notorious prison, Syrians confront their worst fears: that they will never know what happened to the loved ones who disappeared.”

🐣 RT @@POLITICOEurope European leaders are planning to meet Wednesday evening in Brussels with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO chief Mark Rutte to discuss peace plans and the potential deployment of peacekeeping forces to Ukraine.
⋙ Politico [EU]: NATO and European leaders to discuss peacekeeping troops to Ukraine https://tinyurl.com/4cwtyffn “The discussions follow French President Emmanuel Macron’s trip to Warsaw this week.

⭕ 13 Dec 2024

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Sen. Lisa Murkowski on what it means to be a Republican in Congress these days-Everyone must follow the dear leader’s orders or else: ¤ “If you want to survive, you better be good. Don’t get on Santa’s naughty list, or we’ll primary you.”
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1867724893984633331/photo/1

TheAtlantic: Trump Is About to Betray His Rural Voters https://tinyurl.com/4jtykwyn ‘Agricultural producers could face worse losses than any other sector from Trump’s plans to impose sweeping tariffs and to undertake ‘the largest domestic deportation operation in US history’
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1867948423392940098/photo/1
// by Ron Brownstein; Small-town America voted heavily in his favor—but the policies he’s pledged won’t reward that faith.

🐣 RT @grantstern They asked me about President Biden’s use of the pardon powers on Newsmax yesterday. ¤ When I mentioned Kash Patel’s hit-list, they tried to pretend it was alleged ¤ IT IS NOT! ¤ So I called them out for it. ¤ (I froze because of a technical glitch but that didn’t stop me)
⋙ 🐣 RT @Sunshin27001268 There you go buddy.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Sunshin27001268/status/1867795003063644464/photo/1 -2
// aparently from his book; only partial list

Members of the Executive Branch Deep State
This list only includes current and former Executive Branch officials and is not exhaustive. It does not, for example, include other corrupt actors of the first order such as Congressmen Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell, members of Fusion GPS or Perkins Coie, Christopher Steele, Paul Ryan, the entire fake news mafia press corps, etc. Alphabetical by last name.

● Atkinson, Michael – Former Intelligence Community Inspector General
● Austin, Lloyd – Secretary of Defense under President Biden
● Auten, Brian – Supervisory Intelligence Analyst within the FBI
● Baker, James – Former General Counsel for the FBI, currently a member of the Brookings Institute, former Deputy General Counsel at Twitter
● Barr, Bill – Former Attorney General under President Trump
● Bolton, John – Former National Security Advisor under President Trump
● Boyd, Stephen – Former head of Legislative Affairs at DoJ under Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein
● Biden, Joe – President of the United States
● Brennan, John – Former Director of the CIA under President Obama, currently a Senior National Security and Intelligence Analyst at NBC and MSNBC
● Carlin, John – Acting Deputy Attorney General, former head of National Security Division at DoJ during Russia Gate investigation by FBI
● Ciaramella, Eric – Former NSC staffer within the Obama and Trump administrations
● Cipollone, Pat – Former White House Counsel under President Trump
● Clapper, James – Former Director of National Intelligence under President Obama, currently a National Security Analyst at CNN
● Clinton, Hillary – Former Democrat Party Nominee for President and Former Secretary of State under President Obama
● Comey, James – Former FBI Director
● Dibble, Elizabeth – Former Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in London
● Esper, Mark – Former Secretary of Defense under President Trump
● Farah, Alyssa – Former Director of Strategic Communications under President Trump
● Farkas, Evelyn – Former DoD official under President Obama
● Flores, Sarah Isgur – Former Head of Communications at DoJ for AG Sessions
● Garland, Merrick – Attorney General under President Biden
● Grisham, Stephanie – Former Press Secretary for President Trump and Chief of Staff for Melania Trump
● Harris, Kamala – Vice President of the United States
● Haspel, Gina – Former Director of the CIA under President Trump and current advisor at King & Spalding law firm
● Hill, Fiona – Former NSC staffer who worked with Vindman and Ciaramella
● Heide, Curtis – FBI Agent
● Holder, Eric – Former Attorney General under President Obama and current Senior Counsel at Covington law firm
● Hur, Robert – Special Counsel to investigate Biden and former PADAG under Rosenstein
● Hutchinson, Cassidy – Aide to Mark Meadows
● Jankowicz, Nina – Former Executive Director of the Disinformation Governance Board in the Biden administration
● Lerner, Lois – Former Director of the IRS under President Obama
● Lynch, Loretta – Former Attorney General under President Obama
● Kupperman, Charles – Former Deputy National Security Advisor under President Trump
● Mackenzie, Kenneth – Retired US Marine Corps General and former Commander of the United States Central Command […]

🐣 RT @atrupar Was he having a medical event while typing this?
[TextLink:] https://x.com/atrupar/status/1867696475301720297/photo/1

🐣 RT @realDonald Trump Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country. Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge. I don
think so! Let the public know, and now.
Otherwise, shot them down!!! DJT

🔄 📋 💙 🐣 RT @ForeignAffairs “Allowing Russia to defeat Ukraine would cost the United States about seven times more than preventing a Russian victory,” writes Elaine McCusker. “Aiding Ukraine, then, is clearly the right financial decision.”
⋙ ForeignAffairs, Elaine McCusker: The Price of Russian Victory https://tinyurl.com/nhkaafbk Why Letting Putin Win Would Cost America More Than Supporting Ukraine

🐣 RT @ReallyAmerican1 BREAKING: Republicans no longer care about “States’ rights,” as Trump’s Mass Deportation Czar Tom Homan announces his threat to prosecute Mayors who refuse to comply with their fascist agenda.
🚨 Make sure EVERYONE sees this.
💽 https://x.com/ReallyAmerican1/status/1867613044748251463/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 Only when there is a federal law that directly contradicts or explicitly overrides it (10th Amendment). ¤ SCOTUS has taken up many cases over the years to decide which laws should be local/state/national. For e.g.,abortion WAS federal but the Court decided it should be state.

🐣💙📋 RT @Geiger_Capital Ages of Founding Fathers in 1776:
James Monroe, 18
Aaron Burr, 20
John Marshall, 20
Alexander Hamilton, 21
James Madison, 25
John Jay, 30
Thomas Jefferson, 33
Most of them were young men who literally fought to create our nation…
Now our leaders are falling, breaking hips.
🖼 https://x.com/Geiger_Capital/status/1867668399179939898/photo/1
// Signing the Declaration of Independence (John Trumbull)

🧵 RT @khodorkovsky_en Moscow spent 8 years building influence in Syria. ¤ It took just 72 hours to lose it all. ¤ Here’re 3 crucial lessons that reveal Putin’s strategic collapse (1/15)
📌 https://x.com/khodorkovsky_en/status/1867634148585902491/photo/1 -n
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/h62mp8rb

(2/15) The Kremlin’s propagandists claimed the Syria intervention was a geopolitical triumph—a bold move to counter Western influence and return Russia to the big table on the world stage after the annexation of Crimea.

(3/15) Instead of proving Russia’s strength, Syria became a fiasco on par with America’s disaster in Afghanistan—only without any advance warning.

(4/15) Putin’s obsessive focus on the illegal war in Ukraine drained resources from Syria. This left Assad wide open and revealed Moscow’s inability to maintain influence on multiple fronts

(5/15) Lesson 1️⃣ To Putin, Allies Are Expendable

Diplomatically, Assad’s collapse proves Putin is a fair-weather ally. He might help at first, but his own interests always come first, as Armenia and others have learned the hard way.

(6/15) This setback dents Russian influence across the Global South. After this public humiliation, Putin’s promises to “guarantee security” will be harder to take seriously.

(7/15) It also sends shockwaves through Central Asia. Moscow’s position, unquestioned for decades, now looks fragile—especially as China courts these countries.

(8/15) In the Middle East, Putin’s credibility is shattered. Syria once helped bring Moscow and Tehran closer and made Russia a regional player. All of that is now in doubt.

(9/15) Lesson 2️⃣ Superpower Myth Busted
The future of the[sic] Russia’s Mediterranean bases is unclear. Russian ships may have to crowd into the Black Sea—under Erdogan’s watchful eye—or move to the Baltic, now surrounded by NATO.

(10/15) At home, the Syria gamble was supposed to boost pride and faith in Russia’s military. Instead, paired with the Ukraine quagmire, it reveals that Putin’s “superpower” claim is a sham

(11/15) Lesson 3️⃣ Russia under Putin Lacks Resources to Be Global Power.
The failure exposes a core weakness in Putin’s strategy: brute force alone doesn’t guarantee true stability. There’s no sustainable economic or political framework behind his moves.

(12/15) For years, Putin demanded equal treatment from world powers and insisted on a “multipolar” order. But now we see he can’t effectively project power even when given the chance.

(13/15) Recent events prove that Putin’s global ambitions collapse when he chases them at the expense of everything else. His Ukraine fixation cost him influence abroad.

(14/15) Billions of dollars and countless lives were wasted in Syria. This should wake up anyone who still views Putin as a master strategist. He’s willing to abandon allies if it suits him.

[Photo 2 – Syrian diaspora members raise opposition flag at Moscow embassy, Dec. 9]

(15/15) For more on how Assad’s fall affects Putin, see @baunov’s analysis for @meduza_en: [Ru link]
From Assad to Ukraine, Putin’s policies reveal a fragile empire pretending to be something it isn’t.

🚫 🐣 RT @MarkWRowley Before I defected to America from Romania, leaving my post as chief of Romanian intelligence, I was responsible for giving Arafat about $200,000 in laundered cash every month throughout the 1970s.
¤ https://x.com/MarkWRowley/status/1867426800445571273
⇈ ⇊ no idea how credible this is
🚫⋙⋙ Source: JVL: Yasser Arafat: Connections to the KGB by Ion Mihai Pacep https://tinyurl.com/muazrx6d

I also sent two cargo planes to Beirut a week, stuffed with uniforms and supplies. Other Soviet bloc states did much the same….

I was given the KGB’s “personal file” on Arafat.

He was an Egyptian bourgeois turned into a devoted Marxist by KGB foreign intelligence.

The KGB had trained him at its Balashikha special-ops school east of Moscow and in the mid-1960s decided to groom him as the future PLO leader.

First, the KGB destroyed the official records of Arafat’s birth in Cairo, replacing them with fictitious documents saying that he had been born in Jerusalem and was therefore a Palestinian by birth.

The KGB’s disinformation department then went to work on Arafat’s four-page tract called “Falastinuna” (Our Palestine), turning it into a 48-page monthly magazine for the Palestinian terrorist organization al-Fatah.

Arafat had headed al-Fatah since 1957.

The KGB distributed it throughout the Arab world and in West Germany, which in those days played host to many Palestinian students….

Arafat was an important undercover operative for the KGB.

Right after the 1967 Six Day Arab-Israeli war, Moscow got him appointed to chairman of the PLO.

Egyptian ruler Gamal Abdel Nasser, a Soviet puppet, proposed the appointment.

In 1969 the KGB asked Arafat to declare war on American “imperial-Zionism” during the first summit of the Black Terrorist International, a neo-Fascist pro-Palestine organisation financed by the KGB and Libya’s Moammar Gadhafi.

It appealed to him so much, Arafat later claimed to have invented the imperial-Zionist battle cry.

But in fact, “imperial-Zionism” was a Moscow invention, a modern adaptation of the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” and long a favorite tool of Russian intelligence to foment ethnic hatred.

The KGB always regarded anti-Semitism plus anti-imperialism as a rich source of anti-Americanism….

In March 1978 I secretly brought Arafat to Bucharest for final instructions on how to behave in Washington.

“You simply have to keep on pretending that you’ll break with terrorism and that you’ll recognize Israel — over, and over, and over,” Ceausescu told him for the umpteenth time….

Mr. Pacepa was the highest ranking intelligence officer ever to have defectedfrom the former Soviet bloc.

The author of “Red Horizons” (Regnery, 1987), he is finishing a book on the origins of current anti-Americanism.

Sources:
Wall Street Journal (September 24, 2003)

🐣 RT @Mylovanov Medvedev: Russia is open to negotiations with Ukraine, and added later “Today, Ukraine is facing a choice: to be with Russia or to disappear forever”
Well, I have news for you – Ukraine’s outlived the Soviet Union and it will outlive Russia
⋙ 🐣 p.s. Kyiv gave birth to Muscovy
Ukraine did not live under the Mongol yoke for centuries, like Russia did.
Ukraine experienced the Renaissance, the Reformation and the Enlightenment ~ unlike Russia.
Ukraine is part of the West.
Russia is a failed Asian state.
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1867761084326637637/photo/1

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln A message for Republican Senators: Trump’s agenda will fleece your constituents, while lining the pockets of his billionaire buddies. If you vote for Trump’s policies, the fallout will follow you to your graves. We’ll make sure of it.
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1867645712579600789/photo/1

WaPo: Polio survivor Mitch McConnell criticizes efforts to undermine vaccine https://tinyurl.com/3heuhxnz “The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives and held out the promise of eradicating a terrible disease. Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed — they’re dangerous,” McConnell said in a statement.
// The statement is the first time the Senate minority leader has publicly weighed in on the nomination process beyond acknowledging meeting with some of Trump’s picks for his administration.

NYT: Kennedy’s Lawyer Has Asked the FDA to Revoke Approval of the Polio Vaccine https://tinyurl.com/xaksunkh M. [Aaron] Siri is also representing a ‘medical freedom’ nonprofit in petitioning the FDA to ‘pause distribution’ of 13 other vaccines, including tetanus, diphtheria & hepatitis A’ //➔ Lord help us
// Aaron Siri, who specializes in vaccine lawsuits, has been at Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s side reviewing candidates for top jobs at the Department of Health and Human Services.

WaPo FactChecker, Glen Kessler: The biggest Pinocchios of 2024 https://tinyurl.com/2xt4dfvu “Our annual roundup of the most outlandish claims of 2024 features four claims by President-elect Donald Trump, along with other lowlights.”
//➔ Trump’s lies won him the election 🍄 🍄 🍄 🍄
// Kessler stretches for “balance” to include some Dem ones, which are omitted from below:

“The Harris-Biden administration says they don’t have any money [for hurricane relief]. … They spent it all on illegal migrants. … They stole the FEMA money just like they stole it from a bank, so they could give it to their illegal immigrants that they want to have vote for them.”
— President-elect Donald Trump, Oct. 3

“I spoke to a woman who shared her story with me. She had been sex trafficked by the cartels starting at the age of 12 …. President Biden’s border policies are a disgrace.”
— Sen. Katie Boyd Britt (R-Alabama), March 7

“Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?”
— Vice President-elect JD Vance, Sept. 9

“Over 13,000, the exact number’s 13,099, convicted illegal, alien murderers are now on the loose.”
— Trump, Oct. 1

“Tyson Foods has its eyes on a different class of workers. The company is now offering new jobs to asylum seekers in other states …. They’re firing Americans and offering perks to illegals.”
— Fox News prime-time host Jesse Watters, March 14

“A tariff is a tax on a foreign country. That’s the way it is, whether you like it or not. A lot of people like to say it’s a tax on us. No, no, no. It’s a tax on a foreign country. It’s a tax on a country that’s ripping us off and stealing our jobs. And it’s a tax that doesn’t affect our country.”
— Trump, Aug. 17

The Alexander Smirnov affair: When House Republicans prepared to impeach President Biden (remember that?), the star witness was supposed to be a confidential FBI source who alleged that Biden and his son Hunter Biden had each been paid $5 million to oust a Ukrainian prosecutor and protect a Ukrainian energy company that placed Hunter on its board. The source’s allegations were discovered because of a project launched by then-Attorney General William P. Barr soon after Trump was impeached for the first time. The FBI, however, decided the claims were not worth pursuing. Then-Rep. James Comer (R-Kentucky) and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) publicly released the FBI’s 2017 interview with the source, forcing the reevaluation. Investigators determined he had lied, even when given a chance to recant, and Alexander Smirnov was arrested in February when he landed in Las Vegas. The Biden impeachment effort quickly collapsed.

“We had the best unemployment rates ever. And they were real unemployment, not like you have today where nobody’s working and they consider it to be.”
— Trump, Jan. 21

WaPo, Shadi Hamid: Why Assad’s fall blindsided Washington Syria’s regime projected an aura of durability without the will of the people. https://tinyurl.com/5n8u7y7b //➔ Authoritarian regimes are stable until they’re not — and then it’s too late. Call it the myth of authoritarian stability.

WaPo: Russia packing up military equipment in Syria, satellite imagery shows https://tinyurl.com/3w7psb56 “Images … show cargo planes at a Russian airfield in Syria with their nose cones opened to receive heavy equipment, along with helicopters being … prepared for transport.”
// Russian S-400 air defense systems in Syria have also been moved.

WaPo, Fareed Zakaria: Russia is weaker than you think https://tinyurl.com/nhea7dys “Assad was a valuable client for Putin. And he couldn’t save him.” ~ “Think about it: If Russia were winning in Ukraine, would Putin threaten to use nuclear weapons?”

… Moscow had been Syria’s patron for over half a century. Syria was Russia’s last major client state in the Middle East. Moscow had spent huge amounts of blood and treasure supporting Assad over the past decade. To lose that position is to become what Barack Obama dismissively called Russia — “a regional power.” In fact, even in Russia’s own region, relations have deteriorated with Armenia, a longtime ally that Russia failed to defend from Azerbaijani aggression because it’s bogged down in Ukraine. Russian forces in Africa are also increasingly facing pressure from a variety of militant groups.

Vladimir Putin’s Russia now resembles the Soviet Union in the 1970s. While it is still assertive and interventionist abroad, its economy at home is increasingly weak and distorted by its conversion into a wartime operation. But just as the external expansionism and internal mobilization could not mask Soviet decay forever, so today Putin’s bravado should not scare us. Think about it: If Russia were winning in Ukraine, would Putin threaten to use nuclear weapons?

Two scholars, Marc DeVore and Alexander Mertens, note in Foreign Policy that “Russia is losing around 320 tank and artillery cannon barrels a month and producing only 20.” Citing open sources, they note that Russia has lost almost 5,000 infantry fighting vehicles since its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russian defense contractors can make only around 200 a year. Its labor shortages are acute in virtually every sector, something even Putin has acknowledged. …

… Defense spending is projectedto be about 40 percent of the Russian federal budget next year. In addition, another 30 percent is expected to be spent on various national security and “classified” matters. Inflation is now around 9 percent. Perhaps most telling, its main sources of revenue are under severe pressure. Gazprom, the state-owned natural gas giant that in 2022 provided about $40 billion to Russian state coffers, announced a $6.9 billion loss in 2023, its first in more than 20 years.

Now is not the time to ease up the pressure on Russia. In fact, in an essay in Foreign Affairs, Theodore Bunzel and Elina Ribakova point out that there are many ways to tighten the economic screws going forward.…

… [T]he chief challenge [Trump] will face once back in the White House is getting “Vladimir” to abandon his dream of reconstructing Russia’s czarist empire. Putin has pursued that vision since his first days in office, launching a savage war in Chechnya soon after coming to power, invading Georgia in 2008, annexing Crimea in 2014 and attempting to conquer all of Ukraine in 2022. If Trump can convince Putin of that, he will be able to do what he has always said was his goal: end the war in Ukraine.

⭕ 12 Dec 2024

TheAtlantic, Tyler Austin Harper: Is This How Democrats Win Back the Working Class? https://tinyurl.com/y4t6vxat “Embracing populism could help the party build a lasting political coalition—if the Republicans don’t do it first.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1867847526650720595/photo/1

A week after Donald Trump won the presidency again, I sat across from Chris Murphy in his minimalist but well-appointed D.C. office. The Connecticut senator sounded like a man who had done a speedrun through all five stages of grief and was ready to talk about what comes next: how his party could learn from its loss and win over—or win back—voters in 2026 and 2028. “I have thought for a long time that there’s a race between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party,” Murphy told me. “And the question is: Does the Republican Party become more economically populist in a genuine way before the Democratic Party opens itself up to people who don’t agree with us on 100 percent of our social and cultural issues?”

YahooNews/AFP: Russians suffer rising costs of Ukraine conflict https://tinyurl.com/ycy3h34w “Central bank governor Elvira Nabiullina has signalled she is considering raising rates yet again at a meeting next week, just ahead of the New Year holidays.”

🐣 RT @JoeBiden I pray to God that the president-elect throws away Project 2025. I think it would be an economic disaster. ¤ I believe the only way for a president to lead America is to lead all of America.

🐣 RT @KyivPost On Ukraine, Europe is now outspending the US by a margin of three to one, dispelling the myth of Europe’s underfunding.
⋙ KyivPost: Europe, Not the US, Is Ukraine’s Most Important Source of Support by a Substantial Margin https://tinyurl.com/2rsxj6z2 “If money spent helping war refugees counts as money spent because Russia invaded Ukraine, then Europe is outspending the United States on Ukraine right now about three to one.”

🐣 RT @SteveRattner The stock market has appreciated during the terms of four of the last five presidents, including by 58% during the Biden administration. My @Morning_Joe chart
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1867184537643741290/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Over the last 30 years, after-tax corporate profits have grown 8-fold, while personal incomes have grown by half as much — this unequal distribution of prosperity will only leave more and more Americans unhappy.
💽 https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1867229039712448812/photo/1

🐣 RT @Mylovanov NATO’s Rutte in 1 min ¤ We are not in war, but we are not in peace ¤ We must spend more if we are to defend ourselves in the future, more than 2% ¤ To meet China and Russia, we must instill innovation and new tech into NATO
💽 https://x.com/Mylovanov/status/1867357597587976662/photo/1

BBC: Nato must switch to a wartime mindset, warns secretary general https://tinyurl.com/hahr5kws “Secretary general Mark Rutte said Moscow was ‘preparing for long-term confrontation with Ukraine and with us’, describing the current security situation as the worst in his lifetime.”

🐣 RT @nexta_tv ⚡️ BREAKING: Macron arrived in Warsaw, where he intends to discuss with Prime Minister Tusk the possibility of deploying peacekeeping forces in Ukraine after the war ends.

WaPo, Philip Bump: Right-wing conspiracy theories are having a bad day https://tinyurl.com/5n6bv37z “FBI at the Capitol riot? Nope. Joe Biden taking a bribe? Even more nope. New evidence that emerged Thursday via an inspector general report and guilty plea further debunk the claims.”

🔆 This❗️⋙ OIG Report: A Review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Handling of Its Confidential Human Sources and Intelligence Collection Efforts in the Lead Up to the January 6, 2021 Electoral Certification [pdf] https://tinyurl.com/47x4xfk3 88p
// no undercover agents were found

WaPo: Trump says reducing food prices will be ‘very hard’ after campaign promise to cut costs https://tinyurl.com/mtpw8sa8 //➔ He says he “did not believe that transgender people using the bathroom corresponding with their gender identity was a major issue” //➔ but spent $215M on ads
// Trump said he would pardon people convicted of participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the US Capitol within the first minutes or hours of taking the oath of office.
// “after he and other Republicans had made anti-transgender policies a central point of their closing arguments. Republicans spent $215 million on network TV ads that painted transgender people as a threat”

Quoted in article:
● “bringing down grocery prices will be ‘very hard’”
● “sought to distance himself from the transgender issue; consider rolling back President Joe Biden’s expansion of Title IX protections, which includes prohibitions against harassment of transgender students”
● “vowed to impose tariffs on all imported goods from China, Mexico and Canada”
● “did not believe it would be controversial if he banned some vaccines”
● “would review the[J6 pardon] cases individually and said ‘a vast majority of them should not be in jail’” “would pardon people convicted of participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol within the first minutes or hours of taking office”
● “rejected that his choosing Project 2025 contributors for Cabinet posts was a reversal of his campaign trail position that he would have nothing to do with the Heritage Foundation project”
● “the Middle East is an easier problem to handle than what’s happening with Russia and Ukraine”
● “promised ‘a virtual closure of [the] Department of Education’”

🐣 RT @front_ukrainian ❗Trump admitted that concluding a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine in “24 hours” is a more difficult task than he thought

WaPo: Assad’s fall humiliated Putin and could dent his global ambitions https://tinyurl.com/yy3mdubm “Assad’s fall … was a stunning blow to the main goal in Putin’s long rule — forging Russia into a great world power competing globally with the United States.”
// Assad’s fall nine years after Russia saved his regime is a stunning blow to Putin’s goal of forging Russia into a world power to compete with the United States.

Russia is scrambling to save face after its humiliating loss of its client, dictator Bashar al-Assad, and the Kremlin has conceded preserving its crucial Syrian military bases will take time and delicate negotiations with groups it was calling “terrorists” just days ago.

In 2015, Russian President Putin made saving the Assad regime his personal project, intervening with a massive show of airpower to prevent his defeat by insurgents. Assad’s fall nine years later was a stunning blow to the main goal in Putin’s long rule — forging Russia into a great world power competing globally with the United States.

“The entire system of Russian presence in the Middle East, which was built over the past 10 years and in which very significant resources were invested, has in an instant turned into something from a political era that has faded into oblivion,” mourned Mikhail Rostovsky, writing in the pro-Kremlin newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets. “This is a hurtful, unfortunate, even painful fact that cannot be denied or understated.”

The regime’s swift collapse this week stunned the Kremlin, starkly demonstrating the limits of Russian global power, even as Putin is waging what he calls an existential fight against NATO in Ukraine.

Russian military bloggers bitterly attacked Assad for the loss of Syria, but Russian analysts argued that it was Putin’s preoccupation with the war in Ukraine that resulted in the loss of focus on his Syria project.

Ruslan Suleymanov, research fellow at the Baku-based Institute for Development and Diplomacy, said Putin was determined to prove that Moscow never abandoned its allies, yet Assad’s fall sent the opposite message. The Russian leader, it seemed, “lost interest” in Syria after the Ukraine invasion.

“This is certainly a huge blow to Putin’s image in the eyes of other leaders in the Middle East and Africa,” he said. “Putin has shown everyone that he is no longer able to support his allies. He just doesn’t care. He no longer has many stable resources. He is busy doing something completely different.”

Russia’s recent failure to recognize the fragility of Assad’s military was also a new low in a series of disastrous intelligence failures that have discredited Russian intelligence agencies.

These included Russia’s failure to predict that Ukraine would strongly resist Russia’s 2022 invasion, or that Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeniy Prigozhin would stage a rebellion in 2023. It was unprepared when Islamic State terrorists attacked a concert venue on Moscow’s outskirts in March, even though the United States had shared intelligence warning of the attack and location. Nor did it foresee Ukraine’s August incursion in the Kursk region of southern Russia.

While it is too soon to write off Russia’s chances of clawing back its regional influence, for now Moscow’s urgent concern is the long-term future of two crucial military bases, the Tartus naval facility and Hmeimim air base [Syria]— Moscow’s prized military foothold on NATO’s southern flank.

Russia secured agreement from the main rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), not to attack the bases or Russian diplomats, Tass reported on Sunday quoting a Kremlin official. But Peskov admitted Monday that the long-term future of the bases was in question, saying that it would take time before Russia could “have a serious conversation with those in authority.”

As of Tuesday, Russian ships had left Tartus and were loitering around five miles from the port, according to satellite images. Russian planes are still present at the Hmeimim air base, and Russian forces are present in Syria, although their numbers and locations are not clear. Dara Massicot, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote on X that it would take hundreds of sorties of heavy aircraft to evacuate its forces and equipment.

The bases, which have allowed Russia to project its military power in the eastern Mediterranean, have also served as a key logistics hub for Russia’s operations in Africa — another element of Putin’s ambition to expand Moscow’s global footprint, challenging U.S. influence on that continent.

“Putin will undoubtedly want to avoid the loss of Hmeimim and Tartus, but with the way things are going, I’d be very surprised if an HTS-led transitional body would be willing to allow Russian military bases to remain on Syrian soil,” said Charles Lister of the Middle Eastern Institute in written answers to questions from The Post. “Negotiating safe exits is one thing, but allowing the troops and aircraft that have bombed civilians for nearly a decade seems a step too far.”

That would require HTS leaders overlooking Russia’s nine years of violence against Syria’s population, and its role in prolonging the brutal rule of a president who jailed and killed thousands of people.

Russia, on its own count, had launched more than 100,000 bomb attacks in Syria by August 2021, and Russian military officials characterized the war as a kind of testing ground to showcase their military weapons and technology, to maximize weapons sales.

By June 2023, Russian attacks had killed 6,969 civilians, including 2,055 children, 1,094 women and 70 medical personnel at schools, markets and medical facilities, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights.

While HTS had previously condemned Russian airstrikes in its breakaway province of Idlib, the group has said nothing publicly about Moscow’s military presence in the country since taking control of Damascus.

The day before rebels toppled Assad’s regime, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov warned that it was “inadmissible” for HTS “terrorists” to take power. The same day, Russian news agency Tass reported that Russian and Syrian planes had bombed rebels in Homs province, “killing dozens of terrorists.” Russia abruptly stopped calling HTS terrorists as of Sunday, after Assad’s fall. Lister said that like other players, Russia would have to deal with HTS.

Russia poured in billions of dollars to preserve Assad, creating a frozen conflict in Syria through the Astana format, a peace process involving Russia, Iran and Turkey that excluded the United States. Ultimately it proved untenable.

Assad’s collapse revealed the limits of Russian military power, said Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Moscow-based think tank, Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, writing in Kommersant newspaper.

Moscow never defeated Assad’s enemies “and this was a fundamental strategic failure, which was already clear years ago.” He warned that Russia could repeat the mistake of staying too long with no clear victory, in Ukraine.

The Syria project was so dear to Putin that Russia failed to recognize that Syria’s hollowed out army, pervasive corruption, state brutality and dire social situation had undermined Assad and his regime.

Russia, wrote Pukov, “has increasingly focused on maintaining the rotten and ineffective status quo there for the sake of the status quo, essentially protecting the decaying and delegitimized Assad regime without any prospects, and at the same time unable to influence the growing dynamics of other forces and players.”

A prominent military blogger and former Russian pilot in Syria with the handle Fighterbomber wrote on Telegram that he and others got wartime experience in Syria that equipped them to fight against Ukraine, although “too many” died there.

“Then, we were welcome and needed there. Today, no one there needs us. We need Syria today, but it doesn’t need us,” he wrote on Telegram, adding that, “we are losing the Middle East.”

Russia could not prevent Assad’s fall, said pro-Kremlin analyst Sergei Markov, as his army abandoned the fight, “because it’s not possible to help an army that’s running. They can only help an army that’s fighting.”

After the Syrian army fled, a Russian soldier wandered around one of the deserted Syrian military bases, in video posted by open source analysts, musing at the hundreds of abandoned weapons and uniforms stripped off and scattered, including one belonging to a major.

“It’s all very sad,” he murmured mournfully. “Total incapacity, disorganization and loss of control. Very, very sad.”

🐣 RT @nexta_tv ‼️ BREAKING: A top official who was engaged in modernization of cruise missiles has been eliminated in Moscow
¤ https://x.com/nexta_tv/status/1867164067376369890

Mikhail Shatsky, the Deputy Chief Designer of the KB “Mars” design bureau and Head of the Software Department, was killed in Moscow. He was involved in modernizing Kh-59 missiles to the Kh-69 level, which Russian forces use for strikes on Ukraine.

According to open-source data, the Russian Federation’s KB “Mars” is engaged in the modernization and production of control systems for booster stages and onboard guidance systems for “Raduga” design bureau under a state defense contract.

The “Raduga” design bureau specializes in the development and production of various types of cruise missiles.

The first to report Shatsky’s death was Russian journalist Alexander Nevzorov, who claimed that the operation was conducted by Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate (HUR). Ukrainian media later confirmed this information, citing representatives from the Ministry of Defense and HUR.

🐣 RT @Tendar [#2] I promised to post a series of why the fall of the Pro-Russian Assad regime is a monumental defeat for Moscow and in the last episode addressed the situation in Africa where Russia’s plundering of resources is threatened by the losses of the Syrian bases. Today, comes the next episode:
🌎 https://x.com/Tendar/status/1866991489345036415/photo/1

The Syrian Energy Corridor

For decades countries in the Middle East have been pursuing the objective to establish a natural gas pipeline to Europe, one of the most lucrative markets in the world. Until 2022, Russia was the dominating seller of natural gas and established a series of pipelines, such as Nordstream.

The Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline connecting Azerbaijan to Europe while going through Turkey was in this region the only competitor and gained some market share ever since Russia launched the full scale war in Ukraine. But with 16 billion cubic meter per year, it remains rather small.

For comparison some more pipelines (in cubic meters per year / cbm)

Nordstream 1: 55 billion cbm
Nordstream 2: 55 billion cbm
Yamal: 33 billion cbm
Bratstvo: 32 billion cbm

With an annual demand of 350-450 billion cbm, Europe relies on far bigger supplies.

One of the most interested one in building a natural gas pipeline to Europe in this region has been Qatar. This small Emirate sits on 24 trillion cubic meters in proven reserves, enough to supply Europe for almost century and probably long enough until full decarbonization.

Currently, all Qatari natural gas exports are done via LNG, which as well known is energy intense and therefore not as efficient and lucrative as pipeline gas. LNG is good when it comes to competition, but when it comes to size and constant supply, pipeline gas is the king.

As mentioned, Qatar has been pursuing this project for a long time and followed two possible scenarios:

Variant 1: Qatar -> Saudi Arabia -> Kuwait -> Iraq -> Turkey

Variant 2: Qatar -> Saudi Arabia -> Syria -> Turkey

Both proposals had obstacles:

Variant 1 leads through Iraq which at the time and even today is too unstable for a persistent supply. It also leads through Kurdish-Iraq which is an ongoing issue for Turkey

Variant 2 seems to be the more viable one, but it had one obstacle: Syria

Syria under Assad had been a staunch ally of Russia and naturally had no inclination to oppose its handlers in Moscow, even though it would have been lucrative to Syria and therefore Assad. But Moscow’s influence was too strong and in the late 2000s the project was effectively shot down.

After this weekend this has changed. Assad is gone and Syria is under control by the rebels, who have good relations to the Qatar. It does not take much guessing to assume whether Qatar will renew its efforts. With good relations to Turkey and Syria only Saudi Arabia needs to be convinced.

Though the relations between Qatar and Saudi Arabia has been under heavy strain in the last years, especially when it comes to Iran, the last years have seen some de-escalation. Diplomatic ties have been re-established in 2021 and the borders are open ever since without much disturbance.

There is also the Arab Gas Pipeline from Egypt going all the way to Syria, but hasn’t been connected to Turkey, yet. The intention to do so was interrupted by the starting Syrian war in 2011. Now, this operation can be resumed.

Syria is slowly but surely becoming an important energy hub.

This development was actively opposed by Moscow, for obvious reasons. Qatar’s vast reserves in natural gas threatened Russian almost monopoly and undermined its ambitions to use the energy as a weapon against inconvenient neighbors.

With both Nordstream pipelines destroyed and Assad ousted the worst case scenario arrived for Moscow. Even when Russia might somehow convince the new leadership in Damascus to keep the Russian bases, a prospect with low chances of success, Syria’s rise to become an energy hub is certain.

With Gazprom decaying and being virtually bankrupt as well as the prospect of another huge competitor emerging on the European market, Russia is reeling into the next economic catastrophe. A wise Russian leadership would instantly stop all military activities and open up negotiations.

There are increasing voices that Putin will do this, because of the military situation, which in itself warrants this prognosis. The Russian losses remain to be staggeringly high and the Soviet army depots are depleting fast. But with the developments in Syria, another weight comes in.

Putin’s decision to allow Assad refuge is a strategically stupid decision. Assad lost not only value, but has become a liability for Russia. Damascus will demand extradition. It does not make sense from a geopolitical point of view, but illogical decisions are a constant under Putin.

The only reason Assad has been allowed to be in Moscow is because of Putin, who remembers only too well when it was him being holed up in his KGB office in Dresden, abandoned and alone by Moscow. It is a personal decision which is based by a deluded person who harms Russia, once again.

Russia is reaping all the strategic failures which Putin has created. It is misstep after misstep, with no light at the end of the tunnel. In the contrary, neither politically not economically Russia can expect any turnaround of this death spiral and Putin is the helmsman.

It shows that Russia is running out of options and time. Ukraine is feeling a lot of pain, but the strategic defenses are holding. Even when we project that Russia might take Pokrovsk or even entire Donbas, it does not change the situation on the ground, not even a bit.

We have seen in Syria what real military breakthroughs look like. Syrian rebels took the same amount of territory in one day what Russia couldn’t take within an entire year. Russia is creeping on the ground and burning men and material on an astronomical scale.

With Syria fully lost and Africa on the verge being lost or at least diminished, Russia is in the ropes. The wisest decision for the West would be to unleash whatever had been held back. It is an even more ideal time to do so. It is time to finish the job as we did 1989-1991.

🐣 RT @McFaul Huge, positive development. Russia is in trouble.
⋙ 🐣 RT @A_SHEKH0VTS0V Austria’s OMV has terminated its long-standing gas supply contract with Russia’s Gazprom after the latter halted deliveries amid a dispute influenced by Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine. 1/3
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @A_SHEKH0VTS0V This is a truly historical development as it marks the end of a 50-year energy relationship that began in 1968 when Austria became the first Western European country to import Soviet gas. 2/3
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @A_SHEKH0VTS0V The termination of the contract also reflects Austria’s newly discovered boldness to defy Moscow’s gas-fuelled bullying, and deals a significant blow to the Kremlin’s strategy of wielding gas pipelines as a weapon in its political warfare against the West. 3/3

⭕ 11 Dec 2024

TheAtlantic, Adrienne LaFrance (Dec 11): Decivilization May Already Be Under Way https://tinyurl.com/5t57bh4z “When every disagreement becomes zero-sum and no one is willing to compromise, violence becomes more attractive to people”
// The brazen murder of a CEO in Midtown Manhattan—and the cheering reaction to his execution—amounts to a blinking-and-blaring warning signal for a society that has become already too inured to bloodshed.

[…] One way to understand which direction a society is going—toward or away from chaos—is to study its emotional undercurrents, and its attitude toward violence broadly. Medieval Europe, for example, was famously brutish. As the German sociologist Norbert Elias wrote in his 1939 book, The Civilizing Process, impulse control was practically nonexistent and violence was everywhere. But as communities began to reward individuals for proper etiquette, adherence to which was required for entry into the most desirable strata of society, new incentives for self-restraint created substantially more peaceful conditions.

The push toward cooperative nonviolence happened organically, whereby people’s “more animalistic human activities,” as Elias put it, took a back seat to the premium they placed on their communal social life. This change in priorities required and perpetuated steady self-control among individuals across society. “It is simple enough: plans and actions, the emotional and rational impulses of individual people, constantly interweave in a friendly or hostile way,” Elias wrote. “This basic tissue resulting from many single plans and actions of men can give rise to changes and patterns that no individual person has planned or created.” And “it is this order of interweaving human impulses and strivings, this social order, which determines the course of historical change.” Often, when people choose violence, it is because they believe that it is the only path, a last resort in a time of desperation—and they believe that they’ll get away with it.

Over the centuries, humanity has become more civilized, largely drifting away from violent conflict resolution. And to be clear, I mean “civilized” in the spirit of Elias’s definition—the process by which the use of violence shifted to the state, and “decivilization” to suggest a condition in which it shifts back to individuals. Today, most Americans enjoy extraordinarily peaceful conditions in their daily life. But obviously violence has never entirely receded, and progress has been uneven; Elias’s interest in violence stemmed from his experience fleeing Nazi Germany. And it’s a fantasy to believe that an advanced democracy like ours is somehow protected by its very nature against extremism. Democracy can be self-perpetuating, but it is also extremely fragile. Complex societies, and in particular backsliding democratic nations, are often among the most violent in the world. (As the writer Rachel Kleinfeld noted in her book A Savage Order, Mexico saw more violent deaths from 2007 to 2014 than the combined civilian death toll in Iraq and Afghanistan over that same period.) …

… When every disagreement becomes zero-sum and no one is willing to compromise, violence becomes more attractive to people. And when violence becomes widespread, the state may escalate its own use of violence—including egregious attacks on civil liberties.

The barrier that separates a functioning society from all-out chaos is always more fragile than we’d like to admit. It can take very little for peace to dissolve, for a mob to swarm, for a man to kill his brother. In a society that is consecrated to freedom, as ours is, the power of the people is not only a first principle but a promise to one another, and most of all a safeguard against the centralized power and violence of the state wielded against the people.

In the weeks after a sharply divided election, ahead of the return to power of a president who has repeatedly promised to unleash a wave of state violence and targeted retribution against his enemies, Americans have a choice to make about the kind of society we are building together. After all, civilization is, at its core, a question of how people choose to bond with one another, and what behaviors we deem permissible among ourselves. …

A society’s propensity for violence may be ticking up and up and up, even as life continues to feel normal to most people. A drumbeat of attacks, by different groups or individuals with different motivations, may register as different kinds of problems. But take the broad view and you find they point at the same diagnosis: Our social bonds are disintegrating.

You cannot fix a violent society simply by eliminating the factors that made it deteriorate. In other societies that have fallen apart, violence acts as a catalyst, exacerbating all of the conditions that led to it in the first place. The process of decivilization may begin with profound distrust in institutions and government leaders, but that distrust gets far worse in a society where people brutalize one another. There is no shortcut back to a robust democracy. But one way to protect against the worst is to force change only through processes that do not lead to bloodshed, and to unequivocally reject anyone—whether that person is sitting in the White House or standing in the street—who would choose or justify violence against the people.

🐣 RT @DefiyantlyFree I’m sorry and I say this with all due respect but Congress is not supposed to be a nursing home. If you are having strokes and falling while at work, it’s time to retire.
⋙ 🐣 Hold on! ¤ McConnell is actually one of the GOP Senators more likely to vote against confirming radical right appointments, keeping funds flowing to Ukraine and NATO, and he is for keeping the filibuster and against recess appointments ¤ He is a thorn in Trump’s side

💙📋 🐣 RT @Redistrict Fact: in 2024, the House majority was decided by just 7,309 votes across three districts (#IA01, #CO08 and #PA07) out of 148 million votes cast nationwide.

🐣 RT @yasminalombaert Austria terminates Gazprom gas. ¤ “Russia wanted to use energy as a weapon against us – that didn’t work. Gazprom didn’t stick to the contracts, so OMV is immediately terminating the contract, which was supposed to run until 2040. Our energy supply is secure because we are well prepared. Austria cannot be blackmailed by Russia!” The Chancellor of Austria, Karl Nehammer wrote.

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP Sen. Mitch McConnell: “We’re in a very, very dangerous world right now, reminiscent of before world war two…Even the slogan is the same. ‘America First.’ That was what they said in the ’30s.”
⋙ FT: Mitch McConnell: ‘We’re in a very, very dangerous world right now’ https://tinyurl.com/4nusvmt4 “The Republican Senator on his plans to spend the last two years of his term fighting back against an increasingly isolationist GOP” ~ he should talk to Elon and Tulsi

His words are targeted directly at Trump and vice-president-elect JD Vance, who have argued that the US should not be spending any more money on Ukraine. McConnell is a strong believer in the Ronald Reagan view of the US role in the world, rather than the Trump one. “To most American voters, I think the simple answer is, ‘Let’s stay out of it.’ That was the argument made in the ’30s and that just won’t work,” he says. “Thanks to Reagan, we know what does work — not just saying peace through strength, but demonstrating it.”

WaPo, Philip Bump: Trump’s fake-it-till-you-make-it autocracy https://tinyurl.com/2wpn9jev “Get rid of all permitting? https://tinyurl.com/2wpn9jev Unwind birthright citizenship? Easy-peasy, if you pretend the myriad laws preventing such moves don’t exist.”

The proposal from President-elect Donald Trump seems so simple as to be obvious. ¤ “Any person or company investing ONE BILLION DOLLARS, OR MORE, in the United States of America,” he wrote on the social media platform he owns, “will receive fully expedited approvals and permits, including, but in no way limited to, all Environmental approvals.”

Elon Musk, who gained access to Trump’s inner circle after spending heavily on the election, celebrated the idea on the social media platform he owns: “This is awesome.” … For example: given their druthers, some business leaders would ignore environmental rules entirely if it made them money. Good for the businesses, but not necessarily great for the citizens whom the government is meant to serve.

For decades, America was governed by people who might have disagreed with such laws but who understood that they were laws. Rejecting laws isn’t generally something that presidents or legislators can do by fiat, so groups or parties seeking to change the law engaged in the slow process of accruing political power that allowed them to do so. …

These laws have been the subject of furious fights mong business, labor and citizen advocates for decades. But those fights have generally been out of the public’s eye, as happens in a representative democracy. So a normal person (or, it seems, the world’s richest one) hears Trump say that it’s all unnecessary and instantly reversible and, lacking context, perhaps thinks: sure, makes sense.

It’s important to note that this response benefits Trump, whose decades as the monarchical leader of a private business established expectations of power-wielding that are discordant with the American system. He is proposing that his power as president necessarily takes precedence over the power of the legislature, that he, not lawmakers or the courts, gets to decide how things work. He is presenting his power as autocratic — and in doing so tries to establish an expectation about his power that everyone else will have to dismantle.

It’s not just on this issue. There’s the recess appointment plan, for example. Or birthright citizenship, which came up in an interview last week. ¤ To NBC News’s Kristen Welker, he suggested that there would be some achievable means of reversing the grant of citizenship to babies born in the United States, something codified in the U.S. Constitution. He pledged to end this policy on his first day in office — somehow. Asked how, he sort of shrugged, saying that he would “maybe have to go back to the people” but that “we have to end it.”

… Trump sidesteps the idea that there is any value to the way things are and asserts that he has or will have a way to simply undo what’s been established. He approaches the issues like an autocrat and forces others to do the messy, often ungratifying work of explaining how these things emerged in the first place — and to argue that democracy means compromise rather than edict.

… Trump and aides like Stephen Miller often frame Trump’s power in the context of an overwhelming public support that doesn’t exist. We hear discussion about Trump’s landslide victory in the 2024 election (an election in which his popular vote victory was the smallest for a winning president since 1968) or that he has a mandate (by virtue of winning less than half of the votes cast last month). …

… Many Americans, supporters and detractors alike, are skeptical that he will be held in check by a Supreme Court in which a third of the justices were appointed by Trump and which recently determined that presidents (and Trump specifically) were immune from criminal prosecution. But there are a lot of other checks at all levels of government. …

In fact, we have a recent demonstration of this effect. In 2020, Trump attempted to retain the presidency despite losing the election. His effort to sidestep democracy ground to [a]] halt thanks to the cumulative efforts of local election administrators, state legislators and federal actors, all of whom understood and adhered to the constraints that Trump pretended didn’t exist. It certainly wasn’t painless, but the system held.

Trump may not have taken away a lesson from what happened after November 2020, but the rest of us should.

⋙ Comment: Let’s be clear: There are significant reasons it would be difficult to change birthright citizenship.
[TextLink:] https://tinyurl.com/22v8e9hs

Birthright citizenship is established by the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

Repealing a Constitutional Amendment requires a two-thirds vote in BOTH Houses on Congress. Neither House has close to this level of support. But assuming they did, in addition, the Amendment would have to get support from 3/4 of the states. Again, this level of support does not exist.

As for environmental regulations, even eliminating the Department of Environmental Protection would not erase the laws already on the books. The laws would have to be repealed. Executive orders must comply with the Constitution and federal law. Theoretically, eliminating the Dept of Environmental Protection means there would not be a federal enforcement mechanism. However, many blue states, where most consumers live, have their own laws and enforcement mechanisms. California, for instance has emissions standards that are more stringent than the federal ones, Programs like the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) in the Northeast demonstrate how states can work together to address environmental issues without federal involvement. Other Blue States could write replacement laws on their own or as a bloc.

This would result potentially in a patchwork of regulations, but because states that voted for Harris produce 60% of the country’s GDP, companies know if they want to operate in or sell their products within these states (like cars), they will have to abide by these regulations. This will also help such companies compete in climate-aware international markets.

⭕ 10 Dec 2024

WaPo, Catherine Rampell (Dec10): The GOP’s top priority for 2025: Repeal the laws of arithmetic https://tinyurl.com/47jta9xt Get ready for “Trump’s habit of torturing the data until it confesses”

🐣 RT @Tendar The fall of Assad has caused a collective shock among Russian politicians, pundits and bloggers alike.
¤ https://x.com/Tendar/status/1866378703141306454

Reading their statements and hearing them is pure doom and gloom. It was not only Assad‘s fall itself, but also its swiftness. Two weeks ago, it seemed unimaginable, and even after rebels took Aleppo, it was still inconceivable that it will go down all the way. In the end, it took only 10 days to reverse not only 10 years of engagement, but total collapse altogether.

It is not hard to see that they are terrified that this will be replicated in Ukraine, and they have all reason to be. The situation there might be different in some areas, but the overall notion remains the same, plus the escalating costs in Russian blood and money. The war is dragging on with slow pace. Even if there would be some noticeable progress, it would be highly questionable if it would be a permanent state. The Russian presence is overwhelmingly rejected and persists only by suppression or outright destruction of entire cities. This was the same as in Syria and as we have seen there, it was unsustainable despite them being pushed back all the way to the corners of the country. It didn’t even need a foreign intervention, Syrians themselves overwhelmed the dictator and its foreign as well as weakened handlers.

Now Putinists see their own existence threatened. What happened in Syria can easily happen to them at any moment in time, fast and surprising. Dictatorships are brittle, because they are inflexible when it comes questioning their leadership, especially when reflecting that dictatorships are the malfunctioning part of the society, and in this case everyone knows that the Syrian adventure as well as the Ukrainian war was Putin‘s decision. It has been a monumental disaster and it has all the ingredients to make Russia fail again. And it will.

That will have consequences and everyone knows it. The only question remains when it will happen. When the Wagner uprising happened virtually nobody came to Putin’s help. Vladimir was alone, the army sidelined and Moscow’s only „defense“ were scrambled dump trucks. Even back then, it took only a weekend to show the world the Russian emperor’s new clothes. It was only Prigozhin’s foolish decision to stop it, which saved Putin’s head. It doesn’t take a prophet to know that next time Putin won’t be so lucky. And unlike Assad, Putin has nowhere he can escape to.

WaPo: Syrian rebels had help from Ukraine in humiliating Russia https://tinyurl.com/mybu6hwk “The Syrian rebels who swept to power in Damascus last weekend received drones and other support from Ukrainian intelligence operatives who sought to undermine Russia and its Syrian allies”
// Eager to bloody Putin’s nose, Kyiv supplied drones for the offensive that toppled Assad.

🐣 RT @ManiamAkash Preparing your audience for a special withdrawal operation?
[TextLink:] https://x.com/ManiamAkash/status/1866469142297297045/photo/1
🔆 ‼️ ⋙ TASS: Russia close to achieving special military operation’s goals — intel chief https://tass.com/politics/1884915 “‘Moscow is reportedly nearing the objectives of its special military operation, while the Ukrainian army faces potential collapse’ Sergey Naryshkin pointed out”
// (Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergey Naryshkin): “Russia holds the initiative in all areas, while the Ukrainian armed forces are on the verge of collapse and the Zelensky regime has lost its legitimacy, along with the ability to make agreements,” Sergey Naryshkin pointed out

MOSCOW, December 10. /TASS/. Moscow is reportedly nearing the objectives of its special military operation, while the Ukrainian army faces potential collapse, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin stated.

“The situation on the front lines is not in Kiev’s favor. We hold the initiative in all areas and are close to achieving our goals, while the Ukrainian armed forces are on the verge of collapse and the Zelensky regime has lost its legitimacy, along with the ability to make agreements,” he pointed out in an interview with Razvedchik (or Scout) magazine.

According to Naryshkin, all attempts to create instability in Russia have failed. “The people understand that we are not fighting against the Kiev junta but against the collective West, and our freedom and sovereignty are at stake in this confrontation,” the SVR chief noted.

“The West’s strategic goal in the Ukraine conflict was perfectly clear — to impose a war of attrition on us in order to divide Russian society and create conditions for a ‘color revolution.’ That said, they will fight ‘until the last Ukrainian,’ and once there are no Ukrainians left, the Baltic nations, the Eastern Europeans, and later, the Germans will be forced to join the fight against ‘the scary Russian bear,’” Naryshkin noted. “The globalist powers already have the technologies they need to brainwash common people and put pressure on local elites,” he added.

The SVR director emphasized that a further escalation of tensions “will not only fail to deplete Russia’s resources, which is what Washington and London are aiming for, but will bring the West closer to its own defeat.” “Despite sanctions and the theft of our sovereign assets, the Russian economy is growing, and import substitution efforts continue at a high pace, particularly in technology sectors,” he observed. “New logistics routes are emerging, and our economic ties with non-Western countries, primarily in Greater Eurasia, are strengthening,” Naryshkin concluded.

⋙⋙ 🐣 Better retreat now instead of dealing with Zelensky’s peace plan which requires reparations and NATO membership. They can regroup and try try again under Trump. Trump won’t allow Ukraine into NATO. 🤯

🐣 […] RT @AlicjaSelerska And what did the Russians do to Poland during World War II? At that time, Russia did not exist, or rather it was as an element of the huge multinational country of the USSR. This state of the USSR created Poland anew and saved Europe, cleansed it of Nazism which claimed millions of victims of various nationalities. Within six years, the Germans murdered 6 million Poles alone.
¤ https://x.com/AlicjaSelerska/status/1866411840651071844
// this person tweets in Polish, but I’m pretty sure she’s Russian
⋙ 🐣 Hitler made a deal with Stalin to divide Poland between them in the first part of WW2 (look up the Molotov Ribbentrop Pact);

first Hitler invaded Poland from the West, while Russia invaded Poland from the East. Then Hitler turned on Stalin and attacked Russia via Ukraine, The Baltics and Belarus.

Without supplies from the US of huge amounts of military equipment, and the bombing of Germany by the US and UK, Russia would likely have lost. Then Russia took over all the European countries that the Nazis had earlier invaded, starting the Cold War.

My Dad served in WW2 as did several of my uncles. One uncle was a bomber pilot. My Mom’s first husband was killed in a plane crash on D-Day (she was 18). Then she met my Dad right before he was shipped out to Japan.

⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @AlicjaSelerska My grandfather, my grandmother’s three brothers and three sisters served in the Polish Army with the Red Army and chased the Germans all the way to Berlin. Your stories seem embarrassing in comparison.

As for the Red Army entering the eastern part of Poland, it was after the Poles had already lost, and the Polish government was already in England. Stalin signed the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact only because previously neither England nor France wanted to enter into a defensive alliance with him, so he concluded it with Germany to gain time to defend himself, because it was known from the beginning that Hitler’s main goal was to conquer the USSR. The USA began to help by providing weapons and other things when they saw that the Soviets were repelling the Nazi attack and did not want the victory to go only to the USSR. Previously, no one wanted to help the Soviets.
[me: Correction: Stalin signed the MR Pact before the Polish govt went London]

🔄🔄 ⋙⋙⋙ 🐣 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact Signed: Night of 23-24 Aug 1939
Hitler invaded Poland: 1 Sep 1939
Stalin invaded Poland: 17 Sep 1939
Polish govt evacuated: 17 Sep 1939*
Hitler invaded USSR: 22 Jun 1941
* Poland est. govt-in-exile, first in France, then London
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1866641375074132018/photo/1

🔄🔄 ⋙⋙⋙ 🐣 Here are two charts from Wikipedia.
The first is PART of a much longer chart of deaths by Country; listing Poland and the USSR https://tinyurl.com/5dzcwdp3
The second chart breaks out all the Soviet Republics which were part of the USSR https://tinyurl.com/ydxsakzd
I find the most interesting statistic is the % of deaths compared to the 1939 population
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1866554128421278183/photo/1
// tags: World War 2 deaths by country, WW2 deaths by country

⭕ 9 Dec 2024

🐣 RT @ChrisMurphyCT Trump’s proposal to exempt billionaires – but not regular people who own small and medium businesses – from regulations just shows you what’s coming: a government run only for the benefit of the billionaire ruling class.

💙 NYT, Paul Krugman (Dec 9): My Last Column: Finding Hope in an Age of Resentment https://tinyurl.com/2sxw24b9 “[S]ome of the angriest, most resentful people in America right now — people who seem very likely to have a lot of influence with the incoming Trump administration — are billionaires who don’t feel sufficiently admired.”

🐣 RT @Tendar „There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.“ [– Lenin] The costs for Russia for the failed Syrian adventure by Putin is immeasurably high. It is an earthshaking, political blow of the highest magnitude.
¤ https://x.com/Tendar/status/1866040891778969725

The discussion regarding North Korean troops in the Ukrainian war from a military point of view is irrelevant. With around 12.000 troops you cannot expect a major difference, since this is a Russian loss rate of 4 days. It has been primarily a political gesture. Putin was desperate to show the world that he has „friends“ in the world.

This is why the loss of Syria is such a monumental defeat for Moscow. It totally neutralized this attempt. Russia isolation is now combined with irrelevance, an attribute far worse than anything Moscow can bear. It showed the world that even the few puppets Russia has, it cannot sufficiently protect.

Putin made a name for himself to be portrayed as the exact opposite of the „weak“ Russia of 1990s. The truth however is that Russia has never been weaker than now. Russia‘s importance in the Middle East has been relegated to negligible. Syria was the only leftover from the Soviet Union and even that Putin blew it.

The failure in Syria is first of all Putin‘s failure and while Putin is famous for his unlimited nihilistic cynicism, this one will stick.

🐣 RT @NotHoodlum BREAKING: Rupert Murdoch fails in his bid to change his trust. A Nevada commissioner ruled resoundingly against Murdoch, who was trying to give full control of his empire to his son Lachlan and lock in Fox News’s right-wing editorial slant. (NYT)

🐣 RT @kylegriffin1 More than 75 Nobel Prize winners have signed a letter urging senators not to confirm RFK Jr. to lead HHS. ¤ The letter marks the first time in recent memory that Nobel laureates have banded together against a Cabinet choice. But the confirmation of Kennedy is a threat the Nobel laureates could not ignore, one of them said. [NYT link:] https://tinyurl.com/2zzmfwdt

🧵 RT @boris_beissner What has #russia lost with the fall of the Assad regime in #Syria? ¤ Russia’s defeat in Syria and the fall of the Assad regime is not just a blow to Putin’s reputation. It is more complex. So let’s go through the points that Russia has lost along with Assad.
📌 https://x.com/boris_beissner/status/1866032875348381907
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1866032875348381907.html

Firstly, the potential gains. Can the Russian forces from Syria strengthen the occupying army in Ukraine? No, these forces cannot significantly influence the course of the war in Ukraine. ¤ Most of the Russian troops in Syria are specialists in aviation, air defence and technical units, which are poorly suited to the needs on the front here. And there are certain problems with the evacuation of equipment there.

And yes, the migration of forces and resources from Syria to Ukraine was one of the reasons for the rapid collapse of Assad.

And now to the losses. Loss of role in the Middle East. Russia has largely lost its status as a major player, as Syria was its most important ally in the region. ¤ Without the Assad regime, it will be difficult for Russia to influence important countries in the region (Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel).

Russia has also lost its role as a counterweight to the US in the region, which strengthens the position of Washington and its allies (Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates).
The loss of the strategic military bases in Tartus and Khmeimim (which has not yet occurred but is very likely to happen in the near future) means the loss of a logistical hub for building a Russian presence in the Mediterranean, the Middle East and Africa.

Almost all operations in Africa were conducted through Syrian hubs. Now Russia has definitely lost the ability to respond quickly to conflicts in the region.

Economic losses. Russia has invested billions of dollars in supporting Assad in the hope of long-term economic benefits.
● Fertilisers. Russian companies have mined phosphates in Syria. One of the largest phosphate deposits in the world is located there, and phosphates are an important component of global food security.
● Crude oil. The company Stroytransgaz (controlled by Gennady Timchenko) has obtained the rights to develop important oil and gas fields in Syria.
● Logistics. In 2019, Russia signed a 49-year lease agreement for the seaport of Tartus.
This port was to be used as a logistics centre for trade, the transport of resources and military operations.
● The collapse of the regional narcotics trade. Syria was a centre for the production of phenethylene, also known as Captagon, a synthetic substance that was then transported to Europe and the Middle East. Russia was a “stakeholder” in this flow. ¤ Now this source of money for Russia will dry up.

The growing influence of Erdogan and the weakening of Iran’s role will also affect Tehran’s and Moscow’s energy policy ambitions. Iran has lost an important partner, which reduces its influence in the Middle East.

The Iranian armed forces have already been effectively withdrawn from the country and the government in Tehran is negotiating with the Sunnis in Syria over the security of the Shiites, which is the maximum of its options. ¤ Erdogan will now control almost all the oil and gas routes to the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

Europe will be able to breathe freely. Russia has lost its instrument with which it can blackmail the EU by controlling the movement of people and energy resources.

Russia planned to use Syria to transport oil and gas to the Mediterranean, which would give it access to European markets. The instrument of putting pressure on Europe by fuelling migration crises has also disappeared.

All of this is a sign of the decline of Russia’s global influence. The fall of Assad has discredited Russia as a reliable partner for other dictatorships. The collapse of the regime within a few weeks has shown that Moscow is unable to effectively maintain its assets.

The collapse of the Syrian project has further destroyed the myth of Russia’s “invincibility” and highlighted the country’s limited global influence. ¤ Syria was an important lever for Russia in its negotiations with the West, including on the Ukraine issue.

And no matter what the Russian theorists and Trump say, everything that has happened is evidence of Russia’s actual capabilities, which have declined significantly over the years. And no “ceasefire” in Ukraine, even if it materialises, will save Putin’s regime.

📋 🐣 RT @anders_aslund These Zelensky numbers sound plausible:
43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed;
198,000 Russian soldiers had been killed and a further 550,000 wounded.
⋙ 🐣 that’s about the ratio I’ve seen before[;] it’s been similar throughout history
why?
● lack of concept of human rights or the value of the individual
● inferior military equipment
● inferior (if any) battlefield medical care
● poor, top-down military leadership

WaPo: Biden officials race to help stabilize Syria after regime collapse https://tinyurl.com/47byx3ju “President Joe Biden announced that U.S. forces had hit Islamic State militant camps and operatives in Syria.”

WaPo: U.S. hopes for peaceful transition of power in Syria after Assad’s ouster https://tinyurl.com/547n46zw

⭕ 8 Dec 2024

🐣 RT @Tendar [#1] The collapse of the Assad regime is for Russia a far worse catastrophe than most realize. It will take me many posts and you will see more and more like this coming the coming days and weeks. Here, I will show the implications on Africa.
🌎 https://x.com/Tendar/status/1865804869992398858/photo/1

As it is well known, one of Russia’s “business models” is to prop up dictatorships and putschist regimes all around the globe, including Africa. Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and the Central African Republic are just a few to name of. The Sudanese Civil war is even directly kept on fire by Russia. The latest peace process by the UNSC was stopped by Russia’s veto. War and suffering are not only a good business for the Russian war industry, the only operational industry in Russia, but especially for their most infamous mercenary group, Wagner.

In exchange for Russia’s help, to prop up those scourge regimes across Africa, Wagner received direct control of lucrative deals for mining operations, especially gold and blood diamonds. The exploitation operations are executed in the most ruthless way, with utter disregard on human life, killing locals and foreigners alike, even Chinese worker. After all, this has always been Wagner number one revenue.

However, logistically, Russia always relied on the Syrian bases to fly out the riches and fly in mercenaries. They always had to pass Khmeimim when going in either direction. It is also safe to assume that much of the operations in Africa were coordinated in Khmeimim. Without this base, all operations in Africa were virtually impossible or the very least much harder to accomplish. And harder means, more expensive.

This “business model” could only thrive for as long as the puppet Assad was in Damascus, which as we all know is history. What this will mean for the putschist regimes and Wagner alike, remains to be seen, but it might give the African people suffering under them and Wagner a new chance to get rid off the Russian influence, the same way as the Syrian people ended it.

🐣 RT @Tendar The Syrian war could have ended in 2013/2014, but the international community was hesitant, fearful, ignorant, even when Assad used Sarin nerve agent against its own population. That reluctance paved the way for Iran and even more Russia to enter the war.
¤ https://x.com/Tendar/status/1865885897746415928

They recognized the West’s weakness to act. It prolonged the war by an entire decade, cost hundreds of thousands more lives and unleashed one of the worst refugee crisis in modern times. In the end, it was a military operation conducted by Syrians which ended the madness.

Syria stands symbol for wasted opportunities and huge suffering. It has shown that despite better knowledge from events such as Srebrenica or Ruanda, way to much useless talk is employed, instead of robust action. We are witnessing exactly the same mistakes in Ukraine, and the opponents are even the same. It leaves me baffled. I can only quote Churchill with his speech:

„When will the lesson be learned. How many more dictators must be wooed, appeased before we learn? You cannot reason with a tiger, when your head in his mouth!“

WaPo: Zelensky says Ukraine war deaths are a small fraction of Trump claim https://tinyurl.com/mu6vzruk “President-elect Donald Trump said Kyiv had “lost” some 400,000 troops in the war with Russia, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claims 43,000 have died.”

🐣 RT @Acyn Biden: For years the main backers of Assad have been Iran, Hezbollah and Russia. But over the last week their support collapsed, all three of them, because all three of them are far weaker today than they were than when I took office.
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1865830761246658846/photo/1

🐣 RT @CENTCOM 𝐔.𝐒. 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐃𝐨𝐳𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐚
¤ https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/1865841718366450013

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted dozens of precision airstrikes targeting known ISIS camps and operatives in central Syria, Dec. 8.

The strikes against the ISIS leaders, operatives, and camps were conducted as part of the ongoing mission to disrupt, degrade, and defeat ISIS, in order to prevent the terrorist group from conducting external operations and to ensure that ISIS does not seek to take advantage of the current situation to reconstitute in central Syria.

The operation struck over 75 targets using multiple U.S. Air Force assets, including B-52s, F-15s, and A-10s.

Battle damage assessments are underway, and there are no indications of civilian casualties.

CENTCOM, together with allies and partners in the region, will continue to carry out operations to degrade ISIS operational capabilities even during this dynamic period in Syria.

“There should be no doubt – we will not allow ISIS to reconstitute and take advantage of the current situation in Syria,” said General Michael Erik Kurilla, “All organizations in Syria should know that we will hold them accountable if they partner with or support ISIS in any way.”

DailyBeast: Trump Sends Warning Shot to Putin as He Hails That ‘Assad is Gone’ https://tinyurl.com/3rk2anda “They lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead … ” Trump wrote of Russia.
// “in a war that should never have started, and could go on forever”

DailyBeast: Trump Shocks NBC Journalist By Calling for J6 Committee to Be Thrown in Jail https://tinyurl.com/2hb4nm33 “Honestly, they should go to jail,” he told NBC’s Kristen Welker.

TheAtlantic, Sophie Gilbert: The Movie That Mattered Most in 2024: Blink Twice anticipated the culture shift that defined the year https://tinyurl.com/49a8bh5t Rich failsons “getting away with stuff”

🐣 RT @anneapplebaum “The scenes today in Damascus—the toppling of statues, the people taking selfies in the dictator’a palace—are the same ones that will unfold in Caracas, Tehran, or Moscow on the day the soldiers of those regimes lose their faith in the leadership, and the public loses their fear of those soldiers too”
💙 ⋙ TheAtlantic, Anne Applebaum: The Syrian Regime Collapsed Gradually—And Then Suddenly https://tinyurl.com/5bnvdc7u Assad’s fall offers the possibility of change.

[…] The similarities among these places are real, because Russia, Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, and, until now, Syria all belong to an informal network of autocracies. Russian troops and mercenaries have spent the past decade fighting in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Africa. Russian political and information operations actively seek to undermine, dominate, or overthrow democratic governments in Moldova, Georgia, and most recently Romania. Starting in 2015, Russian troops propped up Assad in partnership with Iran and Iran’s proxy Hezbollah. In Ukraine, Russia’s war is made possible by drones from Iran, soldiers and ammunition from North Korea, and covert help from China. Russia, Iran, Cuba, and China collaborate to keep in power a regime in Venezuela that has catastrophically failed its people too.

Many of these are military conflicts, but Russian President Vladimir Putin also believes that he is fighting a war of ideas, and he has persuaded others to follow him. In both Syria and occupied Ukraine, Russia has deliberately backed or created regimes that have not merely sought to repress opponents but have also gone out of their way to demonstrate flagrant disregard for human rights and the rule of law, ideas that Putin claims belong to the past. When Putin talks about a new world order or a “multipolar world,” as he did again last month, this is what he means: He wants to build a world in which his cruelty cannot be limited, in which he and his fellow dictators enjoy impunity, and in which no universal values exist, not even as aspirations.

The results are stark. Since 2011, the Syrian Network for Human Rights has documented more than 112,000 disappearances—men, women, and children arbitrarily arrested and imprisoned with no formal or legal justification. The regime has tortured tens of thousands of people in brutal prisons, keeping them in the dark, forbidding them any contact with the outside world. Infamously, Assad used poison gas against his own people and then lied about it. Joint Russian and Syrian-government air strikes deliberately targeted hospitals and practiced “double tap” strikes, bombing a civilian target and then hitting the same location soon afterward to kill rescue workers.

The Russian war against Ukraine has been equally cruel and equally lawless, in many instances copying tactics used in Syria. In occupied Ukraine, thousands of mayors, local leaders, teachers, and cultural figures have also disappeared into invisible custody. The former mayor of Kherson, abducted in June 2022, is reportedly being held in an illegal prison in Crimea; the mayor of Dniprorudne recently died in custody. …

This kind of cold, deliberate, well-planned cruelty has a logic to it: Brutality is meant to inspire hopelessness. Ludicrous lies and cynical propaganda campaigns are meant to create apathy and nihilism. Random arrests have driven millions of Syrians, Ukrainians, and Venezuelans abroad, creating large, destabilizing waves of refugees and leaving those who remain in despair. The despair, again, is part of the plan. These regimes want to rob people of any ability to plan for a different future, to convince people that their dictatorships are eternal. “Our leader forever” was the Assad dynasty’s slogan.

But all such “eternal” regimes have one fatal flaw: Soldiers and police officers are members of the public too. They have relatives who suffer, cousins and friends who experience political repression and the effects of economic collapse. They, too, have doubts, and they, too, can become insecure. In Syria, we have just seen the result. …

[T]he end of the Assad regime creates something new, and not only in Syria. There is nothing worse than hopelessness, nothing more soul-destroying than pessimism, grief, and despair. The fall of a Russian- and Iranian-backed regime offers, suddenly, the possibility of change. The future might be different. And that possibility will inspire hope all around the world.

🐣 RT @AngryCitizenxx #BreakingNews Watch as Israeli’s celebrate the downfall of Assad, how many world leaders will lose their lives in plane crashes after telling Israel off? Weird:
💽 https://x.com/AngryCitizenxx/status/1865759114204184909/photo/1

[Netanyahu:] This is a historic day for the Middle East. The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyranny in Damascus, offers great opportunity but also is fraught with significant dangers.

We send a hand of peace to all those beyond our border in Syria: to the Druze, to the Kurds, to the Christians, and to the Muslims who want to live in peace with Israel.

🐣 RT @uamyua Stay strong, Mr. President. You are the sole force standing between us and evil. Everyone before you would have surrendered us without a second thought. The strength of a true Leader and the most Battle-Hardened Armed Forces of 🇺🇦 are all that stand between Europe and the savages
💽 https://x.com/uamyua/status/1865652509957828885/photo/1
// Zelensky greeted with hugs and hearty handshakes from leaders; speaks with Trump

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa Yesterday, I visited President @EmmanuelMacron at the Élysée Palace and had a good meeting with President @realDonaldTrump.

We discussed important issues on the battlefield and in the global situation, from our frontlines to North Korea. I stated that we need a just and enduring peace—one that the Russians will not be able to destroy in a few years, as they have done repeatedly in the past. This is clear not only for our country and region.

We see how Russia is now trying to subjugate Georgia after several wars against that country. Russia still does not want to ease its grip on Moldova. Now the Russians are retreating from Syria, but that does not mean they will not try to sow death there again. Russian military presence is also active in Africa, with the sole purpose of destabilization.

Therefore, when we talk about effective peace with Russia, we must first and foremost talk about effective guarantees for peace. Ukrainians want peace more than anyone else. Russia brought war to our land, and it is Russia that most seeks to disrupt the possibility of peace.

Updated data on Russian losses show over 750,000 casualties, including 198,000 killed and more than 550,000 wounded. Our people are defending their homes at the cost of their lives, and every life—of our soldiers and our civilians—is precious to us.

Since the start of the full-scale war, Ukraine has lost 43,000 soldiers killed in action on the battlefield. There have been 370,000 cases of medical assistance for the wounded. It also needs to be mentioned that in our army approximately half of the soldiers wounded in action are later returning to the battlefield, and that our data also includes light or repeat injuries.

One of the key distinctions between the Russian army and Ukraine’s Defense Forces is the level of frontline medicine, which is significantly higher in our forces. We are deeply grateful to everyone who supports its development, saves our wounded in action, and facilitates their rehabilitation.

Since September this year, Russia has been losing troops on the battlefield at a ratio of 5-to-1, or even 6-to-1, compared to us. They want to seize more land before global pressure on them becomes unbearable.

Additionally, we must not forget our people in Russian captivity—thousands of both military personnel and civilians, some of whom have been held since 2014, when the occupation began. Since February 24, 2022, we have already managed to bring 3,935 of our people home—3,767 soldiers and 168 civilians. But we must bring everyone back, and much work remains to be done. We must also establish the truth about all our people who are missing.

We must also remember the Ukrainian children deported by Russia. Russians themselves admit that these abducted children number in the hundreds of thousands, dispersed across their territory. Returning them is the most challenging task. On the occupied territories of Ukraine, at least several million people remain.

This is the reality of this war. It cannot simply end with a piece of paper and a few signatures. A ceasefire without guarantees can be reignited at any moment, as Putin has already done before. To ensure that Ukrainians no longer suffer losses, we must guarantee the reliability of peace and not turn a blind eye to occupation.

We know Putin very well—he is addicted to war. He began his career with a brutal war against Chechnya and has been constantly fueling other wars. He can only be stopped by strength—the strength of world leaders who can become leaders of peace. We count on America and the entire world to help stop Putin. The only things he fears are America and global unity.

It is precisely such peace through strength that we discuss with all our partners, as well as the steps and guarantees needed for the people and the state attacked by Russia. War cannot be endless—only peace must be permanent and reliable.

🐣 RT @McCainJack I’m back to say this, and this only. I am overjoyed to see Damascus liberated. To all of those that pushed the narrative that my dad met with ISIS, I’ll be clear, go fuck yourself. Assad gassed, tortured, murdered, and made war on his own people. John McCain was right, as always.

🐣 RT @igorsushko The brutal Bashar Assad dictatorship fell in Syria in just 11 days. ¤ It was sudden and unexpected, after a 24-year reign starting in 2000. ¤ His father Hafez Assad ruled the nation from 1971 to 2000. ¤ Given this development, Putin cannot be feeling comfortable about his own fate.

🐣 RT @officejjsmart Syria celebrates the fall of the Assad regime.
💽 https://x.com/officejjsmart/status/1865672249195536544/photo/1

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en Reuters, citing two Syrian security sources, said it was “very likely” that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was killed in a plane crash near Homs last night. The plane, which had taken off from Damascus International Airport, was believed to have been shot down. It was a mystery why the plane took a surprise U turn and disappeared off the map according to data from the Flightradar website. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/yc4632my
⋙ 🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en It is reported that fighters entered Assad’s residence in Damascus. His location is currently unknown. ¤ Syrian prime minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government was ready to “extend its hand” to the opposition and turn its functions over to a transitional government.
💽 https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1865649221627736249/photo/1
// several videos
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en ❗️Reportedly, Syrian General Staff informed its soldiers that the regime has fallen and ordererd to lay down their arms. ¤ It is reported that the international airport of Damascus has been taken by the fighters (first video). ¤ According to reports, the Syrian Republican Guards are fleeing their posts by the Internal Affairs Ministry in Damascus (second video)

⭕ 7 Dec 2024

NYT: Zelensky Met With Trump in Paris to Press Ukraine’s Case https://tinyurl.com/bdecx9s4 “The Ukrainian leader planned to use the grand reopening of Notre-Dame Cathedral to lobby the president-elect and other world leaders attending the ceremony.”
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1865633040510157038/photo/1

Ukraine’s outreach to Mr. Trump’s team has coincided with an apparent shift in Kyiv’s public stance on peace talks. After years of vowing not to cede territory to Russia, Mr. Zelensky has recently suggested he would consider doing so as a way to end the war, in return for NATO membership. Ukraine, he added, would then seek to regain its occupied territory through negotiations.

The change in position has been seen as a way for Ukraine to show Mr. Trump that it is ready to make concessions as part of negotiations. By contrast, Ukraine officials have insisted that Russia didn’t want to engage in negotiations, especially as its troops are steadily gaining ground on the battlefield.

💽 WaPo: Notre Dame reopens with soaring music, delicate diplomacy https://tinyurl.com/aj7ftb3b “The cathedral reopened Saturday with a ceremony attended by French officials, foreign dignitaries, clergy, donors — and President-elect Donald Trump.” and Dr. Jill Biden and daughter Ashley ✛
// beautiful music-filled videos
@POTUS was scheduled to attend the Peal Harbor attack commemoration event in Hawaii
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1865632082883723727 /photo/1
// cover page of nytimes Dec 7, 1941

🐣 RT @nedalalamari My hands are trembling and my eyes are tearing up and I haven’t slept for a week and I won’t sleep before the downfall of Assad I try to be with you moment by moment, but I swear to you, my whole body is shaking… ¤ You cannot imagine the feelings of us Syrians in these times.

🐣 RT @maria_drutska Syria. It seems Damascus will fall tomorrow. Reports indicate that the Damascus-Homs road has been cut off. ¤ Charters are evacuating the elite from Damascus to Dubai. The major city of Daraa has been surrendered. ¤ Bashar Assad, along with his family, has fled to Abu Dhabi, — Turkish media citing UAE-based insiders.

🐣 RT @POTUS Today, we honor the brave Americans who perished at Pearl Harbor 83 years ago, and the service members who defended democracy and freedom in the days and years that followed. ¤ In their memory, let us carry forward their mission of forging a better future for humankind.

🐣 RT @ChrisFromGA68 Jill is all class. Ashley is the rest of us. Sigh… #NotreDameDeParis
🖼 https://x.com/ChrisFromGA68/status/1865472198963601745/photo/1
// Ashley, Jill, Trump at dedication/reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris

🧵 RT @Mylovanov Russia might lose its military bases in Syria, including its sole naval facility in the Mediterranean, which provides critical support to its naval operations south of Europe. ¤ Good for everyone! 1/
📌 https://x.com/Mylovanov/status/1865490198668222652
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1865490198668222652.html

Reuters: Two strategically important Russian military facilities in Syria – the Hmeimim air base and the Tartous naval facility – are under serious threat from rapidly advancing insurgents, according to Russian war bloggers 2/

With Russian military resources mostly tied down in Ukraine, Russia’s ability to influence the situation on the ground in Syria is far more limited than in 2015 when it intervened to prop up the Assad regime 3/

The insurgent advances threaten to undermine Russia’s geopolitical clout in the Middle East and its ability to project power in the region, across the Mediterranean and into Africa. This would be an embarrassing setback for Putin 4/

Russian war bloggers, who have more freedom to speak out than the military, warn that losing the Hmeimim air base and Tartous naval facility would cripple Russia’s military capabilities in Syria 5/

The Russian air force is providing support to government forces, but the Syrian army alone is seen as a lost cause without strong Russian backing. Evacuating all Russian military equipment may not be possible 6/

Prominent Russian ex-militia commander Igor Girkin said Russia is overstretched and that the defeat of the Syrian government would also be Russia’s defeat 7/

Russia is facing a grave threat to its strategic positions and influence in Syria as it struggles to balance the war in Ukraine with maintaining its foothold in the Middle East 8/ ¤ Source X

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en Assad arrived in Abu Dhabi with his family, Turkish media reported, citing the UAE sources. ¤ Earlier, Russian sources reported that Assad’s family was in Russia.

🐣 RT @YouthViolenceIL Report: Israel will intervene in Syria if there is a massacre of Druze or Kurds.
⋙ 🐣 this is good; maybe a tiny spark of good to come out of the US standing behind Netanyahu despite his atrocities in Gaza (for which I hope the ICC indicts him for war crimes) ¤ (we’ve criticized Netanyahu, but never cut back arms deliveries)
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @YouthViolenceIL [פשיעה ואנטישמיות ערבית] Loser. ¤ The ICC did not issue an arrest warrant against the mass murderer Bashar al-Assad but issued an arrest warrant against the prime minister of a democratic country that acted to defend its citizens, provides food, electricity, and water to the enemy and allows a vaccination
⋙⋙⋙ 🐣 I was appalled at the attack on Israel by Hamas, like most people but (correctly) predicted at the time that Israel would respond with “20 eyes for an eye” ¤ The issue likely cost Biden the election, and the US perhaps its democracy
⋙⋙⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @YouthViolenceIL [פשיעה ואנטישמיות ערבית] Appalled? Probably not enough if you are claiming that Israel committed war crimes.
Every target struck by the IDF is approved by legal advisors—there is no other military in the world like this.
⋙⋙⋙⋙⋙ 🐣 MikkeMus8 There are questions about Israel’s conduct of the war, in particular proportionality and suspect rhetoric by government officials, but it’s far from clear-cut. In most wars by most armies, there are cases of war crimea. Hopefully, Israel will investigate and prosecute all claims.
⋙⋙⋙⋙⋙⋙ 🐣 that is good to hear

🐣 RT @maria_drutska This is how the President of Ukraine was welcomed in Paris — these ovations are for the entire Ukrainian people, who fight for their existence every single day. ¤ Thank you all for your support, friends.
💽 https://x.com/maria_drutska/status/1865474535866147136/photo/1

🐣 RT @IAPonomarenko Meanwhile in Paris
🖼 https://x.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1865435411239113125/photo/1
// photo today: Trump, Macron, Zelensky
⋙ 🐣 Zelensky is skillful and smart; Trump not so much
Hope and 🙏 it goes well

🐣 RT @YouthViolenceIL Report: Israel will intervene in Syria if there is a massacre of Druze or Kurds.
⋙ 🐣 this is good; maybe a tiny spark of good to come out of the US standing behind Netanyahu despite his atrocities in Gaza (for which I hope the ICC indicts him for war crimes)
(we’ve criticized Netanyahu, but never cut back arms deliveries)

🐣 RT @Locati0ns [EpicMaps] name one thing this country gave to the world
🖼 https://x.com/Locati0ns/status/1865470505953759345/photo/1
// US flag
⋙ 🐣 an example that a republic/democracy can function ~ at least for 248 years 🇺🇸

🐣 RT @Auriandra .@vvanwilgenburg now tweets: “Russian FM claimed in Doha it were naval manoeuvres.”
⋙ 🐣 RT @Tendar The Russian fleet in Tartus received orders to abandon the naval port. “They are leaving.” ¤ This is how fast red lines are getting buried, no matter if they are in the Syrian desert or Ukraine’s Donbas. When it is over, then it is over, and Russians leave. ¤ Source: @stephglinksi
⋙⋙ 🐣 and going to? the Black Sea? the Baltic?
Ukraine naval drones own the Black Sea
the US is about to the same thing in the Baltic
Maybe Vladivostok?
↥ ↧
⋙ 🐣 RT @stephglinski From a source speaking to contacts in Tartus: “The Russians are evacuating their ships from Tartus. They are leaving; they are leaving #Syria.”

🐣 RT @BillKristol Syria’s future will be complicated, but we should celebrate if Assad falls. ¤ (I can’t help but add that Obama’s failure to enforce his red line after Assad used chemical weapons in August, 2013, was a disastrous decision, with terrible consequences for Syria and far beyond.)
⋙ 🐣 lack of AUMF doomed our intervention; Obama was reluctant, but he went by the rules
maybe the error was our invading Iraq for no reason & stirring up the regional pot in the first place
maybe the error was Obama giving the ME hope they could have democracy 🤷
⋙ 🐣 RT @Matt_Fleming321 Congress voted against the AUMF, and it was the Republicans who did that. ¤ It never ceases to amaze me how willing people are to just flagrantly lie about Obama to cover up their own failures.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Cindi1218 Obama sought congressional approval. The GOP refused. We were still in Afghanistan and Americans were rightly or wrongly fed up with war. Context matters. That said, McCain was right and Obama ought to have acted.
⋙ 🐣 RT @schlichter1 Yes, further civil war, no government to maintain any semblance of infrastructure and maybe the bonus of having Iran and Turkey directly entering the conflict. Sounds great 😒

🐣 RT @KyivPost The day only gets worse for Moscow, as Russia’s puppet regime in Syria collapses, Zelensky meets with Trump and Macron in Paris.
💽 https://x.com/KyivPost/status/1865441368295846244/photo/1

🐣 RT @TrentTelenko Anyone who thinks Russia can hold Tartus with Ukrainian FPV drone armed HTS militia in the hills above it are pure looney tunes. ¤ “From the river to the sea Syria will be Russian Imperialist free.” […]
🌎 https://x.com/TrentTelenko/status/1865412610092323022/photo/1

🐣 RT @officejjsmart 🔥🔥🔥 “Damascus. The capital of Syria. ¤ People take to the streets, demolish monuments and tear down banners with Assad in anticipation of the city’s surrender. ¤ The city will apparently be surrendered.”
– Russian news
👉 Assad’s regime ends today.

⭕ 6 Dec 2024

NYT: Iran Begins to Evacuate Military Officials and Personnel From Syria https://tinyurl.com/5999h746 “The withdrawals by one of President Bashar al-Assad’s key backers come amid a resurgent rebel offensive.”

🐣 RT @atrupar Jeffries: “We’ve seen repeatedly amongst my extreme MAGA Republican colleagues that they say one thing to the American people before the election and then do something different after the election. House Republicans said they were gonna protect Social Security and Medicare … ”

🐣 RT @MarkSZaidEsq My response for my client @OliviaTroye to President Trump’s nominee for Director of the Federal Bureau Of Investigation (#FBI) #KashPatel’s threat of a forthcoming defamation lawsuit. ¤ #RightBackAtYa
[TextLink:] https://x.com/MarkSZaidEsq/status/1865151175441392045/photo/1 -2

★ 🐣 RT @Nature Shi Zhengli, the virologist at centre of COVID lab-leak theory, reveals coronavirus sequences from Wuhan institute.
🔆 Breaking❗️⋙ Nature: Wuhan lab samples hold no close relatives to virus behind COVID-19 https://tinyurl.com/48kdk5hf “Shi Zhengli, the virologist at centre of COVID lab-leak theory, reveals coronavirus sequences from Wuhan institute” //➔ not yet peer reviewed

[…] The results support [Shi’s] assertion that the WIV lab did not have any bat-derived sequences from viruses that were more closely related to SARS-CoV-2 than were any already described in scientific papers, says Jonathan Pekar, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Edinburgh, UK. “This just validates what she was saying: that she did not have anything extremely closely related, as we’ve seen in the years since,” he says. The closest known viruses to SARS-CoV-2 were found in bats in Laos and Yunnan, southern China — but years, if not decades, have passed since they split from their common ancestor with the virus that causes COVID-19.

For decades, Shi collaborated with Peter Daszak, president of the EcoHealth Alliance, a New York City-based non-profit organization, to survey bats in southern China for coronaviruses and study their risk to humans. The work was funded by the US National Institutes of Health and the US Agency for International Development, but in May this year, the government suspended federal funding to EcoHealth because it had not provided adequate oversight of research activities at the WIV. Those activities included modifying a coronavirus linked to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), to study the potential origins of this type of virus in bats. […]

🐣 RT @AdamKinzinger This is an oligarchy. ¤ The founders never intended people to have this much power… EVER ¤ Stop the oligarchy [link:] https://tinyurl.com/34djx4vt
[TextLink:] https://x.com/AdamKinzinger/status/1865216597817754045/photo/1
[Text:] Elon Musk spent $277 million to back Trump and Republican candidates, records show
// most MSM are reporting this story

🐣 RT @TheLastWord ‘Watch the money and who has it’: Professor @TimothyDSnyder on Trump’s 2nd term
⋙ 💽 MSNBC, LastWord: ‘Watch the money and who has it’: Professor Snyder on Trump’s 2nd term https://tinyurl.com/bdec8e74
// Yale History Professor Timothy Snyder joins MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart to discuss what we can expect from the upcoming Trump administration and what lessons Americans can learn from South Korea’s short-lived martial law declaration.

🐣 RT @U24_gov_ua russian warship, Ukrainian tractor and, of course, #NAFO fellas — all in the latest documentary on memes and their role in the war. ¤ russia spent billions on memes and thy still lost to our folklore. You’re one of the reasons why — this movie is for you:
⋙ 🔲 Meme Wars https://youtu.be/Cm57Kyxf7L0?si=8QusihYeZLz-Fz83/photo/1

🧵 RT @AndyKimNJ [newly-elected Senator] Today was my final vote in the House. As I walk out of the chamber for last time, I wanted to share something almost no one notices. The center aisle, the one the President walks down for SOTU, the aisle that divides the R and D sides, ends at an inscription of “Tolerance.”
📌 https://x.com/AndyKimNJ/status/1865064265205309935
// tags: Out of Many One united polarization identity

🧵 RT @karimfranceschi I’ve fought in #Syria for half a decade—as an SDF soldier. In that time, I studied war, drew battle plans, and learned to know my enemy. When HTS seized their first village, I saw what few others could. Take a peek at what’s coming next—a
📌 🌎 https://x.com/karimfranceschi/status/1865060541888151714
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/325p9k86

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA ❗️🇸🇾 “We could see the end of Assad’s rule in Syria in the coming hours,” a senior US official told Reuters.

McFaulsWorld, Michael McFaul: Americans Do Not Want or Need a Revolution in our National Security State https://tinyurl.com/bdp6bf7y We need reform, not revolution.

💙 🧵 RT @David_Charts How Democrats should talk about the economy, in plain language:
1. Biden has the lowest unemployment rate on average among the last 11 presidents.
2. Workers have the highest real hourly wages (purchasing power) on average under Biden, despite inflation. 1/
📌 ◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1865219857068789934/photo/1 -n

🐣 RT @calltoactivision Still not over the fact that the man who could be in charge of our health has stocked roadkill in his fridge, had a worm in his brain, is anti-vax, suggested we consume raw milk (despite a raw milk bird flu outbreak) and spoke positively about hardcore drugs.

💙 TheAtlantic, Mateo Wong: The GPT Era Is Already Ending https://tinyurl.com/mvpvn6wh “Something has shifted at OpenAI.” “In OpenAI’s early tests, scaling o1 showed diminishing returns: Linear improvements on a challenging math exam required exponentially growing computing power.”
⋙ 🐣 RT @Mateo Wong writes about nuclear power in USA—¤ If we began building a new power station today it wouldn’t come on line until 2034— at the very earliest ¤ High priced power with a waste disposal problem second to none— sorry kids this is a failed technology ¤ Deal with it
⋙⋙ 🐣 The model appears to be incapable of sustainable growth. It’s a language generating model, not a reasoning model. Not to mention it depends on human-sourced facts and research, which is not compensated and should be.

WaPo, Dana Milbank: Trump suddenly discovers that America is already great https://tinyurl.com/3uvhts2n “Members of the reality-based community might have noticed that Trump … is claiming credit for the Biden administration’s accomplishments.” ~ heartbreaking, actually

The president-elect doesn’t take over for another six weeks, but — magically — he has already made America great again.

● He has solved the border crisis. Mexico’s president “has agreed to stop Migration through Mexico, and into the United States, effectively closing our Southern Border,” Trump tells us. “THIS WILL GO A LONG WAY TOWARD STOPPING THE ILLEGAL INVASION OF THE USA.”

● He has brought peace to the Middle East. “Former NATO chief says Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire a ‘direct result’ of incoming Trump admin,” was the headline Trump posted on his social media site on Monday.

● He has scored a breakthrough against the opioid epidemic. He announced that he had secured the “commitment” of the Canadian government “to work with us to end this terrible devastation of U.S. Families.”

● And he has already turned the U.S. economy into the envy of the world. “The Stock Market Just Recorded Its Best Month This Year in the Wake of Trump’s Landslide Victory,” proclaimed the headline of another Trump social media post.

Members of the reality-based community might have noticed that Trump did not do any of these things but rather is claiming credit for the Biden administration’s accomplishments.

Illegal crossings along the southern border are now lower than they were at the end of Trump’s first term. (And Mexico’s president, contrary to Trump’s claim, said, “We reiterate that Mexico’s position is not to close borders.”) It was the Biden administration that brokered the ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel. Opioid deaths have been dropping at the fastest rate ever and are at or below levels seen at this point in Trump’s first term. (And Canada’s public safety minister describes the country’s offer to Trump to boost border security measures as a “reassurance exercise” because “we believe that the border is secure.”) As for the stock market, the S&P 500 hit 47 record highs this year before Election Day.

Trump’s quick post-election pivot away from calling America a “failing nation” was inevitable. He spent the past couple of years selling the country a load of bull. Now, he’s inheriting a stronger economy and a safer country than the one he left Joe Biden, with the border more secure and crime rates lower, and inflation tamed to below 3 percent. Contrary to Trump’s apocalyptic campaign claims, the world isn’t on fire and the U.S. military is not dominated by woke drag queens.

So what’s a defrocked doomsayer to do? Declare victory!

His supporters don’t require much convincing. Post-election polling shows that Republicans immediately revised their opinions of the nation’s health, with sharply more now viewing the economy as good and far fewer claiming it’s getting worse. (Views among Democrats have shifted far less.) Trump, by claiming credit for Biden’s record, has given his followers permission to admit that things aren’t so bad, after all.

America is already great “again” because it never stopped being great. All that’s left for Trump to do is screw it up. …

🐣 RT @ WhipKClark Taking away health care and Sesame Street.
That’s the Republican version of fighting for the American people.
⋙⋙ [Mike Johnson interview on Fox] ⇊
💽 https://x.com/WhipKClark/status/1864672189120667866/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 73% of Americans want to keep NPR and PBS, including 62% of Republicans. [2017 poll]
NPR gets 8-9% of its funding from the federal govt
PBS gets 15%.
Repeatedly polls show public media is “most trusted.”
// Source: Google searches and ChatGPT

⭕ 5 Dec 2024

🐣 RT [PBS] @NewsHour Many of President-elect Trump’s picks to lead agencies that will oversee the nation’s national security, intelligence and law enforcement communities have repeatedly expressed contempt towards the agencies they are nominated to run. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/mpj8u9db

🐣 RT @ylyana90 📢“Russia is a long-term, multi-domain threat to world peace.” 🇫🇮- Elina Valtonen Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland

🐣 RT @mfa_russia 💬 FM #Lavrov: When the US recognized the ‘independence’ of Kosovo, they said it is self-determination.
When Crimeans held a referendum, they said it violates territorial integrity 🤷‍♂️
❗️UN Charter is not a menu. You have to respect it in its entirety 👉 #UNCharterIsOurRules
⋙ 🐣 ● the Crimean election was not free and fair
● it’s mostly served as a port, military site, and vacation spot for FSB
● most of the Crimean tatars were sent to Siberia by Stalin
● it is connected by land to Ukraine
● Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders include Crimea

🦋 RT @eddieperez I realized what’s so disturbing about Trump‘s leadership picks:
– In the past, subject matter expertise was everything. If HHS, you knew science; if DNI, you knew intelligence
– But each of Trump’s picks is selected purely for their readiness to carry certain propaganda msgs, and to exact revenge

🐣 RT @DaniBeckman Paper just out in Science. We are one mutation away from Human-to-Human transmission of #H5N1 #BirdFlu We are so screwed… [link:] https://tinyurl.com/3jp583am
⋙ [Science TextLink:] https://x.com/DaniBeckman/status/1864777935150026775/photo/1

TalkingFeds/Substack, Harry Litman: Why I Just Resigned From The Los Angeles Times https://tinyurl.com/mr25n34v “I don’t want to continue to work for a paper that is appeasing Trump and facilitating his assault on democratic rule for craven reasons”

… By far the most important problem with [LA Times owner] Soon-Shiong’s scrapping of the [Harris endorsement] editorial was the apparent motivation. It is untenable to suggest that Soon-Shiong woke up with sudden misgivings over Harris’s criminal justice record or with newfound affection for Trump’s immigration proposals. The plain inference, and the one that readers and national observers have adopted, is that he wanted to hedge his bets in case Trump won—not even to protect the paper’s fortunes but rather his multi-billion-dollar holdings in other fields. It seems evident that he was currying favor with Trump and capitulating to the President-elect’s well-known pettiness and vengefulness.

Trump has made it clear that he will make trouble for media outlets that cross him. Rather than reacting with indignation at this challenge to his paper’s critical function in a democracy, Soon-Shiong threw the paper to the wolves. That was cowardly. …

Before joining the Times, I was a contributing commentator for the Post. We used to say there, tongue-in-cheek, that our billionaire was better than their billionaire, meaning Bezos was more aware of his public responsibility and more hands-off in his oversight. As it turns out, both billionaires flinched when the chips were down, choosing to appease, not oppose, a criminal President with patent authoritarian ambitions.

Before he has even taken office, Trump has faced down two of the country’s most prominent newspapers, inducing them to back off longstanding, well-reasoned editorial opposition. That is terrifying. …

Look closely at this already deeply eroded landscape: all the electoral branches are not only Republican but firmly within Trump’s fist and dedicated to loyalty to him over any principle of governance. The Supreme Court has assisted his authoritarian initiatives in ways that the legal profession and society as a whole have condemned. His current nomination process is seeking openly to cut the Senate, even its Republican members, out of their constitutional advice-and-consent role.

For the moment, the best hopes for desperately needed pushback lie with federal law enforcement, the lower federal courts, the military, and (an economically weakened) mainstream media. All this is material for another Substack, but Trump has taken dead aim at imposing loyalty to him as the defining feature of the first three, including a proposal to permit him to discharge generals who are not, as he put it, sufficiently like “Hitler’s generals.”

So the role and responsibility of the media have never been greater. And if major outlets can be bought off and made to cower, the impact on our liberty—and freedom of thought—is in grave jeopardy. …

First, the idea of balance is fundamentally misplaced when on one side of the balance is a sociopathic liar like Donald Trump. The media has struggled for years to figure out how to call out Trump’s incessant lies while still covering the contentious issues of the day. There’s good reason to think that the propagation of those lies, some of which Trump simply picks up from fringe social media sites and Fox News, influenced the results of the election. The people who voted for Trump were fed a relentless false account of issue after issue, including Trump’s signature distortions about immigrants (eating pets, committing a disproportionate number of violent crimes), which Fox News and right-wing social media parroted relentlessly.

In that context, the bromide of just being balanced is a terrible dereliction of journalists’ first defining responsibility of reporting the truth. Soon-Shiong apparently would have the Times deliver an on-the-one-hand, on-the-other-hand presentation to readers. But there is no “other hand.” Trump is an inveterate liar, and journalists have a defining responsibility to call that out. …

These are not normal times. Look around. We are in the political, cultural, and legal fight of our lifetimes. Trump’s conduct since winning the election only reinforces his determination to replace constitutional rule with some form of authoritarian rule. That needn’t be 1933 Germany, an analogy that typically draws counter-charges of excessive drama (though the existence of certain overlapping features is inescapable). There are other models of democratic demise, ones that Trump obviously wants to emulate, such as Hungary’s slide toward authoritarianism over the last 20 years.

So the neutral posture that Soon-Shiong uses to justify his violence to the paper is exactly, fundamentally wrong. This is no time for neutrality and disinterest. It’s rather a time for choosing. And a choice for true facts and American values is necessarily a vigorous choice against Donald Trump. …

But the cost of alliance with an important national institution that has such an important role to play in pushing back against authoritarian rule, but declines to do so for spurious and selfish reasons, feels too great. And Soon-Shiong’s conscious pattern of détente with Trump has in fact recast the paper’s core identity to one of appeasement with an authoritarian madman. I am loath to affiliate with that identity in any way.

My growing misgivings about the Times are one of the reasons I started this Substack two weeks ago. I’ve been blown away by the response and the number of followers and subscribers in just the first two weeks: thank you to everyone. Having this outlet for my thoughts about where Trump 2.0 is taking us makes it easier to leave.

I’m not going anywhere. I will continue to do my best to identify and analyze the dangers that might be hard to see, but for now, here on Substack. I may surface elsewhere, too. Stay tuned! I hope you will follow me here and think about becoming a subscriber.

