Damn: A sobering note from Finland about America's role in all of this
Published tonight by Josh Marshall forTalking Points Memo, an accusation and a plea.Translated into rough English, from a Finnish TPM member who believes that the U.S. has yet to come to terms with the...
View ArticleHow President Biden and NATO succeed in getting under Vladimir Putin's skin
The Biden administration and NATO have shown remarkable unanimity on one singular piece of phrasing in response to Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine:President Biden, Feb. 24:As I made crystal...
View ArticleThe insurrection of Jan. 6 gave Putin all the motivation he needed to attack...
At this point the staggering miscalculation shown by Vladimir Putin in invading Ukraine is fairly obvious to everyone (except perhaps to Putin himself). He expected a quick victory over Ukraine’s armed...
View ArticleAfter sustaining heavy losses, Russian soldiers attack commander by running...
This appears to be a credible story.As reported by Liz Sly for the Washington Post:Russian soldiers have attacked and injured their commanding officer after their brigade suffered heavy losses in the...
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Kitchen Table Kibitzing: 3/26/22 ~ Money For Nothing
During the COVID-19 pandemic we’ve all been exposed to more social isolation than most of us have ever experienced at any other time in our lives. But some societies experienced this even more acutely...
View ArticleThat seven and a half-hour gap when the Capitol was under attack shows Trump...
What kind of “president” immediately reaches for a private, unofficial phone when the U.S. Capitol is under violent assault and he feels the need to keep up to speed? David Frum, writing for the...
View ArticleRussia's most prominent state propagandist apparently agrees that Tulsi...
During the course of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the country’s state-controlled propaganda networks have relied heavily on translated television clips depicting pro-Russia statements by American...
View ArticleReports of Russian atrocities are getting worse. What responsibility do the...
As Ukraine’s forces gradually liberate those areas previously controlled by Russia in the early stages of the invasion, the newly discovered, bestial acts of Russian soldiers are now approaching Khmer...
View ArticleThe D.C. Gridiron Dinner last Saturday was a superspreader event
Washington, D.C.’s chummy annual Gridiron Club Dinner occurred last Saturday. There were some truly catchy one-liners, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. But one secretive A-lister, no doubt...
View ArticleAnita Hill reminds us why we should not forget how Ketanji Brown Jackson was...
In the post-Trump era, it seems like nothing can really shock Americans anymore. That is why Republican senators like Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, and Marsha Blackburn felt they could vomit up and spew...
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Kitchen Table Kibitzing: 3/9/22. I'm Not Here
I am on vacation, so I’m not here, in the traditional sense of “here.” This is a pre-recorded announcement. I may be able to see this post when it goes live, but I’m not certain of that.In general...
View ArticleFar-right Marine Le Pen pledges submission to Moscow, reminding us what Trump...
In the span of a few weeks, the tilt of the geopolitical world has shifted so quickly that perhaps Americans just haven’t had enough time to digest how fortunate they are Donald Trump did not win the...
View ArticleThe New York Times discovers that Fox News has a Russia problem
You have to credit the Gray Lady: this is really quite the scoop. And I hesitate even to point it out, lest my mild criticism that follows be misinterpreted. So let me be clear, I’m all for American...
View ArticleHow the truth about Ukraine is being completely manipulated in Russia
After Putin’s soldiers brutally massacred hundreds of Ukrainian civilians in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, you might expect the Russian government would do its utmost to keep the overwhelming visible...
View ArticleExposés of the people fueling LGBTQ hate laws, right-wing harassment are...
In a New York Times column this week titled, “Republicans Say, ‘Let Them Eat Hate,’” Paul Krugman reminds us that the Republican Party has devolved so much in the wake of Donald Trump that it has...
View ArticleYes, Republicans really are moving us toward full-blown fascism
On Thursday, the Florida legislature passed a bill cancelling Walt Disney World’s special tax status in that state. The bill, which will now almost certainly become law, eliminates the company’s Reedy...
View ArticleKitchen Table Kibitzing: 4/23/22: (No, I'm never going back) to my old books
In retrospect I should have realized it years ago: There comes a time in your life when your old books cease to be primarily a collection of what made you the person you are, and instead become a...
