Last night was the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. It’s an annual tradition that lets the sitting president attempt a little levity and be on the receiving end as well. Maybe it’s time for a little break from serious and remind ourselves that poking fun at ourselves is a time honored American tradition. Hopefully it always will be.
President Biden:
Colin Jost:
Marjorie Taylor Greene is saying she will push the vote to vacate the Speakership next week. The Dems have already come out and said they will vote to table it.
ReplyDeleteMore theatrics by an irrelevant elected official.
ReplyDelete"…she will push the vote to vacate the Speakership next week."
Johnson doesn't seem to be much worried 'bout it. Trump has likewise chosen to treat her rogue maneuvering as inconsequential, not worthy of further mention. (And no reason to dwell on reminders of Trumpkan/Republican chaos with an election looming.)
I'm wondering what'll happen if the Trumpkan/Republicans gain a House majority in the next Congress. Will they be able to agree on a Speaker? (That's a problem for another day I suppose.)
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ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete"British Foreign Secretary David Cameron promised three
billion pounds ($3.74 billion) of annual military aid for
Ukraine for 'as long as it takes' on Thursday, adding that
London had no objection to the weapons being used inside
Russia."
Reuters
...adding that
ReplyDeleteLondon had no objection to the weapons being used inside
Russia."
There are legitimate targets inside Russia.
ReplyDelete"There are legitimate targets inside Russia."
There are. More to the point:
"Kind of reminds me of the tank debate way back when."
Lynnette in Minnesota @ Fri Apr 26, 08:11 pm prior thread
I recall that the Brits were likewise the first to provide long range missiles (their 'Storm Shadows'), long before we finally came across with the MGM-140s (a/k/a ATACMS). There's a pattern developed here. The Brits move first; the Russians bitch 'bout it, but don't totally freak out and go nuclear, 'cause who's afraid of the Brits? But the precedent gets thus set and then we move later.
Russia has, however, begun a cyber warfare campaign against NATO, Germany specifically. Reuters Russia also launched electronic warfare attacks against Finland's civilian aviation flights. DWNews
So, they're not sittin' back. They're actively lookin' for ways to ratchet things up against NATO.
So, they're not sittin' back. They're actively lookin' for ways to ratchet things up against NATO.
ReplyDeleteSay what you will about Russian military capability their cyber warfare and propaganda capability is top notch. Sowing division and encouraging their adversaries to implode from within is something the are adept at. Hence the love affair with our extreme right contingent.
Well, and maybe not so much the extreme right anymore.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete"Say what you will about Russian military capability…"
Russian military capability seems much improved since their fairly disastrous performance during Ukraine's first counterattack in the fall of 2022.
The Russians have since resurrected their WWII practice of using barrier troops behind their front lines, troops whose job it is to summarily shoot any soldiers retreating from the front lines. Since then the number of retreating soldiers has gone down considerably. (The number of dead Russian soldiers has gone up correspondingly, but the Russians have more soldiers to spend than do the Ukrainians.)
What the Ukrainians need to do is develop a battle plan that deals directly with the Russian decision to use soldier mass as their primary weapon. (They probably just need to kill Russian soldiers at an overall rate of at least five to one over the number of soldiers the Ukrainians lose, or preferably even better. Then they need to keep killing Russians, bleeding them out 'til the Russians finally get tired of it, or until they are weakened enough that exhaustion limits them in spite of any political will to continue). I think the Ukrainians know this. I think the Pentagon has yet to figure it out. The Pentagon seems to want the Ukrainians to perform an American-style blitzkrieg (so they can watch and evaluate their equipment), forgetting that even the Nazis who originated blitzkrieg couldn't keep it up over a long haul of years (and especially couldn't keep it up after they'd lost their initial overwhelming air superiority).
Then they need to keep killing Russians, bleeding them out 'til the Russians finally get tired of it, or until they are weakened enough that exhaustion limits them in spite of any political will to continue).
