Twitter is chock full of hyperbole, ignorance and deception. But one of its special qualities is that if you take some care and follow some basic rules you can find people who you can actually learn quite a lot from. They’re out there. And during chaotic and fast-moving news events you can learn a lot from them. One of those people is Michael Kofman, who is one of the people on my list of people to follow to keep track of developments in the Ukraine Crisis. Among other things he’s the Director of the Russia Studies program at the Center for Naval Analyses, the main Navy/Marines think tank in Washington, DC. His opinions may be right or wrong. But given the Navy’s/Marine Corps’ interest in keeping tabs on the Russian military we can be confident he’s highly knowledgable about that topic specifically. I’ve been following his commentary over the last week or so and yesterday he posted a lengthy Twitter thread about what we’ve seen over the last three days.
Continue reading “Why Have Russian Forces Underperformed in Their Opening Offensive?”Ukraine War Pits Families Against Families Across A Once-Fluid Border
For outsiders, it’s hard to understand how interconnected Russia and Ukraine are culturally, socially and historically. The upshot is a war between two countries that share much in common including deep, emotional bonds.
Putin distorts those commonalities for his own ends, but the truth is that the war pits families against families in a region where the border hasn’t alway been sharp or well-defined.
Continue reading “Ukraine War Pits Families Against Families Across A Once-Fluid Border”Biden Yanks Rug Out From Under Flynn And Navarro On Executive Privilege
President Joe Biden continues to swat down ex-President Donald Trump and his cronies’ efforts to stonewall the House Jan. 6 Committee’s investigation, this time focusing on former Trump adviser-turned-QAnon grifter Michael Flynn and ex-Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro.
Continue reading “Biden Yanks Rug Out From Under Flynn And Navarro On Executive Privilege”How Greg Abbott’s Border Deployment Stunt Turned Into A Political Nightmare
Today has a special significance for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R).
Continue reading “How Greg Abbott’s Border Deployment Stunt Turned Into A Political Nightmare”Russia Bombards Kharkiv As War Enters More Brutal Phase
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Heaviest Fighting In Second Largest City
Russian forces fired rockets into the center of Kharkiv, Ukraine on Tuesday, according to Ukrainian authorities. The regional administration building was hit, leaving seven dead and 24 wounded, the authorities said.
- BBC: “Missile hits centre of Ukraine’s second-biggest city”
- Washington Post: “Russian invasion escalates as massive convoy nears Kyiv and Kharkiv assaulted”
- New York Times: “An explosion rocks Kharkiv a day after shelling in a residential neighborhood.”
- CNN: “Crucial period ahead for Kyiv as massive Russian column closes in on Ukraine’s capital”
- Wall Street Journal: “Russian Forces Target Ukrainian Civilian Areas as Missile Hits Central Kharkiv”
Dem Nevada Guv And Wife Threatened At Restaurant
A video first reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal shows Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) and his wife Kathy Sisolak being harassed and followed around by a couple of men shouting about racist conspiracy theories at a restaurant on Sunday.
- One of the men calls Sisolak a “New World Order traitor piece-of-shit bastard” and repeatedly asks him if he has security with him. The man also screams “you working-for-China piece of shit!” at Sisolak and his wife, who is of Chinese descent, as they leave the restaurant.
- The other man says something about Sisolak “hiding the hydroxychloroquine,” right-wingers’ infamous COVID miracle drug, though most of what he says in that moment is inaudible. He also tells Sisolak and his wife that they ought to be hanged for treason.
- Sisolak’s office responded to the incident later on Monday saying the matter was being investigated, and that the governor was “deeply disappointed in how this incident unfolded, particularly with the language used to talk about First Lady Kathy Sisolak’s heritage.” Sisolak’s daughter was with him at the restaurant.
McCarthy Says He Plans To Meet With MTG To Discuss White Nationalist Appearance
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said on Monday that it was “appalling and wrong” for far-right Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) to speak at the America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC) organized by white nationalist Nick Fuentes this weekend.
- McCarthy told Punchbowl that he plans on meeting with Greene this week to discuss it. It’s unclear if he’s planning to do the same with Gosar.
- The Arizona Republican’s attendance at the conference this year wasn’t even his first; he went to last year’s AFPAC too.