View ArticleFBI arrests man for threatening Merriam-Webster over its definition of...
A California man is facing five years in prison for threatening to shoot and bomb employees of the Massachusetts-based Merriam-Webster company because he objected to the reference book publisher’s...
View ArticleDonald Trump Jr. and alleged wife abuser Eric Greitens release video praising...
Content warning: This story contains descriptions of child abuse.In an effort to generate publicity for his scandal-ridden Senate campaign, Missouri Republican Eric Greitens posed on Monday with Donald...
View ArticleJudge orders Trump supporter who defaced LGBTQ mural to write 25-page essay...
Nineteen-year-old Florida resident Alexander Jerich was looking for a way to commemorate the birthday of his hero, Donald Trump. Simply driving around West Palm Beach in his white Chevy pickup truck,...
View ArticleVictims of online, right-wing terrorism may finally be able to sue the people...
One of the more disturbing—but increasingly common—behaviors of the political right is its practice of cleverly goading and inciting violence toward other Americans. I say “cleverly” because they do...
View ArticleChief Justice Roberts is very concerned with 'betrayal' and 'breach of trust'
Chief Justice John Roberts is understandably upset about the leaking of his fellow conservative, Samuel Alito’s, wrathful, misogynistic diatribe representing the views of (apparently) the majority of...
View ArticleNow is a real good time to donate to Planned Parenthood
From Reuters, it appears that the American public is responding to the looming reversal of Roe v. Wade — with their checkbooks, at least.May 4 (Reuters) - Donations have flooded into abortion clinics...
View ArticleOverruling Roe will unleash an economic and social calamity. Guess who will...
A lot of the commentary in the past week regarding the leaked Supreme Court opinion overruling Roe v. Wade has understandably focused on the sheer malevolence of its attack on women’s and others’...
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Kitchen Table Kibitzing 5/7/22: Retrieving an F35 Stealth Jet two miles...
Since my elderly parents refuse to “get” the “Internet,” I am often tasked with looking up things for them online. Back in January the nightly news aired a story you may have seen about one of our most...
View ArticleThe Washington Post Editorial Board finally wakes up to reality
The title of the Post’s Editorial page says it all:Jan. 6 was worse than you remember. It must define our politics.Yes. This is not a dream. It’s not a Facebook Post. It’s not a dystopian fantasy.It’s...
View ArticleStates ready to ban all abortions when Roe is reversed won't say how those...
It took next to zero effort for pandering Republican state legislators to obtain cut-and-paste, ALEC-generated laws banning and criminalizing all abortions in their states, then brag and fundraise...
View ArticleWho could possibly ever trust this 'Supreme Court' again?
The first “leak,” though unprecedented, was survivable. There have been other instances of justices telegraphing their opinions on a forthcoming ruling (albeit through less crude and blatant means than...
View ArticleThe creator of 'The Handmaid's Tale' speaks out on the imminent demise of...
Over the past few years the resonance of Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel The Handmaid’s Tale has proved itself, over and over again. The confirmation hearings of Donald Trump’s Supreme Court appointees...
View ArticleRussian state TV begins to face reality: Even Rand Paul may not save them
As highlighted by Josh Marshall forTalkingPointsMemo, here’s a fascinating bit of candor from a commentator on Russian state TV. In so many words, the war is not going well, Ukrainian morale and NATO...
View ArticleRepublicans have stopped pretending to care about 'rape or incest' victims in...
It used to seem that, for Republicans, the prospect of a victim of rape or incest being forced to carry a resultant unwanted pregnancy to term was so viscerally repugnant that it prompted them to...
View ArticleAfter Roe is gone, even your prenatal care will depend on what state you live in
Most people who’ve had kids know the routine (some of us know it several times over): At certain points during pregnancy, tests are administered at various intervals to determine the existence of any...
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Kitchen Table Kibitzing: 5/21/22: Get your free home COVID-19 tests now!
An important piece of news this week for those who may be unaware: The Biden administration has authorized a third round of free Home COVID-19 tests (8 tests) for anyone who wants them. Having...