ReplyDeleteI think Ukraine is on the same page. As you say, Russia has more resources. But Ukraine has been doing a good job of playing David to that Goliath. It just takes time.
They have been using the French guided gliding bombs in Dnipro to stop Russia in its tracks. The cluster munitions we sent for ATACMS have been put to good use against Russian troops and helicopters. Modified drones are playing a huge role. I think Ukraine has been very creative in its fight against Russia. Hopefully that will continue.
ReplyDelete"Modified drones are playing a huge role."
I'm watching for news to come in some day that one side or the other has learned how to program small drones into semi-autonomous swarms, behaving like flocks of smaller birds bedeviling larger raptors. The Russians being not big on innovation, I'd expect that news to more likely to come in from the Ukrainian side (if indeed it happens during this war).
ReplyDeleteThe Israeli Defense Forces have ordered an evacuation of eastern Rafah.
ReplyDeleteAnd the Russians have announced a new military training exercise for the near future, war games involving the use of tactical nuclear weapons intended to concentrate on nuking Europe, especially NATO countries. (Not related to Israel's order for the evacuation of eastern Rafah.)
Somehow I don't think drone swarms are far off.
ReplyDeleteBTW, did you see that we did a test of an F-16 piloted by AI?
Now, if they can rig it to dogfight successfully that'd be another thing entirely.)
ReplyDeleteThey probably wouldn't tell us that part. Gotta keep some surprises.
Putin has gone on record as seeking to make eight or more children the family norm in Russia for the future.
ReplyDeleteI suppose he has to do something. They are losing people at a rapid clip.
It sounds like some people close to Trump are saying he wants the judge to jail him. Probably so he can rile up his base.
ReplyDeleteThe orange jumpsuit would go nicely with his hair, though.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete"…she unilaterally backed down but is refusing to admit it."
That didn't last long. Nor did her attempt to remove Johnson from the Speaker's office.
(Apparently she couldn't tolerate being ridiculed for having backed down earlier, so she decided to make her position even worse.)
Like Trump she doesn't know when to cut her losses. Even Republicans have started calling her Moscow Marjorie.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteBiden has said he will not send weapons to Israel if they invade Rafah.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteFolks were noticing that Trump's infamous hair swirl was on crooked for most of Stormy Daniel's testimony on Monday and Tuesday. Speculation is the details coming out in public again is getting to him. Politico (Might also observe that there's no hair and makeup bench in the cells on Rikers Island.)
ReplyDelete"LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - A Ukrainian drone struck a major
oil processing plant in Russia's Bashkiria region on Thursday
from some 1,500 km (932 miles) away, a Kyiv intelligence
source said, its longest-range such attack since the start of the
war."
I think one of the issues forTrumpkan/Republican House candidates in the November elections will be whether or not they will support Mike Johnson for Speaker once again.
ReplyDeleteAssuming they keep the majority.
Probably means Johnson won't be Speaker after November.
Hoping he won't be.
Oops i.must have not closed a tag right in that last comment.
ReplyDeleteI have heard that Trump actually stayed awake during Stormy Daniel's testimony. Not too happily, though. He would have been better off sleeping through it.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteUkraine has been going after quite a few targets pertaining to Russian logistics.
ReplyDeleteWord is they took out a Russian oil depot with an ATACMS. Speculation being that they are well supplied with those missiles.
ReplyDeleteStuck on italics it seems.
The problem appears to be limited to this thread after Thursday.
Testing...
ReplyDeleteOk, this is weird.
ReplyDeleteThey are showing that they can. Plus there are some nice big targets inside Russia.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThings are lookin a little grim 'round Kharkiv these days.
Yes, Russia is intent on taking advantage of the lag time in restocking the Ukrainians with weapons and ammo.
ReplyDeleteAlthough there does appear to be some getting through in other areas.
