After a speech by Zelensky at the G20 meeting in Bali, Russia launched the largest missile attack on Ukraine since the beginning of the war in February. At least one of those missiles, hit Poland.
There is the expected hand wringing in the U.S. Oh, we don’t know if Putin did this intentionally. Missiles can go off course. Perhaps it was a missile malfunction.
But, as a former assistant to Zelensky has said, if Putin is allowed to get away with this without consequences, he will do it again. And, there is something absurd to me about saying it’s O.K. for Putin to bomb he living hell out of Ukraine, but not if they fire three feet into Poland.
I am tired of it. I am tired of and I will never ever get used to living in a society where there is no accountability. Trump and company ran a five year scam operation out of the White House and conducted a coup and there is no response, no accountability. There is no criminal justice system left in this country for rich and powerful people. Equality before the law is a cruel joke, a cereal box saying.
There is no accountability for Trump and company and no accountability for Putin. What kind of a culture have we become? Half of the voters in Georgia voted for Hershel Walker. Hershel, f…ing Walker. What kind of society?
Founder of Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, challenges Putin.
Prigozhin praised Ukrainian president, Zelensky, on his social media platform.
“Although he is the president of a country that’s hostile to Russia right now, Zelensky is a strong, confident, pragmatic and nice guy,”
In a second post, Prigozhin followed up with a warning: “Don’t underestimate him.” The second post was described by the Telegraph as “explaining why he was offering such a discordant view of” Zelensky.
Prigozhin holds no formal role with the Russian government, but his position has increased in importance as he has funneled more and more soldiers into Ukraine fighting for Russia.
His statement is not in line with the Kremlin presentation of Zelensky as a drug-addled Nazi. And, it is not the first time Prigozhin has challenged Putin. Earlier he questioned the military’s conduct of the war.
The Washington Post reported that Prigozhin along with Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader, has become more vocal in their criticisms of military leaders prosecuting Putin’s war.
According to the Telegraph: “British lawyers McCue Jury and Partners on Tuesday announced they were bringing legal action against Wagner for “terrorism” in Ukraine, aiming to claim compensation for victims of the mercenary group”
Prigozhin was filmed in September of 2022 recruiting soldiers in Russian prisons. He promised them they would be freed is they survived six months in Ukraine. He also promised they would be shot if they tried to desert.
“In another public message, he defended recruiting rapists and murders on the basis that it meant “your sons” would not be sent to the front. Weeks later Putin announced a mobilisation that has sent around 300,000 extra men to war.”
Telegraph: “The Institute for the Study of War in its latest report on Tuesday said that Mr Prigozhin was “establishing himself as a political force, using his popular status and his affiliation with Wagner to criticise his opponents within elite circles”.
In testimony to British parliament on Tuesday, Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky confirmed reports of Mr Prigozhin’s special place in Putin’s court, describing him as a “significant tool for the Kremlin”.
“The number of meetings with the dictator is the only currency that’s in demand in that regime, and Mr Prigozhin has got a lot of those meetings,” said Mr Khodorkovsky, who was released after a decade in Russian prison in 2013, and was formerly the country’s richest man.”
The line on Fox News at 5:00 is that the documents seized from Mara-la-go were photographs and unimportant documents. They are laughing and making jokes about the documents.
(Note: “The Five” includes five of the most obnoxious people in the world.)
Trump world has evidently released some document which includes the names of the FBI agents who participated in the raid. This was released to Brietbart and they published it.
The Cincinnati shooter’s postings changed from generalized violence to “we have to shoot FBI agents on sight,” after the search at Mara-lago.
After the Ohio attack, FOX news personality, Kilmeade, released a doctored photograph of Jeffrey Epstein having his feet massaged by that woman (whose name I cannot remember and try not to think about), with the face of the judge who signed off on the search warrant superimposed on Epstein’s body.
Neal Kaytal pointed out that as important as what was found at Mara-la-go is what was not found and was presumably destroyed.
The Espionage Act is cited in the warrant.
The warrant was very broad in terms of what could be searched on the premises.
They had to show fresh probable cause of concealment or destruction.
(Note: Who is the person who helped Trump bring these documents out of the White House? Trump is not smart enough to have selected these documents. In addition, he does not have the mentality capacity to read through documents and understand their import.)
There are documents he could not have declassified without Congress. Declassification is a request.
Somebody went through and hand-picked these documents. (Clint Watts and Harry Litman.)
Clint Watts talked about “nuclear positioning.” This is, where nuclear weapons are positioned. This has been a highly contested issue with Putin.
Heilemann (who is filling in for Nicolle Wallace on MSNBC) is calling Garland “meticulous” AGAIN. Jesus, there is no limit to this faux hero adulation. It reminds me of the Mueller nonsense.
THE MEDIA
Stories that are not receiving the coverage they deserve: 1) the attack on the FBI office in Cincinnati, 2) the attack on Salman Rushdie. Can they seriously not cover more than one story at the time?
John Heilemann, in for Nicolle Wallace, desperately needs a verbal editor. My God, he asks a question, and it takes 5 minutes. Listening to him, my mind is filled with red pen marks through phrases and sentences. Ari Melber is the same way. He has guests on and talks endlessly so that they don’t have a chance to say anything.
Founder of Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, challenges Putin.
Prigozhin praised Ukrainian president, Zelensky, on his social media platform.
“Although he is the president of a country that’s hostile to Russia right now, Zelensky is a strong, confident, pragmatic and nice guy,”
In a second post, Prigozhin followed up with a warning: “Don’t underestimate him.” The second post was described by the Telegraph as “explaining why he was offering such a discordant view of” Zelensky.
Prigozhin holds no formal role with the Russian government, but his position has increased in importance as he has funneled more and more soldiers into Ukraine fighting for Russia.
His statement is not in line with the Kremlin presentation of Zelensky as a drug-addled Nazi. And, it is not the first time Prigozhin has challenged Putin. Earlier he questioned the military’s conduct of the war.
The Washington Post reported that Prigozhin along with Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader, has become more vocal in their criticisms of military leaders prosecuting Putin’s war.
According to the Telegraph: “British lawyers McCue Jury and Partners on Tuesday announced they were bringing legal action against Wagner for “terrorism” in Ukraine, aiming to claim compensation for victims of the mercenary group”
Prigozhin was filmed in September of 2022 recruiting soldiers in Russian prisons. He promised them they would be freed is they survived six months in Ukraine. He also promised they would be shot if they tried to desert.
“In another public message, he defended recruiting rapists and murders on the basis that it meant “your sons” would not be sent to the front. Weeks later Putin announced a mobilisation that has sent around 300,000 extra men to war.”
Telegraph: “The Institute for the Study of War in its latest report on Tuesday said that Mr Prigozhin was “establishing himself as a political force, using his popular status and his affiliation with Wagner to criticise his opponents within elite circles”.
In testimony to British parliament on Tuesday, Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky confirmed reports of Mr Prigozhin’s special place in Putin’s court, describing him as a “significant tool for the Kremlin”.
“The number of meetings with the dictator is the only currency that’s in demand in that regime, and Mr Prigozhin has got a lot of those meetings,” said Mr Khodorkovsky, who was released after a decade in Russian prison in 2013, and was formerly the country’s richest man.”
BOOK: “Thank you for your Servitude” by Marc Leibovich
This book focuses not on Trump, but on the Trump “enablers” who made it all possible.
Marc Leibovich, a staff writer for the Atlantic Magazine, described the book in this way in an interview on MSNBC (7/11/22): The book is “about the people who allowed it to happen,” and who keep rehabilitating Trump “at every turn.”
Unlike those in the press (Michael Schmidt) who have written excuse-filled books essentially arguing that people like Don McGhan were in a “difficult” position, faced hard decisions, or did a service by remaining because they were the adults in the room, Leibovich is open about his contempt for Republicans who he deems “parasitic suck-ups” “starstruck and desperate to keep their jobs,” on a “thrill ride.” He describes them as “groveling legions,” “hollowed-out men and women who knew better,” the “most supplicant super-careerists, and finally (my favorite) “lapdogs in Trump’s kennel.”
As Leibovich notes: “Without the complicity of the Republican Party, Donald Trump would be just a glorified geriatric Fox-watching golfer.”
Without the complicity of the Republican Party…
In Lebovich’s previous book about Washington he described a town in which “Democrats and Republicans kept coming to Washington, vowing change, only to get co-opted, get richer, and never leave.” Then, Donald Trump was nominated, and things got even worse.
A lot of people could see that Trump was a huckster, a con man, and dangerous for the country. My partner is a life-long Republican. When Trump was nominated, he declined to vote for him. After five years of listening to Trump’s bullshit and learning about the depth of the criminality involved with the administration, he voted Democratic for the first time in his life.
But, the Kevin McCarthys and the Lindsay Grahams of the world had no problem at all jumping on the Trump bandwagon and taking the system for all it was worth to them.
In an article in the Atlantic about the book, Leibovich describes Kevin McCarthy detailing with relish the game of working for Trump. He quotes McCarthy as saying: “This is the tightest tightrope anyone has to walk.” Graham (whose excuse for kissing Trump’s ass was that he was only trying to remain “relevant”) also seemed to relish the game. They were proud of the access, proud of the position proud of the temperamentality of Trump. “There was always a breathless, racing quality to both men’s voices when they talked about the thrill ride of being one of Trump’s “guys,” writes Leibovich. “Relevance,” he adds, “casts one hell of a spell.”
Leibovich also goes into detail describing what a jerk Kevin McCarthy really is. When Leibovich met with McCarthy to do an interview, McCarthy spent his time scrolling through his phone and showing Leibovitz photographs of himself with celebrities. (Note: I could not help thinking that this must be what it’s like to interview Ari Melber).
“Here’s another of me with Trump on Air Force One,” McCarthy said to Leibovich. “What did you ask me again?” These are men who have held some of the most powerful positions in the world. It makes me sick.
Leibovich describes McCarthy as “sensitive to perceptions that he is a lightweight whose career trajectory is owed purely to his Olympian brownnosing and backslapping capabilities.” Graham, he wrote, admired Trump because Trump could get away with anything. Does that sound like a 13-year-old?
Leibovich stated: “I don’t see how they can live with themselves.”
But live with themselves they do, and it appears from Leibovich’s own book, they do so quite happily.
Leibovich concluded: “It’s all a game to them.”
I haven’t read the book, but the best, the very best quote from Leibovich’s article is: “If they’d never stooped this low before, maybe it’s just because no one ever asked them to.”
Founder of Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, challenges Putin.
Prigozhin praised Ukrainian president, Zelensky, on his social media platform.
“Although he is the president of a country that’s hostile to Russia right now, Zelensky is a strong, confident, pragmatic and nice guy,”
In a second post, Prigozhin followed up with a warning: “Don’t underestimate him.” The second post was described by the Telegraph as “explaining why he was offering such a discordant view of” Zelensky.
Prigozhin holds no formal role with the Russian government, but his position has increased in importance as he has funneled more and more soldiers into Ukraine fighting for Russia.
His statement is not in line with the Kremlin presentation of Zelensky as a drug-addled Nazi. And, it is not the first time Prigozhin has challenged Putin. Earlier he questioned the military’s conduct of the war.
The Washington Post reported that Prigozhin along with Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader, has become more vocal in their criticisms of military leaders prosecuting Putin’s war.
According to the Telegraph: “British lawyers McCue Jury and Partners on Tuesday announced they were bringing legal action against Wagner for “terrorism” in Ukraine, aiming to claim compensation for victims of the mercenary group”
Prigozhin was filmed in September of 2022 recruiting soldiers in Russian prisons. He promised them they would be freed is they survived six months in Ukraine. He also promised they would be shot if they tried to desert.
“In another public message, he defended recruiting rapists and murders on the basis that it meant “your sons” would not be sent to the front. Weeks later Putin announced a mobilisation that has sent around 300,000 extra men to war.”
Telegraph: “The Institute for the Study of War in its latest report on Tuesday said that Mr Prigozhin was “establishing himself as a political force, using his popular status and his affiliation with Wagner to criticise his opponents within elite circles”.
In testimony to British parliament on Tuesday, Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky confirmed reports of Mr Prigozhin’s special place in Putin’s court, describing him as a “significant tool for the Kremlin”.
“The number of meetings with the dictator is the only currency that’s in demand in that regime, and Mr Prigozhin has got a lot of those meetings,” said Mr Khodorkovsky, who was released after a decade in Russian prison in 2013, and was formerly the country’s richest man.”
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.
Founder of Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, challenges Putin.
Prigozhin praised Ukrainian president, Zelensky, on his social media platform.
“Although he is the president of a country that’s hostile to Russia right now, Zelensky is a strong, confident, pragmatic and nice guy,”
In a second post, Prigozhin followed up with a warning: “Don’t underestimate him.” The second post was described by the Telegraph as “explaining why he was offering such a discordant view of” Zelensky.
Prigozhin holds no formal role with the Russian government, but his position has increased in importance as he has funneled more and more soldiers into Ukraine fighting for Russia.
His statement is not in line with the Kremlin presentation of Zelensky as a drug-addled Nazi. And, it is not the first time Prigozhin has challenged Putin. Earlier he questioned the military’s conduct of the war.
The Washington Post reported that Prigozhin along with Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader, has become more vocal in their criticisms of military leaders prosecuting Putin’s war.
According to the Telegraph: “British lawyers McCue Jury and Partners on Tuesday announced they were bringing legal action against Wagner for “terrorism” in Ukraine, aiming to claim compensation for victims of the mercenary group”
Prigozhin was filmed in September of 2022 recruiting soldiers in Russian prisons. He promised them they would be freed is they survived six months in Ukraine. He also promised they would be shot if they tried to desert.
“In another public message, he defended recruiting rapists and murders on the basis that it meant “your sons” would not be sent to the front. Weeks later Putin announced a mobilisation that has sent around 300,000 extra men to war.”
Telegraph: “The Institute for the Study of War in its latest report on Tuesday said that Mr Prigozhin was “establishing himself as a political force, using his popular status and his affiliation with Wagner to criticise his opponents within elite circles”.
In testimony to British parliament on Tuesday, Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky confirmed reports of Mr Prigozhin’s special place in Putin’s court, describing him as a “significant tool for the Kremlin”.
“The number of meetings with the dictator is the only currency that’s in demand in that regime, and Mr Prigozhin has got a lot of those meetings,” said Mr Khodorkovsky, who was released after a decade in Russian prison in 2013, and was formerly the country’s richest man.”
Snyder: If Putin wins this second part of the war, in the Donbas he will keep going. Russia must be defeated on the battlefield. It’s the only way to win this war. You want that victory to be as quick as possible.
We need a paradigm shift away from talking about stagnation in terms of winning the war. The Russian offense will probably start within 48 hours. Putin is determined to win by May 9. There is a critical month ahead of us. We should be sending arms as quickly as we can.
Nobody in Russia cares about the Donbas. They just think they have to have some kind of victory. The only way this ends is for them not to win a victory.
Hayes: Mentions Bloodlands, a book written by Snyder about WWII.
The Russians seem to have forgotten that when they won the second world war, the Ukrainians were on their side. Calling them Nazis while committing the same kinds of atrocities that the Nazis committed during WWII, is not only perverse, it’s like a second version of the crime itself. Ukraine was colonized by the Russians and the Germans. Ukrainians have won the battle of Kyiv.
Hayes: There is a kind of discomfort with this conflict being determined by who wins on the battlefield.
Snyder: The American left specializes in being right in losing. We are not used to being right and winning. If the Ukrainians lose, democracy will be “rocking on its heels.” “It’s not just about Ukraine and Russia. It’s also about the rest of us.”
(Note: I just keep thinking about how the Americans were encouraging Zelensky to leave Ukraine. With Friends like these.)
RUSSIAN MALWARE
The US government discovered that companies had not removed malware put there by Russians. The US government was tracking Russian hacking groups. They went in and removed the malware.
If this had been successful, the GRU would have access to corporate computers. They could have stolen data from the companies. Court orders allowed them to go into the computers of companies and remove the malware for them.
The FBI had done this before, in 2018.
Some of the fears of hacking in Ukraine have not occurred (such as taking down the central power), but there were attacks. (Note: Why did we not hear more about them?)
ERIC BOEHLERT
Eric Boehlert: Fox News is a closed society. They know they can lie to their viewers. Their viewers expect them to lie to them. “This is a rush to the gutter from the right.” Boehlert has died.
MANHATTAN DA AND TRUMP
(Note: If you are interested in the Manhattan DA’s office and the Pomerantz resignation, listen to the podcast “Gaslit Nation” for a valuable take. The corporate press has largely taken Pomerantz’s resignation at face value. Sarah Kenzior does not. She argues that the Manhattan DA’s office functions to protect elite criminals.)
Today, Bragg (the new head) maintained that the investigation of Trump was still going on.
Rebecca Roiphe, a former Manhattan Assistant DA interviewed on Chris Hayes said, that what is strange is that after this well-known prosecutor (Pomerantz) said he had a case, that there would be more evidence as maintained by Bragg. “It feels like clean up.” “It was a public relations disaster.” (When it was announced they would not be pursuing the cae). This is a way of making it look like they are turning over “every stone.”
Hayes: There seem to be two different views of what’s going on here. First, the DA’s office is scared of Trump, afraid they might lose the case. After all, the scrutiny of the world would be on you. Second, Pomerantz had come out of retirement to do the case, so of course he would want to indict. There is no case there.
Roiphe: I’m sure that both Pomerantz and Bragg are trying to treat every case brought before them equally. (Note: This is bullshit).
Hayes: Hayes is questioning his own desire to see Trump held accountable. Then, he is saying that Trump has committed lawless behavior. (Note: So why is he apologizing for his own desire for accountability?) Hayes then says that Trump is clearly committing lawless behavior all over the place and his not being held accountable doing “flagrantly lawless things” and getting away with them completely born of the fact that he is powerful and wealthy. This makes it look like he’s escaping the law because of his wealth and privilege.
Roiphe: “It really does look that way.” (NO IT DOESN’T LOOK THAT WAY, IT IS THAT WAY.) “It’s really hard to prove these criminal cases.” It’s not that he’s getting special treatment. There are tons of people who get away this kind of thing. (Note: That raises a gigantic problem in and of itself).
Hayes: These cases are difficult to prosecute. (Note: Hayes does not bring up the fact that the laws are written so that they will be difficult to prosecute. Because they are crimes of the elite.
Roiphe: “You really want to be sure you are prosecuting people who have crossed that line.” (Note: Bullshit).
(Note: These laws are written to make them difficult to prosecute because they are the crimes of the powerful. The crimes of the powerless are not so difficult to prosecute.
Please, please listen to Gaslit Nation. This interview was just bullshit.
MSNBC: Ali Velshi
Kuleba asks for “weapons, weapons, weapons.” “Either you help us now, and I’m talking days not weeks, or your help will come too late.”
Russian radio traffic intercepted, talking about killing civilians.
Mass graves in Bucha. Many were shot in the head.
Russians are going house to house and stealing from the residents.
EUROMAIDAN PRESS
Ukraine says Russian planes will be downed if they try to enter the airspace of Transnistria.
Founder of Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, challenges Putin.
Prigozhin praised Ukrainian president, Zelensky, on his social media platform.
“Although he is the president of a country that’s hostile to Russia right now, Zelensky is a strong, confident, pragmatic and nice guy,”
In a second post, Prigozhin followed up with a warning: “Don’t underestimate him.” The second post was described by the Telegraph as “explaining why he was offering such a discordant view of” Zelensky.
Prigozhin holds no formal role with the Russian government, but his position has increased in importance as he has funneled more and more soldiers into Ukraine fighting for Russia.
His statement is not in line with the Kremlin presentation of Zelensky as a drug-addled Nazi. And, it is not the first time Prigozhin has challenged Putin. Earlier he questioned the military’s conduct of the war.
The Washington Post reported that Prigozhin along with Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader, has become more vocal in their criticisms of military leaders prosecuting Putin’s war.
According to the Telegraph: “British lawyers McCue Jury and Partners on Tuesday announced they were bringing legal action against Wagner for “terrorism” in Ukraine, aiming to claim compensation for victims of the mercenary group”
Prigozhin was filmed in September of 2022 recruiting soldiers in Russian prisons. He promised them they would be freed is they survived six months in Ukraine. He also promised they would be shot if they tried to desert.
“In another public message, he defended recruiting rapists and murders on the basis that it meant “your sons” would not be sent to the front. Weeks later Putin announced a mobilisation that has sent around 300,000 extra men to war.”
Telegraph: “The Institute for the Study of War in its latest report on Tuesday said that Mr Prigozhin was “establishing himself as a political force, using his popular status and his affiliation with Wagner to criticise his opponents within elite circles”.
In testimony to British parliament on Tuesday, Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky confirmed reports of Mr Prigozhin’s special place in Putin’s court, describing him as a “significant tool for the Kremlin”.
“The number of meetings with the dictator is the only currency that’s in demand in that regime, and Mr Prigozhin has got a lot of those meetings,” said Mr Khodorkovsky, who was released after a decade in Russian prison in 2013, and was formerly the country’s richest man.”
Vindman: Three should have been a greater press to avoid this war because we knew the kind of barbarism that we would see. We must help Ukraine end this war. These types of incidents are going to increase as Russia gets frustrated. We need to give them everything they need.
Hayes, quoting NYT: Men’s hands have been tied and they have been shot at close range. They were civilians.
Michael Newton: Vanderbilt Law School: If Putin launched this to aggrandize Russia power and prestige there’s nothing more corrosive. Has the opportunity to galvanize the entire world. Russians have been violating laws during the occupation of Crimea.
Hayes: Russian left these bodies to be found and then immediately denied it.
Vindman: Demonstrates a callousness for human life. Increasing repression has bred this in the population.
Hayes: Orban of Hungry has been “reelected.” He as been congratulated by MTG, and Gosar. He has eliminated independent media, taken control of the court system and gerrymandered to make Hungary’s Fidesz party hard to dislodge (Note: Shades of what we are facing here). This is a one-party state.
“Strong Men” book by Ruth Ben-Ghiat. Hayes interviews Ben-Ghiat. Six opposition parties united against him. One of the far-right parties joined this opposition, but many of their members defected to Orban as a response. Orban has been “very smart” by pretending to be neutral in the Russian war. Orban has built a system that almost guarantees him electoral success. After Crimea, Orban was against EU sanctions. Hungary is dependent on Russian oil and gas. He played this to his supporters saying that if they didn’t elect him, oil and gas prices would go up.
Hayes plays American Right: Bannon, huge admirer or Orban. Trump is as well. Tucker Carlson. “Orban has been vilified.” The right is celebrating this authoritarian leader.
Ben-Ghiat: This is what the Republicans want, this kind of authoritarianism.
EUROMAIDAN PRESS
After a call for assistance, 1500 volunteers called to help pick up debris in Irpin.
In Izyum, Kharkiv, Russian forces are carrying out filtration measures and forcible deportations of local residents to Russia.
“West is still reluctant to commit itself to the safety of Ukraine and doesn’t foresee the far-reaching implications of Russia’s war and Black Sea blockade. Ukraine urgently needs presence of NATO fleet in Black Sea, and there is not so much left before it might be too late.”
In the village of Oleksandrivka, Kherson the Russian military destroyed a library of more than 16,000 books.
Russian invaders tortured a local leader in Chernihiv and staged mock executions “for entertainment.”
Satellite images show bodies lay in Bucha for weeks, despite Russian claims.
130,000 people are still trapped in Mariupol.
Russian forces are preparing to attack and capture Kharkiv.
Overnight, Kharkiv was hit more than 50 times by rocket and artillery strikes. This is day 40 of the Russian war against Ukraine.
Lithuanian Ambassador to Russia will return. Lithuania expelled the Russian ambassador. Closes consulate.
Anonymous claimed responsibility for releasing personal identifying information on 120,000 Russian soldiers allegedly fighting in Ukraine.
MSNBC: Ali Velshi
• Bucha was one of the first cities in Ukraine to fall. It had been under Russian control for a month. It was thought this was good news, but after they saw what was left, this changed. 410 civilians dead at least.
The bodies laying in the streets. When they arrived, Russians began indiscriminately attacking people for no reason. “they shot off his leg completely” one resident described a shooting
DOMESTIC POLITICS: Chris Hayes MSNBC
Will there be a criminal referral for Trump? Unlikely.
Rep. Elaine Luria: D -Va. (Jan. 6 Committee) It’s more important not to worry about political implications. The Committee will lay out the facts and if crimes occurred, we have to put that in our report and refer it to the DOJ.
There is fear that it will look political if there is a criminal referral for Trump.
Lindsay Graham: “If we were in charge, she would not have been before this committee.” Talking about Jackson. Hayes is talking about Republican “stunt politics.” Sarah Palin is back running for office. (Note Steve Schmidt and Nicolle Wallace helped Sarah Palin campaign for office).
Insurgency by Jeremy Peters, interviewed by Hayes: Palin clicks with voters because she is seen as one of them. She’s a mom, talked like them, didn’t have elitist airs. She needs to be taken seriously.
Hayes: She wasn’t faking it. Donald Trump is faking it, faking being one “of the people.” Her rallies were characterized by “vitriol.”
Peters: Her appeal in Alaska was started because somebody called her and people like her “trash.” They appropriated that and ran on it. It worked for them. That’s what Trumpism is – making people believe that others look down on them.
Peters: This is a powerful seat she’s running for. Trump sought her out in 2016 and got her support.
Founder of Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, challenges Putin.
Prigozhin praised Ukrainian president, Zelensky, on his social media platform.
“Although he is the president of a country that’s hostile to Russia right now, Zelensky is a strong, confident, pragmatic and nice guy,”
In a second post, Prigozhin followed up with a warning: “Don’t underestimate him.” The second post was described by the Telegraph as “explaining why he was offering such a discordant view of” Zelensky.
Prigozhin holds no formal role with the Russian government, but his position has increased in importance as he has funneled more and more soldiers into Ukraine fighting for Russia.
His statement is not in line with the Kremlin presentation of Zelensky as a drug-addled Nazi. And, it is not the first time Prigozhin has challenged Putin. Earlier he questioned the military’s conduct of the war.
The Washington Post reported that Prigozhin along with Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader, has become more vocal in their criticisms of military leaders prosecuting Putin’s war.
According to the Telegraph: “British lawyers McCue Jury and Partners on Tuesday announced they were bringing legal action against Wagner for “terrorism” in Ukraine, aiming to claim compensation for victims of the mercenary group”
Prigozhin was filmed in September of 2022 recruiting soldiers in Russian prisons. He promised them they would be freed is they survived six months in Ukraine. He also promised they would be shot if they tried to desert.
“In another public message, he defended recruiting rapists and murders on the basis that it meant “your sons” would not be sent to the front. Weeks later Putin announced a mobilisation that has sent around 300,000 extra men to war.”
Telegraph: “The Institute for the Study of War in its latest report on Tuesday said that Mr Prigozhin was “establishing himself as a political force, using his popular status and his affiliation with Wagner to criticise his opponents within elite circles”.
In testimony to British parliament on Tuesday, Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky confirmed reports of Mr Prigozhin’s special place in Putin’s court, describing him as a “significant tool for the Kremlin”.
“The number of meetings with the dictator is the only currency that’s in demand in that regime, and Mr Prigozhin has got a lot of those meetings,” said Mr Khodorkovsky, who was released after a decade in Russian prison in 2013, and was formerly the country’s richest man.”
It’s another day in which Americans sit in front of their televisions and watch Ukraine destroyed. As much as I know, as cynical as I am, I felt somewhere deep inside me that America would stand up and defend people in this situation. I suppose it’s because I am part of (the last of) that WWII generation that grew up with the knowledge that our fathers and mothers participated in a grand epic struggle against authoritarianism and fascism. That struggle is in our DNA, in our consciousness, in our souls.
I suppose we believed that all the rot we have seen take hold in the past fifty years was superficial, that underneath it all, we were a decent people. We are not. We must face what we have become – a population that has no grasp of logical thinking, evidence, decency, community. We have become everything the Soviet Union taught its citizens we were – greedy, mercenary, superficial, selfish. This refusal help Ukraine with meaningful sanctions before the invasion because it would upset big money interests, and a unilateral taking off the table of putting forces into Ukraine after the invasion is the final demonstration of the rot that has taken over the population.
We are dealing with Putin just like we are dealing with Trump, his cronies and the Republican party – we make concessions, try to appease, try to make friends, ignore the devastating damage they have caused, allow them to escape free of any accountability. We must face it, we are afraid to hold power accountable. That is who we have become. Afraid.
Founder of Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, challenges Putin.
Prigozhin praised Ukrainian president, Zelensky, on his social media platform.
“Although he is the president of a country that’s hostile to Russia right now, Zelensky is a strong, confident, pragmatic and nice guy,”
In a second post, Prigozhin followed up with a warning: “Don’t underestimate him.” The second post was described by the Telegraph as “explaining why he was offering such a discordant view of” Zelensky.
Prigozhin holds no formal role with the Russian government, but his position has increased in importance as he has funneled more and more soldiers into Ukraine fighting for Russia.
His statement is not in line with the Kremlin presentation of Zelensky as a drug-addled Nazi. And, it is not the first time Prigozhin has challenged Putin. Earlier he questioned the military’s conduct of the war.
The Washington Post reported that Prigozhin along with Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader, has become more vocal in their criticisms of military leaders prosecuting Putin’s war.
According to the Telegraph: “British lawyers McCue Jury and Partners on Tuesday announced they were bringing legal action against Wagner for “terrorism” in Ukraine, aiming to claim compensation for victims of the mercenary group”
Prigozhin was filmed in September of 2022 recruiting soldiers in Russian prisons. He promised them they would be freed is they survived six months in Ukraine. He also promised they would be shot if they tried to desert.
“In another public message, he defended recruiting rapists and murders on the basis that it meant “your sons” would not be sent to the front. Weeks later Putin announced a mobilisation that has sent around 300,000 extra men to war.”
Telegraph: “The Institute for the Study of War in its latest report on Tuesday said that Mr Prigozhin was “establishing himself as a political force, using his popular status and his affiliation with Wagner to criticise his opponents within elite circles”.
In testimony to British parliament on Tuesday, Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky confirmed reports of Mr Prigozhin’s special place in Putin’s court, describing him as a “significant tool for the Kremlin”.
“The number of meetings with the dictator is the only currency that’s in demand in that regime, and Mr Prigozhin has got a lot of those meetings,” said Mr Khodorkovsky, who was released after a decade in Russian prison in 2013, and was formerly the country’s richest man.”
Russia is claiming that the victims of their invasion are “crisis actors.”
FOX NEWS
Fox New seems to have completely forgotten how deeply up the ass of Putin the Republican party has been in the past and is now. To hear them tell it, Putin is the most evil man in the history of the universe. But, the leader of their party, Trump, accepted Russian help to get “elected” in 2016. He has done extensive business with Russian oligarchs. He hired Paul Manafort, who got Russia’s puppet government into power briefly in Ukraine.
Of course, they have to interview Bill Barr now, one of the most dangerous, corrupt men in the country. Barr is pimping for John Durham. I am just not sure I can listen to this. There are not many people I despise more than Bill Barr. I always think of something Cicero is supposed to have said about Pompey: “He’s the most dangerous bull in the herd.”
Fox: New revelations in his book.
Barr, 2019: “I think spying did occur.” It was an FBI issue, not a CIA issue. Durham is looking at the Clinton campaign and the role her operatives played in getting this thing rolling.
Fox: According to the Durham filing, they were gathering derogatory information about Donald Trump.
Barr: Two different groups of characters, people in the government, and then the private actors, Clinton campaign personnel participated. Durham is taking a hard look at the Clinton campaign.
Fox: “Will anybody ever be held accountable?” She mentions Marc Elias.
Barr: “I hope there will be more indictments.” “I think there will be possibly criminal charges.”
Fox: January 6th. You expressed a concern about mail-in voting.
Barr: Anything that affects integrity. People are going to be suspicious. “…weakening them creates an opportunity for fraud.”
Fox quoting Trump: “Barr was a ‘Bushie’ who never had the energy or competence to do the job that he was put in place to do.”
Barr: “They wasted four or five weeks on these machines, which was a bogus claim…absurd….instead of focusing in and trying to get the evidence” that was necessary to overturn the election. “There was some illegal harvesting.” “There’s no secret why he lost.” It was in the suburbs who defected. He ran weaker than the Republican party in Wisconsin. “Think about that.” He got 60,000 votes less. “You can’t win a national election if you’re running weaker than the national ticket.”
Fox: James Comey piece. Urged FBI not to soften on prosecuting anyone who was in the capitol on Jan. 6. Comey advocated sending a “shock wave of deterrence….vote, argue, litigate, demonstrate….don’t you dare interfere by force in the operation of this democracy.”
Barr: Why didn’t he write that during Portland when governmental officials were being seriously injured. They were trying to turn down a building with the officials in it. I didn’t see him saying anything then.
Fox: Vote for Trump?
Barr: “I think we are going to be making a grave mistake if he is nominated. I hope he isn’t.” “I think the greatest threat to the country is the progressive agenda that is dominating the Democratic Party.” The Republicans are blessed with a lot of qualified people. Biden is “too old to govern.”
Founder of Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, challenges Putin.
Prigozhin praised Ukrainian president, Zelensky, on his social media platform.
