WEDNESDAY 4 MAY 2022

We are back enmeshed in the minutiae of the Trump soap opera.  Crime after crime, scam after scam, move after move to destroy what democracy we have left in this country.  And, there are no consequences, none.  Trump and his minions continue with the crime spree they have enjoyed for decades.  The Democrats wring their hands, the corporate media obsesses over things like whether Biden used the word “abortion” in a statement.  It is a country disintegrating before our very eyes.  The media has lost interest in the war in Ukraine.  Meanwhile the transnational crime network consolidates power. 

Turn over to Fox News and you can watch endless discussion of a lawsuit between two spoiled movie stars. 

MSNBC: Nicolle Wallace

• After saying that Trump was leading the white working class into a dark place, J.D. Vance has now decided to kiss Trump’s a..  He has just won the Republican Senate primary in Ohio.  (Note: The corporate press tried to turn Vance into a cultural icon right after the publication of his book and the 2016 presidential race.  He was a guest on every prime time show after his book came out.)
• “I don’t really care what happens to Ukraine,” says J. D. Vance.
• Tim Ryan (Democratic Senate candidate) faces Vance in the Senate race.
•  The abortion bills are so extreme that doctors could be put in jail for life for performing an abortion.
• (Note: Why does MSNBC find it necessary to show examining rooms while talking about the Supreme Court decision on abortion?  They love to show women getting mammograms as well.  I have never seen a man getting a prostate exam or the instruments for doing so.)
• Vance on Fox News: Calls the media and Democrats “obsessed with Ukraine.”  Vance is claiming that Democrats are bringing in immigrants because they want to “replace” U.S. workers.
• Jeremy Bash: J.D. Vance is “parroting Kremlin talking points.”  A major party is going to veer off in a pro-Russia direction.  (Note: “going to”? Where has he been?) 
• Miles Taylor, former Republican: The Republicans will tell people privately that they are part of the good guys.  But, publicly they will side with the Trumpers.  One in ten Americans thinks that violence would be justified against the U.S. government, according to polls. 

UKRAINE UPDATE, 5:00 pm

UKRAINE WORLD

• War journalist Oleksandr Makhov died near Izyum. 
• 600 people were killed in the Russian bombing of the Mariupol Drama Theatre.

THE KYIV INDEPENDENT

• Lviv mayor plans to nationalize Russian-owned bus plant.
• The city has some 80 businesses fully or partially owned by Russians.
• Russians tok three-year stock of grain out of Luhansk.  100,000 tons of gain have been either moved out of the war-torn region or destroyed.
• Missiles hit Dnipro.
• There are three Russian missile carriers currently in the Black Sea, ready to strike in Ukraine.
• People injured by mines around Kyiv.
• EU plans to block Russians from buying real estate.
• Ukrainian government criticizes the Red Cross for close cooperation with the Russian authorities and a lack of communication with Ukraine.
• “Belarus said it has begun large-scale drills on May 4 to test its combat readiness while local residents reported spotting columns of military vehicles moving in the direction of Ukraine.
• Russia plans to hold military parade in Mariupol on May 9, according to Ukrainian intelligence.
• EU proposes sanctioning head of Russian Orthodox Church.

If you haven’t listened to the most recent podcast from “Gaslit Nation,” you need to.  The guest, Anne Nelson, details the years of work the right has done to get us where we are. 

Anne Nelson’s books: