Authoritarianism
- “Trump-Putin call: Russia agrees to 30-day pause of energy infrastructure strikes." (Kyiv Independent)
- Kremlin demands halt to foreign military aid, intelligence to Ukraine as condition for avoiding war escalation. (Kyiv Independent)
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“Us” could refer to Germany, given the magazine, but note the European flag that the two bowing men are standing on—with the corpse of Ukraine laid out face down between them. If the corpse is hyperbole, the betrayal and its geopolitical consequences are very real, ↩︎
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Fischer was a politician in the Greens who served as Germany’s popular foreign minister and vice chancellor from 1998 to 2005. ↩︎
- merit – good-for-nothing
- meritocracy – mediocracy
- patriot – sucker
- taxpayer – sucker
The Trump administration is slashing the State Department’s annual human rights report — cutting sections about the rights of women, the disabled, the LGBTQ+ community and more.
The goal appears to be a far thinner report that meets the minimum standards required by the law, according to documents obtained by POLITICO, as well as a current and a former State Department official who were familiar with the plan.
Carl T. Bergstrom, a professor of biology at the University of Washington, has written an excellent thread about his and his colleagues' experience of the White House’s attack on U.S. science and education.
Putin Playing Trump for a Fool Again
The 30-day partial cease fire that Putin and Trump agreed to is a one-sided joke.
Russia probably needs relief from strikes on its energy infrastructure more than Ukraine does because the former depends on energy to finance its war. Ukraine, at least, has made it through another winter, when attacks on its energy infrastructure hurt the worst. Moreover, its air defenses seem to be more effective than Russia’s.
The real kicker, though, are the accompanying demands and threats, which continue to assert Russia’s maximalist aim of destroying Ukrainian sovereignty by demanding it do nothing to improve its defense posture. Meanwhile, the White House and Kremlin “agreed to set up Russian and American expert groups to ‘resolve the war bilaterally,'” i.e., without Ukraine or the rest of Europe. Of course, the Kremlin issued yet another tired threat of “escalation.”
Will the White House side with Russia again, despite the Kremlin playing Trump for a fool? It wouldn’t surprise me, given that Trump has no advisors who will tell him what he needs to hear. I hope I’m wrong.
“After Trump DEI Order, Navajo Code Talkers Disappear From Military Websites,” www.axios.com….
From 1942 to 1945, the Navajo code talkers were instrumental in every major Marine Corps operation in the Pacific Theater of World War II.
America hasn’t felt this upside down since I was a child in an internment camp.
Seen in grocery store: Old guy prolly dependent on Social Security, etc., wearing a black windbreaker marked ICE. Maybe supposed to look cool or intimidating, like a big swastica, if you’re into that sort of thing, but it felt more like a big “I am an asshole” or “Kick me” sign.
“JACL condemns Trump erasure of 442nd and 100th Infantry Battalion,” asnews.com….
“The 100th and 442nd remain the most decorated military units in U.S. history for their size and length of service,” the Japanese American Citizens League said in a statement. “Their heroism, despite the racism and incarceration their families faced at home, is a testament to their loyalty and sacrifice, as is their unit motto, ‘Go For Broke.'”
Started rereading a little book I enjoyed when it first came out: Brooke Gladstone, The Trouble with Reality: A Rumination on Moral Panic in Our Time (Workman Publishing, 2017).
“Idaho Teacher Told To Remove ‘Everyone Is Welcome Here’ Sign From Classroom,” www.today.com…
There are only two opinions on this sign: Everyone is welcome here, or not everyone is welcome here," argues Sarah Inama, a sixth-grade history teacher.
Deeply disappointed in the votes of my two senators for cloture and for submitting to a GOP budget that will harm New Hampshire’s residents. Yes, we’re a purple state. No, they should not be putting their jobs ahead of the state’s residents, let alone democracy. #NH #Shaheen #Hassan
This change says a lot about the ambitions and delusions of the current Trumpy regime:
Arlington National Cemetery has scrubbed information about prominent Black, Hispanic and female service members and topics such as the Civil War from its website, part of an effort across the Defense Department to remove all references to diversity, equity and inclusion from its online presence.
If you pretend this isn’t real, it’s very exciting.
– Laurie Kilmartin on “Have I Got New for You” (U.S.), s. 2, ep. 4, March 8, 2025.
