;)
February 26, 2022
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Caroline Vakil of the Hill: "President Biden late Friday ordered the release of up to $350 million for military aid for Ukraine. Biden ordered for the money to be allocated from the Foreign Assistance Act 'in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, and to make the determinations required under such section to direct such a drawdown.' Secretary of State Antony Blinken said ... on Saturday that it represented the country's third drawdown of money to Ukraine in the last year, totaling more than $1 billion."
Barack Obama, Al Sharpton & Henry Louis Gates talk about the killing of Trayvon Martin ten years ago. New York Times video, with a column by Charles Blow. ~~~
~~~ Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "A decade has passed since [George] Zimmerman fatally shot [Trayvon] Martin and claimed self-defense in a case that was among the first to set the stage for the nation's racial reckoning -- and that helped give birth to the Black Lives Matter movement. Yet, since the former neighborhood watch volunteer was acquitted of second-degree murder and manslaughter, Zimmerman, once described by GQ as 'the most hated free man in America,' has stretched his 15 minutes of infamy into 10 years of reprehensible headlines: arrests for domestic violence allegations, retweeting a photo of the 17-year-old Martin's dead body, reportedly selling the gun that killed the teen for $250,000."
The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Ukraine's defense forces, outmanned and outgunned, waged a ferocious resistance to the Russian invasion on Saturday, battling to keep control of the capital, Kyiv, and other cities. There was intense street fighting, and bursts of gunfire and explosions could be heard across Kyiv. Here are the latest developments[.]
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Saturday are here.
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Putin's War on Ukraine
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Gunfire and explosions rocked Kyiv overnight Saturday, as Russian forces advanced further toward the capital and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that the fate of the nation was 'being decided right now.' Municipal authorities said fighting was taking place in the streets and told residents to find shelter. At least four dozen explosions were heard early Saturday morning local time, followed shortly after by loud bursts of gunfire. Some clashes appeared to take place near the seat of government and videos verified by The Washington Post depicted fires and billowing smoke, as well as the sound of live rounds, on a major road some seven miles west of the legislature. Later, the Ukrainian military said they had destroyed combat vehicles in the area's vicinity." ~~~
~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Saturday are here.
The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride. -- President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, turning down U.S. offer to help him leave Kyiv ~~~
~~~ Shane Harris, et al., of the Washington Post: "The U.S. government is prepared to help Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky leave Kyiv to avoid being captured or killed by advancing Russian forces, according to U.S. and Ukrainian officials. But so far, the president has refused to go. As the Russian military ratcheted up its attacks on Friday, a defiant Zelensky pledged to remain in charge of his government despite grave personal risk. 'According to the information we have, the enemy has marked me as target No. 1, my family as target No. 2,' he told Ukrainians in an early-morning address. 'They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state.' For weeks, Zelensky has heard those warnings from U.S. officials."
Dasha Litvinova of the AP: "Protesters took to the streets in Moscow, St. Petersburg and across Russia on Friday to decry the invasion of Ukraine, even as authorities sought to suppress the spreading antiwar sentiment and project an image of strength and righteousness.... The rallies on Friday night appeared smaller than on Thursday, when thousands took to the streets across Russia."
The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Russian officials signaled an openness to talks, but President Vladimir V. Putin derided the Ukrainian government and it was unclear under what conditions the Kremlin would consider negotiations. Mr. Putin was becoming increasingly isolated by the international community.... Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, continued to be bombed late Friday, as Russia's invasion passed into its second night." (Also linked yesterday.)
Emily Rauhala & Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "European Union foreign ministers agreed Friday to freeze the assets of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, the first time the two men have been targeted personally by such measures. The decision, part of a larger round of sanctions approved to punish Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, likely won't be the last step taken against the Kremlin during the conflict, policymakers said.... E.U. foreign policy officials said that it would take some technical work to target the sanctions properly. Neither man will be barred from traveling to the European Union, a step that in some ways would have been more concrete but could also have complicated any diplomatic settlement to the escalating violence that Russia is inflicting on its neighbor." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Update. Brett Samuels of the Hill: "The Biden administration will sanction Russian President Vladimir Putin and other top officials in Moscow in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed Friday. The move follows an announcement from the European Union earlier in the day that it would sanction Putin and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov directly for the country's attack on neighboring Ukraine." The story is developing at 3:45 pm ET. (Also linked yesterday.)