Italics seem to have disappeared.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteWord is that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu is getting 'kicked upstairs' (to borrow a term used in western political circles). He'll get a new title, Secretary of Russia's National Security Council, and he's getting an new office in the attic with few or no responsibilities. (The Council is a 'holding pen' for people former players whom Putin wants to keep on the payroll but out of the game. For instance, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev serves on the Council and has an ongoing roll as an occasional public shill for Putin.)
There is also word that he is being replaced with a civilian whose main "recommendations" are loyalty to Putin and experience in economics.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete"…experience in economics…"
I․e. Evading sanctions.
Belousov managed to grow the Russian economy in the face of what we had hoped would be crippling sanctions. Putin hopes to now put that proven talent to work in the acquisition of needed military technology.
Belousov will of course rely on a theater commander. Probably Gen. Valery Gerasimov maintains his responsibilities there; could be somebody else gets moved in.
ReplyDeleteI've been wondering… A sort of 'what if' type of musing…
Russia is attacking Ukraine in the Kharkiv region once again, but they may not have enough support built in to the terrain there (not yet anyway). What if the Ukrainians throw them back again, but don't stop at the Russian border this time?
I recall that nobody much bothered to try to head off Prigozhin when he began to march on Moscow. What if the locals don't bother to try to head off the Ukrainian army either? Or, maybe more probable, what if the Ukrainians take the opportunity to flank the Russian fortifications of the northern Donbas region--swing 'round behind 'em and hit Donetsk from the Russian side (overrunning and occupying Russian terrain in the process)?
Does Putin suddenly get serious 'bout throwin' nukes? And how would we know if he was serious?
I don't think we would know if he was serious until it was too late.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it will be when he realizes that there is only Gerasimov and himself left. The Russians are making progress near Kharkiv, but at tremendous cost in manpower. Word is they lost 1,740 soldiers just the other day.
But I do like your idea of Ukraine doing the unexpected.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete"Ukrainian officials are making a new push to get the Biden
administration to lift its ban on using U.S.-made weapons to
strike inside Russia, saying the policy kept them from attacking
Russian positions as they [the Russians] prepared for their
major march toward Kharkiv."
Politico
They have a point.
ReplyDeleteStrange. This comments section as showing on my computer is printing everything in italics. But on my phone it is showing as normal print.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'd noticed that before. Figured that's what was behind your Sunday declaration that the italics thing had cleared up.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that Secretary of State Blinken took time out to jam with a Ukrainian band during his trip, notably playing along with their rendition of Neil Young's Rockin' in the Free World.
Seems to me he might know the chords but doesn't seem to know the song.
Maybe. I just listened to it. The angst in Ukraine might be different, but the tone of the song does kind of fit the situation there.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete"The Russians are also able to take advantage of the U.S.
restrictions against using any U.S. weaponry to attack
legitimate military targets in Russian territory. The Institute for
the Study of War, a Washington think tank, blames the recent
Russian advance ‛in large part’ on these restrictions, which
make it impossible for Ukraine forces to hit Russian troops
massing to attack them only a few miles away. Britain has now
lifted its similar restriction on using its weapons, but self-
defeating U.S. limitations remain in place."
WashingtonPost (Op-Ed)
ReplyDeleteI read that Putin has declared an intention to create a "buffer zone" in the Kharkiv region and denied any intention to capture the city of Kharkiv itself (for whatever Putin's declarations might be worth).
I also read that the Russian offensive is 'faltering', or has been outright 'halted' by Ukrainian resistance. Ukrainian offensive operations have also destroyed at least three warplanes in Crimea and done further damage to an airfield and an oil facility there.
Meanwhile officials from the Biden administration made a point of leaking to yesterday's NewYorkTimes that there's been no change to American policy in regards to the use of American intelligence or American weaponry inside Russia. They're still agin it.
Of course they're simultaneously lettin' it be known that they've heard the pleas for reconsideration of that policy. And they've relented before. (I just hope they don't take too long to come 'round this time.)
