April 8, 2022

The grim geography lesson of war.

Most people outside of Ukraine probably have not heard of Mariupol. Or Bucha. Or Kramatorsk.

Until recently, they were just dots on a map in a far off land.

Now those towns--and sadly, many more--will soon become indelible reminders of certain events that transpired there.

War, and the associated horrors that go along with it, have a way of doing such things.

March 31, 2022

So let me get this straight:

FEC levies a fine against the DNC and the 2016 Clinton Campaign for billing information regarding the Steele Dossier as "legal services" when it should have been billed as "opposition research" (i.e., a billing error):

"OH MY GOD, WE KNEW IT! THIS ABSOLUTELY PROVES WITHOUT A DOUBT THAT THE TRUMP-RUSSIA COLLUSION STORY WAS A COMPLETE HOAX/WITCH-HUNT/FAKE NEWS/REALLY TERRIBLE MEAN LIE AND HOW DARE THEY SLANDER DONALD TRUMP LIKE THAT!!!!!!!!!"


Meanwhile, that very same day...

In an interview, Donald Trump tells Vladimir Putin--fresh in the middle of a war where his army is slaughtering untold numbers of Ukrainian civilians--that he ought to release whatever dirt he claims to have on the Biden family since he's "not exactly a fan of our country":

"Come on, that's just Trump being Trump. Can't you give him a break already?"

March 28, 2022

BREAKING NEWS: Trump claims Will Smith would have never hit Chris Rock if he were still President

Former President Donald J. Trump told a crowd of his supporters at a recent rally that actor Will Smith would not have rushed the stage and assaulted comedian Chris Rock at this year's Academy Awards ceremony after Rock made a joke at the expense of Jada Pinkett-Smith, Smith's wife.

"It really was a shame, truly a shame," Trump told his audience. "It's something that should never have happened. And if I were President, it would have never have happened. For sure. We would have never seen it happen, this horrible, terrible thing."

Trump did see fit, however, to further weigh in on the incident.

"I will tell you this, however," Trump said. "Will Smith is a smart guy. A real smart guy. And a strong guy, too. A strong guy and a tough guy. He's beaten the aliens. He's beaten the aliens multiple times. He beat them in that Men in Black thing, and he beat them in Independence Day, too. Which is another name for the Fourth of July. A lot of people don't know that the Fourth of July is also called Independence Day. It's sad, but it's the truth. Our kids--our kids are just not being taught that in our schools anymore. And it's a shame. Such a shame."

"He also was a boxer, once, in that Allie [sic] movie," Trump added. "So, yeah, a tough guy and a strong guy."

Trump was quick to identify the individual who he viewed as truly responsible for the Oscar fracas.

"Will Smith simply does not respect Joe Biden, and that's why he did what he did," Trump proclaimed. "He viewed him as weak and knew he would never get any sort of response back from Old Sleepy Joe. And so he ran up on stage and--bam!--punched The Rock right out. All over a joke. Such a shame. It's because we don't take jokes anymore. You know, when I was President, people took jokes. There were no fights. You heard a joke and you just took it, and that was that. It happened all the time for us. Men would come up to me, grown men, all with tears in their eyes, and they would tell me, 'Sir, you're a joke. Sir, your administration is a joke.' And you know what I would say in response? I would say, 'Thank you. Thank you.' Because it was all done with love. So much love. There was so much love back then, and now it's all gone. And what you're left with is just a mess. A huge, terrible mess."

Notably, the situation may have touched a personal nerve with the former President; during the 2011 White House Press Correspondence Dinner, then President Barack Obama made several jokes at the expense of Trump, who was in the audience. Many have speculated that the incident may have served as a motivator for his 2016 presidential run.

But Trump's focus, at least publicly, remained on more recent matters.

"What you saw at the Oscars only happened because we had an election that was stolen from us, from the American people," Trump declared to his supporters. "That's the only reason it happened, because we have a fraud of a President in the White House who did nothing to stop what happened to poor Jack Rock at the Oscars."

DETAILS AT ELEVEN

March 7, 2022

BREAKING NEWS: Frog stung by scorpion announces he still intends to vote for scorpion in 2024.

A local frog who helped a scorpion escape drowning has stated he still may consider voting for the scorpion should the scorpion ultimately run for President in 2024, despite the fact he suffered a deadly sting from that scorpion.