Only Orange Choad could side with the Russian Bear and think that doing so makes him look strong. #RussoUkrainianWar #RussiaIsATerroristState #ПутінХуйло 🇺🇦
The title of this cover from a prominent German news weekly borrows from a famous Ronald Reagan quote: “Axis of Evil” (Die Achse der Bösen). Only this time a Republican president is casting the United States on the side of evil. The remaining text points to the “danger of war in Europe” and asks “what Trump’s betrayal of Ukraine means for us."1 The cover also mentions a statement by Joschka Fischer in an interview: “Germany needs conscription again."2
POSTSCRIPT: See comments for connection to 1939
Apropos of Russia’s meat assaults, which throw their soldiers' lives callously away:
In the town of Polyarnye Zori in Russia’s Murmansk region, members of the country’s ruling United Russia party marked International Women’s Day by giving flowers and meat grinders to the mothers of soldiers killed in the war against Ukraine.
Story via Meduza: “United Russia party gifts meat grinders to dead soldiers’ mothers,” meduza.io/en….
If we as U.S. citizens find the resolve to oppose Orange Oaf’s foreign policy, especially with regard to Ukraine and Russia, we will help not only Ukraine against tyrants but ourselves as well. This is a transnational, existential fight for freedom and human rights. 🇺🇦🗽
Let the great eugenicist experiment begin! RFK Jr.’s terrifying Senate confirmation puts the U.S. withdrawal from the WHO in a foul new light. Ditto Felonious Husk’s freezing of USAID funds.
It must be rough to have many billions but to not know love, friendship, or respect.
Translations from MAGA to English:
Strongman regimes … turn the economy into an instrument of leader wealth creation, but also encourage changes in ethical and behavioral norms to make things that were illegal or immoral appear acceptable, whether election fraud, torture, or sexual assault.…
Rulers who come into office with a criminal record … have a head start. They know that making the government a refuge for criminals who don’t have to learn to be lawless hastens the ‘contagion effect.’ So does granting amnesties and pardons, which indebt individuals to the leader and make blackmailers, war criminals, and murderers available for service.
– Ruth Ben-Ghiat, Strongmen, chap. 7.
“Minneapolis Assault on Transgender Women Sparks Rally,” Transvitae, November 20, 2024. 🏳️⚧️
In Minneapolis, two transgender women were violently attacked, prompting a rally and raising fears within the trans community amid President Trump’s re-election. As concerns over rising transphobia grow, community leaders emphasize solidarity, self-defense, and advocacy to protect the rights and safety of transgender individuals.
Brain Worms
The real problem of Twitter today isn’t bots, or even the weirdo billionaire running it, it’s the fact that otherwise credible journalists, pundits and politicos keep treating the platform as a legitimate and useful forum for democratic discourse. It’s not….
The fact that so many politicians and reporters continue to spend their days on Twitter means the general public is now catching second-hand brain worms.
– Justin Ling, Elon Musk’s hellsite isn’t making us fall for Pierre Poilievre. It’s doing something far scarier, Toronto Star, August 15, 2024.
HT @[email protected]
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
The jury is still out on whether or not Mahmoud Ahmadinejad really won the election and, if so, to what extent. How this will play out is also anybody’s guess. One thing I already find worrying, however, is Ahmadinejad’s rhetoric, which talks about freedom and bipartisanship, on one hand, and delegitimizes legitimate political opposition, on the other. The following combination of quotes from today’s Washington Post is chilling:
This election was so free that you could say it was complete freedom. . . . The election is gone and done. It is time for friendship, coalition and building the country. . . . [Reporters should talk to] true Iranians . . . Like the people you meet at my rallies. . . . [As for the opposition,] There is no other choice than to surrender. . . You think you are of the elite? That you are above the people? . . . The society must be purified of these people. . . . They will try to stop me, but I will expose them to the great nation of Iran.
The first statement rings hollow. What is “complete freedom,” especially in the Iranian system where unelected religious leaders determines who may run for office? The second statement sounds eminently reasonable, something like a well-wishing plea for bipartisanship in the United States. Then things get spooky. It is one thing to demonize the other side as not truly patriotic. We experienced that last fall with Sarah Palin’s rhetoric of “real America,” the “media elite,” and so on. While I find such rhetoric reprehensible, at least it did not come right out and say that the other side had no right to exist. It understood the concept of a loyal opposition, even if that opposition supposedly loves America less than Palin’s and McCain’s supporters do.
If Ahmadinejad’s legitimately won the election, which is far from clear, his rhetoric shows that he has no respect for democratic processes. Elections without the concept of a loyal opposition are meaningless. Here’s hoping that Iran’s Supreme Leader gets that.
Perhaps it will. After all, the oppositional candidate, Mir Hossein Mousavi, was screened and approved by religious authorities. We are talking about opposition that is legitimate within the narrow confines of Iran’s political system, not our own. If even that is not acceptable, then what will be left of Iran’s revolution? Iranian independence, to be sure, as well as clerical rule and possibly the more extensive subjugation of women, but what about the semi-democratic elements of its constitution? The campaign, polling, and post-election protests suggest that they matter to Iranians. And well they should. The legitimacy of Iran’s post-1979 system depends on them.