It sounds like Ukraine has been doing a good job with their drones of striking inside Russia. Along with the Crimean attacks there were more inside Russia on oil refineries.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how drones would work on a large amount of Russian troops, as we saw in the run up to the attack in the Kharkiv region.
But I still think we could lift that restriction on American made weapons.
ReplyDelete"But I still think we could lift that restriction on American
made weapons."
I suspect the Biden administration has already decided to lift that restriction, at least partially. I think it's mostly a matter of preparing everybody mentally for the change. Not wanting to surprise and frighten Putin.
(They may be still a bit leery themselves of the prospect of being charged with American 'targeting' inside Russia, so some restrictions may hang on for awhile.)
Russia is still supplying plenty of targets within Ukraine. It sounds like the Ukrainians may have bagged a couple more ships in Crimea. No confirmation yet, just the news from the Ukrainian side.
ReplyDeleteThe search goes on for the helicopter carrying Iran's President, which went down in foggy weather. I have to wonder why they chose to fly at that time in those conditions.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDelete"I have to wonder why they chose to fly at that time in those
conditions."
Same reason Kobe Bryant decided to fly I'd reckon. Being rich or powerful is no protection against making stupid choices on the spur of the moment. (A head of state should have a decision structure in place to make those calls, Iran may not have.)
No survivors.
The Ukrainians have come up with a new tactic to draw out Russian troops for elimination. They use drones to place Ukrainian flags on objects such as water pumps or in open fields. They are bait for Russians soldiers who are sent to remove them. It seems to work quite well.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteChanging subjects:
Trump's criminal fraud trial in New York has wrapped up the evidence. Both sides have rested. The judge will instruct the jury early next week (a break for the jurors and a holiday for the court).
The thing I most noted is that Trump left the courthouse without addressing the awaiting press. Just nodded in their direction and walked on.
ReplyDelete"May 21 (Reuters) - The Ukrainian military said on Tuesday it
destroyed the last Russian warship armed with cruise missiles
that was stationed on the Moscow-occupied peninsula of
Crimea during an operation over the weekend.
Ukraine's military reported conducting a long-range attack
that destroyed a Russian minesweeping navy vessel on
Sunday and said it needed more time to confirm what else
had been damaged.
"'According to updated information, the Ukrainian defence
forces hit a Russian project 22800 Tsiklon missile ship in
Sevastopol, on the night of May 19,' the General Staff said on
Tuesday."
There is news that some of the weapons and ammo we have sent have reached at least one area of the frontlines. To Russia's detriment.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Ivan Popov, the Russian General who was sacked last year, has been arrested for fraud. You will remember he was the General who was actually quite popular with the rank and file. He is not the only one recently.
One Russian vlogger speculates that the purge of Russia's military is underway. Similar to what Stalin did back in the 30's. But this time it is in the middle of a war.
ReplyDelete"…weapons and ammo we have sent have reached at least
one area of the frontlines."
More than just one area I believe. But still not an answer to the glide bombs.
"Similar to what Stalin did back in the 30's. But this time it is in
the middle of a war."
Not quite the same thing. Stalin was afraid his military leaders had been compromised during their extensive coöperation with the Nazis in the run-up to the Second World War. (You may recall that the Treaty of Versailles had forbidden Germany from rebuilding its armed forces. The German military was rebuilt in secret in Russia during the early/mid 1930s, in coöperation with the Soviet armed forces, far away from the prying eyes of the Western European nations trying to enforce the terms of the Treaty of Versailles.) So, Stalin did a wholesale purge of any and all Soviet generals, admirals, colonels, majors, captains, clerks, etc., anyone whom he even remotely suspected might have been compromised while working hand in glove with the Nazis during those years.
This new purge is merely the new guy bringing in his own people, and doing what needs be done to make sure the ongoing graft flows into the new power structure that he heads up and is not bled off into any remnants of Sergei Shoigu's organization. Putin's probably not even terribly involved in this new (comparatively minor) purge. (Beyond making sure he still gets his cut, uninterrupted.) Whereas Stalin was definitely the driving force behind the military purge of 1937-38.