Earlier, the frog was swimming along the banks of a swollen river when he came across the scorpion, who was flailing in the water and had begun to sink into the river's fathomless depths. Although the scorpion had cried out to the frog for help, the frog was reluctant to assist on account of the long, poisonous stinger at the end of the scorpion's tail. It was only after the scorpion promised he would not plunge the stinger into the frog if the frog saved him from drowning that the frog agreed to render aid.

After the scorpion climbed onto the frog's back, the pair transversed the dangerous rapids of the river. Thankfully, the frog's expert swimming abilities proved key and the two were able to successfully navigate the waterway. But as the duo approached the opposite bank, the scorpion let loose his stinger, inflicting a deep and poisonous stab into the back of the frog.

Quite nonplussed about this dramatic betrayal, the frog implored to the scorpion why he chose to sting him after he had promised not to on condition of the safe passage.

The scorpion replied, "For it is simply in my very nature to do so, and who am I to oppose my own nature, after all?"

"Also, this frog was a terrible disappointment in every sense of the word," the scorpion added, before launching into a rambling, hour long nonsensible screed about voting machines in Michigan.

Meanwhile, the frog lay mortally wounded on the river bank, the scorpion's poison slowly coursing through his veins. The frog bemoaned the scorpion's duplicity and breach of his trust, but then added that should this scorpion run for President in 2024, he would not rule out supporting his candidacy.

"Because I believe that the greatest threat to the country is the progressive agenda being pushed by the Democratic Party,"--the frog noted to himself as he gasped through progressively shallower and shallower breaths--"it's inconceivable to me that I wouldn't vote for this poisonous, lying, murderous scorpion as the Republican nominee."

DETAILS AT ELEVEN.

February 28, 2022

I absolutely love it when somebody proves me wrong in a good way.

As some of you might already know, I am of Ukrainian descent, and I have numerous family members living in Ukraine at the moment.

When it comes to Ukrainian politics, I personally haven't gotten much of a dog in that fight--so long as the politician isn't like Viktor Yanukovych, who was stealing billions out of the Ukrainian treasury, cozy with Vladimir Putin and then engaging in a bloody crackdown on public protests in 2013 and 2014 before packing up and flying away to Russia.

But for the rest, I've tried to stay objective and let Ukrainians themselves decide who is best to lead them.

That being said, I did get a lot of input from my Ukrainian relatives and needless to say, when Volodymyr Zelensky was elected in 2019, a lot of them were highly skeptical of his leadership abilities.

He had no elected experience, was just an actor and comedian, didn't have as great a command of the local language as they liked, and his campaign platform seemed to be pursuing a dubious "Peace with honor" style plan where the separatist regions in the East would be given semi-autonomous status and thus could still very well be influenced by Russia even if Putin claims to have backed off. The fear was that because Zelensky was a complete novice, he could be easily manipulated or dominated by the Kremlin, even if that wasn't Zelensky's own intention.

I actually was able to watch the first season of Zelensky's now-prophetic "Servant of the People" show and while it was humorous and entertaining, I doubted fiction could easily be translated into real life.

So needless to say, their skepticism--which I found justified for reasons at the time--became my skepticism about Zelensky's ability to lead as well.

However, I am very happy to say that I have been proven wrong by Volodymyr Zelensky, in the very best of ways.

Zelensky has absolutely grown into his role as Ukrainian President flawlessly and not let anyone--most importantly Putin himself--push him or his people around.

He proved his mettle pretty early on when he resisted Donald Trump's efforts to shake him down for political and personal gain to the detriment of his country's defense.

That proved a good preparation for future tests to come.

Some people you know will be strong leaders from the get-go. Others catch you completely by surprise.

My doubts about Zelensky have turned out to be unfounded.

He has proven himself to my favorite kind of hero--the unexpected hero, the reluctant hero. The type of hero who does not seek out greatness but has greatness thrust upon him.

His unflinching dedication to his people and his country in this time of greatest trial have been phenomenal. And he has done so all while maintaining democratic and peaceful values.

So yes, I have been officially won over by Volodymyr Zelensky, and I couldn't be happier to say that all my initial doubts about him were completely wrong.

https://twitter.com/SaoSasha/status/1497311531041640450

February 24, 2022

An country with 44 million people and a centuries-old history and culture: "A great piece of land."