I’ll close by quoting admiringly my former colleague and the former editorial editor at the Times, Mariel Garza: “I want to make it clear that I am not OK with us being silent. In dangerous times, honest people need to stand up. This is how I’m standing up.”
~~~~~~~~~~

I’ll end with Adam Kinzinger:
💽 https://tinyurl.com/mzcm583k

🚫🐣 RT @theliamnissan The Russians are currently executing a complete takeover of the United States government
// I’m not there yet

🐣 RT @michaeldweiss Breaking: The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has released an unclassified report into the IC and its work on Havana Syndrome, or Anomalous Health Incidents. From the first lines of the executive summary: “It appears increasingly likely that a foreign adversary is behind some AHIs.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/michaeldweiss/status/1864738626166280668/photo/1

WaPo: Far from the front lines, a spy war rages over Russian weapons https://tinyurl.com/bpaf447b “Faltering Russian drones point to modest successes in Western efforts to block Moscow’s access to technology. Yet, aided by covert operatives, Russia’s weapons production is soaring.”

🦋 RT @jamellebouie listen, the president losing his first choice pick to be secretary of defense less than a month after announcing him is an unambiguous defeat, just like losing his first choice pick to be AG was

🦋 RT @glastnostgone Yesterday Putin had his pushup bra on, trying to con everyone into thinking Russia’s economy is solid. Meanwhile the “inflation picture is a complete disaster” & prices for basic food stuffs are skyrocketing: Potatoes up 81%, cabbage 34%, milk/sour cream/apples 17% [MoscowTimes (Ru) link:] https://tinyurl.com/245e5d62

⭕ 4 Dec 2024

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder Russian tv tends to have a clear sense of who Trump’s appointments will be and what they will do.
⋙ 🐣 RT @JuliaDavisNews Meanwhile in Russia: state TV host Vladimir Solovyov and head of RT Margarita Simonyan rejoiced over Trump’s picks. They were especially thrilled about Kash Patel and Pete Hegseth, predicting, “They will quickly dismantle America, brick by brick.”
⋙⋙ 💽 YouTube: Russian state TV rejoices over Kash Patel and Pete Hegseth nominations https://youtu.be/kYGSEFxPaLg

🐣 RT @nexta_tv NATO is planning to create a fleet of unmanned ships to protect critical infrastructure in the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas amid a series of undersea cable damage ¤ The drones will be used for surveillance on the surface and underwater. ¤ This was announced by NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation Pierre Vandieu.

🐣 RT @NATO. We must do more than just keep Ukraine in the fight. We must provide enough support to change the trajectory of this conflict once and for all.❞ — @SecGenNATO Mark Rutte #ForMin | #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦
💽 https://x.com/NATO/status/1864338759581618279/photo/1

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump “Behind closed doors, people think she might be compromised. Like it’s not hyperbole,” the aide continued. “There are members of our conference who think she’s a [Russian] asset.”
⋙ TheHill: Gabbard seen as tough lift for Trump in Senate GOP https://tinyurl.com/y7yrpb6v

TheAtlantic, David Frum: The Sound of Fear on Air https://tinyurl.com/49rzypkc “I do not write to scold anyone; I write because fear is infectious. Let it spread, and it will paralyze us all. ¤ The only antidote is courage. And that’s infectious, too.”

// It is an ominous sign that Morning Joe felt it had to apologize for something I said.

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow Kevin McCarthy: “Democrats at the State of the Union looked like America, while the Republicans looked like a restrictive country club in America.” (June 2024)
💽 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1864487856283992238/photo/1

🐣 RT @LucasSa56947288 BREAKING: Rep. Jerry Nadler announced that he’ll step down as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee to allow Jamie Raskin to take his place.…

🐣 RT @nexta_tv ❗BREAKING: Ukraine to Receive $50 Billion from Frozen Russian Assets in Coming Weeks — U.S. Secretary of State Blinken ¤ “We are currently preparing to allocate $50 billion from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. These funds will be distributed by us and Europe in the coming weeks, providing support to Ukraine for the next year,” Blinken stated.

⭕ 3 Dec 2024

🧵 RT @MFA_Ukraine This week, 5 December 2024, marks the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Memorandum on Security Assurances in connection with Ukraine’s 🇺🇦 accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the Budapest Memorandum.
📌 [TextLink:] https://x.com/MFA_Ukraine/status/1863850995438035204/photo/1

🐣 RT @@igorsushko President-elect Trump’s Special Envoy to Ukraine and Russia, Lt Gen Keith Kellogg: The more military support the Biden administration can send to Ukraine the more leverage Ukraine will have in any negotiations with Russia.
💽 [Fox:] https://x.com/igorsushko/status/1864179598692327798/photo/1

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow Rupert Murdoch is “the single most destructive force in America, UK and Australia,” argues @karaswisher, though the empire “is in its waning days.” He “created a sort of tsunami of disinformation… I would say it’s laziness, but I think it’s deliberate.”
💽 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1864141503402062197/photo/1

🐣 RT @KyivPost NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has warned Donald Trump that forcing Ukraine to sign a “bad peace” on Russia’s terms would result in “grave threats” to the US in the long term, stemming from China, Iran, and North Korea.

NYT: South Korea’s President Declares Martial Law: What to Know https://tinyurl.com/bdexmch2 “President Yoon Suk Yeol has been locked in a bitter fight with the opposition, which controls Parliament”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1864008595702231374/photo/1

Mr. Yoon, a former prosecutor, won an extremely close presidential election in 2022, bringing the country’s conservatives back to power with calls for a more confrontational stance against North Korea and a stronger alliance with the United States. He replaced President Moon Jae-in, a progressive leader who served a single five-year term.

When he was sworn in to office in May of that year, Mr. Yoon vowed to stand for values including freedom and liberal democracy. ¤ Soon after he was elected, however, Mr. Yoon began turning to lawsuits, state regulators and criminal investigations to clamp down on speech that he called disinformation, efforts that were largely aimed at news organizations. Police and prosecutors repeatedly raided the homes and newsrooms of journalists whom his office has accused of spreading “fake news.”

In April, Mr. Yoon’s People Power Party suffered a stinging defeat in parliamentary elections, giving the opposition a huge majority. He became the first South Korean president in decades to contend with an opposition-controlled Parliament for his entire time in office.

CNN: South Korea president declares emergency martial law, sending shockwaves across country https://tinyurl.com/hk5jypr3
// South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in an unannounced late-night TV address Tuesday, accusing the country’s main opposition party of sympathizing with North Korea and of anti-state activities

⭕ 2 Dec 2024

🐣 RT @PoliticusSarah Lawrence O’Donnell, “There is nothing in the personal history of any of the other presidents of the United States to indicate that any one of the would not have done exactly what Joe Biden did in pardoning his son.”
💽 https://x.com/PoliticusSarah/status/1863786051426287915/photo/1

🦋 RT @atrupar A key asymmetry of this era of American politics and how it’s covered is that Trump is expected to do bad and corrupt things, so when he does it barely qualifies as news. But Dems are expected to be beyond reproach, so anything that seems even slightly suspect is a huge scandal.

⭕ 1 Dec 2024

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe rips into the “terrible” nomination of Kash Patel for FBI Director: ¤ “The fact that Kash Patel is profoundly unqualified for this job is not even like a matter for debate. What we should be really thinking about right now is what does this signal in terms of Trump’s intent for the FBI…use it as a tool for the president’s political agenda…”
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1863032426819113108/photo/1

🐣 RT @David_Charts My Six Favorite Untruths About the Biden-Harris Economy https://tinyurl.com/48skvsk6
⋙ CEPR, Dean Baker (9/23): My Six Favorite Untruths About the Biden-Harris Economy https://tinyurl.com/48skvsk6 “The media decided that they wanted to tell a bad economy story, and they were not going to let reality get in the way.”
// “People can speculate about motives, but the evidence speaks for itself.”

⭕ 30 Nov 2024

TheAtlantic, Tom Nichols: The Kash Patel Principle https://tinyurl.com/cbkuthth “Trump’s choice for FBI director speaks volumes about his real second-term agenda”

The Russians speak of the “power ministries,” the departments that have significant legal and coercive capacity. In the United States, those include the Justice Department, the Defense Department, the FBI, and the intelligence community. Trump has now named sycophants to lead each of these institutions, a move that eliminates important obstacles to his frequently expressed desires to use the armed forces, federal law-enforcement agents, intelligence professionals, and government lawyers as he chooses, unbounded by the law or the Constitution. ¤ If you want to assemble the infrastructure of an authoritarian government, this is how you do it.

PoliticoMag, Nancy Scola (Nov 30): Democrats Face an Existential Crisis on X https://tinyurl.com/yzar6ykm “Conversations with a dozen insiders point to a party that is unsure about whether to leave or engage with the increasingly MAGA platform.”

🦋 RT @denverr [Riggleman] I deleted a prior post because it wasn’t strong enough. ¤ Anyone voting to confirm Kash Patel as the FBI director is bought & paid for by Trump & billionaires. Kash Patel is a dangerously ignorant yes man that will destroy federal law enforcement. ¤ It’s a declaration of war on the American people.

🦋 🐣 RT @joyycewhitevance Trump throws down the gauntlet. The answer from the Senate MUST be no. Kash Patel cannot be put in charge of the FBI.

🐣 RT @Acyn Nichols: You have the makings of a not so slow motion authoritarian takeover of the United States government. And people ought to be really concerned about this.
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1863029637959618830/photo/1

🐣 RT @wiley_inc We are HERE ¤ With Kash Patel, history repeats itself ¤ When Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany (1933-1945), he used a combination of legal, extralegal, and violent measures to persecute his enemies and consolidate control. These tactics targeted political opponents, minorities, and anyone deemed a threat to the Nazi regime.

🐣 RT @ScottGottliebMD From my segment today on @CNBC We face a grim and avoidable resurgence of once vanquished childhood infectious diseases if we follow down a current path now being laid in Washington.

🦋 RT @anneapplebaum A blow to the Russian-Iranian alliance, which has brought death and misery to both Syria and Ukraine
¤ https://bsky.app/profile/anneapplebaum.bsky.social/post/3lc64i4crzk2w

🦋 RT @QusayNoon Statement by the White House and the Biden Administration on What is Happening in #Syria
[TextLink:] https://bsky.app/profile/qusaynoor.bsky.social/post/3lc7hyccbmk2q

Statement by NSC Spokesperson Sean Savett on Syria
BRIEFING ROOM STATEMENTS AND RELEASES

We are closely monitoring the situation in Syria and have been in contact over the last 48 hours with regional capitals. The Assad regime’s ongoing refusal to engage in the political process outlined in UNSCR 2254, and its reliance on Russia and Iran, created the conditions now unfolding, including the collapse of Assad regime lines in northwest Syria. At the same time, the United States has nothing to do with this offensive, which is led by Hay’at Tahir al-Sham (HTS), a designated terrorist organization. The United States, together with its partners and allies, urge de-escalation, protection of civilians and minority groups, and a serious and credible political process that can end this civil war once and for all with a political settlement consistent with UNSCR 2254. We will also continue to fully defend and protect U.S. personnel and U.S. military positions, which remain essential to ensuring that ISIS can never again resurge in Syria.

🐣 RT @maddenifico John Heilemann is not wrong. Trump’s agenda is all about the destruction of America so he can rule in the same way Hitler did after the Enabling Act of 1933 gave him ultimate power. 😳👇
💽 https://x.com/maddenifico/status/1862680480052605221/photo/1

🐣 RT @AnnaGvarishvili I’ve been reporting from the ground for 10 years, and I’ve never seen anything even close to what I witnessed today and yesterday [in Georgia].
¤ https://x.com/AnnaGvarishvili/status/1862626500148703481

This feels like a turning point in #GeorgiaProtests. I have never seen the Georgian people so unyielding. Just last week, I wrote that the smaller crowds in the streets compared to spring meant nothing — except that the anger hadn’t gone anywhere. Instead, it was simmering, growing stronger, waiting for the regime’s next mistake to erupt with even greater force.

Today’s riot was dispersed so many times, in such brutal ways, that I’ve lost count. So many people were bloodied. So many were detained.

Yet even now, Rustaveli Avenue is filled with people — beaten, bruised, exhausted, disappointed, and fiercely angry — but still holding EU flags with pride. Because we believe, that Europe is our home, and we will not surrender it at any cost. ¤ Help us. Don’t let us lose this country to the Russians. No one has fought harder for it than we have.

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom “You are an abuser of women — that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego.” – Pete Hegseth’s mother.

TheGuardian: Trump defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth’s mother called him ‘an abuser of women’ https://tinyurl.com/y7drrvxv “Email from mother, published in the New York Times, said he mistreated women and displayed a lack of character”

🐣 RT @igorsushko 🚨 BREAKING: Reports of gunfire at the Presidential Palace in Damascus, capital of Syria.
Coup against the Assad regime is possibly in progress. Assad fled to Moscow with his entire family.
State television stopped broadcasting.

🐣 RT @@BillKristol I hope the Biden Administration is doing everything it can to help the anti-Assad fighters in Syria, the anti-Putin democrats in Georgia, the pro-freedom forces in Iran, and of course the brave Ukrainian people.

🐣 RT @Daractenus This is one of those rare weeks in history when decades happen. Spare a thought for Ukraine, Georgia, Syria and Romania.

⭕ 29 Nov 2024

🐣 RT @saintjavelin Syrian rebels are reportedly fighting within Aleppo as their counteroffensive in the northwest gains momentum. The city hosts Russian army bases active since 2015, and the rebels have already captured the largest military base of Assad.
🌀 https://x.com/saintjavelin/status/1862493753539256396/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 and just when Trump proposed an Assad sympathizer to head US intelligence services (ODNI) ¤ what a shame 😂😝

⭕ 28 Nov 2024 🦃 🥧 🙏 🍁 🏈

TheAtlantic, Tom Nichols: The Trump Marathon https://tinyurl.com/32b3set3 “If Americans want to hold Trump accountable in a second term, they must keep their heads when he uses chaos as a strategy.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1862410926500036895/photo/1

🐣 RT @SenSanders This time of year, I am always reminded of the Thanksgiving scene painted by one of my favorite artists, Norman Rockwell.
¤ 🖼 https://x.com/SenSanders/status/1862157427031830528/photo/1

Many people don’t know this, but Rockwell actually lived for a time in Arlington, Vermont, and painted some of his most well-known pieces there, including his “Four Freedoms.” He even used many of his Vermont neighbors as models and inspiration in his work.

Rockwell’s “Four Freedoms” series was published in the Saturday Evening Post in 1943. They were paintings that reflected the vision that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt articulated in his 1941 State of the Union speech: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear.

In that speech Roosevelt stated:

“In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.

“The first is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world.

“The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way—everywhere in the world.

“The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants—everywhere in the world.

“The fourth is freedom from fear—which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor—anywhere in the world.

“That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash of a bomb.”

In my view, Roosevelt’s vision from 1941 remains relevant today.

On behalf of Jane, my children, and my grandkids, let me take this opportunity to wish everybody a very happy Thanksgiving and a wonderful holiday season.

🐣 RT @ChrisDJackson Today, I’m thankful for the quiet strength and grace of a family that has led this nation with purpose. POTUS @JoeBiden and @FLOTUS @DrBiden stepped up in a time of division and uncertainty, guiding us with empathy and resolve. ¤ As their time in the White House ends, their legacy will stand as a reminder of what real leadership looks like—a stark contrast to the chaos and division of the other side. ¤ In time, I am confident more Americans will come to appreciate what they brought to the table when we needed it most.
🖼 https://x.com/ChrisDJackson/status/1862166014449893450/photo/1

TheAtlantic, Stephen Hawkins and Daniel Yudkin: The Perception Gap That Explains American Politics https://tinyurl.com/4rtb2sey “Americans overwhelmingly—but, it turns out, mistakenly—believe that Democrats care more about advancing progressive social issues than widely shared economic ones.”

⭕ 27 Nov 2024

⭕ 26 Nov 2024

AtlanticCouncil (Nov 6): Donald Trump just won the presidency. Our experts answer the big questions about what that means for America’s role in the world. https://tinyurl.com/yc229cfs US Leadership, Ukraine, Taiwan, NATO, EU, crypto

🐣 RT @POTUS Today, I have good news to report from the Middle East. ¤ I have spoken to the Prime Ministers of Lebanon and Israel. And I am pleased to announce: ¤ They have accepted the United States’ proposal to end the devastating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🇺🇦👀 British Secretary of State for Defense John Healey believes that support for Ukraine should be doubled, and a joint position of the five most militarily powerful European states (🇬🇧UK, 🇩🇪Germany, 🇫🇷France, 🇮🇹Italy, and 🇵🇱Poland) will help contain the expansion of Russian aggression.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Maks_NAFO_FELLA/status/1861326930835825069/photo/1

❗️”We will continue to strengthen our support for Ukraine. As the war in Ukraine enters a critical phase, it is time for us to strengthen our collective defense. We are working together to strengthen NATO’s eastern flank. We are working together to strengthen cooperation in the development of air defense systems and long-range missiles. We are working together to strengthen industrial programs between our leading companies.”

⭕ 25 Nov 2024

StateNews: Congress may have to ‘put the brakes on’ some uses of presidential power, Thune says https://tinyurl.com/388ptzmj “Incoming U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-South Dakota, signaled Tuesday he’s willing to push back against potential attempts by President-elect Donald Trump to expand presidential power over federal spending”

TimothySnyder (Substack): A Third World War? ~ Let’s help those who are holding it back https://tinyurl.com/3p8jedh5 “The Ukrainians are containing the ongoing war in Europe to their own country; they are deterring the war in the Pacific; and they are preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.”

🐣 RT @SteveRattner In my latest for @nytopinion, I lay out how a fading American Dream fueled Trump’s rise – and why he’s not likely to bring it back.
⋙ NYT, Steve Rattner: Donald Trump Will Do Nothing to Bring Back Our Dying American Dream https://tinyurl.com/ysm3xwz6 “It’s not hard to understand why many, disillusioned about the ability of traditional liberal policies to right their ship, were tempted by Mr. Trump’s braying populism.”
“Trump’s signature Tax Cut and Jobs Act … shoveled approximately 85 percent of its largess into the hands of corporations and those making over $75,000 a year”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1861462830370951249/photo/1 -2
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1861462838323356162/photo/1 -2

… So it’s not hard to understand why many, disillusioned about the ability of traditional liberal policies to right their ship, were tempted by Mr. Trump’s braying populism. Now this has become Mr. Trump’s problem to solve — although the medicine he prescribed during his campaign will do little to address root causes and may even make things worse.

While inflation has moderated, prices remain higher than younger Americans can remember — and electing Mr. Trump will not return them to where they were.

By placing significant tariffs on imports, Mr. Trump is likely to increase prices even more. When prices rise further, Americans will be forced to buy less, reducing sales for vendors, thus causing them to slow hiring or reduce employee rolls. This is how tariffs cost our economy more jobs than they create or save.

Mass deportation of immigrants would quickly create labor shortages, particularly in critical areas like construction, farming and food production, and health care. While that could theoretically cause wages to rise in the short run, it would also lead to higher costs in all these areas, cutting into economic growth and ultimately leaving many worse off.

Nor should we root for an extension of Mr. Trump’s signature Tax Cut and Jobs Act, which shoveled approximately 85 percent of its largess into the hands of corporations and those making over $75,000 a year.

And nothing good will come for the average American by rewarding self-interested plutocrats who are pushing him to pull back on a wide range of regulatory policies, from cryptocurrencies to government control of the housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. For example, abandoning antitrust enforcement could allow anticompetitive mergers, resulting again in higher prices for consumers.

The new administration will probably turn its back on initiatives that could help, such as more education and more training. It’s also unlikely to embrace policies needed to cushion the blow felt by working-class Americans, including the Affordable Care Act, which brought health care to some 40 million, many of them low income. And instead of Mr. Trump’s regressive tax plan, we need more progressive taxation (“redistribution” should not be a dirty word), to help those left behind. As a matter of fairness, wealthy Americans should be prepared to pay more.

Mr. Trump caught a lucky break in his first term, arriving in time to ride the wave of recovery begun by President Obama. If he fails to raise living standards for those below the top tier, his second turn in the White House may well end badly, especially if he follows through on his counterproductive campaign promises.

NYT: Trump Plans Tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China That Could Cripple Trade https://tinyurl.com/2zytweff “The president-elect said that he would impose the across-the-board tariffs on Day 1 and that they would stay in place until Canada, Mexico and China halted the flow of drugs and migrants.”

🔊 TheAtlanticRadio (podcast), Hanna Rosin: What Pete Hegseth’s Nomination Is Really About ~ Revenge on the military is just the start of it. https://tinyurl.com/bdf9xkh2

🐣 Pinned Tweet: Here is the 2024 Version of the Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart.
For the interactive version, here’s the link https://tinyurl.com/4e79xzv9
(p.s. I am now auriandramn on the other place)

TheEconomist: Nobody knows why ultra-processed foods are bad for you. But scientists are racing to find out https://tinyurl.com/yuaktb6y
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1861254276535705736/photo/1

… In one of the few such trials, published in 2019, Kevin Hall, a researcher at the National Institutes of Health (nih) in America, and his colleagues, admitted 20 adults to the nih Clinical Centre for four weeks. The participants received either ultra-processed or minimally processed foods for two weeks before swapping diet for the next fortnight. Participants in both diets had access to the same amount of calories and nutrients like sugars, fibre and fat. People were free to eat as much or as little as they wanted.

The results were striking. People on the ultra-processed diet ate about 500 more calories per day than those on the unprocessed one. They also ate faster and gained an average of 1kg (2.2 pounds) over two weeks. On the other diet, participants lost a similar amount of weight. Dr Hall says that, though the study was short and conducted in an artificial setting, the results suggest that excess amounts of salt, sugar and fats might not be fully to blame for the ill effects of processed food. …

TheAtlantic, David Graham: Donald Trump Gets Away With It https://tinyurl.com/yumjfrh7 “Jack Smith is dropping the charges against the president-elect for his assault on the fundamentals of American democracy.” //➔ dismissed WITHOUT PREJUDICE: it’s not over, per AWeissmann_ on @Lawrence

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en I recommend reading through. The overall picture is very telling. ¤ ‼️ Bankruptcies, losses, and optimization of the largest and most important enterprises and banks are happening in Russia.
¤ https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1861078363068039577

In 2025, Russians will face a new series of losses and bankruptcies. The reason is not only sanctions restrictions but also growing problems inside Russia.

● Rusal, one of the world’s largest aluminum producers, announced the start of production optimization – it will be reduced by 250 thousand tons in the first stage. The company explained the decision of optimization by “record prices for raw materials and high risks of a continued negative macroeconomic environment.”

● Major Russian mining and metals company Mechel announced the suspension of one of its enterprises – Olzherasskaya-Novaya mine in Mezhdurechensk. The reason is problems with the sales market.

● Major Russian corporation PJSC Gazprom made a record net loss of $6.1 billion in 2023, becoming Russia’s most unprofitable company for the first time in 25 years.

● ALROSA (Russian group of diamond mining companies) reduced its revenue under Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) by 30% and net profit by 3 times in 9 months. The net loss amounted to 6.5 billion rubles ($62,7 million).

● Baltika brewing company is among the top ten most unprofitable companies in Russia in 2024. In 2022, the company’s revenue was about 100 billion rubles ($965 million). In 2023, the net loss was 28.1 billion rubles ($271,1 million). The option of filling the budget by nationalizing profitable private enterprises has failed.

● PJSC KAMAZ’s net loss for the first nine months of 2024 amounted to 3.8 billion rubles ($36,6 million) against a profit of 15.8 billion rubles ($152,4 million) for the same period last year, according to financial statements published on the company’s website.

● AvtoVAZ automobile manufacturing company is talking about possible bankruptcy and debts of over 100 billion rubles ($965 million). This is due to the increase of the Russian key rate.

● Rosneft CEO Igor Sechin is going to classify data on Russian oil exports and the production volumes of Russian refineries ostensibly to protect Russia’s national interests from “unfriendly actions” by the USA and other Western countries. In reality, it is to hide the crisis in this field.

● Sanctions were imposed on Gazprombank, the major bank, and fifty other banks. Sanctions were also imposed against the Russian System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS, sort of Russian analog of the international SWIFT messaging system).

🐣 RT @JReinerMD It doesn’t matter that not all of RFK, Jr’s ideas are crazy, because those that are crazy (“there are no safe and effective vaccines”, “the COVID virus was engineered to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese”) should exclude him from a role in the government.

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom Today’s NYT article on Luzerne County, PA, is evidence again that Democrats have made some messaging errors, but that no amount of messaging is going to get through to people for whom reality is secondary to ginned-up fears produced by the right-wing rage machine.

🐣 RT @kylegriffin1 Big note from Jack Smith: The prohibition on charging sitting presidents “does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind.

🔆 This❗️⋙ WaPo: Special counsel Jack Smith moves to dismiss both Trump’s federal cases https://tinyurl.com/mr3pmywy “The special counsel filed a motion to dismiss Donald Trump’s election-obstruction case without prejudice, which means the case could be revived in the future.”

⭕ 24 Nov 2024

TheAtlantic, Brooke Harrington: What the Broligarchs Want from Trump https://tinyurl.com/593xfhxy “Tremendous power is flowing to tech and finance magnates.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1860749250344239193/photo/1

Musk spent millions of dollars to support Trump’s campaign and promoted it on X. He’s now doing everything he can to capitalize on Trump’s victory and maximize his own power—to the point of siccing his X followers on obscure individual government officials. Some evidence, including Axios’s recent focus-group study of swing voters, suggests that Americans may already feel queasy about the influence of the broligarchs. “I didn’t vote for him,” one participant said of Musk. “I don’t know what his ultimate agenda would be for having that type of access.” Another voter added, “There’s nothing, in my opinion, in Elon Musk’s history that shows that he’s got the best interest of the country or its citizens in mind.” Even so, we can expect him and his fellow broligarchs to extend their influence as far as they can for as long as Trump lets them.

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom RFK is a danger to the health of millions of Americans, especially children. Hegseth and Gabbard are a danger to the security and safety of the United States itself.

NYT: The ‘Landslide’ That Wasn’t: Trump and Allies Pump Up His Narrow Victory https://tinyurl.com/pt898mct “The latest vote count shows that Donald J. Trump won the popular vote by one of the smallest margins since the 19th century. But Mr. Trump claims a ‘powerful mandate.’”

🐣 RT @kylegriffin1 In a new letter, Sen. Elizabeth Warren is demanding answers from the General Services Administration on the “serious consequences” of Trump’s “unprecedented” refusal to complete required transition agreements. ¤ No prior president-elect has refused to sign these agreements.https://tinyurl.com/msa8ew9b
⋙ ≣ PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION ACT OF 1963 https://tinyurl.com/58dx7tdk

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder Hegseth represents a policy of regime change. Read “Pete Hegseth: 13 Steps to National Destruction” Link in profile or image below [link:] https://tinyurl.com/9377w228
[TextLink:] https://x.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/1860717020582437212/photo/1

“Hegseth, according to his books, could be counted upon to ignore threats to America from abroad, and to use a purged and politicized military against “enemies within.” This is consistent with Trump’s avowed intention to build a kind of dictatorship on the ruins of a dysfunctional
government.”

💙 WaPo, Dan Balz: Trump is coming for the executive branch. Does he know what he’s doing? https://tinyurl.com/56urun8x The president-elect has signaled he will be destructive, but he seems motivated by retribution rather than saving money.
⋙ Also via @EconBerger: ⬇️
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1860712451240521893/photo/1
// “1/ As a share of nonfarm employment, the federal government is currently 1.9%, near its smallest size since at least 1939.
“2/ Total government (including state & local) is 14.8%, near its smallest post-1957 size.”
⇈ ⇊
WaPo, Dan Balz: Trump is coming for the executive branch. Does he know what he’s doing? https://tinyurl.com/56urun8x
⋙ U.S. Government spending as % of GDP is already low ⬇️
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1860720693618311268/photo/1
⇈ ⇊
WaPo, Dan Balz: Trump is coming for the executive branch. Does he know what he’s doing? https://tinyurl.com/56urun8x
⋙ The U.S. is already among lowest-taxed countries in the OECD (“First World” Countries) ⬇️
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1860721063446917517/photo/1

🐣 RT @igorsushko MUST WATCH: House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Mike McCaul — Ukraine gave up nukes in exchange for our military protection. We betrayed Ukraine when we allowed Russia to invade Crimea and Donbas in 2014. NATO betrayed Ukraine. ¤ We must supply Ukraine everything to win.
💽 https://x.com/igorsushko/status/1860415647647432803/photo/1
// McCaul discussion w John E Herbst

🐣 RT @PeterHotez I hope to have my article out soon in a scientific journal outlining my proposed 4-step plan to begin countering rising antivaccine activism in America. The reason for my article is more than academic – but rather a genuine threat to public health in the U.S. highlighted here
[TextLink:] https://x.com/PeterHotez/status/1860688142803533841/photo/1

[Text:] Reminder: – 200,000 Americans needlessly perished bc they refused Covid vaccines
– 5X increase in Pertussis cases from 2023 to 2024
– 15 Measles outbreaks in 2024
– Polio in NY wastewater in 2022
All from antivaccine activism in the US, and now you put him charge.
Prof Peter Hotez MD PhD

⭕ 23 Nov 2024

🐣 RT @KyivPost Russia’s invasion plans included mass graves, crematoriums and kill lists of veterans, teachers, public figures, journalists.
⋙⋙ KyivPost: Russia Planned Genocide Long Before Invasion: Kill Lists, Crematoriums, Mass Graves – HUR https://www.kyivpost.com/post/42721 “Kyrylo Budanov claims Russian soldiers were briefed on where to locate mass graves before the full-scale invasion and that systematic genocidal policies were in place.”
⋙ 🐣 The USSR did this when they invaded Poland in WW2 ~ killed all leaders in all fields, eg all Polish Armed Forces officers, teachers, priests, community leaders ¤ they haven’t changed

⭕ 22 Nov 2024

🐣 RT @DougWahl1 DO YOU AGREE WITH BRIAN?
Last night on the Seth Myers program Brian Williams said the Democrats have completely lost the working class voters, and no longer understand how to talk blue collar. ¤ Your thoughts?
⋙ 🐣 “bodily autonomy” doesn’t work? ¤ how about “gender-nonconforming”? ¤ “intersectionality”? “neurodiversity”? “ecosocial justice”?
what is Brian trying to say? give some examples!

🐣 RT @BillKristol “Should Biden win, Hegseth predicted, ‘Outnumbered freedom lovers will fight back…The military and police, both bastions of freedom-loving patriots, will be forced to make a choice. It will not be good. Yes, there will be some form of civil war.’”
⋙ TheGuardian: Trump’s Pentagon pick Hegseth wrote of US military taking sides in ‘civil war’ https://tinyurl.com/3strpddn “Defense secretary pick said in 2020 that should Democrats win election the military ‘will be forced to make a choice’”

🐣 RT @McFaul U.S. Successfully Conducts SM-3 Block IIA Intercept Test Against an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Target > U.S. Department of Defense > Release

🐣 RT @anders_aslund The Russian economy now is critically weak:
1. Its reserves will run out in a year.
2. Inflation is rising (9%) & ruble rate falling & it is not mitigated by ever higher interest rates (21%).
3. Desperate shortage of labor & soldiers.
4. Sharp public criticism.
Time to hit hard!

🐣 RT @TheTweetOfGod I would like to apologize to 🐅, 🐿️, 🌹, 🦭, 🦛,🌴, 🦋, 🦎, 🌲, 🐫, 🐠, 🍄‍🟫, 🐝, 🌵, 🐢, 🦀, 🐜, 🦌, 🐨, 🐻‍❄️, 🦈, 🦥, 🎋, 🦙,🦫, 🐘, 🦘, 🍁, 🐀, 🦉, 🐙, ☘️, 🦗, 🦅, 🐼, 🐖, 🐺, 🐇, 🐸, 🌻, 🐌, 🕊️, 🐐, 🦠, 🐬, 🌷, 🦟, 🐊, 🐧, 🦒, 🦇, 🦍, and even 🦕 , for 👱‍♂️. ¤ Sorry. I dropped the 🌎.

⭕ 22 Nov 2024

🐣 RT @sahilkapur Mitch McConnell, stepping down as Republican leader, says he intends to become Senate Rules Committee chairman for the next two years.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/sahilkapur/status/1859970107927376367/photo/1

McConnell Announces Priorities for 119th Congress

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) issued the following statement today regarding his new roles in the 119th Congress: “America’s national security interests face the gravest array of threats since the Second World War. At this critical moment, a new Senate Republican majority has a responsibility to secure the future of U.S. leadership and primacy. I intend to play an active role in this urgent mission as Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, and I look forward to working closely with incoming Chair Susan Collins to accomplish our shared goal. “The Senate Rules Committee will also have important work to accomplish in the 119th Congress, and I look forward to leading it as Chairman. Defending the Senate as an institution and protecting the right to political speech in our elections remain among my longest-standing priorities. Ranking Member Deb Fischer has done an outstanding job advancing these causes, and I know she will remain a key partner in the committee’s ongoing work.”

🐣 RT @saintjavelin The U.S. Department of Defense updates its Nuclear Deterrence Strategy. ¤ Ohio-class submarines armed with Trident II ICBMs are now on heightened readiness. ¤ Don’t worry, Kremlin—this is just a “special readiness operation”

WaPo: Russia seeks to intimidate Ukraine with new missile, officials say https://tinyurl.com/bd3pd53k “The attack with an intermediate-range ballistic missile has spurred fears of a major escalation in the ongoing war and prompted Ukraine to request new air defenses.”

WaPo, David Von Drehle: The Iron Man of America’s op-ed pages https://tinyurl.com/857d8uvh “George F. Will’s conservative outlook and cheerful erudition have been the hallmarks of an extraordinary career.”

⭕ 21 Nov 2024

🐣 RT @atrupar Bill Clinton: He’s interested in people who are loyal to him 100% of the time no matter who gets hurt. He believes that his supporters have no confidence whatever in the federal government. And Lord knows he’s done everything he could to destroy that confidence.
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1859617906251694158/photo/1

TheHill: Pro-Ukraine lawmakers make last-ditch effort to safeguard US support https://tinyurl.com/fvwhk2sh

🐣 RT @mattyglesias The ACA successfully “bent the cost curve” despite all the doubters and haters and because it worked nobody talks about this problem anymore.
⋙ 🐣 RT @MattZeitlin health care spending as a portion of GDP has basically flatlined since 2009 or so
◕ https://x.com/mattyglesias/status/1859781902615576897/photo/1

WaPo, Philip Bump: Lots of Republicans suddenly think the economy wasn’t that bad after all https://tinyurl.com/ycym6d42 “Polling from YouGov shows a sharp shift in Republican opinions over the past month.” //➔ Republicans answer much more based on who is president ⇊ ◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1859992626637984023/photo/1

🐣 RT @WajahatAli This is how it’s done.
⋙ 🐣 RT @yashar BREAKING via AP ¤ Brazil’s federal police indicted former President Jair Bolsonaro and 36 other people on charges of attempting a coup to keep him in office after his electoral defeat in the 2022 elections.

🐣 RT @StrictlyChristo Man convicted of sex crimes nominates woman accused of child sex crimes to be in charge of childhood education
[TextLink:] https://x.com/StrictlyChristo/status/1859719413861318980/photo/1
// CNN: “Linda McMahon, Trump’s Pick to Run The Department of Education, Was Sued For
Allegedly Enabling Sexual Abuse of Children”

WaPo: RFK Jr. weighs major changes to how Medicare pays physicians https://tinyurl.com/3xwarzp3 “Kennedy and advisers say the system drives doctors to perform costly surgeries rather than combating chronic disease.”

NYT: Police Report Offers Graphic Details of Sexual Assault Claim Against Hegseth https://tinyurl.com/msujfc2x “President-elect Donald J. Trump’s choice for defense secretary was never charged with a crime and vehemently denied to the police that a sexual encounter was coerced.”

NYT: Gaetz Withdraws as Attorney General Pick https://tinyurl.com/52acchht

🐣 RT @front_ukrainian ❗️The Third World War has already begun, we can assume so, – the former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Zaluzhny. ⋙ “In 2024, Ukraine will face not only the Russian Federation, but also the DPRK. North Korean missiles are flying into Ukraine, Chinese shells are being exploded, Iranian Shahed are killing civilians.”

🐣 RT @BarbMcQuade The real muscle behind Trump’s “populist” movement is the moneyed class — wealthy heiresses, tech bros, and crypto kings. They influence policy to favor the rich, and tell voters that immigrants and DEI have caused their economic plight.
⋙ NYT: Behind the Scenes at a Secretive Gathering of Rising MAGA Donors https://tinyurl.com/3eszxtw3 “The Winklevoss twins, Rebekah Mercer, allies of Elon Musk, Donald Trump Jr. and top Trump campaign aides recently joined a conclave of right-wing donors who are suddenly flush with power.” ⋙ Rockbridge Group, lead: Chris Buskirk

[…] Back in 2019, Mr. Vance, then best known as the author of “Hilbilly Elegy,” and a conservative media figure named Chris Buskirk began informally hosting a series of small dinners with the hopes of laying groundwork for Mr. Vance’s political career and, eventually, of building a Trump-aligned alternative to the Koch Network. One early meeting was organized by Mr. Vance with donors and activists at a resort in Rockbridge, Ohio — and the name was born. …

Once in the fall and once in the spring, Rockbridge began to gather at places like the Four Seasons in Palm Beach, Fla., or the Ritz-Carlton in Dallas for three days of political panels and business networking. Speakers included people like Tucker Carlson; the Thiel protégé Blake Masters; the casino mogul Steve Wynn; the investor David Sacks; and Woody Johnson, the billionaire owner of the New York Jets. …

Mr. Vance’s victory in his 2022 race for Senate in Ohio, and then his rise to the presidential ticket this year, served as powerful validation for Rockbridge and Mr. Buskirk, who remains in Mr. Vance’s close orbit even today. Mr. Buskirk used Rockbridge resources to quickly start a super PAC this election cycle to bolster Mr. Trump’s ground game. And Rockbridge, once dismissed by some moderates as a B-lister in the pecking order of G.O.P. fund-raising, prompted even some establishment-minded Republicans to trek out to Las Vegas. …

Rockbridge, according to literature distributed to donors this year, “builds lasting political infrastructure” and “strives to replace the current Republican ecosystem of think tanks, media organizations and activist groups that have contributed to the party’s decline.” The ambition is palpable, but some longtime attendees privately question whether the group has come close to delivering on those goals.

🐣 RT @anders_aslund Wonderful to learn that the US has finally sanctioned Gazprombank, the largest non-designated bank, which was allowed to get away with everything because it handled energy payments. ¤ Also more than 50 small Russian banks were sanctioned. ¤ Great! [Treasury link:] https://tinyurl.com/yc2trvr4

🐣 RT @mattyglesias Federal bureaucrats as a share of all employees has been in long-term decline — rising government spending is about programs for the elderly and the sick.
◕ [FRED:] https://x.com/mattyglesias/status/1859578325821427844/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner In the early 20th century, Americans lived in fear of the polio virus, which infected tens of thousands of Americans and paralyzed a president. ¤ The vaccine nearly eliminated the disease within a decade of its release. It would be crazy to undo that progress.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1859561984745779405/photo/1

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski House Republicans giving the Chair to their MVP.
[Fox TextLink:] https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1859595316577575085/photo/1
// Text: “Comer to create DOGE subcommittee chaired by Marjorie Taylor Greene to
work with Elon Musk, Vivek Ramaswamy”

🐣 RT @SteveRattner The Omicron wave of covid was 10x more deadly for unvaccinated Americans — empowering anti-vaxxers like RFK is clearly a threat to American public health. @Morning_Joe
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1859562110738399641/photo/1

⭕ 20 Nov 2024

🐣 RT @BigBlueWaveUSA 🚨🚨🚨🚨 THIS is Nikki Haley sounding the alarm as loudly as she possibly can. Tulsi Gabbard IS a Russian agent. That’s a fact, not opinion. Gabbard has sided with Russia, Iran, Syria & China AGAINST the United States using strictly Russian talking points
💽 https://x.com/BigBlueWaveUSA/status/1859392067774054539/photo/1

🐣 RT @mmfa Trump set to appoint Project 2025 architect Russ Vought to Office of Management and Budget ¤ Vought is a leading proponent of “Schedule F,” a plan to potentially fire thousands of federal civil servants and replace them with MAGA acolytes [link:] https://tinyurl.com/3nd34dcj

💙 TheEconomist (2023): Western values are steadily diverging from the rest of the world’s [interactive] https://tinyurl.com/4njha3ye “People’s principles were expected to align as countries got richer. What happened?”
// 8/3/2023

🐣 RT @Mylovanov Russia’s economy is in worse shape than Ukraine’s. Russian Central Bank head Nabiullina admits it has nearly exhausted its resources. ¤ Addressing parliament today, Nabiullina complained about
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1859351261692428680.html

1. No people left. A record-low unemployment at 2.4%, worsening labor shortages 1/

73% of enterprises face labor shortages 2/

2. Production at its limits. Factory capacity utilization surpasses 80%, a record high 3/

“When an economy reaches the limits of its productive capacity while demand continues to be stimulated,” Nabiullina warned, “stagflation arises.” 4/

3. Credit bubble and isolation. Rising interest rates are driving up credit costs, commodity industries are losing Western markets, and defense factories are running at full capacity 5/

4. Slowing GDP growth. GDP growth slowed to 3.1% in Q3, down from 4.1% in Q2 and 5.4% in Q1. 6/

5. Stagflation. The Central Bank predicts near-stagnation next year, with GDP growth of 0.5%-1% and flat investment and private consumption. 7/

Bloomberg says that Russia’s elite describe grim economic conditions: Western company exits have weakened industrial capacity, import substitution lags, and mass mobilization has worsened labor shortages. 8/

🐣 About government being “too big”:
◕ [TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1859463973994713432/photo/1

🐣 RT @EconBerger A quick reminder:
1/ As a share of nonfarm employment, the federal government is currently 1.9%, near its smallest size
since at least 1939.
2/ Total government (including state & local) is14.8%, near its smallest post-1957 size.

WaPo: Grocers report egg shortage ahead of holidays amid surging bird flu https://tinyurl.com/9cankx9w “Avian influenza has affected more than 108 million poultry in 48 states since 2022, lifting prices and diminishing supply.”

🐣 RT @DanAlexander21 Big investigation out this morning, headlined:
⋙ Forbes: ‘The Most Hated Guy On Wall Street’: The Unspoken Story Around Howard Lutnick, Trump’s Pick For Commerce Secretary $$ https://tinyurl.com/5ayxkcsf

★ 🐣 RT @mtosterholm Vaccines save lives and reduce healthcare costs. Those are facts. It is dangerous that RFK Jr., a political figure with no medical or public health training, is the choice to take the nation’s most powerful and important public health job.
⋙ NYT, Michael Osterholm and Ezekiel Emanuel: How Kennedy Could Make It Harder for You and Your Family to Get Vaccinated https://tinyurl.com/5bhfuru5

WaPo: See if your city is poised to bounce back from the next climate disaster [interactive] https://tinyurl.com/cdwe5fs4 “How do you pick a safe place to live? Climate scientists predict an intensifying barrage of hurricanes, droughts, wildfires, flooding and sea-level rise”
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1859318216553648309/photo/1
// three maps: Climate Risk / Resilience / Vulnerability: Rochester: very low risk; high resilience; more resilient than risky

🐣 RT @ChuckPfarrer FIRST USE: Sources reveal that for the first time Ukraine has used Stormshadow missiles to hit targets inside Russia. The strikes occurred in Kursk Oblast. [BBC link:] https://tinyurl.com/4nedwsn8
◕ https://x.com/ChuckPfarrer/status/1859292983905906801/photo/1

🐣 RT @BillKristol “We uncovered plenty more wild remarks from Kennedy; read the whole thing to learn all you could hope to know of his belief that government measures to keep Americans safe were actually CIA interrogation techniques to break our collective spirit.”
⋙ TheBulwark, William Kristol and Andrew Egger: Entering Our Crank Era https://tinyurl.com/43brmphp “The Trump administration will be defined by people who refuse to trust empirical reality. RFK Jr. will be its avatar.”

🐣 RT @ruthbenghiat Trump’s cabinet picks are a declaration of war on expertise and facts (that’s why there are several Fox hosts in the mix). The con artists, fraudsters, and professional propagandists that populate authoritarian governments see facts and laws as impediments to their goals.
⋙ 🐣 RT @AaronBlake Linda McMahon, Trump’s pick for Education secretary, resigned from a state education board shortly after a newspaper asked her about her false claim that she had an education degree. [WaPo link:] https://tinyurl.com/2tard8v7

🐣 RT @donaldtusk Today I spoke with President @ZelenskyyUa and PM @JustinTrudeau, next week in Sweden a special format with Scandinavian countries, plus the Baltics, plus Poland. The West must have a unified position on the support for Ukraine and common security.

🐣 RT @SassiestMinx Sherburne Co., Mn announced tonight on the news that for some strange reason the ballot totals from machines didn’t match what the tabulation software said, once uploaded.
// Oddly, only mail-in ballots weren’t tabulating. ¤ Sounds an awful lot like what’s happening around the country. ¤ Oh and the big race impacted is a House race where the incumbent (D) is ahead by 100 votes, which could decide the balance of power in the Mn House. 🤷🏻‍♀️ ¤ I recorded off the tv tonight and yes that’s Dad laughing in the background. 😂

🐣 RT @allenanalysis BREAKING: Chinese vessel Yi Peng 3 intercepted by Danish Navy after destroying critical undersea telecom cables linking Finland-Germany and Sweden-Lithuania.
🌎 https://x.com/allenanalysis/status/1859238414781911474/photo/1

The ship, captained by a Russian and sailing from Russia, was chased down by the Danish Navy vessel Y311 Søløven in a dramatic operation. This wasn’t just sabotage—it was a calculated strike on the backbone of Europe’s communication infrastructure.

Let’s be clear: Russia and China are openly testing how far they can go, targeting the systems that keep Europe and the West connected. While the cables lie shattered beneath the sea, the silence from global leaders is deafening. Where is the strategy to protect these lifelines before the next strike? ¤ This isn’t just an attack on cables—it’s an attack on stability, security, and the future.

🐣 Fluoride/Cavities
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1859264586840465679/photo/1

WaPo: RFK Jr. wants fluoride out of drinking water. Oregon shows what’s coming. https://tinyurl.com/yx5mek8y “Fluoride is added to water to strengthen teeth and reduce cavities, but communities are abandoning the practice because of health concerns.”
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1859255881130447192/photo/1

⭕ 19 Nov 2024

★ 🔄 CIDRAP/UofMN: Universal Influenza Vaccine Technology Landscape https://tinyurl.com/mszhx6zj “database of novel vaccine candidates designed to provide broader and more durable protection against circulating and pandemic influenza viruses” incl avian flu H5N1

WaPo: Trump ignores transition rules. It’s a ‘hostile takeover,’ ally says. https://tinyurl.com/2xh9ynv6 “Donald Trump’s transition team has begun what a close ally calls a hostile takeover of the federal government, ignoring the rules for the handover of power in the process.”

🐣 RT @nowthisimpact With minimal time left in the Democratic majority, the Senate has now confirmed a new head of the Office of Government Ethics.
¤ https://x.com/nowthisimpact/status/1859040352457683387

In a 50-46 vote, senators voted to confirm David Huitema as the new ethics czar for a 5-year term. ¤ This means the Biden pick will serve throughout Trump’s presidency.

The move shines a light on the recent issues with the transition of power. Trump thus far has refused to sign any transition-related ethics agreements with the Biden administration. Without these agreements, Trump’s teams are unable to transition to office or receive access to federal agencies.

The Office of Government Ethics is not only responsible for overseeing the executive branch ethics program and preventing financial conflicts of interest but is also heavily involved with reviewing Cabinet nominations. The Senate’s confirmation comes at a time when many are questioning the validity and ethical standards of Trump’s proposed appointees.

🐣 RT @newrepublic Donald Trump repeatedly told America he had “nothing to do” with Project 2025. But now, he’s welcoming its architect into his Cabinet with open arms [link:] https://tinyurl.com/aryetv6y

🧵 RT @outbreakupdates The 1918 flu wiped out 90% of adults in Brevig Mission, Alaska. ¤ It carried a key mutation: PB2 E627K. ¤ Now, H5N1 is showing signs of similar adaptation. ¤ The strain detected in a Canadian teenager also carries PB2 E627K. ¤ 1/
📌 https://x.com/outbreakupdates/status/1859044616034807897

🧵 RT @RadioFreeTom So, a few words about this new Russian nuclear doctrine, but here’s the short version: It’s not a doctrine, it’s a ploy. /1
📌 https://x.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1859066418831978592

⋙ The old Soviet Union had a formal military doctrine, and it mattered. (Trust me. Wrote my doctoral dissertation and first book on it.) It mattered because the regime believed in ideology, and in conforming its policies to ideology and communicating that to its institutions. /2

⋙ Soviet military doctrine was a means of intra-elite communication and policy guidance. Yes, some of it was just bullshit, but it was a real thing that was meant to make the various parts of the USSR defense world (strategy, industry, etc) fly in formation. /3

⋙ Soviet military doctrine was meant to set the limits and contours of debate around national defense – and to make sure no one wandered off the ideological reservation. It was not a set of ironclad rules, but a way of setting parameters on national security stuff. /4

⋙ Putin’s Russia isn’t an ideological state. It has no need of “doctrine.” It’s a mafia state run by thugs. “Doctrine” is whatever Putin wants to do at any given moment. So don’t fall for some “new doctrine” as if it’s a trigger or red line that Putin will have to observe. /5

⋙ Putin wants you to believe that if it’s a new “doctrine,” that anything that happens will automatically force him to follow his own rules and then have to do something terrible. That’s not a doctrine, that’s just bullshit nuclear Calvinball. /6

🐣 RT @saintjavelin Ukraine’s use of ATACMS to strike military targets inside Russia is sparking more dramatic headlines than Russia’s import of North Korean soldiers, or Iranian missiles and drones. ¤ The implication? This somehow escalates the risk of nuclear war—an argument that’s baseless.
¤ https://x.com/saintjavelin/status/1858866097618821360

Russia has repeatedly threatened nuclear retaliation if certain “red lines” were crossed. Here’s what’s actually happened:

● Ukraine got F-16s (now defending their skies)
● Sweden joined NATO
● Ukraine received HIMARS (used for 2+ years)
● ATACMS strikes are ongoing
● Crimea has been hit since 2022
● Ukraine has Western tanks, 155mm shells, and regularly attacks Russian territory.
● Even the Russian Navy’s flagship was sunk.

Each time, no nuclear response. ¤ Endlessly playing the “nuclear threat” card is just fear mongering not based in facts.

🐣 RT @WhiteHouse Since President Biden and Vice President Harris took office, American entrepreneurs have filed over 20 million new business applications.¤ That’s the most in any single Presidential term in history.
🐣 RT @WhiteHouse Under the Biden-Harris Administration, we have had the first, second, and third strongest years of new business applications on record – and now we are on track for a fourth.

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa Today, I addressed the participants of an extraordinary session of the European Parliament marking the 1,000th day of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
¤ https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1858879931398168803

Every “today” is the best moment to push Russia harder. It is clear that without certain key factors, Russia will lack real motivation to engage in meaningful negotiations: without fires in its ammunition depots on Russian territory, without disrupted military logistics, without destroyed Russian air bases, without its capabilities to produce missiles and drones being eliminated, and without its assets being confiscated.

Putin does not value people or rules; he values only money and power. These are the things we must take away from him to restore peace.

We must do everything to end this war—fairly, justly, and, of course, together. A thousand days of war is a tremendous challenge. Ukraine deserves to make the next year the year of peace.

🐣 RT @BillKristol “Next year’s Republican Senate has two paths. One is voluntary self-emasculation. It can confirm Trump’s choices with little pushback or even let him make recess appointments…The other is to fight hard to preserve our values—and, yes, their own dignity.”
⋙ TheBulwark, Jill Lawrence: Trump’s Putting Together a Team of Outlaws “It’s a cabinet in his image: narcissistic, corrupt, and dangerous to America.”

🐣 RT @BillKristol “There is nothing in House rules that prohibits the committee from disclosing investigative information and reports about departed members. There are precedents when the committee—following a member’s resignation—released reports and public statements.” [link:] https://tinyurl.com/4wj4dpxx

🐣 RT @stuartpstevens Ukraine is the moral test of our times. ¤ For Republican and Democratic politicians, no one will remember any of the thousands of bills passed or defeated in these years. There will be one question: did you stand with the freedom fighters in the largest war in Europe since WW2? Or did you do nothing while a new darkness of genocide fell over Europe?
⋙ 🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa 1000 days together ¤ 1000 days of Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦
💽 https://x.com/stuartpstevens/status/1858919092004286922/photo/1

🐣 RT @DemocraticWins BREAKING: JB Pritzker just announced that he is aggressively going to pushback on Donald Trump’s plans to use the U.S. military to invade blue states and force deportations. This is how it’s done.
💽 https://x.com/DemocraticWins/status/1859010046212141119/photo/1

WaPo: Trump picks Mehmet Oz to serve as Medicare and Medicaid services administrator https://tinyurl.com/2s49ut8c
// “Trump announced plans Tuesday to nominate Mehmet Oz, the celebrity doctor and onetime U.S. Senate candidate in Pennsylvania, to lead the agency that administers the Medicare and Medicaid programs. Trump, meanwhile, said he will nominate Wall Street banker Howard Lutnick as commerce secretary.”

🐣 RT @MikeHudema The Greenland ice cap is losing around 30 MILLION tonnes of ice an hour due to the climate crisis – 20% MORE than what scientists originally thought. ¤ No time to waste. Stopfossifuels. #ActOnClimate ¤ #climate #energy #renewables #go100re

AP: BREAKING: Prosecutors tell a New York judge that they oppose any effort to dismiss President-elect Donald Trump’s hush money conviction. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/4pm6meks

⭕ 18 Nov 2024

TheAtlantic, Tom Nichols: The Senate Exists for a Reason https://tinyurl.com/3uzeu32h “These four Trump picks should be stopped.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1858782586950037748/photo/1

As president-elect, Donald Trump has the right to name the people he wants in his Cabinet. Some of Trump’s nominations, such as Senator Marco Rubio to lead the State Department, are completely ordinary. A few are ideological red meat for Republicans. Others are gifts to Trump loyalists.

Four of these nominees, however, are dangerous to the security of the United States and to the well-being of its people: Pete Hegseth (Defense), Tulsi Gabbard (Office of the Director of National Intelligence), Matt Gaetz (Justice), and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Health and Human Services). The Senate must turn back these nominations, and do so en bloc.

NYT, Mikhail Zygar: Putin Sees America Hurtling to Disaster, With Trump at the Wheel https://tinyurl.com/33ssacp5 “To many in the Kremlin, a Trump presidency might bring about the collapse of the American state”

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow “He’s trying to break the instiutions of American government and American society, and what you’ve been seeing for the past few weeks is an all fronts assault on American democracy.” — Tom Nichols on Trump’s cabinet nominations. @BlueATLGeorgia

🐣 RT @jeffjarvis Oh, Lord. Joe and Mika went to Mar-a-lago. “What we did agree on,” Mika said, “was to restart communications.” Access. “He seemed interested in finding common ground with Democrats.” Credulity. They revert to their mean.

🐣 RT @AlexanderSoros They are playing with fire! ¤ Americans will be screwed if there is another pandemic!
⋙ Notus: RFK Jr.’s Plans for Health Agencies Could Weaken a Future Pandemic Response https://tinyurl.com/4dxuejsc “RFK Jr. said he wants to overhaul major federal health agencies. Public health experts and Democratic lawmakers are concerned about the potential turnover.”

🐣 RT @bmcarthur17 One of the world’s premier male ballet dancers, Vladimir Shklyarov, 39, fell to his death from the fifth floor on Saturday after criticizing Putin’s war against Ukraine. ¤ Rest in peace. ¤ #SlavaUkraini #DemsUnited

WaPo: Tracking Trump’s picks for his Cabinet and administration https://tinyurl.com/2wk3xbwn “Here are the people Donald Trump has selected or is considering to fill his Cabinet and key positions in his administration.”
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1858584358006755803/photo/1

🔄 💙 TheHill: The 9 GOP senators who could derail Trump’s Cabinet picks https://tinyurl.com/2jy2ehw9 Bill Cassidy (LA), John Cornyn (TX), John Curtis (new; UT), Susan Collins (ME), Joni Ernst (IA), Mitch McConnell (KY), Lisa Murkowski (AK), Tom Tillis (NC), Todd Young (IN)

🐣 RT @ ChrisDJackson 📸 President Biden was greeted with warmth and respect by his fellow world leaders at the G20 Summit this morning.ns Our allies know the truth: he’s been the steady hand holding global alliances together. When he’s gone, they’ll feel it just like we will.
🖼 https://x.com/ChrisDJackson/status/1858529799917998347/photo/1 -4

🐣 RT @allenanalysis BREAKING: 🚨 Something’s rotten in D.C.: The McConnell “no recess appointments” report just vanished off the face of the internet.
⋙ A reporter based in D.C.—ground zero for this story—deletes her scoop without a retraction or correction. No explanation. Nothing. ¤ This isn’t some random blog. It’s the New Yorker. And now, after @BasedMikeLee and all of X zeroed in, the quote’s gone, and we’re left with questions.
⋙ Did the blowback scare her? Or was there a call from above to bury this? The silence from mainstream media is deafening. ¤ What’s being covered up?
// Original source was Jane Mayer of the New Yorker

⭕ 17 Nov 2024

🐣 RT @JoyceWhiteVance We’ve got to stop treating this stuff like it’s normal.
⋙ 🐣 RT @BlueATLGeorgia Quite the open from 60 Minutes on Trump’s cabinet picks.
💽 [60 Minutes:] https://x.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/1858360248181911788/photo/1
// Scott Pelley

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski In fact, I do not recall those great health policies.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1858345384214466901/photo/1
⋙⋙ [Text:] 🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump We’re coming up on the five year anniversary of Covid, and if you recall, under President Trump’s leadership, we had incredible public health policies. President Trump’s unparalleled creation of Operation Warp Speed was one like we’ve
never seen before! Dr. Janette Neishewat, FoxNews
⋙ 🐣 Operation Warp Speed simply picked up on research on mRNA vaccines begun by Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman in the 1990s, for which they received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2023.

🐣 RT @Ronxyz00 Q: Are you expecting to close down entire agencies like the Department of Education.
Vivek: Yes, we expect certain agencies to be deleted outright. I think people will be surprised.

🐣 RT @Mollyploofkins ONLY 16 U.S. service members died in combat during President Biden’s tenure. The LOWEST in U.S. history. ¤ Remember this number.

WaPo, EJ Dionne: Trump will take office as a lame duck. That could matter a lot https://tinyurl.com/y4e6zncj “GOP politicians who hope for long & happy political futures are starting to think beyond this moment… Do they really want Gaetz, Gabbard, Kennedy & Hegseth on their records?”
// Let’s free our politics from the unhealthy hold the president-elect has on both parties.

WaPo: Biden approves Ukraine’s use of long-range U.S. weapons inside Russia, reversing policy https://tinyurl.com/nhkbn9tf “The Biden administration will allow Kyiv limited use of ATACMS to strike enemy positions in Russia, according to senior U.S. officials.” //➔ only in Kursk

President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use a powerful American long-range weapon for limited strikes inside Russia in response to North Korea’s deployment of thousands of troops to aid Moscow’s war effort, according to two senior U.S. officials.

The easing of restrictions on allowing Kyiv to use the Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS, to hit targets inside Russia is a significant reversal in U.S. policy and comes as some 10,000 elite North Korean troops have been sent to Kursk, a region of Russia along Ukraine’s northern border, to help Moscow’s forces retake territory gained by Ukraine. ¤ The Biden administration fears that more North Korean special forces units could follow in support of this effort. …

The initial Ukrainian effort is expected to focus on and around the Kursk region, though it could expand, according to the official and another person familiar with the matter. […] ATACMS — pronounced “attack-ems” — is a supersonic guided missile system that can be fitted with either cluster munitions or conventional warheads, with a maximum range of about 190 miles.[…] The White House wants to put Ukraine in the best possible place ahead of peace talks that the new U.S. president is expected to spearhead early in his term, U.S. officials said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is “testing the West, NATO, and even South Korea, observing their response to North Korean forces joining his campaign,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X late last month. “If the response is weak, we should expect the numbers of foreign soldiers on our soil to increase.” …

Biden, though he has authorized tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine, has been reluctant to grant Kyiv advanced U.S. weapons. He hesitated about sending the Patriot air defense system, then relented. A similar policy evolution saw the U.S. initially refuse to give Ukraine U.S.-made Abrams tanks and F-16 fighter jets. […]

🐣 RT @EvijaUnama TheWashingtonPost- Breaking news: President Joe Biden has authorized Ukraine to use a powerful American long-range weapon [ATACMS] for limited strikes inside Russia in response to North Korea’s deployment of thousands of troops to aid Moscow’s war effort, according to U.S. officials.

NationalInterest: US Nuclear Strategy and the Future of Arms Control https://tinyurl.com/4eb56ekk “Pessimism about Chinese or Russian intentions is certainly warranted, but their future capabilities for carrying out a disarming first strike are uncertain.”

🐣 RT @MollyMcKew First there was outrage at idea Russia uses information warfare against Americans ¤ Then Americans started using the same techniques on Americans ¤ They started using same narratives; Russia started mirroring them too ¤ Now it’s all 1 thing; no one is outraged anymore ¤ We should be

⭕ 16 Nov 2024

TheAtlantic, Beppe Severgnini: American Kakistocracy https://tinyurl.com/4pn3jdzn “Italy knows a thing or two about what the United States faces—but there are key differences between the two countries’ experiences.” Trump will be worse.

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson Well, well, well. I’m just SHOCKED.
⋙ 🐣 RT @ChrisO_wiki 1/ X’s algorithm was changed in mid-July 2024 to systematically boost Republican-leaning accounts and Elon Musk’s own account following his endorsement of Donald Trump, according to a newly released computational study of engagement from the Queensland University of Technology.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/TheRickWilson/status/1857797227659337751/photo/1

AmericanSpectator, Dave Troy (July 30): The Wide Angle: Peter Thiel and the American Apocalypse https://tinyurl.com/y4t8yp6a “Any default on US debt would be unprecedented, sparking a global catastrophe with unpredictable outcomes”
// 7/30/2024

WaPo: Inside the Republican false-flag effort to turn off Kamala Harris voters https://tinyurl.com/36yx784a “With digital spots, direct mail, text messages, influencer marketing and mobile billboards, the overall project was a high-tech experiment in misdirection” ~ i.e. lies
// A multipronged dark money effort by advisers to Elon Musk targeted liberals, Jews, Muslims and Black voters with ads that were not quite what they seemed.

[…] — an old political tactic that has been sharpened in recent decades with increasingly precise targeting techniques. …

The entire effort grew out of research by Building America’s Future, a conservative political nonprofit that was founded during the first Trump administration by Republican consultants Generra Peck and Phil Cox. With others at P2 Public Affairs, Peck and Cox, former advisers to DeSantis, were top strategists for a separate effort, America PAC, the super PAC funded by Musk to support Trump. Musk donated to Building America’s Future in 2022, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The group’s leaders have declined to comment on their donors. …

They also deployed multiple brands to place the ads, concealing their common origin — Future Coalition PAC, Duty to America PAC, Americans for Consumer Protection and Progress 2028, according to people involved. …

“People were upset on both sides of the aisle on it, said it was dishonest, disingenuous, we shouldn’t be running ads that look like Harris’s. But it worked and the numbers are undeniable,” Romeo said. “We had a ton of inquiries on these efforts from the media. We didn’t answer any of them. We just ran our strategy and we didn’t care what anyone said. I think that we learned from the Trump campaign in that respect.” …

🚫🐣 RT @golub So, it’s true. Shit’s about to pop.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/golub/status/1857937495259861183/photo/1 (since deleted)
// possibly fake; one comment says he saw it before is was deleted

🐣 RT @elonmusk Lib media already trying to create a schism between me and Trump, saying I’m overstaying my welcome at Mar a Lago, that I’m annoying him, ha!!! 😂🤣 Trump and I are as solid as can be. He knows I got him elected and he’s going to do anything | tell him to do

🐣 RT @igorsushko 30 years ago, Ukraine agreed to give up the world’s 3rd largest nuclear arsenal in exchange for security guarantees from the US and Russia under the Budapest Memorandum.
● 3,000 tactical nuclear warheads
● 1,900 strategic nuclear warheads
● 176 ICBMs
● 42 strategic bombers

🐣 RT @BernieSanders As I told @lexfridman, we are rapidly moving towards oligarchy. ¤ Our economy has a greater concentration of ownership that at any time in history. A few large corporations control what is produced and the prices we pay. ¤ The same thing is happening with our political system.
💽 https://x.com/BernieSanders/status/1857913125623759258/photo/1

🐣 RT @ReallyAmerican1 If Russian state TV is openly celebrating your selections for national security positions, you have picked WRONG. ¤ Horrifically wrong.
💽 [CNN:] https://x.com/ReallyAmerican1/status/1857579283805315583/photo/1

🧵 RT @David_Charts Monthly economic review, through the October data. First, about 6.7 million more people were working than the pre-pandemic peak, which was regained in June 2022. The October data (+12k jobs) was distorted by strikes and hurricaines, so don’t read too much into it. 1/
📌 ◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1857895147138330686/photo/1 -n

⭕ 15 Nov 2024

Road&Track: Tesla Has the Highest Fatal Accident Rate of All Auto Brands, Study Finds https://tinyurl.com/25ptpptv “Tesla vehicles suffer fatal accidents at a rate that’s twice the industry average, according to a new report.”

🔄 NYRB: The Return Of Trump: Writers respond to the reelection of Donald Trump. [Series] https://tinyurl.com/34uxwc9z

WaPo: Musk appears to pressure Trump on Cabinet and tariffs, raising eyebrows https://tinyurl.com/255jenpw “Elon Musk, the billionaire who has become Donald Trump’s ‘first buddy,’ appeared to publicly pressure the president-elect on economic policy and a key Cabinet pick.”

WaPo: Trump tests loyalty of Republican allies with wild opening salvoes https://tinyurl.com/2phxnwvu “It’s a given Trump’s going to beat us into submission,” said one House Republican.

🐣 RT @PoliticusSarah Nicolle Wallace, “As Tim Snyder, author of On Tyranny, puts it, quote, taken together, trump’s candidates constitute an attempt to wreck the American government.”
💽 https://x.com/PoliticusSarah/status/1857531128413897081/photo/1

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder “Decapitation Strike: Preserving America from Trump’s Appointments” ¤ See link in profile or image below.
⋙ Substack, Timothy Snyder: Decapitation Strike: Preserving America from Trump’s Appointments https://tinyurl.com/37hxpaaf “We should be wary of shock, which excuses inaction. Who could have known? What could I have done? If there is a plan, shock is part of the plan. We have to get through the surprise and the shock to see the design and the risk”

Each of Trump’s proposed appointments is a surprise. It is comforting to think that he is simply a vengeful old man, lashing out this way and that. This is unlikely. He and Musk and Putin have been talking for years. And the whole idea of his campaign was that this time he had a plan.

We should be wary of shock, which excuses inaction.  Who could have known?  What could I have done?  If there is a plan, shock is part of the plan.  We have to get through the surprise and the shock to see the design and the risk.  We don’t have much time. Nor is outrage the point. Of course we are outraged. But our own reactions can distract is from the larger pattern.

The newspapers address the surprise and the shock by investigating each proposed appointment individually.  And we need this.  With detail comes leverage and power.  But clarity must also come, and quickly.  Each appointment is part of a larger picture.  Taken together, Trump’s candidates constitute an attempt to wreck the American government.

In historical context we can see this.  There is a history of the modern democratic state.  There is also a history of engineered regime change and deliberate state destruction.  In both histories, five key zones are health, law, administration, defense, and intelligence.  These people, with power over these areas of life, can make America impossible to sustain. …

[ Paragraphs about each proposed “horror” candidate ]

Imagine that you are a foreign leader who wishes to destroy the United States.  How could you do so?  The easiest way would be to get Americans to do the work themselves, to somehow induce Americans to undo their own health, law, administration, defense, and intelligence.  From this perspective, Trump’s proposed appointments — Kennedy, Jr.; Gaetz; Musk; Ramaswamy; Hegseth; Gabbard — are perfect instruments.  They combine narcissism, incompetence, corruption, sexual incontinence, personal vulnerability, dangerous convictions, and foreign influence as no group before them has done.  These proposed appointments look like a decapitation strike: destroying the American government from the top, leaving the body politic to rot, and the rest of us to suffer.

I do not defend the status quo. I have no doubt whatsoever that the Department of Defense and the Food and Drug Administration require reform.  But such a reform, of these or other agencies, would have to be guided by people with knowledge and experience, who cared about their country, and who had a vision of improvement.  That is simply not what is happening here.  We are confronted instead with a group of people who, were they to hold the positions they have been assigned, could bring an end to the United States of America. 

It is a mistake to think of these people as flawed. It is not they will do a bad job in their assigned posts. It is that they will do a good job using those assigned posts to destroy our country.

However and by whomever this was organized, the intention of these appointments is clear: to create American horror. Elected officials should see this for what it is. Senators, regardless of party, should understand that the United States Senate will not outlast the United States, insist on voting, and vote accordingly. The Supreme Court of the United States will likely be called upon. Although it is a faint hope, one must venture it anyway: that its justices will understand that the Constitution was not in fact written as the cover story for state destruction. The Supreme Court will also not outlast the United States.

And citizens, regardless of how they voted, need now to check their attitudes. This is no longer a post-electoral moment. It is a pre-catastrophic moment. Trump voters are caught in the notion that Trump must be doing the right thing if Harris voters are upset. But Harris voters are upset now because they love their country. And Harris voters will have to get past the idea that Trump voters should reap what they have sown. Yes, some of them did vote to burn it all down. But if it all burns down, we burn too. It is not easy to speak right now; but if some Republicans wish to, please listen.

Both inside and outside Congress, there will have to be simple defiance, joined with a rhetoric of a better America. And, at moments at least, there will also have to be alliances among Americans who, though they differ on other matters, would like to see their country endure.

🐣 RT @TimAlberta So to recap…
rule-of-law voters get an alleged sex trafficker junkie as the country’s top cop
pro-life voters get an abortion enthusiast leading HHS
America-First voters get a Kremlin stooge coordinating our intelligence ops
…but sure, go on believing in a “binary choice”

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom If you don’t want the FBI to do vetting on your appointees, it’s because you know you have serious problems – including national security threats – among your appointees. ¤ It’s that simple.

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch Sri Lanka recently tried RFK Jr.’s food plan. The results were catastrophic. It caused agricultural productivity to plummet, led to widespread food shortages, skyrocketing prices, lost export revenue, and destroyed the economy. Farmers faced massive losses and the government was forced to reverse the ban and import emergency food supplies at great cost. https://
⋙ FP (2022): In Sri Lanka, Organic Farming Went Catastrophically Wrong https://tinyurl.com/yym94wuh “A nationwide experiment is abandoned after producing only misery.”
// 3/5/2022

Newsweek/UnitedHealthFnd (8/13/2024): Healthiest States https://tinyurl.com/53973hwu “The 2023 report analyzed data “encompassing 87 measures from 28 distinct data sources.” It highlighted trends, disparities, and key health challenges faced across the country.” NH MA VT CT MN
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1857332493323526157/photo/1
// (cont.) Worst LA MS AR OK AL ¤ America’s Health Rankings ‘covers a variety of health measures, incl chronic diseases, mental health, & access to care, & provided insights into how socioeconomic factors and public health policies may have impacted overall health outcomes.’

🐣 I’ve been reading (actually, listening via audiobooks) to history, starting with WW2 and cycling out to three books on world history. ¤ But the phrase I keep coming back to to keep my composure is from the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas : “Be passers-by”

⭕ 14 Nov 2024

WaPo, Edward Whelan: Mike Johnson must block Trump’s scheme on recess appointments https://tinyurl.com/5ymk3pkr “Trump is threatening to bypass Senate approval of his Cabinet picks. The House speaker should stop him.”

Ten years ago, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia labeled the president’s recess-appointment power an “anachronism” because “modern forms of communication and transportation” make the Senate always available to consider nominations. Along with three of his colleagues, Scalia also argued that the president’s power to make recess appointments is limited to intersession recesses and does not apply to the intrasession recess that the Trump scheme would concoct. The justice, who died in 2016, would be aghast at the notion that a president could create an intrasession recess for the purpose of bypassing the Senate approval process for nominations.

Mike Johnson should not be complicit in eviscerating the Senate’s advice-and-consent role. He should promptly make clear that the House will abide by its usual schedule of recesses and will not attempt to engineer a recess of the Senate.

🐣 RT @LawrenceGostin Trump’s pick of RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary is disastrous for public health. RFK JR has spent his entire life fomenting distrust in public health. He’s the world’s most pernicious anti-vaxxer. Having a person skeptical of science & evidence at HHS will make America Unhealthy

TheAtlantic, Eliot Cohen: Brace for the Storm https://tinyurl.com/3ukvv9b9 “The first year of Trump’s new administration may be as dangerous as the last of his old.”

Having studied a lot of military history and visited a few war zones, I learned long ago that hysteria is unhelpful; catastrophism gets in the way of diagnosis. In this case, it distracts from understanding how we got here, beginning with the ways in which elites disregarded the woes of those who found themselves whipsawed by inflation. And it risks obscuring the extent to which the culture wars of the past decade or so have bred a furious reaction against identity politics, thought policing, and the suppression of widely held beliefs.

Going forward, we should judge the Trump administration by what it does, and by who fills its senior positions. There was a 48-hour window of mild optimism when Trump named Michael Waltz as his national security adviser, Marco Rubio as secretary of state, and Elise Stefanik as UN ambassador. All three are experienced politicians, all are sane, and—although reliably Trump-deferential and hence flexible of spine—all are internationalists.

And then came the triple whammy of Pete Hegseth as secretary of defense, Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence, and Matthew Gaetz as attorney general. Hegseth is an angry former major of the Army National Guard who has never run a substantial organization but has loud and extreme views, including on the need for the American military to shake loose the law of war and the importance of firing the cerebral and highly competent chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General C. Q. Brown. Gabbard, who has proved sympathetic to Syria’s Assad family and to Vladimir Putin, is a failed Hawaii politician. Gaetz, a man recently under federal investigation for alleged sex crimes, would take over the department that was investigating him. (He denies the claims, and no charges were ever filed.) None is remotely qualified to hold the jobs for which they’ve been nominated, three of the most important national-security positions in the country. Indeed, in a normal administration, they would be considered national-security risks.

This augurs ill, and not only for the individuals and groups against which Trump has sworn vendettas. The nominations risk producing an incoherent and irresponsible foreign policy and, in the case of Hegseth, the politicization of the U.S. military through a series of purges conducted outside normal procedures. We may well see the demoralization and corruption of the officer corps, major compromises of intelligence sources and methods, and a hijacking of the Department of Justice to pursue domestic opponents while shielding foreign enemies.…

So what am I, a Never Trumper older if not necessarily wiser, reluctantly embarked on my second storm voyage to do? I plan to begin, in the name of honesty, by insisting on judging the administration action by action, appointment by appointment. And some of these may not be bad. … If universities have to rethink the way in which they have allowed an oppressive ideological monoculture to dominate their administrations, so much the better. If America confronts with action the reality that Iranian malevolence will soon lead to nuclear proliferation throughout the Middle East and beyond, I will be delighted.

Politicians of good sense have their work cut out for them to restore sane and decent government through victories at the ballot box after cleaning out their own houses. Officials and soldiers will have to confront the ethical dilemmas before them squarely, accepting dismissal rather than doing things that are illegal or so profoundly immoral that public service is impossible. Lawyers and judges will have to fight for the rule of law and to protect unjustly persecuted individuals. What is needed now is not a vague, self-indulgent, and pointless resistance but rather an array of far more focused and purposive actions.

All politics, and particularly Trumpian politics, involves large doses of fantasy. But as we all discover sooner or later that, between our wishes, our hopes, and our fears on the one hand and reality on the other, reality always wins. The job of an intellectual thinking about policy remains as it has ever been: to describe reality, to analyze the consequences of actions, and to call attention to them. I cannot do more than that, but I intend not to do less.

WSJ Editorial: Matt Gaetz Is a Bad Choice for Attorney General https://tinyurl.com/ydc6rscj “He’s a nominee for those who want the law used for political revenge, and it won’t end well.”

“This is a bad choice for AG that would undermine confidence in the law. Mr. Trump lauded Mr. Gaetz’s law degree from William and Mary, but it might as well be a doctorate in outrage theater. He’s a performer and provocateur, and his view is that the more explosions he can cause, the more attention he can get. ‘It’s impossible to get canceled if you’re on every channel,’ he once said. ‘If you aren’t making news, you aren’t governing.’ …

“The larger objections to Mr. Gaetz concern judgment and credibility. The U.S. Attorney General has to make calls on countless difficult questions of whom to investigate and indict. Mr. Gaetz’s decisions simply wouldn’t be trusted. He’s a nominee for those who want the law used for political revenge, and it won’t end well.”

🐣📋 RT @JReinerMD In 1900, 30% of deaths in the US occurred in children <5 years old. Now it’s about 1.4%. Vaccines played a big role in reducing childhood mortality. Bloomberg: Musk’s Efficiency Department Is Highly Inefficient https://tinyurl.com/2tx8u8zs “It’s probably asking too much of cowboy CEOs to know that the government already has an agency to cut waste or that it clawed back $74 billion in fiscal 2023 alone.” 🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom We're not all going to die. The rest of us - in sane places - will continue to get vaccinations and listen to our doctors and do all that other stuff that resulted in things like "not getting polio." ¤ But a lot of people are going to die, yes - and needlessly ⋙ 🐣 RT @PhillfromPhilly Whoopie! We’re all going to die! ⋙ 🐣 […] 🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1857198173103505575/photo/1 // SNL: “HE WILL KILL US ALL” TheAtlantic, Benjamin Mazer: The Sanewashing of RFK Jr. https://tinyurl.com/4648nr8z “Let’s call a crank a crank.”

… According to his 2021 book, The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health, RFK Jr. believes that Fauci and Gates are members of a “vaccine cartel” trying to kill patients by denying them hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. He argues that this cartel secretly funded doctors to produce fraudulent studies showing that the drugs were ineffective against COVID—and that it did so in order to orchestrate global lockdowns and accelerate the construction of 5G cellular networks, which, in Kennedy’s understanding, are very, very bad.

I read The Real Anthony Fauci in what may have been a misguided attempt to “do my own research.” It’s hard to summarize the extent of this book’s bizarre claims. Every group imaginable is said to be in on a plot to bring about worldwide totalitarianism and population control: governments, pharmaceutical companies, nonprofits, scientists, and, of course, the CIA. Kennedy devotes many pages to casting doubt on HIV as the cause of AIDS, although he finally says he takes “no position” on this theory. The book also repeats threadbare allegations that a vaccine scientist at the CDC destroyed data revealing that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) shot caused a 340 percent increase in autism among Black men, thus continuing a major theme in its author’s activism: Before the pandemic, Kennedy was best known for relentlessly misleading the public about vaccinations. “Pharma and its media shills are working at turning us into ‘Land of the Cowed, Home of the Slave,’” he wrote about the MMR shot in 2019.

WaPo: Trump taps Robert F. Kennedy Jr., vaccine skeptic, to lead health department https://tinyurl.com/498yradj “The nearly $2 trillion agency administers health-insurance programs for millions of Americans, approves medications and oversees vaccine safety.”

🐣 RT @Kasparov63 The ability of demagogues & autocrats to surprise, to create a new scandal every day, is their superpower. It diminishes attention to the previous day’s transgressions & normalizes them. It slowly numbs the senses, including outrage. Values are the only defense. Hold them dear.

⭕ 13 Nov 2024

🐣 RT @OccupyDemocrats BREAKING: Donald Trump’s White House attorney from his first term shreds his plan to pardon treasonous January 6th rioters as a “tragic event” and rips into his record as president. ¤ And he was just getting started…
¤ https://x.com/OccupyDemocrats/status/1856776366588342407

🐣 RT @TheAtlantic “Gabbard has every right to her personal views, however inscrutable they may be … But as a security risk, Gabbard is a walking Christmas tree of warning lights,” @RadioFreeTom writes:
⋙ TheAtlantic, Tom Nichols: Tulsi Gabbard’s Nomination Is a National-Security Risk https://tinyurl.com/yhu5944u “The Senate can stop her.” “A person with Gabbard’s views should not be allowed anywhere near the crown jewels of American intelligence”

🐣 RT @JohnJHarwood the people who deserve contempt are not voters but instead well-informed Republicans who – for the sake of their pocketbooks, status within the tribe, hatred of the other side, whatever – accepted/promoted a man who is going to very badly hurt our country and its people

🐣 RT @JoyceWhiteVance It is going to be every bit as bad as we told you it was going to be. Maybe, worse.

🐣 RT @SimonWDC All of you who told Harris not to run on Trump’s threat to democracy can f-ck off now and forever.
⋙ 🐣 RT @SimonWDC The President and his team have an obligation to oppose Trump’s appointments which are a clear threat to our national security .
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @SimonWDC Putin has begun his plundering of the United States of America.
⋙⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @Charles_Lister Good God. Alarm bells. ¤ Tulsi Gabbard has been appointed Director of National Intelligence. ¤ She’s trumpeted #Putin’s talking points for years & traveled to #Syria to meet #Assad, who she believes is a victim.

🐣 RT @anneapplebaum Nobody should have any illusions now

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder We’re about to find out whether there are any patriots among Republican Senators, or whether they’ll make excuses for the foreign-backed demolition of our Republic that is now plainly underway.

🐣 RT @alfranken The speed at which these nominations have been announced suggests that perhaps there hasn’t been a great deal of vetting. Or perhaps Trump’s pool of options is…not deep.

🐣 RT @BryanDawsonUSA 254,000 jobs in September, 2.8% 3Q GDP, 2.2% inflation, and record energy production, deficit reduction, job growth, and construction boom. ¤ The Biden – Harris administration’s historic “made in America” investments has led us to a miraculous”soft landing” following the Trump economic meltdown. ¤ #BidenBoom
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BryanDawsonUSA/status/1852059378922185112/photo/1

● 2.8% GDP IN 30 2024, CRUSHING EXPECTATIONS, HIGHEST GDP IN G7
WAGES RISING FASTER THAN PRICES 18 MONTHS IN A ROW, INCOMES UP $2,300
142,000 JOBS IN AUG: RECORD 44 STRAIGHT MONTHS OF JOB GROWTH
● 4% UNEMPLOYMENT, INFLATION 2.2%
16 MILLION JOBS, 2.5 MILLION IN MANUFACTURING, CONSTRUCTION, RAD RECORD
BOOM IN CONSTRUCTION OF HEAVY INDUSTRY AND GREEN TECH ONSHORING SUPPLY CHAIN, ENHANCING NATIONAL SECURITY
● RECORD DOMESTIC OIL PRODUCTION, INVESTMENTS IN RENEWABLES AND GREEN TECH
● BLACK UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AT RECORD LOW 5%
● HIGHEST LABOR PARTICIPATION IN 20 YEARS
● RECORD DEFICIT REDUCTION, REVERSING TRUMP $3.8T DISASTER $1.5 BILLION FOR BORDER SECURITY MEXICO IS PAYING FOR!
● UNINSURED RATE FALLS TO BELOW 8% – LOWEST IN HISTORY
● ENACTED OVERTIME RULES AND MADE IT EASIER FOR WORKERS TO FORM UNIONS
● 17 MILLION MORE HOUSEHOLDS HAVE ACCESS TO HIGH-SPEED INTERNET LOWERED COST OF HEALTHCARE AND PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
● 150 FEDERAL JUDGES CONFIRMED: 100 ARE WOMEN, 98 POC PASSED: INFLATION REDUCTION ACT, CAPPING INSULIN $35
● PASSED: PROTECTING AMERICA’S FIRST RESPONDERS ACT OF 2021
● PASSED: INFRASTRUCTURE BILL
● PASSED: AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN
● PASSED: COVID RELIEF BILL
● PASSED: CHIPS AND SCIENCE ACT
● PASSED: GUN REFORM
● PASSED: PACT ACT FOR VETERANS PASSED: RESPECT FOR MARRIAGE ACT REJOINED THE PARIS CLIMATE ACCORD
● STUDENT LOAN DEBT RELIEF ENDED WAR IN AFGHANISTAN
● AUKUS SUBMARINE DEAL, DEFENDING UKRAINE AND EXPANDING NATO

🐣 RT @BraddrofliT For the record… No, you can’t just deport people without due process. No, you can’t just fire countless government employees without due process. And no, you can’t just impose tariffs without due process. He’s gonna try, and he’s gonna get shot down.

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom Right now, there are people in the Russian and Chinese ministries of defense who cannot believe how fast they’ve hit the jackpot.

🐣 RT @RepJasonCrow Pete Hegseth is not remotely qualified to be Secretary of Defense. ¤ The SecDef makes life-and-death decisions daily that impact our 2 million troops around the globe. ¤ This is not an entry-level job for a TV commentator. ¤ The Senate should do its job and deny this nomination.

🐣 RT @davetroy Many people emailed me to ask how to manage potential financial uncertainties in 2025. I wrote up a brief two page summary; this is not financial advice, but it offers a summary of the risks and how, potentially, to respond.
💙 ⋙ Dave Troy: MANAGING FINANCIAL INSTABILITY IN 2025 https://tinyurl.com/47cz2397
( long link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iwjijEK_6oyN4hV2QahTN0pHcztDNjX5GeeUqWBq_Rw/edit?tab=t.0 )
// The incoming Trump/Vance administration has the potential to unleash widespread economic harms, many of which are not on people’s radar. This document is not financial advice and I am not a financial advisor. I am an analyst of history and warfare, and this is an analysis of current warfare operations.

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder Trump is Musk’s client. Musk is Putin’s client. Putin is Xi’s client.

⭕ 12 Nov 2024

★ MayoClinicNews (Nov 12) Mayo Clinic virologist explains concern about avian flu and why flu vaccine is important https://tinyurl.com/yc5t8j26 “”Do not consume unpasteurized milk and unpasteurized milk products” … “Cooking pork thoroughly kills the virus, making it safe to eat.”

🐣 RT @tbonier Of course, since Trump improved his vote share by an average of 1.5% in MI, PA, and WI, the general takeaway will be “hey, Americans voted for this, so let’s not make a big deal about it, he has a mandate.”

WSJ: Trump Draft Executive Order Would Create Board to Purge Generals https://tinyurl.com/5crduzrh “If an executive order is enacted, it could fast-track removal of admirals”

🐣 RT @@TheTNHoller In case facts still matter…
[TextLink:] ◕ https://x.com/TheTNHoller/status/1856673111539663082/photo/1
// “🐣 RT @EconBerger A quick reminder: 1/ As a share of nonfarm employment, the federal government is currently 1.9%, near its smallest size since at least 1939.
2/ Total government (including state & local) is 14.8%, near its smallest post-1957 size.”

🐣 RT @TVietor08 This mindset taking over US Middle East policy is a grim but entirely predictable outcome of Trump’s victory.
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @elikowaz “There is no such thing as the West Bank – it’s Judea and Samaria. There is no such thing as settlements – they’re communities, they’re neighborhoods, they’re cities. There is no such thing as an occupation.”-Mike Huckabee, Incoming US Ambassador to Israel
⋙ 🐣 Hope you’re happy, Dearborn ¤ You showed us!

🐣 RT @DemocraticWins BREAKING: ExxonMobil just announced they will oppose Donald Trump’s plans to pull out of the Paris climate agreement.

🐣 RT @atrupar Pete Hegseth 5 days ago: “I’m straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.”
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1856529823038091780/photo/1
↥ ↧
WaPo: Trump picks Fox News host and veteran as defense secretary, capping frenetic day https://tinyurl.com/mv5b9tpc The president-elect upended his streak of Republican elected officials by picking a Saturday talk show host [Pete Hegseth] to lead the Pentagon

WaPo: Trump picks Fox News host and veteran as defense secretary, capping frenetic day https://tinyurl.com/mv5b9tpc The president-elect upended his streak of Republican elected officials by picking a Saturday talk show host [Pete Hegseth] to lead the Pentagon

Trump has taken a special interest in staffing the Pentagon, believing he was stymied by civilian and military leaders who resisted demands in his first term to withdraw troops deployed overseas and use the military to put down domestic unrest. Hegseth has long kept close ties to Trump, and the former president has continued praising him and watching Fox News even while criticizing the network as a whole. …

Trump said he expected support for his nominations, insisting that he be allowed to make appointments to his administration without Senate approval — and even with Republicans expected to control the Senate by three seats. That demand suggests Trump expects to exercise unified Republican control of government with unquestioned authority.

“The lesson is to have people who are personally loyal and will do anything he wants,” said James P. Pfiffner, a George Mason University political scientist who studied resistance from Trump’s own appointees during his first administration. “I expect these are going to be people who are really loyal to President Trump rather than taking an oath of office to the Constitution. They are not going to be hesitant about anything he decides to do.” …

WaPo: Trump taps Musk, Ramaswamy to oversee ‘drastic’ changes to U.S. government https://tinyurl.com/ykzp988d “The president-elect described the new commission as a ‘Manhattan Project’ to dramatically slash regulations, cut staff and “restructure” federal agencies. It is unclear how such an effort would be funded or run.”

🐣 RT @atrupar I think one of the most difficult reckonings of this election is that the incentives we thought inspired voting choices — a better life for your family and future for your community — may not be as decisive as the desire to dominate and inflict cruelty on outgroups. Explanations that don’t grapple with this point generally read to me like liberal wishcasting.

🐣 RT @BillWeirCNN #NEWS: ExxonMobil opposes Trump’s plan to exit Paris Accord ¤ “We advocate for policy that accounts for security, affordability, reliability and environmental stewardship – not drastic changes that could hinder the progress being made today,” an ExxonMobil spokesperson said

🧵 RT @Mylovanov Russia is shrinking. ¤ Deaths projected to outnumber births by 608,000 in 2024, with births falling to 599,600 in first half of 2024 – lowest since 1999, WP ¤ So, what does Russia do? It uses propaganda to push women to have more children and punish those who don’t
📌 https://x.com/Mylovanov/status/1856422050140958907
⋙ WaPo (Nov 10): Russia is shrinking; the Kremlin says child-free ideology is to blame https://tinyurl.com/4jy7y6w5 “A new bill against ‘child-free propaganda’ criminalizes advocating for not having children. Itcould affect TV, movies and social media posts.”

TheAtlantic: A Former Republican Strategist on Why Harris Lost https://tinyurl.com/3ktbf2eb “Inflation, moderation, and candidate effects” ~ Jerusalem Demsas interviews Tim Miller, host of The Bulwark Podcast; long read / interesting

Jerusalem Demsas: The data point that’s kind of in favor of this, particularly on the trans-girls-in-sports one, is Kamala Harris’s leading super PAC, Future Forward, finds that the most effective, or one of the most effective, Trump ads is one of the “Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you” ads. They find that it shifted the race 2.7 percentage points in Trump’s favor after people watched it. …

Tim Miller: I’m not out here being like, yeah, you got to throw trans people or migrants under the bus for them to win. But certainly the cultural leftward shift has created a ceiling on Democratic support that I think has a negative effect for the party, but also for progress on a lot of those issues.

⭕ 11 Nov 2024

WaPo: The US could soon face a threat ‘more powerful’ than nuclear weapons https://tinyurl.com/33fca23d “Breakthroughs in gene-editing technology & AI have made the manipulation & production of deadly viruses & bacteria easier than ever, for state & non-state actors alike.”
// Researchers around the globe are tinkering with viruses far deadlier than covid-19.

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder Trump is Musk’s client. Musk is Putin’s client. Putin is Xi’s client.

🐣 RT @stuartpstevens I’ve been involved in winning presidential races and races that lost. One common thread is that everyone seems to have a reason why you won or lost which usually reflects a personal perspective or agenda. ¤ So here’s mine […]
¤ https://x.com/stuartpstevens/status/1856161321860968855

📋 WaPo, Perry Bacon: The election was a Trump splash — but not a red wave https://tinyurl.com/j96h5s2y Don’t let the electoral map fool you. Trump did not have a sweeping victory.
// all the numbers but still preliminary

🐣 RT @tribelaw “The outcome was due much more to the anti-MAGA majority staying home than either to conversions of 2020 voters, or to substantially more people deciding to embrace Trumpism.” [link:] https://x.com/tribelaw/status/1856065460011421956

🐣 RT @FreeStateKaren SCOTUS unanimously ruled that Obama overstepped his powers when he filled high-level government vacancies without consulting the Senate. ¤ Republicans argued he unlawfully made use of a clause in the constitution allowing the president to make appointments during recess.

WaPo, Ruth Marcus: Trump’s recess appointments gambit? A power grab hiding in plain sight. https://tinyurl.com/ue2vujms “The president-elect wants to make appointments without Senate approval. Can anyone stop him?” //➔ it was a mistake to put it out as a policy

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote A note: we are already energy dominant, Biden brought back 750K manufacturing jobs, and he will absolutely not protect clean air and water. Carry on.
⋙ 🐣 RT @@LeeMZeldin It is an honor to join President Trump’s Cabinet as EPA Administrator. ¤ We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water. https://tinyurl.com/av4nbuhx

WaPo: Russia is shrinking; the Kremlin says child-free ideology is to blame https://tinyurl.com/4jy7y6w5 “A new bill against ‘child-free propaganda’ criminalizes advocating for not having children. It could affect TV, movies and social media posts.”

🐣 RT @@AlexandruC4 “I think Russian propaganda has made its way into the United States, unfortunately, and it’s infected a good chunk of my party’s base,” says House Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, Rep. Michael McCaul.
⋙ Puck: McCaul to Action https://tinyurl.com/yc2c9rc8 A bracing conversation with Michael McCaul, the G.O.P. head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, on the complex task of convincing House Republicans to help save Ukraine.

🐣 I salute my grandfather, father, uncles, cousins, husband, son and all other veterans who served to keep American free and democratic and a beacon to the world ¤ I hope their sacrifices will not have been in vain 🇺🇸

🐣 I stay here for Ukraine, international news in general, and professional (medical) research ¤ twitter served as a clearinghouse for all the COVID-19 studies (pre-prints) that let researchers rapidly share their preliminary findings: who knows this? ¤ ✛ I like the animal videos

WaPo: The election was a Trump victory — but not a red wave https://tinyurl.com/j96h5s2y “Don’t let the electoral map fool you. Trump did not have a sweeping victory. … Harris won about 48 percent of the popular vote and is likely to finish less than 2% behind Trump”

WaPo: Trump prepares immigration crackdown with Miller, Homan posts https://tinyurl.com/ry7r725 He also named Elise Stefanik as ambassador to the United Nations.

Stephen Miller — a former speechwriter and campaign adviser who helped develop policies during Trump’s first administration, including the ban on travel from Muslim-majority countries and the separation of families at the border — is expected to become a deputy chief of staff, according to the people briefed on the selection, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it was not yet publicly authorized. He would work under incoming White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who was Trump’s co-campaign manager.

Tom Homan, a former acting head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will serve as “border czar,” in charge of border security as well as deportations, Trump announced on social media late Sunday.

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🇵🇱🇺🇦 President Duda: “Ukraine must protect itself from Russian imperialism and become part of the free world. Today, this imperialism is trying to destroy our neighbor, which we support with all our might and which, we deeply believe, will also be a part of the free world together with us.” ¤ According to him, Ukraine should restore its borders, which existed not only until February 2022, but also until 2014. ¤ Europe alone will not be able to defend itself against Russian aggression without the participation of the United States, especially at the current low level of defense spending in many European countries. He emphasized that even 3% of GDP for defense is not a sufficient step to protect against Russian imperialism.

⭕ 10 Nov 2024

🐣 RT @anneapplebaum Once again, more comprehensively: I wrote what I think about this election before it happened, will put it all together here. ¤ My book Autocracy Inc, described the background, the network of autocrats who seek to undermine democracy, everywhere

⭕ 9 Nov 2024

⭕ 8 Nov 2024

WaPo: Trump ignores transition rules. It’s a ‘hostile takeover,’ ally says. https://tinyurl.com/2xh9ynv6 “Donald Trump’s transition team has begun what a close ally calls a hostile takeover of the federal government, ignoring the rules for the handover of power in the process.”

🐣 RT @nowthisimpact With minimal time left in the Democratic majority, the Senate has now confirmed a new head of the Office of Government Ethics.
¤ https://x.com/nowthisimpact/status/1859040352457683387

In a 50-46 vote, senators voted to confirm David Huitema as the new ethics czar for a 5-year term. ¤ This means the Biden pick will serve throughout Trump’s presidency.

The move shines a light on the recent issues with the transition of power. Trump thus far has refused to sign any transition-related ethics agreements with the Biden administration. Without these agreements, Trump’s teams are unable to transition to office or receive access to federal agencies.

The Office of Government Ethics is not only responsible for overseeing the executive branch ethics program and preventing financial conflicts of interest but is also heavily involved with reviewing Cabinet nominations. The Senate’s confirmation comes at a time when many are questioning the validity and ethical standards of Trump’s proposed appointees.

🐣 RT @newrepublic Donald Trump repeatedly told America he had “nothing to do” with Project 2025. But now, he’s welcoming its architect into his Cabinet with open arms [link:] https://tinyurl.com/aryetv6y

Brookings (Nov 8): Trump again won counties representing a minority share of national GDP, but with notable gains https://tinyurl.com/2n2prfd3 Trump won counties with GDPs totaling 40% of the country, vs 60% for Harris (in 2020, he won 29%, vs 71% for Biden)
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1859093641416863892/photo/1

TheEconomist (2023): What America has got wrong about gender medicine https://tinyurl.com/yjybce8s Too many doctors have suspended their professional judgment

🐣 RT @ChrisMurphyCT That was a cataclysm. Electoral map wipeout. Senate D practical ceiling is now 52 seats. R’s is 62. ¤ Time to rebuild the left. ¤ We are out of touch with the crisis of meaning/purpose fueling MAGA. We refuse to pick big fights. Our tent is too small. ¤ 1/ Some early thoughts:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1855616243039916152
⋙ 🐣 We can’t ignore white women and vilify white men: they are 60% of our voters
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1855623876304052230/photo/1

🐣 RT @RBReich The crypto industry accounted for nearly half the money contributed by corporations to political action committees in 2024. ¤ It’s all to ensure that their Ponzi scheme will remain barely regulated.
💽 https://x.com/RBReich/status/1855037587787784545/photo/1

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln “This isn’t a political disagreement or an ideological tug-of-war; it’s a reckoning, a harsh test of whether our democracy can survive its own apathy, its own cynicism and delusions” – @TheRickWilson [USNews link:] https://tinyurl.com/mpb5dr4d

🐣 RT @alfranken Frankly, I am shaken by the size of Trump’s win. Clearly, we are in a very difficult period as a country. But even as we lick our wounds, we can’t give up the fight. So much of Trump’s agenda is dangerous and must be resisted. We owe it to ourselves and our democracy.

🐣 RT @Tim_Walz Chin up, team. Take some time. Take care of yourself. Take care of your loved ones. Take care of your community. ¤ There are a million ways to make a difference—get back in the fight when you’re ready. ¤ And know that, whenever you are ready, I’ll be ready to get back in with you.

⭕ 7 Nov 2024

🐣 RT @JoeBiden Setbacks are unavoidable, but giving up is unforgivable. As my dad would say, we all get knocked down—but the measure of our character is how quickly we get up. ¤ A defeat does not mean we are defeated. The America of your dreams is calling for you to get back up.

⭕ 6 Nov 2024 🧮

🐣 RT @SenWhitehouse “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.  “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times.  But that is not for them to decide.  All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

🐣 RT @BlueWaver910 […]
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BlueWaver910/status/1854183639711457469/photo/1

Project 2025
PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION PROJECT

End no fault divorce
Complete ban on abortions without exceptions
Ban contraceptives
Additional tax breaks for corporations and the 1% Higher taxes for the working class
Elimination of unions and worker protections
Raise the retirement age
Cut Social Security
Cut Medicare
End the Affordable Care Act
Raise prescription drug prices
Eliminate the Department of Education
Use public, taxpayer money for private religious schools Teach Christian religious beleifs in public schools End free and discounted school lunch programs End civil rights & DEI protections in government
Ban African American and gender studies in all levels of education
Ban books and curriculum about slavery
Ending climate protections
Increase Arctic drilling
Deregulate big business and the oil industry Promote and expedite capital punishment
End marriage equality
Condemn single mothers while promoting only “traditional families”
Defund the FBI and Homeland Security
Use the military to break up domestic protests
Mass deportation of immigrants and incarceration in “camps”
End birth right citizenship
Ban Muslims from entering the country
Eliminates federal agencies like the FDA, EPA, NOAA and more Continue to pack the Supreme Court, and lower courts with right-wing judges

🐣 RT @MargaretAtwood Despair is not an option. It helps no one.
🖼 https://x.com/MargaretAtwood/status/1854350767001370653/photo/1
// Statue of Liberty weeping

🐣 RT @TheEconomist His win has changed America, and the world must grasp what that means. The country remains the pre-eminent power. However, without American enlightened self-interest as an organising principle, it will be open season for bullies https://econ.st/3NYoAzU

🐣 RT @therecount “The filibuster will stand.”— Outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell predicts the incoming Senate GOP majority will “control the guardrails” of institutional change that some Democrats hoped to achieve.

🐣 RT @SkinnerPm To dismiss someone’s concerns at being ‘the other’ is to never have been ‘the other’. ¤ To vote without empathy is to be without humanity.

TheAtlantic, Tom Nichols: Democracy Is Not Over https://tinyurl.com/9x2a6r5e “Americans who care about democracy have every right to feel appalled and frightened. But then they have work to do.”

TheAtlantic, George T. Conway III: America Did This to Itself https://tinyurl.com/5fchs5zw And now we all must suffer through it.

🐣 RT @TheTweetOfGod
¤ https://x.com/TheTweetOfGod/status/1854230449905861022

You still have your family.
You still have your friends.
You still have your work.
You still have your passions.
You still have your diversions.
You still have the capacity to feel joy, and the means of doing so.
You still have your mind, which is and will always be yours alone.
And you still have the ability, no matter how difficult it may seem, to choose to carry on with your life, and spend the one and only existence you will get for all eternity in as loving, fulfilling, and authentic a way as you possibly can.

🐣 RT @BarackObama Here’s our statement on the results of the 2024 presidential election:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BarackObama/status/1854284022731669530/photo/1

STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT AND MRS. OBAMA ON THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
NOVEMBER 6, 2024

Over the last few weeks and through Election Day, millions of Americans cast their votes – not just for president, but for leaders at every level. Now the results are in, and we want to congratulate President Trump and Senator Vance on their victory.

This is obviously not the outcome we had hoped for, given our profound disagreements with the Republican ticket on a whole host of issues. But living in a democracy is about recognizing that our point of view won’t always win out, and being willing to accept the peaceful transfer of power.

Michelle and I could not be prouder of Vice President Harris and Governor Walz – two extraordinary public servants who ran a remarkable campaign. And we will always be grateful to the staff and volunteers who poured their heart and soul into electing public servants they truly believed in.

As I said on the campaign trail, America has been through a lot over the last few years – from a historic pandemic and price hikes resulting from the pandemic, to rapid change and the feeling a lot of folks have that, no matter how hard they work, treading water is the best they can do. Those conditions have created headwinds for democratic incumbents around the world, and last night showed that America is not immune.

The good news is that these problems are solvable – but only if we listen to each other, and only if we abide by the core constitutional principles and democratic norms that made this country great.

In a country as big and diverse as ours, we won’t always see eye-to-eye on everything. But progress requires us to extend good faith and grace – even to people with whom we deeply disagree. That’s how we’ve come this far, and it’s how we’ll keep building a country that is more fair and more just, more equal and more free.

🧵 RT @KamalaHarris My heart is full today—full of gratitude for the trust you have placed in me, full of love for our country, and full of resolve.
📌 https://x.com/KamalaHarris/status/1854275136129548491
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1854275136129548491.html

The outcome of this election is not what we wanted, not what we fought for, but hear me when I say: the light of America’s promise will always burn bright.
We must accept the results of this election.

Earlier today, I spoke with President Trump and congratulated him on his victory. I told him that we will help him and his team with that transition, and we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power.
In our nation, we owe loyalty not to a president or party, but to the Constitution of the United States, and to our conscience and our God.

My allegiance to all three is why I am here to say, while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign: The fight for freedom, for opportunity, and for fairness and the dignity of all people.
Ours is a fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation. The ideals that reflect America at our best.

That is a fight I will never give up.

I will never give up the fight for a future where Americans can pursue their dreams, ambitions, and aspirations.
I will never give up the fight for a future where women have the freedom to make decisions of their own body, and not have their government telling them what to do.

We will never give up the fight to protect our schools and our streets from gun violence.

We will never give up the fight for rule of law, equal justice, and for the sacred idea that every one of us, no matter who we are or where we start out, has certain fundamental rights and freedoms that must be respected and upheld.
To the young people watching, it is okay to feel sad and disappointed.

On the campaign, I would often say: When we fight, we win. Sometimes the fight takes a while—that doesn’t mean we won’t win.

The important thing is: Don’t ever stop trying to make the world a better place.
This is not a time to throw up our hands. This is a time to roll up our sleeves.

This is a time to organize, mobilize, and stay engaged for the sake of freedom, justice, and the future that we all know we can build together.
I started out as a prosecutor. Throughout my career, I saw people at some of the worst times in their lives—people who suffered great pain, yet found within themselves the strength to take a stand.

Let their courage be our inspiration. Let their determination be our charge.
There is an adage: Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.

I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time. For the benefit of us all, I hope that is not the case. But, America, if it is: Let us fill the sky with the light of a billion brilliant stars.
May the light of optimism, faith, truth, and service guide us—even in the face of setbacks—toward the extraordinary promise of the United States of America.

May God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America. I thank you all.

🐣 RT @sahilkapur .@BernieSanders on the 2024 result: “It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them… Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign?”
¤ https://x.com/sahilkapur/status/1854269578119151833

BURLINGTON, Vt. – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) today released the following statement in response to the outcome of the 2024 presidential election:

It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them. First, it was the white working class, and now it is Latino and Black workers as well. While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right.

Today, while the very rich are doing phenomenally well, 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and we have more income and wealth inequality than ever before. Unbelievably, real, inflation-accounted-for weekly wages for the average American worker are actually lower now
than they were 50 years ago.

Today, despite an explosion in technology and worker productivity, many young people will have a worse standard of living than their parents. And many of them worry that Artificial Intelligence and robotics will make a bad situation even worse.

Today, despite spending far more per capita than other countries, we remain the only wealthy nation not to guarantee health care to all as a human right and we pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. We, alone among major countries, cannot even guarantee paid family and medical leave.

Today, despite strong opposition from a majority of Americans, we continue to spend billions funding the extremist Netanyahu government’s all out war against the Palestinian people which has led to the horrific humanitarian disaster of mass malnutrition and the starvation of thousands of children.

Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign? Will they understand the pain and political alienation that tens of millions of Americans are experiencing? Do they have any ideas as to how we can take on the increasingly powerful Oligarchy which has so much economic and political power? Probably not.

In the coming weeks and months those of us concerned about grassroots democracy and economic justice need to have some very serious political discussions. ¤ Stay tuned.

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa had an excellent call with President @realDonaldTrump and congratulated him on his historic landslide victory—his tremendous campaign made this result possible. I praised his family and team for their great work.¤ We agreed to maintain close dialogue and advance our cooperation. Strong and unwavering U.S. leadership is vital for the world and for a just peace.

🐣 Are Dems too focused on appealing to racial/ethnic minorities to realize that 60% of their voters are White (26% males, 34% females)? This hasn’t changed much since last time and remains by far the largest group of Democratic voters. Combined all others are less than 40%.
⋙ 🔄🔄 WaPo: From Exit Polls from the 2024 presidential election https://tinyurl.com/krwrc78c Party by Race and Gender (3rd Party Omitted)
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1854413990270550249/photo/1

… … .… .… .… .… .… .… .… .… .… .… %ALL
12.6% were White male Dem voters 34%
16.7% were White female Dem voters 37%
29.3% were White Dem voters 71%
3.9% were Black male Dem voters 5%
6.4% were Black female Dem voters 7%
10.3% were Black Dem voters 12%
2.6% were Latino male Dem voters 6%
3.6% were Latino female Dem voters 6%
6.2% were Latino Dem voters 12%
2.9% were all Other Dem voters (♂+♀) 3%
48.7%

20.4% were White male GOP voters
19.6% were White female GOP voters
39.3% were White GOP voters
1.0% were Black male GOP voters
.5% were Black female GOP voters
1.5% were Black GOP voters
3.3% were Latino male GOP voters
2.3% were Latino female GOP voters
5.6% were Latino GOP voters
2.7% were all Other GOP voters (♂+♀)
49.1%

🐣 RT @Liz_Cheney Our nation’s democratic system functioned last night and we have a new President-elect.  All Americans are bound, whether we like the outcome or not, to accept the results of our elections. We now have a special responsibility, as citizens of the greatest nation on earth, to do everything we can to support and defend our Constitution, preserve the rule of law, and ensure that our institutions hold over these coming four years. Citizens across this country, our courts, members of the press and those serving in our federal, state and local governments must now be the guardrails of democracy.

🐣 RT @joshcarlosjos “I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo.
“So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

⭕ 5 Nov 2024 🗳️

Electoral Votes for Key States: AZ 11 GA 16 MI 15 NC 16 NV 6 PA 19 WI 10

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom Because for millions of Americans – who live their lives passively through screens and entertainment – it was just the final episode of a TV show and it didn’t really affect their lives. And the next show that followed it was boring.
🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom If you want to understand what’s happening, forget about “the economy” and immigration and all that. This is happening all over the world, among people who think that others are *unjustly* living better than they are – even while they themselves are living well.

🐣 RT @TristanSnell BREAKING – Good news from House Dem challenges in key NY districts
John Mannion has FLIPPED seat in NY-22
Josh Riley is leading in NY-19
And Laura Gillen is literally TIED with Anthony D’Esposito in NY-04, 176,426 to 176,426
Speaker Hakeem Jeffries has a nice ring to it, no?

🐣 RT @BMeiselas Stock markets at record highs, low unemployment, wage growth exceeds inflation, the best handling of inflation of any G7 nation, energy independence, and I can go on and on and on…But no matter how this result lands, whether VP Harris ekes this out or not, it is amazing how unappreciated successful governance was in this election and how Americans are so willing to bring back into office the guy who caused all the destruction.
⋙ 🐣 it’s been going on for decades
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1854027306282475929/photo/1

Reagan – Recession
Bush Sr. – Recession
Clinton – Balanced budget, Surplus
Bush W. – The Great Recession
Obama – Rescued economy, Growth Trump – Adds $7 Trillion to Deficit,
Unemployment at 14.7%
Biden – Rescued economy, Fastest Economic Growth in History

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski What a scene.
💽 https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1853913689146966377/photo/1
// Elon and Trump at Mar-a- Lago
⋙ 🐣 yeah; Trump outsourced GOTV in Rust Belt (aka Blue Wall) to Elon and Elon blew it up with gimmicks, but it’s not clear Trump knows that

🐣 RT @AndrewFeinberg JUST IN: Harris campaign chair @jomalleydillon tells @KamalaHQ staff it’s going to be a long night and says @KamalaHarris’s best path is still the “blue wall” + NE-2.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/AndrewFeinberg/status/1854013586034552872/photo/1

Subject: What We’re Seeing So Far

Team, As polls close across the country, I wanted to give everyone an update on what we’re seeing. As we have known all along, this is a razor thin race. Thanks to this amazing team, we have seen incredible turnout across the Battleground States, and the closeness of the race is exactly what we prepared for.

While we continue to see data trickle in from the Sun Belt states, we have known all along that our clearest path to 270 electoral votes lies through the Blue Wall states. And we feel good about what we’re seeing.

● In Pennsylvania, we overperformed turnout expectations in Philadelphia, and overperformed in our early vote expectations in Bucks County. We don’t have Election Day results from Philadelphia, but we do know that we overperformed turnout expectations there, and have seen especially high turnout in places with large non-white and student populations. We expect to see higher turnout in Philadelphia than in 2020. Outside of Philadelphia, we have limited data on turnout and support right now, but what we do have is tracking with our expectations. We are awaiting more results (like everyone elsel), and hope to get a closer read in the coming hours.

● In Michigan, we are awaiting a significant amount of votes to come in. The City of Detroit won’t be reported out until roughly midnight, but we have seen strong turnout throughout early vote and Election Day there. Other results in Michigan are harder to parse, since results are coming in more piece-meal than elsewhere.

● In Wisconsin, we know there is a significant amount of vote remaining in Dane and Milwaukee counties, and we are seeing signs of strong performance in the WOW counties, where we have partial data. We don’t expect complete results from Wisconsin until tomorrow morning between 3 am – 5 am.

Polls just closed in Nevada and Arizona so, as expected, it will be a while before we have more information from both states. We’ve been saying for weeks that this race might not be called tonight. Those of you who were around in 2020 know this well: It takes time for all the votes to be counted – and all the votes will be counted. That’s how our system works.

What we do know is this race is not going to come into focus until the early morning hours. We’ll continue to keep you all updated as we get more information. This is what we’ve been built for, so let’s finish up what we have in front of us tonight, get some sleep, and get ready to close out strong tomorrow. ~ JOD

🧵 RT @MichelleObama Today is the last day for us to #DoSomething to get @KamalaHarris elected! What a remarkable few months this has been — in record time, she’s built an extraordinary campaign, set forth a clear policy agenda, and proven again and again that she will be working not for herself, but for you. She’s done it all with intelligence, integrity, and grace. She has gone above and beyond. She’s more than done her part.
📌 🖼 https://x.com/MichelleObama/status/1853821201350558097/photo/1

⋙ Now it’s our turn. There’s a reason I’ve been working so hard this election cycle. It’s the same reason my husband, so many leaders of both parties, and so many of you have been out there as well — because we know the stakes are so high. We have so much to lose if we can’t get this done — and we have so much to gain if we do. We owe it to our children to reject the politics of division and fear and embrace a message of hope, and inclusion. Over the next few years, our kids will be the ones shouldering some of the most profound consequences of what we do — or don’t do — today.

⋙ So let’s all do everything in our power over these last few hours. Vote like your lives depend on it. If there’s someone in your life you’ve been meaning to talk to, now is the time. Send your loved ones a text or give them a call to make sure they’ve voted. Head on down to the local campaign office and do one last volunteer shift. Time is running out for us to make an impact on this election — so if you’re feeling anxious or worried, get out there and #DoSomething!

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson Mitch McConnell is why.
⋙ 🐣 RT @ZackBornstein until the day I die I will never understand why he was even still allowed to run after this
🖼 https://x.com/TheRickWilson/status/1853813726022943211/photo/1
// Capitol engulfed in smoke on Jan 6, 2021

🐣 RT @AliVelshi A vote against reproductive rights is a vote against women, and against the equality toward which we strive. This piece by Rachel @maddow is more than 30 mins long, but if you haven’t voted yet, please watch this if it’s the only other thing you do today.
⋙ 💽 MSNBC: Maddow shows how Trump abortion bans are hurting women: ‘This is the fact of post-Roe American life’ https://tinyurl.com/yc2u4k6z
// Rachel Maddow looks at how the politicization of abortion has imperiled the health of women in the United States, making all aspects of reproductive health more dangerous, and showing real-world tragic outcomes, and how Donald Trump’s continued kowtowing to anti-abortion activists threatens to solidify these harmful conditions.

🐣 RT @JuliaDavisNews Meanwhile in Russia: Chairman of the Committee on Defense of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Andrey Kartapolov used Donald Trump’s image to congratulate everyone with the Day of Russia’s military intelligence officers.
🖼 https://x.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1853811729714614301/photo/1

🐣 RT @judgeluttig The bar presidents’ letter is linked in the first sentence of the U.S. News & World Report article below.
⋙ USNews: Influential Attorneys Send a Message to Their Peers: No More Frivolous Election Lawsuits https://tinyurl.com/4wj26sf9 A letter signed by more than 100 current and former bar association presidents implores lawyers to ‘safeguard the rule of law’ amid an onslaught of lawsuits by Trump allies.

🐣 RT @tribelaw “To my Republican friends, my plea is straightforward: From Gettysburg to Omaha Beach to Selma, Ala., Americans have fought and bled and died so that we the people could seek to perfect our union – not so that an authoritarian showman-bully could turn our national project into his own fief.” — Jon Meacham

🐣 RT @TheAtlantic “This election is a test: Can the American public resoundingly reject a man who has not merely been a chaotic extremist but has also attacked the American system of republican government itself?” asks @GrahamDavidA:
⋙ TheAtlantic, David A Graham: This Is a Test https://tinyurl.com/yc667yv3 “Can the country pass?”

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson When this is over, the crew of skells, miscreants, weirdos, sex criminals, blood-drinking night fiends, traitors, spies, degenerate gamblers, goat-porn aficionados, frauds, serial killers, goons and men who know how deep to bury a body to keep the coyotes off it are going to have to get jobs.

🐣 RT @ JohnJHarwood

decency is on the ballot
justice is on the ballot
truth is on the ballot
freedom is on the ballot
progress is on the ballot
democracy is on the ballot
America is on the ballot

🐣 RT @adgirlMM 537 votes in Florida are what kept us from an Al Gore win. ¤ If Gore had won…
✅ We would have been fighting climate change for 20 years now
✅ 9/11 may not have happened
✅ There would have been no Iraq war
Elections matter. Every single vote matters. VOTE. 🗳️

🐣 RT @BillKristol “I am not exhausted, dispirited, or discouraged. We at The Bulwark are not exhausted, dispirited, or discouraged. And you are not exhausted, dispirited, or discouraged. We’ve all had the privilege of being allowed to fight a good and worthwhile fight.” [link:] https://tinyurl.com/rkn55uds

⭕ 4 Nov 2024

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski This just went up on Fox. Good thing Trump doesn’t watch Fox or he might get upset.
// “Harris leads Trump by 4 nationally as both candidates narrow gender gap, poll finds”

🧵 RT @Number10cat I want to tell you a story about an old man, with a silly name and ridiculous hair, who was born in New York, became a media personality and then a right wing politician.
📌 https://x.com/Number10cat/status/1853479810078474309
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1853479810078474309.html

🐣 RT @MichaelWolffNYC While the Epstein tapes have received wide attention, no major news organization has addressed the evidence that the prospective next president of the United States had a close ten-year friendship with the world’s most famous sex predator—in part based around their mutual sexual interests.

🐣 RT @atrupar Oprah: “If we don’t show up tomorrow, it is entirely possible that we will not have the opportunity to ever cast a ballot again.”
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1853656631227167084/photo/1

🐣 RT @karlykingsley “Oh, JD Vance, You just effed up in a way that I’ve never seen in my political life. And I worked for Sarah Palin.” – Nicolle Wallace.
💽 https://x.com/karlykingsley/status/1853631866362093785/photo/1
// “In two days we’re going to take out the trash in .Washington D.C. and the trash’s name is Kamala Harris” – JD Vance

🐣 RT @PopBase Taylor Swift encourages fans to vote in new Instagram post: ¤ “Thank you to everyone who came out to see us on our last 3 American shows!! And here’s a friendly but extremely important reminder that tomorrow is the US Election and your last chance to vote.”
🖼 https://x.com/PopBase/status/1853542962136821778/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @SteveRattner A solid majority [62%] of Americans have a favorable view of the Affordable Care Act — repealing or replacing it would be unpopular as well as irresponsible.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1853489891646353680/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner While Red states enjoy disproportionate benefits from Biden’s IRA and infrastructure investments, they stand to disproportionately suffer from Trump’s tariff plan, as Southern and Midwestern states’ economies are more reliant on foreign imports.
⋙ Bloomberg: Trump’s Beautiful Tariffs Would Hurt Red States Most https://tinyurl.com/yc6hez78 “In the end, the costs of protectionism are widely shared — but the main victims are the people Trump is purporting to champion.”

🐣 RT @ChuckPfarrer BURN RATE: As Russian passes 700,000 casualties in Ukraine, here are a few thoughts on why their losses are so high. Four factors come to mind:
¤ https://x.com/ChuckPfarrer/status/1853477159232208971

🧵 RT @dcpetterson This is a classy apology. Please read. (Permission from the author to copy and paste is included at the end.) 1/7
📌 [TextLink:] https://x.com/dcpetterson/status/1853443250666995869/photo/1 -7

From: Gina Teague Mancillas
AN OPEN APOLOGY TO MY FRIENDS SUPPORTING TRUMP:

I owe my Trump-supporting friends an apology. I’ve been critical of the Trump presidency and am still exhausted from the experience. But to be fair President Trump wasn’t that bad, other than:

• when he incited an insurrection against the government,
• mismanaged a pandemic that killed over a million Americans
• separated children from their families
• lost those children in the bureaucracy
• tear-gassed peaceful protesters on Lafayette Square so he could hold a photo op holding a Bible in front of a church
• tried to block all Muslims from entering the country
• got impeached
• got impeached again
• had the worst jobs record of any president in modern history
• pressured Ukraine to dig dirt on Joe Biden
• fired the FBI director for investigating his ties to Russia
• bragged about firing the FBI director on TV
• took Vladimir Putin’s word over the US intelligence community
• diverted military funding to build his wall
• caused the longest government shutdown in US history
• called Black Lives Matter a “symbol of hate”
• lied nearly 40,000 times
• banned transgender people from serving in the military
• ejected reporters from the White House briefing room who asked tough questions
• vetoed the defense funding bill because it renamed military bases named for Confederate soldiers
• refused to release his tax returns
• increased the national debt by nearly $8 trillion
• had three of the highest annual trade deficits in U.S. history
• called veterans and soldiers who died in combat losers and suckers
• coddled the leader of Saudi Arabia after he ordered the execution and dismembering of a US-based journalist
• refused to concede the 2020 election
• hired his unqualified daughter and son-in-law to work in the White House
• walked out of an interview with Lesley Stahl
• called neo-Nazis “very fine people”
• suggested that people should inject bleach into their bodies to fight COVID
• abandoned our allies the Kurds to Turkey
• pushed through massive tax cuts for the wealthiest but balked at helping working Americans
• incited anti-lockdown protestors in several states at the height of the pandemic
• withdrew the US from the Paris climate accords
• withdrew the US from the Iranian nuclear deal

2/7
• withdrew the US from the Trans Pacific Partnership which was designed to block China’s advances
• insulted his own Cabinet members on Twitter
• pushed the leader of Montenegro out of the way during a photo op
• failed to reiterate US commitment to defending NATO allies
• called Haiti and African nations “shithole” countries
• called the city of Baltimore the “worst in the nation”
• claimed that he single-handedly brought back the phrase “Merry Christmas” even though it hadn’t gone anywhere
• forced his Cabinet members to praise him publicly like some cult leader
• believed he should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
• berated and belittled his hand-picked Attorney General when he recused himself from the Russia probe
• suggested the US should buy Greenland
• colluded with Mitch McConnell to push through federal judges and two Supreme Court justice: after supporting efforts to prevent his predecessor from appointing judges
• repeatedly called the media “enemies of the people”
• claimed that if we tested fewer people for COVID we’d have fewer cases
• violated the emoluments clause
• thought that Nambia was a country • told Bob Woodward in private that the coronavirus was a big deal but then downplayed it in
public
• called his exceedingly faithful vice president a “p—y” for following the Constitution
• nearly got us into a war with Iran after threatening them by tweet
• nominated a corrupt head of the EPA
• nominated a corrupt head of HHS
• nominated a corrupt head of the Interior Department
• nominated a corrupt head of the USDA
• praised dictators and authoritarians around the world while criticizing allies
• refused to allow the presidential transition to begin
• insulted war hero John McCain – even after his death
• spent an obscene amount of time playing golf after criticizing Barack Obama for playing (far less) golf while president
• falsely claimed that he won the 2016 popular vote
• called the Muslim mayor of London a “stone cold loser”
• falsely claimed that he turned down being Time’s Man of the Year
• considered firing special counsel Robert Mueller on several occasions
• mocked wearing face masks to guard against transmitting COVID
• locked Congress out of its constitutional duty to confirm Cabinet officials by hiring acting ones
• used a racist dog whistle by calling COVID the “China virus”
• hired and associated with numerous shady figures that were eventually convicted of federal offenses including his campaign manager and
• pardoned several of his shady associates

3/7
• gave the Presidential Medal of Freedom to two congressman who amplified his batshit crazy conspiracy theories
• got into telephone fight with the leader of Australia(!)
• had a Secretary of State who called him a moron
• forced his press secretary to claim without merit that his was the largest inauguration crowd in history
• botched the COVID vaccine rollout
• tweeted so much dangerous propaganda that Twitter eventually banned him
• charged the Secret Service jacked-up rates at his properties
• constantly interrupted Joe Biden in their first presidential debate
• claimed that COVID would “magically” disappear
• called a U.S. Senator “Pocahontas”
• used his Twitter account to blast Nordstrom when it stopped selling Ivanka’s merchandise
• opened up millions of pristine federal lands to development and drilling
• got into a losing tariff war with China that forced US taxpayers to bail out farmers
• claimed that his losing tariff war was a win for the US
• ignored or didn’t even take part in daily intelligence briefings
• blew off honoring American war dead in France because it was raining
• redesigned Air Force One to look like the Trump Shuttle
• got played by Kim Jung Un and his “love letters”
• threatened to go after social media companies in clear violation of the Constitution
• botched the response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico
• threw paper towels at Puerto Ricans when he finally visited them
• pressured the governor and secretary of state of Georgia to “find” him votes
• thought that the Virgin islands had a President
• drew on a map with a Sharpie to justify his inaccurate tweet that Alabama was threatened by a hurricane
• allowed White House staff to use personal email accounts for official businesses after blasting Hillary Clinton for doing the same thing
• rolled back regulations that protected the public from mercury and asbestos
• pushed regulators to waste time studying snake-oil remedies for COVID
• rolled back regulations that stopped coal companies from dumping waste into rivers
• held blatant campaign rallies at the White House
• tried to take away millions of Americans’ health insurance because the law was named for a Black man
• refused to attend his successors’ inauguration
• nominated the worst Education Secretary in history
• threatened judges who didn’t do what he wanted
• attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci
• promised that Mexico would pay for the wall (it didn’t)
• allowed political hacks to overrule government scientists on major reports on climate change and other issues
• struggled navigating a ramp after claiming his opponent was feeble
• called an African-American Congresswoman “low IQ”
• threatened to withhold federal aid from states and cities with Democratic leaders

4/7
• went ahead with rallies filled with maskless supporters in the middle of a pandemic
• claimed that legitimate investigations of his wrongdoing were “witch hunts,”
• seemed to demonstrate a belief that there were airports during the American Revolution
• demanded “total loyalty” from the FBI director
• praised a conspiracy theory that Democrats are Satanic pedophiles
• completely gutted the Voice of America
• placed a political hack in charge of the Postal Service
• claimed without evidence that the Obama administration bugged Trump Tower
• suggested that the US should allow more people from places like Norway into the country
• suggested that COVID wasn’t that bad because he recovered with the help of top government doctors and treatments not available to the public
• overturned energy conservation standards that even industry supported
• reduced the number of refugees the US accepts
• insulted various members of Congress and the media with infantile nicknames
• gave Rush Limbaugh a Presidential medal of Freedom at the State of the Union address
• named as head of federal personnel a 29-year old who’d previously been fired from the White House for allegations of financial improprieties
• eliminated the White House office of pandemic response
• used soldiers as campaign props
• fired any advisor who made the mistake of disagreeing with him
• demanded the Pentagon throw him a Soviet-style military parade
• hired a shit ton of white nationalists
• politicized the civil service
• did absolutely nothing after Russia hacked the U.S. government
• falsely said the Boy Scouts called him to say his bizarre Jamboree speech was the best speech ever given to the Scouts
• claimed that Black people would overrun the suburbs if Biden won
• insulted reporters of color
• insulted women reporters
• insulted women reporters of color
• suggested he was fine with China’s oppression of the Uighurs
• attacked the Supreme Court when it ruled against him
• summoned Pennsylvania state legislative leaders to the White House to pressure them to overturn the election
• spent countless hours every day watching Fox News
• refused to allow his administration to comply with Congressional subpoenas
• hired Rudy Giuliani as his lawyer
• tried to punish Amazon because the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post wrote negative stories about him
• acted as if the Attorney General of the United States was his personal attorney • attempted to get the federal government to defend him in a libel lawsuit from a women who accused him of sexual assault
• held private meetings with Vladimir Putin without staff present
• didn’t disclose his private meetings with Vladimir Putin so that the US had to find out via Russian media

5/7
• stopped holding press briefings for months at a time
• “ordered” US companies to leave China even though he has no such power
• led a political party that couldn’t even be bothered to draft a policy platform
• Claimed preposterously that Article Il of the Constitution gave him absolute powers
• tried to pressure the U.K. to hold the British Open at his golf course
• suggested that the government nuke hurricanes
• suggested that wind turbines cause cancer
• said that he had a special aptitude for science
• fired the head of election cyber security after he said that the 2020 election was secure
• blurted out classified information to Russian officials
• tried to force the G7 to hold their meeting at his failing golf resort in Florida
• fired the acting attorney general when she refused to go along with his unconstitutional Muslim travel ban
• hired Stephen Miller
• openly discussed national security issues in the dining room at Mar-a-Lago where everyone could hear them
• interfered with plans to relocate the FBI because a new development there might compete with his hotel
• abandoned Iraqi refugees who’d helped the U.S. during the war
• tried to get Russia back into the G7
• held a COVID super spreader event in the Rose Garden
• seemed to believe that Frederick Douglass is still alive
• lost 60 election fraud cases in court including before judges he had nominated
• falsely claimed that factories were reopening when they weren’t
• shamelessly exploited terror attacks in Europe to justify his anti-immigrant policies
• still hasn’t come up with a healthcare plan
• still hasn’t come up with an infrastructure plan despite repeated “Infrastructure Weeks”
• forced Secret Service agents to drive him around Walter Reed while contagious with COVID
• told the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by”
• fucked up the Census
• withdrew the U.S. from the World Health Organization in the middle of a pandemic
• did so few of his duties that his press staff were forced to state on his daily schedule “President Trump will work from early in the morning until late in the evening. He will make many calls and have many meetings,” allowed his staff to repeatedly violate the Hatch Act
• seemed not to know that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican
• stood before sacred CIA wall of heroes and bragged about his election win
• constantly claimed he was treated worse than any president which presumably includes four that were assassinated and his predecessor whose legitimacy and birthplace were challenged by a racist reality TV show star named Donald Trump
• claimed Andrew Jackson could’ve stopped the Civil War even though he died 16 years before it happened
• said that any opinion poll showing him behind was fake
• claimed that other countries laughed at us before he became president when several world leaders were literally laughing at him

6/7
• claimed that the military was out of ammunition before he became President
• created a commission to whitewash American history
• retweeted anti-Islam videos from one of the most racist people in Britain
• claimed ludicrously that the Pulse nightclub shooting wouldn’t have happened if someone there had a gun even though there was an armed security guard there
• hired a senior staffer who cited the non-existent Bowling Green Massacre as a reason to ban Muslims
• had a press secretary who claimed that Nazi Germany never used chemical weapons even though every sane human being knows they used gas to kill millions of Jews and others
• bilked the Secret Service for higher than market rates when they had to stay at Trump properties
• apparently sold pardons on his way out of the White House
• stripped protective status from 59,000 Haitians
• falsely claimed Biden wanted to defund the police
• said that the head of the CDC didn’t know what he was talking about
• tried to rescind protection from DREAMers
• gave himself an A+ for his handling of the pandemic
• tried to start a boycott of Goodyear tires due to an Internet hoax
• said U.S. rates of COVID would be lower if you didn’t count blue states
• deported U.S. veterans who served their country but were undocumented
• claimed he did more for African Americans than any president since Lincoln
• touted a “super-duper” secret “hydrosonic” missile which may or may not be a new “hypersonic” missile or may not exist at all
• retweeted a gif calling Biden a pedophile
• forced through security clearances for his family
• suggested that police officers should rough up suspects
• suggested that Biden was on performance-enhancing drugs
• tried to stop transgender students from being able to use school bathrooms in line with their gender
• suggested the US not accept COVID patients from a cruise ship because it would make US numbers look higher
• nominated a climate change skeptic to chair the committee advising the White House on environmental policy
• retweeted a video doctored to look like Biden had played a song called “Fuck tha Police” at a campaign event
• hugged a disturbingly large number of U.S. flags
• accused Democrats of “treason” for not applauding his State of the Union address
• claimed that the FBI failed to capture the Parkland school shooter because they were “spending too much time” on Russia
• mocked the testimony of Dr Christine Blasey Ford when she accused Brett Kavanaugh of sexual assault
• obsessed over low-flow toilets
• ordered the re-release of more COVID vaccines when there weren’t any to release
• called for the construction of a bizarre garden of heroes with

7/7
• hijacked Washington’s July 4th celebrations to give a partisan speech
• took advice from the MyPillow guy
• claimed that migrants seeking a better life in the US were dangerous caravans of drug dealers and rapists
• said nothing when Vladimir Putin poisoned a leading opposition figure
• never seemed to heed the advice of his wife’s “Be Best” campaign
• falsely claimed that mail-in voting is fraudulent
• announced a precipitous withdrawal of troops from Syria which not only handed Russia and ISIS a win but also prompted his defense secretary to resign in protest
• insulted the leader of Canada
• insulted the leader of France
• insulted the leader of Britain
• insulted the leader of Germany
• insulted the leader of Sweden (Sweden!!)
• falsely claimed credit for getting NATO members to increase their share of dues
• blew off two Asia summits even though they were held virtually
• continued lying about spending lots of time at Ground Zero with 9/11 responders,
• said that the Japanese would sit back and watch their “Sony televisions” if the US were ever attacked
• left a NATO summit early in a huff
• stared directly into an eclipse even though everyone over the age of five knows not to do that
• called himself a very stable genius despite significant evidence to the contrary • refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power and kept his promise
And a whole bunch of other things I can t remember at the moment.

Copy and paste to your hearts’ content.

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe “To me it is beyond clear that people who revered Reagan, people who voted for the Bushes, who voted for McCain, who voted for Romney, this is not your guy, this is not your party. Don’t just stay out of some kind of old loyalty because it’s not the same institution.”-Jon Meacham
💽 https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1853406811337949222/photo/1

⭕ 3 Nov 2024

TheAtlantic, David Frum: NO ONE HAS AN ALIBI https://tinyurl.com/dx2cbyct “Trump has told us his plans, so vote as if the country depends on you. It does.” “A vote for Trump is … a vote for international gangsterism”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1853381766679040268/photo/1

Over the succeeding four years of Trump’s term, I lived almost every day in a state of dread. Perhaps you did, too. Yet the American people proved equal to the work required of them. The guardrails shook, and in some places they cracked, yet when the ultimate test came, in January 2021, brave Americans of both great parties joined to beat back Trump’s violent attempted seizure of power.

Now here we are again. You are needed once more. Perhaps you feel wearier than you did seven years ago. Perhaps you feel more afraid today than you did then. Yet you must still find the strength to answer your country’s call. You can do it. We can do it. We believe in America.

🧵 RT @atrupar I’m going to put together a thread covering Trump’s rally in Lititz, Pennsylvania. Follow along for clips and commentary
📌 💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1853108551868096659/photo/1 -n

🐣 RT @GabrielSterling Thanks to @60Minutes for allowing me to explain why we know elections are free, fair, safe and accurate in the United States. And for those that haven’t yet, get out and vote.
⋙ 🐣 RT @60Minutes “The reason we have ballots is to avoid bullets. And if you say, ‘Ballots don’t matter anymore,’ there’s only one logical direction to go,” says Gabriel Sterling, the Republican chief operating officer for the Georgia secretary of state. https://cbsn.ws/3CdGzj9
💽 https://x.com/GabrielSterling/status/1853252966364369360/photo/1

🐣 RT @TheRickyDavila This is the scene in Puerto Rico tonight of over 50,000 Puerto Ricans rallying for the anti-corruption anti-MAGA Alianza movement. This is huge and I couldn’t be a prouder Boricua.
🖼 https://x.com/TheRickyDavila/status/1853274786237198769/photo/1

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln Your dad’s Republican party is dead. Trump and his cronies are dragging its corpse along the campaign trail in hopes the American people won’t know the difference, but we do. These aren’t real Republicans, they are fascist thugs. Vote for sanity. Vote for Kamala Harris.
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1853240751888756941/photo/1

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder Wise words in the FT here from Bennett Freeman. Apart from all else, unfreedom will crash the economy.
⋙ FT, Bennett Freeman: US business leaders must voice their fears about Trump https://tinyurl.com/28yjysx4 Defending stability and prosperity is a test of America’s corporate responsibility

🐣 RT @JonLemire “Donald Trump barreled through Sunday in a state of seeming rage from which nothing and no one appeared safe”
⋙ Politico: Trump returns to his grievances for his closing argument https://tinyurl.com/sbbee8x9 “It was Trump at his most aggrieved and discursive on Sunday, as Election Day nears.”

🐣 RT @gtconway3d For no particular reason, I’d like to share that it’s a beautiful day, and that I feel exceptionally happy, hopeful, and excited.

🐣 RT @bmcarthur17 According to NYT, from emails Jeffrey Epstein’s assistant show multiple meetings scheduled between him and billionaire Peter Thiel, who is behind JD Vance’s meteoric rise to VP candidate. ¤ #HarrisWalz2024 #DemsUnited

🐣 RT @BillKristol “If one asked me to what do I think one must principally attribute the singular prosperity and growing force of this people, I would answer that it is to the superiority of its women.” — Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America II, 3.12

⭕ 2 Nov 2024

NYT Editorial: Vote to End the Trump Era https://tinyurl.com/467xyksh
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1853088504042987919/photo/1

You already know Donald Trump. He is unfit to lead. Watch him. Listen to those who know him best. He tried to subvert an election and remains a threat to democracy. He helped overturn Roe, with terrible consequences. Mr. Trump’s corruption and lawlessness go beyond elections: It’s his whole ethos. He lies without limit. If he’s re-elected, the G.O.P. won’t restrain him. Mr. Trump will use the government to go after opponents. He will pursue a cruel policy of mass deportations. He will wreak havoc on the poor, the middle class and employers. Another Trump term will damage the climate, shatter alliances and strengthen autocrats. Americans should demand better. Vote.

TheDisparch, Gary Kasparov: The United States Cannot Descend Into Authoritarianism https://tinyurl.com/4fp4yv48 “In Trump, I hear echoes of Soviet leaders past and Russian leaders present. Kamala Harris’ election is the only way to preserve democracy, at home and abroad”
// An endorsement of Kamala Harris from a Russian dissident.

TheGuardian, Nataliya Gumenyuk: Ukrainians ask what I’m hearing about our country on the US campaign trail. The truth? We’re all but forgotten https://tinyurl.com/yh6p4bzk “Americans still don’t seem to understand that our fight is not just about us: it’s about safety and peace across the globe”

🐣 RT @RClaussen2 Wow, I’m in good company this life long Reagan Republican voted for Harris last week.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/RClaussen2/status/1852840360029954350/photo/1

Quotes from the People who Know Donald Trump Best

Mike Pence – Trump’s Vice President
It should come as no surprise that I will not be endorsing Donald Trump this year.

Mark Esper – Trump’s Secretary of Defense
Trump is not fit for office because he puts himself first & I think anybody running for office should put the country first.

James Mattis – Trump’s Secretary of Defense
Trump’s use of the Presidency to destroy trust in our election and to poison our respect for fellow citizens has been enabled by pseudo political leaders whose names will live in infamy as profiles in cowardice. Donald Trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the American people – does not even pretend to try. Instead, he tries to divide us.

John Kelly – Trump’s Chief of Staff
Trump is a person that has no idea what America stands for and has no idea what America is all about. He’s a person who admires autocrats and murderous dictators. A person that has nothing but contempt,for our democratic institutions, our Constitution, and the rule of law.

Mick Mulvaney – Trump’s Chief of Staff
I am working hard to make sure that someone else is the nominee.

Mark Milley – Trump’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Trump is a wannabe dictator. We don’t take an oath to an individual. We take an oath to the Constitution, and we take an oath to the idea that is America – and we’re willing to die to protect it.

John Bolton – Trump’s National Security Advisor
There will be celebrations in the Kremlin if Trump is elected in November. Putin thinks that he is an easy mark. Donald Trump wants Americans to treat him like North Koreans treat Kim Jong Un. Get ready.

Cassidy Hutchinson – Trump’s Assistant to Chief of Staff
If Trump is elected president again in 2024, I do fear that it will be the last election where we’re voting for democracy because, if he is elected again, I don’t think we’ll be voting under the same Constitution.

Stephanie Grisham – Chief of Staff to Trump’s Wife
I did not vote for Trump in 2020.

Sarah Matthews – Trump’s Deputy Press Secretary
Trump has a history of making unhinged comments. He helped incite a deadly insurrection on our nation’s Capitol.

Anthony Scaramucci – Trump’s Director of Communications
Trump’s going to make things rougher for people. He has already said he’s going after his adversaries using the Department of Justice. When someone’s telling you they’re going to flex and be a dictator on day one and go after their adversaries, this is against the 200+ year experiment of America.

Alyssa Farah Griffin – Trump’s Director of Strategic Communications The reason that I cannot in good conscience endorse Donald Trump this year also has to do with the fact that he is walking away. Not just from keeping faith with the constitution on January 6th, but also from a commitment to fiscal responsibility, a commitment to the sanctity of life, a commitment to American leadership in the world.

Bill Barr – Trump’s Attorney General
I have made clear that I strongly oppose Trump for the nomination and will not endorse Trump. One of the reasons I’m against Trump as the nominee is I don’t think he’s going to move the country forward.

HR McMaster – Trump’s National Security Advisor
It would be terribly divisive for our country for Trump to run again.

🐣 RT @NSLforAmerica UPDATED ENDORSEMENT: 1,043 National Security Leaders—including 10 Cabinet & 11 Service Secretaries, 253 retired Admirals & Generals, 49 Senior Enlisted, and 164 Ambassadors—proudly endorse Kamala Harris for President. ¤ Full statement: https://nsl4a.org/endorsement #nationalsecurity
[TextLink:] https://x.com/NSLforAmerica/status/1852734007340872109/photo/1 -2

TheEconomist: How bad could a second Trump presidency get? https://tinyurl.com/yckaprt9 “The damage to America’s economy, institutions and the world would be huge”

🐣 RT @CAPAction “Once you wink at hate and make it normal to call somebody a bimbo or low IQ or human scum, you cannot control how fast and how far that fire of hate will spread.”
💽 https://x.com/CAPAction/status/1852891343380484153/photo/1
// Michelle Obama

🐣 RT @ArmandDoma hoooooly shit
🔊⋙ DailyBeast: Listen To The Jeffrey Epstein Tapes: I Was Donald Trump’s Closest Friend’ https://tinyurl.com/2zvjuc5s “Explosive tapes recorded by author Michael Wolff show Epstein claiming Trump liked to ‘f—‘ his friends’ wives and first slept with Melania on the Lolita Express”

🐣 RT @SSantiagoMayer This is a verbatim transcription of Trump’s meltdown at a rally today. ¤ Let’s be honest: if your grandpa was speaking like this, you’d seek help — not give him the nuclear codes.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/SSantiagoMayer/status/1852804143561445674/photo/1

[Text:] “When I say insane asylums, and then I say, Doctor Hannibal Lecter, does anybody know? They go crazy. They say, oh, he brings up these names out of— Well, that’s genius. Right. Doctor Hannibal Lecter. There’s nobody worse than him. Silence of the Lambs. Who the hell else would even remember that? I have a great memory, but they always hit me. I don’t bring it up too much because they have to take such a— he brought up Hannibal Lecter. What does that have to do with this? What is it? It has everything to do with it, right? He was… So l’ve done something for you for you that I haven’t done in 20 speeches. I brought up Doctor Hannibal Lecter and we’re allowing him, you watch, you watch these fake people will say again, he brought up Hannibal Lecter has absolutely nothing to do. You know I do the weave, right? The weave. It’s genius. You bring up Hannibal Lecter, you mention insane asylum. Hannibal Lecter. You go out, no. There’ll be a time in life where the weave won’t finish properly at the bottom and then we can talk. But right now it’s pure genius. Hey, I have an uncle, my uncle, Uncle John, my father’s brother, 41 years at MIT, longest serving professor has so many degrees, he didn’t know what the hell to do with them all in the most complicated. I understand a lot of this stuff, you know, I believe in that. Like, I mean, Jack Nicklaus is not gonna produce a bad golfer. Right. You know, that’s the way it works. It’s just one of those things and it’s in the family and it’s whatever”

🐣 RT @7Veritas4 They think they can buy America.

Setup lavish lifestyles for the judiciary.
Acquire political allegiance through their PACs.
Gobble up the 4th Estate.
Dangle million dollar lotteries for your vote.

What they cannot buy is your integrity.
They cannot buy your determination to preserve the American dream. For you and your loved ones.
They cannot stifle your compassion for the vulnerable amongst us.
They cannot silence your demands for justice and accountability.
This election is about whether America belongs to its people, or to unscrupulous billionaires and the politicians who do their bidding.

TheAtlantic, Franklin Foer: The Unique Danger of a Trumpist Oligarchy https://tinyurl.com/vnn682ms “A corrupt cabal of billionaires would entangle themselves with the Trump administration and form a double-barreled threat to the American system.”

TheAtlantic, Tom Nichols: Trump Needs Help https://tinyurl.com/2typ2dvb “Last night he simulated oral sex in public.” “… the laughter has to stop, and the horror of what might happen in a few days must take its place.”

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski And they are going to eat your pets.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1852796924836909398/photo/1
// ⋙ 🐣 RT @StephenM [Miller] If you vote for Kamala the criminals win. The illegals win. The migrant gangs win. The crooked politicians win. And you lose EVERYTHING.”
⋙ 🐣 Immigrants made up about 18% of the 2021 US healthcare workforce (approx 2.8M workers)
● 28% of physicians and surgeons
● 15-16% of RNs
● 25-40% of health aides
(plus dietary, sanitation, janitorial etc)
many have green cards; an estimated 350,000 are undocumented
⋙ 🐣 actually, if Kamala wins:
the ‘crooked politicians’ lose: Stephen Miller loses his job & Trump goes to prison
our broken immigration system gets fixed
crime continues to go ⬇️
the economy continues to go ⬆️
& America continues to shine as a beacon of freedom & democracy

🐣 RT @JonathanBlitzer Leaked recording of GA county election official Julie Adams, on possible post-Nov 5 plans: “Maybe we all find discrepancies & we file an immediate injunction. Maybe we go to the press. Maybe, when we’re certifying, we say we’re certifying under protest.”
⋙ NewYorker: How Pro-Trump Activists Hijacked Georgia’s Election Board https://tinyurl.com/4jdr3297 “Since the 2020 race, the state has been at the center of a national movement to contest elections. Now a group of unelected officials is sowing suspicions about the 2024 results.”

🐣 RT @KamalaHQ Vice President Harris: Leading economists are saying that my economic plan will strengthen our economy and lower costs. And they’re saying that Donald Trump’s plan will weaken America’s economy, ignite inflation, and create a recession
💽 https://x.com/KamalaHQ/status/1852720756242673855/photo/1
⋙ 🧵 RT @David_Charts (Oct 30) #Econtwitter
⬆️ 11 of 12 key measures better since Biden started.
⬆️ 9 of 12 key measures better than pre-pandemic.
Real = Inflation-Adjusted
📌 ◕ [TextLink:] https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1852743144061772045/photo/1

🐣 RT @Peter_Wehner “When a person who’s fascistic uses fascist language, you ought to take them seriously.” @Morning_Joe
⋙ 💽 MSNBC, MorningJoe: He wants to burn things down: Peter Wehner on why Trump is an ‘enemy of conservatism’ https://tinyurl.com/ytrb23w7 Atlantic’s Peter Wehner joins Morning Joe to discuss his latest piece ‘How to Prevent the Worst From Happening.’

🐣 RT @7Veritas4 BREAKING: Harris/Walz planning a massive election eve GOTV event, live streaming across 7 battleground states. ¤ It will be the largest interconnected event in election history. ¤ To counter, Donald will host a streaming event from Mar-a-Lago where he will mime all the sex acts in the kamasutra.

🐣 RT @djrothkopf In the homestretch of the campaign [●s added]
¤ https://x.com/djrothkopf/status/1852736214853362035

Trump’s top aides call him a fascist threat,
he holds a hate rally at MSG,
● he says he’ll have his way with women whether they like it or not,
● he nearly wipes out climbing into a garbage truck reminding everyone of his age and that he called America a garbage can,
● he says he is going to give control of health policy and women’s policy to a dangerous quack with an actual worm in his brain,
● he suggests one of his opponents ought to be shot, and
● he mimes a blow job on stage at a rally.

Meanwhile his qualified, brilliant, experienced opponent promises a policy agenda that will help and elevate all Americans and conducts herself with presidential poise and digntiy.

Your choice America. Which direction you gonna go with this one? Being eaten by rabid hyenas or having a wonderful life with your loved ones in a country you are proud of?

🐣 RT @djrothkopf And where did that great economy come from? Did it fall from a coconut tree? ¤ Time to acknowledge that the history of the past forty years show Democrats are vastly better on economic growth, job creation, stock market performance and deficit reduction than Republicans. Period.
⋙ 🐣 RT @mcpli As we approach Election Day, the WSJ on the strong state of the American economy.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/djrothkopf/status/1852711998280069528/photo/1
// WSJ page on strong economy

TheAtlantic, Tim Alberta: Inside the Ruthless, Restless Final Days of Trump’s Campaign https://tinyurl.com/2s3k7fde “What’s discipline got to do with winning?” //➔ The Trump campaign as clusterf*ck.

⭕ 1 Nov 2024

🐣 RT @meiselasb Trump’s conduct tonight: Yes, people with dementia can experience changes in sexual behavior, including confusion about sex: Inappropriate behavior. People with dementia may behave in a sexually inappropriate way, such as making sexual comments or touching themselves in public. This can be due to a loss of inhibitions, or they may not understand that their behavior is inappropriate.

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch Looks like this election will have a happy ending after all
[TextLink:] https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1852566320442638506/photo/1
// Text: “BLOWING IT: TRUMP SIMULATES ORAL SEX ON STAGE! DRUDGE REPORT”
🐣 RT @ElevenFilms Thank you lord for this gift.
🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln .@realDonaldTrump, you’re blowing it.
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1852549296173830212/photo/1

🐣 RT @4TaxFairness BREAKING: 150 billionaire families have now poured a record-breaking $1.9 BILLION into the 2024 election.
That’s $700 million more than 600+ billionaires spent on the 2020 election.
Billionaires shouldn’t get to buy our elections. ¤ End Citizens United. Tax billionaires.

🐣 RT @RickSteves A century ago, Germany’s democracy was hijacked by a bombastic and charismatic tyrant — and in this five-minute video, you’ll learn how he did it. Why did I produce this? Because I believe that history is speaking to us, and all too often, those who refuse to learn from it are doomed to repeat it.
💽 https://x.com/RickSteves/status/1852545265221410838/photo/1

As you watch, imagine filling out a Bingo card filled with Germany 1933/USA 2024 parallels: big rallies, rage-filled and hateful rhetoric, simple answers promising quick and easy solutions to complicated problems, empty promises of a great-again future, scapegoating outsiders, and political enemies silenced on day one. And notice the caring wisdom and concern from my German friends as they share these lessons from their dark history.

It’s hard to understand how Trump could, on the eve of a tight election, paint a picture of Liz Cheney before a firing squad by actually saying, “Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK? And let’s see how she feels about it when the guns are trained on her face.” You can’t get into the mind of a dictator with an insatiable appetite for power — but you can recognize the playbook they all seem to follow.

Just watch this clip. It’s excerpted from my hourlong public television special “The Story of Fascism in Europe,” which is streaming free (and ad-free) at http://ricksteves.com/fascism. If you care about our democracy and love our country, it’s hard to stop watching.

When I produced this in 2018, I hoped this day would never come in our country. But November 5th is upon us. Please share this with anyone in your life who might need a reminder that the stakes are high…and this is very real.

🐣 RT @WintersPolitics Liz Cheney is an American Patriot . ¤ Drop a 💙 if you agree!
[TextLink:] https://x.com/WintersPolitics/status/1852328016342597973/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @Liz _Cheney This is how dictators destroy free nations. They threaten those who speak against them with death. We cannot entrust our country and our freedom to a petty, vindictive, cruel, unstable man who wants to be a tyrant.
#Womenwillnotbesilenced #VoteKamala

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom Watching the sunset in my yard, and thinking about how much the world might change in the next week. ¤ I want to believe that we’re a decent nation and that we’re going to do right.

🐣 RT @tribelaw Oh great: put the anti-vaxx dead bearcub abortion ban weirdo “in charge of women’s health.” What could be safer for the women in our lives?
⋙ MeidasTouch: Trump Says RFK Jr. Will Be Put in Charge of Women’s Health https://tinyurl.com/4a4nv6fk
// RFK Jr. is an anti-vaxx conspiracy theorist who once backed a national abortion ban

🐣 RT @tribelaw The quickest way to restore a Supreme Court worthy of respect would be to add four justices. Clearly constitutional, practical, overdue. But only a Blue Tsunami on November 5 would make it politically feasible.

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP .@SarahAMatthews1: “I don’t care if he disagrees with Liz Cheney…it is unacceptable to suggest that nine barrels should be pointed at her in the face. This is someone that he has already said should face a war tribunal…This kind of rhetoric should be condemned.”
💽 https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1852478320677441681/photo/1

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla News cycle, heading into final weekend: @washingtonpost @politico @WSJ @CNN
[TextLink:] https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1852362409152811337/photo/1 -4
// eg WaPo: “Trump suggests ‘war hawk’ Liz Cheney should have guns ‘trained on her face’”

🐣 RT @MaryLTrump Hey, American media—is this enough for you?
💽 https://x.com/MaryLTrump/status/1852372216693797004/photo/1
// Trump threatens Liz Cheney

🐣 Nice summary by Simon Rosenberg:

“Under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris we’ve had the longest period of low unemployment in a peacetime American economy since WWII and the best job market since the 1960s.

The stock market is breaking records. GDP growth has been hovering around 3% for almost 4 years. We have the lowest uninsured rate in American history. The rate of formation of new businesses is at an all time high.

Wage growth has been running ahead of inflation for some time now. The battle against inflation has been won. Gas prices have been down.

The deficit is lower. Crime is down. Drug overdoses are down. Obesity is down. The flows to the border today are lower than at the end of Trump’s Presidency.

We passed the first bi-partisan gun safety bill in 30 years. Domestic oil, gas, renewable production are higher than they’ve ever been and we are more energy independent today than we’ve been in decades.

The three big Biden-Harris investment bills will be creating jobs and opportunities for American workers for decades to come, while accelerating the energy transition needed to keep the planet from warming.”

🐣 RT @michaelt5656 We’re not going back!
[TextLink:] https://x.com/michaelt5656/status/1852302951135469933/photo/1

[Text:] JOHN OLIVER SAYS IT ALL: “Trump blew up the Iran nuclear deal, withdrew us from the Paris climate agreement, slashed access to food stamps and gave a huge tax cut to corporations, he separated children from their families at the border, suggested curing Covid with bleach or bright light, summoned an insurrection, and put in three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v Wade. ¤ TRUMP DID ENOUGH DAMAGE IN HIS FIRST TERM!”

🐣 RT @tribelaw This is a criminal threat to kill Liz Cheney by firing squad. The criminal is actually asking for your vote as president. He’s saying he’ll take power whether you like it or not. Can this be happening?
⋙ CNN: Trump says ‘war hawk’ Liz Cheney should be fired upon in escalation of violent rhetoric against his opponents https://tinyurl.com/4bmkh433

⭕ 31 Oct 2024 🎃

Economist (Oct 31): Greenland faces one of history’s great resource rushes—and curses https://tinyurl.com/537a73pv “There are, in total, 50 ‘critical minerals,’ according to a list maintained by the American government. At present, these are mostly supplied by China”
// “The territory sits on an astounding number of critical minerals”

CNN: ‘January 6th is going to be pretty fun’: How MAGA activists are preparing to undermine the election if Trump loses https://tinyurl.com/yavp3439

🐣 RT @atrupar Trump on Liz Cheney: “Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with 9 barrels shooting at her. Let’s see how she feels about it. You know, when the guns are trained on her face.”
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1852209432878342308/photo/1

🐣 RT @TheSWPrincess Ricky Martin, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Rita Moreno wrote a New York Times guest essay in response to the racist, hateful jokes about Puerto Rico at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally. [NYT link:] https://tinyurl.com/3akhb6tj
¤ https://x.com/TheSWPrincess/status/1852580833569157246

“Puerto Rico might not have a vote in the Electoral College, but Puerto Ricans will be voting in states such as Pennsylvania where we could tip the result of a close election.

Our vote won’t be a reaction to racist jokes. We’ll be voting for the future of a country that could be majority-minority by midcentury. That isn’t so far away. It’s 25 years since we started singing about “Livin’ La Vida Loca.”

💽 MSNBC, LastWord: Lawrence: Trump’s ‘whether women like it or not’ comment revives Access Hollywood tape https://tinyurl.com/3jff47pw
// As a new generation discovers Donald Trump’s Access Hollywood tape just days before Election Day, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell says that it’s “a little too easy and logical” to link what Trump says about women on the campaign trail to what he said eight years ago about women on that tape.

🐣 RT @mehdirhasan Gingrich cheated on his first wife with his second wife and cheated on his second wife with his third wife.
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Gingrich: For them to tell people to lie is just one further example of the depth of their corruption. How do you run a country, saying wives should lie to their husbands, husbands should lie to their wives?
💽 https://x.com/mehdirhasan/status/1852184243113251032/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 just like Trump! ¤ and Gingrich did it while impeaching Clinton over his affair with ML

DailyBeast: Epstein Showed Me Photos of Trump with Topless Young Women Sitting in His Lap, Claims Author https://tinyurl.com/4x7yew9r “Controversial writer Michael Wolff says Epstein kept the pics in his safe–which the FBI later seized.”

🐣 RT @RBReich Citizens United is among the worst decisions in history. It corrupts our system every day.
⋙ 🐣 RT @4TaxFairness BREAKING: 150 billionaire families have now poured a record-breaking $1.9 BILLION into the 2024 election.
That’s $700 million more than 600+ billionaires spent on the 2020 election.
Billionaires shouldn’t get to buy our elections.
End Citizens United. Tax billionaires.

🐣 RT @TeamPelosi Extreme MAGA Republicans have a monstrous obsession with terminating the Affordable Care Act — ripping away coverage for millions of Americans with pre-existing medical conditions and kicking young adults off family plans. ¤ Don’t Boo — Vote Blue because #DemocratsDefendHealthCare
💽 https://x.com/TeamPelosi/status/1852136130008805837/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 The ACA also established minimum guidelines for what any health plan must cover ~ eliminating “scam” plans that were cheap but covered almost nothing ¤ Trump has NO IDEA what is in the ACA. He opposes it because it was passed under Obama and was nicknamed ”Obamacare”

🐣 RT @TeamPelosi Extreme MAGA Republicans have a monstrous obsession with terminating the Affordable Care Act — ripping away coverage for millions of Americans with pre-existing medical conditions and kicking young adults off family plans. ¤ Don’t Boo — Vote Blue because #DemocratsDefendHealthCare
💽 https://x.com/TeamPelosi/status/1852136130008805837/photo/1

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom I feel this as well, a frustration that language and reason are useless in talking to millions of my fellow citizens. They are trapped – or choose to live – in an alternate reality and efforts to reach them only infuriate them or make them more resolute in their delusions.
⋙ 🐣 RT @drvolts So I could write the 5000th piece once again listing Trump’s sins — “He’s explicitly said he loves dictators & wants to be one!” — but they’ve all been listed a million times. His supporters don’t care. And I wouldn’t know what to write to make someone care or be decent.
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1852035037916455266.html
⋙ 🐣 RT @drvolts This is a genuinely depressing & unsettling place to be for someone whose whole *life* is words, who was raised & trained to believe that language can, with care & attention, bridge any gap, excavate & find commonalities among any people, no matter how far apart.

🐣 RT @@HouseJudiciary “The U.S. has grown 2.7% over the past year. It is outrunning every other major developed economy, not to mention its own historical growth rate.
💽 https://x.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1851986060575748183/photo/1
// re: WSJ; @MorningJoe clip

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary Trump’s mass deportation plan will shatter countless families and devastate our economy
💽 ◕ https://x.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1852017320283062740/photo/1
// Steve Rattner

🐣 RT @duty2warn Headline in the swing state of NV: “Donald Trump’s cognitive decline becoming a troubling concern” – Las Vegas Sun News [link:] https://tinyurl.com/3fckbwnx

🐣 RT @SteveRattner In the last 40 years, the American economy has surged ahead others. With real GDP tripling, American economic might is greater now than ever before. @Morning_Joe
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1851942226395267143/photo/1

🐣 RT @BillKristol “One party and its candidate are promising to inflict economic pain on the electorate; stating they will turn over the top health agencies to a leading vaccine skeptic; and pledging to pursue a disruptive, ‘massive reform’ to the healthcare system.”
⋙ TheBulwark: MAGA’s Closing Pitch to Voters: Economic Pain and Health Care Sorcery https://tinyurl.com/2xhpjb3x “With days to go, top Trump surrogates are laying out a presidency that they admit will include some suffering.”

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla We have a “trend.” ¤ Three stories in 24 hours about rising consumer prices — as companies prepare for tariffs. 🇺🇸
@washingtonpost @StarTribune ¤ @journalsentinel
[TextLink:] https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1851968135768727967/photo/1 -3

WSJ: The Next President Inherits a Remarkable Economy https://tinyurl.com/3aynyhse “The high quality of recent economic growth should put a wind at the back of the White House’s next occupant”

⭕ 30 Oct 2024

🐣 RT @jason_kint I don’t know how this works but there is something charming about a local judge ordering the wealthiest man on the planet to be present at a 10am court hearing the next morning due to his using his cash to allegedly screw illegally with the integrity of our elections.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/jason_kint/status/1851835999573180799/photo/1

[Text:] Elon Musk ordered to attend Philadelphia court hearing over $1 million giveaway to voters

🐣 RT @@MattGertz Stakes coming in focus over the last 24 hours:
1) RFK Jr. says Trump “promised me” control of the HHS and Ag.
2) Trump confirms he’s giving Elon Musk permission to cut up to $2 trillion in spending.
3) Mike Johnson says they’ll kill Obamacare.

🐣 RT @McFaul I’m exhausted by the angry, vulgar, extreme polarization in our country. I’m still convinced that most Americans are, too. Hoping this era will end sometime soon. We were not always like this. We need not stay like this.

NYT: U.S. Economy Grew at 2.8% Rate in Third Quarter https://tinyurl.com/4mvh73xt “In a key economic report .… , growth was again driven by robust consumer spending.” ~ “Consumers are spending. Inflation is cooling. And the U.S. economy looks as strong as ever.”

🐣 RT @@djrothkopf Ladies and gentlemen, this election is about whether democracy and the rule of law survive in America, whether the country will be taken over by exploitive billionaires and white suprrmscusts and tens and perhaps hundreds of millions of us will suffer. It is about serious things. Keep your eye on the fucking ball please.

⭕ 29 Oct 2024

AmericansForTaxFairness (Oct 29): Billionaire Clans Spend Nearly $2 BILLION On 2024 Elections https://tinyurl.com/975j93a3 “With A Week To Go, 150 Families Have Outpaced By $700 Million What 600 Individual Billionaires Spent in 2020”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1852633247785554269/photo/1

💽 🔆 This❗️⋙ CSPAN: Vice President Harris Delivers Address on The Ellipse in Washington, D.C. https://tinyurl.com/y4yspcut 2024 Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris delivered her “closing arguments” to voters in an address at The Ellipse in, Washington D.C.
// from 1:07:12 to 1:36:35

🐣 RT @jrpsaki Hard to meet the moment of the ellipse. That did it. 75k people there to see it. Came in hot on democracy and Jan 6th. Lots in the middle on the economy and rights. And a soaring and direct ending.

🐣 RT @SecretaryPete Right now, we are delivering America’s largest infrastructure investment in generations. Over 63,000 projects are moving forward—in communities of all sizes across America.
🌎 https://x.com/SecretaryPete/status/1851403706354356228/photo/1 – 2

🐣 RT @atrupar Tim Walz: “If we win Georgia by just a single vote, I will go away happy knowing that was Jimmy Carter’s vote that put us over the line.”
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1851327101816676776/photo/1

🐣 RT @stuartpstevens It’s never that difficult to do one thing in a campaign at a high level. What is so impressive about the Harris-Walz campaign is that they are executing all elements of a campaign at a very high level. ¤ This is very, very difficult. ¤ And unlike any presidential campaign I’m familiar with, they haven’t had a bad day.

🐣 Don’t Americans what they think about the economy. That, too, has become politicized.
Ask them: How much will you be spending for Christmas?
◕ [Gallup]: https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1851483086380261738/photo/1
⇈ ⇊
🐣 RT @Gallup American consumers plan to spend an average of $1,014 on Christmas or other holiday gifts. ¤ Full story: https://on.gallup.com/3YkjnXF
◕ https://x.com/Gallup/status/1851428829069230463/photo/1

Voronai: GDP Per Capita Projections for G7 Nations https://tinyurl.com/25j2zbmm
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1851477927826751609/photo/1
// Visual Capitalist

MTC: The 10 Biggest Economies in the World Over Time (1960-2024) https://tinyurl.com/7sdmkyxt
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1851475677138076130/photo/1
// Madison Trust Company

🐣 RT @7Veritas4 [Poem from Braveheart]]
[TextLink:] ¤ https://x.com/7Veritas4/status/1851398769318719977

A time may come when our courage fails,
when we forsake our friends, our values,
and break all bonds of fellowship,

Not this time.

A time may come when their hate and lust for power overwhelms our withering light,
when our shining city comes crashing down,

Not this time.

This time we fight,
For all who we love and what we hold dear,
For those who fought for us,
For those yet to come,

This is your time.

Let them hear you fucking roar with your vote.

🐣 RT @Lawrence This is the single best thing I’ve read about our politcal economics & how voters are consistently wrong about a subject they’ve never studied.
⋙ 🐣 RT @realKyleKeegan My close friend, David Shreve, who I often refer to as the smartest person I have ever known, explains why voting for Republicans because of “the economy” is completely insane. [DailyProgress link:] https://tinyurl.com/yhddw56f
[TextLink:] https://x.com/realKyleKeegan/status/1850961232288743483/photo/1

🐣 RT @tribelaw We just listened to a magnificent closing speech by the next President of the United States. We wrested freedom from one petty tyrant 250 years ago. We’re not about to return it to another. The time has come to turn the page.

🐣 RT @TeamKamala Take 7 minutes and 20 seconds to watch this 🔥🔥🔥
💽 https://x.com/TeamKamala/status/1851422015434969107/photo/1

🐣 RT @Messina2012 As someone who has run and won a presidential election, this is a masterclass on how to make a closing argument. Just wow.
⋙ 🐣 RT @KamalaHQ Vice President Harris: The patriots at Normandy, Selma, Seneca Falls, and Stonewall… They did not sacrifice only to see us cede our freedoms and submit to the will of another petty tyrant. The United States is the greatest idea humanity ever devised. In 7 days, let us turn the page and start writing the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
💽 https://x.com/KamalaHQ/status/1851418872974323848/photo/1

🐣 RT @MSNBC “These United States of America, we are not a vessel for the schemes of wannabe dictators,” Vice President Harris says as she makes her final pitch to voters at the Ellipse.
💽 https://x.com/MSNBC/status/1851427009093566547/photo/1

🐣 RT @mattyglesias This to me was the core policy contrast at the heart of Harris’ speech tonight.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/mattyglesias/status/1851425303496643052/photo/1

[Text:] Donald Trump’s answer to you is the same as before: another trillion dollars in tax cuts for billionaires and big corporations. And this time, he will pay for it with a 20% national sales tax on everything you buy that is imported – clothes, food, toys, cell phones. A Trump Sales
Tax that would cost the average family nearly four thousand a year.

And on top of that, you will pay even more if Donald Trump finally gets his way and repeals the Affordable Care Act, which will throw tens of millions of Americans off their health insurance, and take us back to when insurance companies had the power to deny people with pre-existing conditions. Well, we are not going back.

Donald Trump will deliver tax cuts to his billionaire donors. I will deliver tax cuts to working people and the middle class. I will make sure you have a chance to not just get by, but get
ahead. Because I believe in honoring the dignity of work.

I will enact the first-ever federal ban on price gouging on groceries, cap the price of insulin, and limit out-of-pocket prescription costs for all Americans. I will fight to make sure that hard working Americans can actually afford a place to live.

I will never forget how my mother saved up – and how excited she was-when she could finally afford to buy our first home. And I know that owning a home is not only a measure of financial security. It’s about the pride of hard work. And as President, I will fight to help first-time home buyers with your down payment, take on companies that are jacking up rents, and build millions of new homes.

For years, we have heard excuses about why America can’t build enough housing. Enough with the excuses. I’m going to cut red tape and work with the private sector and local governments to speed up building and get it done.

And the cost of housing isn’t the only financial pressure on middle class families. I have met so many young people who have a natural desire to parent well, but not always the resources to do it. So I’ll fight for a child tax credit to save them some money, which will also lift American children out of poverty.

🐣 RT @SunjayM_000 Wow. Look at this packed crowd of over 75,000 people watching @KamalaHarris deliver her closing remarks. @realDonaldTrump could only dream of a crowd this big. We’re not going back.
💽 https://x.com/SunjayM_000/status/1851451024550011029/photo/1

🐣 RT @TeaPainUSA Harris planned for 20,000 attendees. ¤ She adjusted for 40,000. ¤ She got 75,000. ¤ She is a phenom!

🐣 RT @KamalaHQ Over 75,000 Americans turned out for @KamalaHarris 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
💽 https://x.com/KamalaHQ/status/1851410330359844952/photo/1
// Kamala’s speech on Mall (where Trump gave his on Jan 6, 2021)

🐣 RT @Peter_Wehner Trump’s “a demagogue, a destroyer of institutions…a champion of right-wing identity politics who stokes grievances and rage. He has an unprecedented capacity to turn people into the darkest versions of themselves. But he is something even beyond that.”
⋙ TheAtlantic, Peter Wehner: How to prevent the worst from happening https://tinyurl.com/3rr8fk3f “If Trump wins the presidency again, conservatism will be homeless, a philosophy without a party, for at least a generation.”

🐣 RT @djrothkopf A week to go in a contest pitting the American people and the ideas and ideals on which the country was founded against a group of power-hungry billionaires harnessing white supremacy and hiding their ties to our enemies overseas in a bid to overthrow democracy and do a hostile takeover of the US. They think they can buy our country and as in an acquisition conducted by a corporate raider, discard the parts that they don’t like (laws, democracy, civil servants, allegieance to the Constitution), and feast on the parts that bring them even more power and wealth.

⭕ 28 Oct 2024

🔄 💙 ◕ WaPo: Meet the megadonors pumping over $2.5 billion into the election https://tinyurl.com/mrxkwbz7
// billionaire donors wealthy donors

WaPo, Jeff Bezos: The hard truth: Americans don’t trust the news media A note from our owner. https://tinyurl.com/4mzsvkdt “Jeff Bezos is the owner of The Washington Post.”

🐣 RT @AoDespair Just read the insights of Jeff Bezos in his opinion piece in The Post. []
[TextLink:] https://x.com/AoDespair/status/1851051061278097627/photo/1

I wasn’t going to join 200,000 others and cancel my subscription because doing so won’t hurt Bezos — he paid more for his yachts than his newspaper — and, yes, the Post newsroom where good people, and some friends still labor continues providing meaningful journalism. But, my god, this man’s insipid defense of his own transparent cowardice is provoking.

I cancelled. I wasn’t going to do it. I probably shouldn’t, and certainly, if this technobrat oligarch ever releases his grip on what needs to be an independent newsroom and editorial board, indifferent to the financial positions of its publisher, then I’ll return. But this kind of abuse of a public trust by a publisher is unacceptable.

⋙ WaPo: Post owner Bezos defends endorsement decision https://tinyurl.com/cnxdn9cj “Facing criticism and subscriber cancellations, Jeff Bezos published an opinion piece Monday calling his decision to end presidential endorsements “principled” and signaled more changes to come.”

🐣 RT @TheTNHoller Stealing it has been the plan all along. Cause chaos, try to get it thrown to the House of Representatives, disenfranchising the entire country.
⋙ 🐣 RT @meiselasb Here he goes again.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/meiselasb/status/1851120243042893892/photo/1

[Text:] @realDonald Trump Wow! York County, Pennsylvania, received THOUSANDS of potentially FRAUDULENT Voter Registration Forms and Mail-In Ballot Applications from a third party group. This is on top of Lancaster County being caught with 2600 Fake Ballots and Forms, all written by the same person. Really bad “stuff.” WHAT IS GOING ON IN PENNSYLVANIA??? Law Enforcement must do thei job, immediately!!! WOW!!!

🐣 RT @MarkHamill He said he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport illegal immigrants if he is elected to the White House. “We gotta go back to 1798!” FINALLY, he reveals the last time he thought America was actually great: When slavery was legal & women couldn’t vote. #BelieveHim
¤ https://x.com/MarkHamill/status/1851081254462177678

🐣 RT @TheTNHoller Stealing it has been the plan all along. Cause chaos, try to get it thrown to the House of Representatives, disenfranchising the entire country.
⋙ 🐣 RT @meiselasb 1Here he goes again.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/meiselasb/status/1851120243042893892/photo/1

[Text:] @realDonald Trump Wow! York County, Pennsylvania, received THOUSANDS of potentially FRAUDULENT Voter Registration Forms and Mail-In Ballot Applications from a third party group. This is on top of Lancaster County being caught with 2600 Fake Ballots and Forms, all written by the same person. Really bad “stuff.” WHAT IS GOING ON IN PENNSYLVANIA??? Law Enforcement must do thei job, immediately!!! WOW!!!

🐣 RT @MarkHamill He said he would invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport illegal immigrants if he is elected to the White House. “We gotta go back to 1798!” FINALLY, he reveals the last time he thought America was actually great: When slavery was legal & women couldn’t vote. #BelieveHim
¤ https://x.com/MarkHamill/status/1851081254462177678

🐣 RT @ AmandiOnAir 🚨YOU ARE NOT IMAGINING IT.🚨
🚨YOU ARE NOT CRAZY.🚨
🚨YOUR EYES AND EARS DO NOT DECEIVE YOU.🚨
🚨WE ARE WITNESSING THE MAKING OF A FASCIST PRESIDENT IN REAL TIME.🚨
🚨WE HAVE 8 DAYS TO STOP IT.🚨
⋙ TheGuardian, Sidney Blumenthal: We are witnessing the making of a fascist president in real time https://tinyurl.com/5fsr58mc “Trump used his presidency to harass and prosecute ‘enemies within’. If re-elected, he will act with even less restraint”

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom RadioFreeTom The real question is why Ryan Girdusky was on CNN at all.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Phillip: I want to apologize to Mehdi Hasan for what was said at this table. It was completely unacceptable when we get this discussion started, you’ll see that Ryan is not at the table… I want to apologize to the viewers at home
💽 https://x.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1851101002901893198/photo/1
↥ ↧
⋙ 🐣 RT @McFaul CNN, this strategy has not been working for a long time. I’m a fan of your network, but giving these kinds of people platforms on your shows next to serious people has got to stop.
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Girdusky to Hasan: I hope your beeper doesn’t go off
💽 https://x.com/McFaul/status/1851116710692356501/photo/1

🐣 RT @scottlincicome “You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American” – Reagan, 1988
⋙ 🐣 RT @arrupar “America is for Americans and Americans only” — Stephen Miller
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1850631133869793704/photo/1

CNN: Trump unveils the most extreme closing argument in modern presidential history https://tinyurl.com/56ru2de9 “His rhetoric ranks alongside the most flagrant demagoguery by any major figure in a Western nation since World War II”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/whstancil/status/1850857643247571380/photo/1

🐣 RT @kylegriffin1 Forceful words from Doug Emhoff:
¤ [TextLink:] https://x.com/kylegriffin1/status/1851067703965941836

“He demeans immigrants with the same hateful slurs hurled at our ancestors, vermin, animals who poison the blood of our country. He scapegoats Jewish voters right to our faces, saying that if he loses, it will be the fault of Jews. He looks at Adolf Hitler’s generals and sees something to admire. Just let that sink in. You do not reward someone like that with a platform or with power, and never again with the presidency.

🐣 RT @MSNBC Rachel Maddow reacts to former President Donald Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden, which drew comparisons to the pro-Nazi rally held at a previous iteration of the famed arena in 1939. “If you don’t want to be compared to the folks who held rallies like that in 1939, don’t hold rallies like that,” ¤ @maddow said.

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom Look, if you want to argue that newspapers should never endorse, that’s fine (if wrong). But to discover that principle a week before an election, against a man who has threatened to destroy the free press, is just cowardice and anticipatory obedience.

TheAtlantic, Anne Applebaum: Trump Wants You to Accept All of This as Normal https://tinyurl.com/3r6ma7r5 “The former president is psychologically preparing Americans for an assault on the electoral system.”

WaPo Editorial: The right place to make the best case against Trump https://tinyurl.com/3urchwhr “Donald Trump considers Jan. 6 a day of love. What might a day of hate look like?”

🐣 RT @rgoodlaw Nearly a quarter million subscriptions up in smoke. ¤ A strong signal to Bezos and others who might engage in anticipatory obedience to anti-democratic forces.¤ “Over 200,000 subscribers flee ‘Washington Post’ after Bezos blocks Harris endorsement” NPR: https://tinyurl.com/4j3yphkk

🐣 RT @davidfolkenflik Molly Roberts’ statement resigning from WaPo editorial board 👇
[TextLink:] https://x.com/davidfolkenflik/status/1850960371944747459/photo/1

⋙ 🐣 RT @mollylroberts

On The Washington Post editorial board’s non-endorsement for president

Let’s say that an editorial board had a decades long practice of not endorsing candidates for president: This would be the election to reverse that position and take a stand. That the Washington Post editorial board has been forced to do the opposite dishonors our values and robs us of our purpose.

To be very clear, the decision not to endorse this election was not the editorial board’s. It was (you can read the reporting) Jeff Bezos’s. By registering my dissent, I don’t intend to impugn the conduct of any of my colleagues, all of whom were put in nearly impossible positions.

The mission of an editorial board is simpler than it may seem: We want to make the country and the world a better place, by supporting the better candidate or the best policy, and by condemning the worst. We want to change minds. But above all else, we want to write with moral clarity. If we can’t do that, what are we doing at all?

I’m resigning from The Post editorial board because the imperative to endorse Kamala Harris over Donald Trump is about as morally clear as it gets. Worse, our silence is exactly what Donald Trump wants: for the media, for us, to keep quiet.

At a rally the day before The Post announced it wouldn’t endorse, he went on a minutes-long rant trashing the supposedly unfair, unfree press. He ended, “They’re the enemy of the people, and someday they’re not going to be the enemy of the people, I hope.”

It’s that very hope we are fulfilling when we shut up rather than speaking out. And it’s a candidate’s expression of that hope that turns an otherwise mundane newspaper endorsement into an essential signal. Donald Trump is not yet a dictator. But the quieter we are, the closer he comes — because dictators don’t have to order the press to publish cooperatively if it wishes to go on publishing at all. The press knows, and it censors itself.

Our endorsement was our strongest means of sending the message that we are watching, and that we care enough say something. Instead we have sent the message that we don’t care after all. To dissent, in this case, is to depart.

🧵 RT @davidfolkenflik WaPost’s @DavidHoffman has stepped down from the paper’s editorial board warning of appeasing tyranny. From his resignation:
📌 [TextLink:] https://x.com/davidfolkenflik/status/1850957406953750662/photo/1

“For decades, the Washington Post’s editorials have been a beacon of light, signaling hope to dissidents, political prisoners and the voiceless. MORE

When victims of repression were harassed, exiled, imprisoned and murdered, we made sure the whole world knew the truth… I believe we face a very real threat of autocracy in the candidacy of Donald Trump. I find it untenable and unconscionable that we have lost our voice.” MORE

On Thursday, Hoffman received a Pulitzer for “a compelling and well-researched series on new technologies and the tactics authoritarian regimes use to repress dissent in the digital age, and how they can be fought.” David Shipley announced Bezos’ decision the next day. MORE

Hoffman says he intends to remain at the paper, saying he “refuses to give up on The Post, where I have spent 42 years.” He writes of being launched on several projects, including “the expanded effort to support press freedom around the world.”

Here’s a link to full letter from WaPo’s David Hoffman stepping down from editorial board – letter is to editorial page editor David Shipley.

Dear David, For decades, The Washington Post’s editorials have been a beacon of light, signaling hope to dissidents, political prisoners and the voiceless. When victims of repression were harassed, exiled, imprisoned, and murdered, we made sure the whole world knew the truth. This was a driving force in my 12 years on the Editorial Board, culminating in our 2023 series, “Annals of Autocracy,” which owed much to your leadership of Opinions. We showed how thousands of young people around the world are being wrongly imprisoned for their beliefs and for expressing their views on social media.

Under our watch at The Post, no one would be lost in silence. Until Friday, I assumed we would apply the same values and principles to an editorial endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris. I believe we face a very real threat of autocracy in the candidacy of Donald Trump. I find it untenable and unconscionable that we have lost our voice at this perilous moment.

I stand against silence in the face of dictatorship. Here, there, everywhere.

I am stepping down from the editorial board. While leaving the board, I refuse to give up on The Post, where I have spent 42 years. I believe the reporters, editors and columnists at The Post are determined to fulfill its mission as a pillar of American democracy. I’m committed to several important projects now underway, including the expanded effort to support press freedom around the world.

Sincerely,
David

🐣 RT @BarbaraHershey8
[TextLink:] /photo/1

🐣 RT @waltisfrozen Holy shit. The LA Times didn’t just squash a Kamala Harris endorsement. They buried an entire series of articles about Donald Trump. “According to internal memos viewed by TheWrap, the series, tentatively called ‘The Case Against Trump,’ would have ran throughout this week. The endorsement of Kamala Harris would then have been
published on Sunday.” ¤ LA Times Planned ‘Case Against Trump’ Series Alongside Kamala Harris Endorsement Before…

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe “It’s discouraging that so many people would gather and rally to hate… How did we get here? Where a stadium of people come to hate? That’s a different country, a different time.”— @morningmika reacts to Trump’s MSG rally filled with offensive rhetoric
💽 https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1850856808224600173/photo/1

TheAtlantic, David Graham: This Is Trump’s Message https://tinyurl.com/mtfptpbf “At his Madison Square Garden rally, Trump’s argument was hate and fear.”

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe “This was a hate rally. This was not just a presidential rally, this was not just a campaign rally. I think it’s important for people to understand these are mini January 6 rallies, these are mini Stop the Steal rallies.” – @aoc @repaoc on Trump’s New York City rally

HuffPo: Authoritarianism Expert Breaks Down Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden Rally https://tinyurl.com/46378han “Ruth Ben-Ghiat also exposed the real purpose of one claim that was repeatedly made at the event.”

🐣 RT @tribelaw Stephen Miller’s chant at Sunday’s MSG 1939-like rally that “America is for Americans and Americans only” deliberately echoed Adolf Hitler’s boast that “Germany is for Germans and Germans only.”

NYT: Trump at the Garden: A Closing Carnival of Grievances, Misogyny and Racism https://tinyurl.com/2x6eddsn “The inflammatory rally was a capstone for an increasingly aggrieved campaign for Donald Trump, whose rhetoric has grown darker and more menacing.”

⭕ 27 Oct 2024

🐣 RT @johnpavlovitz Stephen Miller’s pronouns are He/Himmler.

🐣 RT @TristanSnell In the 1930s, American fascists were funded by Germany — to stop the US from protecting democracy in Europe. ¤ In the 2020s, American fascists are funded by Russia — to stop the US from protecting democracy in Europe. ¤ We defeated them then. We will defeat them again.

Wikipedia: Population Puerto Rican Ancestry Alone or in combination (pop.)
Top Five:
Puerto Rico: 3,554,642*
New York: 1,070,558
Florida: 847,550
New Jersey: 434,092
Pennsylvania: 366,082
*2010 census; may have changed due to Hurricane Maria
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1850811117355884813/photo/1

Latino[.]si[.]edu: Latino Voters https://tinyurl.com/y969mmtc A record number of Latinos—nearly 30 million—were eligible to vote in 2020. Of that nearly 30 million, a record 16.5 million voted. 
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1850806133759353035/photo/1

🐣 RT @BMeiselas Trump’s MSG rally is sending shockwaves through the Puerto Rican community right now. It can’t be overstated what a major miscalculation this was. Big Puerto Rican communities in Pennsylvania, Florida, and a lot of Puerto Ricans in Wisconsin too. Those clips are spreading like wildfire.

🐣 RT @VABVOX Wow is this awful. ¤ TAPPER: “He said Liz Cheney should be put before a war tribunal. That doesn’t sound fascistic to you?” ¤ JD VANCE: “No, of course it doesn’t!”
💽 https://x.com/VABVOX/status/1850540371702431834/photo/1

🐣 RT @den_kazansky Russian state propaganda openly says that Russia’s goal is not limited to war in Ukraine. The real goal is to destroy NATO. ¤ State TV continues to prepare Russian society for war with the West. It is naive to think that Russia will stop in Ukraine if it wins

WaPo: Trump rally speakers lob racist insults, call Puerto Rico ‘island of garbage’ https://tinyurl.com/4nw27fn2 “Later, Trump took the stage at Madison Square Garden and called the GOP ‘the party of inclusion.’ His campaign issued a statement disavowing the “garbage” comment.”

💽 🐣 RT @propublica ProPublica and @ItsDocumented obtained more than 14 hours of never-before-published videos from Project 2025’s Presidential Administration Academy. Watch them all here: [link:] https://tinyurl.com/47j87eut

🐣 RT @@AVindman I’ve resisted calling Trump and MAGA fascist, mainly because I’ve understood fascism and Nazism as almost incomprehensibly evil. But the reality is MAGA is today, who the Nazi were before they seized power. There is no better historical comparison to MAGA than the Nazi of the early 1930s.
🖼 https://x.com/AVindman/status/1850630667127665086/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @ruthbenghiat Fascists are not subtle. They threaten you openly by telling you what they will do to you, and they dare you to oppose them. Too often, that opposition comes only when it is too late to prevent their consolidation of power.

🐣 RT @NotHoodlum I have never seen anything like this in my life, and I never want to see it again.

🐣 RT @allenanalysis Tonight, Trump went full dictator mode:
—He labeled Americans who don’t back him as “the enemy within.”
—Said we should “get ready” for laws from the 1700s to make a comeback.
—Went after journalists, calling them “enemies” and fantasized about “decapitating” one.
—Tore into America, trashing U.S. military leadership and calling them “stupid.”
He’s not hiding it anymore.

🐣 RT @HeathMayo This GOP rally at MSG is a new grotesque low for a party that increasingly reflects the worst of our society. From the main stage, they say Latinos are ejaculating on our country and Blacks are too busy carving watermelons. ¤ Disgusting people. You’re disgusting if you support it.

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally is already one of the biggest disasters of any campaign in history. A train wreck. This stunt will lose him even more voters in the final days of the election.
⋙ 🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote He’s not trying to get voters. He’s trying to stoke violence.
⋙ 🐣 RT @fiona_webster22 He’s not trying to get voters. He’s recruiting an army for his civil war.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Yaucolion71 It’s a call to arms.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Blacklace40 He doesn’t give two shits about getting more votes. He’s at the point of no return b/c he knows he will lose. This rally is intended to do one thing–incite violence against his enemies.

DailyBeast: Trump Doesn’t Hold Back at Hate-Filled Madison Square Garden Rally https://tinyurl.com/768x8f9z “The Republican nominee reportedly sold out Madison Square Garden for the massive rally featuring conservative luminaries.”

🐣 RT @djrothkopf If Trump and the GOP thought the reality of their MSG rally would prove comparisons with the 1939 Nazi MSG rally were inappropriate, I’ve got bad news for them. In fact, in many respects, Trump’s proved worse. Oh, and it was political suicide. My latest.
⋙ DailyBeast, David Rothkopf: Donald Trump’s Racist NYC Rally Was Vile. It Was Also Political Suicide https://tinyurl.com/3y5yym5t “The Madison Square Garden rally, operatic in its repulsive bigotry, will almost certainly alienate more voters who might have voted for Trump.”

💙 🧵 RT @atrupar I am going to put together a mega thread covering the entirety of Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally. Follow along for clip and commentary.
📌 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1850606224535888114/photo/1 -n
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1850606224535888114.html

🐣 RT @Zourabichvili_S I urge our international partners to protect Georgia by standing with the people, not an illegitimate government. ¤ Just as you opposed the Russian law, we ask you to stand with us again. These elections are illegitimate, and nothing can change that

🐣 RT @Angry_Staffer A Nazi rally a week before the election doesn’t seem like the best strategy but who am I to interrupt an idiot while he’s making a mistake.

🐣 RT @carlbildt,”This was a total falsification, a total stealing of votes, using all the tricks that can be used to falsify elections, and on top of that – the use of modern technologies to whitewash the elections.” 🇬🇪 [Georgia] President @Zourabichvili_S

🐣 RT @SecBlinken The Georgian people embraced democracy yesterday. Now Georgia’s political leaders must respect the rule of law, repeal legislation that undermines fundamental freedoms, address deficiencies in the electoral process, and move Georgia toward its Euro-Atlantic future.
// country of Georgia not state

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Reposting this article from 2018 for no particular reason…
Stephen Miller Is an Immigration Hypocrite. I Know Because I’m His Uncle. ¤ If my nephew’s ideas on immigration had been in force a century ago, our family would have been wiped out.
⋙ [Politico link:] https://tinyurl.com/mr4a9wy6

NYDailyNews: Trump’s MSG event turns into ugly racist rally, speakers insult Puerto Ricans, Blacks, Jews https://tinyurl.com/2a93sz3e

WaPo: Vance defends Trump on using U.S. military against Americans https://tinyurl.com/4jawj77f “In contentious TV interviews, Trump’s running mate forcefully backs his most controversial stances and blasts critics as threats to the country.”

NPR (10/22): Trump has made more than 100 threats to prosecute or punish perceived enemies https://tinyurl.com/3tj99ymd including @POTUS, @VP Harris, Obama, Liz Cheney, @January6thCmte, Judges Engoran & Chutkan, NY AG James, Reps Shiff and Pelosi, generals, DOJ officials, election workers, and “radical left lunatics” etc

🐣 RT @mmpadellan (10/22) Good morning and Happy Tuesday to everyone who agrees we can’t let obsequious MAGA Republicans sanewash and sweep trump’s “enemies from within” under the rug with the news cycle. ¤ Using the military on our citizens is dangerous, undemocratic, and disqualifying. PERIOD.
💽 [Daily Show link:] https://x.com/mmpadellan/status/1848703352034759098/photo/1
// clips Trump names Shiff and Pelosi enemy within

🐣 RT @JJohnsonLaw Bravo, @nytimes 👏🏼
[TextLink:] https://x.com/JJohnsonLaw/status/1850528457442083050/photo/1

NYT: [Full Page:] DONALD TRUMP SAYS HE WILL PROSECUTE HIS ENEMIES ORDER MASS DEPORTATIONS USE SOLDIERS AGAINST CITIZENS ABANDON ALLIES PLAY POLITICS WITH DISASTERS BELIEVE HIM. What a second Trump term would bring.

🐣 RT @LucasSa56947288 During a TV interview on CNN with Jake Tapper, JD Vance has repeatedly lying saying Donald Trump didn’t say he was going after “the enemy within.” ¤ He’s said it repeatedly, you clown. ¤ JD Vance is vile!!
💽 https://x.com/LucasSa56947288/status/1850529459805225402/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 he’s said it about the left in general, not just Pelosi and Schiff, both of whom are not extremists, but rather people who have held him to account ¤ besides, it was peaceful protestors Trump wanted Milley to shoot; which is illegal — why Trump wants to invoke the Insurrection Act

🐣 RT @atrupar Liz Cheney on JD Vance’s CNN meltdown: “What we just watched is what it looks like when someone has gotta go through unbelievable contortions to try to find a way to defend the person that JD Vance himself called America’s Hitler.”
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1850530904856215798/photo/1

⭕ 26 Oct 2024

🐣 RT @PolitiFact Elon Musk posts and reposts misinformation narratives from conservative accounts, amplifying false claims to millions. We analyzed more than 450 of his posts and found numerous falsehoods about federal hurricane relief, immigration and voting.
⋙ 🐣 another nepo-baby thinking US rules don’t apply to him ¤ I’m so sick of guys like Musk, Thiel and Murdoch who come here, break the rules, disrespect our values, and use their money to erode our democracy ¤ they are nihilists ¤ what if he was black? or Latino?

🐣 RT @mattyglesias The point is Musk is full of shit — trying to buy the government for self-interested reasons with a BS immigration pitch that masks an agenda of shifting the tax burden to working people and cutting Social Security.
◕ https://x.com/mattyglesias/status/1850144817445003662/photo/1 -4

🐣 RT @HerbieZiskend @nytopinion: “As a dedicated public servant who has ‘demonstrated care, competence and an unwavering commitment to the Constitution, Ms. Harris stands alone in this race.” [NYT 9/30 link:] https://tinyurl.com/55w6c9rs
⋙ [TextLink:] https://x.com/HerbieZiskend/status/1850279868333695422/photo/1
// THE EDITORIAL BOARD The Only Patriotic Choice for President

🐣 RT @djrothkopf If the proprietor of this site entered the country illegally, stayed illegally and lied about any aspect of his status on the forms he filled out to get top secret clearance it’s a felony. It could also cause problems re the status of his businesses. Potentially a big deal.
⋙ 🐣 Before the election, the govt won’t do much. But the media (incl you) needs to amplify this, including gathering legal opinions on what can do done.

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson Dark Brandon in the house.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Biden: The wealthiest man in the world is his ally. Well, that wealthiest man in the world turned out to be an illegal worker… He’s talking about all these illegals coming our way”
💽 https://x.com/TheRickWilson/status/1850262524891193826/photo/1

🐣 RT @MontyBoa99 Just since his 2nd popular election loss, Trump’s been:
● indicted 4 times
● convicted 34 times
● barred from running any NY charity or business
● fined $90M for lying about somebody (twice)
● forced to refund $122M in scammed donations
● fined another $454M for MORE fraud.
● Two trials to go.

💙 🐣 RT @Acyn Michelle Obama’s full speech from Michigan
💽 [~40mins] https://x.com/Acyn/status/1850296855726305387/photo/1

🐣 RT @jonfavs The most powerful message to young men in the entire campaign [Michelle Obama:]
💽 https://x.com/jonfavs/status/1850308973343506611/photo/1

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder People are talking about fascism. I’ve heard from people who are baffled that we haven’t been speaking of fascism more and earlier, and from people who want to know what it means – and from people who want me to explain why fascism is bad. Please share!
💽 [TicToc:] https://x.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/1850302744965403068/photo/1

🐣 RT @TrumpsTaxes Everyone must watch all 8 minutes and 24 seconds of this speech by Michelle Obama. ¤ It might be the finest I’ve ever heard on the topic of abortion rights, as well as the stakes in this election for American women…and the men who love them. ¤ Share widely.
💽 https://x.com/TrumpsTaxes/status/1850296050168610849/photo/1

🐣 RT @KamalaHQ .@MichelleObama: I hope that you will forgive me if I’m a little angry that we are indifferent to Donald Trump’s [his gross incompetence, while we expect Kamala to dazzle at every turn]. … His obvious mental decline, his history as a convicted felon, a known slumlord, a predator found liable for sexual abuse. All of this while we pick apart Kamala’s answers from interviews that he doesn’t even have the courage to
💽 https://x.com/KamalaHQ/status/1850287570447401008/photo/1
⇈ ⇊
🐣 RT @atrupar Michelle Obama comprehensively demolishes Trump’s entire record in office in under 5 minutes
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1850286024045248999/photo/1

WaPo: Elon Musk, enemy of ‘open borders,’ launched his career working illegally https://tinyurl.com/44k3bxfw “Investors in Musk’s first company worried about ‘our founder being deported’ and gave him a deadline for obtaining a work visa”

WaPo: Trump says domestic foes worse than Kim Jong Un during meandering Joe Rogan interview https://tinyurl.com/mrxrvtxm “We have a bigger problem, in my opinion, with the enemy from within,” Trump said after mentioning the oppressive North Korean leader, reprising a phrase that has drawn criticism.

⭕ 25 Oct 2024

🖼 TheAtlantic: Photos of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair https://tinyurl.com/d4xzbuv6 Chicago’s South Side, near the University of Chicago where Obama taught and where his Presidential Library is being built; (fond memories from my past)

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”- Martin Luther King, Jr.

🐣 RT @rowefinkbeiner Voting prevents unwanted presidencies. ¤ Vote #HarrisWalz so our daughters won’t have fewer rights than we’ve had. #KamalaForFreedom
🖼 https://x.com/rowefinkbeiner/status/1849975083093090316/photo/1

🐣 RT @Eugene_Robinson This is the text of the Post columnists’ statement, for those hitting the paywall:
¤ https://x.com/Eugene_Robinson/status/1849999856514834934

The Washington Post’s decision not to make an endorsement in the presidential campaign is a terrible mistake. It represents an abandonment of the fundamental editorial convictions of the newspaper that we love. This is a moment for the institution to be making clear its commitment to democratic values, the rule of law and international alliances, and the threat that Donald Trump poses to them — the precise points The Post made in endorsing Trump’s opponents in 2016 and 2020. There is no contradiction between The Post’s important role as an independent newspaper and its practice of making political endorsements, both as a matter of guidance to readers and as a statement of core beliefs. That has never been more true than in the current campaign. An independent newspaper might someday choose to back away from making presidential endorsements. But this isn’t the right moment, when one candidate is advocating positions that directly threaten freedom of the press and the values of the Constitution.

Signed by: Perry Bacon Jr., Matt Bai, E.J. Dionne Jr., Lee Hockstader, David Ignatius, Heather Long, Ruth Marcus, Dana Millbank, Alexandra Petri, Catherine Rampell, Eugene Robinson, Jennifer Rubin, Karen Tumulty

🐣 RT @Acyn Beyoncé: I am not here as a celebrity. I’m not here as a politician. I’m here as a mother. A mother who cares about the world our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we are not divided
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1849999967760638292/photo/1

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump WOW. 30,000 people attending the Harris rally in Houston, Texas.
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1849994510580760787/photo/1

🐣 RT @SethAbramson I think maybe the Washington Post just died in darkness today

🐣 RT @harrytlambert New – David Maraniss, Pulitzer-winning @washingtonpost reporter on Bezos’ killing of op-ed: ¤ “I find this contemptible. This is an act not of benign neutrality but of cowardice in the face of the biggest challenge to democracy in our post-WWII lifetimes.”
⋙ DailyBeast: Top Editors Eviscerate Jeff Bezos’ Decision to Kill WaPo Endorsement https://tinyurl.com/25xyjwns “Major reporters and former editors speak out after Bezos squashed a Harris endorsement drafted by Post writers”

🐣 RT @mikiebarb A WaPo endorsement for president had been written and was ready to publish before Jeff Bezos decided the paper would not endorse.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/mikiebarb/status/1849861923950690360/photo/1

[Text:] An endorsement of Harris had been drafted by Post editorial page staffers but had yet to be published, according to two sources briefed on the sequence of events who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The decision not to publish was made by The Post’s owner — Amazon founder Jeff Bezos —according to the same sources.

🐣 RT @IAPonomarenko The richest man on Earth, who used to be cherished as a genius bringing about a hi-tech future for humankind, is shamelessly ridiculing, mocking, and undermining a country under attack in a war of extermination and spreading war propaganda to his gigantic media audience — all because a dictator responsible for the largest European war of aggression feeds him horseshit on the phone on a regular basis. ¤ We’re so sorry, Grandpa Winston, this world is so fucked.
⋙ 🐣 RT @JaakkolaKaarina He always was just a Rich Man’s son. Coming from South Africa, country that now strongly supports Russia’s Imperialism. ¤ Certainly not genius. ¤ Bought the right companies, hired the right people. ¤. Of course making Money is a talent too. DonOld doesn’t know how to do it.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/JaakkolaKaarina/status/1849748240486314400/photo/1

The truth about “Space Karen”
PayPal was founded by Max Levchin- not Musk.
Tesla was founded by Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning- not Musk
SpaceX is successful because of engineer Tom Mueller- not Musk.

Elon Musk has never invented anything.
He’s never designed anything.
He’s never been an innovator for anything.
[@berniegir167_3]

🐣 Guess what. Vaccines and antibiotics work! ¤ Look what happened to the lime green (deaths from infectious disease) piece ⬇️ (1900 vs 2010)
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1849768291478237659/photo/1
// data from CDC

KFF Health System Tracker (Jan 30): How does US life expectancy compare to other countries? https://tinyurl.com/5n723e7n //➔ US life expectancy plummeted under Trump due to COVID-19 mismanagement (compared to peer countries) but is improving under Biden/Harris
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1849766726918930729/photo/1

🧵 RT @Mylovanov Zelensky’s “Make Russia Small Again” T-shirt shows the Principality of Moscow’s tiny 1462 borders. Russia’s control over modern Ukraine and its EU neighbors began only with the Soviet expansion—a blueprint Putin now seeks to revive 1/
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @nexta_tv Zelenskyy recorded a daily address to Ukrainians wearing a “make russia small again” T-shirt. ¤ It shows a map of the Principality of Moscow from 1462, when it included Moscow, Suzdal and Vologda. On the back of the t-shirt, the size of the principality is compared to the size of the current Russian Federation.
🖼 https://x.com/nexta_tv/status/1849148364337668104/photo/1 -n
📌 https://x.com/Mylovanov/status/1849722545940881744
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1849722545940881744.html

In 1462, the Principality of Moscow was a modest regional power in northeastern Europe. This period marks the beginning of the reign of Ivan the Great. Under him, Moscow began to consolidate power and expand its territory, setting the foundation for the future Russian state 2/

At that time, the Principality of Moscow encompassed Moscow itself, Suzdal, an ancient town northeast of Moscow, and Vologda, a town further north. The principality was under the suzerainty of the Golden Horde, the Mongol-Tatar empire 3/

After 1462, Russia’s growth proceeded in several phases:

16th Century: Under Ivan the Terrible, Russia conquered the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia, pushing its borders eastward 4/

17th Century: Expansion into Siberia continued, reaching the Pacific Ocean. The Time of Troubles briefly interrupted growth but was followed by the establishment of the Romanov Dynasty 5/

18th Century: Peter the Great modernized the state and gained access to the Baltic Sea. Catherine the Great expanded southward and westward, including parts of Poland and the Crimea 6/

19th Century: Further expansion into Central Asia and the Caucasus regions, along with involvement in European affairs 7/

20th Century: The formation of the Soviet Union brought many neighboring countries into a single federal socialist state. After its dissolution in 1991, the Russian Federation retained significant territory, but lost neighboring countries. 8/

Under Putin, Russian government has squashed domestic dissent, eradicating any democratic and political opposition, brought into submission regions with independence aspirations, established control over media and elections. Russia has also increased GDP per cap more than 10X 9/

The source of Russian strengths is its natural resources: oil and gas. Russia economy is very vulnerable to pricing fluctuations. The domestic security, now together with military costs for operations in Ukraine, Syria and elsewhere, comprise 40% of the government budget 10/

In the recent decade, Russia has expanded its military operations outside of Russia, annexing Crimea, invading Georgia, supporting Syrian regime and establishing a base there, and finally, fully invading Ukraine 11/

Now, Russia is an overstretched empire with economic vulnerabilities. A downward shock to global oil prices will plunge Russia into a deep economic and political crisis. So, Russia is desperate to strengthen its economy and establish political ties with China & BRICS countries

⭕ 24 Oct 2024

🧵 RT @atrupar I’m going to put together a thread covering the Obama-Harris rally near Atlanta, Georgia. Follow along for clips and commentary.
📌 💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1849595066370625821/photo/1
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1849595066370625821.html

🐣 RT @carman_upshaw So BRIC’s summit:

● Saudi Crown Prince MBS and Brazils Lula didn’t attend
● Putin’s proposal went flat and nobody buys into his delusions
● India, Brazil, UAE don’t like Russia making BRIC’s anti west
● They can’t agree on anything meaningful
● Most leaders left early

🐣 RT @KyivPost Russia is using terrorist organizations to close down commercial shipping routes key to western commerce.
¤ https://x.com/KyivPost/status/1849706046203232332

The Kremlin provided satellite data to the Houthis for strikes on commercial ships in the Red Sea, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. ¤ The data was transferred through members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

This support enabled the rebels to significantly “expand the scope of attacks.” ¤ The publication notes that such assistance from Russia shows how far Putin is willing to go to “undermine the Western economic and political order led by the U.S.”

🐣 RT @TimOBrien Bloomberg News analyzed more than 53,000 posts sent from Musk’s Twitter account between 2011 and 2024 to determine which topics he prioritized — and which received the most engagement. Anti-immigration and voter fraud conspiracies top the list.
⋙ Bloomberg: Elon Musk Is Now X’s Biggest Promoter of Anti-Immigrant Conspiracies [multimedia] https://tinyurl.com/y64ccm9r “The billionaire owner is spreading debunked theories of undocumented voters swaying the US election, and growing his influence in the process.”

🐣 RT @MargieVotes #DemsUnited #ProudBlue
Admiral James Stavridis backs General Kelly’s story about Trump’s fascist inclinations. ¤ When all of Trump’s Generals say he is a threat to the United States of America- take them seriously.
#WeWillNotGoBack
💽 https://x.com/MargieVotes/status/1849489095002653052/photo/1
// on @MorningJoe

🐣 RT @MollyMcKew Guys it’s all one war for them ¤ I will keep saying it ¤ One war. Many fronts. They write about it and they tell us what they will do and they do it. ¤ For some reason we decide not to believe it.
⋙ 🐣 RT @KareemRifai JUST NOW: WSJ reveals that Russia has been providing targeting data to the Houthis for their attacks on ships in the Red Sea. ¤ Data was passed through members of Iran’s IRGC who are embedded with the Houthis.
⋙⋙ WSJ: Russia Provided Targeting Data for Houthi Assault on Global Shipping https://tinyurl.com/3fzbu6j4 “Moscow’s assistance in attacks that are disrupting trade shows how the Kremlin is seeking to tie up the U.S. in the Middle East”
⋙⋙⋙ 🐣 NavyTimes (March 28): Navy warship fights off four-drone Houthi attack https://tinyurl.com/ydfsrpua “Multiple Navy destroyers have spent months [in Red Sea] intercepting drones and missiles on a near-daily basis that were fired by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen”
⋙⋙⋙ 🐣 Reuters (June 16): Yemen’s Houthis say they attacked two ships and American destroyer https://tinyurl.com/48de5taa

Forbes: “According to When to Stream, The Apprentice will debut on digital streaming via premium video on demand on Friday, November 1” https://tinyurl.com/vu7bbm78 “The Apprentice will be available on such digital platforms as Prime Video, AppleTV and VUDU”

🔆 Breaking❗️⋙ WSJ: Elon Musk’s Secret Conversations With Vladimir Putin https://tinyurl.com/4d86zcb8 “Regular contacts between world’s richest man and America’s chief antagonist raise security concerns; topics include geopolitics, business and personal matters”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1849639912829542585/photo/1 -4

Musk has emerged this year as a crucial supporter of Donald Trump’s election campaign, and could find a role in a Trump administration should he win. While the U.S. and its allies have isolated Putin in recent years, Musk’s dialogue could signal re-engagement with the Russian leader, and reinforce Trump’s expressed desire to cut a deal over major fault lines such as the war in Ukraine.

At the same time, the contacts also raise potential national-security concerns among some in the current administration, given Putin’s role as one of America’s chief adversaries.

Musk has forged deep business ties with U.S. military and intelligence agencies, giving him unique visibility into some of America’s most sensitive space programs. SpaceX, which operates the Starlink service, won a $1.8 billion classified contract in 2021 and is the primary rocket launcher for the Pentagon and NASA. Musk has a security clearance that allows him access to certain classified information. …

In October 2022, he asked his tens of millions of followers on X to vote on a pathway to peace that mirrored some aspects of the Kremlin’s offer to Ukraine at the time.

Those conditions included continued Russian occupation of Crimea and Ukrainian neutrality outside of NATO. He also specified that Ukraine should continue allowing the supply of water to Crimea, an issue that had been an important concern of the Kremlin before the war.

One current and one former intelligence source said that Musk and Putin have continued to have contact since then and into this year as Musk began stepping up his criticism of the U.S. military aid to Ukraine and became involved in Trump’s election campaign. …

In the past year, Musk and Russia’s interests have increasingly overlapped. Apart from Russia’s use of X for disinformation and Musk’s outspoken opposition to aid to Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said earlier this year that Russian forces occupying the country’s eastern and southern swaths had started using Starlink to enable secure communications and extend the range of their drones.

Russian troops also began using Starlink terminals, brought in through third countries, at a massive scale, undermining one of Ukraine’s few battlefield advantages. Musk has said on X that to the best of his knowledge, no terminals had been sold directly or indirectly to Russia, and that the terminals wouldn’t work inside Russia. …

Through the first months of the year, Musk said he would refrain from backing any presidential candidate while at the same time holding private conversations discussing how he could get Trump elected. Musk publicly endorsed him in July.

The businessman said he planned to commit as much as $45 million a month to a new super political-action committee in part to get it done, according to people familiar with the matter. The effort included hiring armies of canvassers to scour battleground states for voters.

Since then, Trump has said he intends to make Musk the head of a “government efficiency commission.” The two speak often.

🐣 RT @da_wessel Well over 20,000 here in Georgia for @BarackObama and @KamalaHarris — our biggest crowd yet.
💽 https://x.com/da_wessel/status/1849603929056727148/photo/1

🐣 RT @ChrisMurphyCT I went on @Morning_Joe today to talk about how hate and division are Donald Trump’s oxygen. He has no[t] positive agenda, only a need to turn us against each other. ¤ That’s why he killed the bipartisan border security bill. Because he needs the issue of the border to be unfixed.

🐣 RT @FT The Department of Justice has notified Musk’s America Pac that the prizes he is handing out to registered voters may flout US law, which bars paying individuals to register to vote. https://on.ft.com/3UkLt3Y

🐣 RT @Laurie_Garrett Looks like you’re losing a talking point, #DonaldTrump2024 ¤ September Border Patrol encounters lowest since the pandemic. [Hill link:] https://tinyurl.com/3mj36eap
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Laurie_Garrett/status/1849317508265685191/photo/1

⭕ 23 Oct 2024

CNN: McConnell says ‘MAGA movement is completely wrong’ and Reagan ‘wouldn’t recognize’ Trump’s GOP https://tinyurl.com/2hbmfv72

“I think Trump was the biggest factor in changing the Republican Party from what Ronald Reagan viewed and he wouldn’t recognize today,” McConnell told the Associated Press’ Michael Tackett for the upcoming biography “The Price of Power” obtained by CNN ahead of its release. ¤ McConnell added that the former president has “done a lot of damage to our party’s image and our ability to compete.”

“Trump is appealing to people who haven’t been as successful as other people and providing an excuse for that, that these more successful [sic] people have somehow been cheated, and you don’t deserve to think of yourself as less successful because things haven’t been fair,” he said.

Some of McConnell’s strongest comments were focused on Trump’s behavior after he lost the election in 2020, calling him “erratic.”

“Unfortunately, about half the Republicans in the country believe whatever he says,” McConnell said at the time, adding to an oral historian, “I think I’m pretty safe in saying it’s not just the Democrats who are counting the days until he leaves on January 20, but the Republicans as well.” McConnell gave Tackett access to his personal archive, including an oral history he has been recording since 1995, for the book.

The Republican leader eventually voted to acquit Trump during the second impeachment trial, focused on the former president’s involvement in the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. However, Tackett reports that McConnell had leaned towards voting to convict at certain points.

“I’m not at all conflicted about whether what the president did is an impeachable offense. I think it is. Urging an insurrection and people attacking the Capitol as a direct result … is about as close to an impeachable offense as you can imagine, with the possible exception of maybe being an agent for another country,” said McConnell.

“I don’t know whether you can make a conclusive argument that he’s directly responsible for them storming the Capitol, but I think it’s not in dispute that those folks would not have been here in the first place if he had not asked them to come and to disrupt the actual acceptance of the outcome of the election,” the Senate GOP leader said.

The Kentucky Republican did not mince words, calling Trump a “sleazeball,” a “narcissist” and saying that the former president is “stupid as well as being ill-tempered.” He added that Trump is “not very smart, irascible, nasty, just about every quality you would not want somebody to have.”

While he dismissed Trump’s attacks against him, saying “every time he takes a shot at me, I think it’s good for my reputation,” he added that the former president’s attacks on his wife, Elaine Chao, Trump’s former Transportation Secretary, went too far. …

Tackett also reports that McConnell cried while addressing his staff in the hours after the attack on the Capitol. “You are my staff, and you are my responsibility,” he told them. “You are my family, and I hate the fact that you had to go through this.”

He called the rioters who entered the Senate chamber, “narcissistic, just like Donald Trump, sitting in the vice president’s chair taking pictures of themselves,” adding it was a “shocking occurrence and further evidence of Donald Trump’s complete unfitness for office.”

In a statement to CNN about his comments on the former president in the book, McConnell said, “Whatever I may have said about President Trump pales in comparison to what JD Vance, Lindsey Graham, and others have said about him, but we are all on the same team now.”

The Senate GOP leader and the former president have long had a rocky relationship, which Tackett details in the book. However, McConnell has endorsed Trump, and met with him back in June of this year during Trump’s meeting with Senate Republicans off the Hill. …

McConnell will remain in his role as Senate GOP leader through the end of the year until the start of the new Congress in early January.

The Kentucky Republican, who has previously said he is most proud of his legacy in shaping the Supreme Court and leading the efforts to confirm three new conservative justices during Trump’s presidency, acknowledged that Justice Clarence Thomas “exercised pretty questionable judgment,” when he chose to accept trips from a major GOP donor. “But then again, I’m not sure what the rules are,” he added. …

McConnell also expressed support for special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s actions around the 2020 election and the insurrection. “I think it was the single most – in a category by itself – of how wrong all of it was and there’s no doubt who inspired it, and I just hope that he’ll have to pay a price for it,” said McConnell. “If he hasn’t committed indictable offenses, I don’t know what one is.”

TheAtlantic, Megan Garber: Why Are We Humoring Them? https://tinyurl.com/yeyu73n7 “Democracy is an earnest enterprise: It requires us—challenges us—to care. … It assumes that people will … settle differences through acts of debate. But cynicism makes argument impossible.”
// Full quote: “Democracy is an earnest enterprise: It requires us—challenges us—to care. It assumes that people will disagree, about the small things and the big ones. It further assumes that they will settle differences through acts of debate. But cynicism makes argument impossible.”
// Subtitle: “When Donald Trump and Elon Musk can turn death threats into punch lines, the joke is on the rest of us—and that’s the point.”

In September, Secret Service agents apprehended a man carrying an AK-47-style gun near Donald Trump’s Palm Beach golf course—in an apparent attempt, the FBI concluded, to assassinate the former president. To some, the thwarted violence was a bleak testament to the times: one more reminder that politics, when approached as an endless war, will come with collateral damage. To Elon Musk, however, it was an opportunity. The billionaire, treating his control of X as a means of owning the libs, gave the Palm Beach news a MAGA-friendly twist. “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala,” Musk wrote on the platform, punctuating the line with a thinking-face emoji.

Musk was wrong—authorities have arrested several people for death threats made against the president and vice president—and he eventually deleted the post. But he did not apologize for the mistake. Instead, earlier this month, Musk used an appearance on Tucker Carlson’s X-based show as a chance to workshop the line. “Nobody’s even bothering to try to kill Kamala,” Musk told Carlson, “because it’s pointless. What do you achieve?”

At this, both men guffawed. Musk, having found an appreciative audience, kept going, finding new ways to suggest that the vice president was not worth the trouble of assassinating. Carlson’s reply: “That’s hilarious.”

First as tragedy, then as farce, the adage goes. If only the old order still applied. Not that long ago, public figures such as Carlson and Musk might have been embarrassed to be seen using political violence as a punch line. But embarrassment, these days, is a partisan affliction. It can ail only the soft, the sincere—the people willing to be caught caring in public. The brand of politics that Musk and Carlson practice is swaggering and provocative and, as a result, entirely devoid of shame. And so the two men, wielding their mockery, make a show of each chortle and smirk. …

Trump, that louche comedian, is partially to blame. His humor—some of it crude, some of it cruel, most of it treating politics and the people who engage in them as the butt of an endless joke—is more than a performance. It is also permission. Musk and Carlson laughed at the thought of Harris’s death both because they wanted to and because they knew they could. Trump and his crowbar will come for every Overton window. Now no claim is too much. No joke is too soon. Deportations, assassinations, the casual suggestion that America is due for its own version of Kristallnacht: Invoked as ideas and implications, they might be threats. They might be omens. For Trump and the many who humor him, though, they’re simply material—fodder for jokes in a set that never ends.

“Not The Onion,” people might warn one another on social media, as they share the video of Trump’s nearly 40-minute attempt to turn a town hall into a one-man dance party. “Beyond parody,” they might moan, as J. D. Vance spreads racist lies about immigrants snatching and eating their neighbors’ pets. The disclaimers are hardly necessary. Americans, whatever their political convictions, have become accustomed to politics that read as dark comedy—and to politicians who commit fully to the bit. These leaders don’t merely lie or misspeak or make light of life and death. To them, leadership itself is a joke. They’re trolling one another. They’re trolling us. They’ve made mischief a mandate.

Call it the trolligarchy—and have no doubt that its regime is inescapable. Trump says that if reelected he’ll be a dictator on “day one” and then insists that he’s only joking. Under Musk, X’s email for press inquiries auto-responds to reporters’ questions with a poop emoji.…

Life under the trolligarchy requires constant acts of micro-translation: Did she mean it? Was he joking? Were they lying? The lulz, as a result, can be exhausting. The scholar Dannagal Goldthwaite Young, analyzing fMRI studies that illustrate how the brain processes jokes, argues that humor can impose a cognitive tax. Jokes, for all their delights, ask more of their audiences than other forms of discourse do: They require more split-second parsing, more energy, more work. And a troll is a joke unhinged—which makes it extra taxing. Its terms are particularly murky. Its claims are especially suspect. Under its influence, the old categories fail. Nihilism takes over. Fatigue sets in. Sincerity and irony, like stars whose centers cannot hold, collapse into each other.

… [T]rolling, as a mode of political engagement, is not comedy. It is its antithesis. Nazis of both the past and present have tried to hide in plain sight by characterizing their racism as merely ironic. As The New Yorker’s Emily Nussbaum wrote in a 2017 essay, jokes deployed as rhetoric played a crucial role in helping Trump win the presidency.

… In 2008, The New York Times published “The Trolls Among Us,” a lengthy introduction to a subculture that was then emerging from the dark recesses of the internet. The article is remarkably prescient. It treats trolling as a novelty but frames it as a new moral problem. It parses the cruelty that has become a standard feature of online engagement. But it was also written when trolls’ power was relatively contained. Trolling, today, having slipped the surly bonds of 4chan, is no longer subculture. It is culture.

… Trolls claim to be puncturing pieties, saving the sanctimonious from themselves. They’re righting social wrongs as they subject “elites” to a barrage of corrective humiliations meant to reveal empathy and equality and other such values as nothing more than smug little lies.

… [Trump’s] lies invade and destroy, trampling the truths that stand in their way with casual, cunning brutality. But Trump’s jokes can be similarly, if more subtly, ruinous. A troll reserves the right, always, to be kidding—even about matters of life and death.

… Democracy is an earnest enterprise: It requires us—challenges us—to care. It assumes that people will disagree, about the small things and the big ones. It further assumes that they will settle differences through acts of debate. But cynicism makes argument impossible. “How do you fight an enemy who’s just kidding?” Nussbaum asked in her 2017 essay, and the question still has no good answer. The old insult comic remains onstage, serving up the same routine to a crowd that cackles and roars. He’ll roast anyone in his path. He’ll soak up the applause. He’ll trust that, in all the levity, people will miss the obvious: When the comedy keeps punching down, anyone can become the butt of the joke.

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote How can @DanaBashCNN say that Harris didn’t speak about any specific legislative priorities? Here are the specific legislative priorities I heard:
¤ https://x.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1849273658164015433

● Codifying Roe
● Tax breaks for small businesses
● Building more housing units
● Immigration
● Prohibiting price gouging
● Down payment assistance
● Medicare covers in home care
● Negotiate drug prices for all
● Expanding manufacturing
● Protecting unions
● Tax penalties for corporate landlords
That’s a non exhaustive list off the top of my head. I don’t think Dana was listening.
// ●s added

TheGuardian: ‘We don’t know where the tipping point is’: climate expert on potential collapse of Atlantic circulation https://tinyurl.com/yvska9kk “It is well established that Amoc is weakening and that a tipping point exists. The uncertainty is about when we will cross that threshold.”

⭕ 22 Oct 2024

NYT: As Election Nears, Kelly Warns Trump Would Rule Like a Dictator https://tinyurl.com/yab6fcf4 “John Kelly, the Trump White House’s longest-serving chief of staff, said that he believed that Donald Trump met the definition of a fascist.”

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla JAMIE DIMON WOULD CONSIDER ROLE IN HARRIS ADMINISTRATION: NYT ¤ $JPM @JohnSpall247
[TextLink:] https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1848749423922471387/photo/1

[Text:] Jamie Dimon Privately Supports Harris. He Just Won’t Say So.
By Rob Copeland

(New York Times) — JPMorgan’s chief executive has told associates of his support for the vice president, and his dislike of Donald Trump. But fearful of blowback, he won’t say it publicly.

When Jamie Dimon surprised the political and financial elite early this year by praising some of Donald J. Trump’s policies, the longtime Democrat set off speculation that he had switched his allegiance to the Republican candidate.

He has done little since to tamp that down. The usually outspoken chief executive of JPMorgan, the nation’s largest bank, has been uncharacteristically vague about his political leanings of late. In an interview last week, he even left open the door to endorsing Mr. Trump – whose behavior in the aftermath of election Dimon once described as “treason.”

In private, however, Mr. Dimon has made clear that he supports Vice President Kamala Harris and would consider a role, perhaps Treasury secretary, in her administration. He has also told his associates that the former president’s 2020 election denialism remains close to a disqualifying factor. Those views were shared by three people who asked not to be identified discussing his politics because Mr. Dimon was speaking privately.

Mr. Dimon isn’t making his stance known publicly because he’s fearful that if Mr. Trump is victorious, he could retaliate against the people and companies who publicly opposed his run, his associates said. That’s a concern shared by other powerful corporate executives, and not without reason: Mr. Trump has begun to increase threats of political retribution in recent weeks.

Both the Trump and Harris campaigns have sought Mr. Dimon’s public support, and Mr. Trump once – falsely – declared that he had it. But for a man who has been eager to weigh in on virtually any topic – Ukraine, inequality, immigration – Mr. Dimon’s silence reflects a discomfort with the idea of staking out a public position on a contentious issue, people close to him say.

His quiet has been noticed in Washington and on Wall Street, where his every utterance is tracked. Fans, rivals and the odd detractor note with some alarm that Mr. Dimon, 68 years old and a billionaire, hasn’t made his specific stance on the election known.

“With Jamie, it’s interesting because he styles himself as a major leader transcending his own business needs,” said Robert Reich, former secretary of labor in the Clinton administration. “If he were really concerned about the nation and all of the values that he says he’s concerned about, not only would he not be supporting Trump – he’d be vocally and angrily and with all of his might making sure that Trump did not get another crack at the White House.”

Mr. Dimon declined to be interviewed for this article. Joseph Evangelisti, a JPMorgan spokesman, said in an emailed statement that the chief executive “has never publicly endorsed a presidential candidate, but he speaks out forcefully and often on policies to help strengthen our country and lift up communities.” ¤ The statement didn’t address whom Mr. Dimon had decided to vote for.

🧵 RT @boucherhayes Yesterday 44 of the world’s leading climate scientists wrote an open letter about collapse of the Atlantic Ocean’s circulation (AMOC) ¤ When I interviewed one of them about the consequences of AMOC reaching a tipping point he could barely keep it together.
📌 💽 https://x.com/boucherhayes/status/1848595891998818336/photo/1
// tags: global warming climate change; AMOC = Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation

🐣 RT @SenWhitehouse Let’s not normalize how weird it is that these far-right judges are all chumming it up at right-wing events with the creepy right-wing billionaires’ Court-packer Leonard Leo. ¤ “Neutral and disinterested,” I think not.
⋙ TheGuardian: The Maga legal networks that could topple Planned Parenthood and gut women’s healthcare https://tinyurl.com/bd2tmfru “Revealed: outcome of coming election may determine staying power of hard-right activist Leonard Leo’s crusade to reshape US courts”

🧵 RT @TomDreisbach NEW: ¤ We reviewed Trump’s speeches, interviews, and social media posts since 2022 and found that he has made more than 100 threats to investigate, prosecute, jail or otherwise punish his opponents, whom he sometimes calls “the enemy from within.”
📌 💽 https://x.com/TomDreisbach/status/1848769972937404462/photo/1

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe .@HardballChris: “I’ve never seen a more heroic figure than Liz Cheney. She lost her state, probably forever, she lost her Party, her leadership in the Republican House… She gave it all away in the interest of truth— There’s such courage there.
💽 https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1848702228594352184/photo/1

WaPo: FBI investigating alleged leak of Israel war plan documents https://tinyurl.com/ypb789tk “Multiple news outlets have reported the exposure of highly classified U.S. intelligence material on Israel’s potential plans for a retaliatory attack on Iran.”

⭕ 21 Oct 2024

🧵 RT @ellim992 The Heritage Foundation doesn’t just write policy: They commit fraud and manufacture evidence used by Republicans in Congress, in courts, briefs to SCOTUS, and by right-wing media. The scam is sloppy, and they often leave their names on it.👇
(This hasn’t been reported on.)
📌 https://x.com/ellim992/status/1848502224995160511

🐣 RT @mariashriver As @KamalaHarris reminded us all today when I joined her in Michigan with @Liz_Cheney, do not despair.
¤ 💽 https://x.com/mariashriver/status/1848535389847294000/photo/1

Yes, we are all feeling anxious, stressed, unsure. But this is a moment for us all to decide how we want to move forward. To recognize that we all have a decision to make, and while we might disagree, that is part of the process. The American people have the power in their hands to choose the next president by exercising their right to vote. Let’s rise to this moment, but not give in to the hate and division. We can disagree on many issues, yet still come together in the end. In fact, today, I bore witness to what coming together for the good of the country looks like — country over party. That’s a decision only you can make, and only you get to decide. But in the end, do not despair. #vote

🐣 RT @UkrReview 🇺🇸👀 “Putin is not just destroying the norms of the international system built at such a terrible cost by the Allies after the Second World War. Putin wants to show that his autocracy can survive world democracy, but he is wrong”, — Lloyd Austin

Fortune: Biden-Harris have a track record of real success in bringing manufacturing back to America. Trump’s all-sticks-no-carrots approach already failed https://tinyurl.com/3kye46m2 Trump’s threats and tariffs may sound “strong” but in fact if they didn’t work
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1848513290277679235/photo/1
// mgfg jobs added; effect of major bills
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1848513960284152186/photo/1
// friend-shoring

🐣 RT @7Veritas4 When he says your kids are being forced to get sex change operations in school…or that migrants are eating your pets…or that FEMA is your enemy…or a thousand other absurd claims he wants you to believe…
¤ https://x.com/7Veritas4/status/1848480375863185882

Step back for a minute.
Forget what he’s saying to you.
Focus on what he’s saying ABOUT you.
He’s saying you’re gullible.
That you lack critical thinking skills.
That you’re an idiot.
That you’ll dance to his tune when he feeds your prejudice. When he preys on your fears.
That he can manipulate you. For your money. For your vote.
He isn’t a president.
He is a predator.
Predators do not belong in the White House

🐣 RT @paulkrugman Which is more amazing: the fact that America has vastly outperformed other advanced economies without higher inflation, or the fact that Biden gets no credit?
◕ https://x.com/paulkrugman/status/1848348946826932409/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @4TaxFairness “We’re in debt because we spend too much.”
Yeah, on tax cuts for billionaires and corporations. 🙄
◕ https://x.com/4TaxFairness/status/1848396024068403683/photo/1
// debt w/wo Trump and Bush tax cuts

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP .@Liz_Cheney: “We watched what he did on January 6…I know, as Americans, we can become accustomed to thinking we do not have to worry about that here. But I tell you again, as someone who has seen firsthand how quickly it can happen, that that is what is on the ballot.”
💽 https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1848395852131275163/photo/1
// with Harris

🐣 RT @nexta_tv Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin has arrived in Kyiv on an unannounced visit. He will meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Defense Minister Rustem Umierov to discuss Ukraine’s arms needs.

🐣 RT @ Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🇲🇩 Almost 99% of the votes were counted in Moldova. ¤ 41.98% of voters voted for Maia Sandu, and 26.31% voted for [pro-Russia] Alexandr Stoianoglo. ¤ 🇪🇺 At the referendum, 50.08% of citizens voted for Moldova’s European integration, and 49.92% voted against it.

⭕ 20 Oct 2024

◕ AWCommonSense: The New Normal of Negativity https://tinyurl.com/jv7ynvez “We are living through one of the best economic environments of the past 50 years, and so many people are stuck in a doom-loop of negativity. They think this country is falling apart. It’s not!”
◕ CHARTS ◕

🐣 RT @SpencerDirrig Blue counties in the map had lower unemployment under Biden/ Harris than under Trump’s best year (2019). Check out Ohio and Pennsylvania 👀 👇👇
🌎 https://x.com/SpencerDirrig/status/1848010933152420141/photo/1
// Data from BLS

🔆 This❗️⋙ WaPo: The Trump Trials: Pre-election edition https://tinyurl.com/nhe2c9fk “The latest news in Donald Trump’s four criminal cases as the November election approaches.”

🐣 RT @McFaul I Wish This Were an Election Just About Policy Differences on Tax Cuts or Regulation. But It’s Not. ¤ Tragically, the future of American democracy is also on the ballot.

DailyBeast: Governor Shapiro (PA-D) Calls for Probe Into Musk’s Million Dollar Super PAC Giveaway https://tinyurl.com/mw585jbf “The former attorney general said Musk’s millionaire-making giveaway raises some ‘serious questions.’”

🐣 RT @MsWerner First thing the Harris Administration needs to do is put the space program entirely back into the hands of NASA & put people in place who care about the US, not some money-grubbing, power-hungry white supremacist immigrant. Cancel Elon’s contracts. We got to the moon without him.

CBSNews: A statement from 60 Minutes https://tinyurl.com/aaw4c3bj “Former President Donald Trump is accusing 60 Minutes of deceitful editing of our Oct. 7 interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. That is false.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1848172585705410638/photo/1

[Text:] Former President Donald Trump is accusing 60 Minutes of deceitful editing of our Oct. 7 interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. That is false.

60 Minutes gave an excerpt of our interview to Face the Nation that used a longer section of her answer than that on 60 Minutes. Same question. Same answer. But a different portion of the response. When we edit any interview, whether a politician, an athlete, or movie star, we strive to be clear, accurate and on point. The portion of her answer on 60 Minutes was more succinct, which allows time for other subjects in a wide ranging 21-minute-long segment.

Remember, Mr. Trump pulled out of his interview with 60 Minutes and the vice president participated.

Our long-standing invitation to former President Trump remains open. If he would like to discuss the issues facing the nation and the Harris interview, we would be happy to have him on 60 Minutes.

💙 🐣 RT @BrennanCenter Requiring documentation of citizenship to register to vote is unnecessary because there are already multiple safeguards in place. In reality, strict and unworkable rules keep thousands of eligible Americans from voting.
⋙ BrennanCenter: The Damage from Conspiracy Theories About Noncitizen Voting https://tinyurl.com/u4484ph9 “Some states have used false claims of voter fraud to make it harder for eligible voters to cast ballots.” //➔ eg married women who changed their last names have been cut
// tags: non-citizen voting noncitizen voting

🐣 RT @Michell71078349 The Dallas Morning News endorses Colin Allred
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Michell71078349/status/1848019397543137424/photo/1

[Text:] The Dallas Morning News recommends Colin Allred for U.S. Senate over Ted Cruz.

As they wrote: Cruz said to look at actions and not words. That’s what they did.

Cruz was the first senator to falsely object to the results of the 2020 election after spreading Trump’s lies for months beforehand.

Cruz voted against the bipartisan Lankford-Sinema immigration bill, the bipartisan CHIPs and Science Act, and the Investment and Jobs Act. He sealed a deal with a fist bump to kill the bipartisan PACT Act that supports our veterans suffering injury from burn pits and chemical weapons exposure. (Fortunately his anti-veteran faction broke and the bill eventually passed.)

Allred voted in favor of all of these. He was twice named the most bipartisan member of Congress.

Colin Allred is a fourth generation Texan from the middle class who we need representing all 30 million Texans in Congress, instead of an elitist carpetbagger like Cruz who represents billionaire special interests and cosplays a Supreme Court justice on his podcast that launders illegal contributions to his campaign.

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote Dude can’t even operate a fry machine without shutting down the entire restaurant and only allowing supporters to pretend to order food from a script.

🐣 RT @WhiteHouse We’re just going to leave this here. ([Economist link:] https://tinyurl.com/46stywa2)
[TextLink:] https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1848114471320887433/photo/1
[Text:] “TheEconomist: Special Report ¤ The American economy has left other rich countries in the dust ¤ Expect that to continue”

🐣 RT @tribelaw Intelligence officials told CNN that the leak of classified docs on Israel’s plans to strike Iran was likely to have come from someone getting top secret briefings who had an interest in discrediting Biden/Harris. Hmmm. Who in the world might that be? 🤔
⋙ 🐣 but wouldn’t that mean the leaker also is anti-Israel and anti-Netanyahu? I have questions 🤔

🐣 RT @mattmfm Wow: this Associated Press exposé on Trump’s “refusal to disclose details about his physical or mental well-being,” breaking decades of precedent, is a must read. They write there are multiple “red flags for cognitive issues.” [AP link:] https://tinyurl.com/43y2n58y
[TextLink:] https://x.com/mattmfm/status/1848007280601489664/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @RWPUSA I heard that a rich man is doing this in PA: “Whoever knowingly or willfully …. pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both.”
⋙ CornellLaw: 52 U.S. Code § 10307 – Prohibited acts https://tinyurl.com/5f527p3b

(c) False information in registering or voting; penalties :: Whoever … pays or offers to pay or accepts payment either for registration to vote or for voting shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years, or both …

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla Headline writers this am: “vulgar”, “profane”, “genitalia”, “vulgarity”.
🖼 https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1847977660020076783/photo/1 -4
// newspaper headlines

🐣 RT @joncoopertweets It’s about time! Jake Tapper has finally had enough of Trump’s insanity. 🤣 Please share so everyone will see!
💽 https://x.com/joncoopertweets/status/1847991142278656503/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 RT @MarkAKeeton Either he got permission from his bosses or he broke ranks (at last). The sanewashing of TFG on CNN has been non-stop – while at the same time trying to senilewash Biden and trying to find ways to attack Harris. So by now I don’t even care what this guy says.
// see all comments

🔆 This❗️⋙ WaPo: The CIA analyst who triggered Trump’s first impeachment asks: Was it worth it? https://tinyurl.com/veef8hr7 “The whistleblower’s lonely stand upended his career and put his life at risk. Now he’s speaking about it for the first time.” #longread

⭕ 19 Oct 2024

🐣 RT @Acyn Obama: When it comes to healthcare, he’s got one answer. He wants to end the Affordable Care Act. He doesn’t even know what the Affordable Care Act is or how it works. He just knows that I did it
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1847834211761156345/photo/1

🐣 RT @djrothkopf It’s not just a funny anecdote or the latest weirdness. It is the latest sign of mental deterioration and Trump’s unfitness to hold any position of responsibility…or drive a car or operate power tools or be left alone with children.
⋙ MeidasTouch He spoke about Arnold Palmer’s penis. Why does the NY Times continue to sane wash this insanity.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/djrothkopf/status/1847866513199436084/photo/1

🐣 RT @ Acyn Obama: Elections really do matter. I understand how politics just seems so mean and nasty. People get on these doom scrolls on TikTok and it’s like oh man, that’s terrible…
¤ 💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1847846558823260447/photo/1
// 10/19/2024; Obama in Tucson AZ
// Trump also fired the pandemic response team:
⋙ WaPo, Beth Cameron (3/13/2020): I ran the White House pandemic office. Trump closed it. https://tinyurl.com/m8utjfhm The federal government is moving too slowly, due to a lack of leadership.