“Although he is the president of a country that’s hostile to Russia right now, Zelensky is a strong, confident, pragmatic and nice guy,”
In a second post, Prigozhin followed up with a warning: “Don’t underestimate him.” The second post was described by the Telegraph as “explaining why he was offering such a discordant view of” Zelensky.
Prigozhin holds no formal role with the Russian government, but his position has increased in importance as he has funneled more and more soldiers into Ukraine fighting for Russia.
His statement is not in line with the Kremlin presentation of Zelensky as a drug-addled Nazi. And, it is not the first time Prigozhin has challenged Putin. Earlier he questioned the military’s conduct of the war.
The Washington Post reported that Prigozhin along with Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader, has become more vocal in their criticisms of military leaders prosecuting Putin’s war.
According to the Telegraph: “British lawyers McCue Jury and Partners on Tuesday announced they were bringing legal action against Wagner for “terrorism” in Ukraine, aiming to claim compensation for victims of the mercenary group”
Prigozhin was filmed in September of 2022 recruiting soldiers in Russian prisons. He promised them they would be freed is they survived six months in Ukraine. He also promised they would be shot if they tried to desert.
“In another public message, he defended recruiting rapists and murders on the basis that it meant “your sons” would not be sent to the front. Weeks later Putin announced a mobilisation that has sent around 300,000 extra men to war.”
Telegraph: “The Institute for the Study of War in its latest report on Tuesday said that Mr Prigozhin was “establishing himself as a political force, using his popular status and his affiliation with Wagner to criticise his opponents within elite circles”.
In testimony to British parliament on Tuesday, Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky confirmed reports of Mr Prigozhin’s special place in Putin’s court, describing him as a “significant tool for the Kremlin”.
“The number of meetings with the dictator is the only currency that’s in demand in that regime, and Mr Prigozhin has got a lot of those meetings,” said Mr Khodorkovsky, who was released after a decade in Russian prison in 2013, and was formerly the country’s richest man.”
More excuses about the No-Fly Zone. Blinken: Ukrainians are amazing, I (like Zelensky) would be asking for everything possible. The US and UK have done “extraordinary things,” we have made sure they have everything to defend themselves. (Note: If they lose it’s their fault.) The goal is to “save lives.” Have to see to it that this war doesn’t expand, that the war is not prolonged. We don’t want this was to be “even deadlier, involve more people…make things harder to resolve in Ukraine itself.” (Note: Bullshit.)
UK Foreign Minister: (Note: London is awash with Russian money.) She is citing the action of private industry. (Note: So now we are relying on McDonalds to stand up for democracy and using them as an excuse for why governments in the West don’t need to.)
Blinken: “I’m absolutely convinced that Putin will fail.” (Note: So now we are just sitting and waiting for Putin to fail. What a laudable position.)
“We’re committed to defending them. We’re committed to standing for them until we succeed in making it clear that they will hold and Putin’s efforts to undermine them will fail.” (Read: We will stand up for Ukraine until it wins. We ain’t fighting.”)
CNN
Vindman: US. defense systems have been moved to show that we will defend NATO. That defense system on Ukrainian soil would defend against missiles. Patriot batteries moved closer to the Ukraine border.
An aircraft carrier has been moved into the Aegean Sea. Vindman: It’s more than the ship and its planes. It’s mainly a deterrent.
Offer of fighter jets from Poland. Offer was to fly them to Germany and then fly them back to Ukraine. The US has declined that as an option.
Vindman: The US tried to stop discussion of planes being provided earlier. They think it’s way too provocative. This is a “fundamentally flawed assumption.” There is no reason for us to limit ourselves and not supply Ukraine with what they need. Vindman fears that the blocking of the offer from Poland is a sign that the Biden administration is not willing to go for more serious weaponry. This is a mistake.
FOX
I was going to say that this note wasn’t about Ukraine, but it is. Fox News is evidently marketing (using the shill Huckaby) children’s books about how wonderful Trump is. The books are illustrated with badly drawn cartoons. One of them shows Donald Trump with Abraham Lincoln. These are being used to indoctrinate children. As always, the right complains that the left is doing what they are doing (cheating on elections, indoctrinating children, attempting an authoritarian take over of democracy, on and on and on). Just as an aside, I would like to remind you that the right accuses the left of organizing a child sex traffic ring and also eating children. Just think about that one.
Fox advances the narrative that a rise in oil prices has nothing to do with oil and gas companies. They are pimping the line that Biden is using that as a distraction for his own bad administration.
Fox is interviewing the CEO of the American Petroleum Institute. He’s trying to scare people about policies that don’t allow the oil and gas industry to drill without constraints. Sommers (CEO) trying to portray oil and gas as responsible for winning WWII.
Fox and the right never let an opportunity go by to advance their interests, not even a war. See the book: “Disaster Capitalism.”
Horrible woman on Fox argues that when Trump was in office the bureaucracy was wiped away. What is that woman’s name? Harris?
Note: Yesterday she was telling these long-convoluted stories about what her father always told her. Usually, these stories are composed of short, pithy statements. No, she was going on and on about what her father supposedly always told her. Something like: My father always told me that you had to give oil and gas free hand to do whatever the fuck they wanted to do because it was essential to the freedom of black people and the free world. You have to watch this stuff to believe it.
Fox is reporting that the RT editor resigns in protest over Putin’s war.
Fox News hosts Petraeus on to comment on Ukraine. Petraeus who gave classified information to his lover so she could write a great biography of him. This is who they have on?
TWITTER
The EU has agreed on a ban on the provision of euro banknotes to Belarus.