Peter Alexander of NBC News: "Kazakhstan, one of Russia's closest allies and a southern neighbor, is denying a request for its troops to join the offensive in Ukraine, officials said Friday. Additionally, the former Soviet republic said it is not recognizing the Russia-created breakaway republics upheld by Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, as a pretext for its aggression in Ukraine.... The surprising development from a traditional ally of Russia has the support of the United States." (This is part of a liveblog & may or may not show up near the top of the linked page.) MB: Apparently Kazakh leaders have enough imagination to picture Russian tanks rolling across its border with Russia.
Prince of Peace. Nicole Winfield of the AP: "Pope Francis went to the Russian Embassy on Friday to personally 'express his concern about the war' in Ukraine, in an extraordinary, hands-on papal gesture that has no recent precedent. Francis later assured a top Ukrainian Greek Catholic leader he would do 'everything I can' to help. Usually, popes receive ambassadors and heads of state in the Vatican, and diplomatic protocol would have called for the Vatican foreign minister to summon the Russian ambassador. Francis is the Vatican head of state, and for him to leave the walled city state and travel a short distance to the Russian Embassy to the Holy See was a sign of his anger at Moscow's invasion and his willingness to appeal personally for an end to it. Vatican officials said they knew of no such previous papal initiative." (Also linked yesterday.)
Snake Island Massacre. Dan Lamothe & Paul Sonne of the Washington Post: "As the Russian military pounded targets across Ukraine with an array of bombs and missiles, a small team of Ukrainian border guards on a rocky, desolate island received an ominous message: Give up or be attacked. 'I am a Russian warship,' a voice from the invaders said, according to a recording of the communications. 'I ask you to lay down your arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed and unnecessary deaths. Otherwise, you will be bombed.'... 'Russian warship,' came the [Ukrainians'] reply, 'go f--- yourself.' The Russians opened fire, eventually killing the 13 border guards.... Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said hours later that the island's defenders will be bestowed with the title 'Hero of Ukraine,' the highest honorific the Ukrainian leader can award." (Also linked yesterday.)
New York Times Business Updates Friday: "Investors pushed past Russia's invasion of Ukraine to focus on a sliver of good news on Friday: that President Vladimir V. Putin might engage in talks with his Ukrainian counterpart. That hope drove stocks up, and the S&P 500 closed a rollercoaster week with a gain. The S&P 500 rose 2.2 percent, its best day in nearly a month, bringing it to a gain of 0.8 percent for the week after two consecutive weeks of losses. New data released on Friday showing that a key gauge of inflation had hit a new 40-year high in January also didn't deter investors. Friday's gains echoed trading in Europe and Asia after the Kremlin said that Mr. Putin was willing to hold talks with Ukraine -- although the Russian president later suggested he was not seriously planning to engage in them. The Nikkei in Japan closed nearly 2 percent higher, and the Stoxx Europe 600 rose more than 3 percent."
~~~ Get Back! Javier C. Hernández of the New York Times: "A day after he was dropped from concerts at Carnegie Hall, the star Russian maestro Valery Gergiev on Friday faced rising anger over his record of support for President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, with several leading European institutions -- including the Munich Philharmonic, of which Mr. Gergiev is chief conductor -- threatening to sever ties with him unless he denounced Mr. Putin's invasion of Ukraine. The fallout, encompassing Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, was a rare rebuke of a titan of the classical music industry, and it reflected growing global outrage over Mr. Putin's ongoing military offensive in Ukraine."