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-praise-putin-smart-war-ukraine-invasion-1682182

That is what that pestilent piece of fucking shit called Ukraine yesterday.

Said Putin was "smart" and took it, "a great piece of land."

Not a nation or a country. No words of support or solidarity to its people.

It was just "a great piece of land."

Like it was one of his shitty little golf courses.

They're bombing my grandparents' hometown today. I was there, three years ago. As corny as it sounds, I could really feel their presence there. It was a truly incredible moment where I felt such a connection with a place.

This is more than "a great piece of land." This is a beloved home for millions of people, and a place of ancestral pride for millions more such as myself.

And one day, Donald Trump will be sitting alongside Vladimir Putin, Josef Stalin and Adolph Hitler.

And it will be very, very, very hot.

February 18, 2022

We really do live in a stupid timeline, don't we?

First, we're told that Nancy Pelosi was responsible for the invasion of the US Capitol by violent Trump supporters, disrupting the certification of the election of her fellow Democrat Joe Biden as President and shouting threats of harm against...Nancy Pelosi.

Now, we're being told that Ukraine is attempting to provoke its own invasion by Russia.

Disinformation really is a funny little creature, isn't it? Impervious to all logic.

February 14, 2022

Expect to be inundated with a lot of disinformation about the situation in Ukraine. Even here at DU.

You're probably going to hear a lot about appeals about a desire to supposedly be "anti-war" or "anti-imperialism." Expect to hear a lot about NATO expansion in Europe, about the US invasion in Iraq or prior CIA actions in places like Chile or Iran. Expect to hear about how the 2014 Maidan protests in Ukraine were actually a US sponsored coup, or how the current Ukrainian government is corrupted by fascist or neo-Nazi elements.

A lot of this might sound good on the surface, especially to persons--myself included--who fashion themselves pacifists or at least a fan of diplomacy over military action when it comes to foreign affairs.

However, a lot of it is either blatantly untrue, heavily distorted versions of the truth, or simply irrelevant to the current situation at hand.

Use proper discernment and consider the sources being used. Fact check using reliable sources of information. Don't just go on what might sound good on the surface.

This might seem obvious considering that is what we've had to deal with with persons on the right, but the left can--and has been--susceptible to agenda-driven disinformation efforts as well.

And this is not our first go-around here at DU. Perhaps some might remember back in 2014 and 2015 these same talking points making the rounds heavily on DU in light of the Maidan protests and then the Russian annexation of Crimea and their instigation and infusion of pro-Russian fighting in Eastern Ukraine.

There were a lot of posts that went unchallenged and were accepted as true because too many people thought what was being said sounded good. Even some long time DUers fell victim to these trappings.

Thankfully, we're better prepared these days. In 2014-15, the notion of disinformation and false news was still a great unknown, but the 2016 election and subsequent right-wing oriented disinformation efforts have served as a great wakeup call. And a lot of the DUers who participated in spreading the disinformation about Ukraine eight years ago left in the middle of 2016 because they didn't want to get behind the Democratic Party nominee.

But that doesn't mean we should let our guard down. I've already seen disinformation about the Ukrainian situation seeping its way back onto DU, and we can only expect more if matters take a turn for the worse in coming days.

All you have to realize throughout are some very simple truths:

1. Ukraine is a sovereign nation, and whether it desires to join NATO or the EU is its own decision, not anyone else's
2. Putin is the sole aggressor in this situation. Not Ukraine. Not NATO. Not the US.
3. The US has no plans to put boots on the ground in Ukraine, nor does Ukraine expect the US to put boots on the ground in Ukraine
4. Ukraine is a democracy--a flawed and fledging democracy, but a democracy nonetheless--and providing material support to a democracy in the face of unjustified aggression is not a bad thing
5. Being "anti-war" or "anti-imperialism" does not mean acquiescing to unchecked aggression by an autocratic regime against its democratic neighbor simply because you think that's "peace." That's not "peace" at all.

In the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Rite Catholic liturgies that are prevalent throughout Ukraine, there is at one point in the mass where the celebrating priest--before reading the gospel--announces to the congregation, "Wisdom! Be attentive!"

Now, putting aside any discussion of religious belief or lack thereof, on a simply secular level, that's still very good advice to be had in any type of given situation.

Wisdom.

Be attentive.

January 27, 2022

A building so unspeakably evil, it should never have even been allowed to stand.