- Greene defended her appearance at the conference on Saturday, claiming that she didn’t know about Fuentes’ well-established white nationalist beliefs.
Date Set For Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Confirmation Hearing
Senate Democrats plan to kick off the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on March 21, a Democratic aide told Politico.
WH Drops Blanket Mask Mandate Ahead Of SOTU
Effective today, the White House is lifting its requirement that fully vaccinated people wear masks in the area, ahead of Biden’s first State of the Union address tonight.
- The House withdrew its mask mandate in time for the speech too.
- Biden will speak at 9:00 p.m. ET. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) is giving the Republicans’ response to his speech.
Manchin Joins GOPers To Block Abortion Rights Protection
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) voted with Republican senators to block a debate on Monday over the Women’s Health Protection Act, legislation that would codify access to abortion as red states chip away at reproductive rights and the Supreme Court threatens to strike down Roe v Wade.
Trump Appeals Judge’s Order For Him To Testify In NY Probe
The ex-president is predictably fighting a Manhattan judge’s order for him, plus Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., to testify under oath in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ (D) civil investigation into the Trump Organization.
Dem Rep. Ted Deutch Not Running For Reelection
House Ethics Committee Chair Ted Deutch (D-FL) announced on Monday that he’ll be leaving Congress when his term ends this year, having accepted an offer to serve as the chief executive officer of the American Jewish Committee.
- The tally of House Democrat-Republican retirements ahead of the 2022 midterms now stands at 31-13, per the House Press Gallery’s poorly-named “Casualty List.”
WTF Read Of The Day
“Dr. Bronner’s, the Soap Company, Dips Into Psychedelics” – The New York Times
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Where Things Stand: DeSantis Makes A Big Show Of Rejecting Biden Call For Nat’l Guard Troops Ahead Of SOTU
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis tweeted triumphantly this afternoon that he rejected the Biden administration’s request for states to send National Guard troops to Washington, D.C. ahead of Tuesday’s State of the Union speech.
Continue reading “Where Things Stand: DeSantis Makes A Big Show Of Rejecting Biden Call For Nat’l Guard Troops Ahead Of SOTU”Ukraine Weathers Russian Assault Into Sixth Day
One week ago, people across Ukraine were living their normal lives. Going to work, cooking meals at home, seeing friends, planning for the future.
Now, people are trying to survive — either by fighting the war, sending relatives or themselves to the nearest border, or sticking it out in long-unused bomb shelters or metro stations.
But so far, the country’s army and its volunteer territorial defense battalions have stuck it out, apparently repelling the first wave of Russia’s attack. The country’s capital Kyiv remains under government control, as does Kharkiv — Ukraine’s second city and a former capital.
The U.S., EU and other nations have ratcheted up sanctions on the Russian economy, cutting multiple Russia banks off from SWIFT access and pressuring Switzerland into clamping down on oligarch wealth.
European nations — some non-NATO — have also committed to steady weapons supplies to Ukraine. Former Warsaw Bloc nations reportedly are sending operable Soviet-era fighter jets to Ukraine.
It’s a devastating war with civilians and soldiers dying every day. Russian troops occupied Berdyansk over the weekend, a city of 100,000.
We’ll be following developments below.
Bizarreness Of EPA Case Takes Center Stage As Larger Executive Branch Questions Shunted Aside
The story of West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency was an utterly strange one from the beginning.
Continue reading “Bizarreness Of EPA Case Takes Center Stage As Larger Executive Branch Questions Shunted Aside”Kyiv Holds As Ukrainians Erect Barricades
One week ago, Kyiv was largely like any big capital city: full of foreigners, with lively bars, restaurants, and people traveling in and about.
That shift happened fast.
Continue reading “Kyiv Holds As Ukrainians Erect Barricades”Should We Be Surprised US Intelligence Got It Right?
I wanted to address a few points that have come up in discussions about the Ukraine Crisis in recent days and which John mentions below. I’ll start with the question of U.S. intelligence estimates about an imminent Russian invasion which appear to have been very accurate both in the overall prediction and the specifics of how one would take place.
I’ve seen a number of people say this was a surprise or at least not a given because of the intelligence failure that preceded the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
But I view this very differently.
Continue reading “Should We Be Surprised US Intelligence Got It Right?”