Jonathan Edwards of the Washington Post: "As Russian forces closed in on Ukraine, Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Tuesday downplayed the conflict.... The host of the network's top-rated show ... called the situation between the two nations 'a border dispute.'... On Thursday night, Carlson backpedaled, recharacterizing what he had called a 'border dispute' two days earlier as a conflict that 'could become a world war.'... Carlson also shifted his tone on Putin. After Russian troops had invaded and were bombing Ukrainian cities, Carlson said of Putin: 'He is to blame for what we're seeing tonight in Ukraine.'" MB: Where was the part where TuKKKer said, "I was wrong"? (Also linked yesterday.)
Colleen Long, et al., of the AP: "President Joe Biden on Friday nominated federal appeals court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court, making her the first Black woman selected to serve on a court that once declared her race unworthy of citizenship and endorsed segregation." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times' story is here. ~~~
~~~ President Biden begins speaking at about 1:35 min. in. ~~~
~~~ Jake Tapper & Ariane de Vogue of CNN: "President Joe Biden has selected Ketanji Brown Jackson as his nominee to the Supreme Court, according to a source who has been notified about the decision, setting in motion a historic confirmation process for the first Black woman to sit on the highest court in the nation. Jackson, 51, currently sits on DC's federal appellate court and had been considered the front-runner for the vacancy since Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement. She received and accepted Biden's offer in a call Thursday night, a source familiar with the decision told CNN. Jackson clerked for Breyer and served as a federal public defender in Washington -- an experience that her backers say is fitting, given Biden's commitment to putting more public defenders on the federal bench. She was also a commissioner on the US Sentencing Commission and served on the federal district court in DC, as an appointee of President Barack Obama, before Biden elevated her to the DC Circuit last year." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Walking, Chewing Gum. Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Biden informed his advisers that he had chosen a Supreme Court nominee on Thursday, according to two people familiar with the selection process." CNN's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Roxanne Roberts of the Washington Post: "With the historic nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court comes a Washington version of Six Degrees of Separation: Jackson is related, by marriage, to former House speaker Paul Ryan.... 'Our politics may differ, but my praise for Ketanji's intellect, for her character, for her integrity, it is unequivocal,' said Ryan at Jackson's 2012 hearing for her nomination as a U.S. District Court judge." The judge is married to Patrick Jackson, who has a twin brother William Jackson. William is married to Dana Little Jackson. Dana's sister is Janna Ryan. She is married to Paul Ryan. "In other words: Ketanji Brown Jackson's brother-in-law (William) is married to Paul Ryan's sister-in-law (Dana)."
Katelyn Polantz, et al., of CNN: "The chairman of the Republican Party in Georgia on Friday told the House select committee investigating the January 6 riot that the Trump campaign had directed the party in 2020 to put forward an alternate slate of electors after ... Donald Trump lost the state's vote, according to a person familiar with the testimony.... David Shafer, chair of the GOP in Georgia, served as one of several bogus electors for Trump and had convened Republicans in the state's Capitol to put together an alternate elector certification in December 2020. He also was a plaintiff in a long-shot legal attempt for Trump to overturn the election in Georgia.... The committee on Friday also heard from another Georgia Republican involved in the alternate elector attempt: Shawn Still, who served as the secretary." ~~~
~~~ Marie: And good luck trying to trace this back to the mob boss himself, who probably was chatting on-air with TuKKKer whe campaign staff were making arrangements to fake Georgia's Trump-Pence slate of electors.
Ryan Nobles, et al., of CNN: "The House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol Hill riot tells CNN it will issue a subpoena to compel testimony from Kimberly Guilfoyle after she ended a virtual interview on Friday. Guilfoyle, who is engaged to Donald Trump Jr. and worked on his father's presidential campaign, 'has information of interest to the Select Committee and has provided documents germane to our investigation,' committee spokesman Tim Mulvey said in a statement." (Also linked yesterday.)