And you get frustrated and it feels like nothing is going to work. But the truth is when you vote, it matters. It can make your life better or it can make it worse. Sometimes I talk to folks who think it doesn’t make a difference… I have to constantly remind them whoever is president, they’re not going to end poverty overnight, they’re not going to end racism… things are not going to suddenly be perfect but you know what it makes a difference. When I passed the affordable care act, almost 50 million people got healthcare that they didn’t have before. That made a difference in their lives. More than 50 million people with preexisting conditions can no longer be denied coverage or charged more. It made a difference to them.

I’ll give you one other example. When I was president, I had been talking to scientists for a while so during my last year in office, we put together a pandemic playbook for how to deal with the eventuality of a pandemic.. When Trump came in, we gave over this playbook and he threw it out. I want to be fair on this, no matter who was going to president, this was going to be a problem… But if you look at a country like Canada, their per capita death rate was 40% lower than here. So just do the math. That’s more than 400k people. People’s grandparents, people’s fathers, people’s moms who would’ve been alive if Trump had just paid attention and tried to follow the plan that we gave him. It might have been somebody in your family that could’ve been impacted. So, if somebody tells you that this doesn’t make a difference, having somebody competent who cares about you.. it does matter and at some point, it will make a difference to them.

🐣 RT @DeaconBlues0 Dementia Don was rambling on and on today about golf and of all things – Arnold Palmer’s showering habits. Palmer’s daughter said this in reply: [NJ(.)com link:] https://tinyurl.com/bdct3xhr
[TextLink:] https://x.com/DeaconBlues0/status/1847794275565637705/photo/1

[Text:] Aside from the disgusting remarks re: Palmer’s anatomy…

Arnold Palmer’s daughter, Peg, had this to say after the rally at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity, Pa., on Saturday afternoon, while her father appreciated Trump’s support of golf, he was not a supporter.

“My dad didn’t like people who act like they’re better than other people,” she said. “He had no patience for people who are dishonest and cheat.”

“My dad was disciplined. He wanted to be a good role model. He was appalled by Trump’s lack of civility and what he began to see as Trump’s lack of character. … What would my dad think of Donald Trump today? I think he’d cringe.”

🐣 RT @MavkaSlavka ruZZian official close to Putler mysteriously dies ‘after falling down his stairs and breaking his neck’. ¤ Apparently, Konstantin Romodanovsky, known to be Putler’s “eyes and ears”, didn’t see or hear it coming….
🖼 https://x.com/MavkaSlavka/status/1847870373536419982/photo/1
⋙ DailyMail: Russian official close to Putin mysteriously dies ‘after falling down his stairs and breaking his neck’ https://tinyurl.com/4v74s32f

🐣 Though not a majority of ALL White Voters, Whites are still the LARGEST group among those voting Democratic
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1847858940274520560/photo/1

🐣 RT @sethmeyers Project 2025 is too long to read which is why it’s great that a bunch of comic book creators got together to show you exactly how scary is
⋙ StopProject2025: Project 2025 is a detailed plan to shut you up, and shut you out.https://stopproject2025comic.org You matter, and you have a voice.

🐣 RT @DanielMillerEsq Too many Americans have forgotten how awful Trump’s first term was. Well, remember this? Those are masked National Guard troops on the steps of the Lincoln memorial. ¤ Now imagine tanks rolling down Pennsylvania Ave. Imagine American soldiers firing on fellow citizens….
🖼 https://x.com/DanielMillerEsq/status/1847631468522008871/photo/1

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Trump’s closing message to voters in PA is to talk about Arnold Palmer’s d!ck: ¤ “When he took showers with the other pros they came out of there, they said, ‘Oh my God. That’s unbelievable.’ I had to say it. We have women who are highly sophisticated here”
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1847769977991872941/photo/1

TheAtlantic, Franklin Foer: What Elon Musk Really Wants https://tinyurl.com/2r7ykpdz “The Tesla and X mogul has long dreamed of redesigning the world in his own extreme image. Trump may be his Trojan horse.” //➔ Meet the Techno-Oligarchs!

TheGuardian: Montana park ranger says Senate candidate Tim Sheehy lied about combat wound https://tinyurl.com/mtrvy2pb “Sheehy has claimed that he was wounded in Afghanistan, but ranger says he investigated accidental shooting in park in 2015”

🐣 RT @maddenifico Holy shit! Why is the mainstream media ignoring this BOMBSHELL story? Trump’s Director of National Intelligence, Dan Coats, believes Putin has kompromat on the loathsome piece of shit — and is using it to blackmail the fucking traitor. 😳👇
💽 [Bulwark link:] https://x.com/maddenifico/status/1847734944543756732/photo/1
// Bob Woodward talking to Tim Miller

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote Title 18 U.S.C. § 241 @TheJusticeDept see US v Mackey
⋙ 🐣 RT @TheTNHoller This seems less than legal. [TPM link:] https://tinyurl.com/37xcta69
[TextLink:] https://x.com/TheTNHoller/status/1847702140250210446/photo/1
[Text:] TPM: Elon Musk’s Fake Sites and Fake Texts Impersonating the Harris Campaign

🐣 RT @BlueATLGeorgia Joe Scarborough: “I still read the WSJ editorial page and the op-eds… and it’s maddening to even see people on there talking about Russia hoax. And you just want to say, read the Mueller report.” ¤ Bill Maher: “Russia wasn’t a hoax.
💽 https://x.com/BlueATLGeorgia/status/1847492106618630382/photo/1

🐣 RT @KamalaHQ Trump’s plan: Raise your taxes, cut billionaires’ taxes
◕ https://x.com/KamalaHQ/status/1847635177259814947/photo/1

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch Simon Rosenberg puts it perfectly [link:] https://tinyurl.com/4zznfu7f
[TextLink:] https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1847691333860778160/photo/1

[Text:] The Vice President and her campaign are on the front foot now, driving the national narrative, barnstorming the battlegrounds, bringing the joy, working the early vote along with all of us. ¤ Meanwhile, Trump, the rapist, fraudster, traitor and 34 times felon, continues to unravel. Here he is yesterday, an even darker shade of burnt orange, slurring his words, making a pitch for folks to vote early and describing his own supporters as “fat pigs”

🐣 RT @dscc “The accounts provide additional evidence on an issue of truthfulness that has dogged the Sheehy campaign…”
⋙ NYT: A Candidate for U.S. Senate Says He Was Shot in War. Was He? https://tinyurl.com/yzprt98v “Tim Sheehy, a Republican running for U.S. Senate in Montana, says he has a bullet in his arm from Afghanistan. But new questions have been raised about his account.”

🐣 RT @john_sipher Russia’s corrupt oligarch system comes to America
⋙ TheNewYorker, Susan Glasser: How Republican Billionaires Learned to Love Trump Again https://tinyurl.com/3b6zdhkv “The former President has been fighting to win back his wealthiest donors, while actively courting new ones—what do they expect to get in return?”

🐣 RT @7Veritas4 He’s calling January 6th “A Day of Love”.
¤ https://x.com/7Veritas4/status/1847689145340072357

The day he urged his supporters to lay siege to the United States Capitol.

The day over 140 police officers were assaulted while defending Congress from his mob.

The day his so called “patriots” smeared the walls with feces, chanted “Hang Mike Pence” and setup gallows on the Capitol grounds.

Let’s call November 5th “A Day of Justice”.

Let’s vote in numbers he cannot contest.

Let’s send him and his fascist ambitions back to where they belong.

In the trash heap of history.

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein: In this election, there is either going to be “a reaffirmation of regular political order in this country,” or “there’s going to be a real triumph of fascism…
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1847631687535972531/photo/1

🐣 RT @Billbrowder This is a terrifying moment. If Trump wins the election, he will cut off military aid to Ukraine. Unfortunately Ukraine is totally dependent on the US to hold Putin at bay. If Putin wins in Ukraine, he will then move on to the Baltics who are our NATO allies. Then Trump will have to decide whether to honor our treaty obligations. Based on his previous disdain for NATO, that’s highly uncertain. If NATO is no more, we should brace ourselves for a world of hurt.
💽 https://x.com/Billbrowder/status/1845552472716136899/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 let me vent a second: ¤ I AM SICK of Americans who are too lazy, ignorant or MAGA-ized to realize all that is at stake in this election ¤ not only the future of the 🇺🇸, of 🇺🇦, and of the EU & Europe — and of the world ¤ but the future of the entire Enlightenment project!
¤ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1847698617437737271

🐣 RT @NATO .@SecGenNATO Mark Rutte joined the first ever meeting of #G7 Defence Ministers in Naples 🇮🇹 to discuss support for Ukraine and ramping up defence industrial production in line with NATO standards … [NATO link:] https://tinyurl.com/3wdskfat

🐣 RT @ officejjsmart ⚡️⚡️⚡️ “The USA 🇺🇸 is ready to invite Ukraine 🇺🇦 to NATO.” — Le Monde 🇫🇷
⋙ “If Kamala Harris wins the US elections, Pres. Biden will be able to start work on inviting Ukraine to the Alliance.”
👉 Ukraine must be in NATO if we wish to have a war-free Europe.

🐣 RT @JamesSurowiecki Having Medicare cover in-home care for the elderly is the single most substantive (and, I think, materially beneficial) policy proposal either candidate has offered in this race, and as far as I can tell, it’s gotten almost no attention from the press, or on social media.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/JamesSurowiecki/status/1847667535044354087/photo/1
// Kamala tells story of caring for her mother

🐣 RT @front_ukrainian❗️The 🇺🇸USA is ready to invite 🇺🇦Ukraine to NATO, – Le Monde.
If Harris wins the US elections, Biden will be able to start work on Ukraine’s invitation to the Alliance.

🐣 RT @gtconway3d With all of @realDonaldTrump’s wild narcissistic and sociopathic ramblings, and his obviously deteriorating cognition and physical state, it’s easy to forget some basic, indisputable facts:
¤ https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1847631020465803325.html

1. He’s already a convicted felon.

2. He still faces dozens of other serious criminal charges.

3. Hundreds of people have been convicted and imprisoned for what he caused them to do on January 6, 2021.

4. If any of us had taken the secret and highly sensitive national-defense documents he took home after leaving office and then lied to and tried to hide them from the DOJ, we’d already be serving lengthy terms of incarceration.

5. Oh, and by the way, he has been found civilly liable by a jury for having sexually assaulted a woman by forcibly digitally penetrating her (a finding that the respected federal district judge in the case correctly and repeatedly said may be considered rape in the ordinary understanding of the term and as defined under many states’ laws (although not New York)).

⭕ 18 Oct 2024

🐣 RT @McFaul Appeasement of dictators does not work. But don’t believe me. Ask your neighbors and work colleagues with family roots in Poland, Ukraine, or Lithuania. These Americans understand these lessons of history better than most. THREAD 1/
⋙ 🐣 RT @McFaul They can enlighten you about how well appeasement worked in Munich in 1938 or Yalta in 1945. They can shed light on the naiveté of American isolationists in the 1930s who argued that the invasion of Poland by Hitler and Stain was ‘not our problem.’ 2/

Meidas✛: 200 Reasons to Vote Against Trump A must-read list compiled by Mark Jacob. https://tinyurl.com/ynujc53e
¤ https://x.com/SethAbramson/status/1847550932394922164

🐣 RT @Acyn Obama: He called himself the father of IVF. I do not know what that means. You do not either. He said January 6th was a day of love. Made January 6th sound like it was Woodstock. You would be worried if your grandpa was acting like this.
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1847422091756466397/photo/1

🐣 RT @washingtonweek “Peter [Baker] and I lived through Vladimir Putin’s rollback of Russian democracy 20 years ago … and the time to defend democratic institutions is before they’re taken away,” says @sbg1 [Susan Glasser] ¤ “I don’t think that people have really processed how quickly this can happen.”
💽 https://x.com/washingtonweek/status/1847433775933739470/photo/1

🐣 RT @David_Charts [2020 ]THREAD: The economy performs far better under Democratic Presidents, in terms of jobs, GDP, stock market, and lower deficits. Let’s explore the history since WW2 in charts. First, job creation is 2.4 times faster under Democrats. 1/
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1331714369487589381/photo/1 -n

🐣 RT Rev. Benjamin Cremer @Brcremer Notice how it’s always “vote according to Biblical values!” until it comes to welcoming the immigrant, helping the poor, feeding the hungry, bringing healthcare to the sick, forgiving debts, caring for our planet, laying down our swords, or loving our neighbors.

🐣 RT @BlueATLGeorgia Joe Scarborough: “It drives me crazy when I hear politicians talking about how bad things are in America. We’ve got a $26 trillion GDP. China, which was supposed to overtake us ten years ago…they’re stuck at $17-18 trillion. California which is supposed to be a socialist state, has a bigger GDP — fourth biggest GDP in the world.
💽 https://x.com/BlueATLGeorgia/status/1847469069806817631/photo/1

WaPo Editorial: As hurricane seasons worsen, taxpayers subsidize people to live in risky areas https://tinyurl.com/2y5yprmt “Helene and Milton spotlight a federal flood insurance program drowning in debt.”
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1847502564742316298/photo/1

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla JPMORGAN: “.. China slowdown no longer has a material impact on US growth as the US is less reliant on China for trade while US businesses continue to reassess investment in China.
“.. The rest of the world has become more dependent ..” 🇨🇳 $FXI
⋙ 🐣 RT @AShoutOutfromMN Pres Biden has been quietly & effectively building up US econ towards a BIG econ 🌎 shift that starts @ home

TheAtlantic, Anne Applebaum: Trump Is Speaking Like Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini https://tinyurl.com/2cbj99wp “The former president has brought dehumanizing language into American presidential politics.”

WaPo, Dana Milbank: Donald Trump’s hysterical closing argument: Save the cows! https://tinyurl.com/c9k97d5v “Among the beefs I have with his prophecies for a Harris administration: They aren’t even original.” //➔ Trump made the exact same predictions in 2020
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1847317774919668013/photo/1

The Oracle at Mar-a-Lago prophesied with all-caps confidence in 2020 that if Biden won, “Our Country would COLLAPSE!” He foretold that, “Under Biden, there will be no school, no graduations, no weddings, no Thanksgivings, no Easters, no Christmases, and no Fourth of July. Other than that, you’re going to have a wonderful life.” If Biden won, Trump said, “China will own the United States. You’re going to have to learn to speak Chinese.”

Bet you a banned beefsteak that you won’t be sitting in your windowless home this Thanksgiving practicing Mandarin. But, by all means, let’s take him seriously when he says that, if Harris wins, “you won’t have a country left” and “our country is finished.”

⭕ 17 Oct 2024

WaPo: Senate report: How private equity ‘gutted’ dozens of U.S. hospitals https://tinyurl.com/rz7st963 “Thanks to modern tricks of financial engineering, investors can prosper even when the underlying business is failing.”

🐣 RT @duvall61 This man is an IDIOT
[TextLink:] https://x.com/duvall61/status/1847143545313935410/photo/1

THE LATEST WORD SALAD FROM THE STABLE GENIUS:
QUESTION: “Given the amount of the mounting evidence of climate change, do you still believe it’s a hoax?”
TRUMP: “I get awards environmental awards for the way I build it for the water, the way I use the water, the sand, the mixing of the sand and the water, I mean, many different, but I’ve had many awards over the years for environmental, the way I’ve built because you know about building, that’s what you do. It’s very important to me… The real global warming that we have to worry about is nuclear. The water is coming up an eighth of an inch over 300 years, the ocean is gonna rise and, you know, nobody knows if that’s true or not, but they’re worried about the ocean rising an eighth of an inch or a quarter of an inch in 300 years.”

⋙ 🐣 He doesn’t know a thing about sea level rise projections, of course. Even if no additional warming took place, sea levels would rise just under a meter between 2000 and 2100.
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1847149679890284890/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 PalmBeachPost (Aug 2023): By 2100: If emissions grow worse, a 7-foot sea level rise may flood South Florida, coastal cities https://tinyurl.com/a68j2mbs
//➔ Rising sea levels of course mean LESS beachfront property, not more.
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1847154773537009943/photo/1

🐣 RT @Acyn Bonier: This one surprised even me. I didn’t expect to see this in the data, and part of the reason is we’ve been hearing for almost four years now that Republicans were going to fix their mistakes from last time. They were actually going to push their people to vote early…
¤ 💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1847062392728887673/photo/1

… Again, in Pennsylvania and Michigan, these key states, several hundred thousand votes have already been cast, so it’s not a small data set at this point. I was shocked when we looked at the early vote data—especially in Michigan and Pennsylvania—and we looked at these younger voters. We actually saw that the gender gap is actually wider now, with women accounting for an even larger share of the early vote than they were at this point in 2020.

In the end, I probably shouldn’t be surprised, right? We’ve all been talking about this for two years now since Dobbs. The group that has been most energized and activated in this post-Dobbs environment is young women. What it’s telling us is these Republican efforts are failing, and perhaps they’re paying the price for not building a true on-the-ground campaign.

🐣 RT @QuoteDigging Vice President Harris’ interview with Fox host Bret Baier drew 7.1 million viewers. The network says it was the “highest-rated interview of the 2024 political season.” –Kyle Griffin

🧵 RT @SecYellin The U.S. is leading the world in historic economic recovery. GDP growth is strong, unemployment is near historic lows, and inflation has dropped significantly.  @POTUS and @VP are focused on lowering costs for families and expanding our economy’s capacity.
📌 https://x.com/SecYellen/status/1847009666582433935

⋙ The Biden-Harris Administration also charted a new course for international economic policy – stabilizing key relationships and working with our allies. A secure and growing global economy benefits all American families and businesses.

⋙ We can’t address the most pressing issues our world faces alone. The U.S. will continue to work with our global partners to face key issues like pandemics, broken supply chains and climate change.

⋙ More than 41 million U.S. jobs depend on trade, and supply chain resilience is essential. That’s why @USTreasury is helping spur historic investments at home, even as we deepen economic linkages with key partners abroad.

⋙ In our interconnected world, America’s continued prosperity depends on global cooperation. Together, we can secure a stronger, more resilient economic future for American families and businesses.

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla Cover of @TheEconomist 🇺🇸
#NobodyDoesItBetter #USA
🖼 https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1846992462432424055/photo/1
// caption: “The Envy of the World”

🐣 RT @AndrewJBates46 .@POTUS on the death of Yahya Sinwar: “This is a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world.” ¤ “Sinwar was responsible for the deaths of thousands of Israelis, Palestinians, Americans, and citizens from over 30 countries”
[WH link:] https://tinyurl.com/mrnh496j
// Yahya Sinwar: “the leader of the terrorist group Hamas”

💙 🧵 RT @Mylovanov Zelensky: “It’s either nuclear weapons or NATO for us. That’s why today we choose NATO,” implying that he expects NATO to accept Ukraine or Ukraine might have to explore the option of nuclear weapons.
📌 💽 https://x.com/Mylovanov/status/1846965181592883335/photo/1
// see comments

🐣 RT @GlasnostGone In Brussels today, President Zelensky kept it simple – saying in order to ensure its security, Ukraine must either join NATO or acquire nuclear weapons. ¤ For myself, I earnestly hope Ukraine is developing a nuclear weapon. Western weakness has allowed Russia to destroy much of the country & Putin shows no sign of stopping. [BBC link (ru)]
🖼 https://x.com/GlasnostGone/status/1846948767804666254/photo/1

“Which nuclear powers suffered [after Budapest memorandum]?
All of them? No, only Ukraine.

Who gave up nuclear weapons?
All? Only Ukraine.

Who is fighting today?
Only Ukraine.”

~ Volodymyr Zelenskyy

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe .@AnandWrites: “In a Trump administration, politics, government, persecution would become your life… It’s not just an abstraction of fascism; it’s a political project where politics would eat your dreams, your plans, and I don’t think most Americans want that.”
💽 https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1846881225199268304/photo/1

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe Steve Rattner: Tariffs raise prices, plain and simple
◕ https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1846953631444037746/photo/1
// caption: “Tariffs are like a national sales tax”

🧵 RT @judgeluttig For me, and I would like to believe for all Americans, the essential — and dispositive — difference between the two candidates for the presidency comes down to this.
📌 https://x.com/judgeluttig/status/1846919311266328689

⋙ 🐣 RT @judgeluttig Vice President Kamala Harris is the only candidate who can be trusted to honor a president’s sacred obligations to America’s Democracy, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law. ¤ The Vice President yesterday, campaigning with Republicans in Pennsylvania:
⋙ 🐣 RT @judgeluttig “Let us together stand up for the rule of law. For our democratic ideal. And for the Constitution of the United States. And in 20 days, we have the power to chart a new way forward, one that is worthy of this magnificent country that we are all blessed to call home.”
⋙🐣 RT @judgeluttig […]
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @AccountableGOP VP Harris: “I know we are all here together…because we love our country…Imperfect though we may be, America is still that shining city upon a hill that inspires people around the world.”
💽 https://x.com/judgeluttig/status/1846919324004663526/photo/1

WaPo: Trump says Ukraine’s Zelensky should ‘never have let that war start’ https://tinyurl.com/ev523kv3 “Trump blamed Ukraine’s leader for allowing the the war in Ukraine to start, even though Russia was the aggressor, during an interview with a podcaster.”
//➔ What a moron.

CommForRespBudget (Oct 7) The Fiscal Impact of the Harris and Trump Campaign Plans https://tinyurl.com/mtd3e6rr “Vice President Harris’s plan would increase the debt by $3.50 trillion through 2035, while President Trump’s plan would increase the debt by $7.50 trillion.”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1846811815725989965/photo/1
// 10/7/2024; national debt

🐣 RT @mcuban The beautiful thing about the @BretBaier interview is that @KamalaHarris understood and responded to each question. ¤ She used examples of policies. She gave real world context.
¤ https://x.com/mcuban/status/1846783351278944439

When Brett went hard after her. She didn’t call him names. She didn’t quit the interview. She didn’t make things up. She never once complained the questions were tough. She never played the victim card. She didn’t lose her temper. She didn’t take the bait to diminish or talk down to Trump supporters.

She stood up to him with force and never backed down.

He has been the President and campaigning for 9 years. Kamala Harris has caught up to him in just 100 days . That speaks volumes.

It’s why people want to vote for her. That’s why so many Republicans and Independents are supporting her

She is everything her opponent is not and will never be. ¤ Strong, Smart and Measured

⭕ 16 Oct 2024

Politico EU (10/16): Here’s what’s in Zelenskyy’s victory plan for beating Putin https://tinyurl.com/mwzv8prc “Ukraine wants weapons and security guarantees to show Moscow it can’t win the war.”

1. Invitation to join NATO
Even though actual membership is still an issue for the future, an invitation to join would send a strong signal to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. ¤ “An invitation is a strong decision that requires nothing but determination,” the Ukrainian president said. …

2. More weapons faster with no restrictions on their use …

3. Deterrence
Ukraine proposes to deploy on its soil a comprehensive non-nuclear strategic deterrence package that will be sufficient to protect Ukraine from any military threat from Russia. …

4. Strategic economic potential
Ukraine proposes partners from the European Union and U.S. sign a special agreement on common use of Ukraine’s critical resources, like lithium, gas, titanium and others, and produce energy together in the future.

5. Post-war perspectives
Ukraine would bolster European security thanks to its battle-hardened military.

BostonGlobe, Kimberly Atkins Stohr: Trump’s decline is too dangerous to ignore https://tinyurl.com/yckbjrfc We can see the decline in his “ability to hold a train of thought, speak coherently, or demonstrate a command of the English language, to say nothing of policy”
// “So why are Republicans and the press holding Trump to a different standard than Biden?”

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow Rupert Murdoch is “the single most destructive force in America, UK and Australia,” argues @karaswisher, though the empire “is in its waning days.” He “created a sort of tsunami of disinformation… I would say it’s laziness, but I think it’s deliberate.”
💽 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1846500205010575721/photo/1

🐣 RT @DeanObeidallah VP Harris on Fox News was probably the best interview I’ve seen on that network. She crushed Bret Baier over and over. Don’t be surprised if he resigns tomorrow.

🐣 RT @AVindman The VP @KamalaHarris went in to a very hostile Fox News interview environment and likely won over moderate and independent voters with her smarts, competence, and civility.

🐣 RT @KamalaHQ Fox host: *plays clip*
Vice President Harris: With all due respect, that clip was not what he has been saying about the ‘enemy within’ that he has repeated when he’s speaking about the American people. That’s not what you just showed
Fox host: Well…
Vice President Harris: You didn’t show that. You and I both know that he has talked about turning the American military on the American people. He has talked about locking people up because they disagree with him. This is a democracy. The President of the United States should be willing to be able to handle criticism without saying he’d lock people up for doing it
💽 https://x.com/KamalaHQ/status/1846682157852377415/photo/1

🐣 RT @billburton Bret came to bounce every bullshit right wing talking point off of the vice president for his audience, but she handled it with strength, grace, and an opposing world view to the one presented to his audience every day. A+ for VP Harris. …

🐣 RT @AHaschi Our three finest ¤ (Joe is the best)
🖼 https://x.com/AHaschi/status/1846618356411257318/photo/1
// Biden, Obama, Clinton
⋙ 🐣 on the other hand, since Reagan: Republicans have given us:
George HW Bush (S&L Crisis, Recession)
George W Bush (Iraq War, Tax Cuts, Great Recession)
Donald Trump (Tax Cuts, Mishandled Pandemic, Recession, Kids in Cages, Two Impeachments, Insurrection, The Big Lie)

🐣 RT @KamalaHQ Vice President Harris to Fox: I’m offering a plan to deal with affordable housing, strengthen small businesses, and give young parents the help they need. 16 Nobel laureates, Goldman Sachs, Moody’s, and the Wall Street Journal have all studied our plans and have indicated my plans would strengthen our economy while Trump’s would ignite inflation and invite a recession

🐣 RT @McFaul I know voters don’t feel data, but the Biden/Harris team can rightfully claim that they have done a fabulous job in growing the American economy.
⋙ 🐣 RT @robin_j_brooks Across all major advanced economies, the US has grown the most since the pandemic (horizontal), while inflation has been in line with its G10 peers (vertical). That’s a sign that much of US inflation was about COVID supply disruptions and not about overheating. With @econ_harris
◕ https://x.com/McFaul/status/1846575920670224794/photo/1

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe “It’s not simply that he’s a fascist to the core, he’s an undisguised fascist to the core…I think Republicans who love their country need to defend their country. And defending their country at this point means voting for Harris even if you’ve been a lifelong GOP” @Peter_Wehner
💽 https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1846534883247591457/photo/1

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe “I really want to warn the American people about what very well may happen on November 5 and then the days to come.” @neal_katyal on the real possibility of election chaos
💽 https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1846540844125274393/photo/1
⋙ NYT, Neal Katyal: In Case of an Election Crisis, This Is What You Need to Know https://tinyurl.com/2t2z64zr “We have just a short time to understand the challenges across state legislatures, Congress, executive branches and elected judges”

🐣📋 RT @WhiteHouse When our Administration first took office, America faced the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. ¤ Now, thanks to President Biden’s leadership, we have the strongest economy in the world. ¤ Don’t just take our word for it.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1846366378699243703/photo/1

CNN BUSINESS
A dual win for consumers: Inflation cooled last month, paving way for borrowing costs to come down more

NBC NEWS
Dow adds 200 points for first close above 43,000

CBS NEWS
Employers added 254,000 jobs in September, blowing away forecasts

The Economist
The American economy has left other rich countries in the dust

THE NEW YORK TIMES
New Data Finds Sharper Economic Rebound From Pandemic

🧵 RT @atrupar I am going to put together a thread covering Trump’s “women’s issues” Fox News town hall with Harris Faulkner. Follow along for clips and commentary.
📌 💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1846567409315987655/photo/1

NYT: Trump Escalates Threats to Political Opponents He Deems the ‘Enemy’ https://tinyurl.com/3xhurzbs “Never before has a presidential nominee openly suggested turning the military on Americans simply because they oppose his candidacy.”
// … With voting underway, Donald Trump has turned to dark vows of retribution

WaPo, Phillip Bump: The myth of Businessman Trump has collapsed https://tinyurl.com/yn59jbj3 “Trump is now a politician with a side job, as his stumbling in an interview at the Economic Club of Chicago put on full display.”

WaPo: ‘Off the charts:’ How Trump tariffs would shock U.S., world economies https://tinyurl.com/ym34d88b “If implemented, the former president’s tariff plans would lead to higher costs, stock market volatility and feuds with the rest of the world.”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1846504419342340386/photo/1
// Chart Source: Center for American Progress: Less income on poorest -26%, Income boost on richest ✛ 20%

🐣 RT @GlobeEyeNews BREAKING: ¤ United States issues a warning to Israel. ¤ If the Gaza humanitarian crisis isn’t resolved in 30 days, it will impose a weapons embargo on Israel.

🐣 RT @KyivPost Zelensky Presented the Victory Plan in the Ukrainian Parliament ¤ Key points:
¤ https://x.com/KyivPost/status/1846485885908299967

● Immediate invitation of Ukraine to NATO, even before the war ends.

● Strengthening defense. This includes continuing operations on Russian territory, lifting restrictions on strikes within Russia, enhancing air defense, jointly downing Russian aircraft with partners, expanding the use of Ukrainian drones and missiles, and gaining access to intelligence from partners.

● Deterrence. This involves deploying a comprehensive non-nuclear deterrence package that will protect against Russian aggression and limit its capabilities.

● Developing Ukraine’s strategic economic potential and intensifying sanctions.

● After the war, Ukrainian soldiers could use their experience to strengthen NATO and European defenses, potentially replacing U.S. troops with Ukrainian forces.

The second, third, and fourth points include classified addendums that have been presented to partners. Zelensky stated that by enacting this plan, the war could be over by the end of next year.

WaPo: Trump’s erratic endgame: Dark threats, personal insults and some dancing https://tinyurl.com/3pwyrfmb “With three weeks left, Trump is running an unorthodox campaign, directing threats and insults at a wide mix of people and institutions, … and wielding darkening rhetoric”

⭕ 15 Oct 2024

🐣 RT @IanSams Bloomberg Column: “US Business Leaders Want Harris’ Stability Not Trump’s Chaos” ¤ “Inflation is being tamed and unemployment is low, but the Republican candidate’s policies could reverse those achievements.” [BB link:] https://tinyurl.com/mryty78b

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch Donald Trump’s event at the Economic Club of Chicago right now has already gone completely off-the-rails. He quickly became agitated and frustrated. He is losing his track of thought and the moderator has had to remind him what the questions are as he rambles incoherently about different topics. He keeps insulting Detroit. He is furious that the moderator is fact-checking him on very basic things. Just a total train wreck.

🐣 RT @atrupar I am going to put together a thread covering Trump’s interview with the Economic Club of Chicago. Follow along for clips and commentary.
📌 💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1846232232052101269/photo/1
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/8ckf4vx4

WaPo: Trump sways and bops to music for 39 minutes in bizarre town hall episode https://tinyurl.com/3jfy6drw “The scene comes as Vice President Kamala Harris has called Trump, 78, unstable and called into question his mental acuity.”

⭕ 14 Oct 2024

WaPo: See how your neighborhood is giving to Trump and Harris https://tinyurl.com/3evct5rn
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1850958243687723181/photo/1

🐣 RT @SundaeDivine If you’re 60, 69.1% of all job growth since your birth occurred under Democratic administrations.
If you’re 45, that number is 74.7%.
If you’re under 30, the number is 100%.

💽 MSNBC, LastWord: Lawrence: Harris uses Trump’s own words about ‘the enemy within’ to prosecute him https://tinyurl.com/vwvmf58w “VP Harris played Donald Trump’s ‘dangerous’ remarks … to prosecute the case that Trump is too ‘unstable and unhinged’ to be president again.”
// on “the enemy within”

🐣 RT @frankrichny Stuart Stevens’ refutation of each of the 33 pro-Trump arguments advanced by the billionaire MAGA cultist @BillAckman is as powerful a moral and political demolition job as I’ve ever read.
🔄 ⋙ 🐣 RT @stuartpstevens Bill [Ackman], saying you support the candidate who has promised to cut taxes for billionaires vs. the candidate who will raise taxes on billionaires, but you don’t really support the tax cuts is a bit like the old “I read Playboy for the articles.” But fine, let’s assume you are convinced that all the benefits of a Trump presidency compensate for the burden of having your taxes cut. Let’s look at your 33 reasons.
¤ https://x.com/stuartpstevens/status/1845700663558230040

🐣 RT @BlueATLGeorgia John Oliver debunks another story from Maria Bartiromo about illegals registering to vote at a DMV in Weatherford., Texas becuse, wait for it, they don’t even have a DMV. ¤ My fav is him calling her ‘Your Drunkest Aunt’ 😆
💽 https://x.com/BlueATLGeorgia/status/1846006868457447444/photo/1

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln Delusion is a helluva drug. Abuse of power is inevitable when Trump’s base refuses to hold him to account. @TheRickWilson says more on @MSNBC.
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1845910090202730683/photo/1
// Rick Wilson on Trump

🐣 RT @TrumpsTaxes These six minutes need to be shared with everyone. ¤ Much appreciation to Jake Tapper for properly reporting on Trump’s fascist threat to use the U.S. military against American citizens, which has not generated the coverage elsewhere that it is due
💽 https://x.com/TrumpsTaxes/status/1845983605744431122/photo/1

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump WOW. Federal emergency workers were forced to pause their hurricane recovery efforts in NC after National Guard troops discovered trucks of armed militia, who were “out hunting FEMA.” ¤ Trump’s lies have real consequences.
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1845834559155265757/photo/1

🐣 RT @jherrerx The real reason Texas can’t control its border: it needs the migrants too badly. ¤ For 8 months, I’ve investigated undocumented construction workers, the bosses hiring them, and the politicians who look the other way:
⋙ TexasMonthly: Why Texas Secretly Loves Illegal Immigration https://tinyurl.com/ya6jk9aw

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe “We are in a moment, I would argue which is as important a test of citizenship as at any moment I can think of in American history.” Historian Jon Meacham on messaging to undecided voters

WSJ: Economists Say Inflation, Deficits Will Be Higher Under Trump Than Harris https://tinyurl.com/mrxrycme “In WSJ survey, economists see Donald Trump’s plans as more inflationary by larger margin than in July when President Biden was on the ticket” — by 68% to 12%

⭕ 13 Oct 2024

Economist: Vladimir Putin’s spies are plotting global chaos https://tinyurl.com/y4s99tu8 “Russia is enacting a revolutionary plan of sabotage, arson and assassination” … “Russian foreign policy has long dabbled in chaos. Now it seems to aim at little else.”

🔲 CNN: Omar Jimenez Reports in “Why Springfield?” for The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper https://tinyurl.com/2as5hvz9 “[A] deeper look at the consequences of a right-wing conspiracy theory given a national platform playing out in Southwestern Ohio. ‘Why Springfield?’”

🐣 RT @tribelaw Time to re-up: “The only reform that fixes [things] now is court expansion [to] give us a majority of Justices who would defend democracy against assaults instead of participating in them. Expansion is a last resort, the fire axe in the glass case on the wall. But we may well be at the point of breaking that glass now.” [Time link:] https://tinyurl.com/4sxfmpbm

🐣 RT @Iamoddman He ¤ Doesn’t ¤ Care ¤ About s You
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Iamoddman/status/1845506965696319492/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @WesleyxJohnson It’s 10:22pm. Rally ended at 7pm. Thousands of people still stranded here waiting for transit back to the parking lots. Something has gone horribly wrong. Someone needs to ask the Coachella mayor if he had anything to do with this. Parking lot is a 2 hour walk. Countless elderly stranded here and can’t walk anymore. No restroom facilities accessible anymore. No more water. No food. Started with 20 busses for escorting people to the rally, and now only 1 bus remains at this point. Busses apparently went home. Not confirmed, but no more buses have showed up in the last hour and a half. Someone find out what happened here. This is not normal and feels nefarious and criminal. #TrumpRallyCA #CoachellaTrumpRally

WaPo: Hurricane recovery officials in NC relocated amid report of ‘armed militia,’ email shows https://tinyurl.com/3s32pm27 “Safety fears are growing as misinformation collides with a large-scale federal recovery effort”

🐣 RT @WUTangKids LMAO he used those morons to get the photo op and then left them stranded in the desert 5 miles away from their cars
🖼 [TextLink:] https://x.com/WUTangKids/status/1845554596564910247/photo/1
[Text:] A beautiful evening in Coachella, California last night. Thank you!

WaPo: Pheasant hunts, football games: Walz makes his appeal to male voters https://tinyurl.com/nhet4hck “Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s recent appearances have been aimed at appealing to male voters, as polls suggest that Trump is winning men by an average of 10 points”

⭕ 12 Oct 2024

🐣 RT @David_Charts 11 of 12 key economic measures are better than when Biden started, even adjusted for inflation (“real”). ¤ 9 of 12 better than pre-pandemic.
I prefer comparing 2019 and 2023 full-year data, but this point-in-time comparison is helpful too. All data from FRED.
📋 ◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845306917414928666/photo/1
📋 ◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845308859310608650/photo/1

🐣 RT @lindyli Reagan made a deal with Iran to DELAY releasing hostages til AFTER the election ¤ Nixon made a deal with Vietnam to delay ending the war til AFTER the election ¤ Now Trump’s crony Netanyahu is saying he’ll block a ceasefire til AFTER the election ¤ Folks, it’s the SAME damn playbook

Politico: We watched 20 Trump rallies. His racist, anti-immigrant messaging is getting darker. https://tinyurl.com/sb7ttmhx “A POLITICO analysis of more than 20 of his rallies and campaign events shows Trump has demonized minority groups in all of them.”

Donald Trump vowed to “rescue” the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado, from the rapists, “blood thirsty criminals,” and “most violent people on earth” he insists are ruining the “fabric” of the country and its culture: immigrants.

Trump’s message in Aurora, a city that has become a central part of his campaign speeches in the final stretch to Election Day, marks another example of how the former president has escalated his xenophobic and racist rhetoric against migrants and minority groups he says are genetically predisposed to commit crimes. The supposed threat migrants pose is the core part of the former president’s closing argument, as he promises his base that he’s the one who can save the country from a group of people he calls “animals,” “stone cold killers,” the “worst people,” and the “enemy from within.”

He is no longer just talking about keeping immigrants out of the country, building a wall and banning Muslims from entering the United States. Trump now warns that migrants have already invaded, destroying the country from inside its borders, which he uses as a means to justify a second-term policy agenda that includes building massive detention camps and conducting mass deportations. …

“Kamala [Harris] has imported an army of illegal alien gang members and migrant criminals from the dungeons of the third world … from prisons and jails and insane asylums and mental institutions, and she has had them resettled beautifully into your community to prey upon innocent American citizens,” he said.

His rhetoric has veered more than ever into conspiracy theories and rumors, like when he amplified false claims about Haitian immigrants in Ohio eating pets. And Trump has demonized minority groups and used increasingly dark, graphic imagery to talk about migrants in every one of his speeches since the Sept. 10 presidential debate, according to a POLITICO review of more than 20 campaign events. It’s a stark escalation over the last month of what some experts in political rhetoric, fascism, and immigration say is a strong echo of authoritarians and Nazi ideology. … …

But Trump says they are — because they are inherently worse people. He’s told nearly all-white crowds in the past that they have “good genes,” even before his explicit suggestion this week that non-white immigrants are genetically inferior — when he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt that migrants have “bad genes.”

“What is so jarring to me is these are not just Nazi-like statements. These are actual Nazi sentiments,” said Robert Jones, founder of the Public Religion Research Institute, the author of “The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy” and a vocal critic of Trump’s rhetoric. “Hitler used the word vermin and rats multiple times in Mein Kampf to talk about Jews. These are not accidental or coincidental references. We have clear, 20th century historical precedent with this kind of political language, and we see where it leads.”

🧵 RT @atrupar I’m going to put together a thread covering Trump’s rally in Coachella, California. Follow along for clips and commentary.
📌 💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1845256872124723428/photo/1

WaPo Editorial: Yes, this is what Donald Trump really sounds like. No, you cannot ignore it. https://tinyurl.com/2vm642ap “The former president’s rallies and interviews in recent weeks should remind voters what he really represents.” Just a sampling of the hate, lies and ugliness.

WaPo: Trump is ‘fascist to the core,’ Milley says in Woodward book https://tinyurl.com/brs97vdv “The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says Trump is “the most dangerous person to this country,” echoing dire warnings of others in national security circles.”
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1845252169668165720/photo/1

🔄🔄 🧵 RT @David_Charts Monthly economic update, through the September data. We added a robust 254,000 jobs in Sept. We are now 6.8 million jobs above pre-pandemic peak, regained in June 2022. 1/
📌 ◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845156276436701261/photo/1 -n

⋙ Job creation much faster under Biden than Trump, no matter how you slice and adjust it. Obama’s 2nd term also had faster job creation than Trump pre-pandemic. 2/
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845156278831546787/photo/1
// caption: “About 6.8 Million More Working Than Pre-Pandemic”

⋙ The unemployment rate was 4.1% in September, down 0.1%. It was below the historical average of 5.7% for data back to 1948. ¤ The unemployment rate averaged of 3.6% in 2022 and 2023 under Biden; the last year with a 3.5% average was 1969. 3/
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845156281188761691/photo/1
// caption: “Average Unemployment Rate 2016-2024”

⋙ The employment to population ratio for age 25-54 is a great measure of labor participation, as it avoids bias from an aging country.
80.9% September, highest since April 2001.
80.7% 2023 Average
80.5% Pre-Pandemic (Feb ’20)
80.0% 2019 Average 4/
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845156283323728162/photo/1
// caption: “Employment-Population Ratio – 25-54 Yrs.”

⋙ Contrary to Republican mythology, the share of part-time, government, and multiple job holders is the same or better than pre-pandemic (data through August). 5/
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845156285508907380/photo/1
// caption: “Share of part-time, government, and multiple job holders”

⋙ Turning to household finances, the key measures have significantly outgrown inflation comparing Q2 ’24 vs. Q4 ’19 pre-pandemic. In other words, we’re far better off than 2019. 6/
+96% Net worth, bottom 50% group
+70% Stocks
+26% Hourly Wages
+21% Inflation (CPI)
🔄 ◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845156287778017549/photo/1
// fave chart; caption:
“Increase in Economic Measures from ¤ Q4 2019 Pre-Pandemic to Q2 2024”
Net worth, bottom 50% group 96%
Stocks (S&P 500) 70%
Net worth, 50th-90th group 52%
GDP, nominal 32%
Home prices 26%
Hourly wages 26%
Inflation 21%

⋙ U.S. net worth far exceeds the national debt. The top 10% have $103 trillion net worth, vs. $28 trillion debt held by the public, the marketable Treasury securities. ¤ Let debt fear-mongering go in one ear and out the other. We have a revenue problem not a spending problem. 7/
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845156290168782865/photo/1
// caption: “Household Net Worth vs. National Debt (Debt Held by Public)”
Bottom 50%: $3.8 T
50th to 90th: $47.6 T
90th to 99th: $56.3 T
Top 1%: $ 46.7 T
vs
National Debt (Debt Held by Public) $27.6 Trillion
Source Data: Fed Distributional Accounts, Treasury Dpt.
⋙⋙ 🐣 […]
[◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1845175584411836684/photo/1%5D
// caption: “Distribution ofHousehold Wealth ¤ in the US by Income Group”
// 1990 to ~2023
⋙⋙⋙ 🐣 the level of wealth inequality is obscene and is spawning a small group of oligarchs who are increasingly at war with the middle class ~ and who are funding our elections through dark money groups

⋙ The bottom 50% became the richest ever in 2022 under Biden, in terms of real (inflation-adjusted) net worth per household. Net worth is up about $21,000 or 56% vs. pre-pandemic. 8/
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845156292467228810/photo/1
// caption: “Real Net Worth of Bottom 50% Households Up 56% vs. Pre-Pandemic”

⋙ Hourly wage gains have cumulatively always exceeded inflation during the Biden era. We’ve always had more purchasing power than 2019, despite inflation. 9/
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845156294837018677/photo/1
// caption: “Real hourly wages up about 4% vs. Feb ’20 pre-pandemic”

⋙ Real (inflation-adjusted) hourly wages have always been above 2019 during the Biden era. The September reading of $30.33 is the highest ever, excluding the fake 2020 pandemic peak (see explanation in chart). [CBo link:] https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60166 10/
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845156297051664671/photo/1
// caption: “Real Hourly Wages Higher Than 2019 Throughout Biden Administration”

⋙ Biden has the highest real hourly wages and lowest unemployment rate on average of any president back to 1964 (LBJ). Data through August; September won’t move the dot much. 11/
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845156299199119809/photo/1
// caption: “Highest Hourly Real Wage and Lowest Unemployment Rate”

⋙ For perspective on just how good this economy was in August (red dot), we had a great combination of low unemployment and high real hourly wages. It’s the same story in September. 12/
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845156301422182605/photo/1
// caption: “August 2024: Low Unemployment and Very High Real Wages”

⋙ As of October 4, stocks up more from election at same point in presidency for Biden than Trump. The market was near-record when Biden started, so this isn’t rebound. Yes, your 401k is doing incredibly well. 13/
+71% Biden
+60% Trump
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845156303775117619/photo/1
// caption: “Stock Market Up More for Biden Than Trump, Trading Day 984 (Oct 4, 2024)”

⋙ Real (inflation-adjusted) GDP has grown same or faster under Biden than Trump, no matter how you slice it. Real GDP had regained the pre-pandemic peak by Q1 ’21 when Biden started, so don’t discount his full-term results. 14/
◕ Real GDP Growth Rate Faster Under Biden Than Trump Pre-Pandemic/photo/1
// caption: “Real GDP Growth Rate Faster Under Biden Than Trump Pre-Pandemic”

⋙ The FBI’s SRS data showed violent crime rate in 2023 was the 2nd lowest on record; only 2014 (Obama) was lower. 15/ https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/# /15
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845156308204294387/photo/1
// caption: “FBI: Violent Crime Rate Per 100,000 Population (1979-2023) Summary Reporting System”

⋙ Despite Republican fear-mongering, the number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. has changed very little under Biden, as many here for years also leave. ~1.6 million evaded the CBP, the others were deported, incarcerated, or are pending hearings.
[NYT link:] https://tinyurl.com/ynexsfcw 16/
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845156310519566774/photo/1
// caption: “About 4.5 Million Immigrants Released or Entered Undetected Feb ’21 to Oct ’23”

⋙ We have a large (3.7 mil) immigration court backlog. That requires legislation to fix. They are here legally pending that hearing, and most are working ¤ With 4.4 million Boomers turning 65 yearly and retiring, we need all the immigrants we can get! 17/
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845156313342382104/photo/1
// caption: “Immigration Court Backlog”

⋙ Since immigration is such a key issue in this election, keep the following points in mind as well: 18/
[TextLink:] https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845156315502432619/photo/1
// caption: “There is no border crisis ¤ Immigrants boosting economy”

● СВО: Immigrants forecast to add nearly $65,000 per household to income and wealth over next decade, or $9 trillion in GDP.
● Immigrants key to our ongoing boom, accounting for about one-fifth of GDP growth since pre-pandemic.
● Immigrants less likely to commit crimes than native-born. Violent crime rate is far below 2020 level under Trump.
● NYT: The number of undocumented immigrants has not changed significantly, despite the recent surge, as many also leaving who have been here for years.
● About 8 million have crossed the border under Biden, with nearly half immediately returned to home countries.
● Actual problem: About 3.7 million in immigration court case backlog. ¤ This requires Congress to act, to fund the court system to address it.
This is not the “crisis” the media is talking about.

⋙ VP Harris has policy descriptions on her website. Here is a one-page summary. Keep the boom going by voting for Harris! [link:] https://kamalaharris.com/issues/ 19/END
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845156317687623764/photo/1
// caption: “VP Harris’ Economic Platform Summary / Highlights”

🔆 This❗️⋙ TheAtlantic, Tom Nichols: THE MOMENT OF TRUTH https://tinyurl.com/3e5tvjt7 “The reelection of Donald Trump would mark the end of George Washington’s vision for the presidency—and the United States.” //➔ terrifying essay

🧵 RT @David_Charts Monthly economic update, through the September data. We added a robust 254,000 jobs in Sept. We are now 6.8 million jobs above pre-pandemic peak, regained in June 2022. 1/
📌 ◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1845156276436701261/photo/1 -n

WSJ: The Economy Under Trump vs. Biden https://tinyurl.com/4e25rx7p “Covid slammed into the economy in Trump’s final year. Jobs soared under Biden, but so did inflation.”
↥ ↧
🐣 RT @GunjanJS GDP grew 7.6% over Trump’s four years in office. It has grown 11.8% so far during Biden’s tenure ¤ At this point, it looks as if GDP under Biden will post the strongest growth of a presidential term since former President Bill Clinton’s final four years in office
◕ https://x.com/GunjanJS/status/1845120319444435092/photo/1

⭕ 11 Oct 2024

CBSNews: As Trump puts Aurora, Colorado, in spotlight, mayor calls Venezuelan gang claims “grossly exaggerated” https://tinyurl.com/2va5p7sx //➔ right out of the authoritarian playbook, only for Hitler it was Jews, Gypsies and “subhuman” Poles

🐣 RT @KyivPost Hackers from Ukraine’s Intelligence Directorate take down key Russian military university, wiping 150TB of data, 11 websites, over 7,000 workstations, 135 servers, more. [KPost link:] https://www.kyivpost.com/post/40357

🐣 RT @anders_aslund The only two feasible ends to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine are that Putin is ousted or Ukraine is allowed to join NATO. ¤ That could be done under similar conditions as Germany joined NATO in 1955, when Article 5 did not applied to occupied East Germany.
⋙ 🧵 RT @Mylovanov France, Britain, Poland, Baltic States, Nordic nations, and most of Central and Eastern Europe now support Ukraine’s NATO membership ¤ The obstacle is the U.S. and Germany ¤ The war can end if NATO accepts Ukraine, but politicians are afraid to show leadership and so people die .
📌 https://x.com/Mylovanov/status/1844823034546307329
⋙ NYT, William Taylor: Give Ukraine NATO Membership. Peace Depends on It. https://tinyurl.com/ms2j7rka

🐣 General Mark Milley’s views on Donald Trump are informed by his extensive study of history. Here is his 80-page 2017 Reading List compiled for the US Army Chief of Staff’s Professional Reading Program [pdf] https://tinyurl.com/yc4hrtey

🐣 RT @McFaul Wow. “Trump’s top general calls former president “fascist” and “dangerous” threat” [Axios link:] https://tinyurl.com/4826wkud
🖼 https://x.com/McFaul/status/1844854040385249315/photo/1

🐣 RT @SykesCharlie “He is the most dangerous person ever. I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so forth, but now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is now the most dangerous person to this country.”
⋙ 🐣 RT @AndrewFeinberg Trump’s top general calls ex-president ‘fascist to the core’ and ‘most dangerous person to this country,’ new book says [Indp link:] https://ift.tt/UdVyZp0

🐣 RT @AndrewFeinberg Trump’s top general calls ex-president ‘fascist to the core’ and ‘most dangerous person to this country,’ new book says
🖼 https://x.com/AndrewFeinberg/status/1844771027198324997/photo/1
⋙ Independent: Trump’s top general calls ex-president ‘fascist to the core’ and ‘most dangerous person to this country,’ new book says https://tinyurl.com/3ukutnz6 “General Mark Milley expressed his concerns about Trump to author Bob Woodward in March 2023”

🐣 “Character is destiny” proclaimed Greek philosopher Heraclitas 3000 years ago

🐣 RT @NC_Governor This is a flat out lie. We’re working with all partners around the clock to get help to people. Trump’s lies and conspiracy theories have hurt the morale of first responders and people who lost everything, helped scam artists and put government and rescue workers in danger. – RC
[TextLink:] https://x.com/NC_Governor/status/1844813387764830351/photo/1
// same screenshot as @atrupar tw link below

🐣 […]
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1844808876543103157/photo/1

If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken.
Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.
CARL SAGAN

‘…constant lying is not aimed at making people believe a lie, but at ensuring that no one believes anything anymore. A people that can no longer distinguish between truth & lies cannot distinguish between right & wrong…w such people, you can do whatever you want.’
– H Arendt

AP (Jan 31): Even before the revolution, America was a nation of conspiracy theorists https://tinyurl.com/y3d5w9ne “Just like today, these bizarre stories often reveal deeply rooted anxieties focused on racial and religious strife and technological and economic change.”

🐣 RT @SteveRattner FEMA isn’t underfunded because of some conspiracy to give the money to migrants. It’s underfunded because Republicans refuse to increase FEMA funding and have delayed approving federal budgets altogether

🐣 RT @atrupar Many people are saying this with tears in their eyes while calling him sir
[TextLink:] https://x.com/atrupar/status/1844780261361291763/photo/1

🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump It has just come out that Democrats in Washington and the Democrat Governor’s Office of North Carolina (Roy Cooper) were blocking people and money from coming into North Carolina to help people in desperate need. Biden knew about it, and so did Kamala! It’s all over the place – A HORRIBLE SITUATION. I will make it up to everyone when we take Office on January 20th. HOLD ON, I’M COMING!

Nature (Sep 20): COVID pandemic started in Wuhan market animals after all, suggests latest study https://tinyurl.com/r8r5u3dp The finding comes from a reanalysis of genomic data.

⭕ 10 Oct 2024

TheAtlantic, Charlie Warzel: I’m Running Out of Ways to Explain How Bad This Is https://tinyurl.com/2t3zv3a2 “[W]hat is really happening … is nothing less than a cultural assault on any person or institution that operates in reality”
// “What’s happening in America today is something darker than a misinformation crisis.”

[…] Even in a decade marred by online grifters, shameless politicians, and an alternative right-wing-media complex pushing anti-science fringe theories, the events of the past few weeks stand out for their depravity and nihilism. As two catastrophic storms upended American cities, a patchwork network of influencers and fake-news peddlers have done their best to sow distrust, stoke resentment, and interfere with relief efforts. But this is more than just a misinformation crisis. To watch as real information is overwhelmed by crank theories and public servants battle death threats is to confront two alarming facts: first, that a durable ecosystem exists to ensconce citizens in an alternate reality, and second, that the people consuming and amplifying those lies are not helpless dupes but willing participants. …

It is difficult to capture the nihilism of the current moment. The pandemic saw Americans, distrustful of authority, trying to discredit effective vaccines, spreading conspiracy theories, and attacking public-health officials. But what feels novel in the aftermath of this month’s hurricanes is how the people doing the lying aren’t even trying to hide the provenance of their bullshit. …

The technology writer Jason Koebler argued that we’ve entered the “‘Fuck It’ Era” of AI slop and political messaging, with AI-generated images being used to convey whatever partisan message suits the moment, regardless of truth. –

[A]s Michael Caulfield, an information researcher at the University of Washington, has argued, “The primary use of ‘misinformation’ is not to change the beliefs of other people at all. Instead, the vast majority of misinformation is offered as a service for people to maintain their beliefs in face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.”

… Rather than deal with the realities of a warming planet hurling once-in-a-generation storms at them every few weeks, they’d rather malign and threaten meteorologists, who, in their minds, are “nothing but a trained subversive liar programmed to spew stupid shit to support the global warming bullshit,” as one X user put it. …

What is clear is that a new framework is needed to describe this fracturing. Misinformation is too technical, too freighted, and, after almost a decade of Trump, too political. Nor does it explain what is really happening, which is nothing less than a cultural assault on any person or institution that operates in reality. If you are a weatherperson, you’re a target. The same goes for journalists, election workers, scientists, doctors, and first responders. These jobs are different, but the thing they share is that they all must attend to and describe the world as it is. This makes them dangerous to people who cannot abide by the agonizing constraints of reality, as well as those who have financial and political interests in keeping up the charade.

In one sense, these attacks—and their increased desperation—make sense. The world feels dark; for many people, it’s tempting to meet that with a retreat into the delusion that they’ve got everything figured out, that the powers that be have conspired against them directly. But in turning away, they exacerbate a crisis that has characterized the Trump era, one that will reverberate to Election Day and beyond. Americans are divided not just by political beliefs but by whether they believe in a shared reality—or desire one at all.

💙 🔄 🐣 RT @ReallyAmerican1 President Obama sets the record straight: The ONLY reason Trump’s economy looked good is because it was the strong economy Obama handed over, right before Trump ran it into the ground. ¤ Spread this EVERYWHERE!
💽 https://x.com/ReallyAmerican1/status/1844533087775883433/photo/1
// Obama: “It was my economy”
⋙ 🐣 [ … ]
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1844625782162784528/photo/1
// Budget Deficits and Percent of GDP (Bush 1 through Biden 2023)
⋙ 🐣 Bloomberg (Feb 2020): Bringing the Data: Debunking the Trump Economy https://tinyurl.com/mr2daxde
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1844627172717134004/photo/1
// Real GDP Growth (Obama through Jan 2020); [plus other charts]
🐣 Statistica (Aug 2020): Did Trump Create Or Inherit A Strong US Economy? https://tinyurl.com/yxxrnbfp //➔ Bush 43 & Trump left Obama & Biden major messes to clean up: Bush left the Financial Crisis & Great Recession; Trump handled the pandemic worse than any other G7 nation
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1844633998523322621/photo/1
// Seasonally adjusted real GDP
🐣 BBC (Sep 2): Is the US economy better or worse now than under Trump? https://tinyurl.com/4zet53h6 “Biden claims this is the ‘fastest job growth at any point of any president in all of American history.’ That’s correct” //➔ even if you take out pandemic job losses
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1844637180297093500/photo/1
// Employment: All employees, total non-farm payrolls

🐣 RT @KamalaHQ This moment from @BarackObama 🔥
💽 https://x.com/KamalaHQ/status/1844536136573550935/photo/1
// Obama on strength and character and values

🐣 RT @Acyn Obama: Some think I remember that economy when he [Trump] first came in being pretty good. Yeah, it was pretty good, because it was my economy. It wasn’t something he did. I spent eight years cleaning up the mess that the Republicans had left me
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1844526241891877233/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 True. ¤ Obama came in at the depths of the Great Recession. ¤ Biden came it at the peak of the Omicron wave of the mishandled COVID-19 pandemic, after Trump’s tax cuts. ¤ Both had huge GOP messes to clean up ~ and still got things done for regular people.
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1844896470820172050/photo/1

🐣 RT @KamalaHQ Trump attacks Detroit while speaking to an audience in Detroit
💽 https://x.com/KamalaHQ/status/1844450139894657068/photo/1

🧵 RT @atrupar I am going to put together a thread covering Trump’s speech to the Detroit Economic Club. Follow along for clips and commentary.
📌 💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1844422267880735052/photo/1
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/53ystkas

🐣 RT @DeanObeidallah This is what DEMENTIA looks like!!! Trump delivered speech today at Detroit economic club on the “economy.” Instead he continually became incoherent. Why is corporate media not having panels with mental health experts explaining this is dementia?!!!!!
💽 https://x.com/DeanObeidallah/status/1844477519661310162/photo/1

🐣 RT @ArtCandee Donald is unglued. ¤ Is he making threats now? ¤ Spare me with the whole DeMoCrAT RHetOric screeching. ¤ 🙄
[TextLink:] https://x.com/ArtCandee/status/1844411285338980810/photo/1

EMERGENCY TRUMP ANN[OUNCEMENT] 11:13 AM
To: Art Candee >
Reply To: EMERGENCY TRUMP A[NNOUNCEMENT (?) >

All hell breaks loose tonight.

TRUMP

VANCE

2024
EMERGENCY TRUMP ALERT
When Kamala takes the Arizona rally stage tonight,
ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE

🐣 RT @erikbryn America’s superpower is that it’s the talent magnet of the world. ¤ Yet it hesitates to fully unleash this capability.
⋙ 🐣 RT @AlecStapp Occasional reminder that one of China’s biggest fears is that someday the United States might actually fix its broken immigration system.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/erikbryn/status/1844165039823176166/photo/1

Chinese Leaders Fear U.S. STEM Immigration Reforms

Chinese leaders understand the extent to which the United States benefits from international talent inflows. They therefore celebrate America’s flawed immigration system and fear reforms that would improve U.S. talent attraction and retention.

● Commenting on U.S. retention of Chinese STEM students, the head of the CCP’s Central Talent Work Coordination Group has complained that “the number of top talents lost in China ranks first in the world.”
● A state-run consulting firm wrote in an Al policy white paper that U.S. immigration restrictions “have provided China opportunities to bolster its ranks of high-end talent.”
● The deputy editor of China Daily USA, a government newspaper, said that expansion of the U.S. employment-based immigration system “would pose a huge challenge for China, which has been making great efforts to attract and retain talent.”

🐣 RT @poroshenko [tr] How many FPV drones are needed to destroy several dozen enemy tanks or destroy the positions of Russian attack aircraft? I am convinced that the “birds” that we will soon hand over to our military will be enough for many more enemy targets)
🖼 https://x.com/poroshenko/status/1844318642512826707/photo/1 -4

3,140 drones of various diameters and for various combat missions — shock “Molfar” 10″ and 8″, as well as night and day “Maviks”. They are very much expected at the front, because it is a guarantee of quick offensive actions and high-quality defense of Ukrainian positions.

We must help our soldiers stop the enemy from destroying the Russians on the approach to our dugouts and trenches. Destroyed day and night. They destroyed them with drops from “Maviks”. They were destroyed by artillery fire directed with the help of aerial reconnaissance.

And we also have 50 stations of the Shatro domed multi-range AR, which is able to cover the positions of our infantry, landing forces or artillerymen from attack drones.

During these two and a half years, we do not stop at a single step in helping our military. Day and night, we manufacture, procure and think through fast logistics to supply the necessary equipment to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

⋙ 🐣 Ukraine is changing how wars will be fought going forward. Every army is becoming obsolete due to the advances Ukraine has designed. ¤ Similar to when knights shed their armor or when armies began wearing camouflage instead of brightly colored uniforms, Ukraine will lead the way.

🐣 RT @essenviews FCC chair denounces Trump’s calls for CBS to ‘lose its license’ over Harris’ ‘60 Minutes’ interview ¤ “While repeated attacks against broadcast stations by the former President may now be familiar, these threats against free speech are serious and should not be ignored,” FCC Rosenworcel Chairwoman said. “As I’ve said before, the First Amendment is a cornerstone of our democracy.” [CNN link:] https://tinyurl.com/458aesza

🔄 🐣 Wages have surpassed inflation for 18 months and [in] most families are now ahead, especially for the bottom 50%. Journalists should be explaining this because a 30sec ad is simply not enough time: ¤ (chart via @ David_Charts) … [expand]
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1844471134554890394/photo/1
// fave chart

🧵 RT @byHeatherLong 2024 is on track to be an extraordinary year for the economy (and US stocks). ¤ Here are 3 key points that show how incredible it is.
1) The US is defying expectations. ¤ Inflation has fallen all the way back to 2.4% without a recession. Growth is strong & unemployment is still very low.
📌 ◕ https://x.com/byHeatherLong/status/1844441369403658697/photo/1 -2
// inflation rate; unemployment rate
⋙ 🐣 RT @byHeatherLong 2) The bottom 50% are benefitting. ¤ The biggest wage gains have gone to the bottom 40% ¤ And wealth has nearly doubled for the bottom 50%.
◕ https://x.com/byHeatherLong/status/1844442279077085531/photo/1
// Change in Americans’ wealth since fourth-quarter 2019 (by decile ✛ top 0.1%)
⋙ 🐣 RT @byHeatherLong 3) The U.S. recovery has been the envy of the world. ¤ Look at how much more the U.S. economy has grown since the pandemic compared to other G7 nations.
◕ https://x.com/byHeatherLong/status/1844442614646595933/photo/1
// Real GDP growth from fourth-quarter 2019 to second-quarter 2024.
⋙ 🐣 RT @byHeatherLong My column: This is a great economy. 2024 is shaping up to be one of the best economic years of most people’s lifetimes. ¤ It’s not perfect. But we should be able to celebrate good news, regardless of our politics.
⋙⋙ WaPo, Heather Long: This is a great economy. Why can’t we celebrate it? https://tinyurl.com/3hxrfudx “2024 is shaping up to be one of the best economic years of many Americans’ lifetimes.”

… All this good news is talked about openly on Wall Street. Investors believe the soft landing is real. This is why the S&P 500 stock market index is up 20 percent this year. Other world leaders are also discussing the rapid U.S. rebound — enviously. Both French President Emmanuel Macron and former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi say the European Union needs to be more like the United States economically.

Yet in the domestic political realm, even Democrats are hesitant to discuss the good economy because of the inflation hangover effect. Many Americans are angry that prices remain high for everything from groceries to houses. Politicians don’t want to sound out of touch by saying everything is fine.

But at this point, it’s fair to speak openly about the improvement. Prices are up 21 percent overall since February 2020, but the average wage gain in that time is 24 percent. Wage hikes have exceeded inflation for the past 17 months, and this is helping people get ahead. It also helps that gas prices have fallen appreciably since the spring, and many stores are slashing prices to lure customers back.

It’s important to recognize how much ordinary Americans have recently benefited. Since the pandemic, Americans in the bottom 40 percent of income have experienced the fastest wage growth. What’s more, the biggest surge in wealth since the end of 2019 has gone to the bottom 50 percent. Their wealth nearly doubled largely because of the big jump in home prices. The American homeownership rate is at its highest level since the foreclosure crisis (excluding the weird data from 2020). Hispanic and Asian homeownership is at record highs. These are extraordinary gains. …

Nevertheless, the economy is excelling on many fronts, much as it did in the late 1990s. And polls show that Americans are beginning to notice. JPMorgan’s chief global strategist, David Kelly, has pointed out that the “misery index” (a combination of the inflation and unemployment rates) has dropped lower than it has been 89 percent of the time in the past half-century. The best metric to watch is consumer spending. Even as Americans tell pollsters they are gloomy, they keep on spending — especially on eating out, visits to amusement parks and pumpkin patches, and tickets to concerts and sports events. This is yet another signal of a healthy economy.

It should be possible to celebrate such good news, regardless of who might make it to the White House.

⭕ 9 Oct 2024

MSNBC (Sep 12): Trump Ad: Trump gives Kamala Harris too much credit for supporting trans rights https://tinyurl.com/45657rcp “Harris led a California attorney general office that fought a lawsuit seeking gender affirming care for trans prisoners”; (✛ Harris’ voice in the ad is a deepfake)
¤ [link:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1844342604000841832

🐣 RT @axios The Kremlin confirmed a report that former President Trump sent Russian President Vladimir Putin COVID-19 testing equipment during the height of the pandemic.
⋙ Axios: Kremlin refutes Trump denial on sending Putin COVID tests https://tinyurl.com/2mjsb4y3

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow In this video, The Intellectualist explores Trump’s 7 secretive calls with Putin after leaving office and his covert ventilator shipment to Russia, raising concerns about U.S. security and Trump’s alignment with authoritarianism.
💽 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1843774016705692109/photo/1
// caption: Trump Spoke with Putin Up to 7 Times as a Private Citizen
The Intellectualist explores Trump’s 7 secretive calls with Putin after leaving office and his covert ventilator shipment to Russia, raising concerns about Trump’s alignment with authoritarianism.

🐣 RT @bpolitics [Bloomberg Politics] The Kremlin confirms that former US President Donald Trump while in office sent Russian President Vladimir Putin Covid-19 testing devices during the height of the pandemic, as recounted in a new book by journalist Bob Woodward [link:] https://tinyurl.com/4but4ecz

🐣 RT @ChrisMurphyCT Donald Trump helped keep Putin alive during the pandemic and let Americans die. This revelation is damning. It’s disqualifying. He cannot be President of the United States.
💽 https://x.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1844062297964052625/photo/1

🐣 RT @karlykingsley Hey. Hi. The tests that Trump sent to Putin weren’t just your basic swabs that you have in your home bathroom, they were molecular point-of-care test machines that hospitals desperately needed to rapidly detect infections in a critical time. ¤The response to the COVID-19 pandemic was hurt by long wait times for central lab PCR tests. In hospitals, these delays caused problems with patient care and led to the spread of infections among patients. ¤ Trump put America last and Americans died. https://tinyurl.com/2fdysjnh
🖼 https://x.com/karlykingsley/status/1844087758073024784/photo/1

🐣 RT @CalltoActivism Omg. Andrea Mitchell says during Trump’s first year in office, he asked Putin “should I be arming Ukraine?” and Putin said no. ¤ Secretary of the State Rex Tillerson to immediately gathered White House advisers to tell them “we have a real problem.”
💽 https://x.com/CalltoActivism/status/1844191739546042845/photo/1

🐣 Plan was to use as a staging area for first responders and workers doing debris clean-up https://tinyurl.com/yc5cvrex
MSN: Cots seen at Tropicana Field before the arrival of Hurricane Milton, in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Oct. 7, 2024. Reuters Photos
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1844243180679725302/photo/1

Newsweek: Ron DeSantis Not Relying on FEMA As Florida Braces for Hurricane Milton https://tinyurl.com/4a6e2wkm //➔ So he designated Tropicana field, with a fabric roof, as “a 10,000-person base camp for debris cleanup operations and first-responders.” And the roof blew off ‼️
// 10/8/2024

USAToday (10/8): Tropicana Field transformed into base camp ahead of Hurricane Milton https://tinyurl.com/mvtj8k89 “Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Monday that Tropicana Field would be designated as a 10,000-person base camp for debris cleanup operations and first-responders as Hurricane Milton approaches Florida”

TheGuardian (2021): ‘The perfect target’: Russia cultivated Trump as asset for 40 years – ex-KGB spy https://tinyurl.com/2d3w3fb4
// 1/29/2021

🐣 RT @realbiscuitspaw Treasonous bastard
[TextLink:] https://x.com/realbiscuitspaw/status/1843966631669825999/photo/1

Can we get a correction here, folks? The “covid tests” Trump took from scarce US supplies to send to Putin were not the two-to-a-box OTC kits you can get at CVS today. What Trump sent were the scarce Abbott Labs Covid Testing Machines (plural), not cardboard boxed kits; These 2020 Abbott machines were Emergency Authorization early approved state-of- the-art 6.6 pound molecular point-of- care testing machines the size of a toaster. Hospitals and clinics desperately needed these rapid (5 minute) test machines to determine who was or wasn’t infected to stop the spread. Americans likely died because they were denied access to US machines that Trump was stealing from US supplies to send to his KGB handler.

RFE/RL (Sep 2): Already Dead’: Siberia’s Homeless Pushed To Join Russia’s War On Ukraine https://tinyurl.com/33cwvdf9 Out of 50 recruited from one homeless shelter, only two returned alive
// … One homeless shelter volunteer who spoke with RFE/RL said that, out of more than 50 homeless men who have disappeared from her shelter since the summer of 2022 — many as recruits, she assumed — only two have returned, both without money.

UaGov (Feb): Russians continue to recruit mercenaries in Africa and Asia https://tinyurl.com/3msb8m25 “Russian special services are actively recruiting citizens of Syria, Nepal, Afghanistan, India, Congo, Egypt and Central Asia. They are mainly used to storm Ukrainian positions”
// 2/15/2024

🐣 RT @mfa_russia 💬 #Zakharova: Ukraine continues to stifle the rights of the Russian-speaking population, especially regarding the use of Russian.
☝️ The Russian language cannot be destroyed. More & more Ukraine residents prefer to communicate in Russian.
⋙ 🐣 Russia has degraded the Russian language by constantly lying. Tolstoy said Russians believe nothing. How can one trust such a language? How can one support such a country?
⋙ 🐣 FactCheck: FALSE ✅ Euromaidanpress (2023): Ukrainian becomes the language of business https://tinyurl.com/3uch9bmk
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1844008820391248169/photo/1
// 2/28/2023
⋙ 🐣 FactCheck: FALSE ✅ Euromaidanpress (2023): Ukraine ceases to be a bilingual country, polls and speaking practice show https://tinyurl.com/3uch9bmk Language used at home
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1844007055645986893/photo/1
// 2/28/2023
⋙ 🐣 FactCheck: FALSE ✅ Nature (Jan): The Russian war in Ukraine increased Ukrainian language use on social media https://tinyurl.com/32d6jwa9
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1844008605000913393/photo/1
// 1/10/2024

⭕ 8 Oct 2024

🐣 RT @Fernand46357857 […]
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Fernand46357857/status/1843863824975442148/photo/1

Donald Trump didn’t lower your taxes. He didn’t get your roads fixed or your bridges built. He didn’t get you healthcare coverage, lower the price of your prescriptions, decrease the deficit, end the opioid crisis, revive the coal industry, he didn’t make “Covid disappear,” didn’t make Mexico “pay for the wall,” he didn’t “put America First” and he sure as hell didn’t “drain the swamp.” So when you say he “fought for you,” you mean he validated your hate. Because he didn’t do a damn thing for you other than that. He hates who you hate. And sadly, that’s all you think you need.

⋙ 🐣 … and Democrats are there to make sure you have what you actually need
and you hate us for it

🐣 RT @BigBlueWaveUSA How broken is the system? In addition to GOP gerrymandering
CONSIDER THIS: Wyoming, Alaska, N Dakota, S Dakota, Montana, W Virginia, Idaho, Nebraska, Kansas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Louisiana, Alabama:
population: 39M, 28 Senators
California:
population: 39M, 2 Senators

🐣 RT [Rev.] @Brcremer Then Jesus said unto the sick, “you better have insurance.”
Then Jesus said unto the stranger, “are you here legally?”
Then Jesus said unto the hungry, “my taxes better not be paying for these loaves and fishes.”
Then Jesus said unto the poor, “this is your own fault.”

🐣 RT @thedailybeast Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called for the end of the Electoral College in favor of a national popular vote during a campaign fundraiser in California on Tuesday. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/bddvr42c
⋙ 🐣 📊 PewPoll (Sep 2023): 65% Support National Popular Vote for President in Pew
Poll https:///tinyurl.com/3p7rnw4c
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1843912240292139054/photo/1

🐣 RT @Victorshi2020 To recap VP Harris’s reach this week so far (based on averages):
—Call Her Daddy: 5 million
—60 Minutes: 10.5 million
—The View: 2.45 million
—Howard Stern Show: 10 million
—Stephen Colbert: 3.2 million
That’s a total of 25 million+ viewers MSM would never allow us to reach.

🐣 RT @KevRGordon Consumer credit as a % of disposable personal income has come down from its cycle high and is back to the lower end of the range in the expansion from 2001-2007 … excluding pandemic swings, ratio is right near where it was at the beginning of 2013
◕ https://x.com/KevRGordon/status/1843733335300026549/photo/1

WaPo: Trump secretly sent covid tests to Putin during 2020 shortage, new book says https://tinyurl.com/3229ft8b “‘War,’ by Bob Woodward, traces how Trump and Biden responded to international crisis and concludes that Trump is worse than Nixon”

🐣 Below is the link to my Twitter List on DISASTERS (Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Earthquakes, Volcanoes, etc)
It follows about 160 accounts posting news on Hurricanes Milton and Helene
https://x.com/i/lists/167970790

🐣 RT @IAmPoliticsGirl This man [Tim Walz] literally calms me. His goodness. His authenticity. His genuine concern for others. We CAN have nice things America. We just need to #vote for it this November.
⋙ 🐣 RT @mattcorridoni “Supervise a high school lunch room, you’re either an optimist or you’re dead…I plan on waking up on November 6th with ‘Madame President'” – @Tim_Walz on @JimmyKimmelLive.Come for the eternal optimism, stay for the charming stories about how teaching compares to politics:
💽 https://x.com/IAmPoliticsGirl/status/1843521925307335003/photo/1

Climate[.]gov (2020): 2010-2019: A landmark decade of US billion-dollar weather and climate disasters https://tinyurl.com/h9a3nybn “These estimates do not reflect the total cost of US weather & climate disasters, only those associated w events in excess of $1 billion in damages”
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1843641008225169800/photo/1
// 6 charts in one: map for each type of natural disaster

⭕ 7 Oct 2024

CommForRespBudget (Oct 7) The Fiscal Impact of the Harris and Trump Campaign Plans https://tinyurl.com/mtd3e6rr “Vice President Harris’s plan would increase the debt by $3.50 trillion through 2035, while President Trump’s plan would increase the debt by $7.50 trillion.”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1846811815725989965/photo/1
// 10/7/2024; national debt

WaPo, Stephen Trott (Oct 7): Why the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling is untenable in a democracy https://tinyurl.com/wh4a5exs “The court has uprooted the principle that it is the law that is supreme, not our officeholders”
// Justices’ ruling in immunity case creates one legal standard for presidents and a different standard for citizens

🐣 RT @JoyceWhiteVance Hi. Just wanted to say, the fed’l government does not steer hurricanes toward members of the other party. That’s ridiculous. Trust science. If you’re in Milton’s path, please evacuate or follow instructions you receive. (Yes, I had to have this conversation in the grocery store).

TheGuardian, Sidney Blumenthal: Donald Trump’s Hitlerian logic is no mistake https://tinyurl.com/386cw5uz “The former president claims to have never read Mein Kampf. But his use of blood and soil rhetoric is deliberate”

WaPo: Tampa Bay braces for what could be strongest storm in a century https://tinyurl.com/yc2xr5mu “Hurricane Milton’s current track threatens to strike one of the most vulnerable and populated stretches of U.S. coastline.”

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Trump’s tax proposals — including extending his 2017 tax law, hiking tariffs, and more — would result in massive cuts for the richest 5%, leaving everyone else to pay more. ¤ cc: @iteptweets
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1843319333809955070/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Trump’s tax policy would be regressive, making the lowest earning Americans give up larger shares of their income. That hurts poor people while drawing in relatively less revenue.
cc: @iteptweets
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1843322140902506850/photo/1

PewResearch (Oct 1): Migrant encounters at U.S.-Mexico border have fallen sharply in 2024 https://tinyurl.com/y6jvnbw3 A reminder that TRUMP BLOCKED the bipartisan border bill so he could run on ‘border chaos’: requiring Biden to issue an executive order
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1843331019677507733/photo/1
// illegal immigration

🧵 RT @NC_Governor [Roy Cooper] As we continue our unprecedented response to Hurricane Helene, the nation is beginning to understand that impacted areas have been the target of a relentless vortex of disinformation, dialed up by bad actors and platforms like X.
📌 https://x.com/NC_Governor/status/1843067124467794030
// thread of articles calling out mis/disinformation

🐣 RT @mjfree This fucker is trying to get people killed by saying it’s “very dangerous” for Kamala Harris voters to identify themselves because they’ll “get hurt” ¤ Fuck Trump! Who’s with me on voting him into prison on 11/5???
💽 https://x.com/mjfree/status/1843064208012845373/photo/1

⭕ 6 Oct 2024

YahooFinance: Oil Moguls Emerge as Key Cash Source for Trump as Race Nears End https://tinyurl.com/mp5wnkex “Trump is promising to make it easier to ‘drill, baby, drill’ and to repeal Biden-era pollution curbs on autos and power plants.” Because of course.

🐣 RT @TheUSASingers The party of law & order is voting for a criminal.
The party of family values is voting for a rapist & a cheater.
The party of Christianity is voting for a heathen.
The party of patriotism is voting for a traitor.
We are truly living in the dumbest timeline.
Vote Blue. Vote Blue.

🐣 RT @mjfree This fucker is trying to get people killed by saying it’s “very dangerous” for Kamala Harris voters to identify themselves because they’ll “get hurt” ¤ Fuck Trump! Who’s with me on voting him into prison on 11/5???
💽 https://x.com/mjfree/status/1843064208012845373/photo/1

🐣 RT @uamyua Don’t ask me why I share videos of Zelenskyy. I just enjoy watching russian fascists’ butts burn when they see him 🔥 ¤ The russians have never lived as badly as they do under Zelenskyy, and that’s a fact! 🤣🤙
💽 https://x.com/uamyua/status/1843006556146929900/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 This is the guy that Trump tried to bribe into blackmailing Biden and Putin tried to bully into giving up his country. He was a comedian who became a leader in an age where leaders everywhere became clowns. What a fucking champion. #Zelenskiy
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1843132271358021741/photo/1
// caption ⇈

DailyBeast: How Trump’s Speeches Are a Red Flag for Mental Decline: Experts https://tinyurl.com/3kzcjnhf “I can’t tell you how staggering this is,” a social psychologist previously told Stat News. “He does not think in a complex way at all.”

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa I received a report on the Kursk operation. Today marks two months of our military actions in the Kursk region—a crucial phase of the war that has significantly contributed to our overall efforts. Ukrainians have shown that we can push the war into Russia.
¤ https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1842989229653041486

With sufficient support from our partners, we will be able to apply the necessary pressure on Russia, ensuring they understand that this war will bring them nothing.

I want to extend my gratitude to all our soldiers—every unit—that is working tirelessly to replenish Ukraine’s exchange fund. Our Kursk operation has made one of the largest contributions to this fund, helping secure the release of Ukrainian prisoners. This is very important. We will continue to apply even more pressure on Russia because only through strength can we bring peace closer.

🐣 RT @MarkHamill GOOD NEWS, EVERYONE! Bruce Springsteen joins fellow musicians Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, John Legend, Eddie Vedder, Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, Stevie Wonder, Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Patti LaBelle, Joan Baez, The Chicks, Common, Kesha, Lance Bass, Sheila E, Justin Vernon, Lil Jon, Bon Iver have ALL endorsed @KamalaHarris & it’s not too late for Ted Nugent & Kid Rock to change their minds. ¤ THE BOSS IN HIS OWN WORDS:
#HarrisWalzObviously
💽 https://x.com/MarkHamill/status/1842970431592247495/photo/1

🐣 RT @nanditab1 Sen. Mark Kelly, who sits on the US Senate intelligence committee, said on CBS this morning there is a “significant” and “huge amount of misinformation” coming from the Russian, Chinese, and the Iranians. ¤ Kelly estimated that 20 to 30% of political content that Americans are seeing online is coming from one of these three countries

🐣 RT @business New York and California, routinely overlooked in presidential elections, are shaping up as potentially pivotal battlegrounds in a nail-biter struggle for control of the US House
⋙ Bloomberg: New York, California Loom Large in ‘Dead Heat’ for US House https://tinyurl.com/3zre3zfd
● Democrats need net gain of just four seats to win majority
● Control of House is key leverage point in clash over taxes
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1842960887118000581/photo/1

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch The NY Times finally did a story on Donald Trump’s cognitive decline. It’s currently the main story on their site.
⋙ NYT: Trump’s Speeches, Increasingly Angry and Rambling, Reignite the Question of Age https://tinyurl.com/2szzy498

“He rambles, he repeats himself, he roams from thought to thought — some of them hard to understand, some of them unfinished, some of them factually fantastical. He voices outlandish claims that seem to be made up out of whole cloth. He digresses into bizarre tangents about golf, about sharks, about his own “beautiful” body. He relishes “a great day in Louisiana” after spending the day in Georgia. He expresses fear that North Korea is ‘trying to kill me’ when he presumably means Iran. As late as last month, Mr. Trump was still speaking as if he were running against President Biden, five weeks after his withdrawal from the race.”

⭕ 5 Oct 2024

🐣 RT @1zzyzyx1 Meet @alexaronson, who is teaming up with @MeidasTouch to bring more court-related news and is also working with @mspopok. ¤ Here, Alex talks about a cult of Christians called Opus Dei, who has connections with Leonard Leo. ¤ #DemVoice1 #DemsUnited
💽 https://x.com/1zzyzyx1/status/1842684204590719270/photo/1

🧵 RT @Mylovanov Russia lost more elite soldiers in 1 year near Vuhledar than in 10 years of Chechen War, BBC reports ¤ These losses are not sustainable regardless of what Russia wants you to believe 1/
📌 https://x.com/Mylovanov/status/1842759004281319557

🐣 RT @Fernand46357857
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Fernand46357857/status/1842601422149615983/photo/1

A Two Thousand Year Old Warning about TRUMP

“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. For the traitor appears not a traitor – He speaks in the accents familiar to his victims, and he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation – he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of a city – he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to be feared.”

Cicero
Roman Staresman, 42 BC

🐣 RT @BBKogan Your reminder that less than two weeks ago, far-right House Republicans stripped the $10 billion supplemental for FEMA’s disaster relief out of the govt funding bill, even though the DRF was already out of money, Helene was on its way, & we were in the middle of hurricane season
⋙ 🐣 RT @NbergWX [next hurricane:] This is getting really bad. Preparations should be underway for all of central Florida. ¤ Expect mandatory evacuations to begin probably Sunday at some point on the west coast. If this parallels I-4, this is one of the costliest hurricanes in Florida history. ¤ Track is key though. Small changes shift the overall impact and surge.
🌎 https://x.com/NbergWX/status/1842669826076230032/photo/1 -3

✅ PolitiFact: Donald Trump returns to Butler, Pennsylvania, site of first assassination attempt https://tinyurl.com/5yj9vj23 Results of FactChecks: Pants on Fire🔥, False, False, False, Mostly False, Mostly False, False, False, Mostly False, Unsubstantiated ⋙ details at link

🐣 RT @nexta_tv Zelenskyy on what is most needed: strikes on Russian airfields ¤ “Every destroyed base of the Russian military, every destroyed base of Russian aircraft, every destroyed warehouse with bombs means saving the lives of Ukrainians, it is real support for the front,” the president stressed.

🐣 RT @atrupar I’m going to put together a thread covering Trump’s big rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, featuring Elon Musk and JD Vance in addition to the big guy. Follow along for clips and commentary.
📌 💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1842659984355565605/photo/1
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1842659984355565605.html

🐣 RT @ArtCandee Donald Trump returned for a rally in Butler, PA after his assassination attempt in July, and woooboy was he unhinged. ¤ Let’s recap it:
¤ https://x.com/ArtCandee/status/1842722656933601415

Donald is the one who’s standing behind bulletproof glass despite Corey Comperatore dying and two other people being seriously injured.

After saying at the RNC convention that he was only going to talk about the bullet that grazed his ear that once, he spoke about it for the 100th time since.

He says “the grace of God” saved him. Corey would like a word.

He thanks the local police who failed to secure the roof.

He praises the doctors who helped him, but we’ve yet to see his ER report after the surgeon.

He had issues saying “Comperatore,” “era,” “we’re,” “going,” “students,” “this,” “industry,” “education,” “business,” and “insanity.” Bro’s mind is mashed potatoes.

He held a moment of silence for Corey and proceeds to look around all shifty eyed like someone who’s on drugs and then plays music. Uh. He doesn’t know what a moment of silence is because he’s incapable of behaving like a normal human during one.

He calls JD Vance the “future Vice President.” I gagged.

He thanked Corey. For what? Dying? JFC. 🤦‍♀️

He calls him and JD “the best team in the history of the country” and he’s claimed they’ve bled. Tell me when JD bled? If anything, JD makes MY ears bleed.

He says it may be “the greatest election of all time.” It will be after he loses. 🍿

He claims Rasmussen is one of the “most respected polls.” The owner of Rasmussen has his pinned post calling MAGA sheep. 🤣

He said he wants legal immigrants here but the other day he said he was going to deport Haitians who are here under TPS status while he was the president.

He’s such a man of the people: “what’s the good in being rich if you can’t get a reservation at a restaurant?” He’s so relatable. 🙄

There’s yet another medical emergency and he stops the rally to pretend like he cares.

He says “12 weeks ago, we all took a bullet for America.”

He then says if he loses then “we won’t have a country.” Dog whistle for violence alert.

He says they’re going to “fight for this country” and gets the crowd to chant “fight, fight, fight.” More dog whistles.

He said we have “unknown countries.” We do not.

He claimed he’ll “unite the country.” I snort laughed. 🤣🤣🤣🤣

He called the pandemic “a gift from China” and said he did “a great job.” He did not. That was hell on earth while he was in charge.

He claims he had the greatest economy in history. Uh. We have that right now.

Now he’s praising Elon Musk. 🙄

He claimed that Elon is the “only reason” why we can send astronauts in space. Not true.

He brings Leon on stage…here we go with more utter BS…

Leon literally runs on stage and starts hopping. WTF. Super weird.

Leon Musk called himself “dark MAGA.” Apropos since he’s a real life supervillain.

He praised Donald for having blood on his face after his ear was grazed. Weird.

Elmo claimed democrats want to “take away your right to vote,” and the 2nd Amendment. This man is a total liar.

He also claims we want to take away free speech. Donald is the only one who’s been threatening to jail journalists he doesn’t like.

Leon is giggling. It’s making my skin crawl.

Elmo thinks Donald will “preserve the Constitution and democracy.” I rolled my eyes so hard.

Leon said that it will be the “last election” if Donald isn’t elected. More dog whistles.

He’s begging people to register to vote over and over and over again while acknowledging that he’s being repetitive. Weird.

People seem disinterested in Leon.

Elmo tells people to “be a pest.” Doesn’t he know MAGA people already are?! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Donald is back and is lying about Hurricane Helene again. Absolutely vile.

He calls VP Harris “the worst DA.” Yet he donated to her campaign. Twice.

He admits he didn’t know what Starlink was until recently. Yikes. This man doesn’t know anything. We really don’t need a 78 year-old man who doesn’t know anything about anything as POTUS.

He implied that people who are missing from the hurricane are all dead. DISGUSTING.

He called Elon “a very advanced person.” What does that even mean?

I think people in the crowd are chanting “Elon” but it sounds like “Ewok.”

He says Corey Mills is “out there in North Carolina, Georgia.” He’s a Rep. for Florida.

He praised Captain Ronny Jackson saying he was a “great Admiral.” Captain Ron was demoted for bad behavior. 🤦‍♀️

He seemingly threatens RNC co-chair Michael Whatley if he doesn’t win North Carolina.

He’s once again lying about not needing a teleprompter. He went off the rails when his teleprompter stopped working at the last rally.

He’s literally in the process of reading names off of his teleprompter too. 🤣

He’s whining about the hurricane response again. Remember, his FEMA gave hundreds of millions of dollars to his donor, and to people who were the single employees of their companies.

He claims if someone calls Pennsylvania a state then “that’s the end of them.”

He said the “next president” will be the one to help hurricane victims and “JD will be there to help them.” Does he think JD Vance is running for POTUS?

He said that people can’t defend themselves from home invasions. Uh. False.

He claims 325,000 immigrant children are dead or “in slavery” because of VP Harris. Reprehensible.

He’s whining that President Biden dropped out of the race and all the money he spent against him in the campaign. His tears taste delicious!

He said “she destroyed everything she touched,” Seems like he’s salty that we say ETTD. I snort laughed at how big mad this is making him.

He’s talking a mile a minute. We all know what it means when Captain Feelgood Ronny Jackson is around. Methinks he’s tweaking.

He’s hyping up dismantling the Department of Education. He fails to say “education properly” and he weirdly babbles about Denmark, Norway, and Sweden because he apparently thinks they’re states.

He claims we were energy independent 4 years ago. We weren’t during the pandemic. We are now though!

He called it “the Asia.” Bro’s brain is melting.

He lied and said that migrants are being put on Social Security and Medicare.

Fear mongering about WWIII for the 30040394th time in 10 years. 🙄

He repeatedly tells JD Vance to “work on” Elon Musk. “Work on him, JD!” Uh. Is he confirming what we all suspect about the two of them?

He’s lying again calling the female Olympic boxers “men who transitioned.” Vile man.

He’s talking about what’s “demeaning to women.” What’s demeaning is taking away our rights to control our own d@mn bodies! Az.zhole.

His lisp is becoming more noticeable. He’s suddenly becoming more and more slurry.

Man who eats McDonalds regularly says he’s going to “make America healthy again.” Utterly laughable. 🤣🤣🤣

-Fin

Fox’s streaming channel immediately mispronounced Corey Comperatore’s last name.

They also said Donald’s “ear was grazed” and I laughed uncontrollably. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

Donald is ratcheting up his violent rhetoric with the help of his buddies like Leon Munsk.

He knows he’s toast, and like Jack Smith said about the 2020 election, Donald will resort to crimes.

It’s gonna be a bumpy next few months thanks to Donald and his buddy Leon pushing loads of fake news.

We all need to be prepared.
—
I turned it off after Donald stopped talking.

I went back and watched Trump do his “aird*cker” dance and he brought an opera? singer to perform.

I thought MAGA said Donald doesn’t need or want performers?
🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

WaPo: Helene response hampered by misinformation, conspiracy theories https://tinyurl.com/9rydc63k False claims are adding to the chaos and confusion in many storm-battered communities. Social media platforms such as X have allowed the falsehoods to spread.

🔆 This❗️⋙ KyivIndependent: Ukraine hit 3 Russian command posts with Storm Shadows and GMLRS, military claims https://tinyurl.com/wmuxryzd “The attacks struck the command posts of the 35th and 27th separate motor rifle brigades, as well as that of the 2nd Combined Arms Army of the Russian Armed Forces, the General Staff said in a post on Telegram.”

Ukrainian forces have hit three Russian command posts using Western-supplied Storm Shadow missiles and GMLRS rockets, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported on Oct. 5.

The attacks struck the command posts of the 35th and 27th separate motor rifle brigades, as well as that of the 2nd Combined Arms Army of the Russian Armed Forces, the General Staff said in a post on Telegram.

It did not specify the locations of the strikes or the dates on which they were carried out, only saying they happened “the other day.”

“The results of the strikes are being clarified,” the report said, adding: “The attack was carried out by Storm Shadow missiles and GMLRS rockets.

“The destruction of the occupiers continues. Next will be…”

U.S.-supplied GMLRS rockets have a range of around 70 kilometers and are fired from HIMARS launchers.

They were a game-changer for Ukraine when they first arrived in the summer of 2022, allowing Ukraine to target Russian forces in occupied territories far more accurately than they had previously.

Ukraine has previously used the British–supplied Storm Shadow missiles, with a range of up to 250 kilometers (150 miles), to hit Russian military targets in Crimea, a sovereign Ukrainian territory illegally annexed by Russia.

The Telegraph reported in August, citing unnamed sources, that the U.K. was privately in favor of allowing Ukraine to use Storm Shadow missiles in strikes on Russia itself, but was unwilling to publicly press for such a change in policy due to fears of backlash from the U.S.

Kyiv has long argued that restrictions on the use of Western-supplied long-range weapons are stifling its war effort, while Washington has claimed that allowing Ukraine to hit deep into Russian territory with its weapons could escalate the situation.

Hopes had been high last month that Ukraine would finally be granted permission to strike deep inside Russian territory with the weapons, but the issue was once again put on hold.

In the meantime, Ukraine has been striking targets deep inside Russia with its own domestically-produced weapons, most recently taking out several Russian ammunition storage sites.

In September, Ukraine targeted depots in the Russian towns of Tikhoretsk and Toropets with drones, setting ablaze over 30,000 tons of ammunition, which allegedly included ballistic missiles.

🐣 RT @gilduran76 Reminder that Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen and Sam Altman are building their own authoritarian “nation.” ¤ They market it as “the next America.” ¤ Something has gone very, very wrong in Silicon Valley. This is brazenly bizarre.
¤ For comments: https://x.com/gilduran76/status/1842619631066108139

🐣 RT @David_Charts America is incredibly prosperous. President Biden has the lowest unemployment rate and highest real (infl-adj) hourly wage on average among the last 11 presidents, for data back to 1964.
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1842579522417496400/photo/1

💙 🐣 RT @rgoodlaw You’re welcome! We’ve created an annotated version of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s 165-page presidential immunity brief.
DocumentCloud Link: https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25193113/annotated-doj-presidential-immunity-brief-oct-24-just-security.pdf
Via TinyURL: https://tinyurl.com/ywaxk63n
Sample below ⤵️
[TextLink:] https://x.com/rgoodlaw/status/1842556469671084348/photo/1
// link in Tweet doesn’t work: I did a search of site and found usable link, which I use above

🐣 RT @HeathMayo Wow. Five senior *GOP* Senators visited Hungary and just issued this statement at the end of their trip: ¤ “Our delegation & many of our colleagues are concerned by Hungary’s deepening and expanding relationship with Russia & the continued erosion of its democratic institutions.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/HeathMayo/status/1842540951580836012/photo/1

[Text:] United States Senators visited Hungary on October 3-4 intending to engage with Hungarian government officials and representatives of civil society.

After meeting with Hungarian civil society leaders, delegation leader Senator Jerry Moran said: “Our delegation and many of our congressional colleagues are increasingly concerned by Hungary’s deepening and expanding relationship with Russia and the continued erosion of its democratic institutions. Hungary also continues to disregard the concerns raised by its allies and partners about deepening its ties with China. It is in our shared interest for our countries to work closely together. We urge Hungary to listen to the concerns of its allies and to act on them.”

The Senate delegation was led by Senator Moran and also included Senators Susan Collins, John Cornyn, John Boozman, and John Hoeven.

⭕ 4 Oct 2024

KevinDrum (9/16): Illegal border crossings remained steady in August https://tinyurl.com/3fawstjf Except for the pandemic year, illegal crossings are back to Trump levels. Now, Congress should pass the bipartisan border bill THAT TRUMP KILLED so he could run on border chaos
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1842463211557130605/photo/1

WaPo, Ann Telnaes: Trump: So what? https://tinyurl.com/2rejtxe2
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1842459800229016061/photo/1

✅ WaPo FactChecker: No, Biden didn’t take FEMA relief money to use on migrants — but Trump did https://tinyurl.com/mvf82f9f “Trump falsely accuses President Biden of redirecting disaster funds, a budget maneuver Trump himself approved in 2019.” FOUR PINOCCHIOS 🍄🍄🍄🍄
// Glenn Kessler

🐣 RT @Acyn Collins: That is not true. FEMA says, no disaster funds were used to shelter migrants. They are two separate programs actually both approved and funded by congress. But you know which president did do that? The 45th
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1842371271906169204/photo/1

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow In 2020, President Joe Biden won counties representing 70-71% of U.S. GDP, while Donald Trump’s counties accounted for only 29%, illustrating a sharp economic divide between urban and rural areas, according to analyses by the Brookings Institution and Statistica
// 11/20/2020; CNBC

🐣 RT @CNBC Jamie Dimon denies Trump’s claim that JPMorgan CEO has endorsed him
🖼 https://x.com/CNBC/status/1842269561413918831/photo/1

🐣 RT @erikbryn GDP rose by 3.2% in the year ending in Q3 2023. ¤ That was 3.3% more than expected 🤣
◕ https://x.com/erikbryn/status/1842031862954524996/photo/1

NatGeo (2015): Blast Force: The Invisible War on the Brain https://tinyurl.com/2jzjv7xk “Brain trauma from blast force is the signature injury of the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns … Although unseen, the damage strikes deeply into a soldier’s mind and psyche” @DeadlineWH @NicolleDWallace
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1842318068011450682/photo/1

🐣 RT @DemDifference The Great American Comeback with Biden-Harris:
• 16.2 million jobs added
• Stock market hitting record highs
• Strongest post-pandemic GDP growth in world
• Much lower unemployment & inflation than Reagan in 1984
• Employment for prime-working-age Americans at 23-year high
◕ https://x.com/DemDifference/status/1842290259989877145/photo/1

💙 🐣 RT @Markzandi The jobs report for September cements my view that the economy is about as good as it gets. The economy is creating lots of jobs across many industries, consistent with robust labor force growth, and thus low and stable unemployment. The economy is at full-employment, no more and no less. Wage growth is strong, and given big productivity gains, it is consistent with low and stable inflation. One couldn’t paint a prettier picture of the job market and broader economy.
⋙ 🐣 You’re the fourth well-known economist I know from @CNBC who’ve said basically the same thing, but so many of the Trump base and politicians are saying the numbers are “fake” 🤔

EconPolInst (Feb): Immigrants are not hurting US-born workers: Six facts to set the record straight https://tinyurl.com/e8demtmh “The economy does not have a fixed number of jobs, and what we see today is a growing economy that is adding jobs for both immigrants and US-born workers” ⇊

From the article:
1. The unemployment rate for U.S.-born workers averaged 3.6% in 2023, the lowest rate on record. Obviously, immigration is not causing high unemployment among U.S.-born workers.

2. The share of prime-age U.S.-born individuals with a job is at its highest rate in more than two decades. In 2023, the prime-age (ages 25–54) employment-to-population ratio (EPOP) for U.S.-born individuals was 81.4%, up from 80.7% in 2019 and now at its highest rate since 2001.

3. The prime-age labor force participation rate (LFPR) for U.S.-born individuals is also at its highest rate in more than two decades. In 2023, the LFPR for prime-age U.S.-born individuals was 83.9%, up from 83.3% in 2019 and now at its highest rate since 2002.

Further, the increase in the U.S.-born prime-age LFPR over the last year was the second highest on record—below only the increase that occurred the year before last.

4. The prime-age LFPR of U.S.-born men without a bachelor’s degree grew at a record pace in each of the last two years and is above its pre-COVID trend. …

5. Though the immigrant share of the labor force reached a record high in 2023, immigrant labor force growth is not occurring at an unprecedented rate. …

6. Immigrants are an integral part of our labor market, filling gaps caused by demographic changes in the United States and contributing to strong economic growth. … And as the Congressional Budget Office recently reported, immigration is contributing to strong economic growth—with future immigration forecasted to boost real gross domestic product by 2% over the next 10 years—as well as increasing government revenue. … The U.S. Census Bureau projects that if the U.S. were to have lower-than-expected immigration levels, the population would begin to decline in 20 years, and if there were suddenly zero immigration, the population would begin to decline next year, deeply harming economic growth.

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla YARDENI: “.. Big Employment Increase Puts Recession Story To Bed” ¤ “.. Payroll employment increased by 254,000 in September to another record high .. our Roaring 2020s scenario is squarely playing out.” #NFP @yardeni 🇺🇸

🐣 RT @cspan President Biden reacts to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) saying the jobs report has fake numbers: “If you notice, anything the MAGA Republicans don’t like they call fake. Anything. The job numbers are what the job numbers are. They’re real.”
💽 https://x.com/cspan/status/1842269541323411523/photo/1

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary .@POTUS: The nation has created 16 million jobs since I came to office. That’s more jobs created in a single presidential term than at any time in American history.

🐣 RT @SecretaryPete Today, our ports are open. Dockworkers are poised for a record hourly wage increase, and critical supplies can keep moving in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. ¤ The agreement that made this possible demonstrates the power and importance of collective bargaining in America.
💽 https://x.com/SecretaryPete/status/1842250894936584324/photo/1

🐣 RT @glastris A month before the elections, this is the front page of the NYTimes. Has there ever been a moment in U.S. history when the disconnect between the strength of the economy and the American voters’ beliefs about the economy was this vast and consequential?
🖼 https://x.com/glastris/status/1842194352816222637/photo/1
// NYT front page

🐣 RT @LisPower1 Fox guest on jobs report: “I thought there would be more red flags than a communist parade in this report, and there’s not a single one. … There’s not one data point in here that I can point to that is not good.”
💽 https://x.com/LisPower1/status/1842219450373693838/photo/1

🐣 RT @joncoopertweets I literally can’t remember a jobs report one month before a presidential election that was as FANTASTIC as this one. How about you?
💽 https://x.com/joncoopertweets/status/1842208098934497685/photo/1

🐣 RT @ carlquintanilla JPMORGAN’s David Kelly, on @CNBC:
The so-called “misery index” (inflation + unemployment rate) is expected to be ~6.4 points after next week’s #CPI.
“That’s lower than it’s been 89% of the time in the last 50 years.” 🇺🇸
◕ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1842210842365874320/photo/1

🐣 RT @ou812_1966
◕ https://x.com/ou812_1966/status/1842199490381365583/photo/1
// Caption: “51 million jobs added since 1989. ¤ 50 million were created under Democrats.”

🐣 RT @JustinWolfers Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the worst economics forecaster of all?
◕ https://x.com/JustinWolfers/status/1842195174723555560/photo/1
// Caption: Trump: “If he gets in, you’re going to have a depression, the likes of which you’ve never seen before, with the possible exception of 1929” Reality: 16 million jobs created so far, the most in any presidential term

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Trump’s budget is a mess. He has an array of tax cuts (largely benefitting the rich), only partially funded with a tariff that’ll raise prices for everyday Americans, hitting low-earners the hardest. @Morning_Joe
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1842156676742336664/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Harris has a targeted plan to cut costs for Americans trying buy their first home, start a family, or get a business off the ground – she plans to pay for it by making corporations & the wealthy pay their fair share. @Morning_Joe
📋 ◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1842156832254800126/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Unemployment declined for the second month in a row in September, coming in at 4.1%.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1842181776539562252/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner The Harris plan’s deficit impact would beat Trump’s proposed budget, Trump’s last budget, and also Biden’s last budget. That’s pretty good. @Morning_Joe
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1842157288859000972/photo/1
// “US Federal Spending vs Receipts ¤ as a Percent of GDP”

🐣 RT @SteveRattner The US economy added 254K jobs in September, an upwards surprise and a substantial increase from the previous month.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1842180933786403098/photo/1
// Top 3: Education and Healthcare 208, Leisure and Hospitality 169, Government 121

🔄🔄 🐣 The 2008 Financial Crisis occurred under Bush: Obama/Biden cleaned it up
The Trump Tax Cuts for the Wealthy blew a HUGE hole in the deficit: Biden/Harris brought the deficit down
Democrats clean up the messes Republicans make
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1842198053610000566/photo/1

⭕ 3 Oct 2024

ScottGrannis: ‘I’m certainly not an apologist for the Biden admin, but the economy on balance has done pretty well in the past several years’ https://tinyurl.com/4fu48dkt ‘Considering that many observers were predicting a recession, economic growth has been surprisingly strong’
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1842217022052089934/photo/1
// Chart: GDP 2002-2024: 2.3% trend; Source: BEA as of Q2 2024
// tags: Calafia Beach Pundit BeachPundit

WaPo: Trump’s Jan 6 role back in focus as he readies new stolen election claims https://tinyurl.com/bshuacrc “The former president has faced fresh scrutiny this week over his attempts to overturn the 2020 vote, with the issue featuring in a debate, a legal filing and a campaign rally”

🐣 RT @BillKristol “If one asked me to what do I think one must principally attribute the singular prosperity and growing force of this people, I would answer that it is to the superiority of its women.” — Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America II, 3.12
⋙ RT @Yamiche Vice President @KamalaHarris takes the stage alongside @Liz_Cheney in Ripon, Wisconsin, known as the birthplace of the GOP, as the crowd here applauds and chants “Thank you Liz.”
💽 https://x.com/BillKristol/status/1842013365717065831/photo/1

💽 CSPAN: Vice President Harris Campaigns with Liz Cheney in Ripon, Wisconsin https://tinyurl.com/54v5hamb

Former Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) endorsed 2024 Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris at a campaign event in Ripon, Wisconsin, the birthplace of the Republican Party. In her remarks, Ms. Cheney detailed why she and her family, including former Vice President Dick Cheney, were supporting the Harris-Walz ticket, saying Ms. Harris displayed a commitment to protection of the Constitution. Ms. Cheney was also critical of Ms. Harris’s Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, saying he was unfit for the office in the wake of his actions on January 6, 2021

🐣 RT @acnewsitics BREAKING: Republican Colorado county clerk Tina Peters, who is a hero to election conspiracists, was just sentenced to 9 years for leading a data-breach scheme inspired by Donald Trump’s false claims that voting fraud changed the 2020 election
💽 https://x.com/acnewsitics/status/1841908097167864093/photo/1

🐣 RT @David_Charts And they’re way richer under Biden than pre-pandemic.
💙 ⋙ 🐣 RT @David_Charts Increase in key economic variables from Q4 ’19 pre-pandemic to Q2 ’24. Note that gains for all have exceeded inflation, meaning Americans are much better off than pre-pandemic. [StLFed link:] https://tinyurl.com/av2rphdc
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1841647615642902667/photo/1
// Inflation: 21%; Hourly wages 26%; Home prices 26%; GDP Nom 32%; Net Worth (50-90%) 52%; S&P500 70%; Net Worth (bottom 50%) 96%

⭕ 2 Oct 2024

🐣 RT @cborkowski Sound up! ¤ “This is bombshell, after bombshell, after bombshell…The reason this (Jack Smith’s filing) is public is because Judge Chutkan denied Donald Trump’s motion that he was making opposing this ever being anything we could ever see” — Andrew Weissman
💽 https://x.com/cborkowski/status/1841667140052549955/photo/1

🔄🔄 🐣 RT @ArtCandee Thank you to @letsgohawksgpg for putting together a list of all of the redacted names in Jack Smith’s immunity filing unsealed by judge Tanya Chutkan today!
📋 https://x.com/ArtCandee/status/1841618087327523302/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @levparnas Today’s unsealing is terrible news for @realDonaldTrump. I remember Rudy Giuliani always talking about how the attorney client privilege would protect us, him, and Trump from any potential prosecutions. The problem is that because Giuliani was attending meetings with Trump and Pence as his personal council, those meetings no longer fall under the presidential immunity clause and now Jack Smith can use those conservations in court. This an unwelcomed October surprise for Donald Trump. #LevRemembers

🐣 RT @tribelaw Not just unintimidated, @JoyceWhiteVance, but positively emboldened. As I said to @Lawrence last night, SCOTUS got back what it deserved — and more. Smith’s filing exposed the folly of Roberts’ opinion w/out giving the Court any real opportunity to mess further with Lady Justice
⋙ 🐣 RT @JoyceWhiteVance Not one bit intimidated by SCOTUS’ immunity ruling, Jack Smith digs in: “Although the defendant was the incumbent President during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one. Working with a team of private co-conspirators, the defendant acted as a candidate when he pursued multiple criminal means to disrupt, through fraud and deceit, the government function by which votes are collected and counted—a function in which the defendant, as President, had no official role.”
[CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/mrs9eu3p

🐣 RT @CBSNews Special counsel Jack Smith’s major filing in Trump’s 2020 election case, unsealed Wednesday by Judge Tanya Chutkan, has “bombshell after bombshell,” says Harry Litman, former deputy assistant attorney general. Litman says he believes the revelations will “have an impact” on the 2024 presidential election.

🐣 RT @JoyceWhiteVance Not one bit intimidated by SCOTUS’ immunity ruling, Jack Smith digs in: “Although the defendant was the incumbent President during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one. Working with a team of private co-conspirators, the defendant acted as a candidate when he pursued multiple criminal means to disrupt, through fraud and deceit, the government function by which votes are collected and counted—a function in which the defendant, as President, had no official role.”

🐣 RT @BeschlossDC Reposting my real-time tweet from January 6, 2021, at 2:47 PM Eastern:
⋙ 🐣 RT @BeschlossDC [Jan 6, 2021] This is a coup d’etat attempted by the President of the United States.

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote BREAKING: Judge Chutkan has unsealed Jack Smith’s immunity brief. I will break this down soon at http://muellershewrote.com
¤ https://x.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1841570688093897074
MuellerSheWrote Substack:
🔄🔄 [CourtDoc:] [CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/mrs9eu3p 165p

🐣📋 RT @POTUS On my watch, homicide and violent crime rates continue to decline from their peaks under the last administration. ¤ According to data submitted to the FBI, during the first half of this year, homicides fell a record 22.7% while violent crime fell to its lowest level since 1969.

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla COOK POLITICAL: “.. for the first time ever, a plurality of swing state voters now think that a Democrat will win .. an 11-point swing in Harris’ favor since August, and suggests that Harris has been successful in presenting herself as a serious candidate, while Trump’s attempts to portray her as unable to do the job have not been effective.” ¤ @CookPolitical
📊 ⋙ CookPolitical: Swing State Polling Finds Deadlocked Presidential Contest, ‘Blue Wall’ Senate Races Tighten https://tinyurl.com/y8vhyede

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom “Vance tried to rewrite the history of the January 6, 2021, riot and Donald Trump’s attempt to steal the election, revealing why he would be a dangerous vice president,” writes @GrahamDavidA:
⋙ TheAtlantic, David Graham: J. D. Vance Tries to Rewrite History https://tinyurl.com/mr2rxz2t ”In the vice-presidential debate, the Republican claimed that Trump ‘peacefully gave over power on January 20.’”

⭕ 1 Oct 2024

WaPo (10/1): Trump mixes up words, swerves among subjects in off-topic speech https://tinyurl.com/2hwahk2b “The Republican nominee appeared tired and complained about his heightened campaign schedule.” //➔ wow! an actual piece on Trump’s cognitive decline!

🐣 RT @harryjsisson Tim Walz just DEMOLISHED JD Vance on reproductive rights “We’ve seen maternal mortality skyrocket in Texas, outpacing many countries in the world… In Minnesota, we are ranked first in health care for a reason. We trust women. We trust doctors.”

🐣 RT @tribelaw JD Vance didn’t deny having said he, unlike Pence, would’ve rejected the Electoral Votes that confirmed Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. Nor did he deny that doing so would’ve been unconstitutional. That’s staggering. As Walz said, “that was a damning non-answer.”

🐣 RT @David_Charts The economy should be a strong point for Democrats, as wages have outgrown inflation and stocks up nearly 60% under Biden. Democrats have to stop struggling to say simple things like that.
⋙ 🐣 Democrats have to deal with people saying “not true for me” or “I don’t feel it” or be accused of lack of empathy ¤ it sucks, because on all objective measures, the economy has recovered after a pandemic made worse by Trump, and is the strongest in the world, > other G7 countries!

🐣 RT @SteveRattner While layoffs remain relatively constant, job quits have continued to decrease, a sign that workers still aren’t optimistic about new job prospects.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1841118849376059559/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner August job openings came in higher than expected at 8.04M, further reassurance that the Fed is achieving a soft landing.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1841117238335566333/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner While Democratic candidates have out-raised R’s, outside spending has benefitted R’s more. Super PACs and the like have spent more than $1.03B helping Republican candidates and $785M for D’s. @Morning_Joe
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1841070121332207705/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner The money race for congressional campaigns is much tighter than the presidential election, but Democrats are still outraising Republicans. @Morning_Joe
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1841069914729103397/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Harris surpassed Biden’s total number of campaign donors after just 9 days in the race ­— an impressive feat and a testament to the enthusiasm for her campaign. @Morning_Joe
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1841069744360702000/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Campaign donations soared after Harris launched her presidential campaign in late July — monthly campaign donations to Biden/Harris more than tripled from June to July. @Morning_Joe
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1841069588915658879/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner The Harris campaign ended August with more funds raised than Biden did in 2020. ¤ Trump, on the other hand, is doing far worse than he did in 2020. @Morning_Joe
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1841069360372232455/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner The Harris/Biden campaign has raised (and spent) more than the Trump campaign — and a higher share of those funds come from small individual donations. @Morning_Joe.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1841069199579287885/photo/1

⭕ 30 Sep 2024

🐣 RT @cwebbonline Who is the REAL J.D.Vance? I don’t know, and you don’t either—but he’s too extreme and radical to be a heartbeat away from the presidency.
💽 [9 mins] https://x.com/cwebbonline/status/1840955266508161063/photo/1

🚨 Rachel Maddow just dropped a bombshell on the eve of the VP debate: Vance wants to shut down universities, seize their endowments, and “destroy all the things which conservatives don’t have complete control over.” ¤ Seriously, WUT?

Oh, and he idolizes Curtis Yarvin, a guy with white nationalist pro-slavery views who believes we need to “get over our dictator phobia” and race determines societal hierarchy and intelligence. Sound familiar? ¤ These toxic, racist ideologies belong in a dumpster fire—not in 2024.

🐣 RT @McFaul Tonight @maddow presented some shocking video of Mr. Vance making some fundamentally anti- democratic statements. Check it out. You decide.

🐣 RT @BettyBowers Rachel Maddow just showed JD Vance in a recent interview claiming that conservatives need to take “extra-constitutional” means to seize control. ¤ Cites Curtis Yarvin who wants to abolish the US government and install a dictator. ¤ JD Vance is a dangerous unamerican extremist.

🐣 RT @Halcyon270 Explain to your subscribers why a presidential candidate calling for one “really violent day” failed to make your front page, @nytimes and @washingtonpost. [Alternet link:] https://tinyurl.com/4zkz6e4m

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa Finished a meeting with military leaders, the Government, and the Office, summarizing the visit to the United States.
¤ 💽 [subt] https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1840803723217600564

Our teams – both Ukrainian and American – are already working on everything we discussed in New York and Washington, and we are now preparing for the upcoming ‘Ramstein’ meeting.

This time it will be a special meeting, and from our side, our partners will receive all the details and arguments on how to secure results in the coming months – both on the frontlines and through diplomatic efforts.

The power of weapons and the power of diplomacy are always most effective when they work together, and that’s exactly how we plan to implement our Victory Plan. We also expect concrete steps from our partners to strengthen our strategy. This applies to all of them – our strength lies in the fact that the free world is defending itself.

🧵 RT @HelsinkiComm Russia will continue to be a problem for its neighbors, the US, and much of the world. ¤ Even in the best-case scenario in which 🇷🇺 sheds its authoritarian model & its people opt for democracy in free & fair elections, the process of liberalization will be difficult & slow. [thread] 1/11
📌 https://x.com/HelsinkiComm/status/1840767493322703225
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1840767493322703225.html

Internal repression & external aggression go hand in hand. Therefore, internal developments in Russia are highly relevant to US foreign policy. Externally, there will be no hope for a peaceful and stable Russia while it remains engaged in war and occupation of its neighbors. 2/11

Russia’s official neocolonial policy of continuing to view Ukraine and other former Soviet republics and neighbors as its sandbox to play in whenever the mood strikes is the most significant obstacle to long-term peace and has been the justification for heinous crimes. 3/11

Corruption is baked into Russian business, politics, and everyday life. The Kremlin network of crime and patronage ensures that loyalty to the regime is rewarded and disloyalty is punished. Doing business with Russia is both impractical and unethical. 4/11

Putin has subordinated the judiciary to his personal power to ensure his ideal outcomes, as punishments & to instill fear in the population. Russia’s judiciary will have to be completely rebuilt & a culture of rule of law developed where it traditionally hasn’t existed. 5/11

There can be no change in Russia without free and fair elections. Russia must restore free and fair elections and develop a democratic culture—but this must be built on a foundation of free speech and assembly before honest elections are possible. 6/11

Russia will continue to hold other countries hostage through its natural resource wealth. Helping to diversify away from dependence on Russia could severely weaken the Russian economy, but the US must provide countries with viable alternatives. 7/11

The GRU and FSB are Putin’s personal hit squads, involved in threats, surveillance & assassinations. Because no meaningful lustration took place after the fall of the USSR, these security services remain a clear & present danger to Putin’s enemies in Russia & abroad. 8/11

Although with a bit of savvy, Russians can access independent media online, many Russians are isolated from any alternative sources of information that might challenge their thinking. No amount of liberalization in Russia will suddenly undo years of insidious propaganda. 9/11

None of these problems will be resolved quickly, and they necessitate fundamental changes in Russia, including leadership and the political will to overhaul informal and formal government and societal structures. 10/11

Russia will not be able to decide its future without reckoning with the ugliest parts of its recent and more distant history.
To learn more about the obstacles to Russia’s reform, see our new report: https://tinyurl.com/456cc378 11/11

Politico, Jonathan Martin: ‘Just Not Right’: A GOP Governor Confronts Trump’s Lies https://tinyurl.com/59f4tjt6 “For Gov Mike DeWine, the attacks on Haitians near his Ohio hometown are personal – and so is the cost of Trump’s and JD Vance’s vicious demonization of legal immigrants”

⭕ 29 Sep 2024

✅ WaPo: Trump lambastes immigrants using false homicide claims https://tinyurl.com/587tmwrs “Republican nominee cites a letter from ICE that covers the past 40 years to charge Biden administration with letting in killers.”

🐣 RT @Markzandi I’ve hesitated to say this at the risk of sounding hyperbolic, but with last week’s big GDP revisions, there is no denying it: This is among the best performing economies in my 35+ years as an economist.
¤ https://x.com/Markzandi/status/1840488882405614037

Economic growth is rip-roaring, with real GDP up 3% over the past year. Unemployment is low at near 4%, consistent with full employment. Inflation is fast closing in on Fed’s 2% target – grocery prices, rents and gas prices are flat to down over the past more than a year. Households’ financial obligations are light, and set to get lighter with the Fed cutting rates. House prices have never been higher, and most homeowners have more equity in their homes than ever. Corporate profits are robust, and the stock market is hitting a record high on a seemingly daily basis. Of course there are blemishes, as lower-income households are struggling financially, there is a severe shortage of affordable homes, and the government is running large budget deficits. And things could change quickly. There are plenty of threats. But in my time as an economist, the economy has rarely looked better.

⭕ 28 Sep 2024

💽 WaPo: Maya Rudolph returns as Kamala Harris in the season premiere of SNL https://tinyurl.com/5n6rb554 “Saturday Night Live” began its 50th season with Jim Gaffigan as Tim Walz, Dana Carvey as Joe Biden, and Andy Samberg as Doug Emhoff.

🔄📊 🐣 RT @SimonWDC Pollsters/polls with ties to right/GOP – American Greatness, Daily Mail, co/efficent, Cygnal, Echelon, Fabrizio, Fox News, Insider Advantage, POS, Quantas, RMG, Telegraph, Trafalgar, Victory Insights. ¤ Right-aligned narrative shaping polling is now a big business.
// tags: rightwing polls rightwing pollsters rw polls rw pollsters

🐣 RT @tribelaw “In the past 4 years a reliably conser­vative majority on the high court, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, has embarked on a remarkable spree against history and reality, ignoring or eliding facts in decisions involving school prayer, public health, homophobia, race, climate change, abortion and clean water.” [SciAm link:] https://tinyurl.com/33tfspmw

🐣 RT @JuliaDavisNews Meanwhile in Russia: emboldened by Trump’s rhetoric, state TV’s experts urge Moscow not to stop at Ukraine and target Poland next. They fondly reminisce about taking Bialystok in 1939, when the Soviet Union attacked Poland in alliance with Nazi Germany.
💽 [link:] https://youtu.be/a8fBbsjmqO8?si=Ugch5ebGOXEGH4LW

🐣 RT @TeamKamala With @Tim_Walz on our team, we can’t lose ❤️
[TextLink:] https://x.com/TeamKamala/status/1840081579374186663/photo/1
🖼 Text: Tim Walz Was a Clear Eyes, Full Hearts Kind of Coach

⭕ 27 Sep 2024

TheAtlantic, Anne Applebaum and Peter Pomerantsev: The Kleptocracy Club https://tinyurl.com/2p9ar85d “Autocrats dump their democratic allies and keep the company of kleptocrats.”

✅ WaPo FactChecker, Glenn Kessler: No, Zelensky never said Trump ‘did absolutely nothing wrong’ https://tinyurl.com/42hz5er2 “Trump puts words in the mouth of the Ukrainian president he pressured to investigate Biden.” FOUR PINOCCHIOS 🍄🍄🍄🍄‼️
¤ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1840254066745622713

… So what did Zelensky say at the time? He had to be very careful. There was no upside to admitting he felt pressured during the July 25 call. First, it would have made him look weak to his constituents. Second, he did not want to anger Trump. ¤ In early October 2019, Zelensky told reporters: “There was no pressure or blackmail from the U.S. I had no idea the military aid was held up. When I did find out, I raised it with [Vice President] Pence at a meeting in Warsaw.” …

Then, that December, Zelensky spoke to Time magazine and other outlets. At the time, Trump proclaimed Zelensky said in the interview that Trump did “absolutely nothing wrong.” ¤ Nowhere in the interview did Zelensky say that. …

🐣 RT @SimonWDC Donald Trump is deeply unwell, and just embarrassed the United States of America on the global stage. Eternal shame on every Republican who has rallied for this ugly fascist.
⋙ 🐣 RT @justinbaragona Oh man. ¤ Trump, standing next to a very uncomfortable-looking Zelensky, boasts that the Ukrainian president sided with him during the “impeachment hoax.”
💽 https://x.com/SimonWDC/status/1839680812775571465/photo/1

.
“I will say I have had a great relationship. When they did the impeachment hoax, a Democrat hoax, which we won, but one of the reasons we won it so easily is when the president was asked – it was over a phone call with the president, and he said – he could have grandstanded and played cute, but he didn’t. He said President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong. He said it loud and clear, and the impeachment hoax died right there. He could have said well, I don’t know. And I never told you this, to be honest. But he was like a piece of steel!”

🐣 RT @grantstern It’s rare that Mitch McConnell says this much about the quiet parts of the Republican Party out loud. ¤ Worth watching!
💽 https://x.com/grantstern/status/1839676401353371925/photo/1
// blames Tucker Carlson for “demonization of Ukraine” and pro-Putinism; blames Trump for not wanting to fix immigration

🐣 RT @United24media Zelenskyy: “US is the leader in the world. And of course, we value the support of the US, we’re thankful to the US, to the people of America. And of course, we understand that the US can be the leader through any negotiations.”
💽 https://x.com/United24media/status/1839693853080633392/photo/1
// Zelensky with Trump

TheGuardian (2023): Trump delayed $20bn in aid to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, report finds https://tinyurl.com/yc3p35wk The funds were not released until the Biden administration came in. The 2017 hurricane and the slow response killed more than 5000 people.

AmericanInequality: Why Americans Most Vulnerable to Climate Change Don’t Always Care https://tinyurl.com/2p9k4wfr “54% of adults say ‘Yes’ global warming should be a priority for the next president and Congress.”
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1839671625802764584/photo/1

⭕ 26 Sep 2024

🐣 RT @stephtu0123 He knows what Jack Smith’s 180 page filing today is going to reveal. ¤ #TraitorTrump ¤ #NeverForgetJanuary6th […]
[TextLink:] https://x.com/stephtu0123/status/1839319188701433912/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump SHOCKING BREAKING NEWS: As exposed by the Great John Solomon, a REAL Journalist who cares about the TRUTH, and the GREAT work of Congressman Barry Loudermilk and Republicans on the House Oversight Committee, the Deep State chose to disregard my direct authorization of at least 10,000 National Guard Troops to ensure that Washington, D.C., was safe and secure on January 6, 2021. These Deep State subversives disobeyed the President’s directives, which would have prevented any unrest that day – January 6th, as it is known, would never have taken place….

🐣 RT @realDonald Trump ….These revelations END the Sham J6 Civil Hoaxes and the lawless D.C. Case brought by Deranged Jack Smith, which has already been demolished by the United States Supreme Court’s Historic Immunity and Fischer Decisions. I called for everyone to act PEACEFULLY and PATRIOTICALLY, and demanded that D.C. be PROTECTED. The Deep State, and Crazy Nancy Pelosi, who admitted to her daughter on videotape that she was “responsible,” have to be held to account, including for the damages, wasted esources, and time spent defending the Witch Hunts and Hoaxes. We have to SAVE our broken Justice System!

↥ ↧
CBSNews: Trump did not have 10,000 troops ready to deploy on Jan. 6, his defense secretary says https://tinyurl.com/bdcw2eun Confirmed by Acting DOD Chair Christopher Miller in sworn testimony to the J6 Committee

💙 🐣📋 RT @JohnJHarwood the craziest thing about this election is that we have a very good economy — the best in the world — and so many people feel/act/pretend that it’s bad
⋙ 🐣 RT @JohnJHarwood as always, our economy has problems. millions struggle. inflation hurt. ¤ the issue is, compared to what ¤ compared to our recent history and the rest of the world, we’ve done very well at reducing inflation while maintaining growth, raising incomes, and keeping unemployment low
⋙ 🐣 RT @JohnJHarwood
real (inflation-adjusted) median household net worth jumped 37% from 2019 to 2022.
total US household net worth increased 7.7% from 2023 to 2024. an all-time high.
real median household income rose 4% from 2022 to 2023
real wages rose for all income groups from 2019 to 2023

🐣 RT @JenGriffinFNC VP Harris standing with Zelensky at the White House: “However, in candor, I share with you, Mr. President. There are some in my country who would instead force Ukraine to give up large parts of its sovereign territory. Who would demand that Ukraine accept that neutrality and would require Ukraine to forego all security relationships with other nations. These proposals are the same of those of Putin. And let us be clear they are not proposals for peace. Instead, they are proposals for surrender, which is dangerous and unacceptable.”

🐣 RT @SteveRattner GDP has grown 2.7% more than the CBO predicted in 2020, before the pandemic even happened. ¤ That’s an impressive recovery from an economic crisis that left nearly 15% of Americans unemployed in April 2020. ¤ Thank you, President Biden.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1839321705271234919/photo/1

🐣 RT @POTUS Today, President Zelenskyy and I sat down again to discuss strengthening Ukraine’s position on the battlefield and helping Ukraine rebuild stronger than before. ¤ Two things are clear: Ukraine will win this war. And the U.S. will continue to stand by them every step of the way.
🖼 https://x.com/POTUS/status/1839428498412208619/photo/1

🐣 RT @ @kyledcheney NEW: Jack Smith has distilled his two-year investigation into a ~180-page brief that will land on Judge Chutkan’s desk today. ¤ If and when we see it (or parts of it) will be in her hands. ¤ w/ @joshgerstein
⋙ Politico: The fruits of Jack Smith’s 2-year investigation into Trump will land on Tanya Chutkan’s desk today https://tinyurl.com/2ntmt8dj “It may be the final inflection point in the case before Nov. 5.”

Special counsel Jack Smith, stymied at every turn by federal courts from putting Donald Trump on trial, is about to submit his most compelling evidence that the former president conspired to derail the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election.

Whether the public sees it before the 2024 election rests with U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan.

On Thursday, Smith’s prosecutors are scheduled to submit to Chutkan a 180-page dossier distilling their case against Trump — the fruits of a two-year investigation that included secret grand jury testimony from former Vice President Mike Pence and former chief of staff Mark Meadows. It is likely the special counsel’s final chance before Election Day to lay out his case for why Trump deserves to be put on trial and convicted.

The filing — a legal brief accompanied by supporting exhibits — is expected to contain never-before-seen evidence about Trump’s efforts to subvert the last election. It could include snippets of interviews prosecutors conducted with some of Trump’s top advisers, documents Smith procured from the National Archives and a log of Trump’s Twitter activity as violence raged on Jan. 6, 2021.

But prosecutors are not going to file these documents publicly. They must first submit them “under seal” to Chutkan, who will then decide how much of the evidence is fit for public release. …

[T]he very purpose of Smith’s brief is to advise Chutkan on how much of the case can proceed in light of the immunity ruling. Prosecutors are expected to argue that most of Trump’s allegedly criminal acts were in his capacity as a political candidate, not as president — or that any purportedly official acts are not entitled to immunity. …

Smith won legal fights to interview an array of witnesses who refused to cooperate with congressional investigators. Chief among those witnesses was Pence, who was the subject of Trump’s last-ditch pressure campaign to reverse the election results on Jan. 6. Meadows provided thousands of text messages to Congress that became a crucial timeline for investigators, but he refused to interview with lawmakers. And Trump’s social media adviser Dan Scavino, who was with Trump during key moments on Jan. 6 — when rioters were ransacking the Capitol — also spoke to Smith’s investigators despite spurning Congress. …

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa I am grateful to @POTUSJoe Biden, U.S. Congress and its both parties, Republicans and Democrats, as well as the entire American people for today’s announcement of major U.S. defense assistance for Ukraine totalling $7.9 billion and sanctions against Russia.
¤ https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1839243592323289341

On behalf of the Ukrainian people and our brave warriors on the front lines, I thank our closest ally, the United States, for finding a way to allocate the remaining security assistance to Ukraine and ensure that the Presidential authority is not expired by the end of the US financial year.

We will use this assistance in the most efficient and transparent manner to achieve our major common goal: victory for Ukraine, just and lasting peace, and transatlantic security.

I am grateful to the United States for providing the items that are most critical to protecting our people. An additional Patriot air defense battery, other air defense capabilities and interceptors, drones, long-range missiles, and air-to-ground munitions, as well as funds to strengthen Ukraine’s defense industrial base.

I also appreciate the decision to expand programs to train more of our pilots to fly F-16s, as well as the strong sanctions measures imposed to further limit Russia’s ability to fund its aggression against Ukraine.

Ukraine and the United States remain close allies dedicated to defending freedom, human life, and shared security in Europe and beyond. We have always valued the strong bipartisan support in the United States and among Americans for Ukraine’s just cause of defeating Russian aggression.

⭕ 25 Sep 2024

🧵 RT @atrupar I’m going to put together a thread covering Trump’s campaign event in Mint Hill, North Carolina. Follow along for clips and commentary
📌 💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1838996182061724056/photo/1
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/bdfe55kt
↥ ↧
🐣 RT @votevets Trump says Ukraine should’ve “given up a little bit” — as if negotiating with a terrorist like Putin is acceptable. This reckless pro-Putin stance is a slap in the face to our allies and a threat to global security. ¤ @KamalaHarris knows the importance of standing firm with Ukraine. Trump should NEVER be allowed near the Oval Office again.
⋙ 🐣 RT @atrupar Trump claims Ukraine could’ve “given up a little bit” and everybody would be better off ¤ He then criticizes Zelenskyy for “refusing to make a deal”
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1839004950023565642/photo/1

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa Today I addressed the UN General Assembly. The world has moved beyond colonial wars and conspiracies at the expense of smaller nations. We will never accept a brutal past being forced upon Ukraine. No one should believe such injustice can replace our right to a peaceful future.

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln Donald Trump and JD Vance are both bought and paid for by Putin, billionaires like Peter Thiel, and corporate special interests… but it’s everyday Americans who’ll have to pay the price for a second Trump presidency
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1839032126156533911/photo/1.

WhiteHouse (Aug 2023): Biden/Harris Manufacturing Boom https://tinyurl.com/25hh6rhj “Inflation-adjusted manufacturing construction has doubled since President Biden took office – creating good-paying jobs across the country.“ ~ White House
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1839066566702387524/photo/1

Avalara (1/19/2024): What tax changes will affect manufacturers in 2024? https://tinyurl.com/2ynm2efs “According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are more than 600,000 unfilled manufacturing jobs across the U.S.”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1839058849883451661/photo/1

IMTS: Reshoring Confirmed: Paradigm Shift from Global to Local https://tinyurl.com/25e35u25 “A 2023 study of US-based manufacturing executives found that ‘82% of executives polled said they’d either moved overseas factories back home or were in the process of doing so.’”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1839056363814617349/photo/1
// 9/27/2023: … = “by Forbes, Xometry, and Zogby”

🐣 RT @glennkirschner2 I have to admit, it wasn’t easy conveying the democracy-busting danger of Trump’s Project 2025 into a 5-minute opening statement I gave to Congress this morning. But I did my best. Because #JusticeMatters.
⋙ 🐣 RT @briantylercohen Shoutout to @glennkirschner2 for pulling no punches at today’s congressional hearing: “Project 2025’s determination to extinguish the independence of the Department of Justice looks a lot like a blueprint for dictatorship.” ¤ Watch the full hearing here: https://youtube.com/live/psERqWaOCgE
💽 [5mins] https://x.com/briantylercohen/status/1839002294081433622/photo/1

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🇵🇱🇺🇦☢️ “If Russia attacks Ukrainian nuclear power plants, it will be necessary to intervene immediately”, – Duda
❗️According to him, there is a risk of attacks on Rivne or Khmelnytsky power plants.

🐣 .@SpeakerJohnson ¤ How obscene.
¤ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1839030685593677969

Pennsylvania is not just a “battleground state” but also the birthplace of our Constitution. It is also where the essential 155 mm artillery shells are manufactured. The Harris campaign has literally hundreds of “surrogates” ~ it’s a deep bench. This time, however, “We’d like you to do us a favor though” comes as a “demand” to fire yet another ambassador who will go “through some things.”
Same old playbook. Same worn old ideas.
Shame.
I apologize for our country.
@UKRintheUSA @ZelenskyyUa @POTUS

⇈ ⇊
⋙ 🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump NEW ¤ Speaker Mike Johnson is calling on President Zelenskyy to “immediately” fire Ukraine’s ambassador to the US for arranging the Ukrainian president’s visit to the “politically contested battleground” Pennsylvania.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1839022809802014980/photo/1

[Text:] Dear President Zelenskyy:

I demand that you immediately fire Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova.

As you have said, Ukrainians have tried to avoid being “captured by American domestic politics,” and “influencing the choices of the American people” ahead of the November election. Clearly that objective was abandoned this week when Ambassador Markarova organized an event in which you toured an American manufacturing site.

The facility was in a politically contested battleground state, was led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris, and failed to include a single Republican because – on purpose – no Republicans were invited. The tour was clearly a partisan campaign event designed to help Democrats and is clearly election interference. This shortsighted and intentionally political move has caused Republicans to lose trust in Ambassador Markarova’s ability to fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat in this country. She should be removed from her post immediately.

Additionally, as I have clearly stated in the past, all foreign nations should avoid opining on or interfering in American domestic politics. Support for ending Russia’s war against Ukraine continues to be bipartisan, but our relationship is unnecessarily tested and needlessly tarnished when the candidates at the top of the Republican presidential ticket are targeted in the media by officials in your government.

These incidents cannot be repeated. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter, and I trust you will take immediate action.

Sincerely,
MIKE JOHNSON
Speaker of the House

📊 Brookings (Aug 26): More Americans want the US to stay the course in Ukraine “as long as it takes” https://tinyurl.com/5n8cknvv “As long as it takes” 48% (the highest measured); plus: 2-5yrs 11%; 5-10yrs 2%
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1838974995051012501/photo/1
// 8/26/2024

🐣 Jill Stein is a Russian asset.
Without the votes that went to Stein in 2016 in key swing states, Hillary Clinton would have won.
2016:
Trump won by: MI 10,704, PA 44,292, WI 22,748 = 77,744
Jill Stein voters: MI 51,463, PA 49,942, WI 31,073 = 132,478
🖼 [wide view] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1838958045721772069/photo/1
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1838959117102088587/photo/1
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1838960400257159533/photo/1

🐣 You can watch “Servant of the People,” (orig.2015-2019) Zelensky’s comedy show, on Netflix. ¤ It’s subtitled, but you quickly adjust, and then it’s hilarious, educational and eye-opening ~ much deeper than US comedies. ¤ Excellent production quality and supporting cast.
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1838950842117857338/photo/1

🐣 RT @NewVoiceUkraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia used Chinese satellites to photograph Ukrainian nuclear power plants, raising the threat of strikes on these facilities. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/4tr2utw5

⭕ 24 Sep 2024

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump BREAKING ¤ More than 400 independent economists and economic policy experts have endorsed Vice President Harris
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1838594820517822887/photo/1

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe .@KenBurns: “When you have Dick Cheney and Bernie Sanders voting for the same person, you know there is something threatening the Republic that transcends party. Now is the time for all good people to come to the aid of their country and not their party.” https://youtu.be/qPdWTUCEw9s
💽 https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1838645633751601183/photo/1

🐣 RT @admcrlsn A big reason why 2022 mattered:
Not a single swing state has a MAGA governor that’ll play footsie with overturning election results:
AZ: Hobbs (D)
GA: Kemp (R) — normie Republican
MI: Whitmer (D)
NV: Lombardo (R) — normie Republican
NC: Cooper (D)*
PA: Shapiro (D
WI: Evers (D)
⋙ 🐣 RT @_fat_ugly_rat_ And the top election official (in the states where the SoS does that) in all the swing states are all either Dems or Raffensberger

WOLA (8/29/2024): Report: The Impact of 2024’s Border Crackdowns https://tinyurl.com/mxvsr4fn “Migration to the U.S.-Mexico border has plummeted in 2024: this summer has seen some of the fewest migrant arrivals in four years” but at “a stark humanitarian cost”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1838731674059747644/photo/1
// … [at] a stark humanitarian cost as enforcement policies grow more aggressive”
// WOLA [Washington Office on Latin America] is a leading research and advocacy organization advancing human rights in the Americas. We envision a future where public policies protect human rights and recognize human dignity, and where justice overcomes violence. WOLA tackles problems that transcend borders and demand cross-border solutions. We create strategic partnerships with courageous people making social change—advocacy organizations, academics, religious and business leaders, artists, and government officials. Together, we advocate for more just societies in the Americas.

🐣 RT @JustinWolfers New crime data just dropped (yesterday). It’s your choice whether to believe these carefully collected statistics, or the unsubstantiated claims made by political hucksters. ¤ The numbers say: Crime fell last year, it fell by a lot, and it fell pretty much across the board.
◕ https://x.com/JustinWolfers/status/1838712445524668818/photo/1

– 11.6% Homicide
– 7.7% Rape
– 2.0% Robbery
– 3.1% Aggravated Aasault
– 3.8% Total Violent Crime
– 2.6% Total Property Crime
0.5% Hate Crime

🐣 RT @StateDept Never forget, we are here to serve the people, not the other way around. Because the future will be won by those who unleash the full potential of their people to breathe free, to think freely, to innovate, to educate, to live and love openly without fear. — @POTUS at #UNGA79
💽 https://x.com/StateDept/status/1838710838456389897/photo/1

🐣 RT @Frank_Schaeffer Once opened, this conspiratorial box could not be closed. After all, a movement that legitimizes crackpot schemes about rigged voting machines and microchipped vaccines cannot simply turn around and draw the line at the Jews.
⋙ TheAtlantic, Yair Rosenberg: The Anti-Semitic Revolution on the American Right https://tinyurl.com/mr432m5k “How Jews became collateral damage in a Republican power struggle”

🐣 RT @kyledcheney JUST IN: Judge Chutkan has *granted* Jack Smith’s proposal to submit a 180-page brief full of evidence related to Trump’s criminal charges in Washington, D.C. ¤ She again says Trump’s claim this would be unfair politically has no bearing on her ruling.
[CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/yw5a5xvu

🐣 RT @nexta_tv Iranian President: Iran has never endorsed Russia’s aggression on Ukrainian territory
[TextLink:] https://x.com/nexta_tv/status/1838622378646982787/photo/1

“It is necessary to respect the borders of every country. We are ready to sit at the negotiating table with the Europeans and Americans on the issue of the Russia-Ukraine war. Iran may have sent missiles to Russia in the past. But there have been no such shipments since I took office.”

Regarding Israel, he called on the international community to protect Lebanon from becoming a second Gaza.

🐣 RT @DonnaKassin #ETTD. Want a list? Here is a list of SOME of the companies owned or operated by Donald Trump that have filed for bankruptcy:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/DonnaKassin/status/1838573777103286757/photo/1

1. Trump Taj Mahal (1991)
2. Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino (1992)
3. Trump Castle Hotel and Casino (1992)
4. Trump Atlantic City Associates (1993)
5. Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts (2004)
6. Trump Entertainment Resorts (2009)
7. Trump Atlantic City Associates (2014) 8. Trump Ruffin Commercial LLC (2015) – related
to the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas Additionally, some of Trump’s other business ventures have struggled financially or shut down, including:
1. Trump Airlines (1989-1992) – ceased operations due to financial difficulties
2. Trump Steaks (2007-2012) – shut down due to poor sales
3. Trump Vodka (2006-2011) – shut down due to poor sales
4. Trump Magazine (2007-2009) – ceased publication due to poor circulation
5. Trump University (2005-2010) – shut down due to lawsuits and financial struggles

🐣 RT @AndriyYermak During my speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, I noted that the Victory Plan consists of military and diplomatic components. Ukraine’s invitation to NATO is part of the Victory Plan. I urged partners not to pay attention to threats of escalation from Russia.

🐣 RT @lindyli Reagan made a deal with Iran to DELAY releasing hostages til AFTER the election
Nixon made a deal with Vietnam to delay ending the war til AFTER the election
Now Trump’s crony Netanyahu is saying he’ll block a ceasefire til AFTER the election
Folks, it’s the SAME damn playbook

⭕ 23 Sep 2024

Jeff-Analytics (Substack), Jeff Asher: Murder Fell At The Fastest Pace Ever Recorded In 2023 https://tinyurl.com/9tdthne9 “The murder decline is the largest one-year decline ever recorded, besting a 9.1 percent decline in 1996.” ✛
✛ “The 3 percent decline in reported violent crime puts the national violent crime rate (363.8 per 100k) alongside 2014 (363.6 per 100k) as the lowest level of reported violent crime since the early 1970s.”
✛ “There were more than 2,500 fewer murders in 2023 compared to 2022, also the largest decline ever recorded (data back to 1960). The estimated murder rate of 5.7 per 100,000 in 2023 represents a 16.2 decline from 2020 with the murder rate up 9.6 percent relative to 2019’s estimate”

🧵 RT @sambendett 1/3 Ukraine’s Robert “Magyar” Brovdi, talking with The Economist: During the next 6-8 months, humans will no longer be needed to control drones in Ukraine – the war will become truly unmanned. The evolution of such technologies will…
📌 https://x.com/sambendett/status/1838303496036073562

⋙ 2/3 “…lead to the fact that artificial intelligence will be the main tool of warfare, since already 50% of all “strike activity” is formed by drones. Hundreds of AI systems are currently being developed at the same time, and they are being tested in experimental modes.”

⋙ 3/3 “In six months, pilots will no longer be needed. The drone itself, depending on its development, will decide what to attack, how to distinguish “Zhiguli” from a tank and definitely not confuse a Ukrainian with an enemy.” Starts at 32:46

⋙ 4/3 Magyar” noted that “tomorrow” experienced fighters can go to different countries of the world to train the NATO army in the latest war tactics: “This will be an element of our practical gratitude for your help in our struggle for our freedom, for our land, for our families.”

🐣 RT @DJJudd Clinton says Biden “has led this country w/ uncommon decency and grace, & never allowed personal tragedy to harden his heart, only growing deeper in his humanity..that courage & compassion is what has allowed him to advance his oft-stated goal of restoring the soul of our nation.
⋙ 🐣 RT @DJJudd Former president Bill Clinton surprises Pres. Joe Biden with the 2024 Clinton Global Citizen Award in NYC, telling the audience Biden, “has provided a playbook for getting things done– so we honor him today, not just for what he’s accomplished, but for the way he has done it.
🖼 https://x.com/DJJudd/status/1838337314591781224/photo/1

🐣 RT @David_Charts FBI Summary Reporting System (SRS) has data back to 1979. The 2023 violent crime rate was the 2nd lowest on record behind 2014. This is a separate data series from what is commonly reported by media. ¤It’s remarkable how low the rate is historically. https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1838434706745897276/photo/1

🐣 RT @nybooks “Several recent books contend that the latest discoveries in plant cognition are so significant they force us to rethink our view of life itself.” — @ElizKolbert
⋙ NYRB, Elizabeth Kolbert: Savvy in the Grass https://tinyurl.com/2a75amt “Some botanists maintain that peas are capable of associative learning, others that tropical vines have a sort of vision. If plants possess sentience, what is the morally appropriate response?”

🐣 RT @Strandjunker Anybody else still curious who planted the pipe bombs, disabled Mike Pence’s key card, removed the panic button in Ayanna Presley’s office, and shared the locations of non-reinforced Capitol windows?

🐣 RT @LucasSa56947288 Look at Trump’s Rally in Philadelphia!! ¤ What you make of this?
🖼 https://x.com/LucasSa56947288/status/1838350013027471461/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 RT @scotgl (9/18) At the next President Kamala Harris rally in Philadelphia
¤ https://x.com/scotgl/status/1835040251242328257

● 14,000 people were in attendance
● 31,000 people registered and showed up
● 10,200 capacity of Liacours Center (Philadelphia)
That means:
● 4,000 people were in the overflow area
● 27,000 didn’t get in but were happy just to be there
● They kept vibing outside anyway
OH I FORGOT ONEEEE THING:
● NONE OF THIS WAS ADVERTISED
● COMPLETE WORD OF MOUTH
● THE RIGHT IS TERRIFIED.
● #HarrisWalz2024

🐣 RT @SkinnerPm For our America. For all of us. Because we all matter or none of us do. Our vote is our song. So let us sing an American tune. ¤
“We come in the age’s most uncertain hours
And sing an American tune” ¤
🎹 Paul Simon ‘American Tune’ https://youtu.be/AE3kKUEY5WU?si=wRvIJ3V0PnSnF3l1

🐣 RT @David_Charts FBI, from 2022-2023:
Violent crime -3.0%
Murder -11.6%
[FBI link:] https://tinyurl.com/yc652yft
[TextLink:] https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1838378075576222068/photo/1

🐣 RT @AlexBondODUA ⚡⚡⚡The Kremlin has officially announced that the West has started delivering secret lethal weapons to Ukraine, which have no equivalents anywhere in the world 🤯
💽 https://x.com/AlexBondODUA/status/1838310640751984913/photo/1

🐣 RT @janekleeb The 🔵 is protected. Thank you Sen. McDonnell and the other 16 Senators who stood strong. “Nebraska has a long and proud tradition of independence, and our electoral system reflects that by ensuring that the outcome of our elections truly represents the will of the people without interference. Senator McDonnell is standing strong against tremendous pressure from out-of-state interests to protect Nebraskans’ voice in our democracy. In this election and those to come, Nebraskans will continue to lead the way by electing leaders at every level who stand up for the people and respect our spirit of independence.” -Jane Kleeb
⋙ 🐣 RT @janekleeb And the official statement from Sen. McDonnell is here:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/janekleeb/status/1838279679175746039/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 The Nebraska 🔵 is critical to Dems: We can get to 270 with only the Solid Blue States plus the Swing States of MI PA and WI (and without any of the Swing States of AZ GA NC or NV), but we need the 🔵. Without it, we need another state. Thank you, NEVADA‼️
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1838375239434039542/photo/1

🐣 RT @DefenceBrink The most powerful short video of our time.
“He went from being a good leader to being a great leader, to being Winston Churchill with an iPhone.”
If you haven’t already then please do watch The Zelensky Story on BBC iPlayer.
💽 https://x.com/DefenceBrink/status/1838294165064429688/photo/1
// Zelensky assuring Ukraine (and the world): “I am here. We are here”

🐣 RT @GlasnostGone Iran’s trying to distance itself from Putin’s fiasco in Ukraine. Today its new president, Masoud Pezeshkian condemned Russia’s invasion of #Ukraine. “We have never approved of Russian aggression against Ukrainian territory.” And also denied providing missiles to Moscow. [Guardian link:] https://tinyurl.com/4fh73tfk

🐣 RT @DianaCialino More than 100 undocumented immigrants worked at Trump’s Bedminster resort. [TheHill link:] https://tinyurl.com/3kbsc9h5
// 2/8/2019

⭕ 22 Sep 2024

NewYorker, Joshua Yaffa: Volodymyr Zelensky Has a Plan for Ukraine’s Victory https://tinyurl.com/5n8pxp46 “The Ukrainian President on how to end the war with Russia, the empty rhetoric of Vladimir Putin, and what the U.S. election could mean for the fate of his country.”

🐣 RT @ForeignAffairs While in office, Biden has restored diplomacy as the central tool of U.S. foreign policy—and proved that the United States can be deeply engaged in the world without military action, writes Jessica Mathews.
⋙ ForeignAffairs, Jessica Mathews: What Was the Biden Doctrine? Leadership Without Hegemony https://tinyurl.com/3ttfvn57

🐣 RT @AliVelshi The GOP has “morphed” into an “incredibly dangerous” party, says @KenBurns. “It’s going to be difficult for the Republican Party to figure out a way to escape the specific gravity of the darkness that engulfs it.” #Velshi
💽 ⋙ MSNBC, Velshi: Ken Burns on the ‘incredibly dangerous’ party that the GOP has ‘morphed’ into https://tinyurl.com/2cnt9bc2

In bestowing Ken Burns with its 2024 Liberty Medal, the National Constitution Center called him “America’s history teacher,” and he spoke to Ali Velshi about the “echoes” and “rhymes” between the current political moment and other periods in America’s history. “We’re dealt a certain hand of cards right now which we have to respond to,” he says. Burns also remarks on how the Republican Party has “morphed” into an “incredibly dangerous” group that needs to be reformed. “It’s going to be difficult for the Republican Party to figure out a way to escape the specific gravity of the darkness that engulfs it.”

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump NEW ¤ A bipartisan collection of 741 former senior national security leaders, comprised of over 230 general and flag officers including 15 retired four-star generals and admirals, endorsed Vice President Harris. ¤ The group characterized the election as “a choice between serious leadership and vengeful impulsiveness. It is a choice between democracy and authoritarianism.”
⋙ 🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Read the full letter here: NSL4A Endorses Kamala Harris for President of the United States https://tinyurl.com/2ncb9amw
// NSL4A = National Security Leaders for America

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote VOTER SUPPRESSION: I thought I’d try to put all of these in one place. Let me know if I’ve left anything out.
¤ https://x.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1837886286541279307

GA Election Board’s rule changes
Nebraska GOP pushing for winner-take-all
453,000 voters purged from Oklahoma rolls
The SAVE Act
Ballots delayed in North Carolina over RFK Jr
Suing to block the VA from registering veterans
Lawsuit to purge thousands of voters in Fulton County
Alabama SoS purged thousands of voters
RNC sued to remove thousands of NV voters
RNC sued to remove thousands of MI voters
RNC sued to remove thousands of NC voters
RNC sued to remove thousands of AZ voters
Lawsuit in WI to inspect voter rolls
Portage County Sheriff threatens dem voters
DeSantis’ election cops banging on doors
Montana left Harris off the digital ballot
TX removed over a million voters from rolls
Threats to election officials

⭕ 21 Sep 2024

🐣 RT @LDS_Dems Had an Uber driver today from Syria whose son is now an American heart surgeon. He spent most of the drive talking about how great America is. ¤ Immigration is our super power. Always has been.
⋙ 🐣 As of 2021, immigrants made up about 18% of the total US healthcare workforce, about 2.8 million workers: ¤ 28% of all physicians and surgeons are immigrants ¤ 15-16% of registered nurses ¤ 25-40% of nurses’ aides

🐣 RT @Scaramucci Rabbi Elliot C Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove:
¤ https://x.com/Scaramucci/status/1837709963315065317

“As a matter of principle and policy, I do not endorse candidates. But as a matter of principle and policy, when I see the behavior of any person, presidential candidates included, threatening the well-being of the Jewish people, I have to speak out.

So let me not mince words. President Trump is trafficking in the most base form of antisemitism. As far back as Pharaoh, as far back as Haman, there have been leaders who have accused Jews of dual loyalty, of being a fifth column, of being a threat to the well being of the general population. And that’s what Trump did on Thursday night.

The suggestion that the only consideration an American Jew has when approaching the ballot box is Israel reeks of accusations that American Jews are somehow suspect citizens. The suggestion that blame for a prospective loss should lay at the feet of less than 2% of the electorate — our 2% — puts the Jewish people in grave danger.

This is beyond dog-whistle. It is a form of preemptive scapegoating aimed to scare Jews into voting for Trump. Under the rhetorict, cover and guise of being a defender of the state of Israel, President Trump has endangered the Jewish people. It is abhorrent, it has no place in our national discourse, and it must receive blanket condemnation from every person of conscience.”

🐣 RT @BudKennedy The @SpringfieldNews Ed Board: “We insist that Sen. Vance immediately stop spreading unsubstantiated, inflammatory rumors… Hateful rhetoric is not the proper way to draw attention to or address important issues… Ohioans need your help, not your hate.” [link:] https://tinyurl.com/3d35emnz

🐣 RT @Schizointel Russia attempted to conduct some nuclear saber rattling through a show of force by conducting a test fire today of the RS-28 Sarmat aka Satan 2 and it ended in complete failure. ¤ The missile detonated in the silo leaving a massive crater and destroying the test site.
🖼 https://x.com/Schizointel/status/1837622573523145183/photo/1

🧵 RT @joni_askola 1/11 Deeper and Deeper: Ukraine has initiated a systematic campaign to target and destroy large russian ammunition depots that are within range using drones and cruise missiles.
📌 https://x.com/joni_askola/status/1837400966481449407/photo/1

WaPo: Trump and his campaign enter turbulent phase in final weeks https://tinyurl.com/2k4nbte8 “Whatever control and self-restraint helped launch Trump’s third presidential campaign has largely disappeared.”

USAToday (July 17): Peter Thiel and JD Vance: How PayPal founder boosted VP candidate’s political career https://tinyurl.com/2c9uz4vz “Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel hired JD Vance at his venture capital firm and spent $15 million to elect Vance to the Senate”

🐣 RT @tribelaw Catholic Bishops from Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Toledo, Steubenville, Youngstown, Parma and Canton signed the letter condemning Vance’s racist lies. It was released in anticipation of the World Day of Migrants and Refugees on Sept. 29.
⋙ Joe.My.God/ColumbusDispatch: Ohio Catholic Bishops Blast Vance For Racist Lies https://tinyurl.com/yu8uhcsd

TheIndependent (2022): In the ‘60s, Portugal ‘fooled’ ex-dictator to believe he still led from his sickbed https://tinyurl.com/6ves9afn “Each night, the editor would create a special edition of the newspaper – just for Mr Salazar – to remove any reference to Mr Caetano and his government.”

🧵 RT @atrupar I’m going to put together a thread covering Trump’s rally in Wilmington, North Carolina. Follow along for clips and commentary.
📌 💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1837552396483940554/photo/1

Politico (Aug 21): Biden-Harris climate law set off a green bonanza in Walz’s Minnesota https://tinyurl.com/3kbkfj2t “President Joe Biden’s signing of the Inflation Reduction Act triggered a ‘race across states’ for its hundreds of billions of dollars. And Walz swung into action.”

“Walz signed a law requiring utilities to provide 100 percent clean electricity in the state by 2040, loaded up state agencies with policy experts to win the federal cash, updated the state’s permitting rules to speed the buildout of green projects and pressed companies to hire local labor.”

⭕ 20 Sep 2024

🐣 RT @JTaylorSkinner I keep thinking about this moment between Harris and Oprah — “A veil dropped, and you stepped into your power.” We ALL felt this, and leave to Oprah to articulate what we’ve all been feeling & witnessing.
💽 https://x.com/JTaylorSkinner/status/1837266381362057566/photo/1

🔄🔄 💙 🔲 YouTube: From Russia With Lev https://tinyurl.com/3npy4zme

🐣 RT @BigBlueWaveUSA After ex Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas lays out exactly where Trump and the GOP’s disinformation on President Biden came from – Russia – Fox News cuts away to make sure their viewers don’t hear any more.
💽 https://x.com/BigBlueWaveUSA/status/1770482637888426082/photo/1

🐣 RT @ MuellerSheWrote Lev Parnas tells @AliVelshi that Ken Vogel at the @nytimes was part of the “BLT” crew (Lev, Igor, Rudy, et al) and describes him as “Rudy’s guy who helped push all this stuff (Russian disinformation) out. #FromRussiaWithLev

🐣 .@levparnas loved the documentary; I assume there’s more on Putin/FSB connections in your book, Shadow Diplomacy, which I bought.
I hope you make an audiobook of it, too.
You have long been a hero of mine! You have done the🇺🇸and🇺🇦a great service.
Slava Ukraini! God Bless America!

🐣 .@levparnas loved the documentary; I assume there’s more on Putin/FSB connections in your book, Shadow Diplomacy, which I bought.
I hope you make an audiobook of it, too.
You have long been a hero of mine! You have done the🇺🇸and🇺🇦a great service.
Slava Ukraini! God Bless America!

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch The NY Times did a close photographic analysis on how people leave Trump’s rallies while he is still speaking
🖼 https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1837271059873288575/photo/1

🐣 From KyivPost, I think. It’s posted on my website.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1837331862110290264/photo/1
// KyivPost: A Shady Cast of Characters

🐣 RT @MSNBCPR “We didn’t think it would happen even after we scheduled it,” director @BillyCorben tells @NicolleDWallace on the surprise meeting between Hunter Biden and Lev Parnas at the end of the @msnbc_films doc “From Russia With Lev.” ¤ The film premieres tomorrow at 9pm ET on @MSNBC
💽 https://x.com/MSNBCPR/status/1836885096864923865/photo/1

🐣 RT @MSNBC TONIGHT at 9pm ET: @msnbc_films presents “From Russia with Lev,” executive produced by Rachel @maddow. ¤ Featuring former Trump insider Lev Parnas, the documentary pulls back the curtain on the Ukraine scheme that got the former President impeached the first time.
💽 https://x.com/MSNBC/status/1837259056152727925/photo/1

🐣 RT @Logically_JC I’m so sick of living in unprecedented times.

🐣 RT @FoxNews Opinion | ABC’s shameless debate didn’t even survive its own fact-check [link:] https://tinyurl.com/25juys8w
✅ ⋙ 🐣 Your shameless article didn’t even survive its misleading headline. ¤ No ABC fact-check is cited. It says they decided to fact-check “egregious“ claims, which Trump, but not Harris, makes 19% of the time (“Pants-on-Fire”). ¤ They checked him on three lies: there were many more.
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1837226909782176063/photo/1

🐣 RT @JonLemire NEW: The White House’s new (and corrected) comments about Donald Trump’s remarks last night at an anti-Semitism event
[TextLink:] https://x.com/JonLemire/status/1837205842644336942/photo/1

From White House spokesperson Andrew Bates: “It is abhorrent to traffic in dangerous tropes or engage in scapegoating at any time – let alone now, when all leaders have an obligation to fight back against the tragic worldwide rise in Antisemitism. President Biden, Vice President Harris, and the entire administration stand together in ensuring hate has no safe harbor, and are carrying out the first-ever national strategy to counter Antisemitism. Tearing the country apart and pitting communities against one another – out of smallness, fear, and selfishness – is the opposite of what the American people deserve.”

🐣 RT @jacobkornbluh The American Jewish Committee: ¤ “Jews – roughly 2 percent of the U.S. population – cannot and should not be blamed for the outcome of the election. Setting up anyone to say “‘we lost because of the Jews’ is outrageous and dangerous.”
⋙ HolocaustExplained: “The Stab-in-the-Back myth was the belief that the German Army did not lose the First World War on the battlefield [which they did], but were instead betrayed by the communists, socialists and Jews on the home front.” https://tinyurl.com/3xayvvzr Jews were .9% of pop.

🐣 RT @StateDept Russian state-funded RT (formerly “Russia Today”) is not just a Kremlin media outlet. It is a cover for Russian covert information and influence operations and military procurement.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/StateDept/status/1837197535741628797/photo/1

5 FACTS TO KNOW
1. State-controlled media run by Putin loyalists.
2. Produces pro-Kremlin content for non-Russian speakers.
3. Not objective and doesn’t strive to be.
4. Exploits social media to spread false claims.
5. Engages in covert military and influence operations.

🐣 RT @POTUS When I came to office, there was no plan in place.
No plan to deal with the pandemic.
No plan to get the economy back on its feet.
Nothing.
I refused to accept that.

🐣 RT @washingtonpost Column by Philip Bump: Donald Trump’s pledge to deport millions of immigrants often centers on those here illegally. But JD Vance on Wednesday admitted that they will define “illegal.”
⋙ WaPo: A guy on the deport-immigrants ticket claims that ‘illegal’ is fungible https://tinyurl.com/yt7mwt8e “Donald Trump’s pledge to deport millions of immigrants often centers on those here illegally. But JD Vance on Wednesday admitted that they will define ‘illegal.’”
⋙⋙ 🐣 As of 2021, immigrants made up about 18% of the total U.S. healthcare workforce, which equates to approximately 2.8 million workers. … ¤ Immigrants account for 28% of all physicians and surgeons in the U.S. … ¤ Around 15-16% of registered nurses are foreign-born. … ¤ Approximately 25-40% of [nurses’ aides] consists of immigrants. … ¤ Among undocumented immigrants, an estimated 350,000 were working in healthcare-related roles in 2021 ~ ChatGPT

⭕ 19 Sep 2024

🐣 RT @JGaffneyUSN

3 Wives
No Dog
2 Impeachments
91 Felony Counts
31 Convictions
Out on Bail in 4 states
$600,000,000 in fines
1 Failed Coup
18 criminal investigations
♾Abortions and Affairs
6 Bankruptcies
4000 Lawsuits
26 documented assaults on♀️
7 Deferments
37 Handicap
But Sure – Scamala Harris

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary .@RepRaskin: The Biden-Harris Administration has led an economic recovery that is the envy of the rest of the world. Project 2025 wants to reverse all the progress we’ve made and strip Americans of basic, fundamental rights and freedoms.

🐣 RT @DemocracyDocket A federal judge rejected a right-wing lawsuit challenging a Minnesota law that makes it a crime to knowingly spread election disinformation or intimidate voters. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/bdky9vke

🐣 RT @PoliticusSarah Oprah Winfrey tells Independent and undecided voters, “This is the moment for all decent people. All caring people. Who want the best for yourself and you want the best for other people.. People who are exhausted by the craziness and the made up stories and the conspiracies.”
💽 https://x.com/PoliticusSarah/status/1836946001950589186/photo/1

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom How can anyone resist the appeal of fascism with this carnage
⋙ 🐣 RT @DirtRoadPickup

– Inflation is under 3%
– violent crime at a 50 year low
– DOW hit an all-time high yesterday
– unemployment is low
– jobs are plentiful
– gas prices are low
– we aren’t deployed in any wars
– domestic manufacturing is strong
– energy production at an all-time high
All facts

🐣 Comparative inflation as of 9/18/2024:
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1836873988414525714/photo/1
🐣 Who voted Democratic in 2022?
● Whites still make up a majority of Democratic Voters
(CNN Exit Polls: https://tinyurl.com/yc2zuwzd
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1836810316086161497/photo/1

Who voted Democratic in 2022?
34.3% were White Women ~ All Whites 60.3%
26.0% were White Men
10.9% were Black Women ~ All Black 19.3%
8.4% were Black Men
8.2% were Latino Women ~ All Latinos 13.5%
5.3% were Latino Men
7.0% were Other Race/Ethnicity ~ All Others 7.00%
Source: CNN Exit Polls (some rounding)

⭕ 18 Sep 2024

Reuters (9/18): Ukrainian drone attack triggers earthquake-sized blast at arsenal in Russia’s Tver region https://tinyurl.com/mv6mjkvs

WaPo, Dana Milbank (9/18): The House GOP is a circus. The chaos has one source. https://tinyurl.com/4n4f6x83 “Republicans spent two years sabotaging the U.S. House. Another two years would be ruinous.” //➔ all the gory details

WSJ: The Trump Campaign Ran With Rumors About Pet-Eating Migrants—After Being Told They Weren’t True https://tinyurl.com/ye8mxu59 “Springfield OH city officials were contacted by Vance’s team and said the claims were baseless. It didn’t matter and now the town is in chaos”

🐣 RT @DanteAtkins
“sure they’re legal but I don’t like the law so I’m going to call them illegal”
This is a straight up fascist project from JD here.
Also a lie since TPS is a legal program that extends legal status in the US.
Also they’re working, paying taxes, kids in schools, etc.
⋙ 🐣 RT @atrupar “I’m still gonna call them an illegal alien” — JD Vance on Haitian migrants who are in Ohio legally
💽 https://x.com/DanteAtkins/status/1836513010892050514/photo/1

🐣 RT @grantstern The Fed just cut interest rates by 0.5% which undeniably states Jerome Powell and the Board of Governors believe that the Biden-Harris Administration BEAT inflation.

🐣 RT @JustinWolfers Here’s what gave the Fed the room to move: The US beat inflation faster and more completely than other G7 country, and we did so while continuing to grow the economy.
◕ https://x.com/JustinWolfers/status/1836468634954424763/photo/1
// Two charts in one: G7 Headline HICP Inflation and Core HICP
⋙ 🐣 Real GDP growth since the pandemic
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1836486739248255027/photo/1
// Source: 7/24/2024 https://tinyurl.com/y95wrda4

🐣 RT @SteveRattner The Fed is now projecting a target rate of 4.4% by the end of the year, a 70 basis point reduction from June’s forecast.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1836469161288954023/photo/1

NPR Exclusive: US overdose deaths plummet, saving thousands of lives https://tinyurl.com/4898xr7u Drugs that treat overdoses and reduce cravings in those trying to quit have helped, as have actions against Mexican drug cartels; states differ, with some, like Ohio, down 30%
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1836479921021145569/photo/1

🐣 RT @Normsmusic The betrayal by Chief Justice John Roberts, along with Justices Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, represents not just a shift in legal interpretation but a seismic betrayal of the judiciary’s foundational principles. […]
¤ https://x.com/Normsmusic/status/1836421344172609886

🐣🧵 RT @MarkHertling A few thoughts on what occurred in two different conflicts yesterday…the use of “killer pagers” by Israel and Ukraine’s attack on the large ammo cache at Toropets military base 300+ miles inside Russia. ¤ A short [thread] 1/12
📌 https://x.com/MarkHertling/status/1836399493173907956
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/72tkyavm

RT @JamesFallows Very clear and tough letter from 111 former GOP nat-security officials, on why they’re voting for Harris. ¤ (Some of them have already come out for her; a debut for some; most of them are recognizable names.) ¤ Will this “matter”? Who knows. But they’re standing up and choosing a side. Congrats.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/JamesFallows/status/1836403528232841362/photo/1

[Text:] … We firmly oppose the election of Donald Trump. As President, he promoted daily chaos in government, praised our enemies and undermined our allies, politicized the military and disparaged our veterans, prioritized his personal interest above American interests, and betrayed our values, democracy, and this country’s founding documents. In our view, by inciting the violent attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 and defending those who committed it, he has violated his oath of office and brought danger to our country. As former Vice President Pence has said anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States.”

Donald Trump’s susceptibility to flattery and manipulation by Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, unusual affinity for other authoritarian leaders, contempt for the norms of decent, ethical and lawful behavior, and chaotic national security decision-making are dangerous qualities – as many honorable Republican colleagues and military officers who served in senior national security positions in his administration have frequently testified. He is unfit to serve again as President, or indeed in any office of public trust. …

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla GOLDMAN: “.. We boosted our Q3 GDP tracking estimate by 0.2pp to +3.0%” 🇺🇸

🐣 RT @KyivPost Detonations continue at Russia’s missile/ammunition storage base in Toropets in Russia’s Tver region with fires now consuming 5 square kilometers. ¤ This is likely the largest hit by Ukraine on Russian territory. ¤ NASA FIRMS Satellite data
🌎 https://x.com/KyivPost/status/1836281597424791743/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @officejjsmart 💥💥💥 The Russia warehouse for the S-300 & S-400 missile systems, Iskander ballistic missiles & North Korean KN23s misiles was destroyed by Ukraine 🇺🇦 last night. ¤ 👉 The explosions are so large that part of the Tver region, two hours north of Moscow, is being evacuated.
💽 https://x.com/officejjsmart/status/1836282024241352897/photo/1.

⭕ 17 Sep 2024

MotherJones, David Corn: Millions Have Amnesia About the Worst of Trump’s Presidency. Memory Experts Explain Why. https://tinyurl.com/n6zth5ap
// How Trump is benefiting from the limits of our memory.

One of the most oft-quoted sentences ever penned by a philosopher is George Santayana’s observation that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” In 2024, this aphorism is practically a campaign slogan. Donald Trump, seeking to become the first former president since Grover Cleveland to return to the White House after being voted out of the job, has waged war on remembrance. In fact, he’s depending on tens of millions of voters forgetting the recent past. This election is an experiment in how powerful a memory hole can be.

In March, Trump posted this all-caps question: “ARE YOU BETTER OFF THAN YOU WERE FOUR YEARS AGO?” A realistic answer for most would be, hell yeah. Four years prior, the Covid pandemic was raging, the economy was cratering, deaths were mounting, and anxiety was at a fever pitch. Trump responded erratically, downplaying the threat, pushing conspiracy theories, and undermining scientific officials and public health recommendations. (Bleach!) In the final year of his presidency, more than 450,000 Americans died of Covid; a Lancet study concluded that 40 percent of those deaths could have been averted had Trump handled the crisis responsibly. …

CityOfSpringfieldOH: Immigration FAQs https://tinyurl.com/yj56jhwv 12-15,000 Haitian immigrants live in Springfield. They are legal. They came to work. They are more likely to be victims than perpetrators of crimes. They are not killing geese (or cats and dogs)

🐣 RT @therecount 51-44: Republicans block a bill that would establish a federal right to IVF access. The legislation again fails to break the filibuster on a procedural vote.
💽 https://x.com/therecount/status/1836135677446045803/photo/1

🐣 RT @Acyn Tim Walz: JD Vance got called out by the press for spreading vicious lies about immigrants. But he did something. He said he’s willing to create stories to spread fear to drum up support.. At least they admitted it. What other things are they making up stories about? The reason you do that is because if you told what you really stood for, no one would vote for you
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1836177750903886310/photo/1

⭕ 16 Sep 2024

KevinDrum (9/16): Illegal border crossings remained steady in August https://tinyurl.com/3fawstjf Except for the pandemic year, illegal crossings are back to Trump levels. Now, Congress should pass the bipartisan border bill THAT TRUMP KILLED so he could run on border chaos
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1842463211557130605/photo/1

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow John McCain’s son: I am switching to the Democratic Party and plan to support Kamala Harris for president. What Trump said about my father was reprehensible. I can never forgive him. I am putting my country first
💽 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1835750148271489472/photo/1
// James McCain with Jake Tapper

🐣 RT @EricColumbus VANCE TODAY: “We cannot tell the American people that one candidate is a fascist.” ¤ TRUMP 11 DAYS AGO: “Kamala Harris is the first major party nominee in American history who fundamentally rejects freedom and embraces Marxism, communism, and fascism.”
⋙ 🐣 If a person has fascistic tendencies and admires fascist and authoritarian leaders like Putin, Xi, Kim Jong Un and Viktor Orban, you can call him a fascist. Below is the most accepted definition:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1835883998456746236/photo/1
// Historian Lawrence Britt studied the fascist regimes of Hitler (Germany), Mussolini (Italy), Franco (Spain), Suharto (Indonesia), and Pinochet (Chile) and found they had 14 elements in common. He calls these the identifying characteristics of fascism.
⇈ ⇊
🐣 RT @IAmPoliticsGirl Words matter. If you call someone a communist, you should at least know what it means.
💽 https://x.com/IAmPoliticsGirl/status/1835819728356663317/photo/1
// defines socialism, communism, fascism

🐣 RT @cwebbonline The Secret Service SHOULD BE knocking on J.D. Vance’s door right about now. ¤ We all know what J.D. Vance is calling on Trump’s followers to do, right? It’s disgusting. He’s talking about permanently silencing a political opponent. ¤ J.D. Vance and Donald Trump are the living definition of using stochastic terrorism—fueling political violence through hateful public rhetoric to try and win an election.
💽 https://x.com/cwebbonline/status/1835890479990513674/photo/1
// Sen. Whitehouse with @lawrence

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla WIRED: “.. The United States Secret Service declined WIRED’s request to comment on Musk’s post. “We can say, however, that the Secret Service investigates all threats related to our protectees,” USSS spokesperson Nate Herring tells @WIRED.” $TSLA
⋙ WIRED: Elon Musk Is a National Security Risk https://tinyurl.com/2s35emjj
// Musk’s now-deleted post questioning why no one has attempted to assassinate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris renews concerns over his work for the US government—and potential to inspire extremist violence.

🐣 RT @Roshan_Rinaldi Per Fortune, Twitter’s revenue has collapsed by approximately 84% since Elon’s takeover.
⋙ Fortune: Elon Musk’s financial woes at X have Tesla bulls fearing he will liquidate more stock https://tinyurl.com/muram63z

🐣 RT @kangaroos991 Raise a ✋ if you’re a @Tim_Walz fan! 🙋‍♂️
[TextLink:] https://x.com/kangaroos991/status/1835785398599184462/photo/1

Here’s what Tim Walz did in Minnesota with a 1 seat majority 💪💪💪
● Universal free school meals
● Tax rebates for the working class up to $1,300
● 12 week paid sick leave
● Banned conversion therapy
● Red flag laws for guns
● Universal background checks for guns
● Automatic voter registration
● Free public college (under $80,000)
● $2.2 billion increase in k-12 school funding
● Carbon free electricity by 2040
With a record like THIS, imagine what he and Harris can do for our country!

⋙ 🐣 Plus, Minnesota is:
#6 Best for Business (CNBC)
#4 Best Overall to Live In (USN&W Report)
#4 Best to Live and Work (USAToday)
#3 Happiest (WorldPopReview), ~ and, of course
#1 The Nicest State (Newsweek)

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP Ronald Reagan: “Can we doubt that only a divine providence placed this land…here as a refuge for all those people in the world who yearn to breathe freely: Jews and Christians…the boat people of Southeast Asia, of Cuba and of Haiti?”
💽 https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1835735665096700090/photo/1

🐣 RT @CalltoActivism Holy shit. Heritage tried to remove this from their YouTube…but the internet is forever…
💽 https://x.com/CalltoActivism/status/1835703212940108169/photo/1
‼️ // 4/21/22 ➔ Trump addressing Heritage Foundation, thanking them for laying out “the groundwork and the detailed plans” for what “our movement will do and what your movement will do”

⭕ 15 Sep 2024

🐣 RT @atrupar Ohio Gov. DeWine on ABC says “absolutely not” when asked if he’s seen any evidence of Haitian migrants eating pets and adds, “the Haitians who are in Springfield are legal. They came to Springfield to work. Ohio is on the move and Springfield has really made a great resurgence”
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1835318566733729979/photo/1
// DeWine is a Republican

🐣 RT @samstein JD Vance acknowledges the cat and dog stories are urban legends and then rationalizes it (via CNN): “If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that’s what I’m going to do.”

⭕ 14 Sep 2024

⭕ 13 Sep 2024

NPR fact-checked former President Trump: 162 lies and distortions in a 64 minute news conference on August 8 https://tinyurl.com/2ut4ff55 Their analysis is at the link.

🐣 RT @Rainmaker1973 Timelapse of every major nuclear explosion from 1945-1998
[📹 TitusFlavius79]
💽 https://x.com/Rainmaker1973/status/1755122313371037881/photo/1
// 2/7/2024; Cold War nuclear testing animation
⋙ OpenCulture (2019): Every Nuclear Bomb Explosion in History, Animated https://tinyurl.com/4htzpm38
// 11/20/2019

🐣 RT @ItsDeanBlundell Off. The. Rails.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/ItsDeanBlundell/status/1834264965370257600/photo/1

🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump CRAZY JACK SMITH AND HIS BAND OF THUGS AT THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ARE COMING FOR YOUR FAVORITE PRESIDENT TRYING TO TAKE ME DOWN IN THE GREATEST WHICH HUNT OF ALL TIME. SO UNFAIR! NIXON SAID WHEN A PRESIDENT DOES IT’S NOT ILLEGAL, AND TRUMP IS A MUCH BETTER PRESIDENT THAN NIXON EVER WAS. TOTAL LOSER, HE COULDN’T TAKE DOWN ROE, HE LET THAT HAPPEN AND VIETNAM TOO. VERY SAD. I HAD A PERFECT CALL AND FORGOT TO GIVE BACK SOME PAPERWORK TO THE NATIONAL ARCHIEVES AND SUDDNELY FOR TRUMP IT’S SUCH A BIG DEAL. I ALREADY KNOW IN MY MIND I WILL BE PRESIDENT AGAIN IN 2024 SO IT WON’T MATTER. AND JUST WAIT. THEY WILLALL PAY!

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla
◕ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1834603235719479737/photo/1

1. Highest consumer sentiment since May
2. Lowest 1-yr inflation expectations since Dec 2020
3. Lowest retail gasoline prices since February
4. S&P 500 ~1% from all-time highs
5. 30-yr mortgage rates lowest since Feb 2023
6. US household net worth (Q2) all-time high 🇺🇸

💽 DailyBeast: ‘Morning Joe’ Rolls Bonkers Supercut of Trump’s Arizona Rally https://tinyurl.com/tfnbf3hb “The former president’s first rally since the debate delivered several eyebrow-raising moments.”

⭕ 12 Sep 2024

★ Bloomberg: What We Know About Covid’s Impact on Your Brain https://tinyurl.com/zs5uu99d “Scientists are worried that persisting cognitive issues may signal a coming surge of dementia and other mental conditions”

⭕ 11 Sep 2024

🐣 RT @TheAtlantic J. D. Vance “is not just one man with an overdeveloped interest in women’s plumbing. Instead, the senator represents a strain of reactionary anti-feminism among the very online right,” @helenlewis writes: [link:] https://tinyurl.com/78nn6d3m

WSJ, Karl Rove: A Catastrophic Debate for Trump https://tinyurl.com/ypsnbt6j “He was angry and fixated on the past, and he failed to define Harris or her policies”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/thefrankwu/status/1834260335609401605/photo/1
// entire article in pdf

✅ 🐣 RT @josemdelpino Is it true that Venezuela is safer than the USA? 👇
– The Venezuelan Violence Observatory (not Maduro’s Government) registered 26.8 violent deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in 2023.
– in the USA, the homicide rate is 6.3 per 100,000 population. (Source: FBI, 2022)
Venezuela’s homicide rate is more than 4x the USA Figure.
It is true ✅ that Venezuela’s Homicide rate has decreased. However, it is false ❌ that it is safer than the USA.
¤ https://x.com/josemdelpino/status/1834051133142122937

✅ PolitifactFL (Apr 10): Trump exaggerates Venezuelan crime drop and misleads on root causes https://tinyurl.com/483ra256 “The experts say there is no evidence that the Maduro government is emptying its prisons and sending criminals to the United States”; Rated FALSE
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1834022390369603954/photo/1
// 4/10/2024; possibly 25%, not 67% drop in Venezuela

TheAtlantic, Peter Wehner: Kamala Harris Broke Donald Trump https://tinyurl.com/mrvkxbm4 “In their first face-to-face meeting, the Democratic nominee humiliated the former president.”

Over the course of debate, Trump defended the violent mob that had attacked the Capitol. He insisted that the 2020 election had been stolen from him. He relitigated his slander of the Central Park Five. He defended his decision to invite the Taliban to Camp David and invoked Hungary’s authoritarian leader, Viktor Orbán, as a character witness. He couldn’t bring himself to say that he hopes Ukraine will win its war against Russia, even when pressed. And he spent valuable time emphatically insisting that the multiple indictments against him are “fake cases.”

But that’s not all. Trump savaged people he had appointed to his administration who have since broken with him. He repeated his claim that Harris wasn’t Black. And then there was the pièce de résistance: Trump spreading the conspiracy theory, weird even by his standards, that in Springfield, Ohio, Haitian migrants are abducting and devouring their neighbors’ pets. “They’re eating the dogs!” he roared. “The people that came in—they’re eating the cats!” And he still couldn’t stop himself. When one of the moderators, ABC’s David Muir, rebutted Trump’s claim, the former president said, “I’ve seen people on television! People on television say, ‘My dog was taken and used for food!’”

🐣 RT @atrupar Here are the fact-checks that Trumpers are mad about today:
— Moms are not murdering their babies
— Migrants aren’t eating your pets
— Biden won the 2020 election
⋙ 🐣 and that crime is DOWN
[Crime rates] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1833890593136632318
↥ ↧
Debate Moderators fact-checked four things:
● No state allows “after-birth” abortions
● Trump did not sound “sarcastic” when he admitted he lost
● Haitian immigrants are not eating pets
● Crime rates are down, per multiple sources:
[Crime rates] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1833890593136632318
¤ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1833893736826212515
⇈ ⇊
🐣 RT @PolitiFact Is violent crime “near a record 50-year low,” as President Joe Biden said? After peaking in the early 1990s, violent crime is now down to near-record lows. We rate his statement True.
🔷 🔄🔄 ✅ PolitiFact (5/28/2024): Biden: “Violent crime is near a record 50-year low.” https://tinyurl.com/96f47h22 “After peaking in the early 1990s, violent crime is now down to near-record lows” Truth-o-Meter: TRUE
Multiple Sources were used: https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1833890593136632318/photo/1

✅ WaPo Factchecker: Fact-checking the 2024 Trump-Harris debate https://tinyurl.com/y8bz5j6f “Trump, on the defensive, makes four times more suspect claims than Harris over 90 minutes.”

⭕ 10 Sep 2024

🐣 RT @ralakbar #DebateNight2024 Full Harris quote on Ukraine:
¤ https://x.com/ralakbar/status/1833704628216615402

“Let’s understand what happened here: I actually met with Zelenskyy a few days before Russia invaded. Tried through force to change territorial boundaries, to defy one of the most important international rules and norms, which is the importance of sovereignty and territorial integrity. And I met with President Zelenskyy. I shared with him American intelligence about how he could defend himself. Days later, I went to NATO’s Eastern Flank, to Poland and Romania. And through the work that I and others did, we brought 50 countries together to support Ukraine in its righteous defense. And because of our support, because of the air defense, the ammunition, the artillery, the javelins, the Abrams, tanks that we have provided. Ukraine stands as an independent and free country. If Donald Trump were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now. And understand what that would mean, because Putin’s agenda is not just about Ukraine. Understand why the European allies and our NATO allies are so thankful that you are no longer president, and that we understand the importance of the greatest military alliance the world has ever known, which is NATO, and what we have done to preserve the ability of Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians to fight for their independence. Otherwise, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv with his eyes on the rest of Europe, starting with Poland. And why don’t you tell that 800,000 Polish Americans right here in Pennsylvania how quickly you would give up for the sake of favor and what you think is a friendship with what is known to be a dictator who would eat you for lunch….”

🧵 RT @atrupar I’m going to put together a thread covering the Donald Trump/Kamala Harris debate. Follow along for clips and commentary.
📌 💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1833669675282034942/photo/1
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/4vayez49

🐣 RT @harris_wins BREAKING: Chris Wallace just completely demolished Donald Trump’s debate performance. Wallace went so far as to call Donald Trump’s debate performance tonight the worst debate performance in American history. Retweet to make sure all Americans see this.

🐣 RT @cmclymer There it is. Taylor Swift endorses Vice President Harris.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/cmclymer/status/1833703444005228757/photo/1

🐣 RT @taylorswift Like many of you, I watched the debate tonight. If you haven’t already, now is a great time to do your research on the issues at hand and the stances these candidates take on the topics that matter to you the most. As a voter, I make sure to watch and read everything I can about their proposed policies and plans for this country.

Recently I was made aware that Al of ‘me’ falsely endorsing Donald Trump’s presidential run was posted to his site. It really conjured up my fears around Al, and the dangers of spreading misinformation. It brought me to the conclusion that I need to be very transparent about my actual plans for this election as a voter. The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth.

I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election. I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them. I think she is a steady-handed, gifted leader and I believe we can accomplish so much more in this country if we are led by calm and not chaos. I was so heartened and impressed by her selection of running mate @timwalz, who has been standing up for LGBTQ+ rights, IVF, and a woman’s right to her own body for decades.

I’ve done my research, and I’ve made my choice. Your research is all yours to do, and the choice is yours to make. I also want to say, especially to first time voters: Remember that in order to vote, you have to be registered! I also find it’s much easier to vote early. I’ll link where to register and find early voting dates and info in my story.

With love and hope,
Taylor Swift
Childless Cat Lady

🐣 RT @McFaul Harris has articulated very clear policy views on all the big issues and demonstrated a complete mastery of the facts. You can vote against her because you disagree with her. But you can’t vote against her because you don’t know her positions or don’t think she can handle the job.

🐣 RT @Timodc He will not look at her it is amazing. He is seething. I’ve never seen anything like it.

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote HARRIS: “Why don’t you tell the 800K Polish Americans right here in Pennsylvania how you would give up on them for a dictator that would eat you for lunch.” #Debate2024

🐣 RT @djrothkopf Those folks who said @KamalaHarris has been hiding out, not tested, could not think on her feet, needed a teleprompter…how you feeling now? This has been as expert a presidential debate performance…specific, focus, fact based, strategic, winning…as I have ever seen.

🐣 RT @stuartpstevens Harris is turning in the best debate performance we’ve seen in modern politics.

🐣 RT @officejjsmart “🇺🇸 Sec. of State Antony Blinken, told the Chair of 🇺🇸 House Foreign Affairs Committee that he would be going to Kyiv 🇺🇦 with his UK Counterpart 🇬🇧 to inform 🇺🇦 Ukrainian officials that they will be allowed to strike Russia with ATACMS missiles.” ¤ 🔥🔥🔥 Let Ukraine strike back!!

🐣 RT @ralakbar Biden Just Now!!!
Q: Will you lift restrictions on the use of long-range weapons by Ukraine?
Biden: “We’re working that out right now.”

🐣 RT @JudiciaryDems Sen. DURBIN: Justice Clarence Thomas is “in clear violation” of federal law for failing to disclose more than $4 million worth of gifts.
💽 https://x.com/JudiciaryDems/status/1833527491824369962/photo/1

WaPo: U.S. demands IDF change West Bank operations after American’s killing https://tinyurl.com/4k49n8vt “Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s comments were the strongest yet from a U.S. official after the Israeli military said it was ‘highly likely’ it ‘unintentionally’ killed Aysenur Eygi’”

⭕ 9 Sep 2024

TheAtlantic, Mark Leibovich: Hypocrisy, Spinelessness, and the Triumph of Donald Trump https://tinyurl.com/2w5ydxbr

That was the nagging dissonance of this spectacle: the gap between what the GOP traditionally believed and what it now allows itself to abide. The party that allegedly reveres the Constitution is going all in on someone who has called for its termination. A party that cherishes freedom is willing to cede authority to a candidate who says he would be a dictator on his first day in office. A party that supposedly venerates law and order is re-upping with an actual felon. A party whose rank and file overwhelmingly wants Russia to defeat Ukraine believes that Biden stole the 2020 election, and that Trump’s legal shambles are entirely a Democratic plot. This is now a party whose standard-bearer has not been endorsed by any former Republican president or nominee, or even his own vice president, who barely escaped death by hanging the last time. And to what end, any of it?

VoiceOfAmerica: Experts applaud steps US steps to disrupt Russian disinformation https://tinyurl.com/nm23h5uc “Experts who study disinformation say disrupting the paid-influencer campaign is an important step in efforts to counter the Kremlin’s broader disinformation strategy”

Bloomberg: China’s Deflationary Spiral Is Now Entering Dangerous New Stage https://tinyurl.com/4has6d52
● Prices seen as falling through 2025 as wages, demand languish
● Long-term deflation could be major setback to China’s economy
// “Consumer confidence is hovering at a record low, and households report a growing willingness to save instead of spending or buying homes.”

🐣 RT @john_sipher “His ambition is fueled by the money of others who would never deign to live in the Midwest. And like other populist charlatans, he has convinced himself that he should be anointed to lead the rubes out of their misery.”
⋙ TheAtlantic, Tom Nichols (2021): The Moral Collapse of J. D. Vance https://tinyurl.com/3y7tt6ba “Instead of a truth-teller in his own community, Vance as a candidate has become a contemptible and cringe-inducing clown.”
// 7/14/2021

Axios: Scoop: Generals come to Harris’ defense on Afghanistan https://tinyurl.com/hcdckatc “‘Without involving the Afghan government, [Trump] and his Administration negotiated a deal with the Taliban that freed 5,000 Taliban fighters,’ the retired military officials wrote”

… Driving the news: “Without involving the Afghan government, [Trump] and his Administration negotiated a deal with the Taliban that freed 5,000 Taliban fighters,” the retired military officials wrote in a National Security Leaders for America letter first obtained by Axios.

● The group accused Trump of leaving Biden and Harris with no plans to execute a withdrawal and little time to do so.
●”This chaotic approach severely hindered the Biden-Harris Administration’s ability to execute the most orderly withdrawal possible and put our service members and our allies at risk,” they wrote.
● Trump “continually disrespects those who serve in uniform, including wounded warriors, prisoners of war, and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice,” they added.

🐣 RT @CREWcrew A reminder for those who forgot: The Supreme Court’s decision to grant presidents presumptive immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts committed has no support in the Constitution’s text and history, or the Court’s own precedent.
⋙ Salon: Justice delayed is political: Trump’s election interference case must continue ahead of the election https://tinyurl.com/4kyzt6xr “The federal trial of Donald Trump on January 6-related charges must proceed without further delay”

The Supreme Court conservative majority’s opinion in Trump v. United States has rightly drawn considerable criticism.  Its conclusion that former presidents enjoy presumptive immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts committed during their presidency is flabbergasting. As legal scholars across the ideological spectrum have explained, this immunity finds no support in the Constitution’s text and history, or the Supreme Court’s own precedent. A blistering dissent by Justice Sotomayor (joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson) exposes this rootlessness and expresses “fear for our democracy.” …

🐣 RT @CREWcrew A reminder for those who forgot: The Supreme Court’s decision to grant presidents presumptive immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts committed has no support in the Constitution’s text and history, or the Court’s own precedent.
⋙ Salon: Justice delayed is political: Trump’s election interference case must continue ahead of the election https://tinyurl.com/4kyzt6xr “The federal trial of Donald Trump on January 6-related charges must proceed without further delay”

🐣 RT @SenatorDurbin Rather than protect election workers and ensure a peaceful transfer of power, the former President is:
● Escalating false claims of election fraud.
● Threatening to jail public servants.
We must condemn political violence and lies and misinformation that could lead to it—period.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/SenatorDurbin/status/1833250624101626165/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @realDonald Trump CEASE & DESIST: 1, together with many Attorneys and Legal Scholars, am watching the Sanctity of the 2024 Presidential Election very closely because I know, better than most, the rampant Cheating and Skullduggery that has taken place by the Democrats in the 2020 Presidential Election. It was a Disgrace to our Nation! Therefore, the 2024 Election, where Votes have just started being cast, will be under the closest professional scrutiny and, WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again. We cannot let our Country further devolve into a Third World Nation, AND WE WON’T! Please beware that this legal exposure extends to Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials. Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country.

WaPo: Harris campaign website now outlines policy platform https://tinyurl.com/2p8yk4vd “The page lists Harris’s economic, immigration and foreign policy agendas, contrasting each section with the far-right Project 2025 policy proposal.”
🔄📔 ⋙ Harris Policies/Issues, https://kamalaharris.com/issues/

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote Media will likely tell you that Trump lies too much to be fact checked in real time. But most of us could do it in our sleep because he tells the same lies over and over. ¤ Here are some of the lies we can expect that the moderators should be ready to rebut:

1. Post birth abortions
2. 10-20M immigrants
3. Crime is up
4. Border crossings are up
5. Harris was the “border czar”
6. Harris “turned black”
7. He created more jobs
8. He created more black and Hispanic jobs
9. His unemployment rate was lower
10. Tariffs aren’t a taxes on Americans
11. Climate change is a hoax
These are just some of the extremely predictable lies that @ABC should be prepared to fact check.

DailyBeast: Trump’s Psychologist Niece Says ‘Donald Is Dementing’ https://tinyurl.com/3hxzvb69 “‘His increasingly fantastical pronouncements and worsening psychiatric disorders strike me as being newsworthy,’ Mary Trump declared”
// “We deserve to be told that there’s a maniac on the loose,” said Mary Trump.

⭕ 8 Sep 2024

TheAtlantic, Max Boot: How the GOP Went From Reagan to Trump https://tinyurl.com/rncssevy “The 40th president inadvertently prepared the ground for the 45th in multiple ways.”

WaPo: Trump pledges to jail opponents, baselessly suggests election will be stolen from him https://tinyurl.com/cuumec7t “The former president’s latest threats, made in a social media post, represent the most overt signal yet that he will not accept the result in November if he loses.”

🔄🔄 “” PhillyMag (2019): Fact-Checking All of the Mysteries Surrounding Donald Trump and Penn https://tinyurl.com/2zs5dpwj
// 9/14/2019; tags: Trump dumbest student Wharton

It’s rare for a professor to disparage the intelligence of a student, but according to attorney Frank DiPrima, who was close friends with professor William T. Kelley for 47 years, the prof made an exception for Donald Trump, at least in private. “He must have told me that 100 times over the course of 30 years,” says DiPrima, who has been practicing law since 1963 and has served as in-house counsel for entities including the Federal Trade Commission and Playboy Enterprises. “I remember the inflection of his voice when he said it: ‘Donald Trump was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had!’” He would say that [Trump] came to Wharton thinking he already knew everything, that he was arrogant and he wasn’t there to learn.” Kelley, who passed away in 2011 at age 94, taught marketing at Wharton for 31 years, retiring in 1982.

⭕ 7 Sep 2024

⭕ 6 Sep 2024

WaPo: U.S. woman fatally shot at West Bank protest; witnesses say IDF shot her https://tinyurl.com/5fn2y3aa Aysenur Eygi, a recent graduate of the U of Washington, was with a group protesting the ‘sustained effort by Netanyahu to expand Israel’s control over the West Bank’
// “The Israel Defense Forces said it was ‘looking into reports that a foreign national was killed as a result of shots fired in the area.’”

In the background of Friday’s protest is a sustained effort by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to expand Israel’s control over the West Bank, by approving land seizures and major settlement construction while escalating demolitions of Palestinian property and increasing state support for illegally built settler outposts.

🐣 RT @DougWahl1 SHOULD HE SHOW UP ¤ Tim Walz is being summoned by the House Education Committee and its chairwoman Rep. Virginia Foxx. She want Walz to testify about a Minnesota non profit that’s been accused of diverting federal funds. Walz has no connection to the non profit. ¤ Your thoughts?
⋙ 🐣 This is an effort to get Walz off the campaign trail because he is such an awesome campaigner. It’s also an opportunity to tarnish the entire Somali community. Most of the defendants are Somali. ¤ Walz was not involved.

The MN Dept Of Ed contracted with a group (called Feeding Our Future) to implement the federal program of food relief for children during the pandemic (beginning under Trump). The contractor submitted numerous fraudulent reports, claiming millions of meals had been provided. When the DoEd became suspicious, they sued the group and notified the FBI. The Biden-appointed US Attorney prosecuted.

There are several indictments for conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, and bribery, with 47 people charged. So far, five people have been found guilty and more cases are in progress.

It’s a federal case. Because prosecutions are ongoing, I doubt there is little anyone is free to talk about. Here is the DOJ report from 9/2022: https://tinyurl.com/36x9vhuf

⋙ CBSNews (Sept 2022): Gov. Tim Walz pushes back against food fraud criticism https://tinyurl.com/348mn3dt //➔ “The governor said his administration spotted irregularities ‘very early’ and alerted the USDA during President Donald Trump’s administration. … It was only under President Joe Biden that the FBI began to act, Walz said. … The FBI ultimately executed a series of search warrants in January 2022”
// 9/22/2022

Walz said the Minnesota Department of Education’s hands were tied by a court order for it to resume food program payments despite concerns the state had raised. And he said the FBI asked the state to continue the reimbursements while its investigation continued.

Federal authorities on Tuesday announced charges against 48 people in Minnesota on conspiracy and other counts in what they said was the largest pandemic-related fraud scheme yet. Many of the companies that claimed to be serving food to low-income children were sponsored by a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future.

Federal authorities on Tuesday announced charges against 48 people in Minnesota on conspiracy and other counts in what they said was the largest pandemic-related fraud scheme yet. Many of the companies that claimed to be serving food to low-income children were sponsored by a nonprofit called Feeding Our Future.

“We caught this fraud. We caught it very early. We alerted the right people,” Walz said at a news conference in his first detailed public remarks on the case. “We were taken to court. We were sued. We were threatened with going to jail. We stuck with it.”

The governor said his administration spotted irregularities “very early” and alerted the USDA during President Donald Trump’s administration. Walz said he couldn’t recall precisely when he first learned of the suspicions.

Court filings indicate Feeding Our Future applied to become a program sponsor in Spring 2020, and that the state agency began trying to crack down in October 2020.

Walz said there “needs to be a review” of why the USDA didn’t take the state’s concerns seriously when it first sounded the alarm [in Oct 2020]. The state agency contends its concerns weren’t taken seriously until it reached out to the FBI in April of 2021. The FBI ultimately executed a series of search warrants in January 2022 and released partial information about the investigation, effectively shutting down the alleged scheme.

⭕ 5 Sep 2024

WIRED: DOJ: Russia Aimed Propaganda at Gamers, Minorities to Swing 2024 Election https://tinyurl.com/cutkdn58 “Newly unsealed court documents reveal in unprecedented detail a campaign called the Good Old USA Project, which Russian authorities believed could impact the US election.”

WaPo, Catherine Rampell: Forget Trump’s IVF promises. The GOP’s record shows contempt for fertility care. https://tinyurl.com/58u2acjw “As always, pay more attention to what politicians do than to what they say.”

🧵 RT @MacFarlaneNews En route to the courthouse … and courtroom 9 ¤ Updates begin at 10am
📌 https://x.com/MacFarlaneNews/status/1831660801524167064
// Election interference case; Judge Chutkan presiding

🐣 RT @BradMossEsq Conservative playbook for scandals.

It’s all a hoax.
Even if it happened, no one got paid.
Even if someone got paid, they didn’t frame their conduct around that payment. <– you are here Even if they did change their conduct, it wasn’t illegal. Hunter’s laptop!

🐣 RT @gtconway3d LMAO we are reaching the singularity – or something
⋙ 🐣 RT @Kaizerrev Nick Fuentes (@NickJFuentes) talks about Donald Trump’s “I lost by a whisker” comment admitting he lost the 2020 Election. ¤ “Would have been good to know that before 16K people got charged. Before I got my money frozen & put on a Federal No Fly List.”
💽 https://x.com/gtconway3d/status/1831614514741022943/photo/1

⭕ 4 Sep 2024

🐣 RT @AshaRangappa_ Interesting how the “Campaign Topics” exactly mirror JD Vance’s campaign talking points
⋙ 🐣 RT @ryanjreilly Evidence from DOJ’s case on Russian propaganda efforts:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/AshaRangappa_/status/1831407074829570155/photo/1 -4

TheGuardian: US conservative influencers say they are ‘victims’ of Russian disinformation campaign https://tinyurl.com/2y3vd97d “Tim Pool, Dave Rubin and Benny Johnson addressed allegations that a company they were associated with had been paid to publish videos with messages in favour of Russia”

🐣 RT @armed_dillo Everyone in #NAFO needs to read the at least the first few pages of the indictment and understand how the Kremlin has utterly infiltrated the US information space, particularly Social media by paying millions to personnel who act as their propaganda megaphones 📣 Please share!
⋙ 🐣 RT @DavidCornDC Looks like @TuckerCarlson was a Russian useful idiot. And Tenet Media—a rightwing US media company allegedly financed by Russia—helped a Moscow propaganda effort to exploit Carlson.
[CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/27kwfrwh 32p

🐣 RT @TimInHonolulu Trump’s campaign is broke. He may have taken the remaining cash but it’s almost a certainty that part of his campaign strategy was to have the SVR engaging in election interference. Now the op is being rolled-up with the domains seized and the sock puppets banned.

🐣 RT @gtconway3d Totally agree with Gen. Hertling here. This is just the beginning.
⋙ 🐣 RT @MarkHertling As I posted earlier, this story is just going to keep growing and ensnare a boatload of knowing and unknowing individuals, most of them with lots of opinions spewed on their podcasts but having no facts to back them up. [CNN link:] https://tinyurl.com/3hn5x4up

Justice[.]gov: Justice Department Disrupts Covert Russian Government-Sponsored Foreign Malign Influence Operation Targeting Audiences in the United States and Elsewhere https://tinyurl.com/5xxj36ez

WaPo: Justice Dept. charges two Russian media operatives in alleged scheme https://tinyurl.com/2emcubtd “The federal indictment says the Russian outlet funneled millions to the Tennessee company to publish propaganda videos.”

WaPo: Adm. Mike Mullen: Politics has no place at Arlington’s Section 60 https://tinyurl.com/mtk9ypf8 “Our fallen and departed veterans did not serve, fight or die for party.”

⭕ 3 Sep 2024

CNN: Exclusive: John McCain’s son decries Trump appearance at Arlington as a ‘violation’ that turned cemetery into campaign backdrop https://tinyurl.com/289wvtmb “Jimmy McCain … enlisted in the Marine Corps at age 17 and now serves as an intelligence officer in the 158th Infantry Regiment”

✅ WaPo: Pro-Trump PAC attacks Harris for murder that took place 14 years ago https://tinyurl.com/ymtmjb3h THREE PINOCCHIOS 🍄🍄🍄
● Harris had no role in border policy at the time
● The border surge has all but ended in recent months
● TRUMP killed the stronger border bill
// The ad features a mother who also appeared in a Trump 2016 campaign ad concerning illegal immigration.

⭕ 2 Sep 2024

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow “We want the Bible in our schools.” – Ryan Walters, Oklahoma superintendent of public instruction on Fox Business. @atrupar. (July 2023)
⋙ 🐣 sure, along with the Kur’an, the Upanishads, Confucius, the Tanakh and the Tipitaka

⭕ 1 Sep 2024

⭕ 31 Aug 2024

WaPo: Trump, Vance and GOP struggle to address abortion issues https://tinyurl.com/5ksryz7m “Heading into the campaign’s final stretch, Republicans careen between their base and swing voters on the powerful issue of reproductive rights”

🐣 RT @arghavan_salles [Arghavan Salles, MD, PhD] I didn’t speak English when I started 1st grade in the US. By the end of the year they wanted me to skip a year and go straight to 3rd grade. I was valedictorian of my high school, got a full scholarship for college, and have an MD and PhD from Stanford. ¤ He is the poison, not us
⋙ 🐣 RT @ shannonrwatts Donald Trump’s racist remarks about immigrants during today’s Moms for Liberty meeting: “Our country is being poisoned … they’re going into the classrooms and taking disease, and they don’t even speak English. It’s crazy.”
💽 https://x.com/arghavan_salles/status/1829928953391563215/photo/1

TheGuardian, Jason Wilson: ‘Dangerous and un-American’: new recording of JD Vance’s dark vision of women and immigration https://tinyurl.com/2a472u3v “Trump’s running mate rants against feminism, immigrants and Ilhan Omar in a newly unearthed podcast from 2021”

⭕ 30 Aug 2024

🐣 RT @PpollingNumbers Should America keep its current electoral college system for electing a president
No – 57%
Yes – 30%
YouGov

🐣 RT @ USA_Polling Tim Walz Net Favorables:

(Aug 15 —> Aug 28)
MN: +15 —> +19
MI: +14 —> +16
WI: +8 —> +14
GA: +13 —> +13
NV: +7 —> +13
PA: +7 —> +12
NM: +11 —> +11
AZ: +9 —> +8
NC: +4 —> +8
FL: +10 —> +7
Redfield / Aug 28, 2024

MNReforner (Aug 15): After George Floyd’s killing, policing defined Tim Walz’s tenure https://tinyurl.com/4e46jvat “It’s just insane what he’s been able to get done in a post-George Floyd political landscape” ~ Justin Terrell, exec dir of Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1829492009679348193/photo/1

PolitiFact (2019): Donald Trump stated on February 25, 2019 in a tweet:”The Democrat(ic) position on abortion is now so extreme that they don’t mind executing babies AFTER birth.” https://tinyurl.com/4xphanj2 Rated FALSE
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1829414315041997158/photo/1
// 2/38/2019

⭕ 29 Aug 2024

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom “If Trump’s team was hoping for something here to change the momentum of the race, this wasn’t it,” writes @RadioFreeTom:
⋙ TheAtlantic, Tom Nichols: Harris and Walz Ease Into Prime Time https://tinyurl.com/3x4y5abv The Democratic candidates used the CNN interview to field-test responses to attack lines their Republican opponents surely plan to use.”

In effect, Harris did what presidential candidates are supposed to do: After running as a liberal in California and in the 2020 primary, she is tacking to the center. Such a plain, common-sense strategy might seem unusual in our enervated political environment, and some of the answers will annoy political observers for being light on substance. But avoiding these policy snares remains a wise choice: Harris and Walz are running against Trump, who cares nothing about policy and will change his position in a heartbeat if he thinks it’s to his advantage. (Note his recent comments on abortion that his team is already trying to walk back, and his new stance in the past 24 hours about public funding for IVF.) …

… So now they must look ahead to the debates. But if the calm assurance of the Democratic candidates is a preview of how Harris and Walz will approach those, the Republicans—and especially Trump, who has been in a multi-week public meltdown—should be concerned.

p🧵 RT @billburton This interview with Dana Bash is a moment to recognize that it is absolutely under-appreciated that Vice President Harris is running a perfect campaign. 1/4
📌 https://x.com/billburton/status/1829333096510234912

WaPo, Eugene Robinson: Don’t yawn at Trump’s dishonorable use of Arlington National Cemetery https://tinyurl.com/3sxym4fu “The candidate who has repeatedly maligned our soldiers couldn’t resist an illegal publicity stunt.”

🐣 RT @mccaffreyr3 America is facing an existential crisis for our democracy. Trump is a threat to the rule of law. He is publicly saying he will upend our freedom…. our fundamental safeguards. His basic persona is to create authoritarian rule. Crude. Ignorant. Dangerous.
⋙ 🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Anderson Cooper: “Today, he [Trump] took it to a whole other level. The former president of the US, who wants to be the next president, is now directly spreading the slogans of the conspiracy cult QAnon as well as posting a crude, sexist and misogynistic slure online…”
💽 https://x.com/mccaffreyr3/status/1829035090556661777/photo/1

🐣 RT @WHCommsDir AP: US economic growth for last quarter is revised up to a solid 3% annual rate. “The U.S. economy grew last quarter at a healthy 3% annual pace, fueled by strong consumer spending and business investment.
🔆 This❗️⋙ AP: US economic growth for last quarter is revised up to a solid 3% annual rate https://tinyurl.com/rd7c264j “Consumer spending … rose at a 2.9% annual rate last quarter. Business investment expanded at a 7.5% rate, led by a 10.8% jump in investment in equipment.”

WaPo, Vladimir Kara-Murza: ‘My first thought was that I was going to be led out to be executed’ https://tinyurl.com/57kxk9hc “I survived Putin’s gulag. Many others are left behind.”

WaPo: 24 hours of Trump: QAnon tributes, crude attacks and hawking pieces of his suit https://tinyurl.com/5f832nmj “With fewer than 70 days until the election, Trump is zigging and zagging with an arsenal of unfocused broadsides and peripheral pursuits.”

⭕ 28 Aug 2024

≣ America: Pope Francis: Rejecting migrants is a ‘grave sin’ [full text] https://tinyurl.com/37sumtu4 “Dear brothers and sisters, let us join our hearts and forces, so that the seas and deserts are not cemeteries, but spaces where God may open up roads to freedom and fraternity.”

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote The Arlington staffer the Trump campaign aides physically assaulted is a woman. Trump and Vance hate women.
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @TheTNHoller CBS on the Arlington incident — they say the cemetery is protecting the female staffer’s identity for fear of attacks. ¤ The Trump campaign went after her mental health for trying to enforce the law.
⋙ 🐣 RT @luellajschmidt She said no and instead she was physically made to comply. Then she was called crazy when she reported it. Sound familiar?

🐣 RT @ResoluteSquare NEW! There’s a surge in voter registrations by a key demographic ahead of the election—registration is up 175% among young Black and Latina Women ¤ “You just don’t see that sort of thing happen in elections normally.” This means “I’m fired up and want to participate in this election,” says @TargetSmart advisor @tbonier [NewRepublic link:] https://tinyurl.com/ydrdmfs2
◕ 💽 https://x.com/ResoluteSquare/status/1828929183763910830/photo/1
// TargetSmart: Among 13 states that have updated voter registration totals; Week of July 21 2020 to week of July 21 2024

✛ 176% Young Black Women
✛ 150% Young Latinas
✛ 98% Black Women
✛ 86% Black Americans
✛ 84% Young Women

WaPo, Ruth Marcus: A new indictment points to Trump’s illegal acts — and justices’ errors https://tinyurl.com/2jd3j6j5 “What does the new Trump indictment tell us? That the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling makes no sense.”

CNBC: Trump budget would spike deficits by nearly 5 times Harris proposal, says Penn Wharton https://tinyurl.com/y6cdypz4 “Harris has proposed raising corporate taxes to pay for her plan while Trump has put forward a hardline tariff policy on all imports, including higher rates for China.”

🐣 RT @CatholicNewsSvc #PopeFrancis gives a stark message on migration during his general audience: ¤ “It needs to be said clearly: There are those who systematically work by all means to drive away migrants, and this, when done knowingly and deliberately, is a grave sin.”

TheGuardian: JD Vance attacks childless teachers in newly resurfaced remarks https://tinyurl.com/j34jc5aa “Republican vice-presidential candidate criticizes ‘leaders on the left’ and Randi Weingarten in 2021 clip” //➔ Thereby insulting every Catholic taught by nuns!

TheGuardian: Ex-Trump Defense Secretary Esper says Arlington cemetery should never be used for ‘partisan political purposes’ https://tinyurl.com/27shbh3e “Mark Esper says he hoped reported altercation between Trump staff and cemetery workers was investigated”

⭕ 27 Aug 2024

🐣 RT @kairyssdal The relevant federal law:32 CFR § 553.32(c) Memorial services and ceremonies at Army National Military Cemeteries will not include partisan political activities.
⋙ 🐣 RT @davidfolkenflik From NPR’s @QuilLawrence: Arlington National Cemetery officials say Trump campaign staff verbally abused and pushed aside cemetery official who objected to filming and photography at gravesites ¤ More below and to follow on NPR
[TextLink:] https://x.com/davidfolkenflik/status/1828564672490152400/photo/1 -4
↥ ↧
🐣 RT @DeanObeidallah DESPICABLE: Trump’s henchmen rough up Arlington National Cemetery worker for telling them to comply with the federal law that bars taking photos of dead soldiers for political purposes.
⋙ NPR: Trump campaign staff had altercation with official at Arlington National Cemetery https://tinyurl.com/u8wezcvd

🐣 RT @NashIsHere4It The meltdown no one was waiting for…
[TextLink:] https://x.com/NashIsHere4It/status/1828554538619674910/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @realDonald Trump In an effort to resurrect a “dead” Witch Hunt in Washington, D.C., in an act of desperation, and in order to save face, the illegally appointed “Special Counsel” Deranged Jack Smith, has brought a ridiculous new Indictment against me, which has all the problems of the old Indictment, and should be dismissed IMMEDIATELY. His Florida Document Hoax Case has been completely dismissed. This is merely an attempt to INTERFERE WITH THE ELECTION, and distract the American People from the catastrophes Kamala Harris has inflicted on our Nation, like the Border Invasion, Migrant Crime, Rampant Inflation, the threat of World War Ill, and more….

….For them to do this immediately after our Supreme Court Victory on Immunity and more, is shocking. I’ve also been informed by my attorneys, that you’re not even allowed to bring cases literally right before an Election – A direct assault on Democracy! This is an unprecedented abuse of the Criminal Justice System. The case has to do with “Conspiracy to Obstruct the 2020 Presidential Election,” when they are the ones that did the obstructing of the Election, not me. They cheated on the Election, and they go after me for “cheating on the Election.” Interestingly, this comes at the exact same time as Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook has admitted to concealing massive amounts of information, such as Hunter Biden’s Laptop from Hell, which is a direct acknowledgment that the 2020 Presidential Election was MANIPULATED and RIGGED by the DOJ. What they are doing now is the single greatest sabotage of our Democracy in History.

….This travesty is now on Comrade Kamala Harris, who is actively pushing it, rather than immediately calling for its dismissal, as should be done. This is for Third World Countries and Banana Republics, not for the U.S.A.! As Jack Smith knows, the whole case should be thrown out and dismissed on Presidential Immunity grounds, as already ruled unequivocally by the U.S. Supreme Court. Smith rewrote the exact same case in an effort to circumvent the Supreme Court Decision. The people of our Country will see what is happening with all of these corrupt lawsuits against me, and will REJECT them by giving me an overwhelming Victory on November 5th for President of the United States…

…No Presidential Candidate, or Candidate for any Office, has ever had to put up with all of this Lawfare and Weaponization directly out of the Office of a Political Opponent. They’ve Weaponized local D.A.s and Attorney Generals, and anybody else that will listen, to Interfere with the upcoming 2024 Presidential Election – Never been done before. This is now Kamala’s Weaponized System against her Political Opponent. All of these Scams will fail, just as Deranged Jack’s Hoax in Florida has been fully dismissed, and we will win the Most Important Election in the History of our Country on November 5th. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!,

🧵 RT @AnnaBower BREAKING: A superseding indictment has been returned in Trump’s federal election interference case in Washington, DC.
📌 https://x.com/AnnaBower/status/1828523981910999338
⋙ 🐣 RT @AnnaBower READ the superseding indictment against Donald J. Trump here:
[CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/44p2epej 36p

TheAtlantic, Peter Wehner: Trump’s Evangelical Supporters Just Lost Their Best Excuse https://tinyurl.com/yeytsb27 “The pro-life justification for supporting the former president has now collapsed.” //➔ Abortions are UP; Doctors are alarmed
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1828593514076139794/photo/1
⋙ [Chart Source:] Vox: What two years without Roe looks like, in 8 charts https://tinyurl.com/35dht658 “Americans are confronting a whole new reality of patchwork abortion access after the Dobbs decision.”

The most common argument made by former President Donald Trump’s evangelical supporters in defense of their support is that although Trump may not be a moral exemplar, what matters most in electing a president is his policies. And for them, abortion is primus inter pares.

Trump is a great pro-life champion, they say, perhaps the greatest in history, and that is what most distinguishes him from the abortion extremism of Kamala Harris. On that basis alone, they insist, Trump, regardless of his faults and failures, deserves their votes.

I understand that line of argument, though I strongly disagree with it. The rationale was always weaker than Trump’s supporters were willing to admit, because Trump’s moral depravity was always far worse and more dangerous than they were willing to acknowledge. And his achievements fell far short of their hopes and claims to end abortion.

But the pro-life justification for supporting Trump has just collapsed. Trump, who described himself as “strongly pro-choice” in the 1990s—including support for so-called partial-birth abortion—has returned to his socially liberal ways. “My Administration will be great for women and their reproductive rights,” he recently declared on Truth Social. Kamala Harris couldn’t have stated it any more emphatically.

It’s true that Trump’s appointees to the Supreme Court played an essential role in overturning Roe v. Wade. But ending Roe is not the same thing as reducing the number of abortions in America. In fact, the number of abortions has increased since the 2022 Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe. As Philip Klein wrote in National Review, “overturning Roe was only the necessary first step of a much longer battle to protect the lives of the unborn. And on that battle, it increasingly looks like Trump is joining the other side.”

From a pro-life perspective, though, it’s actually worse than that. Trump has done what no Democrat—not Bill or Hillary Clinton, not Mario Cuomo or John Kerry, not Joe Biden or Barack Obama, not any Democrat—could have done. He has, at the national level, made the Republican Party de facto pro-choice. Having stripped the pro-life plank from the GOP platform, having said that Governor Ron DeSantis’s ban on abortion after six weeks is “too harsh” and a “terrible mistake,” and having promised to veto a national abortion ban, Trump has now gone one step further, essentially advocating for greater access to abortion.

But that’s not all. The public is more pro-choice today than it was at the start of Trump’s presidential term, with pro-choice support near record levels. Approval for abortion is strongest among younger people, who will be voting for many decades to come. (Seventy-six percent of 18-to-29-year-olds say abortion should be legal in all or most cases.) Since the Dobbs decision, ballot measures restricting abortions have lost everywhere, including deep-red states such as Kansas and Kentucky. In addition—and this fact doesn’t get nearly enough attention—the number of abortions increased 8 percent during Trump’s presidency, after three decades of steady decline.

So voting for Donald Trump didn’t mean you were voting for fewer abortions. Abortions declined by nearly 30 percent during Barack Obama’s two terms, and by the end of his term, the abortion rate and ratio were below what they were in 1973, when Roe v. Wade was decided. But they went up again on Trump’s watch. Public opposition to abortion is collapsing. Pro-life initiatives are being beaten even in very conservative states. The GOP has jettisoned its pro-life plank after having it in place for nearly a half century. And Trump himself is now saying he’d be great for “reproductive rights,” a position that pro-lifers have long insisted is a moral abomination.

This is not a surprise. Betrayal is a core character trait of Trump’s. He’s betrayed his wives, his mistresses, his friends, his business associates, people who have worked for him, and his country. There is no person and no cause he will not double-cross. The pro-life movement is only the latest thing to which he has been unfaithful, and it won’t be the last.

The question to ask yourself is: Who in the pro-life movement—Al Mohler, Mike Huckabee, Franklin Graham, Eric Metaxas, Marjorie Dannenfelser, Ralph Reed, Tony Perkins, Robert Jeffress, and countless others—will speak out, publicly and forcefully and relentlessly, against Trump’s about-face? Will they tell the full truth, which is that abortions increased during the Trump presidency, that the pro-life movement is weaker than at almost any time in its history, and that, when it comes to making the Republican Party the home of the pro-life cause, Trump is doing unprecedented damage?

Will they now say of Trump what they say of liberal Democrats, that he supports the murder of innocent unborn children?

Now ask yourself this: How could an evangelical who claims to be passionately pro-life vote for a presidential candidate who now promises that his administration will “be great for women and their reproductive rights”? Especially when that person has cheated on his wives and on his taxes, paid hush money to porn stars, and been found liable of sexual assault?

And how can those who profess to be followers of Jesus cast a ballot for this candidate, once the excuse of casting a pro-life vote is gone? For a convicted felon and a pathological liar, a man who has peddled racist conspiracy theories, cozied up to the world’s worst dictators, blackmailed an American ally, invited a hostile foreign power to interfere in American elections, defamed POWs and the war dead, mocked people with handicaps, and encouraged political violence? How can they continue to stand in solidarity with a person who has threatened prosecutors, judges, and the families of judges; who attempted to overthrow an election; who assembled a violent mob and directed it to march on the Capitol; and who encouraged the mob to hang his vice president? …

This is not a hard call. Trump deserves the disapprobation of evangelical Christians, not their vote. But he will get their vote, in overwhelming numbers, even if he has sold out the very cause they once professed greatest devotion to. Character counts? That’s so passé. Being pro-choice is a moral travesty? Only, it seems, if you’re a Democrat. Moral relativism is a threat to our nation? Not if you’re part of MAGA world; in that case, taking a blowtorch to moral norms and truth is a blast. Love your enemies? Not if they’re progressive.

Donald Trump has done incalculable damage to our political and civic culture. But he has also performed, even if inadvertently, a public service. He is a political and moral CAT scan, showing the ethical core of many of his supporters. It has been quite the revelation.

The evangelical movement comprises tens of millions of Americans; many of them are people of integrity and faithfulness. My own life has been profoundly enriched by its adherents. But we cannot deny what is true: Much of the evangelical world has validated many of the worst indictments of the secular world. There are so many scandals, so much cynicism and hypocrisy, so much to grieve. Much of what evangelicals and fundamentalists have claimed to stand for, certainly in the realm of politics and culture, turns out to have been an affectation, an illusion. They want power and revenge. Donald Trump Jr., in channeling the attitudes of many Trump supporters, said at a Turning Point USA gathering in 2021 that the teachings of Jesus have “gotten us nothing.”

In his book The Subversion of Christianity, the French sociologist and lay theologian Jacques Ellul argued that what we call Christianity is “the opposite of what we are shown by the revelation of God in Jesus Christ.” In many cases, and throughout history, according to Ellul, the Church, with its emphasis on moralism and its teachings in the political sphere, has perverted the Gospel. Ultimately, Ellul is hopeful because, as he puts it, “Christianity never carries the day decisively against Christ.” That is the hope many of us hold on to, but it’s hardly ideal. A movement that claims Jesus as its own should be more than a whitewashed tomb.

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Project 2025 hopes to ultimately replace all income & corporate taxes with a consumption tax. Unsurprisingly, this plan would hurt most of the country and benefit a select few: the richest 10%. ¤ cc: @amprog
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1828455403023196405/photo/1

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla JPMORGAN: “.. The US stands out as the only large economy in which #GDP has risen faster than our estimated 2019 potential growth rate path would have anticipated. ..
“.. the US has been deemed exceptional in its ability to generate a complete post-pandemic recovery ..” 🇺🇸
◕ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1828451987215786097/photo/1

BBC: Zuckerberg regrets bowing to Biden ‘pressure’ over Covid https://tinyurl.com/5c7uakv2
⋙ 🐣 he’s rather have seen people die from drinking bleach and taking hydroxychloroquine, which was proven not to worth; disinformation is why the US death rate from COVID-19 was so high ¤ TAKE NOTE, FACEBOOK USERS ¤ Zuck is just another half-brained man-baby billionaire
⋙⋙ Axios (3/25/2022): The pandemic has been deadlier in red states https://tinyurl.com/yckdjys8
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1828461948473610472/photo/1

WaPo: US lawmakers visit Butler PA, in probe of Trump assassination attempt https://tinyurl.com/45ede6ev ‘Six Dems and three GOP toured the Butler Farm Show grounds and met with law enforcement officials about the Trump shooting.’ Four addtl GOP members did not attend.
⋙ ⬆️ This the group of Reps assigned by @SpeakerJohnson to investigate (7 GOP, 6 Dems) ¤ In addition, a group of MAGA nuts has appointed itself to do a parallel investigation including Andy Biggs, Daniel Bongino, Eli Crane, Matt Gaetz, Cory Mills, Erik Prince, Chip Roy ¤ The background says: Heritage Foundation, the darlings who gave us Project 2025. ¤ They will work the counter-narrative.

⭕ 26 Aug 2024

Politico: House GOP faces competing Trump assassination attempt probes https://tinyurl.com/3y2fd443 ‘🤡 Some conservatives 🤡 complained Monday that the bipartisan task force investigating the shooting of the former president is moving too slowly.’ 🤡 = Gaetz, Biggs, Roy, Bongino, Prince etc

MuellerSheWrote: Jack Smith has Officially Taken Judge Cannon to the 11th Circuit https://tinyurl.com/2sxkxfcw “Smith has filed his appeal of Judge Cannon’s dismissal of the Obstruction and Espionage classified documents case on the grounds that he was appointed improperly”

TheAtlantic, Tom Nichols: The rage and shame of the anti-anti-Trumpers is getting worse. https://tinyurl.com/mr4567fd “The behavior of the anti-anti-Trumpers continues to be an inexcusable betrayal of the values they once claimed to hold.”
// orig title: The Conservatives Who Sold Their Souls for Trump

🐣 RT @AWeissmann_ Jack Smith files his appeal brief seeking to reverse Cannon and reinstate the case. He files a day early, and uses no adjectives or adverbs or histrionics- he doesn’t need to as he has the facts and law completely on his side. The brief is a devastating refutation of Cannon, who was reversed twice already by the 11th Circuit appeals court. 3 strikes and is she out? Smith does not ask for that relief (yet) – but the court cd order it nonetheless.

🐣 RT @AnnaBower JUST IN: Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed his opening brief at the 11th Circuit, arguing that the appeals court should reverse Judge Aileen Cannon’s order dismissing Trump’s charges in the classified documents case.
[CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/yzp2za3j
[TextLink:] https://x.com/AnnaBower/status/1828154319650054309/photo/1

⭕ 25 Aug 2024

⭕ 24 Aug 2024

⭕ 23 Aug 2024

NBCNews: Some Secret Service officials have been placed on leave in response to Trump assassination attempt https://tinyurl.com/563ch9tu “includ[ing] the head of the Pittsburgh field office, whose office was responsible for coordinating the security plan in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 1”

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla,GARZARELLI CAPITAL: “.. the rise in money supply .. during Trump’s last year in office .. led to rising inflation showing up about a year later. ¤ “.. Biden’s stimulus packages contributed to the decline in the inflation rate because his programs produced strong gains in productivity ..” 🇺🇸
◕ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1827122668178432180/photo/1 -2 (1-4)

🐣 RT @Mollyploofkins Do you like your state governor?
⋙ 🐣 Yes! My governor is Tim Walz! ¤ And if he becomes VP, I also love our next governor: ¤ Peggy Flanagan, who would be the First Native American Governor in US history!
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1827102852566651318/photo/1

🐣 RT @PolitiFact Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose campaign of conspiracy theories earned him PolitiFact’s 2023 Lie of the Year, suspended his 2024 presidential campaign today. Here are 6 times we put Kennedy on the Truth-O-Meter in 2024.
¤ https://x.com/PolitiFact/status/1827079882204942392
⋙ 🐣 He’s on the right team.
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1827100056656474329/photo/1 (three factchecks)

🐣 RT @SecretaryPete Nearly 800,000 manufacturing jobs have been created since 2021, many in our rural communities—a major turnaround from past manufacturing downturns. The Biden-Harris Investing in America agenda is delivering historic investments and new opportunity in rural communities and beyond.

WaPo, Philip Bump (June 7): The increase in employment among immigrants is not a Biden conspiracy https://tinyurl.com/26mjv8dz It is, instead, heavily a function of the baby boom.
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1826969670752116970/photo/1

💙 💽 CSPAN/DNC: Democratic National Convention: Kamala Harris’ Closing Remarks at DNC https://tinyurl.com/4zh2n63f
// Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris delivers closing remarks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. She says she sees a “nation ready to move forward, ready for the next step in the incredible journey that is America” and “together, let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told!”

⭕ 22 Aug 2024

💙 💽 CSPAN/DNC: Democratic National Convention: Kamala Harris’ Closing Remarks at DNC https://tinyurl.com/4zh2n63f
// Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris delivers closing remarks at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. She says she sees a “nation ready to move forward, ready for the next step in the incredible journey that is America” and “together, let us write the next great chapter in the most extraordinary story ever told!”

⭕ 21 Aug 2024

💙 💽 CSPAN/DNC: Democratic National Convention: Gov. Tim Walz Accepts Democratic Party’s Vice Presidential Nomination https://tinyurl.com/48czyr27

💙 💽 YouTube/CSPAN/DNC: Democratic National Convention: Secretary Pete Buttigieg Full Remarks https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ly8K8wRFSDo

🐣 RT @stuartpstevens I’ve spent a lot of my life sizing up political talent. The secret of success as a political consultant is working for candidates who are going to win anyway.
¤ https://x.com/stuartpstevens/status/1826482402463494432

The talent disparity between the Dem and R parties is like nothing I’ve seen. What happened? R’s became more white, more evangelical, more angry when the rest of the country was becoming less white, more secular and more optimistic.

The better candidates were drawn to the D party. Trump exposed the Republican party as a fraud and now you have freaks like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk picking a freak like J.D. Vance. It takes a long time to develop talent and the R’s have squandered decades.

🐣 RT @mccaffreyr3 Gov Tim Walz as VP candidate a superb choice to join VP Harris as the Democratic Presidential candidate. Gov Walz and family are iconic American values. Teacher. Coach. 24 years in uniform as NG Sergeant Major. Congress. Governor. MAGNIFICENT.

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson His caregivers should be ashamed.
⋙ 🐣 RT @AntiToxicPeople This man is extremely unwell and normally people this delusional are in a psych ward.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/AntiToxicPeople/status/1826313696546631721/photo/1
// Trump antisemitic attack on Josh Shapiro

🐣 Even the word “Slav” means “slave”
⋙ FrontPage (2020): Islam’s Sexual Enslavement of White Women https://tinyurl.com/53hx9mk3 by Raymond Ibrahim, author of Sword and Scimitar, is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center.
¤ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1826267195241820268
// 10/6/2020

🐣 RT @AWeissmann_ Party conventions usually are scripted, “life-like,” deadly bores – regardless of party. ¤ Is it just me, or is this the best friggin convention we have ever seen? Inventive, inspiring, energizing.

WaPo: Obamas electrify Democrats at Chicago convention https://tinyurl.com/4rsume2c Both said “they saw the same sense of excitement and hope that characterized their own rise to the White House now surrounding Kamala Harris”

⭕ 20 Aug 2024

💙 💽 CSPAN/DNC: Democratic National Convention: Barack Obama (44th President) https://tinyurl.com/2a3ksauu Former President Barack Obama is the keynote speaker on the second day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. He speaks about his support for the Harris-Walz ticket and why the country cannot afford four years of a second Trump presidency.

💙 💽 CSPAN/DNC: Democratic National Convention: Michelle Obama (Former First Lady) https://tinyurl.com/4prpnbbp Michelle Obama (Former First Lady) speaks at day two of the DNC.

NBCNews: JD Vance accused Tim Walz of lying about his IVF experience. Fertility doctors say confusion is common. https://tinyurl.com/exa5znav Gwen Walz recently revealed that she underwent a fertility treatment called intrauterine insemination.

Usually, Tim and Gwen Walz have described the fertility treatments they underwent as “like IVF,” but once he said ‘I wouldn’t have a family because of IVF and the things that we need to do reproductive. My kids were born through that direct — you know, that way.” This awkward phraseology can be related simply to the sensitivity of the topic. I’m sure Walz wants to yell “It’s none of your damn business!” about now.

But keeping it real: Conservatives who oppose IVF are usually concerned about the discarding of embryos. But, speaking ontologically, if your concern is that a particular human being (zygote A) will be destroyed, IUI results in the same thing. Failed procedures mean that any future zygote will eventually be a different person (Zygote B, C etc) with a different genetic makeup and future life course. “Natural processes” were interfered with which is “playing God.” This is the thinking that can lead to banning any form of birth control, as some wish.

Bloomberg, Justin Fox (June 18): I Didn’t Think Biden Affected Crime Rates. I Was Wrong. https://tinyurl.com/327h4paw “When you look at the data, the president deserves some credit for the decline.”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1826000083470660078/photo/1

🐣 RT @EndTribalism RFK’s VP Nicole Shanahan says they are debating whether to stay in the race or drop out and join forces with Trump:
¤ https://x.com/EndTribalism/status/1825913860412354588

“There’s two options that we’re looking at and one is staying in, forming that new party, but we run the risk of a Kamala Harris and Waltz presidency because we draw more votes from Trump.

Or we walk away right now and join forces with with Donald Trump and explain to our base why we’re making this decision.”

⭕ 19 Aug 2024

🐣 RT @VABVOX Biden really gave the speech of his career at the #DNC. He covered his presidency, his reasons for running in 2020 and stepping down last month, his faith in Harris, his 50yr career working for America. He talked about what he still wants to do and what he hopes Harris will continue and expand upon. He laid out the dangers of Trump succinctly and with real clarity. It was powerful, it was moving, it was pure Joe. #DNC

🧵 RT @atrupar I’m going to put together a thread covering night 1 of the 2024 DNC in Chicago, featuring a headlining speech from President Biden. Follow along for clips and commentary.
📌 💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1825654987768447148/photo/1 -n
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1825654987768447148.html

WaPo: Biden passes the torch to Harris on first night of DNC https://tinyurl.com/2jjxxpj3 “Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise early appearance at the Democratic convention on the night of President Joe Biden’s speech.”

CNBC: Powerful stock market rally still underpinned by huge number of advancing stocks https://tinyurl.com/4wrpxe2r “S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite are up eight straight sessions – the longest advances since November of last year for the S&P 500 and December for the Nasdaq”

NYT (Mar 21): Large Grocers Took Advantage of Pandemic Supply Chain Disruptions, F.T.C. Finds https://tinyurl.com/y2w568yw “A report found that large firms pressured suppliers to favor them over competitors. It also concluded that some retailers ‘seem to have used rising costs as an opportunity to further hike prices.’”

Town&Country (Jul 21): Kamala Harris’s Mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, Taught Her Daughters Resilience https://tinyurl.com/mwu6sp4e Harris once said her mother was the “greatest source of inspiration in my life.” (Photo with mother Shyamala and sister Maya)
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1825485588125868107/photo/1

CaribbeanLoopNews (2020): Who is Donald Harris? Jamaican dad of Kamala is a prominent economist https://tinyurl.com/477tuybp Donald met Shyamala Gopalan at Berkeley during the Civil Rights Movement
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1825482382595535269/photo/1

⭕ 18 Aug 2024

TheGuardian, Carole Cadwalladr: Inciting rioters in Britain was a test run for Elon Musk. Just see what he plans for America https://tinyurl.com/msza7n6a “[W]hile Kamala Harris is enjoying her hot girl summer and liberal America is sighing with relief, it’s to Britain that the US needs to look”

🐣 RT @BlueATLGeorgia All former Democrat living presidents except Carter (who is 99 and in hospice) are speaking at DNC. ¤ You know who skipped the RNC? Trump’s own VP Mike Pence, former President George W Bush, his VP Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney, Former VP Dan Quayle, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, et al.
🖼 https://x.com/BlueATLGeorgia/status/1825186017244295569/photo/1

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom Just to remind people: Don’t argue with MAGA trolls. But for more well-meaning folks, it’s important to remember (as many don’t seem to get) that political parties are not actually government institutions and can choose their candidates by an apple-bobbing contest if they want.

TheGuardian, Janell Ross: The evolution of Kamala Harris: from activist in pigtails to presidential candidate https://tinyurl.com/mup3c998 “The daughter of civil rights activists has an unbroken history of working to change ‘anything that wasn’t right,’ friends say” [bio

[Reply to:] https://x.com/ReaganLandslide/status/1824864831805313355
⋙ Post-Covid inflation was a worldwide phenomenon caused by pent-up demand and supply-chain disruptions, followed by a period of price-gouging due to little competition and that the Biden/Harris administration handled better than every other G7 country
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1825049692654252191/photo/1
// plus other charts

⭕ 17 Aug 2024

🐣 RT @thewebbix
[TextLink:] https://x.com/thewebbix/status/1824812016768258168/photo/1

Afghanistan Withdrawal Facts
● Trump not Biden Negotiated directly with the Taliban terrorists and excluded the Afghan army.
● Trump not Biden Drew down US forces from 13,000 to 2,500, making them vulnerable to attack.
● Trump not Biden Ordered the release of 5,000 Taliban fighters from prison, one of whom would become the new leader of Afghanistan.
● Trump not Biden Wanted to invite the Taliban leaders to Camp David on the anniversary of September 11th. Seriously.
● Trump not Biden Agreed to a May Ist exit from Afghanistan, then bragged that he didn’t need an exit strategy.
● Trump not Biden Refused to brief Biden’s incoming team on the situation in Afghanistan.
● Trump not Biden Shut down every airbase in Afghanistan except one, crippling the US’s ability to extract its assets safely.
Pay attention to facts, not bullshit.

⭕ 16 Aug 2024

🐣 RT @MiaFarrow When no-fault divorce became the norm, domestic-violence rates dropped by some 30%, suicides among women dropped by 16 %, and the number of women murdered by their partners dropped by 10%.
[NBER link:] https://tinyurl.com/45undwzb

🐣 RT @billprady Someday some reporter will figure out how to explain to the American public how post-Covid inflation was a worldwide phenomenon caused by pent-up demand and that the Biden/Harris administration handled it better than every other country.
◕ https://x.com/billprady/status/1824561989030707477/photo/1
// headline inflation in G7 countries
⋙ 🐣 “caused by pent-up demand” and supply-chain disruptions, followed by a period of price-gouging due to littls competition ~ until the Biden admin shamed them into lowering prices ¤ now they’re lining up behind Trump because the want to continue to grow their monopolies

🐣 RT @DarrigoMelanie There’s nothing democratic about $1 billion being poured into elections from outside groups, with 7 of the 10 biggest spenders funding seditionists.
👉 Campaign finance reform protects democracy:
✅ Publicly-funded elections
🚫 End corporate PACs, Super PACs and outside spending
◕ https://x.com/DarrigoMelanie/status/1824496960734408912/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 Labeled
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1824658930900836589/photo/1
openSecrets: I looked up these PACs; 3 are Dem;  6 are GOP
One is Pro-Israel (didn’t count)

🐣 RT @mynamehear [Trump:] “You used to be able to get cereal for 20, 30 bucks a pound. Now it’s at least a hundred dollars a pound, probably. They debit it straight from your account when you show them your grocery ID.”
⋙ 🐣 posting for no particular reason
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1824538754104823983/photo/1
// actual prices of Cheerios x 4: $5-$6

🐣 Most of the world’s most advanced microchips are by Taiwan Semicomductor Mgfg Company ($TSMC), a huge vulnerability. The Chips and Science Act also includes funding for $TSMC chips to be produced at three sites in the 🇺🇸 including Arizona
⋙ AP (Apr 8, 2024): Biden administration announces $6.6 billion to ensure leading-edge microchips are built in the US https://tinyurl.com/34dskcmr
@SenatorRomney

🚫🐣 RT @officejjsmart “Russia may be preparing a nuclear provocation. ¤ Now they are lying about a ‘dirty bomb.’” – Ukrainian Government 🇺🇦
👉 Russia will do a false flag operation to take the attention off of their crisis in Kursk.
¤ https://x.com/officejjsmart/status/1824541874209673722

⚡️ This is what Russia has said in recent hours:
❗️“The Ukrainian Armed Forces are preparing to detonate a dirty nuclear bomb. The strikes are planned on the storage sites of spent fuel of nuclear power plants, war correspondent Khairullin reports, citing sources.“
❗️“The Ukrainian Armed Forces want to use charges with warheads containing radioactive substances to attack the Zaporizhzhya and Kursk NPPs, RIA Novosti reports, citing a source in the Russian security agency.”
❗️“Kyiv plans to strike Kursk and Zaporizhzhya NPPs to accuse Russia of provocation, TASS reports.”

👉 Russia – NOT Ukraine 🇺🇦 – is planning to do a false flag operation using nuclear materials or one of the nuclear plants!

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom Well, holy crap, didn’t think anyone would pick Bill the Butcher as a hero, but as the descendant of Irish Catholics, I find this, uh, concerning
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Vance: Has anybody seen the movie “Gangs of New York?.” That is what I’m talking about, with these ethnic enclaves in our country, it can lead to higher crime rates
💽 https://x.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1824510098586378404/photo/1

🐣 RT @SenatorLankford A reminder A reminder of the Biden-Harris Admin’s failures in Afghanistan: [FoxNews link:] https://tinyurl.com/bdfm3d6t
⋙ 🐣 Oh come on: Trump let the Taliban leaders out of prison, drew down forces, and committed the US to a date certain “out” date (which Biden managed to extend by a few months), left the Afghan govt out of negotiations, and did not expedite the Exit Visa process. He left NO transition plans. ¤ He did this AFTER he knew he lost the election and BRAGGED about how he’d knee-capped Biden.
⋙⋙ MSNBC, Maddow (8/31/2021): Trump tries to have it both ways, bashing Biden for Afghanistan deal he locked in https://tinyurl.com/5hcv4s4a
// Rachel Maddow highlights the hypocrisy of Donald Trump bragging to his supporters at a rally about how he’d ensured a U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and then weeks later criticizing President Joe Biden for the very thing he set in motion. Florida Rep. Bill Posey also paints himself a hypocrite for voting against expediting the processing of visas of U.S. Afghan allies and then criticizing the Biden administration for not making “every effort.”

🐣 RT @Bricktop_NAFO 🚨Russia reduced the age of admission to the armed forces to 14 years old🚨
The age of admission to the armed forces, aviation and navy of Russia has been reduced from 18 to 14 years, according to a draft federal law.
They will now be sending children to die
⋙ 🐣 They are cannibalizing themselves!
Russian population (Russia proper, not the USSR, not Crimea etc)
⋙ pre-WW1: 170M
⋙ post-WW2: 97M
⋙ now: 142M
United States 346M (for comparison)

🐣 RT @ @kylegriffin1 BREAKING. Vice President Harris just unveiled her economic policy agenda, which includes:

* Eliminating medical debt for millions of Americans
* A ban on price gouging for groceries and food
* A cap on prescription drug costs
* A $25,000 subsidy for first-time homebuyers
* A Child Tax Credit that would provide $6,000 per child to families for the first year of a baby’s life

🐣 RT @mmpadellan Donald trump’s main “claim to fame” has famously been his business prowess, a mostly unearned reputation of being “good at business.”
¤ https://x.com/mmpadellan/status/1824294964303413472

He gained that rep from “anonymously” bragging about himself to reporters, exaggerating the value of his properties, and then propping up his image by yelling “you’re fired” on a dumb reality show that ended up being canceled for weak ratings.

But everything about him is smoke and mirrors, from the lifts in his shoes to make him look taller, to the makeup on his face making him look…oranger.

He was unscrupulous: he frequently stiffed workers who did work on his properties. He learned that he could just go to court and outlast them, forcing them to have to settle for a much lower price than negotiated.

Let’s take a look at his bankruptcies, business closures, and fraud findings:
Trump Taj Mahal – bankrupt
Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino – bankrupt