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Buildings, in general, typically serve a positive purpose in life. They protect us from the elements. They give us shelter, afford us some sense of privacy, and sometimes even help shape our identity depending on its purpose. Houses in particular become "homes" when one gains a sense of familial and emotional attachment by virtue of living in it.

True, they are just brick and mortar (and various other materials), and some are far more utilitarian than others, but overall a building is at worst just a building and there is nothing intrinsically wrong with its own existence.

Whenever I've read or researched about the Holocaust, I'm always struck in particular by the pictures of the gas chambers and crematoriums at Auschwitz and some of the other death camps.

Just the buildings themselves, nothing more.

From first glance, they look--like a lot of things associated with the Nazi regime--extremely banal and unordinary. Brick buildings with a tall chimney. Nothing screaming evil. Without context, one might confuse it for a home, or a warehouse, or some other regular sort of building.

And yet, in context the evil these mere buildings invoke is palpable and utterly horrifying.

The fact that they were even there. The fact that they were built--built with the same ordinary building materials as any other building would use. But built with a sole purpose that was so unspeakably evil it defies words.

The fact that human beings built these wretched--yet from the outside seemingly unextraordinary--buildings. Human beings built these buildings to facilitate the mass murder of other human beings, all because of a perverse ideology run completely amok. People built these buildings so that other people would die.

It just seems so unnatural and bizarre that these buildings actually stood, if even for a day. If even for a second. The ground should have swallowed it up whole and sent it back to the fiery hell from whence it came. Buildings that evil should never have been built by human hands.

But they did. And we are forced to remember that they did, in the hopes that human hands will never, ever build them again.

**NOTE: My purpose in writing this is not to say that these buildings shouldn't be kept as memorials to the atrocities that were committed there. Rather, it's a mere reflection on the fact that some how, some way they were ever built in the very first place.

January 25, 2022

BREAKING NEWS: Fox News correspondent Doocy arrives at press briefing wearing cervical neck collar

A day after a hot mic caught President Joe Biden referring to him as a "stupid son of a bitch," Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy appeared in the White House Daily Briefing Room wearing a white cervical collar around his neck.

"I know, I know, my jarring physical appearance today might appear most upsetting to you, disturbing even," Doocy announced unprompted as several of his fellow journalists continued to jot down notes, unaffected. "But let it be known that I have voluntarily taken on these slings and arrows for all of you--all of us--my brothers and sisters in the vaunted Fourth Estate."

Several of Doocy's colleagues later questioned why he was wearing a medical neck brace given that he had merely been the subject of an off-hand verbal quip by the President, but were at a loss as to how to exactly breach the subject to the Fox correspondent at the time.

"No doubt, these harrowing events have been most difficult for me," Doocy continued. "They have been both emotionally and physically trying at times. Thankfully, my spirits remained buoyed by the people who have supported me throughout my career of journalistic excellence. My friends, my workmates, my wife--"

"Your father?" one of Doocy's colleagues added.

"Yes, my father, too," Doocy continued. "But merely as a means of moral support and moral support alone. My father has always been there to give the occasional 'Ay, attaboy,' or 'Go get 'em, Tiger,' but make no mistake about it, my position at this most prestigious media network is strictly a matter of my own hard work and achievement and nothing else."

Doocy went on to stress how his recent ordeal would not deter him as a "beacon of our cherished First Amendment press freedoms."

"You may be tempted to think I am alone in this situation," Doocy began. "That what has befallen me is something that is completely without precedent. But I tell you now, that is far from the truth! The scourge of persecution of journalists by tyrannical regimes is truly a worldwide conundrum! The free media declared as 'enemies of the people!' Reporters thrust into dank, dark prisons for attempting to reveal the truth! Journalists killed, either by means made to look as though an accident or straight out murder in broad daylight! Correspondents forced to endure barely audible mild profanities! Oh, how we have suffered--how we have all suffered so terribly, all one in the same!"

However, Doocy remained defiant throughout his impromptu briefing room address.

"I tell you now, though, we will never be silenced!" he proclaimed. "What I have so painfully endured I voluntarily accept in the name of the unvarnished truth for all to see and consume! For no matter what befalls us, they will never take our...Oh, by the way, has anyone else tried that new Thai place on G Street? They have this Dragon Roll that is just amaze-balls! Who else wants to come with when all this shit is done?"

DETAILS AT ELEVEN