Crappergate, Ctd. Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: 'A House committee on Friday expanded its investigation into ... Donald J. Trump's destruction and removal of White House documents, demanding more information about classified material found at Mr. Trump's property in Florida and reports that aides had discovered documents in a White House toilet during his time in office. In a letter to the national archivist, Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York and the chairwoman of the Oversight Committee, said the panel was seeking a detailed description of the contents of 15 boxes recovered from Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump's Palm Beach compound, including their level of classification, and all records that he 'had torn up, destroyed, mutilated or attempted to tear up, destroy or mutilate.' She also said the panel wanted documents 'relating to White House employees or contractors finding paper in a toilet in the White House, including the White House residence.' The letter also sought information about the findings of any federal inquiries into the classified material and any communications with Mr. Trump about the Presidential Records Act or White House policies on record-keeping." (Also linked yesterday.)
Christopher Mathias of the Huffington Post: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) spoke at a white nationalist conference in Florida on Friday evening. Greene, a QAnon conspiracist and rabidly anti-trans Republican, was the surprise speaker at the third annual America First Political Action Conference in Orlando, organized by white nationalist figurehead Nick Fuentes."
The Pandemic, Ctd.
Lena Sun, et al., of the Washington Post: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention eased mask recommendations for the vast majority of the country Friday under a new framework to monitor the coronavirus that immediately affects about 70 percent of Americans -- a process that state and local officials had already begun amid demands for a return to normalcy. The new guidelines, which took effect Friday, reflect the administration's view that the United States has entered a different, potentially less dangerous phase of the pandemic." The article is free to nonsubscribers. ~~~
~~~ Marie: The "new guidelines" link above takes you to a CDC page where you can plug in your county to learn the level of infection in your area & the CDC's advice for precautions you should take.
Emily Anthes of the New York Times: "More than half of people who took a rapid antigen test five to nine days after first testing positive for the coronavirus or after developing Covid-19 symptoms tested positive on the antigen test, according to a new study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The finding raises more concerns about the agency's revised isolation guidelines, which say that many people with Covid can end their isolation periods after five days, without a negative coronavirus test.... The results suggest that many people with the virus may still be infectious during this period, scientists said."
Joanna Slater of the Washington Post: Conspiracy theorists & other loons are threatening hospital staff around the country for prescribing approved medications for Covid-19 patients & for not treating the patients with horse-worm meds. "... hostility toward the medical establishment has flourished during the pandemic, encouraged by misinformation campaigns, anti-vaccine activists and conspiracy theorists."
Beyond the Beltway
Texas, Where Your Vote Doesn't Count, Especially if You're an "Urban Person." Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Local election officials in Texas have rejected thousands of absentee ballots based on requirements set by the state's new election law, an alarming jump that risks potentially preventing some Texans from voting in Tuesday's primary election. The state's Republican and Democratic primaries will be the first elections held since the Republican-led Texas Legislature overhauled the state's election laws. Election officials in the most populous counties have rejected roughly 30 percent of the absentee ballots they have received -- more than 15,000 ballots -- as of Wednesday, according to a review of election data by The New York Times. The ballots were rejected largely because voters either did not include their driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number, or the numbers they put down did not match what officials had on file.... The rate of rejection represents a significant increase from past elections, including in 2020, when the statewide rejection rate was less than 1 percent for the general election, according to data from the federal Election Assistance Commission."
Virginia, Where the Schools Will Favor Bigotry & Racism. Hannah Natanson & Karina Elwood of the Washington Post: "The Virginia Department of Education has rescinded a wide range of policies, memos and programs established to further diversity, equity and inclusion in schools in obedience to an executive order from Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R). Jillian Balow, the Virginia superintendent of public instruction, announced the end of the initiatives in a letter sent to Youngkin and Education Secretary Aimee Guidera on Friday.... The programs Balow has rescinded or is working to rescind were established under Youngkin's Democratic predecessor, Ralph Northam. They include a framework called 'EdEquityVA' that aimed to eliminate racial and socioeconomic disparities in academic and disciplinary outcomes for students. They also include a website devoted to 'culturally responsive' teaching, and a memo that ex-state superintendent James Lane published in 2019 urging teachers to 'facilitate meaningful dialogue on racism and bigotry.'"