Plaza Hotel – bankrupt
Trump Castle Hotel and Casino – bankrupt
Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts – bankrupt
Trump Entertainment Resorts – bankrupt
Trump Vodka – discontinued
Trump Steaks – discontinued
Trump Ice (water) – discontinued
Trump Magazine – closed
Trump Mortgage – closed
Trump Airlines – He took an airline (Eastern Air Shuttle) that was running for 27 years, put his name on it, and it closed within 3 years
Trump University – closed for fraud
Trump Foundation – closed for fraud
Trump Organization – fined $355 million for… fraud
The Apprentice – canceled
Stormy Daniels – claims he didn’t have sex with her, paid her $130,000 to prevent allegations from becoming public; allegations went public, so he paid for nothing

Trump Media & Technology Group Corp – Worthless stock trading $DJT at $23.57, after peaking above $70 per share. Losing billions.
American JOBS – he lost almost 3 million jobs, the most job losses since Herbert Hoover, due to mismanaging the COVID crisis.

So WHY do people think trump is good at business? ¤ It’s all a mirage, and we need to EXPOSE this fraud. ¤ We cannot and should NOT let him run America the way he ran his failed businesses.

⭕ 15 Aug 2024

MNReforner (Aug 15): After George Floyd’s killing, policing defined Tim Walz’s tenure https://tinyurl.com/4e46jvat “It’s just insane what he’s been able to get done in a post-George Floyd political landscape” ~ Justin Terrell, exec dir of Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1829492009679348193/photo/1

🐣 RT @SenWhitehouse People deserve to know what’s in Project 2025. @SenateDems read the toxic playbook so you don’t have to. ¤ Here’s a look at Project 2025’s vision for our country. ¤ Spoiler: it’s not pretty.
🔄 📔 ⋙ SenateDems: Leader Schumer Exposes The Reality Of Project 2025 https://tinyurl.com/4sxtc68a “Far-Right MAGA Republicans’ Disastrous Roadmap For Future Would Devastate The US Economy, Decimate Public Safety, And Destroy Our Country”

CNN (2016): Stabbing suspect had gone to mall to buy an iPhone, source says https://tinyurl.com/ujsrtb8c No one was seriously hurt. The attacker was shot dead.
// The incident took place In St. Cloud, MN, not Minneapolis
¤ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1824343679823147107

Another incident took place in Mpls in 2019, but the perpetrators turned out not to be Somalia, although the community assumed that they were, The attackers were arrested and charged. (see below)

I worked for 10 years at the University of Chicago Hospitals and for 15 years at Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN. (ChatGPT:) In the US, 28% of all US physicians are immigrants, as are 15-20% of nurses, and 15-25% of other staff.

Based. on my experience, these %s are higher for academic medical centers. At the U of Chicago, I worked in Ob/Gyn. At least 60% of the Faculty physicians were from the Middle East. The Head of OB was Egyptian. The Chair of the Department was Jewish.

.✅ AP Factcheck (2019): Somali gang not responsible for recent attacks in Minneapolis https://tinyurl.com/5a744h3z “AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. Minneapolis police have “no indication” that suspects charged in the Aug. 3 attack on a man outside of Target Field, which was captured on surveillance video, are Somali”
// 9/18/3019

✅ Axios (1/22/2024): Violent crime declined in Minneapolis and St. Paul in 2023 https://tinyurl.com/yckdphep [However, it is uo compared to levels prior to the George Floyd murders]
⋙ More recent data, comparing 2024 with 2023 indicates murder is down 13% in Mpls and 25% in St. Paul

Question (8/16/2024): In Minnesota do Somali immigrants have a higher rate of violent crime than other ethnicities?
✅ ChatGPT: [From Conclusions:] Based on available information, there is no definitive evidence to suggest that Somali immigrants in Minnesota have a higher rate of violent crime compared to other ethnicities.

MN[.]gov: How Minnesota Ranks https://tinyurl.com/2w4vnsaz Sources of rankings are at link
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1824227371500601616/photo/1

🧵 RT @atrupar I’m going to put together a thread covering Trump’s press conference in Bedminster, which apparently will feature props. Follow along for clips and commentary.
📌 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1824179800887451952/photo/1 -n

🐣 RT @SenSanders Nearly 18 million adults and 6 million children suffer from Long COVID. ¤ The time has come to start treating the Long COVID crisis as the public health emergency that it is.
★ ⋙ DailyBeast: Bernie Sanders: America Must Confront Its Long COVID Crisis https://tinyurl.com/mpzknzsb “Long COVID is real. It is negatively impacting tens of millions of people throughout the United States and the world. We can no longer ignore it, or its sufferers’ treatment needs.”

💽 CNN: Hidden-camera video shows Project 2025 co-author discussing his secret work preparing for a second Trump term https://tinyurl.com/mryattuv “He claimed that Trump has ‘blessed’ his organization and ‘he’s very supportive of what we do.‘”

🐣 Now JD Vance has insulted every Americans whose ancestry is:
Italian: 15.7 million (6%)
Irish: 31.5 million (9.5%)
German: 49 million (17%)

⭕ 14 Aug 2024

🐣 📊 RT @SimonWDC This chart from the @MonmouthPoll is really remarkable:
◕ https://x.com/SimonWDC/status/1823855974471627195/photo/1
// 8/8-12; RV; Enthusiasm Jun/Aug: GOP 71%/71%; Dems 46%/85%; Ind 34%/53%

📊 Newsweek: Donald Trump’s Support Among White Working Class Has ‘Shrunk Significantly’ https://tinyurl.com/23z28a3x Based on the NYT/Siena Poll, Trump’s support among this group ~ his “base” ~ has shrunk by 13% since May

🐣 RT @mfa_russia ⚡️ Maria #Zakharova: 💬 [Attack on Zaporozhskaya NPP] has once again shown the danger Zelensky regime, incited by the West to new criminal adventures, continuous supply of deadly weapons to Kiev, & its regular financial support pose to the entire world. http://t.me/MFARussia/21496
⋙ 🐣 Russia is a state sponsor of terrorism: you target innocent civilians, which is a violation of the International Humanitarian Laws of War ¤ Ukraine targets military installations (including weapons stores kept in civilian sites, but does it off-hours); that is allowed under IHLofW
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1823805293517791247/photo/1

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla Monday night’s conversation “underlined how far the once-vibrant and powerful network has fallen. .. I’m confident this presidential election will be X’s last.”
⋙ Bloomberg, Dave Lee: Musk’s X Reeks of Failing Social Network Syndrome https://tinyurl.com/5e43dpeu
// The former Twitter is losing users, advertisers and relevance. This presidential election will be the platform’s last.

🐣 RT @byHeatherLong The July inflation report is full of good news. Low inflation for food and energy — and deflation for some things.
2.9% (y/y) inflation -> lowest since March 2021
1.1% (y/y) for groceries overall
1.1% gain for energy
-2.8% for airline prices
-6.2% for car rental
-2.8% for toys
-11% for used cars
Even rent is finally showing signs of cooling.
5.1% rent –> lowest since March 2022
◕ https://x.com/byHeatherLong/status/1823703488531984632/photo/1
// inflation since 1970

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla “It’s looking more and more like the U.S. inflation battle is done.” 🇺🇸 #CPI
⋙ 🐣 RT @byHeatherLong JUST IN: A great inflation report. In July, annual inflation cooled to 2.9% — the first time it’s been below 3% since early 2021. ¤ Falling car prices and flat energy costs helped bring inflation down. The monthly increase was 0.2% (as expected) ¤ It’s looking more and more like the U.S. inflation battle is done.
◕ https://x.com/byHeatherLong/status/1823699532019888375/photo/1

🐣 RT @SquawkCNBC “She’s bringing out people who are not interested in voting for either Trump or Biden, so the entire electoral pool has changed,” says @FrankLuntz of VP Harris. “She’s got an intensity advantage, and I haven’t seen anything like this happen in 30 days in my lifetime.”
💽 https://x.com/SquawkCNBC/status/1823680189542346793/photo/1

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla APOLLO: “.. US households are in much better shape than households in Canada and the UK.” [Slok] 🇺🇸
◕ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1823680798375207318/photo/1

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla What a chart.
⋙ 🐣 RT @MikeZaccardi MBA Mortgage Refinance Index – best since May 2022 https://tinyurl.com/5e48yaav
◕ https://x.com/MikeZaccardi/status/1823678677751603636/photo/1

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla COOK: Our new survey shows Harris “leading or tied with .. Trump in all but one of the seven battleground states. ¤ “The one state where Trump still holds a slim lead is #Nevada, though Harris has narrowed Trump’s margin by six points.” @CookPolitical https://tinyurl.com/4eh7f7vn
◕ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1823671931322950087/photo/1

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla Tuesday’s #NFIB print “was overshadowed by PPI, but the index hit the highest level since Feb 2022. The percentage of companies intending to increase hiring also went up and that index tends to precede lower unemployment by 1-2 months.” – JPM desk 🇺🇸
◕ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1823668107182785007/photo/1

🔄🔄 😂 RT @JayinKyiv The smartest woman in Russia explains why Ukraine will win.
💽 https://x.com/JayinKyiv/status/1823654790762528934/photo/1

⭕ 13 Aug 2024

🐣 RT @TerryMoran Sean O’Brien, Teamsters president, spoke at the GOP convention. ¤ Now after Trump and @elonmusk laughed about firing workers on strike, he tells @rachaelmbade: “Firing workers for organizing, striking, and exercising their rights as Americans is economic terrorism.”

🐣 RT @cwebbonline I don’t often agree with David Jolly, but he’s on point about Trump’s campaign: ¤ “I genuinely think the last three weeks have been one of the worst chapters of a presidential campaign and modern political history. It’s that bad. Donald Trump’s in freefall and it is because of the candidate.”
💽 https://x.com/cwebbonline/status/1823567902039298090/photo/1

🐣 RT @The Harris-Walz campaign’s message of joy has extended to that most relatable of things: food, @elcush writes:
🖼 https://x.com/TheAtlantic/status/1823574059935801502/photo/1
⋙ TheAtlantic, Ellen Cushing: The Hotdish Ticket https://tinyurl.com/4z95jtf7 ‘The governor of Minnesota’s hotdish recipe involves, among other things, whole milk, half-and-half, two types of meat, three cups of cheese, nearly a stick of butter, and a full package of Tater Tots’
// 8/9/2024; The Harris-Walz campaign’s embrace of food is a signal.

🐣 RT @casssemyon 📍Mankato, MN: This week I spoke with two of Gov. @Tim_Walz’s former colleagues who recalled working alongside Walz and his wife, Gwen, at Mankato West. Aaron Miller, who taught and coached football alongside Walz, called him a “Renaissance man.” ¤ My dispatch from the trail – with @TheJoeKonig: https://tinyurl.com/23ec3vwa
💽 https://x.com/casssemyon/status/1823494600230658067/photo/1

🐣 RT @VetsForRL This article from @bostonherald w/ comment from @MNNationalGuard shows that @Tim_Walzdid his duty & has a right to say he retired as a Command Sergeant Major. ¤ Everyone who posted a claim or video about him dodging service owes him a profound apology. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/yw275ac9

🧵 RT @stopthecoup2025 1/3 Our goals: how we want to #StopProject2025 and ensure that nothing like it will EVER be able to be even attempted.
1. Shore up the Federal Government and our system of checks and balances from future coup attempts.
📌 [TextLink:] https://x.com/stopthecoup2025/status/1823413109991588119/photo/1

⋙ 2/3 Our goals: how we want to #StopProject2025 and ensure that nothing like it will EVER be able to be even attempted. ¤ 2. Go all in on human rights, civil rights, and bodily autonomy, at home and abroad, to make them unassailable by future Christian Nationalist attempts.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/stopthecoup2025/status/1823413814379131328/photo/1

⋙ 3/3 Our goals: how we want to #StopProject2025 and ensure that nothing like it will EVER be able to be even attempted. ¤ 3. Ensure that our government and military never fall prey to 3rd column, autocratic takeovers. ¤ Full position paper here: https://stopthecoup2025.org/position-paper
[TextLink:] https://x.com/stopthecoup2025/status/1823415208842547251/photo/1

🐣 RT @MarkHertling Haven’t posted on various Ukrainian actions for the last few weeks, as I’ve been involved with some other things. But I was asked my thoughts this morning on the Ukrainian operation over the last 8 days.
¤ https://x.com/MarkHertling/status/1823394911246487768

In my view, this action has been impressive. It shows a careful intelligence preparation of the battlespace, a well-designed maneuver plan, the use of combine arms (infantry, mechanized forces, artillery, air defense, engineers, signal, air coordination (drones) and supporting logistics), good operational security, a prisoner plan, & an linkage between the tactical and the strategic.

I’d classify this as a doctrinal “demonstration,” which is defined as “a show of force in an area where a decision is not sought, but an action is made to deceive the enemy or gain a short-term advantage.” Demonstrations – depending on the design – last anywhere between a day to a few weeks, depending on the ability to resupply and secure the operation against enemy counterattacks.

It is the ground equivalent of the Doolittle Raid of WWII, which demonstrated that the Japanese mainland was vulnerable to American air attacks when the Japanese least expected it. ¤ Well done Ukraine!

⋙ 🐣 Crimea is a possible objective as they’ve been taking out radar, military bases and got the Ru Navy to leave Sevastopol . There are two land links, on a map, on the right they only need to take out some bridges. On the left is a narrow strip of land.
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1823401322546176413/photo/1

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA 👀 “24 years ago there was the “Kursk” disaster – the symbolic beginning of Putin’s rule, and now it is clear that it is the end for him. Kursk, again”, — Zelensky
⋙ 🐣 RT @ @Skunkworks069 “KURSK” was an Omen of what lay ahead..a direct unbreakable connection 2 d what d Universe had in store..while premonitions r just wild guesses sometimes that submarine was a tell tale sign that VOVA was/is mentally deranged..Glory to the Armed Forces of Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇲🇺🇦

NYRB, Ian Frazier: Heeeere’s Tim! https://tinyurl.com/4bbusu93 “Governor and Mrs. Walz break the Democrats’ pattern of seeming to prefer the coasts.”

⭕ 12 Aug 2024

USAFacts: How many immigrants are in the American workforce? Of the 169 million workers in the United States, more than 32 million are immigrants. https://tinyurl.com/mr3kzuj5 That’s over 19% of the workforce.
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1828066652719546809/photo/1

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom I don’t care what any of you say, this is freakin’ awesome.
¤ https://x.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1823161572237197554
// read for comments [Elmo interviews DonOld]

🐣 Really good article about Minnesota Volunteers at Gettysburg ~ and more,
⋙ TheNation, John Nichols: Kamala Harris, Tim Walz, and the Battle Cry of Freedom https://tinyurl.com/ptbs2er6 In Wisconsin, the campaign tapped into one of the most resonant parts of this country’s history—with a little help from Bon Iver.
🎶 Version from film “Lincoln”: https://youtu.be/v582kPp43Mg?si=CIHWJiNklGhBXQqz

The Battle Cry of Freedom
by George F. Root

Yes we’ll rally round the flag, boys, we’ll rally once again,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom,
We will rally from the hillside, we’ll gather from the plain,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!

[Chorus:]
The Union forever! Hurrah, boys, hurrah!
Down with the traitor, up with the stars;
While we rally round the flag, boys, rally once again,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!

We are springing to the call with a million freemen more,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
And we’ll fill our vacant ranks of our brothers gone before,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
[Chorus]

We will welcome to our numbers the loyal, true and brave,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
And although he may be poor, not a man shall be a slave,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
[Chorus]

So we’re springing to the call from the East and from the West,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
And we’ll hurl the rebel crew from the land we love best,
Shouting the battle cry of freedom!
[Chorus]

TheGuardian, Robert Reich: Donald Trump’s ego cannot handle being trounced by Kamala Harris https://tinyurl.com/4m68vyjj “Trump’s ego has been so injured by the huge turnout at Harris’s rallies that he’s now claiming they’re ‘fake’”

🧵 RT @NormOrnstein Trump’s desperation strategy is clear: get enough states to fail to certify, throw the election to the House. Rs may have a majority of states even if Ds recapture the House. Here are 10 key states that could make the difference, with the key races involved. Thread
📌 https://x.com/NormOrnstein/status/1823039747989594351

⭕ 11 Aug 2024

🐣 RT @MomsSol #DemsUnited Holy crap on a cracker! ¤ MediaMatters got an advanced copy of Kevin Roberts (the architect of Project 2025) new book Dawn’s Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America. ¤ *** the original title submitted was Dawn’s Early Light: Burning Down Washington to Save America ¤ No wonder he delayed the book! It is full of revolutionary rhetoric! ¤ Project 2025 + Dawns Early Light = ScaryAF! ¤ I‘m not even going to try and summarize the article from Media Matters. Read for you self here ⬇️ https://tinyurl.com/tr5utpvv
[TextLink:] https://x.com/MomsSol/status/1822776588204974557/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @mccaffreyr3 Sec Def Austin and DOD building capability to respond if required against overwhelming attack on Israel by Iran and Hezbollah. Dangerous times. Chances of major escalation to regional war significant. We’re on the edge of 1914…. a war no one wants.
⋙ 🐣 RT @CENTCOM Secretary of Defense Austin has ordered the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN Carrier Strike Group, equipped with F-35C fighters, to accelerate its transit to the Central Command area of responsibility, adding to the capabilities already provided by the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT Carrier Strike Group. ¤ In addition, the Secretary has ordered the USS Georgia (SSGN 729) to the Central Command region. Read full readout here: https://tinyurl.com/2yv9hnmd

🐣 RT @KatiePhang THIS ⤵️
“A team of NPR reporters and editors reviewed the transcript of [Trump’s] news conference and found at least 162 misstatements, exaggerations and outright lies in 64 minutes. That’s more than two a minute.”
✅ ⋙ NPR: 162 lies and distortions in a news conference. NPR fact-checks former President Trump https://tinyurl.com/2ut4ff55
[doesn’t include embedded links, which are included in the original article]

There were a host of false things that Donald Trump said during his hour-long news conference Thursday that have gotten attention.

A glaring example is his helicopter emergency landing story, which has not stood up to scrutiny.

But there was so much more. A team of NPR reporters and editors reviewed the transcript of his news conference and found at least 162 misstatements, exaggerations and outright lies in 64 minutes. That’s more than two a minute. It’s a stunning number for anyone – and even more problematic for a person running to lead the free world.

Politicians spin. They fib. They misspeak. They make honest mistakes like the rest of us. And, yes, they even sometimes exaggerate their biographies.

The expectation, though, is that they will treat the truth as something important and correct any errors.

But what former President Trump did this past Thursday went well beyond the bounds of what most politicians would do.

Here’s what we found, going chronologically from the beginning of Trump’s remarks to the end:

1. “I think our country right now is in the most dangerous position it’s ever been in from an economic standpoint…”

The U.S. economy has rebounded from the pandemic downturn more rapidly than most other countries around the world. Growth has slowed in recent months, but gross domestic product still grew at a relatively healthy annual clip of 2.8% in April, May and June – which is faster than the pace in three of the four years when Trump was president. — Scott Horsley, NPR chief economics correspondent

2. “…from a safety standpoint, both gangs on the street…”

We don’t have great, up-to-date data on gang activity in the U.S., but violent crime trends offer a good glimpse into safety in the country. Nationally, violent crime – that includes murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault – has been trending way down after a surge in 2020, according to the most recent data from the FBI. That data is preliminary and incomplete, covering around three-quarters of the country, but other crime analysts have found similar trends. Crime levels, of course, vary locally: murders are down in Philadelphia, for instance, but up in Charlotte, N.C. — Meg Anderson, NPR National Desk reporter covering criminal justice

3. “…and frankly, gangs outside of our country in the form of other countries that are, frankly, very powerful. They’re very powerful countries.”

The U.S. is not in the “most dangerous position” from a foreign-policy standpoint than ever before. Biden pulled troops out of Afghanistan in his first year in office — though the withdrawal itself was chaotic and a target of much criticism — and since then, U.S. troops have not been actively engaged in a war for the first time in 20 years. The U.S. is supporting Ukraine and Israel, of course, and has troops in Iraq and Syria, but they’re not fighting on any regular basis.

What’s more, however, FBI Director Christopher Wray has said the greatest threat to the country is domestic extremism. And beyond organized groups the very definition of extremism is changing, as fringe ideologies move into the mainstream, and radicalization takes hold amongst parts of the populace. Consider: the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and the assassination attempt on Trump’s life, even with a motive that remains murky at best. Regardless, the call is coming from inside the house, domestic extremism experts warn. Many polls show a sobering degree of support for political violence to drive change. — Andrew Sussman, NPR supervising editor for national security

4-5. “We have a lot of bad things coming up. You could end up in a Depression of the 1929 variety, which would be a devastating thing, took many years– took many decades to recover from it, and we’re very close to that.”

There is nothing to suggest that a 1930s style Depression is on the horizon for the United States. And the Depression did not take “many decades to recover from.” It ended during World War Two, in 1941. — Scott Horsley

6. “And we’re very close to a world war. In my opinion, we’re very close to a world war.”

No serious person thinks that the U.S., Russia and China are about to start a world war. Right now, Russia appears to be having a hard time defending Russia, given Ukraine’s recent incursions. While there are concerns about things like the potential for regional conflagrations in the Middle East, only Trump is talking about world war. — Andrew Sussman

7. “Kamala’s record is horrible. She’s a radical left person at a level that nobody’s seen.”

It’s debatable how liberal Harris is. Some in California didn’t like her record on criminal justice and thought she was not progressive enough. She’s clearly liked by progressives and her voting scores as a senator are on the liberal end of the spectrum, but is she “radical left” and “at a level that nobody’s seen”? There are plenty of people alive and in history who would be considered far more liberal and more radical.

8. “She picked a radical left man.”

Few, if any, reasonable people would say Walz is a “radical left man.” He had a progressive record as governor with a Democratic legislature, but the things passed are hardly radical – free school lunch, protecting abortion rights, legalizing marijuana, restricting access to certain types of guns. All of these things have majority support from voters. What’s more, that “progressive” record ignores Walz’s first term as governor when he worked with Republicans because Democrats didn’t control the legislature. And it ignores Walz’s time as a congressman when he was considered a more moderate member given that he was from a district that had been previously held by a Republican.

9. “He’s going for things that nobody’s ever even heard of. Heavy into the transgender world.”

Last year, Walz championed and signed a bill that prevented state courts of officials from complying with child-removal requests, extraditions, arrests or subpoenas related to gender-affirming health care that a person receives or provides in Minnesota. “Heavy into the transgender world” is vague and misleading.

10. “He doesn’t want to have borders. He doesn’t want to have walls.”

Walz has never called for having no borders. He has voiced opposition to a wall because he doesn’t think it will stop illegal immigration. He told Anderson Cooper on CNN, for example, that a wall “is not how you stop” illegal immigration He called for more border-control agents, electronics and more legal ways to immigrate.

11. “He doesn’t want to have any form of safety for our country.”

Trump himself praised Walz’s handling of the aftermath of the George Floyd murder at the hands of a police officer. And it’s certainly hyperbole to say he “doesn’t want any form of safety for our country.” Walz served in the U.S. National Guard for 24 years, so clearly, he’s interested in the country having national security. And domestically, he’s never been a “defund the police” advocate. Walz opposed a ballot measure that would have gotten rid of minimum police staffing levels, for example. That angered advocates. He signed police reforms into law, but that does not prove wanting no safety.

12. “He doesn’t mind people coming in from prisons.”

Walz has not said he wants people coming in from prisons. Trump is trying to tie his claim that other countries are sending prisoners to the United States to Democrats’ immigration policies.

13. “And neither does she, I guess. Because she’s not, she couldn’t care less.”

Harris has said a lot to the contrary of not caring about the levels of migrants coming across the border, let alone people coming in from prisons. In fact, when in Guatemala, she said her message for people thinking of immigrating to the United States was: “Do not come. Do not come.”

14. “She’s the border czar. By the way, she was the border czar, 100%. And all of a sudden, for the last few weeks, she’s not the border czar anymore, like nobody ever said it.”

Harris was never appointed “border czar.” That’s a phrase that was used incorrectly by some media outlets. Biden tasked Harris with leading the “diplomatic effort” with leaders in Central American countries, where many migrants are coming from.

Biden said he wants Harris “to lead our efforts with Mexico and the Northern Triangle and the countries that help — are going to need help in stemming the movement of so many folks, stemming the migration to our southern border.” He added that Harris “agreed to lead our diplomatic effort and work with those nations to accept — the returnees, and enhance migration enforcement at their borders — at their borders.”

Harris herself that day spoke of “the need to address root causes for the migration that we’ve been seeing.”

15. “We have a very, very sick country right now. You saw the other day with the stock market crashing. That was just the beginning. That was just the beginning.”

The stock market did not “crash.” The stock market fell sharply at the end of last week as investors fretted about a softening job market. This was amplified on Monday when Japan’s stock market tumbled 12%, sparking a selloff around the world. Stocks in Japan and elsewhere have since regained much of this ground, however. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 683 points on the day of Trump’s news conference. — Scott Horsley

16. “Fortunately, we’ve had some very good polls over the last fairly short period of time.”

Most good polls have shown Harris gaining not just nationally, but also in the swing states, though these same polls show a very close race.

17. “Rasmussen came out today. We’re substantially leading.”

Trump is not substantially leading, and Rasmussen is viewed as one of the least credible pollsters in the country.

18. “And others came out today that we’re leading, and in some cases, substantially, I guess, MSNBC came out, or CNBC came out also, with a poll that was, you know, has us leading.”

Polls have not shown substantial leads. CNBC had Trump leading by 2, unchanged from his 2-point lead in July.

19. “And leading fairly big in swing states. In some polls, I’m leading very big in swing states… .”

Again, polls in swing states have shown a tightened race.

20. “But as a border czar, she’s been the worst border czar in history, in the world history.”

Vice President Harris was never asked to lead immigration policy. That’s the job of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Again, the term “border czar” was used inaccurately by some media outlets, and it’s a term conservatives have been using to attack her, in part, because she has only visited the Southern U.S. border a few times since 2021. But in reality, Harris was tapped by President Biden to address the root causes of migration. Her approach has focused on deterrence. She’s told migrants to not come to the U.S., and she has been able to secure more than $5 billion in commitments from private companies to help boost the economy in Central American countries. — Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, NPR immigration correspondent based in Texas

21. “I think the number is 20 million, but whether it’s 15 or 20, it’s numbers that nobody’s ever heard before. 20 million people came over the border in the last– during the Biden-Harris administration. Twenty-million people. And it could be very much higher than that. Nobody really knows what the number is.”

It’s unclear where Trump is getting this number from. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, since 2021 agents have had more than 7.3 million encounters nationwide with migrants trying to cross into the country illegally. Under Biden, unlawful crossings hit an all-time high last year, but that number has decreased significantly, in part, due to Biden’s asylum restrictions at the Southern U.S. border. An April report from the Office of Homeland Security Statistics found there’s nearly 11 million unauthorized migrants in the country. — Sergio Martínez-Beltrán

22. “Just like far more people were killed in the Ukraine-Russia war than you have reported.”

Neither Russia nor Ukraine is revealing its own casualty figures, so there are only very broad estimates. — Andrew Sussman

23. “A lot of great things would have happened, but now you have millions and millions of dead people. And you have people dying financially, because they can’t buy bacon; they can’t buy food; they can’t buy groceries; they can’t do anything. And they’re living horribly in our country right now.”

Grocery prices actually jumped sharply during Trump’s last year in office, as pandemic lockdowns disrupted the food supply chain and Americans were suddenly forced to eat more of their meals at home. Grocery inflation in June 2020 hit 5.6%. This was masked, however, by a plunge in other prices, as the global economy fell into pandemic recession.

As the economy rebounded, prices did, too. Inflation began to rise in 2021, and spiked in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent food and energy prices soaring. Inflation has since moderated, falling from a peak of 9.1% in June 2022 to 3% in June 2024. (July’s inflation figures will be released next week.) Grocery prices have largely leveled off in the last year, although they remain higher than they were before the pandemic – a potent reminder of the rising cost of living.

Economists have warned that Trump’s proposed import tariffs and immigration restrictions could result in higher inflation in the years to come. Researchers from the Peterson Institute for International Economics estimate the tariffs alone would cost the typical family about $1,700 a year. — Scott Horsley

24. “We’ve agreed with NBC, fairly full agreement, subject to them, on Sept. 10th.”

This is ABC, not NBC.

25. “She can’t do an interview. She’s barely competent and she can’t do an interview.”

Harris hasn’t done interviews since getting into the campaign, but she has done them in the past, so saying “she can’t do” one or that she is “barely competent” are just insults. Trump tends to revert to questioning the intelligence of Black women who challenge him. In fact, Trump did it nine times in this news conference, saying either Harris is not that “smart” (five times) incompetent” (three times) or “barely competent,” as he did here.

26-27. “Why is it that millions of people were allowed to come into our country from prisons, from jails, from mental institutions, insane asylums, even insane asylums, that’s a– it’s a mental institution on steroids. That’s what it is.”

Immigration experts have said they have not been able to find any evidence of this. Adam Isacson, director for defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America, told FactCheck.org: “It’s hard to prove a negative — nobody’s writing a report saying, ‘Ecuador is not opening its mental institutions’ — but what I can say is that I work full-time on migration, am on many coalition mailing lists, correspond constantly with partners in the region, and scan 300+ RSS feeds and Twitter lists of press outlets and activists region wide, and I have not seen a single report indicating that this is happening. … As far as I can tell, it’s a total fabrication.”

Notably, a version of this did happen in 1980 during the Mariel boatlift from Cuba. The Washington Post noted three years later: “Back in 1980, it seemed to be a humanitarian and patriotic gesture to accept provisionally, without papers or visas, all those fleeing from the port of Mariel. More than 125,000 came. Most were true refugees, many had families here, and the great majority has settled into American communities without mishap. But the Cuban dictator played a cruel joke. He opened his jails and mental hospitals and put their inmates on the boats too.”

Without a question, some migrants who have come into the U.S. have committed crimes, but the data show the vast majority do not. According to Northwestern University, immigrants are less likely to commit a crime than U.S.-born people and certainly at no higher rates that the population writ large. (Trump goes on to repeat this claim minutes later in the news conference as well, so it is included in our count here.)

28. “We have a president that’s the worst president in the history of our country.”

Trump may have this opinion, but he says it as if it’s fact, and a 2022 survey of historians ranked Biden in the top half of presidents. Trump, on the other hand, was No. 43. The two below Trump were James Buchanan, who did little to stop the impending U.S. Civil War, and the impeached and nearly convicted Andrew Johnson.

29. “We have a vice president who is the least admired, least respected, and the worst vice president in the history of our country.”

A recent rating of vice presidents did not show this. Harris was in the bottom half of vice presidents, but Spiro Agnew, Dan Quayle, Henry A. Wallace and were toward the bottom of the list.

30. “The most unpopular vice president.”

This might have been true about a year ago or so, but not anymore. An NBC poll then showed Harris had the lowest favorability rating of any modern VP they’d tested. But her numbers have turned around. The NPR poll had Harris with a 46%/48% favorable to unfavorable rating, which was higher than Trump’s and his running mate, JD Vance, who is among the least popular running mates in recent history.

31. “Don’t forget, she was the first one defeated. As I remember it, because I watched it very closely, but she was the first one.”

Harris was not “defeated,” because she dropped out of the Democratic presidential race before Iowa. But even if one considers her dropping out on Dec. 3, 2019, a defeat, she was not the first of the Democratic candidates in that primary campaign to do so. At least 10 others dropped out sooner.

32-34. “And I’m no Biden fan, but I’ll tell you what, from a constitutional standpoint, from any standpoint you’re looking at, they took the presidency away. … And they took it away.”

There’s nothing in the U.S. Constitution about picking presidential candidates. This is a party process, and everything has been done within party rules. And, again, the presidency wasn’t taken away: Biden is still president.

35. “They said they’re going to use the 25th Amendment.”

This was never floated as a possibility to get Biden to withdraw from the race. Biden’s Cabinet members are all people he appointed and who are loyal to him. In addition, the 25th Amendment outlines a procedure for removing a sitting president from office, not from running for a second term.

36-39. They’re going to hit you hard. ‘Either we can do it the nice way. I heard, I know exactly, because I know a lot of people on the other side, believe it or not. And, they said, ‘We’ll do it the nice way, or we’ll do it the hard way.’ And he said, ‘All right.”

This was not said; he did not hear; no Democrats in the know are talking to Trump; and this dialogue is made up.

40. “We’re leading, we’re leading.”

The race is statistically tied in national polls and in the states. In some national polls, Harris leads. In some, Trump does.

41-42. “I’m saying it’s a–, for a country with a Constitution that we cherish, we cherish this Constitution to have done it this way is pretty severe, pretty horrible. … But to just take it away from him, like he was a child.”

Again, this is Trump talking about how Biden stepped aside, and there’s nothing in the Constitution about how the political parties should pick candidates. And nothing was taken away.

43-46. “And he’s a very angry man right now, I can tell you that. He’s not happy with Obama, and he’s not happy with Nancy Pelosi. Crazy Nancy, she is crazy, too. She’s not happy with any of the people that told him that you’ve gotta leave. He’s very unhappy, very angry, and I think he, He also blames her. He’s trying to put up a good face, but it’s a very bad thing in terms of a country when you do that. I’m not a fan of his, as you probably have noticed, and he had a rough debate, but that doesn’t mean that you just take it away like that.”

Trump can’t speak to Biden’s state of mind; all evidence is that Nancy Pelosi is perfectly sane – see her recent multiple rounds of interviews about her book, including with NPR; again, Trump doesn’t know Biden’s state of mind; and again, nobody took it away.

47-51. “She’s trying to say she had nothing to do with the border. She had everything. She was appointed to head the border. And then they said border czar. Oh, she loved that name. She loved that name. But she never went there. She went to a location once along the border, but that was a location that you would love to go and have dinner with your husband or whoever. That was a location that was not part of the problem. That was not really going to the border. So I– essentially she never went to the border.”

(1) As previously noted, she was not put in charge of the border and certainly did not have “everything” to do with it; (2) she was not appointed to head the border; (3) if “they” is the White House, then “they” did not call her “border czar”; (4) Trump doesn’t know what Harris might have thought about the term; (5) Harris did not go to a place at the border “you would love to go and have dinner with your husband or whoever.”

In 2021, Harris toured border patrol facilities in El Paso, Texas, visited an area where asylum seekers were screened, and met with migrants. Republicans criticized her at the time for not going to the Rio Grande Valley.

52. “Now we have the worst border in the history of the world.”

World history is filled with cases where one country has crossed a border and invaded a neighboring country.

53. “She destroyed San Francisco. She destroyed California as the A.G. But as the D.A. She destroyed it. She– San Francisco. … She destroyed– no cash bail, weak on crime, uh, she’s terrible.”

As San Francisco’s district attorney from 2004 to 2011, and then California’s attorney general until 2017, it’s true that Kamala Harris was deeply connected to how crime was prosecuted during that particular period. However, no single person is responsible for destroying any city or state, not to mention that both are not destroyed.

There are just too many factors that contribute to why crime rises and falls. What’s more, according to the FBI, both violent and property crime rates in California more or less mirrored national trends during her tenures. As a prosecutor, Harris was largely seen as aligning more with law-and-order tendencies, though she has supported some progressive reforms, like offering certain criminal defendants drug treatment instead of going to trial. She also tweeted support for a Minnesota bail fund after the 2020 protests of George Floyd’s murder. — Meg Anderson

During her campaign for the 2020 nomination, she rolled out a plan that would have phased out cash bail, and she pledged to eliminate it as president because “no one should have to sit in jail for days or even years because they don’t have the money to pay bail.” But in the same campaign, during a debate, former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard criticized Harris for keeping cash bail in place as district attorney.

54. “And yet they weaponized the system against me.”

The justice system was not weaponized against Trump. Biden went through pains to not show any interference with the Justice Department. And Trump was found guilty by a jury of his peers in New York in a state case.

55-58. “I won the big case in Florida. I won the big case. … Nobody even wrote about it. The big case.”

(1) Trump did not “win” the classified documents case against him in Florida; (2) this was not “the big case” against him; (3) there was plenty of coverage of it; and (4) he goes on to repeat that he won the case later.

For context: the judge in the case controversially dismissed it, claiming the independent counsel was unconstitutionally appointed despite Supreme Court decisions upholding independent counsels. The Justice Department has signaled it will appeal by the end of August but by the time the decision comes back, the election will be over.

Trump had four criminal cases against him including the classified documents case – the fraudulent business practices case in New York, for which he was convicted on 34 felony counts; an election interference case in Georgia; and the other federal case dealing with Jan. 6. If there was a biggest case, it was the last one.

59. “The judge was a brilliant judge, and all they do is they play the ref with the judges. But this judge was a fair but brilliant judge.”

There has been lots of criticism of the judge in the case, Aileen Cannon, who Trump appointed. She had very little experience as a trial judge, made several decisions that were questioned by legal experts and early in this case, had a ruling, in which she called for a special master to review classified documents first, overturned by the 11th Circuit.

60. “Now Biden lost it because he didn’t have presidential immunity. He didn’t have the Presidential Records Act. He lost it.”

This was not “Biden’s case.” It was to be tried by special counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland. The Biden White House has made efforts to keep an arms-length distance from the investigation. Biden often declined to comment on the Justice Department’s and state investigations into Trump when it would likely have been politically advantageous for him to talk about it on the campaign trail.

61. “But the– I call it prosecutors, special counsel, special prosecutor to me. He–, appointed by him and appointed by Garland. He said the man’s incompetent. He can’t stand trial, but he can run for president.”

This appears to be a misrepresentation of what special counsel Robert Hur said of Biden in a report he released investigating the president’s handling of classified documents. Hur said he wouldn’t be charging Biden, called the president “an elderly man with a poor memory” and said a jury might find sympathy with him because of it. He did not say Biden was incompetent and could not stand trial.

62. “She couldn’t pass her bar exam.”

This is false. Harris passed her bar exam on the second try. She failed on first attempt, which is not unusual for California’s bar exam given its difficulty.

63. “I was doing very well with Black voters, and I still am. I seem to be doing very well with black males. This is according to polls, as you know.

Trump was not doing “very well” with Black voters. Biden was not doing as well with Black voters as he did in 2020, according to most surveys, but that didn’t mean Black voters were moving heavily toward Trump. Many seemed more likely not to vote. There were signs that Trump was doing better with Black men, but there wasn’t much good evidence to support this in polling, considering most national polls have such high margins of error with voter groups. A typical national survey might have 1,000 voters and 100 or so Black voters, give or take. That’s typically a margin of error upward of +/- 10 percentage points, meaning results could be a whopping 10 points higher or lower.

64. “Extremely well with Hispanic.”

Like with Black voters, it’s difficult to tell in most national surveys exactly how well a candidate is doing with Latino voters because of high margins of error. “Extremely well” depends on how it’s defined, but this is an exaggeration.

65. “Jewish voters, way up.”

Jewish voters traditionally vote roughly 2-to-1 for Democrats in presidential elections, so this seems more like a hope than reality.

66. “White males, way up. White males have gone through the roof. White males, way up.”

It’s just not the case that Trump is “way up.” NPR polling finds that while Trump is doing as well as ever with white men without college degrees, Harris – and Biden before her – is actually leading with white men with college degrees, a group Trump won in 2020, according to exit polls.

67. “It could be that I’ll be affected somewhat with black females. Well, we’re doing pretty well. And I think ultimately they’ll like me better, because I’m gonna give them security, safety and jobs.”

Trump is not doing well with Black females. Black women are a key pillar Democratic voting group, and Black voters have moved more in Harris’ favor since she’s gotten in.

69. “We have a very bad economy right now. We could, we could literally be on the throes of a Depression. Not recession, a Depression. And they can’t have that. They can’t have that.”

This is not the case. See earlier fact check. (He repeats this again later in the press conference, so it is included here in the count.)

70. “I know Josh Shapiro. He’s a terrible guy. And he’s not very popular with anybody.”

A Fox News poll last month showed Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a finalist to be Harris’ running mate, had a 61% approval ratingin the state. Other polls also found him with a net-positive rating, though, not quite as high.

71. “Listen, I had 107,000 people in New Jersey. You didn’t report it.”

It was reported that the numbers come from faulty information about the size of a crowd at Trump’s rally. More accurate estimates appear to be anywhere from 30,000 to 60,000. Still, a very large crowd, but Trump is exaggerating here.

72-77. “What did she have yesterday? 2,000 people? If I ever had 2,000 people, you’d say my campaign is finished. It’s so dishonest, the press. … When she gets 1,500 people, and I saw it yesterday on ABC, which they said, ‘Oh, the crowd was so big.’ … I have 10 times, 20 times, 30 times the crowd size. And no, they never say the crowd was big. … I think it’s so terrible when you say, ‘Well she has 1,500 people, 1,000 people,’ and they talk about, oh, the enthusiasm.”

(1-3) Trump gave at least three incorrect estimates here, downplaying Harris’ crowd sizes (2,000, 1,500 and 1,000); (4) He also far overestimated how big his crowd sizes are compared to Harris’; (5-6) He twice said the press is dishonest about her crowd size and about his.

For context, the Harris campaign’s estimate was 10,000or more at each rally. What the exact number is might be unclear — as is often the case with crowd-size estimates — but they were bigger than 2,000 and 1,500. Reporters have often commented on the size of Trump’s crowds. Frequently, they are very large, certainly larger than ones that Hillary Clinton drew in 2016 or Joe Biden this year, but Trump also regularly exaggerates their sizes.

78. “If I were president, you wouldn’t have Russia and Ukraine, where it never happened. Zero chance. You wouldn’t have had Oct. 7th of Israel.”

This is speculation, and that there is simply no way to know what would have happened in either case if he’d been reelected.

79. “You wouldn’t have had inflation. You wouldn’t have had any inflation because inflation was caused by their bad energy problems.”

Again, this is speculative. Energy and food prices jumped sharply around the world following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanctions on Russian energy. Gasoline prices in the U.S. hit a record high topping $5 a gallon. But domestic energy production has not suffered during the Biden administration. In fact, U.S. oil and natural gas production hit record highs last year. AAA reports the average price of gasoline today is $3.45/gallon. — Scott Horsley

80. I don’t know if you know, they’re drilling now because they had to go back because gasoline was going up to $7, $8, $9 a barrel.

Oil and gas production has largely been determined by energy companies. They were disciplined about not expanding production when prices were low but have become more aggressive as prices climbed. While Kamala Harris opposed “fracking” for oil and gas during her 2019 presidential campaign, she now says she would not try to outlaw the practice – which is important in battleground states such as Pennsylvania. — Scott Horsley

81. “Everybody’s going to be forced to buy an electric car, which they’re not going to do because they don’t want that. It’s got a great market. It’s got a market. It’s really a sub market.”

The Biden administration has set a goal of having 50% of new vehicle sales be electric by 2030. It has primarily tried to achieve this through carrots rather than sticks, offering incentives to make electric cars more affordable, encouraging the development of electric charging stations and using the federal government’s own purchasing power to create demand. — Scott Horsley

82. “We don’t have enough electricity. We couldn’t make enough electricity for that.”

A shift to electric vehicles will require a rapid updating and expansion of the U.S. power grid, according to the Electric Power Research Institute. However, as EVs become more efficient, the increased demand could be reduced by as much as 50% per mile traveled over the next three decades. — Scott Horsley

83. “The weight of a car, the weight of a truck, they want all trucks to be electric. Little things that a lot of people don’t talk about. The weight of a truck is two and a half times, two and a half times heavier.”

Electric vehicles are typically heavier than gasoline-powered vehicles, because of the batteries. But the weight difference is about 30%, not 250% as Trump said. What’s more, American vehicles have been getting heavier for decades, long before the move to EVs, thanks to the popularity of pickup trucks and SUVs.

84. “You would have to rebuild every bridge in this country, if you were going to do this ridiculous policy.”

While many bridges and other transportation infrastructure need improvement, the additional weight of EVs is just one of many factors that will need to be considered. Another challenge is that bridges and highways are typically funded through gasoline taxes. The shift to EVs, which don’t use gasoline, will require an alternate source of highway funding.

85-90. “So, but on crowd size in history, for any country, nobody’s had crowds like I have, and you know that. And when she gets 1,000 people and everybody starts jumping, you know that if I had a thousand people would say, people would say, that’s the end of his campaign. I have hundreds of thousands of people in, uh, South Carolina. I had 88,000 people in Alabama. I had 68,000 people. Nobody says about crowd size with me, but she has 1,000 people or 1,500 people, and they say, oh, the enthusiasm’s back.”

There were at least six different misstatements here – (1) Trump has had large crowds, but “in history,” there certainly there have been people with larger crowds, from Barack Obama and others; (2, 3) her crowds have been larger than 1,000, which he repeats twice; (4) no serious analysts have said this is the end of Trump’s campaign. This race is very close; (5) there’s no evidence for crowds of the size Trump notes in South Carolina and Alabama; (6) people do talk about Trump’s crowd sizes.

91. “They wanna stop people from pouring into our country, from places unknown and from countries unknown from countries that nobody ever heard of.”

Someone has likely heard of whatever the unnamed country is.

92-93. “We’re leading in Georgia by a lot. We’re leading in Pennsylvania by a lot.”

The races in Georgia and Pennsylvania are within the margin of error, according to an average of the polls.

94. “So I won Alabama by a record. Nobody’s ever gotten that many votes. I won South Carolina by a record. You don’t win Alabama and South Carolina by records and lose Georgia. It doesn’t happen.”

It does, and here’s why. Demographically, Georgia has become very different from South Carolina and Alabama. Georgia’s population is now majority-minority, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Alabama and South Carolina are 64% and 63% white, respectively.

Georgia’s Black population is also significant politically — 33% of the state’s population is Black. By comparison, Alabama is 27% Black, South Carolina 26%. Latinos also make up 11% of Georgia’s population and Asian Americans are 5%, both of which are higher than Alabama and South Carolina. And Georgia’s population is marginally younger — 15% of Georgia’s population is older than 65% compared to 18% in Alabama and 19% in South Carolina.

95. “If we have honest elections in Georgia, if we have honest elections in Pennsylvania, We’re gonna win them by a lot.”

Winning them by a lot is highly unlikely, considering how close the states have been in recent elections, but perhaps more pressing is Trump’s insinuation that there were voting problems in the two states, which there were not. That’s why Trump is upset with Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, for example, because he upheld the valid 2020 election results even in the face of pressure from Trump.

96. “Of course there’ll be a peaceful transfer. And there was last time.”

This wholly ignores the Jan. 6 siege on the Capitol, which took place because of Trump’s election lies.

97. “Because I’m leading by a lot.”

Again, this is a very close race.

98. “We have commercials that are at a level I don’t think that anybody’s ever done before.”

This is false. Since Super Tuesday, Democrats have outspent Trump’s campaign and outside groups supporting him by more than double, according to data provided by AdImpact and analyzed by NPR — $373.5 million to $150.6 million.

99. “She’s not smart enough to do a news conference.”

There is plenty of evidence that Harris is “smart enough to do a news conference,” as she has done in the past.

100. “We’re in great danger of being in World War III. That could happen.”

Again, no serious analyst believes this.

101. “I think those people were treated very harshly, when you compare them to other things that took place in this country where a lot of people were killed.”

The Justice Department investigation into the events of Jan. 6, 2021, is the largest and most complex federal criminal probe in U.S. history, the attorney general has said. More than 140 law enforcement officers were injured that day, in what U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves has described as the biggest mass casualty event involving police. It’s hard to find any comparable event in recent American history.

As of Aug. 6, 2024, according to Graves’s office, prosecutors have charged more than 160 people with using a deadly or dangerous weapon or causing serious bodily injury to an officer. Prosecutors have also secured convictions on the rarely-deployed charge of seditious conspiracy, or attempting to overthrow the government by use of force, against top leaders of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys.

Even so, only a small number of Jan. 6 defendants have been held in federal custody while they await trial. Mostly, these are the rioters who allegedly used the most violence on that day more than three years ago. Republican members of Congress have toured the jail facilities and decried conditions there, expressions of support that defendants facing ordinary charges in D.C. have not received. — Carrie Johnson, NPR national justice correspondent

102. “Nobody was killed on Jan. 6th.”

Conservatives were upset at the time that one of the rioters, Ashli Babbitt, was killed when she was shot by police, as she was trying to force her way into the Speaker’s Lobby of the Capitol, which leads to the House chamber, with a crowd of others. Many officers were injured that day; one died of a stroke as a result of Jan. 6; and others later died by suicide that their families say was also a result of Jan. 6.

103-105. “And, you know, it’s very interesting, the biggest crowd I’ve ever spoken to. … The biggest crowd I’ve ever spoken before was that day. … The biggest crowd I’ve ever spoken. … I’ve spoken to the biggest crowds. Nobody’s spoken to crowds bigger than me.”

It was not the biggest crowd he’s ever spoken to. His inauguration would have topped that. And others have had bigger crowds, as noted earlier.

106. “I said peacefully and patriotically.”

While Trump did utter those words, it is misleading. Trump also said the word “fight” multiple times, and he told the already angry crowd because of the election lies he fed them: “We fight like Hell and if you don’t fight like Hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” Trump aides testified that he “refused” to tweet the word “peaceful” in the days leading up to the rally because he thought it might discourage people from being there, and he was concerned about his crowd size.

107-108. “If you look at Martin Luther King, when he did his speech, his great speech, and you look at ours, same real estate, same, everything, same number of people. If not, we had more. …You look at the picture of his crowd, my crowd, uh, we actually had more people.”

First, the speeches did not take place at the “same real estate.” Trump spoke from a position just south of the Ellipse. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial

Second, the crowds were not the same size and Trump’s was certainly not larger. It is an extraordinary claim and shows just how much Trump cares about crowd size.

109. “We have a Constitution. It’s a very important document, and we live by it. She has no votes.”

Again, there’s nothing in the Constitution about how parties should pick their presidents.

110-111. “They said, ‘You’re not going to win, you can’t win, you’re out.’ And at first they said it nicely, and he wasn’t leaving, and then you, you know, the, you know it better than anybody. … At first, they were going to go out to another vote, they were going to go through a primary system, a quick primary system, which it would have to be. And then it all disappeared, and they just picked a person.”

As explained earlier, this is not how Biden wound up stepping aside. The story is yet another Trump invention. He also lies here in saying that “they were going to go through a primary system” and “it would have to be” a quick primary system.” There’s no requirement that a primary is held. In fact, for many years, candidates’ selection as party nominees had nothing to do with primaries, and they were not as prevalent as today.

112-113. “That was the first out. She was the first loser, OK? So, we call her the first loser. She was the first loser when– during the primary system, during the Democrat primary system, she was the first one to quit. And she quit.”

As explained earlier, Harris was not the first one out in the 2020 Democratic primary race. And “first loser” appears to be a name Trump made up at this news conference, as Harris has not been referred to that way as a result of her run for the 2020 nomination.

114. “She did, obviously, a bad job. She never made it to Iowa. Then for some reason, and I’m, I know he regrets it, you do too, uh, he picked her, and she turned on him too. She was working with the people that wanted him out.”

Once again, this is a false conspiracy invented by Trump.

115. “She was the first one out.”

Trump repeats this false line again.

116. “I think the abortion issue is written very much tempered down, and I’ve answered I think very well in the debate, and it seems to be much less of an issue especially for those where they have the exceptions.”

Abortion rights as a political and social issue has certainly not “tempered down.” There are millions of women, especially across the South, who do not have access to abortion and women who have experienced pregnancy losses with the inability to access medications for those necessary procedures.

117. “As you know, and I think it’s when I look for 52 years, they wanted to bring abortion back to the states. They wanted to get rid of Roe v. Wade and that’s Democrats, Republicans, and Independents, and everybody. Liberals, conservatives, everybody wanted it back in the states. And I did that.”

Everybody absolutely did not want that. It was actually quite unpopular for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe. And he again repeats that it has become less of an issue.

118-119. “I think that abortion has become much less of an issue. It’s a very small.”

“I think it’s actually going to be a very small issue. What I’ve done is I’ve done what every Democrat and every Every Republican wanted to have done.”

“I think the abortion issue has been taken down many notches. I don’t think it’s of– I don’t think it’s a big factor anymore, really.”

Minutes apart from each other, he repeats these three false claims. Abortion rights is not a “very small” issue for millions of voters. Democrats are organizing around it, and it has been seminal to Biden and Harris’ campaigns.

120. “Previous to [Virginia Gov.] Glenn [Youngkin], the governor, he said the baby will be born, we will put the baby aside, and we will decide with the mother what we’re going to do. In other words, whether or not we’re going to kill the baby.”

This is a distortion Republicans continue to push about what former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said. This has been fact-checked by others multiple times.

121-122. “I think the abortion issue has been, uh, taken down many notches. I don’t think it’s of, uh, I don’t think it’s a big factor anymore, really.”

“Everybody wanted it in the states.”

“But that issue has is very much subdued.”

He once again returns to the issue of abortions, which remains a “factor,” not everybody wanted it in the states, the issue is not “very much subdued.”

123-124. “She wants to take away everyone’s gun.”

Harris has not proposed taking away all guns. She has proposed banning assault-style weapons, something that was in place for a decade. Some surveys had shown majority support for this. Others show a split. (Trump makes this case later, as well, so that is also included in the count.)

125. “Some countries have actually gone the opposite way. They had very strong gun laws and now they have gone the opposite way, where they allowed people to have guns, where in one case they encouraged people to go out and get guns, and crime is down 29%.”

It’s difficult to compare gun violence and gun laws in the United States to other countries, simply because of the staggering amount of guns we have here. Although the U.S. has less than 5% of the world’s population, it holds almost 40% or more of the world’s civilian-owned guns. And it has “the highest homicide-by-firearm rate of the world’s most developed nations,” per the Council on Foreign Relations. Norway, Canada and Australia all tightened their gun restrictions after shootings. — Meg Anderson

126. “On July 4th, 117 people were shot and 17 died. The toughest gun laws in the United States are in the city of Chicago. You know that. They had 117 people shot. Afghanistan does not have that.”

Though Trump didn’t get the numbers exactly right, Chicago did have an incredibly violent July 4th holiday weekend this year. According to Mayor Brandon Johnson, more than 100 people were shot and 19 of those people died. Chicago does have strict gun laws, in part because its state does: Everytown For Gun Safety, a nonprofit that advocates for gun control, ranks Illinois third in the nation for the strength of its gun-control laws. However, no state or city exists within a bubble, and Illinois is surrounded by states with much weaker laws, including Indiana, which is just a short drive from Chicago. — Meg Anderson

127. “For 18 months, not one American soldier was shot at or killed, but not even shot at.”

This is, to put it charitably, misleading. It appears that he’s actually referencing the period when the Trump administration signed the deal with the Taliban, in advance of U.S. troops leaving. The deal said the U.S. would be out in 14 months, and in exchange the Taliban wouldn’t harbor terrorists and would stop attacking U.S. service members. Needless to say, the deal didn’t hold. But as the AP notes, “There was an 18-month stretch that saw no combat, or ‘hostile,’ deaths in Afghanistan: from early February 2020 to August 2021.” – Andrew Sussman

128. “Kamala is in favor of not giving Israel weapons. That’s what I hear.”

Harris does not support an Israel weapons embargo. A Biden administration official posted on social media that Harris “has been clear: she will always ensure Israel is able to defend itself against Iran and Iran-backed terrorist groups.” A leader of the uncommitted movement said Harris “expressed an openness” to a meeting about an embargo, but the Biden administration official said Harris “will continue to work to protect civilians in Gaza and to uphold international humanitarian law,” not that she would support an embargo.

129. “She’s been very, very bad to Israel, and she’s been very bad and disrespectful to Jewish people.”

Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, is Jewish. The couple has hosted Passover Seders.

130. “Well, I know Willie Brown very well. In fact, I went down in a helicopter with him. We thought maybe this is the end. We were in a helicopter going to a certain location together and there was an emergency landing.”

This claim has not held up to scrutiny. Politico reported that Trump did have to make an emergency landing in a helicopter with a Black California politician decades ago, but it wasn’t Willie Brown, the former San Francisco mayor and state assembly speaker. It was Nate Holden, a former Los Angeles city councilman and state senator.

131-132. “This was not a pleasant landing, and Willie was— he was a little concerned. So I know him. I know him pretty well. I mean, I haven’t seen him in years. But he told me terrible things about her.”

“He was not a fan of hers very much at that point.”

This is something Trump repeated twice, minutes apart from each other. Brown strongly denies having been on a helicopter with Trump or telling Trump negative things about Harris, whom he dated in the mid-1990s and supports now for president. The relationship ended in 1995.

133. “Our tax cuts, which are the biggest in history… .”

The 2017 tax cuts were not the biggest in history. As a share of the economy, they barely make the top 10. They were big enough, however, to blow a big hole in the federal budget, which is why Trump was overseeing a nearly $1 trillion dollar annual deficit before the pandemic. — Scott Horsley

134. “It’ll destroy the economy.”

This is what Trump said will happen if his tax cuts are not renewed. But The 2017 tax cut did not deliver the economic boom that its supporters promised, and there’s no reason to think reversing a portion of the cut would cause economic destruction. — Scott Horsley

135. “I’ve never seen people get elected by saying we’re going to give you a tax increase.”

Vice President Harris has echoed President Biden’s pledge not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000. However, Biden has called for raising taxes on wealthy individuals and raising the corporate tax rate from 21% to 28% – halfway back to where it was before the 2017 cut. — Scott Horsley

136. “These guys get up, think of it. ‘We’re going to give you no security.’ …”

No Democratic presidential candidate has advocated “no security.”

137. “…we’re going to give you a weak military… .’ ”

An analysis by the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, showed a “review of historical defense budget trends shows there is more at play in determining overall investments in defense than just which party is in the White House.” Indeed, since the year 2000, U.S.-led wars overseas have resulted in a surge of spending by both Democratic and Republican administrations.

138-139. “…‘we’re going to give you no walls, no borders, no anything.”

Harris, Walz and the Democratic Party have never said they want “no borders.” They certainly oppose Trump’s wall/fence along the entire U.S.-Mexico border, citing the exorbitant cost and its relative ineffectiveness, they say, compared to using other methods. (Trump later says that Harris wants “open borders,” so that’s included in the count here.)

140. “…we’re going to give you a tax increase.”

Again, this is misleading and suggests Harris wants to increase taxes across the board when they have consistently talked about increasing taxes only on the wealthy. In Harris’ view, those making more than $400,000 a year.

141. “They’re gonna destroy Social Security.”

Democrats have consistently advocated for keeping Social Security and making it solvent.

142. “They’ve weaponized government against me. Look at the Florida case. It was a totally weaponized case. All of these cases, by the way, the New York cases are totally controlled out of the Department of Justice. They sent their top person to the various places. They went to the A.G.’s office, got that one going, then he went to the D.A.’s office, got that one going, ran through it. No, no, this is all politics, and it’s a disgrace.”

In congressional testimony this year, Attorney General Merrick Garland told lawmakers that President Biden had never called him to discuss any of the cases against Trump. Garland also had aides review Justice Department leaders’ email for any correspondence with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. In a letter to Congress in June 2024, the Justice Department said it had found no such contacts.

In that same letter, Justice Department legislative affairs chief Carlos Uriarte said the department did not “dispatch” former acting Associate Attorney General Matthew Colangelo to New York to join Bragg’s team prosecuting Trump. “Department leadership was unaware of his work on the investigation and prosecution involving the former president until it was reported in the news,” Uriarte wrote. — Carrie Johnson

143. “Any time you have mail-in ballots, you’re gonna have problems. … We should have one-day voting; we should have paper ballots; we should have voter ID; and we should have proof of citizenship.”

Trump continues to spread baseless claims about mail ballots. There’s no proof of widespread fraud with the voting method. When it comes to paper ballots, they’re standard. One estimate found that in the 2024 general election, “nearly 99% of all registered voters will live in jurisdictions where they can cast a ballot with a paper record of the vote.”

The proof of citizenship comment echoes a Republican push on the issue, though studies have shown voting by non-U.S. citizens in federal elections to be exceedingly rare. The GOP-led House has passed a bill to require such documentary proof, but it’s likely to go no further in a Senate led by Democrats who are opposed to adding new voting restrictions. — Ben Swasey, voting editor

144. “The polls have suggested, there are some polls that say we’re going to win in a landslide.”

There are no polls that suggest Trump will win in a landslide. By all accounts, this is a very close race.

145. “…they’re paying 50, 60, 70 percent more for food than they did just a couple of years ago.”

The rise in grocery prices is a common complaint, but Trump exaggerates the scale of the increase. According to the Consumer Price Index, grocery prices have risen 25% since before the pandemic and 21% since President Biden took office. (At the same time, average wages have risen 23% since before the pandemic and 17% since President Biden took office.)

146-149. The Strategic National Reserves is “virtually empty now. We’ve never had it this low.”

“He’s sucked all of the oil out.”

“Essentially the gasoline to keep the, to keep the price down a little bit. … But you know what? We have no strategic national reserves now. He’s emptied it. It’s almost empty. It’s never been this low.”

“They’ve just, for the sake of getting some votes, for the sake of having gasoline–. You know, that’s meant for wars. It’s meant for, like, tragedy. It’s not meant to keep a gasoline price down, so that somebody can vote for Biden or, in this case, Kamala.”

The strategic oil reserve is actually up in the past year. Biden has since repurchased about 32 million barrels of oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. As of this month, the reserve held about 376 million barrels of oil. The reserve was lower when Trump left office than when he got in.

150. “I see it right now, I see her going way down on the polls now.”

The opposite is true. Harris has continued her momentum since getting into the race.

151-152. “…now that people are finding out that she destroyed San Francisco, she destroyed the state of California.”

As addressed earlier, Harris is not entirely responsible for San Francisco or the state of California. Crime trends there were similar to national crime trends during her time as district attorney in San Francisco and as the state’s attorney general. What’s more, preliminary data for this year indicates that many cities in California, including San Francisco, are seeing murder rates falling. (Trump repeats the claim one more time later in the news conference, so it is included in the count here.) — Meg Anderson

153. “She was early, I mean, she was the first of the prosecutors, really, you know, now you see Philadelphia, you see Los Angeles, you see New York, you see various people that are very bad, but she was the first of the bad prosecutors, she was early.”

Although Harris did refer to herself in her 2019 memoir as a “progressive prosecutor,” her legacy has largely been seen as tougher on crime. She has supported some progressive reforms, such as pretrial diversion, which offers certain criminal defendants things like drug treatment instead of going to trial. — Meg Anderson

154. “You know, with Hillary Clinton, I could have done things to her that would have made your head spin. I thought it was a very bad thing – take the wife of a president of the United States, and put her in jail. And then I see the way they treat me. That’s the way it goes. But I was very protective of her. Nobody would understand that. But I was. I think my people understand it. They used to say, lock her up, lock her up. And I’d say, just relax, please.”

Trump called for Clinton’s imprisonment multiple times, including going along with crowd chants of “lock her up.”

155. “Don’t forget, she got a subpoena from the United States Congress, and then after getting the subpoena, she destroyed everything that she was supposed to get.

Clinton aides requested emails be deleted months before the subpoena, and the FBI said there’s no evidence the messages were deleted with a subpoena in mind. — Carrie Johnson

156. “I thought it was so bad to take her, and put her in jail, the wife of a president of the United States. And then, when it’s my turn, nobody thinks that way.”

The Justice Department closed an investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server to conduct some State Department business in 2016. Then-FBI Director Jim Comey gave a press conference to explain his reasoning in July of that election year. Comey said, “We did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information,” but he criticized Clinton and her aides for being “extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information” that flowed through the server.

By contrast, prosecutors in the Florida case against former President Donald Trump said Trump had flouted requests from the FBI and a subpoena for highly classified materials he stored in unsecure spaces like a ballroom and a bathroom at his Mar-a-Lago resort. The indictment in that case accuses Trump of unlawfully retaining government secrets and of intentionally obstructing justice with the help of an aide who moved boxes of materials and otherwise allegedly thwarted the FBI probe. Trump and his co-defendants pleaded not guilty. The Justice Department says it is appealing the district court’s decision to toss the case on constitutional grounds. — Carrie Johnson

157. “A lot of the MAGA, as they call them, but the base. And I think the base is, I think the base is 75% of the country, far beyond the Republican Party.”

Rounding up, Trump won 46% of the vote in 2016 and 47% of the vote in 2020. He has a high floor, but a low ceiling politically. Majorities continue to say they have an unfavorable rating of Trump, which has been consistent for years. No American presidential candidate has ever gotten 75% of the vote in this country, dating back to 1824 since data was kept for popular votes. Lyndon B. Johnson got 61% in 1964, Richard Nixon slightly less than 61% in 1972, Ronald Reagan 59% in 1984. Since then, Barack Obama got nearly 53% in 2008 and 51% in 2012, the first candidate since Eisenhower to win at least 51% of the vote twice.

158. “My sons are members, and I guess indirectly I’m a member, too.”

Trump here is talking about membership in the National Rifle Association. Another family member being an NRA member does not make someone else an NRA member “indirectly.”

159. “She served 24 years for being on a phone call having to do with drugs. You know who I’m talking about. She was great. And she had another 24 years to go. And it was largely about marijuana, which in many cases is now legalized, OK?”

Presumably, Trump is talking about Alice Marie Johnson, who had been convicted on cocaine conspiracy and money laundering charges. Kim Kardashian advocated for Johnson and won a pardon for her from Trump.

160. “They’re either really stupid, and I don’t believe they’re stupid, because anybody that can cheat in elections like they cheat is not stupid.”

More than 60 court cases proved there was not widespread fraud or cheating that would have made any difference in any state.

161. “Lately I’ve seen where they’re trying to sign these people up to vote. And they have to stop. They cannot let illegal immigrants vote in this upcoming election.”

This is a conspiracy not based in fact. Immigrants in the country illegally cannot vote in presidential elections, and there’s no evidence there is an intentional effort to sign them up in mass numbers to sway elections.

162. “If you go to California, and you ask the people of California, do they like the idea of sanctuary cities? They don’t like it.”

The subject of sanctuary cities actually mostly splits Californians. Slim majorities have actually said that they favor the sanctuary-state law and are against their cities opting out of the law. Of course, this breaks down along party lines, and since California is heavily Democratic, those results might not be surprising. But it’s more divided than Trump suggests.

⭕ 10 Aug 2024

[ Reading books and more books: audiobooks actually! ]

⭕ 9 Aug 2024

✅ PolitiFact (Aug 7): JD Vance: “When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, do you know what he did? He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him.” https://tinyurl.com/mr2mkkn6 Rated: MOSTLY FALSE
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1823724893550080088/photo/1

🐣 RT @ LunaLuvgood2020 It’s just like night and day
We were in darkness
Now, the light has returned
How lucky are we to see this?
#KamalaBringsUsJoy
🖼 flag wave https://x.com/LunaLuvgood2020/status/1822108581900251303/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 I think of my despair a few weeks ago out of my love and appreciation for Joe Biden
But joy cometh in the morning
I am so happy right now, I can’t believe it

⭕ 8 Aug 2024

🐣 RT @joeygarrison Harris campaign with a lengthy response to Trump’s “very good, very normal press conference.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/joeygarrison/status/1821637172299989284/photo/1 -4

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ~ August 8, 2024
Donald Trump’s Very Good, Very Normal Press Conference
Split Screen: Joy and Freedom us. Whatever the Hell That Was

… Donald Trump took a break from taking a break to put on some pants and host a press conference public meltdown. ¤ We have a lot to say about it. Here are some initial thoughts – with more to come. ¤ He hasn’t campaigned all week. He isn’t going to a single swing state this week. ¤ But he sure is mad Kamala Harris and Tim Walz are getting big crowds across the battlegrounds.

The facts were hard to track and harder to find in Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago meltdown this afternoon. ¤ He lied. He attacked the media. He made excuses for why he’s off the campaign trail. ¤ We’re here to help because his staff clearly isn’t.

But first, an important reminder on the question Donald didn’t answer: how he will vote on the Florida abortion referendum. (He has been ducking this question since April.) ¤ We worked to pin down reality so Donald Trump, bless his heart, doesn’t have to.

Here are the facts:
We had 12,000 and 15,000 people in Wisconsin and Michigan yesterday, respectively (Not 2,000.)
The ABC debate is September 10th. Not the 25th.
People have spoken to bigger crowds than Donald Trump. (Obama, Clinton, literally anyone at Lollapalooza, Coachella, the World Cup…)
January 6th was decidedly nothing like MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech. And Trump did not get a bigger crowd than Martin Luther King Jr. on that historic day.
There was famously not a “peaceful transfer” of power after the 2020 election, which Donald Trump fought to overturn. (Famously.)
Five police officers died because of January 6th.
Donald Trump said he was off the trail this week because of the Democratic convention. (The convention is not happening this week.)
Trump said they have commercials at a level no one else does. (He is being drastically outspent on the airwaves.)
Governor Josh Shapiro is actually a great guy.
Project 2025 author Tom Homan, the “father” of Trump’s cruel child separation policy, is not a person to praise.
Jewish people should not “have their head examined” for not supporting him. (That’s actually antisemitic.)
Trump said he was not complaining. He in fact very much was.
Trump does not know the difference between asylum seekers and an insane asylum.
Donald Trump does not “cherish” the Constitution.
Abortion is not “less of an issue” for voters. It is not “subdued.” It is not a “small issue” for voters, despite how much Donald Trump wants it to be.
Donald Trump did not answer the abortion question “very well in the debate.”
Everybody did not want Roe v. Wade overturned.
The American people do not support states banning abortion.
After-birth abortion does not exist.
Minnesota and Virginia are not the same.
Donald Trump doesn’t know what progressive means.
Kamala Harris does not want to take away everyone’s guns. Tim Walz is a gun owner.
Vice President Harris does not support an arms embargo on Israel.
Donald Trump could not remember Tim Walz’s name.
Donald Trump’s tax cuts are not the biggest in history.
We don’t know what “the transgender became such a big thing” is supposed to mean.
Donald Trump will cut Social Security – just like he proposed every_year he was in office.
Government was not weaponized against Trump and Steve Bannon.
Mail ballots are secure.
We agree – Elon IS a different kind of guy.
There are no polls that say Donald Trump is going to win in a landslide.
The MAGA base is not 75% of the country.

⭕ 7 Aug 2024

🐣 RT @AWeissmann_ The Republican ticket:

● a convict, civil and criminal fraudster, found by a jury to have committed sexual assault and repeated defamation, and a serial liar about matters big (project 2025) and small (crowd size) — who faces criminal charges for trying to overthrow democracy. Supports deeply unpopular positions on abortion and health care, among other things.

● a person who used to view the above person as America’s Hitler, until he sought to hitch his wagon to him.

This should not be close.

🐣 RT @ @carlquintanilla MORGAN STANLEY: “.. the rapid immigration seen over the past year and a half have helped buffer the US economy from the effects of tight policy, slowing inflation without a sharp downturn in growth. .. If immigration policy is changed, there could be an important drag on growth.” 🇺🇸
◕ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1821161241059971358/photo/1

⭕ 6 Aug 2024

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow “We’re gonna deport a lot of people, 10 million people and growing – anchor babies, their parents, their grandparents. We’re gonna put kids in cages. It’s gonna be glorious.” @JasonSCampbell – Mike Davis, The Article III Project. Ex-Gorsuch clerk.

🐣 RT @KevRGordon S&P 500 about 50 points away from its close on Friday
◕ https://x.com/KevRGordon/status/1820874535719075982/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 like @POTUS says, what matters isn’t if you fall down: what matters is if you get back up ¤ #KamalaCrash

🧵 RT @carlquintanilla YARDENI: “.. The global stock market panic calmed down .. as the most overleveraged trades seem to have been washed out. ..
“.. the 10-year US Treasury yield is already back to 3.91%, confirming there’s no recession looming.
“.. Q2 earnings season is going well, with blended S&P 500 earnings up 10.2% y/y from expectations of 8.1% a few weeks ago.
“.. Monday’s $VIX spike to 65 didn’t reflect financial crisis fears, but more mechanical trading flows. .. The need to hedge .. increasingly offsides short-volatility positions likely exacerbated the selloff.”¤ @yardeni
📌 ◕ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1821036429750743068/photo/1 b

🐣 RT @MikeSington WTF is he talking about? This is such a weird fantasy, it sounds like he’s completely lost it. Family members need to intervene and get him help.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/MikeSington/status/1820929685074616778/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @realDonald Trump What are the chances that Crooked Joe Biden, the WORST President in the history of the U.S., whose Presidency was Unconstitutionally STOLEN from him by Kamabla, Barrack HUSSEIN Obama, Crazy Nancy Pelosi, Shifty Adam Schiff, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, and others on the Lunatic Left, CRASHES the Democrat National Convention and tries to take back the Nomination, beginning with challenging me to another DEBATE. He feels that he made a historically tragic mistake by handing over the U.S. Presidency, a COUP, to the people in the World he most hates, and he wants it back, NOW!!!

🐣 Walz is a centrist Democrat who won in my District (#1) which was a GOP district. It includes the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. ¤ In MN, the Democratic Party is called Democratic-Farm-Labor Party (DFL).

🔆 This❗️⋙ WaPo: Harris picks Tim Walz as VP ahead of multistate tour https://tinyurl.com/47bwktvm

⭕ 5 Aug 2024

✅ PolitiFact: Donald Trump stated on July 24, 2024 in a rally in Charlotte, North Carolina: Kamala Harris “wants to defund the police.” MOSTLY FALSE https://tinyurl.com/t32zy6ej
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1820684738236944578/photo/1

🐣 RT @David_Charts A handy one-pager for where the economy stands.
📋 [TextLink:] https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1820609793469411624/photo/1

★ CBSNews (7/12/2024): Map shows states where COVID levels are “high” or “very high” as summer wave spreads https://tinyurl.com/4smnb4u6 ¤
// 7/12/2024

Bloomberg: Global Rout Deepens With US Stock Futures, Asia Stocks Plunging https://tinyurl.com/2wu2an7w
● A global stocks selloff deepens; circuit breakers triggered in Asia
● MSCI Asia Pacific plunges; Japan key stock index drops
● Nasdaq 100 Futures extend loss; Treasury two-year yields fall

⭕ 4 Aug 2024

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow “I don’t want everybody to vote.” – Paul Weyrich (1942-2008)
1. Weyrich coined the term ‘Moral Majority’ with Jerry Falwell in 1979.
2. He co-founded the Heritage Foundation, ALEC, and the Center for National Policy.
3. He remains virtually unknown today, but his influence is ubiquitous.

WaPo: Edmundo González likely beat President Nicolás Maduro in the July 28 election by millions of votes https://tinyurl.com/ympsjny4 “… according to a Washington Post review of more than 23,000 precinct-level tally sheets collected by the opposition” (about 80% of the vote)
// Orig Title: Maduro lost election, tallies collected by Venezuela’s opposition show
Orig Subtitle: Edmundo González likely beat President Nicolás Maduro in the July 28 election by millions of votes, a review of data from election receipts shows.

🐣 RT @EBHarrington Broligarchs against democracy: my new essay in @TheAtlantic , based on my forthcoming book, “Offshore: Stealth Wealth & the New Colonialism.” ¤ They’re high-tech’s ultra-rich opponents of democracy & their motto is: “Liberty, oligarchy, & fraternity.”
⋙ TheAtlantic, Brooke Harrington: The Broligarchs Are Trying to Have Their Way https://tinyurl.com/5n8f8fu6 “The antidemocratic politics of having it all”⋙ Ayn Rand 2.0

🐣 RT @POTUS It’s time to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, like we did before. ¤ It’s time to establish universal background checks. ¤ And it’s time to end immunity for the gun lobby.

💙 🐣 RT @WhiteHouse President Biden shares the Founders’ belief that the President’s power is limited – not absolute – and must ultimately reside with the people.
// Biden calls for “No One is Above the Law” Constitutional Amendment

WaPo: Evangelicals who oppose Trump worship try to build a new movement https://tinyurl.com/y696vv7d “[P]eople are saying, ‘We can’t abandon evangelicalism in politics to this authoritarian version of it.’” ~ Wes Markofski, a sociologist at Carleton College
// Fifty years after the rise of the religious right, some evangelicals want to rebrand and create a public presence that adheres to faith, not a party or person.

WaPo, EJ Dionne: Trump seems to forget it’s not 2016 anymore. And he’s frustrated. https://tinyurl.com/2zc3wfa6 “After nine long years, his old way of campaigning just isn’t going to cut it. … His often-disjointed screeds suddenly [feel] like the ravings of a grumpy old man”

⭕ 3 Aug 2024

🐣 RT @MaryLTrump After eight years of covering Donald, too many journalists have gotten into the habit of seeing strategy in his crude and instinctive behavior. The truth is quite simple–Donald can’t help himself. When it comes to him, we shouldn’t overthink it. He is exactly what he seems: a racist, a misogynist, a liar. He is a bully who has no business getting anywhere near the White House. His pulling out of the debate should remind us that he is also a monumental coward.

🐣 Pennsylvania is super-important. Without it Dems must win EITHER Georgia ✛ Arizona OR Georgia ✛ Nevada. (Arizona ✛ Nevada only gets us to 269.) That’s assuming the other Blue states come through.
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1819943484427546937/photo/1

🐣 RT @JohnArnoldFndtn The homicide rate has not only completely reversed the post-COVID spike but has also broken the decade-long uptrend from before the pandemic.
◕ https://x.com/JohnArnoldFndtn/status/1819778681360822363/photo/1

WaPo: Trump’s presidential bid has the support of only half of his Cabinet https://tinyurl.com/4bc7knxa

🐣 RT @PaulConRO Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader of the Senate stated that he considers Viktor Orban the “weakest” member of NATO and someone who has undermined U.S. security interests in Europe. ¤ “He is the only NATO member who has essentially handed over his country to the Chinese and Russians. [He] has sought ways to undermine NATO’s efforts to defeat the Russians in Ukraine. Therefore, I believe Viktor Orbán has made Hungary NATO’s latest problem.” ¤ And Trump met with him in Florida, effectively endorsing his actions, which makes Trump either an idiot, a Russian asset or a liar who would do everything to get some votes.

⭕ 2 Aug 2024

◕ WaPo: Are Democrats really more likely to be childless cat ladies? https://tinyurl.com/mr9wkdw
// charts, party sex religion pet ownership

⭕ 1 Aug 2024

🐣 RT @OccupyDemocrats BREAKING: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer sends shockwaves through MAGA world by formally introducing legislation to strip away Donald Trump’s broad “presidential immunity.”
¤ https://x.com/OccupyDemocrats/status/1819082296533962923

🐣 📋 RT @WHCommsDir President Biden’s executive order is working: “Unlawful crossings by migrants along the U.S. southern border dropped for the fifth consecutive month in July, plunging to the lowest level since the fall of 2020, internal government figures … show.” [CBS link:] https://tinyurl.com/32ff4mr9

💙 WaPo: Evan Gershkovich, others freed by Russia in landmark prisoner swap https://tinyurl.com/3j229ynw Paul Whelan, Vladimir Kara-Murza ~ “Russia received eight prisoners Thursday, and released 16, many of whom were unjustly accused or handed heavy sentences for minor offenses”

⭕ 31 Jul 2024

🐣 RT @IAPonomarenko This war started with “Kyiv will fall within 72 hours” and with “Resistance is futile, Zelensky needs to flee to Poland ASAP.”
¤ https://x.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1818770902911475990

Now, 890 days after the day of all days, we’re still standing and seeing F-16s roar over our cities. Something that was repeatedly, persistently, and unequivocally called IMPOSSIBLE by so many.

Yet, we are where we are today. Heaven sees we’ve made such a long way and broken through so many nevers… We have friends, the people of goodwill, particularly thanks to whom this is reality.

The light prevails over the dark.

Goodnight from Ukraine, the country of good hope.

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP .@SarahLongwell25 on Trump’s performance today: “He looked old, he looked unable to parry in the conversation, unable to grab a thread and talk about it effectively, drive a message. That was one of the worst performances I’ve seen.”
💽 https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1818798804927496331/photo/1

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote BREAKING: DoJ IG finds that Trump’s FBI and Bill Barr sent armed agents to clear peaceful George Floyd protestors in Lafayette Square who lacked proper training, and sometimes without clothing or vests identifying them as law enforcement officers.
📔 [ IG report: ] https://tinyurl.com/v8mae4a5 168p

⭕ 30 Jul 2024

AmericanSpectator, Dave Troy (July 30): The Wide Angle: Peter Thiel and the American Apocalypse https://tinyurl.com/y4t8yp6a “Any default on US debt would be unprecedented, sparking a global catastrophe with unpredictable outcomes”

WaPo: Project 2025 to end policy work after Democratic attacks angered Trump https://tinyurl.com/wckueh5w “The Trump campaign grew furious with the Heritage Foundation over media coverage tying the candidate to unpopular policy proposals.”

🐣 📊 RT @NickKnudsenUS Wow 78% of Americans rarely agree on anything.
BUT: 78% do agree that former presidents should not be immune from criminal prosecution. ¤ This Court is WAY out of sync with Americans. ¤ We need Court reform. Top priority. #YesWeKam
◕ https://x.com/NickKnudsenUS/status/1818290488455331855/photo/1

🐣 RT @artinsociety To creatively insult without actually swearing, just use this Shakespearean Insult Kit. Combine one word from each column, & preface it with “Thou”, to create satisfyingly impolite abuse such as “Thou beslubbering, pottle-deep clotpole” https://tinyurl.com/ya8ndn74
¤ https://x.com/artinsociety/status/1818170161305895336/photo/1

WaPo, Barton Gellman: How to harden our defenses against an authoritarian president https://tinyurl.com/ynpn74mr “A commander in chief with little concern for legal limits holds a big advantage over any lawful effort to restrain him.”

⭕ 29 Jul 2024

WaPo: Biden, at LBJ Library, blasts Supreme Court and proposes major changes https://tinyurl.com/kvf9m7rv “President urges term limits and ethics code, saying they are needed to restore confidence. Conservatives say he just doesn’t like the court’s recent rulings.”

⭕ 28 Jul 2024

🧵 RT @DanielMillerEsq I think there’s a sense the next 100 days could shut the door on Trump’s political future. That’s where some of this energy is coming from IMO. ¤ We’ve worked & struggled for 8 yrs to protect America from him. And on the national level, the worst MAY be behind us if we win. 1/
📌 https://x.com/DanielMillerEsq/status/1817719940536819806
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1817719940536819806.html

To be sure, if Harris wins, Trump could run again, but would that really be a serious challenge? Nah, not given his age IMO. In other words, the next 100 days could be the last time we have to REALLY worry about Trump being president.

This is exciting. But it’s also scary… 2/
Just take a look at the different futures before us. One is democratic, hopeful, and prosperous. The other is authoritarian, backward, and cruel.

One reflects the better angels of our nature. The other reflects our worst…3/
In one future, America is a beacon of freedom to the world. In the other, America aligns itself with the world’s autocracies.

There is so much at stake. We are at a pivot point in history. So it really is 100 days for the next ten years. It’s 100 days for the next generation. 4/

A couple things: I don’t think Trump’s going away if he loses. And even after Trump goes away, his movement will remain. 2016 opened up a Pandora’s box of extremism that may last a generation. This is particularly the case on the state level. 5/

I also think there will be some national figure to assume the MAGA mantle after Trump goes away.

But I do think that if we beat Trump for a SECOND time, that will take a lot of the power from this movement. And it’s POSSIBLE the fever could break. 6/

This is a long way of saying, this is an exciting time. But it is also a consequential time. So much is at stake.

It’s OK to be happy and joyful. In fact, that’s important to being able to win. But never forget what happens if we lose. Run through the finish line. 7/7 END

🐣 RT @ChrisDJackson Fareed Zakaria on CNN delivered an outstanding recap of President Biden’s legacy, highlighting him as one of the most underestimated presidents in United States history. ¤ We are gonna miss this guy for years to come. ♥
💽 https://x.com/ChrisDJackson/status/1817667165811814494/photo/1

PinkNews (10/24/2024): Donald Trump says Jesus should become the next House speaker https://tinyurl.com/mtpzhabp “There’s only one person that can do it all the way: Jesus Christ.”

🐣 RT @amyklobuchar Tomorrow, Iowa’s abortion ban goes into effect. Minnesota clinics have been preparing for an influx of patients, but it shouldn’t have to be this way. We must codify Roe v. Wade because no one should have to cross state lines to get the care they need.
🌎 https://x.com/amyklobuchar/status/1817607905446678847/photo/1

WaPo: Inside the powerful Peter Thiel network that anointed JD Vance https://tinyurl.com/54mzy6fc “A small influential network of right-wing techies orchestrated Vance’s rise in Silicon Valley — and then the GOP. Now the industry stands to gain if he wins the White House”

⭕ 27 Jul 2024

WaPo: Trump faces backlash for ‘in four years, you don’t have to vote again’ remark https://tinyurl.com/5432r5e5 “Some Democrats say his comments, directed at a Christian audience, signaled his plans to be a dictator … and experts point to his ‘deliberately ambiguous’ speaking style”
// “Some Democrats say his comments, directed at a Christian audience, signaled his plans to be a dictator. His campaign says he was talking about ‘uniting’ the country, and experts point to his ‘deliberately ambiguous’ speaking style.”

🐣 RT @RBReich Trump’s tax law cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. ¤ What did corporations do with the money saved? ¤ They didn’t invest it or raise wages. ¤ They spent a record $1 trillion on stock buybacks the year after the law went into effect. ¤ Nothing trickled down to workers.

[ Read Richard Sonnenfeldt’s Witness to Nuremberg ]

⭕ 26 Jul 2024

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary [Dems] What are the financial consequences of MAGA’s Project 2025?
💽 https://x.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1816848332779593859/photo/1
// Steve Rattner on Morning Joe

⭕ 25 Jul 2024

🐣 RT @realpublicius This
[TextLink:] https://x.com/realpublicius/status/1816352937230176690/photo/1

🐣 RT @tjstich donald trump didn’t lower your taxes. He didn’t get your roads fixed or your bridges built. He didn’t get you healthcare coverage, lower the price of your prescriptions, decrease the deficit, end the opioid crisis, revive the coal industry, he didn’t make “covid disappear”, didn’t make Mexico “pay for the wall”, he didn’t “put America First” and he sure as hell didn’t “drain the swamp”. So when you say he “fought for you” you mean he validated your hate. Because he didn’t do a goddamn thing for you other than that.

⭕ 24 Jul 2024

💽 MSNBC, Lawrence: There is no other record like Joe Biden’s in American political history https://tinyurl.com/vteyww
// MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell explains how Joe Biden’s 52 years of campaigning for office is ending with the most masterful transition of a presidential campaign from the Biden-Harris campaign to the Harris campaign, the likes of which has never occurred before in history.

🐣 RT @JoeBiden America is at an inflection point.

We must choose between moving forward or backward.
Between hope and hate.
Between unity and division.

We have to decide: Do we still believe in
honesty, decency, and respect?

Freedom, justice, and democracy?

🐣 RT @WhiteHouse Over the next six months, President Biden will be focused on doing his job as president.That means:
☑️ Continuing to lower costs for hardworking families
☑️ Growing our economy
☑️ Defending our personal freedoms and our civil rights
☑️ Calling out hate and extremism
☑️ Protecting our kids from gun violence
☑️ Protecting our planet from the climate crisis
☑️ Fighting for the Cancer Moonshot
☑️ Calling for Supreme Court reform
☑️ Ensuring America remains strong, secure, and the leader of the free world
☑️ Rallying a coalition of proud nations to stop Putin from taking over Ukraine
☑️ Making NATO stronger, more powerful, and more united than at any time in its history
☑️ Working to end the war in Gaza, bringing home all the hostages, and bringing peace and security to the Middle East
☑️ Working to bring home Americans being unjustly detained all around the world

🐣 RT @POTUS I believe my record, my leadership, and my vision for our future merited a second term – but nothing can come in the way of saving our democracy. ¤ That includes personal ambition. ¤ The best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation. ¤ That’s how we unite our nation.

💙🐣 RT @DevinCow I will never forgive the people who did this to him. He deserved better.
💽 https://x.com/DevinCow/status/1816377602019401836/photo/1
// Biden resignation speech

WaPo: Biden passes torch in somber speech https://tinyurl.com/yvb4c9ct
// With less than six months left in office, President Biden used the address to defend his record, define his legacy and describe his vision for the rest of his term.

🐣 RT @SethAbramson Per MSNBC, the Harris campaign has requested materials from the following possible VP picks and as many as three others:
Gov. Andy Beshear (KY)
Sec. Pete Buttigieg (IN)
Gov. Roy Cooper (NC)
Sen. Mark Kelly (AZ)
Gov. Josh Shapiro (PA)
Gov. Tim Walz (MN)
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (MI)

⭕ 23 Jul 2024

NYT, Paul Krugman (7/23): Immigration Is Great for Jobs, Actually https://tinyurl.com/5t443zzz “[M]ost labor economists now believe that immigrants don’t do much head-to-head competition with native-born workers; they bring different skills and take different jobs”
// “most labor economists now believe that immigrants don’t do much head-to-head competition with native-born workers; they bring different skills and take different jobs. And the past few years, with elevated immigration, have also been an era of exceptional growth in wages for the worst paid.”
// 🌎 chart source. (2015): https://tinyurl.com/22r6ry46
// native pop.: unemployment rate is low

🐣 RT @ BraddrofliT Project 2025 Page 451
“The only valid family is a working father married to a stay-at-home mother and their children.”
💙 F**king Vote #Harris2024
¤ https://x.com/BraddrofliT/status/1815870253521592509

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa Ukraine is grateful to President Biden for his unwavering support for Ukraine’s fight for freedom, which, along with strong bipartisan support in the United States, has been and continues to be critical.
¤ https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1815144292182348062

Many strong decisions have been made in recent years and they will be remembered as bold steps taken by President Biden in response to challenging times. And we respect today’s tough but strong decision.

We will always be thankful for President Biden’s leadership. He supported our country during the most dramatic moment in history, assisted us in preventing Putin from occupying our country, and has continued to support us throughout this terrible war.

The current situation in Ukraine and all of Europe is no less challenging, and we sincerely hope that America’s continued strong leadership will prevent Russian evil from succeeding or making its aggression pay off.

🐣 RT @jayrosen_nyu “The lead anchor of Sinclair’s national evening news broadcast, resigned in January over concerns about the accuracy and right-wing bias of the content he was required to present…” https://tinyurl.com/nhkpw65a

💽 MSNBC, Morning_Joe: ‘Terrible policy and politics’: Rattner breaks down Project 2025 https://tinyurl.com/3mm4b2tb
// MSNBC Morning Joe economic analyst Steve Rattner dives into the potential financial consequences of Project 2025, the 920 page policy manifesto by the conservative group the Heritage Foundation: higher taxes for lower-income Americans, increased student loan payments, and major cuts to Medicaid.

🐣 RT @ @eileenvan55 President Biden pouring out his heart to us
Saying he knows it was hard for us to hear his decision
But says he’s not going anywhere
He’ll still be working for us
Thanking us for giving him so much
Now that’s a real PRESIDENT 🥹
I love him
#YesWeKam #DemsUnited

🐣 RT @jeffjarvis “I don’t know what is going on at The New York Times,” says @maddow, noting that they were shouting for Biden to get out and once he did they shouted CHAOS! “They are on planet somewhere else.” Yes. We need to criticize big, old media, starting with The Times.

⭕ 22 Jul 2024

🐣 All Democrats are equal.
But “Big Donor” Democrats are more equal than others.
Welcome to the Oligarchy.

🐣 .@propublica so, who are the “major donors” who now own the Democratic Party? who can overturn the choice of the primary voters?
This should be discoverable.
@SenSchumer @TeamPelosi:@DNC @SenateDems @BarackObama @JoeBiden @POTUS @CREWcrew

⭕ 21 Jul 2024

🐣 This came down to one thing: donor money. For a long time, the GOP was the party of rich donors. Dems were the party of small donors. Now that has changed. ¤ Welcome to the Oligarchy. ¤ There is nothing to celebrate. ¤ We need campaign finance reform.

🐣 RT @EarlOfEnough 📌 I just don’t know how everybody pivots so damn fast. I feel like I had the ever-living shit beat out of me today … ¤ Tonight, I will mourn, and toast a very good man. [Comments:] https://x.com/EarlOfEnough/status/1815182258225197523
⋙ 🐣 I can‘t pivot, can’t forgive ¤ everything about this is so unfair

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson I hope Dark Brandon still answers the call of fuckery.
⋙ 🐣 I hope he has more self-respect
This was all so obv orchestrated, with all the pols and pundits ready with their plaudits and praise ¤ I am totally sickened by the whole thing

🐣 RT @JonFlan President Biden has been found wanting not because he’s old but because, for him, it is an article of political faith and necessity, that everyone pay their own share to this nation, & the billionaire plutocrats, pelosi’s puppeteers, like spoiled children, say nyet, no, no way.

🐣 RT @JonFlan Walk & Talk – It’s pretty clear this campaign against Biden was to get him out of the way because certain democratic donors don’t approve of Biden’s tax reforms – ~https://youtu.be/UNXnaFXf_Ag?si=tPDUhK-8AgCpni14 …

💙🧵 RT @tradingMaxiSL We have only explored less than 10% of our world ocean. That means 90% of Earth’s Underwater Realm Remains a Mystery – A Thread
📌 💽 https://x.com/tradingMaxiSL/status/1814698383858164011/photo/1 -n
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/379h7h88

🐣 RT @politicususa The Democratic Party Chairs in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Georgia, and Arizona have released a joint letter endorsing President Biden.

⭕ 20 Jul 2024

🧵 RT @atrupar I’m going to put together a thread covering Trump’s rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan — his first since last weekend’s assassination attempt. Follow along for clips and commentary.
📌 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1814767656756551909
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/2nzcm7xn

🐣 RT @EarlOfEnough Two things are being exposed right now:
1) Big Money is being outed for their damage to our Democracy.
2) Corporate Media is being outed for their damage to our Democracy.
Actually … that’s one thing.

🐣 RT @bctallis It’s here! 🔥Long awaited new piece on #NeoIdealism is OUT NOW!🔥
➡️ Develops Neo-Idealism as Grand Strategy for the Free World 🌍 https://tinyurl.com/4ab9vruv
I Lay out 8 pillars that we need if we are to build a Neo-Idealist approach in international (& domestic) politics! 👇
⋙ 🧵 RT @bctallis Why do we need a grand strategy? Because we, the world’s free societies, face multiple tests of our value & prowess – & severe & urgent threats to our security, prosperity & freedom. Threats to our democratic way of life – but we’ve not yet got our collective act together.
📌 https://x.com/bctallis/status/1814562508272705823

🐣 RT @JonFlan Biden is holding strong – Mr. Biden assumes that the leaks appearing in the media in recent days are being coordinated to raise the pressure on him to step aside, He considers Pelosi the main instigator, but is irritated at Mr. Obama as a puppet master behind the scenes.

⭕ 19 Jul 2024

🐣 RT @TommyInPA The donors don’t like Biden. They want to hand-pick a candidate who will do their bidding. ¤ Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act has recovered $1 billion in unpaid taxes from multimillionaires.

🐣 RT @BlackKnight10k I believe we just witnessed the first time in history that social media prevented traditional media from executing a coup against a sitting U.S. President
⋙ 🐣 RT @ChristieH60 It isn’t over yet. They’re still trying

🐣 RT @KeithOlbermann Hey @NateSilver538 you realize the fact that you’re taking Peter Thiel’s money kinda just ended your career, right?

🐣 RT @SarafinaChitika NEW from @BidenHQ: We counted all 59 (!!!) of Donald Trump’s lies on the RNC stage so you don’t have to. ¤ The receipts >>>
[TextLink:] https://x.com/SarafinaChitika/status/1814347277839765952/photo/1 -4

🐣 RT @sciam Project 2025 would jeopardize federal scientists’ independence and undermine their influence
⋙ SciAm: What to Know about Project 2025’s Dangers to Science https://tinyurl.com/rsuuj9hc Project 2025 would jeopardize federal scientists’ independence and undermine their influence

⭕ 18 Jul 2024

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch Trump’s speech is getting horrible reviews online: “Total disaster.” “Rambling.” “Weird.” “Hateful.” “Divisive.” “Low energy.” “Boring.” “Worst convention speech I’ve ever heard.”

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Biden-Harris campaign statement on Donald Trump’s rambling RNC speech
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1814162271263731899 /photo/1

[Text:] Donald Trump’s RNC Speech

“Tonight, Donald Trump rambled on for well over an hour and failed to mention Project 2025 even once. He failed to mention how he had inflicted pain and cruelty on the women of America by overturning Roe v Wade. He failed to mention his plan to take over the civil service and to pardon the January 6th insurrectionists. He sought to find problems with America, not to provide solutions. But after all, it was Donald Trump who destroyed our economy, ripped away rights, and failed middle class families. Now he pursues the presidency with an even more extreme vision for where he wants to take this country. Trump’s Project 2025 agenda is the single biggest attack on our personal freedoms and way of life ever propose in modern American history.

“President Biden is running on a different vision. He’s running for an America where we defend democracy, not diminish it. Where we restore our rights and protect our freedoms, not take them away. One where we create opportunities for everyone, while making the super wealthy finally pay their fair share. That is the future President Biden believes in and is the future that millions of our fellow Americans believe in too. The stakes have never been higher. The choice has never been more clear. President Biden is more determined than ever to defeat Donald Trump and his Project 2025 agenda in November.”

✅ CNN:Fact check: Trump makes more than 20 false claims in RNC acceptance speech https://tinyurl.com/ywuzhk94

🐣 RT @gtconway3d Two things can be, and are, true:
1. That was the worst political convention speech I have ever seen.
2. I have never been more exhilarated by a political convention speech as I was by this one.

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: Donald Trump just said we should put Tom Homan in charge and watch. FYI, Tom Homan is the leader of Project 2025, who Trump claimed not to know anything about.

🐣 RT @ananavarro The choice is simple:
1. A decent but frail old man, surrounded by a good, experienced team.
2. A bat-shit crazy old man, surrounded by a bunch of sycophant hooligans.

🐣 RT @ChrisDJackson Chris Wallace just said the happiest people with the speech should be Democrats and Biden HQ. ¤ 😂😂😂

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson Trump’s speech was, objectively, the single worst convention acceptance speech in modern history. ¤ It was a ramblefuck disaster from start to its long-delayed finish, and nothing is going to make it better. ¤ You know. I know it. LaCivita and Wiles know it. ¤ Utter disaster.

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: Analysts are calling Donald Trump’s speech the worst convention acceptance speech ever. ¤ We do not want 4 years of this insane garbage.

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom I’ve watched a lot of convention speeches over 40 years. The crowds are usually fired up and roaring. ¤ This is a crowd listening to a weird old guy ramble on and looking up from their phones and remembering to hoot and clap every now and then.

🐣 RT @anneapplebaum same thought
⋙ 🐣 RT @TaraSetmayer To quote George W. Bush, “This is some weird shit.” ¤ #RNC2024

🐣 RT @WajahatAli I think it’s perfectly appropriate to name and shame every single pundit, reporter and commentator who tried to gaslight America this week by laundering Trump’s reputation and predicting he’d evolve, change, and be better. You all should resign.

🐣 RT @djrothkopf Rachel Maddow said this was the longest convention speech ever. But she is wrong. This was longer than that. I have never heard a speech that sounded longer. It was horrible. Horrible in its construction. Horrible in how much of was bullshit. Horrible in how full of horrors it was. Horrible in all the horrors it hid.

🐣 RT @WajahatAli You can see a lot of concerned faces in the RNC crowd right now. Definitely a different energy from an hour ago. I think some people are going, “Uh…what’s happening.”

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln America, if you want sanity you have to vote for it. ¤ Reject this weird sh*t.

🧵 RT @atrupar Welp, it’s that time again. I’m going to put together a thread covering the final night (thank goodness) of the 2024 RNC. Follow along for clips and commentary.
📌 💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1814066337704280574/photo/1
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1814066337704280574.html

🐣 RT @ SteveRattner Trump’s violent crime rates were actually higher than Biden’s — 2024 is on track for a 26% decrease in crime relative to Trump’s last term.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1814140952392462559/photo/1

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln This is the weirdest sh*t we have ever watched.

MuellerSheWrote: Who Can We Trust? https://tinyurl.com/4js2yy35 Some late-night thoughts on our institutions “No one is coming to save us. As Obama said on Super Tuesday in 2008 – we are the ones we’ve been waiting for. Our institutions – including democracy – are not here to save us. We are here to save and protect our institutions. And no matter who is on that ballot come November – I trust us to do the right thing. ¤ So let’s get to work.”

🐣 RT @acnewsitics Have to admit, this Republican Convention has everyone, racists, wife beaters, felons, strippers, sex offenders, Epstein’s best friend, and 4 black people

🐣 RT @gtconway3d Pity the comedy writers, for they could not possibly parody any of this.

🐣 RT @kylegriffin1 This is first time a major U.S. party will nominate a convicted felon to be their presidential candidate.

🐣 RT @MikeSington “Unaware of his grim fate.” CNN anchor Jake Tapper gets morbid talking about President Biden, compares him to a movie character who doesn’t know he’s dead. (Video: CNN)
💽 https://x.com/MikeSington/status/1814050327718744518/photo/1

🐣 RT @MarkHalperin BREAKING NEWS: Multiples sources outline the apparent state of play on Biden at this time:

● plans to announce withdrawal from nomination as early as this weekend, with Sunday most likely
● Jon Meacham polishing up remarks
● Biden with NOT resign the presidency
● Biden will NOT endorse Harris
● open convention with Harris and about 3 others
● super delegates will not be allowed to vote on 1st ballot
● Harris is vetting at least four possible running mates, including Andy Beshear and possibly Shapiro

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary [Dems.] .@RepRaskin: Project 2025 represents a civilizational death wish because in addition to everything else, it pulls the plug on all climate action and progress we’ve been making over the last several years.
💽 https://x.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1814062039960035831/photo/1

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote “Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, her husband former President Bill Clinton and Biden campaign co-chair and media mogul Jeff Katzenberg have all made pleas to donors, asking them to stick with Biden, according to people briefed on the matter.”

🐣 what we’ve been witnessing is an attempted “Palace Coup”: “a situation in which a leader is removed from power by the people who have worked with him or her” ¤ Joe Biden has my back; I have his ~ as do 14 million Democrats who voted for him in the primaries
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1814060240024826046/photo/1

🐣 RT @Out5p0ken JUST IN: 🔥 “Our campaign is not working through any scenarios in which President Biden is not at the top of the ticket,” said Quentin Fulks, Biden’s deputy campaign manager. “He is going to be the Democratic nominee.”

🐣 RT @TheRickyDavila Because the American state media would never report this, 193 out of 213 House Democrats, 45 out of the 47 Democratic Senators and all 23 Democratic Governors fully support President Biden. That’s 91%. I’m all in.
¤ https://x.com/TheRickyDavila/status/1813965828880286119

⭕ 17 Jul 2024

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was thrilled today about Trump’s pick of JD Vance as his running mate, stating that he now feels confident the U.S. will cut off aid to Ukraine if Trump wins. [link:]

🐣 RT @alfranken It’s essential you watch this video about Project 2025 from @MollyJongFast and Thomas Zimmer (@tzimmer_histor). It’s extremely frightening, but it’s necessary we know what we’re up against. #Project2025
💽 [YouTube link:] https://x.com/alfranken/status/1813668576492159472

🐣 RT @Acyn CNN Fact Check [Daniel Dale] of tonight’s RNC
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1813781355324645603/photo/1

🐣 without respect to what the Biden admin has done already, what’s left is opposed to existing law, contradicts Project 2025 or utter fantasy ¤ no mention of women’s issues ¤ this is Project 2025 minus things Trump thinks will cost votes (abortion, Mcare/SocSec)
⋙ 🐣 RT @MollyMcKew You know I’m just going to post the actual 20 points of the RNC platform here because I shared them in one of my group chats and no one believes this is the actual platform ¤ If you cross out stuff that is already real, utter nonsense, and hard right fluffing, what is left is …
[TextLink:] https://x.com/MollyMcKew/status/1813685854881353841/photo/1 -2

1. SEAL THE BORDER, AND STOP THE MIGRANT INVASION
2. CARRY OUT THE LARGEST DEPORTATION OPERATION IN AMERICAN HISTORY
3. END INFLATION, AND MAKE AMERICA
AFFORDABLE AGAIN
4. MAKE AMERICA THE DOMINANT ENERGY PRODUCER IN THE WORLD, BY FAR!
5. STOP OUTSOURCING, AND TURN THE UNITED STATES INTO A MANUFACTURING SUPERPOWER
6. LARGE TAX CUTS FOR WORKERS, AND NO TAX ON TIPS!
7. DEFEND OUR CONSTITUTION, OUR BILL OF RIGHTS, AND OUR FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS, INCLUDING FREEDOM OF SPEECH, FREEDOM OF RELIGION, AND THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS
8. PREVENT WORLD WAR THREE, RESTORE PEACE IN EUROPE AND IN THE MIDDLE EAST, AND BUILD A GREAT IRON DOME MISSILE DEFENSE SHIELD OVER OUR ENTIRE COUNTRY — ALL MADE IN
AMERICA
9. END THE WEAPONIZATION OF GOVERNMENT AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
10. STOP THE MIGRANT CRIME EPIDEMIC, DEMOLISH THE FOREIGN DRUG CARTELS, CRUSH GANG VIOLENCE, AND LOCK UP VIOLENT OFFENDERS

11. REBUILD OUR CITIES, INCLUDING WASHINGTON DC, MAKING THEM SAFE, CLEAN, AND BEAUTIFUL AGAIN.
12. STRENGTHEN AND MODERNIZE OUR MILITARY, MAKING IT, WITHOUT QUESTION, THE STRONGEST AND MOST POWERFUL IN THE
WORLD
13. KEEP THE U.S. DOLLAR AS THE WORLD’S RESERVE CURRENCY
14. FIGHT FOR AND PROTECT SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICARE WITH NO CUTS, INCLUDING NO CHANGES TO THE RETIREMENT AGE
15. CANCEL THE ELECTRIC VEHICLE MANDATE AND CUT COSTLY AND BURDENSOME REGULATIONS
16. CUT FEDERAL FUNDING FOR ANY SCHOOL PUSHING CRITICAL RACE THEORY, RADICAL GENDER IDEOLOGY, AND OTHER INAPPROPRIATE RACIAL, SEXUAL, OR POLITICAL CONTENT ON OUR CHILDREN
17. KEEP MEN OUT OF WOMEN’S SPORTS
18. DEPORT PRO-HAMAS RADICALS AND MAKE OUR COLLEGE CAMPUSES SAFE AND PATRIOTIC AGAIN
19. SECURE OUR ELECTIONS, INCLUDING SAME DAY VOTING, VOTER IDENTIFICATION, PAPER BALLOTS, AND PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP
20. UNITE OUR COUNTRY BY BRINGING IT TO NEW AND RECORD LEVELS OF SUCCESS

🐣 RT @OccupyDemocrats BREAKING: President Biden makes history and prepares to endorse massive changes to our deeply broken Supreme Court — including proposals for term limits for the justices, an enforceable ethics code, and more.

This is better than many of us even dared hope for…

Biden is finalizing plans to endorse the above and is also considering calling for a constitutional amendment to eliminate broad immunity for presidents and officeholders.

Given the flagrant corruption on display from MAGA justices like Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas — and the presence of credibly accused sexual predator Brett Kavanaugh — these changes could not come at a better time.

“I’m going to need your help on the Supreme Court, because I’m about to come out — I don’t want to prematurely announce it — but I’m about to come out with a major initiative on limiting the court … I’ve been working with constitutional scholars for the last three months, and I need some help,” Biden said during a call, according to a transcript obtained by The Washington Post.

These are the kinds of changes that could save the judicial branch and reinvigorate American democracy. We fully endorse!

🐣 RT @ArtCandee Daniel Dale, CNN’s resident fact checker, just DEMOLISHED the lies told on day 2 of the RNC Conference. ¤ This was a sight to behold.
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
💽 https://x.com/ArtCandee/status/1813438732457951609/photo/1

🐣 RT @mmpadellan John McCain gets the last word.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/mmpadellan/status/1813521527054405689/photo/1

🐣 RT @TheSGTJoker He’s not a hero. He thinks he is a hero because his ear was nicked. I like people who didn’t have their ear nicked. ~ Ghost of John McCain

🐣 RT @AP BREAKING: The Homeland Security inspector general opens an investigation into the Secret Service’s handling of Trump’s security on the day of his attempted assassination.

JustSecurity, Andrew Weissmann: Three Flaws in the Supreme Court’s Decision on Presidential Criminal Immunity https://tinyurl.com/bdf2t73c
1. Separation of powers
2. Relevance of the illegality of the presidential conduct
3. Relevance of the motive for the presidential conduct

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla “.. The Happiness Score across the United States in 2024. Really nice to see NJ clocking in a top 5 score here…” 🇺🇸 (h/t Goldman desk)
◕ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1813552315548450833/photo/1
// MN third happiest

🐣 RT @meiselasb Unemployment DOWN, crime DOWN, gas prices DOWN, wages UP, drilling RECORD HIGHS, gas prices DOWN, stock market RECORD HIGHS, Inflation DOWN, jobs growth RECORD HIGHS, MANUFACTURING BOOM, Border Crossings DOWN.

⭕ 16 Jul 2024

🐣 RT @BidenHQ President Biden: If you’re going to talk about standing against violence, you must stand against all violence.
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1813325189125718477/photo/1

We stand against violence perpetrated against presidential candidates in Pennsylvania. We stand against violence perpetrated against George Floyd in Minnesota. We stand against violence against Black veterans, like police officer Eugene Goodman on January 6. If you’re going to be outspoken on one, don’t be silent on others. If we’re going to speak about violence, we’re going to speak about guns. More children in America die of a gunshot wound than any other reason. That is stunning and that is sick. If you want to stand against violence in America, then join me in getting these weapons of war off the streets of America

🐣 RT @WhiteHouse Since President Biden announced new actions to secure our Southern border, unlawful crossings have dropped more than 50%. Currently, there are fewer unlawful border crossings than at the end of the previous Administration

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Project 2025 shifts taxes from the wealthy to the middle class— a family of 4 earning $100K would suffer a $2,600 tax hike, while a family earning $5 million would get a $325,000 tax cut
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1813197346177470906/photo/1

⭕ 15 Jul 2024

🐣 RT @acnewsitics Here is the message JD Vance sent to his friend suggesting Donald Trump might be “America’s Hitler.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/acnewsitics/status/1812905600516563058/photo/1

[From:] JD Vance But I’m not surprised by Trump’s rise, and I think the entire party has only itself to blame. We are, whether we like it or not, the party of lower-income, lower- education white people, and I have been saying for a long time that we need to offer those people SOMETHING (and hell, maybe even expand our appeal to working class black people in the process) or a demagogue would. We are now at that point. Trump is the fruit of the party’s collective neglect. 3) I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical asshole like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler. How’s that for discouraging?

NYT, Neal Katyal: The Dismissal of the Trump Classified Documents Case Is Deeply Dangerous https://tinyurl.com/4p5f6m28 “Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to throw out serious national-security criminal charges … against Donald Trump is legally unsupported”

[…] Since 1966, Congress has had a specific law, Section 515, giving the attorney general the power to commission attorneys “specially retained under authority of the Department of Justice” as “special assistant[s] to the attorney general or special attorney[s].” Another provision in that law said that a lawyer appointed by the attorney general under the law may “conduct any kind of legal proceeding, civil or criminal,” that other U.S. attorneys are “authorized by law to conduct.”

Yet another part of that law, Section 533, says the attorney general can appoint officials “to detect and prosecute crimes against the United States.” These sections were specifically cited when Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Mr. Smith as a special counsel. If Congress doesn’t like these laws, it can repeal them. But until then, the law is the law.

I drafted the special counsel regulations for the Justice Department to replace the Independent Counsel Act in 1999 when I worked at the department. Janet Reno, the attorney general at the time, and I then went to Capitol Hill to brief Congress on the proposed rules over a period of weeks. …

Eight separate judges had already rejected the claim that Judge Cannon has now endorsed (including, by the way, the judge presiding over Hunter Biden’s criminal case). It is true that one Supreme Court justice, Clarence Thomas, recently wrote a concurring opinion in the Trump immunity case questioning the legality of the position of special counsel. No other justice joined that opinion, and even Justice Thomas did not come to the conclusions that Judge Cannon did — he simply raised “essential questions” about the office. And his questions ignored a well-trod tradition in America as well as the statutory landscape.

We’ve had special counsels and special prosecutors since at least the time of President Ulysses Grant after the Civil War. That is for a simple reason: We need a system to police high-level executive branch wrongdoing, and the system can’t be run by the president and his appointees alone. …

Mr. Smith’s brief to the Court of Appeals will write itself. He will presumably cite the Nixon case, the several federal laws enacted by Congress, and point to the fact that Congress has never altered the statutes that the Supreme Court more than half a century ago said authorize special counsels. The fact that court after court has read them to authorize special counsels, and that Congress has never once questioned what the courts have done, will settle the legal question in Mr. Smith’s favor. …

🐣 RT @orangepeel18 For my sanity, I may have to stop following politics completely. Of course, I’ll still vote in November, but things are getting pretty unbearable and I can’t deal with it much longer. My mental health is really taking a beating. I’m sure some of you feel the same way.
⋙ 🐣 me, too; no tv, little MSM; cut Twitter by 2/3; I’m reading (actually listening to audiobooks), switching between history and fiction as needed ¤ I will vote by mail on Sept 20 (which we can do in MN); and I donate til it hurts ¤ I have always voted on issues, not fear

🐣 RT @MacFarlaneNews ALERT: Special Counsel Jack Smith spokesman: ¤ “The dismissal of the case deviates from the uniform conclusion of all previous courts to have considered the issue that the Atty General is statutorily authorized to appoint a Special Counsel. The Justice Dept has authorized the Special Counsel to appeal the court’s order”

🐣 RT @OversightDems NEW: Ranking Member @RepRaskin issued the following statement on the decision by Judge Cannon to toss Donald Trump’s classified documents case:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/OversightDems/status/1812936105257497026/photo/1

“For a quarter-century, Attorneys General of both political parties have named special counsels to conduct the country’s most politically sensitive investigations. Today, a federal trial judge, who has been on the bench for less than four years but has already been upbraided by her appellate court for egregious departures from the rule of law, has tried to vaporize this long-standing institutional practice in order to benefit the President who appointed her. Former President Trump’s actions require accountability-not the overthrowing of the Special Counsel on dubious constitutional grounds. He knowingly retained hundreds of presidential and highly classified records at his Mar-a-Lago club and then deliberately defied subpoenas, obstructed law enforcement, hid evidence, and lied about his continuing retention of these records. This misguided ruling should be appealed and reversed immediately.”

🐣 RT @BFriedmanDC This guy is so illiterate. Eisenhower, Kennedy and George H. W. Bush were bona fide war heroes. Bush flew 58 combat missions against the Japanese and was shot down. Kennedy’s heroics were made into the classic WWII film PT-109. Eisenhower literally led allied forces on D-Day.
⋙ 🐣 RT @elonmusk Last time America had a candidate this tough was Theodore Roosevelt
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @BillMurphyJr John McCain spent 6.5 years as a POW in Vietnam, had his shoulders destroyed, and still came home and resumed his military career before going into politics.
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @BillMurphyJr And forgotten in history is the fact that Jimmy Carter was a nuclear submarine officer and risked his life to help remove the damaged core of a Canadian reactor that was melting down — 90 second shifts at a time. [WaPo link:] https://tinyurl.com/2xysf98r
⋙⋙ 🐣 TR was a progressive Republican, famous for breaking up monopolies (bet he didn’t know that) ¤ Sickly as a child, he took to nature and adopted the persona of a cowboy

🐣 RT @svdate One of the nation’s two major parties is hours away from nominating a convicted criminal who attempted a coup to remain in office as their presidential candidate. ¤ Historic day for America. [sarcasm]

🐣 RT @KlasfeldReports Until today, every federal judge that considered the issue—all eight of them—unanimously found that attorneys general can appoint a special counsel. ¤ Judge Cannon departs from that tradition. ¤ My story on arguments before her last month, @Just_Security [link:] https://tinyurl.com/yc2x8ytk

🐣 RT @RepAdamSchiff Today’s precedent-shattering decision in Florida is further proof that the guardrails of our democracy are coming down. ¤ Again, a partisan judge throws out decades of precedent to reach a desired political outcome. ¤ Justice is again delayed so it may be denied.

🐣 RT @StephenKing I fear for my country.

🐣 RT @remy2cents Why is thi elected government official calling for civil war? ¤ Isn’t this illegal?
[TextLink:] https://x.com/remy2cents/status/1812822981279670446/photo/1

🐣 RT @RepMTG … We don’t need WWill, what we need is Civil War II.

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom Looking pretty good to me right now, tbh
⋙ 🐣 RT @BBCNews Cave discovered on Moon could be home for humans https://bbc.in/3W2SDd5

🐣 RT @TaraSetmayer Folks—hear me clearly. ¤ This isn’t “unity.” ¤ This is authoritarian propaganda being pushed as fact under the guise of “uniting our nation.” ¤ We CANNOT let them co-opt the reality of what they’ve already done and plan to do to our democracy, to women, to immigrants, minorities, dissenters, our allies, our freedoms. ¤ As @TimothyDSnyder has warned, we cannot capitulate now. ¤ We must remain steadfast & make sure Trump/MAGA is defeated at the ballot box while we still have that choice. …
⋙ 🐣 RT @svdate Looks like that New Tone lasted … seven minutes? Six?
[TextLink:] https://x.com/svdate/status/1812861792814600285/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump As we move forward in Uniting our Nation after the horrific events on Saturday, this dismissal of the Lawless Indictment in Florida should be just the first step, followed quickly by the dismissal of ALL the Witch Hunts – The January 6th Hoax in Washington, D.C., the Manhattan D.A.’s Zombie Case, the New York A.G. Scam, Fake Claims about a woman I never met (a decades old photo in a line with her then husband does not count), and the Georgia “Perfect” Phone Call charges. The Democrat Justice Department coordinated ALL of these Political Attacks, which are an Election Interference conspiracy against Joe Biden’s Political Opponent, ME. Let us come together to END all Weaponization of our Justice System, and Make America Great Again!

🐣 RT @yasminalombaert Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that Russia should be represented at a second summit aiming to secure lasting peace with the Kremlin, after more than two years of war.
¤ https://x.com/yasminalombaert/status/1812865278285431027

“I believe that Russian representatives should be at the second summit,” Zelenskyy said.

He also said that he was not concerned at the prospect of another Donald Trump presidency in the United States, despite indications a Trump administration could be more sympathetic to the Kremlin.

“I think if Donald Trump becomes president, we will work together. I’m not worried about this,” Zelenskyy said during a press conference in Kyiv.

🧵 RT @NormEisen BREAKING: Judge Cannon has just wrongly dismissed the Mar-a-Lago documents case based on a purported appointments clause violation This is insane & will not only be reversed by the 11th circuit but may result in the ouster of Judge Cannon, a thread
📌 https://x.com/NormEisen/status/1812855922957422821

🐣 RT @chrislhayes Just to be crystal clear: SCOTUS has upheld special counsels repeatedly. Cannon is a district court judge, her job is to apply controlling precedent. She’s doing this because she thinks the MAGA court is on the same page as her and Trump’s lawyers and will go along.

🔆 This❗️⋙ 🐣 RT @KlasfeldReports News ¤ Judge Cannon DISMISSES Trump’s indictment in the classified documents case, finding that Jack Smith was unconstitutionally appointed.
[CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/5n7dsnm4 93p
[Last Page Link:] https://x.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1812849692104884694/photo/1

🐣 RT @zenamonique AND add that student loan forgiveness would be REVERSED, and people would have to start repaying their loans again.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/zenamonique/status/1812836477333619122/photo/1

Project 2025
PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION PROJECT

End no fault divorce
Complete ban on abortions without exceptions
Ban contraceptives
Additional tax breaks for corporations and the 1%
Higher taxes for the working class
Elimination of unions and worker protections
Raise the retirement age
Cut Social Security
Cut Medicare
End the Affordable Care Act
Raise prescription drug prices
Eliminate the Department of Education
Use public, taxpayer money for private religious schools
Teach Christian religious beleifs in public schools End free and discounted school lunch programs
End civil rights & DEl protections in government
Ban African American and gender studies in all levels of education
Ban books and curriculum about slavery
Ending climate protections
Increase Arctic drilling
Deregulate big business and the oil industry
Promote and expedite capital punishment
End marriage equality
Condemn single mothers while promoting only “traditional families”
Defund the FBI and Homeland Security
Use the military to break up domestic protests
Mass deportation of immigrants and incarceration in “camps”
End birth right citizenship
Ban Muslims from entering the country
Eliminates federal agencies like the FDA, EPA, NOAA and more
Continue to pack the Supreme Court, and lower courts with right-wing judges

🐣 RT @TristanSnell What are all of the most harmful, extreme, and despicable provisions in Project 2025? […]
⋙ 🐣 camps and deportations
gutting the civil service and replacing with MAGA
making the DOJ a tool of the president
cancelling environmental regs (for big oil)
abortion, IVF and possibly birth control banned
ending Obamacare
tax policy that favors the rich
promoting a single religion over others
reversing Jan 6 convictions
etc etc etc

🐣 RT @SergiyKyslytsya As of July 15, Russia withdrew the last patrol ship of its Black Sea Fleet from the occupied Crimea, as stated by Dmytro Pletenchuk, spokesman for the Naval Forces.
¤ https://x.com/SergiyKyslytsya/status/1812796547525963789

At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation had 74 warships. During almost 2.5 years of invasion, Ukraine destroyed or disabled at least a third of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation.

Ukraine managed to damage or sink dozens of ships using unmanned maritime drones Magura (GUR of the Ministry of Defense), Sea Baby (SBU) and other similar methods, which are implemented by the Naval Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

🔄 💙 🧵 RT @David_Charts Monthly economic review through the June data. First, about 6.3 million more were working in June than pre-pandemic. We regained peak employment in June 2022 and have set records monthly since. We added 206,000 jobs in June. 1/
📌 ◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1812719202324603190/photo/1 -n
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1812719202324603190.html

⭕ 14 Jul 2024

🐣 RT @KyivIndependent ⚡️ EU plans to boycott Hungary’s foreign affairs summit, Politico reports. ¤ “If there’s a formal foreign affairs council, organized by the high representative [Borrell] the same day, the ministers won’t be able to go to Budapest,” one diplomat said.

🐣 RT @mariashriver If you didn’t tune in to the president’s address from the Oval Office, I hope you will take the time to watch what he said. I hope that we all can hear what he says with open minds and open hearts. There is nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together—and that’s the truth.
⋙ 🐣 RT @POTUS Join me as I address the nation from the Oval Office.
💽 https://x.com/POTUS/status/1812638676452847836/photo/1

C&L: MSNBC, FOX And CNN All Saw Massive Drops In Viewership Last Week https://tinyurl.com/ye25kr2z
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1812737304680710539/photo/1 Compared to the week prior:

FOX: Primetime was down total viewers by 30% and down 41% in the 25-54 age range. TOTAL viewers was down 12% and down 16% for 25-54.

MSNBC: Primetime was down total viewers by 29% and down 47% in the 25-54 age range. TOTAL viewers was down 26% and down 33% for 25-54.

CNN: Primetime was down total viewers by 61% and down 76% in the 25-54 age range. TOTAL viewers was down 29% and down 47% for 25-54.

⭕ 13 Jul 2024

‼️ CBSNews: Trump safe after rally shooting, says bullet struck his ear; gunman and audience member dead https://tinyurl.com/mrejj32d

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: Bernie Sanders just doubled down on supporting President Biden and called him the most effective President of modern history. This is a huge endorsement.

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA ✊🇺🇦 “No one wants the collapse of Russia, but we want it to be defeated in Ukraine. And this is important, because otherwise Russia, China, Iran, North Korea will be encouraged in their understanding that the West, the democracies, are not as strong as they seem!,” – Petr Pavel
🖼 https://x.com/Maks_NAFO_FELLA/status/1812168502096146864/photo/1

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🇺🇦🇨🇿 “The point is not whether you like Ukraine or not. It’s about whether you want to live in a world where rules matter. Because even countries so distant from Ukraine may be interested in living in a world where they will be protected by some rules,” – Petr Pavel

⭕ 12 Jul 2024

🐣 RT @BidenHQ President Biden lays out his second term agenda:
—Restore Roe v. Wade
—Sign John Lewis Voting Rights Act
—Expand Social Security and Medicare
—End all medical debt
—Raise the minimum wage
—Pass the PRO Act for workers
—Ban assault weapons
—Lead the world on clean energy
—Permanent child tax credit
—$35 insulin cap for all
—Build more housing
—Invest in child care and elder care
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1811916693553234414/photo/1

🐣 RT @JoeNBC “I know how to do this job and I know that Americans want a president, not a dictator.” ~President Biden tonight
⋙ 🐣 RT @MeidasTouch FULL SPEECH: President Biden delivers a game-changing speech in Detroit in what could be the most important and powerful moment of the 2024 election to date. ¤ If there’s anything you watch right now, make it this. And share it far and wide.
💽 https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1811926786240065796/photo/1

🐣 RT @MrPJLowe
[TextLink:] https://x.com/MrPJLowe/status/1811862285704474752/photo/1

[Text:] The guy who cheated on Wife #1 with #2 (who got pregnant while he was still married to #1) then cheated on #2 with #3 and cheated on #3 with a porn actress and Playboy model; and, bragged about committing sexual assault, has the complete and unwavering support of the Conservative Evangelicals and the Party of Family Values. You can’t make this sh*t up.

🐣 RT @DesignationSix
[TextLink:] https://x.com/DesignationSix/status/1811966675970867222/photo/1
Her donations in 2023: 50 million for truckers. 30 million for food banks, and 20 million for the Animals.
[photo of Taylor Swift]
I’m beginning to think that all the hatred Evangelicals have towards Taylor Swift is because everyone can see that she’s far more like Jesus than they are.

🐣 RT @allinwithchris .@chrislhayes: “When you consider where we stood in 2020, Biden’s tenure has been the most successful macroeconomic stewardship of any president in my lifetime. And many of those economic successes have come through in headlines in just the past few weeks.”
💽 https://x.com/allinwithchris/status/1811917429821374510/photo/1
// newspaper headlines: economy envy of the world etc

🐣 RT @allinwithchris WATCH– @chrislhayes reacts to the Biden campaign rally in Michigan: “That was by far, I think, the best performance he’s given since the State of the Union. That’s the Joe Biden that has been a very successful politician and won in 2020.”
💽 https://x.com/allinwithchris/status/1811914878380015957/photo/1

🐣 RT @gorsushko 🚨 How dictatorships are born: Former Defense Intelligence Agency employee, retired Army Lt Col Ivan Raiklin who wants to be Trump’s Secretary of Retribution published a list of 370 political enemies for imprisonment including Presidents Biden and Obama, numerous military officers, elected officials & their families, prosecutors, FBI agents and many more plus a dozen media organizations. Raiklin works with retired Lt Gen Michael Flynn, a convicted felon. ¤ The DoJ and DoD must act now. [List:]
¤ 📋 https://x.com/igorsushko/status/1811900206457455103/photo/1 -4
⋙ 🐣 RT @gorsushko [More] https://x.com/igorsushko/status/1811902047274537191/photo/1 -4
// enemies list

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch The base of the Democratic Party is making their voices loud and clear. The pundits have awoken a sleeping giant. The Biden campaign clearly has more momentum than ever. This is a winning campaign.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Biden: You made me the nominee, no one else, not the press, not the pundits, not the insiders, not the donors. You the voters decided, no one else, and I’m not going anywhere.
💽 https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1811908224880439793/photo/1

🐣 RT @ChrisDJackson 🚨 BREAKING: President Biden has just announced Israel and Hamas have agreed to a framework for a ceasefire and hostage deal. ¤ This is HUGE and once again shows the value of having a competent Commander in Chief.

🐣 I think where Biden’s debate preppers failed was they prepped him on facts and policies, failing to initiate him to the maelstrom of Trump’s elaborate network of lies, the MAGA alternate universe. ¤ I’m not sure it’s even possible to do. ¤ You can’t debate a dumpster 🔥

⭕ 11 Jul 2024

🐣 RT @USAmbKyiv To conclude @NATO’s 75th anniversary, @POTUS, together with @ZelenskyyUa and 23 NATO leaders, announced the Ukraine Compact, committing to ensure Ukraine can defend its freedom today – and deter future aggression.
🖼 https://x.com/USAmbKyiv/status/1811648626248085977/photo/1

🐣 RT @JewishWonk Watching this press conference I have a lot more questions about the cognitive capacity of America’s intelligentsia than I do about Biden’s

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom When he talks policy, especially foreign policy, he’s in the zone. He can do the job. ¤ But the election isn’t about policy. We haven’t had one that turns on policy since, maybe, 2000.
⋙ 🐣 A lot of people are seeing where the Politics of Theatrics leads to and are turning against it. ¤ Policy IS the job. ¤ cc: @ruthbenghiat

🐣 Presser Feedback [rando]:

@JoelMartinRubin This is a very strong performance. Quite frankly. ¤ @POTUS is putting on a master class in how foreign policy and domestic policy intersect, explaining how crucial American global leadership is to our people here at home. Well done, Mr. President.

@AndrewJBates46: To answer the question on everyone’s minds: No, Joe Biden does not have a doctorate in foreign affairs. ¤ He’s just that fucking good.

@KBeds: Tonight Joe Biden offered a lengthy, detailed dive on the major national security issues he’s juggling combined with a comfortable but forceful defense of his view of where this race stands. 50 minutes of Qs. He needed to show up big tonight and he did.

@versharma: I just want all young millennials and Gen Zers to know that Biden at the NATO presser right now is about 1000 times more competent (and pro actual democracy) than George W Bush ever was. EVER

@anders_aslund: Tonight, Biden was truly impressive at his press conference. He spoke altogether for one hour. He knew all the stuff and gave sensible & detailed answers.
I was impressed.

@cmclymer: Bad news for many pundits and reporters: this has been a great presser for Pres. Biden. His answers have been deeply informed, nuanced, and assertive. He sounds like a commander-in-chief who can see the whole board and knows the right moves. Devastating for his critics.

@MariaTCardona: President Biden looks and sounds great. Strong, confident, a few flubs (he has been a gaffe machine his whole life), in command of facts, a policy wonk indeed. Showing his strength on the world to stage.

@acnewsitics: Now you see why the media hates Biden, he’s old and boring and talks policy. They want to hear about Hannibal Lector eating people, cancer windmills, electric sharks and shit.

@KenDilanianNBC: Answering very good press questions—and fighting for his political life—President Biden is articulating complex foreign policy ideas forcefully and clearly.

@claycane: President Joe Biden might mess up a few words but he doesn’t mess up policy.

@nerdypursuit: This is the story I want us to tell in this election. ¤ We’re not just running away from something bad. We’re moving to something good. That’s what I wish for.

@harryjsisson: President Biden just gave an hour long press conference with tough questions and he executed it perfectly. This is a man who is perfectly fit to serve and has a deep understanding of the important issues. What a man and what a President. BIDEN 2024.

💙 🐣 RT @IAmPoliticsGirl Well, the republicans came out with their official party platform…
💽 https://x.com/IAmPoliticsGirl/status/1811173935205220583/photo/1

🐣 RT @senatorduff Let me know when a 40 year old with the experience of Joe Biden, the eloquence of Barack Obama, the stature of George Washington and the looks of JFK pops up. ¤ Until then, let’s stop playing games. ¤ Americans Aren’t Abandoning Joe Biden

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: In a stunning leak, Donald Trump gave the keynote address at the Heritage Foundation where he announced the work the foundation did (Project 2025) would be crucial to his policy goals. Retweet so all Americans know Trump will enact Project 2025.
💽 https://x.com/Scaramucci/status/1811442237869363476/photo/1

🐣 RT @GLandsbergis [Foreign Affairs Lithuania] Mr. Orban might be abusing the position of the EU presidency, but what he is certainly not doing is representing either NATO or the EU. He does not speak for my country or any country except his own.
💽 https://x.com/GLandsbergis/status/1811401190984331297/photo/1

🐣 RT @Women4US We are grateful to have the support of such principled leaders. Thank you @GovCTW, @KerryMHealey, Susan Molinari, @IAmSophiaNelson, @NHJennifer, @WalshFreedom, @JimGreenwood, @BillKristol, and @HeathMayo.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Women4US We are thrilled to announce our honorary advisors and allies: Former Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, former Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, former Rep. Susan Molinari, former NH GOP Chair Jennifer Horn, former House GOP Committee Counsel and CNN Contributor Sophia A. Nelson.Former Rep. Jim Greenwood, former Rep. Joe Walsh, founding editor of the Weekly Standard Bill Kristol, and founder of Principles First Heath Mayo.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Women4US/status/1811388015995924802/photo/1

July 11, 2024
Contact: Hello@Women4US.org
REPUBLICAN WOMEN LAUNCH GROUP TO DEFEAT TRUMP
WomenU.S. Announces Founding Honorary Advisors and Allies

WomenU.S. – an organization of current and former Republican women – is publicly launching this month with a clear mission for 2024: defeat former President Donald Trump. Through innovative, data-driven targeting and grassroots mobilization, WomenU.S. will build a better future for all Americans. They are joined by founding honorary advisors and allies, which include many of the earliest leaders to courageously stand up publicly against Donald Trump when he first came to prominence within the Republican party.

Honorary Advisors include former Governor Christine Todd Whitman (R-NJ), former Lt. Governor Kerry Healey (R-MA), former U.S. Congresswoman Susan Molinari (R-NY), former Chair of the New Hampshire GOP Jennifer Horn, and former House Republican Investigative Committee Counsel and CNN Opinion Contributor Sophia A. Nelson.

Allies include former U.S. Congressman Jim Greenwood (R-PA), former U.S. Congressman Joe Walsh (R-IL), founding editor of the Weekly Standard Bill Kristol, and founder of Principles First Heath Mayo.

A voter data expert and former GOP elected official, co-founder Stephanie Sharp explains, “The numbers are there. We know these women because we are these women. We will activate 100,000 Trump-exhausted Republican and right-of-center women to vote against the former President across seven swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.”

“I’m doing this for my kids,” asserts co-founder Renee Lafair, a serial entrepreneur and former non-profit executive. “Women want leaders who will provide stability and security for themselves and future generations. I am one of them. We will support elected officials who are uniters not dividers, builders not destroyers, and leaders who exemplify honor, decency, and respect for our
fellow citizens.”

Co-founder Brittany Prime, a former GOP fundraiser and strategist notes, “In one week, Donald Trump will accept the Republican nomination for president. Across our nation, Republican women are saying: enough. The current party is unrecognizable to many of us, and we must right the ship by defeating Donald Trump this fall.”

ABOUT
WomenU.S., a federal Super PAC, is an organization dedicated to empowering current and former Republican women to expect more from our leaders. The organization leverages the founders’ combined 50+ years of experience in building and funding programs, campaigns, and non-profits to create impactful change. Their mission in 2024: defeat Donald Trump.
For more information, please visit http://www.Women4US.org.

🐣 RT @POTUS Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, Finnish President Stubb, and I are proud to announce the Icebreaker Collaboration Effort between our nations. ¤ This effort will not only build cutting-edge icebreakers, it’ll create good jobs and sustain peace in the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

🐣 RT @BetteMidler This entire debacle is the fault of the MSM. Never once did any one of you suggest that the FELON who was convicted on 34 counts, drop out of the race! Never ONCE! Have you lost your minds? You have sold your souls for a mess of eyeballs and clicks.

🐣 RT @Franktheshank88 It looks like the move to replace Joe Biden as the nominee because of his stuttering debate performance is backfiring spectacularly. I see more Democrats who are more determined than ever to support him.
Raise your hand if you want him to finish the job.
🖐🏼🖐️🖐🏽🖐🏾🖐🏿

‼️ 🐣 RT @SarahAshtonLV Speaker Johnson repeats Ukraine has right to use US weapons as needed and where needed.

🐣 RT @WesClarkjr Biden took on corporate America by backing unions, forcing down the price of insulin, stepping up antitrust enforcement and freeing workers from non-compete agreements – in case you were wondering why the rich white guys in our own party have it in for him.

🐣 RT @paulkrugman Seems worth noting that the Republican platform makes a big deal out of fighting crime and inflation, both of which have been plummeting
◕ https://x.com/paulkrugman/status/1811399496875622906/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @byHeatherLong Good news in the June inflation report. ¤ Inflation actually DECLINED -0.1% in June. That’s the first decrease since the pandemic month of May 2020.
-Gas prices declined in June
-Electricity prices declined in June
-Rent had its smallest monthly increase (0.2%) since August 2021
◕ https://x.com/byHeatherLong/status/1811380810840257003/photo/1

🐣 RT @benwikler In case you missed it amidst media/political drama:
– inflation falling
– crime falling
– border crossings falling
– climate emissions falling
– inequality falling
– energy production growing
– real wages growing
– jobs growing
– unions growing
– stock market growing
⋙ 🐣 RT @seungminkim WASHINGTON (AP) — US inflation slowed again in June in sign that price pressures continue to ease.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits falls last week and remains at healthy levels.

🐣 RT @axios Just 13% of workers in the U.S. are now earning less than $15 an hour. Two years ago, that number was 31.9%. ¤ Even accounting for inflation — $15 an hour in 2024 has the same buying power as about $14 in 2022 — this is remarkable progress. [Axios link:] https://tinyurl.com/47u92pwj
🌎 https://x.com/axios/status/1811389482739892269/photo/1

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla Meanwhile, US household net worth is at all-time highs and homeowners are sitting on $17 trillion in equity.
⋙ 🐣 RT @TheStalwart One could argue that the inflationary episode is over, that the stock market is at all-time highs, and that the unemployment rate is near its lowest levels ever.

🐣 RT @David_Charts Hourly wage gains have exceeded inflation if the starting point is pre-pandemic (Feb ’20).
+25% Hourly wages
+21% CPI-All
+19% CPI-Core (Ex-food & energy)
So real (infl-adj) wages up about 4%. They average higher under Biden than any other president. [SLFed link:] https://tinyurl.com/2x9t34zc
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1811391324018385385/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner The CPI inflation rate dropped to 3.0% in June, down 0.3 points from the previous month.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1811380697199718774/photo/1

⭕ 10 Jul 2024

🐣 Principles of International Humanitarian Law (of War):
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1811303151242281240/photo/1

Principles of International Humanitarian Law:

“International humanitarian law aims to balance military necessity with humanitarian considerations, ensuring that even in times of war, human dignity is respected and preserved.”

Distinction: Parties to a conflict must distinguish between combatants and civilians. Attacks should only be directed at combatants and military objectives.
Proportionality: Attacks should not cause excessive civilian harm in relation to the anticipated military advantage.
Necessity: Use of force must be necessary to achieve a legitimate military objective.
Humanity: It is prohibited to cause unnecessary suffering or superfluous injury.

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote I challenge anyone to do 18 appearances in 8 cities over 9 days and then talk to me about Biden’s fitness. ¤ Seriously. Try it.

🐣 RT @ ZelenskyyUa I had an important meeting with a US Senate delegation led by Democratic Leader @SenSchumer and Republican Leader @LeaderMcConnell, along with senators from both parties. ¤ We discussed the current battlefield situation and American defense support. I informed them about Russia’s increased missile terror against Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure. ¤ I extend my gratitude to the President of the United States, both chambers of Congress, both parties, and the American people for their support of Ukraine. 🇺🇦 🇺🇸
💽 https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1811103887509577994/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 I try not to get ahead of my country’s 🇺🇸 policy, but I do feel strongly that Ukraine should be able to strike military bases in Russia that are targeting them; I believe this is in accordance with the humanitarian laws of war

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrowm “We’re gonna deport a lot of people, 10 million people and growing – anchor babies, their parents, their grandparents. We’re gonna put kids in cages. It’s gonna be glorious.” @JasonSCampbell – Mike Davis, The Article III Project. Ex-Gorsuch clerk

🐣 RT @LeaderMcConnell Almost 40 years ago, President Reagan reminded the world that “support for freedom fighters is self-defense.” There’s no daylight between America’s interests and the cause of Ukraine’s defense. ¤ Proud, as always, to welcome President @ZelenskyyUA to the U.S. Senate.

🐣 RT @McFaul Not a coincidence. Your president like to insert himself into these gatherings of the free world. He killed @navalny during the Munich Security Conference earlier this year (or are you going to blame the Ukrainians for that murder too?).
🐣 RT @Dpol_un In our statement in the UNSC we noticed a strange coincidence – important political events for the Kiev regime (like the NATO Summit which is happening now) are usually preceded by tragedies actively attributed to Russia by Zelenskiy and his clique. That’s how Ukrainian Telegram channels describe this trend (AI translation):
¤ https://x.com/Dpol_un/status/1811018262836121763
// list of such “coincidences”

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en Medvedev once more confirmed that Russia’s ultimate goal is destroying Ukraine completely. ¤ Should it succeed, Russia won’t stop here. ¤ Ukrainian victory is the pre-requisite of geopolitical security in the region. ¤ Translation of an excerpt from Medvedev’s Telegram post:
¤ https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1811047924039585855

“A moderate political regime will emerge on the ruins of the preserved part of the former Ukraine.

But even this will not be the end of Russia’s military operation. Even after signing the papers and accepting defeat, the remaining radicals will sooner or later return to power after regrouping their forces, inspired by Russia’s Western enemies. And then it will be time to finally crush the scum. To drive a long steel nail into the coffin lid of the Banderite quasi-state. Destroy the remnants of its bloody legacy and return the remaining lands to the bosom of the Russian land.

But Russia’s enemies will not go anywhere after that. They will be gathering strength and waiting for a new convenient excuse to destroy our country. We must be ready for future battles to defend the Fatherland.”

🔄 💙 MMFA (March): A guide to Project 2025, the extreme right-wing agenda for the next Republican administration https://tinyurl.com/yc7udr8k “Project 2025 aims to roll back civil rights and destroy the federal government, among other proposals” //➔ Good Summary
// 3/20/2024
[link:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1811100114041106512

🐣📋 RT @WhiteHouse When President Biden took office, only nine NATO Allies were spending at least 2% of their budgets on defense. Today, a record 23 NATO Allies are at or above the minimum level of 2% GDP for defense spending.

🐣 there is not a better nominee ¤ Kamala doesn’t have the depth and it’s hard to think the base would accept anyone else ¤ Biden has an incredible domestic and policy record and he has saved NATO after Trump weakened it
[link:] https://x.com/AP/status/1811061816069366046

🧵 RT @SenWhitehouse Yesterday, @RonWyden and I announced that we have asked the Attorney General to designate a Special Counsel to look into the mess surrounding billionaire gifts to Justice Clarence Thomas for violations of law. ¤ Why did we do this?
📌 https://x.com/SenWhitehouse/status/1811066841621471573

🐣 RT @TeamPelosi With @JoeBiden’s leadership, our NATO partnership is stronger and more unified than ever. The contrast between our President who rallies allies for Democracy and his predecessor who cozies up to Putin could not be more stark. Democracy must and will prevail — here and abroad. -NP
💽 https://x.com/TeamPelosi/status/1811037677845672390/photo/1

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch The contrast of Biden and Trump’s speeches yesterday is pretty jarring
💽 https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1811039392951324799/photo/1

🐣 RT @gtconway3d Pelosi is so good at this.
⋙ 🐣 RT @elliskkim Speaker Pelosi, arriving at her office, tells CBS News’ Jaala Brown her comments to Morning Joe are being misrepresented:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/gtconway3d/status/1811052159602917764/photo/1

Q: Do you think that Biden is the best to defeat Trump?
PELOSI: Why would you think that I would have that interview here? I think the President is great. And there are some misrepresentations of what I have said. I never said he should reconsider his decision. The decision is the president’s. I don’t know what’s happened in New York Times that they make up news. But if that’s why you’re here, it isn’t true.

🐣 RT @brianklaas After the unbelievably limited press coverage of Trump’s Doral lunacy last night, reminding all journalists of the perils of the“banality of crazy” and how insane things said frequently are nonetheless newsworthy. Cover the crazy. It’s your job.

🐣 RT @DavidCornDC I count eight stories on the Biden age controversy in the New York Times hard copy this morning and nothing on Trump‘s rally last night, where he said many deranged things. And I saw nothing prominently displayed on that rally in the paper’s online version.

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en ❗️Britain gives Ukraine permission to strike deep into Russian territory with Storm Shadow cruise missiles – Bloomberg citing new UK Defense Minister Keir Starmer. ¤ @Keir_Starmer signaled Ukraine can use Britain’s Storm Shadow missiles to strike military targets inside Russia, confirming he would continue the previous UK government’s policy on the use of its long-range weapons in the Russia-Ukraine war. ¤ Storm Shadows are precision-guided cruise missiles with a firing range in excess of 250 kilometers (155 miles).
⋙ Bloomberg: Starmer Says Ukraine Can Use UK Missiles to Strike Inside Russia https://tinyurl.com/ytbdvxu2
● Premier says for Ukraine to decide how to use Storm Shadows
● Comments come as NATO leaders meet for summit in Washington

⭕ 9 Jul 2024

🐣 RT @ResoluteSquare 🔥🔥Watch President Biden lead the world stage in this fantastic and inspiring speech today from the NATO 75th Anniversary Celebratory Event. Biden passionately defends democracy, Ukraine, NATO and crushes Putin. Watch it right now! Forget the debate. THIS is President Biden
💽 https://x.com/ResoluteSquare/status/1810820111554728202/photo/1

🐣 RT @tribelaw “The 2024 Republican Party platform, released today, calls for using the 14th Amendment not to protect equal rights for Americans from discriminatory laws, as those who wrote, passed, and ratified the amendment intended. Instead it calls for using the 14th Amendment to protect the rights of fetuses from the time of fertilization. It says that states should start passing laws protecting those rights: so-called fetal personhood laws that have their roots in the 1960s and were considered a fringe idea until about fifteen years ago. Those laws prohibit all abortion, in vitro fertilization (IVF), and several forms of contraception.” — @HC_Richardson (7/8/24)

⭕ 8 Jul 2024

🐣 RT @schachin 🔥Biden’s medical exam from February. OMG He is healthier than most of us.
¤ [TextLink:] https://x.com/schachin/status/1810507837627674748/photo/1 -4

🐣 RT @SethAbramson BREAKING NEWS: President Joe Biden has written a long letter to the Democratic Party, and it is perfect.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/SethAbramson/status/1810314169448563155/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en “Our hospital is the largest [children’s] hospital in Europe. More than 600 children are treated here every day. It is here that children find hope – hope for health, hope for life. And it is this institution that was hit by a Russian missile today. I am tired of saying that Russia is a terrorist country. This is further proof that Russia should not exist as a country,” Okhmatdyt CEO Volodymyr Zhovnir said about today’s Russian missile strike on the children’s hospital.
💽 https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1810383598329147537/photo/1

Oleksandr Lysytsia, head of the bone marrow transplantation division at Okhmatdyt children’s hospital, said that the new building of the children’s hospital is almost 80% out of service.

According to him, all utility lines have been destroyed, there is no light and water. The missile completely destroyed the toxicology building and damaged 4 more. 10 surgery units, 5 oncology units, 2 somatic units, an intensive care unit, 2 critical care units, operating suites, radiology and radiotherapy unit, and part of the only oncohematology laboratory in the country were damaged.

🐣 RT @stengel France, England (even Iran)—the pendulum is swinging away from reactionary authoritarianism. May it swing in the same direction here, too. Make no mistake, democracy is on the ballot in November.

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote UK said no to fascism ¤ France said no to fascism ¤ It’s our turn 🇺🇸

🐣 RT @kajakallas Shocking images as Russian missiles hit Okhmatdyt Hospital, #Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital. ¤ It’s a reminder of why we must support Ukraine and why outright Russian war criminals must be held to account.
⋙ 🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv. One of the most important CHILDREN’S hospitals not only in Ukraine, but also in Europe. Okhmatdyt has been saving and restoring the health of thousands of children.
💽 https://x.com/kajakallas/status/1810263450657902645/photo/1

Now that the hospital has been damaged by a Russian strike, there are people under the rubble, and the exact number of casualties is still unknown. Right now, everyone is helping to clear the rubble – doctors and ordinary people.

Russia cannot claim ignorance of where its missiles are flying and must be held fully accountable for all its crimes. Against people, against children, against humanity in general. It is very important that the world does not remain silent about this now, and that everyone sees what Russia is and what it is doing.

⭕ 7 Jul 2024

🐣 RT @marceelias My latest. 👇 Project 2025 is premised on contempt for constitutional norms and the rule of law. It seeks to reshape American government, law and society. To achieve that, it must rely on extraordinary actions and a willingness to defy the law.
⋙ DemDocket, Marc Elias (7/5): How the Supreme Court Bolstered Project 2025 https://tinyurl.com/3e9eurr5 “Project 2025 advances an extreme MAGA agenda that is fiercely isolationist, xenophobic and disdainful of democratic norms.”
// (cont.) “It demonizes intellectuals, dismisses experts and idolizes charismatic strongmen.”

🐣 RT @DanielMillerEsq Fascists thrives on fear. On making you feel like their victory is inevitable. On making you feel like you’re just one person in in the face of historical forces that are just too big and too powerful for you to stop them. ¤ But it’s an illusion. The power is in our hands.
⋙ 🐣 RT @harryjsisson This is the celebration underway in Paris after Marine Le Pen and her far-right fascist party lost to the moderates and the left wing party. What an amazing day! Democracy wins, fascism falls!
💽 https://x.com/DanielMillerEsq/status/1810048796845396218/photo/1

🐣 RT @Acyn Luttig: The Supreme Court cut the heart and soul out of America with this abominable decision… The defining maxim of America has been that no one is above the law. That can never be said about America again after this decision from the Supreme Court. Without any question whatsoever, the Supreme Court held that the President of the United States, and in particular, the former President of the United States Donald Trump, is above the law.

🧵 RT @MarkJacob16 It’s increasingly obvious that much of the political press is shallow. They demand new storylines. They’re distracted by bright, shiny objects. Believe it or not, they’re bored with the fact that an unhinged fascist is poised to end American democracy. 1/9
📌 https://x.com/MarkJacob16/status/1809960990152294579
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/37s4ynj7

The media’s mentality is dangerous. In past years, they’ve noted how unhinged and dangerous Trump is. Not loudly enough, but fairly often. So now when he says and does unhinged and dangerous things, they think it’s not really news anymore. At least not big news. 2/9

Part of the problem is the common definition of news. One Webster definition is “previously unknown information.” Trump called for the jailing of his 2016 rival, so when he advocates the jailing or even execution of enemies, that’s just “Trump being Trump.” Old news. 3/9

I have a different definition of news: It’s information that helps people improve their lives and that warns people of dangers. Trump and his anti-democracy party are a huge threat to our nation’s future. It’s not old news. It’s big news. The biggest. 4/9

If only the media covered Trump like they cover hurricanes. When hurricanes approach, news outlets do their duty and loudly warn people. They don’t think, “We told them about hurricanes last year. This is just ‘hurricanes being hurricanes.’” 5/9

The media’s thirst for new storylines helps explain the feeding frenzy on Biden. Conflict is the essence of storytelling. On the GOP side, it’s lockstep cultism. No conflict. On the Democratic side, a wide-open debate. Conflict. Which is why the media are all over Biden. 6/9

MAGA propagandists know the media need content. That’s why they invent new lies to control the narrative. A vigorous media would create its own pro-democracy agenda. But the right knows its lies will be instant headlines and the fact checks will come later, or never. 7/9

The news media are looking at one of the biggest stories in our nation’s history – an attempt to replace democracy with a dictatorship – and are largely missing it. And missing it not because it’s secret. They’re missing it because they’re too shallow to cover it properly. 8/9

We’re foolish if we wait for the media to save us. We must save ourselves. Talk to your family and friends. Tell them about Project 2025 and the fact that Trump uses Nazi rhetoric like “vermin” and “poisoning the blood of our country.” Get serious, because the media won’t. 9/9

⭕ 6 Jul 2024

🐣 RT @TheRickyDavila The one thing media can’t seem to find is any negative impact President Biden’s age has had because there is none. The ageism/ableism attacks he’s facing is reminiscent of the racist birtherism blitz against President Obama and “but her emails” misogyny against Hillary Clinton.

🐣 RT @BandyXLee1 The shocking news of the day should be that a convicted criminal of 34 felonies, with 3 indictments still to go, 88 criminal charges, 2 impeachments, one act of sedition, 26 women alleging sexual assault, threats of civil war, and threats to be a dictator is still on the ballot.

🐣 RT @NormOrnstein There is nothing that motivates journalists more than a death watch: will he resign, will he be forced out. We saw this with Al Franken and many times before. The press corps mobilize, and like rabid animals obsessively won’t let go. Reporters and editors mobilize, and both front pages and editorial pages are filled with will he, won’t he, why he should, who will replace him. Meanwhile, stories like Trump’s profane rant against Biden and Harris, and in his July 4 message, his lie about Project 2025, the story about his participating in a gang rape of a 12 year old with Jeffrey Epstein, all go uncovered my major media or relegated to back pages with cursory coverage.
⋙ 🐣 I agree and it sickens me ¤ I’m reading history (which I can recommend) until the “death watch” is over ¤ in my experience, only another breaking story ends it

🐣 RT @DashDobrofsky I encourage you to stop watching CNN & MSNBC. They are no longer providing news, but rather, have become gossip tabloids. They break stories without sources — and chase ratings instead of providing fair coverage of what this race really is: Democracy v Fascism. Turn them off.

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Statement from President Biden on Donald Trump’s Project 2025 agenda
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1809644658588291256/photo/1

Statement from President Joe Biden on Donald Trump’s Project 2025 Agenda

“We can always rely on Donald Trump for one thing: to lie to the American people in pursuit of power. We saw that on the debate stage when he set a record. He lied about the economy, about his role in the January 6 insurrection, and about disrespecting our heroic servicemembers.

“Donald Trump is lying again now. He’s trying to hide his connections to his allies’ extreme Project 2025 agenda. The only problem? It was written for him, by those closest to him. Project 2025 should scare every single American. It would give Trump limitless power over our daily lives and let him use the presidency to enact ‘revenge’ on his enemies, ban abortion nationwide and punish women who have an abortion, and gut the checks and balances that make America the greatest democracy in the world. It’s extreme and dangerous.

“Trump’s conservative Supreme Court has already given him a blank check to do virtually whatever he wants with no regard for the rule of law. If he wins, there is no question Trump,will use it to pass his Project 2025 agenda.Together, we must defeat him.”

⭕ 5 Jul 2024

🐣 RT @marceelias My latest. ¤ Project 2025 advances an extreme MAGA agenda https://tinyurl.com/3e9eurr5 that is fiercely isolationist, xenophobic and disdainful of democratic norms. It demonizes intellectuals, dismisses experts and idolizes charismatic strongmen.
⋙ DemDocket, Marc Elias: How the Supreme Court Bolstered Project 2025 https://tinyurl.com/3e9eurr5

🐣 RT @SykesCharlie WTF
⋙ 🐣 RT @atrupar North Carolina GOP gov nominee Mark Robinson endorses political violence in June 30 video surfaced by @newrepublic: “Kill them! Some liberal somewhere is gonna say that sounds awful. Too bad! … Some folks need killing! It’s time for somebody to say it.” [link:] https://tinyurl.com/4x9wcyfj

⭕ 4 Jul 2024 🇺🇸

🔄 VanityFair, Bess Levin (Oct 2018): Report: Trump Clocks in About Three Hours of Work on a Good Day https://tinyurl.com/yc2dsdys “The rest of his day is devoted to ‘executive time,’ i.e. TV-watching and Twitter.”
// 10/29/2018

🐣 RT @7Veritas4 “Let’s hold Biden to ridiculous standards because we can’t hold Trump to any.” – Mainstream Media

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa Happy Fourth of July to all our American friends!
¤ https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1808810549053902899

We understand what independence means to you, Americans, and you can see that it means the same thing to us, Ukrainians.

We value independence equally and rely on our brave men and women to defend it. Together, we are creating hope for people all over the world. A hope that freedom will always triumph.

True independence is always the result of won battles, and freedom must be reinforced with victories every time tyranny attempts to destroy it. Different generations of Americans and Ukrainians have witnessed this firsthand, and it is critical that current generations pass on a sense of confident independence and guaranteed freedom to their children and grandchildren.

On this day, we join our trusted ally in recognizing this most sacred value for both of our nations. We do so with deep gratitude for all of the support that the United States has provided and continues to provide to Ukraine in its fight for freedom, independence, and security – not only its own, but that of all free nations.

Thank you, America. Thank you to every American heart that beats in solidarity with brave Ukrainian hearts fighting for independence.

I wish the United States and all Americans strength, unity, and unwavering belief in the triumph of good over evil, liberty over tyranny, and life over terror. #4thOfJuly

🐣 Strapped dog in cage to the roof of his car ~ Mitt Romney
Shot a dog ~ Kristi Noem
Ate a dog ~ RFK Jr
This is called “lowering the bar”

⭕ 3 Jul 2024

🐣 RT @NormOrnstein Is there any doubt that Trump would both bring out the military under the Insurrection Act and create Proud Boys militias to go after opponents and critics, not to mention women seeking abortions, doctors who help women, and so many more
⋙ 🐣 RT @ruthbenghiat Situational awareness: Heritage does not have an in-house paramilitary or security apparatus sufficient to carry out a revolution on a national scale. Using “we,” Roberts is suggesting that Heritage is aligned with armed entities that could be activated if there is resistance to their coup. Classic intimidation tactic: submit or else.

🐣 RT @BMeiselas So many people have told me they will never forgive the corporate media for their insane and lopsided pile-on in the wake of the debate and I frankly don’t blame them. Never seen anything like this in my life, and so many reporters seem to be reveling in it. It would be one thing if this same energy was brought for literally any of the disqualify things Trump does on a daily basis, but they let all of that slide.

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski Wow. Zelensky to Bloomberg News: “If Trump knows how to end this war, he should tell us today.” Then says if Trump intends to abandon them to the Russians if he wins, he wants to know now so he can prepare.
💽 https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1808668563869253876/photo/1

🐣 RT @BeschlossDC Thomas Jefferson’s handwritten draft of our Declaration of Independence (with revisions by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin), 1776:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BeschlossDC/status/1808692597860495542/photo/1

🐣 RT @DougJones On the eve of the celebration of America’s independence from a king, we have to be mindful that the recent SCOTUS decision essentially greenlights a modern day king but only if we are foolish enough, or blinded enough, to elect one.

The comments of this crazy SOB, the architect of Project 2025, stating so boldly that “We are in the process of a second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be,” connects the dots to that decision and the stakes in the upcoming election. This should be a chilling wake up call to all who actually care about freedom and democracy.

Consider policy. Consider age. Consider all of the things you usually consider in an election. But for God’s sakes please, this year let’s get back to putting character and integrity and respect for the rule of law back at the top of the list.

⋙ 🐣 RT @CAPAction Here’s the head of MAGA’s Project 2025 saying “We’re in the process of a second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”
💽 https://x.com/DougJones/status/1808694378841424357/photo/1

🐣 RT @BeschlossDC Almost a decade after the idealistic Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson got more pessimistic. ¤ Warned it was “only a matter of time” before Americans were tempted by dictatorship. He warned future Americans to ward off the “wolf of tyranny.” ¤ Please listen.

🐣 RT @11thHour “The whole idea of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution was to make sure that our presidents never turned into kings.” @beschlossdc on the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling.
💽 https://x.com/11thHour/status/1808713112872235349/photo/1

🐣 RT @tribelaw Yup. They just made it up. On what basis? None — other than the fact that they could. Naked power grab.
⋙ 🐣 RT @allinwithchris [7/1] They just made it up. Point of fact, there was no such thing as absolute executive immunity for official acts from criminal prosecution until this morning at 10:30 am ET,” says @chrislhayes on the Supreme Court’s Trump immunity decision.
💽 https://x.com/tribelaw/status/1808515440383029564/photo/1

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote NEW: The former assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI @FrankFigliuzzi1 says the Supreme Court is a national security threat. I agree!

🐣 RT @trudygonzales Read the transcript from the debate ¤ It paints a different picture
⋙ TheHill: Biden lacked oomph, but the transcript tells a different tale https://tinyurl.com/2d639dcs
⋙⋙ ≣ CNN: READ: Biden-Trump debate transcript https://tinyurl.com/35zewstb

🐣 RT @ SteveRattner In 2023, the US consumed more energy from renewables than coal for the first time in over 100 years. ¤ We still have a ways to go, though, with fossil fuels accounting for 83% of national energy consumption. cc: @EIAgov
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1808562103168741742/photo/1
// of 83%, 39% is now natgas, largely replacing coal

🐣 RT @TheChrisSuprun More #EpsteinIsland court docs dropped. ¤ In them, records show #TrumpRapes12YearOldGirls. ¤ My president may be old, but he isn’t a rapist.¤ Why isn’t this trending America?
cc: @BadBradRSR @MarkHamill @brian_mistrot @WalshFreedom @charles_gaba @DavidYankovich
[TextLink:] https://x.com/TheChrisSuprun/status/1808434730360037790/photo/1 -2
// Doc #1 below, Doc #2 posted 7/2 by @mfstern; Suprun says “These were sealed and just dropped.”

FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS

5. The Plaintiff, Katie Johnson, alleges that the Defendants, Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey E.
Epstein, did willfully and with extreme malice violate her Civil Rights under 18 U.S.C.; 2241 by sexually and physically abusing Plaintiff Johnson by forcing her to engage in various perverted and depraved sex acts by threatening physical harm to Plaintiff Johnson and also her family.
6. The Plaintiff, Katie Johnson, alleges that the Defendants, Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey E.
Epstein, also did willfully and with extreme malice violate her Civil Rights under 42 U.S.C. ; 1985 b conspiring to deny Plaintiff Johnson her Civil Rights by making her their sex slave.
7. The Plaintiff, Katie Johnson, alleges she was subject to extreme sexual and physical abuse by the Defendants, Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey E. Epstein, including forcible rape during a four month time span covering the months of June-September 1994 when Plaintiff Johnson was still only a minor of age 13.
8. The Plaintiff, Katie Johnson, alleges she was enticed by promises of money and a modeling career to attend a series of underage sex parties held at the New York City residence of Defendant Jeffrey E. Epstein and attended by Defendant Donald J. Trump.

🐣 RT @JReinerMD With all the focus on the health of the president, it bears repeating that we know nothing about the health of the former president.

🐣 RT @whstancil You have to love how Axios’s plain language summary of Trump’s platform is “He’ll set up concentration camps and jail his political enemies” – literally fascism and tyranny – but somehow this all gets sidelined in our day-to-day discourse
[TextLink:] https://x.com/whstancil/status/1808145183067820115/photo/1

What to watch: To hear Trump and his allies tell it, this is how early 2025 would unfold if he wins:

1. A re-elected Trump would set up vast camps and deport millions of people in the U.S. illegally. He could invoke the Insurrection Act and use troops to lock down the southern border.

2. In Washington, Trump would move to fire potentially tens of thousands of civil servants using a controversial interpretation of law and procedure. He’d replace many of them with pre-vetted loyalists.

3. He’d centralize power over the Justice Department, historically an independent check on presidential power. He plans to nominate a trusted loyalist for attorney general, and has threatened to target and even imprison critics. He could demand the federal cases against him cease immediately.

4. Many of the Jan. 6 convicts could be pardoned – a promise Trump has made at campaign rallies, where he hails them as patriots, not criminals. Investigations of the Bidens would begin.

5. Trump says he’d slap 10% tariffs on most imported goods, igniting a possible trade war and risking short-term inflation. He argues this would give him leverage to create better trade terms to benefit consumers.

6. Conversation would intensify about when Justices Clarence Thomas, 76, and Sam Alito, 74, would retire. Lists of potential successors are already drawn up. President Biden said last month that “the next president is likely to have two new Supreme Court nominees.” If Trump were to win and the two oldest justices retired, five of the nine justices would have been handpicked by Trump.

🐣 RT @AshaRangappa_ I honestly could not sleep last night contemplating the SCOTUS immunity opinion. It is so, so bad. I don’t think there is any way to read it other than an attempt to secure their own power in a future dystopian hellscape.

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary [Dems] What is Project 2025?
💽 https://x.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1808540628319400026/photo/1
// Nicolle Wallace on DeadlineWH

🐣 RT @rcrockett A guide to Project 2025, the extreme right-wing agenda for the next Republican administration ¤ Project 2025, a comprehensive transition plan organized by right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation to guide the next GOP presidential administration, is the conservative movement’s most robust policy and staffing proposal for a potential second Trump White House — and its extreme agenda represents a threat to democracy, civil rights, the climate, and more. ¤ ht://project2025.org

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Biden-Harris campaign statement on Trump’s Project 2025 leader threatening violence
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1808522461484331398/photo/1

Biden-Harris campaign statement on Trump’s Project 2025 leader threatening violence

“248 years ago tomorrow America declared independence from a tyrannical king, and now Donald Trump and his allies want to make him one at our expense. On January 6, they proudly stormed our Capitol to overturn an election Donald Trump lost fair and square – something not even the Confederacy was able to accomplish – now they are dreaming of a violent revolution to destroy the very idea of America.

“Americans do not want Donald Trump, a liar, fraud, and convicted criminal who has said he wants to be a dictator on ‘day one, ‘terminate’ our Constitution, rip away our rights, and is only out for himself as President of the United States.

“Joe Biden rejects Donald Trump’s revenge, resentment, and retribution.

“Like the rest of America, Joe Biden embraces freedom and democracy, our shared values of honesty, decency, dignity, and equality, and believes respect for one another, giving everyone a fair shot, and giving hate no safe harbor is what unites us in the future we will build together.”

🐣 RT @CraigDMauger Fascinating: California Gov. Gavin Newsom is coming to West Michigan to campaign for President Joe Biden on Thursday, Biden’s campaign just announced.

🐣📋 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🇺🇦🏆 NATO allies have agreed to fund military aid for Ukraine with 40 billion euros next year, – Reuters
❗️ Stoltenberg had asked member states to keep up military aid for Ukraine at the same level as in the years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, adding up to some 40 billion euros ($43 billion) per year.

🐣 RT @JillWineBanks Opinion | I helped prosecute Watergate. The Supreme Court just proved Richard Nixon right. https://tinyurl.com/3en39tn2 via @msnbc

🐣 📊 RT @AmoneyResists So yeah, about that immunity ruling…it’s a hard pass for 7 out of 10 Americans
[TextLink:] https://x.com/AmoneyResists/status/1808387347723014387/photo/1
// CBSNews poll: June 5-7: “SHOULD U.S. PRESIDENTS HAVE IMMUNITY FROM PROSECUTION FOR ACTIONS TAKEN AS PRESIDENT?” No 70%, Yes 30%

🐣 RT @meiselasb Trump’s name appears over and over again on Jeffrey Epstein’s message logs in the grand jury docs released this week. It is also undisputed: Trump’s name appears 7 times on Epstein’s private jet flight logs, that Epstein flew on Trump’s jet with a young girl of indeterminate age, girls who Epstein trafficked worked at Mar-A-Lago, a girl Epstein trafficked mentioned visiting Trump’s casino in a recently released deposition transcript,Trump said Epstein is a great guy who likes girls on the younger side, Trump frequently “partied” with Epstein, Trump wished Ghislaine Maxwell well at her criminal trial, and someone who testified under the pseudonym JANE DOE at the Ghislaine Maxwell criminal trial stated that she was introduced to Trump by Epstein when she was 14 years old. We report on it here with all receipts [YouTube link:] https://youtu.be/xa3K85fStBw?si=nTNnVHeP_7lYlrMR

🐣 So, if there were “good people on both sides,” why does only one side have to pay damages? 🤔 @snopes
⋙ 🐣 RT @ ArtCandee Ha!!!!! Finally some good news today! ¤ White Nationalist organizers of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville have to cough up some cash.
After a jury verdict was made in 2021 of $26 million in damages, a judge slashed it to $350,000.
Today, a three-judge panel of the Richmond 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the jury’s award of $2 million in compensatory damages, but found that a state law that imposes the $350,000 cap on punitive damages should be applied PER PERSON instead of for all of the eight plaintiffs, as a lower court judge decided.
🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿🍿

⭕ 2 Jul 2024

🐣 RT @YAppelbaum “The Court’s curious and convoluted majority opinion turns the Constitution’s text and structure inside out and upside down, saying things that are flatly contradicted by the document’s unambiguous letter and obvious spirit.​” From Akhil Reed Amar:
⋙ TheAtlantic, Akhil Reed Amar: Something Has Gone Deeply Wrong at the Supreme Court https://tinyurl.com/2s395jyx “Jurists who preach fidelity to the Constitution are making decisions that flatly contradict our founding document’s text and ideals.”

CNN: Top leader of RNC Platform Committee entertained idea of imprisoning women who get abortions, opposes exceptions https://tinyurl.com/u73h8fmy Ed Martin ”has consistently espoused a hardline position on abortion, criticizing Republicans with a more moderate stance on the issue”

🐣 RT @mfstern Trump having sexual threeways with 12-year-old and 13-year-old girls is horrific. ¤ But telling one of them to “get a fucking abortion”, after she was worried about getting pregnant was evil. ¤ A 12 year old girl!
[TextLink:] https://x.com/mfstern/status/1808289800438394963/photo/1

Case 5:16-cv-00797-DMG-KS Document 1 Filed 04/26/16 Page 3 of 6 Page ID #:3
On the third occasion involving the Defendant, Donald J. Trump, the Plaintiff, Katie Johnson! was forced to engage in an unnatural lesbian sex act with her fellow minor and sex slave, Maria Doe age 12, for the sexual enjoyment of Defendant Trump. After this sex act, both minors were forced to orally copulate Defendant Trump by placing their mouths simultaneously on his erect penis until he achieved sexual orgasm. After zipping up his pants, Defendant Trump physically pushed both minors away while angrily berating them for the “poor” quality of their sexual performance. On the fourth and final sexual encounter with the Defendant, Donald J. Trump, the Plaintiff, Katie Johnson, was tied to a bed by Defendant Trump who then proceeded to forcibly rape Plaintiff Johnson. During the course of this savage sexual attack, Plaintiff Johnson loudly pleaded with Defendant Trump to “please wear a condom”. Defendant Trump responded by violently striking Plaintiff Johnson in the face with his open hand and screaming that “he would do whatever he,wanted” as he refused to wear protection. After achieving sexual orgasm, the Defendant, Donald J. Trump put his suit back on and when the Plaintiff, Katie Johnson, in tears asked Defendant Trump what would happen if he had impregnated her, Defendant Trump grabbed his wallet and threw some money at her and screamed that she should use the money “to get a fucking abortion”
.

🧵 🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder 1/5. Unless Trump loses, America ends.
📌 https://x.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/1807876105807770022
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1807876105807770022.html

2/5. The Supreme Court has made this clear. As has Trump himself. Over and over.

3/5. Our enemies know this. Which is why they all, without exception, support Trump.

4/5. We have no excuse not to know this. And once we know it we can act. Each of us doing what we can, trusting one another, making contact.

5/5. We can do this. If we each do what we can, this republic will go on, and this republic will get better.

🐣 RT @BradMossEsq They’re preparing for war
🐣 RT @WesClarkjr A tiny minority of 15% of the American public egged on and backed up by some billionaires and foreign dictatorships demands we surrender our freedoms or people will die. No thanks. Fuck them.
‼️ 🐣 RT @OlgaNYC1211 “Bloodless coup if the left allows it to be” ¤ Read these words very carefully and then decide what kind of system you want this November.
⋙ 🐣 RT @mmfa Heritage Foundation president celebrates Supreme Court presidential immunity ruling: “We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be” [link:] https://tinyurl.com/2n2rh245

NYT: Trump Amplifies Calls to Jail Top Elected Officials, Invokes Military Tribunals https://tinyurl.com/4vkfprdh “A post that Mr. Trump circulated on Sunday called for Liz Cheney to be prosecuted by a military court reserved for enemy combatants and war criminals.”

🐣 RT @ChrisMurphyCT If you’re a woman who doesn’t want the government to control you body, there isn’t room for you in the Republican Party anymore. ¤ Every Republican woman in the South Carolina Senate has been kicked out after they objected to the state’s abortion ban.

🐣 RT @Emily_Saul_ NEW: Rudy Giuliani, former NYC mayor and US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has been disbarred.

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA ✅ Blinken explained what USA will consider as Ukraine’s victory. ¤ “What is success? This is Ukraine, which is a strong, successful country that is increasingly integrated with the West, and a country that can stand on its own feet militarily, economically and democratically.”

🐣 RT @SykesCharlie Alexander Hamilton. Federalist 69 ,on the difference between the president and a king: ¤ “The President of the United States would be liable to be impeached, tried, and upon conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crime or misdemeanors, removed from office; and would afterwards be liable to prosecution and punishment in the ordinary course of law. The person of the King of Great-Britain is sacred and inviolable: There is no constitutional tribunal to which he is amenable; no punishment to which he can be subjected without involving the crisis of a national revolution.”

WaPo: What to know about presidential immunity after the Supreme Court ruling https://tinyurl.com/mrpjn8da “The Supreme Court ruled that former president Donald Trump is immune from prosecution for his “official acts” in office. Here’s what to know about the decision.”

🧵 RT @SenWhitehouse One of the many problems with vain and arrogant Supreme Court justices pulling a redo on whole areas of our constitution and laws, is that they get stuff wrong. ¤ They see the result they (and their billionaires) want, and lurch for it. ¤ Wreckage results…
📌 https://x.com/SenWhitehouse/status/1808136480604250297
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1808136480604250297.html

Look at the pretense in Citizens United that all the massive special-interest spending they unleashed would be “transparent.” Multiple billions spent since in dark money proved that wildly wrong, but in their arrogance and cupidity, do they care? Not one bit.

The Trump immunity case is a similar wrecking ball, to a long-standing, orderly constitutional framework.

The six FedSoccers just blew it up, making up out of whole cloth untested and unprecedented new doctrine — which got them the result they wanted.

Sotomayor’s dissent takes apart the FedSoccers’ phony methodology, and their violation of their own supposed principles like “textualism,” “originalism,” and “restraint.” It’s worth reading.

The “Great Dissenter” Harlan would be proud. But think about treason.

At its most dangerous, treason is done from the inside.

A treasonous president would use his official powers, and work through treasonous collaborators in his administration, to sell us out to an enemy.

Like Trump to Putin. Trump would sell us out for a real estate concession in Russia. And he’d do it through Trump administration officials in on the conspiracy. ¤ And he’d walk away scot-free, under this new immunity decision, because it would be “official.”

The Constitution limits courts to deciding individual cases or controversies, not writing “decisions for the ages,” to keep unaccountable judicial power in check. And because steady progression in the law creates less error than grand lurches.

Think about the door the Court’s far-right bloc just opened for a criminal president, who would commit treason for the right price, to commit treason. Think about the arrogance of their grand pronouncement, and the folly.

Treason, made legal.

Same crew won’t follow an ethics code, accepts billionaire freebies, cheats on disclosures, and — alone in government — won’t allow independent fact-finding about their own misconduct.

That’s the crew that just made presidential treason legal.

PS: In the Constitution, there is limited immunity, under the “Speech in Debate” Clause, for legislators (not for president) — not as broad as what the justices just created for the president, but it’s in the Constitution — with a specific exception for: Treason.

🐣 Remember when Republicans thought Congress did the work and all they needed in a president was someone “with enough digits to hold a pen”? ¤ He was wrong about taxes and policy, but right about the fact the President isn’t alone. He has a team. #TeamBiden
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1808160022435700741/photo/1
// Text: “We don’t need someone who can think. We need someone with enough digits to hold a pen.” —Grover Norquist—

🐣 RT @tribelaw Trump v. United States will be overruled someday. I agree with @rbhubbell that it’s “destined to be remembered as a mark of shame for the Roberts Court just as Dred Scott tarnishes Chief Justice Taney’s legacy to this day.” Hasten the day by voting against this Court in November

🐣 RT @SophiePerrin18 US Voters–This describes what overturning Chevron means for the country. It will cripple the federal government and Congress. This is a massive power grab by the Courts; the only people who benefit are oligarchs & big business that do not act in your best interest
⋙ 🐣 RT @TheLastWord WATCH: @neal_katyal explains the Supreme Court’s seismic decision on deregulation today #LastWord
💽 https://x.com/TheLastWord/status/1806886191494504899/photo/1

🐣 RT @keithedwards “No one is above the law.”
💽 https://x.com/keithedwards/status/1807987993044468076/photo/1
// conservative SCOTUS confirmation hearings; conservative judges all swear that …

🐣 Here is the 2024 Version of the Ad Fontes Media Bias Chart.
For the interactive version, here’s the link https://tinyurl.com/4e79xzv9
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1808041799736229947/photo/1
// my pinned tweet

🐣 RT @atrupar Nobody loves that Joe Biden is 81. It would be great if he was 35. But you know what I really dislike? Authoritarianism. So I humbly beseech people to get a goddamn grip.

⭕ 1 Jul 2024

🐣 RT @crampell [7/3] Meanwhile, illegal border crossings are plummeting. Preliminary data for June show they’re lower than they were same time of year in 2019, Trump’s last prepandemic year.
⋙ CBSNews: Illegal crossings at U.S.-Mexico border fall to 3-year low, the lowest level under Biden https://tinyurl.com/97h57jm2 “Senior U.S. officials told CBS News the partial asylum ban is the main driving force behind the steep decline in crossings.”

💽 ≣ RollCall: Remarks: Joe Biden Addresses the Supreme Court’s Decision on Presidential Immunity – July 1, 2024 [Transcript, Video] https://tinyurl.com/5aesse97

Good evening. The presidency is the most powerful office in the world. It’s an office to not only test your judgment, perhaps even more importantly, it’s an office that can test your character, because you’ll not only face moments where you need the courage to exercise the full power of the presidency, you’ll also face moments where you need the wisdom to respect the limits of the power of the office of the presidency.

This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America. Each — each of us is equal before the law. No one — no one is above the law, not even the President of the United States. With today’s Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, that fundamentally changed. For all — for all practical purposes, today’s decision almost certainly means that there are virtually no limits on what a President can do. This is a fundamentally new principle, and it’s a dangerous precedent because the power of the office will no longer be constrained by the law, even including the Supreme Court of the United States.

The only limits will be self-imposed by the President alone. This decision today has continued the court’s attack in recent years on a wide range of long-established legal principles in our nation, from gutting voting rates and civil rights to taking away a woman’s right to choose, to today’s decision that undermines the rule of law of this nation.

Nearly four years ago, my predecessor sent a violent mob to the US Capitol to stop the peaceful transfer of power. We all saw it with our own eyes, we sat there and watched it happen that day. Attack on the police, the ransacking of the Capitol, a mob literally hunting down the House speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Gallows erected to hang the Vice President, Mike Pence. I think it’s fair to say it’s one of the darkest days in the history of America. Now, the man who sent that man to the US Capitol is facing potential criminal conviction for what happened that day. And the American people deserve to have an answer in the courts before the upcoming election.

The public has a right to know the answer about what happened on January 6th before they’re asked to vote again this year. Now, because of today’s decision, that is highly, highly unlikely, and it’s a terrible disservice to the people of this nation. So now, now the American people have to do what the courts should have been willing to do but would not, the American people have to render a judgment about Donald Trump’s behavior.

The American people must decide whether Donald Trump’s assault on our democracy on January 6th makes him unfit for public office in the highest office in the land. The American people must decide if Trump’s abrasive violence to preserve his power is acceptable. Perhaps most importantly, the American people must decide if they want to entrust the president once again, the presidency to Donald Trump, now knowing he’ll be even more emboldened to do whatever he pleases whenever he wants to do it. You know, at the outset of our nation, it was the character of George Washington, our first President to define the presidency.

He believed power was limited not absolute, and that power always resides with the people, always. Now over 200 years later, with today’s Supreme Court decision, once again it’ll depend on the character of the men and women who hold that presidency that are going to define the limits of the power of the presidency, because the law will no longer do it. I know I will respect the limits of the presidential powers that I’ve had for three and a half years.

But any President, including Donald Trump, will now be free to ignore the law. I concur with Justice Sotomayor’s dissent today. She — here’s what she said, she said: “In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law. With fear for our democracy, I dissent.” End of quote. So should the American people dissent. I dissent.

May God bless you all, and may God help preserve our democracy. Thank you, and may God protect our troops.

🐣 RT @stengel The Roberts Court has shown that originalism is a sham, “stare decisis” is a hollow phrase, and undemocratic political activism is their norm. The stakes in November could not be higher.

🐣 RT @brianklaas I study authoritarianism. I’ve warned—since 2015—that Trump poses an existential threat to American democracy. I’ve never felt more worried than I do about that likelihood than I do when considering a second Trump term, with this Supreme Court, and this GOP faction in Congress.

🐣 RT @TristanSnell Small government. Original intent. Limited federal power.
That’s what right-wingers said they wanted, my entire life.
Bullshit. Bullshit. Bullshit.
They want to control EVERYTHING, centrally run by a dictatorial president immune from prosecution. And it’s 100% un-American.

🐣 RT @AWeissmann_ The Supreme Court holds that a president can institute sham prosecutions and not be held criminally liable. It arrives at that goal through Alice in Wonderland reasoning: the president must under the Constitution “take care that the laws be faithfully executed,” so any action he directs his DOJ to take, even if illegal, is part of his “take care” function. Get it? the constitution is conferring immunity and not an obligation, per this Court’s reasoning.

🐣 RT @PoliticusSarah Rachel #Maddow highlights the absurdity of Democrats fretting over their nominee while Republicans run a convicted felon, “Democrats are not the party that picked the guy whose charity was shut down as a fraud..
💽 https://x.com/PoliticusSarah/status/1807951839935041805/photo/1

🐣 RT @TristanSnell Here is John Roberts LYING at his confirmation hearing, where he said that presidents are bound by the law and not above the law.
💽 https://x.com/TristanSnell/status/1807957021494595798/photo/1

TheGuardian: Biden denounces supreme court decision on Trump immunity: ‘He’ll be more emboldened’ https://tinyurl.com/yc246dye “In speech from White House, president said ruling ‘undermined the rule of law’ and compared their characters”

TheAtlantic, Adam Serwer: The Supreme Court Puts Trump Above the Law https://tinyurl.com/ytnw7rmc “And gives him permission for a despotic second term.” “These are not justices; these are Trump cronies. This is not legal reasoning; this is vandalism.”

PhillyInquirer: The U.S. Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling, explained — and what it means for when Trump could stand trial https://tinyurl.com/4ykzuzw4 The historic decision all but forecloses the possibility that Trump could stand trial again before Election Day.

WaPo: Justices give presidents immunity for official acts, further delaying Trump’s trial https://tinyurl.com/y65ws8r5 “The justices said unofficial acts have no immunity, sending Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 case back to the D.C. judge to decide which alleged acts are official.”

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito in January 2006: ¤ “There is nothing that is more important for our republic than the rule of law. No person in this country, no matter how high or powerful, is above the law.” @AccountableGOP
💽 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1807912457102368822/photo/1

🐣 RT @ChrisDJackson Biden: “This decision today has continued the Court’s attack in recent years on a range of long-established legal principles in our nation. From gutting voting rights and civil rights, to taking away a woman’s right to choose, to today’s decision that undermines the rule of law.”

🐣 RT @ChrisDJackson 🚨 President Biden Delivers a Strong Message About Today’s Ruling: “The power resides with the people. Always”
“I respect the limits of Presidential power.”
“I concur with Justice Sotomayor ….. the American people should dissent. I dissent.”

🐣 RT @davidwblight1 The founders made it very difficult to amend the Constitution. Today six people on the Supreme Court amended the Constitution, greatly increasing presidential power in perpetuity. Breathtakingly arrogant abuse of power.

🐣 RT @djrothkopf It’s been a rough day, America. It’s ok to go to bed angry or sad or scared. Not doing so would mean you were not paying attention. But let’s commit to waking up tom’w energized and ready to fight back, to reject the threatened reign of King Donald I, and to reclaim our courts!

😂 RT @TheOnion Supreme Court Overturns ‘Right v. Wrong’

🐣 RT @jbendery NEW: “Richard Nixon would have had a pass,” says Nixon’s former counsel, John Dean. ¤ “Virtually all of his Watergate conduct” could easily fall into what the Supreme Court now says is official conduct, says Dean.

🔆 This❗️⋙ 🐣 RT @cspan President Biden full statement on U.S. Supreme Court Immunity Ruling: “This is a fundamentally new principle and it’s a dangerous precedent. The power of the office will no longer be constrained by the law…The only limits will be self-imposed by the president alone.”
💽 https://x.com/cspan/status/1807929562967273714/photo/1

🐣 RT @vincempls March 1933 The Enabling Act becomes law in Germany, giving the chief executive power enforce his own laws without checks and balances. The passing of the Act marked the formal transition from democratic republic to totalitarian dictatorship. 6 months later, it was a 1 party state
⋙ 🐣 The Enabling Act allowed Hitler to take out the leadership of the opposing parties, and anyone else posing a perceived threat to the regime, including religious leaders, the opposition press, etc. Thousands were tortured and hundreds murdered.

🐣 RT @mmpadellan Holy shit, despite the bad news from SCOTUS today, @Lawrence unveils a silver lining that ensures a ton of January 6th evidence is seen BEFORE THE ELECTION. 🔥
💽 https://x.com/mmpadellan/status/1807921860627292603/photo/1

🐣 RT @MarkHertling As a former military guy, I’m trying to figure out how a commander can refuse an illegal order from someone who is issuing it as an official act.

🐣 RT @tribelaw The dissent by Justice Jackson is at least as powerful and persuasive. ¤ And, like that of Justice Sotomayor, it pointedly — and, with all respect, justifiably — omits the word “respectfully” before the final word “dissent.”
⋙ 🐣 RT @neal_katyal Justice Sotomayor’s dissent warning is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a Supreme Court opinion
[TextLink:] https://x.com/neal_katyal/status/1807786278328426830/photo/1 -2

[Text:] Never in the history of our Republic has a President had reason to believe that he would be immune from criminal prosecution if he used the trappings of his office to violate the criminal law. Moving forward, however, all former Presidents will be cloaked in such immunity. If the occupant of that office misuses official power for personal gain, the criminal law that the rest of us must abide will not provide a backstop. With fear for our democracy, I dissent.

⋙ 🐣 RT @neal_katyal Justice Sotomayor’s dissent says Trump got all the immunity he asked for, and then some.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/neal_katyal/status/1807786278328426830/photo/1 -2

[Text:] JUSTICE SOTOMAYOR, with whom JUSTICE KAGAN and JUSTICE JACKSON join, dissenting. ¤ Today’s decision to grant former Presidents criminal immunity reshapes the institution of the Presidency. It makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of Government, that no man is above the law.Relying on little more than its own misguided wisdom about the need for “bold and unhesitating action” by the Presi-dent, ante, at 3, 13, the Court gives former President Trump all the immunity he asked for and more. Because our Constitution does not shield a former President from answering for criminal and treasonous acts, I dissent.

🧵 RT @SenWhitehouse Our current situation should give Dems a rejuvenating chance to focus better on fixing what’s gone wrong in America. ¤ We face three huge threats: persistent internal attacks on our democracy, unbridled climate upheaval, and a captured Court with some deeply corrupt justices.
📌 https://x.com/SenWhitehouse/status/1807841387808698680
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1807841387808698680.html

Behind each threat is dark money; massive anonymous political spending by special interests who hide their identities from the public. ¤ The political class has reoriented itself to this new reality, pivoting to the big secret spenders. Voters notice they’re not so important anymore.

An entire dark-money ecosystem has been spawned, with front groups, ‘Donors Trusts,’ coordinating 501c3s and c4s, and superPACs. ¤ This whole filthy bestiary of influence is new (or refocused and expanded) since Citizens United.

It didn’t used to be this way; it doesn’t have to be this way.

Democrats keep voting to get rid of dark money, and Republicans keep voting to protect dark money, but voters have no idea. We basically haven’t told them. ¤ Which is pathetic because voters hate dark money with a passion, Republicans, independents and Democrats alike. Polling is off the charts. ¤ (When done, that is; too often pollsters blow the dust each year off their polling questions from the ‘90s and this question doesn’t get asked!)

Climate change is out of control because of a massive dark-money politics and propaganda operation run by the fossil fuel industry. ¤ Before Citizens United, climate was a bipartisan concern (see McCain 2008 platform); fossil-fuel dark money killed bipartisanship.

The Court was captured by a dark-money operation funded by creepy polluter billionaires and managed by their creepy minion Leonard Leo.

The ‘amenable’ justices are instructed via coordinated flotillas of dark-money amici curiae, with correlation near perfect between instruction and result.

Republicans are complicit in all this because the dark money behind these schemes is also the dark money billions behind their political operations. ¤ It’s a trifecta; dark money is behind climate denial, Court capture and corruption of Congress — one crew, one plan, one cancer in the body politic.

Democrats should be blowing the whistle on the whole dark-money rot. ¤ It explains so much, it has obvious villains, and it has the added benefit of being true. ¤ We are in a war for our future and we should behave that way.

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP Chief Justice John Roberts at his confirmation hearing: “No one is above the law under our system and that includes the president. The president is fully bound by the law.” (Sept. 2005)

🐣 RT @CREWcrew It is not an exaggeration to say that this Supreme Court decision on immunity fundamentally reshapes our democracy. ¤ It is essentially putting the president beyond the reach of the law, in a way that is at odds with the founding principles of our democracy.

🐣 RT @SenSanders The Supreme Court is out of control. ¤ If these conservative right-wing, corporate-sponsored justices want to make public policy, they should simply quit the Supreme Court and run for political office.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/SenSanders/status/1807855304283152483/photo/1

🐣 RT @AntiToxicPeople
💽 https://x.com/AntiToxicPeople/status/1807840450470203714/photo/1
// Nixon: “When the President does it, that means it is not illegal”

🐣 RT @MSNBC “I’ve never seen language like this in a Supreme Court opinion.” ¤ WATCH: @neal_katyal reacts to Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s scathing dissent on Trump’s immunity ruling.
💽 https://x.com/MSNBC/status/1807853976831828370/photo/1

🐣 RT @judgeluttig It can never again be said that in America “no man is above the law.”  The Supreme Court held today that the President of the United States — and the former president in particular — is above the law, and the only person in America who is above the law.

🐣 RT @stengel The entire scope of American history has been to escape from the rule of monarchs with divine immunity—and now this Supreme Court turns back 250 years of history.

🐣 RT @stengel The entire scope of American history has been to escape from the rule of monarchs with divine immunity—and now this Supreme Court turns back 250 years of history.

🐣 Trump took “Executive Time“ til Noon. Think he was working?
Obama spent evenings with his family.
Bush (2) was asleep by 9.
Reagan took frequent naps during the day.
Cheney was basically retired in Jackson Hole.

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson The Red Court just put America into a dark new territory.

🐣 RT @AdamParkhomenko Sounds like Joe Biden has a lot of power

🐣 RT @djrothkopf Not only is the majority decision made of whole cloth and divorced from any idea within the Constitution but it is contra-Constitutional, against the principles on which the country was founded…and may well contribute to its decline and fall.

🐣 RT @SpeakerPelosi Today, the Supreme Court has gone rogue with its decision, violating the foundational American principle that no one is above the law. ¤ The former president’s claim of total presidential immunity is an insult to the vision of our founders, who declared independence from a King.

🐣 RT @danielsgoldman By 5-4 (Barrett disagreed), SCOTUS inexplicably overreaches by holding that official acts not only can’t be charged but also can’t even be used as evidence of criminal conduct. ¤ Thomas and Alito, both of whom were required to recuse but didn’t, cast the deciding votes. ¤ Shocking.

🐣 RT @robreinter A Convicted Felon has just been given a Get Out of Jail Free card by his Compromised Supreme Court. Autocracy here we come.

🐣 RT @atrupar if President Biden declared today’s Supreme Court ruling to be an assault on democracy and ordered Chief Justice John Roberts imprisoned indefinitely, would that be an “official act?”

🐣 RT @KlasfeldReports Sotomayor’s dissent: ¤ “Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune.”

🐣 RT @RBReich The so-called “originalists” on the Supreme Court have essentially given the U.S. president the power of monarchs. ¤ Just days before the 4th of July, mind you.
⋙ 🐣 RT @BeschlossDC Founders wanted a President, not a King.

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote This is the killer right here. Unbelievable. Even if uncharged, it can’t even be admitted as evidence
⋙ 🐣 RT @emptywheel Holy shit: “Testimony or private records of the President or his advisers probing such conduct may not be admitted as evidence at trial.”

🐣 RT @JohnWDean
“When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.” Richard Nixon, 1974
Affirmed, US Supreme Court, 2024

🐣 RT @atrupar So if Joe Biden declared today that November’s election is canceled and ordered the military to keep him in power, would that be an “official act”

🐣 RT @BradMossEsq
July 4, 1776 – we declare independence from a king
July 1, 2024 – the Supreme Court decides the president can basically be a king

🐣 RT @EricHolder Our democracy has been gravely wounded ¤ The Trump immunity decision says: a president CAN VIOLATE THE CRIMINAL LAW if he acts within his broadly defined “constitutional authority” ¤ Absurd and dangerous ¤ There is no basis in the Constitution for this Court constructed monstrosity

🐣 RT @BradMossEsq Dems should do two things to make the future of democracy a central feature of the choice in November.
¤ https://x.com/BradMossEsq/status/1807792209707606424

Biden should issue an EO stating that his Administration does not believe it can rely upon the scope of immunity conferred on it by SCOTUS and accordingly will not take that into account when making decisions.

Dems in Congress should immediately propose a constitutional amendment to overturn the ruling and clarify the presidential immunity issue.

It’s a messaging campaign. Abortion, democracy and a stable economy. ¤ That’s your campaign for the next four months.

🔆 This❗️⋙ WaPo: Supreme Court says presidents have ‘absolute’ immunity for clearly official acts but no immunity for unofficial acts https://tinyurl.com/3wsuzbww “The 6-3 ruling along ideological lines probably means that Donald Trump’s federal trial could proceed in D.C., but only after an additional delay.”
⋙ [CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/2p5w6m3v 119p

CBSNews: Illegal crossings at U.S.-Mexico border fall to 3-year low, the lowest level under Biden https://tinyurl.com/3hdf9m89 ‘Under the policy change, US officials have been returning and deporting thousands of migrants to their home countries without screening them for asylum’

Below is a list of FACT CHECKS by all the major news outlets. FoxNews did not do one, though some of their affiliates did. I wish outlets would consider doing as an option, a recorded version of the debate with pauses for fact-checking. NYT did some pre-fact checks, not a bad idea.
¤ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1807664693034524952
// a LIST of prior thread with factcheck.org added

✅ ABCNews: Fact checking the Biden-Trump presidential debate https://tinyurl.com/4sxu89f3 “ABC News’ political team analyzed the comments to break down fact from fiction.”

✅ AP: FACT FOCUS: Here’s a look at some of the false claims made during Biden and Trump’s first debate https://tinyurl.com/4ycfzdxu

✅ Barron’sAFP: Fact Check: The First 2024 US Presidential Debate https://tinyurl.com/bdjs3rw4

✅ BBCNews: Biden v. Trump presidential debate analysis and fact check https://tinyurl.com/ya46aa82

✅ CBS: Trump and Biden’s first presidential debate of 2024, fact checked https://tinyurl.com/34kxpwhk

✅ CNN: Fact checking the CNN presidential debate https://tinyurl.com/4t6dbwb9

✅ 💽 CNN: Daniel Dale fact checks Trump’s and Biden’s claims made in debate https://tinyurl.com/b7ej544n

✅ ♦️🆕♦️FactCheck[.]org: FactChecking the Biden-Trump Debate https://tinyurl.com/5n6mz3c5 “In the first debate clash of the 2024 campaign, the two candidates unleashed a flurry of false and misleading statements.”

✅ The Guardian: Factchecked: Trump and Biden’s presidential debate claims https://tinyurl.com/76hmxkp5 “Moderators for CNN’s debate took a hands-off approach, letting lies and half-truths remain unchallenged. Here are the facts on some of the false claims”

✅ NBC: Fact-checking Biden and Trump’s claims at the first debate https://tinyurl.com/2d7r5fp9 “Trump made a series of misleading statements on topics from Jan. 6 to terrorism to taxes, while Biden flubbed some facts of his own.”

✅ NYT 6/27-28): Fact-Checking Biden’s and Trump’s Claims on Domestic Policy https://tinyurl.com/msudm9ak “We scrutinized the presidential candidates’ recent claims on abortion, health care, crime and climate change ahead of the debate.”

✅ NYT (6/27): Debate Fact Check: Biden and Trump on the Economy, Immigration and Foreign Policy https://tinyurl.com/42v6nufv

✅ NYT (6/24): Fact-Checking Biden’s and Trump’s Claims About the Economy https://tinyurl.com/5em9kfxk ”We fact-checked claims about inflation, jobs and tax policy from both presidential candidates.”

✅ NYT (6/16): Assessing Trump’s and Biden’s Claims About Immigration and Border Security https://tinyurl.com/2juv8c9h “We fact-checked claims about migrants and border security from both presidential candidates.”

✅ PBS: Analysis: Fact-checking the CNN Trump-Biden debate https://tinyurl.com/26ajxkjb

✅ PolitiFact: 2024 presidential debate fact-check: How accurate were Joe Biden, Donald Trump? https://tinyurl.com/22ebh25c

✅ Snopes: Fact-Checking the 2024 Presidential Debate https://tinyurl.com/2pnvntyy “We analyzed the candidates’ statements in real time. Here’s what happened.”

✅ USAToday: Presidential debate fact check: What Trump, Biden got right (and wrong) https://tinyurl.com/5adhyz8u

✅ VerifyThis: VERIFYING claims from the presidential debate between Trump and Biden https://tinyurl.com/23nh7378 “VERIFY fact-checked claims from presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden during their first debate for the 2024 general election.”

✅ WaPo, Glenn Kessler: Fact-checking the first Biden-Trump 2024 presidential debate https://tinyurl.com/4za9ffnc “Trump made dozens of false claims, many of them his favorites. Biden made a few.”

✅ WSJ: Biden Delivers Unsteady Performance in Debate With Trump https://tinyurl.com/2cw7jxy4 “The presumed Democratic and Republican nominees faced off in Atlanta.”

⭕ 30 Jun 2024

🔄💙 Proof, Seth Abramson: Donald Trump’s Shocking Box Score: 602 Lies in Just 40 Minutes, An Unprecedented Tsunami of Deceit That Is Disqualifying https://tinyurl.com/mr3zjvse “The debate performance Trump just turned in was the most shameful in U.S. political history.”
// It doesn’t matter who’s running against him because he’s nonviable. And now some breaking news confirms it.

🐣 RT @pravda_eng ☠️ Current kill ratio in Ukraine is one Ukrainian to six Russians – Zelenskyy
⋙ 🐣 Russians have always fought like this, not valuing the lives of their own people (Ru missed out on the Renaissance, then Lenin purged all the “elites” in Petersburg). ¤ Their antiquated ww2 command structure and corruption in the defense industry add to their kill/loss numbers.

🐣 RT @Auriandra the @nytimes has become a querulous regional newspaper; it doesn’t speak for the country, certainly not for the midwest, where I live. after the Hillary email debacle, they should have learned something ¤ the @washingtonpost has been better, but they’re in chaos now, too
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1807639156903854490/photo/1

🐣 Trump took “Executive Time” until noon. Think he was working? It wasn’t, that long ago, he was falling asleep in court every day.
🐣 George Bush (the younger) also turned in early. ¤ Here’s Laura Bush: “[H]ere’s our typical evening: nine o’clock, Mr. Excitement here is sound asleep, and I’m watching Desperate Housewives” (2005 WH Correspondents Dinner)

🐣 RT @ArtCandee Let’s recap sad Trump’s Chesapeake, Virginia rally today:
¤ https://x.com/ArtCandee/status/1806863434979385596

He called POTUS Joe “Briden.”

He doubled down on saying “Black jobs” and “Hispanic jobs.”

He thinks that an electric airplane would fall out of the sky if it wasn’t sunny out.

He creepily called a little boy in the audience “beautiful.”

He babbled about a whale.

He praised a fictional serial killer.

He called Chuck Schumer a “Palestinian.”

He rambled about boats sinking.

He said that North Korea, Russia, and China aren’t our enemies and that he’ll make them “do great.”

He denied climate change.

He forgot how to say “Israel,” “allies,” “Norfolk,” and “landslide.”

He took credit for Obama’s legislation for veterans.

He said he lowered the price of insulin.

He called people in Seattle and Minneapolis “thugs.”

He repeatedly called J6ers “hostages.”

He fear mongered about nuclear war.

He said he won’t give money to any school with a vaccine mandate.

He confused John McGuire with Bob Good and called him “Bob McGuire” in two different parts of the speech.

He said we are a “failing nation.”

He said he’d keep suburban women safe…yet overturning Roe has put some of their lives in jeopardy.

He said he doesn’t need votes. Good. Don’t vote for him.

And of course…He lied…a lot.

🐣 RT @PrezLives2022 I am in my 50’s… I am not all knowing, but smart enough to have ten years of college and several degrees…I am not a paid Twitter account nor do I schill for the DNC. My political knowledge was pretty basic in 2018 when I arrived on Twitter. My knowledge is no better or worse than any of you who fight this battle with me.
¤ https://x.com/PrezLives2022/status/1807525894279303623

I pay attention and look a lot of stuff up and what I will say is the two parties have a different way of doing things.

The Republican Party runs on hate and fear and not policy and every single Republican stands behind their nominee no matter what. That may be different this year as there are some Never Trumpers and some women who care about Women’s Rights. The rest of them will vote for Trump even if he raped a 13 year old girl. It’s very disturbing.

Dems on the other hand run on policies that attempt to benefit everyone both left and right and yet they are a tribal party. When Dems lose it’s because a segment of the Democratic Party got their feelings hurt and they don’t care if not voting hurts their chances of winning.

We are at a major crossroads in our nations history. Dems turned out I. 2020 and that was a rare sight to see. We are going to need more this time around and yet I see some threatening to sabotage the election because of Biden’s stance on Israel or the fact that corporations have kept prices too high, or because Biden is too old.

The fact is we don’t have an option to splinter. MAGA is going to turn out in bigger numbers. It only takes a small percentage of dissatisfied Dems to end Democracy. Every Dem is required for this battle because you are not fighting for your choice of candidate, you are fighting for your GD freedom and if you think I’m kidding, see what happens when you don’t vote.

The time is now to suck it up and think of your country before yourself and get with the candidate put before you. If Biden steps aside on his own then support whoever is chosen to replace him, but if he stays in the race you must back him for the good of the country. You must show up because if we lose democracy and women’s rights it will be because of you.

We win together or you lose alone and we all suffer together.

You will forget all about the War in Israel, abortion, NATO, right to work, lower taxes, a fair divorce, separation of church and state and so much more, because you will be too busy crying over your poor decision of not voting.

The only way we win is together. MAGA has figured that out so why can’t we.

November 5th is the day you can save this country and End MAGA as we know it in this form. I would say that is far more important than our own selfishness.

🐣 RT @InsideWithPsaki “They were going to put a bullet in my – f word – head.” ¤ @SpeakerPelosi provides some important context ahead of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Trump’s claim of presidential immunity.
💽 https://x.com/InsideWithPsaki/status/1807470664607019236/photo/1

🐣 RT @JoinTheUnionUS Would you marry someone who lies to you all the time? Would you work for someone who will lie to your face and not care? Would you hire someone who lies like that – to work at your company, mow your lawn, or watch your kids? Why would you trust your country with such a person?
⋙ 🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump [6/28] Yes, Biden had a horrible debate. But we aren’t talking enough about Trump’s blatant lies from last night
💽 https://x.com/JoinTheUnionUS/status/1807454550032347476/photo/1
// tags: @ddale8’s factcheck @ddale8’s fact check

🐣 RT @PhillipsPOBrien It’s fascinating that Trump is far more complimentary of Russia, China and North Korea, than he is of US Allies in NATO or Ukraine and Taiwan that want to be close to the US.
⋙ 🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Donald Trump says that China, Russia, and North Korea aren’t “really enemies” if he’s the president: “If you have a smart president, they’re not enemies. You’ll make them do great.” ¤ Huh?
💽 https://x.com/PhillipsPOBrien/status/1807390127074758771/photo/1

⭕ 29 Jun 2024

🐣 RT @KeishaBottoms I can think of a lot of reasons to call on a candidate to dropout, including violently trying to overthrow an election, demanding 11k more votes from the Secretary of State, felony convictions, sexual assault, and indictments in Fulton County. With all due respect @ajc,please stick to covering the news instead of trying to make it and let the voters decide.

Guardian, Sidney Blumenthal: Biden’s agonizing debate performance doesn’t change the reality of this electionhttps://https://tinyurl.com/22vextmf ‘Biden has held together the center of the western alliance. He decided he would run again because he was the crucial leader at a perilous time’

🐣 RT @gtconway3d “Lost in the hand wringing was Donald Trump’s usual bombastic litany of lies, hyperbole, bigotry, ignorance, and fear mongering. His performance demonstrated once again that he is a danger to democracy and unfit for office.” [link:] https://tinyurl.com/2zp4ev8r
[TextLink:] https://x.com/gtconway3d/status/1807174891713491114/photo/1

PhiladelphiaInquirer: To serve his country, Donald Trump should leave the race | Editorial
// Biden had a horrible night Thursday. But the debate about the debate is misplaced. The only person who should withdraw from the race is Trump.

⭕ 28 Jun 2024

💙 WaPo: The most religious, and religiously diverse, places in America https://tinyurl.com/ye3wf4zv “This week, we mine the U.S. Religious Census, a decennial count of America’s faithful, for insights into the geography of religious devotion”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1807892509647069461/photo/1
// We also compare people’s claims on church attendance to their actual behavior”

🔄 💙 ≣ CNN: READ: Biden-Trump debate transcript https://tinyurl.com/35zewstb

🐣 RT @ChrisDJackson Isn’t it amazing that we had a president in a wheelchair who saved our country from the Great Depression and WW2, yet some now want Biden to drop out because he walks and talks a bit slower than he used to? ¤ What the hell has happened to us? ¤ Judge a candidate by their record. Not the superficial BS that the media wants you to. Democracy depends on it.
🖼 https://x.com/ChrisDJackson/status/1806867982934483196/photo/1
// tags: FDR Franklin Roosevelt

🧵 RT @PenguinSix Trump plane is at Dulles, parked next to the Russian embassy staff plane
📌 🖼 https://x.com/PenguinSix/status/1806740535685664847/photo/1

🐣 RT @ChrisMurphyCT The Supreme Court is just a cog in the Trump/Republican/corporate/billionaire power grab. ¤ Today’s decision to gut regulators’ power to enforce pro-consumer laws is a watershed moment in the history of this quiet coup. ¤ 1/ Let me tell you why.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1806871838129041733/photo/1
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1806871838129041733.html

🐣 RT @OversightDems NEW: Ranking Member @RepRaskin issued the following statement on the decisions by the United States Supreme Court in Loper Bright v. Raimondo and Relentless v. Department of Commerce:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/OversightDems/status/1806768635874009404/photo/1

Ranking Member Raskin’s Statement on Supreme Court Overruling Chevron Deference

“Today’s ruling destroying the Chevron doctrine clears the path for a right-wing Supreme Court to substitute its extremist policy preferences for the will of Congress as expressed through agency action. This is the agenda of the billionaire donors and corporate dark money powers who have been dominating the Roberts Court. Today’s ruling is a right-wing power grab to dismantle laws and regulations to keep air and water clean, food and drugs safe, workplaces safe and fair, and financial markets honest and transparent.”

🐣 RT @jeffjarvis CNN is flummoxed, foundering, and ruderless. They might has well have had Vanna White at the debate, pointing to the next question. The Times is broken. The Post is being invaded from within. Murdoch’s empire has been successful at its insurrectionist mission. Sinclair is accessory to that crime. Hedge funds control most newspaper chains. News media are a dire disaster and, no, it’s not a crisis of business. It is a crisis of mission.
⋙ 🐣 RT @jeffjarvis All the time, I hear journalists say, “We don’t have a journalism problem. We have a business problem.” No. Journalism has a journalism problem.

🐣 RT @teddyschleifer New — REID HOFFMAN, one of the Democratic Party’s biggest donors, emails his network about The Debate.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/teddyschleifer/status/1806821310229864659/photo/1

🧵 RT @MarkJacob16 What does “Make America Great Again” really mean? It’s nostalgia for the worst aspects of America’s past. A thread.
1. MAGA means a rollback of child labor laws. [… ]
📌 🖼 [TextLink:] https://x.com/MarkJacob16/status/1806762749596430429/photo/1 -n
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/3jy63tdt

🐣 RT @paulkrugman In other news, inflation looks beaten. The blip a few months ago looks like start-of-year price resets, and what’s left is lagged housing costs
◕ https://x.com/paulkrugman/status/1806724684584550764/photo/1

🐣 RT @TristanSnell Make no mistake — The Supreme Court just laid the groundwork to eliminate mifepristone. ¤ Their decision today to kill the Chevron doctrine means judges can now overrule federal agencies as much as they want. ¤ Including the FDA. ¤ Judges now get to decide which drugs are safe.

🐣 RT @PenguinSix Trump plane is at Dulles, parked next to the Russian embassy staff plane.
🖼 https://x.com/PenguinSix/status/1806740535685664847/photo/1
// [see comments]

🐣 RT @JRubinBlogger Have you noticed how many women are level-headed and task-focused? Life experience has taught that it is counterproductive to stand around screaming. Poor men in meltdown: the dears are so unable to deal with adversity.

🐣 RT @CAKEMUSIC Ahem
[TextLink:] https://x.com/CAKEMUSIC/status/1806806156507247039/photo/1

“This was not a debate. It was Trump using a technique that actually has a formal name, the Gish gallop, although I suspect he comes by it naturally. It’s a rhetorical technique in which someone throws out a fast string of lies, non-sequiturs, and specious arguments, so many that it is impossible to fact-check or rebut them in the amount of time it took to say them. Trying to figure out how to respond makes the opponent look confused, because they don’t know where to start grappling with the flood that has just hit them.

“It is a form of gaslighting, and it is especially effective on someone with a stutter, as Biden has. It is similar to what Trump did to Biden during a debate in 2020. In that case, though, the lack of muting on the mics left Biden simply saying: “Will you shut up, man?” a comment that resonated with the audience. Giving Biden the enforced space to answer by killing the mic of the person not speaking tonight actually made the technique more effective.”– Mary Cox Williamson

🐣 No one can win an argument with a loud guy who lies this much ⬇️ You can either get sucked into his web of lies or spend days factchecking and presenting facts.
◕ pie chart https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1806863794074747079/photo/1
3% True
8% Mostly True
12% Half True
19% Mostly False
38% False
18% Pants-on-Fire

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson For the debate tonight, not only for the spin before and after, but for every Trump utterance on stage, remember the Rules of MAGA:
¤ https://x.com/TheRickWilson/status/1806278376883106286

Every accusation is a confession.

Every denial is a full confession of guilt.

Every claim of evil is projection.

Every boast of strength is an admission of failure.

Every fact is subject to Trump’s sole interpretation.

Every law is a conspiracy against Trump.

Every anecdote is pure fiction.

Every casual cruelty and crazed conspiracy leads deeper into more cruelty and conspiracy.

Every word is a lie, every lie is a promise of betrayal.

Every person or group Trump claims to stand for, he loathes.

Finally, Everything Trump Touches Dies.

🐣 RT @TristanSnell BREAKING: Supreme Court seizes control of regulatory agency decisions ¤ Judges now can second-guess
– drug safety
– banking regs
– aviation safety
– environmental regs
– consumer product safety
Courts can now take over American life — in support of corporate special interests

🐣 RT @ rgoodlaw 1/ Don’t believe the hype ¤ The truth: Supreme Court ruling on #January6th obstruction charge materially affects at most only 5.9% of all Jan. 6th cases. ¤ Some media get this wrong. ¤ I teamed up with two greats —Mary McCord @AWeissmann_ —to look at DOJ data ⤵️
⋙ JustSecurity, Goodman, McCord & Weissmann: The Limited Effects of Fischer: DOJ Data Reveals Supreme Court’s Narrowing of Jan. 6th Obstruction Charges Will Have Minimal Impact https://tinyurl.com/yc6v75pe
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1806724859205968236/photo/1

🐣 RT @ResoluteSquare Trump’s “policies” come fro the right-wing extremist Project2025. How do we know? They published a 920 page Christian Nationalist manifesto. Step 1: Trump back in office. CNN didn’t bother to ask Trump about P2025, so here are a few of his plans for cruelty and control. Share.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/ResoluteSquare/status/1806678118704525809/photo/1 -4

HOW WOULD PROJECT 2025 DESTROY ALL RIGHTS?
1. Businesses could refuse to hire someone who lives with a heterosexual partner to whom they aren’t married.
2. Divorce could be outlawed. Christo-fascist Republicans in Oklahoma have already floated the idea of making no-fault divorce illegal.
3. People could be required to attend religious indoctrination programs for the right to obtain a marriage license.
4. Single moms could be forced to marry to gain or maintain employment, as Christian Nationalists believe it is better to have a father present.

HOW WOULD PROJECT 2025 DESTROY ALL RIGHTS? [2]
1. Fathers could be coerced into religious indoctrination programs for job assistance and mentorship. Florida and Texas already do this!
2. A couple could make private sexual photos that are somehow shared publicly on the internet. They would be charged with the crime of pornography anyways.
3. Adoptive parents could be forced to prove their Christian Nationalist credentials to be eligible to adopt a child. So could foster parents. Or anyone who acts as a guardian for children in foster care.

HOW WOULD PROJECT 2025 AFFECT LGBTQIA+ RIGHTS?
1. Your settled right to legally marry the person you love could be revoked or overturned.People could be fired for being LGBTQIA+.
2. Businesses could also discriminate against them when making hiring decisions.
3. LGBTQIA+ parents and their children could be legally discriminated against in schools. This is already happening in many red states.
4. LGBTQIA+ people could die, either by suicide or via lynchings in communities where people know they can be pardoned if prosecuted.

HOW WOULD PROJECT 2025 DESTROY PUBLIC MEDIA?
1. Defund NPR, PBS, Pacifica Radio, and American Public Media.
2. Remove their “non-commercial education” status, making room for more religious programming on FCC-reserved airwaves.
3. Only allow media outlets and their reporters onto the White House campus if they agree to convey the President’s agenda.
4. Attacks on Journalists increased eight-fold during Trump’s presidency. We can expect this to be even worse when Project 2025 is implemented.

🐣 RT @BillPascrell This awful decision continues the supreme court’s devolution into an unelected political legislature. The court is advancing the republican party’s toxic agenda that gop pols are unable to enact by the ballot box. This is a powergrab in the name of arrogance and corruption.
⋙ 🐣 RT @mjs_DC 🚨The Supreme Court overrules Chevron deference, wiping out 40 years of precedent that required federal courts to defer to expert opinions of federal agencies. All three liberals dissent. This is a HUGE decision.
[CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/3vc7vrrj 114p

🐣 RT @harrylitman Holy crap — they overruled Chevron. ¤ Hard to describe what a historic event this is in a tweet, but it’s an historic event.

🔄 💙 🐣 RT @PolitiFact has fact-checked Donald Trump 1,029 times since 2011. About 76% of his claims have landed on our rating scale’s bottom half: Mostly False, False or Pants on Fire! Read all of our Trump fact-checks here. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/6zdnskjk
◕ https://x.com/PolitiFact/status/1806479037948105046/photo/1
// True 3%, Mostly True 8%, Half True 12%, Mostly False 19%, False 38%, Pants-on-Fire 18%
⋙ 🐣 Here are Trump’s percentages from PolitiFact:
3% True
8% Mostly True
12% Half True
19% Mostly False
38% False
18% Pants-on-Fire
Trump is a Firehose of Falsehood

🐣 RT @RBReich Apparently, Roe v. Wade reversal wasn’t enough. ¤ The right-wing Supreme Court just overruled 40 years of precedent that empowered federal agencies to protect you. ¤ SCOTUS wants you to drink dirty water, eat contaminated food, and breathe filthy air. ¤ This court is out of control.

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary [Dems] .@RepJerryNadler: Yet more proof that the far-right supermajority on the Supreme Court will cast aside whatever precedent it wants in its quest to increase its own power and that of its MAGA allies. It comes at the expense of everyday Americans who depend on federal agencies to look out for their health and safety, not the bottom lines of giant corporations.

🐣 RT @marceelias 🚨BREAKING: Supreme Court OVERRULES longstanding Chevron doctrine that court’s defer to reasonable interpretations of statutes their administer. ¤ This is a key plank of the MAGA attack on the “administrative state” and will reverberate through the entire federal government.

🐣 RT @Jemsinger All 50 of Trump’s Lies Tonight ¤ That’s 16 More Lies Than He Has Felonies ¤ That’s 48 More Lies than He Has Impeachments
[Text:] BIDEN HARRIS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 28, 2024
All 50 of Trump’s Lies
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Jemsinger/status/1806558481220080116/photo/1 -4

Here it is. Every single lie Donald Trump told on the debate stage.
He lied about the economy. He lied about foreign policy. He lied about his record. He lied about his crimes. He lied about women’s rights. He lied about immigration. He lied about his lies. He lied about our soldiers he disrespected. He lied about law enforcement attacked by his supporters. He lied about who he has had sex with. He lied about his racism. He lied about our country. ¤ That is what the substance of this debate was about: Donald Trump, a liar and a felon vs. Joe Biden, a fighter for our families.

1. “We had the greatest economy in the history of our country. We have never done so well, and everybody was amazed by it.”
2. “The only jobs he created are for illegal immigrants and bounce-back jobs, they’re bounced back from the COVID.”
3. “[10% universal tariff proposal is] not going to drive [prices] higher.”
4. “[Tariff proposal is just going to just force [other countries] to pay us a lot of money.”
5. “I gave you the largest tax cut in history.”
6. “I was getting out of Afghanistan, but we’re getting out with dignity, with strength, with power.”
7. “The tax cuts spurred the greatest economy that we’ve ever seen.”
8. “Now, when we cut the taxes…we took in more revenue with much less tax.”
9. “We had largely fixed [COVID].”
10. “Throughout the entire world, we’re no longer respected as a country. They don’t respect our leadership. They don’t respect the United States anymore. We’re like a third world nation.”

11. “He allowed millions of people to come in here from prisons, jails, and mental institutions to come into our country and destroy our country.”
12. “He’s destroying Medicare because all of these people are coming in.”
13. “The Supreme Court just approved the abortion pill.”
14. “Every legal scholar throughout the world, the most respected, wanted [abortion] brought back to the states.”
15. “They’re radical because they will take the life of a child in the eighth month, the ninth month, and even after birth. After birth, if you look at the former governor of Virginia, he was willing to do this. He said, we’ll put the baby aside, I will determine what we do with the baby, meaning will kill the baby.”
16. “Under Roe v. Wade, you have late term abortion. You can do whatever you want depending on the state. You can do whatever you want.”
17. “He decided to open up our border, open up our country to people that are from prisons, people that are from mental institutions, insane asylum, terrorists.”
18. “He didn’t need legislation because I didn’t have legislation. I said close the border.”
19. “[Migrants are] living in luxury hotels in New York City and other places.”
20. “He doesn’t care about our veterans. He doesn’t care. He doesn’t like the military at all, and he doesn’t care about our veterans.”

21. “I had the highest approval rating for veterans taking care of the VA. He has the worst. He’s gotten rid of all the things that I approved.”
22. “First of all, that was a made-up quote, ‘suckers and losers.’ They made it up.”
23. “Our veterans and our soldiers can’t stand this guy. They can’t stand him. They think he’s the worst Commander in Chief, if that’s what you call him, that we’ve ever had.”
24. “He did nothing to stop [Russia’s invasion of Ukraine]. In fact, I think he encouraged Russia from going in.”
25. “Iran was broke with me. I wouldn’t let anybody do business with them. They ran out of money. They were broke.”
26. “You had no terror at all during my administration.”
27. “Nancy Pelosi, if you just watched the news from two days ago, on tape to her daughter, who’s a documentary filmmaker they say, but she’s saying, ‘Oh, no, it’s my responsibility. I was responsible for this’ because I offered them 10,000 soldiers or National Guard. And she turned them down.”
28. “The unselect committee, which is basically two horrible Republicans that are all gone now, out of office, and Democrats, all Democrats, they destroyed and deleted all the information they found because they found out we were right. We were right. And they deleted and destroyed all of the information.”
29. “Telling the Ukrainian people that we’re going to want a billion dollars or you shange the pros guitoro herwise you’re not getting a billion dollars. If I ever
30. “I didn’t have sex with a porn star.”

31. “He basically went after his political opponent because he thought it was going to damage me.”
32. “He made up the Charlottesville story.”
33. “He caused the inflation and it’s killing Black families and Hispanic families.”
34. “They can’t buy groceries anymore, they can’t, you look at the cost of food where it’s doubled and tripled and quadrupled. They can’t live, they’re not living anymore.”
35. “[European countries] don’t want anything that we have.”
36. “Almost every police group in the nation from every state is supporting Donald J. Trump. Almost every police group.”
37. “And what he’s done to the black population is horrible, including the fact that for ten years he called them super-predators.”
38. “And yet during my four years, I had the best environmental numbers ever.”
39. “The Paris accord was going to cost us $1 trillion and China nothing and Russia, nothing, and India nothing. It was a rip off of the United States and I ended it because I didn’t want to waste that money because they treated us horribly…. Nobody else was paying into it and it was, it was a disaster.”
40. “I’m the one that got the insulin down for the seniors. I took care of the seniors.”

41. On migrants: “They’re taking over our schools our hospitals, and they’re going to be taking over our schools or hospitals, and they’re going to be taking over Social Security.”
42. “But Social Security – he’s destroying it because millions of people are pouring into our country and they are putting them onto Social Security. They’re putting them onto Medicare, Medicaid. They’re putting them in our hospitals.”
43. “He wants open borders. He wants our country to either be destroyed, or he wants to pick up those people as voters.”
44. “He wants the Trump tax cuts to expire.”
45. “He wants to raise your taxes by four times. He wants to raise everybody’s taxes by four times.”
46. “We now have the largest [trade] deficit in the history of our country under this guy. We have the largest deficit with China.”
47. “He gets paid by China. He’s a Manchurian candidate. He gets money from China. So I think he’s afraid to deal with them.”
48. “We had two cases, we paid $6 billion for five people.”
49. “They talk about a relatively small number of people that went to the Capitol, and in many cases were ushered in by the police.”
50. “I would have much rather accepted these [election results in 2020], but the fraud and everything else was ridiculous.”

🧵 Below is a thread of FACT CHECKS by all the major news outlets. FoxNews did not do one, though some of their affiliates did. I wish outlets would consider doing as an option, a recorded version of the debate with pauses for fact-checking. NYT did some pre-fact checks, not a bad idea.
🔄 📌 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1806619518665392271/photo/1 -n
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1806619518665392271.html

✅ ABCNews: Fact checking the Biden-Trump presidential debate https://tinyurl.com/4sxu89f3 “ABC News’ political team analyzed the comments to break down fact from fiction.”

✅ AP: FACT FOCUS: Here’s a look at some of the false claims made during Biden and Trump’s first debate https://tinyurl.com/4ycfzdxu

✅ Barron’sAFP: Fact Check: The First 2024 US Presidential Debate https://tinyurl.com/bdjs3rw4

✅ BBCNews: Biden v. Trump presidential debate analysis and fact check https://tinyurl.com/ya46aa82

✅ CBS: Trump and Biden’s first presidential debate of 2024, fact checked https://tinyurl.com/34kxpwhk

✅ CNN: Fact checking the CNN presidential debate https://tinyurl.com/4t6dbwb9

✅ 💽 CNN: Daniel Dale fact checks Trump’s and Biden’s claims made in debate https://tinyurl.com/b7ej544n

✅ ♦️🆕♦️FactCheck[.]org: FactChecking the Biden-Trump Debate https://tinyurl.com/5n6mz3c5 “In the first debate clash of the 2024 campaign, the two candidates unleashed a flurry of false and misleading statements.”

✅ The Guardian: Factchecked: Trump and Biden’s presidential debate claims https://tinyurl.com/76hmxkp5 “Moderators for CNN’s debate took a hands-off approach, letting lies and half-truths remain unchallenged. Here are the facts on some of the false claims”

✅ NBC: Fact-checking Biden and Trump’s claims at the first debate https://tinyurl.com/2d7r5fp9 “Trump made a series of misleading statements on topics from Jan. 6 to terrorism to taxes, while Biden flubbed some facts of his own.”

✅ NYT 6/27-28): Fact-Checking Biden’s and Trump’s Claims on Domestic Policy https://tinyurl.com/msudm9ak “We scrutinized the presidential candidates’ recent claims on abortion, health care, crime and climate change ahead of the debate.”

✅ NYT (6/27): Debate Fact Check: Biden and Trump on the Economy, Immigration and Foreign Policy https://tinyurl.com/42v6nufv

✅ NYT (6/24): Fact-Checking Biden’s and Trump’s Claims About the Economy https://tinyurl.com/5em9kfxk ”We fact-checked claims about inflation, jobs and tax policy from both presidential candidates.”

✅ NYT (6/16): Assessing Trump’s and Biden’s Claims About Immigration and Border Security https://tinyurl.com/2juv8c9h “We fact-checked claims about migrants and border security from both presidential candidates.”

✅ PBS: Analysis: Fact-checking the CNN Trump-Biden debate https://tinyurl.com/26ajxkjb

✅ PolitiFact: 2024 presidential debate fact-check: How accurate were Joe Biden, Donald Trump? https://tinyurl.com/22ebh25c

✅ Snopes: Fact-Checking the 2024 Presidential Debate https://tinyurl.com/2pnvntyy “We analyzed the candidates’ statements in real time. Here’s what happened.”

✅ USAToday: Presidential debate fact check: What Trump, Biden got right (and wrong) https://tinyurl.com/5adhyz8u

✅ VerifyThis: VERIFYING claims from the presidential debate between Trump and Biden https://tinyurl.com/23nh7378 “VERIFY fact-checked claims from presidential candidates Donald Trump and Joe Biden during their first debate for the 2024 general election.”

✅ WaPo, Glenn Kessler: Fact-checking the first Biden-Trump 2024 presidential debate https://tinyurl.com/4za9ffnc “Trump made dozens of false claims, many of them his favorites. Biden made a few.”

✅ WSJ: Biden Delivers Unsteady Performance in Debate With Trump https://tinyurl.com/2cw7jxy4 “The presumed Democratic and Republican nominees faced off in Atlanta.”

⭕ 27 Jun 2024

CSPAN: CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE – JUNE 27, 2024
LIVE ON C-SPAN2, C-SPAN.ORG AND C-SPAN NOW https://tinyurl.com/bdfss4t9
8:00 PM – Preview of CNN Presidential Debate
9:00 PM – Simulcast – CNN Presidential Debate https://tinyurl.com/4tynrcr5
10:40 PM – Reaction to CNN Presidential Debate

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have agreed to debate each other twice ahead of the November 5 election. CNN will host the first debate in Atlanta on June 27, which will be moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, and ABC will host the second debate on September 10, with David Muir and Linsey Davis serving as moderators. This is the first time since 1988 that the Commission on Presidential Debates has been circumvented by the leading candidates of both parties. While presidential debates are not required, the first presidential debate in the modern era was held between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960. No debates took place in 1964, 1968 and 1972. Debates resumed in 1976 and continued in the 1980 and 1984 election cycles. The Commission on Presidential Debates became the formal sponsor of presidential and vice presidential debates beginning in 1988. A date for a vice presidential debate has not been set, although the Biden-Harris Campaign has proposed holding one after the Republican Convention in late July.

🧵 RT @atrupar I’m putting together a thread covering the first Biden-Trump debate of the 2024 cycle. Follow along for clips and commentary 👇
📌 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1806493237047157060/photo/1 -n
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1806493237047157060.html

🐣 RT @anders_aslund Ever since the John Roberts sponsored verdict Citizens United in 2010, which made unlimited amounts of dark money legal in US politics, SCOTUS has been a spearhead of legalizing corruption. ¤ Thereby, SCOTUS has made itself the worst enemy of US democracy.
⋙ 🐣 RT @GeneralClark The Supreme Court has authorized gratuities to public officials??? Payoffs? This is a sad descent into the realm of banana republics! Legally authorized graft and corruption!!! Please, make this go away!

🐣 RT @melindagates Never did I think I’d see the day when women were one court ruling away from being able to receive emergency care. Women’s rights, women’s health, and even women’s lives are under attack. Today, it was access to emergency care. Tomorrow, it could be access to birth control or fertility treatments. The best way to channel our anger and fight back is to join together, raise our voices, and exercise our political power by voting this November.

Economist: American stocks are consuming global markets That does not necessarily spell trouble https://tinyurl.com/2yf85knx “When it comes to America’s current dominance, the driving force is entirely familiar: strong companies in new markets have become highly profitable”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1806348820550156544/photo/1
// 65%, 55% even without IT

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Children of immigrants have higher educational attainment and higher incomes than their parents — and the children of native-born Americans.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1806342602314129478/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 RT @SteveRattner Note: these figures include immigrants and their children regardless of legal status. So, both documented and undocumented are counted. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/ymt7xycf

🐣 RT @POTUS Congressional Republicans have twice blocked my plan to hire thousands of Border Patrol Agents and CBP Officers, go after fentanyl and drug traffickers, and fix our broken immigration system. ¤ I’ve done my job. Now Congress must do theirs.

🐣 📋 RT @4TaxFairness 91% of millionaires polled agree that extreme wealth concentration is allowing the wealthy to buy political influence. ¤ Nearly 60% back raising the marginal tax rate on those making over $100 million. ¤ Even the rich want us to tax the rich. [FT link:] https://tinyurl.com/mr3r8e8e [6/23/2024]

⭕ 26 Jun 2024

🐣 RT @NewsHour More than a quarter of Americans now claim no religious affiliation. There’s also a growing political divide within Christian communities as faith has receded. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/3n38bv25
⋙ 🐣 The loss has been mostly among White Evangelicals
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1806212932318920976/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 Who could have guessed that when churches started mixing politics with religion, that their flocks would eventually abandon religion for politics?

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom If you’re wondering how you get busted from flag rank as an Admiral back to Captain in the Navy, this is one of the ways you can accomplish this career capstone, as Congressman [Ronny] Jackson did:
⋙ 🐣 RT @thomas_brooke_ Appears behavior is congruent w/ the DODIG report. ¤ “RDML Jackson failed to conduct himself in an exemplary manner and made an unfavorable impact on the overall WHMU command climate.” [IG link:] https://tinyurl.com/4xmnnjr3
[TextLink:] https://x.com/thomas_brooke_/status/1806145609000227191/photo/1
// tags: Ronny Jackson Ronnie Jackson pill mill demotion

NYT: How Inflation in the U.S. Has Changed Since 2020 https://tinyurl.com/25m5ktum “Inflation has both surged and moderated since Covid stifled the economy, and politicians are focused on who is to blame. How did the country get here?”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1806207050516410470/photo/1

🐣 RT @POLITICOEurope OPINION: Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine was the product of imperial ambitions deeply rooted in Russian history. ¤ He wasn’t provoked into waging war because of NATO enlargement, which he sees as posing no discernible threat.
⋙ Politico, Peter Dickinson [EU]: Sorry Farage, Putin is provoked by Ukrainian independence — not NATO https://tinyurl.com/2fmxhrbb “[T]he message to Moscow needs to be clear and consistent: Ukraine is here to stay as an independent European country and is on a historic path toward integration into the wider Western world”
// By amplifying Putin’s bogus claims of NATO’s responsibility for today’s war, Western politicians like Trump and Farage risk legitimizing Russian imperialism.

🐣 RT @ChrisMurphyCT This is a conservative think tank.
⋙ 🐣 RT @AlexNowrasteh New Cato research on illegal immigrant crime. ¤ Illegal immigrants have a homicide conviction rate 26% below natives in Texas. For illegal immigrants, it’s 2.2 per 100k. It’s 3.0 per 100k for natives. Legal immigrants are the best at 1.2 per 100k. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/2vajd8ru
◕ https://x.com/AlexNowrasteh/status/1805955960722116691/photo/1

🐣 RT @ColbyBadhwar “Budanov believes that the Crimean Peninsula […] can be cut off from resupply & forced into submission.@general_ben has long argued that this would be the key to putting Putin on the defensive. “I share the opinion of Gen. Hodges, absolutely,” said the Ukrainian spy chief.”

🐣 RT @TomJChicago SCOTUS is dragging out the decision on Trump’s immunity bc they don’t want his DC trial to commence. The trial will prove Trump is an insurrectionist and make SCOTUS look even more corrupt for giving him a special exception to the 14th amendment, by overturning CO so he could run

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: In a stunning announcement, Donald Trump just suggested that if he lost the 2024 election, he will try to stop the results from being certified. This is as authoritarian like as it gets. Retweet so all Americans know how dangerous Trump really is.
💽 https://x.com/BidensWins/status/1806070606749684160/photo/1

🐣 RT @ReallyAmerican1
– If George HW Bush had done his job properly, President Clinton wouldn’t have had to come in and clean it up.
– If George W Bush had done his job properly, President Obama wouldn’t have had to come in and clean it up.
– If Donald Trump had done his job properly, President Biden wouldn’t have had to come in and clean it up.
🛑 STOP. ELECTING. REPUBLICANS.

🐣📋 RT @RBReich In the years after Trump’s tax cuts, America’s largest corporations spent $2.7 trillion on stock buybacks to enrich wealthy shareholders. ¤ That’s more than what they spent on investments in plants and technology to boost production and create jobs. ¤ So much for trickling down…

Politico: Biden admin can’t be sued for pressuring social media companies to remove misinformation, Supreme Court rules https://tinyurl.com/4ps8dcv2
// Two red states and five social media users do not have legal standing to sue.

🐣 RT @tribelaw “I accuse the prime minister of Israel of a deliberate attempt to destroy the political-security-military alliance between Israel and the United States … His displays of braggadocio and arrogance on television, in which he berates the president of the United States and his actions, are a master performance of irresponsibility, losing one’s cool and contempt for Israel’s most basic needs, and a calculated attempt to sabotage Biden’s reelection campaign” – Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla OSSOFF: “No one, and I mean NO one, is interested in — or takes seriously — lectures on border security from Senate Republicans. No one.
💽 https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1805997485829034016/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner In 2023, the United States’ energy production exceeded its consumption by record amounts, a level of energy independence not seen in over 70 years. ¤ cc: @EIAgov
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1805996966712651859/photo/1

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP Trump claims Joe Biden “created” the story about him calling our fallen soldiers “suckers” and “losers.” ¤ This is false. ¤ Trump’s comments were made public by his former Chief of Staff Gen. John Kelly.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1805983334230634596/photo/1

🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump Crooked Joe Biden’s “Handlers” are loudly and profusely complaining that there will be no Fact Checkers during the Debate on Thursday. Actually, that is just DISINFORMATION – They could not be happier, because there is nobody that’s as loose with the TRUTH as Crooked Joe. From the 51 Fake Intelligence Agents, to Russia, Russia, Russia, to the Fake “Suckers and Losers Story” he created about our beloved Military, to cheating in College and saying he was first in his Law School Class when he was actually LAST, to claiming he marched for Civil Rights, drove trucks, and has a 6.2 Handicap (He can’t hit the Golf Ball 10 yards, but that’s a minor detail!), and so many more falsehoods, the man is a walking LYING MACHINE, and a Fact Checker’s DREAM. Maybe we should call him “Lyin’ Joe” in addition to Crooked?

↥ ↧
🐣 Trump had was trying to build a Trump Tower in Moscow when he was running for pres (which he lied about); Mueller uncovered Russia taking cues from Trump; they intervened on his behalf; Barr delayed and obscured the Mueller report ~ an unredacted version has not been released
↥ ↧
🐣 Biden never said he was first in his Law School Class, nor was he last. ¤ Trump had all his college grades locked up, claimed he went to the Wharton School of Econ (he didn’t) and Mary Trump said he had someone take the SAT for him.
↥ ↧
🐣 WaPo documented Trump spewing out 30,000 lies during his term in office; they published a book listing Trump’s lies ¤ Trump is really nervous about this debate. He knows he can’t talk policy for two minutes because he doesn’t understand policy
↥ ↧
🔄 💙 ⋙ TheAtlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg (2020): Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers’ https://tinyurl.com/ynnuj4wy “Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, near Paris, in 2018” //➔ All the times Trump disparaged the military
// The president has repeatedly disparaged the intelligence of service members, and asked that wounded veterans be kept out of military parades, multiple sources tell The Atlantic.
// 9/3/2020; all Trump’s quotes disparaging the military: “What’s in it for them?” “”