View ArticlePennsylvania is revealing Republicans to be nothing but opportunistic,...
So we’re knee deep in potential recount territory in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. On one side we have a TV huckster named Mehmet Oz; on the other, a former hedge fund CEO named Dave McCormick. It...
View ArticleThe Gun God is not accustomed to having its sacrifices questioned
There are a lot of opinion pieces out there in the media after Tuesday’s massacre at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, just as there were nearly 10 years ago after Sandy Hook. And like then,...
View ArticleWhat we've lost through the digitization of music
It was summer 1979. The new Dylan album everyone had been talking (arguing) about was finally out. I tore off the plastic wrap, gone went the SuperSaver label and price tag, crumpled up on the floor. I...
View ArticleThe Supreme Court is on its way to becoming a hostile work environment
The third pillar of our esteemed federal system is entering a chaotic phase as the investigation heats up into the premature and embarrassing leak of Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion that overrules...
View ArticlePutin is counting on Trump and the GOP's pro-Russia lackeys to stab Ukraine...
The New York Timescolumnist Thomas Friedman recently authored an interesting column in which he candidly acknowledged his surprise at the vehemence of Europe’s reaction to Russia’s unprovoked war on...
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Kitchen Table Kibitzing: 6/4/22: The robots are still coming for us, and they...
Nick Bilton, writing for Vanity Fair, updates us this week on the progress of Artificial Intelligence in areas normally thought to be safe bastions of human creativity: journalism, literature and the...
View ArticleConservative pundit Andrew Sullivan amplifies fake news and buries himself in...
It was a story designed to send any conservative into apoplexy. A suburban Chicago high school decided to implement a “race-based” grading system that would supposedly and intentionally benefit Black...
View ArticleIt doesn't matter what Republicans say they 'believe' or 'think.' What...
As Democrats, we often fall into the trap of finding comfort in polls which suggest that many Republicans “feel” or “believe” certain things that align with our values. Polls that suggest “two-thirds...
View ArticleGinni Thomas urged at least 29 Arizona lawmakers to betray their country
The wife of sitting Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was up to her neck in efforts to disenfranchise the 81 million Americans who voted for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election, urging—not...
View ArticleJan. 6 hearings reveal how easily millions were conned—and why they won't...
Con artists are a special breed of predator. Not only do they traffic in humanity’s most basic passions—their hopes, fears and expectations—but they rely on the singular human emotions of self-respect...
View ArticleSend in the clowns? Don't bother, they're here
In the Academy Award-winning 1984 film Amadeus, F. Murray Abraham brilliantly portrayed Antonio Salieri as a mediocre court composer who was so threatened by the meteoric rise and prodigious talents of...
View ArticleKitchen Table Kibitzing: 6/18/22: Car Wheels on a Gravel Road
There are some musical artists who just have a knack (for lack of a better word) for leaving me wrecked, with a sort of punch-in-the-gut sense of awe. One of them is Aimee Mann. Another is Lucinda...
View ArticleThis Supreme Court is poised to gut the federal government's ability to fight...
Having already confirmed its intent to force people who become pregnant to bear unwanted children under the penalty of criminal laws and state-sanctioned vigilante harassment, the United States Supreme...
View ArticleMultiple Republican congressmen asked Trump for a pardon for their actions...
Breaking from the Washington Post’s Rosalind Helderman (and highlighted in Brandi Buchman’s LiveBlog and summary of Thursday's Jan. 6 hearings), a trenchant commentary about the craven state of the...
View ArticlePrivacy advice for those seeking reproductive care as states begin to...
In the coming weeks, we can expect a lot of new doors to be kicked open by law enforcement and their friends in Republican-dominated state legislatures to target, investigate, intimidate and harass...
View ArticleHey, Federalist Society: I got your 'Federalist' right here
The right-wing “Federalist Society” is one of the most colossal scams ever perpetrated on the American people. An organization born of disgruntled right-wing extremists with Yale law degrees,...
View ArticleThe Supreme Court has now become merely an extension of Fox News
It’s exceedingly rare that the Supreme Court simply snatches away an established Constitutional right, let alone one impacting personal bodily autonomy that had stood for nearly half a century and...
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