ReplyDeleteLeaked to the NYT:
"After a sobering trip to Kyiv, Secretary of State Antony J.
Blinken is urging the president to lift restrictions on how
Ukraine can use American arms.
***
"President Biden has never wavered on one prohibition:
President Volodymyr Zelensky had to agree to never fire them
into Russian territory, insisting that would violate Mr. Biden’s
mandate to 'avoid World War III.'
"But the consensus around that policy is fraying. Propelled by
the State Department, there is now a vigorous debate inside
the administration over relaxing the ban to allow the
Ukrainians to hit missile and artillery launch sites just over the
border in Russia — targets that Mr. Zelensky says have
enabled Moscow’s recent territorial gains.
"The proposal, pressed by Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken
after a sobering visit to Kyiv last week, is still in the formative
stages, and it is not clear how many of his colleagues among
Mr. Biden’s inner circle have signed on. It has not yet been
formally presented to the president, who has traditionally
been the most cautious, officials said."
A small aside. Nikki Haley has said she is voting for Trump.
ReplyDeleteOne wonders, was all of her bluster against Trump during the early primary merely an audition for VP? Showing Trump how "bad ass" she could be?
I think if I were one of the voters who supported her bid because they do not like Trump I would feel a little betrayed.
ReplyDelete"Nikki Haley has said she is voting for Trump."
She's been reviewing her options and has discovered that she has no viable path to another run at the presidency if she continues to hold out against Trump. This is just her opening move towards eventually kowtowing. I don't know how far she'll have to go with that. I don't think she knows either. But she'll go as far as she has to. She has no intention of going the way of Liz Cheney or Chris Christie.
ReplyDeleteReuters is reporting that Putin wants to negotiate for a cease-fire in Ukraine, freezing the battle along the current battle lines.
Probably worried about Ukraine ramping up the fight again after they get resupplied with arms. He needs time to resupply. Or he has finally realized the cost this war is having on his, and Russia's, future.
ReplyDeleteMy guess it's the resupply thing.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if he's trying to get Trump reëlected
ReplyDeleteBy the way, nobody else seems to be picking up on Reuters' claimed exclusive story, so maybe it's all bullshit anyway--just a ploy by the Russian disinformation machinery.
ReplyDeletePutin has publicly noted that Zelenskyy's official term of office expired a few days ago (on the 20áµ—Ę°). This, he says, is an impediment to reaching a cease-fire agreement, on account of there's nobody with the requisite authority to negotiate with him. However, Putin did not confirm the rumors that he's open to negotiation along current battle lines in the first place.
(What I've read indicates that Putin's managed to ramp up ammo production quite nicely, western sanctions notwithstanding. So I'm thinking he's playing out this cease-fire rumor for political advantage rather than for a resupply break.)
ReplyDeletethe WashingtonPost has done a rundown of how American 'smart' ammo has fallen off in effectiveness as the Russian's have learned to adapt their jamming tactics.
(Kill your java to get past the subscription request.)
Interesting article. I suppose it was to be expected that Russia would find a way to counter these munitions. But Ukraine adapts too.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteThat Russian carrier has caught fire in dry dock before. It has a very troubled history. During its deployments it's customarily accompanied by tugboats for when it almost inevitably breaks down at sea. Its last deployment to Syria included a tug boat escort both ways, and ended with it being dragged back to drydock at the end of its deployment. They'll decide to scrap it one of these days, but it's hard to say when that'll finally happen.
ReplyDeleteThat Russian carrier has caught fire in dry dock before. It has a very troubled history. During its deployments it's customarily accompanied by tugboats for when it almost inevitably breaks down at sea. Its last deployment to Syria included a tugboat escort both ways, and ended with it being dragged back to drydock at the end of its deployment. They'll decide to scrap it one of these days, but it's hard to say when that'll finally happen.