↥ ↧
NBCNews (Feb 24): Former U.S. spies warned in 2020 that the Hunter Biden scandal had Russian fingerprints. They feel vindicated now. https://tinyurl.com/8ehs7bxt DOJ said “that informant Alexander Smirnov invented a story about $5M bribes paid to Joe and Hunter Biden”

Politico: Border crossing numbers plummet dramatically in weeks after Biden’s new policy https://tinyurl.com/58edtcyj “Daily crossings have fallen below 2,400. … Migrants will continue to be barred from seeking asylum in between ports of entry until average border crossings have fallen below 1,500 for seven consecutive days.”
// The White House is taking a victory lap.
↥ ↧
🐣 📋 RT @AnaCabrera NEW: DHS says that in the three weeks since POTUS’ executive action limiting asylum processing, Border Patrol’s 7-day encounter average has decreased more than 40% to 2,400 encounters a day.

🐣 📊 RT @marcthiessen To all the trolls here who spew their hated for Ukraine, how Zelensky is a tyrant, how the U.S. has no interest in seeing Ukraine prevail, I’ve got some bad news for you. ¤ You’ve got 8% support … … among MAGA VOTERS. ¤ 70% of MAGA supports Ukraine. [Source: RReagan Institute]
◕ https://x.com/marcthiessen/status/1805743855041425482/photo/1
// Non-MAGA 64%

🔄 📋 🐣 RT @Noahpinion Six different sources, with different methodologies, all conclude that murder rates have fallen substantially since 2021. ¤ It’s just a fact, plan and simple. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/bdf6uyxa

Sources cited: “[W]e have six data sources, using six different methodologies, all telling us the same story about crime:

● the FBI,
● AH Datalytics,
● the Council on Criminal Justice,
● the Major Cities Chiefs Association,
● the Gun Violence Association, and
● the Center for Disease Control.

All of them agree that murder peaked in 2021, and those that report other types of violent crimes agree that they also peaked in 2021.”

🐣 RT @ politicsusa46 #DemsAct #DemVoice1 #wtpBLUE #ONEV1 #FAM46 Let me try and spell it out so even a child can understand.
💽 ¤ https://x.com/politicsusa46/status/1805853235514691675/photo/1
// Jon Stewart clip

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘃𝗲, 𝗻𝗲𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀. Do immigrants commit crime? Of course they do, but at a LOWER rate than native born Americans. The truth is, you are MUCH more likely to be the victim of a crime perpetrated by a native born American. (Based on research by the CATO Institute).

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰. Recent data for the fourth-quarter numbers showed a 13% decline in murder in 2023 from 2022, a 6% decline in reported violent crime and a 4% decline in reported property crime. That’s based on data from around 13,000 law enforcement agencies, policing about 82% of the U.S. population.

𝗖𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘁 (𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗙𝗼𝘅) 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲.

The fact is, new FBI data confirms previous indications that crime in the U.S. declined significantly in 2023, continuing a post-pandemic trend and belying widespread perceptions that crime is rising.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗦 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗸𝗲𝗻, 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗕𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲.

It is the number one economy in the world. The number one destination for inward foreign investment. It’s unquestionable that the US led the world out of the pandemic and is currently dominating the world financially.

The sheer size, breadth and liquidity in the US financial markets is a massive advantage when it comes to commerce, innovation, entrepreneurship and wealth-building. addition, the U.S. had higher growth than its nearest competitors in 2023 and looks like it should do the same this year.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁

The market in 2021 benefited from the U.S. economy growing at its fastest pace since 1984. The S&P 500 generated impressive returns of 28.7% in 2021 and 26.29% in 2023. Returns were lower in 2022 as the Fed stepped in to cool inflation. In 2024 the first month’s S&P 500 reached new all-time highs, closing above 5,000 for the first time and remains around that mark.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗦 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀 𝗡𝗢 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗽.

The only thing that changed after Biden was elected was the closure of the border could NOT legally stay in place under Title 42 after the pandemic passed. This is why in January this year, Biden agreed to pass a bipartisan bill that was the most conservative immigration bill in 35 years. Trump ORDERED Republicans to walk away from the bill so he could campaign on open borders.

The whole Trump campaign is built on sand. A convicted criminal convicted 34 times for lying is attempting to sell yet another BIG LIE with threats of civil unrest if he doesn’t win with his promise of a dystopian theocratic autocracy.

This is a man who would not pass a criminal background check to work in McDonalds, is banned from owning a gun and can’t set foot on the territory of ANY developed country.

⭕ 25 Jun 2024

DOJ: WikiLeaks Founder Pleads Guilty and Is Sentenced for Conspiring to Obtain and Disclose Classified National Defense Information https://tinyurl.com/yatwkbbd Julian Assange was sentenced to 62 months time-served in UK prison as a result of the US charges
// Chelsea Manning co-conspirator; Assange will return to his native Australia

MMFA (June 25): Fox News returns to “migrant crime” fixation as migrant crossings, crime plummet https://tinyurl.com/yc8b88xj “Studies show immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, commit violent crimes at lower rates than native-born Americans.”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1813212261948780912/photo/1
// time spent discussing migrant crime; immigrant crime

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Donald Trump: “I will not give one penny to any school that has a vaccine mandate.” ¤ This is insanely irresponsible and dangerous
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1805665507754098791/photo/1

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump BREAKING ¤ The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for former Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

💙 🐣 RT @RepHuffman Have you heard of Project 2025, the far-right’s 900+ page radical playbook for an extremist administration? ¤ It’s a lot to digest – so @DemocracyFwd read every word and made this guide to show you the truth and fight back.
≣ ⋙ DemForward: The People’s Guide to Project 2025 https://tinyurl.com/2y6ycbca

🐣 RT @ GenoVeno73 🚨🚨 PAY ATTENTION….
💽 https://x.com/GenoVeno73/status/1805393644016251002/photo/1

On the right, is Kevin Roberts, president of Heritage Foundation and lead organizer of Project 2025. Here, we can hear Kevin Roberts saying: “There are parts of the plan we will not share with the Left.”

By saying that, and listening to the rest of what he says here, we can surmise that Project 2025 is even WORSE than what we may have read, or already heard about.

He mentions “the Executive Orders” – which leads me to believe that whatever was not written in the 920 page Project 2025 is so horrific, so horrible, so authoritarianistic, so unlawful, so un-Constitutional that even THEY did not want it to be made public.

🐣 RT @arenella1 VERY IMPORTANT LEAK TO ABC-Trump expressed concern that if he returned the national security documents he was unlawfully possessing that he would be prosecuted: 1]such an admission by any criminal defendant is admissible against him 2] its incriminating value is very significant

🧵 RT @Victorshi2020 This is huge. *Sixteen* Nobel prize-winning economists just warned that Donald Trump’s economic plans would reignite inflation & damage the global economy if he wins & say that President Biden’s policies are “vastly superior” to Trump’s. Another reason why we must vote for Biden. [Axios link:] https://tinyurl.com/57j2h6sr
📌 https://x.com/Victorshi2020/status/1805609825994264662

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla AXIOS: “.. Mr. Trump continues to suffer from the lowest level of corporate support in the history of the Republican Party,” writes Sonnenfeld.”@felixsalmon @axios [link:] https://tinyurl.com/5n8nar3m
◕ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1805572272830263339/photo/1

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary [Dems] Maddow: Under Joe Biden, the U.S. has the best economy in the world. Literally the envy of the world. In fact, the World Bank just said the U.S. economy is so good it’s actually stabilizing the whole world economy.
💽 https://x.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1805609840456188343/photo/1

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote WOW. So I was looking through the exhibits in the latest Jack Smith filing, and what do I see among the new photos? The article about Val Broeksmit, the whistleblower who wielded his dead stepfather’s passwords to reveal Deutschebank’s dealings with Russia & Trump. He himself mysteriously died two years ago. Why would Trump save this? @davidenrich [NYT link:] https://tinyurl.com/mry2secd

NYT, Jamelle Bouie: Why Republicans Are Talking About Biden’s ‘Dictatorship’ https://tinyurl.com/6r5efnb2 “They [MAGA] want everything to be a crisis, not for an opportunity to affirm democracy, but for a chance to undermine it”

⭕ 24 Jun 2024

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln You might think that extreme views such as these exist only within the fringes of the GOP, but MAGA has taken control, and they have no qualms about embracing their extremism and telling you precisely what they intend to do once they consolidate power. ¤ Do your part in November.
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @BidenHQ Trump ally Jeff Durbin, leader of Republican opposition to Arizona abortion measure, says women deserve to be executed if they have an abortion: “You forfeit your right to live”
⋙ 🐣 Gonna round up all the women who’ve already had abortions? there have been 63 million abortions since Roe v Wade was passed (Guttmacher, CDC)

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP [Tucker] Carlson: “Do you think we’re moving towards civil war?”
Trump: “You know, Jan. 6 was a very interesting day because they don’t report it properly…People in that crowd said it was the most beautiful day they’ve ever experienced.” (Aug. 2023)
💽 https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1805339097898037457/photo/1

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch Yale School of Management Senior Associate Dean for Leadership Jeffrey Sonnenfeld: There are no Fortune 500 CEOs who are supporting Trump…The Trump economic package frightens them. It’s extremely inflationary…They’ll be reluctant Biden voters. They don’t want the fabric of society pulled apart. [CNBC]
💽 https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1805312807816380613/photo/1

🐣 RT @krassenstein You literally can’t make this stuff up… ¤ The Florida Department Of Education has finally revealed their list of approved books for the year. ¤ They have misspelled the words for “9th” and “12th” more than 60 times throughout. ¤ “Nineth” and “Twelth”. …
💽 https://x.com/krassenstein/status/1805261942376092018/photo/1

🐣 RT @tribelaw “As we reflect on the outcome of the New York trial, we should pause to acknowledge that history was tragically derailed by Trump’s felonious conduct. ¤ Trump continued his election crime spree in 2020. This time, it largely took place in the aftermath of an election he was surprised he did not win. When his frivolous legal attacks failed to overturn the result of President Joe Biden’s seven million vote victory, he resorted to fake electors, racketeering and insurrection. ¤ While criminal trials in those cases have been delayed, the evidence is overwhelming.”
⋙ DemDocket, Marc Elias (June 5) Donald Trump Is Plotting His Next Crime https://tinyurl.com/h8jjrfcw “Narcissistic authoritarians feed off abusing power and violating norms and laws. Sociopaths never develop a conscience”
// 6/5/2024

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA ⚡️🇺🇦 “I have decided to replace the commander of the Joint Forces of AFU, Lieutenant General Sodol, with Brigadier General Andriy Gnatov”, – Zelensky ¤ ❗️Yesterday Chief of Staff of Azov Krotevych wrote a statement to the DBR of the Brigade General Staff about Sodol. Sodol is accused of mismanagement of troops and “meat” assaults.

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Trump: I was proudly the person responsible for the ending of Roe v. Wade
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1805288595281891479/photo/1

🐣 RT @WhiteHouse Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, our Administration has taken action to protect access to reproductive health care. We will keep fighting to ensure women have the ability to make decisions about their own bodies.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1805254554448990575/photo/1
// exec orders and other actions taken

🐣 RT @officejjsmart “Ukraine has already destroyed 30 Russian oil refineries. For our drones, flying 1500 kilometers is not a problem.”- Pres. Zelensky
🖼 https://x.com/officejjsmart/status/1805269509328015656/photo/1

🐣 RT @BrookingsInst Part of the reason people are unhappy about inflation is that they don’t know that wages have been catching up, says @JoshGotbaum. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/5t2mwwbj
◕ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1805274108713746582/photo/1
// chart via carlquintanilla

🐣 RT 📋 @RpsAgainstTrump Trump ran up the national debt by about twice as much as President Biden, according to a new analysis of their fiscal track records. [Axios link:] https://tinyurl.com/bdevayf8

🐣 RT @danielsgoldman This week, SCOTUS decides two cases about Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election. ¤ Justices Thomas and Alito are required by federal law, the Constitution, and Court precedent to recuse. ¤ If they don’t recuse, it will cement SCOTUS as a lawless, partisan wing of the GOP

⭕ 23 Jun 2024

DCMonthly, Wesley Clark: America Is Already Great Again https://tinyurl.com/5n8kvzvn “On every meaningful metric of national strength, the United States under Joe Biden is a rising power—and we have the economic means and necessary alliances to meet our gravest challenges.”

DCMonthly, Paul Glastris (ed.): NATO Joe https://tinyurl.com/3e4du6d6 ‘Biden wields Reagan-like power abroad, while dismantling Reaganomics at home’

🔄 🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow The Anatomy Of A Smear: False Equivalency And Trump’s Decline ¤ Published by @ResoluteSquare
¤ https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1804946155480269256
// medical sources
⋙ 🐣 RT @ @highbrow_nobrow “…Physical signs also suggest cognitive decline. Trump’s walk appears wide-based, with a noticeable right leg swing. He seems unnaturally immobile when standing still and struggles with coherent speech, often going off on tangents…
⋙⋙ ResoluteSquare: The Anatomy Of A Smear: False Equivalency And Trump’s Decline https://tinyurl.com/4bsxp4tp
// Brian [Deitzman] looks at Biden’s mental ability and his coping mechanisms for his stutter, compared Trump’s erratic behavior and memory lapses raise concerns about his cognitive decline.

🐣 RT @United24media Did NATO promise not to enlarge? Gorbachev says “No”.
💽 https://x.com/United24media/status/1804810643213517226/photo/1

🐣 RT @djrothkopf I always enjoy joining @AymanMSNBC who is not just a great host, he is as keen an observer of the Middle East as you’ll find anywhere. I always learn something from talking to him.
⋙ 🐣 RT @AymanMSNBC “He’s a supporter of Donald Trump. He wants to weaken Biden…He’s a liar, he’s a lousy friend of the United States, he’s one of the worst allies we’ve ever had” – @djrothkopf on Benjamin Netanyahu’s rebuke of Joe Biden this week.
💽 https://x.com/AymanMSNBC/status/1805030413808668965/photo/1

🐣 RT @maddenifico If there is one video y’all need to watch this weekend, this is it. ¤If you do not think Christian nationalism and Project 2025 is the American version of the mustache man’s Night of the Long Knives — then like many Germans during that horrific era, you are in denial.
💽 https://x.com/maddenifico/status/1804654901181436068/photo/1

🐣 RT @ManiamAkash Facts regarding NATO, Ukraine & russia –
¤ https://x.com/ManiamAkash/status/1804513909216358575/photo/1

1. NATO never promised russia it won’t enlarge – Gorbachev confirmed. [Brookings 2014: https://tinyurl.com/mrxrxnsu%5D

2. NATO never threatened russia

3. russia never tried to invade Finland while it was in the process of joining NATO

4. Ukraine was neutral and hadn’t applied to join NATO when russia invaded in 2014 and 2022

5. russia has almost entirely demilitarised its border with Finland – it’s largest NATO border

6. NATO stationing of military forces in newer members near russia prior to the invasion of 2014 was minimal – that presence increased sharply since the illegal annexation of Crimea

NATO’s enlargement didn’t provoke putin. NATO’s failure to enlarge did.

With NATO’s protection, Ukraine and Georgia would have been safe.

Without NATO’s protection, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and others would not be safe.

Farage’s comments are being rightly condemned widely across the UK. That narrative is kremlin-fuelled disinformation.

🐣 RT @ChakhoyanAndrew Standing up — in unity — to the aggressor is how world wars are prevented. ¤ Giving in, looking the other way, hoping for the best, failing to provide a country that holds back the onslaught everything it needs is how the world can sleepwalk into WWIII [Timothy Snyder]
💽 https://x.com/ChakhoyanAndrew/status/1804789524347687391/photo/1

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump The United States produces more crude oil than any country, ever. 🇺🇸🇺🇸
◕ https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1804739698985783563/photo/1

🐣 RT @mmpadellan If you only watch ONE video today, make it @MSNBC Weekend crew DISMANTLING this Heritage Foundation flunky’s nefarious Project 2025 plans. ¤ BRAVO to Symone Sanders, Michael Steele, and Alicia Menendez who had receipts AND pushback. ¤ This is how it’s done
💽 (12 min) https://x.com/mmpadellan/status/1804831770774262148/photo/1

🐣 R🐣 RT @politicsusa46 P A R T T H R E E 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗝𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗗𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 (𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀) #ProjectDeliverance #StopProject2025
¤ 💽 https://x.com/politicsusa46/status/1804826000812892564/photo/1

𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁

The central objective of Project 2025 is to completely restructure the way government operates. The primary reason the insurrection failed in 2021 was because the checks and balances built into the system held. There were enough people within the civil service loyal to their oath of office that prevented Trump from overturning the will of the people.

The Heritage Foundation took note and one of the central planks of Project 2025, is to remove that obstacle. For 2 years now, they have been recruiting and vetting people loyal to their cause, in order to replace the civil servants that stood in their way in 2021.

𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗲 𝗙 (𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘁?)

To facilitate this, Trump has announced his intention to reissue Schedule F “on day one” of his next administration. So what is schedule F? It’s the authority to exempt certain positions “of a confidential, policy-determining, policy-making, or policy-advocating character” from employment protections. (It’s normally used for political appointees) This would allow a convicted criminal to sweep up ANY civil servant, fire them and replace them with Heritage Foundation trained operatives who have signed a loyalty oath not to the constitution, but to felon Trump.

𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗝𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮

Just to give you an idea of the scale of this day one action (Nov 6). This is estimated to be around 50,000 federal employees. To date, around 20,000 acolytes have been trained, so it will be a ‘work in progress’, but the objective is clear. This will transform the current apolitical civil service into a loyalist political juggernaut, shifting ALL power to the office of president. The U.S. before inauguration day would be in the firm grip of a political junta.

Once Trump has this level of control over the implementation of policy, it is quite literally GAME OVER. The clear unwritten objective is to install their useful idiot, pander to his narcissism and use him to reimagine American society as a theocratic autocracy.

𝗔𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿

So before we even discuss policy. They have created a hard right government right down to a compliant civil service. This effectively removes many of the checks and balances, locking out any opposition party from the electoral process. If you add to that, their control of the Supreme Court, Trump’s power becomes absolute.

𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘁𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

If you thought this was terrifying, consider this; As David Frum observed in a recent issue of The Atlantic, “If Trump is elected, it very likely won’t be with a majority of the popular vote” but rather because our system for selecting the president “has privileged a strategically located minority, led by a lawbreaking president, over the democratic majority.”

“If Donald Trump returns to the White House, he’d bring a better understanding of the system’s vulnerabilities, more willing enablers, and a more focused agenda of retaliation against his adversaries”.

The Heritage Foundation know that to secure absolute power moving forward, changes will need to be made to the constitution. They and their friends have got that covered too. November is seen as an opportunity for a new Republican order.

𝗔𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝟱 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

The Convention of States Project, the American Legislative Exchange Council (Alec) and other rightwing organizations have spent more than a decade working to persuade state legislators to pass applications for an Article V convention, as defined in the U.S. constitution.

https://tinyurl.com/3kz7z57z

Having installed an autocrat and a loyalist civil service, The next logical step is to amend the constitution to remove Article 2, section 1 and Trump can do a Putin.

⭕ 22 Jun 2024

FoxNews: Campaign walks back Trump’s green card promise https://tinyurl.com/mr3vdded “Conservative critics lashed out at recent Trump proposal” ~ oopsie!

🐣 RT @RWwatchMA @NYTimes: Daughters of foot doctor say he diagnosed Trump with bone spurs as ‘favor’ to Fred Trump
⋙ CNN/NYT (2018): New York Times: Daughters of foot doctor say he diagnosed Trump with bone spurs as ‘favor’ to Fred Trump https://tinyurl.com/5359t8xj
// 12/26/2018
⋙⋙ NYT (2018): Did a Queens Podiatrist Help Donald Trump Avoid Vietnam? https://tinyurl.com/ydm2yfj8
// 12/26 2018

🐣 RT @IAPonomarenko You don’t understand — Russia was provoked into degrading into being a oligarchic dictatorship obsessed with war, territorial grabs, and Stalinist revanchism—
¤ https://x.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1804617595150385315

—then it was provoked into spending over a decade in an economic war on Ukraine and indoctrinating its population with hateful propaganda (a.k.a. “Ukrainians are Nazis and not a real country”), then it was provoked into annexing part of Ukraine’s territory and inciting and sponsoring a war in Ukraine’s east, then it was provoked into concentrating the largest regional military grouping against Ukraine since the end of the Cold War, it was also provoked into openly laughing in the face of a half of the West begging Putin not to invade Ukraine and not sending Ukraine any aid to avoid ‘provoking Russia’, thus Russia was provoked into unleashing the largest European war of aggression since WWII and, due to its very sudden failure to seize Kyiv, it was provoked into massacring the people of Ukraine, derailing all talks via knowingly unacceptable demands, and launching a devastating years-long war to erase dozens of Ukrainian cities from the earth’s face and bomb Ukraine into the cold and dark due to the war’s extremely unsatisfying results more than 2 years after, with some at least some 200,000 military dead on both sides and possibly tens of thousands of civilian fatalities.

You don’t understand, it’s all because Russia just couldn’t stand Ukraine unreasonably seeking to join NATO after everything it has done to Ukraine after 2014, although Russia was more than fine with NATO standing at its border for 20 years in the Baltics and with Finland joining NATO, too — you just have to understand that if Ukraine had joined NATO at some point, Russia would have been restricted in its god-given right to invade and subjugate it as it pleases, it’s not that Ukrainians are a people and have a say over their own lives, I’m a linguistics professor and I know better what’s better for them savages, you know, you don’t understand.

🧵 RT @atrupar I’m going to put together a thread covering Trump’s speech to the Faith & Freedom Coalition in Washington DC. Follow along for clips and commentary.
📌 💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1804572465080811938/photo/1 -n

🐣 RT @politicsusa46 P A R T O N E 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗝𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗗𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 (𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀)
💽 https://x.com/politicsusa46/status/1804482642294853799/photo/1

Hello my fellow truth seekers. Today sees the start of my campaign to raise awareness of Project 2025. #ProjectDeliverence Any help promoting this hashtag would be appreciated.

By the end of next week, this will also be available as a blog. It will be posted on Facebook, Instagram, Threads and Spoutible.

This series of posts is designed to arm you with the knowledge to spread the word far and wide about the Republican plan to dismantle government, dispense with representative democracy and reimagine America as a white male dominated theocratic autocracy.

In this opening post I’ll provide you with links to relevant background information, before I drill into the various policy proposals and their real life impact. You’ll be pleased to note, posts will not be as verbose as this, but I think it’s important we set the scene, so you have access to all the key background information.

𝗔 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗜𝗻 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝘆

It’s important to understand from the outset, this is not a plan for the future, it’s a plan already in action TODAY. It stems from a 980 page document produced by the Heritage Foundation. For background see the link below

Heritage Foundation

See more

𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆

Formed in the 1970s it has a long history of influencing Republican policy under numerous administrations. Project 2025 is spearheaded by this think tank and brings together a consortium of dark money influence, seeking to shape policy in the next Republican administration. These are the who’s who of profit before people.

It is important to understand that Project 2025 is NOT a Trump project, he just happens to be their useful idiot that can help them reimagine America in their likeness. It is a coalition of now 100 partners (see link below for a list of who wants to dismantle democracy for profit)

https://tinyurl.com/2sybmjhn

𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽

The project itself is based on a 980 page document entitled ‘Mandate for Leadership’, with a strap line ‘Building now for a conservative victory through policy, personnel, and training.’ (See link to the full document below).

https://tinyurl.com/53h3tk4z

𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗯𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱

A good analogy would be to see this as a political game of chess. Needless to say, Republicans are playing white and the game is already in play. For Republicans to pull this off they need 2 things

1. A politically ignorant, fearless gullible base, prepared to do the bidding of a king.

2. Unquestioning obedience driven by newly interpreted religious values.

It’s a politically formidable combination and it forms the very fabric of ‘Mandate for Leadership’. A blueprint to put the word of God at the center of government.

𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺

This is NOT a plan built on genuine Christian values, it is a political Christian evangelical wet dream, based on far right wing Christian extremism and the quiet rise of Christian dominionism. Theirs is a world in which a perfectly reconstructed society provides men (specifically the male gender) with the greatest possible freedom, due to the absence of a government that currently limits that freedom. A federal government would no longer be responsible for laws that govern public safety, social programs (including public schools and welfare), or just about anything else.

https://tinyurl.com/5xp7ppjv

While he avoids questions on the subject, the Speaker of The House is aligned with the dominionist position. His claims that ‘God speaks to him’ are clear indication of his belief that God must be at the heart of Government.

With the background out of the way, in part two we can start the process of breaking down the threat.

🐣 RT @politicsusa46 P A R T T W O 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗝𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗗𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘 (𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀) My thanks to my friend @bannerite who drew this to my attention. #ProjectDeliverance #StopProject2025
💽 https://x.com/politicsusa46/status/1804555223463035105/photo/1

At the very heart of this conversation about Project 2025, is the Heritage Foundation. This itheir President, Kevin Robert’s. It’s a 12 minute clip, but I highly recommend that you listen to it all, because the political arrogance on display here is breathtaking.

This is a man who has agreed to appear on a left leaning media outlet to gaslight viewers with a straight face. I know the plan intimately having studied it in detail, but I was truly shocked, that far from trying to sanitize it to obscure the dystopian elements, he was out loud and proud happy to double down.

This gives you some understanding of how confident they are that Trump will win and this is game on. If this does not put the fear of God into you, you need to seek medical help RIGHT NOW.

This conversation is proof of ever you needed it, once Trump is installed, he’s going nowhere. All the career civil servants will be gone. If there were elections in 2028 and his successor in was a Democrat, he/she would inherit tens of thousands of Trump loyalists embedded at the heart of government.

This is beyond insane. If America allows this to happen, sadly they get the government they deserve.

🐣 RT @PhillipsPOBrien In the last 24 hours both Donald Trump and Nigel Farage blamed NATO for the Ukraine war, speaking Russian propaganda lines exactly. If someone screams loudly and exactly what they are…you are best to believe them.

⭕ 21 Jun 2024

🐣 RT @Kasparov63 Great description, and applies well to how Western foreign policy normalizes dictators, terrorists, and thugs for a fantasy status quo. They aren’t equals, won’t become true allies, and normalizing them and their behavior diminishes democratic leaders and values.
⋙ 🐣 RT @tribelaw “Americans have a normalcy bias. It leads them to believe anyone who tells them that everything is awesome and that a system is ‘holding’—even as that system is hanging together by way of dental floss. Lawyers have an almost terrifying normalcy bias. It leads them to assume that so long as they are winning good cases it means the justice system is a pathway to winning the larger political debate. And many journalists have a normalcy bias so acute they wouldn’t know how to cover an authoritarian takeover if it meant that one of the two presidential candidates threatened jail for his political opponents—even as he continues to refer to these journalists as ‘the enemy of the people.’”
⋙ Slate, Dahlia Lithwick and Norman Ornstein: The Biggest Lie Trump–Biden 2024 Rematch Voters Are Telling Themselves https://tinyurl.com/48wc4hmh
// The system will not inevitably “hold.”

🐣 RT @BidenHQ .@SykesCharlie: The election of Donald Trump creates an immediate constitutional crisis but also it creates an immediate foreign policy and intelligence crisis. Trump’s allegiances are certainly not clear. What is his relationship with Kim Jong Un and Putin? He has made it clear that anyone in the intelligence community that does not bend the knee to him is going to face the chopping block. He has said openly that he intends to gut the nation’s intelligence community. He wants to fire generals he doesn’t think are loyal enough to him
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1804291082831675692/photo/1

🐣 RT @tribelaw Trump’s threat isn’t limited to our form of government and the rights it protects; he is a threat to the sovereignty of free nations everywhere
🐣 RT @KremlinTrolls Almost word for word what Farage said, regurgitating Kremlin talking points. F*ck me.
🐣 RT @McFaul I hope all voters who care about the security of Europeans living near Russia see this clip.
🐣 RT @MarkHertling Served 1/3 of 37 years in uniform in Europe. This statement is – to put it mildly – stunningly misinformed and dangerous.
🐣 RT @Angry_Staffer We should never normalize this. ¤ Between Trump and Farage, politicians are literally just regurgitating Russian propaganda. ¤ Don’t ever put this psychopath back in power.
⋙ 🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: In a stunning video, Donald Trump blames NATO for Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Donald Trump is parroting Russian talking points. Donald Trump is the greatest threat to American democracy in decades. Retweet so all Americans know it.
💽 https://x.com/BidensWins/status/1804294835785847088/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 who’d he hear that from? 🤔let me guess
1) the Maidan was about possible EU membership, not NATO
2) before Russia invaded, most Ukrainians were against NATO membership
3) only recently have some NATO members declared Ukraine should join NATO after the war ends
⋙ 🐣 each time Trump spews garbage like this, he’s indoctrinating millions of Americans with Russian propaganda ¤ Putin must be thrilled to be able to mainline Russian talking points into MAGA idiots
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1804368035534229512/photo/1

AP: Ukraine may fire US-provided missiles into Russia wherever it is coming under attack, Pentagon says https://tinyurl.com/y25fyfh8

🐣 RT @TimInHonolulu Lede; Queens man out on bail pending sentencing on 34 felonies threatens to overthrow US.
⋙ 🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: Donald Trump just announced he will incite another insurrection if he doesn’t win. Retweet so all Americans see this and know how dangerous and unhinged Trump is.
🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote Pathologically remorseless sociopath
⋙ 🐣 RT @BidenHQ Trump says if he loses the 2024 election he will try to “stop it a second time,” invoking January 6
💽 https://x.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1804334187442536921/photo/1

🐣 RT @RBReich A new Moody’s analysis found that Biden’s policies are significantly better for the U.S. economy, while Trump’s plans could trigger a recession and reduce middle-class families’ incomes. ¤ That shouldn’t be too surprising. The economy generally does better under Democrats.
💽 https://x.com/RBReich/status/1804280638565982666/photo/1

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote NEW: Just as I had suspected, Jack Smith has added the June 11 threat against an FBI agent by a trump supporter to his motion to modify trump’s bail conditions in the Mar a Lago case. This is in response to Trump asserting falsely that Biden and the FBI were trying to assassinate him during the search of Mar a Lago. [CDoc link:] https://tinyurl.com/za4e278c 12p
[TextLink:] https://x.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1804286386352328773/photo/1

🐣 RT @SenWhitehouse For more on Supreme Court fabricated facts, read my law review article on false facts ⬇️
⋙ TheGuardian, Moira Donegan: Rightwing cases built on made-up stories keep making it to the US supreme court https://tinyurl.com/mrfez4td
// Again and again, the conservative movement promotes cases based on inaccuracies, falsehoods and outright deceptions
⋙ Whitehouse[.]senate[.]gov, Sheldon Whitehouse: Knights-Errant: The Roberts Court and
Erroneous Fact-Finding https://tinyurl.com/4tbw6unj “Unbridled judicial fact-finding at the appellate or Supreme Court level is a danger both to judicial legitimacy and the separation of powers.” 57p

🐣 RT @ProfMarkMaslin Earth History – 4.5 billion yrs ¤ Welcome to #Anthropocene
◕ https://x.com/ProfMarkMaslin/status/1804109535625289795/photo/1

🦠 Life on Earth 4000 Ma
🧫 Eukaryotics 1800 Ma
🪱 Complex life 550 Ma
🦖 Dinosaurs extinction 65 Ma
🦍 Upright apes 7 Ma
🚻 Homo sapiens 300 ka
🔥 Fossil fuels 150yrs
🌪️ Climate Change 100yrs
🦤 Mass extinction 50yrs

🐣 RT @ManhattanDA In Manhattan, major crime is down in nearly every category over the past two years ⬇️
◕ https://x.com/ManhattanDA/status/1804220270833447333/photo/1

🐣 RT @BillPascrell US factory building is now booming at almost $200 billion a year thanks to our Inflation Reduction Act. Every single republican in Congress voted against it and our manufacturing explosion.
◕ https://x.com/BillPascrell/status/1804256711085015304/photo/1

🐣 RT @David_Charts So continue enjoying perhaps the best economy since 1960’s, with record stock markets, your presidential record purchasing power, the presidential average low unemployment rate, and robust job opportunities! Let everyone know the great news!
[TextLink:] https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1802553908964769916/photo/1

Talking Points for President Biden and Democrats
1. We’re 6.25 million jobs above the pre-pandemic peak.
2. I’ve got the lowest average unemployment rate of any president.
3. We averaged 3.6% unemployment in 2022 and 2023; the last 3.5% year was 1969.
4. According to CBO, families had more purchasing power in 2023 than 2019 pre-pandemic, as incomes have outgrown inflation across the income spectrum.
5. I’ve got the record for highest hourly worker wages of any president on average.*
6. The middle-class became the richest ever (net worth) in 2022 and is far richer than 2019 now.*
7. The economy is nearly 10% larger than 2019 before the pandemic (real GDP).* 8. Inflation is the Fed’s job, and they are on the case. My job is jobs, and we’ve had rapid job creation throughout my Administration, even since we regained the pre-pandemic peak back in June 2022.
9. I’ve delivered $400 billion in student loan relief to millions of borrowers and would have doubled that if Republicans and SCOTUS hadn’t blocked it.
10. My Infrastructure law will continue creating great jobs for a decade, with thousands of projects in rural communities in Blue and Red states.
11. My expansion of ACA eligibility plus state ACA expansions have helped cut the number of uninsured to a record low and made healthcare more affordable for over 10 million people.
12. Home ownership rates were higher in 2023 than 2019 for most groups, including young people.

🐣 RT @Acyn Whatley: There’s not a single metric President Biden can show where America’s better off than they were 4 years ago.
💽 [Fox] https://x.com/Acyn/status/1804235024293859569/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 RT @Christo12919382 He’s right. There’s not just one. There’s about 20!
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Christo12919382/status/1804254374308565488/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 RT @David_Charts Biden beats Trump on all the key measures, even adjusted for inflation and comparing against Trump’s best year. Here’s a thorough briefing on the details.
💙 ⋙⋙ 🧵 RT @ David_Charts Monthly economic briefing, through May data. First, we’re up 6.2 million jobs vs. pre-pandemic peak, which was regained June 2022. A record 158.5 million jobs were reported in May. A robust 272,000 net new jobs were added as the labor market boom continued. 1/
📌 https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1802553877138416074/photo/1 -n

● We’re up 6.2 million jobs vs. pre-pandemic peak
● Job creation is much faster under Biden than Trump
● Biden has the lowest unemployment rate on average of any president
● The unemployment rate was 6.4% when Biden started, so it has fallen 2.4% to the May reading of 4.0%
● Labor participation rate (25-54) is up, 80.0 under Trump, 80.8 under Biden
● The ratio of open jobs to unemployed was 1.24 in April, (down from over-heated)
● Real wages (purchasing power) is better than 2019
● Both rich and poor have more purchasing power than in the vaunted 2019 economy
● Biden has the highest real wages (purchasing power) of any president
● Net worth has also grown much faster than inflation, particularly for the bottom 50%
● The Fed’s forecast also shows a robust economy, with low unemployment, moderating inflation, and steady growth 2024-2026
● Combination of lowest unemployment rate and highest real wages (purchasing power) of any president back to 1964
● 5 of the 6 key measures used by NBER to call an economic peak/recession start are showing growth vs. January 2023

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski Trump just incentivized migrants from all over the world to come to the U.S. with his pledge to give green cards to everyone who gets an AA degree. ¤ He literally just undercut every policy position that he and the Republican Party has taken on immigration in one interview.

🧵 RT @Victorshi2020 Pay attention to this warning from the Biden campaign today: “A new Moody’s analysis finds Biden’s policies are significantly better for the U.S. economy, while Trump’s plans would trigger a recession, cut 3.2M jobs, add 1% to inflation, & reduce middle-class families’ incomes.”
📌 ◕ https://x.com/Victorshi2020/status/1804159962085560618/photo/1 -n

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla “No state has benefited more” from White House economic policy than Arizona, writes @Matthew_Winkler. ¤ “.. The reality is, #Arizona .. is the peerless performer among the seven so-called swing states” that will likely determine the election.
◕ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1804119125402206362/photo/1
⋙ Bloomberg: Arizona’s Economic Boom Is the Biden Signal in Trump Noise https://tinyurl.com/mwt9hadk “Record GDP, jobs and manufacturing growth along with low unemployment and rising living standards make it the peerless performer among the seven swing states”   

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla B of A: “.. The US has avoided a hard landing and we expect that to continue through the end of 2026. .. ¤ “.. we see enough resiliency in the consumer to keep the economy in a solid expansion.” 🇺🇸 (1/2) $SPX
[TextLink:] https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1804098242264596933/photo/1

[Text:] BofA GLOBAL RESEARCH
US Economic Viewpoint
2024-26 Mid-year US outlook update: A gilded glidepath

⋙ 🐣 RT @carlquintanilla B of A: “.. We forecast average monthly payroll gains of 216k in 2024, 156k in 2025 and 125k in 2026. We project the unemployment rate to peak at 4.2% and remain near five-decade lows.” 🇺🇸
◕ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1804099100230439231/photo/1

🐣 RT @ carlquintanilla B of A: “.. Disposable income is outpacing inflation.” 🇺🇸
◕ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1804102082556792874/photo/1

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow Trump parrots Vladimir Putin’s talking points: ¤ Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is NATO’s fault.
💽 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1804113025395253344/photo/1

🐣 RT @PhillipsPOBrien OK Trumpites–now your man is blaming the Ukraine War on NATO. In other words–its not Putin’s fault. And he did it will appearing on the podcast of @DavidSacks who denies that Russia has committed war crimes.
⋙ 🐣 RT @PhillipsPOBrien Trump also claimed Ukraine wants to use children to fight and Russia was right to fear NATO on their border (while seeming to forget that NATO already had a border with Russia in the Baltics). Basically, Trump is speaking Russian propaganda while speaking with a propagandist.
⋙ 🐣 RT @PhillipsPOBrien If I wanted to weaken the US internationally I could think of no more effective way to do this than vote Trump back into office.

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow Mike Johnson: “President Trump built the wall.”
Fact-check: The Trump administration built 52 miles of new primary border barriers. The U.S.-Mexico border stretches for 2,000 miles across four states. @Acyn
💽 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1804128206565294340/photo/1

⭕ 20 Jun 2024

WaPo, Philip Bump: The U.S. decline in religiosity isn’t from a lack of Ten Commandments https://tinyurl.com/y4k7a8vf
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1804194312961327182/photo/1 -3

🐣 RT @whoisciv Internal GOP polls are even worse. ¤ He should drop in exchange for a federal pardon. [No! No pardon]
⋙ 🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: Following the release of 5 straight polls showing Trump losing, many Republicans behind closed doors are asking Donald Trump to drop out. 40/44 of Trump’s cabinet members won’t support him. Independents are abandoning Trump. The Trump campaign is imploding.
// no idea if this is true

🐣 RT @CAPAction It’s crystal clear who Trump’s extreme MAGA policies prioritize.
[TextLink:] ◕ https://x.com/CAPAction/status/1803882461916492280/photo/1
// “Trump’s MAGA tax plan makes 90% of Americans poorer while enriching the top 10%.”

🐣 RT @BryanDawsonUSA They asked the beast “what Bible verse formed your character.” The beast answered, if defiance of its nemesis, Jesus Christ, “an eye for an eye.” ¤ #ThouShaltNotTrump
💽 https://x.com/BryanDawsonUSA/status/1302654619169034240/photo/1

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski 420,000 MAGA people own shares in this. Many bought shares when it was over $70. Trump is going to cash out tens of millions, then this is going in the tank with every one of those suckers and losers owning a penny stock.
◕ https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1803877161746538769/photo/1
// DJT stock at $26.68 today

🐣 RT @JayinKyiv Game on, Russkies. Biden admin finally unties Ukraine’s hands.
⋙ Politico: US says Ukraine can hit inside Russia ‘anywhere’ its forces attack across the border https://tinyurl.com/uzzx6vv8 “The policy is not limited to the Kharkiv region, U.S. officials said.” ‼️

🐣 RT @gtconway3d Both the story and the fact that it has been reported are remarkable. The degree of embarrassment and chagrin Cannon’s incompetence and bias must be causing to her colleagues is unimaginable. And lest any semiliterate MAGAts contend this is some kind of political play, they should take a look at the Eleventh Circuit’s brutal opinions reversing Cannon in 2022 for her insane rulings relating to the documents seized at Mar-a-Lago.
⋙ 🐣 RT @lee_kovarsky I’m not sure what to make of this story, except to say that it’s remarkable to have two senior judges gently tell you that you’re incompetent and/or perceived as too biased and then to actually go out there and prove it on the field.
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @hugolowell NY Times: Two federal judges in Florida — including the chief — privately urged Judge Cannon to decline the Trump classified docs case when it was assigned to her last year, per two ppl familiar. But Cannon chose to keep it.
⋙⋙⋙ NYT: Judge in Trump Documents Case Rejected Suggestions to Step Aside https://tinyurl.com/r22djefj “Two federal judges in South Florida privately urged Aileen M. Cannon to decline the case when it was assigned to her last year, according to two people briefed on the matter”

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson The Snowflake In Chief. What a beta.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/TheRickWilson/status/1803855482555416912/photo/1

🐣 RT @TrumpDailyPosts Subscribe The latest Fox News poll is TRASH! They used a biased, Democrat- leaning sample of voters, polling more Biden 2020 voters than Trump 2020 voters to skew the results in favor of Crooked Joe. I am leading BIG in virtually every other poll, including in all of the key battleground states, like Wisconsin, where I just held a massive rally, and Pennsylvania, where I will be on Saturday. Also, the #1 issue in this Country is not protecting democracy. It is INFLATION and IMMIGRATION! If it is protecting democracy, Trump is your best choice, because Crooked Joe Biden is the greatest threat to democracy in history with his Open Border and weaponization of our justice system against his political opponent, ME! Fox News polls have never treated me, or MAGA, fairly! Don’t worry, we will WIN!!! Fox News should get rid of Paul Ryan, and get a new Pollster, but they won’t…

🐣 RT @melindagates I’ve never endorsed a presidential candidate before. But this year’s election stands to be so enormously consequential for women and families that, this time, I can’t stay quiet. [link:] https://m-gat.es/4cv7SlW
¤ https://x.com/melindagates/status/1803844768394547597

Women deserve a leader who cares about the issues they face and is committed to protecting their safety, their health, their economic power, their reproductive rights, and their ability to freely and fully participate in a functioning democracy. In this election, the contrast couldn’t be greater, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

I will be voting for President Biden.

WaPo: Vatican charges pope critic Carlo Maria Viganò with the crime of schism https://tinyurl.com/mr2unj95 “Viganò, who once called for the resignation of Pope Francis, is a former Vatican ambassador to the U.S. and the pope’s most ardent internal critic”

TheEconomist: Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine is part of his revolution against the West https://tinyurl.com/4jpmvck8 “He is leading Russia into a new phase of strategic confrontation, says Stephen Covington, a longtime NATO adviser”

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln Everything we care about relies on the survival of one thing: democracy. ¤ Joe Biden has spent the last 4 years fighting to protect our democracy, our freedoms, and the soul of America. There’s one choice.
◕ https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1803827721224503674/photo/1

FoxNews Poll: “EXTREMELY” IMPORTANT TO 2024 VOTE:
68% FUTURE OF DEMOCRACY
66% ECONOMY
58% STABILITY/NORMALCY
52% IMMIGRATION
52% HEALTH CARE
47% ABORTION
45% GUNS
(JUNE 14-17; RV; +/-3%)

🧵 RT @Mike_Podhorzer Don’t hold your breath waiting for the presidential immunity decision. If you’re wondering whether the MAGA majority on the Court will let Trump off the hook, they already have.
📌 https://x.com/Mike_Podhorzer/status/1803462041845301326
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/2ttbu6un

By doing so, they have already interfered in the 2024 elections.

They’ve forced a historic crisis—an irreconcilable showdown between the normal operation of the criminal justice system (which should find Trump in pretrial and trial proceedings for his January 6th crimes over the next five months) and the normal functioning of presidential elections (which should find him campaigning full-time during those months).

It didn’t have to be this way; it’s a crisis entirely of their own manufacturing. […]

🐣 RT @BillPascrell The IRS is poised to collect over half a trillion dollars from rich tax cheats thanks to a law passed by Democrats. Every single republican in Congress voted against stopping millionaire tax crooks and wants to help them keep stealing from you

🐣 RT @djrothkopf They need to fire this guy and rescind the offer to his colleague asap. The longer this goes on, the longer Bezos appears indifferent to it, the deeper and more lasting the damage to the Post.
⋙ 🐣 RT @gtconway3 Is it really, really, really, really, really, really bad that the publisher of the @WashingtonPost allegedly counseled British government officials to destroy evidence in an official investigation? ¤ Or is it just really, really, really bad?
⋙⋙ 🐣 time to swamp the @washingtonpost with letters to the editor

🐣 RT @djrothkopf Saying something should be required viewing occurs so often it has lost all meaning. But this should be required viewing. It explains one of the greatest threats presented by Trump better than all Dem officeholders, candidates & strategists have yet been able to do.
🔄 💙 ⋙ 🐣 RT @BlueATLGeorgia John Oliver on Project 2025 and a second Trump term. ¤ I was going to clip this segment out into shorter sections but decided to keep it together because it’s too important and, frankly, it should terrify you.
💽 https://x.com/BlueATLGeorgia/status/1802904289783767542/photo/1

🐣 RT @ carlquintanilla FT EDITORIAL BOARD: “.. a litany of vague policy pronouncements, many of which — if taken seriously — threaten to undermine basic functions of the US economy.” ¤ @ftopinion
⋙ FT Editorial: Business leaders’ myopic reversal on Donald Trump https://tinyurl.com/v4f2n7jt

🐣 RT @Noahpinion Americans have no idea how cheaply they can buy food, compared to literally anywhere else in the world
⋙ 🐣 RT @jmhorp Americans spend, on average, 6.7% of their income on groceries, the lowest in the world [OurWorldInData link:] https://tinyurl.com/3rt6kvkk
◕ https://x.com/Noahpinion/status/1803709903254806701/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 More …
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1803814113669202343/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @SteveRattner After Dobbs, access to a legal abortion at six weeks is now a 9-hour drive away in Florida. ¤ In Texas, it’s an 8-hour drive away. cc: @amprog
🌎 https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1803797850368754005/photo/1

🐣 RT @Meidas_Sammi This Fox News Poll showing a +7 swing to Biden makes me smile😇
◕ https://x.com/Meidas_Sammi/status/1803564949932789811/photo/1

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla JPM DESK, on retail sales:
¤ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1803760062395011280

“.. Americans spent more than $700bn last month; in 2019 that number was closer to $500bn.

“The [compound annual growth rate] for retail sales in the 4 years post-COVID is roughly double what it was in the 4 years into COVID. .. This is occurring in a backdrop of household net worth up more than $41 trillion, up almost 38% since 2020.

“Consumer cash (checking, savings, and [money market funds]) are up more than $5T, +33%, including checking accounts that have more than tripled from $1.5T to $5T.”

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Trump’s former national security advisor John Bolton: “Richard Nixon looks like a choir boy next to Donald Trump.”
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1803657762611638588/photo/1

🐣 RT @wartranslated Russian bloggers are panicking – the new Minister of Defense Belousov visited the military camp of the 155th Banzai Brigade, which is under reconstruction, and said that the new barracks project must be completed on time because people “will soon start returning”, whatever this means.

🐣 RT @TheLastWord .@Lawrence: Donald Trump is proposing the ‘worst economic policy in U.S. history’
💽 ⋙ MSNBC, TheLastWord: MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell explains why Donald Trump’s plan to eliminate the tax code and replace it with tariffs is, as Henry Ford would say, “an economic stupidity.” https://tinyurl.com/mry3cs2k
// MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell explains why Donald Trump’s plan to eliminate the tax code and replace it with tariffs is, as Henry Ford would say, “an economic stupidity.”

⭕ 19 Jun 2024

🔄 CAP20: Project 2025: Exposing the Far-Right Assault on America [Series] https://tinyurl.com/4tv6nk7y “The far right’s new authoritarian playbook could usher in a sweeping array of dangerous policies.”

🐣 RT @AnnieForTruth MAGA is ready to incite another insurrection. 😡
[TextLink:] https://x.com/AnnieForTruth/status/1803381189908242793/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Subscribe Steve Bannon: “If they steal this election, and
they fully intend to steal it, this republic ends. Are you prepared to fight? Are you prepared to give it all? Are you prepared to leave it all on the battlefield?”

🐣 RT @anders_aslund This is not Putin but a double. One of Putin’s arms – the right one – always hangs down without movement. This man’s right arm moves as is normal for people.
💽 https://x.com/anders_aslund/status/1803472359086530904/photo/1

🐣 RT @Acyn Hannity: Right now, we are witnessing North Korea levels of nothing but outright propaganda…
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1803595116281733301/photo/1
// “Fake Jake Tapper on FakeNews CNN with Fake Dana Bash” … “state-run media” etc etc

🐣📋 RT @RBReich A history of the top marginal tax rates on the wealthiest Americans:
1940: 81%
1950: 84%
1960: 91%
1970: 72%
1980: 70%
1990: 28%
2000: 40%
2010: 35%
For 50 years, corporate backed politicians in Congress have slashed taxes to line the pockets of their wealthy donors.

🐣 RT @ anders_aslund I think this is the key point. Putin’s visit to North Korea is embarrassing in so many regards.
Putin comes as a beggar to a very poor country.
He endorses the worst dictatorship & organized crime in the world.
He appears the junior partner to North Korea. ¤ What a loser!

🧵 RT @David_Charts CBO just updated its 10-year forecast for budget deficits. The projected “primary” deficits (excluding interest) are lower under Biden than the trajectory he inherited from Trump by about $100B/year in today’s dollars (0.3% GDP/year). [CBO link:] https://tinyurl.com/493s7n35 1/
📌 ◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1803562301464699192/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 RT @David_Charts CBO just updated its 10-year forecast for budget deficits. The projected “primary” deficits (exclRevenues are projected to be lower by 0.2% GDP in the new forecast, while spending ex-interest is down 0.5% GDP, resulting in the 0.3% net improvement in the primary deficit. ¤ So Biden’s fiscal policies are lowering deficits, while Fed interest rate hikes increase them. 2/END

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP Trump demands the Murdochs remove Paul Ryan from Fox News’ board of directors for being disloyal to him after Ryan said Trump is “unfit for office.” ¤ “get that dog off your board – You don’t need him. ALL YOU NEED IS TRUMP.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1803463723614384503/photo/1

⭕ 18 Jun 2024

Bloomberg, Justin Fox (June 18): I Didn’t Think Biden Affected Crime Rates. I Was Wrong. https://tinyurl.com/327h4paw “When you look at the data, the president deserves some credit for the decline.”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1826000083470660078/photo/1

💽 MSNBC, MorningJoe (6/18): How Fox News is helping Trump and Project 2025’s dystopian mission https://tinyurl.com/3e7zf9xv “Project 2025 yearns for a govt that bans abortion pills, restricts access to contraception, and gives Christian conservatives sweeping powers to impose their beliefs on others”

ForeignAffairs, Ben Rhodes: A Foreign Policy for the World as It Is ~ Biden and the Search for a New American Strategy https://tinyurl.com/4cs2mwkc “[I]f given the chance, Trump … would almost certainly roll back American democracy, a move that would reverberate globally”

Bloomberg, Justin Fox: I Didn’t Think Biden Affected Crime Rates. I Was Wrong. https://tinyurl.com/327h4paw “When you look at the data, the president deserves some credit for the decline”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1803631962004799991/photo/1

🔄 📊 📔 PRRI (2023): Religion and Congregations in a Time of Social and Political Upheaval https://tinyurl.com/4ym8yvt4
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1803298628401868937/photo/1
// 5/16/2023; many good charts; tags Religion in America religious trends in America

🐣 RT @Acyn CNN goes through 30 false statements from today’s Trump rally
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1803257380437893307/photo/1
// @ddale8 fast factcheck

🐣 RT @McFaul This is what desperation looks like.
⋙ 🐣 RT @maxseddon Kim-Jong Un greets Putin at the airport in Pyongyang, the Russian president’s first trip to North Korea in nearly a quarter century
💽 https://x.com/McFaul/status/1803202172802552305/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidenHQ .@maddow: [on The View] Donald Trump does not like elections. He does not like the system of voting. When he was running for reelection in 2020 the Republican Party decided to essentially abolish their platform and that their new platform is whatever Donald Trump wants. That is not a democracy. He’s trying to get rid of the American system of government and that means getting rid of a government that does anything other than serve him and that’s what Project 2025 is all about. Trump and his movement are not running against Democrats. They are running against democracy. As American citizens, we are going to be the ones to decide if the American system of government survives or if it’s taken over by an authoritarian
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1803234451880628465/photo/1

🐣 RT @WhiteHouse President Biden knows that we are made stronger by immigrants who have contributed to our country for decades. That’s why our Administration is taking new action to keep families together and allow more young people to contribute to our economy.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1803170832711074011/photo/1

THE BIDEN-HARRIS ADMINISTRATION’S NEW ACTIONS TO KEEP FAMILIES TOGETHER

✓ Streamlining the process for obtaining legal status for immigrants married to American citizens who have lived here for 10 years

✓ Clarifying and speeding up work visas for young people who have been educated in the U.S., including Dreamers

🐣 RT @micah_erfan MAGA wants to convince Americans that the economy is worse than ever. ¤ Here are some facts they are praying you don’t share:
👉🏼 Real Wages are rising.
👉🏼 Inflation is down.
👉🏼 Unemployment is low.
👉🏼 Domestic manufacturing is booming.
👉🏼 & America is now energy independent.
They spray a fire hose of lies. It’s time we meet that with a fire hose of facts and inconvenient truths.

🐣 RT @CBSNews “I refuse to believe that to secure our border, we have to walk away from being an American,” President Biden says as he announces new executive actions on immigration. ¤ “We can both secure the border and provide legal pathways to citizenship.”
💽 https://x.com/CBSNews/status/1803158524630901094/photo/1

🧵 RT @atrupar I am going to put together a thread covering Trump’s rally in Racine, Wisconsin. Follow along for clips and commentary 👇
📌 💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1803157296328905046/photo/1

🐣 RT @EconomyInformal Rule of Law Index 2023 […]
🌎 📋 https://x.com/EconomyInformal/status/1803075236004327670
// World Justice Project; 🇺🇸 #26 of 142; Ukraine 89, Russia 113

🐣 RT @Acyn Biden: I’m not interested in playing politics on the border or immigration. I’m interested in fixing it. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I will work with anyone to solve these problems. That’s my responsibility as president.
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1803151224889549060/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidenHQ President Biden: Republicans walked away from the strongest bipartisan border security agreement that’s ever been seen. They walked away for the most pathetic and petty of reasons. Donald Trump got on the phone and told Republican members not to support it. He said it would hurt him politically if we solved the problem. So much for caring about the border
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1803153529441337385/photo/1

🐣 RT @US_Stormwatch Mecca, Saudi Arabia, experienced its hottest day in recorded history on Monday, reaching a searing 51.8°C (125.2°F). ¤ This is also one of the highest temperatures ever recorded in Saudi Arabia. ¤ This is life-threatening heat, even for a place accustomed to brutal temperatures.
🌎 https://x.com/US_Stormwatch/status/1803123505950761242/photo/1

🐣 RT @BlueATLGeorgia John Oliver: “[Trump] blew up the Iran nuclear deal, withdrew us from the Paris climate agreement, slashed access to food stamps and gave a huge tax cut to corporations, he separated children from their families at the border, suggested curing Covid with bleach or bright light, summoned an insurrection, and put in three Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v Wade.”
💽 [34 sec] https://x.com/BlueATLGeorgia/status/1802888426464661831/photo/1

🐣 RT @EllenBarkin Nothing funny here. It’s a fast 22 minutes of clearly stated truths. Facts. Yes, it is terrifying
🔄 💙 ⋙ 🐣 RT @BlueATLGeorgia John Oliver on Project 2025 and a second Trump term. ¤ I was going to clip this segment out into shorter sections but decided to keep it together because it’s too important and, frankly, it should terrify you.
💽 [22 min] https://x.com/BlueATLGeorgia/status/1802904289783767542/photo/1
⇈ ⇊
🐣 RT @BidenHQ Here is John Oliver’s full breakdown of Trump’s Project 2025 plan to reshape America 👇
💽 [22min] https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1803110928885456961/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner “Trump proposal to replace income taxes with tariffs would be a tax hike for the bottom 90 percent, lowering their after-tax incomes while raising the incomes of the wealthy” ¤ cc: @amprog
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1803084065777537028/photo/1

WaPo: Most Americans approve of DEI, according to Post-Ipsos poll https://tinyurl.com/43y654rk “Despite rising tensions over diversity, equity and inclusion programs, about 6 in 10 Americans said they are a “good thing” for companies to adopt.” Includes 64% of Whites.
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1803111009781162207/photo/1

⭕ 17 Jun 2024

🔊 NPR (6/17): ‘If You Can Keep It’: The Objectives of Project 2025 https://tinyurl.com/3fsmwsbv “It’s been critiqued as a radically socially conservative and Christian nationalist proposal with the power to greatly disrupt the government.”

Bloomberg: Border Crossings Fell Materially Since Biden Plan, Mayorkas Says https://tinyurl.com/5f5pub84
● Homeland Security chief touts lower crossing numbers
● Drop comes after Biden order shuttered certain asylum paths

🐣📋 RT @HthHans NATO spending 2024 published: Southern Europe is moving at its own pace far behind the rest. At the front are those with the most recent memory of Russian aggression showing the level we should all seek to attain: [NATO link:] https://tinyurl.com/5n7bm6a9
🇵🇱 4.12%
🇪🇪 3.43%
🇱🇻 3.15%
🇱🇹 2.85%
◕ https://x.com/HthHans/status/1802821250563391681/photo/1

🐣 RT @MaddowBlog Dr. Fauci estimates another million Americans would have died if the Covid vaccine hadn’t come as quickly as it did.
💽 https://x.com/MaddowBlog/status/1802882352076493053/photo/1

🐣 RT @MaddowBlog Dr. Fauci estimates another million Americans would have died if the Covid vaccine hadn’t come as quickly as it did.

🐣 RT @United24media ⚡️ President Biden and NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg announce that a record 23 member nations this year will meet the alliance’s target of spending at least 2% of their GDP on defense.

🐣 RT @MaddowBlog “We’re living through an era in our country’s political life right now which is not politics.” Rachel Maddow describes the end of politics under Trump Republicans.
💽 https://x.com/MaddowBlog/status/1802879716036149454/photo/1

NYT: Biden to Give Legal Protections to Undocumented Spouses of US Citizens https://tinyurl.com/5n6r929n “Undocumented spouses of American citizens will be shielded from deportation, provided work permits and given a pathway to citizenship, according to officials”

🐣 RT @harryjsisson WOW! President Biden’s economy is so strong that even Fox News is praising him for it “These markets are just running at an incredible pace. Records for the S&P and the Nasdaq. That’s the sixth-straight all-time record for the Nasdaq.” BOOM
💽 https://x.com/harryjsisson/status/1802856699839041761/photo/1

🐣 RT @David_Charts
1. Lowest unemployment rate of any president on average.
2. Highest real (inflation-adjusted) hourly wages of any president on average.
3. Americans richest ever under Biden in terms of real net worth.
⋙ 🧵 RT @David_Charts Monthly economic briefing, through May data. First, we’re up 6.2 million jobs vs. pre-pandemic peak, which was regained June 2022. A record 158.5 million jobs were reported in May. A robust 272,000 net new jobs were added as the labor market boom continued. 1/
📌 ◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1802553877138416074/photo/1 -n
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1802553877138416074.html
[Charts:]

⋙ Job creation is much faster under Biden than Trump
⋙ Biden has the lowest unemployment rate on average of any president, at 4.16%.
⋙ The unemployment rate was 6.4% when Biden started, so it has fallen 2.4% to the May reading of 4.0% (under GOP it’s increased)
⋙ [Labor participation rate steady for 25-54yo at 80.8% higher than 2919]
⋙ The ratio of open jobs to unemployed was 1.24 in April [not overheated]
⋙ Hourly wages for production & non-supervisory workers have outgrown inflation since pre-pandemic.
⋙ [B]oth rich and poor have more purchasing power than in the vaunted 2019 economy
⋙ (Biden has the) highest real wages (purchasing power) of any president
⋙ Net worth has also grown much faster than inflation, particularly for the bottom 50% wealth group
⋙ [W]ealth inequality improved
⋙ Fed’s forecast also shows a robust economy, with low unemployment, moderating inflation, and steady growth 2024-2026
⋙ Biden has the combination of lowest unemployment rate and highest real wages (purchasing power) of any president back to 1964
⋙ [Low recession risk]
⋙ So continue enjoying perhaps the best economy since 1960’s, with record stock markets, your presidential record purchasing power, the presidential average low unemployment rate, and robust job opportunities! Let everyone know the great news!

KyivIndependent ⚡️Stoltenberg: China should face consequences for its support of Russia. ¤ China should face consequences for its continued support of Russia amidst the ongoing war with Ukraine, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on June 17. [KyivInd link:] https://tinyurl.com/55dbmspm

🔄 ≣ CAP: Project 2025: Exposing the Far-Right Assault on America https://tinyurl.com/4tv6nk7y “The far right’s new authoritarian playbook could usher in a sweeping array of dangerous policies.”

🐣 RT @RBReich Why are multimillionaires and billionaires like Peter Thiel, Rupert Murdoch, Travis Kalanick, Steven Mnuchin, and others are rallying behind Trump? ¤ Yes, the tax cuts. But there’s more. ¤ The more Trump tears down democracy, the safer the oligarchy becomes.

n🐣 RT @BidenHQ Sen. @ChrisMurphyCT: Donald Trump has been signaling that, if he is elected, he will hand Ukraine to Putin. That will upend the entire post World War II order and potentially put the United States at risk of being in direct conflicts with countries like Russia and China. There’s a clear contrast between Joe Biden, who wants to stand up for the free world, and Donald Trump, who wants to hand the free world over to autocrats and dictators
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1802801541075615760/photo/1
// CNN State of the Union

🐣 RT @cspan President Biden and NATO Secretary General @jensstoltenberg announce that a record 23 member nations this year will meet the alliance’s target of spending at least 2% of their GDP on defense.

NYT: The Resistance to a New Trump Administration Has Already Started https://tinyurl.com/yk78c255 “An emerging coalition that views Trump’s agenda as a threat to democracy is laying the groundwork to push back if he wins in November, taking extraordinary pre-emptive actions”

🐣 RT @GlasnostGone An increasingly desperate Putin grows evermore fearful of another military coup. Ahead of his trip to beg for ammo from North Korea, he’s reportedly sacked 4 deputy defence ministers – replacing them with devoted bootlickers with ZERO military experience. [Sky link:] https://tinyurl.com/2ycfm3se

🐣 RT @BryanDawsonUSA Monthly inflation hit 0% in May. ¤ Trump handed Biden the worst economy since the Great Depression. Worse than the economy Bush handed Obama. Both times Democrats saved the economy with no Republican support. Republicans lie and scheme to get re-elected, destroy the economy, transfer billions to the top, and the pattern repeats. ¤ Remember in November.
◕ https://x.com/BryanDawsonUSA/status/1802709833684078785/photo/1

🐣 RT @general_ben UAF making Crimea untenable for Russian forces. Systematically eliminating Russian air defense systems so that other systems can come in and destroy Russian hq’s, logistics, air/naval bases. I continue to be impressed with the targeting methodology and patience of UAF planners.
⋙ 🐣 RT @ukraine_world Over the past two months, the Ukrainian Army has struck around 15 Russian air defense systems in the temporarily occupied #Crimea. ¤ The UAF StratCom has prepared an infographic of Ukrainian strikes.
🌎 https://x.com/ukraine_world/status/1802702772980072515/photo/1

🐣 RT @jurgen_nauditt putin appointed his niece as deputy defense minister.¤ In addition, putin dismissed all of Shoigu’s deputies by decree: Pavel Popov, Tatyana Shevtsova, Nikolai Pankov and Ruslan Tsalikov. ¤ When dictators like putin can no longer trust anyone, they choose relatives for their inner circle. But she can also betray him – because she has putin blood.
⋙ 🐣 I guess the Ukraine Peace meeting got to him. This is potentially a good sign, as long as they don’t get desperate; buckle up, people!

💙 🐣 ⏳ RT @highbrow_nobrow 🚨 Chronicle of Recklessness: Donald J. Trump and the Jeopardization of U.S. National Security ¤ Detailed Timeline and Analysis Relating To Trump’s Disclosure of Classified Information
¤ https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1802739095271014470

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Rep. Huffman: Every part of Project 2025 is a wrecking ball toward our government, our democratic institutions, and our fundamental rights. They want to repopulate the federal workforce with Trump loyalists, eliminate the Department of Education, and roll the military into blue cities. It is so explicitly extreme. This is coming from Donald Trump’s inner circle
💽 📋 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1802725098626883988/photo
🐣 RT @RBReich Prior to 1982, the SEC considered stock buybacks to be illegal stock manipulation. But under President Reagan, stock buybacks were made legal. Now, instead of investing profits into people, big corporations use them to line the pockets of wealthy shareholders. They’re a scam.
⋙ [see comments] https://x.com/RBReich/status/1802763208005935298
⋙ 🐣 preach! Tammy Baldwin is the key senator on this ¤ Read: HRB, Wm Lazonick (2014): Profits Without Prosperity
⋙ 🐣 “As of 2024, stock buybacks are subject to taxation in the United States. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 introduced a 1% excise tax on the value of net corporate stock buybacks.” ChatGPT ¤ The rate needs to be upped.

🐣 RT @Kasparov63 The circle around a dictator shrinks faster in a time of crisis. Loyalty trumps all, increasing paranoia and reducing competency. As dumb & dangerous as Putin’s terrorist mafia state is now, it is best to do everything to collapse it now before it gets even worse.
⋙ 🐣 RT @simonmontefiore Imperial succession. ¤ Some fascinating maneuvers today
¤ https://x.com/simonmontefiore/status/1802727976200478831

● Putin appoints his niece and billionairess Anna Tsivileva as Deputy Defence Minister.
● Her husband is Minister of Energy.
● Pavel Fradkov, son of the prime minister, also becomes Deputy Defence Minister.
● Dmitry Patrushev, son of ex-FSB chairman, ex-Secretary of Security Council and the ultimate Putinist grandee, was promoted to Deputy Prime Minister after the elections…

The Kremlin princelings are rising: ¤ VV Putin may not be exactly a tsar, nor does he have sons to succeed him but his autocracy is becoming a hereditary klepto-court in which key scions are being positioned for the future first enriched in business then promoted into government…. […] [punct added]

🐣 RT @SteveRattner This is already the average wage for production & non-supervisory workers, so it excludes top outliers. ¤ (Median might be better, but this is the longest-running series, & wage growth at the bottom has been faster than at the top over the last 4 yrs.)
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1802722609445875797/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Here is food, similarly back to Spring 2019 levels.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1802722283066101852/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner In May, an average gallon of gas was equivalent to 12% of the average hourly wage, or ~7 minutes of work. That’s exactly in line with May 2019
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1802719078219407821/photo/1

WaPo: Closing asset loophole could add billions to tax collections, IRS says https://tinyurl.com/bdd8cxmn “The Treasury Department said it will enact rules to prevent certain large businesses from depreciating the same asset repeatedly … a strategy known as basis shifting”

🐣 RT @anyonewantchips So dementia Don confused Marla Maples for E. Jean Carroll & Nikki Haley for Nancy Pelosi & Barack Obama for Joe Biden & Mercedes Schlapp for Melania Trump & Jimmy Connors for Jimmy Carter – confused Ronny Johnson for Ronny Jackson – but please go on about Joe Biden’s age.
¤ https://x.com/anyonewantchips/status/1802539197217247444

🔄 PopInfo: The most important crime statistics of the 2024 campaign https://tinyurl.com/yc7fma7y
⋙ FBI (Jun 12): National Crime Statistics: Q1 2024 v. Q1 2023 https://tinyurl.com/yc7fma7y
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1802760285930791020/photo/1
// 6/12/2014; Judd Legum

🔄 PrisonPolicyOrg/FBi (Mar 14): U.S. crime rates continue to fall, and preliminary data indicate crime likely hit a 60-year low in 2023 https://tinyurl.com/2s32kbwz
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1802756257129923019/photo/1
// 3/14/2024; nice chart

🔄 Axios (12/28/2023): Homicides in U.S. set to drop by record numbers this year https://tinyurl.com/5e4ztdyh
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1802764802030174300/photo/1
// 12/28/2023

⭕ 16 Jun 2024

🐣 RT @mattyglesias Sophisticates no that the Trump Crime Wave has been reversed, but the 2024 data (so far, it’s early yet) is actually better than that and suggests we’re on pace for the lowest murder rate year since *2014* fully reversing the post-Ferguson rise in lethal violence.
◕ https://x.com/mattyglesias/status/1802327041166979212/photo/1

BrennanCenter (4/30): Violent Crime Is Falling Nationwide — Here’s How We Know https://tinyurl.com/bdk7nwb5 “Preliminary FBI data, however imperfect, confirms a sharp downward trend in crime, undercutting attempts to blame criminal justice reform for pandemic-era spikes in violence.”
// 4/30/2024

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow Trump says that he’ll implement a religious test for immigrants if he is elected: “If you don’t like our religion…then we don’t want you in our country.”
💽 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1802486108220973227/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 Oh. What religion is that? PRRI 2022 Poll: https://tinyurl.com/5dvptw5p
The American Religious Landscape in 2022
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1802548490540622037/photo/1
The Ten Year Decline of White Christians
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1802548647302676623/photo/1

🐣 RT @JayeJaybird54 #ProudBlue I don’t know who wrote this. Is he/she a soothsayer? A clairvoyant? A prophet? Or just a very knowledgeable person with a lot of common sense? Whatever the case is, it certainly sounds like it could be an accurate prediction and I hope I live long enough to see it all happen.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/JayeJaybird54/status/1802442601338916904/photo/1

America After the Fall Of Trump

Trump will fall. He will go into history as the greatest shame and failure of the American political system. His government will also go into history as a disgusting example of unbridled corruption and greed. In the days following his loss there may be violence from both sides. The anger and resentment could easily bubble over into riots. America will survive this and eventually the healing will begin. Truths hidden by his deceit and corruption will become known. Although many will deny his guilt most people will eventually recognize the truth. They will become quiet, softly mumbling like the Germans after WWII,”I just did not know”. They won’t want to talk about it. Ten years post Trump it will be difficult to meet ayone who will admit that they actually voted for him. I wholeheartedly look forward to that day.

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🇺🇸🇺🇦 “Putin’s ‘Peaceful’ offer defies common sense. Peace Summit is an important rubicon on the way to a just peace. The United States will proudly stand with Ukraine and peace until win”, – Jake Sullivan

🐣 RT @20gimsack BUDANOV TRIANGLE The Russian Navy has launched a search and rescue operation for a missing submarine in the Black Sea. […]
¤ https://x.com/20gimsack/status/1802437074416443419

TheAtlantic, Peter Wehner: The Motivated Ignorance of Trump Supporters https://tinyurl.com/padua4np “Many of them are self-proclaimed evangelicals and fundamentalists, and they are also doing inestimable damage to the Christian faith they claim is central to their lives”
// They can’t claim they didn’t know.

Motivated ignorance refers to willfully blinding oneself to facts. It’s choosing not to know. In many cases, for many people, knowing the truth is simply too costly, too psychologically painful, too threatening to their core identity. Nescience is therefore incentivized; people actively decide to remain in a state of ignorance. If they are presented with strong arguments against a position they hold, or compelling evidence that disproves the narrative they embrace, they will reject them. Doing so fends off the psychological distress of the realization that they’ve been lying to themselves and to others. …

Since 2016 there’s been a ratchet effect, each conspiracy theory getting more preposterous and more malicious. Things that Trump supporters wouldn’t believe or accept in the past have since become loyalty tests. Election denialism is one example. The claim that Trump is the target of “lawfare,” victim to the weaponization of the justice system, is another. …

Whichever justification applies, they are giving not just their vote but their allegiance to a man and movement that have done great harm to our country and its ideals, and which seek to inflict even deeper wounds in the years ahead. Many of them are self-proclaimed evangelicals and fundamentalists, and they are also doing inestimable damage to the Christian faith they claim is central to their lives. That collaboration needs to be named. A generation from now, and probably sooner, it will be obvious to everyone that Trump supporters can’t claim they didn’t know.

TheAtlantic: Anthony Fauci: The First Three Months of the Pandemic https://tinyurl.com/5427x59d “What I saw inside the government’s response to COVID-19” ~ adapted from Anthony Fauci’s book On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service available Tuesday

🐣 RT @UkrReview ❗️The main quotes from the Peace Summit:

🇺🇸 USA: “Yesterday, Putin put forward proposals to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, but he is not talking about negotiations, he is talking about the surrender of Ukraine”;

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia: “Any serious negotiation processes require the presence of Russia”;

🇪🇺 European Council: “Peace between Ukraine and Russia requires a dialogue between the parties, but it is up to Kyiv to decide when it can be started”;

🇵🇱 Poland: “Russia remains a colonial empire that never went through the path of decolonization, that could not deal with the demons of its past”;

🇮🇹 Italy: “Mr. Zelensky, come to Italy, we are ready to send a new package of military aid to Ukraine”;

🇲🇩 Moldova: “Peace in Ukraine is peace in Moldova”;

🇪🇪 Estonia: “Russia is a colonial state, for almost half a century, until 1990, Estonia was part of the colonial system of Russia”;

🇩🇪 Germany: “It is not enough to stop the war, it is important not to allow the conflict to freeze, leaving the risk of continued aggression”;

🇬🇧 Great Britain: “Ukraine did not ask for this war, but Ukrainians are impressive in defending their state”;

🇪🇺 European Commission: “Freezing the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine is ‘not an answer’, but only a recipe for future wars”;

🇯🇵 Japan: “Today it is Ukraine, and tomorrow it could be East Asia.”

🐣 RT @ jurgen_nauditt The Global Peace Summit is the second, final day. What to expect? A joint communique is expected to be published today, the content of which will include the following points:

➡️ expressing commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states within internationally recognized borders;

➡️ a statement on the need to operate the ZNPP under the control of Ukraine;

➡️ a statement on the inadmissibility of an attack on merchant ships in the Black and Azov seas;

➡️ call for the return of all Ukrainian children from the Russian Federation to Ukraine, the exchange of prisoners according to the principle of “all for all”.

⭕ 15 Jun 2024

🐣 RT @KyivIndependent Less than a month ahead of NATO’s Washington summit, President Volodymyr Zelensky and his American counterpart Joe Biden signed a long-awaited bilateral security agreement. ¤ We’ve compiled five things to know about the agreement.
⋙ KyivIndependent: Ukraine-US 10-year security deal: 5 key takeaways https://tinyurl.com/j8jb66rf

Politico: Biden knows ‘exactly what he is doing’ and will likely win election, says German chancellor https://tinyurl.com/38vz8vrh
// In an interview on the sidelines of the G7 summit, Olaf Scholz made assurances that Biden can provide critical leadership as the group of global leaders faces a complex web of mounting issues.

🐣 RT @PhillipsPOBrien Maybe people can stop pontificating about what Ukraine needs to concede, and start putting pressure on Russia to accept that Ukraine is a free and independent country. A few other stories. The new US-Ukraine security deal is nice, but it in no way obligates Donald Trump…
⋙ 🐣 RT @PhillipsPOBrien if he becomes president again. And this week Trump made it very clear (once again) he would happily sacrifice Ukraine. Speaking with GOP members of Congress, Trump voiced opposition to the Ukraine aid bill and said he saw no benefit to the USA if Ukraine wins.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/PhillipsPOBrien/status/1801883786843451774/photo/1

[Text:] “Trump also criticized a $60 billion aid package for Ukraine that recently passed with Republican support, lawmakers said. “He’s like, if Ukraine wins, what will be the benefit?” Republican Representative Don Bacon told reporters.”
Phillips P. OBrien
Weekend Update 85: Putin’s “Peace” Deal

🐣 RT @ mfa_russia 💬 President Putin: This is the task <...>: to outline a vision for equal and indivisible #security, mutually beneficial and equitable #cooperation, and development on the Eurasian continent in the foreseeable future. ¤ 👉 http://t.me/MFARussia/20731
⋙ 🐣 Eurasia? There’s Europe and there’s Asia. ¤ Russia missed out on the Renaissance and most of the Enlightenment. ¤ Just let Russia become China’s gas station and let countries that want to be part of Europe and of western civilization do so.
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1802115413590822913/photo/1

🐣 RT @United24media ⚡ Maia Sandu, President of Moldova: The enlargement of the European Union, a fundamentally peace project, is the best investment in lasting peace and stability on the European continent. Let me be clear: Ukraine’s peace is Moldova’s peace.

🐣 RT @United24media ⚡️ President of France Emmanuel Macron: All of us are committed to building a sustainable world. But, as has already been said, Ukrainian capitulation cannot become such a world. Therefore, the reason for peace is to help Ukraine repel aggression.

🐣 RT @NOELreports “Russia remains a colonial empire that has never gone through the path of decolonization, was unable to cope with the demons of its past. In the part of the world that I represent, Russia is often called the prison of nations,” President of Poland Andrzej Duda said at the peace summit.

🐣 RT @United24media ⚡️ President of Poland Andrzej Duda: This war is imperial and colonial in its nature. The Kremlin intends to enslave the Ukrainian people, their children, use Ukraine’s resources, destroy their culture, and deprive Ukraine of their right to freely choose its development path and security arrangements.

🐣 RT @Victorshi2020 Wow. The German Chancellor just said this about President Biden: “I think Joe Biden is someone who is very clear, who knows exactly what he is doing & who is one of the most experienced politicians in the world—especially when it comes to international politics.” [Politico link:] https://tinyurl.com/38vz8vrh

⋙ He continues: “In a difficult situation like this, where a war is taking place in Europe after Russia invaded Ukraine, where many other conflicts are raging around the world, this is an asset, a good thing & therefore I can say this is a man who knows exactly what he is doing.”

⋙ More: “He has pursued a policy that has led to proper economic development in the country, that has helped to ensure that peace and security are in good hands and that the U.S. is actually playing its role in the world.”

🐣 RT @BidenHQ A desperate Trump claims he created manufacturing jobs while President Biden didn’t ¤ FACT CHECK: He is lying. The exact opposite is true
◕ https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1802077028805484865/photo/1 -2

🧵 RT @kajakallas My message at #UAPeaceSummit opening plenary: ¤ Sovereignty, territorial integrity and discrediting aggression as a tool of statecraft are crucial principles that must be upheld in case of Ukraine and globally. ¤ These principles are essential for just and lasting peace. 1/
📌 💽 https://x.com/kajakallas/status/1802063837580960053/photo/1

🧵 RT @anno1540 All the details from the summit ¤ All continents together against the Russian Federation: the results of the first day of the Peace Summit in Switzerland, which brought together almost 100 countries. All details online
📌 https://x.com/anno1540/status/1802071453581402182
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1802071453581402182.html

🐣 RT @United24media ⚡️ Zelenskyy: “We have managed to bring together 101, for now, countries and international organizations for the first inaugural Peace Summit.” ¤ All continents are represented at the summit.

🐣 📋 RT @georgewbarros Russian forces do not occupy:
~40% of Donetsk Oblast (about 10,800 sqkm)
~25% of Zaporizhia Oblast (about 7,400 sqkm)
~25% of Kherson Oblast (about 7,100 sqkm)
~1% of Luhansk Oblast (about 400 sqkm)
Does Putin expect Ukraine to abandon 18% of its sovereignty territory?

🐣 RT @EuromaidanPress Despite Russia’s attempts to undermine the Global Peace Summit, 100 delegations are taking part, including 92 countries. ¤ Especially notable is the presence of countries from the Global South, whom Russia especially tried to dissuade: [link:] https://tinyurl.com/4778dd7c
🌎 https://x.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1801993166763020557/photo/1

⭕ 14 Jun 2024

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Here are 78 of Donald Trump’s “accomplishments” for his 78th birthday
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1801658952658100526/photo/1 -4

1. Donald fell asleep – a lot
2. Donald went bankrupt
3. Then went bankrupt again
4. Then went bankrupt again
5. Then went bankrupt again
6. Then went bankrupt again
7. Then went bankrupt again
8. Donald failed as a casino owner
9. Donald failed as an airline, university and hotel owner.
10. Donald failed at creating a board game and a magazine.
11. Donald launched his political career on the racist lie Barack Obama wasn’t born in America
12. Donald called for the death penalty – and still won’t apologize after their exoneration – for Au innocent Black and Latino teenagers
13. Donald was accused of saying the N-word
14. Donald was sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination
15. Donald became the first Presidential candidate to say there’d be a “bloodbath” if he lost
16. Donald failed to lead our country during COVID and suggested Americans inject themselves with bleach
17. Donald said there were “very fine people” among the crowd of white nationalists and neo-Nazis who chanted “Jews will not replace us” in Charlottesville
18. Donald dreamed of a “unified Reich” if he was to win in November
19. Donald called veterans who gave their lives for our country “suckers” and “losers”
20. Donald downplayed servicemembers’ concussions as “headaches”
21. Donald floated the idea of executing the Joint Chiefs Chairman
22. Donald was impeached in 2019
23. Donald was impeached again in 2021
24. Donald was found liable for sexual abuse
25. Donald was accused by 26 women of sexual misconduct
26. Donald bragged about his building on 9/11
27. Donald lied over 30,570 times as president to the American people
28. Donald cheated at golf
29. Donald’s “Trump Org.” was convicted for failing to pay its taxes
30. Donald gave a tax handout to the rich and corporations that failed to deliver for Americans
31. Donald suggested windmills caused cancer
32. Donald failed as a steak, water, and vodka salesman.
33. Donald’s media company lost $300 million in just one quarter
34. Donald proposed cutting Social Security and Medicare
35. Donald proposed cutting Social Security and Medicare again
36. Donald proposed cutting Social Security and Medicare again
37. Donald proposed cutting Social Security and Medicare again
38. Donald tried and failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act. But he wants to try again
39. Donald had his former vice president refuse to endorse him
40. Donald bragged on camera about grabbing women
41. Donald celebrated overturning Roe v. Wade
42. (This one is special #42) Donald is 0-42 with jurors in recent cases – more on that later
43. Donald endorsed every state abortion ban in America as “a beautiful thing to watch”
44. Donald said there had to be “some form of punishment” for women who have abortions
45. Donald had the worst jobs record of any president in modern US history
46. Donald lost the House and Senate
47. Donald lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden by more than 7 million votes
48. Donald lost 61 court cases after his election loss
49. Donald “lit that fire” of the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6
50. Donald has promised to pardon the violent rioters who attacked law enforcement on Jan. 6
who he called “hostages” and “warriors”
51. Donald was the first presidential candidate to ask a state’s Secretary of State to “find” him
11,780 votes
52. Donald posted a $175 million bond in his fraud judgment
53. Donald oversaw the largest single-year increase in violent crime ever recorded
54. Donald was sued by U.S. Capitol Police Officers
55. Then he was sued by another group of U.S. Capitol Police Officers
56. Then another
57. Then another
58. Donald had an ally who was sentenced to prison
59. Then another
60. Then another
61. Then another
62. Then another
63. Then another
64. Then another
65. Then another
66. And four more were charged with crimes
67. Donald Trump was the first former U.S. President to be indicted 1 time
68. Donald Trump was the first former U.S. President to be indicted 2 times
69. Donald Trump was the first former U.S. President to be indicted 3 times
70. Donald Trump was the first former U.S. President to be indicted 4 times
71. Donald became the first former U.S. President convicted of a felony
72. Donald became the first former U.S. President convicted of 2 felonies
73. Donald became the first former U.S. President convicted of 3 felonies
74. Donald became the first former U.S. President convicted of 4 felonies
75. Donald became the first former U.S. President convicted of 5 felonies
76. Donald became the first former U.S. President convicted of 6 felonies
77. Donald became the first former U.S. President convicted of 7 felonies
78. Donald said he would “Make America Great” – he did not

Damn, we hit 78, but for those wondering – Donald has 27 more felony convictions and a lot of other stuff. But you know, sometimes you gotta stick to the shtick.

🐣 RT @TomJChicago Joe Biden does not have dementia. Donald Trump absolutely has dementia.
¤ https://x.com/TomJChicago/status/1801642782202658987

Biden is old, but his thoughts are crystal clear and he can still ride a bicycle which he wouldn’t be able to do if he had dementia. Trump could never ride a bicycle. The media should ask him to try it and watch him fall right over. Trump has multiple worsening symptoms of Frontotemporal dementia. Rs are desperate to project Trump’s mental decline at Biden’s normal aging.

If they debate, Biden will demolish Trump. Rs don’t want to admit how stupid they are for supporting a criminal with dementia. It will be something they are stuck with for life.

The daily examples of Trump‘s decline continue to show how bad his deterioration is. CNBC reported today that CEOs who just met with Trump, found him “remarkably meandering” and “could not keep a straight thought.”

The fact is, Trump should have a caregiver accompanying him full-time on his absurd campaign.

🐣 RT @SykesCharlie ——>Donald Trump referred to Milwaukee as a ‘horrible city,’ and it’s not the first time we’ve caught a stray. Here’s what we love about the place. ¤ Source: Journal Sentinel
⋙ MilwaukeeJS: Donald Trump isn’t the first national personality to disparage Milwaukee; here’s what we said the last time https://tinyurl.com/yc5u2t47

🐣 RT @CREWcrew CREW’s Virginia Canter on Kushner’s $2 billion Saudi investment: ¤ “It’s one of the most egregious situations I’ve ever seen in decades of working in the federal government as an ethics official. It appears to be a payoff as much as a potential investment.” [Salon link:] https://tinyurl.com/4s4npx6u

🐣 RT @JayinKyiv If you want to know why Putin today asked to keep what he’s managed to occupy in Ukraine.. ¤ It’s clear now that Russia no longer has viable air defenses. ¤ Morixovsk air field, 400km from the front line.
💽 https://x.com/JayinKyiv/status/1801644878553592248/photo/1

🐣 RT @ctrlamb Pope Francis greets President Biden at #G7Italy — Francis is the first pope to address & participate in a #G7 summit.
🖼 https://x.com/ctrlamb/status/1801599119196074327/photo/1

🐣 Share of Global GDP:
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1801634568526557357/photo/1

🐣 RT @paulkrugman Remember all those 2022 predictions that getting inflation down would require years of very high unemployment? Here’s where we are now (using the Cleveland Fed nowcast for May)
◕ https://x.com/paulkrugman/status/1801292034067537999/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: On Donald Trump’s 78th birthday, reports are coming out that even Republican business leaders are admitting that Trump cannot keep his thoughts straight and is losing his cognitive abilities. Retweet so all Americans know that Trump is senile.
💽 https://x.com/BidensWins/status/1801629922177225008/photo/1

🐣 RT @JamesSurowiecki Interesting from Andrew Sorkin – CEOs who were “Trump supporter-ish” and met with Trump yesterday came away concerned, because he was “remarkably meandering” and “could not keep a straight thought.”
💽 https://x.com/JamesSurowiecki/status/1801618258920878554/photo/1

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Wow. Trump’s meeting with CEOs yesterday was a total failure. ¤ “I spoke to a number of CEOs who said that he was remarkably meandering, could not keep a straight thought, and was all over the map. They walked out of the room less predisposed to him.”
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1801613728183468068/photo/1
// Andrew Ross Sorkin on CNBC SquawkBox

⭕ 13 Jun 2024

🐣 RT @jimstewartson This is a BRILLIANT article about Russian interference in the US political system—around the full horseshoe from left to right. Too bad it took Ukrainian journalists to do actual reporting on the scope of this problem.
@Textyorgua_Eng 👏✊🏼 #SlavaUkraini
⋙ Texty[.]org[.]UA: Roller Coaster ~ From Trumpists to Communists. The forces in the U.S. impeding aid to Ukraine and how they do it https://tinyurl.com/2s4xp4yw

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump This is really embarrassing for Donald Trump. Earlier today, the convicted felon from Florida told Fox News that he’s endorsing Larry Hogan for the Senate. ¤ Hogan’s campaign immediately put out a statement rejecting Trump’s endorsement: “Governor Hogan has been clear he is not supporting Donald Trump just as he didn’t in 2016 and 2020.” ¤ A Trump endorsement is the last thing Hogan needs in Maryland.

🐣 RT @CBSNews Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. vowed Wednesday that if elected president, he’d slash the military budget by half. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/bb5sp5f6

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson The Russian economy is circling the drain. We’re about to see a big dropoff in trolling on this platform.

🧵 RT @ZelenskyyUa 🇺🇦🇺🇸 Today is a truly historic day. We signed the strongest agreement between Ukraine and the United States since our independence.
📌 https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1801327762193489982/photo/1

🐣 RT @TristanSnell In just the last few days, Senate Republicans have KILLED:
– protection for IVF
– protection for contraceptives
– an ethics code for the Supreme Court
Ye shall know them by their fruits.

🐣 RT @RepRaskin In his return to the scene of his violent constitutional crime on Capitol Hill, the inciter-in-chief bragged about how he engineered the reversal of Roe v. Wade by packing the Supreme Court, which is now holding up Trump’s federal prosecution. [CNN link:] https://tinyurl.com/yhudwb9m

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary [Dems] .@NormEisen: Mr. Trump and his enablers are promising to baselessly prosecute his perceived adversaries and otherwise establish an autocratic regime. ¤ That represents the *real* politicization of the judicial system and weaponization of government.
💽 https://x.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1801283894542520658/photo/1

🐣 RT @CBSNews President Biden says in a joint news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the G7 Summit that the G7 has taken action to “collectively show Putin — you cannot wait us out. You cannot divide us. And we will be with Ukraine until they prevail in this war.”
💽 https://x.com/CBSNews/status/1801331497523122473/photo/1

🐣 RT @NOTUSreports NEW: Donald Trump’s meeting at the Capitol Hill Club turned into a freewheeling rant targeting fellow Republicans, criticizing Milwaukee, and taking aim at Nancy Pelosi’s daughter.

🐣 RT @CBSNews BREAKING: President Biden and President Zelenskyy sign a deal that commits U.S. support for Ukraine for the next decade. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/4a678jye
🖼 https://x.com/CBSNews/status/1801327864916115528/photo/1
// G7 group photo

🐣 RT @BillPascrell I’m very happy the supreme court just unanimously rejected republicans’ attempt to ban the women’s health drug mifepristone. Reminder that 147 republicans in Congress begged the court to ban the drug and told women to go to hell. Here are their names.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BillPascrell/status/1801256039343341892/photo/1

PopInfo, Judd Legum: The most important crime statistics of the 2024 campaign https://tinyurl.com/yc7fma7y “This data makes clear that last year’s historic decline in violent crime is continuing,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1801261013821501827/photo/1
⋙ DOJ (June 10): AG Merrick B. Garland Statement on FBI’s Quarterly Uniform Crime Report https://tinyurl.com/y8b8pc98 “In the first three months of this year, violent crime has decreased by over 15% compared to same period last year and murder has decreased by over 26%”

“This data makes clear that last year’s historic decline in violent crime is continuing. In the first three months of this year, violent crime has decreased by over 15 percent compared to same period last year, and murder has decreased by over 26 percent.

This continued historic decline in homicides does not represent abstract statistics. It represents people whose lives were saved — people who are still here to see their children grow up, to work toward fulfilling their dreams, and to contribute to their communities.

When I became Attorney General over three years ago, we knew that grappling with the violent crime that surged early in the pandemic would be one of the greatest challenges we would face at the Justice Department. That is why we have poured every available resource into working with our law enforcement and community partners to drive down violent crime. But we know there is so much more work to do, and that the progress we have seen can still easily slip away. So, we will continue to deploy our technological and prosecutorial resources to identify and prosecute the principal drivers of gun violence. We will continue to invest in the essential programs that allow police departments to hire more officers. We will continue to build the public trust essential for public safety. And we will continue to support the evidence-based community violence intervention initiatives that save lives.

🐣 RT @McFaul Excellent news! This is leadership.
⋙ 🐣 RT @StateDeptSpox The U.S., guided by G7 leaders’ commitments as they meet this week, is imposing sanctions on more than 300 individuals and entities that enable Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine. We continue to stand in solidarity with Ukraine and promote accountability for Russia’s crimes.

⭕ 12 Jun 2024

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump NEW The Southern Baptist Convention, the nation’s largest and most politically powerful Protestant denomination, voted Wednesday to oppose IVF. [Politico link:] https://tinyurl.com/yua9mnbu

“It’s going to be a long process. It took us 50 years to take down Roe,” said Brent Leatherwood, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, the public policy arm of the SBC. “It may take us a similarly long time frame to get people to a place where they are thinking more deeply about something like this. It’s okay. It takes time. We have to be patient.”

🐣 RT @randymot4 Russia has lost the war in Ukraine.
¤ https://x.com/randymot4/status/1800945273390223816

Its strategic objectives have been shredded. Crimea is not safe for the Black Sea Fleet or any major military installation.

NATO has been expanded by Finland and Sweden joining (very significant in terms of control of land and sea areas).

The Russian /army has been proven to be pretty much a clown show (a lot of them, but not very effective).

Most of Russia’s professional army is pushing up sun flowers.

Most of its “modern” (by Russian standards) equipment is gone. There is no prospect for Russia to conquer Ukraine at this point and it is unclear that it can take any major city as long as Ukraine has ammunition.

Russia is isolated internationally as never before. Sanctions of some form will continue as long as it occupies parts of Ukraine. The diversion of liquidity and manpower to the military will have lasting negative impacts. No Russian war aims have been achieved.

Ukraine grows stronger every month with expanded conscription and more modern Western weapons.

Russia can keep throwing cannon fodder into the front, but without any significant tactical impact.

🐣 RT @McFaul For those of us who have been working on sanctions for over two years, hoping this G-7 meeting will be historic, regarding use of Russian frozen assets & stronger measures to control of the flow of of technology into Russia, including secondary sanctions. Leaders of the free world, lean in!

🐣 RT @EHunterChristie Very good news. Allies are getting serious about the economic dimension of the war. And on that front, our American friends have provided the leadership and the grit to make things happen 🏁
⋙ 🐣 RT @ dannyctkemp Breaking – French presidency says G7 leaders have agreed to provide Ukraine with $50 billion via frozen Russian assets by the end of the year, @AFP in Paris reporting. US said earlier that talks were ongoing to thrash out specifics

🐣 RT @wartranslated 🤣 “If there will be no positive changes in the army, there will be no Victory. We will be broken up by this NATO fag gang led by Anglo-Saxons, with the Russian flock of white-ribbon singers, who have not yet all been knocked out with a kick in the ass from the stage and from the television screen.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1800805333398335985/photo/1

[Text:] … So. I wanted to use Aesopian language to express my thoughts, but it turns out poorly. Let me write it in a simple way. If we don’t now make our army really combat-ready, without these “Patriot” parks, “Youth Army” and tank biathlons, without ballet parades, but with modern communications, electronic warfare and air defense, with new guns and at least some new ground means of artillery reconnaissance – if not, then we, of course, are not fucked, but it will hurt.

This problem, albeit “piece by piece”, can be solved! Andrey Removich holds the cards. Some of his predecessors saw the army reform as an “immense baobab tree.” One seemed to sincerely want to solve the problem, but was drowned in some unnecessary projects, in the restoration of the Kronstadt forts and real unfinished projects in military garrisons. Another nearly killed the Russian Armed Forces by cutting units and selling property.

Of course, we believe that reform can be done. If there will be no positive changes in the army, there will be no Victory. We will be broken up by this NATO fag gang led by Anglo-Saxons,
with the Russian flock of white-ribbon singers, who have not yet all been knocked out with a kick in the ass from the stage and from the television screen. …

PRRI (2023): Religion and Congregations in a Time of Social and Political Upheaval https://tinyurl.com/4ym8yvt4 “The proportion of those who are religiously unaffiliated has risen to 27% from 16% in 2006” //➔ white Catholics, who dominate the Court, are just 12.6%
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1800806925849817485/photo/1
// 5/26/2023
⋙ 🐣 Christians of color make up 25% of the country. This group includes Christians who identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian American or Pacific Islander, Native American, multiracial, or any other race or ethnicity. …
⋙ 🐣 The remaining 6% of Americans belonging to other religions has remained steady over the past few years. This group includes those who are Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or Unitarian Universalist, or belong to any other world religion.

⭕ 11 Jun 2024

🐣 RT @PoliticusSarah .@AWeissmann on Biden’s reaction to his son’s conviction, “You’re seeing sort of such a sad day on a personal level, you’re seeing such an uplifting day in terms of sort of heroic action in terms of what it means to live a principle.”

🐣 RT @InfoAgeStrategy Humiliated by the failure of its hypersonic weapons, the wildly corrupt #Putin regime now feels compelled to arrest leading Russian scientists involved in hypersonic weapon R&D. ¤ That’s life today in fascist #Russia 🇷🇺. Source: BBC News
⋙ BBC: ‘Spy mania’: Why is Russia accusing its own physicists of treason? https://tinyurl.com/25s5hj9d

🐣 RT @ruthbenghiat This is a crude attempt by @Heritage to intimidate Americans by giving the idea that their army of MAGA zombies will be occupying government no matter what, “You can try, Democrats, with your feeble and outdated voting, but the coup is going to succeed this time.” That’s the message.
⋙ 🐣 RT @JoyceWhiteVance “Project 2025 will not be ‘stopped,’” the President of the Heritage Foundation said. “He said the Democrats fighting Project 2025 are ‘more than welcome to try. We will not give up and we will win.’”
⋙⋙ AP: House Democrats step up to try to stop Project 2025 plans for a Trump White House https://tinyurl.com/2wffudmy

WaPo: Hamas responds to cease-fire proposal, seeks timeline for end of war https://tinyurl.com/2s39jtwy “Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Hamas to accept the current proposal ‘without delay’ during talks with Middle Eastern leaders.”

🐣 RT @RepRiggleman I know Hunter. He’s been clean for years. He’s trying. ¤ It’s sad he was convicted. ¤ A jury found that he broke the law. ¤ That’s the rule of law. No interference from POTUS. No screaming. No ridiculous deepstate conspiracy theories. No “rigging” accusations. ¤ Rule of law. No one should be above it.

🐣 RT @BidenHQ .@GStephanopoulos: January 6 was not just about how close we came to watching our institutions crumble that day. The ongoing threat is real. Look at what happened just Saturday night. Trump called the convicted felons who tried to block the peaceful transfer of power on January 6 ‘warriors.’ He has called them ‘hostages’ and ‘patriots.’ He has promised to pardon them. He is not promising to abide by the results of the next election. This threat is very real right now
💽 [CNN:] https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1800619978753794487

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: Donald Trump’s VP, former Chief of Staff, Secretary of Defense, Republican Speaker of the House, and Communications Director have all come out and said they won’t vote for Trump. This is wholly unprecedented.

WaPo: Surprising U.S. economy is powering better global outlook, World Bank says https://tinyurl.com/374kzse4 “The United States is the only advanced economy growing significantly faster than the bank anticipated at the start of the year”

🐣 RT @handsomepackers Taxing the wealthy and supporting the middle class and poor leads to a healthier, happier and safer society. Amazing that people don’t see it through their hatred and selfishness.
⋙ 🐣 RT @kangaroos991 See the pattern? ⤵️
[TextLink:] https://x.com/handsomepackers/status/1800658634990563650/photo/1

Reagan – Recession
Bush Sr. – Recession
Clinton – Balanced budget, Surplus
Bush W. – The Great Recession
Obama – Rescued economy, Growth
Trump – Adds $7 Trillion to Deficit, Unemployment at 14.7%
Biden – Rescued economy, Fastest Economic Growth in History

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote Donald Trump admits to owning a gun in violation of bail conditions in multiple jurisdictions.
⋙ 🐣 RT @rgoodlaw Breaking: Trump admitted to probation officials he has a gun in Florida ¤ Convicted felon possessing firearm =felony ¤ Indicted person receiving firearm in interstate commerce =felony ¤ Condition of release for Trump in DC , FL, GA is not committing a felony [CNN link:] https://tinyurl.com/bdhy3wwm

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Here is Mike Johnson calling to cut Social Security and Medicare: “We’ve got to think about long-term reforms to those programs”
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1800613035712618578/photo/1

🐣 State Map of Homicide Rate 2022 ¤ Wikipedia: https://tinyurl.com/4tc9kcuu
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1800582256916136386/photo/1

🐣 RT @ kylegriffin1 The FBI just announced that crime has plummeted in the first quarter of 2024: ¤ According to the report:
Murder decreased by 26.4%
Rape decreased by 25.7%
Robbery decreased by 17.8%
Aggravated assault decreased by 12.5%
Reported property crime decreased by 15.1%

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary Maddow: A fifth of the Republicans in Congress last week voted to defund NATO. Don’t just forget being the leader of the free world, forget the whole idea of there being a free world at all. They saved that for the anniversary of D-Day.
💽 [MTG:] https://x.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1800550055658840153/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Trump: There is a lot you can do in terms of cutting Social Security and Medicare [CNBC SquawkBox]
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1800521160800534695/photo/1

🐣📋 RT @TheJusticeDept Justice Department Secures More Than 500 Prosecutions Under New Firearms Statutes Enacted by Bipartisan Safer Communities Act https://tinyurl.com/34e4pumd

NYT: Hunter Biden Found Guilty in Gun Case https://tinyurl.com/2es6e6c5 “President Biden’s son was convicted in Delaware federal court on all three felony counts tied to a handgun purchase in 2018. His sentencing date has not been set.”

🐣 RT @carlquintanills (Reuters) – Hamas accepts a U.N. resolution backing a plan to end the war with Israel in Gaza and is ready to negotiate details, a senior official of the Palestinian militant group said on Tuesday in what the U.S. Secretary of State called “a hopeful sign”. [Reuters link:] https://tinyurl.com/ydt3spt2

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla JPMORGAN cites a @business analysis of 2024 battleground states, where “it appears that the inflows of Democrats [since 2020] exceed the inflows of Republicans.” ¤ #elections2024
◕ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1800473391822233614/photo/1

⭕ 10 Jun 2024

🐣 RT @BillGates I’ve been waiting for this day for nearly 20 years: Today, we broke ground on the first-ever Natrium plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming. This next-generation nuclear power plant is a big step towards safe, abundant, zero-carbon energy.
⋙ GatesNotes, Bill Gates: We just broke ground on America’s first next-gen nuclear facility https://tinyurl.com/ynvcw299 Kemmerer, Wyoming will soon be home to the most advanced nuclear facility in the world. //➔ supported by DOE’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program

🐣 RT @JoshShapiroPA America’s producing the most energy we ever have. ¤ Our economy’s growing faster than China for the first time in decades. ¤ More Americans went to work today than ever. ¤ We face our challenges—but we’re the greatest country on Earth. So to Donald Trump: stop shit talking America.
💽 https://x.com/JoshShapiroPA/status/1800344046759735532/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Wallace: Trump is, of course, a convicted felon. His worldview is devoid of facts and untethered to reality. He offers no vision for the future and instead rants and rambles about sharks, electric boats, windmills, and toilets. He constantly lies about the border, even though he was the person who killed the bipartisan border deal. He lies about the rule of law and the system of justice. He calls January 6 insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol ‘warriors.’ Trump has made it clear that his entire campaign is about himself
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1800327009735782484/photo/1

🐣 RT @David_Charts All key measures better 2022-2023 than 2019, even adjusted for inflation.
📋 https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1800384495742545999/photo/1

🧵 RT @ @terjehelland 🇺🇦 With ongoing discussions and even suggestions about conceding territory to Russia for peace, it’s crucial to revisit the historical lessons from the Munich Agreement of 1938. ¤ [thread] Let’s explore the parallels and implications for Ukraine.#Ukraine #Russia #History 🇷🇺📜 1/25
📌 https://x.com/terjehelland/status/1800266374369132889
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1800266374369132889.html

🐣 RT @ForeignAffairs The United States does not actually have a deep state, in large part because of the country’s weak bureaucracy—but should Donald Trump prevail in November, he is likely to create one from scratch, writes Jon Michaels.
⋙ ForeignAffairs, Jon Michaels: A Deep State of His Own ~ How Trump Plans to Weaponize
America’s Bureaucracy https://tinyurl.com/3zmrnbmz

👀 🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en Russian air defense soldiers have been ordered to evacuate their families from Crimea to the Russian Southern Military District – Atesh military movement reports. ¤ According to their information, air defense systems are also moved from Crimea to Belgorod region of Russia. […]

🐣 RT @OlgaNYC1211 In some good news, Gazprom announced the collapse of gas production. The worst in the history of the company. Sanctions are working and we need more

WaPo, Karen Tumulty: Trump wants a government of amateurs — accountable only to him https://tinyurl.com/4kmts9d8 “He would replace the professionalized civil service with his version of the 19th-century spoils system.”

🐣 RT @POTUS The UN Security Council just adopted our resolution calling on Hamas to accept the deal to establish a ceasefire with the release of hostages. ¤ Hamas says it wants a ceasefire. This deal is an opportunity to prove they mean it.

🐣 RT @anneapplebaum Taking a step back from EU elections…there is no one who is winning in Europe who is as extreme – in terms of violent rhetoric, attacks on constitution, record of insurrection – as Donald Trump
⋙ 🐣 RT @anneapplebaum Neither AfD nor Le Pen have yet attempted to block a transition of power. They might try it in future of course – but Trump has already done it

🐣 📋 RT @TheJusticeDept Attorney General Merrick B. Garland Statement on FBI’s Quarterly Uniform Crime Report ¤ Read AG Garland’s full statement: https://tinyurl.com/y8b8pc98
[TextLink:] https://x.com/TheJusticeDept/status/1800226939971522817/photo/1

“This data makes clear that last year’s historic decline in violent crime is continuing. In the first three months of this year, violent crime has decreased by over 15 percent compared to same period last year, and murder has decreased by over 26 percent.

This continued historic decline in homicides does not represent abstract statistics. It represents people whose lives were saved – people who are still here to see their children grow up, to work toward fulfilling their dreams, and to contribute to their communities.”

MERRICK B. GARLAND
Attorney General

🐣 RT @TheDemocrats This is Trump’s vision for our future.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/TheDemocrats/status/1800259915706970206/photo/1

TRUMP’S PROJECT 2025
● National abortion ban
● Restrict IVF access
● Family separation
● Muslim ban
● Tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy
● Replace civil servants with MAGA loyalists
● Guns in classrooms
● Order prosecution of political opponents
● Pardon January 6 insurrectionists

🐣 RT @votevets TO BE CLEAR: Trump equated the ultimate sacrifice of the fallen with his business deals, INSULTED Gold Star father Khizr Khan in 2016, and calls our war dead ‘suckers’ and ‘losers.’ ¤ He’s NEVER honored those who serve. Not then. Not now. Not ever.

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln Jenna Ellis admits it herself: it was a coup from the start. Trump knew he lost, yet he still tried his hardest to illegally maintain power.
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1724426959772684468/photo/1

⭕ 9 Jun 2024

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of Staff (not “radical left”), revealed that Trump called our fallen heroes “Losers and suckers.” ¤ I’ll take a retired Marine Corps General over a corrupt, draft-dogger pathological liar every day of the week.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1799993247068045555/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump Obviously, I never said that dead Soldiers are “losers and suckers.” Who would say such a thing? It was MADE UP DISINFORMATION by Radical Left Democrats, and Trump Haters, working with a failing Magazine, just like Russia, Russia, Russia, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, FISA Fraud, 51 Intel Agents, and so much more. Anytime you see that despicable FAKE statement used, remember that it comes from the FASCIST SCUM that is destroying our Country. Nobody has done more for the Military than Donald J. Trump – I completely Rebuilt it, and added SPACE FORCE to boot! VOTE FOR TRUMP – MAGA2024!

🐣 RT @SimonWDC The 3 establishment European parties at 56% here. This is actually better than many anticipated.
⋙ 🐣 RT @carlbildt And here is now the first projection on the composition of the new European Parliament 🇪🇺. Change, for certain, but not fundamental.
◕ https://x.com/carlbildt/status/1799924696827265433/photo/1

Politico: Unaired footage shows chaos, anger of congressional leaders amid Jan. 6 evacuation https://tinyurl.com/ms3pepyd “POLITICO reviewed the 45 minutes of video, shot by Nancy Pelosi’s daughter Alexandra, that was recently obtained by House GOP investigators.”

🐣 RT @djrothkopf The sooner Netanyahu is out of office the better for the people of Israel, the region and the world.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Yonatan_Touval 🚨 Benny Gantz leaves war cabinet and calls for early elections. In an uncharacteristically strong speech, he tells Israelis that Netanyahu is misleading the nation, adding (in implicit contrast to PM), “I’m willing to die for your children.”

🧵 RT @atrupar I’m going to put together a thread covering Trump’s rally in Las Vegas. Follow along for clips and commentary
📌 💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1799876841353650316/photo/1 -n

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom He’s angry about this story because he knows it’s true and it infuriates him that it got out there.
⋙⋙ TheAtlantic Jeffrey Goldberg (9/3/2020): Trump: Americans Who Died in War Are ‘Losers’ and ‘Suckers’ https://tinyurl.com/yjhb8nhr “The president has repeatedly disparaged the intelligence of service members, and asked that wounded veterans be kept out of military parades … ”
⋙ 🐣 RT @atrupar Trump complains at length about credible reports (that had nothing to do with Biden) that he called dead soldiers “suckers” and “losers”
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1799888986783031349/photo/1
⋙⋙ 🐣 @WordVendetta Confirmed by John Kelly… [CNN link:] https://tinyurl.com/mjck4a7c

🐣 RT @InsideWithPsaki @jrpsaki: “The truth is Trump couldn’t really care less about preserving the values that the US has long stood for… His campaign is not about preserving our freedom, it’s about preserving his own. It’s not about upholding American greatness. It’s about staying out of prison.”
💽 https://x.com/InsideWithPsaki/status/1799857605155631566/photo/1

💙 🐣 RT @MikeSington “They’re laughing at him.” The Biden Campaign destroys Donald Trump in devastating ad.
💽 https://x.com/MikeSington/status/1799847976346739104/photo/1

🐣 RT @Acyn Trump: When we get in, it’s going to go very rapidly. We are going to look very strongly at J6. There has never been people treated more horrifically than J6 hostages
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1799896766751683052/photo/1

🐣 RT @AntiToxicPeople OH MY GOD the dementia engulfed lunatic admitted out loud he doesn’t give a single fuck about his own cult members except for their vote.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Trump: Do you feel the breeze? I don’t want anybody going on me. We need every voter. I don’t care about you. I just want your vote. I don’t care.
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1799896041648718028/photo/1

🔄💙🐣 On @msnbc an hour or so ago, a journalist talked to a couple (in their thirties, I think). The guy said why he’s voting for Trump because he‘¤ like Jesus, who was also a convicted felon. ¤ I hope someone posts the the clip. ¤ Also, look at these incredibly worrying charts: #ItsACult
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1799873888110653883/photo/1 -2
1) The share of Republicans saying it was a ‘serious crime’ to falsify business records to conceal hush money to a porn star has dropped since Trump’s trial began (YahooYouGov 6/4-6/6) from WaPo:
⋙ Dropped 19% from 28%➔9% from May to June
2) Republicans suddenly decide a felony conviction isn’t disqualifying
‼️ Republican voters’ views on whether someone should be allowed to be president if they are convicted of a felony – before Trump’s trial vs. after. (WaPo: GOP voters have flip-flopped … https://tinyurl.com/4hj5zf3d)
⋙ Dropped 47% from 60%➔13% from April to June
↥ ↧
🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom All kidding aside, I think – and I’m not a theologian – it’s fair to say that most Christian denominations would regard this as blasphemous, even heretical. (Elevating the State over the kingdom of God is a heresy, that much I’m pretty sure of.)
⋙ 🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump This is what blasphemy looks like.
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1799672561929793653/photo/1
// Roger Stone post of Trump with Bible, “Trump” on top, “Endorsed by Jesus Christ”

🐣 📊 RT @WHCommsDir 70 percent support for the executive order @POTUS announced this week to manage the border and streamline the asylum process.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/WHCommsDir/status/1799835867525337406/photo/1
// 70% across the board

🐣 RT @brianstelter “Inside Biden’s orbit, the fear is that there’s little new the administration can do to change the perceptions of a stubborn electorate that’s living through an upswing — yet simply refusing to believe it.” [Politico link:] https://tinyurl.com/mupznyuf

KyivIndependent: Biden warns that Putin is ‘not going to stop at Ukraine https://tinyurl.com/3z4huv4k “The United States is standing strong with Ukraine. We will not — I say it again — walk away.” ~ President Biden

⭕ 8 Jun 2024

Bloomberg: Putin Is Running Out of Time to Achieve Breakthrough in Ukraine https://tinyurl.com/3vdtadw7
● Russia made limited progress with Ukraine short on weapons
● Ukraine halts Russian attack as billions in arms start flowing

For months, Russia’s army has made only limited gains on the battlefield against Ukrainian troops starved of weapons and ammunition. That’s a growing challenge for President Vladimir Putin as his military’s advantage starts to erode.

With Kyiv now taking delivery of billions of dollars in fresh arms from its US and European allies, the window for a Russian breakthrough is narrowing even as it continues to fire missiles and drones at Ukrainian cities including energy infrastructure.

A Russian attempt to open a new front in Ukraine’s northeast Kharkiv region already appears bogged down without achieving Putin’s goal of creating a buffer zone along the border. Ukraine claims to be inflicting “very high losses” on Russian troops in battles around the town of Vovchansk.

Russian forces advanced only marginally since taking the strategic eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka in February at the cost of huge casualties in months of fighting. They’ve been trying for weeks to take the key settlement of Chasiv Yar in the eastern Donetsk region.

Russia’s strategy of attrition to exhaust Ukraine’s forces is “very expensive and bloody for the Russian army itself,” said Ruslan Pukhov, head of the Moscow-based Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. “It can lead to excessive exhaustion of forces on the Russian side, which in turn, gives Ukrainians a chance to counter attack.”

While Russia is mounting attacks at several points along the front line, “we have chances to change the situation in our favor,” Ukrainian armed forces Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said Wednesday on Telegram.

Putin insists his war goals are unchanged and that Russia will fight for as long as needed to win in Ukraine, regardless of mounting casualties in a war that’s in its third year with no end in sight. Ukraine and its allies face the challenge of sustaining resistance in a war that’s largely reached a stalemate.

While Ukrainian officials raised the alarm about the threat of a Russian breakthrough during months of delays over US arms deliveries, Kyiv’s troops mostly held the line despite being outgunned as much as 10-1 by Moscow’s invading army. With President Joe Biden’s administration rushing US arms to Ukraine after Congress finally approved $61 billion in funding in April, the balance of firepower is beginning to shift.

“Ukraine was in a deep hole due to the delay” in sending US weaponry “and they’ve been digging out of that hole,” US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters Tuesday on board Air Force One. “We have seen them withstand the Russian assault,” and in a situation that’s developing dynamically “weapons arriving on the battlefield at scale and quantity in the last few days and weeks have made a difference,” he said.

European Union nations are also ramping up aid and weapons supplies to bolster Kyiv, even as Hungary’s Russia-friendly government continues to block billions of euros in wider military support.

Putin must also now contend with a shift in attitude from Ukraine’s allies, with the US and Germany joining nations including the UK in authorizing Kyiv to use their weapons to strike targets in border areas inside Russia. French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said he’s working on sending a coalition of instructors to train thousands of soldiers in Ukraine, despite threats of retaliation from Moscow.

Group of Seven leaders will meet next week in Italy to weigh plans to provide loans to Ukraine using windfall profits from about $280 billion in frozen Russian central bank assets.

“The prospects of Russia achieving victory this year have greatly reduced as a result” of the resumption of weapons supplies and aid, said Ben Barry, senior fellow for land warfare at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. “Russia might have the largest number of soldiers, but a lot of their first rate armored vehicles have been destroyed” and it’ll take years to rebuild the army to its 2022 level, he said.

Putin’s decision to appoint Andrey Belousov, an economist, as defense minister last month in place of his long-serving ally Sergei Shoigu underscored Russia’s need to squeeze more from the stretched resources of an economy that’s overheating, even if unprecedented international sanctions failed to trigger a collapse.

Defense spending as a percentage of gross domestic product is nearing levels last reached at the height of the Cold War in the 1980s under the Soviet Union, limiting Russia’s ability to continue ratcheting up military production.

While Russia massively increased output of missiles, artillery, tanks and munitions since the February 2022 invasion, “building an effective economy for the Armed Forces is essential today,” Putin told a May 25 meeting with defense industry officials. It must “generate returns on every ruble we invest in it.”

To be sure, both sides face formidable challenges, particularly in recruiting replacements for killed or wounded troops. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a new mobilization law lowering the age of the draft, though manpower remains a problem for the military.

The Kremlin is determined not to repeat Putin’s September 2022 order to draft 300,000 reservists, a mobilization that shook public support and triggered an exodus of as many as a million Russians from the country. It’s relying instead on offering generous pay and signing bonuses to attract recruits as the Defense Ministry aims to enlist at least 250,000 more soldiers this year.

While the policy avoids social tensions inside Russia over the war, it’s unlikely to allow the army to amass enough troops for a successful offensive in Ukraine, according to Pukhov, the Moscow-based military analyst. “For a real breakthrough the Kremlin would need far more people,” he said.

Putin said in December that Russia had 617,000 troops deployed in Ukraine. At a meeting with foreign media in St. Petersburg late Wednesday, he appeared to imply that some 10,000 Russian troops a month were being killed or wounded, by claiming the total was five times lower than Ukrainian losses he put at 50,000.

Ukraine rejects such estimates of its casualties. Zelenskiy said in February his military had lost 31,000 soldiers since the start of the war.

The US in December put the number of killed and wounded Russian troops at 315,000, close to 90% of the original invasion force. The UK Defence Ministry last week raised its estimate of total Russian casualties to 500,000 and said losses were running at 1,200 per day in May.

Russia hasn’t translated its battlefield advantages into major gains because its commanders “waste manpower in pursuit of their goals and Ukrainian forces are effective on the defense when they are supplied with men and materiel,” said Dara Massicot, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “There are still meaningful limits to Russian military power.”

💙 TheGuardian, Paul Wintour: ‘We’re in 1938 now’: Putin’s war in Ukraine and lessons from history https://tinyurl.com/mvc2zjh2 The G7 meeting next week and then the 75th anniv NATO summit in DC in July, must decide “whether the west wishes not to contain Putin, but to defeat him”

But Michael Bohnert, an engineer at the Rand Corporation, sees no sign of a public coordinated military plan to raise the firepower needed, let alone new munitions factories. Incredibly, the adviser to the Polish chief of staff, Krzysztof Król, admitted to a conference last month that after two years “we have not yet created proper conditions for a Ukrainian victory with our plans because political leaders had not yet told them the objective”. If that objective was conveyed, he added, “the military leaders could easily decide what is required. As it is, we give enough only for Ukraine to survive.”

To the extent any European leader has grasped this lacuna, it is Macron, with his emergency meeting in Paris on 26 February to look at ammunition shortfalls and repeated speeches on the existential threat to Europe from the alliance between the far right and Putin.

It will take two meetings, one involving the G7 leaders in Italy next week and then the 75th anniversary Nato summit in Washington in July, to reveal whether the west wishes not to contain Putin, but to defeat him – with all the risk that carries, including for China.

WaPo: Biden marks D-Day by channeling Reagan and contrasting with Trump https://tinyurl.com/2s4kps2t “In visit to France to mark 80th anniversary of D-Day, President Biden promotes democracy and alliances, drawing a clear contrast with Donald Trump”

🐣 RT @Adamkinzinger
[TextLink:] https://x.com/AdamKinzinger/status/1799579521982533643/photo/1

[Text:] Warning Signs of a CultFrom The Cult Education Institute
1) The leader is always right.
2) Criticism of the leader or questioning the leader is considered persecution.
3) Anything the leader does is justified, no matter how harmful it may be.
4) The leader is the only source of truth, everybody else is lying.
5) Disciples must be devoted to the leadernever question him.

⋙ 🐣 Exactly! Look at these charts:
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1799793308593778839/photo/1 -2
// dramatic reversals in GOP opinion after Trump found guilty

🐣 RT @SimonWDC Trump is a madman, and getting much much worse.
⋙ 🐣 RT @AdamKinzinger So now Trump is pretending Bidens accomplishments are his. ¤ Classic
[TextLink:] https://x.com/SimonWDC/status/1799622745900380381/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump Low INSULIN PRICING was gotten for millions of Americans by me, and the Trump ¤ Administration, not by Crooked Joe Biden. He had NOTHING to do with it. It was all done long before he so sadly entered office. All he does is try to take credit for things done by others, in this case, ME!

🐣 RT @amanpour Actor/filmmaker @tomhanks has been pivotal in immortalizing the legacies of WWII heroes. ¤ On the 80th anniversary of D-Day I ask him why it is so important to document the price of freedom.
💽 https://x.com/amanpour/status/1799463138653352136/photo/1

🐣 RT @TheEconomist America’s billionaires may see benefits in a second Trump presidency. But a slide towards cronyism or bias would make doing business harder and more politicised—and pose a far more profound threat to the economy than slightly higher taxes or red tape
⋙ TheEconomist: America’s billionaires should resist the urge to support Donald Trump https://econ.st/4eeGiuA “A Trump victory would reward them. But not enough to justify the risks”

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote My FAVORITE part of the 34 guilty counts is that even though Trump tried to kill the investigation by having SDNY stall it for a year, it was his mishandling of COVID that extended the statute of limitations. He had Bill Barr sit on that case for a year thinking it would be too late to bring charges. But Cuomo tolled all NY criminal cases. Hahahahhaa that’s so fucking funny to me.

🐣 RT @gtconway3d “Trump had been scheduled to visit the cemetery … but canceled because of the rain. He told his then-chief of staff John Kelly: ‘Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.’ Later on the same trip, he called servicemembers who died for their country ‘suckers.’”
⋙ 🐣 RT @svdate NEW — Biden will visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery tomorrow, resting place of 1800 U.S. Marines, which Trump refused to go to because it was raining and besides it’s filled with “suckers” and “losers.”
⋙⋙ HuffPo: Biden To Visit WWI Cemetery Five Years After Trump Refused To Honor ‘Suckers’ And ‘Losers’ https://tinyurl.com/mr3rck39
// Trump skipped a visit to Aisne-Marne American Cemetery outside Paris in 2018 because it was raining and instead stayed indoors and tweeted all afternoon.

🧵 RT @SimonWDC In May 272,000 jobs were created in US, far exceeding expectations. Wage growth was robust. My job tracker now comes in at:
33.8m jobs – 16 yrs Clinton, Obama
15.6m jobs – 3+ yrs Biden
1.9m jobs – 16 yrs 2 Bushes, Trump
Biden 8x jobs as last 3 GOP Presidents *combined* 1/
📌 ◕ https://x.com/SimonWDC/status/1799435277586305082/photo/1 -n
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1799435277586305082.html
// May jobs report

🐣 RT @TomJChicago Trump’s retribution campaign is a loser on Election Day. He’s only cementing his Convicted Felon status with his threats. Grand juries indicted him for real crimes. The Manhattan jury convicted him. This was all his doing. Threatening people who hold him accountable will only increase turnout for Biden. 10% of Rs want him to drop out. Most swing state voters see his sociopathic behavior and are repelled by it. Most voters want peace and justice. Many people with his type of dementia make big threats like this. The hate pours out of him, unregulated. Trump is going down in flames.

🐣 RT @FrankFigliuzzi1 A must read. “We are living in a post Constitutional time”; says the man with the plan for the next Trump term. Trump loyalist pushes ‘post-constitutional’ vision for second term
‼️⋙ WaPo: Trump loyalist pushes ‘post-constitutional’ vision for second term https://tinyurl.com/5n8bcxpu “Russ Vought, the former president’s budget director, is laying the groundwork for a broad expansion of presidential powers.”

🐣 RT @ZaleskiLuke Trump never built the wall. He never drained the swamp. He never locked up Hillary. Trump never made America great again. Instead he lied relentlessly for 4 years, got impeached twice after mishandling the greatest national security crisis in a generation and incited insurrection

😂 RT @SundaeDivine Grand Rapids GOP party chair introduces Donald Trump.
💽 https://x.com/SundaeDivine/status/1799316161735311638/photo/1

🐣 RT @RussianEmbassy [UK] Maria #Zakharova: Weapons supplied to Kiev by the West cannot be used without Western instructors on the ground. Target acquisition is impossible without relevant data involving coordinates, which Ukraine doesn’t have. It is supplied primarily by the USA and Great Britain.
⋙ 🐣 Putin said ‘no red lines’ have been crossed per @TheStudyofWar ¤ Ukraine has had HIMARS for two years or so. They know how to use them. Training for vehicles takes place in volunteer countries. ¤ Ukraine makes decisions on MILITARY targets (unlike Russia which targets civilians)

🐣 RT @TheEconomist Good news, at last, from Ukraine. The $61bn military-support package recently approved by the Biden administration is having an impact—in Russian-occupied Crimea https://econ.st/4csZmUz Photo: Reuters
🌎 https://x.com/TheEconomist/status/1799320513086382319/photo/1
⋙ TheEconomist: Crimea is a weak point for Russia and is becoming a death trap for its forces https://econ.st/4csZmUz

🐣 RT @TheStudyofWar Putin indirectly indicated that Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with Western-provided weapons do not cross a supposed Russian “red line” that would result in Russian nuclear escalation. (1/3) […]
[TextLink:] https://x.com/TheStudyofWar/status/1799284519973101997/photo/1

Putin indirectly indicated that Ukrainian strikes on Russian territory with Western-provided weapons do not cross a supposed Russian “red line” that would result in Russian nuclear escalation. Putin stated that Russia’s nuclear doctrine calls for Russia to only use nuclear weapons in the event of “exceptional cases” of threats to Russia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity [21] Putin stated that he does not think such an “exceptional” case has arisen so “there is no such need” for Russia to use nuclear weapons.

Ukrainian forces have struck military targets in Belgorod Oblast with US-provided HIMARS systems using GMLRS since early June 2024[22] Putin’s June 7 statement is a significant rhetorical reversal given that Putin and other Kremlin officials have previously threatened Russian nuclear weapon use should Western states allow Ukraine to strike into Russian territory with Western-provided weapons.[23] Western and Ukrainian policies and actions have crossed Russia’s supposed “red lines” several times throughout the war without drawing a significant Russian reaction, indicating that many of Russia’s “red lines” are most likely information operations designed to push the West to self-deter. [24]

🐣 RT @Tendar Putin is running out of time, and that applies to his entire rule. Every time the West decides to helping Ukraine with another large package, Russia is getting out of balance. The most telling part is that Ukraine performs beyond expectations even with one hand bound to the back, denying Russia any strategic gain and killing scores of Russian manpower.
⋙ Bloomberg: Putin Is Running Out of Time to Achieve Breakthrough in Ukraine https://tinyurl.com/786a2uzr
● Russia made limited progress with Ukraine short on weapons
● Ukraine halts Russian attack as billions in arms start flowing

⭕ 7 Jun 2024 🎂

WaPo, Philip Bump (June 7): The increase in employment among immigrants is not a Biden conspiracy https://tinyurl.com/26mjv8dz It is, instead, heavily a function of the baby boom.
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1826969670752116970/photo/1

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en “Donetsk people don’t like us. The locals don’t like us. They call us occupiers.”
¤ 💽 https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1799098698145701909

Russian soldier Konstantin Sergeyevich Romanyuk, call sign “Amich.” He took out loans and went to war to return them. He was captured in the Kharkiv direction.

He says that on the border in the Belgorod region, there are conscripts with orders to shoot retreating soldiers and deserters:

“There was no one left from the first battalion, from the third battalion. If there is 100-200 men left from our battalion, that’s the maximum. The 9th regiment is definitely gone. Somewhere around 2,000-2,500 men are definitely not alive at the moment. Either they were injured, or killed, or refused to fight.”

🐣 RT @McFaul I know Putin better than most foreigners. He is a bully. But he also is a coward. We in the West need to stop worrying about his “escalatory” moves, and start focusing more on helping Ukrainians defeat him.

🐣 RT @ChristopherJM Biden tells Zelensky: “You continue to fight in a way that is just remarkable. And we’re not going to walk away from you. I apologize for the weeks of not knowing what’s going to pass in terms of funding because we had trouble getting the bill that we had to pass that had the money in it from some of our very conservative members were holding it up. But we got it done finally.” …”The way you’ve stood in holding onto Kharkiv, you’ve proven once again that the people of Ukraine cannot and will never be overtaken.”
💽 https://x.com/ChristopherJM/status/1799087293262643325/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa In Paris, I met with @POTUS Joe Biden. We discussed Ukraine’s defense capabilities, the battlefield situation, and our preparations to sign a bilateral security agreement. ¤ To ensure effective protection against daily Russian terror, Ukraine must be able to strike military targets on Russian territory. It is also critical to strengthen the Kharkiv region’s defense and accelerate the delivery of American weapons. ¤ I thank the United States for standing with Ukraine. It is very important for our people to feel that we are not alone, that we are with you, our strategic partner. We also appreciate the United States’ leadership in advancing the Peace Formula.
💽 https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1799081709436309719/photo/1

🐣 RT @kramos1841 Health Insurance is core to creating a better life, and @JoeBiden delivered for all Americans, but what he has done for Latino & Black folks is remarkable. Latino uninsurance has dropped 45%, 32.7% to 18%. Black uninsurance has been cut in half by 48% dropping 20.9% to 10.8%
◕ https://x.com/kramos1841/status/1799081727274750402/photo/1

🐣 RT @besttrousers At the same time, the *percent* of workers employed by the government is at levels we last saw during the Eisenhower administration.
◕ https://x.com/besttrousers/status/1799117948701089917/photo/1

🐣 RT @MichaelSteele Remember, Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018 —
¤ https://x.com/MichaelSteele/status/1799201176061125077

— because he feared his hair would become disheveled, and more importantly remarked “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” ¤ He also referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed.

At Pointe du Hoc, today, President Biden reminded us that “American democracy asks the hardest of things — to believe that we’re a part of something bigger than ourselves…[that] democracy begins with each of us, begins when one person decides there’s something more important than themselves…That’s what the Rangers at Point du Hoc did. That’s what they decided. That’s what every soldier, every Marine who stormed these beaches decided.”

🐣 RT @erikbryn America is in the midst of a historic economic recovery. ¤ The prime age labor force participation rate has been growing rapidly since 2020 and is now the highest in over 20 years.
◕ https://x.com/erikbryn/status/1799070667712892962/photo/1

🐣 RT @AmoneyResists Reminder that Donald Trump was sued by a 14-year-old plaintiff who alleged that she was raped by Trump and Epstein on numerous occasions and provided graphic details of the assaults. She only withdrew her case—two weeks before the 2016 election—due to incessant death threats.
💽 https://x.com/AmoneyResists/status/1799048464514642283/photo/1
// Trump hedges on releasing Epstein files

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln “And let us be the generation of when history is written about our time, in 10, 20, 30, 50, 80 years from now, it’ll be said: when the moment came we met the moment, we stood strong, our alliance was made stronger, we saved democracy in our time as well” –
@POTUS
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1799199661292478478/photo/1

🐣 RT @POTUS I’ve long said that ordinary Americans can do the most extraordinary things.
And there’s no better example of that in the entire world than right here, where Rangers from every part of America came to a country many of them had never seen, for a people they had never met.
But they fulfilled their mission.
They did their duty.
They were part of something bigger than themselves.

🐣 RT @JoeBiden American democracy asks the hardest of things: To believe we’re part of something bigger than ourselves. ¤ Democracy begins with each of us. It begins when one person decides their country matters more than they do.

🐣 RT @TrumpIsDone With all of the speculation about Trump’s upcoming VP pick, let’s take a moment to appreciate the heroism of Trump’s last VP…
[TextLink:] https://x.com/TrumpIsDone/status/1798690728027288008/photo/1

[Text:] “Those who wreaked havoc in our Capitol today, you did not win. Violence never wins. Freedom wins. This is still the people’s house. As we reconvene in this chamber, the world will again witness the resilience and strengthof our democracy.”
– Vice President Mike Pence

🐣 RT @cwebbonline President Joe Biden broke OPEC and he doesn’t get enough credit for doing it!!!

Biden managed to time the oil market to perfection…
In 2022 Biden released 180 million barrels of oil from the strategic reserves at an average price of $95 per barrel.
In July 2023 when oil was $67 per barrel, he began to refill the reserve.
Biden made about $30 per barrel profit on approx 200 million barrels which totals $5-6 billion that goes to the US treasury.

🐣 RT @chrislhayes Joe Biden pulled off perhaps the greatest oil trade of all time and in the process broke OPEC’s grip and basically no one knows about it. We did a long segment on it last night and it’s fascinating and worth your time.
⋙ 💽 MSNBC, AllInWithChris: How Joe Biden ‘broke OPEC’ and rewrote the rules for oil trading https://tinyurl.com/jvh98y65
// The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, has had massive influence over American politics for six decades. President Biden’s “incredible” oil market trading has broken this influence. Dan Dicker joins Chris Hayes to discuss how Biden got ahead in oil production and what that means for the transition to clean energy.

🐣 RT @emptywheel Former NYFO Counterintelligence Head Charles McGonigal has arrived at his new home for the next several years (unless Trump pardons him). ¤ He was sentenced to 50 mos in SDNY and 28 in DC, consecutively.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/emptywheel/status/1799093817200583006/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 RT @TheGreyMouser__ Dude played a role in handing Trump the 2016 election by undermining the @NewYorkFBI field office and likely leaking info to Giuliani.

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln 80 years ago, the greatest generation of Americans fought to free Europe from a dictator. Republican heirs of that generation have flipped, defending Putin in his conquest of Ukraine. ¤ We must continue the fight the greatest generation started & defend freedom across the globe.
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1799097696059367553/photo/1

🐣 RT @WhiteHouse 80 years ago, American forces in Normandy defended the principle of democracy. ¤ Today, this value is under attack again. ¤ Every generation must join to defend democracy – and preserve it.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1799124164726407294/photo/1

[Text:] “American democracy asksmthe hardest of things: To believe that we’re a part of something bigger than ourselves. SO, DEMOCRACY BEGINS WITH EACH OF US.”
— President Joe Biden

🐣 📊 RT @mattyglesias Most people [59%] believe Trump is guilty as charged in the Manhattan case and a larger number [64%] think he committed crimes in office
◕ https://x.com/mattyglesias/status/1799055454502560014/photo/1 -2
// 76% “double haters”: guilty in Manhattan
// 34% Republicans: crimes in office
// Navigator poll: n=1000; 5/30-6/3

🐣 RT @MSNBC “American democracy asks the hardest of things to believe that we’re a part of something bigger than ourselves.” ¤ WATCH: President Biden gives speech on democracy at D-Day site.
💽 https://x.com/MSNBC/status/1799095105028010162/photo/1

🐣 RT @MarkHertling A magnificent speech by @POTUS ¤ Those who want to contribute to America will always hear the whispers of those who saved our nation. We must be the ones who follow their example!
⋙ 🐣 RT @BidenHQ President Biden: I stand here today as the first president to come to Pointe du Hoc when none of those 225 brave men who scaled this cliff on D-Day are still alive.
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1799098652297769271/photo/1

But I’m here to tell you that with them gone, the wind we hear coming off this ocean will not fade. It will grow louder. They are summoning us. They ask us, what will we do? They’re not asking us to scale these cliffs, they’re asking us to stay true to what America stands for. They’re not asking us to give or risk our lives, but they are asking us to care for others in our country more than ourselves. They’re not asking us to do their job, they’re asking us to do our job. To protect freedom, to defend democracy, to stand up to aggression abroad and at home. My fellow Americans, I refuse to believe that America’s greatness is a thing of the past.

🧵 RT @crampell This labor market just won’t quit. ¤ To wit: Labor force participation rate for prime-age workers at highest level since 2002
📌 ◕ https://x.com/crampell/status/1799057379285450764/photo/1

⋙ Prime-age women’s labor force participation rate at highest level EVER
◕ https://x.com/crampell/status/1799058451664089414/photo/1
⋙ Share of prime-working-age women who have jobs also at highest level EVER
◕ https://x.com/crampell/status/1799058868951273910/photo/1
⋙ We broke our streak of <4% unemployment, leaving us tied with a period in the 1960s (27 months for each stretch). ¤ But 4% is still pretty damn good! ◕ https://x.com/crampell/status/1799060124096676313/photo/1 ⋙⋙ ...although even that depends how many significant digits you use ⋙⋙⋙ RT @besttrousers 3.96%!!!! ⋙ Hiring is still being driven by foreign-born workers, as U.S.-born workers -- who skew older -- increasingly age into retirement. ¤ On net, number of native-born workers with jobs is about flat relative to pre-pandemic. # of foreign-born workers with jobs is up 11.5%. ◕ https://x.com/crampell/status/1799063430676299882/photo/1 ⋙ But to be clear: that doesn't mean immigrants are taking all the jobs! Unemployment rates for native-born workers are super low (3.8%) ¤ It's just that as the native-born US population ages, we need more immigration to replace those retiring. ◕ https://x.com/crampell/status/1799064420494241890/photo/1 ⋙ Share of Americans with a disability who have jobs also hit a record high. ◕ https://x.com/crampell/status/1799066634705129589/photo/1 ⋙ In case you wonder who's filling all those thankless home health aide jobs, taking care your grandmother, here are some stats from recent years. ¤ Would not surprise me if the share of immigrants filling these jobs is now even higher. https://tinyurl.com/4mtjucst [TextLink:] https://x.com/crampell/status/1799072367995683189/photo/1

[Text:] Immigrants represent only about 14 percent of the U.S. population but over 18 percent of the early care and education workforce (about 321,000 immigrants). An estimated 142,000 undocumented immigrants serve as childcare workers, personal care aides, and home health aides. In the nursing home and home care industries, immigrants make up 19-25 percent of the nurses and aides on staff. Not to mention that more than 30 percent of nursing home housekeeping and maintenance workers are immigrants.

🐣 RT @crampell This labor market just won’t quit. ¤ To wit: Labor force participation rate for prime-age workers at highest level since 2002
◕ https://x.com/crampell/status/1799057379285450764/photo/1

🐣 RT @atrupar “That blows even the top of the range! … these are wild numbers … a lot of it is the government jobs story” — it’s time for my favorite Friday tradition! Maria Bartiromo and company cope with yet another strong Biden jobs report
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1799082604487921998/photo/1

🐣 RT @BillPascrell Wow yet another blockbuster jobs report: 272,000 jobs added last month just crushing expectations and now 15,695,000 jobs created since 2021. Say it with me: #BidenBoom #DemocratsDeliver
◕ https://x.com/BillPascrell/status/1799071391666598132/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Wage growth came in hotter than expected in May, at 0.4% month-over-month. ¤ That brings the annual rate to 4.1%, higher than inflation (3.4%).
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1799058177373381097/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner The U.S. added 272K jobs in May, far higher than the 180K expected.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1799057236481941840/photo/1

WaPo: Gaza pier repaired, U.S. ready to resume aid mission, Pentagon says https://tinyurl.com/bdd75djc “Operations were halted after the floating structure broke apart in high seas. U.S. officials say food deliveries will begin again within days.”

⭕ 6 Jun 2024

NewYorker, Susan Glasser: Fighting Trump on the Beaches https://tinyurl.com/4k5xw59h “Biden’s fiery D Day speech in Normandy warns against the ex-President’s isolationism, while Trump is back home, targeting ‘the enemy within.’”

[F]or what may well be his final D Day encore before the great battle passes from living memory, Biden met the moment with a message that was bracing, urgent, and clarifying. In a speech at the Normandy American Cemetery that was anything but generic, he called out both Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and, though he did not use his name, Donald Trump’s isolationism—the dual threats that have animated this last political campaign of Biden’s, in a long life full of them. “The autocrats of the world are watching closely,” he said, and it was not a warning, really, so much as a statement of blunt fact about the stakes in this year’s U.S. election and the foreign-policy consequences that will flow from it. His opponent is an admirer of Putin, and, reportedly, of Hitler even. Trump truly supports neither Ukraine nor nato. …

While listening to Biden’s speech, I thought about a resignation letter that Mark Milley, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff appointed by Trump, wrote but did not send to him in 2020. “It is my deeply held belief that you’re ruining the international order, and causing significant damage to our country overseas, that was fought for so hard by the Greatest Generation that they instituted in 1945,” Milley said in the letter, a draft of which I obtained in the course of writing a book on the Trump Presidency. “It’s now obvious to me that you don’t understand that world order. You don’t understand what the war was all about. In fact, you subscribe to many of the principles that we fought against.” …

🐣 RT @TheStalwart You can now buy an EV with 300-mile range for less than the price of an average car. [BB link:] https://tinyurl.com/m4fuujce
◕ https://x.com/TheStalwart/status/1799064640712016109/photo/1

CNBC: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepted gifts worth millions of dollars over 20 years, analysis finds https://tinyurl.com/28z4djzd

WaPo: Conservatives tied to Trump want to limit insurance coverage for abortions https://tinyurl.com/4vxxt72n “The proposal could make it more difficult for those with private-employer insurance to get out-of-state abortions, legal experts say.”

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln Since WWII, there have always been two strands in the Republican Party – the sane, Eisenhower Republicans and the conspiratorial, non-governing McCarthy types. But today, the McCarthy-era crazies have taken over. @stuartpstevens on @MSNBC spells out how the GOP has developed.
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1798822391432261746/photo/1

🐣 RT @djrothkopf Biden’s excellent D-Day address not only honored those who had sacrificed so much for the allied cause, it also expertly addressed the threat of modern fascism…both from our enemies abroad and those, like Trump and MAGA, at home. My latest.
⋙ DailyBeast, David Rothkopf: Biden’s D-Day Speech Nailed the Threat of Modern Fascism https://tinyurl.com/4m2ah6hv “Speaking on sacred ground in Normandy, the president correctly drew parallels between America’s enemies in World War II and the threats we face domestically and globally today.”

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Former GOP Rep. Ken Buck on why he decided to leave Congress: ¤ “I left because I couldn’t tell the lie. The 2020 election wasn’t stolen. The Jan. 6 defendants aren’t political prisoners…”
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1798815487599743413/photo/1

🐣 RT @amanpour “They put themselves here for what? Because it was the right thing to do… they were not gaining territory, they were not here for riches, they were not here to conquer anything. They were really here in order to mend the future.” Tom Hanks reflects on the heroes of D Day
💽 https://x.com/amanpour/status/1798773004610215957/photo/1

🐣 RT @RusEmbUSA Anatoly Antonov: We never failed to recognize the significant role of the allies in the anti-Hitler coalition, who helped the Red Army crush the Nazi vermin, that almost subjugated Europe. https://t.me/EmbUSA/6860
⋙ 🐣 You were ALLIES with Germany until they turned on you. Then you turned to us and we provided you with your war machine. ¤ We bombed Germany for you and liberated France, Africa and Italy. ¤ Ukraine lost a higher % of pop. in WW2 than you did. So did Belarus and Poland.

🐣 RT @AntiToxicPeople Lets be objective here for a minute—if ANYONE else in public life posted something this utterly unhinged and delusional, they would be removed from society and given mental acuity tests immediately. This is not normal and needs to be discussed in public much more. ¤ Trump is extremely unwell and quite literally insane—if he actually believes the batshit crazy stuff he says here to be true it is hard to process. Just imagine the thought process behind both thinking this makes sense & then posting this.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/AntiToxicPeople/status/1798808321455276359/photo/1

🐣 RT @realDonald Trump It is a Total and Complete American Tragedy that the Crooked Joe Biden Department of Injustice is so desperate to jail Steve Bannon, and every other Republican, for that matter, for not SUBMITTING to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, made up of all Democrats, and two CRAZED FORMER REPUBLICAN LUNATICS, < CryposA dam Kinzinger, and Liz "Out of Her Mind" Cheney. It has been irrefutably proven that it was the Unselects who committed actual crimes when they deleted and destroyed all material evidence, in a pathetic attempt to protect Crazy Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats from the TRUTH — THAT I DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG. The unAmerican Weaponization of our Law Enforcement has reached levels of Illegality never thought possible before. INDICT THE UNSELECT J6 COMMITTEE FOR ILLEGALLY DELETING AND DESTROYING ALL OF THEIR "FINDINGS!" MAGA2024

🐣 RT @WhiteHouse Today in Normandy, alongside World War II veterans and leaders from around the world, President Biden and the First Lady commemorated the 80th anniversary of D-Day. The Greatest Generation upheld freedom and democracy – we will never forget their bravery and sacrifice.
🖼 https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1798799580991246846/photo/1 -4

🐣 RT @ZaleskiLuke Trump’s OG Con: “Everyone else but me is lying. And you can only believe me.”
💽 https://x.com/ZaleskiLuke/status/1798774253460001084/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 >30,000 Trump lies documented by the Washington Post. They even wrote a book about it:
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1798801930820702419/photo/1

🐣 RT @tweetforAnna Zelensky and the Ukrainian people received a standing ovation during #DDay celebrations
💽 https://x.com/tweetforAnna/status/1798764275642892424/photo/1

“Faced with those who try to change borders by force or rewrite history, let us be worthy of those who landed here… your presence here today Mr. President of Ukraine says all that. Thank you to the Ukrainian people, to their bravery, to their taste for freedom. We are here and we will not weaken.” – said Emmanuel Macron during the Allied landing ceremony at Omaha Beach

🐣 RT @VolodimirZelen1 BRUTAL speech by Joe Biden: Russia has lost more than 350,000 men, 1 million have fled the country and 50 countries support Ukraine. Ukrainians are fighting against a brutal tyranny with great courage, never giving up. We will NEVER abandon them!
💽 https://x.com/VolodimirZelen1/status/1798695360560603352/photo/1

🐣 RT @jurgen_nauditt France will supply Ukraine with Mirage 2000 fighter jets, as well as provide pilot training. These fighters will be able to attack military facilities on the territory of Russia. ¤ Paris will also train 4,500 Ukrainian soldiers.
¤ https://x.com/jurgen_nauditt/status/1798787720132874702

🐣 RT @AlexTaylorNews … and to finish, on Omaha Beach, one of the most stirring Marseillaise I for one have ever heard. Wow
💽 https://x.com/AlexTaylorNews/status/1798763086054359387/photo/1

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en We’re not authorizing strikes two hundred miles into Russia, we’re not authorizing strikes on Moscow, on the Kremlin – President Biden. ¤ He said Putin “is not a decent man. He’s a dictator.”
💽 https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1798694167344042362/photo/1

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa The unity that defines history. Today in France, alongside our allies, we honored the bravery of the Allied forces who landed in Normandy 80 years ago. We remember. We thank them. We uphold the values of the defenders of life.
💽 https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1798782854265979211/photo/1
// Macron welcomes Zelennsky; flyover

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson Yesterday, Ken Burns reminded me of FDR’s prayer delivered to the nation by radio on the night of June 6, 1944: [long: just last paragraph]
¤ https://x.com/TheRickWilson/status/1798740501727989956

“ … With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies. Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace, a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men. And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. ¤ Thy will be done, Almighty God. ¤ Amen.”

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln “And let us be the generation of when history is written about our time, in 10, 20, 30, 50, 80 years from now, it’ll be said: when the moment came we met the moment, we stood strong, our alliance was made stronger, we saved democracy in our time as well” – @POTUS #DDay80
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1798746682374377535/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidenHQ President Biden: The United States, NATO, and a coalition of more than 50 countries are standing strong with Ukraine. We will not walk away. The autocrats of the world are watching to see if we let this Russian aggression go unchecked. We cannot let that happen. We cannot surrender to bullies. We cannot bow down to dictators. That is unthinkable. Were we to do that, it means we’d be forgetting what happened here on D-Day. Make no mistake, we will not bow down, we will not forget
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1798716330247393729/photo/1

🐣 RT @NatalkaKyiv Solovyov has a mental breakdown when one of his panelists suggests no one apart from Russia recognizes Ukrainian territories that Russia has expropriated for itself as Russian.
💽 [tr] https://x.com/NatalkaKyiv/status/1798716097442750976/photo/1

🐣 RT @tweetforAnna Image of #Dday 🥹
While the stage is full of applause, there was an extremely touching exchange between Volodymyr Zelensky and an American WWII veteran.
— 🇺🇸 Veteran: Ah, the savior of the people.
— Zelensky: No, you are our savior. Thank you.
— 🇺🇸 Veteran: I pray for you.
💽 https://x.com/tweetforAnna/status/1798733339370848590/photo/1

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln If you watch anything today, make it this speech
⋙ 🐣 RT @POTUS Join me as I deliver remarks from Normandy, France on the 80th anniversary of D-Day – honoring all those who bravely served and sacrificed for our liberty and prosperity.
💽 [1:11 min] https://x.com/POTUS/status/1798675330502431229/photo/1

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en France has detained a Russian terrorist who planned to blow up a cargo [plane] with military aid to Ukraine amid the arrival of President Zelensky in the country.
¤ https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1798724220618445151

The French PNAT anti-terrorism prosecutors office detained a Russian agent who intended to blow up military equipment intended for delivery to Ukraine. This was reported by Le Journal du Dimanche media.

The name of the detainee has not been given. According to Le Figaro, he is a 26-year-old man who was born in Donbas, held a pro-Russian position, and “fought for the Russian army for two years.”

During the search in his room, materials for making explosive devices, small arms, several passports, and cell phones were found.

The suspect was detained “immediately” after he accidentally detonated acetone peroxide in a hotel room while attempting to build an improvised explosive device.

He was taken to hospital with burns and arrested on June 5 on charges of participation in a terrorist criminal association and possession of explosives.

🐣 RT @tribelaw “In 2016, Donald Trump seemed to pull an inside straight by narrowly winning Mich, Penn, and Wisc while losing the popular vote by 3 million. We now know Trump committed 34 felonies to win that election. Without these crimes, he seems almost certain to have lost to Hillary Clinton. She would have been sworn in on Jan. 20, 2017. She would have filled two Supreme Court vacancies and enacted her legislative agenda.”
⋙ DemocracyDocket, Marc Elias: Donald Trump Is Plotting His Next Crime https://tinyurl.com/h8jjrfcw

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa Today, @ZelenskaUA and I arrived in Normandy, France, for important events and meetings aimed at strengthening our country and promoting the unity among all those who respect human values and life. ¤ We will also be honored to participate in a special event commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings in Normandy. This event and day serve as a reminder of the courage and determination demonstrated in the pursuit of freedom and democracy. ¤ Allies defended Europe’s freedom then, and Ukrainians do so now. Unity prevailed then, and true unity can prevail today.

🐣 RT @CBSNews “We cannot let what happened here be lost in the silence of the years to come. … Democracy is never guaranteed,” Pres. Biden says at D-Day ceremony in Normandy. ¤ “Every generation must preserve it, defend it and fight for it. That’s the test of the ages.” https://cbsn.ws/3Xcp2QB

🐣 RT @AndrewJBates46 .@POTUS in Normandy: “We know the dark forces that these heroes fought against 80 years ago. They never fade. Aggression and greed. The desire to dominate and control. To change borders by force. These are perennial. The struggle between dictatorship and freedom is unending.”
💽 https://x.com/AndrewJBates46/status/1798696599117516812/photo/1

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe “What the allies did together 80 years ago far surpassed anything we could have done on our own. It was a powerful illustration of how alliances, real alliances, make us stronger. A lesson that I pray we Americans never forget.” – @POTUS
💽 https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1798690355459862712/photo/1

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe “Now we have to ask ourselves will we stand against tyranny, against evil, against crushing brutality of the iron fist? Will we stand for freedom? Will we defend democracy? Will we stand together? My answer is yes and only can be yes.” -@POTUS
💽 https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1798692258557890954/photo/1

NYT: Biden Links Fight for Ukraine With Allied Effort on D-Day https://tinyurl.com/fut9b4yp “President Biden sees similar principles at stake in both conflicts: the defense of freedom and a rules-based international order.”

⭕ 5 Jun 2024

🐣 RT @BulwarkOnline “The U.S. death rate from COVID far exceeded that of peer nations. That was not due to excessive lockdowns or masking. It was due to incompetence in the White House. Time for a great remembering.” One more time:
⋙ TheBulwark, Mona Charin (June 5): Trump’s COVID Response Was Worse Than We Remember https://tinyurl.com/528exhxk “He misled the public, mismanaged the crisis, and missed chances to save lives.”
⋙⋙ [Source:] HealthSystemTracker (Apr 2023): Premature mortality during COVID-19 in the U.S. and peer countries https://tinyurl.com/vwkceehy
// 4/24/2023; excess deaths

NYT: The G.O.P. Push for Post-Verdict Payback: ‘Fight Fire With Fire’ https://tinyurl.com/3wf3dbkh “Republican leaders in and out of government are publicly pushing to prosecute Democrats as legal retribution for Donald Trump’s felony conviction.”

🧵 RT @VolodimirZelen1 [tr] 🧐 Good student, husband, father, actor, businessman, president, hero – but who is he really? As France prepares to welcome him on June 6, a thread that returns to the incredible story of Volodymyr Zelensky! 👇 [with photos]
📌 https://x.com/VolodimirZelen1/status/1798316279482491070/photo/1 -n

⋙ 🏭 Volodymyr’s childhood took place in this immense HLM bar nicknamed The Anthill in Kryvyi Rih, where he was born on January 25, 1978. Donbass is coal – Kryvyi Rih is steel And a predominantly Russian-speaking region.

⋙ But before going any further, I want to tell you about the story of four brothers. In 1941, the Soviet Union was attacked by the Nazis, and Ukraine became one of the main battlefields of World War II.

⋙ 😔 In 1945, Ukraine lost almost 3.5 million inhabitants, three times more than France in 1918. ¤ Three brothers are brutally murdered, because they were Jewish, by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Of the 6 million Jews murdered, 1.5 million were murdered in the USSR.

⋙ The last brother joined the army. ¤ His name was Semyon Ivanovich Zelensky, colonel in the Red Army. And he came back. ¤ He fought the Nazis, had a son and six decades later his grandson would become president of a free and independent Ukraine.

⋙ 👨‍🏫 Volodymyr grew up in a middle-class Jewish family, in an industrial city and, with the fall of the USSR, very poor. His father Oleksandr is a computer science professor, and he was still teaching at the city’s university at the age of 75! His mother, Rymma, was an engineer.

⋙ Few people know it, but Zelensky spent part of his early childhood in… Mongolia, in Erdenet where his father was a mining engineer. But marked by the cold, his family chose to return to settle in Kryvyi Rih, in his maternal grandmother’s apartment.

⋙ Zelensky is a good student and loves imitating music stars with his friends, standing on a platform, a hairbrush for a microphone. He is still the leader of his little gang. And then one Christmas day in 1991 the unthinkable happened: the USSR no longer existed! It’s independence!

⋙ Kryvyi Rih is then a city prey to gangs known for their violence and trafficking of all kinds. Young Zelensky chose to stay away, and had fun with a group of friends putting on sketches in his school, the neighborhood school (“Kvartal”) 95.

⋙ At 17 (!) he took part in the Russian entertainment show KVN, famous throughout the post-Soviet world – and won in 1997! His team became famous in Ukraine and especially in Russia. In 2003, it became the company Kvartal 95 in honor of the neighborhood where they grew up

⋙ Zelensky also became a successful actor and starred in several romantic comedies, such as No Love in the Big City in 2008.

⋙ But what we know less is that Volodymyr Zelensky is above all a formidable businessman. Kvartal 95 becomes a large and successful production company. But nothing would have been possible without the hard work of the most important woman in his life: Olena.

⋙ One day in 1995, Volodymyr came across Olena leaving university, a film in hand. After he had already seen it 8 times, he approached her and asked her to borrow it – and got her number back! Since then, they have been an inseparable couple and had two children.

⋙ In 2014, Zelensky is rich, beloved, and enjoying significant success in both Ukraine and Russia. Then begins Russian aggression against Ukraine, first in Crimea then in Donbass. For the first time, Zelensky takes a stand and visits soldiers on the front.

⋙ In 2015, he launched Servant of the People, a series in which a young teacher finds himself president and fights against corruption.

⋙ 🗳️ The 2019 presidential election is approaching. The country remains marked by corruption and low economic growth. We need to change our method. Zelensky’s inner circle is working with him on a candidacy. Only one person will learn it live on TV… his wife! 😳

⋙ The election is a triumph and Zelensky wins in the first round with 74% (and an extreme right which stagnates at 5 %) . His program: negotiate peace with Russia, get closer to the European Union and fight against corruption .

⋙ His first statement concerns the Ukrainian (and French…) practice of placing portraits of leaders in all official places. High class !

⋙ From July 2019, he voted for one of his main campaign promises: the end of immunity for judges, diplomats and elected officials who can now be prosecuted like all other citizens.

⋙ In 2021, he engages in a fight against the oligarchs, reducing their place in the media landscape and prohibiting them from financing political campaigns. They will never forgive him, launching terrible media campaigns against the president.

⋙ Finally, Zelensky will do everything to put an end to the war in Donbass by negotiating directly with Putin. But the Kremlin butcher refuses any agreement that maintains Ukraine’s sovereignty, and each time derails the negotiations. For Moscow, Ukraine is a colony.

⋙ 😳 Finally, on February 24, 2022, like you all, I discovered this surreal video. The Americans encourage Zelensky to flee and judge that Kyiv will fall in 2 weeks. Russian commandos are circulating in the capital to assassinate him. Hostemel airport has just been captured by Russian special forces.

But Volodymyr Zelensky refuses to flee. Refuses to abandon his own. And chose to stay in Kyiv under the bombs to face the Russian army.

The months that followed saw one of the most incredible victories in history. Russia loses the battle of Kyiv, retreats in the north and is gradually beaten at Kherson and Kharkiv.

Glory to Ukraine. Glory to the heroes. And thank you for reading this thread! Proud to support Ukraine 🇺🇦🇫🇷

🐣 RT @EuromaidanPress Russia, as any other empire, should lose the war of aggression against Ukraine. That’s the only way to have a “normal Russia,” American historian Timothy Snyder believes. ¤ “If you win the genocidal war, then you think this is the way the world works; and you’re educating the entire world that this is the way the world works.” [link:] https://tinyurl.com/4mcnesas
Youtube: Foreign Policy Association – The Peril of Slowness: American Mistakes during Russia’s War of Aggression in Ukraine
💽 https://x.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1798454393525686475/photo/1

🐣 RT @djrothkopf Delaying Trump’s other trials is only a good tactic for Trump if the trials also resulted in a conviction. If they exonerated him, it would give him a big pre-election boost. Given how deeply he fears the trials you know precisely what outcome he expects.

🐣 RT @NatalkaKyiv “I’m observing a stunning picture of the suicide of the Russian economy.”
– Igor Lipsits, an expert on the Russian economy. #Russia
💽 https://x.com/NatalkaKyiv/status/1798537710120153373/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 [TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1798612021224853953

[Text:] Lipsits: I’m observing a stunning picture of the suicide of the Russian economy. It’s a scary but mesmerizing picture. Watching it is horrifyingly interesting. All my colleagues-economists understand that we happen to live in an amazing historical period when a great country is killing itself. Watching it is scary but terribly fascinating.

Q: Is it a reversible process?

Lipsits: At this point, it’s probably not. One more time: a country is first of all its people. When it comes to people there’s a total deficit in Russia. Because Russia is losing its population. What human resources do I need to boost the economy)? To boost the economy I need people, money, and international cooperation. Nobody in the world ever accomplished that without international cooperation. Not a single country with closed borders can do it. It can only become a North Korea that produces missiles. That’s all it can become.

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP Hannity: “Focus on those that want people to believe that you want retribution. That you would use the system of justice to go after your political enemies.”
Trump: “…When this election is over, based on what they’ve done, I would have every right to go after them.”
💽 https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1798524275105607698/photo/1

🐣 RT @marceelias We know from the NY verdict that Donald Trump committed crimes to win the 2016 election. ¤ We know that Donald Trump has been indicted for crimes to try to overturn the 2020 election. ¤ We may not know exactly what crimes Donald Trump will commit in 2024, but we need to be ready.
💽 https://x.com/marceelias/status/1798524818410852600/photo/1

🐣 RT @POTUS Republican elected officials’ extreme agenda continues to undermine access to reproductive health care. ¤ It’s at odds with the majority of Americans. And it’s unacceptable. ¤ My statement on Senate Republicans blocking efforts to safeguard nationwide access to contraception:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/POTUS/status/1798468595606811134/photo/1

… Today’s vote comes two days before the 59th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Griswold v. Connecticut, which established that the fundamental right to privacy protects the ability to make deeply personal decisions free from the interference of politicians, including to access contraception. Two years ago, the Court put that right in jeopardy by
overturning Roe v. Wade and taking away a woman’s constitutional right to choose.

Since then, Republicans have doubled down. Republican elected officials’ extreme agenda- which is at odds with the majority of Americans-continues to undermine access to reproductive health care, from abortion to contraception to in vitro fertilization. Dangerous abortion bans are forcing health care providers to close, disrupting access to critical health care services. Republican officials continue to try to restrict access to birth control and to defund federal programs that help women access contraception. …

🐣 RT @SteveRattner “In other words, permanently extending the Trump tax cuts would make stabilizing debt as a percentage of GDP 54 percent harder.” ¤ cc: @amprog
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1798385164965593360/photo/1

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom There really is a weird double standard where the media can question Joe Biden’s mental acuity because of his age, but when Trump says something completely batshit crazy there is no investigation into whether he is actually emotionally unstable or disordered in some way.

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa The autonomous kitchen train, which was created in collaboration between Ukrzaliznytsia and the Howard G. Buffett Foundation to assist people in frontline areas, is now helping our Kharkiv region.

It helps the region get through difficult times because Food Train is more than just a source of food; it is also a source of hope and faith in humanity and good.

I am grateful to everyone who cares about our people and works to help Ukraine endure and protect every life.

Comprehensive support for Ukraine, including providing our state and society with all of the tools needed to combat Russian terror and save lives, is the best way to protect humanity. Such protection really matters.

🐣 RT @tweetforAnna 🇷🇺💥 Russia has destroyed at least 210.000 buildings in Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion ¤ 👉This is more than if the entire Manhattan was wiped off the face of the earth four times, writes The New York Times.

🔺Mariupol suffered the most – in the spring of 2022, the city was almost completely destroyed. The Russian army partially or completely destroyed other Ukrainian cities. Among them: Marinka, Rubezhnoye, Bakhmut, Irpen, Zaporozhye, Orekhov, Kherson, Novaya Kakhovka, Aleshki, the ports of Reni and Izmail.

🔺 The largest cities of Ukraine – Kiyv, Dnepr, Odesa, Chernihiv – also suffered from missile attacks. Now, in an attempt to advance to Kharkiv, Putin’s army is turning Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region into ruins.

🔺 The scale of madness and terror that is happening in the center of Europe in the 21st century is simply beyond belief . But most of all I can’t wrap my head around the fact that the main culprit of all this is still sitting in the chair of the “president” in the Kremlin, and not in the dock of the tribunal in The Hague.

.
🐣 RT @BillPascrell Senate republicans just blocked a bill to create a federal right to birth control. When Democrats tried last session to keep birth control legal in America 96% of republicans voted no. Remember it all.
🖼 https://x.com/BillPascrell/status/1798461430351491429/photo/1

🐣 RT @BulwarkOnline The U.S. death rate from COVID far exceeded that of peer nations. That was not due to excessive lockdowns or masking. It was due to incompetence in the White House. Time for a great remembering.
⋙ TheBulwark, Mona Charin: Trump’s COVID Response Was Worse Than We Remember https://tinyurl.com/528exhxk “He misled the public, mismanaged the crisis, and missed chances to save lives.”
⋙⋙ 🐣 Correct: Omicron wave, when vaccines were widely available
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1798458449564508304/photo/1

⭕ 4 Jun 2024

NYT: Ukraine Strikes Into Russia With Western Weapons, Official Says https://tinyurl.com/2m465vzh “The official said Ukraine had destroyed missile launchers in the Russian region of Belgorod using an American-made rocket system.” //➔ Unlike Russia, Ukraine strikes military targets

WaPo, David Ignatius: The Pentagon is learning how to change at the speed of war https://tinyurl.com/29535amn “The dynamic Ukraine battlespace has provided a needed jolt to a system that has long been too slow to change.”

🐣 RT @WhiteHouse President Biden believes we must secure our border in line with our laws and values. ¤ He is announcing new executive actions to bar migrants who cross our Southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum. ¤ And, @POTUS continues to call on Congress to act on border security.

🐣 RT @JayinKyiv With Putin’s week consisting of his propaganda networks unraveling, Ukrainian Army now hitting Russian territory with NATO weaponry, OPEC letting oil price drop and China demanding Russian gas at almost production cost, maybe the Russian stock market will cheer him up..oh wait.
◕ https://x.com/JayinKyiv/status/1797967791347384443/photo/1

🐣 RT @TheBeatWithAri Donald Trump is now a convicted felon along with his CFO, campaign chief, White House appointees & several lawyers and advisers.
🖼 https://x.com/TheBeatWithAri/status/1798123382011310413/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: Lindsey Graham, usually a Trump lackey, just delivered a speech completely blaming the Republicans for not passing the toughest border security legislation in decades. Retweet so all Americans see this shocking moment.
💽 https://x.com/BidensWins/status/1798143644622635478/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Fox contributor: President Biden put on the table border solutions, Republicans agreed with him and then walked away for political reasons. He should remind people that Republicans walked away to help Donald Trump
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1798075568233296063/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Fox host: It was your colleagues in the Republican Party who torpedoed your border bill, not Democrats
GOP Sen. Lankford: It was. Trump said don’t fix anything, so my colleagues looked for a reason to shoot against it
Fox host: That’s on Trump
Lankford: He’s got an office he’s running for
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1798068622478496218/photo/1

🐣 RT @cwebbonline If you watch nothing else today — let it be this. ¤ It’s alarming & should be a huge wake-up call… ¤ Our European allies are preparing for a Trump win in November and are making contingency plans for the collapse of democracy in the United States.
💽 https://x.com/cwebbonline/status/1797822630973919421/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Lindsey Graham: Everybody who says we should do something about border legislation, you’re absolutely right but unfortunately, we didn’t get there because Trump opposed the bipartisan border deal. I hate that
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1798090140222370025/photo/1

🐣 RT @wartranslated Putin goes out of his way to hide losses from the Russian population. 20 vehicles attempted to break Ukrainian lines in Chasiv Yar but were obliterated over 5 hours. It’s now a graveyard for Russian occupiers. ¤ They have money for this, but not for a proper dam in Orsk.

🐣 RT @NAFORaccoon So, russia has TWO DISASTERS happening right now ¤ Chasiv Yar & Kharkiv ¤ The Analyst provides a break down of the situation in Chasiv Yar below
[TextLink:] https://x.com/NAFORaccoon/status/1797941510497087659/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @atrupar 4 years ago when Trump wouldn’t commit to accepting the election results, it was a bscandal that dominated headlines. Now, Republicans are saying “we’ll see” about accepting the results on a daily basis and are met with shrugs. This is how authoritarianism becomes normalized.

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: The Biden campaign is circulating this clip showing Trump taking credit for sabotaging the toughest border security legislation in decades. Retweet so all Americans know who is responsible for any border related issues.
💽 https://x.com/BidensWins/status/1798085611519393978/photo/1

🧵 RT @atrupar I’m going to put together a thread on Merrick Garland’s testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. Follow along for clips and commentary.
📌 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1797995473963556985/photo/1

🐣 RT @POTUS I would have preferred to address our issues at the border through bipartisan legislation because that’s the only way to actually fix our broken system – ¤ But Republicans in Congress have left me no choice. ¤ So today, I’m announcing actions that bar migrants who cross our southern border unlawfully from receiving asylum – unless they seek it after entering through established lawful processes.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/POTUS/status/1798078683045146896/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: President Biden just slammed Republicans for failing to take action on the border. Because of this, President Biden announced an Executive Order do deny asylum requests for immigrants who cross the border illegally. Retweet so all Americans see.
💽 https://x.com/BidensWins/status/1798060384487948536/photo/1

NYT: In Shift, Biden Issues Order Allowing Temporary Border Closure to Migrants https://tinyurl.com/438k6ftn “The executive action mirrors a bipartisan bill that had some of the most significant border security restrictions Congress had considered in years” ~ but that Trump killed
// The move shows how drastically immigration politics have shifted in the United States. The American Civil Liberties Union said it planned to challenge the order in court.

🐣 RT @KyivPost #NATO is developing a plan to move US soldiers to Europe in the event of war with Russia, The Telegraph reports. ¤ Several land corridors are being created to replace the main one, which involves landing US troops in the port of Rotterdam and moving them to Poland via the Netherlands and Germany by rail if necessary. ¤ This comes amid warnings from the North Atlantic Alliance’s top leadership that Western governments should prepare for conflict with Russia in the next 20 years.
🌎 https://x.com/KyivPost/status/1797961150123892982/photo/1

🐣 RT @seungminkim News –> The White House is preparing border executive order that would shut down asylum after 2,500 daily encounters, ¤ Border would reopen it once that figure falls to 1,500, per their convos with lawmakers. w/ @stephengroves @ctlong1
⋙ AP: Biden prepares an order that would shut down asylum if a daily average of 2,500 migrants arrive https://tinyurl.com/yrdja68p

🐣 RT @anneapplebaum “Europeans fear a 2nd Trump administration would work with Russians and their far-right allies—those in power in Hungary and Serbia, opposition leaders in France and Germany—to transform European politics, destroy the EU, and eventually dismantle NATO”
⋙ NewRepublic, David Rothkopf: In the Former Eastern Bloc, They’re Terrified of a Trump Presidency https://tinyurl.com/2h5m3wem “For Americans, authoritarian rule is theoretical. But in Eastern Europe, reminders of it are everywhere, as is dread of a partial return to those days.”

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch JUST IN: Wisconsin prosecutors filed charges against Kenneth Chesebro and two other individuals for forgery related to the fake elector scheme in Wisconsin following the 2020 election. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/2ypvpyr3

🐣 RT @WHCommsDir From @TIME’s interview with @POTUS: “Biden has added two powerful European militaries to NATO, and will soon announce the doubling of the number of countries in the Atlantic alliance that are paying more than the target 2% of their GDP toward defense.”
⋙ 🐣 RT @TIME “We are the world power.” ¤ In an exclusive interview with TIME, President Biden discussed his efforts to lead a turbulent world https://ti.me/4c1Fjw3
🖼 https://x.com/TIME/status/1797947161826463961/photo/1

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln On June 4, 1919, Congress passed the 19th Amendment—giving women the right to vote. Since then, women have taken their rightful place in America’s leadership, but small men like Trump threaten the progress made. ¤ This November, it’s time for women to make their voices heard.
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1797977292196425986/photo/1

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP “Now, a former president has been convicted by a jury in New York, and we have a choice to make. We can show the world that we are still exceptional and continue to lead the international community with integrity and pride, or we can prolong the onslaught of crassness, vulgarity, pettiness and righteous indignation and descend into national mediocrity, where there is nothing of value worth emulating.”
– Adm. William H. McRaven (Ret.)

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Conservative former federal judge Michael Luttig: ¤ “American democracy simply cannot function without two equally healthy and equally strong political parties. So, today, in my view, there is no Republican Party to counter the Democratic Party in the country. And for that reason, American democracy is in grave peril.” ¤ (August 2023)

🐣 RT @SenSchumer We’re calling on the DOJ to investigate Big Oil after the FTC uncovered evidence of price fixing and collusion. ¤ The DOJ needs to investigate. ¤ The American people deserve to know if Big Oil execs are conspiring with each other or with OPEC to illegally raise prices at the pump.
⋙ 🐣 RT @SenSchumer After my push to investigate the Exxon-Pioneer merger: ¤ The FTC uncovered evidence of price fixing by Big Oil & OPEC—resulting in higher energy costs for Americans ¤ I’m urging the DOJ to launch a full court press to prevent & prosecute collusion, price fixing in the oil industry
[TextLink:] https://x.com/SenSchumer/status/1796225257730142208/photo/1 -3

🐣 RT @anneapplebaum 35 years ago today, June 4, 1989, Poles ousted the communist party in the first partly free elections since WW2. The election set off a chain of events that led to the opening of the Berlin wall. The USSR’s European empire had collapsed by the end of the year.

WaPo: Netanyahu strains to keep government together amid spreading rebellions https://tinyurl.com/2x3sd8ym “A string of standoffs, schisms and ultimatums have brought Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergency war cabinet to the brink of collapse.”

⭕ 3 Jun 2024

NYT, Paul Krugman: Should Biden Downplay His Own Success? https://tinyurl.com/36vzcmsy “There’s overwhelming evidence that most Americans’ negative views about the economy don’t reflect their lived experience.” ~ Krugman

WaPo: Biden expected to announce new asylum restrictions at border https://tinyurl.com/3w8rhv6d “President Biden is expected to announce a plan Tuesday to temporarily shut off access to the U.S.-Mexico border and restrict asylum for immigrants”
✛ “People with knowledge of the plans said they expected the cap to be set at a daily average of 2,500 illegal crossings. Standard asylum processing would resume when the number drops below 1,500 crossings, an official said.”

WaPo: Fauci dismisses ‘preposterous’ allegations that he led covid coverup https://tinyurl.com/yc8pbt43 “The infectious-disease expert said Republicans have distorted emails between scientists as they discussed whether a lab leak of the coronavirus was possible.”
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1797768729557955053/photo/1

Bulwark, Kim Wehle: Trump Got Due Process and Then Some https://tinyurl.com/5ddfffsn “No matter his or his allies’ feelings about the verdict, it was based on evidence, testimony, and argument—not conspiracy.”

[…] In all likelihood, in fact, Trump got more process than he was due. Nobody in the history of the American criminal justice system has had access to his election-donor funded trial defense team, his supplicant band of congressional Republicans attacking the rule of law and the criminal justice system on his behalf, his Truth Social megaphone of lies, and his compliant Supreme Court majority—who effectively excised Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment from the Constitution on his behalf and punted the January 6th criminal trial until after the election in order to craft criminal immunity for him. […]

Bulwark, Kim Wehle: Trump Got Due Process and Then Some https://tinyurl.com/5ddfffsn “No matter his or his allies’ feelings about the verdict, it was based on evidence, testimony, and argument—not conspiracy.”

★ 💽 Cspan: Dr. Fauci Testifies on U.S. Response to COVID-19 Pandemic https://tinyurl.com/4jnmaeed
// Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, testified on his role in overseeing the U.S. response to COVID-19 before the House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP Donald Trump: “People don’t want to be impeached. They don’t want to be indicted by these scoundrels who are much more evil than people—I’m telling you China and Russia they’re not the problem. We have a problem from within that’s really bad.” ¤ Despicable
💽 https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1797677507665334337/photo/1

🐣 my son is a paramedic who worked throughout the pandemic delivering COVID-19 to hospitals in Portland
his wife is a nurse who did hundreds of COVID-19 tests at a testing center
they wore high quality masks😷 and got vaccines 💉 when available
neither got COVID-19 🦠 😊

★ MolNeurobiology, A Bertollo et al (2/3/2024): Early Life Stress and Major Depressive Disorder – An Update on Molecular Mechanisms and Synaptic Impairments https://tinyurl.com/5n76exhk
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1797675708124156252/photo/1

Abstract: Early life stress (ELS), characterized as abuse, neglect, and abandonment, can cause several adverse consequences in the lives of affected individuals. ELS experiences can affect an individual’s development in variable ways, persisting in the long term and promoting lasting impacts, considering that early exposure to stressors can be biologically incorporated, as prolonged stimulation of stress response systems affects the development of the brain structure and other body systems, increasing the risk of diseases associated with stress and cognitive impairment. This type of stress increases the risk of developing major depressive disorder (MDD) in a severe form that does not respond adequately to traditional antidepressant treatments. Several alterations are studied as mechanisms that relate ELS with MDD, such as epigenetic alterations, neurotransmitters, and neuronal signaling. This review discusses research that brings evidence about the ELS mechanisms involved in synaptic impairments and MDD. The processes involved in epigenetic changes and the HPA axis are highlighted, as well as changes in neurotransmitters and neuronal signaling mechanisms.

🐣 Auriandra States where spanking and other physical punishment is practiced fall into the typical Red v Blue groupings. ¤ Childhood trauma is lasting and inter-generational. Does it affect our adult fearfulness?
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1797665191175610544/photo/1

🐣 RT @RBReich The more Trump can tear down democracy, the safer the oligarchy becomes. ¤ This is why the billionaires who once disavowed him are quietly crawling back. ¤ The ultra-rich will do anything to protect their wealth and power. ¤ That includes destroying democracy itself.

🐣 RT @KellyO NEW: Statement from President Joe Biden:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/KellyO/status/1797620972637278709/photo/1

“I am the President, but I am also a Dad. Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today. Hunter’s resilience in the face of adversity and the strength he has brought to his recovery are inspiring to us. A lot of families have loved ones who have overcome addiction and know what we mean. As the President, I don’t and won’t comment on pending federal cases, but as a Dad, I have boundless love for my son, confidence in him, and respect for his strength. Our family has been through a lot together, and Jill and I are going to continue to be there for Hunter and our family with our love and support.”

🐣 RT @GlasnostGone BBC Report: “The situation now in Russia is similar to Nineteen Eighty-Four,” librarian Alexandra Karaseva tells me. “Total control by the government, the state & the security structures.” In George Orwell’s 1984, the Party manipulates people’s perception of reality, so that citizens of Oceania believe that “war is peace” & “ignorance is strength”.
⋙ BBC: ‘Russia now is like 1984’: Inside a Russian dystopian library https://tinyurl.com/tfu8f3ed

⭕ 2 Jun 2024

ProPublica: Multiple Trump Witnesses Have Received Significant Financial Benefits From His Businesses, Campaign https://tinyurl.com/3stu3nhb “Trump’s attorney, David Warrington, sent ProPublica a cease-and-desist letter demanding this article not be published”

WaPo: For Hunter Biden, a dramatic day with his brother’s widow led to charges https://tinyurl.com/42jx7jfw “Six years ago, Hallie Biden threw out a gun that prosecutors say Hunter Biden bought improperly. His trial starts Monday.”

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA 👀🤞 General Hodges is confident that the Ukrainians will “take down the Kerch Bridge when they are ready”. However, a potentially greater challenge will be disrupting the new improved railway line, – The Economist ¤ 🏝️ Crimea is heavily dependent on the tourist industry, and bookings last year were down by nearly a half. “Crimea has been turned from being a prestige project to a drain on Russian resources.”
⋙ Economist: In Crimea, Ukraine is beating Russia https://tinyurl.com/mvp8kxca “The peninsula is becoming a death trap for the Kremlin’s forcesl”

🐣 RT @David_Charts Democrats historically are the party of fiscal responsibility. Deficits tend to fall under Democrats as the economy booms, and rise under Republicans as it goes into recession. ¤ Further, deficits are about half as much under Democrats as % GDP since WW2.
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1797432680449245303/photo/1

🐣 RT @Pharmspice It was a risk for Ukraine to trust us in 1994 and give up nuclear and other weapons.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Pharmspice/status/1797418097613390089/photo/1
// newspaper clipping (before Budapest Memorandum

🐣 RT @BradMossEsq The rule of law ends. That is what it means.
⋙ 🐣 RT @peterbakernyt What would it mean to have a criminal president? If Trump wins, he will have survived two impeachments, four indictments, civil judgments for sexual abuse and fraud and a felony conviction. Given that, it’s hard to imagine what institutional deterrents could discourage abuses.
⋙⋙ NYT, Peter Baker: A Felon in the Oval Office Would Test the American System https://tinyurl.com/mryjvuyr “Some are wondering how the Constitution’s checks and balances, meant to hold presidents accountable, would work if the next president elected were already a felon.”

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Donald Trump: “China and Russia, they’re not the problem. We have a problem from within that’s really bad.” ¤ Traitor.
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1797283895244632506/photo/1

🐣 RT @NormEisen Trump’s lawyer asked for a July date
[TextLink:] https://x.com/NormEisen/status/1797405961868496977/photo/1

🐣 RT @realDonald Trump The “Sentencing” for not having done anything wrong will be, conveniently for the Fascists, 4 days before the Republican National Convention. A Radical Left Soros backed D.A., who ran on a platform of “I will get Trump,” reporting to an “Acting” Local Judge, appointed by the Democrats, who is HIGHLY CONFLICTED, will make a decision which will determine the future of our Nation? The United States Supreme Court MUST DECIDE!

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln ICYMI: Trump is guilty on 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment before the 2016 election. @TaraSetmayer and @TheRickWilson discussed the verdict on a new episode of #TheBreakdown
💽 Watch the full episode here: [YouTube:] https://tinyurl.com/4rnx25s5

🐣 RT @TristanSnell Turns out a lot of the “inflation” was price gouging — retailers saw there was some real but temporary inflation and used it as an excuse to jack up prices even further. ¤ Now they’re all cutting prices. ¤ First Target and Michaels, now Walgreens..

🐣 RT @EuromaidanPress The Economist: Ukraine gradually gains upper hand in Crimea battle ¤ With numerous [Ru] strategic assets in Crimea now vulnerable, Ukraine is effectively leveraging its aerial capabilities. [Economist link:] https://tinyurl.com/3wkwmkwf

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla YARDENI: “.. Even closer to the Fed’s target are both the core PCED and #CPI inflation rates excluding rent, at 2.2% and 2.1% y/y. We continue to expect that inflation will moderate to 2.0% y/y over the rest of this year without a recession ..”
◕ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1797388710289211829/photo/1

🐣 RT @Azovsouth❗Germany has officially allowed Ukraine to shoot down russian aircraft on the territory of russia with the Patriot they donated to Ukraine ¤ This was announced by Major General Freidig of the Bundeswehr. According to him, the final decision is made by the Ukrainian military

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln [Ad] Every. Damn. Charge. #TrumpGuilty
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1797372621413384549/photo/1

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder Yes, if Trump wins, our flawed democracy almost certainly fails. As Paul Krugman says, this is an important point for people who think not voting for Biden is somehow strategic. For others, it’s more important that the right result in November means a better democracy and a chance for ever better policy.
⋙ NYT, Paul Krugman: What if This Is Our Last Real Election? https://tinyurl.com/y8wj4rj4
// 5/30/2024

🐣 RT @BillPascrell If you’ve never seen it here is donald trump saying that convicted felons shouldn’t be allowed to run for President.
💽 https://x.com/BillPascrell/status/1796908230120997252/photo/1

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary Leader Jeffries: This verdict in the case of People v. Trump was a validation of the American judicial system…We are not a system that is occupied by a monarch or a king or a dictator. We are a democracy and in a democracy, no one is above the law.
💽 [Meet the Press:] https://x.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1797303974728446441/photo/1

🐣 RT @SykesCharlie Pay attention to what Republicans are saying. ¤ Many complain that the charges are strictly political, while others object to the nature of the charges. But no one is saying that he is *innocent.* ¤ Not even his most slavish butt-kissers are arguing that Trump did not schtupp a porn star while his wife was recovering from the birth of their child. His defenders know he is lying about that. They may argue that he did not commit a felony when he paid her hush money, but no one is arguing that he did not, in fact, pay her money to keep her quiet before the 2016 election.

🐣 RT @RBReich Why are multimillionaires and billionaires like Peter Thiel, Rupert Murdoch, Travis Kalanick, Steven Mnuchin, and others are rallying behind Trump? ¤ Yes, the tax cuts. But there’s more. ¤ The more Trump tears down democracy, the safer the oligarchy becomes.

🐣 RT @djrothkopf Isn’t it a little weird that after Trump’s conviction what Mike Johnson, Cruz & Jordan were saying was verbatim the same as the Kremlin, Orban & Europe’s pro-Putin right? Weird and scary? My latest.
🐣 RT @New_Narrative Today’s Must Read: @djrothkopf writes about how an extreme far right conspiracy, which merges MAGA and international fascists, threatens the very future of the United States. ¤. This is no theory. It is happening before our own eyes.
⋙ DailyBeast, David Rothfopf: The Very Real Threat of Right-Wing Leaders Cheering on Trump https://tinyurl.com/2r9v7yhd
// Right-wing leaders around the world have rushed to offer their support to convicted felon Donald Trump. Americans should be very worried about what their collective intentions are.

🐣 RT @JuliaDavisNews Meanwhile in Russia: Vladimir Solovyov reacted to the news that The Clooney Foundation is working on obtaining ICC arrest warrants for Russian state TV propagandists who promote Moscow’s genocidal agenda against Ukraine. https://youtu.be/v5opklMGXcM @ClooneyFDN @IntlCrimCourt

🐣 RT @KyivIndependent Russian troop losses hit record high in May, Ukraine claims. ¤ Russian troop losses in May amounted to 38,940, the highest monthly figure since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on June 1.

🐣 RT @DefenceHQ [UK] Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 02 June 2024. … #StandWithUkraine
[TextLink:] https://x.com/DefenceHQ/status/1797221802160095619/photo/1

● On 21 May 2024, Russian media reported that General-Major Ivan Popov, former commander of the Russian 58th Combined Arms Army (CAA), had been arrested on charges of fraud and corruption related to the sale of military construction materials. Popov was dismissed from his post as commander of the 58th CAA (deployed to the Zaporizhzhia sector in Ukraine) in July 2023 after his private criticism about the competence of Russian defence leadership’s decisions relating to the conduct of the war were publicised. Popov subsequently criticised the decision to remove him publicly, describing it as “our senior commander hitting us from the rear, treacherously and vilely beheading the army at the most difficult and tense moment.”

● In a system where corruption itself is endemic, its punishment is more often a political tool than an attempt to enforce good governance. There is a long history of the Russian regime using corruption charges, real or invented, to remove or punish internal critics or those who have angered more powerful elite figures. It is likely Popov’s arrest is a demonstrative punishment for his perceived disloyalty to his superiors.

● As an army commander, Popov was generally regarded as highly competent and, according to Russian military commentators, was popular among Russian troops. His arrest is likely to further dismay Russian military personnel and reinforce to his peers in senior command positions that loyalty and obedience to the regime and one’s superiors is valued more highly than competence and charisma.

⭕ 1 Jun 2024

🐣 RT @marceelias We now know Donald Trump committed crimes to win his first election. ¤ We know that he committed crimes to try to overturn his second election. ¤ We are five months from the next election. Why would it be any different this time? Except that now, the GOP is his willing accomplice.
💽 https://x.com/marceelias/status/1796950469966737655/photo/1
// Msnbc segment

🐣 RT @djrothkopf Can you imagine a news report that spoke only the truth without euphemisms? “Trump’s not just corrupt. He’s nuts. He’s a felon, a racist, a misogynist, and a traitor. Voting for him for president is insane. There is no morally justifiable rationale for doing it.”

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA The George Clooney Foundation will demand the arrest of Russian propagandists working in Europe! ¤ “We are focused on prosecuting the most obvious Russian propagandists, we are asking prosecutors to issue sealed arrest warrants”, -Anna Neistat

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln Up to 30% of Republicans are open to reconsidering their support for Trump, and Trump’s New York guilty verdict has contributed to the size of this bloc of GOP voters. @TheRickWilson gives his analysis for what Trump’s verdict will mean for November’s election.
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1796934936198263080/photo/1
// used to be 3-8% of GOP might be persuadable; now it’s 11-30%

🐣 RT @ BidensWins BREAKING: Because of the CHIPS and Science , 2024 manufacturing of electronics has surpassed the cumulative total of manufacturing between 1996 and 2020. President Biden’s policies have brought back American manufacturing.

🐣 RT @JayinKyiv Putin’s terror coalition, waging war against democracy worldwide, picking off US allies, being gifted US bases globally, shutting down trade routes, seeking nothing less than the destruction of a western civilization that still seeks to appease the monster.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/JayinKyiv/status/1796905711764414843/photo/1

💙 🐣 RT @United24media OTD in 1996, Ukraine had transferred the last of the nuclear warheads on its territory to Russia. ¤ In 2014, when Russia invaded Ukraine for the first time, for some reason the Budapest Memorandum didn’t work. ¤ Now it’s clear that the wrong country was disarmed.
💽 https://x.com/United24media/status/1796919513054581216/photo/1

⭕ 31 May 2024

📊 Ipsos Poll (5/31): Majority believe prosecution of Donald Trump upheld rule of law, not motivated by politics https://tinyurl.com/davjkrby “About one in ten Republicans say they will not vote for Trump with a felony conviction” ⋙ but in April 33% GOP said they wouldn’t
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1799479915815022847/photo/1
// chart from Latest Ipsos Opinion Polls https://tinyurl.com/mvdjctdr

🐣 RT @EuromaidanPress The US will cease to be a world leader if Trump becomes President and ends Russia’s war against Ukraine on Moscow’s terms, Zelenskyy stated. ¤ “After this, Putin goes further. Then who will this new President of the US be for the whole world?” said Zelenskyy.
⋙ 🐣 Zelensky is 💯% right ¤ Trump will never win the popular vote, but due to the creakiness of our almost 250yo Constitution, it is terrifyingly possible

🐣 RT @BlackKnight10k Biden is on the greatest run of all time.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Etanetan23 Hundred thousand in Tel Aviv and tens of thousands across Israel calling to accept Biden’s deal to stop the war and hostage deal
⋙⋙ 🐣 Netanyahu has been offered a lifeline by @SpeakerJohnson that can blow up the whole deal. He can come here and rile up the hard right GOP Christo-Zionists and the far left pro-Palestinian Dems alike ~ as if we don’t have enough drama!

🐣 RT @WashTimes House Speaker Mike Johnson said on Friday that House Republicans would “drag” New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg to a hearing to testify on whether former President Donald Trump’s guilty verdict was politically motivated.
⋙ 🐣 We’ve seen this movie before. The US House has limited jurisdiction over State courts:
CNN (Aug 2023): House Judiciary Committee launches inquiry into Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis https://tinyurl.com/5xxxa7ms but they can huff😤and😤puff, I suppose

🧵 😂 RT @BlackKnight10k Put together another thread of the best Trump Conviction tweets because the internet is undefeated just like charges against Trump. 34-0
📌 https://x.com/BlackKnight10k/status/1796973472440070619

🧵 RT @jason_kint Let’s do this. As I’ve said in the past, nothing makes a statement on important news close to the newspaper front page. Across America, almost every editor went with the simple fact, “Guilty.” ¤ Let’s start with the biggest circulation. /1
📌 [TextLink:] https://x.com/jason_kint/status/1796504092816421076/photo/1 -4
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/345uvz9s
// newspaper covers

📊 Reuters: Exclusive: One in 10 Republicans less likely to vote for Trump after guilty verdict, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds https://tinyurl.com/28fcwnx2 Among Indy RVs, 25% said Trump’s conviction made them less likely to support him, compared to 18% who said more likely
// Biden 41% Trump 39%, surveyed 2,556 U.S. adults nationwide

🐣 📊 RT @MollyJongFast Oh look, I was right. Being a convicted felon doesn’t help him with voters. ¤ Pundits need to stop letting Trump and his surrogates gaslight them.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/MollyJongFast/status/1796905637437116652/photo/1 -2
// Axios article; Morning Consult Poll (n=2220 RV, 5/31/2024)
⋙ 54% approve of verdict, 52% Ind, 18% GOP
⋙ 55% agree he’s guilty, 53% Ind, 18% GOP

🐣 RT @AntiToxicPeople These people are at a level of delusion that is simultaneously hilarious and terrifying, somehow.
⋙ 🐣 RT @atrupar Alina Habba suggests to Laura Ingraham that Obama is secretly pulling the strings of the Trump’s prosecutions behind the scenes. They all have brainworms.
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1796681528073761238/photo/1

🐣 RT @POLITICOEurope Ukraine is making it increasingly difficult for Russia to hang on to illegally annexed Crimea thanks to an ongoing campaign that’s targeting air defenses, rail links and water connections.
⋙ Politico: Hitting Russia where it hurts: Ukraine tightens the noose around Crimea https://tinyurl.com/yc9zhev7 “Ukraine does not hit civilian targets, but only objects Russia uses for military purpose,” a Ukraine Navy spokesman said. “Russians call us out but never show the damage”
// Kyiv is making it increasingly difficult for Russia to keep the peninsula supplied.

[…] The Kerch Strait Bridge has been significantly damaged after a series of Ukrainian attacks in 2022 and 2023, leaving it unable to take heavy train traffic. That means Russia cannot use it for military logistics like transporting heavy armored vehicles, Ukrainian navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk told POLITICO.

That is forcing Russia to rely on road and rail links across occupied Ukraine — which puts trains and trucks into easier range of Ukrainian attack.

“Considering the fact that the railway line Russians are building through the occupied territories of Ukraine is not finished yet, this civil ferry was their army’s main logistics route,” Pletenchuk said. “Their sea logistics is also long gone after Ukraine destroyed four and damaged five of their landing ships,” he added.

The attack is the latest stage of Ukraine’s complex operation aimed at making Russia’s hold over Crimea untenable. Besides targeting logistics, Ukrainians have used marine drones and coastal missiles to destroy or damage at least 27 Russian warships and one submarine. Kyiv has also attacked Russian airfields and naval bases, forcing Moscow to move its fleet east along the Black Sea coast to the Russian port of Novorossiysk. ¤ The peninsula’s air defenses have also been degraded with constant attacks.

 “As long as the Russian occupiers are in the Ukrainian Crimea, something will periodically explode there,” Pletenchuk said. …

“Ukraine does not hit civilian targets, but only objects Russia uses for military purpose,” Pletenchuk said. “Russians call us out but never show the damage as they know we hit only military targets.”

🐣 RT @1zzyzyx1 This is a twelve-minute speech, but @neal_katyal is so articulate that everyone should hear it. He speaks from his experience with the laws and the courts. Our law states that no one is above the law. #DemVoice1 #DemUnited
💽 https://x.com/1zzyzyx1/status/1796598707514946002/photo/1
// on Trump trial process and verdict

🐣 RT @TheAtlantic “Trump is decrying not a corrupt individual or rigged process, but a person or process that is not corrupt or rigged enough to give him the results he seeks,” @AdamSerwer writes:
⋙ TheAtlantic, Adam Serwer: Trump Wishes His Trial Were Rigged https://tinyurl.com/y37c829y “But instead he got a fair one, and was convicted by a jury of his peers.”

🧵 RT @DecodingFoxNews A thread of Fox News from The Five – Hannity on the night Trump was found guilty on 34 counts. The first half of The Five was dedicated to legal experts and lawyers discussing the case. Judge Jeanine called Stormy Daniels a hooker. Jonathan Turley said Trump was calm. 1/7
📌 💽 https://x.com/DecodingFoxNews/status/1796688083577946313/photo/1
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/4s2t9yjt

🐣 RT @McFaul In the United States of America, no person is above the rule of law. That’s what makes America great! And what is especially incredible about our fantastic country, is that we have a jury of our peers that make judgements about innocence & guilt. And we can appeal those decisions too. What an awesome country!

🧵 RT @danpfeiffer 1. Last night, I wrote about HOW Dems (not named Joe Biden) should talk about Trump’s conviction. I didn’t realize there was a debate about IF Dems should talk about it. That’s nuts. Here’s why Dems should aggressively frame the verdict:
📌 https://x.com/danpfeiffer/status/1796604219073712635

🐣 RT @ZaleskiLuke War declared on America by trump
💽 https://x.com/ZaleskiLuke/status/1796733309076029611/photo/1
// I guess this is the platform

✅ WaPo FactChecker, Glenn Kessler: From Trump Tower lobby, a gusher of falsehoods about the trial https://tinyurl.com/4fvzszj5 “Even after conviction, the former president relies on claims that have been debunked repeatedly.“

DailyBeast, Julia Davis: Visibly Distressed Putin Pals Shaken Up by Trump Verdict https://tinyurl.com/3398mcdm
// Kremlin state TV propagandists couldn’t hide their dismay over Trump’s conviction, but they confirmed that Russia is still desperate for him to win back the White House.

🐣 RT @acnewsitics JUST IN: The producer of 2000 Mules said in court that every single accusation made in the movie was totally invented out of thin air by Dinesh and True the Vote.
🖼 https://x.com/acnewsitics/status/1796706235196010890/photo/1
// Dinesh D’Souza court booking photo

🐣 RT @SethAbramson The insurrection is ongoing. ¤ I said it in 2021. And 2022. And 2023. ¤ It is as true today as it was on January 6. ¤ The people who signed the document below are not mere politicians or partisans, they are active insurrectionsts attempting to destroy our rule of law and democracy.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/SethAbramson/status/1796724279427674401/photo/1
// Mike Lee et al letter of non-cooperation w Biden admin

🐣 RT @BidenHQ 34 Lowlights from Convicted Felon Donald Trump’s “Press Conference”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1796702503247159793/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch Yesterday, Fox predicted that there would be a massive stock market crash if Trump was convicted. Instead, the Dow had its best day of the year.
◕ https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1796688880345006150/photo/1

🐣 RT @JohnJHarwood Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden were not indicted because investigative authorities concluded they had no case

Donald Trump was indicted for felonies in multiple jurisdictions and a jury of his peers just found him guilty in the first one to go to trial

inconveniently for Republicans who feel compelled by fear or ambition or delusion to stand up for a sleazy immoral criminal, both sides are not the same

🧵 RT @capitolhunters Fascinating how the lawmakers upset about a 2024 New York fraud case are the same who helped Trump’s coup in 2020. Mike Lee’s hysterical letter today is signed by those Senators ranking #2, 4, 5, 7, 14 in the Senate Insurrection Index, plus the top 3 for post-Jan 6 actions… 1/
📌 ◕ https://x.com/capitolhunters/status/1796632358277267512/photo/1

🐣 RT @BarackObama Today, President Biden put forward a clear, realistic and just plan to establish an immediate ceasefire and end the war in Gaza —
¤ https://x.com/BarackObama/status/1796633162077855801

— a plan that ensures Israel’s security, returns hostages taken on October 7th to their families, increases aid into Gaza and relieves the suffering of Palestinian civilians, and engages Israelis, Palestinians, Arab countries and the broader international community in the process of rebuilding Gaza.

A ceasefire alone won’t ease the terrible pain of Israelis whose loved ones were butchered or abducted by Hamas, or the Palestinians whose families have been shattered by the subsequent war. It won’t resolve the longstanding conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, or answer contentious issues surrounding a two-state solution or continuing settler activity in the West Bank. But what it can do is put a stop to the ongoing bloodshed, help families reunite and allow a surge of humanitarian aid to help desperate, hungry people. It can save lives, here and now – and it can lay the foundation for what will be a long and difficult road to a future in which Israel is secure and at peace with its neighbors, and Palestinians finally have the security, freedom and self-determination that they have sought for so long.

As the tragedy in Gaza has unfolded over the past eight months, we’ve witnessed an often fierce public debate here at home – and around the world – regarding how the United States should respond. But no matter where each of us stand in these broader debates, an enduring ceasefire is something we should all support – for the sake of Israelis, Palestinians and the world at large. I am deeply encouraged by the steady, tireless efforts of President Biden, Secretary of State Tony Blinken and our diplomatic team to bring this awful war to an end.

🐣 RT @MSNBC “It’s reckless, dangerous, and irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict.” ¤ WATCH: President Biden addresses Trump guilty verdict.
💽 https://x.com/MSNBC/status/1796597458048352574/photo/1

🐣 RT @NickKnudsenUS NEW FROM ELEVEN FILMS! Watch and share #FelonOfTheUnitedStates
💽 https://x.com/NickKnudsenUS/status/1796582156506210548/photo/1
// Ari Melber countdown of guilty verdicts

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder Peak oligarchical christofascism. I send you to die to sanctify my lie.
⋙ 🐣 RT @JuliaDavisNews Putin’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine is so unconscionable that his propagandists—including the Russian Orthodox church that operates in concert with the government—are now claiming that dead soldiers are martyrs and are being resurrected by Christ himself.
⋙⋙ DailyBeast: Panicked Russia Is Now Telling Reluctant Soldiers They Will Be Resurrected https://tinyurl.com/3aj3wyx3
// Russia’s state controlled propaganda outlets are resorting to ever more outlandish lines to try to convince people to sign up and join the war in Ukraine.

💽 Cspan: Former President Trump Holds Press Conference Following Guilty Verdict https://tinyurl.com/mrykeaee
// Former President Donald Trump held a press conference at Trump Tower in New York after being found guilty on 34 felony charges related to his hush money trial. The former president said his legal team would appeal his conviction, and accused President Biden and his supporters of being responsible for the case against him. Mr. Trump also said his campaign had raised $35 million in 10 hours following his conviction. He also talked extensively about the details of the case, maintaining that payments made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels were legal and that his conviction was unfair.

🐣 RT @nyi_news The stock market votes on Donald Trump’s conviction. Trump Media & Technology Group stock tumbles more than 7% in morning trading, down $3.77, or 7.27%, to $48.07. The short interest is 4,590,602 shares, up from 2,158,675 shares in January, according to the NASDAQ. Investors are predicting disaster.

🐣 RT @RBReich
34 felony convictions
54 pending criminal charges
2 impeachments
2 popular vote losses
$88M owed to E Jean Carroll
$450M owed for civil fraud
$8T added to nat’l debt
2.9M net loss of jobs
Is this what Trump meant when he promised “numbers like we’ve never seen”?

🐣 RT @Peter_Wehner 5 years ago a friend told me Trump supporters had given him “an inexhaustible permission slip.” How right he was. It includes (but isn’t limited to) a permission slip for sexual assault/defamation, felonies, fraud, efforts to overthrow elections, hanging his VP and insurrections.

🐣 Inflation in April 2024 was 2.7%, which is 1.6% LOWER than when Reagan ran his upbeat “Morning in America” ad in 1984 (when inflation was 4.3%)
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1796579663021486528/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Inflation, per the Fed’s preferred index, remained steady at 2.7% in April. ¤ “Core” inflation (ex- food and energy) held steady at 2.8%..
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1796541418569445506/photo/1

🐣 RT @brianklaas In any functioning democracy, a candidate being convicted of 34 felony charges, being found liable for sexual assault, being banned from doing business due to fraud, inciting a violent mob, and trying to overturn an election would be disavowed by his party. The GOP is just lost.

🐣 RT @BradMossEsq I almost feel bad for Trump’s base that lives and breathes based on what they hear from Newsmax, Fox News and talk radio. ¤ They’ve been fed a steady stream of legal garbage for the last 14 months. Over and over they were told by “legal scholars” that the case was falling apart. That someone was intervening to save Trump. That there was no case. There was no crime. The Trump legal team was destroying the prosecutor’s case. ¤ Reality sank in yesterday afternoon and they don’t know how to process it. ¤ It’s like Election Day 2020 all over again.

🐣 RT @JoeTrippi We are not a perfect union, and god knows we are not United. There is much that needs to be fixed and improved to make democracy work for those it has failed. Too many believed the lie that our elections were fixed. Now they will hear that our judicial system is fixed too. But the first step toward the future together may rest on asking a simple question if you still support Donald Trump, could it be that our election and judicial systems are imperfect but the best in the world, and could it just be that Donald Trump is really and simply a corrupt liar, a convicted felon and the worst President in American history? Think about it. Talk to your fellow Americans. The answer to that question will determine if the great American experiment lives on past November 2024

🐣 RT @davidplouffe The amazing thing is they contort themselves and sell what is left of their souls for an absolutely shitty vote getter. Failed to reach 47% of the vote twice and in 2018 and 2022 he was the driving force that led to GOP electoral disaster.

🐣 RT @gtconway3d “If you don’t want to be found guilty of falsifying business records as a felony, don’t sleep with the porn star, don’t lie about it, don’t pay her off, don’t cover up the payoff, don’t cover up the payoff in the middle of a presidential campaign ….
¤ https://x.com/gtconway3d/status/1796501728713383951

“If you don’t want to be held liable for rape, as Donald Trump has, don’t grab the woman’s genitalia. If you don’t want to be held liable for defaming the woman you raped, don’t keep lying about what you did and calling her a nut job.

“If you don’t want to be indicted for overthrowing the Constitution, don’t start a self-coup. If you don’t want to be indicted for stealing classified documents and obstructing justice, don’t take the classified documents. When the government asks for them back, give them back. If the FBI serves you with a search warrant, don’t hide the documents and don’t lie about it and don’t have your lawyers lie about it.

“This isn’t that hard. Donald Trump is not the victim here.”

🐣 RT @nexta_tv Blinken: Washington approved use of US weapons by #Ukraine inside #Russia
¤ 💽 https://x.com/nexta_tv/status/1796539326806864278/photo/1

“Over the past few weeks, Ukraine came to us and asked for the authorisation to use weapons that we’re providing to defend against this aggression, including against Russian forces that are massing on the Russian side of the border and then attacking into Ukraine. And that went right to the President. And as you’ve heard, he’s approved the use of our weapons for that purpose. Going forward, we’ll continue to do what we’ve been doing, which is, as necessary, adapt and adjust. And that, as I said, has been a hallmark of our engagement. It will continue to be,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

🧵 RT @jason_kint Let’s do this. As I’ve said in the past, nothing makes a statement on important news close to the newspaper front page. Across America, almost every editor went with the simple fact, “Guilty.” ¤ Let’s start with the biggest circulation. /1
📌 🖼 https://x.com/jason_kint/status/1796504092816421076/photo/1 -n
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/29tjdbxf

Politico: Biden said to be finalizing plans for migrant limits as part of a US-Mexico border clampdown https://tinyurl.com/yc7ejern “The president has been weighing additional executive action since the collapse of a bipartisan border bill earlier this year.”
✛ “While congressional Republicans chose to stand in the way of additional border enforcement, President Biden will not stop fighting to deliver the resources that border and immigration personnel need to secure our border,” White House spokesman Angelo Hernández said.

⭕ 30 May 2024 ⚖️

🐣 RT @officejjsmart “Russia’s budget deficit for January-April was 3.963 trillion rubles ($43 Billion USD). ¤ At the beginning of April, the Ministry of Finance predicted a deficit of 1.4-1.5 trillion rubles.” ¤ Russia’s economy is not tenable. It will collapse.

🐣 RT @brianklaas This is the correct framing. It’s what happened—and if we can’t agree this is bad and should disqualify him from becoming president, we are lost.
⋙ 🐣 RT @hugolowell BREAKING: TRUMP has been found GUILTY of using a criminal hush-money scheme to influence the outcome of the 2016 election

🐣 RT @HelsinkiComm The news that the administration has allowed the use of U.S. weapons against military sites in Russia near Kharkiv is welcome. But we must go further and allow Ukraine to strike all sites within Russia threatening Ukrainian civilians. #LetUkraineStrikeBack

NYT: Trump Convicted on All Counts to Become America’s First Felon President https://tinyurl.com/9jw2wj3p “A Manhattan jury found that he had falsified business records to conceal a sex scandal that could have hindered his 2016 campaign for the White House.”

WaPo: Trump guilty on all counts https://tinyurl.com/4py3bkpm “Historic verdict on 34 felony counts in scheme to illegally influence 2016 election”
// Inside title: WaPo: Donald Trump found guilty on all counts in New York hush money trial
// Inside subtitle: Trump, who is seeking another term in the White House, becomes the first former U.S. president convicted of a crime.

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln “Donald Trump is a felon. He is a criminal who cannot vote for himself or possess a firearm. ¤ It wasn’t some “deep state” plan – it was the result of our institutions doing their jobs and our rule of law enduring. Hear @TheRickWilson’s full thoughts on today’s momentous verdict.
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1796310814661468632/photo/1

🐣 RT @Mediaite The Federalist CEO Calls For Republicans to Draw Up Lists of Democrats to ‘Put in Prison’ After Trump Verdict [link:] https://tinyurl.com/yzx7wrwf

🐣 RT @TheAtlantic “The United States can have a second Trump presidency, or it can retain the rule of law, but not both,” @davidfrum writes. “No matter how much spluttering and spin-doctoring and outright deception you may hear from the desperate co-partisans of the first Felon American to stand as the presumptive presidential nominee of a major U.S. political party—there is no denying that now.” ¤ Read more: https://theatln.tc/gkoiFpkU

🐣 RT @AndreaBNYC That is 5 NY trials in the books.
Trump Corp : Guilty of 17 felonies.
EJCarroll; Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation 2x for a total of $89 million.
Civil Fraud: $355 million ruling
Trump himself: a felon, 34x over

🐣 RT @SykesCharlie “It’s going to get ugly out there.” ¤ Yes, it is.
⋙ 🐣 RT @EggerDC Here’s the text of a post-verdict video Trump just shared to social media, set to imposing music with him walking toward the camera, expression grim. It’s going to get ugly out there.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/EggerDC/status/1796304083885961496/photo/1

[Text:] “This is the final battle. With you at my side, we will demolish the deep state. We will expel the warmongers from our government. We will drive out the globalists. We will cast out the communists, Marxists, and fascists. We will throw off the sick political class that hates our country. We will rout the fake news media. And we will liberate America from these villains once and for all.”

✅ 🐣 RT @PolitiFact After being found guilty on 34 felony charges by a Manhattan jury, former President Donald Trump said the case was “done by the Biden administration.” Here’s why that’s wrong. https://politifact.com/article/2024/m

🐣 RT @SkinnerPm Lifelong criminal gets convicted. He is what he’s always been. A criminal. He wasn’t framed. He wasn’t persecuted. He was held accountable. And he still might be elected president, as we are a broken society. He is what he’s always been. A criminal. And now he’s a convicted one

🐣 RT @SusanSolomon Understand what the Trump verdict means: That, IN FACT, Trump unlawfully cheated to win the 2016 election. ¤ Then the election law felon went on to nominate 3 SCOTUS judges. ¤ What profound injustice to us all that our system has no mechanism to right this history-altering crime.

🐣 RT @djrothkopf I despise Donald Trump. Not as a manifestation of Trump Derangement Syndrome or partisan political animus. It is because he has degraded the office he held and has dragged our country through the mud. He violated the country as he has so many among us. It is unforgivable.

🐣 [Reply to @SpeakerJohnson] Some Christian you are! ¤ Paying off a porn star you had sex with while your wife was home with a newborn? To swing an election!? ¤ Shame on you!

🐣 Schedule:
June 27: Debate
July 11: Sentencing
July 15-18: GOP convention
Aug 19-22: Dem convention
Sep 10: Debate

🐣 RT @ReallyAmerican1 BREAKING: Even WORSE news for Trump in the wake of his guilty verdict: —
// on Fox News

— veteran Republican strategist Karl Rove says that a guilty verdict could cost Donald Trump MAJOR swing states, including Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania!

Rove told Fox News’ John Roberts that an acquittal would have made Trump “Teflon,” especially given the fact that voters will not see another criminal trial before the election.

However, Rove added, “But if he is found con-, if he is found guilty, let’s not underestimate that there is a problem,” noting that as many as 11% of voters would be less likely to vote for him if convicted. ¤ In a close race, 11% is a landslide.

🐣 RT @WajahatAli Donald Trump falsified his business records to hide payments made to Stormy Daniels. He didn’t want this news to come out during the 2016 election. He knew if people found out that he’d most likely lose. He barely edged out Clinton across 3 states. ¤ We all should be furious.

🐣 RT @BillPascrell The updated republican trump team
Trump: 𝗙𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻
Campaign chair: Felon
Deputy campaign chair: Felon
Personal lawyer: Felon
Chief strategist: Felon
Natl Sec Advisor: Felon
Trade Advisor: Felon
Foreign policy advisor: Felon
Campaign fixer: Felon
Company CFO: Felon

🐣 RT @FT Breaking news: Donald Trump has been found guilty of conspiring to buy the silence of Stormy Daniels days before the 2016 election and covering his tracks in business records, becoming the first former US president to be convicted of a crime. https://on.ft.com/3yDos4h

‼️ 🐣 RT @kylegriffin1 DONALD TRUMP FOUND GUILTY ON ALL 34 COUNTS.

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA VERY BIG TOP NEWS TODAY🔝 RT👍
¤ https://x.com/Maks_NAFO_FELLA/status/1796273848012185940

⚡️ Biden gave Ukraine permission to strike Russia with US weapons near Kharkiv region, – Politico

🔥 2 KS-701 “Tunets” high-speed transport landing craft were destroyed and 2 damaged in Crimea.

💥 AFU attacked the Kerch ferry crossing with ATACMS missiles at night.

✅ There is no restriction on Ukraine using U.S.-supplied air defenses to shoot down Russian missiles or fighter jets over Russian territory, – WP

✈️ Ukraine can use the F-16s provided by Denmark for strikes outside its territory, – PM of Denmark.

🇩🇪 Boris Pistorius announced the preparation of a package of military aid to Ukraine in the amount of €500 million.

🇫🇷 “France could soon send military trainers to Ukraine and may announce its decision next week”, – Reuters

🇸🇪 Sweden clarifed that package will include TWO ACS 890 air surveillance aircraft for Ukraine.

🇩🇪 Olaf Scholz’s press secretary stated that “Ukraine’s defensive actions are not limited to its own territory, but may also be extended to the territory of the aggressor”.

🇩🇰 Denmark supports Ukrainian strikes on the territory of Russia with Danish weapons.

‼️ Trump wants to appoint Elon Musk as an adviser to the president in case of victory, – WSJ

🇺🇸 The United States is building a plant in Texas for the production of 155-mm projectiles for Ukraine, — NYT

🇨🇿 The Czech Republic is not opposed to Ukraine using weapons provided by the country to hit targets in Russia, – Jan Lipavsky

🇫🇷 During Zelensky’s visit to France, Macron will present a plan to create a European coalition of military instructors for Ukraine, – Le Monde

🇨🇿 “Czech initiative” announced in February 2024 will provide AFU with 50,000 to 100,000 large-caliber artillery shells per month.

🇺🇸 The United States and Ukraine are close to signing a bilateral security agreements on the sidelines of the G7 summit, – Financial Times

🇳🇴 The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway said that Ukraine has the right to strike the territory of the aggressor with Western weapons.

🇨🇿 “Czech initiative will allow Ukraine to receive ~1.000.000 artillery shells by the end of 2024”, – Blinken

⚡️ Stoltenberg intends to ask NATO allies to allocate about 40 billion euros per year for military aid to Ukraine, – Reuters

Thanks for coffee, fellas 😅☕️ ¤ http://buymeacoffee.com/MAKS22

‼️ 🐣 RT @kyledcheney BREAKING: There is a verdict in Trump trial.

🐣 RT @politico Exclusive: Biden secretly gave Ukraine permission to strike inside Russia with U.S. weapons. ¤ It’s a major reversal of prior restrictions that will help Ukraine to better defend its second-largest city. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/mu5uz3be

JustSecurity, Amos Toh and Ivey Dyson: The Nuts and Bolts of Enforcing AI Guardrails https://tinyurl.com/36v9rbar

🐣 RT @newrepublic Military contractor Erik Prince started a private WhatsApp group for his close associates including a menagerie of right-wing government officials, intelligence operatives, arms traffickers, and journalists. We got their messages. ¤ From @KenSilverstein: [link:] https://tinyurl.com/zs958enk

🐣 RT @tribelaw “No one should be surprised that the author of Dobbs—a decision that cherry-picked and butchered history to reach a preferred outcome—would ignore the intimate ties between this flag and fringe right extremists. For Alito and his fellow GOP appointees, originalism means slicing and dicing history to fit whatever reality you favor. The flagrant violation of the flag code? The winking support for “Stop the Steal”? It means exactly what the justice wants it to, and nothing more. Your offense is the real offense.”
⋙ Slate, Dahlia Lithwick and Mark Stern: Alito’s Aggrieved Letter to Congress Tips His Hand in the Jan. 6 Cases https://tinyurl.com/4ba74u4w

🐣 RT @intermarium24 BREAKING The US has given Ukraine manufacturing plans for more than 1,000 American weapons in hopes of helping Kyiv bolster its own arms production, two officials told The New York Times.

🐣 RT @Daractenus There’s a couple of news coming from Russia that aren’t quite big enough to make it into the spotlight but give a very interesting picture when put together.
¤ https://x.com/Daractenus/status/1796108383549837389

Rosstat (Federal State Statistics Service) will cease to publish statistics on the production of gasoline in the country. They used to publish a weekly report on that since forever. Given they could and do lie routinely, choosing to stop it altogether seems quite interesting.

The record low May temperatures destroyed a sizeable part of Russian agricultural output for 2024 and a “federal emergency regime” will be introduced in the country (30% of the wheat harvest was lost, 50% of fruit harvest, etc.). In the grain sector alone, damage is estimated at 50 bil. rubles (about half a billion dollars).

🐣 RT @KyivIndependent ⚡️EU members who are unhappy with Hungary’s obstruction of collective support for Ukraine plan to respond by limiting the country’s roles in the next European Commission, Politico reported on May 30, citing sources. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/pa84zra3

🐣 RT @FT Breaking news: The US is close to offering Ukraine a security pact. The agreement would be the most significant in a series of deals Kyiv has struck with Nato countries https://on.ft.com/452MG40

🐣 RT @RepDanGoldman Justice Alito’s refusal to recuse from 2020 election cases is a flagrant violation of judicial ethics and will irrevocably stain the Court. ¤ For the Court’s sake, Chief Justice Robert must intervene and prevent this miscarriage of justice from happening. ¤ My full statement
[TextLink:] https://x.com/RepDanGoldman/status/1796190689383825687/photo/1 -2

⚖️ 🧵 RT @KlasfeldReports Good morning from New York. ¤ The second day of jury deliberations has begun for Trump’s historic first criminal case. ¤ Justice Merchan announces there’s a new jury note with a more refined request about the instructions. ¤ Follow along here.
📌 https://x.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1796174480957423752
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1796174480957423752.html

⭕ 29 May 2024

bt9yrnk8 “Numerous studies show that immigration is not linked to higher levels of crime, but rather the opposite.” “NBC News analysis shows, crime overall was down in most of the cities”
// immigrant crime: Sources:
“NBC News analysis”: https://tinyurl.com/457tpfk3
“Numerous studies”: https://tinyurl.com/yd7twvnn

🐣 RT @AggregateOsint In a sign of the escalating global arms race, the US is building a new plant in Texas to produce 155mm shells for Ukraine. This marks the first Pentagon project of its kind since the start of the war. The Mexite plant will produce 30,000 artillery shells per month, doubling the current U.S. production. [NYT link:] https://tinyurl.com/mt5x3jss

🐣 RT @20gimsack Ukraine for the first time hits Russia with western long-range missiles
In addition, Kiev is working on its own long-range weapon, which will be used to hit targets in the territory of the Russian Federation.
¤ https://x.com/20gimsack/status/1795875163168289170

For the first time, Ukraine fired Western long-range missiles at Russian territory. We are talking about the use of Storm Shadow donated by the UK, the attacks were carried out with British permission.

This statement was made by adviser to the Minister of Strategic Industry Yuri Sak in a comment to Bloomberg, answering the question whether the Armed Forces of Ukraine are using weapons supplied by European partners to attack the Russian Federation.

According to him, after London gave permission to attack Storm Shadow missiles on Russian territory, the Ukrainian army is successfully using these weapons to hit targets in the Russian Federation.

This is therefore the first confirmation of the use of Storm Shadow in attacks on targets on Russian territory. Previously, these missiles were used to attack targets located in the occupied territories, in particular to attack the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the Crimea.

In addition, the minister talked about the development of Ukrainian long-range weapons, which will be used to attack targets in Russia.

🐣 RT @TheJusticeDept Violent crime is down in major cities across the country. ¤ Preliminary 2023 counts of murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault in large cities show considerable decreases from 2022, with first quarter 2024 data indicating that this progress is continuing.
◕ https://x.com/TheJusticeDept/status/1795915453702824215/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @tribelaw “The U.S. Department of Justice — including the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, an appointed U.S. special counsel and the solicitor general, all of whom were involved in different ways in the criminal prosecutions underlying these cases and are opposing Mr. Trump’s constitutional and statutory claims — can petition the other seven justices to require Justices Alito and Thomas to recuse themselves not as a matter of grace but as a matter of law.”
💙 ⋙ NYT: Jamie Raskin: If Justices Alito and Thomas Won’t Recuse Themselves, There Is a Solution https://tinyurl.com/25e2afr3

🐣 RT @AndrewPerpetua If russia had the ability to make an armored fist to break through the front, they would. but they cant, because their army has deteriorated so much that ability is gone.
¤ https://x.com/AndrewPerpetua/status/1795975762744397967

If russia could bomb their way to a breakthrough, they would. But they cant. at most they cause attrition.

If russia could knock out ukraines power grid, they would. But they cant.

They resort to dropping thermobaric weapons on civilians, and firing missiles into civilians because its the capability they have in their arsenal.

and if the west has any backbone at all they would draw a line over firing massive fucking thermobaric bombs into civilian populations

WHICH RUSSIA HAS DONE THREE TIMES THIS WEEK

🐣 RT @DougKlain Today, @SecBlinken opened the door for U.S. policy to “evolve” and no longer grant Russia a safe haven from which it can attack Ukraine. ¤ Today, @razomforukraine released a joint letter from leading experts calling on @POTUS to make this a reality.
⋙ 🐣 RT @razomforukraine The time has come for the @WhiteHouse to allow Ukraine to strike legitimate military targets in Russia with U.S.-provided weapons. ¤ @razomforukraine led a letter with 60 top former officials and experts calling on @POTUS to #LetUkraineStrikeBack. Read it yourself 👇
[TextLink:] https://x.com/razomforukraine/status/1795901856545173641/photo/1 -3

🐣 RT @Victorshi2020 Really wish MSNBC & CNN would have shown President Biden’s incredibly powerful speech in front of more than a thousand Black voters in Philadelphia just now. Instead, they were covering Trump’s trial. It’s truly a shame.
↥ ↧
🐣 RT @BidenHQ President Biden: Trump is that same guy who wanted to tear gas you as you peacefully protested George Floyd’s murder. He is the same guy who still calls the Central Park Five guilty even though they were exonerated. He’s that landlord who denies housing applications because of the color of your skin. He’s that guy who won’t say Black Lives Matter and invokes neo-Nazi terms. Trump is the same guy who unleashed the birther lie against President Obama. Like I said, I think he injected too much of that bleach. I think it affected his brain
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1795893493224620339/photo/1
// Biden to Black audience

🐣 RT @gorsushko After immense global pressure, US Secretary of State Blinken finally opened the door to allowing Ukraine to strike military targets inside Russia during a press conference on May 29, 2024 following his canned BS talking point that “Ukraine has to make its own decisions.”
💽 https://x.com/igorsushko/status/1795886414883864912/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 RT @igorsushko After immense global pressure, [—]
¤ https://x.com/igorsushko/status/1795886414883864912

US Secretary of State Blinken finally opened the door to allowing Ukraine to strike military targets inside Russia during a press conference on May 29, 2024 following his canned BS talking point that “Ukraine has to make its own decisions.”

Last time Ukraine made such a decision and shot down 4 Russian military aircraft over Russian airspace with Patriot missiles in May 2023, US & Germany threatened to withhold further military support according to BILD.

England, France, and Germany have now given the green light to Ukraine to strike military targets inside Russia with supplied weapons.

Our take: Change of US policy on this matter will only be publicly announced after Ukraine conducts massive strikes using US weapons on Russian military targets near the Ukrainian border.

🐣 RT @igorsushko Russia: Dictator Putin ordered the entire nation to mobilize and work as if everyone is on the frontline. ¤ Over 500,000 Russian soldiers occupy Ukrainian territories as Russia prepares to send 200,000-300,000 more troops. ¤ Ukraine to mobilize 500,000 more for defense.
💽 [tr] https://x.com/igorsushko/status/1795872784628986215/photo/1

🐣 RT @OstapYarysh ‼️ @SecBlinken indicates that the U.S. might adjust its position on allowing Ukraine to hit targets inside Russia with American weapons. “At every step along the way we’ve adapted and adjusted as necessary. And that’s exactly what we’ll do going forward.”
⋙ KyivIndependent: Pressed on strikes inside Russia, Blinken says US stance will ‘adapt and adjust as necessary’ https://tinyurl.com/ycyybtua

Washington will “adapt and adjust as necessary” its ban on allowing Ukraine to hit targets inside Russia with U.S.-supplied weapons, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on May 29.

The restriction prevented Kyiv from attacking Russian forces massing near Kharkiv Oblast for their offensive launched earlier in May, with advanced U.S. weaponry like ATACMS missiles.

In recent days a growing number of Ukraine’s allies as well as NATO have said Ukraine should be allowed to strike inside Russia, ramping up pressure on Washington to do the same.

Most recently, representatives of Finland, Canada, and Poland issued separate statements on May 29 saying Ukraine can use their weapons to strike targets on Russian territory.

Speaking on a visit to Moldova on the eve of NATO talks in Prague, Blinken said that as battlefield conditions have changed during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. has “adapted and adjusted” the support and weapons it has provided.

When pressed on whether this meant the U.S. would change its policy on striking targets inside Russia, he said: “At every step along the way we’ve adapted and adjusted as necessary. And so that’s exactly what we’ll do going forward.

“We’re always listening, we’re always learning and we’re always making determinations about what’s necessary to make sure that Ukraine can effectively continue to defend itself.”

Earlier this month, The New York Times (NYT) reported Blinken was pushing the Biden administration for a change in policy after a “sobering” visit to Kyiv.

The U.S. State Department began a “vigorous debate” inside President Joe Biden’s administration on this policy after Blinken’s two-day visit to Ukraine’s capital, which took place only days after Russia launched the new offensive. It was the situation in Kharkiv Oblast that changed Blinken’s position, the NYT wrote.

The news outlet noted that the proposal is still “in the formative stages” and that it is unclear how many other high-ranking officials in Biden’s team will support it.

The plan would include permitting strikes against Russian military facilities but perhaps not oil refineries and other infrastructure that Ukraine has been hitting with homemade drones, according to the outlet.

🐣 RT @jurgen_nauditt Ukraine can use weapons supplied by Canada to attack russian territory. ‘There were no conditions attached to the delivery,’ Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said. ¤ In total, 11 states have already given their permission to strike the aggressor country.
🌎 https://x.com/jurgen_nauditt/status/1795828948234117235/photo/1

🐣 RT @lawofruby NEW: Judge Juan Merchan has finished instructing the jury in the Manhattan DA’s case against Donald Trump. And as soon as two volunteer jurors learn how to operate a laptop that has been loaded with all admitted evidence for the jury’s use, the deliberations will begin.

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln Me when I’m freaking out.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1795811689566257459/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @realDonald Trump KANGAROO COURT! A CORRUPT AND CONFLICTED JUDGE. RELIANCE ON COUNSEL (ADVISE OF COUNSEL) NOT ALLOWED BY MERCHAN, A FIRST. HIS RULINGS, ON A CASE THAT SHOULD, ACCORDING TO ALL LEGAL SCHOLARS AND EXPERTS, NEVER HAVE BEEN BROUGHT, HAVE MADE THIS A BIDEN PUSHED WITCH HUNT. THERE WAS NO CRIME, EXCEPT FOR THE BUM THAT GOT CAUGHT STEALING FROM ME! IN GOD WE TRUST!

⚖️ 🧵 RT @KlasfeldReports Good morning from New York. ¤ After a Manhattan judge delivers his instructions, a jury of Trump’s peers will begin a historic process: deliberations to determine whether to convict a former U.S. president of felonies. ¤ As always, I will be reporting live from the courtroom.
📌 https://x.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1795795689814843857
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1795795689814843857.html

🧵📌 RT @SenWhitehouse Senators and representatives and judges make statements to ethics committees. Biden was interviewed by DOJ. How is it that justices, and only justices, operate outside the rule of law?
📌 https://x.com/SenWhitehouse/status/1795827904808718414

⋙ Nothing prevents SCOTUS from setting up a place where ethics complaints can be filed. Nothing prevents SCOTUS from hiring folks to sort legit complaints from cranks.

⋙ Nothing prevents SCOTUS from hiring staff attorneys to investigate and take polite statements from justices, and file staff reports.

⋙ Nothing prevents SCOTUS from asking a panel of senior respected judges to evaluate staff reports and compare findings to ethics rules at the Court and as applied in their circuits.

⋙ Nothing prevents SCOTUS from allowing the staff reports and the panel’s conclusions to be made public to create some accountability.

⋙ Well, actually one thing does: misconduct at the Court has become so rank and so rife that transparency would likely cause uproar among other judges and the public — perhaps the worst reason for secrecy.

⭕ 28 May 2024

WaPo, Jennifer Rubin: The media and sullen nonvoters should listen to Ken Burns https://tinyurl.com/43ay73e5
// The historian knows something about civil war — and moral responsibility in politics.
⋙ 💽 ≣ Brandeis: Undergraduate Commencement Address by Ken Burns https://tinyurl.com/7ueayb6u
// video and transcript

WaPo: Russian gains push White House to revisit some red lines https://tinyurl.com/553fmpfc Biden is considering two new countermeasures: “punishing China for supplying key technology to Moscow and lifting limits on Ukrainian use of US short-range weapons to attack inside Russia”
// by David Ignatius

🐣 RT @PolitiFact Is violent crime “near a record 50-year low,” as President Joe Biden said? After peaking in the early 1990s, violent crime is now down to near-record lows. We rate his statement True.
🔄 ✅ PolitiFact: “Violent crime is near a record 50-year low.” https://tinyurl.com/96f47h22 “After peaking in the early 1990s, violent crime is now down to near-record lows” Truth-o-Meter TRUE
¤ https://x.com/PolitiFact/status/1795590076824461385
// 5/15/2024

🔄 ≣ NYT: Read Transcripts From Trump’s Manhattan Criminal Trial https://tinyurl.com/3umee6m9 “The New York Times is publishing the court system’s transcripts from the Manhattan criminal trial of Donald J. Trump, who is charged with 34 felonies in the case.”

🐣 RT @lesleyabravanel LISTEN: “You either have the continuation of the United States of America or you do not. Which do you want?”- @KenBurns on how if we don’t vote for President Biden it’s the end of this country as we know it. #NeverAgainTrump
💽 https://x.com/lesleyabravanel/status/1795575092782494190/photo/1
// Ken Burns on @Deadline WH

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: Karine Jean-Pierre just demolished Republicans over their hollow border claims. If Republicans cared about border security, they would’ve voted for the toughest border security bill in decades. Retweet so all Americans see this MAGA takedown.
💽 https://x.com/BidensWins/status/1795598483799556471/photo/1

NYT: At Trump Trial’s Closings, Lawyers Weave Facts Into Clashing Accounts https://tinyurl.com/5cn9xmc5 ‘A defense lawyer painted Trump as the victim of unscrupulous people, but a prosecutor said Trump had directed a scheme to conceal a hush-money payment’

✅ WaPo FactCheck, Glenn Kessler: Trump’s (misleading) closing argument to the court of public opinion https://tinyurl.com/n3kmpeh3 “The former president relies on false and debunked claims in his media appearances.”

WaPo: Trump makes sweeping promises to donors on audacious fundraising tour https://tinyurl.com/4mwy738k “By tying donation requests to pledges of tax cuts and other policies, Trump is testing the boundaries of federal campaign finance laws.”

🐣 RT @tribelaw Cannon’s wildly lawless rejection of Special Counsel Smith’s clearly correct request for a gag order against fake and dangerous claims that the FBI was ordered to assassinate him is good news. It’s the smoking gun that will finally lead to her removal from the stolen secrets case

🧵 RT @KlasfeldReports [Prosecution closing argument] Good afternoon from New York. ¤ Before lunch, Justice Merchan dressed down Trump’s lawyer for his “outrageous” comment about prosecutors trying to put his client in prison. ¤ He’ll instruct the jury that potential punishment should factor into decision. ¤ Separate thread.
📌 https://x.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1795515412483883248
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/3p4x4kxj

MTN, Ron Filipkowski: Defense Closing Argument in Trump Trial: A summary. https://tinyurl.com/yxa34jkw

🐣 RT @Angry_Staffer I would say this is unreal, but it makes a lot more sense when you start looking at Cannon as an extra defense attorney for Trump. ¤ Jack Smith has got to go to the 11th Circuit. This is insane.
⋙ 🐣 RT @hugolowell NEW: Judge cannon DENIES Special Counsel motion to bar TRUMP from making statements that Biden wanted him to be assassinated during Mar-a-Lago search — order says prosecutors didn’t meaningfully confer w Trump lawyers
[TextLink:] https://x.com/hugolowell/status/1795474637230428160/photo/1

[Text:] PAPERLESS ORDER denying without prejudice for lack of meaningful conferral 581 the Special Counsel’s Motion to Modify Conditions of Release. Upon review of the Motion 581 [581-1], Defendant Trump’s procedural opposition 583, and the attached email correspondence between counsel [583-1], the Court finds the Special Counsel’s pro forma “conferral” to be wholly lacking in substance and professional courtesy. It should go without saying that meaningful conferral is not a perfunctory exercise. Sufficient time needs to be afforded to permit reasonable evaluation of the requested relief by opposing counsel and to allow for adequate follow-up discussion as necessary about the specific factual and legal basis underlying the motion. This is so even when a party “assume[s]” the opposing party will oppose the proposed motion [583-1], and it applies with additional force when the relief sought — at issue for the first time in this proceeding and raised in a procedurally distinct manner than in cited cases – implicates substantive and/or Constitutional questions. Because the filing of the Special Counsel’s Motion did not adhere to these basic requirements, it is due to be denied without prejudice. Any future, non-emergency motion brought —

🐣 RT @JayinKyiv Has Scholz finally realized that his constant groveling to Putin is making Germans hate him? ¤ Macron and Scholz agree that Ukraine should “neutralize Russian military facilities from which missiles are launched”
💽 https://x.com/JayinKyiv/status/1795505092113629355/photo/1

🐣 📋 RT @AriBerman 15 states with 41 million people elect 30 GOP senators
California with 39 million people elects 2 Dems
Wyoming has 67x power of CA in Senate and 4x power in Electoral College
Listen to my new @reveal @motherjones episode on danger of minority rule [MJ link:] https://tinyurl.com/ypsd7jw8
◕ https://x.com/AriBerman/status/1795481432095359406/photo/1

🐣 📋 RT @carlquintanilla GOLDMAN’S PASQUARIELLO: “.. the US is growing above trend .. wages are growing faster than the rest of the inflation basket, so real disposable income is rising .. alongside this is a MASSIVE wealth effect from the stock market and the housing market .. and, all of this comes on top of healthy household balance sheets. .. US consumption is more durable than the bears believe.”
¤ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1795457045161787400

⭕ 27 May 2024

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski The panicked meltdown continues. He could’ve testified. Gag order didn’t apply to that. But he was too chicken.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1795228785639329883/photo/1

🐣 RT @realDonald Trump Could somebody please ask Judge Merchan, whatever happened to MARK POMERANTZ, the man Alvin Bragg was furious at for the things he did on this contrived and unconstitutional case, and why wasn’t he allowed to testify? Also, why did Judge Merchan not allow Brad Smith, the leading Election Law Expert in the Country, to testify. He would have ended the case quickly by explaining the Law and stating that President Trump did nothing wrong. Likewise Bob Costello, and all of his direct and irrefutable knowledge, why was he so horribly treated and completely shut down by the Conflicted Judge, and why were his Emails and Text Messages not allowed to be shown… And then, of course, there’s the BIGGEST EVENT OF THEM ALL, but I’m not allowed to talk about it because I’m under an illegal and unconstitutional GAG ORDER. This is the Biden White House at work. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!

OC: Wealth inequality by country (OECD data) https://tinyurl.com/37k3swpk
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1795183611861258258/photo/1

🐣 RT @GasBuddyGuy In today’s $, here’s what #gasprices have looked like on Memorial Day going back 10yrs:
2024 $3.55/gal
2023 $3.66/gal
2022 $4.93/gal
2021 $3.54/gal
2020 $2.31/gal (COVID)
2019 $3.46/gal
2018 $3.70/gal
2017 $3.06/gal
2016 $3.03/gal
2015 $3.63/gal
2014 $4.82/gal
10yr avg $3.63/

🔄 🐣 RT @paulkrugman For those saying that Americans are righteously angry because the level of prices is up even though the rate of inflation has fallen, a history lesson
◕ https://x.com/paulkrugman/status/1795134482539819222/photo/1
// inflation under Biden (“Worst ever”) and Biden (“Morning in America”)

🐣 RT @BradMossEsq Let the record reflect that the brave men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice did not do so in vain.
🐣 RT @MeidasTouch This really does tell you everything you need to know…
🐣 RT @LarrySabato How could any patriotic American vote for Donald Trump after he sends out a message like this on MEMORIAL DAY? Everything is all about him. His pronouns are Me, Myself, and I.
⋙ 🐣 RT @AdamKinzinger I’ll just leave this here without comment. posted by Trump, TODAY. ¤ But I will ask, is this who we want to be?
🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote lol his life sucks
🐣 RT @JohnJHarwood good question for Steve Schwarzman
⋙ 🐣 RT @IvanTheK If you’re a Trump supporter, read this, then look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself, “What the f*** happened to me that I’ve gotten to the point that I would vote to put this demented person back in the White House?”
🐣 RT @votevets We at VoteVets do not do politics on Memorial Day, so the day’s focus can remain where it belongs — on the fallen and their survivors. Please keep them in your thoughts today. Tomorrow we will have more to say.
🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump “Happy Memorial Day to All, including the Human Scum…”
Trump’s Memorial Day post says nothing about our fallen heroes who paid the ultimate price for defending our freedoms, instead, he’s focused on attacking the judges and the prosecution in his criminal trial ¤ Trump is utterly unfit for office
🐣 RT @SethAbramson He is insane
🐣 RT @Mollyploofkins He’s sick folks. Wake up. ¤ Trump’s Memorial Day message to America…