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Reader Comments (8)
Pompeo is still stupid. Last night I caught a TV clip out of the corner of my eye, NBC, which I can't find this morning. One of those walking interviews in a corridor somewhere (CPAC?) The question was about Putin, Russia, Ukraine. Pompeo's defensive response was don't tell him, "I've been fighting communists since I was a teenager!"
There must be a few old Bolshies hiding somewhere around the Black Sea, else why would Mikey fight commies around there? Maybe they're looking for farmland to grow tubers?
@Patrick: Yeah, President Mike should name Mr. Potato Head his Secretary of Defense, and they can cook up a march on Leningrad.
I found the clip:
https://twitter.com/VaughnHillyard/status/1497241554041323524
My guess on Mikey's knee-scooter (see the clip):
Gout. And his doc told him to lose 150 lb or die, so off comes the avoirdupois.
I've enjoyed the fun at Tommy and Mikey's expense. Those guys sure are cartoonishly stoopid..
But there might be somethings else going on here, if not in Pompeo's well-educated head, in Tommy's and in the heads of many more of the deplorably educated and trained.
It's the persistence of the Christian heresy of Manichaeism, of reality's fundamentally dual nature, that has carved such deep ruts in the believing brain; and with the choices of good vs. evil, us vs. them always before it, some form of the Devil is not just handy but necessary for that brain to function at all.
Of course, the image of an animated Evil (anarchists, Communists, Socialists, Democrats) lurking out there, ready to pounce, severely limits understanding, but a brain damaged by dualism lives in world of good guys and bad guys, and it needs those bad guys to stick around often long past their shelf life...to make it feel good.
On another note:
Anyone know when those Jan. 6 hearings will begin?
I'm sure the committee work is fascinating and I can understand how one could get caught up in pursuing every detail of the Jan. 6 enormity, but I'm getting the feeling that the Big Picture, the epic that the Committee must sell to the public, might get lost in a too-prolonged investigation's weeds...
No surprises here:
https://apnews.com/article/trayvon-martin-florida-homicide-gun-politics-3907568281565b8cc191fcc66aadf318
Think we'll ever come to believe that water is wet...or that guns kill?
TODAY ON EARTH 2:
"This gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis who occupied Kyiv and took the entire Ukrainian people hostage."
-- Putin on Zelensky government
"Ukraine isn't a democracy. It's a State Department client state."
-- Fox Host Tucker Carlson
"Ukraine's not even a country. It's kind of a concept...It's just a corrupt area that the Clintons turned into a colony where they can steal money out of."
-- Steve Bannon
And on Earth One we learn that Biden's off shore wind sale beings in record 4.3 billion!
But one of the saddest stories from yesterday was about all those brave Ukrainians who responded to the Russian invaders by calling out "Fuck you" back at them and then lost their lives. I try to imagine what that must have been like––ordinary citizens trying like hell to protect their country and wham! just like that–-killed in a combat that you never thought you'd be in.
When Putin was a young boy living in squalid circumstances he would spend hours killing rats that frequented the stairwells of the place. One rat in particular, he recalls, because of its enormous size was the prize he coveted. So one day he finally got this creature in a corner but at one point the rat got free, lunged at wee Puti who ran like the wind up the stairs and shut the door. He learned, so he tells us, never to back anyone in a corner. A lesson, obviously, he has completely ignored.
Rats come in all sizes and guises, so I've been told.
A counterpoint to the Mad Putin meme I caught in passing on MSNBC last night.
I thought then that an insane Putin would be a neat companion to our own narcissistic Pretender. Nuts does explain so much.
But this yesterday in "The Bulwark":
https://www.thebulwark.com/putins-no-madman/
Sometimes nuts is just too easy...