NOTES
There are so many things to learn about Ukraine and Russia, but the corporate media keeps spending hours and hours of time interviewing individuals on the ground in Ukraine. I understand the effort to make the war personal, human, but I think we get it by now that there are real people involved in this disaster. Simply repeating story after story after story of people who are fleeing serves only the purpose of filling air time and not talking about the things that brought us here. The corporate media refuses to educate. We need an educated population, not an entertained population.
I used to tell my students: I’m not here to make you happy. I’m here to make you think.
I’ve been thinking lately about what this point in history could mean. If people see by watching the Ukrainians, what ordinary people can do, how they can change the conditions of their existence, it may have profound implications beyond Ukraine. That, in fact, is what Putin is so afraid of, the demand for democracy from the Ukrainians, the fact that the Ukrainians with just their bodies, threw a Russian stooge president out of the country.
On the podcast @skullduggery, they have a Ukrainian MP on the phone and the question? The significant question? Whether we can expect there to be more refugees. Jesus. Michael Isikoff
Founder of Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, challenges Putin.
Prigozhin praised Ukrainian president, Zelensky, on his social media platform.
“Although he is the president of a country that’s hostile to Russia right now, Zelensky is a strong, confident, pragmatic and nice guy,”
In a second post, Prigozhin followed up with a warning: “Don’t underestimate him.” The second post was described by the Telegraph as “explaining why he was offering such a discordant view of” Zelensky.
Prigozhin holds no formal role with the Russian government, but his position has increased in importance as he has funneled more and more soldiers into Ukraine fighting for Russia.
His statement is not in line with the Kremlin presentation of Zelensky as a drug-addled Nazi. And, it is not the first time Prigozhin has challenged Putin. Earlier he questioned the military’s conduct of the war.
The Washington Post reported that Prigozhin along with Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader, has become more vocal in their criticisms of military leaders prosecuting Putin’s war.
According to the Telegraph: “British lawyers McCue Jury and Partners on Tuesday announced they were bringing legal action against Wagner for “terrorism” in Ukraine, aiming to claim compensation for victims of the mercenary group”
Prigozhin was filmed in September of 2022 recruiting soldiers in Russian prisons. He promised them they would be freed is they survived six months in Ukraine. He also promised they would be shot if they tried to desert.
“In another public message, he defended recruiting rapists and murders on the basis that it meant “your sons” would not be sent to the front. Weeks later Putin announced a mobilisation that has sent around 300,000 extra men to war.”
Telegraph: “The Institute for the Study of War in its latest report on Tuesday said that Mr Prigozhin was “establishing himself as a political force, using his popular status and his affiliation with Wagner to criticise his opponents within elite circles”.
In testimony to British parliament on Tuesday, Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky confirmed reports of Mr Prigozhin’s special place in Putin’s court, describing him as a “significant tool for the Kremlin”.
“The number of meetings with the dictator is the only currency that’s in demand in that regime, and Mr Prigozhin has got a lot of those meetings,” said Mr Khodorkovsky, who was released after a decade in Russian prison in 2013, and was formerly the country’s richest man.”
I’m going to put two of my nine cats in carriers and take them to the vet for booster shots. I am dreading the disapproval. I, however, can come home with my cats. They will be fed and safe tonight. I will have dinner and sleep in a warm bed. Democracy is not a given, a state of being. Peace is not a given.
I really wonder if people too young to have had parents in WWII even grasp that this reality they are experiencing is fragile. People in the U.S. were not attacked in WWII. They only experienced the war on other people’s territory. I think that younger people assume this post-war stability is a given, that it cannot go away. It can.
Elites in this country are dealing with Putin the same way they are dealing with Trump. There is no accountability for the bullies, the authoritarians, the soldiers against justice and democracy. They will not stand up and fight Putin over Ukraine, and they will not stand up and put Trump and his henchmen in jail after a coup.
Founder of Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, challenges Putin.
Prigozhin praised Ukrainian president, Zelensky, on his social media platform.
“Although he is the president of a country that’s hostile to Russia right now, Zelensky is a strong, confident, pragmatic and nice guy,”
In a second post, Prigozhin followed up with a warning: “Don’t underestimate him.” The second post was described by the Telegraph as “explaining why he was offering such a discordant view of” Zelensky.
Prigozhin holds no formal role with the Russian government, but his position has increased in importance as he has funneled more and more soldiers into Ukraine fighting for Russia.
His statement is not in line with the Kremlin presentation of Zelensky as a drug-addled Nazi. And, it is not the first time Prigozhin has challenged Putin. Earlier he questioned the military’s conduct of the war.
The Washington Post reported that Prigozhin along with Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen leader, has become more vocal in their criticisms of military leaders prosecuting Putin’s war.
According to the Telegraph: “British lawyers McCue Jury and Partners on Tuesday announced they were bringing legal action against Wagner for “terrorism” in Ukraine, aiming to claim compensation for victims of the mercenary group”
Prigozhin was filmed in September of 2022 recruiting soldiers in Russian prisons. He promised them they would be freed is they survived six months in Ukraine. He also promised they would be shot if they tried to desert.
“In another public message, he defended recruiting rapists and murders on the basis that it meant “your sons” would not be sent to the front. Weeks later Putin announced a mobilisation that has sent around 300,000 extra men to war.”
Telegraph: “The Institute for the Study of War in its latest report on Tuesday said that Mr Prigozhin was “establishing himself as a political force, using his popular status and his affiliation with Wagner to criticise his opponents within elite circles”.
In testimony to British parliament on Tuesday, Russian dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky confirmed reports of Mr Prigozhin’s special place in Putin’s court, describing him as a “significant tool for the Kremlin”.
“The number of meetings with the dictator is the only currency that’s in demand in that regime, and Mr Prigozhin has got a lot of those meetings,” said Mr Khodorkovsky, who was released after a decade in Russian prison in 2013, and was formerly the country’s richest man.”
Law, Power and Justice 