🐣 RT @AntiToxicPeople Most of us have become pretty numb to the level of utter depravity and lunacy that spews forth hourly from this truly demented maniac, but this utterly unhinged screed is off the charts even for him. He truly belongs in a strait jacket yet millions worship him. Its terrifying.
🐣 RT @TheRickWilson Totally normal and respectful Memorial Day message:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/TheRickWilson/status/1795111447556444661/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump Happy Memorial Day to All, including the Human Scum that is working so hard to destroy our Once Great Country, & to the Radica! Left, Trump Hating Federal Judge in New York that ‹presi Postver, get this, TWO separate trials, that awarded a woman, who i never met before (a quick handshake at a celebrity event, 25 years ago, doesn’t count!), 91 MILLION DOLLARS for “DEFAMATION.” She didn’t know when the so-called event took place – sometime in the 1990’s – never filed a police report, didn’t have to produce the “dress” that she threatened me with (it showed negative!), & sung my praises in the first half of her CNN Interview with Alison Cooper, but changed her tune in the second half – Gee, I wonder why (UNDER APPEAL!)? The Rape charge was dropped by a jury! Or Arthur Engoron, the N.Y. State Wacko Judge who fined me almost 500 Million Dollars (UNDER APPEAL) for DOING NOTHING WRONG, used a Statute that has never been used before, gave me NO JURY, Mar-a-Lago at $18,000,000 – Now for Merchan!

⭕ 26 May 2024

‼️ 🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow In a 1994 interview with @Harpers, John Ehrlichman, the Watergate co-conspirator, admitted that the Nixon Administration invented the war on drugs in order to imprison Black-Americans and hippies, two groups he felt threatened by. Ehrlichman in his own words:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1794895512551989659/photo/1

[Text:] “You want to know what this was really all about?” he asked with the bluntness of a man who, after public disgrace and a stretch in federal prison, had little left to protect. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

🐣 RT @gtconway3d HOOVER: Prominent Democratic lawyer David Boies has suggested that this is a political prosecution, that Donald Trump would not have been indicted on these charges if his name were Donald Smith. Your response?
// on PBS FiringLineShow
¤ https://x.com/gtconway3d/status/1794909650170589442

CONWAY: I don’t think it’s a political prosecution. I think the fact that he is prominent makes a difference in whether or not you are prosecuted. If you commit crimes and you are prominent, you’re more likely to be prosecuted. And in addition, when prosecutors exercise prosecutorial discretion, they look at who the offender is and what other offenses they have committed. This man’s a criminal. He’s a criminal in multiple respects. He’s behaved like a criminal his entire life. And I don’t think he deserves a pass on anything. And I made that point in a Washington Post editorial piece I wrote in 2021, the day after Biden took office, where basically I said, whatever grace you might extend to a former president for his offenses, whether they be private, personal, during, in office or out of office, should not be extended to this man who basically tried to destroy American democracy. He committed the gravest offense that anyone could commit, and whatever they can get him for is fine with me.

HOOVER: Here’s, here’s a question. Does the fact that he is the former president and the current major party nominee create a set of circumstances where he’s treated with kid gloves, he’s actually treated better?

CONWAY: I agree with that. I think that’s always been the case with Donald Trump. For example–

HOOVER: What would have happened if somebody broke their gag order ten times?

CONWAY: They’d already be in jail. But I have another example. Look at how long it took for the Justice Department to act on the stolen classified documents. If you or I had worked in the White House, and we had taken documents, that many documents home and there was an investigation into it, we wouldn’t have gotten multiple chances to give the documents back. Our homes would have been raided, and we would have been arraigned the next day.

💙 🐣 RT @FiringLineShow One-time #Trump supporter @gtconway3d calls the former president a “narcissistic sociopath” and likens him to authoritarians like #Putin and Hitler. ¤
“All the bad, dangerous people who are a threat to democracy are malignant narcissists who rise to a position of power.”
💽 https://x.com/FiringLineShow/status/1794730208332759502/photo/1

🐣 RT @David_Charts Real (inflation-adjusted) net worth is up for all groups comparing Q4 ’23 vs. Q4 ’19. ¤ Group:
+57% Bottom 50%
+20% 50th-90th
+4% 90th to 99th
+11% Top 1%
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1794875072290967736/photo/1

🐣 RT @GlasnostGone Standing in the burnt shell of the DIY store destroyed by Russia yesterday, President Zelensky urged Biden & Xi to attend his latest summit for peace in #Ukraine.
¤ https://x.com/GlasnostGone/status/1794752658743377950

“To president Biden, the leader of the United States, and to president Xi, the leader of China, we do not want the UN charter to be burned. Please show your leadership in advancing the peace.”

We all know who we are dealing with. Russia is run by men who want to make it a norm – burning lives, destroying cities and villages, dividing people and erasing national borders through war. There is no nation that can stop such war alone, unaided – world leaders’ engagement is needed.” [UA link:] https://tinyurl.com/pcspnazs

⭕ 25 May 2024

⭕ 24 May 2024

🐣 RT @RussianEmbassy Vassily #Nebenzia: There is no General Assembly resolution condemning Nazi Germany for the genocide and other war crimes that it had committed during World War II against the peoples of the Soviet Union and, for example, against the Serbs who suffered immensely during those times. …
⋙ 🐣 The USSR was an ally of Nazi Germany in World War 2 and committed war crimes against the Poles. This followed the crimes it committed against its own people during the Holodomor and the Great Terror. To fight Germany, the US poured weapons into the USSR, or it would have lost.

WaPo, Dana Milbank: Trump’s fascist talk is what’s ‘poisoning the blood of our country’ https://tinyurl.com/42mc58ce “No, Trump isn’t Hitler. But his copycat words lead nowhere good.” //➔ a catalog of Trump’s racist and fascist language: how farce can turn into tragedy

🐣 RT @RussianEmbassy Sergey #Lavrov: Russia and Africa have historically been united by close bonds of friendship. ¤ During the era of liberation from colonialism, the Soviet Union supported the region in its struggle for independence, supported young African states at multilateral venues, provided economic and technical assistance in creating and expanding national economies, and helped ensure reliable defence capabilities.
⋙ 🐣 Russia, lacking ideas, technologies or humanitarian help it can share, uses Africa to steal its resources. ¤ Russia tried its best to stop Ukrainian grain from getting to Africa last year, but Ukraine outsmarted you and used its naval drones to kick you out of the Black Sea!

⭕ 23 May 2024

🐣 RT @MavkaSlavka When one top defence official is arrested in ruZZia, that’s interesting. When five senior defence figures are handcuffed in less than a month, that’s a purge. [BBC link:] https://tinyurl.com/bdhyrv8w
🖼 https://x.com/MavkaSlavka/status/1793872226657395110/photo/1
// Gerasimov with Putin

🐣 RT @ReallyAmerican1 🚨BREAKING: Donald Trump has been BUSTED lying once again, this time exposed by Russia about a brag that Putin would release a long-held prisoner, but only if Trump wins.
¤ https://x.com/ReallyAmerican1/status/1793759411900391531

The disgraced former Liar-in-Chief claimed that Putin would release Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being held in Russia on trumped up espionage charges, if he wins the 2024 election.

“Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, will do that for me,” Trump lied blatantly, “but not for anyone else, and WE WILL BE PAYING NOTHING!”

Russia poured cold water on the comments almost immediately, when Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, refuted the baseless claim, saying “There aren’t any contacts with Donald Trump.”

He added, “Regarding [US-Russian] contacts on the matter of incarcerated and convicted individuals, we can say that these contacts must be carried out in total secrecy. This is the only way they can be effective.”

Trump is a shameless buffoon on the world stage.

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: Republican Senator Lankford just slammed Donald Trump for lying about the border legislation. Lankford goes so far as to say Biden’s border bill would secure the border. Retweet so all Americans know even Republicans blame Trump for the border.
💽 https://x.com/BidensWins/status/1793782834962063641/photo/1

🧵 📋 RT @David_Charts Here are 12 economic talking points for President Biden and Democrats, with charts in the thread on each. ¤ Repeat them so much you memorize them and share them often with our media and political friends!
📌 ◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1793803609861177743/photo/1 -n
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1793803609861177743.html

12 Economic Talking Points for President Biden and Democrats

1. We’re 6 million jobs above the pre-pandemic peak.

2. I’m tied with LBJ for the lowest average unemployment rate of any president.

3. We averaged 3.6% unemployment in 2022 and 2023; the last 3.5% year was 1969.

4. According to CBO, families had more purchasing power in 2023 than 2019 pre-pandemic, as incomes have outgrown inflation across the income spectrum.

5. I’ve got the record for highest hourly worker wages of any president on average.*

6. The middle-class became the richest ever (net worth) in 2022 and is far richer than 2019 now.*

7. The economy is nearly 10% larger than 2019 before the pandemic (real GDP).* 8. Inflation is the Fed’s job, and they are on the case. My job is jobs, and we’ve had rapid job creation throughout my Administration, even since we regained the pre-pandemic peak.

9. I’ve delivered $400 billion in student loan relief to millions of borrowers and would have doubled that if Republicans and SCOTUS hadn’t blocked it.

10. My Bipartisan Infrastructure Act will continue creating great jobs for a decade, with thousands of projects in rural communities in Blue and Red states.

11. My expansion of ACA eligibility plus state ACA expansions have helped cut the number of uninsured to a record low and made healthcare more affordable for 10 million more people.

12. Home ownership rates were higher in 2023 than 2019 for most groups, including young people.

*All figures adjusted for inflation (real) where applicable, for fair comparison
Source data: FRED, Census Bureau, CBO
Data as of May 23, 2024

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote Time for a fake caravan.
⋙ 🐣 📋 RT @CBSNews CBS News exclusive: Migrant crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border have plunged 54% from record highs, internal data shows. https://cbsn.ws/3wDP2d3

🐣 📊 RT @acnewsitics Trump: We were the most respected country in the world four years ago. We were respected more than our country was ever respected four years ago. ¤ FACT CHECK: It’s a lie.
◕ https://x.com/acnewsitics/status/1793779588692082714/photo/1
// PewRsrch: 2021 Global Attitudes Survey: “Biden regains Western European confidence in U.S. presidency”

🐣 RT @HerbieZiskend46 .@POTUS: “Congressional Republicans do not care about securing the border or fixing America’s broken immigration system.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/HerbieZiskend46/status/1793718168512520346/photo/1

Statement from President Joe Biden on Senate Vote on the Bipartisan Border Security Agreement

Congressional Republicans do not care about securing the border or fixing America’s broken immigration system. If they did, they would have voted for the toughest border enforcement in history. Instead, today, they put partisan politics ahead of our country’s national security. By blocking the bipartisan border agreement, Republicans in Congress said no to legislation that would hire more Border Patrol Agents, add more immigration judges and asylum officers to process cases in months and not years. They said no to new technology to detect and stop fentanyl from entering the United States, and no to resources to go after drug traffickers. They rejected an agreement that would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to temporarily shut down the border when the system is overwhelmed.

This agreement would have also expanded access to lawful immigration pathways proven to reduce irregular migration, expedited access to work authorization for those who are eligible, and ensured that unaccompanied children who arrive at the border have access to legal counsel. While it did not include everything I wanted, such as finally delivering a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, it would have been the largest reform of our immigration laws in decades.

So I want to be absolutely clear: while Congressional Republicans are choosing to stand in the way of border enforcement, I will not stop fighting to deliver the resources that border and immigration personnel need. If you believe, as I do, that we need reform now, doing nothing is not an option. We must make our border more secure and we must make sure the United States remains a beacon of hope and opportunity. Today and every day, I remain committed to taking action to address our broken immigration system.

WaPo: Trump just made more promises to oil industry campaign donors https://tinyurl.com/ukyy95tw “The pledges to oil executives came a day before Senate Democrats launched a probe of Trump seeking $1 billion in donations from the oil industry”

🐣 RT @ PaulaChertok 🎯🎯🎯! A vast right-wing propaganda machine assaults the public with information warfare 24/7. And the remaining sliver of non-agitprop media, afraid to cover the right too harshly, tip the scales even more by pretending both sides—fascism & democracy—are equally valid POVs.🤯😡
⋙ 🐣 RT @drvolts Propaganda outlets for the right: TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Fox, most local TV news, most local newspapers, almost all of talk radio. ¤ Gosh, why do people think the economy is bad.
⋙⋙ NYT: The Increasing Trumpification of TikTok https://tinyurl.com/4mwa74n5 “An internal analysis found nearly twice as many pro-Trump posts as pro-Biden ones on TikTok since November, a sign of the right’s use of a liberal-friendly platform.”

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Trump says he sabotaged the bipartisan deal to secure the border because “it made it much better for the opposing side”
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1793734694393012635/photo/1

🐣 RT @ZaleskiLuke I don’t care who you are. If you’re a real American you won’t support or condone ransoming another American for votes.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/ZaleskiLuke/status/1793707927057887348/photo/1

🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump Evan Gershkovich, the Reporter from The Wall Street Journal, who is being held by Russia, will be released almost immediately after the Election,
but definitely before I assume Office. He will be HOME, SAFE, AND WITH HIS FAMILY. Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, will do that for me, but not for anyone else, and WE WILL BE
PAYING NOTHING!

🐣 he’s trying: tougher criteria for seeking asylum, more people detained in Mexico ¤ but the Senate just voted down the bipartisan bill that would have funded it — because Trump told them to; he told them not to ‘give Biden a win’
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1793733231852052843/photo/1
// good border chart

🐣 RT @DNCWarRoom Sen. Peters: Republicans are hypocrites when it comes to the border. They want to use it as a campaign issue, but they’re not willing to debate or vote on the issues to make sure we have a secure border
💽 https://x.com/DNCWarRoom/status/1793714036623765702/photo/1

🐣 RT @AP BREAKING: Louisiana’s Legislature votes to make abortion pills controlled dangerous substances under first-of-its-kind measure. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/bdd7cmra

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary The states with the highest murder rates are predominantly red states. And yet, Republicans want to abolish the agency tasked with addressing gun violence.
◕ https://x.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1793681738528592159/photo/1
// Dem states on list: IL MD

🐣 RT @cspan Attorney General Garland on former President Trump’s claim that the Justice Department had authorization to kill him during the Mar-a-Lago raid: “That allegation is false and it is extremely dangerous.”
💽 https://x.com/cspan/status/1793685630855020804/photo/1

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla NYT: “.. Over a chopped steak dinner, Mr. Trump told about 20 oil and gas executives that they would save far more than $1 billion in avoided taxes and legal fees after he repealed environmental regulations, according to several people who were
present ..” @nytimes #OOTT
⋙⋙ NYT: Senate Democrats Open Inquiry Into Trump’s $1 Billion Request of Oil Industry https://tinyurl.com/bdemz3yf
// Two committees are seeking information from oil executives about a dinner where, the lawmakers say, the former president proposed a quid pro quo.
⋙ This is clearly bribery, an impeachable offense, & should be disqualifying. Is there any legal action that can be taken?

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Fox host: What’s wrong with Congress? Why can’t you secure the border?
GOP Rep. Self: The problem is the Republicans, not the Democrats. My Republican colleagues are unwilling to vote to secure the border
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1793681862231015434/photo/1
// Maria Bartiroma

🐣 Crimes were committed. Financial crimes are taken seriously in New York, the center of world capitalism. ¤ On top of that, you have the crime of trying to sway and election, which may well have succeeded. ¤ And look at how much the country has been damaged by the Trump presidency!

Bloomberg Editorial: A Rare Lull at the Border Gives Biden an Opening https://tinyurl.com/4uwe3rww “Stronger enforcement from Mexico is driving down asylum numbers. But further progress requires real immigration reform.”

🐣 RT @SecYellen America’s strong economic performance under @POTUS’s leadership continues to serve as a key engine for a resilient global economy. As my G7 counterparts and I gather, we must work together to bolster the global economy and promote sustainable growth. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/nhbkn736

🔄 🐣 Trump told the Senate to KILL the Bipartisan Border Bill because he wanted to run on border chaos.
”Blame me!” Trump said.
So, why are you cosplaying outrage against Biden?
BLAME TRUMP‼️

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Perception: 2/3 of Republicans and 1/2 of Democrats surveyed say that the U.S. is currently in a recession. ¤ Reality: The economy has grown 3% over the last year, and we’ve gone 4 years without a recession. @Morning_Joe
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1793592018700263546/photo/1

NYT: Inside the White House, a Debate Over Letting Ukraine Shoot U.S. Weapons Into Russia https://tinyurl.com/4vzdrmzy “After a sobering trip to Kyiv, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken is urging the president to lift restrictions on how Ukraine can use American arms.”

⭕ 22 May 2024

NewRepublic: One Incriminating Footnote in Bombshell Trump Classified Docs Report https://tinyurl.com/4r4atv9z
// A new report says Donald Trump was still hoarding classified documents months after the Mar-a-Lago raid—and one footnote reveals exactly what was done with them.

A bombshell buried in a footnote midway through an 87-page opinion, freshly unsealed Tuesday, spells further trouble for Trump in the classified documents case.

The 2023 opinion from U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell reveals that an unnamed witness scanned and saved confidential documents onto a laptop owned by Save America PAC, a political action committee formed by Trump in 2020. The detail sheds new light on the depths to which Trump consciously violated federal law. …

On January 6, 2023—two years later—Trump’s lawyer notified the government of what this unnamed witness had done and provided a thumb drive of the files to the government. This revelation came four months after the FBI had already executed a search warrant on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate to retrieve classified materials Trump had illegally kept.

The opinion by Howell, who presided over the case in 2023, also revealed that the FBI discovered more classified documents in Trump’s bedroom months after the Mar-a-Lago raid that turned up boxes of classified materials stored in his bathroom.

Unauthorized removal and retention of classified materials is a violation of federal law with penalties up to $250,000 or up to five years in prison. That an aide associated with Trump’s PAC copied classified documents is damning for Trump—who so far has avoided trial thanks to Judge Aileen Cannon granting motions to indefinitely delay the case. …

WaPo: U.S. says Russia probably put ‘counterspace weapon’ in orbit to attack satellites https://tinyurl.com/3dxhfw84 “Russia’s Kremlin has denied claims by the Pentagon that it has launched a “counterspace weapon” into orbit, amid fears of a growing space war.”

🐣 RT @RepRaskin Our expansive @OversightDems and @SenateBudget investigation revealed that Big Oil has been pushing climate disinformation since at least the 1960s. ¤ We urge the Department of Justice to investigate this shocking and lawless betrayal of our people.
💽 https://x.com/RepRaskin/status/1793383774421438678/photo/1

🐣 RT @Acyn Laurence Tribe: Alito serves not for life but during good behavior. That’s the language of the constitution. It is settled that any judge or justice that commits high crimes and misdemeanors, that certainly includes giving aid and comfort to an insurrection against the Constitution which is close to treason, that any such person is subject to impeachment. The very fact that the House will not do its duty is not an excuse for the Senate not to at least initiate serious investigation into whether or not impeachable offenses have been committed…
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1793491225867321824/photo/1

🐣 RT @SenSchumer It’s been 105 days since Donald Trump and the Republicans blocked the strongest, most comprehensive border security bill in a generation. ¤ And they still don’t have any plan except exploiting the border for Trump’s political gain.

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder When Russia conquers territory in Ukraine, it murders civic leaders and other civilians, sets up torture chambers, and deports children for assimilation in Russia. Ukrainians resist because defeat or surrender means Russian genocidal policy on the scale of their entire country.

Religion in the US (book): U.S. Religious Affiliation, 2021 https://tinyurl.com/muw6e6sb Non-Christian and “Nones” (Unaffiliated, agnostic or atheist) were 36% of the US Population in 2021. According to Gallup, by 2070, Christians will be 46% https://tinyurl.com/2f6pmswy ¤
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1793563159875506500/photo/1

🐣 RT @SenateDems “Republicans have a choice to make. They can either demonstrate that they are serious about border security and stopping the flow of fentanyl, or they can demonstrate with their vote that they were never serious all along.” — @SenBrianSchatz
💽 https://x.com/SenateDems/status/1793387620103299538/photo/1

🐣 RT @ukraine_map After a sobering trip to Kyiv, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is urging the US President Biden to lift restrictions on Ukraine’s use of US Weapons inside Russia, reports the NYT
🌎 https://x.com/ukraine_map/status/1793452399014662352/photo/1

🐣 RT @SamRamani2 BREAKING: Russia deletes its draft decree to change Baltic Sea maritime borders

🐣 RT @JayinKyiv Congressman @RepMcCaul rightly slamming the Biden Admin for their insane policy that’s created a safe zone from which Russians can attack Ukraine but Ukrainians are blocked from firing back. ¤ Biden needs to fire @JakeSullivan46 now.
💽 https://x.com/JayinKyiv/status/1793375578328031492/photo/1

🐣 RT @GlasnostGone “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many long months of toil and struggle.
[TextLink: 🖼 https://x.com/GlasnostGone/status/1793335736554467831/photo/1
// photo: Zelensky (Churchill in background)

You ask what is our policy. I will say, it is to wage war with all our might, with all the strength that God can give us, to wage war against a monstrous tyranny never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime.

You ask what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory. Victory at all costs. Victory in spite of all terror. Victory however long and hard the road may be. For without victory there is no survival.”

Winston Churchill May 1940. #Ukraine

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder 1/11. The people who told you that fascism was not a threat were wrong.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/1793288021783031909/photo/1
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1793288021783031909.html

2/11. The people who told you that Russia was not fascist were, if possible, more wrong.

3/11. Fascism is might over right, conspiracy over reality, fiction over fact, pain over law, blood over love, doom over hope.

4/11. Fascism advances every injustice. Its victory will leave us serfs of a vengeful nature, of relentless technology, and of unquestionable oligarchy.

5/11. Analytic clarity is needed for political clarity. If you do not know what you face, you do not know how to act.

6/11. Once named, fascism can be defeated. Indeed, once named it can be easily defeated.

7/11. Russian fascism must lose on the battlefield. Americans can bring this about by supporting courageous Ukrainians.

8/11. American fascism must lose at the ballot box. Americans can bring this about by organizing, canvassing, phone banking, donating, and voting.

9/11. We know from history that fascism can lose. And we know today the contests that must be won.

10/11. Compared to challenges that others face around the world, our odds in 2024 and 2025 are excellent. Americans have chances, not excuses.

11/11. A defeat of fascism is not a negation. It is an affirmation: of a future that can be more beautiful, more just, and more free.

🐣 RT @DNCWarRoom Leader Schumer: Three months ago, Donald Trump told his Republican allies to block the strongest bipartisan border security bill Congress has seen in a generation. Luckily, we are trying again. The only way we’re going to fix the border is through bipartisan legislation
💽 https://x.com/DNCWarRoom/status/1793314214699847849/photo/1

🐣 Abortion IS in the Bible: If a wife has been unfaithful and become pregnant, a priest may administer a potion that will cause her to miscarry:
“Numbers 5:27: If [a wife] has made herself impure and been unfaithful to her husband, this will be the result: When she is made to drink the water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering, it will enter her, her abdomen will swell and her womb will miscarry … “

🐣 RT @mehdirhasan Just open racism from Trump, as ever, which won’t make headlines or any front pages.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Trump: The judge hates Donald Trump. Take a look at him. Take a look at where he comes from.
💽 https://x.com/mehdirhasan/status/1793059740991299976/photo/1
// Both Judge Juan Merchan and Judge Aileen Cannon were born in Colombia; Cannon is a Trump appointee who is accused of ruling pro-Trump

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP Donald Trump continues to attack Mike Pence for refusing to put him over the Constitution on January 6, 2020: ¤ “Mike did a good job until the end when he didn’t have the courage to do what you have to do. He had the right to turn those votes back to the states.”
💽 https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1793309234827792622/photo/1

🐣 RT @mattmfm Yesterday, the RNC head of ‘election integrity’ under Lara Trump was arraigned for election fraud. No leading mention in today’s New York Times. Can you imagine the headlines if, let’s say, Hunter Biden was leading the DNC and his head of election integrity was arrested?
// Christina Bobb

🐣 RT @djrothkopf I have seen some comments suggesting this is due to a Biden communications failures. Hogwash. They communicate this constantly. The media responds w/hot takes that “Bidenomics” isn’t working, stories about how Trump voters “feel,” that stories about infrastructure are boring or with little or no coverage at all. I’d like to see media types on the econ and politics side asked why they have failed to report accurately the truth about the US economy.
⋙ 🐣 📊 RT @DKThomp New Harris-Guardian poll:
– 56% say US is in recession (reality: 7 straight quarters of positive GDP growth)
– 49% say stocks are down YTD (reality: S&P500 up 12%)
– 49% say unemployment at a 50-year high (reality: U3 has been under 4% longer than any period since the 1960s
[TextLink:] https://x.com/DKThomp/status/1793270876550398329/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Top Trump supporter Marsha Blackburn says Griswold v. Connecticut is “constitutionally unsound” (Griswold v. Connecticut is the 1965 Supreme Court ruling that legalized birth control)
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1793312315774849397/photo/1

🐣 RT @MSNBC JUST IN: New images of Walt Nauta, Trump’s valet and co-defendant in the classified documents case, moving boxes. ¤ The photos were included in newly unsealed court records. ¤ Prosecutors allege it shows he was part of a conspiracy to conceal classified material from the feds.
🖼 https://x.com/MSNBC/status/1793264655420338430/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @ReneDuba As a result of Russia’s failed ‘blitz’ to encircle and then destroy Kharkiv, Ukraine over the past 10 days counted the following Russian losses in the area North of Kharkiv alone:
14,000 troops
150 tanks
350 armoured vehicle

⭕ 21 May 2024

🐣 RT @eeldenden “There are many different nations in Russia”. Kaja Kallas says holding the line is not enough. Europe needs a proactive strategy to help locals achieve self-determination. At some point, we could see her leading the EU External Action Service. For one, Macron is pushing for it
💽 https://x.com/eeldenden/status/1792880764498935872/photo/1

🐣 RT @razomforukraine .@WhiteHouse @POTUS: impeding Ukraine’s ability to defend itself serves to empower Russian aggression and bring greater destruction and death to Europe. It undermines the free world’s support for – and investment in – Ukraine. ¤ Thank you @HelsinkiCommfor speaking up.
⋙ 🐣 RT @HelsinkiComm Experts and bipartisan members of Congress agree: Ukraine must not only be allowed but encouraged to target military sites within Russian borders. 🇺🇦
💽 https://x.com/razomforukraine/status/1792999298210119859/photo/1

🐣 RT @igorsushko The absurd restrictions prohibiting Ukraine from striking military targets inside Russia with the weapons systems we supply are cruel, self-defeating, and irrational.
💽 [NYT:] https://x.com/igorsushko/status/1792982809101152437/photo/1
// Zelensky interview NYT

🐣 RT @RBReich In addition to hidden messages in Trump’s social media posts calling for a “unified Reich,” here are five more overt signs of fascism he has openly embraced.
💽 https://x.com/RBReich/status/1793012638508539928/photo/1

🐣 RT @AtlanticCouncil The coming Washington Summit may be our last chance to use the diplomatic strength of NATO to deter further Russian actions in Ukraine, says @GeneralClark at an @ACEurasia event on the authoritarian challenge posed by Russia and its allies to @NATO and the US.
💽 https://x.com/AtlanticCouncil/status/1792971499357262133/photo/1

🐣 RT @lawindsor From noted Leftist rag Forbes: “More than 11,000. That’s how many White House documents the government has recovered in total from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate alone, more than 100 of which have classified markings.”
⋙ 🐣 RT @Forbes More Classified Documents Found At Mar-A-Lago—Including In Trump’s Bedroom—After FBI Search, Filing Reveals https://go.forbes.com/c/jFkH
// docs found four months after completed search

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump “To my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a time when Donald Trump is gone. But your dishonor will remain.” – Liz Cheney
🖼 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1792964275050594611/photo/1

🐣 RT @POLITICOEurope Brussels officials are pushing to begin formal negotiations over Ukraine joining the European Union as early as next month, according to people familiar with the matter. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/bdddmnnu

🐣 RT @TheDemocrats Women could potentially face jail time in Louisiana for accessing lifesaving abortion medication. ¤ This is unacceptable, and there is only one person to blame: Donald Trump.

🐣 RT @harryjsisson BOOM! President Biden just responded to Donald Trump calling for a “unified reich” in his campaign ad saying “That’s Hitler’s language, not America’s!” He is absolutely right. Donald Trump is a disgrace to the country.
💽 https://x.com/harryjsisson/status/1793024656078688606/photo/1

🐣 RT @SenateForeign [Ranking] #Ukraine must be allowed to defend itself, period. If that means striking a Russian bomber launching missiles at Ukrainian civilians from Russian airspace, then Ukraine should be able to take that shot.
⋙ 🐣 RT @OstapYarysh ‼️ @SecDef on whether Ukraine can use American air defenses to hit Russian bombers in Russian territory: “Our expectation is that they continue to use provided weapons on targets inside of Ukraine. The aerial dynamics are a little bit different. But I don’t want to speculate.”

🐣 RT @AtlanticCouncil “We need to equip Ukraine with the tools to win, not just enough to avoid losing,” says @LeaderMcConnell at an @ACEurasia event about the authoritarian challenge posed by Russia and its allies to @NATO and the US. ¤ Watch more: https://bit.ly/3V8OzZx
💽 https://x.com/AtlanticCouncil/status/1792967767101997190/photo/1

🐣 RT @RollingStone Among scenes of Trump taking amphetamine pills and getting liposuction, the movie included a disturbing scene of Trump throwing his first wife, Ivana, to the floor and having non-consensual sex with her. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/2rbb4rh4

🐣 RT @ReneDuba Russia’s breakthrough plan to encicle Kharkiv has failed. Russian troops that had a plan to do this in 72 hours (Why always 3 days? What’s their obsession?) were driven back by Ukranian forces.

🐣 RT @SenSchumer The Senate will vote on the bipartisan Border Bill on Thursday. ¤ The President called both Leader McConnell and Speaker Johnson and urged them to go forward with this bill. ¤ All those who say we need to act on the border will get a chance to show they’re serious.

🐣 RT @OlgaK2013 Russia decides to redraw the maritime border with Lithuania and Finland by expanding the boundaries of Russia’s territorial waters in the Baltic sea unilaterally. No reason, just because this is what Russia does – redraws borders unilaterally by force.

🐣 RT @SenatorRomney Components of China’s grand strategy:
– Monopolizing key industries & raw materials
– Belt and Road
– Buying farmland around military bases
– Stealing U.S. technology
– Spreading CCP propaganda
We urgently need a comprehensive China strategy to deal with China’s ambition.

🐣 RT @ SIPRIorg 🌍 World military expenditure rose by 6.8% to $2443 billion in 2023, the highest level ever recorded by SIPRI. In 2023 #MilitarySpending increased in all five geographical regions for the first time since 2009.
Read more ➡️http://bit.ly/3w5FW8p
🌎 ◕ https://x.com/SIPRIorg/status/1792933369682038796/photo/1

🐣 Item 1: “(1) Authorizing the Use of U.S.-Provided Weapons to Strike Strategic Targets within Russian Territory Under Certain Circumstances:”
⋙ 🐣 RT @HouseIntel Today, Chairman @RepMikeTurner, head of the U.S. delegation to @NATOPAPress, Ranking Member @JAHimes, Representative @GerryConnolly, past president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and additional Members of Congress urged @DeptofDefense to expedite resources to Ukraine.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1793049764746993885/photo/1 -3

The Honorable Lloyd J. Austin III
Secretary of Defense
1000 Defense Pentagon
Washington, D.C. 20301

Dear Secretary Austin,

We write in our capacity as members of the U.S. House of Representatives to convey our
strong support of several urgent requests on behalf of our Ukrainian colleagues:

(1) Authorizing the Use of U.S.-Provided Weapons to Strike Strategic Targets within
Russian Territory Under Certain Circumstances: Our Ukrainian allies are requesting permission to use certain weapons provided by the United States to conduct operations on strategic targets inside Russian and Russian-controlled territory. According to a May 14th report by Politico, the Biden Administration’s current policy is handcuffing Ukraine’s ability to push back on Russian forces near Kharkiv with U.S.-origin weapons.’ Ukrainian officials have watched for weeks as Russian troops have attacked Ukrainian communities from Russian territory with impunity. Ukrainians have been unable to defend themselves due to the Administration’s current policy. It is essential the Biden Administration allows Ukraine’s military leaders an ability to conduct a full spectrum of operations necessary to respond to Russia’s unprovoked attack on their sovereign land.

(2) Training Additional F-16 Pilots: Last year, the Biden Administration approved the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to replace Ukraine’s aging and declining fleet of MiG-29s, Su-24s, and Su-25s.? While this was an encouraging step, there remains a critical need for a substantial number of trained pilots to operate these aircraft as the F-16 fighter jets become available to Ukraine. According to the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. is on track to graduate only 12 pilots from F-16 training by the end of 2024. Graduating 12 Ukrainian pilots is simply insufficient. Ukraine is at war and slots for Ukraine must be prioritized over other foreign countries.

(3) Air Defenses: Ukraine has demonstrated an ability to take out a sizeable percentage of Russian missiles fired at Ukrainian territory. However, Russian missiles continue to rain down on large urban areas, leaving a significant number of innocent civilians and critical infrastructure in danger. To meet this continued and unrelenting threat, our allies have requested upwards of seven (7) additional Patriot batteries to protect large urban areas in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian people continue to demonstrate a strong willingness to resist Russian efforts to take sovereign Ukrainian territory by force. Recent reports indicate that aid to Ukraine is not arriving in sufficient quantities and in a timely manner, exacerbating the dire situation on the ground. Ukrainian officials have expressed grave concerns, stating that the situation is worse than ever. We ask that you work with us to expedite resources as our friends in Ukraine continue to defend their territory against Russia’s brutal assault and aggression.

[Signatures]

🐣 RT @SenateDems Senate Republicans are struggling to explain why they keep voting against the strongest bipartisan border security legislation in years. ¤ Sen. Cassidy himself said failing to pass this bill would make the problems at the border worse. ¤ Then he voted no.
💽 https://x.com/SenateDems/status/1793016497725386791/photo/1

🐣 Looks like we got their attention. (Use translate.)
Moral: If you destroy a country, expect to pay for material damages. The cost in human lives and suffering can never be repaid. ¤ #SlavaUkraïni
⋙ 🐣 RT @RusMission_EU [translated] ⚡️ Today, the European Union, firmly on the path of self-destruction, has, without exaggeration, opened a new page in the history of both international monetary and financial relations and its own integration.
¤ https://x.com/RusMission_EU/status/1793000833845469464

The Yesovites consciously took an unprecedented step – the theft of the sovereign assets of a foreign state. This is a clear example of what “European values” and the “rules-based order” imposed by Westerners are. In this particular case, one of these “rules” was a certain “legal justification” invented in the Euroquarter for fraud with income from illegally blocked assets of the Bank of Russia.

In fact, the EU has demonstrated to the entire world community that from now on it feels entitled to steal the financial reserves entrusted to it, to abandon its obligations to protect private property and investments, and to respect international legal immunities. Thus, theft has officially been elevated to the rank of instruments of Brussels’ foreign policy.

❗️ The consequences of the created precedent will definitely be unpredictable, including for the eurozone, the economies of the bloc’s member countries, and the investment climate. Only one thing is predictable – sooner or later the EU members will be forced to return what was stolen to our country.

Politico: Trump [now] says he will ‘never advocate’ for contraception restrictions after earlier saying he’s ‘looking at’ them https://tinyurl.com/yjuswduj “The social media post came after Trump said in a TV interview that he plans to share a policy on contraception ‘very shortly’”

🐣 this is about requiring women to produce birth and marriage certificates (sometimes more than one) to document name changes in order to vote; it’s yet another attempt to disempower women ¤ there is a law already that makes it a felony for non-citizens to vote in fed elections

🔄 🐣 Russia is a tiny $2Tr economy (NATO is $46Tr; China is $19Tr) ¤ Except for the Potemkin cities of Moscow and Peterburg, Russia is a 3rd world country in which 20% of the people don’t have indoor toilets. Russia is destined to become a vassal of China.
// GDP 2024 estimated

🚫🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: In a stunning announcement, Donald Trump has revealed he will support bans on contraception, including the morning after pill. Retweet so every American knows Donald Trump wants to criminalize sex in America.
💽 https://x.com/BidensWins/status/1792955163180773602/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 what he says is it’s up to the state ¤ that leaves room for states to ban contraception or the morning-after pill (and some states will), but he’s not saying that in this clip; he’s trying to duck the issue

NYT: ‘What’s the Problem?’ Zelensky Challenges West Over Hesitations https://tinyurl.com/yra68h8w “‘Shoot down what’s in the sky over Ukraine,’ he said in a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times. ‘And give us the weapons to use against Russian forces on the borders’”

🐣 RT @RussianEmbassy Vladimir #Putin: ¤ Sanctions imposed on third countries engaged in economic activities are doubly or triply illegitimate because sanctions are absolutely illegitimate when adopted without the approval of the #UN Security Council. ¤
⋙ 🐣 The UNSC can implement sanctions, but so can sovereign countries. For the United States:

“The Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) of the US Department of the Treasury administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on US foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries and regimes, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and other threats to the national security, foreign policy or economy of the United States.” https://tinyurl.com/v7ky46yn

🐣 RT @nexta_tv US offers Georgia support in exchange for democracy and is going to impose sanctions against pro-Kremlin politicians
¤ https://x.com/nexta_tv/status/1792842467148018095

The U.S. is going to offer #Georgia support in exchange for changing its anti-Western rhetoric and abandoning its “anti-democratic course,” Politico quoted Republican Joe Wilson’s bill as saying.

The proposal discusses the possibility of visa liberalization for Georgians, as well as economic and military aid, provided Georgia makes “significant progress in strengthening democracy.”

The same bill provides for the imposition of sanctions against Georgian politicians associated with the adoption of the “foreign agents” law.

🐣 RT @KyivPost ⚡️Until Russia withdraws its troops, the U.S. will supply #Ukraine with the necessary weapons for the country’s defense, Deputy US Ambassador to the UN Robert Wood during a Security Council meeting convened by Russia over the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine. 🖼: AFP

⭕ 20 May 2024

🐣 RT @BidenHQ President Biden: The threat Trump poses is greater in a potential second term than it was in his first.
¤ https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1792637325786165631

When he lost in 2020, something snapped in him. He can’t accept he lost and lost it. On January 6, he unleashed an insurrection. He calls those insurrectionists ‘patriots’ and says he wants them pardoned. He said he’ll be a dictator on day one. When asked if violence would happen if he loses this election, he said ‘it depends.’ Political violence has no place in America. Trump has said if he loses ‘there will be bloodshed.’ Trump isn’t running to lead America, he’s running for revenge. You can’t build a future on revenge. You can’t build better lives on revenge. That’s why I’m running to lead America into a future of promise, hope, and possibilities. Because that’s who we are, a nation of possibilities.

🐣 RT @KenRoth Blinken says the International Criminal Court has no jurisdiction. But the US abandoned objections to territorial jurisdiction when the ICC used it to charge Putin. And the ICC already ruled Palestine is a state for the purpose of conferring jurisdiction. [StateDept link:] https://tinyurl.com/34af7bn3

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom “Joe Biden is, at the moment, losing his reelection campaign. And he is doing so while presiding over the strongest economy the United States has ever experienced,” @AnnieLowrey writes:
⋙ TheAtlantic, Annie Lowrey: The Worst Best Economy Ever https://tinyurl.com/39r6js5j
// Why Biden is getting no credit for the boom

🐣 RT @WeatherProfm”How worried are you about climate change?” ¤ Pope: “Unfortunately, we have gotten to a point of no return. It’s sad, but that’s what it is. Global warming is a serious problem,” Francis replied. “Climate change at this moment is a road to death.” [cbsnews link:] https://tinyurl.com/34jjmt3s

🐣 RT @DemGovs GREAT NEWS ALERT: Gov. Murphy just made birth control available over-the-counter in New Jersey!
⋙ 🐣 RT @GovMurphy NEW: Today we’re expanding access to birth control in NJ by removing prescription requirements for hormonal contraceptives. ¤ As reproductive freedom is under attack across the country, NJ will remain a safe haven for women’s health care.

TheAtlantic, Tom Nichols: The MAGA Memory Hole https://tinyurl.com/2p9wxp3t “What Republicans are doing now is a deeper and more stomach-churning abandonment of dignity, a rejection of moral agency in the name of ambition”
// Many Republicans continue their collective amnesia about Trump.

🐣 RT @hdevreij President Zelenskiy: “We have never used Western weapons on Russian territory because we don’t have acceptance [permissiom] for that. We can’t put the whole volume of weapons at risk.” [Reuters link:] https://tinyurl.com/mpdjk9de

🐣 RT @SenSchumer The bipartisan border bill:
Reforms asylum
Boosts staffing at the border
Stops the flow of drugs like fentanyl
Gives emergency powers to shut the border
These are all issues the GOP have said we must address—I’m putting it back on the floor.

🐣 RT @AndrewDesiderio Per WH, Biden spoke to McConnell and Johnson today re: the Senate border security bill, which is getting a vote again on Thursday. It will fail
[TextLink:] https://x.com/AndrewDesiderio/status/1792701715445325910/photo/1

[Text:] From the White House: ¤ Last week, President Biden spoke to Leader Schumer and Leader Jeffries. Today, President Biden spoke to Speaker Johnson and Leader McConnell. It’s been over 100 days since Congressional Republicans blocked the bipartisan bill that included the toughest and fairest reforms to secure the border in decades. In these calls, President Biden reiterated that Congressional Republicans should stop playing politics and act quickly to pass this bipartisan border legislation that would add thousands of Border Patrol agents and personnel, invest in technology to catch fentanyl and combat drug trafficking, and make our country safer.

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln Truth Social made $770,500. ¤ They lost $327.6 Million. ¤ All in one quarter. ¤ Donald Trump is, and will always be, a loser.

DailyBeast: Biden Says He Was Still VP During COVID and Obama Sent Him to ‘Fix It’ https://tinyurl.com/48chj499 //➔ From the quote in the article, Biden says “during the pandemic” not during CV-19; he clearly means the H1N1 pandemic when he was Obama’s point person
⋙ 🐣 There was indeed a pandemic when Biden was VP, the H1N1 ”swine flu” pandemic that killed >3000 Americans, mostly children. ¤ Biden was indeed Obama’s point person for it. ¤
The slowness of having to grow the vaccine in eggs led to stepped-up investments in mRNA technology.
↥ ↧
PressRelease (7/31/2020): Rep Bill Foster Highlights President Obama’s Contribution to Rapid Vaccine Development in Hearing with Dr. Fauci https://tinyurl.com/nrdj94k6

Press Release (7/31/2020): Today, at a hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, Congressman Bill Foster (D-IL) highlighted the work done and investments made during the Obama administration that are directly responsible for the successes of current vaccines in development. Specifically, Foster pointed to President Obama’s decision to invest in mRNA vaccine research, which is one platform being used to develop potential vaccines in record time.

Foster said, “Heeding the advice of his scientific panel, in 2013 the Obama Administration invested $25 million through DARPA for research into the mRNA platform for pandemic response. This was followed by a $125 million investment by BARDA in 2015, so that by the end of the Obama administration, mRNA vaccines and therapeutics were being tested in both animals and humans.

“The reasons the Obama administration prioritized mRNA vaccines and therapeutics were speed of manufacture, and potency. Without those kinds of investments, “Project Warp Speed” and current efforts to produce an effective COVID-19 vaccine as quickly as possible would not be finding success.”

🐣 The study below proved definitively not only that Hydroxychloriquine did not work in humans but why. Because of Trump, way too many resources were spent on investigating Hydroxychloriquine (more than 80 registered clinical trials).
⋙ Nature, M Hoffman et al [Leipzig] (7/22/2020): Chloroquine does not inhibit infection of human lung cells with SARS-CoV-2 https://tinyurl.com/4xmzjxmr
// ⋘ In vitro, the drug was effective; the problem was, most scientists were using Vero (kidney) cells, a commonly used cell line. These scientists determined that when used with human lung cells, the drug was not effective. ⋙ [me]

🐣 RT @tribelaw “HOW MANY LAST STRAWS can there be? When it comes to the Supreme Court, the supply appears to be infinite. The Court needs an extreme makeover ASAP, and that is far from an extreme idea. It’s the only path back to a high court that is trustworthy, balanced, logical, and durable.” [Bulwark link:] https://tinyurl.com/2ednc96c

🔄 🐣 Epidemic is over. Dow closes over 40,000 for the first time in history! Inflation is down. Crime is down. Unemployment under 4% for 27 straight months. Wages exceed inflation. New businesses! ACA enrollment up. NATO expanding. US best GDP in G7! Infrastructure being built. 😃
¤ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1792573950322475516

⭕ 19 May 2024

🔄 😂 RT @mattsheffield Russian state television regards Donald Trump as their useful idiot and sees his supporters as “primitive people” who have to be spoken to like children. ¤ They don’t say things like this about supporters of other candidates.
💽 https://x.com/mattsheffield/status/1792220595499020769/photo/1

🔄🔄 💙 🐣 Important thread:
¤ https://x.com/duty2warn/status/1768567654111932739
🧵 RT @duty2warn (5/15/2024) 1/20 Over 400 licensed medical and mental health professionals have agreed Trump shows clear signs of “probable dementia.” But even more persuasive than their signatures on our petition are what they had to say. Only in this long Tweet can you read their words verbatim.
Please hear their voices! (RT)
📌 https://x.com/duty2warn/status/1768567654111932739
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1768567654111932739.html
// 400 psych dementia

🐣 RT @StateDept When we hold the @NATO Washington Summit in July, we’ll take tangible steps to increase NATO’s role in building a capable Ukrainian force, supporting its ongoing reforms, better integrating Ukraine into the Alliance.
🖼 https://x.com/StateDept/status/1792291637726765196/photo/1

🐣 RT @AndrewDesiderio News: Schumer announces Senate will vote this week on the bipartisan border security bill, as he’s been teasing for weeks. It will fail ¤ Schumer has been pretty clear that Dems view this as a chance to draw a contrast w/ R’s on border security — & boost vulnerabe Dem incumbents.
[TextLink (letter):] https://x.com/AndrewDesiderio/status/1792318102094389378/photo/1

‼️ 🐣 RT @AP BREAKING:’No sign of life’ detected at crash site of helicopter carrying President Ebrahim Raisi, others, Iran state TV says [link:] https://tinyurl.com/2h7nfs4x

🐣 RT @general_ben Ukraine making Crimea untenable for Russian forces, denying Russia the use of the decisive terrain of the War. Nowhere for Russians to hide their hq’s, logistics, aircraft, naval facilities on this Peninsula which is the same size as Massachusetts.
⋙ 🐣 RT @JayinKyiv In what must be Ukraine’s largest attack on Crimea to date, explosions covering essentially every main Russian military hot spot on the peninsula in the past hour. ¤ Dzankoy, Sevastopol, Simferopol, Yevpatoria, Kirovskoye, Saky, more
🌎 https://x.com/JayinKyiv/status/1791954064034365915/photo/1

⭕ 18 May 2024

[Abortion in the Bible] 🐣 RT @Cfos39 No it’s in there. Numbers 5:24-27 gives instructions on how to cause an abortion if you suspect your wife was unfaithful. …
[Bible link:] https://tinyurl.com/27rdksze

[Text:] Numbers 5:24-28
24 He shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and this water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering will enter her.
25 The priest is to take from her hands the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the LORD and bring it to the altar.
26 The priest is then to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial offering and burn it on the altar; after that, he is to have the woman drink the water.
27 If she has made herself impure and been unfaithful to her husband, this will be the result: When she is made to drink the water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering, it will enter her, her abdomen will swell and her womb will miscarry, and she will become a curse.
28 If, however, the woman has not made herself impure, but is clean, she will be cleared of guilt and will be able to have children.

🐣 RT @JayinKyiv Putin must now be in a constant state of territorial expansion, continously gaining territories, for the remainder of his lifetime. ¤ If at any point, he begins losing territories, Russians will likely oust him in a bloody way. ¤ Russians are hooked.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/JayinKyiv/status/1791890036029305174/photo/1

[Text:] The Russian president has reshuffled his government, integrating the country’s defence and civil economies to turn it into a permanently mobilised state, writes Russia expert Mark Galeotti

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Trump claims that someone told him that he would beat Washington and Lincoln by 35 points. ¤ This is a reminder that Trump lost the 2020 presidential popular vote by 7 million votes.

💽 🐣 RT @politico Trump at NRA convention floats a three-term presidency [link:] https://tinyurl.com/3d3vr9fs

🐣 RT @scarylawyerguy A 5-4, unsigned, good-for-this-case-only decision handed down by justices who owed their jobs directly, or indirectly to the father of the guy they handed the presidency to. THAT is when the modern Supreme Court decided “fuck it, we’re just gonna do what we want, screw democracy”
🖼 https://x.com/scarylawyerguy/status/1791837582877188270/photo/1
// 12/11/2000, NYT: “Bush Prevails as Justices, 5-4, End Recounting”

🐣 RT @julesterpak Marjorie Taylor Greene: “I think your fake eyelashes are messing up”
// Oversight Committee Meeting (5/17)
💽 https://x.com/julesterpak/status/1791479430046474260/photo/1

AOC: “That is absolutely unacceptable. How dare you attack the physical appearance of another person”

Marjorie Taylor Greene: “Why don’t you debate me?”

AOC: “I think it’s gonna be self-evident”

Marjorie Taylor Greene: “Yeah, you don’t have enough intelligence” …

James Comer: “Miss Greene, do you agree to unanimous consent to strike your words?”

Marjorie Taylor Greene: “Yes, I’ll strike my words but I’m not apologizing”

Jasmine Crockett: “I’m just curious to better understand your ruling. If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody’s bleach blonde, bad built, butch body… that would not be engaging in personalities correct?”

James Comer: “Uh, a what now?”

⇈ ⇊ ( song of ↧ )
🐣 RT @mmpadellan This is AWESOME! 🔥🔥🔥
⋙ 😂 🎸 RT @Tn_Brando “Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Body” Sorry I had to…. 😂
💽 https://x.com/mmpadellan/status/1791998489523626058/photo/1

🐣 RT @MikeHudema #ClimateChange is caused by human greenhouse gas emissions. We’re causing #globalwarming 100 times faster than past natural changes ¤ We are taking Earth’s climate beyond natural limits with carbon dioxide & temperatures levels not seen for 3 million years. ¤ #ActOnClimate
💽 https://x.com/MikeHudema/status/1791857313269080073/photo/1

🐣 RT @amanpour “You cannot avoid the inevitable, Ukraine will join NATO.” Ex-NATO chief
@AndersFoghR says talks on Ukraine joining the transatlantic military alliance must start ASAP. “We need Ukraine as a bulwark against an aggressive Russia,” he tells me.
💽 https://x.com/amanpour/status/1791850247922082265/photo/1

🐣 RT @GlasnostGone Today Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili vetoed the law on foreign agents. Said the law “in its essence and spirit is a Russian law that contradicts our Constitution and all European standards, and therefore it’s an obstacle to our European path.”
⋙ 🐣 RT @pepeppepppepep Unfortunately the veto basically means she can make proposed amendments and send it back for further deliberation. ¤ Hoping it can somehow be defeated.

🐣 RT @USA_Polling Biden raking in more cash and Trump less than 2020 ¤ Cash won’t win elections, but it sure as hell makes them easier
🌎 https://x.com/USA_Polling/status/1791855066728558994/photo/1

⭕ 17 May 2024

VOA: Moscow blames West for Ukraine’s long-range weapon strikes inside Russia https://tinyurl.com/yckfn9nc  Statement: ‘“[W]e should like to unequivocally warn Washington, London, Brussels and other Western capitals, as well as Kyiv, which is under their control, that they are playing with fire. Russia will not leave such encroachments on its territory unanswered”

ONLINE[.]UA: Russian air defence in Crimea weakened, British intelligence says https://tinyurl.com/2w5fswvh Ukraine’s successful attacks on Crimea have led to the loss of the ability of Russian air defence to effectively cover the occupied peninsula.

🐣 RT @haaretzcom “His mood recently has been delusional and dangerous,” one government minister tells Haaretz about Netanyahu. “He’s lost it, and we’re all going down with him. In his view, everyone can pay any price as long as he survives” [link]

🐣 RT @simonateba … Democratic congressman Jamie Raskin (@RepRaskin) ruthlessly attacks Trump, MAGA and Republicans in Congress, says their spiritual leader, a fraudster and rapist who paid a porn star, and is on trial for falsifying business records is being called the Messiah.
💽 https://x.com/simonateba/status/1791591735312732349/photo/1

🐣 RT @NewsHour “Demanding such sensitive and constitutionally protected law enforcement materials from the Executive Branch because you want to manipulate them for potential political gain is inappropriate,” White House counsel Ed Siskel wrote.
⋙ PBS: White House blocks audio of Biden’s special counsel interview, arguing GOP has political motives https://tinyurl.com/mpth5p88

🐣 RT @starsandstripes Trucks carrying badly needed aid for the Gaza Strip rolled across a newly built U.S. pier and into the besieged enclave for the first time Friday as Israeli restrictions on border crossings and heavy fighting hindered the deliveries. ¤ Read more at:
⋙ Starrs&Stripes: Trucks rolling across new US pier into Gaza, but challenges remain to getting enough aid in https://tinyurl.com/v34tr5z9

🐣 RT @David_Charts Fastest wage growth over the last four years among historically disadvantaged groups: Low-wage workers’ wages surged after decades of slow growth https://shar.es/agt4dZ via @economicpolicy
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1791641591905464668/photo/1

🐣 RT @ColMoeDavis Dow closes over 40,000 for the first time in history! Inflation is down. Crime is down. Unemployment under 4% for 27 straight months. Wages are up. Stock market is up. How much more @JoeBiden can America take? How about 4 more years!
◕ https://x.com/ColMoeDavis/status/1791580997936402825/photo/1

🐣 RT @SenWhitehouse A 100-1 payback every year on their “investments” in politics is about what Big Oil has gotten used to. Remember, their spending on Republicans helps the fossil fuel industry protect an annual subsidy now pegged at $760 billion.

🐣 RT @Prune602 Now that Russia is losing foreign arms contracts, it appears Russia will have to self finance their R&D…something they may not be able to afford. ¤ Remember Russian equipment isn’t having the best showing in Ukraine & France has displaced Russia to take 2nd place in arms exports. […]

🐣 RT @CENTCOM Today at approximately 9 a.m. (Gaza time), trucks carrying humanitarian assistance began moving ashore via a temporary pier in Gaza. No U.S. troops went ashore in Gaza. This is an ongoing, multinational effort to deliver additional aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza via a maritime corridor that is entirely humanitarian in nature, and will involve aid commodities donated by a number of countries and humanitarian organizations.

⭕ 16 May 2024

🐣 RT @GavinNewsom I did not mince words at the Vatican Climate Summit today: ¤ What Donald Trump is doing is open corruption. ¤ He’s asking Big Oil for $1 billion. ¤ In return, they get to roll back our environmental protections. ¤ He’s literally selling off our planet to the highest bidder.
💽 https://x.com/GavinNewsom/status/1791170138651451470/photo/1

🐣 RT @ryanburge Evangelical Christianity was 30% of the population in 1993. ¤ It was 27% in 2004. ¤ In 2021, it dropped to 17% of the population. ¤ It slightly rebounded to 18% in 2022.
◕ https://x.com/ryanburge/status/1791080620258431024/photo/1

DailyBeast, David Rothkopf: All Signs Point to a Trump Debate Meltdown https://tinyurl.com/mr2zb8kv “Biden is eager for the chance to stand toe-to-toe with his predecessor because it will be incredibly hard to look worse in comparison.”

🐣 RT @MykhailoRohoza [source not provided!] If we don’t conquer Ukraine now… We’re losing everything!
¤ https://x.com/MykhailoRohoza/status/1791198654293754240
● We will not receive shale gas deposits in the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions.
● We will not get such” critical raw materials ” as lithium, cobalt, scandium, graphite, tantalum, niobium and others… which Ukraine is rich in.
We will not get a source of bread and food… where there are huge reserves, surplus bread, but it is difficult to take them immediately, there is still Bandera…
We must move at least three million companies from northern hungry Russia to Ukraine.
Помістити to place an army of one and a half million in Ukraine, closer to the EU borders, so that they tremble…
● In the occupied territories, it is necessary to expand the use of shootings and post all this on social networks…
Fear is our main weapon.
Without this, it is impossible to build the Russia of the future.
Without law enforcement agencies and other similar organizations with punitive functions, the Russian Federation cannot exist as an empire.
/ Patrushev at a closed meeting of the Russian Security Council!/
// Source!?

🐣 RT @David_Charts “In 2024, ACA Marketplace enrollment hit a new record high, reaching over 21 million people, almost double the 11 million enrolled in 2020. This growth can be largely attributed to enhanced subsidies [from] the American Rescue Plan Act…and IRA.”
⋙ KFF: Where ACA Marketplace Enrollment is Growing the Fastest, and Why https://tinyurl.com/2p9rtj4z
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1791307237165514859/photo/1

🐣 RT @ChrisMurphyCT NEWS: Today I’m reintroducing the bipartisan border security bill. I’m hopeful that the Senate will vote on it ASAP. ¤ Will Republicans again vote against the bill THEY NEGOTIATED just bc Trump told them to keep the border a mess? Or do they want to fix the problem? ¤ We’ll see!

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote Wow. In his daily courthouse remarks, Trump just admitted that he was part of the NDA with Stormy Daniels. “I have the only illegal NDA” (he’s trying to say all NDAs are legal), but he’s just admitted he’s part of the NDA. That kinda blows his whole defense to smithereens.

🐣 RT @SenSchumer Americans don’t want just talk on the border. ¤ Americans want action. ¤ Americans want Congress to pass border security like the bipartisan Senate border bill. ¤ Trump killed it for his political gain. ¤ But Democrats haven’t walked away—We stand ready to act.
⋙ 🐣 Biden said he won’t sign the House’s HR2 and the Senate won’t take it up. ¤ McConnell supports the Senate’s bipartisan border bill, as do the GOP moderates. ¤ The House is down to a 1-seat majority. If Johnson brings the Senate bill up, it will pass.
⋙ NBCNews (Jan): ‘Immoral’: Some Republicans rebuke efforts to kill immigration deal to help Trump https://tinyurl.com/4avactjs “The fight over an emerging border … bill grew tense Thursday as the GOP split over whether to sink the deal to boost Donald Trump’s presidential campaign”
// 1/25/2024

🐣 RT @AlexGabuev The deepening of alignment is one of the most consequential geopolitical outcomes of Russia’s war against Ukraine. How so, and why is this important? I wrote about it in a new essay for @ForeignAffairs. Some key takeaways in a1/20
⋙ ForeignAffairs, Alexander Gabuev (Apr 9): Putin and Xi’s Unholy Alliance: Why the West Won’t Be Able to Drive a Wedge Between Russia and China https://tinyurl.com/4tbs7b99
// 4/9/2024

🐣 RT @meduza_en Meduza has obtained a new set of Kremlin media guidelines for propagandists covering Putin’s post-inauguration cabinet reshuffle. Here’s what the instructions say — and what they neglect to mention.
⋙ Meduza [UA]: ‘Putin always chooses the best’ Here’s how the Kremlin wants its propagandists to cover Russia’s cabinet shakeup https://tinyurl.com/nhj8ntv4

🐣 RT @SenSchumer It’s been 99 days since Donald Trump and the Republicans blocked the strongest, most comprehensive border security bill in a generation. ¤ And they still don’t have any plan except exploiting the border for Trump’s political gain

⭕ 15 May 2024

Energy[.]gov (5/15): Biden-Harris Administration Enacts Law Banning Importation of Russian Uranium https://tinyurl.com/2ma37976

🐣 […] RT @SenWhitehouse Justifiable attention has gone to justices accepting large gratuities from billionaires with interests before the Court, and to the Court’s refusal to adopt a meaningful ethics code.
⋙ 🐣 RT @SenWhitehouse But not enough attention has been given to the Court’s repeated violation of established fact-finding rules to accomplish the billionaires’ right-wing agenda.
⋙ 🐣 RT @SenWhitehouse So I wrote this law review article. https://tinyurl.com/y4m55sms
⇈ ⇊
moritzlaw[.]osu[.]edu, Sheldon Whitehouse: Knights-Errant: The Roberts Court and Erroneous Fact-Finding https://tinyurl.com/y4m55sms

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Trump four months ago: I hope the economy crashes in the next twelve months ¤ (The Dow just hit 40,000 for the first time ever in history)

🐣 RT @11thHour “Disorienting.” ¤ “Unimaginable.” ¤ “Outrageous.”
@MittRomney sits down with @SRuhle for an exclusive interview – and gives his unfiltered thoughts on what has happened to his Republican party.
💽 https://x.com/11thHour/status/1790947431691006137/photo/1

🐣 RT @ BidensWins BREAKING: Republican Senator Lankford just doubled down on his statement suggesting Republicans are to blame for any border related issues. Retweet so all Americans see this.
💽 https://x.com/BidensWins/status/1790932475213947008/photo/1

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow Mike Johnson: “President Trump built the wall.”
Fact-check: The Trump administration built 52 miles of new primary border barriers. The U.S.-Mexico border stretches for 2,000 miles across four states. @Acyn
💽 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1790756099575951388/photo/1
// Mike Johnson video
⋙ 🐣 ● Trump built 52 miles of new wall
● 655 miles of wall existed already; some of it was repaired
● much of the remaining border is mountainous terrain or the Rio Grande River
● The US paid for the wall under several administrations
● Mexico did not pay for the wall
🌎 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1790756099575951388/photo/1

🐣 RT @brianstelter Biden campaign’s reason for rejecting the @Debates Commission: Its “model of building huge spectacles with large audiences at great expense simply isn’t necessary or conducive to good debates. The debates should be conducted for the benefit of the American voters, watching on television and at home — not as entertainment for an in-person audience with raucous or disruptive partisans and donors, who consume valuable debate time with noisy spectacles of approval or jeering.”
⋙⋙ WaPo: Biden and Trump agree to CNN debate in June, ABC faceoff in September https://tinyurl.com/2r9wu9f8
// President Biden announced earlier that he would not participate in the traditional televised showdowns organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates.
⋙ 🐣 We’ve got to get back to having politics based on policy and not spectacle. ¤ This is a very good call on Biden’s part.
⋙ 🐣 Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are great picks for moderators.

🐣 RT @Gururaj2083 GOP Sen. Lankford: “Republicans turning border bills into a blockbuster movie – always changing the ending!”

🐣 RT @BidenHQ GOP Sen. Lankford: President Biden was correct in the things he was laying out about the bipartisan border bill. It would have increased the number of border agents, the number of asylum officers, it would have radically changed the way we did processing. Republicans killed it
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1790927946602959067/photo/1
// NewsMax chryon: “Schumer plans to revive failed border bill in upper chamber”
⋙ 🐣 I think this can pass. McConnell is no fan of Trump. I think they can get cloture to pass it with Dem votes. ¤ In the House, the GOP has a one-vote majority, and Dems have now kept Johnson in power. ¤ Besides, the Senate bill is a good bill which will help a lot at the border
⋙ 🐣 It would be great if McConnell, Lankford, Biden and Johnson can all come across as winners by passing a comprehensive border bill that actually solves a huge problem. ¤ It would prove bipartisanship can work.

🐣 RT @tribelaw “Lucky” Luciano’s luck ran out in People v. Luciano, a 1938 decision with uncanny parallels to Donald Trump’s NY prosecution for cooking the books in order to fool the voters into handing him the Oval Office in 2016.
⋙ Slate: A 1938 Mob Case Has Mind-Boggling Parallels to Trump’s N.Y. Prosecution https://tinyurl.com/2za84p57

🧵 RT @ArturRehi 1/10 What Putin won’t tell you: russia is in much deeper trouble than it seems. Analysis by @joni_askola
📌 https://x.com/ArturRehi/status/1790827275505516814
⋙ 🐣 Putin was hoping Trump & MAGA would halt the US aid package permanently,, but in the end @SpeakerJohnson did the right thing. So now Putin is making his moves.

🐣 RT @squirlkit
[TextLink:] https://x.com/squirlkit/status/1790919560742265139/photo/1

[Text:] I know Trump tried to overthrow democracy and install himself as Dictator. But in terms of crimes against humanity, Donald Trump is the only American to kill more Americans in
America than the Civil War.

[Text2:] The Brookings Institute estimates that Trump’s inaction is responsible for 70% of Covid deaths. ¤ Trump Deaths:784,762

🔄 🐣 RT @DarthPutinKGB. Russia violates
UN Charter 1945
Nuclear NPT 1970
Helsinki Accords 1975
Belovezha Accords 91–92
Budapest Memo 94
Black Sea Fleet Treaty 97
Friendship Treaty 98
Treaty on Azov Sea & Kerch Strait 03
Border treaty 03
Karkiv pact 10
My trolls: Ukraine should’ve negotiated a deal….

🐣 RT @essenviews Trump was seen in court editing the statements that his surrogates would later make outside the court ¤ Legal expert: Judge may hold contempt “hearing” over Trump “surrogates” circumventing gag order.
⋙ Salon: Legal expert: Judge may hold contempt “hearing” over Trump “surrogates” circumventing gag order https://tinyurl.com/35kwuhx3
// Trump was reportedly seen in court editing the statements that his surrogates would later make outside the court

🐣 RT @SykesCharlie According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, routine childhood vaccinations are believed to have helped prevent 472 million illnesses and 1,052,000 deaths just among American children born between 1994 and 2021.

🐣 📋 RT @JamesFallows “Are you better off than you were four years ago?”
¤ https://x.com/JamesFallows/status/1790849685579571366

Unemployment rate:
—May 2020: 13.2%
—May 2024: 3.9%
S&P closing level:
—May 15, 2020: 2,864
—May 15, 2024: 5,308.
[Stock market ≠ the economy, but still. ]
Weekly COVID deaths:
—May 2020: 6,900
—May 2024: 294

🐣 RT @SenateDems REMINDER: Republicans blocked the most serious bipartisan border security bill in a generation. Via @ChrisMurphyCT
💽 https://x.com/SenateDems/status/1790848249152098743/photo/1
// video: Chris Murphy
⋙ 🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary MAGA GOP: Everything we do in the House should be in the best interest of getting Donald Trump re-elected.
💽 https://x.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1790887037899337798/photo/1
// Rep Troy Niels
⋙⋙ 🐣 admits that killing the bipartisan border bill was killed by MAGA so Trump could run on chaos at the border

🧵 RT @SenWhitehouse Midst all the mischief at the United States Supreme Court, it’s almost gone unnoticed how many of its key decisions are being manipulated with fake facts, outside the established traditions of American judicial fact-finding.
📌 https://x.com/SenWhitehouse/status/1790858842307219644
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/9smcxv6z

Justifiable attention has gone to justices accepting large gratuities from billionaires with interests before the Court, and to the Court’s refusal to adopt a meaningful ethics code.

But not enough attention has been given to the Court’s repeated violation of established fact-finding rules to accomplish the billionaires’ right-wing agenda.
So I wrote this law review article. https://tinyurl.com/y4m55sms

In U.S. courts the facts in a case are ordinarily determined by the trial court — for lots of reasons. ¤ Trial judges see witnesses and can evaluate credibility. Adversarial process winnows out falsehood and conjecture. There’s time over days or weeks of trial, where appellate argument may last less than an hour. And errors can be appealed.

Another big reason is separation of powers. Appellate courts can make sweeping decisions endangering the American principle that policy-making belongs in elected branches and not with judges.

The Constitution’s “case or controversy” requirement protects against free-range judicial policy-making, but requires faithfulness to the facts of a specific “case or controversy.”

It’s basic: appellate courts have no business making up facts; the Supreme Court least of all.

Yet right-wing justices prop up their most contentious and destructive decisions with fake facts, ignoring contrary facts found by trial courts or Congress (we have our own constitutional fact-finding role), made up secretly in chambers after proceedings are over.

For instance, the factual predicate of Shelby County was that things about race had changed so minority voters no longer needed the pre-clearance protections of the Voting Rights Act.

That was disproven by dozens of state laws immediately passed to discourage minority voting, even targeting minority voters “with surgical precision.”

The factual predicate of Citizens United, that Americans needn’t worry about corruption because new floods of political money would be transparent, was disproven by billions of dark-money dollars.

After Citizens United, John McCain and I wrote a brief to the Supreme Court pointing out that its factual predicates were clearly wrong; the Court swept aside our objections without even allowing argument. https://tinyurl.com/5hd99x5t

That disregard convinced me there was more going on here than simple mistake: the justices needed false facts to support their chosen outcome, so they weren’t going to reconsider the false facts.

It’s getting worse. The Court’s new legal standard for gun safety and abortio rights reverts to American “history and tradition,” opening new fields of fake fact-finding about America’s history and traditions.

No surprise, the Court’s history and tradition fact-finding has been met with scorn by real historians.

What should lower courts and other branches do about zombie decisions, whose factual underpinnings are demonstrably false? A hint comes from Marbury v. Madison, which decreed it emphatically the Supreme Court’s responsibility to say “what the law is” — not what the facts are.

As to facts, the Supreme Court has no primacy, and no clothes, and false-facts decisions should be treated accordingly.

💽 USStateDept: Secretary Antony J. Blinken and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba at a Joint Press Availability (Kyiv) https://tinyurl.com/yp725fak (video and transcript) @SecDef gave this answer a couple of weeks ago, but this is the first time I’ve heard it from @SecBlinken
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1790885510178537513/photo/1

SECRETARY BLINKEN: … We have not encouraged or enabled strikes outside of Ukraine, but ultimately Ukraine has to make decisions for itself about how it’s going to conduct this war, a war it’s conducting in defense of its freedom, of its sovereignty, of its territorial integrity.  And we will continue to back Ukraine with the equipment that it needs to succeed, that it needs to win. […]

QUESTION:  (Via interpreter) I’ve got question to the State Secretary, if I may.  You said that the USA would not either ban or encourage the use of American armaments for hitting the Russian territory.  Recently David Cameron said that the UK would not object to using the UK armament to hit the territory of the Russian Federation.  When will you be ready to follow suit?  Thank you. 

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Again, we are determined that Ukraine win this war and succeed for its people and for its future.  We’ve been clear about our own policy, but again, these are decisions that Ukraine has to make, Ukraine will make for itself.  And we’re committed to making sure that Ukraine has the equipment it needs to succeed on the battlefield.

🐣 RT @ChakhoyanAndrew Let us, once again, witness Churchill’s wisdom in action ¤ “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they’ve tried everything else.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/ChakhoyanAndrew/status/1790718573976920341/photo/1

The US does not encourage Ukraine to strike targets inside Russia with US- supplied weapons but believes it is a decision Kyiv should make for itself, secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Wednesday.

He was speaking at a press conference in Kyiv after weeks of regular missile and drone strikes across Russia that Ukraine has not officially confirmed.

🐣 I have read Prequel. Fascinating, but not as dangerous as now. ¤ Just a handful of people, including one Senator, were “useful idiots” for Nazi Germany in the 30s/40s ¤ Now, via Trump, most of the MAGA House and GOP think tanks have absorbed fascism to some extent

WaPo: Fear of uncontrolled immigration is upsetting the political landscape in the run-up to the presidential election. https://tinyurl.com/5aw9fned //➔ Congress still has time to pass the bipartisan (Lankford/Murphy) immigration bill, the “most conservative in 30 years – McConnell
⋙ Note: If “White Hispanics” are added to “Whites,” total “Whites” are 75%; through assimilation and intermarriage, most “White Hispanics” identify as “White” by the 3rd generation; this also is the case for many of South Asian Indian and Pakistani descent
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1790836490202706302/photo/1
⋙⋙ 🐣 Hispanic is not a race; it is an ethnicity; it was a political decision to use Hispanic as a “race” category, because ‘Hispanics are treated differently’//➔ but so were the Irish (many Gaelic-speaking) who, without meddling with census categories, were over time assimilated

🐣 RT @RBReich When I say price gouging has been a major driver of inflation, this is what I mean.
⋙ 🐣 RT @econliberties 🚨ICYMI: @FTC released evidence confirming the high price of oil from 2021-2023 was due to collusion between US producers and OPEC. ¤ This HUGE conspiracy cost each American $500-1000 per year, according to our estimates. Our new factsheet breaks it down.👇 https://tinyurl.com/47m7kprv
[TextLink:] https://x.com/econliberties/status/1790467874374475935/photo/1

Big Oil & Other Corporate Collusion Driving High Prices
Key Takeaways:

● According to new evidence released by the Federal Trade Commission in connection with the proposed Exxon/Pioneer merger, the high price of oil from 2021-2023 was due to collusion among oil corporations. This evidence included emails and text messages between Pioneer Resources CEO Scott Sheffield and an OPEC official.

● The oil industry surged from a likely loss in 2020 to more than $238 billion in profits in 2021 and $451 billion in profits in 2022.

● The American Economic Liberties Project estimates this price-fixing scheme cost Americans between $500-1000 per person and between $2,000 to $4,000 a year for a family of four in 2021, a quarter of the total inflationary increase that year.

● Price-fixing and the resulting increased prices are pervasive across the economy, including in rental housing, meat, and in the tech industry. Antitrust enforcers are bringing lawsuits to address this illegal behavior.

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary Homicides are plummeting in American cities under President Biden’s watch
◕ https://x.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1790809734246813757/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner The S&P 500 hit an all-time high today.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1790754031352111176/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidenHQ President Biden: Remember who Trump is. Trump hurt Black Americans any chance he got. Black unemployment and uninsured rates went up under Trump, his tax scam reinforced discrimination and typical white households got double the cuts of typical Black households. He botched the COVID-19 response leaving Black people dead, Black-owned businesses shuttered, and pushed to bring back stop and frisk. He tried to repeal Obamacare the first time, now he’s promised to do even more damage
🔊 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1790799543409267168/photo/1

WaPo: Inflation eases for first time in 2024. Will it be enough to cut rates? https://tinyurl.com/y2rfc6nx //➔ Wages have outpaced inflation for a year. Coming down from a period of much higher inflation, a Reagan celebrated “Morning in America” in 1984
// “The Federal Reserve had been getting ready to lower interest rates this year. The past few months complicated those hopes.”

🐣 RT @danielsgoldman Since @Jim_Jordan @RepJamesComer’s impeachment sham is dead, they’re flailing to distract from their failure and help Trump in November. ¤ Rs who defied subpoenas are now trying to hold in contempt an AG who has effectively complied with a subpoena. ¤ The hypocrisy knows no bounds.
💽 https://x.com/danielsgoldman/status/1790778134234546589/photo/1

‼️ WaPo: Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico shot and gravely injured https://tinyurl.com/yey6w2p6 “Fico was transported to a hospital by helicopter. His office said the ‘next few hours’ would be decisive.”

⭕ 14 May 2024

CNN: Fact check: Biden again falsely claims inflation was 9% when he became president https://tinyurl.com/5f947cn4 //➔ technically true, but as with Obama inheriting the Great Recession from Bush or Biden being shackled by Trump to have to leave Afghanistan, Trump mishandled the pandemic, leaving the resulting inflation for Biden to clean up ~ which he has. @CNN @ddale8
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1791174339263361451/photo/1

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Michael Cohen: “Mr. Trump claimed [his medical deferment] was because of a bone spur, but when I asked for medical records, he gave me none and said there was no surgery…He finished the conversation with the following comment: ‘You think I’m stupid, I wasn’t going to Vietnam.’” ¤ (February 2019)
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1790489004384608747/photo/1

Politico: Ukraine presses Biden to lift ban on using US weapons to strike Russia https://tinyurl.com/3ythkpns “Kyiv watched as Russians massed on the border, but they weren’t allowed to use long-range missiles provided by Washington”

🐣 RT @JayinKyiv Gorvachev called Putin a liar.
💽 https://x.com/JayinKyiv/status/1790612554441539924/photo/1
// with clip from Putin
↥ ↧
🐣 RT @Doktor_Klein Journalist: That means it’s a myth, that they were betrayed by the West regarding NATO’s eastward expansion?
Gorbachev: Yes, that is actually a myth.
Putin as always, lie. ¤ NATO never promised not to expand to east. ¤ Discussion ended.
💽 https://x.com/Doktor_Klein/status/1790440638804054110/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidenHQ President Biden: We had a bipartisan bill to secure the border that had majority support in the House and Senate. But I was told that other guy, that loser, called Republicans and told them to block the bill. He got on the phone and said it’d be a win for Biden and a loser for him. So they didn’t allow it to get a vote. But he’s wrong. Republicans in Congress must act because it’s the right thing to do and America needs it done
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1790538549957108096/photo/1
↥ ↧
🐣 RT @DNCWarRoom Leader Schumer: It’s been 97 days since Trump and MAGA Republicans blocked the strongest, most comprehensive plan to secure the border. It wasn’t until Trump said he wanted the border in chaos so he could win the election that Republicans killed it
💽 https://x.com/DNCWarRoom/status/1790483308637278567/photo/1

🐣 RT @RBReich Apple shares lost 10% of their value. ¤ Then Apple announced plans to buy back $110 billion of its own stock. ¤ After that, Apple shares had their best day since 2022. ¤ There’s a reason stock buybacks used to be considered illegal stock manipulations. ¤ They should still be banned.

🐣 RT @POTUS For years, the Chinese government has cheated by pouring money into Chinese companies which then dump cheap products onto the market, hurting competitors who play by the rules. ¤ I’m announcing tariffs that will ensure American workers are not held back by unfair trade practices

WaPo: Michael Cohen: ‘Yes, I would like to see’ Trump convicted https://tinyurl.com/2t9ax885 “In cross-examination, Trump’s current lawyer tries to destroy the credibility of his former lawyer.”

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Nearly double the amount of trade war tariffs have been collected under Biden than were collected under Trump.¤ cc: @TaxFoundation
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1790476056979243230/photo/1

🐣 RT @atrupar Tommy Tuberville admits on Newsmax that “one of the reasons he went” to NYC yesterday was to “overcome this gag order”
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1790485101966487881/photo/1

🐣 RT @Beefeater_Fella Who is Nikolai Patrushev (Snr)? ¤ A deep dive and potted history..
¤ https://x.com/Beefeater_Fella/status/1789999436220743898

🐣 RT @Brzezinski in 2002: “The Israelis are becoming increasingly like the white supremacist South Africans, viewing the Palestinians as a lower form of life @morningmika @JoeNBC @mikebarnicle #MorningJoe

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa Every day, Russian terrorists use missiles and guided aerial bombs to strike Kharkiv and other cities and communities in the border and frontline areas.
💽 https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1790456016309489971/photo/1

To increase protection against Russian terror, our air defense must be strengthened, including by expanding the fighter jet coalition and expediting training and delivery.

We know what capabilities our partners have. Clear political decisions are needed.

We can also see which bets Putin makes. He wants to fully adapt Russia to war and expand it, increasing the pressure. Instead, our pressure on the aggressor—the combined pressure of everyone in the world opposed to war—must work out and thwart Russia’s offensive plans on the battlefield and in diplomacy.

In the first few weeks of our preparation marathon for the Peace Summit, I personally invited nearly thirty leaders from various regions and parts of the world. We already have many confirmations.

It is critical to maintain global unity behind a just peace. Once it works for Ukraine, it will work for any country under attack.

🔄 🧵 RT @duty2warn 1/4 “His deterioration is accelerating” said psychologists John Gartner and Harry Segal on their new podcast “Shrinking Trump.” ~ “We are going to be documenting his cognitive deterioration, every week.”
📌 https://x.com/duty2warn/status/1790391072402670071

⋙ 2/ “I always say to people: Look at Donald Trump right now, because that’s the best Donald Trump you’re ever going to see because dementia is a deteriorating illness and his rate of deterioration is accelerating,” said Gartner.

⋙ 3/ “I don’t know what it will take for the mainstream press to actually ask the question, ‘Is there something wrong with Trump’s brain? I think, even if he was caught disoriented, wandering down Fifth Avenue in his pajamas, they wouldn’t ask the question.”

⋙ 4/ “It’s a disorder that doesn’t get better. We’re going to be seeing an interaction between cognitive decline and a severe personality disorder, both of which are severe diagnoses for anybody,” said Segal.

🐣 RT @duty2warn 1/4 “His deterioration is accelerating” said psychologists John Gartner and Harry Segal on their new podcast “Shrinking Trump.” ~ “We are going to be documenting his cognitive deterioration, every week.”

SciAm: 7 Steps to Disprove a Conspiracy Theory https://tinyurl.com/rk6jedxz “Conspiracy theories are everywhere. Here’s how you can figure out when you’re being fooled”

😂 RT @BidenHQ Ramaswamy: This is a sham politician— I mean prosecution

🐣 RT @sciam Ancient tree rings show that the summer of 2023 was the hottest in the past 2,000 years because of human-caused climate change [link:] https://tinyurl.com/ynju2dhv

🐣 ‘About 10% to 20% of known pregnancies end in miscarriage. But the actual number is likely higher. This is because many miscarriages happen early on, before people realize they’re pregnant. Many miscarriages happen because the fetus does not develop properly.’ ~ Mayo Clinic

Bloomberg: Putin’s War Escalation Is Hastening Demographic Crash for Russia https://tinyurl.com/ywdjmu6j “Russia’s population has been declining and the war will reduce it further. Reasons? Emigration, lower fertility and war-related casualties”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1790403380994523208/photo/1
// 10/18/2022

🐣 RT @SPlokhy The demotion of Patrushev and Shoigu are the echoes of the Prigozhin mutiny. But the importance of their fall from grace is broader than that. Both were key planners of the 2014 and 2022 invasions of Ukraine. The first scapegoats are already identified.
⋙ UkraNews: Putin appoints Patrushev as his assistant and transfers him to work in Kremlin https://tinyurl.com/44s447zt

🐣 RT @ukraine_map Chasiv Yar Front Map (May 14th) ¤ Russian Advances have stalled in Chasiv Yar for the past two weeks ¤ Ukrainian Forces control 99% of the town and have successfully repelled Russian attacks
🌎 https://x.com/ukraine_map/status/1790265764190007723/photo/1

🐣 RT @erikbryn The US in the midst of a remarkable start-up boom. ¤ There are now about twice as many new business applications each month as there were in 2019
◕ https://x.com/erikbryn/status/1790240225610064059/photo/1

🐣 RT @uacrisis Latest [UK] Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine
– 14 May 2024.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/uacrisis/status/1790295020819353921/photo/1

● Russia’s newly-formed Northern Grouping of Forces have attacked into Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and taken control of several villages. The border town of Vovchansk is almost certainly an immediate Russian objective and is currently contested between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

● By opening up an additional axis of attack, Russia is almost certainly attempting to divert Ukrainian resources away from other parts of the front line and to threaten Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine. It is unlikely that Russia has built up sufficient combat power to take the city without divertingadditional forces into the area.

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa Today is Remembrance Day for Ukrainians who saved Jews during WWII. 2,659 Ukrainians have been honored as Righteous Among the Nations. Each of these stories is a saved human life and a personal triumph of a certain person over Nazi evil.
🖼 https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1790266705546969564/photo/1

In the darkest of times, when our people did not yet know when the war would end, they did not betray the best in everyone’s heart. They risked their lives to save those whom the Nazis sought to eliminate.

We remember and honor their courage and humanity. Ukraine follows the hearts that stood on the side of good and prevailed, and will never forgive those who are now reviving the hatred of the 20th century and bringing war to other nations. Life shall prevail!

⭕ 13 May 2024

Politico [EU]: Ukraine faces decisive battle as Russian forces surge https://tinyurl.com/ms24yhk4 “As the two-year war enters a critical phase, Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv is in Putin’s sights”

USStateDept: Secretary Blinken’s Travel to Ukraine
PRESS STATEMENT https://tinyurl.com/yc4r4uhz
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1790295754507993158/photo/1

[Text:] Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken arrived in Ukraine today to meet with senior Ukrainian officials and highlight the United States’ enduring support for Ukraine. While in Ukraine, Secretary Blinken will meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba to discuss battlefield updates, the impact of new U.S. security and economic assistance, long-term security and other commitments, and ongoing work to bolster Ukraine’s economic recovery. He will emphasize America’s commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democracy in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression.

NYT: Facing Russian Advance, a Top Ukrainian General Paints a Bleak Picture https://tinyurl.com/4f73n9ec “Ukraine’s forces are stretched thin and have minimal reserves to draw on, the chief of military intelligence said, in addition to shortages of weapons.”

🐣 RT @front_ukrainian Budanov predicts Russia’s offensive in the direction of Sumy, – The New York Times ¤ The head of the GUR said that Russian attacks in the Kharkiv region will continue “for another three or four days”, after which Russian troops are expected to “make a decisive offensive in the direction of Sumy”.
🖼 https://x.com/front_ukrainian/status/1790275834449723597/photo/1

🐣 RT @EconomyInformal Trust in Government (%) OECD
◕ https://x.com/EconomyInformal/status/1790174243096838194/photo/1 -2
// US 31%

🔄 🐣 RT @EconomyInformal Liberal Democracy Index 2023 @vdeminstitute
🌎 📋 https://x.com/EconomyInformal/status/1790077680357978588/photo/1

1. Denmark🇩🇰
2. Sweden🇸🇪
3. Estonia🇪🇪
4. Switzerland🇨🇭
5. Norway🇳🇴
6. Ireland🇮🇪
7. New Zealand🇳🇿
8. Finland🇫🇮
9. Costa Rica🇨🇷
10. Belgium🇧🇪
11. Germany🇩🇪
12. France🇫🇷
14. Australia🇦🇺
15. Netherlands🇳🇱
17. Chile🇨🇱
19. UK🇬🇧
20. USA🇺🇸
23. Spain🇪🇸
24. Italy🇮🇹
25. Canada🇨🇦
30. Japan🇯🇵
32. Brazil🇧🇷
34. Argentina🇦🇷
47. Korea🇰🇷
48. Bulgaria🇧🇬
49. South Africa🇿🇦
50. Greece🇬🇷
53. Colombia🇨🇴
61. Romania🇷🇴
66. Ecuador🇪🇨
72. Poland🇵🇱
78. Armenia🇦🇲
81. Mongolia🇲🇳
87. Indonesia🇮🇩
90. Malaysia🇲🇾
94. Singapore🇸🇬
95. Nigeria🇳🇬
101. Mexico🇲🇽
104. India🇮🇳
109. Ukraine🇺🇦
115. Thailand🇹🇭
119. Pakistan🇵🇰
125. Zimbabwe🇿🇼
133. Egypt🇪🇬
140. Türkiye🇹🇷
152. Iran🇮🇷
159. Russia🇷🇺
164. Venezuela🇻🇪
169. Saudi Arabia🇸🇦
172. China🇨🇳
178. North Korea🇰🇵

WaPo: Blinken visits Ukraine to push U.S. support as Russia pummels Kharkiv https://tinyurl.com/5c72xvft “Secretary of State Antony Blinken is visiting Ukraine to offer U.S. support in Kyiv’s fight against Russia after a $61 billion aid package passed Congress.”

WaPo, Aaron Blake: Trump is gagged. So his surrogates say the forbidden stuff for him. https://tinyurl.com/542m2r2n “Three GOP senators* have appeared with Trump in court and conveniently proceeded to say precisely what he can’t.” *Vance, Tuberville & Malliotakis

NYT: Michael Cohen, Key to Trump Case, Tells Jurors of Seedy Hush-Money Plot https://tinyurl.com/yx79rktx “Donald J. Trump’s former bulldog told jurors about his work: threatening enemies, cleaning up problems and burying embarrassing stories”

🐣 RT @neal_katyal My first piece in @NewYorker published just now, on why we should be able to see the Trump trials, both in Manhattan and the US Supreme Court, on tv — along with all other court cases.
⋙ 🐣what trial? I’ll be stunned if there’s a federal trial:
1) Judge Cannon (need I say more)
2) SCOTUS will expand the meaning of what “official duties are” to include 90% of what Trump did (eg anything that took place in the White House)

🐣 RT @MarkJacob16 Wage growth has outpaced inflation for the last year, according to statistics. But a national report on public radio just told me the opposite, based on vibes. Reporters who are too lazy to look things up are going to deliver us a dictatorship if they don’t wake up.
◕ https://x.com/MarkJacob16/status/1790135611757568047/photo/1

🐣 RT @pewresearch A majority of Americans (63%) say abortion should be legal in all or most cases. This share is up 4 points since 2021 – the year prior to the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. But Democrats and Republicans are divided on this issue. https://pewrsr.ch/44K2GYK
◕ https://x.com/pewresearch/status/1790114046756188182/photo/1

🐣 RT @POTUS 56,000 infrastructure projects and counting across every state and territory in America.

🐣 RT @SenBillCassidy There still is a crisis at the border.
⋙ 🐣 Please consider voting “yes” on the bipartisan bill that McConnell described as the “most conservative borde bill in 30 years” ¤ If Dems take back the House, they will not agree to such a conservative bill. This is in the GOP’s hands and it will become a Dem talking point forever

🐣 RT @SenatorRomney We cannot allow Putin to invade another country with impunity—he would not stop at Ukraine. Continuing to defend the cause of freedom helps keep us and our allies safe from future military ambitions of authoritarians around the world.
💽 https://x.com/SenatorRomney/status/1790121818184990951/photo/1

🧵 RT @TheStudyofWar The US should allow Ukraine to strike legitimate military targets in Russia’s rear with US-provided weapons. Russia’s sanctuary shields hundreds of legitimate military targets in rear areas that Ukrainian forces are capable of striking. (1/4)
📌 🌎 https://x.com/TheStudyofWar/status/1790095194341155245/photo/1 -n

🐣 RT @Peter_Wehner “The God of the Bible says that what one does in private does matter. Mr. Clinton’s months-long extramarital sexual behavior in the Oval Office now concerns him and the rest of the world, not just his immediate family.” [Franklin] Graham during Clinton presidency. [Atlantic 2019 link:] https://tinyurl.com/35mtjvzr
⋙ 🐣 True; and what Trump “did in private” was criminal because he paid hush money to cover it up to influence an election; then he hid the payment as a “business expense” rather than a campaign expense; this is illegal under NY’s stringent accounting laws

🔄 🐣 The powerful “Mikes” in the House ~ US DEFENSE
@SpeakerJohnson (LA-R)
@michaelcburgess (TX-R) @RulesReps [Rules Committee]
@RepMikeTurner (MI-R) @HouseIntel
@MikeRogers (AL-R) @HASCRepublicans [Armed Services]
@RepMcCaul (TX-R) @HouseForeignGOP
@RepBost (IL-R) @HouseVetAffairs
“ 🐣 RT @SpeakerJohnson @michaelcburgess @RepMikeTurner @MikeRogers @RepMcCaul @RepBost “
✛
@RepMarkGreen (TN-R) @HomelandGOP

🐣 RT @RBReich Less than 1% of Americans are admitted to our top schools, yet their graduates account for:
— 36% of Americans worth over $100 million
— 12% of Fortune 500 CEOs
— 27% of US Senators
The legacy admissions at these elite schools only further entrenches an American aristocracy.
💽 https://x.com/RBReich/status/1790111851977556152/photo/1

🐣 RT @ThisWeekABC Coons says Netanyahu’s legacy now is the “strategic and defensive failure of Oct. 7.” ¤ “His legacy could be a real gap, a break in the long, strong, bipartisan, strategic relationship between the United States and Israel. I think that would be tragic.” https://trib.al/TdLNBN6
💽 https://x.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1789664190170300757/photo/1

🐣 📊 RT @OccupyDemocrats BREAKING: Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough absolutely shreds the false myth that Donald Trump is headed for victory over Joe Biden according to the polls. [ NYT: https://tinyurl.com/5xsemmzt ]
¤ https://x.com/OccupyDemocrats/status/1790046905499807925

This viral rant is already ending shockwaves through MAGA world…

“The New York Times/Sienna poll traditionally has consistently slanted toward Donald Trump and what’s so funny is the Times will release their poll, liberals will run around with their hair on fire for about a month, right?” said Scarborough.

“And then like three days later polls will come out that show a deadlocked race, right?” he went on. “By the way if anybody wants to bet me — I can’t bet, I don’t bet — but if I were a bettor and if somebody wanted to give me eleven or twelve points on Biden in Nevada?”

“Come on. Come on,” said Scarborough. “That race is always close and Democrats always win the close races except for the governor. Democrats always win the close races! ”

“If anybody out there believes it’s a double-digit lead for Donald Trump, you’re serious? Wake up,” he went on. “And it’s the same thing, they’re all tied! You know we can show you polls that show Pennsylvania, Biden ahead. Wisconsin, Biden ahead. Go down the list.”

“But I will tell you these polls it’s very funny, the Times and Sienna polls, which always slant for Donald Trump, they put them out and the political and media class have their hair on fire for weeks,” he added. “That’s all I had to say.”

This is the last thing in the world that Trump supporters wanted to hear. Because it’s the truth.

Biden can and will win this election if we show up en masse and vote blue. It falls to all of us to save our democracy come November. …

🐣 RT @Peter_Wehner Franklin Graham concedes Trump uses “locker room” talk but defended him, saying Trump “doesn’t hide it.” Graham ignores the sexual assault, adultery, fraud, pathological lies, lawlessness, cruelty/calls to violence, etc. Graham embodies the morally deformed MAGA/evangelical mind.

WaPo: Without more U.S. help, Ukraine’s second largest city could fall https://tinyurl.com/ymtnsstv “Kharkiv remains defiant amid a new wave of deadly Russian attacks.”

WaPo, Joseph Stiglitz: Time is up for neoliberals. Democracy requires a new, progressive capitalism. https://tinyurl.com/35hajbee “Neoliberalism expanded the freedom of corporations and billionaires to do as they will and amass huge fortunes, but it also exacted a steep price: the well-being and freedom of the rest of society.”

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski Only FOUR of Trump’s 44 former Cabinet officials have endorsed him. ¤ His VP won’t endorse him. ¤ It’s insane for any president to even have anything close to 44 Cabinet officials in one term. ¤ He incompetent, insane, unfit, & his own former officials know that better than anyone.

FLPolitics: Lincoln Project takes home 2 awards for anti-Trump ads https://tinyurl.com/2s675w9w “It won the Webby Awards’ People’s Voice award for its ‘America or Trump’ ad campaign, and a Pollie Award for Best PAC Campaign for its ‘Audience of One’ series”

“Our followers are truly the heartbeat of what we do, and we owe a great debt of gratitude to all who voted and selected our campaigns in these awards,” The Lincoln Project Co-founder Rick Wilson said. “We will take these honors in stride as we continue to gear up to make a difference in what will collectively be the most consequential American election in generations.”

“America or Trump” is an ongoing ad campaign highlighting the contrast between former President Trump’s vision for the U.S. to the ideals upon which the nation was founded. ¤ The Lincoln Project describes the campaign as using its “unapologetic language” in a series of targeted digital ads on themes ranging from democracy and freedom to rule of law.

Wilson served as chief creative and head writer on the series, with Michelle Kinney working as the creative director and Joseph Wartnerchaney and Ben Howe serving as senior creative advisors and executive producers.

🐣 RT @levparnas Watching Michael Cohen testify how Donald Trump micromanaged everything, reminds me how Trump micromanaged everything Rudy and the BLT team (John Solomon, Victoria Toensing, Joseph diGenova, and myself) we’re doing on our mission to dig up dirt and spread misinformation about Hunter and Joe Biden. #LevRemembers

💙 🌎 WaPo: What state best represents America? https://tinyurl.com/yt4u33f2 “This week, we take a stab at identifying the most normal state in the nation and discover that, by at least one measure, it’s the state you’d least expect”

🧵 RT @anno1540 Russian red lines are beginning to blur, the Kremlin understands that time is not on their side. Interview with Ogryzko […]
📌 https://x.com/anno1540/status/1789927782190858547
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/y64yfr7p

🧵 RT @anno1540 A long thread (in thr end you have link to read more from@TheStudyofWar) ISW @TheStudyofWar explained why #Putin removed @SergeyShoigu from the position of Minister of Defense of the #Russian Federation and what is behind the new appointment […]
📌 https://x.com/anno1540/status/1789918137233645655
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/2vz4e39z

🧵 RT @rybar_force ❗️🇷🇺🇺🇦 Slobozhanske direction
Situation as of 10am on May 13, 2024 […]
📌 🌎 https://x.com/rybar_force/status/1789925179310678160/photo/1

On the morning of the fourth day of the Russian army’s offensive in the north of the Kharkiv Region, no large-scale breakthroughs of the enemy’s defenses have been recorded. After clearing the “gray” border zone, Russian assault units focused on breaking through the AFU strongholds and defensive lines, as well as pushing out the reserves.

● By the evening of May 12, the Russian army took the meat processing plant in the north of Vovchansk and was clearing the shoe factory: these are the two main buildings on the northern outskirts of the city, from where the AFU controlled the approaches. The forest belts and fields from the north have been completely cleared and passed under the control of the Russian troops.

⭕ 12 May 2024

🧵 RT @MassDara Shoigu is out as Defense Minister, moving into head of Security Council. Andrei Belousov , an economist, is taking over. My quick thoughts on what it means for MOD, and what to look about changes possible in the near term. /1
📌 https://x.com/MassDara/status/1789755116691554775
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/2p9atpfy

🧵 RT @NTenzer Ten theses. A thread. ¤ 1 We’re at war with Russia, not because we’ve declared it, but because it’s waging war on us. #OurWar
📌 https://x.com/NTenzer/status/1789685771588280346
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/3ehsu7m2

2 Russia is waging a war of extermination. That’s just a fact. ¤ It’s a war without limits, neither in time nor in space.

3 With a radical enemy, there can be no negotiation. Any negotiation means both more crime — in fact, it’s a license to kill given to Putin, especially in the Russian-ruled areas of Ukraine — and more insecurity.

4 Any compromise would mean that tomorrow the Russian war against us would be even more bloody, total and dangerous. ¤ Russia would also be better armed. ¤ The very legitimacy of democracies would not survive it. Our enemies would know only too well how to take advantage of this.

5 If Russia wins, or even doesn’t lose completely, all the other powers it is courting will continue to support it. Democracies will receive less support, because they will be less credible. ¤ If Russia loses, ambiguous countries will more easily return to the democratic camp.

6 Diplomatic chancelleries must learn to act simultaneously on several fronts — Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, Armenia, Syria, Africa, the Middle East… ¤ Russia is better armed in its horizontal wars. ¤ We urgently need to reverse this trend.

7 The fight against internal enemies must be intensified by all means consistent with democratic norms. ¤ The reality is that we are becoming more competent when it comes to understanding threats, but not when it comes to repression.

8 We must stop saying that we must “help Ukraine”. The reality is that we have to get involved ourselves. I’ve been saying this since February 24, 2022. ¤ No one in history has ever won a war by leading from behind and acting by proxy. ¤ It’s #OurWar

9 All the talk, even sincere, about the risk of WWIII, nuclear apocalypse, a NATO-Russia war, ¤ the danger of Russia collapsing, is only the result of the influence of Kremlin narratives. ¤ Propaganda’s more dangerous when it invades the souls of leaders than the minds of the people.

10 It’s a zero-sum game. Either we win the war completely, or we also lose it completely. ¤ There is no middle way. ¤ Winning the war is the only realistic strategy. #OurWar

🐣 RT @anyonewantchips So the orange demented cult leader, who confused Marla Maples for E. Jean Carroll & Nikki Haley for Nancy Pelosi & Barack Obama for Joe Biden & SD for IA & Mercedes Schlapp for Melania Trump, confused Jimmy Connors for Jimmy Carter – but please go on about Joe Biden’s age.
🖼 https://x.com/anyonewantchips/status/1789673874713465042/photo/1 -2
// photos of Trump and Biden

AP: Blinken delivers some of the strongest US public criticism of Israel’s conduct in Gaza https://tinyurl.com/y2rvbzbn “[T]he findings of a new Biden administration report to Congress … said Israel’s use of US-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law”

🐣 RT @olddog100ua Gazprom, state owned, Nosedives with biggest loss for 25 years!
[TextLink:] https://x.com/olddog100ua/status/1789732822032294296/photo/1
[Source:] UK Defense Intelligence Report

● Gazprom, one of Russia’s state-owned energy companies, has reported its biggest annual loss for 25 years. Gazprom’s revenues fell by around 30 per cent in 2023, leading to an annual net loss of approximately 629 billion roubles (USD $6.9 billion).

● The Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and subsequent degradation of Russia’s relationships with the West, has severely constrained Gazprom’s operations. Gazprom’s failure to fully re-orientate its exports away from its dependence on European markets will likely continue to restrict its profits until at least 2030. Whilst Gazprom has been able to divert some of its trade to alternative markets, due to infrastructural limitations, these likely only accounted for 5 to 10 per cent of the lost European sales in 2023. It is highly likely that an increase in future sales is reliant on construction of new export infrastructure, such as the ‘Power of Siberia 2’ gas pipeline.

● High taxation on Gazprom’s revenues in 2022 and 2023 has almost certainly reduced the ability and incentives for Gazprom to invest in its expansion to alternative markets. In 2023, Gazprom paid an estimated 2.5 trillion roubles (USD $28 billion) to the Russian budget, approximately 9 per cent of total government revenues. The Russian government plans to further increase the tax burden on Gazprom in 2024, which likely contributed to Gazprom’s decision to cut its investment for 2024 by around 15 per cent.

🐣 RT @OlenaRohoza Shoigu and Patrushev, get out! ¤ The war in Ukraine is not going as well as Vladimir Putin would like… ¤ Tom! Putin today dismissed Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu! ¤ President Vladimir Putin has nominated former First Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Belousov to replace Shoigu. ¤ This was announced by the Upper House of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation today, on Sunday evening.
*** Putin also dismissed the secretary of the National Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, in connection with the transition to another job. Shoigu will take his place. Patrushev’s new place of work is not yet known. ¤ It seems that Putin was afraid of a coup d’etat?

WaPo: Putin reassigns defense minister Shoigu in shake-up of Kremlin security team https://tinyurl.com/2pp5tnnv “Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, a longtime confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, will become head of the national security council”

🐣 RT @neal_katyal This study shows Dobbs is already pushing medical school students away from seeking residencies in states with restrictive abortion policies
⋙ 🐣 RT @AtulGroverMD Updated analysis from @AAMCToday Research and Action Institute: disproportionately fewer U.S. MD seniors–across all specialties–are applying for residencies in states with abortion bans & restrictions, suggesting lasting implications for the workforce. https://ow.ly/6kKv50RAgls

🐣 RT @ Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🇹🇼🇺🇦 “By protecting Ukraine, you are protecting Taiwan”, – the head of the Foreign Ministry of Taiwan
❗️”Western democracies should help Ukraine for the sake of of strengthening themselves in opposition to coalition of the authoritarian regimes of Russia and China.”

⭕ 11 May 2024

🐣 RT @GenoVeno73 REMINDER ¤ Russian dictator Nikta Khrushchev said on November 18, 1956, “we will take America without firing a shot. We do not have to invade the United States. We will destroy you from within.”
¤ https://x.com/GenoVeno73/status/1789451861109375298

Then along came Donald Trump, Russian asset to Vladimir Putin.

According to an ex-KGB spy, “Donald Trump was cultivated as a Russian asset for over 40 years and proved so willing to parrot anti-western propaganda that there were celebrations in Moscow.”

On July 31, 2019, Trump had a PRIVATE meeting with Vladimir Putin.

On August 3, 2019, just 3 days AFTER his private meeting with Putin, Trump issued a request for a list of top U.S spies.

In October 2021, a top-secret memo was sent out to every C.I.A. station around the world warning about troubling numbers of informants being captured or killed

During the raid at Mar-A-Lago, the FBI found more documents with lists of more U.S. informants on them.

The @GOP@HouseGOP @SenateGOP 2024 presidential candidate, Donald Trump, was groomed by Russia, and has wholly and undoubtedly corrupted the entire Republican Party.

WaPo, Olena Zelenska (First Lady of Ukraine): The mothers of Ukraine need you https://tinyurl.com/2s4btv7b “One of the most difficult challenges for parents in Ukraine today is the feeling of being powerless. Of not being able to protect your children physically or emotionally.”

🧵 RT @CultureExploreX “Give me liberty or give me death!” – Patrick Henry
The quest for freedom and the struggle against oppression are timeless themes vividly captured through the brushstrokes of history’s greatest artists. ¤ Here are 15 masterpieces that you should know! ⤵️
📌 🖼 https://x.com/CultureExploreX/status/1789277949268504976/photo/1 -n
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/yeymfcba

🐣📋 RT @PeterHotez The facts ¤ Covid vaccines saved 20 million lives globally, 3 million lives in U.S ¤ 200,000 Americans died needlessly in 2021-22 bc they believed the disinformation/refused vaccines ¤ Nuremberg2 = a pernicious fantasy. Our low-cost/patent-free Covid vaccine saved thousands of lives
¤ https://x.com/PeterHotez/status/1789137590659985866

WaPo: Russia unleashes new attacks on Ukraine’s Kharkiv border region https://tinyurl.com/zx33huxp “Russian ground forces mounted a new assault to push into Ukraine’s northeast Kharkiv region, seeking to capitalize on Kyiv’s shortage of weapons and soldiers”

WaPo: U.S. offers Israel intelligence, supplies in effort to avoid Rafah invasion https://tinyurl.com/269evsj6 “Netanyahu has promised to enter Rafah with ‘extreme force,’ while Biden wants any operation to be targeted”

⭕ 10 May 2024

🐣 RT @Lessafetoday08 Lara Trump’s staff, all 25 of them at the RNC just resigned. I guess they have a conscience and don’t want to be criminals.

🐣 it’s a matter of whether we are upholding our treaty obligations to follow humanitarian laws of war ¤ it looks like Biden will get around a report that says Israel has not, by accepting Israel’s claim🤞that US weapons have not been used for such purposes

🐣 RT @atrupar can’t make it up — with Comer’s investigation fizzled out, Steve Scalise says House Republicans are now drafting articles of impeachment against Biden for not supporting Israel staunchly enough. Note that even Varney is skeptical.
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1788922922268053903

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa Today, Russian forces attempted to expand their operations against Ukraine in the Kharkiv region. We know the size of the occupiers’ forces and their intentions. Our warriors, artillery, and drones are fighting back against the occupier.
💽 https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1789020229118394785

I thank each soldier, sergeant, and officer who is defending our positions. We are strengthening Kharkiv directions. Along the state border and on the frontlines, we will continue to destroy the occupiers and thwart Russia’s offensive intentions.

It is critical that partners support our warriors and Ukrainian resilience with timely deliveries. Truly timely ones. A package that truly helps is the actual delivery of weapons to Ukraine, rather than just the announcement of a package. I thank every leader who sees the situation this way.

We also continue to actively prepare for the Global Peace Summit. Our goal is to ensure that every leader can demonstrate effectiveness for the sake of the common good. I am confident we will succeed.

And we must acknowledge that this is precisely what Russia is attempting to undermine right now. The more meaningful the summit, the closer peace will be. Putin obviously does not want it. It is also clear that he will continue to try to thwart our efforts, both through offensive action and by undermining our agreements with other leaders. We must not allow this to happen and we will make every effort in this regard.

🔄 My Ukraine Twitter Lists:
Ukraine: https://twitter.com/i/lists/157259218 ¤
War in Ukraine: https://twitter.com/i/lists/1545071393397784576 ¤

🐣 RT @JayinKyiv It seems Russians aren’t waiting for the US to slow roll a minimal amount of weapons to barely help Ukraine hold the front line. ¤ Apparently Russia has launched a full scale invasion of Kharkiv from the North East. ¤ Western weakness just continues to prove Putin correct.

🐣 RT @NOELreports Zelenskyi confirmed the counteroffensive actions of the Russian Federation in the Kharkiv region. According to him, as of this morning, the advance was repulsed by artillery fire. ¤ “Our military knew about the offensive and calculated the forces. Now there is a fierce battle,” he said.

🧵 RT @Mylovanov Breaking: Russian forces launched an armoured ground attack near Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, opening a new front in the war that has been primarily focused on the east and south. 1/
📌 🌎 https://x.com/Mylovanov/status/1788972243004924139/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 they are moving trying to get ahead of US and NATO military aid; I’ve been fearing this

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP Former AZ House Speaker Rusty Bowers on Donald Trump in 2022: “He has no idea what a hard life is and what people have to go through in the real world. He has no idea what courage is… I’ll never vote for him.”
💽 https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1788967167330828717/photo/1

🐣 RT @fiona_webster22 Anne Applebaum is a Pulitzer-Prize-winning historian & member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She covers authoritarian & other anti-democratic movements abroad & at home. Her new book, due out in July, is Autocracy, Inc.: The Dictators Who Want To Run The World.
¤ https://x.com/fiona_webster22/status/1788940162224816303

⭕ 9 May 2024

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln “Republicans are proposing to build specific punishments into conference rules that would be triggered if hardliners keep breaking ranks…includ[ing]…the ability to force a vote on yanking their committees or…from the conference altogether.”
⋙ Politico: Greene’s rebellion sparks new talk of consequences for House GOP rebels https://tinyurl.com/bdhprt6f “Possible sanctions include arming the GOP conference with the ability to force a vote on booting hardliners from committees or even ejecting them altogether”

🧵 RT @Mylovanov Ukraine has (again!) hit two oil refineries in Russia. ¤ While this is great for Ukraine, the U.S. is concerned about attacks rising the world price of oil. This argument is silly. ¤ These attacks will force Russia to export more, not less, and the data supports this 1/
📌 https://x.com/Mylovanov/status/1788740265987248178
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1788740265987248178.html
⋙ ForeignAffairs: Why Ukraine Should Keep Striking Russian Oil Refineries: Washington’s Fears About Energy Markets Are Misplaced https://tinyurl.com/yc4p2swj

🧵 RT @RepJayapal I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: @POTUS is the most progressive president on domestic economic policy that we have ever had. Last night in his interview, he showed us that once again. ¤ Let’s run through some of the major things that he and Democrats have accomplished.
📌 https://x.com/RepJayapal/status/1788610422272037038
[ThreadReader:] https://x.com/RepJayapal/status/1788610422272037038

🐣 RT @BarakRavid New: Secretary of State Blinken is expected to submit to Congress as soon as Friday a highly critical report about Israel’s conduct in Gaza that stops short of concluding it has violated the terms for its use of U.S. weapons. My story on
@axios
⋙ Axios, Barak Ravid: Blinken report expected to criticize Israel, but say it isn’t breaking weapons terms https://tinyurl.com/mpvyrt5v //➔ isn’t the question not so much that Israel is breaking humanitarian law, as that its planned actions in Rafah can be expected to?

🐣 RT @David_Charts Five of 6 NBER recession/peak indicators are up vs. May 2023, showing growth, not recession. ¤ Recessions are mainly a Republican thing.
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1788786436818256378/photo/1

🐣 RT @sumlenny This is it. When Russia gets ANYTHING in Ukraine, it will encourage every single dictatorial bastard in the world. Russia must crawl out of Ukraine, severely defeated, begging for mercy. Only this can save peace in the world. All other “compromise” BS ideas lead directly to WW3.
⋙ 🐣 RT @berlin_bridge Russia needs to lose, and lose badly. That’s what every dictator on the planet needs to see. Our ability or failure to stop and punish Russia’s crimes in #Ukraine will deter or encourage the aggression of dictatorships worldwide, and thereby determine the course of this century.
💽 https://x.com/sumlenny/status/1788663763312279750/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Leader Schumer: Republicans blew up the bipartisan border deal to help Trump win an election. He made it clear that exploiting the border is great, but fixing the problem isn’t. When Americans ask who is to blame for the border, listen to Trump. He said ‘please, blame it on me’
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1788676868884898211/photo/1

🐣 RT @KyivIndependent ⚡️Bloomberg: Pentagon blocks Russian military from accessing Starlink in Ukraine. ¤ The U.S. Pentagon is preventing the Russian military from using Starlink internet terminals operated on the battlefield in Ukraine, John Plumb, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy at the U.S. Department of Defense, said in an interview with Bloomberg on May 9. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/n4djs7xj

🐣 RT @NAFORaccoon Today is a good day to remind the russians who saved them in WWII. ¤ Be thankful you ungrateful bastards.
◕ https://x.com/NAFORaccoon/status/1788526333464658285/photo/1
// lend lease to Russia in WW2
⋙ 🐣 RT @vinm300 Stalin “The US … is a country of machines. Without the use of those machines through Lend-Lease, we would lose this war.”
$11.3 billion, or $180 billion in today’s currency, the Lend-Lease Act of the United States supplied needed goods to the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1945

🐣 RT @RBReich Trump continues to vow to his billionaire supporters that he’d extend their tax cuts if reelected. ¤ These cuts have already helped billionaires’ grow their fortunes by $2 trillion. ¤ It’s crystal clear who Trump works for — and it sure as hell isn’t the working class.

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch NEW: Climate Power released a statement Thursday highlighting over 300 actions the Biden Administration has taken in defense of the environment, stating Biden has done more to restore and protect the environment than any president in history.
⋙ MeidasTouch: Climate Coalition Gives Glowing Review of President Biden’s Environmental Record https://tinyurl.com/cz8s4hna
// Climate orgs say Biden has done more for the environment than any President in history

🐣 RT @ AccountableGOP Donald Trump is worried he is losing his anti-vax supporters to RFK Jr: ¤ “He said that vaccines are fine…Those of you who want to vote because you think he’s an anti-vaxxer, he’s not really an anti-vaxxer.”
⋙ 😂 ‘this is not the anti-vaxxer you are looking for’👋
~ Obi-Don Kenobi

🐣 RT @atrupar Hillary Clinton on Trump: “The world has been here before. People did not take the kind of threats that we saw in the 1930s as seriously as they should, including American journalists … a determined demagogue unfortunately supported by members of his political party, people who care more about a future tax cut than the sanctity of the Constitution, are falling in line behind him. And I don’t think the press has done enough to say, ‘Ok, the circus is here, you can watch the circus. But let’s tell you what that means. Let’s talk to people who have a real understanding of how dictatorships evolve'”
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1788564355358785845/photo/1

WaPo: How does a parasitic worm get into the brain? https://tinyurl.com/zekrt2sy ⇇ How did a parasitic worm get into the presidential race?

NYT: Biden’s Warning Over Rafah Sharpens a Problem for Netanyahu https://tinyurl.com/j685a4dc “Netanyahu, who has insisted over American objections that invading Rafah is necessary, now finds the U.S.-Israel relationship at a moment of crisis”
// “If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone,” the Israeli prime minister said, as the U.S. threatened to withhold more weapons.

🐣 RT @officejjsmart “Russians believe their nation contributed more than any other to winning World War II. ¤ The truth is that Moscow started the war in 1939 as Nazi Germany’s ally.” ¤ Russia is as nefarious today as it was in 1939. ¤ With @ivanastradner for @KyivPost
⋙⋙ KyivPost: The Great Lie Behind Russia’s Victory Day https://tinyurl.com/3tu8pvup “Russians believe their nation contributed more than any other to winning World War II. The uncomfortable truth is that Moscow actually started the war in 1939 as Nazi Germany’s ally.”
// by Ivana Stradner and Jason Jay Smart
⋙ 🐣 As a percent of population, both Ukraine and Belarus suffered higher losses than Russia in World War 2.
Ukraine lost 16.3% of its population.
Belarus lost 25.3%.
Russia lost 12.7%.
Wikipedia: World War II casualties of the Soviet Union https://tinyurl.com/ydxsakzd
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1788674168633913401/photo/1

🐣 RT @SenSanders An attack on Rafah would simply make an unspeakable situation even worse. President Biden is right – the United States cannot continue to provide more bombs and artillery shells to support Netanyahu’s disastrous and inhumane war policies.
[Statement:] https://x.com/SenSanders/status/1788659837221376431/photo/1

🐣 RT @RBReich Noncitizen voting in federal elections is already against the law. ¤ This is nothing more than a baseless lie by Johnson and Trump allies to demonize undocumented immigrants. ¤ Want to talk about “voting integrity”? Let’s start with Johnson’s role in Trump’s attempted coup.

🐣 RT @SykesCharlie The former president’s shakedown of oil executives may not have been illegal, but it is undeniably scandalous.
⋙ TheAtlantic, David Graham: Trump Flaunts His Corruption https://tinyurl.com/3xc2c2bj “What Trump was offering is entirely legal and absolutely corrupt. (Or to borrow a phrase: very legal and very uncool.) Thanks to Trump’s bluntness, there can be no hair-splitting about what’s going on here”

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🇺🇦🛡️ “The purpose of the fighting around Chasiv Yar is not to retain every inch of land, but to prevent the Russian army from sweeping across the rest of Ukraine and taking its main cities, including Kharkiv, Dnipro, Odesa and Kyiv”, – The Economist
❗️Putin is trying to subjugate Ukraine and end its quest to become part of the European order. Last week Emmanuel Macron told The Economist that this order could perish “much more quickly than we think”. Ukraine is where the fight is taking place.
⋙ TheEconomist: Ukraine’s defenders anxiously dig in for a looming Russian assault https://tinyurl.com/yu8ucayk “The West’s delays on weapons help Vladimir Putin exploit superior numbers”

🐣 RT @UkraineDaily_en Daily SitRep: May 9, 2024.
Repost = appreciated.
#Ukraine #UkraineRussiaWar #SlavaUkraini #Netaliove #Pervomaiske #Krasnohorivka #Umanske #ChasivYar
@Deepstate_UA @spatialgrounds @EjShahid

🐣 RT @GeoffBrown82 This is the stuff of autocratic regimes👇🏽.
Lara Trump–Co Chair of RNC
Eric Trump–Chairman of FL GOP delegation
Barron Trump–Florida delegate
Kim Guilfoyle–Florida delegate
Michael Boulus (Tiffany’s husband)–Florida delegate

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA ⚡ “Ukraine will stop Russia’s offensive after receiving new batches of weapons. According to our information, the Russians are not doing as well as they thought”, – Zelensky

🐣 RT @BidenHQ .@HillaryClinton: Not every generation has to fight for their rights, but this one does. There are people who want to turn back the clock on women’s rights. They want more control over women. Any woman who values freedom needs to understand there’s one choice in this election and that’s Joe Biden
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1788578534404870310/photo/1

🐣 RT @SarahBurris “The man is a pig who despises and uses women” — @SykesCharlie on fire about Donald Trump

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary .@RepRaskin: We had an immigration deal from the Senate for new border patrol officers, asylum judges, fentanyl detection machinery, and it was vetoed by the fourth branch of government, Donald Trump, who said he didn’t want a border solution, he wanted a border crisis to run on.
💽 https://x.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1788580150155567191/photo/1

🐣 RT @RollingStone Trump reportedly asked oil executives for $1 billion last month, promising he’d roll back Biden’s climate measures. Meanwhile, fossil fuel lawyers and lobbyists are already drafting executive orders for Trump to sign if he wins in November. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/38pnesun

WaPo: Israel mulls options for Rafah after Biden threatens to withhold arms https://tinyurl.com/yv6vwcm4 “The rupture comes after months of disagreement between the two countries over Israel’s conduct of the war.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to respond to Biden’s unprecedented policy shift. But Yaakov Amidror, a former national security adviser to Netanyahu, said that the “surprise” warning has caught Israel off guard and will compel the war cabinet to reconsider whether and how it will enter Rafah — “if it will bear the consequence of going in without American support, or if it will stop the operation, which will allow Hamas to be unharmed in the area.”

The public rupture, which included Biden’s assertion that civilians have been killed by the U.S.-made munitions supplied to Israel, comes after months of disagreement between the two countries over Israel’s conduct in the war, and as cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas in Cairo teeter toward collapse.

WaPo: Top Republicans, led by Trump, refuse to commit to accept 2024 election results https://tinyurl.com/39anrpyp “One possible vice-presidential candidate, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), repeatedly declined to say whether he will accept the outcome.”

⭕ 8 May 2024

WaPo: How does a parasitic worm get into the brain? https://tinyurl.com/zekrt2sy ⇇ How did a parasitic worm get into the presidential race?

WaPo: House Speaker Mike Johnson survives vote to oust him from leadership https://tinyurl.com/mr3bm7y5 “Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) officially filed her motion Monday to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) … , starting a two-day clock for lawmakers to decide his fate”

WaPo: Biden says he will cut off offensive weapons if Israel invades Rafah https://tinyurl.com/rnmkp5a7 “It’s the first time Biden has threatened to withhold U.S. military aid and the most direct warning he has issued to Israel in the Gaza war”

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Accounting for interest adds another $600 billion to the total.
⋙ 🐣 RT @SteveRattner Extending the Trump tax cuts would cost the U.S. $4 trillion over the next decade while disproportionally benefitting the richest households. ¤ cc: @amprog @BBKogan

🐣 RT @RBReich The FTC alleges that a major US oil exec colluded with OPEC to cut production and drive up prices. ¤ Research found that Big Oil price fixing may have contributed to 27% of total inflation in 2021. ¤ When I say corporate greed is driving inflation, this is what I mean.

🐣 RT @mouvement33 Oh holy shit. The Trump administration helped Qatar fund Hamas in 2018. Looks like Mnuchin got his $1B for turning a blind eye to FUNDING TERRORISM, laundered through Saudi Arabia.
⋙ 🐣 RT @ZevShalev NEW: In 2018, The Trump administration assured Qatar that if the emirate consented to an Israeli request to secretly fund Hamas with as much as $30 M per month, the treasury would not label the arrangement as “funding a terror org”. The assurance was authorized by former treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin. And has been kept secret until now. Israel’s secret funding of Hamas has been publicly known, but it is the first time former Trump administrations involvement has been revealed.

🐣 RT @TOGAjano21 Direction Chasiv Yar ¤ Some good news, Ukraine attacked Russian positions south of Ivanovsky, taking advantage of the enemy’s exhaustion, managed to advance ≈500 meters. [UAWire link:] https://tinyurl.com/3u2uwa4x

Moreover, three bridges blown up by the enemy across the Siverssky Donets-Donbas canal ultimately had a positive effect for the defenders.

At the same time, judging by the reports, the first deliveries of artillery ammunition arrived in Ukraine.

In general, this whole sequence of events leads to an improvement in the situation, even if we are not talking about complete stabilization of the situation.

As for significance, this city is actually the last fortress with a geographical advantage.

There is, of course, a worse scenario in which Russia captures the city and enters the operational space towards three large and strategic cities of the Donetsk Oblast, improving the situation both strategically and politically, with the opposite effect for Ukrainians.

🐣 RT @4TaxFairness In 2017, Trump claimed that his corporate tax cut bill would bring back “over $3 trillion” from overseas. ¤ What he didn’t tell you was that the bill actually INCENTIVIZED corporations to offshore jobs and profits by making the offshore tax rate HALF the domestic rate. ¤ Wake up.
◕ https://x.com/4TaxFairness/status/1788233145210277996/photo/1

🐣 RT @JohnJHarwood Donald Trump is the first American presidential candidate to explicitly threaten the democratic system on which a free press depends. That ought to be the campaign issue that dwarves all the rest

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson 1. Heroin and Sex Addict Brain Worm Guy
2. Diaper Felon Rapey Dictator Guy
3. Joe Biden.
Any questions?

🐣 RT @NewsCentralCNN NEW: New York Times Reports: RFK Jr. says ,”a worm…got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died.” He tells the NYT, the worm was removed and he has recovered. ¤ @SaraSidnerCNN @Bakari_Sellers @_JasonOsborne
💽 https://x.com/NewsCentralCNN/status/1788182962866893141/photo/1

CNN, Timothy Snyder: Russia can lose this war https://tinyurl.com/ebezj8k4 “Ukrainians are right to think that Russia today, like Nazi Germany in 1945, is a fascist imperialist regime that can and must be defeated”

🐣 RT @RachelBitecofer Yes @anneapplebaum is exactly right. Our freedom of speech has been weaponized against civil society. Trump and his MAGA’s have turned the right to speak into the right to lie and radicalize.
️️️⋙ CNN: Journalist sounds alarm on dangers of propaganda, calling it ‘one of the worst crises for American democracy this century’ https://tinyurl.com/mr5cxx2j “Trump wields an army of free and willful collaborators — people and institutions who lie on his behalf”
// Anne Applebaum

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch On the left: Fake quote reposted by Donald Trump ¤ On the right: The actual quote
[TextLink:] https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1788217316540645561/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 RT @MeidasTouch
⋙⋙ PhillyMag (2019): Fact-Checking All of the Mysteries Surrounding Donald Trump and Penn https://tinyurl.com/2zs5dpwj “Why is everything about Trump’s time at Wharton shrouded in secrecy? We set out to uncover the truth.”
// 9/14/2019

Mystery #2: Did one of his Wharton professors repeatedly tell friends and associates that Donald Trump “was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had”?

It’s rare for a professor to disparage the intelligence of a student, but according to attorney Frank DiPrima, who was close friends with professor William T. Kelley for 47 years, the prof made an exception for Donald Trump, at least in private. “He must have told me that 100 times over the course of 30 years,” says DiPrima, who has been practicing law since 1963 and has served as in-house counsel for entities including the Federal Trade Commission and Playboy Enterprises. “I remember the inflection of his voice when he said it: ‘Donald Trump was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had!’” He would say that [Trump] came to Wharton thinking he already knew everything, that he was arrogant and he wasn’t there to learn.” Kelley, who passed away in 2011 at age 94, taught marketing at Wharton for 31 years, retiring in 1982. …

🐣 RT @ ProjectLincoln Starting Topics:
¤ https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1788222426133795306

1. If Trump makes it back to the White House, he will have no guardrails this time. Project 2025, a MAGA-friendly, dark-money funded operation to overhaul the government within the first 180 days of a second Trump term, should scare the hell out of any democracy-loving American. The project is a concrete plan that will roll back your rights based on far right extremism and put the government in your life.

2. Today President Biden is traveling to Racine County, Wisconsin to join state leaders to unveil a major project with Microsoft, which plans to invest $3.3 billion to expand its new data center campus, aiming to add 2,000 union jobs. The same place Trump promised a $10 billion iPhone plant that was never built. Biden is delivering on promises while Trump fails.

3. Yesterday in the Indiana GOP Primary more than 128,000 Indiana Republican voters cast a ballot for Nikki Haley — even though Trump won the nomination two months ago. Millions of Republicans across America have been making it clear, they do not want Donald Trump. Meanwhile, Biden is picking up 90%+ of primary voters when he’s on the ballot. Trump is beatable this November.

4. New polls show Biden is gaining momentum as engaged voters are being turned off by Trump and his extreme policies that will roll back individual rights and make America less safe. In the ABC News poll from this weekend, Biden is leading by 4 with likely voters, while an NPR poll from last week has Biden up 5. While the election is – and will remain – tight, voters are seeing the success and sanity of the Biden Administration

🐣 RT @JoyceWhiteVance The Georgia Court of Appeals has agreed to hear an appeal from defendants over whether the judge erred when he ruled that Fani Willis could remain on the Trump RICO prosecution in Fulton County. This pushes that trial further off, likely beyond the election.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/1788203013842059298/photo/1

⭕ 7 May 2024

BBC (2023): Israel’s borders explained in maps https://tinyurl.com/2uvd8ba6 “More than 75 years after Israel declared statehood, its borders are yet to be entirely settled. Wars, treaties and occupation mean the shape of the Jewish state has changed over time”

🐣 RT @EuromaidanPress On 8-9 May, Ukraine honours WWII victims & those who defeated Nazism. Over 10M Ukrainians died in WWII. ¤ Today, as Russia’s invasion rages, “Never again!” rings hollow. We remember our soldiers & civilians killed in this brutal war, revealing the Kremlin’s cynicism & cruelty.

🐣 RT @BidenHQ .@JoeNBC: Read Trump’s Project 2025. He talks about assassinating political opponents, arresting reporters who disagree with him, being a dictator from day one, terminating the Constitution, monitoring women’s pregnancies, and punishing women and doctors for abortions
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1788026578611372096/photo/1

WaPo: U.S. delays arms shipments to Israel amid Rafah tensions https://tinyurl.com/3fvj8rck “One U.S. official described the move as a ‘shot across the bow’ intended to underscore the seriousness of Washington’s concerns about the looming offensive.”

🐣 RT @kyledcheney BREAKING: Judge CANNON has indefinitely postponed Donald Trump’s trial date in Florida. ¤ It may be months before we know the new schedule.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/kyledcheney/status/1787949101755047974/photo/1
[CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/2pduamwn

TheAtlantic, Peter Wehner: The Politics of Fear Itself https://tinyurl.com/4htukztn “Trump has set himself up both as a Christ figure persecuted for the sake of his followers and as their avenging angel.”
// Fear is not what’s driving Americans to support Trump—it is, instead, how many justify their support.

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en The EU will allocate 90% of the proceeds from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine’s military needs.
¤ https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1787872029238005805

European Union countries have agreed to transfer 90% of the proceeds from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine for defense purposes, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said in Riga during the meeting with prime ministers of Baltic states.

According to him, it is about “significant sum, amounting to several billion per year.” Scholz also stated that it is “important that we agree that this money can be used for arms purchases not only in the EU but for purchases worldwide.”

Scholz added that the agreement is currently “being finalized.” This decision will make it possible to add €3 billion to the EU’s €16 billion commitments to Ukraine as early as June, European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni said. 🖼: Axios

🐣 RT @Acyn Jeffries: This is what we are dealing with on this magical house floor? With all of the challenges the American people are confronting? Liberty for laundry? Defending the dignity of dishwashers? Fighting for freedom of refrigerators?
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1787927421553131873/photo/1

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson I…can’t even.
⋙ 🐣 RT @lawofruby NEW: Manhattan DA’s office wins right to have Stormy Daniels testify about her sexual encounter with Trump and “how she felt about it,” so long as details are minimal. The prosecutor clarified, without embarrassment, that Daniels will not testify about “genitalia.” Yikes.
¤ https://x.com/TheRickWilson/status/1787850796568043873
✛ [comments]

🐣 RT @morethanmySLE NEVER FORGET: When Barack Obama was President, Mitch McConnell BLOCKED President Obama from having nomination hearings for SCOTUS for almost a year. When Donald Trump was President, Sen Mitch McConnell rammed through 3 nominees that ALL perjured themselves under oath.

🐣 RT @denisedwheeler This is Trump’s Christian spiritual advisor. ¤ She left her 1st husband, dumped the 2nd one after cheating on him, then married a member of the rock band Journey, broke into the band’s bank account & embezzled 100s of 1000s of $$ after committing fraud and running a Ponzi scheme
🖼 https://x.com/denisedwheeler/status/1787748292798845053/photo/1

🐣 RT @RBReich Extending Trump’s tax cuts will cost $3.5 trillion over a decade. ¤ This is why Trump wants to cut Social Security. ¤ So he can take a lifetime of earned benefits away from working people and gift them to the rich. ¤ It’s reverse Robin Hood.

🐣 RT @JoyceWhiteVance This is a technical violation of the gag order. It’s not arguably political speech, like how the judge viewed Trump’s posts about Cohen. This is in response to testimony a witness gave in court.
⋙ 🐣 RT @TrumpDailyPosts
[TextLink:] https://x.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/1787895157355913352/photo/1

[Text:] January 10. 2018

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: I recently became aware that certain news outlets are alleging that I had a sexual and/or romantic affair with Donald Trump many, many, many years ago. I am stating with complete clarity that this is absolutely false. My involvement with Donald Trump was limited to a few public appearances and nothing more. When I met Donald Trump, he was gracious, professional and a complete gentleman to me and EVERYONE in my
presence.

Rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false. If indeed I did have a relationship with Donald Trump, trust me, you wouldn’t be reading about it in the news, you would be reading about it in my book, But the fact of the matter is, these stories are not true.

[ Signed ] Stormy Daniels

🐣 RT @ruthbenghiat Analysis: This as yet another loyalty performance for an audience of One, who is addressed as though he is still the head of state. We are also dwelling in the “upside-down world” of authoritarianism, as I call it. “Accountability” means stopping investigations into abuse of power, and “a threat to our entire system” = a threat to Republican plans to convert America to an autocracy under Trump’s lead. That’s the most telling phrase.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Johnson: President Trump has done nothing wrong… it has to stop and you’re going to see the Congress address this in every possible way because we need accountability. All these cases need to be dropped because they are a threat to our entire system
💽 https://x.com/ruthbenghiat/status/1787890907317985522/photo/1

🔄 🐣 RT @David_Charts Net worth and hourly wages have outgrown inflation if measured vs. pre-pandemic (Q4 ’23 vs. Q4 ’19).
+87% Net worth, bottom 50% group
+44% Net worth, 50th- 90th percentile group
+24% Hourly wages, production & non-supv.
+20% Inflation, CPI-All
[StLous Fed link:] https://tinyurl.com/mr3v878z
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1787896661303255389/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 David_Charts Krugman chart: Wages have outgrown inflation at key points in the income distribution (Q4 ’23 vs. Q4 ’19)
[NYT link:] https://tinyurl.com/5fcephhk
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1787899342935716268/photo/1

🐣 RT @Peter_Wehner For some reason I’m thinking today about the SBC’s 1998 Resolution on Moral Character of Public Officials. Lots of evangelicals cared about moral character when Clinton was president. Now, not so much. Any guess as to why? Oh, on another matter, any updates on the Trump trial?
⋙ 🐣 so many Faustian bargains; so little time

TheHill: Ukraine says it foiled Russian plot to kill Zelensky https://tinyurl.com/29cymfm5 “‘The terrorist attack, which was supposed to be a gift to Putin for the inauguration, was indeed a failure of the Russian special services,’ SBU head Vasyl Maliuk said in a statement”

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote I think it’s important that we don’t miss what Stormy is testifying to. He invited her to dinner. There was no dinner. She wanted to leave. He stood between her and the door. He told her that her career and future depended on her having sex with him. He didn’t use a condom. ¤ That’s not consensual sex.

🐣 RT @SteveRattner The murder rate is down 19% in 2024 thus far, per data collected directly from 236 cities across the US. ¤ (Some major cities — like San Francisco, Baltimore, and Philidelphia — have seen much larger decreases.)
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1787878606875578565/photo/1

🧵 RT @KlasfeldReportsGood morning from New York. ¤ It’s a sunny and temperate morning outside the lower Manhattan courthouse for Trump’s criminal trial, but reportedly, we’re in for a Stormy day in court, Daniels’ attorney told the AP. ¤ Follow along here.
📌 https://x.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1787820117176275031
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/5apfyudx

🐣 RT @Angry_Staffer Stormy Daniels is testifying today, and Trump is losing his shit. 🤣🤣
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Angry_Staffer/status/1787825014818947160/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump I have just recently been told who the witness is today. This is unprecedented, no time for lawyers to prepare. No Judge has ever run a trial in such a biased and partisan way. He is CROOKED & HIGHLY CONFLICTED, even taking away my First Amendment Rights. Now he’s threatening me with JAIL, & THEY HAVE NO CASE – This according to virtually all Legal Scholars & Experts! Why isn’t the Fake News Media reporting his Conflict?

⭕ 6 May 2024

🐣 RT @RaduHossu Nightly summary (07.05.2024 04.20 RO/UA time): ¤ I’ll write today only about the most important battle of the year. The battle for Chasiv Yar and I will reiterate its importance after the news there:
¤ https://x.com/RaduHossu/status/1787655536470618402

1. News: The Ukrainians attacked Russian positions south of Ivanivske (see on the map, marked with yellow arrows), exploiting a vulnerability in the Russian assault pinnacle and thus advancing about 500 meters, putting the Russians’ very operational plan in trouble.

– Adding to this, the three bridges over the blue-marked channel east of Chasiv Yar have been detonated, which will buy valuable time for the AFU defenses. At the same time, the first deliveries of Western artillery munitions have arrived in Ukraine, along with interceptor missiles for Patriot systems, which could generate a ban on Russian aircraft dropping dozens of FAB-500 (devastating) bombs on Ukrainian defensive positions.

All in all, this whole string of events is leading to an improvement in the situation on the ground, even if we are not talking about stabilisation. Another piece of good news is that Chasiv Yar will NOT fall by May 9, and if the Ukrainian commanders’ decisions are wise and the Russians make tactical mistakes, which I sense they are about to do, I am hopeful that Chasiv Yar will hold out for a few weeks to a good few months, depending also on what the Russians do on the Kypiansk and Pokrovsk axis.

2. The importance of Chasiv Yar. It is practically the last fortress with a geographical advantage (elevation and water canal to the east of the town) that can hold out (even if with heavy losses from the Ukrainians as well) and on whose resistance depends a strategic objective for Russia: the conquest of Donbas.

Such a scenario, whereby Donbas would fall as a result of the fall of Chasiv Yar, which would lead to an increase in Russian morale, with a commensurately inverse effect on Ukrainian morale, could lead to the collapse of the defences around Kostyantinivka and thus create a much easier path for Russian concentrations to prepare the final assault on Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the key cities for the conquest of Donbas. […]

🐣📋 RT @ kyledcheney DOJ update on prosecutions *40 months* after Jan. 6:

1,424 charged
– 510 w assault/impeding officers
– 355 w obstruction of Congress

820 guilty pleas
– 255 of them to felonies
– 565 to misdemeanors

199 convicted at trial

884 sentenced
– 554 of them to jailtime

🐣 RT @Billbrowder BREAKING: Russian opposition leader and Washington Post columnist Vladimir Kara-Murza, wins Pulitzer Prize. A valuable recognition of his bravery and a big help in keeping the spotlight on his unjust 25 year sentence for calling Putin a murderer.
⋙ 🐣 RT @PulitzerPrizes Congratulations to @vkaramurza and @washingtonpost. #Pulitzer #FreeVladimir

🐣 RT @AWeissmann_ An apparent slip by Trump counsel as he elicits from McConney that Weisselberg told him the money was for some sort of reimbursement. Remember: that is the DA’s position, and that the paperwork disguised it as legal fees. And Trump wants to say it was really legal fees and not a reimbursement.

🧵 RT @KlasfeldReports Just-released exhibits: ¤ These handwritten notations by jailed ex-Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg could be described as a visualization of the prosecution’s theory of the case. ¤ Let’s break it down.
📌 [TextLink:] https://x.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1787544520202362948/photo/1 -n

🐣 RT @EarlOfEnough LET’S TALK TRUTH THIS MORNING:
// “FACT: Democrats Restore Economies that Republicans Wreck
It’s happening again, and it’s about damn time this historical truth got the spotlight it deserves”
[TextLink:] ⇈ https://x.com/EarlOfEnough/status/1787498038723797229/photo/1

📌Damn near any good that happened with our economy during Trump’s disastrous administration was inherited from Barack Obama. He simply went on to wreck it, which he has done his whole miserable life with literally everything he bangs into.

📌Check out the numbers when this nuclear-powered blowhard took over in 2017, and when he left whining like 300-lb. baby in 2021.

📌And if you come back at me that the pandemic contributed to the orange gasbag’s massacre of our economy, then you better explain to me why he ignored it, and then lied about it for months and months, before finally suggesting — his pudgy, little hands flailing about — that we try chugging Lysol to save ourselves.

📌He had no damn idea what he was doing while hundreds of thousand of Americans were dying. You’ll never get a more terrifying example of complete incompetence, seasoned with his trademark lack of empathy for human suffering than that disgusting state of affairs.

📌And have we already forgotten how hard he tried to kill Obamacare, with absolutely nothing lined up to replace it? Imagine how bad things would have been during the pandemic if he had somehow rammed that one through his Republican Senate?????

📌And you’ll remember, it was Obama who took over from George Bush the Far Stupider One. He left us with a war in Iraq he lied about, the Great Recession, and the worst economy in 75 years.

📌It was yet another terrible time under a Republican president.

📌Of course, Bush the Far Stupider One inherited a great economy from Democrat Bill Clinton, before wrecking it, and giving way to Obama, who spent the next eight, blissful, uneventful years restoring America, and making her whole again.

📌Today, Joe Biden is the latest Democratic president to build back an economy a Republican has wrecked.

**(We could stand to hear a helluva a lot more about this in the horse race press. I wrote more about it, and you can get it free by hitting the link in my profile. Sorry, as always, Musk makes it so hard to share here. -Peace, Earl)

TheAtlantic, Anne Applebaum: The New Propaganda War https://tinyurl.com/226k3xtk “Autocrats in China, Russia, and elsewhere are now making common cause with MAGA Republicans to discredit liberalism and freedom around the world” ~ book excerpt

⭕ 5 May 2024

🐣 RT @Kasparov63 It’s absurd many Western political leaders refuse to state the obvious, that the downfall of dictators is a worthy goal, especially when they are attacking your interests and the global order. Putin supports dictators & terror regimes around the world.
⋙ 🐣 “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” John F Kennedy, Inaugural Address, 1961

NYT: Xi Visits Europe, Seeking Strategic Opportunity https://tinyurl.com/mr3awrfe “The Chinese leader has chosen three countries to visit — France, Serbia and Hungary — that each, to a greater or lesser degree, look askance at America’s postwar ordering of the world”

⭕ 4 May 2024

🐣 RT @60Minutes “If Roe v. Wade can fall, anything can fall. Social Security can fall. Medicare can fall. Voting rights can fall. And God help us all, but democracy itself can fall,” says Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
💽 https://x.com/60Minutes/status/1786833172753260609/photo/1

🐣 RT @GenoVeno73 … ‘Former/retired military soldiers [who have] criticized or denounced Donald Trump.’
¤ https://x.com/GenoVeno73/status/1786926840596046248

Barry R. McCaffrey – retired US Army four star General, four combat tours, three Purple Heart Medals – stated “Quite remarkable. The U.S. sees a Trump candidacy which will threaten the very foundations of the rule of law. A cowed Republican Party falls in line. This is a paralyzing new political reality. Biden cannot confront this alone. All those who treasure the Constitution must speak. Act. Vote.” …

REMINDER:
• SIXTEEN (16) former military personnel made up of retired four-star admirals and generals, along with former secretaries of the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force filed an amicus brief with the U.S Supreme Court regarding the dangers of granting Donald Trump total immunity.

• both current and former military leaders have SPOKEN out against Trump
1) Former Defense Secretary James Mattis
2) Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen
3) Retired Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis
4) Former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin E. Dempsey
5) Former Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller
6) Former U.S. Special Operations Command Gen. Raymond A. Thomas
7) Former U.S. Forces-Afghanistan commander Gen. John Allen
8) Retired Navy Adm. William McRaven
9) Army Chief of Staff Gen. James C. McConville
10) Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Mike Gilday
11) Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein
12) National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Joseph Lengyel
13) Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley

• several Republican admirals and generals have publicly announced they will NOT support Trump. In an interview with The New York Times, William H. McRaven, retired four-star Navy admiral, who directed the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, said, “it’s time for new leadership in this country — Republican, Democrat or independent. President Trump has shown he doesn’t have the qualities necessary to be a good commander in chief.”

• even two former Trump Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials have turned their back on Trump and endorsed Joe Biden
1) Miles Taylor, the former chief of staff at the Department of Homeland Security in the Trump administration
2) Elizabeth Neumann, another former senior DHS official who served in Trump’s administration
They even formed a new group called the Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform (REPAIR), which include people who have worked for Donald Trump but want to elect Biden and reform the Republican Party.

Miles Taylor said in a statement to POLITICO, “The President has demonstrated he’s unfit for office. And those of us who witnessed the chaos of his Administration firsthand from the inside are coming together to ensure that Trump is not re-elected.”

I will gladly, and proudly, stand beside these true patriots and heroes of this country, who have spoken out against Donald Trump about how he is unfit, unqualified, and unable to run this country with presidential qualities, modesty, and decorum …. before I even trust a Republican MAGA lackey.

🐣 RT @BryanDawsonUSA Trump handed President Biden the worst economic crisis in a century… Worse than the economy Bush handed Obama. The #BidenBoom is building the economy from the middle out and bottom up:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BryanDawsonUSA/status/1786873098580410702/photo/1

🔹 Unemployment under 4% for 27 months—longest stretch in 70 years.
🔹 175,000 jobs created last month for a total 15.4 million jobs created under President Biden.
🔹 RECORD 40 straight months of job growth
🔹 inflation down, hourly earnings up, highest GDP in G7
🔹 5.2% 3Q annualized GDP revised up from 4.9%, SHOCKING ANALYSTS
🔹 353K jobs in January, 270K in February, 303K in March, Shattering Expectations
🔹 OVER 15 Million jobs, 2.5 Million in manufacturing, construction, R&D
🔹 Record boom in construction of heavy industry and Green Tech
🔹 Onshoring supply chain, enhancing national security
🔹 Record domestic oil production, investments in renewables and green tech
🔹 Highest labor participation in 20 Years
🔹 Record deficit reduction, reversing Trump $3.8T disaster
🔹 $1.5 Billion for border security Mexico is paying for!
🔹 Uninsured rate under 8% – Lowest in History
🔹 Enacted overtime rules and made it easier for workers to form unions
🔹 17 million more households have access to high-speed internet
🔹 Lowered cost of healthcare and prescription drugs
🔹 150 federal judges confirmed: 100 are women, 98 POC
🔹 Inflation Reduction ACT, capping insulin $35
🔹 Protecting America’s First Responders Act of 2021
🔹 Infrastructure bill
🔹 American Rescue Plan
🔹 COVID Relief Bill
🔹 CHIPS and Science Act
🔹 Gun Reform
🔹 Pact act for veterans
🔹 Respect for Marriage Act
🔹 Rejoined Paris climate accord
🔹 Student loan debt relief
🔹 Ended War in Afghanistan
🔹 AUKUS Submarine Deal
🔹 Defending Ukraine and Expanding NATO

🐣 RT @rgoodlaw Transcript of Hope Hicks’ final Q&A is even more incriminating than some reports. ¤ Trump not only communicates “it would have been bad to have that story come out before the election.” ¤ Trump also links it to Cohen hush money: “had Michael not made that payment.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/rgoodlaw/status/1786861179370922054/photo/1

⭕ 3 May 2024

KyivIndependent, Francis Farrell: Battle of Chasiv Yar begins: On the ground with Ukrainian forces defending city key to Russia’s plans https://tinyurl.com/yjd9ey8v ‘The city is the gateway to four cities which form the backbone of Ukraine’s defense of Donetsk Oblast’
⋙ 🐣 RT @francisjfarrell The video version of my work from Chasiv Yar is out, my first time not just reporting but filming a whole front-line story on my own, give it a watch! ¤ Thanks to @KyivIndependent and the Ukrainian Armed Forces for making it possible.
🔲 https://x.com/francisjfarrell/status/1786434694361252267/photo/1

🐣 RT @APAction BREAKING: Job growth has been stronger during EVERY year of Biden’s presidency than during ANY year in Trump’s presidency.
◕ https://x.com/CAPAction/status/1786381203848736940/photo/1

BigNewsletter, Matt Stoller: An Oil Price-Fixing Conspiracy Caused 27% of All Inflation Increases in 2021 https://tinyurl.com/4v7a4csb “[E]vidence that oil firms helped collude with Saudi Arabia to steal thousands of dollars from each American family”
◕ https://x.com/DarrigoMelanie/status/1786458238935781748/photo/1
// tags: price fixing price gouging

🐣 RT @vincedmonroy .@Lawrence: We had a monster in the presidency not because of Donald Trump, but because of the people who voted for Donald Trump and because of the people who worked for Donald Trump’s campaign to get him there. You get monsters like Donald Trump thanks to people like Hope Hicks.
💽 https://x.com/vincedmonroy/status/1786607233956192502/photo/1

🐣 RT @Kasparov63 “The principal and most basic spiritual need of the Russian people is the need for suffering, incessant and unslakable suffering, everywhere and in everything.”–Dostoevsky, A Writer’s Diary
⋙ 🐣 RT @igorsushko Seeing how shocking this is to many, I urge everyone with access to the key decision makers in the West to show this video to them. We must first fully comprehend our enemy if we hope to defeat it. We are making obvious mistakes because of this disconnect.
💽 https://x.com/Kasparov63/status/1786634907193585839/photo/1
// Motivational speech to a new batch of Russian cannon fodder: “All of you will die, but … “

📋 YahooFinance/CNN: Truth Social keeps shrinking despite the Trump trial and looming election https://tinyurl.com/y4d5pds3 Truth Social “daily active US users on iOS and Android dropped by 19% year over year in April to about 113,000, according to data shared exclusively with CNN”
// … from Similarweb, a data intelligence company”

According to Similarweb, the average number of daily active US users on iOS and Android fell 11% year over year to 34.2 million at X, the Elon Musk-owned platform formerly known as Twitter. This metric was up slightly (0.4%) on a month-over-month basis.

Threads, the Instagram app owned by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, grew its daily active US users by 5% month over month to 3.5 million. Reddit, which also went public earlier this year, experienced a 17% year-over-year jump in users and a 1% monthly gain to 31.4 million.

🐣 RT @gtconway3d “To pick up on a theme of this entire trial, it is corroboration—of the key witness, Michael Cohen. He was the first person I talked to when we did the first Trump impeachment. I spent days with him. And I believe he will present well to a jury; he’s a colorful New Yorker, and … he has not varied in the story that he told me in January 2019 one jot, and everything he said, including today by Hope Hicks, is being corroborated.”
⋙ 🐣 RT @NormEisen Ya know how before a pres. debate, campaigns lower expectations? ¤ Cohen was the 1st witness I spoke to for the impeachment & he’s going to surprise people ¤ His account is FULLY corroborated ¤ I explained @ cnn sit room
💽 https://x.com/gtconway3d/status/1786588451585888376/photo/1

🐣 RT @David_Charts Biden is now officially tied with LBJ as the president with the lowest unemployment rate, at 4.17% on average, for data back to January 1964. ¤ Biden is also the president with the highest real wage; that is unlikely to change when we get the inflation data later this month.
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1786585605431754943/photo/1

WaPo: Hope Hicks gets teary testifying at Trump’s hush money trial https://tinyurl.com/ycy9hvzd “After a week of tabloid-focused testimony, the former aide led the jury through the whirlwind of the 2016 campaign and directly to the Oval Office.”

🧵 RT @Mylovanov Fake News on X. How it works. ¤ Mario Nawfal posted today that Ukraine forces pregnant women to serve in the military while strippers are exempt ¤ There were easy signs that the accusation is false, yet the post gained almost 200K until it was removed. ¤ What were the signs? 1/
📌 https://x.com/Mylovanov/status/1786517099432800486

🐣 RT @MissionArtist This is how Russia was depicted in 1877. They’d been gobbling up ALL THE LAND from Europe to the Pacific Ocean. Much of that land is still barely inhabited wilderness today but Russians are trying to get more from Ukraine like a violent drug addict. They need it. Have to have it.
🖼 https://x.com/MissionArtist/status/1786576505931526514/photo/1

🐣 RT @DemocracyDocket It is not a secret that Donald Trump has a plan to overthrow American democracy if elected. But @marceelias questions whether enough people will care enough to stop it.
⋙ DemocracyDocket, Marc Elias (Dec 2023): Donald Trump’s Plot Against America https://tinyurl.com/k7vrbwum “We need to begin by speaking honestly about the existential threat Trump poses to democracy. He is not a normal candidate. There are no both sides in this election.”
// 12/6/2023

🐣 RT @Fella_Orest #NAFOMemeSchool Here is the first version of the #MUGA song. The version with volunteer fellas is to come soon (possibly tomorrow). Enjoy, share and have fun enough not to worry about pronunciation issues.
💽 https://x.com/Fella_Orest/status/1786504041775685848/photo/1

n🐣 RT @TeamPelosi Honored to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from @JoeBiden with a grateful heart and appreciation for my constituents and my family who make my public service possible and inspire the cause of freedom for all. -NP
💽 https://x.com/TeamPelosi/status/1786552593331737006/photo/1

🐣 RT @rgoodlaw Trump “is on record in a civil case admitting that he reimbursed Cohen the $130,000” – per @AWeissmann_ below ¤ Here’s the deal, and it’s significant. ¤ In 2018, not only did Trump admit this in court. Trump did so in joint filing with Michael Cohen.⤵️ ¤ DA can ask Cohen about it.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/rgoodlaw/status/1786544779758604423/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 RT @rgoodlaw 2. Trump and Cohen specifically admitted that Trump reimbursed Cohen $130,000 for the NDA with Stormy Daniels, per the NDA with Daniels (a.k.a. Stephanie Clifford). ¤ What’s more a subsequent court in 2020 held these to be admissions. ¤ Here’s the 2020 court opinion.⤵️
[TextLink:] https://x.com/rgoodlaw/status/1786547200907956710/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 RT @rgoodlaw 3/ Link to the 2018 Joint Opposition filing by Trump and Cohen (and Cohen company Essential Consultants, LLC):
[CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/3ys8jjvu 21p
Link to the 2020 court opinion recognizing the Joint Opposition included these admissions:
[CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/ttxk8bfy 29p

🐣 RT @TheAtlantic “The identity of MAGA world has fused with Trump’s; to turn on him would be to turn on themselves,” @Peter_Wehner writes:
⋙ TheAtlantic, Peter Wehner: What’s Left to Restrain Donald Trump? https://tinyurl.com/52fejf6m “They [MAGA] made a Faustian bargain, and they’re not about to break it. They will follow him anywhere he goes.”
// If the former president really did order an assassination—as his lawyers argue he could—does anyone believe it would cost him his supporters?

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP Donald Trump on accepting the results of the 2024 election: ¤ “If everything’s honest, I’ll gladly accept the results…If it’s not, you have to fight for the right of the country.”
⋙ CNN: Trump says he will only accept 2024 election results ‘if everything’s honest’ https://tinyurl.com/y38tz4e9 … according to him

🧵 RT @CoffeewClassics Each year, readers spend billions on self-help books and courses. ¤ But why chase the latest fad self-help guru, when all of the wisdom of human history is at your fingertips? ¤ Instead, check out one of these classic books of wisdom: (thread)
📌 https://x.com/CoffeewClassics/status/1786394304006541561/photo/1 -n
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/5n6jpu44

🐣 RT @RBReich The effective federal corporate income tax rate:
1950: 50%
1990: 25%
2020: 13%
Stop asking “but how we will pay for it?” Restore the corporate tax rate. ¤ That is how we will pay for it.

🐣 RT @ResoluteSquare .@MarkHamill: “President Biden has been the most legislatively successful president in my lifetime, with the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, the PACT Act, the CHIPS Act, Inflation Reduction Act, and so much more.”
💽 https://x.com/ResoluteSquare/status/1786493304177131791/photo/1

🐣 RT @gtconway3d A witness’s demeanor while testifying is evidence. ¤ Hope Hicks’s demeanor—her obvious emotional distress—provides brutally damaging evidence against Trump.
⋙ 🐣 RT @JoyceWhiteVance Witnesses cry or get emotional on the stand for a lot of different reasons. But here, given Hope Hick’s relationship with Trump, it suggests that because she’s under oath, she’s had to reveal facts she’d rather have left unsaid & she’s concerned she’s damaged Trump.
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @JoyceWhiteVance One of the jury’s jobs is to assess the credibility of witnesses. Details like this are not lost on them. Anything she’s said that casts Trump in a poor light is something she’d rather not have had to say, which makes her believable. And she’s corroborated some important details.

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch Hope Hicks broke down on the stand as she buried Trump with her testimony. Our source inside the court told us, “She just sunk him and realizes it.”
🖼 https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1786488024877957226/photo/1
// courtroom sketch
⋙ MeidasTouch: Hope Hicks Breaks Down On The Witness Stand As She Buries Trump During Her Testimony https://tinyurl.com/3uwzbm2d “Hicks broke down likely knowing that her testimony is a significant blow to Donald Trump’s defense” “A stunning moment during today’s trial”

🐣 RT @gtconway3d Yep. Even if Cohen had advanced the money in October 2016 on his own without any expectation of repayment by Trump—a ludicrous lie—Cohen would have committed a campaign finance violation (which is why he pleaded guilty to one).
↥ ↧
🐣 RT @ AWeissmann_ Why Hicks is such a devastating witness against Trump:

1. Hicks makes clear Trump knew of the Cohen payoff scheme to Daniels.
2. Even if you believe his statement to her that he only learned after the fact.
3. Her testimony sinks Trump’s defense since he is on record in a civil case admitting that he reimbursed Cohen the $130,000.
4. Hicks establishes that Trump knew that money was for Daniel’s silence- not for the claimed legal fees for ongoing legal work by Cohen.

Hicks suggests that #2 was a lie by Trump to her (because she testified that Cohen was not a charitable kind of guy who would keep his good deed to himself), but it does not matter- even if the jury believes Trump only knew later, he knew PRIOR to making all the reimbursement payments to Cohen.

And Hicks’ crying on the stand makes it that much clearer that she does not want to be implicating her former boss– the DA is making the case, as the J6C did, through Trump loyalists.

🐣 RT @RBReich We’re now in the 27th consecutive month of unemployment below 4%. We haven’t seen this since the 1960s. This is what can happen when you fight back against trickle-down economic nonsense and invest in American workers.

🐣 RT @WhiteHouse When President Biden took office, he inherited an economy on the brink, with the worst economic crisis in a century. ¤ Under his leadership, our economy has created 15.4 million jobs. ¤ The great American comeback continues.
◕ https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1786455684462031206/photo/1
// jobs per month by president Raegan. through Biden so far

🐣 RT @ReneDuba I can see a few things happening that I find significant:
1. Ukraine again has ammunition
2. Russian artillery losses are unsustainably high. That’s good because Russian warfare depends on it.
3. Russian fuel tankers and truck losses are high. Transport is their weak point.
⋙ 🐣 RT @KyivIndependent These are the indicative estimates of Russia’s combat losses as of May 3, according to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
◕ https://x.com/ReneDuba/status/1786340555686895973/photo/1

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson Good morning: I regret to inform you that the “independent” accounting firm for @realdonaldtrump’s Trash Social was just charged by the SEC with “with widespread fraud and accused of operating a ‘sham audit mill.'” ¤ I know you’re as surprised as anyone. [CNN link:] https://tinyurl.com/aj39fh6p

🔄 🐣 RT @HeathMayo So, this single chart seems to really bust up a lot of the Narrative on the economy…
◕ https://x.com/HeathMayo/status/1786261708207423761/photo/1
// Title: “Wages Have Outpaced Inflation Since COVID-19 Pandemic”
// Source: “Source: RWM, BLS Bloomberg Finance L.P” thru Feb 2024

⭕ 2 May 2024

DailyExpress: Vladimir Putin warned he could ‘lose his life’ as Ukraine prepares huge attack in war https://tinyurl.com/6btd5rr6 “Ukraine has previously said it wants to take back Crimea, the peninsula occupied by Russia since 2014.” //➔ misleading headline; interesting article

Vladimir Putin will “lose his life” if Ukraine succeeds in taking back the Crimean Peninsula, it has been claimed. ¤ In recent days, Ukraine has turned its attention to Crimea once more, launching missile attacks on the territory that has been occupied by Russia since 2014.

At the start of the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was clear that the plan was to take back Crimea as well as other occupied territories.

YouTuber and Ukraine veteran, Operator Starsky, says Russian President Vladimir Putin will lose his life if Ukraine successfully reclaims Crimea. ¤ He told Times Radio: “With losing Crimea, Putin will probably lose his life as well. That is why these strikes on strategic objects will continue. ¤ “We expect with the Ukrainian army gaining access to the Azov Sea at least that the future of so-called Russian Crimea will be under big, big question.”

Ukraine is currently using long-range ATACMS provided by the US to strike Russian forces in Crimea. ¤ Philip Karber, a military analyst with expertise on Ukraine, told Radio Free Europe that “the delivery of ATACMS is a big breakthrough” and that they “could basically make Crimea militarily worthless.” ¤ Ukraine has already struck hefty blows to Russia in Crimea during the war. ¤ Kyiv’s forces successfully attacked the Kerch Bridge in 2022, and they have also pushed back Russia’s Navy at sea.

Zelensky told The Washington Post that attacks on Crimea are helping to stifle Moscow’s strikes. ¤ He said: “When Russia knows we can destroy these jets, they will not attack from Crimea. ¤ “It’s like with the sea fleet,” he added. “We pushed them from our territorial waters. Now we will push them from the airports in Crimea.”

In April, Ukraine suggested it could try and attack the Kerch Bridge again in what could be the first step to taking Crimea. ¤ Maj Gen Vadym Skybytskyi said Kyiv had “no choice” but to take the fight to targets deep behind enemy lines.

🐣 RT @TristanSnell BREAKING: Oil industry players worked to fix prices at artificially high levels by coordinating limitations on how much oil they would drill — per new complaint from the Federal Trade Commission ¤ FTC alleges that oil execs used texts and WhatsApp to jack up the price of gasoline

🐣 RT @ResoluteSquare NEW from @atrupar & @nberlat in Public Notice:
“What’s most striking in the Time Magazine interview is that Trump, even after four years as president, has virtually no grasp on any policy issue beyond empty talking points, most of which are lies.”
PublicNotice, Aaron Rupar and Noah Berlatsky: He’s not even trying to hide it https://tinyurl.com/2p9wy7n5
// Trump’s Time Magazine interview exposes a malevolent fool.

🐣 RT @newrepublic “The Nation is witnessing the determined delegitimization of both its Federal and State judiciaries and the systematic dismantling of its system of justice and Rule of Law by a single man – the former President of the United States.”
🖼 [pic Judge Luttig:] https://x.com/newrepublic/status/1786213508712976785/photo/1
⋙ NewRepublic (3/29): Conservative Judges Sound Alarm: Trump Will Shred Our Justice System https://tinyurl.com/5n74nj9u
// 3/29/2024; Prominent conservative judges are warning that Trump is posing a threat that’s like “nothing in American history.”

Reading from: Hitler, A Biography by Ian Kershaw (2010) https://tinyurl.com/2awjw3tf Note the resonances with our era.
.

“’Hitler is Reich Chancellor. Just like a fairy-tale,’ noted Goebbels. Indeed, the extraordinary had happened. What few beyond the ranks of Nazi fanatics had thought possible less than a year earlier had become reality. Against all odds, Hitler’s aggressive obstinacy – born out of lack of alternatives – had paid off. What he had been unable to achieve himself, his ‘friends’ in high places had achieved for him.

“The ‘nobody of Vienna’, ‘unknown soldier’, beerhall demagogue, head of what was for years no more than a party on the lunatic fringe of politics, a man with no credentials for running a sophisticated state-machine, practically his sole qualification the ability to muster the support of the nationalist masses whose base instincts he showed an unusual talent for rousing, had now been placed in charge of government of one of the leading states in Europe. His intentions had scarcely been kept secret over the years. Whatever the avowals of following a legal path to power, heads would roll, he had said. Marxism would be eradicated, he had said. Jews would be ‘removed’, he had said. Germany would rebuild the strength of its armed forces, destroy the shackles of Versailles, conquer ‘by the sword’ the land it needed for its living space’, he had said. A few took him at his word, and thought he was dangerous. But far, far more, from Right to Left of the political spectrum – conservatives, liberals, socialists, communists – underrated his intentions and unscrupulous power instincts at the same time as they scorned his abilities. …

“His path ought to have been blocked long before the final drama of January 1933. The most glaring opportunity was missed through the failure to impose a hefty jail sentence after the putsch fiasco of 1923 – and to compound this disastrous omission by releasing him on parole within a matter of months and allowing him a fresh start. But those miscalculations, as well as those during the Depression years that opened up the possibility, then the reality, of a Hitler Chancellorship, were not random acts. They were the miscalculations of a political class determined to inflict what injury it could on (or at least make only the faintest attempts to defend) the new, detested, or at best merely tolerated democratic Republic. The anxiety to destroy democracy rather than the keenness to bring the Nazis to power was what triggered the complex developments that led to Hitler’s Chancellorship. …

“This was not least because powerful groups had never reconciled themselves to democracy, and were by this time actively seeking to bring it down. During the Depression, democracy was less surrendered than deliberately undermined by élite groups serving their own ends. These were no pre-industrial leftovers, but-however reactionary their political aims-modern lobbies working to further their vested interests in an authoritarian system. In the final drama, the agrarians and the army were more influential than big business in engineering Hitler’s takeover. But big business, also, politically myopic and self-serving, had significantly contributed to the undermining of democracy which was the necessary prelude to Hitler’s success. …

“The total collapse of confidence in a state system resting on discredited party politics and bureaucratic administration had led over a third of the population to place its trust and its hopes in the politics of national redemption. The personality cult carefully nurtured around Hitler turned him into the embodiment of such hopes. Whatever the future held, for those who could not share the delirium of the SA hordes marching through the Brandenburg Gate in celebration on the evening of 30 January 1933, it was at best uncertain. ‘A leap into the dark’ was how one Catholic newspaper described Hitler’s appointment to the Chancellorship.”

~ Hitler, A Biography by Ian Kershaw https://tinyurl.com/2awjw3tf

🐣 RT @NewVoiceUkraine In eastern Ukraine, Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Novopavlivka remain the hottest sectors, but the Armed Forces have the situation well in hand, said Nazar Voloshyn, spokesperson for the Khortytsia Operational and Strategic Grouping of Troops.
⋙ NewVoiceUkraine: Military officials name the hottest point on the front in eastern Ukraine https://tinyurl.com/2cvv24ta

🧵 RT @dszeligowski THE DEAL THAT NEVER WAS ¤ How Russia sought to subjugate Ukraine, the West rightly refused to play the ball, and Putin became personally responsible for the failure of the Ukrainian-Russian talks
📌 https://x.com/dszeligowski/status/1785771531458462188

🧵 RT @StateOfUkraine Russia is actively recruiting soldiers to replace massive casualties in Ukraine, bolstering the myth of almost endless Russian human resources. We’ve been looking into it, and the picture isn’t as pretty as the Putin regime would like the world to believe. 1/n […]
⋙ 🐣 RT @StateOfUkraine Russia needs a large mobilization wave to achieve any major results, but its resources are not limitless. The idea that Ukrainians will run out of bullets before Russia runs out of people is Kremlin propaganda, which can be easily obliterated by properly arming Ukraine. 27/n

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom “Americans simply cannot imagine how badly Trump’s first term might have turned out, and how ghastly his second term is likely to be,” @RadioFreeTom writes in The Atlantic Daily. We just don’t know how to conceptualize “the end of democracy in America.” [Atlantic link:] https://tinyurl.com/4fz2jarf

😂 RT @maddenifico Apparently, Trump attorney Todd Blanche hates his client so much he stood up in court today and read out loud a tweet by Michael Cohen referring to Trump as Donald Von Shitzinpantz. ¤ Because it was formally entered into the court record, the depraved degenerate will forever be known as Donald Von Shitzinpantz.

🐣 RT @TheEconomist Disinformation is taking on a new, sophisticated shape. This is how it works—and how to counter it https://econ.st/4dpSqZi

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe .@RichardHaass: “What business leaders are missing here is how much is at stake. The comparative advantage of the U.S. and the American economy depends on the rule of law being paramount. If we no longer have that, they are kidding themselves if they think they can flourish.”
💽 https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1786016219482493374/photo/1

🔄 CBS (Apr 30): White House considers welcoming some Palestinians from war-torn Gaza as refugees https://tinyurl.com/539xnkx8 They would have to have relatives here AND pass “a series of eligibility, medical and security screenings”
¤ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1786125968723104233

🐣 RT @RBReich If you don’t live in a “swing state,” your vote counts less. But we can reform the Electoral College and fix that. ¤ Since we made this video, Minnesota and Maine have joined the National Popular Vote compact. ¤ Here’s what you need to know.

🐣 RT @SteveRattner “Russia’s state-controlled gas giant reported its first annual net loss since 1999 on falling shipments to Europe and lower prices for the fuel.”cc: @business
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1786061938465677682/photo/1

🐣 RT @MichaelArt123 European leaders send ($54B) in new aid to Ukraine. The agreement overcomes weeks of resistance from Hungary and comes amid uncertainty over the future of U.S. aid. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he hoped the EU decision would help Pres Biden convince Congress to follow suit.
¤ https://x.com/MichaelArt123/status/1786095342317904287
⋙ 🐣 RT @MichaelArt123 This support is direct result of the NATO Alliance, Pres Biden has rebuilt with our allies.

🐣 📊 RT @SteveRattner Americans show net support for pro-choice policies in 45 out of 50 states — including every 2024 battleground.
🌎 https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1786089158529765629/photo/1
// Source: PRRI

⭕ 1 May 2024

★ 🐣 RT @IrwinRedlenerMD #BirdFlu The culprit is a dangerous virus, H5N1. ¤ I’m trying to resist being an alarmist here. I really am. But truth is I am seriously concerned that we are facing a major threat of a new pandemic, even deadlier than Covid-19 & heavily targeting the elderly and young children.
¤ https://x.com/IrwinRedlenerMD/status/1785879343974977784

This virus has killed millions upon millions of birds and certain mammals. If it mutates & gains the ability to transmit among humans, we could have a true global calamity.

H5N1 vaccines could soon be available – but if the virus starts hitting people, the quantities of vaccine required (and immediacy of need) would be staggering. I would like to see global resources sufficient to deal with this challenge with the scale & urgency it warrants. Plus our hospitals must be preparing for a huge influx if this virus gets out of control.

We CAN do what’s needed to mitigate this threat – but the urgent ramping up starts now!

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch WOW: Jamie Raskin just reminded everyone that in a 2019 oversight hearing, oil and gas industry scientists and experts testified that the industry knew that the burning of fossil fuels caused climate change as early as 1959. ¤ 1959!
💽 https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1785779367572074656/photo/1

🐣 RT @ Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🇨🇳🚫🇺🇸 “China has crossed Biden’s red line on Ukraine. The president warned Xi not to provide ‘material support’ to Russia”, – WSJ

❗️Biden warned China two years ago not to provide “material support” for Russia’s war in Ukraine. On Friday, Blinken conceded that Xi Jinping ignored that warning.

😮 China, Blinken said, was “overwhelmingly the No. 1 supplier” of Russia’s military industrial base, with the “material effect” of having fundamentally changed the course of the war. Whatever Mr. Biden chooses to do next will be momentous for global security and stability.

👀 Mr. Biden can either enforce his red line through sanctions or other means, or he can signal a collapse of American resolve by applying merely symbolic penalties.

🐣 RT @SteveSchmidtSES How much of an issue do you think these protests are for President Biden’s re-election campaign? [Substack link:] https://tinyurl.com/49jbk5p2
⋙ 🐣 Trump supports Israel and Netanyahu ¤ Biden supports Israel but not Netanyahu’s far right alliance; he favors a Palestinian State ¤ Biden also supports Gaza and is trying to provide the people there with humanitarian aid ¤ I’m with Biden. He is a statesman. Trump is a fool.

🧵 RT @ThirdWayMattB It’s time to talk about @RobertKennedyJr. Because despite his royal Democratic lineage, he is a right-wing, MAGA-aligned crank. It is vital that voters considering Kennedy know this about him. ¤ Here’s a thread with just SOME of the evidence. There’s more. A lot more.
📌 https://x.com/ThirdWayMattB/status/1785657900699992367
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1785657900699992367.html

🐣 RT @maksymeristavi … it does matter to emphasize “European” when we talk about genocide in Ukraine. Ukrainians are sacrificing their lives and being murdered for being European, for refusing to give up their European freedoms, for standing up for what they believe are European values

TheAtlantic, Russell Berman: Democrats Defang the House’s Far Right https://tinyurl.com/y4sf7tkm “Democrats saw in Johnson’s move on Ukraine—despite months of delay—an act of much greater political courage than McCarthy’s last-minute decision to avert a government shutdown”
// By pledging to support Mike Johnson, Democrats have freed the House from the grip of GOP hard-liners.

WaPo: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene launches her plan to oust Speaker Johnson https://tinyurl.com/rnk383vx “But Democrats have promised to ride to the House speaker’s rescue, at least for now”

🐣 RT @girlsreallyrule The law firm which has represented Trump and his election campaign for several years, is seeking to withdraw as the firm of record, saying there had been an “irreparable breakdown in the attorney-client relationship.” ¤ My guess is he hasn’t paid a bill.

⭕ 30 Apr 2024

BrennanCenter (4/30): Violent Crime Is Falling Nationwide — Here’s How We Know https://tinyurl.com/bdk7nwb5 “Preliminary FBI data, however imperfect, confirms a sharp downward trend in crime, undercutting attempts to blame criminal justice reform for pandemic-era spikes in violence.”
// 4/30/2024

Politico: US military pier to begin operations off Gaza as soon as this weekend https://tinyurl.com/y9mszn7d “The establishment of the new aid route more directly involves the United States in the war between Israel and Hamas.” Will ramp up from 90 to 150 trucks/day

NPR: Fox News pulls down series as Hunter Biden threatens lawsuit https://tinyurl.com/5n7stj3m

WaPo: Trump won’t say what he plans to do as president https://tinyurl.com/yhncdrcw “The former president is poised to once again leave the details to others — a group he’s being more careful in picking” //➔ Hitler did this too: he surrounded himself with eager flunkeys and let them compete to fulfill his vague demands; the results were increasingly draconian and grisly

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow Donald Trump’s Agenda for 2024 if Elected President: @TIME [Time link:] https://tinyurl.com/3v944dw3
¤ 🖼 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1785469231515246779/photo/1

1. Initiate a deportation operation targeting over 11 million individuals.

2. Construct migrant detention camps and potentially utilize the U.S. military for enforcement.

3. Allow states the autonomy to implement and enforce abortion laws, potentially including the monitoring of pregnancies.

4. Dismiss U.S. Attorneys who refuse to prosecute targeted individuals.

5. Consider granting pardons to all supporters involved in the January 6 Capitol attack.

6. Appoint a ‘real special prosecutor’ to investigate Joe Biden.

7. Reevaluate U.S. commitments to NATO and consider withholding aid to allies such as Ukraine.

8. Deploy the National Guard in cities to address crime, potentially bypassing gubernatorial consent.

9. Implement severe tariffs on imports, including a possible 100% tariff on certain Chinese goods.

🐣 RT @victoriaslog ¤ Russia is scared that Europe will send troops to Ukraine to kick their soldiers’ asses. ¤ Propagandists started threatening to nuke everyone, especially the US, the UK, and France, because they don’t need a world in which Russia can’t commit genocide and annex new territories. ¤ They do it now because, unfortunately, it worked in 2014
💽 [tr] https://x.com/victoriaslog/status/1785247335347347698/photo/1
// on Russian tv

🐣 📊 RT @mattsheffield Passive or news-ignorant Americans support Donald Trump, while people who actually read news[papers] support Joe Biden. [NBC link:] https://tinyurl.com/5hbjen92
◕ https://x.com/mattsheffield/status/1785122434817085475/photo/1
// NBC News poll; by media type

🐣 💽 RT @TheLastWord SCOTUS justices flirt with idea Trump’s above the law, Yale’s Tim Snyder says https://tinyurl.com/2n674dbn
// Yale History Professor Timothy Snyder joins MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell to discuss what worries him about the Supreme Court conservative justices’ arguments on whether Donald Trump is immune from criminal prosecution.

🐣 RT @BrennanCenter The justices spent the oral argument spinning hypothetical scenarios, obscuring the historic criminality of Trump’s alleged behavior. There is no world in which he is entitled to immunity from prosecution.
⋙ BrennanCenter: Spinning Hypotheticals, Justices Forget the Grim Facts of Trump’s Alleged Crimes https://tinyurl.com/duzrh5py “The Founders didn’t make the president a king. No one who had a hand in drafting the Constitution thought the president should be above the law”
// Two centuries of U.S. constitutional history make clear that Donald Trump is liable to criminal prosecution.

🐣 RT @RBReich The top 0.1% of Americans control $20 trillion in wealth.
The bottom 50% control $3.7 trillion in wealth.
Read that back.
Folks, this is what oligarchy looks like.

🐣 RT @SawyerHackett Woah. Trump tells @TIME he would “let red states monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute those who violate abortion bans.” ¤ This is the future we’re looking at if he’s elected in November.

🐣 RT @tribelaw Justices Alito, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh’s “insistence on taking the case, then slow-walking the schedule, and now focusing on how to protect the office of the presidency into the future means, perversely, that in the actual case before them, they are creating the conditions to let the man who nearly destroyed the Constitution get off scot-free. All while setting the stage for him to complete the task. Certainly if he is elected, the prosecutions against him will vanish faster than you can say ‘Dictator on Day One.’ BACK ON EARTH ONE, though, facts still matter.” [Bulwark link:]

🐣 RT @Acosta Trump tells Time he doesn’t rule out political violence if he loses election: “I don’t think we’re going to have that. I think we’re going to win. And if we don’t win, you know, it depends. It always depends on the fairness of an election.”
↥ ↧
🐣 RT @mehdirhasan This is not a drill. He’s pledging it loudly and proudly. If you’re still voting for Trump after all of this, be clear: you’re voting for fascism and the end of American democracy as we know it. That’s not hyperbole – that’s simply paying attention to his own promises and plans:
↥ ↧
🐣 RT @ianbassin “I ask him, Don’t you see why many Americans see such talk of dictatorship as contrary to our most cherished principles? Trump says no. Quite the opposite, he insists. ‘I think a lot of people like it.’”
↥ ↧
🐣 RT @atrupar I increasingly believe this election will be a referendum on whether anything matters anymore. There’s no rational case for Trump, but there’s a loud contingent on the left that just wants to burn it down. Combine that with low information voters and Republicans circling the wagons around their guy, and you have the outlines of a calamity.
Hopefully people wake up.
⋙ 🐣 RT @MattGertz Personally I think this sounds very bad. [Time:] https://tinyurl.com/3v944dw3
[TextLink:] https://x.com/MattGertz/status/1785291326734377204/photo/1

[Text:] What emerged in two interviews with Trump, and conversations with more than a dozen of his closest advisers and confidants, were the outlines of an imperial presidency that would reshape America and its role in the world. To carry out a deportation operation designed to remove more than 11 million people from the country, Trump told me, he would be willing to build migrant detention camps and deploy the U.S. military, both at the border and inland. He would let red states monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute those who violate abortion bans. He would, at his personal discretion, withhold funds appropriated by Congress, according to top advisers. He would be willing to fire a U.S. Attorney who doesn’t carry out his order to prosecute someone, breaking with a tradition of independent law enforcement that dates from America’s founding. He is weighing pardons for every one of his supporters accused of attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, more than 800 of whom have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a jury. He might not come to the aid of an attacked ally in Europe or Asia if he felt that country wasn’t paying enough for its own defense. He would gut the U.S. civil service, deploy the National Guard to American cities as he sees fit, close the White House pandemic-preparedness office, and staff his Administration with acolytes who back his false assertion that the 2020 election was stolen.

⭕ 29 Apr 2024

🐣 RT @ChrisMurphyCT don’t take it from me ¤ everyone knows what happened ¤ we negotiated a tough bipartisan border security bill. trump and the republicans killed it because THEY ¤ WANT ¤ THE ¤ BORDER ¤ TO STAY A MESS
⋙ 🐣 RT @WorldwithAyan41 McConnell: The border seemed disastrous to all of us. Initially, there was an attempt to pass legislation that mandates dealing with Democrats. then it appeared that our presidential candidate had no desire for us to do anything.
💽 https://x.com/WorldwithAyan41/status/1782851232006037843/photo/1

🧵 RT @MaryLTrump 1/ I am so tired of him. ¤ I am tired of his face. I am tired of his style of speech. I am so tired of his lies. I am tired of his bluster, his narcissism. I am tired of his fraud and his crimes. I am tired of the relentless news coverage and the danger he poses to democracy. ¤ I am so tired. Read on for why.👇
📌 https://x.com/MaryLTrump/status/1785086379929538669

His Face

Or, more specifically, his facial expressions. Let’s start with the pout. It’s his way of trying to look tough, but he can’t pull it off because he isn’t tough. If we’ve learned nothing else in the last eight years, it’s that he’s a perpetually aggrieved child who can never find satisfaction and who blames everything bad that happens to him on everyone else.

Then there’s the sneer, which is worse. He saves it for those occasions when he scores a point against a perceived enemy — like getting the Mike Johnsons and Ron DeSantises of the world to come to Mar-a-Lago to kiss his ring, or on those alarming occasions when he gets away with breaking a norm (or a law) or, maybe even worse, when he gets an assist from an increasingly corrupt institution like the Supreme Court.

Together, the pout and the sneer perfectly encapsulate the tension that exists between his arrogant belief that he is utterly untouchable and his desperately fragile ego and unconscious sense that he is a weak, terrified little boy.

His Style of Speech

He just won’t stop talking. And the longer he speaks, the more he lapses into a stream of consciousness that defies logic or meaning. There is no nuance, no attempt to be coherent, no aspiration to eloquence.

Word Choice: Everything is always terrible or incredible. It is always like nothing you’ve ever seen. There are no shades of gray; only the black and white of hyperbole, because if it is in any way related to him or his enemies, it must be the best or the worst.

Asides and Non Sequiturs: He meanders without ever really getting to the point, and along the way he veers off onto a totally unrelated topic. He could be talking about nuclear weapons and then launch into a monologue about water pressure or lightbulbs while his supporters wait for a conclusion he never draws.

Repetition: When he wants to drive home a point, he doesn’t just repeat it once, he repeats it incessantly. He pounds it down. Repetition reinforces his message,even as it hides the lack of substance and factual information — and his brand of simple-minded patter makes it all the more effective. As Joseph Goebbels, minister of propaganda for Nazi Germany put it, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” In cognitive psychology, this is known as the “illusory truth effect.”

Rhetoric: He speaks down to the lowest common denominator and doesn’t hesitate to call on his followers to commit violence on his behalf, riling them up with promises to pay their lawyers or otherwise offering them immunity. It is the coward’s way, but he excels at it.

And here lies his disturbing resemblance to cult leaders. They, too, traffic in simplistic tropes and make vague promises; they see themselves as unique, chosen, and, in some cases, divine; they create a clear division between their group (the “chosen” ones) and the out group (the “enemy” or “other”). Cult leaders dehumanize the other, portraying them as inferior or inhuman (“vermin”).

Sound familiar?

When you hear that voice, rambling, repetitive, and threatening, remember: it’s not empty noise — he’s preying on the vulnerability of his followers, who at this point seem almost incapable of listening to any voice but his.

🐣 RT @MaryLTrump 2/ His Lies

Truth was not a particularly valued commodity but this man takes lying to a whole new level. He tells lies — about the weather, about crowd sizes — that are easily disproved. He lies to his followers and to himself about himself — his wealth, his business, his record.

The truly baffling part is that many people believe him. And for every person that believes him, there are 10 who know he’s lying, but don’t care.

Narrative Necessity and Solipsistic Reality:

Does he believe his own lies? Fellow psychologist Robert Jay Lifton suggests that his belief is not always definite and fixed but has become a part of his narrative necessity. He partially believes in this falsehood while consciously manipulating it to manipulate the American public. His self-centered reality allows him to keep the belief active despite external challenges.

I think it depends to a great degree on whether or not the lie he is telling relates to him personally. In other words, if he’s lying about his net worth or his criminality or poll numbers he must out of necessity believe them — they are a defense mechanism against his own extraordinary insecurity. The alternative would be to acknowledge that he is actually a loser, and that would be intolerable for him.

🐣 RT @MaryLTrump 3/ His Bluster

He interrupts, he talks over people, he fails to treat others with the same courtesy he demands.

His rudeness and lack of manners exists because he believes basic human decency is for suckers and weaklings.

He’s truly the worst person in any room.

The bluster is particularly hard to take knowing it is based on nothing. He may like to pretend that he’s a brilliant real estate tycoon, but this is a completely illusory image that was created decades ago by his father, propped up on a scaffolding of bank loans and lies.

And that was not all. His father was willing to stake millions of dollars on his son because he believed he could leverage the skills his son did have – as a savant of self-promotion, shameless liar, marketer, and builder of brands – to achieve the one thing that had always eluded him: a level of fame that matched his ego and satisfied his ambition in a way money alone never could.

Unfortunately, too many people since have found this bluster (clownish as it may be to most of us) useful, including Mark Burnett, who made the tragic decision to center the “Celebrity Apprentice” on a failed businessman who otherwise would have faded into obscurity.

The strut is part of the deception, the art of distraction, based on smoke and mirrors. It says look here, focus on the spectacle and not the man behind the curtain. [ …more on substack… ]

🔄 🧵 RT @David_Charts Biden vs. Trump on the economy. The relevant frame is 2023 vs. 2019 pre-pandemic, as 2020-2021 distorted (mostly in Biden’s favor). ¤ First, monthly average job creation is the most important measure of how the economy is doing. It was about 50% faster in 2023 than 2019. 1/
📌 ◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1761819988019523645/photo/1 -n

★ 🐣 RT @MontyBoa99 The US should have led the world in fighting COVID. But the Trump Admin’s sabotage campaign on health policy, communications, public awareness, and tools made the United States’ death rate FIVE TIMES WORSE than the global average rate. ¤ That’s not incompetence. That’s malice.
◕ https://x.com/MontyBoa99/status/1785115465179697447/photo/1

🐣 RT @igorsushko 💥 Massive ATACMS fire campaign happening now against Russian military targets in occupied Crimea. Over 10 explosions reported from Hvardiiske (Simferopol) to Dzhankoi.
💽 https://x.com/igorsushko/status/1785087704205504874/photo/1
// @SecDef 💭 “UKRAINE IS GETTING 1000 ATACMS RUSSIA IS SCREWED”

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: New economic analysis shows household wealth for Americans under 40 is up 49% from its pre-pandemic level. An incredible testament to Bidenomics’ success.

🐣 RT @Acyn Luttig: If a president cannot be held accountable under the constitution for having to attempted to overturn an election that he lost fair and square, remain in power, and all the while preventing the peaceful transfer of power, then that is to cut the heart and soul out of America’s democracy and the rule of law

🐣 RT @ChrisMurphyCT Biden is so old he just got every dime of Ukraine aid and humanitarian relief he asked for despite Republican and Trump resistance and along the way he managed to flip the politics on immigration just for the hell of it.

🐣 RT @RBReich Reminder that before 1982, stock buybacks were considered stock manipulation. ¤ Reagan’s SEC opened the floodgates to their abuse. ¤ Stock buybacks don’t create more jobs. They don’t increase wages. They don’t grow the economy. ¤ They do one thing: Make corporate execs richer.
⋙ 🐣 RT @MorePerfectUS Google laid off over 12,000 workers last year, and it hasn’t stopped in 2024. ¤ Now, it’s doing a staggering $70 billion in stock buybacks.
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @MorePerfectUS Here’s a quick explainer on the travesty that is stock buybacks:
💽 https://x.com/MorePerfectUS/status/1783872850061062218/photo/1

Trump’s LIES (NYT) APRIL 29 “We’re also getting NATO countries to finally step up and contribute their fair share. They’ve begun to increase their contributions by billions of dollars” (The deal was struck in 2014.) https://tinyurl.com/3wbcdxmp

Trump’s LIES (NYT) APRIL 29 “When they talk about currency manipulation, and I did say I would call China, if they were. … And then I get there. Number one, they — as soon as I got elected, they stopped.” (China stopped in 2014.) https://tinyurl.com/54c4stm8 ¤

Trump’s LIES (NYT) APRIL 29 “I was negotiating to reduce the price of the big fighter jet contract, the F-35, which was totally out of control. I will save billions and billions and billions of dollars.” (Most of the cuts were planned before Trump.) WaPo: https://tinyurl.com/ymub25rb

⭕ 28 Apr 2024

WSJ Editorial: Watch Out for a Global Wealth Tax https://tinyurl.com/ydn2y8p3 “[T]he levy would raise about $250 billion a year from some 3,000 billionaires and “would boost social justice and increase trust in the effectiveness of fiscal redistribution.”

Crooks&Liars: Law Professor Rips SCOTUS For Naked Plot To ‘Protect Donald Trump’ https://tinyurl.com/5bysuwvb “University of Pennsylvania law professor Kate Shaw said the U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to create a presidential immunity doctrine just to protect … Trump.”

🐣 RT @tribelaw tribelaw “So I’m a constitutional law professor,” Kate Shaw explained. “I have never taught my students about the doctrine of the criminal immunity of ex-presidents from prosecution, even for official acts. And that’s for the simple reason that there is no such doctrine.” ¤ In my 50 yrs of teaching and writing about the U.S. Constitution, I reached the conclusion that any such doctrine would destroy the whole project and celebrated its absence. Now we’re in for a wild ride. But it’s not a ride the Framers would’ve taken.
💙 ⋙ 🐣 RT @IAmPoliticsGirl #SCOTUS just heard a case on presidential immunity. We shouldn’t be here, but since we are, it’s incredibly clear what we need to do…
💽 https://x.com/IAmPoliticsGirl/status/1784736417165504557/photo/1

🐣 RT @igorsushko Taking a pause to smile coyly, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin directly contradicted National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan’s prior assertion on that the long-range ATACMS missiles supplied to Ukraine are only “for use inside Ukraine’s sovereign territory.”
💽 https://x.com/igorsushko/status/1784755430885122231/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @Igor_from_Kyiv_ When I am in a city where there is no fighting (although in Ukraine now there is no 100% safe place, since missiles are flying anywhere), and I feel bad at heart. I think about the people who are now near the line of combat contact, and I understand that it is harder for them now. […]
¤ 💽 🎹 https://x.com/Igor_from_Kyiv_/status/1784651638046658580

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder 1/7. Right-wing justices postulate Trump’s “immunity.” The objection is that this makes him a king. Not so. It’s much worse.
[TextLink:] https://x.com//status/1784607868164984992/photo/1
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1784607868164984992.html

2/7. A king can be subject to law. Even George III was subject to law. The American Revolution was justified by the notion that he had overstepped the law.
3/7. This discussion of immunity is something else. The justices are not discussing any constitutional system at all, including a constitutional monarchy.
4/7. Justices are instead flirting with the idea that a single person can be outside any constitutional system, outside the rule of law as such.
5/7. What justices seem to find charismatic is dictatorship, specifically fascist dictatorship. It is making an exception for a person that attracts them.
6/7. That is the basis of Nazi legal theory (Carl Schmitt). The law and the constitution are just there so we can find the person, the Leader, the Führer, who breaks them, who makes an exception.
7/7. I am not claiming that right-wing justices read Schmitt, or anything else. Simply that their emotive affinity for fascist law is troubling.

🐣 RT @marceelias In less than 15 minutes I explain how conservatives have hatched a new scheme – Project 2025 – to threaten democracy and undermine how our government functions. ¤ Watch now:
💽 [YouTube] https://x.com/marceelias/status/1784625365287043512/photo/1

🐣 RT @Irma_Spikeymama For those who even consider voting Republican (especially women), this is what the GOP envisions for the future of American Women. We cannot let this happen. #VoteBlueToProtectWomensRights Let’s move forward, not turn the clock back to the Past.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Irma_Spikeymama/status/1784615695029768612/photo/1

🐣 RT @NFX360 A warning to America — Timothy Snyder
💽 https://x.com/NFX360/status/1784621066494558391/photo/1

🐣 RT @InsideWithPsaki “We are essentially one vote away from the end of democracy as we know it.” ¤ @AWeissmann on the stakes in SCOTUS presidential immunity case.
💽 https://x.com/InsideWithPsaki/status/1784621038715785617/photo/1

🐣 RT @atrupar incredible
[TextLink:] https://x.com/atrupar/status/1784584550007316644/photo/1

“If the president decides that his rival is a corrupt person, and he orders the military or orders someone to assassinate him, is that within his official acts that — for which he can get immunity?” Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor

“It would depend on the hypothetical, but we can see that could well be an official act.” Trump Attorney D. John Sauer

⭕ 27 Apr 2024

🐣 RT @cspan WATCH: President Biden complete remarks at 2024 White House Correspondents’ Dinner. ¤ #WHCA #WHCD #nerdprom
💽 [~10 mins] https://x.com/cspan/status/1784418992595063104/photo/1

WSJ: Trump Allies Draw Up Plans to Blunt Fed’s Independence https://tinyurl.com/bde4e7z3 “Some Trump advisers argue that the president should be consulted on interest-rate decisions”

🐣 RT @AWeissmann_ Trump already got a win from the Supreme Court in the delay of the DC trial by his raising an outlandish immunity claim. Now his ploy is poised to destroy our system of checks and balances core to our democracy, thanks to venal and spineless members of the Court.

🐣 RT @cspan Colin Jost: “My grandpa voted for decency and decency is why we’re all here tonight. Decency is how we’re able to be here tonight. Decency is how we’re able to make jokes about each other and one of us doesn’t go to prison after…” ¤ #WHCA #WHCD #nerdprom
💽 https://x.com/cspan/status/1784418833916199075/photo/1

🐣 RT @Acyn Jost: The Republican candidate for president owes half a billion in fines for bank fraud and is currently spending his days farting himself awake during a porn star hush money trial and the race is tied? The race is tied. Nothing makes sense anymore.
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1784413854396756336/photo/1

NYT, Charles Homans: Donald Trump Has Never Sounded Like This https://tinyurl.com/sat72y4x “No major American presidential candidate has talked like he now does at his rallies — not Richard Nixon, not George Wallace, not even Donald Trump himself.”

🐣 RT @EuromaidanPress Ukraine ranks in top 6 of 43 countries for belief in democracy. ¤ 64% of Ukrainian respondents believe “democracy may have its flaws, but it is the best system of governance.” In Russia – 22%. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/4undjnjc

🧵 RT @judgeluttig The first words of my testimony before The United States House Select Committee on the Attack on the United States Capitol were that, “A stake was driven through the heart of American democracy on January 6, 2021, and our democracy today is on a knife’s edge.”
📌 https://x.com/judgeluttig/status/1784255657060737322

⋙ The Supreme Court of the United States would cut the heart out of America’s Democracy and the Rule of Law and unsoul the Nation were it to rule that an American president is immune from prosecution under the Constitution

⋙ for attempting to overturn a presidential election and cling to power against the will of the American People. …

🐣 RT @MichaelArt123 Recently the Kennedy family endorsed Joe Biden: “He brought us out of the fires of chaos, into community”

GenevaSolutions, Serhii Kariul (2022): ‘Mothers will produce more sons’: Russia’s long history of sacrificing soldiers https://tinyurl.com/3ctjxf57
// 7/6/2022

⭕ 26 Apr 2024

🐣 RT @allinwithchris .@chrislhayes: “The conservative justices seemed to be almost openly colluding with Donald Trump, reconceptualizing the president in real time as a sort of lawless dictator and just ignoring all constitutional, textual, historical evidence that points in the other direction.”

🐣 RT @DJM549845319274 “Years ago, anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about fishhooks or clay pots or grinding stones.
¤ 🖼 https://x.com/DJM549845319274/status/1784009878362878395/photo/1

But no. Mead said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed. Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. You cannot run from danger, get to the river for a drink or hunt for food. You are meat for prowling beasts. No animal survives a broken leg long enough for the bone to heal.

A broken femur that has healed is evidence that someone has taken time to stay with the one who fell, has bound up the wound, has carried the person to safety and has tended the person through recovery. Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts, Mead said.” ¤ We are at our best when we serve others. Be civilized.

⚖️ WaPo: Secrets, lies and payoffs laid bare in Week 1 of Trump trial testimony https://tinyurl.com/3b997ecm “Witness takes jurors behind the scenes of tabloid negotiating — mentioning Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Jeff Sessions”

🐣 RT @maddenifico The far-right Supreme Court is out of control. These arrogant motherfuckers are doing everything in their power to help Trump evade justice and turn America into an autocracy. ¤ This truth can no longer be ignored: the Supreme Court has become the enemy of the people. #Maddow
💽 https://x.com/maddenifico/status/1784081573047910436/photo/1

⚖️ WaPo Editorial: The Trump immunity case is easy. The Supreme Court shouldn’t make it hard. https://tinyurl.com/ycepdr64 //➔ Yet they seem to want to? Why?

🐣 RT @ChrisDJackson Who else just loves it that the day after it was revealed the NYT is deliberately planting negative stories because he won’t interview with them, @POTUS @JoeBiden does an hour-long interview with Howard Stern? ¤ Savage Dark Brandon.

⚖️ NYT, Jesse Wegman: Trump’s Immunity Case Was Settled More Than 200 Years Ago https://tinyurl.com/yc7njvb9 ‘The lower courts, in opinions by judges appointed by both parties, dispatched this appeal with ease. But [SCOTUS] decided to take the case anyway’

⚖️ NYT, Jamelle Bouie: This Whole King Trump Thing Is Getting Awfully Literal https://tinyurl.com/4xbr3pkm “Donald Trump’s claim that he has absolute immunity for criminal acts taken in office as president is an insult to reason, an assault on common sense and a perversion of the fundamental maxim of American democracy: that no man is above the law.”

More astonishing than the former president’s claim to immunity, however, is the fact that the Supreme Court took the case in the first place. It’s not just that there’s an obvious response — no, the president is not immune to criminal prosecution for illegal actions committed with the imprimatur of executive power, whether private or “official” (a distinction that does not exist in the Constitution) — but that the court has delayed, perhaps indefinitely, the former president’s reckoning with the criminal legal system of the United States.

In delaying the trial, the Supreme Court may well have denied the public its right to know whether a former president, now vying to be the next president, is guilty of trying to subvert the sacred process of presidential succession: the peaceful transfer of power from one faction to another that is the essence of representative democracy. It is a process so vital, and so precious, that its first occurrence — with the defeat of John Adams and the Federalists at the hands of Thomas Jefferson’s Republicans in the 1800 presidential election — was a second sort of American Revolution.

Whether motivated by sincere belief or partisanship or a myopic desire to weigh in on a case involving the former president, the Supreme Court has directly intervened in the 2024 presidential election in a way that deprives the electorate of critical information or gives it less time to grapple with what might happen in a federal courtroom. And if the trial occurs after an election in which Trump wins a second term and he is convicted, then the court will have teed the nation up for an acute constitutional crisis. A president, for the first time in the nation’s history, might try to pardon himself for his own criminal behavior.

In other words, however the Supreme Court rules, it has egregiously abused its power. …

🧵 RT @ChrisMurphyCT Just wrapped a super energizing first session of my new initiative with Utah’s @GovCox, Restoring the Common Good. ¤ We’re trying to figure out if there’s a way for right and left to work together to build more common bonds between Americans.
1/ Here’s what we talked about today.
📌 https://x.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1783994569207459955
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1783994569207459955.html

2/ Our focus today was on how good, meaningful lives often are determined by healthy relationships and connection to community. ¤ We were joined in Salt Lake City by local and national leaders on these topics of combatting loneliness and building a concern for the common good.

3/ A few topics dominated the discussion. First, why are institutions where people find connection and selflessness – like churches or social clubs – weaker today, and is there a role for government to play to help build them back up?

4/ Second, can an increased focus on service – something very important in Utah due to the Mormon Church’s model of universal service – help reinvigorate a value in the common good. ¤ Can we find right/left alignment to expand service programs?

5/ Third, how can we keep the pressure up to control the technologies – most predominantly social media – that incentive our withdrawal from one another and turn us against each other? ¤ Can right and left agree on the parameters of how to assure technology doesn’t rule us?

6/ It was a great first meeting. ¤ The most poignant moment was when one Salt Lake City leader told us about asking his 12 yr old, after a bad day at middle school, what makes a happy day. ¤ “Days when people are kind to me and I’m kind to other people. That’s a good day.” ¤ Amen.

⭕ 25 Apr 2024

⚖️ 🧵 CNN: Takeaways from the Supreme Court arguments on Trump’s absolute immunity claims https://tinyurl.com/3crpxj6f “How the court decides the dispute could determine Trump’s legal fate and will likely set the rules of criminal exposure for future presidents.” Key take-away ⬇️
📌 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1784838568898162952

● Supreme Court seems unlikely to fully resolve the immunity question
● Trump attorney concedes some acts may be ‘private’ and not official
●.Justice Barrett brings up issue of ruling scope and timing
● Liberal justices weren’t impressed with Trump’s absolute immunity claims
● Conservatives worry about subjecting ex-presidents to illegitimate criminal proceedings
● Trump ‘absolutely’ had a right to put forward fake electors, his lawyer says
● With arguments over, focus shifts to timing for decision

⚖️ [CourtDoc:] Transcript https://tinyurl.com/2esppd7s 193p

🧵 RT @judgeluttig The first words of my testimony before The United States House Select Committee on the Attack on the United States Capitol were that, “A stake was driven through the heart of American democracy on January 6, 2021, and our democracy today is on a knife’s edge.”
📌 https://x.com/judgeluttig/status/1784255657060737322

⋙ The Supreme Court of the United States would cut the heart out of America’s Democracy and the Rule of Law and unsoul the Nation were it to rule that an American president is immune from prosecution under the Constitution

⋙ for attempting to overturn a presidential election and cling to power against the will of the American People. …

🧵 RT @duty2warn [4/27/2024] 1/4 The NYT is accused of publishing stories disparaging Biden’s age because they were frustrated he didn’t give them an interview.
Major expose of the NYT and its “both sides” coverage in Politico
📌 https://x.com/duty2warn/status/1784173050482536460
⋙ Politico Mag, Eli Stokols: The Petty Feud Between the NYT and the White House https://tinyurl.com/4kfewdp7 “Biden’s people think they’re ‘entitled.’ The Times says ‘they’re not being realistic.’” //➔ Middle America doesn’t read — doesn’t want to read — the New York times.

⚖️ SCOTUSblog, Amy Howe: Supreme Court appears likely to side with Trump on some presidential immunity https://tinyurl.com/3pfrurr5 “With four of the court’s conservative justices … appearing to lean toward some form of immunity for Trump, the ruling may hinge on Roberts”

⚖️ TheAtlantic, David Graham: The Supreme Court Goes Through the Looking Glass on Presidential Immunity https://tinyurl.com/mvr3ydsa “At this morning’s oral argument, the justices debated the ins and outs of Trump’s dangerous proposition.”

🧵 RT @TimothyDSnyder Biden and NYT. The problem with this very helpful report is that it implicitly reinforces the two-sides-to-each-story framing that is the underlying problem. 1/4
📌 https://x.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/1783534828492612019
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/48durhdd

The real story is democracy, and the real question for NYT and everyone else is whether that framing is dominant. Some great reporting there, but general failure on the framing. 2/4

As a citizen, I couldn’t care less who in the White House and who in the NYT has hurt feelings. I do care about who is doing their job well. The Biden administration, with mistakes of course, has done that. 3/4

We don’t seem to have a mechanism, in the NYT or elsewhere, to explain which good policies have served Americans in which ways. As a result the story of Biden’s actual achievements goes missing in the election year. 4/4

⚖️ 🐣 RT @JohnWDean Today’s SCOTUS argument on Trump’s criminal immunity revealed an activist conservative majority that wants to provide presidential immunity. To do so, they must get around Nixon v Fitzgerald (1982), which clearly states there is no criminal immunity for presidents. For example, as stated in Nixon v Fitzgerald, in Chief Justice Burger’s concurring ruling in the 5-4 decision creating civil immunity:

 “… there is no contention that the President is immune from criminal prosecution in the courts under the criminal laws enacted by Congress, or by the States, for that matter. Nor would such a claim be credible. The Constitution itself provides that impeachment shall not bar ‘Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.’ Art. I, § 3, cl. 7. Similarly, our cases indicate that immunity from damages actions carries no protection from criminal prosecution.”

🐣 RT @igorbobic Alito described consquences for Trump of going to trial: ¤ “That may involve great expense, and it may take up a lot of time. And during the trial, the former president may be unable to engage in other activities that the former president would want to engage in and then the outcome is dependent on the jury, the instructions to the jury, and how the jury returns a verdict and then it has to be taken up on appeal.”
⋙ 🐣 Alito’s a nihilist, attacking the legal process in it’s entirety ~ so much easier to have a strongman calling the shots ¤ I found this chilling
⋙ 🐣 RT @teroterotero He is beyond the reach of logic. He simply does not believe Trump should face any consequences for his crimes. There is no arguing with this sort of madness.
⋙ 🐣 RT @1DancingCrane For a Supreme Court Justice Alito really shows contempt for the US judicial system, democracy and the American people.
⋙ 🐣 RT @lw_smiley He sounds skeptical of jury verdicts
⋙ 🐣 RT @ruthbenghiat [quotetweet] Is this satire or is he an even bigger charlatan than it appeared. Imagine being so arrogant and scornful of the American people that you think anyone would believe these statements given who Trump is.
⋙ 🐣 If Trump wins, he’ll fill AG and OLC spots and 2025 plan is to wipe out the top three layers of govt and fill with loyalists ¤ Only the courts could stop him then, and Alito is casting dispersions on that very judicial process

🐣 RT @abbydphillip For the record, Trump’s attorney John Sauer argues before the Supreme Court that depending on the circumstances, assassinating a political rival could be considered an official act.

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP Despite America thriving for 247 years without our presidents demanding or even claiming absolute immunity, Trump insists the nation’s survival hinges on him enjoying that power.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Trump: Presidential immunity is imperative or you practically won’t have a country anymore
💽 https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1783602432448119271/photo/1

🐣 RT @ Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🇺🇸 “USA will triple the production of artillery ammunition: 100,000 155-mm shells per month”, – James Mingus.
👀 In particular, this will be achieved thanks to the allocation of aid to Ukraine.

🐣 RT @ZaleskiLuke You’re being gaslit into autocracy, America

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom I really would like one of these justices to ask how you’re supposed to impeach the president for a coup if he has rounded up the house and Senate and suspended the legislature.

🧵 RT @ khodorkovsky_en The European Parliament’s refusal to recognize Putin’s presidency is a turning point. ¤ Here’s why it matters 👇
[TextLink:] https://x.com/khodorkovsky_en/status/1783542012542685245/photo/1
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/vym2vax8

MEPs today voted overwhelmingly to pass a resolution denouncing last month’s sham election and rejecting its falsified results. Of the 522 members, 493 voted in favor of the motion

The resolution points to the lack of competition and the atmosphere of fear and repression created by the regime before the election, as well as the fact polling stations were open in occupied Ukrainian lands

It also explicitly refers to Alexey Navalny’s death as a murder, holds the regime – and Putin personally – criminally and politically responsible, and demands the immediate release of all political prisoners held in Russia

Most importantly, the resolution urges EU states to support Russian civil society organizations, and issue humanitarian visas to Russians who face persecution for their opposition to Putin

This is a first public result of the campaign to delegitimize Putin, launched by the Russian Anti-War Committee in October of last year.

This step serves as a signal to Putin that the days when he could unilaterally declare himself the legitimate president and receive universal recognition are over

While he may hate to admit it, Putin needs foreign approval, particularly from the West, because despite all of his best efforts, Russians still place a lot of stock in Western recognition

I want to extend thanks to the MEPs who supported this resolution, as well as my friends and colleagues in the Free Russia Foundation and the Russian Anti-War Committee, whose collective efforts made this possible

Follow @khodorkovsky_en for more on how the West can help us get rid of Putin and end the war in Ukraine.

🐣 RT @anders_aslund Biden made two important statements:
1. [Ukrainians are] “a fighting force with the will and the skill to win — the will and the skill to win.”
2. “We don’t walk away from our allies; we stand with them.  We don’t let tyrants win; we oppose them.  We don’t merely watch global events unfold; we shape them.”
Yet he refrained from stating clearly the US wants Ukraine to win & Russia to be defeated.
[WH link:] https://tinyurl.com/4xj34vs2

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA “I don’t know what the victory will be, I don’t know the specific day. I don’t know exactly how that will happen. But I know that we have no alternative. Therefore, we must win and we will win”, – Zelensky

⚖️ 🧵 RT @KlasfeldReports Good morning from New York. ¤ On Day 1 on the stand, David Pecker described how he turned his tabloid empire into the Trump campaign’s “eyes and ears”: promoting him, attacking his rivals, and silencing “women selling stories.” ¤ The ex-AMI chief’s testimony resumes today.
📌 https://x.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1783478032625283462

🐣 RT @marceelias I am in shock that a lawyer stood in the U.S Supreme Court and said that a president could assassinate his political opponent and it would be immune as “an official act.” ¤ I am in despair that several Justices seemed to think this answer made perfect sense.

🐣 RT @MaryLTrump It’s incredible. ¤ Today most news channels have a split screen of Donald’s election interference trial on one side and his case for presidential immunity on the other. ¤ It’s mind boggling how Donald, corrupt to the core, weak, and out of power, can continue to drag our country down. ¤ American democracy, the rule of law, and the Constitution will never be safe if this morally bankrupt coward gets back into the White House.

🐣 RT @mehdirhasan Insanity. Anyone who votes for Trump in November is voting for open autocracy and fascism. THEY’RE NOT HIDING IT!
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Kagan: How about if the president orders the military to stage a coup?
Sauer: If one adopted the test we advanced, that might well be an official act
🔊 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1783507760224628757/photo/1

🐣 RT @ruthbenghiat Folks, whatever the Court does, having this case heard and the idea of having immunity for a military coup taken seriously by being debated is a big victory in the information war that MAGA and allies wage alongside legal battles. Authoritarians specialize in normalizing extreme ideas and and involves giving them a respected platform.
⋙ 🐣 RT @EdwardGLuce Still can’t quite digest b that a former and possible future American president is telling the supreme court that he should have immunity to kill political rivals. Utterly surreal.

🐣 RT @JoohnChoe A lot of the past eight years, from Trump’s destruction of American civic institutions to Dobbs to the insurrection, to makes an almost beguiling amount of sense if you see it as a struggle over who gets to be the arbiter of legitimacy in American society.

🐣 RT @ianbremmer next time you’re worried about the american economy, take a look at this graph
◕ https://x.com/ianbremmer/status/1783568722961010835/photo/1

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch BREAKING: FCC votes to restore net neutrality, which had been repealed under Trump.

🐣 RT @djrothkopf Go on, just ask: Are you saying that using the Insurrection Act to eliminate your political opposition is not something for which a president could be held legally liable? An answer will help speed things up for all of us who end up in concentration camps next year.
⋙ 🐣 I’m getting my passport renewed. I have a brother in France!

🐣 RT @lawofruby NEW: David Pecker confesses that he structured Karen McDougal’s agreement purposefully to avoid triggering campaign finance law and even sought election law advice. Why? 1/
⋙ 🐣 RT @lawofruby Because Pecker had found himself in some hot water after he paid then-Governor Schwartzenegger’s housekeeper in exchange for the Terminator’s continued association with two of his fitness titles–and after Arnold was running for governor.

🐣 RT @rgoodlaw Due to Trump attorney’s concessions in Supreme Court oral argument, there’s now a very clear path for DOJ’s case to go forward. ¤ It’d be a travesty for Justices to delay matters further. ¤ Justice Amy Coney Barrett got Trump attorney to concede core allegations are private acts.
🔊 https://x.com/rgoodlaw/status/1783551183828697348/photo/1

🐣 RT @MichaelArt123 Judge Kentanji Brown Jackson If there was no criminal liability what is the disincentive to prevent a presidential office from becoming a den for criminal activity. MSNBC.

🐣 RT @cspan Michael Dreeben, Justice Department Counselor to Special Counsel: “There is no immunity that is in the Constitution unless this court creates it today.”
🔊 https://x.com/cspan/status/1783518590320136535/photo/1

🐣 If anyone wants more proU kraini content I have two Twitter Lists (each follows ~ 1K accounts):
➔ U kraine: https://twitter.com/i/lists/157259218 ¤
➔ War in U kraine: https://twitter.com/i/lists/1545071393397784576 ¤
¤ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1783560903209738520
⋙ 🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder No doubt this is true. But we seem to have an identical problem chez Twitter.
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @Biz_Ukraine_Mag Looks like TikTok is censoring pro-Ukraine content
◕ https://x.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/1783518301198360944/photo/1

★ 🐣 RT @SteveRattner “Vaccines alone, the researchers find, accounted for 40 percent of the decline in infant mortality. The paper… estimates that in the 50 years since 1974, vaccines prevented 154 million deaths.”
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1783552561808539996/photo/1

🐣 RT @AriMelber These are some of the most extreme, authoritarian arguments presented to the Supreme Court in the modern era. ¤ The lawyer for a former President literally defending a documented plot to overthrow an election as “legal” – and a hypothetical *military coup.* All out in the open.
⋙ 🐣 If Trump wins, he’ll fill AG and OLC spots and 2025 plan is to wipe out the top three layers of govt and fill with loyalists ¤ Only the courts could stop it then

🐣 RT @NewsHour Justice Sotomayor: If a president says a rival is corrupt and orders their assassination, “is that within his official acts for which he can get immunity?” ¤ Trump lawyer D. John Sauer: “It would depend on the hypothetical, but we can see that could well be an official act.”

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa I spoke with @SpeakerJohnson to express my sincere gratitude for his leadership that ensured true bipartisan support for aid to Ukraine. I specifically highlighted the inclusion of long-range ATACMS systems in the bill, which are greatly needed on the battlefield. I also extended him an invitation to visit Ukraine.

🐣 RT @djrothkopf Feels like the court is leaning toward creating new immunity protections for a president. It’s amazing. We’re watching the Constitution be rewritten in front of our eyes in real time.

🐣 RT @BillPascrell Trump team status
Trump: Arrested (4x)
Campaign chair: Felon
Deputy campaign chair: Felon
Personal lawyer: Felon
Chief strategist: Felon
Natl Sec Advisor: Felon
Trade Advisor: Felon
Foreign policy advisor: Felon
Campaign fixer: Felon
Company CFO: Felon
⋙ 🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski BREAKING: Rudy Giuliani, Mark Meadows, Jenna Ellis, Christina Bobb and Boris Epshytn have all been indicted in Arizona.

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe .@neal_katyal: “When Trump claims absolute immunity, that means, ‘I can do anything I want, and… even the criminal law can’t touch me’… No, you need a president who doesn’t commit crimes. We’ve had over 40 of them without any problem. This is actually a really easy case.”

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA 👀👀👀🇺🇸 The Biden administration warned Russia that attacking Ukraine’s energy grid and using North Korean-provided missiles would lead the U.S. to reconsider sending ATACMS to Ukraine. Those strikes continued, leading top officials – national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. C.Q. Brown – to unanimously recommend the weapons transfer.

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch This is stunning. A NY Times journalist says the publication’s chairman AG Sulzberger encourages that the organization cover the President negatively and highlight his age out of retribution for the fact that Biden hasn’t granted the Times an interview. [Politico link:] https://tinyurl.com/4kfewdp7
[TextLink:] https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1783469406581920212/photo/1

[Text:] “All these Biden people think that the problem is Peter Baker or whatever reporter they’re mad at that day,” one Times journalist said. “It’s A.G. He’s the one who is pissed [that] Biden hasn’t done any interviews and quietly encourages all the tough reporting on his age.”

🐣 RT @SteveRattner China’s real estate collapse has weighed heavily on the country’s economy writ large. ¤ Since 2019, the Beijing stock market has risen less than 20%. (The S&P 500 is up 87% since then.) ¤ @Morning_Joe
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1783450376630390851/photo/1

🐣 RT @JillWineBanks Thoughts re upcoming SCOTUS immunity arguments. ¤ There is no such thing as total immunity, and, even if there is partial immunity for official presidential acts, Trump’s conduct here is not within its scope. A bad policy decision might be, but trying to undo the election results is not. Pres has no role in election process; the states do

🐣 RT @front_ukrainian President Biden secretly approved the decision to send more than 100 longer-range (300+ km) ATACMS missiles in mid-February, a senior US official said, as well as more cluster variants of the missiles. They were included in a $300 million military aid package for Ukraine in March — New York Times ¤ Additional ATACMS missiles were also included in the $60.8 billion aid bill for Ukraine.
⋙ NYT: U.S. Secretly Shipped New Long-Range Missiles to Ukraine https://tinyurl.com/4y6exja4 “Ukrainian forces for the first time used a longer-range version of weapons known as ATACMS, striking an airfield in Crimea and Russian troops in southeastern Ukraine.”

⭕ 24 Apr 2024

WaPo, George Will: So, 112 ignoble, infantile Republicans voted to endanger civilization https://tinyurl.com/cenf6j4y “[D]ominated by someone who repudiates the internationalism to which Eisenhower committed the party seven decades ago, the cabal of grotesques might yet predominate.”

It includes Missouri’s Sen. Josh Hawley, who thinks we have given “blank checks” to Ukraine (actually, 5 percent of defense spending, and less than half the monetary value of European support). Yet Hawley says we cannot defend both Ukraine and Taiwan, so this would be an excellent time to reduce the U.S. forces in Europe that are deterring Russia from aggressions against NATO allies. Another grotesque, Ohio’s Sen. J.D. Vance, an itinerant Neville Chamberlain visiting green rooms, would welcome Ukraine’s death on the installment plan (see Czechoslovakia in 1938-1939). Georgia’s Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (she who wonders whether Jewish space lasers cause forest fires) expresses her loathing of Ukraine with lunatic accusations that confirm the judgment of Texas’s Rep. Michael McCaul (Republican chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee) that Russian propaganda has “infected a good chunk of my party’s base.” …

Today’s Moscow-Beijing-Tehran axis is, as the 1930s Axis was, watching. Johns Hopkins foreign policy analyst Hal Brands, writing for Bloomberg, reminds us: “Italy’s invasion of Abyssinia in 1935 encouraged Hitler to send his military back into the Rhineland in 1936, just as Germany’s blitzkrieg through Western Europe in 1940 emboldened Japan to press into Southeast Asia.”

We can now see that the great unraveling that was World War II perhaps began with Japan’s 1931 invasion of Manchuria. Without the benefit of retrospection, we cannot be certain that World War III has not begun.

WSJ Editorial: On Presidential Immunity (Trump Included) https://tinyurl.com/y52kpwfv “The Supreme Court must consider the Presidency, not merely the fate of one former President.”

🐣 RT @therecount “There’s one thing this bill does not do: border security. … It should have been included in this bill, and I’m determined to get it done for the American people. But I’ll come back to that at another moment, another time.” ¤ — President Biden on the foreign aid package
💽 CNN: https://x.com/therecount/status/1783153555492176123/photo/1

🐣 RT @AWeissmann_ Key reading on the new Arizona fake electors charges and those who were charged. And comments on those NOT charged.
⋙ 🐣 RT @just_security With Breaking News: Close Trump associates – but not Trump – indicted in #Arizona election interference case. ¤ Our editor-in-chief @rgoodlaw breaks down the indictment’s curious contents and omissions.
⚖️ ⋙ JustSecurity, Ryan Goodman: Arizona Election Interference Indictment- Conspicuous Absences https://tinyurl.com/3fmv39em

1. The conspicuous absence of Donald Trump
2. The conspicuous absence of Kenneth Chesebro
3. The indictment of Boris Epshteyn and Christina Bobb
4. A potential Trump presidency and pressure on defendants to flip

⚖️ WaPo: Meadows, Giuliani and other Trump allies charged in Arizona 2020 election probe https://tinyurl.com/5dw539m5 “The indictments cap a year-long investigation by Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) into how the elector strategy played out in Arizona”

🐣 RT @l78lancer So because Christian Bobb was just indicted for election fraud in Arizona, I guess that makes it a bit complicated to do her new job as the GOP counsel for “election integrity.”

🐣 RT @OlgaNYC1211 Arizona grand jury has indicted 7 attorneys and aides affiliated with Trump’s 2020 presidential crimes as well as 11 Arizona Republicans on felony charges
Meadows, Giuliani, Ellis, Eastman, Bobb, Epshteyn, and Mike Roman were indicted. Trump named as an unindicted co-conspirator

🐣 RT @vtchakarova Blinken said that China is the “primary contributor” to Russia’s military-industrial complex and cannot maintain good relations with the West while simultaneously supporting Russia’s war effort. China can’t have it both ways. And European powers will have to choose sides. #Velsig

🐣 RT @The_Real_ITDUDE The panic is real! Rybar reports extensive use by Ukraine of DECOYS, that with help of western surveillance, are mapping out location of every single AD system in Crimea in preparation for multiple attacks on multiple targets (including Kerch Bridge) by Storm Shadow and ATACMS 🤣
🌎 https://x.com/The_Real_ITDUDE/status/1783185195757191628/photo/1

🐣 RT @ Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🚀👀 “Biden in February ordered the transfer of a significant number of ATACMS missiles to Ukraine. They were handed over in March. USA will continue to supply these missiles to Ukraine”, — Jake Sullivan

🐣 RT @jjroach3 To all those who claim Ukraine can never win, you are wrong. If the US and EU ramp up their $48 trillion economy against Russia’s $2 trillion economy, Russia has zero chance in Ukraine and will be thoroughly defeated. It’s not just Ukraine against Russia, it’s the entire west.

🐣 RT @ZaleskiLuke I don’t think you could overstate how completely Obama broke their minds. The fact that a black man was the most powerful person in the world for eight years and was popular and largely successful absolutely destroyed white power mythology and psychology and was their apocalypse

WaPo, Robert Kagan: We have a radical democracy. Will Trump voters destroy it? https://tinyurl.com/26eu2mar Trump “has explicitly promised to violate the Constitution when he deems it necessary. That by itself makes him a unique candidate in American history and should be disqualifying” #longread
// book excerpt: Adapted from “Rebellion: How Antiliberalism is Tearing America Apart — Again” by Robert Kagan. Copyright © 2024

🐣 RT @essenviews “David Pecker is breaking his silence. [Source: CNN] “The former National Enquirer boss on Monday became the first witness called to testify in Donald Trump’s historic hush-money trial. Sitting in the Manhattan courtroom, Pecker offered illuminating details into how the infamous tabloid operated and conducted so-called “catch and kill” operations. … [link:] https://tinyurl.com/wmmrbw75
¤ https://x.com/essenviews/status/1783192884822294843

⚖️ 🐣 RT @Uebey Yesterday, media mogul David Pecker said he colluded with Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign to run negative stories about his opponents in the National Enquirer. ¤ He admitted that many of the stories were totally baseless. Here are some of the headlines:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Uebey/status/1783146216856895891/photo/1

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa Today, I addressed representatives of partner countries and international organizations in Ukraine, as well as our diplomats.
¤ 💽 https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1783157777382174813

We have specific intelligence data indicating that Russia not only wants to disrupt the Peace Summit, but also has a specific plan for how to do so, including how to reduce the number of participating countries and how to act in order to thwart peace efforts for even longer.

To counter this, we must work together, in unity, to achieve a just peace.

We are all equally interested in forcing Russia to make peace and adhere to international law. The world majority can ensure this. The Global Peace Summit in Switzerland provides us with a real opportunity to achieve just peace and restore full force to international law.

We are working together to focus the world’s power on bringing a just peace to Ukraine.

NYT, Michelle Cottle: The Humbling of Marjorie Taylor Greene https://tinyurl.com/3n4rhvd7 “Ms. Greene has taken such a Putin-pleasing approach to Russia’s war in Ukraine (Ukrainian Nazis? Really?) that the term ‘useful idiot’ feels unavoidable.”

NYT: ‘A Good Day for World Peace’: Biden Signs Aid Bill for Ukraine and Israel https://tinyurl.com/mr38secf “The $95.3 billion measure comes after months of gridlock in Congress that put the centerpiece of President Biden’s foreign policy in jeopardy.”

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla SLATE: GOP hard-liners “have made policy outcomes actively worse for Republicans. .. They *have* to know this. Freedom Caucus members weren’t born yesterday .. They just prioritize the politics of crying betrayal over any small policy successes.” @Slate [link:] https://tinyurl.com/4wnc2yzm

WaPo: U.S. unveils $1 billion Ukraine weapons package https://tinyurl.com/2v26xw8b “Resupply of artillery ammunition, armored vehicles and air-defense missiles comes after Congress, following months of political gridlock, approves a massive foreign aid package”

⭕ 23 Apr 2024

WaPo, David Ignatius: How Ukraine can make best use of the U.S. aid package https://tinyurl.com/4sfx252j “Thanks to President Biden and a strong bipartisan majority in Congress … the survival of an independent Ukraine looks more certain today than it did a week ago.”

🧵 RT @PiperK I’m so glad I watched this. Four DC National Guardsmen, under oath, say that Charles Flynn and Gen. Piatt lied about what happened on January 6. Flynn’s cover-up, of course, doesn’t make Trump’s do-nothing day any less criminal. 1/
@sandibachom
📌 💽 https://x.com/PiperK/status/1782960105803178269

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa I am grateful to the United States Senate for approving vital aid to Ukraine today.
¤ https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1782949006030606770

I thank Majority Leader Chuck Schumer @SenSchumer and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell @LeaderMcConnell for their strong leadership in advancing this bipartisan legislation, as well as all US Senators on both sides of the aisle who voted in favor of it.

This vote reinforces America’s role as a beacon of democracy and the leader of the free world.

I am also grateful to all Americans who continue to support Ukraine and recognize that the historical significance of this bill extends beyond politics. I equally appreciate President Biden’s support and look forward to the bill being signed soon and the next military aid package matching the resoluteness that I always see in our negotiations.

Ukraine’s long-range capabilities, artillery, and air defense are critical tools for restoring just peace sooner.

🐣 [8:40pm] Senate passes $95.3B Defense Supplemental
Vote: Aye: 79; Nay: 18
Aid to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan (plus aid to Gaza and other humanitarian aid)
Now, Biden will sign
¤ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1782947610443010429

🐣 RT @officejjsmart The 14 characteristics of fascism
🖼 https://x.com/officejjsmart/status/1782937848091431272/photo/1

1. “Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism”
2. “Disdain for the importance of human rights”
3. “Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause”
4. “The supremacy of the military/militarism”
5. “Rampant sexism”
6. “A controlled mass media”
7. “Obsession with national security”
8. “Religion and ruling elite tied together”
9. “Power of corporations protected”
10. “Power of labor suppressed or eliminated”
11. “Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts”
12. “Obsession with crime and punishment”
13. “Rampant cronyism and corruption”
14. “Fraudulent elections”
– Laurence W. Britt

⚖️ 💙 🧵 RT @KlasfeldReports Good morning from New York. ¤ Before jurors hear a word of witness testimony this morning, the court has an unfinished order of business: Trump’s contempt hearing over the gag order. ¤ Follow every wrinkle of it and the trial here. ¤ ICYMI, openings
📌 https://x.com/KlasfeldReports/status/1782748970533507553
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1782748970533507553.html
// long complex thread

🐣 RT @ten24get [Apr 17] #DeadlineWH @NicolleDWallace ¤ Letter from Trump “Acting Secretary of Defense” Chris Miller dated Jan 4, 2021, two days before #CapitolInsurrection, warns DC National Guard to take no action, use no equipment, or personal to protect Capitol. ¤ #NationalGuard was handcuffed by Trump
[TextLink:] https://x.com/ten24get/status/1780704799572496824/photo/1

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson He seems nice.
⋙ 🐣 RT @BidenHQ Trump’s potential Attorney General pick Mike Davis says their Project 2025 agenda will impose “consequences” for Americans who don’t support Trump
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1782917917023105136/photo/1

⚖️ WaPo: A secret pact at Trump Tower helped kill bad stories in 2016 https://tinyurl.com/5dswn469 “Fighting two legal battles at his trial, Trump seems poised to be punished for allegedly violating a gag order”
// front page: Donald Trump spent his day in the courtroom fighting two battles — one against the testimony of former tabloid executive David Pecker, and another against the prospect that he will be punished for allegedly violating a gag order.

🐣 RT @AntiToxicPeople This man is an utterly delusional lunatic. Ignoring the rest which is deranged on its own, the first part about “thousands of people were turned away” is COMPLETELY insane made up nonsense. ¤ Does he believe these invisible people were there or its just off the charts lying?
🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski Totally sane. Normal stuff. You know what, why don’t we put this guy in charge of the country again? What could go wrong?
[TextLink:] https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1782883919160811581/photo/1

🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump Thousands of people were turned away from the Courthouse in Lower Manhattan by steel stanchions and police, literally blocks from the tiny side door from where I enter and leave. It is an armed camp to keep people away. Maggot Hagerman of The Failing New York Times, falsely reported that I was disappointed with the crowds. No, I’m disappointed with Maggot, and her lack of writing skill, and that some of these many police aren’t being sent to Columbia and NYU to keep the schools open and the students safe. The Legal Scholars call the case a Scam that should never have been brought. I call it Election Interference and a personal hit job by a conflicted and corrupt Judge who shouldn’t be allowed to preside over this Political Hoax. New York Justice is beinsteduced to ashes, and the World is breathlessly watching. Hopefully, Appellate Courts can save it, and all of the companies that are fleeing to other jurisdictions. They can no longer take a chance on New York Justice!

🐣 RT @CBSNews House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said she believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “should resign.” [link:] https://tinyurl.com/3yma6j26

🐣 RT @JoeBiden Donald Trump was very proud of his $2 trillion tax cut that overwhelmingly benefited the wealthy and biggest corporations and exploded the federal debt. ¤ That tax cut is going to expire. ¤ If I’m reelected, it’s going to stay expired.

💙 CNN (2023): The mystery of the missing binder: How a collection of raw Russian intelligence disappeared under Trump https://tinyurl.com/3xx7sddk
// 12/15/2023

🐣 RT @Acyn [George] Conway: The most important thing my kids can inherit is living in a constitutional democracy. And that was the moment that I said, I have to do everything I can. I’m going to give the maximum and I’m not going to regret it. I mean, I’ll regret not doing it
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1782916216975155268/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Mitch McConnell: We spent months working on a bipartisan bill to secure the border, but Trump didn’t seem to want us to do anything at all. He told us to kill the bill
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1782862335645786182/photo/1

🐣 RT @SenSchumer
If Putin is allowed to seize the territory of a neighboring sovereign nation
If the CCP is allowed to expand unchecked in the Indo-Pacific
If Iran is allowed to dominate in the Middle East
The US will suffer the consequences
Today, we send a message—America will defend democracy

🐣 RT @Acyn McConnell: We all felt the border was a disaster. First there was an effort to make law which requires you to deal with Democrats… then our nominee for President didn’t seem to want us to [do] anything at all
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1782849852361109927/photo/1

🐣 RT @atrupar Biden: “It was a political deal to get rid of Roe, a political deal Trump made with the evangelical base of the Republican Party to look past his moral and character flaws in exchange for his commitment to appoint justices to SCOTUS who would overturn Roe.”
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1782853166175850991/photo/1

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla The US economic boom is “unbelievable, Dimon said. “Even if we go into recession, the consumer’s still in good shape.”
🖼 https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1782818638874964204/photo/1
// Source: Reuters

🐣 RT @JayinKyiv The largest, most resource rich country in Europe, most battle experienced military in Europe, fighting a coalition of all America’s enemies, strategically located right next to America’s #1 enemy, absolutely LOVES America.. ¤ How can US Republicans STILL not get why Ukraine must win?
🖼 https://x.com/JayinKyiv/status/1782791060902629470/photo/1
// pic of Ukr legislature

🐣 RT @Mollyploofkins David Pecker confesses on the stand to conspiring with Trump against Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election.
🖼 https://x.com/Mollyploofkins/status/1782808926720761943/photo/1
// covers of Hillary on National Enquirer

🐣 RT @cspan .@LeaderMcConnell: “I think the demonization of Ukraine began by @TuckerCarlson, who in my opinion ended up where he should have been all along, which is interviewing Vladimir Putin.”
💽 https://x.com/cspan/status/1782847921420931082/photo/1

⚖️ 🐣 RT @MeidasTouch Pecker Screws Trump: The witness outlined the conspiracy at the heart of the trial and exposed Trump as a serial adulterer during his highly incriminating testimony — and that’s not all.
⋙ MeidasTouch: Testimony of David Pecker in the Trump Trial https://tinyurl.com/4phj767j
// Pecker was called as the first witness against Trump.

⚖️ 🐣 RT @lawofruby NEW: The DA’s office has not previously identified with any precision what the crime is that Trump allegedly was intending to commit or conceal by allegedly falsifying business records. Until now. 1/
⋙ 🐣 RT @lawofruby During a sidebar about the relevance of Steve Bannon’s requests of Pecker, Steinglass admitted that New York Election Law 17-152, which prohibits conspiracies to promote a candidate’s election through unlawful means, is their “primary” predicate.

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow Jesse Watters: Trump is too old and unhealthy to sit in a courtroom all day.
⋙ 🐣 I agree: Trump is old and unhealthy
Frankly, he looks like he finally bears the burden of all the sins he has committed
Like “The Picture of Dorian Gray”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1782813570360648024/photo/1

🧵 RT @djrothkopf The Netanyahu government helped prop up Hamas, opened the door to 10/7 through gross negligence, conducted a war without a strategy in Gaza that has achieved none of its goals, committed serial war crimes in Gaza and undermined for decades to come Israel’s standing in the world..
📌 https://x.com/djrothkopf/status/1782750484274561381
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1782750488309497920.html

⋙ And yet they are still in power. And yet there is no real movement toward replacing them. And yet there are no alternatives who promise dramatically different policies. The country does not seem to realize how grave its self-made crisis is…

⋙ …or how the serial failures and abuses of the Netanyahu govt have done and will do more damage to the country than all of Israel’s enemies combined have done in all the wars the country has fought. It’s an extraordinary story of a failed political system & failed leadership.

⋙ …or how the serial failures and abuses of the Netanyahu govt have done and will do more damage to the country than all of Israel’s enemies combined have done in all the wars the country has fought. It’s an extraordinary story of a failed political system & failed leadership.

🐣 RT @AndrewDesiderio McConnell with some harsh words for those responsible for the delay in new Ukraine aid: ¤ “So much of the hesitation and short-sightedness that has delayed this moment is premised on sheer fiction. And I take no pleasure in rebutting misguided fantasies… Make no mistake: delay in providing Ukraine the weapons to defend itself has strained the prospects of defeating Russian aggression. Dithering and hesitation have compounded the challenges we face.”
✛ McConnell: “I will not mince words when members of my own party take the responsibilities of American leadership lightly. Today, the Senate faces a test. And we must not fail it.”

🐣 RT @lawofruby I almost never repost Trump’s social posts, but this one — crafted during the break right after a disaster of an argument — takes the cake. He is trying desperately to bait Merchan, who still has not retaken the bench.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/lawofruby/status/1782791030896464238/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump HIGHLY CONFLICTED, TO PUT IT MILDLY, JUDGE JUAN MERCHAN, HAS TAKEN AWAY MY CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH. EVERYBODY IS ALLOWED TO TALK AND LIE ABOUT ME, BUT I AM NOT ALLOWED TO DEFEND MYSELF. THIS IS A KANGAROO COURT, AND THE JUDGE SHOULD RECUSE HIMSELF!

🐣 RT @ChrisAlbertoLaw ICYMI: Trump issued a call for action from his MAGA supporters to protest outside the NYC courthouse, but unlike Jan 6th MAGAs aren’t showing up. [MSNBC link:] https://tinyurl.com/2jupnpfe

🐣 RT @SteveRattner “The U.S. economy is one of the only places in the world right now that is doing even better than expected before the pandemic began.” ¤ cc: @washingtonpost @crampell
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1782772392420372602/photo/1

🐣 RT @BBCSteveR The Russian press has turned on US House Speaker Mike Johnson with insults such as “total scatterbrain”, “brainwashed” & “the look of a traitor.” Which shows that House approval of the $61bn aid package for Ukraine has struck a raw nerve in Moscow. #ReadingRussia
💽 https://x.com/BBCSteveR/status/1782661449401463080/photo/1

🧵 RT @rshereme Why should the US support Ukraine? ¤ On April 20, the US Congress made a historic decision to support Ukraine in its fight for freedom. Still, there were many who opposed this decision. So, let’s discuss why supporting Ukraine is directly alighted with the US interests. ¤ 1/n
📌 https://x.com/rshereme/status/1782744959977726317
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1782744959977726317.html

⭕ 22 Apr 2024

🔊 Did SCOTUS Let January 6th Defendents Off the Hook? https://tinyurl.com/2nk77r4t Melissa, Leah, and Kate recap oral arguments in cases about January 6, political corruption, malicious prosecution claims, and the right to counsel. They also break down a batch of decisions, and look ahead to how SCOTUS may address state bans on gender-affirming care.

KyivIndependent: How Johnson came to allow a vote on Ukraine aid after months of delays https://tinyurl.com/6y62h4cj “Beyond the losses for Ukraine, the delay also caused ‘tremendous damage… to America’s prestige’ and ‘the trust that our allies have in us,’ [Doug] Klain said”

⚖️ JustSecurity, Ryan Goodman and Andrew Weissmann: Questions the Supreme Court Should Ask at Thursday’s Oral Argument on Presidential Immunity https://tinyurl.com/4a5dacb9

⚖️ 🧵 RT @MaryLTrump 1/ Today was a great day for justice and a BAD one for Donald. Read on: ¤ In two different New York City courtrooms, Donald was forced to start grappling with the consequences of his years—and in some cases decades—long flouting of the law.
📌 https://x.com/MaryLTrump/status/1782573899114320253
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1782573899114320253.html

I followed both proceedings today and found TEN key updates that you should know about. Let’s dive in.

Today is the beginning of Donald’s reckoning

In one room, prosecutors exposed Donald’s alleged criminal conspiracy to interfere with the election: the hush money payments; the deal with former America Media CEO David Pecker to have The National Enquirer run positive coverage of Donald while simultaneously attacking his opponents; the sketchy accounting used to hide the truth from American voters before the 2016 election were all outlined in the prosecution’s opening statement for a jury to see.

In another room, Letitia James was fighting to reinforce Donald’s bond, a symbolic gesture that signals the end of an era of Donald’s impunity.

We’ve waited years for this moment because the wheels of justice grind slowly. But justice is catching up and today. And for that, I am grateful. It’s a day that has been a long time coming.

2/ Donald’s biggest fear is coming true: The world is seeing him as the loser he is: ¤ As someone who has known Donald for almost six decades (oy), I can tell you that beneath the bluster, there lies a fear so profound, it consumes him. It’s not the fear of losing his wealth or power or his status — although, to be clear, he lives in terror of these things as well — it’s something more personal: It’s the fear of being seen as a loser.

Donald has spent a lifetime, with a seemingly endless stream of help from various sources, building an image of success and invincibility. He’s crafted a persona that, to people who knew him from The Apprentice, made him appear larger than life. The truth is, though, it’s all smoke and mirrors. The reality of Donald is that he is nothing of what he has claimed to be. And his greatest fear is that the rest of the world will finally find that out.

This is exactly what is unfolding in Judge Merchan’s courtroom — a place in which Donald has no power, no control, and no authority.

As David Axelrod notes: ¤ “…As Trump sits and watches the criminal trial he hoped to avoid unfold, he must know that a potential reckoning he has spent a lifetime eluding could be coming. He has been reduced to a criminal defendant in a courtroom where someone else has absolute power and the rules very definitely apply. The weariness and vulnerability captured in those courtroom images betray a growing recognition that he could wind up as the thing his old man most reviled.”

“A convicted criminal? No, worse. A loser.”

3/ The one major flaw of Donald’s defense that many missed

Meanwhile, as the criminal election interference trial unfolds, Donald’s defense already appears to be on shaky ground.

More significantly, a legal expert suggested that Donald’s attorneys have made a mistake so big, it has undermined their entire case and could lead to a slam dunk guilty verdict.

Why did Donald’s defense completely fall apart? Here is the answer:
4/ For the rest and the FULL list of TEN, please consider being a paid supporting subscriber to my newsletter! […]

⚖️ WaPo: Prosecutor: A tabloid pact led to Trump faking business records https://tinyurl.com/bdf732vu “A deal to squash stories about sex scandals and boost Trump’s candidacy allegedly led to hush money crimes”

⚖️ NYT: Opening Statements in Trump’s Criminal Trial: Five Takeaways https://tinyurl.com/2p8kz4bt “Prosecutors signaled a sweeping case and …Trump’s lawyers began their assault on witnesses’ credibility. The judge seems intent on expediting the first trial of an American president”

WaPo: House Republican infighting getting worse after foreign aid vote https://tinyurl.com/2dc3u26c “One GOP lawmaker said he serves with ‘some real scumbags,’ while others fought over Speaker Mike Johnson’s strategy for bringing up the aid package”

🧵 RT @TimothyDSnyder [1/25/2023] In April 2016, I broke the story of Trump and Putin, using Russian open sources. Afterwards, I heard vague intimations that something was awry in the FBI in New York, specifically counter-intelligence and cyber. We now have a suggestion as to why. 0/20
📌 https://x.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/1618309363084718080
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1618309363084718080.html

The person who led the relevant section, Charles McGonigal, has just been charged with taking money from the Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska. Follow this thread to see just how this connects to the victory of Trump, the Russian war in Ukraine, and U.S. national security. 1/20

The reason I was thinking about Trump & Putin in 2016 was a pattern. Russia had sought to control Ukraine, using social media, money, & a pliable head of state. Russia backed Trump the way that it had backed Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, in the hopes of soft control 2/20

Trump & Yanukovych were similar figures: interested in money, & in power to make or shield money. And therefore vulnerable partners for Putin. They also shared a political advisor: Paul Manafort. He worked for Yanukovych from 2005-2015, taking over Trump’s campaign in 2016. 3/20

You might remember Manafort’s ties to Russia from 2016. He (and Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump, Jr.) met with Russians in June 2016 in Trump Tower as part of, as the broker of the meeting called it, “the Russian government’s support for Trump” (#RoadToUnfreedom, p. 237). 4/20

Manafort had to resign as Trump’s campaign manager in August 2016 when news broke that he had received $12.7 million in cash from Yanukovych. But these details are just minor elements of Manafort’s dependence on Russia. (#RoadToUnfreedom, p. 235). 5/20

Manafort worked for Deripaska, the same Russian oligarch to whom McGonigal is linked, between 2006 and 2009. Manafort’s assignment was to soften up the U.S for Russian influence. He promised “a model that can greatly benefit the Putin government.” (#RoadToUnfreedom, p. 234). 6/20

While Manafort worked for Trump in 2016, though, Manafort’s dependence on Russia was deeper. He owed Deripaska money, not a position one would want to be in. Manafort offered Deripaska “private briefings” on the campaign. He was hoping “to get whole.” (#RoadToUnfreedom, 234) 7/20

Reconsider how the FBI treated the Trump-Putin connection in 2016. Trump and other Republicans screamed that the FBI had overreached. In retrospect, it seems the exact opposite took place. The issue of Russian influence was framed in a way convenient for Russia and Trump. 8/20

The FBI investigation, Crossfire Hurricane, focused on the narrow issue of personal connections between the Trump campaign and Russians. It missed Russia’s cyber attacks and the social media campaign, which, according to Kathleen Hall Jamieson, won the election for Trump. 9/20

Once the issue of Russian soft control was framed narrowly as personal contact, Obama missed the big picture, and Trump had an easy defense. Trump knew that Russia was working for him, but the standard of guilt was placed so high that he could defend himself. 10/20

It is entirely inconceivable that McGonigal was unaware of Russia’s 2016 cyber influence campaign on behalf of Trump. Even I was aware of it, and I had no expertise. It became one of the subjects of my book #RoadtoUnfreedom. 11/20

The FBI did investigate cyber later, and came to some correct conclusions. But this was after the election, and missed the Russian influence operations entirely. That was an obvious counterintelligence issue. Why did the FBI take so long, and miss the point? 12/20

I had no personal connection to this, but will just repeat what informed people said at the time: this sort of thing was supposed to go through the FBI counter-intelligence section in New York, where tips went to die. That is where McGonigal was in charge. 13/20

The cyber element is what McGonigal should have been making everyone aware of in 2016. In 2016, McGonigal was chief of the FBI’s Cyber-Counterintelligence Coordination Section. That October, he was put in charge of the Counterintelligence Division of the FBI’s NY office. 14/20

We need to understand why the FBI failed in 2016 to address the essence of an ongoing Russian influence operation. The character of that operation suggests that it would have been the responsibility of an FBI section whose head is now accused of taking Russian money. 15/20

Right after the McGonigal story broke, Kevin McCarthy ejected Adam Schiff from the House intelligence committee. Schiff is expert on Russian influence operations. It exhibits carelessness about national security to exclude him. It is downright suspicious to exclude him now. 16/20

Back in June 2016, Kevin McCarthy expressed his suspicion that Donald Trump was under Putin’s influence. He and other Republican members concluded that the risk of an embarrassment to their party was more important than American security. #RoadToUnfreedom, p. 255. 17/20

The Russian influence operation to get Trump elected was real. It serves no one to pretend otherwise. We are still learning about it. Denying that it happened makes the United States vulnerable to ongoing Russian operations. 18/20

I remember a certain frivolity from 2016. Trump was a curiosity. Russia was irrelevant. Nothing to take seriously. Then Trump was elected, blocked weapon sales to Ukraine, and tried to stage a coup. Now Ukrainians are dying every day in the defining conflict of our time. 19/20

The McGonigal question goes even beyond these issues. He had authority in the most sensitive possible investigations within U.S. intelligence. Sorting this out will require a concern for the United States that goes beyond party loyalty. 20/20

🐣 RT @NatalkaKyiv St. Petersburg, Russia: people are fighting over expired food from trash cans.
¤ https://x.com/NatalkaKyiv/status/1782511662097998254

One of the local TG channels mentioned that a supermarket “Pyaterochka” and a nearby bakery discard their expired products there. ¤ Another local TG channel writes: “Neighbors are already complaining that fights near garbage cans on 20/1 Piskarevsky Prospekt have become a regular occurrence.”

Meanwhile, every single day Russia spends on war anywhere between $300,000,000 to $500,000,000. #Russia

🐣 RT @NewsHour Donald Trump tried to illegally influence the 2016 presidential election by preventing damaging stories about his personal life from becoming public, a prosecutor told jurors Monday at the start of the former president’s historic hush money trial. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/2t38y2f2

WaPo: The House has a bipartisan governing coalition https://tinyurl.com/3xk364k6 “The House’s governing coalition has been cemented. It consists of nearly every Democrat and about half of Republicans.”

🐣 RT @peterbakernyt Trump, July 31, 2020: “As far as TikTok is concerned, we’re banning them from the United States.” ¤ Trump, today: “Just so everyone knows, especially the young people, Crooked Joe Biden is responsible for banning TikTok.”

🐣 RT @FT Military spending around the world rose almost 7% to a record $2.4tn last year, the steepest annual increase in 15 years https://on.ft.com/3UdhOIW
◕ https://x.com/FT/status/1782499752245883215/photo/1

🐣 RT @HillaryClinton What’s at stake for our climate in this November’s elections? ¤ Absolutely everything.
◕ https://x.com/HillaryClinton/status/1782400479743324603/photo/1
⋙ CarbonBrief: Analysis: Trump election win could add 4bn tonnes to US emissions by 2030 https://tinyurl.com/curbr7e3

TheAtlantic, Elaina Plott Calabro: What If Mike Johnson Is Actually Good at This? https://tinyurl.com/2y5yvpvu “Even before he ascended to the speakership, Johnson had oriented his nascent brand around the politics of civility, his guidepost the image of President Ronald Reagan and Democratic Speaker Tip O’Neill: clashing views on policy, but a relationship governed by trust in the other’s good faith”

🐣 📊RT @schlagteslinks From CBS/YouGov, April 9-12:
“Should the US send weapons to..?”
¤ https://x.com/schlagteslinks/status/1782211642425782520

Ukraine?
Dems: 74% Yes, 26% No
GOP: 39% Yes, 61% No
Independents: 50% Yes, 50% No
Overall: 53% Yes, 47% No

Israel?
Dems: 32% Yes, 68% No
GOP: 55% Yes, 45% No
Independents: 36% Yes, 64% No
Overall: 40% Yes, 60% No

🐣 RT @atrupar let he who has not paid off a porn star during a presidential campaign cast the first stone

TheDispatch, Kevin Williamson: Pinching Pennies for Putin https://tinyurl.com/2k96xn8v
// J.D. Vance pretends to be a fiscal conservative in his quest against foreign aid.

🐣 RT @jurgen_nauditt Volodymyr Zelenskyi had a telephone conversation with the President of the United States Joe Biden
¤ 🖼 https://x.com/jurgen_nauditt/status/1782457279763124596

The President of the USA assured that if approved by the Senate, he would immediately sign the law. Another decision of the House of Representatives – to allow the confiscation of Russian assets – sends a strong signal to all partners.

Volodymyr Zelenskyi told Biden about Russian air terror with thousands of missiles, drones and bombs. In particular, about the attack on the Kharkiv TV tower just a few minutes before the conversation. This is Russia’s clear intention to make the city uninhabitable.

Discussed the first package of defense aid after the adoption of the law. Biden assured that it will be fast and powerful and will strengthen our anti-aircraft, long-range and artillery capabilities.

The signing of a bilateral security agreement and preparation for the upcoming Peace Summit were also discussed.

🐣 RT @JoohnChoe a few people actually asked, so here’s corrected/cleaned-up notes on Tim Snyder’s response to “what would a defeated Russia look like?”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/JoohnChoe/status/1782453458446189046/photo/1

“What would a defeated Russia look like, both domestically and in its role as a global power?”

“Hard to predict” but broadly speaking:
1. Defeat is a very good thing to happen to you as an imperial power– the fiction of a “happy safe Europe” is a result of Europeans losing imperial wars; the peaceful Europe we know today has, as a precondition, Europe losing wars. The sequence is, you lose an imperial war (e.g. Germans in Ukraine in ’45, French SE Asia/Algeria, Dutch lose in Indonesia; Spanish & Portuguese lose in Africa, and then peace results. The “European story which is 100% wrong” is that it’s been peaceful since WWIl; the truth is that they didn’t learn not to fight wars after the war, they kept fighting wars – they tried to maintain themselves as empires and decolonization
happened because they lost wars.

This is relevant to Russia: empires overreach and lose wars, this is a pattern Russia fits; but the only chance for a normal Russia is for Russia to lose this war. Russia chose to do this, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the outcome is going to be worse for them if they lose – you should lose genocidal wars, otherwise, you educate your people & the world that that’s how the world works, that’s what it means for Ukraine to defend the European model. Thus, the Russian MFA opposes the EU as a temporary creation and spreads the idea that it’s right and normal to pursue a “world of empire”. Empires have to lose, and we have to not be oversensitive to what
happens in Russia because..

2. Regime change will look “weird” outside Russia, but not inside it – like Prigozhin’s march on Moscow, with “uncanny” moments that look weird on the outside but seem normal to Russians. These people have their own agency and their own way of doing things, so it’s almost a guarantee the next regime change will be odd to us on the outside… but it’ll work for Russians in ways that might not make sense to us.

This is important for Americans to realize: we think there’s something we can do that will make Russia normal, we’ve thought this since the ’90s, but that’s wrong. So, our policy has been to leap over Ukraine and imagine we can try to manage Russia to get it to look the way we want. But that’s never worked, not since ’91: we didn’t guide Yeltsin’s or Putin’s behavior, not effectively. So, what happens to Russia isn’t up to us morally or practically. The lesson is, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine wasn’t up to us, nor is the aftermath.

So if we can’t affect it, then let’s not design our policy to be impotent – that is, trying to ensure that Russian regime change will result in some “normal” democratic society, that’s not only something likely unreachable, that’s also not under our control. There’s this unrealistic picture of a Russia that’s an orderly part of Eastern Europe, which we have leverage on, that we can somehow attain; but 30 years of Russia-U.S. affairs have shown, that’s never worked. What has worked is to have a smaller friendly country exert indirect pressure on Russia, like Ukraine. Trying to force it won’t work: if we want a democratic Russia, we have to have a democratic Ukraine, at the very least because, if autocratic Russia destroys democratic Ukraine, it cuts off all possibility of democratic reform altogether. Indeed, Putin finds irritating about Ukraine that it’s democratic, with a functioning civil society, which is inimical to his way of doing things.

🐣 RT @ianbremmer israeli military intelligence chief resigns ¤. first senior figure to step down over oct. 7 attack ¤ (bibi not going anywhere for now)
[TextLink:] https://x.com/ianbremmer/status/1782450602577977510/photo/1
// BBC: “Maj Gen Aharon Haliva (L) – seen here in Gaza in December – is the most senior figure to resign over the 7 October attacks”

🧵 RT @TimInHonolulu 1. Trying to imagine what would be so urgent as to cause Putin to rush to the Kremlin on Sunday night. A quick survey of Russian press and I found one report that confirmed something that I had thought might happen now that the aid money and weapons are certain to come in days.
📌 https://x.com/TimInHonolulu/status/1782284088050900995

⭕ 21 Apr 2024

🐣 RT @SecMayorkas .@DHSgov has delivered on @POTUS’s commitment to welcome Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s premeditated & unprovoked war on Ukraine. Over the past 2 years, through Uniting for Ukraine, we have welcomed more than 187,000 Ukrainians who are now safe in & contributing to our communities.

WSJ Editorial: The House Votes for a ‘Strong America’ https://tinyurl.com/btdh6rw2 “Large bipartisan majorities vote for more U.S. weapons and aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.” //➔ The support was always there: MAGA antics prevented the consensus of the House from being heard

🐣 RT @TrumpDailyPosts Four years ago I was a very successful and popular President of the United States and, in November, went into an Election where I received more votes, by far, than any sitting President in the history of our Country. …
¤ https://x.com/TrumpDailyPosts/status/1782252139160740085

Unfortunately, the Election was Rigged and Stolen, and our once great Country has quickly become a Nation In Serious Decline. Tomorrow morning I report to a New York Criminal Court for a Trial on, somewhat ironically, ELECTION INTERFERENCE, ruled over by Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ, before a Corrupt and Highly Conflicted Judge, a failed Soros funded District Attorney who didn’t want to bring this case, which could have been brought eight years ago, but wasn’t, in an almost completely Democrat District. Virtually every Legal Scholar and Expert says that there is NO CASE, NO CRIME, NO NOTHING! IT IS A SHAM THAT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN BROUGHT, EXCEPT TO TRY AND DAMAGE BIDEN’S POLITICAL OPPONENT, ME. SEE YOU TOMORROW MORNING!

🐣 RT @LevHavryliv A reminder. ¤ In 1994 Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons, strategic bombers and missile systems under pressure from the US. All in exchange for “security assurances” from the US. ¤ That’s it. That’s the tweet.
🖼 https://x.com/LevHavryliv/status/1774014370533798062/photo/1

TheAtlantic, Anne Applebaum: The GOP’s Pro-Russia Caucus Lost. Now Ukraine Has to Win. https://tinyurl.com/bdudx3wj “Ukraine, backed by the combined military and economic forces of the United States and the EU, is a much different opponent than Ukraine isolated and alone”
// Once U.S. money starts flowing again, the dynamics of the war will change.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1782239674318131386/photo/1

As American aid resumes, the Ukrainians should be actively encouraged to pursue the asymmetric warfare that they do best. The air and naval drone campaign that pushed the Black Sea Fleet away from their coastline, the raids on Russian gas and oil facilities thousands of miles from Ukraine, the recruitment of Russian soldiers, in Russia, to join pro-Ukraine Russian units fighting on the border—we need more of this, not less. The Biden administration should also heed Johnson’s suggestion that the United States supply more and better long-range weapons so that Ukrainians can hit Russian missile launchers before the missiles reach Ukraine. If the U.S. had done so in the autumn of 2022, when Ukraine was taking back territory, the world might look a lot different today.

Economist: The House of Representatives gives Ukraine its best news in a year https://tinyurl.com/4atp6dez “$61bn of aid is on the way. It should have an almost instant effect”

🐣 RT @David_Charts Ukraine aid money is spent here at home! Who do they think makes the munitions we’re sending over there? American workers!
🌎 https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1782192380189303115/photo/1

WaPo Editorial: Speaker Johnson and the House show allies can rely on the U.S. — still https://tinyurl.com/mr3awyha “U.S. leadership cannot succeed without the quality Mr. Johnson just demonstrated: political courage.”

🐣 RT @Intellect_Vids Q: What would a defeated Russia look like? ¤ Professor @TimothyDSnyder answers.
💽 https://x.com/Intellect_Vids/status/1782006388497011039/photo/1

🐣 RT @politico American leaders should stay out of internal Israeli politics, Israel’s president says
⋙ 🐣 we should just hand over a blank check, even when Israel engages in genocide against Gaza? ¤ the irony is simply impossible to express

🐣 RT @pravda_eng US House Speaker changed his mind on Ukraine aid after reviewing intelligence and reports of Russian war crimes [link:] https://tinyurl.com/32np4hmm

WaPo, Karen Tumulty: Mike Johnson showed courage and rose to history’s call on Ukraine https://tinyurl.com/pfae8eb5 “It’s a sad thing that acts of political bravery are so rare these days, but that makes it all the more important to recognize them when they happen”

🐣 RT @CanadianKobzar I cannot empathize enough how massive this bill passing is. Obviously, this is going to make a massive and immediate impact on the war, save thousands more lives and push back the muscovites – but it is so much more than that.
¤ https://x.com/CanadianKobzar/status/1782061371678507500

The russians have been pushing very hard to kill this bill. Anyone who spends five seconds on the internet would see that. Because russia knows once Ukraine gets the aid it needs that it will turn the tide of the war.

Ukraine was holding back russia since December without foreign aid with crowd funded drones. Since 2022, Ukraine has made effective use of foreign weapons, from Javelins to Bayraktars. Now in 2024, imagine what Ukraine will do with F-16s and ATACMS. russia is scared. This political maneuvering was russias last play at winning this war – they soundly lost.

From a historical perspective this is massive. Back in the original Ukrainian War of Independence in 1917-1921, one major factor was Ukraine’s lack of ammunition and reliable foreign supporter. I say with tears of joy, for once history has NOT repeated itself. The US firmly stood on the side of history and provided the support Ukraine needed.

But this vote was even more. This is a strong message to authoritarian regimes like iran, china and russia that the US still stands against evil. It shows that democracy still works. It shows our collective efforts do pay off. It shows that whether you are Republican or Democrat, it is irrelevant, you can be a force for good. OUR VOICES MATTER!

It shows that no matter the influence, or useful idiots the purchase (like MAGA), the just and righteous still triumph. Traitors and scum like Spartz and Moscow Marge can rot in the bed they made. Its a pleasure to see them squirm and complain like the cowards they are.

With the west resolutely standing with Ukraine, Taiwan and Israel, china and iran will now have to reevaluate their position with russia. It is not worth it. They will lose.

Thank you America for making the right decision. Thank you to Canada our European allies who stood with Ukraine while American sorted this internally. This was the momentum shift democracy needed.

While the delay cost the lives of thousands of Ukrainians, including some of my friends, this bill is a victory for us. Our fallen will be avenged and our lands reclaimed. Stay strong my fellow Ukrainians.

Believe in victory. Believe in Ukraine. Believe in Democracy. ¤ GOD BLESS AMERICAN! SLAVA UKRAINI!

WaPo: The evolution of Mike Johnson on Ukraine https://tinyurl.com/5n8yccrf “‘How does it feel to be a RINO?’ one Republican asked the speaker last week after he decided to advance funding for Ukraine in its war with Russia”

⭕ 20 Apr 2024

NYT: How Mike Johnson Got to ‘Yes’ on Aid to Ukraine https://tinyurl.com/3h8zv7jx “Intelligence, politics and personal considerations converted the Republican speaker, who had largely opposed aid to Ukraine as a rank-and-file member, into the key figure pushing it through Congress”

🐣 RT @cwebbonline Today was a good day for democracy. For speaker Johnson and House Republicans, not so much.
🔘 Rep Gallagher (R-WI) cast his final vote as a member of congress, after announcing his retirement — leaving the House with only one Republican vote to spare.
🔘 Reps Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Thomas Massie (R-KY) — decided to shoot themselves in the foot and back an effort to remove the Speaker.
🔘 Speaker Jeffies looking more likely sooner than later…

PravdaUA: Lithuanian president commends Duda for influencing Trump’s stance on Ukraine https://tinyurl.com/2w9f5aed “Trump’s campaign team said the former president had discussed the war in Ukraine and defence spending by NATO member states over dinner with Duda.”

🔄 🐣 RT @USAmbKyiv Thank you, @SpeakerJohnson, Leader Jeffries, and the 311 members who voted in support of the Ukraine supplemental. ¤ This bipartisan vote – reflecting over 70% of the House – shows the world how America can and will work together when it matters.
My personal thanks to Chairman @RepMikeTurner and the Intel Committee, Chairman @RepMikeRogersAL and the Armed Services Committee, Chairman @RepMcCaul and the Foreign Relations Committee, Chairman @MarioDB and the Foreign Ops Committee, and Speaker Johnson’s National Security Advisor Josh Hodges.

🐣 RT @Mike_Pence Now more than ever America needs to project strength and that we are still the leader of the free world. Congress passing this lethal aid to our allies in Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan sends that message of strength to enemies of freedom. I applaud the work of @SpeakerJohnson to get this aid through Congress, and urge the Senate and President Biden to move swiftly on this legislation on aid to our allies and the divestiture of TikTok from the CCP. We need to be clear eyed that we face a growing threat to the values and principles we hold dear, and if we do not take a stand now, the threat will only grow until we are forced into direct confrontation.

WaPo, Max Boot: Having exhausted the other options, the House did the right thing on Ukraine https://tinyurl.com/bdh7mrkc ‘While House Speaker Mike Johnson wasted months struggling with his party’s pro-Putin wing, the situation in Ukraine took an ominous turn for the worse’

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA 👀 “I believe that Xi, Putin and Iran are truly the axis of evil. I think they are coordinating their actions. I’m willing to take personal risks for this because we have to do the right thing. And history will judge us”, – Mike Johnson

🐣 RT @RepMikeTurner Last year, Xi Jinping told Vladimir Putin, “Change is coming that hasn’t happened in 100 years, and we are driving this change together.”
China and Russia want to see authoritarianism defeat democracy and freedom. ¤ Our adversaries cannot succeed. ¤ America must support Ukraine.
// Turner said on the Floor that Xi’s statement was an “off-mike moment”

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa Today, we received the awaited decision on the US aid package that we long fought for. And a very significant one. Our warriors on the front lines, as well as our cities and villages suffering from Russian terror, will feel it.
💽 https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1781763400629964834/photo/1

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on it today. I thank everyone who supported our package, this is a solution for protecting life. I personally thank Speaker Mike Johnson and all American hearts who believe, as we do in Ukraine, that Russian evil must not be winning. I am hopeful that the bill will be quite quickly passed by the United States Senate and sent to President Biden.

We appreciate every sign of support for our country and its independence, people, and way of life, which Russia is attempting to bury under the rubble. America has demonstrated its leadership since the first days of this war. Exactly this type of leadership is required to maintain a rules-based international order and predictability for all nations.

We will undoubtedly use American assistance to strengthen both of our nations and bring a just end to this war closer, the war that Putin must lose.

I thank our entire Ukrainian team and everyone who works tirelessly to bring this outcome closer. I am grateful to all of our country’s representatives, diplomats working to strengthen support for Ukraine, all civil society members, every volunteer who works for Ukraine, and all of Ukraine’s friends around the world. I thank my team.

The world rallies behind Ukraine’s cause when Ukrainians rally behind independence.

🧵📌 RT @Malinowski We should celebrate this moment, and welcome Mike Johnson’s conversion, which I think is genuine. ¤ But always remember — had Democrats controlled the House, this would have passed months ago. Countless lives would have been saved, and Ukraine would be much closer to victory. /1
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Malinowski/status/1781748769631138188/photo/1

⋙ A handful of Rs, like Mike McCaul and those who signed the discharge petitions, worked to persuade Johnson to allow a Ukraine vote. But the country first Republicans are steadily leaving Congress and being replaced by the pro-Putin MAGA crowd. Most of the GOP voted no today. /2

⋙ There are 100,00 Ukrainian-Americans in Pennsylvania. 800,000 Polish Americans in Michigan, and 400,000 in Wisconsin. They’ll remember who stood up for freedom and security in Europe and who told Putin he should “do whatever the hell he wants” to our allies. 3/

⋙ President Biden should accentuate this distinction now, by providing Ukraine everything it needs to boost its capabilities AND morale, including long range missiles and an ambitious NATO summit. We have 6 months of inaction to make up for, and should hold nothing back. 🇺🇸🇺🇦

🐣 The delay was related to how close the mix of GOP to Dems in the House has been. Without getting into details, this has meant the most extreme people have an outsized voice. ¤ All along, it’s been 3 to 1 in favor. ¤ Getting the bill to the floor to vote was the hard part. ¤ This has not been normal.

🐣 RT @cspan 366–58: House passes $26.4 billion in aid for Israel. ¤ The bill will be combined with Ukraine and Indo-Pacific aid before being sent to the Senate.

🐣 RT @cspan 360–58: House passes bill to force a sale of TikTok, allow the U.S. to sell off seized Russian assets to rebuild Ukraine, and authorize stricter sanctions on Russia, China and Iran. ¤ The bill will be packaged with Ukraine, Israel and Indo-Pacific aid before being sent to the Senate.

🐣 RT @LeaderMcConnell Today, the House of Representatives advanced an essential investment in American strength. The task before us is urgent. It is once again the Senate’s turn to make history. ¤ My full statement:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/LeaderMcConnell/status/1781751496545026077m/photo/1

[Text:] McConnell Statement on House Passage of National Security Supplemental Legislation

‘From the battlefields of Ukraine to the cities and kibbutzes of Israel, and from the Red Sea to the South China Sea, our adversaries are colluding to violently undermine America, our allies, and our global interests. I make no apology for taking these linked threats seriously or for urging the Biden Administration and my colleagues in Congress to do the same.‘

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released the following statement today regarding House passage of the national security supplemental:

“The national security of the United States depends on the willingness of its leaders to build, sustain, and exercise hard power. Two months ago, after extensive debate, the Senate resolved
to equip America and our friends to meet a moment of grave, coordinated challenges.

“Today, the House of Representatives finally advanced this essential investment in the strength of our alliances and partnerships, the credibility of our commitments, and the capacity of our own armed forces to defend America and deter aggression.

“Today’s action moves this critical national security supplemental one step closer to helping America and our friends to meet the most dangerous array of threats in a generation. From the battlefields of Ukraine to the cities and kibbutzes of Israel, and from the Red Sea to the South China Sea, our adversaries are colluding to violently undermine America, our allies, and our
global interests.

“I make no apology for taking these linked threats seriously or for urging the Biden Administration and my colleagues in Congress to do the same. U.S. leadership remains the essential force behind the peace and prosperity enjoyed by generations of Americans. And this tremendous asset requires our attention and investment.

“The task before us is urgent. It is once again the Senate’s turn to make history.”

🐣 RT @Billbrowder BREAKING: US House of Representatives approves confiscation of frozen Russian assets in the US and handing them over to Ukraine. I’ve been working on this since the war began with many good people in Ukraine and around the world. This is a huge milestone and paves the way for the rest of the allies to do the same. A good day for Ukraine and a bad one for Putin

🔆 This❗️⋙ 🐣 RT @cspan 311–112: House approves bill providing $60.8 billion in aid for Ukraine. ¤ The bill will be packaged with Israel and Indo-Pacific funding before it’s sent to the Senate. [$60.8B for Ukraine]
🖼 https://x.com/cspan/status/1781743134939959330/photo/1
// Dems: 210/0/0/4; GOP: 101/112/1/3: Total: 311/112/1/7 (Yea/Nay/Pres/NV)

💽 PravdaUA: Zelenskyy announces bilateral security agreements with US and Nordic countries – video https://tinyurl.com/mwfp9xb6

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder “Russia’s War Against Evangelicals”Indispensable reporting from the great @peterpomeranzev
⋙ TIME, Peter Pomeranzev: Russia’s War Against Evangelicals https://tinyurl.com/4xfvnjjj

⭕ 19 Apr 2024

🐣 RT @front_ukrainian As soon as the aid to Ukraine is approved in the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Pentagon is preparing to quickly send a package of weapons to Ukraine, which will include, among other things, air defense and artillery capabilities, – Pentagon spokesman Ryder.

🐣 RT @RBReich When inequality and corruption raged in the Gilded Age, we took action:
-Antitrust was used to break up monopolies
-Taxes were passed to stop wealth hoarding
-Corporations were forbidden from directly giving money to politicians and candidates.
We can do it all again.
💽 https://x.com/RBReich/status/1781457755326550090/photo/1
// 😅 great video

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Rep. Nadler: The hypocrisy in this chamber is so thick you could cut it with a knife. The Senate already negotiated a bill to secure the border. The reason it didn’t pass is because Donald Trump told Republicans to kill it because he wants an issue for his campaign
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1781456562885742752/photo/1

🐣 RT @RBReich Richard Nixon infected the modern Republican party with a sickness that would kill it – Donald Trump has finished the job. ¤ My latest for @GuardianUS: The death of the Republican party is not a tragedy to be celebrated
⋙ TheGuardian, Robert Reich: The death of the Republican party is not a tragedy to be celebrated https://tinyurl.com/yay6r5sh “America needs two parties capable of governing. It needs two parties with a sense of the common good, even if their interpretations of it differ”

WaPo: Ukraine weapons package ‘ready to go’ once aid bill clears Congress https://tinyurl.com/y57pt8cp “It will take the Pentagon less than a week to deliver some weapons to Ukrainian units who have been forced to ration artillery and air defense rounds, officials say”

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Lara Trump: “It’s four years of scorched earth when Donald Trump retakes the White House.” ¤ Is that a threat?
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1781412866471457137/photo/1

🐣 RT @CanadianKobzar Tomorrow is a big day. Not only for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, but the world. What ever your faith, belief or creed I ask you to pray for a good result tomorrow. The lives of thousands hang in the balance.
🖼 https://x.com/CanadianKobzar/status/1781400159693271439/photo/1

🐣 RT @EdKrassen BREAKING: Max Azzarello, the man who lit himself on fire outside of the Trump trial, wrote a manifesto that claims that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are on the same team. ¤ “What does this revelation tell us? That our government is conning us completely. That Bill Clinton was secretly on (former CIA Director) George H.W. Bush’s side, and that the Democrat vs. Republican division has been entirely manufactured ever since: Clinton is with Bush; Gore is with Bush; Trump is with Hillary, and so on. When they present themselves in public, they are acting as characters that are against one another, practicing kayfabe as wrestlers do.
🖼 https://x.com/EdKrassen/status/1781395458323050816/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 RT @__US17__Manifesto
[TextLink:] https://x.com/__US17__/status/1781395647943291308/photo/1

🐣 RT @ianbremmer europe breathing a major sigh of relief after today’s house vote
[TextLink:] https://x.com/ianbremmer/status/1781364944644038866/photo/1

Votes Yea/Nay/NV
GOP: 151/55/12 ➔ 218
Dem: 165/39/9 ➔ 213
Total: 316/94/21 ➔ 431

🚫 🐣 RT @ViralNewsNYC #Breakingnews Someone just set themselves on fire at collected pond park in downtown Manhattan NY Filmed by @LeeroyPress For licensing email Leeroypress@gmail.com
💽 https://x.com/ViralNewsNYC/status/1781379607662661901/photo/1

🚫 🐣 RT @ReallyAmerican1 BREAKING: A man just set himself on fire, on live TV, moments after the announcement was made that the final alternate jurors have been seated. ¤ People in the area quickly moved to extinguish the fire, and reporters have noted that the man who was on fire is now moving his limbs. ¤ There is no indication if there was a connection to the court proceedings.
💽 [CNN:] https://x.com/ReallyAmerican1/status/1781377918695801262/photo/1

🐣 RT @gtconway3d I heard this too. I’m not kidding. The court’s going to have to issue more than a gag order here. [ ✛ comments ]
🐣 RT @AdamParkhomenko TRUMP IS FARTING IN THE COURTROOM?!
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn [Ben] Meiselas: What I’m hearing from credible sources is that Donald Trump is actually farting in the courtroom… I’m hearing it from actual credible people that as he’s kind of falling asleep, he’s actually passing gas and that his lawyers are really struggling with the smell.

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote BREAKING: WE HAVE A FULL JURY. With the final alternate just seated, we now have a full jury of 12 plus six alternates.

🐣 RT @LindseyGrahamSC I am glad to see Republicans and Democrats in the House – under Speaker Johnson’s leadership – working together on a vital aid package for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. ¤ All Americans suffer if we are perceived to have abandoned our friends and allies because it only emboldens the bad actors throughout the world. ¤ Our friends in Israel and Ukraine are under siege, and bipartisanship in this space represents an acknowledgment that America’s vital national security is at stake. ¤ I hope this working relationship continues.
⋙ 🐣 RT @rollcall The House Rules Committee approved a rule late Thursday for consideration of a $95.3 billion foreign aid package in a rare bipartisan vote. https://ow.ly/grp550RjJAa

🐣 RT @AmbJohnBolton Thank you to @SpeakerJohnson for doing the right thing and fighting for aid to Ukraine – even at the risk of losing the Speakership. All Republicans who support national security should join him. Ronald Reagan would.
⋙ CNN: House takes key step forward on foreign aid bills with Democratic support, setting up final vote Saturday https://tinyurl.com/5aeuaz5h

🐣 RT @AmbJohnBolton Thank you to @SpeakerJohnson for doing the right thing and fighting for aid to Ukraine – even at the risk of losing the Speakership. All Republicans who support national security should join him. Ronald Reagan would. [CNN link:] https://tinyurl.com/5aeuaz5h

🐣 RT @ElevenFilms Watch President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. ¤ Just watch him. ¤ This man and his troops are holding the line against Putin so that WE DON’T HAVE TO. ¤ #AidUkraineNOW.
💽 https://x.com/ElevenFilms/status/1781348349142315466/photo/1

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary [Dems] Republicans will not take any serious action to address our broken immigration system. They will only talk tough without doing the hard work of actually legislating.
💽 https://x.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1781365107865403588/photo/1

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump GOP Rep. Don Bacon: ¤ “Unfortunately, a few of my colleagues would like to see the Russians win. I don’t know why that is the case. I think it’s a terrible thing.”
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1781353573344804927/photo/1

🔆 This❗️⋙ 🐣 RT @SimonWDC Turns out having the most experienced person to ever enter the Oval Office has been a blessing for America in a tumultuous time. ¤ House rule for Ukraine funding passes 316-94!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[TextLink:] https://x.com/SimonWDC/status/1781355443933393378/photo/1

[Text:] The vote was an enormous victory in the long effort to fund to Ukraine as it battles against Russian aggression, a major priority of President Biden that has met with bitter resistance from the right. It was a triumph against the forces of isolationism within the G.O.P. and a major moment of bipartisan consensus in a Congress that for the past year has been mostly defined by its dysfunction.

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP Sen. Lankford on Trump killing his bi-partisan border bill: ¤ “Trump said, ‘Don’t fix anything during the presidential election…He’s got a campaign that he’s running…I think President Trump sees this as a moment that if this gets fixed, then maybe a few people don’t vote.”
💽 https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1781335782378049834/photo/1

🐣 RT @GrandpaRoy2 Ukraine has developed a drone mine-detector called “Brave 1”. ¤ It can survey 3000 m2 on a 30 minute charge. ¤ The drone scans the surface and creates a map of metal containing objects using GPS tags. ¤ It grades the size of each detection and attaches photos or video of the ground.
💽 https://x.com/GrandpaRoy2/status/1781228972053004636/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 Auriandra Timothy Snyder in one of his books said Ukr has a higher % of engineers per pop. than any other Euro country ¤ They are putting them to good use!

🐣 Books by Timothy Snyder … ¤ “On Freedom“ comes on on 9/17/2024
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1781252745070092543/photo/1

NYT: In Unusual Vote, Democrats Rescue Measure to Allow Vote on Ukraine Bill https://tinyurl.com/32ax7njt “A resolution to pave the way for the foreign aid package was on track to die in committee amid Republican opposition when Democrats stepped in to save it.”

🐣 Estonia is a country where most people speak a Uralic language (related to Finnish), unlike Latvia or Lithuania where most people speak Baltic languages (with some Slavic and Germanic mixed in); each country has its own unique history

🐣 RT @KenRoth “Israel is increasingly worried by the prospect of the International Criminal Court…issuing arrest warrants against PM Benjamin Netanyahu & other Israeli political and military leaders for alleged breaches of international law in Gaza.” As it should be.

WaPo: Israel carries out airstrike on Iran, Israeli official says https://wapo.st/3Q9W3si “The United States and allies have urged restraint, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week said Israel alone will decide its response to Iran.” (!)

⭕ 18 Apr 2024

🐣 RT @BryanDawsonUSA For decades, the U.S. exported jobs and imported products, while other countries surpassed us in critical sectors like infrastructure, clean energy, semiconductors, and biotechnology. … Thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda — that is changing:
🌎 https://x.com/BryanDawsonUSA/status/1781167441801789543/photo/1

For decades, Republicans had neglected our infrastructure while China invested billions. Trump promised multiple “infrastructure weeks” and like everything else (except for tax cuts for the rich, stacking the courts with unqualified judges, exploding deficit and debt, cheating on his wives, spewing disinformation, spreading hate and violence, and forcing little girls to have the rapist’s baby) failed to deliver.

Thanks to President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda – including historic legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden such as the American Rescue Plan, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and Inflation Reduction Act – that is changing.

The Investing in America agenda is mobilizing RECORD levels of private sector investments in the United States, bringing manufacturing back to America after decades of offshoring, and creating new, good-paying jobs, including union jobs and jobs that don’t require a college degree. Biden’s Investing in America agenda is rebuilding our roads and bridges using Made in America materials, built by American workers. And it’s transforming our country for the better – reaching communities in every corner of the United States, including those that have too often been left behind. Yes, even including Red States where Republicans shamelessly take credit for policies they voted against. … #BidenBoom

Click here for an interactive map: https://tinyurl.com/y6rycma9

🧵 RT @TheStudyofWar NEW: Ukrainian Main Military Intelligence Directorate (GUR) Head Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov specified that the Russian offensive effort that Ukrainian officials have been forecasting will likely begin in June 2024 and aim to seize all of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts.
📌 🌎 https://x.com/TheStudyofWar/status/1781121826975846410/photo/1 -n

NYT: Here’s How Johnson’s Jigsaw Puzzle of a Foreign Aid Plan Would Work https://tinyurl.com/v5nd9wk6 “The speaker, facing resistance from fellow Republicans, has devised a strategy for steering aid to Ukraine and Israel through the House.”

🐣 RT @peterbakernyt “Listening to Johnson brought to mind the scene in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ when the evil spell possessing the good King Théoden is broken and he suddenly returns to himself—an accommodationist no more, revivified, ready to fight,” writes
@sbg1
⋙ NewYorker, Susan Glasser: Did Mike Johnson Just Get Religion on Ukraine? https://tinyurl.com/2hvvtscd

🐣 RT @igorsushko US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul:
If Ukraine falls, then Russia will invade Moldova, Georgia, and the Baltics (NATO members). Clear parallels to Hitler & Stalin’s invasion of Europe in 1939. ¤ To avoid sending our men & women to war, we must arm Ukraine.

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Sen. @Ossoff: No one is interested in lectures on border security from Republicans. In one of the most stunning acts of political cowardice, a bipartisan border security bill was denied even a debate on the floor because Trump told Republicans to kill it
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1781095703839707537/photo/1

🐣 RT @Mike_Pence I want to commend @SpeakerJohnson who I consider a personal friend, for demonstrating moral courage in this moment, in a very difficult time.
¤ https://x.com/Mike_Pence/status/1781032990350418097

Anyone who thinks that we can’t solve our problems at home and be the leader of the free world has a pretty small view of the greatest Nation on Earth. We can do both.

And I believe @SpeakerJohnson, and the vast majority of members of Congress know that and I am hopeful before the weekend is out, that we will see American leadership renewed across the world.

🐣 RT @NijhuisClaretta 🔥Senator MCCONNELL today: “Here’s the political reality: if you think the fall of Afghanistan was bad, the fall of a European capital like Kyiv to ruZZian troops will be unimaginably worse, and stalled American assistance…would put the blame on us.”

🐣 RT @Principles_1st #PrinciplesFirst alert: @SenatorLankford (R-OK) on border security: “Trump said don’t fix anything [about the border], so my colleagues looked for a reason to shoot against it.” ¤ Thank you, Senator. The truth matters.
💽 https://x.com/Principles_1st/status/1781169654825685323/photo/1
// on Fox

🐣 RT @mkraju GOP reaction to Mike Johnson’s assessment that he didn’t have the votes to tie Ukraine aid to border security.
💽 https://x.com/mkraju/status/1781156453627109397/photo/1

Eli Crane: “I think we have an integrity problem when we tell the American people that the border is the hill to die on — border, border, border — and then we see more of the status quo.”

Malliotakis: “The speaker’s been giving us lip service since he became the speaker saying that we were going to combine Ukraine and the border. … I don’t believe that the speaker couldn’t extract something.”

🐣 RT @mkraju 9-3, Dems on House Rules Committee join six Republicans to send rule — governing parameters of the floor debate on the foreign aid package — to the floor. Three Rs on the committee: Ralph Norman, Chip Roy and Thomas Massie voted against it. …
The rule allows for the separate aid bills to be tied together as one package (worth $95B) that will be sent to the Senate

🐣 RT @mkraju Rs say it’s time to marginalize hardliners blocking agenda ¤ GOP Rep. Mike Lawler says three Rs on Rules — Roy, Norman and Massie — should be “removed” if they don’t advance conference’s position. ¤ D’Esposito calls for “repercussions” ¤ Bacon backs changing motion-to-vacate rule

🐣 .@ChuckPfarrer says on Bullet Points that “House Shenanigans” have added 12-18 months to the war in Ukraine

🐣 RT @rawsalerts 🚨#BREAKING: The FBI says that Chinese hackers are preparing to attack US infrastructure
📌#Nashville | #Tennessee
FBI Director Christopher Wray has announced that Chinese government-linked hackers have infiltrated U.S. critical infrastructure. China is developing the capability to cause significant damage to our critical infrastructure at a time of their choosing, waiting for the opportune moment to deal a devastating blow. An ongoing Chinese hacking campaign, known as Volt Typhoon, has successfully accessed numerous American companies in telecommunications, energy, water, and other critical sectors, with 23 pipeline operators being targeted.

🐣 RT @SecBlinken The G7 remains unwavering in our support for Ukraine. ¤ Putin thinks he can outlast Ukraine. But here’s our message out of Capri: He can’t. ¤ Every G7 member is making extraordinary contributions to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s unjust war of aggression.

🧵 RT @TheStudyofWar NEW: A Russian victory is an Iranian victory. Those concerned with the growth of Iran’s military power, ambitions, and aggression in the Middle East must recognize the degree to which Iran’s fortunes rise and fall with Russia’s. (1/9)
📌 https://x.com/TheStudyofWar/status/1781042764945260828/photo/1

🐣 RT @GOP4Ukraine Speaker Johnson: “80% of the spending for Ukraine is replenishment of American weapons and stocks. That’s a really important thing for our own U.S. industrial base and defense base.”

🐣 RT @therecount “Nearly every single grandchild of Joe and Rose Kennedy supports Joe Biden. That’s right: The Kennedy family endorses Joe Biden for president.”— Kerry Kennedy, the daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and sister of presidential candidate RFK Jr at a Biden rally in Philadelphia
💽 https://x.com/therecount/status/1781016674830823727/photo/1

WaPo: Kennedy family endorse Biden at Philadelphia event https://tinyurl.com/44uxufb9 “The move is a rebuke of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is pursuing the White House as an independent”

WaPo: Johnson’s plan to send aid to Ukraine moves closer to reality https://tinyurl.com/y33e7d24 “‘Democrats will not be responsible for this bill failing,’ one Democratic lawmaker pledged Thursday morning”

🐣 RT @JohnJHarwood it’s good for the free world that Johnson is now taking this step
⋙ 🐣 RT @GOP4Ukraine Speaker Johnson: “We are going to stand for freedom and make sure that Vladimir Putin doesn’t march through Europe…We have to project to Putin, Xi, and Iran, and North Korea, and anybody else that we will defend freedom.”
💽 https://x.com/JohnJHarwood/status/1780762015130116306/photo/1

🧵 RT @capitolhunters As the House Freedom Caucus lobbies against aid for Ukraine and Rep. Raskin calls them “Putin’s little helpers”, working for Russia, let’s remember: this same group led the House efforts to overturn the vote of the U.S. people on Jan 6. 1/
📌 [TextLink:] https://x.com/capitolhunters/status/1780936207150518403/photo/1 -n

🐣 RT @axios In a show of force against RFK Jr., members of the Kennedy family will appear en masse to endorse Biden at a campaign event today. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/5eefktc4

⭕ 17 Apr 2024

NBCNews: Prosecutors seek to ask Trump about civil fraud, E. Jean Carroll cases and more if he testifies in hush money case https://tinyurl.com/4z7z6d66 “Prosecutors from the Manhattan DA’s office said they want to ask about the cases to ‘impeach the credibility of the defendant’”

WaPo, David Ignatius: Meet the unsmiling general who has become the symbol of Ukraine’s defiance https://tinyurl.com/uuxbvb4c Lt. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov “likes to work in the dark, as befits the chief of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, the GUR”

🐣 RT @FoxNews OPINION: Marjorie Taylor Greene is an idiot. She is trying to wreck the GOP [link:] https://tinyurl.com/24tp55kh
🖼 https://x.com/FoxNews/status/1780605568262029641/photo/1

🐣 RT @TopLeadEU The detailed distribution of aid to Ukraine from the new US bill, which the lower house of Congress will vote on this Saturday. #ATACMS #UkraineWar #UkraineWarNews
◕ https://x.com/TopLeadEU/status/1780690116597481746/photo/1

🐣 RT @GOP4Ukraine Speaker Johnson: “We are going to stand for freedom and make sure that Vladimir Putin doesn’t march through Europe…We have to project to Putin, Xi, and Iran, and North Korea, and anybody else that we will defend freedom.”
💽 https://x.com/GOP4Ukraine/status/1780699586220417403/photo/1

🐣 RT @Peter_Wehner Speaker Johnson deserves credit for his stance. It’s the right one, I believe; and it’ll complicate his life with the pro-Putin forces in his party. But he’s moving ahead despite that. Kudos.

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary .@WhipKClark: We stand ready as @HouseDemocrats to vote for our national security, to vote to stand with our allies across the world and send a message that we stand behind our word, we stand with our allies and we stand firmly for democracy.

🐣 RT @GOP4Ukraine Speaker Johnson: “I’m doing here what I believe to be the right thing. I think providing lethal aid to Ukraine right now is critically important…We can’t play politics with this. We have to do the right thing.”
💽 https://x.com/GOP4Ukraine/status/1780777695200133220/photo/1

🐣 RT @POTUS I strongly support the national security package in the House of Representatives that supports Israel and Ukraine, provides humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, and bolsters security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. ¤ The House must pass the package this week and the Senate should quickly follow. ¤ I will sign this into law immediately to send a message to the world: ¤ We stand with our friends, and we won’t let Iran or Russia succeed.

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary “It has been a very, very bad Congress for Republicans. Just listen to Republicans talk about it. They say we have nothing to run on. We have no accomplishments.”
💽 https://x.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1780701364185895422/photo/1
// feat. Jake Sherman

WSJ, Joe Biden: Moment of Truth on Ukraine and Israel https://tinyurl.com/y28wdhd6 “Both countries urgently need U.S. aid to defend themselves against brazen adversaries that seek their annihilation.”

🐣 RT @NOELreports The draft text of the bill which allows aid to Ukraine has been published. Key highlights:
[Bill:] https://tinyurl.com/faat7dy9
¤ https://x.com/NOELreports/status/1780660218923254219

➡️ The bill obliges the US president to hand over long-range ATACMS (type unspecified) to Ukraine as soon as possible after it enters into force. The president is able to postpone the handover if the transfer of ATACMS, in his opinion, will harm the national security interests of the US.
➡️ In total $61 billion will be allocated, of which $23.2 billion dollars will be used to replenish defense goods and services provided to Ukraine.
➡️ $11.3 billion for current US military operations in the region
➡️ $13.8 billion dollars for the purchase of the latest weapons systems, goods and services for defense purposes
➡️ $26 million for continued oversight and accountability for assistance and equipment provided to Ukraine
➡️ $7.8 billion dollars of direct financial assistance in credit to Ukraine. After November 15, 2024, the president will be able to write off up to half of the debt amount after submitting the appropriate rationale to Congress
➡️ The bill requires The Pentagon / State Department to provide a clear US strategy for Ukraine within 45 days.

🐣 RT @FoxNews OPINION: Marjorie Taylor Greene is an idiot. She is trying to wreck the GOP [link:] https://tinyurl.com/24tp55kh
🖼 https://x.com/FoxNews/status/1780605568262029641/photo/1

🐣 RT @RepRaskin Russian disinformation and anti-Ukraine propaganda have badly infected the MAGA wing of Congress. ¤ Across party lines, we must agree: authoritarian lies undermine democracy and national security, whether they come from Putin or Xi or both.
🖼 https://x.com/RepRaskin/status/1780657447813755067/photo/1

WaPo: Speaker Johnson moves on foreign aid, possibly triggering vote to oust him https://tinyurl.com/mryhahya “The House Freedom Caucus has already panned the proposal, which includes a separate vote on border security that was intended to mollify hard-right members.”

WaPo: Senate votes to dismiss impeachment charges against Mayorkas https://tinyurl.com/yc3cj4z5 The two articles of impeachment were both rejected in party line votes.

WaPo: Secret Russian foreign policy document urges action to weaken the US https://tinyurl.com/59j6kvd3 “Russia’s Foreign Ministry has been drawing up plans … leverage the Ukraine war to forge a global order free from what it sees as American dominance”

🐣 RT @danielsgoldman Rs are using this baseless impeachment of @SecMayorkas to jam Senate business & endanger national security. ¤ Aid to Ukraine, to Israel, & FISA re-authorization have been put at risk by this affront to the Constitution, which the Senate must not legitimize. ¤ More in my op-ed below
💽 https://x.com/danielsgoldman/status/1780624411948695998/photo/1

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary .@SenSchumer: The charges brought against Secretary Mayorkas failed to meet the high standard of high crimes and misdemeanors. To validate this gross abuse by the House would be a grave mistake and could set a dangerous precedent for the future.
💽 https://x.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1780626542965465170/photo/1

🐣 RT @pravda_eng US House Intelligence Committee calls for immediate approval of assistance to Ukraine [link:] https://tinyurl.com/3d25xbce

⋙ 🐣 RT @southdintegrity Even Trump’s Most Loyal GOP Allies Have Admitted That He is a Terrible Human Being. Here are Their Words.
¤ 🖼 https://x.com/southdintegrity/status/1780638766849216737

“Trump doesn’t know the difference between truth and lies… he lies, practically every word that comes out of his mouth.” He is a “sniveling coward… utterly amoral.”
– Senator Ted Cruz

He is “completely crazy” and will “taint conservatism for generations to come. His campaign is opportunistic, race-bating, religious bigotry, xenophobia.”
– Senator Lindsey Graham

He is a “cancer on conservatism.” He is “small-minded, divisive, propelled by anger, appealing to the worst instincts in the human condition…. He offers a barking carnival act… a toxic mix of demagoguery and mean-spiritedness, and nonsense.”
– Former Texas Governor Rick Perry.

“Donald Trump has been perhaps the most vulgar person ever to aspire to the Presidency… There is no way we are going to allow a con-artist to take over the conservative movement and Donald Trump is a con-artist.”
– Senator Marco Rubio.

Donald Trump “lacks the character and the moral center we desperately need.” He would be “dangerous” in the Oval Office. “I just don’t think he has the demeanor to be President.”
– Speaker of the House Mike Johnson

“If anyone spoke to my wife or daughter or my mother or any of my five sisters,” like Trump speaks about women, “I wouldn’t hire that person. I wouldn’t want to be associated with that person, and I certainly don’t think I’d feel comfortable hiring that person to be the leader of the free world.”
– Senator Mike Lee […]

🐣 RT @SteveRattner American LNG exports are at record highs (and are projected to keep on growing). cc: @EIAgov
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1780620385899167967/photo/1

🐣 RT @NewsHour President Joe Biden’s administration will help 50 countries identify and respond to infectious diseases, with the goal of preventing pandemics like the COVID-19 outbreak that suddenly halted normal life around the globe in 2020.

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en “My message is clear: send more to Ukraine,” – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. d NATO will conduct a Ukraine-NATO council meeting on April 19th to discuss supplies of air defense systems and ammunition to Ukraine.

🐣 RT @JayinKyiv Finally, mainstream Western media is talking about Russia’s program kidnapping whole schools of Ukrainian kids. ¤ Goal of the program is to get kids to Russia, away from families, to train in becoming cannon fodder for Putin’s war against NATO. ¤ The West really needs to wake up.

🐣 RT @RepStenyHoyer If the Speaker brings the Senate-passed supplemental aid bill to the House Floor it will pass. ¤ We are not a silent majority but a silenced majority. ¤ Silenced by a Speaker who refuses to give us a vote. ¤ Freedom is waiting upon us today.

⭕ 16 Apr 2024

🐣 📋 RT @RepDanGoldman The GOP repeatedly and misleadingly stokes fear about immigrants being public safety risks. ¤ But the facts don’t lie – they’re 68% less likely to commit crimes than those born here. ¤ We don’t need fear mongering. We need real reforms to make our immigration system more efficient.

TheAtlantic, David Frum: Why Biden Should Not Debate Trump https://tinyurl.com/28tpk287 “The networks want their show, but to give the challenger equal status on a TV stage would be a dire normalization of his attempted coup.”

💙 🧵 RT @LukeDCoffey 🚨 FINALLY, after more than 480 days of delay and dithering (costing Ukrainian lives), Congress is about to vote on another aid package for Ukraine. ¤ Expect a lot of disinformation about US aid to Ukraine in the coming days. ¤ Here is a thread with the facts 👇
📌 https://x.com/LukeDCoffey/status/1780288619787268126
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1780288619787268126.html

FACT: We are not writing “blank checks” to Ukraine:
✓Every dollar spent in support of Ukraine is authorized by Congress and is used for a specific purpose
✓So far, approximately $70 billion of the aid never left US

FACT: For a modest sum of money, the US helps Ukraine dismantle Russia’s military w/out a single American in harm’s way:
✓+400k Russian troops KIA, 15,000 major pieces of equipment removed from battlefield
✓1/3 of Black Sea Fleet gone. +3,000 tanks destroyed.

FACT: There is plenty of oversight for Ukraine aid:
✓Ukraine Oversight Interagency Working Group has 160 officials across 20 agencies monitoring aid
✓So far: “Investigations related to the Ukraine response have not yet substantiated significant waste, fraud, or abuse.”

FACT: Europeans have now overtaken the U.S. the largest donor to Ukraine:
✓According to Kiel Institute’s aid tracker total European commitments are now more than double those of the U.S.
✓30 European countries have given more to Ukraine than the U.S. as a percentage of GDP

FACT: A victorious Ukraine means a safer Taiwan:
✓Russia is China’s partner. A weakened Russia means a weaker China
✓Beijing is also watching how Western powers support Ukraine, so a strong and victorious Ukraine makes Taiwan stronger and deters Chinese aggression

FACT: Europe’s stability matters to US economy:
✓48/50 states export more to Europe than China
✓When Americans are building something to be exported, that is an American job
✓European stability, which Russia threatens, brings untold benefits to the economy & the US worker

FACT: Lessons from Ukraine make our military stronger:
✓Shortcomings in defense industry are exposed & being addressed. Thankfully, these were uncovered when US not at war
✓The performance of US made hardware gets a real-world combat test in a way not possible in a peacetime

FACT: Lessons learned from arming Ukraine mean Taiwan is getting weapons faster:
✓For the first time ever, Presidential Drawdown Authority is being used for Taiwan
✓Taiwan’s order of HIMARS will now be arriving 1 year earlier than planned after U.S. re-prioritized the sale

FACT: Iran and North Korea enable Russia to attack Ukraine. Russia supports Hamas:
✓Iran giving thousands of drones for use against Ukraine
✓North Korea gave +1 million artillery rounds for use against Ukraine
✓Russia protects Hamas at the UN. Moscow recently hosted Hamas

FACT: Ukraine is not “America’s new forever war”:
✓No US troops are fighting against Russia inside Ukraine
✓Ukrainians are not asking for, nor do they want, US troops to help them fight Russia
✓The US is not a belligerent in the conflict

FACT: The US is not engaged in a proxy war against Russia:
✓Definition of a “proxy war” is a war “fought by states acting at the instigation or on behalf of other states”
✓The US has never instigated Ukraine to fight. The US is not forcing the Ukraine to fight on its behalf

FACT: The US must provide both military & non-military to achieve the greatest affect:
✓Russia’s invasion eliminated 30% of Ukraine’s economy
✓Essential public services must function (e.g. law enforcement, utility workers, etc) for Ukraine to remain on a total war footing

FACT: US military aid to Ukraine is a boost to our defense industry:
✓After seeing effectiveness of US military equipment in Ukraine, NATO countries alone have placed $120 billion in orders for US made hardware.
✓This makes America safer while creating highly-paid jobs

📋 FT: US to grow at double the rate of G7 peers this year, says IMF https://tinyurl.com/msbbdys8 “Fund also upgrades inflation forecasts as strong demand and tight labour market delay possible Fed rate cuts”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1780295388806713409/photo/1

🧵 RT @MuellerSheWrote THREAD: Good morning! Oral arguments are about to begin in Fischer v US. This is the case about the interpretation of Title 18 USC 1512c2 Obstructing an Official Proceeding. I’m going to do my best to live tweet the arguments. 1/
📌 https://x.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1780234738722087356
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1780234738722087356.html

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe .@JoeNBC: “I’m getting tired of saying this to people who claim to be ‘patriotic’ but hate America… America’s stronger than ever before. Its economy is stronger than ever… But they’d never know this because they are fed a steady stream of hate America first rhetoric.”
💽 https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1780255165406138374/photo/1

🐣 RT @cspan .@RepThomasMassie on Speaker Johnson, resignation and motion to vacate the chair: “I asked him to resign…the motion is going to get called and then he’s going to lose more votes than Kevin McCarthy.”
💽 https://x.com/cspan/status/1780248046204297221/photo/1

WaPo: Momentum builds to oust Johnson from House speakership https://tinyurl.com/bd69f46m “One right-wing member called on the speaker to resign, which Johnson rejected”; Dems have offered to save Johnson if he brings up the full Senate-passed Defense Supplemental

⭕ 15 Apr 2024

🐣 RT @AWeissmann_ THE STAKES: if Trump loses this NY state case everything is potentially on the line and he knows it: his presidential campaign and with it his only available option to avoid multiple federal and state criminal convictions and significant jail time.

🐣 RT @Peter_Wehner “Over nine damning minutes, Sununu illustrated how deep into the Republican Party the rot has gone.”
⋙ TheAtlantic, Peter Wehner: Trump’s Willing Accomplice https://tinyurl.com/mf22hf3x
// Chris Sununu just showed how deep into the Republican Party the rot has gone.

🧵 RT @MuellerSheWrote THREAD: I think it’s brilliant that Jack Smith crafted his 1/6 indictment of trump to withstand 1) a court determining that a former president is immune for some official acts and 2) a court determining 1512(c)(2) must involve a document or documents. 1/
📌 https://x.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1780028372715970802

WaPo: Johnson gambles on plan separating Israel aid from Ukraine funds https://tinyurl.com/yckda65r //➔ he wants to break the Defense Supplemental into four separate bills
// Marjorie Taylor Greene called the decision to put four different foreign aid bills on the floor a ‘scam,’ but it’s unclear whether she will try to oust Johnson for it
↥ ↧
One-pager: https://x.com/LisaDNews/status/1780005846090445256/photo/1

🐣 RT @maddenifico #Maddow: People forget how sordid the Geoffrey Berman affair was.
¤ https://x.com/maddenifico/status/1780056529837654045

Trump wanted all the crimes he committed prior to being elected president to go away, but Berman — who was a Trump appointee — refused to relent. Berman was old school and wasn’t about to be bribed by the corrupt conman. Because of Berman’s courage in refusing to resign, he forced Trump to fire him, which then afforded Berman the ability to have his deputy succeed him as Manhattan DA, thus denying Trump the ability to name a loyalist.

Under Trump, and with the help of AG Bill Barr, the justice department became a cesspool of corruption. For no reason other than jealousy, vindictiveness and a desire to make sure he couldn’t be prosecuted when he would eventually leave office, Trump sought to prosecute his perceived enemies and wipe clean all his crimes from the court books. Michael Cohen literally went to prison for a crime Trump committed.

No longer president, the depraved degenerate is having to face the music, which includes 34 felony charges from Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en “Ukraine has been able to liberate 50% of the territory originally occupied by Russia. They opened a corridor in the Black Sea, enabling the export of grain by sinking many of the Russian ships of the Black Sea Fleet,” Jens Stoltenberg explaining it’s necessary to “step up aid.”
💽 https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1779921665410965804/photo/1

🐣 RT @dabeard Fear of Führer: Even before he was solidly in power, how did Hitler bully powerful Germans to surrender to his authoritarianism and the eventual destruction of the country?
≣ ⋙ HolocaustExplained: How did the Nazi consolidate their power? https://tinyurl.com/34h2kkxf
// site: the holocaust explained.org

🐣 RT @KyivPost To protect Israel, which is not a #NATO member, Western countries did not need Article 5 of the Alliance. The same is possible in relation to #Ukraine — political will is needed, Ukrainian President Volodymyr #Zelensky said in his evening address. ¤ : President’s Office

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP The GOP’s presumptive nominee for president is in court today for his first criminal trial. ¤ Today’s Republican Party is not the party of law and order.
🖼 https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1779876133120405942/photo/1

WSJ: Mike Johnson Nears Big Decision: Help Israel, Ukraine or Both? https://tinyurl.com/57s94y88 Rep Gregory “Meeks said Johnson has a ‘Chamberlain-Churchill’ decision to make, referring to the British prime ministers during World War II. ‘I think that’s where we are right now.’”
// Embattled House speaker will lay out aid legislation this week as lawmakers demand action on foreign funding

🐣 RT @tribelaw Great piece by @JRubinBlogger: “In sum, the case that begins today is not frivolous, minor or particularly prurient. To the contrary, the first trial of a former president has grave importance as a means of holding Trump accountable for the scheme that lifted him to power. It marks the first instance of Trump maneuvering to win an election through deception. To boot, a multi-count felony conviction might result in prison time. That may explain why Trump has been so desperate to delay it.” [WaPo link:] https://tinyurl.com/hfmsae7p

🐣 RT @officejjsmart In Tbilisi, Georgia, after hitting a pro-Russian Member of Parliament, Aleko Elisashvili explained that he had punched him “right in his Russian face,” and that he could “shove the pro-Russian law up his ass,” as “Georgians will not be slaves.” ¤ Russia only understands force.

WaPo, Aaron Blake: The danger for Trump in hush-money case: Refreshing people’s memories https://tinyurl.com/bdr7tsad “Polling back then showed nearly 8 in 10 Americans regarded Trump’s actions as either illegal or unethical, and nearly 4 in 10 thought he had broken the law.”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1779929319420088544/photo/1
// Americans regard the charges as less serious than in his other cases. But they’re also set to be reminded of something they’ve overwhelmingly found problematic — and might have forgotten about.

⭕ 14 Apr 2024

🐣 📋 Israel: 21,671 sq/km 1 city >500K pop.
Ukraine: 603,628 sq/km 9 cities >500K pop.

🐣 RT @QuoteDigging “More Americans voted AGAINST this fool than any other president in history – 81 million. And that was before J6,Roe overturned,election denial, liable in a sex assault & fraud case, and 4 criminal indictments.There has never been a president hated by more Americans than Trump.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/QuoteDigging/status/1779696377460871470/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump Just four years ago I was a very popular and successful President of the United States, getting more votes than any sitting President in history. Tomorrow morning I’ll be in Criminal Court, before a totally conflicted Judge, a Corrupt Prosecutor, a Legal System in CHAOS, a State being overrun by violent crime and corruption, and Crooked Joe Biden’s henchmen “Rigging the System” against his Political Opponent, ME! | will be fighting for myself but, much more importantly, I will be fighting for our Country. Election Interference like this has never happened in the USA before and, hopefully, will never happen again. We are now a Nation in serious Decline, a Failing Nation, but we will soon be a Great Nation < Agpost November 5th will be the most important day in the History of the United States. MAGA2024! SEE YOU TOMORROW.

🐣 RT @Thom_Hartmann 7/31/2019 Trump meets w/ Putin. 8/3/2019, just 3 days later, Trump requests a list of US spies. By 2021 the CIA reports a high number of their agents are being captured and/or murdered. An FBI search at Mar A Lago finds more documents
w/ lists of our spies on them. Treason?

🐣 RT @RBReich In the 1960s, CEOs made 20 times the pay of their workers.
Now, they rake in over 300 times.
When people stop believing they have a fair chance to make it, the tacit social contract begins to unravel.
That’s how a nation becomes susceptible to demagogues like Donald Trump

WaPo: Biden keeps low profile after Iran’s Israel attack https://tinyurl.com/bddt9exc “White House aides discussed a national address but feared the possibility it could potentially turn up the temperature when they want it turned down.”

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote NEW: Jack Smith has responded to Trump’s delay attempt in the documents case. You can see what I posted about Trump’s request to delay here: 1/
[CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/yc5dfyhm 9p

WaPo: U.S. details Pentagon’s role in defending Israel from Iranian attack https://tinyurl.com/29z63hbc An exciting, effective, expensive show of force: ~3000 ballistic missiles and other ordinance was fired, ~99% was intercepted.

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa The world has everything necessary to stop any missiles, “Shahed” drones, and other forms of terror. It only requires the decisions that can restore true and lasting security.
¤ https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1779425755115479228

Ukraine can defeat Russian terror, protect its own life and the life of the entire Europe and other regions of the world from the spread of evil. This is why we need the support of our partners, and every day of delay in the delivery of aid results in more destroyed homes and ruined lives.

I am grateful to everyone in the world who truly helps defend against terror. I thank everyone who is making every effort to keep evil from prevailing.

🐣 RT @BryanDawsonUSA As tensions in the Middle East escalate with Iran’s attack on Israel, a reminder Trump said Putin would never invade Ukraine AFTER Putin already invaded Ukraine. Millions trust this buffoon with the nuclear codes. Thank God @JoeBiden is president.
Mar-a-Lago on Friday, and he and I are 100 percent united on these big agenda items.”
💽 https://x.com/BryanDawsonUSA/status/1779368747137941877/photo/1

🐣 RT @atrupar Mike Johnson to Maria Bartiromo on Trump: “I had a great visit with him at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, and he and I are 100 percent united on these big agenda items.”
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1779512085484900424/photo/1

🐣 RT @FaceTheNation The situation in Ukraine is “dire,” but when asked why the House still hasn’t set a date for a vote on aid to Ukraine, Foreign Affairs Chair @RepMcCaul says, “That is a speaker determination.” ¤ “I have a commitment that it will come to the floor. My preference is this week,” McCaul said, but no decision has been made as of yet.
💽 [Newsweeklink:] https://x.com/FaceTheNation/status/1779531189365145919

WaPo: Biden counsels Netanyahu to ‘slow things down’ after Iranian attack https://tinyurl.com/5yfmv9mf “Administration officials said the U.S. would not join any response to Tehran’s assault, and suggested Israel ‘take the win’ and avoid escalation.”

WaPo: Iran attacks add urgency to stalled congressional aid effort for Israel https://tinyurl.com/mrvm7s8a “‘What happened in Israel last night happens in Ukraine every night,’ McCaul said.” McCaul, head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wants a combined bill.

🧵 RT @CanadianKobzar [Кобзар 🇺🇦🇨🇦] To my American friends and all supporters of Ukraine. We thank you for all of your support to Ukraine since the beginning of this war. The next week and your next election will be crucial to not only this war, but the future of the global regime.
📌 https://twitter.com/CanadianKobzar/status/1779699718492135877

We all believe in you. We know you will do the right thing. America helped defeat the soviet union – something that was thought of as impossible. It brought unparalleled freedom and prosperity to millions in the former soviet bloc countries.

Now is that 1989 moment where you can once again stand on the right side of history and be heroes once again. You don’t have to fight. You don’t have to sacrifice – all we need is your support. To our Republicans, ask yourself. What would Regan do? Tear down that wall with us once again!

While all the russian bots keep ranting about “Ukraine should stop begging for weapons”, “Ukraine is running out of ammo”, “Ukraine should seek to negotiate” remember that these are all projections.

Experts estimate russia has only one year reserve weapons. Notwithstanding the fact the US has not delivered aid to Ukraine since NOVEMBER, Ukraine has held back the russian advances. russia is begging for weapons from china, Iran and NORTH KOREA. If russia did not receive weapons from its overlords, this war would be over.

The logistical problems that russia faced at the beginning of the war have not been fixed. They have not learned. While they are now adapting drone technologies, they are miles behind Ukraine. Combined with the attacks on oil refiners, russia is faced with a significant logistical problem – probably why you don’t see them advancing. They do not have the capacity to do so.

Even with all these massive advantages russia is still losing thousands a day and has not made any significant gains in Ukraine. Empty fields and back water villages are not tactically or materially significant in the grand scheme of the war. If you are loosing thousands of men a day, you would expect that to be for the capital city of your enemy. The reality is russia is no where close to even taking the capital city of Zaporizhzhia oblast.

Ukraine has held russia back with crowdfunded, crowd built drones. Ukraine will be getting F-16s. Ukraine will be getting long range artillery, what do you think will happen then? Once the weapons start flowing to Ukraine, and I assure you they will, you will see this war turn around again.

The short term may be difficult for Ukraine, but it is far bleaker for russia. The difference is in the long term russia will inevitably lose, like the soviets in Afghanistan. The best case scenario for russia is that it becomes a vassal state to China (its pretty much there at this point), like it was to the Mongols in the 13th century, worst case scenario it will break down into several principalities similar to the collapse of the soviet union.

I don’t know which is more likely, but one thing is for certain, you have to be daft to think that russia will come out of this with anything but a defeat.

The defeat of russia means the defeat of evil incarnate. This is the clearest and most unambiguous manifestation of evil since the nazis in WWII and the soviet union. Their defeat will bring prosperity and long deserved peace not only to Ukraine, but to Europe. More than that, it will strike a crushing blow to those authoritarian regimes that think they can terrorize the world. Iran’s attacks on Israel were emboldened by russia. To prevent further attacks like this, we need to cut the head of the hydra – we need to defeat russia.

Let us send a message to china, North Korea, Iran and others that democracy is still strong.

Ukraine will win. Democracy will win. Never lose hope.

🐣 📋 RT @davidfrum In 2022, a Democratic House approved 4 aid requests to Ukraine totalingi $75 billion. Since then, a Republican House has refused all aid to Ukraine. It’s not “the United States” that is abandoning its friends. It is the Trump Republicans.

🐣 RT @wartranslated The interception of Iranian missiles and drones by American and British air defense systems over Israel is very showing.
¤ https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1779447527818895725

On one side, Russia has been attacking Ukraine for two years using various means, ranging from cruise missiles to gliding bombs and drones, including those supplied by Iran. Despite this, Ukraine stands alone in defending itself against these deadly assaults, with neighboring NATO countries even tolerating Russian provocations with missiles flying into NATO airspace, and no one takes them out.

Meanwhile, the close alliance between Russia and Iran, the “new Axis,” is evident. Yet, targeted strikes against Iran, including its top military figures, are carried out regularly and effectively.

The disparity between Iran and Russia is not vast, except for one crucial aspect: Russia possesses huge nuclear arsenals and frequently employs them in nuclear blackmail. While the West states how it is hesitant to engage in direct conflict with Russia to avoid direct confrontation, it seems more willing to confront Iran.

Concerningly, the West is trembling before Russian nuclear blackmail and will continue being intimidated. And of course, this does not mean that the Americans and the British should have avoided helping Israel (which is not in NATO, like Ukraine), that’s not the point.

No, the issue is that Ukraine’s so-called allies have to be begged to provide defence to protect the vital energy infrastructure, while to others, the aid is handed out without any hesitation.

🐣📋 RT @David_Charts People underestimate how much the rich have to be taxed:
Top 10% have $100 trillion net worth.
Top 20% get nearly $1 trillion per year in tax expenditures.
2% wealth tax covers deficit and most of social security.
Eliminating the tax expenditures then eliminates debt.

🐣 RT @SethAbramson I’ve represented thousands of defendants in multiple jurisdictions—in cases ranging from pot possession to first-degree murder—and I can’t imagine what Trump’s attorneys are dealing with. His fans may not understand that he’s deeply mentally ill, but I promise you his lawyers know.

🐣 RT @SethAbramson I’ve represented thousands of defendants in multiple jurisdictions—in cases ranging from pot possession to first-degree murder—and I can’t imagine what Trump’s attorneys are dealing with. His fans may not understand that he’s deeply mentally ill, but I promise you his lawyers know.

🐣 [TextLink:] ¤ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1779682886053974474/photo/1
// “The Brookings Institute estimates that Trump’s inaction is responsible for 70% of Covid deaths. ¤ Trump Deaths:763,044”

‼️AP: House Speaker Mike Johnson says he will push for aid to Israel and Ukraine this week https://tinyurl.com/22ep6u4j “President Joe Biden held a phone call Sunday with the top Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate, including Johnson,” per Chuck Schumer

🐣 RT @GlasnostGone President Zelensky tonight is rightly angry at America’s shameful appeasement of Putin. “It is not rhetoric that protects the sky, it is not opinions that curb the production of missiles and drones for terror. And the fact that sanctions against Russia are still being circumvented, and that we in #Ukraine have been waiting for months for a vital support package – that we are still waiting for a vote in Congress – shows that the terrorists’ confidence has been on the rise for months as well. We cannot waste any more time.” [link:] https://tinyurl.com/mt4zwsrz

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA “I am the president of Ukraine. I have no right not to give up, not to be offended by the fact that they have more weapons and we have less. I have to live and motivate my people who believed,” – Zelenskyi about his motivation.

🐣 RT @SethAbramson MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: In Criminal Violation of Logan Act, Former President Donald Trump Attempts to Supercede Authority of U.S. President Joe Biden and Threaten Iran’s President Directly […]
¤ https://x.com/SethAbramson/status/1779350867298156613
⋙ 🐣 you are absolutely right about the Logan Act:
will anything be done about it? No

🐣 RT @Victorshi2020 Holy cow. George Stephanopoulos just said to a GOP Gov. Sununu, “To sum up. You support Trump even if he’s convicted. You support him even though he contributed to an insurrection. You support him even though you he lied about the election. The answer to that is yes, correct?”

🐣 RT @tribelaw 1. The criminal trial that begins April 15 has a theme almost nobody has yet fully appreciated. It’s the through line of illegally manipulating elections by distorting the information on the basis of which those elections are decided.
¤ https://x.com/tribelaw/status/1779511090616909891

2. Now, for instance, with his nonstop efforts to delay the trial’s opening, Trump is doubling down on that strategy by trying to keep voters from seeing, before they cast their ballots in November 2024, how a jury of twelve ordinary citizens would evaluate the Manhattan DA’s charge that Trump tried, on the eve of the 2016 election, to keep the voters from learning that the Access Hollywood Tape was just the tiny tip of a sordid iceberg, one he feared would melt down all over his then teetering presidential campaign with the facts about his sex affair with Stormy Daniels, an affair that seems trivial in hindsight but that loomed large at the time in that cliffhanger-close election.

3. Think about it: Using the legal system — or, more accurately, abusing it — to cover up, in order to win in 2024, how he covered up the truth in order to win in 2016!

4. That double-layered coverup, if successful, would more than make a mockery of our constitutional system. It would shred it, all the more so because the one thing Trump hasn’t even tried to cover up is his dictatorial plan to wield unlimited power over us all.

🐣 RT @ChrisDJackson 🚨 According to a recent book by Franklin Foer, Joe Biden isn’t just the president of the United States, he is the West’s father figure —
¤ https://x.com/ChrisDJackson/status/1779585761693585892

— whom foreign leaders call for advice and look to for assurance during situations like we currently face.

The book says: “It was his calming presence and his strategic clarity that helped lead the alliance to such an aggressive stance, which stymied authoritarianism on its front lines. He was a man for his age.”

I’m proud to have a president with the wisdom to lead our nation and the free world. We need him now more than ever. 🇺🇸

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: New reports are indicating that President Biden was instrumental in bringing together a coalition of UK, Jordanian and Saudi Arabian pilots to shoot Iran’s drones out of the sky. President Biden’s leadership at the world stage has been unparalleled.

🐣 RT @Igor_from_Kyiv_ Of course… Also, if Trump were president, dinosaurs wouldn’t go extinct… people would live forever and not die… he would go back in time and stop all world wars… as well as all natural disasters. ¤ What a narcissistic you have to be to write such nonsense. This man essentially nurtured all these dictatorships and regimes through his inaction… trying to flirt with them, make friends with them and turn a blind eye to their crimes.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Igor_from_Kyiv_/status/1779392062896418948/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump ISRAEL IS UNDER ATTACK! This should never have been allowed to happen – This would NEVER have happened if I were President!

🔆 This❗️⋙ WaPo: Iran launches more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel; Biden condemns attack https://tinyurl.com/yc5fws2e “Israel Defense Forces spokesman Daniel Hagari … said more than 99 percent were intercepted.”

⭕ 13 Apr 2024

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en Feng Yujun, one of the China’s leading Russianists and a professor at Peking University: Russia is sure to lose in Ukraine – The Economist
¤ https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1779217033374089501

Four reasons why Russian Federation will lose to Ukraine, according to Feng Yujun:

🔹 The first is the level of resistance and national unity shown by Ukrainians, which has until now been extraordinary.

🔹 The second is international support for Ukraine, which, though recently falling short of the country’s expectations, remains broad.

🔹 The third factor is the nature of modern warfare, a contest that turns on a combination of industrial might and command, control, communications and intelligence systems. One reason Russia has struggled in this war is that it is yet to recover from the dramatic deindustrialisation it suffered after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

🔹 The final factor is information. When it comes to decision-making, Vladimir Putin is trapped in an information cocoon, thanks to his having been in power so long. The Russian president and his national-security team lack access to accurate intelligence. The system they operate lacks an efficient mechanism for correcting errors. Their Ukrainian counterparts are more flexible and effective.

His conclusion is as follows:

🔸 Russia will be forced to withdraw from all occupied Ukrainian territories, including Crimea.

🔸 Russia’s nuclear capability is no guarantee of success. Feng Yujun gives the example of the United States, which left Vietnam, Korea, and Afghanistan with no less nuclear potential than the Russian Federation has today.

🔸 Kyiv has proven that Moscow is not invincible, so a ceasefire under the “Korean” scenario is ruled out.

🔸 The war is a turning-point for Russia. It has consigned Putin’s regime to broad international isolation. He has also had to deal with difficult domestic political undercurrents, from the rebellion by the mercenaries of the Wagner Group and other pockets of the military — for instance in Belgorod — to ethnic tensions in several Russian regions and the recent terrorist attack in Moscow. These show that political risk in Russia is very high. Mr Putin may recently have been re-elected, but he faces all kinds of possible black-swan events.

🔸 After the war, Ukraine will have the chance join both the EU and NATO, while Russia will lose its former Soviet republics because they see Putin’s aggression there as a threat to their sovereignty and territorial integrity.

According to Feng Yujun, the war, meanwhile, has made Europe wake up to the enormous threat that Russia’s military aggression poses to the continent’s security and the international order, bringing post-cold-war EU-Russia detente to an end. Many European countries have given up their illusions about Mr Putin’s Russia.

⋙ Economist, Feng Yujun (Apr 11): Russia is sure to lose in Ukraine, reckons a Chinese expert on Russia https://tinyurl.com/n25bcm2d
// Feng Yujun says the war has strained Sino-Russian relations

The war between Russia and Ukraine has been catastrophic for both countries. With neither side enjoying an overwhelming advantage and their political positions completely at odds, the fighting is unlikely to end soon. One thing is clear, though: the conflict is a post-cold-war watershed that will have a profound, lasting global impact.

Four main factors will influence the course of the war. The first is the level of resistance and national unity shown by Ukrainians, which has until now been extraordinary. The second is international support for Ukraine, which, though recently falling short of the country’s expectations, remains broad.

The third factor is the nature of modern warfare, a contest that turns on a combination of industrial might and command, control, communications and intelligence systems. One reason Russia has struggled in this war is that it is yet to recover from the dramatic deindustrialisation it suffered after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

The final factor is information. When it comes to decision-making, Vladimir Putin is trapped in an information cocoon, thanks to his having been in power so long. The Russian president and his national-security team lack access to accurate intelligence. The system they operate lacks an efficient mechanism for correcting errors. Their Ukrainian counterparts are more flexible and effective.

In combination, these four factors make Russia’s eventual defeat inevitable. In time it will be forced to withdraw from all occupied Ukrainian territories, including Crimea. Its nuclear capability is no guarantee of success. Didn’t a nuclear-armed America withdraw from Korea, Vietnam and Afghanistan?

Though the war has been hugely costly for Ukraine, the strength and unity of its resistance has shattered the myth that Russia is militarily invincible. Ukraine may yet rise from the ashes. When the war ends, it can look forward to the possibility of joining the European Union and nato.

The war is a turning-point for Russia. It has consigned Mr Putin’s regime to broad international isolation. He has also had to deal with difficult domestic political undercurrents, from the rebellion by the mercenaries of the Wagner Group and other pockets of the military—for instance in Belgorod—to ethnic tensions in several Russian regions and the recent terrorist attack in Moscow.

These show that political risk in Russia is very high. Mr Putin may recently have been re-elected, but he faces all kinds of possible black-swan events.

Adding to the risks confronting Mr Putin, the war has convinced more and more former Soviet republics that Russia’s imperial ambition threatens their independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Increasingly aware that a Russian victory is out of the question, these states are distancing themselves from Moscow in different ways, from forging economic-development policies that are less dependent on Russia to pursuing more balanced foreign policies. As a result, prospects for the Eurasian integration that Russia advocates have dimmed.

The war, meanwhile, has made Europe wake up to the enormous threat that Russia’s military aggression poses to the continent’s security and the international order, bringing post-cold-war EU-Russia detente to an end. Many European countries have given up their illusions about Mr Putin’s Russia.

At the same time, the war has jolted nato out of what Emmanuel Macron, the French president, called its “brain-dead” state. With most nato countries increasing their military spending, the alliance’s forward military deployment in eastern Europe has been greatly shored up. The addition of Sweden and Finland to nato highlights Mr Putin’s inability to use the war to prevent the alliance’s expansion.

The war will also help to reshape the un Security Council. It has highlighted the body’s inability to effectively assume its responsibility of maintaining world peace and regional security owing to the abuse of veto power by some permanent members. This has riled the international community, increasing the chances that reform of the Security Council will speed up. Germany, Japan, India and other countries are likely to become permanent members and the five current permanent members may lose their veto power. Without reform, the paralysis that has become the hallmark of the Security Council will lead the world to an even more dangerous place.

China’s relations with Russia are not fixed, and they have been affected by the events of the past two years. Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has just visited Beijing, where he and his Chinese counterpart once again emphasised the close ties between their countries. But the trip appears to have been more diplomatic effort by Russia to show it is not alone than genuine love-in. Shrewd observers note that China’s stance towards Russia has reverted from the “no limits” stance of early 2022, before the war, to the traditional principles of “non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of third parties”.

Although China has not joined Western sanctions against Russia, it has not systematically violated them. It is true that China imported more than 100m tonnes of Russian oil in 2023, but that is not a great deal more than it was buying annually before the war. If China stops importing Russian oil and instead buys from elsewhere, it will undoubtedly push up international oil prices, putting huge pressure on the world economy.

Since the war began China has conducted two rounds of diplomatic mediation. Success has proved elusive but no one should doubt China’s desire to end this cruel war through negotiations. That wish shows that China and Russia are very different countries. Russia is seeking to subvert the existing international and regional order by means of war, whereas China wants to resolve disputes peacefully.

With Russia still attacking Ukrainian military positions, critical infrastructure and cities, and possibly willing to escalate further, the chances of a Korea-style armistice look remote. In the absence of a fundamental change in Russia’s political system and ideology, the conflict could become frozen. That would only allow Russia to continue to launch new wars after a respite, putting the world in even greater danger.

🧵 RT @atrupar I’m going to put together a thread covering Trump’s rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania. Follow along for clips
📌 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1779295265045811211

🐣 RT @GregoryOnRoad 🇺🇸 US aid for 🇺🇦 Ukraine – Trump Statement Today Trump doesn’t say yes or no on supporting an Ukraine aid bill, but claims he could have prevented the Russian invasion.
¤ https://x.com/GregoryOnRoad/status/1778907051554484528

Reporter: “Do you support a Ukrainian aid bill if the Speaker was to move forward with it?”

Trump: “We’re looking at it right now and they’re talking about it and we’re thinking about making it into the form of a loan instead of just a gift we keep handing out gifts of billions and billions of dollars and we’ll take a look at it but much more importantly to me is the fact that Europe has to step up and they have to give money they have to equalize if they don’t equalize I’m very upset about it because they’re affected by it very much more than we are the Ukraine situation would have never happened if i was president would have never ever happened and everybody says that including Democrats that it happened is such an outrage people millions of people are dead right now both sides millions of people are dead cities are blown to ashes you’ll never rebuild those cities certainly not like they were so beautiful and this is something should have never happened”

⋙ 🐣 1. he still doesn’t understand how NATO works
2. NATO HAS stepped up to help Ukraine as US is incapacitated
3. at least he sides with Johnson vs MTG
4. he’s a walking violation of the Logan Act (below), which got Flynn fired
a. no one will do anything about this
5. Putin would have invaded no matter what and Ukraine would have fought back

⋙⋙ CornellLaw: 18 U.S. Code § 953 (“The Logan Act”) – Private correspondence with foreign governments
[TextLink:] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/953

[Text:] Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.

This section shall not abridge the right of a citizen to apply, himself or his agent, to any foreign government or the agents thereof for redress of any injury which he may have sustained from such government or any of its agents or subjects.

(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 744; Pub. L. 103–322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(K), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2147.)

🐣 RT @tribelaw “The Republican right treats Ukraine as an enemy and Russia as a friend. Defining that stance as isolationist is lazy and wrong. It is actively pro-Russian.” [FT link:] https://tinyurl.com/22mjs493

⭕ 12 Apr 2024

🐣 RT @GregoryOnRoad 🇺🇸 US aid for 🇺🇦 Ukraine – Trump Statement Today Trump doesn’t say yes or no on supporting an Ukraine aid bill, but claims he could have prevented the Russian invasion.
¤ https://x.com/GregoryOnRoad/status/1778907051554484528

Reporter: “Do you support a Ukrainian aid bill if the Speaker was to move forward with it?”

Trump: “We’re looking at it right now and they’re talking about it and we’re thinking about making it into the form of a loan instead of just a gift we keep handing out gifts of billions and billions of dollars and we’ll take a look at it but much more importantly to me is the fact that Europe has to step up and they have to give money they have to equalize if they don’t equalize I’m very upset about it because they’re affected by it very much more than we are the Ukraine situation would have never happened if i was president would have never ever happened and everybody says that including Democrats that it happened is such an outrage people millions of people are dead right now both sides millions of people are dead cities are blown to ashes you’ll never rebuild those cities certainly not like they were so beautiful and this is something should have never happened”

🐣 RT @JayinKyiv More humiliation for the AmerIcan people at the hands of a US congress frozen by Russian interests as Kremlin media now openly refers to US House Speaker Mike Johnson as “ours” for disarming Ukraine. ¤ Subs by @JuliaDavisNews
💽 https://x.com/JayinKyiv/status/1779107682068083099/photo/1

WaPo: Trump says he stands with Speaker Mike Johnson amid threat to oust him https://tinyurl.com/3p7bem8u “Trump was noncommittal on Ukraine aid. ‘We’re looking at it right now,’ he said. ‘They’re talking about it and we’re thinking about making it in the form of a loan’”
// One of the former president’s most staunch allies in Congress has targeted Johnson for possible removal from him position

🐣 RT @EuromaidanPress While in office, Donald Trump made it clear that he believed that Ukraine should be part of Russia, as stated by his former advisor Fiona Hill: ”He could not get his head around the idea that Ukraine was an independent state”. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/3w5nx8py

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump The sheer number of Trump officials − a minimum of 16 − speaking out against their former boss, and the severity of their criticism, is highly unusual. It has no historical precedent in the last century, according to three presidential historians and a political scientist interviewed by USA TODAY. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/36yje4dx
⋙ 🐣 the others are all co-defendents 😂

🐣 RT @JuliaDavisNews Meanwhile in Russia: state TV experts discussed Mike Johnson’s meeting with Trump as the deciding factor in whether Ukraine will receive stalled US funding. Referring to Mike Johnson, state TV host Olga Skabeeva claimed him as “theirs,” just like Trump. https://youtu.be/CJqmf1n7xSY

🐣 RT @tribelaw Saying Trump is on trial for paying hush money to a porn star is like saying John Wilkes Booth was tried for sneaking up behind Lincoln in Ford’s Theater. Silencing Stormy was just the means Trump used to commit the crime of fraudulently killing Hillary’s 2016 presidential bid.

🐣 RT @JacquiHeinrich A senior US official tells FOX China is helping Russia’s war effort in Ukraine with significant equipment sales ramping up its defense production —
¤ https://x.com/JacquiHeinrich/status/1778894803830280569

— including machine tools, microelectronics, optics, UAV and cruise missile technology, and nitrocellulose, which Russia uses to make propellant for weapons.

Fox is told China is helping revitalize Russia’s defense industrial base, which had otherwise suffered significant setbacks due to US sanctions and export controls.

The US has raised these concerns with PRC in diplomatic channels, and POTUS mentioned in his recent call with President Xi.

Downgraded US intelligence calls out several PRC companies, including Wuhan Global Sensor Technology Co., Wuhan Tongsheng Technology Co. Ltd., Hikvision, iRay Technology, and North China Research Institute of Electro-Optics manufacture

WaPo: Russian troops advance in Ukraine as Kyiv runs low on air defenses https://tinyurl.com/5bvjty7m “Ukraine’s situation on the battlefield has deteriorated while Republicans in Congress, for more than six months, have blocked a $60 billion aid package proposed by President Biden”

🐣 RT @RBReich JBS paid a $25 million settlement last year over beef price-fixing.
Tyson has paid ~$220 million in recent years for inflating chicken prices.
Hormel is now getting grilled for illegally overcharging for pork.
When I say price gouging is driving inflation, this is what I mean.

WaPo: Leonard Leo rejects Senate subpoena from panel probing gifts to Supreme Court justices https://tinyurl.com/4zwh6t5r “[T]he committee chair said Leo had left them ‘no other choice’ but to move forward with the compulsory process”, but 60 votes are needed so unlikely to pass
//. The conservative judicial activist called the move ‘politically motivated,’ and the committee chair said Leo had left them ‘no other choice’ but to move forward with the compulsory process

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Mike Johnson, on the day Roe was overturned, said he agrees with Clarence Thomas that the Supreme Court should now look at overturning the legalization of birth control and same-sex marriage: There’s been some really bad law made. It needs to be cleaned up

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP Liz Cheney: “The problem is people who deny election outcomes…We cannot elect people who have said to us they’re only going to honor the outcome of an election if they agree with the outcome of the election. That’s the end of democracy.” (2023)
💽 https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1778793303191802306/photo/1

🐣 RT @anneapplebaum Please read if you want to understand the stakes right now in Ukraine. The attack on the country’s civilian infrastructure right now, this week, is the worst since the war began
⋙ 🧵 RT @IneBackIversen [thread] 1/23 This is a long thread, but I want this to serve as a clear & informative reminder of exactly what russia is doing and how it is creating a huge risk for all of us to suffer the same dire consequences, if we fail to collectively take immediate actions in supporting Ukraine.
📌 https://x.com/IneBackIversen/status/1778538438037590201
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1778538438037590201.html

⭕ 11 Apr 2024

🐣 RT @RBReich Extending Trump’s tax cuts will cost $3.5 trillion over a decade. ¤ This is why Trump wants to cut Social Security. ¤ So he can take a lifetime of earned benefits away from working people and gift them to the rich. ¤ It’s reverse Robin Hood.

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Sen. Coons: This Republican House is the least productive in modern history. They make abrupt policy changes based on tweets from Trump. We found bipartisan compromise on the border and then Trump decided he’d rather have an issue for the election than security at the border
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1778551667165647080/photo/1

NewsMax: Ukraine Evangelicals Urge @SpeakerJohnson to Vote on Aid https://tinyurl.com/6fupdxed Rev Anatoliy Kozachok, acting chair of the Ukraine Council of Evangelical & Protestant churches, wrote “we ask for your prayers & action on behalf of 8,000 evangelical churches in Ukraine”

ChristianityToday: Baptists Call on House Speaker Mike Johnson to Stand with Ukraine https://tinyurl.com/mr45rrny Ukraine, “where Baptists are the largest Protestant denomination, has lost hundreds of churches in the war with Russia”

ABCNews: House Speaker Mike Johnson negotiating with White House to advance Ukraine aid https://tinyurl.com/3puszj44 “Steve Scalise [said] Johnson had been talking with White House officials about a package that would deviate from the Senate’s $95 billion foreign security package”
// House Speaker Mike Johnson is negotiating with the White House as he prepares for the treacherous task of advancing wartime funding for Ukraine and Israel through the House

🐣 RT @NGrossman81 The lack of US military assistance to Ukraine for months is a sign of US dysfunction and weakness, yes. But it’s not a self-destruct, it’s deliberate choice by Republicans—especially Donald Trump and Mike Johnson—to weaken the US, weaken US partnerships, and help US rival Russia.
⋙ 🐣 RT @jimsciutto The months-long delay in U.S. military assistance to Ukraine will become a case study in U.S. strategic self-destruct: ¤ “The commander of US European Command told lawmakers that the Russians are currently firing 5 times as many artillery shells as the Ukrainians, and that number will go up to 10 to 1 ‘in a matter of weeks.’”

🧵 RT @AndreaChalupa Digging into Speaker Johnson–a staunch evangelical, and the other MAGA Christian nationalists blocking aid to Ukraine in the House, I discovered that Ukraine plays a role in their demented “end times” world view
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/4ye4f6cb
// Pat Robertson map

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP Trump’s Former SecDef Mark Esper: “[Trump] doesn’t understand the importance of the alliance…One of the first things he’ll do is cut off assistance to Ukraine…and then begin trying to withdraw troops and ultimately withdraw from NATO.” (Feb. 2024)
💽 https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1778466006677017031/photo/1

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa During our meeting, Czech President Petr Pavel @prezidentpavel and I discussed the current state of the battlefield, Russian attacks on our energy infrastructure, and our country’s energy equipment needs.
💽 https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1778402162420142254/photo/1
We discussed defense support for Ukraine, ways to advance defence industry cooperation, Ukraine’s EU and NATO accession, and the signing of a bilateral security agreement. ¤ I thank Czechia for its steadfast support for Ukraine. 🇺🇦🇨🇿

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🇯🇵🇺🇸 Japanese PM Fumio Kishida, speech in U.S. Congress:
💽 https://x.com/Maks_NAFO_FELLA/status/1778530712741925136/photo/1

“You believed that freedom is the oxygen of humanity. The world needs the United States to continue playing this pivotal role in the affairs of nations. And yet, as we meet here today, I detect an undercurrent of self-doubt among some Americans about what your role in the world should be!

This self-doubt is arising at a time when our world is at history’s turning point. The post-Cold War era is already behind us, and we are now at an inflection point that will define the next stage of human history.

The international order that the U.S. worked for generations to build is facing new challenges, challenges from those with values and principles very different from ours.

Freedom and democracy are currently under threat around the globe.”

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: After President Biden slammed House Speaker Mike Johnson for not bringing a vote to the floor on Ukraine aid, the Japanese Prime Minister slammed Johnson and Republicans for their refusal to support Ukraine. Republicans are embarrassing the U.S. on the world stage.

🐣 RT @IAPonomarenko Japanese Prime Minister speaking. I don’t know who else must speak up to make the land of the free finally wake up and throw petty politics aside for the common good. ¤ The free world needs America, and America needs the free world.

🐣 RT @IsaCNN Polish FM: “The EU has spent double what the U.S. has spent on helping Ukraine. We are often suspected, in the U.S., including in Congress, of being free riders. Well, on this one, we have done the right thing. We now need to do what the President has promised”
💽 https://x.com/IsaCNN/status/1778527156823593018/photo/1

🐣 RT @igorsushko Supreme Allied Commander Europe, US Army General Christopher Cavoli:
“Russia shows no signs of stopping, nor does Russia intend to stop with Ukraine. Russia presents to us a chronic threat.”
💽 https://x.com/igorsushko/status/1778590033014075427/photo/1

🧵 RT @ZelenskyyUa I addressed the Three Seas Summit, emphasising the urgent need to strengthen Ukrainian air defense—with real action, not just words. ¤ To ensure that Russian missiles do not fly over Vilnius, Warsaw, or Chisinau, they should finally not fly over Odesa and Kharkiv. ¤ A thread
📌 https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1778434101030068301
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1778434101030068301.html

Last night, Russian terrorists struck again at Ukraine. It was a combined strike—missiles and Iranian attack drones with trajectories specifically designed to maximize damage to our critical infrastructure.

Russian strikes ranged from Kharkiv and Kyiv to Odesa and Lviv. One of the Russian terrorists’ targets was close to the Polish border. Our rescuers, power engineers, and repair teams have been working throughout the day to eliminate the consequences of the attack.

This is already routine for our region—Russian strikes, such as this night’s, and our appeals to strengthen Ukrainian air defense. Missiles are striking every day, and every day we hear that Ukraine will receive new air defense systems.

Every day, Russian terrorists cut off power to Kharkiv and other cities, and every day we hear that new aid is coming soon. The reality must finally match the words, and Russian terror’s real losses must be ensured.

Just like Ukrainians expect decisions to support our defense, Putin sees not only his opportunity to continue this war, he sees more—this is a temptation for him to expand his aggression and to prepare the potential for geographically wider strikes.

All of Russia’s neighboring states and every nation whose lives may be within the range of Russian aircraft and missiles are in danger. Each of you can see how Russian propagandists are fueling hatred against your countries.

In Russia, they have already reached the point where they are even accusing Kazakhstan of their own criminal misconduct that led to the disaster with the dam breach and the flooding of a large area. They already consider Kazakhstan a potential enemy.

Russian-controlled hatred precedes Russia’s guided aerial bombs, missiles, and “Shahed” drones. Each of Russia’s neighbors is a target, just like Ukraine. That is why we must multiply our joint efforts to ensure common security.

First, Russia’s neighbors must make every effort on their borders and in communication with partners to block the supply of anything that can be used in military production to Putin. Chips, tools, raw materials, and technology. Cooperation with Russia must be toxic for everyone.

Second, advocating for assistance to Ukraine now means advocating for every country’s own security in our region. I thank all of you who are in contact with other partners and are using all means of diplomacy, media, and political work to promote military aid for our soldiers.

Working with the US is fundamentally important. The alliance is being tested here—in defense against the existing manifestations of Russian terror. To ensure that Russian missiles are not over Vilnius, Warsaw, or Chisinau, they finally should not be over Odesa or Kharkiv.

Third, I thank all of you who have provided and are providing weapons to Ukraine. It really helps. Our joint defense projects with you also help, and we need to create as many defense industries as possible that will directly work for our common security.

The production of shells, guns, vehicles, and drones must grow significantly. We’ve created significant potential in our country. But it requires finance. Frozen Russian assets must finally be used to protect us from Russian terror, notably by supporting our defense and recovery.

Fourth, our unity. Please strengthen the unity in the EU. Moscow should feel that there is more unity in Europe than any contradictions. Of course, every society may have doubts about the decisions made in Brussels. But such doubts should not become Moscow’s weapons.

Europe must carry out its treaties. Solidarity lanes that strengthen Europe must continue to work. We must increase the integration of our systems, including transportation. All contradictions in Europe must be resolved democratically and in negotiations between equals.

We must use the time we have to get closer to each other without losing a single day, let alone a month. Now, in June, it will be right to actually start negotiations on Ukraine’s EU accession.

June will be important for the Peace Formula. I invite all of you to the first Global Peace Summit. Peace requires not only attendance but also support in engaging world leaders. Please use all your connections and influence to help the global majority bring just peace closer.

Fifth, NATO shouldn’t be afraid of its own existence or rules. The Baltic Sea has a historic chance for reliable security with Finland and Sweden in NATO. The Black Sea needs the same. As a democratic nation committed to shared values, Ukraine deserves to be invited to join NATO.

We are grateful to every state for bilateral security agreements that support us in the time before we join NATO. Today we have signed the ninth such agreement with Latvia. And I urge all the leaders of the Three Seas Initiative to sign such agreements with Ukraine.

We must work on strategic tasks. Putin wants to destroy Ukraine and the freedom of all of our region’s nations. He sees no alternative. Similarly, we should not look for alternatives to our security; Ukraine needs an invitation to join NATO. Only you can make it real this year.

Without our Ukrainian strength, the strength of the whole Europe will not be complete, and together, gradually integrating, we can really protect each other from Russian revanchism.

Dear friends, this year should be the time to take all the necessary steps to make our victory over Russian terror real. It is possible. But it is possible only if we are united—you, us, and all our partners—and if reality corresponds to our statements and agreements.

🐣 RT @United24media “Without U.S. support, how long before hopes of Ukraine would collapse under the onslaught from Moscow? … How long before the Indo-Pacific would face even harsher realities?”— Japanese PM Fumio Kishida.
💽 https://x.com/United24media/status/1778541251136311437/photo/1

NYT, Frank Bruni: Republicans Are Fleeing the Stench of a Rotten Congress https://tinyurl.com/bdhj9nj8 “Four G.O.P. committee chairs are leaving. … Eight lawmakers are retiring from the coveted Energy and Commerce Committee, and eight subcommittee chairs are leaving“

🐣 RT @cspan .@RepJeffries: “I believe that there are a reasonable number of Democrats who would not want to see the speaker fall as a result of doing the right thing. Observation, not a declaration because we have to have a conversation, I didn’t necessarily mean to rhyme there…”
💽 https://x.com/cspan/status/1778493692250071125/photo/1

🐣 RT @cspan FBI Director Wray: “As I look back over my career in law enforcement, I would be hard-pressed to think of a time where so many threats to our public safety and national security were so elevated all at once. But that is the case as I sit here today.”
💽 https://x.com/cspan/status/1778493553963843618/photo/1

🐣 RT @JayinKyiv Prime Minister of Japan addressing US Congress shocked that the US is ceding it’s position of Arsenal of Democracy, no longer backing democratic allies, bowing to Russia. ¤ Trump’s MAGA has totally destroyed US’s global credibility.
💽 https://x.com/JayinKyiv/status/1778458746315796813/photo/

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: President Biden just slammed House Speaker Mike Johnson for his cowardly inaction on bringing a Ukraine aid package to the floor of the House. Retweet so all Americans know Mike Johnson and Donald Trump are playing right into the hands of Putin.
💽 https://x.com/BidensWins/status/1778157870795636921/photo/1

⭕ 10 Apr 2024

❗🐣 RT @Azovsouth Ukraine’s strikes on military targets in russia, outside the combat zone, are legal, – Stoltenberg [NATO]
⋙ 🐣 RT @Azovsouth “It is part of Ukraine’s right to self-defense to strike at legitimate military targets outside the territory of this country, since russia is using so many different military means to attack Ukraine,” the media quotes the NATO Secretary General.

🐣 RT @Auriandra AtlanticCouncil (Mar 20): Peacemaking through curbing Russian oil and gas exports https://tinyurl.com/4p7j6y6v ¤ @SecDef
Ukraine saved world grain exports using naval drones.
Now it’s enforcing Russian oil sanctions using long-range drones.
What’s not to like?
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1778145630319231264/photo/1

[Text:] Ukraine seems to have found an effective asymmetrical response to the massive waves of deadly missile attacks that Russia has unleashed against Ukrainian cities since early January. A number of Russian oil refineries and oil terminals have been hit with precision strikes, attributed to new Ukrainian long-range drones. …

Ukraine’s efforts to repel Russian attacks would be made less challenging if Europe and the United States did even more to throttle Moscow’s oil and gas exports by utilizing the full power of sanctions. … ¤ There is an urgent need to eliminate loopholes in sanctions against Russian fossil fuels to prevent further escalation of the Kremlin’s aggression in Europe outside of Ukraine. …

[I]f international sanctions on Russia’s fossil fuel industry are maintained and rigorously enforced, the International Energy Agency projects that the Kremlin’s profits from oil and gas could plummet by 40 to 50 percent by 2030.

The West has to act collectively to cripple the Kremlin’s fossil fuel export lifeline to help end the war in Ukraine faster. The future of Ukraine’s security and human dignity hinges on this critical moment of action, and world leaders must take action now to stop funding Russia’s aggression.

CNN: Opinion: Congress must let Ukraine win, say Barbra Streisand, Sean Penn, Imagine Dragons, Timothy Snyder and other luminaries https://tinyurl.com/3xwjb58d “By resisting Russian dictatorship, they show that democracy can defend itself. By defending their borders, they are protecting the international order and holding off chaos”

🐣 RT @AntiToxicPeople Unhinged lunatic. His palpable terror is fantastic.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/AntiToxicPeople/status/1778026918463340798/photo/1

🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump| The White House Thugs should not be allowed to have these dangerous and unfair Biden Trials during my campaign for President. All of them, civil and criminal, could have been brought more than three years ago. It is an illegal attack on a Political Opponent. It is Communism at its worst, and Election Interference at its Best. No such thing has ever happened in our Country before. On Monday I will be forced to sit, GAGGED, before a HIGHLY CONFLICTED & CORRUPT JUDGE, whose hatred for me has no bounds. All of these New York and D.C. “Judges” and Prosecutors have the same MINDSET. Nobody but this Soros Prosecutor, Alvin Bragg, wanted to take this ridiculous case. All legal scholars say it is a sham. BIDEN’S DOJ IS RUNNING THE CASE. Just think of it, these animals want to put the former President of the United States (who got more votes than any sitting President!), & the PARTY’S REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE, IN JAIL, for doing absolutely nothing wrong. It is a RUSH TO THE FINISH. SO UNFAIR!l

TheHill: McConnell: Failure to pass Ukraine aid ‘strategic and moral malpractice’ https://tinyurl.com/485n3pdz “McConnell warned that American credibility with its allies in Europe & Asia is on the line. … [F]ailure to pass the Senate aid package will damage US leadership abroad.”

WaPo: The Arizona Supreme Court just upended Trump’s gambit on abortion https://tinyurl.com/mu7m8djd “On Monday, Trump declined to support a national abortion ban, seeking to neutralize the political issue. A day later, Arizona’s ban gave it new life”

WaPo: Some Jan. 6 rioters win early release, even before key Supreme Court ruling https://tinyurl.com/5sxtpaaj “The court’s pending review of a pivotal federal charge is triggering the early release of some high-profile defendants.”

WaPo: Biden calls Netanyahu’s handling of war a ‘mistake,’ as Gaza aid crisis grows https://tinyurl.com/58wnb32h “Biden “reiterated the U.S. call for a cease-fire for at least six weeks to allow for the delivery of food and medicine to Palestinians”

WaPo: U.S. sends Ukraine seized Iranian-made weapons https://tinyurl.com/ykuhtr98 “The transfer includes thousands of rifles and ammunition intercepted last year while in transit to Houthi militants in Yemen, officials said”

⭕ 9 Apr 2024

🐣 RT @JayinKyiv With US congress now paralyzed from preventing any of Russia’s actions, FBI Director Wray confirms Russians are not only attacking US critical infrastructure such as cutting undersea cables, but doing reconnaissance on the US energy sector.
💽 https://x.com/JayinKyiv/status/1777908167151640738/photo/1

TheHill: Senate GOP urges Johnson to stand up to ‘chaos caucus’ https://tinyurl.com/yvwwscnd Pass the Defense Supplemental, which passed the Senate with 70 votes, @SpeakerJohnson: anything else will take weeks as Ukrainians are bombed in their homes

⭕ 8 Apr 2024

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA ⚡🇺🇸🇺🇦 “If Congress does not help, Ukraine will lose the war. And we need to find a public format for this. If Ukraine loses this war, other states will be attacked”, – Zelensky
💽 https://x.com/Maks_NAFO_FELLA/status/1777383931794370792/photo/1

WaPo Editorial: Bombs are raining on Ukraine while the House dawdles https://tinyurl.com/2jzwpp9t ‘Many factors have conspired against Ukraine. One of the big ones is that Speaker Mike Johnson and his Republicans have delayed aid to Ukraine for six months, for no good reason’

NYT, Michelle Goldman: Trump Says Abortion Will Be Left to the States. Don’t Believe Him https://tinyurl.com/485avwjh Whether or not Trump knows it, radicals have plans well beyond banning abortion, including banning Plan B, medical abortions and some forms of birth control

TheGuardian: Mike Johnson faces revolt by hard-right Republicans over Ukraine aid package https://tinyurl.com/5bjrk56c “Some House members remain staunchly opposed to proposal and one of them has already threatened to oust the speaker”

Reuters: US Republicans urge Ukraine aid vote, after ‘Russian propaganda’ warnings https://tinyurl.com/92pcmkes Former Secy of State Mike Pompeo, “a former House member, issued a public letter on Monday urging Johnson to bring up the bill in the House.”

WaPo: Special counsel urges Supreme Court to reject Trump’s immunity claim https://tinyurl.com/5fe4rmm7 ““The President’s constitutional duty to take care that the laws be faithfully executed does not entail a general right to violate them,” Smith said in his office’s main brief”
[CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/4mjawpwm 66p

WaPo: Speaker Johnson’s job is on the line as the House returns https://tinyurl.com/49pvnjc8 “Deep divisions on issues like Ukraine and border security may force the speaker to once again turn to Democrats to pass his priorities”

WaPo: Inside Donald Trump’s secret, long-shot plan to end the war in Ukraine https://tinyurl.com/bx4jfayc “Foreign policy experts and some Republicans warned that pressuring Ukraine to cede land would reward Putin”

WaPo: Russian trolls target U.S. support for Ukraine, Kremlin documents show https://tinyurl.com/5ampj74w “Russia has been ramping up its propaganda operations as part of a second front that … Western officials said has become almost as important for Moscow as the military campaign”

⭕ 7 Apr 2024

✅ NYT: The Method Behind Trump’s Mistruths https://tinyurl.com/5ehw3v6d “A close examination of every public word from the former president during a crucial week of his campaign.”

● He grossly distorts his opponents’ records and proposals to make them sound unreasonable.
● He exaggerates and twists the facts to make his record sound better than it is.
● He relies on both well-worn and fresh claims of election rigging to suggest he can lose only if his opponents cheat.
● He has turned his criminal cases into a rallying cry, baselessly asserting that he is being persecuted by his successor
● He makes unverifiable claims about what the world would have been like had he secured a second term.
● He describes the United States as a nation in ruins.

🐣 states like Texas, Louisiana and Florida should self-insure, and not rely so much on FEMA
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1777024055612174603/photo/1
// “1980-2023 Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disaster Cost (CPI-Adjusted) Cost”

🐣 RT @grantstern Worst Titanic reboot ever.
💽 https://x.com/grantstern/status/1776987210710909269/photo/1
⋙ 😜 Roseanne: Drop out of college because “it’s gonna ruin your lives. … it ain’t nothing but devil-worshipping, baby blood-drinking Democrat donors” ¤ who knew?

🐣 RT @NBCNews Economists increasingly believe that the post-pandemic surge in immigration is a key reason the economy has been able to grow steadily without pushing inflation higher.
⋙ 📋 NBCNews: How immigrants are helping boost the U.S. job market without affecting inflation https://tinyurl.com/56a6dzfy “Economists increasingly believe the post-pandemic surge in immigration is a key reason the economy has continued to grow.”

🐣 RT @HerrDr8 #1pageassessukrwar #OrcLossRate #Ukraine #UkraineWar #RussianUkrainianWar
◕ 💽 https://x.com/HerrDr8/status/1776948658774143417/photo/1 -2

Russian troop and artillery loss rates continue at accelerated levels. Tremendous losses of Russian tanks continues to pay dividends in making Russian meat assaults increasingly vulnerable. Recently we’ve seen Russian troops assaulting in Scooby vans & bunk Chinese golf carts.

Quoted tweet below indicative: 2 dozen Russian loaded on top of a vehicle. Another recent example here: https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1776911172542861442

🧵 RT @CanadianKobzar [thread] People that keep saying that this war with russia will end on “negotiations” don’t understand this war, russia, but most of all they do not understand Ukraine.
¤ https://x.com/CanadianKobzar/status/1776840450965405752

russia broke:
the Budapest Memorandum signed in 1994
the russian–Ukrainian Friendship Treaty signed in 1997
the Minsk Agreements in 2014 immediately after signing
the Steinmeier proposal in 2016
every single green corridor that was established in 2022, and
nearly every single Geneva Convention on war crimes.

We already know that russia will continue their genocide after any “negotiations”. They will continue invading other countries, they will continue to rape, they will continue to slaughter. But this is not the misunderstanding I want to talk about.

The west does not understand that no matter what happens Ukraine will NOT stop fighting until it is free. No matter the odds and no matter the cost. This war has not been three years, ten years, but has been ragging since 1197 and it wont stop until muscovy is destroyed once and for all.

Ukraine’s first modern state was in 1918. After fighting a five sided war against Poland, the red army, the white army, and anarchists, without any foreign support, the Ukrainian state fell. But that was not the end. Ukraine kept fighting.

Despite being occupied by Poland and the Bolsheviks, Ukraine continued its fight for independence underground. Notwithstanding, the soviets starving to death six million Ukrainians to death, banning the Ukrainian language, killing Ukrainian poets, musicians and politicians – this fight continued from 1920 until 1991 when Ukraine became independent.

In 2014, Ukraine made a decision on Maidan to be free from russian corruption. Ten years later, Ukraine still fights for this dream and make no mistake, Ukraine will win.

Instead of repeating history, let us not ignore Ukraine’s fight and give them what they need to end this once and for all. This will not end with “negotiations” – this will only end with a fully liberated Ukraine. The only variable is whether this happens in the next few months or years. Lets end this. ¤ Slava Ukraini.

Politico: Russian talking points being heard on House floor, Ohio Republican says https://tinyurl.com/2e9v9jyp “There are members of Congress today who still incorrectly say that this conflict between Russia and Ukraine is over NATO,” Intelligence Committee Chair Mike Turner said.

🐣 RT @crampell Rep Mike Turner (R-Ohio), chair of House intel committee, tells @jaketapper on @cnnsotu that some of his colleagues have fallen for Russian propaganda and repeated it on the House floor
⋙ 🐣 RT @crampell This follows similar comments from House Foreign Relations Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-Tex) to @juliaioffe, which Turner was asked about.
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @juliaioffe “I think Russian propaganda has made its way into the United States, unfortunately, and it’s infected a good chunk of my party’s base,” says House Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, Michael McCaul. ¤ My latest. [Puck link:] https://tinyurl.com/yc2c9rc8

⭕ 6 Apr 2024

WaPo: The unassuming material that could soak up carbon emissions https://tinyurl.com/2dnpdevd “Researchers want to use the ultrafine rock particles left by eroding glaciers — called ‘rock flour’ — to suck climate-warming carbon from the air”

🐣 RT @AtlanticCouncil “Ukraine has defended its attacks on Russian refineries by noting that oil revenues are at the heart of the Russian war economy, making oil facilities legitimate targets,” writes @revishvilig in #UkraineAlert.
⋙ AtlanticCouncil, Giorgi Revishvili: Ukraine’s allies divided over drone campaign targeting Russian refineries https://tinyurl.com/bdzdv637

⭕ 5 Apr 2024

🐣 RT @JayinKyiv The 6 Russian bombers destroyed this morning in Rostov Region is just the beginning. ¤ Ukrainian Armed Forces now has the capability of drone strikes to 3000km. ¤ Russian oil infrastructure, airfields, Putin’s palaces all on the menu.
🌎 https://x.com/JayinKyiv/status/1776184427762073694/photo/1

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en I wanted to share with you an interview with Michael McCaul, the Republican head of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
¤ https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1776232481202504097
Link to article: https://tinyurl.com/2frzhkrw

In Mr. @RepMcCaul’s opinion, there was lingering in the White House Administration about providing heavy weapons for Ukraine because – “this notion that, well, if we give them too much, then Russia’s going to use a tactical nuke on us. Well, most intelligence I’ve seen is they’re not going to do that. Because that would be a game-changer for everybody.”

This has led to “You know, we’re giving Putin exactly what he wants. That’s a stalemate. A war of attrition. And he has more bodies to throw in.”

“There’s this new attitude that defense contractors are evil and McCaul, you’re just a warmonger. But again, I go back to Chamberlain and Hitler. The best way to prevent war is to project strength and deterrence. And if you don’t do that, you’re gonna invite aggression and more conflict.”

Michael McCaul believes that the so-called Powell doctrine (when a nation is engaging in war, every resource and tool should be used to achieve decisive force against the enemy, minimizing casualties and ending the conflict quickly by forcing the weaker force to capitulate) is a better approach in this scenario.

🐣 RT @DavidCornDC SCOOP: Meet the husband-wife team of RFK Jr. fundraisers who hang out with J6ers, election deniers, QAnoners, Christian nationalists, and other pro-Trump extremists. He was at the Capitol during the 1/6 riot. [MJ link:] https://tinyurl.com/y3memtvj

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe .@JoeNBC: “If we’re going to guarantee [Israel’s] existence like we have since 1948, then we need a partner that is going to act responsibly and that will understand there has to be a two-state solution.”
💽 https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1776250855588520373/photo/1

🐣 RT @David_Charts 1. Groceries cost about the same in real terms as 2019, and nobody complained then.
2. Because the economy is booming.
3. Most people echo media, not reality.
4. Yes, facts. Real wages > 2019 in 2021-2023.
5. Perhaps best in 50 years.
💙 ⋙ 🧵 RT @David_Charts State of the Union economic briefing; the key facts you need about the economy. First, monthly job creation over 50% faster in 2023 than 2019, the most comparable pre-pandemic year. 1/
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?graph_id=1280722&rn=828
📌 ◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1764853913289666898/photo/1 -n
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1764853913289666898.html

🐣 RT @SteveRattner The unemployment rate ticked down to 3.8% in March. ¤ We’re now at 26 consecutive months of sub-4% unemployment, the longest such stretch since the late 1960s.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1776226729939411370/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner The US added 303K jobs in March, higher than the 214K expected. ¤ The past two months of jobs growth were also revised up by 22K.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1776226093092995288/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner “By adding millions of new workers to the labor market, the immigration surge has lifted payrolls and growth, and potentially helped keep a lid on consumer prices, according to recent research.”
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1776241232311656664/photo/1

WaPo, David Ignatius: How Ukraine’s tech army is taking the fight to Russia https://tinyurl.com/y2tumjcw “In addition to some big companies like Palantir and Microsoft, Ukraine’s tech supporters include several prominent American billionaires, an array of U.S. start-ups and entrepreneurs”

⭕ 4 Apr 2024

🐣 RT @stevebenen Between his MBS chats, his Orban meeting, and Grenell traveling as his “envoy,” Trump appears to be doing foreign policy work – despite the fact that he’s a private citizen. ¤ It reminded me of when he wanted John Kerry prosecuted under the Logan Act.
[MSNBC link:] https://tinyurl.com/5ffvfebn

🐣 RT @4HumanUnity .@MarshaBlackburn What have you done to help? Why do you all act as if 2020 pandemic didn’t happen? This is very dishonest!
💽 [Biden Accomplishments:] https://x.com/4HumanUnity/status/1775966621800243362?s=20/photo/1

First off, let’s cut through the chase: What Trump left Biden was nothing short of a disaster. The so-called “great economy” Trump keeps boasting about was merely him riding the economy of Obama’s success, only to completely botch it when a real crisis hit. Unemployment skyrocketed, millions of jobs vanished, and the debt ballooned like never before on his watch. And his pandemic response? A lesson in what not to do, from underplaying the virus to hosting potential super-spreader rallies and a sluggish rollout of vital supplies. This isn’t just incompetence; it’s a catastrophic failure to lead when it mattered most.

Transitioning to the “stellar” Republican-led Congress, let’s get real: their record is the worse in decades. Instead of working with Biden to address the multitude of crises handed over, they chose obstruction. It’s clear they’re more interested in playing political games than in governance or aiding in the nation’s recovery. Their opposition to the COVID-19 relief efforts and infrastructure bills speaks volumes of their disregard for the American people’s welfare.

Now, focusing on the Republican narrative against Biden and immigration reform, it’s nothing short of fearmongering and spreading lies. Biden proposed a comprehensive reform that not only enhances border security but also provides a humane approach to immigration, contrary to the chaos and cruelty under Trump. Yet, Republicans block and blame, stuck in a cycle of misinformation and xenophobia, rather than contributing to meaningful solutions.

Joe Biden’s tenure as President has been marked by substantial achievements and a determined effort to address the complex challenges he inherited from the Trump administration. Upon taking office, Biden was faced with an unprecedented global pandemic, a fragile economy, and deeply entrenched political divisions. Despite these challenges, his administration has made remarkable strides, affirming the United States’ position as a global leader and a resilient nation.

Biden’s Achievements:

Economic Recovery: Biden’s policies have spurred a robust recovery, adding 15 million jobs to the U.S. economy, a record for any president in three years. This achievement is particularly notable given the economic turmoil at the pandemic’s peak.

Infrastructure Investment: The passage of a landmark infrastructure bill, a feat that had eluded previous administrations, will modernize the nation’s infrastructure, creating jobs and improving quality of life for Americans.

Climate Action: Biden has made the largest investment in climate action in U.S. history, demonstrating leadership in addressing the global climate crisis.

Healthcare and Veterans: His administration has worked to lower drug prices and improve healthcare for veterans, addressing longstanding issues in veterans’ care.

Gun Safety Law: Biden achieved what hadn’t been done in 30 years by passing significant gun safety legislation, reflecting his commitment to addressing gun violence.

Economic Indicators: Under his leadership, the U.S. has seen the longest stretch of sub-4% unemployment in half a century, along with a record-high stock market and surging consumer sentiment.

Recovery from Global Inflation: Biden’s policies have also contributed to a faster recovery from global inflation than many other nations, showcasing the effectiveness of his economic strategies.

Obstruction by Republicans: Despite these achievements, Biden’s efforts have been consistently obstructed by Republicans, who have chosen to block meaningful legislation at every turn. This obstructionism is not just about thwarting Biden’s agenda; it’s aimed at creating hardship for Americans, hoping it will translate into political gains for Trump in 2024.

Strength and Resilience: Folks, the narrative that the U.S. is a nation in decline is categorically false. The accomplishments of the Biden administration, in the face of significant adversity, underscore the nation’s strength and resilience. These achievements, along with Biden’s proactive measures on immigration, border security, and international relations, reaffirm the U.S. as the strongest nation globally, capable of leading with integrity and innovation.

Conclusion: The contrast between the forward momentum under Biden and the stagnation and division fostered by obstructionist Republicans is clear. The achievements of the Biden administration, particularly in areas handed off in turmoil by the previous administration, highlight a government working tirelessly for the betterment of its people and standing firm on the world stage. The path forward requires continued leadership that builds on these successes, not regressive policies that seek to undo this progress for political points.

#BidenomicsIsWorking #BidenHarris2024 #VoteBlueForABetterAmerica

The bottom line is this: The current Republican stance is one of obstruction, misinformation, and, frankly, desperation. They fear accountability and truth because it unravels their narrative. What we need is a return to facts, to integrity, and to policies that genuinely address the challenges facing America. It’s time for the GOP to drop the charade, stop undermining democracy, and start contributing to the country’s recovery #Bidenomics

WaPo, Amanda Ripley: How to survive another Trump-Biden election https://tinyurl.com/4nkdpxv9 “It’s nauseating and expensive, this roller coaster, and yet we’re buckling up and lowering the safety bar once again”

🐣 RT @AntiToxicPeople A judge has scheduled a major defamation case by Smartmatic against right-wing cable channel Newsmax to go to trial in late September, putting the battle over 2020 election lies front-and-center at the peak of the 2024 campaign.

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow Mike Johnson: “President Trump built the wall.”
Fact-check: The Trump administration built 52 miles of new primary border barriers. The U.S.-Mexico border stretches for 2,000 miles across four states.

🐣 RT @mehdirhasan Is this a real change from Biden, not just rhetorical but in terms of actions too? Time will tell. ¤ He is calling for an “immediate ceasefire” (though not permanent) and suggesting U.S. support for Israel going forward will depend on Israel’s taking steps to protect lives and allow in aid to Gaza. ¤ Let’s see.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/mehdirhasan/status/1775953765868167566?s=20/photo/1
// call read-out

[Text:] Readout of President Joe Biden’s Call with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel
President Biden spoke by telephone with Prime Minister Netanyahu. The two leaders discussed the situation in Gaza. President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable. He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers. He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps. He underscored that an immediate ceasefire is essential to stabilize and improve the humanitarian situation and protect innocent civilians, and he urged the Prime Minister to empower his negotiators to conclude a deal without delay to bring the hostages home. The two leaders also discussed public Iranian threats against Israel and the Israeli people. President Biden made clear that the United States strongly supports Israel in the face of those threats.

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote NEW: congressmen’s Gosar and Biggs have been subpoenaed by Arizona prosecutors in their 1/6 probe. [Politico link:] https://tinyurl.com/49c3tmpp

🐣 RT @harrylitman Hey hey hey, Smith gets results! Cannon issues opinion denying Trump’s motion to dismiss indictment based on the Presidential Records Act. So she ruled, and promptly, exactly as his forceful filing requested/demanded. Only thing is she leaves wiggle room to revisit at trial.
⋙ 🐣 RT @neal_katyal Judge Cannon just rejected Trump’s bogus Presidential Records Act defense, but only for now. She has (weirdly and pointedly) refused to actually decide the issue, despite Jack Smith’s warning that double jeopardy would then apply. I think Smith has no choice but to go to the 11th Circuit on mandamus. It’s a tough standard, but it is met here.
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @judicialmermaid I agree. I think Mandamus is the only option. Her remarks at the end were basically inviting him to do so. “The parties remain free to avail itself of whatever appellate options it sees fit to invoke.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/judicialmermaid/status/1775962029594980354?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln No Labels is OUT. Today’s huge win is a testament to the strength of the pro-democracy coalition we’ve amassed since 2020. No Labels is a dark money operation created to throw the election to Trump… and failed. But there’s still more work to do.
Next up: RFK ¤ @TheRickWilson
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1775965648138432902?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RTPerson3 “Why Putin Invaded Ukraine” – In this piece, @McFaul and I argue that a permissive balance of power, Putin’s personalist autocracy, and his anti-democratic & anti-Ukrainian ideology led him to launch his disastrous war – not NATO enlargement. Read it for free here:
❤️ ⋙ Muse.JHU, Michael McFaul and Robert Person: Why Putin Invaded Ukraine https://tinyurl.com/2p8dd774

🐣 RT @nexta_tv The #Polish president has sent a letter to #NATO leaders with a proposal to raise defense spending from 2% of GDP to 3% – Rzeczpospolita ¤ Duda said that the spending level of 2% of GDP was appropriate 10 years ago, but now the alliance must be able to effectively confront #Russia.

🐣 RT @BillPascrell The next time you hear a republican claim donald trump isn’t responsible for the January 6 riot on Congress know that is a gaslighting lie and call it out every time.
💽 🌎 https://x.com/BillPascrell/status/1775935532423389393?s=20/photo/1
// map of smartphone location moving from Washinton Monument to Capitol at ~1:40pm

🐣 RT @danielsgoldman While Trump spews fear and hate, a shadowy network of right-wing, billionaire-backed think tanks are translating his grievances into a plan to destroy democracy and drag us to dictatorship. ¤ This November, the stakes have never been higher—American democracy hangs in the balance.
⋙ 🐣 RT @accountable_us NEW: Leonard Leo, the Conservative Partnership Institute, and the Heritage Foundation are the forces behind a vast right wing network propping up the conservative movement and plotting the future of the GOP. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/2be5znfm

Politico: There’s a reason you haven’t heard the White House bash Johnson’s Ukraine aid ideas https://tinyurl.com/3a53c449 “The administration believes that aid will ultimately be passed. But the process of getting there is still hazy.”

Aides to President Joe Biden have been privately working behind the scenes to ensure House Speaker Mike Johnson can put a $60 billion aid package for Ukraine up for a vote — and survive it politically. […] For all their frustration with the painstakingly slow pace in the House, administration officials are privately hopeful their approach could result in Congress starting to move on an aid package later this month.

… The White House provided little official pushback following Johnson’s interview Sunday night on Fox News Channel, when he floated the ideas of making some of the Ukraine aid a loan or repurposing some $300 billion in seized Russian assets. …

Senior White House adviser and counselor to the president, Steve Ricchetti, and Office of Legislative Affairs Director Shuwanza Goff have been the administration’s main points of contact with Johnson’s office, according to an administration official. While they have frequently discussed the importance of Ukraine aid, any question of Johnson’s future in the speakership — and whether Democratic votes may be needed to preserve it — has been left to the House. …

For weeks, administration officials have publicly maintained that the simplest path forward is Johnson bringing up the Senate bill for a vote and the House passing it. Even some Republicans acknowledge that it would pass if given a chance. It’s also Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)’s preferred path …

Administration officials argue that amending the Senate bill will only further delay aid, given the time needed to draft legislation in the House, get a bill through that chamber and then get the modified legislation back through the Senate.…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took his message directly to Johnson in a phone call last week, adding later in a social media post that Ukrainian leadership recognizes “that there are differing views in the House of Representatives.” While the White House has closely coordinated with Zelenskyy on enacting the aid, the administration did not coordinate the call between the two leaders …

There are conversations among House Republicans — some of which involve the speaker’s team — on how to get the supplemental moving, according to a Republican aide. Those talks have addressed imposing new sanctions on Russia, using money seized from Russian oligarchs, lifting a Biden administration moratorium on liquified natural gas (LNG) export facilities and converting the aid into a loan, according to two aides familiar with them. …

While economic aid can be delivered in the form of a loan, military aid is more complex. But there are other reasons Democrats are sour on the idea: A sizable loan would depress Ukraine’s credit rating as it fights a war and, eventually, tries to rebuild. There are also concerns about the new precedent it would set for providing foreign aid.

Ian Bremmer, the president of the Eurasia Group, who is in frequent touch with members of the administration, said the notion of making Ukraine repay the aid money as a loan was “a little silly and simplistic,” especially given that the country will have to spend billions rebuilding its own infrastructure when the war is over. Beyond that, he said, Congress can’t redirect the $300 billion in seized Russian assets because most of that money is being held in Europe, not the U.S. …

Budging Johnson has been difficult. In late February, Biden convened the four congressional leaders for an Oval Office meeting that participants described as unusually intense due to the pressure brought to bear on the newly minted speaker. McConnell joined Democratic leaders and CIA director William Burns, who presented a classified briefing about how arms shortages were hurting Ukraine on the battlefield, in attempting to pressure Johnson, warning him that history would judge him harshly should Russia win the war because America abandoned Ukraine.

Johnson, outwardly unmoved, continued to demand that Biden take action to secure the U.S.-Mexico border before any foreign aid was approved.

Weeks later in his State of the Union address, Biden led the speech with a call about the importance of passing the lingering supplemental, asserting that there was broad bipartisan support for doing so — and pointing out that he had been willing to make concessions to Republicans on border security that the GOP walked away from.

The primary reason for that was Trump, who was loath to allow Biden a bipartisan win on immigration during a campaign year.

Politico: There’s a reason you haven’t heard the White House bash Johnson’s Ukraine aid ideas https://tinyurl.com/3a53c449 “The administration believes that aid will ultimately be passed. But the process of getting there is still hazy.”

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe “NATO 3.0 is what we see today. Brought on by Vladimir Putin, now strengthened by the edition of Sweden and Finland to the north. Together, these 32 nations are well over half of the world’s gross domestic product.” — @stavridisj on the 75th anniversary of NATO
💽 https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1775864710002319761?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe “Why would you allow [Netanyahu] to continue running your country when he is responsible for Hamas being able to run loose in Israel and commit the worst atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust?” — @JoeNBC on PM Netanyahu’s lack of response to attacks
💽 https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1775834653254959405?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @BillPascrell The IRS is poised to collect over half a trillion dollars from rich tax cheats thanks to a law passed by Democrats. Every single republican in Congress voted against stopping millionaire tax crooks and republicans want to help them keep stealing from you.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BillPascrell/status/1775887392966066573?s=20/photo/1
// “FORTUNE: IRS says it will collect $560 billion more from rich tax cheats thanks to Inflation
Reduction Act”

🐣 RT @7Veritas4 Summary; Guy who has been issued gag orders in all his trials for attacking judges, prosecutors, court staff, family members, witnesses…is now upset his pet judge is being put on notice.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/7Veritas4/status/1775911912108146862?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @realDonald Trump Deranged “Special” Counsel Jack Smith, who has a long record of failure as a prosecutor, including a unanimous decision against him in the U.S. Supreme Court, should be sanctioned or censured for the way he is attacking a highly respected Judge, Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over his FAKE Documents Hoax case in Florida. He is a lowlife who is nasty, rude, and condescending, and obviously trying to “play the ref.” He shouldn’t even be allowed to participate in this sham case, where I, unlike Crooked Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and all the rest, come under the Presidential Records Act. I DID NOTHING WRONG, BUT BIDEN DID, AND THEY LET HIM OFF SCOT-FREE. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN, JACK? A TWO TIERED SYSTEM OF JUSTICE. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!

🐣 RT @sumlenny What we are observing now, is a total collapse of both the U.S.credibility and the U.S. attractiveness as a leader or even an ally. It is by far not about Trump alone. It is a systematic failure. And a very bad sign.

🐣 RT @MavkaSlavka In rare call, ruZZian defense minister warns French counterpart against sending troops to Ukraine.

🐣 RT @KyivIndependent: The UN’s International Court of Justice is currently hearing cases related to genocide in Ukraine as the country seeks justice for Russia’s ongoing crimes. ¤ Experts interviewed are worried that the Hague-based court might not be up to the job.
⋙ KyivIndependent, Vladyslav Kudryk (4/1): Experts warn UN court’s approach in Ukraine versus Russia genocide cases ‘may lead to more instability’ https://tinyurl.com/ympcmr49

⭕ 3 Apr 2024

🐣 RT @harrylitman OK sports fans, yesterday’s filing in the MAL case was the most important in the case since the indictment…It says in essence that if Cannon doesn’t move the case along, the DOJ will try to remove her from it.

Alternet: ‘Russian propaganda’ has ‘infected a good chunk of my party’s base’: House GOP foreign affairs chair Mike McCaul https://l.smartnews.com/p-upfL6/V228Vm ““I want to be on the right side of history,” is what House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul (R-TX) told Puck News’ Julia Ioffe in a recent interview.”

“I think Russian propaganda has made its way into the United States, unfortunately, and it’s infected a good chunk of my party’s base,” the Foreign Affairs Committee chair told Ioffe. “And I have to explain to them what’s at stake, why Ukraine is in our national security interest. By the way, you don’t like Communist China? Well, guess what? They’re aligned [with Russia], along with the Ayatollah. So when you explain it that way, they kind of start understanding it. And unlike 1939, we want to provide deterrence so that we don’t have to send anyone over, and we don’t want Article V invoked. Because the next thing the Russians will do is [attack] Moldova, Georgia, and then part of the Baltics. Or at least provoke a lot. So I just think it’s preventative. “

Referring to his far-right colleagues against supplying aid to Ukraine, McCaul added, “There’s a new wing of isolationism, and that takes you back again to the 1930s. That was not helpful. Now, I understood it—because World War I was very bloody, and Americans were like, “We don’t want to go over to save Europe again.” But had we been involved earlier and provided that deterrence, we could have saved a lot of blood and treasure.”

The GOP leader emphasized, “I just see so many parallels between then and what’s happening right now. And if we fail in this aid package and Putin does take Ukraine—and it won’t take him very long—then where will the United States be?”

‼️ 🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Republican Congressman Michael McCaul, Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee: “I jthink Russian propaganda has made its way into the United States, unfortunately, and it’s infected a good chunk of my party’s base.”
You think?

🐣 RT @essenviews Jan 6 rioters are thugs…
Karl Rove: “What those people did when they violently attacked the Capitol…is a stain on our history…Every one of those sons a bitches who did that, we ought to find them, try them, and send them to jail.”
💽 https://x.com/essenviews/status/1775726847176712545?s=20/photo/1

💙 NYT, Thomas Edsall: Trump’s Backers Are Determined Not to Blow It This Time Around https://tinyurl.com/v3r3t95k “[M]ore than 100 conservative tax-exempt organizations have joined forces in support of Donald Trump and the MAGA agenda, forming a $2 billion-plus political machine”

🐣 RT @BidenHQ [Nicolle] Wallace: If you were horrified by Donald Trump’s Muslim ban, buckle up. Trump doesn’t accidentally call migrants subhuman. He says it because the campaign wants to put policy behind that, to treat certain humans as subhuman
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1775686516385120378?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Liz Cheney: “So strong is the lure of power that men and women who had once seemed reasonable and responsible were suddenly willing to violate their oath to the Constitution out of political expediency and loyalty to Donald Trump.”

💙 🐣 RT @https://twitter.com/JayinKyiv Wow..is the Republican party starting to wake up? ¤ “I think Russian propaganda has made its way into the United States, unfortunately, and it’s infected a good chunk of my party’s base,” says House Foreign Relations Committee Chairman, Michael McCaul. @RepMcCaul https://pic.twitter.com/ZFTsZXXMlF
⋙ 🐣 RT @McCaul is a respected conservative Rep from Texas.
He chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He is chair emeritus of Homeland Security

🐣 RT @dailybeanspod 💙
[TextLink:] https://x.com/dailybeanspod/status/1775682002207080844?s=20/photo/1

A few people have asked why I
vehemently oppose
Donald Trump. It’s not about politics. I’ve
voted for both parties. It’s about me, as a patriot, rejecting a cheating, lying, racist, treasonous, fascist, vile
man to lead the country l love.
It really is that simple.
– Dan Rather

🐣 RT @OlgaNYC1211 I looked into Postolnikov who saved Trump media, in Russian media, and several other investigative outlets, and have questions. How the hell did the SEC clear this merger? How is this allowed to be listed on the stock exchange? Trump media is literally in bed with a Russian criminal con who had arrest warrants and several investigations abroad. Not to mention he is the nephew of the Kremlin’s former deputy justice minister, Alexander Smirnov. Do we have laws?
⋙ 🐣 RT @OlgaNYC1211 Who is surprised that money injected into Trump Media was from a Russian businessman under fed investigation. I would be more surprised if Russia wasn’t injecting money into Trump. Why it’s so important to monitor financial movements w upcoming election
⋙⋙ TheGuardian, Hugo Lowell: Exclusive: Trump Media saved in 2022 by Russian-American under criminal investigation https://tinyurl.com/42r3cc26 “Trump’s social media company went public relying partly on loans from trust managed by person of interest to prosecutors”

WaPo: Trump special counsel fires back at Cannon order that could disrupt case https://tinyurl.com/yc3b3rvz “Prosecutor says judge’s legal premise on Presidential Records Act ‘is wrong,’ urges her to rule in classified documents case so he can appeal”

🐣 RT @ybarrap This is incredible, folks. ¤ Why is Trump boasting about having prior intelligence of an attack on American soldiers, yet failing to take action to ensure their safety by informing them? He appears more pleased that Iran sought to communicate with him, rather than being concerned about the impact on the soldiers’ lives.
💽 https://x.com/ybarrap/status/1775592211024851183?s=20/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 RT @RyanShead I’m confused, does that mean Trump knew about an attack on American soldiers and didn’t get them out of harms way? 👀
// Trump: “They said “Don’t move. We have to hit you back. … “ w Maria Bartiroma
⋙ 🐣 RT @ybarrap The incident we are referring to is the Iranian missile attack on the Ain al-Asad air base in Iraq on January 8, 2020, where U.S. troops were stationed. ¤ The key details are: ¤ https://x.com/ybarrap/status/1775643627814797419?s=20

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: New economic analysis shows personal bankruptcy filing rates are near multi-decade lows. This is a significant indicator that President Biden’s leadership has raised the living standard for many of the most in-need Americans.

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Fmr. Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton: I do assign responsibility for January 6 to Trump. On top of that, even worse, he said the Constitution should be suspended. That is so far out of bounds that I think almost alone that statement is disqualifying for Trump

🐣 RT @TheClearCider Trump draws less than 200 supporters at his “giant Wisconsin rally.” ¤ Trump asks cameras to pull back & show the massive crowds.
Unfortunately for Trump … they do. 🤣
💽 https://x.com/TheClearCider/status/1775560415302341063?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @rshereme Two years ago, I wrote a post that went viral and was translated into various languages. The post was about Ukraine’s determination to fight to the end. ¤ Today, I want to add more… 1/n
[TextLink:] https://x.com/rshereme/status/1775374269817528413?s=20/photo/1
[ThreadReader:]b https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1775374269817528413.html

2/ At that time, people were pushing Ukraine to negotiate. I wrote then that Ukraine would not negotiate until the russian occupiers retreated from our territory. Neither independence nor territorial integrity can be a subject of negotiation.

3/ Now, two years later, I want to reiterate my statements. I say this at a time when russians have been launching mass rocket attacks on our cities for several days in a row.

4/ When American politicians cannot agree on a critical aid package necessary for Ukraine to defend not only the front lines but also cities in the rear. When senior US officials try to persuade us not to attack russian oil refineries.

5/ When Polish farmers block the Ukrainian border. When a joint team of Americans and russians is preparing to launch into space. When the war in Ukraine has long disappeared from Western newspaper headlines.

6/ I do not retract any of my prior statements. Furthermore, I want to add. We will not just fight to the end or to victory. We will fight as we see fit and will not listen to any “concerned voices.”

7/ We will bring the war to russian territory, we will attack their military, metallurgical, and oil plants. We will invade russian territory. We will make sure they have no peace until the last russian soldier leaves Ukraine.

8/ We listened to “advisers” for too long, telling us not to escalate, not to irritate russia – but it did not help us. We listened to those who verbally supported us but continued to buy russian oil, planning joint projects with the russians. We will no longer listen to them.

9/ The price of these calls for peace and negotiations – is that, as a writer and historian, I still have to fight the occupiers. The price of these meaningless words is the destroyed houses today in Zaporizhzhia, the trolleybus with civilians hit by a russian rocket.

10/ It is the death of the wonderful poet Maksym Kryvtsov, who instead of writing poems went to war. It is the death of my colleague Yuriy Juice, who like me was a professional historian, but instead of sitting in an office, he went to the trenches.

11/ It is the death of the poet Viktoria Amelina, who was not even a military person, but it did not save her from a russian rocket containing elements made in Western countries. I can tell thirty such stories. Thirty people russians forever took away from me.

12/ So the next time American politicians, Polish farmers, Slovak voters, or anyone else thinks of pushing us to compromise or wage war in a way that won’t hurt their interests – I will ask them to shut up.

13/ We fight, and we will fight as we see fit. Until we drive the last russian occupier from our land. You can help us by giving us more weapons and blocking trade with russia. Or you can betray us. But even if you betray us, we will still continue to fight.

14/ I would like this text to reposted and shared around the world. Spread it, copy it, translate it, send it to politicians.

15/ Nazar Rozlutsky
PhD in History,
Author of six books
Junior Sergeant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

🐣 RT @Acyn Whitmer: Trump torpedoed a deal that would have had the strongest border security in decades in this country. He told Republicans to walk away and they did.
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1775332057264128289?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @DNCWarRoom .@MariaTCardona: Republicans don’t want to solve the border, they want to keep weaponizing it. Democrats want to secure the border, open up more legal pathways for immigrants who have been here for a very long time, who economists have said, have put $7 trillion into the economy

🐣 RT @MaryLTrump When it comes to Truth Social, it’s time to “follow the money.”
¤ https://x.com/MaryLTrump/status/1775636061907030088?s=20

The story isn’t just that the Guardian claims Russian-American businessman, Anton Postolnikov, who is currently under federal investigation for insider trading and money laundering, made a sweetheart loan that Truth Social desperately needed.

It isn’t just that Postolnikov is the nephew of Aleksandr Smirnov, an ally of Vladimir Putin.

The story here is that who invests in Truth Social is largely obscured.

Donald has shown time and again that he is willing to do business with anyone, and take money from anyone, as long as it serves his interests.

It’s critical for us keep a close eye on Truth Social. With such a high valuation and little profit, the company is screaming for an investigation into FEC or SEC violations.

The truth has a way of coming out. And when it does, it’s often as horrific as we imagine.

🐣 RT @SimonWDC A man whose family is close to Putin and who is under criminal investigation in the US provided funds to Trump to keep Truth Social afloat. ¤ Investors should be fleeing Trump Media – we all know where this thing is going. It’s another huge Trump scandal.
⋙ 🐣 RT @hugolowell NEW: Trump Media only made it to its stock market debut last week after being loaned millions in 2022 by a Russian-American — who came under criminal investigation after his friend insider traded on the Trump Media deal. @guardian exclusive
⋙⋙ TheGuardian: Exclusive: Trump Media saved in 2022 by Russian-American under criminal investigation https://tinyurl.com/42r3cc26
//. Trump’s social media company went public relying partly on loans from trust managed by person of interest to prosecutors

🐣 RT @RBReich Four years ago today, the CDC advised all Americans to wear masks in public to avoid spreading covid. ¤ Trump immediately announced he would refuse to wear one, needlessly turning masking into a divisive partisan issue and contributing to countless avoidable deaths.

⭕ 2 Apr 2024

🐣 RT @4TaxFairness
Corporate profits reached a record $2.8 TRILLION at the end of 2023.
Corporate profit margins are at their highest since the 1950s.
Corporate profits drove 53% of inflation during 2023 Q2-Q3.
Decades of corporate tax cuts haven’t trickled down—they’ve just created more greed.
◕ https://x.com/4TaxFairness/status/1775256063698260000?s=20/photo/1

🧵 RT @MuellerSheWrote BREAKING: Jack Smith has filed his response to the jury instruction order by Cannon. “Both scenarios rest on an unstated & fundamentally flawed legal premise…That legal premise is wrong, & a jury instruction… that reflects that premise would distort the trial.” 1/
📌 [TextLink:] https://x.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1775374561141502171?s=20/photo/1
[TextLink:] https://x.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1775364481335566817?s=20/photo/1 -n
[CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/3436b56f 24p

⭕ 1 Apr 2024

🧵 RT @highbrow_nobrow Chronicle of Trump’s Lax Approach to National Security and Surge in Spy Deaths: A Comprehensive Timeline
📌 ¤ https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1774982459920162846?s=20

🐣 RT @ClaudetteGGibs1 This is the stupidest thing I have read today. [It’s April 1, so … ]
[TextLink:] https://x.com/ClaudetteGGibs1/status/1774961800783573502?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump The great Cassius Clay used to spar with me. Not many people know that because I don’t like to boast. He could never hit me, though – have you ever seen bruises on my face? No bruises. He used to say: “Sir, you are a great dancer, probably the best there has ever been. Also, thank you, sir, for sparring with a black man.” He had tears in his eyes that day.

WaPo: World Central Kitchen workers killed by Israeli strike in Gaza, José Andrés says https://tinyurl.com/mr2ahu2m Israel ‘needs to stop indiscriminate killing, stop restricting humanitarian aid, stop killing civilians & aid workers, and stop using food as a weapon‘ the chef said

🐣 RT @RamAbdu Breaking: The nationalities of the UN employees intentionally killed by Israel moments ago are Polish, Australian, Irish, and British.
🖼 https://x.com/RamAbdu/status/1774916308842184912?s=20/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 RT @RamAbdu It turns out that the victims are from the organization @WCKitchen.

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote Bummer!
⋙ 🐣 RT @harrylitman Truth Social said Monday that its losses are so severe that company accountants warned they “raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern.” ie may not survive long, since its underlying value is basically ethereal.

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow In a 1994 interview with @Harpers, John Ehrlichman, the Watergate co-conspirator, admitted that the Nixon Administration invented the war on drugs in order to imprison Black-Americans and hippies, two groups he felt threatened by. Ehrlichman in his own words:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1774831108233785749?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] “You want to know what this was really all about?” he asked with the bluntness of a man who, after public disgrace and a stretch in federal prison, had little left to protect. “The Nixon campaign in 1968, and the Nixon White House after that, had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people. You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. We could arrest their leaders, raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.”

⭕ 31 Mar 2024

🐣 RT @Christo12919382 This is AWESOME! The next 14 days are going to be EXCRUCIATING for trump…His first criminal trial starts April 15th.. And there’s NOTHING he can do to stop it!!🤣🤣🤣🤣
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Christo12919382/status/1774671689772601635?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] @OurShallowState Trump is having a hypomanic episode. Post after post after post. Short posts. Reposts. At least 50 of them so far today. His gut is a simmering stew of agitation, rage, and desperation. His malignant pathologies rule him, filling his head with fantasies of violence and revenge alongside visions of regaining his grandiosity. BUT TODAY, THERE’S MORE. He has a NEW fear now. He’s losing his mind – his acuity. He knows it now. He hates himself for it. He hates being pulled back, not being able to absorb adulation at rallies. He hates hearing people tell him he needs to be careful. Neither you nor I can EVER feel the kind of desperation and rage Trump feels now. This is a man terrified that all that he is, and all that he ever said he was – his entire lifetime of secrets and lies and false constructs – is crumbling into ash. This is a malignant narcissist in decline.

.
🐣 RT @anneapplebaum Comprehensive, terrifying account of the Russian agents and technology behind Havana syndrome, a brain disease caused deliberately by electric waves
⋙ Insider: Unraveling Havana Syndrome: New evidence links the GRU’s assassination Unit 29155 to mysterious attacks on Americans, at home and abroad https://tinyurl.com/58m9rbwt
↥ ↧
🐣 RT @thejackhopkins Here’s the Full Episode on the attacks on Americans that are almost certainly coming from Russia that was on 60 Minutes earlier tonight. ¤ If you’re a defender of democracy, you owe it to yourself to watch this 26 minute episode. ¤ This is the result of a 5 year investigation by 60 Minutes.
💽 YouTube: https://youtu.be/JdPSD1SUYCY?si=l32QvWX8s-PTXJFA/photo/1

🐣 RT @KrauseForIowa Is this the beginning of the end for Erdogan? A quasi-dictator can’t take this kind of hit to his power base. Look for a period of instability coming up! @NATO @USNATO
⋙ 🐣 RT @DavidCornDC Good news for anti-autocrats.
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @Scentofawoman10 🚨BREAKING: Turkish citizens celebrate as Erdogan’s party loses in Turkey’s mayoral elections.
💽 https://x.com/DavidCornDC/status/1774569773713465829?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RBReich The corporate takeover of American politics is utterly out of control. ¤ How did it get so bad? ¤ It all started with a man and memo you’ve probably never heard of.
💽 https://x.com/RBReich/status/1774587487169495087?s=20/photo/1
// the Powell Memo

🐣 RT @john_sipher “Hitler was impossible to discourage, not because he ran an efficient machine but because he was immune to the normal human impediments to absolute power: shame, calculation, or even a desire to see a particular political program put in place.” ¤ Uh oh.

🐣 RT @jurgen_nauditt On April 9, US Speaker Johnson will bring up the issue of assistance to Ukraine for consideration, – House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner.

🐣 RT @AntiToxicPeople This is not parody. Trump just posted this “Easter message” to cap off nearly *100* other posts and reposts replete with deranged levels of malignant narcissism and lunacy. ¤ ANYONE who still supports this utterly unhinged maniac is as depraved as he is—there are just no words.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/AntiToxicPeople/status/1774490524696945124?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump HAPPY EASTER TO ALL, INCLUDING CROOKED AND CORRUPT PROSECUTORS AND JUDGES THAT ARE DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO INTERFERE WITH THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF 2024, AND PUT ME IN PRISON, INCLUDING THOSE MANY PEOPLE THAT I COMPLETELY & TOTALLY DESPISE BECAUSE THEY WANT TO DESTROY AMERICA, A NOW FAILING NATION, LIKE “DERANGED” JACK SMITH, WHO IS EVIL AND “SICK,” MRS. FANI “FAUNI” WADE, WHO SAID SHE HARDLY KNEW THE “SPECIAL” PROSECUTOR, ONLY TO FIND THAT HE SPENT YEARS “LOVING” HER, LONG BEFORE THE GEORGIA PERSECUTION OF PRESIDENT TRUMP BEGAN (AND THEREBY MAKING THE CASE AGAINST ME NULL, VOID, AND ILLEGAL!), AND LAZY ON VIOLENT CRIME ALVIN BRAGG WHO, WITH CROOKED JOE’S DOJ THUGS, UNFAIRLY WORKING IN THE D.A.’S OFFICE, ILLEGALLY INDICTED ME ON A CASE HE NEVER WANTED TO BRING AND VIRTUALLY ALL LEGAL SCHOLARS SAY IS A CASE THAT SHOULD NOT BE BROUGHT, IS BREAKING THE LAW IN DOING SO (POMERANTZ!, WAS TURNED DOWN BY ALL OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES, AND IS NOT A CRIME. HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE.

🐣 RT @AntiToxicPeople This is his message 19 minutes ago on Easter. Not parody. A deeply sick man, as is whoever wrote the article.
🖼 [TextLink:] https://x.com/AntiToxicPeople/status/1774467120375726468?s=20/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 Here’s the article. It’s a doozy.
⋙⋙ WashingtonTimes, Tim Constantine: The Crucifixion of Donald Trump https://tinyurl.com/5472wt2b
// “One would hope that Americans, even those who despise Mr. Trump, have no interest in the courts being used as a political tool to punish political opponents.”

🐣 RT @tribelaw Absolutely! Trump will scream his head off, stamp his feet (watch those bone spurs!), and take the First Amendment in vain. Make SCOTUS squirm. If it bails him out after this, it’ll just disgrace itself further.
⋙ 🐣 RT @AWeissmann_ 1. tighten the bail release conditions ASAP
2. Warn that jail will result from threatening ANYONE while out on bail, or posting about witnesses, jurors, court or prosecution families
3. Enforce- that is what it means to treat likes alike. The foundation of the rule of law.
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote NEW: Trump is now posting PHOTOS of Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter on Truth Social. I’d say this has gone too far, but it had gone too far months ago. ¤ Someone needs to hold him in contempt. HE IS OUT ON BAIL. This is simply unacceptable and has been for a long time.

🐣 RT @Tendar I finally had some time to summarize the front movements of the last 6 months according to my maps. It is the same time period since the US Congress has been hampered by Trump and his allies to release the next military aid to Ukraine. I concluded the following numbers:
🌎 https://x.com/Tendar/status/1774460897412395097?s=20/photo/1 -4

Russian gains: ¤ 250.1 square kilometers / 96.6 square miles

For comparison reasons I have included the Ukrainian gains from the counter offensive which kicked off in summer last year. Those are the numbers (minus the recent Russian gains):

[Ukrainian gains:] 297.7 square kilometers / 115.1 square miles

I have included the maps with detailed distribution where those gains were achieved. ¤ The above mentioned numbers do not include the events around Krynky, respectively Kherson. #Ukraine,

🐣 RT @marceelias You should be, we all need to be.
⋙ 🧵 RT @MollyJongFast I spent a lot of time reading about project 2025 and now honestly I’m kind of completely freaked out.
📌 [TextLink:] https://x.com/MollyJongFast/status/1774162186371293385?s=20/photo/1 -n
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1774162186371293385.html

🐣 RT @NBCNews The show of unity among Biden, Clinton and Obama stands in stark contrast to former President Trump, who faces opposition from members of his own administration, including former VP Pence, as he seeks a return to the White House in November. [NBCNews link:] https://tinyurl.com/jub6w9jw

🐣 RT @nexta_tv Zelensky honors the memory of Ukrainians killed by Russians during the occupation of Bucha ¤ “This war is of global importance. This is a war for the right to exist for our state and at the same time for the right to life for every person. For dignity for our people and every nation seeking its own destiny. This is a war for no one to dare to become a beast with others,” the President emphasized.
💽 https://x.com/nexta_tv/status/1774423481154752530?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @JoeTrippi That Senate campaign could be in trouble…. Hogan Pressed For Bigger Ships, Despite Safety Warnings [LeverNews link:] https://tinyurl.com/3w89zpx2
🖼 https://x.com/JoeTrippi/status/1774401315952623952?s=20/photo/1

🐣 🐣 RT @jurgen_nauditt The supporters and lackeys of mass murderer putin and who accepted money from the Kremlin.
🖼 ◕ https://x.com/jurgen_nauditt/status/1774451011307934116?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Donald Trump is in the Easter spirit.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1774432976455057758?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] @realDonaldTrump HAPPY EASTER TO ALL, INCLUDING THOSE THAT DREAM ENDLESSLY OF DESTROYING OUR COUNTRY BECAUSE THEY ARE INCAPABLE OF DREAMING ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE, THOSE THAT ARE SO INCOMPETENT THEY DON’T REALIZE THAT HAVING A BORDER AND POWERFUL WALL IS A GOOD THING, & HAVING VOTER I.D., ALL PAPER BALLOTS, & SAME DAY VOTING WILL QUICKLY END MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD, & TO ALL OF THOSE WEAK & PATHETIC RINOS, RADICAL LEFT DEMOCRATS, SOCIALISTS MARXISTS, & COMMUNISTS WHO ARE KILLING OUR NATION, REMEMBER, WE WILL BE BACK!

🐣 RT @brguest20 There it is
[TextLink:] https://x.com/brguest20/status/1774207503267738043?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump – [Truth Social Mar 30, 2024, 4:32 PM ET ]
“The Crucifixion of Donald Trump” As Easter Sunday approaches, much of the world will commemorate the arrest, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ — the holiest days on the Christian… Show more
TheCrucifixion of Donald Trump
// photo Trump holding Bible iconic

⋙ 🐣 RT @brguest20 [3/26] Countdown to Trump comparing himself to Jesus being crucified…

🐣 RT @GlasnostGone The head of #Ukraine’s largest private energy firm DTEK has said that 5 of its six plants have been damaged or destroyed with, 80% of its generating capacity lost after 2 weeks of Russian attacks. And repairs could take up to 18 months. [Sky link:] https://tinyurl.com/5n898wde

🧵 RT @noclador The “Soviets defeated the nazis in WWII” nonsense is making the rounds again…
📌 https://x.com/noclador/status/1774371711464386852?s=20

Reality: the Soviets contributed nothing to the strategic campaigns against Germany:
Western allies share of:
• strategic bombing of Germany: 99.8%
• Luftwaffe air power destruction: 84.4%
• commerce shipping interdiction: 100%

2/3 The Western allies alone crippled Germany’s defense industry, while at the same time saving the Soviets from defeat by providing massive amounts of equipment through Lend/Lease. The US, not the Soviet Union, motorized the Red Army.

3/3 And the reason the Soviets suffered so many casualties was the gross incompetence of Soviet generals in 1941, the disdain for human life in the Kremlin 1941-45, and the shitty training and equipment of Soviet troops until the US provided them with things like boots and food.

😅 RT @mmpadellan Colin Jost on [SNL] Weekend Update: ¤ “This Bible is mostly the same, but trump’s version ends with Jesus’ disciples storming Jerusalem to overturn the results of the crucifixion.” 🤣🤣🤣

⭕ 30 Mar 2024

NYT, Nate Cohn: Revisiting Florida 2000 and the Butterfly Effect https://tinyurl.com/msxnfbjb “The evidence is strong that, all else being equal, Al Gore would have won if not for an infamous ballot design in Palm Beach County.”

🐣 RT @Biz_Ukraine_Mag The Russian Navy has now almost completed its retreat from Occupied Crimea with just one warship remaining, Ukrainian Navy Spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk has confirmed. The withdrawal from Crimea underlines Putin’s readiness to retreat when confronted with military defeat

🐣 RT @espinsegall Ginny Thomas to Mark Meadows: “Do not concede. It takes time for the army who is gathering for his back.” Do people understand she’s a traitor, a liar, an awful human being and Justice Thomas has no business hearing any 1/6 case. He’s so terrible. [Politico link:] https://tinyurl.com/yj2he4tu

🧵 RT @Igor_from_Kyiv_ A small selection of videos to refresh the memory of all th vatnik, Russian bots and puppets around the world who know nothing about the war in Ukraine, having listened to Russian propaganda, believe that they know better than anyone what actually happened and is happening in Ukraine (in including starting from 2014).
📌 💽 https://x.com/Igor_from_Kyiv_/status/1774080049651540317?s=20/photo/1 -n

🐣 RT @1zzyzyx1 Damn, @NicolleDWallace says it all. Trump has broken the system. The judiciary is afraid to go after him and do their job; any of us would have already been locked up. ¤ When will the system work as it’s supposed to?
💽 https://x.com/1zzyzyx1/status/1774099574589902879?s=20/photo/1
// Nicolle Wallace throws away the script

🐣 RT @LevHavryliv A reminder. ¤ In 1994 Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons, strategic bombers and missile systems under pressure from the US. All in exchange for “security assurances” from the US. ¤ That’s it. That’s the tweet.
🖼 https://x.com/LevHavryliv/status/1774014370533798062?s=20/photo/1
// signing of Budapest Memorandum

⭕ 29 Mar 2024

WaPo: After Trump attacks hush money judge’s daughter, DA seeks broader gag order https://tinyurl.com/79wphhpd “Donald Trump has made repeated online posts criticizing the adult daughter of the judge in his New York hush money case”

WaPo: Republican-appointed judges raise alarm over Trump attacks on law https://tinyurl.com/2p9rjh77 ‘Federal DC Judge Reggie B Walton warns Trump’s attacks on hush-money trial judge could lead to violence. Reagan, Bush-appointed judges decry Jan 6 revisionism, threats’

🐣 RT @officejjsmart It is clear as day: If Kyiv🇺🇦 falls, then Taipei🇹🇼 will fall.
Every gain for Russia🇷🇺 is a victory for China🇨🇳, Iran🇮🇷, & North Korea🇰🇵.
Stopping the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, now, in Ukraine🇺🇦 provides an incredible return on investment for US🇺🇸 & European🇪🇺security.
⋙ NYT: Taiwan’s Top Diplomat Says U.S. Aid to Ukraine Is Critical for Deterring China https://tinyurl.com/2p8335xn “Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said in an interview that a Russian victory could embolden China to move against Taiwan and would fuel anti-American propaganda.”

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe “I know the facts don’t matter to Donald Trump, but crime rates keep dropping. In fact, the rate is lower now than when Trump was in office. Lower than it was in 2020, even slightly lower than it was in Trump’s best year.” — @JoeNBC on Trump’s crime claims [NBC link:] https://tinyurl.com/yc5m3rn6

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe “We can survive bad policy — we can’t survive a bad heart that wants to undermine, terminate, scorch the constitution, and execute for treason anybody who disagrees with him.”— @JoeNBC echoes Liz Cheney’s warning of the dangers of a second Trump term https://on.msnbc.com/4aAPszg
💽 https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1773696251596345468?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RBReich Corporations say they were forced to raise prices. ¤ But their profits have skyrocketed since 2020. ¤ They hit a record high in Q4 2023. ¤ News flash: They used inflation as cover to get rich.
◕ https://x.com/RBReich/status/1773756972774408652?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Headline inflation — as measured by the Fed’s preferred PCE index — came in at 2.5% year-over-year in February. ¤ “Core” inflation (excluding food and energy) came in at 2.8% YoY.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1773692465431605695?s=20/photo/1

🧵 RT @judgeluttig The Nation is witnessing the determined delegitimization of both its Federal and State judiciaries and the systematic dismantling of its system of justice and Rule of Law by a single man – the former President of the United States.
📌 https://x.com/judgeluttig/status/1773757449939419341?s=20
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1773757449939419341.html

🐣 RT @RandyResist Updated data: “The new fourth-quarter numbers showed a 13% decline in murder in 2023 from 2022, a 6% decline in reported violent crime and a 4% decline in reported property crime. That’s based on data from around 13,000 law enforcement agencies, policing about 82% of the U.S. population, that provided the FBI with data through December.”
⋙ 🐣 RT @Auriandra NBCNews: Trump claims crime rates are soaring. The numbers indicate otherwise. https://tinyurl.com/4rf65kb3 Trump blames “Biden migrant crime” BUT “There is no evidence of a migrant-driven crime wave in the U.S., according to local police department data”
◕ https://x.com/RandyResist/status/1773768433357693361?s=20/photo/1

WaPo, David Ignatius: Zelensky: ‘We are trying to find some way not to retreat’ https://tinyurl.com/2bha8m43 “The Ukrainian president explains how the U.S. dispute over aid has severely limited his country’s battlefield options.”

⭕ 28 Mar 2024

🐣 RT @KathyJones Corporate profits rose to a new all time high in Q4 of 2023.
◕ https://x.com/KathyJones/status/1773340332983234998?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @MaryLTrump When Donald dominates the news cycle, it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed. Every bad headline has a negative impact. But then I remember something crucial: There’s usually more to the story than meets the eye.
¤ https://x.com/MaryLTrump/status/1773506482895466706?s=20

This is why we should remain energized and hopeful:

1. Today, President Biden had the most successful political fundraiser in American history

In a blockbuster fundraiser with Presidents Biden, Obama, and Clinton joining forces in New York City (thanks for the traffic, guys!), the campaign has already revealed it’s raised a staggering $25 million. This amount sets a record for the biggest cash haul for a political event ever.

Let me repeat that: EVER.

2. Democrats keep “defying expectations” by winning important elections

This week in Alabama, Democrat Marilyn Lands won her special election in large part because she centered her campaign on abortion and IVF access. And not only did she win, but she flipped a seat in a deep-red state by 25 points. In Alabama!

3. President Biden leads Donald in eight polls

More below.

🐣 RT @MaryLTrump What a week for Democrats! I just posted a list everyone needs to see about how Donald’s campaign is descending into chaos.

I just reached 200,000 subscribers and we’re celebrating!

I would love to read your comments. The link is easy to find in my bio! Will you join us?

🐣 RT @igorsushko 🚨 Czech counterintelligence busts politicians from Germany, France, Poland, Belgium, Hungary and the Netherlands taking bribes from Russia.
⋙ BBC: Russian network that ‘paid European politicians’ busted https://tinyurl.com/v92n6j2t “A Russian-backed “propaganda” network has been broken up for spreading anti-Ukraine stories and paying unnamed European politicians, according to authorities in several countries.”

🐣 RT @GeraldoRivera When the Key Bridge collapsed at 1:27am Tuesday morning, an overnight road crew filling potholes on the bridge died with it.
¤ https://x.com/GeraldoRivera/status/1773431846593785964?s=20

-The crew consisted of 6 apparently Undocumented Hispanic Immigrants, aka Illegal Aliens, from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
-They drowned in the cold, murky water of Baltimore Harbor.
-There was no outrage from conservative media about them stealing jobs from citizens; because, as they often do, the migrants were doing a dirty, dangerous job no citizen wanted.
An estimated 1/3 of our nation’s construction workers are undocumented immigrants.
-According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2022 316 foreign-born, mostly undocumented Hispanic construction workers perished on the job.
-Say their names. Maynor, Miguel, Dorlian, José, Alejandro.

🐣 RT @BillPascrell Over 15,000,000 jobs created since 2021, inflation is falling, wages rising, factories are booming, and our economy is the envy of the world. Despite republican lies Americans are feeling better each day
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BillPascrell/status/1773446777003299195?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] Bloomberg AMERICAN CONSUMER CONFIDENCE SURGES
“US consumer sentiment rose markedly toward the end of March, supported by strong stock-market gains and expectations that inflation will continue to ease. … Other data out Thursday showed the government’s two main measures of US economic activity posted strong advances at the end of last year, pointing to an economy that’s still expanding at a healthy clip. A separate report showed pending sales of previously-owned homes in the US recovered last month after declining at the start of the year, adding to evidence that the housing
market is gradually improving.”

🧵 RT @ProjectLincoln THREAD: Donald Trump isn’t just bleeding the RNC dry of funds, he’s bleeding the party of voters. Those who know how he works best, his own former employees, are refusing to give him their vote. ¤ Don’t take our word for it, listen to them:
📌 💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1773435074970612160?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @JoyceWhiteVance In the course of John Eastman’s disbarment proceeding, a bar court judge ruled that Eastman & Trump conspired to “obstruct a lawful function of the government of the United States…by conspiring to disrupt the electoral count” on 1-6-21.
⋙ 🐣 RT @kyledcheneyMORE: State bar investigators proved that Eastman conspired with Trump to violate criminal laws and derail the transfer of power, Roland ruled [Politico link:] https://tinyurl.com/44phh8jj
[TextLink:] https://x.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/1773400692264431616?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🇺🇸 Zelensky: “Let’s be honest, the money which is allocated by the Congress in the majority of cases, well, at least more than 75% — stays in the U.S. This ammunition is coming to us, but the production is taking place there, money stays in the U.S.,taxes are staying in the U.S.”
🖼 https://x.com/Maks_NAFO_FELLA/status/1773357622105669971?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @front_ukrainian ⚡️🇺🇦Zelensky had a conversation with the speaker of the 🇺🇸US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson
¤ https://x.com/front_ukrainian/status/1773391791040934187?s=20

The President spoke about the situation on the battlefield, with special emphasis on the strengthening of Russian air terror.

“In this situation, the rapid approval of aid to Ukraine by Congress is critically important. We realize that the House of Representatives has different positions on how to do this, but the main thing is that the issue of aid to Ukraine remains a unifying factor,” the president said.

🐣 RT @SteveRattner “The University of Michigan’s sentiment index climbed to 79.4…reaching the highest since mid-2021, according to the final March reading issued Thursday. The 2.9-point gain from the preliminary reading was the biggest intramonth increase since August 2022.” cc: @business
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1773369800850379183?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @BarbMcQuade Classic disinformation tactic: fake social media account purports to be judge’s daughter disparaging Trump, Trump then highlights account using catchy slogan, “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” all designed to generate outrage and divide us. Don’t fall for it.

🐣 RT @mkraju The House plans to send the articles of impeachment against DHS Secretary Mayorkas to the Senate on April 10, per letter from Johnson. Mayorkas became the second Cabinet secretary ever impeached on Feb. 13. The Senate is expected to scuttle the effort to remove him from office

TheBulwark, Brian Whitmore: In Russia, Mafiaism Is the New Communism https://tinyurl.com/4asvekve “‘Das Kapital’ is out. ‘The Godfather’ is in.”
⋙ 🐣 I recommend this book: Putin’s People by Catherine Benton. https://tinyurl.com/aa2zcpa5 It tells exactly how a small group of Putin’s KGB friends took over Russia’s industries and how Putin, ‘like a tsar,’ owns everything; even the oligarchs are kept on a tight leash
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1773389826550575229?s=20/photo/1

USAFacts: Which states have the highest and lowest crime rates? https://tinyurl.com/4pc2dmff “National crime rates have been declining for the last 30 years” //➔ Anyone remember 1990? I remember 1990: it was the year we left Chicago for Minnesota because of crime
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1773384495476978124?s=20/photo/1
// cool slider bars

NBCNews: Trump claims crime rates are soaring. The numbers indicate otherwise. https://tinyurl.com/4rf65kb3 Trump blames “Biden migrant crime” BUT “There is no evidence of a migrant-driven crime wave in the U.S., according to local police department data”
// The presumptive Republican nominee frequently paints a picture of ever-increasing crime under Democrats. But figures from police departments and the FBI suggest differently.
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1773380308861096348?s=20/photo/1
// Chart title: “US crime rates continue to fall, and preliminary data indicate crime likely hit a 60-year low in 2023”

⭕ 27 Mar 2024

🐣 RT @jenmercieca Very interesting data, huge decline in right-wing media consumption and traffic. (via @oliverdarcy)
[TextLink:] https://x.com/jenmercieca/status/1772955472846319902?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] First in Reliable | Traffic Tanks: Many right-wing websites saw their traffic tank last month when compared to the last presidential election cycle, according to data analyzed by Howard Polskin at The Righting and first shared with Reliable. Twitchy experienced the biggest drop, losing 93% of its audience, followed by The Federalist (-91%), The Washington Times (-89%), and Western Journal, (-84%). Other major sites took a hit too, including The Drudge Report (-81%) and Breitbart (-76%). “The traffic declines are deeper than I anticipated,” Polskin said. Mainstream news outlets, by comparison, saw much smaller declines, including CNN (-19%), The NYT (-22%) and WaPo (-43%). “Right wing websites appear more susceptible to steeper election year audience erosion than mainstream or left-leaning outlets,” he said. Polskin has more here.

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en 39 Nobel laureates have called on the international community to increase support for Ukraine. [T-Variant link:] https://tinyurl.com/2fsx9m3x

Putin’s regime has shown that it poses a direct and clear threat to all humanity. Therefore, the Nobel laureates call for a substantial increase in aid to Ukraine, support for the democratic opposition in Russia, and not to recognize Putin as president of Russia.

“We call on world leaders and all people of goodwill to abandon any illusions about Putin and his criminal regime,” the statement said.

The text was signed by 16 Nobel Prize winners in physiology and medicine, nine in physics, six in chemistry, four in literature, and three in peace. Among them is Ukrainian Oleksandra Matviichuk.

💙 🐣 RT @TheDailyShow NBC dropping Ronna McDaniel raises an important question: How should America deal with election deniers and Jan 6 rioters? @jordanklepper
💽 https://x.com/TheDailyShow/status/1773168218804199708?s=20/photo/1
// video of Trump on Jan 7, 2021 denouncing violence of Jan 6

🐣 RT @SenJohnKennedy The Green New Deal agenda isn’t a plan. It’s a fantasy. ¤ Because countries like China, Russia, and Iran expect America to pay TRILLIONS for all of it—and so does Pres. Biden.
💽 https://x.com/SenJohnKennedy/status/1772996075235774565?s=20/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 Ya know, maybe people in Blue States will simply get tired of paying for all the climate-caused disasters in Red States like Texas, Louisiana and Florida.
🌎 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1773193750501552329?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @mjfree BREAKING: The NBC executive, Jack Donaghy, that hired Ronna McDaniel, has been fired. He’s a major donor to the RNC.
⋙ 🐣 Not a name mentioned in this. article: WaPo: NBC offered Ronna McDaniel a better contract to appear on MSNBC https://tinyurl.com/yfwvcvzf

🐣 RT @ChuckPfarrer PUTIN’S FAKE DIAMOND: The Russian 3M33 ‘Zircon’ hypersonic cruise missile was touted by Moscow as impossible to intercept. Recent attacks on Kyiv prove that this Mach 9 capable weapon can be tracked and intercepted by Patriot air defense systems.
◕ https://x.com/ChuckPfarrer/status/1773105459081122126?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @harryjsisson Holy crap. Journalist Tim Miller just obliterated Trump on MSNBC “Trump scammed you. He defrauded you. He stole your money to pay for his own ritzy lifestyle. Meanwhile, Biden is investing in your communities…Trump is robbing regular people.” Spot on!!!
💽 https://x.com/harryjsisson/status/1773175331429535842?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski BREAKIJG: John Eastman Disbarred. The Trump lawyer who wrote the legal memo with the plan to overturn the election is disbarred from the practice of law.
[MeidasTouch link:] https://tinyurl.com/57ncvw4b

🐣 📋 RT @David_Charts CBO: Trump’s tariffs reduced average household income by $1,300 in 2020.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1773170948570583250?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @Acyn Larry David on Trump: He’s such a little baby that he’s thrown 250 years of democracy out the window by not accepting the results.. He’s such a sociopath. He’s so insane. He just couldn’t admit to losing. And we know he lost. He knows he lost.. He’s a such a sick man
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1773176881753260508?s=20/photo/1

FT: Falling US inflation opens door to rate cuts within months, says OECD https://tinyurl.com/hnxusmvm //➔ note: there was a pandemic
// Price pressures in UK forecast to be highest among G7 nations over next two years
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1773110596969304375?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @JuliaDavisNews
[TextLink:] https://x.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1772973743469469854?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] “Almost every single one of the Ukrainian POWs we interviewed described how Russian servicepersons or officials tortured them during their captivity, using repeated beatings, electric shocks, threats of execution, prolonged stress positions and mock execution. Over half of them were subjected to sexual violence,” said Danielle Bell, the head of HRMMU.

⋙ 🐣 RT @JuliaDavisNews UN report: Credible allegations Ukrainian POWs have been tortured by Russian forces https://tinyurl.com/eye6d3x2
⋙⋙ UNNews: UN report: Credible allegations Ukrainian POWs have been tortured by Russian forces

🐣 RT @DNCWarRoom Fmr. GOP Speaker Ryan: I think we’re going to lose more seats than we otherwise would have with Trump because there are just too many swing voters that don’t like him, that therefore vote against Republicans
💽 https://x.com/DNCWarRoom/status/1773058958254641657?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP Former House Speaker Paul Ryan on today’s GOP: “I’m not one of the Trump populists…I believe in the Constitution. I believe in the rule of law…that runs a bit contrary to the sort of populism that we have these days, much of which, frankly, is tied to a cult of personality.
💽 https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1773029656368705932?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @TrumpDailyPosts MSDNC FAKE ANCHORS HAVE TAKEN OVER NBC FROM CHAIRMAN BRIAN ROBERTS, AND HE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO! THEIR RATINGS SUCK, FIRE THEM, AND START ALL OVER AGAIN. WHO WOULD HAVE EVER THOUGHT THAT FAILED HOST, SLEEPY EYES CHUCK TODD, WOULD HAVE THE AUDACITY TO REPRIMAND BRIAN ROBERTS CONCERNING THE HIRING OF RONNA ROMNEY. THEY SHOULD FIRE HIM IMMEDIATELY, AND NEVER LOOK BACK. MAGA2024!
⋙ 🐣 Ratings don’t suck. Democrats don’t watch one thing: they watch MSNBC, CNN, PBS. ¤ GOP watch Fox. You could add NewsMax, Oan to Fox, but their viewership is very low. ¤ Fox just settled $1B for lying, with more lawsuits coming.
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1773069446690525534?s=20/photo/1

MorningStar/Marketwatch: Medicare Advantage is overbilling Medicare by 22% https://tinyurl.com/4ykyju7f
↥ ↧
🐣 📋 RT @RepJayapal BREAKING NEW REPORT: Private insurers who now run more than half of all Medicare plans known as Medicare (Dis)Advantage are overcharging taxpayers by staggering $83 billion/year, 22% more than Medicare would charge for same services.

🐣 RT @jurgen_nauditt US is simply lost. ¤ The US does not support Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian refineries
¤ https://x.com/jurgen_nauditt/status/1772964395787644930?s=20

“Our position since the beginning of this war has always been that we do not encourage or support attacks by Ukraine outside its territory,”
— said department speaker Matthew Miller.

Commenting on the question of whether the American side was in contact with Kiev after the Russian oil refinery in Samara was struck again the day before, a State Department representative refused to disclose information about any diplomatic interaction.

⋙ 🐣 I’d put this in the category of plausible deniability that US is attacking Russia. The US has always said Ukraine should not use US weapons outside of Ukraine’s intl-recognized borders. This is consistent with that. (wink-wink nod-nod)

TheAtlantic, Anshel Pfeffer: Benjamin Netanyahu Is Israel’s Worst Prime Minister Ever https://tinyurl.com/nhf9yrmk “Netanyahu has no plan for Gaza, only one for remaining in power. His obstructionism, … his confrontations with the Biden administration—all are focused on that end”
// One man’s ambition has undermined Israel’s security and consumed its politics.

… Over the course of four decades in public life, including 15 years as prime minister and 22 as the Likud party’s leader, he had already left an indelible mark on Israel, dominating the second half of its history. But he couldn’t bear the thought of giving up power.

Within 18 months, he was back as prime minister for the third time. The unwieldy coalition that replaced him had imploded, and this time around, Netanyahu’s camp of far-right and religious parties ran a disciplined campaign, exploiting the weaknesses of their divided rivals to emerge with a small parliamentary majority, despite still being virtually tied in the vote count.

Nine months later, Netanyahu, the man who promised, above everything else, to deliver security for Israel’s citizens, presided over the darkest day in his country’s existence. A total breakdown of the Israeli military and intelligence structure allowed Hamas to breach Israel’s border and embark on a rampage of murder, kidnapping, and rape, killing more than 1,100 Israelis and taking more than 250 hostage. The calamities of that day, the failures of leadership leading up to it, and the traumas it caused will haunt Israel for generations. Even leaving completely aside the war he has prosecuted since that day and its yet-unknown end, October 7 means that Netanyahu will always be remembered as Israel’s worst-ever leader. …

… He has brought far-right extremists into the mainstream of government and made himself, and the country, beholden to them. His corruption is flamboyant. And he has made terrible security decisions that brought existential danger to the country he pledged to lead and protect. Above all, his selfishness is without parallel: He has put his own interests ahead of Israel’s at every turn. …

… Israel’s worst prime minister didn’t just form an alliance of convenience with the country’s most irresponsible extremists; he made them integral to his party and the running of the state. …

The debate over judicial reform pitted two visions of Israel against each other. On one side was a liberal and secular Israel that relied on the supreme court to defend its democratic values; on the other, a religious and conservative Israel that feared that unelected judges would impose incompatible ideas on their Jewish values.

Netanyahu’s government made no attempt to reconcile these two visions. The prime minister had spent too many years, and all those toxic electoral campaigns, exploiting and deepening the rift between them. Even when he belatedly and halfheartedly tried to rein in the radical and fundamentalist demons he had ridden back into office, he found that he could no longer control them. …

… Netanyahu was a hard-line prime minister who had done everything in his power to derail the Oslo peace process and prevent any move toward compromise with the Palestinians. …

… If future biographers of Israeli prime ministers undertake a similar analysis, Netanyahu will no longer be able to claim the lowest casualty rate. His 16th year in office, 2023, was the third-bloodiest in Israel’s history, surpassed only by 1948 and 1973, Israel’s first year of independence and the year of the Yom Kippur War, respectively.…

The first nine months of 2023 had already seen a rise in deadly violence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as terrorist attacks within Israel’s borders. Then came the Hamas attack on October 7, in which at least 1,145 Israelis were massacred and 253 kidnapped and taken to Gaza. More than 30 hostages are now confirmed dead.

No matter how the war in Gaza ends, what happens in its aftermath, or when Netanyahu’s term finally ends, the prime minister will forever be associated above all with that day and the disastrous war that followed. He will go down as the worst prime minister because he has been catastrophic for Israeli security. …

In the months leading up to October 7, Israel’s intelligence community repeatedly warned Netanyahu that Iran and its proxies were plotting a major attack within Israel, though few envisaged something on the scale of October 7. By the fall of 2023, motives were legion: fear that an imminent Israeli diplomatic breakthrough with Saudi Arabia could change the geopolitics of the region; threats that Ben-Gvir would allow Jews greater access to the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and worsen conditions for Palestinian prisoners; rumors that the deepening tensions within Israeli society would render any response to an attack slow and disjointed.

Netanyahu chose to ignore the warnings. The senior officers and intelligence chiefs who issued them were, to his mind, conspiring with the law-enforcement agencies and legal establishment that had put him on trial and were trying to obstruct his government’s legislation. None of them had his experience and knowledge of the real threats facing Israel. Hadn’t he been right in the past when he’d refused to listen to leftist officials and so-called experts?

Hamas’s surprise attack on October 7 was the result of a colossal failure at all levels of Israel’s security and intelligence community. They had all seen the warning signals but continued to believe that the main threat came from Hezbollah, the larger and far better-equipped and trained enemy to the north. Israel’s security establishment believed that Hamas was isolated in Gaza, and that it and the other Palestinian organizations had been effectively deterred from attacking Israel.

Netanyahu was the originator of this assumption, and its biggest proponent. He believed that keeping Hamas in power in Gaza, as it had been for nearly two years when he returned to office in 2009, was in Israel’s interest. Periodic rocket attacks on Israeli communities in the south were a price worth paying to keep the Palestinian movement split between the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in the West Bank enclaves and Hamas in Gaza. Such division would push the troublesome two-state solution off the global agenda and allow Israel to focus on regional alliances with like-minded Arab autocracies that also feared Iran. The Palestinian issue would sink into irrelevance.

Netanyahu’s disastrous strategy regarding Gaza and Hamas is part of what makes him Israel’s worst prime minister, but it’s not the only factor. Previous Israeli prime ministers, too, blundered into bloody wars on the basis of misguided strategies and faulty advice from their military and intelligence advisers.

Netanyahu stands out from them for his refusal to accept responsibility, and for his political machinations and smear campaigns since October 7. He blames IDF generals and nourishes the conspiracy theory that they, in alliance with the protest movement, somehow allowed October 7 to happen.

Netanyahu believes that he is the ultimate victim of that tragic day. Convinced by his own campaign slogans, he argues that he is the only one who can deliver Israel from this valley of shadows to the sunlit uplands of “total victory.” He refuses to consider any advice about ending the war and continues to prioritize preserving his coalition, because he appears incapable of distinguishing between his own fate, now tainted by tragic failure, and that of Israel.

Many around the world assume that Israel’s war with Hamas has proceeded according to some plan of Netanyahu’s. This is a mistake. Netanyahu has the last word as prime minister and head of the emergency war cabinet, but he has used his power mainly to prevaricate, procrastinate, and obstruct. He delayed the initial ground offensive into Gaza, hesitated for weeks over the first truce and hostage-release agreement in November, and is now doing the same over another such deal with Hamas. For the past six months, he has prevented any meaningful cabinet discussion of Israel’s strategic goals. He has rejected the proposals of his own security establishment and the Biden administration. He presented vague principles for “the day after Hamas” to the cabinet only in late February, and they have yet to be debated.

However one views the war in Gaza—as a justified war of defense in which Hamas is responsible for the civilian casualties it has cynically hidden behind, or as an intentional genocide of the Palestinian people, or as anything in between—none of it is Netanyahu’s plan. That’s because Netanyahu has no plan for Gaza, only one for remaining in power. His obstructionism, his showdowns with generals, his confrontations with the Biden administration—all are focused on that end, which means preserving his far-right coalition and playing to his hard-core nationalist base. …

One man’s pursuit of power has diverted Israel from confronting its most urgent priorities: the threat from Iran, the conflict with the Palestinians, the desire to nurture a Westernized society and economy in the most contested corner of the Middle East, the internal contradictions between democracy and religion, the clash between tribal phobias and high-tech hopes. Netanyahu’s obsession with his own destiny as Israel’s protector has caused his country grievous damage.

Most Israelis already realize that Netanyahu is the worst of the 14 prime ministers their country has had in its 76 years of independence. But in the future, Jews might even remember him as the leader who inflicted the most harm on his people since the squabbling Hasmonean kings brought civil war and Roman occupation to Judea nearly 21 centuries ago. As long as he remains in power, he could yet surpass them.

💙🧵 RT @TheStudyofWar The Kremlin’s focus on degrading US decision-making is not opportunistic, new, or limited to Ukraine. Perception manipulation is a key element of Putin’s offset strategy – a way to achieve goals beyond the limits of Russia’s power. (1/4)
📌 ◕ [TextLink:] https://x.com/TheStudyofWar/status/1773047430558204343?s=20/photo/1

💙🧵 RT @TheStudyofWar Russia cannot defeat Ukraine or the West – and will likely lose – if the West mobilizes its resources to resist the Kremlin. ¤ That the war is unwinnable due to Russia’s dominance is a Kremlin information operation & a glimpse into Russia’s real strategy & only hope of success.
📌 [TextLink:] https://x.com/TheStudyofWar/status/1772941705903313328?s=20/photo/1
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/mry7mjcc

NYT, Paul Krugman: Why Has Obamacare Worked? https://tinyurl.com/3pubb8jv “[F]ederal spending on health care is currently considerably lower than the Congressional Budget Office projected before the A.C.A. went into effect, despite the expansion of coverage”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1773023666625732943?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @ReallyAmerican1 🚨BREAKING: In less than 24 hours after having a gag order imposed on him in the Stormy Daniels hush money case, Donald Trump has VIOLATED the order, resuming his attacks on Judge Juan Merchan, as well as his daughter.
🖼 [TextLink:] https://x.com/ReallyAmerican1/status/1773005542891442329?s=20/photo/1

The threatened penalty of non-compliance with the order is PRISON.

Trump again lashed out at the judge this morning, accusing him of suffering from “an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome” and calls the gag order imposed on him “unConstitutional.”

It’s time to stop playing with that dangerous lunatic and hold him accountable, before someone gets hurt.

⭕ 26 Mar 2024

YahooNews/TNR: James Comer Finally Admits Defeat in His Biden Impeachment Crusade https://tinyurl.com/y5p2tcxz “[W]ith his probe going up in flames around him, Comer is getting desperate for an ‘exit strategy,’ a congressional Republican anonymously told ABC earlier this month”

WaPo: Was the 2020 election stolen? Job interviews at RNC take an unusual turn. https://tinyurl.com/jrzsus6n “Prospective hires say agreeing with Trump’s false election claim appears to be a new litmus test for being hired by the party” Election denialism is now gospel at MAGA GOP

🐣 RT @anyonewantchips I’m so tired of those dismissing the Stormy Daniels hush money case. Trump silencing a porn star just before the election to prevent us from learning the ugly truth – is election interference. ¤ Judge Merchan sets the trial for April 15. And so it begins.
🖼 https://x.com/anyonewantchips/status/1772422412191080589?s=20/photo/1 -2

★ 🐣 RT @aseitzwald Worth repeating today: The idea that vaccines cause autism is based on research that was later retracted for apparent fraud and financial conflicts of interest. The lead author lost his medical license. [Vox link:] https://tinyurl.com/2rhju28k

Politico: ‘Assured failure’: Ex-White House lawyer provides new details of final days of Trump’s 2020 election gambit https://tinyurl.com/yjc53ncu
// Pat Philbin gave his first public testimony about the chaotic final days of the Trump presidency.

🐣 RT @levparnas EXCLUSIVE: What Motivates Trump’s Hatred of Ukraine – Lev Parnas #LevRemembers #ShadowDiplomacy [kyivpost link:] https://www.kyivpost.com/videos/30106

🐣 RT @BenHowe 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 – “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BenHowe/status/1772662304380727492?s=20/photo/1
// Trump hawking MAGA Bibles (I kid you not)

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA ⚡ “Some in Putin’s own circle see no Ukraine link to Moscow attack”, – Bloomberg ¤ ‼️Putin was present at discussions where officials agreed there’s no link to Kyiv, but remains determined to use the tragedy to try to rally Russians behind the war in Ukraine…

🐣 RT @neal_katyal My thread covering the abortion drug argument that my fabulous law partner Jess Ellsworth is arguing is below. The argument is close to over and right now it appears there is a wide consensus on the Court that the challenge to the drug will fail. Only Justice Alito appeared to accept the challengers’ theory.
⋙ 🧵 RT @neal_katyal SCOTUS oral argument on abortion drug has just begun. Solicitor General Prelogar opens with a powerful argument, on both legal standing and the safety of the drug. ¤ Justice Thomas asks the first question. About standing.
📌 https://x.com/neal_katyal/status/1772626731733533129?s=20
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/yzxyuxf5

🐣 RT @RBReich Stop asking “but how we will pay for it?” Restore the corporate tax rate. ¤ That is how we will pay for it.
◕ https://x.com/RBReich/status/1772685225065128218?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RBReich Trump says pardoning violent Jan 6 insurrections would be one of his first acts as President. ¤ This isn’t only disgusting, it’s incredibly dangerous. ¤ He’s offering a “get out of jail free” card to people who commit violence on his behalf. ¤ It welcomes more political violence.

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Donald Trump: “”I’m very highly educated. I know words, I know the best words.” ¤ Also Trump: “Buden” “Disinformates” “Misinformates” 🤡
[TextLink:] https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1772709505438040503?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump I’m not running to terminate the ACA, AS CROOKED JOE BUDEN DISINFORMATES AND MISINFORMATES ALL THE TIME, I’m running to CLOSE THE BORDER, STOP INFLATION, MAKE OUR ECONOMY GREAT, STRENGTHEN OUR MILITARY, AND MAKE THE ACA, or OBAMACARE, AS IT IS KNOWN, MUCH BETTER, STRONGER, AND FAR LESS EXPENSIVE. IN OTHER WORDS, MAKE THE ACA MUCH, MUCH, MUCH BETTER FOR FAR LESS MONEY (OR COST) TO OUR GREST AMERICAN CITIZENS, WHO HAVE BEEN DECIMATED BY BIDEN, HIS RECORD INFLATION, BAD ECONOMY, AFGHANISTAN CATASTROPHE, AND JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE. CROOKED JOE BIDEN IS, BY FAR, THE WORST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES! MAGA2024

🐣 RT @KyivIndependent ⚡️ Lukashenko claims Moscow attackers tried to flee to Belarus, undermines Putin’s narrative. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/yd45fwmv

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch BREAKING: NY Judge Merchan GAGS TRUMP from attacking witnesses, prosecutors, court staff, their families, and jurors. Trump earlier targeted the Judge’s daughter in a social media post.

🐣 RT @DanRather BREAKING: NBC News plans to drop former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel as a paid contributor, per Puck News. ¤ This is a good decision

WaPo: Supreme Court skeptical of efforts to restrict access to abortion pill https://tinyurl.com/yck22jru
// A majority of justices questioned whether the antiabortion doctors challenging the government’s loosening of regulations have sufficient legal grounds to bring the lawsuit limiting access to mifepristone.

WaPo: Is sorry enough? What Black Americans are owed in reparations. https://tinyurl.com/ybnf89ha
// San Francisco’s reparations proposal started off with an apology, but advocates want more

Comment: Almost no one came to this country who hadn’t been oppressed in their countries of origin. In Ireland and Ukraine, millions were intentionally starved to death (Holodomor). The word “slave” comes from “Slav.” Life for most was “nasty, brutish and short.” Irish, Chinese and others suffered discrimination for generations, doing the most dangerous jobs: building railroads, blasting mountains, digging canals, doing the high steel work on skyscrapers while living in slums. Women survived as domestics, factory workers, prostitutes. Child labor was prolific. We should teach ethnic history for all groups in this country, right after we teach basic civics. https://tinyurl.com/ybnf89ha

⋙ Comment: I am sure, and have read many books. The Irish didn’t decide for themselves to continue exports. The British minister in charge of the famine blamed the Irish for being lazy. My family came from County Mayo, one of the most severely affected areas.

Knowledge of the Holodomor was suppressed by the Russians, including Stalin, until Glastnost under Gorbachev. It reflected poorly on collectivization. This openness to discuss it, plus the calamity of Chernobyl, led to popular rejection of communism and the fall of USSR. The Holodomor has been classified as a genocide. (Sources: Bloodlands, Black Earth by Timothy Snyder; Gates of Europe by Serhii Plokhii)

⭕ 25 Mar 2024

😅 RT @TheDailyShow Jon Stewart unpacks Trump’s $454 million fraud penalty and the bogus idea being floated by “money experts” like Kevin O’Leary that it’s a “victimless” crime
💽 https://x.com/TheDailyShow/status/1772459624005861394?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @PaulaChertok THIS is the key point: #Maddow asks @NBCNews to reverse decision to hire McDaniel NOT b/c Ronna’s a liar & a GOP propagandist. But b/c her laundering Trump’s lies & fascist propaganda as RNC chair was key to the Republican Party becoming the grave threat to democracy it is today.
⋙ 🐣 RT @brianstelter >> @Maddow: Ronna McDaniel was part of a project to reject U.S. elections. “It didn’t work to overthrow the government the last time, but as long as you can build on that first effort… you are priming the American public to not accept the results of the NEXT election, either.”
💽 https://x.com/PaulaChertok/status/1772450947668566019?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @jeffstorobinsky I always respected @Lawrence but now that respect is exponentially greater. Bravo, sir. Well done.
💽 https://x.com/jeffstorobinsky/status/1772448053682708690?s=20/photo/1
/// tags: Meet the Press, Rona Rodney McDaniel, Tim Russert, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, don’t hire anyone close to the crimes

😅 RT @MikeSington This could be The Lincoln Project’s finest work: “The Phantom of the MAGA”.
💽 https://x.com/MikeSington/status/1772348752767943027?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @therecount “What NBC has done is, they’ve invited into what should be a normal framework someone who doesn’t believe that that framework should exist at all.”— Author @TimothyDSnyder to MSNBC host @NicolleDWallace on NBC News hiring former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Former GOP Rep. Ken Buck, who resigned from Congress last week: ¤ “It is the worst year of the nine years and three months that I’ve been in Congress, and having talked to former members, it’s the worst year in 40-50 years to be in Congress.”

🐣 RT @chucktodd The issue isn’t about ideology, it’s about basic truth. Those trying to make this a left-right issue are being intentionally dishonest. This is about whether honest journalists are supposed to lend their credibility to someone who intentionally tried to ruin ours.

🐣 RT @MaryLTrump While the media was focused on trying to convince us that the bond reduction was an unmitigated win for Donald, the results of a hearing in a courtroom a few blocks away was an unmitigated disaster for him…
¤ https://x.com/MaryLTrump/status/1772414015228068347?s=20

Here’s what happened and what it means:

As Donald sat in the courtroom, Judge Juan Merchan cut through his attempts to delay his election fraud case and scolded Donald’s attorneys for accusing the Manhattan DA’s office of prosecutorial misconduct with zero evidence.

As Merchan grew “uncharacteristically furious,” Donald reportedly “stood and scowled.”

Scowl harder, Donald.

But why did the New York election fraud case became Donald’s worst nightmare? ¤ At the close of the hearing, and despite protests from Donald’s attorneys, Judge Juan Merchan set the trial to begin on April 15. ¤ Prosecutors have told the court they will need 15 to 17 days at minimum to present their case. Judge Merchan has already made it clear he won’t tolerate any unnecessary delays.

What this really means is that today’s decision made it more likely that we will get a criminal verdict before the 2024 election, possibly with a few months to spare. ¤ Up to 53% of key swing state voters say they would refuse to vote for Donald if he were convicted of a criminal offense.

While the media will tell you Donald won today, he actually faces a better chance of being a convicted for a crime and being sentenced to prison before the election. That, in turn, makes it significantly less likely for him to win in November.

On top of that, New York State is one step closer to being made whole if they can secure that $175 million bond. That is, if Donald even has that much. ¤ I’ll take that news. How about you?

🐣 RT @JoohnChoe A few key events happened in the world I’m tracking that it’s probably worth recording publicly. ¤ There are two things that can happen with Ukraine aid right now: 1/18
¤ https://x.com/JoohnChoe/status/1772354983951728979?s=20
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1772354983951728979.html

🐣 RT @DanRather I’d like to weigh in on NBC news’ recent decision to hire Ronna McDaniel.
¤ https://x.com/DanRather/status/1772399351664451921?s=20

By giving her a platform, NBC has given legitimacy to the lies she helped the former president spread.

Now we come to the why. Why would NBC News hire someone as controversial? ¤ Here’s the reason: ¤ News gathering is a business, and the networks have prioritized widening their audience. ¤ They feel the need to show their Republican bona fides by hiring conservative voices.

But that is the crux of the problem. ¤ Which Republicans? ¤ Trump loyalists who are election deniers and January 6 apologists?

To me, that doesn’t seem like the answer.

It’s another reason independent journalism is essential right now, essential to provide unvarnished coverage in one of the most important elections in American history and to hold the mainstream media accountable.

🐣 RT @MaddowBlog Maddow: “I want to associate myself with all my colleagues both at MSNBC and at NBC News who have voiced loud and principled objections to our company putting on the payroll someone who hasn’t just attacked us as journalists but someone who is part of an ongoing project to get rid of our system of government.”
💽 https://x.com/MaddowBlog/status/1772437974124302813?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @SpryOld Reagan won re-election in 1984 in a landslide. ¤ So let’s compare America as it was then to Biden’s America now:
◕ https://x.com/SpryOld/status/1772288271919313204?s=20/photo/1
// Biden v Reagan

🐣 RT @TrumpDailyPosts
[TextLink:] https://x.com/TrumpDailyPosts/status/1772137165331570875?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] Why should a Crooked, highly political New York Judge, Arthur Engoron, working in concert and coordination with an even more Corrupt Attorney General, Letitia “Peekaboo” James, his Puppet Master, and the White House, be allowed to take away, and sell off, very successful properties and assets that took me years to zone, build and nurture into some of the best of their kind anywhere in the World – WHEN I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG! These Radical Left Lunatics and Communists ask me to pay a ridiculous and completely unheard of fine of over $450,000,000 only because they saw a similar amount in my bank account. I had intended to use much of that hard earned money on running for President. They don’t want me to do that — ELECTION INTERFERENCE!
Donald Trump Truth Social 12:10 AM EST 3/24/25

⭕ 24 Mar 2024

ForeignPolicy, Adrian Karatnycky: Russia Is Back to the Stalinist Future https://tinyurl.com/svmn8ucz “With a Soviet-style election, Vladimir Putin’s Russia has come full circle.”

WaPo: Trump asked if U.S. was better off in his last year. In many ways, the answer is no. https://tinyurl.com/y92tz4nd Trying to echo Reagan, Trump failed to remember that that week the country was in crisis due to COVID-19 and the Dow Jones had plunged by 10,000 points
// A look at the third week of March 2020 reveals a nation that was plunging into a pandemic, and a leader exhibiting the erratic characteristics that his supporters love and his detractors revile

WaPo: Weakened House GOP majority reckons with Johnson’s leadership https://tinyurl.com/ypmd5scb “Johnson has faced pressure from fellow Republicans to halt Ukraine aid efforts until border security-related funding is included.” ⇊
🐣 //➔ This is ridiculous, since Trump has told his followers NOT to pass a border bill this year; other ideas floated by Trump, such as loaning Ukraine money or cutting any humanitarian would have to go back to the Senate or face a possible presidential veto: … delay … delay … delay …
// “Spending bill passes with Democratic support, sparking familiar Republican complaints with still-new House speaker”

… “We don’t need dysfunction right now with the world on fire the way it is,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told CBS News on Sunday. “We need to govern, and that is not just for Republicans but in a bipartisan way.”

Greene’s threat may become more pressing next month when Johnson asks the House to approve additional funding for foreign allies and border security. She has repeatedly said that she would press a motion to vacate if Johnson put a Ukraine funding bill to the floor, a policy Greene and many other far-right members vehemently oppose. …

This Congress has had the smallest Republican majority in decades — and it’s shrinking. Gallagher’s retirement, announced last week, will make it even more difficult for Johnson to govern by simply relying on Republican votes.

It’s unclear how much political capital Johnson will need in bringing the conference on board to approve aid for Ukraine. While the Senate has passed a $95 billion bipartisan national security package — which includes several billion in aid to support Ukraine, assist Israel and combat Chinese military aggression in the Indo-Pacific — Johnson has faced pressure from fellow Republicans to halt Ukraine aid efforts until border security-related funding is included. ¤ Roy said Sunday that Johnson would face more difficulty if he pressed ahead with a vote on the measure.

Some Democrats, meanwhile, have since signaled publicly that they would come to Johnson’s aid to keep him in leadership if he brings Ukraine funding up for a vote.…

🐣 RT @wartranslated Ukrainian journalist Butusov on the Crocus massacre. Spot on: ¤ “The informational bomb of the terrorist attack covered up to the world the crimes and massacres that Putin commits every day.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/wartranslated/status/1772034876998291475?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] Putin’s bloody coronation. Instead of discussing the murder of Navalny, human rights violations in staged elections, instead of discussing the terrorist bombing of Ukraine and the mass murder of civilians in Ukraine,

Putin created a reason to extort condolences from the whole world for him personally. The informational bomb of the terrorist attack covered up to the world the crimes and massacres that Putin commits every day.

And all this, as the Russian media assures us, is thanks to four Tajiks, for whom someone granted citizenship and registration in the Russian Federation, someone prepared for a terrorist attack in Moscow, someone gave them weapons, someone did not interfere with killing, and someone… then he helped to leave the blockaded Moscow in a politically necessary direction.

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump .@anneapplebaum: “Trump has decided that he doesn’t want money to go to Ukraine…It’s a really extraordinary moment; we have an out-of-power ex-president who is in effect, dictating American foreign policy on behalf of a foreign dictator.”
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1771990872508293455?s=20/photo/1
// PBS Washington Week

NYT: Chuck Todd Questions His Network, NBC News, Over Hiring of Former RNC Chair https://tinyurl.com/3khevnmd His comments “revealed tensions in NBC’s news divisions over Ronna McDaniel, who recently stepped down as head of the Republican National Committee”
// The extraordinary comments on “Meet the Press” revealed tensions in NBC’s news divisions over Ronna McDaniel, who recently stepped down as head of the Republican National Committee.

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Former GOP Rep. Ken Buck rips House Republicans:
¤ https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1771968352698650720?s=20

“Since this Congress started, there have been efforts to impeach the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the president, the attorney general, the FBI director, and, in fact, did impeach the director of — the secretary of homeland security.

Serious problems with setting priorities. We have a very tragic circumstance in Ukraine. We have spiraling debt, all kinds of out-of-control problems, and we focus on messaging bills that get us nowhere.”

🧵 RT @Mylovanov Many argue that Russian FSB organized the terror attack in Moscow ¤ I think they are wrong and this is why: the U.S. “duty to warn” policy ¤ The U.S. indeed warned Russia about the attack. It can embarrass Russia by releasing the details of its warning. 1/
📌 💽 [TextLink:] https://x.com/Mylovanov/status/1771920280446705728?s=20/photo/1
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/5dwxurf5

🐣 RT @Kasparov63 A new loyalty test has arrived from the Kremlin: blaming Ukraine for the Crocus terror attack despite no credible evidence or time yet to make up the usual fakes. Let’s see who parrots this homicidal garbage for no reason other than that their master in Moscow says it.

🐣 RT @mfa_russia #Opinion by Russian MFA Spokswoman Maria Zakharova
💬 Anything said in Washington to whitewash Kiev before the end of the investigation into the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall should be regarded as incriminating evidence. ¤ 🔗 https://t.me/MFARussia/19590
⋙ 🐣 such a stupid word game these people play, thinking the can shape world opinion as easily as they create the alternative reality they force Russians to live in
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1771944770329264375?s=20/photo/1
// “This is your brain on Russian pretzel logic.”

🐣 RT @mfa_russia #Opinion by Russian MFA Spokswoman Maria Zakharova
💬 Anything said in Washington to whitewash Kiev before the end of the investigation into the terrorist attack at the Crocus City Hall should be regarded as incriminating evidence. ¤ 🔗 https://t.me/MFARussia/19590

WaPo: Terrorist attack in Russia exposes vulnerabilities of Putin’s regime. https://tinyurl.com/223ptv3a “[F]ormer US officials said the potential terrorist threat emanating from Central Asia had become a blind spot of the Putin regime while it focused on pursuing political enemies … ”

When Vladimir Putin finally spoke about the worst terrorist attack to hit Russia in 20 years, he swept over the glaring failure of his security state to prevent the assault, which left at least 133 dead, despite a clear warning from the United States on March 7 that a strike on a concert hall could be imminent.

He also made no reference to the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the attack at the Crocus City concert hall on Friday and which Putin denounced repeatedly as an enemy throughout Russia’s long military intervention in Syria. In 2017, Putin declared victory over the Islamic State, also known as ISIS.

Putin instead used his five-minute televised address on Saturday to emphasize that the four direct perpetrators were “moving toward Ukraine” when they were detained and that “a window was prepared for them from the Ukrainian side to cross the state border.” He did not directly accuse Ukraine, which has denied any involvement, but a reference to “Nazis” — his usual label for the Ukrainian government — made clear that he was blaming Kyiv. …

Despite Putin’s rhetoric seeking to implicate Ukraine, analysts, former U.S. security officials and members of the Russian elite said the assault underscored the vulnerabilities of Putin’s wartime regime, which were also evident when Yevgeniy Prigozhin led his Wagner mercenaries in a brief mutiny aiming to oust top defense officials in June. …

A Russian academic with close ties to senior Moscow diplomats offered a similar assessment of Russia’s failure to prevent Friday night’s attack. “It’s clear that we will search for Ukrainian fingerprints and possibly those of Western security services,” the academic said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because Putin’s regime often retaliates against critics. “But probably any investigation will find failures by our security services.”

🐣 RT @haaretzcom U.S. can’t stop Israel’s Rafah offensive, Netanyahu tells Blinken: Netanyahu said he told the U.S. Secretary of State that Israel “will do it alone” if necessary, as Blinken said the invasion would further isolate Israel internationally

🐣 RT @front_ukrainian ⚡️StratCom of the Armed Forces of 🇺🇦Ukraine reports that as a result of yesterday’s strike on the temporarily occupied Crimea, two 🇷🇺Russian Large Landing Ships “Azov” and “Yamal” were damaged/destroyed, as well as a communication center and several infrastructure facilities of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol

🐣 RT @CREWcrew Groups linked to megadonors Leonard Leo and the Koch network have poured $55 million into groups helping to create a GOP “government-in-waiting” ready made for a second Trump administration.
⋙ NBCNews: Leonard Leo, Koch networks pour millions into groups prepping for potential second Trump administration https://tinyurl.com/4bstyf5r
// 3/21/2024; A review by the progressive advocacy group Accountable.US shows $55 million flowing from Leo- and Koch-backed groups.

⭕ 23 Mar 2024

🐣 RT @paulkrugman So, did the ACA bend the cost curve? Call it coincidence, but excess cost growth — health spending growing faster than GDP — basically ended when it was passed
◕ https://x.com/paulkrugman/status/1771786159452024908?s=20/photo/1

🧵 RT @Mylovanov Putin might not have a choice but to blame Ukraine for the terrorist attack in Moscow. He might not be successful, though, because the facts point to Islamic radicals. ¤ This is why:
1. The Russian law enforcement’ve shown suspects 1/
📌 https://x.com/Mylovanov/status/1771492547606577262?s=20/photo/1
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1771492547606577262.html

🐣 RT @JohnJHarwood the combination of resentment, stupidity and greed that fuels Trump’s epic con is breath-taking and sad

🐣 RT @progavalanche
Rudi Giuliani knew.
Sean Hannity, John Solomon & the gang at Faux knew.
Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) knew.
Rep Pete Sessions (R – TX) knew.
They knew they were part of a Russian disinformation campaign & had no problem with that. ¤ #DemCast #DemVoice1 #wtpBLUE
💽 https://x.com/progavalanche/status/1771546005382615117?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @ReneDuba Quote: “If Ukraine falls, hundreds of millions thousands more would be forced to join the Russian military [..] a conquered Ukraine would also provide Russia with vast natural resources, industrial strength, and agricultural wealth.” [..] 1/2
⋙⋙ AtlanticCouncil, Mykola Bielieskov: Russian victory in Ukraine would leave Europe at Putin’s mercy https://tinyurl.com/36pnams7
⋙ 🐣 RT @ReneDuba “Indeed, the occupation of Ukraine would allow Russia to dominate global agricultural markets.” … 2/2

🧵 RT @dcpetterson I want to remind everyone of the fear we all felt four years ago, as Trump’s intentional mismanagement fed a terrifying pandemic. Here are some random news stories from the period Mar 20 – Mar 25, 2020. 1/8
📌 https://x.com/dcpetterson/status/1771575235998798316?s=20

🐣 RT @tribelaw Timothy Ryback’s new book, “Takeover: Hitler’s Final Rise to Power,” details “week by week, day by day, and sometimes hour by hour, how a country with a functional, if flawed, democratic machinery handed absolute power over to someone who could never claim a majority in an actual election and whom the entire conservative political class regarded as a chaotic clown with a violent following.”
⋙ NewYorker, Adam Gopnik: The Forgotten History of Hitler’s Establishment Enablers https://tinyurl.com/42vt3jeh https://tinyurl.com/42vt3jeh “The Nazi leader didn’t seize power; he was given it.”

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder Horrible though utterly predictable. Russian propagandists blame the US for the terror attack because US dutifully warned Russia that it was coming. And blame Ukraine because that’s what’s convenient, not even giving a reason.
⋙ 🐣 RT @JuliaDavisNews Meanwhile in Russia: like many mainstream propagandists, Sergey Karnaukhov blamed Ukraine, the US and UK for the Crocus City Hall attack. He broadcast a deepfake video of Oleksiy Danilov to make it seem like Ukraine—and not ISIS—accepted responsibility.
💽 https://youtu.be/MkWNScdTEpU

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Trump in May 2018: We will have health care plans in 4 weeks
June 2018: I will have a health care plan in 2 weeks
July 2020: We will have a health care plan in 2 weeks
September 2020: I have my health care plan all ready
(We’re still waiting)
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1771599336947822815?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RBReich Look at this graph. ¤ The share of national income going to the richest 10 percent was lowest (and share to lower 90 percent highest) when union membership was at its highest. ¤ As unions have weakened, inequality has widened. ¤ This is why we must build back union power.
◕ https://x.com/RBReich/status/1771605604819181761?s=20/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 also: raise taxes on the wealthy ⬇️
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1771611912230273033?s=20/photo/1

WaPo, Max Boot: Putin fixates on imaginary foes while terrorists attack Moscow https://tinyurl.com/yhpphpbm “The Kremlin’s failure to stop an ISIS-K attack comes only a few months after the U.S. intelligence community had provided a similar warning of an ISIS-K attack to Iran — only to have the mullahs also turn a deaf ear to the words of the ‘Great Satan.’”

WaPo: Death toll from Moscow concert attack rises to 133 as more bodies found https://tinyurl.com/yufv5d64 Putin has called for a national day of mourning to be held on March 24.

🐣 RT @pravda_eng Russia’s Security Council suggests Ukraine “may have been involved in terrorist attack near Moscow” [PravdaUA link:] https://tinyurl.com/464x6rts
⋙ 🐣 except: the US predicted it based on intel and ISIS said they did it ¤ Ukraine, unlike Russia, follows the humanitarian laws of war; Ukraine attacks military targets, not civilian ones
⋙ 🐣 RT @virago08022961 Nevermind that Russia is fighting ISIS in Burkino Faso, Mali, and Syria.
Nevermind that ISIS-K bombed Russia’s Kabul embassy in 2022.
Nevermind that Russia raided an ISIS cell just earlier this month.
It must be Ukraine.

🐣 RT @front_ukrainian ⚡️The number of people killed during the attack on the 🇷🇺Russian “Crocus City Hall” has increased to 82 people ¤ The Russians report that they detained two suspects in the Bryansk region. They are citizens of Tajikistan.
📌 💽 🖼 https://x.com/front_ukrainian/status/1771432635493216614?s=20/photo/1 -4

🐣 These MAGA Senators shamelessly complain about the border, knowing full well that they all bowed to Trump to NOT pass the conservative border bill – just a few weeks ago – because Trump wanted to use the border issue to run on. “Blame ME!” he said. ¤ So why are they blaming Biden?

🐣 The MAGA Senators are up late tonight filming their extremist talking points videos for Fox “News.” None of their proposed “amendments” can pass without tossing the country into a shutdown. But they‘re keeping their colleagues up late — because they can. Pretty selfish.

⭕ 22 Mar 2024

🐣 RT @RealJakeBroe The United States last week issued public statements that a major terrorist attack inside Russia was imminent. ¤ So that means there are only two possibilities:
1) The United States has better intelligence gathering methods inside of Russia than Russia’s own intelligence agencies and Russia’s intelligence agencies completely missed this, or
2) Russian intelligence had the exact same information The United States did about this terrorist attack and they did nothing to stop it on purpose.
Both of these options are pretty bad for Russia.
⋙ 🐣 RT @NatalkaKyiv Putin (a few days ago) about the possibility of terrorist acts in Russia. ⬇️ #Crocus #Moscow #Russia #Putin
💽 [tr] https://x.com/RealJakeBroe/status/1771367824382108143?s=20/photo/1
// Putin accuses US of blackmail and trying to destabilize Russia
🧵 RT @MuellerSheWrote THREAD: I’d like to share some facts. That’s all. Just facts. ¤ DoJ opened an IG investigation into Trump’s DoJ’s involvement in the coup on January 25, 2021. 19 days after the insurrection. 1/
📌 https://x.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1771045919695282490?s=20/photo/1
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/bdu6c7c4

NYT, Jamelle Bouie: The Supreme Court Is Playing a Dangerous Game https://tinyurl.com/5yxwnd6y The SCOTUS “is playing its own version of the dangerous game that brought the [pre-Civil War] Taney court to ruin. [It] is making a bet, in other words, that it is truly unaccountable.”

If the chief currency of the Supreme Court is its legitimacy as an institution, then you can say with confidence that its account is as close to empty as it has been for a very long time. …

Over the past month, members of that majority have effectively rewritten the 14th Amendment to functionally shield Donald Trump from the constitutional consequences of his actions leading up to and on Jan. 6. They have taken up the former president’s tendentious argument that he is immune to criminal prosecution for all actions taken while in office — postponing a trial and potentially denying the public the right to know, before we go to the polls in November, whether he is a criminal in the eyes of the law.

Most recently, the court allowed the State of Texas, governed by a cadre of some of the most reactionary conservatives in the country, to carry out its own immigration policy in contravention of both federal officials and the general precedent that it’s the national government that handles the national border, not the states.

It is enough to make teachers and practitioners of constitutional law wonder, as my colleague Jesse Wegman noted last month, whether there’s any reason to play the table as though it were still on the level — to continue to treat the court as if it were anything other than a partisan political institution.

Here I want to raise an additional point. It’s not just the recent actions of the Supreme Court — including the corrupt conduct of some of its members — that jeopardize its legitimacy and political standing but also the circumstances under which this particular court majority came into being.

There is no way to look past the fact that five of the six members of the conservative majority on the Roberts court were nominated by presidents who entered office without the winds of a popular majority. John Roberts and Samuel Alito, the author of Dobbs, were placed on the court by George W. Bush, who entered office short of a popular vote win and on the strength of a contested Electoral College victory. The other three — Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett — were nominated by Trump, who lost the national popular vote by more than two million ballots in 2016.

The three Trump justices bring additional baggage. Each one was nominated and confirmed in a show of partisan power politics. Gorsuch was the direct beneficiary of Senator Mitch McConnell’s blockade of the seat held by Justice Antonin Scalia, who died early in 2016. Republicans, led by McConnell, then the Senate majority leader, refused to give President Barack Obama’s nominee, Judge Merrick Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee. It was the first time the Senate had simply ignored a president’s nominee for the Supreme Court.

Kavanaugh was confirmed by a narrow vote of 50 to 48 (with one abstention and one absence) in the face of a credible accusation of sexual assault. Barrett was confirmed in flagrant violation of McConnell’s own rule for Supreme Court nominations. To block Garland, McConnell said that it was too close to an election to move forward; to confirm Barrett, McConnell said that it was too close to an election to wait.

There is no question that the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs was the catalyst for its poor standing with the public. But the Dobbs majority owes itself to a garish Republican partisanship that almost certainly worked to weaken the political ground on which it stood in relation to the American people.

At the risk of sounding a little dramatic, you can draw a useful comparison between the Supreme Court’s current political position and the one it held on the eve of the 1860 presidential election. …

The Supreme Court did not have the political legitimacy to issue a ruling as broad and potentially far-reaching as Dred Scott, and the result was to mobilize a large segment of the public against the court. …

[T]his Supreme Court — the Roberts court — is playing its own version of the dangerous game that brought the Taney court to ruin. It is acting as if the public must obey its dictates. It is acting as if its legitimacy is incidental to its power. It is acting as if it cannot be touched or brought to heel. ¤ The Supreme Court is making a bet, in other words, that it is truly unaccountable.

WaPo, Fareed Zakaria: How to beat the backlash that threatens the liberal revolution https://tinyurl.com/y8uyw7my “[T]he greatest danger we face is that in the heart of the West itself, there are people who reject the Enlightenment project” — book excerpt

🐣 RT @CREWcrew BREAKING: The biggest institutional investor in the SPAC that’s merging with Truth Social is Susquehanna International Group LLP, which was co-founded by GOP megadonor Jeffrey Yass. ¤ The deal is poised to give Donald Trump a massive financial lifeline.
⋙ 🐣 RT @CREWcrew Yass is a major investor in ByteDance and may be behind Trump’s flip flopping on a TikTok ban. ¤ He also happens to be the single biggest political donor in the U.S. this cycle.
⋙ ProPublica (2022): Meet the Billionaire and Rising GOP Mega-Donor Who’s Gaming the Tax System https://tinyurl.com/242ua47v
// 6/21/2022; Susquehanna founder and TikTok investor Jeff Yass has avoided $1 billion in taxes while largely escaping public scrutiny. He’s now pouring his money into campaigns to cut taxes and support election deniers.

🐣 RT @BidenHQ .@ChelseaClinton: Donald Trump said he’s in favor of a national abortion ban. He has said he will overturn the Affordable Care Act. He will cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, imperiling vulnerable women. He said he will punish women who sought abortion
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1771268415153398199?s=20/photo/1
// on The View

🐣 RT @PaulaChertok Fun Fact: Moscow’s Crocus City Hall is where Trump held the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant. The venue is owned by Russian oligarch Aras Agalarov, a go-between for the infamous Trump Tower meeting with Russians seeking to help Trump win the 2016 election. It’s in the Mueller Report.

🐣 RT @nexta_tv ‼️ The ISIS terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack in Moscow ¤ This is reported by the Russian media with reference to the terrorists’ official social networks.

🐣 RT @FLOTUS You are brave, and we love you. ~Jill
⋙ 🐣 RT @KensingtonRoyal A message from Catherine, The Princess of Wales
💽 https://x.com/FLOTUS/status/1771272261095317819?s=20/photo/1
// she has cancer

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump 🚨 BREAKING After announcing last month that he won’t run for another term, Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher just announced he will resign from Congress on April 19. ¤ All the smart Republicans are ditching the sinking ship.

🐣 RT @ianbremmer if russia had independent media, this would make putin look particularly incompetent.
// “Putin recently dismissed U.S. warning of potential terrorist attacks in Moscow: On March 19, Vladimir Putin dismissed warnings from U.S. diplomats that there was an imminent risk of a terrorist attack at a crowded venue in Moscow. The Russian president called the warnings ‘outright blackmail’ by the West and an attempt to ‘intimidate anddestabilize our society.’”

🐣 RT @NewsHour [PBS] Several assailants burst into a large concert hall in Moscow on Friday and sprayed the crowd with gunfire, killing at least 40 people, injuring more than 100 and setting fire to the venue in a brazen attack. [link:] https://tinyurl.com/2pj5kxt7

WaPo, Mark Theissen: Republicans are dangerously close to owning the fall of Ukraine https://tinyurl.com/wd7cywvb “Imagine the outrage as stunned Americans watch Russian forces marching into Kyiv, slaughtering and pillaging as they did in Bucha at the start of the war”

❗🐣 RT @IanSams46 James Comer admits defeat ¤ Impeachment is over
The Hill: Comer suggests impeachment vote not ‘best path’ on Biden probe https://tinyurl.com/mryyh79d

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary Leader Jeffries: Let us turn to our national security priorities and make sure that we don’t abandon the people of Ukraine in their hour of greatest need.
💽 https://x.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1771204944311234777?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @atrupar quiet part loud
⋙ 🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski Scott Perry says Republicans should vote against this bill because it provides for 23,000 new Border Patrol Agents and 41,500 new detention facility beds, and this will give Democrats something to run on in the upcoming election.

🐣 RT @RBReich The Republican budget proposal released this week…
-Cuts $1.5 trillion from Social Security
-Repeals Medicare’s ability to negotiate drug prices
-Nixes Medicare’s $35 out-of-pocket cap on insulin
All to pay for trillions of dollars in tax cuts skewed in favor of the rich.

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski,BREAKING: Marge Greene has filed a Motion to Vacate Mike Johnson from the Speaker’s Chair. ¤ Let the games begin.

‼️ 🐣 RT @NFX360 Zelenskyy’s office denies US asked Ukraine to stop attacks on russian refineries.
[RBC-UA link:] https://tinyurl.com/y8e5yp39
[AJE link:] https://tinyurl.com/32m7t98s
[TextLink:] https://x.com/NFX360/status/1771193949098582465?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] Zelenskyy’s office denies US asked Ukraine to stop attack on Russian refineries

Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian president’s office, has denied that Washington demanded that Ukraine stop attacks on Russia’s oil infrastructure.

“This is fictitious information. After two years of a full-scale war, no one will dictate to Ukraine the terms of waging this war,” he said in an interview with Russia’s Dozhd media outlet.

“Within the framework of international law, Ukraine can ‘degrease’ Russian instruments of warfare. Fuel is a basic tool for warfare. Ukraine will destroy the fuel infrastructure,” Podolyak added.

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow “We’re gonna deport a lot of people, 10 million people and growing – anchor babies, their parents, their grandparents. We’re gonna put kids in cages. It’s gonna be glorious.” @JasonSCampbell – Mike Davis, The Article III Project. Ex-Gorsuch clerk. (2023)
💽 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1771143096832549113?s=20/photo/1

‼️ 🐣 RT @NFX360 Ukraine denies US requested to halt strikes on russian oil refineries.

🐣 RT @anneapplebaum Hard to think of worse timing for this pressure. Ukraine is running out of anti-aircraft/anti-missile ammo because of US dithering – and at the same time US is putting pressure on Ukraine to stop their incredibly successful attacks on Russian refineries?

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🙏 More than 1,000 miners in the Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions are stuck underground due to the Russian attack, – Ministry of Energy

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: Joe Scarborough just slammed the media for covering the border crisis and ignoring the fact that Donald Trump admitted this was all his fault. Retweet to ensure all Americans see this.

🐣 RT @Billbrowder I don’t get this. The US is asking to Ukrainians to stop attacking Russian energy infrastructure when Russian energy is the main source of funding the war. What do they expect Ukraine to do? Just be attacked by Russia and do nothing?
⋙ 🐣 RT @ChristopherJM Scoop: The US has urged Ukraine to halt attacks on Russia’s energy infrastructure, warning senior SBU and GUR officials that drone strikes risk driving up global oil prices and provoking retaliation. w/ @hallbenjamin @felschwartz @mylesmccormick_ https://tinyurl.com/yc25cx9w via @FT

🐣 RT @U24_gov_ua Today, russia struck the largest blow to Ukraine’s energy sector. This includes damage to the largest hydroelectric power plant in Ukraine. ¤ russian missiles do not have delays like aid packages to Ukraine. Shaheds aren’t indecisive, unlike some politicians. ¤ Over 60 Shaheds and almost 90 missiles of various types were used. Dozens of buildings were destroyed. Hundreds of thousands are without electricity. There are wounded and dead. ¤ We need the world’s support to protect ourselves from the terrorists. ¤ #RussiaisATerroristState

WaPo: Kushner’s Gaza remarks are a dark signal for Trump’s second-term policy https://tinyurl.com/34yc44zf “[A] second Trump term could mean greater U.S. support for Israelis who want to expel Palestinians from Gaza and resettle the area themselves”

🐣 RT @ChristopherJM After 2 days of massive air strikes, Zelensky blasted Ukraine’s western partners over failure to provide military assistance. “There are no delays in Russian missiles, unlike aid packages to our state. Shaheds have no indecision, unlike some politicians.”

🐣 RT @JayinKyiv Millions of people are now without electricity throughout Ukraine after Russian missiles targeted power plants. ¤ Under supplied air defenses now allow Russians to pick their targets. ¤ Once the air defense systems themselves are hit, it’s over. ¤ Europe needs to get ready for a humanitarian catastrophe not seen since 1945.

🐣 RT @TOGAjano21 Poland’s Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski: If the US fails to deliver military support to Ukraine despite the Commander-in-Chief’s desire to do so (President Biden), allies will start developing their own nuclear weapons because America is dysfunctional and unreliable.

🐣 how tone-deaf can you be? ¤ Russia is bombing Ukraine with hundred of missiles tonight, going after power plants and dams. ¤ EU/NATO have failed to shut down Russian oil exports, Ru’s ONLY source of 💰 ¤ Then when Ukr succeeds at this, the US complains, while NOT providing weapons to Ukr‼️

🐣 RT @Podolyak_M A massive missile attack on Ukraine. Large cities, critical infrastructure, energy facilities, civilian infrastructure, residential neighborhoods and the largest Dnipro hydroelectric power plant (Dnieper HPP).
¤ https://x.com/Podolyak_M/status/1771078286287790505?s=20/photo/1

Russia continues to scale up the unconditional terrorist component of this war, enjoying other people’s rhetoric about “de-escalation by reducing military supplies to Ukraine” and waiting for the final entrenchment of the traditional thesis “peace can only be achieved through increased massacres of Ukrainians”.

Or events should develop differently? Russia has to be really isolated, any relations with it have to be frozen, Ukraine has to receive much more air defense systems and of course long-range missiles have to become mandatory…

⭕ 21 Mar 2024

NYT (Mar 21): Large Grocers Took Advantage of Pandemic Supply Chain Disruptions, F.T.C. Finds https://tinyurl.com/y2w568yw “A report found that large firms pressured suppliers to favor them over competitors. It also concluded that some retailers ‘seem to have used rising costs as an opportunity to further hike prices.’”

NYT: Trump Told Pence Certifying Election Would Be ‘Career Killer,’ Valet Testified https://tinyurl.com/5a974kkb “Trump warned his vice president against failing to overturn the 2020 election results, according to an account by the White House valet by his side on Jan. 6.”

TheAtlantic, George Makari and Richard A. Friedman: It’s Not the Economy. It’s the Pandemic. https://tinyurl.com/384fcc7z “Joe Biden is paying the price for America’s unprocessed COVID grief.”

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Nikki Haley reported more cash on hand at the end of February than the RNC. ¤ Let that sink in.

WaPo: ‘Very, very troubling’: Judges, lawyers flummoxed by Judge Aileen Cannon https://tinyurl.com/4x5jt7vy “The jurist overseeing Donald Trump’s classified documents case in Florida has raised eyebrows and alarms with her latest order”

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Former Trump WH lawyer Ty Cobb rips into Judge Aileen Cannon for her handling of the classified document case: ¤ “It’s really remarkable some of the things she’s done…Just fundamentally unhinged.”
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1770965779330068784?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @michellelprice New: Donald Trump’s new joint fundraising agreement with the RNC directs donations to his campaign and a political action committee that pays the former president’s legal bills before the RNC gets a cut: [AP link:] https://tinyurl.com/32x5mrpu

🐣 RT @ChrisVanHollen The Netanyahu govt’s claim that UNRWA is a “front” for Hamas is simply false. The inconvenient truth is that, prior to horrific Oct 7 attack on Israel, it was Netanyahu who enabled Hamas in Gaza—all b/c he wanted to block a 2-state solution. It is well documented—take a listen ⬇️
💽 [2/28] https://x.com/ChrisVanHollen/status/1770960238050529770?s=20/photo/1

🧵 RT @ZelenskyyUa Today, I addressed the European Council outlining five crucial elements to defend Ukraine and all of Europe from Russian aggression and terror:
1️⃣ Air defense
2️⃣ Artillery ammunition
3️⃣ Europe’s defense self-sufficiency
4️⃣ Europe’s political unity
5️⃣ Frozen Russian assets
📌 https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1770874991610929351?s=20

🐣 RT @RepTedLieu Remember just a few weeks ago when House Republicans said they support IVF? ¤ Well 80% of them just endorsed a “budget” that backs the Life at Conception bill, which would effectively ban IVF treatment if enacted. ¤ The hypocrisy is shameful.

🐣 RT @ChrisMurphyCT We negotiated a bipartisan border deal that
✔️closes the border during times of high crossings
✔️reduces asylum processing times from 10 years to 6 months
✔️invests $20 million in border security
And Republicans killed it because they want to the border to stay a mess.

🐣 RT @MFA_Ukraine 💬 “If the US cannot help Ukraine, then the question is, who else they can help, shall a war of this or a smaller scale break out in other parts of the world?” — @DmytroKuleba at a briefing with over 160 media from 65 countries, addressing the issue of partners’ assistance to 🇺🇦

🐣 RT @MurderedHornet Turns out these two MAGA clowns have inadvertently done us a public service by exposing both Bill Barr’s corruption and the Republicans acting as Russian assets in our government.
🖼 https://x.com/MurderedHornet/status/1770818839657283637?s=20/photo/1 -2
// photos Jim Jordan and James Comer

🧵 RT @RepSlotkin Last month, after attending a briefing at the Pentagon, I warned of the dire consequences of a failure to pass Ukraine aid that would cause shortages of critical munitions, emboldening Putin. Now, in the weeks since, we are seeing the effects of those consequences: 1/7
📌 https://x.com/RepSlotkin/status/1770914070612361397?s=20

🐣 RT @Laurie_Garrett ICYMI the House #Republicans finally released a U.S. budget, countering the #BidenAdministration proposal. The GOP budget:
– cuts $1.5 trillion from Social Security
– raises Medicare costs & cuts caps on pharma fees
– cuts Medicaid, ACA/Obamacare & the Children’s Health Insurance Prog by $4.5 trillion over 10 years
– creates $5.5 trillion in tax cuts for the rich and corporations
– eliminates all clean energy tax incentives
– raises Social Security Retirement age to 69.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Laurie_Garrett And now, #Biden reaction to #Republican budget proposal:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Laurie_Garrett/status/1770841167476777081?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] Statement from President Joe Biden on the Republican Study Committee Budget

My dad had an expression, “Don’t tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I’ll tell you what you value.” The Republican Study Committee budget shows what Republicans value. This extreme budget will cut Medicare, Social Security, and the Affordable Care Act. It endorses a national abortion ban. The Republican budget will raise housing costs and prescription drugs costs for families. And it will shower giveaways on the wealthy and biggest corporations. Let me be clear: I will stop them.

My budget represents a different future. One where the days of trickle-down economics are over and the wealthy and biggest corporations no longer get all the breaks. A future where we restore the right to choose and protect other freedoms, not take them away. A future where the middle class finally has a fair shot, and we protect Social Security so the working people who built this country can retire with dignity. I see a future for all Americans and I will never stop fighting for that future.

⋙ 🐣 the choice couldn’t be clearer:
– Dems care about people
– the GOP cares about wealthy donors
Taxes among advanced economies: [expand chart]
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1770858537435947091?s=20/photo/1
// “Government Tax Revenues Smaller in the United States Than in Nearly All OECD Countries U.S. federal, state, and local tax revenues as a percent of gross domestic product, 2020

🐣 RT @pravda_eng 😯 Speaker Johnson vows not to delay assistance for Ukraine: We won’t allow terrorists and tyrants to march through the globe [link:] https://tinyurl.com/2s7rfrp4
⋙ PravdaUA: “He said that after resolving the budgetary issues, ’we’ll turn to the supplemental issues’ … will most likely address the bill on funding assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and other US partners after 8 April” 👀

Congress is supposed to approve the budget by 22 March, otherwise a so-called shutdown, a temporary cessation of operations of US government agencies, may occur. ¤ However, Johnson said, budgetary issues are already practically agreed upon and should be voted on this week, although they were preceded by “very tough negotiations”. ¤ Meanwhile, after 22 March, the House of Representatives begins a two-week recess, so lawmakers will most likely address the bill on funding assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and other US partners after 8 April.

Details: He said that after resolving the budgetary issues, “we’ll turn to the supplemental issues”. 

Congress is supposed to approve the budget by 22 March, otherwise a so-called shutdown, a temporary cessation of operations of US government agencies, may occur. ¤ However, Johnson said, budgetary issues are already practically agreed upon and should be voted on this week, although they were preceded by “very tough negotiations”. ¤ Meanwhile, after 22 March, the House of Representatives begins a two-week recess, so lawmakers will most likely address the bill on funding assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and other US partners after 8 April.

⭕ 20 Mar 2024

r/GenZ (Mar): You’re being targeted by disinformation networks that are vastly more effective than you realize. And they’re making you more hateful and depressed. https://tinyurl.com/y3pb5r8e

🐣 RT @tlow Some ex-DOJ lawyers finally speaking bluntly about this travesty. Andrew Weissman called Aileen Cannon’s actions a “catch and kill” for trump. The question is what does the judicial conference do? What does the 11th Circuit do? What do other fed judges do? @SenWhitehouse
[TextLink:] https://x.com/tlow/status/1770951872079352290?s=20/photo/1
// full page from WaPo
↥ ↧
WaPo: ‘Very, very troubling’: Judges, lawyers flummoxed by Judge Aileen Cannon https://tinyurl.com/4x5jt7vy “The jurist overseeing Donald Trump’s classified documents case in Florida has raised eyebrows and alarms with her latest order”

🐣 RT @FactFreeh Pete Sessions, son of former FBI Director William Sessions, who worked for Russian mobster Semion Mogilevich.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Parnas: My original indictment linked me to an individual referred to as unindicted coconspirator . We know now this individual to be Congressman Pete Sessions who sits on this very committee
💽 https://x.com/FactFreeh/status/1770485619304595924?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Four years ago today, as Americans sought federal guidance during a raging pandemic, Trump went on TV to tout the unapproved hydroxychloroquine: It may work, it may not work. It’s just a feeling. You know, I’m a smart guy. I feel good about it
★ ⋙ Forbes (Jan 7, 2024): Hydroxychloroquine, A Drug Trump Promoted To Treat Covid-19, Linked To 17,000 Deaths, Estimates Show https://tinyurl.com/26h7smfr “The moral of this story is that when presidents with no medical expertise contravene public health entities, expect trouble”

🐣 📋 RT @RBReich The IRS is sending out more than 125,000 notices to individuals who made $400,000 or more and failed to file returns between 2017 and 2021. ¤ It’s estimated that the richest Americans are dodging $150 billion worth of taxes every year. ¤ This is why IRS funding is a good thing.

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Four years ago today, the stock market logged its worst week since the Great Recession ¤ Today, the Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq hit the highest level they’ve ever been in history
💽 [TextLink:] https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1770611759507718555?s=20/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @atrupar Rep. Lynch to House Republicans: “When you review the entire record of evidence of these hearings going back over a year, you’ve actually provided more evidence to impeach Donald Trump for a third time than you have in so much as laying a glove on Joe Biden.”
💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1770473018378088757?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @EHunterChristie A fascinating exposition of the MAGA-Moscow-Fox News disinformation and corruption ring.
¤ https://x.com/EHunterChristie/status/1770556489574363311?s=20

Raskin: At what point did Mr Giuliani begin working directly with Russian agents and Russian assets, individuals who would later become sanctioned by Donald Trump’s own Treasury Department for spreading propaganda and disinformation against Joe Biden?

Parnas: It was sometime in, probably around May-June 2019.

Raskin: Were you aware, was Mr Giuliani aware, that these people were basically just doing the bidding of Vladimir Putin?

Parnas: Absolutely.

Raskin: So he had no hesitation about spreading lies that were concocted by Russian agents?

Parnas: As long as it fit the narrative, absolutely not.

Raskin: How were you and Giuliani able to take these false allegations pedalled by corrupt officials and Russian agents and promote and amplify them here in the United States, in our political system? Weren’t media groups sceptical of your claims?

Parnas: Most media groups, I’d probably say all except for Fox and a few other right-wing media groups, didn’t want to take any of the information. And that aggravated Rudy Giuliani and John Solomon and other players.

And the main group that was being pushed through was Fox, Sean Hannity and some other media personnel over there.

But then there were also other people who were doing the bidding for the Russians: people in Congress, like Senator Ron Johnson, like Congressman Pete Sessions who sits here right now that was with me from the very beginning in this journey into finding, digging dirt on Joe Biden.

⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn You will probably never see this on Hannity as it’s incredibly damaging
💽 https://x.com/EHunterChristie/status/1770556489574363311?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @Kasparov63 Hello Mr Biden! Hallo Bundeskanzler Scholz! Putin knows he’s waging war. Outside of Ukraine & E Europe, the people he’s waging war on don’t seem to get it—or at least they act like they don’t. There is no going back to business as usual. Ukraine must win and Russia must lose.
⋙ 🐣 RT @MrKovalenko As was expected by many Western national security analysts, after the re-election the Russian leader Vladimir Putin ordered to increase the number of troops in the Russian military forces. His defense minister Shoigu announced this presidential decree before the generals today.…

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder At a rally Trump promised a “bloodbath for the country” if he’s not elected president. Then followed the predictable bout of (self-)deception, claiming Trump’s bloodbath was out of context. So let’s put Trump in context. In context, he is worse. …
[TextLink:] https://x.com/TimothyDSnyder/status/1770587225727610909?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] “In coaching his followers towards a November 2024 insurrection, Trump is telling them (and us) that he doesn’t really plan to win the election. As he did in 2016, as he did in 2020, he is telling us that the vote count does not decide the issue for him.”

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe @anneapplebaum: “One of the reasons that [Russia’s] election was staged was to impress us… That’s the way that Putin is hoping he can win, by affecting American politics, by affecting Trump… And we mustn’t let ourselves be manipulated by his political games.”
💽 https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1770469774813741399?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @brianbeutler We should interpret this as confirmation that Trump is absolutely soliciting bailout bribes from Russia and/or Saudi Arabia.
💽 https://x.com/brianbeutler/status/1770607662519963694?s=20/photo/1
// Fox interviews Alina Habba

🐣 RT @clearing_fog Ukraine charged all three of these Giuliani pals with treason: Because, while being paid by Russia, they tried to frame their own country as being the one that interfered in the U.S. election, instead of Russia.
⋙ BBC (Nov 15, 2023): Ukraine charges officials tied to Hunter Biden probe and Russia https://tinyurl.com/44jr9raa “The three men charged are understood to be current MP Oleksandr Dubinsky, former lawmaker Andriy Derkach and ex-prosecutor Kostyantyn Kulyk.”

All three are said to be members of an agent network led by Russian Gen Vladimir Alekseyev, the deputy head of the GRU. ¤ The charges allege they pursued “information subversive activities” related to the 2020 US election and were paid $10m (£8m). ¤ The men are accused of helping to spread the falsehood that Ukraine, rather than Russia, interfered in the recent US elections.

⋙ 🐣 RT @theerougarou (Replying to @Acyn) @RudyGiuliani’s criminal associates, Oleksandr Dubinsky & Andrii Derkach, that have been identified by the Treasury Department as having worked for the Kremlin wrote Lindsey Graham a letter about Burisma. ¤ Dubinsky has been charged with treason for working for the GRU.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/clearing_fog/status/1770622024723124498?s=20/photo/1

‼️ 🧵📌 RT @TheStudyofWar NEW: Several Russian financial, economic, and military indicators suggest that Russia is preparing for a large-scale conventional conflict with NATO, not imminently but likely on a shorter timeline than what some Western analysts have initially posited. (1/5)
📌 [TextLink:] https://x.com/TheStudyofWar/status/1770600933522600014?s=20/photo/1
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/yj9v8cne

🐣 RT @RepStenyHoyer We have just 72 hours until House Members return to their districts for two weeks. ¤ Two weeks may feel short to us, but that will be a very long time for our friends in Ukraine and Israel. ¤ We must bring aid for our allies to a vote immediately.

🐣 RT @Angry_Staffer It’s incredible to me that this much debt — for a guy who is clearly cash-poor — isn’t widely considered a massive national security risk. ¤ Mostly because it’s a massive national security risk.
⋙ 🧵 RT @lawofruby If NY Attorney General is able to start enforcing her judgment as soon as next week, don’t expect Trump Tower to top her list. Why? Because as recently as August ‘23, Trump reported Axos Bank still has an outstanding loan on that property for “over $50,000,000.” 1/
📌 [TextLink:] https://x.com/Angry_Staffer/status/1770637958837645744?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @anneapplebaum This is a whole new level of Russian madness
⋙ 🧵 RT @lilia_yapparova [Mar 13] It was genuinely scary to cull through the docs leaked from Russia’s Education Ministry. They force deported Ukrainian kids into an indoctrination course — and carry out surveillance on those who’re not instilled with “Russian identity” quickly enough. [Meduza link:] https://tinyurl.com/kzvnx2w7
📌 https://x.com/lilia_yapparova/status/1767886887274815809?s=20

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln “New York psychologist Suzanne Lachmann said Trump, 77, would ’forget how the sentence began and invent something in the middle’ resulting in ’an incomprehensible word salad’—a behavior she argued is observed “frequently in patients who have dementia.’” [Newsweek link:] https://tinyurl.com/b6wzzvfh

🐣 RT @ammarmufasa Donald Trump’s PAC was literally paying Bobulinski’s lawyer as recently as *January 2024*
💽 [TextLink:] https://x.com/ammarmufasa/status/1770477650802249961?s=20/photo/1 -2
↥ ↧
⋙ 🐣 RT @OversightDems Despite Bobulinski’s claim that he is not political, he’s been in the Trump orbit since at least 2020, attending a presidential debate as Trump’s guest and participating in a press conference set up by Trump’s campaign manager.

‼️ 🐣 RT @noclador [Thomas Theiner] There it is. The russians are forming more divisions & brigades than the armies of 🇫🇷🇮🇹🇬🇧🇵🇱🇩🇪🇪🇸🇳🇱🇸🇪🇩🇰 have combined (!). ¤ Once these units are ready the russians will attack Europe. It’s a 1938 moment: buy weapons & build armies or your country will fall to the fascist invaders.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Mike_Eckel Here’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announcing the creation of 2 new ground armies, along with 16 new brigades and 14 new divisions. Very unclear where the new numbers will come from, though there are fears of a new, post-election mobilization.
💽 http://t.me/WarDonbass

🐣 RT @JuliaDavisNews Vladimir Solovyov, just like the head of RT Margarita Simonyan (video linked below) insists that Russia will take all of the Ukrainian land and Ukraine can’t be allowed to exist as a nation. The Kremlin’s top propagandists are in total alignment on this.
💽 https://youtu.be/EJfvscgPR-8
// Yale course on Ru Gangster Capitalism

🐣 RT @harrylitman OK sports fans, Cannon has been indulgent of Trump from the start, but her latest order really jumps the shark & portends a possible dismissal w/o recourse.
⋙ LATimes, Harry Litman: Aileen Cannon’s handling of Trump’s classified records case just went from bad to horrible https://tinyurl.com/5xxfpvph

🐣 RT @front_ukrainian ⚡️🇺🇸Congress will definitely vote $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, Sullivan arrived on an unannounced visit to 🇺🇦Kyiv.
● Russia has already been defeated in this war.
● Ukraine will win if it emerges from the war as a free, democratic, sovereign country.
● We don’t need to talk about plan B, I’m sure we’ll beat plan A.
💽 https://x.com/front_ukrainian/status/1770538956184027421?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @ChrisO_wiki Zelensky’s refusal to do this is undoubtedly a big part of the reason why Trump wants to screw over Ukraine now – pure revenge.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Parnas: He basically told me not to be nice, to be very stern and relay the message that unless Zelensky announced an investigation into the Bidens by Monday, that there would be no cooperation, no aid to Ukraine from the United States
💽 https://x.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1770512057714040864?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @gtconway3d
🖼 https://x.com/gtconway3d/status/1770587144211325367?s=20/photo/1
// photo @gtconway3d w e jean carroll

🐣 RT @JaredEMoskowitz 🚨🚨🚨 In the coming days, I will invite former President Donald Trump to the House Oversight Committee to provide his own testimony and explain why his family received tens of millions of dollars from foreign countries with his assistance.
⋙ 🐣 RT @RepJamesComer 🚨🚨🚨 In the coming days, I will invite President Joe Biden to the House Oversight Committee to provide his own testimony and explain why his family received tens of millions of dollars from foreign companies with his assistance.
¤ https://x.com/JaredEMoskowitz/status/1770597566268244211?s=20

🐣 RT @BillPascrell Just now 80% of republicans in Congress called for raising the retirement age and tying social security to life expectancy. Republicans want you to work until you drop dead. https://tinyurl.com/3hjhaje8 https://
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BillPascrell/status/1770578011500290475?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] For instance, the RSC Budget would make modest changes to the primary insurance amount (PIA) benefit factor. It would also make modest adjustments to the retirement age for future retirees to account for increases in life expectancy. Finally, for these individuals, it would limit and phase out auxiliary benefits for high income earners. 384 Again, the RSC Budget does not cut or delay retirement benefits for any senior in or near retirement. Additionally, the RSC Budget would promote trust fund solvency by increasing payroll tax revenues through pro-growth tax reform, 385 pro-growth energy policy that lifts wages, 386 work requirements that move Americans from welfare. For instance, the RSC Budget would make modest changes to the primary insurance amount (PIA) benefit formula for individuals who are not near retirement and earn more than the wealthiest PIA to work, 38 and regulatory reforms that increase economic growth.

🐣 RT @AWeissmann_ DOJ clearly has known about this Parnas evidence for a long time, so I am curious what actions it has taken to corroborate or refute it?
⋙ 🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow Ro Khanna: Did Bill Barr know that you were involved in getting this dirt? ¤ Parnas: Absolutely. Bill Barr was notified of our investigation from the day he took office. @atrupar
💽 https://x.com/AWeissmann_/status/1770547653035646984?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch Dow Jones End of Day Close:
March 20, 2020: 19,173.98
March 20, 2024: 39,512.13
📈📈📈
⋙ 🐣 RT @David_Charts Better off in 2022-2023 than 2019 pre-pandemic on nearly all measures, even adjusted for inflation.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1770554383303872564?s=20/photo/1

WaPo, Devlin Barrett and Perry Stein: ‘Very, very troubling’: Judges, lawyers flummoxed by Judge Cannon https://tinyurl.com/4x5jt7vy “The jurist overseeing Donald Trump’s classified documents case in Florida has raised eyebrows and alarms with her latest order”

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA 👀 Jake Sullivan arrived in Kyiv on an unannounced visit: ¤ 🇺🇸🇺🇦 “From our perspective, we are confident we will get this done, we will get this aid to Ukraine.”
💽 https://x.com/Maks_NAFO_FELLA/status/1770540540137771054?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @BillPascrell Wow today a group comprising 80% of republicans in Congress explicitly endorsed a far-right bill that would impose a national abortion ban and outlaw birth control and in vitro fertilization IVF. Read for yourself
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BillPascrell/status/1770565636550181018?s=20/photo/1

● Rep. Mike Kelly’s (R-PA) bill, the Heartbeat Protection Act, which would prohibit abortions after a fetal heartbeat has been detected. Last year, the RSC’s Steering Committee officially endorsed the Heartbeat Protection Act.
● Rep. Alex Mooney’s (R-W) Life at Conception Act, which would provide 14th amendment protections at all stages of life.
● Rep. Ann Wagner’s (R-MO) bill, the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act, which would protect infant survivors of abortion and ensure that all infants born alive receive the same degree of care, regardless of their gestational age.
● Rep. Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children from Late-Term Abortions Act, which would prohibit abortions after 15 weeks.
● Rep. Michelle Fischbach’s (R-MN) Protecting Life and Taxpayers Act of 2023 would require entities to certify that they will not provide abortion in order to receive federal funding.

🐣 RT @7Veritas4 Genius move by James Comer to use the Biden hearings today to remind the electorate why Donald Trump was impeached the first time, validate the Mueller Report, call out his colleagues who willfully pushed Russian disinformation and those who enabled the coverup.

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch GOP HEARING BACKFIRES: ¤ Lev Parnas Exposes Trump Plot to Spread Russian Disinformation About the Bidens During Jaw-Dropping Testimony
⋙ 💽 MeidasTouch: Lev Parnas Exposes Trump Plot to Spread Russian Disinformation About the Bidens During Testimony https://tinyurl.com/5n6zffsp “Now we know why the Republicans didn’t want him to testify.”

Since his 2019 arrest, Parnas has come clean about his participation in these schemes with Donald Trump and has been an outspoken voice against Donald Trump’s corruption and lies. With his famous phrases “Lev Knows” and “Lev Remembers,” Parnas’ story has shed light on the inner-workings of the Trump operation and its collusion with foreign actors to try to conjure lies about the President.

Until today, Republicans have refused to let Parnas speak in these congressional hearings, and now we see why. In his opening remarks, Parnas completely demolished the entire Republican narrative, and exposed Donald Trump and his cohorts as perpetrators of one of the greatest frauds in history.

Parnas told the committee (clip above): “The American people have been lied to by Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and various cohorts of individuals in government and media positions. They created falsehoods to serve their own interests, knowing it would undermine the strength of our nation. From November 2018 to October 2019, I was a key participant and a witness to numerous efforts to prove that Joe and Hunter Biden were linked to corruption in Ukraine. Rudy Giuliani, on behalf of then President Donald Trump tasked me with a mission to travel the globe, finding dirt on the Bidens so that an array of networks could spread misinformation about them, thus securing the 2020 election for Donald Trump.“

Parnas informed the committee that the source of the disinformation pushed about the Biden’s came from a singular source: Russia and Russian agents. After Parnas made this revelation, right wing propaganda network Fox immediately cut the feed to promote host Jessie Watters book.

WaPo, Michael Kranich: Shadowing Trump’s attacks on mental fitness — his own father’s dementia https://tinyurl.com/2hdd6a2b “Trump avoids mention of his father’s Alzheimer’s disease as he lashes Biden for being ‘cognitively impaired’”

🐣 RT @AdamParkhomenko Full opening statement from Lev Parnas
💽 https://x.com/AdamParkhomenko/status/1770481157387276459?s=20/photo/1

🔲 💽 Cspan: Hearing on Republican Allegations of Biden Family Business Dealings https://tinyurl.com/mrym743t
// The House Oversight Committee held a hearing amid the Republican-led impeachment inquiry into President Biden, with testimony from Hunter Biden’s former associates. Lev Parnas, former associate of Rudy Giuliani, also testified.

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln Starting Topics:
¤ https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1770462056891764774?s=20

1. Trump is the Republican nominee and he’s weakening. Last night’s primary showed real trouble ahead for Trump in November since a significant percentage of Republicans in key swing states refuse to vote for him. In Ohio, Haley dropped out of the race weeks ago and received 14.4% of the vote. DeSantis got 3.4%. Haley voters are not coming home.

2. Thirty Insurance companies refused to put up $464 million dollar bond for Donald Trump. His failure to make bond and his mounting legal and financial troubles make him a massive national security risk. Would you entrust the presidency to a desperate man with a $464 million dollar fraud judgment against him?

3. Donald Trump is positioning the violent January 6 Capitol attack as a cornerstone of his bid to return to the White House. He’s pledging to forgive violent J6 insurrectionists and let them out of prison early. He’s signaling to his violent and conspiratorial supporters that he doesn’t care about democracy or the rule of law – just as long as he wins the White House. If Trump is elected, expect more of the political violence and chaos

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch EVERY American needs to read this statement from Lev Parnas from today’s sham GOP hearing: ¤ “The American people have been lied to by Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and various cohorts of individuals in government and media positions. They created falsehoods to serve their own interests, knowing it would undermine the strength of our nation. From November 2018 to October 2019, I was a key participant and a witness to numerous efforts to prove that Joe and Hunter Biden were linked to corruption in Ukraine. Rudy Giuliani, on behalf of then President Donald Trump tasked me with a mission to travel the globe, finding dirt on the Bidens so that an array of networks could spread misinformation about them, thus securing the 2020 election for Donald Trump.”

🐣 RT @kylegriffin1 Lev Parnas: “I found precisely zero evidence of the Bidens’ corruption in Ukraine. No credible source has ever provided proof of criminal activity, not the FBI, CIA nor the NSA. No respectable Ukrainian official has ever said that the Bidens did anything illegal, including former President Poroshenko and former prosecutor general Yuriy Lutsenko. Even when CEO Burisma Mykola Zlochevsky was offered a deal by Rudy Giuliani in exchange for information on the Bidens, he provided none, because there is none. The only information ever pushed on the Bidens in Ukraine has come from one source and one source only: Russia and Russian agents. The impeachment proceedings that bring us here now are predicated false information spread by the Kremlin.”

🐣 RT @kylegriffin1 Lev Parnas: “I believe that what we are facing now is the culmination of a much larger plan for Russia to crush Ukraine by infiltrating the United States.”
¤ https://x.com/kylegriffin1/status/1770479292587159964?s=20

“In my travels, I found precisely zero proof of the Bidens’ criminality. Instead, what I learned in that timeframe was the true nature of the conspiracy that the Kremlin was forcing through Russian, Ukrainian, American, and other channels to interfere in our elections. Ultimately this was meant to benefit Trump’s re-election, which would in turn benefit Vladimir Putin.”

🐣 RT @DNCWarRoom Leader Schumer: The choice for Speaker Johnson is clear. Put the supplemental on the floor of the House for a vote and help deliver Ukraine the aid it desperately needs or kowtow to Donald Trump and the MAGA hard right who seem to want a victorious Putin

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski Since their last star witness Smirnov is in federal custody for being a Russian agent, Comer had to use another witness today who is in prison for embezzling $80 million from pension funds. Very credible!
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Lynch: Now we’re going to prison. We’re reaching out to witnesses who have been convicted and sentenced to prison. For stealing $80 million from the pensions of innocent workers.We can’t get any lower at this point. That’s your star witness. He’s sitting in prison.
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1770474237922320461?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @cspan Lev Parnas, former associate of Rudy Giuliani, testifies on a coordinated effort to falsely accuse the Bidens of corruption in Ukraine so that Donald Trump could win the 2020 election.
💽 https://x.com/cspan/status/1770479526440476722?s=20/photo/1 (3:30)

💙 🧵 RT @atrupar I’m going to do a thread on today’s impeachment hearing featuring Tony Bobulinski and the imprisoned Jason Galanis. Follow along for clips 👇
📌 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1770453622825844814?s=20/photo/1 v
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1770453622825844814.html
// includes Dem witness Lev Parmas

🐣 RT @IanSams46 The House GOP impeachment “star witnesses” today… ¤ Woof ¤ As we said Friday, it’s obviously time to move on. This charade is over. ¤ The House should be focusing on real issues that actually matter to the American people. [Headlines:]
[TextLink:] https://x.com/IanSams46/status/1770432848119439840?s=20/photo/1 -3
// “Convicted fraudster who will testify at GOP impeachment hearing sought pardon from
Trump in 2020”
“GOP’s Star Witness in Hunter Biden Probe Has Ties to Russian Oligarch”
“Texts Reveal More Russia Ties for Key Anti-Biden Witness”

🐣 RT @BillPascrell In the last two Congresses 170 republicans have sponsored a bill that would outlaw IVF in vitro fertilization. Here are their names.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BillPascrell/status/1770441812781514808?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @kajakallas During my recent visit to Washington, the focus was on helping Ukraine win. I met @POTUS Biden at the #GridironDinner and spoke to U.S. media. ¤ Here’s my interview to @nationaljournal. My message: it’s cheaper to be on the right side of history now:
⋙ NationalJournal: ‘Weakness provokes Russia’: Estonia’s prime minister has a plan to help Ukraine defeat Moscow https://tinyurl.com/2wbrfzmz
// In an interview, Kaja Kallas urges Congress to approve aid to Ukraine and pushes her fellow Europeans to up their defense spending.

🐣 RT @EdwardGLuce “It doesn’t take great insight to see that Trump’s financial quandary poses a national security risk. If friendly billionaires think he’s too big a credit risk, who might bail him out instead? What sort of collateral could Trump offer in return?” My column
⋙ FT, Edward Luce: Why no one will lend to Trump https://tinyurl.com/3akhv5e8
// The Republican candidate’s financial difficulties pose risks for America as well as for himself

🐣 RT @NTarnopolsky💥#Breaking: For the 1st time Israel loses status as “liberal democracy,” now classified “electoral democracy” (in which there are elections but civil liberties & equality before the law are not safeguarded) by V-Dem index, citing Netanyahu’s judicial coup

🐣 RT @JustinWolfers [NYT cover 4 years ago, marked up]
[TextLink:] https://x.com/JustinWolfers/status/1770376093461299320?s=20/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 RT @TrumpDailyPosts ARE YOU BETTER OFF THAN YOU WERE FOUR YEARS AGO? ¤ Donald Trump Truth Social 07:58 AM EST 3/18/24

😅 RT @gtconway3d Another hilarious takedown of tfg by @jimmykimmel. Watch. Until. The. End.
💽 https://x.com/gtconway3d/status/1770394010445623696?s=20/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 RT @Variety Jimmy Kimmel Roasts Donald Trump for ‘Still Stewing’ Over Oscars Joke; Trump Slams ‘Lousy Host’ and Kimmel Says ‘I Love That This Bothered Him So Much’ https://tinyurl.com/bdf575d2

… Kimmel hosted the 2024 Academy Awards and stopped the show right before the best picture category was announced to read aloud Trump’s criticism of the ceremony. Trump posted on Truth Social during the Oscars and called Kimmel a bad host.

“Well, thank you, President Trump,” Kimmel fired back. “Thank you for watching, I’m surprised you’re still — isn’t it past your jail time?”

Trump was asked about the Oscars moment during a recent interview with Fox News. Kimmel threw to clips of the Fox News interview in which Trump bashed Kimmel as a “lousy host” and “not a talented guy.” Trump proceeded to say that Kimmel’s “ratings are terrible” for his ABC talk show.

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” Kimmel told viewers about Trump’s continued stewing over the Oscars moment. “Donald Trump has said I’m not talented so many times Eric is starting to get jealous.”

“But what he doesn’t realize is that I love this,” Kimmel continued. “I love that this bothered him so much, I love that Fox picked a news guy nobody knows to interview him, and I especially love when he tries to spin the fact that everyone was laughing at him into a positive.”

Kimmel revealed the day after the Oscars that people told him not to read Trump’s diss out loud on stage, but he refused to listen. Trump told Fox News that Kimmel is “dumber than I thought” because he made Trump go viral during the Oscars by reading the social media post live on stage.

“This thing went viral. All he had to do was keep his mouth shut,” Trump said.

Kimmel reacted by telling Trump that “you forget why it went viral all over the world,” pointing to Kimmel’s punchline that asked: “Isn’t it past your jail time?” Kimmel noted that clothing, mugs and more merchandise are now being sold on the internet with that anti-Trump catchphrase.

“But if only I’d kept my mouth shut,” Kimmel joked. “Imagine him telling anyone they should’ve kept their mouth shut. That should be on his tombstone: ‘Should’ve kept his mouth shut.’”

🐣 RT @anneapplebaum The kidnapping and brainwashing of Ukrainian children is Putin’s cruelest crime
⋙ 🐣 RT @United24media Kremlin kidnaps them to erase their identities.
💽 https://x.com/United24media/status/1770153060792226003?s=20/photo/1
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @DrKateNE🇺🇸😢~Genocide, see Article II (e), UN: https://tinyurl.com/3wrdx4u9

😂 RT @7Veritas4 Summary: He is struggling to secure a loan using the value of his assets to appeal a judgment for hyping up the value of his assets to secure favorable loans.

🐣 RT @SykesCharlie Liz Cheney: “Defeating Trump means reelecting President Biden and rejecting third-party candidates, she said forthrightly. Though she disagrees with Biden on many policy issues, she said his victory in November is necessary to save the country from potential dictatorship.”
⋙ WaPo, David Ignatius: Liz Cheney still plans to make a difference in the election https://tinyurl.com/yc4uzn6v

🐣 RT @essenviews ‘On the 11th or the 12th of November, I was handed a piece of paper with the President’s [Trump’s] signature on it, which had two sentences. One was: withdraw forces from Somalia by the 15th of December, and then withdraw forces out of Afghanistan by the 15th of January.’ ¤ Milley confirms he got piece of paper ordering full withdrawal from Afghanistan during final Trump days in office, and after he lost the election…
⋙⋙ DefenseOne: Milley, McKenzie detail mistakes that led to Afghan evacuation chaos https://tinyurl.com/y3pussde
// The retired generals blamed the State Department for the debacle at Hamid Karzai airport. But it’s not that simple.
⋙ 🐣 RT @AuCaDoMom This was intentional sabotage by POtuS45 of United States military…
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @AuCaDoMom Trump, 🇦🇫, June 26, 2021:
💽 https://x.com/AuCaDoMom/status/1442928009871126528?s=20/photo/1

[Trump at rally:] “I started the process.
All the troops are coming back home.
They couldn’t stop the process.
21 yrs is enough. Don’t we think? 21 yrs.
[The Biden admin] couldn’t stop the process.
They wanted to, but it was very tough to stop.”

⭕ 19 Mar 2024

🐣 RT @AreMond2 What? You haven’t seen this clip of Rachel Maddow. This is Post Gold. Watch it, Comment, Like it & Repost it to spread it far and wide.
💽 [tr] https://x.com/AreMond2/status/1769998954949738999?s=20/photo/1
// Trump hiring Manafort?

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump This is a reminder that under the direction of Donald Trump, Republicans blocked the strongest border security bill in decades, crafted by Republican Senator James Lankford and endorsed by the acting chief of U.S. Customs and the Border Patrol Union, because they fear it will help Biden politicly. ¤ They repeatedly talk about a “wide open border” and an “Invasion” but chose to do nothing (at least) until February 2025. This is why so many Americans are sick and tired of politicians.

🐣 RT @HalMarshall2309 Another distinguished voice weighs in on Judge Cannon’s incompetence and obvious bias.
⋙ 🐣 RT @arenella1 [UCLA] Apart from being so obvious in her pre-trial rulings favoring Trump, she [Cannon] is beyond incompetent and should not be a federal district ct judge. One more example in a long list of the damage Trump has done to the federal judiciary.

🐣 RT @arenella1 Apart from being so obvious in her pre-trial rulings favoring Trump, she [Cannon] is beyond incompetent and should not be a federal district ct judge. One more example in a long list of the damage Trump has done to the federal judiciary.

🔄 💙 ⋙🐣📔 Definitive: Lost, Not Stolen: The Conservative Case that Trump Lost and Biden Won the 2020 Presidential Election https://lostnotstolen.org by John Danforth, Benjamin Ginsberg, Thomas B Griffith, David Hoppe, J. Michael Luttig, Michael W McConnell, Theodore B Olson, Gordon H Smith
// 7/14/2022
⋙ pdf: http://bit.ly/3caHzaE 72p
// Signatories: Senator John Danforth, Benjamin Ginsberg, The Honorable Thomas B. Griffith, David Hoppe, The Honorable J. Michael Luttig, The Honorable Michael W. McConnell, The Honorable Theodore B. Olson, Senator Gordon H. Smith

🐣 RT @What46HasDone BREAKING: Joe Biden has now received more than 10 million votes in the Democratic Presidential Primary. ¤ He becomes the first incumbent Democratic President EVER to hit the 10 million vote mark in their reelection primary.

🐣 RT @Meidas_LaurenA Manchin said “God help us” if the U.S. does not pass Ukraine support before the end of spring.¤ “That’ll be the worst atrocity in history that your children or grandchildren will be reading about,” Manchin told Axios’ Niala Boodhoo.

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Republican primary voters against Trump
Arizona: 23%
Florida: 19%
Ohio: 20%
Kansas: 23%
Illinois: 19%
One thing is clear, there’s a substantial segment of voters in the Republican party who will never vote for Trump.
#RepublicansAgainstTrump

🐣 RT @SawyerHackett Here we go. Mexico’s foreign ministry says it won’t “under any circumstances” accept non-Mexican asylum seekers deported by Texas under SB4. ¤ The Supreme Court seeing the effects of its complicity immediately.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/SawyerHackett/status/1770256531373642016?s=20/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 precisely the kind of chaos the Supremacy Clause addresses: we can’t have 50 states, each with their own border policy ¤ but it’s scary SCOTUS would have even considered lifting the hold ¤ Articles of Confederation, anyone?

🐣 RT @GraceAl38236563 Well done, SCOTUS. Welcome to the Land of Unintended Consequences: you just started the first war between an American state and another country. 🤦‍♀️

🧵 RT @BetoORourke SB 4 — the Texas “show me your papers” law — is bad. Its disregard for 100 years of Supreme Court precedent defining federal supremacy on immigration and international relations is based on a deeply flawed claim that Texas is waging war against some sort of invading army. ¤ While that rhetoric is really popular on the extreme right, it is in no way connected to the facts. And it’s going to end up making the people living here less safe, less secure, less protected by the law.
📌 https://x.com/BetoORourke/status/1770257108849623463?s=20

🐣 RT @NFX360 CIA director says it would be ‘own goal of historic proportions’ to cut off support for Ukraine. [Telegraph link:] https://tinyurl.com/y8kjwraa

🐣 RT @thedailybeast Data released Tuesday by the FBI shows that crime rates took a precipitous tumble in 2023, with the new fourth-quarter numbers continuing to reflect a post-pandemic trend that runs counter to the right-wing narrative that crime is rising nationwide.
⋙ DailyBeast: U.S. Crime Rate Continued to Drop Last Year, FBI Data Shows https://tinyurl.com/3n3278ep

🐣 RT @harryjsisson Dear Maga,
¤ https://x.com/harryjsisson/status/1770272090135859433?s=20

Logical and sane people don’t agree with you. The election wasn’t stolen, vaccines work, the deep state is not real, Biden has passed amazing policy, Taylor Swift is not a psyop, Trump isn’t a god, the law matters, and democracy always wins.

From,
The rest of America

🐣 RT @RBReich “I was slipping in people’s blood… It was carnage. It was chaos.” —Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards on the literal bloodbath of Jan 6. ¤ Trump’s repeated promise to release violent Jan 6 criminals is the real context of his “bloodbath” threat.

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln Florida, Kansas, Ohio – doesn’t matter where you look, there’s a consistent pattern and clear message that emerges: Trump is weak. @TheRickWilson analyzes tonight’s voting trends and what they’re really signaling for November.
// Nikki Haley etc getting 14-27%
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1770255125270999129?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @Timodc “A thirst for absolute power is the natural disease of monarchy.” – Thomas Paine
⋙ 🐣 RT @BidenHQ Trump says he likes the “concept” of a “royal family”
💽 https://x.com/Timodc/status/1770264508428075364?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch At least half a dozen high-dollar Nikki Haley donors, including former Chair of MGM Harry Sloan, are now operating as fundraisers for President Biden’s re-election campaign as Trump struggles to gain the support of both low and high dollar donors.

🐣 RT @7Veritas4 27% of Ohio voters are voting against Trump tonight. He is running unopposed. ¤ 20% are voting against him in Florida. It’s a closed primary. ¤ The Republican rebellion is real.

🐣 RT @Swartzk3S
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Swartzk3S/status/1770216063000559978?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] TRUMP WAS THE WORST PRESIDENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY

He had the worst COVID response in the world, trashed our economy & increased debt (25% of the total debt), cowered to our adversaries, alienated our allies, used PPP to reward his friends, surrendered to terrorists to prop up his failing campaign, kidnapped children at the border & was too incompetent to keep records so families could be reunited, had multiple paths to overthrow the government including the horrific attack on the Capitol, blocked alternate energy to cater to gop big money donors, wants the economy to crash to help his campaign, ordered his minions to block the border bill, has hate, division, name-calling, & vile rhetoric as his platform, took $millions from foreign governments for influence peddling, pocket lining nepotism, shook down foreign governments, made multiple phone calls to try to overthrow the government, stole & exposed our top secret classified documents, threatens weak republicans to force them to obey his commmands, doxes & has his “base” threaten anyone holding him accountable, lies that the election was rigged, and tries to weasel out of accountability for his crimes by claiming that he is above the law.

HE IS A RAPIST, RACIST, MISOGYNIST, DEMENTIA RIDDEN TRAITOR WHO BELONGS IN PRISON, NOT THE WH

Slate, Zachary Carter: The U.S. Economy’s Rebound Since COVID Is Kind of Incredible. Why Doesn’t Anyone Seem to Realize This? https://tinyurl.com/4jnwmu98 “There is a distinctly political tenor to Biden’s trouble on the issue that defies material conditions.”

😅 RT @gtconway3d “Many people, big strong men wearing those beanie hats, come up to me with tears in their eyes saying, ‘Sir, you are more Jewish than most of the Jewish people we know. I bet you could do trick shots with the space laser like no one has ever seen.’”
⋙ 🐣 RT @BidenHQ Trump, who just yesterday said Jewish people who vote Democratic “hate their religion,” and “should be ashamed of themselves,” claims he’s “doing very well with the Jewish voter”
💽 https://x.com/gtconway3d/status/1770198951519506468?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RBReich
March 2020: US billionaires worth a combined $2.9 trillion
March 2024: US billionaires worth a combined $5.5 trillion
That’s an 88% increase in billionaire wealth since the pandemic hit.
Wealth tax. Now.

🐣 RT @acnewsitics Leticia James told the court today that it is obvious that Donald is flat broke, and if NY sells everything he owns, he will still owe the state $200 million. 🤣

🐣 🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder Manafort doesn’t stand out among Trump’s advisors as a convicted criminal. So many are. He does stand out for his experience working directly for the Kremlin, managing clients of the Kremlin, and getting into debt to a Russian oligarch & trying to pay it back in political favors.

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote NEW: “The court gives a green light to a law that will upend the longstanding federal-state balance of power and sow chaos.” – Justice Sotomayor on SCOTUS allowing Texas to run a rogue immigration policy pending litigation. SCOTUS has a legitimacy problem.

🧵 RT @NormEisen BREAKING: Trump has filed his immunity brief at SCOTUS & if it’s possible, his position that he is above the law has become even more abhorrent
📌 https://x.com/NormEisen/status/1770172094044639343?s=20
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1770172094044639343.html
[CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/2hsytu3r 67p

RT @highbrow_nobrow Lindsey Graham claims to be brokering deals on behalf of “President” Trump.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1769864134600831387?s=20/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 where does the money come from to pay the US companies that produce the weapons?MOST of Ukraine aid pays US companies.
Do US defense contractors accept IOUs?

🐣 RT @Acyn Milley: I think it’s about 7.2 billion of military equipment, with the Afghan security forces. That is Afghan owned equipment, not American equipment. Every piece of American equipment that the American military owned came out with us or was destroyed on-site.
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1770156442667868218?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @UKRinAUS Press Statement about ABC’s screening of “Ukraine’s War. The Other Side.” @abcnews @AmbVasyl

Embassy of Ukraine in Australia ¤ Press Statement

The program aired last night on Four Corners “Ukraine’s War: The Other Side” was the journalistic equivalent of a bowl of vomit.

It unquestioningly repeated and aired countless blatant lies, historical distortions, racist claims and propaganda narratives emanating from the Kremlin. Inasmuch, it completely served the interests of Russia’s dictator, Putin. It also minimised and denigrated the deaths of thousands of innocent Ukrainian men, women and children who have been killed by Russian soldiers in an illegal and brutal invasion strongly condemned by Australia and the majority of countries through the UNGA resolution in March 2022.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation should be ashamed that it put such total garbage to air. Through the Minister for Communications, I will ask for a meeting with the Managing Director of the ABC and the Executive Producer of Four Corners to understand what process led to the airing of this pro-Putin and pro-violence propaganda piece by Australia’s national broadcaster. I will share with them the facts that the program totally disregarded.

🐣 RT @ChuckPfarrer HARROWING READING: Friend of the @MriyaReport Beefeater @Beefeater_Fella provides this thread on the recent UN Report on Russian Atrocities in Ukraine. Published by the Human Rights Council, it elucidates hundreds of war crimes committed by RU troops.
⋙ 🧵 RT @Beefeater_Fella Report on Russian Atrocities in Ukraine published by the HRC. ¤ March 2024.
📌 https://x.com/Beefeater_Fella/status/1770059849880994132?s=20

The Human Rights Council is an intergovernmental body within the United Nations system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations on them.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine was established by the Human Rights Council on 4th March, 2022 according to resolution 49/1 to investigate all alleged violations and abuses of human rights, violations of international humanitarian law and related crimes in the context of the aggression against Ukraine by the Russian Federation.

During its current mandate, the Commission went to Ukraine 16 times, visited 34 settlements in nine provinces, and travelled to Poland and The Netherlands. It has relied on interviews with 422 women and 394 men, inspected sites of attacks and places where incidents took place, and examined documents, expert and forensic reports, photographs, and videos.

Over its two mandates, the Commission has gone to Ukraine 26 times, visited a total of 90 settlements, and interviewed 770 women and 641 men.

The Commission appreciates the cooperation extended by the Government of Ukraine. It regrets that its efforts to engage with the Russian Federation remain unsuccessful. The Commission has addressed 23 written requests for meetings, access and information, without receiving any answer.

Violations of international law

Years of armed conflict have gravely affected the population of Ukraine. As of 15 February 2024, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) had recorded 10,582 killed and 19,875 injured.

The actual number is likely higher. Civilians have been forced to cope with the loss of loved ones, of homes and other irreplaceable possessions, massive displacement, constant fear, and critical shortages, all of which have a deep impact on their enjoyment of basic human rights.

During its second mandate, the Commission has gathered evidence of continued violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, and corresponding crimes committed by the Russian authorities in Ukraine. This report provides an account of the severe impact on civilians of the siege and intense fighting during the early stages of the armed conflict in Mariupol city, Donetsk province.

The Commission also found evidence of new attacks with explosive weapons committed in violation of international humanitarian law. For the first time, it is reporting on attacks affecting cultural objects and historical sites and on the seizure of cultural objects. It has documented additional cases of wilful killings, torture (with emphasis on prisoners of war), rape and other sexual violence, and transfers of children. ¤ 1/4 […]

🐣 RT @WHCommsDir Statement from @POTUS on the record decrease in crime in 2023. “Last year, we also had one of the lowest rates of all violent crime in more than 50 years and the murder rate saw the sharpest decrease in history. That’s good news for the American people.”

🐣 RT @TheAtlantic Christine Blasey Ford’s new memoir places her Senate testimony in the wider context of her life. And as her story goes on, it “comes to read as an indictment—not of one person, but of a form of politics that sees stories as weapons in an endless war,”@megangarber writes. [Atlantic link:] https://tinyurl.com/36npwvb8

🧵 RT @ProjectLincoln [10/6/2023] .@TheRickWilson once warned “everything Trump touches dies”, but the Republican Party just never listens. People that have lost everything by cozying up to a broke wannabe authoritarian weirdo are countless… But we tried to narrow them down in our #ETTD Hall of Defame.
📌 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1710309378828407210?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @djrothkopf Peter Navarro should be a cautionary tale for all those in the GOP. He thought he could ride the MAGA train to power and prosperity. Instead, today it is taking him to jail. Not all Trump acolytes will end up in jail. But in the long run being part of MAGA will be a career ender and reputation destroyer for all involved.

🐣 RT @PrezLives2022 So Biden did something truly amazing. Rather than wait on Israel to do something about illegal settlements which are funded by 100’s of millions of dollars from American donors…
¤ https://x.com/PrezLives2022/status/1769906828807156077?s=20

… he simply sanctioned the settlements and froze their money along with the money from US donors as well.

One of Israel’s two largest banks said that they will honor the sanctions. The goal here is to bankrupt the settlers.

Biden has been clear that these settlements are an obstacle to peace. Cutting off the banks and the donors will choke off the settlements and make it extremely difficult to survive economically.

I think Biden is no longer taking Netanyahu’s crap and he’s going to make life extremely difficult for him and make it more likely the people want Netanyahu gone.

🐣 RT @AreMond2 What? You haven’t seen this clip of Rachel Maddow. This is Post Gold. Watch it, Comment, Like it & Repost it to spread it far and wide.
💽 https://x.com/AreMond2/status/1769998954949738999?s=20/photo/1
// the return of Paul Manafort, just when Trump needs 💰

🐣 RT @nexta_tv The USA will not allow Ukraine to lose – Pentagon chief. ¤ “We know that the conditions in which the Ukrainian army is fighting are extremely difficult. Unfortunately, civilians are suffering from Russian drone attacks. So our message today is pretty clear. The United States will not allow Ukraine to lose. Our coalition will not allow that. And the entire free world will not allow it,” Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said at the Ramstein meeting.

⭕ 18 Mar 2024

NewYorker, Adam Gopnik: The Forgotten History of Hitler’s Establishment Enablers https://tinyurl.com/42vt3jeh “The Nazi leader didn’t seize power; he was given it.”

🐣 RT @CalltoActivism A British writer penned the best description of Donald Trump I’ve ever read: ¤
📌 ¤ 💽 https://x.com/CalltoActivism/status/1769866675111772232?s=20/photo/1
// Trump walks in front of Queen

“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?”

A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:

• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.
• You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.

God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?’ If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.” ¤ -Nate White

🐣 RT @gtconway3d Okay, I’ve seen enough. Not only should Aileen Cannon not be sitting on this case, but she should not be sitting on the federal bench at all. This is utterly nuts.
⋙ 🐣 RT @BradMossEsq This second scenario is legally insane. If that were the case, then just grant Trump’s motion to dismiss on PRA grounds so DOJ bring it to the 11th circuit for a quick reversal.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/gtconway3d/status/1769865638787326310?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @Liz_Cheney Is it just a coincidence that Donald Trump took over the RNC, fired most of its Republican staff, and installed his daughter-law as co-chair at the same time he’s become desperate for money and can’t post bond? Donors better beware.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Reuters Donald Trump’s efforts to secure a bond to cover a $454 million judgment in a New York civil fraud case was rejected by 30 surety companies, his lawyers said, inching him closer to the possibility of having his properties seized https://reut.rs/3PntBTy

🐣 RT @AWeissmann_ From the Mueller Report p 130: on 8/2/2016, Paul Manafort met in NYC with Konstantin Kilimnik (assessed by the FBI to have ties to Russian intelligence) to discuss a “backdoor” Russian plan to take over eastern Ukraine which needed Trump’s “wink” to get off the ground.
⋙ 🐣 RT @AWeissmann_ The Biden Administration reported that the internal Trump polling data given at the direction of Manafort to Kilimnik made its way to the Kremlin.

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote Now that Trump is hiring Manafort, it’s time for @POTUS and @ODNIgov to declassify the Senate Intel report on Russian election interference in 2016. Manafort gave polling data to Russian intelligence in exchange for Ukraine. That’s kind of a big deal.

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln The Republican Party you once knew is dead and gone. Chaos and corruption have now replaced the values of conservatism it was founded on. We know who killed it.
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1769770048430772502?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @nexta_tv The German government stated that it does not recognize the legitimacy of the Russian presidential elections and refuses to call Putin president. The Russian Foreign Ministry responded.
¤ https://x.com/nexta_tv/status/1769795439828558188?s=20

Germany will not consider the presidential elections held in Russia as legitimate and will not congratulate Putin on his victory. This was stated by Deputy Spokesperson for the German Cabinet of Ministers Christiane Hoffmann.

German Foreign Ministry spokesman Sebastian Fischer, for his part, said that the foreign ministry will not indicate the position “president” in documents and official communications when mentioning Putin.

Russian Foreign Ministry representative Maria Zakharova in her Telegram channel called the German Foreign Ministry’s statement about its refusal to indicate the position of “President of Russia” Vladimir Putin in documents “an acute phobia.”

🐣 RT @Timodc “No vice president has ever said that his former boss is unfit to serve. It is the most devastating possible observation from the most credible source in existence. {This} should be part of the context of every single story about this campaign.”
⋙ TheBulwark, Jonathan Last: Mike Pence Should Be the Biggest Story of the 2024 Campaign https://tinyurl.com/ms53r49m
// Trump’s own vice president won’t endorse him because he is a danger to democracy. And—hand to God—the New York Times managed to report it as “Pence won’t endorse Biden.”

🐣 RT @BidenHQ .@BeschlossDC: When Trump talks about a bloodbath, suspending the Constitution, migrants as animals, we’ve never seen anything remotely like this as America. He’s saying, you elect me, there’s going to be dictatorship, bloodbath, violence, retribution against my political enemies
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1769776072147525723?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner “Since the end of 2019…America’s economy has grown by about 8% in real terms. [Meanwhile], the euro area has expanded by only 3%, Japan a piddling 1% and Britain not at all. America is the only big economy that is back to its pre-pandemic growth trend.” ¤ cc: @TheEconomist
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1769777403285365143?s=20/photo/1
// G7 GDP G7

🐣 Russia was at war with Ukraine the entire time Trump was president
⋙ 🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🙄 Trump: “If we had a real leader, he [Putin] would never have done that. Remember, he didn’t do it, for four years he didn’t do it. And I spoke with Putin about it, I said: “You can’t do it.” We had a good relationship with him. He wouldn’t do that if I were president.”

🐣 RT @anneapplebaum “Western commentators who blame the current situation on NATO, America, or “the West”, or who think some kind of “compromise peace” is possible, would do well to familiarise themselves with history,” write Dmitri Levitin:
⋙ TheCritic, Dmitri Levitin [UK]: The ongoing reality of Russian imperialism https://tinyurl.com/2kth79vj “Military defeat has been the only source of significant internal reform in half a millennium of Russian history”
// People rationalising Russian military intervention are betraying their ignorance of Russian history

🐣 RT @ZaleskiLuke Trump told them to stand by. Told them to come to DC. Told them to stop the steal. Told them to go to the capitol. Told them to make Pence stand strong. Told them to fight. Waited 3 hours to stop them. Told them he loved them and would pardon them. The end
💽 https://x.com/ZaleskiLuke/status/1769684689264996493?s=20/photo/1
// J6 violence

🐣 RT @anneapplebaum It wasn’t an “election” in Russia; stop using that word. ¤ It was an orchestrated propaganda exercise designed to convince Russians, and the rest of us, to ignore the catastrophe Putin has inflicted on his nation. 300,000+ Russian men are dead and wounded for no reason at all.

⭕ 17 Mar 2024 ☘️

🐣 RT @Sky_Lee_1 Every single time Trump glorifies the worst attack our Capitol in history we must just keep this circulating the truth.
January 6th tally so far-
No. Charged federal: 1,333
No. Have pleaded guilty: 789
No. Sentenced: 821
We will NEVER FORGET!
💽 https://x.com/Sky_Lee_1/status/1769446876674232682?s=20/photo/1
// J6 video

🐣 RT @RBReich Trump pledged revenge and retribution should he regain office. He says he will be a dictator on “day one.” He claims presidents should have “complete and total” immunity. He calls opponents “vermin” who he will “root out.” ¤ He is a fascist. Use the word.
💽 https://x.com/RBReich/status/1769408356849246577?s=20/photo/1

😅 RT @AreMond2 A subtle and respectful message from George Clooney
⬇️Watch until the end⬇️
💽 https://x.com/AreMond2/status/1769354510189662626?s=20/photo/1
// Ad for “UDUMASS”; spoof

🐣 RT @TrumpsTaxes This was a great ‘cut the BS’ moment from @sbg1 who has clearly had it with the spin, the desensitization, and the cowardice of Republicans when it comes to Donald Trump and his threats to democracy.
💽 https://x.com/TrumpsTaxes/status/1769412201750659244?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Former Speaker John Boehner on Jan. 6:
¤ https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1769571347418542290?s=20

“Watching it was scary, and sad. It should have been a wake-up call for a return to Republican sanity…it will compare to one of the lowest points of American democracy that we lived through in January 2021…

Trump incited that bloody insurrection for nothing more than selfish reasons, perpetuated by the bullshit he’d been shoveling since he lost a fair election the previous November. He claimed voter fraud without any evidence, and repeated those claims, taking advantage of the trust placed in him by his supporters and ultimately betraying that trust.”

🐣 RT @ChuckPfarrer THE SWITCHAROO– @Maks_NAFO_FELLA reports that Great Britain will officially allow an”exchange of missiles”: Germany will transfer Taurus missiles to Britain, and London will provide Ukraine with additional Storm Shadows– circumventing Olaf Scholz.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA [Mar 9] 🇬🇧🚀🇩🇪 Great Britain officially allows the “exchange of missiles”: Germany will transfer Taurus missiles to Britain, and London will provide Ukraine with additional Storm Shadow”, – the Minister of Foreign Affairs of UK in an interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung.
🐣 RT @Victorshi2020 What an incredible photo. The entire Kennedy family pictured with President Biden this St. Patrick’s Day—except, of course, one Kennedy named RFK Jr. These are the real Kennedys.
🐣 RT @NoLieWithBTC The Kennedy family just released a St. Patrick’s Day photo with President Biden in a major rebuke to RFK Jr’s extremist conspiracy presidential campaign.
🐣 RT @bobbyshriver #Kennedy family votes for Biden! For me, his strong suppprt of @PEPFAR (when the idea was not popular) is very important. Similarly, he supported @GlobalFund when it was untested. People are ALIVE because of these health care triumphs. Critical for America’s moral leadership.
⋙ 🐣 RT @KerryKennedyRFK “It’s not enough to wish the world were better, you must make the world better” ¤ @POTUS President Biden, you make the world better. Happy St. Patrick’s Day ☘️ ¤ @vradenburg3 @Mkennedycuomo @vickikennedy2277 @amykennedy715 @pjk4brainhealt @roryekennedy @maxeykennedy
🖼 https://x.com/KerryKennedyRFK/status/1769520816343888008?s=20/photo/1
// @POTUS w Kennedy clan at White House for St Patrick’s Day

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Trump on North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un: ¤ “He’s the head of a country, and I mean, he’s the strong head…He speaks, and his people sit up in attention. I want my people to do the same.”
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1769516791099723793?s=20/photo/1
// 2018; talking to Steve Doocey from Fox, back turned

WaPo: Biden toughened asylum screening. It won’t contain a new border surge https://tinyurl.com/4f965xj3 “Screening interviews and asylum rejections have doubled…. But the failed border bill means authorities still lack resources to handle most new migrants.”

WaPo: Border security deadlock heightens risk of government shutdown https://tinyurl.com/3472wjzs ‘Disagreements over immigration at the US-Mexico border — an issue that has emerged as a key fault line between the parties in the November elections — stymied the talks’

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow Trump defends calling for the termination of the U.S. Constitution.
💽 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1769389502043136039?s=20/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 more slippery than a greased python and more dangerous

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: ABC just released the most devastating coverage of Donald Trump’s campaign yet. Retweet so all Americans see.
💽 https://x.com/BidensWins/status/1769498826266542378?s=20/photo/1
// bloodbath, praise for J6 “hostages”

🐣 RT @FrankFigliuzzi1 Trump says if he’s not elected “It will be a blood bath for the country”. FYI, if he IS elected, it will also be a blood bath based on his intentions. The choice is as clear as the threat.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Trump: Now, If I don’t get elected, it’s gonna be a bloodbath. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.
💽 https://x.com/FrankFigliuzzi1/status/1769144719353770102?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @DavidCornDC This guy calls the rioters who beat up cops in an attempt to overturn a legitimate election “unbelievable patriots.” That this doesn’t disqualify him within the GOP or among the tens of millions of voters who have voted for him shows how deep the rot goes.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Trump: Well thank you very much, and you see the spirit from the hostages, and that’s what they are. Hostages. We’re going to work with the people to treat those unbelievable patriots, and they were unbelievable patriots
💽 https://x.com/DavidCornDC/status/1769098271220220120?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @meduza_en Some Russians have been taking their presidential ballots to Alexey Navalny’s grave, writing in the opposition leader’s name and placing them in the mountain of flowers that mourners continue to bring, two weeks after Navalny’s funeral. Video from @smirusnews
💽 https://x.com/meduza_en/status/1769332784542130564?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @AntiToxicPeople LINCOLN WAS SHOT IN THE FUCKING HEAD
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Trump: I You’ve heard of Andrew Jackson.. They say that he was persecuted as president more than anybody else. Second was Abraham Lincoln. Nobody comes close to Trump.
💽 https://x.com/AntiToxicPeople/status/1769103949364150425?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @JuliaDavisNews Meanwhile in Russia: Aleksandr Sytin stunned host Andrey Norkin by admitting that Russia is on an expansionist quest that reaches well beyond Ukraine. Norkin rushed to declare a short break.
💽 https://x.com/JuliaDavisNews/status/1769393685874057260?s=20/photo/1

WaPo: Russian voters protest, answering Navalny’s call, by lining up at polls in “Noon Against Putin” https://tinyurl.com/5xctr2tr (oh, and Putin stole yet another election by disqualifying the opposition)

🐣 RT @RBReich The effective federal corporate income tax rate:
1950: 50%
1990: 25%
2020: 13%
Stop asking “but how we will pay for it?” Restore the corporate tax rate. ¤ That is how we will pay for it.

🐣 RT @Victorshi2020 Oh my goodness. President Biden at the Gridiron dinner last night said, “One candidate is too old, mentally unfit to be president: The other’s me. You know he ain’t the same guy that I beat in 2020…But don’t tell him. He thinks he’s running against Barack Obama.” He’s so funny.

🐣 RT @potus As the proud great-great-grandson of the Blewitts of County Mayo and son of Catherine Eugenia Finnegan – ¤ Happy St. Patrick’s Day, America! https://pic.twitter.com/07s5jFpWRZ
⋙ 🐣 Proud great-great granddaughter of Toormakeady, County Mayo, Ireland (Gibbons/Burke) ☘️ ¤ Happy Saint Patrick‘s Day back at you, @POTUS!

🐣 RT @JayinKyiv The leader of the Houthis, Ali al-Kahum announcing that they’ve been working with Russia to destroy western shipping should be no surprise to anyone except the western politicians that continue to block aid to Ukraine.

🐣 RT @djrothkopf This is an important thread. It puts Project 2025, the Trump plan to turn the civil service into a bunch of zombie loyalists, into clear perspective. It is every bit or more dangerous than anything else Trump and his lieutenants have proposed.
⋙ 🐣 RT @DanielMillerEsq You know who else purged the civil service: Orbán, Erdoğan, Chávez, Milosevic, Ayatollah Khomeini, Pinochet.. There was also this guy in Germany in 1933 who purged the civil service months after taking power. Follow @DemocracyFwd as they break down #Project2025’s extremist plans.
⋙⋙ 🧵 RT @DemocracyFwd We read all 900+ pages of #Project2025 plans so you don’t have to. ¤ Follow along with us as we break down their plans, starting with gutting the federal civil service and firing federal employees who people rely on every day. ¤ Repost to spread the word
📌 https://x.com/DemocracyFwd/status/1768390092106957121?s=20

⭕ 16 Mar 2024

🧵 RT @atrupar gonna do a video thread on Trump’s speech in Dayton, Ohio. Follow along for clips 👇
📌 💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1769093346557895044?s=20/photo/1
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/2h52vtp7

🐣 RT @AntiToxicPeople Ok. This is CONSPICUOUS DEMENTIA. Under any theory of thought this makes no sense at all. Wtf? WAKE UP MSM.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Trump: Joe Biden won against Barack Obama
💽 https://x.com/AntiToxicPeople/status/1769109772698050815?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @john_sipher Disqualifying.
🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski WAKE UP AMERICA!!!
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Trump: Now, If I don’t get elected, it’s gonna be a bloodbath. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country.
💽 https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1769104529981649254?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @kylegriffin1 Ex-Trump officials not supporting his re-election:

VP Mike Pence
U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley
Chief of Staff John Kelly
Defense Sec’y Mark Esper
Defense Sec’y James Mattis
AG Bill Barr
Sec’y of State Rex Tillerson
Nat’l Security Advisor John Bolton
Nat’l Security Advisor H.R. McMaster

🐣 RT @jurgen_nauditt ❗️Germany received data on the possibility of Russia attacking NATO countries from 2026, Business Insider

According to the analysis of German special services, Russia is preparing for a large-scale conflict with the West, as indicated by the reorganization of the Russian army, the movement of troops and the placement of missiles in the west of the country, as well as the increase in Russian arms production. The latter could lead to Russia doubling its military power over the next five years compared to today, particularly in the area of conventional weapons, according to a classified report.

“It can no longer be ruled out” that Russia will attack at least part of NATO’s territory “from 2026”, for example in the Baltic states or Finland, the Business Insider report cites.

🐣 RT @David_Charts Each of the major news organizations should have a “Voter Economic Briefing” highlighted on their main page. It should include a table like this.
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1769079377977811072?s=20/photo/1
// unempl, jobs, % employed, wages, household wealth, stock market, uninsured
⋙ 🧵 RT @David_Charts (Mar 4) State of the Union economic briefing; the key facts you need about the economy. First, monthly job creation over 50% faster in 2023 than 2019, the most comparable pre-pandemic year. 1/
📌 ◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1764853913289666898?s=20/photo/1 -n

⭕ 15 Mar 2024

🐣 RT @jurgen_nauditt 😡The Washington Post reports that because of political dysfunction in Washington, U.S. aid to Ukraine is being delivered too late to prevent catastrophe. ¤ The Biden administration fears that, in the best case, there could be numerous deaths this year, and in the worst case, the front could collapse. …
⋙ WaPo: U.S. anticipates grim course for Ukraine if aid bill dies in Congress https://tinyurl.com/5fxf9u4s “The Biden administration has come to believe that, absent more American military support, ‘countless lives’ will be lost this year as Kyiv struggles to stave off collapse”

🐣 RT @Timodc People who are planning to vote for Trump next time I have a q. Why do you think you know him better than his

– VP
– Chief of Staff
– Defense Secretary (x2)
– Homeland Security Secretary (x2)
– National Security Advisor (x2)
– communications director (x3) &
– lawyers

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder “Donald Trump Appears to dream of being an American authoritarian should he return to office.” @thor_benson
⋙ WIRED, Thor Benson: The ‘Emergency Powers’ Risk of a Second Trump Presidency https://tinyurl.com/36773xwh “Every US president has the ability to invoke ‘emergency powers’ that could give an authoritarian leader the ability to censor the internet, restrict travel, and more”

Donald Trump appears to dream of being an American authoritarian should he return to office.should he return to office. The former US president, who on Tuesday secured enough delegates to win the 2024 Republican nomination, plans to deport millions of undocumented immigrants and house scores of them in large camps. He wants to invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy the military in cities across the nation to quell civil unrest. He wants to prosecute his political opponents. There’s an organized and well-funded effort to replace career civil servants in the federal government with Trump loyalists who will do his bidding and help him consolidate power.

… Should Trump decide to go full authoritarian, he could utilize what are called “emergency powers” to shut down the internet in certain areas, censor the internet, freeze people’s bank accounts, restrict transportation, and more.

Utilizing laws like the National Emergencies Act, the Communications Act of 1934, and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), he would be able to wield power in ways this country has never seen. Furthermore, America’s vast surveillance state, which has regularly been abused, could theoretically be abused even further to surveil his perceived political enemies. …

“Emergency powers are meant to give presidents extraordinary authorities for use in extraordinary circumstances. Because they provide these very potent authorities, it is critical that they have checks and balances built into them and safeguards against abuse,” [Elizabeth] Goitein says. “The problem with our current emergency powers system—and that system comprises a lot of different laws—is that it really lacks those checks and balances.” [Goitein, is senior director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty & National Security Program at the New York University School of Law.]

… What constitutes an actual emergency is not defined by these laws, so Trump could come up with any number of reasons for declaring one, and he couldn’t easily be stopped from abusing this power. …

Chris Edelson, an assistant professor of government at the American University, tells WIRED that he worries what Trump might do regardless of what is lawfully allowed. ¤ “I think he will do what he can get away with, and he will make use of whatever tools are available, which could include statutory provisions like the National Emergencies Act, or it could just include acting by fiat. He could just say, ‘I’ll order the government to do whatever I want,’” Edelson says.

… The Supreme Court can put out a decision, but it’s not guaranteed that a president will listen. The executive branch has been operating under norms, and Trump likes to break norms. ¤ “Trump is a bully at heart. He might try to ignore a court ruling,” Edelson says. “He’ll do whatever he thinks he can get away with, including ignoring a judicial decision.”

Regardless of who’s president, Goitein and Edelson both say that Congress needs to reform the laws that allow presidents to wield such great power. If they’re not abused by Trump, they could be abused by another president in the future. It’s best not to leave a powerful weapon available to someone who may one day be tempted to use it, and Trump has historically tested what a president can get away with.

🐣 RT @United24media ⚡ The UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine has found evidence of Russia committing war crimes by systematically torturing Ukrainian civilians and POWs.

Reports describe severe beatings, abuse, and psychological trauma.

One Ukrainian soldier recounted broken bones, teeth, and gangrene after being tortured in a Russian penal colony. The UN report also highlights the horrific use of rape and sexual violence as torture tactics.

The report is based on interviews with 422 women and 394 men.

🐣 RT @peterbakernyt White House’s Kirby says that while Biden praised Schumer’s speech, that does not mean he is directly calling for new Israeli elections. “That’s going to be up to the Israeli people to decide,” he says, while adding that Schumer’s remarks “resonate with many Americans out there.”

🐣 RT @AdamParkhomenko Standby for an epic Donald Trump meltdown
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Pence: I will not be endorsing Donald Trump
💽 https://x.com/AdamParkhomenko/status/1768728046167597399?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RepMikeQuigley Aid to Ukraine is not a blank check. It is an investment in our own defense and an investment into the preservation of democracy everywhere. ¤ Speaker Johnson—stop wasting time.

🐣 RT @ChuckPfarrer WEAPON HACK: @PStyle0ne1 reports that Cyber ​​specialists of the SBU hacked the supply of components for RU “Shahed” & cruise missiles blocking the shipment of servomotors for the production of 1,600 Shaheds and 4,000 cruise missiles .

💙 🐣 RT @David_Charts Reagan successfully campaigned on the “Morning in America” ad in 1984. How does the 1984 economy compare to 2023, adjusted for inflation (real)? ¤ 2023 is better on nearly all measures, especially real wages which are the highest ever outside pandemic distorted ’20-’21.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1768723873615225088?s=20/photo/1

CNN: Johnson tells senators he’s still looking for path on Ukraine aid https://tinyurl.com/yakf5exd //➔ He wants to make it a loan, because Trump suggested that, and use frozen Russian funds (most of Russia’s money is in Europe); McConnell says bring Senate bill up for a vote(!)

Salon, Chauncey DeVega: Trump sneakers and the MAGA uniform: Merchandising fascism to the mainstream https://tinyurl.com/mr3p6d4z “MAGA merchandise is a way of creating meaning among the faithful just as the walls close in on Donald Trump”

🐣 RT @tribelaw “Trump’s appearance in Georgia reflected a man not rooted in any kind of reality, one who struggled to remember his words and who was, by any definition, incoherent, disconnected, and frequently malicious.” [NYer link:] https://tinyurl.com/3b22vmnm

🐣 RT @David_Charts About 684,000 more died from Coronavirus than if we’d done as well as Canada per capita. It was Trump’s job to protect us as president, and he lied, delayed, and set terrible examples on masking and vaccination (which he quietly did).
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1768686506443485374?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @thomaskaine5 ‘Hey Retiring House @GOP. Be like @RepKenBuck and RESIGN NOW!!! Why stay as part of the Putin-loving GOP any longer?
@RepGallagher @RepBlaine @PatrickMcHenry @RepSpartz @RepBradWenstrup @RepDrewFerguson @RepGregPence @RepLarryBucshon @RepJeffDuncan

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Fact check: The average unemployment rate for all racial groups has been lower under Biden than it was under Trump.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1768675572928991662?s=20/photo/1

DailyBeast, Ron Filipkowski: Trump Is Flat-Out Lying About Having the ‘Most Secure Border in History’ https://tinyurl.com/2w6ev4dy Trump had more apprehensions each year until COVID-19 struck. He asked for more $$ from Congress. .
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1768676201843818904?s=20/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 Note that in the chart above, only the pink part of the bar are people who get in. The black and blue parts of the bar are people who are not let it.

🐣 RT @4TaxFairness NEW DATA: As of 2021, millionaires were paying about HALF the tax rate they paid from 1964 to 1980.
In 2021, that meant $664 BILLION less in tax revenue.
When we say millionaires and billionaires should be paying more of their fair share in taxes, this is what we mean.
◕ https://x.com/4TaxFairness/status/1768658664166994316?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow MAGA: The Cult of Trump—A Dangerous Merger of Violence and Religious Zeal ¤ The MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement, often associated with former U.S. President Donald Trump, raises significant concerns when examined through the lens of cult dynamics. […] #longread
¤ https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1768641631656268118?s=20

🐣 RT @IanSams46 NEW >> White House Counsel letter today to Speaker Johnson: ¤ “It is clear the House Republican impeachment is over. It is obviously time to move on.” ¤ “There is too much important work to be done for the American people to continue wasting time on this charade.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/IanSams46/status/1768573442310181026?s=20/photo/1 -4

WaPo: U.S. anticipates grim course for Ukraine if aid bill dies in Congress https://tinyurl.com/5fxf9u4s “The Biden administration has come to believe that, absent more American military support, ‘countless lives’ will be lost this year as Kyiv struggles to stave off collapse”

🧵 RT @duty2warn 1/20 Over 400 licensed medical and mental health professionals have agreed Trump shows clear signs of “probable dementia.” But even more persuasive than their signatures on our petition are what they had to say. Only in this long Tweet can you read their words verbatim. ¤ Please hear their voices! (RT)
📌 https://x.com/duty2warn/status/1768567654111932739?s=20
[ThreadReader:] https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1768567654111932739.html

🐣 RT @USAmbKyiv Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk, and Crimea are Ukraine. ¤ The U.S. does not and never will recognize sham elections held in occupied Ukrainian territories.
⋙ 🐣 RT @StateDept Russia is continuing to undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and political independence through sham elections held in occupied Ukrainian territories. The U.S. does not and will never recognize the legitimacy or outcome of these sham elections.
💽 https://x.com/StateDept/status/1768408012824129552?s=20/photo/1

⭕ 14 Mar 2024

🔄 PrisonPolicyOrg/FBi (Mar 14): U.S. crime rates continue to fall, and preliminary data indicate crime likely hit a 60-year low in 2023 https://tinyurl.com/2s32kbwz
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1802756257129923019/photo/1
// 3/14/2024

Politico (3/14): Johnson faces make-or-break moment on Ukraine aid as pressure mounts https://tinyurl.com/yc7hjrap “There is a right and wrong there — a good versus evil, in my view. And Ukraine is the victim here. They were invaded,” the speaker said.
// “Pushing it off past next Friday is reckless, and I’ve made that clear,” the GOP Armed Services chair said. More delays are likely.

Speaker Mike Johnson is running out of time to solve his Ukraine aid problem — with pressure mounting inside the Capitol and around the world. ¤ If the speaker doesn’t quickly embrace a plan to approve long-stalled foreign assistance, lawmakers in his own party could force his hand by aligning with Democrats on maneuvers that would steer aid bills around him. But whatever plan Johnson does embrace will almost surely cost him with his deeply fractured GOP conference, whose tenuous two-vote majority is already requiring him to rely on Democratic votes to pass most major legislation. … Meanwhile, lawmakers in both parties warn that Kyiv can’t hold out much longer.

… As Congress prepares to leave Washington next week for a 17-day recess, the Polish prime minister and other foreign leaders are warning in increasingly bold terms that the speaker’s inaction risks resulting in mass casualties.

“There is a right and wrong there — a good versus evil, in my view. And Ukraine is the victim here. They were invaded,” the speaker said. “We’re processing through the various options right now.

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), chair of the House Rules Committee and the unofficial dean of the chamber’s GOP, predicted that: “Sooner or later, this is getting to the floor. … So we can either come together on a package of our own and put that on the floor, or have to live with whatever the discharge petition produces.” …

Johnson’s other options to act are sparse. National security committee leaders, led by Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul (R-Texas), are discussing a still unclear plan to advance foreign aid. A House Republican aide familiar with those talks said the final product is likely to mirror the funding request Biden sent Congress for Ukraine, Israel and the Pacific in October, minus money he sought for the border.

Former President Donald Trump has suggested money to Ukraine should be structured as a loan, and some aid-skeptical Republicans are pushing Johnson to make that part of whatever he brings to a vote — although most of the money President Joe Biden requested would stay in the U.S.

Even if a new House bill were to pass, lawmakers would need time to reconcile it with the aid plan that got 70 votes in the Senate last month.

“The choice that Mike Johnson faces at this point is binary: Give us a vote on the Senate bill, or abandon Ukraine,” Smith said. “He’s trying to pretend like he has a different option, but he doesn’t.”

Johnson told reporters on Wednesday that the bill the House ends up passing “may not look exactly like the Senate supplemental.”

If the House passed a new foreign assistance package, rather than the $95 billion Senate-passed package, the upper chamber would need a week to clear that legislation for Biden’s signature — or likely longer, given all-but-certain interest in changes.

“We don’t have time for all of this,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said this week, calling on Johnson to “let the House speak” by taking up the Senate-passed measure.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has also called for clearing the Senate foreign aid bill by the end of next week. He noted that the petition Democrats are circulating to force a vote on it has far more signatures than the bipartisan petition led by Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Jared Golden (D-Maine) to force a passage vote on an aid plan with border measures.

“It’s a reaffirmation,” Jeffries told reporters, “that the only clear path is to put the bipartisan, comprehensive Senate-passed bill on the House floor for an up or down vote, and it will pass overwhelmingly.”

The longer Johnson waits, the more intense the political pressures will get in the run-up to Election Day. Assistance for Ukraine still enjoys bipartisan support in the House, but opposition to new funding has swelled among Republicans as Trump more vocally criticizes Ukraine aid.

“With the virulence with which the former president is interfering with the process, I worry about the more time that goes by,” said Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), chair of the panel that funds the State Department.

And even if Congress were to clear a multibillion-dollar aid package next week, the money won’t immediately boost Ukraine in fending off the Russian invasion, warned Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), a co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus.

“Bottom line, the pipeline is nearly empty,” Quigley said. “Let’s just say we resolve this next week. It’s gonna take a while to fill the pipeline and get stuff into the battlefield. We’re losing time.”

✅ WaPo Factchecker, Glen Kessler: Trump has a bunch of new false claims. Here’s a guide. https://tinyurl.com/f3duxtun Here are just the appetizers:
¤ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1768975159166222552?s=20

● He created the greatest U.S. economy in U.S. history (not by any metric).
● He passed the biggest tax cut in history (it ranks 8th).
● He created the greatest U.S. economy in U.S. history (not by any metric).
● He did more for Black people than any president than Abraham Lincoln (not by any metric).
● He defeated ISIS in four weeks (it took the United States and coalition partners more than two years after he took office).
● He was the first president to impose tariffs on China (China has faced U.S. tariffs since George Washington first enacted them in 1789).
● He increased government revenue even though he cut taxes (False).

🐣 RT @MarkWarner In my 14 years in the Senate, I can’t think of a more historic decision we’ve faced than continuing to stand with Ukraine. ¤ The future of Europe is at risk here. Putin’s ambitions will only grow if he isn’t stopped now. The House needs to get it together and act.

Salon, Chauncey DeVega: “Experts are desperate to warn the public”: Hundreds sign Dr. John Gartner’s Trump dementia petition https://tinyurl.com/mps5f3bk “They see the signs of Trump’s cognitive decline through the eyes of years of training and experience”

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder Trump’s allies are selling out Ukraine in exchange for Russian backing in the election. 1/
A Trump victory in November would finish off US democracy. 2/
And a Russian victory in Ukraine would doom freedom generally. 3/
If this minority coalition of international fascists wins in 2024, life will be rotten for everyone else indefinitely. 4/
If you want a chance to live in a decent world, you’ve got half a year to act. 5/5
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/44hezhhe

🐣 RT @Igor_from_Kyiv_ Today I will be reviewing archival videos of war crimes by Russian terrorists in order to use them in my documentary.
💽 https://x.com/Igor_from_Kyiv_/status/1768357039305093410?s=20/photo/1

These are gigabytes of video filmed on surveillance cameras, eyewitnesses’ cell phones, and more. That’s hundreds of gigabytes and hours of video… which I’ll have to watch now. I already understand what awaits me. Even though I have seen many things in my life, death and pain with my own eyes. There are things that I still cannot react to without tears and pain: the deaths of innocent people, especially children. And they will also be in these videos. But the world must see the truth.. The world must remember who Russian fascists and terrorists are, and never forget about it.

🐣 RT @SenSanders Moving to a 32-hour workweek with no loss in pay is not radical. What’s radical is that over $50 trillion in wealth has been redistributed from the bottom 90% to the top 1% over the past 50 years. It’s time that the financial gains from new technology benefit workers, not the 1%.

🔆❗️⋙ TheGuardian: US firm that paid indicted FBI informant tied to Trump associates, records reveal https://tinyurl.com/yf4zb4d8 “Alexander Smirnov was paid $600,000 in 2020 – the same year he allegedly began lying to FBI about Bidens’ role in Ukraine business”

★ NYT, David Leonhardt (3/11): The Fourth Anniversary of the Covid Pandemic https://tinyurl.com/ycxer6r4 “To this day, more than 30 percent of self-identified Republicans have not received a Covid vaccine shot, compared with less than 10 percent of Democrats.”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1768512379543801900?s=20/photo/1
// 3/11/2024
↥ ↧
★ 🐣 RT @JReinerMD Prior to the development of COVID vaccines, the virus killed Democrats and Republicans equally. But after vaccines became available, overwhelmingly red counties had much higher COVID death rates than dark Blue counties. This didn’t have to happen.
◕ https://x.com/JReinerMD/status/1768453222237114645?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @IAPonomarenko Emmanuel Macron is just kicking ass tonight.
¤ https://x.com/IAPonomarenko/status/1768389798052381122?s=20

Some of his words for the French TV:

“If Ukraine falls, our security will be at risk. If Russia continues to escalate, if the situation worsens, we must be ready, and we will be ready. To be prepared, we will make the necessary decisions to ensure that Russia never wins.”

“I want our compatriots to understand that there is only one person responsible for the situation we are in: it is the Kremlin regime. I am undoubtedly a responsible leader who has spoken with Vladimir Putin more than anyone else. We are not in fiction, this is not a novel or a TV series.”

“Therefore, if the war spreads, if the war spreads in Europe, it will be the only choice and responsibility of Russia. Of course, today Russia is an opponent. The Kremlin regime is an opponent. I have always said this, we are not waging war with Russia and the Russian people.

“And we support Ukraine. I will tell you very simply: there will be no lasting peace without sovereignty, a return to internationally recognized borders of Ukraine, including Crimea.”

“Today, for there to be peace in Ukraine, we must not be weak, so we must soberly look at the situation and with determination, will, and courage say that we are ready to achieve our goal by the means that ensure Russia will not win. The responsibility lies with us.”

“If Russia wins, how will the lives of the French change? We will no longer have security in Europe. Who could think for a second that President Putin, who has respected none of these restrictions and none of his commitments, would stop at what has been achieved? The security of the French is at stake. These are our vital interests.”

We have helped Ukraine to resist. But now the context on Ukrainian soil is changing. For them, the situation is much more complicated. Russia is becoming tougher internally and is stepping up its attacks.

“What is at stake in Ukraine? A war that is existential for our Europe and for France. We have introduced too many restrictions, so to speak, into our vocabulary. We are not participating in the escalation. We are not in a state of war with Russia.

We just need to be clear: we must not allow Russia to win.”

What can I say — finally the words of a real European leader.

🐣 RT @JayinKyiv US Ambassador to Hungary gives historic speech, rightly outlining Hungary’s government having been taken over by Russian proxies and “unhinged anti-American”.
⋙ TheGuardian: US ambassador hits out at Hungary’s ‘unhinged anti-American messaging’ https://tinyurl.com/bdfp3hyv “In speech in Budapest, David Pressman says while Hungary under Viktor Orbán tries to wait out US government, ‘we will act’”

🐣 RT @BidenHQ .@SimonWDC: The arguments the Republicans have been making against President Biden have all evaporated. The economy is strong, it’s not weak. Inflation isn’t rising, it’s down. Crime isn’t surging, it’s plummeting. On the border, Democrats want order and Republicans want chaos

🐣 RT @KyivPost House Democrats Aim to Get US Aid to Ukraine Passed Next Week ¤ House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has set an “ambitious deadline” to get Biden’s bill, and the $60 billion in aid for Ukraine, passed by Easter vacation.

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🇫🇷🇺🇦 Macron: “France is the power of the world. We must not be weak. That is why we must look at the situation soberly and must say with determination, will, and courage that we are ready to use the means to achieve our goal, which is that Russia does not win!”

⁉️ Politico: Johnson says he expects to take up Ukraine aid w Dem votes https://tinyurl.com/yehff5bs “He added … that splitting Ukraine and Israel aid into two separate bills is ‘under consideration.’” He suggests this could be done under a rule requiring ⅔ of the votes.

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln Starting Topics:
¤ https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1768287889819926582?s=20

1. Donald Trump entered office in 2017 promising to shrink deficits and pay down the national debt. In reality, he did the oppposite as he grew the deficit every year he was in office. In fact, Trump added more debt than any other president in history.

2. In every year of the Biden administration, violent crime has dropped. According to the latest estimates, 2023 is on track to have one of the lowest violent crime rates in half a century. America is safer today than when Biden took office.

3. This week’s Georgia Republican primary showed us something. Donald Trump lost Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020. On Tuesday night Nikki Haley collected more than 64,000 votes, even though she dropped out of the race last week. That’s a significant number that voted in protest of Trump. He’s weaker than you think.

🐣 RT @tribelaw Here @judgeluttig & I explain the damage @SCOTUS has done to democracy’s safety net. We dissect the arguments of all 9 Justices and show where all of them went wrong, pulling back the curtain to expose what motivated them to take this awful step together ~
⋙ TheAtlantic, J. Michael Luttig and Laurence H. Tribe: Supreme Betrayal ~ A requiem for Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment https://tinyurl.com/3sx6xhk8 “The Supreme Court has now rendered that safety net a dead letter, effectively rescinding it as if it had never been enacted.”

🐣 RT @nexta_tv Duda: “We Poles know this very well, we have been occupied several times by Russia, under its different guises, Tsarist Russia, Soviet Russia, we know what it means to be under Russian domination, when we hear the term ‘Russkiy Mir’ we are scared.”
💽 https://x.com/nexta_tv/status/1768295910520353050?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @cspan .@SenSchumer: “Prime Minister Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take the precedence over the best interests of Israel…The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7th.”
💽 https://x.com/cspan/status/1768288743365001443?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom Millions of Americans want to give this disordered child the nuclear codes simply because they think it would be a hoot and it will piss off all the people they hate for looking down on them; it never occurs to them that this is why people look down on them in the first place
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Trump: I took [the documents] very legally. And I wasn’t hiding them.
💽 https://x.com/RadioFreeTom/status/1768087308006215704?s=20

🐣 RT @mmpadellan
Republican Presidents: 16 years, 1.3M jobs
Democratic Presidents: 19 years, 49.4M jobs
Democratic Presidents are better for America. ¤ BECAUSE MATH. 🇺🇸💪
💽 https://x.com/mmpadellan/status/1768140259076808880?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @Timodc Also Bill Clinton did not take anything out of the white house in his socks. He’s mixing up the story of Clinton keeping tapes of an interview in his sock drawer
⋙ 🐣 RT @SwissWatchGuy Lol, Trump thinks Clinton physically destroyed her hard drives with an actual ‘powerful acid’. ¤ BleachBit is software. You’d think Trump would know that considering that he talks about the Clinton emails so much. ¤ Guy has no clue about anything.
💽 https://x.com/Timodc/status/1768249516803698688?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @peterbakernyt Smirnov was paid $600,000 by a US company tied to a UK firm owned by Trump associates in 2020 – the same year he allegedly began lying to FBI about Bidens’ role in Ukraine business, reports @JSweetLI [Guardian link:] https://tinyurl.com/yf4zb4d8

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Trump claims that Joe Biden has enacted a “war on American energy.” That’s false. Oil, gas, and renewable production are all at record highs. @Morning_Joe
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1768226779083276541?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Trump claims that, before Covid, America was “going to start to pay off” its debt. ¤ In reality, he added $4.8T (net of tariff revenues) to the debt before the pandemic, and $3.6T during it. @Morning_Joe
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1768227394081505615?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Morning_Joe “Trump added more debt than any other president in history.” @SteveRattner debunks Trump’s claims that he was on track to ‘pay off the debt’. https://youtu.be/y2RK2B5YE5M

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Trump came into office in 2017 promising to shrink deficits and pay down the national debt. ¤ In reality, he grew the deficit every year he was in office. @Morning_Joe
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1768227163973574705?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Trump claims that Biden has destroyed American “energy independence.” That’s false. ¤ Under Biden, America is exporting more of its energy than ever before. @Morning_Joe
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1768226938210918617?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Trump claims that crime has surged under Joe Biden’s presidency. That’s false. ¤ In 2023, the nationwide violent and property crime rates were lower than any year of Trump’s presidency. @Morning_Joe
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1768226637462552715?s=20/photo/1

⭕ 13 Mar 2024

🐣 RT @sciam Research shows that even mild COVID-19 can lead to the equivalent of seven years of brain aging
★ ⋙ SciAm: COVID-19 Leaves Its Mark on the Brain. Significant Drops in IQ Scores Are Noted https://tinyurl.com/3bjcvhmd “Research shows that even mild COVID-19 can lead to the equivalent of seven years of brain aging”
⋙ 🧵 RT @_CatintheHat COVID + THE BRAIN 🧠 ¤ There’s been a flurry of new studies published in recent weeks about Covid’s detrimental impact on the brain. ¤ This is the aspect of Covid which concerns me most, but which many people seem to be blissfully unaware of. ¤ So let’s dig into what we know…
📌 https://x.com/_CatintheHat/status/1763878368242524370?s=20

TimesOfIsrael: After logjam, diplomat reports progress in hostage talks as Qatar leans hard on Hamas https://tinyurl.com/r22uj3a6 “A senior Hamas official told Al Arabiya earlier today that the group had accepted a modified version of the latest US proposal”

⭕ 12 Mar 2024

WaPo, Jennifer Rubin: ‘Trickle-down economics’ is a scam that ignores decades of evidence https://tinyurl.com/nzes4y7r Tax cuts for the wealthy only makes them richer, and increases income inequality and the deficit. In contrast, increasing the children tax credit helps families.

🐣 RT @Acyn Comer: You look at how Donald Trump is treated. He had documents in one location behind a locked door.
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1767726410066534587?s=20/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 Trump had documents in a bathroom and on a stage in full public view; he had documents in his bedroom and in his desk; he flew 10-15 boxes away on his plane to — where? @RepJamesComer

🐣 RT @mikepompeo Pushing a two-state solution won’t magically lead to peace in the region; it only rewards Hamas for its barbaric attacks on October 7th and empowers Iran.
⋙ 🐣 Israel’s policy of “10 eyes for an eye” earns it no friends; you excuse Netanyahu’s complicity and double-dealing: his attempt to nurture Hamas to prevent a two-state solution led to this tragedy

🐣 RT @gtconway3d “State Duma member Leonid Kalashnikov marveled at Trump’s devil-may-care attitude. ¤ “Describing Trump as ‘unhinged,’ the Russian lawmaker said that the former US president is “behaving as a Russian,” citing Orbán’s recent visit as an example. ¤ “Kalashnikov stated: ‘I am a fan of Trump, based on the interests of my country.’ He expressed gratitude for the four-year reprieve he said Trump’s presidency provided for Russia, allowing the country to prepare for its expanded invasion of Ukraine. This is not unusual—lawmakers and foreign policy experts frequently gush about their affinity for Trump as ‘the destroyer of America.’”
⋙ 🐣 RT @JuliaDavisNews Trump is ‘Unhinged’ But We Love Him, Say Kremlin Mouthpieces ¤ Viktor Orbán’s controversial journey to the US resulted in ominous tidings for Ukraine and delight in Moscow. ¤ My latest for @CEPA:
⋙⋙ CEPA, Julia Davis: Trump is ‘Unhinged’ But We Love Him, Say Kremlin Mouthpieces https://tinyurl.com/mr3k6hz2
/ CEPA=Center for European Policy Analysis; The controversial journey of Hungary’s leader to the US resulted in ominous tidings for Ukraine and delight in Moscow.

🐣 RT @TheBeatWithAri Trump empire wobbles as legal experts raise concerns Trump may be ‘beholden’ to bond backers: [YouTube link:]
💽 https://x.com/TheBeatWithAri/status/1767579175899029842?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @steven_pifer .@SpeakerJohnson continues to block assistance to #Ukraine as Ukrainian soldiers run low on ammunition and die. ¤ Johnson’s dithering helps #Russia. ¤ If Kremlin wins in Ukraine, it will pose much greater threat to Europe and US. Does Johnson not understand that?🤔
⋙ 🐣 If Putin wins in Ukraine, 20M refugees will flood Europe and NATO countries. They know what it’s like to live under Putin’s horrific regime: rape, torture, murder, “Russification” (the GULAG) ¤ And Putin will not stop. He will next attack Moldova, the Baltic States and Poland.

🧵 RT @MuellerSheWrote THREAD: Are you better off than you were 4 years ago? Some great graphics from @chrislhayes. Bookmark this to show your MAGA fam. First up: GDP 1/
📌 https://x.com/MuellerSheWrote/status/1767709516307792013?s=20/photo/1 -n

🐣 RT @United24media Polish FM on Ukraine’s negotiations with Russia: No shortage of ‘pocket Chamberlains’ ready to sacrifice someone else’s territory for sake of their comfort.
💽 https://x.com/United24media/status/1767664362477486537?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @seungminkim Polish PM Donald Tusk with some pretty blunt words for @SpeakerJohnson re: Ukraine aid (quotes via @Marekwalkuski)
[TextLink:] https://x.com/seungminkim/status/1767679996674310494?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] “I also hope that the voice from Poland will influence, and change, the attitude of the speaker of the House. Mr. Johnson, he must be aware, and I hope that he is already aware, that on his individual decision depends the fate of millions of people, in fact on his decision depends thousands of lives in Ukraine.”

“This is not some political skirmish that only matters here in America. The absence of this positive decision of Mr. Johnson will really cost thousands of lives there: children, women. He must be aware of his personal responsibility.

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote BREAKING: Trump knew the insurrectionists were armed before they breached the Capitol. His lead secret service agent testified under oath that he told him.
[Politico link:] https://tinyurl.com/bdsu243t

🐣 RT @marceelias The RNC is planning an all out assault on voting rights and free and fair elections. It’s going to be a big lift, but my team and I beat them in court before and we will do so again.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/marceelias/status/1767688372150001873?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @Acyn Roy: In 2018 we had the House, we had the Senate, we had The White House  and we had a bigger majority than we have today and we utterly failed to secure the border. Totally dropped the ball. Didn’t do it.
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1767683131446870397?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @Acyn After announcing he’s leaving Congress next week, Buck says: It is the worst year of the nine years and three months that I’ve been in congress. And having talked to former members, it’s the worst year in 40-50 years to be in congress.
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1767615084103106746?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @Victorshi2020 This is epic. Rep. Swalwell just played this minute-long montage featuring Trump’s gaffes and mental decline. The best part about it? He forced Fox to carry it live to their audience too. Democrats came to play today & it’s glorious.
💽 https://x.com/Victorshi2020/status/1767585850307866960?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @Acyn Fitzgerald: Senile is defined as exhibiting a decline of cognitive ability. Did you find that President Biden was senile? ¤ Hur: I did not

🐣 RT @BarbMcQuade One goal of corrupt authoritarians is to convince the public that everyone is corrupt, and so corruption is no big deal. Despite efforts to equate Biden‘s conduct with Trump’s, Hur’s report emphasizes that the two cases are worlds apart.
⋙ 🐣 RT @KatiePhang Hur now conceding that on page 11 of his report, he set forth the difference between Biden and Trump:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BarbMcQuade/status/1767605246086246699?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] … distinctions between Mr. Trump’s case and Mr. Biden’s are clear. Unlike the evidence involving Mr. Biden, the allegations set forth in the indictment of Mr. Trump, if proven, would present serious aggravating facts.

Most notably, after being given multiple chances to return classified documents and avoid prosecution, Mr. Trump allegedly did the opposite. According to the indictment, he not only refused to return the documents for many months, but he also obstructed justice by enlisting others to destroy evidence and then to lie about it. In contrast, Mr. Biden turned in classified documents to the National Archives and the Department of Justice, consented to the search of multiple locations including his homes, sat for a voluntary interview, and in other ways cooperated with the investigation.

🐣 RT @AlexKokcharov Map of today’s military activity by the Ukrainian armed forces in regions across western #Russia, including the border regions: ¤ 10 regions impacted by UAV strikes, and ground forces’ fighting in #Kursk and #Belgorod regions along the border with #Ukraine.
🌎 https://x.com/AlexKokcharov/status/1767570944569032944?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] OH WHAT A DAY! WHAT A LOVELY DAY! On March 12, the situation in Russia was highly turbulent, with Russian volunteers fighting on the side of Ukraine breaking through the border and UAV attacks.

🐣 RT @IanSams46 Former top DOJ leaders disagree
AG Holder: “way too many gratuitous remarks” “flatly inconsistent with long standing DOJ traditions”
Deputy AG Gorelick: “gratuitous slam”
Lead Mueller prosecutor [Weismann]: “exactly what you’re not supposed to do”
Solicitor General [Katyal]: “Totally gratuitous”
⋙ 🐣 RT @KFaulders Special Counsel Robert Hur: “I did not sanitize my explanation. Nor did I disparage the President unfairly.”

🐣 RT @harrylitman @charlie_savage thorough analysis demonstrates that Hur report was a hit job built by over reliance (and at times distortion) of individual snippets v overall (5-hr) interview, in which Biden plainly clear-headed. Pretty disgraceful via @NYTimes

🐣 RT @AdamKinzinger Reading the transcript it seems obvious that Biden was not as demented as Robert Hur made him out to be. ¤ Seems like a normal interview actually. ¤ Way to go GOP, you’re about to be embarrassed again.

🐣 RT @Angry_Staffer After reading the transcript, it’s clear that Robert Hur’s summary was complete bullshit. ¤ It was nothing more than a political hit job to make Biden look bad.

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch After President Biden told Robert Hur a story, Hur told Biden: “you have –appear to have a photographic understanding and, and recall…”

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Looking at Powell’s three core inflation “buckets”, we see:
– Core goods deflating
– Core services pleateauing above 4% (driven by auto insurance and airline fares in Feb)
– Housing (which operates with a lag) still high, but falling
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1767535990422274254?s=20/photo/1
// three charts

🧵 RT @atrupar I’m going to cover Robert Hur’s testimony to the House Judiciary Committee in this thread. Follow along for highlights
📌 💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1767552092422500503?s=20/photo/1
[CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/3u276dxy 159p

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: According to JPMorgan, the U.S. has achieved energy independence for the first time in 40 years. President Biden’s energy policies have made U.S. energy affordable and helped transitioned towards cleaner technologies.

🐣 RT @4TaxFairness Billionaires have gotten $2.3 trillion richer since the Trump tax scam and pay a lower average tax rate than teachers and nurses. ¤ Price-gouging corporations are pulling in record high profits and paying record low tax rates. ¤ @POTUS is right—it’s time they paid their fair share.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/4TaxFairness/status/1767535434026951115?s=20/photo/1

Biden budget would make wealthy pay their fair share
• 25% BILLIONAIRE MINIMUM INCOME TAX
• RAISE THE CORPORATE TAX RATE TO 28% MAKE THE WEALTHY PAY THEIR FAIR SHARE INTO MEDICARE
• CLOSE LOOPHOLES FOR OFFSHORING JOBS AND PROFITS
• END TAX BREAKS FOR EXCESSIVE CEO PAY
• RAISE CAPITAL GAINS TAX ON THE RICH
• RAISE THE TAX RATE ON TOP INCOME BRACKET

TheIndependent: Transcript shows president remembered exact day of his late son’s death, contradicting prosecutor Robert Hur’s report https://tinyurl.com/24hnu6sv Others in the room interjected the year, which Biden confirmed.

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en William Burns, Director of the CIA, about providing aid to Ukraine: ¤ “With this supplemental assistance, Ukraine can put itself in a position… to achieve an outcome in which Putin’s goal which was to subjugate Ukraine and to control its choices would be denied. ¤ Without supplemental assistance…lies a much grimmer future…you’re going to see more Avdiivkas, and that, it seems to me, would be a massive and historic mistake for the United States.”

🐣 RT @officejjsmart 🔥🔥🔥 There have reportedly been explosions in 10 (!!) regions of Russia 🇷🇺, in multiple oil refineries, as 🇺🇦 troops have entered southern Russia. ¤ This comes after massive cyber attacks that have crippled part of Russia’s critical infrastructure. ¤ 👉 Putin’s end nears.

⭕ 11 Mar 2024

★ NYT, David Leonhardt (3/11): The Fourth Anniversary of the Covid Pandemic https://tinyurl.com/ycxer6r4 “To this day, more than 30 percent of self-identified Republicans have not received a Covid vaccine shot, compared with less than 10 percent of Democrats.”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1768512379543801900?s=20/photo/1
// 3/11/2024

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski Biden is old. Today in Trump:

1. He claims immunity in case where he paid off porn star.
2. Fmr employee said he loaded docs on a plane to NJ while govt was looking for them.
3. Orban says Trump told him he will abandon Ukraine.
4. He defamed Carroll again.
5. 60 RNC staffers fired.
6. His Trade Advisor gets turn in date for prison.

🧵 RT @rgoodlaw Longtime Mar-a-Lago employee and witness for prosecution (Brian Butler) goes on record with CNN ¤ Including witnessing Australian national conveying nuclear submarine secrets Trump shared with Aussie in Spring 2021 [link:] https://tinyurl.com/2j3y74vm
[CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/mxnzpacc 60p
📌 https://x.com/rgoodlaw/status/1767289269695971481?s=20/photo/1 -n
⋙ 🐣 […] RT @rgoodlaw4/ Watch credible, detailed first hand account from Brian Butler about his helping move 10-15 boxes of classified documents to Trump’s airplane the same day DOJ came looking to pick up the docs. ¤ Interview with @kaitlancollins […]

🐣 📔 RT @ODNIgov Today, ODNI released the U.S. Intelligence Community’s 2024 Annual Threat Assessment. Read the report here: https://tinyurl.com/5n46phxe

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski Here’s Trump in 2019 describing the border under his watch as a “crisis,” talking about how many migrants had criminal records, asking Congress to pass the same border bill he now opposes since 1.1 million migrants were released into the US on his watch due to inadequate funding.
💽 https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1767221484806603014?s=20/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski Interestingly, he says that CONGRESS has to pass these things in order to secure the border, because he doesn’t have the legal authority or funding to do it as president. Which is the exact opposite of what he claims now.

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski Here’s Trump in 2019 describing the border under his watch as a “crisis,” talking about how many migrants had criminal records, asking Congress to pass the same border bill he now opposes since 1.1 million migrants were released into the US on his watch due to inadequate funding.
💽 https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1767221484806603014?s=20/photo/1

🐣 Biden’s budget decreases the deficit $3Tr
● by increasing taxes on the top bracket to 21%, in line with what most families pay,
● by increasing taxes on large corporations and
● by increasing the tax on stock buybacks, which famously have resulted in “profits wo prosperity”

🐣 RT @carlquintanilla JPMORGAN: “.. the US has achieved US energy independence for the first time in 40 years while Europe and China compete for global energy resources.” [Cembalest] #OOTT 🇺🇸
◕ https://x.com/carlquintanilla/status/1765908327639179307?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump He finally admits it. ¤ Donald Trump: “I’m not conservative.”
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1767244109054439785?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner The President’s budget would combine higher spending (expanded EITC & Child Tax Credit; paid health & family leave; childcare funding; housing subsidies, etc. ) with new revenues/savings (higher corp. tax rate; higher top income tax rate; expanded Medicare & investment tax, etc.)
⋙ 🐣 RT @SteveRattner President Biden’s FY25 budget would cut deficits by $3.3 trillion over the next 10 years. cc: @BudgetHawks
[TextLink:] https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1767244321621762279?s=20/photo/1

🐣 Wages have outstripped inflation for the past year …
⋙ Statistica: Difference between the inflation rate and growth of wages in the United States from January 2020 to January 2024 https://tinyurl.com/2p9nzdfm
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1767230504699322755?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner .@Blueprint_2024 polled voters about their top concerns over a second Trump term. Among them:
– targeting political rivals (57%)
– breaking the law (57%)
– letting rich tax cheats off the hook (56%)
– threatening nat’l security (56%)
– more tax breaks for the wealthy (56%)
[TextLink:] https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1767207500569354629?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @BigBlueWaveUSA 🚨🚨🚨THIS is Project 2025.
THIS is what Trump & Republicans have drawn up to rule America in 2025. It’s still very underreported. This ENDS America and democracy as we know it. Understand #Project2025 and inform everyone you know! #VoteBlueToSaveAmerica
💽 https://x.com/BigBlueWaveUSA/status/1767060638969504228?s=20/photo/1
// at project2025.org

🐣 RT @jurgen_nauditt 😡Trump promised that he would not give money to Ukraine if he became president, and without the United States, Europe will not be able to finance the conflict, and it will end – Hungarian Prime Minister Orban
Did Trump also promise to take care of the 40 million Ukrainian refugees? ¤ A possible future American president is the henchman of mass murderer putin – unbelievable.

🐣 RT @officejjsmart MOSCOW 🇷🇺 GOVERNMENT HACKED ¤ ⚡️⚡️⚡️ In one of the largest hacks, since Russia 🇷🇺 invaded Ukraine 🇺🇦, Russian hackers who oppose the “illegitimate” Putin regime have destroyed internal systems (email, login, etc.) of Moscow City. ¤ Day-to-day operations of the city are frozen.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Nebula00x Attention Moscow Government: ¤ Putin is not legitimate president. We have felt it important to speak on this week of stealing of our country in the fraud election ¤ We have encrypted all systems of the Moscow Government. Not the website mosreg. All internal systems of government.
🖼 [TextLink:] https://x.com/Nebula00x/status/1767061491587436771?s=20/photo/1 -3

[Text:] Greetings Moscow Governent, we notice you take a weekend off before election week. Such difficult and busy time. It is important to support the sham, and ensure the people remain orderly. To support this effort we help you with IT and network. It is now encrypted. The price of the ransom is big. The price is our freedom. And we must fight. Do not support the sham election, Revolt. Do not vote, and do not stand in line. Gather, Join together. And fight.
We must fight. In our city.

The entire internal networks and all hosts of:
кальный сайт Правительства и Губернатора Московской области
All have been ransom and encrypted. The price is above. …

⭕ 10 Mar 2024

🐣 RT @rshereme “I will probably be the first director on this stage to say that I wish I had never made this film. I wish to be able to exchange this for russia never attacking Ukraine. I wish to be able to exchange this for russian not killing tens of thousands of my fellow Ukrainians.”
💽 https://x.com/rshereme/status/1767026285425971288?s=20/photo/1
// Mstyslav Chernov Oscars acceptance speech for 20 Days in Mariupol

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Former Trump WH lawyer Ty Cobb on Trump’s legal trouble:
¤ https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1766929739963371991?s=20

“The facts are terrible. His conduct is reprehensible, subject 91 felony accounts, four separate indictments, and multiple civil cases. He has lost almost half a $1 billion. So it is not like this is a smooth ship…

He does have the benefit of time, at least with the federal cases, because he will be able to dismiss those if they are still on appeal or still active once the election is over if he wins. But only if he wins. If he loses, he’s going to jail.”

💙 🐣 RT @ABC “Probably I will be the first director on this stage who will say I wish I never made this film.” ¤ Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath accept the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature Film for “20 Days in Mariupol.”#Oscars #Oscars2024 https://gma.abc/49Gpw50
💽 https://x.com/ABC/status/1766995500681556339?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @U24_gov_ua 20 Days in Mariupol wins the Oscar for best documentary — the first academy award in the history of Ukrainian cinema❤️ ¤ Mstyslav Chernov’s movie is a must-see for everyone; an important reminder of russian war crimes and a tragedy that Ukrainians experience daily.#Oscars
🖼 https://x.com/U24_gov_ua/status/1766998078580568104?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @QondiNtini What’s happening with Ezra is until SOTU the press have been brazenly lying on Biden and pushing the age narrative ¤ Problem is SOTU is a DIRECT ADDRESS TO THE NATION ¤ They can’t filter it through their narratives ¤ So now they have to retreat because they’ve been exposed as liars
🧵 ⋙ 🐣 RT @HerbieZiskend46 @ezraklein: “If the Joe Biden who showed up to deliver the State of the Union address last week is the Joe Biden who shows up” going forward, “you’re not going to have any more of those weak-kneed pundits suggesting he’s not up to running for re-election.”
📌 https://x.com/HerbieZiskend46/status/1766817626863374756?s=20

⋙⋙ “Biden’s refrain of the American comeback is a sharp one. It does two things simultaneously. It reminds voters that there is something America is coming back from — namely, the dislocations of the pandemic, and the wild, erratic management style that Trump brought to it.”

⋙⋙ “And it lets Biden point to progress without declaring victory. It’s the right message for an incumbent: There are good things happening. Let’s keep going.”

⋙⋙ “Turning setback into comeback,” Biden said on Thursday. “That’s what America does.” It’s a good message. ¤ And it has the added benefit of being true

🐣 RT @SenatorLankford There are multiple actions President Biden could take right now to secure the border, but he refuses to do it.
⋙ 🐣 Thank you. The “FIFO” approach sounds like a good idea. Here’s background on parole:
DHS: Fact Sheet: Data From First Six Months of Parole Processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans Shows That Lawful Pathways Work https://tinyurl.com/mr48hacr

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski Junior says the old Republican Party is dead now that MAGA has taken over the RNC: “That Republican Party no longer exists. The moves that happened – that’s the final blow. People have to understand that MAGA is the new Republican Party. That is conservatism today.”
💽 https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1766842164112187554?s=20/photo/1

🧵 Declaring fertilized embryos “children” would threaten not only IVF but the entire fields of stem cell research and regenerative medicine. This research is strictly regulated, but without it, many of the medical advances of the last 25 years wouldn’t have been possible. A backgrounder:
📌 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1766774376018403548?s=20

⋙ MayoClinic: Stem cells: What they are and what they do https://tinyurl.com/4a75h3um n Stem cells offer great promise for new medical treatments. Learn about stem cell types, current and possible uses, and the state of research and practice.

⋙ NLM/FrontiersInMedicine Editorial (2023): Advances in stem cell therapy: new applications and innovative therapeutic approaches https://tinyurl.com/yc8mnban
// 8/8/2023

⋙ JohnsHopkins (Feb 22): The Alabama Supreme Court’s Ruling on Frozen Embryos https://tinyurl.com/5n999fxf “Doctors, patients, and politicians seek answers on how the February 16 ruling could have far-ranging impacts on health care.”

⋙ ChicagoStemCells (2022): List of Diseases Treated by Stem Cells https://tinyurl.com/yc8bzs23
// 8/25/2022

⭕ 9 Mar 2024

🐣 RT @Yonatan_Touval #TelAviv right now: Tens of thousands of Israelis are back on the streets tonight calling for the immediate ousting of #Netanyahu and his corrupt, inept, and extremist govt. 🇮🇱 #Gaza
🖼 https://x.com/Yonatan_Touval/status/1766524315837632754?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski Liz debunks the canard created by Kash Patel and spread by Trump and his minions about 10,000 National Guard troops, which Trump’s own Acting Sec of Defense at the time testified under oath never happened.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1766651568126832801?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @Liz_Cheney Hi Mark: I see you’re still spreading BS. You & the bozo who wrote this might want to actually read the 1/6 report (eg, Appendix 2, 741-2, 127-8, 587-92), SecDef Miller’s transcript (Trump never ordered 10k troops), Judge Wallace’s finding (Kash Patel is “not a credible witness”)
⋙ 🐣 RT @marklevinshow Sleazy Liz Cheney needs to receive some of the Stalinist medicine she introduced into the body politick against scores of patriotic Americans — that is, she needs to be compelled to testify underoath about, among other things, …

🐣 RT @SollenbergerRC Not only did Katie Britt dishonestly co-opt the horrific 2015 congressional testimony of a Mexican activist relating events in Mexico during the Bush admin, the anti-sex trafficking policies the activist was advocating were thwarted by *Donald Trump* & reversed under Biden

🐣 RT @naretevduorp Dear @SenKatieBritt this message is for you. Take her advice!
💽 https://x.com/naretevduorp/status/1766515024300798427?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @anneapplebaum Why is Orban in Mar-a-lago? Because he was democratically elected – and after that, he changed his country’s political system so that he could never lose. He altered the media, courts, voting; threatened business; captured the state; did corrupt deals with Russia and China.
⋙ 🐣 RT @anneapplebaum You can see why that model appeals to a part of the US Republican party, just as it appealed to the Law and Justice govt in Poland, or to Netanyahu in Israel (or as it did, before Orban, to Chavez in Venezuela).

🐣 Now that the RNC has said its donors have “no problem” with their contributions going to Trump’s legal defense, I hope corporate boards and stockholders take notice.

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow Trump: “I will seal the border… I will stop the plunder of our cities, the sacking of our towns and the conquest of our country, the conquering our country. These people are conquering our country. They’re horrible people.” @Acyn
💽 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1766611688399266167?s=20 /photo/1

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: The Biden campaign has been on fire. They just released this statement attacking the Biden “age” argument head on. President Biden has been a transformational leader and Donald Trump is senile. It’s that simple.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BidensWins/status/1766566497252446472?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] Y’all want to talk about age? Let’s talk about age. At 77, Joe Biden beat Donald Trump. At 78, he led us through the COVID crisis, put us on a path to creating nearly 15 million new jobs since the day he took office, and passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to repair our roads and bridges and expand access to broadband internet to every community. At 79, he got us the most significant gun safety legislation in a generation and became the first president to beat Big Pharma and cap the cost of insulin at $35 for seniors. At the same time, he made the single largest investment in history to combat climate change – all before his 80th birthday. Meanwhile, the only helpful thing Donald Trump did for the American people in four years was lose the 2020 election to Joe Biden – and it’s the one thing he won’t take credit for.” ”

Now, Joe Biden is 81 and he’s going to beat Donald Trump again because he wakes up every single day fighting for the American people while Trump wages a campaign of revenge and retribution focused on himself. Trump may be four years younger than Joe Biden, but his ideas are old as hell and they’ve already been rejected by the American people. Joe Biden is running to make sure we reject them for good.”

🐣 RT @IAm_THEPaulina 🔥🔥🔥 This is by far the best TikTok I’ve seen about the #SOTU2024 rebuttal!… Lauren, you knocked this out of the park! What a great statement! Thank you! 🎩 @LaurenPCRNA 💙🇺🇸
A message to @KatieBrittforAL
#KatieBritt #GOPRebuttal #ProudBlue #DemVoice1 #SaturdayVibes #VoteBlueToProtectWomenRights #InternationalWomensDay
💽 https://x.com/IAm_THEPaulina/status/1766522044315738447?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @gtconway3d .@SenKatieBritt should get back to her kitchen camera and tearfully apologize to President Biden and the entire nation for her utterly shameless lie.

🐣 RT @DrPhamUusdik Charging all the billionaires all their money would be a drop in the bucket, the churches even less so, but go ahead, push for that
⋙ 🐣 That is a myth. The 1% now own HALF of the country’s wealth. Much of that wealth is in stocks, which are only taxed when the 💰is withdrawn. It’s time to tax carried interest and introduce a wealth tax. See Thomas Piketty’s “Capital.”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1766651302828793875?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @JoeBiden America is safer today than when I took office. ¤ Last year, the murder rate saw the sharpest decrease in history and violent crime fell to one of the lowest levels in more than 50 years.

🐣 RT @marceelias Make no mistake: Ronna McDaniel is out of a job because Donald Trump wanted a better vote suppressor and more aggressive election denier. That is why they ditched Ronna and went with Michael Whatley. @AliciaMenendez @MichaelSteele @SymoneDSanders

✅ WaPo, Kessler: Katie Britt’s false linkage of a sex-trafficking case to Joe Biden https://tinyurl.com/ycyb2upd “The way Britt sets up the story, there is no indication that she is talking about a woman who was working in brothels in Mexico during the George W Bush administration”

🐣 RT @brianklaas I really wish that Trump openly praising an antisemitic authoritarian as a model of leadership would, I don’t know, command the news cycle for even one day. But it won’t, because he benefits from what I call “the banality of crazy.”

⭕ 8 Mar 2024

WaPo, Jennifer Rubin: Biden, Republicans and media face critical general election choices https://tinyurl.com/3pe4ubm7 “The mainstream news can reach out to any of the numerous expert historians on authoritarianism and the Lost Cause mind-set that still drives MAGA politicians”

Politico Mag: A Washington Bulwark Against Putin Is Being Rocked by Internal Strife. Is It Simple Dysfunction — or Something Worse? https://tinyurl.com/mvdtt3xe The New York Times again delivered for Putin
// The Helsinki Commission is roiled by claims its Republican director has made against his Democratic-appointed predecessor (and vice versa).

🐣 RT @NormOrnstein So not only was Katie Britt a flaming embarrassment. She is also an out and out liar. Alabama’s finest!
⋙ 🐣 RT @NickKnudsenUS Holy moly. This is worth every minute. ¤ Jonathan Katz exposes Katie Britt as a lying sack of shit. 👀
💽 https://x.com/NickKnudsenUS/status/1766308578904998127?s=20/photo/1
// events happened in Mexico from 2004-2008, not in the US, not under Biden (or Obama); from Karla Jacinto Romero 2015 testimony to Congress

🐣 RT @gtconway3d “Biden gave a stunning speech last night, and it wasn’t just because there was a 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘯 quality to his remarks, the thwapping sound of a gauntlet hitting the ground. It’s because he managed to do that thing he does best, which his aides long ago described to Richard Ben Cramer in 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐𝘵 𝘛𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 as “the connect.” Biden’s primary strength has never been formulating policy or grand ideas. It’s been his ability to read a room, to sweep in the energy that’s already there, and to make the most impersonal settings feel deeply intimate, like one-on-one discussions.”
⋙ 🐣 RT @JenSeniorNY I too had doubts about Biden, certain that on Nov 6, I’d be on a flight bound for another hemisphere, squinting back at the smoking ruins of democracy, praying I wouldn’t turn into a pillar of salt. But the SOTU showed he’s still the king of “the connect”:
⋙⋙ TheAtlantic, Jennifer Senior: Biden Silences the Doubters https://tinyurl.com/bda9bkad
He’s always been master of “the connect.”

WaPo: How the U.S. military will use a floating pier to deliver Gaza aid https://tinyurl.com/5d94ebcb “Construction will take up to two months and require 1,000 U.S. troops who will remain off shore, officials say. Once complete, it will enable delivery of 2 million meals daily.”
// About 576,000 people — more than a quarter of the enclave’s population — are on the brink of famine, … Deliveries of non-U. S. humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea could begin this weekend, … World Central Kitchen, a relief group founded by chef José Andrés, is providing food aid for the mission,

Construction of the offshore pier and causeway connecting it to land will take as long as 60 days and require about 1,000 U.S. troops, Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters. …

About 576,000 people — more than a quarter of the enclave’s population — are on the brink of famine, United Nations officials said. Gaza’s Health Ministry said earlier this week that at least 20 people there have died of malnutrition and dehydration. ¤ There is “dire, urgent need” for relief, Ryder said in outlining what he characterized as an “emergency mission” still being finalized. …

Washington is coordinating with other countries in the region, the United Nations and humanitarian groups to determine how the aid will be distributed once it arrives on land, Ryder said. American personnel stay either on the causeway or on the ships, he said.

Asked whether the Pentagon believes Hamas fighters will target U.S. forces operating offshore, Ryder said that’s “certainly possible.” He added that, “If Hamas truly does care about the Palestinian people, then … one would hope that this international mission to deliver aid to people who need it would be able to happen unhindered.”

Biden told reporters Friday that Israel would provide security for the effort. Ryder said the military units involved would have their own force-protection capabilities.

Aid will be routed through Cyprus, where the goods will undergo inspection by Israel. ¤ Deliveries of non-U. S. humanitarian aid to Gaza by sea could begin this weekend, a senior European official said earlier Friday. European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said that the besieged enclave faces a “catastrophe.”

“That is why today the Republic of Cyprus, the European Commission, the United Arab Emirates and the United States — of course also supported by other critical partners — announced our intent to open the maritime corridor to deliver much-needed additional amounts of humanitarian assistance by sea,” she said.

World Central Kitchen, a relief group founded by chef José Andrés, is providing food aid for the mission, as well as “teams in Cyprus and Gaza,” he wrote on social media. …

The floating pier operation has underscored the limits of airdropping aid. … Five people were killed and 12 injured there on Friday, said Mahmoud Bassal, Gaza’s civil defense spokesman, after an apparent parachute malfunction caused a loaded crate to fall on some people. Ryder disputed reports that an airdrop from a U.S. aircraft was to blame.

🐣 RT @tribelaw “We continue to drift toward dictatorship, still hoping for some intervention that will allow us to escape the consequences of our collective cowardice, our complacent, willful ignorance and, above all, our lack of any deep commitment to liberal democracy. As the man said, we are going out not with a bang but a whimper.”
⋙ WaPo, Robert Kagan (Nov 2023): A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending. https://tinyurl.com/56yzy9tu Trump “is running on the platform of using unprecedented power to get things done, to hell with the rules. And a growing number of Americans claim to want that”
// 11/30/2023

NYT, Jonathan Weisman: In Two Speeches, Trump and Biden Offer Starkly Different Views of the Country https://tinyurl.com/3bxsp9ma “Biden’s State of the Union address and Trump’s victory speech on Super Tuesday conjured diametrically opposed visions of America’s past, present and future”

WSJ, Peggy Noonan: State of the Union Shows There’s Life in the Old Boy https://tinyurl.com/yvz5xmvx “Yet Biden’s speech showed energy and focus, though he blurred some words and thoughts”

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom The most un-American person ever to hold our highest office.
⋙ 🐣 RT @VaughnHillyard Trump with Orban tonight: “There’s nobody that’s better, smarter or a better leader than Viktor Orban. He’s fantastic…He’s a non-controversial figure because he says, ‘This is the way it’s going to be,’ and that’s the end of it. Right? He’s the boss. No, he’s a great leader.”
💽 https://x.com/VaughnHillyard/status/1766262804858732972?s=20/photo/1

★ InsidePrecisionMed (2023): Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Program Invests in mRNA https://tinyurl.com/39ekw89s “This is just one of several programs to be sponsored by the administration’s Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H).”
// 8/24/2023
⋙ Don’t let Trump take credit for mRNA. Trump actually gutted the Cancer Moonshot, which began under Obama, with Biden taking a leading role. Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman worked on the promising technology for decades before receiving the Nobel Prize last year.

★ 🐣 Trump actually GUTTED the “Cancer Moonshot” which began under Obama. Trump did NOT have much at all to do with mRNA development, which had been going on for years. It was originally INTENDED as a cancer cure, was adapted for COVID-19. Now Biden has revived the Moonshot.

🐣 RT @BarackObama This is who we need leading the country for the next four years. Congrats to @POTUS on a powerful State of the Union address last night.
💽 https://x.com/BarackObama/status/1766196015789466037?s=20/photo/1

NYT (Jan 2022): U.S. Economy Grew 1.7% in 4th Quarter, Capping a Strong Year https://tinyurl.com/2p8vfs6z https://tinyurl.com/2p8vfs6z “The overall 2021 increase in the gross domestic product was the biggest in decades as the pandemic’s effects eased, though challenges persist.”
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1766199339557282107?s=20/photo/1
// 1/27/2022

🐣 RT @benshapiro Over 100,000 people per year are dying of fentanyl poisoning in the United States. Joe Biden spent one sentence on it last night, the same number of sentences he spent on AI voice impersonation.
⋙ 🐣 Biden met with Xi in Nov and reached an agreement for China to crack down on exports of Fentanyl AND its ingredients. KaiserFnd: https://tinyurl.com/muj4yr5w
Biden talked a lot last night about the Border bill which would increase monitoring at ports of entry. Here is part::
[TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1766181462930276774?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @brett_mcgurk Joint Statement from the European Commission, the Republic of Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States Endorsing the Activation of a Maritime Corridor to Deliver Humanitarian Assistance to Gaza [link:] https://tinyurl.com/2rmn49b2

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump It’s official: Laura Trump is the co-chair of the RNC. ¤ The RNC is expected now to start paying Trump’s legal bills. ¤ This is not normal.

🐣 RT @BarbraStreisand Joe Biden has more energy than a much younger man. He was on fire in his speech and the Republicans were clearly uncomfortable as the President outlined very popular policies. He used the power of facts and the truth. Bravo.

NewYorker, Susan Glasser: So Much for “Sleepy Joe”: On Biden’s Rowdy, Shouty State of the Union https://tinyurl.com/4rvnpdhc

🐣 RT @Victorshi2020 Just wow. The Biden campaign broke THREE fundraising records last night, each one happening the hour after the previous one starting at 9pm until 11pm. People are fired up, they are energized, & they are sending a clear message that they support President Biden. This is huge.

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder That was a hell of a good speech.

🐣 RT @JohnJHarwood what made Biden’s SOTU so successful was not just in smacking down criticism of his capacity, but in simultaneously highlighting how extremist and weird the Republican Party has become

🐣 RT @MeidasTouch President Biden’s closing was one of the great moments in American history and needs to be shared far and wide.
💽 https://x.com/MeidasTouch/status/1766076022074511644?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @JohnJHarwood the people yapping for so long about Biden not being up to the job look pretty dumb this morning

🐣 Four years ago, under Trump:
● COVID-19 was at its PEAK. 21,654 Americans died that week!
● NO PLAN was left to roll out the vaccine. BIDEN’s team did that.
● Once the vaccine was available, 2X as many GOPs as DEMs died, due to the CHAOS & CONFUSION Trump spewed

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow Former Trump economic adviser Steve Moore on Fox Business: “It is true that the United States today has the strongest economy. There is no question about it.” @atrupar
💽 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1766100720812437529?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @SawyerHackett President Biden: “I told him, Bibi, and don’t repeat this, but you and I are going to have a ‘come to Jesus’ meeting.” ¤ “I’m on a hot mic here. Good. That’s good.”

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary “We came in at 275,000. We were only looking for 200,000. That is much hotter than expected.”
// Feb jobs report on Fox

🐣 RT @anders_aslund I was greatly impressed by @POTUS state of the union yesterday. I have watched about 30 of them & to my mind this was the best of them all:
Substantial, clear, strong & convincing.
I appreciated the direct criticism of Trump.
Biden made his case for a second term.

🐣 RT @SteveRattner The Inflation Reduction Act has put America on the path to significant and unprecedented emissions reduction.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1765939915273937059?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe “It was the best speech of his presidency by far. Strongest speech and most importantly…He gave a lot more than he got and made these Republicans look like fools time and time again.” –@joenbc

⭕ 7 Mar 2024

TheAtlantic, David Graham: The Most Unusual State of the Union in Living Memory https://tinyurl.com/4946v62k “Republican members of Congress repeatedly heckled President Biden, who was happy to mix it up with them.”

🐣 RT @nyi_news
Donald Trump Track Record:

— Trump economy 6.5% unemployment
— 16 million people out of work.
— Only president to leave office with job losses
— Bank failures under Trump: 16
— Trump promised to reduce the trade deficit; it went up 40.5% from 2016 to 2020
— Federal Debt went from $14.4 trillion to $21.6 trillion.
— Trump promised infrastructure bill… failed
— Trump promised health care insurance … failed.
— 3 million fewer Americans had health insurance
— Trump cut taxes for corporations and the 1%
— Trump is responsible for 25% of the national debt.
— Trump started a tariff war with China, nearly ruining family farms and costing consumers billions.
— Trump tried to coverup the pandemic, then mismanged it.
— Tractor-trailers used as temporary morgues
— 750,000 COVID dead on his watch.
— Trump didn’t deliver low inflation, low gas prices or low mortgage rates, they were caused by the pandemic lockdown and the Fed, which cut interest rates to zero to prop up the Trump economy.
— Toilet paper, food shortages, empty store shelves.
— Forced states to compete for PPP supplies.
— Long lines for charity food handouts,
— Trump begged Saudi Arabia and Russia to cut oil production to save U.S. oil companies at the expense of consumers.

Biden Record:

— 2.7 million new jobs created in 2023;
— 8.9 million job openings unfilled in 2023
— Bank Failures under Biden: 5
— Unemployment at 40 year low for two straight years.
— Stock market at an all time high, 401(k)s flourishing
— The U.S. economy for 2023 accelerated at a 2.5% annualized rate, well ahead of the Wall Street outlook.
— First major infrastructure bill in decades, repairing America’s roads, bridges, highways,
— Expansion of the Affordable Care Act, providing 16.3 million uncovered people with health care coverage in 2023
— Authorized government to negotiate lower drug prices with big pharma
— Capped the price of insulin at $35 for seniors.
— Cancelled student debt for thousands of students, helping them to get a start on life, family formation.
— A new major commitment to replace aging and dangerous water pipes throughout the country
— Post-pandemic inflation manged better than anywhere else in the world. Now matches pre-pandemic levels
— Oil production at a record high, gas prices are back at pre-pandemic levels, while still encouraging transition to clean energy.
— Russia is on its heels in Ukraine thanks to Biden’s support.
— Strong commitment to preserve Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
— Two key new NATO members added, strengthening the organization, enhancing U.S. national security.

🐣 RT @EliseStefanik The last time our State of the Union was strong was under President Donald J. Trump. #SOTUinCrisis
⋙ 🐣 You misremember. The COVID-19 epidemic was at its PEAK.
21,654 Americans died that week!
There was NO PLAN left to roll out the vaccine. BIDEN’s team did that.
After the vaccine became available TWICE as many GOPs as DEMs died because of the CHAOS & CONFUSION Trump wrought!

🐣 RT @Angry_Staffer Cut the bullshit about Biden’s cognitive ability. ¤ He’s clearly still more qualified than 99.99999% of people on the planet. ¤ This is a master class.

🐣 RT @TristanSnell Trump was supposedly going to live-post on Truth Social during the #SOTU. ¤ Truth Social is now down and totally inoperative.

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Biden is right. America needs to step up and give Ukraine the help it needs, and it’s well within our capabilities to do so.
💽 https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1765927892574216250?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @WhiteHouse The average federal tax rate for a billionaire in America is 8.2%.
That’s a lower rate than many teachers and nurses pay.
President Biden is calling on Congress to enact a minimum tax of 25% for billionaires – which would raise $500 billion over the next 10 years.

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote WOW. POTUS addresses the Justices “All due respect, justices. Women are not without electoral or political power. You’re about to realize just how much.” #SOTU
💽 https://x.com/WeHearPodcast/status/1765944096793776404?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidenHQ President Biden: I know I may not look like it but I’ve been around a while. My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom and democracy. Now some other people my age see a different story: an American story of resentment, revenge, and retribution. That’s not me
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1765945169197539699?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @BernieSanders Only one candidate understands that we must address the threat of climate change; that women have a right to control their own bodies; and that our economy must work for working people and not just billionaires. ¤ That candidate is Joe Biden.

🐣 🐣 RT @SteveRattner Under Biden, America has achieved falling emissions and a level of energy independence not seen in decades.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1765940308905197754?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner The US economy is the envy of the developed world.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1765934094414717198?s=20/photo/1
// G7 GTP
↥ ↧
🐣 RT @SteveRattner The US has had the strongest post-pandemic recovery of any major economy.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1765933449905311933?s=20/photo/1
// G7 GDP

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump President Biden: “My predecessor, a former Republican president, tells Putin ‘Do whatever the hell you want.’ That’s a quote, a former president actually said that, bowing down to a Russian leader. I think it’s outrageous.”
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1765929917407965521?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @WhiteHouse “My lifetime has taught me to embrace freedom. A future, based on the core values that have defined America. ¤ Honesty. ¤ Decency. ¤ Dignity. ¤ Equality.”
💽 https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1765949851685011663?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RoKhanna A very strong and fiery speech. Biden was at his finest at the end when he spoke about the values that have guided him his whole life and what inspires him to fight for them in shaping America’s future.

🐣 RT @SteveRattner The number of Americans without health insurance has fallen to record lows under Biden.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1765931304850174430?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Republican Sen. James Lankford nodded in agreement and said “It’s true” when President Biden touted the bipartisan border security bill. ¤ Lankford is the lead GOP architect of the bipartisan bill
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1765976091628331412?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @MSNBC “Strength is looking Republicans and Supreme Court justices straight in their faces and telling them that they will lose this fight.” ¤ MSNBC contributor Brian Tyler Cohen on Biden’s State of the Union address.
🖼 https://x.com/MSNBC/status/1765976051555983867?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @alfranken Enjoyed watching Biden dancing the hully gully on Mike Johnson’s Adam’s Apple. #StateOfTheUnion

🐣 RT @robreiner We’re watching our current and future President speak the truth with clarity and strength. So proud of President Biden. Republicans under the thumb of Trump are an embarrassment. When you can’t even applaud America’s success, you have no business serving in Congress.

🐣 RT @DavidCornDC Sure, Biden is tripping over a few words. But compare his cogency and his substance to ANY Trump speech. His sentences are complete. He can talk policy: health care, taxes, education, housing. Run this address against video of Trump.

🐣 RT @AriMelber Pretty strong Biden speech — stern on confronting threats at home and abroad; clear, detailed on the domestic agenda; an almost jaunty “tough love” for the Congressional obstruction, and he showed command, energy and volume in terms of “style”/performance.

🐣 RT @SteveRattner How much did Trump add to the debt? $8.4 trillion.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1765936648695509153?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom People are going to criticize some of the garble and shouting, but this is a substantive speech delivered with a lot of fire. This is not the guy Republicans were expecting to show up tonight. Not the guy some Democrats thought was gonna show up either I suspect.

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Biden is right. The TCJA [Trump tax bill] delivered the vast majority of its benefits to the rich.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1765935764351660099?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Biden’s SOTU address comes in at 67 minutes.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1765944529385840809?s=20/photo/1
// length of SOTU; shorter than 3 of Trump’s

🐣 RT @TeamPelosi What President Biden did tonight was spectacular. He did it with vigor. He did it with vision. He did it with patriotism. I think it was one of the finest State of the Union addresses I have ever seen — and I’ve seen many. Let’s help @JoeBiden keep working for working families.
💽 https://x.com/TeamPelosi/status/1765964435573686342?s=20/photo/1

💙 CSPAN: President Biden: State of the Union Address https://tinyurl.com/bdz4w5z7 x
// Biden SOTU 2024

💙 ≣ WhiteHouse: State of the Union 2024 transcript https://tinyurl.com/n45zzb9b
// SOTU transcript

Politico: Special counsel: Trump’s ‘deception’ on classified docs distinguishes him from Biden, Clinton and Pence https://tinyurl.com/7nw2fwrc
// The new filing from Jack Smith responded to Trump’s contention that he has been unfairly singled out for prosecution.

Donald Trump’s efforts to thwart a federal investigation into his hoarding of national security secrets set him apart from other political figures who’ve faced allegations of mishandling classified information, including President Joe Biden, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Mike Pence and James Comey, special counsel Jack Smith said in a court filing Thursday.

“While each of them, to varying degrees, bears a slight resemblance to this case … none is alleged to have willfully retained a vast trove of highly sensitive, confidential materials and repeatedly sought to thwart their lawful return and engaged in a multi-faceted scheme of deception and obstruction,” prosecutors argued in a 29-page brief. “There is no one who is similarly situated.”

🧵 RT @kyledcheney JUST IN: Jack Smith has filed a response to Trump’s claim that he was entitled to declare the classified docs he took home with him as “personal” records.
📌 [TextLink:] https://x.com/kyledcheney/status/1765839203156246772?s=20/photo/1 -n
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/bdd3hw3h
[CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/2yh7p7k6 29p

🐣 RT @Steve Rattner Nostalgia for March 2020 is not the platform I would run on…
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1765819221601054775?s=20/photo/1
// daily COVID-19 cases

⭕ 6 Mar 2024

🐣 RT @JamesSurowiecki For God’s sake, it was not a “secret” – it’s a program to allow individuals from 4 repressive countries (Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Venezuela) who have been vetted and passed background checks and have a financial supporter in the US to lawfully apply for refuge in the US.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/JamesSurowiecki/status/1765402468031074762?s=20/photo/1

⋙ DHS announced the plan (which expanded the program to Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti) on Jan. 5, 2023, and has issued updates on its progress, including the number of people allowed in under the program. That’s the opposite of a “secret.” [DHS link:] https://tinyurl.com/mr48hacr

⋙ One interesting thing about the backlash to this program is that even under Trump, Republicans were generally comfortable with letting refugees from Communist/socialist states into the country. Now even that has been tossed overboard: ppl just don’t want anyone coming in.

🐣 RT @NickKnudsenUS Wow.Literally every woman in America should see this new video. ¤ MAGA won’t stop until abortion is banned NATIONWIDE. But #DemocratsDefendWomen.
💽 https://x.com/NickKnudsenUS/status/1765467692587483527?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski Joe Biden has created more jobs than any other president EVEN EXCLUDING the jobs that came back from the pandemic, and wages are way up AND the growth is heavily weighed towards lower and middle income earners. From @SteveRattner
◕ https://x.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1765345561165664697?s=20/photo/1 -2

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Trump calls Nikki Haley supporters “RINOs,” “never Trumpers,” and “communists”
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1765483033715454431?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @DeadlineWH “Trump has turned the party into a wholly owned subsidiary of his own ambitions, everybody understands that they are going to have to fall in line, even if that means sacrificing American interests, allies, Ukraine, and above all American democracy.” @brhodes w/ @NicolleDWallace
💽 https://x.com/DeadlineWH/status/1765491106295201845?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @MontyBoa99 The US’s #COVID19 death toll was 5 times *higher* than it would have been if we’d been a country with an average healthcare system. ¤ Seriously. It was 5 times WORSE than the world average. ¤ That’s not incompetence. That’s malice.
💽 https://x.com/MontyBoa99/status/1765599973419135367?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln The courts won’t save America from Trump and Trumpism. If anything, these cases are invigorating the MAGA base as they delude themselves into thinking these are political prosecutions. @TheRickWilson on @MSNBC argues that we the voters will be doing the hard work come November.
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1765535515799884278?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP .@SarahLongwell25 on Nikki Haley voters: “Donald Trump is sort of actively antagonizing this group of voters…It’s very smart of Joe Biden to tell those voters that they are very much welcome in his coalition.”
💽 https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1765413756505334011?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow Trump’s former WH Spiritual Advisor, Paula White: “To say no to Trump is like saying no to God.” @RpsAgainstTrump
💽 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1765372995206361584?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: Fox News Contributors [Karl Rove] are now sharing their concerns about Donald Trump being unable to unify the Republican Party. President Biden on the other hand has strong control over the Democratic vote. If Fox can admit this, so can the rest of the media.
💽 https://x.com/BidensWins/status/1765413960524644811?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @David_Charts #SOTU Biden has the highest real (infl-adj) hourly wages of any president back to LBJ, and 2nd lowest unemployment rate (just behind LBJ), on average.
◕ https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1765608077015859520?s=20/photo/1

NYT: How Trump’s Crushing Primary Triumph Masked Quiet Weaknesses https://tinyurl.com/4abnva6m “Even though he easily defeated Nikki Haley, the primary results suggested that he still has long-term problems with suburban voters, moderates and independents”

🐣 RT @AccountableGOP President Biden’s message to Nikki Haley’s supporters: ¤ “Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign…I hope and believe we can find common ground.”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/AccountableGOP/status/1765399243395584365?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] Statement From President Biden on Nikki Haley Withdrawing from the
Republican Presidential Primary

“It takes a lot of courage to run for President – that’s especially true in today’s Republican Party, where so few dare to speak the truth about Donald Trump. Nikki Haley was willing to speak the truth about Trump: about the chaos thai always follows him, about his inability to see right from wrong, about his cowering before Vladimir Putin.

Donald Trump made it clear he doesn’t want Nikki Haley’s supporters. I want to be clear: There is a place for them in my campaign. I know there is a lot we won’t agree on. But on the fundamental issues of preserving American democracy, on standing up for the rule of law, on treating each other with decency and dignity and respect, on preserving NATO and standing up to America’s adversaries, I hope and believe we can find common ground.

We all know this is no ordinary election. And the stakes for America couldn’t be higher. I know that Democrats and Republicans and Independents disagree on many issues and hold strong convictions. That’s a good thing. That’s what America stands for. But I also know this: what unites Democrats and Republicans and Independents is a love for America.”

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Oil, gas, and renewable energy production are at all-time highs. America is more energy independent than ever.
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1765477453714047399?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @MikeSington Trump is living in a fantasy world. Last night, during his “victory speech” at Mar-a-Lago, Trump called out all the “celebrities” in the room: “So many celebrities that I’m not going to introduce any because I’m just going to get myself in trouble if I do that, because I’ll leave out most of you”. ¤ According to several independent sources in the ballroom’s rather sparse crowd, there were ZERO celebrities present. Full disclosure: I once had an imaginary friend in second grade.

WaPo Editorial: Haley tried to warn about Trump. Biden could have more success. https://tinyurl.com/mr2spsxd “Ms. Haley was out of touch with the GOP primary electorate — to her credit. She talked about the “chaos, vendettas and drama” that follow Mr. Trump everywhere he goes”

Ms. Haley was out of touch with the GOP primary electorate — to her credit. She talked about the “chaos, vendettas and drama” that follow Mr. Trump everywhere he goes. She accused him of being unable to distinguish right from wrong. She hit him for catering to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. These arguments resonated with suburban women, college-educated Whites, independents and moderates — groups among which she ran relatively well. Yet they failed to convince the many people in the party who have embraced Mr. Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen. Exit polls show that only 3 in 10 Republican primary voters in North Carolina and California on Tuesday believe Mr. Biden legitimately won. Mr. Trump won more than 90 percent of people who see the sitting president as illegitimate.

Bowing out of the race on Wednesday in Charleston, S.C., Ms. Haley nodded to her substantive differences with Mr. Trump. She emphasized the need to stand by Ukraine. “Our world is on fire because of America’s retreat,” she said. “If we retreat further, there will be more war, not less.” Ms. Haley added that Americans “must turn away from the darkness of hatred and division.” Referring to the $8 trillion Mr. Trump added to the national debt during his four years as president, she made one last pitch for fiscal discipline: “Our national debt will eventually crush our economy,” she said.

🐣 RT @JonahDispatch Between calling both Chip Roy and now Karl Rove “RINOs” it’s clear the only plausible Trumpian definition of the term is anyone — no matter how conservative or how concerned with the interests of the party — who isn’t slavishly loyal to Trump. RINO is now a sign of integrity.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/JonahDispatch/status/1765201018097160489?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @realDonald Trump How many times is FoxNews going to put on RINO Bush apologist Marc Thiessen. He was wrong about me in 2016, and in 2020 I got more votes than any sitting President in history, but the Election was RIGGED. My record on Endorsements is unmatched by anyone, EVER! Put on people who understand what is going on in politics… And while you’re at it, GET RID OF KARL ROVE!!!

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Even excluding post-2020 catch-up growth, the US has added more jobs per month under Biden than any other president. @Morning_Joe
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1765342942061892044?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Biden’s first three years in office have seen the fastest real GDP growth since Bill Clinton’s first term. @Morning_Joe
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1765343052816666636?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveRattner Despite inflation, real (inflation-adjusted!) incomes are up across the board throughout Biden’s tenure – with the fastest growth occurring at the bottom of the economic ladder. @Morning_Joe
◕ https://x.com/SteveRattner/status/1765343441561493512?s=20/photo/1

WaPo, Aaron Blake: 5 key takeaways from Super Tuesday https://tinyurl.com/2d9dj3ec

1. The Haley protest vote continued to loom for Trump
2. ‘Uncommitted’ took plenty of votes in Minnesota
3. The GOP is rolling the dice again in N.C. — in a big way
4. Schiff has a good night in California Senate race, Democrats get their man in Texas
5. Some more-mainstream Republican incumbents struggled

⭕ 5 Mar 2024

WSJ Editorial: The GOP’s Third Gamble on Donald Trump https://tinyurl.com/yc48fv7d “Every time voters have gone to the polls since Mr. Trump’s first victory in 2016, Republicans have lost or underperformed: 2018, 2020, 2021 in Georgia Senate races, 2022, and 2023 in special elections.”
// Republicans are elevating the one man who could lose to a weak and unpopular President Biden.

🐣 RT @mkraju Warning signs for Trump in the general, per exits ¤ In NC: 66 percent of Haley voters say Trump not physically or mentally fit to be president ¤ 81 percent of Haley voters say they’re not an automatic vote for the nominee [CNN link:] https://tinyurl.com/vwftxzmb

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln Super Tuesday confirms there’s a discontent within the GOP that’s fracturing the base. Trump’s criminal indictments, embrace of dictators, and his extremist MAGA policies are wearing thin and causing moderates to run the hell away from him.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Jessica: You look at the exits for GOP voters tonight who won’t guarantee their vote for the nominee. North Carolina, 35%, Virginia 36%, California 33%. That has been consistent, 30-50% of people who don’t want Trump but identify as Republican or are voting in that primary
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1765202522992443563?s=20/photo/1

TheAtlantic, George T. Conway III: The Court’s Colorado Decision Wasn’t About the Law https://tinyurl.com/yvr4sphv “[I]t was too much to expect this Court, at this time, in this political context, to apply the Constitution the way the Court normally should”
// This case wasn’t decided on its merits, and the result is an utterly flimsy legal argument.

🐣 Hear that, “RINOs,” Reagan Republicans, Traditional Conservatives, Libertarians and right-leaning Independents? — You have to ”be loyal” to Trump‼️or you are “WELCOME TO LEAVE” ¤ (Sieg Heil!)
⋙ 🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump Lara Trump, the newly nominated co-chair of the RNC says that anyone who doesn’t support Trump is “welcome to leave.” ¤ “That’s part of the reason that I’m such a great fit for this; there’s no one more loyal to Donald Trump…Than the person you’re looking at right here”
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1764856454798782711?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @TallbarFIN 🇫🇮 Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen [Finland]: ¤ “It is time to acknowledge the facts, and acknowledge what has been in the air for some time. Russia is a threat to the entire democratic world”

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe “Donald Trump said, ‘kill this bill, it will help Joe Biden if we actually shut down the border, and I’ll take the blame.’ So Donald, we blame you. We blame you because it’s your fault.” — @JoeNBC on Trump killing the bipartisan border bill
💽 https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1765037787756027972?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @SteveScalise A resounding rebuke of liberal activist judges attempting to interfere in the 2024 election. Glad the Supreme Court got this right.
🔄 ⋙ 🐣 “Six Colorado voters — four Republicans and two unaffiliated — brought the lawsuit, arguing Trump is ineligible to hold office because he engaged in an insurrection.”
The lead plaintiff was Republican. One unaffiliated was a former Republican.
[CBS link:] https://tinyurl.com/2by9km59
// @judgeluttig is a Republican; case brought by CREW on behalf of plaintiffs

🐣 People don’t remember real inflation. Inflation today is about the same as it was when Reagan won re-election. He ran an ad “It’s morning again in America … “
PS: Today’s inflation was caused by the pandemic.
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1765030001861173387?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson Good.
⋙ 🐣 RT @DNCWarRoom Lara Trump says when she becomes co-Chair of the Republican Party, “anyone” who doesn’t support Trump and MAGA will be told to “leave” the party
💽 https://x.com/TheRickWilson/status/1764987131456332163?s=20/photo/1

WaPo, Jennifer Rubin: The Supreme Court did Trump no favors. He’ll be facing a fall trial. https://tinyurl.com/3wb6pzc9 DOJ “has clarified that its guideline to refrain from initiating indictments or investigations about 60 days before an election is inapplicable to pending cases”

⭕ 4 Mar 2024

🔄 🐣 RT @U24_gov_ua “Things get wiped out of the history that are precisely the things that we have to see. The fact that Ukrainians were able to resist the Russian invasion suggests that the nation or the civil society had already consolidated to a pretty impressive degree.” ¤ The lectures by our ambassador @TimothyDSnyder are more relevant than ever. Listen to them to better understand Ukraine and what we are fighting for:
🔲 https://tinyurl.com/yc8376j6 9
¤ https://x.com/U24_gov_ua/status/1764716154696737269?s=20

🐣 RT @tribelaw A Court truly wanting to avoid a patchwork of different disqualification rulings by different states had an easy way to get there: Simply affirm the Colorado supreme court’s well-reasoned ruling, based on a full and fair factual trial, and give it uniform nationwide effect. ¤ Too activist? Less so than what the 5-4 majority* did by reaching out to decide questions the 4 rightly said weren’t even presented by the case at hand — just to protect oath-breaking insurrections like, say, Donald Trump.
// *“5-4 majority” ~ ruling was 9-0, but 4 (all the women) disagreed on principle, arguing the 5 had over-stepped and essentially ‘ruled from the bench’

🐣 RT @DanRather If I may, there’s something I need to get off my chest. ¤ As democracy remains under siege, it has been frustrating to watch how the press covers politics these days. ¤ I am reminded by lessons that came to me during the Nixon years as a CBS News correspondent, which I’ll add here:
¤ https://x.com/DanRather/status/1764821704457495015?s=20

1. Enough with Both-sides-ism

When one side lies intentionally and repeatedly, they are no longer entitled to the benefit of the doubt. They should be held to account, right away. Do not simply repeat the narratives they spew.

2. Prioritize Live Fact-Checking

Rigorous and robust fact-checking is the best defense against misinformation, intentional lies, and deflection.

If Trump says the sky is green, the story isn’t that the sky is now green; the story is that the sky is still blue and Trump got it wrong.

3. Ask Lawmakers Hard Questions

Ask about the fundamental principles of democracy. Push them to go on the record that Biden won the 2020 election. … ¤ This writing is not to offer any claim of knowing it all. Your correspondent has made his share of mistakes, but after more than seven decades I believe I have picked up a few useful guideposts.

Good journalism is always worth it. Our democracy depends on it. […]

🧵 RT @judgeluttig My thoughts about the Supreme Court’s decision today, with CNN’s Jake Tapper just now. ¤ The ruling is astonishing and unprecedented, not for its decision of the exceedingly narrow — and only — question presented
📌 https://x.com/judgeluttig/status/1764781742563480006?s=20
[ThreadReader:] https://tinyurl.com/mwtc4e7r

The ruling is astonishing and unprecedented, not for its decision of the exceedingly narrow — and only — question presented ¤ (though, significantly, four of the Justices agreed only with the “result” of that decision, and not with its reasoning)

but rather, for the five-Justice majority’s decision to reach out gratuitously and decide essentially all of the equally, if not more momentous, constitutional questions that would need to be decided ¤ in order for the former president or any other person in the future to be disqualified under the Fourteenth Amendment.

And in the course of unnecessarily deciding all of these questions when they were not even presented by the case, the five-Justice majority effectively decided not only that the former president will never be subject to disqualification, but ¤ that no person who ever engages in an insurrection against the Constitution of the United States in the future will be disqualified under the Fourteenth Amendment’s Disqualification Clause — as the concurrence of Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson witheringly explain.

🐣 RT @NBCPolitics In his State of the Union speech this week, President Joe Biden will pose a question that he hopes will answer itself: Whose side are you on?
⋙ NBCNews: Biden to juggle competing political demands in State of the Union address https://tinyurl.com/yvctrhuh
// Perhaps the president’s most urgent mission is simply to reassure a skeptical nation that he’s up to the rigors of his job. https://tinyurl.com/yvctrhuh

WaPo: Explosion at rail bridge deep inside Russia shows Ukraine’s reach https://tinyurl.com/3rtzrndp “The GUR [Ukraine’s military intelligence agency] also said Monday that its hackers gained access to Russian Defense Ministry servers, swiping secret military documents”

🐣 RT @OccupyDemocrats BREAKING: White House reporter Jonathan Lemire drops a bombshell and reveals that Donald Trump’s campaign team is aggressively working to hide his worsening cognitive decline from the public.
¤ https://x.com/OccupyDemocrats/status/1764697022622503125?s=20

Trump’s mind is rotting to pieces and he doesn’t want us to know…

“He’s surrounded entirely by enablers during this campaign and would be again if he’d be in the White House a second time,” Lemire said during an appearance on Morning Joe. “There would be no guardrails or adults in the room, it’d be people doing what he wants.”

The panel was discussing the ways in which Trump struggled, slurred, and rambled his way through campaign speeches over the weekend — making it abundantly clear that he is no longer the same man who won the White House in 2016.

“To your point, he is not the same guy,” Lemire went on. “You can watch video footage of the 2016 campaign, some of his time in the White House. We played last week a clip from the debate between Trump and Biden back in 2020. It was striking even then how much Trump has changed, how he’s aged. He is in his late seventies, he is only a couple years younger than President Biden. We’re seeing with more and more frequency, even as the media and we talked about it earlier, how the weekend was full of polls and obsession about President Biden’s age, it is this, Trump, who day after day is showing the signs of age but also pressure.”

“Indeed, pressure because he is not getting as much of the share of the Republican vote as he’d like,” Lemire went on. “Nikki Haley posting a win over the weekend. Pressure because of the money he now owes, nearly half a billion dollars in a couple cases in New York City, and pressure that his first criminal case, a case that could theoretically put him in prison, starts in just three weeks.”

“We are seeing it night after night on the rally stage, where he seems to even just lose control of the English language,” said Lemire. “Mika cringes, I can’t help it either at the end of that clip. His team knows, but they’re just forging forward.”

“They’re trying to keep him off the stage as much as possible,” chimed in host Joe Scarborough. “Obviously, they don’t want that out there. They don’t want him on Truth Social. Again, he only hurts himself politically.” ¤ Please retweet and ❤️ if you think that Trump is in cognitive decline …

🐣 RT @djrothkopf Of all the legal “principles” of the right which has been revealed to most obviously be a lie: Deferring to the states (federalism)? Adhering to the letter of Constitution (textualism)? Adhering to the intent of the founders (originalism)? Opposing judicial activism? All of the above?

🐣 RT @BradMossEsq This is awesome. Constitutional amendments are meaningless unless Congress acts to enforce them. ¤ To hell with the 22nd amendment.

🐣 RT @tribelaw Justice Barrett told us what “message Americans should take home” from today’s ruling that, even if Trump’s role in the insurrection we just barely survived disqualifies him under the Constitution from ever holding office again, only congressional legislation under Sec 5 of the 14th Amendment can implement that absolutely vital ban.

The message Barrett tells us to “take home” from that fiat is that we should just chill because all 9 justices agreed that Colorado overstepped what any one state should’ve been able to do.

I’ll discuss that point later, but for now I’d stress what Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson rightly reminded Justice Barrett and Chief Justice Roberts about: as Roberts rightly wrote in Dobbs, the Court should avoid deciding any more than it needs to decide when ruling on a case. ¤ To reach out and resolve in advance all sorts of issues that might arise in the future is to take on the role of a super-legislature, not a court of law.

🐣 RT @CREWcrew BREAKING: The Supreme Court just overturned our win in Colorado barring Donald Trump from the ballot under the 14th Amendment. ¤ But crucially, the Court did *not* exonerate Trump of insurrection. They had the chance to do so and chose not to.

🐣 RT @MuellerSheWrote The conservative wing (minus Barrett) have opined on a question that wasn’t before them. So if Congress must pass legislation to disqualify insurrectionists, what happens when congress is full of insurrectionists?

🐣 RT @BradMossEsq So under the Court’s legal analysis, if Trump wins but Democrats take the House and hold the Senate, Congress can invalidate Trump’s victory and throw us into chaos? ¤ Oh goodie.

🐣 RT @DavidCayJ SCOTUS on 14A3 was unanimous, but Kagan, Sotomayor, & Brown say the majority went way beyond to protect Trump, inventing new law with no basis in our Constitution. ¤ The rebuke is written to show the majority as activist, rejecting longstanding principles for political purposes.

🐣 RT @kylegriffin1 Important from the Court’s three liberal justices:

“The American people have the power to vote for and elect candidates for national office, and that is a great and glorious thing. The men who drafted and ratified the Fourteenth Amendment, however, had witnessed an ‘insurrection [and] rebellion’ to defend slavery. They wanted to ensure that those who had participated in that insurrection, and in possible future insurrections, could not return to prominent roles. Today, the majority goes beyond the necessities of this case to limit how Section 3 can bar an oathbreaking insurrectionist from becoming President. Although we agree that Colorado cannot enforce Section 3, we protest the majority’s effort to use this case to define the limits of federal enforcement of that provision. Because we would decide only the issue before us, we concur only in the judgment.”

🐣 RT @KlasfeldReports PER CURIAM ¤ The full Supreme Court bench REVERSES former President Trump’s disqualification from the ballot. ¤ Full opinion here (⇊)
[CourtDoc:] https://tinyurl.com/29xmkhpz 20p

🐣 RT @NormEisen Yes the Supreme Court ruled for Trump based on only Congress having the power to enforce the 14th amendment ¤ But just as important as what they did is what they didn’t do ¤ They did NOT expressly challenge that he was an insurrectionist—& the concurrence emphasizes that finding

🐣 RT @atrupar The courts will not save us from Trump. If he is defeated, it will happen at the ballot box. Full stop.

🐣 RT @JohnJHarwood no one understands Joe Biden better than @eosnos
this superb profile explains the thinking of Biden and close advisers on 2024 campaign ¤ and Evan’s interview w/Biden, like mine last fall, shows talk of his alleged mental decline as utter bullshit [NYer link:] Joe Biden’s Last Campaign https://tinyurl.com/yptccd4n

🐣 RT @danielsgoldman Madame @VP hit the nail on the head: Hamas must accept the U.S. brokered six-week ceasefire deal that has been agreed to by Israel (and ultimately release every single hostage), AND we cannot allow the humanitarian crisis in Gaza to continue with such horrific conditions.
⋙ 🐣 RT @VP What we are seeing every day in Gaza is devastating. ¤ As we’ve said, there is a deal on the table that includes a 6-week ceasefire, which would get hostages out and aid in. ¤ Hamas needs to accept it.

🐣 RT @kylegriffin1 Breaking. NBC News confirms: Ex-Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg has reached an agreement with Manhattan prosecutors to plead guilty to perjury charges related to his testimony during the Trump civil fraud trial. @MSNBC @NBCNews

WaPo, Max Boot: Ukraine will lose only if MAGA Republicans cut off U.S. aid https://tinyurl.com/ycyady47 “The Russian success in Avdiivka was possible because, with U.S. aid already cut off, the Ukrainians are suffering from an acute shortage of artillery shells.”

WaPo, Jennifer Rubin: Democracy is imperiled globally. Republicans are on the wrong side. https://tinyurl.com/y8h6k8a7 “The role of the United States in bolstering democracies, just as it did in World War II and the Cold War, has never been more critical”
⋙ Freedom House’s recent report “Freedom in the World 2024: The Mounting Damage of Flawed Elections and Armed Conflict.” https://tinyurl.com/334jzwas

The refusal of House Republicans to fund aid for Ukraine, their insistence on pursuing a bogus impeachment scheme hatched by an indicted Russian FBI source in contact with Russian intelligence services and their unfailing loyalty to an anti-democratic demagogue infatuated with Russian President Vladimir Putin will further aggravate the existential threat facing democracy around the globe. MAGA Republicans’ recent conduct will only hasten the dangerous trend toward authoritarianism spelled out in Freedom House’s recent report. …

The threat from right-wing groups and ideologies rejecting democratic values such as diversity, the rule of law, free speech, equality and tolerance — the very same values the MAGA movement targets — are at the root of the worldwide phenomenon. “Almost everywhere, the downturn in rights was driven by attacks on pluralism — the peaceful coexistence of people with different political ideas, religions, or ethnic identities — that harmed elections and sowed violence,” Freedom House observed. “These intensifying assaults on a core feature of democracy reinforce the urgent need to support the groups and individuals, including human rights defenders and journalists, who are on the front lines of the struggle for freedom worldwide.”…

As the world’s only true superpower, the only country that can summon a global alliance and the historic exemplar of democratic values, the United States must take the lead in defending democracies against internal and external threats. If “governments, donors, and the private sector” do not “deepen their solidarity with front-line allies, hold dictators accountable for rights abuses and corruption, and invest in democratic institutions at home and abroad,” democracy will continue its downward trajectory, the report said. …

Military defense of democracies continues to be an essential part of protecting our alliances facing aggression from authoritarian regimes such as “the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine [that] continued for a second year, further degrading basic rights in occupied areas and prompting more intense repression in Russia itself.” But the question remains if the United States has the will to do so.

We recently witnessed how perilously close the United States is to frittering away our democratic leadership in the world. When the Republican presidential front-runner espouses fondness for fascist ideas and displays a determination to destroy NATO, and his minions rely on Russian-hatched conspiracies to impeach a president and seem willing to let Ukraine go under, we can imagine the threats to democracy here and abroad reaching the point of no return.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), a nine-year veteran of the Navy and three-term congresswoman who recently returned from the Munich Conference, expressed to me her dismay at Republicans’ irresponsibility in defending democracy at a critical moment. She pointed at four-times-indicted former president Donald Trump and his party for “undermining and walking away from our alliances.”

She explained, “The rules-based order benefits not just the U.S. but other countries,” yet Republicans “want to blow up the system.” Republicans seem not to care that we depend on an alliance of democratic allies to do everything from protecting the seaways to confronting China’s aggression, she noted. She said there is a military phrase: “We never fight alone.” And yet we will find ourselves isolated, vulnerable and saddled with higher defense costs if Republicans persist in enabling Putin and destroying our democratic alliances.

“We are at an inflection point,” Sherrill said, echoing the Freedom House report and speaking with obvious emotion. “I cannot accept that the country I have given my life to, the country [for which] I cannot count the number of oaths I have taken, the country I have fought for, I cannot accept that we cannot stand with Ukraine.”

⭕ 3 Mar 2024

🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump We’re in the middle of an Election. We have Super Tuesday coming up very shortly. According to Justice Department guidelines, they shouldn’t be prosecuting me: “Federal prosecutors and agents may never select the timing of any action, including investigative steps, criminal charges, or statements, for the purpose of affecting any election, or for the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party.” THIS IS ELECTION INTERFERENCE, AND SHOULD BE STOPPED IN THE COURTS!
¤ https://x.com/JustVent6/status/1764429335220416538?s=20
↥ ↧
🐣 RT @JustVent6 #wtpBLUE #DemVoice1 Do I have this correct…
Just 11 days before Election 2016, Donald Trump and the Republicans celebrated James Comey’s announcement that the FBI and DOJ were reopening the case into Hillary Clinton’s email server for classified documents. ¤ Trump said “Her conduct threatens the Security of the United States of America”
¤ https://x.com/JustVent6/status/1764429335220416538?s=20

We are 246 days away from Election 2024, and Donald Trump is accused of
– Stealing classified documents
– Not returning classified documents
– 32 counts of willful retention of national defense information
– 91 Criminal Indictments
– Trying to steal an election
– Insurrection
– Sexual Assault
– Rape
– Conspiracy to defraud the United States
– Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding
– Obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding
– Conspiracy against rights, specifically “the right to vote, and to have one’s vote counted”
– Tax Fraud
– Business Fraud
– Hush-money scheme
….You gotta google the rest, I’m tired! 😮‍💨
Doesn’t 👆🏽this conduct threaten the Security of the United States of America!?
Why aren’t Republicans celebrating?

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln “Sen. Chris Murphy, the lead Democratic negotiator on the bipartisan border security bill discusses why Republicans killed a bill that would make the southern border more secure after Trump told them that a secure border would hurt him politically.” [MSNBC link:] 💽 https://tinyurl.com/3xa8ctx8

CNN: Johnson gives House GOP’s Ukraine backers room to craft plan as pressure builds for floor vote https://tinyurl.com/5ez37d57 House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul is trying to build consensus within the House GOP conference for floor action by late March or April

📊 AP: A chunk of Republican primary and caucus voters say they wouldn’t vote for Trump as the GOP nominee https://tinyurl.com/yhuwpcze “a chunk”

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Haley: When everyone was beggin Trump to do something on January 6, he was silent. Trump allowed January 6 to happen
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1764330186063896672?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @harrylitman Per @steve_vladeck, the supreme court’s abrupt announcement that it is issuing opinions tomorrow is a) extremely unusual, and b) a strong clue that the Colorado disqualification opinion will issue tomorrow. Stay tuned at 10 AM.

🐣 RT @front_ukrainian ⚡️🇺🇸American products dropped from US Air Force aircraft on the coast of the blockaded Gaza Strip.
💽 https://x.com/front_ukrainian/status/1764350476139577796?s=20/photo/1
// Gaza air drop

🐣 RT @djrothkopf This is an important public break with Netanyahu and before he and his buddies howl about it, remember it is precisely the move they engineered when they decided to go around Obama back in the day. Also important: It’s a vitally important foreign policy role for the VP to play.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Martin_Indyk Against the will of Netanyahu, @gantzbe is about to visit Washington for meetings with @VP Harris and NSC adviser Jake Sullivan. Bibi has ordered Israel’s ambassador to boycott the meetings. I wager @POTUS will drop by; might even invite Gantz into the Oval Office. Gantz is a member of Bibi’s War Cabinet. In polls, he leads Netanyahu by a wide margin.

🐣 RT @JayinKyiv At the current burn rate of $4.4 billion/month, Russia’s National Wealth Fund will be gone in 12 months. ¤ If the US can get off its ass and fund Ukraine now, Putin will NOT win this war.
◕ https://x.com/JayinKyiv/status/1764365110246514779?s=20/photo/1
// Russian sovereign wealth fund

🐣 RT @officejjsmart ❗️ “Death awaits Ukraine if Congress does not pass an aid package, ex-head of 🇺🇸 US Armed Forces, General Milley.
The General says that Russia will soon have a devastating strategic advantage on the battlefield… and then Kyiv will fall.”
– Trukha Ukraine 🇺🇦

🔄 ✅ PolitiFactFL (7/25/2023): DeSantis claimed some states allow ‘post-birth’ abortions. None do https://tinyurl.com/yycea4s6 This is FALSE. “Killing an infant after birth is infanticide and is illegal in all 50 states”
https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1764350391959875885?s=20
[w TextLink:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1764524783037755417?s=20/photo/1

.
[Text:] The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists also rebutted the statement and said that “there is no such thing.” Kelly Baden, vice president of policy at the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion-rights research group, called the claim “outrageous and false” and said the rhetoric has “no basis in evidence, facts or medical standards of care and serves only to place abortion providers and patients at risk.”

● The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act, passed in 1974 and since revised. The relevant portion makes certain types of federal funding for states conditional on their adopting policies to prevent withholding of treatment from newborns, including those with disabilities.

● The Born-Alive Infants Protection Act of 2002 established that federal legal protections that applied to “persons” also covered children born at any stage of development, including after an abortion.

 
🐣 RT @AliVelshi Casting a protest vote in a presidential primary is a useful tool. But doing so in the general election is dangerous… especially in 2024. This year, voters have a binary choice between democracy and autocracy. #Velshi [MSNBC link:] https://tinyurl.com/bdfysupb

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln Starting Topics:
1. Trump is weak and impotent – he may lose his financial empire, is facing jail time, and Nikki Haley in the primaries is exposing his weakness with moderate voters who are sick and tired of him trying to tear the country apart.
2. The Supreme Court has likely delayed Donald Trump’s trial. No one should be looking to the courts to stop Trump. The only way to stop him and the MAGA movement is to vote against them this fall. If democracy is going to prevail in America, then the people must stand up and make their voices heard.
3. President Biden is working with conservatives to secure the southern border and stop the flow of drugs and people. But Trump and his MAGA sycophants in Congress are siding with coyotes and cartels to hold up border security money because they want to go on tv to complain rather than fix the issue. Biden’s the only one committed to our national security.

🐣 RT @WhiteHouse Actions speak louder than words. ¤ After the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling on IVF, Republicans in Congress rushed to the microphones to proclaim their support for IVF. ♨ But then they said no to a bill that would protect access to IVF in every state.

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump “We’re getting rid of the Romneys of the world”
Trump urges moderate Republicans to leave the party.
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1764091002552304096?s=20/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 come on over, non-MAGA: the water’s great!
we’re pro-capitalist now, but also pro-worker
we care about defense and foreign policy
we care about families and children
and we try to help people to be their best selves
we’re the new ‘Party of Lincoln’
~ a Democrat

🔄 ✅ PolitiFactFL (7/25/2023): DeSantis claimed some states allow ‘post-birth’ abortions. None do https://tinyurl.com/yycea4s6 This is FALSE. “Killing an infant after birth is infanticide and is illegal in all 50 states”

🐣 RT @tribelaw Here’s conclusive proof that the Court “is treating the presidential candidate of the party that appointed six of the nine justices with special favor” in light of how it treats literally EVERY OTHER criminal defendant. Undeniable as well as inexcusable ⬇️
⋙ Politico Mag, Aziz Huq: Why Is Trump Getting Special Treatment From the Supreme Court? https://tinyurl.com/9ud3m4pe
// The justices are handling Trump’s case far differently than most criminal defendants.

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson It’s a death sentence for American school kids.
⋙ 🐣 RT @BarbaraComstock Trump said in Richmond, that he will take all federal funds away from public schools that require vaccines. Like most states, Virginia requires MMR vaccine, chickenpox vaccine, polio, etc. So Trump would take millions in federal funds away from all Virginia public schools.
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @bidonkules Not sure if you all remember but Trump did the most in trying to harm us and kill us in 2020 when the pandemic began. On his watch he hoarded masks, gowns, supplies to ensure WE couldn’t get them. Let’s not pretend Trump isn’t trying to spread disease and kill us.
⋙⋙ 🐣 He’s making it up as he goes. Who’s his medical advisor? The quack from Florida? Yesterday he said he’d propose a 15 week abortion ban but he “had’t decided yet.” No input from the medical community, just his “good brain.” Infuriating!

⭕ 2 Mar 202

🐣 RT @Acyn Wow the crowd goes silent as a confused Trump says: And Putin has so little respect for Obama that he’s starting to throw around the nuclear word
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1764089216470839300?s=20/photo/1
// he means Biden, not Obama

🐣 RT @Acyn Trump: If you have a smart President, he can handle all of these countries. I did. I took in hundreds of billions of dollars from China. I got along with President XI.
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1764093719307850078?s=20/photo/1
⋙ 🐣 But the trade deficit only improved under Biden! ¤ Plus:
1. Americans paid the tariffs, NOT China
2. China then put tariffs on US farm produce, so Trump had to pay to try to keep the farmers afloat
3. Suicides among farmers soared
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1764104229365469398?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @neal_katyal This is a terrific piece about the timing of the Trump Jan 6 trial
⋙ Politico Mag, Ankush Khardori: The Enormous Pressures About to Land on Judge Tanya Chutkan https://tinyurl.com/2rspy7mr “The Supreme Court made a Jan. 6 Trump trial harder — but not impossible.”

⭕ 1 Mar 2024

🐣 RT @SenatorRomney Denying Ukraine additional aid would be pennywise and pound foolish. Putin would be emboldened to expand his territorial ambitions into NATO nations—and the U.S. would be obligated to not only help with weapons and funds, but with our own troops. 💽 https://x.com/SenatorRomney/status/1763617979185438862?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @Kasparov63 Farewell to Alexei, who only wanted his passion for justice to spread among his compatriots and become a flame. His mission and ultimate sacrifice will not be forgotten. He will be honored in a free Russia the way he is honored today by these mourners.
⋙ 🐣 RT @annanemtsova Moscow today: people are chanting “not to war” on the day of Aleksey Navalny’s funeral. People hug #Navalny’s mother, who is crying and say: “Thank you for your son.”
💽 https://x.com/Kasparov63/status/1763599187277488621?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @SenatorRomney Failure to pass additional aid for Ukraine would signal to the world that America cannot be trusted, and we will begin to lose our friends and allies. Without them, we lose a major part of what makes us strong—and risk ceding our place as world leader to China.
💽 https://x.com/SenatorRomney/status/1763594452839309365?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @imreallyimprtnt It was great to chat with @RepDanGoldman yesterday! Check out the video below. ¤ We discussed the recent twists & turns in the GOP’s impeachment inquiry of President Biden, how he promotes bipartisanship in the House, the 2024 elections & so much more.
💽 https://x.com/imreallyimprtnt/status/1763669497314152570?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @neal_katyal Yes, I’ve been saying this, not just about Mar a Lago, but also Jack Smith 1/6 case. Trump has already been indicted in both, so rule doesn’t apply. And if, as I suspect, SCOTUS rules against Trump on immunity, he can be tried b4 election in both without violating 60 day guidance
⋙ 🐣 RT @KatiePhang BIG news out of Ft. Pierce: ¤ The DOJ advises Judge Cannon that the “60-day rule” does NOT apply in Trump’s case as he has already been indicted & the case is already being litigated. ¤ So, no reason to delay taking him to trial, even with elections in November.

🐣 RT @danielsgoldman The investigation was always based on bogus allegations, but after 14 months, 100k+ docs, 100+ hrs of testimony and Hunter’s depo, @Jim_Jordan @RepJamesComer still have no evidence linking @POTUS to ANY wrongdoing much less impeachable offenses. ¤ They must end this partisan ploy.
💽 https://x.com/danielsgoldman/status/1763576637348622551?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RonFilipkowski The men who pitched to Trump the idea of ‘Trump Media,’ who created Truth Social & were initial investors are now suing Trump saying that he is trying to screw them out of their investment and work by diluting their shares. A familiar Don the Con story.
⋙ CNBC: Trump Media sued by co-founders ahead of DWAC merger, potential setback for lucrative deal https://tinyurl.com/kt9dzcf3

🐣 RT @ianbremmer the courage required to show up for navalny’s funeral is worth our appreciation
💽 https://x.com/ianbremmer/status/1763560485650084220?s=20/photo/1
// video of huge crowds

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe .@anneapplebaum: “This so-called Christian leader, Vladimir Putin, has done everything he could to hamper a Christian funeral… yet people are coming out—Navalny will go on being a symbol of civic courage in a country that has very few symbols like that.”
💽 https://x.com/Morning_Joe/status/1763551297335087173?s=20/photo/1

⭕ 29 Feb 2024

🐣 RT @anneapplebaum Donald Trump, who is not the president, is using a minority of Republicans to hand a victory to Russia, and to weaken American power and credibility. Why?
¤ https://x.com/anneapplebaum/status/1763165397786775699?s=20
[Atlantic link:] https://tinyurl.com/yc8mxmfm

⋙ Trump rarely talks about Ukraine, because Ukraine is still popular and Russia is not. But he threatens and manipulates legislators, including Speakers McCarthy and Johnson, to persuade them to block the money and weapons that could keep Ukraine fighting this year

⋙ by next year, Europeans – who already spend significantly more money than the US in Ukraine – will be in a better position to provide arms and ammunition so that Ukraine outlasts Russia and wins the war. But US aid is still needed this year. Trump is blocking it.

⋙ With the support of the democratic world, Ukraine can win. They have forced the Russian navy away from their coast, took down more airplanes this week, and continually hit economic targets inside Russia. Their most important obstacle, now, is Donald Trump

WaPo, Philip Bump: Hunter Biden gives House Republicans the rebuttal they didn’t want https://tinyurl.com/3e3b8p88 “A legislator asked him whether he’d worked for foreign governments. ‘I never worked for a country,’ he replied. ‘I am not Jared Kushner’.”

🐣 RT @Acyn Biden: So here’s what I would say to Mr. Trump. Instead telling members of congress to block this legislation, join me or I’ll join you in telling the congress to pass this bipartisan border security bill. We can do it together. Instead of playing politics, let’s get it done
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1763322857319243815?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @ybarrap Why isn’t this front-page news? ¤ Hardly a whisper today — Trump fined $267 million in dollars in Scotland and nobody notices? 🤷🏼‍♂️
⋙ 🐣 RT @ybarrap Donald Trump has been found to have fraudulently boosted the value of Scottish homes by up to £200 million. A judge’s civil fraud case revealed that the Trump Organization had valued a 2,500-home development at £83,164, significantly lower than the actual value[1]. The fraudulent methods used by the Trump Organization included inflating property values and using false numbers in property valuations[2][3]. As a result of this fraudulent activity, Donald Trump has been ordered to pay over $350 million in damages in a civil fraud case, with potential interest charges adding another $100 million[4]. Despite denying committing fraud, Mr. Trump is facing significant financial consequences and legal restrictions as a result of these findings[5]. [links]

🐣 RT @Acyn Former Australian PM Turnbull: What Trump and Orban’s goal is to divide, take advantage of those divisions. This is supported by the right-wing media in America, particularly Fox News, and it’s doing unbelievable damage to your country.
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1763339180157898813?s=20/photo/1

WaPo, Ruth Marcus: Supreme Court aids and abets Trump’s bid for delay https://tinyurl.com/35uscder “My beef isn’t with the court’s decision to hear the case — it’s with the outrageously lethargic timing”

🐣 RT @WhiteHouse President Biden’s team spent months negotiating with a bipartisan group of Senators to reach a border agreement. ¤ The result was a bill with the toughest set of border security reforms we have had in decades. ¤ It’s time for Republicans in Congress to pass it.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1763319493126734148?s=20/photo/1

🐣 People who don’t understand this need to read Yale historian Timothy Snyder’s book “Black Earth” ¤ The Nazis and the Soviets utterly devastated Poland https://tinyurl.com/nhan6tv5

🐣 📊 RT @SamRamani2 U.S. public opinion moves in Ukraine’s favour as aid stalls
◕ https://x.com/SamRamani2/status/1763303075240906779?s=20/photo/1
// AP/NORC Poll Nov 2023 vs Feb 2024

🐣 Ridiculous. Russia is a third world country with a tiny GDP. It needs to get its fingers out of other countries’ business. THEN the world would be stable.
$1.8Tr Russia
$4.3Tr Germany
$23.3T USA
$3.6Tr California
$2.3Tr Texas
$2.0Tr New York
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1763308076700996000?s=20/photo/1
// chart: NATO GDP

🐣 RT @MargieVotes #DemVoice1 #DemsUnited
Every time Trump and Republicans tweet about the border show them this. ¤ They can’t manipulate you if you are informed. ¤ Thanks to Joe Murphy, action democrat, for the great vid. 👏 ¤ PASS IT ON
💽 https://x.com/MargieVotes/status/1763296478066356432?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🇫🇷🇺🇦 After his comments on the potential sending of ground troops into Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron affirmed Thursday that “each of the words that I pronounce on this matter is weighed, thought and measured, these are sufficiently serious subjects”, – Le Monde

🐣 RT @joncoopertweets 🚨 BREAKING: A pro-Ukraine House Republican is leading an effort to bypass Speaker Johnson and pass Ukraine aid. @RepBrianFitz, co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus, is preparing a discharge petition that can force a House vote if it gets 218 signatures. [Axios link:] https://tinyurl.com/3u2jd694

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder The Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether a US citizen is above the law – a proposition that, if affirmed, would destroy the moral, legal, and political foundations of the Court itself.

🐣 🐣 RT @JillWineBanks Phrasing of the question is disturbing, but worse is the delay which gives Trump what he wants. SCOTUS acted much faster in US v Nixon and Bush v Gore. Delay more unforgivable here bec it was fully briefed & decided in a clear & unquestionably correct DC Appellate Court opinion.
⋙ 🐣 RT @marceelias 🚨BREAKING: U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear Trump immunity case. Most importantly, keeps stay in place seriously jeopardizing a trial date before Nov. election.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/JillWineBanks/status/1763282205500215753?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RepJerryNadler: All the demagoguery we’ve heard from my Republican colleagues saying that this country is threatened by a great crime wave because of illegal immigrants is pure hogwash.
⋙ 🐣 UWisc (2020): Undocumented immigrants far less likely to commit crimes in U.S. than citizens https://tinyurl.com/bdfan652
◕ https://x.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1763272581082124656?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @SenatorBraun While touting the $1.4 billion dollars of taxpayer money they want to spend on feeding and housing illegal immigrants, Biden’s @WhiteHouse just referred to illegal crossers as “newcomers.”
⋙ 🐣 no human being is “illegal”; anyone on US soil from another country has a right to claim asylum under US and international law ¤ the bipartisan border bill (Langford) would have tightened the criteria for asylum, but Trump said “Boo!” and scared the Senate GOP into nixing it

MeidasTouch: ‘Several’ Republicans Backing Discharge Petition to Force Vote on Ukraine Aid https://tinyurl.com/6k3bv62h “GOP Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick disclosed that several Republicans are prepared to go around Speaker Johnson to force aid vote”

🐣 RT @Timodc “So those who hoped the legal system would stop Donald Trump are almost certain to be disappointed…Where does that leave us, the American people? Relying on ourselves” – @BillKristol [Bulwark link:] https://tinyurl.com/3kwkvhus

🐣 RT @PaulaChertok The GOP fog machine wants us to imagine Biden’s $200,000 loan to his brother is somehow corrupt so we dismiss actual & staggering corruption staring us in the face: Trump son-in-law Kushner’s $300,100,000,000 BILLION from Saudi and other foreign money after “working” in Trump WH.
⋙ 🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump “I’ve been in this business 40 years. I’ve never seen something like this.”
◕ 💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1763238696482906374?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @ChrisMurphyCT Joe Biden sees the border as a problem to be fixed. He supports the tough, historic bipartisan border bill. ¤ Donald Trump sees the border as a problem to exploit. He instructed his allies to kill the border bill because he wants to keep border chaotic to help him politically.
💽 https://x.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1763260760958919023?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @ChrisMurphyCT your morning reminder that republicans say they care about the border but when they had the chance to pass the toughest bipartisan border bill in decades they killed it because their leader trump told them it was better politically if the border is a mess

TheAtlantic, Anne Applebaum: Why Is Trump Trying to Make Ukraine Lose? http://tinyurl.com/2ae4ez83 “The former president isn’t in office—but is still dictating U.S. policy.”

Nearly half a year has passed since the White House asked Congress for another round of American aid for Ukraine. Since that time, at least three different legislative efforts to provide weapons, ammunition, and support for the Ukrainian army have failed.

Kevin McCarthy, the former House speaker, was supposed to make sure that the money was made available. But in the course of trying, he lost his job.

The Senate negotiated a border compromise (including measures border guards said were urgently needed) that was supposed to pass alongside aid to Ukraine. But Senate Republicans who had supported that effort suddenly changed their minds and blocked the legislation.

Finally, the Senate passed another bill, including aid for Ukraine, Taiwan, Israel, and the civilians of Gaza, and sent it to the House. But in order to avoid having to vote on that legislation, the current House speaker, Mike Johnson, sent the House on vacation for two weeks. That bill still hangs in limbo. A majority is prepared to pass it, and would do so if a vote were held. Johnson is maneuvering to prevent that from happening.

… Donald Trump, who is not the president, is using a minority of Republicans to block aid to Ukraine, to undermine the actual president’s foreign policy, and to weaken American power and credibility.

For outsiders, this reality is mind-boggling, difficult to comprehend and impossible to understand. In the week that the border compromise failed, I happened to meet a senior European Union official visiting Washington. He asked me if congressional Republicans realized that a Russian victory in Ukraine would discredit the United States, weaken American alliances in Europe and Asia, embolden China, encourage Iran, and increase the likelihood of invasions of South Korea or Taiwan. Don’t they realize? Yes, I told him, they realize. Johnson himself said, in February 2022, that a failure to respond to the Russian invasion of Ukraine “empowers other dictators, other terrorists and tyrants around the world … If they perceive that America is weak or unable to act decisively, then it invites aggression in many different ways.” But now the speaker is so frightened by Trump that he no longer cares. Or perhaps he is so afraid of losing his seat that he can’t afford to care. My European colleague shook his head, not because he didn’t believe me, but because it was so hard for him to hear. …

Many also understand that Trump is less interested in “fixing the border,” the project he forced the Senate to abandon, than he is in damaging Ukraine. He surely knows, as everybody does, that the Ukrainians are low on ammunition. He must also know that, right now, no one except the U.S. can help. Although European countries now collectively donate more money to Ukraine than we do (and the numbers are rising), they don’t yet have the industrial capacity to sustain the Ukrainian army. By the end of this year, European production will probably be sufficient to supply the Ukrainians, to help them outlast the Russians and win the war. But for the next nine months, U.S. military support is needed.

Yet Trump wants Congress to block it. Why? This is the part that nobody understands. Unlike his son, Trump himself rarely talks about Ukraine, because his position isn’t popular. Most Americans don’t want Russia to win. …

Trump is already behaving like the autocrats he admires, pursuing transactional politics that will profoundly weaken the United States. But he doesn’t care. Liz Cheney, one of the few Republicans who understands the significance of this moment, describes the stakes like this: “We are at a turning point in the history not just of this nation, but of the world.” Once the U.S. is no longer the security guarantor for Europe, and once the U.S. is no longer trusted in Asia, then some nations will begin to hedge, to make their own deals with Russia and China. Others will seek their own nuclear shields. Companies in Europe and elsewhere that now spend billions on U.S. energy investments or U.S. weapons will make different kinds of contracts. The United States will lose the dominant role it has played in the democratic world since 1945.

All of this could happen even if Trump doesn’t win the election. Right now, even if he never regains the White House, he is already dictating U.S. foreign policy, shaping perceptions of America in the world. Even if the funding for Ukraine ultimately passes, the damage he has done to all of America’s relationships is real. Anton Hofreiter, a member of the German Parliament, told me in Munich that he fears Europe could someday be competing against three autocracies: “Russia, China, and the United States.” When he said that, it was my turn to shake my head, not because I didn’t believe him, but because it was so hard to hear.

⭕ 28 Feb 2024

🐣 RT @djrothkopf The Supreme Court in the 21st Century has been a devastatingly destructive political weapon of the right. If yesterday’s decision results in Trump not facing a jury’s verdict on 1/6 before the election and consequently his reelection and the death of US democracy, it will be seen as the worst of its many terrible decisions from Bush v Gore to Citizens United.

🐣 RT @RealJakeBroe Colbert dedicated his monologue tonight to ripping apart Speaker Mike Johnson for being a willing Russian agent. ¤ The House Republicans’ main informant in their quest to impeach Joe Biden has also now admitted he got all his information from the Kremlin. Shocker…
💽 https://x.com/RealJakeBroe/status/1763078748029833293?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @allinwithchris .@chrislhayes: The SCOTUS order “was a clear unmistakable sign from the MAGA majority of the Trump-created court that they are with him. That they are going to use their power to make sure that he does not face trial in an election year for attempting to end American democracy.”

🐣 RT @WhiteHouse Here’s the difference. ¤ House and Senate Democrats are pushing legislation to protect IVF nationwide. ¤ House and Senate Republicans are claiming to support IVF, but are blocking legislation to protect it. ¤ Actions > words.

🐣 RT @djrothkopf Let’s not beat around the bush, decision by the Supreme Court to hear the Trump immunity case is outrageous and, at its heart, fundamentally corrupt. The Appeals Court decision was bullet proof and there is no case Trump has any sort of immunity. The decision not to hear it until late April makes further significant trial delays likely. They are deliberately delaying the trial without any reasonable legal reason to do so. This is a political decision and, in my estimation, an ugly one.

🐣 RT @TimothyDSnyder And it won’t only be our allies. If Russia wins in Ukraine, expect nuclear proliferation generally.
⋙ 🐣 RT @WesClarkjr I predicted a few weeks ago that Speaker Johnson’s cutting aid to Ukraine would lead to nuclear proliferation among our allies. The more fingers on nuclear buttons, the greater the odds of nuclear war. Johnson is a treacherous fool making the world a more dangerous place.
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @victoriaslog Sikorski said that if the US doesn’t provide support to Ukraine, Poland will have to start developing nukes. ¤ In my opinion, the strong alliance we saw is the reason we didn’t see nuclear wars, but if there are doubts that the US is able to provide security, no country should risk

🐣 RT @EricHolder There is no cavalry coming. No miracle solution. No saviors. ¤ In the end, we, the American people – not any of our institutions – have to save our democracy by voting in defense of that democracy this fall. ¤ We are the cavalry. The responsibility is ours.

🐣 RT @allinwithchris “This is B.S.—you were doing this as a dilatory [delaying] tactic to help your political friend,” says @Maddow on SCOTUS. “And for you to say that this is something that the Court needs to decide because it’s something that’s unclear in the law is just flagrant, flagrant bullpucky.”

🐣 RT @FrankFigliuzzi1 “…Does a former president enjoy presidential immunity…for conduct alleged to involve official acts”. No, that’s not the issue Supreme Court. The issue is whether he has immunity for CRIMINAL acts. Of course he has immunity for official acts. They’ve told us how they’re leaning.

★ WSJ, Nicholas Wade: Where Did Covid Come From? http://tinyurl.com/yt56jzn8 A proposed Darpa project was not funded, but “after Darpa turned down the DEFUSE proposal in February 2019, the researchers in Wuhan might have secured Chinese government funding and gone ahead by themselves”
// New documents bolster the theory that it not only escaped from a laboratory but was developed in one.

🐣 RT @SenWhitehouse This presents an epic self-test of the Supreme Court. One of two things will likely be true:

⋙ 1. They will quickly follow clear precedent and constitutional text and dispense with the immunity argument 9-0 in time to permit the case to proceed.

⋙ 2. This is Bush v. Gore 2.0 with Republican justices stepping in to influence a presidential outcome by interfering in an ongoing prosecution.

⋙ Obviously the big donors who’ve packed the Court want Trump, primarily to protect their “freedom to pollute.” But will the Court follow their direction? That’s the test.

CNN (2004): Clarke: Bush didn’t see terrorism as ‘urgent’ http://tinyurl.com/7p5n27pb
// 5/19/2004; President Bush’s former counterterrorism chief testified Wednesday that the administration did not consider terrorism an urgent priority before the September 11, 2001, attacks, despite his repeated warnings about Osama bin Laden’s terror network.

“I believe the Bush administration in the first eight months considered terrorism an important issue, but not an urgent issue,” Richard Clarke told a commission investigating the September 11 attacks. …

“Frustrated by what he saw as an inadequate response to terrorism, Clarke sent a memo to national security adviser Condoleezza Rice one week before the deadly attacks, blasting the Defense Department for not doing enough against al Qaeda and criticizing the CIA for holding up a plan to arm Predator drones.

In that memo — detailed in a commission staff statement — Clarke told policy-makers to “imagine a day after hundreds of Americans lay dead at home or abroad after a terrorist attack” and to ask themselves, “What else they could have done?”

🔄 ⏳ NatSecArchive (2005): Bush Administration’s First Memo on al-Qaeda Declassified http://tinyurl.com/3wedz5h6 ¤ January 25, 2001 Richard Clarke Memo: “We urgently need . . . a Principals level review on the al Qida network.”
// 2/10/2005; upd 9/27/2006; see attachments (documents)

🐣 RT @TristanSnell Donald Trump does not have a real legal argument on immunity — and he knows it. ¤ This whole thing is a delay tactic, throwing sand into the gears of justice. ¤ It’s a standard move from Trump’s playbook — and the Supreme Court just fell for it. ¤ And some of them are in on it.

🐣 RT @BeschlossDC·If today’s Supreme Court decision to consider Trump Presidential immunity case in April has the ultimate effect of fatally postponing Jack Smith case, today could turn out to be a fateful moment in American history. ¤ Please watch and listen.

🐣 RT @meiselasb The Supreme Court sat on Trump’s stay request on his absolute immunity claim for weeks and just granted certiorari and set oral argument for April 22. I see very little chance the DC federal case can go to trial now in 2024. The Supreme Court strikes again.

😜 RT @emptywheel The good news is that SCOTUS will probably rule on whether Biden as absolute immunity in time for him to order SEAL Team 6 to take him out, as Trump’s lawyer said Biden could do.

🐣 RT @RepRaskin MAGA’s impeachment goose chase can’t pin a high crime or misdemeanor on the president, and its original star witness sits in jail awaiting prosecution for lying to the FBI. And so it ends, not with a bang but a whimper. ¤ Time to pack up the circus tent.

🐣 RT @mviser NEW: Hunter Biden in opening statement says “I did not involve my father in my business” and tells House Republicans “You have built your entire partisan house of cards on lies”
[TextLink:] https://x.com/mviser/status/1762856532675301450?s=20/photo/1 -2

Statement of Robert Hunter Biden
House Committees on Oversight & Accountability and the Judiciary
February 28, 2024

I am here today to provide the Committees with the one uncontestable fact that should end the false premise of this inquiry: I did not involve my father in my business. Not while I was a practicing lawyer, not in my investments or transactions domestic or international, not as a board member, and not as an artist. Never.

You read this fact in the many letters that have been sent to you over the last year as part of your so-called impeachment investigation. You heard this fact when I said it weeks ago, standing outside of this building. You heard this fact from a parade of other witnesses – former colleagues and business partners of mine, including my uncle – who have testified before you in similar proceedings. And now, today, you hear this fact directly from me.

For more than a year, your Committees have hunted me in your partisan political pursuit of my dad. You have trafficked in innuendo, distortion, and sensationalism – all the while ignoring the clear and convincing evidence staring you in the face. You do not have evidence to support the baseless and MAGA-motivated conspiracies about my father because there isn’t any.

You have built your entire partisan house of cards on lies told by the likes of Gal Luft, Tony Bobulinski, Alexander Smirnov, and Jason Galanis. Luft, who is a fugitive, has been indicted for his lies and other crimes; Smirnov, who has made you dupes in carrying out a Russian disinformation campaign waged against my father, has been indicted for his lies; Bobulinski, who has been exposed for the many false statements he has made, and Galanis, who is serving 14 years in prison for fraud. Rather than follow the facts as they have been laid out before you in bank records, financial statements, correspondence, and other witness testimony, you continue your frantic search to prove the lies you, and those you rely on, keep peddling. Yes, they are lies.To be clear, I have made mistakes in my life, and I have squandered opportunities and privileges that were afforded to me. I know that. I am responsible for that and I am making amends for that.

But my mistakes and shortcomings are my own and not my father’s, who has done nothing but devote his entire life to public service and trying to make this country a better place to live.

During my battle with addiction, my father was there for me. He helped save my life. His love and support made it possible for me to get sober, stay sober and rebuild my life as a father, husband, son, and brother. What he got in return for being a loving and supportive parent is a barrage of hate-filled conspiracy theories that hatched this sham impeachment inquiry and continue to fuel unrelenting personal attacks against him and me.

Over the last year, Republicans have taken my communications out of context, relied on documents that have been altered, and cherry-picked snippets of financial or other records to misrepresent what really happened. Examples of this include a few references to my family in emails or texts that I sent when I was in the darkest days of my addiction. If you try to do that again today, my answers will reveal your tactics and demonstrate the truth that my father was never involved in any of my businesses.

My testimony today should put an end to this baseless and destructive political charade. You have wasted valuable time and resources attacking me and my family for your own political gain when you should be fixing the real problems in this country that desperately need your attention. ¤ Thank you.

🐣 RT @BarbMcQuade 4/22 seems awfully slow, but SCOTUS is expediting review of immunity issue by treating Trump’s motion to stay as petition for review in election interference case. Case can still be tried before election if they hustle the decision. Otherwise justice delayed is justice denied.
⋙ 🐣 RT @steve_vladeck Here’s the order:
[TextLink:] https://x.com/BarbMcQuade/status/1762966882510909647?s=20/photo/1

WaPo: Supreme Court to weigh Trump’s immunity claim in D.C. 2020 election trial http://tinyurl.com/vz8x48d8
// Justices set oral argument for week of April 22 on whether Donald Trump can be criminally prosecuted for acts he took while president

🐣 RT @stengel There is no idea more emphatically enshrined in our Constitution than the notion that no person—even a former president—is above the law. The only way the Court could rule for Trump on this is if they overturn 250 years of history and declare the president to be a king.

🐣 RT @stengel There is no idea more emphatically enshrined in our Constitution than the notion that no person—even a former president—is above the law. The only way the Court could rule for Trump on this is if they overturn 250 years of history and declare the president to be a king.

🐣 RT @RadioFreeTom The fact that we are going through this today is pretty much the summation of Mitch McConnell’s legacy as majority leader.

🐣 RT @tribelaw I’ll talk about the Supreme Court’s immunity decision on CNN with @AC360 at 8:10 pm ET and with @Lawrenceon MSNBC in his 10 pm ET hour. Spoiler alert: This is very bad news for the rule of law.

🐣 RT @SpeakerPelosi The Supreme Court is placing itself on trial with its decision to hear the former president’s total immunity claim. It remains to be seen whether the justices will uphold the fundamental American value that no one is above the law – not even a former president.

🐣 RT @ResoluteSquare 🚨 BREAKING: @judgeluttig upon hearing the news that SCOTUS WILL hear Trump’s immunity case: “… a momentous decision just to hear this case. There is no reason in the world for them to take it. Under the constitutional laws of the United States, there has never been an argument that a former President is immune from prosecution for crimes he committed while in office.”

🐣 RT @ProjectLincoln We can’t keep holding out hope that the Courts will stop Trump. You can hold your breath and hope, or you can take action in November. The only solution to Trump is the ballot box.
💽 https://x.com/ProjectLincoln/status/1762968419329069530?s=20/photo/1
‼️⋙ 🐣 RT @kaitlancollins NEWS: The Supreme Court agreed to decide whether Donald Trump may claim immunity from special counsel Jack Smith’s election subversion case.

WaPo: Mitch McConnell to step down as Republican Senate leader in November http://tinyurl.com/43yrxwd8
// ‘I have many faults. Misunderstanding politics is not one of them,’ McConnell said in a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday.

🐣 RT @danielsgoldman We’re witnessing the final breath of House R’s bogus impeachment inquiry. ¤ Hunter Biden’s depo confirmed that @POTUS wasn’t involved in, nor benefited from, his son’s dealings. ¤ This farce must end. If it continues, the GOP is just helping Putin interfere in our elections.
💽 https://x.com/danielsgoldman/status/1762908159952252947?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @EdKrassen Daniel Goldman just eviscerated Republicans in Congress for their Hunter Biden impeachment inquiry. ¤ He accused them of working (indirectly) with Russia, saying:

“The only thing that the Republicans have left are these Burisma allegations, which we now know were completely made up by their source, who’s now been indicted because he was working with Russian intelligence to interfere in our election. And so let’s be very clear, because that is the only basis to move forward with an impeachment inquiry. If this impeachment inquiry continues, then Chairman Comer and Chairman Jordan are working with Russia to interfere in the November 2024 election on behalf of Vladimir Putin for the benefit of Donald Trump. That is what this has been reduced to now, and that is what this first hour showed us.”

🐣 RT @ReallyAmerican1 🚨🚨BREAKING: Hunter Biden DESTROYED Reps James Comer and Jim Jordan during his opening statements in a closed door hearing, hammering them for their evidence-free “baseless and MAGA-motivated conspiracies” aimed at his father.
¤ https://x.com/ReallyAmerican1/status/1762904889212961049?s=20

Hunter had previously refused to appear in a closed-door session with House Republicans, well aware of their penchant for twisting words and weaponizing cherry-picked testimony. His preference was for a public hearing.

But Biden showed up today at the joint hearing of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees, armed with what Politico called a “blistering rebuke” of Republicans’ investigation in search of an ill-advised impeachment.

His opening statement included an unequivocal repudiation of the central claim in the GOP’s fishing expedition: “I did not involve my father in my business.” he said.

“Not while I was a practicing lawyer, not in my investments or transactions domestic or international, not as a board member, and not as an artist. Never.”

Biden went on to refute the lies told by numerous flawed Republican witnesses whose claims have been debunked. “You do not have evidence to support the baseless and MAGA-motivated conspiracies about my father because there isn’t any.”

Rep. Robert Garcia, who is sitting in the hearings, told MSNBC “We’ve been in the deposition now for about an hour, and one thing is crystal clear: Republicans have zero evidence linking Hunter Biden to any sort of business dealings with the president.”

🐣 RT @Gerashchenko_en Russian Federation is preparing “Maidan – 3” special operation, according to Committee on Intelligence Issues under the President of Ukraine. The goal of the operation is to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the President of Ukraine after May 20 and cause defeat in the east front.
¤ https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1762781838458618357?s=20

According to the Committee:

🔹 The campaign should reach its climax in March-May 2024.
🔹 The Russian Federation plans to spread panic and despair among Ukrainians, and to quarrel Ukraine with its allies.
🔹 According to the Russian plan, the situation in Ukraine will be destabilized in the first half of June. Then, taking advantage of this situation, a military defeat will be inflicted in the East.
🔹 Russia spent almost $250 million on spreading anti-Ukrainian sentiments on Telegram, and the total budget of the operation amounted to an astronomical amount of $1.5 billion.

⭕ 27 Feb 2024

https://x.com/AdamParkhomenko/status/1762882100087148595?s=20🐣 RT @shay3322 NYT: Did you know Biden is 81 years old?
Meanwhile…
[TextLink:] https://x.com/shay3322/status/1762573556678852872?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @realDonaldTrump 2024 is our Final Battle. With you at my side, we will demolish the Deep State, we will expel the warmongers from our government, we will drive out the globalists, we will cast out the Communists, Marxists, and Fascists, we will throw off the sick political class that hates our Country, we will rout the Fake News Media, we will Drain the Swamp, and we will liberate our country from these tyrants and villains once and for all!

🐣 RT @KyivPost ⚡️Speakers from 23 parliaments have appealed to the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Johnson, urging him to consider the bill passed by the Senate, which provides for the allocation of $60 billion to #Ukraine, the Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament Stefanchuk said.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/KyivPost/status/1762785768857108705?s=20/photo/1 -2

Dear Mr Speaker,

In recent days, a solemn anniversary loomed large, commemorating the two-year mark since Russia and its dictatorial regime invaded Ukraine in an unprovoked and unjustified act of aggression. This invasion has obviously endangered not only the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, but has also challenged the entire democratic world, jeopardizing the security in the whole European and Euro-Atlantic area.

Over these past two years, the countries that remain committed to our shared values and believe in a world based on rules and respect to the UN Charter, have united to help Ukraine and its people in repelling the brutal aggression that is claiming hundreds of lives every day. Our joint assistance has helped to stop the aggressor and liberate a large share of previously occupied territories of Ukraine. We welcome the indispensable and prominent role of the United States in this joint effort. The US has consistently demonstrated strong bipartisan support for Ukraine’s victory in its fight against the Russian invasion

We also observe that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has had a significant impact on the development of the security situation in the world. We see that while tran and North Korea have begun to provide direct military support to Russia, the criminal actions of the Kremlin regime have inspired other dictatorial and undemocratic regimes, become a catalyst for the escalation of old conflicts, and put us on the brink of new confrontations. Today. the world is rapidly moving toward the destruction of the sustainable world order.

We see it as our responsibility and our task to prevent this descent into chaos and impunity. and therefore our countries are committed to further increasing our support to Ukraine and its defense forces, seeing it as a considerable investment in our individual and collective security. The axis of evil must be defeated, and all perpetrators brought to justice. This will serve as a significant deterrent to further conflicts and will return a sense of control and security to our peoples.

We believe that thanks to your personal leadership, the Congress will demonstrate historic bipartisan unity in support of the collective efforts to assist Ukraine therefore. we ask you to take the next step toward adopting a historic decision on HR 815 that will secure US assistance to foreign countries and provide Ukraine with the necessary funds to continue its fight.

With faith in our common democratic values, sincerely yours, ¤ (Signatories)

🔄 ✅ Politifact (2/2): Can Joe Biden ‘shut down the border’ on his own? http://tinyurl.com/3wchkbcd No. Biden has applied the law that exists, but is restrained unless changes are made, esp providing more resources (officers, judges) and making changes to asylum law
⋙ [see also:] https://x.com/David_Charts/status/1762705474028188139?s=20

🐣 RT @BradMossEsq The Uncommitted-stans are declaring victory despite clearly underperforming and doing nothing but pissing off the actual party base in Michigan so much they turned out in huge numbers in an unopposed primary for an incumbent. ¤ This protest vote only has power in cable newsrooms.

🐣 RT @Acyn [Simon] Rosenberg: Trump is underperforming now in 4 states, he’s spending more money than he’s taking in, his party is broke, they’re replacing leadership, dozens of party leaders indicted, House Republicans are abandoning ship, he’s getting crushed in court.. I would much rather be us
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1762701353087119374?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @jurgen_nauditt Famous Irish cellist Patrick Dexter played the song “Plyve Kacha” to remind people and YOU of the war in Ukraine ¤ The composition has become a symbol of the Ukrainian struggle for freedom and a requiem for the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred. ¤ Glory to Ukraine! Heroiam slava!

🐣 RT @therecount NSC’s John Kirby says the U.S. is “exploring the option” of using some $300 billion in frozen Russian assets “to help Ukraine as they defend themselves and as they try to recover from two years of war.”

🐣 RT @Morning_Joe .@SenatorBennet: “The fact that [Putin] killed Navalny while the leaders of the world were in Munich talking about what we had to do with Ukraine, that’s not an accident; that’s a complete eff you to the U.S. and the West because he thinks he’s winning.” https://on.msnbc.com/3TpbRtD

🐣 RT @HerrDr8 #PutinAmericanCollaborators ¤ Putin American Collaborators always self identify in their own words and actions (ex: quoted tweet below). In 1939, was Hitler not going to lose “this war” and the German war machine “only growing”? Some certainly thought so and recommended collaborator and appeasing at that time also.
◕ 🖼 💽 https://x.com/HerrDr8/status/1762654326491636212?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @TheRickWilson This little bizarro-world homunculus is almost solely responsible for killing the strongest border security and immigration legislation in 45 years. I’m astounded anyone would give him even the slightest credit for goodwill.
⋙ 🐣 RT @atrupar Speaker Mike Johnson says “the border” is America’s top need, even though he scuttled bipartisan border security legislation just weeks ago
💽 https://x.com/TheRickWilson/status/1762609809545732380?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @Maks_NAFO_FELLA 🤔 Babel: The Russian government will ban the export of gasoline from March 1 for six months. ¤ 👀 The restrictions were introduced after a series of attacks by GUR and SBU on Russian oil refineries – the consequences cannot be quickly corrected due to Western sanctions.

🐣 RT @RBReich For years we’ve heard from the right about “welfare queens” and other so-called “freeloaders” pulling one over on the government. ¤ But actually, it’s the wealthy who are the real freeloaders — pulling one over on us all by skirting their taxes. ¤ Where is the outrage over that?
// CNBC (2/22/2024): “Tax evasion by millionaires and billionaires tops $150 billion a year,
says IRS chief”

🐣 RT @Acyn Schumer: We said to the speaker, get it done. I told him, this is one of the moments.. history is looking over your shoulder and if you don’t do the right thing, whatever the immediate politics are, you will regret it.
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1762538650040926698?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa I had a meaningful and candid conversation with His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

We discussed the Peace Formula’s points and the progress that can be made in implementing them. Saudi Arabia’s leadership can assist in finding equitable solutions. We value His Royal Highness’ commitment to restoring genuine peace and are grateful for his advice and support.

I also spoke about our efforts and dialogue with partners in preparation for the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland. We discussed the summit’s substance and the steps that can be taken to restore true security to Ukraine, Europe, and the global community of nations.

We also looked at specific opportunities for economic and technological cooperation between Ukraine and Saudi Arabia.

Our teams will work in the areas we discussed today. 🇺🇦🇸🇦

🐣 RT @SenSchumer The Senate has overwhelmingly passed a strong, bipartisan national security bill that will help Ukraine fight Putin. ¤ If Speaker Johnson held a House vote, it would pass with bipartisan support. ¤ Speaker Johnson: Failure to pass this bill is the best thing Putin could hope for.

🐣 RT @Tendar Extraordinary! ¤ Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, delivered a speech in which he totally torched Russia.
💽 https://x.com/Tendar/status/1762580747171348549?s=20/photo/1
Source of video: https://youtu.be/F5oIatX-3QI?si=bokK2G6_iqStWPn5

He not only announced that Israel is going to provide an early warning systems against missiles for Ukraine but also called Ukraine an “ally”. He also equates Russia with Hamas and attacks Russia for hosting another visit of Hamas in Moscow.

You can be sure that this speech comes in coordination with the Israeli Prime Minister. It clearly marks the end of the relationship between Putin and Netanyahu. This whole instance reminds when Amir Weitmann delivered his viral statement in RussiaToday where he announced that “Russia is going to pay the price” (check out the repost). I think we are witnessing what this means.

Israel’s pro-Ukraine position will also have ramifications in the US and the ongoing discussion for military aid.

🐣 RT @krassenstein WOW! I urge all Trump supporters to at least read this.
¤ https://x.com/krassenstein/status/1762580161025761468?s=20

Trump claimed that Biden did the same thing he did with the classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Jack Smith’s team just replied with the following to the court:

“There has never been a case in American history in which a former official has engaged in conduct remotely similar to Trump’s.

– He intentionally took possession of a vast trove of some of the nation’s most sensitive documents—documents so sensitive that they were presented to the President—and stored them in unsecured locations at his heavily trafficked social club.

– When the National Archives and Records Administration (“NARA”) initially sought their return (before learning that they contained classified national defense information), Trump delayed, obfuscated, and dissembled.

– Faced with the possibility of legal action, he ostensibly agreed to comply with NARA’s requests but in fact engaged in additional deception, returning only a fraction of the documents in his possession while claiming that his production was complete.

– Then, when presented with a grand jury subpoena demanding the return of the remaining documents bearing classification markings, Trump attempted to enlist his own attorney in the corrupt endeavor, suggesting that he falsely tell the FBI and grand jury that Trump did not have any documents, and suggesting that his attorney hide or destroy documents rather than produce them to the government.

– Failing in his effort to corrupt the attorney, Trump enlisted his trusted body man, codefendant Waltine Nauta, in a scheme to deceive the attorney by moving boxes to conceal his (Trump’s) continued possession of classified documents.

– As a result, Trump, through his attorney, again returned only a portion of the classified documents in his possession while falsely claiming that his production was complete. The obstructive conduct even persisted from there.

– In June 2022, knowing that he had arranged for Nauta to move boxes to conceal them from Trump’s attorney, and knowing that the government had subpoenaed the security video footage that would reveal that surreptitious box movement, Trump, now joined by not only Nauta but also codefendant Carlos De Oliveira, attempted to have the information-technology manager at Mar-aLago delete the video footage that would show the movement of boxes.” …

🐣 RT @sahilkapur McConnell makes the case for the Ukraine-Israel-Taiwan bill, saying that “we have a time problem” with Russia making advances, and that the “best way” to get this done would be “for the House to take up the Senate bill.”

🐣 RT @sahilkapur Schumer on what he told Johnson regarding Ukraine aid: “I said if you are the one stopping this, no matter what the immediate consequence is, two year from now and for the rest of your life you will regret it.” He says it would be a turning point for America.

🐣 RT @danielsgoldman You all are fools for not understanding that the FBI’s verification of the LAPTOP itself in 2019 is irrelevant to the authentication of the HARD DRIVE peddled in 2020 by Giuliani, who spent the intervening year openly colluding with Russian spy Andrei Derkach to damage Biden.
⋙ 🐣 RT @GOPoversight RUSSIA!!!! 🤣🤣🤣 ¤ The FBI verified Hunter Biden’s laptop in 2019 by matching his device number against his iCloud ID. ¤ Everyone on that letter is a fool.
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @mitchellreports NBCNews: Ex U.S. spies warned the Hunter Biden scandal had Russian fingerprints. They feel vindicated now. http://tinyurl.com/8ehs7bxt via @nbcnews
// The Justice Department said this week that informant Alexander Smirnov invented a story about $5 million bribes paid to Joe and Hunter Biden and is also “peddling new lies.”

🐣 RT @SenSchumer The meeting on Ukraine was one of the most intense I have ever encountered in the Oval Office. ¤ We made clear to Speaker Johnson just how vital passing the Senate’s bipartisan national security bill was to the United States. ¤ Speaker Johnson: Put the bill on the House floor.
💽 https://x.com/SenSchumer/status/1762580703416344793?s=20/photo/1

WaPo: Biden, congressional leaders sound optimistic on funding government http://tinyurl.com/486x33ra
// An Oval Office meeting also focused on funding for Ukraine, where officials say U.S. help is needed urgently

🐣 RT @tooronlists Trump added $8 Trillion to natl debt. His billionaire tax cuts add $2 Trillion/yr to natl debt. GW’s war on terror added $8 T to natl debt. GWs banking meltdown added $6 T to natl debt. 75% of our natl debt is due to GOP. It’s never reported!

🐣 RT @AndrewDesiderio McConnell arguing for the national security supplemental ahead of WH meeting with Biden and the rest of the Big Four ¤ McConnell slams those who would “hesitate” on this ¤ Schumer, who just got back from Ukraine, said earlier he’s going to make the case directly to Speaker Johnson

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow “When you see Trump with Putin, as I have on a few occassions, he’s like the 12-year old boy that goes to high school and meets the captain of the football team. ‘My hero!’ It’s really creepy.” – @TurnbullMalcolm, 29th Prime Minister of Australia.
💽 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1762452363510514141?s=20/photo/1

⭕ 26 Feb 2024

🐣 RT @Sky_Lee_1 When you are being told that helping an Ukraine is taking away from Americans that need help it’s completely fabricated. ¤ Aid is not about money it’s about assistance for our national security and doesn’t take away from Americans but keeps us safe. ¤ #UkraineAidProtectsUS 🇺🇦🇺🇸
◕ https://x.com/Sky_Lee_1/status/1762270380939514111?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @WeHearPodcast Chuck Schumer: “In 1941, the Nazis came in, they told my grandmother, who was well known in the town of Chortkiv, to gather her family on the porch.
¤ https://x.com/WeHearPodcast/status/1761972990831423767?s=20

Thirty-five members gathered from ages in the 80s to 3 months old. The Nazis said, ‘You’re coming with us.’ She said, ‘We’re not moving,’ and they machine-gunned every one of them dead. That’s what happens when you try to suck up to dictators. You can’t. Johnson has to learn that lesson.”

MAGA Mike should do his job and bring a vote to Congress. Instead, he takes a 2 week break, refuses to swear in newly elected Democrat Suozzi in fear of the small thread of his majority.

This isn’t Russia, Weaker Speaker Johnson, no matter how much you pray for it to be. Are you an American or not? Do your damn job, and if you default on our Country economically, you and the Freedom caucus will be beaten in the election like a dirty rug. Not to mention the women coming for your Republican Congress. ¤ It’s always time to do the right thing. So far, you haven’t.

🐣 RT @cnnbrk Sweden will join NATO after Hungary approves its bid, clearing the way for another expansion of the US-led alliance in a blow to Vladimir Putin https://cnn.it/42VXiko

🐣 RT @BlackKnight10k There are currently six MAJOR MAJOR election shaping stories playing out right now
● A Russian asset who is the GOP star witness in impeachment is in pretrial detention
● Ken Cheesebro detailed in writing that the fake electors were part of a coup
● Trump can’t pay his NY fraud trial or defamation trial judgments and will likely have his property seized
● Trump’s PAC could be hit with criminal charges in Wisconsin, which could kill his 2024 fundraising
● The GOP is broke going into an election year, and Laura Trump will steal the rest of their pennies
● Trump’s criminal trial in NY begins in less than a month
I don’t understand how there’s not wall to wall “Hillary’s emails” level news coverage.

🐣 RT @BidenHQ Fox contributor: President Biden put on the table border solutions, Republicans agreed with him and then walked away for political reasons. He should remind people that Republicans walked away to help Donald Trump
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1762221542673354925?s=20/photo/1

🔄 JustSecurity: American Autocracy Threat Tracker http://tinyurl.com/58v5u3kt
// A Comprehensive Catalog Based on Donald Trump and His Associates’ Plans, Promises, and Propositions

🐣 RT @RepBrianFitz We have filed with the clerk to force this issue to the floor. Let the House of Representatives work its will.
⋙ 🐣 RT @FaceTheNation The new bipartisan border security and foreign aid bill unveiled in the House is “adding a pressure point” on the House to get a deal passed, @RepBrianFitz
says. ¤ “The Senate would likely take up something that passes the House with a bipartisan vote,” Democrat @RepGolden adds.
💽 https://x.com/RepBrianFitz/status/1762236848393376036?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RepBrianFitz We have filed with the clerk to force this issue to the floor. Let the House of Representatives work its will.
⋙ 🐣 RT @FaceTheNation The new bipartisan border security and foreign aid bill unveiled in the House is “adding a pressure point” on the House to get a deal passed, @RepBrianFitz
says. ¤ “The Senate would likely take up something that passes the House with a bipartisan vote,” Democrat @RepGolden adds.

🐣 RT @AtlanticCouncil “American investment in Ukraine’s capacity to defend itself is a literal proof that by helping others, you help yourself,” says Minister of Foreign Affairs of 🇵🇱 Poland @sikorskiradek at the Atlantic Council.
“Helping Ukraine is not only a good deed. It’s also a good deal.”
💽 https://x.com/AtlanticCouncil/status/1762183644603465927?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @yasminalombaert Congressman, Jason Crow, explains how US support for Ukraine works:
Over half of the money goes directly into the US economy, supporting US businesses & workers. ¤ The new equipment updates US military stocks & the old equipment goes to Ukraine. ¤ A win-win-win!
💽 https://x.com/yasminalombaert/status/1762275921719890385?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @cwebbonline Wow! Trump won’t say if he wants Russia or Ukraine to win the war.
Zelenskyy’‘s reaction — “If Donald Trump doesn’t know who he will support, Ukraine or Russia, I think….he will have challenges with his society. Because to support Russia, it means to be against Americans.”
💽 https://x.com/cwebbonline/status/1762303814961643625?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @Acyn Zelensky: Trump can’t solve it with Putin and with Russia because we’ll never be ready to give our territory just for the stopping of the war.. I think he doesn’t really understand that Putin will not stop even in this case. He never fought with Putin
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1762302824568779046?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @Acyn Zelensky: So when I spoke with Speaker Johnson, he said that he will do everything to support Ukraine and he is on our side… And he said his prayers are with us. And he said that he will do it.
💽 https://x.com/Acyn/status/1762299307871334860?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @SlavaNAFO69 Goodbye Baltic Sea, Hello Lake NATO! Welcome to the club my dear Swedish 🇸🇪 Fellas!
🖼 https://x.com/SlavaNAFO69/status/1762154910437572650?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @DeadlineWH “To quote Yogi Berra, it is like deja vu all over again. Here we are again talking about as Trump says “Russia Russia Russia”, but it is for a reason, the party and Trump are absolutely linked to Russia and Putin, that’s what they stand for” @FrankFigliuzzi1 w/ @NicolleDWallace
💽 https://x.com/DeadlineWH/status/1762241484261081586?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @BidensWins BREAKING: Even Fox News Commentators are calling out Trump for ruining a strong border security deal. Retweet to ensure every American knows who is to blame for our border issues.
💽 https://x.com/BidensWins/status/1762235697438593173?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @DeadlineWH An Authoritarianism is a system where a government is arranged so that the leader has total control and commit crimes and not pay any consequences and that is what (Trump) is saying he wants for the United States” @ruthbenghiat w/ @NicolleDWallace
💽 https://x.com/DeadlineWH/status/1762243357181391119?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @WhiteHouse Over 46,000 projects are underway across the country rebuilding roads and bridges, modernizing ports and airports, and expanding access to high-speed Internet and clean water. ¤ All because of President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

⭕ 25 Feb 2024

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow Trump: “Using federal law, I will order my government to deny entry to all Communists and all Marxists..So we’re going to keep foreign Christian hating Communists, Marxists and Socialists out of America.” @Acyn
💽 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1761882485141512372?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @FaceTheNation Russian President Putin is emboldened right now and believes he’s winning the war in Ukraine because the U.S. has “blinked, because we don’t seem to have the courage, either politically or morally right now, to stand up and support Ukraine,” Russia expert Fiona Hill says.
💽 https://x.com/FaceTheNation/status/1761798477158248500?s=20/photo/1

🔄 🐣 RT @JoohnChoe So, @gop4Ukraine is spending about $1 million to run this ad in key districts including: @DonBaconNE02, @RepDanCrenshaw and the Three Mikes (that’s
@RepMikeRogersAL the HASC chair, @RepMikeTurner HPSCI chair, @RepMcCaul HFAC chair
Curious what #NAFO fellas’ thoughts are
// HASC House Armed Services, HPSCI House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, HFAC House Foreign Affairs Committee
⋙ 🐣 RT @GOP4Ukraine We cannot show weakness in the face of aggression. ¤ We must provide aid to Ukraine now. ¤ Ad running in the districts of these Republicans: ¤ Gallagher (WI), Buck (CO), McCaul (TX), Rogers (AL), Turner (OH), Bacon (NE), Womack (AR), Ellzey (TX), Fitzpatrick (PA), Crenshaw (TX)
💽 https://x.com/GOP4Ukraine/status/1760080641301856474?s=20/photo/1

WaPo: Deal to dodge government shutdown appears to stall amid GOP policy demands http://tinyurl.com/bdf2ennu Senate Leader Schumer, Senate Minority Leader McConnell, House Speaker Johnson and House Minority Leader Jeffries will meet w President Biden on Tuesday

🐣 RT @danielsgoldman This is now the FOURTH federally charged or convicted felon to be a @GOPoversight “star” witness:
1) Gal Luft (fugitive Chinese spy/arms trafficker)
2) Devon Archer (who actually exculpated Pres Biden)
3) Smirnov
4) Galanis (serving 14-yr sentence for two different schemes)

🐣 RT @McFaul @anneapplebaum is exactly right. Too many GOP leaders are underestimating the negative global implications for US national security of denying new aid to Ukraine now.
⋙ 🐣 RT @washingtonweek @JeffreyGoldberg: What would a Ukrainian defeat look like from an American national security perspective? ¤ @anneapplebaum: “Defeat means the elimination of the U.S. as a security guarantor for Europe. It means that the U.S. is no longer seen as a reliable ally by anybody.”
💽 https://x.com/washingtonweek/status/1761406990654275746?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @JoeBiden They showed me the clip of Donald Trump admitting he sabotaged the bipartisan deal to secure the border. ¤ He’s actively rooting against America every chance he gets.
💽 https://x.com/JoeBiden/status/1761828507930292513?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @GlasnostGone #Crimea bridge WARNING: “New surprises await the enemies, and I would not recommend the civilian population to use the so-called “Crimean” bridge” -Head of #Ukraine’s military intelligence, Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov said today. ¤ He also praised the heroic work of people in occupied Crimea. “We owe our success to the residents of the Ukrainian Crimea, who not only strengthened their resistance to the occupiers, but also find the opportunity to monitor the entire operational situation on the peninsula and transmit this information to us as soon as possible.”

🐣 RT @KyivPost ❗️Around 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed as a result of the war Russia’s war against #Ukraine, President Volodymyr #Zelenskyy said at the forum “Ukraine. Year 2024” of February 25.

🐣📋 RT @wahoowave Zelensky just publicly stated 31k UKR to 180k Russian KIA. Puts it ~5.8:1. Non KIA casualty rate seems to map fairly close to this, and general “invaders die at between 3 and 8 to 1 defenders depending on the defense” and all sorts of thoroughly sourced western intel.
// FoxNews interview

⭕ 24 Feb 2024 ~ 2 years of 🔥 in 🇺🇦

🐣 RT @Mollyploofkins Talk? Present-tense? ¤ Trump [CPAC]: I talk to Putin a lot. I got along with him well.
💽 https://x.com/Mollyploofkins/status/1761502328467669076?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @MavkaSlavka Zelensky welcomed western leaders to Kyiv on Saturday on the second anniversary of ruZZia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, declaring that Putler “must lose absolutely everything”.
🖼 https://x.com/MavkaSlavka/status/1761629333012316549?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @AOC Republicans are now trying to run from their IVF extremism, but we won’t let them hide.
Who appointed these judges specifically to upend women’s rights? They did.
Who bragged about ending Roe v. Wade? They did.
Who is trying to restrict birth control and control sex? They are.
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn AOC: And they can walk it back as much as they want. They have done this. Who put those judges there? Not Democrats. Not independents. Republicans put those judges in there.
💽 https://x.com/AOC/status/1761442214868086860?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @BryanDawsonUSA James Comer, you are derelict in your duty and woefully and embarrassingly incompetent. Resign. ¤ Since you’ve done nothing but damage to the US, we the people demand a refund of the salary we paid you since 2016 plus expenses. ¤ @RepJamesComer ¤ #ResignComer
💽 https://x.com/BryanDawsonUSA/status/1761616426387841168?s=20/photo/1
// Jen Psaki explains source for Biden impeachment probe, Smirnov, is detained for providing fake intel obtained from Russian intelligence

🔄 🔊 PravdaUA Podcast: 24.02: THE INVASION RECONSTRUCTED http://tinyurl.com/3t2de2ju
// “24.02: The Invasion Reconstructed” is a podcast in which UP recreates the events of the day when Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.

🐣 RT @AdamParkhomenko That’s a big number
⋙ 🐣 RT @Acyn Jessica: 59% of Nikki Haley’s voters say they won’t support Trump in the general election if he is the Republican nominee. That mirrors what we have been seeing in Iowa and New Hampshire
💽 https://x.com/AdamParkhomenko/status/1761555149540016416?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @krassenstein Tonight was not a good night for Trump and certainly shows a pretty divided Republican Party. ¤ Yes Trump will likely get the nomination over Nikki Haley but tonight showed that 40% of republicans in a very red state prefer someone else. ¤ The winner tonight was the Democratic Party. Now imagine if Trump is convicted of a felony or 91.
// South Carolina: Trump 60.4%, Haley 39%
🌎 ◕ https://x.com/krassenstein/status/1761607388983890372?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @DylanBurns1776 Ukranian National anthem played in Washington D.C.🇺🇦🇺🇸
💽 https://x.com/DylanBurns1776/status/1761478267700187305?s=20/photo/1
// Lincoln Memorial

🐣📋 RT @BidenHQ Fox: About a quarter of Republicans are saying they will never vote for Donald Trump
💽 https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1761580064464896080?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @highbrow_nobrow 🖼 Far from being in a celebratory mood, Graham and Mace appear ready for a funeral.
🖼 https://x.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1761566181494772049?s=20/photo/1

There is a somber tone here that evokes a sense of foreknowledge of impending doom, coupled with a sense of buyer’s remorse from entering into a Faustian bargain; it’s like they have come to the realization that deals with the Devil never work out, and a sense of buyer’s remorse has crept in.

Echoing the despair found in Dante’s Inferno, where the forsaken abandon all hope upon entry, Graham and Mace seem to acknowledge the irrevocable nature of their pact, a fact vividly reflected in their expressions.

This realization imbues the photograph with a haunting quality, as if it offers a glimpse into the underworld that awaits them. Their faces, etched with the weight of this acknowledgment, transform the image into a somber reflection of the consequences of their choices. ¤ @VaughnHillyard

⋙ 🐣 RT @andreagail_k They are both broken. #ETTD Everyone eventually loses their soul around The Don. Fascism isn’t fun after a while. At first the elite parties at a club in FL seem like success. Heady. ¤ In the end, it sucks for everyone.

⋙ 🐣 RT @PBash41 They both see the numbers. If trump is going to win, he can’t have 40% of his own party not vote for him! And out of that 40%, 2/3 said they would NEVER vote for trump! It’s just a numbers game, and trump doesn’t have the numbers!

🐣 RT @RepShontelBrown 👀 125 House Republicans, including the Speaker, have cosponsored legislation that would ban IVF nationwide.
🔄 ⋙ Jezebel: Here Are the 125 Members of Congress Who Sponsored a Bill That Would Restrict IVF http://tinyurl.com/37y3j4sj “If the ‘Life at Conception Act’ passes, it would have the same effect as the recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling. The bill would also outlaw all abortions nationwide”
[link:] https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1761645308902027604?s=20

WaPo: GOP elder (ages 48 and 51) statesmen’s message to Johnson: Stop dithering http://tinyurl.com/s6vanfr8 Former House Speaker Paul Ryan and retiring 5-term Rep. Patrick T McHenry “are urging the new House speaker to make his own decisions and not kowtow to the far-right flank”

🐣 RT @Sky_Lee_1 Robert De Niro, Viggo Mortensen, Catherine Deneuve, Imagine Dragons, Bono, Hilary Swank, Emma Thompson, Stephen Fry, over 30 celebrities and U24 ambassadors have addressed Ukrainians with words of support. ¤ Thank you to all serving🇺🇦🇺🇸 #FundUkraineAidNow [via UA24]
💽 https://x.com/Sky_Lee_1/status/1761466708605202857?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @gaughen At the Ukraine rally in Washington DC. There are three or four times as many people here this year as there were last year. People are angry about the Republicans delaying ammunition deliveries to Ukraine.
🖼 https://x.com/gaughen/status/1761473750497714220?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @UkraineCaucus Two years ago today, Putin launched his assault on a free, democratic Ukraine. ¤ In that time, our @UkraineCaucus has been clear: we will stand by Ukraine until the very end. ¤ Today, our commitment to Ukraine remains impenetrable. Ukraine will win and democracy will prevail.
🖼 https://x.com/UkraineCaucus/status/1761416012681953346?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @melindaharing Huge crowd at Lincoln memorial. We demand that Congress and
@SpeakerJohnson bring the Ukraine bill to the floor before it’s too late. A majority of Americans support Ukraine.
🖼 https://x.com/melindaharing/status/1761470059967402331?s=20/photo/1

⭕ 23 Feb 2024

🐣 RT @NatalkaKyiv “There’s no purgatory for war criminals. They go straight to hell.” ¤ – Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN during the Security Council meeting on February 23, 2022 that took place at the same time as Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
#Ukraina #Ukraine #Russia #RussiaIsATerroristState #RussiaUkraineWar #Putin #Lavrov #Zakharova #Peskov
💽 https://x.com/NatalkaKyiv/status/1761528844060643696?s=20/photo/1

DCCC: NEW: “125 House Republicans — including Speaker Mike Johnson — back a ‘life at conception’ bill without any IVF exception” http://tinyurl.com/5hd3fb9w “In the wake of the Alabama ruling, some Republicans have scrambled to declare their support for IVF treatments”

WaPo: White House reverses West Bank policy, calling Israeli settlements illegal http://tinyurl.com/5bbyb2pn “The decision was in response to reports that the far-right government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was planning further settlement expansion”

🐣 RT @harryjsisson WTF??? Eric Swalwell just announced on MSNBC that Republicans are REFUSING to seat Tom Souzzi because their majority in the House is so small. Republicans are playing politics and denying representation to citizens in New York’s 3rd congressional district!
⋙ 🐣 RT @doxiedebbie They can’t do that, according to this Never.

In 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Speaker of the House could not exclude a duly-elected candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. In Powell v. McCormack, 395 U.S. 486 (1969), the Supreme Court ruled that the House’s Constitutional authority to judge the qualifications of its own members was post facto and could only be exercised via expulsion after a 2/3rd affirmative vote. In other words, the House and Senate have no discretion when deciding whether to seat a candidate who has been duly elected under state law, but may take steps to expel that member after they have been sworn-in. The Court decided that the constitutional rights of the voters and the states takes precedence over the rights of Congress until the candidate is sworn-in as a member. Although this case involved the House of Representatives, there is no indication the Court would view a candidate duly elected to the Senate any differently

🐣 RT @HouseJudiciary [Dems] House Republicans get called out on Fox News for their handling of the Biden impeachment investigation
💽 https://x.com/HouseJudiciary/status/1761225988908720186?s=20/photo/1

😅 RT @ZaleskiLuke BREAKING: 🚨🚨🚨 Trump had another low turnout weak energy low IQ small crowd event this weekend.
¤ https://x.com/ZaleskiLuke/status/1761261441884012861?s=20

It’s sad. He’s really lost something. People are saying. You see it. SAME old material. ACTING like he’s president and like he never was president but also was the greatest one ever even though he didn’t BUILD THE WALL or LOCK HER UP. And HE LOST BIGLY. And was DISGRACED BY JOE. Had to leave the White House LIKE A DOG. It’s a SHAME his people won’t tell him his lies don’t work anymore and he’s treating everyone VERY UNFAIRLY and being very NASTY and RUDE to His Party and the ENTIRE COUNTRY and it’s a DISGRACE and he should DROP OUT in two weeks. Very short period of time. Because he’s WEAK and disgraceful. No one has ever seen such a thing like this con man trying to keep himself out of jail and lying to old people to steal their money. He should be ashamed. Drop out!

🐣 RT @FrankFigliuzzi1 My latest column on why we need answers about who knew what when, and why the GOP ignored warnings about a non-credible source: When did Republicans know the truth about Alexander Smirnov? @MSNBC @MSNBCDaily
⋙ MSNBC, Frank Fugliuzzi: Republicans need to explain when they learned the truth about Alexander Smirnov http://tinyurl.com/yauu5meb
// Were GOP lawmakers played the fool by Russia, or were they in on their “informant’s” claims?

WaPo: Two years of war in Ukraine, seen through its leader’s biggest moments http://tinyurl.com/5y847a56
// Zelensky’s leadership

🐣 RT @4TaxFairness EVERY YEAR millionaires and billionaires evade $150 billion in taxes. ¤ That’s $1.5 trillion every decade–-enough to expand the Child Tax Credit for 10 years, lifting millions of kids permanently out of poverty. ¤ We can do great things when we crack down on wealthy tax cheats
[TextLink:] https://x.com/4TaxFairness/status/1761169817967415637?s=20/photo/1

WaPo: In Ukraine, art comes to the defense http://tinyurl.com/346jfd94
Anna Husarska is a journalist and policy analyst. Mikhail Reva is a painter and a sculptor
🖼 https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1761185219833442672?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @ruinwanderer General Secretary of NATO Stoltenberg said that Ukraine has the right to strike Russia. This is a breakthrough in discourse we’ve been pressing for since February 24, 2022. Congratulations to all who made it possible. More politicians must endorse Ukraine destroying artillery launchers, military bases, airdromes, and oil depositories on Russian territory. Striking Russian military targets is fair. Ukraine cannot be made to fight with her hands tied behind her back. Making Ukraine fight for two years under the unfulfillable and unjust condition of not striking Russia was a moral depravity of the highest order. Those responsible for this depravity must be held to account.

TheAtlantic: Ukraine’s Shock Will Last for Generations http://tinyurl.com/n232z7ee Photographs of how two years of war transformed a society
By Jędrzej Nowicki, Introduction by Anne Applebaum

🐣 RT @amanpour “This is a critical year” for Ukraine, Fiona Hill tells me, similar to early World War II, when US support of Britain was vital. “We mustn’t… blink,” she says.

🐣 RT @SenSchumer President Zelenskyy told me and our delegation that Ukraine will lose the war with dire consequences for the Ukrainian people, the US, and democracy & freedom without this vital aid ¤ Speaker Johnson and the House must stand up now and pass the Senate’s national security bill ASAP
💽 https://x.com/SenSchumer/status/1761092379275092335?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @SenSchumer President Zelenskyy told me and our delegation that Ukraine will lose the war with dire consequences for the Ukrainian people, the US, and democracy & freedom without this vital aid ¤ Speaker Johnson and the House must stand up now and pass the Senate’s national security bill ASAP
💽 https://x.com/SenSchumer/status/1761092379275092335?s=20/photo/1

🧵 RT @JoohnChoe it’s wild that Republicans in ’24
– openly collude with an adversary state to attack the President
– use racist/bigoted rhetoric in their speeches
– have speakers at conferences announce they are ending democracy
and people look at that and say “oh hey that’s for me!” ¤ 1/5
📌 https://x.com/JoohnChoe/status/1761086460156096932?s=20

🐣 RT @JoyceWhiteVance Last night we learned DOJ re-arrested Smirnov after his release. Now we know why. A California judge seems to be suggesting his lawyers are complicit in his efforts to flee, in a remarkable line ordering detention for the FBI source whose lies propelled Biden impeachment efforts.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/JoyceWhiteVance/status/1761092262186963257?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @RepDanGoldman Excellent letter from @repjerrynadler explaining how Bill Barr’s handpicked U.S. Attorney misled Congress about the Smirnov FD-1023, including by falsely stating that some of it was confirmed by (non-existent) flight records. @DOJOIG must investigate Scott Brady immediately.
⋙ 🐣 RT @RepJerryNadler Republicans have based their failed impeachment on discredited information provided by a now indicted individual who has ties to Russian intelligence. Former U.S. Attorney Scott Brady was supposed to have vetted that information but apparently did not.
⋙⋙ 🐣 RT @RepJerryNadler Today, I’m urging AG Garland and DOJ IG Michael Horowitz to investigate former U.S. Attorney Scott Brady for providing false or misleading testimony to @HouseJudiciary during a transcribed interview in October.
[CourtDoc:] http://tinyurl.com/cvnsb9wm

🐣 RT @mhmck Weapons sent by the United States to the criminal totalitarian regime of the Soviet Union after the Nazi-Russian alliance collapsed:
– 7,000 tanks
– 11,400 aircraft
Weapons sent by the U.S. to Ukraine since it was invaded by fascist Russia:
– 31 tanks
–. 0 aircraft

🐣 RT @mhmck Weapons sent by the United States to the criminal totalitarian regime of the Soviet Union after the Nazi-Russian alliance collapsed:
7,000 tanks
11,400 aircraft
Weapons sent by the U.S. to Ukraine since it was invaded by fascist Russia:
31 tanks
0 aircraft

🐣 RT @tribelaw If Judge Cannon is foolish enough to grant this groundless motion, she will be all but asking the 11th Circuit to reverse her swiftly and remand the whole case to a different judge.
⋙ 🐣 RT @BradMossEsq This motion is insultingly stupid. ¤ Trump is arguing he designated all these highly classified records as PERSONAL records, and that he therefore had the right to keep them. Even if that was a plausible argument, this is a motion to dismiss: he can’t introduce news facts.
[CourtDoc:] http://tinyurl.com/ycy3rsnj 22p

🐣 RT @RpsAgainstTrump President Biden: “Russia has taken Ukraine’s territory for the first time in many months. But here in America, the Speaker gave the House a 3 weeks vacation. They have to come back!…Failure to support Ukraine in this critical moment will never be forgotten in history.”
💽 https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1761073024948654183?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @ZaleskiLuke Explain trump’s platform as anything other than a revenge fantasy against the Americans who rightly rejected him—I dare you. All he talks about is dismantling the government and arresting democrats and getting retribution (his word) for the fact that he lost and can’t accept it.
[TextLink:] https://x.com/ZaleskiLuke/status/1761021175889564061?s=20/photo/1

[Text:] 🐣 RT @realDonald Trump CRAZY JACK SMITH AND HIS BAND OF THUGS AT THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ARE COMING FOR YOUR FAVORITE PRESIDENT TRYING TO TAKE ME DOWN IN THE GREATEST WHICH HUNT OF ALL TIME. SO UNFAIR! NIXON SAID WHEN A PRESIDENT DOES IT’S NOT ILLEGAL, AND TRUMP IS A MUCH BETTER PRESIDENT THAN NIXON EVER WAS. TOTAL LOSER, HE COULDN’T TAKE DOWN ROE, HE LET THAT HAPPEN AND VIETNAM TOO. VERY SAD. I HAD A PERFECT CALL AND FORGOT TO GIVE BACK SOME PAPERWORK TO THE NATIONAL ARCHIEVES AND SUDDNELY FOR TRUMP IT’S SUCH A BIG DEAL. I ALREADY KNOW IN MY MIND I WILL BE PRESIDENT AGAIN IN 2024 SO IT WON’T MATTER. AND JUST WAIT. THEY WILL ALL PAY!

Pew (2016): Where major religious groups stand on abortion http://tinyurl.com/bdeyryje ‘Even when a religious institution has a clearly stated policy, church members may not always agree. For instance, 48% of US Catholics say abortion should be legal in all or most cases’
◕ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1760937228291711429?s=20/photo/1
// 6/12/2016

⭕ 22 Feb 2024

💙 Substack, Timothy Snyder: Beware the Weak Man https://tinyurl.com/8ahtwzbx
// Thoughts from the Munich Security Conference

WaPo: What the Pentagon has learned from two years of war in Ukraine http://tinyurl.com/2h49c2v8 “In Ukraine leaders have put powerful surveillance and attack capabilities in the hands of individual soldiers – a degree of autonomy…the US military is only recently trying to emulate.“
// With hundreds of thousands dead or wounded and still no end in sight, the conflict has revealed that U.S. battlefield calculations must evolve

WaPo Editorial: The Biden impeachment inquiry has utterly collapsed http://tinyurl.com/mu7pre5n

🧵 RT @atrupar Trump, just starting a late speech to the National Religious Broadcasters, sounds quite slurry
📌 💽 https://x.com/atrupar/status/1760873184176357558?s=20/photo/1

WaPo: US spacecraft successfully lands on moon for first time in 51 years http://tinyurl.com/ype7877e ‘For the first time since the Apollo missions, an American spacecraft reached the surface of the moon Thursday, a significant step toward NASA’s plan to eventually return astronauts’
// After a tense several minutes in which ground controllers were unsure about the health of the Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus spacecraft, company officials declared it had landed successfully and was communicating with Earth.

WSJ Editorial: Trump Didn’t Rebuild the Military http://tinyurl.com/y4vzy97k “[I]f Mr. Trump had accomplished the military rebuild he claims, would the U.S. be straining to produce enough missiles and ammunition for both Ukraine and Israel?”
// His first-term defense record isn’t nearly as good as his current claims.

🐣 RT @wartranslated Whatever you think of Zelenskyy, you can’t deny the ability to continue attracting international support, even two years since the start of the illegal full-scale invasion.
⋙ 🐣 RT @ZelenskyyUa Two years. We are all here 🇺🇦
🖼 https://x.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1760766644995887429?s=20/photo/1

Together with representatives of Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Egypt, Estonia, the EU, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, the Holy See, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, the Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Thailand, Türkiye, the UAE, the United Kingdom, the USA, Viet Nam, as well as international organisations, the WHO, WFP, EUMAM, the UN system, IBRD, EIB, ILO, ICRC, IOM, NATO, OSCE, CoE, UNDP, UNFPA, FAO, UNHCR, UNOCHA, UNICEF, and others.

🐣 RT @Angry_Staffer CPAC has been a joke for years, but WOW. ¤ Nobody showed up.
⋙ 🐣 RT @SwissWatchGuy This is CPAC. ¤ It’s done. Another institution destroyed by catering to MAGA. ¤ If they even have an event next year, it will be at a Holiday Inn or something, not a major conviction center hotel.
🖼 https://x.com/SwissWatchGuy/status/1760765618163421422?s=20/photo/1

🐣 RT @pravda_eng 🔥 @NATO confirms that Secretary General @jensstoltenberg recognises Ukraine’s right to strike targets in Russia. [link:] http://tinyurl.com/n5wac9cx

🐣 RT @meduza_en During a fundraising event, U.S. President Joe Biden reportedly referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as “a crazy SOB.” In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the U.S. president was acting like a “Hollywood cowboy.”
⋙ 🐣 We LIKE Cowboys!
¤ https://x.com/Auriandra/status/1760622289068933272?s=20/photo/1
♫ Do not forsake me, oh my darlin’
You made that promise when we wed
Do not forsake me, oh my darlin’
Although you’re grievin’, I won’t be leavin’ until I shoot Vlad Putin dead